Curufea's Homepage

Andrew Gould
Deeply religious crewmember who 'becomes one with the ship' (and his shy sister Sharee) both from a doomed multigenerational ship. Can occasionally Reverse the Polarity of the Neutron Flow and Change the Laws of Physics. Currently in the employ of Captain Samuel West as executive officer(and sister is steward)

Victor Connor
Bioengineered replicant trained for combat, but now seeking his own way. Has some psi potential and biotech stinger good for paralysing. Currently in the employ of Captain Samuel West as 'public relations' (just like Jayne, but with more brains)

Ben Cook
The flamboyant captain - inhumanly good at impressing people and convincing them to do things. Which is somewhat reliant on him regularly maintaining his fame and reputation. Because basically, that's all he's good at. Currently on a mission with his engineer, his manservant, his valet/hairdresser and his chef. Not to mention the two other new NPC recruits - one of whom is part of his fanclub.

Nathan Cassidy
The rich playboy dilettante with a flare for big game hunting, not turning down challenges and fencing with his android valet : Servitor Currently a passenger seeking adventure and distance from his family. At least he isn't as hunted as Victor's character.

Torben Vang
Extroverted explorer from a race of furry xenophobes. Likes to tinker with chemicals and hard acceleration with his spiritual pet and occasional explosive device : Gramat Currently in the employ of Captain Samuel West as pilot and medic

Ingrid Bonanza
Acting Chief Engineer - a bit of a tinkerer

Haldane Cross (or just Cross)
Manservant and biographer - bit of a scholar

Oofie Brandon
Yeoman, PA and Image consultant - thin, bureaucratic and efficient

Lee-Han Kwan
Valet, Hairdresser and Grooming consultant - extravagantly gay (was useful against Fabio Durante in the first session)

John Smith
Chef. Good with knives. Don't try and commandeer the ship and hold the crew captive.

New recruits-
Carol Lansig
young computer programmer. Desperate fan of West, about whom she's written much fanfiction (usually romantic, occasionally with her in it - but we rolled, and she hasn't written slash yet). A moderately competant communicatiosn officer.

Will Smith
gunner. Been around a bit and seen a bit

Location- The Lady Jane (see presentation) was docked to Akaisha station near Kanja (see presentation)

West, his underlings, Aie and Athrak are at a press conference (see presentation) Marcus is in a seedy bar checking out 5 suspiciously similar, muscular males. Andrew is lurking in the crowd.

Kanja being a major house homeworld - they found out about West being their and his local fanclub also had members at the meeting. The conference went well (as well as could be expected) and a call for new crewmember went out. Hundreds replied the next day - naturally all his fanclub did as well, he chose to employ one of them.

West's Valet chose to hang around Fabio's VIP quarters afterwards and managed to put in a good word (ahem) for the Captain by the time West called a second press conference regarding the terrorist.

Marcus wandered down to Magellan's Folly - a slightly seedy pub - and spotted 5 suspicious characters. All large, muscular, with no distinguishing features, and a tendency to show no emotions. For some reason they reminded him slightly of Andrew.

Aie went to a high class pub (Star Rock Cafe: Akaisha) where he was overcharged for his drink (them being more xenophobic than average) and almost creating a scene. Andrew found him and attempted to a) get him drunk or b) find out the effects of recreational chemicals on him. Of course, he's immune to both.

Meanwhile West back at his VIP suite, heavily engaged in researching the Bellerophon, receives a call from a desparate station resident wanting transport to his House homeworld. Reluctantly West agrees to meet him, and picks up Aie and Andrew on the way.

Marcus, bored, leaves the pub and goes towards the VIP area - and notes that one of the five follows him (unable to grasp that an obviously very well dressed stranger in a low class pub would attract attention). As Marcus passes the rest of the group going the other way, Andrew pretends to be drunk (failing miserably) and attempts to hug the person following Marcus. They get grappling - but both seem equally matched (actually the other guy rolled really badly). Luckily West in incredibly charming and persuavive and gets them to part and go their separate ways.

