by Marcus L. Rowland
Copyright © 1993-5, revised 1998
This is the third of a series of science fiction source packs, aimed mainly at users of table-top role playing games, but also of interest to SF fans and scholars. It is not a computer game; I am simply using computer distribution as an alternative to printed publication. If you have obtained it on the understanding that it is software, you are STRONGLY advised to ask for your money back.
Before looking at the rest of this document, I recommend reading at least one of the Professor Challenger stories. The Lost World is a full-length novel, and an excellent introduction to the character; The Poison Belt is a long novelette, and is probably as influential a story as The Lost World. The shorter stories highlight different aspects of Challenger's personality. The Land Of Mist is another long novel, but it probably isn't the best starting point for a new reader.
Please note that the information in later sections mentions some of
the events of these stories, and may slightly reduce your enjoyment;
the obvious answer is to read them before continuing with this
worldbook.
0.1 Scientific Romances
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Scientific romances were the ancestors of science fiction. Written by many well-known authors of the nineteenth and early twentieth century, and often Utopian in theme, they suffered unfair neglect in later years. The explosive growth of pulp fiction, mostly of inferior quality, in the 1920s and 1930s, meant that certain topics were no longer regarded as worthy of consideration by serious readers. Most adventure and speculative fiction fell into this category.
This trend was emphasised when science fiction became established as a separate (and disreputable) literary ghetto. Many excellent authors suddenly discovered that most of their markets were refusing to publish speculative stories, or decided that their reputations would suffer if they continued in this field. Early science fiction plundered themes from scientific romances, usually without acknowledgement, and reduced complex ideas to simple action plots which were often inferior to their predecessors. For many years SF historians ignored all work done before Gernsback's invention of "scientifiction" in 1926, and some excellent works were ignored or forgotten.
Today the distinction between SF and the scientific romance is becoming blurred, especially when viewed by observers outside both fields. All speculative writing tends to be tarred with the SF brush, and consigned to a ghetto whose sole occupants (to outsiders) are Tolkien and Star Trek. Within the SF community the "steampunk" SF movement is starting to re-visit some of the better-known Victorian themes, but a good deal of excellent or influential work remains virtually unknown.
One of the aims of the Forgotten Futures project is to make the complete text of selected works available to a wider audience. The collection includes Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's novels The Lost World (1912), The Poison Belt (1913), and The Land Of Mist (1926), plus the stories The Disintegration Machine (1928), When The World Screamed (1929), and The Horror Of The Heights (1913).
While The Lost World is comparatively well known, the last British printing I could trace when I began this project was a 1983 juvenile edition. Another edition appeared in the months it took to assemble this collection, and an anthology of all the Challenger stories appeared a year later; see Appendix A for details. The other stories were virtually unknown at the time I began; the shorter works saw occasional publication, but the only modern printing of The Land Of Mist was in a compilation volume, The Complete Professor Challenger Stories, which was published in the seventies, reprinted in the early eighties, and was soon completely unavailable.
The Horror Of The Heights isn't a Challenger story; it has been included because it's one of Doyle's best short scientific romances, and because it had some interesting possibilities which were easily integrated into the universe of the other stories.
Throughout the rest of this worldbook these stories are often referred to by bracketed initials, as follows:
| [LW] | The Lost World |
| [PB] | The Poison Belt |
| [WS] | When The World Screamed |
| [DM] | The Disintegration Machine |
| [LM] | The Land Of Mist |
| [HH] | The Horror of the Heights |
If there is a special need to refer to a particular chapter of a
novel, it is referenced by title then chapter
eg [LW:12] = The Lost
World: Chapter 12.
0.2 Language And Units
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The author of Forgotten Futures is British, as was Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. American readers will occasionally notice that there are differences in spelling and use of language between our 'common' tongues, although Doyle often tended to use partly Americanised spelling. He also used variant spelling to represent regional accents and peculiar styles of speech. If that worries you, you are welcome to run documents through a spell checker, but please DON'T distribute modified versions.
The stories contain some words and phrases which are now considered
racially offensive; at the time they were acceptable language, and
have not been modified for this collection. They also use Imperial
measurements of length and power; feet and inches, ounces and pounds,
miles and horsepower. To retain their flavour these units have mostly
been used in the worldbook and adventures. Readers who are unfamiliar
with the British (and American) system of weights, or with pre-decimal
British currency, will find the awful details in Appendix A of the
rules; the rules are accompanied by
TABLES.WK1, conversion tables, and CURRENCY.WK1, a currency conversion template.
0.3 Role Playing Games
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This collection is a source for game referees, and most sections contain notes for use in these games. A few sections are written mainly for the game. The Forgotten Futures rules can be found on this disk, but you are welcome to use the game of your choice, and add game statistics to fit its rules. No one will complain provided you don't distribute a modified version of these files!
The recommended time frame for a campaign based on these stories is 1910-1939, a period which overlaps with several other role playing games. You are especially referred to Chaosium's Call of Cthulhu, to Steve Jackson's GURPS Horror and GURPS Cliffhangers, to Hero Games' Golden Age Champions, and to West End Games' World of Indiana Jones supplement for their Masterbook game series. Discontinued games covering these years include TSR's Gangbusters and Indiana Jones games, FGU's Daredevils, and Hero Games' Justice Inc. Hero Games also published Lands Of Mystery, a guide to running adventures in lost worlds, which is out of print but still available from the author; Aaron Allston, P.O. Box 546, Round Rock TX, 78680-0564, USA, price $10 plus postage etc.
All of this material can provide additional background details, mostly from an American viewpoint. The forthcoming "GURPS Places Of Mystery", by Phil Masters and Alison Brooks, will deal with exploration in unusual areas, including some mentioned in this collection.
Relatively few RPGs relate to dinosaurs and prehistoric life. Cadillacs And Dinosaurs (GDW, based on the comic series of the same name) is set in a future where a peculiar natural upheaval has caused the reappearance of dinosaurs and the destruction of civilisation. GURPS Ice Age includes dinosaurs and some ideas on lost world adventures. There are also statistics for dinosaurs in most time travel RPGs and most superhero systems.
Several excellent games deal with ghosts, spiritualism, and the
afterlife. Wraith (White Wolf) and In Nomine (Steve Jackson Games) are
probably the best known. Ghostbusters (West End Games, reprinted as
Ghostbusters International) is a useful source for a more humorous
approach, but is out of print. Stalking The Night Fantastic (Outpost
Games) is set in a world where almost any sort of supernatural or
paranormal event, usually deadly, can occur. Over The Edge (Atlas
Games) takes this theme and develops it, for a game set in a world
where nobody and nothing is what it seems. Please note that Wraith, In
Nomine, and Over The Edge are all marketed as "adult games", and
tackle themes which may not be suitable for younger players.
0.4 Writing Between The Lines
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At various points in this collection I have made assumptions about things that aren't specifically described by Doyle, or are mentioned in an ambiguous way.
For example, although The Lost World mentions firearms many times, there are enough contradictions to make it unclear which weapons are carried and used. Doyle's descriptions suggest that at least two different types of rifle are carried; the rest can be filled in by educated guesswork, but there are still problems.
Elsewhere I have been forced to work almost entirely by guesswork,
invent details where they are lacking, and extrapolate events into the
future. At most points I have not distinguished between the "facts" of
the stories and my additions; if you are in doubt, you are strongly
advised to refer back to the stories. Almost all of the "history"
below has been invented for this collection.
0.5 Some Questions Of Continuity
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Doyle was not the most careful of authors, except in his historical writing, and there are notorious discrepancies in detail between the Sherlock Holmes stories. Similarly, the works on which this collection is based do not always provide obvious evidence of a consistent history. For example, the entire world goes through a chastening and extremely destructive crisis in The Poison Belt, but it seems to be forgotten in the later stories.
Continuity problems are at their worst in the case of the third Challenger novel, The Land Of Mist (1926). The first chapter suggests that the other stories are fiction, introduces an adult daughter (Enid) who appears in none of the other stories, and says that Challenger's wife has died. By the end of the novel Edward Malone has resigned from the Daily Gazette and married Enid, and all the major characters have become converts to spiritualism.
Unfortunately this information flatly contradicts earlier and later stories; Enid Challenger is never mentioned elsewhere, Malone works for the Gazette in The Disintegration Machine (1928), and Challenger derides "apports", a spiritualist phenomenon, in the same story. Challenger's wife is mentioned, and is apparently alive, in When The World Screamed (1929).
Another major problem, which could not have been anticipated, is presented by the first two stories. The Lost World and The Poison Belt were published in 1912 and 1913, but they are explicitly set three years apart. The only date mentioned in either story is in The Poison Belt, which begins on Friday August 27th. This date was a Friday in 1915 (the closest alternatives are 1909 or 1920), which fits in well with the timing of the first story. Unfortunately the First World War was then in progress, and much of the information presented in The Times, especially items relevant to shipping, would have been censored. Malone and Roxton both served in the armed forces, and would have found it difficult to obtain leave for a reunion, and Roxton was in any case fighting in Africa. The vista from Challenger's house (which stood on an exceptionally high hill midway between the coast and London) would have been blighted by gun positions, a defence against Zeppelin raids.
The aftermath of the Great War is part of the background of the later stories, and can't simply be wished out of existence. To avoid these problems, and for the purposes of this worldbook only, I have arbitrarily made the following assumptions:
Although The Horror Of The Heights was published in 1913, internal evidence ("..Aeroplaning has been with us now for more than twenty years..") suggests a setting in 1923 or later. For convenience the discoveries described in this story are made in 1924, with the aviation technology it mentions entering service during and after WW1.
Nothing that follows is greatly changed if this sequence is modified. The recommended time period for a role playing campaign with this setting is 1910-1939; while some later events and "sources" are discussed below, and the history of science and technology is taken forward to the 1990s, this later data is mainly included for the light that it sheds on these years.
An alternative is to use a Victorian or Edwardian background, ignoring the few references to later events in the stories, and discard the "history" described in this worldbook. Most of the stories work well against this background, and some aspects (such as occasional references to horse-drawn London cabs in The Land Of Mist) are curiously anachronistic in a 1920s setting. At various points it is necessary to substitute balloons and steam technology for aeroplanes and the petrol engine; references to the Great War could instead refer to the Zulu Wars, or any of Britain's other colonial wars.
The historical and social changes implied by these events mainly take place "off-stage". The discovery of living dinosaurs in Maple White Land caused an enormous flowering of biological theory, matched only by the later discovery of aerial botany, zoology, and ecology. Recognition of the existence of the ether, and of its effect on the living and (less widely accepted) upon the dead, also has widespread scientific implications. Proof that the Earth is a living planet is a stimulus to conservation movements and new religions. Unfortunately most of these implications are treated with about the same degree of interest as quantum mechanics; people know that they exist, but don't really regard them as part of their daily lives.
