Sophomore, Second/Third Week, Spring Quarter

Altclair is Naomi's campaign, set at the college of Altclair, which is somewhere in Minnesota, although modeled on the University of Chicago between the years 1987 and 1993. Think Pamela Dean's Tam Lin, GURPS Illuminati IOU, or Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Other source material (that Naomi's not familiar with) might include Elizabeth Hand's Waking the Moon and most of Charles de Lint. Players are me (Justin Thorne) and Josh (Michael Conoway). Manny (Jim Gaffney) dropped out, and Beth (Diometra) lives in Chicago, and is only an occasional player.

Naomi moved to Chicago, but I'm behind in my write ups, and she's run a few sessions since moving and hopes to run a few more via phone, email, and visits before I have exhausted my supply of material.

From the Desk of Justin Thorne:

Second/Third Week, Spring Quarter, Sophmore Year

Business as Usual at Altclair or, It's Very Rude to Vanish into Another Dimension When You've Asked People to Keep an Eye on You

It all started when I brought Michael, my best friend and land king of Burnham County; Sarah, my half-sister and Michael's queen; and Diometra, an exchange student from ancient Crete by way of somewhere else in ancient Asia Minor, to the tunnels in the Theater building. We were heading for the forge, as I wanted to show them a small statue of Apollo that I'd finished, when we got lost in the tunnels. (1)

Now, when I say "lost", I do not mean that we took a wrong turn. Sarah and I know our way well enough that that is unlikely. No, I mean that we were no longer in Burnham County. Since I could not contact my sword, Caliban, we concluded that we were no longer in the same time. (2)

We were in a maze of tunnels, which, we guessed, correctly, as it turned out, was Daedalus' labyrinth. It was in the final stages of construction, and Sarah was able to help us orient ourselves at least insofar as further in and out were concerned. (3)

We found Daedalus himself, putting the finishing touches on the labyrinth. Since Diometra reminded us that he'd killed his own son because he was afraid he had a rival who was a greater craftsman than himself, I was just as glad to let Sarah do the talking. Anyway, only she and Diometra could speak his language. (4)

Daedalus said that he had no idee how we'd arrived, but that we were welcome to try the various doors in the labyrinth to see if one of them led back to 20th century Burnham County. If I understand it correctly, the doors would not be stabilized until the labyrinth was complete, whereupon their destinations would be fixed. I wasn't convinced that Daedalus had nothing to do with our being there, but since we had little alternative, it really didn't matter.

Michael put a dollar in front of the first door we tried, so that we would have a link with which to get back. We went through the door and found ourselves on a hill overlooking a small town that was obviously from much closer to Daedalus' time than our own. Michel decided that he wanted his dollar back, so we went back to the labyrinth. (5)

Sarah later said that we were probably too quick to leave that place, as it was a safe place and we could have learned more. Perhaps, but our goal, or, at least, my goal, and I think Michael's as well, was to get home, not to go on a grand tour of history. Then again, perhaps we were being too quick to dismiss the chance to gain more information about what had happened to us and why, although I do not think that we would have learned anything about that from the town.

Michael reclaimed his dollar and left a five-dollar bill in front of the second door. We went through it and were run over, literally, by a small army unit. Fortunately, it was far more interested in the city below than in four strangers who happened to be in its path. Battered, but not seriously injured, we picked ourselves up and determined that we were witnessing the siege of Troy. This resulted in Diometra learning a bit more history than perhaps the Classics department had intended her to know, but at that point, I didn't much care. It wasn't as if she couldn't have looked it up on her own, after all. (6)

Then, we saw Helen. That's right, the one and only Helen of Troy. Michael, naturally, was mesmerized. Well, I could understand that. I mean, this was Helen of Troy. I took a good long look at her myself. And then, I gave myself another minute or two. I mean, Helen of Troy. And I gave Michael an extra minute. Then I tried to get his attenion, and, when that didn't work, I tried to turn him so that he was facing away from the lady. He backhanded me without even noticing, so I told Sarah to get his attention, and she did. (7) We went back into the labyrinth. Michael retrieved his money and left a ten dollar bill in front of door number three.

