Almost all of the normal crew shows up: Nick (Brother Xavier), Dan (Montgomery Burns), and Chris (Peter Sangaree). Continuing his unfortunate descent into respectable society life, Tim decides that other activities (getting shagged by Fat Bastard) are more important than gaming. In malicious retribution, Bruce decides that Sir Brindal Karth de Hazat has suffered yet another incursion of that persistent stomach virus.
On the other hand, we welcome Paul as a new player with all of our normal hostility and clannishness. Paul starts out by playing Bob Lungflook until he gets some notion of what the game is about, then steps aside for a bit to create himself the vorox Korzhun.
Korzhun is a commoner vorox with all the physique of a brick wall and the brains to match. He is yet another of Sir Brindal Karth's luckless early allies, a participant in the pogrom against the Haustein Syndicate. Since Sir Brindal Karth was stripped of his office and sent away from Aragon, Korzhun has wandered the Known Worlds, hunted by the devious agents of the Haustein Syndicate. He finally made his way to Delphi and the city of Lenbow, where he managed to persuade Director Yie of the MachtArbeiterBank that he was a legitimate friend of Sir Brindal Karth's, and needed assistance. Feeling uncommon pity for the eight-foot brute, Director Yie arranged transport for him to Gwynneth, where he will be reunited with the other characters.
The characters have managed to bring their three captured Utag VERTOLs down at their colony site. Two of them (one Hunter and the Assault Carrier) are safely tied down on the old Gieresport Airport landing strip, while the third (the other Hunter) is parked upon a rock outcropping a mile from the settlement where Brian the Goat ditched it for lack of fuel. Brother Xavier organizes several convicts (including Red Billy) to carry fuel out to it after Peter Sangaree figures out just how much is needed to move the thing to the landing field. Brother Xavier notes (with characteristic subtlety) that he honestly hopes Red Billy gets carried away by a school of river eels during the project, though his hopes are not too high. The characters siphon the fuel from the tanks of the other three VERTOLs. Peter estimates that it will take about a day to move the fuel, given the aid of the inflatable kevlar gig. Once the Hunter is fueled, they detail the stable, dependable Linus Cossett fly the thing back.
With the matter of the stranded VERTOL being taken care of, the characters turn to debating how best to get in touch with the Eastern Jarls. Their captive Utag officer, the Banneret Sieggen Atto, tells them that the senior Utag leader among the settlements is the Jarl of Erlwood, a rough man named Jarl Gunter Feggen. He is probably the man that the characters will end up talking to if they try to open any sort of negotiations.
The characters listen to this wisdom with slitted eyes, then suddenly realize that the group's finances are getting a little weak (especially considering that Sir Brindal Karth, who had been keeping the books, can't take time out from his busy schedule of cold chills and dry heaves to tell them how much money remains in the coffers). Everyone finally agrees that Montgomery Burns' plan of selling anti-radiation drugs to the Vuldrok for some quick cash is the best idea to follow in the short term.
To compound the issue, the characters have accumulated yet another extensive shopping list of goods that they want for the colony (listed below), and are interested in putting out some feelers to find suppliers:
Even beyond the "colony list", Peter Sangaree has a new project in mind. Now that he has access to the machine tools taken out of the Utag base, he wants to get a supply of sheet metal and materials to manufacture stamping dies so he can assemble cheap stamped submachine guns (similar to the WWII "grease gun").
Everyone flies to Tuam, with the youthful Fergus Genne ab Marlwen flying and Montgomery Burns as copilot. As usual, simply arriving at Tuam's airfield costs the group 65 FB in fuel and landing costs. Peter Sangaree covers these costs.
With his feet once again upon solid ground, Montgomery Burns starts snuffing out sources for anti-radiation drugs. It takes him a couple of days, but he manages to come up with three likely candidates:
After some discussion, the group decides that the nervous individual who will only deal in the High City is the best choice. Montgomery works out a meeting at a High City cafeteria. It is obvious from the first moment that their contact is hardly an expert at this sort of deal. He is visibly nervous, and though he wears a long coat to conceal his dress, the characters are all able to see a caduceus emblem upon his lapel. He asks them if they know how to use the anti-radiation drugs, and if they know what kind of symptoms they need to treat. When it becomes clear that the characters aren't medical experts, their contact bargains briefly to sell them instructions for using the drugs for 30 FB. He then explains that they'll normally need one dose per week for two to three weeks to cure a typical mild case of radiation poisoning. An extreme case may require five times that much medication, over a longer period of time. He offers to sell them the drugs at 10 FB per dose, but agrees to 7 FB per dose if the characters buy 200 doses. Montgomery agrees to buy 100 doses now and 100 later for that price.
