At the previous session, the party heard through a Neobedouin shaman contact that there were two tribes ready to go to war with each other near Isla Aether. So the party decided to go to Isla Aether to grab some information before heading to deal with the tribes. They figured that the best place to get information was a random tavern near the docks where those going through would drop in.
So the new Captain (long story short, the previous captain, a misbegotten had to die because the player quit the group due to preparing to move) and the new first mate (also ship's medic) goes into the bar and notices a wizened man who is clearly far older than any human they've ever seen (about mid 60's to early 70's) wearing clothing that doesn't identify him as either Skyfolk, Neobedoin, or Neovictorian. Because he stands out pretty good in the tavern, they approached him. They introduce themselves to the elderly man who just smiles a bit and replies "I already have met you. More times than you know as of yet."
Seeing that there's only one group of people that the PCs know actually have a method of jumping through time, they came to the conclusion that the elderly man is a much older Captain Robert. They continue to talk and the elderly Captain Robert tells them that the Ophelia had a run-in with someone testing out a much newer version of the time-travel device and when he gave up his position of Captain of the Ophelia to one of his daughters, he took the original Chrononautilus with him. They wound up making a deal with the old man- that since he misses being an airship Captain, that they'd give him one last chance at being Captain in return for the Chrononautilus. He took up the offer and we ended there.
This week, we started where we left off and the old man Robert was given permission to be acting Captain unless it would endanger the ship or crew. He left with the First Mate to tour the ship to see the ship and get acquainted with the crew. Said First Mate/Medic wound up becoming friends with him as he made his rounds around the ship.
Long story short, they eventually arrived at the closest of the two tribes, the Sacramento (the pilot was still allowed to be the pilot) and learned that the other tribe, the Western Camelops had been raiding them and taking whatever wasn't nailed down or too big, including women and children. They were clearly set up in the Wiccan tradition and were peaceful and all that jazz. They celebrated that the fact that they had someone willing to help them with a grand ceremony followed by a feast (glazing over it because it could really be too much). After the feast, the religious leaders told the landing party of their plight and that their daughter was missing during the last raid.
They had a night to rest and the Medic caught old man Robert coughing a bit and played it down. He tried to convince him to go to the infirmary for a check up and Robert told him that he would go to the ship's infirmary when he gets the chance. That night, the PCs got together to plot a way how they could get the old man to get into the infirmary without killing him. (which caused a deviation with a song reference and some humming)
They then got to the Western Camelops who claimed that they were being attacked by the Sacramento who would steal everything that wasn't nailed down- the exact story that the Sacramento had told them. The official Captain (Automaton Doll) decided to have the pilot/engineer build what would amount to signal flares, and gave one to each tribe to fire off when the next raid is.
During that day while waiting for the flare to go off, the Medic stuck around old man Robert who was mostly doing paperwork and writing something in a leather-bound book. He told the medic his plans that he doesn't trust the official captain after the deal is done so he's going to ensure that they get to Isla Aether in the dead of night and jump ship after leaving a note of where their payment will be as well as a key to unlock the door. (funny that they'll be heading towards what was once the Seattle area) He coughs again and the medic is unsure if the ship even has the equipment he needs to make a diagnosis.
The flares go off at the same time, a while after nightfall. They head towards the Western Camelops since they control an oil refinery half the year and they see outriders on horses leaving the area. They finally get to three of the outriders, one of which was holding a little girl hostage. Old Man Robert managed to hobble to the Captain's quarters he was temporarily given and took out a pistol and was ready to shoot that guy himself when everyone fired at them. Once he was down before he could shoot the little girl, the two burly men who were accompanying him were fired on- one to the point of exhaustion and the remaining one was shot and killed by a man on a pre-apocalypse motorcycle before said man took off into the ruins and ducked into a garage there.
The ship's actual captain took up command and talked old man Robert into going with her and she interrogated the man to learn that the group the man belonged to were mercenaries and that this was tied into some job (the PCs were mercenaries and are trying to change schticks) and that they use the garage as a repair depot. The man was then slowly killed through being hung upside down from the main deck.
While on their way elsewhere, the captain and old man Robert had a discussion. Old man Robert admitted that he's going to die soon by something that the future has no real cure for- old age. Captain Annika claimed that old age is just a scapegoat. This was followed by a fun set of dialogue:
Annika: Call it...professional curiosity. I want to know what will finally do in the great Captain Robert.
Robert: I'm not that great.
Annika: Fine, the famous Captain Robert.
Robert: More like infamous.
Annika: They're one and the same.
He then told her that even if he did tell her his afflictions, there is no real cure for them, even with her insisting that she must know in order to try to prevent the younger Captain Robert from getting the afflictions.
This led to Robert telling Annika that his actions shaped the world through manipulating the past and how he failed completely, giving Annika ammo and the chance to tell him that she wants to ensure his long life so that he can help her "make things right again." He told her how everything's better due to the fact that there's no large amount of nuclear weapons, no wars constantly being started somewhere in the world at any given time, and that he feels that there's less of a danger to mankind by itself. Annika then started to try to wheedle some information about the future before (through getting a success at a conversation roll) actually asking about the Emperor to which he tells her that the Emperor will be killed in six months by a jealous wife after killing the other wife and before she kills herself. (I apologized for spoiling Wrath of Fate which Annika's player borrowed from me after I had finished it who is still in the second or third chapter)
We left off about at that point where the PCs are preparing to enter the garage and seeing what the future has in store.
My future plans:
-Since it took so long for the PCs to get to the part of entering the garage, the man escaped through a bolt hole (ancient sewers)
-The deal between old man Robert and Annika is completely a test of character to see if he could trust her with the Chrononautilus and to form who she will become since the younger him will see her personality transform and shape since she had been planning to kill the old man after getting payment and now she wants to help him.
-The Chrononautilus, when received is missing bulbs since they all broke or were taken (if the old man is with them, he'll mutter about someone obviously having a need for them.)
-There is always a chance that old man Robert, being of a highly advanced age may not live to see the end of the escapade. (wow, that will really be a downer)
- The missing son and daughter left in the chaos of the raids to be together.
- The man on the motorcycle is the brother of the leader of the Western Camelops who had planned for the son to abandon the tribe for the daughter of the Sacramento and paid the mercenaries to attack both tribes dressed as the other tribe in order to instigate a fight which he knows that the Sacramento can't fully defend themselves from (since they're mostly pacifistic in nature) with the idea that a stray bullet will kill his brother and he will become the leader of the tribe.
Yeah, I mixed a ton of references and call-backs and lampshades all over the place. I dunno if I played an old man Robert well but I still had fun doing so since I figured that he would become a bit craftier in old age and far more knowledgeable of things since he had been around the block more than a few times.
