by Marcus L. Rowland
Copyright © 1995, revised 1998
This is a collection of short adventures linked by the history described in the Challenger worldbook. Each adventure can be played in a few hours. If you do not wish to use the timeline in the worldbook, some minor modifications may be needed.
Characters are adventurers in a world of strange and largely unexplained phenomena. How did the dinosaurs of Maple White Land REALLY survive? If the Earth is alive, what does it think of mankind? Is there intelligent life in the stratosphere? These and many other questions are not answered below.
Because of the size and scope of this collection minor NPCs are not described in great detail; they have average characteristics of 3 or 4, and skills appropriate to their jobs or ranks. All characters and organisations mentioned are imaginary, unless stated otherwise. Maps and charts are only provided for key locations; since I am unfamiliar with most places described, many details are entirely imaginary or are based on limited (and possibly inaccurate) information. Referees are strongly advised to obtain suitable maps, charts, and photographs to supplement the illustrations provided, and modify details where I have made mistakes. Wherever possible sources are mentioned.
When referring to characters the words "him" and "his" are usually short for "him/her" and "his/her"; unless stated otherwise the characters may be of either gender. The male pronoun is sometimes used to give a more natural flow of text - blame the English language, not the author! All the adventures are written for groups of 3-6 characters; more are usually more trouble than they are worth, smaller groups may lack some of the skills needed for success. It is assumed that the characters are British; if not, some modifications are needed.
The original version of these adventures included rules for children and
dogs as characters. These are now Appendix E of the Forgotten Futures rules
0.1 Campaign Summary
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These adventures are connected mainly by their background; there is no strong linking theme, apart from weird science.
The first adventure begins in St. Petersburg in 1910. What strange secrets are brewing in the Siberian wastes? What happened at Tunguska? And why is the Tsar buying electrical generators? Agents in His Majesty's Secret Service must face The Fist Of God to find out.
Having escaped the clutches of the Okhrana, the Imperial Russian secret police, the adventurers stumble into new and even deadlier peril in the Himalayas. Are they doomed, or is there an Escape From Shangri-La?
Back in Britain, a visit to a remote observatory becomes a nightmare of suspicion and fear. But is the main danger human or supernatural, and will A Nice Night For Screaming ever end?
The last adventure is set in Scotland. For centuries humanity has wondered about the mystery of the Loch Ness Monster. Now, in 1935, the mystery has been solved. Is the mighty creature really destined for a life of captivity, or can a small group of children arrange to Free Nessie? This adventure includes statistics for The Skool Rules, an RPG by Phil Masters.
Finally, the wargaming scenario Where Pterodactyls Dare returns to the
First World War and Maple White Land, where the forces of King and
Kaiser must battle for control of its mineral resources. It can be run
under Irregular Miniatures' 'Tusk' system, or under the Forgotten
Futures rules.
0.2 Timing and Distances
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These adventures are written to avoid the need to adhere to a strict timetable; while one is sometimes provided, it is simply presented as a guideline, which can safely be ignored. Usually the characters will learn of a problem then have the time they need to deal with it. Occasionally their actions will precipitate events, causing a new problem that requires a rapid response, but even here it should be unnecessary to adhere to a rigid timeline.
In play-testing a freewheeling approach was used. Regardless of their efficiency, the characters always managed to be at the right place at the right time, more or less equipped to deal with the situation. From then on the timing of the scenario was based on the players' actions. This melodramatic approach is strongly recommended.
Referees should always remember that these scenarios can't possibly
handle every contingency; players may think of plans that didn't occur
to the author and play-testers, or ignore clues that seemed obvious
when these adventures were written. Be prepared to think fast and
abandon my plots if they aren't going well; the players may think of
something much more entertaining if you let them develop their ideas!
0.3 Acknowledgements
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Bridget Wilkinson and Boris Sidyuk provided some essential background details for The Fist of God.
The title of Escape From Shangri-La was suggested by the excellent collection Escape From Kathmandu, by Kim Stanley Robinson. Background ideas came in part from conversations with various members of the Midnight Rose Collective, especially Alex Stewart and Mary Gentle. Hugh Mascetti gave me many details of the weaponry and its drawbacks; any errors remaining are my fault. Use Of Weapons is a novel by Ian M. Banks.
A Nice Night For Screaming has an unusually complicated history. It was originally written as a generic adventure with statistics for several RPGs, and published in TSR UK's Imagine Magazine, July 1985. A sequel, Honeymoon In Hell, was later published by Chaosium Inc. in the Call of Cthulhu supplement Blood Brothers, but for unknown reasons a reference to the earlier scenario was edited out. Because some players may remember the original adventure or sequel, it has been re-written completely, with the setting and all characters and motivations changed. Think of it as a variation on a theme. The title was suggested by a collection of short stories by James H. Schmitz, A Nice Day For Screaming. The Saint had dealings with a copy of 'Her Wedding Secret' in The Simon Templar Foundation [Leslie Charteris 1934].
Free Nessie is written for a group of children, and includes statistics for a second game system; Phil Masters' The Skool Rules, which is included with this collection. I have used this system, with permission, because it gave me the idea of using these characters, and is in some ways better for adventures involving them. 'The Skool Rules' is charityware; if you find it useful, please make a contribution to one of the charities suggested. The title and setting for this adventure was in part suggested by publicity for the 1995 World Science Fiction Convention, Intersection, which was held in Glasgow in August 1995.
Where Pterodactyls Dare began as the first adventure outline in the
worldbook. Some time after writing it, I happened to ask Alex Stewart
about prehistoric figures, and he mentioned the Irregular Miniatures
collections; in turn, Irregular Miniatures told me about Tusk.
Forgotten Futures isn't a wargame, but when I saw the Tusk rules, I
realised that I had the makings of a reasonable scenario. Obviously
fate was trying to tell me something. The Tusk rules are available
from the address given in the worldbook. Special thanks to Irregular
Miniatures for allowing me to include the scenario in this collection,
to Matthew Hartley (author of Tusk), Alex Stewart, Hugh Mascetti, and
members of the SFSFW for corrections and additional information. This
scenario has previously appeared in Ragnarok, the SFSFW journal; see
RULES.TXT for subscription information.
1.0 Adventure 1: The Fist Of God
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The setting is Tsarist Russia in 1910. The adventurers are members of the British community in St. Petersburg (later Leningrad), and have been in Russia for at least a few months. Possible reasons for their presence might include journalism, work at the British Embassy (but they should not be diplomats), or representation of a business or industrial concern; Russia is rearming after the disastrous Russo-Japanese war of 1904-5, and there are plenty of opportunities to do business. At least one character should have the Linguist (Russian) skill; if possible, all characters should have this skill.
As the adventure begins the characters are attending a reception at the British Embassy. It's a routine and fairly boring function, apparently unlikely to lead to trouble....
Maps and other resources related to Russia are obviously useful for the referee, but they tend to be dominated by post-revolutionary information. A small scale map is provided as part of 28_ADV3.GIF, but isn't really adequate for an adventure that spans several thousand miles. A large world map, or a map of Russia and Asia, should show most of the locations in this adventure (although some names were changed in the Soviet era), and its use will emphasise the size of the area covered.
Data on the history of the period comes mainly from Robert K. Massie's Nicholas and Alexandra, with some additional historical and geographical material coming from the Grolier Multimedia Encyclopaedia, The Nuttall Encyclopaedia [1909], and Robert Strauss's Trans-Siberian Rail Guide, Peter Neville's A Traveller's History Of Russia, various issues of Pearson's Magazine from 1899 to 1902, and family stories. I have tampered with historical, geographical, and scientific accuracy at several points, and have been unable to check some details. Fictional sources include the novel Chekov's Journey by Ian Watson, Angela Carter's Nights At The Circus, The Spy's Bedside Book, ed. Graham and Hugh Greene, and S.O.S. Pacific [film 1960].
Several game supplements have included plans for trains in various eras. Examples include Chaosium's Horror On The Orient Express and Fearful Passages (both for Call of Cthulhu), TSR's Orient Express (for the original Top Secret RPG), and Victory Games' Thrilling Locations (for the James Bond RPG). The first of these is probably the most useful, since the train has similar features to the Trans-Siberian Express and the plans are printed on card in 25mm scale. The third and fourth are better suited to a later period, and are now out of print. Since the precise layout of carriages isn't important, any of them will suffice. Purists may wish to note that Russian railways are wide gauge, and modify plans accordingly.
Russian currency is the rouble, divided into 100 copecks (or kopecks). A rouble is currently worth approximately 3s 2d, so the pound is worth 6 roubles 32 copecks. The exact comparison varies according to what is purchased; food is cheaper than in Britain, alcohol (especially vodka) is cheap, but often of suspect quality - a pinch of pepper should be used to remove fusel oil from the surface. Caviare is very cheap. Most other luxuries are more expensive.
Russia has its own alphabet and language, which are not readily reproducible without special typefaces; occasional attempts at phonetic spelling below lack accents which would normally be useful for accurate pronunciation of these words. If possible, use a Russian phrase book. Unless stated otherwise, all conversations involving Russian NPCs are in Russian.
In this period Russia has its own units of weight, distance, etc., which can add flavour to this adventure. The most useful is the verst, approximately 2/3 mile, roughly equivalent to a kilometre; smaller units of distance including the sazhen (about 1.5 metres), arshin (70 cm), vershok (5 cm) and duim (2.5 cm). Units of weight include the poud (about 16 kg), pound (400g), zolotnik (2 or 4 g) and dolya (1/24th zolotnik). Please note that I have NOT been able to verify modern equivalents of these units, apart from the verst, and am sure that some confusion has crept in!
In 1910 Russia uses the Julian calendar, which runs 13 days behind
that of the rest of the world; this means that if a European newspaper
is purchased on September 15th (Julian calendar), and is dated
September 21st, it is actually a week out of date.
1.1 Players Information
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The British Embassy, St. Petersburg, August 1910.
The British community in St. Petersburg is small, and all of you know each other; you eat at the same restaurants, attend the same social events, and have many friends in common. It isn't surprising that you have all been invited to attend a reception at the Embassy.
The party is fairly boring; the guests are some Scots engineers who have been helping the Russians build bridges for the latest part of the Trans-Siberian railway, a line along the River Amur to bypass a route that was shelled during the Russian-Japanese war of 1904. British manufacturers have done well from the railway; most of the structural steel, track and machinery, even the ferry boats on Lake Baikal, were built from parts made in Britain. There's also a dark side to the story - if what you've heard is true, there's a corpse for every few miles of track, mostly convicts and exiles who were worked to death or killed in accidents.
At ten-fifteen all of you are in a small reading room upstairs from the main reception, where you know you'll find the latest newspapers from home, less than a week old. You chat about politics, the new King, the startling discovery of live dinosaurs in South America, and the cricket scores.
While you're talking the Military Attache bustles in, shutting the door behind him, and says "I'm glad you could all get here. I don't want to break your covers, but no-one should notice this meeting if we keep it short. Whitehall has a mission for you."
It's time to get down to business.
