A Night at the Martian Opera

Raw Dump

I say we park it on Columbia and take the railway down from Harlem

Are you particularly unhappy with Columbia this week?

Mid Pennsylvannia

Why? There are people all over the Eastern Seaboard.

Bottom of the Atlantic?

So, gravity works faster for you

George Mace

Angelina Durless

Nina Hopkins

Deosa

Dr. Hollingsworth

You were a bad influence!

Always my dear. Those are the best sort.

I don't think that's a compliment.

Do you have an opera appropriate suit?

No!

My opera appropriate suits are really esy to pack

I am going to polish my hair

I want to fly over what will be central park to make sure no fairies

You can just telepath it -- who cares?

But letters!

Kristen gets it.

If nothing else, you can send urchins.

Urchinmail!

Everywhere's an exit when you have an alice

Giant stretches of wilderness have no business being near a city

The giant stretch of wilderness feels the same way about the city

Is he related to you? I've noticed everyone annoying is related to you.

So you are saying that we are left with the horrible choice of either allowing the New Martians to invade or damaging art?

Alice, how do you say "princess" in Martian?

It's a combination of the words ruler, beauty, and danger.

Danger is only in there as a side effect! It's a corruption!

Yes, it's a suffix. But, nevertheless, it is there.

How did he recognize you?

He's a peasant. She's a princess.

Or she can just deprive it of oxygen

That was my plan yes

Chemistry works

Actually i was planning to deprive it of air

Oxygen is more difficult?

Sorting the atoms one at a time

You have enough precision to do so?

With time, I can meditate

Barley and wheat

it was when i had more patience

It is a green crystal beacon that you could perhaps

Hulk Smash!

Are you really a full inch taller than sophronia in this form?

It's the inert remains of mutually annihilating light.

Yes!

That hurts my head so much.

Photographers club

Why the big flashing light cured his headache

So, who's the away team this time?

Shard of crystal

You want to give them harmless boring thin?gs?

Yes! Yes! That is correct! Funny that you should notice that! What is _wrong_ with you people?

Moderate consequence of concussed

You did not have to hit qute that hard. yes, you are forgiven. but you id not have to hit quite that hard

3 bulbs mirrors

I am inspired by the opera! also sneaking up on ascendant light bulbs

I really like the opera its a shaeme to do this but you know malum necessarium

I hear truth is found in the shaows....

OMG I hate these martians but that is not an aspect.

watch the thusands of pretty bridies

So we have never hd an uncon martian cultist to work on. Alice could you work on their minds.

one big and three small crystals

one old martian

two martian cultists

shard of first beacon for sidhe

Medical attention, yes.

Story Games Dump

The Kerberos Fate group went to the Manhattan of 1840 (and the session was punctuated by occasional wikipedia look ups), and I ran a very heavily modified "A Night at the Opera" from Miskatonic River Press's lovely Tales of the Sleepless City.

GM: Do you have an opera appropriate suit?

Victor (the brusque, if brilliant, detective): No!

Sophronia (the nine-inch brass clockwork faerie): My opera appropriate suits are really easy to pack.

GM: All right, so Victor's buying a suit. What's everyone else doing?

Sophronia: I am going to polish my hair.

Reginald went with Victor to make sure the suit buying went well. Alice did some research. Then, her player, Josh, asked if 1840 Manhattan had a muliple-mail-deliveries-per-day at this time. (We know that James Joyce's Dublin did, that being a very important part in his courtship of Nora. But, I digress.)

GM: You can just telepath it -- who cares?

Kristen (who plays Sophronia): But letters!

Josh: Kristen gets it.

GM: If nothing else, you can send urchins.

Someone: Urchinmail!

Alice's summation of the evening's plot: So you are saying that we are left with the horrible choice of either allowing the New Martians to invade or damaging art?

Sophronia: Alice, how do you say "princess" in Martian?

Reginald (who speaks Martian): It's a combination of the words "ruler", "beauty", and "danger".

Alice: Danger is only in there as a side effect! It's a corruption!

Reginald: Yes, it's a suffix. But, nevertheless, it is there.

One happy side effect of the evening's activities was that our heroes, who had promised to bring the sidhe three items from Mars, now had one. Sophronia was appalled by the idea of giving that particular item to the sidhe.

Victor: You want to give them harmless boring things?

Sophronia: Yes! Yes! That is correct! Funny that you should notice that! What is wrong with you people?

It is really disturbing when the 9-inch brass clockwork faerie is the voice of reason. No doubt, this is why the others intende to disregard her advice.

Write Up Attempt

Our Heroes flew their island to the USA, planning to deal with whatever Martian activity was taking place in New York City. But, where to put the island?

Someone: I say we park it on Columbia and take the railway down from Harlem.

Someone else: Are you particularly unhappy with Columbia this week?

Someone suggested mid-Pennsylvannia.

Someone else: Why? There are people all over the Eastern Seaboard.

The Bottom of the Atlantic was also vetoed. I think it was left somewhere in upstate New York, in a lake.

Reginald (trying to figure out how Victor's power works): So, gravity works faster for you.

NPCs with our heroes included Lord George Mace (Alice's fiance), Nina Hopkins (tailor and chaperone), Angelina Durless (Victor's fiance), Deosa (African woman who wanted to see the United States), and Dr. Hollingsworth (an ordinary, ethical British doctor).

I forget the context of this:

Sophronia: You were a bad influence!

Reginald: Always my dear. Those are the best sort.

