Campaign: Facets

[tshiggins]

Summer usually gets pretty busy, as the group works hard at having fun and heads up to the mountains. We had a week-long camping trip since this session, and I hope I remember everything right. ��

Characters Present

Dr. Henrietta "Indiana" Johnson -- A personable, age 29-and-holding Anthropologist who specializes in the pre-Columbian indigenous people of the American Desert Southwest. A Native of Apache Junction, AZ, "Indiana" is good with people and has been fascinated by American Indian religion and folklore since she was a child. Henrietta speaks Apache fluently, and not-so-secretly wishes archaeology could be more like Raiders of the Lost Ark and less like digging in a trench with a trowel and a toothbrush -- Played by Debbie S.

Dr. Arthur "A.J." Jamison -- a retired NASA scientist with a home in one of Moab's nicer canyon sub-developments, who volunteers for 4CSAR because he needs to do something to get out of the house. -- Played by Anten S.

Aurelia R. Lockrin -- A young woman with a shady past who teaches History at Grand County High School (Home of the Red Devils!), and volunteers for 4CSAR because she's a bit of an adrenalin junkie, and likes the companionship. -- played by Bennie Rae P. (not available, this time)

Beatrice "B" Lawrence -- U.S. Army veteran who works for a local air charter service as a helicopter mechanic. A cynic about men, she is accompanied by "Grunt," the biggest, best-trained pit-bull anybody has ever seen (purchased as an ally, and a totally badass dog, even before it was possessed by what appears to be a benign “foo” spirit) -- played by Bernetta W. (not available, this time).

Stephen Mack, another member of the NASA Quantum Physics Research Team, a former U.S. Marine Corps test pilot, and outdoors enthusiast. – Played by Ragan S.

Millicent “Millie” Brown – A member of the Columbine Lodge of Denver, and descendant of the Unsinkable Margaret “Molly” Brown. Currently an apprentice of the Invisible College of Thoth-Hermes, seconded out to the members of the Red Rocks Lodge. Owner of a large, well-trained Savannah Cat, named Apophis. – Played by Kaitlynn S.

Guest NPCs

Amon Kosey – Another native of Aegyptus and a fellow member of the Children of Khemet, he appears as an unremarkable man, but has a hidden talent for deception who can, nonetheless, turn on the charm when needed. With an average face, an average height, and a lack of distinguishing features, he blends in with any crowd and has wandered into just about anywhere, uninvited and frequently unnoticed. -- Played by Pete T.

NPCs Present

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

Hops About: An enthusiastically lethal nunnupi, a 6-inch tall fairy girl with black wings, pale skin and American Indian features. Currently dressed in the colors of the Unseelie Court, with a bow and knife, she frequently takes the form of a magpie four times the size of a normal bird and can go invisible.

Twirls Thrice: A laconically lethal nunnupi with a dry sense of humor, also dressed in the cool colors of the Unseelie Court. The sister of Hops About, she bears similar weapons that can inflict elf-stroke, also appears as a large magpie, and can go invisible.

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.

Claudia Abigail “Cat” Tavulari – A former 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.

Meserankh “Messie” Paphnutius – A native of the legendary Aegyptus of the Pearl Bright Ocean, still ruled by the branch of the Hellenistic Ptolemaic dynasty descended from Cleopatra and Marc Antony. Mezzie is a mage, and a member of the Children of Khemet, who seek to overthrow the Hellenes and restore the ancient line of pharaohs. A lean, rangy, fairly attractive woman in her early 30s, who clearly missed a few meals as a child. Her face shows early signs of lines drawn by tremendous frustration at injustices she perceives. She seldom smiles.

##

As the session began, the group decided to ensure they’d secured the area, before they headed out to new village site. It wouldn’t do to have a second meghdoot call in a rakshasa strike while some of the group went elsewhere.

The party did have a brief discussion about whether or not to just release the captured meghdoot, Satvari, in the middle of Africa, the way they’d done with the young man who had hosted the rakshasa, but Henrietta definitively put a stop to that discussion. If the group didn’t plan to execute her, outright (which Aurelia had vetoed), then they could not permit the assassin to run free – she was just too adept a survivor, and too deadly an opponent.

After Doc Bascher had put Satvari in the medically-induced coma, A.J. and Henrietta took to the field, to see if they could find traces of any other interlopers, while the rest of the group remained in the village to guard the final preparations.

A.J. and Henrietta worked their way around the village in a sweeping search pattern through the jungle, as the creatures in the canopy sang, howled and chattered. They eventually found themselves about a mile out from the village, on the edge of a swampy lake..

As they started to work their way around the reedy shoreline, a beast that resembled a scaly buffalo with a large head suddenly surfaced nearby. Both A.J. and Henrietta, well-read in occult lore, immediately identified the creatures as a “catoblepas,” a ill-tempered herbivore that used magic to defend itself. They hastily withdrew.

A bit further on, as they neared the point where they needed to leave the shore and re-enter the jungle, they spotted an absolutely striking black eagle, apparently identical to a species that existed in their own world (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_eagle).

A.J. noted that Claudia seemed to have developed an interest in collecting exotic birds from exotic places, and so they followed it into the jungle to see if they could find its nest. However, that proved problematic enough they decided to hold off on that project until another time.

Soon thereafter, they’d searched the entire perimeter and, having found nothing, decided the meghdoot had likely really been working alone. They returned to the village and, a couple of days later, A.J. and Steven met up with Naveen and Raghu, from Karthick’s scout team, who had drawn the assignment to accompany him to the new village site.

A.J. loaded he and Steven up with translation spells, and Henrietta and Millie hung a few extra on them, just in case they decided to engage in deep philosophical discussions with the two young scouts, and the quartet set out.

The trek through the jungle took three days, and the scouts had enough expertise (and knowledge of the area) that the trip passed with little difficulty. A.J. and Steven learned the village scouts had already built blinds and shelters in secure locations, along the route, and they usually slung hammocks in the trees, well above the jungle floor, at night.

On the second evening, A.J. woke with a start and lay in his hammock, for a moment trying to figure out what had awakened him. He received his answer within moments, as he heard a large animal moving around the base of the tree, perhaps digging at something. For his part, Steven slept on, blissfully unaware (Ragan rolled a critical failure against Perception, but Steven got a good night's sleep...).

The former NASA engineer lay quietly in the pitch blackness of the jungle night, listening carefully in case the creature decided to climb the tree in search of snacks. After a while, though, the creature moved on and, eventually, A.J. went back to sleep.

The next day, as the A.J., Naveen and Raghu descended, they saw large gouges where giant claws had dug at the roots of the tree, obviously looking for food. Following a quick, magically-translated discussion, A.J. learned the scouts knew that some large, nocturnal creature lived in the area, but it had never bothered anyone and mostly seemed to want to avoid humans.

Later that day, things got a bit more fraught, when the group got jumped by a giant wolf-spider, prowling through the forest in search of prey. However, the four experienced combatants quickly unleashed a barrage of damage that drove the badly-injured beast away. Naveen and Raghu said it had a web about a half-mile away, and several more lived in the area, but they'd decided to not mess with the spiders for the same reason they'd left the mulala alone -- the large predators covered one of the approaches to the new village site.

They arrived at the site of the new village about mid-day, the next day, after a somewhat strenuous climb up a steep path, with switchbacks that took them to and from a chattering cascade of water. After a couple of hours, they reached the top and passed through a screen of undergrowth -- which A.J. recognized as a bit too thick and lush to qualify as entirely natural.

(continued...)

[tshiggins]

(...continued)

They emerged to see a wide, deep, flat terrace in the side of the mountain that had obviously seen a fair effort at improvement through the years, concealed beneath the thick jungle canopy, above. What had been a natural flat spot about a half-mile wide and maybe 500 yards deep, had been flattened out, and the stream that fed the cascade dammed up to form fields ready for rice.

Higher ground lay in a rough curve around the outside of the drowned rice fields, and cut deep into the mountain, to form a sizeable overhang, with additional streams of water spattering down from higher up the slope. A.J. saw that the deep cut (not actually a cavern, but a deep gouge in the side of the mountain) could hold just about all the houses he’d seen in the village, leaving the terrace outside the cut open for crops or other uses.

A.J. complimented them on their choice of a spot, and the two scouts said it had been discovered nearly 20 years past. In subsequent years, the village scouts and priests had made slow, but steady, improvements, in preparation for the day a meghdoot, or other enemy, inevitably discovered the village.

With that, A.J. had them step back, and he cast a portal that opened in the middle of the village under evacuation, and followed the very pleased (and rather awed) scouts through to see the villagers staring, wide-eyed, at the phenomenon.

