Campaign: Facets

[tshiggins]

(...continued)

Once she saw the blood, Doc Bascher leapt gracefully up and over the bannister, nailed a perfect three-point superhero landing, and clobbered a sailor moving up on Frank. Meanwhile, Amanda fired her weapons and then moved to guard A.J.’s flank, blinking at Henrietta’s apparent mad folly.

Meanwhile, Claudia took out her bolo, whirled it around and tried to snare one of the officers, only to watch it spin past him and go over the side of the ship.

In the end, the strength of the initial volley of musket fire, combined with the inability to injure the group and the near-immediate loss of all the officers, turned the tide. The members of the crew still able to do so threw down their weapons and yielded.

O’Neil woke to find himself stashed in his own brig next to two of his badly-injured officers, both of whom had been professionally treated by Doc Bascher (who also patched up most of the rest of the crew). The third mate commanded the battered remainder the Lady Courtenay’s crew, under the watchful eye of the members of the Red Rocks Lodge.

Within a couple of days, the schooner passed Ramsgate and Margate, watched the Isle of Shippey off the port side slip to stern, and entered the mouth of the Thames at high tide. Several hours later, the Lady Courtenay docked, and A.J. and Frank hauled Capt. O’Neil out of the brig and frog-marched him down the gangplank.

The captain watched, perplexed, as his third mate handled all the declarations exactly as usual, and then stood by as his crew helped load the luggage of his “passengers” on to waiting wagons, At their insistence, he joined A.J. and Frank in a hansom, and rolled into the city, proper.

Once away from the dock and surrounded by the noisy bustle of the city, A.J. politely asked the captain if he knew the location of the home of John Dee. Utterly confused by the question, O’Neil said everybody knew the home of the famous court philosopher from decades past lay in the neighborhood of Mortlake, in the South Bank Burough of Richmond upon Thames.

A.J. then asked him where to find someone to help them purchase some property in the city – a home or other residence with a sizeable garden.

Nonplussed, O’Neil told them they should find a solicitor who specialized in that sort of thing, and should make inquiries in the law offices near the Inns of the Court.

With that, the session ended.

##

Funny Quotes

(Amanda has never had whiskey, because the Orbital Realm of Jupiter has no grains.)
A.J.: It’s stuff that will winterize your body!

(Doc Bascher wears her dress out to the stable to care for the horses.)
Doc Bascher: I made an impression on the stablehands, and I don’t have my pants on! (beat) Oh, wait, that sounded really bad!

(Doc Bascher makes a default acrobatics roll, critically, and lands perfectly.)
Doc Bascher: Just call me Wonder Woman!

(Bernetta runs both Aurelia and Beatrice during close-quarters combat against the pirates. Aurelia misses, badly, and shots an arrow into Beatrice’s back.)
Bernetta (OOC): I’ll need to have Aurelia apologize to myself.

Claudia (surveys the messy melee): Everything looks pretty much under control!

Frank: I just got out my katars! Who wants to get punched?!

GM: Blades, bayonets and musket-butts! Now that’s entertainment!
Beatrice: Arrh!
A.J.: Yarrh!

Beatrice(makes her first ever parry with a sword): Oh, hey! That worked just like in class!

##

[SionEwig]

Sounds like it was another very productive session. Good work by all involved (and no real horrible sets of rolls either - snicker). I loved this comment

(Doc Bascher wears her dress out to the stable to care for the horses.)
Doc Bascher: I made an impression on the stablehands, and I don’t have my pants on! (beat) Oh, wait, that sounded really bad!

[tshiggins]

We held the latest session of Facets, not long ago. The group wandered around an alternate London, circa 1712, and made some interesting discoveries.

Jeff still couldn’t attend, and let us know that his new job prevents him from playing for the foreseeable future. Ragan guest-played Steven, again, but he and Kaytlynn may create their own characters. If that happens, Steven will shift to NPC mode, until such time as Jeff can return to the game.

##

The members of the Red Rocks Lodge decided they’d need to consult a solicitor as soon as possible about acquisition of their own property, so they could create sacred spaces and renew their spells. However, given that the sun had passed noon by the time the Lady Courtenay had docked, they decided to locate accommodations as soon as possible.

