Episode 58: the Great Escape

The heroes' whispered conference in Prince's bedroom was suddenly broken up by arrival of troops in-theatre.

Palace guards. Well-armed palace guards. An elaborate ambush plan was formulated and executed using the secret accessway between the Prince's Apartments, the princess' apartments and the various honoured guest suites. Two guards were dispatched by this strategy, but the rest became alerted and they formed a double line of spearmen.

The heroes decided to engage openly and did fairly well despite rounds of black powder pistol rounds zinging about their ears, but eventually they decided to withdraw when even more guards appeared on the scene, this time armed with muskets.

The arrival of the Prince with his three High Martian guests caused a re-assesment of the situation and the team withdrew and hurriedly discussed options.

These boiled down to staying and fighting by attempting to raid the armoury and using whatever they could find there (a plan complicated by the fact that none of them had ever been to the armoury and did not know where it was), escaping to the outside, taking the obviously newly-returned Ruumet Breehr herd and making for the mountains, or boarding the prince's kite and attempting to steal it.

The team debated for a short while, then settled for the "kite" plan, and so Wilhelm teleported them to the deck of the vessel.

This proved to be something of a mis-step as the crew, although caught on their collective back foot by the arrival of the Earthmen in a ball of green lightning, proved unwilling to meekly turn over the vessel and a pitched battle broke out on the deck.

A hail of gunfire from the crew in response to the Earthmen's own volleys, along with savage hand-to-hand attacks ensued and the casualties were high on both sides.

Jones was killed outright. Forsyth was wounded, and Wilhelm was thought lost to two rounds of terribly effective swordplay and pistol work, but by some miracle his healing device must have been damaged in the fray and it exploded, bathing the hapless inventor in coruscating green energies. The team thought that to be the certain end of their friend, but it seemed the device had actually saved Wilhelm's life, though it left him in a piteous state and the device that had saved their bacon so many times in he past was unsalvagable.

The crew, however, had lost half their number and Forsyth's second demand that they surrender was, finally, grudgingly honoured.

The heroes took up what stations they could to make up for crew losses, and the sullen crew manned the tops, allowing the heroes to escape the Prince and his vile Ground Cleanser friends.

Sadly, halfway back to civilization, the crew mutinied, revoking their parole, and in the ensuing rebellion managed to crash the ship, wrecking her beyond repair. Though the heroes survived the crash with no further injuries, they came to to find no remaining Martians alive in the wreckage, and no immediate way of continuing their journey.

Episode 27: A Plan Goes Awry

It looked good on paper.

Letters recovered from the safe "acquired" for Dirk Cairo's now-destroyed warehouse provided evidence of a chilling plan, a plot to blanket the capital cities of England, France and Germany in the dread Red Sands poison, thereby fomenting chaos in the form of an uncontrollable outbreak of the Red Sands plague that would fill the streets with maddened, infected lunatics, each a centre for further infection.

This was a plan designed to bring down the three great powers of Earth, and possibly the entire planet over time. The implications were astounding and profoundly disturbing.

The grand design appeared to be an attempt to strip Mars of its British and German troops, which would be needed on Earth once the standing forces had been exposed to Red Sands. By the time they got home, home would no longer exist.

Naturally, once the information had been digested and a picture of the intent synthesized, the team contacted the Explorer's Club via telegraph, using the talents of an impressionable young telegrapher named Dick, suitably reimbursed and impressed by the legendary Waldmont as to the need for anonymity and confidentiality. Once the Explorer's Club had time to digest the message, Waldmont brought his influence to bear and was soon in touch with Chief Inspector Smythe, who not only took the threat seriously but communicated his concern to his counterparts in Paris and Bonn. If there were any truth in these allegations, the forces of Law and Order would root out those responsible and bring them to justice.

Now the adventurers turned their attention to the goings on at the Cairo Ranch. They believed that there they would find an example of the cryptic "Kross Distribution Device" mentioned in the letters, and so a plan was hatched to infiltrate the ranch using hired guns as backup. A preliminary recce of the property revealed that there were a large number of guards, a handful of mystrious figures dressed in black clothing, "Dead-Eye" Pete Blackwell (a notorious bully) and a strange man with a German accent and woman working in the kitchen of the Ranch House.

The team surmised that the German man was Hans Kross and the woman was his Daughter, possibly the method by which Cairo was abe to compell Kross to work for him, and began hatching a new plan to rescue the girl and her father. This plan was formed up after overhearing a conversation in which it was obvious that one of them had been attacked by the cook, and that she was being held against her will.

The ranch compound consisted of the Ranch House to the North, facing south, a large barn to the East, and a long Bunkhouse to the West, forming an open courtyard, open to the South.

The team would arrange themselves around the ranch at dusk, armed with rifles, to suport Copperfield in his stealthy infiltration of the ranch. Copperfield wuld enter the Ranch House and rescue the woman. If he experienced troube he would signal either by shining a lantern at a window, or by initiating gunfire. At this signal, Rev. Fogg and a hired hand would push a wagon loaded with flammables and explosives into the corner of the bunkhouse in which the guards slept and lived while on site, using this as a distraction to draw off guards.

Copperfield entered the house from the rear and made his way carefully through the house. Once inside he could clearly hear two distinct conversations: A pair of men, one with a German accent to the West, and a man and woman to the East, the end of the house containing the kitchen. Copperfield decided to investigate the voices to the west, and improvised a bold plan. He knocked on the door behind which he could hear the voices and pretended to be a confused member of the Ranch's staff. This served ony to enrage the German man who ordered the other to deal with the situation. That worthy ripped open the door and came face to face with Copperfield.

Copperfield abandoned his obfuscation and drew his pistol, but the man opposite him was quick and backed away, drawing his own weapon as Copperfield shot - and missed. There followed a rapid exchange of close-range pistol fire that was largely ineffective. Copperfield wisely decided that discretion was the better part of valour and broke off to retreat through the back door.

Unfortunately, a number of guards were alerted and intercepted his escape with volleys of gunfire that was terribly effective, wounding him twice as he blundered into and past Captain Forsyth, who was unfortunately at that very moment come down from his overwatch position and about to enter the house.

A guard burst out of the doorway and turned right to see Copperfield staggering away, and attempted a close range rifle shot that missed. He did not see Captain Forsyth to his left, who shot him at close range, doing no damage but knocking him prone. From which position that worthy fired, doing severe damage to Forsth, who reeled off to the West to gain cover from this mad sharpshooter. Copperfield ran for the cover of the East corner of the Ranch House.

Simultaneously, Reverend Fogg piloted his burning wagon into the southwest corner of the bunkhouse with the aid of a hired hand, using the resulting conflagration as a diversion. To this end he ran into the courtyard yelling for help and some of the guards now pouring out of the bunkhouse did indeeed race to help Fogg, who was raving in a most realistic fashion about his daughter being on the blazing wagon. The hired hand meanwhile had raced Northward along the bunkhouse wall to give whatever aide he could to those in the Ranch House, and as the guards approached the blazing wagon to rescue Rev. Fogg's non-existent daughter the dynamite exploded and although the blast missed them, each was pounded by flying bricks from the chimney and shaken. Fogg raced for the Ranch House.

It was at this moment that Waldmont, heretofore ensconced in cover out in the middle distance to the South of the courtyard with half a dozen hired hands to act as sharpshooters, decided that he would be better employed in closer contact with the enemy and had his team run into the courtyard.

All along a minor drama was playing out in the kitchen, where Lana Kross (Doctor Kross' wife) had used the distraction of the attack to launch her own assault on her guard with a skillet, to good effect eventually. Dr Kross, on the other hand, was happy to seek out ever more secure places in the barn. No hero, he.

Copperfield found cover and went to ground, wounded as he was. Captain Forsyth made his way to the front of the house where he attempted shots at the mysterious shadowy figure stalking him along the front wall of the Ranch House. Waldmont halted to give fire and ordered a hired hand to aide Forsyth. Reverend Fogg Burst into the house and ran straight for the obese German who was loudly shouting demands that the guards kill "the English scum". Fogg burst past the astounded guards and attempted a grapple on the German, who shrugged off this attack, ordered the guards to lower their weapons and challenged Fogg to a bare-knuckle boxing match there and then.

It was around this point that Waldmont was shot by a guard from the barn, and critically wounded, falling to the ground like a sack of King Edwards. In short order the Hired Hands, who had been about to decide whether to cut and run, were gunned down, as was the Hired Hand sent to help Forsyth.

Forsyth looked on helplessly as Waldmont, far out of reach and enfiladed by guards, gave a shudder and succumbed to his wounds.

Reverend Fogg exchanged a few spirited blows with the German but knew almost immediately he was outmatched, so he took an opportunity to leap our of the door and run for cover.

Captain Forsythe and his one remaining Hired Hand found a Bunkhouse window and attempted to ambush Dead-Eye Pete, who had made his appearance at the Bunkhouse door. The gunfire on both sides was inconclusive, so Forsyth and the Hired Hand ran for cover. Unfortunately, Dead-Eye Pete was able to shoot the Hired Hand as they fled. Fortunately, he could not shoot Forsyth, who was in very bad shape as it was, and holding himself together by sheer willpower.

The operation was over, and none of the objectives had been achieved.

---

Clear Credit: Map of the Cairo Ranch from page 115 of the Space 1889:Red Sands setting book published by Pinnacle Entertainment Group. Map reproduced in part to illustrate narrative. No challenge of copyright is intended. I do not have clear attribution for the art itself, the book citing Interior art by: Richard Clark, Christophe Swal Cartography by: Jordan Peacock. If the responsible artist will contact me I will attribute properly.

Episode 26: The Warehouse Plan

So the team assembled to enact The Plan.

The basic idea was sound. Forsyth suggested the team secure a large crate, secrete themselves inside and have the crate delivered to Dirk Cairo's Boulder Warehouse. There was some lively discussion, then some more when Waldmont insisted on bringing his rifle, which demanded the crate be able to accommodate it. At this point Wilhelm, Burke and Copperfield refused to have anything to do with the insanity and decided to go drinking and gambling in the low dives of Boulder¹.

Fogg, Forsyth and Waldmont constructed a special lid for their crate, one that could be secured from the inside. Fogg insisted that the crate be clearly marked "Fragile" and "This Way Up", and all were careful to arrange enough screened gaps that breathing would not be a problem yet their hiding place would not be discovered. Having forged the necessary paperwork (carefully checked at the Denver Showroom last session), teamsters were hired and our modern day Athenians locked gthemselves into their present day Trojan Horse.

The plan worked beautifuly, and in no time at all the crate was delivered and brought inside the warehouse just before the close of business and a change of shift for the guards.

