# [d20M] League of Extraordinary Gentlemen -- UPDATED 12/4! NOTHING STRESSFUL GOING ON!



## Wulf Ratbane

CHARACTER SHEETS (links to PDF format)

Alan Quartermain 

James T. West 

Ms. Mina Murray 

Dr. Henry Jekyll 

Captain Nemo 

The Invisible Man


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## Plane Sailing

From the snippets already gleaned, I can hardly wait!

Cheers, Wulf!


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## Metus

Ohhhh yeah!  A quality title with a quality writer.  I'm ready for this one!


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## Mytholder

For a moment, I thought I was in d20 Publishers, not Story Hour, and I fell off my chair.

As it is, I'm merely looking forward to it greatly....


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## Gumby

MI-*NA!*  MI-*NA!*  MI-*NA!*


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## Dr Midnight

Can't wait... here's hoping you find more time to write your ENworld Boston story hour than I've found so far... cause damn, I can't believe how much of a task it is.


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## Lela

Dr Midnight said:
			
		

> *Can't wait... here's hoping you find more time to write your ENworld Boston story hour than I've found so far... cause damn, I can't believe how much of a task it is. *




We know you can do it Doc.


I havn't even finished page 1 of your first Story Hour Wulf.  But I'm more than willing to go with this one.


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## Breakstone

Wa-hoo!

I can't wait, Wulf! I, too, am a lover of the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (and one woman).


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## Lela

It's a good thing we have a good guy like Wulf telling this story.  After all, for all those who aren't familar with the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, he'll be more than willing to give a little background.

Not that I know anyone like that.


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## Horacio

Horacio is waiting, Horacio is waiting...


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## thatdarncat

posting so I can subscribe


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## jonrog1

Lela said:
			
		

> *It's a good thing we have a good guy like Wulf telling this story.  After all, for all those who aren't familar with the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, he'll be more than willing to give a little background.
> 
> Not that I know anyone like that.
> 
> *




First off, anyone who DOESN'T have the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen trade paperback or hardcover, sell some of your broken third-party d20 supplements on EBay and get it.  Now.

Secondly, go google the phrase "Wold Newton", and enjoy the geek fun.


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## andrew_kenrick

Oh dear sweet lord ... this is gonna be perfect.  

League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, using d20 Modern - fantastic.  I can hardly wait...

Andrew


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## Conaill

Just a little banner to whet your appetite...

(Wulf, is your email address in your profile expired?)


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## Samnell

Subbing now.


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## Wulf Ratbane

Connail-- AWESOME.

Where did you find that little image of James T. West?

I'm going to have to grab that and move it to the front of the story. 

When it is all said and done I'll have a downloadable PDF with inserted images. Sorry you are all having to wait so long on the story-- I will try to make it worth the wait.

Wulf


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## Wulf Ratbane

andrew_kenrick said:
			
		

> *Oh dear sweet lord ... this is gonna be perfect.
> 
> League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, using d20 Modern - fantastic.  I can hardly wait...
> 
> Andrew *




[teaser]

I am not announcing a license of any sort, but some of you may be interested to note that Bad Axe will be releasing a comprehensive campaign rulebook to allow you to play in this, or indeed any pulp action genre, from pre-Atlantean to post-Apocalyptic. 

The usual Bad Axe crunchy goodness applies:  Once past the core rules, the chapters are broken down into "plug-in" campaign staples (magic/occult, horror/sanity, gunpowder, vehicles, cyber, etc., and a full "technology timeline") so you can customize your setting. 

We'll include a GM's section full of campaign fluff for at least three settings, complete with an over-arching set of villainous threats.

I'll have a more formal press release very soon but I like for my homies in the Story Hour forum to hear this stuff first. 

[/teaser]

Wulf


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## Horacio

WOW!!!!


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## andrew_kenrick

Oooh, me wants!

Is this for use with d20 Modern?  And is it what you're using for LoEG?

Andrew


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## Wulf Ratbane

andrew_kenrick said:
			
		

> *Is this for use with d20 Modern?  And is it what you're using for LoEG?*




Particulars in the d20 license necessitate "Requires the use of..." phrasology on the cover of the book; however, the work is a complete ruleset built from BOTH the D&D and d20M system references-- deconstructed, analyzed, improved, and rebuilt.

It has the most in common with Modern but anyone with d20 experience can pick it up and play with 100% comfort. This is the high adventure, low magic, two-fisted, pulpy, gritty ruleset that folks have been waiting for, and it's done with the attention to simple-but-elegant crunchy detail that (I hope) Bad Axe has earned a reputation for.

Again, I will have more to say about it in the publishers' forum pending an official announcement. (Not that I am not happy to answer questions here...)


Wulf


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## Horacio

Wulf Ratbane said:
			
		

> *
> 
> Particulars in the d20 license necessitate "Requires the use of..." phrasology on the cover of the book; however, the work is a complete ruleset built from BOTH the D&D and d20M system references-- deconstructed, analyzed, improved, and rebuilt.
> *




WOW!

Again WOW!

Release date, Wulf?


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## Galfridus

Conaill said:
			
		

> *Just a little banner to whet your appetite...*




Hey, your picture cut out the short, bearded, cursing maniac standing in front of the other guys.


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## Conaill

Wulf Ratbane said:
			
		

> *Where did you find that little image of James T. West?*




It's from the Wild Wild West comics series. There's a couple of places online that have scans of the comics, here's the two best ones (the image I used came from the first link):

http://www.spies.com/~gsarff/the-train/newpics/comics/
http://www.spies.com/~gsarff/the-train/newpics/goldkey/

By the way, the size of the banner was limited by the resolution of the Tesla picture in the background. If anyone can get me a higher resolution version of this, I can easily make a larger banner...


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## jonrog1

Wulf Ratbane said:
			
		

> *
> 
> [teaser]
> 
> I am not announcing a license of any sort, but some of you may be interested to note that Bad Axe will be releasing a comprehensive campaign rulebook to allow you to play in this, or indeed any pulp action genre, from pre-Atlantean to post-Apocalyptic.
> 
> The usual Bad Axe crunchy goodness applies:  Once past the core rules, the chapters are broken down into "plug-in" campaign staples (magic/occult, horror/sanity, gunpowder, vehicles, cyber, etc., and a full "technology timeline") so you can customize your setting.
> 
> We'll include a GM's section full of campaign fluff for at least three settings, complete with an over-arching set of villainous threats.
> 
> I'll have a more formal press release very soon but I like for my homies in the Story Hour forum to hear this stuff first.
> 
> [/teaser]
> 
> Wulf *




D@mn it man, I'm two first drafts away from being able to take time off and work on something like this myself.  You task me and I will have you!

Hmm, perhaps my Plug'n'Play ideas can be compatible with your Plug'n'Play ideas.  We will chat.


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## Wulf Ratbane

jonrog1 said:
			
		

> *Hmm, perhaps my Plug'n'Play ideas can be compatible with your Plug'n'Play ideas.  We will chat. *




There's room on the cover for more than one name.


Wulf


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## Conaill

Hey Wulf, how do you see your product differ from, say, d20 Forbidden Kingdoms from Otherworld Creations? Seems like a fairly similar premise...


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## Wulf Ratbane

Conaill said:
			
		

> *Hey Wulf, how do you see your product differ from, say, d20 Forbidden Kingdoms from Otherworld Creations? Seems like a fairly similar premise... *




Forbidden Kingdoms is a campaign setting. We are providing, first and foremost, a rulebook. Inasmuch as our book provides a toolbox of rules for GMs, Forbidden Kingdoms could be seen as one of many possible campaigns you could run using the Bad Axe rulebook.

However, our book is equally appropriate if you want to play such genres, for example, as Warhammer Fantasy, Conan, Victorian horror or sci/fi, Turok, Fallout, Starship Troopers, etc., to name just a few. This is not high-fantasy fare; this is gritty, action-oriented, realistic, low-magic, character-driven play. 

In summary, although we will provide sample campaign settings with plenty of fluff (and intend to release addtional campaign settings via free PDF), our focus is on the rules, not the setting itself. 

Wulf

EDIT: No claims of compatibility or challenge to the status of any trademarks is intended in my comments above.


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## Horacio

Wulf, you're a teaser...

And it sounds really good!

But you haven't answered about a possible release date 
Fall/Winter 2003? Spring 2004?


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## Wulf Ratbane

Horacio said:
			
		

> *Wulf, you're a teaser...
> 
> And it sounds really good!
> 
> But you haven't answered about a possible release date
> Fall/Winter 2003? Spring 2004? *




2003. Anything more concrete than that, you'll have to wait for an official press release. We're working on a schedule for the full year so we can announce everything at once. 

Wulf


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## Conaill

Wulf Ratbane said:
			
		

> *When it is all said and done I'll have a downloadable PDF with inserted images. Sorry you are all having to wait so long on the story-- I will try to make it worth the wait.*




Hiya Wulf!

Just curious how the League story hour is coming along... Any way we can help you speed it up? (Apart from bugging you incessantly, of course...)


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## Wulf Ratbane

Conaill said:
			
		

> *Just curious how the League story hour is coming along... Any way we can help you speed it up? (Apart from bugging you incessantly, of course...) *




Just very busy, that's all. It's still on my radar to complete as soon as possible!

Thanks for the bump though, don't be shy about bumping it occassionally. Save me diggin' for it. 


Wulf


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## Speaks With Stone

Greatly looking forward to this storyhour.  Have a bump.


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## Hatchling Dragon

Wulf Ratbane said:
			
		

> *Thanks for the bump though, don't be shy about bumping it occassionally. Save me diggin' for it. *




Bah, I think he's just after the record for "Thread with the most posts before any Content" award.  

Oh, and *Bump!* 

Hatchling Dragon


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## Metus

Wuuuuuuulfff!  You need to feed us some storyhour goodness!


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## Horacio

Another bump


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## Lela

Good ferkin heck Wulf, c'mon.  We're all wait'n fur yer.


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## Wulf Ratbane

I hear you, folks. I'm trying...

The good news is that my memory of the game is still fresh in the details. I didn't get as many notes as I usually do (as a player) but the outstanding roleplay by everyone involved has left a good impression. 

Wulf


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## Conaill

Well, you can always send us a draft if you would like us to refresh your memory in some places...


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## Nail

Wulf Ratbane said:
			
		

> [teaser]
> 
> ...... you may be interested to note that Bad Axe will be releasing a comprehensive campaign rulebook to allow you to play in this, or indeed any pulp action genre, from pre-Atlantean to post-Apocalyptic. [/teaser]
> 
> Wulf [/B]



I may have to buy my first-ever non-D&D d20 book.

We are talkin' d20, right?


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## Nail

Nail said:
			
		

> *We are talkin' d20, right? *



Errr...never mind.  I can read things, really I can.

Awaiting a) cool story and b) even cooler (an' crunchy!) rulebook.


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## Craer

::subscribes::

I'm eagerly anticipating an amazing tale.   

-Craer


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## Dinkeldog

Good grief.  A full page of bumps with no story yet.  You'll start making Wulf think he's Piratecat or something.


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## Samnell

Wulf isn't Piratecat?! My faith in the hivemind is shattered.


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## Horacio

Samnell said:
			
		

> *Wulf isn't Piratecat?! My faith in the hivemind is shattered. *



Wulf is Morrus


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## Lela

Horacio said:
			
		

> *
> Wulf is Morrus *




Actually, Wulf is Morrus's grandmother.

But the real one to fear is Eric's Grandmother (Hong).


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## Horacio

Lela said:
			
		

> *
> 
> Actually, Wulf is Morrus's grandmother.
> 
> But the real one to fear is Eric's Grandmother (Hong).
> 
> *





Hong is Eric's Gramma????  

Bump, Wulf, that is a bump. We want you to post!


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## Wulf Ratbane

Updated first post with character sheets. My computer is a little wonky today so if there are any problems viewing these, please let me know.

Every PC had a set of secondary roleplaying "objectives" (listed on page two of each sheet) that were unknown to the rest of the group. 

For the record, and a bit of foreshadowing, I don't think anyone succeeded. 

EDIT: Crud, page 2 is missing... I will fix when I have a chance. <sigh>


Wulf


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## Lela

Wulf Ratbane said:
			
		

> *Updated first post with character sheets. My computer is a little wonky today so if there are any problems viewing these, please let me know.
> 
> 
> Wulf *




The second page on the first three (Alan Quartermain, James T. West, Ms. Mina Murray) didn't have anything besides the words "Background Information" on them.

Dr. Henry Jekyll was fine.

Captain Nemo and The Invisible Man were as above.


Is it that you are playing Jekyll (which I'd expect) and we don't yet know the other's secrets?


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## Metus

Hmmm.  Wulf, I'm checkin out the sheets, but I'm not seeing any backstory nor secondary objectives.  I'm not sure if it's just my Acrobat Reader or what.

Edit:  Lela beat me to it.


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## Wulf Ratbane

Yes, I just caught that, Lela. 

This is what happens when you work across three different computers. Sadly, the correct file is probably deleted by now (work computer, you know...) and all of the players took their  hard copy with them.

I am losing my patience today... But will try to correct the sheets somehow as soon as I can.

EDIT: In the meantime please pretend to be pleased with at least seeing page 1...

Wulf


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## Lela

Wulf Ratbane said:
			
		

> *
> EDIT: In the meantime please pretend to be pleased with at least seeing page 1...
> 
> Wulf *




Pretend, yes, I can do that.

On Griffen, that food idea is _so_ cool.  I mean the clothing is expected not to vanish but food. . .  That solves a lot of munchkin problems.

One question though.   What happens if he swallows, say, a penny?


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## Horacio

Thanks, Wulf!!!!!!!


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## Spatula

Very cool stuff with the characters, although the inclusion of James West seems like a strange choice.  It's a real shame that the background information is only there for Jekyll.  But you've got me interested in digging out the original series and rereading it...


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## Conaill

Woohoo, we're seeing some movement on this trhread! 

Thanks for posting those character sheets, Wulf. If you'd like me to scan in Capt. Nemo's sheet, I should still have it lying around.

PS: I believe Nemo succeeded in almost *all* of his secondary objectives. He didn't get to meet West's associate, but he got all of Tesla's notes, decoded them, met Tesla in person, not too mention walking off with some pre-atlantean manuscript and a big chunk of alien technology. I'd say Captain Nemo is a pretty happy man right now (as far as Captain Nemo _ever_ gets happy, of course...)


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## Speaks With Stone

The food disolving bit is directly from the book The Invisible Man.  One thing that makes me love the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen is the great attention to detail and reference to the original works.  Griffen was a right bit of a bastard in the book and he had to be careful about not eating before going out as the Invisible Man.  I also liked in the book how he kept being sick from running around naked in winter.

The same is true for all of the other characters as far as I remember.  Reading 20,000 leagues for the first time right now and I'm very pleased with the book and the way Nemo is presented.

I'm also pleased that Wulf seems to have incorporated all of that goodness in his game.  (Can't wait for the movie).


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## Wulf Ratbane

Conaill said:
			
		

> *Thanks for posting those character sheets, Wulf. If you'd like me to scan in Capt. Nemo's sheet, I should still have it lying around.*




Sure, that or just retype the info from page 2. Whatever is easiest-- and assuming folks are interested. 

The background info was really just for folks unfamiliar with the characters as they are presented in the series, and the secondary objectives didn't play a huge role, either.

Conaill also gets big props for wearing a turban through most of the first half of the adventure. And it was HOT up in that attic, too!


Wulf


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## Metus

Wulf Ratbane said:
			
		

> *The background info was really just for folks unfamiliar with the characters as they are presented in the series*



That would defintely be me!  I'm not familiar with over half of those characters.

....   I ain't readin no old-timey books!


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## DanMcS

Metus said:
			
		

> *That would defintely be me!  I'm not familiar with over half of those characters.
> ....   I ain't readin no old-timey books!*




The series he means is a comic book series, and it's quite good, and I've never read comic books before.  So not quite "old-timey".  I bought the first compilation book for 10 or 15 bucks, and it was great, you should try it.


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## Metus

Oh yeah, I know.  It's just I wasn't familiar with those characters before the comic book series, so I saw no reason for me to read it.  I just thought I wouldn't be able to have the background to really get into it.


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## Lela

Hmmmm, that still leaves the swallowing of the penny though. . .


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## Conaill

Guess he doesn't eat too many high-fiber foods either! 

Eeewww...


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## LuYangShih

Cool.  The background for Jekyll/Hyde is excellent.  I hope the other backgrounds will be made available later on, as I don't really know much about these characters.  Whatever the case may be though, I greatly look forward to this story hour.


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## Skade

This is my first Story Hour I have looked at.  Since I read all of this with no actual story, you know I'm excited.  Really looking forward to this, and Bad Axe's new book.


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## Lela

Skade said:
			
		

> *This is my first Story Hour I have looked at.  Since I read all of this with no actual story, you know I'm excited.  Really looking forward to this, and Bad Axe's new book. *




You should look around.  There's some good stuff here.

Come to our world little mortal.  We'll show you pleasures you've never imagined.  Oh, and half-orcs too.


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## Horacio

Skade said:
			
		

> *This is my first Story Hour I have looked at.  Since I read all of this with no actual story, you know I'm excited.  Really looking forward to this, and Bad Axe's new book. *




Hehe, we transformed you into a Hiveminder, and now I'll make of you a story hour addict...


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## Skade

Horacio said:
			
		

> *
> 
> Hehe, we transformed you into a Hiveminder, and now I'll make of you a story hour addict...  *




No, not that, anything but that!


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## Lela

Skade said:
			
		

> *
> 
> No, not that, anything but that!   *




Ah ha!, we have finally found what you are truely afraid of.  Beware, for Doc Midknight waits in the shadows and arwink craves flesh.


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## Conaill

Heya Wulf!

Finally got around to scanning in Nemo's character sheet. I don't have a pdf converter, so here's the Word file:


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## Horacio

Skade said:
			
		

> *
> 
> No, not that, anything but that!   *




Resistance is futile


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## LuYangShih

Perhaps "Coming Soon" should be viewed from the Dwarven definition of "Soon".    Thanks for putting up Nemos sheet, Conaill.


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## Skade

Horacio said:
			
		

> *
> 
> Resistance is futile *




Can I at least get a head start?  Come on, five minutes.


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## Horacio

Skade said:
			
		

> *
> 
> Can I at least get a head start?  Come on, five minutes. *




You're already assimilated. While we wait for Wulf's story, go read anote one. Go, man, go!


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## Lela

Horacio said:
			
		

> *
> 
> You're already assimilated. While we wait for Wulf's story, go read anote one. Go, man, go! *




Yes, the sooner you start the less there is to catch up on.  Believe me, it's worth it.


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## Conaill

BUMP!  FOR GREAT JUSTICE!


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## Wulf Ratbane

*could it be... an update?*



			
				LuYangShih said:
			
		

> *Perhaps "Coming Soon" should be viewed from the Dwarven definition of "Soon".   *




All right you smart-asses... heh...