A few questions to Fergus O’Neil elicited a description of the basic layout of London in this era. Generally speaking, the further west one traveled, the more affluent the neighborhoods. Moreover, the north bank of the Thames held most of the trade and what industry existed in this time.

Timber yards, shipwrights and residential neighborhoods dominated the south bank, and quickly gave way to farms.

Mortlake lay on the south bank, he said, in the area known as Richmond-on-Thames, at the southwest edge of the city proper. The nicer areas lay near The Hay Market, Piccadilly Street and Pall Mall, about an hour away by slow hackney coach, O’Neil said, and nodded toward the row of them for hire, drivers waiting patiently in a line on Broad Street.

After a quick discussion, the group decided to hire six of the “cabs,” which would be enough to get them and their luggage across town. The pleased teamsters enthusiastically hopped down and help load the heavy trunks, and then set off in a row, to the west.

Along the way, A.J. sat with O’Neil and explained that the group needed someone to help them find their way around town and, should he prove useful, might become their business representative in the city. O’Neil seemed a bit nonplussed by the potential offer, but agreed readily enough to assist them in any way he could.

The group moved through the city’s miasma of stench of coal smoke, saw the Tower of London move by them on the left, and felt grateful they’d arrived in the middle of winter instead of the oppressive heat of summer, when only the prevalence of disease would match the overwhelming odor. Within the hour, they arrived at the junction of Piccadilly and The Hay Market, and began to cast about for decent-looking accommodations.

Soon enough, they spotted a large inn down a side street with a fox and a hen on the placard, that had bright lanterns and glass windows. They decided that would probably have to do, and O’Neil directed the hackneys in that direction.

It being the middle of winter, the Fox & Hen had plenty of rooms and a quick inspection of a few of them by Doc Bascher revealed no sign of fleas or bedbugs. So, the group hired all of those available, and Claudia asked the bemused proprietor about a bath.

He replied that he could probably have one set up with hot water by the afternoon of the following day. Claudia sighed and asked him to arrange for one in the evening, instead, and made her way upstairs with her tightly-wrapped birdcage from which a cheerful chirping emerged.

The group spent what little remained of daylight settling in, and had hot food delivered to their rooms. The evening passed quietly enough, and the members of the lodge were up and moving in the chilly rooms by dawn, to find O’Neil waiting for them, downstairs.

They broke their fast with hot tea, sausages and fresh bread, and decided to locate a solicitor who could help them purchase property. Fergus O’Neil rounded up hackneys and A.J., Henrietta, Aurelia, Frank and a couple of others, made their way the short distance to Chancery Lane.

There, they soon spotted a solicitor, “Henry Draven, Esq.,” who advertised a specialty in purchases of property. They described their needs to the young clark in front, and were ushered in to see the solicitor.

They told Draven they sought a large country home located near to London, but not in it, for eventual purchase. Draven said he knew of several possibilities, and informed them the negotiations and legal work would require at least a couple of months to complete, once they made their decision.

Mildly frustrated but not terribly surprised, Henrietta asked if Draven knew of any decent property for rent on the West End where they could stay until they’d finalized the purchase. The solicitor replied he did, in fact, handle such transactions quite frequently and could likely find them a suitable townhome in no more than a week.

Many wealthy families wintered at country estates and made their city properties available for the season, Draven explained, although they’d likely wish to return to them by late March or early April. However, the purchase would likely be done, by then, he added, although it might be a bit close.

The group finalized the arrangements, and took their leave. At that point, the day was still young, so they decided to check on Dee’s estate in Mortlake, and had O’Neil direct the cabs to swing by the inn so they could pick up the rest of the group and proceed to that location.

After a bit more than a hour and a bridge crossing, the cabs arrived at the gate in a tall iron fence around what appeared to be a sizeable older building of stone and brick. The group had arrived from the landward side, and realized they were looking at the back of the structure.

