Present:
- Anastasia "Stasi" Tepes. Zhodani Soldier from Querion – Shane
- Emerse Gee. Daryen Scientist from Torment – Darryl
- "Riley" O'Reilly. Sword-Worlder Pilot from Winston - Richard
- Anton Tositova. Solomani Gunner from Entrope - Ian
- Sang "Spanner" Hoang. Sword-Worlder Mechanic from Winston – Jeff
- Hoff Ende. Sword-Worlder Scientist from Winston - Kevin
- Belle Ende. Sword-Worlder Medic from Winston - Steven
- Itzy Ende. Sword-Worlder Soldier from Winston - Chris
- Gnostic Hands. Solomani Scientist from Entrope – Jamie
- Split "Penny" Ende. Sword-Worlder Minstrel from Winston - Jason
- NPC: Scurry. Drone Gunner from Winston
- NPC: Finn Cyborg from Querion
by Andrew.
Cauthon Institute
The group was in one of the Cauthon Institute's meeting rooms with Janette Drive (Dr Gilbert's PA), and the two surly guards in battle armour. They had been exploring down the tunnels and had just returned.
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| Janette Drive |
Five minutes later, he returned and spoke to Janette.
"Security caught two trespassers," he said. "They claim they are Ende brothers, and know this group."
"Is that valid?" said Janette and looked at the group.
Belle nodded: "I'm an Ende."
Itzy and Hoff were brought in, wrists tied with cable-ties, and thrown into the room.
Months ago, when the party went on the Entrope trip, Itzy was left in Winston with his mother Contessa. She had been receiving the dispatches over the last few months of the party's exploits after their mis-jump. She had decided that Imperium system 728-907 ought to be a reasonable rendezvous point, so she sent Itzy there; he'd spent the last few weeks travelling.
Hoff had a shorter story. He woke up, disoriented, in his marmalade-soiled bed on the Lost Crown, and then wandered onto space station. The guards up there had enough nous to point him to the Cauthon Institute.
Itzy had arrived to the space station that same day on a tramp trader's ship, so, after a familial hug, they both travelled to the ground on the space elevator, then walked the few kilometres to the Institute itself.
Janette came right to the point.
"Dr Gilbert analyzed the footage from the lantern you were carrying. The Cauthon Institute wants you to investigate this portal. Dr Gilbert is insistent that we send in the guinea ... the brave volunteers, as soon as possible."
"I have spoken with my liaison from the Imperium up in the space station, Reginald Maudling," said Janette. "He says that there is an Imperium Pathfinder class corvette in a graveyard orbit around this planet. With a bit of arm-twisting, I got him to agree to requisition it for the Institute. We will get it recommissioned."
"We'll do it!" snapped Riley.
At 450 tonnes, the Pathfinder class has a Jump-3 drive, 6G grav-drive with inertial dampeners, eight state rooms, one mess, kitchen, sick bay, laboratory, four hard points for weapons, and a 40-tonne hold.
"Oh, it comes with a crew of eight too," said Janette. "You need to take the crew, but you can decide if you want Imperium military or Cauthon employees. I will instruct them to utterly obey the captain. That's 'utterly' with a capital U."
"That's me!" snapped Riley.
Janette went on.
"According to the Ende boys, their mother Contessa owns your current ship, so the ..."
"No, we own it."
She paused.
"Well, I am not going to get into an ownership dispute now. You made your Luck roll, so, your current ship won't be requisitioned for the glory of the Empire..."
The two guards stood rigidly to attention and thumped their chests, missing Janette's sarcasm entirely.
"All hail Emperor Strephon!" they barked in unison. (Emperor Strephon Aella Alkhalikoi has been emperor now for 34 years.)
"... You can deal with the Ende mother and the Zhodanis back in Winston. Anyway, have a little chat among yourselves."
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| "Whisky hat" |
The party had a quick conversation, and agreed with the deal, lead by Riley's enthusiasm.
They requested additional weapons and supplies and equipment for the portal expedition, and rations for a week.
Itzy got an M60 machine-gun which was better than his 30-06.
"And I want a supply of whisky," said Riley. This was duly supplied by Janette's helpful guards in the form of a whisky hat, filled with the locally-distilled "Seven town" whisky. This was 140 proof, and could strip anti-fouling paint off a ship's hull.
