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Magic Rune

Return of the Drelbs

Illusion Rune

It's May 3, 1915 and the Lusitania is steaming along on its return run from New York to Liverpool.  Unbeknownst to the people on board there are two groups of strangers on board.

Chronology

May 1st, 1915 The Lusitania leaves New York harbour for Liverpool.
May 3rd, 1915 8:00 am Unbeknownst to the crew and passengers the Kranzons have appearred below decks.
May 3rd, 1915  8:15 am The Drelbs splash down off the starboard side. 
May 3rd, 1915  8:22 am A lookout spots the Drelbs adrift and a boat is sent out to retrieve them.
May 7th, 1915 Ship enters the danger zone where enemy subs are expected.  Captain Turner takes all possible precautions ordering all the lifeboats to be swung out, all the bulkhead doors to be closed, look-outs to be doubled and steam pressure to be kept high to give the ship all possible speed in case of emergency.   
May 7th, 1915 8:00 am Speed is reduced to 18 knots to secure the ship's arrival at the bar outside Liverpool at 4.00 am the following day, in order to catch the high tide.
May 7th, 1915 12:40 pm The ships course was altered in order to make a better landfall.
May 7th, 1915 1:40 pm. The ship is brought closer to land and the Old Head of Kinsale is sighted
May 7th, 1915 1:50 pm The ship's course is steadied so an officer begin to make a four-point bearing but this was never completed. 
May 7th, 1915 2:00 pm The passengers are finishing their lunch.
May 7th, 1915 2:15 pm The ship was 10 to 15 miles off the Old Head of Kinsale with the weather clear and the sea smooth. Captain Turner then heard the second officer shout 'There is a torpedo coming, Sir'. Immediately afterwards there was a terrific explosion on the starboard side, between the third and fourth funnels. Almost simultaneously there was a second explosion, which was thought at the time to be a second torpedo but has since been confirmed as an internal explosion, although the cause has never been definitely established.
May 7th, 1915 2:35 pm The Lusitania sinks with the loss of 1,198 lives.

The Kranzons and the Drelbs have both imposed their unwanted attentions on the unsuspecting crew and passengers of the Lusitania. The Drelbs have no sinister motive like that of the Kranzons but their sexual advances are unwanted all the same. The Drelbs are on the ship because the technicians manning the time machine miscalculated the landing date, after all what's 60 years when your travelling millenia back into the past? (And let's not forget that they ended up kilometers east of New York city, good thing that ship was there!) Though the fact that they're actually optimised in training and equipment for the era depicted in the training "documentary" they watched might put them at a bit of a disadvantage. (Their training film was Saturday Night Fever). The 1915 era crew of the Lusitania don't appreciate disco music or the casual manner of the Drelbs.

The Kranzons on the other hand move about randomly in time and space and usually don't care when or where they are (though since that unfortunate early 21st century encounter with that human cannibal they don't care much for periods or places where they might not get ahold of enough wine and beans to make their transfer possible. When they realize where they are they might be a bit upset, especially if they realize that there isn't much time before the ship is sunk.

The people on the ship

There are two main groups on the ship.

Group One

The passengers who are typical 1915 era humans. The Americans among the passengers are a bit nervous about the possibility of the ship being sunk. They all saw the warnings the German Embassy in New York put in the paper. But other than that they are rather open and outgoing. The British among the passengers are more nervous than the Americans and know what the dirty Bosch are capable of! Both groups are made up of whatever stereotypes you want to inflict on your players, the ugly American nouveay riche, the upper class British twit, society matrons, serious businessmen, an Anglican clergyman, mermaids (cross Atlantic prostitutes), young IT girls, maybe even a silent movie star or two!

Group Two

Is the English crew who are nervous because they are well aware of the munitions and arms hidden below deck. They will react in a hostile fashion to anyone snooping around the ship. All the crew are carrying knives for use in their "duties" while the ships officers are all armed with .32 revolvers which they are carrying concealed. Remember that the captain is the ruler of his ship and can do pretty much anything he wants outside of territorial waters. The crew is all quite competent and disdainful of foreigners, Krauts and their allies, the Irish (who have just seceded from the Empire), lower classes, etc., etc. (Especially the officers!)

Typical crew member stats:

Resist seduction 3 (add 10 to this value when one of those weirdo foreigners is trying to seduce them, add 20 when the Drelbs are the wrong sex! Subtract 1-10 (per drink) depending on how drunk they are. They are sailors after all! They'll drink one drink per persuasion role an opponent makes.)
Consume alcohol 18
Perform duties under the influence 15
Be obsequious to people of higher status 16
Knife attack 10 1D4

HP 15

Typical officer stats

Suck up to rich passengers 15
.32 revolver (6 shots) 11 1D6
Bellow orders 15
Scream at underling 18
Be stuck up to underlings and the lower classes 14


HP 15

The Kranzon

The Krazons always arrive stark naked and can appear as either a male or a female (depending on who they last ate) when they do arrive. They arrived on the Lusitania below decks and managed to quickly find some clothing to wear.

Hypnotize human 15 (only works on humans who are alone)
Recognize period in time 14
Consume human 13
Travel 14
(requires three successful consumptions)
Find wine and beans 12
Appear human 18
Human trivia 13
Soothe human 12
Mindspeak with other Kranzon 8
(works (as well as it does anyway) at any range)

HP 15

As much as they would like to be the Kranzons aren't invulnerable. In fact rather the opposite. Their only offensive ability is their hypnotize ability, and that only works on humans who are alone at the time. Any human they catch alone is probably doomed to be dined upon but against humans in groups they're at a disadvantage. Anyone seeing the Krazons as they dine on their prey (this is the only time at which they appear in their normal form) will see a rather attractive, multicoloured amorphous blob which is rather incongrously eating a human, bones and all while consuming beans and a bottle of wine. The sight is of course worth a SAN roll (and a few laughs for the sickos out there!) Another problem that the Kranzons have is that they hate each other. Unfortunately they need at least four of the six members of the collective in order to make the transfer to another time and place so they have to stay realitively close to each other. After certain conditions are met (and they still haven't figured out exactly what it is even after all these millenia) an individual Kranzon will consume his collective mates and create a new, better collective. (Well, it has to be doesn't it? It's made from me!)

The Drelbs

The Drelbs appear fully clothed and ready for action! 20 feet above the surface of the Atlantic 1/2 mile in front of the ship! Splash. After a few uncertain moments the ship arrives and rescues them. It's up to them to make up a story just why they are floating in the ocean. Are they spies? Shipwreck survivors? Victims of the dirty Bosch? Why are they so outlandishly dressed though? They must be sailors. But why don't they know anything about being a sailor then???? Well here they are and they are ready to Part-tee!

Skills

Seduce human 19 (subtract 10 points for the more uptight early 20th century mentality)
Get it on 16
Disco dance 20
(half chance at the more stately 1915 dances once they get the idea).
Look cool 15
Bust a move 18
Consume illicit substances 14
Switch sex 11

HP 15

Equipment : time travel gizmo (looks like gold peace medallion); groovy white threads that can be reversed for male or female disco attire; stash (of hallucenogenic substance).  They also have a group getto blaster which has the complete soundtrack to the documentary movie on it.


This page last modified June 05, 2000


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