Campaign: Facets

[tshiggins]

(...continued)

The party and a bunch of crew members looked over the side for a few minutes to see if they could spot anything, but couldn’t spot anything. So, the mate in charge told the helmsman to keep the ship steady on an eastward course, ordered one of the bosuns to start waking the crew from their hammocks in the gun-deck, took a deep breath and then headed down into the hold.

Steve decided to follow along to back up the officer. Up at the forecastle, Henrietta and Aurelia opened up the access hatchways and – very cautiously – began to go below decks at the other end of the ship.

As the two women descended, they began to hear more scraps and impacts from deep below decks. They went through the hatch into the gun deck, to see sailors in various states of wakening. A couple of them came over to open up the hatch to the cargo deck, below, to reveal a stack of crates and barrels stacked on pallets so high they left only a little space to wriggle down to the floor.

After a few moments of requisite kvetching, Aurelia lowered herself through the hatch and looked forward toward some lantern light. A large cabinet built in the structure of the ship, located in about the middle of the deck, blocked a clear view forward, but she heard the officer and Steve talking about heading down into the bilge.

She also heard Millie’s high voice; the young mage had decided to venture below, as well. Suddenly, the cargo hold filled with magical light – Steven had decided he wanted a better view of things.

Steve followed right behind, and Millie came down from above, but after a moment’s thought, Aurelia decided she really didn’t want to drop through the hatch to the bilge at her end of the ship.

Up forward, the officer looked through the hatchway, and saw that the water had risen to a few inches above the walkway that went the length of the ship above the keel. Normally, the water lay a few inches below the walkway, he said, and the crew had pumped out all the extra taken in during the storms.

That meant the Airgead Spraeala had begun to take on water.

The officer shouted up to the crew to man the pumps and advise the ship’s carpenter about leaks, and the group heard the order passed along. Steven decided to shed yet more light on the matter, and cast a second Continual Light, down in the bilge

Up on the deck, Frank shouted that he could see light coming from some holes, down below the waterline. They didn’t seem very big, and he only saw a few of them, but said the presence of holes in the oaken hull of the sturdy ship couldn’t be good.

Within a few moments, Steve heard an impact on the hull next to him, and saw what looked like a boney spike punch through from outside, and then withdraw. Up on the top deck, Frank shouted he’d caught of glimpse of a fast moving, shape that definitely looked larger than the scolopendra, but not gigantic.

At that, A.J. decided to go below and see if he could make out anything by sticking his head out of the gun port, located about halfway between the deck and the surface. Millie had scrambled back up from the cargo hold, by then, and she and Henrietta decided that would probably be a good idea, and went to their own gun ports (propped open by the crew in the sweltering tropical air.

Up on the deck, Beatrice decided she’d had quite enough of open portals to hammock-filled spaces, thank you very much, and politely refused to go down to the gun deck. Doc Bascher headed aft to offer her assistance to Alexios, the ship’s doctor, should they prove necessary.

Down at the forward hatch, Aurelia decided she’d had enough, and started to scramble back up to the gun deck. Right about then, Steve gave a shout as he heard a loud impact right next to him, and saw what looked like a boney spike drive a splintered path through the hull.

Water began to rush in as it withdrew, and Steve shouted that the danger definitely lay in the water outside the ship, and began to climb back up to the top deck. By the time he got there, the crew had begun to fit the handles to the pumps, located forward and on either side of the main deck.

By then, Capt. Bohannan and her officers had all emerged from their cabins, and far above the sky began to lighten as the portal to the Elemental Plane of Fire slowly began to open.

The watch officer quickly briefed the captain on the situation, and she got a few more specifics from Steve. Bohannan then ordered the carpenter to prepare some patches, and then asked the passengers to meet her and Alexios at the main deck aft.

Once they’d gathered, Bohannan said the attacking creature or creatures (by then, Frank and Henrietta had spotted at least two) posed a hazard to the ship that couldn’t wait for the wind. Alexios had the ability to cast spells to permit people to breathe while submerged (very useful for ship repairs and such), and asked if four of the members of the Red Rocks Lodge would be willing to join her in a dive below the surface, to see the beasts off.

A.J. asked if she knew what they faced, and Morgance said she did not – not that it made any difference. The pumps were staying ahead of the water, for now, she said, but that would change if any new holes got punched in the hull.

Reluctantly, A.J., Henrietta, Beatrice and Aurelia decided to go along. A.J. said his powerful crossbow would still work (at very short range) below the surface. Aurelia would have to wait until the last instant to use her longbow effectively, but she noted how much she hated melee and wouldn’t go in without it.

The crew came up and slung hawsers beneath the arms of the swimmers, secured with sailors’ knots. Once they were as ready as they could be, Alexios cast his spells, and told them they could breathe freely, below the surface, for no more than 10 minutes, but that the water would still resist their movements.

With that, the five divers went over to the railing, and A.J. put out his hand to keep Morgance Bohannan from jumping in, straight away.

Aurelia fired two of the arrows she'd picked up in the Kabouter Market, in Avallon, and explosions blossomed on the surface, kicking up a respectable spray. The shock-waves traveled through the water, as Aurelia had expected, and dozens of dead or stunned scolopendra floated on the surface.

The five immediately jumped over the railing and all splashed into the water, nearly three stories below, feet first and without injury. They immediately plunged below the waves, carried down by the weight of their ballistic vests (and Bohannan’s metal cuirass), and the stopped abruptly as the reached the full extension of the hawsers.

Within a few moments, the disturbance in the water drew the attention of what appeared, off in the murk, sleek forms of creatures that resembled nothing other than a couple of large swordfish. The two large fish disappeared into the distance, and the slightly confused quintet of fighters waited, warily.

The caution proved wise as the creatures revealed their true nature, less than 30 seconds later. They came rushing out of the murk so fast the water cavitated in the wake of each.

A.J. had just enough time to note that must be magical, as he put a quarrel in the head of one of the creatures headed straight for him, and then tried to angle himself away so the body of the huge fish he’d instantly killed didn’t smash him into the side of the ship. Fortunately, the beast has spasmed when A.J.’s quarrel destroyed its brain, so it brushed by and thumped the hull.

