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Old 04-14-2018, 11:23 PM   #311
tshiggins
 
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Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Denver, Colorado
Default Re: Campaign: Facets

(...continued)

BRITISH BLIMP WILL TRY TO REACH THE AZORES

Angra de Heroismo, Ilha Terceira, Azores. June 17. — Active preparations for reception of the British dirigible, City of Cardiff, which is expected here Sunday were begun today with the construction of ten concrete blocks, each seven feet square and eight feet deep to which the airship will be moored. An open meadow east of the city has been selected as the landing place, as there is no hangar in the Portuguese island territory for the airship, which is 120 feet long from nose to stern. The dirigible will start from England next Friday. The trip from England to the main island of the Azores is expected to take fifty hours. If the weather is favorable, the course will approximately remain over the open sea, but if storms are sighted, the dirigible will remain closer to land. Present plans calls for only an overnight stay of eight or ten hours if the craft can be re-fueled and filled up for her return journey in that period of time. The voyage marks the longest trip ever attempted by an airship, and critics have questioned whether the non-rigid design of the City of Cardiff is robust enough for such a trip.

Our 15th Anniversary On June 13, 1919, the Hammer-Zebulon Mercantile company was incorporated by Philip Zebulon. The business, which had been established several years before, had been growing so rapidly that additions were constantly being made, and Pueblo has witnessed its phenomenal growth to its present position as the largest department store in Colorado, south of Denver. In order that the company may show its appreciation of the patronage it has enjoyed it is arranging this Anniversary Sale for your benefit. Remarkable reductions have been made in all departments. Remarkable values are being given on merchandise. It has been the object of the management of the company to give its friends and customers courteous service, unequalled values and fair treatment. The patronage that has come to Hammer-Zebulon as a result fully warrants the company in making this fifteenth Anniversary Sale one of the big mercantile events in the history of the city. ANNIVERSARY SALE SPECIALS in Women’s and Misses Wearing Apparel. 25 per cent Discount on all Suits, Dresses and Waists. ANNIVERSARY SALE on all Silks, Mossalinos and Taffetas at 20 per cent off. This includes Delding’s Satin Linings in grey, navy, purple and black. ANNIVERSARY SALE on all Children’s Liberty Belle Dresses. You will have to see them to appreciate their values. 15 per cent Discount. SALE ON ALL TRIMMED HATS—One lot at $5.00 Second lot $3.00. All Children’s Hats in the house in two lots at $2 and 05c Can you beat our Anniversary Special in Men’s Work Shirts? Dark blue Chambray, heavy weight. These shirts are $1.00 and $1.25 regular sellers everywhere. All sizes, no broken lines 50c each ANNIVERSARY SPECIAL 25c quality, special at Children’s .House. All SHEETS and PILLOW .CASES at 10 per cent Discount. 15% Discount on CALICOS—Dark and Light—5yds for $1.00 All Ladies House Dresses 15 per cent discount All KABO CORSETS on sale at 33 1/3 per cent Off. BOYS’ WASH and PLAY SUITS at 15 per cent Off. ALL RUGS AND FURNITURE AT 15 PER CENT DISCOUNT CANVAS GLOVES with leather palms and knit gauntlets at 25c a Pair. This is the best value on the market. MEN’S, WOMEN’S .and .CHILDREN'S UNDERWEAR, Summer & Fall weights at 15 per cent Discount. IN OUR GROCERY DEPT. ANNIVERSARY SALE of Schilling’s Rest Teas in Ceylon, English Breakfast, Oolong, and Japan at 70c per pound. IN OUR DRUG DEPT. ANNIVERSARY SPECIALS in Lily, Picnic packages (everything but the lunch) 30c per package. FISHING TACKLE—Complete line at 10 per cent discount. All Toilet Soaps on sale —reduced for this occasion. Many other articles that have been selected for this sale—too numerous to mention. THE HAMMER-ZEBULON MERC. CO

Heyman Jacobs Wreck Sale \ Needless to repeat the entire story -- but a few of the things that we haven’t mentioned before, might possibly be interesting and valuable news to many. MACKINAWS About V 2 Price Suppose you even put them aside till next winter-isn’t it worthwhile at these prices? $l5 Mackinaws for $10.50 $l3 Mackinaws for $9.50 $l2 Mackinaws for $8.00 $l0 Mackinaws for $7.00 One Lot Miner’s Shoes, 11inches high. Heel and Calf stock, also tan, all sizes. $7.50 values for $5.85 SHOES One Lot of Miner’s high cut 10-inch Tan Shoes, good stock, all sizes. $6.50 values for $4.95 One Lot Leather Bottom Rubber Boots, both knee $0.75 and hip length. Values up to $9.50 PAIR FOR $6 values for $3.25 Men’s Odd $5 values $4.75 Work Coats L One Lot Men’s High Cut TAN WORK SHOES, 8 inches $4.15 high, all sizes, $5.50 VALUES, SALE PRICE * RAINCOATS Complete line of Men’s Cravanetted Raincoats during this sale 40 % Off the plainly marked prices Sweater Coats and Jersey Sweaters 25% to 50% OK $5.00 Sweater Coats for $3.00 Sweater Coats for $4.00 $2.50 GLOVES $1.75 —INSTEAD OF $3.00. Fine horsehide gauntlets, for firemen and smeltermen. $3.25 —INSTEAD OF $3.60. Fine Buckskin aiding Gauntlets, all sizes, $2.00 —INSTEAD OF $3.00, for Men's Fine “ Horsehide Gloves, genteel and durable. $1.75 —INSTEAD OF $2.50 for Men's Horsehide Gloves, Indian Tan; one of the host work gloves made. $1.50 —INSTEAD OF $1.75, for Men's Horsehide Gloves, that cannot be duplicated to sell under $2.00 a pair or more.