Let's see what we can do...

Give me 10 minutes of silence to set up the story threads.

Wulf


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## Wulf Ratbane

*PROLOGUE*

Somewhere in London, in the well-furnished, dimly lit apartments of Mr. Campion Bond, cigar smoke drifted lazily through the yellow lamplight like fog on the Thames. Bond frowned; the handsome, athletic man seated before him seemed perfectly at ease despite the pungent smoke. Somehow, Mr. Bond suspected that his guest’s comfort with cigar smoke was more likely gained in seedy saloons than in the company of proper gentlemen.

“They are late,” said Bond, still frowning—though even as he spoke the door was pushed open by a delicate white hand. Ms. Mina Murray stepped into the room, heels drumming, dressed snugly against the night air, and trailing just behind her billowing, ever-present scarves came Alan Quartermain—a man of action well past his prime. They were followed by Dr. Henry Jekyll, nervous and polite as ever; and behind him, silent and stern, came the scourge of the seas, Captain Nemo. They entered the room and fanned out; a beat, and the door closed behind them.

They waited a moment for the broad, massive back of Mr. Bond to turn and face the door. As he did so, he stepped aside, revealing their guest for the evening. Both men were dressed in black, Mina noted, though one look at the handsome face and cool blue eyes of the stranger and she knew the two men could not be more different. The stranger rose as he caught sight of Mina.

“Greetings, Gentlemen,” said Bond, deliberately rankling Mina. “Do not bother to sit as I will be brief. The Queen has need of your services once again. This gentleman is an agent of the President of our former American colonies. It seems they have a problem, and Mr. West here is not up to tackling the task alone. He has been sent to meet you all and get a feel for your talents; however, as time is apparently of the essence, I suggest we dispense with the pleasantries. Sir, if you would be so kind as to lay out the matter before us.”

“All right,” West said. “The renowned scientist and inventor Nikolai Tesla has gone missing from his laboratory in Colorado Springs.” He paused for a moment, but only Nemo registered the slightest hint of recognition, and little else. “His disappearance was rather sudden—he practically vanished overnight, leaving behind many of his belongings, including most of his notes and experiments. The President suspects—merely suspects, mind you—that Tesla’s disappearance may be the work of dissidents within our own military who hope to turn Tesla’s mind from civic projects and towards military uses.

“Frankly this never would have happened under President Grant but…” he paused. “Even so, I doubt the tale is true. Personally, I hope some clue to Tesla’s whereabouts can be found in his notes, but as he is in the habit of encrypting his notes in ancient greek, latin, and Arabic, any clues to be found are beyond my means. I’ve sent an educated colleague to Colorado Springs but, in the meantime, the assistance of such learned scholars as yourselves would be much appreciated.”

He paused to smile at Mina—though to her credit, he noticed, she did not smile back. “Time is indeed of the essence: Wherever Tesla has gone, it is clear that his knowledge must not fall into the wrong hands. The man’s mind is a weapon in itself.”

Bond stepped in. “Barring any questions, you will accompany Mr. West to New York, and from there you will travel by rail to Colorado Springs to scour Tesla’s notes—for clues. Captain Nemo, the Nautilus is prepared for immediate departure.”


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## Wulf Ratbane

*SCENE ONE: LONDON TO NEW YORK*

SCENE ONE: LONDON TO NEW YORK

Once under way, Nemo seemed both eager and yet unusually at ease. Barking orders to his crew, he hustled off to his cargo area to begin tearing into boxes of technical equipment. 

“It’s here somewhere... You!” Nemo collared a passing sailor. “Run to the comms and tell them to scan every frequency.”

Mina crashed into the room, all hustle and bluster like a rolling wake, and the rest of the group came rolling in behind her like so much flotsam and jetsam. “What are you doing?”

“I’m going to contact Tesla.”

“How exactly do you intend to do that, from the middle of the ocean?”

“Electron pulses, modulation of amplitude, frequency... I won’t pretend you could understand my technological devices.”

“And Tesla can?” Mina asked.

Nemo stared blankly. “Assuredly. Now please... Follow me, or get out of the way, I have some modifications to make.”

West cleared his throat. “If Tesla is on the run... and I’m not saying he is... don’t you stand the risk of scaring him into deeper hiding?”

Quartermain agreed. “And if he’s met with foul play, surely they’ll be waiting for someone to contact him as well.”

The group argued back and forth for some time, unable to decide whether to contact Tesla or to simply follow the leads they already had. Eventually they agreed it was worth a try, but the conversation bogged down again immediately. They couldn’t decide _what_ they wanted to say to Tesla. What if other ears were listening, after all? Too little, or too much, either way could make matters worse. 

“Look, it doesn’t matter what we say,” barked Mina, “if you simply send it in a cipher that only Tesla will understand. We already know he uses encryption, so we’ll use a mathematical recursion, including three translations, pictographs over phonemes, and at least one ancient language with no known modern analog.”

Griffin removed his glasses and peered closely at Mina. “What the hell... Are you a spy?”

Nemo had finally made the necessary modifications to his ship’s communication array, and ultimately it was Nemo who settled on the simplest, safest message of contact. He wasn’t a man who made his decisions by committee. Not on _his_ ship.

At his command the Nautilus surfaced and he broadcast his message on the highest, rarest frequencies. He cleared his throat, pressed a button on the console, and spoke clearly into a small black grille.

*N E E D H E L P ? N E M O*

“Is he even gonna know who you are?” Griffin scoffed.

Nemo stood tall. “All true men of science know Nemo.”

“Now what?” asked Quartermain. 

“Well,” Nemo said, stroking his beard. “We’ll have to stay on the surface if we want to receive contact.”

“Won’t that slow us down?”

“Depends on the weather,” he said, “but the short answer is, of course it will. I recommend we return to the surface intermittently to check for a reply. In the meantime, I’m going to build a portable receiver that we can take with us overland. If we do receive contact, we can check back with the Nautilus at harbor and...”

“Triangulate,” Mina said. “Clever.”

---------------------

Over the next few days they surfaced periodically, repeated the message, and waited for a reply. They were not far out of New York harbor when, at last, they received contact. 

But it was not what they expected. 

Nemo’s device was meant to translate incoming energy waves into sound, but all they heard was a high pitched whistling and chirping. 

“What is that?” asked West.

The greatest scientific minds Britain had to offer were in agreement on one thing. Nemo looked at Quartermain. Quartermain looked at Jekyll. Jekyll looked nervous and twitched with every ebb and flow of the noise.

“I can tell you one thing...” he stammered. “It’s intelligent speech.”

---------------------

Soon enough, they docked at New York. There was no fanfare or grand welcome waiting for them; their dock was nearly abandoned, save for a small messenger boy who ran straightaway to West.

“Urgent telegram!” he yelled from two paces away. “Urrrrgent!”

West took the scrap of paper and pressed a coin into the boy’s hand. 

*W E S T. 
C O V E R  B L O W N. 
C O L.  M C G E E  I N  C O M M A N D. 
C A U T I O N. 
A.*

“Something’s up,” West said, handing the impertinent messenger boy another nickel to finally send him running.

“Well,” said Nemo, trundling down the gangplank with his portable scanner. “No time like the present. Let’s see who’s out there today.”

Nemo turned on his receiver. There was a moment of silence, then a loud crackle, pop, and whiff of ozone.

_Something_ appeared on the docks with them. It was vaguely man-shaped, though it seemed more a parody of mankind than any natural thing. It was hunched, mishapen, with long arms and wicked talons. Most unusual of all, it appeared to constructed entirely of crystal.

As the group stood open mouthed, it took a wide swipe at Nemo and sent him sprawling away from his receiver. 

Griffin was the first to act as his self preservation instincts took over. He chose the better part of valor and dove behind a stack of barrels on the dock.

West drew his pistol and started fanning shots into the thing’s chest, but the bullets merely glanced away from the hard carapace. Quartermain backed up and started fumbling with his own rifle, his fingers shaking, finally cracking the breach and ramming home two long, impressive looking slugs. 

“Oh my...” Jekyll squealed. Something was definitely _not right_ with Henry. “Ohhhh....”

Nemo regained his composure and his cutlass came whistling out and across the thing’s back—to no avail. But he had its attention. It clawed once at him, ripping through Nemo’s ornamental breastplate to the flesh beneath. Crimson blossomed on the captain’s chest.

The creature’s other claw smashed down heavily on Nemo’s electronic receiver and sparks raced up its arm. It seemed to slow down visibly, but it was clearly undeterred.

“It’s after the receiver!” shouted Mina. She leapt forward and pushed hard against the crystal construct. “Get off!”

“Mina, no!” Quartermain lowered his rifle and grabbed at Mina, muttering under his breath. “Stupid woman!”

“HI HO! WOT’S ALL THIS THEN? BIT OF A DUST-UP?” 

Jekyll was gone—Edward Hyde stood in his place, eight or nine feet of muscle and degenerate humanity.

-----

Edward bared a mouthful of pre-human fangs in some semblance of a grin and waded into the fight, knotted fists swinging like wrecking balls. He grabbed the crystal construct by one arm and dragged it into his gaping maw, but his other arm slid off the creature before he could get a proper grip. Consequently, his attack did little-at best he managed to chip one of his own teeth on its crystalline carapace.

Either West was pre-armed with knowledge of Jekyll’s condition, or he simply didn’t care, because he continued to fan his pistols uselessly into the monstrous melee. Quartermain also managed to get off a shot-- and yes! A slight crack appeared where the enormous 60-caliber round slammed home. But clearly, it wasn’t enough.

“We need bigger guns,” Alan mumbled.

Mina shouted to the crew of the Nautilus. “The deck guns!”

The crew stood agape, watching the spectacle, until Nemo too took up the call. “Load that harpoon!” he bellowed. He pointed to a colossal cannon-like contraption bolted to the deck. Polished-brass precision-tooled metal intertwined with colorful couplings that slithered back into the recesses of the submarine. It glinted in the sunlight and might perhaps have appeared beautiful, save for the wickedly barbed harpoon the crew rammed into place. There was no mistaking the Nautilus’ deadly deck gun as a thing of beauty.

Save to Nemo, of course. 

He smiled with a father’s pride as the crew swiveled the gun into place and put the crystal construct in the crosshairs. A hiss of hydraulics presaged the onslaught and Nemo stepped aside just as the cannon boomed. The harpoon struck the construct full on, cracking it significantly, but ultimately bouncing off and falling to the dock.

Griffin had finally shed his clothes and bravely approached the construct from behind-evidenced only by a small barrel of goods that mysteriously (and somewhat ponderously) lifted itself from the dock and came crashing down on the construct’s head... to no avail.

Unfazed, the construct turned its attention to the most dangerous target it could find. Edward Hyde was soon dripping with his own blood-- a new experience, but apparently not an entirely unpleasant one. He grinned and grappled away with the construct with newfound vigor, trying once again to rend it apart.

Griffin took advantage of the moment. He scooped up several coils of cable from the fallen harpoon and looped it around the construct's neck. Hyde seemed prepared for Griffin's plan, or at the very least he was the first to respond: he pushed away from the construct with all his might. West and Quartermain opened fire again, sending it staggering back a few more steps towards the edge of the pier. 

Just as the construct seemed ready to fall over the side, it straightened and regained its balance. Thinking quickly, Griffin grabbed the rope and jumped off the pier. 

The invisible man was not slightly built. His added weight was too much-- or just enough-- and the construct toppled off the pier. It sank like a stone into the murky waters of the New York harbor.

Edward shook the blood from his eyes and smoothed down what was left of his vest and shirt. Setting his hat at a jaunty angle, he strode off into the crowd.

"WHERE CAN A FELLA FIND A BIT O' FUN AROUND HERE?"

Though some folks had been mesmerized by the fight itself, the sight of Hyde striding towards them sent them all into a panic. Griffin had climbed from the water and stood glistening like a ghost, laughing while the water dripped off his naked body and women shrieked in horror.

Edward shook the blood from his eyes and smoothed down what was left of his vest and shirt. Setting his hat at a jaunty angle, he strode off into the crowd.

Only then did the rest of the League realize the mayhem around them. Mina rushed to soothe Edward while West moved to intercept the policemen finally arriving on the scene. His holstered guns were still smoking, but it was his federal badge and suave smile, flashing in the sunlight, that caught their attention.

"Nothing to see here," he crooned. Behind his back, he waved Mina past, and she hustled off after Edward.

Mina hustled a few paces for every one of Edward's, but she caught him quickly enough. "Edward!" she cried. Edward rounded on her with a growl, and she quickly lowered the finger she'd been wagging in his face. Instead, she placed her smooth hands, palms down, on Edward's broad chest. Just enough to hold him back.

"Come back, Edward. Plenty of time for fun later. Let's you and I get something to eat first." She motioned him back to the Nautilus. Edward shrugged, and by the time they walked back to the docks, Mina was arm in arm with Dr. Henry Jekyll.

-----

Gathered in the Nautilus, the group looked out of the huge, bowl-like belly port-hole at the construct. It was standing there, destroying Nemo's portable scanner which had sunk to nearly the same spot. Over and over, the creature thrashed away at the equipment. It was beyond destroyed, but it did not cease.

"Net that thing!" Nemo ordered. Within moments, a huge net drifted down over the construct. It flailed its claws at the net, severed a few strands, but was soon hopelessly entangled. Soon, it stopped moving entirely.

Nemo rang his communications officer. "Can we listen to it out there?"

"Aye, cap'n." They watched as an insect-like boom entered their view and slowly approached the creature.

Sure enough, there was the high-pitched chittering noise they'd heard before.

"Tune in the scanner and pipe it down here, too," Nemo said. 

The scanner was silent for a few moments while the creature chittered away. Quartermain listened, deep in thought. "I... Gentlemen, I believe this creature is... Atlantean. It should have come to me sooner..."

"Atlantean?" said Griffin. "Great, he can f'in walk home."

Abruptly, the scanner came to life. There was a brief exchange; a high-pitched whistle; and the construct exploded into a million glittering motes of crystal.

"Assemble a crew to retrieve those materials-- all of my equipment, and especially any bits of crystal you can find." 

Several crewmembers in bulky diving suits crept slowly through the murk and began collecting Nemo's samples. Nearly everyone looked on in eager anticipation, save for Mina and West. 

"This is a dead-end, here," complained West. "I'll have your portable laboratory transferred to my train and you can study it further on the way to Colorado Springs."

"Aye," said Nemo. "I'm eager to see this train of yours, as well. I have heard... stories."

West grinned, taking Mina by the hand and leading her to the upper decks. "I think you'll all be impressed."

"I very much doubt it," grunted Quartermain.


----------



## Wulf Ratbane

*SCENE TWO: COLORADO SPRINGS*

SCENE TWO: COLORADO SPRINGS

West's train was actually just a single rail car-- but what a car it was. Luxurious accomodations on one end, laboratories and workspace on the other, and hidden gadgets throughout. His car was coupled to the back of a freight train, just a few cars ahead of the caboose.

The group traveled by rail nonstop to Colorado Springs, and from there they took horses into the rugged mountain country to approach the base. The base was in a flat depression between two peaks, and heavily wooded save for an area directly around the base itself. The trees there were flattened-- not splintered or broken, but flattened down against the ground in a swirled pattern, like a child's hand might smooth down the grass-- if the child had the size and strength of a titan, that is. The flattened area had to be several acres across, and in the center stood a tall Tesla coil. The coil stood dormant, surrounded by several smaller outbuildings.

Expecting trouble, they had approached by night, leaving their horses behind and walking the last couple of miles just to the side of the beaten trail that headed back to town. They could see a light burning in only one of the buildings-- the guardhouse. And it was occupied. 

They watched and waited for a while, long enough to spot another guard ride by the guardhouse on horseback. He waved to someone inside and continued his ride around the perimeter of the base.

"I got this," said Griffin, already removing his robe and other scant clothing. "Piece of cake."

"Quietly, Griffin!" said Quartermain.

"And don't KILL anyone," said Mina.

There was no reply. Either Griffin was ignoring her, or he was already gone.

"Do we really want to leave him alone with all of Tesla's inventions?" asked Nemo.

"As long as he's invisible," West said, "he doesn't have pockets."

-----

Griffin ran around the perimeter of the compound, staying close to the treeline, and eventually took up a position on a fallen log. From there, he was confident he could ambush the approaching rider. He grabbed a stout branch and held it ready, crouching low to the log.

Soon enough the doomed rider came past. Griffin held still and quiet, and just as the horse stopped and snorted, he swung his makeshift club at the rider’s nose. The guard swooned backwards in his saddle, then started fumbling for his pistol. 

"Help!" The guard managed to clear his holster and fire a warning shot.

"F---," said Griffin. 

"F---," said his comrades, back at the entrance to the camp.

To his credit, the guard took aim at Griffin’s club. Before he could fire, Griffin tossed it away, laughing. 

"What are you gonna do now?" said Griffin, his voice suddenly coming from just behind the guard’s shoulder. "I'll tell ya: You’re gonna die…"

Griffin clubbed the guard with both fists, hard across the back of his neck, and hauled his limp body off the horse. The horse bolted off into the trees.

Griffin thought for a moment about pursuing the horse, but the sounds of stirring in the camp soon set him back into action.

"Let me just get the goods off this corpse…" he muttered to himself.

The guard let out a slow, ragged, breath. Not quite dead yet.

Annoyed, Griffin pulled the guard’s knife out of his belt-- and _made_ him a corpse.

He grabbed the pistol and set off at a low, loping pace for the compound.

-----

The rest of the group wasn’t about to sit idle, not while they had their own chance to throw their ill-formed plans even deeper into the crapper.

"Wait here!" West pulled out his badge and marched into the camp like he owned the place. 

"Intruders!" he yelled at the guard emerging from the guardhouse. "You’ve got intruders in the camp."

That was true enough, and the guard had no difficulty believing it. "What do we do?"

"You got weapons in this place?" 

The guard nodded, eager to comply and be commanded. "Yeah, we lock em up in the storehouse at night. I got the key."

"Well, let’s go then!"

West tailed the guard out of the guardhouse and into the midst of the compound. They passed a long, low building ("Barracks," West thought to himself, "doors at both ends…") and turned the corner to find a smaller building. The guard fumbled with the key only a moment before throwing the door open and stepping aside for West. 

West peeked in. It was a small shed, filled with barrels and racks of rifles. It was close to the barracks, too—only five feet from the other door of the barracks. 

"Help me out here a second," he said, entering the building. The guard followed him in.

"Who are the intruders?" he asked.

"Ahh…" West said. Before he knew it, his bluff was unraveling. 

The guard looked suspicious for just a moment—then looked past West, his eyes widening in surprise. 

A rifle lifted itself off the rack and buried itself, bayonet first, in his gut. He dropped to his knees and screamed. The bayonet twisted and pulled free.

"The intruder!" West yelled, pulling his gun and firing a shot wide of the rifle.  

"Help!" the guard yelled. He fumbled his own gun into place and fired his own wild shot.