The three quickly located Sanjay and Yash, and Raghu and Naveen gave their report. Sanjay expressed his pleasure that the trip had gone so well. A.J. assured the priest that, since he had now visited the site, he could open a portal to it, at any time, and keep it open long enough for the villagers to pass through.

The next morning, A.J. did just that, and the evacuation commenced. By then, the villagers had prepped everything, so the initial push through was done before noon. After that, the scouts came back for some of the heavier items they’d originally meant to leave behind, but now could take since the portal rendered unnecessary the long hike through the difficult jungle terrain.

By the end of the day, the huts and houses of the old village by the small lake lay empty and forlorn, to be inevitably reclaimed by the relentless jungle. Once they felt assured they’d done all the could to help, A.J. opened a portal back to the Lady McShane, hovering high in the sky above the island, and the group headed for the showers, the galley and their cabins for a well-earned rest.

The next day, a little achy but feeling much better, A.J. opened a portal back the new village site, and found the busy and very tired Sanjay and Yash. The two priests said the work to rebuild the village was off to a good start, but their people still had many days of work ahead of them, and thanked the party, once again, for their help.

The group thanked the two priests, in turn, for their hospitality, and for doing what they could to help the Red Rocks Lodge members learn about the seas east of Lanka. That had gone rather better than expected and, as such, they wished to provide the village with some gifts they’d brought along, in case they needed to trade for what they wanted to know.

At that, A.J. opened a portal to the Lady McShane’s cargo hold, and invited the priests to take a look. Sanjay and Yash, after a moment’s hesitation, stepped through to see the more than 50 tons of tools, anvils, metal bar-stock and other items Beatrice had purchased as trade goods.

Once the crew had made it clear to the stunned priests that they intended to leave it all with the village, Sanjay stammered out his thanks, and sent Yash through to bring men through to help unload the bulky cargo. It took most of the day to move all the goods out and stack them to the back of the overhang, as the tearful villagers looked on, scarcely able to comprehend the magnitude of the gift.

As the second exhausting day in a row ended, the group was surprised to see Sanjay and Yash approach them, somewhat nervously. Upon inquiry, Sanjay said that, while he hesitated to do so, he needed to ask them for yet another favor.

For their entire lives, Sanjay said, all the Mauritians he knew of, scattered in hidden villages through the interior of the rugged island, had stubbornly clung to their faith and their freedom, hoping for a day they’d receive help from somewhere, while their numbers dwindled from one generation to the next.

Now, Sanjay explained, it seemed the crew of the vast airship planned to travel beyond Lanka, which no one had done in many generations, to a region of the Pearl Bright Ocean held by Lanka’s enemies. As such, the older priest said, he would ask the crew to permit Yash to accompany them, in case the enemies of Lanka might prove willing to render aid the Mauritians so desperately needed.

The group immediately said they’d welcome the affable Yash along for the trip, assuming he was willing to accept the risk, but added they couldn’t really guarantee his safety any more than they could their own. Yash said he understood all that, but he and Sanjay had talked it over thoroughly, during the past week, and thought the risk worth taking.

Henrietta told Yash to prepare his gear and make ready, because they intended to depart immediately, as they wanted to get past Lanka during the night. Yash said he’d already packed what little he had, for the move to the new village, and hadn’t had a chance to do much with it, anyway, since the arrival.

He and Sanjay headed back to the village and, true to his word, Yash returned with his cleanest robe and a small bundle of personal belongings slung on his back. Claudia took charge of him, and showed the young priest to a guest stateroom.

Stunned at what he considered sheer luxury, the likes he’d never imagined, Yash protested that he really just needed a small chamber for his simple needs, but Claudia would have none of it. She showed the increasingly delighted priest how to use the head and the hot shower, where to find the laundry facilities, and then took him to the, “Ten Forwards” cafeteria where they had prepared stew and fresh bread.

Although quite dazed and overwhelmed, Yash nonetheless demonstrated a skilled survivor’s ability to focus on the important things, and tucked into the thick, savory meal with the appetite of someone who had missed entirely too many, in his life. After he finished off two bowls, the suddenly exhausted priest staggered back to his quarters, tried out the novelty of a hot shower, and then collapsed in his bunk and didn’t move, for 12 hours.

During that time, Steven and A.J. pointed the nose of the Lady McShane upwards and climbed for altitude in the preternaturally deep atmosphere above the Pearl Bright Ocean. Once they’d climbed well above what anybody could possibly see in the night sky, Steve pointed her nose northeast and opened the throttle.

The elemental engines whirred silently to life and the four vast propellors blurred as the airship accelerated up to its maximum velocity of about 70 m.p.h. Once satisfied that everything looked ship-shape, A.J. left Steve at the helm and headed up to his stateroom, as the experienced Red Rocks Lodge crew shifted over to standard duty rotations.

The airship passed the island of Lanka well to the north by the middle of the next day, and by early afternoon looked eastward toward unknown seas. The Lady McShane remained so high up no one could see the surface of the ocean through the haze and clouds beneath, and A.J. passed the helm back to Steve at the end of a blissfully routine day of travel.

During the day, Claudia and Beatrice worked on the interior of the fuselage where the mulala had crashed through; Yash had discovered (to his astonishment) that most of the crew (including the doctor) were women; and also learned (to his dismay) that the two large magpies fluttering around were appallingly dangerous magical beings for which his limited background had left him utterly unprepared.

Yash also discovered, upon his first entry into Ten Forward in the bright light of day, an heretofore unknown terror of heights. The large window below the nose of the airship so totally unnerved him that the young priest asked to eat at a table in the galley.

For their part, Amon and Messerankh continued to learn the ins-and-outs of airship crew responsibilities, but when he was off duty, Amon spent a fair amount of time with Yash. Henrietta and Millie proved quite willing to cast the language spells necessary for the two men to converse, and the two spent a fair amount of time comparing notes about their lives of resistance against oppressive, predatory overloads.

The privations experienced by Yash and his people gave Amon new perspective about the rule of the Hellenes, in Aegypt. Although he still desired freedom for his people, Amon came to the conclusion that things could be much, much worse, and told Yash he hoped their two peoples could become friends.

(continued...)

[tshiggins]

(...continued)

Such the day went, and as the portal to the Elemental Plane of Fire, overhead, began to close and bring on the approach of night, everyone but the duty crew made their way back to their quarters. Up in the command deck, Steven enjoyed the quiet solitude and kept an eye on the darkening skies, ahead.

At about midnight, the former Harrier pilot began to see flickers that looked like lightning, all along the skies to the east. He pulled out his binoculars and switched off the lights in the flight deck, so he could get a better look.

As the airship sped eastward, Steven slowly realized that what appeared to be a vast line of thunderstorms extended out of sight to the north and south, in an unnaturally straight line, and towered far above the Lady McShane’s flight path. Steve pointed the nose upwards, began climb for altitude in a spiral, and used Claudia’s magical speaking-tubes to alert A.J.

Within about 10 minutes, a sleepy A.J. arrived on the flight deck and Steven briefed him. After a quick discussion, the two pilots agreed Steven had done the only thing he really could, but decided A.J. would stay awake until they’d passed the line of storms. They also alerted the duty crew about the situation, and decided it might be a good idea to wake up everybody else.

After about an hour, the flickering lightning lay well below the keel of the gondola, and Steven pointed the airship back toward the east.

As they began to pass above the storm, A.J. and Steven saw lightning start to flicker continuously in the clouds directly below. The thick clouds, below them, extended about 30-40 miles, and during the entire 30 minutes, or so, as the airship sped above, the lightning flashed and crashed along their route, paralleling them as they flew along.

However, as unnerving as that had been, the Lady McShane soon left the odd line of storms behind and, after about an hour, A.J. and the rest of the normally off-duty crew headed back to their quarters. Soon thereafter, Steven began to see occasional specks of light far below, and realized he was seeing the light of fires scattered through the darkness.

As the portal above began to open to start the day, Steven began to make out splotches of green on the azure sea – a vast archipelago of islands of all sizes, from flat atolls to large, rugged volcanic expanses of jungle, like bright green masses of crumpled paper scattered widely across the surface.

A.J. soon arrived to relieve Steven, and took a look at the island-filled ocean. The two pilots decided to drop to about 20,000 feet so they could get a better look at things, and began the descent from about 50 miles up.

By the time they’d reached the new altitude, nearly two hours had passed, and both men pulled out binoculars and began to scan the surface of the sea, below. They saw a rich, expansive archipelago that stretched out of sight in all directions, but with larger islands to the east, and smaller to the west.