Silver & Lead Claims FOR LEASE SIX MINING CLAIMS IN BLACKHAWK MINING DISTRICT. PARTLY DEVELOPED WITH OVER 600 FEET OF TUNNEL SHOWING RICH SILVER AND LEAD ORE. The Mandy May Milling and Mining Co. MARSHALL, INDIANA

Cherry Day, June 21. The city of Fowler will hold its annual Cherry Day on Saturday, June 21. The celebration will be bigger and better than ever, and the people of Pueblo and soldiers stationed there are cordially invited to join in the celebration. The regimental band of the 357th Infantry will furnish harmony during June 21 and 22. There will be baseball games, swimming pool, bicycle races steer roping, bronco busting, cowboy races, dancing, etc. Cherries and cream. Everything free. Come!

RUSSIAN LAW SANCTIONS PRACTICE OF WIFE BEATING
London. June 17. -- Henry DeLasalle, author of a work on Romany, told an audience at Holburn the other day that “wife beating is quite common among the Russian middle and upper classes and that the law of Russia sanctions it. “I once stayed a few days in the house of a St. Petersburg merchant,’’ said the speaker, “and one evening heard issuing from a room upstairs a woman’s cries and the sound of blows. Presently my host appeared and I asked him the cause of the commotion. “I have just been giving my wife her Saturday thrashing.’ he said. He added that he administered the punishment every week and whether she deserved it or not. “You must never let your wife forgot that you are her lord and master.’ declared the Russian, rubbing his hands with evident satisfaction.”

PERSONAL MENTION

C. A. Marty, a former resident of Pueblo and local sales manager of the Colorado Power Co., who left here two years ago for Denver, is in town this week on a business trip, accompanied by his wife. Dr. Grant and wife are back in town after an absence of several years. Dr. Grant is one of the old timers in the professional world in Pueblo having practiced as a dentist here for many years. Dr. and Mrs. Grant are here only for a short time. They came up on a pleasure trip, merely to look over the well-remembered scenes, see the changes brought by the war, and visit with old-time friends. Mrs. Grant laughingly says that she guesses they never will be able to stay away from Pueblo. They will probably return to Denver sometime next week.

Wholesome Food Keeps the Children Well! Dr. Price’s Cream Baking Powder is made from Cream of Tartar derived from grapes, a delicious, healthful fruit, and that is why it produces wholesome food, superior in texture and keeping quality. Prudent mothers avoid cheap baking powders because they frequently contain alum, a mineral acid. No matter how much they are urged to change, they stick to Dr. PRICE’S CREAM BAKING POWDER Contains No Alum—Leaves No Bitter Taste

Don’t Forget the Date of the Next Big Dance! Wednesday, 7 o’clock. Program will be furnished this time. Admission $1.00 a couple, extra ladies 25c. A good time guaranteed to all. The last dance was such a success, don’t forget the date. June 18th, to dance to the music of the Dixie Jazz Band. K. C. Stockhart will give one of these dances each week. The last dance was a big hit, this will he hotter. Dancing starts at 7 o’clock and ends at 1 o’clock. Don’t forget!


Soldiers' Swear Words
Despite the chaplains, the men developed the habit of swearing; soldiers always have. War requires emphatic expression. It destroys flexibility of expression—and “damn” and ‘‘hell” do seem the fullest description of a soldier’s occupation. ‘‘It’s an innocent kind of swearing, though,” said a chaplain. “It does not really blaspheme, and the men will fall out of the habit when they return home. They don’t do It in a chaplain’s presence—unless they are under fire, when chaplains are too busy to attend to such details.” They do not swear in the presence of ladies, least of all in the hospitals where they are ministered to by those hard working, practical, noble army nurses who submit to discipline as sharp as that of the men, and where the soldiers learn to appreciate womanhood at its best.

(continued...)
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Old 04-14-2018, 11:24 PM   #312
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Default Re: Campaign: Facets

(...continued)

(Seriously hating the character limit, today...)

CRUISE-BIGGS MERCANTILE; Hand-Painted China A special lot of 150 pieces of fine Hand-Painted Nippon China, in: Cake Plates, Olive Dishes, Bon Bon Dishes, Pickle Dishes, Spoon Trays, Sandwich Trays and Sugar and Creamers Special for Friday 95c each Sale Starts at 9 a.m. See Our Special Window Display. Good Things to Eat arriving daily -- EGGS 50c The Dozen.

