Website Update #24

Haven't been feeling too flash, these last few weeks, and while we've reached the successful conclusion of Chapter 2 of The Tunnels of Tonivar Traveller sessions, I find myself feeling a slight lack of motivation to write up the story, or even carry on with development work on the Sector Fleet. I put this down to mid-winter blues, and the fact I need a decent break from work.




A few finished figures on my blog.

By Dagger or Talon - revised

A post from Ambush Alley Shawn on the 15mm Science Fiction G+ Group alerted me to the fact that the first supplement for Tomorrow's War is now available for pre-order on the Ambush Alley website.


I've been mulling over rules sets for playing out Traveller ground actions beyond the skirmish level. So far in the running is Stargrunt from Ground Zero Games, and Tomorrow's War. I had been leaning towards Tomorrow's War as a rule system, and the release of By Dagger and Talon, which introduces the alien Draghaur to the Tomorrowverse, has added further weight to the argument.


Edit: I should really double check what I'm writing when tired. The print book is expected to ship with two to three weeks of July 12th. In the current pre-order period, those ordering the print copy of the supplement will be able to get a free and complementary pdf copy of the book for, well, free. I took advantage of this offer today, and have been having a quick look through the pdf. I like what I see and can't wait for my print book to arrive. I have also moved my Draghaur figures to the front of the painting cue.

w00t!

I came home from work, today (this sounds like the opening verse to a blues song) and found a package waiting for me ...

Bleedin' 'eck! You can land a Scout Ship on this.

Two packets? Or a packet and a box ...

And in the packet - a set of dice, a Travellers' Aid Society membership card in the name of Dietrich hault-Rauln (one of my few characters - I tend to GM more than I get the opportunity to be a player), a Jump Drive and two Cr25 coins.

Close-up of the TAS card - this is a really cool prop.

And inside the box - Captain Jamison's Beard! What a monster!

Two inches thick - you could repel a pack of Vargr boarders with it! Whatta book!

Marc signed the book himself - he signed all two thousand copies that went out to Kickstarter supporters. No wonder it took some time to get them all out.

And a patent of nobility ... pour moi?

Dietrich gets his gong. Another cool prop!

My favourite T5 quote so far is:

My God - it's full of tables.

Aloin's Saga - Solo Traveller #16

“Iridium Queen, you are clear on approach vector 231, azimuth 140, at 0.85g deceleration,” the Floranan Traffic Control Officer sounded bored. “Switch to Channel 21421 at 100,000 klicks for Close Orbit TC and docking instructions.”

Aloin tapped the comm key. “Affirmative, Florana TC. Iridium Queen inbound on 231, azimuth 140, decel 0.85,” he said. “Switching to 21421 for Close Orbit TC. Iridium Queen, clear.” Closing the channel, he glanced up at the back of Captain Lukk’s head, even as he reset the main Comm . “We good on that, Captain?” he asked.

“Eh, what?” Elera Lukk asked, starting awake and sitting up suddenly in her chair. Miska Ilurrin snuffle-laughed from Navigation.

“Don’ worry, ‘lera,” she whispered. “Course lock’d. Three hours to Close Orbit. You want t’go lie down fo’ bit?”

Lukk glared at her and then yawned. “Three hours, you say?” she said at last.

Miska nodded. “Me ‘n’ the lad will keep an eye,” she said. “Scan’s clear. One outbound freight’r. Kampie No sign of Kampie Navy.”

Lukk pulled herself out of the pilot’s chair and stretched. She turned and glared at Aloin. “You keep a sharp eye on scan,” she said. “I don’t want any surprises. Speak that freighter once the Light Speed delay gets down to a reasonable factor. They should have news from Kamperel, things like traffic, cargos, or other information we can use.”

Aloin bobbed his head and shunted Scan up onto the main screen. “Yes, Captain,” he said. “The outbound is the Flower of Kamperel, Kamperelian registry. She’s on track for Ektra, by the look of it. We’ll be in under ten second delay in forty minutes.”

Lukk examined the main screen display. The boy’s numbers and analysis looked spot on. She grunted. “You call them in forty, and me in sixty,” she said at last and then hobbled off the bridge, heading for her bunk. Frak, she hated getting old.

