1. A League, Under The Sea

**kipling** · 03-16-2008, 02:38 PM

Lord Maxwell walks into the richly appointed room you're waiting in and takes off his powdered wig. "Itches like the devil," he says to no one in particular as he puts it on a false head on a bookcase. "Price of power, eh?" He picks up a sheaf of papers. "Nothing like yours, of course. Power, I mean."

He waves to you all: Super Soul, Elongated Fellow, Azrael, and Jason Blood. "Got a spot of bother here. Something is sinking ships between Britain and the United States of America. Thought at first it was pirates--several ships have been rich in gold bullion transferred for banking. Not so. One of the scientific jaspers noticed that all of the ships have had scientific equipment. Seems a rum thing for a sea monster to be taking."

He blows air out of the moustache he started when given this appointment. "Oh, yes, there was a survivor on the last ship, the Harkness, who reported that the ship was rammed by a swifly-moving sea monster. Which is where you come in."

He looks at the papers again. "Says here the Abraham Lincoln will be leaving Boston in a week with a load of scientific equipment. We've telegraphed ahead, found a fellow in New York who might be able to help you. Calls himself the Shadow--terror of their underworld, don't you know. See if you can get him to come onside, by the way."

He smiles. "I'm told Super Soul here is stronger than a locomotive, and fast. You three are not, I'm afraid. So I've arranged for you to travel in a railway car that I hope Super Soul will carry. That way, you can be in Boston within the week. Your assignment is to stop this sinking. It's a kind of piracy, and the Queen will not have relations with the United States strained by this." He finds his pipe and lights it. "Questions?"

**drfeck** · 03-16-2008, 04:43 PM

Blood is looking out the window when Maxwell walks in and says his bit. He had heard something about the others...but that did not mean they knew of him.

(OOC-using Well-informed feat [Gather info +15] to see if he has heard anything about the others in the room, as well as the shadow).

Prehaps just as well, if they learned of his "other half", they might refuse to work with him...or worse.

"Is there any bit of the wreckage we can examine, or speak to the surivior of the Harkness?" he asked Maxwell.

**kipling** · 03-16-2008, 06:25 PM

"Yes, there's a bit of wreckage down at the laboratory. Survivor's name is Ezekiel Bentham, and he's at this address in Boston." Lord Maxwell hands Jason a piece of paper.

(OOC: The Gather Info roll is high enough to have heard of each of the others, but I'll let them say what is known about themselves; I rolled a 9, so anything that meets DC 24 should be apparent to Blood.)

**drfeck** · 03-18-2008, 11:01 AM

Jason looks over the paper, while saying-"Very good. I shall make inquires with Bentham and then head to the lab, or whichever is closer. Anyone else coming?"

**kipling** · 03-18-2008, 11:18 AM

(OOC: I'd say, since the lab and you are in London and Bentham is in Boston, that the lab is closer. I'll edit this tomorrow to include a description of the wreckage and the lab.)

They took the stairs down to the laboratory, which was on the second floor of the building. The laboratory was a large room with three benches running down it; it smelled of ether and formaldehyde. Tall arched windows let in the light. The room is cool. Nearby, a young man in a smock stood by a retort; on the retort was clamped a piece of wood about four inches square.

An older gentleman greeted them. "Ah, glad you could make it. My name is Hermann von Helmholtz." Introductions are shared; Helmholtz is in his sixties; Blood recognizes him as a physician and physicist of some renown. "I apologize that I don't know more than I do; I was on a train coming here all night." His accent makes the esses zeds and vice versa.

"Perhaps if we let young Carr here speak."

The young man blinks and snaps his fingers. "Sorry. Nervous habit." He puts his hands in his pockets. Then he says, "Oh. Yes. The wood appears to be, well, wood, probably of a sea-going vessel from the growths on the outside. It has all the appearances of being broken by tremendous strength--a rapid ram into it would do the job. I'd think it was dashed apart in a storm on a coral reef except that the written testimony and the water indicate that there were no reefs in the area."