Canning Cherries Beginning tomorrow (Thursday) we will receive large dally shipments of Early Cherries from the orchards of the Arkansas Valley. If you want cherries for canning, then come on in. OPEN TILL 8:00 P. M. J. W. Corcoran

###

(Sigh. A third post for two more advertisements. :p)
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Old 04-15-2018, 05:14 AM   #313
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Default Re: Campaign: Facets

Quote:
Originally Posted by tshiggins View Post
The trip from England to the main island of the Azores is expected to take fifty hours. ... The voyage marks the longest trip ever attempted by an airship, and critics have questioned whether the non-rigid design of the City of Cardiff is robust enough for such a trip.
Well, they can't say they weren't warned.
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Old 05-25-2018, 09:51 AM   #314
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Default Re: Campaign: Facets

The last session of Facets took place awhile back. The group saw the reunion with an old friend, the reappearance of a couple of old problems, and the beginnings of a Cunning Plan™. We've also held another session since this one, but fortunately I have a four-day weekend. Hopefully, I'll get caught up.

##

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 session)

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

Randy "Random" Shoop -- a twenty-something, semi-pro mountain-bike competitor who has trouble staying focused, but is basically a good and reliable member of the team, with an unexpectedly strong moral character – Currently in NPC mode.

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.

##

Frank Moses scratched the thick beard he’d grown during the cold late winter and early spring months in the base camp the Friends of Olivia Lodge had set up on the 1918 side of the portal. It had served him well, here, in the colder winter of this world with its retarded rate of industrial development. Between the streams in the canyon and the water condenser Beatrice had brought over a few months back, he’d kept himself clean enough that his old gunnery sergeant would have had minimal complaint.

Still, the air of early June had definitely started to warm up in the desert of what was Utah in his own world, but here claimed (though hardly governed…) by La Colonia de Nova España – the Colony of New Spain. The warmer days made the beard less necessary, even though the nights remained quite cool in the shaded base-camp, high up the side of the canyon in an open-mouthed cave that still held the sandstone ruins of an Ancestral Pueblan cliff-dwelling.

The “ruins” remained in remarkably good shape, and he’d integrated them into the well-supplied base camp, with its sturdy Tuff Sheds, raised tent pads, stone-lined firepits, heavy-duty grill, and pallet-rack shelving along the back of the cavern.

He’d also built his own magical “sacred space” in a smaller cave, nearby, but rarely used it. Generally speaking, he trusted his rifles more, even should he have to defend himself against his monstrous neighbors.

Not that Izzy and Heck had ever been anything other than reasonably friendly, in a fatalistic sort of way. Vampiric blood-slaves they might be, but the blood of animals (mostly) slaked their unnatural thirsts, and a couple of shots of whiskey, now and then, slaked their more mundane appetites (Izzy’s supernatural transformation seemed to have largely cured the health problems associated with his alcoholism…).

To be honest, Frank couldn’t tell if their morose outlook and sometimes-ghastly humor came from their semi-undead condition, or from their past as the poverty-stricken remnants of the once-proud Apache people. Although not consigned to reservations, as in his world, the First People of this world’s version of North America had suffered the same ravages of disease and loss of land to technologically superior colonizers.

Frank found far more disturbing the two most recent arrivals, Corporal Ben Greene and Sergeant Abraham Lancaster, formerly of the 15th U.S. Cavalry, but now possessed by cannibalistic spirits that had begun to transform them into the ogre-like monstrosities called “tsiants” in the more horrific stories of the folklore of the American Indians of the Desert Southwest.

Not that Frank feared them, particularly; his combination of a little magic and a lot of ammunition, as well as Heck and Izzy’s interest in continued access to civilized comforts, meant he didn’t worry about attacks. But, the notion that two decent American soldiers – albeit not soldiers from his America – could be captured by a supernatural enemy, and then used as victims in an horrific rite that fed their souls to monsters, gave him some sleepless nights in the four weeks since they’d arrived.

Nor had Frank been completely convinced when his former 4CSAR teammates arrived through the portal, about 10 days ago, and discussed the matter with him. Yeah, it was good to reach a peaceful accommodation with the Spanish sorcerer, Don Maximo Luis Romero de la Ventura, than to get into yet another deadly feud with yet another lodge about which they knew little. Still, the former Utah state trooper struggled with the notion that the price of that peace had been the possessed souls of two men guilty of nothing more than being in the wrong place, at the wrong time.

Of course, all of those internal ruminations promptly vanished in the bright light of morning when he turned around from pouring himself a fresh cup of coffee, to see two large magpies hopping along the sandstone wall he’d built along the top of the cliff, at the mouth of the cave.

Sure enough, in the blink of an eye, the magpies transformed themselves into two 18-inch miniatures of young American Indian women, and the nunnupi who called herself Hops About greeted him with a cheerful, “Ya ta hey, Frank!”

Frank greeted them cautiously, in return, and noted that the two faerie women had apparently come up a bit, in whatever world they currently hailed from. Rather than the beaded buckskin’s they’d worn the last time he’d seen them, Frank noted they now wore doll-sized beaded dresses with delicate patterns woven in threads of gray, blue, black and white that nicely complemented their inky-black hair and pale complexions.