The overall result hasn't been a drastic change in society; possibly
some people are a little more caring than they might otherwise have
been, but economic, military, and historical trends still dominate,
and mankind at its worst is as bad as ever. World War One was fought
less than a year after the "Poison Belt" episode seemed to herald a
new dawn for humanity. In later stories Russia has a Communist
government, and eventually the Nazis will gain power in Germany. World
War Two and the Cold War occur on schedule.
0.6 Weird Science
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The main thrust of this collection is weird science; scientific heresy, original thought, and the general business of putting ordinary ideas together to reach extraordinary conclusions. Three of the Challenger stories show this process at work. In The Lost World, the Professor rejects conventional scientific opinion and follows a slim trail of evidence to a monumental discovery. In The Poison Belt he puts together some astronomical observations and newspaper reports to reach a horrifying answer. When The World Screamed is based on a wholly new geological theory, with very little evidence to back it up, pursued to its logical conclusion. Similarly, the protagonist of The Horror Of The Heights follows up some slim clues to reach a startling result.
Most of the ideas in these stories are now generally regarded as very unlikely, but scientific facts are sometimes open to re-evaluation. For example, it's often claimed that all the larger land animals are now known to science; only days before I began work on this collection, an entirely new species of kangaroo was reported from New Guinea. Unfortunately there is little or no doubt about the following points:
Maple White Land is much too big to go unnoticed by today's Landsat cameras, and the asteroid impact and its aftermath which are the most widely accepted theory of dinosaur extinction would not have spared its inhabitants. If this disaster didn't get the dinosaurs, mammals would have seen them off eventually.
The idea of the ether was exploded fairly thoroughly at the end of the nineteenth century; it causes enormous problems in physics, which have mostly been ignored in this collection. Amongst other drawbacks, many commonplace electronic devices would probably be impossible if the ether existed. Examples include lasers, most of the technology of television, image intensification, and radar. Most of nuclear physics would be unworkable. Einstein and others suggested much better alternatives; while a slightly similar theory has recently been put forward to explain some aspects of the behaviour of the photon, it seems unlikely that the final result will bear much resemblance to 19th century thinking.
The Mohole project, seismic mapping, and other techniques have shown that the Earth isn't a living planet in the sense discussed by Doyle, and it seems unlikely that modern commercial aviation would be possible if the background of The Horror Of The Heights was correct.
For the purposes of this collection, however, all of these ideas are
true. While the concepts in these stories are far-reaching enough to
support a long campaign, section 8.0 discusses scientific procedures,
both normal and weird, and summarises some other useful ideas. Some
are interestingly plausible, some are downright barmy.
0.7 Acknowledgements
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Arthur C. Clarke CBE has very kindly allowed me to mangle the title of his TV series and book, Arthur C. Clarke's Mysterious World.
Dr. Patrick Moore CBE allowed use of his excellent (and now, sadly, out of print) book Can You Speak Venusian? as a primary source for 'Weird Science'.
Special thanks to Brian Ameringen for books and general information, to Hugh Mascetti for immense help with firearm and artillery data, to Roger Robinson and the Science Fiction Foundation for bibliographic information, and to John Dallman for advice and the long-term loan of some of the books below. Rowena Dell allowed me to take her name in vain, but somehow wasn't acknowledged in the original release; thanks, and many apologies for the omission.
Other sources include The Encyclopaedia of Science Fiction (Clute and Nicholls), The Cassel Encyclopaedia Dictionary, The Grolier Electronic Encyclopaedia, Asimov's Biographical Encyclopaedia Of Science And Technology, A Directory Of Discarded Ideas (Grant), The Fringes Of Reason: A Whole Earth Catalogue (Schultz ed.), The New Apocrypha (Sladek), Tarzan Alive (Farmer), Doc Savage: His Apocalyptic Life (Farmer), The New Dinosaurs (Dixon), and various issues of The Skeptic and Fortean Times.
Finally, at various points I have invented quotes from books, TV
series, and films by a variety of authors; these quotes differ from
the original text or dialogue, and are included purely as parody and
for illustrative purposes, to show the differences between the real
world and that described below. They are not intended as infringement
of the copyright in these works.
0.8 Omissions
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Illustrations from some early editions of The Lost World have been
omitted because I could not obtain good copies, and because there is
doubt as to their copyright status. Three maps (01_ to 03_LWMAP.GIF)
accompany every printing of the book; they were apparently drawn by
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, and they have thus been included. The first
printing of The Lost World (in The Strand Magazine) included faked
photographs, such as a portrait of Doyle disguised as Challenger; I
have been unable to obtain copies.
0.9 Technical notes
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Documents were typed using Borland's Sprint word processor, then exported to ASCII format.
Graphics came from a variety of sources. The dinosaur pictures were initially created by scanning models. The other illustrations were drawn using Windows Paint, modified from public domain sources, modelled using Zing, a 3D presentation program, or are based on fractals generated by the excellent Fractint program. Windows Paint and Micrografx Photomagic were used for editing and effects.
This conversion used Sprint for text editing and Internet Explorer 3 and
HotMetal Light to check for errors.
1.0 Glossary
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This list defines these terms as they are used in the Challenger stories, or in the material that follows.
George Edward Challenger was born in Largs, a village in Strathclyde, Scotland, in 1863 [LW]. He was a gifted scholar and easily found a place at Edinburgh University, where he studied Medicine, Zoology and Anthropology. Although he qualified as a doctor [LM], he only practised for a few months before deciding to concentrate on his scientific work. This decision seems to have been the result of some crisis of conscience or confidence.
In 1892, following post-graduate work at the University, he became an Assistant at the British Museum, and was promoted to Assistant-Keeper of the Museum's Comparative Anthropology Department the following year. This post should have been ideal for a man of his talents; unfortunately Challenger was never one to suffer fools gladly, and resigned after a series of arguments with one of his former tutors, Doctor Illingworth.
Fortunately Challenger had an independent income, later supplemented by patent fees from a series of inventions [LM], and was able to finance his own work. Usually controversial and always brilliant, he received a series of awards and held several important posts while being cordially disliked by most of his colleagues. During these years he somehow found time to go on several expeditions, to marry and father one daughter, and to publish a series of papers on various topics. His most important work was in evolutionary theory, where he defended Darwinian views against Weismannism, a superficially plausible pre-Mendelian idea which disproved Lamark's ideas of inheritance of acquired characteristics, but argued against evolutionary processes.
'...Although it is easy to say that his opponents were misguided or
rogues, there was no real reason why Challenger should have been
believed. His evidence was little more than a traveller's tale...'
[Twentieth Century Scientists, Rowena Dell, 1988]
In 1908, following an expedition to Brazil, Challenger claimed to have proof that some prehistoric species still survived. Unfortunately the backing for this story was limited; some fragments of bone, a piece of membranous wing, sketches, and damaged photographs. Not surprisingly, few of his colleagues were inclined to believe him. Matters were not improved by intensive Press interest, which resulted in Challenger assaulting several reporters. After two years of frustration he finally persuaded the Zoological Institute to supply a group of unbiased witnesses, who would accompany a second expedition at Challenger's expense.
The second Challenger expedition has been extensively documented elsewhere; in Mr. Edward Malone's "The Lost World", and in numerous papers by Professors Challenger and Summerlee (the latter dealing mainly with the invertebrate species of the area). Section 3.0 below covers Maple White Land and its geology, fauna, and recent history.
After the expedition returned there was widespread pressure for Challenger and his colleagues to reveal the position of Maple White Land, and several expeditions set out to find the plateau independently. All failed, and several lives were lost, mainly because the directions and distances mentioned in Malone's account were wildly inaccurate. High scientific and humanitarian motives were claimed for this secrecy; if the plateau were subject to regular expeditions and hunting parties, some of its species might soon be driven to extinction, and the natives might succumb to the diseases and vices of civilisation.
While these reasons might have sufficed, there was another important motive for their reticence; the expedition had found diamonds, and Malone's account of the discovery had already reached the governments of Brazil, then an alliance of coastal states. Although the expedition had penetrated far inland, beyond the area controlled by any one state, all claimed a share in the inland resources of the country.
In 1911 the Brazilian states sued for the return of the stones "stolen" by the Challenger party; naturally British courts found in favour of the explorers, but this did not satisfy the Brazilians. Until the matter was fully resolved it would have been folly to reveal the plateau's true location.
'...Challenger was the only scientist to anticipate the so-called
"Poison Belt" episode of 1913, and he and veterans of his earlier
expedition were amongst the few to remain conscious during the
incident. He coined the word "Daturon" to describe the aberrant ether
that was believed to have engulfed the Earth; this was a forgivable
error, since there was no real evidence as to the underlying causes of
the event, and the term remained in use until the late sixties...'
[Dell, Ibid.]
Exactly three years after his return from Brazil, Professor Challenger shocked the world by claiming that some peculiar physical and medical phenomena might be caused by the presence of an unusual form of ether. Within hours he was proven dramatically right, as most of the world's population lapsed into a cataleptic coma that lasted 28 hours. Millions died, and it was widely considered the greatest tragedy of the modern age. For an eye-witness account of this incident see Edward Malone's "The Poison Belt"; for full scientific details of the effect, and other matters related to the ether, see section 4.0 below.
What followed is generally considered to have been the greatest lost opportunity of the twentieth century. Throughout the world there was a general mood of grief for the dead, but joy in the survival of the human race, and strong public pressure for new policies which would bring peace and prosperity to all and make war a thing of the past. But the whole trend of late Victorian and Edwardian politics had been a gradual drift towards war, and the construction of ever more powerful armaments; a sudden reversal would have represented humiliation for the leaders of Europe, and ruin for the weapons maufacturers. Money was saved, via pensions and taxes, supposedly for the relief of poverty, but was instead "invested" in the armed forces of several nations, including Britain, France, Germany, and Russia. The ambition and greed of government overcame the public conscience, as a flood of jingoistic propaganda sought to justify this diversion of funds. When war began in 1914 it was almost a relief, a release of tension that had been prolonged unbearably. By 1918 Europe was ruined, and the events of 1913 were all but forgotten in the greater tragedy of the conflict.
'...It is known that his wartime work resulted in several important
inventions, which were only publicised after the war. Most notably,
his device for warning ships of shallow water (patented 1919) was a
refinement of his electrical submarine location system, a forerunner
of the magnetometer, while his torpedo deflection device was built
into most British naval vessels until weapon developments rendered it
obsolete in the late thirties. Challenger also developed a new
nitrogen separation system, which would have been essential for
explosives manufacture if the German blockade had been a little more
effective, and subsequently became important as guano prices rose...'
