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Post by dandare on Sept 1, 2022 15:43:46 GMT
e's behind you!
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Post by dandare on Sept 1, 2022 15:45:36 GMT
unchaka man about to ambush von Stauffenberg, and be amazed by Bavarian creative dance
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Post by dandare on Sept 27, 2022 18:21:17 GMT
The gang attempt to lure the Professor's plane down, but they fire the wrong coloured Verey light, the the baddies buzz off south eastward. Adair sells the camels back to Achmed el Clark , at a significant loss. There follows an uneventful flight to Saigon, and then up the Mekong as far as their pre arranged base . Sadly, this has been attacked by Chinese bandits, and the District Officer (or French equivalent) has been kidnapped , along with his map of the route to the temple. The riverboats have been sabotaged with dynamite concealed in the boilers...... and it's gone sweaty......
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Post by dandare on Oct 6, 2022 10:17:25 GMT
Adair deals with the issue by carefully removing the explosive and dropping it into the river. That dealt with, the party proceed up river in the steam launch, towing a rubber dinghy (of which more anon). Night falls, and they tie up next to the bank, and arrange themselves for slumber, using the dinghy as a second dormitory. As luck would have it, it's Prof Google and Wei Mei who are on watch, in the dinghy, when a large python crawls into the launch and starts coiling itself around Jakey, sleeping in the bows. He awakens, and panics, thrashing about and screaming like a girlie. Adair , Von S, Von W and Wei Mei also fail their cool tests (repeatedly). Only Prof Google, hardly a hardened adventurer, manages to stay calm.
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Post by dandare on Oct 6, 2022 10:41:59 GMT
Von W's panic leads him to cut the painter of the dinghy, and start undoing his wooden leg to get at the grenade. Meantime Jakey has managed to throw Hissing Sid into the river. See Photo. Adair then shoots at Von W to stop any grenade throwing (he said) and hits him on the left hand. After all is sorted out, Adair tries to make amends by doing some first aid. Cue an epic fumble, as Adair tries to cut up a bandage with his machete..... They are unable to recover Von W's left hand from the river before it is swept away. The next day, they proceed , unmoved by Von W's pleas that they look for a hardware store to get him a hook, and stumble across a burning launch, and a trail into the jungle. They land, and set off, with some fine tracking giving the info that there are several barefooted people, 2 in sandals and one pair of booted feet. The trail gets steadily steeper, and they stop for the night. This camp is without note, except for the giant centipedes, which are, sadly , easily dealt with. The following day they come upon a recent campsite, and find a discarded radio valve, and then crest a ridge and see a temple on the other side of a steep sided valley. Using binoculars, they can see a rough trail, and a sentry, as well as some movement at the temple ruin. Adair goes on ahead, using his sneaky skills and manages to get behind the guard, while the others watch from across the valley, 1 mile a way..... Next Week- 9 Fingered Widdler and the Temple of Doom!
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Post by dandare on Oct 13, 2022 10:20:00 GMT
"Adair Goes Alone"
As recounted above, Adair sneaks up on the sentry, and dispatches him. The others set off to join him, but it's a 2 mile hike. In the meantime, a zeppelin appears and comes in to land in the temple courtyard. Then a Chinaman comes to the wall and shouts for the sentry, firing a couple of shots in the air to attract attention. Adair also fires a shot in the air, not realising that the shots are not a signal, but an "attention getter". In any case the sentry does not reply to the shouts, being dead. Adair decides to drag the body out of sight, but the movement attracts the attention of the machine gunners on top of the Zep, and they open fire. Adair is hit by a burst, and is flung, unconcious, behind a bit of the ruin. The Zep then takes off, displaying a large blue dragon painted on the side. It flies off to the north east.
Eventually the rest of the party arrive and Jakey manages to stabilise Adair. Prof Google discovers the body of the French officer, which they bury. Inside the temple, there is a huge statue of Khali, but the ruby eye is gone.....
