Campaign: Facets

[tshiggins]

We had a short session of Facets, a bit more than three weeks ago. It started on a Sunday morning, and I expected it to wind up in a fight, but we had a bunch of people missing, and others needed to leave early. Oh, well. Next time will start with a bang.

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. Considers himself responsible for Sunmi Jones, who is enough of a science-geek that the two of them can actually hold a conversation. -- 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. She recently lost the lower part of her left leg in a fight with a sorcerer from an opposing lodge, and now wears a high-tech prosthetic. 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. (not available, this time)

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 Jeff T. (Not available, this time.)

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.

NPCs Present

Sunmi Jones -- A Korean-American prodigy and student of chemistry at Utah Valley University, who spent most of her childhood with her deceased mother's family in Korea, but has come to Utah to attend college and work with her father's petroleum exploration firm. Somewhat moe, awkward-but-cute, glasses-wearing nerd girl, who only volunteers with 4CSAR because volunteer work is required for her degree. Recently suffered mental damage after an attack by a spirit of pain and violation, and agreed to become a chwal for the loa Erzuli Dahomey, as a way to replace the negative affects with those more positive. – Currently in NPC mode while Rebecca is on hiatus.

Jimmy Ehrland – A fugitive from the 1918 Colonia de Nova España, on the other side of the portal, he had fled from his vampire mistress, Doña Eva, only to find himself in a strange, alien world to which he must struggle to adapt.

Grunt: Beatrice's ally, a large pit-bull possessed by a protective "foo" spirit.

##

The next day, the group showed a bit before noon for their meeting with Gerda Jonckers, the “directeur,” of the Geoctroyeerde Nieuw Haarlem Compagnie (GNHC) and, with considerable politeness the staff ushered them straight through the lobby.

The took the lift up to the fifth floor (it operated based on pulleys and counter-weights, as far as A.J. could determine), and after a bit of a slow rise they found themselves in the foyer of Jonckers’ office.

The secretary’s heels clicked on the gleaming hardwood floor as she escorted them down a short, paneled hallway with a polished floor. The group soon reached a meeting room with a large table and an even larger window that gave them an excellent view of the green wall of the distant Fountain of Life.

A sideboard of aromatic dishes stood against the inner wall and the secretary invited the group to help themselves. As they started filling their plates, the door opened and well-dressed businesswoman in a version of early 20th Century attire came in.

Jonckers introduced herself to everyone (she seemed to know them all by sight) and then helped herself to a sandwich and a mug of tea. The group made small talk for a bit, but before long Jonckers steered the conversation toward business.

The party soon learned that Jonckers had not only received a full briefing about their conversation with Peter Maarten, in 1919 New York, but that the Ancient and Honorable Association of Knickerbockers owned most of the stock in the GNHC not owned by the Nieuw Amsterdam Company.

That followed a pretty standard model, at least in the cases of the portals controlled by the Dutch-descended companies, Jockers explained. Usually, someone in the orbital realm finds a Manhattan portal first, and performs a cautious reconnaissance to assess the state of development of the world on the other side.

If the world lacked the industrial technology needed to build an Erie Canal, but had people living in the area, the discoverers quarantined the portal until such time as technology advanced. Once it did, someone contacted an organized group on the other side (preferably the descendants of Dutch patroons, if such existed), and quietly informed them of the advantages to be gained by the creation of the canal project.

Once the group successfully executed the project, and profits began to roll in, a portion of the wealth went to fund a portal company to pay for the creation of a platform, on the orbital realm side. Those in the material realm focused on securing the land beneath the portal.

That’s how the Esagila Guardians got control of the portal to the 2015 world from which the group hailed, Jonckers said, and the Nieuw Amsterdam company (GNAC) had used a similar methodology on two other gateways. The Nieuw Haarlem company had followed suit, she said.

As part of the investment contracts, the GNAC had agreed to allow the client firms the option to buy their independence, should they ever put together enough money to do so, Jonckers continued. However, to date, no client firm had ever done that, because the GNAC maintained control through the adroit use of its monopoly on access to the most advanced technology.

Once they made access available to such items as 21st Century weaponry, commodities, biologicals, luxuries and (especially) health care and pharmaceuticals, Jonckers said, most people couldn’t refuse – even though the GNAC sold access to those items at a dear price.

Moreover, the GNAC kept for itself the most advanced military technologies, the director added. Nobody except the GNAC could create ships armed with the same weapons as the Groningen. Most of them couldn’t even afford to put together the same sort of hull, she said, and used dirigibles, instead.

The arrival of the Paradise meant a route to the 2015 world existed not controlled by the Esagila Guardians, Jonckers said.

That meant the party not only had the ability to break the GNAC monopoly, she said, but in fact had already agreed to do so when they purchased access to the 1919 Manhattan portal. They had offered to provide plans and information about lucrative products to Peter Maarten and the Order of Knickerbockers, which nobody but the GNAC had been able to do until they came along.

The party let the implications of that sink in for a few moments, and then began to ask some rather pointed questions.

