Victoriana: Wedding Bells

JOSH, PLEASE SKIP THIS ONE.

Saturday 18 Aug 2012: 8 am: Wedding Bells for Victoriana

• GM: Walter Ciechanowski
• Me: Susanna Havering
• ???: Nathaniel Havering
• Chris Tumbler(?): Jonathan Havering
• Debby: Mirela Cale (played Night Hag in In for a Penny Dreadful)
• Christopher Gray(?): Patterson Briggs

There are seven Havering adventures. The first three have been collected in _The Havering Adventures_, and there will be a collection of the second three, which includes the one I played in earlier at GenCon. This adventure is sort of a bonus, the farewell to the Havering family, as Walter was asked to create a new group for demonstrating the mechanics in third edition Victoriana.

Several of us had played at least one game in the Havering series before, so we all knew the characters. Nathaniel Havering was the older brother, a gambler and spendthrift. Susanna was his wife, from an impoverished noble family delighted to trade their aristocratic clout for Havering money. Susanna was a free spirit and had met Nathaniel at a card game where they both got so drunk that neither remembers who proposed first. Theirs was a love match, and they were somewhat surprised when their families supported this.

Mirela Cale was Susanna's lady maid, and a gypsy. I think either she had helped Susanna out when they were in a somewhat dangerous part of London. The upshot was that Susanna hired Mirela, and Mirela considered it her duty to protect Susanna. She was a new PC, replacing Selina for reasons that will become obvious.

Patterson Briggs was Nathaniel's manservant. He originally offered his services when he lost at cards to Nathaniel, and by the time he'd worked off the debt, Nathaniel hired him, having found the dwarf's physical prowess useful in dealing with the enemies that the family occasionally -- well, a bit more than occasionally -- well, all right, rather often, if you insist -- made. Patterson kept Nathaniel's revolver under his hat, along with a chicken sandwich for when the nobles were fed, but no one thought to feed the servants.

Nathaniel's brother was Jonathan Havering, the respectable police detective. Jonathan had gotten addicted to opium and been helped out of an opium den by Selina Tamworthy, who, unknown to Jonathan, had been hired to help Jonathan out by Susanna. Selina, while not Chinese herself, had been adopted by a Chinese family that was part of one of the Tongs. It was understood when she left the family to become Jonathan's fiance that she owed them a Very Large Favor.

Perhaps this is why Selina had been so reluctant to marry Jonathan. Certainly, she did not want to be thought of as a gold digger. And, she did not wish to bring shame to the Havering family. But, she had been with the family for rather a long time now, sharing their adventures in London and as far abroad as Calcutta. It was, as the GM put it, put-up-or-shut-up time, and Selina had finally agreed to marry Jonathan. And, she was an NPC for the session in which the marriage was to take place. What could possible go wrong?

As there were only five players, the GM dropped the gnome mage Tobin, explaining that Tobin was the regular sacrificial lamb if a game didn't completely fill. He was the odd man out in the regular group, and, really, the GM asked, what is the difference between an etheric bolt and a revolver when one gets right down to it? The 2nd PC to be knocked out is usually Selina. If only three players show up, I think he prefers not to run.

The scenario opened in the Havering household in Kensington, shortly before the wedding was to take place. Nathaniel and Jonathan's parents, Vincent and Margaret Havering, were there, having recently returned from Brazil, where Vincent Havering had arranged for new shipping contracts.

The marriage of Jonathan and Selina was to take place at the estate of Lady Justina, outside London. Lady Justina, also present at the Kensington house, was the cousin of Nathaniel and Jonathan, and in a previous episode, Bad Things had happened to her brother and father. She was quite grateful to the brothers, their ladies, and their servants for such aid as they gave her, and she very much liked Selina and genuinely wished Selina and Jonathan to be very happily married.

This is more than Vincent and Margaret wished. They wished that Jonathan would marry cousin Justina, and not some piece of gutter trash like Selina. They made their feelings politely, but quite clearly, known at the bachelor dinner.