On the grounds, they saw a cluster of young men dressed in caps and gowns, and surmised they must be scholars. They also saw a number of people dressed in rough garb, and figured them as servants.

A metal placard on one of the cut stone pillars of the gate did indicate this as the home of the philosopher John Dee, and the group noted a sigil in the shape of a shield, with three yellow lions on a red field, in the upper left corner. A.J. noted that Richard the Lion-Hearted had used three lions as part of his coat of arms, and thought the symbol might refer to him.

The group discussed options, and Aurelia checked what she could see of the building for security, in case she decided to break in. Eventually, they decided to check the north side of the structure to see if it had a gate that overlooked the river.

They hopped back in the cabs and drove counter-clockwise around to the front, passing a huge stone building on their right with numerous heavy wagons rolling in and out of large doors on the south side.

Once they reached the front, they found an open gate with a uniformed attendant, and a few other groups of scholars walking the well-kept grounds. This gate had a larger placard that also announced it as the residence of the philosopher, Dr. John Dee, and declared it the property of the Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, with a much more ornate coat of arms.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_...at_of_Arms.svg

After a couple of minutes, the large group emerged from the three cabs and asked them to wait, as a rather surprised gate attendant approached and asked their business. He blinked at the accents of Henrietta and A.J., but understood them well enough when they asked if it were possible to visit.

The attendant said the estate opened its doors to any visiting scholars, and A.J. said that described them well enough – even the women. The gatekeeper agreed to escort them to the front door, and the lodge members followed along behind him, O’Neil bringing up the rear.

Several of the scholars turned and stared at the large group, and the front door opened as they trod the stairs. A middle-aged gentleman in scholar’s attire stood there, and the attendant told him the group seemed respectful enough and had asked for a visit.

The gowned man opened the door and welcomed them in out of the cold, and the group found itself in a large, warm atrium, with polished wooden floors and dark walls lined with paintings. Henrietta took the opportunity to check them out more closely as A.J. chatted with the head docent, and approached a large picture with an ornate gilt frame.

It portrayed a striking older woman in a crown, and the frame had a small brass plaque at the bottom that declared her as, “Eleanor II, Empress of the Angevin Realm; Queen of England, Scotland and Ireland; Duchess of Anjou and Brittany; Protector of the Holy Roman Catholic Church.”

The head docent noted Henrietta standing there and, mistaking her stunned confusion for polite ignorance, walked over with the rest of the group. He said Queen Eleanor had named Dr. Dee as the philosopher to her court, as part of her efforts to create new “Court of Love” fashioned after the original declared by her ancestor, Queen Eleanor, Duchess of Aquitaine.

Dee had served Empress Eleanor faithfully and well, the docent said, but had chosen to retire to his home country of England, after her death in 1601. Her successor, Edward IV (pictured next to Eleanor) had granted Dee the income from substantial lands in the vicinity of what would become Richmond-on-Thames as a pension for his service, the docent continued.

The old philosopher had spent his few remaining years corresponding with fellow scholars, collecting books and entertaining any who visited. Two of his students had taken over management of the estate after Dee’s death, and secured additional royal patronage by opening the library to members of the court of Edward IV.

The estate managed to keep itself solvent through the years by selling off property in the area acquired by Dee, but financial security remained elusive until about 50 years prior to the current date, when it had been granted to the recently-formed Royal Society.

(continued...)

[tshiggins]

(...continued)

The fellows of the society included several affluent nobles, as well as the philosophers, and they’d put their minds to the task of securing the estate financially. The group had decided to construct a large tapestry-works to the east – the large building the group had passed on the way to the front gate.

That had proven quite successful, the docent said happily, the proceeds more than covered the expenses, and it provided jobs for dozens of weavers. It also allowed them to not only preserve the estate, but to make improvements, such as the iron fence that enclosed the grounds.

The other paintings that lined the walls displayed a number of the most famous fellows of the Royal Society, and the wall opposite the paintings of Eleanor and Edward held two large paintings of older gentlemen. Opposite Eleanor, the group saw a painting of Geoffrey IV, the current emperor of the Angevin Realm, and opposite Edward VI the group immediately recognized the face of Sir Isaac Newton, the current head of the Royal Society.