Essentially, they learned that Jonckers and the Order of Knickerbockers had passed along to the GNAC no more information about the visitors than the minimum possible, and had given the distinct impression that they hailed from the 1919 world. While the digital camouflage A.J. and Henrietta had selected to use on the envelope of the Paradise might call the ruse into question, the directeur said, very few people in the orbital realm knew about such things.

However, she noted that should the group display 21st Century technology openly, they’d blow their cover. She couldn’t be sure how the GNAC would react to that, Jonckers said, but it practically guaranteed they’d try to locate and take control of the Utah portal.

At that point, A.J. and Henrietta wanted to Jonckers’ angle on the whole thing, since she’d clearly brought them to her office for a reason.

Jonckers replied that she wanted to break the GNAC monopoly, use the technology to fund a buy-out, and gain independence for the GNHC according to the terms of the investment contract.

(continued...)

[tshiggins]

(...continued)

At that point, Frank began to speculate how best to engage the GNAC forces, only to have Jonckers and the others clarify matters. The GNHC had no desire to ever conduct any sort of military engagement with the Nieuw Amsterdam company. The GNAC had another dozen or so ships similar to the Groningen, and that made them unbeatable through violence.

However, the Dutch companies did abide by contracts scrupulously as a way to maintain order given the area’s absolute lack of government authority, Jonckers said. As such, they would almost certainly adhere to the terms and allow the buyout, if the GNHC could manage the finances.

That said, should the GNAC learn of the threat to their monopoly, Jonckers explained, the board of directors might make a regrettable decision “for the good of the company.”

That put the Red Rock Lodge (formerly the Friends of Olivia) in a place of both danger and opportunity, they realized. Jonckers said that, if they could manage the buy-out, the GNHC would consider itself in debt to the party for services rendered, and the group would have solid allies in both the Orbital Realm of Jupiter and in 1919 Manhattan.

However, to do so would require that the GNHC conceal the group’s importance. In so doing they’d violate the spirit of the contract with the GNAC, and that meant Jonckers couldn’t help them openly without arousing suspicion.

While able to justify an informal luncheon with the new arrivals, the directeur said, she couldn’t provide them with any unusual assistance without arousing suspicion – unless the group demonstrated its utility to the GNHC, as had every other firm that provided services.

At that point, A.J. asked what Jonckers had in mind – because, clearly, she had some way for them to prove their utility.

The directeur replied that a recent problem had cropped up that the Groningen’s captain, Adriaan van Hoek, had planned to address with the assistance of the Nieuw Haarlem company’s best airship, the Florin, commanded by one Gerrit “Gerry” van Andel.

Apparently, a few miles below the platform, a “river of wind” blew in from the general direction of Nieuw Amsterdam, and served as the primary route of travel for trade from that floating city.

However, a few days past, a merchant airship reported it had flown through a patch of floating trees that had apparently drifted away from its original forest and wound up in the current. During the trip through, Jonckers said, the airship had been attacked by some hostile beasts native to the Orbital Realm of Jupiter.

It’s the sort of problem that cropped up occasionally, Jonckers said, and dealing with that sort of nuisance took up most of the time of the Groningen and her sister vessels. However, the nature of combat in Orbital Realm meant no airship entered into any engagement by itself, if it could possibly avoid doing so, she said.

The group asked why a ship such as van Hoek’s would need assistance. Jonckers explained that, since attacks could come from any direction – including straight above and straight below -- the crew of an airship had to watch all directions at once.

While the Groningen had viewports in her keel, Jonckers said, and her angles of fire were much greater than most ships native to the dimensions of the Material Realm of Assiah, she still couldn’t point them every which way at once. That meant van Hoek wanted at least one escort vessel to watch for attacks from below.

A traditional airship would work well for that, Jonckers said, because while its crew couldn’t see upwards through the gasbag envelope very well, they look down just fine. So, if the Groningen had a traditional airship below, each could cover the worst blindspot of the other, and both would remain much safer.

Better yet, Jonckers said, would be if two airships hovered below and watched out for each other, in addition to guarding the Groningen’s keel.

The director noted that, while participation in the mission would provide the GNHC the pretext needed to assist them a bit more than usual, use of their modern weapons would tip off van Hoek – and that would defeat the whole purpose. As such, they needed to use weapons appropriate to the 1919 period, and not the early 21st Century.

After some discussion, the group agreed to send someone to meet with van Andel, that afternoon, to get more information about the mission and what to expect, so they could make an informed decision. The luncheon drew to a close shortly afterwards, and the group departed to take care of several different tasks.

Firstly, the group decided to visit the GHNC’s company mage, Dr. Sander Vandergross, Th.D., to learn more about what they faced. He provided them some additional information about the flora and fauna, as well as some intel about the political situation, and generally made their acquaintance.

Mainly, the group wanted to find out from him about how to find the gateway to the world of 1711 Paris, where they'd agreed to investigate the mysterious disappearances. The party members found themselves a bit disconcerted when Vandergross asked, "Which 1711 world?"

The Orbital Realm of Jupiter, vast beyond imagining, has any number of portals, Vandergross explained, and while explorers had found a fair number, that still constituted only an infinitesimal fraction of the total number that existed. Moreover, he said, if the portal had been discovered, the discoverer probably had it quarantined until such time as the technology advanced enough to make contact safe.