1.2 Briefing
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The adventurers are agents of His Majesty's Secret Service, assigned to routine duties in the Russian capital, St. Petersburg. A code word on the invitation summoned them to the meeting. Their briefing officer is Colonel Chapman, the Military Attache.
Players should not be told that their characters are spies when they are designed; they were recruited after they decided to work in Russia, and have received a minimum of special training. Read out section 1.1 above, then give each character 2 extra points to spend on appropriate skills (but not characteristics), to be added to those already chosen. Obvious possibilities are Detective, Linguist, Marksmanship, Martial Arts, Morse Code, Stealth, and Thief. Any player who initially decided to generate a character as a British agent should be given 2 extra points to spend on skills appropriate to a cover identity, such as Business. In both cases the extra points may not be converted into bonus points.
Chapman explains that the normally unimaginative minds of Whitehall have noticed some odd facts and reached some startling conclusions:
Putting these facts together, Whitehall has concluded that the Russians may have found some clues to the conversion of matter to energy, and might have built a laboratory to test the idea at Tunguska. The Russians haven't publicly sent any scientists to the site of the explosion, which is suspicious in itself; a comparable blast in Europe would soon attract scientists from a dozen nations.
The agents are to try to find out what really happened at Tunguska, and what happened to the generators. If the Russians are developing new weapons, they are to find out as much as possible, bearing in mind that Britain and Russia are at peace.
Chapman goes on to mention that another agent disappeared in the area in May. He was Captain Edward Fanshawe, of the Royal Marines, who entered the area by rail from Vladivostok, with a cover as a botanist painting Mongolian and Siberian flowers. He was last seen in Krasnoyarsk. The Russians claim to know nothing of his whereabouts after he left the town. Chapman has a photograph of Fanshawe - none of the agents have ever met him - and explains how to make contact if they encounter him. Instead of a password, the signal is a short whistled tune; Fanshawe will reply with another tune. Neither tune is part of any known work of music, so there is no chance of an accidental response to the signal. In play-testing, the first and second bars of the James Bond theme were used as tune and counter-tune. After all, they aren't part of any common tune in 1910... If this doesn't appeal, any sequence of notes will do.
In addition to any equipment the players have already selected for their characters, all agents have the following in their luggage or about their persons:
There is some variation in equipment; for example, one agent might have a compass as a charm on a pocket watch fob, another might have one concealed in the head of a cane, and all watches etc. are of different makes. Only the Bibles are identical; using them to prepare a code signal and disguise it as an innocuous message needs a roll of MIND or Babbage Engine versus Difficulty 7.
One agent (choose someone whose cover might bring them into contact with Russian military secrets, such as an arms dealer) has an Akeley concealed camera, a circular drum about 2 inches wide and 1/2 inch thick, with a small lens on one side. It can be worn under a shirt and tie, with the lens disguised as part of a tie clip, in a woman's hat with the lens disguised as a brooch or pin, or in a sleeve with the lens protruding as a cufflink. Naturally holes must be made for the lens. It takes twelve tiny pictures on a rotating glass plate negative. A small bulb release allows the shutter to be used without touching the camera; obviously it's a good idea to keep it concealed by clothing or hair. A spring motor winds the negative to the next position. It must be loaded in complete darkness, and needs good light to get a usable picture.
Some other items that might have been issued to characters with suitable skills include lockpicks, a simple bugging set (a microphone roughly the size of a pocket watch, 50 ft of thin cable, headphones, and a large battery), invisible ink, or an electric torch (still very rare). Assassination weapons and drugs have not been issued.
No weapons have been issued, since the agents were not supposed to engage in dangerous activities, but Chapman can provide some .32 revolvers (statistics as Small Handgun) if persuaded. Some of the agents may also own weapons as part of their cover identities; it would be odd if a gentleman didn't own a gun or two, and most Englishmen abroad carry a stick, a small cosh, or some other non-lethal weapon to protect themselves from "the natives".
Players may wish to add items such as sword sticks, trunks with secret compartments, shirukin or strangling wires (which should NOT be allowed - they just aren't English, old boy...), knuckle dusters, gloves weighted with lead strips, etc. Anything reasonably plausible and inconspicuous should be allowed. The Embassy has a few homing pigeons, which can be supplied if the characters wish to risk carrying them; a cage of pigeons is a rather conspicuous travel accessory, unless the travellers are disguised as emigrants or peasants. Portable radio transmitters aren't yet available. Don't let the players get too carried away with the idea of weird espionage gadgets; in 1910 most are difficult to conceal, especially in a country with Russia's attitude to foreigners, and nothing overtly suspicious will be issued. See the old TV series "The Wild, Wild West" (USA) and "Virgin Of The Secret Service" (UK) for ideas.
All of the adventurers are under routine surveillance by the Internal Bureau of the Okhrana, the Russian secret police, a huge bureaucracy which employs thousands of agents. This is an accepted part of life in St. Petersburg. It's normally nothing to worry about, so long as they don't want to do anything unusual, but shaking off this surveillance can be a problem. Chapman suggests that they lull Okhrana suspicions by concocting a plausible reason to visit Siberia, such as a hunting expedition in search of Siberian tigers; if they head off into the wilderness and disguise their ultimate goal they are unlikely to be pursued.
The outward journey will consist of a week-long railway trip to Krasnoyarsk, where they will probably have to hire horses or a boat for the "hunting expedition". Chapman has no information on their availability. There is no other realistic route, and automobiles are out of the question; there are only a few hundred in Russia, the roads are little more than cart tracks, and fuel is only available in the largest cities. It is now autumn in Siberia; temperatures will fall rapidly at the end of September by the local calendar (early October by normal calenders), so there is little time to lose.
After this briefing the characters are free to make their own plans.
The Embassy can't supply much equipment, apart from the pigeons and
guns mentioned above, some Russian clothing, and cans of bully beef
and other staple foods.
1.3 Referee's Information
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Military intelligence is a contradiction in terms.
[Groucho Marx]
For once, and entirely accidentally, Whitehall's paranoid fantasies are almost correct.
The Tsar has decided that Siberia must be electrified, to become the industrial heartland of Russia. Over the vast distances of the area all conventional means of power transmission are prohibitively expensive; most of the electricity would be wasted, lost as heat from the resistance of the wires. The rugged terrain and trees of much of the area would also interfere with cables. The Tsar's scientists decided to look at alternatives. One of the most radical suggestions was presented by Theodor Nemor (see worldbook sections 4.2 and 9.0), a young Latvian engineer, then working in Moscow, who had studied the work of Nikola Tesla (see Forgotten Futures 2 for much more on Tesla).
In the late 19th century Tesla suggested a means of transmitting power via the upper atmosphere; high voltages would be 'pumped' into the air at one point, then recovered by a receiving station elsewhere. Unfortunately there were snags which would have prevented its commercial use; huge amounts of power would have to be 'pumped' into the atmosphere before any could be recovered, and once this was done it would be difficult to stop the 'theft' of electricity by anyone who was prepared to build the receiving equipment. No-one really knew the limitations of the system; since power might be receivable in a radius of several thousand miles, electricity from a transmitter in the USA could conceivably be 'stolen' by a receiver in Canada or Central America. 28_ADV3.GIF includes an artist's impression of Tesla's system.
Since Russia is a huge country and an absolute monarchy, most of the obstacles to Tesla's scheme could easily be overcome. Power transmitters and receivers would be a government monopoly, owned by the Tsar himself, and no-one would ever dare to build a "pirate" receiver. Even if the system had a vast range, it was unlikely to exceed the size of Russia. Less power would be lost than through wires, and the cost of stringing wires across thousands of miles of icy terrain could be avoided.
The first transmitter plant was built at Tunguska in 1907-8; the region was selected for its remoteness and central location. It was activated for its initial trials in May 1908, with receivers 50, 100, and 200 versts from the transmitter. By the beginning of June it was obvious that efficency was rising as the power output was increased. On June 30th 1908 Nemor decided that he was ready for full power trials; fortunately for the history of science, he chose to observe them from the 100 verst station.
The system designed by Tesla used balloons tethered on long wires to transmit power to the stratosphere and collect it at the receiver stations. Nemor's version used several parallel wires, all carrying power, to spread the load and ensure that none of the wires burned out.
For the final test the transmitter wires were charged to several megavolts at very high amperage. As full power was reached, a column of fire appeared between the wires, and burned its way up to the balloon and down towards the ground station. Nemor had accidentally created a crude version of what would eventually become his disintegrator. The field momentarily rotated some air molecules through one of the extra dimensions occupied by the ether, returning them as antimatter. Within seconds the transmitter station and balloon were annihilated, and a mushroom cloud was rising over Tunguska.
As the adventure begins, Nemor still isn't sure what happened or why, but he and the Russian government are very interested in finding out. One of the receiver towers has been converted into a replacement transmitter, and when some generator problems have been solved he'll be ready to try again. The adventurers are about to walk in on the climax of these experiments.
Meanwhile Fanshawe has "gone native"; he has fallen in with a group of revolutionaries and escaped prisoners, currently at large in Siberia, and decided that the best way to forward British interests is to help them overthrow the Imperial Government. If the characters are doing well he should not appear; if they are about to die, he and his comrades may optionally appear to help them escape.
Chapman made one error in the briefing; Siberian tigers are mainly confined to the region around Mongolia, and are extremely rare so far West as Tunguska. While central Siberia does have many other types of hunting, including bear, this specific cover story will arouse suspicion and/or humour anywhere in Siberia, and won't be believed by anyone with experience of hunting in the region.
In this period Russia is trying to make a difficult transition from absolute monarchy to a form of democracy. Since the coronation of Nicholas II, Russia has been involved in a disastrous war, while political and religious persecution have led to one abortive revolution (the 1905 rising and mutinies), which made it obvious that reforms were needed. Unfortunately the aristocracy and police saw the new constitution as a threat to their power, and the Tsar's ministers stripped it of most of its effect; its cornerstone became the phrase "To the Emperor of all the Russias belongs the supreme autocratic power". While Russia acquired an elected parliament, the Duma, it could always be overruled by the Tsar and his ministers, and achieved almost nothing.
Meanwhile the left wing knew that their best chance for power would lie in the failure of reforms and a successful revolution, the peasants were still little more than serfs, and pogroms and other forms of religious persecution continued. There was growing discontent and increased support for socialism and other radical movements. Eventually this instability led to the 1917 revolution.
Despite these problems, it's a period of prosperity in many areas. The
weather has been good for several years, the economy is expanding, and
there has been some liberalisation of the Press and religion. The new
wealth is allowing Russia to rearm; unfortunately this will only
ensure a long struggle in the Great War.
1.4 Getting There Is Half The Fun
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The main events of this adventure begin once the agents reach the site of the Tunguska explosion, but players need not know that, and there's no need to make it easy to get there. The journey is long, and Russia's current problems mean that there are likely to be a few difficulties along the way.
It will take several days to make preparations for the expedition without attracting unwelcome attention. The adventurers will need maps, provisions, camping equipment, and other supplies, and must get them inconspicuously.