The floating rifle laughed, and it was soon joined by a floating bullet. The rifle opened its breech, and the bullet floated in. The breech complied, twisted, and slammed shut. The guard’s last thought, as the rifle planted itself against his forehead, was that the rifle and that scheming bullet were clearly in this together.

And Griffin blew his brains out the back of his head. 

"Great!" yelled West. "Just great!"

The rifle dropped to the ground. 

"You’re the only one in here," said Griffin, still chuckling. "Let’s see you bluff your way out of this one…"

"Son of a bitch!" West slammed the door shut. "Help me out here, Griffin!"

There was no reply. "You bastard!" West struggled to move one of the barrels against the door, decided it was probably gunpowder, and quickly abandoned _that_ plan.

"Griffin, you bastard…" he muttered.

"The bastard’s still here," Griffin said. A rifle floated off the rack, loaded itself, and lay down across one of the barrels at the back of the small room. "Why don’t you give me a hand here and load some of these guns? We’re gonna need them in about… 6 seconds."

"Mina said not to kill anybody…"

"Uh huh."

There seemed to be a whole lot of shouting going on outside. West checked his pistols, and started loading rifles. 

-----

After the second gunshot, the rest of the group pretty much gave up on any hope of salvaging what should have been a simple infiltration. Nemo sighed and unwrapped the bundle he’d been carrying. Jekyll couldn’t tell what it was, but from the way Nemo was brandishing the thing, it was clear which was the unpleasant end. Nemo sighted down an array of barrels and checked that each had a miniature harpoon loaded and peeking out.

"Ohh, dear Lord," said Jekyll.

"Easy Henry…" said Mina. "Everything’s gonna be ok…"

_"I *hope* everything’s gonna be ok,"_ she thought. She looked over at Quartermain, who had his own elephant gun loaded and ready. "Just don’t… look, don’t kill anybody innocent."

Quartermain looked at Nemo. Nemo looked at Quartermain. They both looked at Mina and nodded. 

Then they ran into the compound, guns at the ready.

-----

West and Griffin had loaded just a few of the rifles when they heard the key turn in the lock. 

On the outside.

They were trapped, but West wasn’t about to approach the door. From behind a barricade of powder kegs, he strained to hear the conversation outside. 

"… got all the rifles…"

"Colonel’s comin’..."

-----

Quartermain headed left around the guard house. Most of the guards were either looking or exiting through the rear of the barracks, away from him. He crept forward at his first chance, tossed his gun onto the roof, and pulled himself up.

He peeked over the top:

The guards had someone locked in the guardhouse.

Mina was running flat out into the compound, yelling, "Don’t kill anyone! Don’t kill anyone!"

Jekyll was running after Mina’s skirts.

Nemo had stopped to look into the guard house and, satisfied that no threat was at their backs, was now walking slowly around the right side. Nobody seemed to see him—yet.

And there was the Colonel, no doubt, with two shotgun toting guards just behind him.

"What in the hell is going on!?" the Colonel bellowed.

His guards brandished their shotguns: One pointed directly at Mina. One pointed directly at Dr. Henry Jekyll. 

Mina, to her credit, was as cool as ever.

Henry was staring down double barrels of death.

Mina slowly edged away from Jekyll, away from the back entrance to the barracks, away from the weapons shed, but most especially, away from the Colonel and his henchmen. She was about halfway back along the edge of the barracks when Henry finally lost it.

"Please... please, don't point those guns at me. I don't like to be threatened..."

"Shut it!" one of the guards yelled. "The Colonel's askin' the questions here!"

"I said... I said... I DON'T LIKE TO BE THREATENED, YOU PUNY F---!"

The guards opened fire on Edward just as he finished his transformation. Even at relatively close range, and with shotguns, their shots weren't terribly accurate-- and understandably so. Henry Jekyll had suddenly changed into a gigantic, raging proto-primate. His huge, gorilla-like arms, tipped in massive claws, lunged for them. One shot went wide; one shot grazed Edward but did little other than to annoy him. He grabbed one of the unfortunate guards, hauled him into his embrace, and pulled his arms off with all the ease and sadistic glee of a child pulling the wings off a fly. 

"SHOOT ME AGAIN, MOTHER F-----! GRRRAAAAAAAUUUUGH!"

The other guard didn't have a chance to comply with Edward's request. Quartermain opened fire, blowing the poor fellow's arm off at the shoulder. He turned to run, still in shock, but Nemo stepped forward, and his dark face was like the grim countenance of Death himself. He opened fire with his massive machine-pistol and turned the man into hamburger. 

To their credit, the brave men of the U.S. Army rallied to the occasion, rallied around their Colonel. They pulled every makeshift weapon they had on hand-- boot knives and bayonets, broken broomsticks and bedposts-- and piled out of the barracks as fast as they could. Several ran for the front, a few more started piling out of the windows, and some unlucky few barreled out of the rear entrance to the barracks, in the dark alley beside the weapons shed-- where Edward waited. 

He took them one at a time and killed them with wild abandon, laughing all the while.

They piled out in thicker numbers, pushing from the back, desperate to get to the melee-- unaware that they rushed like lemmings to their doom. They heard the cries of their comrades, begging for help. 

Begging for mercy.

Hyde killed them two at a time. His massive jaws ripped the top off one man's skull, and Edward slurped the contents like a melon, spewing blood and gore over himself and the man locked in his grip. Edward tore him apart, too, and flung the remaining gobbets in several directions.

He killed them three at a time, even as they piled up around him, flanking him, plunging their weapons into his flesh. Edward flailed around him, using a ragged limb-- an arm? a leg? who could tell, now?-- as a makeshift club. The more brutal, the more gory the brawl, the more Edward seemed to enjoy it. He scarcely noticed that he was slowly dying. Certainly, Henry Jekyll would have been dead many times over.

West's pistols barked over the sound of the melee, blowing the lock off the shed. The door flew open and West started firing across the alley, into the press of bodies framing the doorway of the barracks. Just to his left, he could see Edward looming, roaring, dripping in blood. 

Quartermain had edged down to the end of the barracks, and standing over the alleyway, he joined West in picking off soldiers. Edward didn't know it, or he didn't care, but to West and Quartermain it was clear that his situation was really pretty desperate. Eventually, the press of bodies started to thin out. West wedged himself in next to Edward and blasted away carefully with his pistols at anybody that made it inside Edward's reach. 

Meanwhile, Mina had edged down to the corner of the barracks, when she suddenly felt the cold press of sharp steel against her neck. 

"Call him off!" the soldier cried. 

"I wish I could," Mina said calmly. 

"Call him off!" A trickle of blood appeared on her neck.

"This one lives!" Mina said, looking over at Nemo. "We need a prisoner!"

Nemo's gun was trained on the soldier, but he knew there was little he could do with Mina serving as a human shield.

The guard was baffled at the bravado of the waifish woman. He had little time to suss it out-- the woman, the  dark man, the monster-- because a loose fieldstone came floating around the corner behind him, unseen, and splattered his brains out.

"Griffin, you bastard," said Mina. The whole thing was going to hell in a handbasket. 

"PLEASE!" she screamed in desperation. "Don't kill the Colonel!"

Nemo responded by opening fire on the Colonel, who had turned to run. The Colonel went tumbling down like a deer. It was a fine, long range shot by Nemo. Of course, any closer, and the Colonel would have been shredded by the tiny harpoon flechettes.

They could hear the sound of footsteps running off into the distance. 

"Be right back," said Griffin, chuckling. 

"CAN WE JUST KEEP ONE PERSON-- ONE PERSON-- ALIVE HERE?" Mina begged. Since the beginning of the encounter, her standards had slipped and slipped and slipped away. 

From his perch atop the barracks, Quartermain watched as Hyde prepared to dispatch the last of the foes around him. He paused for a moment, but his conscience got the better of him.

"Better step away, West," he said.

James West looked up into the eyes of Hyde. There was no mistaking the bloodlust there; he wasted no time backing slowly out of sight, allowing Hyde to finish off his opponents. The raging behemoth vented his anger on the huge pile of soldiers at his feet-- he'd killed a dozen, maybe two dozen, even-- before he finally collapsed. 

Nemo rushed to his side just in time to stabilize Henry Jekyll. He finished his work and helped Jekyll to his feet. They joined Mina, Quartermain, and West, standing over the Colonel. The Colonel was just coming around when West suddenly reached out and pistol whipped him into unconsciousness.

"This is unsalvageable," Mina groused. "How do you intend to explain all this? You just knocked him senseless, how do you intend to explain _that_?"

"All I know is," West reasoned, speaking slowly, "If he's unconscious, I don't have to explain NOW."

"Hmmm..." Jekyll said. "My bag... I have some drugs in my bag, special drugs... They might help us in our interrogation. Of course they might also drive him irrevocably insane... Hmm..."

"Let's question him _before_ we start f---ing with his brain, please." said Griffin.

"Just a little bit of smelling salts, Henry," said Mina. "But let's get him to his quarters first."

They moved the Colonel to his quarters and tied him securely to his chair. Jekyll brought him around for the gruelling interrogation: the layout of the base, any potential traps, the whereabouts of Tesla and his notes, and so forth. The group made themselves at home, sipping tea while the Colonel took questions from them all.

It was all amazingly straightforward. No traps. Nothing sinister. Tesla was simply gone, one day. His notes were in the underground laboratories, still. The group started to get the unmistakable queasy feeling that they'd just slaughtered a whole lot of relatively innocent men. 

At long last, it was over. "Anyone else have any questions before we knock the Colonel out again?" West asked.

The was silence for a moment, then the Colonel spoke up, his voice wavering just a bit. 

"Well, yes," said the Colonel. "I have some questions. How about you let me go? Who the hell are you? Hell, here's a simple question: How about a spot of tea for me?"

West turned, taking a cup from Dr. Jekyll and handing it to him with a grim smile.

"Colonel, enjoy your sedative laden tea."


----------



## Wulf Ratbane

*Scene Three: The Great Train Escape*

With the unconscious Colonel in tow, they raced back to town. West’s Pullman was waiting for them—but not as ready as he’d hoped. They’d gotten his car through the switching yard ok, but they’d hooked him up with a load of freight heading back east.

“Why isn’t my Pullman at the rear of the train?”

“Well, sir,” the yardman spit, “I didn’t figure yer wanted to be _behind_ that one…” He jerked his thumb over his shoulder at the car full of fattened hogs.

“No time to argue, anyway…” Mina said. “We’ve got to get out of here.” She hustled past the men with the Colonel, a coat draped over his head to conceal his identity. 

“Yer friend there gonna be all right?”

“He’ll be fine, fainting spell… ahh….” Dr. Jekyll quickly boarded the car.

“Don’t look to good yerself,” the yardman mumbled.

West took one final look at the train before boarding. Engine. Coal car. Pullman. Lumber. Swine. A line of boxcars and flatbeds trailed off behind.

“All aboard… Let’s get the hell out of here…”

The train gained steam and chugged east, and the group chatted peacefully for about an hour. Mina watched the landscape of the American west sliding by.

“Oh my,” she said. “Are you aware that there’s a man riding alongside the train?’

West dashed to the window. Riding full-tilt alongside the train was a grim-faced, weather-worn man. His lapels flapped in wind but West could see his badge.

“Is that the law?” Quartermain asked.

“Worse,” said West. “He’s Pinkerton.”

“THE Pinkerton?” Quartermain had heard the name before. Detective. Bounty hunter. Take your pick.

“Well, no, at least I don’t think so. But he’s FROM Pinkerton.”

The Pinkerton agent spotted the crowd gathered at the window and hollered over the sound of pounding hoofs. 

“Give up the Colonel!” he demanded.

“Can’t do that!” West shouted back.

Pinkerton’s man drew iron and put a shot through the window of the Pullman car.

“The hell with that!” shouted Quartermain. He pulled his hunting rifle down from the luggage rack and began loading.

“Oh, no…” whined Jekyll.

“It’s all right, Henry,” Mina assured him. “We’ve got to defend ourselves!”

“No, look!” Henry insisted. He pointed out his window on the other side of the train. There was a small posse riding along the other side, trying to draw close enough to board the train.

“Well, I guess we know where this is going,” said Griffin. He started stripping off his clothes.

Mina wasn’t happy to see that the train was surrounded, but she was more concerned with what she saw ahead of them: a thick plume of black smoke.

She quickly grabbed Dr. Jekyll. “Come with me, Henry… Get away from the window, it’s not safe…”

She led Jekyll away, but leaned in close to West to whisper in his ear.

“Is there a trestle ahead, by any chance?”

West’s eyes lit up: they’d lose their pursuers there. “Yes! There’s a trestle!”

“Well, not anymore,” Mina hissed. She moved on with Henry, desperate to keep his nerves under control. The last thing they needed right now was a visit from Edward Hyde.

Nemo ran ahead a bit where he could safely get a clear look. He pulled a gold spyglass from inside his jacket and scanned ahead. 

Clearly, there’d been some attempt at sabotage, but the trestle was only damaged. Still, it didn’t require his amazing analytical skills to realize that the trestle would never hold the weight of the entire train, freight and all; frankly, without a better look, he didn’t trust it to hold so much as the engine. He ran back to the Pullman and threw open his traveling chest. “Better be in here somewhere… Yes!”

Nemo came up with a small explosive charge and grabbed Quartermain. “We don’t have long to make this work. Do you think you can get to the front and pull the joining pin to the engine?”

“Are you mad? Do I look like I’m strong enough to de-couple the whole damn train?”

“Well, you’d bloody well find the strength somehow! We’ve got to get out from under steam. I’ll place this charge behind us to blow the trailing cars; that will lighten the load up front. The freight should slow of its own accord, and we’ll be able to break our own momentum easier without the engine.”

“This is insane,” Quartermain yelled. “Let me just shoot somebody.” He pushed past Nemo to the back of the car.

“What’s going on?” asked Jekyll. Nervous beads of sweat were starting to appear on his forehead. His eyes flicked from Nemo to Quartermain as he struggled to put together the whole picture. 

“Nothing, Henry, nothing stressful…” Mina caressed his brow.

Nemo put his hand on Quartermain’s chest. “Get out, clamber over the coal car…”

“Sure, I’ll just scamper right over it, it’s not as if I’m an old man or anything…”

“…Over the coal car to the engine. Warn the engineer. We’ll handle the coupling back here with this.” He slapped his demolition charge down on the coupling behind the Pullman.

“Wh…What’s that?” Henry asked.

“Nothing stressful going on!” they all shouted.

The posse’s patience had worn out, and shots started to shatter the windows. Henry Jekyll cowered on the floor under Mina’s protective arm.

“Okay, I’m going!” Quartermain yelled. He sprinted for the front of the train and was gone.

Nemo called after him. “Remember! Don’t try to pull the pin until you hear the explosion!”

“EXPLOSION!?” yelled Henry. He struggled to stand. “EXPLOSION?”

Mina and Nemo were flung aside as Henry heaved upwards—all nine feet of him.

“F*CK THIS!” Edward bellowed. He reached down and yoinked the pin. Nemo groaned as the freight cars immediately slid away, his demolition charge still attached to the coupling.

_My sentiments exactly,_ thought Griffin. He’d had enough of the League as well—and to prove his point, he threw his naked body off the train at 30 miles per hour. A puff of dust, followed by a thunderhead of pain-induced profanity was all that belied his actions.

The engine, the Pullman, the posse, the freight, all screeched by as Griffin staggered to his feet, bloodied and bruised, but alive. 

“I wonder if the old man will pull that pin after all?” he wondered aloud. “This, I gotta see.” 

Griffin raced off after the train.


----------



## Wulf Ratbane

*SCENE FOUR*

nt


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## Wulf Ratbane

*SCENE FIVE*

nt


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## Wulf Ratbane

*EPILOGUE*

nt


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## shilsen

It's ALIVE!!!

So when's the next update?


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## Lela

Yay, life continues.  Nice work with the former American Colonies crack.

And, for some reason, I like West already.  Perhaps he's evil?


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## Horacio

Hmmm, I like how Wulf has defined all story chapters before posting them 

And great first update, ol' Dwarf!


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## Conaill

Of course, that just means we won't notice when he actually fills them in, because editing an existing post doesn't bump up the thread.

Ahh, stealth posting! 

Thanks for the Intro, Wulf. Can't wait for the next installments! (And I even _know_ what's going to happen... )


----------



## xrpsuzi

*Elves in my computer*

Wulf, every time I try to download the character sheets, my computer locks up or I get a blank screen (tried each one a couple of times). Hate to ask, but could you sent me the PDF's (josephbrowning@exp.citymax.com)? I like the set up and I'd like to see the characters so I can follow the story better.

Looking forward to the next installment,

suzi


----------



## Horacio

Conaill said:
			
		

> *Of course, that just means we won't notice when he actually fills them in, because editing an existing post doesn't bump up the thread.
> 
> Ahh, stealth posting!
> 
> Thanks for the Intro, Wulf. Can't wait for the next installments! (And I even know what's going to happen... ) *




Somebody should bump the thread when he will post again...


----------



## Lela

Horacio said:
			
		

> *
> 
> Somebody should bump the thread when he will post again... *




I would guess that he would do what he did in Wulf's adventures.  Just post it twice.  Once in the pre-post area and once in a new post.  Seems simple enough.


----------



## Horacio

Lela said:
			
		

> *
> 
> I would guess that he would do what he did in Wulf's adventures.  Just post it twice.  Once in the pre-post area and once in a new post.  Seems simple enough. *




I know, I was only trying to find a way to bump the thread without anybody noticing


----------



## Lela

Horacio said:
			
		

> *
> 
> I know, I was only trying to find a way to bump the thread without anybody noticing  *




Huh?  Wha?

*Trip*

"Ummp!"


----------



## Utrecht

Intersting bit of Trivia (sort of on topic)

When colorado Springs was opening up a new High School in the lat 80's they were seriously considering calling it Nikola Tesla High School. 

Unfortunately at the time, the Hair Band Tesla was big and they wanted to avoid any connection.......  score one for public ignorance.


----------



## Metus

Everybody see the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen poster?


----------



## Horacio

Metus said:
			
		

> *Everybody see the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen poster? *




WOW!

The poster has sold me the movie... Even is Mina wasn't a vampire in the comic... or at least she didn't showed it... IIRC, of course...


----------



## Conaill

I saw the trailer for the movie on Sunday. Looks good! They did have Mina (I assume it was Mina...) materialze from a flock of bats in one brief scene.

Anyone have a link for the trailer?


----------



## Skade

Why do you says she's a vampire from the poster?  I don't see any fangs...is it the cleavage?  You mean a woman cant be dressed provactivly unless she's a vampire in your eyes?   i'm shocked Horacio, just shocked.  

/kidding
You think if this was a Dragon cover anyone would be upset?