Their equipment reflected the cool colors, as well. The bows they bore, though still tiny, looked stronger than those they’d replaced, and now bore delicate filigree tracery, as did the matching quivers. The two bone handles of their knives looked familiar, but not the evergreen-colored scabbards hanging from the dark gray belts with blue buckles, around their tiny waists, or the matching boots fitted snugly on their feet.

Hops About asked Frank if he’d seen Doc Bascher, recently, and Frank acknowledged that she’d come through the portal when it had opened, more than a week past. However, he said that she and the rest of the group had headed east, toward the mountains, on an extended exploration trip.

(continued...)
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"Some days, I just don't know what to think." -Daryl Dixon.

Last edited by tshiggins; 12-01-2019 at 07:03 PM.
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Old 05-25-2018, 09:52 AM   #315
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(...continued)

The other nunnupi, Circles Thrice frowned in frustration, as Hops About announced the two faerie sisters had been charged with delivering a message to Doc Bascher and the rest of the Friends of Olivia Lodge. They said the fey lord to whom they’d traded the favors owed to them by the lodge had asked the nunnupi to inform the group of the trade, and to let them know he would pay a call upon them “soon” to collect on the debt.

Aghast, Frank asked them for more information about the transaction, but Hops About said she couldn’t disclose anything more and promptly clammed up. Circles Thrice, for her part, never really said much of anything, anyway, and just blinked at him when Frank asked the question.

Once Frank realized he wouldn’t get anything more, he decided to set out in pursuit of the rest of the group, so as to pass the message along. Wishing to travel light, he dressed in clothing that mostly matched what they’d seen worn locally, took nothing more than what would fit on a single horse, and set out after the party the next morning.

Since he already knew the general direction of travel, Frank ran into a few of the same people, along the way. He saw the poor Apache tribe, at a distance, approached them when he noticed them with trade goods obviously acquired from his colleagues, and got an update on the general direction of travel. He reached the mountains, soon enough, and since his path lay well to the east of the Camino Real del Norte, he encountered no roving patrols of either U.S. or Spanish cavalry.

However, once the trail began to rise into the mountains, the trip became rather less pleasant. The weather turned cold and wet, and Frank’s travel began to slow. As he began cross the mountains at the southern edge of what would be South Park, in his world, Frank’s horse stumbled, badly, and began to favor one leg.

Fortunately, the experienced outdoorsman managed to avoid any direct harm to himself as the weather stayed nasty, and did his best to nurse his horse through the Rockies. Frank did note the likely presence of a sizeable Indian settlement to his south, but steered well clear of it; stumbled across the site of the trading camp, but everybody had cleared out; and finally reached the trail that led up to Monarch Pass.

As Frank looked up at the pass, with its steep trail up into shredded gray clouds and gusty winds, he realized his horse likely wouldn’t make the crossing.

At that point, Hops About and Circles Thrice put in another appearance and offered to heal Frank’s horse. Not wishing to make yet another deal with the fae, Frank declined the offer. The two nunnupi laughed merrily at the rejection, noted that if he needed anything he could just call for them, transformed back into magpies, and disappeared into the pines to hunt for ants.

Instead, the former Utah State Trooper buried tote-bags that held what he couldn’t carry, turned his horse loose, and began the trudge to the tree-line. Fortunately, by making good time early on, and pushing his increasingly lame horse as much as he dared, Frank had closed within a couple of days behind the rest of the group.

The climb up the pass by foot, although arduous, mostly proved more tedious than anything for a man of Frank’s experience and good physical condition. He spent the night high up the trail; crossed the pass, proper, early the next day; began his descent down toward the prairie; and walked into horror.

As Frank reached a particularly narrow section of the downward trail, he found the site of a slaughter. The bodies of more than a dozen men he quickly identified as U.S. Cavalry troops lay shot along the rail, with several more scattered further down. Many of those had been scalped. He found another six professionally bandaged and bound to trees, but with sliced throats.

The former police detective began to survey the scene, and slowly began to deduce the facts. Many of those shot had been killed with either automatic or semi-automatic weapons fire; others had been killed by arrows or crossbow bolts. All bullets had been surgically removed, and the wounds of the living bandaged by a professional.

Additionally, he found where two people who had been tied up worked their way loose, and his experience with forensics told him that they had cut the throats of those not killed by weapons fire. He also found the bodies of two people who bore tattoos commonly sported by White Supremacist motorcycle gangs and recognized the bodies that had hosted the two cat warriors.

Frank knew who had killed the troopers, and why he found no signs that their assailants had suffered any harm, whatsoever.

As the sickened former cop reached his conclusion, and began to prepare to move on, he looked down the pass and saw, about a half-mile away, a troop of about six U.S. Cavalry troopers headed up in his direction. Frank decided to remain at the site, and gave the horrified soldiers a quiet greeting as the hooves of their horses scattered the crows.

In response to their shocked questions, Frank mostly stuck to the truth. He said he’d just arrived, himself, but had seen no one on the western trail who might have done this deed. He explained that he’d been on his way to Pueblo, to get away from the war on the Western Slope, but his horse had gone lame at the base of the pass and he’d decided to cross on foot.

