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[IC] Hollow Earth Expedition: Feeding Nazis to Dinosaurs for Fun and Profit
mightyspacepope
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Hollow Earth Expedition
In which there is much punching of Nazis, and quite possibly, dinosaurs.
Disclaimer 1: It's probably not a good idea to try to punch a dinosaur, although it'd be really badass.
Disclaimer 2: Be ready to bring on the badassitude.
Disclaimer 3: Go hard or go home.
In which there is much punching of Nazis, and quite possibly, dinosaurs.
Disclaimer 1: It's probably not a good idea to try to punch a dinosaur, although it'd be really badass.
Disclaimer 2: Be ready to bring on the badassitude.
Disclaimer 3: Go hard or go home.
Date: May 30th, 1945
Location: Onboard the S.S. Venture, somewhere between Florida and the Bahamas
The tramp steamer S.S. Venture chugged through the water, en route to the Yucatan Peninsula. Chartered by the American Museum of Natural History to transport a team of explorers to investigate ancient Aztec ruins, it's goal is to bring back relics and gold.
The members of the expedition team sat at a small table in the cabin, discussing their plan. Ernest Arthur Charles Swithenbank, a famed British hunter, sipped at his tea as he conversed with his colleagues. His companion, Micheal Douglas Miller, a member of the Canadian Army until a series of misadventures after the conclusion of the war, sat to his right, sipping coffee with a splash of whiskey. Joshua Murdoch chewed on the end of his pencil as he chronicled the beginning of their adventure for The New York Times. Brandon Stone, an Irish fortune hunter, kicked his boots up on the table, smoking a cigar.
The captain of the vessel, an old salt wearing a white cap and a fading blue coat, entered the cabin, squinting with one eye at its inhabitants as he smoked his pipe. "Yarr, it be smooth sailing thus far, lads. I reckon we should be arriving at our destination in three days, two if the waves be kind to us. If ye were to ask me, the ocean's a much happier girl now that she don't have any damn Kraut submarines despoiling her."
*****
Meanwhile, below deck, a young Chinese girl named Mei rummaged for food to sustain her during the trip, careful not to be seen by the crew as they went about their duties.
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Quiet like a cat she thought to herself, remembering her uncle's exercises in stealth that had served her so welll on the streets of Miami. Grabbing some bread, a hunk of cheese and an orange, she began her retreat from the galley before the chef came back to start preparations for the evening meal. Quick like a snake
Mei had gone quite hungry for a few days while she memorized the crew's schedule, but now she felt she could get by without being caught. Spying a bottle of soda pop, she skidded to a halt halfway through the doorway and went back to grab it before making a dash to the life boat which had become her home.
Diving into a nearby side room - that she hoped was unoccupied- she barely missed being spotted by the crew member turning the corner and walking down the hall. Hardly daring to breathe, she hunched behind the door, and eventually the footsteps passed.
That was close she thought to herself, as she examined the room. It was a small room with supplies in it, and through the wall she could hear....voices? Placing her ear against the cold metal wall, she did indeed hear someone:
"Yarr, it be smooth sailing thus far, lads. I reckon we should be arriving at our destination in three days..."
That sounded like the captain, talking with... Yes, it was the expedition members. Apparently she had lucked out and found a place to eavesdrop, though she had to be somewhat visible from the doorway in order to really hear everything that was being said.
Chuckling to himself, Ernest Arthur Charles Swithenbank lifted up his teacup and took a sip. It wasn't a particularly good brew, but he wasn't expecting much from the boat trip itself. After all, his reward would come upon landfall, when the hunt would begin. Of course, the "goal" of this journey was to explore the ancient ruins of whatever pagan societies lived in the bottom of the Americas, but that would all come in due time.
He wondered if they would find any tapirs. Ernest had always fancied shooting a tapir.
