Chris (Dmitri Baranov), Ernest (Carlos Juan Victor Sanchez), Chuck (Lieutenant Percy Winston-Smythe) and Bruce head off early to check out Kingdom of Heaven. All agree that it included a lot of very pretty violence, but nothing else that could capture the attention or the imagination. The discussion of the film's faults quickly moves towards pre-gunpowder siege techniques. Chris spends some time explaining to everyone else how an Indian prince in one of the Sharpe's novels used big fireworks to pulverize British soldiers. Chuck admits that he has been spending too much time listening to Bruce, as he couldn't stop thinking about where the Saracen armies would have gotten all the timber for their siege engines. Bruce steeples his fingers and chuckles, "Yessss... My devious plans are coming along nicely."
Tim (Christophe Joseph Pépin) meanders along rather late in the game, somewhat miffed that his ongoing need to obtain money for food, shelter, and the demands of his growing addiction to pixie-sticks has required that he spend the early part of the day working. He moans, "Oooh... my head hurts from pixie-stick withdrawal. Does anyone have any pixie-sticks? Or maybe some aspirin?" Bruce helpfully offers, "I've got a ball-peen hammer!" Chris shows mercy and provides aspirin.
Nobody knows what happened to Paul. Widespread speculation is that he is off sketching pictures of stray cats.
Carlos Juan Victor Sanchez realizes that he still needs to invest in rice, and he has his share of the rum money to spend. He plows 5940 Lv into 27 tons of rice. He innocently asks Dmitri Baranov, "Do you think we still have enough space in the hold?" He doesn't understand why Baranov falls over laughing. Percy Winston-Smythe gently explains to Sanchez that there's currently sufficient space available in the hold to set up a couple of racquetball courts and have some left over for a bowling alley.
For the moment, the characters' rice is all standing in warehouses in Neue Paris, waiting to be loaded onto the Musaraigne d'egrappage when the characters decide to depart from Venus.
There are still ten ssaug sitting down in the hold waiting for the characters to take them home. All of them are from the Veelrivierland to the North. The characters decide to see if any of them have developed enough fondness for humans and their violent ways to be willing to join up with the group on a permanent basis. It turns out that four of them react well enough to the request to stay. Their aptitudes in the important fields of Fighting, Ship Crew and Other Things are:
Number Fighting Ship Crew Other Things Comments 1 1 2 6 Cultural Adaptability, Cooking-13 and Russian (broken). Named Kursk by Baranov. 2 4 3 3 No special aptitude. Named Klaus Heigen II by Pépin. 3 3 5 5 Sailor-14, Tailor-14. Named Ishmael by Winston-Smythe. 4 4 3 6 Savoir-Faire (servant)-15. Named Friday by Sanchez. 1 = no useful skill; 2 = skill-10; 3 = skill-12; 4 = skill-13; 5 = skill-14; 6 = skill-15.
A ssaug has a useful "Other Things" aptitude only on a roll of 4+.
Each of the ssaug counts as a 50-point character, costing any of the characters 1 point as an Ally appearing on 9-, 2 points as an Ally appearing on 12- or 3 points as an Ally appearing on 15-. Each character gets a 1-point credit to take their ssaug as an Ally, provided that the character names the creature.
Winston-Smythe is quite amazed to find that one of the ssaug has developed a skill of Spacer-14; the fellow also has Tailor-14. Winston-Smythe announces to everyone else that he expects to have a much nicer-quality wardrobe soon. He names the tribesman Ishmael.
Sanchez' man Friday has a skill of Savoir-Faire (servant)-15, plus skills of Spear-13 and Ax/Mace-13.
Baranov has apparently been developing a good relationship with the most fragile of the tribesmen for quite some time. Even though the tribesman seems too feeble to have survived to this point (Baranov suspects that the fellow had some kind of childhood disease that left him looking pretty shriveled), he has Cultural Adaptability, some talent at cooking (Cooking-13) and the ability to speak broken Russian. Baranov demonstrates his keen sense of humor by naming his new Ally Kursk.
