Campaign: Facets

[tshiggins]

Well, the holidays are well under way, and we’ve had a lot to do, so far. Another session rapidly approaches, though, so I’d better get this write-up done.

We had a couple of guest players, both friends of Bernetta W. One has followed the campaign for quite some time, which I thought was pretty cool. Another is a long-time D&D player who DMs a game for her friends, and she wanted to give GURPS a try.

I had created a female NPC for possible use during the group’s time in the Pearl Bright Ocean’s legendary version of Alexandria, along with a back-story rife with conflict. So, I had little difficulty knocking together a companion for her.

The session started off with those characters, and the main PCs appear much later. As such, the write-up includes a fair bit of introduction to the characters and their backgrounds, and events start off from their points of view.

Thanks to Debbie and Anten for welcoming the guests into their home.

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 PCs

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. -- Played by Phoenix G.

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. 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.

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.

##

Amon Kosey returned to the safehouse from the market, where he’d managed to avoid spending what little coin they had left by procuring supplies the “light-fingered” way.

It had been years since he and his friends had relieved food from the back of a wagon as a lark (they all had the money, but entirely too much time on their hands…). Still the close of the market day was just as hectic now, in Alexandria, as it had been further south, when he was a boy.

A cautious Messie relaxed as much as she ever did, as he arrived, and without much comment started to fillet the fish as he peeled vegetables and dropped them in a pot.

They finished up the slender meal and cleaned up what little mess they’d made; stayed inside and out of sight until the streets got as quiet as they ever did, in the busy port city of Alexandria; and then started south toward the only option they had left.

They stuck to the darkest alleys and the narrowest of side-streets. They had the skills to handle any cut-purses and throat-slitters, without much problem and, besides, the turn-coats who took Hellenist money and wore Hellenist badges, had all too recently demonstrated they posed the much greater danger to the patriots who fought for the Children of Khemet.

As it was, the thugs steered clear, on this night. Sometimes, desperation uncovered vulnerability; but on this night, Messerankh Paphnutius and Amon Kosey displayed all the “fear” of cornered wolves. The jackals steered clear.

Within about an hour, the pair reached the streets adjacent to the ferry docks on the north shore of the brackish, shallow Lake Mareotis.

Less than 50 years old, the ferry docks displayed none of the age-worn pathways and rounded edges of so much of the rest of the ancient city – but then, the passengers they serviced hadn’t existed for very long, either. Across the narrow lake, and easily visible despite the darkness, the airship mooring towers and hulking hangars stood out darkly against the sandy soil and dry, autumn grasses of the low hills, beyond.

The lights of the airship field certainly helped, also. Dirigibles landed at any time of day or night.

Unfortunately, new technology notwithstanding, the Alexandria constabulary had apparently thought to put eyes on this possible route out of city, also. The duo spotted a number of guardsmen wandering around quiet docks, which meant anyone who approached a ferry operator would draw attention.

After a quick discussion, Messie and Amon decided to work their way around the west end of the lake. Better to take a couple of hours to try to avoid problems, rather than try to brazen their way through.

That plan proved at least somewhat well-considered, as they managed to reach the west end of the airfield as the cool air marked the arrival of deep night. The pair watched for a bit, noted a couple of patrols of bored-looking city guardsmen, whom they easily avoided.

However, as they approached the dozen vast hangars, the fugitives realized they had no idea which ones held what airships, or anything about the destinations. That meant they had to brave a quick trip to the Customs House to check the board for information about the vessels currently moored.

Messie and Amon easily avoided the patrols (the airfield wasn’t fenced) and made their way to the small jumble of buildings near the south shore ferry dock. The area wasn’t terribly well-lit, although it did have some lamp-posts, and they soon found themselves in a dark corner across from the white-washed, brick structure.

On either side of the door, with the scrap of a royal Aegyptus flag hanging limply above, two drowsy royal guardsmen who must have irritated a sergeant, today, leaned against the wall, trying hard to not fall asleep. The equally unlucky customs clerk who had drawn this shift had propped open the door to let in the cooler night air, and Messie and Amon walked right on through, in the middle of an impromptu discussion about pomegranates.

The guard jerked to attention but made no attempt to stop them, the clerk inside blinked his sleep eyes in surprise, and asked if he could help them.

Amon immediately launched into a totally off-the-cuff story about their effort to track down a cargo of figs, sardines and pomegranates, supposedly destined for an airship, here, but entrusted to a new employee who hadn’t reported in, hours later. The surprised clerk completely bought the entirely plausible story, shuffled through some paperwork, and said he found no trace that any such cargo had been declared for export, all day.

Messie opined that they’d probably been taken by a thief, a clearly frustrated Amon agreed, and they thanked the clerk for all his help. They left through the door as the more alert guards eyed Messie’s slender form, and decided to walk toward the hangars in case anybody up there might’ve seen anything.

(continued...)

[tshiggins]

(...continued)

As they purposefully walked away from the government office, they discussed what they’d seen on the chalked list of the half-dozen vessels at the field. All but one of them were listed as either from Mycenae (Greek) or Atlantis (even more Greek than Greece) and, as such, held little attraction for the fugitives.

