The bitter wind curls out of the cold desert hills. A faint juddering rhythm slinks from among the mesquite and the scrub. Ernest (Carlos Juan Victor Sanchez) utters a quavering warning, "Antlers! I see antlers!" Chris (Dmitri Baranov) groans, "Oh goodness. Not this again. I had enough of this last time." Tim (Christophe Joseph Pépin) concurs, "This is all happening because I pointed out that the last intro paragraph was actually realistic. It is all my fault! All my fault!" Paul (Smith) does his best to comfort Tim as Chuck (Quent Lawrence) points into the chill distance. And then Bruce stamps onto the scene, a herd of horned rats about his feet.
Ernest makes an all-out effort to sell his Brute prestige class as filling an important gap in the pantheon of Barbarian prestige classes, half-a-dozen of which involve turning into animals. Obviously, every barbarian wants nothing more than to turn into an animal. Tim offers, "I want to become a sexy fox! Oh no, that's going into the session summary, isn't it." Bruce chuckles an evil, evil chuckle. Paul makes a valiant attempt to defuse the situation by describing how he has never had more fun than when he played a character with STR 20 who answered only to "BEAR" and didn't even bother using weapons.
Carlos Juan Victor Sanchez finally realizes what the other characters have found. He looks around the dusty remains of the Lemdok Allau-Agesh-Nakhba-Htackhan's throne-chamber and asks, "Can we hang out here for months and months and learn lots and lots of things from the dream-crystals?"
Dmitri Baranov suggests, "Sure. Over the Egyptian's dead body." He already knows that the old archaeologist is eager to bring in all manner of scientists and experts to study the dream-crystals and the clockwork Lemdok.
Quent Lawrence very helpfully offers, "Dead body. Hmmm... That could be arranged."
Christophe-Joseph Pépin comments, "We should all learn the Urgu-Subur language so when we go to Venus we can all have a secret language in common."
Sanchez replies, "Oh, you mean like French?"
Pépin is not amused.
The characters finally decide to stick around for another three weeks, most of which they spend under the dream-crystals. Sanchez exploits his trickster tendencies to make everyone else's time under the machines as interesting as possible. In later days, Quent would reminisce, "That time when he make Baranov lose all his childhood memories? That was great! Or the time when he had Smith wake up in the arms of the dead gukin-lugal concubine? You could hear the screams in Criqueronde. Or when he painted a goatee on Pépin." But at the time, Sanchez fails to realize just how lucky he is to survive.
Smith spends his time communing with the memories of the urgu-subur Explorer Uikjekpanvik trying to figure out where the city-ship is. He is able to determine that the memory is about 200 years old, and that at the time the ship was in an unstable orbit around Iapetus. He is able to determine that since then it will have been captured by Saturn. He is able to estimate its current position to a few arc-degrees.
He shows the others his calculations and tells them, "This is a reason to go to Saturn! The artifacts from that ship would be worth uncountable Livre! And the ship looked like a derelict."
Baranov doesn't seem totally convinced. But he doesn't offer any immediate objection.
While everyone else is busy brain-draining various dead people, Sanchez heads back to Criqueronde to spend time with his beloved Catherine Iphegenia Pépin. He expects that the place will be devastated by plague and he is a bit disappointed: there has been some sickness and the Methodists have been diverted into caring for the sick, but the settlement hasn't been completely devastated.
He finds Catherine Iphegenia in her rooms off the Place de Liberté, driven practically to distraction by her surroundings. She is terribly grateful to see Sanchez; she casts herself demurely into his arms and exclaims, "You cannot imagine how bleak this place has been without you!"
Sanchez dryly replies, "Yes, I can imagine."
Catherine Iphegenia implores him, "We must go someplace exciting! But I must not go too far from Pépin!"
Sanchez agrees, "Quite so. He is letting alien machines fill his head with diseased notions right now. But he has also come into possession of a ship!"
Catherine Iphegenia stamps her dainty foot upon the floor, "I insist! If you should go anywhere on this ship I must have a berth aboard!"