[Dell, Ibid.]
While this record of invention is impressive enough, Challenger and Roxton also visited Maple White Land with another expedition late in the war. They found that the primitive metabolism of the dinosaurs had helped them to survive the Poison Belt episode, and returned with dinosaur eggs of various species, and several thousand carats of diamonds. This expedition could not have been mounted without the approval of the British and Brazilian governments, and the gems were destined for use in industry. Part of the price the Brazilians demanded for free passage was the location of Maple White Land. Unconfirmed stories say that Challenger was dogged by German spies throughout the journey, and that he transported the diamonds inside a stuffed pterodactyl. Unfortunately only six eggs subsequently hatched; they included a solitary male stegosaur, a pair of pterodactyls, and two female and one male iguanodons. The history of these animals, and of Maple White Land, is discussed in section 3.0 below.
Challenger's wife was one of the victims of the influenza epidemic that followed the Great War, dying of pneumonic complications [LM] in 1919. After a period of deep depression he returned to his work, and engaged in several new scientific controversies. In 1924 he was the recipient of an extraordinary legacy; Charles Betterton, the owner of a Malayan rubber plantation and a friend of Lord John Roxton, died without natural heirs. Betterton's will left Challenger more than five million pounds (about $25 million) to spend on unspecified 'scientific research.' [WS].
Most of his envious colleagues thought that he would put the money towards his long-planned museum [LW], a project which had slowly been taking shape since 1910, or possibly build a research aircraft to investigate the strange aerial jungles that had recently been discovered [HH], but Challenger was in search of bigger game. He purchased land on the South Coast and announced that he intended to prove that there was oil under Britain. This explanation was obvious nonsense to any expert, since the huge shaft he had built was totally inappropriate for an oil well. The excavations on Hengist Down were to continue for the next five years, kill four workmen, and exhaust most of Betterton's estate, while Challenger's paranoid secrecy would try the patience of the Press, the public, and his colleagues [WS].
As already mentioned, Challenger reacted extremely badly to the death of his wife. In 1926 his daughter Enid and the journalist Edward Malone both became interested in spiritualism, and converts to the religious aspect of that belief. Still mourning his wife, Challenger could readily understand their willingness to think that there might be life after death, but at the same time felt that this idea was a denial of the scientific logic he held dear. Always intolerant of scientific frauds (such as the so-called Piltdown Man, which his analysis revealed earlier that year as a crudely-stained assemblage of human and animal bones), his natural response was to pour scorn on the idea, reveal the tricks of fake mediums, and otherwise make trouble for those he derided. This eventually led to a public debate on the matter, in which Challenger was badly prepared and came off a very poor second to the spiritualist James Smith [LM].
'...there were several reputable witnesses to Nemor's experiments, and
it is certain that he would have revolutionised etheric physics had he
survived...'
[Dell, Ibid. (entry on Theodore Nemor)]
Despite their differing views on spiritualism, Challenger and Malone remained on reasonably good terms. In 1928 Malone's editor asked him to investigate Theodore Nemor, a Latvian scientist who claimed to have invented a so-called disintegration machine [DM]. Nemor demonstrated the device, which apparently worked, and was able to make objects disintegrate and reappear unharmed. Malone and Challenger left Nemor working on the machine, which had given Challenger a mild electric shock. They were the last to see him. The mystery surrounding his subsequent disappearance involved diplomats from Russia and Germany, accusations of murder, and a prolonged (but ultimately futile) police investigation.
One odd aspect of the case was Challenger's lukewarm response to the Press. In previous incidents he had assaulted or sued dozens of reporters; this time he was almost indifferent to reports that could easily be construed as a veiled charge of murder. Since there was no evidence to be found, the case still remains open, although subsequent events suggest a possible explanation. The full details are in section 4.2 below.
'During the late 1920s and in subsequent years Challenger dabbled in
spiritualism, first as a sceptic, later as a convert. Several papers
on this matter were poorly received and did little to enhance his
reputation....'
[Dell, Ibid.]
Challenger's conversion to spiritualism has never been satisfactorily explained. Ruling out the possibility of genuine supernatural involvement, the most obvious theory is that he secretly wanted to believe, despite his rationalist sentiments, and eventually allowed himself to be persuaded that he had seen psychic phenomena. His love of his wife would certainly explain his willingness to accept that she still lived on another plane.
Edward Malone's account of his change of heart is peculiarly unhelpful, his unusual reticence over the details suggesting that they might have harmed Challenger's reputation:
'...Then Enid, who had fallen into a trance and was now acting as medium, made contact with the spirits of two men who had known her father. They provided incontrovertible proof of their existence, facts that Enid could never have known, and the Professor immediately realised that his sceptical views were mistaken. He apologised for his doubts, and we returned to Victoria West Gardens, where we took a late supper.
'Later that evening the Professor withdrew his objections to our
engagement, and Enid consented to be my bride...'
[Edward Malone: My Psychic Adventures]
While it would be unfair to comment further on this event when the true details remain unknown, and none of the protagonists can reply, it should perhaps be pointed out that Professor Challenger's main objection to the wedding was his dislike of spiritualism, that children often know much more of their parent's affairs than the parents would believe, and that Malone was an investigative reporter who could easily follow up slender clues to unearth information that Challenger might believe forgotten.
Having thus become an overnight convert to spiritualism, Challenger proceeded to embrace it with the same enthusiasm he gave to any other cherished scientific theory, protesting against anyone who attacked it [LM]. A series of abrasive letters and papers were sent to various journals, which became increasingly wary of any envelope bearing his address. Several interesting articles on zoology, physics, and plant genetics were rejected without a fair hearing; one paper, submitted two months before the climax of the Hengist Down experiment, and outlining his "World Echidna" theory in great detail, was rejected by Nature and three other journals!
'...Despite this odd lapse, his most important later scientific work
was undoubtedly his 1929 discovery of the true nature of the Earth's
structure, the culmination of an experiment begun earlier in the
decade. Mohorovicic had previously suggested that there were distinct
layers in the crust, but could not prove his theories. Challenger was
in a position to test his ideas experimentally...'
[Dell, Ibid.]
Challenger's "World Echidna" theory is bizarre, apparently insane, but correct, a triumph of flawed logic that happened to reach the right conclusions [WS]. The full details are discussed in detail in section 5.0 below; since most readers will be familiar with the events which proved that our world is alive, from Malone's account or other contemporary sources, suffice it to say that it was possibly the most spectacular experiment ever performed, with the widest possible consequences.
Within hours every active volcano in Europe erupted, fortunately without fatalities. Further afield, there was volcanic activity in South America, Japan, Hawaii, and the United States. It has subsequently been learned that Mount Erebus, in Antarctica, also erupted at about this time. Days later shocks were still being felt in many areas, and an earthquake in China killed several hundred, while avalanches in Switzerland claimed nine lives. There is no proof, of course, that Challenger's experiment was responsible for these later incidents.
A few weeks later Challenger was asked to give evidence at an emergency session of the League Of Nations. When questioned, he admitted that it might be possible to stimulate the World Echidna and deliberately trigger volcanoes or earthquakes. The second 1929 revision of the Geneva Convention banned all forms of "geological warfare", its language strongly implying that any repetition of the Hengist Down experiment might in itself be regarded as an act of war.
Challenger was 66 at the end of the Hengist Down experiment, but still extraordinarily active. Damages to Italy, and British claims that exceeded twenty thousand pounds, exhausted the last of Betterton's estate and some of Challenger's personal fortune, but he continued to press ahead with his zoological, geological, and psychic studies. In 1930 he was also asked to serve on the committee of enquiry following the R101 disaster; while others tended to whitewash the government's role in this accident, Challenger's report was a scathing indictment of the Air Ministry's incompetence, which probably lost him the knighthood he richly deserved. This work also led to his design of an airship for prolonged observation of the aerofauna discovered by Joyce-Armstrong in the 1920s. While he eventually participated in a few flights, air sickness and lack of time limited his participation in this work, although he was the first to describe several new species.
In 1934-5 Challenger took part in the investigations at Loch Ness, but poor health and other commitments, especially to the spiritualist cause, meant that he had no major role in the final unravelling of this riddle; in fact, his presence often drew attention away from the scientists who were doing most of the work, leaving them free of press interference. However, it was largely due to his influence that the Navy provided the equipment that ultimately solved the mystery.
His last paper, published in 1937, ran true to form; it was a rebuttal of the German anthropologist Herman Gauch's "racial science" theories, establishing (at least to Challenger's satisfaction) that the "master race" was in fact not the Aryan but the Celt, and in particular the Scot. Although Challenger had previously argued in favour of eugenics [LM], the paper was almost certainly intended as a joke, but the Nazis took it seriously. Several replies were prepared, but Challenger never saw them. On January 8th 1938, during a visit to his family home in Largs, he attempted to stop a runaway horse. He was successful, but the strain of this effort was too much for his heart. He died early the following morning, his last words a whispered "I'll be back". His body was left to science; his brain and skull are still preserved in Edinburgh University, the other remains were used for teaching purposes and subsequently cremated.
Ever since his death there have been rumours that Challenger had prepared a secret message, much like that left by Houdini, which would be positive proof of his survival in the afterlife. While several mediums have claimed to contact him, none has ever produced convincing evidence; his daughter never admitted that a message existed.
His death, followed later in the year by that of Lord John Roxton in a mountaineering accident, was widely seen as marking the end of the last great age of scientific eccentricity.
Edward and Enid Malone survived into the 1970s, and were prominent in
pacifist and ecological movements. Their contacts included many of the
founders of The World Wildlife Fund, Friends Of The Earth, and
Greenpeace. To quote Malone's autobiography; "When you've seen the
beating heart of the planet, and heard it scream, you have to care
what happens to it. We had our chance to make a better world in 1913,
and we threw it away. The writing was on the wall, and we tore the
wall down so we couldn't see it. We can't make that mistake again."
2.1 Britain in the Challenger Years
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The decades covered by this collection are possibly more extensively documented, both factually and in fiction, than any other portion of British history. They begin with a period of relative innocence, suddenly betrayed by the horrors of the Great War, continue through the years when the Empire still ruled much of the world but was beginning to feel its age, and end with the rising tide of Fascism and the start of the Second World War.
Before the Great War most Britons were confident of the might of the Empire and sure that it would inevitably overcome all obstacles. This meant that British politics tended to be very jingoistic. For example, in 1906 the Royal Navy designed a new class of ship, the Dreadnought, which was expressly built to evade the provisions of earlier naval treaties, which limited other classes. Germany responded by building similar ships; the result was a public outcry in Britain, which led to the construction of eight more Dreadnoughts. Similar escalation was taking place in most European nations, while an ever more complex web of treaties and promises committed them to military pacts that were largely secret, even to most members of the governments that supposedly agreed their provisions.