The ocean, below, was dotted with sails and, as they focused their attention, saw that most of the shipping consisted of dhows of all sizes. However, they also noted the presence of several larger ships with covered decks that reminded Steven, a bit, of pictures he’d seen of the old geobukseon “turtle ships” used by Korea for hundreds of years, before the country had industrialized.

Although a couple of those ships had changed course to sail in the direction of the now-visible airship, the Lady McShane flew along much faster than the obvious warships could manage and, given the altitude, the two pilots agreed Steven could safely leave the flight deck and go get some food and rest.

By then, the rest of the crew was up and about, and A.J. kept the nose of the airship pointed east as the ship came to life, above him.

A few hours later, just after mid-morning, A.J. looked ahead and saw a vast island had emerged from the distant mists, and he took the ship up higher to get a better look. The on-duty crew (and anybody else awake, except for Yash) gathered in Ten Forward to take a look through the front window at the rugged expanse of greenery sprawled across the sparkling sea.

As the Lady McShane got closer, A.J. realized the island somewhat resembled the Sumatra of their own world, and noted a number of sizeable cities along the coast.

A.J. adjusted his course to make for the closest large settlement, and began to drop in altitude as he woke up the rest of crew.

As the surface of the ocean grew near, A.J. noted several more of the warships headed in the general direction of the Lady McShane, albeit still far below. He also looked around carefully, but didn’t see any other airships, anywhere in the vicinity.

The airship drew near to the harbor as A.J. dropped the altitude to 200 feet and began to look for a place to lower someone to the ground, via the crane lift. He soon spotted a pier that extended well out into the sea, at the edge of the harbor, and made for the end of it, as two warships off in the distance began to slowly converge.

Steve joined A.J. on the flight deck as Beatrice and Amon headed aft to the back of the gondola, to prep the lift. Suddenly, A.J. spotted a structure that he hadn’t seen in Lanka, and asked Henrietta and Millie to escort Yash to Ten Forward so he could take a look.

The two women brought the nervous young priest into the dining area and, to his relief, Yash saw that the airship had dropped low enough that the view actually consisted of something he could understand. As he peered out the front, Henrietta and Millie pointed out the structure that had gotten A.J.’s attention.

It took a moment for Yash to focus on the building, amongst the vast jumble of structures, below, but when he finally found it, his eyes grew wide. He said the building resembled a description he’d read, in what little sacred literature his village on Mauritia had managed to pass down through the centuries.

To Yash, it looked all the world like the collection of conical roofs that denoted a temple to his gods.

Shaking with eagerness, the priest asked they take him down, as soon as possible, so Henrietta and Millie escorted the young priest to the crane lift room at the rear of the gondola. As they arrived, the airship slowed to a stop and Beatrice and Amon opened the hatch to reveal the worked stone surface of the pier, about 50 feet below.

Steven arrived shortly thereafter, having left A.J. to command the helm, and he and Beatrice took the first lift down. Off in the distance, they saw a troop of about 50 soldiers trotting toward them, while out in the harbor a couple of warships made their way steadily closer.

Henrietta and Yash came down next, while Millie, Claudia and Aurelia remained up top to cover everyone, should the situation go pear-shaped.

The troops grew near (which didn’t concern the party, unduly) as the first of the warships got to within about 200 yards of the pier. The warship turned its bow toward the airship, and the group saw a bronze bowsprit in the shape of a large tuning fork suddenly crackle and boom as lightning arced between the tines.

That did concern the group quite a bit, and Henrietta and Steven stepped forward and showed empty hands, while making soothing motions. The peaceful gestures seemed to help, and the troops slowed to a more cautious advance as a sturdy man -- clearly the officer -- moved a few more steps toward them, in advance of his men.

The officer stopped in sudden surprise as Yash stepped out from behind Steven, and called out something in his own language.

The rest of the troop stopped also, and began to mutter back and forth, in astonishment. Then, they began to divide as someone in the rear began to make his or her way forward.

The front rank of soldiers parted and Yash called out in shock and fell to his knees. The eyes of a brightly robed Hindu priest widened in amazement, and he rushed toward the tattered, battered form of the weeping Mauritian, the officer trailing along uncertainly, behind.

As the local priest reached Yash and began speak to him urgently, the officer got close enough for Henrietta to trigger the various, “Borrow Language,” spells she’d hung on everyone, and the words of the priest became clear. He wanted to know from whence Yash had come, and struggled to make out the heavily accented words of the sobbing Mauritian.

(continued...)

[tshiggins]

(...continued)

Steven and Henrietta approached the officer and quietly introduced themselves, and started to tell the man about their trip. The officer listened with increasing amazement, and called out to the priest to listen, as well as his men raised their spears upright, and stepped close to hear better.

After a few moments of questions and answers, the officer detailed a couple of his men to wave off the crackling warships, and sent two more back toward the town with messages. Steve noted the pier included some heavy, brightly painted iron cleats, and asked the officer if he’d help them moor the airship.

Surprised and bit flabbergasted, the officer agreed readily enough, but acknowledged his men had not done such a thing before. Steve assured him the job was straightforward enough, and they just needed anchor the airship to cleats on both sides of the pier, so it would stay steady in the light breeze.

With that, the former Marine Corps pilot shouted up to rest of the crew, and within a few minutes heavy hawsers began to drop from the ports along the bottom of the gondola. The Sriwijayan troops grabbed them, and began to lash down the airship, as the two priests stayed huddled together in the middle of the bustle.

About the time they got the Lady McShane moored, six more priests had arrived with a litter for the emotionally overwhelmed Yash, and they gently put him aboard and began to carry him back toward the city. The party trailed along behind, surrounded by a loose ring of guardsmen who had clearly shifted to escort duty.

Steve, Henrietta and the officer continued to talk back and forth as they walked up the pier toward the city gates. Steve described the flight above the odd storm front to the west, and was amazed to learn the gods, themselves, had raised this “Stormwall” at the time of the fall of Lanka to the rakshasa.

The Stormwall made the seas rough enough that it scattered and disrupted any Lankan raiding fleet, and lightning strikes even damaged and sank a few, now and then. While the passage through the stormy sea didn’t stop the raids, completely, the officer explained, it did limit their effectiveness, enough, that the Sriwijayan defender could usually hold their own.

That said, he continued, significant forces made it through, often enough, to put the western islands at risk of continuous raids that caused substantial damage and loss of life. Most of the raiders consisted of Lankan Marines, he said, but the accompanying rakshasa used demonic magic to make the attacks that much more devastating.

As a consequence, the officer said, the war had settled into a prolonged stalemate that steadily bled both sides. He also stated, in response to a query from the mages, that meghdoot assassins put ashore throughout the islands of Sriwijaya, to spy, infiltrate, assassinate and sometimes wreak overt havoc.

By then, the group had made it past the staring stevedores, dockworkers and ships crews, and entered the city. As they moved up the street, throngs of people began to collect along the route, pointing and staring, speculating about the strangers and their odd garb, as children ran back and forth, shouting and screaming and climbing up on top of things to get better views.

Eventually, the crowd got thick enough that the troops began to use the hafts of their spears to firmly push people back so the visitors could make it past, progress slowed to a crawl, and A.J. started to laugh at the sheer normality of it all, which contrasted so starkly with uncanny, unnerving, rigidity he’d seen Lanka.

After a bit, the travelers and their escort reached the gate of the temple grounds, and saw a few older priests, and one ancient, bald old fellow who was obviously in charge.

He stepped forward to welcome everyone, as Yash’s litter lowered to the ground. Several of the other priests helped Yash to his feet, as the elderly man greeted the Red Rocks Lodge mages, and politely informed them that while only worshippers could enter the sacred temple grounds, they had his deep gratitude for bringing their lost brother.

At that, Yash stumbled through the temple gate, and the group watched as he walked through the temple doors into the bright interior. There, surrounded by statues of his gods, with their faces appropriately commanding and stern, or kindly and jovial, Yash let himself go and began to weep for generations of sorrow and fear, and the flowering of hope unexpected.

Visibly moved at the sight, the officer nodded his head respectfully to the crew of the Lady McShane, and quietly told them his men would remain as their escorts, but that he needed to go and report to his superiors. As he trotted off, the high priest emerged, once again, and began to speak to the group, as well, learning of their trip and telling them about the city.

With that, the session ended.

##

Funny Quotes

(The group, not thrilled to have the meghdoot board, considers teleporting her away to Africa.)
Henrietta: No! No! That’s not happening, or I will practice with my enhanced beating-stick, on you!
Steve: Let me think about it – no!