Knowing that his normal Vuldrok contact Sven Ulfven does not work for the Utag, Montgomery then turns to locating someone who will buy the drugs. After some asking around, he gets word of an Utag contact out in Paintersville. The characters fly out, scraping up the 25 FB in fuel and landing fees from the bottoms of their pockets. At Paintersville, the characters manage to locate "Rocket" Gunvalt in his junkyard, surrounded by mean-looking dogs. They negotiate with him, quickly determining that he is interested in anti-rad drugs, but isn't so desperate as to pay truly insane prices for them. "Rocket" is substantially more hard-nosed about negotiating for price than the characters expected; Montgomery finally decides that this is because he needs to be able to purchase some large final quantity of drugs on a relatively fixed budget. "Rocket" agrees to pay 17 FB per dose for the 100 doses the characters have on hand, then suggests that he will pay them 15 FB per dose for 1000-dose lots. The characters ask for half of the money in advance, intimating that this will help achieve rapid delivery. "Rocket" Gunvalt chuckles, notes that the Utag have run into others who made similar claims then simply ran with the money, and offers them 1/3 in advance. They take it.
The characters depart Paintersville with a total of 6700 FB locked securely in a strongbox, having agreed to deliver an additional 1000 doses of anti-radiation drugs to a warehouse in Tuam, where One-Eyed Pete will pick them up. They will be paid an additional 5000 FB on delivery.
On the way back to Tuam, Montgomery reimburses Peter for the landing and fuel fees incurred during the trip. This amounts to some 155 FB for two stops in Tuam and one stop in Paintersville.
The characters return to find their source again. If anything, he appears to be even jumpier than he was the last time they talked to him. He quickly agrees to sell them 1000 doses of anti-radiation drugs, but insists with a junkie's fervor that he needs 200 FB to "tide him over" until he can deliver the goods. He insists upon this point with such vigor that the characters decide that he must have either a mistress or a catastrophic gambling habit. Out of disgust, Montgomery finally gives him the money. Brother Xavier makes a point of threatening him, noting in his most civilized tones that bad things happen to people who don't come up with the goods.
The characters have only barely managed to settle in to their meager digs in the Low City when a courier brings them a message. Peter Sangaree pays him the Tuam Shilling that is due on the message almost without thinking, tossing another one to the boy at a tip.
The message is sealed with the stamp of the MachtArbeiterBank of Lenbow, and written upon extremely high-grade paper. It proves to be from a Manager Raul Ackens, who appears to have paid a lot of attention to his formal writing classes back in school. He explains that he has only recently arrived in the Tuam High City, and wishes the honor of a meeting with Sir Brindal Karth de Hazat to discuss the state of his fief and to deliver a package to him. The characters immediately understand that their money has arrived, and make arrangements to have a meeting.
The characters agree to meet with Manager Ackens in his rented townhouse. They are received by Charity Frice, a Reeve Associate who manages to accentuate her bland, professional looks with a dress style severe enough to make other Reeves look dashing. She seems pleasant enough in an isolated sort of way, leading the characters to the sitting room where they wait for Manager Ackens.
The Manager is a dramatic contrast to his associate. He turns out to be a bitter, spindly man with a taste for clothes more extravagant than normally seen in a Reeve. His long coat is black, as is proper, but made from the finest cloths Ackens can afford, and fronted with black fur. He comments that his family back on Leagueheim is powerful and wealthy, and it is clear that he regards his service upon Delphi and Gwynneth as nothing more than exile to a provincial backwater. It is equally clear that he would much prefer to be serving as an advisor the court of the Hawkwood Prince. His message is simple: he has 11,900 FB and a big stack of Hazat military manuals for Sir Brindal Karth. He also wishes to see the colony and review it's progress thus far. The characters agree to provide him and his entourage with transportation out to Fennen Marsh, though they warn him that it may not be as fine as he is normally used to.
Manager Ackens has another surprise for the characters: another old companion of Sir Brindal Karth, from his days back on Aragon. The vorox Korzhun appeared on Delphi a few months ago, fleeing from the same forces that drive Sir Brindal Karth and most of the other characters away from Aragon. Korzhun is quite happy to see the characters, many of whom fought beside him against the Haustein Syndicate.
The characters go on some shopping errands while they wait for their source to come up with the anti-radiation drugs. Peter Sangaree, armed with diagrams from the Hazat manuals in Sir Brindal Karth's package, goes to a tailor and has a uniform for a Hazat Lieutenant made. The cost of the uniform is 50 FB.