With that, the docent took them on a tour of the rest of the house, and noted that it had offered accommodations to the fellows of the Royal Society early on, until the group had grown too large. In response to A.J.’s query, the docent said the society currently owned two large, adjacent townhomes on The Strand that held its rooms and offices.

A.J. asked if Sir Isaac Newton could be found there, and the amused docent responded that he only reliably appeared for the monthly meetings, although he could be seen by “suitable persons,” with an appointment. Mostly, the docent said, Sir Isaac worked in his offices at the royal mint, and any personage who wished to meet with the esteemed gentleman should make inquiries, there.

The group soon arrived at the estate’s large library, dotted with scholars engrossed in books or murmuring to one another, and they promptly fanned out to take a look around. The book shelves went all the way up to the 18-foot ceiling and had railed ladders to help reach the highest, and the cases, themselves, had locked glass cabinet doors behind which the books could be seen.

A.J. engaged the docent in conversation as the others looked around. Henrietta, Aurelia, Beatrice, Claudia and Doc Bascher spotted any number of books about natural philosophy, written in any number of languages (including a lot of Latin).

Henrietta did spot a couple of titles that referred to alchemy, but quickly determined that, given the nature of the rest of the titles, they almost certainly lacked anything of esoteric utility. Soon enough, the group decided that, if Dee ever had a magical library, it had been moved elsewhere.

Henrietta and A.J. asked if this library held all of Dee’s books, and the docent confirmed that a number of them currently resided at a private library endowed about 60 years previously by one of the founders of the Royal Society. The library had been created by a baronet, Sir Hans Sloane, and included a large number of flora and fauna collected through the years by the baronet on his many travels to the New World.

As the tour wound to a close, the group met outside and discussed options. Aurelia suggested they check the tapestry works, since such a large building could hide just about anything and, besides, it stood right next door.

The group took the cabs for the (very) short trip, but decided to send in only A.J., Henrietta and Aurelia to check out the place. A factor met them in the lobby, bought their story about the need to decorate a home they planned to soon purchase (actually true, for once), and showed them a number of samples.

He also agreed readily enough to show them the factory, and the group tromped through the large, dank building lit with greasy windows and a number of smoky whale-oil lanterns. The trio was quite dismayed to see a fair number of grubby children with calloused (or, in some cases, bleeding) fingers working at smaller looms, alongside men and women in their teens through their middle years.

The north wall of each large room was lined, floor to ceiling with bins that held finished works, while dyed threads of all colors came up the stairways to the south, from the loading docks where they’d been delivered by the wagons. The age of the weavers increased the higher in the building they climbed, as did the sophistication of the designs.

The top floor held some truly lovely examples of fine work.
http://www.panoramaofthethames.com/1...tlake-tapestry

A.J., Henrietta and Aurelia expressed appreciation for the skill involved, and said they’d almost certainly return to make some orders, once they purchased property. They took the factor’s name, and made their way out to the waiting cabs.

There, the reported the search had been a bust, and Aurelia noted that, while it was possible the library lay in some hidden room underground, she considered it highly unlikely. Rather, the building was almost certainly what it appeared to be – a factory devoted to the production of hand-woven tapestries of fine quality.

With that, A.J. had O’Neil direct the hackneys to take them back across the river, to The Strand, so they could get a look at the Royal Society’s current locale. It took about an hour and they arrived in mid-afternoon.

They found a bustling street lined with shops of all sorts, including any number of lively establishments from which wafted the unmistakable scent of coffee. Realizing they’d found comfortable surroundings, the group debarked the hackneys and sent them on their way (there were any number of others waiting along the street) and decided to walk around.

They soon noted the now-familiar coat of arms of the Royal Society on two large townhomes, Aurelia and Frank decided to walk around them to see if they could spot a way to break in. They soon reported back, and said the best possibilities lay with small windows around the back that overlooked an appalling mess of an alley.

At that point, the group decided to move into a café so they could discuss options (and get out of the cold). At that point, A.J., Frank and Beatrice noted that, while they might need to break-and-enter, they had actually come to this world to help John Dee’s lodge, and the question remained – where to find it?