Two places over, in the middle of the formation, Capt. Bohannan managed to cut a chunk out the one that had rushed Beatrice, while Aurelia’s arrow slammed home, as well. For her part, Beatrice’s long rapier wrought grievous harm.

Beatrice managed to get out of the way of the fish’s spike well enough, and it drove a gouge in the copper plating and scraped off a stretch of barnacles. Confused, the fish halted for a moment, and the trio finished it off.

A.J. quickly cocked his deceptively high-tech crossbow and reloaded it, as the form of another fish appeared in the distance. As they’d feared, more than two of the large fish preyed on the swarm of scolopendra.

Two more fish burst out of the murk trailing booming wakes, and this time went for the captain and Aurelia. A.J. put a second quarrel into the head of the one vectoring in on Bohannan, and Aurelia's arrow thudded home, as well. It was dead by the time Bohannan's cutlass drew blood.

Henrietta and Beatrice both hit the one headed for the former high school art history instructor, but didn’t do enough to kill it, outright. The badly wounded fish thrashed wildly and smashed the side of its bill into Aurelia’s right arm. It snapped like a twig and Aurelia grunted in pain as Beatrice and the captain finished off the beast.

Aurelia quickly triggered a healing spell that started to heal unset bone, and then cast a second rather than try to go to the surface. That one worked superbly (critical success!), and her bone set itself and healed fully.

The last fish decided to try for the other end of the row, but Henrietta was waiting for it. With a combination of a side move and good use of her quarterstaff, she managed to deflect the bill into the hull, and then the beast began to thrash. Henrietta’s ballistic vest absorbed a solid hit, but the skin of the creature wasn’t nearly so resilient to metal blades and crossbow bolts, and the fish died quickly.

With that, the group waited until the spells ran out, but saw no other magickal swordfish, and figured they’d probably taken care of the problem. The crew hauled them back up as Alexios, who had marked the time on his pocket watch, saw that the spell had nearly reached the end of its duration.

(continued...)

[tshiggins]

(...continued)

As the group surfaced, they discovered the scolopendra had closed up the gap blown in the school by Aurelia's explosive arrows. Each of the five got nipped at, with little effect (Henrietta's Armor spell prevented them from doing anything at all, to her...). One got tangled in Aurelia's tunic but couldn't bite through her ballistic vest, and she broke the scolopendra in half with her bare hands.

Meanwhile, the crew had used big hooks on hawsers to gig the bodies of the fish and haul them to the deck. The party members noted that the pointed bills of the fish had a crystalline glitter, and requested permission to take them for study.

Bohannan agreed (since they’d chartered the ship, after all), and Alexios identified the beasts as “gladius-fish,” a relative of swordfish but more magical. The group asked if the flesh tasted as good as that of a swordfish, and Alexios confirmed that it most certainly did.

The captain ordered the crew to fillet the beasts and A.J. volunteered to fry them up for breakfast (good Cooking skill), as rest of the group stowed the light-weight, but incredibly strong, sword-bills in their forward cabins.

With that, the session ended.

##

Funny Quotes
(Not too many, this time. Heavy snow started to fall in the really-real world as the combat progressed, and the storm was getting pretty bad, so we made it an early evening. That was a fun drive home, up I-225 from Anten and Debbie’s place. ‘Tis a privilege to live in Colorado!)

Beatrice: So, everyone’s okay with Steve being on a rotating shift? That minimizes the chance he won’t be on shift!
Aurelia: That’s why I suggested it.

Aurelia: Ugh! They have huge pincers! That’ll sever an artery!
Beatrice: The poison will kill ya, first.

Aurelia: I’m not using poison arrows, any more. We’re just killing them, and this s*** is too damn expensive!

##

[tshiggins]

Okay, a friend of mine always says the best things in role playing games happen when things go rather badly wrong. The most recent session proved the accuracy of that statement.

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.

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. (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 Regan 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.

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. -Played by Jeff T (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.

b]Hops About[/b]: 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.

##

After the passengers and crew of the Airgead Spraeala finished off their breakfast of fried gladius-fish, the ship’s carpenter got to work on patches for the holes left by the sword-like bills of the creatures.

The pumps kept working as the carpenter and several sailors went down to the bilge to check the situation, and then cut the patches to fit the holes. They also heated some pitch and created some oakum to help seal up around the patches and caulk any splits in the hull planking.

The work didn’t take too awfully long, and the winds had shifted around to the “south” by the end of the day. By then, Capt. Bohannan had pointed the bow of the Airgead Spraeala due east, so even though the wind remained light, the ship did make some headway.

The wind remained from the south for the next couple of days, and even freshened to a steady for hours at a time. On the third evening past the scolopendra swarm, the clouds emerging from the portal to the Elemental Plane of Air appeared far ahead, and Bohannan began to tack towards it as the head wind from it slowly overwhelmed the light flow from the south.

After another long day and a half, the members of the Red Rocks Lodge began to prepare themselves for the next capture, as Bohannan turned the ship’s stern toward the portal, 50 miles above them.

This time, Aurelia volunteered/was volunteered to cast the Hawk Flight spells and fly into the teeth of the winds that came howling out of the gateway. Henrietta linked her mind to A.J.’s and Aurelia’s, so A.J. would know when to cast the portal to get up to her, when she’d flown into the wind as far as she could.

Aurelia launched herself off the deck of the Airgead Spraeala, and successfully cast her spells for the first two legs of the trip. However, when it came time to cast the third, the spell failed and she started to fall.

Fortunately, the group learned from the last trip and she had more prepared, and quickly cast a fourth and that one went off, properly. Aurelia continued her trip upwards. She finally reached the end of the third spell and was making only a little bit of headway, and cast a fifth Hawkflight.

That one failed, also, and Aurelia began to fall, once again – and had run out of Hawk Flight spells.

A.J., monitoring Aurelia through the mind link, immediately realized the spell had failed catastrophically, and triggered his own Hawk Flight spell. He then triggered a Teleport to Aurelia’s location, and managed to snag her as she fell past him, blown by the gale-force winds.

The former NASA scientist arrested Aurelia’s fall and flew further on, until they could make no more headway. He then triggered the portal spell from his location to the deck of the ship, and Steven flew through and cast the Utter Wall spell to give them a place to stand.

Once the wall solidified beneath their feet, Steven began to trigger the Weather Dome and the Atmosphere Domes.