The last ssaug convert ends up as another member of Christophe Joseph Pépin's growing brute squad. Pépin names Klaus Heigen II because he's not often in a mental state lucid enough to let him distinguish which of his servants is which.
The characters make a three-week off-camera trip to Nouvelle Prosperité to sell their vellum. While the others enjoy the hospitality of the rather ramshackle community of Nouvelle Prosperité, Iphegenia Catherine Pépin talks to her various society folks and pulls up a +3 Merchant bonus for Dmitri Baranov. He manages to talk several Ministry of Settlement bureaucrats to pay 3.3 times the characters' original investment in vellum.
Sanchez exults, "I had 1000 Lv invested, so I get 3300 Lv! We're getting biscuits for dinner tonight!"
Baranov agrees, "Yes, and you're paying for them!"
Back in Neue Paris, Carlos Juan Victor Sanchez manages to play upon his positive reputation with miscreants to locate Jean-Baptiste Leduc, a local "businessman" who claims to have a Dutch cousin named Alexander van der Tag over in the Veelrivierland. Leduc claims that he is allowed to send letters to his cousin, a minor government official charged with helping planters get started in the lowlands. If the characters were to carry one of these letters, they might also be able to bring along some other goods if they wanted. He tells Sanchez, "I think an introduction to my cousin would be worth at least 40%."
Sanchez replies, "Mighty steep. Provide some security and we could talk 20%."
Leduc reassures the Spaniard, "I can arrange for courier's papers through the Dutch Consul for you and your agents, and provide contacts with water transportation. Let's say 30% of the take."
Negotiation follows, but it doesn't have the desired effect of pushing Leduc's asking price down. Sanchez finally agrees to 30%. Winston-Smythe whispers to Sanchez, "You should have offered him sex."
Sanchez replies, "Why can't these smugglers be chicks?"
Baranov explains, "Because you're not Captain Kirk."
Before the characters take their leave of Jean-Baptiste Leduc, they remember something that had been bothering them for some time. The Dutch merchant Zwerver has been tied up at the Neue Paris quay for some time, but several people have warned them that direct commerce between the French and Dutch colonies is illegal. They ask Leduc to explain the ship's presence.
Leduc tells the characters that the Zwerver serves as a cautionary tale. The ship's master had been an unsuccessful merchant who attempted a bit of smuggling out of desperation. He landed at Neue Paris claiming to need refit after suffering damage in a storm, so the French authorities allowed him to touch down and dock. However, two days later they caught him trying to sneak five hundred ssaug into his hold. He was arrested, convicted, and executed. The Dutch government confiscated his ship to repay his many debts, but the ship proved to be in such poor condition that it will require significant repair to leave Venus. The Dutch consul refuses to pay the French merchants to conduct the repairs, but the French colonial authorities refuse to allow a Dutch vessel to bring repair supplies in to Neue Paris. The ship itself is in such dicey condition that the Dutch consul has been unable to find anyone willing to fly it back to Betrokkenstad.
The characters file this tidbit away. Some of them think eagerly about the possibility of stealing the ship. Others simply speculate upon what kind of fire-sale price they might be able to offer the Dutch consul for it.
Jean-Baptiste Leduc's instructions on the "courier" arrangements follow in a couple of days. He tells them that they are to rendezvous with the riverboat captain Joseph the Drowned in a bay along the southern coast of Aphrodite Terra. He will take them and their goods upriver for 750 kilometers to the settlement of Bielestad, where Alexander van der Tag is stationed. The river journey should take about a week. Alexander van der Tag will provide payment for the goods at the journey's end. The characters may then return to their ship with Joseph the Drowned, or do whatever else they might wish. If they do not intend to travel with Joseph, then they are to give Leduc's share of the proceeds to him before he departs.
