We held a fairly short session of Facets, a few weeks back. Bennie Rae couldn’t make it, this time, so we ended a bit early, but the group did get into an exciting little dustup.
Characters Present
Dr. Henrietta "Indiana" Johnson -- A personable, age 29-and-holding Anthropologist who specializes in the pre-Columbian indigenous people of the American Desert Southwest. A Native of Apache Junction, AZ, "Indiana" is good with people and has been fascinated by American Indian religion and folklore since she was a child. Henrietta speaks Apache fluently, and not-so-secretly wishes archaeology could be more like Raiders of the Lost Ark and less like digging in a trench with a trowel and a toothbrush -- Played by Debbie S.
Dr. Arthur "A.J." Jamison -- a retired NASA scientist with a home in one of Moab's nicer canyon sub-developments, who volunteers for 4CSAR because he needs to do something to get out of the house. -- Played by Anten S.
Aurelia R. Lockrin -- A young woman with a shady past who teaches History at Grand County High School (Home of the Red Devils!), and volunteers for 4CSAR because she's a bit of an adrenalin junkie, and likes the companionship. -- played by Bennie Rae P. (not available this time)
Dr. Belody "Doc" Bascher -- a local veterinarian for both large and small animals, who frequently fixates on her job and uses 4CSAR as her primary social outlet. -- played by Samantha H.
Beatrice "B" Lawrence -- U.S. Army veteran who works for a local air charter service as a helicopter mechanic. A cynic about men, she is accompanied by "Grunt," the biggest, best-trained pit-bull anybody has ever seen (purchased as an ally, and a totally badass dog, even before it was possessed by what appears to be a benign “foo” spirit) -- played by Bernetta W.
Claudia Abigail Tavulari, member of the NASA Quantum Physics Research Team, and an old friend of Arthur Jamison’s. The team has been helping Arthur research the portal physics, on the sly. – Played by Tisa T.
Stephen Mack, another member of the NASA Quantum Physics Research Team, a former U.S. Marine Corps test pilot, and outdoors enthusiast. – Played by Ragan S.
Frank Moses -- A former Marine who quit his job as a trooper with the Utah Highway Patrol (UHP). Moses formerly volunteered with 4CSAR and has an interest in Doc Bascher. Frank has spent the past several months living in the Dark Canyon base camp on the 1918 side of the portal. -played by Mike H.
Millicent “Millie” Brown – A member of the Columbine Lodge of Denver, and descendant of the Unsinkable Margaret “Molly” Brown. Currently an apprentice of the Invisible College of Thoth-Hermes, seconded out to the members of the Red Rocks Lodge. Owner of a large, well-trained Savannah Cat, named Apophis. – Played by Kaitlynn S.
Roger Vaughn – Another member of the Columbine Lodge of Denver, son of a prominent family. Currently a member of the Invisible College of Thoth-Hermes, sent along on the raid because he has knowledge of modern weapons and tactics. -Played by Benjamin H. (not available this session)
Fergus O’Neil – A pirate and rascal who had the misfortune to cross the Red Rocks Lodge, and the worse judgement to try to rob them when they took passage on his ship across the Irish Sea in the late winter of 1712. However, against all common sense, the party (well, A.J….) decided to adopt him as a flunky after they saved his life from his own crew. -Played by Jeff T (Welcome back to the party!)
NPCs Present
Grunt: Beatrice's ally, a large pit-bull possessed by a protective "foo" spirit.
Amanda Gagnier: A professional airship crewmember and native of the Orbital Realm of Jupiter, hired as a guide as the
Paradise neared the borders of territory controlled by the Nieuw Haarlem company.
Hops About: An enthusiastically lethal nunnupi, a 6-inch tall fairy girl with black wings, pale skin and American Indian features. Currently dressed in the colors of the Unseelie Court, with a bow and knife, she frequently takes the form of a magpie four times the size of a normal bird and can go invisible.
Twirls Thrice: A laconic and lethal nunnupi with a dry sense of humor, also dressed in the cool colors of the Unseelie Court. Apparently the sister of Hops About, she bears similar weapons that can inflict elf-stroke, also appears as a large magpie, and can go invisible.
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The trip across the Inner Sea of the Elder Isles proved as routine as promised, and the group soon arrived in Lyonesse Town, on the southern coast of the large central island of Hy-Brasil.
A larger city than Avallon, extensive facilities lined the shores of the harbor east of town, which also had a number of busy airship mooring masts and hangars. The stone-paved streets bustled with people moving to and fro, but the town seemed far cleaner and healthier than the group expected.
The group found a nice inn without too much trouble, walked around the town a bit and made inquiries about passage to the Goblin Market, near the Thripsey Sidhe gateway, in Madling Meadow.
They soon located a horseless coach service that made the trip regularly, and a quick inspection of the vehicle revealed a wooden omnibus similar to those that plied the streets of Europe in the late 18th to early 19th Centuries, only without the horses.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horseb...st_omnibus.png
The driver advised them the trip to the Goblin Market would only take a couple of days, and they usually stopped in a town called Frogmarsh, not quite halfway along, the first night, and then left before dawn the next day so as to make Madling Meadow by dusk.
The driver also noted with approval that the group seemed well-armed and, upon inquiry, the group learned a pack of werewolves had recently taken up banditry in the Tantravalles Forest on the route from the town of Little Saffield to Madling Meadow.
The route departed from the Old Street Highway and ran through some hilly country, where it became rather more narrow and closed in by the tree canopy.
The gtroup took a moment to digest that information, and said they’d like to stock up on silver weapons before they left. The driver agreed that seemed most reasonable, but noted the shops and market-places had all closed up for the evening. He agreed to delay his departure, the next morning, so the group could procure some armaments.
The night passed quietly enough and the group rushed around and did their shopping the next morning. They loaded the luggage on top of the omnisbus (they were traveling light), and set out. The trip to Frogmarsh, although far less comfortable than the long-distance buses back home, went well enough and the Old Street highway had lots of traffic.
As originally discussed, the group rose in the early morning hours, then next day, and the omnibus headed toward the next town, Flaurhamet, just as the sun-gate started to unveil in the sky A.J. decided to ride “shotgun” with his heavy crossbow, up next to the driver.
Aurelia (who disliked cramped confines), and Frank (who disliked not being able to see things) rode on the top, back with the luggage. Everyone else stayed in the cramped (but dry) cabin.
The omnibus made good time and passed by several other towns, but well before mid-day, they saw the dark edge of the Tantravalles in the distance, on the other side of a good-sized town the driver identified as Little Saffield.
The passed around the walls from the west to the north, and found themselves on a smaller road rising into a more rugged part of the forest. However, they fond the road busy with traffic of one sort or another, including some huge horseless wagons hauling fresh-cut logs back toward Little Saffield.
The driver explained that the town specialized in forest products of a sorts, and specialized in fine cabinetry, furniture, and wood products of all sorts. Moreover, the woodcutters in the town supplied lumber for much of the shipbuilding trade, down in Kercelot.
The woodsmen usually cut trees on the banks of the rapidly approaching River Timble, the driver said, lashed them together as sizeable rafts, and floated the cut timber down the river to Kercelot. Once they crossed the river, he added, they’d find themselves in one part of the Tantravalles where the werewolf bandits reportedly operated.
The carriage crossed the bridge and, soon thereafter, the party began to see oaks, ash, beeech trees, English elms and others, with boles that would take three of them holding hands to reach around.
The road took them reasonably straight through the forest, bending only to avoid particularly difficult terrain or thick copses of ancient and truly massive stands of trees.
(continued...)