Meanwhile, down on the deck, Capt. Bohannan, who had been watching the portal warily through her spyglass, tapped Beatrice on the shoulder and asked, “Is that normal?”

Beatrice and Henrietta immediately looked up at the portal, and saw a violent Coriolis of cloud had blasted through it, and was bearing down on the group, high above.

The two women, plus Millie (but not Apophis or Grunt) immediately dashed through the portal and emerged high above, shouting that Aurelia’s failed spell must have gotten the attention of an Air Elemental. A few moments later, the raging elemental slammed into Steven’s domes and he felt them begin to strain as the elemental began to try to overpower them.

Beatrice hastily triggered her spell to control the elemental, only to see it fail to stop the angry creature. Millie and Henrietta followed up with spell to reduce the creature’s will (which worked) and find its true name (which didn’t), and Beatrice tried again.

This time, her spell critically succeeded and she gained control of the beast. Upon examination, they realized it was a bit smaller than they’d prefer, but was still acceptable, so Beatrice sent it off to find a bigger one.

Within about 30 minutes, that worked entirely too well, as the controlled elemental came blowing back, with a monstrous creature – much larger than the binding matrix could contain – in hot pursuit.

Beatrice managed to capture that one, as well, and stuffed the smaller one into one of the two Binding Matrices they’d brought with them. She then sent the larger beast back through the portal to round up one of the appropriate size,

(continued...)

[tshiggins]

(...continued)

About an hour later, the spell expired and the enraged elemental came blasting back out to destroy her. Beatrice managed to capture it, again (she had instructed it to tell Henrietta its true name, and the archaeologist had passed that information via mind link to Beatrice).

Beatrice sent the elemental back on its capture mission, again. An hour later, it turned up angry again, as the spell expired.

Rinse and repeat a couple more times before the group decided this elemental was much too powerful and dangerous. When it returned for its fourth attempt to rip Beatrice to shreds, Millie tried a Sleep spell.

Amazingly, that worked and the huge, icy cold air elemental went quiescent – which promptly enveloped the group in a large cloud as the warmer tropical air condensed around them, outside the Atmosphere Dome.

The group took a few moments to wrap their heads around the new experience, and then Beatrice summoned a tiny elemental, as they’d done before, and sent it in to lure out one of the appropriate size.

The tiny elemental was gone for many hours – so much so, that the group began to worry they’d run out of spells to keep their temporary sky-castle intact.

After about six hours, though, the summoned elemental came racing back, with one that looked about the right size in pursuit. The group prepared for the capture as the larger elemental hit them – and promptly woke up the giant one around them.

Beatrice hastily gained control of the new elemental and stuffed it into the second Binding Matrix, while the awakened elemental consumed their summoned creature effortlessly.

She then turned her attention to recapturing the attacking elemental, once again, and managed it. She then ordered the creature to return to Elemental Plane of Air, and fly directly away from it for as long as it could.

As the controlled beast headed toward the portal, the group dashed back through the portal to the deck of the Airgead Spraeala, and told Morgance Bohannan it would be best to put as much distance between them and the portal, as possible.

Fortunately, the wind from the portal was nearly perfect for a hasty westward retreat, and Bohannan ordered full sail. Sure enough, about two hours later, the group saw a puff of cloud appear in the stream of vapor from the portal, but by then – 50 miles below and nearly 20 miles distant, with patches of cloud above them -- they managed to escape notice.

A.J. commented that this capture trip was a lot harder than the last one. Bonannan replied, rather drily, that this trip seemed a lot more normal, based on her understanding of how these things usually went.

Once the ship had cleared the immediate area of the portal enough that some of the other winds could affect, them, again, they found it had shifted to light puffs from the southwest – not the worst, but not great for a west-bound vessel.

Accordingly, Bohannan contented herself with tacking until she’d cleared the bay, and turned north around the western cape of Africa. At that point, she pointed the bow north, again, and the Airgead Spraeala began to make decent time.

The next day, a short-lived gale blew up out of the southwest, and Bohannan showed it her stern, reefed her sails and put out a sea anchor, and rode it out. It wasn’t nearly as bad as the howler they’d experienced on the way down, but it did herald ongoing unsettled weather – light rain with periods of heavier squalls, as they worked their way north.

Things took a turn for the worse as they neared the latitude of the Gates of Hercules, seaward of Atlantis. The captain called the group together and said she thought another gale was blowing up on them and, while they could ride it out, they also had the opportunity to put in at Atlantis, instead.

After a quick discussion, the Red Rocks Lodge group decided that seemed like a great idea – they knew the ship had some patches in the hull and didn’t want to unnecessarily ride out another bad storm.

Bohannan gave the orders and the ship turned northeastward and made for the inside passage between the large isle of Atlantis and the strait into the Mediterranean. The city was located on the southeastern shore of the island, she said, and the Airgead Spraeala should make it by the end of the day, before the gale got too bad.

https://i.pinimg.com/originals/d9/e3...03d82e1b0d.jpg

As they rounded the southern point of the island, they saw various small ships headed toward whatever port they could reach. Then, ahead of them, they spied one of the bronze ships of the Atlantean Navy, caught in the coils of a giant sea serpent as white-capped waves washed around them.

Since the members of the Red Rocks Lodge were paying for the charter, Bohannan called them over and said that, while she would like to help the Atlantean vessel, she’d put in at the city, instead. The fight would be risky, and the two full elemental matrices were easily worth more than the entire ship and everything on it.

Given that they’d long since learned the importance of favors, and the fact that the Atlanteans were clearly the most advanced techno-magic society in this part of the Pearl Bright Ocean, the group agreed after a short discussion.

The captain said the Airgead Spraeala would have to get close before she would fire the cannons. The roughness of the sea would make it hard to bring them to bear, under the best of circumstances, and she didn’t want to put a bunch of shot into the Atlantean vessel by mistake.

The party agreed that seemed wise, and ran back to their cabins to fetch guns and bows, as the officers dashed below to open up the small-arms lockers for the crew. Meanwhile, the captain dashed back up to the stern deck, and had the sailor at the helm point the bow toward the encoiled Atlantean ship.

At a range of about 200 yards, the members of the group good with guns, plus A.J. with his ungawdly powerful crossbow (as well as some of the sailors) began to take potshots at the gray-green coils of the sea serpent, with only limited effect.