Once darkness fell the team opened the lid and went exploring. The office was located and examined, but Forsyth, perhaps elated by the way the guards did not seem to notice his lantern's light through the windows, attempted to crack the floor safe, and made such a pig's ear of the affair that the combination dial snapped off!

Meanwhile Fogg and Waldmont were busy prying open crates. The warehouse was aparently used to store old rifles a couple of 18 pounders and dynamite.

So it was a little inconvenient when two of the guards, alerted by safebreaking and crate opening, came into theater and demanded an explanation with extreme prejudice. it was about now that our heroes realized that the ceiling was actually the lower hull of an aether flyer. The noise of a collapsible ladder being lowered from a now-open port added a touch of drama to an already drama-soaked situation. A crewman emerged, spotted Waldmont and challenged him, and unbearably bright lights suddenly glared from the hull of the aether flyer, lighting the warehouse brighter than the noonday sun. The other guards were not going to miss that kind of light and they burst in on the team.

The adventurers gave a good account of themselves, and the crewman on the ladder was killed. More gunfire rang through the warehouse and as the battle raged the stalwart heroes realized that the roof of the warehouse was opening, powered by sandbag couterweights, and the aether flyer cast off, sailing into the night sky, plunging the warehouse into darkness again.

Although the guards were implacable and extremely violent, the team were able to kill all but one, whom Rev. Fogg subdued with his trademark thump in the snoot, this time tempered with less-than-lethal intent. This worthy was tied up while further exploration was undertaken.

A basement office was discovered, which yeilded up more evidence of Brotherhood skullduggery and a mask recognizable as a Greek theatrical "Crius" mask. The plot thickened. There was also a communication, speaking of some sort of test at "The Lodge"

Waldmont used some of his considerable financial clout to persuade the remaining guard that he should relocate his family to California - at once, and the adventurers went to recce the ranch at Castle Rock. In town they discovered many disgruntled former ranchhands complaining how they had been replaced with a new crew of thugs. An inestigation of the ranch from a nearby concealed vantage revealed a concentration of guards that precluded a frontal assault, so the team retired to consider their plan of action.

It was at this time that they made the acquaintence of a man who claimed to be a member of some odd American fraternal club whose entire membership apart from the erstwhile speaker had vanished wthout trace durng a planned initiation ceremony. Such was the scare thrown into the informant that he announced he was gettin' outta town. He did draw the adventurer's a map to what he called the "lodge" - which appeared to be in the middle of a forest.

The three adventurers bolstered their courage, each according to his tastes, and they set out for the location on their crude map, which turned out to be not a lodge at all, but a dry well with a meta staple ladder set into the shaft walls. By the well was a wrecked carst and the corpse of a horse showing signs of wolf attacks. Nearby the corpse of a wolf was discovered. Both animals looked oddly decayed and battered, and here was a faint odour coming from each corpse.

Acquiring some miner's helmets and rope from ghe wrecked cart, the three adventurers descended in to the well, which opened into a cave. The walls were adorned with priitive paintings, though Rev. Fogg was dubious that these were genuine aboriginal work and declared they were crude forgeries.

Progressing through the cave, encountering more cave paintings, and saltings of golden nuggets, the brave adventurers began postulating that this was all set dressing for some sort of ritualistic parade. There was something in the placement of the nuggets and the progression of the cave paintings that was suggestive of a serial promenade for an initiation. It certainly fitted with the naming of this place as "The Lodge".

And so eventually the team made their way into a very large cavern where a terrible scene confronted them. Dead bodies scattered around, well over a dozen. All torn and blistered.

They also found an imrovised fortification blocking a small side-chamber, also with a population of dead bodies bearing terrible wounds. There were signs that the smaller group had tried to use fire in their defense, and though they were dead Forsyth noted that the fortifications were all in place and the team had to break through them to cofirm their worst suspicions. All dead, all wearing robes. All with horrible wounds.

The presence of a well with what looked like clean water, a chalice of ornate design and more of the cave paintings suggested to the increasingly worried adventurers that this would have been the scene of the triumphant conclusion of whatever initiation was to be held. The team decided to investgate deeper into the main cavern. Perhaos there was more to be found than dead bodies.

The corpses were naked, all except for one individual, killed in what was onviously a fanciful "summoning circle". This body had golden robes and a ceremonial wand or sceptre clutched in its hand. In front of the circle was a deep hole, possibly a dry well. At the bottom of this was some sort of device, massive, clock-like, with broken glass around it and some remains of red powder. The well walls were covered in red powder.

And now the team became aware that the floor had a faint red tint, as though it was covered in a fine dusting of red chalk. Fogg, Waldmont and Forsyth looked at each other in horror. They too had a fine coating of red dust on them, red dust that could only be ... the dreaded Red Sands!

A horrible narrative suggested itself, of an innocent initiation iterrupted by the erruption of the Red Sands and its distribution over the cave at the height of the proceedings. Of the victims overcome, then tearing each other apart. Of a desperate last stand, and the defenders, possibly exhausted after repelling their transformed former friends for what may have been hours, finally sucumbing to the Red Sands poison themselves and tearing each other apart.

And now a terrible imperative overpowered the team. They must wash themselves and their clothing, ridding themselves of the dread Red Sands before they became infected. The well!

Using the well water and a canteen, the team carefully cleaned themselves as best they could, and then exited the cave as fast as possible. Once in the open air they paused only long enough to dynamite the entrance and make sure no other innocent could be exposed to this foul terror weapon.

During their escape each of the adventurers had felt themselves fighting off the infection. Fortunately for them their constitutions were of stout British origin, honed by hardship and privation and butressed by sheer British pluck.

1. Or to put it another way: The three players owning those characters couldn't make the session↑

Episode 25: Trouble in Venusstadt

The team stood outside the sewer outfall and watched as an aether flyer of notable design lifting from the city and flying into the overcast sky.

After a quick stop at the hotel to freshen up and get some un-sewered clothes, the team converged on the Echte warehouse where they suspected the Venusian Death Flowers were being stored before being smuggled to Earth.

Arriving at the Warehouse they observed that the entrances were guarded by what looked suspiciously like Brotherhood thugs. Copperfield made a recce around the warehouse and discovered that although there were no entrances other than those at the front (a personel door and a larger roll-up door in the loading dock) there was a rather dubious metal ladder up to the roof. Procuring a length of rope that was obviously not needed by the owner, the team ascended the rusty ladder and made their way onto the moss-encrusted roof as a fine rain began to fall.

Though the roof was treacherously slippery, by using themselves to counterbalance each other with the rope stretched across the warehouse roof they were able to remove one of the skylights and lower themselves in. Sadly, the slimy rope proved an unreliable mode of entrance and both Copperfield and Waldmont fell. By god fortune each had his fall broken by the pile of wooden crates, which obligingly split and splintered under repeated assault by plunging bodies.

Pulling apart one of the broken crates, the team found a curious opaque glass tank with a very workmanlike sealing arrangement. They surmized that this must contain one or more Venusian Death Flowers and that it would be a very bad idea to open the wel-screwed-down lid.

Unfortunately, their climbing had been observed by a guard, who followed them to the roof and observed them through the removed skylight. He raised the alarm and the other guards rushed in through the front door.

Battle ensued.

Copperfield made short work of the thug on the roof, and the others made telling shots at the others, but soon the air was full of flying bullets missing the intended targets and hitting ... the crates.

Now a new sound was heard, the sound of shattering glass, and a thug cried out and fell convulsing to the floor. Seeing this, the remaining three thugs ran for the office, firing their pistols wildly, with predictable results.

The intrepid adventurers made a dash for the front door as the thugs donned the gas masks hung in the office. Forsyth missed his footing and fell, and for a brief moment was aware of a captivating scent, almost irresistable. Almost. Thank heavens he was able to shake of the insidious effects and make his way to the door with the others. Emerging into the Vensian drizzle they were brough up short by a force of Venusstadt militia, to whom the team surrendered.

As they told their story to the commanding officer, an investigating militiaman was overcome with the Death Flower scent and fell convulsing to the floor, where he died. Immediately special troops were deployed to contain the dread vapours before the entire town was killed.

Our brave adventurers were taken to a stone building where they were hald incommunicado for some time and interrogated by first a sergeant and then later by someone who seemed more important, a man who gave the obviously false name of "Schmidt".

After much verbal fencing with this man, a representative of the Foreign Office arrived and spirited them away, telling them that they were now unwelcome in Venusstadt and indeed on Venus as a whole. In Fort Collingswood their names were unmentionable. Fortunatetly, each adventurer had favours they could trade upon to help repair their damaged reputations, but it would be along time before anyone would invite any of them to a dinner party.

The team were informed that Echte/Coeus had escaped by aether flyer, and that documents retrieved from the bank had spoken of "Dispersal devices" being manufactured on Earth by one "Crius". In addition, large sums of money had been funneled to Cairo Munitions, Denver Colorado.

Grabbing their things the team were boarded on a rather ill-appointed aether flyer, a diplomatic courier, and were ferried back to Denver post haste, a trip of some five weeks thanks to two rough passages through aether wakes.

The adventurers spent a small amount of time re-aquiring a suitable wardrobe, then went looking for information. They discovered that Dirk Cairo had his firm headquartered in New Jersey but also had many properties here in Colorado. In Denver was the Cairo Munitions showroom and main office. In Boulder there was a warehouse. In Golden there was a compound, and a casino Dirk Cairo frequented. And near Castle Rock there was a ranch.

A visit to the main office led to an encounter with the ebulient Bruce Badger, who had heard of Waldmont and his adventures, and was eager to show off his wares. While Waldmont and Copperfield distracted Badger, Forsyth took inventory of the desk and documents to be found on and in it. These told a story of deliveries to the warehouse from Venus.

Working the streets a little later, Copperfield discovered that shipments were also delivered to the ranch, indeed, lately that more deliveries went there than to the warehouse.

The team decided to visit Boulder by train and recce the warehouse, which was guarded round the clock and was of substantial construction. A plan formed. Perhaps a fake delivery would be one way to get the guards to open the doors of the warehouse so that a clandestine inspection could be made?

Episode 24: The Tables are Turned

The screeching of the frog-iguana things made stealth something of a problem for both sides as they peered into the fog, hoping for a glimpse of a target. Somewhere in the swamp three beings were attempting to stalk the intrepid adventurers.

The three beings were in fact Otto and the two Lizardman defectors from camp, and unfortunately for them they were overly-eager to engage the adventurers in combat.

A brisk battle ensued with the brave adventurers firing speculatively and Otto rushing in to do his worst. A brief exchchange of hostilities and the Lizardmen hostiles were dead and Otto taken prisoner. Burke then used all his powers of persuation to cow Otto and extract the exact details of his dealings with Echte and his bank. Otto himself was allowed his freedom on the grounds that he clearly was a tool of Echte and knew nothing of the Brotherhood.