The group had operated under the assumption that the Royal Society likely had something to do with the lodge, and Aurelia took a step back and asked whether or not that was likely.

A.J., Henrietta and Claudia said the origins of the Royal Society made it a strong possibility. During Dee’s time, at least in their world, people usually lacked the knowledge to distinguish between science – what they called “natural philosophy” – and witchcraft.

In many cases, people assumed that any learned individual who wasn’t a member of the clergy must engage in dark arts or witchcraft, and anybody involved in “alchemy” put at risk their souls, and the souls of those around them.

As such, for most of the Middle Ages, Henrietta recalled, alchemists had labored in secret, and most refused to share their discoveries with anyone, fearing a nasty end that involved an axe or a burning stake.

A.J. noted that was one reason Sir Isaac Newton had found himself in a nasty feud with a German mathematician named Gottfried Leibniz over who had been the first to invent (discover?) calculus. The historical record in their world indicated Newton had discovered “the calculus” first, A.J. explained, but he had refused to publish it. Instead, Newton had shared it with a limited circle of friends for review and discussion.

As such, when Leibniz published his discovery of calculus some years later, Newton had thrown a fit and fell into full-blown paranoia, because he assumed someone with whom he’d shared his discovery had given it to the German, who had promptly stolen it as his own.

That was the current state of affairs, A.J. said, and the group noted that a couple of conversations in the café concerned exactly that controversy (everyone in the place firmly supported Newton’s claims), as well as the current war between Sweden, and the Russians allied with Holy Roman Empire.

(Apparently the Swedes were doing surprisingly well, and the Angevin Empire had decided to remain neutral due to some sort of situation in Spain.)

While Newton declined to share his work widely, Henrietta said, to some extent he was a bit of a throwback. During his life – at least the version of it they knew from their world – Dee and some of his correspondents began to refer to what they called, “The Invisible College.”

This consisted of correspondence between learned scholars in which they discussed their investigations, in an effort to validate findings and prevent the loss of knowledge. This had grown in the decades following Dee’s death, A.J. said, and eventually included private meetings of scholars in various cities throughout Europe – especially in protestant London, far away from the prying eyes of the Holy Roman Catholic Church.

As such, it operated almost as if it were a university – but one with neither buildings, libraries nor any other property; nor, in fact, salaried professors or paying students. In effect, it acted as an “invisible college” to keep its members safe from the fear-driven violence of the ignorant.

Eventually, the “invisible” college went public, the trio of scientists explained, and became the Royal Society. Each of them had learned the story as undergrads in classes on the history of science. The shift to open publication had played such a key role in the development of modern scientific methodology, they explained, and the Royal Society played a key role in that transition.

(continued...)

[tshiggins]

(...continued)

Under the circumstances, the rest of the group agreed that Dee’s lodge almost certainly lay embedded within the Royal Society and, if not, then it had members in both. Given that likelihood, they simply had to figure out a way to make contact.

Right about then, the group heard distant church bells strike four o’clock, and the Strand got even busier as people in the various shops and offices stepped out for tea-time.

Once they realized what was happening, the group hastily paid their bill, stepped outside and spread up and down the street. Soon, they saw the doors to the Royal Society buildings open, and four well-dressed gentlemen stepped out and began to walk down the street.

Soon, they made their way into a large, busy café, followed by Amanda, Frank and Aurelia, and took up what appeared to be a customary table. Amanda went to round up the rest of the group as Frank and Aurelia took a table nearby, and the remaining members of the Red Rocks Lodge trickled into the café in pairs and trios.

The group quickly noted that scholars comprised a large proportion of the clientele, and many stared openly at the presence of so many women. However, most seemed willing to keep to themselves, and the hubbub of conversation continued with little interruption as the ladies made their way inside.

A.J., Henrietta and Claudia joined Frank, Aurelia and Amanda, while the rest of the group took a couple of other tables nearby. Soon, they had steaming cups of coffee tea, and pots of butter and jam had arrived to accompany heaping baskets of scones.