The ship drew closer, and A.J. noted the tail of the serpent seemed coiled about the bow, which would put the head at the stern, but he couldn’t see it. He quickly surmised the head must be below the water (possibly gnawing at the hull), and the former aerospace engineer decided to see if he could get it to pop up its head.

So, A.J. began to concentrate his shots at the last coil on the stern, and the other members of the Red Rocks Lodge decided to follow suit. As they got within 100 yards, given the conditions, Aurelia pulled out her “special arrows,” and started (in effect) shooting grenades at the monster.

The combination of fire and lightning and hard shots from A.J., got the serpent to raise its head to find the threat. A.J. started putting bolts in its head as fast as possible, and the painful shots caused it to coil more of its body out of the water. The group realized that a full quarter of the length of the beast had been submerged.

That gave the crew of the Airgead Spraeala the opportunity the captain had awaited.

She turned the vessel starboard to present the port side of her ship to the front of the Atlantean ship, and ran out the guns. The crews began to fire as they came to bear (I had the players roll the shots…), and enough of the cannon hit the front of the sea serpent to blow it to pieces.

That sent the remaining coils into death spasms, and the wooden superstructure on the deck of the Atlantean ship began to splinter and break. The beleaguered sailors went work with axes, cutlasses and deck-guns to cut and blast through the dead monster, so they could roll the body off the ship before the storm swamped her.

At that moment, a portal opened on to the deck of the Airgead Spraeala, and only Bohannan’s frantic shouts kept the party from instantly slaughtering the Atlantean Navy mage who stepped through.

The mage hastily raised his hands and shouted for permission to come aboard, which Morgance Bohannan granted. The party lowered their weapons and got in closer, as the Atlantean officer asked if their ship had someone who could provide medical assistance.

Most of the members of the Red Rocks Lodge had (of necessity) developed fair expertise at First Aid, and Doc Bascher ran to her cabin to fetch her equipment. Alex Alexios, the ship’s doctor, emerged from his cabin with his simpler kit, and the Atlantean mage said he could only make one more trip back over for anybody else.

A.J. assured him they could manage the passage, themselves, which shocked the Atlantean. However, he didn’t have time to really think about it, as he grabbed Alexios and ‘ported back to his ship.

A few minutes later, A.J. opened up a passage to the deck of the other ship as the Airgead Spraeala came alongside about 20 yards out, and the entire Red Rocks Lodge stepped through to rainy, bloody, ruin.

Taking their cue from what had just happened, the group immediately asked for permission to board and, forewarned, the Atlantean captain quickly granted it.

The Red Rocks Lodge members immediately got to work. Doc Bascher started to triage the wounded and moving them to someone for first aid, or magical healing, or setting them aside as grievously injured and in need of surgery before spell-casting could be effective.

At Doc Bascher’s direction, A.J. began to move some of the worst wounded over to the deck of the Airgead Spraeala, where Doc Bascher soon joined them.

(continued...)

[tshiggins]

(...continued)

The Atlanteans watched all of this, and it quickly began to dawn on them how many mages had come to their aid. Still, with the storm bearing down on them, they had to make it to the city’s harbor without any further delay, and both ships made way in that direction.

Bohannan reefed her sails in the teeth of the growing wind, but made decent headway (considering). The Atlantean ship, battered and leaking, couldn’t make much better progress as the captain didn’t want to stress his leaking hull by opening up his engine.

Within a couple of hours, as the wind began to howl, the two ships saw ahead of them the canal that led to the concentric harbors amdst which the city was constructed. They made their way into the sheltered canal and then Bohannan struck the sail as the Atlantean Navy vessel limped onwards.

https://avenza.com/wp-content/upload...newgeneral.jpg
https://i.pinimg.com/originals/f3/c8...f8148b4633.png
(I couldn’t find an exact match for Atlantis as I envisioned it. The first shows the scale of the city, and has the correct layout of the circular harbors and the canals to allow passage between them. The second shows an example of the architecture I liked, but the scale is a bit small and nobody uses biremes and triremes, any more.)

Within about 30 minutes, a small sailboat came alongside, and the harbor pilot requested permission to come aboard. Receiving it, he made his way up the climbing rigging the crew lowered, and he made his way to the helm.
http://static6.depositphotos.com/101...k-sailboat.jpg

The Atlantean pilot began to direct the Airgead Spraeala to a dock in the outer harbor ring, not quite halfway to the other side, where he put her in. The Atlantean Navy crewmen had been returned to their vessel by A.J.’s portals, already, but the pilot seemed to know the situation and waived the fee.

By then, the clouds had lowered and the rain began to fall in earnest. After a quick look around dockside, the group decided to stay aboard the Airgead Spraeala.

A.J. wanted to open a portal back to 1712 London before they ventured into the new city, since they’d all but exhausted their stored spells, and he wanted the group fully prepped before exploring much further.

With that, the session ended.

Funny Quotes

(Aurelia fails her Hawk Flight, initially reports it as a critical failure, and then corrects herself to say it’s a regular failure.)
G.M.: Ohhh, maaan!
Anten (OOC): Our GM is so disappointed in you.
G.M.: Aurelia had that one moment of blind white panic.

(Trying to figure out how to get the spells for the capture of the elemental set up right.)
A.J.: F1, or F5?
Steven: Or “F-this!”

(The ship’s officers and crew notice some consternation amongst the party.)
Morgance Bohannan: Sooo, what’s going on?
Beatrice: Aurelia had a couple of spells fail, and A.J. went up to help her.
(A few minutes later, things get even more hectic. Hops About and Twirls Thrice put in an appearance.)
Hops About: Sooo, what’s happening?
Beatrice: Nothing! It’s fine!

(The Atlantean mage appears on the deck.)
Henrietta(flourishes her staff, and charges): I can reach this one!

(The crew of the Airgead Spraeala blows the sea serpent to hell.)
Millie: Sushi! For the next couple of months!

(Aurelia notes she hasn't done much First Aid, in the past.)
Beatrice: Pressure! Just put on some pressure, Rel!

(Atlantean captain notices the party’s activities, and finds Alexios.)
Atlantean: How many mages do you have on that ship?!
Aurelia: All shapes and sizes and attitudes!
Beatrice: Especially the attitudes!

