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A Bid For Power

Page history last edited by Michael 12 years, 9 months ago

back to Around the World Again

 

October 28, 1934:  the Italian light cruiser RM Bariolomeo Colleoni, and nine assorted yachts and modern merchant vessels come into port. Five merchant vessels leave Kilindini Harbor. The German destroyer Mowe is still present, along with Boule's freighter, the Soviet seaplane tender Djugashvili, a strange small vessel (probably concealing a submarine), ten or so very modern cargo vessels, over a score of older steamships, and various dhows, sloops, fishing vessels, etc. The seagoing vessels are registered in Brazil, the U.S., Italy, Germany and France (in addition to the various naval craft).

 

Delacy looks into the ownership and intentions of the ships, and visits the Hotel Richland, 2 miles north of Mombasa. The hotel is heavily defended, and has a private railway spur; the security staff are well-armed goons from American, Britain, and the Commonwealth. The organization holding the auction is taking about 15% of the winning bids, and is protecting the identities of the persons submitting items for bidding.

 

Miss Worthington visits the various native (and Indian, Chinese, Arab, etc.) markets in search of useful herbs and medicines. She notices a blind organ grinder, with three monkeys.

 

Delacy returns to the city and gains some financial support from the Colonial Office. He then speaks with Lilian Barnato (in San Francisco) via the intercontinental telephone network. After a bit of persuading, she agrees to provide some financial backing.

 

One of the private yachts (with an all-female crew) in the harbor has brought Commander Stannich for the auction. Delacy visits him, and they come to an agreement about bidding on a Japanese submersible tank.

 

Mr. Fury goes into the city to find a Beretta, and is not seen again for over 24 hours.

 

October 30, 1934:  The corpse of an Italian sailor, gruesomely mutilated, is found on the shore - his heart has been torn out, and a torn shoulder insignia from a German naval uniform is found clutched in his hand. A German sailor from the Mowe is found in an alley with his throat slit. The police and ambulance services in Mombasa are overwhelmed by the number of foreign troublemakers present; curfews, identity checks, and other forms of control are announced and ignored. The city's bars, brothels and hotels are happy, however -- money is flowing as never before. A couple of bars have been burnt down. While the jail overflowing, one of the dock warehouses is quickly put into use as a 'drunk tank'.

 

In the evening, there is a costume ball at the Spanish consulate; the theme is "The Great White Hunters of Deepest, Darkest Africa". Several of Our Heroes attend:  Miss Cullin, Major Delacy, Mr. Davis, Miss Worthington, and Captain Lotta.

 

October 31, 1934:  an auction is held at the Richland Hotel, two miles inland from Mombasa; it starts at 7 p.m.. The auction ends late at night in gunfire and mysterious events; much rioting, looting and mayhem occur.

 

Notes from the auction:  monkeys are bad news! Msr. Boulle was present, but he only picked up some of the books and art pieces -- nothing particularly consequential. A couple of groups of Chinese are present:  Nationalist air force officers, and a group led by Ming the Merciful, an aged and very traditional sorcer ... er ... antiquarian. The German naval officer leading their bidding on the "five bits of ductile metal" has an apparent heart attack and dies. Some robots, a clockwork grenadier, and the Brass Head pretty much all bring the house down.

 

Our Heroes quickly return to Kilindini Harbor, and head out to the Calgarian (at anchor). However, a couple of groups of Bad Persons (Chinese thugs, and some other villains) have boarded the ship during the night, terrorizing the crew and searching for ... well, we're not sure. The invaders are killed or driven off, but Delacy has one of his "episodes".

 

There are sounds of small-arms fire from all around the harbor; many small boats dart hither and thither, as all manner of desperate or paranoid people attempt to obtain or retain various items. A couple of grenades are heard exploding, and police sirens wail across the city.

 

The Century of Progress world's fair closes in Chicago.

 

November 1, 1934:  the Soviet seaplane, most of the yachts, and many of the other vessels at Kilindini Harbor depart. There are reports that at least one torpedo was fired during the night, but no ships were hit. A few bodies, overturned boats, and other debris of battle float about the harbor. The East African Standard has some (extremely underplayed) reports on the fracas at the Richland Hotel:

 

"A series of loud noises disturbed the guests at the Richland Hotel last night, during a private function. Police forces investigated, but could find no apparent cause for the sounds. A few persons were transported to hospital for observation."