During this time the adventurers decided that Echte was non other than Coeus, and probably bankrolling The Brotherhood of Luxor. They determined to meet with Echte on heir return to Venusstadt, which was acheived with no further misadventures.

The team confronted Echte at the bank. He laughed off their accusations, then launched into a boastful monologue before activating a hidden switch. In a trice Echte dissappeared through a secret trap door in the floor, and secret side entrances to the office open revealing a gang of German heavies, all bearing Brootherhood tattoos.

Another desparate battle ensued with the adventurers getting rather the worse of things before the tide turned and they were able to escape into the secret passages and thence to the Venusstadt sewers. Evading the pursuing gang they emerged from a grating at the city wall, where they regrouped and made plans.

First stop would have to be their hotel and a quick bath and change of clothes. After days in the Venusian swamp and hours in the Venusstadt sewers they all felt the need to scrub the stink of Venus off themselves.

Episode 23: The Venusian Swamp Wildlife Is Troublesome

The team settled in for another night in the muggy heat and stench of the Venusian swamp.

On waking they discussed plans and decided to strike North and head for the Airship rendezvous by the lake, with the object of arranging an ambush there for the treacherous Otto. Unfortunately, they discovered that one of their company, Burke, had either left camp or been kidnapped during the night leaving no trace of his leaving nor any sort of note of explanation.

The team were surprisingly unbothered by this new development, and assumed that Burke would either redezvous with them later or would be brought to the airship rendezvous by Otto. Either way, they had problems of their own. Their numbers were down by approximately half, and they were in the middle of a Venusian swamp. Perhaps worries over their own chances trumped worrying about a colleague silly enough to wander off on his own. Who can say?

The discussion wound up, the course of action agreed by all, then suddenly the camp was attacked by a large swarm of Swamp Devils, those fearsome crocodilian reptiles that had bedeviled the team the previous day. The battle was short and intense, with much loss of life on the part of the native Lizardmen bearers, but eventually the beasts were all driven off or killed.

Reverend Fogg tried his best for the wounded Lizardmen, but there was nothing he could do for them, and their Lizardmen tribe-members held a ceremony in which the dead were consigned to the swamp.

It was then that the team discovered that the three lizardmen who were not part of Reverend Fogg's congregation had made good their escape, fleeing for the safety of the swamp when everyone was distracted by the life-and-death struggle against reptiles in a World Gone Mad. Clearly they had been waiting their chance, the absolute bounders!

The tracks led off north-east into the swamp, following the same apparent course taken by Otto, but the team were only just discovering this when three sets of shrill screams split the air, coming from the direction taken by the mutinous lizardmen. There was a short discussion as to whether or not this was worth investigating before the team did, in fact, investigate, discovering three lizardmen corpses with terrible acid burns and the skin and bones of a raptor, also showing signs of acid burns.

at this point each member of the team heard what they thought was Otto moaning quietly off in the fog. Indeed, when Waldmont and Montgomery went to investigate, there was Otto lying against a tree. moaning piteously. Montgomery strode forward and Reverend Fogg would have joined him but the Lizardmen suddenly became frantic, hissing and gibbering in their barbaric language and dragging Fogg back.

Ssassafrash began saying "I not see you see" over and over, and Capt. Forsyth suddely suggested that perhaps the Lizardmen could not see what each earthman could, that maybe "Otto" was not Otto. At this point, Montgomery gave Otto a poke with his sword and there was an explosion of protoplasmic goo as the Venusian Mimic - an insidious telepathic menace - resumed its true form and attempted to engulf Montgomery!

Luckily, Montgomery was nimble enough to scramble out of harm's way, but moments later the dreadful amoeboid thing attempted to engulf the hapless Waldmont! Thank heavens for Waldmont's lightning reflexes, for he too managed to avoid becoming a meal for the disgusting blob.

Unfortunatly, possibly unnerved by his near encounter with death, Montgomery rushed off into the fog, out of sight of his compatriots, and was attacked by a lurking pack of Raptors! He fought valiantly but was overmatched and outnumbered and fell to their hacking claws and flesh-tearing teeth. The rest of the team made short work of the foul-tempered dinosaurs from a safe distance, but as Rev. Fogg discovered, they were just too late to save their compatriot, and Devin was declared dead.

Lacking any digging tools and the soil in which to bury their friend, they were forced to perform a burial at sea, aided by the Lizardmen.

The ceremony, a cross between Anglican and Ssassafrash's tribal ritual for the dead, was suitably solemn, but the occassion was lent a rather gruesome coda as the team turned to leave and the waters to which they had just committed their comrade suddenly boiled with Venusian aquatic swamp denizens fighting to get a share in the bounty.

The team then struck off north and north-west, deciding that the quicker they could get out of this hell-hole the better.

Toward the end of the day they came across a strange scene. Two human figures lying on the ground. One was Burke, who seemed to be alive but sick, and one was awake, but delerious and clearly close to death.

Burke had a dart in him, and a pistol lying by his body. Rusch had a bullet wound and a dart gun by his side. Burke's wrists showed signs of his being tied up.

Rusch was muttering: "Coeus! Coeus! we will watch over Otto and keep him safe! Coeus!¹"

Waldmont pulled out the dart and smelled it, and recoiled as he recognosed the tell-tale whiff of Red Sands! He hurled the dart away from him into the swamp and yelled the danger to the others as he ripped open Burke's clothes to discover a shallow scratch on the victim's chest. The dart had been prevented from penetrating fully by Burke's waistcoat and heavy linent shirt. Thank heavens for proper British attire!

Capt. Forsyth and Rev. Fogg attended to Burke, cleaning his wound and applying bandages while the visibly shaken Waldmont tried to make sense of what Rusch had said.

He remembered that "Coeus" was the name of a Titan for Greek mythology, and that The Brotherhood of Luxor's leadership seemed to identify themselves by code names chosen for such beings. He remembered that in the Kraal² on Mars he had seen three cowled and masked Brotherhood leaders calling themsleves Kronos, Lord Hyperion and Lady Hyperion attempting to arrange an arms shipment.

Furthermore, he recalled that Kronos had spoken with a British accent, and that Lord and Lady Hyperion had French accents.

He surmised that Kronos was the Supreme Leader of the Brotherhood, and that Lord and Lady Hyperion were the infamous "M. et Mme Bourgeouis" from the Fort Oublie fiasco that had started him on this long journey into night.

It was Capt. Forsyth who, upon hearing these remembrances, suggested that "Coeus" might still be on Venus if, as it seemed now, he had tasked Rusch and company with looking after Otto.

Everyone then agreed that if Coeus was indeed on Venus, he would likely be someone living in Venusstadt.

A stretcher was fabricated by cutting up their one remaining tent and using two spears as poles, and Burke was portered by two Lizardmen to the next camp site, where a miserable camp was set up in the drizzle. No tent made for the prospect of an uncomfortable night, made only slightly tolerable by the camp beds and ponchos made from the rubberized tent material left over from the remains of the tent.

Rev. Fogg took the first watch with Ssassafrash, who reported sounds coming from the east, sounds and scents of two Lizardmen and a human. Unfortunately, nothing could be seen through the pea-souper that had descended a day ago and had yet to show signs of lifting.

Fogg woke the others and they in turn moved into positions of cover. The ambush was slightly ruined by the unforseen invasion of the camp site by small frog/iguana-like things which were underfoot and made a shrill screech when trodden on, which every member of the party did. Out in the fog the stealthy approach of the three unknown beings was interrupted by their own discovery of the frog-iguana things.

Tensely the team waited, straining to see anything in the fog.

Could this be the return of Otto?

1. It's pronounced "KEY-awss"↑
2. The High Martian fortress last seen in Episode 12↑

Episode 22: More Adventures in the Venusian Swamp

We return to the scene in the Venusian swamps, where our heroes have been informed by the now-loyal Ssassafrash, Lizardman bearer recently rescued from raptors by Reverend Fogg, that Otto plans to turn on them, kill them and let the swamp life deal with the evidence of this foul treachery.

Camp was made on a large islet, tents pitched and Professor Lazenby's Patent Folding Firecones set out and set ablaze. Professor Lazenby's "Everlast" Safari Torches were planted along the "coast" of the islet to drive back the darkness, the fog, the insect-life and the larger fauna, which fears fires that don't die of the damp in a few minutes. As the heroes huddled round their campfire Reverend Fogg held an impromptu service for a baker's dozen Lizardmen, who engaged him in fiendish disputation and analysis of his sermon for an hour or so, then wandered off hissing between themselves in what could have been a heated continuation of the debate.

There were now two distinct groups of native bearers in the camp: The so-called "Friends of Fogg" who deferred to Ssassafrash, and the rest, including one Ssakatash, the chief bearer to whom all the Lizardmen deferred, Friend of Fogg or not. Ssakatash was seen in earnest quiet converse with Otto, as were the human bodyguards, who had become known collectively to the heroes as the McSweenies for reasons that elude explanation. McSweeny was not in charge of Rusch, Heinrick, Schmidt, Fricke or Reinhart.

Although the heroes were ready for ambush, Otto was biding his time and the night passed relatively quietly. Perhaps the Lizardman had been mistaken?

Next day the heroes were attacked by three alligator-like swamp denizens as they crossed between islets, wading knee-deep in stinking water. Reverend Fogg immediately reprised his fearless defense of the day before and once again a seemingly invincible Venusian death reptile fell dead from a mighty blow on the snout. Sadly, his next attempt was completely unsuccessful, the blow landing on the animal's bony skull rather than its delicate snout, but shots rang out and soon the second creature lay twitching and oozing blood into the rank water of the swamp, at which point the third of these so-called "Venusian Swamp Devils" decided that discretion was the better part of valour and made a hasty escape into the murky water and ground fog. The Lizardmen watched this repulsing of Venusian predators with gape-mouthed silence, only the furious flicking of their tongues betraying their lack of composure.

Later that day the Lizardmen presented Reverend Fogg with the skin of the Venusian Swamp Devil, and insisted he wear it like a cape for a short ceremonial dance. A request to which a bemused Fogg acquiesced, unaware he was taking part in a Lizardman warrior naming ceremony.

It was after making camp that night that Ssassafrash's tip proved to be correct and Otto made his move, but the heroes - alerted to the near certainty of treachery - had planned for this and concocted an ambush of their own. Each hero concealed himself as best as possible in the various terrain features available - mostly large trees resembling a cross between mangroves and cycad fern-like growths, though Burke and Forsyth took advantage of the large pile of baggage in the middle of camp. When Otto's bodyguards and a select group of Lizardmen attempted to kill the heroes in their sleep, the surprise was reversed and a desperate battle broke out. Lizardman fought Lizardman with spears dripping poison, and pistol shots rang through the night.

