TheStarsAreRight:BaileySessionJanuary2011
[As usual, Redland deserts the group a couple of times during the session, so I'm a little hazier about the details in a couple of spots.]
Mary, Henrik, Stewart, Rebecca, and Redland meet up (unexpectedly) with Boris as they prepare to head down to Skull Island (south of India, southwest of Sumatra).
Dirk Michaels flies them down to Southern India, where they have a layover while he secures a plane that can make a water-based landing.
Henrik decides to take this time to see if any of the locals have information about what is occurring on Skull Island. He encounters an old man who has a son, Timal(sp?) who was recruited to do some work there. Redland isn't terribly interested in what the guy has to say, so he chats with Boris instead (I think the upshot is that about 15 locals were recruited, mostly mechanic-types, and around 15 people from Sumatra were recruited. No one has heard anything from them since).
After a bit of a rough landing, the group arrives at the western-most point of Skull Island, the evening of the 20th of June. Armed to the teeth (and carting around a stack of iron 'shields'), the group cautiously heads east. The natives seem to have left their small village in a hurry. Use of the EPG (yeah, that's right, I'm calling it an EPG) leads the group unerringly (and unsurprisingly?) to Skull Mountain. While Rebecca is 'scanning' the area, Boris detects that she has been infected with some sort of Outside corruption, though he keeps this information to himself for the time being.
They travel up the mountain and come across a tunnel entrance from which they hear voices. It's unclear which direction they should go, but after some discussion, they decide to enter the tunnel, overruling Stewart who wants to ascend. They try to sneak in quietly to assess the situation. Unfortunately, Redland flounders, dropping his heavy iron shield. The noise alerts the two men who come rushing over. Mary and Henrik attempt to communicate with them, but the language barrier appears insurmountable. One thing that is clear, is that the men want them to leave the tunnels. They are about to do so, when Henrik makes one last attempt to communicate, mentioning the old man's son, Timal. Something strikes them the wrong way, and the unarmed men rush at Henrik. Boris uses his magic and crushes the life out of the guy closest to Henrik. The other guy surrenders immediately.
Redland takes the man's death badly, so Boris gives him some aqua vitae in an effort to keep him going.
They proceed down the tunnel a bit further (leaving the living guy tied up). Henrik explores ahead a bit and sees a large cavern below that contains a magical wellspring, over a dozen laborers, an odd looking 'airship', and a single British-looking fellow.
Having reached the end of this area of the tunnel, Boris wants to exit out and get a different vantage point on the cavern. Having blundered earlier, and still feeling the shock of the death he has witnessed, Redland remains behind, with Rebecca to watch over him (earning him a glower from Henrik), while the others exit the tunnel.
Mary, Boris, Stewart, and Henrik exit the tunnel and head up the mountain. Stewart heroically manages to avoid saying 'I told you so,' regarding the debacle in the tunnel (everyone has probably forgotten, but he didn't want to enter the tunnel in the first place). His stoic silence was an inspiration to us all.
With a superior vantage point, Boris manages to identify the 'Englishman' as an immortal being with a strong link to the Worldsoul. He believes that the Sword of Solomon is not located near the Wellspring. He also indicates that it is too dangerous to approach the immortal being (he believes that the natives and maybe some of those who were hired were 'liquidated' to enable the creation of the airship, or something along those lines) and that they should regroup, attempt to ascertain the location of the sword mystically, and get off the island.
While Boris is otherwise occupied, Mary indicates that she believes Boris is evil and untrustworthy. Redland counters that Boris has never steered him wrong and that the current state of the world needs men like Boris who have the strength to do the 'wrong' thing. (As an aside, even though Henrik approaches things from a very different framework, strangely enough, no one comes closer to supporting Redland's views more consistently than Henrik, who takes the middle ground in this discussion.)
Henrik uses his 'General' powers and is able to get a fairly good bead on the sword's location. Again, Redland chooses to remain behind (he claims he'll watch over their prisoner, who they've reacquired after tying him up earlier) and Rebecca is left to watch over him, earning Redland a second glower from Henrik (Redland is just skilled at figuring out ways to spend time alone with pretty girls, so it's unclear why Henrik is so annoyed...).
Stewart, Henrik, Mary, and Boris track down the sword, which appears to show an affinity for Stewart, who locates it when Henrik's powers mysteriously desert him.
Having recovered the sword, the group rejoins, makes ready to leave the island, and plans to let their prisoner loose. Redland argues that they should take the man with them, so that they can question him with the assistance of someone who speaks the language. He also argues that they're likely doing the guy a favor, given the (probable) mysterious deaths of the natives. Jack's idea is seen as reasonable (for a change of pace!), and the man is loaded into the plane.
Jack also indicates that he is going to stay behind and talk to the immortal guy. This idea meets with a much less positive response than his previous one. They try to dissuade him. He remains stubborn. The idea of forcing him to leave is discussed and abandoned (Boris would be the one most likely willing to do such a thing, and he doesn't particularly care if Redland goes back or not). With that option off the table, most of the group starts to consider ways to implement Jack's plan. This infuriates Mary, who (awesomely) goes off on a diatribe about how stupid the idea is, how the only reason Redland wants to talk to the guy is because everyone else wants to leave, how they've already recovered the sword, which is why they went there in the first place, and that everyone is idiotic for listening to one of Jack's whims.
It should be noted that:
1) Several of Mary's points are probably accurate
2) Redland and Mary couldn't agree on the time of day if they were staring at a clock
Redland remains recalcitrant. Henrik decides to try to head things off by consulting the Worldsoul (since the immortal guy is so tied into it). He goes into a trance and confers with the Worldsoul. When he finishes, he seems changed in some way. He agrees that Redland's plan is okay, 'orders' Rebecca, Stewart, and Mary to return with the prisoner, the sword, and Dirk to the mainland. Then he, Boris, and Redland go to talk to the immortal guy.
Henrik and Redland independently form the cunning plan of walking right up to the immortal guy and saying 'Howdy.'
It quickly becomes clear that the man is quite insane, though functionally so. He also seems pretty friendly. They talk to him for awhile and several other things become apparent:
1) He is building an airship that will allow him to travel to the Outside. The one that the group has seen is a miniature version.
2) He is planning to make a test run with his larger airship in August.
3) He is immortal due to a ritual performed by the old King of the Body, the Warlord in China.
4) He is Page's father, (Alan St. Mar?) who was thought to be dead many years ago.
5) He is something of a genius.
6) He was the guy responsible for those drawings that we received from the Alchemists in Russia.
Boris speculates that he is being manipulated by someone else, that he probably wasn't responsible for any of the deaths that occurred, and that he is not actually evil (maybe just a pawn of evil, and really, who isn't one of those?)
Alan invites Redland (and anyone else) to join him in Bode, Nevada to help test out his airship, since he's moving his operations there, due to the necessity of getting some skilled craftsman (the Mijo?) to help construct portions of the ship out of rare metals.
Henrik, Boris, and Redland remain overnight as Alan's guests.
[Oh, at some point, Boris told Henrik what was happening to Rebecca, but I can't recall exactly when, since Redland was probably in one of his 'funks' when this happened.]
