Reidstone magazines have announced the titles for their ten piece part work ‘ Pink Gins & Googlies’ featuring the adventures of Cranford Ladies College Old Girls touring the Empire and America.
1. The Cairo Calamity
2. The Aden Adventure
3. The Mumbai Murders
4. The Columbo Cocaine Calamity
5. The Singapore Sling
6. The Perth Peril
7. The Sydney Spy Ring
8. The Wellington Wranglers
9. The Hollywood Hierophant
10. The Hamiltons Horror
Fleeing from the Pepperbox estate the Cauldroneers and Amanda head towards London down the coast road. Hit their horses full pelt but have to pull over and hide when a passing patrol of 20 English Cavalry troopers go past with a woodcut of them.
Suspicious that Amanda appears to be trying to signal the troopers with a make up mirror they resolve to keep and eye on her.
With Durand acting as a scout they come across a troupe of travelling players. Reasoning their hunters are looking for 3 men and a lady they resolve to change the make up of their party – Antoine pilfers a washer woman’s dress & voila ! He is a she
They press on meeting a galloping Jean on the road who announces the Ambassador has escaped Sir Laurenance’s clutches and fell to Dover.
Meanwhile Joesph feeds Amanda false information and mentions things that never happened in their conversation – concluding she is in fact her evil twin sister Charlotte!
Next they happen upon a body of dragoons led by Matthew Talant – Amanda signals them with a cough. As Durand clamps his hand over her – Antoine stumbles out as a drunk consumptive washer woman allying suspicions.
When the Dragoons ride on they conclude to bind the Jezebel in the woods with false story they will sail from London and make haste to Dover.
Reaching Dover they board the Warwick Greyhound are reunited with Monsieur Beinvieu and after nearly being caught by a English patrol ship slip away to Calais, a coach to Paris and the congratulations of the Cardinal.
That concludes ‘An Ambassadors Tales’ campaign – next back to Paris but I’ll post a blog on my and thr players overall thoughts of the campaign.
An excerpt from Astra the Cranford Ladies College alumni magazine :
Ladies, Lady Lilly Bouchet is sponsoring on old girls cricket of select colonies and major Cities of the United States so far she has assembled the following game girls and likely characters joining the tour:
Cleethorpes a former porter of the school will be acting as bud driver and bag carrier.
You will see we have an opening for at lease one player on the tour so please write to Lady Lilly at Floral Hall, Cranford, Cheshire.
You will not we we have 5 current players and 6 pre-gens. The intention is for this pulp cuthlhu hack game to be played by a mixed potpourri of players/characters across internet sessions, lunchtime Lairs and the lazy landlord if your interested in picking up a pre-gen email dissectingworlds AT yahoo DOT com.
More details on the other characters (where I have them in detail:)
Hettie Larwood, scholarship girl from a pit village. “Which of her ribs would you like me to break, skipper?”
Edith Tremoroux – a Belgian woman married to a British officer who sadly passed away during the Somme, Edith went on to volunteer as a nurse in the Voluntary Aid Detachments and was sent to Flanders from the end of 1917 until the end of the war. Whilst there, she was mainly based at Lens though her medical skills – whilst useful – were subordinate to her ability to speak fluent French and thus act as a translator.
Whilst there are some stories of her being involved in skulduggery related to her translation work (rumours vary – though most revolve around stories of a train of missing French – or possibly German – gold), these are simply rumours and hearsay which can – and should – be entirely ignored, especially by the more scurrilous members of the gutter press who she has threatened to sue on more than one occasion.
Ms Tremoroux (she reverted back to her maiden name when her husband died) is not a great beauty, but is slight & plain with dark hair. She now supports herself as a French teacher.
She is both an adequate bowler & competent mid-order batsman, but really excels as a fielder, mainly in the slips (Fly slip or Leg Slip).
Gwendolyn Devonshire – flamboyant deb and gowersque batsman
Lilly Bouchet A widow who funds the team and their overseas trip. She’s bored and lonely after hubbie’s death and does it to alleviate those feelings
Arriving in some parts beaten up (Durrand) from their duel with the Bedford Musketeers the Cauldroneers ate greeted by Matthew Talant and taken to meet Lord Pepperbox.
Before meeting the Walrus like Pepperbox they meet his identical looking daughters – the haughty and cruel Charlotte (with a red ribbon) and the put upon and passive Amanda (with a white ribbon.) Amanda seems drawn to Joesph.
Lord Pepperbox looks over their papers and finds a visa problem which he’ll have to fix overnight before allowing them to return to London with his papers for the Ambassador. It would not be safe for them to travel with a regiment of dragoon’s on patrol in the neighbourhood.
