Challenger Campaign

050825           Volume VI, Episode 7: The Black Wizard of Mars

Our Heroes:

Synopsis:
Although the blank piece of foil that Miss Sklodowska had investigated has been stolen, the Party has one piece (liberated by Meri) that has a partial cartouche showing an ibis and a 6-limbed baboon, as well as a drawing of their sponsor’s piece that showed a 9-rayed sun.

The Party made the two day journey to Petrie’s base camp at Hwara, near a small British fort. Penrington was arrested by the military. Miss Sklodowska garnered information from Miss Bradbury and Petrie. That night both the Party’s camp and Petrie’s camp were attacked by Bedouin, and Petrie’s notes on a Thutmose frieze turned up missing. Examination of the actual frieze indicated that the 18th dynasty Pharaoh Thutmose took an object of significance to Gaza, possibly a pyramidium.

Trying to rescue Mr. Eiffel and the golden falcon from monks building a pyramidium atop the French tower during opening ceremonies, the Party was hit by a round of lightning bolts, dying en masse. The Party awakened on Barsoom where Penrington accepted an armband (a symbol of slavery) from the green Martian, Tars Tarkus.

Slaves of the green Martians, the Party joined in a battle against red Martians and save 4 of the latter by taking them prisoner. Kal Kailin of Helium told them of white Martians from a place on the third planet called Kemet (Egypt). After meeting the green Jeddak of Jeddaks, the group effected its escape, taking their keeper, Sola, with them. They were pursued.

Pursuit was thwarted by Zodangans, red Martians hostile to Helium. Meritaten was claimed by the prince of Zodanga; Mme. Sasson was claimed by a French-speaking follower of Kali. The rest of the Party escaped with Kal. In Helium the Party investigated the rumours of evil white Martians, resulting in the goddess Issus apparently generating a smoke which killed her High Priest. Another priest entered the room and, seeing Marya standing over the body, called out, “Murderer!”

Kal aided the Party to escape from the prisons of Helium and the group flew to Ptarth where they were immediately arrested as Helium spies. Once again the group managed to escape from the prison but Sherman discovered that the ship area was watched. Kal reminded the group that the walls have cannon emplacements, which would be a danger once the ship was achieved.

A plan evolved whereby the stealthy Penrington, along with a person with a little gunnery experience (Steele), would take out one turret. Meanwhile the rest would rush the ship and take it. Then the ship and first turret would be turned upon the other turret.

Ramsey believed that the group would have to take out one or two watchers, then scale the building 6 floors to reach the ship(s) on the top of the building. Buildings on Barsoom didn’t butt up against each other. The group recalled that Mr. Steele could throw people further than they can jump.

The first floors did not have windows. With Meri incapacitated, Ramsey volunteered to take point but it was determined that Sherman was the better 2nd story man. Sherman pushed his strength and ran towards Ramsey who threw him up to be plastered on the wall near the window. Sherman started to slip but grabbed a projection, dangling by one hand. He struggled and pulled himself up to the windowsill. Sherman could see no one awake in the room, albeit at least one figure seemed soundly asleep.

Sherman attached straps to the projection. Ramsey climbed up. Sherman burst through the window glass [taking 1 body], tumbling to the floor, and heading towards the bed. – waking the sleeper. Sherman stabbed the sleeper’s arm [4]. Ramsey slipped into the room and tackled the target [29, 5] – knocking the wind out of the red Martian. Sherman finished off their victim.

Ramsey started hauling others up.
Sherman guarded the door and noticed someone coming up the stairs.; he maneuvered himself to take out that worried guard from behind. He captured the guard’s gun. Sherman could hear guards awake on the floor below.
Marya re-paramedicked Meri whose wound reopened during the ascent.

Sherman and Ramsey (taking the gun) led the party up. The latter designated Marya as rear guard.