In fact, the mage added, the location of any such gate not yet ready for contact -- if it had been discovered, at all -- probably sat in a file in a locked cabinet, somewhere. He certainly knew of no such portal, Vandergross said, and if it had been discovered by the either the New Haarlem or the New Amsterdam companies, he'd likely have at least heard about it.

Rather disconcerted, the party asked if there existed a means to locate a gateway they knew had to exist, but had never visited. Vandergross replied that a spell did exist that might help.

The Decanic College of Spandôr included the spell, Pathfinder, that would allow someone to know the direction to a place they'd been before. As such, it would point the direction to a gate to that place, Vandergross explained.

Unfortunately, none of the group had yet visited the 1711 world, which visibly perplexed the company sorceror. He wasn't sure how they'd planned to get there, given that nobody had ever been and none of them knew the Orbital Realm of Jupiter, at all.

Still, he said one other possibility existed. A minor variation of the Pathfinder spell would point out the origin point of any object and that might allow them to home in on the gateway, Vandergross said. Did anybody in the group have something from that world?

That triggered a quick discussion amongst the group. Some thought that a few of Oliver McShane's books might have come from there, but to keep them safe (and because they were so heavy), the group hadn't brought any.

At that point, A.J. asked if anybody had anything else of McShane's, and Henrietta remembered that Aurelia still wore the magic-detection amulet that she'd received from JoBeth Catherine McShane, the previous year. Could it be possible that the amulet hailed from that world?

At that point, the group sat down and did some math. According to Henrietta's previous research, the John Dee of their world had died in 1608 or 1609 -- a bit more than a century prior to the current date of world they wanted to reach.

Since they knew time progressed at the same rate in all the Material Realms of Assiah, if the John Dee of the 1711 world had died about the same time (which they didn't know), it would have been 1912 or 1913, in their world -- only a few years before Oliver McShane arrived in Denver on the project that eventually resulted in the sacred architecture used in Civic Center Park.

They knew that McShane had already been an experienced mage at the time of his visit, which meant he had to have crossed through the Paris portal to that other world some year's prior. It made perfect sense that he would have visited London during that world's John Dee's lifetime, they concluded.

In fact, he may have even met the elderly master mage, himself, they guessed.

If that were so, then a very real possiblity existed that he'd picked up the amulet not just in the early 17th Century London, but may have gotten it as an apprentice or young journeyman on a visit to Dee's own lodge, they thought.

Unfortunately, they had no way to test the theory, since Henrietta hadn't even studied Pathfinder. Moreover, since they lacked sacred space, she had no means to study it -- or any alternative version of that spell.

That meant the group had to figure out how to set up some sacred spaces for themselves, in the Orbital Realm of Jupiter.

For his part, Vandergrous seemed cautious about promises, but otherwise friendly enough and potentially a good source of information. Also, Henrietta wanted a closer look at his library.

Given the circumstances, the group turned their attention to the acquisition of their own property, which they could use to build some sacred spaces. Rental property would not do, as sacred space would only function in a place to which a mage had actual ties of ownership and responsibility.

(continued...)

[tshiggins]

(...continued)

With that in mind, the group visited a lumber firm and negotiated the beginnings of an agreement to haul some living trees from a forest about 800 miles away. The price was high, and the down payment took almost all of their liquid assets, but they took the plunge when the lumber firm agreed to give them a price-break in exchange for the group’s agreement to act as the armed escort.

The Red Rock Lodge negotiated for the delivery of four mature trees, which would allow them to build a large platform the size of a football gridiron (or rugby pitch), and give them all sorts of options. Assuming all went well with the pest control mission, they figured the GNHC bank would grant them a mortgage loan for the rest, with the new platform itself as collateral.

They could then pay off the mortgage relatively quickly by trading knowledge to the Order of Knickerbockers, in exchange for a percentage of the companies that provided the new product lines.

Lastly, the group decided on an identifying logo for the rudders and ailerons of their airship. Jonckers had said the airships that hailed from Nieuw Amsterdam, its allies and clients, used different insignia (usually tulips) on a bright orange field. (New Wollaston used a black trefoil shape on

After a bit of back-and-forth, the group decided on one that resembled a stylized formation of rocks, colored rust red, on a bright blue field, similar to this:

https://redrocks.shop.musictoday.com...hion-with-logo

With that, the session ended as everybody had to go home early.

Next session, the group should meet with the captain of the Groningen, finish upgrading the fuel takes, and then set out on the long trip to fight monsters.

##

Funny Quotes
(Not too many this time. It was a short session.)

(The group discusses how to rig the additional gas tank, and how best to mount a crows nest on top of the envelope.)
A.J.: That’s Beatrice’s problem. I’m the idea person, she’s the laborer.

Doc Bascher (hears the descriptions of some of the scavenger bugs): We’re gonna need a lot of Citronella!

Doc Bascher: Who’s gonna tell Beatrice she can’t use her .30-06? ‘Cause I don’t want to….

Henrietta(sees Vandergross’ diploma as a Doctor of Thaumatology): Now, that’s a doctorate I would really like!

(Henrietta sees Vandergross’ reference library, and begins to visibly drool.)
Doc Bascher: I think Henrietta needs a retractable leash, right now.

