The regular crowd shows up, though we start off just a touch late due to Resident Evil. Paul (Kumar Singh) suggests that if moviemakers are going to have a hokey pseudo-science explanation for zombieism, is it really too much to ask that they stick to it through the whole movie? Chris (Michael Sangaree) is inclined to agree, noting at the same time that the characters should have been much more scared by the evilly murderous computer than they were by the rather inoffensive zombies. Bruce (Arthur Michael Vincent Pulfrey-Downs) remains silent on the subject, while Chuck simply jumps up on the table and screeches out, "I'm in charge! I'm in charge! I'm in charge!" until the rest of us get out the hose and calm him down.
By the morning of February 12th everyone is healed up and eager to head out to darkest Africa. Provisioning goes as well as could be expected, considering that both Kumar Singh and Arthur Michael Vincent Pulfrey-Downs think of themselves as survival experts and already have complete lists of the necessary gear. Their equipment takes a total of three crates, carefully packed to be broken down into loads small enough for native bearers to carry.
As an adjunct to the more mundane equipment the group brings, Arthur Michael Vincent Pulfrey-Downs recommends bringing gold bullion. Lots and lots of gold bullion. He defends his opinion by rather flatly stating, "I don't know what kind of barbarous nonsense they're using for coinage over there now." Kumar Singh rather slyly suggests, "It's a French colony, they use French francs." Pulfrey-Downs nods and smiles, "Exactly!" Kumar Singh sighs and sneaks off to change half of the gold bullion into francs.
While Kumar shops and packs, Pulfrey-Downs heads to the lab and spends the day making up three doses of Fast-Healing Elixir.
The final piece of essential equipment is explosives. Both Pulfrey-Downs and Michael Sangaree have very strong opinions that any expedition is improved by the addition of a few sticks of dynamite. Pulfrey-Downs is quite emphatic on the topic: "I can't see why some fellows just can't understand the usefulness of dynamite. Like that fellow Hinchcliffe, the one who got trapped in the mine cart." Kumar Singh looks to the ceiling and offers, "With the dynamite, you mean?" Pulfrey-Downs exclaims, "Yes, exactly!" Kumar Singh offers, "I think he objected mostly to the fact that you wouldn't let him get out." Exasperated, Pulfrey-Downs explains, "But there wasn't any time, you understand?"
The conversation finished, Pulfrey-Downs sends Kumar Singh out to purchase a box of twenty sticks of dynamite. Though the characters don't know it, all the players are entertained by the irony that in only 70 years, sending a Middle Eastern male around New York to buy dynamite will be very suspicious...
Michael Sangaree slips away to lay in a private stock of whiskey, coffee, beans and ammunition. He hides them in his plane.
Michael Sangaree plots out a course that takes the characters down the Eastern seaboard and to Brazil, then across the Atlantic Ocean to French Equatorial Africa. Along the way, he calms Arthur Michael Vincent Pulfrey-Downs' concerns about his navigational prowess with clever nuggets like, "Ya see, perfesser, the trick to going across bodies of open water is when ya think yer lost, just keep goin' in the same direction." Pulfrey-Downs ruminates upon this and suggests, "So that's why you keep going in circles?" Sangaree admits, "Uhh, no, that's cause I keep noddin' off."
Near the African coast, Michael Sangaree sees two aircraft approaching his plane quite rapidly. He thinks they look like surplus Spads from the last war. Deciding to assume that they're friendly, but hedge a bit against the other possibility, he gains altitude to allow him to do some dive-assisted maneuvers. He notes that the Spads are also gaining altitude, and are flying quite aggressively. Kumar Singh and Pulfrey-Downs man the door guns. Kumar Singh is briefly confused, asking "What door guns?" Pulfrey-Downs reminds him, "You remember, I just put them in. In fact, I had you holding them in place for three hours while I got the sights in. I recall you swearing up a storm in some obscure language I couldn't understand." Kumar, remembering the exchange, suggests, "English?" Pulfrey-Downs, clearing one of the Lewis guns, agrees, "Yes, that must be it."