The sergeant in charge of the detachment said it looked like the attack had happened three or four days, previously, and said Frank might have just missed getting murdered, himself. The trooper did say his men had seen signs, below and to the east, that a sizeable group had passed about the time of the killings, and said he suspected they may have done the deed.

Thinking quickly, Frank asked if he could ride along with one of the troopers until they reached a safe place. The sergeant agreed, and said Frank could ride with the smallest man. However, before anybody went anywhere, he said, the bodies needed to be covered with stones, so as to keep the scavengers off until the troopers could return with enough men and animals to retrieve them.

Frank volunteered to help, and the troops welcomed his assistance with the grisly, heart-breaking task. By early afternoon, the sergeant declared they’d done enough, had Frank mount behind the smallest troop, had another man take his pack, and the group headed back down to the east, as fast as they dared. The sergeant pushed on, into the evening, and the troop reached a military base located near to where Cañon City would be.

Pretending to be more tired than he was, and carefully lying a lot, Frank sat through the debriefing about what he’d observed at the scene of the attack. He apparently did well enough to convince the base commander and senior officers that he didn’t know anything (they had little reason to think he might…), and gratefully accepted their offer of a hot meal and a bunk for the night.

The Reveille bugle (a real one) woke Frank about an hour before dawn, and he soon made his way outside to see a large cavalry troop gathering to head back up the pass. As he sipped a hot tin cup of terrible (by Starbucks standards) coffee offered by an enlisted cook, one of the officers walked up and asked Frank his destination.

The footsore adventurer said he still needed to reach Pueblo, and the man said supply wagons made regular trips down to the nearby train depot. If he liked, the officer said, Frank could hop on the back of a wagon for a ride that far.

Frank gladly accepted the offer, and within about an hour stood on a platform as a coal-burning locomotive pulled to a stop. Less than two hours later, he hiked his heavy pack up on one shoulder and disembarked the train at the busy, bustling station on the northern edge of Pueblo, Colorado, in mid-June of the year, 1919.

The 21st Century former cop exited the station and soon stood on the busy streets of a town that looked like something out of an old movie. He saw a few vehicles that somewhat resembled Model T autos, but the streets were mostly filled with Conestoga wagons and other large freight transports, as well as old, rattling buckboards, regular equestrians on beasts of all qualities, and even a few horse-drawn trams on shiny rails.

A bit lost as to where to head next, Frank spent a few minutes looking around, listened for the sounds of a fight or gunfire and, hearing none, asked a nearby paper-boy where to find some of the nicer hotels.

The kid eyed him skeptically, for a moment, but then told Frank most of the nicer places lay close by, while the southern part of town, past the iron foundries, held the cheaper places that catered to soldiers and other such clients.

Armed with that information, Frank spent the next hour, or so, making inquiries at various hotels and, shortly before noon, knocked on the door to Henrietta’s suite. A surprised Randy and Sunmi (in NPC mode, so left behind to keep an eye on things) let him in and got him fed, and said the rest of the group had gone out to do some research about the nearby dirigible base, as well as the general history of this world.

Later in the afternoon the rest of the group wandered in after the day’s activities to find Frank waiting patiently. As soon as they all got back, the former cop and former U.S. Marine promptly blew his stack about the slaughter of the cavalry troop he’d stumbled upon, the previous day.

Beatrice took issue with his complaint, noting that while the troops had been U.S. soldiers, they weren’t soldiers from their United States, and this world’s U.S.A. wasn’t that great a place.

(continued...)
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Old 05-25-2018, 09:54 AM   #316
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Default Re: Campaign: Facets

(...continued)

Frank bought none of that argument, noting that their United States hadn’t been that wonderful, either, 100 years in their past, but it had been about the best place around, at the time, and the U.S.A. of this world seemed the least bad place this world had to offer.

At that point, A.J. stepped in to explain to Frank about the qlippoth and noted that seizure of their firearms might have resulted in the death of this entire world and everything in it. Rather than risk that, Arthur said, they’d had no choice but to kill two dozen troopers to save the lives of, potentially, hundreds of millions.

Mollified to some extent, by that argument, Frank nonetheless argued that, with better preparation, the group might have avoided the whole situation. With that, he pulled from its leather case the rifle he’d carried across the mountains – a top-quality, 21st Century replica of a Winchester New Model 1873 lever-action rifle, built of modern materials capable of withstanding the extra pressure of ammunition that used nitrocellulose propellant.

The argument wound down, after that, and the group asked Frank why he’d decided to join them. Frank responded with the news about the surprise reappearance of Hops About and Circles Thrice. The former cop said he thought it quite likely the two lethally-mischievous nunnupi had followed him across the mountains, since they’d specifically asked about Doc Bascher.

The rest of the group took a few moments to digest that bit of wonderfulness, and then updated Frank with the information they’d discovered about the world’s history, in general, and the dirigible base, in particular. Frank dug into the details and checked out the quick map Aurelia had drawn of what she could see of the base, and Doc Bascher related what she’d accomplished at the hospital.

