2022.09.16 Session 6 (Sesa Sesio!) (Unrecorded session)
The Steppenwolf lands on Bellerophon and...nothing. This world has 50,000 inhabitants; there is little traffic in space, and they have "lackadaisical" flight-plans. No one comes out to greet the PCs on the landing pad. Some PCs go to the St. Kilda starport building (Capt. Derwatt, Tōmō). They meet two bored Customs officials, who ask where they came from (Yanto), and ask for papers. The officials are surprised that the PCs have diplomatic envoy status with a Verdulan planet! The PCs find out they should contact Joe Whitley in the town of Ouistreham about the shipment of Jelly eggs. They call him on his comm number.
The Steppenwolf jaunts over to Ouistreham [which means either "Western Harbour" or "Oyster Harbour", no one is sure], where there appears to be a fleet of watercraft clustering in the harbour. Capt. Derwatt, Tōmō, Ronnie, and First Officer Brogan Reilly go meet this Joe Whitley. He is a grizzled fisherman, best known as Old Joe Whitley, accompanied by a "fisherlady" named Jenny Wu. Whitley tells the PCs about the life-cycle of the Jellies (Handout). Their egg-laying pheromones will peak in 5-6 days, and the prediction of the peak is crucial. A scientist named Alonso Gomez is in charge of predicting egg-laying time, and tracking the largest concentration of the jellies in the Northern Ocean. He helps to coordinate the Northern Fishing Fleet, which is a kind of joke because they are also the Southern Fishing Fleet, half a local year later when the egg-laying happens in the Southern Oceans.
Whitley says the Jelly eggs are clear and featureless and have the sought-after delicate taste. Then they develop into "joeys" which develop bumps and hard spots, and are less tasty, fit only for animal feed. These develop into "wrigglers" which develop an undulating swimming-mantle, and are animal feed only if nothing else is available.
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Finally the adult form develops tentacles ringing the mantle, and no animal will eat those, except the Sifter, a giant ocean creature who is the predator of the Jellies and from a similar evolutionary line. In season, the Jellies get "gravid" and fill with eggs, ready to release them simultaneously with a pheromone signal in the water in the winter season, to begin the cycle again.
Ronnie considers selling his 3 briefcases full of drugs, but it is not likely he will find a buyer on a sparsely populated world. (Probably will have better luck on Flostono the Beach Party planet.)
Brogan wants to Party, Ronnie wonders if there is gambling, Astria just wants to chill, and Tōmō expresses an interest in a boat ride. An ocean rain slicker costs 50 Cr.! The PCs ask about local clubs, but advertisements can lie. They prefer to get honest recommendations from the locals. They hear of a hot spot called the Twisted Sifter where, yes, there is gambling. Gambling is not legal on this world (Law Level 9), but the sparse population means laws are not always well enforced. Richard and Ronnie seek out this gambling. They find out (Streetwise) that to get into gambling, they must make a sign to the bartender by holding two fingers to their nose.
Some PCs do go on that boat ride, a rustbucket of a boat captained by another grizzled sailor named Rellick. They manage to see some Sifters breaching the waves. Some people have seasickness symptoms, not having been on any pitching, heaving watercraft before. Rellick and his crew have pills for that. Ronnie does not get seasick as he has Seafarer skill.
That evening, some PCs head to the Twisted Sifter. The gamblers in the party find the back room: Ved, Ronnie and Tōmō. They join a standard Texas Hold 'Em poker game with an ante of 5 Cr., and the pots sometimes increase to triple-digit numbers. They win some, they lose some (Tōmō is up 60 Cr, Ved up 40 Cr; Ronnie breaks even with only 10 Cr more). (edited)
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Over on the Steppenwolf, they receive a signal wave on their own "Argosy Dawn" frequency. The PCs find out it is ANOTHER Argosy Dawn Shipping vessel, the Surfsailor, which is crewed entirely by Tlaimans, headed by Capt. Kredno. They have been commissioned to help haul the cargo of Jelly eggs to Flostono.
The Tlaimans have set up their ship with a water "atmosphere". Their airlocks are really water-locks as the ship is entirely in water except for the cargo area. The Tlaimans can breathe air for long periods if necessary, but they complain about it. They can offer Middle Passage for Humans but the staterooms and common area will be cut off from free movement to the crew areas.
Crewed by Ho'pula Kr'edno (captain), Verakki Sh'armazul, Tr'no'aa Vl'deshka, Ir'mai Apa'at, Odanu Sh'keira, and Gg'adnak I'terris'i [whose name means he acts as liaison with Terrans, i.e. Humans].
The PCs manage to sell the iron parts they got on Frideyo, for 105% of base price. They earn 105,000 Cr. (for what they had bought for 56,000 Cr.), which goes to ship funds. The shipping company eventually wants to see some monthly profit.
Finally, D-Day arrives. The fishing fleet launches to intercept the Jelly eggs. Astria does some science, she develops a subsonic sound that the ships can blast into the water, to repel Sifters. Joe Whitley says that will certainly help with the yields of eggs.
Near the arctic ice-pack, the fleet lay their nets as blooms of eggs visibly dot the whole horizon. Netful after netful is sieved out and brought on board the ships. Some of the PCs are in the large lead ship and Old Joe Whitley leads you into the pungent lower decks and shows them the on-board machines which sterilize (kill) the eggs with ultraviolet rays, preparing them to be flash-frozen and packed. "Ya don't notice the fishy smell after a few years..." he remarks. (edited)
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The catch is hauled back to port, and frozen, and packed. The Steppenwolf (and the Surfsailor) are loaded up, 60 tons each. Capt. Derwatt tops up Life-support: 2000 Cr. for 1 wk. of Jump, times 8 staterooms. They also buy a CO2 filter for 100 credits to replace the faulty one.
On the last night in Jump, Tōmō plans to cook his special recipe he got from the ship's cook on the fishing ship he went on - with some personal touches. Jelly Eggs à la Tōmō. (In Japanese, Tōmō no tamago!) From his private supply of jelly eggs.
Day 56, planning to take off. The Surfsailor is taking off simultaneously. First Officer Brogan makes the Piloting roll (but Astrogation and Engineering rolls are pending.) (edited)
GM (Pierre) — Yesterday at 17:00
Other notes: Virgil has an intelligence-agent background, asks some contacts about what is happening. Smugglers are operating, crossing the border, but cargo is unknown. He gets a copy of a file of ship names, wonders if he knows any of the ships? (No.)
Also, when the crew get to Flostono, they will have completed 8 weeks of skill training in Jump periods and can attempt to gain a skill level. They also get 5% of the freight cost to haul 60 tons to Flostono (times 2 jumps, times 1,600 Cr/ton). The total payment for freight was 192,000 Cr., and 5% is 9,600 Cr or a 1,200 Cr bonus per crew-member.
Message #session-summaries