At this point all doubt about the newcomers' intentions vanishes as the Spads open fire. Sangaree effortlessly dodges the bullets. He maneuvers, giving both Kumar and Pulfrey-Downs clear shots. The Lewis guns rake across the Spads. One Spad is visibly damaged and breaks off after the initial exchange. The second takes some fire, then evades Sangaree.
The second Spad makes a second attack pass, but his guns jam. Michael Sangaree watches as the plane flies into the clouds, cursing in an African tribal language. Michael Sangaree tries to follow him, but the African pilot manages to lose him clean.
Confident in their victory, the other characters realize that something might be awry when Sangaree tells them, "If either of you see desert, that's a bad sign." Everyone else looks down and starts thinking, "Shouldn't we be over land by now?" Sangaree taps the compass and checks to see if he spilled whiskey on it. He is terribly upset to see it spin wildly for a moment, then reorient on a different direction.
Pulfrey-Downs manages to relocate everyone in time by calculating the plane's position with a stopwatch and a sextant. Kumar Singh is convinced that Pulfrey-Downs is going to navigate everyone to their deaths, but Pulfrey-Downs feels inspired. He is also vindicated when the coast comes into view. Sangaree manages to put the plane down on a dirt airstrip just outside of Batangaville, the tanks run down to fumes.
Batangaville is a dirt-wracked coastal town, located near an old wrecked French fort. No sooner has the plane stopped moving than it is surrounded by a cloud of screaming children in loincloths. Kumar Singh figures they are speaking a Congolese dialect. Pulfrey-Downs instructs him to hire some bearers, learn where the Batanga live, and where the explorers have been taken. Kumar Singh decides to deal with a more important problem first. He asks the children, "Can any of you tell us where we are? Are there any French authorities around here?" He ends up hiring a youngster named Mobutu to take them to the French administrator. Michael Sangaree tells his mechanic Bubba and his wolfhound Fenris stay behind and protect the plane.
The characters are taken to Lieutenant Eniki, a local native in charge of the police force. Sangaree complains that they were attacked by planes. The lieutenant denies any knowledge of aeronautical bandits. Sangaree asks about fuel, to which the lieutenant suggests that he talk to the colonial governor. Sangaree continues on, suggesting that the English doctor could be very generous with the gold bullion if Lieutenant Eniki could provide some fuel.
Pulfrey-Downs sees Michael Sangaree's problems and urges Kumar Singh to deal with the situation. Kumar Singh talks to the man and develops a "bad feeling." He looks around the office and sees only two clerks, working indifferently in the midday heat. The lieutenant gets Pulfrey-Downs to agree to meet at 19:00 at the only bar in town. Pulfrey-Downs agrees enthusiastically, though later Kumar Singh suggests that the lieutenant's men are going to try and kill them all. Pulfrey-Downs is baffled by Kumar's suspicions.
Having already made their arrangements with the police lieutenant, the characters head to the governor's mansion. The meet the governor halfway, as he's already out looking for them in his dilapidated touring car. The governor claims he is quite glad to have found the characters, as they are in grave danger from the natives. He assures them that the locals have killed all Europeans recently, with spears and guns (not leopard skins and claws, as Sangaree suggests). He urges them to stay in town, or better yet to go back home.
Pulfrey-Downs rants for a while about how he's a famous explorer who's gone to the depths of the Hu River valley. This has no particular impact. Kumar Singh feels the governor out and concludes that the man is probably looking for a bribe. Michael Sangaree asks if he could move his plane into the governor's compound. The governor claims that he has some trusty natives he can have guard it.
The governor finally agrees to take the character to his compound to get some fuel. Along the drive, Michael Sangaree regales him with old war stories, primarily about how he "shot down" a number of damaged aircraft on the ground. The characters find that the fuel the governor has is rather low-grade, enough to prompt Pulfrey-Downs to speculate on the creation of a super-science fuel filter. Sangaree thinks instead on trying to find a source for higher-quality fuel before heading back to the States.