Reverend Fogg leapt out of hiding and engaged an armed bodyguard with his fists, killing him with a mighty punch to the head, then surged forward to engage a second foe. Devin Montgomery had failed to adequately conceal himself behind a tree, was spotted by hostile Lizardmen, engaged by them and badly wounded by a round from the treacherous Otto's firing from the cover of his tent with his elephant gun. Waldmont was also less than successful in hiding, and was swarmed by a small crowd of belligerent Lizardmen, stabbing at him with their poisoned spears. He took many superficial cuts, but shook off the poison's effects with no trouble.

Burke and Forsyth now engaged from concealment, blasting away with their firearms and any target that presented itself. Devin Montgomery, bleeding from many wounds, staggered from the scene of battle into the darkness of an adjacent islet, but was startled into returning in-theatre by horribly suggestive noises from within the fog. His fear of lizards was, unfortunately, a severe handicap in this situation. Waldmont was now cornered and put up a spirited fight, but was wounded quite severely. Luckily, he seemed immune to the Lizardman poison. Otto was firing from concealment too, choosing target with care and showing a terrifying skill with his elephant gun.

Reverend Fogg took a second life with his lethal boxing techniques, leading many to speculate on a secret career as a didicoy¹ when they had time to reflect on the carnage over a cup of tea. Ssassafrash rallied a pair of Lizardmen and they formed an armed cohort for "Lays on Hands of Death", the near legendary Friend to Lizardmen aka Reverend Fogg.

The battle was fierce, but eventually there were only three enemy Lizardmen left and they surrendered. Somehow Otto and the one remaining bodyguard escaped into the night.

Reverend Fogg now cemented his reputation with the Lizardmen by treating the wounded Montgomery and Waldmont and restoring them to a hale and healthy condition, if not exactly hearty, with a businesslike rapidity and characteristic modesty. Fogg's fellow Englishmen seemed rather blasé about this. English reserve? Sense of Entitlement? Who can say? Ssassafrash noticed, and added it to his growing picture of his hero.

Concerted attempts by the heroes to track Otto's path of retreat were unsuccessful, but Forsyth had the idea of seeing if the Lizardmen could pick up any trace and they were able to identify what looked like traces of Otto's escape path.

Two days of slogging through the swamp and a very intense battle had left everyone not native to Venus exhausted, and no-one was anxious to start ploughing through the Venusian swamp after Otto, who had demonstrated not only a startling marksmanship with his elephant gun, but was also demonstrably a master of wilderness survival and navigation. It was therefore decided to get some rest and to resume the hunt for Otto the next day.

Ssassafrash marshaled his fellow Lizardmen and arranged for pickets to be set, and the heroes were free to retire for a much-needed sleep.

1. A carnival bare-knuckle fighter who is The Champ others are challenged to beat for money↑

Episode 21: First Days on Venus

Waldmont, Wilhelm, Burke, Fogg and Montgommery land in Fort Collingswood, the capital of the British Colony on Venus.

After setting themselves up in a hotel courtesy of Wilhelm and Waldmont's seemingly endless line of credit (all except for Reverend Foggg who lodges at the church with the bishop) the team make the acquaintence of another Explorer's Club member, Captain Forsyth (Ret) who now works for the Colonial Office.

They discuss how they will proceed with their investigation into Venusian safaris into the deep swamplands, with a view to seeing if any are implicated in recovering the Venusian Death Flowers used by the Brotherhood to manufatcure the dread Red Sands toxin.

Montgomerry decides that he will use all his powers of investigative reporting to see what he can turn up in the lower quraters of the town, and he is spectaculalry successful, finding three names on note, three well-known men who have led safaris which recovered Venusian Death Flowers.

The first name is that of Alwin Otto, a belgian rare flower collector who seems able to spend a lot of money on his safaris given his rather niche interests. His safaris would seem to be funded by the Etchardian Bank, which is headquartered in Venusstadt, capital of the German Colony.

The second name is that of Leibrecht Berthanhouser, a German pharmaceutical representative. Longshoremen reprot that his Death Flowers have been going missing before they can be shipped.

The third name is that of Jóska Scabolick, a Hungarian noble with a prickly temper and what amounts to an obsession with his honour who is the head researcher for the Zoological Foundation. Longshoremen report that his Death Flowers have also been going missing from the loading docks.

The team relocate to Venusstadt after finding out that Alwin Otto plans to depart on safari within a week, and make their desire to join his safari known. Otto is pleased to have become known more widely as a successful rare flower collector and offers places on the safari for the six members of the team - at an exhorbitant price. Wilhelm and Waldmont open their purses again and Otto is even more impressed.

During the negotiations, Otto conveys Waldmont to the Etchardian Bank in order to establish a financial presence in Venusstadt with Waldmont's letters of credit drawn on LLoyd's of Syrtis Major.

During this visit, Waldmont is introduced to the bank's president and majority share holder, Mathias Etche, who invites the team to dinner at their convenience. Etche seems to have a close working relationship with Otto in Waldmont's opinion, bolstered by observing Etche and Otto in earnest private conversation.

Etche offers Otto and Waldmont an iced(!) drink and departs on bank business.

After a few days the party board an airship which ferries them to Lake Hindenberg, where they join twenty Lizardman porters, six human guards armed with pistols and clubs, sundry supplies and enough canoes to provide the second stage of transport into the deep swamplands where the rarest flowers may be found.

Once deep in the swamp, Otto has everyone beach the canoes and the safari continues on foot, with the porters navigating the shallowest channels between islands of matted vegetation overgrown with giant Cycad ferns.

The heat and humidity are beyond oppressive and the team are soon feeling the effects of exhaustion, each breath seeming not to draw in enough air. They sweat but there is no breeze to carry off the moisture and cool them, and the stink of rot is almost overpowering.

The safari gradually opens up into a long line, with Otto far in the lead and out of sight most of the time as he blazes a trail through the greenery, hacking away with gusto belied by his size, on the track of whatever he hopes to recover. The team of course hope this will be Venusian Death Flowers.

Hours into the safari the team, now in the rear of the march, are alerted by Captain Forsyth that they are being stalked by a pack of Venusian raptors when he spots them about to pounce upon a lone Lizardman guide and opens fire witgh his trusty revolver, killing one of the beasts.

Waldmont and Wilhelm also open fire, but to little effect. Montgommery, handicapped by his fear of lizards, is suddenly confronted by a raptor when it leaps up to him, and he panics and freezes. Reverend Fogg grabs the lone porter and yanks him back to safety at grave personal risk. Burke fires and stuns a raptor, Forsythe fires but misses.

The pack now attacks the party, running and leaping to the attack, but fortunately they only manage to wound two members of the party, Fogg and Forsyth. The combat turns nasty, with Waldmont dropping his rifle, useless thanks to the proximity of a raptor, and drawing his pistol. Forsyth retreats to fight another day and manages to dodge the attack at his back.

But the hero of the piece has to be Reverend Fogg, who demonstrates the very best of British Pluck when he punches a raptor in the snout and kills it outright. Before his teammates can register their astonishment, he does it again! Two vicious dinosaurian attackers killed in a demonstration of expert pugilism and sustained British Courage Under Fire!

Suddenly there is only one animal left, which has the bright idea of running away, and Wilhelm is finally free to deploy his healing nebulizer mask, curing Reverend Fogg and Captain Forsyth of their bite wounds.

Otto, on becoming aware of the fracas, orders camp be made for the evening on a large, relatively dry islet.

Episodes 15-20: Aboard the Empress of the Stars

This entry is a summary of several sessions spent socializing and interacting with the passengers and crew of the Empress of the Stars, an Edison Ether-Propeller interplanetary liner.

Waldmont was subjected to an attempted assassination when his Bhutan Spice tea was spiked with a Martian poison. He survived.

The entire ship is entertained by the events organized by "The Henries", a group of hard-partying middle-aged men who served in the army and saw action in Afghanistan, where they participated in the Battle of Al-Gavidah Pass and saved the day.

Both Waldmont and Wilhelm were subjected to a second assassination attempt when decorative boxes in their staterooms turned out to be clockwork traps containing lethal Martian snakes.

Pirates attempt to take The Empress, but are beaten back and killed to a man by The Henries, aided by Waldmomnt, Wilhelm, Montgomerry (a journalist passenger) and Burke, a contact from the Colonial Office.

One of the passengers is murdered, and a second, a woman, dies as a result of an ill-conceived distration ploy. He turns out to have been a Pinkerton Detective hot on the trail of two suspects involved in a stock swindle that bankrupted one company and cause the near-closure of a bank. He writes a letter to Wilhelm and Waldmont asking them to solve what he assumes will be his murder.

The team does indeed solve the murder, and that of the woman, placing them at the hands of two other passengers beyond any doubt, and recovering a fortune in Bearer Bonds which will go a long way toward repairing the damage done by the stock swindle. They also track down the ghost, who turns out to be a young woman with a weird science device who was working with the Pinkerton Man.

The two swindlers are then ritually killed along with the crewman guarding their staterooms while at the same time another attempt is made on the team, this time with poison gas in Waldmonts stateroom as they plot the best way to take down the most likely suspect in the assassination attempts. The team, now augmented by the newly-acquianted Reverend Fogg, chase the assassin into the baggage compartment where Wilhelm glues him to the floor with his "goober gun".

The assassin bears a Brotherhood tattoo, and commits suicide in mid-histrionic vengeance threat.

Episode 14: Onward, To Venus!

Wilhem and Waldmont and two friends they have met in the Explorer's Club are approached by a Mr John Brisbane (Colonial Office) who persuades the brave heroes to undertake a mission to Venus in order to discover who is smuggling the dread Death Flowers from the deep swamp there.

The Heroes share their suspicions about the involvement of the Brotherhood of Luxor and exchange a few tid-bits of information with Brisbane, who offers to fund the team to the tune of four first class passages on The Empress of the Stars, a Cunard Line "Venus Rated"¹ space vessel due to depart in a few days on the 42-day trip to Venus.

After grabbing a few essentials each person deem vital to their needs on this jaunt, the team board the Empress and set about exploring the lavish (for a space vessel) ship. Wilhelm and Waldmont, being rich as Croesus and valuing comfort above all else after roughing it in desert camps, canal barges and so forth (we will not dwell on their Explorer's Club lodgings nor the decadent comfort of the staterooms of the Persephone) decide that they should kit themselves out with the only available "Sovereign Class" staterooms, deeming the squalid luxury of First Class as beneath them. These enormous staterooms feature huge windows, opulently luxurious fittings and a real-time repeater to the bridge orrery showing the ship's position with regard to the major bodies of the Solar System as a sort of mechanical mural on one wall. The staff fall over themselves to be helpful and several of the annoying limitations on personal baggage and firearms are lifted as a "courtesy".