On the 4th floor, a pair of people were muttering. They were the watchers. The Party was spotted. “They’re here! Spring the trap! Guards! Hey, how did they get up HERE?!” Close combat ensued. Sherman hit [in 13 for 14]. Ramsey hit [in shoulder for 11]; the Martian hit Ramsey in the arm [for 6]. Much noise rose from below. A 2nd rifle was acquired.

Marya noticed the brown stain on the roof where Toby had died.

On the ship, the Ptarthians had tossed the ship, taking almost everything; Kal headed towards the controls while Ramsey [who bled another point] threw off the mooring lines.
Kal: ”I think we can get underway as soon as there is lift in the tanks.”

Sherman grabbed a body and used it as a projectile weapon to knock back the first comers. The ship lifted awkwardly. Something was wrong with one stern tank. Marya went to check the tank.

Ramsey, observing from the hatch, shot the only Martian who emerged onto the roof carrying a rifle.

Marya tore a hole in the tank and was greeted by a bark and a green Martian. “Sola!?! Toby!!”
Sola: “I had felt sorry for him and used my herbs.”

Penrington reached the turret door, only to find it locked. The hunter quietly picked the lock with improvised tools. Signaled Steele and opened the door. The light and cold from the open door alerted the occupants in the 2-hex interior.

Penrington attacked the near guard [in 6 for 11], chopping his hand off. Steele charged to the door.

The other two guards drew their swords and shouted for guards. They attacked Penrington who aborted to block (barely) the first and then (easily) the second. Steele swept the two (in the crowded hex), [in 6 for 9] [in 12 for 14]. Gore covered Penrington as one Martian fell and the two weaponless guards tried to crawl away. The end was bloody. Penrington closed and guarded the door.

Steele started studying the mechanism: various viewing ports and telescopic sighting apparatus for distance shots, a ratchet mechanism for moving, a radium glow ball that lit the gun for some manner of communication – probably improving the accuracy in range immensely. Steele sets the scopes to watch for the Party’s ship and to observe the tower and the 2nd turret.

As Steele spotted the ship (straps dangling), he also saw the 6-man relief crew heading for their turret.
“The ship is coming.” He rotated the turret 90-degrees and fired on the turret on the left.
Penrington opened the door and charged the relief crew, yelling a Zulu war cry. The hunter critted his first target [in 11, for 12, 36], felling him.

Steele paused at the door. The remaining Martians draw and swing at Penrington. Three tried to hit the hunter who blocked only the first. [Penrington went to 0-bod, taking in the 11 for 3, 9; in the 8 for 4 (goes to 2), 8.]
One ran up to Steele to engage. The “aluminum” man cut his attacker in half.
As the last Martian raced for the stairs; Ramsey shot him. The Martian’s arm exploded and he fell to the ground.

Penrington started dodging as Steele ran up to take on 3 Martian swordsmen. Steele stunned one[in 14 for 9, 18]. The other two missed their swings on Penrington.

Steele critted one [in 8 for 10, 20]. Penrington held his action. Two were only stunned (in arm and in leg).

Steele went for the last active opponent and decapitated him. Penrington finished off one of the stunned soldiers.

The ship straps dangled overhead [at bottom of 12], so the two adventurers left the last stunned soldier and grabbed onto the straps. The steel, er, aluminum man’s extra weight balanced the damaged ship.

Penrington climbed up the straps. Ramsey helped haul up Steele. Marya bandaged Ramsey’s arm and Penrington’s multiple wounds. Marya insisted that Steele stay in the front of the ship for balance. Sola regretted that all of her healing moss had been used and thus she was unable to now heal the Party.

Marya assisted Steele in figuring out how to get throttle control and steering back. The compass was hopeless. Marya figured out that below deck she could rearrange rays to lift or lower the ship. The radiologist established between deck communication with Steele, and between them, an uneven hover was achieved.

Sola was lowered down to the planet’s surface on a landing strap to gather herbs.
Those with survival (all but the Shermans) skills also went down to gather food stuffs.
Once the injured started to heal, the ship was landed and repairs were effected.