The bachelor dinner, the GM explained, was not our modern bachelor party. It was hosted by the son's parents, and was a household dinner. Later, it evolved into the rehearsal dinner, and the bachelor party evolved as well.

Jonathan's player: I can see this being the evolution of that!

Eventually, the barbs from elder Haverings got to be too much for Selina, who retired to her room upstairs. This was not played out, merely narrated much as I have just done, and I think we all knew that this was code for "Selina is going offstage so that something can happen when the PCs aren't with her".

The elder Haverings weren't finished with their barbs. They also didn't understand why the younger members of the family chose a thug with a broken nose and a thieving gypsy as servants. The rest of the family decided that perhaps enlightening them might not be such a good idea.

The elder Haverings had mixed feelings about missing a new exhibit opening at Madame Tussaud's. It was about the Crimean War, and it was to feature not just wax statues, but _animated_ wax statues. Vincent and Margaret had originally been going to go to it in the morning, but couldn't, as everyone had to take the train to Lady Justina's estate. Margaret noted that she found wax statues Quite Disturbing.

Patterson blew a Wits + Perception roll, and was thus too vaguely disinterested to pay attention. Somehow or other, a wine bottle hit the floor.

Patterson (possibly thinking or muttering under his breath rather than saying outright): Son of a bitch -- I'm gonna have to clean that up!

Nathaniel: Patterson!

Patterson: Yes?

Nathaniel (gesturing to the mess): I think you know what needs to be done.

As Patterson went to deal with the mess, Nathaniel enjoyed a semi-friendly dig at his brother.

Nathaniel: Jonathan, so how does it feel to be the _other_ black sheep in the family? To think _I'm_ the favored son!

At this point, Patterson was heading upstairs, although I forget exactly why. Susanna and Mirela were heading upstairs to check on Selina, but they were behind Patterson.

This meant that Patterson was the first to notice a magically cloaked area on the balcony.

Patterson (a dwarf, as the audience may recall): I lash out at (human) crotch level.

GM: You punch that gnome right in the face.

Susanna: Is there a problem?

Mirela: Yes!

Patterson: Not so much anymore!

Jonathan: What's going on?

Patterson: There's someone in the house!

Susanna: Why, yes, rather a lot of us.

Patterson: There's someone _invisible_ in the house!

Susanna: Oh! (using her aura reading to spot the invisible gnome) Yes.

She advised people of where the invisible intruder(s?) was (were?). I think Jonathan joined in the fray, and I think his player was the one rolling 10 successes.

GM: If you can't take him down with 10, I'm switching your characters!

Two intruders were captured.

Susanna: I delicately knock on Selina's door.

Jonathan: I _not_ so delicately knock!

Nathaniel (looking at some mess -- I forget whether it was blood or wine): Ooh, _that's_ not coming out!

When Selina didn't answer, Jonathan got ready to break down the door.

Nathaniel: Jonathan! Show some sense! Patterson!

Patterson: Yes, sir.

Nathaniel: We have a problem with the door.

There was a hold spell on the door, but I think that was quickly dealt with, whereupon Patterson quickly dealt with the door.

Selina, of course, was not there. The window was open. The room had been ransacked.

Susanna (looking out the window): Obviously, she's gone outside.

Nathaniel: Yes, that's obviously what happened.

Margaret Havering (hopefully): Really? She doesn't just have cold feet?

Jonathan glared at her.

Nathaniel: So, Mother, how did you enjoy the party?

The two captured intruders were Eurasian.

Patterson: Do we owe any money to a Tong, maybe?

Nathaniel: Not yet!

The intruders had been armed with wooden short swords.

Patterson: Opium den! These people are oriental, right? Opium den! (seeing Jonathan stomping around) Hey, hey, hey -- wipe your feet! I'm mopping the floor!

Nathaniel: Show some class, brother!

The GM called for a Wits plus Perception roll, 4 successes needed.