The Cauldroneers smell a rat – going to frankly dismal English dinner Durand goes to make toilet and ruffles through the Lords office but to no avail. Joesph received a note from the furtive Amanda promising information on her father’s betrayal. Durand spots a stout gelding being saddled and all doors are locked and guarded.
Having returned and finished dinner Durand fakes illness demanding fresh air eventually inducing vomiting but to no avail. In the hubbub Antonine slips away and into the roof.
There are no dragoons. He spots on the horse ready and grooms on the door. He slips back in and then he goes down and Pilfers papers from Lord Pepperbox’s bureaux.
He’s interrupted by the love forlorn Amanda thinking him Joesph – Joesph taking over finds out Pepperbox has despatched Talant to Norwich to summon guards to execute or arrest the team. Joesph asks Amanda for any proof and they find Sir Laurence of Dorset’s letter to Lord Pepperbox.
Just as well as Antonine managed to steal the accounts for the estates pig farm.
The latter Boulanger determines Has a coded message which they interior as doom for the Ambassador. Amanda rushes off the get changed.
Changed she meets the players – Antonine shimmy’s up a chimney (a speciality) and then leads the remaining team and maiden up. The hijack horses from grooms with Durand’s pistols and ride for London !
Lunchtime Lairs is a Wednesday lunchtime Jane in Liverpool city centre at the premises of the excellent Justplay games 12-2 every week – come and join us. We are currently playing Blackhack.
Farqhaur, Seneca, Thoth and the Beak Squad of intelligent mutant penguins leave Penguin island and the brain cylinder and travel down current. The cavern narrows and the pace of current increases the penguins fair well but eventually the Conjourer can’t fend off the walls with his paddle and it breaks followed by the canoe hull turning our heroes into the rapids. They lose much of their equipment.
Seneca for instance is disarmed so Thoth lends him the demonic sword he found at the Dragon mound. The sword telepathically introduces itself to Seneca as Justbeam and is rather peckish for blood and souls.
Exploring the bay they washed up on Seneca finds a stair case – a very very tall stair case which eventually everyone scales the 1000 steps. Seneca sneaking spots a knight (later to be revealed an Automongolem) guarding a metal door.
The Beak squad rush him while Seneca sneaks round and ineffectually tried to backstab him – then Farqhaur and Thoth join in with magic missiles and slingshots. Eventually the penguins bring the creature low taking out the strange multicoloured sinews at its knees – Farqhaur beheads it having lost his spell slot and Seneca tries to slake Justbeams first but gets an electric shock from its soulless innards. He does however find a key to a door having lost his thief tools.
They hollow out the helm and Farqhuar impersonates the robot while the viewing slot is opened Seneca turns the keys and the Penguins rugby scrum style push at the door the party pile and in and take the occupant prisoner.
It is a woman Wizard Greer who has an amazing lab with machines that go vroom, an opulent library and bedroom, gears, levers, clanking dials and switches with an enormous telescope and brass cannon like object pointing out over an open balcony that faces the dragon mountain and a domed hill Farqhaur estimates the location of penguin island.
Questioning her and revising her papers they find snook for the cranky hungry penguins and her notes suggesting she used her magnetic traction cannon to crash the brain cylinder and intended to capture and brain and use it to take over a dragon to invade the city. Unfortunately the adventurers let her down. The PCs decide not to join her in city conquest and keep her tied up.
They decide to go to the Vark dwarfs – Greer has a boat but it was shrunk and hidden in a snook now in a penguin gut. Rejecting exploding a penguin or sifting through penguin guano they search again and find a secret passage.
It turns out the Vark deliver the snook via this secret passage the party travel down and hear a familiar sound –Blegrim moaning – they shout greetings but are met by strange suspicious greetings by Jens Abram. Farqhaur goes forward to try the old flim flam act but the Guardians of Antiquity soon cotton on he’s repeating details of their party to his comrades and he’s shot to zero hit points by a magic missile.
Seneca, Thoth and the Penguins surrender in face of overwhelming odds and are looted and bound to be marched off to the slave pits where Dave will take over running with the two parties united… poorer but perhaps wiser.
Nah are we kidding…..
Lunchtime Lairs is a Wednesday lunchtime Jane in Liverpool city centre at the premises of the excellent Justplay games 12-2 every week – come and join us. We are currently playing Blackhack.
Farquhar and Seneca collapse outside the dragons lair but there is no time for complacency as a Grizzly Bear drawn by the smell of the wizards seeping entrails approaches. Combat ensues and things are going pretty bad till Thoth the Cleric of Freya last seen when the tree fell arrived and sees it off with his deadly sling shots.
