The Man stood before them, exhaust pipes whistling and innards chugging. He appeared lifeless until Pac suggested that the Man start the engine. Slowly the he began to move; the Man moved with a sense of purpose, though devoid of life.
Otto quickly put the Man to work. They set up the balloon, fired the engines, and were airborne in a half-hours time. Taking a liking to the Man, Otto decided to name the machine. Thus Brayton, the mechanical stoker, officially became a part of the crew.
The crew of the airship went to sleep in hopes of resting up for the long 20 hour flight back to Industria. If all went according to plan they would be able to fly in under the cover of night and return everything to the workshop before the Inventor returned from vacation.
After waking to a beautiful sunrise the crew adjusted their course and took up their positions for the long haul. Roger left the ship to scout the winds ahead and to see if he could find some food. Pac was assigned to watch over the ship, Otto navigated, and Braden stoked.
Little more than an hour passed and a speck appeared on the horizon. They crew was excited to see what Roger had scouted, but instead of the bird returning they were greeted by cannon fire. 7 shots were fired on the ship causing Otto to take evasive action. Quickly they crew realized that they were being chased by a group of Raccoon bandits.
The bandits had a larger ship, and momentum on their side. They quickly closed the gap between the two airships. Once the Raccoons were close enough they forcefully boarded the crews airship. Outnumbered Otto was forced to surrender after briefly resisting the bandits with the help of Brayton.
As Otto and the Man drew the attention of the bandits, Pac was able to sneak onto the Raccoons ship. He scampered up the support ropes and made his way to the top of the bandits air balloon. There he attempted to sabotage their ship. Though his actions were valiant, the mouse was not able to cause enough damage to the ship to give the Raccoon pause.
The Raccoons forced Otto to surrender the Man after they searched his ship and found nothing else of value to take. The Man was knocked over, shut off, and slung onto the bandit ship. The bandits left quickly afterward without much fanfare, catching Pac of guard and trapping him atop the bandits airship.Roger returned on the heels of the bandits departure. He and Otto immediately set off to tail the bandits ship with the hope of finding some way of rescuing Brayton. Without the Man it would be certain doom for them to return to the Inventor.
A few miles from the raid, the Raccoons set their airship down on their island base. Pac revealed himself to the Raccoons and successfully tricked the bandits into thinking that the Man only listened to his commands. However, Pac's luck ran out fast. The Raccoons forced the mouse into a small empty keg and corked the top, but just before the corked sealed Pac in he was able to issue one last command to Brayton.
I haven't finished reading the post yet, but his name is Brayton, Brayton!
ReplyDeletehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brayton_cycle
I fixed it, sorry. I looked it up, and there was another dude who wrote Thermodynamics books named Braden, so I figured it was the same guy.
ReplyDeleteGreat sessoin this week. I'm really pumped for the next! What are your plans to get Brayton back on the ship? I'm wondering if getting them air born again and then have Brayton disable their ship might give you an advantage to negotiate with them to save their lives. They get stranded or stuck, maybe need some coal, you have some coal you can make a trade? Just a thought what do you think?
ReplyDeleteFirst off, the use of the word 'critters' was awesome (see item 2 above).
ReplyDeleteOkay to address some of the stuff you brought up above:
1. The size of the world - big, it would take roughly 16 days, flying round the clock. Mind you nobody has done it, so its hard to gauge, but if anyone was qualified to make a guess it would be you. (I used this source for reference in regards to circumnavigation via flight: http://www.didyouknow.org/aroundtheworld/flight.htm)
2. The rules & addressing the skeptics - There really are no rules (again I used the above source). Going around the whole globe has never been done before. Just doing it is incredible, so no one much cares if you land to take a crap or get some food. The biggest hang-up on every previous attempt has been fuel. Coal doesn't just mine itself. Once you start you can't get more, or at least you can't count on getting more.