Me (looking at four 1s in a system where one wants to roll high): Um... guess what?

Fortunately, Jonathan decided to search Selina's room, like the detective he was.

GM: Oh, good show! Finally! Someone's casing the room!

Interestingly, Selina's jewelry had not been taken.

Susanna: Nathaniel, I didn't want to cause a scene, but could your parents have set this up?

Nathaniel: Oh, no -- the scandal! They would poison her -- and not in the house. And they would rather pay her to leave.

Nathaniel (to Jonathan, I think): I doubt she shared _everything_ with you. You weren't married yet.

Eventually, folks began to realize that their captives were probably not Chinese, but Japanese. No one in the household spoke Japanese.

Nathaniel: Why would anyone speak Japanese?

Patterson: We could start cutting off fingers till he speaks some language we understand. Wait -- I learned this trick from my father --

Nathaniel: _I_ learned _this_ trick from _my_ father! (to the captives) Do! You! Speak! English!

Vincent Havering: Is he Chinese? Do you owe someone Chinese?

Susanna: Not yet!

Vincent Havering: Do I have to pay someone off? Again?

Susanna and Nathaniel: Not yet!

Vincent Havering: Who _are_ these people?

Nathaniel: Well... (pointing) I'm calling this one Joseph and this one Toby.

Vincent Havering: Where are they from?

Nathaniel: Japan!

Vincent Havering: Japan?

Susanna: We haven't been there, so we _can't_ owe anyone any money there!

They discussed ways of getting information out of their captives.

Patterson: Or beaten unconscious -- I hear that works!

GM: Thank you for that assessment, Patterson.

At this point, a scroll was delivered to the household by a beastman urchin (Scottish Terrier) who had received it from another beastman (a foxman). The scroll was in Japanese, which, as has been mentioned, none of the Haverings or their servants spoke -- or read.

There wasn't a lot that the Haverings could do the rest of the night, although Jonathan certainly tried. The next day, Justina took Vincent and Margaret away to her estate, which meant that the others wouldn't be quite so tempted to domestic violence as the elder Haverings made it clear that they thought a wedding could still take place, merely substituting Justina for Selina. Justina privately made it clear that she wanted Selina back safe and she had no intention of trying to marry Jonathan.

By now, the Haverings had learned that one Sir Robert Adams might be able to help them. His father, William Adams, was the first one to reach Japan, according to my notes. I'm not sure if this means "the first person from Britain" or something more limited. Sir Robert was a member of an oriental cult, and he was the foremost authority on things Japanese.

Patterson Briggs's player: Well, except the Japanese.

Nathaniel: Can you ready the carriage?

Patterson: Of course!

Nathaniel: Then come up and help me get dressed

The Haverings arrived at the Adams residence. The kitchen smelled funny to Patterson. Clearly, they cooked different things in this household than what he was used to. He took a chicken sandwich out of his hat.

The Haverings were greeted by Molly Adams, the grand-daughter of Sir Robert, who listened to their story and took them to meet Sir Robert himself, a truly ancient eldren (elf) of about three hundred years of age.

Sir Robert was in the garden, which was the best approximation of a Japanese garden one could do in London at this time (the late 1860s, I think). He was wearing Asian robes and kneeling at a table, if I read my notes correctly.

Nathaniel (after explaining the situation and proffering the scroll): We were hoping you could read this as you are the foremost authority.

Sir Robert: I shall see. I only lived there for three decades. (studying the scroll) A practiced hand. This was written by a native speaker. It says, "Investigator".

Jonathan: I guess that would be me.

The letter went on to say that the prostitute (Selena) had taken the Smoke in Yellow in the last month of leaves.

Sir Robert: I apologize -- the word 'geisha' does not translate well into English.

Regardless, the letter's meaning was clear enough. The author claimed that Selena had stolen some item, an artifact or jewel, as far as the readers could tell, when she was still working with her Tong. The author wanted it back in return for Selina.