---

“... and average temperature was around twenty-six degrees celsius when we left there, about 178 hours ago,” Aloin said. He laughed. “Humidity was high, though. Afternoon swims were almost compulsory.” The light speed delay was still seven and a half seconds, which made casual chat a chore, but Eisther, the Seconday comm tech on the Flower of Kamperel, was bored, patient, and rather pretty.

“Twenty-six degrees?” she asked. “Gosh, it was just over freezing when we left Kamperel. Van Zaquerl Downport was under fifteen centimetres of snow. We had to de-ice before takeoff. Didn’t want to drop lumps of ice on the housing estates around the starport.”

“Once we offload at Florana, my skipper’s talking about making a run into Kamperel. Anything we should look out for?”

Eisther glanced over her shoulder and then leaned into the comm pickup. “Might not be such a good plan, at the moment,” she said quietly. “Security was at ‘Heightened’ when we left. We had a twelve hour hold because the purser hadn’t completed all documentation. Missed our slot, and the Captain went mega-bilious on him. Busted him a pay grade, too. Then, the System Guard was all over us, outbound, put us in the low acceleration lane and pinged the Captain for not keeping to schedule. So she had another go at Primeday crew, and they passed the proverbial onto us on Seconday.” She shook her head. “Kamperel’s tight for us, and we’re local. You Impies would get old and die in a decaying orbit.”

Aloin laughed. “Okay, thanks for the head’s up,” he said, gesturing “hold” to Elera Lukka as she entered the Iridium Queen’s bridge. “Hey, I’m back through this way from time to time. Perhaps, we can catch up, dockside?”

“Perhaps, Iridium boy, perhaps,” Eisther smiled and then sat bolt upright in her chair, listening. Aloin could hear a muffled announcement over the Flower of Kamperel’s internal speakers. “Thank you, Iridium Queen,” she said, speaking clearly and carefully, “safe travels. Jumping in ten. Flower of Kamperel clear.” She winked and cut the connection.

Smiling to himself, Aloin swung his chair around. Elera Lukk was watching him intently, a quizzical look on her face. Aloin sat up straight. “Captain?” he said.

“Mr Grathikka?” Lukk replied. “I trust you have something to relate, other than tales of your conquest?”

Aloin swallowed nervously. “Yes, Captain,” he said. “Word from the Flower of Kamperel is that the Kamperelians are on high alert ...”

Lukk waived a hand. “Yes, yes, yes, I heard all that,” she snapped. “Kampies on the warpath, a fairly regular occurrence. One day, they’ll actually do something about it, rather than moaning and whining, and then they’ll get their posteriors handed to them on a plate.”

Aloin cleared his throat. “Kamperel’s a High Population, Poor, Industrial world,” he said. “Florana’s a Non-Industrial world. We could pick up a cargo of raw materials of some sort, or even food stuffs, at Florana and make a reasonable profit shipping it to Kamperel. The downside, from what Eisther ... ah, the comm tech on the Flower of Kamperel, said, is that with the Kamperelians so stirred up, we’re likely to hit delays and searches – especially if we get tangled up in their red tape. Also, the “Protection Against Piracy” levy we encountered at Florana is still in place at around ten percent. So heading to Kamperel could be an expensive, and lengthy, trip.”

Lukk cocked her head. “Your recommendation?”

“We unload our freight at Florana, as planned,” Aloin said prompltly, “and then pick up either cargo or freight for Ektra or Omega Vasalai IX, and then do a sweep down the Miazan Main.”

“You’ve given this some thought, haven’t you?” Lukk asked.

“Yes Captain,” Aloin replied.

Lukk, settled herself into the pilot’s chair. “Okay,” she said at last. “Go grab a sandwich and see if there’s any xhu left – you know how I like mine. I need a little time to think.”

As Aloin clattered down the corridor, Miska glanced at Lukk. “’e’s a smart lad,” she whispered.

Elera Lukk grunted. “Wonder if the Flower of Kamperel is headed for Ektra or Omega Vasalai IX?” she grumbled as she began to set up her board for docking at Florana Highport.

Finally! X-Boat enroute.

I received this email tonight:

Marc Miller was hoping to have all Kickstarter pledges shipped by the end of June. Looks like mine just squeezed in. A year in the waiting, I'm really looking forward to finally getting hold of it.