All of the characters are intermittently monitored by at least one Okhrana informant; the concierge of an apartment building, a servant, a neighbour, or a business or social contact, paid a small fee to make regular reports on their movements and activities. Some of their letters are intercepted and read. If any of the characters are journalists, all their stories must be submitted to the official censor before they are sent to England. This isn't abnormal; any foreigner in Russia receives similar attention, as do thousands of Russians suspected of criminal or political irregularities. Most of the reports are simply filed and forgotten, but any unusual behaviour will be noted. This isn't just bureaucracy for the sake of bureaucracy; every year thousands of convicts and dissidents are sentenced to exile in Siberia, often on little more than the word of informants.
The amount of interest shown by the Okhrana varies according to the activities of the adventurers. Paradoxically, the best way to avoid Ohkrana interest is to be to be as public as possible, and pretend that they have nothing to hide; for example, if the characters plan to pretend that they are on a hunting expedition, and have some social status, it might be a good idea to make sure that a suitable story appears on the society page of St. Petersburg's newspaper, Novoe Vremeya. The mere fact of an expedition to Siberia isn't suspicious in itself; the local Okhrana officers know nothing of the Siberian project, which is being run by the Russian Army, and in any case Siberia is a very large area. If such an article states that the adventurers plan to hunt tiger, someone will write to the paper suggesting that they are looking in the wrong place. This may be a good cue to amend their cover story.
If characters are acting very strangely, they should be picked up for questioning. For example, someone who openly carries a gun is asking for trouble. Interrogation methods rely mainly on psychological domination and verbal intimidation, not violence; most Russians assume that the Okhrana is all-seeing and all-knowing, and that they are doomed if they attempt to lie. Foreigners may have other ideas. Referees should give players the benefit of the doubt wherever possible. Depending on what is found in a search, and what is said, the results may range from a warning and confiscation of illegal books or weapons to summary trial and transportation in chains to Siberia. Prisoners won't normally be allowed to communicate with their friends or Embassy until questioning is complete, and this can take several days; if they are found guilty they may be kept incommunicado indefinitely. Even if they are released quickly, they may find that their homes have been searched, letters read, and books and other papers confiscated for further examination.
Despite this potential problem, the adventurers should eventually be ready to leave St. Petersburg, and sample the delights of the Imperial State Railway. The trains are comparatively modern, wide gauge models, with British-designed steam locomotives. Tickets should be booked via Wagon-Lits, international ticket brokers serving most of Europe and Asia. Most trains stop at every town and village en route, adding an hour or two a day to the journey; expresses stop only at the largest towns, but are usually heavily booked. One first class compartment on an express should be available immediately; if two or more are needed it will take at least a day to arrange the tickets. There are three main ticket classes:
First class compartments are large and sleep two or four, with refinements such as wash basins, comfortable beds, etc. Second class compartments sleep four; they are less comfortable and lack wash basins. In both of these classes hot water is only available from a communal samovar, but free tea is constantly available. There is only one lavatory per carriage, and no bath or shower. There is one dining car per train, between the first and second class wagons. The food is good, and can be supplemented by fruit, vegetables, smoked meat, and smoked fish, purchased at stations along the route.
Third or "hard" class carriages have no sleeping accommodation, just wooden seats. They are mainly used for local travel by peasants, who are often accompanied by caged chickens, sacks of produce, and other agricultural luggage. The occupants don't have access to the other compartments through the interior of the train.
Additional to the above, most trains include a baggage car, while expresses have mail cars. Private carriages (owned mostly by the nobility) and horse boxes may sometimes be added.
A fourth class is sometimes used; converted baggage trucks which convey prisoners, exiles, and emigrants to Siberia. They have small stoves, but no other amenities. Prisoners travel in chains, exiles in locked wagons. Voluntary emigrants are given 150 roubles and 10 acres of land apiece, and charged a 4 rouble fare to Irkutsk, the main centre for the colonisation of Siberia. These wagons are usually attached to goods trains, separate from the normal passenger service, and travel very slowly. They are uncomfortable, verminous, and smelly, with wooden shelves used as seats and beds.
Any agents arrested and sentenced to transportation to Siberia will be loaded into such a train, which (after several uncomfortable days) will be derailed by Fanshawe's revolutionaries. Eventually, towards the end of the adventure, they should be reunited with the main party.
Most Europeans will want to travel first class; even their servants go second class unless their employers are unusually mean. Travellers who aren't in a great hurry usually take the journey in several stages, getting off in the morning and spending a few hours sightseeing at one or two of the larger towns along the route, or stopping overnight in a comfortable hotel. This must be arranged by Wagons Lit before the journey begins, since compartments must be reserved on the correct trains. For example, many tourists take the train from St. Petersburg to Moscow then spend a day or two sightseeing before carrying on.
The journey from St. Petersburg to Krasnoyarsk takes about a week, assuming no extended stops. A lot can happen in that time, but the Trans-Siberian railway is already renowned for prompt service, and it isn't likely that anything will seriously disrupt it. Complications are most likely to arise from fellow passengers or Russia's political and social environment. Some examples follow; not all will be appropriate to all groups of players, and you should use them sparingly:
Eventually the train reaches Krasnoyarsk, a medium-sized town largely dependent on the wood, tar, and turpentine industries. The characters will presumably want to hire horses or a boat for the remainder of the journey. If they are still pretending to be on a tiger hunt, the locals are surprised, for the reasons given above, but are happy to take their money.
Characters with the Riding skill should be dubious about the practicality of such a long journey, more than four hundred miles through woods and across difficult terrain, on horseback. It can be done, but there are bandits, wolves, and bears in the forest; superstitious locals may also mention some of the less attractive legends of the region, including werewolves and the Baba Yaga. If the adventurers decide to take this route anyway, horses are readily available, but not for hire; horses, saddles, and other supplies must be purchased at extortionate prices, and the horse trader crosses himself if they mention that they are planning such a long journey through the forest. In fact the journey will take about a week, mostly along dirt roads and forestry tracks with very few real obstacles, and will be entirely uneventful, apart from minor horse ailments and occasional sightings of wolves, much too far away to shoot; it's the end of summer, and small game is still plentiful, so the wolves aren't interested in hunting humans or horses. As they near Vanavara they should start to notice the fallen trees described below. At the end of the ride the agents will be tired, saddle sore, and cold.
The usual route for travellers is by boat along the river Yenisei, which connects directly with the Tunguska river. At Krasnoyarsk the river is busy with barges, logger's rafts, and other traffic. There aren't currently any boats scheduled for Vanavara and other Tunguska River destinations, because the trading stations mainly handle furs and the hunting season is over. If the agents ask for a ride to the nearest point to Vanavara that is still being served, a timber yard at the confluence of the Yenisei and Tunguska rivers, they'll have more luck; a paddle steamer tug, the Tsarevitch Nicholas (named for the present Tsar before the death of his father), is towing barges North without cargo to pick up drums of turpentine and other wood products from plantations along the river. There's even room for horses on the barges. This journey takes five days, and is again entirely uneventful; the main problems are boredom and cold. From the confluence it's a relatively short ride or hike to Vanavara.
Travelling by boat offers another benefit; the agents can try to find out more about shipments along the river. As should be obvious from the name of the tug, its master and owner, Felix Zaslavsky, is a patriot. If he becomes suspicious he'll report the agents to the police as soon as he returns to Krasnoyarsk; nothing much will come of this unless they return to Krasnoyarsk, where the police will be ready to ask questions. However, Zaslavski is not particularly intelligent, and a few glasses of vodka should get him or his deck-hands talking without arousing their suspicions. Careful questioning will reveal that some of the tugs on the river are on Imperial contracts; the Imperial family is the largest estate owner in Russia, so this isn't unusual. The Tsarevitch Nicholas isn't one of these tugs; Zaslavsky regrets that it hasn't the engine power specified the last time the work was put out to tender. Cautious questioning will reveal that dozens of barge-loads of machinery and steel have gone North on these contracts; he doesn't know where they are being taken, because everyone involved has apparently been sworn to secrecy.
Zaslavsky is happy to talk about the Tunguska explosion; it's his best anecdote. The barge was "half way along the Yenisei" when it happened, he saw "the sky burning", there was "a wind from hell", and the tug had to ride out a huge wave that swept along the Yenisei a couple of hours later. He can't really add much to what the characters already know; he was too busy keeping the tug and barges afloat to worry about exact details. As the boat nears the confluence the first signs of the disaster are already visible; occasional uprooted trees, their crowns all pointing away from Tunguska, scoured banks along the river, and a wrecked barge high above the normal water line.
East of the Yenisei river the foothills of the Tunguska Plateau begin, and the going (by horse or on foot) gets much harder. Areas that were protected by hills still mostly have intact trees, but where this protection was missing they seem to have been blown down in vast swathes.
At Vanavara it's difficult to persuade the locals to talk about anything else; everyone has his or her own story about the disaster. There was a violent thunderclap that seemed to last several minutes; the light seemed to begin high in the sky, and people who looked at it had spots in front of their eyes for hours afterwards. There was a scalding hot wind that seemed likely to rip the roofs off the buildings. Fortunately they are strong, and there wasn't much damage. Many trees have fallen, although the majority still stand. Even if the agents are pretending to be on a hunting trip, everyone they meet will suggest taking a look if they're going in that direction; it's as though "the fist of God" struck the Earth a giant blow. If they don't have horses, they can be hired (for a rouble a day, with a thirty rouble deposit) at Vanavara.
Any questions about shipments of machinery passing through the area will be met with frightened silence and a rapid change of subject; the obvious inference is that Okhrana agents have visited the trading post and made sure that nobody talks, especially to foreigners.
The remainder of the adventure assumes that the agents do decide to
visit the site of the explosion; if not, some improvisation is needed.
1.5 Food For Thought...
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As the agents near the centre of destruction, the going gets more and more difficult. Trees haven't just fallen; they have been torn up by the roots and thrown hundreds of feet with hurricane force. Branches are pulverised underneath, carpeting the ground in a treacherous mat of fallen trees, stripped branches, shredded wood, and bark. Occasionally the skeletons of reindeer are visible, mostly crushed by some colossal impact. At the exact centre, a thin plume of smoke rises from a conical tent.
The tent belongs to a shaman, one of the last members of the Tungu tribe, who has strong precognitive abilities. He has been camped here for several weeks, trying to understand what happened to the area and waiting for the adventurers. A reindeer, harnessed to a travois, is tethered to a stump nearby.
The tent is made of birch bark and contains a few furs, some odds and ends of personal belongings, and a small fire on which a pot of savoury-smelling stew is cooking. The stew contains hallucinogenic fungi, and anyone eating it will eventually feel the effects. This is not apparent from its smell or taste, which are both delicious. Several bowls are placed around the fire, one for the shaman and one for each of the characters. There is a wooden ladle in the pot, but no other utensils.
The shaman is seated cross-legged behind the fire. He is old, his face tattooed in an elaborate network of oval patterns, and wears a simple fur and leather tunic and trousers. As the agents approach he is apparently asleep or deep in meditation, his arms crossed and hands resting on his thighs. Although his eyes are open, he seems to pay no attention to their arrival.