From an incalculable distance, Baranov somehow manages to comment, "I think she's coming on to you... I hope this doesn't make me sound ignorant."
It is at this point that Sanchez announces that he shall propose marriage to Catherine Iphegenia.
Quent suggests the most romantic gift he can think of, "Give her a keg of opals!"
Smith offers, "And a rope so she can hang it around her neck! You know while there is a type of woman who likes getting trade goods as a gift, its not normally considered romantic."
It isn't really clear to Sanchez just how the others are managing to hold a conversation with him, as they're all four days' travel out in the wilderness while he's having dinner at the Water Lily Club. But he is willing to let it slide. He has more important things to consider. First among these is an engagement ring: he sends to a jeweler in Argyre and purchases one for 500 Lv, then presents it to her after dinner one evening. She is completely captivated and agrees with such enthusiasm that Sanchez is briefly compelled to fear for his life.
While Sanchez is off doing his best to marry well, the other characters sit down after a hard day of mind-washing to discuss outfitting their new vessel. Baranov asks the others, "Does the ship have a figurehead?"
Quent suggests, "Soon, it might have a Spaniard as a figurehead." He doesn't understand why he made that comment.
Pépin indicates that the ship does not, but will soon: he has already arranged with a craftsman in Argyre to create a figurehead that looks like Catherine Iphegenia, but not in a complimentary way. He also announces that he will name the ship Musaraigne d'égrappage ("Stalking Shrew") in her honor.
Meanwhile, back at civilization, Catherine Iphegenia decides that she must place a woman's touch upon her cousin's new vessel. She hires a carriage to Argyre to evaluate the situation. Just one look at the not-yet-renamed Musaraigne d'égrappage causes her to cry out, "Oh, the poor vessel! It so needs a woman's touch!"
Miles away, Pépin wakes with a start from a troubled dream. His agonized shout of, "I specifically forbid the guy watching the ship to let her on board!" draws the others running, though they do not really understand why he is so upset.
Little does Pépin know, but his orders to his hired man folded like damp newsprint before Catherine Iphegenia and her hard-headed threats to have him sent to a chain-gang on Pluto. She buys provisions, and a harpsichord, and a variety of other things. And she fixes the title and ownership situation with the Ministry of Colonization. But she also places a lien upon the ship in her name, to ensure that Pépin will never be able to sell the ship without her explicit say-so. And she paints various parts of the interior orange.
Quent, for no good reason that he can understand, tells Pépin, "You know, it'd be a pity if something happened to your cousin."
The characters spend some time discussing who will serve in what capacity upon the Musaraigne. It quickly develops that while several of the characters have extremely useful shipboard skills, others are reduced to little more than serving as Steward thanks to a single lucky roll of 6 upon the Occupational Skills table. More important, nobody has the skills required to competently fill several crucial roles, notably Captain. Sanchez suggests that he does possess a few scraps of Shiphandling to allow him to serve as captain, but under interrogation also admits that the only ship he has ever actually captained was the skiff he crashed on Mars. His last effort to defend his claim upon the captaincy is the rather weak suggestion, "Hey, any landing I can walk away from is a good landing!" but the others shrewdly recognize that he didn't mention whether any of them would be able to walk away as well.
Smith tells the others that he is learning Mechanic (Aethership) so he can serve as engineer. Pépin, fresh from the captaincy discussion with Sanchez, rather nervously asks, "Are you getting enough skill to be a competent engineer?"
