Bishopgate Asylum

The Bishopgate Asylum for the Insane was a complex of facilities near Southampton, Hampshire.

The location of the asylum was rather ominous from a historical perspective. Originally the site of a mass grave during Roman times, a spital was built there during the 13th Century. A few decades after its construction, the Black Death swept through the area, resulting in the creation of a large plague pit on the grounds.

The spital continued functioning for several more centuries, but was ultimately closed during the reign of Elizabeth I, leaving the medieval building abandoned.

Change came at the beginning of the 19th Century, when a Catholic investor bought the area, and sponsored the renovation of the spital, as well as its expansion with additional facilities. The private lunatic asylum was finally opened in 1809.

For the next several decades, the asylum continued operating. The original investor passed away in 1838, leaving the asylum to a religious charity. The next notable event occurred when Professor Maxwell was named director in 1857.

The Genius used the private asylum as the site of his personal experiments, enjoying the privacy of the sprawling complex and the large amount of readily available test subjects. The final Wonder of the professor was installed in his own laboratory, though it was never truly finished.

After his disappearance in 1873, Dr. Zakharov took over as temporary director, and Jebediah Marsh dutifully kept the Professor's laboratory in order, but was unable to prevent the meddling of two intruders in 1874. This has led to the premature activation of Professor Maxwell's Mesmeric Murder Amplificator, causing the living to slowly go violently insane and the dead to rise from their graves in the ensuing weeks. The machine also caused hallucinations, awakened psychic potential and even imprinted personalities from the brain-core's memories into compatible victims. The asylum staff chose to at first conceal these disturbances, but then fell prey to the machine's effects themselves.

After a successful infiltration by the Krewe, the machine was destroyed, ending its malignant effect on the asylum. However, the asylum would not recover. After a thorough if extremely secretive investigation, the asylum was quietly closed later that year, left abandoned once more. The documents relating to the investigation have also curiously disappeared from the Southampton police records.

Notable Employees:

Professor Maxwell

Jebediah Marsh

Dr. Zakharov

Dr. Feelgood

Notable Inmates:

Lady Jane of Everleigh

"Magnussen"

Roger