Gawd, a whole week off from school. That means I only had to worry
about work. Then, after I got back to school, I had too much work to post
this.
Anyway, back to important things
In response to [email removed] (from sometime week-before last):
>I noticed that you stop play just because one player can't show
>up.
Not necessarily. This was a particular case where the player had been
involved from the beginning, and I wanted him to be there when his
character was 'retired.' Besides, it allowed us to use the our valuable
gaming time ( we have 2 ugrads, 1 PhD candidate, 1 CPA, and 1 soon-to-be
policeman) to branch out to other games (Star Wars and CoC).
Since the deleivery of the message to Esalin marks an endpoint to the
beginning of the campaign, I wanted Bella ( what Helen is called by her
friends) to be there when her character decided to go back home (somewhere
in Corridor sector) on one of Marcus' traders. She's currently 1st officer
on the MV DeLancian Dream.
> Moody's Marauders
This happens to be the name of my TL-13 'just add water' mercenary
unit. (No, I will NOT redisgn them to use lasers vice plasma guns. Lasers
are for wimps.)
>I like the characters you posted, and the food-fight in public
>idea. Sounds like a great way to introduce these characters.
>They're first in line on my special encounters list, and I will
>spring them on my players at my earliest opportunity, though I'm
>not sure yet what to do with the Zhodani spy ring plot. I'll
>keep you posted.
Give me a few more days & I'll send e-mail you their UWP, etc. They're
at my girlfriends apt right now.
>By the way, what happened to the characters on Wednesday?
Ah, a small sidebar has open up in the adventures of this intrepid band
of characters.
After delivering the mail to Esalin ( and the departure of Bella), the
characters decide to head back into the sector to more 'safe' areas (right).
They jump toward Lysen.
Therefore, introduce new PC- Shea. (This sidebar was developed to get
Shea in with the adventures. She will become a regular on our show.)
Shea has a problem - the Malithar (basically the Mafia) want her dead.
Why? She KNOWS something that could break their little drug distibution
ring wide open.
(The idea for this comes from an old StarFrontiers module _Drammune Run_.
not a *bad* adventure, but the core idea was great.)
The planet Shea comes from (Margesi 1020 SpMa) has had a bit of trouble
lately with one of their colonies. One of the other small planets
has developed a very open, frontier-like mentality that, unfortunately,
also allows it to be used as a refuge for people who would rather not be
found. This Mars-like planet, Qinzeno, is the base for the Malathar.
The Malathar are marketing a drug (called hyperdrive on the street) that
allows the brain to experience, in a small way, the swirling energies of
jumpspace (it boosts the psi-centers of the brain). However, repeated uses
of the drug makes the user decend into a heavy jump-sickness like state
before they eventually die of brain failure.
Name: Shea Anton-Penanza
Race: Imperial
UPP: 154EF7
Age: 70( 70)
BirthDate: 056-1046
Career: Merchant
For the last 54 years, Shea has roamed the Marches from spinward to
trailward, from corward to edgeward, seeing almost every planet along
the way. She learned her trade almost too well, making enough money
top buy the freighter from her captain and mentor when he retired. With
a ship of her own, she truly felt fulfilled.
That's when the bug hit her.
The disease has been named Pneumonomutiexosiliconiosis, a viral
infection that eventually destroys the lungs. Unknown in its origin, it
especially hits those people who move from planet to planet, exposing their
immune system to the dangers of a thousand worlds. This exposure forces
the immune system into overdrive, and Pneumono is a very opportunistic bug.
(btw- if anyone with better medical skill can suggest of a better name,
it would be appreciated.)
Although it takes several years to develop, there is no known cure. The
best that can be done is to stay on one planet, not taxing your immune
system any more. With this diagnosis, Shea continued her way, travelling
about the stars, until it bacame too much. After twenty years with the
bug, Shea decided to retire and return to Margesi(notice her low STR & END).