##

[tshiggins]

We had another session of Facets, a couple of weeks back. Things did not go as planned.

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. Considers himself responsible for Sunmi Jones, who is enough of a science-geek that the two of them can actually hold a conversation. -- 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.

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. She recently lost the lower part of her left leg in a fight with a sorcerer from an opposing lodge, and now wears a high-tech prosthetic. 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 Jeff T.

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.

NPCs Present

Sunmi Jones -- A Korean-American prodigy and student of chemistry at Utah Valley University, who spent most of her childhood with her deceased mother's family in Korea, but has come to Utah to attend college and work with her father's petroleum exploration firm. Somewhat moe, awkward-but-cute, glasses-wearing nerd girl, who only volunteers with 4CSAR because volunteer work is required for her degree. Recently suffered mental damage after an attack by a spirit of pain and violation, and agreed to become a chwal for the loa Erzuli Dahomey, as a way to replace the negative affects with those more positive. – Currently in NPC mode while Rebecca is on hiatus.

Jimmy Ehrland – A fugitive from the 1918 Colonia de Nova España, on the other side of the portal, he had fled from his vampire mistress, Doña Eva, only to find himself in a strange, alien world to which he must struggle to adapt.

Grunt: Beatrice's ally, a large pit-bull possessed by a protective "foo" spirit.

##

We held a session of Facets, a couple of weekends ago and, well, nothing went as expected.

##

After the rather informative luncheon with Nieuw Haarlem Company Director Gerda Jonckers, A.J. discussed ramifications with the rest of the group for a bit, and then headed across the town platform for his meeting with the airship captains, Adriaan van Hoek of Nieuw Amsterdam’s Groningen and Gerry van Andel of Nieuw Haarlem’s Florin.

The two captains spent a few minutes tersely questioning A.J. about his crew’s combat experiences, and the former NASA engineers acquitted himself well enough to convince them that the members of his group could handle themselves, well enough.

With that, the conversation turned to the task at hand. Van Hoek confirmed some of what A.J. had already heard from Jonckers.

Essentially a “pest-control” mission, the Groningen and its escorts would fly into a patch of floating trees infested with what he called “scythe trees.” The patch had broken loose from a larger forest and found itself in the main wind-current used for trade between Nieuw Amsterdam and Nieuw Haarlem.

Van Hoek and Van Andel also said the patch of trees might include a fair amount of smaller types of vegetation, suspended from flotation bladders of some sort, which could make navigation even more tricky.

Based on what he’d heard from A.J., Van Hoek decided to adopt a “tilted triangle” configuration, with the Florin below and behind the Groningen to the starboard side, with A.J. and the rest of the Red Rock Lodge in the Paradise below and behind to port. The two traditional airships needed to remain in constant contact with the Groningen, but otherwise focus on dealing with scavenger flocks and remaining clear of the deadly vessel’s firing solution and falling debris.

A.J. noted that he needed to finish some refits on the Paradise, including a crow’s nest enclosed by transparent plexiglass for his communications specialist (Claudia). Van Hoek agreed to delay for a week, or so, but no longer, because that would bring the carnivorous plants too close to a sizeable settlement that lay a few miles off the wind-current.

The NASA engineer also asked about the route to the site, and learned the three ships would fly parallel to the wind-current, but several miles above it. The flight should prove fairly routine, he learned, except for the passage through something called the “Cloud Wall,” which would take place toward the end of the first day of the flight.

A.J. asked for more details, and learned that the warmer air of the Cloud Fountains tended to draw the cooler air toward it from all directions. As such, while the main wind current curved around it, a bit (thermal patterns lower in the atmosphere made winds do odd things, even in the absence of Coriolis effects), a fair amount of air flowed toward the green cloud, constantly.

Because the surrounding air was so much cooler, it tended to condense moisture blown up from the dense layers deep in the depths, and form a ring of clouds – as well as turbulence and storms of various intensity – around the Fountains of Life. Where the current of wind penetrated the Cloud Wall, the air was particularly choppy, which was one reason they wanted to remain well above the main wind-stream, Van Hoek explained.

Other reasons included rather poor visibility (a problem in a realm where compasses didn’t function) and the desire to maximize fuel economy. Van Hoek and Van Andel said they’d use running lights to help the Paradise maintain its heading, but advised the pilots to keep a careful eye on the ships ahead.

With that, the meeting broke up, and A.J. headed back to oversee the refit.

He had a small cupola built of plexiglass around the hatch at the top of the inner ladder that ran from the gondola up to the top of the envelope. (Aurelia had elected to not use the internal ladder on her previous trip to the top, because she wanted to see what was going on all the way up, and had used the one that ran up the outside from the engine catwalk.)

A.J. had narrow channels cut into it to provide ventilation, while still maintaining good physical security, and it was just barely large enough for two people.

Down below, Beatrice focused on securing the outside of the modified cabin cruiser that formed the gondola. She wanted to turn what would be the decks of the cruiser into fighting platforms, and decided to create a wooden trellis that ran from the decks to the envelope, secured to the railing below and the aluminum keel, above.

(continued...)