(The group meets with the captain and Alexios, in the foc’sle cabins, to figure out whether or not they should take what they’ve got and head toward the Sea of Fate, or push their luck and try to fill more Elemental Matrices.)
Beatrice: I like the four-ball backup plan!
Morgance: Because getting two was no big deal….

##

[tshiggins]

This session proved rather less fraught than most, as the group decided to knock around Atlantis, for a bit, and attended a swanky party.

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.

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. (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. (Irk! I finally noticed I’ve been spelling Ragan’s name wrong!)

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.

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. -Played by Jeff T (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.

##

As the crew of the Airgead Spraeala secured the ship to the dock in Atlantis, in the pouring rain, up in the fo’c’sle A.J. opened a portal 1712 London, and group passed through to their townhouse on a cool and rainy early Autumn evening.

They felt much better after hot baths warmed them up and washed away the salt of the Pearl Bright Ocean, and following a quick meal, they entered their sacred spaces and re-set their selections of spells. After a good night’s sleep in warmer and less damp beds, they popped back to the ship, just as the portal to the Elemental Plane of Fire began to brighten.

It didn’t brighten all that much, however, The day remained gray and rainy, as the group began to explore the legendary city.

They quickly learned that the space between the outer wall and the outer ring harbor was devoted to mundane commerce and merchant shipping of all sorts. Warehouses, inns, cafes, shops and residential blocks jostled against one another, and the tall structures turned the winding streets into white-walled, flagstoned canyons that frequently opened out into marketplace “agoras” that offered all sorts of produce and products.
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https://cdn.getyourguide.com/img/tou...098612-148.jpg

They soon realized the walls, while maintained in decent condition, probably hadn’t defended the city from any enemies in ages. The buildings went right up to them, in some cases towered over them, and one of the high bridges across the inner harbor led to a wide opening cut in the defenses and left open.

Outside the opening, they saw the city continued into less dense residential areas that evoked Classical Greece much more strongly.
https://i22.servimg.com/u/f22/15/54/71/55/ac_ody10.jpg

However, based on advice they’d received from ship's mage Alexios Alexopoulos, they turned their backs to the outer city and crossed the harbor bridge to the next section of the city. Even more densely packed than the outer ring, the area bustled with street traffic, including a mass of magickal machinery of all shapes and sizes that beggared what they’d seen in Avallon.

Despite any number of fascinating distractions, the group soon found itself at the Agora Techne, a covered market filled with clanking automata, and merchants and engineers negotiating (sometimes quite loudly) about purchases.

After looking around for a bit, the group found several shops that offered elemental binding matrices, and entered protracted negotiations to sell the two full ones they had, and purchase four others. In the end, through adroit price comparisons (and one critical success on a roll against Merchant), the group wound up with two of the same capacity as they two they’d sold, one able to hold a larger elemental, and one able to hold a slightly smaller one.

In addition, they had an arrangement with one merchant such that, should they bring back the largest one with a bound elemental that filled it to capacity, he would offer them a superb price.

The group all agreed that marked a good day’s work and, even though it nearly drained them of liquid capital, they decided to spend the rest of the day visiting various agora and generally checking out this ring of Atlantis. This they did and, despite the occasional periods of heavy rain, enjoyed themselves immensely for several hours.

However, by early afternoon, they decided they’d had quite enough sloshing about in the rain, and made their way back across the bridge to the ship. Upon arrival, Capt. Morgance Bohannan told them she’d received an invitation to an informal get-together, the next afternoon, hosted by one Capt. Cyril Chaconas.

(continued...)

[tshiggins]

(...continued)

Chaconas commanded the Atlantean warship, Hippolyta, Bohannan explained, which the sea serpent had attacked two days prior. Apparently, Chaconas wished to express his appreciation for their assistance, and had included a note to invite any of the passengers – meaning, the party – who wished to attend.

Bohannan said she’d expected something of the sort, although perhaps not quite so quickly, and hoped to parlay the social contacts gained into a means by which she could acquire a “Letter of Free Import.” This would permit her to bring any cargo into the harbors of any city on the isle of Atlantis, and pay the same fees and duties as an Atlantean vessel.

Since the Atlanteans commanded more wealth than any other place in this part of the Pearl Bright Ocean, Bohannan said, the Letter would substantially improve the fortunes of the officers and crew of the Airgead Spraeala, and requested that at least some of the members of the Red Rocks Lodge accompany her and her officers.

The party agreed to that, readily enough, and headed back to their cabins to sort through luggage and find their best outfits for the “informal” gathering.

Aware of the importance of the social occasion, as well as the history of violently problematic behavior engaged in by the members of the Red Rocks Lodge, in the past, Alexios offered to give the members of the group a “once-over” to make sure they’d made themselves presentable.

Amused by the Atlantean mage’s concern, the group agreed readily enough and, within an hour or so, invited Alexios to take a look.

The ship’s doctor did so, and the group soon learned what they considered “elegant understatement” simply would not do, for an Atlantean social occasion.

They’d pulled out the tailored “swashbuckler” outfits of linen, cotton, leather and wool they’d purchased in 1712 London which, while quite professionally sewn, reflected the very practical and restrained mindset of the rising merchanter class of the period. They’d avoided the flashy colors and bright ornamentation of the knee-length coats, knee-breeches and frilly linen shirts enjoyed by the wealthy and the nobility, and had gone with attire that required less care and offered more mobility – as well as a way to conceal their 21st Century ballistic vests.

However, Alexios found himself confronted with an array of grays, browns and dark blues, with few warm colors and practically no frills. By contrast, the Atlanteans delighted in bright colors for everyone, and flowing lines for the ladies, and the sartorial choices made by the Order of Mages of the Red Rocks Lodge simply would not do, at all.

So, the next morning, most of the members of the group found themselves hitting the agoras, again, to find some accessories to brighten up their clothing, a bit, and returned with scarfs, sashes and tunics. Fortunately, the storm seemed to have blown itself out and, while it remained quite chilly, they did see blue sky peak out between the slowly dispersing clouds.

With the help of Alexios, they managed to make themselves at least marginally presentable, and then hired some carriages to take them to the party. After a comfortable trip across Atlantis, they carriages pulled up in front of a white-washed stone peristyle home with leaded glass windows and terra cotta roof tiles, and servants quickly appeared with stools to help them down to the walk.