Given these conditions the war was virtually inevitable; even the incredible shock of the Poison Belt incident, which should have led to better things, was somehow trivialised by the rivalry of the Great Powers. When war came, it was run by leaders who had little conception of the fundamental changes brought about by mass production and new weaponry. Millions of soldiers lost their lives, often squandered by the stupidity of their commanders. Trained soldiers were the first to die, followed first by eager volunteers, later by conscripts. Conditions were appalling, and resulted in mutinies in most of the allied armies, all brutally suppressed. Since friends were often encouraged to enlist and fight together, some areas lost most of their men in a single battle.
The war was followed by the influenza pandemic, which took more lives than the war. As the twenties began most families had experienced recent death, often of several relatives. Many thousands still suffered the after-effects of the war; missing limbs and other injuries, collapsed lungs and other consequences of the use of gas, and shell shock.
In Britain one important consequence of the war was the extension of the vote to women. The suffragettes had achieved little before the war, but for four years women had done the work of the men who were serving at the Front; it was no longer possible to claim that they couldn't be trusted with responsibilities. In December 1918 women aged 30 or more were allowed to vote, with the age limit reduced to 21 in 1928. The 1918 act also allowed all men over 21 to vote; previously a sizeable portion of working class men had been excluded. This change inevitably led to the rise of the left-wing Labour party.
Another result of the war was independence for Ireland; the war years had seen a rapid escalation of violence in the province, and by 1921 it was obvious that Britain could no longer govern effectively. Lloyd-George hoped to make the whole of Ireland a self-governing Dominion, but this was strongly opposed by Irish Protestants, who insisted on remaining British. Eventually 22 of 28 counties became the Irish Free State, later the Irish Republic, the rest stayed British. This was an unsatisfactory compromise which caused great ill-feeling, and was probably one of the reasons why Ireland remaind neutral in the Second World War.
Meanwhile civilian life was slowly returning to normal, but there was a serious imbalance between the sexes in many areas. Widows, and spinsters who had lost fiances in the Great War, became a cliche in fiction, the prey of fortune hunters and gigolos. Since welfare arrangements had never anticipated this imbalance, they eventually became a problem for families, friends, and charities.
The carnage of the Great War led to a resurgence of interest in spiritualism, which had been very popular in the late 19th century. This interest was unfortunately seized upon by confidence tricksters, frauds, and the deluded, and fake mediums of various sorts were widely active in the twenties and thirties. The lonely women described above were often their victims. The Psychical Research Society was active in discrediting these fakes.
The post-war generation is mainly remembered for the "flappers" and "bright young things" of the twenties, but it should be remembered that it was also a period of high unemployment, with ruthless exploitation of workers. After mine owners tried to make miners take lower wages for longer hours, the T.U.C. called a General Strike of manual workers. This could have brought Britain to its knees, but thousands of middle and upper class volunteers took the place of absent workers, with police and troops to guard them, and the government manipulated all forms of communication to ensure the failure of the action. It ended after nine days, with the miners fighting on for another six months before admitting defeat.
Conditions became worse in 1929, as the effects of the American depression reached Britain, resulting in the formation of a National coalition government under the former Labour Prime Minister, Ramsay MacDonald. In less than a year the value of the pound fell by a quarter, and revival was extremely slow. Variations on the Nationalist theme retained power until the end of the Second World War.
Meanwhile these years saw huge advances in aviation, chemistry, medicine, and electronics. Speed records were repeatedly shattered, and much of the technology we now take for granted first appeared on the market, or was at least tested in the laboratory. For example, the period began with silent black and white films; by 1939 the first full-colour films with stereo sound were released. Sound radio was in its infancy in 1908; in 1939 several companies were experimenting with colour television.
Throughout these decades there were considerable pacifist sentiments
in Britain and most of Europe, and diplomats of most nations did their
best to avoid another European conflict. Unfortunately Germany had
suffered crushing humiliation at the end of the Great War, and the
punitive damages demanded by the Allied nations caused the collapse of
the German mark, widespread unemployment, and total dissatisfaction
with the Weimar government. It was a situation that encouraged
extremist politics, and Hitler eventually emerged as the most ruthless
of these extremes. Although British politicians tried to avoid a
conflict, his actions and those of the former allied powers inevitably
dragged Europe into the Second World War.
2.2 Timeline 1908-1939
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| British Governments | Kings | ||
| 1905-8 | Campbell-Bannerman (Liberal) | 1901-10 | Edward VII |
| 1908-15 | Asquith (Liberal) | 1910-36 | George V |
| 1915-16 | Asquith (coalition) | ||
| 1916-22 | Lloyd-George (coalition) | ||
| 1922-3 | Law (Conservative) | ||
| 1923-4 | Baldwin (Conservative) | ||
| 1924 | MacDonald (Labour) | ||
| 1924-29 | Baldwin (Conservative) | ||
| 1929-31 | MacDonald (Labour) | ||
| 1931-5 | MacDonald (Nationalist) | ||
| 1935-7 | Baldwin (Nationalist) | 1936 1936-52 | Edward VIII George VI |
| Chamberlain (Nationalist) | |||
| USA Governments | |||
| 1901-9 | Roosevelt (Republican) | ||
| 1909-13 | Taft (Republican) | ||
| 1913-21 | Wilson (Democrat) | ||
| 1923-29 | Coolidge (Republican) | ||
| 1929-33 | Hoover (Republican) | ||
| 1933-45 | Roosevelt (Democrat) | ||
| Russia/USSR | |||
| 1894-1917 | Nicholas II (Tsar) | ||
| 1917 | Kamenev (President) | Lvov (Prime Minister) Kerensky (Prime Minister) | |
| 1917-19 | Sverlov (President) | Lenin (Chairman) | |
| 1919-24 | Kalinin (President) * | Lenin (Chairman) | |
| 1924-30 | Rykov (Chairman) | ||
| 1930-41 | Molotov (Chairman) | ||
| * Continued as President to 1946 | |||
| Stalin became the first General Secretary of the Communist Party in 1922, staying in office until 1953, and was effectively the ruler of the USSR from 1924 onwards. | |||
| Germany | |||
| 1888-1918 | William II (Kaiser) | ||
| 1919 | Ebert (President), Scheidemann (Chancellor), Coalition | ||
| German government was extremely unstable throughout this period, and it has not been possible to list every combination of leaders in a series of shaky coalitions. This continued until the Nazis became the dominant political party: | |||
| 1933 | von Hindenberg (President), Hitler (Chancellor) | ||
| Hitler soon took all power into his hands, and was ruler of Germany until 1945. | |||
The list that follows includes some items that were not available in the real world, and some that have been included for period "feel", not practical use. It shows British prices in the mid 1920s; subtract approximately 5% for prices before the Great War, add approximately 25% for prices after 1929. The pound is worth about $5 in 1920, $4 after 1929.
Medical Supplies:
Pocket first aid kit 2/6
First aid kit for car, yacht, etc. £ 1.10.0
Industrial first aid kit £ 4.10.0
Aspirin (100) 1/6
Glass syringe, with steel needle, 1 ml 9/-
" " " " " 5 ml 16/-
Surgical glass bowls, priced by size 1/6 to 7/-
Bleeding basin, kidney-shaped, by size 3/- to 5/- *
* For use in blood-letting, still a common medical practice. Hence
the old joke
Doctor: "Where's the bleeding basin?"
Nurse: "No need to swear, Doctor!"
More genteel doctors call the process phlebotomy to avoid this joke
Instruments:
Stop watch (1 second accuracy) £ 1.15.0
Pocket compass £ 2. 5.0
Box camera £ 1.10.0
Zeiss Ikon Camera £12. 5.0
Kodak Portable Cine Camera £25. 0.0
Film, developing and printing 8d per picture
Simple Telescope £ 3.15.0
Equipment for travellers:
Portable typewriter £ 8.15.0
Brandy flask 10/-
Sleeping bag £ 4. 0.0
Camp bed with mosquito net £ 2. 2.0
Tent 10 ft x 8 ft £14.18.9
Travelling spirit stove 7/-
Electric torch 10/6
Pith Helmet £ 1. 7.6
Skis £ 2.12.6
1st class rail fare London - Southampton 16/5
10 day Mediterranean cruise 20 Gns
Return flight London - Paris £12. 0.0
Gallon of petrol 1/7
Bicycle £ 5. 5.0
BSA 500cc motorbike £57.10.0
4 mile bus fare 4d
Luxury hotel room (per night) 8/6
Hotel breakfast 2/6
Hotel dinner 5/6
Clothing and other everyday items:
Gold Watch £ 8.10.0
Spectacles 6/6
Evening dress suit 11 Gns
White suit for tropical climes £ 1.10.0
Plain white shirt 10/6
Evening dress shirt 15/6
Man's shoes (Oxford Brogues) £ 3. 9.0
Bawler Hat £ 1. 5.0
Top Hat £ 1.12.6
Cloth cap 10/6
Ladies shoes £ 2. 9.6
Silk stockings 8/11
Maid's uniform 12/5
Chauffeur's Uniform £ 5.15.0
Leather driving coat £15.15.0
Radio receiver £13. 0.0
Ball of string 5d
The Daily Mail 1d
The Times 2d
3-bedroom semi-detached house £600. 0.0
Food and Drink:
Tin of Baked Beans 6d
Blue Mountain coffee beans (1 lb) 3/4
Jar of jam 11d
Bottle of Rose's Lime Cordial 2/-
Tin of oysters 1/1
Tin of Heinz Tomato Soup 6d
Tin of China Tea (5 lb) £ 1. 4.8
Dundee Cake (2 lb) 3/6
Loaf of bread 4d
Dozen eggs 2/2
Pound of butter 2/-
Pound of steak 1/5
Pound of iguanodon steak (1934) 2/11
Bottle sherry 17/6
Bottle port £ 1. 1.0
Johnny Walker Red Label Whisky 12/6
20 cigarettes 1/-
Pint of beer 6d
Unusual items: For the man (or woman) who has everything...
Challenger electro-magnetic depth sensor £227.5.11 *
Challenger torpedo deflector for warships £17,350 **
Iguanodon leather coat (1930 onwards) 75 Gns
Megalosaurus leather coat (1930 onwards) 150 Gns
* Model for yachts and other wooden-hulled vessels. Versions
for metal-hulled ships are considerably more expensive.
** Price for a cruiser; varies according to size of ship
A wide range of scientific equipment is priced in section 8.1, below.