----------



## Horacio

Skade said:
			
		

> *Why do you says she's a vampire from the poster?  I don't see any fangs...is it the cleavage?  You mean a woman cant be dressed provactivly unless she's a vampire in your eyes?   i'm shocked Horacio, just shocked.
> *




hmmm, the cleavage would make think of a Dragon cover succubus, not a vampire... 

The fact that she has a label saying vampire over her in the poster makes me think she is a vampire...


----------



## Conaill

Skade said:
			
		

> *You mean a woman cant be dressed provactivly*




For a moment there, I thought you said "dressed _proactively_".


----------



## Skade

Horacio said:
			
		

> *
> The fact that she has a label saying vampire over her in the poster makes me think she is a vampire... *




You mean I had to READ?  Dang sneaky movie posters... 

Conail:  It could be proactivly, depending on the situation.


----------



## Conaill

And what's up with seeing the Invisible Man's face on the poster? Couldn't they just have done the classical floating hat?


----------



## xrpsuzi

*Please sir, can I have some more?*

Would now be the appropriate time to ask Wulf Ratbane for another installment?

I've already reread the comic books numerous times......

suzi


----------



## Conaill

Now now, Suzi. There's no need to rush the man. After all, he just updated, what.. three weeks ago? These things take time to write, you know? 

I have to confess here that I've been checking this thread just about every friggin day. I'm just hoping the Story Hour comes out before the movie does!


----------



## Wulf Ratbane

Nothing like the occassional bump to get the creative juices flowing...

Noted... will update this weekend, if someone keeps it near the top so I don't have to dig for it. 


Wulf


----------



## DanMcS

Horacio said:
			
		

> *The poster has sold me the movie... Even is Mina wasn't a vampire in the comic... or at least she didn't showed it... IIRC, of course... *




It was hinted.  She always wore that scarf, for instance, to hide her neck.  If you place the characters from literature, she's Mina Murray from Bram Stoker.  In the comic they say her married name was Harker, Jonathan Harker was another character in Dracula.


----------



## Spatula

The Mina Harker from literature (and the comic) is not a vampire.  She wears the scarf because she bears the scars of being bitten by Dracula.  But, you know, a strong woman isn't a good enough character for Hollywood, she's gotta be a vampire instead... Boy, does that movie look bad.


----------



## Eridanis

Jeez. If I want to find out if the SH is updated, I should try subscribing to it, first. You'd think I'd have learned these things, by now.


----------



## DanMcS

Spatula said:
			
		

> *The Mina Harker from literature (and the comic) is not a vampire.  She wears the scarf because she bears the scars of being bitten by Dracula.  But, you know, a strong woman isn't a good enough character for Hollywood, she's gotta be a vampire instead... Boy, does that movie look bad. *




In the first series of the comic, it's never revealed, though she did seem to think she could handle the psycho killer by herself until he turned into Hyde.  Apparently in the second series, she is revealed to have the bite marks as well as some supernatural powers as a result of being nearly a vamp.  But they probably didn't think "Pseudovamp who was bitten but didn't quite turn into one" would look as snappy on the poster.


----------



## Conaill

Wulf Ratbane said:
			
		

> *Noted... will update this weekend, if someone keeps it near the top so I don't have to dig for it. *




No, no, don't post yet! With my poor memory, if you wait just a _little_ longer, it'll be all fresh for me again!

Just kidding.


----------



## Lela

Conaill said:
			
		

> *
> 
> No, no, don't post yet! With my poor memory, if you wait just a little longer, it'll be all fresh for me again!
> 
> *



Well, I've honestly already forgotten most (if not all) of it.  Guess I'll have to go back and catch up.


----------



## Conaill

Lela said:
			
		

> *Well, I've honestly already forgotten most (if not all) of it.*



Yeah, but you've got an excuse... you didn't actually _play_ in it!


----------



## Nail

Lela said:
			
		

> *
> Well, I've honestly already forgotten most (if not all) of it.  Guess I'll have to go back and catch up.  *



I'm not sure I like having to go back and see if the initial post were updated....why can you just post 'em as you go, Wulf?


----------



## Silver Moon

Conaill said:
			
		

> *Yeah, but you've got an excuse... you didn't actually play in it!  *



Yeah, but my wife did (as Mina) and I have been waiting very impatiently to read the log of the game that she raved about for weeks.   (It even prompted her to start writing a Victorian England setting game for our Boot Hill campaign).  I know from personal experience how long it sometimes takes to write Story Hour chapters, and know that this one will be worth the wait, but I hope to be able to read it soon.


----------



## Wulf Ratbane

Silver Moon said:
			
		

> *
> Yeah, but my wife did (as Mina) and I have been waiting very impatiently to read the log of the game that she raved about for weeks.*




I am very glad to hear she enjoyed herself... I was worried-- I don't think she realized going in how difficult her "leadership" position would be, and how frustrating.

I think she'll gain a new perspective on how well she did (no, really!) if she gets a chance to read the graphic novel... I can't recommend that enough.

If I have a spare hour or two tonite (and I might) then I may update tonite... Nail, just for you, I will post both at the end and at the front (same format as ye olde Wulf's story hour...)

Wulf


----------



## LuYangShih

At least we have the prologue.


----------



## Silver Moon

Wulf Ratbane said:
			
		

> *I don't think she realized going in how difficult her "leadership" position would be, and how frustrating.  I think she'll gain a new perspective on how well she did (no, really!) if she gets a chance to read the graphic novel*



Well, prior to the game she had read issue #2 of the second series, so had some familiarity to the characters.   I had looked for my misplaced issues of the first series during the two weeks before the game, but Murphy's Law being what it is, didn't find them until recently.    She had a great time, and always enjoys a table of good role players.


----------



## jonrog1

Get to it, man.  And I haven't heard from you about GRIM TALES recently.  I assume you're swamped from the move and work, not just having too much fun playing your blind shaman.


----------



## Wulf Ratbane

jonrog1 said:
			
		

> *Get to it, man.  And I haven't heard from you about GRIM TALES recently.  I assume you're swamped from the move and work, not just having too much fun playing your blind shaman. *




Swamped in general... Halflings and Gnomes, some other priorities. I'm still working it slowly.

I will update this story hour TODAY. I can spare a little time, for a change.


Wulf


----------



## Wulf Ratbane

Of course, I *HAD* been hoping to catch a certain movie today...


Wulf


----------



## Wulf Ratbane

*CHAPTER ONE: LONDON TO NEW YORK*

CHAPTER ONE: LONDON TO NEW YORK

Once under way, Nemo seemed both eager and yet unusually at ease. Barking orders to his crew, he hustled off to his cargo area to begin tearing into boxes of technical equipment. 

“It’s here somewhere... You!” Nemo collared a passing sailor. “Run to the comms and tell them to scan every frequency.”

Mina crashed into the room, all hustle and bluster like a rolling wake, and the rest of the group came rolling in behind her like so much flotsam and jetsam. “What are you doing?”

“I’m going to contact Tesla.”

“How exactly do you intend to do that, from the middle of the ocean?”

“Electron pulses, modulation of amplitude, frequency... I won’t pretend you could understand my technological devices.”

“And Tesla can?” Mina asked.

Nemo stared blankly. “Assuredly. Now please... Follow me, or get out of the way, I have some modifications to make.”

West cleared his throat. “If Tesla is on the run... and I’m not saying he is... don’t you stand the risk of scaring him into deeper hiding?”

Quartermain agreed. “And if he’s met with foul play, surely they’ll be waiting for someone to contact him as well.”

The group argued back and forth for some time, unable to decide whether to contact Tesla or to simply follow the leads they already had. Eventually they agreed it was worth a try, but the conversation bogged down again immediately. They couldn’t decide _what_ they wanted to say to Tesla. What if other ears were listening, after all? Too little, or too much, either way could make matters worse. 

“Look, it doesn’t matter what we say,” barked Mina, “if you simply send it in a cipher that only Tesla will understand. We already know he uses encryption, so we’ll use a mathematical recursion, including three translations, pictographs over phonemes, and at least one ancient language with no known modern analog.”

Griffin removed his glasses and peered closely at Mina. “What the hell... Are you a spy?”

Nemo had finally made the necessary modifications to his ship’s communication array, and ultimately it was Nemo who settled on the simplest, safest message of contact. He wasn’t a man who made his decisions by committee. Not on _his_ ship.

At his command the Nautilus surfaced and he broadcast his message on the highest, rarest frequencies. He cleared his throat, pressed a button on the console, and spoke clearly into a small black grille.

*N E E D H E L P ? N E M O*

“Is he even gonna know who you are?” Griffin scoffed.

Nemo stood tall. “All true men of science know Nemo.”

“Now what?” asked Quartermain. 

“Well,” Nemo said, stroking his beard. “We’ll have to stay on the surface if we want to receive contact.”

“Won’t that slow us down?”

“Depends on the weather,” he said, “but the short answer is, of course it will. I recommend we return to the surface intermittently to check for a reply. In the meantime, I’m going to build a portable receiver that we can take with us overland. If we do receive contact, we can check back with the Nautilus at harbor and...”

“Triangulate,” Mina said. “Clever.”

---------------------

Over the next few days they surfaced periodically, repeated the message, and waited for a reply. They were not far out of New York harbor when, at last, they received contact. 

But it was not what they expected. 

Nemo’s device was meant to translate incoming energy waves into sound, but all they heard was a high pitched whistling and chirping. 

“What is that?” asked West.

The greatest scientific minds Britain had to offer were in agreement on one thing. Nemo looked at Quartermain. Quartermain looked at Jekyll. Jekyll looked nervous and twitched with every ebb and flow of the noise.

“I can tell you one thing...” he stammered. “It’s intelligent speech.”

---------------------

Soon enough, they docked at New York. There was no fanfare or grand welcome waiting for them; their dock was nearly abandoned, save for a small messenger boy who ran straightaway to West.

“Urgent telegram!” he yelled from two paces away. “Urrrrgent!”

West took the scrap of paper and pressed a coin into the boy’s hand. 

*W E S T. 
C O V E R  B L O W N. 
C O L.  M C G E E  I N  C O M M A N D. 
C A U T I O N. 
A.*

“Something’s up,” West said, handing the impertinent messenger boy another nickel to finally send him running.

“Well,” said Nemo, trundling down the gangplank with his portable scanner. “No time like the present. Let’s see who’s out there today.”

Nemo turned on his receiver. There was a moment of silence, then a loud crackle, pop, and whiff of ozone.

_Something_ appeared on the docks with them. It was vaguely man-shaped, though it seemed more a parody of mankind than any natural thing. It was hunched, mishapen, with long arms and wicked talons. Most unusual of all, it appeared to constructed entirely of crystal.

As the group stood open mouthed, it took a wide swipe at Nemo and sent him sprawling away from his receiver. 

Griffin was the first to act as his self preservation instincts took over. He chose the better part of valor and dove behind a stack of barrels on the dock.

West drew his pistol and started fanning shots into the thing’s chest, but the bullets merely glanced away from the hard carapace. Quartermain backed up and started fumbling with his own rifle, his fingers shaking, finally cracking the breach and ramming home two long, impressive looking slugs. 

“Oh my...” Jekyll squealed. Something was definitely _not right_ with Henry. “Ohhhh....”

Nemo regained his composure and his cutlass came whistling out and across the thing’s back—to no avail. But he had its attention. It clawed once at him, ripping through Nemo’s ornamental breastplate to the flesh beneath. Crimson blossomed on the captain’s chest.

The creature’s other claw smashed down heavily on Nemo’s electronic receiver and sparks raced up its arm. It seemed to slow down visibly, but it was clearly undeterred.

“It’s after the receiver!” shouted Mina. She leapt forward and pushed hard against the crystal construct. “Get off!”

“Mina, no!” Quartermain lowered his rifle and grabbed at Mina, muttering under his breath. “Stupid woman!”

“HI HO! WOT’S ALL THIS THEN? BIT OF A DUST UP?” 

Jekyll was gone—Edward Hyde stood in his place, eight or nine feet of muscle and degenerate humanity.


----------



## NiTessine

Yay! An update! I was already starting to get bored with watching the movie trailer over and over again...

Great stuff. Looks like I need to buy the comic, too.


----------



## Lela

Is Hyde the main combat guy here?  Or are you just giving him a big enterence?

Then again, since we all _know_ you play Hyde, this just may be Wulf syndrome.


----------



## Wulf Ratbane

Lela said:
			
		

> *Is Hyde the main combat guy here?  Or are you just giving him a big enterence?
> 
> Then again, since we all know you play Hyde, this just may be Wulf syndrome.  *




No, I was DM'ing this game... All of the players are folks from the boards here (plus one wife).

Jekyll/Hyde was played by John "Kip the Bold" O'Connor.

Did a fine job, too.

I wouldn't necessarily say there's just ONE combat guy. Everybody has their demons. The body count record probably belongs to Hyde, sure , but for sheer remorseless brutality, it's still a toss-up between three or four of our "heroes." 

As for the big entrance... Sure, Hyde deserves a big entrance... But honestly it's where I stopped typing when a friend called. 


Wulf


----------



## LuYangShih

Was that a voluntary or involuntary change?  Tough creature, I wonder if Hyde can take out an Iron Golem.  Especially since it appears the rest of the group cannot damage it.


----------



## Nail

LuYangShih said:
			
		

> *... Especially since it appears the rest of the group cannot damage it. *



Can't damage it yet.  You left out the "yet", right?


----------



## Horacio

*Re: CHAPTER ONE: LONDON TO NEW YORK*



			
				Wulf Ratbane said:
			
		

> *?HI HO! WOT?S ALL THIS THEN? BIT OF A DUST UP??
> 
> Jekyll was gone?Edward Hyde stood in his place, eight or nine feet of muscle and degenerate humanity. *




Wondeful, Wulf!!!

I want moooooooooooooore!


----------



## Wulf Ratbane

LuYangShih said:
			
		

> *Was that a voluntary or involuntary change?  Tough creature, I wonder if Hyde can take out an Iron Golem.  Especially since it appears the rest of the group cannot damage it. *




Now now... So far we've only had a half-assed attempt by anybody to damage it-- West wasn't shooting straight and, face it, Nemo's not really a swordsman. We'll ignore Mina flailing away at it with her widdle girlie fists.

All I'm saying is, give the _rest_ of the group time to _really_ start sucking wind, too...


Wulf


----------



## Andor

> I wouldn't necessarily say there's just ONE combat guy. Everybody has their demons. The body count record probably belongs to Hyde, sure , but for sheer remorseless brutality, it's still a toss-up between three or four of our "heroes."
> Wulf




Surely you mean in game? By the books they're all pikers compared to Nemo. I mean, Edward kills by hand, Nemo kills by the shipload.


----------



## Conaill

*Re: CHAPTER ONE: LONDON TO NEW YORK*



			
				Wulf Ratbane said:
			
		

> *Something appeared on the docks with them. It was vaguely man-shaped, though it seemed more a parody of mankind than any natural thing. It was hunched, mishapen, with long arms and wicked talons. Most unusual of all, it appeared to constructed entirely of crystal.*



Kinda like this?


----------



## Wulf Ratbane

Andor said:
			
		

> *Surely you mean in game? By the books they're all pikers compared to Nemo. I mean, Edward kills by hand, Nemo kills by the shipload. *




Yes, but unlike Edward's raging bloodlust, Nemo has the cool, professional detachment of a military man.

Well, usually. The story is just starting to percolate, let's see Nemo and the others on full boil...


Wulf


----------



## Lela

Wulf Ratbane said:
			
		

> *
> 
> Well, usually. The story is just starting to percolate, let's see Nemo and the others on full boil...
> 
> *




Yes, lets.

I'll just pop over to the next update. . .dangit.


----------



## Ancalagon

The elephant gun hasn't started blazing yet.   Nor the deck gun 

I'm realy looking forward to this.  I think I'm going to go and try to get a compilation issue or something, this comic seems interesting.

Unlike the movie where Mina has "kewl vampire powers", how did the player feel having  a rather weak combat character?  She seems a bit underpowered.

Ancalagon


----------



## Nail

Wulf Ratbane said:
			
		

> *All I'm saying is, give the rest of the group time to really start sucking wind, too...*



Like I said: "yet".


----------



## Mathew_Freeman

SUBSCRIBE!

Oh, and bump. Where's our update?


----------



## Rodrigo

*A Strong Woman*



			
				Spatula said:
			
		

> *The Mina Harker from literature (and the comic) is not a vampire.  She wears the scarf because she bears the scars of being bitten by Dracula.  But, you know, a strong woman isn't a good enough character for Hollywood, she's gotta be a vampire instead... Boy, does that movie look bad. *




Well no, a strong woman is not a good enough character for Hollywood unless you want to watch "Thelma and Louise" or "Driving Miss Daisy."  But since this is a ACTION movie based on a GRAPHIC NOVEL, I doubt that you will be seeing Oprah cast in it.

If I want a "strong female" character I can look to my wife or mother.  If I want *ss kicking goodness at the movies then give me a chesty vampiress any day of the week.


----------



## jonrog1

*Re: A Strong Woman*



			
				Rodrigo said:
			
		

> *
> 
> Well no, a strong woman is not a good enough character for Hollywood unless you want to watch "Thelma and Louise" or "Driving Miss Daisy."  But since this is a ACTION movie based on a GRAPHIC NOVEL, I doubt that you will be seeing Oprah cast in it.
> 
> If I want a "strong female" character I can look to my wife or mother.  If I want *ss kicking goodness at the movies then give me a chesty vampiress any day of the week. *




As opposed to say ... Ripley.   Boy, did that character not work as an action lead.  

As the guy who just adapted _*Queen & Country*_, I sincerely hope that attitude turns out to be incorrect.

To Spatula's lament, however, I will rise to the film-maker's defense.  Original versions of the script were much more Mina-centric.  Once Connery was cast, well ...  It's frikkin' Connery.  He's the leader, center of the poster, etc. doesn't matter who else is in the movie.  Mina without the leadership positions loses a lot of story value, so they traded in action values to balance the scales.  Sure, Hollywood never hesitates to shortchange and stereotype women when it can, but in this case it was more of a hard-assed moviemaking decision.

Of course, if movies like *How to Lose a Guy in Ten Days* and *Maid in Mahattan*, nasty little fairy tales where women only find happiness through hooking up with a guy usually through duplicitous means, stopped making $100 million at the box office changing those attitudes might be a _smidge_ easier.

I now release this hijacked thread back to its country of origin.  And hey man, my Pulp SH is over.  You're the lonly one on the boards, bud.


----------



## Silver Moon

Wulf Ratbane said:
			
		

> *No, I was DM'ing this game... All of the players are folks from the boards here (plus one wife). *



She's now on the boards too, as "kriskrafts"


----------



## Spatula

*Re: Re: A Strong Woman*



			
				jonrog1 said:
			
		

> *As the guy who just adapted Queen & Country*



Wow, I didn't even know that was being made into a movie.  I'll be looking forward to seeing that when/if it comes out.


----------



## xrpsuzi

With all the talk on this thread (no one mentioned the word bump...) I was hoping for another update.