One last run, Shea thought, carrying foodstuff from Margesi to Qinzeno,
wouldn't kill her. Besides, she could sell the ship on Qinzeno for a larger
profit than on Margesi, even after paying for passage back home.
Unfortunately, it all went wrong. When unloading the cargo from the
ship, one of the smaller crates broke open, revealing its contents.
Inside was two animals, with furr coats, curled up about themselves.
Although whole animals are often shipped becausse of their values as
delicacies, these were not food animals, nor were they dead. They were
very much alive.
The chukka are as close to a planetary mascot the Margesi have. These
small, ferret-like animals are incredibly intelligent, cute, cuddly, and
friendly. Exporting them off Margesi is also a capital crime. The Imperial
Scout Service declared chukka as proto-intelligent, meaning they could,
given a few million years, develop true intelligence. If the poulace of
Margesi knew chukkas were being exported to Qinzeno, it would create
an interplanetary incident. As proto-intelligents, chukkas could not be
removed from their native planet. Why would anyone want to steal these
animals? After hiding the chukkas on her ship, Shea tried to find out.
A miner with a tongue loosened with drink revealed the answer:
Hyperdrive.
Hyperdrive is made from the pituitary glands of chukkas. (The chukkas,
though this is not known, are latent psions and can read surface emotions
and attitudes. This is what makes them so friendly to some, and not so
friendly to others. The are friendly to most people.)
Qinzeno has recenlty declared independance from Margesi, and has used
the profits from its mining to hire mercenary forces. Any small incident
could plunge the system into war, a war Qinzeno would lose. The Malathar
doesn't want the war to happen. It would destroy their main operations
base on Qinzeno.
Shea had to escape. If the Margesi population knew about the chukka
being used to make hyperdirve, they would force a conflict with Qinzeno.
Jumping into her ship, she blasted out from Qinzeno - not even waiting
for her crew, only to be chased by sleek, black fighter craft. Someone
must have overheard her conversation at the bar.
Someone must have noticed the empty container and the missing chukkas that
were wrapping themselves around her feet as she flew the ship. There was no
way she could get to Margesi with the fighters after her. A small jump, to the
other side of the system would throw the fighters off, then she would try to
come back to tell the Margesians. Setting her jump destination, she
powered up the drives. Right before final tumble, the fighters hit the
j-drive, fracturing the zhuchai crystals...
The misjump flung her ship across almost thirty parsecs and took almost six
weeks to complete. The life support fading, Shea barely survived her
month-long bout with jump sickness to re emerge into realspace at Lysen, in
Jewell subsector. Her ship falling apart, Shea limped the wounded freighter
into an orbital dock and tried to disappear into the crowds. Her ship, the
Discus, she knew, was ruined. Her j-drives needed complete replacement, her
thrusters barely responded to her commands. She had to find a ship - a fast
ship - to take her and the two chukka ( she has named then Charles and Ada )
back to Margesi. She had friends there. Perhaps they would be able to help.
Pehaps the Malthar are no longer looking for her...
Thus, she charters the characters ship to head back to Margesi with just
herself and personal cargo (the chukkas, though the ships crew do not know of
them) and no questions asked.
What will out intrepid bands of characters do? Will their passenger
bring them great danger? Whill Shea entrust the crew with her secret? Will
they help her against the Malathar?
Stay tuned- Same Traveller Time, Same Traveller station...
>And what do I tell my players if they ask why that woman has been in
>deep freeze so long?
She tried to kill Ahz, and succeded in killing twenty innocent people
instead. Ahz decided to turn the tables on her, eventually tracked her
down, and placed her in cold-sleep until such time he could truly inflict
deserving revenge on her (something about blackmarket genetic tinkering, or
something like that...) Unfortunately, although Ahz doesn't know this,
she is *also* an agent for the Malathar...
Ah, the net closes ever so slightly around the characters...
In Service to the Imperium
-Vanya