The team fans out as the ship lifts and they explore their new surroundings. The ship is quite luxurious by the cramped standards of space-going vessels. The prime gathering places for passengers are the promenades that run down the length of each side of the First Class Staterooms, and which feature full-length windows through which the splendour of the heavens can be enjoyed while strolling up and down, and the forward observatory, which encompasses the entire bow of the ship and features a wrap-around window, telescopes, an orrery and field glasses available on request from ever-present stewards.

Captain Mallard welcomes everyone aboard, and advises everyone to strap into their stateroom chairs for takeoff, which goes swimmingly. Then the passengers mingle on the observation deck before dinner, where each of the heroes by turns is put in their place by Miss Elsie Thompson when they attempt to converse with her young ward Claire. Waldmont comes in for special attention by Miss Thompson, who sees in his persistence the actions of a wanton rake, entirely in character with what she has read of him in the Martian gossip columns.

The first day out is enlivened by the ship crossing Mars' aether wake, which gives the ship a good shaking but does no actual damage other than a few bruises taken by those passengers too silly to strap down when advised to do so by the captain, and later in the ship's evening, by the sighting of a ghost! Miss Claire excitedly reports seeing a woman clad in a black cloud walk the second class deck. The heroes run to check this out along with a crowd of other passengers, and Waldmont uses his inventions to enhance his senses as they examine the stateroom from which the ghost appeared, and that into which she disappeared. A faint tinge of ozone might have been detected in the first cabin, Wilhelm thinks.

In no time at all rumours of the reason for the ghost run rampant in the ship, to the point that Captain Mallard angrily denies in a public announcement that the Empress has ever been wrecked, salvaged, the scene of any murders, suicides, deadly epidemics, crib deaths or the subject of pirate incursions.

He is, of course, not believed.

And so to bed.

1. This means that the ship can be landed safely on Venus, and be sure of lifting off again. This miracle is achieved by utilizing "Hydrogen Lift" along with a keel of Liftwood sealed against the pernicious atmosphere of Venus² ↑
2. Which, as everyone knows, is highly corrosive to the lifting property of liftwood↑

Episode 13: A Date With Destiny

The heroes Waldmont and Wilhelm are feeling a little under-appreciated of late.

Everywhere they go they are recognized as either rich marks for elaborate con games, targets of abuse from Canal Martians convinced the treasure of Bordobaar should have been returned to the Martian People and who obstinately refuse to admit the Martian People are not a people but a collection of mutually hostile city state nations, and that not one single Martian palyed any part in recovering the treasure, and that large amounts of said treasure are available to the Martian People in the form of a very generous museum exhibit organised, it has to be admitted, by Professor Bottoms but that's not the point, subjected to nocturnal aggression at the hands of disaffected Fenians, fanatical Worm Cultists, enraged Mars First zealots and lethal Brotherhood assassins in no particular order, or intolerable treatment at the hands of minor government flunkies ignorant of the great service the two patriotic English heroes have performed for Queen, country and the lining of their own pockets.

There's just so much a body can take in the line of duty.

So when the team are approached during their afternoon Bhutan Spice tea break by one Abel Cain, a low-level Colonial Office bureaucrat, with a tale of possible Brotherhood activity aboard the Grand Voyager, an armed merchant kite¹ due to sail for Avanel in a few days, they are in the mood to see the back of Syrtis Major society for a while.

Cain brings as evidence a telegraph transcript he intercepted.: THE GRAND PLAN IS PROCEEDING APACE STOP YOU MUST ACCOMPANY THE VOYAGER STOP BROTHERHOOD OF LUXOR NEEDS SUPPLIES DESPERATELY STOP BEWARE THE RED MEN. Clearly the Brotherhood is planning some dreadful piracy, and just as clearly, our heroes are the men to stop it!

Cain answers any questions the heroes have, and leaves, but is ambushed by Canal Martian thugs right outside the door! Wilhelm and Waldmont race to the rescue and beat off the dastardly attack, capturing a thug for questioning. Th thug was paid to attack Cain by a human wearing a black cloak pinned with a trident-shaped broach. The Mark of The Brotherhood!

The Heroes take passage on Grand Voyager, an impressively armed Warm Winds class merchant kite. There are a number of other passengers, whom the heroes meet and subtly question. Cargo is loaded under the scrutiny of our heroes and, of course, the captain, a businesslike but agreeable Canal Martian, and the kite sets sail for Avenel.

Toward the end of the first day under sail, a mutiny breaks out, with fierce fighting between the mutineers and the few loyal crew. During the battle the players manage to set fire to the kite, with the result that the back of the ship is demolished in a violent explosion; presumably the magazine for the guns has been destroyed. The fire spreads to the front of the doomed vessel, now diving toward the ground and another violent explosion tears the bow apart. What's left of the ship is piloted to a very bad crash-landing by Wilhelm, hampered as he is by the death of the trimsmen.

The heroes take stock and realize that once again, they have been crash-landed in the Martian Outback,. This time they appear to have generous supplies scattered around, but to counter that, all passengers appear to have been killed, and if any crew survived, they've run off into the steppes.

The team make plans, gather supplies and head for the nearest center of civilization by their reckoning, but before many days pass they encounter a Steppe Martian tribe and negotiate an escorted ride back to civilization.

Once back in Syrtis Major, our heroes report to the Colonial Office, then go in search of Mr Cain. They find him and after a round of intimidation we shall draw a curtain over here, he confesses all.

He was paid One Hundred pounds to set the heroes up! A transcript of his confession is included below:

Please, Sirs! Have mercy on a fellow Englishman. Yes, I told you I know nothing about the people who hired me, and that is wholly true. Upon reflection, however, I’ve remembered a few details I noticed about them during our meeting. I’d quite forgotten about it—until just now! Isn’t that amusing? Er, maybe not…

They were a Frenchman and, I presumed, his wife. He looked to be a well-to-do gentleman, and she kept her face hidden with an elaborate veil. They paid me handsomely to ensure your presence on the Grand Voyager, and even provided the text of the telegram I was to give you. Please accept my apologies; they assured me in no uncertain terms that you were all scoundrels and deserved to be deceived. I see now that they were wrong! Indubitably wrong!

No, it was what they said to each other as they left, when they believed I could no longer hear them.

“Shouldn’t we take care of this ourselves, darling?” the woman asked. “He will not be pleased if the plan fails.”

The man replied with confidence. “The plan will not fail, ma cherie, because our friends are far too honorable to ignore a plea for help. The task before us is to ensure the Venusian harvests continue. If another batch of Le Rouge Sands is to be made—and perfected—we must have more death flowers!"

Then they laughed, and went on their way. Quite odd. Do you know what they meant by “Le rouge sands”? I haven’t the slightest notion where they might be now. Venus, do you think?

What the heroes make of this waits to be seen ...

1. Martian aerial sailing ship↑

Episode 12: The High Martians Play Their Hand

Waldmont and Wilhelm are walking in the evening air of Gordovaan when their conversation is rudely interrupted by scream and shapes in the night sky.

Canal Martians are being swept up by shadowy figures with the power of flight in a building not 20 yards away! The Canal Martians are being kidnapped by a High Martian raiding party!

Two High Martians drop down beside each Canal Martian and hustle them off at spear-point, while others stay airborne and threaten any would-be rescuers with their razor sharp spears. Waldmont and Wilhelm are made of sterner stuff of course, and wade in without hesitation, giving good account of themselves with their pistols, driving off the raiders but not before they have taken many hostages.

Giving chase, the heroes see that those kidnapped are being flown up to a hovering screw galley, barely visible against the black night sky. A few moments afterward, the screw galley slowly gathers speed and makes off into the night, towards the highlands. Our heroes take time to get a rough heading on the fleeing ship, then race back to the tavern

Waldmont and Wilhelm hurry to gather their crew, currently on liberty, and make the Persephone ready to give chase. Much time is lost in the preparation, but eventually the heroes and their gallant crew lift the Persephone from her cradle and set off on the remembered heading.

The trail is lost, but the heading is well-remembered and the Persephone makes all speed in pursuit of the much slower screw galley, which of course is powered by slave labor using a manual crank to turn the airscrew¹.

The Persephone isn't the only ship to give chase, nor the first, but she is the only one that sustains the effort, though the heroes are relieved to see the drunken party led by Smedley Forbes-Hamilton² has crashed in the steppe, but appear to be unhurt. He may be a drunken sot, and a pest on occasions, but as his friends would say: "Smedley's heart is in the right place and one cannot fault his courage (even if it is of the Dutch variety)".

Eventually the Persephone, after beating off an attack by an opportunistic pirate in a small kite and sending the blighter to the mercy of the Steppe tribes by deft use of the helm and judicious use of the redoubtable steam Gatling Gun mounted on her foredeck, comes upon the signs of a nearby Kraal, and the crew witness the screw galley making dock at the top of the enormous cliff into which this High Martian city/fortress complex has been carved. High Martian patrols are a danger, so the crew ground the Persephone some way off in a canyon, damp her fires and camouflage her to the best of their ability, then set out to see what can be done to rescue the hostages.

Opting for a somewhat optimistic frontal assault, the entire party is captured by High Martian guards and imprisoned in the slave pits, buy our heroes manage to get free of their chains and shortly after they free all the Canal Martians in the pit, and also one human who turns out to be a certain Welshman, last seen when he rescued the party from a dastardly firing squad during their adventures with Princess Amarantha.

With the help of Roderick Llewellyn (for 'tis he) the party overpower the rather lightweight guards currently on duty, and make their way toward the top of the Kraal where they had heard that the King of the High Martians, one Haaraakan, was expecting an audience with some members of the Brotherhood of Luxor!

The heroes make their way to the throne room and conceal themselves, and see King Haaraakan and three robed figures in Greek Tragedy masks (one Kronos, one Hyperion in the Titan's male aspect and one Hyperion in female aspect) surrounded by acolytes of the dread Worm Cult. Luckily the conversation is being held in Koline, so each of our heroes can understand what is being said. Haaraakan is asking "Kronos" when he might expect "promised weapons" with which to fight the British forces he knows are about to enter his territory. The Brotherhood is smuggling weapons to the High Martians! This news must be returned to the Colonial Office as soon as possible!