 

Keep in mind that the whole annual budget for the Kenya Colony is about 4 million pounds sterling.

 

November 2, 1934:  the portal monitoring machinery is delivered to the Calgarian; it requires vast amounts of carefully-regulated DC power -- more than an ocean liner can generate. When new, the Calgarian's electrical generators produced about 1,000 kilowatts of power; East African Power & Lighting (the local electrical utility) produces about 4,000 kilowatts total. The Raubvogel-class destroyers normally generate about 100 kilowatts. Clearly the Mowe is stuffed with dynamos!

 

More ships depart; Mombasa is returning to its normal sleepy self. Lotta and Fury do some "scouting" in their flapter. The result of the auction (and other aquisitions) is as follows:

 

 Our Heroes obtained: 

 

Japanese tracked submarine - 33' length, 6' beam. Twin screws, battery powered. Two 6" wide tracks are mounted on the bottom of the sub on 1' deep ridges, 3' apart. One periscope and searchlight on the 4' tall conning tower, which is located about 2/3 of the way forward. A single rack for mine-laying is located to the rear of the conning tower. There are two hatches on the submarine:  one on the conning tower and another forward of the tower.  Winning bid: £200,000  

 

Aztec sacrificial altar - Dark stone carved into the shape of a stylized winged jaguar with a serpent head.  About 5' long, 4' tall, and 3' wide. Weight 10,200 lbs (just over 5 tons, that is). The top of the altar has been hollowed out to a depth of several inches to better accommodate human-like shapes. Three runnels are carved into one of the narrow sides.. Winning bid:  $25,000   (~£7100)

Notes:   Due to it's mass, Our Heroes were NOT able to bring back to the Calgarian during their initial return to the ship! It was delivered to the ship, along with the other large items obtained at the auction. Furthermore, the altar is actually Toltec, if anyone with an actual Archeology skill ever examines it

 

Boulle's Apparatus - "Mesurage Poste Éthérique Interstitiel Flottement" (Very rough translation:  Interstitial Etheric Fluctuation Monitoring Station). Weight 2 tons. 3 banks of racked tube circuits (each approx .65m x .65m x 2.5m tall), one control position - 1m wide, 0.5m 'tall' (although it is canted at a 45deg angle, by .75m deep (at the base), one recording position - 1.5 m wide, 0.5m 'tall' (although it is canted at a 45deg angle, by .75m deep (at the base) with three 20cm diameter round cathode ray screens and a graph printing device (10cm wide round rolls of paper), and one 3m tall by 0.5 wide 'lightning rod christmas tree' antenna with 20m of 7.6cm cloth-wrapped cabling. There is also another three 20m coils of similar cabling that obviously is intended to be power cable to connect to the circuit bank cabinets. The racks and stations are all constructed of 0.65cm low-grade steel (13 points of armor) and finished in gray crackle-finish. All the metal pieces come well-wrapped in wax-impregnated marine canvas. Winning bid:  $660,000 (~£189,000)     

 

Russian Meteor - about 1' by 9" by 8"; 66 pounds, vaguely American football shaped. Rough blue and black striated ore with greenish seams that have an (un)natural luminosity. Winning bid:  $45,000  (~£13,000)    

Note: referee has stated it emits 40 millirems of radiation per hour, so don't spend too long near it.

 

Ancient Buddist Text - written on sheets of crumbling worked wood bark and natural glue binding in Brahmic script. It is incredibly old, and is perched on the edge of crumbling away to dust.

         Game mechanics:  in Pali, a Middle Indo-Aryan language of India. It needs to stored in a controlled slight humidity environment. With work, a partial translation could probably be found in the far east.

 

12 matched Norman-style long swords - The swords are lighter than they look. Each sword has a different stone in the pommel. Winning bid was $660,000 (~£189,000).