[tshiggins]

(...continued)

After some hesitation, and despite deep reservations, Beatrice also recommended they cut some firing ports in the bottom of the gondola. That would eliminate its ability float, but since the only oceans they’d see anytime soon were oceans of air, she thought the tactical benefits worth the loss of flotation.

The group also reinforced the hatches that led out to the decks and cut firing crosses into them.

As for personal weapons, Frank advised everyone who had any firearms skill draw a shotgun, and asked A.J. and Beatrice if they could put lugs on them to hold bayonets. A.J., who had the Armoury skill, thought that seemed like a good idea, and Frank also advised everyone keep a sturdy blade handy, too.

At that point, . Aurelia decided to ride in the crow’s nest with Claudia to provide security for her, and handle anything particularly problematic that might land on the top of the airship. She wasn’t very good with firearms and her bow wouldn’t do much good in the tight quarters, below, but her smallsword would fit through the cuts in the plexiglass cupola, nicely.

Doc Bascher also recommended they load all the muzzle-loaders (and load buck-and-ball in the fully functional Brown Bess musket replicas she’d bought). Steven planned to use a shotgun, but hung his modern rifles on a rack in the pilot’s compartment in case things went seriously pear-shaped.

Henrietta decided to stick with her pistol, but had A.J. add a socket to the end of her staff, and mounted a spearhead in it.

For her part, the pacifistic Claudia took a knife as a last resort, but nobody planned for her to have to fight, anyway. She’d need to manage the Morse code blinker traffic.

With the preparations all done, the day came to depart. The new fuel tanks had increased the effective range of the Paradise to about 1,500 miles, and A.J. had low-balled the maximum speed she could reach. As such the trio of airships departed from the docks at Nieuw Haarlem at and throttled up to about 45 mph.

The Groningen took the lead, followed by the Florin, and the Paradise took up the rear with Steven at the helm. The airships flew off with the green wall of cloud off in the distance, to their right. The first few hours went well enough, but within about six hours, the group saw a gray and white wall of could rising before them.

It extended as far as they could see in every direction. Out at the limit of their vision to the left and right, lightning flickered in storm clouds, but straight ahead, peering through the latticework Beatrice had constructed, they saw only gray and white clouds.

Pretty soon, wisps of mist began to drift past, and the tail of the Florin disappeared into the clouds ahead. Steven was able to keep his eye on it for awhile, but after about an hour he realized he’d lost sight of her running lights and was no longer sure of the proper heading.

The former USMC pilot announced he’d lost track of the ships ahead, and A.J. recommended he drop down into the main wind current. That would slow them down and cost them some fuel, he said, but it should keep them headed in the proper direction.

Steven thought that seemed like a good idea, and he took the Paradise down several miles until the wind began to cause the envelope to sway and clouds to roil past. Moving at only 10 mph, the wind current didn’t slow the airship down too much and Steven throttled up so they wouldn’t lose too much time.

That meant, when the first tufts of floating vegetation began to appear ahead, Steven had little time to react. He throttled down and pulled up as he pumped more helium into the gas-bags to get back above the wind current, while vegetation began to slap into the front of the dirigible.

The Paradise rose slowly up out of the patch of floating vegetation and the group heard more scrape along the bottom. The latticework had branches and leaves poking through it everywhere, and the group began to clear it out so Steven could see where he was going.

They got just enough cleared so that he could see a second, much larger, blob of floating vegetation emerge out of the cloud dead ahead, just before the airship plowed deep into it.

Steven cut the throttles immediately but the momentum of the ship, combined with the breeze blowing the vegetation back toward them, buried the Paradise in the clump. Fortunately, Steven got the engines stopped before the propellors took damage, which left them with the sound of breezes flowing through the greenery clumped thickly in the trellis.

The group spent a few minutes haranguing Steven for his wholly inadequate piloting skills, and then began to poke the vegetation back out through the lattice so they could try to see something other than floating shrubbery. Up on top, Claudia said she could see better, and Aurelia clambered up the internal ladder to join her in the crows nest.

Down on the deck, the group clearing out the lattice suddenly heard a loud humming sound and, remembering what they’d heard about the local fauna, scurried to arm themselves. Sure enough, within seconds, the group was shocked to see bright copper flies the size of a young Jeff Goldblum thump on the outside of lattice and began to try to find a way through.

Doc Bascher chambered a shell as Henrietta readied her speer, while A.J. grabbed his crossbow and ran to the back of the gondola. Beatrice, meanwhile, grabbed a shotgun and went below-decks lest something try to squirm in through the gunports in the lower hull.

For his part, Frank parked himself amidships as a reserve, to go help out anybody who ran into problems, while Steven put the engines into reverse and began to try to slowly ease the airship back out of the blob before anything else showed up.

Up on the top, Claudia gave a shriek as a giant fly landed on to of the plexiglass bubble and began to seek a way in, and reeking saliva began to leak in through the narrow channels cut in the cupola.

Aurelia, who had arrived by then, pulled out her smallsword, lined up the tip with one of the channels and thrust at the creature. After a couple of tried she connected, but the giant insect didn’t seem fazed.