Sources include The What It Cost The Day Before Yesterday Book by
Doctor Harold Priestly, and various period magazines. Some of this
material has previously appeared in articles in White Dwarf and in the
Call of Cthulhu supplement "Green And Pleasant Land", Games Workshop
1987.
3.0 Maple White Land
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Approximately 150 million years ago an extraordinary geological formation emerged from what has now become Northern Brazil. The plateau is between the Negro and Japura rivers, its approximate coordinates 02 degrees South, 65 degrees West. The last stages of the route to the plateau are shown in 01_LWMAP.GIF, and its layout in 02_LWMAP.GIF. To quote Professor Challenger:
'South America is, as you may have heard, a granite continent. At this single point in the interior there has been, in some far distant age, a great, sudden volcanic upheaval. These cliffs, I may remark, are basaltic, and therefore plutonic. An area, as large perhaps as Sussex, has been lifted up en bloc with all its living contents, and cut off by perpendicular precipices of a hardness which defies erosion from all the rest of the continent.' [LW]
Geological research has subsequently shown that this picture is substantially correct, although the process took millions of years, and was aided by erosion of the surrounding terrain.
Originally the plateau was the crater of a huge volcano, at least fifty miles wide, whose upper slopes were probably destroyed by an explosive eruption. Once extinct it gradually flooded, and was colonised by Jurassic plants and animals. Eventually the lower slopes of the volcano eroded away, leaving a deep funnel of hard rock filled with volcanic soil, surrounded by gentle slopes easily scaled by animals. Later mountain building forced the base of the volcano upwards, while erosion stripped away the softer rocks but left the basalt core largely intact, forming a near-vertical cliff. See 04_GEOL.GIF for an illustration of this process.
The end result was a plateau that was almost completely isolated from its surroundings and enjoyed a particularly favourable microclimate which encouraged rapid plant growth. Here a stable population of dinosaurs and other Jurassic fauna and flora was able to survive, and flourish to a limited extent, for millions of years after these species were extinct elsewhere. Whatever the nature of the disaster that finally killed the last dinosaurs, the inhabitants of Maple White Land were unaffected. This would seem to rule out some of the more extreme catastrophe theories, such as an asteroid strike, and has strengthened the idea that the smaller mammals were primarily responsible for their destruction; Maple White Land acquired mammals late in its history, by colonisation from the surrounding area, many of the smaller forms are missing, and they have never been numerous in comparison to the reptilian population.
The physical geography of the plateau is simple; an oval, roughly twenty by thirty miles, with the ground sloping gently down from the rim towards the central lake, which is about ten miles wide. Numerous small streams drain into the lake and several swamps. On the south side of the plateau the inner ground is level with the rim; to the north the surface is lower, and the basalt walls of the plateau act as cliffs. In most areas the soil is extremely rich, although there is a large rocky area which the natives greatly fear; investigation has shown that this area is the mating and egg-laying ground for megalosaurs and other large carnivores.
One of the puzzles of the plateau was the survival of the dinosaurs in forms so similar to the fossils found elsewhere, rather than the highly evolved descendants that might be expected. In fact we now know that this is not entirely true; there are hundreds of differences in detail, showing the effect of millions of years of evolution, and there is fossil evidence of several unique forms which flourished briefly then died out. Since the plateau was a very static and stable environment, there was no real need for extreme change.
There is evidence of at least two waves of animal colonisation long after the plateau formed. The first took place about three million years ago, and let in the ape-men and some of the older types of mammal now found in Maple White Land; Challenger's idea that these species evolved independently was wrong, and has been disproved by genetic fingerprinting and other techniques. This incursion led to the destruction of some of the smaller dinosaur species.
The second followed the plateau's discovery by Indians, and took place around 500 to 800 AD; it seems likely that the Indians were accompanied by some semi-domesticated animals, such as pigs, which escaped after they arrived. The route remained open until 1909, and there was some limited contact with tribes of the surrounding area throughout this period. While Challenger believed that the Indians were largely ineffectual against the dinosaurs, this is not entirely true; their management of the iguanodons, and the traps they set for predators, have greatly reduced the number of carnivorous dinosaurs. Unfortunately this probably led to a population explosion amongst the pterodactyls, and over several hundred years their numbers have steadily increased to make the species the pest we know today.
Tunnels must occasionally form by erosion, then collapse or clog with mud and debris. Since the plateau is isolated by swamps and jungle, it has probably escaped colonisation on many other occasions when these routes were available.
There are several unsolved biological mysteries associated with the
plateau. How did the dinosaurs survive in such a small area? Why
haven't mammals displaced the dinosaurs? While favourable stable
conditions seem to offer the best clue, many zoologists believe that
these factors are not enough, and some of the less reputable theories
suggest that these animals may have survived as a result of alien
intervention, that the plateau is a zoo for UFOs, or that some strange
form of time warp snatched it forward millions of years. None of these
ideas are supported by the fossil or geological record, but much more
work is needed to establish the true facts.
3.1 Maple White Land In The Twentieth Century
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The arrival of modern civilisation has been a mixed blessing to Maple White Land. The Challenger expedition saw the virtual annihilation of the plateau's ape-men, and was merely the first of many. In 1918 the plateau's location was revealed to the world, with the inevitable result that it was soon invaded by miners and scientists.
A team of Brazilian explorers set out for the plateau in 1919. They were inadequately armed, and totally unprepared for the ferocity of the dinosaurs; Brazilian newspapers of the period had widely reported the Challenger expedition's stories as a hoax, spread to stop people looking for the diamonds. Naturally there were heavy casualties. Later expeditions were better prepared, but still had severe transport and access problems; the route used by Challenger was totally unsuitable for the heavy equipment that would be needed to exploit the diamonds commercially.
An airstrip was cleared at the base of the plateau in 1926, but it took another year to unblock the old tunnel route used by Maple White and widen it to take vehicles. The difficulty of operations is typified by the fact that one aircraft vanished without trace, another was "mobbed" by pterodactyls and crashed as it was preparing to land.
With hindsight it is almost a miracle that the Brazilians didn't proceed to wipe out the dinosaurs, drive away the Indians, and loot the plateau of its mineral wealth, as happened in many other areas. Much of the credit for their restraint belongs to Lord John Roxton, who invested heavily in the diamond consortium and was able to exert considerable influence. Under his guidance a fortified stockade was built near the swamp, and the miners used mobile steel cages for cover while they excavated the clay, but most of the rest of the plateau was left alone. Even this "minimal" project had serious ecological effects; a large area of woods was logged to build the stockade, hundreds of pterodactyls were shot, and the carnivorous megalosaurs were driven to near-extinction. Roxton later commented that the miners had "ruined the huntin'"; this was an exaggeration, since safaris and scientific expeditions rarely left empty-handed, but of course their activities added to the disruption of the plateau's ecology. At first the Indians kept well clear of the mines, but there was inevitably some corrupting effect; a shanty town eventually appeared on the ruins of the old "ape town", with Indians scavenging the debris of the camp and trading for alcohol and other goods. A Jesuit mission to the natives was established in 1929, and continued until 1941, when regular flights to the plateau ended. The mission records show that there were roughly 270 natives in 1930, 220 in 1941; nearly half the deaths in these years were due to alcoholism.
In the 1930s Brazil started to industrialise, and armoured steam shovels and drag-line excavators were imported to take over the work of mining. The pterodactyl swamp was rapidly stripped. Fortunately there were secondary breeding sites near the Central Lake, which soon became the main haunt of these creatures. The yield of gemstones began to fall in 1934, and by 1936 the operation (which had always had high overheads) was no longer profitable. Smaller scale mining and prospecting continued for the next few years, but returns were poor, and no new diamond fields were found. In 1941, with the mines exhausted and hunting severely curtailed by wartime conditions, the camp closed. It re-opened as a hunting lodge in 1947, but it soon became well-known that dinosaurs were disappointingly easy prey for anyone with the right equipment; the weapons available for this "sport" included Jeep-mounted war-surplus anti-tank rifles and .50 calibre machine guns, bazookas, and rifle grenades!
In 1956 UNESCO, the United Nations scientific organisation, declared the plateau a site of special scientific interest, and persuaded the Brazilian government to make it a nature reserve and end the hunting. While there have been several poaching incidents, there has never been the wholesale butchery that has marred other reserves; access is easily controlled, and most of the unique species of the plateau breed well in captivity, reducing the value of animal products.
Today Maple White Land is slowly reverting to the conditions first
seen by the Challenger expedition. With the end of mining the
pterodactyls began to return to their swamp, and are currently
breeding there in great numbers. The Indians still herd iguanodons,
and have little to do with modern civilisation (although they keep
some rifles and dynamite to deter intruding megalosaurs). They offer a
cautious welcome to visitors, and trade leather and carvings for
cartridges and medical supplies. The scientific base below the plateau
accommodates six game wardens and up to a dozen visiting scientists,
and incorporates a clinic, satellite ground station, and airstrip. It
is best known as the setting for the long-running American comedy soap
"Jurassic Vet" (which is mostly filmed in California), and for its use
in the BBC's "Life On Earth" and some of the later episodes of "Doctor
Who".
3.1.1 Prehistoric Animals in the Modern World
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Once Maple White Land was discovered, it was inevitable that its incredible fauna should be exported to meet a wider audience. The "pioneers" here were the four survivors of eggs bought back by the second Challenger expedition, and subsequently donated to London Zoo.
The stegosaur was "adopted" by Chips Comic, which christened it "Spiky" and ran a regular half-page of its adventures, attracting thousands of children to the Zoo. Unfortunately the strip led children to believe that it was friendly and could play football, dance, and perform other tricks; its single-minded interest in eating was usually a disappointment. As it matured it became increasingly vicious, and it was transported to confinement in a deep pit at Whipsnade Zoo, London Zoo's country site, in 1932. It was killed by Luftwaffe bombing in 1941, which led to the production of a series of propaganda posters depicting "Poor Spiky" as an innocent casualty of Nazi aggression, which could only be stopped by (for example) investing in Victory Bonds or economising on fuel consumption. After the war it was learned that the unfortunate animal had been a victim of faulty intelligence; German photo-reconnaissance showed its pit as an anti-aircraft emplacement.
The pterodactyls refused to breed in captivity, probably because the species learns some aspects of mating behaviour by observing adults, and died of old age at London Zoo in 1935 and 1937. Although it seems unlikely that anyone could love such creatures, their appearance was certainly reflected in art, especially in sculptures of the Art Deco school. Some extraordinarily ugly works were the result, as well as masterpieces like Jacob Epstein's surreal "Succubus" (1927), which later prompted Hitler to declare that "...dinosaur art is decadent art..." and ban his work from Germany. Shortly before the Second World War biologists at Berlin Zoo finally bred pterodactyls in captivity; in a classic example of doublethink, this was hailed as a triumph of Aryan science.