The characters decide that they will bring along the ssaug they're bringing back to Veelrivierland, plus Kursk. Friday and Ishmael will stay on the boat. Pépin will come along to protect the Musaraigne d'egrappage. As far as they can tell, Smith has gone into some kind of shut-down idle state. They leave him with the Musaraigne as well, as they need a kill-bot to guard the ship. Winston-Smythe offers Sanchez an alternative, suggesting, "We have your fiancé. Pound for pound, she's easily as lethal as Smith. Especially in the kitchen."
Sanchez decides that he will not challenge Winston-Smythe to a duel to the death for the insult. He prefers more painful revenge: he will ask Catherine Iphegenia to prepare Lark Entrail Pudding for breakfast the next morning, then insist that the English officer eat a double helping out of national obligation.
The Musaraigne d'egrappage manages the short ballistic hop across the sea with ease. Dmitri Baranov considers complimenting Sanchez upon his smooth piloting, but then realizes that the Spaniard would surely take that as a challenge to provide a more exciting ride the next time around.
The Musaraigne slowly sails into the appointed bay. The characters see no sign of human or ssaug habitation. Baranov offers, "They're all probably in underwater grottos listening to calypso music." Winston-Smythe orders the crew to drop anchor.
Kursk and the other ssaug approach the characters and offer to demonstrate some native fishing techniques, and then to prepare dinner from the catch. The characters don't even have time to think about the offer before Kursk and his comrades are over the side and away, armed with improvised spears and nets. Sanchez reflects upon how the ssaug look like nothing so much as big misshapen frogs as they vanish down into the depths. Some minutes later one of the ssaug surfaces and gestures at Baranov. The Russian eventually figures out that the creature wants him to throw down a line. The native grabs the end, then disappears underwater again. A moment later, Baranov is glad that he secured the other end of the rope to something other than his waist, as it becomes shockingly taught. Baranov, three natives, and several of the crew are just about able to pull in the ssaug's catch. The creature looks like an eel the size of a dolphin, armed with a half-dozen fins on a side and a truly alarming mouth. Winston-Smythe watches as two ssaug pacify the creature with clubs. He twitters, "Ooh, giant Venus River Eel!"
The ssaug proceed to roast the eel. Shellfish and seaweed brought back by some of the others get transformed a stew. Baranov completes the table by bringing out some of his fermented ghessesh and rice wine. Catherine Iphegenia provides atmosphere by playing upon her harpsichord.
Sanchez notices the festival atmosphere on board the Musaraigne and tells the others, "If any French or Dutch warships show up and ask, we're just here for the fish."
Baranov, his voice muffled behind a huge slab of roasted eel, replies, "What? There's some other reason to be here? This stuff is great!" Most of the characters find that they have a taste for Venusian food, but Catherine Iphegenia disagrees. She thinks the eel should have been boiled, not roasted. Baranov ignores her, roaring, "This is good! I have six bowls!"
Later that night, Joseph the Drowned shows up. He clambers up onto the deck, observes the fading remnants of the feast, and demands, "What the hell are you doing here? Smugglers don't act like this!" The characters quickly decide that Joseph the Drowned has no great fondness for native foods. He continues to scowl, "You've got all those lights on! And what's that smell? It's like something died, but didn't get buried all proper-like."
Baranov replies, "Oh, that would be the fermented ghessesh."
Joseph the Drowned makes a low comment about how he'd rather have real food, food like potted beef and hardtack. Sanchez suggests that if he's planning on having some, he should share with Catherine Iphegenia, who was also none too fond of native cookery.
Baranov changes the subject away from food. He tells Joseph, "Let me show you the guns we have."
Winston-Smythe cuts him off, "Ix-nay on the uns-gay..." Baranov belatedly remembers that officially neither Joseph nor Jean-Baptiste Leduc knows that the characters are smuggling guns to the Dutch.
By this time the crew are mostly too plastered to transship cargo, so the characters put Smith to work. The job is done by the middle of the next day.