When Kronos speaks, it is in a British accent, though no-one can place it. The two Hyperion figures speak in heavy French accents, and Waldmont and Wilhelm speculate that this could be the same couple who went under the name “Bourgeois” in Libya, and who infected the garrison with the deadly Red Sands sickness.

Unfortunately, the hiding team are discovered and a desperate fight breaks out between our heroes and the few free slaves who accompanied them on one side, and the palace guards and worm acolytes on the other. At the outbreak of hostilities The two Hyperions run off down a corridor, and Kronos utters a loud curse, points at Waldmont in a menacing manner, then is enveloped in a glowing green energy field and vanishes.

The fighting is desparate, and lacking the power of flight the team must make a fighting withdrawal to the lowest levels of the Kraag, where they encounter more High Martian guards. The battle is fierce and things do not go well.

Waldmont and Wilhelm are eventually able to escape with Roddy Llewellyn, but every single Canal Martian is killed in the attempted break for freedom.

Llewellyn leaves our two heroes in disgust as soon as the sky clears of searching High Martians, departing the scene on a steam-and-pedal-powered flying machine that proves to have an invisibility cloak. The two Englishmen make their way back to the Persephone and return to Syrtis Major, thankfully with no further adventures. Once back in the hub of British influence on Mars, they report their encounter with the Colonial Office, who immediately begin plans to interdict the arms shipments.

Our heroes are left pondering the cost of their adventure, and the ramifications of what they learned.

1. Captured examples are converted for use by Her Majesty's Expeditionary Force to a sort of clockwork drive, using crew to manually tension the spring that provides the final drive↑
2. A voluble and almost permanently pickled acquaintance whose company they have "enjoyed" on a few occasions since they decided to spend time in Gordovaan↑

Episode 11: Events In Kanoba

The team is finding it hard in Syrtis Major. For all the adulation and society shindigs, there are also demonstrations of angry locals, threats from Ground Cleanser fanatics and increasing official coolness.

So when the oportunity comes to undertake a short trip to Haatt, a city to the north of Syrtis Major, they raise steam and sail away from their troubles, carrying a Foreign Office official and his dispatches to Colonel Harrison, commander of the garrison.

In Haatt the team, along with their new acquaintence, are put up in guest quarters overnight, prior to leaving on a new mission from Colonel Harrison. That night a disorganized but dangerous mob of Martians attack the house, setting it afire with improvised fire bombs.

This attack proves to be a diversion so that an assassin could attempt gain entry from the rear. Unfortunately from him, the team are alerted and managed to defend themselves, wounding the assassin badly.

As they prepare to overcome him he disappears in a blaze of green light. Before he vanishes, the team notice a distinctive sigil on the armor over his chest. The presumed death of the Assassin leads the rest of the Martian mob to retreat and disperse, just as reinforcements arrive from the city garrison.

The next day Colonel Harrison calls the team into his office and explains that he has a job for them, a job that requires men of proven calibre and mettle. It also doesn't hurt that they have their own steam transport.

200 miles away, north along the canal, lies the town of Kanoba. The garrison there has gone quiet, with no word from them for days. Merchants report dead bodies scattered around the outskirts. Colonel Harrison suspects the worse, but wants confirmation and also to contact the local mayor for an update as to the situation. Colonel Harrison suspects Shastapsh military action, or possibly Ground Cleanser trouble.

The team set off in the Persephone and are attacked midway through their journey by a Kite and its piratical crew. Bold action on the part of the Team, the trusty Steam Gattling Gun and the Persephone's crew save the day and the Kite is left a pile of wreckage on the sands of Mars.

Kanoba shows itself to be a ghost town. Docking the Persephone the team disembark and begin working their way down the mast ramp, only to come upon two corpses being devoursed nby foul Durge Flies.

Though Durge Flies are a known irritant anywhere there is carrion lying about, these Durge Flies are larger and behave more agressively. Luckily, Wilhelm's trusty glue gun proves a match for the menace and the flies are removed with extreme prejudice.

Descending to ground level the team are startled to see packs of agressive, over-sized Roogies, Martian wolf-like creatures, wandering the eerily deserted compound. Roogies are a nuisance at any time, but these look very large and behave ... oddly.

Wilhelm and Waldmont correctly assess the situation - the animals are infected with the dread Red Sands corruption!

By means of stealth and guile the team are able to avoid the Rogie menace and make entry into the Mayor's mansion, where they discover only corpses. However, in a closet they find a small girl, still alive - the Mayor's daughter!

She clutches a letter in her hands that explain much of what went before. The team are resolute: They must return this poor waif and her father's letter to the authorities in Haatt!

Making a desparate flight back to the Persephone as maddened Roogie packs catch scent of the party and give murderous chase, the team are able to retreat from the madness of Kanoba and return to Haatt, there to place their evidence into "the right hands" and commend the care of the Mayors charming little girl to Colonel Harrison.

Episode 10: Five Times Is The Charm

And so Wilhelm and Waldmont began the tedious process of resupplying at the nearest British-friendly port, Noorlan, after first landing and securing the screw galley they had been planning to use as a cargo barge in a convenient gully in the mountains and hills outside Bordobaar.

Noorlan is probably best described as a powder keg. It has a fairly large British population, but the vast majority of the people are Martian and they resent Earth's increasing presence and Britain's increasing influence (or as some would have it "meddling in local affairs"). The human presence there is also multi-national.

First order of business was to secure some sort of breathing apparatus, but Wilhelm simply could not see how the job might be done with the materials at hand. Red-faced, he finally decided to enlist the help of a third party, and a little bit of research turned up an enterprising inventor for hire, who was promptly hired to do the job. He took payment up front and agreed to have the respirators ready in two days.

Accommodation was arranged for the intervening time in the local branch of The Explorer's Club, seemingly run by one Smedley Carlton-Smythe who clearly enjoyed the comforts of home - if they came in a bottle - but seemed to know a lot about the local area despite being heroically plastered. The crew of the Persephone were given two days liberty.

It was around this time that Ms Myles decided to part company with the heroes, citing urgent business elsewhere, and Wilhelm and Waldmont were far too busy acquiring supplies of salt and acid and a rather nifty liftwood cargo lifter to fully appreciate the situation developing around them. It seemed the crew had been a trifle indiscreet in their celebrating a spot of "shore leave", and one of them went AWOL. A search for him turned up empty, so a replacement was hired and the ship made ready while Wilhelm and Waldmont went to pick up their new respirators.

As they turned the corner to the workshop they saw a sight that made them duck back and observe from cover. A large party of what were clearly German sailors led by an officer were loading a handcart with what looked suspiciously like the respirators already paid for by our heroes! The Englishmen opted to let the Germans depart unmolested on the grounds that there were an awful lot of them and Noorlan was already a ticklish place to be. After the Germans had left the heroes confronted the inventor who was unrepentant. He refunded the money paid and ordered the Englishmen off his property.

The heroes then saw the majestic sight of an enormous airship lifting from the city and setting out in what was unmistakably the direction of Bordobaar. Obviously, news of the treasure was out! They returned to the explorer's society where they were cornered first by an official from the Colonial Office angrily demanding to know if they were the ones who had started the "gold rush", then by Smedley Carlton-Smythe, who was three sheets to the wind and shouting gleefully about treasure and setting out on an expedition himself with his friends!

Racing back to the Persephone Wilhelm and Waldmont ordered the ship to set out at once for Bordobaar, but as steam was being raised two small kites were seen rising from their moorings to give chase to the already distant German airship, and not long after that a steam yacht overflowing with rather loud men rose unsteadily to follow the flotilla.

Eventually the Persephone was able to get underway, and after not too long the crew spotted the tail lights of the German airship in the distance. They were distracted by the sight of the steam yacht gracefully crashlanding in the steppes outside Noorlan, spilling drunken would-be treasure seekers all over the place but otherwise causing remarkably little damage and no casualties that could be seen from Persephone's deck.

Not long after the crash the Persephone came under attack from a small kite, presumably one of the two that had set out a short time earlier. The attackers were driven off by particularly effective use of the steam Gatling gun and the Persephone continued on her way, unmolested.

The flight to Bordobaar was uneventful after the run in with the kite, and in the early hours of the morning they were flying over the outskirts of ancient, ruined Bordobaar, the German airship clearly visible anchored a half mile or so away.

The heroes decided that the Persephone should moor in the outskirts, and that they should make their way on foot through the now-deserted streets to the site of the palace, there to make a recce of the situation. Thiis was accomplished in about two hours, and they discovered the airship moored high above the palace, with a lowered cargo gondola sitting in the plaza with two indolent German guards securing it from would-be thieves.

These guards were put out of action and stashed inside the gondola, which the heroes caused to be winched up into the airship by operating the signal bell. Springing out of the raised gondola, the winch attendants were soon lying unconscious alongside their comrades and the heroes were abroad inside the German airship!

This was an education for the pair, never having seen such a vessel before, and they marveled over the lightweight aluminium structure and the huge bags of monohydrogen that provided the lift. They made their way to the midships cabin structure and did some more exploring, but were surprised by a contingent of the crew who, after a furious sword fight, cornered them behind a flimsy lightweight door in a cabin with flimsy, lightweight walls.

Waldmont was badly wounded, suffering severe damage to a rather delicate area a gentleman would not mention in mixed company, but was brought back from the brink by Wilhelm's swift action with his miracle of science Healing Machine (the name of which escapes your humble scribe), only for the attacks on the door to be renewed by a German officer imperiously pounding on it and demanding unconditional surrender of all parties at once.

Naturally, this was judged a good time for Waldmont to break out his trusty elephant gun, but his first shot merely plowed into the ceiling instead of into the crowd behind the door as planned.

Further shots were exchanged, whereupon the monohydrogen leak caused by that first shot's passage through several gasbags was ignited by a spark from a firearm and the whole airship burned in a spectacular wreck.

How Waldmont and Wilhelm got out alive is a wonder, but they were able to limp away from the now incandescent wreck with only severe burns. Staggering back to the Persephone they weakly croaked that they needed hospital treatment before passing out.

And so the Persephone made once more for the dubious refuge of Noorlan.

The heroes were hospitalised, Waldmont for four weeks, Wilhelm for six, but each made a full recovery, at least, according to the doctors. Wilhelm would ever after harbor a dread of being caught in a fire, and Waldmont would shudder when he thought back on the terrible injury he had suffered and so luckily survived.

For want of wonder the crew had not deserted, or run back to Ponsonby with his private gunboat. Perhaps their loyalty was not of the common run. Perhaps they were in secret admiration for the two adventurers. Perhaps they reasoned that Ponsonby would not share the treasure (now rumoured aboard the Persephone to be as much as two tons) as readily as Waldmont and Wilhelm would. After all, you couldn't doubt the word of two such dogged adventure seekers, could you?