I was thinking "What else could be more gratifying than doing your taxes, and then writing another chapter at story hour?" 

-suzi


----------



## Wulf Ratbane

*Re: A Strong Woman*



			
				Rodrigo said:
			
		

> *If I want a "strong female" character I can look to my wife or mother. *




Nothing says, "It's time to update your story hour" like an Oedipan slip of the tongue (if you'll pardon the visual...).


----------



## Rodrigo

*Re: Re: A Strong Woman*



			
				jonrog1 said:
			
		

> *
> 
> As opposed to say ... Ripley.   Boy, did that character not work as an action lead.
> 
> *




Glad to see you agree with me.  Action movies are for action.  Mina, in my opinion, was not the type of character that was particularly interesting. Nor did it seem to me that her character would translate well into an action movie with 5 other main characters.  I mean if you have read the graphic novel what things really stand out?  The invisible man in the girls school and Nemo blowing the guy away on the docs of Cairo (I think it was Cairo at least) are the things that stick out for me at least.  I am sure over time that Mina will become a more interesting character as some of her past is revealed.

But that's just my humble, $9 a ticket, movie paying opinion.  I haven't written any screenplays lately though.


----------



## jonrog1

*Re: Re: Re: A Strong Woman*



			
				Rodrigo said:
			
		

> *
> 
> Glad to see you agree with me.  Action movies are for action.  Mina, in my opinion, was not the type of character that was particularly interesting. Nor did it seem to me that her character would translate well into an action movie with 5 other main characters.  I mean if you have read the graphic novel what things really stand out?  The invisible man in the girls school and Nemo blowing the guy away on the docs of Cairo (I think it was Cairo at least) are the things that stick out for me at least.  I am sure over time that Mina will become a more interesting character as some of her past is revealed.
> 
> But that's just my humble, $9 a ticket, movie paying opinion.  I haven't written any screenplays lately though. *




Actually, I was pointing out "strong female character" and "action lead" weren't  incompatible, as I thought you were in your post.  If you go back, your post does seem to imply "strong female lead" means girlie emotional stuff and is useless in an action film, _vis a vis_ the "Oprah" comment.  My bad if I misinterpreted.  

Interestingly,  what you point out about Mina is equally as true, if not more so, about Quartermain in the series.  For the first arc Quartermain basically detoxes naked, screws up and abandons Mina to Hyde so he can get hs laudunum fix, then wanders around looking stunned and sweating when in the presence of Fu Manchu.  He has no superpowers and is barely an asset.  He's essentially frikkin' luggage.

Yet now, with Connery as Quartermain, that character is transformed into a heroic leader.  If written well, Mina could have been just as ass-kicking without superpowers, same as Quartermain.  It's the exact same writing challenge.  But, as noted, once Connery was in -- why even bother?  I'm just sad at the missed opportunity.

Oh, and the *Queen & Country* crack wasn't cutting any attitude -- your 9$ is the ultimate vote in the cinema.  I'm just hoping that a strong female lead without flashy superpowers is a viable action lead, or my damn movie ain't getting made.

And Spatula, I assume you've read both *Whiteout* comic book series?  Talk about a great female lead.   Who, incidentally, in the very first pass of the script once the book was optioned, was turned into a guy.  That's been since rectified, but ... there you go.


----------



## Conaill

Bump, damnit!


----------



## Wulf Ratbane

bump, bump, juggle...

Didn't see this bump the other day... keep it near the top and I will try to update sooner than later...


----------



## Lela

Wulf Ratbane said:
			
		

> *bump, bump, juggle...
> 
> Didn't see this bump the other day... keep it near the top and I will try to update sooner than later... *




Extortion.  I'd call p-kitty on you but, afterall, he's a pirate and is likely on your side anyway.  Drat.

And *BUMP*


----------



## handforged

please wulf, it's been a month, and I can't stand it anymore


----------



## Wulf Ratbane

“HI HO! WOT’S ALL THIS THEN? BIT OF A DUST UP?” 

Jekyll was gone-Edward Hyde stood in his place, eight or nine feet of muscle and degenerate humanity.

Edward bared a mouthful of pre-human fangs in some semblance of a grin and waded into the fight, knotted fists swinging like wrecking balls. He grabbed the crystal construct by one arm and dragged it into his gaping maw, but his other arm slid off the creature before he could get a proper grip. Consequently, his attack did little-at best he managed to chip one of his own teeth on its crystalline carapace.

Either West was pre-armed with knowledge of Jekyll’s condition, or he simply didn’t care, because he continued to fan his pistols uselessly into the monstrous melee. Quartermain also managed to get off a shot-- and yes! A slight crack appeared where the enormous 60-caliber round slammed home. But clearly, it wasn’t enough.

“We need bigger guns,” Alan mumbled.

Mina shouted to the crew of the Nautilus. “The deck guns!”

The crew stood agape, watching the spectacle, until Nemo too took up the call. “Load that harpoon!” he bellowed. He pointed to a colossal cannon-like contraption bolted to the deck. Polished-brass precision-tooled metal intertwined with colorful couplings that slithered back into the recesses of the submarine. It glinted in the sunlight and might perhaps have appeared beautiful, save for the wickedly barbed harpoon the crew rammed into place. There was no mistaking the Nautilus’ deadly deck gun as a thing of beauty.

Save to Nemo, of course. 

He smiled with a father’s pride as the crew swiveled the gun into place and put the crystal construct in the crosshairs. A hiss of hydraulics presaged the onslaught and Nemo stepped aside just as the cannon boomed. The harpoon struck the construct full on, cracking it significantly, but ultimately bouncing off and falling to the dock.

Griffin had finally shed his clothes and bravely approached the construct from behind-evidenced only by a small barrel of goods that mysteriously (and somewhat ponderously) lifted itself from the dock and came crashing down on the construct’s head... to no avail.

Unfazed, the construct turned its attention to the most dangerous target it could find. Edward Hyde was soon dripping with his own blood-- a new experience, but apparently not an entirely unpleasant one. He grinned and grappled away with the construct with newfound vigor, trying once again to rend it apart.

Griffin took advantage of the moment. He scooped up several coils of cable from the fallen harpoon and looped it around the construct's neck. Hyde seemed prepared for Griffin's plan, or at the very least he was the first to respond: he pushed away from the construct with all his might. West and Quartermain opened fire again, sending it staggering back a few more steps towards the edge of the pier. 

Just as the construct seemed ready to fall over the side, it straightened and regained its balance. Thinking quickly, Griffin grabbed the rope and jumped off the pier. 

The invisible man was not slightly built. His added weight was too much-- or just enough-- and the construct toppled off the pier. It sank like a stone into the murky waters of the New York harbor.

Edward shook the blood from his eyes and smoothed down what was left of his vest and shirt. Setting his hat at a jaunty angle, he strode off into the crowd.

"WHERE CAN A FELLA FIND A BIT O' FUN AROUND HERE?"

Though some folks had been mesmerized by the fight itself, the sight of Hyde striding towards them sent them all into a panic. Griffin had climbed from the water and stood glistening like a ghost, laughing while the water dripped off his naked body and women shrieked in horror.


----------



## Nail

<staggers>

An update?

<rubs eyes, blinks twice>

By all that's (un)holy: an update!  With a deck gun!  And shrieking women!  And a beast starting up a bar-run!

Can it get any better?

......sure it can:  More updates!  (The masses are never satisfied.  We want our circuses, darn it.)


----------



## Krellic

Great stuff, written in inmitable Ratbane style!


----------



## Wulf Ratbane

Sorry the update was so short... I actually had written more but it seemed a good place to stop... 

More coming soon! (Like, sooner than a month!)


----------



## fenzer

Excellent work Wulf.  I look forward to more.


----------



## Lela

Wulf, you captrured exactly what I would expect from a driping Griffin.  There are, after all, several reasons the women are screaming.  And--sorry Mr. Hyde--Griffin is two of them.


----------



## Wulf Ratbane

Lela said:
			
		

> *Wulf, you captrured exactly what I would expect from a driping Griffin.  There are, after all, several reasons the women are screaming.  And--sorry Mr. Hyde--Griffin is two of them. *




Don't thank me, thank Davelozzi. I believe his exact words were, "I get out of the water and stand there looking cool while the water drips off me."

Wulf


----------



## Maldur

Great stuff!

I so love this genre (fantasy victorian ). 
Keep it commin, plz .


----------



## Mathew_Freeman

Wulf Ratbane said:
			
		

> *
> 
> Don't thank me, thank Davelozzi. I believe his exact words were, "I get out of the water and stand there looking cool while the water drips off me."
> 
> Wulf *


----------



## Plane Sailing

Still readin'


----------



## Lela

Wulf Ratbane said:
			
		

> *
> 
> Don't thank me, thank Davelozzi. I believe his exact words were, "I get out of the water and stand there looking cool while the water drips off me."
> 
> Wulf *




Thanks Davelozzi.


----------



## xrpsuzi

Enjoyable as always....

-suzi


----------



## Conaill

Ah, and soooo much more to come!  I think this was only the first 1/2 hour of the game or so...

Nice writing, Wulf. Now please give us some more! 

I'm always amazed at people who can remember a game session months later. How many notes did you take for this? I noticed you scribbling some stuff down during the game, but I assume you wrote down more details afterwards? Or is your brain simply _that_ amazing?


----------



## Wulf Ratbane

Conaill said:
			
		

> *I'm always amazed at people who can remember a game session months later. How many notes did you take for this? I noticed you scribbling some stuff down during the game, but I assume you wrote down more details afterwards? Or is your brain simply that amazing?  *




I'd put it at "well-trained." I did 40K battle reports for my "other" hobby (www.batreps.com) for a few years. Just a few keywords ("push construct into water") is sufficient to remind me of most of what happened. 

I wrote down a lot of quotes verbatim, though.

I kept my notes seperated scene by scene. Not sure how well my memory will hold up when it comes to that bit with the train... I was keeping track of a lot of details as DM with very little time for auxillary note taking!

Of course, now that you mention it: If you're suggesting that your memory can't match mine-- how do you know I _really_ got all the details right?

Wulf


----------



## Conaill

Just based on how little I remember of my _own_ character's actions. For example, I had totally forgotten that Nemo actually tried the harpoon gun on that crystal construct. Reading your description made me go "oh yeaaah...  that sounds right".

Go Nemo! Can't wait to hear what I did next!  


Let us know if you need some more details on a scene though. I _might_ be able to scrape up something useful from the depths of that cesspool I call my memory. Ya never know...


----------



## Nail

Conaill said:
			
		

> *Go Nemo! Can't wait to hear what I did next!  *



You and me both......


----------



## Conaill

More! More!


----------



## Conaill

Ahem, let me try that again...

MORE! MORE!


----------



## Thomas Hobbes

Sorry, what was that again?  I missed it.


----------



## Wulf Ratbane

You caught me at the keyboard... with time to spare...

Let's see what happens!


----------



## Wulf Ratbane

*UPDATE 5/27*

Edward shook the blood from his eyes and smoothed down what was left of his vest and shirt. Setting his hat at a jaunty angle, he strode off into the crowd.

"WHERE CAN A FELLA FIND A BIT O' FUN AROUND HERE?"

Though some folks had been mesmerized by the fight itself, the sight of Hyde striding towards them sent them all into a panic. Griffin had climbed from the water and stood glistening like a ghost, laughing while the water dripped off his naked body and women shrieked in horror.

Only then did the rest of the League realize the mayhem around them. Mina rushed to soothe Edward while West moved to intercept the policemen finally arriving on the scene. His holstered guns were still smoking, but it was his federal badge and suave smile, flashing in the sunlight, that caught their attention.

"Nothing to see here," he crooned. Behind his back, he waved Mina past, and she hustled off after Edward.

Mina hustled a few paces for every one of Edward's, but she caught him quickly enough. "Edward!" she cried. Edward rounded on her with a growl, and she quickly lowered the finger she'd been wagging in his face. Instead, she placed her smooth hands, palms down, on Edward's broad chest. Just enough to hold him back.

"Come back, Edward. Plenty of time for fun later. Let's you and I get something to eat first." She motioned him back to the Nautilus. Edward shrugged, and by the time they walked back to the docks, Mina was arm in arm with Dr. Henry Jekyll.

-----

Gathered in the Nautilus, the group looked out of the huge, bowl-like belly port-hole at the construct. It was standing there, destroying Nemo's portable scanner which had sunk to nearly the same spot. Over and over, the creature thrashed away at the equipment. It was beyond destroyed, but it did not cease.

"Net that thing!" Nemo ordered. Within moments, a huge net drifted down over the construct. It flailed its claws at the net, severed a few strands, but was soon hopelessly entangled. Soon, it stopped moving entirely.

Nemo rang his communications officer. "Can we listen to it out there?"

"Aye, cap'n." They watched as an insect-like boom entered their view and slowly approached the creature.

Sure enough, there was the high-pitched chittering noise they'd heard before.

"Tune in the scanner and pipe it down here, too," Nemo said. 

The scanner was silent for a few moments while the creature chittered away. Quartermain listened, deep in thought. "I... Gentlemen, I believe this creature is... Atlantean. It should have come to me sooner..."

"Atlantean?" said Griffin. "Great, he can f'in walk home."

Abruptly, the scanner came to life. There was a brief exchange; a high-pitched whistle; and the construct exploded into a million glittering motes of crystal.

"Assemble a crew to retrieve those materials-- all of my equipment, and especially any bits of crystal you can find." 

Several crewmembers in bulky diving suits crept slowly through the murk and began collecting Nemo's samples. Nearly everyone looked on in eager anticipation, save for Mina and West. 

"This is a dead-end, here," complained West. "I'll have your portable laboratory transferred to my train and you can study it further on the way to Colorado Springs."

"Aye," said Nemo. "I'm eager to see this train of yours, as well. I have heard... stories."

West grinned, taking Mina by the hand and leading her to the upper decks. "I think you'll all be impressed."

"I very much doubt it," grunted Quartermain.


SCENE TWO: COLORADO SPRINGS

West's train was actually just a single rail car-- but what a car it was. Luxurious accomodations on one end, laboratories and workspace on the other, and hidden gadgets throughout. His car was coupled to the back of a freight train, just a few cars ahead of the caboose.

The group traveled by rail nonstop to Colorado Springs, and from there they took horses into the rugged mountain country to approach the base. The base was in a flat depression between two peaks, and heavily wooded save for an area directly around the base itself. The trees there were flattened-- not splintered or broken, but flattened down against the ground in a swirled pattern, like a child's hand might smooth down the grass-- if the child had the size and strength of a titan, that is. The flattened area had to be several acres across, and in the center stood a tall Tesla coil. The coil stood dormant, surrounded by several smaller outbuildings.

Expecting trouble, they had approached by night, leaving their horses behind and walking the last couple of miles just to the side of the beaten trail that headed back to town. They could see a light burning in only one of the buildings-- the guardhouse. And it was occupied. 

They watched and waited for a while, long enough to spot another guard ride by the guardhouse on horseback. He waved to someone inside and continued his ride around the perimeter of the base.

"I got this," said Griffin, already removing his robe and other scant clothing. "Piece of cake."

"Quietly, Griffin!" said Quartermain.

"And don't KILL anyone," said Mina.

There was no reply. Either Griffin was ignoring her, or he was already gone.

"Do we really want to leave him alone with all of Tesla's inventions?" asked Nemo.

"As long as he's invisible," West said, "he doesn't have pockets."


----------



## Conaill

*Re: UPDATE 5/27*



			
				Wulf Ratbane said:
			
		

> *"And don't KILL anyone," said Mina.*



Heh. Heheh. Heheheheh... 

Thanks for the lightning response, Wulf! Great writing as always.

Now let's see if I can get this to work again:

MORE! MORE!


----------



## Lela

Thanks Wulf.


----------



## Mathew_Freeman

> All long as he's invisible, he doesn't have pockets.




Great line! Thanks, Wulf!


----------



## Wulf Ratbane

Tallarn said:
			
		

> *Great line! Thanks, Wulf! *




Not my line! (Wish it was...) Thank the players! 

This would be a lot easier if you guys didn't just pop in and say, "Great!" or "More!" or just "BUMP."

Where's the discussion? 

 


Wulf


----------



## Conaill

Ya want discussion? I'll give ya discussion!

I always thought it was a bit strange that Mina could control Hyde so easily. Is that true to the books (yeah I know, _still_ haven't gotten around to reading them...), or was this just for the convenience of the game?

I loved your "sets" by the way. The battle on the pier, the spirally flattened trees around Tesla's lab. Always helps to have a cool visual to get "into the moment".


----------



## Speaks With Stone

In the books Mina has strong influence over Hyde because Hyde senses that she is the only one who does not abhor/detest him.  I forget how it was worded, but she's the only one who doesn't see him as a total monster.  She has seen something worse than him (i.e. dracula).


----------



## Wulf Ratbane

Speaks With Stone said:
			
		

> *In the books Mina has strong influence over Hyde because Hyde senses that she is the only one who does not abhor/detest him.*




Sure, it could be that.

Or it could be that Hyde likes a fine piece of ass as much as the next subhuman monster.

Wulf


----------



## Wulf Ratbane

Conaill said:
			
		

> *I always thought it was a bit strange that Mina could control Hyde so easily... was this just for the convenience of the game?*




I wasn't strictly enforcing Hyde's beserk rage, yet. That was the main thing. Mina's player said she wanted to stop him, Hyde's player said, "OK," and that was that.



> *I loved your "sets" by the way. The battle on the pier, the spirally flattened trees around Tesla's lab. Always helps to have a cool visual to get "into the moment". *




Thanks. A little tip I think I picked up from jonrog's story hour. It helps a lot just to keep the game structured when you are talking about (a) serial/pulp style games like this and (b) with 4-6 hour game day "slot" format.

Wulf


----------



## Conaill

Wulf Ratbane said:
			
		

> *Or it could be that Hyde likes a fine piece of ass as much as the next subhuman monster.*



"... by the time they walked back to the docks, Mina was arm in arm with Dr. Henry Jekyll" ... smoking a cigarette and wearing a big grin on her face?


----------



## GruTheWanderer

Hi Wulf.  Great story so far.  I haven't read the comics yet, although they are in the shopping cart at Amazon.  I'm really looking forward to the movie (it will be called "The League" here in Japan).

Did Hyde's player voluntarily change in the fight with the crystal creature, or did he make an effort to pursue his secondary goals?


----------



## Wulf Ratbane

GruTheWanderer said:
			
		

> *Did Hyde's player voluntarily change in the fight with the crystal creature, or did he make an effort to pursue his secondary goals? *




I am not 100% sure. I think he made an honest effort. My notes on later scenes generally mention specific stressful incidents that caused his change.

If I ruled at the time that the sudden appearance of an otherworldly construct was sufficiently stressful, I wouldn't regret it in hindsight...