Two of the local ssaug explain that they're close to their tribal homeland. They volunteer to stay with the ship for a while and guard. Baranov gives each of them a rifle as payment. Then Baranov decides that the characters are going to be heading upriver through unknown territory with four other ssaug, so he gives them rifles too.
By the time the characters finish loading up Joseph the Drowned's riverboat, the gunwales are no more than eight inches above the water. The load includes four local ssaug, Kursk, Joseph the Drowned, his four crew, Baranov, Sanchez and Winston-Smythe. For good measure, the characters load Pépin's drunken ass on board as well. He okku-nakal'd himself into unconsciousness a few hours before. One of the ssaug is assigned to rolling him over every couple hours to avoid bedsores.
The guns are in crates labeled "Farm Equipment." Winston-Smythe suggests that some of them should be labeled "NOT GUNS."
Sanchez reflects, "Hmm... we better bring along some spare cash for bribes."
Winston-Smythe comments, "That's what we keep Pépin around for."
The characters make slow progress up the river. The boat is heavily loaded and the river is full of debris and sandbars. The characters glumly reflect that they may be more than seven days to arrive at Bielestad.
Baranov asks Kursk what lies ahead. Kursk explains that his people are the Weshh. They live along this river and are good people. The Ssaubasha live in the uplands. They are primitive. Their women are wanton, but unattractive. And then there are the mangeurs-de-boue.
Baranov comments, "But they're just a myth."
Winston-Smythe asks a more practical question, "What do they look like?"
Kursk claims that the mangeurs-de-boue are shorter than he is. They have terrible teeth and spread fear. He says that when the mangeurs stalk one of his people, they are gone.
Sanchez reassures Kursk, "If it bleeds, we can kill it."
Baranov elbows Sanchez, "Thanks, Aahhnold."
Sanchez replies, "So these mangeurs, they're kinda like spider-frog-monkeys."
Baranov answers, "If they start shooting webs out of their ass, I'm outta here."
Joseph the Drowned points out, "So, I don't speak alien like that webby was talking, but..."
Sanchez tells him, "Oh, that was Russian. You should see their writing."
The characters start to wonder about why Joseph the Drowned stays on Venus, given that he appears to hate the food, the climate, the natives, the architecture and the wildlife. They tease him into talking a bit about his past, and are a bit alarmed (but none too surprised) to learn that he is under a death sentence in both France and in the Netherlands. And that he can't go to Mars because he killed a guy there too. And that he's already tried fleeing to Jupiter, which didn't work out after he killed a whaler captain. Pretty much the only place where he isn't a wanted fugitive is on Venus, so he can't leave no matter how much he hates it.
This prompts the characters to wonder why anyone works for him. They talk to some of his crew. They are rewarded with some truly horrifying stories of loyalty and incompetence. It develops that even though Joseph the Drowned will scream at his crew and sometimes beat them, he never seriously injures anyone who remains loyal to him. He is also willing to overlook some truly stupendous acts of incompetence upon the part of his crewmen, provided they stay true to him. One crewman tells of the time when Captain Joseph told him to watch the wheel. He turned away for five minutes and by the time he turned back the boat was aground, the hull was on fire, and the crewman was covered with sea crabs, but he holds out that Captain Joseph never laid a hand on him. Another crewman describes how he managed to burn a hole through the bottom of the hull while attempting to recharge the boat's phlogiston boiler (a task that is normally about as hard as filling a car with gasoline). Even though the boat was far upriver and hundreds of kilometers from civilization, Captain Joseph didn't fire him.
The characters resolve to pay close attention to how the crew handles the ship around them in future.
Inevitably, Percy Winston-Smythe suggests that the characters pass the time by playing whist. They bring in Joseph the Drowned as a fourth, and very quickly find that he isn't much of a whist player. He comes into fouler and fouler moods as he acts intolerant and loses hand after hand. And then he drinks, which makes him even angrier.
