[Taocow PBEM] [Alex and Vesper] Book 3 - Chapter XVIII

Tue Oct 11 16:45:53 UTC 2016

OOC: Weird. Mailing lists can be a real pain.

On Fri, Oct 7, 2016 at 11:43 PM, Jeremy Richard <thorley23 at sbcglobal.net> wrote:
> OOC-> I hope I'm not missing messages again, I just got a whole bunch of
> them at once.
> IC-> Lady Veronique says "I'll head down there to give them a hand, it's
> possible they are dealing with entities of some sort and I have a blade
> specifically enchanted to handle astral menaces like that"
>  She will head down to catch up with Vesper.
>
>
> ________________________________
> From: Karl Prosek <karl.prosek at gmail.com>
> To: taocow-rifts-pbem at googlegroups.com
> Sent: Thursday, October 6, 2016 6:10 AM
> Subject: Re: [Taocow PBEM] [Alex and Vesper] Book 3 - Chapter XVIII
>
> [Oz]
> "Concur. We just got a flash of what looked like flame no more than 10
> feet from you to your (whichever direction it was). You're the wizard,
> but my guess is demon or fire elemental. It's not showing up on
> sensors. Watch your backs."
>
> He looks at Ted and Lady Veronique. "Ted, Lady, do you want to go down
> there? Vesper wants people experienced with melee; I am more a shooter
> than a fencer."
> [/Oz]
>
> On Wed, Oct 5, 2016 at 4:54 PM, 'Peter Perkins' via Taocow Rifts PBEM
> <taocow-rifts-pbem at googlegroups.com> wrote:
>>
>> [Vesper]
>> "Something else is down here, since I can't use that hull sealant I will
>> remain on guard while you seal the hull." He says to Alex and Ted.
>> On the radio, "Oz, something is down here with us an elemental possibly or
>> a demon of some kind. Haven't seen it but smell fire and sulfur. We are
>> going to work on the patching but might need some extra eyes and people good
>> with melee weapons since guns and rifles are a bad idea."
>> [/Vesper]
>>
>>
>> ________________________________
>> From: Aaron Clausen <mightymartianca at gmail.com>
>> To: Taocow Rifts PBEM <taocow-rifts-pbem at googlegroups.com>
>> Sent: Wednesday, October 5, 2016 2:24 PM
>> Subject: [Taocow PBEM] [Alex and Vesper] Book 3 - Chapter XVIII
>>
>> [GM]
>> Getting below decks is a bit tricky as the ship is listing quite
>> heavily. Elevators are not in service, and it is a big enough ship that
>> getting to the machine shop is a bit of a hike, or more like climbing a
>> steel hill.
>>
>> The shop itself is well provisioned; portable welders and other tools.
>> There's also a map of the ship showing where spare hull plating is kept.
>> This is clearly a ship that was meant for long voyages where a ship
>> might have to fend for itself for long periods of time.
>>
>> As they work their way to the machine shop, and indeed scour the shop
>> itself for the necessary tools, it becomes increasingly clear that this
>> ship was vacated in a hurry. No life jackets or life boats were taken,
>> and in the machine shop there are the remnants of someone's breakfast;
>> coffee, toast and fruit, lying on the floor where it landed when the
>> ship began to list. There is no sign of any bodies, however, and no sign
>> of any kind of struggle or firefight. It just seems the crew disappeared.
>>
>> Closer to the hold now, the creaking and groaning of metal can be heard
>> much more clearly. The ice is slowly but surely working to crush the
>> ship, and most certainly when the breach in the hull gets big enough,
>> the ship will go down.
>>
>> Vesper finds a number of "hover trolleys", small hover vehicles narrow
>> enough to move through small corridors, and meant to hold welders,
>> torches, and other tools, and even come with several E-clips for an
>> independent energy supply. There is also several canisters of something
>> labeled "Hull Sealer" with warnings "Highly toxic, use respirator or
>> environmental suit. Do not bring into contact with skin. Expanding
>> megadamage foam, caution filling enclosed spaces."
>>
>> The two companions are just loading up the trolley when they smell the
>> faintest whiff of sulfur, and a very faint crackling sound, as if
>> something is on fire. But it disappears quickly, and a quick search
>> around the machine shop shows nothing burning, and no smell of sulfur.
>>
>> Moving on to the damaged part of the hull means going through the hull.
>> Most of the freight is in shipping containers, which remain upright even
>> with the ship's list. However, there is less well packed cargo, and
>> dozens of overturned crates block their way. It takes some doing to get
>> around those crates, and tests the ability of the hover trolleys to go
>> at inclines.
>>
>> As they approach the crack in the hull, they find a thin skim of water
>> on the deck. It is no more than an inch deep, but as they get closer, it
>> gets to be about four inches deep.
>>
>> Finally they reach the area where the worst break in the hull has
>> occurred. Water is bubbling up through the deck plating in a steady
>> stream, and in one spot that deck has been bent up. Fixing this is going
>> to mean cutting that piece of decking out, likely using the Hull Sealer
>> foam in the canisters, and then welding a new piece of hull plating.
>> Alex suspects the sealer foam's real purpose isn't so much to plug the
>> leak but to restore some structural integrity.
>>
>> According to the map they saw in the machine shop, there is replacement
>> plates of steel for the hull about fifty feet to their left, beyond
>> several stacks of shipping containers. The plates are quite large, about
>> ten feet by ten feet square, and very heavy, requiring the use of the
>> hover trolley to move.
>>
>> While they're loading the steel on to the trolley, they notice that one
>> of the shipping containers appears to have been cut open. A closer
>> examination reveals something much odder, almost as if the container was
>> cut open by something very hot *from the inside*. Once again there's a
>> faint smell of sulfur, and a strange crackling, and then nothing.
>>
>> [/GM]
>>
>>
>> --
>> Aaron Clausen
>> mightymartianca at gmail.com
>>
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>>
>>
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-- 
Aaron Clausen
mightymartianca at gmail.com

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