Door Number Three was not very happy. It had just been hit by an axe which was still embedded in the wood, for the non-labyrinth side was part of a village or town which was being overrun. This was considerably later than Troy.

The invaders shoved us to one side, and I asked Sarah to deal with them. (8) Once she'd finished, we went back. Michael had some words for Sarah, I think, but I was distracted by the door. I asked if it wanted my help, or if I should try to find Daedalus. It voted for the latter. I found Daedalus and explained the situation, and we went back to the door and the others. Only then did I realize that I had not taken Sarah with me as a translator. As near as I can figure it, Daedalus and I must have been speaking door to each other. (9) So much for maintaining a low profile.

Michael was beginning to run short of different denominations of dollar bills, so he left two bits at the next door. (10) This took us very far back to some kind of hunt and gather society. Its members threw a couple of spears at us. We claimed them, but I felt we should leave some form of recompense. We started to leave a quarter, but realized the potential headaches it might cause if modern archaeologists were to discover it. So, Sarah left a pretty rock, while Diometra left her vest which was both more useful and more biodegradable than a quarter.

Michael left fifty cents at door number five. We walked out and found ourselves staring at the muzzle of a modern pistol. All of my survival instincts vanished, and I started to laugh. It seemed the only appropriate response. The gentleman with the firearm disagreed, and strongly suggested that silence would be more appropriate. I managed to comply with his suggestion.

We had exited the labyrinth into a McDonalds, in Burnham County, a few hours after we had entered the tunnels under the Theater. The only problem, of course, was that four armed men were in process of robbing the place. They asked us where we had come from, and, fortunately, were willing to believe us wen we said the rest rooms. They insisted that we put the two spears down, which we did. They did not take them, preferring the cash in the register. As they left, I suggested to Michael that His Majesty might wish to do something about the crime rate in the county. (11)

The next day, I saw that the paper had an article about how the robers had been arrested. Apparently, their car broke down.

"The King's Justice?" I asked, handing the paper to Michael, who was in bed with Sarah. She raised an eyebrow.

"Sarah helped," said Michael.

"Their Majesties' Justice, then," I said, and no one argued with that. I went to talk to the Classics Department and to write a letter apologizing to the folks who are keeping an eye on me. (12)

Correspondence

To Israel Bar-Lev

Dear Sir,

My apologies for vanishing for several hours. Some friends and I got lost in the tunnels beneath Altclair's Theater and found ourselves in Daedalus' labyrinth. I did not do this deliberately, and I apologize for the inconvenience.

Sincerely, Justin Thorne

-- -- --

Thanks. I need to apologize to some people.

-- -- --

To Israel Bar-Lev

Dear Sir,

The worst of it is, I can't even promise that won't happen again. Please advise.

Sincerely, Justin Thorne

-- -- --

Update and Aftermath--

Since Diometra is with the Classics Department, they got the spears they also paid me a decent sum for a presentation about the culture we'd seen. Helen says that they'll share the goods with the Anthropology Department after they feel that they've sufficiently rubbed Anthropology's nose in the fact that Classics has 'em, and Anthropology doesn't.

I finished a painting of the other Helen, and it's a fine piece, even if I do say so myself. I warned Michael that I was as entranced by my picture as he was by Helen herself. He suggested that I had a strong narcissistic streak, and perhaps he is right, for he didn't seem entranced. Appreciative, certainly, an quite glad to have the picture.

As for my letter of apology, the end result was a package. I opened it wit utmost paranoia, just on general principals, at Michael's house. It proved to contain a silver earcuff. A very alert silver earcuff designed to sound an alarm should its wearer--that would be me--leave the present time or the dimension. On the inside of the cuff is a Star of David, visible only to magical sight. So, after carefully turning down Fergus' cuff, so as not to fall into his debt again, I'm wearing something that says "Property of the Israeli Government" for anyone with eyes to see.