There is a long trek back to the plane, and then a period of convalescence for Adair and Von Widdler in Saigon. Having projected the course of the Zeppelin, The party decide to head for their old stamping ground of Shanghai, in an attempt to pick up the trail of the Eye of Khali there, as they suspect that is where the Blue Dragon Zeppelin was headed.
Arriving there, Wei Mei's contacts inform him that the Zep did indeed arrive in Shanghai, about 2 weeks ago.
Next Week :- "Deja Vu, all over again"
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Post by dandare on Oct 27, 2022 13:25:58 GMT
Wei Mei goes Alone....
Wei Mei investigates, by going to see his contact in the criminal underworld, who turns out to be his mum. She's less than chuffed to see him, having chucked him out years ago. Also not impressed by him being a copper..... And she knows hee haw......
Investigations are then centred at the Aerodrome, where it is confirmed that the Blu Dragon airship arrived a week or so ago. The ground staff were shoo'ed away by armed men, and a fuel truck and 2 black American Saloon cars drove onto the field to rendezvous with it. Intensive questioning of the employess ascertained the following:- 1. The blinds were down in the back of the cars 2. both had drivers 3. Both had snappily dressed Chinamen in the front passenger seat 4. it was too far away to see what happened at the airship 5. The cars left, as did the airship 6. The cars were Studebakers 7. The cars were Buicks 8. The cars were Chevrolets 9. The number plates were obscured
We Mei hatches a cunning plan. He will disguise himself as a beggar, and go and question the other beggars along the likely route of the black Buicks. He finally stumbles on one outside the Lyric Theatre. Extemporising quickly, he pretends to be an out of work actor, looking for a walk on part as a beggar. He asks the beggar for acting advice on how to be a beggar.... "Lesson 1" says the beggar, stretching out his hand for cash. Wei Mei obliges. Beggar stashes cash in his unsavoury apparel. " that's how you take money from strangers" Unbeknownst to the would be actor, this odd scene has been witnessed by a Sikh Policeman, who now intervenes, and ID's Wei Mei as a wanted person- his activities were illegal before he was palmed off on Adair as they left Shanghai the last time. WM tries to explain that he is now an inspector in the Cairo Special Branch, but that cuts no ice. Wm then tries to resist being handcuffed, and is swiftly introduced to Tommy Truncheon. Adair now intervenes, and they all repair to the nearest police station. Having cleared all of this up, and extracted Wei Mei from the cells. They go down to the Central Police Station, near the Bund, and manage to trace the route of the black sedans to an area outside the International zone. They are then called upstairs, Where MI5 have an office, and the meet Captain Watkins (see early adventures, part 1) , who they know.
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Post by dandare on Oct 27, 2022 13:53:50 GMT
They tell him the tale of the ruby, and he nods his head , sagely. He has some intel for them. The Blue Dragons are in cahoots still with a Warlord , based in Lanchaow near the Tibetan border. This mysterious General Wong has appeared on the scene very recently, but is attracting a large following, in part due to his mystical powers, which he is using to urge the Chinese to throw the Gwailos into the sea. He suspects that the ruby is part of this mystical mumbo jumbo, given its Thuggee connections. No Doubt the Blue Dragon Gang sense an opportunity to expand their activities.