The plane is taxied up to the governor's compound. There is a meal, quite a good one even though it is rather heavily adulterated with native elements. Pulfrey-Downs entertains the governor and his guests with one of his riveting stories of exploration and adventure. He tells about how he taxidermied the first known specimen of the rabid django-django: "The first I knew it was about was when I heard my man Rickers scream out like this: YAHAHAHHAHAAHAHAHAH!" Kumar Singh groans and sinks lower in his seat.
Sangaree insists on sleeping in his plane with Bubba, and sneaks out a bottle of liquor for later. Pulfrey-Downs and Kumar Singh stay in one of the guest bungalows. All the characters prepare for the night: Sangaree makes sure the Lewis guns are loaded, while Pulfrey-Downs makes sure that "Gobey" has set up the mosquito netting properly.
Fenris wakes Michael Sangaree up growling. It isn't a "need to go outside" growl. Sangaree grabs his guns, chirping out, "Oh good!" He sees a cluster of nine men sneaking into the compound. He can't get a good line on them from either of the Lewis guns, so he sneaks out to strafe them with his Thompson gun, wounding several of them. Four of them rush towards the plane, while the remaining five head into the compound. Bubba downs one of the four while Sangaree reloads.
Michael Sangaree sprays another burst of bullets over the natives' heads and they scatter like scared cats. Bubba downs another one as they run. Sangaree manages to shoot one more. The last one throws a spear, which impacts upon his silksteel with a solid but harmless thud. The last native runs. Michael Sangaree runs after him, screaming like a Cherokee. The man manages to escape in the warrens of the city, but Sangaree tracks him to the police station. He sneaks nearer to listen to any conversation inside. He is disappointed to hear that while someone is obviously really upset, they're shouting in the local lingo.
Kumar Singh wakes Pulfrey-Downs: "Sir, there's automatic weapons fire. You should get up." Pulfrey-Downs is unconvinced: "Are you certain, Gobey? Well, there's only one thing for that, then." Pulfrey-Downs picks up his Garand and heads out in his nightshirt ("It's my bush nightshirt, so it's khaki."). He arrives upon the bungalow stoop to see several blackguards rushing him. He drops to one knee, aims carefully, and guns two down in as many seconds. Kumar steps out behind him and exclaims in horror, "My god! There's nothing left of the second one except his feet!"
Kumar runs out into the darkness to minimize the bloodshed, but only manages to watch as Pulfrey-Downs guns down two more natives like pigeons. Kumar decides that the situation is getting out of hand and cuts the last one down with his kukri. He licks the blood clean from the blade. Pulfrey-Downs, still wearing his nightshirt, exclaims, "Good gracious, man! Do you have to be quite so savage? Can't you use a more humane, scientific approach, such as I've adopted?" Kumar just stares at Pulfrey-Downs as the Englishman prissily brushes the powder marks from his nightshirt..
Of the five bodies in the courtyard, three are in native attire, but two are dressed as police constables. Pulfrey-Downs is shocked, "I can't believe it! Can you imagine that that nice police lieutenant might have something to do with this?" Sangaree arrives on the scene and rather bluntly confirms this theory. Pulfrey-Downs reloads his rifle as Sangaree clicks his fourth clip of ammo home.
The characters pause to discuss their strategy. Pulfrey-Downs asks, "Do I have time to get dressed?" Sangaree: "Absolutely. You need this silk-steel stuff. It stopped a spear! I felt sporting, so I stepped in front of it. Otherwise it would have hit the plane." Pulfrey-Downs exclaims, "Good show!" Pulfrey-Downs and Kumar Singh go to get dressed while Sangaree inspects the poorly-maintained Webleys the constables were carrying. He is unimpressed with their condition, but takes them anyway.
Kumar Singh hears a large truck pull up outside the compound. He tells Pulfrey-Downs, "I hear a large truck pulling up outside the compound. Do you think it's full of people here to kill us?" Pulfrey-Downs is reflective about it: "Only one way to find out! Why don't you go see what it is." Kumar Singh casts about for some way to manage this that won't get him killed. He climbs to the top of the compound walls and moves around until he can see the truck and a group of a dozen men getting out of the back. He reports his news to Pulfrey-Downs, and suggests that they abscond to the plane. Pulfrey-Downs agrees: "Very good then. Get my trunk."