Sophronia: I don't think that's a compliment.

Once in Manhattan, Our Heroes were approached by an urchin who had a message for them from Abraham Lincoln, former PC. Lincoln had been expecting them for some time, having sent a letter to tell them about the upcoming Martian opera. He thought Alice in particular would be interested. I took this plot, heavily modified, from "A Night at the Opera" from Miskatonic River Press's lovely Tales of the Sleepless City.

So, it was off to the opera to thwart the Evil Schemes of the New Martians.

GM: Do you have an opera appropriate suit?

Victor (the brusque, if brilliant, detective): No!

Sophronia (the nine-inch brass clockwork faerie): My opera appropriate suits are really easy to pack.

GM: All right, so Victor's buying a suit. What's everyone else doing?

Sophronia: I am going to polish my hair.

Reginald went with Victor to make sure the suit buying went well. Alice did some research. Then, her player, Josh, asked if 1840 Manhattan had a muliple-mail-deliveries-per-day at this time. (We know that James Joyce's Dublin did, that being a very important part in his courtship of Nora. But, I digress.)

GM: You can just telepath it -- who cares?

Kristen (who plays Sophronia): But letters!

Josh: Kristen gets it.

GM: If nothing else, you can send urchins.

Someone: Urchinmail!

Meanwhile, Sophronia decided to be paranoid, or perhaps merely cautious.

Sophronia: I want to fly over what will be Central Park to make sure there are no fairies.

I thought about this and decided that perhaps there should be some. I decided to use Delia Sherman's Changeling books, but when Sophronia's flyover revealed powerful fae presence resentful of the city, Sophronia decided to take the better part of valor and avoid the presence.

Sophronia: Giant stretches of wilderness have no business being near a city.

Someone (possibly me): The giant stretch of wilderness feels the same way about the city.

I forget the context of this: Everywhere's an exit when you have an Alice.

I forget to whom Sophronia was referring in this quote:

Sophronia (to Victor): Is he related to you? I've noticed everyone annoying is related to you.

Alice's summation of the evening's plot: So you are saying that we are left with the horrible choice of either allowing the New Martians to invade or damaging art?

Indeed. For, two of the British Martian cultists had convinced John Jacob Aster, III to build a new opera house of crystal and steel, and to approve the opera Requiem Per Marte (Requiem for Mars, which is how I translated the Requiem for Shuggai into my game).

Our Heroes were not the only ones wanted the opera stopped, for an old man railed against it to Aster before collapsing. Our Heroes tended to him as the shaken Aster took his seat. The old man recognized Alice as The Princess! For, he too was a reincarnated Martian!

Sophronia: Alice, how do you say "princess" in Martian?

Reginald (who speaks Martian): It's a combination of the words "ruler", "beauty", and "danger".

Alice: Danger is only in there as a side effect! It's a corruption!

Reginald: Yes, it's a suffix. But, nevertheless, it is there.

The man raved about the opera and passed out. He also gave them the keys to his bookstore, but given the changes I was making to the scenario, I noted that, while the PCs were welcome to visit the place, it didn't really have any more information than they were getting from the old man, studying the original manuscript (conveniently posted on the walls of gallery), Alice's memories, and their own knowledge of the occult and conspiracies.

Victor (to Alice): How did he recognize you?

Reginald: He's a peasant. She's a princess.

Actually, Josh rolled well enough that Alice did vaguely remember the man's previous incarnation as an old archivist. But, basically, yes, Martian Alice was enough of a celebrity that it was easy to recall her.

There were three acts to the opera. Our heroes needed to make sure that:

• At the end of each act, no beacons were lit. They could be lit during the act, so lonb as they were extinguished before its end.
• There were three Harbringers who needed to be neutralized.
• The flute quintet in the third act needed to be disrupted.

If the opera succeeded, a gate would open to let in the invasion fleet of New Martians!

Or she can just deprive it of oxygen

That was my plan yes

Chemistry works

Actually i was planning to deprive it of air

Oxygen is more difficult?

Sorting the atoms one at a time

You have enough precision to do so?

With time, I can meditate

Barley and wheat

it was when i had more patience

It is a green crystal beacon that you could perhaps

Hulk Smash!

Are you really a full inch taller than sophronia in this form?

It's the inert remains of mutually annihilating light.

Yes!

That hurts my head so much.

Photographers club

Why the big flashing light cured his headache

So, who's the away team this time?

Shard of crystal

One happy side effect of the evening's activities was that our heroes, who had promised to bring the sidhe three items from Mars, now had one. Sophronia was appalled by the idea of giving that particular item to the sidhe.

Victor: You want to give them harmless boring things?

Sophronia: Yes! Yes! That is correct! Funny that you should notice that! What is wrong with you people?

It is really disturbing when the 9-inch brass clockwork faerie is the voice of reason. No doubt, this is why the others intende to disregard her advice.

Moderate consequence of concussed

You did not have to hit qute that hard. yes, you are forgiven. but you id not have to hit quite that hard

3 bulbs mirrors

I am inspired by the opera! also sneaking up on ascendant light bulbs

I really like the opera its a shaeme to do this but you know malum necessarium

I hear truth is found in the shaows....

OMG I hate these martians but that is not an aspect.

watch the thusands of pretty bridies

So we have never hd an uncon martian cultist to work on. Alice could you work on their minds.

one big and three small crystals

one old martian

two martian cultists

shard of first beacon for sidhe

Medical attention, yes.