Smith assures him, "Yes. Could we pack in some extra spare parts?" The nominal value of the ship in standard GURPS valuation turns out to be $448,000 (-2 skill penalty); enough parts to repair massive damage would cost 10% to 60% of that price. Pépin decide that he'd rather not write such a large check at the moment. Smith compromises by organizing a quick journey to the Farwander wreck to salvage 3000 Lv in spare parts. Baranov goes along because he can't bear to listen to Sanchez proclaiming the virtues of Catherine Iphegenia for one more minute.
| Crew Role | Character |
|---|---|
| Captain/Pilot | NPC |
| Steersman | Sanchez |
| Engineer | Smith |
| Bosun/Cook | Baranov |
| Carpenter | NPC |
| Doctor | Pépin |
| Navigator | Smith |
| Ratings | Quent, and NPC's (need eight crew total) |
The characters quickly realize that they have access to four hundred tons of yawningly empty cargo hold. Baranov proposes investing in Martian craftworks and knickknacks, the sort of things that can be cheaply purchased in the gukin-lugal ghettos of Argyre and sold for ridiculously-inflated prices in the fleshpots and curio shops of Earth.
Baranov learns that there are two general grades of knickknacks available. Low-value crafts can be had at a rate of 0.5 Lv per kilogram. High-value crafts cost 10 Lv per kilogram. A successful Merchant roll can reduce the cost of either by 10% for every point of success, to a maximum discount of 50%.
"How much does your art cost?"
"Nine bucks a pound."
Everyone ponies up money to invest in the venture. They push 1000 Lv into 100 kg of high-value crafts, and 1000 Lv into 2500 kg of low-value items.
Smith examines the bales as a procession of laborers load them onto the Musaraigne. He comments, "Wow. Two metric tons of Martian crap."
Baranov notices that Smith invested 700 Lv in the venture. He asks, "Where did you get all that money!"
Smith explains, "I've never spent any!"
Quent backs him up, "And he's the best guy to find Martian artifacts!"
Catherine Iphegenia proves that while she is evil, she is useful evil. She talks to her Contacts at the Ministry of Colonization to get emigration documents for the fifty ssaug the characters hope to bring back to Venus.
The characters decide to hire a captain, a carpenter and a crew. Pépin indicates that he's bankrolling the crew costs, so he's going to do the hiring. He comes back with Pierre Morin, a onetime merchant captain who lost his commission, a carpenter, and seven able spacers. He also hires Jacques Paquet, a lawyer whose contract law practice wasn't doing as well in Argyre as he had once hoped. The other characters are dubious, but Pépin insists, "All of you must surely be aware that the most important man on any ship is the Ship's Lawyer! None of the great explorers of the past would have dreamed of leaving port without a qualified lawyer on board!" None of the others really buy this argument, but they figure that if Pépin is picking up the payroll then he can have a lawyer on retainer if he wants one.
The salaries for Pépin's crew are:
| Job | $/month | Lv/month |
|---|---|---|
| Lawyer | 400 | 1000 |
| Captain | 300 | 750 |
| Carpenter | 48 | 120 |
| Crew | 12 | 30 |
Baranov examines the payroll and tells Pépin, "I can really tell where your priorities are." Pépin has the lawyer Paquet write up a pay contract for the crew requiring lien-holders of the ship to cover the staff wages. This causes his costs to drop by 30%, and costs Catherine Iphegenia 324 Lv/month. He very pointedly doesn't share the lawyer's wages with her, as he doesn't want her to be the lawyer's client. He adds to the tab by claiming to be paying Smith 120/mo as Navigator, Sanchez 120/mo as Steersman, Baranov 120/mo as Bosun, Quent 30/mo as Able Spacer and himself 250/mo as Engineer, Steersman, and Doctor. The effect is to lard up Catherine Iphegenia's share of the payroll by 30% of 670 Lv per month. Pépin can barely contain his glee at the thought that he is extracting 201 Lv per month in fraud from his cousin.
Pépin's lawyer reminds him that this is technically called, "accounting fraud." Pépin tactfully doesn't mention this to the other characters.
Baranov gets into the spirit of defrauding Catherine Iphegenia. He strikes up a conversation with her about all sorts of fine foods that she might want to stock on board the Musaraigne with the goal of getting her to pay for it all.