Baranov and Sanchez decide that they need to avoid killing him, so they start throwing games in an effort to let Joseph win a bit. Unfortunately, Winston-Smythe demonstrates that he is a purist of the game and refuses to deliberately lose. So Sanchez turns to sabotaging Winston-Smythe's play, allowing Baranov to help Joseph the Drowned enough to actually win him a couple of hands.
It is night, four days in. Sanchez is awake, keeping watch on the river ahead. He spots several bobbing objects in the current. Then he sees one of them move under its own power. He quickly wakes Baranov and Winston-Smythe, who armor up. Then he wakes Captain Joseph.
Joseph the Drowned peers into the darkness. He announces, "Soggies. Bet they're 'night-fishing'" He loads his rifle and takes aim.
Baranov spoils Joseph's aim, "Wait! Kursk said his people live around here." Joseph scowls but refuses to relent. Winston-Smythe, reasoning that Joseph the Drowned is the sort of man who might have been promoted to petty officer several times, but who would never have gotten a command, orders him to stand down. Joseph wilts under Winston-Smythe's stern gaze.
Baranov warns the crew about preventing random acts of escape or violence on the Captain's behalf. He mentions, "I once traveled 100 klicks to kill a man. And it was snowing."
With calmer heads dictating policy, Kursk swiftly introduces the characters to his uncle, an older ssaug who appears to be of some importance. Kursk's uncle invites the characters to their village for the night, and for a meal of eel stew in the morning. The characters accept, even though Joseph the Drowned looks like he'd like to die.
At the morning meal, Baranov brings out more fermented ghessesh and rice wine. Sanchez drinks a double-dose of his selenium-infused health potion. And everyone talks. Kursk's uncle asks, "What do you take to the skinless ones?"
"Guns. Farm machinery."
"Skinless ones will pay much for these. More than we can. We would like to buy some. We have dried fish, ghessesh and weeskein." The characters make an arrangement to accept twenty weeskein hides for twenty guns. Joseph the Drowned is not in favor of this transaction.
Sanchez suggests, "Ask the tribesmen about making a 'Let's not be killing his fool ass' treaty with the captain!"
Kursk's uncle explains, "We are familiar with this captain. He has not managed to kill any of us yet. He has a black stain upon his soul. The teeth of a mangeur-de-boue are upon him. The creatures of this land will expunge him sooner or later." Kursk's uncle goes on to explain that the mangeurs-de-boue love the forests, but the Dutch wish to cut them down for their plantations. This is why the Dutch will need many, many guns.
The characters ask Kursk's uncle how the people of his tribe deal with the mangeurs-de-boue. Kursk's uncle explains that his people have worked out arrangements with them, places that they do not go and things they do not do. They also provide the mangeurs-de-boue with small tributes, but never anything too large for that would incite the mangeurs' greed and doom the tribe. In particular, the mangeurs do not fish so the Weshh tribesmen give them dried fish.
Sanchez asks, "Can we have some?"
Kursk's uncle offers, "Here is a spare sack."
Sanchez suggests, "Let's strap it to the Captain and throw him overboard."
Kursk's uncle watches as the characters return to the riverboat. He calls after them, "The blessings of the river be upon you. Please treat my nephew Kursk well. Good day!"
Baranov waves back, "There's nothing like visiting with ancient people and finding out they're going to be genocided by a bunch of Europeans."
Three more days up the river the characters start to see signs of human habitation, mostly small Dutch plantations of varying prosperity. The Dutch appear to be growing rice and palshiffan trees. The characters see some attempts to grow actual cabbage, but few fields devoted to ghessesh..
Sanchez whispers to the others, "Nobody tell the Captain he has a mangeurs' teeth upon his soul."
Baranov offers, "We'll tell him later, at a dramatic moment. Or we could forestall that by cutting his head off and throwing it into the forest. That's got to mean 'we killed him, now fuck off.'"
Sanchez once again offers, "We could put a dried fish upon his head and tie him to a tree. But the piranha slugs might get him first."
Winston-Smythe points out, "What about the soldier-leech ants? The mangeurs-de-boue might show up to find nothing more than a blackish stain and a pair of boots."