They passed through the open gateway to the open courtyard, heated with glowing braziers and bubbling with conversation, backed by soft music from harps and flutes.

Capt. Chaconas emerged from the small crowd of about two dozen to meet them, personally, and announced their arrival. Most of the other guests – naval officers and their companions, mostly – seemed to know of them, already, and greeted everyone with reserved warmth.

Most of the members of the Red Rocks Lodge had learned to read Greek years before, to access the books in the occult library owned by Oliver McShane. Everyone spoke it, at least brokenly, and most could converse in heavily accented Greek.

As a linguist, Henrietta spoke both modern and Classical Greek quite well, indeed, and participated avidly in the conversations. A.J. and Millie also had mastered the language (Millie as part of her heritage as a fifth generation member of the Columbine Lodge, in Denver…), and between the Greek and the gaelic-english they’d picked up in the Elder Isles, the rest of the group made themselves understood tolerably well.

For their part, the Atlanteans quickly noted the odd accent used by the guests and made polite inquiries as to their origins. The group deflected most such questions well enough, and stuck to their prepared story that they’d come from various colonies in the lands to the West, across the Pearl Bright Ocean.

They also managed to present themselves as mages who engaged in merchant-adventuring to fund travels in pursuit of knowledge, which impressed the Atlanteans, to some extent.

They soon learned that, as in Avallon, most mages confined themselves to research and spell-working in much safer environs, although many in Atlantis did serve at least some time, in the navy. Alexios Alexopoulos, was a bit of an anomaly in that he continued to serve on fighting ships after his stint aboard Atlantean vessels, but the other guests acknowledged the choice seemed to have worked out for him, rather well.

For their part, the group gleaned some interesting bits of knowledge from the Atlanteans.

A.J. focused much of his attention on gleaning what information he could about the lands that lay between this particularly busy area of the infinite waters, and their destination in the Sea of Fate. He learned that the limit of the Atlantean’s reliable knowledge was the huge, mystical island of Lanka, several months’ travel by ship, to what would be the “east.”

According to their sources, the Atlanteans described a land that evoked the legendary golden ages Hindu myths, and that it seemed beings of tremendous power appeared in Lanka rather more frequently than their counterparts did in this part of the Pearl Bright Ocean.

Beyond Lanka, they had second-hand knowledge, at best, but said the large archipelago of Oyashima lay several weeks travel further on. They had little information of that place, but said the chief deity seemed to be a female sun god.

Based on that, A.J. deduced that land must be the version of Japan that lay in the Pearl Bright Ocean, and he made a note to do some research on Japanese mythology, as soon as he could.

The comment by the Atlanteans about a “sun goddess” did surprise A.J., a bit, because day and night in the Pearl Bright Ocean came from vast gateways to the Elemental Plane of Fire which brightened and darkened in regular cycles, and not by any sort of rotation of the infinite sea. However, the Atlanteans noted their own well-documented history indicated their land had once existed on one of the material planes of Assiah and, as such, they understood the concept of a “sun,” quite well – at least theoretically.

Beatrice found herself in conversation with an officer who said his family came from the rolling, high-grass prairie that covered most of the lobe of land that extended for several days travel “southwest” of the city. During the conversation, she learned that his family also had lands in the tall-grass savannah that covered what would be the Sahara in their world, but which received much more rain in his realm.

The savannah land was quite fertile, if cared for properly, the officer noted, and Beatrice was thrilled to learn mastodons thrived there, Her fascinated queries soon revealed that several small herds of mastodons also lived on Atlantis in the area around the officer’s ancestral home, and that some of his extended family served in a cavalry shock corps that utilized the gigantic beasts.

While temperamental, and difficult to train because they were so smart, the officer noted, mastodon shock cavalry had repeatedly proven most effective in the right circumstances, as they provided fine platforms for weapons too large for humans to carry, and their presence utterly terrified horses. Fascinated by the conversation, Beatrice pressed him for as much information about the beasts as she could get, and made private notes to go see some, as soon as she could.

For her part, Henrietta learned a bit more than she wanted to know about Atlantean politics (complicated), and not nearly as much as she’d like to have learned about Atlantean magicks. Not surprisingly, the island’s mages and engineers produced some of the most advanced automata, as the orichalcum mined, locally, took enchantment quite readily and channeled thaumic energies with little difficulty.

Henrietta almost got herself in a bit of difficulty when, in response to a polite inquiry about why the group had found itself in Atlantean waters, she revealed they’d been capturing air elmentals so as to build an airship for their journeys. The officer expressed surprise that the group from so far west would feel comfortable with a vehicle so complex, and Henrietta said flying ships were pretty common, in their native lands, but were “different” from the magical dirigible they hoped to purchase.

That got the officer’s attention, and he pressed her to know more, and she stumbled a bit as she tried to extricate herself from the situation. She soon realized the officer thought Henrietta might come from an area with the magickal liftwood trees used in the construction of Antillean vessels.

(continued...)

[tshiggins]

(...continued)

Once she figured out the thrust of the officer’s questions, Henrietta managed to disabuse him of the idea, and explained that the engines on the airships used in her “native lands” didn’t use elemental binding matrices, and therefore didn’t work as well. That put the conversation back on track (and wasn’t even a lie…) and Henrietta spent the rest of the afternoon chatting about more mundane matters.

Of the group, Steven had the least success. He found himself in conversation with an Atlantean admiral, one Lysimachus Leandros, and early on noted that he’d served as a Marine officer.

The revelation visibly deflated the admiral, who cut the conversation as short as he politely could, and Steven realized that some ideas truly seemed not just universal, but multi-versal. After all, U.S. Navy officers frequently felt the same sort of annoyance with the U.S. Marines they had to transport from one place to another and, while the relationship remained professional, it definitely rated as “cool,” much of the time.

By contrast, Millie found herself in conversation with a number of younger Atlantean officers, most of whom seemed quite fascinated to find themselves in the company of an attractive and capable young mage, traveling as a merchant adventurer on her own, with no family members. The young lady quite enjoyed the attention, and soon found herself comparing notes about young adulthood and university life with a lieutenant of about her own age.