That left one possibility, albeit a mysterious one. The airship called, the Lady McShane listed “zero” as the number of passengers, while the cargo was marked only as “mixed speculative,” with no details. It listed Atlantis as the last port, but bore a flag out of the misty, cool Elder Isles.

Interestingly, the board listed no destination for the airship, which meant her crew sought no paying passengers, nor even any consigned cargo. Since the Lady McShane offered the only option not automatically unacceptable, Amon and Messie decided to at least check it out, and set off toward Hangar Five.

After they’d gone about halfway in the direction of the hangars, they approached a cluster of cheap, mud-brick buildings from whence came the hubbub of deep voices. A quick peek inside revealed a tavern obviously set up by the longshoremen and airship handlers to keep them out of the sun and rain, while awaiting an arrival or departure.

The quick glance revealed the entire room consisted of native Egyptian laborers, with nary an Hellene in sight, so the pair walked in and approached the bar. Messie’s presence in such a den of blue-collar testosterone earned quite a few stares and even some wolf-whistles.

However, in a world where either sex could practice devastating magics, behavior tended more toward the circumspect, and Messie endured nothing much more more crude than a couple of inquiries as to her marital status.

The pair stuck to their story about missing figs, sardines and pomegranates, and Amon asked if any such cargo had moved through the port, earlier in the day. The longshoremen hadn’t seen any such thing (naturally), but the story broke the ice and the apparent victimization earned them some sympathy, and the boredom and beer of the laborers also helped move the conversation along.

Soon enough, Messie and Amon managed to move the discussion in the direction of the Lady McShane, and the promptly got an earful of oddities:
• The ship declared as inbound from Atlantis, but rather than arrive from west, along the coast, it had actually come in from the south-southwest, across the Saharan savannah;
• The longshoremen had felt a bit short-shrifted when the airship – which they reported as quite large – apparently had no cargo to unload;
• The crew seemed small – as in really small – but very well armed;
• Most of that miniscule crew seemed to consist of women;
• This evening, they’d seen a bunch of mysterious goings-on that didn’t seem to add up.

That last bit of intelligence caught the attention of the two fugitives, and they pressed for details. They learned that two women and a man left the hangar earlier, just before dusk, including a rather distinguished woman in her middle years dressed quite attractively, in the style of the Elder Isles.

After about two hours, a hired coach returned to Hangar Five from the ferry dock, with the trio, plus what appeared to be a well-dressed, distinguished-looking, and black-out drunk Persian gentleman. Then, about an hour later, four people – including the first three plus a pretty young woman, had all left, and made their way to the ferry dock – leaving the Persian gentleman with the older lady, plus what few crewmen remained aboard.

Again, about two hours later, the people aboard the [i]Lady McShane summoned another coach from the ferry dock, and the older lady, the drunk Persian and (once again) two people who had left earlier departed.

The kicker? Two of the other people had been in the group that had already left, but whom had apparently returned in some way that escaped the notice of the (by now) quite curious stevedores and longshore workers.

About two hours after that – and therefore, less than an hour past – the group returned without the Persian and things had quieted down, at Hangar Five.

Astonished at the detailed knowledge of the laborers, Amon and Messie asked how they’d managed to watch all this without getting themselves in trouble. In response, the workers took them out to a pile of gear – hawsers, carts, blocks-and-tackle, and such -- about 50 yard closer to the hangers. They worked their way to a spot on the far side, where their companions showed Messie and Amon a spot where they could sit, unobserved, but with a clear view of the fronts of the hangars.

Impressed by the cleverness of the laborers, Messie and Amon hung out for a bit with three or four who decided to indulge their curiosity, but after 30 minutes, or so, of inactivity the workers headed back to the tavern. Amon and Messie said they’d like to stay and watch awhile longer but, as soon as the last of the longshoremen left, they slipped out from amongst the equipment and quietly approached the hangar of interest.

A perusal of the gargantuan main doors revealed that the wooden rails for the mooring tower left a large enough gap at the bottom, that they could wriggle underneath and enter the hangar, that way. The huge doors also had a smaller access door set in them, but a quick check by Amon found that locked, as expected.

So, the two slipped into the darkness around one side. Up high, they noted a row of large windows left open, up under the overhanging roof, an easy 150 feet up, but decided the regular door at the back end of the side probably offered safer access.

The lock on that door quickly yielded to Amon’s picks, and the two slipped inside, closing it behind them. They found themselves in a hallway with bays on either side that held ropes and other inexpensive but necessary and useful equipment.

Amon indicated that Messie, who lacked his skill at stealth, should remain behind as he scouted ahead. She agreed, and the Child of Khemet “freedom fighter” crept forward.

**

The evening’s festivities had left A.J. and Beatrice a little keyed up, and they’d decided to keep a regular watch schedule, anyway, despite the fact the Lady McShane lay safely inside the cavernous and (supposedly) secure hangar. Henrietta and Millie had already retired to their cabins, and Steve was puttering around a bit, but A.J. decided to unwind by going through the maps and journal entries they’d successfully copied from Capt. Tindol’s cabin.

As he cross-checked them against the travelogues they’d bought from the Great Library, earlier in the day, A.J. found that he’d guessed mostly right about the heading, and the distance lay at the outer edge of his best guess.