This scene should be played very carefully by the referee. Try to emphasise its mythic quality, and possible spiritual significance. Try to avoid making the shaman sound too much like Yoda.
If the adventurers try to talk to him, he says something in a totally incomprehensible dialect, and gestures for them to sit down, then to help themselves from the pot. The hallucinogens won't start to take effect until everyone has eaten. Anyone who is determined not to eat won't be affected. If anyone has actually selected the obscure Tunga dialect as part of the Linguist skill, the shaman still seems to have great difficulty understanding what they are saying; this is because he is deaf.
If anyone tries to touch him, he instantly moves a hand to block them, or sways out of reach; he seems to move before the characters, even if they are using the Martial Arts skill at high levels. If anyone is actually foolish enough to try to take things any further, all blows miss, and are likely to end up hitting one of the other adventurers or one of the supports of the tent, with painful results. He is looking several seconds into the future, and knows any move before it is made.
If anyone is a medium, tell them that they feel an electric sensation of power. On a skill roll (Difficulty 4) the shaman is seen as a double image, the glowing astral form of a younger and larger man superimposed on the frail physical body.
Several minutes after eating, all of the agents feel warmer and happier. Anyone who has not eaten realises that his friends are grinning foolishly and giggling. What are they going to do about it? If the answer is nothing, the shaman smiles and gestures to the pot again, but takes no offence if his 'guest' declines. If the response is some sort of attack, the shaman is still able to anticipate it, which might easily end with someone tripping over his foot, landing face-down in a bowl of the stew, and swallowing enough to start hallucinating. Anyone who doesn't want to participate, and just says no, won't get a second chance.
At this point everyone who is hallucinating sees himself, and his friends and the shaman, rising from his or her physical body in astral form. The shaman 'says' "I am an ignorant old man, and know little of your affairs, but the Earth Spirit tells me to help you. What is it you would see?" Although he is apparently thinking in his own language, everyone understands him.
The shaman can grant each of the agents a vision of the past, present, or future, which everyone who is hallucinating will see, but naturally his visions are filtered by his understanding and by the limits of his imagination.
The most likely question is "What happened to Tunguska?"; the result is a vision of several buildings, all looking much like the log cabins at Vanavara. A gigantic snake bursts out through the roof of the largest, its head swollen like the hood of a cobra; it rears an impossible distance into the sky and tries to eat the sun, and explodes in flame as it does so. The vision seems to swing across the endless forests, back to the Yenisei, and further North, where there is another complex of buildings, much like the first. It focuses on some men standing near the building. The shaman 'says' "There - the man with yellow eyes, he would do this again."; the vision isn't clear enough to make out the features of the man he describes, but he seems to walk with a stoop, and yellow fire burns in his eyes.
If the agents ask about Fanshawe, they see a vision of a bearded giant, a Tungu warrior on a mighty horse brandishing a huge bow, followed by a dozen or more lesser warriors. If one of the agents has been arrested and transported to Siberia, he or she is seen as one of the lesser warriors; the same vision is seen if the agents ask about a missing character.
If they ask about the Earth Spirit, the image is a view of the earth, first stripped of trees and snow, then rocks, to reveal a gigantic shape within; possibly an enormous embryo, possibly a huge slug, it is simply too big to comprehend.
If they ask about the future, they see a series of confusing images; a giant canoe sinking in black water, surrounded by smaller canoes and floating ice [the Titanic disaster]; a city made of log cabins, which the characters somehow realise is London, full of bodies, with four men and a woman walking between them [the Poison Belt episode]; black crows with crosses on their wings, diving on the same city [the Blitz]; and a tribesman wrapped in heavy leather, which covers most of his face, walking over a rocky plain, with black sky behind him, and bouncing impossibly high in the air with every step [Apollo 11].
If the agents ask about their personal futures, describe a vision of a strange temple on a snowy mountain, chanting monks in saffron robes, and a feeling that something nameless and horrible is waiting to pounce [a reference to the second adventure, but there's no need for the players to know that].
If they ask about the past, describe whatever they want to know, distorted in the same way. Anything else that doesn't fit into these broad categories should be treated in a similar manner.
Once each of the agents has experienced one of these dreams, they all start to recover, and their astral forms return to their bodies. Meanwhile the shaman goes to his blankets and pulls out a few gifts, which he presents to the adventurers, explaining their use by sign language. Give one item to each agent, selecting them according to their skills; he unerringly picks a suitable character for each gift:
If there are more than six characters, give the remainder duplicates of one or another of the gifts above, or something useful such as fur boots. If the adventurers offer the shaman a gift, he'll be happy to accept a present such as meat or bread (but not canned food), alcohol, a knife, fish hooks, or an axe. He isn't interested in guns, ammunition, money, or clothing.
Once these gifts are distributed, the shaman packs his belongings onto the travois, and prepares to lead his reindeer away, leaving the tent and fire for the characters. Night is falling, and the sun is low on the horizon. He won't answer any more questions, and can't be made to stay; if necessary he uses his precognition to dodge attempts to capture him, shots, etc. He can outwalk anyone who tries to stop him; he never slips on the treacherous surface, while adventurers will soon start to trip and slide on the pulverised wood.
As he walks off, the setting sun picks out a dazzling reflection a
hundred yards or so from the tent. Anyone going to take a closer look
finds a piece of metal scrap, melted at one end and broken at the
other; 3" raised letters on one side read STINGHOU. Most characters
should guess that this might be part of the name Westinghouse,
builders of the generators they are trying to trace. Digging under the
wood will unearth more scraps of metal, fragments of shaped stone and
brick, and eventually pieces of a human skull.
1.6 Tunguska II: The Sequel
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By now the adventurers should realise that the Tunguska explosion may have been man-made. If they believe the vision, something similar is being prepared further North. Even if they don't accept the evidence of dreams, a site along the Yenisei is reasonably plausible; the equipment that has been shipped to Siberia is heavy, and couldn't be moved far from the railway or river. The site must obviously have facilities to unload heavy cargo, such as a dock with a crane, that would be visible from a passing boat.
Eventually the agents find a new concrete dock on the East bank of the river, a hundred versts NNW of the centre of the explosion, and far to the North of the last trading post shown on their maps. The site isn't shown on any map, and there are three tough-looking men on the pier, watching any boats that pass. An ancient paddle steamer is moored at the pier, listing slightly. Behind trees, the lattice-work of a high metal pylon is just visible; it could be a radio transmitter or an oil rig, but there's no real way to tell without taking a closer look.
29_ADV3.GIF shows the main features of the site, which is roughly a verst wide. Barbed wire is concealed by the trees; it surrounds the installation and deters casual intruders. To the North is the pylon, next to it a wooden shed housing a hydrogen balloon and gas tanks. Overhead cables link the pylon to the generator building, at the South side of the site; it's a massive concrete structure, with sloping walls and thick steel doors more typical of military emplacements than industrial plant. Inside is a huge steam turbine generator, the latest Westinghouse model. By its side is a smaller bunker, with spiral stairs leading down 50' to a control room and underground dormitories. The two buildings are connected by an underground tunnel, fitted with several heavy steel shutters. The generator has a mechanical coal feed system and can be run by remote control from the bunker, via dozens of pulleys, cables and levers.
Five barracks blocks house roughly a hundred workers and fifty soldiers; next to them are two warehouses mainly containing empty crates and unwanted equipment. These buildings are built of wood, and are designed to be expendable; the occupants will be evacuated down-river, or into the control bunker, before the experiment. A paddock holds a few horses, some used for riding, others to haul equipment around the site; Nemor plans to leave them there during the experiment, he's curious about the effects of such a massive explosion on living animals. Similarly, the paddle steamer has been moored to study its effects on a steel-hulled boat; this would obviously be important if the weapon were to be used against a seaborne enemy. It is resting on the bottom in shallow water, and will not float.
The Russians regard the site as a secret military installation, and there are always at least twenty armed guards watching out for intruders; these include three men on the pier, and look-outs on the roofs of a warehouse, the generator building, and the balloon shed, plus mobile patrols. The men on the pier have .38 revolvers (as Big Handgun), the other soldiers have medium-calibre rifles with bayonets, and patrol in teams of two accompanied by a fierce attack dog (as Big Dog). All have loud whistles, used to sound an alert if there is an intruder.
The full-power test is scheduled to take place at noon the day after the characters arrive (this should be at least 18 hours after they arrive; if they don't reach the site before nightfall, give them a clear day before the test). The generator is already running when the adventurers arrive, its output used to make hydrogen for the balloon. A nominal timetable for the day of the test is as follows:
| Balloon inflated and launched, rising to 5000 ft by 11 AM. | |
| Steam launches arrive to evacuate non-essential personnel. It should be obvious that some sort of evacuation is taking place; the items loaded include luggage and a small piano. | |
| Steam launches leave, taking about 75 passengers. | |
| Siren sounded; all personnel withdraw to bunker, leaving generator building sealed, gate to pier locked, etc. | |
| Generator brought up to full power. | |
| Power discharged into balloon cables. |
If the agents try to get a closer look at the installation they will probably be intercepted by the guards, taken prisoner, and find out a little more about Nemor's plans before (hopefully) escaping. This possibility is covered in section 1.7, below.
The agents may decide to sabotage the installation or kill everyone working there. This isn't part of their orders or particularly sensible, since Britain and Russia aren't at war, but is in the spirit of many spy adventures. Since such actions must begin with the agents closing in, this option is also covered in section 1.7, which hasn't moved since it was mentioned in the last paragraph.
If they keep watch, but don't try to close in for a better look, the
timetable above will be followed. By 10.00 it should be obvious that
something odd is going on; eventually the agents will probably realise
that they are standing at ground zero on what may possibly be the site
of an explosion to rival the first Tunguska blast. Their options are
considered in section 1.8 (which for some strange reason comes after
section 1.7).
1.7 The Man With The Yellow Eyes
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The aim of this section is for the characters to be captured, left trapped on the surface as the countdown begins, but escape in time to foil the test. This should be done fairly; the site is well guarded, and even if the agents make careful plans they are likely to fail, but if they can evade everything described below, they deserve to remain free; they'll still be trapped on the surface as the countdown begins, and will have to foil the test somehow.
An approach from the river gives the adventurers an opportunity to talk to the guards on the pier, who will tell them that this is a botanical research station owned by the Administration of the Imperial Appanages, the state forestry organisation. Visitors aren't admitted because they might be carrying seeds or the spores of plant diseases on their clothing. The guards will do their best to keep things friendly, but are adamant in refusing admission. From the pier the fence around the compound is visible, and the patrols described above can occasionally be glimpsed. If anyone asks about the tower, a guard explains that an experimental windmill is being built, but isn't complete yet. If the characters try to learn much more, the guards will arrest them as spies.