Wulf


----------



## Speaks With Stone

Wulf Ratbane said:
			
		

> *
> 
> Sure, it could be that.
> 
> Or it could be that Hyde likes a fine piece of ass as much as the next subhuman monster.
> 
> Wulf *





Apparently, you have not read the most recent comic - Hyde's preference does not run that way.


----------



## Wulf Ratbane

Someone else can post the obvious rebuttal.


----------



## Conaill

Yeah, please do... It's not that obvious to the rest of us.


----------



## Black Omega

So far so good, I'd say.  

I'm not sure about Mina and Jekyll, in the book the one time he takes her by surprise, he overpowers her pretty easily.  But after that he tends to be more agreeable.  The one time he seems to want to do something else and Mina's being demanding, they have a three panel stare down before Hyde decides to do what she wants.  The why of it is never addressed.  Though if Mina is a vampire, that would explain it.  Mina has certainly seen worse, though.  Dracula made Hyde look like a naughty school boy.  Late in the book Mina does comment that Hyde's can be persuaded, Nemo's worse then him.

Honestly, I'd say using James West is a better choice than Tom Sawyer, West isn't quite as iconic as the others, but his adventures have more the same feel.

Tesla and Atlanteans, now this could get interesting.  I wonder if one of Tesla's Experiments went a little wrong and they decided he was a threat.  I know Tesla has been blamed for the Explosion in Siberian in 1905, imagine if he acceidently set something off in Atlantis.



> "Do we really want to leave him alone with all of Tesla's inventions?" asked Nemo.
> 
> "As long as he's invisible," West said, "he doesn't have pockets."




Why do I see him walking out in the uniform of the poor guard...


----------



## Conaill

Coming up: the Great Guard Debacle!

Just a little teaser.  For those of you who haven't been keeping track, we only *just* got started on Scene 2, out of 5 (plus pro- and epilogue). Lots more pulpy goodness to come.

*LOEG - 100% Story Juice, now with extra Pulp!*


----------



## Wulf Ratbane

*SCENE TWO: THE COLORADO SPRINGS MASSACRE*

Griffin ran around the perimeter of the compound, staying close to the treeline, and eventually took up a position on a fallen log. From there, he was confident he could ambush the approaching rider. He grabbed a stout branch and held it ready, crouching low to the log.

Soon enough the doomed rider came past. Griffin held still and quiet, and just as the horse stopped and snorted, he swung his makeshift club at the rider’s nose. The guard swooned backwards in his saddle, then started fumbling for his pistol. 

"Help!" The guard managed to clear his holster and fire a warning shot.

"F---," said Griffin. 

"F---," said his comrades, back at the entrance to the camp.

To his credit, the guard took aim at Griffin’s club. Before he could fire, Griffin tossed it away, laughing. 

"What are you gonna do now?" said Griffin, his voice suddenly coming from just behind the guard’s shoulder. "I'll tell ya: You’re gonna die…"

Griffin clubbed the guard with both fists, hard across the back of his neck, and hauled his limp body off the horse. The horse bolted off into the trees.

Griffin thought for a moment about pursuing the horse, but the sounds of stirring in the camp soon set him back into action.

"Let me just get the goods off this corpse…" he muttered to himself.

The guard let out a slow, ragged, breath. Not quite dead yet.

Annoyed, Griffin pulled the guard’s knife out of his belt-- and _made_ him a corpse.

He grabbed the pistol and set off at a low, loping pace for the compound.

-----

The rest of the group wasn’t about to sit idle, not while they had their own chance to throw their ill-formed plans even deeper into the crapper.

"Wait here!" West pulled out his badge and marched into the camp like he owned the place. 

"Intruders!" he yelled at the guard emerging from the guardhouse. "You’ve got intruders in the camp."

That was true enough, and the guard had no difficulty believing it. "What do we do?"

"You got weapons in this place?" 

The guard nodded, eager to comply and be commanded. "Yeah, we lock em up in the storehouse at night. I got the key."

"Well, let’s go then!"

West tailed the guard out of the guardhouse and into the midst of the compound. They passed a long, low building ("Barracks," West thought to himself, "doors at both ends…") and turned the corner to find a smaller building. The guard fumbled with the key only a moment before throwing the door open and stepping aside for West. 

West peeked in. It was a small shed, filled with barrels and racks of rifles. It was close to the barracks, too—only five feet from the other door of the barracks. 

"Help me out here a second," he said, entering the building. The guard followed him in.

"Who are the intruders?" he asked.

"Ahh…" West said. Before he knew it, his bluff was unraveling. 

The guard looked suspicious for just a moment—then looked past West, his eyes widening in surprise. 

A rifle lifted itself off the rack and buried itself, bayonet first, in his gut. He dropped to his knees and screamed. The bayonet twisted and pulled free.

"The intruder!" West yelled, pulling his gun and firing a shot wide of the rifle.  

"Help!" the guard yelled. He fumbled his own gun into place and fired his own wild shot.

The floating rifle laughed, and it was soon joined by a floating bullet. The rifle opened its breech, and the bullet floated in. The breech complied, twisted, and slammed shut. The guard’s last thought, as the rifle planted itself against his forehead, was that the rifle and that scheming bullet were clearly in this together.

And Griffin blew his brains out the back of his head. 

"Great!" yelled West. "Just great!"

The rifle dropped to the ground. 

"You’re the only one in here," said Griffin, still chuckling. "Let’s see you bluff your way out of this one…"

"Son of a bitch!" West slammed the door shut. "Help me out here, Griffin!"

There was no reply. "You bastard!" West struggled to move one of the barrels against the door, decided it was probably gunpowder, and quickly abandoned _that_ plan.

"Griffin, you bastard…" he muttered.

"The bastard’s still here," Griffin said. A rifle floated off the rack, loaded itself, and lay down across one of the barrels at the back of the small room. "Why don’t you give me a hand here and load some of these guns? We’re gonna need them in about… 6 seconds."

"Mina said not to kill anybody…"

"Uh huh."

There seemed to be a whole lot of shouting going on outside. West checked his pistols, and started loading rifles. 

-----

After the second gunshot, the rest of the group pretty much gave up on any hope of salvaging what should have been a simple infiltration. Nemo sighed and unwrapped the bundle he’d been carrying. Jekyll couldn’t tell what it was, but from the way Nemo was brandishing the thing, it was clear which was the unpleasant end. Nemo sighted down an array of barrels and checked that each had a miniature harpoon loaded and peeking out.

"Ohh, dear Lord," said Jekyll.

"Easy Henry…" said Mina. "Everything’s gonna be ok…"

_"I *hope* everything’s gonna be ok,"_ she thought. She looked over at Quartermain, who had his own elephant gun loaded and ready. "Just don’t… look, don’t kill anybody innocent."

Quartermain looked at Nemo. Nemo looked at Quartermain. They both looked at Mina and nodded. 

Then they ran into the compound, guns at the ready.

-----

West and Griffin had loaded just a few of the rifles when they heard the key turn in the lock. 

On the outside.

They were trapped, but West wasn’t about to approach the door. From behind a barricade of powder kegs, he strained to hear the conversation outside. 

"… got all the rifles…"

"Colonel’s comin’..."

-----

Quartermain headed left around the guard house. Most of the guards were either looking or exiting through the rear of the barracks, away from him. He crept forward at his first chance, tossed his gun onto the roof, and pulled himself up.

He peeked over the top:

The guards had someone locked in the guardhouse.

Mina was running flat out into the compound, yelling, "Don’t kill anyone! Don’t kill anyone!"

Jekyll was running after Mina’s skirts.

Nemo had stopped to look into the guard house and, satisfied that no threat was at their backs, was now walking slowly around the right side. Nobody seemed to see him—yet.

And there was the Colonel, no doubt, with two shotgun toting guards just behind him.

"What in the hell is going on!?" the Colonel bellowed.

His guards brandished their shotguns: One pointed directly at Mina. One pointed directly at Dr. Henry Jekyll. 

Mina, to her credit, was as cool as ever.

Henry was staring down double barrels of death.


----------



## Wulf Ratbane

There's a thin line between debacle and massacre...


----------



## Conaill

Griffin: "I loot the corpse."
Wulf: "Who says he's dead? He's still breathing."
Griffin: "Fine. First, I _make_ him a corpse. _Then_ I loot the corpse."

 Classical Griffin moment, that one!

I remember watching this trainwreck of a plan with rising sense of bewilderment. Then I just went "What the heck, Nemo unwraps his machine gun." Sometimes ya just gotta roll with it.


----------



## MTR

Even good players sometimes end up looking like newbies.  Wulf, I bet even you were wincing as the "plan" unfolded.


----------



## Black Omega

*Re: SCENE TWO: THE COLORADO SPRINGS MASSACRE*



			
				Wulf Ratbane said:
			
		

> *His guards brandished their shotguns: One pointed directly at Mina. One pointed directly at Dr. Henry Jekyll.
> 
> Mina, to her credit, was as cool as ever.
> 
> Henry was staring down double barrels of death. *




And Edward Hyde is not bulletproof, so hopefully if he changes there is a round of staring in shock

Good chaos from the Invisible Man though.  Nemo's my favorite so far.


----------



## Black Omega

MTR said:
			
		

> *Even good players sometimes end up looking like newbies.  Wulf, I bet even you were wincing as the "plan" unfolded. *




The plan worked about as well as some from the comic book, they seem to be on the right track.


----------



## Wulf Ratbane

*Re: Re: SCENE TWO: THE COLORADO SPRINGS MASSACRE*



			
				Black Omega said:
			
		

> *Good chaos from the Invisible Man though.  Nemo's my favorite so far. *




I can't recall if Davelozzi had even read the comics, either. It was very odd how everyone just sort of naturally fell into their roles with near perfection. 

"Let's see you bluff your way out of this one." Player quote. Killed me at the table. 

Nemo's your favorite so far? Wait'll I unload the next update on ya...

Wulf


----------



## Conaill

*Re: Re: Re: SCENE TWO: THE COLORADO SPRINGS MASSACRE*



			
				Wulf Ratbane said:
			
		

> *Nemo's your favorite so far? Wait'll I unload the next update on ya...*



Ok, we're waiting! 

Personally, I'd have to say my overall favorite is definitely Griffin aka the Invisible Man. I may have had a few ingenious moments with Nemo (wait till we get back to West's train!), but nothing to match Griffin's seemingly innate ability to create mayhem...


----------



## Galfridus

Figures...even an invisible character can't successfully sneak into camp in a Wulf game. Might as well just go straight fighter...


----------



## Nail

Galfridus said:
			
		

> *Figures...even an invisible character can't successfully sneak into camp in a Wulf game. Might as well just go straight fighter... *



Because, of course, the _invisible man_ wouldn't bother to just *walk right on in*.  Oh no.  That's way too complicated to pull off.

I'm not convinced the GM had any part in this debacle so far......


----------



## Conaill

Well, what's the point of being invisible if you can't go around killing random guards, right? Right... ? 

When Griffin takes that trenchcoat off, Mr. Hyde seems like an upstanding member of society with a strict code of ethics in comparison. (Hyde just tends to be a little noisier and messier.)


----------



## Nail

Conaill said:
			
		

> *Well, what's the point of being invisible if you can't go around killing random guards, right? Right... ? *




Oh, I ... couldn't agree more!

Err, wait.  I can think of some other "points" to being invisible.


----------



## Lela

*Re: Re: Re: SCENE TWO: THE COLORADO SPRINGS MASSACRE*



			
				Wulf Ratbane said:
			
		

> *
> 
> I can't recall if Davelozzi had even read the comics, either. It was very odd how everyone just sort of naturally fell into their roles with near perfection.
> 
> "Let's see you bluff your way out of this one." Player quote. Killed me at the table.
> 
> Nemo's your favorite so far? Wait'll I unload the next update on ya...
> 
> Wulf *




But "_I want it now!_"

*Cue the Oompa Loompas*


----------



## Wulf Ratbane

Galfridus said:
			
		

> *Figures...even an invisible character can't successfully sneak into camp in a Wulf game. Might as well just go straight fighter... *




Heh... True enough. He didn't have a lot of luck with his +3d6 sneak attack, even though he pretty much got it on _every_ attack. Everyone at the table was very surprised that he couldn't drop that guard in one shot. Poor, doomed bastard...

Wulf


----------



## Eridanis

Galfridus said:
			
		

> *Figures...even an invisible character can't successfully sneak into camp in a Wulf game. Might as well just go straight fighter... *



No doubt Dinkeldog is quietly smiling in front of his keyboard at that comment.


----------



## Silver Moon

Favorite votes for Nemo and Griffin, okay, but I'm still voting for Mina as my favorite.   Yeah, I know I'm biased, but she was always my favorite in the comic book too.



Although I will admit, Nemo's player did look kind-of-cool walking around the house with the towel wrapped around his head.


----------



## Wulf Ratbane

Hmm... Well, if I have time to update tonite-- and I might!-- I am betting we get a couple votes for Hyde...


Wulf


----------



## Wulf Ratbane

*SCENE TWO: COLORADO SPRINGS*

Mina slowly edged away from Jekyll, away from the back entrance to the barracks, away from the weapons shed, but most especially, away from the Colonel and his henchmen. She was about halfway back along the edge of the barracks when Henry finally lost it.

"Please... please, don't point those guns at me. I don't like to be threatened..."

"Shut it!" one of the guards yelled. "The Colonel's askin' the questions here!"

"I said... I said... I DON'T LIKE TO BE THREATENED, YOU PUNY F---!"

The guards opened fire on Edward just as he finished his transformation. Even at relatively close range, and with shotguns, their shots weren't terribly accurate-- and understandably so. Henry Jekyll had suddenly changed into a gigantic, raging proto-primate. His huge, gorilla-like arms, tipped in massive claws, lunged for them. One shot went wide; one shot grazed Edward but did little other than to annoy him. He grabbed one of the unfortunate guards, hauled him into his embrace, and pulled his arms off with all the ease and sadistic glee of a child pulling the wings off a fly. 

"SHOOT ME AGAIN, MOTHER F-----! GRRRAAAAAAAUUUUGH!"

The other guard didn't have a chance to comply with Edward's request. Quartermain opened fire, blowing the poor fellow's arm off at the shoulder. He turned to run, still in shock, but Nemo stepped forward, and his dark face was like the grim countenance of Death himself. He opened fire with his massive machine-pistol and turned the man into hamburger. 

To their credit, the brave men of the U.S. Army rallied to the occasion, rallied around their Colonel. They pulled every makeshift weapon they had on hand-- boot knives and bayonets, broken broomsticks and bedposts-- and piled out of the barracks as fast as they could. Several ran for the front, a few more started piling out of the windows, and some unlucky few barreled out of the rear entrance to the barracks, in the dark alley beside the weapons shed-- where Edward waited. 

He took them one at a time and killed them with wild abandon, laughing all the while.

They piled out in thicker numbers, pushing from the back, desperate to get to the melee-- unaware that they rushed like lemmings to their doom. They heard the cries of their comrades, begging for help. 

Begging for mercy.

Hyde killed them two at a time. His massive jaws ripped the top off one man's skull, and Edward slurped the contents like a melon, spewing blood and gore over himself and the man locked in his grip. Edward tore him apart, too, and flung the remaining gobbets in several directions.

He killed them three at a time, even as they piled up around him, flanking him, plunging their weapons into his flesh. Edward flailed around him, using a ragged limb-- an arm? a leg? who could tell, now?-- as a makeshift club. The more brutal, the more gory the brawl, the more Edward seemed to enjoy it. He scarcely noticed that he was slowly dying. Certainly, Henry Jekyll would have been dead many times over.

West's pistols barked over the sound of the melee, blowing the lock off the shed. The door flew open and West started firing across the alley, into the press of bodies framing the doorway of the barracks. Just to his left, he could see Edward looming, roaring, dripping in blood. 

Quartermain had edged down to the end of the barracks, and standing over the alleyway, he joined West in picking off soldiers. Edward didn't know it, or he didn't care, but to West and Quartermain it was clear that his situation was really pretty desperate. Eventually, the press of bodies started to thin out. West wedged himself in next to Edward and blasted away carefully with his pistols at anybody that made it inside Edward's reach. 

Meanwhile, Mina had edged down to the corner of the barracks, when she suddenly felt the cold press of sharp steel against her neck. 

"Call him off!" the soldier cried. 

"I wish I could," Mina said calmly. 

"Call him off!" A trickle of blood appeared on her neck.

"This one lives!" Mina said, looking over at Nemo. "We need a prisoner!"

Nemo's gun was trained on the soldier, but he knew there was little he could do with Mina serving as a human shield.

The guard was baffled at the bravado of the waifish woman. He had little time to suss it out-- the woman, the  dark man, the monster-- because a loose fieldstone came floating around the corner behind him, unseen, and splattered his brains out.

"Griffin, you bastard," said Mina. The whole thing was going to hell in a handbasket. 

"PLEASE!" she screamed in desperation. "Don't kill the Colonel!"

Nemo responded by opening fire on the Colonel, who had turned to run. The Colonel went tumbling down like a deer. It was a fine, long range shot by Nemo. Of course, any closer, and the Colonel would have been shredded by the tiny harpoon flechettes.

They could hear the sound of footsteps running off into the distance. 

"Be right back," said Griffin, chuckling. 

"CAN WE JUST KEEP ONE PERSON-- ONE PERSON-- ALIVE HERE?" Mina begged. Since the beginning of the encounter, her standards had slipped and slipped and slipped away. 

From his perch atop the barracks, Quartermain watched as Hyde prepared to dispatch the last of the foes around him. He paused for a moment, but his conscience got the better of him.

"Better step away, West," he said.

James West looked up into the eyes of Hyde. There was no mistaking the bloodlust there; he wasted no time backing slowly out of sight, allowing Hyde to finish off his opponents. The raging behemoth vented his anger on the huge pile of soldiers at his feet-- he'd killed a dozen, maybe two dozen, even-- before he finally collapsed. 

Nemo rushed to his side just in time to stabilize Henry Jekyll. He finished his work and helped Jekyll to his feet. They joined Mina, Quartermain, and West, standing over the Colonel. The Colonel was just coming around when West suddenly reached out and pistol whipped him into unconsciousness.

"This is unsalvageable," Mina groused. "How do you intend to explain all this? You just knocked him senseless, how do you intend to explain _that_?"

"All I know is," West reasoned, speaking slowly, "If he's unconscious, I don't have to explain NOW."

"Hmmm..." Jekyll said. "My bag... I have some drugs in my bag, special drugs... They might help us in our interrogation. Of course they might also drive him irrevocably insane... Hmm..."

"Let's question him _before_ we start f---ing with his brain, please." said Griffin.

"Just a little bit of smelling salts, Henry," said Mina. "But let's get him to his quarters first."

They moved the Colonel to his quarters and tied him securely to his chair. Jekyll brought him around for the gruelling interrogation: the layout of the base, any potential traps, the whereabouts of Tesla and his notes, and so forth. The group made themselves at home, sipping tea while the Colonel took questions from them all.