He cables London, and very quickly receives a reply, ordering Major Adair into action to throw a spanner in the Warlord's works
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Post by dandare on Nov 24, 2022 10:33:08 GMT
"Fog and Salt Herrings" A bit of map reading and calculation is done, and the party conclude that their best bet is to fly to a lake shown on the map , north east of their target, and approach on foot from there. Doing some scaling , it is realised that the target is 1000 miles away, and is at 10,000 feet. The plane only has a range of 500 miles at that altitude.... So, the plan is:- 1. Fly to an intermediate point with a load of fuel 2. make a fuel dump - guarded by the best and most alert party members- Von S and Wei Mei (?) 3. ferry supplies and more petrol. 4. fly to the lake, and walk to the target. Abandoning their plane, as there is no petrol left to fly it back..... 5. attack target and steal transport home
Von S and Wei Mei are guarding the dump, when they become aware of some cavalry snooping around in a heavy mist which has formed, however a burst from a Lewis gun scatters them. A little later , they hear the plane returning, and light fires to mark the landing ground. Refuelling and loading is in progress when the Chinese return, but are mown down by another burst of mg fire. The flight to the lake is uneventful, but Adair notices that the plane is labouring in the thin air. The lake comes into view, the only landing spot in the rocky and mountainous terrain. At the last moment Prof G and Adair spot that it's a salt lake, with only a few inches of water on top. They have to pull up , and try again, this time with the wheels down. The landing run is short, and the wheels break through the surface of the salt. Adair scans the horizon, in vain, for fishing villages....... Using snowshoes, to avoid breaking through the surface, the supplies (Guns'n'ammo) are ferried ashore and they load up for the (200 mile! )trek. Remnants of the great wall are visible to the west, about 10 miles away, and they head in that direction. They make camp in freezing temperatures, in the shadow of the wall. Prof Google is suffering a bit from altitude sickness.
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Post by dandare on Nov 24, 2022 13:13:43 GMT
THE GREAT WALL THEY ARE SHELTERING UNDER
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Post by dandare on Nov 24, 2022 14:18:02 GMT
What the terrain is like
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Post by dandare on Dec 1, 2022 10:23:10 GMT
it becomes apparent that Adair and Wei Mei can't actually scale a map. This leads to various estimates of the distance to be covered from 15 miles to 10 million miles (they can't do arithmetic either). It's actually 250 miles. The party is really struggling in the low temperatures, high altitude, high winds salt desert environment. At one point Von S, Von W and Jakey abandon the others to hypothermia and scout ahead, finding that they are descending into a valley, where there is some vegetation and shelter. They also spot a steam train in the far distance, away beyond the Yalu river. Finally, the others straggle in to the camp, and they huddle round a yak dung fire. The next day they head for a village where there will be a crossing point. on the far side of the river they can see more substantial buildings, but most of the houses are mud brick. There is a hand pulled rope ferry, and an armed guard on the far side. They also note a red flag on a more substantial building on the north side. The locals are scared, and hide, except for one man, who is observed sneaking towards the ferry. He's better dressed (he's the Peoples Commissar), and reaches the ferry, frantically pulling for the far side. Adair Snipes the guard on the far side of the river, with his first shot, but then expends 5 rounds trying to hit the commissar on the ferry, finally accidentally detaching the magazine on his SMLE and catastophically unloading it. The commissar escapes. Anticipating retribution, the gang loophole a mud hut near the ferry and when the soldiers arrive greet them with a flurry of badly aimed bursts from the 3 Lewis guns. Von W suffers a stripped case after one shot, and his Lewis is jammed. Eventually Jakey guns down the soldiers on the ferry, with help from Adair. Reinforcements arrive on the far side, and they come under a spattering of rifle fire. Since they have limited ammo, they refrain from returning fire. Then the Chinese bring up a Maxim with an armoured shield. The delay this with shooting but it's a hard target, and when it starts firing, their mud brick refuge starts to disintegrate. Time for a sharp exit. Luckily, they have an inflatable dinghy, which they have been dragging with them with their supplies in it. I do hope it hasn't got a puncture, after having been dragged 30 miles, over a salt desert, in freezing temperatures. With sharp things in it.....