From the other sides the trees give the agents reasonably good cover until they reach the barbed wire fence, ten feet high, which consists of a dozen parallel strands of wire stretched between wooden posts. This can apparently be cut or climbed fairly easily, but there are cattle bells attached to the wire at irregular intervals; any disturbance will make them ring. The bells are backup for the main alarm system; thin electrical wires have been run along the top and bottom strands of barbed wire, and will break, sounding an alarm, if the adventurers cut the wire, stretch it, or try to climb over or lift the bottom strand out of the way to wriggle underneath. Spotting these wires is Difficulty 7 by day, Difficulty 10 at night; rolls should only be made if the characters say that they are looking for an extra alarm. The precise location of any break won't be known, but guards will patrol the perimeter until they find the entry point, blow their whistles to indicate the location, then use the dogs to track down intruders. The gates to the pier aren't connected to the alarm system; they are closed and chained shut at night.
During the day intruders should be spotted by one of the guards on the building roofs, even if the alarm isn't tripped. These guards have been placed specifically to look out for spies (especially the Japanese), and are alert and reasonably good at their jobs. If the agents come in on foot, the guards will move to encircle them before closing in; they will try to take intruders alive, but won't hesitate to shoot to kill if they are attacked.
Night-time intruders will also set off the alarms if they break the wire. There are a few electric lights around the compound, enough to cast long shadows if the agents are trying to hide. Six dogs (as Big Dog) roam the site, and will attack and bark at intruders; they can be knocked out if some meat mixed with a dose of the shaman's magic mushrooms is thrown over the fence, but this should not be suggested by the referee. If the alarm is sounded, guard patrols will track the agents down with the aid of more dogs.
Even if the agents do get past the guards and look around the site, they won't learn much. There is nothing really obvious to show how the system works, or what it is for, although the overhead high voltage lines make it apparent that something electrical is involved. This shouldn't come as a surprise since an order for generators gave Whitehall the idea for this mission.
If the agents somehow get a look inside the balloon shed, allow anyone with the Science skill to make a roll, Difficulty 7; if successful, they remember a picture that accompanied an article about Tesla's broadcast power ideas in Pearson's Magazine (28_ADV3.GIF). This roll may also be made once the balloon is launched.
The agents might try to impersonate guards to enter the buildings without attracting attention; this requires Actor and Linguist (Russian) skill rolls, but will fail anyway because the guards know each other and will immediately realise that the agents are strangers, unless they arrange a diversion to distract attention. Even then, most of the buildings hold no clues to the operation of the plant. They may think of kidnapping one of the guards or workers for questioning. This is difficult, because everyone is confined to the site and packing for evacuation; since they don't really know much it won't help. At best the agents might learn that there is a balloon in the shed near the pylon, that it's an electrical experiment, and that it's probably dangerous because most of the workers are about to be evacuated. Most of this can be guessed anyway, or learned by watching the site.
While most agents will probably prefer to infiltrate quietly, some are addicted to a less subtle approach. Any overt assault on the site before 11.30 AM on the morning of the test will be met by fierce resistance; the guards have rifles and dogs, and (even after some have left) should outnumber the adventurers at least four to one. If the agents have somehow recruited help (which should be difficult in this remote area), their recruits will include at least one Okhrana infiltrator, who will find a way to get the drop on them and arrest them. Even if they have somehow arranged to attack in force, most of the really sensitive equipment is in the power plant building or the bunker, and both are sealed closed behind BODY 20 steel doors at the first sign of trouble.
The most obvious vulnerable spot is the shed housing the balloon, which has a large hydrogen storage tank (BODY 9). The tank is labelled with the Cyrillic equivalent of "DANGER - HIGHLY FLAMMABLE", and the tank will explode (Radius 10ft, Effect 15, A:F B:I C:C/K) wrecking the balloon shed and damaging the pylon, if punctured by a shot or explosives. For this reason the shed has at least two armed guards at all times until 11.30 on the morning of the test. If the tank explodes before the balloon is launched, the trial will be delayed at least a month while the shed and pylon are repaired and a new balloon is made. Meanwhile the Russians will do their best to track down the saboteurs and make them extremely sorry. If it explodes once the balloon has been launched, the shed will be wrecked and the pylon damaged, but the balloon and cables won't be harmed, and the test will go ahead on schedule.
The cables linking the pylon to the generator block are the real weak point of this setup; if they are damaged before the test there will be a delay of a day or two while they are repaired, but if they are damaged after the bunkers are closed, there will be catastrophic results as full power is applied. See the next section for details.
The exact details of events depend on the referee and players; as stated above, this episode should end with the characters taken prisoner. If they seem to be winning, or have sabotaged the site so that the experiment cannot continue, Nemor and his colleagues simply batten down the hatches and wait for the fighting to end, then start to pick up the pieces. If the adventurers have total control of the rest of the site, the Russians easily hold off the characters from the bunker, or put snipers onto the roof of the generator block (from inside; there is no access from the outside of the building) to make life difficult for attackers. If the agents escape, the Russians will arrange to have a much larger guard force at the site before the next experiment, and every Okhrana agent in Siberia will be warned to be on the lookout for saboteurs. Someone should soon put two and two together and realise that the agents aren't all they seem; they will then be the objects of one of the biggest man-hunts in Russian history. The experiment will eventually continue as described in section 1.8 below.
Several other ideas could be tried; for example, some of the magic mushrooms might somehow be added to a samovar of tea or a pail of stew, giving some (but not all) of the soldiers and civilians violent hallucinations. Again, this will delay the test rather than stopping it, and trying to get near enough to do this is a good way to get caught.
If the adventurers retreat without causing any significant damage, the Russians will send out patrols to look for them at dawn, returning to the site at 10.00 AM for evacuation. When the guards are evacuated, they will warn the Okhrana as described above. Meanwhile the test will go ahead as planned.
The remainder of this section assumes that the characters are captured. Useful words at this point are "Shpion!" ("Spy!") and "Ybana Mat" ("Your Mother!"; a general purpose insult). Once caught, they will be handcuffed and taken to the bunker for questioning. Several armed guards ensure that there is little chance of escape, and that there is no opportunity to grab a gun or any other weapon.
In order to give them a fair chance of survival, the referee should be ready to "reschedule" the test once they are caught. If there is less than an hour to go, assume that there have been technical problems, and "start the clock" at sixty minutes as described below.
Most referees will be familiar with the next scene; it's the "Villain interrogates the heroes then explains his scheme because he's sure that they will never escape" episode, as seen in most spy films. Unfortunately this time the main villain is busy, and has left things in the hands of an underling.
The adventurers are hustled down the spiral stairs and into the bunker, where they get a tantalising glimpse of a large control room before they are pushed into an interrogation room. Think of the usual James Bond villain's HQ, but built by Captain Nemo, with mahogany- and brass-cased instruments, speaking tubes, and uniformed hussars standing by levers and controls that look like something from the engine room of an ocean liner. In the middle of the room, reading a sheaf of papers on a clipboard, stands a civilian, a short, thickset young man with hunched shoulders, thin hands and yellow catlike eyes. It is, of course, Theodor Nemor, although the agents don't know that. His face, pallid in the harsh electric light, is covered in pimples and blotches, while his high forehead suggests that he is already prematurely bald. He glances incuriously at the agents, then says something inaudible to one of the soldiers manning the controls. If it is eleven or later, the soldier bawls "shest'-dye-syat minuta"; ("sixty minutes"). If it is before eleven, the characters should hear this a little later, during their interrogation. From this point onwards the countdown is under way again.
Meanwhile a lieutenant (who speaks flawless English) starts to interrogate the adventurers, aided by four tough (BODY 5-6) soldiers; he has a riding crop and lead-weighted gloves, and isn't afraid to use them. All male characters are bruised and have at least one flesh wound before many minutes have passed. Female characters won't be hurt, but are forced to watch as their colleagues are beaten. Whatever the agents tell him, even if it's the exact truth, the lieutenant doesn't believe them; after all, Britain and Russia are supposedly friendly, and the King of England is the Tsaritsa's (Empress's) cousin. He wants to know the name of their contact at the Japanese Embassy, and every detail of their employment by the Japanese secret service. Occasionally he says something in badly-accented Japanese in an attempt to trip them up; if understood, the phrase is something like ("Kill the woman") or ("put his eyes out"); the character(s) concerned must use MIND versus Difficulty 6 to avoid reacting. Since none of the agents have ever been briefed on Japanese activities, their replies probably won't satisfy him, but a plausible bluff might mislead him for a few minutes.
As the interrogation continues, the agents should hear a voice from the control room at regular intervals:
At about 35 minutes Nemor is admitted by a guard. He asks the lieutenant what he has learned, listens to his report, then says ("Hmm.. We really don't have time for this now, and whoever they are working for...") he pauses, and strokes his chin for a moment, and his eyes light with a feral gleam ("...whoever they are working for must know that spying is a risky business. Lieutenant Kornilov, put them outside, we can test the effect of the disintegration system on humans! Ah, if only Tesla was here to see what has become of his work...")
The characters may have objections to this idea, if they understand, but the guards make sure that they can't get close enough to Nemor for any physical response. Kornilov protests, especially vehemently if any of the agents are women, but Nemor says ("You are aware that I have complete control of this site. Please do not force me to report you to the Okhrana.") Kornilov pales and yields to the inevitable.
The guards take the agents back upstairs, and outside the bunker,
leaving them standing in the open, their wrists still chained. A few
guards and workers enter the bunker, staying well clear of the agents,
then the guards retreat, keeping the agents covered as they withdraw.
Kornilov brings up the rear of the procession, a revolver in his hand.
As he is about to step inside he pauses, glances around to make sure
that none of the guards are watching, says (in English) "To hell with
Nemor, even a dog deserves a chance", and tosses a small key towards
the agents. As the door closes, they hear the words "trid-tsat'
minuta" ("thirty minutes").
1.8 Ground Zero
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If the adventurers were captured, they have just been given the key to their handcuffs. The door to the bunker will be closed by the time anyone has their hands free, and all other ways into the bunker or generator building are already sealed.
If the characters were never captured, but have spent some time watching the complex, they should now be aware that most of the personnel have been evacuated, that there is nobody on the surface, that huge steel doors have just slammed shut to seal off the bunker and generator block, and that they are beginning to feel uneasy. If they are close to the bunker, they may have heard the earlier stages of the countdown. They are probably armed, and have some means of transport such as a boat or horses, but otherwise have no advantage over just-released prisoners.
The simplest option is to run away, but even on a fast horse the terrain is too rough to get far before noon; knowing that the first explosion blew down trees sixty versts away, do the adventurers really think that they'll be safe three or four miles away? There are enough horses in the paddock for all the agents (including their own horses if they were captured); describe their desperate attempts to make good time over the rough terrain, ask for two or three Riding skill rolls - then describe the blinding flash that incinerates them.... Optionally use the Hydrogen Bomb statistics from the game rules, which may let one or two of the characters survive, burned, blind, deafened, and critically injured, for a few painful minutes.