Diometra and I decided to create a small pouch of useful items for folks who find themselves in another time. I explained about Daniel's people and makers. We bandied their name too freely, for several appeared. She agreed to teach them all a song on condition they not copy it or give it to others. In other words, she's safe because she retained copyright. I've set up a carpool for her and other folks who want to take martial arts classes. I've made a couple, but I just don't have the time to do it regularly.

The forge room is finally dry--we found it flooded with seawater when we returned. It has finally penetrated my very thick skull that Daedalus was not responsible for our adventure. Sarah wants to talk to Michael. Hopefully, someone will tell me something soon.

Footnotes

(1) Beth was in town, and Naomi wanted to run an Altclair session with her as a player. However, she didn't want to try to get Diometra involved in the current complicated plots, as Beth was only in town for a few days. So, she jumped back to the beginning of the quarter--we were around the midterm in the main game.

Essentially, as I told Josh, Naomi had created an Altclair Annish Episode. In certain comic books I used to follow, such as X-Men and Swamp Thing, every so often, there would be a story that a writer wanted to tell that didn't quite fit into the established title. This would be done as a special annual issue, an annish. That's sort of what happened here.

(2) Justin has a mental link to his sword. It can travel across space, but not across time, to reach him.

(3) Sarah is part Siren, something Justin is magically prevented from revealing. She used her singing as a form of echolocation.

(4) Justin was very nervous around Daedalus, and at one point, asked Sarah to apologize for some misunderstanding, even if it wasn't her fault. She told Daedalus that Justin wanted her to apologize for Justin's error. The two of them laughed, and Justin relaxed slightly, not caring whether Sarah relayed the exact message, so long as no one was offended and any existing tension was dissipated.

(5) I think Michael teleported to his money, then opened the labyrinth door from the inside for the others.

(6) Currently, i.e., two years later, game time, Diometra's an assistant professor in the Classics Department.

(7) Sarah got Michael's attention by singing to him.

(8) Sarah dealt with a couple dozen armed men by drawing them to her with Siren song, then draining their life force. This last ability is one she'd not manifest before, and I wasn't sure she wasn't in danger of Spock syndrome. It wasn't something she's used since. As Naomi pointed out, it isn't useful in missile fire situations.

The song did lure both Michael and Justin, as it wasn't aimed at a specific person, unlike Sarah's earlier song to Michael. Fortunately for them, Sarah tossed them aside impatiently, and went back to draining the invaders. Neither she nor Diometra had a problem with this. They pointed out that the invaders ought to have noticed that the four time travellers looked distinctly out of place and might well be more than they seemed. When Justin talked to Sarah about it, she said something about Michael having a problem with what she'd done--it's been long enough since the session that I forget the exact words, or Justin's precise response. I do remember that he slowly slid to the floor of Michael's kitchen and said something about how he hadn't even thought about it till then.

Sarah: Of course not. You're made of much sterner stuff. (walks off)

Justin's 1st thought: Then why am I sitting on the ground shaking?

Justin's 2nd thought: Then why are you with him instead of me?

Yes, it's an insane thought. Justin's quite happy with Ken. Neither of these facts stopped him from thinking it.

(9) I had not realized that Michael and Sarah were having words over the deaths of the invaders while Justin was looking for Daedalus. Naomi asked how Justin was communicating with Daedalus, and she decided that they must be speaking Door. Since Altclair is not Star Trek, Justin hasn't forgotten how, though the typical door doesn't have much to say.

I quipped, "You know how you can tell who the hero is because he goes back to rescue the drowning animal? Justin goes back to rescue the drowning door." Much later, one of Michael's daughters vanished, leaving with folks who walked right through the wall. The wall was not happy, nor was the girl's mother. Michael soothed the hysterical woman; Justin soothed the hysterical door.

(10) "Two bits" is slang for "a quarter".

(11) The crime rate is fairly low in Burnham County, and the robbery was the talk of the area for the next week or so.

(12) At Justin's request, he's being watched by folks from the Israeli government since being kidnapped by Arab terrorists.