The first circumnavigation flight by airplane (on earth) needed to land 61 times to make it around the globe. It wasn't until 25 years after that that someone tried to do it without stopping. This is all to say: there aren't rules, until its been done you can't put restrictions on it.
In regards to skeptics: short of taking people on the journey no one can be sure that you really did it. The validity of your claims can only be backed up by a lapse in time, and by a moving description of the journey upon your return.
3. Attempting circumnavigation - I won't comment directly. I can only provide facts, as I did above. Only through gameplay can we explore what can and cannot be done.
-- Keep the conversation going guys... good stuff so far. You are giving me good ideas play with.
I guess I have a new question regarding circumnavigation. Are we assuming that we only know of Industria, and there are no other inhabited continents or islands around (such as Pac's island)? If there are other habitable lands on the world, does Industria know of them? I suppose I'm asking if this circumnavigation is like Christopher Columbus' voyage, where he didn't know what was on the other side of the world, or is it more like a Charles Lindbergh / Amelia Earhart flight?
ReplyDeleteIn my mind I always thought of Industria as the singular city in all of the world where animals came together, and lived in an urban environment.
ReplyDeleteThere are hundreds of cities throughout the world, but most would be very homogeneous & rural. Most people see no need to map or keep track of these rural outcroppings; even those who live in those rural communities. Industria is 'The Melting Pot' of the world. The city represents progress and forward thinking.
Industria is like the great city of Oz. It is Mecca. Those who make their pilgrimage or live in Industria are there to worship their gods (the machines) and honor their religion (innovation).
**Re-read the Introduction 00 - Industria post in light of what I just wrote**
Circumnavigation would be more like Lindbergh/ Earhart.
Could prof that we circumnavigated be something as simple as picking up some sort of souvenir from another culter that doesn't exist in Industria? If Industira is a "melting pot" of cultures that are homogeneous would there be some area of the culture, say Pigs, that would know of something that the pigs keep dear to them where pigs come from? We pick that up from them when we get back to Industria the "Pig" culture would say something along the lines for "You could have only gotten that fromt he pigs....on the other side of the world." I don't know does that make sense?
ReplyDeleteI suppose we could provide some proof. Adam and I discussed the idea of circumnavigation a little more when going to the concert last night. We came to an agreement that we could travel around the world, but it wouldn't be as exciting as the adventure we're having now. Yes, it would be a challenge, but we would want to get moving. Even if we made it a race between competing teams, it would be nothing more than "combat" to get to the finish.
ReplyDeleteIf you're still up for it, let us know, but we started thinking of shelving this adventure once it was done.
To add to Bauer's comment:
ReplyDeleteThe goal right now is to get out of trouble with the Inventor. Circumnavigation was proposed because Bauer thought that the Inventor might not be as mad if he had done something impressive.
I explained above how impractical it was to go around the globe in your current state.
**Turn your attention to the actual rescue/escape, this must be dealt with before anything else anyways**
Happy scheming...
We really can't fight these raccoons. They have superior weapons and numbers. We have to screw them in some way that they are at our mercy. Bill! RAMMING SPEED! They are landed....no that would really tick them off..
ReplyDeleteI'm trying to remember where we left off exactly. I think you were in a jug of ale (Robin Hood?), and I just landed on shore with Roger. I agree, I think we're outnumbered and outgunned. (Come to think of it, wouldn't I have carried a gun if I knew there were going to be raiders in the sky?)
ReplyDeleteIn order to get Brayton back, I need to find him first. I think I can ask Roger to scout around and see where he might be on the island (I'm guessing where most of the activity is). Once we know his general location, I'm going to have to find a way in without...
I just realized this is harder than originally thought. Assuming I reclaim Brayton, the bandits will probably know that he's missing within minutes. There is no way we're going to be able to escape undetected (too much noise from his pipes), and there is no way we can get away in a quick fashion (Brayton will be too slow to walk to the ship, I can't carry him, and if we did get him to the ship it would take some time before we get airborne). Plan B?