The agents may try to find a safe hiding place in or around the site, and hope that they will be protected from the worst of the blast. Unfortunately there isn't anywhere to hide; the "best" options are the hold of the old paddle steamer (where they will be boiled before they are incinerated), some slit trench urinals by the barracks (which add indignity to certain incineration), and in the shelter of the generator block, which will crush them as it collapses and won't shield them from lethal heat and radiation. There are no safe hiding places outside the compound.
In all of these cases, Nemor has underestimated the force of the explosion, and the bunker and generator building collapse (partly on top of anyone who is sheltering behind them); ironically Nemor is the only survivor, dug from the ruins several hours later when the evacuees return. After a lengthy spell in hospital the Russian government informs him that it no longer wishes to support his experiments. He has cost them two extremely expensive generators, nearly fifty officers and men, and thousands of hectares of forest. Embittered, he resolves to complete his work alone and sell it to the highest bidder, a resolution that eventually leads to his untimely end. Unfortunately the adventurers won't be around to see it...
The characters may try to stop the countdown. As mentioned above, setting fire to the balloon shed will cause some localised damage, but nothing more; since Nemor hasn't thought of installing a periscope, nobody in the bunker will even realise that there has been an explosion. Real explosives could possibly damage one of the bunker or generator building doors, but unfortunately the adventurers shouldn't have any.
As already mentioned, the real weak points of this setup are the overhead cables linking the generator building to the pylon, and continuing up to the balloon. Nemor's "disintegration" is an accidental by-product of Tesla's broadcast power system. Tesla's system sends megavolts into the upper atmosphere, which then becomes the positive side of the power supply. The negative side is the earth itself; the power receiver towers and balloons were supposed to tap the voltage difference between the earth and the upper atmosphere. If the cables can be brought down, they will arc directly to the earth when full power is applied.
Means of bringing the cables down might include shooting them (if the characters weren't caught and still have their guns), climbing one of the support posts and hacking them with a fire axe (there are several fire fighting posts in the compound), or using an axe to chop down one of the supports. If any of these methods is used, the results are the same:
At 11.55 the noise from the generator building starts to rise in pitch and volume, and plumes of dirty steam appear from a dozen vents on its roof. By noon the ground is literally shaking with the power of the dynamo. As the fatal switch is closed, gigantic blue sparks appear at the cut ends of the cable, arcing down to earth with blinding brilliance. The cables begin to melt; anyone standing underneath must get away very quickly, as they sag down to earth and the short circuit burns its way back down the line towards the generator. The support posts burst into flames as the arc hits them, bringing down any cables that haven't already been cut. From inside the generator building, a siren can just be heard. Within moments the sparks hit the side of the building, and there's an ear-splitting crack as they burn their way through the concrete wall. A moment later all hell breaks loose, in an explosion reminiscent of every bad spy movie and episode of Thunderbirds you've ever seen; the generator has burst, flooding the tunnels of the complex with superheated steam, and the generator building is on fire. Steam starts to pour out of vents in the control bunker building, and the door literally bursts open with the pressure behind it. Parboiled soldiers crawl out, their skin peeling from their flesh, and collapse as they reach fresh air; most of them will die within hours, even without the "help" of the adventurers. Soon smoke and flames are pouring from the bunker, and it seems impossible that anyone can have survived below; in fact Nemor is the only survivor, and is trapped at the far end of the control room. He can't be reached without lifting gear, which won't arrive until the evacuees return several hours later. Eventually he will be released from hospital and lose his job, as described above.
If all else fails, and you are feeling kind, Fanshawe and his revolutionary colleagues arrive at 11.56, and immediately start to shoot at the buildings, the balloon (well out of range), and the characters (they don't initially know who they are). One of the revolutionaries shoots some of the glass insulators that support the cable, with the results described above at noon. This should only be done as a last resort; this adventure can be survived without help, and players may need to be reminded that they should explore every possibility before the referee bails them out of trouble.
If he didn't rescue the adventurers, Fanshawe and his men arrive a little after twelve, as they are taking stock of the situation and the generator building burns. Fanshawe greets the agents with the 'special whistle', dismounts (while his men start to loot the surviving buildings and daub revolutionary slogans on the walls, cut the throats of the unconscious soldiers, and generally behave like murderous bandits), and explains that a shaman he met a few days ago said that "my friends.. ..might need.. ..a hand". He's sorry that he's a little late, but it doesn't seem to have made much difference.
The agents will probably want to know why Fanshawe didn't deal with the situation; he points to the scars on his throat, and explains that he was recruiting revolutionaries for an assault on the station, and ran into an Okhrana ambush. It's taken him this long to recover and get ready for the raid, and there was no way that he could get a message to St. Petersburg; Okhrana spies are everywhere, especially near the railway. Any agents who were earlier sent to Siberia are now revealed to be members of the raiding party, and probably annoyed that they weren't rescued by their so-called friends much earlier. There's no pleasing some people...
One of the soldiers was clutching a clipboard. It holds
various papers related to the experiment, but the ink is running and
the paper is sodden with superheated steam and blood. If the
characters try to read the papers, they'll do irreparable harm; if
they can get them back to London, they will eventually be deciphered.
The papers cover details like the timing of the experiment, evacuation
schedules, and other useless trivia, but include a sketch of the
system (as in 29_ADV3.GIF) which will tell Whitehall's top experts a
little more about Nemor's ideas. This won't have any immediate
benefit, but nearly twenty years later the file will be unearthed and
provide vital clues in the quest to understand the perfected
disintegrator. Photographs of the site, especially the balloon and its
associated cables and metal plates, will also help.
1.9 Homeward Bound
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If they aren't dead, the adventurers are now several hundred versts from the nearest civilisation. Fortunately there are a few horses around, and they may have a boat moored somewhere. There's even time to search the complex; Fanshawe and his men can help with this. Nothing especially useful will be found, apart from some tools, food, and blankets that were left behind; all are of poor quality, but better than nothing.
The agents will probably expect Fanshawe to return with them, but he's decided that he wants to stay and join the struggle to free Russia from the Imperial tyranny, which he calls the "Evil Empire". It could take years, but Fanshawe is sure that the forces of liberty will eventually prevail...
Fanshawe has a warning for the characters; the Okhrana will know that his men have been involved in the destruction of the complex, and will undoubtedly mount an intense operation to catch all revolutionaries. The agents should expect to find travel very difficult, and might be arrested as spies purely because they are in the area. If any of the evacuees know that the agents were present, or if an escaped prisoner has joined the party, they should realise that they are certain to be wanted men. It might be better to strike out across country and board the railway much further East or West; going East is probably safer, because the Okhrana are at their strongest in the West. This will mean going East to Vladivostok then shipping out to Japan, where their repatriation can be arranged. This could take months, but it's probably the safest means of escape. Fanshawe and his men can join them for the initial ride, but will have to part before they reach the railway.
If the adventurers ignore this sensible advice, they should encounter several parties of armed police, all looking for bandits, escaped convicts, and other suspicious persons. It might even be necessary for them to fight their way out of trouble. They will certainly be arrested when they reach St. Petersburg, found guilty (without the help of a lawyer, since the trial is held secretly), and sent to a penal camp in Siberia...
If they follow the advice, the journey across country is cold and arduous, but they will eventually reach the railway without encountering trouble. No first class tickets are available, but they can always travel second class or 'hard'. This is a good opportunity to use some more of the railway travel incidents listed in 1.4, above.
Once in Vladivostok, the sea passage to Yokohama is easy to arrange
and goes without trouble. From Yokohama the agents can contact the
British Embassy and arrange for the journey home. Of course, Whitehall
might have other ideas; there are rumours of new Russian moves in
India and China, the Japanese are beginning to show signs of wanting
to build a navy to rival Britain, and the natives are restless in
several different corners of the Empire. The agents will need new
equipment and cover identities, of course, but that's not a problem.
They are now experienced agents, players of what Kipling called the
Great Game, and the Empire will expect their help. What patriotic
Briton could refuse?
1.10 Rewards
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Give each agent that survives points as follows:
| The agents prepared a sensible plan (even if it went wrong) | +1 |
| They had a plausible cover story | +1 |
| They behaved like idiots | -1 to -3 |
| They weren't captured | +1 |
| They destroyed the complex without help from Fanshawe | +3 |
| Fanshawe rescued them | -1 |
| They kept the papers for expert examination | +1 |
| They got some useful photographs | +1 |
Eventually Whitehall will learn that Nemor survived, and the agents may be sent to ensure that he doesn't find another backer. Unfortunately the political situation is very delicate, and Nemor is talking to the German government. Any use of force would be counter-productive, since it would only give the Germans the idea that Nemor's ideas are worthwhile; somehow he must be discredited without harming him physically. The referee should try to avoid changing history; he must not be killed, and should escape by "impossible" coincidence if necessary.
Experienced British agents will be at a premium in the forthcoming war. See especially the adventures of Richard Hannay (by John Buchan) for ideas. Afterwards there may be more challenges, as the turmoil of the war leads inexorably to the Russian revolution. For example:
When revolution finally overtakes Russia, Fanshawe will be fighting on its side, and leading one of the more effective groups opposed to the White Russians, which is unfortunately the faction favoured by Britain. Since the agents know him, they are ordered to seek him out and end his aid to the revolution by any means, including lethal force. A useful reference is the novel Heart Of Darkness, by Joseph Conrad; the film Apocalypse Now may also be helpful.
In later years peace returns to Europe, but the Communists are now
hostile to Britain, the Germans face crushing debts that will
eventually lead to the rise of fascism, and at home the trades unions
and Labour Party seem to be starting similar revolutionary tendencies
in Britain. There are many jobs for a British agent. See the
adventures of Bulldog Drummond and other 1920s heroes for more on this
theme.
1.A Characters
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Colonel Chapman, Military Attache, aged 48
BODY [5], MIND [4], SOUL [3], Brawling [6], Business [6], Driving [5],
Linguist (Hindi, Russian, Greek) [5], Marksman [5], Melee Weapon [6],
Military Arms [7], Morse code [5], Riding [8]
Quote: "What do you expect from a bunch of bally Cossacks, old boy?"
Notes: Chapman is a former Lancer, now assigned to diplomatic duties.
He doesn't feel that spies are really gentlemen, regardless of their
status, but will do his duty. He is mildly suspicious of all
foreigners.
Igor Yurovsky, Typical Okhrana Informer & Thief
BODY [2], MIND [2], SOUL [2], Stealth [6], Thief [7]
Quote: ("Your honour, I beg to report that the foreigners are behaving
suspiciously.")
Notes: Okhrana spies are often petty criminals who have been caught
and offered the choice of spying for the state or deportation to
Siberia. They can be bribed, but won't necessarily stay bribed. Not
all informers are loyal to the Okhrana, which made several serious
mistakes in recruiting informers; the most notorious was the use of
Father George Gapon, initially an agent provocateur, who became
obsessed with the plight of the poor and later led the 1905 revolt!
Ivan Nesterov, Secret Policeman
BODY [4], MIND [2], SOUL [2], Brawling [6], Detective [3], Linguist
(English, German) [3], Marksman [6], Melee Weapon [6]
Equipment: Cloak, small handgun, handcuffs, truncheon, papers
Quote: ("Why do you carry this camera? Why the gun? Who are you going
to shoot?")