While the comparison produced no useful intelligence, Millie found it quite interesting, and enjoyed the company of Lt. Hector Ithacos of Ampheresia, immensely.

However, the most productive conversation took place between Morgance Bohannan and their host, Capt. Chaconas. Bohannan definitely thought of the party primarily as a networking opportunity, and didn’t hesitate to make inquiries about a Letter of Free Import. For his part, Chaconas expected the request and introduced her to Admiral Leandros, who greeted her with considerably more professional warmth than the scant courtesy he’d shown Steven.

Leandros’ response revealed that he’d expected Bohannan to inquire about a letter, and that he’s likely decided ahead of time to make the arrangements, should she comport herself with anything even remotely resembling respectability. Since Bohannan certainly knew how to work a room, she met the admiral’s minimal expectations (and then some) quite handily, and learned the import license would arrive within a couple of days.

Pleased that the party had gone so well, and not at all upset about spending another couple of day sin Atlantis, the group returned to the ship quite satisfied and, during the next couple of days divided their time between the city and their townhome in London, where they re-set their spells in the expectation of capturing four more air elementals.

Also during that time, Bohannan contracted with some merfolk who worked in the harbor to patch up the holes left by the gladius-fish, rivet on some new copper plates. She didn’t have to worry about barnacles, too much, since she harbored frequently in the fresh-water estuary of the River Murmeil, at Avallon, and that kept salt-water parasites to a minimum.

The merfolk shipwrights easily completed repairs to the Airgead Spraeala by the time the Letter of Free Import arrived, and the officers had the sailors clear away and replace storm-damaged shrouds and lines, and clean and oil the cannon and other ironmongery, aboard.

About five days after their arrival, an harbor pilot steered the Airgead Spraeala out through the canal, and then handed the helm back to the ship’s officers. His small sailboat began to tack back toward the canal, in the teeth of a north wind that served Bohannan’s needs quite nicely.

She ordered the crew to raise full sail and soon the the Airgead Spraeala heeled over 15 degrees to port as she turned the bow southwest.

While cold and cloudy, the wind remained northerly for the entire trip south out of Atlantis, but with only intermittent rain. The favorable wind pushed them south along the African coast, quite quickly, and as they rounded the cape to enter the bay, the found themselves in the midst of a cool squalls that mitigated the heat, quite nicely.

As Morgance steered the ship on its easterly course, the winds remained northerly, and quite favorable, and she advised the group they’d likely reach the portal within a few days.

However, the last part of the trip proved a bit more difficult, as a storm blew in form the north and, although the landmass to the north of them kept it from getting too bad, it did drive them south for the last two days.

On the second morning of the storm, as it had begun to abate, the crewman in the foremast’s fighting top called out that she may have spotted a sail behind them, well to the stern. Steven shouted up at her to get more information about the direction, and then made his way aft to see if he could spot anything.

As the Portal to the Elemental Plane of Fire began to brighten toward day, both Steven and the sailor on watch were able to confirm the approaching ship. That brought Capt. Bohannan to the stern deck, in a hurry and, within an hour or so, identified the vessel.

It was a warship of the Skandza League, half again their length with nearly double the cannons. Since the winds favored it as much as they did the Airgead Spraeala, the longer ship was closing and would likely catch them by mid-day.

With that, the session ended.

##

Funny Quotes

Henrietta: There’s no “order” to our, “order of mages.”
[b[Beatrice[/b]: We’re a disorder of mages!

(Ragan begins to catalogue the skills Steven had that might serve them well, during a social occasion.)
Ragan (OOC): First Aid, Fast Draw, gun, gun, gun, Karate….

(Morgance gets short-tempered at the group’s casual disregard of Atlantean sartorial preferences.)
A.J.: We can get some Atlantean clothes….
Beatrice: Toga! Toga! Toga! Toga!

(Beatrice comports herself rather well, at the party, and spend most of her time asking about mastodons.)
Beatrice: I’m trying to avoid conflict.
Henrietta: You? Avoid conflict?!
Beatrice: I’m growing and changing, as a person!

##

[tshiggins]

o, after a brief, pleasant and (unusually) peaceful stay in Atlantis, the group took to the high seas, once again.
Much violence ensued.

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.

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. (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.

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. -Played by Jeff T (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.

##

As soon as the group recognized the Skandza League vessel for what it was, A.J. immediately called a quick palaver, and came up with a plan.

Aurelia triggered one of her stored Hawk Flight spells, and took to the skies. She rocketed upwards until she had gained enough altitude to avoid getting shot, and then zipped sternward to get a better look at the closing ship.

As she did so, she noted the ship had kicked up quite a large bow-wave – much larger than that of the Airgead Spraeala – and was closing fast. She reported back to A.J. via one of the Mind-Sending spells Henrietta had cast for everyone.

Clearly, the ship – a 40-gun frigate by the looks of it – would reach them within an hour.
Capt. Morgance Bohannan said she’d heard that the Skandza League used magically-enhanced ships for special missions, and this one matched what the rumors.

Rather than try to use their ship’s 24 guns to trade broadsides with a ship that was both larger, better-armed, and (apparently) much more maneuverable, the mages of the Red Rocks Lodge decided to make the fight a personal one. Beatrice ordered Grunt to remain behind and guard the Airgead Spraeala, along with Doc Bascher and Fergus, and kill anybody but them, who tried to use the portal to come back the other way.

A.J. cast a one of his portal spells, and opened a gateway to the stern of the opposing ship, and then charged through, followed closely by Stephen, Beatrice, Henrietta, Millie (with Apophis, the cat) and Frank.

The former NASA engineer immediately launched himself skyward with a Hawk Flight spell as he came through the portal, while Beatrice attacked the captain. Stephen cast an Utter Wall across the front of the stern castle, just behind the railing, to block any fire from the main deck,

Henrietta moved to engage the captain, as well and connected, Millie pulled her rapier and went for the helmsman at the wheel, and Frank shot one of the marines on the port-side fighting tail.

At the base of the port-side ladder to the stern castle deck, a Skandzan mage whipped around in shock and triggered defensive spells, a man in civilian attire at the starboard side ladder pulled a pistol and a sword, and the injured captain’s fast-drawn backsword nearly took off Beatrice’s head; only a desperate parry saved her neck.