Even with the airship’s propellers driven by two fully powered elemental binding matrices, they’d have to cross a lot of water before they sighted the mysterious island realm of Lanka. He also marked the location of port city of Kelaniya, on the southwest corner of the roughly triangular island, and read Tindol’s entries that noted Lankan hostility toward anyone who tried to travel to the interior of the island without permission.

Not that the Tindol’s notes indicated such a journey was all that easy, anyway. Apparently, except for about three ports, most of the interior lay on a high plateau defined by the three peaks that comprised each “point” of the island’s triangle shape.

That plateau reached almost all the way to the edge of the island, and then dropped down to the sea in a high, rugged, and nearly impassable escarpment. Additionally, the journal entries indicated the “Naga Lords” of Lanka employed “rakshasa” as guardsmen and constables, and Tindol mentioned they’d seemed particularly troublesome during his last stay in the port at Kelaniya.

As A.J. wound down with a little light reading, Beatrice decided to walk around the hangar for a bit, to give Grunt a chance to stretch his legs and empty his bladder on the gravel, one last time.

The foo dog started to sniff around, for a bit, but then suddenly pointed his nose at the back end of the hangar, ears pricked up. A low, rumbling growl alerted Beatrice that something wasn’t right, and she quickly and quietly trotted up the ramp to the command deck to alert A.J.

(continued...)

[tshiggins]

(...continued)

A.J., in turn alerted Steven using the ship’s speaking tubes, cocked his crossbow and nocked a quarrel, and then descended the ramp to the gravel. Seeing the direction of Beatrice’s and Grunt’s attention, the former NASA engineer hung a hard left and began to work his way up the starboard side of the dirigible, toward the back of the dark, cavernous space.

As Steve began to arm himself and alert the rest of the group aboard, Beatrice began to move up the port side of the Lady McShane, hovering nose-in toward the back of the hangar, and commanded Grunt to flank out to the left and work his way up along the outside wall of the large structure.

At the back of the hangar, Amon started to work his way toward the side of the large airship, but had taken only a few steps before he spotted Beatrice headed in his direction, musket at the ready. Immediately after that, he saw Grunt trotting at him up the wall to the right, eyes glowing green and fangs bared in a silent snarl.

Amon quickly stepped out into the open, hands raised in surrender, and shouted that he meant no harm. Beatrice and Grunt broke into a run, as A.J. dashed up the other side of the dirigible, out of sight for the moment. In Greek, Beatrice shouted for Amon to lie face face down on the gravel, with his hands on his head.

All too familiar with this routine, the Egyptian did so. Beatrice then moved to cover him from the front as Grunt trotted around and stood at Amon’s feet, just a quick lunge from the Egyptian’s crotch.

A.J. arrived within seconds, and immediately moved to cover the passage toward the back entrance. He shouted for anybody back there to show themselves. Messie decided that was probably the least dangerous course of action (and besides, she couldn’t leave Amon), raised her hands, and stepped out.

A.J. ordered her to lie on the gravel next to Amon, and then he worked his way cautiously toward the back entrance as Beatrice demanded to know if anybody else had come in with them, or lay in wait outside. Steven, meanwhile, stood at the top of the access ramp and went on overwatch.

Once they cleared the area, A.J. and Beatrice returned to the two prisoners. Shortly afterward, Steven, Henrietta and Millie joined them, and the group demanded explanations of the interlopers.

Messie and Amon explained that they sought passage out of Alexandria, if only as far as the Lady McShane’s next stop. They explained that they belonged to a group of Egyptian patriots who resisted the Hellenistic government of the House of Ptolomey Soter, and the foreign culture imposed on the Egyptian people.

Recently, other members of the Children of Khemet, had carried out a successful attack on a military riverboat not far from Alexandria, which had killed a Prince Keraunos of the House of Soter, third son of the current emperor, Alexandros XIV Antonius.

The reprisals had come hard and fast, during the past several days, Amon and Messie explained, and even though they’d had nothing to do with the attack, their membership in the Children of Khemet had earned them a death sentence and summary execution. As such, while they didn’t have any money with which to pay passage, they’d willingly work their way to the dirigible’s next stop, Amon and Messie said – but they needed to depart as soon as possible.

As soon as she heard the name of the group, Millie pulled A.J. and Henrietta aside and quietly told them that “Khemet” was the proper name of Egypt, used by the ancient Egyptians, themselves. The words, “Egypt” and “Egyptian” derived from the Greek word for the land, “Aegypt,” and didn’t really reflect the identity of the people.

At that point, A.J. asked if the two had any experience as airship crewmen, at all, and Amon admitted they did not. Messie disclosed that she had experience as a mage, but had lost access to her sacred space more than a week past, and had a limited number of spells available, currently.

For his part, Amon said he had some experience with learning things and getting information from people. For instance, he told the group that their recent activities had drawn a lot of attention from the ground crews at the airfield, and they might want to depart kind of soon, anyway.

Pressed for more information, Messie and Amon described what they’d learned by talking to the men in the tavern. Essentially, they said, the group hadn’t been nearly as discrete as they may have thought and, given the heightened alert of the local constabulary, someone would soon want answers to questions the crew of the Lady McShane might not want asked.