Notes: Okhrana agents are employed by the largest repressive
bureaucracy on Earth. They are always loyal to the Tsar, but they are
often corrupt, and often involved in right-wing conspiracies,
religious persecution, and other extracurricular activities. They will
only accept bribes if it is safe to do so, and if they are convinced
that there is no danger to the Tsar or the State. If you want more
variety, use the generic thugs described in the game rules.
Captain Edward Fanshawe, Royal Marines (age 35)
BODY [6], MIND [5], SOUL [5], Artist [6], Athlete (weight lifting,
running, climbing) [8], Brawling [9], Linguist (Russian, Serbian,
Polish) [6], Marksman [8], Melee Weapon [9], Military Arms [7], Morse
Code [6], Riding [7], Stealth [5]
Equipment: Horse, Mauser rifle (big rifle), dagger, 12 sticks
dynamite, fuses, etc., .45 revolver (huge handgun), rope, iron
rations, sketch pad and pencils.
Quote: "you have to... understand... this evil empire... must be
destroyed..."
Notes: Fanshawe has spent all his life looking for a cause, and has
finally found it in Russian revolutionary politics. Since his
disappearance he has grown a beard and gone 'native', taking over a
rebel band after the former leader was killed in an Okhrana ambush.
The group helps prisoners escape from Siberia, sabotages the railway,
and distributes socialist propaganda. They are based in a remote
village that doesn't appear in this adventure. Fanshawe was shot in
the throat during the ambush; while the wound is healing, he still has
trouble talking. A useful role model is the character Kurtz, from
Apocalypse Now.
Typical Revolutionary (age 18-35)
BODY [4], MIND [5], SOUL [4], Artist (propaganda) [6], Brawling [5],
Marksman [6], Melee Weapon [5], Stealth [3]
Equipment: Horse, Mauser rifle (big rifle), dagger, .32 revolver
(small handgun).
Quote: ("Comrades! To arms! The Cossacks are coming!")
Notes: Fanshawe's revolutionaries are exiles, escaped convicts, and
others who found it expedient to join his group. About half are
socialists, the rest include anarchists, army deserters, former
bandits, and peasants who have been forced off their land. Roughly 25%
are Jews.
The Shaman, enigmatic Tunga tribesman (age 70+)
BODY [2], MIND [4], SOUL [5], Actor (ritual dance) [8], Brawling [4],
Marksman (bow) [9], Medium [9], Melee Weapon [6], Psychology [7],
Stealth [9]
Equipment: Skin tent, furs (including several sable pelts), bow &
arrows, steel knife, quarterstaff, tinder box, various natural
medicines and herbs, reindeer harnessed to pull a travois.
Quote: (in an obscure tribal dialect) "So? You seek wisdom? Why do you
bother this foolish old man?"
Notes: The Shaman (who won't reveal his name to strangers) speaks only
his native tongue, which is virtually unknown outside his tribe. He
mostly communicates by signs and ritual dance. He is a powerful
medium, capable of sending his spirit out of his body to view the
past, present, or future, but details are always cloudy. His supplies
include a drug that lets others accompany him on his astral journeys;
in this state he can communicate telepathically. He can always see a
few seconds into the future, and uses this power to dodge all physical
attacks. He is described in more detail in section 1.5 above.
1.B The Tunguska Incident
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At 7.17 AM on June 30th 1908 there was an enormous explosion near the trading post of Vanavara, 650 miles North of Krasnoyarsk on the Tunguska river. The blast was detected by seismographs 900 km away. Witnesses described a bright object moving directly downwards, followed by a huge cloud of black smoke, then the explosion, equivalent to the detonation of a nuclear warhead. Heat from the explosion was felt 60 Km away, and there was a tidal wave on the Yenisei river.
Investigation was slow; the site was remote, and the revolution and subsequent events meant that it wasn't visited by scientists until 1927, by which time any evidence of the cause of the explosion was lost. All that remained was a huge circle of smashed and uproooted trees, several hundred kilometres wide. There was no impact crater.
The most widely accepted theory suggests that the explosion was the impact of a large fragment of the icy nucleus of a comet; possibly a detached portion of Encke's comet, about 40 metres wide and weighing 50,000 tons. It melted before reaching the ground, its destruction resulting in a huge pulse of heat, light, and shock waves as powerful as a nuclear explosion.
Many other possibilities have been considered, amongst them collision
with an antimatter meteor, the detonation of an alien spaceship's
reactor, or the impact of a metal meteor which has somehow never been
found. In the Challenger world the reason is rather different.
1.C Broadcast Power
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Siberia is a vast area, with very rugged terrain. Much of its mineral wealth is a long way from useful sources of power, and all the obstacles to power distribution described in section 1.3 are entirely genuine; lines at normal European voltages would waste most of the electricity as heat. In the real world the problem was overcome by using very tall pylons and running the distribution system at unusually high voltages, in excess of a megavolt.
It is often claimed that Tesla's broadcast power scheme, also
described above, was suppressed because it would be impossible to
charge for electricity. In fact it was never tried and almost
certainly wasn't worth trying. Comparing the energy in the average
thunderstorm with the output of a power station shows the flaw in this
system; the power pumped into the atmosphere would be insignificantly
small - it would be almost impossible to put in enough power to
overcome normal variations in atmospheric voltages. Recovering power
at the receiver would be very difficult, comparable to an attempt to
run a power station by tapping into a network of lightning conductors.
As a side-effect, radio and television transmission would probably
have become impossible.
2.0 Adventure 2: Escape From Shangri-La
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This short adventure can be set in any year before 1924; it works well as a sequel to The Fist Of God, but can easily be run independently.
The adventurers are explorers in Nepal. Perhaps they are searching for scientific knowledge, or want to climb some mountains or fill in a few blanks on the map; if they are British agents, they are keeping watch for Russian and German infiltration by the mountain routes into India, and are alert for news of hostile activity in Nepal and Tibet. The exact reasons for their presence aren't particularly important.
For whatever reason they are there, the characters have spent weeks in the area, have heard many stories about the marvels of Tibet, and naturally jump at a chance to learn more...
Characters may use any combination of skills, but Linguist, with languages appropriate to the Indian subcontinent, is obviously useful; Nepalese is the best choice for the area. Given the title and setting of this adventure, Tibetan might also seem useful, but throughout this period the Dalai Lama maintains an isolationist policy, and very few foreigners know enough about the country to speak the language. Any player choosing this tongue should explain how the character has happened to learn it. All combat skills, including Military Arms, may be helpful.
Useful sources for this adventure include Seven Years In Tibet by
Heinrich Harrer [1953], The Great Game: On Secret Service In High Asia
by Peter Hopkirk [1990], and The Spy's Bedside Book, ed. Graham and
Hugh Greene. Fictional sources include Rudyard Kipling's Kim [1901],
James Hilton's Lost Horizon [1933, filmed 1937; avoid the 1973 musical
remake], Arthur C. Clarke's The Nine Billion Names Of God, Kim Stanley
Robinson's Escape From Kathmandu [1989], Chelsea Quinn Yarbro's Path
Of The Eclipse [1981], and The Golden Child [film 1986]. Very little
gaming material related to the region has appeared; my own Canal
Priests Of Mars [GDW 1990] is possibly relevant, in its discussion of
the activities of organised religions. GURPS High-Tech [Steve Jackson
Games 1988, 1992] is a good guide to the armaments described in this
adventure.
2.1 Players Information
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In Spring the Himalayas are beautiful, but at this altitude it's still a little too cold for comfort. Maybe in a week or two more snow will have melted, and you'll be able to discard some of your heavier clothing, but for now several layers of wool are needed, along with plenty of good hot tea.
Today you're just taking tiffin (a light midday meal) when the son of the village headman comes running downhill to your camp. Even though you've begun to acclimatise to life this high above sea level, you'd probably collapse if you tried to move that fast. Like many of the locals, young Kuldip speaks English after a fashion, and wants to join a Gurkha regiments when he's a little older.
"Sir! Sir! Some lamas from Tibet have come to our village, very holy men. They are with my father, and he has sent me to fetch you. Come quickly, it is most important."
He dashes off again, barely panting as he sprints uphill, while you
finish your meal and prepare to follow at a rather more leisurely
pace.
2.2 Referee's Information
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'Overhead, without any fuss, the stars were going out.'
[Arthur C. Clarke: The Nine Billion Names Of God]
"...Look out for, look out for,
look out for, look out for the lamas..."
[Song, Monty Python's Flying Circus, slightly misquoted]
In 1903-4 Britain invaded Tibet, responding to (probably false) intelligence reports that the Dalai Lama was allying with Russia. The Tibetans were armed with matchlocks and cannon, while the British had Maxim guns and modern artillery. Hundreds of Tibetans died, many of them shot while fleeing. The slaughter led to great ill-will, aroused disgust in Britain and Europe, and reinforced isolationist policies in Tibet. The terms of the settlement that ended the war weakened the autonomy of the region, and strengthened China's claim to sovereignty, one pretext for the 1950 invasion. This adventure is set up to twenty years after the British invasion.
A Tibetan religious order is faced with an unusual problem; a "demon" that is terrorising their lamasery. They need help to deal with it, but their helpers must be familiar with modern weapons. Tibet isn't a state that welcomes modern innovations or outsiders, but who else are they going to call..?
This adventure has a main plot and an optional subplot. In the main plot the adventurers are hired to destroy the "demon" (actually a marauding aeromollusc; see Worldbook section 6.1). In the optional subplot, the reason they have been hired is that the Abbot doesn't dare go to his superiors or the Tibetan government for help; he's a psychic vampire, living on the spiritual energies of the other lamas, and any rescue mission would be accompanied by more lamas, not under his influence, who would notice something wrong. Foreigners shouldn't notice the subtle nuances that would be obvious to a native Tibetan lama; if they nevertheless discover his secret, he will try to kill them.
The subplot doesn't affect the main plot; if you don't want to use it, all references to the Abbot's unusual nature are misunderstandings caused by the atmosphere of fear surrounding the lamasery, his age and reputation as a reincarnation of an earlier Abbot, and the fact that he is actually a Briton who deserted from the Indian Army in the 19th century. Statistics for both versions are provided.
In this period Tibet is an independent state with a civil government that is nominally controlled by the Dalai Lama. The government has made a deliberate attempt to restrict progress; many basic technologies, including wheeled vehicles, are virtually unknown. The fastest means of transport are ponies, occasional horses, and yaks, and objects larger than the usual load for a yak can only be moved with great difficulty, usually by sledge, or pulled by teams of peasants. Most of the country is uninhabitable wilderness, bitterly cold high-altitude desert. The wilderness is haunted by Khampas (bandits), wolves, and, according to popular legend, yeti.