He is wildly successful, but wishes that he hadn't been. He is mildly disturbed when she speaks of the virtues of blood pudding and kidney pie, and can barely prevent his discomfort from showing when she explains that her favorite method for preparing a roast is to boil it all day long. He leaves the conversation wishing that he hadn't managed to persuade her to be in charge of provisions.
Later in the day, he rather delicately asks Sanchez, "Have you ever talked to your betrothed about her diet?"
Sanchez smiles broadly and responds, "Ahh! Yes! My little golden pheasant has always thought that that English cuisine is the best in the world! You should taste what she can do with a tin of potted beef! It's just unearthly!"
Baranov concludes that the Spaniard has been driven hopelessly insane.
The trip back to Earth takes 50 days. Smith manages to shave ten days off his original estimate thank to his surprising navigational prowess.
Even though none of the players know any French boating songs, Sanchez and Catherine Iphegenia know them all. The others become glumly used to their nightly efforts to brighten the spirits in the mess with voice and harpsichord. Baranov seeks his own refuge in vodka and gin, while Quent finds that by the end of the journey he is actually starting to become fond of Catherine Iphegenia's playing. He concludes that he is being driven hopelessly insane, and confesses this fear to Baranov. Baranov offers him gin with the assurance that according to his old gran it would cure all his ills.
Pépin spends time writing his memoirs and arranging taxidermied Martian clockworks. He keeps them in the hold, where the ssaug cannot help but to see them. By the end of the voyage, the ssaug are starting to talk. Quent explains to Pépin that they think the French aristocrat has been driven hopelessly insane.
Against the expectations of the entire crew, Captain Moron gets them to Earth.
Sanchez asks the others, "Can I land this baby?"
Quent tells him, "You couldn't get me drunk enough to agree to that."
Sanchez points out, "I crashed the last aethership I tried to land!"
Baranov directs Sanchez away from the wheel-house, "Then no!"
Catherine Iphegenia ends up beloved by the crew, against all plausibility. Pépin finds this out accidentally when he asks one crewman what he thinks of her. The crewman dreamily replies, "Oh, she is like an angel! I would walk across the sands of the Sahara if only it would make her happy! Ahhh..."
"You're fired!" Pépin turns to another crewman, "You! What do you think of her?"
"Oh, she is the beautiful spirit of the voyage! Her glance raises the spirits, and her words free the soul!"
"You're fired! Get out of my sight!" Pépin tells the others, "It doesn't matter that they like her better than me, because when we get back to Earth I'm firing them all! And then I'm hiring Englishmen! Englishmen who can't speak French! Bwahahaha!"
Captain Morin lands the ship at Amsterdam.
Quent gets the job of going to Plymouth to find an English-speaking Captain and crew. Pépin gives him specific instruction to not hire anyone who speaks French, then heads off to work on selling the opals. Baranov works on selling off two and a half tons of Martian trinkets, and some artifacts Smith brought along. Smith comments, "We had best advertise in the proper places to increase the chances that rich Martian artifact hunters will be present!" Baranov is flatly shocked to hear such practical advice emerge from Smith's mouth.
Sanchez takes Smith out to get him accoutered in fine gentleman's clothing – neck-ruff, silk doublet, and monocle. He upgrades his own clothing as well.
Catherine Iphegenia promptly writes letters to every relative she can remember announcing her engagement, and promising to hold an engagement ball in two weeks at the family estates outside of Lisieux in Lower Normandy. Quent realizes that he is going to be forced to spend a lot of time around the hated aristocracy. He resolves to not bathe for two weeks, or longer if necessary.
Pépin finds Hans Dortchtmann, a reputable jewelry dealer willing to buy huge quantities of opals. Dortchtmann explains how lizard-eye opals are valued, and provides a list of qualified assessors who can evaluate Pépin's opals. Pépin has the opals professionally assessed. The assessors report that his opals include:
The total value of the lot is 35,350 Lv, before the Crown takes its 30%.
Dortchtmann tells Pépin, "I cannot possibly cover a deal this large myself! I must find an investor!" He explains that it may take him several weeks to find an investor able to purchase such a large quantity of opals, and agrees to send word to Pépin at his family estate at Lisieux.