No one was sure just what the Smoke in Yellow was, but they did know that one Lord Mace was an authority on things more, ah, esoteric. Lord Mace was also the Grandmaster of the London Oriental Society, which he ran from home. In this particular case, "Oriental Society" was a bit of a euphemism for "people who admire well executed pornography from around the world".

GM: There are some rumors he's a demonologist and others that he has connections in the government.

Susanna: They could both be true.

Patterson (just about simultaneously): They're not mutually exclusive.

Jonathan knew that the Yard called on Lord Mace when there was a problem involving magic to be solved.

Susanna: Will there be a card game?

Nathanial: Probably.

Jonathan: Should I bring some friends?

Nathaniel: No.

Lord Mace was first described in Volume 1 of the Victoriana supplement Faces in the Smoke, which is where I swiped him from for my Kerberos Fate game, where he's surprisingly popular with players and PCs alike. It was an unexpected pleasure to meet the original (or at least something close to it).

The Haverings arranged to call on Lord Mace at his home. They were shown in and left to wait, briefly, in a room filled with all sorts of pornographic sculptures, paintings, and so on.

Nathaniel: So... do you think Father would let us redecorate?

The servants brought plates of figs, oysters, and other foods considered to be aphrodisiacs.

Lord Mace arrived with a woman he introduced as Dona Conchetta. Neither were what one would call properly dressed, but both were sufficiently covered as not to be too distracting.

Lord Mace praised Susanna's beauty and said that if he had realized how lovely she was, he would surely have invited her to his home before.

Lord Mace (to Nathaniel): And your card playing is legendary.

Indeed it was. Part of the reason the Haverings had to go abroad from time to time was that the gambling places in London needed enough time to forget Nathaniel's skill so that he wasn't universally banned.

Lord Mace had indeed heard of the Smoke in Yellow. It was a smoky quarts crystal, encased in amber. It was believed lost in Indonesia centuries ago. Lord Mace himself had tried to find the jewel some time ago. He had learned that there was a spirit, a kiria (if I read my notes correctly -- I wonder if I meant "kirin"), trapped within the crystal. It could translate one's raw emotions into a material being. Naturally, as a sensualist, he was intrigued.

Unfortunately, he explained, he had learned enough to know that only negative emotions, such as anger or a desire for revenge, were so transformed. The Smoke in Yellow was more of an assassin's tool than a pleasure device, and thus, not something Lord Mace wanted to own.

Lord Mace: If you uncover it, destroy it.

Nathaniel: Thank you for your time. Perhaps we may meet again under more pleasant circumstances.

Lord Mace (to Susanna): Say next Wednesday? I'll send you an invitation. (to Nathaniel) Oh, you may come too, Mr. Havering.

Nathaniel (unashamed): I'll take what kindness I can get.

And, indeed, an invitation to one of Lord Mace's parties meant, in addition to an orgy, an opportunity to make connections among some of the highest in society who wanted to indulge certain vices discreetly, and with only the best of people.

Susanna: Lord Mace, if we do find and try to destroy it, is this one of those things dreadfully difficult to destroy?

Lord Mace: It's amber and quartz -- it can't be _that_ difficult!

Susanna was worried that there might be some kind of magical protection on the artifact, but Lord Mace (and the GM) told her not to overthink or anticipate that kind of problem without evidence that it existed. Perfectly reasonable, even if it felt very strange to me to have a powerful item in an RPG that could actually be destroyed so easily.

The Haverings next went to the Blue Dragon, an opium den run by Selina's foster mother. (My notes say "Li Fan", but I don't know if that's the woman's name, the den's name, or something else completely.)

There was an Oxman acting as the bouncer. (Hm, I'm wondering if that should be a Bullman, as I've no reason to believe he was missing any pieces.)

Oxman (to Jonathan): Mr. Havering. It's been a while. Where's Selina?

Jonathan: That's what we need to talk about.

Oxman: You may enter. (to Susanna) My Lady, it's been a while.

