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REFEREES' EYES ONLY!
Twenty-five thousand years ago, at the peak of Martian civilization, Princess Nephitane, a member of a rich and powerful family, lost her betrothed Drazan in a strange, technological accident -- his was entirely disintegrated during a "life energy extraction" experiment. The princess was plunged into despair, until a seer convinced her that her beloved would be reincarnated on the "blue planet", Earth.
Nephitane threatened, bribed, and cajoled her family's scientists and engineers to prepare a ship to travel to Earth. A few other Martian ships had made the slow trip to Earth; hers was to be the largest and best-equipped.
Thus, the princess and 300 followers slowly crossed the Solar system in the Swift Comet and arrived on Earth.
She landed her craft in north Africa, in the lushly-forested caldera of Jebel Marra. She was able to dominate the lands around, and traveled thousands of miles from time to time. A city, named Nyala, was constructed at the base of the volcano, on the eastern side; at its most powerful, thousands of soldiers, slaves and craftsmen worked there. Around her grounded spacecraft a palace was built, the al-Kazar.
Characters
For a convention, or a one-time game, the players may choose among the listed characters. Leffingham is the only one that needs to be chosen. Other characters can be created with the Space: 1889 rules, but should be British (or at least with no allegiances to any other major powers).
Regardless of which characters are chosen, Leffingham's servant James Newton will accompany the expedition, as a player-character or NPC; Norris will also come, if Captain Hamilton is chosen.
Episodes
These aren't intended to all be separate game sessions, but they're usefully divided for breaks.
Episode 2 - To Cairo By Air
From London to Cairo in a straight line is 2200 miles; the actual trip is about 2400 miles, and takes about four days. The Mercury flies over France (with a brief customs stop at Calais) and then stays over the Mediterranean for the rest of the trip. There's a watering stop in Marseille (evening of the 11th), at Malta (the 12th), at Heraklion in Crete (October 13th; there's an uprising underway on that island by the Christian Greek population against their Ottoman rulers), and onward to Cairo (arriving on the 14th).
For a campaign, the referee may hint or give evidence of smaller aerial flyer on roughly the same course, after leaving Marseille at sunset -- the stolen Aspic. The stolen flier doesn't need to stop for water, and won't be seen again until Africa. The Mercury is unarmed, and the captain won't allow any aggressive action; a successful Observation roll will reveal that the small flier has red-white-and-blue stripes on the rudders, a small cannon on deck, and isn't steam-powered. The Aspic will disappear into the darkness, without any running lights ...
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