While Kumar and Pulfrey-Downs bustle about gathering up baggage, Michael Sangaree goes to find the governor. He is disappointed: there is no sign of the fellow anywhere in the compound. His room is unoccupied, and undisturbed by violence. Looking out of a window, Sangaree notices that the truck has moved up next to the plane, and many armed men are disembarking from it. A gunshot rings out as Bubba becomes alerted to the danger.
Furious that someone might have designs upon his precious airplane, Michael Sangaree raises his Thompson and opens fire on them. They shout and run under the hail of automatic gunfire. Sangaree reloads, yells towards the plane, "Lewis gun, Bubba!" and heads towards the stairs at a breakneck speed.
Pulfrey-Downs and Kumar Singh run towards the gate. Sangaree follows them. He sees that they are starting to stagger a bit and yells out, "It's gas! It's a gas attack!" He heads towards the wall instead, looking for a good way to scale it (it takes him but one Athletics roll).
Michael Sangaree is quite right: both Pulfrey-Downs and Kumar have become drunk from gas. They stagger up to the gate to see a crowd of locals, some of them still scattering to avoid gunfire from the governor's house. Some of the natives are using tanks with hoses to dispense gas. Two more have Bubba by his shirt-tails. Shots ring out as the natives spot the two characters. One bullet hits Pulfrey-Downs, but his silk-steel shirt protects him. Pulfrey-Downs drunkenly decides to even up the situation and takes aim at one of the tanks of gas, as Kumar simply rushes into the fray.
Someone from among the natives yells in French, "Surrender, or we'll kill the mechanic!" Pulfrey-Downs, in a rare gesture of humanity, stands up and drops his rifle, very politely indicating that he will surrender to a gentleman. Kumar decides that it would look bad if he were to keep on fighting after his boss surrendered, so he drops his kukri as well. Just at this moment Sangaree jumps from the bushes with his gun, yelling "Ha!... Oh." He tosses away his gun.
The locals search the characters for weapons. They disarm the characters and tie them up. They tie Bubba up too. Then they place four guards upon each character. Soon afterwards, another truck shows up and offloads some crates. By that time, Kumar Singh has already loosened his bonds, while Pulfrey-Downs has only managed to hold a long discussion with himself about the best thing to do in this situation. Kumar ignores him and works on untying Michael Sangaree.
Rather suddenly, Kumar Singh leaps to his feet and to the attack! Michael Sangaree follows suit with just a touch of uncertainty. He faces two natives armed with spears. The first native jabs at him and is disappointed the silk-steel stops the blow. Sangaree grabs the man's spear. Two more natives appear, and Kumar explodes into a whirlwind of action. He grabs a spear from a shocked native, spins it around and stabs the fellow through the heart. Kumar then whirls to meet the next two natives, downing both of them. The remaining native is clearly disconcerted, and misses his spear thrust. Kumar finishes him an instant later.
For his part, Michael Sangaree punches one native flat. Pulfrey-Downs (still tied up on the ground) cheers the American on: "Good show, old boy! You managed to knock one of them down!" Just then, a second native jabs Sangaree with a poisoned spear, leaving him with a +3 difficulty penalty. Sangaree woozily answers Pulfrey-Downs' comment, "Did I?"
As Pulfrey-Downs watches this ongoing spectacle he reflects that he should probably get free of his own ropes. He works on the project in a leisurely, gentlemanly (albeit Inspired) manner, eventually releasing himself.
By the time Pulfrey-Downs casts away the last rope, Kumar Singh has carved a wide swath through the ranks of the natives, accounting for two more of them. Only two of them remain, both of them hurt.
Michael Sangaree, a second spear sticking out of him, lets out a wild whoop and runs into the darkness. Kumar Singh continues his whirlwind of blades, blood and mayhem.