Taken aback, a bit, the group had a quick discussion they didn’t bother to hide from the guests. They decided to send Amon back to the tavern, accompanied by a shape-shifted Millie (who, again, was the only one who understood the language of “Khemet”).

Amon was to do what he could muddy the waters about the crew’s activities, earlier in the evening, and deflect attention away from them, as much as possible. Meanwhile, Messie would remain on the Lady McShane to guarantee Amon’s good behavior and best efforts.

At that point, drawn by the excitement, Hops About and Twirls Thrice came winging out of the darkness of the hangar, high above, and landed on a crate next to Messie. They transformed from their “giant magpie” forms to their nunnupi “little people” appearance, and Messie’s complexion turned the pale, dusky color of papyrus.

Amon noticed the reaction but went along quietly as the party brought them inside the dirigible, and placed them under the guard of Steven and Beatrice while Millie went off to rework her spell selection.

During that 30 minutes, or so, Amon had time to ask Messie about her reaction to the appearance of the two tiny magpie-girls. She quickly told him to not take them lightly, and explained the potential deadliness of these fae of the Western lands that bordered the Atlantean Ocean.

Amon took a few moments to digest this unsettling news, and then Millie emerged, with A.J. and Henrietta. The trio explained what was about to happen (and Messie experienced another internal shock at the power represented by the spells they’d use), but advised Amon that Millie would not interfere much with his efforts.

At that, Millie bade Apophis to remain behind, and then walked out into the hangar, and departed through the same rear door. They made their way toward the tavern and, just before they arrived, Millie triggered the spell that immediately transformed her to a perfect replica of Messie and, after a moment’s hesitation, the two entered the drinking establishment.

Once inside, Amon began to work the room with professional skill, planting misinformation here and there, telling a few jokes, making people question what they’d seen, and generally demonstrating considerable usefulness when it came to this sort of thing. After a bit, and just before Millie’s spell was ready to wear off, he made excuses about the late hour and the two took their leave.

Meanwhile, Messie found herself taken to a tasteful and unexpectedly luxurious dining area at the nose of the Lady McShane, located above the keel. A huge window looked out on into the hangar, the immediate area of which was brlightly lit from the window of the airship.

As Messie tried to relax, Doc Bascher wandered in, yawning, and asked if she needed any sort of medical assistance. Messie replied that she did not, but would appreciate something to eat as it had now, officially, been a long time since her last meal.

The former veterinarian said someone would be along to help her with that and turned to leave. As she did so, Messie noticed that the two nunnupi had somehow slipped in with the doctor and were now perched, in magpie form, on the edge of a table nearby.

Messie decided she’d try to ignore them and, within a moment experienced a moment of dismay as the sleepy-looking and obviously Greek Claudia Tavulari entered the dining area. She relaxed, a bit, as Claudia greeted her warmly enough and asked if Messie if she needed anything.

The two women conversed for a bit, and Claudia asked Messie a few questions about Aegypt, or “Khemet,” but mostly stuck to explanations about where to find things.

Messie took the opportunity to ask about the presence of the nunnupi. In response, Claudia said to tread carefully around them, and think of the magpie-girls as “passengers” aboard the Lady McShane who had purchased their tickets in advance.

The Greek-American physicist showed the Egyptian mage how to operate the equipment in the galley, but the hot water and sanitary facilities surprised her the most – but not so much that Messie couldn’t adapt. By the time Amon returned, Messie was cleaner than she had been in a long time, and was snuggled in a thick, fuzzy terrycloth robe.

Once they got back, and Millie reported that Amon had peformed capably, the group relaxed and told the pair (including the clean, warm and sleepy Messie…) that they were welcome to work their passage. Hops About and Twirls Thrice seemed disappointed at the peaceful resolution of the matter, and fluttered back in the direction of Doc Bascher’s sickbay.

Claudia took the cautious Amon to the galley and showed him where to find stuff, and then provided quick tutorial about the sanitary facilities, as well. The airship had no servants, Claudia explained, so everybody looked after themselves, or sometimes volunteered to get something for others while they were at it.

(continued...)

[tshiggins]

(...continued)

As he looked around the galley, Amon noted a number of refinements of the sort he’d never heard of, or even thought about. All the equipment and devices consisted of materials and components he recognized, but arranged or slightly modified in ways that made them easier and more comfortable to use, and which seemed so intuitive he wondered that nobody had ever thought of them, before.

Claudia also showed Amon and Messie where to find their bunks – located along a hallway toward the back of the ship, near those of Beatrice and Millie – and Grunt and Apophis. They also received strict instructions to remain forward of the doorway at the end of the hall, and Beatrice declared (in no uncertain terms) they didn’t need to know what lay aft of that bulkhead.

By the time Amon had dropped his gear, made his way back forward, fixed himself a snack and returned to the dining area, Messie had shuffled off to bed. As he settled down to eat, a magpie fluttered down to the table next to him and, in the blink of an eye, a little nunnupi girl sat on the table’s edge, swinging her legs cheerfully off the side.