Down at the gondola, Henrietta and Doc Bascher had mixed success. Doc Bascher shouted a warning about the stinking saliva, saying it probably consisted of strong digestive fluids and might carry any number of disesases. With that, Henrietta took a step back and extended the spear head well out in front of her.

The one Henrietta stabbed at seemed to recognize her efforts as an attack, and dodged a few times. However, Doc Bascher’s shotgun proved quite effective and she quickly blew her opponent off the lattice, and it tumbled down out of sight.

In the back, A.J. shouted as another giant fly landed, back there. He took a bead on it with his crossbow, missed and had to reload.

Eventually, Henrietta damaged her bug enough that it flew off, only to circle around and join A.J.’s bug at the stern. Doc Bascher said she’d stay and watch the front, as Frank and Henrietta rushed to the back to help A.J.

Up on top, Aurelia finally managed to damage her bug enough to drive it off, and the two women carefully tried to avoid stepping in any saliva spatters.

In the back, A.J. managed to skewer one of the flies, and then cursed as it tumbled away, carrying his crossbow quarrel with it. Between Henrietta and Frank, the other one didn’t last very long.

About the time all the bugs disappeared from view, they heard Beatrice shout from below. Apparently, the one driven off by Aurelia had circled around and was trying to get into the gondola from below.

Somewhat unnerved at the sight and smell of the disgusting creature, Beatrice fired three shotgun blasts and missed, before the fourth one finally blasted the critter away.

With that crisis past, Steven had the time he needed to ease the Paradise back out of the ball of floating vegetation. A.J. relieved him at the helm and had Steven head up top to see if the better visibility from up there might help get them back on course.

A.J. took the dirigible back up above the main wind current, and put her back on what he thought was the correct heading. However, within a couple of hours, crosswinds began to buffet the Paradise, the light grew dimmer and rain began to fall.

A.J. realized that, rather than find the main wind current, he’d gotten the dirigible nose-in to a wind headed toward one of the thunderstorms the group had seen at a distance when they first entered the Cloud Wall. Now, they were caught in a strong breeze that probably fed an updraft in the storm, and they had to get clear of it fast.

Steven shouted directions from above and A.J. began to try to navigate away from the tempest, which would tear the airship apart. The ran began to hammer down, the wind twisted at the Paradise and the damaged keel began to creak and groan.

A.J. decided he needed to get clear of this, no matter what, and opened up the throttles on the early 21st Century engines he and Beatrice had mounted. The airship creaked and began to yaw badly, but after about 30 minutes they’d gotten away from the storm.

About two hours after that, they emerged from the Cloud Wall and, from the crows nest, Steven spotted the Groningen and the Florin lying several miles to the port, where they’d apparently stopped to wait and see if the Paradise would appear.

(continued...)

[tshiggins]

(...continued)

The dirigible limped over toward the other two airships, and A.J., Beatrice and Steven took a few minutes to assess the damage.

The top rudder was mostly missing so they struggled with yaw control, and one of the ailerons was bent. The keel had developed a bad creak, and A.J. noted that a number bolts had popped on some of the braces he’d used to reinforce the damaged structural member.

Still, they remained airworthy and waived off offers of assistance from the other two ships. However, Claudia flashed that they wished to proceed a bit more slowly than before, and the trio moved off, the green cloud obscured by the Cloud Wall rising behind them.

After a couple more days of flight, the lattice was clear of vegetation and the fly-drool scrubbed from the deck. Claudia, up in the crows nest, blew through the speaking tube to get everyone’s attention, and reported that what appeared to be a massive cluster of vegetation had appeared directly in their flight-path, well ahead.

The rest of the group (except A.J., who remained at the controls), went to the forward deck to get a better look through the lattice, and saw a floating forest rising ahead of them. Clouds of birds danced in massive flocks along the edge of the forest, and it rose before them as if up the side of a mountain.

Shortly thereafter, Claudia noted the Groningen’s signal lamp had started to flash, and she quickly recognized them as navigation instructions.

Essentially, the other two vessels were to follow the metal airship at a fair distance, and it raised its bow and made for thicket high up in the forest. After a while, Claudia reported signal flashes from a fairly thick copse on the edge of the forest.

As they got closer, Claudia realized much of the thick patch consisted of a large platform of floating trees held together with a web of thick hawsers and covered over at various levels with wooden decks. Several docks extended out from the settlement, and it was toward those the flashes directed the approaching craft.

Navigation proved fairly straightforward, and even with damaged control surfaces, A.J. managed to get the Paradise lined up. About 40 minutes later, thick ropes secured the dirigible to the dock, and the group heaved a sigh of relief.

After that, A.J. started to think about what he wanted to tell the captains of the other two airships about why they took so long to get through the cloud and what happened to the Paradise.

With that, the session ended.

##

Funny Quotes

(The group updates Beatrice about the nature of the agreement they’d made, which included a real possibility they’d fight giant spiders, and that they can’t use modern weapons.)
Beatrice: I want to go on record as saying I hate all of you. What I need to do is develop a flame-thrower.

Beatrice: Hey, Rel? Are you averse to using a machete? ‘Cause you might need to.
Aurelia: I have my sword!