Yash: Your physician is a woman?!
Amon: You’re very observant.

(Amon gets to know the guest, as Yash decides he has absolutely no interest in looking out of the huge window in Ten Forward.}
Amon: If we’re entering a realm where your gods are active, maybe some prayer is in order.
Yash: Oh, I’ve been doing that for awhile, now….

(A.J. wakes up suddenly in the middle of the night, in his hammock, and has absolutely no idea why.)
Anten (OOC) : Oh. So it’s just camping, then.

(Crowds of people line the main thoroughfare, as the arrival of the party becomes an impromptu parade.)
A.J. (laughing): It’s chaos!

##

[tshiggins]

Well, the time has crept up on me and now it’s time for the next session – which means I probably need to get the last one written 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. -- 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)

Beatrice "B" Lawrence -- U.S. Army veteran who works for a local air charter service as a helicopter mechanic. A cynic about men, she is accompanied by "Grunt," the biggest, best-trained pit-bull anybody has ever seen (purchased as an ally, and a totally badass dog, even before it was possessed by what appears to be a benign “foo” spirit) -- played by Bernetta W. (not available, this time).

Stephen Mack, another member of the NASA Quantum Physics Research Team, a former U.S. Marine Corps test pilot, and outdoors enthusiast. – Played by Ragan S.

Millicent “Millie” Brown – A member of the Columbine Lodge of Denver, and descendant of the Unsinkable Margaret “Molly” Brown. Currently an apprentice of the Invisible College of Thoth-Hermes, seconded out to the members of the Red Rocks Lodge. Owner of a large, well-trained Savannah Cat, named Apophis. – Played by Kaitlynn S.

Guest NPCs

Amon Kosey – Another native of Aegyptus and a fellow member of the Children of Khemet, he appears as an unremarkable man, but has a hidden talent for deception who can, nonetheless, turn on the charm when needed. With an average face, an average height, and a lack of distinguishing features, he blends in with any crowd and has wandered into just about anywhere, uninvited and frequently unnoticed. -- Played by Pete T.

NPCs Present

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

Hops About: An enthusiastically lethal nunnupi, a 6-inch tall fairy girl with black wings, pale skin and American Indian features. Currently dressed in the colors of the Unseelie Court, with a bow and knife, she frequently takes the form of a magpie four times the size of a normal bird and can go invisible.

Twirls Thrice: A laconically lethal nunnupi with a dry sense of humor, also dressed in the cool colors of the Unseelie Court. The sister of Hops About, she bears similar weapons that can inflict elf-stroke, also appears as a large magpie, and can go invisible.

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.

Claudia Abigail “Cat” Tavulari – A former 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.

Meserankh “Messie” Paphnutius – A native of the legendary Aegyptus of the Pearl Bright Ocean, still ruled by the branch of the Hellenistic Ptolemaic dynasty descended from Cleopatra and Marc Antony. Mezzie is a mage, and a member of the Children of Khemet, who seek to overthrow the Hellenes and restore the ancient line of pharaohs. A lean, rangy, fairly attractive woman in her early 30s, who clearly missed a few meals as a child. Her face shows early signs of lines drawn by tremendous frustration at injustices she perceives. She seldom smiles.

##

Once the group had run out of topics of conversation with the local high priest, who introduced himself as Rupaka Sudiro, they decided they needed to get out of the rapidly increasing heat of the day, and maybe get something to eat and drink.

By then, the commander of the company of troops who had accompanied them, Capt. Hartaka Saputra, had long-since departed for the palace. His second in command, Lt. Bakijan Wonopati, overheard the conversation (the language spells were still up) and stepped forward and said he knew of a place not far away that had good food and decent drinks.

The group told him to lead on and, surrounded by a much more relaxed group of escorts, they followed the lieutenant down a couple of streets to a plaza not terribly far from the temple.

The buildings quickly got smaller and used a lot less stone and a lot more wood, the further the group moved away from the main boulevard that led to the temple (and thence on to the palace). Steven had spent some time in the Malaysia of the late 20th Century during his time as a Marine Corps officer, and noted that the local houses resembled the traditional construction pattern.

The public buildings sat in a square footprint, and featured high-peaked hipped roofs, shingled with ceramic tile, that resembled a pyramid. About halfway up the pyramid-shaped roofs (so, about two-thirds of the way up from the ground), the Malay had inset shuttered ventilation vents to allow the dissipation of the heat trapped in the high-peaked roof-space.

The walls, themselves, consisted of square-paneled sections of hard, dense, durable wood from jungle trees, resistant to damage from rain and insects. A veranda circled most public buildings to provide shade, and the external walls had many openings for windows and doors to allow for cross-breezes.

Most buildings were also set up on stone or wooden columns to keep them out of the rush of water from the occasionally torrential tropical rains.

Houses either consisted of structures set three feet to five feet above the ground, usually on sturdy wooden pylons, or wood-framed long-houses that held many generations of the same families, all under one roof (albeit, subdivided inside, as desired). The streets smelled about as bad as expected; much worse than any of the Lankan port cities, but Bengkulu wasn’t nearly so pungent as a 1715 London summer.

Soon enough, the group found itself sitting at tables in one of those deep verandas of a tavern, as wait-staff came out to take their orders. Islam had not reached the Sriwijaya of the Pearl Bright Ocean (in fact, they’d seen no traces of Abrahamic religions, or Buddhism, at all…), so in addition to traditional Malay drinks such as, teh Tarik (pulled tea); what Steve identified as “barley juice,” and bright pink air bandung, the staff brought out ceramic pots of wine of various sorts.

The food, itself, consisted of lots of rice or noodles mixed with vegetables and fish, that ran a gamut of spiciness from, “blistering” to “brain-melting” to “volcanic.” The soldiers relaxed even more, once they’d arrived and, looking around, Steven quickly recognized this a hangout for locally garrisoned Sriwijayan military personnel.

The former Marine immediately struck up conversations with the soldiers, to learn about how the local military functioned and the nature of their duties. He learned that most territories raised militias of various (but usually at least decent) quality, most of whom were expected to serve as marines on the military vessels, at least once.

The constant external threat posed by Lanka minimized most internal dissent, but banditry and piracy rated as persistent problems. As for Lankan vessels, few seldom made it all the way to the larger islands of the archipelago, located as they were well to the “east” of the Stormwall. However, the constant threat they posted meant these wealthier islands provided most of the naval strength needed to resist the frequent raids.

At that, A.J. jumped in, curious as to why the highly-organized and militarized Lankans had such a difficult time projecting force. The lieutenant, a bright young man, said the severity of the weather within the Stormwall, tended to disrupt any fleet that tried to pass through. Every ship received significant damage, he said, and usually a few actually sank.

In response to A.J.’s query, Lt. Wonopati said the Lankans had – “Thank the gods!” – demonstrated no ability to create flying ships, which is why the arrival of the Lady McShane had caused such great consternation.

Right about then, Capt. Hartaka Saputra returned from his errand to the palace, and re-joined his unit. He told the group a second militia unit had been dispatched to guard the pier at which they’d moored the airship, so as to close it off from the public.

Saputra also said the lord of the city, Candra Sastrowardoyo, had granted them an audience for the next morning.

A bit surprised at the news of an audience for which they’d never even considered requesting, the group pressed Saputra and Wonopati for details about the protocols.

(continued...)

[tshiggins]

(...continued)

They learned the local lord ruled with near-absolute authority over the city, although he answered to a Lord Jamaludin, who ruled over the larger province of which Bengkulu was a part. The province wasn’t the richest, although it did produce reasonable quantities of pepper and a small amount of gold, but most of the precious metal went to pay for Bengkulu’s contribution to the naval defense of the Sriwajaya, as a whole.

Usually, Saputra said, those granted an audience with Lord Candra were expected to wear their best clothing (of course), but the exotic nature of the visitors would give them some leeway. Arms were strictly prohibited in the palace to everyone but the lord’s most trusted guardsmen, and upon entry to the audience chamber, the group would have to prostrate themselves to the lord to show their respect for the authority of his position.

If the audience chamber had rugs and cushions on the floor to make the guests comfortable, the captain added, they could usually take that as a good sign. If they had to prostrate themselves on bare stone, that indicated the opposite.

Ideally, Saputra continued, Lord Candra would recess the formal audience in short order, and command the visitors to a private conference, which would dispense with many of the formalities of court, and allow for a more relaxed and frank discussion. Were that to occur, the captain said, it would indicate the lord had considerable interest in the visitors which, while fraught in its own way, offered considerable opportunities, as well.