Perhaps Professor Grant and Miss White simply threatened them with the consequences of desertion or piracy (which was, baldly put, what we would be talking about when all was said and done in front of a British Magistrate). Who can say?

And when Waldmont could walk without swinging his legs in a wide circle in memory of his long-cured wounds, and when Wilhelm could pass a street vendors cart and not scream at the smell of roasting Gashant meat, the Persephone once again set off for the journey to Bordobaar, her fifth transit between Noorlan and the ruined city. The crew were stern faced and went about their duties with a quiet efficiency that perhaps lacked their former bonhomie and casual badinage at each others' expense. The scientists kept mostly to their cabins and said little to anyone else. The adventurers simply watched the skies and the ground for any hint of offered violence.

The Persephone was a sombre ship on this, the fifth expedition to Bordobaar.

Upon entering the airspace above the ruins, the crew and passengers of the Persephone could see the wreck of the German airship, now just a twisted, blackened frame, and that of a small Martian kite, probably one of the two that had set off after the airship so many weeks before. There were no signs of life at either wreck, which surprised no-one.

An examination of the palace plaza showed no survivors, nor signs of a struggle, but the palace itself was another story, and a pitched battle for survival had obviously been fought at the lip of the vertical shaft. The Germans had erected a sandbag fortification and a maxim gun there, but the whole thing had obviously been overrun, with sandbags thrown hither and yon and the Maxim gun damaged and sitting in a small sea of brass cartridges.

There were no bodies.

The team set up their winch and descended the shaft. There they found that some of the German team had attempted to take refuge in the domed room with inevitable consequences. Corpses in horrible states of dismemberment littered the sand now.

But there, by the door, were the crates of respirators and filters built at the team's direction and stolen by base trickery and sharp dealing. But the British lads would have the last laugh on the German swine and that bounder of an inventor!

Wilhelm repeated his cunning plan of the previous attempt on the treasure room, killing the worm again (to the extent that it could be killed at any rate) before salvaging all the equipment. At last, things were beginning to run according to plan. Not before time, he thought grimly.

After cleaning the insides of the respirators to remove any traces of the vile Red Sands contamination, the team donned them and, in about six days, had emptied the treasure room of all its coins, plate, statuary, crowns and sundry other forms of gold, rich civilisations for the decoration and reputation enhancement of. Bordobaar was no longer a myth, and no longer a treasure waiting to be looted.

While the team worked that first day, the crew were dispatched in the Persephone to recover the screw gally/barge which was where they had left it and in decent condition once some sand was cleaned out of the liftwood trim panels. The gold was split between the barge and the Persephone so that any further acts of piracy by perfidious Martians, thieving foreigners or even opportunistic Red Captains would be less catastrophic than if he barge alone were used and then were cut free. Once the gold was on show to one and all there were fewer arguments, though Professor Grant said he would never get used to the sight of the stoker shoveling gold coins as though they were nuggets of coal.

In truth the Professor was aghast at this sort of treatment of the treasure. There were, he said, examples of coins that were struck several thousand years ago, with a much higher value than their worth in avoirdupois measure. But once he had picked out a couple of dozen of the best examples he seemed to calm down.

Of other interest were the statuary, jewelry and crowns, which would be welcome additions to the British Museum and handsome gifts to the various princes who would require pacification once news of this find got out.

And so, finally, the crew of the Persephone wended their way back to Syrtis Major, where their arrival caused a sensation, a drop in the price of gold and several political crises. Both Waldmont and Wilhelm would become fabulously rich as a result of this find, even though the vast majority was claimed by the crown and no small amount by various Martian princes and governments.

Wilhelm used some of his new wealth to buy and refit the Persephone. Half the crew voted to stay on, but half returned to the service of Lord Ponsonby, who looked on with nonchalant countenance but offered his most heartfelt congratulations on the expedition's success and seemed to hold no grudge.

The Colonial Office and the Governor's Office each had certain requirements when it came to the disposition of the treasure, the happy resolution of which put both in the adventurers' debt in the intangible way such things are done. Favours owed and all that.

The adventurers were of course sought after as guests to all the best dinner parties, and their social status increased as a result. Now all that ugly business with Martians claiming brutality was all-but forgotten, and most definitely forgiven by everyone. Everyone who mattered, at any rate.

And that is how the Legendary Treasure of Bordobaar was found, pinched and spent.

Episode 9: A Dangerous Threat Eliminated But A New Setback Suffered

The team made a foray into the pit, only to discover a large domed room containing mounds of what looked like gold and a central lake of ominously dark liquid. Leaning against the mountain of gold coins, necklaces, statuary and so forth was a familiar-looking red cylinder.

Driven by the wholesome desire to explore and not at all by base notions of more gold than Croesus had dreamed of, the team ventured into the domed room and split up to explore.

A sad mistake.

For the lake turned out to contain a foul, gigantic worm-like beast that attacked without preamble, driving Wilhelm and Miss Myles back into the shaft, driving Professor Grant and Miss White back against the dome walls and marooning poor Wilmont on the pile of treasure he was investigating with a scholarly eye.

Nothing seemed to harm the beast but eventually Grant and Miss White were able to escape with their lives, the worm sunk back into the loathsome pool and Wilmont was able to tip-toe from the scene without further enraging the foul beast.

The scientists of the expedition conferred together and came to the conclusion that perhaps the worm might be susceptible to salt in large enough amounts, so once again the team departed for their nearest source of supplies and procured several hogsheads of salt, along with a quantity of acid and glass bowls which were used by Wilhelm to fabricate acid grenades. All was loaded aboard the Persephone and once more the team journeyed to Bordobaar, where evidence of yet another failed expedition was seen strewn about the streets.

It seemed that the team had recent competition for the fabulous treasure. And scientific discoveries of course.

The team wasted no time at all in securing the Persephone and descending into the pit once more, armed with acid grenades and enough salt to pickle a herd of Venusian Brontostampi.

A desperate struggle then ensued, but the team persevered and prevailed against the worm, killing it - or so they thought at the time. This left them free to collect the gold unmolested and they got on with the salvage with a will.

It was after perhaps an hour that the first symptoms of sickness were seen in Professor Grant and Wilmont. Swift action by Wilhelm and his fabulous healing device saved both salvagers from almost certain madness and death, for it was obvious to all that the sickness produced the same hideous scabbing as that seen on the unfortunate legionaries of Fort Oublié!

It was deduced that the atmosphere inside the room was contaminated in some way, likely with some form of the dastardly Red Sands. That cylinder leaning on the mountain of gold? Could that be to blame?

Wilmont and Wilhelm suggested that perhaps what was needed was some sort of suit with a self contained atmosphere, perhaps a modified diving suit, inside which those tasked with the salvage could work in comparative safety. Of course, strict care would have to be taken to avoid contamination.

Almost as an afterthought, Professor Grant announced that the samples of worm tissue he had procured from the "dead" beast were showing regenerative signs, suggesting that perhaps the animal might - if not actually dead - revive to plague them further.

It was with this dispiriting news - along with imprecations and demands that the sample be carefully watched less a new worm grow from it - that the Persephone steamed back toward civilization, shrugging off the attentions of an importunate Martian Pirate with judicious use of the steam-powered Gatling gun on the foredeck.

Episode 8: A Meeting In The Desert, And A New Adventure

The team, battered but unbloody, was flying back toward Syrtis Major with Lord Ponsonby in his Steam Yacht Persephone when they spotted the wreck of a medium-sized Kite¹. Swooping down they noted that the ship had broken its back, and was partially buried in the red Martian sand, and there were 20 or 30 Martians, presumably crew, who were milling about the relatively undamaged bow in what seemed a somewhat aimless mob.

Our heroes headed up a landing party and approached from the bow, only to realize there were people inside the cabin at the bow, and that the Martians were attempting hostile action against whoever it was. They grappled a rope to the deck and climbed up, discovering two ladies climbing out of a deck hatch/skylight, and a few Martian crew scrambling up the ladders onto what had been the Foc'sl of the once-graceful queen of the skies.

The two heroes took one look at the advancing Martians and immediately recognized their crazed glare, the blisters on their skin, and once alerted to the danger, the color of the skin. These poor sailors had all been infected with the Red Sands malady, last seen in Libya, when they had encountered the dread, murderous remnants of the garrison of of Fort Oublié.

A brief attempt at defense showed the essential hopelessness of victory over the masses, so the team evacuated the ladies to the Persephone and resumed their course to Syrtis Major. Lord Ponsonby's steward served a well-deserved Pimm's to everyone as they got acquainted and accommodations abord the Persephone were rearranged.

The newcomers were Miss Fortescue and Miss Myles. The two gave account of how they came to be in the desert, which included a rendezvous with a second Kite, a mysterious hooded Martian who gave something to the captain and the subsequent strange disease that ravaged the crew, causing the two travelers to take refuge in the foc'sl of the ship. The story would have seemed a trifle exaggerated but for the fact that both ladies were members of the Explorers Club and therefore of unimpeachable trustworthiness.

Returning to Syrtis Major Wilhelm and Waldmont gave their version of events to an official at the Colonial Office. Said official, after conferring with Miss Fortescue and Miss Myles, requested that the team give aid to a couple of scientists also bearing Explorers Club credentials, Doctor Charles Grant and his assistant, Miss Elizabeth White. The colonial officer was eager to encourage the team to provide the aid the scientosts were requesting, which involved organizing an expedition to the fabled ruined city of Bordobaar.

Wilhelm and Waldmont were not at that time aware that Bordobaar had been laid waste by a "Black Plague" that reportedly devastated Mars in the distant past. Grant and White claim to have unearthed pottery in Babylonia with Vulcan hieroglyphs that mention the plague.

Certain people in authority are keen that the expedition take place, and can put a rather dilapidated but perfectly airworthy screw galley at their disposal. The prospect of cranking six hours a day to power this craft once owned by Martians and powered by slaves did not appeal to the team and they decided to enlist the aid of Lord Ponsonby. Hiss Lordship was not, however, disposed to join yet another expedition that would involve several days of travel in some of the most contested skies of Mars, and declined to join the venture or offer the services of Persephone.

Then something curious happened. Miss Fortescue begged a private audience with Lord Ponsonby, and within 15 minutes the Persephone and her crew were once again at the disposal of the team with, apparently, no expenses incurred. Miss Fortescue swept up Miss Myles and, leaving the men slack-jawed at events, went shopping to replace luggage lost when they evacuated the Kite.

The flight to Boordobaar was long, tedious and meandering, requiring long detours to avoid the worst contested airspaces, and even so the Persephone encountered a hostile Kite, and some hostile natives. All these were more in the nature of breaks in the tedium than real threats and were easily dispatched or evaded. Eventually, however, the Persephone was steaming over the ruins of the immense, desolate, deserted city of Bordobaar.