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Post by dandare on Jan 12, 2023 9:25:25 GMT
2 days to cross a river..... Having retreated from the ferry, the party find a sheltered hollow and light a fire with some bushes the have found. The smoke smells funny, and they all have a very strange dream, which involves Snowmen, armed psychotic Christmas presents, killer Christmas trees, and a robotic sledge... Recovering, they plan ahead- let's use the dinghy, they say. Sadly, it is in fact beyond repair. Nonetheless, they head to the river, and eventually find a yak dung salesman walking along the track. There is a short debate around the proposal that they should murder him and steal his yak, steal it's lungs, inflate them and float across the river on them. This is rejected in favour of bribing him with whisky, and they elicit from him that there is another village not far away. They head for this, after first having thought about swimming the river with a rope for the non-swimmers. Adair and Jakey attempt this, but fail their willpower tests to enter the freezing and fast flowing river. Also, they don't have enough rope anyway. Eventually, they steal a punt from a village, then fall in, recover , and eventually cross (after 2 , 2.5 hour gaming sessions!). They cross a road, find the railway, and settle down to wait for a train going their way. Ominously, they see a train going the other way, and it has red flags on it, and a Maxim on the roof.
Next week: How do you stop a train without breaking it?
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Post by dandare on Jan 19, 2023 12:07:52 GMT
There is quite a lot of debate as to the precise form of ambush to be enacted. Eventually it is decided that a bonfire will be constructed, ready to light on the track, While one of the party will lie with their head close to the rail to listen for the approaching train. It's von Widdler who hears the clickety clack of an approaching train, and the bonfire is lit as ambush positions are taken up. The arriving train turns out to be a small rail trolley with 2 locals on it. They stop and try to clear the bonfire with shovels, and are subsequently held up at gunpoint. They are relieved of their clothes, and signal flags, and bucket of sand. Wei Mei disguises himself as a Chinese railwayman, including bucket of sand paperwork. Jakey takes up position on the hand truck, the others on both sides, while Wei Mei prepares to stop the train, in his railwayman guise. There follows a wait of some ours, before a train appears, Wei Mei flags it down, and tries to board, but is stopped by a Commissar as for unknown reasons he is speaking pidgin Chinese, WM tries to draw his gun but is handily shot in the arm. Prof Google shoots the guard on the end of the train (a tanker wagon), much to his surprise. Adair and Von Widdler jam their rifles, trying to shoot the Maxim Gunner, but Von S saves the day by accurately lobbing a Mills Bomb into the machine gun truck. The Commissar is dispatched by Jakey. and the train is theirs!. They move off west (the correct direction) , find a siding and rearrange the wagons, releasing the railwaymen, and pulling down the telegraph wires. They steam on , and the track starts to climb int a deep valley. The driver, watched like a hawk by Adair (Learner Driver), announces that they will need coal and water soon.
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Post by dandare on Jan 26, 2023 19:43:25 GMT
They arrive at a railway yard, where there is a water tower, and some coal wagons. Spotting some sentries, they decide to try China's first ever drive by on a train. This kind of works, although they manage to jam the Maxim. There follows quite a lot of shunting, as they try to work out how to fill up with coal. Luckily Prof Google proves to be a nascent railway modeller...... Some hours later, covered in coal dust, they set off. After some further hours, they arrive in sight of Lanchaow. They stop the train, about a mile out of town, and work out what to do. There is a fort above the town, with a Zeppelin parked nearby, with a convenient siding, where they can get the fuel tanker up to it. Discarding a plan (devised by Casey Adair) to crash the train into the town, the decide to steal the airship, fuelling it up first. The mechanics at the fuel pump are expecting a train with fuel, so start filling up the zep's tanks, directed by Wei Mei (in pidgin, again....). Adair heads for the gondola, and surprises a mechanic who is working on the controls. There is a short fight in which Adair narrowly avoids being skewered by a screwdriver, and the mechanic runs off towards the fort , screaming for help, followed by the pump attendants. The gang quickly start the engines, and scramble aboard. Prof Google works out how to detach from the mast...
Next Week:- Can the intrepid heroes recover the Eye of Khali? Where does Hi Ho, Li Chi and the Blue Dragon gang fit into this? Where did all the Bolos come from?
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