'"Oh arr, Walter, he sold forty head of iguanodon from they woods last year, and the old skinflint still says he's trouble making ends meet..."' [The Archers, BBC Radio 1987]
As in Maple White Land, the iguanodons proved relatively easy to handle; it was even possible to use sheep dogs to herd them. They first bred in 1925; in 1933 the herd was also moved to Whipsnade (see 13_ZOO.GIF for one of the newspaper stories covering the move). Harrods first sold iguanodon meat in 1934, after one of the females was killed by lightning; most gourmets were disappointed by its resemblance to slightly gamy chicken. By 1937 it was known that they could eat almost any type of vegetation, including waste twigs and leaves from the timber industry. During the Second World War their meat was available "off ration", and, while always in very short supply, proved a useful supplement to more traditional sources. Today roughly 7% of Britain's meat production (primarily pet foods and BSE-free animal feed proteins) comes from the descendants of these three animals, and of later specimens imported to counter inbreeding.
Many other species have subsequently been transported from the plateau, and are used for a variety of animal products. Captive-bred dinosaur leather is cheaper than other reptile skins; most notably, iguanodon skin is no more expensive than cow-hide, and popular for motorcycle leathers and other heavy-duty applications. Even megalosaur hide is readily available, albeit expensive. Naturally the farms which breed these animals have had to learn to handle them safely, and there have been a few blunders; China has feral pterodactyls in several areas, and the Australian government is still trying to track down some small plesiosaurs which were released in 1988, as part of an unsuccessful attempt to control cane toads. Since the Second World War there are believed to have been no prolonged releases of land dinosaurs. The most serious incident was the Texas megalosaur escape of 1974 (four dead, nineteen injured), which lasted less than eleven hours and saw the first use of helicopter gunships in an animal control role. There are persistent rumours that this was a deliberate release, an attempt to gain support for the US military in the last days of the Vietnam War. They have wide credence amongst conspiracy theorists, but all the evidence points to accidental causes.
While dinosaur and pterodactyl escapes are very rare, and generally result in little more than property damage, they have become a common theme of urban myths. The most widespread is the belief that aquatic or amphibious species are breeding in the sewers of a large city, usually New York. The means by which breeding colonies were established vary according to the storyteller; a popular version begins with a theft of eggs from the Bronx Zoo, and the thief dropping them down a drain to escape arrest. They hatch in the dampness of the sewer, and subsequently live on rats and other vermin, plus occasional sewage workers. The animals concerned are usually ichthyosaurs (which don't lay eggs), less often plesiosaurs, while one particularly unlikely version has pterodactyls living on pigeons and pets in Central Park, but returning to the sewers to breed. Naturally "the authorities" keep it quiet to avoid a panic. This story has been traced back to London in the early twenties, and was apparently a common rumour in Berlin during the Second World War; Berlin also pioneered rumours that black market meat came from sewer pterodactyls, a story that has since been associated with Indian restaurants in Britain and hamburger restaurants in Russia.
The larger land dinosaurs are seldom seen in urban myths, which usually depend on the shock of an unexpected encounter for effect; it's difficult to imagine a dinosaur secretly breaking into a house, hiding on the back seat of a car, or stalking victims in a lovers lane. However, there are numerous variations on the "missing zoo visitor" theme, in which an empty car is discovered broken down in the megalosaur enclosure of a large zoo, with its door or roof open, but no trace of the occupants is ever found. Again "the authorities" hush up the matter to ensure the profits of the zoo.
Finally, the importance of prehistoric creatures in fiction and the
graphic arts can't be overestimated, but is far too vast a subject to
handle in this collection. The most famous literary character they
have inspired is probably the comic hero The Pterodactyl, second only
to Superman in popularity. There is a story, undoubtedly apocryphal,
that the strip was nearly called "The Bat", but it's difficult to
imagine criminals fearing a vigilante named after a creature that only
eats insects or fruit...
3.2 The Fauna And Natives Of Maple White Land
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The detailed descriptions are in the order in which creatures appear or are mentioned in The Lost World. Brief statistics for some other creatures follow.
Young of all species have reduced characteristics and skills, but use the same attack methods with lowered Effects. While several of the dinosaurs listed here are capable of more than one type of attack, they are too stupid to attack more than one foe at a time; for example, a megalosaur might try to trample and bite its prey, but couldn't deliberately attack one victim by trampling while biting another. Unfortunately accidents can easily happen, especially when several people are standing close to a dinosaur...
For convenience, assume that all dinosaurs move about twice as fast as humans; they walk 20 ft per round, or run 40 ft per round. If badly frightened or enraged a Difficulty 6 BODY roll lets them push their speed to 60 ft per round; anything in the way is in BIG trouble.
In the lists below, the references for models are NH = Natural History Museum model available, IR = Irregular Miniatures 15mm scale model available. See the end of this section for more notes on models, and optional game rules for the psychological effects of dinosaur encounters.
Stegosaurus
'It was the wild dream of an opium smoker, a vision of delirium. The
head was like that of a fowl, the body that of a bloated lizard, the
trailing tail was furnished with upward-turned spikes, and the curved
back was edged with a high serrated fringe, which looked like a dozen
cocks' wattles placed behind each other.' [LW]
A large herbivorous dinosaur notable for its back plates and tail spikes. While this gives the appearance of a formidable defence, the animal is actually slow and extremely clumsy, its tail its only effective weapon. An alert predator can usually get the better of it, by attacking its head, neck, or underbelly. They are extremely timid, and because they run very slowly, they prefer to stand their ground and fight anything perceived as a threat. This has given them a largely undeserved reputation for viciousness.
BODY [15], MIND [1], SOUL [1]
Brawling [10]; Tail blow, Effect 12, Damage A:I, B:C, C:K
Wounds: B[ ] F[ ] I[ ] I[ ] I[ ] C[ ]
Armoured skin reduces the Effect of all attacks by 3
Illustration: 05_STEGO.GIF; Maple White's sketch *
* See also Dougal Dixon's "The New Dinosaurs" for an impression of this sketch.
Models: IR
Pterodactyl
'...I had a momentary vision of a long, snake-like neck, a fierce,
red, greedy eye, and a great snapping beak, filled, to my amazement,
with little, gleaming teeth.' [LW]
The most common prehistoric reptiles of the plateau, these unpleasant creatures flock in great numbers, especially near their swampy roosting grounds. They are fast, agile, and can bite their prey, stab with the beak closed, or buffet opponents with their wings to drive them away. The rear claws are used to catch fish and small animals, much like those of an eagle. They usually attack in large swarms.
BODY [3], MIND [1], SOUL [1]
Brawling [4]:
Bite, Effect 3, Damage A:B, B:F, C:I *
Stab, Effect 3, Damage A:B, B:B, C:F *
Wings, Effect 3, Damage A:-, B:B, C:B
* All flesh wounds and injuries caused by these attacks contain rotting food and other noxious substances. Add 2 to the difficulty of all First Aid and Doctor rolls.
Wounds: B [ ], F [ ], I [ ], C [ ]
Illustration: 06_PTERO.GIF; from Professor Challenger's notes
Models: NH, but the model is a large pterosaur, not the smaller type described. Smaller but less accurate alternatives are available.
Iguanodon
'Even the babies were as big as elephants, while the two large ones
were far beyond all creatures I have ever seen....'
'...they looked like monstrous kangaroos, twenty feet in length, and
with skins like black crocodiles.' [LW]
Iguanodons are the largest and gentlest land dinosaurs of Maple White Land. They live in family groups or small herds, which can be controlled by two or three men (or even a well-trained sheep dog in open country). The Indians of the plateau mark these animals with asphalt when they are about two years old, and the status of each family is measured by the number of animals it 'owns'; this ownership is largely ceremonial, since they are usually eaten communally. They are extraordinarily tough animals; Malone describes one pulling down a tree onto itself and escaping without injury. They almost always prefer to flee rather than fight, but as a last resort will fight if they are cornered or wish to protect their young. They aren't particularly good fighters, but their size and strength makes them extremely dangerous opponents if provoked.
BODY [18], MIND [1], SOUL [1]
Brawling [12];
Tail blow, Effect 16, Damage A:I, B:C, C:K
Bite, Effect 12, Damage A:I, B:C, C:K
Wounds: B[ ] F[ ] I[ ] I[ ] I[ ] I[ ] C[ ]
Tough skin reduces the effect of all attacks by 2
Illustrations: 07_IGDON.GIF; A stereoscopic photograph of an iguanodon at the site where they were first seen by the Challenger expedition.
13_ZOO.GIF; a 1930s newspaper story.
Models: NH
Megalosaur
'...I had a vision of a horrible mask like a giant toad's, of a warty,
leprous skin, and of a loose mouth all beslobbered with fresh blood.'
'...huge projecting eyes, the row of enormous teeth in his open mouth,
and the gleaming fringe of claws upon his short, powerful forearms.'
'...moved in a succession of springs, but in size they were of an
incredible bulk, larger than the largest elephant.' [LW]
Like the iguanodon, the megalosaurus is an erect biped dinosaur. Unfortunately the resemblance ends there. These creatures are fast, extremely dangerous nocturnal carnivores, remorseless killing machines that can take an immense amount of damage before succumbing to their wounds. They can trample or jump on small prey, bite, or thrash with their tails, and their feet have razor-sharp claws. The forearms are actually relatively ineffective, used mainly to grasp food once it is caught. Like many nocturnal carnivores, their eyes are slitted and primarily sensitive to movement, not shape or colour, and they have little or no memory; if chased, the best tactic is to get out of the creature's sight (by running behind a tree or rock), then stand motionless until it gives up and goes away. Unfortunately there is still some risk of being trampled accidentally, and their senses of hearing and smell are good.
BODY [15], MIND [1], SOUL [1]
Brawling [17]
Tail blow, Effect 14, Damage A:I, B:C, C:K
Bite, Effect 16, Damage A:I, B:C, C:K
Trample, Effect 15, Damage A:I, B:I, C:C
Kick, Effect 15, Damage A:F, B:I, C:C
Wounds: B[ ] F[ ] I[ ] I[ ] I[ ] C[ ]
Tough skin reduces the Effect of all attacks by 2
Illustration: 08_MEGA.GIF; from Professor Challenger's notes
Models: NH, IR (probably meant to be a tyrannosaur, but usable as a megalosaur)
Ape-men
'It was a human face -- or at least it was far more human than any
monkey's that I have ever seen. It was long, whitish, and blotched
with pimples, the nose flattened, and the lower jaw projecting, with a
bristle of coarse whiskers round the chin. The eyes, which were under
thick and heavy brows, were bestial and ferocious, and as it opened
its mouth to snarl what sounded like a curse at me I observed that it
had curved, sharp canine teeth.' [LW]
These creatures are similar to the fossil Pithecanthropus, the so-called missing link. They use simple tools and weapons, have a rudimentary form of speech, and build crude huts, but their organisation is essentially that of a large hunting pack. They are extremely vicious, torturing captives and throwing them off the edge of the plateau in a crude "game". Most were wiped out by the Indians during the first Challenger expedition; the remnant were enslaved, and the males killed. Undoubtedly some survivors remain at liberty, but their depleted numbers do not pose a threat to the Indians. The statistics below are for all adult males.