It was all amazingly straightforward. No traps. Nothing sinister. Tesla was simply gone, one day. His notes were in the underground laboratories, still. The group started to get the unmistakable queasy feeling that they'd just slaughtered a whole lot of relatively innocent men. 

At long last, it was over. "Anyone else have any questions before we knock the Colonel out again?" West asked.

The was silence for a moment, then the Colonel spoke up, his voice wavering just a bit. 

"Well, yes," said the Colonel. "I have some questions. How about you let me go? Who the hell are you? Hell, here's a simple question: How about a spot of tea for me?"

West turned, taking a cup from Dr. Jekyll and handing it to him with a grim smile.

"Colonel, enjoy your sedative laden tea."


----------



## JavaApp

*Good Lord...*



> The group started to get the unmistakable queasy feeling that they'd just slaughtered a whole lot of relatively innocent men.




Oh my God.

Well, at least there aren't any paladins in the group. Wulf, how did the players feel after that session?

JavaApp


----------



## Wulf Ratbane

*Re: Good Lord...*



			
				JavaApp said:
			
		

> *Oh my God.
> 
> Well, at least there aren't any paladins in the group. Wulf, how did the players feel after that session?*




Hmmm... Well, Mina seemed upset. 

But I chalk that up more to folks not following orders than genuine remorse. 

Keep in mind, we're talking about the LXG here... 

Wulf


----------



## JacktheRabbit

*Re: Re: Good Lord...*



			
				Wulf Ratbane said:
			
		

> *
> 
> Hmmm... Well, Mina seemed upset.
> 
> But I chalk that up more to folks not following orders than genuine remorse.
> 
> Keep in mind, we're talking about the LXG here...
> 
> Wulf *





Is this normal for the League? Personally I think they all acted like complete morons since not a single one of them had even an ounce of justification or even provocation for their actions.

They are going to of course have to kill the colonel. If he gets back to his authorities then West at the very least is going to be recalled and probably spend the rest of his days in Levonworth for his part in this mass murder of innocent American Soldiers.


----------



## Wulf Ratbane

*Re: Re: Re: Good Lord...*



			
				DocMoriartty said:
			
		

> *Is this normal for the League?*




Unfortunately, yes. These are not nice people; and the Machiavellian people behind these people are especially not nice people. 



> *They are going to of course have to kill the colonel. If he gets back to his authorities then West at the very least is going to be recalled and probably spend the rest of his days in Levonworth for his part in this mass murder of innocent American Soldiers. *




_Seemingly_ innocent, I said!

You may safely assume that the LXG, including West for the purposes of this adventure, operate well outside the bounds of conventional laws. Can't make an omelette without breaking a few eggs and all that...

Wulf


----------



## JacktheRabbit

*Re: Re: Re: Re: Good Lord...*



			
				Wulf Ratbane said:
			
		

> *
> 
> Unfortunately, yes. These are not nice people; and the Machiavellian people behind these people are especially not nice people.
> 
> 
> 
> Seemingly innocent, I said!
> 
> You may safely assume that the LXG, including West for the purposes of this adventure, operate well outside the bounds of conventional laws. Can't make an omelette without breaking a few eggs and all that...
> 
> Wulf *




Break a few eggs? 

Right now it looks more like they broke into the coop and made fried chicken of the hens.


----------



## Conaill

In our defense, once Jekyll turned and things _really_ started escalating there weren't all that many options left. Yeah, I guess we could have *tried* to take ~20 guards captive. Or we could have surrendered and gotten tried for murder. Or we could all have piled onto Hyde and blamed him for the whole thing of course... But once you start pulling the arms of a soldier in plain sight, it's kinda hard to say "Ok, let's all calm down and talk this over."  

Face it, if your moral compass is a vampire and a heroin addict, things are bound to get a little ugly...

Wulf, don't forget the part where I sprayed Hyde plus a bunch of guards with the machine pistol. _Eh, Hyde can take it..._ 

Also, I thought the "Let's question him _before_ we start f---ing with his brain" quote came somewhat later, after we had checked the rest of the compound above ground, and searched the colonel's quarters.


----------



## Wulf Ratbane

Conaill said:
			
		

> *Wulf, don't forget the part where I sprayed Hyde plus a bunch of guards with the machine pistol. Eh, Hyde can take it...
> 
> Also, I thought the "Let's question him before we start f---ing with his brain" quote came somewhat later, after we had checked the rest of the compound above ground, and searched the colonel's quarters. *




See, that's why it's nice to have you here to fill in the missed details. I knew Edward was hurting, I didn't recall that you'd done a bit of that yourself...

As for the Colonel, before, after-- little difference. There won't be much exposition involved in searching the compound. Got that massive Bruckheimer-esque _train sequence_ to get to, you know...


Wulf


----------



## Conaill

Wulf Ratbane said:
			
		

> * I knew Edward was hurting, I didn't recall that you'd done a bit of that yourself...*



I think I missed Hyde, actually. I did get two of the guards though.


----------



## Black Omega

Conaill said:
			
		

> *Face it, if your moral compass is a vampire and a heroin addict, things are bound to get a little ugly... *




LOl, so very true.

Let's see.  

Captain Nemo.  Notorious science-pirate and cold-blooded killer.  Probably had the highest bodycount in the book.  Hyde and Griffin are killers but Nemo has the technology to take it large scale when he feels it's necessary.  He's also more intelligent and focused than Hyde and Griffin, so less controllable.

The Invisible Man.  Callous criminal who seems to feel turning invisible has separated him from ther human race.  Killed a Bobby in the original book apparently because he was a bit cold and thought he would look good in the uniform.

Edward Hyde.  Primitive human who begins the book apparently preying on prostitues in Paris.  The carnage he creates is probably what would happen if the Hulk really went bezerk.  Arms pulled off, etc.

Mina is about as nice as the League gets, and she does try her best.


----------



## Conaill

Wulf Ratbane said:
			
		

> *I am betting we get a couple votes for Hyde...*



Uhm... And this part was supposed to get some votes for Hyde? 

Come on, Wulf... MORE! MORE!


----------



## Nail

Mina


----------



## Davelozzi

Well, well, well, forget to check in to story hour for a while and look what happens.  It's great to see this story in action.



			
				Lela said:
			
		

> *Thanks Davelozzi. *




You're most welcome.  Griffin was an absolute blast to play.  

And yes, I read the comic before the game, and Wulf is absolutely correct when he says that everyone seemed to slide effortlessly into their characters.


----------



## Wulf Ratbane

Davelozzi said:
			
		

> *You're most welcome.  Griffin was an absolute blast to play.  *




Sorry about your bad luck in Vol 2, Issue 5. 

Ewwwwww....


Wulf


----------



## Davelozzi

Wulf Ratbane said:
			
		

> *Sorry about your bad luck in Vol 2, Issue 5. *




Yeah, that was pretty ugly.


----------



## Conaill

<_pokes thread with a stick_>


----------



## GruTheWanderer

I finally ordered Volume 1 from Amazon.  Anxiously awaiting the movie as well.  I know they will be two very different experiences, but I have a feeling I will love them both.

Hey Wulf, I noticed a thread where you asked about Banewarrens stuff a while back.  Did you run parts or all of it?


----------



## Wulf Ratbane

GruTheWanderer said:
			
		

> *Hey Wulf, I noticed a thread where you asked about Banewarrens stuff a while back.  Did you run parts or all of it? *




I read all of it... but only ran up through Chapter 6 or so. I had to relocate and leave my gamin' group behind.  

Still, I did get to kill quite a few PCs. Got one with the giant octopus, that was fun. Just embarrassed the hell out of my most munchkin buddy. "I just got killed by friggin' calamari. That's a first..."

Course the invisible hag with the wand of lightning in the knee-deep water probably had somethin to do with it...


Wulf


----------



## GruTheWanderer

Wulf Ratbane said:
			
		

> *
> 
> I read all of it... but only ran up through Chapter 6 or so. I had to relocate and leave my gamin' group behind.
> 
> Still, I did get to kill quite a few PCs. Got one with the giant octopus, that was fun. Just embarrassed the hell out of my most munchkin buddy. "I just got killed by friggin' calamari. That's a first..."
> 
> Course the invisible hag with the wand of lightning in the knee-deep water probably had somethin to do with it...
> 
> 
> Wulf *




HeeHee!  I put her right behind the freeze trap, which promptly put the paladin out of the fight.  A half-ogre monk did a smart thing and disarmed the wand with his spiked chain.

Anyway, looking forward to more about the League.  Even though you don't have the original goal sheets, can you summarize anything you remember of the secondary goals for Mina, Griffin, West, and Quartermain?  It seems like Mina is trying to keep the peace and prevent bloodshed.  I'm not getting much of Quartermain's motives from the plot summaries so far.


----------



## Wulf Ratbane

GruTheWanderer said:
			
		

> * Even though you don't have the original goal sheets, can you summarize anything you remember of the secondary goals for Mina, Griffin, West, and Quartermain? *




Mina's was in fact to prevent the others from killing anyone.

West and Quartermain both were trying to impress and/or protect Mina. That went out the window in the first encounter for Quartermain when Mina charged the crystal golem with her purse.

At least one of Griffin's goals was to get a hold of Tesla's notes for himself-- or at least prevent anyone else from getting them. He's a prick, that Griffin.


Wulf


----------



## Welverin

Only a Wulf Ratbane story hour can have so many posts with so few updates. Just imagine how big this would be if Wulf updated regularly?

I smell an evil plot by a three legged cat.


----------



## Hammerhead

A story this good, you don't post all at once.


----------



## Wulf Ratbane

yoinked for sig...


----------



## Welverin

Hammerhead said:
			
		

> *A story this good, you don't post all at once. *




It's so good it hurts, or is that just the withdrawal?


----------



## GruTheWanderer

Just received the book today in an Amazon shipment.  I'm still at work, so I didn't have time to more than flip through it, but it looks great.  Hehe Haha.  

Poor Mina.  It doesn't look like she had much chance of preventing bloodshed (although at least she stopped Hyde on the docks).

Speaking of Griffin and Tesla's notes, what happens next, Wulf?


----------



## Wulf Ratbane

Ok, having seen the movie this past weekend, it's clear I'm going to have to bump these characters up to 12th level or so next time I run a game.

I mean, would it kill me to put a vampire template on Mina? I don't think so...

And obviously Nemo's been working out...


Wulf


----------



## Lela

Wulf Ratbane said:
			
		

> *Ok, having seen the movie this past weekend, it's clear I'm going to have to bump these characters up to 12th level or so next time I run a game.
> 
> I mean, would it kill me to put a vampire template on Mina? I don't think so...
> 
> And obviously Nemo's been working out...
> 
> 
> Wulf *




Mina rocked.

Of course, I saw the movie with the party member IMC that recently took a modified Vampire template.  As she did her main scene, I leaned over to him and said "No!"  He gave me this sad, hurt look. . .


----------



## GruTheWanderer

Wulf Ratbane said:
			
		

> *Ok, having seen the movie this past weekend, it's clear I'm going to have to bump these characters up to 12th level or so next time I run a game.*




Have finished the first volume (1-6) and am looking forward to seeing the movie during my vacation in the states later this month.


----------



## Wulf Ratbane

GruTheWanderer said:
			
		

> *Have finished the first volume (1-6) and am looking forward to seeing the movie during my vacation in the states later this month. *




Be prepared for the movie to take liberties with some of the characters-- but it's still a good time.

What did you think of Vol. I?


Wulf


----------



## GruTheWanderer

Vol. I was great.  Admittedly I haven't read any comics recently (other than some Japanese manga) but I thought the illustrations were outstanding.  The story is also fun, especially going back and reading about the allusions on http://www.geocities.com/ratmmjess/league1.html

I had some doubts about the movie after looking at Ebert's review.  I knew the movie would take liberties with the characters, but it sounds like it took huge liberties with the locations too (a car chase in Venice?).


----------



## Lela

GruTheWanderer said:
			
		

> *
> 
> I had some doubts about the movie after looking at Ebert's review.  I knew the movie would take liberties with the characters, but it sounds like it took huge liberties with the locations too (a car chase in Venice?). *




I wouldn't quite call it a car chase myself.  There was only one car innvolved.  Also, Venice wasn't a bad thing.  They just did a different story that happened to include the city.


----------



## Wulf Ratbane

Lela said:
			
		

> *They just did a different story that happened to include the city. *




Right... The movie is not an adaptation of the comic. It is a completely different plot using the same characters; which is great, because my enjoyment of the concept lies in seeing these great characters in different situations.

You know... like saving Tesla... which I probably should get back to writing, neh?


----------



## Conaill

Heh. You'd think this was a weekly game, at the rate you're trickling in these updates.

On second thought... if this was a weekly game, I guess we would have been bugging you for _last week's_ update!


----------



## GruTheWanderer

Lela said:
			
		

> *I wouldn't quite call it a car chase myself.  There was only one car innvolved.  Also, Venice wasn't a bad thing.  They just did a different story that happened to include the city. *




I understand that the story is completely different (even introducing the characters).  Ebert's beef (one of them) was that many of the things in the movie would not be possible in the real Venice, so it either requires suspension of disbelief or imagining that Venice in the world of LXG is significantly different from our world.

It appears, though, that many of the people who enjoyed the comic still had a great time at the movie.  That's the most important consideration, I think.


----------



## Conaill

Then again, if you've read the comics, you *know* that the world of LXG is significantly different from our world. In the very first comic, Mina and whatsisname are standing on a friggin bridge being built across the english channel! This is definitely a steampunk world with an exagerated technology level for its time...

This may not have been very clear for someone without much exposure to steam punk or the comics, like Ebert.


----------



## GruTheWanderer

Conaill said:
			
		

> *Then again, if you've read the comics, you *know* that the world of LXG is significantly different from our world. In the very first comic, Mina and whatsisname are standing on a friggin bridge being built across the english channel! This is definitely a steampunk world with an exagerated technology level for its time...
> 
> This may not have been very clear for someone without much exposure to steam punk or the comics, like Ebert. *




Editing myself...

Ebert's review (slight spoilers): http://www.suntimes.com/output/ebert1/wkp-news-league11f.html

On a different note, I just realize that League fan fiction might be an excellent place to go for roleplaying ideas about the League.  I haven't had a chance to look for any yet, but I bet it's out there.


----------



## Conaill

Have to admit, this one got a chuckle out of me:


> What I do mind is that the movie plays like a big wind came along and blew away the script and they ran down the street after it and grabbed a few pages and shot those.



Haven't seen the movie yet myself. Is the plot really as bad as he makes it sound?


----------



## Wulf Ratbane

Conaill said:
			
		

> *Haven't seen the movie yet myself. Is the plot really as bad as he makes it sound? *




Yes, but what with all the gunplay and fist-fights and chases and explosions and vampires and Mr. Hyde and whatnot, I didn't much notice.

My only real complaint with the plot (where it got fuzzy to me) was the revelation of the villain's motives. Everything else was just fine-- an acceptable backdrop to a lot of action...

You will get what you expect, I think.

Wulf


----------



## Black Omega

Wulf Ratbane said:
			
		

> *
> 
> Yes, but what with all the gunplay and fist-fights and chases and explosions and vampires and Mr. Hyde and whatnot, I didn't much notice.
> 
> My only real complaint with the plot (where it got fuzzy to me) was the revelation of the villain's motives. Everything else was just fine-- an acceptable backdrop to a lot of action... *



This was certainly a problem.  Too much about the villain bugged me.  From his age, given who he was.  To his weasly "If you stop me, it just means someone else will do it."  Given who the villain is this makes little sense to me.  A little explanation of why the bad guy was doing what he was doing, and why he was doing it in that way would have helped quite a bit.


----------



## GruTheWanderer

Wulf Ratbane said:
			
		

> *
> 
> Yes, but what with all the gunplay and fist-fights and chases and explosions and vampires and Mr. Hyde and whatnot, I didn't much notice.
> 
> My only real complaint with the plot (where it got fuzzy to me) was the revelation of the villain's motives. Everything else was just fine-- an acceptable backdrop to a lot of action...
> 
> You will get what you expect, I think.
> 
> Wulf *




Ok, I saw the movie and really enjoyed it.  I have to agree with Wulf that watching the characters and the action sequences covers up the holes in the plot.  It's just great to imagine the League in action in other situations.


----------



## Morrow

Wulf Ratbane said:
			
		

> *
> 
> Mina's was in fact to prevent the others from killing anyone.
> 
> West and Quartermain both were trying to impress and/or protect Mina. That went out the window in the first encounter for Quartermain when Mina charged the crystal golem with her purse.
> 
> Wulf *




Yep, Quartermain just couldn't catch a break.  When Mina got a jump on him and went toe to toe with the crystal golem any chance of achieving his character goals pretty much went out the window.  Luckily, Mina treated West with as much contempt as she treated Quartermain, so some small shred of his ego survived.

If memory serves, I was the one who suggested, "Hey, we've got an invisible guy, let him scout."  Oops.

Quartermain did barricade the door to the barracks in an effort to contain the soldiers.  Unfortunately, they were able to leave through a second exit at the opposite end of the building, charging right into Mr. Hyde's waiting arms.  

I expect that the day after Tesla was saved Quartermain went in search of the largest supply of opium he could find.  As Wulf has ably chronicled, any chance that Quartermain would pull himself together and revive his heroic career was pretty much smashed by the end of the session.

Morrow


----------



## Conaill

Then again, if you see what sort of enemy we were up against in the end, what's the death of a couple of innocents anyway?

Ok, a couple _dozen_ of innocents. 


Hm, what was Dr. Jeckyll's secondary objective anyway? (we all know what Hyde's secondary objective is... ))


----------



## Wulf Ratbane

Conaill said:
			
		

> *Hm, what was Dr. Jeckyll's secondary objective anyway? (we all know what Hyde's secondary objective is... )) *




I believe it was to provide aid and comfort to a wounded ally. He had ample opportunity for that.

I should mention, this group did better than the second group I ran through this-- an interesting group, to be sure, as I had 5 female players playing all the male PCs and Nemmerle (the lone male player) playing Mina...


Wulf


----------



## Conaill

We did _better_ than the second group? Poor sobs!


----------



## JoeCrow

> Then again, if you see what sort of enemy we were up against in the end, what's the death of a couple of innocents anyway?
> 
> Ok, a couple dozen of innocents.




Hey, _technically_ they gave their lives in defense of their country. Sorta. Ish.

They just didn't _know_ about it at the time. Besides, like I said at the time, West works directly for the President. I'm pretty sure he can kill as many people as he needs to, as long as he ends up saving the world. And if we fail, we're all dead anyway, so what does it matter? 

It's all a matter of perspective...


----------



## Hammerhead

True, but when it's completely unnecessary death and destruction, that's hardly forgiveable. It's like blowing up hospitals just because you can.