If (like the author) you happen to be totally unfamiliar with the region, try to keep things as vague and mystical as possible; emphasise the bleak desolation of the area, the majesty of the mountains, the chanting lamas, and the cold, but don't mention your ignorance of Tibetan / Nepalese customs, the languages, etc. Some pointers:
Unless stated otherwise all Tibetan characters speak only their own
language. All speech in Tibetan is enclosed in brackets and
quotes ("like this").
2.3 To Kill A Demon
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As the characters approach the village they hear a hubbub of talking, banging gongs, barking dogs, and chanting. About a dozen young lamas with saffron robes and staffs are waiting outside the headman's hut, some drinking buttered tea while others pray. Inside three more are with Kuldip's father, who immediately offers everyone tea. Unless adventurers speak Tibetan, he translates.
The spokesman for the lamas says that they need help to destroy a demon, which has been terrorising their lamasery for several weeks. The Abbot has cast a horoscope and determined that only men of the West can kill it; the characters qualify, and will be rewarded if they help. The journey to the lamasery takes four days.
None of the lamas present have seen the demon, but several others have; it attacks at night, and is a huge grey thing that nobody can describe clearly. It has mostly attacked yak, sheep, and goats, leaving torn remnants of their bodies behind, but one priest who was keeping watch from a window was pulled out and killed, and a child is missing. Since these incidents the Abbot has ordered all doors barred and all windows shuttered at night. If the adventurers want more details, the lamas begin a long theological argument; they are sure that it is a demon, but they aren't sure if it is a demon of the wind, a demon of the earth, or a demon of the flesh. One suggests that it might be a yeti, but the others pooh-pooh the idea; ("everyone knows") that yeti are gentle creatures; if a child has been taken, the monster can't be a yeti; if it can tear a yak apart, it can't be human. If it isn't human and isn't a yeti, it must be a demon. Referees who are familiar with Monty Python and the Holy Grail may wish to present this argument in terms similar to the "witch trial" scene of that film.
None of the lamas have any idea what sort of rewards the Abbot might offer. They have all sworn vows of poverty, and their guesses range from ("all the porcelain you can carry") to ("a whole herd of yak") with ("possibly some gold") a belated afterthought.
The characters aren't likely to need much prompting to join the hunt; most explorers are curious about Tibet, but the Dalai Lama's isolationist policies make it difficult to learn much. Strangers are usually turned away at the frontier, and very few are given the permits they need to travel any further. Without permits, food, fuel, and other necessities will not be sold to foreigners. Friends in the Tibetan priesthood could be a valuable stepping stone to a permit.
The remainder of the adventure assumes that the adventurers decide to
go along with the request and join the lamas. If they refuse, the
lamas head off towards India, and nothing more will be heard of the
matter for several weeks. Eventually they return, saying that no-one
else is willing to help them; are the characters sure that they won't
change their minds? If they turn down this second chance, the lamas
return to Tibet, and the adventurers will never know what happened,
what the demon really was, or why Westerners were needed to kill it.
So far as they are concerned, the adventure is over.
2.4 A Hunting We Will Go...
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The lamas give the characters all possible help in preparing for the expedition; they have a few pack yaks, and can obtain more if necessary. Anything the adventurers want to take will cheerfully be loaded and carried, provided it will fit on a yak. Kuldip's father will gladly look after anything the characters don't want; they already know him to be an honest man. If (as seems likely) none of them speak Tibetan, then one of the lamas speaks a language known to one of the adventurers, preferably Nepalese or a Chinese dialect. As a last resort one of them speaks English (badly) and translates for the rest.
It takes a day to reach the border, three more to reach the lamasery. At the border the guards ask to see the characters' papers, but the lamas say that they'll vouch for their good conduct, so the normal requirement for a permit is waived. From the border onwards the route is generally uphill, winding tracks slowly leading higher into the mountains, usually along narrow paths with a sheer drop to one or another side, occasionally crossing gorges by stone or rope bridges.
On the second day in Tibet the expedition meets a band of scruffy nomads, with a herd of yak and some pack mules, who immediately try to sell the group food and animals. The lamas eye them warily, and one of them says ("Watch out for your belongings and guard your back. They are Khampas, bandits. They are everywhere in these mountains, and they'd steal everything you carry, maybe kill you for your guns"). The adventurers should have already heard of these notorious thieves in Nepal. When the lamas make it clear that they are not buying, the Khampas grumpily move on. Later the characters should discover that some small items (such as blankets or a pair of binoculars) are missing; nothing that makes it worthwhile chasing the bandits, but an annoyance.
On several occasions wolves and bears are seen in the distance. The wolves run off when they see such a large party, the bears stand up to get a better look. They are well out of effective rifle range. There are no signs of yeti.
By noon on the fourth day the adventurers are very tired. It's cold, and the rough terrain didn't allow them to set up a proper camp the previous night. By contrast, the lamas are happy, laughing as they point out ("our home"), a building perched by a crevasse on the only flat ground for miles around. It's surrounded by steep slopes on three sides, leading up to a peak several hundred feet above the lamasery (see 30_ADV3.GIF). The final ascent is a moderately difficult climb up a steep mountain path, and a rope bridge across the crevasse, a sheer drop of several hundred feet.
The lamasery is at the edge of the plateau, and its grounds include a few small fields, some outbuildings, and grazing for yak and goats. The lamas lead the characters to the massive studded wooden door of the lamasery, and one of them beats a gong. The door is slowly pulled open by four young lamas, while an older man bows and sticks out his tongue to welcome the guests, then greets them in Tibetan followed by badly accented English: "I am Lobsang Kabshopa, secretary to the Abbot. Truly Lord Buddha guided your path to Nepal, that you might be led here in our hour of need. Welcome to the mountain of Shambala, and the lamasery Shangri-La." These names should mean nothing to adventurers, since Lost Horizon hasn't yet been published.
He claps his hands, and young lamas come to show the adventurers to guest rooms. As they leave, he adds "Enjoy your sleep. The Abbot will speak to you tomorrow; he is meditating tonight."
30_ADV3.GIF shows the approximate layout of the lamasary buildings, but does not attempt to map the interior; the place is a confusing warren of rooms, but most of them are wholly irrelevant to the characters, who will find no secret passages or hidden areas. There are dining halls, kitchens, the temple itself, dormitories, an infirmary, offices, and everything else needed for a self-contained community. Exploring the place and making an accurate plan could take a week.
If the adventurers say that they don't want to stay in the lamasery, Kabshopa warns them that it's almost night and that the demon is certainly around; "we lost a yak to it only two nights ago." He can't describe the demon, except to say that is is a "huge grey thing, larger than an elephant." If the characters ask why their help is needed, Kabshopa says "Why, because we are under siege by a demon! With your strange Western martial arts you will be able to destroy it." He's adamant that only a Westerner can help; the Abbot will explain why when they meet him. The line about "Western martial arts" can become a running joke in this adventure; it's literally true, although not, perhaps, in the sense that this phrase is normally used.
The temple rooms are simply furnished, but reasonably comfortable, with glazed windows, wood fires, and beds with thick quilts. Furniture is otherwise limited to chests, low tables, benches, and mats. The baths are in a wooden outhouse, reached via a covered walkway; the lama who escorts the adventurers looks around very carefully before venturing onto the walkway, and sets a fast pace. He also urges them to finish bathing before nightfall. Hot water is supplied by a ceramic boiler, heated by a dung fire, but is soon exhausted. Because of the cold, long baths aren't very comfortable, and the characters will find that they are ready to go back to the main building well before dark.
Within the normal limits of hospitality, the adventurers are allowed to go wherever they like, with the exception of the Abbot's quarters and some other private rooms. The lamas will object if they start to loot the place, behave disrespectfully in the temple, or break into locked rooms, but otherwise won't bother them. Most of the occupants are lamas, but there are also a few servants, with their wives and children. As the sun sets the servants bar all the outside doors and shutter the windows.
While wandering around the complex, the characters should realise that the lamas and their servants often seem withdrawn and a little dull; they seem to be going about their duties by rote, and parts of the building are dirty and shabby, more so than any Buddhist temple the adventurers might have seen before. The overall impression is of a sick, frightened community. Even the lamas that accompanied the characters now seem careworn, more tired than they were during the long journey. The children never laugh. Food is indifferently prepared and badly cooked. Anyone with SOUL [4] or better feels uneasy; anyone with the Medium skill feels a psychic miasma, an evil influence that seems to touch the souls of all the lamas. It's likely that they'll blame the demon; if you are not using the optional subplot, this is simply the effect of fear, otherwise it's the vampire's evil aura.
If the adventurers insist on going outdoors without making
preparations, see section 2.6 for the likely results. If they open
shutters, they should (after a few hours) hear an animal scream, but
won't see anything. Otherwise the night is entirely uneventful.
2.5 Use Of Weapons
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In the morning a goatherd finds another yak dead, its head and forelegs torn away, its body covered in weals of torn skin, lying in a pool of blood. The remains of the carcass are covered with translucent sticky grey slime, like gum or thick mucus. It's in a patch of clear soil, and the only footprints are those of the yak. The lama who brings the characters morning tea tells them about it, and if they come reasonably quickly they'll see it before anyone disturbs the evidence. The weals are about two inches wide, and seem to have been made by a thick whip; there are no parallel scratches, of the type that might be left by a clawing tiger or bear. There are also some deep wounds, roughly diamond shaped, four to five inches across, and seven or eight deep, that are like nothing the adventurers have ever seen.
If the characters take a look around the plateau they'll find several more smears of the slime, but there seems to be no real significance to their pattern; they certainly aren't any sort of animal track.
After breakfast Lobsang Kabshopa comes to take the adventurers to meet the Abbot, Snyi Kha-Spungs, an old man who appears to be in his eighties. He pretends to understand no English, and Kabshopa translates. His office is a small candle-lit interior room. He begins the meeting by offering tea and an unexpected treat, British milk chocolate digestive biscuits. If the characters express surprise, he comments ("Traders bring them; you would be surprised at some of the things that have come here from England. Missionaries, explorers, diplomats, biscuits, and soldiers, and all so eager to visit Tibet...."); He seems to fall into a reverie, while Kabshopa serves tea. When the adventurers have drunk their fill, the meeting proper begins. If you are using the optional subplot, the Abbot doesn't drink; characters should only notice this if they ask about it.
The Abbot explains that the demon first appeared three months ago, and has since attacked animals in the fields around the lamasery every second or third night. There isn't enough room in the lamasery to keep all the animals indoors, and at this time of year they should be outside to graze; in any case it might turn its attention to the building if it can't find animal prey. One lama has been killed by the monster; he was pulled from a second-storey window, and found decapitated the following morning. The child of a herdsman is also missing; he has simply vanished without trace.
The Abbot has seen the demon twice; it has long legs, taller than any tree, and bending like a whip; it can use them to seize its prey and bring them to its mouth. It is grey, much bigger than an elephant, and maybe bigger than the lamasery itself. He can't describe its shape; it blocks out the sky, and all that he's sure of is that it has huge eyes.
Further questioning won't reveal anything more about the demon, and language problems won't make things any clearer. The Abbot is adamant that there is a real, physical creature, albeit a demon. He can send for more witnesses if necessary; some of th