Stephan Hitu (in a residence near Magellan's Folly coincidentally) offers the group a Large Sum of Monies ™ to get him out of the station and off home. He thinks there are agents of a rival House after him because of a few illegal things he did on their planet (which he doesn't want to talk about).

West left Andrew and Athrak behind (the later doing funky things to lock the door) while he made arrangements. The arrangements being checking with all authorities about the background of Mr Hitu. Unbeknownst to him of course, these checks were being monitored. The enquiries at the local embassy of the House after Hitu were particularly unwisely undertaken.

The five undistinguished gentleman started leaving the pub - two disappeared, three went towards the VIP area.

After consulting with his aides and the authorities, West decides that while the reward for information leading to an arrest is neglible - his reputation would be greatly affected if he was found helping a terrorist.

Of course, the embassy mentioned that Hitu was wanted for blowing up a building on their homeworld - and they didn't check any further than that (ie what the building was, and what other news sources said about the incident of a building blowing up).

Three nondescripts turned up at West's residence on the station and were escorted to Hitu's quarters. Hitu pulled a gun and shot the ear off one of the nondescripts before they beat him up and carted him away.

A press conference later impressed the reporters still in residence. Quirky Fresnel (daughter of West's main media contact - see West's interview) was distracted from wanting to be on West's ship when he discovers the Bellerophon by a temporary anchor position offered by her father (thanks to West notifying him).

Scientific knowledge necessary to track down the lost Bellerophon became quite easy to get after they helped the House of science&technology get their terrorist. Borrowing a Bussard ramscoop ship from the local museum they set up a several tests and were able to rig sensors to detect the passage of normal-space ramscoop ships. They left an indelible mark on the dimensional barrier between normal and hyperspace.

With this knowledge firmly in hand, and two new crewmembers (after some quick interviews) they set off for Earth-that-was, a journey of 2 weeks via hyperspace. The Lady Jane not having jump engines itself, it used the commercial jumpgate system.

The Bellerophon multigenerational ship left Earth for Tau Ceti over a thousand years previously, and so there was a further 1 day journey from current Earth to the location of a thousand years ago.

Discovered two thirds of the way from Earth to Tau Ceti

1 ly wide 'funnel' from HEH to normal space and generating 1g.

The trail of the Bellerophon disappeared 1 day journey further away

One image of a strangely bone-shaped large object in normal space sending out a distress signal into HEH of unknown language.

To be continued in session Two-

Having volunteered to be sucked out of hyperspace by the anomaly, The Lady Jane went down the well. Transferring to normal space in what appeared to be a Nebula. The crew were somewhat alarmed by the gradual loss of energy. Coming across the Derelict - which looks like a Vorlon dreadnaught with two of its arms removed. Here's some pictures :-

There was a ship attached to the front right tentacle and some solar panels in the spherical indentation where the bottom tentacles would have been - neither of which were noticed at first. the middle ship in the size comparison image is the ship attached to the Derelict. It is also the remains of Athrak's old multigenerational ship. The bottom ship is the Lady Jane. The solar panels were later determined to be from the ramscoop ship, Bellerophon.

Sending out a probe, which also suffered larger energy loss than normal, the intrepid crew determined that the Derelict was sucking all energy from space, the nebula was in fact a debris field from a very high velocity collision, and that the Derelict was a living being.

The Derelict continued to transmit its distress call, but suddenly stopped absorbing energy, which moderately freaked the crew. It did not stop them from the path of caution, and they did a thorough scouting job of the hull. Unable to find a way into the ship - two of the crew, Marcus and Andrew boarded Athrak's old ship to find it abandoned, full of debris, and low on power. The power was still being absorbed from that ship into the Derelict. Where the ship intersected with the Derelict, the hull of the Derelict appeared to be absorbing the ship, creating a wall across all intersecting passageways. Marcus spotted an arm, and then saw movement. A clatter of claws on metal.

Meanwhile the crew on the ship spotted movement on the tentacle near Athrak's old ship. The hull of the Derelict rippled as though it were a liquid and a stone had been dropped into it.