Game mechanics:  STR min 10, DEX min 10. Applicable skill is specifically Long Sword (not Sword skill), which has a base of 20% plus DEX mod. Attunable (Vs. POW 12)

 

The stones are:

 

  • Malachite

  • Lapis Lazuli

  • Jaspar

  • Amethyst

  • Hematite

  • Tigers Eye

  • Carnelian

  • Tourmaline

  • Turquoise

  • Jade

  • Aquamarine

  • Pink Beryl  (Morganite)

 

Things liberated in the confusion: 

 

Nodachi - A 4'3" long Japanese sword. Translating the ideograms on the inside the of black lacquered, shell and semi-precious stone inlaid case, the sword once belonged to Muneyoshi Ieyoshi. It has a point heavy balance but is extremely finely made. In the possession of Bill Davis. 

Game mechanics:  STR min 13, DEX min 10. Applicable skill is specifically Long Sword (not Sword skill), base is 20% plus DEX mod.  

 

Pink Power Crystals:

  3 10 inch long x 4 inch thick murky pink crystalline rods. They are roughly 6 sided and appear to be milled in some manner. They each weigh 4.5kg.  

 

From the safety deposit boxes:

  • Stack of 200 sequential (equiv of $1 million in face value) Prussian state bonds, issued in 1928, maturing in 1958 - with clip-off coupons to be presented annually to receive interest payments (at 3.25%)

  • Empty

  • Baby browning and 1 spare magazine, 1,000,000 (French) francs - in 5,000 franc notes

    • worth $39,200, although passing the equivalent of $200 bills might be difficult.

       

Total amount of Our Heroes bids:  £598,000. Rough value of safe deposit box contents:  £300,000. 

 

Various things taken from assailants: 

 

Random small arms:

  • 2 Thompson M1928 submachineguns with drum magazines

  • 4 Chinese full-automatic M1896 mausers

  • 6 Beretta M1918 submachineguns

  • 3 Franchi AL28 (early copy of Browning Auto-5) semi-auto 12 gauge shotguns

  • 4 other assorted pistols  

  

2 sets Stone and Mica goggles - from the Chinese assailants.

For the goggles, think of a papier-mâché carnival mask that covers the eyes as well as most of the nose, upper cheekbones and a bit of the forehead. However instead of papier-mâché, the mask is made from tobacco leaf tan colored stone. The mask piece has had wire earpieces attached with brackets that were riveted onto the mask. The wire is a (very magnetic) high tensile strength iron alloy. Above where the brackets have been attached, are signs of where the mask could once have been attached to a helmet of some kind.

The lenses are attached to a vaguely face shaped piece of soft stone that was contoured some as it was worked. The lenses are about 1.25" across and made of a dingy semitranslucent white/very light grey thin mica-like stone. The stone that comprises the lenses is 'mottled' with other earth tones. The windows were also 'retrofitted' to the masks as they have been attached to the masks with silvery brackets that apparently replace other lenses that could be slotted into the mask. The brackets were drilled into the existing lens 'slots' in a manner similar to the earpiece brackets.

 All in all, the goggles seem solid and durable, weighing about 5.5oz. It would not take much work to break off the earpieces or pry off the riveted brackets holding them. The lens brackets are very sharp to the touch but never seem so when the goggles are being worn, although when removed there are ‘wear marks’ on wearer’s face. Removing the brackets would be more difficult and could break the lens slots.

1 point POW to attune, versus a POW 11 item.

 

 

5 heavy blades - 18" long by about 3" deep single edged, with thin hand guard.

The blades are made from Wootz steel. The crosspiece guard is made from modern steel. The handles are made from a type of cedar. The pommel is made from red brass.   

Requires STR 6, DEX 10. Uses Knife skill. Damage: 1D6 

 

5 repeating crossbows Dimensions:  12in length, 10in width (at widest point). Weight: 3.5lbs.

Fragile construction of copper, brass, steel, and several types of wood. The bow cables are made from silver, copper, steel, and animal hair. Can be fired in an 'almost silent’ manner, given the limitations of the construction of a crossbow and available materials.