Shortly after that briefing, the group decided to head back to the Lady McShane , to prepare for the audience. Saputra and Wonopati got their men in order and escorted the Red Rocks Lodge members back to the harbor.
There, they found that the second militia unit had commandeered some large crates and barrels to build a temporary barricade between the moored airship and the rest of the pier, and Saputra introduced them to the commander of that company, a Capt. Khoo.

Khoo said had orders to keep everyone at least 50 yards away from the airship, but advised the group that, if possible, they should keep the Lady McShane very high up over the city for the night, and then descend for their audience, at about daybreak.

The group agreed that seemed wise, and the two militia units helped them with the mooring lines, and Steven and A.J. navigated a spiral path upwards until they disappeared into the misty skies above Bengkulu.

At that point, the group brought up what to do with their captured meghdoot, Satvari. Aurelia held firm to her position that they shouldn’t kill someone who had been brainwashed, no matter how deadly an assassin that made her, and Amon (unexpectedly) backed her up.

The Aegyptian said that, as a victim of an oppressive realm, himself, he wanted to see if it was at all possible to unwind what had been done to the meghdoot, and perhaps offer Satvari an alternate path.

Henrietta and Millie replied that, based on what they’d seen in Satvari’s thoughts, there was no real “brainwashing” to clear out. Satvari had been raised her entire life to believe in her purpose, and took pride in what she did.

Still, Amon insisted, so the two ladies took him to their sacred spaces and loaded Amon up with spells to allow him to read Satvari’s thoughts, even though Doc Bascher kept her comatose.

A bit unsure of how this would work, Amon went down to the locked brig, and learned the spells would work even through the bars. He started to cast them, and began to search through the meghdoot’s memories.

What he found horrified him. Satvari believed, with absolute certainty, that Lanka lay surrounded by chaos, that used ill-disciplined humans to initiate violence and horror, throughout the world. As harsh as the training she had received as a child had been, it was utterly necessary to protect Lankan children from the death and horror that prevailed throughout the rest of the world.

Even though that training had killed 19 out of 20 of the young girls who undertook it, the sacrifice was worthwhile to keep Lanka safe, and Satvari took tremendous pride in the personal excellence and absolute commitment that allowed her to succeed where so many of her sisters had failed.

Shaken by what he’d learned, Amon said he wasn’t sure anything could be done to make Satvari into anything other than the person the Lankans had raised her as, and now understood why the Sriwijayans elected to send meghdoots to their next incarnations as quickly as possible.

A.J. chimed in, at that moment, and said he’d come up with a couple of ideas about theoretical ways to use magic, to help with the problem. It might be possible, he said, to completely erase her memories and personality – essentially rendering Satvari as a tabula rasa, and permit them to (basically) raise her to be anyone they chose.

Aurelia objected, noting that such an action would essentially equate to killing her, and that’s what she wanted to avoid, as she considered Satvari the most abused victim, in this situation.

That came as no surprise, so A.J. said he’d come up with an alternative. A spell could potentially block Satvari’s memories, but keep her skills and personality intact. That would allow them to wake up the Lankan woman and tell her any story they chose, and keep her memories blocked while they showed her a different way of life; a different way of thinking about the world.

At some point, A.J. continued, they could undo the spell and restore Satvari’s memories, which would allow her to choose the person she wished to be, from that point onwards. Of course, should she choose to return to her former self, A.J. said, then all they’d have done is delay her death.

Aurelia said the second idea seemed the best approach, risk notwithstanding, as it offered Satvari the opportunity to make a genuinely informed choice. However, A.J. said they had time to think about it, more, since Henrietta and Millie would have to research the details of the spells, anyway, and that would likely take weeks.

With that, the meeting broke up and everybody headed back to their quarters to clean up and prepare for the audience, the next day. A.J. and Steven split the evening watch so they could both get some rest, and as the portal above began to slowly open to start the day, they flew back down to Bengkulu.

Beatrice decided she and Grunt would remain behind, aboard the Lady McShane, with Henrietta, Doc Basher, Claudia and Messerankh, so as to secure the airship. Meanwhile, everybody else had donned some of the finery they’d had made in Sir Isaac Newton’s London, and shortly thereafter A.J. and Steven followed suit. Once the ship was down and moored, they headed back to the lift room.

There, Hops About and Twirls Thrice fluttered, blue-black hair carefully braided, and dressed in their finest Winter Court colors – lethally lovely little dolls, ready to attend the audience with Lord Candra.

The group experienced a moment of blind white panic, as they realized the nunnupi meant to accompany them. The panic turned to borderline-hysterical amusement as Hops About and Twirls Thrice winged over to Aurelia and perched on either shoulder (black wings tickling her ears), saying they didn’t think it appropriate to fly to the audience as magpies.

Swallowing hard as they accepted the inevitability of the disaster awaiting, the group went down to the pier to find litters born by burly Sriwijayans awaiting them, for the short trip up to the palace. Reluctantly, they clambered aboard the litters and were lifted up, and the procession to the palace began, flanked on either side by Capt. Saputra’s troops in their best uniforms.

Soon enough, the litters arrived at the stairs that led up to the veranda of the stone palace, and the group climbed out of them. Led by Capt. Saputra, they climbed the stairs to find a uniformed palace guard officer waiting for them. Saputra bowed formally to the man, and announced the names of the visitors.

The guard officer formally welcomed the group, and said they needed to surrender to him any arms, for safe-keeping during their time in the palace. Anticipating the demand, A.J., Aurelia, Steven, Millie and Amon had borne only sidearms, which they handed over.

At a nod from the officer, the doormen opened the heavy wooden doors, richly inlaid with intricate marquetry, and the group passed through them into an antechamber where someone they assumed was equivalent to a seneschal, awaited them expectantly. Once again, Capt. Saputra formally greeted the man and told him the names of the visitors.

The seneschal then went through a second set of doors and called out something in his own language, which they couldn’t make out as he had traveled beyond the range of the spells. A moment later, however, the doors opened, Saputra walked through first and then stepped aside, as the group entered the audience chamber.

On the far side of the stone hall, richly decorated with veneered wood, bright silks, colorful feathers and other finishes, they saw a bright rug and cushions arrayed on the floor about 10 paces from the foot of a low dais that held an ornately-carved bench, upon which sat the colorful figure of a man, flanked by three other nobles on either side, which the group surmised were likely advisors or notable members of the court.

The group walked forward and, as coached, dropped to their knees on the cushions and prostrated themselves. Aurelia was somewhat shocked when Hops About and Twirls Thrice jumped to the rug and also prostrated themselves – until she heard them giggling quietly at what they clearly considered the silliness of it all.

(continued...)

[tshiggins]

(...continued)

At the command of Lord Candra, the group raised their heads but remained on their knees, as the nunnupi fluttered back to Aurelia’s shoulders. Hops About quietly informed Aurelia that the entire room seemed, “drenched in spiritual energy,” which meant this lord might actually rule by the divine will of some god or another.

Aurelia decided she didn’t really want to know that, but held her peace as Lord Candra formally welcomed the group and asked them to explain their presence in Sriwijaya, how they’d gotten there, and the nature of their journey and their places of origin.

A.J., as the senior male present, stuck to the story they’d already established, that they hailed from the colonial lands beyond the Atlantean Sea, and had arrived on a journey of discovery and exploration, via the Elder Isles, Atlantis, Alexandria, and Lanka.

Lord Candra asked some pointed questions about their time in Lanka, and the group successfully convinced him that, while their visit had been largely peaceful, they’d found the place rather disturbing in any number of ways. In response to other questions, they said that while a few airship apparently docked at Kelaniya, the Lankans apparently had none of their own.

Demonstrating that he had, indeed, been fully briefed, Lord Candra then asked them how they’d come to know the priest, Yash, well enough to permit him passage aboard their vessel. The group filled him in on their experiences at Mauritius and what they’d learned there, as well as their decision to grant the wish of Yash’s superior, Sanja Shivapati, that the younger man accompany them on their trip to the seas east of Lanka.

They noted that very little lore existed about Sriwijaya, and the Stormwall had come as a complete surprise to them, as Lanka forbade any passage past the territory they claimed for themselves, and brutally enforced the edict.

While the rest of the group had participated in the interview, Aurelia had mostly remained silent, while eyeing the surroundings and assessing the situation.

