Another long post, though it wasn't all that long a session it was heavy on roleplay and exposition. I also gained another player so the cast is back up to five.
Jessica playing as Norra Riddington
Chris playing as Bennet Prismall
Lars playing as Lawrence Yearwood
Chris W playing Bartholomew Bridger
and Hollie playing Nefetari
Once again we join our party, who over the course of this session gain another new member in the form of th Egyptian thief Nefetari. She prefers to call herself an archeologist, but this nineteen year old street thief from Cario also believes herself to be descended from the pharaohs. Born of a British father and an Eqyptian mother she gained her mother’s exotic looks but her father’s pale skin, and oddly mismatched blue and green eyes. She also seems to have learned a bit about chemistry, or at least alchemy, from her mother and carries a number of strange bottles concoctions along with the whip and pistol left her by her father, who may have actually been an archeologist, if not a tomb robber.
When last we left our party they had just saved the steam ship Josephine a second time from mysterious attackers. As a new day dawned the ship pulled into London harbor and after a brief encounter with police who had boarded to speak with the captain about the attack they went on their way. Unnoticed a stowaway dogged their tracks, her slender form blending in as she trailed behind some well to-do couple and their servants. Agreeing to meet at Bennet’s shop the next day to discuss events and try and decide how to deal with this chaotic and mysterious situation.
Going their separate ways for the night Norra headed to her hotel, Bart and Lawrence took opposite routes that took both to the same card game while Bennet headed home to see the missus. Meanwhile unknown to any of them Nefetari quietly stalked Norra, intent on steal from this rich woman who to her mind had far more luggage then she needed, and thus likely far too much money as well.
Bennets player from a little out of it so ended up taking a short nap on the couch as the rest of us player through the next section. Norra checked into her hotel and got unpacked quickly before retiring to bed, the first truly comfortable bed she had found in nearly a week due to their adventures. Nefetari meanwhile had figured out her room and shimmed up a drainpipe and hid on the balcony as she waited for all inside to go to sleep.
Across town Bart and Lawrence found themselves both at the same card table and silently decided to join forces in bilking the other players out of their hard earned cash. Gambling rolls allowed them to quickly clear out the amateurs and get to the true card players.
At the hotel Nefetari silently picked the lock on the balcony door after she watched all of the lights go out. Creeping into the room she listened for the snoring of the two servants before beginning her silent creep across the room. Lying in bed Norra suddenly heard a loud creak and due to a healthy paranoia nurtured by recent events rolled from bed naked and brandishing the derringer from under her pillow. As she pressed herself against the wall behind the door Nefetari froze on the other side of it, her own ears catching the sound of Norra’s movements.
Back at the card game Lawrence began to win big as Bart’s luck changed, a fact that didn’t sit well with the other players who began to show some annoyance. Accusations began to be raised, and Bart being a good southern did not take well to be called a cheat, nor the attitude his British opponents held toward the upstart American in their midst. Which left it to Lawrence to diffuse the situation before his well-armed associate got to annoyed.
This is only the second time my friend Hollie has played an RPG so having her suddenly standing in a dark room staring at a door where she knew someone was waiting left lots of obvious options she could have chosen. Naturally she went with yelling through the door that she just wanted to use the bathroom. Norra jerked open the door and yelled for Ruby, one of her maids, while brandishing her gun. Locking and blocking the balcony they trapped Nefetari and an interesting dialogue followed where she tried to explain that she was in fact royalty and that she simply wanted a bath; and perhaps a change of clothes and a few shillings to get her by. So imagine if you will one woman in dark clothing who has just broken into an apartment asking to use the bathroom while the other is standing before her naked brandishing a gun. I was having a hard time keeping a straight face through the whole thing, but it was truly great.
Norra questioned her sanity, but saw that Nefetari most certainly needed a bath and a change of clothes based on her ragged appearance, the result of days hiding aboard the ship. So sending Ruby along with her into the bathroom to guard her she left the girl to bathe while she searched her clothes, discovering four corked small glass vials. Being the chemist she is they were soon lying beside her small portable lab. The results of her quick experiments impressed her; a variety of drugs meant to cause sleep, confusion, and a primitive truth serum. Putting everything back she greeted her “guest” as she reentered the room and began to interrogate her.