The captain entered, speaking in the accent of someone who had spent too much of their rough life at sea. "Yarr, it be smooth sailing thus far, lads. I reckon we should be arriving at our destination in three days," said the captain, but Ernest was already miles away, remembering his old Sergeant back in the first Great War. McDougal, his name was. A hearty gentleman, ready to fight for crown and country. Died in the trenches after a German sniper shot him right before a night raid.
Pity.
Feeling the prickling of raised hairs on the back of his neck, Ernest had a suspicion that someone was listening to them, even though he was not. He started to turn his head around to check behind him, but realised that the captain had stopped talking.
He finished his tea in a gulp, then wiped his moustache with a napkin and asked, "Captain, old boy, I was wondering if you happened to have any brandy on the ship. Old Winnie liked to mark the afternoon with a glass of the good stuff, and if it's good enough for Churchill..."
With a herculean effort of willpower Joshua's eye's tore themselves away from Ernest's mustache and began to rove about the cabin, desperate to find some form of escape. As he began to gazing longingly at the cabins door, tantalized by the prospect of escape and freedom that the portal offered, his eyes caught a flash of movement.Three successes.
Joshua's eyes narrowed, with the Captain busy playing the 'Old Sea Dog' card for all it was worth, that left nobody unaccounted for.... unless.
Rising from his seat, Joshua moved over to stand by the Captain.
"So captain...." He began in a jocular tone, before wheeling round on the door shooting a hand out through the gap to grasp that the eavesdroppers arm.
(I thought that would be an initiative test 2 successes)
Ah what it must be like to travel across the plains hunting huge and rare beasts all day long, with not a care in the world but trying to net the biggest catch to impress your friends.
Of course he had hunted animals as well but then he was just trying to survive and the greatest thrill was stripping the flesh from the bone and having the blood run down your throat.
But he couldn't have those kinds of thoughts now that he was back in civilization. He wondered again why he had allowed himself to participate in this crazy adventure. Surely any normal person would've wanted to go home and forget about their ordeals?
As her mind wanders, her attention on the items in her arms also begins to wander, until.... *clang*.
The bottle slips through her arms and hits the floor, starting to roll around with the swell of the boat. For one frozen instant, Mei looks at the bottle, her eyes wide and all thoughts of eavesdropping gone.
I'm just going to assume that I win initiative at this point and carry on, because hot damn.
Leaping up, Mei broke into a run, flying through the door away from the voices and leaving the soda bottle behind. Maybe they would think it dropped off a shelf or something.
"Fuckin rats, I swear I'll snap their tiny necks. When you're as close to a perfect killing machine as I am you find you'a self on edge always..." he slowly explains to those around him, looking about nervously, reaching to grab his cigar from the floor.
Joshua grabbed at something just outside the door, narrowly missing, his fingers brushing against cloth fabric. Michael saw a small girl scurry away from the doorway.
The captain peered around the corner. "What in the seven bloody seas are you on about, boy?"
"What the-" said the sailor, starting to sit up, but Mei didn't wait to hear the rest of it. She bounded back the way she came, only to be confronted by one of the expedition members- a soldier from the look of him- blocking the way.
Hanging her head, she stopped running and waited as they closed in on her- she had lost, and she knew it. Even if she got by them, somehow evaded pursuit and found a good hiding spot, they wouldn't stop looking for her now.
"Can I at least have my dinner back?" she said, in as meek a voice as she could manage. "I'm a bit hungry."
"The food you'll have to take up with the captain." He said for amused than angry. "But sneaking onto a boat is a serious crime. I don't think you realize what you've gotten yourself into. You will have to be punished of course. I will discuss with my companions what that punishment shall be, but in the meantime why don't you tell me why you snuck onto the boat and were eavesdropping on our conversation."
Wow, I'm a good actress she thought to herself, This is great stuff.
"P...please sir, I have to find out what happened to him. He can't be dead, he just can't!" And suddenly she came to a realization- everything she was saying was the truth, and the tears were real and totally out of her control.