She noted that most of the courtiers scattered on either side of the chamber appeared quite rapt at the story unfolding before them, but that a couple of Lord Candra’s advisors kept looking in her direction with increasing consternation. Suddenly, Aurelia realized the men weren’t so much looking at her, bur rather at the two tiny faeries perched on her shoulders.

Soon enough, Lord Candra asked about the two figures, whom he noted no one had seen, until now. Aurelia replied that Hops About and Twirls Thrice had chosen to accompany them on their journey as passengers and guests, and had decided to pay their respects to Lord Candra, personally.

The nobleman formally thanked them for doing so and, after a few more formalities, he commanded the group accompany him to a private audience chamber. The then rose from the bench as everyone bowed deeply, and departed, followed by his advisors. A few moments later, the seneschal and Capt. Saputra fetched the group, and took them through a side-door that led to a hallway that took them deeper into the palace.

Within a few moments, they found themselves in a meeting chamber, still richly appointed but far more comfortable. The staff brought them some refreshments for their dry throats, and then cleared them away just before Lord Candra – who had doffed most of his heavy attire – arrived and took a seat at the head of the table, with three of his advisors.

The group sat down at the table with Lord Candra, while Saputra and the seneschal remained standing at the back of the room. Candra pressed them for more details about their time in Lanka and their flight across the Stormwall, and thanked them for bringing them news of Mauritius, as they had thought the people, there, long since exterminated.

The presence of what was at least something of a resistance on Lanka’s flank opened up what Lord Candra called, “interesting possibilities,” and pressed them for more details about the conditions, there. The group filled him in with as many details as possible, although (by prior agreement) they neglected to mention the presence of Satvari aboard the Lady McShane.

Lord Candra’s advisors also sought details about the lands “west” of Lanka, and the group told him about their visits to the Elder Isles, Atlantis and Alexandria, and what they’d learned about the situations, there. One of the men, clearly a scholar, expressed pleasure at the confirmation of the existence of the Great Library of Alexandria, which for them had become the stuff of legend.

The scholar then asked at what point the two small persons had joined the journey, and the group cagily noted that many of their kind regularly visited the Elder Isles. They had acted as “proper guests” aboard the Lady McShane, Aurelia said, if only because the two nunnupi remained scrupulously honest, all the time.

As soon as she said that, the scholar’s eyes widened in shock, as he’d clearly recognized what now shared the room with Lord Candra. However, Lord Candra once again thanked the two small faeries for their courteous visit, and then smoothly turned to other matters.

The presence of the Lady McShane interested him greatly, as it offered an opportunity to change the war with Lanka, Lord Candra said. He noted that, were the group use the airship to interdict the commercial traffic that supplied Lanka with wealth and materials they then used to prosecute the war against Sriwijaya, the realm would welcome such actions and provide any support they might need in that effort.

A.J. replied the group hadn’t even considered that notion, and would have to think about it carefully. However, he added the Red Rocks Lodge would like to help their friends on Mauritius as much as they could, and had given some thought as to how that might help both the Mauritians and the Sriwijayans.

At that point, the scholar politely interjected himself into the conversation, and said he understood that at least some of the group appeared to be “skilled magi.” Henrietta replied that, indeed, every one of the group possessed such abilities, and had become quite adept during their long journey.

That created a momentary pause as the Sriwijayans considered the possibilities. Lord Candra said he’d like for his people to pursue the matter of relief for Mauritius, further, and assigned the scholar, Lord Horjasa, as his liaison to the Red Rocks Lodge.

With that, Lord Candra rose and left the room, leaving Lord Horjasa behind to start in the details. The group discussed a few preliminary ideas with the man, for awhile, before Horjasa told them they should continue the discussion, the next day, at his personal offices, away from the palace.

The group agreed that seemed a good idea, and after farewells, Lord Horjasa took his leave. Capt. Saputra stepped forward, all smiles, and said the audience had gone extremely well and said that, should the group decide to engage in commerce-(The raiding against Lankan shipping, he could put together a sturdy company of experienced marines to assist.

The group went back and forth with him about that, as they walked down the hallway and left the palace. As they emerged on the veranda to recover their weapons, they saw three wagons, piled with luxuries, topped with the rugs and cushions upon which they’d kneeled during the initial audience.

As he noted their shock at the gifts, Capt. Saputra grinned and noted that he’d told them the audience had gone well.

With that, the session ended.

##

Funny Quotes

(The group discusses the possibilities of the spells A.J. proposed, many of them inspired by the neutralizers from, “Men in Black.”)
Steven: Oh, there are so many things we can put in their heads!
Aurelia: No, no! There’s rules! Shh!

(The group learns that A.J. and Henrietta had recently upgraded the enchantments on the staff she’d taken from the djinn, so long ago, and that would come as an unpleasant surprise to any rakshasa who encountered it.)
Henrietta: Damn skippy!

(Amon finishes looking into Satvari’s mind.)
Aurelia: Sooo, are we completely erasing her, or just partially?

(The group prepares for the audience with Lord Candra.)
Millie: I put little bow on my cat, and he’s all ready to go!

(Henrietta prevails in the mature and responsible method she and Aurelia used to determine which of them would represent the women in the group.)
Henrietta: You “rock-paper-scissored” me, so you get what you get.

A.J.: “When someone asks you if you’re a god…”
(Everyone but Amon): “…you say, ‘Yes!’”
Amon: What was that?!

(The two nunnupi appear in their faerie finery.)
Aurelia: Oh, yeah. This is gonna go great….

(The audience begins, and the women realize that, once again, they find themselves in a traditional patriarchy in which they’re, once again, mostly ignored.)
Millie (sighs): No need to disrespect them, this early.

##

[tshiggins]

Well, autumn got pretty busy, around here, so we took a bit of an hiatus from the game. The next session is this weekend, so time for the most recent session log.

Things got a bit violent, last time.

Characters Present

Dr. Henrietta "Indiana" Johnson -- A personable, age 29-and-holding Anthropologist who specializes in the pre-Columbian indigenous people of the American Desert Southwest. A Native of Apache Junction, AZ, "Indiana" is good with people and has been fascinated by American Indian religion and folklore since she was a child. Henrietta speaks Apache fluently, and not-so-secretly wishes archaeology could be more like Raiders of the Lost Ark and less like digging in a trench with a trowel and a toothbrush -- Played by Debbie S.

Dr. Arthur "A.J." Jamison -- a retired NASA scientist with a home in one of Moab's nicer canyon sub-developments, who volunteers for 4CSAR because he needs to do something to get out of the house. -- Played by Anten S.

Aurelia R. Lockrin -- A young woman with a shady past who teaches History at Grand County High School (Home of the Red Devils!), and volunteers for 4CSAR because she's a bit of an adrenalin junkie, and likes the companionship. -- played by Bennie Rae P.

Beatrice "B" Lawrence -- U.S. Army veteran who works for a local air charter service as a helicopter mechanic. A cynic about men, she is accompanied by "Grunt," the biggest, best-trained pit-bull anybody has ever seen (purchased as an ally, and a totally badass dog, even before it was possessed by what appears to be a benign “foo” spirit) -- played by Bernetta W.

Stephen Mack, another member of the NASA Quantum Physics Research Team, a former U.S. Marine Corps test pilot, and outdoors enthusiast. – Played by Ragan S.

Millicent “Millie” Brown – A member of the Columbine Lodge of Denver, and descendant of the Unsinkable Margaret “Molly” Brown. Currently an apprentice of the Invisible College of Thoth-Hermes, seconded out to the members of the Red Rocks Lodge. Owner of a large, well-trained Savannah Cat, named Apophis. – Played by Kaitlynn S.

Guest NPCs

Amon Kosey – Another native of Aegyptus and a fellow member of the Children of Khemet, he appears as an unremarkable man, but has a hidden talent for deception who can, nonetheless, turn on the charm when needed. With an average face, an average height, and a lack of distinguishing features, he blends in with any crowd and has wandered into just about anywhere, uninvited and frequently unnoticed. -- Played by Pete T.

NPCs Present

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

Hops About: An enthusiastically lethal nunnupi, a 6-inch tall fairy girl with black wings, pale skin and American Indian features. Currently dressed in the colors of the Unseelie Court, with a bow and knife, she frequently takes the form of a magpie four times the size of a normal bird and can go invisible.

Twirls Thrice: A laconically lethal nunnupi with a dry sense of humor, also dressed in the cool colors of the Unseelie Court. The sister of Hops About, she bears similar weapons that can inflict elf-stroke, also appears as a large magpie, and can go invisible.

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.

Claudia Abigail “Cat” Tavulari – A former 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.