Amon politely greeted the tiny woman, attired in what appeared to be a finely beaded, long leather dress accessorized with feathers and bones, plus very comfortable-looking soft leather boots that rose to her knees. She introduced herself as “Hops About,” asked Amon a few polite questions about his past, as well as his presence on the airship.

Amon started to answer, realized he’d started to speak in Egyptian, and then also realized Hops About had spoken to him in that language, herself. Fluently, Without accent.

A bit unnerved, he nonetheless held up his end of the conversation reasonably well, and Amon soon realized that Hops About seemed to wish to know if the problems from which he and Messie hoped to escape might follow them to the Lady McShane.

Without addressing the matter directly, Amon sought to reassure the tiny fae that it was highly unlikely he and Messie had brought any problems that might interfere with the voyage. That seemed to mollify Hops About, and she fluttered away on black, feathered fairy wings.

With that, Amon cleaned himself up, went to his bunk, and fell into a long, black sleep.

He and Messie awoke as the airship began to emerge from the hangar, still bound to the mooring tower being pulled down the rails by dozens of oxen. Unsure of what to do, the pair decided to stay out of the way, for now.

Soon enough, the mooring lines cast off and the Lady McShane began to climb, surprisingly rapidly, into the clear, blue Mediterranean sky. As the land began to slip behind them, Amon and Messie noted they seemed headed east/southeast, toward the Strait of the Sinai that connected the Mediterranean to the Red Sea.

Within about 30 minutes, A.J. wandered into the dining area, which he called, “Ten Forward,” bearing an odd snack that consisted of meat and cheese between two slices of bread. The pilot bid them good morning and noted the “launch” had gone quite well, and they were making good headway toward the Red Sea.

After a short discussion, Messie and Amon learned the disconcerting news that the airship was bound for the far-away land of Lanka, located several weeks’ flight away, at the very edge of the known lands in this part of the Pearl Bright Ocean. Moreover, A.J. mentioned they were unlikely to fly back this way, anytime soon, and that if the pair wished to return to Egypt, they’d have to find their own way back across the vast and empty expanse of ocean.

With that unsettling revelation to digest, the pair settled in and waited for someone to remember their presence and give them duties. However, after the evening’s entertaining events, most of the crew (owners?) of the Lady McShane exhibited little interest in any activity that didn’t involve naps and snacks.

With that, the session ended.

##

Funny Quotes

Amon: We just want to talk!
Beatrice: Let me guess. My car’s warranty has expired?
Messie: Would you like to buy some pomegranates?

Henrietta(Bad German accent): Vee haff vays of making you talk!

(Amon and Messerankh admit to membership in a group that just executed a successful political assassination.)
Steve: That’s no worse than some of the things we’ve done.
Beatrice: We don’t kill innocent people!
Steve: You mean, lately?

Henrietta: What skills do you bring that would be useful to us?
A.J. (points to Amon): He’s a thief and a liar.
Henrietta: We already have one of those!

Messie: Fluffy robe!

(A large magpie lands on the edge of Amon’s table, and shape-changes to reveal the tiny, attractive form of Hops About.)
Pete (OOC): I don’t say, “Awww, how cuuuute!”
Bernetta (OOC): I fuggin’ dare you!

Hops About: Politeness is important.
Amon: I strongly believe in the benefits of good manners, especially when you have no choice.
Hops About: Oh, we’ll get along fine!

##

[SionEwig]

An excellent update, potentially one of your best. And an excellent integration of new players using a NPC you had ready to go and creating an additional one. Just great.

[tshiggins]

Originally Posted by SionEwig

An excellent update, potentially one of your best. And an excellent integration of new players using a NPC you had ready to go and creating an additional one. Just great.

Thanks, man.

It's good to hear from you.

[SionEwig]

Yeah, I've been reading everything but just fell way behind on commenting.

It's been interesting thinking how the campaign has evolved/drifted from it's earlier days. Except for character names it seems to have become completely different (and not in a bad way). I wonder if any of this is in any way the direction you had envisioned things going. They are what,, four dimensions in from the start? One suggestion, you might consider rewriting the character blurbs you have at the beginning of each update to reflect the large changes.

[tshiggins]

Originally Posted by SionEwig

Yeah, I've been reading everything but just fell way behind on commenting.

It's been interesting thinking how the campaign has evolved/drifted from it's earlier days. Except for character names it seems to have become completely different (and not in a bad way). I wonder if any of this is in any way the direction you had envisioned things going. They are what,, four dimensions in from the start? One suggestion, you might consider rewriting the character blurbs you have at the beginning of each update to reflect the large changes.

When I build settings, I'm pretty clear that once the players put characters in, the story belongs to them and not me.

The "plot" is driven by the combination of player choices, and the random outcomes of dice rolls that force everyone to improvise. I have no "ultimate resolution" in mind, at all.

That said, I figured the players would want to explore more of the dimensions of the material plane, first; find the different portals and see what worlds lay beyond them; and generally expand their capabilities before diving into the inner realms.

That didn't happen, at all. They were pretty content with the one portal they discovered in Dark Canyon; and figured they'd get to the one beneath Paris, eventually; but expressed zero interest in learning about any of the others.

So, that surprised me.