Pulfrey-Downs stands up, casually picks up a spear, and takes a jab at one native, who evades, then cuts him in the side. Pulfrey-Downs feels himself getting rather dizzier, so he spends his time dodging. This lasts up until the French governor appears at one of the Lewis guns and sprays the area down, not caring too much if he hits a few natives in the process. The natives scatter. So do the characters.
Out in the darkness, Michael Sangaree stumbles across a dead native (killed by the Lewis gun). In an amazing burst of fortune, it turns out that the native was carrying his Thompson gun.
Pulfrey-Downs makes use of the confusion and the local cover to sneak towards the plane. Kumar Singh is none too concerned by such niceties and simply rushes the plane. The governor surrenders instantly with Kumar's spear to his throat. "Call off your men!" "They're not my men!" "If they're not your men, why were you shooting at us?" "I was only... following... orders..."
Kumar learns that the governor takes his orders from someone called Umbuku. Umbuku wanted everyone taken to the interior, just like all the other Americans. The tiger-skin guys are Umbuku's servants. Kumar Singh instructs the French governor that he is going to help the characters find Umbuku.
Noting that the situation is now once more under control, Pulfrey-Downs emerges from cover and heads over to free Bubba and return to the plane. He steps into the plane, notes that Kumar is busy interrogating the governor, and comments, "Ah. Good show, Kumar! Don't kill him too quick, now..." The governor turns a paler shade of bone. He babbles, "They were going to take you up the river to the place where they dug up the relics so they could re-enact the ceremony. It's about two weeks' journey up the river. Umbuku has about fifty men in town, and I have no idea how many up at the ritual site."
Arthur Michael Vincent Pulfrey-Downs is quite happy to hear all this. He chirps out, "Gobey! Now that you're healed up, go and find us a boatload of natives. Here are some gold bullion." Kumar Singh is quite confused, as he wasn't injured, and doesn't see any good way to find natives or boats around here.
The characters find that there is one boat available in Batangaville, a steamer that bears more than a passing resemblance to the steamer from African Queen. It is open-decked with a simple steam engine. The characters offload their three crates of supplies onto the boat, then convert the sides of the crates into mantelets upon Michael Sangaree's suggestion. The characters also gather up all the maps they can get from the governor's house.
The task of navigating up the river is quite complicated (+2 difficulty), so Pulfrey-Downs takes the lead, with Michael Sangaree helping out (+2 dice). He spends Inspiration into the bargain, managing to succeed quite handsomely.
Each character regains one Inspiration point and one Willpower point during the journey. The characters also regain their full health.
The journey takes a total of two weeks, most of which is quite uneventful due to the characters' superior Survival skills and Pulfrey-Downs' helpful comments ("Kumar - look out for that snake. Yes, that one you're about to step on.")
The characters know they have reached their journey's end when they hear the low sound of drums. They see a small dock on the riverbank. The group pulls the boat up the shore some distance shy of the dock, then make some effort to hide it in the underbrush (Pulfrey-Downs gets five successes on a Survival roll to camouflage the boat. Chuck yells out, "Black die!" Apparently, in Chuck's world, rather like Stephen King's, the innocent suffer and the guilty are punished.). The characters unload the essentials: guns, ammo, dynamite and Lewis guns.
The characters sneak up towards the archaeological dig site, leaving the French governor tied and gagged in the boat. They narrowly avoid the patrols. The ritual site is inside a minor depression. It is surrounded by low stone walls. The central area is scattered with many low, broken stone walls no higher than waist height. A raised stone dais occupies one side of the depression. The entire area is crowded with about 200 natives and 20 leopard guys. The leopard-skins guard the dais and patrol the edges of the clearing. There is no sign yet of the captives, but Pulfrey-Downs' knowledge of Batanga culture suggests that they will perform their ritual tonight.
The characters scout the area and think about how best to rescue the Americans. Everyone agrees that dynamite and covering fire from Lewis guns are both good ideas, but setting up a diversion is tough because nobody in the group is all that stealthy and there are a lot of sentries.
The session ends with the characters poised to attack the Batanga leopard-men and rescue their captives. Each character gains three experience points.