That brought Frank up to speed, and he noted that the large garrison of troops who served as airship ground crewmen meant the group couldn’t blast their way into the dirigible base. A.J. agreed and said that meant they had to figure out a way to sneak in at least enough people to crew an airship, somehow get it out of the hangar, and get it launched, before anyone knew they had no authorization to do so.

(Frank might hot have been pleased with some of the party’s recent activities, but accepted without question the desirability of getting a voodoo goddess out of Sunmi, as well as the advantage an airship might offer for operations in an 18th Century France analog, if used carefully.)

The need for a subtle approach meant they needed to find a way in that didn’t involve violence, and that meant the group had to know more about who had access, how the base got its supplies, and how it handled emergencies. Moreover, they also needed to learn more about how secret orders moved around in a world without complex computer encryption or the ability for paired digital radios to jump to identical random frequencies when transmitting such encrypted messages.

A.J., the engineer, thought of the technological approach. He and Claudia (who had skills in TL 8 encryption, which helped) decided to tap into the telegraph lines to learn what they could. For his part, Frank thought it likely this world’s U.S. military used human couriers to ensure encrypted orders reached intended recipients.

The group also decided they needed intel about the train depot south of town located closest to the dirigible base, and Doc Bascher pointed out that, even if they did figure out a way in, whomever infiltrated would need uniforms and paperwork that looked convincing.

With that, the group split up to accomplish different tasks. A.J. and Claudia found an isolated stretch of telegraph line that paralleled the train tracks north of town. With minimal effort, they tapped into the lines and A.J. programmed his computer to log the dots and dashes, as Claudia listened to the clicks.

This proved useful, as traffic analysis quickly revealed a tremendous amount of military traffic flowed from Denver, where Gen. Douglas MacArthur had his headquarters, down to the Rio Cimarron Front.

After several days of listening, Claudia and A.J. began to learn how to filter through the morass of traffic and focus in only on the messages that passed between the Pueblo area, and Denver. Eventually, Claudia identified what had to be code terms embedded in seemingly innocuous messages that might indicate proper receipt of written materials, because those seemed to elicit acknowledgements from regional military command.

However, since the messages were pretty innocuous and the contents differed little from the normal civilian traffic, she had difficulty figuring out how the Denver military telegraphers knew which messages to acknowledge, of the thousands they received, every day.

Finally, after a couple of days, Claudia figured it out. After a week of constant listening, the Greek-American scientists had started to recognize certain patterns and cadences in how the dots and dashes got transmitted. For instance, messages varied in how long a “dash” click lasted, or how quick a “dot” followed a “dash.”

Suddenly, it occurred to her that the differences in the message “styles” actually came from individual differences in how particular telegraph operators used their keys. With that, Claudia realized that the recipients of the messages in Denver knew which messages carried real military traffic, because they knew how each of the senders used his or her telegraph keys.

The patterns and cadences of the dots and dashes, and not anything in the content, itself, told the recipients which carried important information, because the military telegraphers knew the unique “fists” of those operators responsible for military traffic.

That posed a dilemma for Claudia. The code schemes used by this world’s U.S. military barely qualified as child’s play for someone with knowledge of encryption and a 21st Century laptop (from which A.J. had removed the batteries, before he dropped the computer in a lead box for the trip through the portal), but replication of the unique “fists” of the operators would probably prove a lot tougher.

However, even listening in (once she figured out who to listen for) proved providential, when a small brush-fire was reported about 30 miles south Pueblo (apparently started by sparks from a passing train). Telegraph traffic about the incident spiked quickly, as reports of the blaze spread, and local responders requested additional assistance, and the military responded with engineers and support troops. As the incident wound down, Claudia heard a transmission of “all clear at the base,” because the fire had posed “no threat to operations,” and realized that had to come from the dirigible airfield.

Based on what she’d heard for more than a week, Claudia and A.J. deduced that the arrival at the base of anyone with encrypted orders would trigger an acknowledgement via telegraph, likely using a code word contained in the orders, themselves. Moreover, any acknowledgement must contain terms the operators in Denver knew to listen for, and come from a telegrapher with a transmission style recognized by the recipients.

Additionally, any incident at the base would be immediately reported by the military telegraph operator, who would summon reinforcements in a message that could be heard up and down the line.

For his part, Frank figured the military couriers likely used passenger trains to travel out of Denver. Based on what the group had learned in the few days before his arrival, the north-south trunk ran from as far north as the copper mines in Butte, Montana; down through Denver to Pueblo, and thence to Rio Cimarron front.

Additionally, Denver had connecting lines that ran east through what were likely Kansas cattle towns, if this world’s history paralleled their own, at least in part. After all, Frank reasoned, the Douglas MacArthur of their world might not have been the best of generals, but he was no fool, at all, and would almost certainly set up headquarters in or near a transportation hub.

So, Frank headed back up to the north end of town, and spent the next 10 days or so learning what he could of courier operations. His guess about the use of the trains proved correct, and he also found which saloons military personnel liked to frequent. Unfortunately, it seemed the couriers mostly used satchels shackled to their wrists, tended to avoid drinking while on duty, and mostly hung out in places that catered to military personnel.