(Steven gets the ship lost in the Cloud Wall)
A.J.: Where are we?
Claudia: I don’t know. Where are we?
Steven: Never give up! Never surrender!

(From her vantage in the crows nest, Claudia sees the massive flocks of birds moving in out of the edge of the forest.)
Claudia: They’re just hanging out, for now, until they turn into murderous vampire-birds!
Beatrice: Claudia! Shut up!

A.J.: I'm gonna tell them we had a problem with our rudder and that got us off course. It got torn off, so they won't know I'm lying....

[SionEwig]

We had another session of Facets, a couple of weeks back. Things did not go as planned.

And this is different how?

We held a session of Facets, a couple of weekends ago and, well, nothing went as expected.

When you repeated this, I did start thinking that things just might have gone even less expected than normal. ;-)

Sounds like a good session overall, even with the in game problems that occurred. It looked to me that their problems seemed to be more as a result of bad rolls rather than bad plans. Just as a thought, when you do the write-ups, you might include the skills/rolls that the players made so we can all laugh at how fate conspires against them.

Anyway, looks like they took reasonable precautions for what could be encountered. The small fight against the Bloom-flys I think should be a hint about what they might be up against and provide them with some idea about how they might change their tactics.

Did love the Beatrice quote. I agree with her.

[tshiggins]

Originally Posted by SionEwig

And this is different how?



When you repeated this, I did start thinking that things just might have gone even less expected than normal. ;-)

Sounds like a good session overall, even with the in game problems that occurred. It looked to me that their problems seemed to be more as a result of bad rolls rather than bad plans. Just as a thought, when you do the write-ups, you might include the skills/rolls that the players made so we can all laugh at how fate conspires against them.

(SNIP)

Did love the Beatrice quote. I agree with her.

Crap. I copied and pasted over from the Denver GURPS Group forum and must have done something weird.

As for the rolls, I usually don't log those during play, but both Jeff (Steven) and Anten (A.J.) had sequences of rolls that were spectacularly awful.

That caught me off-guard a bit, so I had to scramble. I came up with the infested cluster of floating vegetation pretty quickly, but when A.J. crit-failed, too, I sucked air for a second.

Generally, I try to tailor such events to the circumstances, and the hazards available were all environmental. Fortunately, I'd mapped out that section of the trip and knew the cloud-wall had embedded storms, so I rolled with that.

I'm currently mapping out the layers 100 miles up, and 100 miles down. If they run into similar problems, I'll know what's around they might fall towards or rise to, in additon to where the local wind might take them.

Unfortunately (sort of...), the decision to make the Orbital Realm of Jupiter a vast sky kinda complicates mapping.

It also meant they had time to try to recover, since there's really nothing for them to crash into.

[SionEwig]

Originally Posted by tshiggins

Crap. I copied and pasted over from the Denver GURPS Group forum and must have done something weird.

Nah, it gives more emphasis that something funky happened.

As for the rolls, I usually don't log those during play, but both Jeff (Steven) and Anten (A.J.) had sequences of rolls that were spectacularly awful.

The players forgot to give proper respect and sacrifice to the gods of chance and fate.

That caught me off-guard a bit, so I had to scramble. I came up with the infested cluster of floating vegetation pretty quickly, but when A.J. crit-failed, too, I sucked air for a second.

Nothing like throwing the GM for a loop. ;-) But you recovered extremely well.

Generally, I try to tailor such events to the circumstances, and the hazards available were all environmental. Fortunately, I'd mapped out that section of the trip and knew the cloud-wall had embedded storms, so I rolled with that.

I'm currently mapping out the layers 100 miles up, and 100 miles down. If they run into similar problems, I'll know what's around they might fall towards or rise to, in additon to where the local wind might take them.

Unfortunately (sort of...), the decision to make the Orbital Realm of Jupiter a vast sky kinda complicates mapping.

It also meant they had time to try to recover, since there's really nothing for them to crash into.

Well, good job on the part of all (players and you) in that session.

[tshiggins]

Everybody gets pretty busy around here as the holidays arrive, but things lighten up a lot once we get past Christmas. So, we had a session the Saturday before the New Year. It turned out to be one long combat, and the long hiatus meant we’d forgotten a few things, but we did test-drive the GURPS rules for swarms, and those worked well.

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. Considers himself responsible for Sunmi Jones, who is enough of a science-geek that the two of them can actually hold a conversation. -- 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.

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. (Not available this time.)

Beatrice "B" Lawrence -- U.S. Army veteran who works for a local air charter service as a helicopter mechanic. She recently lost the lower part of her left leg in a fight with a sorcerer from an opposing lodge, and now wears a high-tech prosthetic. 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 Jeff T.

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. . (Not available this time.)

NPCs Present

Jimmy Ehrland – A fugitive from the 1918 Colonia de Nova España, on the other side of the portal, he had fled from his vampire mistress, Doña Eva, only to find himself in a strange, alien world to which he must struggle to adapt.

Grunt: Beatrice's ally, a large pit-bull possessed by a protective "foo" spirit.

##

Shortly after docking at the floating tree settlement they learned was called “Boomgard” (or “Orchard” in English), Arthur and Beatrice wasted no time making repairs. The town, which consisted of dozens of floating trees lashed together and decked in many places, had plenty of wood available but no metal parts.