At 2.4 parsecs per week, how long does an X-Boat take to get from Illinois to West Auckland?

Rumour has it, the book looks like this:

I hope to confirm very soon.

Secrets in Sulfur Part 2: On the Trail of the Worm #1

Our cast of characters:

John – Boris Clapshaw, ex Army Infantry Sergeant
Jonathan – Riishaa Daanel, ex Marine
Dylan – Count Asenault “Chivers” Washington-Pipps, retired Marine Colonel
Chris – “Bunty” Staffburger, ex Marine Force Commander

Recap:

Bunty Staffburger meets up with his old friend Count Asenault "Chivers" Washington-Pipps, Chivers' batman Riishaa Daanel and Boris Clapshaw, a friend of Daanel's, on Por’via. The three of them are heading off to do some mercenary work in the Geithurian Republic and have stopped over on Por’via before leaving Imperial Space.

Bunty’s girlfriend, Selia Vuir – a sulfur miner – is overdue from her shift. She has mentioned finding a cache of sunstones – opal-like gemstones – which she had intended to sell, under the counter, to Jorgan Kiorpanos, the local VenGems Holdings agent. Bunty and his companions venture out into the badlands above the sulfur flats to try and locate her. Instead they discover mysterious vargr, vicious alien lifeforms called irrijari, and a buried shuttle craft belonging to a mysterious methane-breathing species called the Mi’yargin. The ship has been on Por’via for around 200 years. The Mi’yargin have managed to save Selia, who was injured by the irrijari, by melding her mind into their Collective Consciousness, while they alter her body to better survive in a methane atmosphere.

Once the companions deal with the Vargr, and with the irrijari, the Mi’yargin shuttle takes off to rejoin its mothership, hidden in the rings of the Por’via system’s gas giant. While heading out-system, the companions realize that they are being followed by the Vargr freighter Akhska that was in port, and which was noted for its crew not speaking Gvegh – the standard Vargr language.

The Mi’yargin Nullship is a planetesimal-sized, icy structure, deep in the gas giant’s ring system. A crater near the equator turns out to be a large, external shuttle bay. Gaining access to the Mi'yargin's internal transportation system, Chivers and his companions are able to ambush Captain Vegh and the Akhska’s crew and seize their ship by emerging directly beneath the freighter through the nullship’s surface. The Mi’yargin Collective, having successfully reintegrated the Collective of the shuttle crew, are able to assist Chivers and his companions in translating some of the information discovered aboard the Akhska, and interrogating the one surviving Vargr crewbeing. The Akhska has come a long way – from Waystar in Cabria Subsector where someone called Aia issues orders to Captain Vegh and the crew of the Akhska. The Vargr aboard the Akhska speak an ancient Vargr language called Arrghoun - older than, and distinct from, Gvegh, the language of most Imperial Vargr. The Arrghoun Vargr refer to their employer as Aeroukh Doaengosra - “Lord (or Prince) Whipworm”. The Mi’yargin Collective wonders if Lord Whipworm may in fact be a Danshihabi, an ancient enemy of the Mi’yargin and referred to, by them, as “thieves and carrion worms”.

The Mi’yargin ask Chivers and his companions to journey along the Akhska’s back trail to Waystar to learn more about Lord Whipworm, and to report back to the Collective at a rendezvous point in the Yuar Outsystem in Cabria Subsector. The Collective turns the Akhska over to Civers and throws in a little something to continue their association – a large, sarcophagus-like object.

---

The sarcophagus-like object delivered to the ship turns out to be a very old Lowberth capsule, and when this is activated, Chivers and his companions meet Amin Soshousis, a Scout. Exploring the Por’via system in 922, just before the 1st Outrim War, Amin’s Scout ship collided with the Mi’yargin Nullship. She managed to get into her Lowberth before the catastrophic failure of her ship’s life support system. The Mi’yargin managed to retrieve her Lowberth, did a preliminary scan of its systems, and then put it into storage as events unfolded on Por'via, keeping it safe for 200 years.