Frank had briefly considered volunteering to act as a courier, knowing that civilians were sometimes used to carry messages more secretly than military personnel. However, he soon discarded that plan, and instead focused on how to get access to an encrypted message long enough to take a photograph, so Claudia could discover the encryption scheme, and Aurelia could learn the layout well enough to forge such documents.

The former police officer soon narrowed down the possibilities. If Aurelia and Claudia boarded an overnight train from Denver, they might be able use the “art teacher’s” lockpicking and pick-pocketing skills to temporarily lift the contents of a satchel long enough for Claudia to get photographs, and then return them before the courier noticed. If that took place in a train compartment while everyone slept, that at least minimized the random variables.

Alternatively, Aurelia could try to get a courier to follow her to a private place – perhaps a hotel room, or something -- and gain access to the documents in a hotel room, somewhere. However, everyone considered that much less preferable than just lifting the orders from a sleeping courier while on the train.

(continued...)
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Old 05-25-2018, 09:56 AM   #317
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Default Re: Campaign: Facets

(...continued)

As all this went on, Steve loaded a horse with some big canteens and some sandwiches, and headed south out of Pueblo. Once he reached the vicinity of the depot, donned a ghillie suit and found a location with a good view of the place used to drop supplies for the airbase that had arrived by train.

As expected, Steve saw a line of telegraph poles marching across the prairie toward the dirigible base to the east. The depot, itself, seemed a “no-frills” military affair, with a heavy-duty concrete platform and a number of Quonset huts used as warehouses, plus a livery stable and office buildings.

The former Marine Corps sniper watched for several days and saw a few supply deliveries. What appeared to be regular freight trains pulled off at one of the sidings, and often detached box-cars which the depot personnel unloaded at leisure. For smaller loads, the train crew opened up the doors of the box-cars and troopers helped them bring the cargo out.

The off-loaders usually stacked the cargo on the platform, while another group manhandled the crates or barrels or machinery or whatnot into the backs of large freight wagons. The wagons then departed down the improved gravel road toward the dirigible base, where Steven watched airships come and go, fairly frequently, mostly either headed south, or coming back from that direction.

Steve noted that the depot seemed operated entirely by U.S. Army personnel, with no civilians around. While his own military experience had taken place in a different world, Steven figured that was probably unique.

In every base he’d been stationed, civilian contractors did jobs of one sort or another, and he doubted it differed very much, here. The lack of civilian contractors demonstrated how seriously U.S. military command took the security of the airbase, Steven believed.

Doc Bascher’s job at the hospital made it easy to get a look at standard military uniforms and paperwork. She volunteered to swap shifts with another nurse, one evening. In the wee hours of the night, she slipped into the ward with airship ground crewman and, while he was asleep, she “borrowed” his paperwork and handed it out a window to Henrietta and Beatrice waiting in the garden, who took photos of it with their cell-phones.

Once complete, they passed the documents back to Doc Bascher, who simply returned them to the cabinet that held the crewman’s belongings (he was recovering nicely and would soon be discharged from the hospital, she’d learned). Frank noted that it seemed simple enough to get access to officers’ uniforms, and the rest of the group noted that Aurelia had, in fact, already found some local tailors who made or altered them for military personnel who didn’t like to sew.

(This led to a brief, and humorous, discussion. Every time they spent any of their local coins on local purchases, they gave up currency that had potential numismatic value in the thousands of dollars, in their own world. They briefly kicked around several snarky ideas about how to raise more local funds.)

Once they’d put together all the information, the group hashed out the beginnings of a plan.

1. Aurelia, with Frank (and possibly Jimmy) as backup, would gain temporary access (one way or another) to a military courier’s satchel. Aurelia would pick the lock, lift the documents and get them to Claudia, who would photograph them. Then, Aurelia would return them to the courier’s case, and then lock it back up, again. Ideally, the courier would never even know she’d “borrowed” the contents.
2. Claudia would decrypt the documents photographed, and learn how they were written. She and Aurelia would then draft fake orders for a top secret reconnaissance mission south of the Spanish lines, for two pilots and a specialized crew, who would “temporarily” requisition a dirigible for the trip.
3. Aurelia would create flight-crew insignia based on what they’d already seen, and the group would create uniforms for Steven and A.J., who had pilot licenses, already, and who had spent the past several months, on their own world, earning certifications for blimp operations.
4. A.J., Steven, and as many other members of the Friends of Olivia Lodge, would take a train south out of Denver, that had posted a scheduled night stop at the military depot. They’d then disembark, and make their way to the dirigible base, properly uniformed as military personnel.
5. Meanwhile, Claudia and at least one other person would cut into the telegraph lines that ran between the depot (where they connected to the main trunk lines) and the dirigible base. Claudia would perform a “man-in-the-middle” attack. She would continue to allow normal chatter to go from the trunk to the airbase, but would monitor any headed back the other way. All traffic would flow through her, until she heard either the code word she’d inserted into the documentation to acknowledge receipt of Steven and A.J.’s “secret orders,” or a request for assistance to help capture spies. In either case, she’d intercept that message, and send back proper acknowledgements that sounded as if they’d come from operators in Denver or Pueblo.
6. Assuming all went well, A.J. and Steven would pick the best dirigible available, and have it prepped for service. Once it was ready, they’d get it pulled out from the hangar, and the FOOL crew would board. Then, they’d take off and fly away, south.
7. Meanwhile, Claudia and her security crew would pack up and scamper south, to a rendezvous point where the dirigible would (hopefully) get close enough to the ground to toss them ropes and pull them aboard. Alternatively, they’d make their own way back to Dark Canyon, by land travel.
8. Steven and A.J. would pilot the dirigible to Dark Canyon, and then land it in an open field, where they could get help from Heck, Izzy, and possibly the two cavalry tsiants, to land and secure the airship. After that, A.J. and Beatrice could begin to alter the craft to give it greater altitude and range, while Claudia began to stock up on useful techno-magic spells.