Henrietta and Beatrice proceeded to beat the captain down, while Millie kept trying (and failing) to hit the helmsman who stubbornly kept the bow of the ship pointed at the Airgead Spraeala. Meanwhile, Aurelia zoomed in and began to take out the two marines in the fighting-top of the forward mast, while A.J. went after the two firing down on the team from the aft mast.

However, nobody noticed when yet a third mage jumped off the bow of the ship and disappeared, as the shocked crew recovered themselves and began to charge toward the stern castle, to take out the attacking mages of the Red Rocks Lodge.

Unfortunately for them, Steve had the tactical situation under control. He cast another Utter Wall to block off access to the center of the sterncastle from the port side ladder, but left an opening at the rear so Frank could keep shooting at the marines on the port-side fighting tail. He then cast a third utter wall to do the same to the starboard side, as the civilian Skandzan began to charge up the ladder from that side.

As he did so, the crewmen manning the stern-most main deck guns reached the stern-castle bulk head and began to try to clamber up over the railing, only to find that Steve’s first invisibile Utter Wall blocked their way. Alerted, the mage at the base of the port-side ladder tossed a couple of “spell-grenades” up over the walls from below.

Those detonated into Explosive Fireballs that inflicted considerable pain and forced Millie, Frank and Beatrice to trigger healing spells, although it didn’t put them down. Apophis managed to avoid getting too hurt, though, and an thoroughly annoyed Millie finally managed to skewer the helmsman as Frank took down the port-side marines.

Over on the starboard side, the civilian’s apparent willingness to charge headlong into the conflagration on the stern deck got the attention of Stephen, who laid down a fourth Utter Wall, horizontally, and prevented the man from using the ladder. In response, he began to feel his way around it, to try to figure out another way up top.

At about that time, Aurelia came howling in from above, and shot one of the marines in the main-mast fighting top through the top of his head. The second marine recovered quickly and snapped off a shot at the flying archer, and the bullet went straight to her mid-section – only to get reversed and smack into him.

That triggered an Explosive Fireball cast on the bullet (the Skandzans apparently knew that trick, too…) and detonated the cloth cartridges in the cases at the belts of both men. The combined fiery explosions set both the sail and Aurelia to smoldering, but the latter recovered with a healing spell.

(continued...)

[tshiggins]

(...continued)

About that time, an icy-blonde female Skandzan officer made it up from the gun-deck to see what was going on, and quickly spotted Aurelia as the two marines in the foremast fighting top opened fire at her. One missed, but the other’s bullet stopped a fraction of an inch short of Aurelia’s armor, and the bullet zipped back and engulfed the shooter and his companion in fiery ruin.

The officer quickly surmised what had happened, raised her double-barrelled muzzle-loader and put a round in the mast next to Aurelia. The bullet hit and exploded, and Aurelia’s hair caught fire. That triggered another of Aurelia’s healing spells, and the Red Rocks mage fast-drew an arrow and took aim at the blonde officer, as she took aim, in return.

Aurelia’s arrow took the officer square in the chest, but was mostly turned by the hauberk under the officer’s clothes. The officer’s arrow smacked into the sail near Aurelia and blew her up, again, and Aurelia rocketed upwards to heal as the officer – now out of bullets – ran back below to nurse her wounds.

A.J. peter-panned over to above the mid-ships as Aurelia and the officer bounced, as he’d noticed a deck officer and the marine commander were leading a wave of sailors toward the stern. He quickly dispatched the Marine officer, but then turned his attention aft, again.

Back at the stern, the civilian managed to find his way to the top of the Utter Wall Stephen had cast horizontally to block the starboard ladder, as the mage on the north side lowered the boom.

Realizing the stern castle was lost, the mage dropped an Air Vortex in the center of the stern castle, engulfing Frank, Millie, Apophis and Beatrice. However, the Medicine Bag spells saved at least two of their asses (Apophis just skipped nimbly out of the area of effect), and Beatrice took matters into her own hands.

Realizing they couldn’t keep making those saves, and now constrained by their own Utter Walls, Beatrice responded with a summoned air elemental.

By comparison to the monstrous beings they’d dealt with up at the portal to the Elemental Plane of Air, Beatrice’s swirling dust-devil couldn’t even compare. However, it proved quite capable of blasting the mage off the port-side deck and down 30 feet to the sea.

Unsurprisingly, that broke his concentration quite effectively, and the Air Vortex dissipated before it could whisk anybody away. Pleased with the result, Beatrice sent that elemental to knock more Skandzans off the deck, and summoned a second.

Over on the other side of the deck, the civilian reached starboard side railing, grabbed a shroud and, with a single cut of his sword, cut it loose from the belaying rack. However, as he started to swing out and around to get on top of the Utter Wall, A.J. screamed past him at Hawk Flight speed, cut through the rope, and zoomed away.

The civilian quickly recovered, however, and stepped on to the horizontal Utter Wall. He began to close on Henrietta when A.J., who had reversed course, screamed by him at Hawk Flight speed and cut him across the back with the ceramic machete.

That caused the man to tumble into the ocean, and left only the one officer amidships, plus one or two down below.

The Skandzan sailors began to try to reach the ends of the Utter Walls at the back of the sterncastle, but by then, Frank and Millie had the port side opening covered, while Henrietta had started to crack skulls and break bones on the starboard side, backed up by Beatrice. A.J. readied his crossbow as Aurelia zoomed back in, arrow nocked.

At that point, the midships officer commanded his men to hold before the Red Rocks Lodge members could kill any more of them, and then asked for a parlay.

That ended the session.

##

Funny Quotes
(Not too many, this time. Lots of violence, and Bennie Rae didn’t make the session.)

A.J.: They’re coming for us, so they’re loaded for bear.
Beatrice: Do they know it’s not going to help?

Stephen: I don’t know if this is a good idea, so I’m gonna do it!

(Kaitlynn barely makes Millie’s save against the Air Vortex.)
Anten(OOC): Medicine Bag is the best spell in the game!
Bernetta(OOC): Jesus! My blood pressure just went crazy.

(Beatrice summons her air elemental.)
Millie: What’s this one’s name? Gail?
Beatrice: I like that! But I already named it George.
A.J.: Wendy!
Beatrice: That’s the next one!

##