Peter also spends some effort on his project to manufacture firearms from stamped metal parts. He obtains enough sheet metal to create twenty prototypes, plus material for the first set of stamping dies, for 100 FB. He also realizes that he needs to find some kind of prototype upon which to manufacture his first set of dies. He spends several days desperately looking for anything similar for sale in either the High City or the Low City. After talking to every gunsmith in Tuam (of whom there are not all that many), he fails to find anything that will do. He discovers that the norm for gunsmithing in Tuam involves either manufacturing individual, beautifully-engraved and ornamented weapons for the nobility, or hammering out cheaper percussion-cap and cartridge weapons for the freemen of the Low City. In neither case do the artisans manufacture effective, low-grade weapons in quantity.
Peter despairs of finding anything suitable until he happens to notice a shabby Muster mercenary shambling along a High City street with what appears to be a cheap stamped machine pistol on his hip. Peter addresses the man, then shudders when he realizes that the fellow has no teeth on the right side of his mouth. Overcoming his disgust, he asks the guy about his gun. The Muster man explains that it's a cheap Li Halan sidearm, and quickly agrees to sell it to Peter for 35 FB. The two of them actually get along fairly well, and after the Muster trooper (whose name turns out to be Grigori) explains that his term with the Eahlen Forest Fusiliers has ended, Peter agrees to hire him for 5 FB per week plus a new firearm as a signing bonus. Grigori's employment will start up in a couple of months, when Peter has his new firearms manufactory running.
Brother Xavier and Montgomery Burns look for power woodworking tools in the High City marketplace. They find the items they need fairly quickly, and spend a total of 500 FB purchasing them. They arrange for their purchases to be delivered out to the airfield and loaded onto the Luftking.
Montgomery Burns is also interested in establishing some aquaculture farms at Fennen Marsh, and in purchasing some more durable buildings. He quickly finds that this kind of item is not readily available in Tuam, so he flips through his book of names, identifies a few likely individuals, and writes them letters expressing his interest. He hopes that they will be able too provide him with costs and sources by the time he next appears in Tuam.
Brother Xavier notices that people are now selling anti-zombie charms in the Low City marketplaces, so he goes to the Church to find out how the zombie plague up at Fort Sabwran is going. His initial inquiries are to various staff priests, who all tell him that the situation is well under control. Brother Xavier easily identifies this as PR dissembling, and continues to press. He is eventually able to find out that the situation is not as good as might be hoped. The Commandant at Fort Sabwran has stopped sending out militia sweeps for zombies: they have cost too many troopers, and often just result in better-armed zombies. Isolated cases of zombieism have been reported in Paintersville and in the edges of the South Coast Duchy. The various Abbots of the monasteries around Fort Sabwran are organizing a great ritual to ask the Pancreator to bring an end to the plague.
The characters' source for anti-radiation drugs finally comes through. The man sends a message to the characters saying that he has their merchandise, and needs a meeting. When they show up, the man is in a desperate panic. After only minimal prodding, he admits that all his goods are stolen from the High City Hospital stores. He has all the anti-radiation drugs that were in the storeroom, 1300 doses all told.
The characters' source proves to be sufficiently agitated that he is willing to spill everything. He tells them that he is an Apothecary at the High City Hospital, and that his name is Livermore. His problems started when he met a wonderful woman named Louise who appears to have staggeringly expensive tastes. Livermore isn't quite sure how much money he owes the Scravers, but the last time they mentioned an amount to him he though it was some 300,000 FB. He used the 200 FB the characters gave him before to pay them off for a moment. However, he understands that he has no future remaining in Tuam, and desperately needs the 5000 FB the characters agreed to pay him for the drugs. His supervisors will surely notice that he has cleared out a section of the hospital pharmacy. He explains that he already has transportation to Llanfyrth and a ticket to Criticorum all arranged.
The characters give him his money, but take him along so he can show them where he hid the anti-radiation drugs.
The finish of the deal is quite straightforward. The characters drop the goods off at the warehouse indicated by "Rocket" Gunvalt. One-Eyed Pete shows up, hands over the remaining money, and waddles off with the cases of drugs.
The total proceeds of the deal are 19,500 FB. After expenses (transportation costs, costs of goods, etc.) the profits amount to some 15,255 FB.
The problems start when the characters reunite in their quarters to split up the money. Montgomery Burns, who provided most of the contacts needed to get the goods and sell them to the Utag, holds out that he should get the lion's share of the profits. Brother Xavier and Peter Sangaree argue instead that most of the money should be placed in the Fennen Marsh colony's general fund. Montgomery is somewhat willing to reduce his own personal share of the proceeds, but is terribly opposed to the notion of communistic ideas like taxation to the colony. His objections are backed up by the fact that in his view, the colony's treasury is pretty much a slush fund for the other characters' private projects.