Meserankh “Messie” Paphnutius – A native of the legendary Aegyptus of the Pearl Bright Ocean, still ruled by the branch of the Hellenistic Ptolemaic dynasty descended from Cleopatra and Marc Antony. Mezzie is a mage, and a member of the Children of Khemet, who seek to overthrow the Hellenes and restore the ancient line of pharaohs. A lean, rangy, fairly attractive woman in her early 30s, who clearly missed a few meals as a child. Her face shows early signs of lines drawn by tremendous frustration at injustices she perceives. She seldom smiles.

##

The group that met with Lord Candra clambered aboard the wagons full of gifts he’d given to them, as Capt. Saputra organized his men to escort them back to the Lady McShane. Soon enough, the three wagons, flanked by the guard troop, left the palace gates and began to head toward the pier.

Back aboard the Lady McShane, Beatrice decided to take a break from watching Satvari’s comatose body, in the brig, and headed forward. She glanced down at the pier, 30 feet below, and froze in shock.

Six rakshasa were killing the Capt. Khoo’s guard contingent left to keep people away from the airship, the two priests with the guards were already dead, and two meghdoot had started to climb, hand-over-hand, up the aft hawsers toward the fighting cage at the back of the airship’s envelope, about five stories above, and aft of, her location in the gondola.

Beatrice smacked the alarm, grabbed a speaking-tube and yelled an alert to Claudia, forward on the flight deck. Up in their quarters, a startled Henrietta and Meserankh scrambled to arm themselves, and on the deck just above Beatrice, Doc Basher ran to the locker in her office to grab her shotgun.

Fearful that more meghdoot might have started to climb up toward different parts of the airship, Beatrice began to check out the windows and firing ports of the gondola, as she moved toward the flight-deck. About halfway up the gondola, she glanced out the starboard side firing port and saw her worst fears realized.

A third meghdoot had nearly reached the bottom of the gondola.

Beatrice shouted the locations of the intruders into the speaking-tube, and threw open the hatch covering the firing port; ran to the back of the arbalest located behind it; and ran the front out the port and took aim at the meghdoot.

Up in the flight deck, a thoroughly alarmed Claudia triggered a long-distance communication spell and alerted the A.J., Aurelia, Steven, Millie and Amon, back at the wagons, about the attack. A.J. immediately stopped his wagon and shouted to Capt. Saputra that he needed to get his men down to the pier as fast as possible.

He then opened up a portal to the catwalk that accessed the airship’s rear fighting cage, and Steven, standing the closest, dashed through it, with Amon and then Aurelia, close behind.

As he’d been casting the portal, Hops About and Twirls Thrice decided they wanted a birds-eye view of the situation, so they transformed to their magpie forms and blurred away much faster than any natural bird, in the direction of the Lady McShane, before going invisible.

As soon as he stepped through A.J. teleportal gate, Steve found himself on the catwalk just inside the airship’s aft envelop, facing the hatchway into the fighting cage mounted at the rear, behind the Lady McShane’s four large navigation fins.

He threw open the hatch and stepped into the cage, suspended more than 60 feet above the pier, and saw the guard contingent getting slaughtered below. Focusing a little closer, Steve saw that two meghdoot had come within about 20 feet of the fighting cage, and the agile women were closing rapidly as they climbed, hand-over-hand, up the two cables that secured the back of the airship to the cleats on the pier.

Steven immediately realized the two assassins were too close to use the arbalest, as he couldn’t depress it far enough to hit either of them. He turned and shouted at Amon, who had just popped through the portal, to close the cage behind him so the assassins couldn’t make it into the ship.

The former marine pilot then unlatched the cage’s gate and stepped out onto the rungs of the access ladder on the outside of the envelope, and began to climb down toward the megdoot climbing up the port-side hawser.

Amon, coming up behind, saw the second meghdoot surge upward toward the open gateway and, with shouted, “Sorry!”, slammed the gateway shut, locking Steven outside with the two assassins.

Down in the gondola, Henrietta arrived down on the lower deck of the gondola in time to see Beatrice fire her carefully-aimed arbalest bolt. The point tore through the meghdoot’s leather armor as if it were tissue-paper and blood gouted from her lower right side.

The critically-wounded Lankan woman, looked over and saw Beatrice pulling out a musket, and realized she couldn’t take another hit. She hiked her kees up high on the cable, wand with a surging leap, reached the edge of the airship’s envelope, where it started to curve away enough to take her out of Beatrice’s line of sight.

The meghdoot paused for a moment, just long enough to wrench an amulet from around her neck, trigger it with a crack, and throw it toward the open arbalest port.

(continued...)

[tshiggins]

(...continued)

Beatrice saw the summoning amulet – identical to the one they’d taken off Satvari – arc gracefully through the open portal and bounce against the back bulkhead. Near panic, the former helicopter mechanic dove toward it in desperate attempt to do something to keep it from summoning six rakshasa into the room, with her.

She gracefully plucked the amulet out of the air as it bounced off the back bulkhead and, to Henrietta’s astonishment, Beatrice smoothly twirled and flung the amulet back out through the firing hatch. They then watched as six rakshasa gated in, 30 feet above the ocean, and start to fall.

(To look under the hood: The meghdoot had a better, “Move” than Beatice, so the turn sequence went: meghdoot throws the amulet, makes a good roll despite minuses for distance and injury, and it goes through the firing port. Beatrice dives to catch it as an all-out action, and Bernetta rolled a critical success, so Beatrice grabs it out of the air. Because of that, I allowed her to take the second part of Beatrice’s all-out action to toss it back outside, and that succeeded also. So, between the end of the meghdoot’s round, and the start of her next; Beatrice’s all-out action permitted her to grab the amulet and toss it back outside. If Bernetta had failed that second roll, six rakshasa would’ve gated into the room with Beatrice, and she’d have had no defenses. Everybody cheered that one.)

At the back of the airship, the meghdoot below Steve saw him step out onto the rungs above her, took a strong grip with her left hand, fast-drew a knife with her right, and flung it toward him with deadly accuracy – only to have the “Reverse Missile” spell trigger and send it back into her own chest.

The other meghdoot saw that, realized they were in a much more precarious situation than anticipated, and pulled out her short sword. She then swing herself acrobatically at the envelope and, with a strong thrust, punctured the envelope. That gave her time to grab a handhold and she began to try to widen the hole, as Steven concentrated on the slightly-wounded assassin below him.

Inside the envelope, Aurelia had just stepped through, and immediately noticed the bright pinprick of light in the gloomy interior, where the meghdoot’s blade had punctured through. She leapt over the genre-violating safety-rail on the catwalk, and side-stepped down the thick canvas envelope until she reached the puncture.

Aurelia fast drew and arrow and nocked it, took a couple of seconds to aim as the unaware meghdoot hanging on the other side started to saw through the fabric, triggered the small spell-engine she’d installed on the bow, and shot the meghdoot in the chest, through the widening cut.

Back at the wagons, A.J. readied his crossbow as Steven, Amon, Aurelia, Millie and Apophis took turns going through the portal. He then dropped that spell, triggered, “Hawkflight,” and then teleported himself to a spot in the air about 10 yards behind the stern fighting cage.

He arrived in time to see Aurelia’s arrow explode and blast her target off the back of the ship. As the body of that assassin plummeted toward the ground, he took careful aim at the other meghdoot, who had drawn her sword and began to swash and buckle on the outside of the airship with Steve.

A.J.’s quarrel took her in the back of the head, and her lifeless body plunged toward the pier, below, where the rakshasa had finished killing the guard contingent, and had started to dash back toward the ropes tying down the Lady McShane.

A.J. recalled that at least some of the rakshasa could teleport for at least short distances, and triggered a Mind Sending spell to Claudia. He told her to blow the tie-down cables, and get the airship out of there.

Up on the flight deck, Claudia slapped the button to jettison the hawsers, Thumps down either side of the gondola, followed by the sound of the propellors spinning up, let everybody know she meant to put the Lady McShane into an emergency climb, although Claudia didn’t blow the ballast, just yet.

As soon as they heard the cables blow, Henrietta told Beatrice to check for other boarders out the windows of the gondola, and then dashed back up the ramp to the next deck, where she could get to the ladder that took her to the top of the envelope. Henrietta gathered up Messerankh, who had just arrived, and the two women dashed back the way they came, as Beatrice dogged the gun-port behind them.

Back aft, Millie and Apophis arrived last through the portal, in time to see Aurelia blast her target and, deciding the group back there likely had the situation in hand, dashed back toward the mid-envelope access ladder. Behind her, Steven decided he’d climb to the top of the airship via the external ladders, while Amon and Aurelia would follow Millie and see who needed help.