Clarification to the above comment:
ReplyDelete-Otto and Roger are still on the ship, which is being brought down out of the sky, you are not in the water yet, the engine is still running, you are a decent distance from the shore (so as not to be heard as you set the ship down). Roger had suggested 'floating' the ship in with the engine cut silently.
-Otto would not have brought a gun for a midnight flight so close to Industria. No bandit would dare get that close to the city.
-Keep in mind you have no lighter on the ship. The gas lamp must be light before killing the engine or you will lose your flame. Never let the ship go without a flame somewhere on board or you will never take off again.
**You two have some serious planning to do, this escape is not easy. Perhaps it requires a phone call, and then you post a summary of the plan on the blog. I think it is vital to have a rough outline of the plan WRITTEN DOWN before the session, there are two many elements to remember off the top of your head once things start to get tense**
Do we have extra rope on your ship? Could you drop a line durring the night and lift Brayton off the pirate's ship? You'll be running silent and if they have to keep their, much larger, balloon inflated you got some cover.
ReplyDeleteThat is a good idea, but I'm sure that Brayton is too heavy to lift up, unless we get him to climb the rope...hmmm...I like this idea.
ReplyDeleteHelping to round out your plan:
ReplyDeleteJanz is suggesting you fly the airship over the camp and lower a rope to Brayton, then command him to hold on. Then you would fire the engines and escape.
In this scenario consider this - by floating in silently you must cut your engine entirely. Once the engine is off you have no way to steer. To do what you propose you would have to do a fly-by. You would need to line yourself up on a trajectory with Brayton and he will have to grab the rope as you pass over him.
Think this plan all the way through, then weight its merits versus other plans, perhaps a hybrid between several schemes will prove best.
I know we're coordinating a plan outside of the session - but should we be doing this? Its not like I can telepathically talk to Pac about what I'd like to do.
ReplyDeleteWe're really not setting anything in stone right now; we're just throwing ideas to think about out there. Once you find the raccoon's ship, you always have Roger who could possibly relay a message in some way.
ReplyDeleteAh, very true. I like the coasting idea so far. If anything, I should be a rockstar with maneuvering the ship, so with a decent roll and a fate point, we should be able to make it work!
ReplyDeleteAlso, perhaps Roger could peck holes into the balloons of any intercepting ships that might fire up and try to chase us down, that could help!
If he could that would be pretty damn sweet! But you would think that if it was comon for the scouts to do that then the raccoons would have a good defense again birds...no? Good thought though, it would be worth a try. I think we also need to take in account if the raccoons keep their balloon inflated when they land or do they take it down. A bigger ship has a bigger balloon its harder to inflate, it might stay up. This could make an air lift difficult, but would give you better cover.
ReplyDeleteMy problem is they keep throwing me in jugs, i need to find a way to stop them from doing that!
Are their wild animals in the world still or is everything basically sentient? If there are normal animals still, maybe Roger could be pawned off as one of them and would be more effective as a spy.
To answer Janz's final question:
ReplyDeleteThere are animals everywhere, and yes they are all sentient. All animals talk, all animals think, dream, and scheme.
That said, the Raccoons have never seen Roger. They would have no reason to think he is a spy. Roger is very important to this rescue, he will be your 'eye in the sky' so to speak.
Another thing:
You guys keep wondering about the Raccoons balloon situation. The balloon is NOT kept inflated at all times. Pac lead the Raccoons back to the ship at the end of the last session. The balloon was down. The airship is resting in a cradle constructed of logs (similar to how you would store a fishing boat out of the water) in the midst of a dense forest.
I think I mentioned all that as we followed Pac down with the bandits last session, but I figure I would re-say it (so many things happen, I don't expect you guys to remember everything)
Hopefully this clears up the Raccoon airship, and makes for less confusion as you continue your scheme.
We went over 20 comments this week... well done guys.