The group sipped and nibbled and discussed inconsequential things as they pretended they weren’t listening to the members of the society. This didn’t get much notice, as most of the sippers and nibblers at the other tables were doing the same thing.

The members were apparently continuing a conversation about a “young prodigy” named Samuel Molyneux, who had submitted an interesting proposal to study something called, “the aberration of light” by pointing telescopes at a bright star. A.J. blinked in astonishment as he realized they were talking about an astronomer who, in the history of their world, had made tremendous breakthroughs in measurements of the “wobble” in the Earth’s rotation.

As he leaned forward and explained this to the rest of the group, they decided they had to make contact. After kicking around some ideas about how best to do that, Beatrice suggested they simply talk about the same subject.

After all, Beatrice noted, A.J. actually had a doctorate in 21st Century astronomy, and Claudia held hers in Physics. They didn’t want to reveal too much, she said – just enough to get the attention of those at the next table.

A.J. thought that over carefully, and then dropped a few comments in Latin (which he’d learned to speak) about how such measurements might be made to work better, and immediately drew the interest of the Royal Society fellows. They asked him a question or two, and he answered very carefully, fearing he would betray too much anachronistic knowledge.

At that point, Claudia made a few comments in Greek to Henrietta about the “Orbital Realm of Jupiter,” and both Frank and Aurelia saw the faces of two of the fellows suddenly go blank, while the other two kept chatting with A.J.

Elated, Aurelia and Frank whispered that the group should disperse to the street at the end of tea-time, while she, Frank and Amanda stayed behind to try to make contact. Within about 10 minutes or so, tea-time began to wind down, and A.J. exchanged names with the recently inducted Dr. Patrick Blair, as well as one William Tempest.

The other two fellows, Thomas Rawlinson and Brook Taylor, ordered another round of tea and said they’d meet the other pair a bit later. Blair and Tempest took their leave and headed out, followed by much of the crowd – including most members of the Red Rocks Lodge.

As the place cleared out, Amanda took up station near the entrance, in case she, Frank and Aurelia needed to skedaddle. Once she was in place, Aurelia leaned over toward Rawlinson and Taylor and said, in 21st Century American English, “’Sup?”

Both men’s faces turned to stone for a moment, and the Rawlinson distinctly said, “We’re rockin’.”

Frank and Aurelia immediately came to full alert, and the former Grand County High School art teacher carefully reached into her bodice and pulled out the amulet given to her two years previously, by JoBeth Catherine McShane.

The two fellows of the Royal Society recognized it, immediately, and promptly suggested they repair to the private chambers of the society. Aurelia signaled Amanda, who strode quickly outside and began to round up the other members of the Red Rocks Lodge.

By the time the quartet made it to the street, the other seven from Moab began to converge on the society’s buildings. As the others drew near, Taylor and Rawlinson noticed them and stopped dead. That, in turn, drew the attention of the gate attendants, who also came fully alert.

Frank and Aurelia hastily reassured them that every one was a member of the Red Rocks Lodge, and had come to investigate the disappearances.

Stunned, Taylor asked if the entire lodge had traveled to them, and Frank replied that, except for a couple of people left behind to manage other interests, the whole group had come to help. Taylor asked how they’d gotten there, and A.J., who had just walked up, replied they “came in the back door,” via the Orbital Realm of Jupiter.

The flabbergasted Taylor stared for a long moment, recovered himself, and then ushered them inside. Once there, he took the nine members of the Red Rocks Lodge upstairs past the perplexed staff, until they reach the parquet floors and paneled walls of the third story (which, in England, is called the “second” floor).

As they arrived, several burly (but tastefully attired) servants made their presence known, and Frank immediately identified them as security. However, the visitors moved down the hallway without incident, and soon arrived in a parlor where Rawlinson and Taylor urged them to make themselves comfortable.

A few minutes later, the door opened, and in stepped Millicent “Missy” Brown and Roger Vaughan, of the Columbine Lodge of Denver.

Aurelia’s glee upon them rapidly turned to consternation, as she remembered the last time she spoke to Millicent, a few months before they left on the long journey that led them here.