Back down the tunnels
The trip from the freight elevator through the tunnels to the "tidal" cave was uneventful. With the iron door left wedged open, there was never enough air pressure build-up in the portal room, so the red "tide" was always "out". The party made their way into the portal cave with no trouble.
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| Portal in the blood cave |
The plan was for Anton to go through. They knew biological pieces could pass back (example case: the dead arm of one of the mercenaries), so after Anton had reconnoitered, he would come back, naked, within 15 minutes.
He took only a torch, overalls, and a pistol.
He dipped his hand, then his fat belly, into the portal, and went through, disappearing from the group.
15 minutes passed.
Suddenly, Gnostic's camera stick floated up in the portal, held by someone on the other side. It made some little jerks inward. Then it was suddenly yanked inwards.
They waited. 30 minutes passed.
Then an hour.
Oh dear.
Then a piece of apthera (bone and gristle) came through. And some more.
Was this a signal to follow? Only one way to find out.
"We can't leave Anton. We all need to go."
"Or we leave him to die."
"I don't think we can leave Anton."
Sang went through first. Then one after the other, they all went through, the marmalading Emerse on a wheel-chair, and then finally Riley.
Rose-coloured Sky
It was daylight. The entire party was on a hilly plain under a rose-coloured sky; bright, but no sun. Behind them was the portal, a clear hole into the cave - it wasn't a mirror on this side. In front of them was a lake, the size of four soccer fields, of red liquid, like the same stuff in the cave's "tidal" pool, with white lumps floating in it.
But that wasn't what drew their attention, because in front of them, fifty paces away, standing on the left shore of the lake, was a huge spider, six storeys tall, with 12 or 14 legs, with multiple eyes on prehensile stalks.
It was a terrifying Cthulhuesque sight, nightmare, dream quality, an abomination of nature. Sickening.
[ Everyone made a Psyche roll. All made it except for Sang. Even those who made it lost 1 PP; Sang lost 5 PP. ]
The giant spider's eyes weren't focussed on the party, instead they were focused on the thing that it was devouring. This creature was one of the mind-flayer creatures that the party remembered from the derelict freighter Gnost Roma orbitting Formalin (where Liz died). The wretched thing was held by four "mandibles" which looked like human arms with claw-hands, as a porcelain beak mouth nibbled away at it. It thrashed about and screamed hysterically, half-eaten, but still alive. Pieces of its intestines, cartilage and some bone, with lots of blood, were falling into the red lake.
Off in the distance, several kilometres away, was a nightmarish city, that looked like jagged sections of thick iron welded together, to form spikey structures, buildings and towers. And in the air, around this city, was a thick swarm of what looked like gnats at this distance. Close-up, they'd be the size of vultures or dogs.
Terrified, the whole group turned around and tried to hurry back through the portal. The level of the red lake was such that it lapped at the bottom of the portal circle, and obviously into the cave. The portal was on a vertical rock face, and it looked like there had been a recent rock-fall which had exposed it. Maybe it was once buried.
Anton was crouched down there muttering "I couldn't get through. I couldn't get through."
Sure enough, the transparent portal had some kind of a field across it, and felt like rubber to finger-touch - the more you pushed, the more it pushed back. Metallic, wooden and plastic items, when pushed against the field, scraped, like metal on concrete.
Liquid from the red lake obviously dribbled through. And pieces of the cartilage and bone could go through too. The group posited that organic matter will go through - after all, the mercenary's arm managed - but maybe it had to be dead.
Earlier, when Anton had come through and seen the horrific scene, he tried to flee back through, and found he couldn't. So, after trying a few things, he grabbed Gnostic's camera stick and yanked that through, hoping to signal help to the group. Then, later, he used the stick to guide some of the bone and cartilage through the portal.
The hour passed for him, and all the while was the sickening screaming of the victim and the little tearing chomp chomp sound of the spider's beak.
Anton now decided to risk dipping his hand in the red liquid (this was a first time anyone in the group had touched it to skin). It felt warm and slimy. But even covered in the liquid, the portal field still blocked him.
TO BE CONTINUED
We now switch to Richard's adventure back in The Known World.
Some time in the future, this Traveller Campaign will continue.
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