[tshiggins]

This session picked up right where the last one left off.
Also, the list of PCs has gotten shorter, again. Jeff and Tisa’s responsibilities as parents pretty much preclude active participation in the campaign.

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. (Not available, this time.)

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. (Not available, this time.)


NPCs Present

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

Amanda Gagnier: A professional airship crewmember and native of the Orbital Realm of Jupiter, hired as a guide as the Paradise neared the borders of territory controlled by the Nieuw Haarlem company.

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

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

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.

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.

Fergus O’Neil – A pirate and rascal who had the misfortune to cross the Red Rocks Lodge, and the worse judgement to try to rob them when they took passage on his ship across the Irish Sea in the late winter of 1712. However, against all common sense, the party (well, A.J….) decided to adopt him as a flunky after they saved his life from his own crew.

Claudia Abigail 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. – Played by Tisa T.

##

The disciplined crew of the Skandzian frigate went defensive, as soon as the officer called for parlay, and they backed away slowly. The officer continued toward the stern and A.J. flew nearer to the man.

The officer said Red Rocks Lodge mages had killed his superiors, as well as the “specialist,” who had brought them their orders, so he’d willingly consider the mission a failure, take the ship and his remaining crew, and return to Skandzian waters.

A.J., in return, flatly demanded the officer order his men to lay down arms in unconditional surrender, and he promised to let them live. However, A.J. stated the ship was forfeit and, if the officers and remaining crew wished to dispute the matter, he and his colleagues would kill them all.

Right about then, two additional officers emerged from below decks – a large, burly man and the icy blonde who had dueled with Aurelia until each forced the other to retreat. The three officers quickly palavered, and the larger man offered to duel A.J. – with the winner to keep the frigate.

The middle-aged former NASA physicist readily agreed to the fight, and the crew quickly cleared off the large stern hatch-combing to act as the dueling space.

The icy blonde officer dashed below-decks, and returned within a few moments with a pair of spiked hand-axes, and tossed them to the huge officer, who had removed his tunic to reveal a massively-muscled chest.

Meanwhile, A.J. doffed his heavy crossbow and extra gear, but retained his ballistic armor (as nobody had told him he should take it off…). The crew gathered around the edges of the hatch-cover as A.J.’s companions moved to the stern-castle railing to watch the show.

A.J. lightly touched down on the hatch-cover and waited expectantly, ceramic machete at the ready.

The officer expertly twirled the axes a couple of times, skipped toward A.J., howled and charged, as A.J. tried a feint.

However, the officer ignored the feint by ignoring his own defenses, and brought one axe down from above and the other up from below, aimed at the engineer’s crotch.

The high axe came in with death on its point (critical hit!) but A.J. turned it aside at the last instant (critical parry!) and side-stepped the second axe (successful dodge of the regular hit). He then slashed out with the machete, and took off the head of the berserker.

(Quickest duel ever.)

The effortless execution stunned the Skandzan crew to silence, and the lead officer offered his sword to A.J., who took it. The officer then ordered his men to cease resistance, and go below to the gun deck. They did so as the blonde female officer led the way.

The remaining officer said the duelist had been the ship’s priest, and if Odin had saw fit to grant the victory to A.J., then so be it. However, he asked that he and his crew be put ashore at the nearest coast, rather than be taken back to whatever port the victors planned to take the ship.

A.J. agreed to this readily enough, as he didn’t want the hassle of dealing with several hundred hostile sailors for the next couple of weeks. He also gave the hand-axes to the officer, saying they should return to the family of the priest.

The officer expressed appreciation for the honor shown, and promised to see it done. With that, he went below, as well, and A.J. gated in a prize crew from the Airgead Spraeala to help sail the vessel.

As they began to arrive, the party struck the colors and raised a flag with the logo of the Red Rocks Lodge. They then used a bottle of booze to re-christen the ship, “Enterprise,” and in so completing the ritual took formal ownership of the vessel as Capt. Bohannan looked on.

The group then went down the officer’s cabins in the stern and cleared out the belongings of the former owners, stashing it in the forecastle cabins after searching it for valuables. They also went down into the bilge to see if they could figure out why the ship moved so quickly.

Once they dropped down through the hatch on the lower deck, they immediately saw the reason for the ship’s amazing performance.

Attached to the keel by power rods, they saw a large elemental binding matrix similar to those they’d seen in Atlantis, but of slightly different design. Based on the types of gems used in the 20 facets of the orichalcum framework, they saw that it likely held a water elemental strong enough to drive the ship at nearly double its normal speed.

They also found that, unlike every bilge they’d ever seen or herd of, the water sloshing in the bottom of this ship seemed crystal-clear, and surmised it was a byproduct of the presence of the elemental, bound though it happened to be.

(continued...)