The settlement of Bielestad is easy to distinguish from the passing plantations, as it has both a dock and a single concrete building that the characters determine must be the Stadamt. Joseph the Drowned docks the riverboat at a nearby plantation and waits while the characters head inside.
The interior of the Stadamt is somewhat cooler than the swelter outside. The characters can hear the sounds of dripping water along the walls. Baranov squeezes out his hat while Sanchez looks for anyone who looks like Marlon Brando. There are several people inside, including a constable who causes the characters some trouble through his inability to speak any language except Dutch. The characters eventually figure out that he wants to see their papers, and that Alexander van der Tag sits at a desk on the second floor. They reflect that they could probably figure out who is working in the Stadamt if they were able to read Dutch.
Alexander van der Tag has graying hair that is going away in a none-too-attractive way, aided by the humidity. He greets the characters and quickly agrees to take a look at their guns, though he also points out that the mangeurs-de-boue are nothing more than a myth.
Van der Tag admires the characters' guns, telling them, "The French make such nice guns." He offers them three and a half times the characters' purchase cost.
Baranov responds, "Done."
Sanchez whispers, "May I congratulate you on your newfound bargaining skills." Negotiations follow; the characters manage to talk van der Tag up to 3.7 times cost.
Suddenly Pépin wakes up and tells Baranov, "I'm going to applaud your skills again, but this time I really mean it."
With the main deal done, Alexander van der Tag offers the characters an extra 500 Lv to go upriver a bit to deliver some of the guns. Pépin asks, "Is this like a Heart of Darkness type journey? If so, then I want more." They talk him up to 1000 Lv. He claims that the trip should be short: two days up, two days back. The destination is an advance guard post on the edge of Dutch influence. He explains that it is a good site, and that it took a lot of negotiation with the Pforsseng to get permission to use it. Right now, there is nothing there except the army camp, but there are a number of land parcels nearby that he expects to open to planters soon. He wants the guns stockpiled there for when the planters arrive.
Alexander provides an outrigger canoe and four Pforsseng tribesmen as rowers. The characters engage a local carpenter to quickly convert some window storm-covers to mantelets.
As an aside, the characters ask Alexander if it is possible to purchase weeskein hides in this district. He explains that there is some trapping locally, but that most of the hunters operate in the Wilhelmsstaat. There is a weeskein auction in Bielestad once a month; the next one is in fifteen days.
The characters head upriver again with their ssaug rowers and a couple boxes of rifles. To pass the time, Sanchez teaches the eight ssaug some Spanish rowing songs. The other characters resolve to throw him overboard the next time they see a tentacle mother.
Well within the promised two days, the characters spy an outpost on the riverbank. The outpost proper is unimpressive: a few tents pitched around a wooden blockhouse. Oddly, it stands at the base of a hill. There seems to be some kind of stone ruin at the hilltop.
The commander of the outpost is Leutnant Robert, an officer who does not seem happy to be serving in the colonial forces. He admits to the characters that he'd rather be posted someplace civilized, someplace like a nice garrison town or perhaps the Palace. Pépin asks the others, "Do we need another officer? If we hire one, will Winston-Smythe be jealous?" The others persuade him that he should save his money.
One of the things Leutnant Robert is quite upset about is the ruin at the top of the hill. He claims that the surveyors spent a lot of time haggling with the Pforsseng to get access to the hill because of it, but that he and his men were expected to live in the place. And his men mostly refuse to enter it due to the spooky sounds.
This tidbit draws the characters' interest. They easily obtain permission from him to do their own investigation. He is even willing to lend them one of his men, a grizzled veteran named Friedrich who very matter-of-factly checks his pistols and assures the characters that muskets are a waste of time in the close quarters of the ruin. The characters take a quick liking to Friedrich.
The characters climb the hill and take a look at the ruin. It looks like it was once three stories tall, but collapsed earth has mostly buried the lowest floor. Friedrich shows them where he dug an access in, and tells them that the creepy noises mostly come from below ground.