Much like Seneca Thoth has tracked the party and the three friends decide to venture back into the Dragon’s lair.
There they find the entrance guarded by the now animated giant penguin and dinosaur skeleton. While Thoth uses his turn undead to banish the very canine behaving T Rex skeleton to the far side of the treasure mound Farquhar and Seneca begin conversation with the giant penguin.
Obviously a giant penguin cannot talk – that would be silly ! But it is bright enough to give one swark for yes and two for no and even scratch small sentences. Through this communication they establish
Blinding the avian Goliath with Farquhar’s mirror they slip into the lair and find a giant fish shaped biscuit that says ‘eat me’ – the Penguin eats it and shrinks to normal Emperor Penguin size but still under a geas to attack them. Despite the embarrassment of Farqhaur nearly being killed by a penguin they knock it out and bind it. They also loot the mound of gems, gold and a sword.
Farqhaue also kept a small piece of the biscuit and took the Penguin in a backpack.
They’re about to leave when Thoth goes back for healing potion despite the sound of dragon roars. The dragon arrives and belches fire. The party escapes but Farquhar goes to zero hit points and wakes with cracked ribs. The healing potion just puts him back where he started.
After some wondering and an overnight stay in the caves the continued to travel down into the underworld. They meet underground river and Farquhar releases the Penguin which with its brain back to normal Penguin size has normal penguin intelligence and pops down the river.
They find a canal (who left it? What of Hector ? ) and give chase. They loose the Penguin but find a underground lake with islands. One of which has a healthy colony of penguins.
Landing abs investigating they notice a cylinder at a strange angle at the summit of the island. Seneca and Thoth climb up and climb inside the cylinder.
There they find 6 tanks five of which have ‘brainy’ like brains. There are also 8 tables 7 of which have surgically altered penguins with humanoid features and ruby collars fitted. The inside of the cylinder has strange gem like lights covered in symbols like the inside of Brainy’s tanks.
Farquhar plays with these producing a roar which unsettled the cylinder. This disturbs the brains which start to clamber from their tanks so the party quickly produces a plan and acts.
The Wizard sprinkles his remaining shrinking biscuit in the brain tanks – slightly misjudging things and only shrinking two before he ran out. Meanwhile Seneca and Thoth took the collars off the waking Penguins who hated the Brains for cursing them with intelligence and their mutant form. Using his charisma Seneca leads them to attack the Brains saving the day.
Unable to join their flock the Penguins decide to join the party who they see as gods (that won’t last) – the party name them Wonka, Bournville, Hunter, Herder, Lou and Bud.
The Cauldroneers fleeing the Netherlands on the English sloop Swift arrive in Harwich. Met by a carriage and troop of Royal cavalry they set off for London. There orders from Richelieu are to escort M Beinvieu to London and then set off for Dover and secure a vessel ready to despatch at a moments notice for France.
In London they are taken to Sir Laurence of Dorset’s manse. King Charles’ agent shows them his robust home guarded by the Essex Pike. The Cauldroneers take their leave for a ride to the coast but are escorted by handpicked cavaliers Sir John, Sir Eric, Sir Graham and Sir Michael and their servant Terry the Welsh.
After the short ride to Dover Sir Graham and Sir Michael tend to the horses at the Cross Keys inn while the adventurers and Sir John and Sir Eric accompany them into town.
Antonine manages to get the cavaliers engaged in a game of cards and heavy drinking – while he listens to their drunken stories of dead parrots, empty cheese shops and larches Jean, Joesph and Durand escape to secure a vessel.
After a few false choices they hit upon Captain Gil of the Warwick Greyhound who hints he knows there’s something up with Joesph and makes them admit they’re in the Service of the Ambassador but he takes the job.
Antonine having taken the Cavaliers for the cost of passage they’re breaking even and mockingly head back to London with their hungover escorts.
There M Beinvieu despatches them to Lord Pepperbox’s estate near Norwich to gather papers for the negotiation. Jean stays behind as a messenger and rather than an escort they are given visas.
Pulling in half way to stay at the Priest & Pauper Inn they are interrogated by a party of Bedford Musketeers. Satisfied with their papers the Musketeers start mocking the French – true to form Durand , who could manage to find a duel in an empty room starts a challenge.
Outside the Musketeers and Antonine, Durand and Joesph pair off. Joesph solicits a yield with a thrust which crippled his opponents leg. Durand fights a long hard long but after suffering multiple thrusts to the chest passes out. After a succession of fumbles and near misses and seeing his hot blooded friend is passed out Antonine yields.
