Turn 17
October 13th, 1888
3:10 AM
((Going to pass a little bit of time here))
The HMS Alastor pulls alongside the Thunderchild and the crewmen start throwing small ropes with grappling irons on the ends. The small ropes are attached to larger ropes, so
Harker picks up the rope and pulls on it until the splice comes aboard. He does this for three ropes.
Transferring between airships - at least among the Proggrov fleet, is pretty easy. Two ropes support a small, boxlike traveling car, and then the other two are attached to winches, one on each ship. Within minutes all the ropes are in their proper places and the captain of the Alastor are on the way over to the Thunderchild.
Charles sets the Thunderchild on a level, slow drift, and since the ships are now moored to each other the controls can be safely left alone.
While
Gerald is walking upstairs to go to the bridge, he looks out of the window and sees
Lyliss working on the engine. They exchange a few shouted words between themselves and Gerald is recruited into help fixing the engine. He gets several lengths of rope, and a mechanics harness, and throws them to Lyliss. Lyliss now can maneuver around the engine, so she can work at a better pace. It only takes her twenty minutes to do the majority of the repairs. She gives Gerald an open palm, a Proggrov signal of approval and he pulls her back up through the window.The engine is now back in running order, although it still needs quite a bit of work to be in perfect shape.
Wesley uses his stethoscope to check
Adrienne's heartbeat after he finishes bandaging her wound. It's not the cleanest of wound, and she'll be in a pain for a while, but it will definitely heal. Maybe without major scarring. Satisfied that she is stable, he excuses himself to clean up, although Adrienne likely doesn't recognize what he's saying. The ship has a rudimentary running water system, reclaiming water from the air in a series of channels and using the extensive steam pipes to provide heat. He takes a bar of soap, washes his hands, and then changes his shirt.
Adrienne wakes up to an empty room, nobody in sight. The light, rhythmic bobbing of the ship is in sharp contrast to the pitching and heaving of the ship from before. She looked down at her shoulder - there's an extensive amount of neatly layered cotton pads and cotton strips, as well as some sweet-smelling ointment. She can think of nothing better to do but put her blouse back on and heads back to her room to freshen up.
After a few brief greetings, a meeting is set up on the bridge between Charles, Harker, Gerald, the Colonel, and a few officers that boarded with him. The OK signal is sent from the ship's communication lights, and the meeting begins with the men standing around a navigation table.
One of the officers from the Alastor is Chief Signal Officer Cecil Horst, prepared with a briefing.
He's a pudgy, tanned older man, with only faint wisps of curly white hair dispersed among his bald head. He's wearing a crisp Royal Marine uniform with only a hint of wear on it, and a smokes a large hooked walnut pipe stained with a deep reddish stain.
"The Sultanate of Zervantiss is two days south-east of here. Once we pass over the Straight of Demeter, we will be over the lair of our enemy, Notton. Our men have went over the Thunderchild, and it's not exactly in superb shape right now. We were briefed on your mission... and left shortly afterwards. We've been following you the whole time, as has many Notton warships, steamplanes, and steambirds. The good news is.. other than your deathly spiral in the past hour - you've made some good time so far."
He takes a few thoughtful puffs on his pipe, and opens a navigation chart showing typical airship routes over Notton.
"As you know from your geography classes, Notton is an extremely wide country. There's no going around it if you want to get to the Sultanate in time. Your ship is no longer airtight, and might take several days of work at a hangar to get suitable for high altitude cruising."
"So we've came up with several ideas on how to pass safely over Notton.
One. You go through the canyons over the River Sykes. Twisty and deep is the only way to describe it, with many large caves throughout. It's a barren of pirates and other brigands, but it's almost guaranteed to be free of serious military presence.
Two. You hit Hephaestus, the southernmost point on Poggrov's continent. You can find what you need to make the ship airtight again in the Industrial Warrens, and maybe find other resources. This is the slowest option, but with an airtight ship you'll be able to get high enough to avoid most casual patrols and all antiaircraft fire.
Three.
There are many large trains in the forest of Gorth alongside the Northern costs of Notton. They typically carry the massive redwoods from Gorth to the southern shipping dock of Polevio, which happens to be less than two hundred kilometers off the shore of Zervantiss. It's possible... you hijack a southbound train, you load the airship on it, and you go as fast as possible to the shore and launch. The high tree canopies will cover you, although you'll have to deflate your main balloons."
A junior officer with Horst speaks up, "Oh, and remember. The King has instructed the Alastor to only follow halfway through the straight of Demeter, and then report to defense position at Hephaestus"
Horst takes a final puff on his pipe,and then tips it over and empties the ash into brass can. "It looks like there's got some things to talk about, and maybe you need to get all your crew up here to discuss it."
<<The crew needs to come to a consensus decision about which path to take. If you choose to abstain, please post another action to do during the meeting - repairs, cleaning, sleeping, etc.>>
Player Status :
Name: Adrienne Du'Morne
Class: Diplomatic Envoy
Starting Equipment: Fancy Dress(covered in blood!) / Letter from the King
Injuries: Bruise, head
Bruise, shoulder
Gunshot wound, shoulder
Name: Wesley King
Class: Medic
Starting Equipment: Medical Kit
Name: Charles
Class: Able Airshipman
Starting Items: Revolver and Spyglass
Injuries : cut - head (covered with matted blood!)
bruise - head,shoulder, L arm, R arm
Name : Lyliss
Class : Ship's engineer
Starting equipment : toolbox, goggles of clarity.
Injuries : 2nd degree burn (L Hand)
Heavy bruise (L Shoulder)
Name: Gerald
Class: Royal Marine
Starting Equipment: A carbine and a saber(drenched with blood!).
Status :
Injuries : bruise - L knee
Name: Harker
Class: Esteemed Agent in Poggrov Military Police
Item:Revolver
Airship
Boiler Room (add fuel, optimize output)
Quarters (Healing,rest,recreation)
Bridge(Ship controls)
Rigging/Balloon/Crow's Nest(Lookout point)
Any named weapon
Port Radial Engine - Started, 9/10 durability
Starboard Radial Engine - Started, 5/10 durability
3" cannon, Fore - Ready , 10/10 durability
Gatling gun, Bottom - Ready, 10/10 durability
Steam Thruster - 0psi steam pressure, Not started, 3/3 durability
3" cannon, Aft - 10/10 durability
Hull :31/50
Airworthiness:45/50
Heading : 188 / 960 meters altitude
Speed : 1 km/hr
Author
Topic: The HMS Thunderchild : A Steampunk Airship game! (Turn 18) (Read 16827 times)