Millicent had told the Red Rocks Lodge, at that time, that she had visited the astral realm of Yetzirah for her first faceting, but problems had arisin on the far side of the portal beneath Paris.

She had asked for permission to use the Dark Canyon portal for her second faceting, as the portal beneath Paris had become too dangerous, because of the disappearances on this side.

With that, the session ended.

##

In the interests of full disclosure, I read back through some of my earlier posts about the early 18th Century world of the Angevin Empire. Most of that stuff was written nearly two years ago (!) now, and I’ve done more development of that world, since.

Fortunately, I mostly remembered what I’d written, before, and little of this disagrees with that. The main difference was the name of Dee’s patron. I originally used the name Elizabeth I (just not Elizabeth I of the House of Tudor), but the more I read, the more I realized that was not a Plantagenet name.

So, Elizabeth I became Eleanor II, when I read about the “Court of Love” created by Eleanor of Aquitaine. Given the rich development of English culture under Elizabeth (due, in part, to a steadily expanding web of world trade that took place during her long reign), a Plantagenet Eleanor who drew inspiration from such a famous ancestor made for a pleasing parallel.

Everything else, including the injury (instead of death) of Richard, and his subsequent adoption of Arthur and the disavowal of John pretty much matches most, “Angevin Empire! Heck yeah!” alt histories.

As I read through the previous posts, I also noted that I had not written up the details about the disappearances on the 1711 side. I’d made references to growing problems, but neglected to mention the nature of the difficulties, in the write-ups.

The players all knew, and the faceting of Millicent and Roger got mentioned in passing in a session shortly following the treaty between Don Maximo, and the agreement drafted between the then “Friends of Olivia Lodge,” the Columbine Lodge and Chicago’s Goldenrod Circle, after the group had cleared out the rape spirit.

The group learned, at that time, that one reason the North American lodges had such a keen interest in the presence of the Dark Canyon portal was that travelers from Paris to London, in the then-1711 world, had begun to disappear. During that time, the Columbine Lodge arranged for Millicent and Roger to travel through the Dark Canyon portal, rather than risk the trip through the Paris portal.

The agreement to conduct the investigation, combined with the desire to take Sunmi to Shangri-La via the gate in the 1919 Hamalayas, prompted the theft of the dirigible that became the Paradise.

##

Funny Quotes

Frank: We either overpay, or kill, everyone we meet! We’ll never blend in!

(Aurelia sees the painting of the striking Eleanor II.)
Aurelia: Queen Eleanor Two is a fairy!

Bennie Rae (OOC): Wait. Did you say, “King Joffrey”?
Tisa(OOC): That’s what I thought I heard!

Aurelia: Can I go steal stuff from the British Museum?
Beatrice: No! Bad kitty!

Steven: We’re suspicious because we exist.

Aurelia: I don’t want to steal another airship, if you’re going to just blow up my airships!

Frank: We’re always where we’re supposed to be. We’re just lost.

##

[evileeyore]

Originally Posted by tshiggins

... nonplussed ...

I always have to remember that modern US authors use the colloquial of this word and not the proper definition. It's always jarring as I'm literarily more familiar the proper definition, which is the opposite of the US colloquial use.

Literally, everytime I encounter this word in print I have to stop and check who I'm reading to make sure I've that got the correct definition in mind.

Originally Posted by tshiggins

In the interests of full disclosure, I read back through some of my earlier posts about the early 18th Century world of the Angevin Empire. Most of that stuff was written nearly two years ago (!) now, and I’ve done more development of that world, since.

One of the reasons I never run alternative histories is this. The level of attention to detail exceeds my desire to invest.

But, inversely, when done well by another, my enjoyment of their work dramatically increases when they go deep like this:

"The members were apparently continuing a conversation about a “young prodigy” named Samuel Molyneux, who had submitted an interesting proposal to study something called, “the aberration of light” by pointing telescopes at a bright star. A.J. blinked in astonishment as he realized they were talking about an astronomer who, in the history of their world, had made tremendous breakthroughs in measurements of the “wobble” in the Earth’s rotation.