He pushes a leather binder over to them. "There are the results of all the tests I have run, and this binder--" he pushes over a second one "--contains the testimony of Mr. Bentham, as transmitted over the telegraph."

"The queen has not spared any expense. The Kaiser would be impressed," says Helmholtz.

**BlaqueSaber** · 03-19-2008, 11:06 AM

Azrael had yet to speak. He didn't much like the idea of being transported in a metal can across the sea, trapped in a small place with total strangers whom are not among The Order. Then, he didn't have the luxury of doing "what he liked", just what was ordered of him. The Order of St. Dumas had sent him to assist Lord Maxwell and that was what he would do...until they told him otherwise.

In the lab Azrael continued to hold his tongue, he knew of more than one way a ship could be breached beneath its depths and scuttled but doubted that any of that would be beneficial to earn the trust of his compatriots.

**Ballzy1** · 03-19-2008, 05:17 PM

Super Soul was observing the conversation of his new friends and wondered if he should take a scouting mission over the waters as he could be more help in that capacity. He will wait until we can meet as a group and then offer his assistance in this task.

**kipling** · 03-19-2008, 06:33 PM

Super Soul knows that from here to Boston at top speed is still an hour and a half: more like six if he has to carry a contraption that's not made for his kind of speed.

Still, that's faster than the two weeks it would take them by boat.

**drfeck** · 03-20-2008, 02:25 PM

Originally Posted by kipling

The young man blinks and snaps his fingers. "Sorry. Nervous habit." He puts his hands in his pockets. Then he says, "Oh. Yes. The wood appears to be, well, wood, probably of a sea-going vessel from the growths on the outside. It has all the appearances of being broken by tremendous strength--a rapid ram into it would do the job. I'd think it was dashed apart in a storm on a coral reef except that the written testimony and the water indicate that there were no reefs in the area."

He pushes a leather binder over to them. "There are the results of all the tests I have run, and this binder--" he pushes over a second one "--contains the testimony of Mr. Bentham, as transmitted over the telegraph."

"Hmm...interesting," Jason says as he looks over the binder, memorizes the contents and then examines the wood.

He turns Dr Helmholtz and Carr.

"Have you found any living residue on the wreakage? If this was a beast, something of this size might leave behind something...blood, skin, other..."

Blood thought it might be a machine, but even then it would leave something behind...unless it was something unnatural...he had to be sure...

(OOC: Jason will use his investigation skill +10 and his power of mystical awareness...)

**kipling** · 03-20-2008, 04:27 PM

(Jason rolls an 18 for Investigation and scans the report; they've been most thorough. He senses nothing mystical about the wreckage.)

"We found traces of an oil we were unable to identify. It's not whale oil nor oil of any cetacean at all--I suspect it comes from the ground. Just traces, though." Carr snaps his fingers again, then realizes what he's doing and puts his hand back in his pocket.

**kipling** · 03-24-2008, 01:56 PM

An assistant comes in and hands an envelope to Dr. Helmholtz.

"Something in for you folks." He holds out the envelope.

**drfeck** · 03-25-2008, 01:04 PM

Jason takes the envelope, looks for a letter opener, and proceeds to read it aloud to everyone.

**kipling** · 03-25-2008, 02:01 PM

Inside is a telegram.

Jason might decide not to read it while others are in the room, but all have been cleared for this, even Helmholtz.

WASHINGTON HAS PLAN STOP BE ON ABRAHAM LINCOLN STOP COMMUNICATIONS CHANNEL NOT SECURE STOP

"It was in the Arkwright cipher, sir. So far as we know, it came from people in Washington," says the aide. He looks a homespun young man, though nicely dressed.

**BlaqueSaber** · 03-26-2008, 12:00 AM

Azrael steps forward.

"I don't think we have any further time to waste." "Here we are but five, in the new world I am a part of a much larger order with nearly unlimited resources. We'll find this sea ferrying weapon but in light of this telegram, we should get moving."