Pépin examines the architecture of the place as he enters. He speculates that it seems strangely familiar. Then Friedrich picks up something from the ground and shows it to him. "We found this thing inside. Funny looking thing, isn't it?"
The characters instantly recognize it as a badly aged urgu-subur skull.
Baranov tells Friedrich, "What you got here is a Martian device. On Venus."
Friedrich swears, "That don't make a lick of fuckin' sense."
Sanchez gets excited. He readies his pistols and tells the others, "So, let's find some automatons!" Chk-chick! He offers Friedrich some specific instructions on what a khalgun-gatat looks like, and how to destroy it.
Baranov takes the lead down the stairs into the depths of the structure. Along the way, he finds a rotten stone staff. He breaks it out of disgust, "Christ. I'm not carting this stuff back to the Egyptian unless I can find something I can write my name in the sky with."
Pépin starts sketching things with mad abandon. In particular, he copies the inscriptions on the walls and draws a map.
Two levels down, the characters find an armory with a dead urgu-subur inside. Baranov kills it anyway. They recover four small metal shields and one broad chopping blade. They reflect that they're pretty sure the Dutch might not appreciate their taking all this stuff.
Pépin asks, "So, what we've got is a perfectly-preserved urgu-subur shell?"
Sanchez replies, "Actually, what we've got is two halves of a perfectly-preserved urgu-subur shell."
A level further down, the characters find a thick stone door. The sounds seem to emanate from within. Pépin translates the inscription on the door as, "Danger. Fire-That-Burns-Stone Sphere Inside." The door is warm to the touch.
Sanchez asks the others, "Would there be an upside to breaching their reactor core that I don't see? What is this reactor supposed to be running?" Nobody answers, so the characters leave the reactor alone and continue down on the spiral staircase. They estimate that they are about fifty feet underground.
Pépin asks, "How far down are we? Are we under the water line right now? That generator might be running a big-ass pump somewhere."
It is obvious when the characters reach the ground water level: the walls become damp and clammy.
Baranov points out, "I've seen this show before, back when I was in the Legion Étrangeré. By the way, this is the part where you all die and I get to escape by myself." Nobody bothers to reply.
The spiral staircase finally ends in a large chamber. As before, Baranov leads the others across it. The characters are able to see three passages out of the chamber, each with a carved inscription above it. Pépin translates them as:
Baranov stops midway across the chamber. He tells the others, "There's something on the floor. It looks like metal tracery, and I think it's an aetheric device. It might even be one of those fire-form generator triggers."
Pépin runs up. He looks at the metal inlaid into the stone floor and agrees, "Yep! It's definitely an aetheric device!" Before anyone can stop him, he touches it.
Baranov mutters something about some group members being worth more as jerky than they are as scientists.
Across the chamber, two phantom urgu-subur appear. Each is armored and armed with a chopping blade similar to the one the characters brought out of the armory. The characters can see that there is an aetheric emitter standing behind each phantom.
Pépin reasons, "I bet these things are intended to let urgu-subur pass. And I've spent a lot of quality time under a dream-machine learning how to think like an urgu-subur. I'm going to try touching one." Everyone smells burning Pépin. But the projections vanish.
Winston-Smythe asks, "Are you still alive?"
Pépin moans, "Yep. I think we're okay to pass."
The characters discuss which of the three paths they should try. Pépin offers, "I think what we have is worker bees, soldier bees and queen bees."
Sanchez mentions, "I specialize in Queens!"
All step away from the Spaniard.
The group decides that Servants of the Eternal Lore sounds like a winning place to visit, but they're closer to the Labor of Workers' Love passage and don't want to tangle with any more aether-phantoms than they absolutely have to. They head into the darkness.
The session ends with the characters deep inside a mysterious urgu-subur ruin on Venus. Each character gains three experience points, plus a bonus point to help pay for their new ssaug Allies.