Bart and Lawrence meanwhile managed to calm things and walked away from the table with a healthy influx of cash. In fact both had acquired a small fortune, 15 British pounds apiece; about fifth teen thousand modern American dollars. Heading their separate ways again with plans to meet in the morning Lawrence managed to spend a decent chunk of his earnings over the rest of the night between wine and woman.
With Bennett’s player rejoining the table the group met at his at his workshop to discuss things and analyze the devices they had acquired. The guns were akin to the Borchardt C-93, though about a decade ahead of its time. The suppressors upon them are about twenty years ahead of their time, and the gas masks they were wearing about thirty; though naturally the characters didn’t know that they were well aware that the technology was significantly advanced and pointed to an enemy of great intelligence.
Talk then turned to what to do about the coded message. Believing that the authorities were likely to disbelieve them they decided it might be better to investigate a bit more on their own. With their only clue being the mark of Prince Dakkar they decided to head to the Indian district of London and see what information they might dig up. Plus Bennet had a craving for Curry so it seemed a win-win situation.
The party ended up at Bennet’s favorite restaurant and after a few subtle questions were able to get the owner to give them some information that pointed them towards a tavern on the docks. Heading down their under the guise of a shopping trip for Norra they began asking some other questions before eventually making their way to the tavern. A few less then subtle questions later and they found themselves being mostly ignored as they drank some ale. That is until a well-dressed and well groomed dwarf walked up to them and with merely the mention of Prince Dakkar turned and walked away with the obvious expectation that they were to follow.
Leading them down several narrow corridors and covered alleys their dwarf guide eventually stopped before a curtained doorway from which the sickly sweet smell of opium emanated. Ducking into the room the party found themselves before a robed Indian sitting upon a pile of rugs smoking a hookah. Breaking out my best horrible Indian accent the man began asking the party questions, and as natural the party unloaded with their entire quest and all their knowledge, at least up to the point that it occurred to Lawrence that the strange man had yet to introduce himself. Demanding to know the man’s identity he was answered instead with a question. “What are your intentions once you find the man you seek?” Thankfully the party answered as I hoped they would by announcing that they intended to stop him from killing the queen.
The Indian stood and called out to his servant to seal the doors and the party heard the heavy thud of thick wooden doors closing. With his face very nearly obscured by the smoke hovering near the ceiling the man pulled the turban from his head and used it to wipe across his face. I think the entire party was both surprised and relieved when I introduced
Sir Richard Francis Burton. Though a real person, a great explorer and adventurer, my version of the character is based upon the depiction in the steampunk Burton and Swinburne novels by
Mark Hodder. As such he is an agent of the Queen, essentially an early version of the British secret service. His servant, the dwarf, was introduced as Mr. Turk; a moniker inspired by the chess playing automaton of the late seventeen hundreds known as
The Turk.
Burton questioned them further before divulging some knowledge of his own. To his knowledge Captain Nemo, as Dakkar was more commonly known, was dead. The technology they had found did seem to be of his design however. Also the tattoo they had discovered on one of the men they’d fought was similar to Nemo’s symbol but seemed to have been slightly altered to match Napoleon’s. He assured them both men were dead, Napoleon in particular he was adamant the British had seen too and made sure that nothing, not even the life renewing serum the party had encountered with the French spymaster, could revive him.
He did however mention that a grandniece of Napoleon had recently acquired a small fortune and was renting a home in London. A house where she seemed too often host parties involving a great many in the Socialist and Anarchist movements that preached the fall of the monarchy. Most were young and foolish nobles with who didn’t truly understand what they babbled and merely went to drink and rebel. A small group of radicals were however believed to be frequenting the place. Our session ended their as the party continued to discuss with Burton what they might do to help find the heart of this threat.
A new player, more clues revealed, and future plans beginning to come into focus. It should be interesting to see what the party does next.