The ship landed near a building pointed out by Doctor Grant, and the team entered to explore. The building had a voluminous interior, but was in a sad way, with columns tumbled and lying in slices like giant fluted wheels. behind one such Waldmont and Miss Myles found a long corridor with small rooms lying off each side.

Meanwhile, Wilhelm and Miss Fortescue had located a vertical shaft that looked promising. Unfortunately, it was 300 feet deep and the original elevator mechanism was long fallen to rust. There were very old signs of other attempts to descend and the plucky pair felt that if there were really treasure to be had, this evidence was good enough to warrant a sortie of their own. At this point their cogitations were interrupted.

Investigating the rooms with the aid of lanterns, there being no windows and hence no natural light to see by, Waldmont and Miss Myles found that they seemed full of rags. It was in the second or perhaps third such room that Waldmont realized the rags were some sort of nest that he and Miss Myles were attacked by what was presumably the owner, a fearsome brute of bestial mien and extremely short temper.

A desperate battle then ensued, with the beast easily avoiding the attacks Walmont and Miss Myles directed at it. The rest of the team were drawn to the sounds of battle and therefore were able to defend against the arrival of several similar beasts, ape-like Martian brutes, while the team fell back to the large hall, barely escaping with their lives. Rolling one of the sections of stone from a fallen column over the entrance to he corridor proved enough to prevent the beasts following, but upon exiting to the streets of Bordobaar the team were dismayed to hear roars coming from the ruined buildings all around.

A quick return to the Persephone was enacted, and the ship taken up as the boiler was brought up to full power. Sailing over the now teaming streets of the city, the team could clearly see the remains of other, less fortunate exploration parties, with destroyed encampments and places where the ground was littered with brass shell casings. Clearly several desperate (and ultimately futile) last stands had taken place in the ruins of the ancient city.

The ship anchored at height outside the old city limits and the explorers and scientists met to plan an exploration of the shaft. It was decided to return to civilization and scare up a small steam powered winch with which to raise and lower a small, two person platform the 300 feet. The idea was to build something that could be deployed and used, then brought back to the ship before night fell. No-one though it would be a good idea to leave the equipment where the beast-things could get at it, given what they had seemingly done to the equipment of previous, lost parties.

This was done at the nearest city with human engineering capability, and the Persephone returned to Bordobaar with their steam winch elevator, some rather ingenious lamps with powerful lenses fitted, and the excitement of all at the prospect of finding the fabled treasure of Bordobaar.

1. 'Kite' is the nearest English translation for the Parhooni and Oenotrian names for Martian aerial flying sailing ships↑

Episode 7: An Encounter With A Martian Scholar, And An Expedition To A Lost Temple

Wilhelm and Waldmont were enjoying rehabilitated reputations in Syrtis Major, and were wandering the more "authentic" byways of the town near the Royal Palace when they came upon two toughs roughing up an elderly Martian. Naturally they intervened and fought off the attackers, rescuing the old Martian, who claimed to be one Queeleek Thorshian, a scholar of Old Mars.

Queeleek spoke broken English by preference, and expressed his thanks to Wilhelm and Waldmont, telling them that he had discovered a great secret, something that would be very illuminating of Martian history, of great worth to scholars, and that he would very much like to show his new friends the proof over a cup of something that didn't make the translation but was hopefully the Martian tea that the Earthmen had found so palatable. The two adventurers accompanied the old man home, whereupon they discovered his megre hovel had been well and truly trashed. Clearly the work of someone looking for something valuable. It looked as though tea would have to wait.

Queeleek was distraught for a few minutes, then recovered himself and showed that he had the most valuable of his "proofs" on his person; pot shards and scraps of paper, all extremely timeworn and fragile, wrapped in a leather roll of ingenious design. Queeleek treated these almost with religious reverence as he explained that they described the "Hills of Kings" which he believed were a reference to the Aerian Hills, a well-known feature of the somewhat local Aerography¹.

Clearly depicted on the scraps of material was a temple, which Queeleek called the "no-name temple". He went on to explain that the temple was depicted as above the water of the long-gone sea in which the Aerian Hills once sat as islands. He said he knew where this temple must be and asked for help getting there.

As the adventurers and Queeleek discussed matters, a bottle was tossed into the house and when it broke a terrible conflagration engulfed that part of the house. Seconds later the front door was engulfed in unpassable flames as it too became the target of an improvised terror weapon. Deciding that discretion was definitely the better part of valour in this case, Wilhelm and Waldmont used their mighty Earthman thews to break down the barricaded back door and effect escape for all into a back alley.

The adventurers decided that matters were such that they could not refuse to help the poor Martian scholar, and so they found him lodging at the Explorer's Club with only a few eyebrows raised, organized the loan of a steam launch, the Persephone, owned by Lord Ponsonby, a rich admirer of Esmerelda Bottoms and fellow member of the Explorer's Club, who was only too happy to step up and offer transport for a jolly good wheeze and the chance to spend some time with Miss Bottoms in a milieu in which she would have trouble avoiding him.

Miss Bottoms jumped at the chance of the expedition, firstly because as a scientist deeply concerned with archeological matters the notion of an ancient "lost" temple was too good to pass up, a literal once in a lifetime oportunity, and secondly because she found the attentions of Lord Ponsonby to be whatever the opposite of unwanted and unwelcome was. As she put it in her heliograph to her father: Daddy, the man has a steam launch at his beck and call and his so-called town house here in Syrtis Major is a positive mansion with a roof garden and a private reflecting pool in the atrium.

Lord Ponsonby's steam launch proved to be well up to the task at hand, having staterooms provisioned for exactly the number of travelers planned a small crew of well trained men who were in good spirits, and hidden under a plywood cover until out of sight of "meddlin' politicians and policemen", a steam-powered Gatling Gun mounted on the bow and able to commend a 180 degree sweep "if trouble came knocking at one's door".

Setting off the next day, they had an uneventful trip, arriving at the Aerian Hills with no trouble or interruption at all two days later. The novelty of a flight on a steam powered vessel soon wore off, and Ponsonby's attentions to Esmerelda were tiresome to at least one of our plucky team, but luckily Queeleek proved as good as his word and spotted the Dragon-Shaped outcropping he claimed would be there to guide them in once they arrived on station, and they were soon moored out of the strong winds that blew through the canyons in the escarpment.

There was a small delay while the team figured out the combination to the ancient entrance, then they were able to descend into a large cavern adorned with mosaics; pictures and hieroglyphs reminiscent of both Ancient Egyptian and Ancient Martian writing, though also unlike either. It took some time to make any sort of sense out of the story depicted on the walls but eventually they made out the story of a race rising from barbarous origins, building cities, engineering great technological wonders and then entering large, finned vessels, almost bomb-shaped. Throughout these tales were intervals of warfare, often of all-but total destruction of all parties, but always culminating in peace. It was amazing, Wilhelm and Waldmont agreed, what one could glean from a mosaic with just the right amount of incentive.

Speaking of incentive; all over the wall were studded tiny fragments of diamonds, and in the pictures toward the end of the story large rubies seemed to indicate power sources. Waldmont succumbed to temptation and prised out one ruby, only to discover that it was holding back a swarm of dreaded flesh-eating Tomb Beetles (an ever-present danger to looters of the dead on Mars)!

Once the initial horror and panic had subsided, the party discovered they could easily outpace one swarm while it concentrated on the unlucky Wilmot, and so they descended into the next vault, Wilmot finally winning free of the swarm and joining them. The new vault contained two rows of statues, each row facing the other. The statues appeared to be armoured warriors, and the only difference Wilhelm and Waldmont could see was that one side had purple gems for eyes and the other had emeralds. After the fiasco upstairs, it was decided not to mess with these sombre guardians of the stygian gloom of antiquity, and the party pressed on to a third, and final vault.

This proved to be a planetarium or orrery of sorts, with the planets represented by large globes floating and glowing next to a meandering causway. Below was a drop into the unseen chthonic depths of Mars. Each globe was coloured and decorated differently, with maps shown and important places depicted. The first globe was greenish, and had continents clearly shown with places marked with either green or purple markers. Queeleek opined that this was a depiction of Vulcan, the planet in Martian archeo-astronomy that broke up to form the asteroid belt. Mars was next, glowing red, with seas with ports and rivers depicted.

Queeleek spent only a short time one each globe, racing ahead of the party until he was standing by Mercury, when a deep, booming voice began speaking. Though none of the party recognised the language, it seemed to Wilhelm and Waldmont that it had elements of bith ancient Egyptian and High Martian, though neither had been exposed to those languages long enough to understand what was being said by the unseen locutor.

The party was just in the process of examining a curiously featureless earth bearing only one continent of no familiar shape, when in burst a large party of Martians, Kite sailors from the look of them, pirates from their demeanour. One individual of notable dress and bearing broke away from the pirates and seemed to be photographing first Vulcan, then Mars as a pitched battle began at long range, with the Earthmen and Martian pirates exchanging mostly ineffective fire while the unseen speaker droned on about God only knew what.

Finally, the pirates retreated at speed, taking their curious hooded friend with them. As the Party gave chase there was a terrible explosion and both Vulcan and Mars were badly damaged by what had looked like a time bomb. The lights in each orb began to extinguish and the voice changed in timbre. Then a terrible series of marsquakes began to shake the gallery to pieces. Queeleek, who had remained back by Mercury during the battle let out a shriek and fell from the causeway under a cascade of falling rock.

Wilhelm and Waldmont led the remains of the party out of the lowest vault and into the room of statues, which was empty, but the statues were rocking alarmingly and the ceiling was also threatening to give way under the terrible quaking. On they ran until they were back in the upper vault, where they saw that the remaining rubies were gone and the floor was scattered with dead pirates, still being eaten in some cases by the few remaining Tomb Beetles. A lesson for would-be robbers of the dead writ large. It looked as though the pirates had learned this lesson at greater cost than our friends.

Upon making the surface of Mars, our team discovered that their transport was absent, but were pleasantly surprised when it suddenly came chugging over the escarpment and dropped a boarding net, while the crew urged all to the utmost alacrity in availing themselves of their only means of escape.

As the Persephone fought for altitude against the winds kicked up by the marsquake, Lord Ponsonby rang for emergency power and maximum lift on the bridge telegraph, and then hurled himelf to the wheel where he joined the Helmsman wrestling for control of the ship against the elements in a world gone mad. As the ship swept toward certain collision with the cliffs, the escarpment collapsed, burying the site probably for all time. What a loss to the British Museum!

1. Martian geography↑