Fortunately, although the Paradise had been upgraded with some modern gear and materials, at its heart its technology dated to the late 19th Century or early 20th Century, which meant it already resembled something cobbled together with scraps, bailing wire and bubblegum.

As such, A.J. and Beatrice figured they’d need about 12 hours to get everything done, which brought wrinkles to the brow of the captain of the Groningen, Adriaan van Hoek, and the Florin’s, Gerry van Andel, was none too pleased, either.

They explained that about 325 miles away, between “Orchard” and the slowly approaching copse of Scythe Trees lay another sizeable floating tree forest. While primarily concerned with the large predators reaching the vicinity of Boomgard, van Hoek said he’d rather not have to try to hunt them amongst the trees further up, either.

The latest word was that the scythe trees floated only about two days away from that next forest, and 12 hours of repair time cut things really close. That forest was part of one that extended downwards and to the left for a few hundred miles, but at its same altitude lay a blob of mixed vegetation similar to what they’d plowed into, which extended for more than 300 miles.

(The patch of trees that held Orchard was actually originally a part of that same forest. It had broken off some years before and slowly drifted downwind until most of it blew out of the main stream of moving air, and had more or less settled in place.)

Should the scythe trees reach that extended area of vegetation, they’d have a rich hunting-ground – which meant they’d reproduce relatively rapidly and prove a pernicious problem difficult to locate and root out.

With that in mind, A.J. and Beatrice took no downtime and started work right away. Beatrice used local plywood to craft a new rudder and elevator, while A.J. worked on the devices that would operate the control surfaces.

Meanwhile, the rest of the crew cleaned out the last of the foliage from the protective lattices on the front and back of the gondola, and completed other routine maintenance.

As a result of their efforts, Arthur and Beatrice managed to get the get the Paradise back in “good enough” order within eight hours (really good rolls against Mechanic for both of them…), to they topped off the fuel tanks and the three airships set off.

The other two airships set off at what they thought was the best speed of the Paradise, although that meant A.J. actually kept the throttle to less than half. He still didn’t want to tip his hand about the 21st Century engines he’d added, earlier in the year.

Within about 18 hours they entered the next forest, and about eight hours later they cleared the forest and A.J. took the helm back from Steven. The former Marine Corps pilot joined Claudia up inside the plexiglass bubble that protected the crows nest of the Paradise.

Within about an hour, they saw a patch of trees drifting slowly in their direction. Claudia reported that van Hoek on the Groeningen had ordered them to take up their position below the Nieuw Amsterdam airship and about 45 degrees to starboard, while the Florin did the same below and about 45 degrees to port.

That put the Groeningen at the apex of a triangle that tilted upwards, with the Paradise down and to the right, and the [/i]Florin[/i] down and to the left.

A short time later, as they closed, Claudia spotted something off in the distance to their port side. She turned her binoculars in that direction, and spotted about eight huge creatures flying toward the blob of vegetation they knew lay 150-170 back and to the left.

She quickly flashed out a message, and Florin identified them a “Cloud Rays,” large feathered ominivores in the general shape of mantas.

Soon after that, the Groeningen flashed out an update – they’d spotted the scythe trees ahead. The predators had apparently left the drifting copse, and had found a following breeze, and had set out in pursuit of the cloud rays.

This offered both danger and an opportunity. Captain van Hoek did not want to try to fight the scythe trees in the middle of a flight of upset omnivorous cloud rays (with their 350-450 yard wing-spans), since the huge beasts would just attack everything. However, since the scythe trees had left the forest, that made them a lot easier to destroy.

With that in mind, van Hoek ordered the trio of dirigibles to set a course that put them between the cloud rays and the pursuing scythe trees. He would use broadsides from the Groeningen’s 60mm recoilless cannons (DTAT MR60CS) to destroy the predators before they reached the rays, and let the vast omnivores continue on their way.

A.J. had Claudia flash an acknowledgement, and then focused on maintaining his position relative to the other airships. Meanwhile, Aurelia and Jimmy headed down into the keel to guard the viewports there, while Beatrice and Henrietta manned the bow lattice, and Frank and Doc Bascher took the stern.

At this point, the group took stock of the weaponry available. Doc Bascher, Frank and Jimmy had 12-gauge shotguns, and the veterinarian had purchased an ample supply of both bird-shot and buck-shot cartridges.

However, nobody else had shotguns. Beatrice had her 10mm pistol and .30-06, while Henrietta carried her usual 9mm Glock and her staff; Aurelia had her usual bow and knife; Steven had his 9mm Glock and his modern .7.62mm scoped sniper rifle.

Given the situation, Beatrice and Henrietta opted to take the five replica “Brown Bess” Tower Muskets that Doc Bascher had purchased for their trip to their eventual destination, the world of 1711 France. They loaded the smoothbore single-shot muskets with small shot, and kept their pistols as backup.

Everybody also wore their ballistic vests, but weren’t really sure how much those would help.

In the pilot cabin, A.J. made sure to seal all the doors, and Beatrice locked Grunt in with him, in case things went seriously pear-shaped and something got through.

(continued...)