Our Heroes started climbing cautiously up the trail. Some people heard something hard clattering on rocks off one side of the trail.
Meri: “Maybe it’s one of those replica Mr. Steeles that wizards make here.”
One-third the way up the trail, Toby growled. Everyone heard the same sound on the opposite side of the trail. Sherman’s keen hearing spotted lots of clicking sounds like wood on rock.
Half-way up, Penrington heard the clattering behind, but nothing could be seen. He considered concealing himself but decided not to leave the Party.
Waiting in the path ahead as the path leveled, Steele saw a skeleton of a green Martian, armed with 2 one-handed swords and one two-handed great sword. Other skeletal forms clambered over the rocks towards the group. Behind, Penrington could see a skeletal form like the dog Fido. Other skeletal forms looked like red Martians and Great Apes. They brandished weapons.
Sherman: “If there’s someone at the top, we need to make it there.”

[Segment 3, Spd 4, Dex 20] The green Martian skeleton stepped forward to Steele; the dog skeleton raced forward to Penrington. Steele blocked with a great clanging. The dog snapped at the hunter who hit [in the 6, for 8], cracking a foreleg bone.

[Seg 4] Two white apes converged on Sola. Marya hit one [in 8 for 9]; Sherman hit the other in the ribs. Sola dodged but was hit in the chest.

Meri headed into the leftmost rocks and attacked a red Martian skeleton in the arm [for 8].

Steele hit [in 11, for 10] taking out a number of ribs; the green Martian skeleton missed. More such came up behind the first. The dog snapped again at Penrington who critted [in 15, for 14], powdering its leg bones. Meri swung again [critting in 8, for 13] taking off her opponent’s weapon arm.

Two skeletons went for Kal, one each went for Sherman, Meri, and Penrington. Meri took another belly wound [in 13, 4(double to 8), 16.] Kal crit one [in the 16]while both missed him. Penrington took a wound from behind [in 10, for 5, 15]. Toby grabbed Sherman’s attacker (who had missed the man) by the neck and started worrying it.

[Seg 8] Sherman swung[in 12, for 12] on the ape skeleton, cutting it in half. Marya dodged the ape swinging on her. Kal engaged his. Ramsey swung at one [for 8] in a non-weapon arm. Sola continued to dodge.

[Seg 9] Three green Martian skeletons attacked Steele who missed them. Steele took one hit [in 10, for 12, 36] and was stunned. Penrington took down the “dog”. Meri swept the two on her, critting one in the foot (It crawled away) and destroying the other. The bones still attempted to move.

[Seg 12] Steele unstunned. Penrington prepared to block. Sherman attempted to protect the women, hitting a skeleton [in 12 for 8]. Meri attacked the towering eight-and-a-half-foot monster on Steele’s left [critting in 13 for 13 (doubles to 18)], taking it down with a split spine. Another stepped onto the moving corpse and hit Meri [in 6 for 9 (halving for 5,5)] while two swung at and missed Steele. Ramsey stepped up to the skeleton on Steele’s right. An ape attacked Marya and missed because of her dodge. Kal finished off his legged opponent.

Penrington failed to block a red Martian attack [in 10, for 7, 21] and fell unconscious [and below body]. Toby’s opponent’s head fell off.

The front line (Steele, Ramsey, Meri) saw that one of the rocks had a glowing eye looking at the Party – and that it opened wide just now to surprise it.

[Seg 3] Kal looked around: “This is hopeless.”
A green Martian skeleton swung at Meri who succeeded in blocking. Ramsey dodged a swing. Steele critted [in 10, for 14], felling a Green. Another stepped up and missed the “aluminum” man. Marya swung and missed [saved from seg 12]. A faint blue glow covered the group.

[Seg 4] Sherman hit Marya’s opponent [in 8, for 7]. Bone clattered but still moved. Its claw seemed suspended in a position to hit – but didn’t. Toby brought Sherman a skull. Kal hit his in the shoulder.