BODY [7], MIND [2], SOUL [1], Athlete (climbing) [8], Melee Weapon [4], Stealth [6]
Brawling [8];
Bite: Effect 8, A:F, B:F, C:I
Choke: Effect 7*, A:F, B:I, C:C/K
Club: Effect 8, A:B, B:F, C:KO/K
* Add 1 for each additional round the hold is maintained.
Wounds: B[ ] F[ ] I[ ] I[ ] C[ ]
Illustration: 09_APEMN.GIF; An artist's impression of the final battle against the apes.
Models: Figures for the Shadowrun game (20-512: Wendigo and Sasquatch) have the right sort of look but are a little large.
Plesiosaur
'...one of these creatures wriggled on to a sandbank within a few
hundred yards of us, and exposed a barrel-shaped body and huge
flippers behind the long serpent neck...' [LW]
Plesiosaurs are aquatic reptiles; they are not true dinosaurs. They are air-breathing carnivores, feeding mainly on fish, smaller reptiles, and pterodactyls. When surfaced they swim relatively slowly, by threshing their paddles, with the tail used mainly for steering and balance, but underwater they can use their paddles like the wings of penguins, to "fly" through the water with some considerable speed. The neck is long and flexible, and the neck and mouth are the only parts of the animal that move quickly. The species seen in Maple White Land can crawl slowly on land, and bask on sandbanks like alligators. These animals aren't normally dangerous to humans, preferring smaller prey, but a swimmer might be attacked accidentally.
BODY [12], MIND [1], SOUL [1]
Brawling [12]; Bite, Effect 14, Damage A:I, B:C, C:K
Wounds: B[ ] F[ ] I[ ] I[ ] I[ ] C[ ]
illustration: 10_PLESI.GIF; A plesiosaur in the Central Lake, and (below) the Loch Ness monster.
Models: NH; the plastic is bright blue, which seems unlikely.
Icthyosaur
'...a strange creature, half seal, half fish, to look at, with
bone-covered eyes on each side of his snout, and a third eye fixed
upon the top of his head...' [LW]
These air-breathing reptiles occupy the environmental niche normally occupied by dolphins and killer whales, although the tail fin is vertical, not horizontal; they have adapted to freshwater life. They eat fish, small reptiles, and other aquatic life. Some are large enough to endanger swimmers and boats. The third eye mentioned by Malone is a pineal eye, a rudimentary light sensor, and cannot focus or move in its socket. It seems to be used mainly as an early warning of pterodactyls when the icthyosaur is surfaced. Icthyosaurs cannot move on land, and their eggs are carried internally until they hatch.
BODY [10], MIND [1], SOUL [1]
Brawling [11]; Bite, Effect 12, Damage A:I, B:C, C:K
Wounds: B[ ] F[ ] I[ ] I[ ] I[ ] C[ ]
Illustration: 11_ICTHY.GIF; An icthyosaur leaping from the water.
Models: NH
Indians
'...little, clean-limbed, red fellows, whose skins glowed like
polished bronze in the strong sunlight.'
'They were small men, wiry, active, and well-built, with lank black
hair tied up in a bunch behind their heads with a leathern thong, and
leathern also were their loin-cloths. Their faces were hairless, well
formed, and good-humoured. The lobes of their ears, hanging ragged and
bloody, showed that they had been pierced...' [LW]
The native humans of Maple White Land are simply that; there is nothing remarkable about them, apart from the fact that their tribe has survived the dangers of the plateau for at least a thousand years. Challenger describes them as 'considerably higher in the scale than many South American tribes', which would suggest that the dangers of the plateau might eliminate weaklings. They use bows and arrows, canoes, and fire, wear clothing, and speak a moderately complex language. Their speech has common roots with the tongues of other native tribes, but is a separate language, not a dialect.
Generate Indians as normal humans, but allow only 18 points for
characteristics and skills (educated Indians get the normal 21
points). BODY should not exceed 4 for anyone but the strongest
warriors. The following skills are available, all functioning in
primitive ways (for example, Artist is cave painting or tattooing,
Thief cannot be used for forgery or picking locks):
Actor, Artist, Athlete, Brawling, Detective (limited to tracking),
Doctor (witch/medicine man), First Aid, Marksman (thrown weapons and
bows only), Medium, Melee Weapon, Riding (used to control iguanodons
only), Stealth, Thief.
Illustration: 12_INDN.GIF; An Indian native of Maple-White Land
Models: IR. A suitable 25mm figure is sold by Rafm miniatures for the Call of Cthulhu game, in a pack (no. 2972) that also includes three Victorian adventurers.
Brief Notes
Jaracara Snake: These green snakes are found in the swamps around the plateau, but not on the plateau itself. They are very venomous, and have the unfortunate habit of attacking in swarms if any animal ventures into their "territory".
BODY [2], MIND [1], SOUL [1]
Brawling [6]; Poison, Effect 6, Damage A:I, B:C, C:K
Wounds: B[ ] F[ ] I[ ] C[ ]
Blood Tick: The revolting Ixodes Maloni is found in bushes in damp spots around the plateau. It evolved to suck dinosaur blood, hence its size, but will readily attack mammals if there is any opportunity. They can be removed by crushing (which leaves the mouth parts embedded in the skin and may result in an infection) or by treatment with alcohol or salt.
BODY [1], MIND [-], SOUL [-]
Brawling [1]; Bite, Effect 1, A:B, B:B, C:F
Wounds: any wound kills.
Porcupine: There are no porcupines in South America, and this species is actually similar to the echidna, or "spiny porcupine", an egg-laying insectivorous mammal related to the duck-billed platypus. The species may have evolved on the plateau, but it seems more likely that it migrated there several million years ago; there is no fossil record elsewhere in South America, but this may simply mean that the evidence hasn't yet been found. They are harmless, their spikes used purely defensively.
BODY [2], MIND [1], SOUL [1]
Brawling [2]; Spikes, effect 2, Damage A:-, B:F, C:F
Spikes reduce the effect of clubs and other blows by -2
Wounds: B[ ] F[ ] I[ ] C[ ]
Giant Stag: This species probably arrived on the plateau with the ape-men, and has evolved to great size, about 10ft tall at the shoulder.
BODY [8], MIND [1], SOUL [1]
Brawling [10]; Horns, Effect 10, Damage A:F, B:I, C:C/K
Wounds: B[ ] F[ ] I[ ] I[ ] C[ ]
Phorachus: A giant flightless carnivorous bird, with a vulture-like neck and sharp chisel beak, about 12' tall. One chased Professor Challenger and pecked off his boot heel. This is another contemporary of the ape-men.
BODY [7], MIND [1], SOUL [1]
Brawling [8]; Beak, Effect 10, Damage A:F, B:I, C:I
Wounds: B[ ] F[ ] I[ ] I[ ] C[ ]
Toxodon: A giant herbivorous rodent resembling a guinea pig, about 10ft long. It might be dangerous if cornered, but its instinct is to run if it senses a threat. The Indians regard them as a special culinary treat.
BODY [7], MIND [1], SOUL [1]
Brawling [4]; Bite, Effect 5, Damage A:B, B:F, C:I/C
Wounds: B[ ] F[ ] I[ ] I[ ] C[ ]
Ganoid Fish: Related to the sturgeon, it is extinct outside the plateau. These creatures have a third pineal eye, even more primitive than that of the icthyosaur.
BODY [2], MIND [1], SOUL [1]
No attacks
Wounds: F[ ] I[ ] C[ ]
Giant snake: A sub-species of anaconda. Even the great size, up to thirty feet long, is only slightly beyond the normal range of the species.
BODY [10], MIND [1], SOUL [1]
Brawling [11]; Wrestle, Effect 10, Damage A:I, B:I, C:C
Wounds: B[ ] F[ ] I[ ] I[ ] C[ ]
Giant Armadillo: Another recent immigrant, this creature is the normal South American giant armadillo, Priodontes giganteus, growing to a length of about five feet. It is a relatively harmless scavenger. For some reason this species never seems to have taken to eating dinosaur eggs, probably because they are usually laid in swamps and guarded by adults.
BODY [4], MIND [1], SOUL [1]
Brawling [4]; Claws, Effect 5, Damage A:B, B:F, C:F
Wounds: B[ ] F[ ] I[ ] I[ ] C[ ]
Armour reduces the effect of all attacks by -2
Wild pig: These are perfectly normal South American pigs; they may be truly wild, or might be feral domesticated animals imported by the Indians. They are certainly recent arrivals.
BODY [3], MIND [1], SOUL [1]
Brawling [4]; Bite, Effect 5, Damage A:B, B:F, C:F
Wounds: B[ ] F[ ] I[ ] I[ ] C[ ]
Tapir and Anteater: Two more recent arrivals on the plateau, eking out a precarious existence and hunted by dinosaurs, apes, and Indians. Statistics are identical.
BODY [3], MIND [1], SOUL [1]
Brawling [2]; Claw, Effect 3, Damage A:B, B:F, C:I
Wounds: B[ ] F[ ] I[ ] I[ ] C[ ]
Figures for most of the dinosaurs are readily available, in a variety of scales and degrees of realism; see the notes accompanying some of the descriptions above. While 25mm scale is often preferred for RPGs, the plastic dinosaurs sold by most museums tend to be nearer 30-40mm scale, and are usually made in only one colour of plastic, which isn't very realistic. The plastic used doesn't take paint well. "Realistically" coloured versions of the Natural History Museum models were available, but this isn't guaranteed; on a visit in 1998 none were in stock. They look more lifelike but tend to be much more expensive. Naturally the colours used are purely speculative.
For a more compact option, Irregular Miniatures sell
several 15mm wargaming packs for their mammoth hunting wargame "Tusk", by Matthew
Hartley: amongst others, the range includes a pack for a scenario that is included
with the adventures.