Goddamit.
Rushing towards the surprised soldier, she buried her face in his chest and sobbed freely.
Some human instinct kicks in and his heart opens up as he hugs the girl and whispers soothing words. "Shh don't cry now. Everything will be O.K. Come on let's go to the cabin and I'll introduce you to everyone there. We can get you some tea and then we'll talk about what we can do for your uncle."
By now Micheal has totally forgotten about her sneaking on the boat and simply wants to help her through this troubled time.
She hated being weak, hated all these strangers seeing her like this... But now convincing these people she needed them seemed to be her best shot at seeing her uncle again. And that was all that mattered.
She found herself the center of attention of four grown men.
The captain nearly chocked on his pipe, coughing plumes of smoke into his clenched fist. "What ye doing here, little girl?" Then he glanced around the room, looking at his passengers warily. "If this be some Japanese spying mission, I'll tell you right now..." he started.
Slowing down, she continued: "I..I'm just looking for my missing uncle. I'm sorry I stowed away, but I have to find him, and this is the only way I can get across to look." looking down to the ground, she scuffed her shoes and waited to hear what sort of sentence they would pass on her. Then again, being locked in a cell and fed wouldn't be all that different from the lifeboat, she supposed.
"So precisely where did you come from miss, you said your looking for you Uncle, but what made you think we'd be going to the same place as him and for that matter when did you get on board?"
"She's definitely not Japanese, old boy," he said cheerfully, clapping Michael's shoulder, "She's Chinese, I'm sure of it. Lovely people, the Chinese. I remember this one fellow, Mao, who helped me hunt down one of those Chinese tigers..." He lapsed into memory for a moment, then coughed and continued, "But yes, she's one of the good ones."
He patted the girl on the head, then looked back upon the rest of his team. "Now now, gents, let's not be hasty with the poor girl. She said she was hungry, and as a matter of fact, I am as well. I suggest we all grab some afternoon tea, get our thoughts together, and hopefully by then our spirited rapscallion will be able to answer some simple questions without thinking we're going to throw her overboard, eh?"
Although it was a very simple plan, it mainly stemmed from Ernest's current urge to have an afternoon drink. Brandy mightn't be available, but a simple whiskey and soda should do the trick just as well...
"Hah, the girl's got stones to say the leasat, sneakin onto a ship with a crew like this. Under my expert tutelage she could be a half decent hunter even. Speakin of which, what in the hell are we gonna do with her? Can't right take a kid hunting in the jungle can we? Even with me protecting her it'd be a heavy risk...and possibly cost me a good shot at the least and that'd be unacceptable."
Looking up with her face still puffy and red from crying, she opened her eyes wide in the way of children everywhere. "I promise if you help me out I'll be super good! I won't cause any trouble- you won't even know I'm there! My uncle's kinda famous too, so that'd make for a great story, right Mister?"
He was cut off by an explosive rumble of thunder. "The 'ell? Sky's as clear as can be."
The temperature inside the cabin dropped suddenly.
Outside, there was a great deal of yelling. "Cap'n, you better get out here?"
The old man nearly bolted out the door, followed soon after by the rest of the cabin's inhabitants. The sky was a vibrant blue, but the sea was churning.
"Maelstrom ahead!" one of the sailors yelled, fear evident in his voice.
"All hands on deck, get this boat out of here! Move! Move! Move!" the captain bellowed. The sailors wasted no time in heeding his command.
In the ocean ahead, the water was spinning rapidly downward in a fierce looking vortex.
The captain paused from directing his crew to look back at his passengers. "If ye be smart, git on a life vest, then hold onto something tight."
The expedition members, along with Mei, scrambled to heed the captain's advice. They'd just managed to get their vests secured and find something to hold onto when the bow of the ship entered the maelstrom. The tramp steamer lurched forward, its hull creaking with the added stress of the vortex's pull.
"HOLD ON!" the captain yelled, trying to quickly cinch a knot around his waist.
