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IE Journal 9

Page history last edited by Michael 13 years, 3 months ago

back to the Index or to Journal Entry 8

 

278/597 ... 3 months till the Kerrn and Vaylen Portals might be complete (plus of course time to repair the Vaylen Portal)

 

The monitor FLV730214A6 (with the Terrans and their two ships aboard) returns to Lambda Cassiopeia, and docks at the Shining Slate. All Terrans have an opportunity to make experience checks at this point. The battleship isn't really convinced of the presence of a Portal. Its examination of the gong reveals that the item was likely made in the 21st Century, but the language of the Ominous Characters engraved on it is unknown.

 

Ominous characters

 

The Shining Slate admits to placing sensor drones in several nearby star systems.

 

As a going-away present, besides the shotguns and ammunition (buckshot and slugs), the ship makes some plastic explosives (at O'Reilly's request).

 

Entry-8 shotgun: 8 round magazine, semi-auto,

with low-light sight and laser dot projector.

Barrel length 15.25 cm (6"), mass 4 kg loaded.

 

The Spirit of Vinland and the Neola's Claws set out for the Karsan League ...

 

287/597

 

... with a stop at the New Mornac system. Intrigued by the presumably habitable world, and wishing to stretch their legs, the Terrans land the Neola's Claws on the storm-clouded planet. The smallish continents are composed of fetid swamps, jagged ice-covered mountains, immensely thick jungles, and all manner of savage beasts. There are also some ruins from thousands of years ago; some rooting around in old basements and such turns up a mostly-functional fusion reactor (power output about 1 megawatt, mass about a ton, but very fuel-efficient) and some Index 7 batteries (mass 400 kg, value somewhere around 50,000 Standards).

 

There are a few amusing moments when the various aggressive beasts discover that even Anvil armor is a pretty good defense against teeth, claws, nostril-stings, etc. "Stop that, it tickles."

 

After a day or so on-world, the Terrans depart for ...

 

297/597

 

... the Zulfikar system, within the Kingdom of Uzun. There are still many Vaylen ships coming and going; the Terrans query their sensor drone and download lots of traffic data. While mulling this over, the two ships are challenged by another vessel -- a Karsan privateer, Bill's Ship. After a bit of IFF exchanging, etc., the ship's owner Bill (more properly Sir William Vargas) passes on encrypted messages for the Terrans. The most important message is from Omshiip, where the Kerrn have completed their Portal -- and it doesn't work! The essence of the problem seems to be a pair of "demon horns"; the Kerrn had eventually replicated these apparently-decorative items, but have come to the conclusion that actual horns from actual demons are needed.

 

Data recovered from Britilthin during the original Kerrn attack indicates that the Vaylen got their demon horns from the planet Aleif, in District 6-322c. After a bit of pondering, and some comparing of travel times, etc., the Terrans decide that travelling to Earth for demon horns is a better idea.

 

298/597 to 113/598

 

Montage time! The Terrans travel into and through the Karsan League, with a lot of spicy situations caused by the presence of a Vaylen raider. Eventually, the mercenary engineers are paid off, and a couple of Kerrn (new NPCs picked up along the way) are employed to take the Neola's Claws to Omshiip. Within the Karsan League, fuel for the Spirit of Vinland is fairly cheap or even free (due to her semi-military status).

 

The Spirit of Vinland proceeds spinwards (west) into the Darikahn Empire. There's a lot of border security to pass through, but much of it is concerned with religious materials ("Please move the crate of grenades so I can make sure there are no religious pamphlets hidden underneath of it") and very thorough scans for Vaylen. Eventually they reach Terra Insula, the original home of humanity!

 

All Terrans have an opportunity to make experience checks at this point. It's been about 6 months since they left the Shining Slate, and thus a good excuse for increases in non-combat skills.

 

The Terrans try to remember the locations of some old Portals (but note that the Terrans don't possess exact coordinates). They briefly land at the ruins of the Great Wall of China, not too far from Beijing, and don't find a portal. The ghost goggles show feng shui traces, but attuning the site doesn't seem to have any perceptible effect. They decide to visit Beijing ...

 

The city of Beijing (now known as the "City of Heaven") lies under 55 meters of water; floating tenements, man-made islands, and dozens of old skyscrapers or arcologies show above the sea. A few antique structures have been preserved underwater, or behind tall dikes, or have been raised up on tall foundations or artificial islands. Boats move across the warm waters; a few grav sleds flit between buildings from time to time; about 30,000 people live there, many with very little technology. The Spirit of Vinland settles on a landing pad, and the Terrans spend a very spooky day as tourists (always in space suits or Anvil armor, and unwilling to try the local cuisine). While some feng shui is present, there's no sign of supernatural or demonic activity. No demon horns are available (the wave scanner can detect demon horns), although local vendors have quite a few strange body parts from quite a few very strange creatures.

 

114/598 (or September 1st, 12505 AD)

 

The Song Mountains of Henan province form a large island in what used to be China; Mount Shaoshi is still very much dry land - the peak is 1400 meters above sea level. The Terrans decide to try there next; the flight from the City of Heaven is only an hour or two. There is a structure atop Mount Shaoshi where the Shaolin monastery should be; it's a combination of 'new' (post-21st Century, Index 1+) and ancient construction. The wave scanner shows something significant in the supernatural and feng shui departments.

 

The Spirit of Vinland lands on the small pad, and three of the Terrans (McClellan, O'Reilly and Black) walk out to meet the inhabitants. There are some "monks" wearing white and saffron robes; the monks themselves are tall men with orangeish-gold skin -- and in fact are Snake Men, from the Chinese Hells. They greet the Anvil-wearing travelers courteously, in Mandarin-accented Fed, and are glad to switch to Mandarin (which they speak with a pre-20th Century accent). The travelers are led to the Chief Spiritual Abbot, Zifeng; he, and the few armed guards, are normal humans, ethnically mostly Chinese. The guards wear blue-and-white armor, which looks like a cross between 20th Century military gear and ancient Chinese body armor; their weapons are staves, swords and assault lasers.

 

The travelers have a long chat with the abbot, who seems to know his Confucian stuff. The topic of Portals and time travel doesn't come up right away; but eventually, he says "There is someone you should meet" and leads the travelers through an antique gate under a modern dome.

 

Hell - the Ice Pagoda

 

The gate is a Portal, of course, and leads to the Ice Pagoda. It is a palace, actually, and sort of reminds some Terrans of the Forbidden City of old Peking -- but with lots of ice, frost, and snow. The Ice Pagoda seems to be set within an enormous dome of ice; beyond the dome is a strange flickering of insane energies -- presumably the remains of Hell!

 

There are a fair number of odd people, many are Chinese "traditional" warriors in white-and-blue livery; plus a disturbing number of Siberian tigers and giant white falcons roaming about. The Terrans are led though various concentric layers of increasing opulence and security, to a meeting with Pi Tui, Queen of the Ice Pagoda.

 

http://netherworld.chimpshack.org/cardscan/pr/queen_of_the_ice_pagoda_pr_400.jpg

 

In attendance at her inner court are more warriors (with swords apparently made from ice), courtiers (including Jin Sha, a tough martial artist from the 21st Century and apparently her consort), shamen and sorceresses, a few Jammers, and one of their cyborg primates:  Apeshot, a sort of cyborg cruise missile/Predator drone.

 

After the Terrans are introduced to the Ice Queen, she gestures to the court and says (in perfectly fluent 20th/21st Century English), "I think you know a few persons here." A few muted cries of "Blow things up!" are heard from the onlookers, bringing a slight smile to the Queen's lips.

 

on to Journal entry #10

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