Music tastes change in 200 years

It takes Amin several days to recover from her extended Lowberth time, and Boris and Bunty are surprised at how well she seems to adjust to the massive time displacement she has experienced. Apart from her slightly antiquated figures of speech, and her very old style Scout uniform, there is little to distinguish her from someone of a more contemporary origin. When asked about this, Amin admits that every day she is having to make little adjustments as she discovers items that work slightly differently, or products that taste or function slightly differently. But, having served as a Field Scout for a number of years, she is used to being transient - never making attachments as duty usually moves one on - and she is used to discovering and experiencing new things. Working a Vargr ship is actually less of a culture shock than discovering all the people she knew are gone and all the bands she used to listen to are now considered Classical Music.

Once Amin, and Knaes – the captured Vargr whom Daanel has convinced to join the new pack – have worked out the basic bridge control layout, the Akhska leaves the Nullship. Slipping back to Por’via in an attempt to recover Selia’s Sunstone stash, the companions find that it has been picked clean. An attempt to hunt down the scavengers, thought to possibly be associates of Jorgan Kiorpanos, the VenGems agent who was killed by the irrijari, proves fruitless, so Chivers and his associates decide to leave Por’via and set out on their mission for the Mi'yargin.

The Akhska is a Gaeouz Class Far Trader, with a three parsec Jump range and 3Gs of acceleration. Having extracted more data from the Akhska’s log, Chivers and his associates have learnt that the ship transited through Evvikkim while heading for Por’via, and that there seems to have been some message traffic between Captain Vegh and an agent of Aia's operating on-planet. Amin is very reluctant to enter Geithurian space, even when assured that some time has passed since the last Outrim War (the 4th which, Amin argues, proves her point as she entered her Lowberth just prior to the 1st Outrim War). Having assured her that they will not remain longer than necessary in-system, they eventually plot a course from Por’via, via Jul'ni and Hiona in Geithurian space, before jumping on to Evvikkim.

On approach to Evvikkim, Amin informs Chivers and his companions that she is picking up an automated message being tight beamed to their ship. The message is in code and in Arrghoun, which the Bunty and Daanel are able to crack. The message appears to be from a local agent of Aia’s, saying that a strange ship has been spotted in the Evvikkim system and asking the Akhska to get word to Aia.

Evvikkim Downport shows signs of decay, as if it was once a lot busier than it now is. Very few Evvikkimians are evident, and all look pale and drawn. Also, no children are evident within the starport concourse, while the bulk of the service work at the starport is performed by gangs of Vargr of different origins. Large areas of the starport have been mothballed, or partially shut down, and many areas are dusty and unserviced, as if no-one has ventured into them in many years. Even snack food dispensers are lightly coated in a film of dust, and are stocked with older style packets of snacks.

Chivers and Boris Clapshaw meet Sholoam Kharii, Head of Security for Evvikkim Downport, a tall and cadaverous Vilani and who, like all Evvikkimians, wears slightly archaic styled clothing. Amin is convinced that she recognises him, and that he was head of security when she last passed through Evvikkim – over 200 years ago. Sholoam seems a little suspicious when Chivers talks of picking up a cargo, and advises Chivers and his associates to be wary of the Vargr groups that frequent the starport, and in particular a group lead by Angtuez.

While Chivers and his companions are out looking for cargos and news, Amin is abducted from the Akhska by a Vargr gang. Giving chase, Chivers and company track down her assailants in an abandoned maze of tunnels between the starport and Evvikkim City and, after a shootout, rescue her from the band of Vargr led by Angtuez.

Getting back aboard the ship, Chivers and his associates are thoroughly convinced that Evvikkim is getting all a bit too creepy, and so they perform an emergency takeoff, damaging the access tunnel to their docking bay in the process. With threats of legal retribution reverberating from the ship’s comm., the Akhska heads for the system gas giant, Lamo VIII, to refuel while a debate rages over their next move.

Iain M. Banks has achieved a Zero Point Energy State

A post on G+ alerted me to the news, this morning. Iain Banks has lost his battle with gallbladder cancer and passed away.

I am currently reading Matter, and have The Hydrogen Sonata to look forward to. And then I can return to the origin point, I guess, and read all his books again.

The BBC News has more details - with various other UK news sources pretty much regurgitating the same press release.

As he was a humanist, I suspect Mr Banks might get a little annoyed about people suggesting that he had gone to a better place. I would prefer to remember him for his "big ideas" science fiction, and suggest that he has now achieved a Zero Point Energy State. My thoughts are with his wife and family.