GM: He doesn't use your name because you paid him quite well not to refer to you by name.

Susanna gave him a small gratuity, pleased that he remembered.

Selina's foster mother either was or pretended to be happy to see them. As Susanna expected, she did not know the whereabouts of the Smoke in Yellow. And, if Selina had hidden something in the opium den, her foster mother would certainly have found it.

But, the woman did remember that there had been a sailor who tried to buy Selina's affection with such a jewel. Apparently, Selina had turned him down, as she was seeing Jonathan at the time, although she had had a relationship with the sailor before that.

Some time later, Selina was accosted by the sailor, but he then disappeared into mist. Perhaps he was a vampire?

Patterson (to Jonathan): So, your fiance's dead. Sorry about that.

The den owner did seem genuinely concerned about Selina, and the Haverings had no reason to doubt this. Indeed, a happy marriage between Selina and Jonathan would work in favor of Selina's Tong, as far as I can tell.

The name of the sailor was Daniel McManus. He worked on a ship that transported goods from India and points east. He frequented a pub known as the Salty Dog.

After a quick bit of dice rolling, it was determined that, oddly, _Nathaniel_ knew the place.

Patterson: Yes -- I took him there.

Nathaniel and Patterson went to the Salty Dog, which was near the East India Docks.

Nathaniel: So, do you feel at home yet, Patterson?

Nathaniel asked around for Daniel McManus. My notes have some out of context quotes here:

Probably Nathaniel, possibly Patterson: A man's jewels are off limits! However! That's not what I wanted to discuss -- today!

Someone in the pub, possibly the bartender: I can't give you Daniel, but there's one of his mates. Harry Tuttle.

Either Nathaniel or Patterson: Seriously?

Person in the pub: Served on Pride of Avalon

Nathaniel went over to talk to his new friend, Harry Tuttle.

Harry: You're not my friend.

Nathaniel: I'm not your friend _yet_. The future is full of possibilities.

Harry: I don't know about that. I already don't like you.

I think Patterson may have offered to take things more physical, but I'm not sure. My notes have this:

Nathaniel: You have such a propensity for violence. You should get that looked into.

Harry: It's not me you want. You want a spiritualist. (as Nathaniel and Patterson gape at him) McManus died -- some months ago.

Nathaniel: Where?

Harry: Here.

Nathaniel: London or the pub?

Harry explained that "old Daniel" hadn't had much luck after they, ah, appropriated some illegal goods from a ship in Java. Daniel had been seen throwing a man overboard -- there were witnesses. But, Daniel was quite definitely playing cards with others at the time -- there were a whole lot of witnesses to that. The crew became convinced that Daniel was cursed.

Daniel had pawned something, but he got it back to take to some woman he wanted. But, she still told him no. Later on, he was accused of cheating during a card game. One of the other players gutted him and hung for it. The rest took his valuables and split the winnings.

Nathaniel described the Smoke in Yellow. Harry said that Cutty John had taken that and almost certainly pawned it at Timmons and Son.

When she heard that, Mirela rattled off the address of Timmons and Son in Wapping. The son had recently taken it over, as the father had been brutally murdered a few months back.

I think the Haverings were able to figure out that the Smoke in Yellow had been sold to a dwarf named Mr. Clyburn. Remember Lord Mace's explanation of what the gem did? It seemed that Clyburn was one of the foremost pioneers of airship industry. He'd been in business with a partner, Mr. Rowlands. Mr. Rowlands had married the woman Mr. Clyburn loved and cut his former partner, Mr. Clyburn, out of the business.

Patterson: So, no anger there.

Mr. Clyburn was presently at a private party. In honor of his being a pioneer in flight, he was at an unveiling of waxed figures at Madam Tussaud's!

Susanna: Wait! We still have invitations!

Nathaniel: Well, dear, I guess we get to put on new clothing. Patterson!

Patterson: What? You already have clothing.

Nathaniel: Yes, well, now you get to arrange new clothing.