The steamer accelerated as it descended into the whirlpool. The bow dipped beneath the water, sending waves smashing against the people onboard. Sailors were knocked overboard, but somehow the passengers managed to hold their grip. They held their breath as the bow dipped further, the ship turning nearly vertical as it sunk. Sure that they were in their last moments, the remaining people onboard held on as tightly as they could, trying not to take in lungfuls of water.
Blinding lights filled their vision. Colors, shapes, and other images that were barely recognizable assaulted their senses. Their stomachs lurched, they became light-headed.
Then, they passed out.
*****
Time passed.
*****
Mei, Joshua, Michael, Brandon,and Ernest awoke, the waves crashing against their back. They found themselves washed onshore, a few boxes of supplies from the ship bobbing in the nearby water or broken up, lying on the beach.
The lifeboat that Mei had called home for several days had also washed ashore, battered, but seemingly still seaworthy.
Behind them were a series of wrecked ships, some of them modern passenger or shipping vessels, others several decades old, while a few seemed to be even older.
In front of them was the nearly white sand of a tropical beach. Further ahead, lush jungle spread further inland.
Directly above them, the sun shone down brightly. It appeared to be mid-day.
They seemed to be alone.
Oh great, now *I'm* lost. And nowhere near my uncle. Unless...
Perception = 4d2 = 1 success
"Right, gents," he said weakly, "First things first."
Pulling a small mirror out of his sodden jacket pocket, he checked his moustache, smoothing it out where it had been ruffled during the storm and sinking. That sorted, he immediately began scoping the beach for things he recognised from the ship itself. Spying a large, waterproofed suitcase, he hobbled over and opened it up. Inside were his two dearest friends - Victoria, his rifle, and George, his revolver. Grabbing them and their requisite holsters and ammunition, he checked the bag again and sorted out the useful from the useless.
Holding Victoria tenderly in both of his hands, he looked to the rest of the washed-up survivors, who were all at various stages of recovery. Putting on a stiff upper lip, Ernest said with a cheerful manner, "Well, this is quite the sticky wicket we've gotten ourselves into, eh?"
"WHAT THE FUCKING FUCK? What the bloody fucking hell just happened? Where's that captain, by the lord in fucking heaven I'm putting a bullet in his arse for this. I need a fucking drink..."
Stumbling forward towards the expedition party, he slowly regained his bearings and began searching for usable equipment and supplies.
His immediate situation improved to the best of his abilities Joshua joins the other pulling crates and equipment from the waves.
Among the wrecks in the surf, Mei manages to catch a glimpse of a ship that matches the general description of the one her uncle had been a passenger aboard. From her current vantage point, she's unable to catch a glimpse of its name, though.
A white cap lazily washes ashore. From about two hundred feet away from the shore, you see the captain suddenly raise his head above water and take a gasping breath, coughing and spitting out water. The waves knock him back under, but he heroically catches another breath before plunging back down.
Behind him, you see a long serpentine neck rise from the water. It's comparatively tiny head darts around, almost bird-like. As it quickly closes distance with the captain, you catch sight of it instinctively opening and closing its jaws, revealing razor-sharp teeth.
Initiative: 2
The captain is 200 feet away, as is the creature.
Creature
Defense: 4
Health: 16
Weapon Ranges
Pistols: 50 feet
Rifles: 100 feet
Shotguns: 25 feet
Spear: 10 feet
Range Modifiers
Point blank (less than 5 feet): Pistols get +1die to attack, Rifles get -1die to attack
Short (within range): +0
Medium (between range and rangex2): -2dice to attack
Long (from rangex2 to rangex4): -4dice to attack
Movement
Move 5: You may move 25 feet during a combat turn (10 feet swimming)
Move 6: You may move 30 feet during a combat turn (15 feet swimming)
Notes:
-You can make a move action and an Attack action during your turn.