Aie attached the Lady Jane to the hull near the bridge area of the Derelict, the shipboard crew then investigated what appeared to be windows only to find out they were panels of light that they couldn't see past (possibly because the ship didn't use windows, but view screens). Aie then tried to think his way into the Derelict and was surprised that this worked, after a number of tries. At first only his foot sunk into the surface, then he went all the way through.

Around this time Marcus and Andrew investigated the wreck of the Bellerophon and found that the Derelict had absorbed everything but the solar panels. Captain West ordered that souvenirs be brought aboard for proof - and they noted that the ship grew back parts of itself where the panels were. They then postulated that there was some chemical in the panels that was not edible to the Derelict. Solar panels were constructed of some form of doped silicon. They removed all the solar panels, and the Derelict started repairing itself. Marcus and Andrew then willed themselves into the ship at that area and made their way to the bridge. Andrew went unconscious.

Aie and West made it through the hull, but Athrak suffered severe headaches and eventually blacked out. Both Athrak and Andrew have psychic powers and there is powerful feedback whenever they interact with the Derelict.

No signals passed between the inside of the Derelict and the outside - so in order to communicate with The Lady Jane, a retransmission antennae was set into to hull - passing from one side to the other.

It was noticed in their trips between the inside of the Derelict and their own ship, that they were developing a craving to stay inside the Derelict (it was compared to having some chocolate).

The bridge of the Derelict was totally devoid of any controls of any sort. It appeared much like the Jockey Room in Alien without the Jockey itself… Later, after they investigated the engine room of the Derelict, Athrak attempted to move the ship - he succeeded, moving it about 5 metres before losing consciousness again from psychic feedback. In general Athrak had very bad feelings about this ship - finding it abnormal and horrific, as his abilities specifically attune him with space borne vessels allowing him to commune with them.

While inside the ship, every now and then - something moved. As though the walls of the ship were breathing. There was a breathable atmosphere and slightly over one gravity (even on the outside hull of the Derelict) - even though with all the ribbing it appeared the ship was built for zero gravity movement.

Along one of the walls, the crew discovered what appeared to be a human body. About a foot deep in the wall's translucent surface and mostly absorbed in a biomechanical sort of way.

In the engine room, they discovered The Sphere, floating on a pool of nutrients. All energy from parts of the ship flowed into and out of the Sphere - which they postulated either to be its engine or energy source. On the far side of the chamber, their energy detection scanners picked up a humanoid shape. It was the Captain of Athrak's old ship, whom Athrak hated, partially absorbed (one arm, one leg up to the hip - some internal organs) but still alive. Apparently he'd been using his own powers to attune with ships, to keep himself from being totally absorbed. He was incoherent, babbling and quite insane. They did manage to cut him loose - and he didn't bleed to death.

The crew got him back to the Lady Jane, where he started absorbing energy whilst in the sickbay. He is under constant surveillance. His arm and leg grew back - and he is now a biomechanical cyborg. Heavily sedated. Aie, who is the ship's doctor as well as pilot, discovered the remains of other humans inside the Captain's stomach.

Back on the Derelict again, Athrak - with West, Aie and Andrew, now attempted to open a funnel into Hyperspace again so they could leave (the Lady Jane being a ship without Hyper drive). He failed. Badly. Something woke up. Much noises.

The scrambled to leave the ship. Andrew was helping Aie through because he was stuck half way, when something fast went by and took a chunk out of Aie's armoured spacesuit's foot. Aie got through however, and back to the Lady Jane without losing too much air.

Andrew pulled out a gun and faced the creature which appeared to be like a biomechanical version of the creatures in Pitch Black - complete with whooping noises. It charged, using walls and ceiling - and missed. Andrew got of a shot and blue blood splattered against the wall - it was injured. Then he started hearing the noises of other creatures behind it. The better part of valour one - and he made it back through the hull (without losing consciousness because he was psychic - and rolled better than normal) and to the Lady Jane.

Currently the crew is taking stock of their weapons for another excursion into the Derelict.

To be continued in session Three-