Irregular Miniatures Ltd., 69A Acomb Rd., Holgate, York, YO2 2XN,
England. Tel 01904 790597
3.2.2 Fear And Loathing In Maple White Land
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'The moonlight shone upon his huge projecting eyes, the row of enormous teeth in his open mouth, and the gleaming fringe of claws upon his short, powerful forearms. With a scream of terror I turned and rushed wildly down the path.' [LW:12]
When explorers meet dinosaurs it's important to emphasise the sheer size and power of these gigantic creatures. They aren't just another animal; they're primeval terror incarnate, tons of living, smelly, roaring, bad-tempered flesh, with enormous claws and teeth, rumbling guts, and industrial-strength halitosis. Describe them as such, and don't forget that they smash trees as they move, run twice as fast as humans, leave huge mounds of excrement in their wake, may have trouble noticing humans, and certainly won't fear them.
Faced with such creatures, most adventurers will think twice before moving in to attack, or doing anything else that might attract the dinosaur's attention, such as running away. One way to simulate this is to ask for a roll of MIND against the BODY of the dinosaur whenever an adventurer approaches one, or a dinosaur approaches the adventurer. The following modifiers should add to the general air of terror:
| Adventurer has never seen a dinosaur before or is unarmed | -2 |
| Dinosaur is carnivorous, charging, or doing something else that obviously endangers the adventurer | -2 |
| Encounter is unexpected, at night, or unusually horrific | -1 |
| Adventurer is alone, or there are more dinosaurs than adventurers | -1 |
| Several adventurers (BODY of group exceeds dinosaur's BODY) | +1 |
| Adventurer is an experienced dinosaur hunter and is armed | +1 |
| Dinosaur is herbivorous, grazing, running away, or doing something else that is obviously not a threat. | +1 |
| Adventurer is an experienced dinosaur hunter with heavy weapons, artillery, a bazooka, etc. | +2 |
| Dinosaur is obviously domesticated (eg Indian-owned iguanodon) | +3 |
If there are several dinosaurs, make the roll for each person versus the nearest dinosaur. If this roll succeeds, the adventurer can move in to attack, creep away, or do whatever else he thinks fit. If the roll is failed, the adventurer can't summon up the courage to attack, but can take any other action.
On a 12, the adventurer faints, runs away in sheer terror, or is
paralysed with fear, at the whim of the referee. This continues until
someone else takes action; by reviving the character, tackling and
stopping him, or slapping him until the paralysis wears off.
Afterwards the roll can be made again, but there will be a -2 penalty
due to a phobic fear of dinosaurs - which at the referee's discretion
is permanent!
3.3 The Guns Of Maple White Land
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'...We had our four rifles and one thousand three hundred rounds, also a shot-gun, but not more than a hundred and fifty medium pellet cartridges.' [LW]
Any attempt to describe the selection of firearms taken on the Challenger expedition runs into problems. Malone's account is inconsistent when it discusses the details of rifle type and calibre, magazines, and so forth, and at several points it is apparent that he has confused the weapons carried by the explorers on different occasions.
Lord John Roxton published two articles which clear up most of these points: "Hunting The Great Lizards" (Field And Stream March 1911), and "With Rod And Gun Through Maple White Land" (privately printed monograph 1924). Excerpts from the latter were reprinted in Guns And Ammo magazine August 1974, as part of an article entitled "Giant Loads For Giant Critters", which is probably the most readily available version of the text. Although the focus is almost entirely on hunting techniques, these articles make it clear that Roxton carried a Continental .470 rifle, the others used 8mm Mannlicher-Schonaur rifles
About 400 rounds of .470 ammunition, 900 rounds of 8mm ammunition, and 300 shotgun cartridges were taken to the plateau. No hand-guns were carried.
All the explorers were initially equipped with double-barrelled 12-bore shotguns, but only one (Roxton's) reached the plateau. More armaments (the other shotguns, another magazine rifle, Roxton's heavier rifles, and some more ammunition) were left below with the luggage of the expedition; Roxton felt that they would add too much weight to the stores carried by the group. His article points out the magnitude of this error, and recommends the .577 Nitro-Express cartridge (or the even larger .600 cartridge) for all dinosaur hunting, despite the weight penalties associated with such powerful weapons.
Malone's account of his night expedition [LW:12] suggests that he somehow mistook a shotgun for his rifle. This point has never been explained satisfactorily, but it seems probable that he thought that he was carrying Roxton's double-barrelled rifle.
Summerlee's rifle was destroyed during the battle against the ape-men [LW:14], and thereafter weapons were shared between the explorers as needed. Usually those who stayed in camp carried the lighter weapons. Challenger was carrying Roxton's .470 rifle, while Roxton had Challenger's magazine rifle, when the Indian village was attacked by megalosaurs [LW:15].
All prices quoted below are for 1908-1910.
Bland's .577 Axite Express
'This is a Bland's .577 axite express,' said he. 'I got that big
fellow with it.' He glanced up at the white rhinoceros. 'Ten more
yards, and he'd have added me to his collection...' [LW]
A double-barrelled elephant rifle weighing about 15lb, loading 3" smokeless soft-nosed Nitro-Express cartridges. Bullets weigh 900 grains (one grain = 1/7000 lb); with powder and a brass casing, each cartridge weighs roughly 4 oz. Because the huge bullet is rapidly slowed by air resistance, these rifles are very inaccurate at long range.
Notes: An expensive gun from one of the most exclusive London gunsmiths, built (literally) to stop a charging elephant at point-blank range. While Roxton mentions this gun before the expedition begins, there is no evidence that it is actually used, and the considerable weight of the ammunition would argue against it. In at least one instance (the dinosaur attack on the explorers' camp) it seems unlikely that such a powerful rifle was available. It is possible that one or more was left behind with the expedition's baggage. Cost for a basic rifle of this type would be at least £50; Lord John probably spent in excess of £150 for the best workmanship available.
Continental .470
'Now, here's a useful tool -- .470, telescopic sight, double ejector,
point-blank up to three-fifty...' [LW]
A double-barrelled elephant rifle weighing about 12lb (13lb with telescopic sight), loading 3.25" smokeless soft-nosed Nitro-Express cartridges. Bullets weigh about 500 grains; the powder and case take each cartridge to about 2.3 oz. Ignoring packaging, 400 rounds would weigh about 57 lb. Lord John's gun bears notches for the men he killed fighting slavery in Peru. These rifles are also inaccurate at long range; Lord John's claim of accuracy to 350 ft is a result of the use of custom loads and great skill.
Notes: Several similar rifles were available; all had much the same performance. Stopping power is about two-thirds that of the Axite Express. Rifles in this calibre cost £30-40, Lord John's customization raises the price to at least £100.
OPTIONAL RULE: The two big game rifles above have very powerful recoils. The marksman must prepare to fire (eg by resting the rifle on a rock, or assuming an appropriate stance) for one round before firing, or roll BODY * 2 against the rifle's Effect to avoid a mishap; mishaps might include dropping the rifle, accidentally pulling the second trigger, severe bruising, or the gun striking the marksman in the face (Effect as rifle/2, Wound B/F) as it recoils.
8mm x 56 Mannlicher-Schoenauer Rifle
'Now, here's something that would do for you.' He took out a beautiful
brown-and-silver rifle. 'Well rubbered at the stock, sharply sighted,
five cartridges to the clip. You can trust your life to that.' [LW]
A typical medium-calibre repeating rifle of the period, and one of the most powerful. The sporting version of a bolt-action military rifle, it has much of the wood and metal removed to minimise weight, which is about five to eight pounds according to the exact configuration. This weight reduction increases recoil, hence the need for a rubbered stock, but makes it much easier to carry for extended periods. A major disadvantage is decreased strength; the rifle is easily damaged if abused (as when Summerlee's rifle was destroyed by ape-men). The bullets weigh about 200 grains; with casing etc., each cartridge weighs about an ounce, 900 rounds weigh about 56lb 4oz. The magazine is fixed, and cartridges are loaded singly, not in a clip.
Notes: While Roxton carried a larger calibre rifle for dinosaur, small rifles were needed to shoot for the pot and for greater range; elephant guns are inaccurate at long range. This rifle is not explicitly described, except in the above quote, but seems a likely choice for an experienced hunter like Roxton, and one readily used by an amateur like Malone, or a comparatively frail man like Summerlee. A rifle of this general size and power is suitable for most thin-skinned game. Unlike most other magazine rifles of the period, it isn't based on a Mauser mechanism. Cost is £5-10 depending on finish and accuracy, Lord John purchased high-quality customised models at the top end of the range.
McNaughton (Edinburgh) 12-Bore Shotgun
'...it was only by keeping our shot-guns for ever ready that we could
feel safe from them.' [LW]
Notes: An expensive double-barrelled shotgun of the period, from the best Scottish manufacturer. Four were initially carried, but only Roxton's was taken to the plateau. They fire paper-cased cartridges weighing 2 oz; 150 rounds weigh roughly 18lb 12oz. McNaughton's guns cost £10-15 depending on finish; naturally Roxton owned the finest. Much cheaper models were available in this calibre, with prices as low as 30s.
| Large shotgun, 2 shots, Effect 7, | A:F, B:I, C/K One barrel |
| Large shotgun, No multiple, Effect 14*, | A:I, B:C, C:K Both barrels |
Author's note: Special thanks to Hugh Mascetti for some extremely
patient help with the details of this section. Any errors remaining
are entirely my own fault.
3.4 Adventures In Maple White Land
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This collection includes several long adventures set in the world of the Challenger stories. The following are some brief ideas for adventures with this setting, which will need a considerable amount of development.
1918. The second Challenger expedition is somewhere in Brazil, on its way to secure a cache of diamonds that will do immense harm to Germany. The adventurers play German agents, loyal to their fatherland and the Kaiser, who must set out for Brazil by Zeppelin and somehow thwart this dastardly scheme and make the world safe for military efficiency, the Fatherland, and mom's sauerkraut pie.
Note: If Challenger is killed this destroys much of the "history" described above; it may be preferable to say that a group of British agents, one of them posing as Challenger, are after the stones. A wargaming version of this scenario for Irregular Miniatures' "Tusk" (see section 3.2.1 above) is included with the adventures.
As above, but the adventurers are crack British agents posing as Germans; their mission is to sabotage the German interception without blowing their cover. Ideally the Zeppelin should be destroyed or disabled "accidentally".
Amalgamate the plots above, and add another motive; the adventurers are a mixture of loyal Germans, British agents, and traitors (on both sides) who have decided that they are more interested in the diamonds than the war. This can be a tense game of cross and double-cross, but something on the lines of the film "Kelly's Heroes" may be more fun.
'...the great nocturnal white thing -- to this day we do not know whether it was beast or reptile -- which lived in a vile swamp to the east of the lake, and flitted about with a faint phosphorescent glimmer in the darkness.' [LW]
As well as dinosaurs, Maple White Land has several animal species which are wholly unknown to sci