The group jumped through to the Orbital Realm of Jupiter a lot sooner than I thought they might, and found themselves only barely capable of handling that environment. Then, Mike's decision to have his character, Frank Moses, only memorize one spell to open the gate to the 1700s world came as a surprise to everyone.

That single failed dice roll, in turn, forced this trip to the Pearl Bright Ocean, to take Hops About and Twirls Thrice to the Sea of Fate. I wasn't even sure that voyage would happen in this campaign, at all, although the reason the nunnupi stayed with the group was because they sensed this possibility.

As a result, by the time the group gets back to their own material dimension, the djinn will have had a much longer time than I anticipated to consolidate their position and spread out into the PC's home-world.

At that point, I'm not sure what the group will decide to do (if anything) beyond re-taking the Paris portal. The djinn might just become a looming, ongoing threat in the background of the setting.

The fact is, this campaign hits its seven-year anniversary, next month, and a lot has changed for people -- as you might have surmised from the shifting cast of characters.

Tisa and Jeff's little baby is now in kindergarten, and she's the grand-daughter of Anten and Debbie. Anten and Debbie's youngest has also graduated college, and plans to marry, next year, so that whole family is expanding.

GnA, Inc., had to deal with personal stuff; Mike and Samantha's son is nearly done with elementary school, and he's Bernetta's grandson. Bernetta's two youngest (including Sunmi's player, Rebecca), have grown up and moved out, and they're in college, now.

Bennie Rae has a solid position at a program she likes, and the stability has allowed her to expand, professionally, into other venues.

Pete and Phoenix, both friends of Bernetta, knew they'd come into the campaign, very late, but wanted to learn GURPS. Pete has been a fan of the write-ups for years, now, and is a good guy, so he may join the group, permanently. Phoenix is much younger and may wind up heading off to do her own things, the way Rebecca did -- and, if not, she's certainly welcome to hang out and play with us, as long as she wishes.

Anten has a space campaign he's worked on for a few years now, at Bennie's request, and he's kinda rarin' go to with that. I look forward to that one (already have my character done) and, honestly, the group just doesn't have the bandwidth for two campaigns this complex.

Space games, done right, rank as some of the hardest and most detailed, because the GM has to put so much thought into the core technologies, and the implications those have for the setting. Fortunately, we've got a nicely evolved core group, so Anten's campaign has a solid place to work from.

So, although I've laid down enough groundwork to run this campaign for another 10 years (honestly, Ken Hite's work on Cabal made that a lot easier...), I look forward to a break.

Moreover, my side-gig of house-flipping means I wind up carting my GMing books and such to somebody else's place, for many months at a time. My house can't really host visitors, after I first buy one, because it's such a mess during remodeling.

I've reached a point, in that endeavor, where I can turn a place over, every 28-30 months, so 25-30 percent of the time, I'd need to lean on somebody else to host. That's kind of a pain, and the weekends I spend on the remodeling soaks up some creative energies, too.

So, this campaign has about one more story arc, past this one, and after that we'll talk about what the group wants to do. I figure we'll shift over to Anten's space campaign, at that point, and put this one on a shelf.

If I run a campaign, again, anytime soon, I'd go for an, "After-the-End," setting. Those tend to have much narrower scopes, and you can tell some pretty nice stories without having to do nearly as much ground-work and session-prep as this campaign takes.

That said, I'm pleased with the setting and, should a group want to re-visit it, a few years down the line, we certainly can.

[tshiggins]

So, we’ve got a new session rapidly approaching, and that means it’s time for the write-up from the last one.

Things kind of got out of hand at the end of the last one, but this time we start off with, “Meanwhile, in another part of the city…”.

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

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. -- Played by Phoenix G.

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. 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.

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.

##

Aurelia waited until full dark before she emerged from the narrow side-street, where she’s quietly watched the main entrance to the Great Library of Alexandria for the past several hours.

She’d actually arrived just before closing and blended in with the busy crowd as she scouted for vantage points, and finally settled on this particular dark opening off the main street. None of the side-streets looked particularly dangerous (at least, not in this affluent part of town…), although she had seen rather more patrolling constables than expected.

The streets had cleared out, quickly, once the Fire Portal, above neared its nightly closure and the shadows darkened. Once the stars of the constellation, Virgo, shone brightly, above, the former high school art history teacher began to scout for a way to break into the legendary repository of knowledge.

As Aurelia worked her way around the large structure, she found her way blocked by a wall about 60 feet tall, which forced her to backtrack. That same wall blocked her effort to work her way around from the other side of the structure, as well.

Aurelia swept out further, in an effort to work her way through the winding streets, hoping to find an indirect route that would take her to the back of the building she’d visited earlier in the day. However, every attempt kept dead-ending on huge walls, and then with a flash, Aurelia understood what she’d discovered.

The wall marked the exterior of a huge compound, and the larger buildings in the area were built up against it, for support. Those larger structures, in turn, had wings and extensions which – when combined with the other buildings in the vicinity -- created a maze made of narrow streets that always ended in the huge, thick stone wall.

Ergo, Aurelia realized, the structure visited by the group, earlier in the day, apparently extended from, and completely covered and protected, the main gate into one huge enclosed space.