----------



## JoeCrow

*It's not like we [I]sent[/I] him there to kill them.*

When West decided to have Griffin scout the camp out,  he didn't _know_ how utterly psychotic the dude was. Once the bodies started dropping, there really wasn't anything else to do except clean up. Unfortunately, that included cleaning up any stray witnesses. World In Peril, remember. Greater Good, and all that.  
West figured that if he stuck around to explain and get courtmartialed, then they'd have all died for nothing. Cleaning up Grif's mess and trying to salvage the rest of the mission was his only real option.


----------



## Lela

*Re: It's not like we [I]sent[/I] him there to kill them.*



			
				JoeCrow said:
			
		

> *Cleaning up Grif's mess and trying to salvage the rest of the mission was his only real option. *




You could have come in, killed the Grif, and claimed he was on the other side.

I mean, how useful is an Invisible Guy anyway.


----------



## JoeCrow

*<West dope-slaps himself>*

Dang, now why didn't _I_ think of that? 

Actually, I _did_ consider it briefly, when West and Grif were in the armory. My main problem was that I couldn't justify West doing it based on what he knew at the time. Trying to avoid the meta-game thing, y'know. At the time West only knew that the infiltration had gone sour, not that Grif had gone psycho. Once he figured everything out, it was too late to save anybody, and things were progressing too fast to really get into justified retribution. I'm pretty sure West is considering hunting Grif down at some point and putting him out of the world's misery, though. Boy's just too nasty to let run around loose.


----------



## Lela

Well, West is a hunter.  And what better prey then that wich truely cannot be seen?


----------



## Ancalagon

I have seen the movie, and it made me return to this thread.

Come on wulf, post some more updates!

Ancalagon


----------



## Welverin

*bump*

I saw Grim Tales in the August issue of Previews yesterday for those of you who use it and for those of you who don't they list it as being out in October.


----------



## Ashy

I'm here!  I'm here!  Excellent job, Wulf!


----------



## Wulf Ratbane

*SCENE TWO: Colorado Springs*

SCENE TWO: COLORADO SPRINGS

While the colonel dozed peacefully, the group began their search of the compound. Nemo led them back to a large garage he’d noticed on the way into camp. Inside, two huge iron doors lay flat on the floor, and heavy chains hung from the ceiling, criss-crossing their way back to a large winch. Chains were hooked through the pull-rings on the doors and they were quickly opened, revealing a wide ramp that lead down into an underground complex.

"Stay close, Griffin," Quartermain warned.

"Yeah, no problem…"

Mina grabbed a lantern from the guard post nearby and the group moved slowly down the ramp. It descended about 60 feet though Quartermain reckoned they weren’t more than 10 feet underground. At the base of the ramp, they met with a T-intersection. Quartermain held up his hand to stop the advance. He looked to his right, where the flickering lamplight trailed off into the darkness of a large room. The few crates and barrels that were visible were enough to peg the room as a storehouse for the base.

Quartermain looked to his left and suddenly grabbed Mina’s hand to shine the light closer. Quartermain grunted. Mina hissed a little.

"Griffin, I told you to stay close,"

"How do you know I’m not?"

"Because you’re tracking bloody footprints all over the bloody floor."

"Just scouting ahead… No need to start swearing…"

"No, I mean you’re tracking bloody footprints all over the bloody floor."

Griffin looked down. A pool of blood had spilled around the corner to their right. He peeked around. 

"Oh. Dead soldier," he announced. 

"Is that your handiwork?" Mina demanded. 

"Take a look and you tell me…"

Mina peeked around the corner. The soldier was shredded, literally shredded, from head to toe. If it weren’t for his cap and his boots, and the rifle lying uselessly nearby, the bloody pile would have been nearly unidentifiable. 

"Not even Hyde could make a mess like that," Mina admitted.

Dr. Jekyll moved forward, joined by Nemo. Together they performed a quick forensic examination of the remains. "Bits of glass in the bone," Jekyll said.

"Glass? No. Crystal, more likely," Nemo replied, ominously.

"We should hurry," said Quartermain. "And be alert."

"You reckon the Colonel is alright up top?" asked West. It was clearly a rhetorical question.

They moved towards the warehouse. A side passage quickly came into view. "Let’s split up," Mina suggested.

"That’s a fine idea," the group concurred.

Mina and Quartermain took the side passage. Nemo, Jekyll, and West headed into the warehouse. Griffin undoubtedly followed one of the two groups.

At about the same time, each group came to a door. In the warehouse, after they’d satisfied themselves that the warehouse contained nothing more than empty crates (marked "Laboratory Supplies,") Nemo found two double doors in the north wall. Around the corner in the side passage, Mina and Quartermain slipped and stumbled over two more bloody, shredded corpses—they’d obviously been guarding a single door on the east wall. Both doors entered onto the same, huge, slab-floored laboratory, and the group was quickly rejoined.

Towards the south of the lab an iron catwalk wrapped around the huge stone pillar that supported the tesla coil that towered into the sky above them. Griffin nipped up the catwalk to take a look at the control panel there. Lots of buttons. Lots of switches. Griffin displayed a healthy paranoia that was suspiciously lacking in others of the group, and left well enough alone. 

"Nothing up here," he announced. "Power’s off."

In the feeble light of the lantern, it took some time to explore the large area fully. There wasn’t really much to it—it was more of a hardware workspace than a laboratory. 

"What’s that?" Mina asked. She’d spotted a dark doorway on the northeast wall. 

The group passed through into a smaller laboratory, about 20 feet on a side. Three doors inside: two opened onto storage closets. A door in the south wall opened into Tesla’s private lab, which the group ransacked with gusto. 

First, there was Tesla’s safe. Nemo allowed Griffin to fumble clumsily with the lock for a few moments before he produced a small shaped charge from within his cloak and blew the door open. Griffin moved in quickly; books came tumbling out and pages started turning. Griffin didn’t understand a word of it. But oh, he so desperately _wanted_ to. 

"Bunch of crap," he lied. 

"I’ll be the judge of that," Nemo warned. 

It was quite a find. First, there were two seemingly identical logbooks, right down to the illustrations—illustrations of enormous, round, machines with paddle-wheels, straddling flowing water. Nemo guessed that they were turbines, and the formulas were instructions on building them, no doubt. But why two copies? It took Nemo a few moments to realize the subtle differences in the mathematical equations that filled each book. "Very shrewd," he nodded, approvingly. One book was a dummy. There was no telling what would happen if you built those turbines using the formulas from the wrong book.

"What’s that?" Jekyll pointed at a small booklet that was working its way out of the safe. 

Nemo snatched it up. "Unless I miss my guess, which I highly doubt, this would be a cipher booklet. It will help us decode these logbooks and figure out which one is the real one."

Griffin had already moved on to Tesla’s desk. A cursory search turned up nothing, but the requisite search for hidden compartments struck gold: There was an ancient text tucked away under a false bottom in the drawer. Before Griffin could snatch it, he was roughly jostled aside. Nemo was bad enough; he didn’t expect Quartermain to be all over him as well.

"Don’t touch, Griffin—the damn thing may just fall apart." Quartermain pulled the entire drawer from the desk. He grabbed a pair of forceps from the laboratory and carefully turned the pages. 

"Atlantean," Quartermain announced. 

Griffin snorted. "Of _course_…"

"This will take some time to study," Quartermain said as he turned the last of the pages.

"Yeah? What’s that, then?" There was an encrypted note written on the last page—in Tesla’s hand. 

Dr. Jekyll stepped up to help, Tesla’s cipher booklet in one hand. His eyes wandered over the ancient script, the illustrations of crystals, canals, alchemical and astronomical signs. The book itself seemed to address ancient Atlantean power sources-- hydro power, vast canals, and gigantic crystals similar in function to Tesla's own miraculous coil, but much more powerful. Indeed, the final passages of the text seemed to warn that too much power could split the Earth like an apple. The very thought made Jekyll so nervous his head was swimming.

He concentrated on Tesla's post-script. "It says, _Where to harness the necessary hydro power?_ Oh, dear..."

"Gentlemen," Mina called from across the room. "Why would Professor Tesla leave his jacket here? And why would he have a tourist’s brochure for Niagara Falls in his breast pocket?"

The group ran-- scooping up logbooks, cipher pamphlet, ancient text, and an unconscious Colonel, and headed for town, where West's train was already idling in the switching yard.


----------



## Conaill

WOOHOO! An update!! 

And there was much joy and jubilation...


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## Lela

Once again, not good.


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## Conaill

Waddya mean, "not good"? We didn't even kill anyone in this update. Of course, that was probably because all the guards were already dead when we got to them, but hey!

Actually, we did pretty well here. We managed to resist trying out the humonguous Tesla coil, we found the safe with the lab notebooks, *and* the cypher booklet in the hidden compartment.


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## Lela

Conaill said:
			
		

> *Waddya mean, "not good"? We didn't even kill anyone in this update. Of course, that was probably because all the guards were already dead when we got to them, but hey!
> 
> Actually, we did pretty well here. We managed to resist trying out the humonguous Tesla coil, we found the safe with the lab notebooks, *and* the cypher booklet in the hidden compartment. *




I actually meant the shredded guards.  Aside from yuck, whatever could do that will be a tough fight.  But it shouldn't be allowed to live (like most of you).  Unless, of course,  it joins you.


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## RatPunk

*bump*


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## Thomas Hobbes

RatPunk said:
			
		

> *bump*




And again.


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## RC Hagy

OK... I am bored.

I figured out why (pretty smart like that I am...).

I am not getting enough of my favorite story hours.

This is one of them.

A job is not required.

The joy you give to others should be the only sustenance required...

Then again if you do need to eat to finish the hour... I guess your working is tolerable.

Though just barely.


Thankee,


Hagy


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## Wulf Ratbane

*Scene Three: The Great Train Escape*

With the unconscious Colonel in tow, they raced back to town. West’s Pullman was waiting for them—but not as ready as he’d hoped. They’d gotten his car through the switching yard ok, but they’d hooked him up with a load of freight heading back east.

“Why isn’t my Pullman at the rear of the train?”

“Well, sir,” the yardman spit, “I didn’t figure yer wanted to be _behind_ that one…” He jerked his thumb over his shoulder at the car full of fattened hogs.

“No time to argue, anyway…” Mina said. “We’ve got to get out of here.” She hustled past the men with the Colonel, a coat draped over his head to conceal his identity. 

“Yer friend there gonna be all right?”

“He’ll be fine, fainting spell… ahh….” Dr. Jekyll quickly boarded the car.

“Don’t look to good yerself,” the yardman mumbled.

West took one final look at the train before boarding. Engine. Coal car. Pullman. Lumber. Swine. A line of boxcars and flatbeds trailed off behind.

“All aboard… Let’s get the hell out of here…”

The train gained steam and chugged east, and the group chatted peacefully for about an hour. Mina watched the landscape of the American west sliding by.

“Oh my,” she said. “Are you aware that there’s a man riding alongside the train?’

West dashed to the window. Riding full-tilt alongside the train was a grim-faced, weather-worn man. His lapels flapped in wind but West could see his badge.

“Is that the law?” Quartermain asked.

“Worse,” said West. “He’s Pinkerton.”

“THE Pinkerton?” Quartermain had heard the name before. Detective. Bounty hunter. Take your pick.

“Well, no, at least I don’t think so. But he’s FROM Pinkerton.”

The Pinkerton agent spotted the crowd gathered at the window and hollered over the sound of pounding hoofs. 

“Give up the Colonel!” he demanded.

“Can’t do that!” West shouted back.

Pinkerton’s man drew iron and put a shot through the window of the Pullman car.

“The hell with that!” shouted Quartermain. He pulled his hunting rifle down from the luggage rack and began loading.

“Oh, no…” whined Jekyll.

“It’s all right, Henry,” Mina assured him. “We’ve got to defend ourselves!”

“No, look!” Henry insisted. He pointed out his window on the other side of the train. There was a small posse riding along the other side, trying to draw close enough to board the train.

“Well, I guess we know where this is going,” said Griffin. He started stripping off his clothes.

Mina wasn’t happy to see that the train was surrounded, but she was more concerned with what she saw ahead of them: a thick plume of black smoke.

She quickly grabbed Dr. Jekyll. “Come with me, Henry… Get away from the window, it’s not safe…”

She led Jekyll away, but leaned in close to West to whisper in his ear.

“Is there a trestle ahead, by any chance?”

West’s eyes lit up: they’d lose their pursuers there. “Yes! There’s a trestle!”

“Well, not anymore,” Mina hissed. She moved on with Henry, desperate to keep his nerves under control. The last thing they needed right now was a visit from Edward Hyde.

Nemo ran ahead a bit where he could safely get a clear look. He pulled a gold spyglass from inside his jacket and scanned ahead. 

Clearly, there’d been some attempt at sabotage, but the trestle was only damaged. Still, it didn’t require his amazing analytical skills to realize that the trestle would never hold the weight of the entire train, freight and all; frankly, without a better look, he didn’t trust it to hold so much as the engine. He ran back to the Pullman and threw open his traveling chest. “Better be in here somewhere… Yes!”

Nemo came up with a small explosive charge and grabbed Quartermain. “We don’t have long to make this work. Do you think you can get to the front and pull the joining pin to the engine?”

“Are you mad? Do I look like I’m strong enough to de-couple the whole damn train?”

“Well, you’d bloody well find the strength somehow! We’ve got to get out from under steam. I’ll place this charge behind us to blow the trailing cars; that will lighten the load up front. The freight should slow of its own accord, and we’ll be able to break our own momentum easier without the engine.”

“This is insane,” Quartermain yelled. “Let me just shoot somebody.” He pushed past Nemo to the back of the car.

“What’s going on?” asked Jekyll. Nervous beads of sweat were starting to appear on his forehead. His eyes flicked from Nemo to Quartermain as he struggled to put together the whole picture. 

“Nothing, Henry, nothing stressful…” Mina caressed his brow.

Nemo put his hand on Quartermain’s chest. “Get out, clamber over the coal car…”

“Sure, I’ll just scamper right over it, it’s not as if I’m an old man or anything…”

“…Over the coal car to the engine. Warn the engineer. We’ll handle the coupling back here with this.” He slapped his demolition charge down on the coupling behind the Pullman.

“Wh…What’s that?” Henry asked.

“Nothing stressful going on!” they all shouted.

The posse’s patience had worn out, and shots started to shatter the windows. Henry Jekyll cowered on the floor under Mina’s protective arm.

“Okay, I’m going!” Quartermain yelled. He sprinted for the front of the train and was gone.

Nemo called after him. “Remember! Don’t try to pull the pin until you hear the explosion!”

“EXPLOSION!?” yelled Henry. He struggled to stand. “EXPLOSION?”

Mina and Nemo were flung aside as Henry heaved upwards—all nine feet of him.

“F*CK THIS!” Edward bellowed. He reached down and yoinked the pin. Nemo groaned as the freight cars immediately slid away, his demolition charge still attached to the coupling.

_My sentiments exactly,_ thought Griffin. He’d had enough of the League as well—and to prove his point, he threw his naked body off the train at 30 miles per hour. A puff of dust, followed by a thunderhead of pain-induced profanity was all that belied his actions.

The engine, the Pullman, the posse, the freight, all screeched by as Griffin staggered to his feet, bloodied and bruised, but alive. 

“I wonder if the old man will pull that pin after all?” he wondered aloud. “This, I gotta see.” 

Griffin raced off after the train.


----------



## Conaill

WOOHOO!

I'd almost given up on this story hour, Wulf! Glad to see you managed to get back to it after all. (Does this mean the Gnome book is finished? )

Little clarification for those who are confused about what we were actually trying to accomplish:

There were actually *two* demolition charges involved, one on the linking pin with the car behind the Pullman, and one above the axle of that car. The idea was to detach us from the long train of freight cars behind us, then to derail those (that being a faster way to stop them than pulling the emergency break ). Of course, friggin' Hyde pulled the coupling pin to the freight cars while Nemo was still _on_ the first freight car, installing his second charge! 

Likewise, a single Pullman car can break much faster than a heavy steam engine, which is why we wanted to pull the pin ahead of us as well. But we wanted the engine to pull us away from the drailing freight cars behind us first, hence "don't pull the pin until you hear the explosion". Leave it up to Nemo to come up with a complicated plan like that. And hey, we _almost_ pulled it off correctly!


----------



## Lela

Great!

*Gets ready to settle in for another three months.  It's worth it.*


----------



## shilsen

Excellent! Can I have a little more?

(Plops down on the couch next to Lela, pulls hat over eyes, and gets comfortable).


----------



## Lela

*Passes an extra jumbo bucket of pop corn to Shilsen*

"I buy these in bulk. "


----------



## Len

Conaill said:
			
		

> Of course, friggin' Hyde pulled the coupling pin to the freight cars while Nemo was still _on_ the first freight car, installing his second charge!



Somehow, this party doesn't seem to have the same "all for one and one for all" attitude that I see in other Story Hours.


----------



## RC Hagy

*Hooby!*

The only thing better than explosives are explosive which have not gone off... yet.  


Good Stuff!


Hagy


----------



## Wulf Ratbane

Conaill said:
			
		

> There were actually *two* demolition charges involved, one on the linking pin with the car behind the Pullman, and one above the axle of that car. The idea was to detach us from the long train of freight cars behind us, then to derail those.




Hey, who's tellin' this goddamn story?

You are right, though. Blasting the axle _was_ sort of the lynchpin to the plan, wasn't it? 

Feel free to continue pointing out any inaccuracies that otherwise leave the League looking like a motley crew of disorganized thugs.

(For all the good it'll do you...)

Wulf


----------



## paulewaug

Len said:
			
		

> Somehow, this party doesn't seem to have the same "all for one and one for all" attitude that I see in other Story Hours.





aahhh...that is part of the charm!


----------



## Conaill

Amazingly, Wulf still managed to keep us pointed more or less into the same direction. Not a minor feat, with such a ragtag band of PCs. 

The LoEG plays great for a one-shot adventure, but I'm not sure it would hold up for a longer-term campaign. Not without some stronger incentives for the more psychopathic characters to cooperate anyway...


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## paulewaug

Heh heh,

I think that no matter How good the motivation this group would self destruct eventually! (not the players of course just the characters if kept In Character. We like them due to their flaws or maybe despite them, right?)

Are they psychopaths or sociopaths?  Maybe a bit of both?!


More, Wulf More!!!


----------



## RC Hagy

My library books are boring me... need some transcribed live action mayem.

I.V. prefered.


Hagy


----------



## Welverin

Come on Wulf, you're not going to let that punk jonrog1 update more frequently, are you?


----------



## Aries_Omega

*Good Stuff*

This is a really good thing. I am a huge fan of the movie and been looking for more info on the graphic novel. I been wanting to do the writeups for the characters....for the Deeds Not Words RPG but this is a good starting point with d20 Modern.


----------



## Maester Luwin

Hey Wulf!!! I just ran across this thread. Great stuff!!! It seems the players did a great job with the characters as well! Any chance of finishing the story? Hopefully waiting! Maester Luwin


----------



## Thomas Hobbes

I'm likely getting Grimm Tales for Christmas.

Guess what else I'd like...


----------