-Look at the back of your character sheet to see special combat maneuvers you can make. If your sheet doesn't have them, look on the back of one of the sheets near the end of the document here: http://www.exilegames.com/downloads/hex_freerpg_2008.pdf
-You can Aim this round as your attack action to get +2 to your attack roll next round.
-You can Run, which allows you to sacrifice your Attack action for a second move action.
-You guys can spend the first round of movement running into the surf, thus moving the normal distance rather than the swimming distance. The second round you move would start the swimming. If you go for the Run action, you'd move the normal distance, then the swimming distance.
-If you attack the creature, it has a Defense of 4. When you roll the attack with your weapon (listed under the "Attack" column), you count how many successes you had. If you get more than 4 successes, each success beyond that deals 1 point of damage. In this way, you can describe if your attacks hit the creature and know how much damage you've done.
"Whatever the hell that is, where ever we may be, whatever the fuck is going on, I know one thing for damn sure: I'm killing that fuckin thing."
Then he notices the beast. Like nothing he'd seen before... except...
He remembered something, from his university roommate's textbooks on... what were they called... dinosaurs! That's the ticket. This is no ordinary beast, Ernest knows in his heart, and therefore it would be a most fine head to mount on one's wall.
"I declare the hunting part of this expedition started," he shouts as he raises his rifle, "Targets!"
"Immense sea beast, head like a vast eel, teeth like daggers... hmm no too cliched, mouth like a threshing machine"
These memories in his head all push together into one, careful shot at the beast.
He squeezes the trigger and whispers, "God save the King."
The bullet flies forward, striking the gigantic beast on the side of its head. Blood and flesh sprays out in a decidedly showy fashion, creating an ichor that is quickly spread out by the churning waters.
Beast takes 4 damage, right?
Perhaps unfortunately for Mei, she was used to dealing with nasty people who were bigger than she was- it just meant she was that much harder to hit. Taking a guilty look back at the other newly-minted castaways, she ran out into the surf, diving into the water and swimming out towards the struggling captain.
Joshua's eyes fell on a crate washed up on the shore, his mind racing, Joshua raced over to it, tearing his shirt sleeve off at the elbow. Joshua gritted his teeth and squeezed his eyes shut, before slamming his hand and forearm down on an exposed nail with a shout of pain.
The blood running freely down his arm, Joshua ran into the surf, thrashing and spreading the blood around as much as possible, hoping to lure the beast away from the captain and into the range of his compatriots guns.
Behind him, the creature paddles forward, its head darting from side to side. It quickly snaps downward toward the captain, its jaws snapping open and closed. For the moment, Ernest's shot seems to have put it off balance.
Creature/Captain are 150 feet from shore/Ernest.
Mei and Michael are 45 feet from shore (105 from the creature)
Joshua and Brandon are 35 feet from shore (115 from the creature)
Creature
Defense: 4
Health: 8
Weapon Ranges
Pistols: 50 feet
Rifles: 100 feet
Shotguns: 25 feet
Spear: 10 feet
Range Modifiers
Point blank (less than 5 feet): Pistols get +1die to attack, Rifles get -1die to attack
Short (within range): +0
Medium (between range and rangex2): -2dice to attack
Long (from rangex2 to rangex4): -4dice to attack
Movement
Move 5: You may move 25 feet during a combat turn (10 feet swimming)
Move 6: You may move 30 feet during a combat turn (15 feet swimming)
"For God's sake, you bastards," he shouted over the swell of the sea, levering out his spent shell and loading in a new one, "All you're going to do is attract more of the things! We've already lost the boat and most of the crew, we can't have two tragedies in one day!"
Caught up in his speech, his second shot from the rifle is shaky, barely coming within spitting range of the beast. Cursing under his breath, he continues from before, "It'll look bad in the newspapers! It'll upset the women and children at their breakfast!"
Swimming closer to the creature, Mei struggled to make out the name on the wreckage of the ship out in the surf