Aurelia made her way back out to the main streets, wide enough to give her a better idea of the general layout of this part of Alexandria. She noted that -- with the harbor and the sea on the north -- the land rose slowly the further south it went, until it began to slope down, again, toward the briny Lake Mareotis that separated the airship field from the city, proper.

At about the highest point of that rise, and adjacent to the south side of the vast compound, she saw a circular structure with marble columns that she immediately identified as a more modern type of Greek-style temple. She made her way quickly down the main streets, which made passage to that structure quite simple.

As Aurelia neared the brightly-lit temple, she understood why so many main streets led, there. At the apex of the high dome stood a golden statue of the god, Apollo, with his bow in one hand and a lyre in the other, looking north, over the wall and into the enclosure.

Due to the slope, and the presence of the steps of the crepidoma at the base of the temple, the wall rose only about 40 feet from the temple grounds. Aurelia decided to try her luck at that part of the wall, and slipped into a side-street.

There, she pulled the invisibility cloak she’d had made in Avallon, from the skin of the creature that had slipped aboard their first airship, in the Orbital Realm of Jupiter, nearly a year before. She donned the cloak and, entirely unseen, crossed the temple grounds and made her way to the base of white limestone wall.

The ancient wall had aged well, and the presence of stones of different textures indicated those responsible for maintenance had repaired and replaced blocks, as needed. That also meant it had plenty of finger-holds and toe-holds, which meant only the height offered any challenge.

That, and the fact that Aurelia couldn’t use any protective devices, as the cloak wouldn’t conceal anything but her -- and rope, carabiners, clips and cams would stand out, starkly, against the well-lit sandstone blocks. She’d have to do this climb, solo, with no way to stop a fall, except by magic, and Aurelia had no desire to use spells unless absolutely necessary.

With that in mind, the part-time, professional art thief surveyed possible routes, made her choice, and began to work her way, slowly and carefully, up the vertical face.

The climb went well enough until fatigue caused her to slip, near the top, but a desperate grab at a fingerhold slipping past Aurelia’s face kept her from plummeting to her doom (or triggering a spell to save her). She reached the top with nothing more than a couple of bloody fingernails.

Once atop the wall, Aurelia gawked in sheer astonishment at what the walls concealed. The same sort of white-washed, blocky structures built on the outside of the walls also appeared around the perimeter within, built up to within about 20 feet of the parapet where she stood.

However, no less than [i]nine[/] vast structures, built to the same plan as the Greek temples of classical antiquity (only larger), dominated the center of the enclosed space.

(continued...)

[tshiggins]

(...continued)

The apex of the roofs, clad in ceramic shingles of different colors, lined up perfectly with the tops of the walls, making the structures stand a solid 60 feet from the bases of their crepidoma stairs. Each temple also stood 85 yards wide and 120 yards long, with 15 yards of clean, white, cobble-stoned streets between them.

The Great Library of Alexandria, the true library, lay before her. The beautifully-adorned and decorated marble building she’d visited earlier in the day was nothing more than an atrium and gift-shop.

After a long pause to take in the view, and consider the implications of nine huge buildings likely filled with written works of all sorts, Aurelia decided to recon the compound and then choose a course of action. She triggered a Hawk Flight spell, and swooped toward the center structures.

She paused at the front of each one, briefly, and examined the painted carvings of the tympanons (soffits), friezes and carved reliefs on the large doors of each building. As she did so, her mind dredged up memories of what she’d studied about art history, and began to work out the organization of the structures.

Each of the nine buildings seemed devoted to one of the nine Muses, demi-goddess daughters of the god, Apollo, each dedicated to a particular area of knowledge.

The artwork on the row of three structures closest to the temple of Apollo, to the south, indicated dedication to Clio, muse of History; Calliope, muse of Epic Poetry; and Thalia, muse of Comedy, Pastoral Poetry and Satirical plays.

The middle row of three seemed dedicated to Urania, muse of Astronomy; Polyhymnia; muse of Sacred Poetry; and Melpomene, muse of Tragedy and Tragic plays.

The final row, furthest north and closest to the entry gate, had structures dedicated to Terpsichore, muse of Dance; Euterpe, muse of Music and Musical Instruments; and Erato, muse of Love Poetry, Lyrical Poetry and Songs.

However, as Aurelia examined the decorations of each building, she realized that at least some of them differed from that normally associated with the muses of Classical Antiquity, in the history of her world. After some pondering, Aurelia realized that the portfolios of some of the muses had either expanded to cover more areas of knowledge, or that the structures reflected knowledge assigned to muses from a history different than her own.

Specifically, the friezes on the structure devoted to Clio indicated not just history, but also geography of all sorts, while the art on Terpsichore seemed to represent not only dance, but also martial arts.

Aurelia got the impression that at least a few of the other buildings also indicated additional knowledge under the aegis of some muses, but she couldn’t figure them all out. That said, she guessed the structure devoted to Clio likely held books dedicated to distant lands, and likely the original versions of the travelogues purchased earlier in the day.

As she coasted around the buildings, Aurelia noted that, unlike the Greek temples of her own world, the metope – the rectangular sections located below the triangular face beneath the peaked roof – held several open windows along the sides, below where the roofs met the structure.

Most of the windows had lights shining from them. Apparently, the greater size of the structures meant the attics had enough space for regular uses, and people working, up there, had left the windows open.