[Seg 6] Meri: “There’s an eyeball up here.”
Meri attacked the next green Martian skeleton [critting in 9, for 12] collapsing a shoulder. Ramsey noticed that his opponent was not moving. Steele noticed something similar, “The ones up here seem to have stopped moving.”

In fact, all seem to have stopped moving though the one Meri had attacked after the blue glow resumed attacking. Steele switched to help Meri take down that skeleton into little piles of rubble.
Marya: “The blue ray – I don’t know its modulation – is a radiological phenomenon.”

Marya paramedicked Penrington who bled from the other wound. Sherman paramedicked his wife. Sola helped.
The skeletons moved off to assume a guard position along the path behind, leaving the trail ahead free.
Ramsey, guessing: “These are everything that has died here since the guy took up residence here.”
Once recovery started, more skeletons lined the path. Toby proudly carried his trophy until Sherman took it away.

At the top of the mountain a great carved opening led into the mountain. The designs were, again, carved in black on black relief. No writing was in evidence. The mountain was lit inside by the hallways themselves (rather than glow balls.)
A fountain in the center mountain room splashed pleasantly. There was a 2nd floor balcony where a man looked down at the Party. The man was brown skinned, tanned like the party, with a white tonsure. He looked old. He looked more like an Earthling.
Brown Man: <in Martian> “Who are you and what are you doing here?”
Sherman: <in Anglic> “That’s too bad. I was hoping he was one of us.”
Meri proceeded to make introductions in Martian.
Steele: “And we come from very far away.”
Sherman: “If you stopped the attack, I thank you.”
Brown Man: “Amazing, remarkable! The similarity is remarkable.”
Ramsey, who had been silent in shock, finally stepped forward and performed an ancient Egyptian obeisance, “Father!”
The Party stared in amazement.
Ramsey: “I was brought here with your daughter, my wife. She has been kidnapped.”
Brown Man: “My daughter was the priestess of the Temple of Life…”
Ramsey: “The temple is destroyed but we are here. And she lives -- here. I have held her in my arms.”
Brown Man: “You don’t just look like Mr. Ramsey?”
Sherman: “I don’t mean to intrude but what’s going on, Mr. Ramsey?”
Ramsey: “This is the once-king Akhenaten, Meriataten’s father, my father in law. Whom I last saw when he was taking my wife’s ashes to Egypt.”

Akhenaten – who was rusty in the Egyptian language – invited the group in and asked for explanations. He had destroyed the pyramidium back in Egypt before he had come to Barsoom.
The party described the new iron tower that overtopped the pyramids.
Akhenaten : “That would give great power and the pyramidium would have provided the focus.”
Steel reminded Ramsey that the new pyramidium was made incorrectly.
Akhenaten : “The beam would have scattered across Barsoom.”
Sherman: “Isis seems to have taken us an enemy.”
Akhenaten : “Issus – Ever since Narmer killed her husband.”
Ramsey recalled that Narmer was Fish Chisel. Explanations continued. Ramsey told about the kidnapping of his wife.
Akhenaten : “He will have you declared dead and if you don’t show up…”
Ramsey: “That is why I need to find her!”
Ramsey described the attacks by Issus. His father in law said that many could do that on Earth but few on Barsoom. “Only if they blocked the 3rd and part of the 5th ray. You would have noticed a very heavy feeling,” and proceeded to describe exactly the feeling the victims had in the temple. The old Egyptian determined that the followers of Kali were “assisting my other daughter.”