Baranov sells his trinkets. He is able to dump the entire lot for 8800 Lv, leaving him and his companions with a profit of 6800 Lv. Sadly, the Crown takes 30%, but Baranov reasons that he's happy to be paying taxes on his profits because that means that he has made money. He distributes the spoils to the other characters.
Baranov invests some of his profits in a small mace and a regular-sized mace. Quent comments, "That's how we're going to define offenses on the ship. This is a small-mace offense, that is a big-mace offense." Baranov decides this is a good idea, and buys an outlandishly large mace as well. He also purchases a durable Eternal Lantern that will always land upright when dropped (3x normal cost).
Pépin returns from his meetings with Dortchtmann with a smile on his face. He asks the others, "Since we happen to be in Amsterdam, anyone want to play the tulip market?"
He is disappointed that nobody else seems interested in joining him. He proceeds to spend 1000 Lv on tulip bulbs, eager at the thought of quick profit. Unfortunately, his skill at reading the market is none too good. He loses every sou in two weeks! Feeling cross from his losses, he dumps his remaining worthless bulbs into pots and gives them to Catherine Iphegenia as potpourri.
Baranov decides that he needs to find something he can use as trade goods on Venus. Given that he is in Amsterdam, he immediately thinks of smut. He hits the streets in search of printed filth to peddle. His path takes him down to a decayed section of the docks, to a decrepit warehouse and Detlef the Skunk, the biggest printer of filth in Western Europe. Detlef is quite the specimen: he is balding in front, with scraggly long hair crawling down the back of his neck in a grotesque parody of a monk's tonsure. His stained printer's robe stretches over his pot belly. An aged cigar clutched between his teeth completes the picture.
Baranov congratulates himself upon getting a critical success on his Streetwise roll.
Detlef explains that his improper lithographs cost from a half-Livre to 3 Lv each. Baranov heads back to the others to gather money. Pépin tells him, "You promise not to tell Iphegenia, and I'll invest a couple thousand in the project!"
Quent is equally enthusiastic, "I'm in!"
Sanchez adds, "Me too, as long as Catherine Iphegenia doesn't ever find out."
Only Smith decides to tread upon the moral high ground, telling the others, "I'm staying out of this one."
The characters end up spending three thousand livre on a locked chests brimming full of porn. Baranov spends another 100 Lv on non-controversial religious pamphlets to cover the tops of the boxes.
Quent and Sanchez take the packet over to Plymouth to look for crew. In the first week, Quent hires five able spacers. In the second week he finds three more, filling out the crew. Sanchez "helps", ensuring that two of the new crew know German (which Catherine Iphegenia can speak). Neither of them have to spend any extra effort to get two crew who speak Gaelic.
Pépin confesses to the others that he feels strangely jealous of Sanchez and his engagement, and that he can see only one way to resolve his problem: to find himself a mistress. He speculates that Amsterdam is clearly the right place to search for such an individual: there must be scads of suitably eligible ladies of reasonable breeding available. Baranov suggests that if Pépin is looking for French or Dutch ladies, he will probably be forced to settle for commoners who can pass as aristocrats. He offers an alternative: he can find some young Russian ladies who actually are of aristocratic blood.
Pépin, his mind unclouded by thoughts of morality, agrees to this plan. Baranov quickly seeks out four candidates for Pépin to interview.
| The Young Lady | Her Plight | The Cost to Keep Her |
|---|---|---|
| Sasha | Supports her two Aunts | 600 Lv/mo plus a residence |
| Natasha | Supports her Mother and Brother in Army | 650 Lv/mo |
| Olga | Uncle afraid that her Dissolute Father cannot provide for her. Uncle might be around. | 650 Lv/mo |
| Anastasia | Father selling his youngest off, alternative is she goes to the monastery. | 550 Lv/mo plus 1000 Lv straight up |
Pépin's concludes that he might actually end up improving Sasha's or Natasha's lots in life, but that he is probably the horrible future Olga and Anastasia are fleeing from. He decides not to worry about it, and goes with Olga on the basis that she's the prettiest. Even if he thinks that her uncle is pretty slimy. The guy wants the money deposited in an account for his niece, but Pépin thinks that the guy might siphon some of it off. Pépin has his lawyer handle the arrangements, among other things ensuring that some of the money will be inaccessible to Olga's uncle.