Aurelia wrestled a long moment with serious temptation, but in the end decided she didn’t want to push her luck. With the Hawk Flight spell nearly expired, she zoomed out to a dark alley outside the walls, landed silently, neatly folded the invisibility cloak, and stuffed it back in her pack.

Aurelia then made her way to more busy thoroughfares, hailed a coach as if she were an honest citizen, and made her way back to the docks at Lake Mareotis. There, she hired a boat to take her across to the airfield, as the light from the portal high, overhead, began to open slowly to start the new day.

She arrived back at Hangar Five as the roosters began to announce the dawn, and wearily made her way back aboard the Lady McShane. Aurelia greeted A.J., who had wandered out of the flight deck to check on her when he heard the boarding ramp thud to the gravel, and asked if anything had happened she should know about.

A.J. responded that he couldn’t really think of anything, and Aurelia made her way back to her quarters. There, she remained awake just long enough to hang her armor on its stand and clean herself up a bit, and then she collapsed into bed and slept until noon.

When she woke, again – groggy after the prior evening’s labors – it took Aurelia a few minutes to realize the vibration of the deck beneath her feet indicated engines operating at speed.

Rather dismayed, Aurelia made her way quickly down to the gondola, where she saw the sea glittering far below. Confused and now fully alarmed, Aurelia burst into the flight deck, where A.J. had nearly ended his watch, and demanded to know why they’d departed Alexandria.

A.J. described how the rest of the group had spent their evening, while she was out “breaking into the Great Library,” and that they’d not been quite as discrete as they’d hoped. While they’d “gotten some help,” with misdirecting the curious and allaying suspicions, prudence indicated they should probably head out of Alexandria as quickly as possible, now that they’d gotten what they needed.

Aghast, Aurelia asked when they planned to travel back to Alexandria, as she’d made plans for a return visit to the Great Library. A surprised A.J. replied that, as planned, they’d begun the next leg of the voyage, to the mystical island of Lanka, and thence to the Sea of Fate via the Great Maelstrom.

As such, A.J. noted, they would likely never again visit this part of the Pearl Bright Ocean.

This triggered a furious row that only got worse when A.J. mentioned they’d taken on as new crewmembers the two people who had helped them allay the curious, the previous evening. Never one to welcome strangers, a frustrated Aurelia then stormed out of the flight deck and made her way forward to the dining area to get a cup of much-needed coffee.

Once she’d filled her mug, in the galley, Aurelia walked into the dining area, (“Ten Forward”), and stopped short when she saw Amon Kosey standing at the large forward window, looking down at the ocean, far below.

Amon greeted her deferentially, which did nothing to improve Aurelia’s grumpy mood. She found a table in the back of the dining room, as far away from Amon as possible, sat down and glowered at him as she sipped her coffee.

Then, Aurelia noted the presence of Hops About and Twirls Thrice, fluttering around the chandelier in magpie form, and that didn’t improve her disposition, at all.

Eventually, the rest of the group woke up from their late nights, and wandered in to the dining room. Henrietta filled in additional details about her “date” he previous night, and the others chipped in as they made their way forward.

Eventually, Beatrice moseyed in, greeted Aurelia briefly; ignored her mood, entirely; and began to assign everyone to watches based on a revised schedule she’s just put together.

Everybody grumbled a bit, but quieted down after they had brunch, and the Lady McShane transitioned into the routine of a long voyage.

By the early afternoon, shortly before Steven took over the helm from A.J., the airship passed high above the island of the Sinai, separated from the mainland on either side by two wide straits and showing the greenery of date palms, fruit trees, wheat fields and the scattered villages that marked the oasis and resupply port the island had become in this world.

At that point, A.J. decided he didn’t want to try to fly above the lands of the Arabian Peninsula. He remembered that the “Nabataeans” claimed that land, in this world, and the staff Henrietta had “liberated” from the djinn had featured Nabataean script.

A.J. didn’t want to risk drawing the interest of any djinn who might exist, in this world’s Arabian savannah, so he pointed the airship south to fly above the Red Sea; rose to an altitude of about 10,000 feet; turned the helm over to Steven; and headed to his bunk for some rest.

The rest of the afternoon passed pleasantly enough, even though Aurelia rebuffed Amon’s attempts at pleasantries. Eventually, she headed back to her quarters, took the secret ladder behind a bulkhead up to the hidden chamber A.J. had built for her on the cargo deck immediately above her cabin, and settled in for some prolonged brooding.

Late in the day, as the Lady McShane flew above the southern waters of this world’s more extensive Red Sea, Steven spotted what appeared to be a small island not marked on the charts. As the airship drew nearer to the air above it, he spotted nearly two dozen black specks spiraling up toward him, and sounded the alarm.

Beatrice, who had the watch with Amon, called down to the flight deck for more information and, learning the particulars, swept up Messie as well, and began the long scramble up to the fighting cages atop the envelope, six stories above.

In her secret room, the alarm startled Aurelia, who grabbed her weapons and called Steven, also. When she learned of the potential problem, Aurelia made her way to the fighting cage at the stern of the airship, between the four maneuvering fins.

(continued...)