Interlude: Let's See The Evidence From The Safe

The letters from the safe were my own addition to the campaign clues. I did not like the way some of the information was supposed to flow to the characters and thought I could do better.

• The campaign calls for the adventurers to contact the authorities with evidence and, well, I did not think the evidence as presented in the book was compelling.
• The campaign games convene once a month and the continuity suffers as a result of the players having a real world/game word ratio of 716 hours/4 hours nibbling at their brains.
• I've been a Call of Cthulhu GM since the game was published in the UK, and have a fondness for "hands on" clues the players can pass around and use as discussion points.

And so I got busy with OfficeLibre.

There was a wrinkle in that our virtual desktop of choice, Roll20, only takes such documents into the player journals as jpgs, and the scale reduction is fierce, so to maintain readability I had to use 36 pt type and size my paper so the letters would fit on a single page, export the documents to PDF, then import the PDFs, which converts them to jpgs and minisizes them.

Worth the effort, I reckon. In real life the paper would have been distressed with coffee-cup rings, scribbled warehouse nonsense, accidental tears and so forth. This takes too much time to represent digitally for me.

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.

Interlude: What the Papers Say About Episode 26:

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↑

Personal Letter, Oct 4th, Captain Henry Forsyth (Ret)

Venus, 1889

An ongoing letter to Clarence Forysth, from Captain Henry Forsyth, RE. (Regretfully, retired.)

Fort Collingwood.

The tedium continuous. The endless rain, the damnable heat. The rubber over coverings are a liability, they make one perspire even more and one positively cooks. I am sure it is a matter of time before fatalities are recorded due to the shear temperatures one experiences donning the accursed things.

While I do my best to absent myself from the squalid little town, surveying the locations for my proposed improvements, I am still subjected to these absurd dress dinners. Lord, knows India was bad enough, but here it feels like manners have regressed a century!

I do understand the remoteness and the relatively high proportion of officers to the small town. I shall confess that I do not think them the highest grade, no decent officer would want to be posted here.

For myself, I find the assertion when I took he post, although not many options were exactly open, that my considerable tropics experience would prove invaluable to be gibberish. Nothing can prepare a man for this hell hole. The heat and humidity are at the limit of man’s endurance.

I’ve drawn up a scheme which would hopefully bring some relief to domiciles and public buildings, but it’s met with predictably mixed reaction. Cost is immediately cited as a concern, but compared to the improvements , it should be small beer. Of course I’ve considered that and many other factors.

I will not bore you with the detail, but dams, canals, a water and sewage distribution network are but a part. My own, dare I say ingenious cooling pipes for houses, to be supplemented by a reverse engineering of the roman hypocaust system, incorporating the cooling system employed at the royal palace in Fatipur Sikri. I am sure I have previously told you of this exceptional Indian site.

At present I daren’t even moot my principle finding that Fort Collingwood should be relocated wholesale and rebuilt in a more practical manner, at a place that can more easily be served by the services I propose.

With my recommendations in the balance, I believe I may have achieved all I can here. The Colonial Office have been most supportive and I have a good deal of leeway in my activities. But I feel I need another assignment soon. This place is oppressive in every way.

I hope all is well with you brother, that the family is also well and you continue to prosper. I am unlikely to find sufficient paper which will survive the humidity to write to our parents, so please pass on my felicitations and assure them I am well.

For now, I need to get this sheet between two rubber mats as it’s already starting to degrade.

Aboard an airship, bound for Venusstadt.

Dear Clarence,

What excellent fortune! A party arrived on Venus, including two very well known explorers of Mars and a colleague from the Foreign Office. I am sure you will have heard of Wilhelm and Walmart! I was of some small service to them in the matter of paperwork and have taken the opportunity to accompany their party to Venusstadt.

I write to you from the Zeppelin that is conveying us there! It seems I have much in common with this party, but I regret that confidences dictate that I cannot go into detail. However, as I learn more, I am increasingly struck by what an excellent bunch of fellows I seem to have fallen in with.

There are some challenges ahead and I believe some danger. Yet those are things to be faced head on. I am most curious to see where this might lead. My only regret is that I do not have a bearer to hand.

A hotel in Venusstadt.

Dear brother,

I need to be brief. The most striking things have happened. As expected there are problems and grave danger here. In an effort to expose this, we are going on safari. I say ‘we’ because in an extraordinary generous act, I’ve been spotted by my famous associates to join the safari!

While it’s quite the adventure, it’s a real step into danger. There are some serious criminal activities going on here. I can say no more than that. If I don’t return, then open the instructions I have left.

The safari is being led by a Belgian, of dubious character, but then again which Belgians aren’t.

The Venus lowlands.

Hardily bearable down here. Swamps, heat and humidity beyond reason. We have a party of lizard kind bearers and porters. A group of ‘protectors’, thugs and mercenaries gathered from Venusstadt, whom I do not trust.

An utterly remarkable encounter. We encountered some raptors, these are best described as a man sized T-rex, which I’m sure be familiar with. However, they hunt in packs. I saw them out of fog, everything is fog or mist or rain here, circulating my bearer.

I’m not sure I’ve every drawn my revolver so fast or fired so true, but I took the first beast down. But only then did it become apparent how fast these killers are. Two leapt upon me faster than could re-cock my pistol.

We have a reverend with the party who leapt and pulled my bearer away and placed himself between this poor lizard man and himself. Such courage, an insane act of self sacrifice!

But then as one these wide jawed, big teeth killers, leap at him, there was a straight left jab that hit a critical spot and the monster went down.

I had to retreat, I’d been in the van and now two sets of lethal jaws napping at me were difficult to hold. My earlier marksmanship deserted me.

Then a few remarkable things happened.

A shot rang out and one of my tormentors went down.

As my vision began to blur, I saw most incredible sight, the good reverend landing a blow of monumental proportions that just launched the creature back where it’d come from. A finer administration of divine justice, I’ve not seen, save perhaps for that caper in Alexandria.

I believe I may have taken a knock during the exchange, but my new found friends (if they would have me call them that) have a wondrous healing mask. Within minutes I was right again and feeling tikatiboo at that.

I’d have barely credited it except I witnessed the same effect on the good reverend minutes later.

The situation is now tense. It’s clear that the leader of the safari, intends us ill. The good reverend has many of the bearers on our side after his most remarkable heroics, but it is mixed. Of far more concern...

Damn the insolence, they are manoeuvring----

Interlude: Venus

So, Venus. Some facts.

• Venus is hot. Equatorial Earth hot.
• Venus is constantly overcast.
• Venus is misty and often foggy. Vision out beyond a mile is non-existant.
• Venus is humid. Very humid. It rains every day.
• Venus has no soil. What passes for soil is matted vegetation.
• Venus has no rivers. No soil means no river banks.
• Venus' lowlands are boggy and swampy. And Hot. And Humid. And misty.
• Venus has dinosaurs. Not exactly terrestrial dinosaurs, but there are analogs of all the known ones.
• Venus' native life is sentient, tribal and dinosauroid.
• Venus' dominant Earth political presence is German.
• The German capital is Venusstadt.

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.