It was a good thing the Haverings had the invitation, and even so, they needed to do some quick talking to convince the royal guards stationed outside the private party to allow them in, as they weren't the elder Haverings, and as there were some Very Important guests in attendance at the exhibition of Four Pioneers in Flight. The VIPs included:

• The Princess Royal
• Prince Frederick of Prussia, her betrothed
• The Prussian Ambassador, Albright von Barnstuff (whose name I may be misspelling)
• Cadet Ferdinand von Zeppelin

Nevertheless, the Haverings and their servants were permitted in. There were a lot of uniformed guards around. And, there were some guards who were not wearing the same uniforms. The Haverings remembered what they'd been told about the Crimean War exhibition and its animated wax statues.

The Haverings were able to find Mr. Clyburn. And, indeed, the jewel adorning the top of his cane looked yellow.

Mr. Clyburn, however, professed ignorance of any of the strange goings on and insisted he held no grudge. Then, a second Mr. Clyburn arrived, with more animated wax guards, and he ordered them to attack so that he could take revenge on those who wronged him! Fortunately, the Haverings were able to protect everyone, possibly with some help from the non-wax guards.

Someone: You brought a derringer to a gun fight?

GM: You know, out of all characters in the Havering family, Mirela's the only one I designed.

Patterson: Come here, please!

Jonathan (I think): I'm still beating the shit out of one of those wax dummies.

The Haverings explained what was going on and managed to convenience the Princess Royal to let them borrow the Smoke in Yellow for long enough to rescue Selina. They vowed to take it to Lord Mace immediately afterwards, so that it could be destroyed.

A second message was delivered to the Haverings via a blue cab driven by a foxman. Interestingly, this one was in English. It set up the time and place to exchange the Smoke in Yellow for Selina, and warned against bringing in police (other than Jonathan).

Nathaniel (to Patterson): Be sure to bring your bowler this time.

Patterson: Why, yes, we might need lunch!

The exchange was to take place in an abandoned cannery. We negotiated having rifles for two fate points, according to my notes. I'm not quite sure how many rifles, but I'm guessing two. My notes say "Rifles -- 2 FPs for 12 d dz", and I'm no longer sure what that means.

The Haverings pondered the merits of using the Smoke in Yellow.

Jonathan: Actually, yes -- let me hold that right now.

Mirela used her magic to hide in a cloak of shadows. The others approached openly, I think.

There was an Oni in charge of the people who had kidnapped Selina. In Victoriana, Onis are a type of Ogre, but unlike most Ogres, there is no racial stupidity. The Oni's command of English was not perfect, but he gestured up to the catwalks where a bound and gagged Selina was guarded by folks with long blades and demanded that the Haverings hand over the Smoke in Yellow before he released her.

Jonathan demanded to know what guarantee they had that Selina would indeed be freed once the oni had the Smoke in Yellow. He was not satisfied when the oni indicated that there was no guarantee and repeated his demand.

While this conversation was going on, Mirela snuck up to the catwalk level planning to free Selina. But, when the action started, she did not go first. Neither did the kidnappers. No, someone else started killing the bad guys, someone who was a deadly shot.

Someone (realizing): Oh -- the _evil_ Jonathan!

Someone else (possibly Jonathan's player): No, not evil. Merely intense.

Selina was freed and the criminals either killed or captured. The Smoke in Yellow was brought at once to Lord Mace, and it was destroyed. The evil (or intense) doppelganger discorporated fairly soon, I think.

And, Jonathan and Selina were married in a lovely ceremony at Lady Justina's estate.

The GM explained that the criminals looking for the Smoke in Yellow were well aware that Selina had never had it. They kidnapped her because they wanted to make Jonathan, the detective, find it for them.

But, we said, didn't they see the flaw in their plan? Didn't they realize that the Haverings would use the Smoke in Yellow?

GM: Well, they hoped you wouldn't know how.

I think that's a bit weak, but otherwise, this was a delightful farewell to the Havering family.