Pépin's family estate is a huge stretch of territory in Lower Normandy outside the town of Lisieux. Once all of the characters' arrangements in Amsterdam are complete, Pépin and Sanchez hire carriages for the journey south to meet the relatives. Along the way, Pépin explains that Great-Uncle Ignace Antoine Pépin is the patriarch of the clan. Great-Aunt Eugenie is his sister, and has control of her own share of the family fortune. Sanchez already knows that the inheritance everyone is fighting over currently belongs to Great-Uncle Ignace, and that his betrothed has a very close relationship (some might say "alliance") with Great-Aunt Eugenie.
The characters are greeted at the main estate, and then shown to the guest house where they will spend their stay. They quickly become aware that the Pépin family has long had a tradition of hiring their help straight out of the pages of Gormenghast. The Doorman Louie represents all the most unique of provincial French peasantry, while Martin the hunchbacked groom provides his own special flavor to the household. He tells Quent, "I used to work in a bell-tower, now I work with horses. I love horses. Here, I show you how to geld stallion." Quent tries to protest, but his standards of hygiene have already convinced both family members and servants that he is the group's hired man, and none of the other characters make any effort to correct their hosts.
Along the way to the stables, Quent meets up with Geneve, Martin's wife. She is a voluble dumpling of a woman with plenty of smallpox scars. The three servants very quickly fall to playing dice, liberally lubricated with a particularly harsh flavor of gin. Quent agrees to drink and tell stories, but not gamble.
Up at the main house, the other characters meet up with the cousins. Pépin's cousin Jean tells him that his cousin Alexis is terribly offended that Catherine Iphegenia is marrying a Spaniard, and intends to engineer a duel with him. He proceeds to do the only honorable thing: he makes a bet with Jean that Alexis will lose his duel with Sanchez, with odds of 2:3 against the Spaniard. Pépin puts up 300 Lv.
Pépin also has an opportunity to give Grand-Uncle Ignace one of his taxidermy clockworks. In spite of the fact that the thing could give nightmares to a torturer and has obvious bullet scars in its flank, Grand-Uncle Ignace loves it. Pépin actually suspects that the bullet scars actually make it more desirable to his Grand-Uncle.
The next day, Uncle Basile Nicolas suggests a pheasant-hunting expedition out on the grounds. He is joined by all the characters, plus cousins Etienne, Jean and Alexis. He provides fowling pieces for everyone (the characters are unimpressed with them: they look nice, but they are actually rather feeble shotguns that inflict only about 3d damage). Quent, still operating in his role of "servant" declines a fowling piece, but does bring along a pistol.
By the end of the day, Sanchez has demonstrated that even faced with an unfamiliar weapon he is still able to bag three pheasants, two more than anyone else. Even Quent, who at one point shocked the entire party by pulling out his pistol and emptying it at a fleeing bird, is unable to match that score. Sanchez' secret of success is his light step: as soon as the beaters head out to thresh out some birds, he literally vanishes from sight, only to reappear later at exactly the right place for a clean shot. Incidentally, this also helps him avoid any risk of suffering a "hunting accident", as nobody knows where he is to shoot him.
Sanchez demonstrates the full range of his prowess on the last hunt of the day, when he manages to shoot a pheasant out of the sky in such a way that the carcass falls upon Alexis' head, leaving the fellow deeply shaken and upset.
The day after the pheasant hunt is the day set for the engagement ceremony. Sanchez does well on his Savoir-Faire roll, and by the end of the event the senior members of the family don't think any less of Catherine Iphegenia for marrying a Spaniard (she does okay on her roll as well).