At one point, Henrietta commented that the whole thing would go a lot easier if any of them had bothered to learn any of the spells in the Mind Control grimoire.

With that laid out, the group took the first step. Frank, Aurelia and Claudia hopped a train to Denver, waited until an evening departure with a courier aboard. They identified the courier's compartment, and then waited until the long stretch of track across the prairie between Colorado Springs and Pueblo.

Aurelia jimmied the lock on the compartment with little effort, as Frank and Claudia kept watch for the conductor at either end of the car. The "high school art teacher" slipped inside, silently picked the lock, and quickly passed the documents to Claudia.

The Greek-American physicist took photos of the encrypted papers, carefully repacked them into their envelopes, and passed them back to Aurelia. She, in turn, managed to slip them back into the satchel, re-lock it, and then exit the compartment silently, locking it behind her.

After that, the trio went to their own apartment and waited on tenter-hooks until the train pulled into the station, at Pueblo. They exited quickly, without incident, and returned to the hotel.

With the plan under way, the session ended.

##

Funny Quotes

Hops About: Which way did Doc Bascher go?
Frank: East.
Samantha (OOC): I’m gonna kill you.

(The party members arrive back at their hotel, in Pueblo, to find Frank waiting for them.)
Frank: What’s up? I’m going to shoot all of you!

(A.J. explains the threat of qlippoths.)
Frank: That’s why all my guns look like the guns from this era. They use modern casings, but you can’t see that, inside them.
GM: What?! Frank has modern day replicas of period firearms?! What a concept!

Doc Bascher: Wanna see my nurse’s outfit?
Frank (leering): Later.
Beatrice and Henrietta: Eww!
Doc Bascher: It has a wimple!

(Frank goes off to scout out where couriers might hang out to drink, with the notion of possibly mugging one.)
Beatrice: Frank’s gonna die, tonight.
Henrietta: Yep, he’s the next one to die.

Doc Bascher: We’re selling Sunmi to an opium dealer!
Beatrice: Okay!

Frank: I have this image of us sailing through a thunderstorm, like in Stardust, but I’m stuck on getting the dirigible.

(Claudia figures out the telegraph “fist” thing, and then overhears the request for assistance to fight the blaze near the railroad tracks.)
Claudia: I know! Let’s set Colorado on fire!

(The group begins to knock together a plan that might actually have a remote chance of success.)
GM: Doo-doo-dooooo!
(Bernetta begins to play the Mission: Impossible theme song on a cell phone.)

##
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Old 05-25-2018, 04:56 PM   #318
johndallman
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Default Re: Campaign: Facets

Quote:
Originally Posted by tshiggins View Post
... A.J. and Beatrice could begin to alter the craft to give it greater altitude and range, while Claudia began to stock up on useful techno-magic spells.
With enough magic, they should be able to get it across the Atlantic, but "enough" might be really quite a lot.

I bet the US Army puts large numbers on the sides of its airships, so that they can recognise each other at long ranges. These numbers will, of course, be circulated once they realise it's been stolen. So some magic to change them might be handy.
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Old 05-25-2018, 05:17 PM   #319
tshiggins
 
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Default Re: Campaign: Facets

Quote:
Originally Posted by johndallman View Post

(SNIP)

I bet the US Army puts large numbers on the sides of its airships, so that they can recognise each other at long ranges. These numbers will, of course, be circulated once they realise it's been stolen. So some magic to change them might be handy.
You'll enjoy the next installment. :)
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Old 05-25-2018, 07:34 PM   #320
SionEwig
 
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Default Re: Campaign: Facets

Ran behind on commenting on the earlier posts. I will note who wasn't available to play for the session that you posted about on 25 March and just have to think that perhaps one of the reasons that they kept out of most trouble is which players were not there! Also, I know others mentioned this, but the tents - really? I loved the news articles that you do, simply fantastic. The one that concerned me was the report of the massacre. I still say that is going to come back and get them with a vengeance.

On this one, well they are keeping out of trouble, but I still say that their plan is overly ambitious and much better suited to some very cinematic B-grade action adventure flick than reality. Loved Frank's various comments on the massacre and weapons. About time someone took them to task over that. As to the telegraph operators having distinctive fists, I'd have thought that they (characters and players) would have known about it, at least some of them. Still looks like the campaign is going well and I wish I was there to play (I think, LOL). Can't wait for the next installment.
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