Barsoomian Radiology.
Ramsey: “You have not aged much.”
Akhenaten : “Nothing here affects time.”
Ramsey: “Yet you live.”
Akhenaten : “All here do. It’s a property of the 5th Ray.”
He showed the Party racks of tubes in various colours. “In the center of the planet is a great source of radiation. That radiation…interacts with what you carry in you. Like breathing in Kemet. The air here is not enough, without the radiation, we could not live and move. Something happens in the transport here that picks up…more than the Barsoomians have. Makes us much stronger than them. Whatever it is becomes replenished by what we eat while here. Also, the rays can be focused, controlled by certain materials. Well, the lesser rays. The ninth and tenth rays are colors…there is no word for them in our language [Ancient Egyptian]. I believe that the tenth ray is in some way used in the transport in between worlds. Only certain structures can modify them, I have much less knowledge of those two rays. If one builds a large enough pyramid of rock one can focus them.” He gestured at the mountain that the legions of skeletons were steadily building and reforming. “I am still learning.”

He exhibited good empirical knowledge, but Marya realized that mathematics would allow her to develop fundamental principles were she able to study Martian radiology under this wizard.

Akhenaten : “Shielding the 5th ray means one is only sustained by the air, which is not sufficient to sustain life. Therefore the attack upon you in the temple of Issus was likely manipulated from the floor below. The materials that give the humans their extra power infuse the food consumed on Barsoom.”

Marya accepted the opportunity to study as much as she can, using the Egyptian’s instruments to determine how fast Steele (who had no way to consume Martian food) was using the energy accumulated in the transfer. It will last 3-4 weeks by just “hanging around”; exerting himself will use it faster.
Akhenaten to Steele: “You are some strange mixture of Earthling and Barsoomian.”

Cydonia.
Only one place on Barsoom was set up to communicate with the Terran pyramids: Cydonia, a complex built for Issus’ husband, the god of life, the sun, etc., while she was the goddess of heaven, the underworld, death. Narmer was the first to discover the way to Barsoom; he was a mighty leader who managed to kill Issus’ husband. And then went on to unite Egypt.

Akhenaten : “She’s not a goddess like an Old One on Earth. She, of course, is the only one who doesn’t take the pilgrimage.”
Meri: “But you’re 4000.”
Akhenaten : “I’m not a Martian and I am staying here.”
Sherman: “What happens to those who take the pilgrimage.”
Akhenaten : “The priests say that they live in a land without want, and are reunited with old friends and fmaily, even those who died to war or other causes without taking the pilgrimage. Ages ago, it is said some one came back talking of evils, beasts that killed… he was put down as a blasphemer. Since then it is forbidden to speak ill of heaven.”

The Egyptian manipulated several stones in a circle, producing a mist that solidified into a holographic-like globe. Thereon, Akhenaten showed the tallest volcano on Barsoom, near which was a jungle area that was Cydonia.
Sherman: “Can we return to Earth from there?”
Akhenaten : “If they have rebuilt the pyramidium as a way to focus the 10th ray, yes. Cydonia was built to manipulate the 10th ray. That’s how Narmer made it back home. He avoided the traps and opened up the way between the two places and went back. Since then it has been abandoned.”
Ramsey: “Is there a way to construct a compass?”
Egyptian: “I don’t see why not.”

Ramsey: “Now we have to figure out where is my wife.”
Steele: “What are the bad guys up to – Earthling and Martian?”
Akhenaten : “There must have been some cooperation going on.”
Steele: “Did there have to be coordination to get here in the first place?”
Akhenaten : “Yes. Things need to be done on both ends. A meteorite had fallen from the sky and that’s where the material came to make the pyramidium. As I learned about the goals of my other daughter, Meketaten, I decided the way must be closed. It is known that some pharaohs returned to Earth with some Barsoomians who died quickly as they could not endure Earth. Those pharaohs could not take much power but they could have taken small amounts of radioactives from here. “

Akhenaten offered Marya a chance to examine his collection of radium.
There ensued some discussion of the Synthetic Man of Mars, Akhenaten stating that – when Steele fails due to inability to consume the life-sustaining food of Barsoom – he will reanimate the aluminum man as he has done the skeletons guarding his mountain. Steele did not seem reassured.

Ramsey: “We went through the Valley of Death. We feared no evil.” [Clearly, I need a bigger evil.]

XP: 2 points

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