Quent surpasses everyone's expectations by cleaning up and dressing in formal Xea-Osk robes. He does his best to impress the younger female cousins that he's the "bad boy." He does not achieve quite the extravagant bodice-ripping level of success he was hoping for, but he does make his mark. Likewise, Baranov demonstrates his fitness to stand in polite company.
Unfortunately, Pépin provides a contrast to all the others. He fails to hold his liquor well and starts talking about using alien lotus-flower in Grand-Uncle Ignace's presence. Pépin desperately begs for forgiveness, but fails. Sanchez decides to try and persuade Catherine Iphegenia that she should help out her cousin. Baranov sees what is happening and moans, "Oh god! Pépin's on his back with his throat exposed! That'll just bring out her bloodlust." Eventually Sanchez realizes that his lady-love is about to head off and savage Pépin, so he holds her hand with a grip of iron and sings her a Spanish love song. She melts. Pépin gasps in relief. And is promptly challenged to a duel by Etienne.
Sanchez sounds out Alexis to see if he's really going to challenge him to a duel. He finds he has shattered the fellow's fragile spirit. He proudly tells Pépin, "I am a true member of the family now, I have made a grown man cry!" After the party, Catherine Iphegenia embraces Sanchez and tells him how proud she is of what he did to Alexis.
It turns out that it is actually Etienne and Pépin who are dueling, rather than Sanchez and Alexis. Each of them is armed with a fine flintlock dueling pistol (2d+1 pi+; ACC 2). Baranov is Pépin's second. Gabriel Allard, a local gentry, stands second to Etienne.
Baranov knows that things might get out of hand, so he brings two tomahawks. He explains to Smith, "They're having a duel. This is legal. Both parties agreed to it. There are a lot of rules." Baranov notes that Allard, though he looks like typical French gentry, is wearing cavalry boots with steel toes, a smallsword in a scabbard that has been mended after being shot, and a pistol. Not a dueling pistol. Baranov thinks, "Aha. He's a professional."
Sanchez places a 300 Lv bet on Pépin. Pépin shot a boy in school, but Etienne has been in three duels, two of them serious. The odds are even.
Etienne shows, but looks a bit ruffled as he clearly knows Pépin's reputation. Pépin is pretty tight-lipped as well.
Pépin shoots Etienne in the arm, crippling the arm. He drops his gun. Then picks it up and shoots Pépin in the chest. Pépin falls down, in shock.
Later on, Pépin wakes in bed in the guest house. His chest is wrapped in glowing selenium bandages. Both Grand-Uncle Ignace and Uncle Basile Nicolas stop by to see how he is doing. He is amazed to find that they are both quite happy with his performance. Uncle Basile Nicolas tells Grand-Uncle Ignace, "He took that bullet straight to the chest like a real man!"
Sanchez and Baranov play Jean in whist over the bet money. They find out that Jean is a terrible whist player. Pépin shows up after the medication takes hold. He's a bit loopy, but not so much so as to not be able to explain in detail what a shot to the chest can do. Alexis also joins in. Sanchez and Baranov both win. Pépin loses 100 Lv.
After the game, Pépin tells the others, "I gotta get to Amsterdam. I need to purchase my mail-order bride, and there's an order of pornography to pick up."
Sanchez comments, "You've got lots of savory secrets, don't you."
Baranov and Pépin play a second round of whist against Sanchez and Catherine Iphegenia. The stakes are 100 Lv per person. Sanchez and Catherine Iphegenia take the pot. Quent comments, "When she's your wife, she'll just take it all." Sanchez ignores him as he heads upstairs to prepare for the trip back to Amsterdam.
The session ends with the characters planning their trip back to Amsterdam. Each character gains four experience points. Pépin and Catherine Iphegenia each spend a point to buy each other off as Enemies, though both of them still have the rest of the Pépin family as enemies.