Meanwhile, A.J. zoomed in close enough to say he’d take a quick flight up either side of the gondola to make sure nobody hung on it, outside.

Amon dogged the hatch to the aft turret and Aurelia clambered back up to the catwalk. Henrietta and Messie reached the base of the ladder, down at the bottom of the envelope and began the long climb to reach the catwalk that ran just beneath the dorsal framework and the topside catwalk and fighting cages, six stories above.

Millie and Apophis managed to reach the safety-ladder at mid-envelope just before Henrietta and Messie had climbed that far, and she began to ascend, with the large savannah cat draped around her shoulders.

The three women soon reached the catwalk beneath the center top hatch. Millie unlatched it, and carefully raised it to make sure nobody unpleasant lay in wait, on the other side.

As she did so, the fourth meghdoot, who had made her way undetected up the port side of the envelope, triggered her summoning amulet and threw it toward the slowly opening hatch.

Millie heard the tikka-tikka rattle of the amulet as it skittered toward the hatch, realized immediately what it had to be, grabbed the hatch-cover with both hands and slammed it shut.

The young woman shouted to Henrietta and Messie what was about to happen as she frantically worked the latches. Henrietta told Messie to precede her forward along the catwalk, and they both started to run that direction.

The former archaeologist wanted to reach the forward fighting cage where she hoped the two of them could grab the arbalests and turn them on the rakshasa about to arrive.

Less than a second later, Millie heard a dozen heavy boots thump down on the platform above her head and, thinking quickly, triggered a Mass Sleep spell.

Fortunately, Messie and Henrietta resisted the spell, as did Apophis. However, four of the rakshasa weren’t so lucky, and promptly collapsed, leaving two very confused and disoriented others trapped inside the locked fighting cage, unaware that a hatch to the interior lay beneath the body of one of their collapsed colleagues.

Below, A.J. completed his sweep up the sides of the gondola, didn’t spot the port-side meghdoot as she’d gotten above the point where he could see her, did see the blood-trail from the badly-wounded starboard-side meghdoot, and finished her off.

Meanwhile, Steven had climbed high enough up the outside of the envelope that he could start to trot up the back and, as he reached the point where he could start to see across the top of the airship, slowed to take a cautious peek. He quickly spotted the unhurt meghdoot trotting toward the center fighting cage where the two rakshasa had started to try to kick their companions awake.

Steven immediately began to run to intercept the assassin, who spotted him almost immediately and found his idea quite acceptable. She shouted in her own language to the rakshasa, and then moved to intercept Steve before he could reach the fighting cage with the demons trapped inside.

The former Marine and the skilled assassin vectored toward one another, and as they got close, Steven decided to use his greater size and strength to try for an early advantage. He slammed the meghdoot hard enough to knock her down, only to get his feet taken out from under him with a fluid leg-sweep.

As the two began a nasty, no-holds-barred ground-fight, one of the two rakshasa realized the tactical situation was untenable, and blindly teleported to six feet below his feet – which took him to the top of the safety ladder, where he scrambled to grab on to something, before he fell.

Millie yeeked, and Apophis yowled and leaped, as the demon suddenly appeared right in front of them. Forward along the catwalk, Henrietta shouted in alarm and turned to run back toward Millie, followed by Messie.

(continued...)

[tshiggins]

(...continued)

On the ladder, below, just above the mid-envelope catwalk, Aurelia swore and tried to ready her bow in the tight confines of the caged safety-ladder. Just below her, Amon tried to think of something to do, given the tight confines and the fact that Aurelia mostly blocked his ability to shoot a bullet from his prod up past her.

The rakshasa promptly realized its predicament and, thinking quickly, took its only viable option. It kicked its feet free of the ladder, let go, and started to drop, metal boots first, toward Aurelia and Amon, more than 20 feet below.

Aurelia immediately wriggled her way through the bars of the safety cage and wedged herself between the ladder and one of the huge, goldbeater-skin gasbags, filled with helium, to avoid the hobnailed, armored boots dropping toward her face.

Immediately below her, Amon realized he utterly lacked the agile flexibility needed to do what Aurelia just did, and instead elected to slide down the ladder toward the opening just below him. He reached it and dodged aside just as the plummeting rakshasa tried to grab at him, missed, panicked, tried to grab the ladder, missed that too, and slammed into the deck just above the keel, 30 feet below.

That fall of six stories crushed the legs and feet of the rakshasa’s host body and knocked it unconscious, so the rakshasa demon abandoned the fight and left the Lankan host to bleed out.

Aurelia and Amon got back into the ladder’s safety cage and started to climb again as, up above, Steven managed to get the meghdoot into an arm-lock. The second rakshasa had managed to kick its colleagues awake, by then, and spotted the danger to the meghdoot.

The rakshasa manifested its terrifying presence via its Mantle of Glory spell, but Steve (with the help of his Medicine Bag) managed to resist, and focused on the meghdoot currently trying to stab him in the foot with the sword she’d switched to her off-hand.

By then, A.J. had soared up the side of the envelope and, taking in the situation, put an explosive bolt in the meghdoot that promptly detonated, leaving Steve holding a bloody arm attached to no body.

Seeing this, a second rakshasa teleported to inside the envelope, only to find Millie ready, this time. She had drawn her rapier and, upon the appearance of the second rakshasa, promptly engaged it. That gave Henrietta, who had closed by then, the chance to attack it from behind.

Neither Millie’s rapier nor Henrietta’s magically-enhanced quarer-staff made much of a dent in the rakshasa’s heavily=armored form, but Messie’s Sleep spell worked just fine. The rakshasa clattered to the deck, Millie put the point of her rapier through a gap in its gorget armor, and then leaned in.

At that point, the four remaining rakshasa realized the cause was lost, and abandoned their hosts, whom A.J. and Steven immediately executed.

Down below, in the gondola, Beatrice had adopted a similar policy. As Claudia pitched the nose of the airship upwards, the back end dipped down and the rakshasa on the pier began to run toward it, and Beatrice ran to one of the other arbalests located in a firing position toward the back of the airship.

Beatrice kicked open one of the ammunition lockers, and took the existing shaft out of the loaded arbalest. She loaded in a replacement, with a thicker shaft and a glass sphere at the front, and threw open the firing port, and took aim at the cluster of six rakshasa running toward the airship from the bodies of the dead guardsmen.

As they approached, Beatrice pulled the trigger and the shaft arced out to land in the middle of the contingent of rakshasa, and promptly explode, splashing several of them with Greek Fire.

They began to scream and run toward the ocean, but the others dodged aside and kept coming. Rather than take the time re-cocking and reloading the heavy weapon, Beatrice turned to the second one, just behind it, that fired out the port on the other side of the gondola.

She quickly swapped out its existing shaft with a second Greek Fire missile, opened the port and pointed that one aft, as well, and fired again, blasting several others.

As the airship climbed away, Beatrice ran along the gondola, going from one firing position to another, swapping out the load from the three remaining cocked arbalests, and napalming the pier, below.

That kept the rakshasa dodging and disorganized enough for Claudia to get some altitude and, by the time Beatrice ran out of shots, Capt. Saputra’s company, with a half-dozen priests in tow, was moving at a trot down the pier toward the rakshasa. As they closed, the troops formed a shield wall to hold back the demons long enough for the priests to exorcise them from the Lankan hosts, whom the Sriwijayans summarily executed.

The [i]Lady McShane continued to climb into the misty skies above Bengkulu, as the Red Rocks Lodge members double-checked to make sure they hadn’t missed anything.

With that, the session ended.

##

Funny Quotes
(Not too many, this time. It was a long, scary fight.)

Char (kibbitzing the session, but not playing a guest character, this time): I love the nunnupi. They’re like the Crow Girls, in Charles DeLint’s books.
GM: Whoa! Somebody finally recognized where I stole the idea from!

(The group takes a few minutes at the start of the session, to discuss whether or not the ability to summon Earth Elementals might be useful.)
Henrietta: You’re asking Steve?!
Beatrice: I think you should call it, “Dwayne”!

(The meghdoot attack.)
Millie: There are meghdoot on the roof!
Beatrice: I feel like that should be a song!
Aurelia (singing): Meghdoot, meghdoot/on the roof!

Beatrice: Where there’s smoke, there’s napalm!

(The group realizes they’ll need an urgent meeting with their liaison, the scholarly Lord Horjasa.)
Amon: I’d like to give him a really convincing lecture on Aegyptology.
Beatrice : Like you do with all your girlfriends?

##