The crossbows require 2 hands to operate and are made to be worn on the right forearm. The 'magazine/feed device' extends diagonally down along the outer edge of the wielders arm. The cocking device has a 9in pull along the inner side of wielders arm. Cocking is not at all silent. The trigger is on the left edge near the end of the 'run' of the cocking bar. That is firing is an operation'

Quarrel heads have channels formed into them, likely for some sort of semi-solid material. Quarrels weigh approx 2oz and are made of light hardwood with surgical steel points. The bolts are 8in long and are made entirely of (after some research and successful botany rolls) Chinese mourning cypress. You have 41 quarrels in total.

Range: *20* yards, 1 shot per round (requires both hands). Damage: *1d6+1*, Capacity: 6 quarrels, malfunctions on a 90+. STR 13 , DEX 10 to use.

 

7 small jars of poison paste -- being researched by Miss Worthington.

 

5 sets gray body-suits - mostly perforated in various places and bloody.

Game mechanic:  fits persons of SIZ 9 to 11   

 

What other parties managed to obtain: 

 

Chinese Nationalist military delegation

  • 100 Lathi-Saloranta L/S light machineguns plus 2 million rounds of 7.62mmR ammo

  • 750 Suomi KP-31 submachineguns plus 2.5 million rounds of 9mm Luger ammo

  • 20 M31 sniper version of Swedish M96 Mauser plus 10,000 rounds of 6.5mm Mauser ammo

  • 2 Arado Ar231 seaplanes

  • 4 Arado Ar80 fighter planes

  • 3 various manufacture 2 or 3 seater gyrocopters

  • 2 Land-wasser-schleppers    

 

Master Ming the Merciful - The Manchurian Mystic with the Seadragon tattoos  

  • 12' tall Polish golem

  • Timbuktu scrolls

  • 5' long scrimshawed narwhal tusk

  • five assorted bits (each approx 8" square) of curved ductile silver metal with some 'proto-hyperborian' (or perhaps high temple Seapeople script?), early heiroglyphics, Aramaic, ancient Norse, Epi-Olmec, and Akkadian cuneiform

  • two 15' tall Egyptian obelisks, brought to France in 1799

  • Doctor Dee's Brass Head (although it's not clear that Ming was able to take possession of this item)

 

Italians - Led by the honorable Ambrogio Vernetti  

  • set of Roman-era amphorae   

  • 1 Arado Ar231 seaplane

  • 2 Arado Ar80 fighter plane  

 

German Navy - Although their leader, Joachim Tannhausen, was killed  

  • freighter hold-full of helium canisters

  • 4 tons of radium ores

  • 8 Marconi experimental back-pack radios

  • Da Vinci self-portrait    

 

Swedish magnate - Henrik Vanger  

  • British Victorian steam drill tank

  • Catherine the Great's ruby seduction necklace

  • Mohammed's son's sword (don't tell any Moslems about this, unless you want to start a fight!)

  • small golden apple in an ancient acacia wood box

  • Rembrandt's paints and easel

  • Imperial emblem of the XIX Roman Legion, destroyed in 9AD at the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest. The emblem was recovered in 18AD by Germanicus and returned to Rome.    

  • Various manuscripts and icunabula   

 

Japanese Navy - Taisa Isao Koronaga and Dr. Rokaru Tideoshi  

  • 5 terracotta warrior figures

  • Various manuscripts, icunabula and medieval melee weapons

  • 3 large eggs. slightly warm to touch    

 

Brazilian Industrialists - Paulo Roberto Faria and Thiago Galleti, of Empresa Ypiranga   

  • a six-seater gyrocopter

  • two Czech half-track carriers

  • a two-seat low-visibility sail plane

  • radio-ranged artillery shells

  • Incan sarcophagus

  • Italian gas-dispersal technology

  • Bosch painting - The Rape of the Cyrenes

 

 

November 6, 1934:  With cleaning up from the mess at the hotel and in the harbor, burying a few dead crewmembers from the Calgarian, organizing a dinner, arrangements for draws against credit lines, and delivery of purchases, Delacy arranging for shipment of the tank sub, planning for a tiger-hunting expedition, sending off the Calgarian to be sold, writing letters and reports, playing cricket or rugby with the locals, etc., Our Heroes are in town for five days after the auction -- they can take their checks. Our Heroes will be ready for their next adventure!

 

on to The Flying Tigers!

 

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