...

... A.J. actually had a doctorate in 21st Century astronomy..."

Drawing in not only obscure subjects (admittedly it fits into your groups wheelhouse, but still) but looping them tightly into a character's chosen niche?

Bravo!

Frank: We’re always where we’re supposed to be. We’re just lost.

I think Frank has successfully sloganed this campaign from start to current...

[tshiggins]

Originally Posted by evileeyore

I always have to remember that modern US authors use the colloquial of this word and not the proper definition. It's always jarring as I'm literarily more familiar the proper definition, which is the opposite of the US colloquial use.

Literally, everytime I encounter this word in print I have to stop and check who I'm reading to make sure I've that got the correct definition in mind.

Yeah. The way it gets used, here, equates to, "at a loss for words or ideas," or "confounded."

Originally Posted by evileeyore

One of the reasons I never run alternative histories is this. The level of attention to detail exceeds my desire to invest.

But, inversely, when done well by another, my enjoyment of their work dramatically increases when they go deep like this:

"The members were apparently continuing a conversation about a “young prodigy” named Samuel Molyneux, who had submitted an interesting proposal to study something called, “the aberration of light” by pointing telescopes at a bright star. A.J. blinked in astonishment as he realized they were talking about an astronomer who, in the history of their world, had made tremendous breakthroughs in measurements of the “wobble” in the Earth’s rotation.

...

... A.J. actually had a doctorate in 21st Century astronomy..."

Drawing in not only obscure subjects (admittedly it fits into your groups wheelhouse, but still) but looping them tightly into a character's chosen niche?

Bravo!

I enjoy playing a fun character in a RPG, but for me the greatest attraction lies in the world-building. In addition, my educational background gives me a lot of tools to play with when it comes to history and alternate history, and I've been reading sci-fi and fantasy -- as well as mythology and comparative religions -- for decades, now.

This campaign, with its dimension-hopping, and Ken Hite's brilliant take on wainscot magic and hidden mystical realms, has tremendous appeal. While the integration is not seamless (I'm not Hite), it has gone surprisingly well, because the rules of reality differ so much between the real, material universes and the inner realms.

Every character -- and this campaign has an ungawdly number of PCs -- has a way to shine.

I probably have mentioned this in the thread, once or twice in the past five years, but Anten and I sometimes take a step back and look at how things have gone. He noted, once, that this campaign has used a wider variety of skills than any campaign he's ever seen, and I have to agree.

Best of all, I didn't even really plan it that way. It just sorta... happened.

Part of it is that I took to heart Lisa Steele's advice in GURPS: Mysteries about figuring out multiple ways to move a story forward.

Just because the solution to a puzzle is obvious to you, as the GM who created it, doesn't mean it will be the players who walk into it, blind. Every mystery needs multiple means by which the players can get the information they need, or use the skills available to them, to uncover the next clue, or figure out the next step.

The fact that I have so many players, whose characters have such a wide variety of skills, really means I have a lot of tools to work with.

In this particular session, it had been so long since they started on this quest/journey/investigation, that they'd kinda lost track of the goal.

Once I nudged them back on the right track, they started moving forward nicely, and Bernetta's idea to drop some hints that only members of the Cabal would recognize really was a stroke of genius.

Originally Posted by evileeyore

I think Frank has successfully sloganed this campaign from start to current...

This is Mike's first ever RPG, and it's not something that was ever a part of his life, as a kid. As such, his observations about it sometimes come from a place we're not used to, as long-time table-top RPG fans.

They're occasionally quite insightful, and usually pretty funny.

[SionEwig]

I agree with evileeyore, bravo on the session and on the players actions, well done by all.

[tshiggins]

Originally Posted by SionEwig

I agree with evileeyore, bravo on the session and on the players actions, well done by all.

It took 'em long enough, but they may have finally learned some subtlety, if not quite finesse. :)

[SionEwig]

Originally Posted by tshiggins

It took 'em long enough, but they may have finally learned some subtlety, if not quite finesse. :)

It only took them how many sessions and how many years? ;-)