Montgomery finally agrees to give over half of the proceeds to the colony, and 500 FB to the vorox (who looked really quite threatening in the warehouse), but his dissatisfaction with this arrangement is plain to see.
The Luftking is quite full on its journey back to Fennen Marsh. In addition to the characters, the passengers include Manager Ackens, his two assistants (Associate Charity Frice and Associate Samson Pawlings ab Justinian), and his three Muster bodyguards Rack, Bass and Munting. The three Muster men are unfamiliar to the characters. They dress professionally and wear mid-weight synthsilk armor. They appear to be armed with short blades and main-gauches.
As a surprise passenger, the characters at the last moment ask the Apothecary Livermore if he would be interested in working for them. They point out that the isolation of the Fennen Marsh colony will keep him much safer from the Scravers than distance ever could. Still clutching a carpet bag near bursting from all the firebirds inside, Livermore agrees in a bloodless whisper.
The flight out to Fennen Marsh is quite uneventful, and much less nerve-wracking now that most of the Vuldrok who would have been patrolling the area have been destroyed or driven away. At the landing field, Peter Sangaree asks the vorox Korzhun to take special care of the Reeve woman, Charity Frice, and to keep her away from Red Billy. Peter also tells Korzhun that if Red Billy should give him any trouble, he's free to kill him with dispatch.
The characters face a few problems getting all of their visitors settled in. Apothecary Livermore is quite willing to accept whatever the characters offer him, and makes no trouble at all. Manager Ackens, however, is quite upset at the characters' plan to house him in the tent formerly occupied by the Chibren Groupleader Ribben and his Rangers. Manager Ackens points out, for example, that the tent is far too small to accommodate himself, his entourage, and all of the important luggage he brought along.
The only plea the characters are willing to entertain is that of Charity Frice, who asks that she not be quartered in mixed company. Her request is so reasonably worded, and her attitude so practical, that Peter ends up giving her quarters substantially nicer than those of her boss: he has a section of the characters' machine shop curtained off for her. Nobody comments upon any possible romantic ambitions Peter may harbor for the young Reeve.
Manager Ackens and his people stay at Fennen Marsh for a couple of weeks. During this time, both Brother Xavier and Peter Sangaree show him around and point out the various accomplishments of the colony. They make a special point of mentioning that until recently they were unable to construct anything visible from the air for fear of Vuldrok raids. They almost don't need to comment that the three VERTOLs parked on the landing field are visible evidence that this is no longer a problem. Even though Manager Ackens tries to be dismissive and arrogant, the characters are able to tell that he is impressed in spite of himself. They need no effort to tell that Charity Frice is impressed: she compliments them upon their accomplishments.
During the time Manager Ackens is resident at the colony, Peter uses his newly-captured machine tools to carve out four "soft" dies for his new machine pistol. He is then able to stamp out two prototype weapons, which he nicknames "Sangaree Specials." He estimates that once he gets the bugs in the design worked out, he will be able to manufacture three guns per day with a successful Armory roll.
While Peter spends his time in the machine shop fretting over sheet steel, Brother Xavier and Korzhun try their luck hunting. Their initial forays net a few marsh deer that go fairly far towards adding a bit of diversity to the colony's table. They then decide to try and hunt something different. They consider the various possibilities, then publicly declare that they're going to try and hunt one of the big pseudo-hippos that lurk in the reeds at the edges of the Anquelline. Considering that the best speed one of the creatures can make is a trotting waddle, they get one in short order.
Pseudo-hippo flesh turns out to be rather rubbery. Brother Xavier is hardly put off by this, and has Freeman Merrill Howe (the colony's cook) prepare it for Manager Ackens' farewell feast. Afterwards, both Freeman Howe and Brother Xavier apply themselves to figuring out how best to prepare pseudo-hippo meat for consumption. Freeman Howe claims to have a number of ideas, while Brother Xavier decides to focus in on just one: pseudo-hippo pemmican. He notices (thanks to his Naturalist skill) that the creatures bear a substantial amount of blubber, which could also be refined down into soap, candles, wax, or a number of other products.
Once Peter is satisfied that his two prototype machine pistols won't usually blow up in the user's face, he announces a contest. Everyone in the colony is eligible to take part, even the convicts. Everyone has a week to try and find the ugliest living creature they can lay their hands on. Whoever manages to find the more disgusting beast wins. The prize is 5 FB and the second prototype weapon if the winner is a freeman, or just 5 FB if the winner is a convict. Peter plans on naming the gun after whatever creature wins.
The session ends with all the characters in Fennen Marsh. The MachtArbeiterBank representative Manger Ackens has only recently departed from the colony. Montgomery Burns remains offended at the socialist way the other characters forced him to give up part of his rightful profits.
Each character gains three experience points.