Adventure 9 - To Take up Arms Against a Zee of Troubles
The Great Khan having spoken, and announcing the Heroes have no choice but to pursue their Destiny, the heroes make their way to Atlantis.
A junk is brought for them, powered by a dozen of the Khan's court eunuchs. With nothing much to stay for they make goodbyes and row to Atlantis.
None of the heroes had ever been this far East before, and as they approach they see wondrous Atlantis. The City is contained within several rows of walls, each stacked atop each other like discs. The Great Palace of Atlantis' King rises high above everything else nearby, like the topper on a wedding cake.
As the heroes get close they witness an ongoing battle. Nazi vessels are surrounded by numerous English frigates. The Germans are outnumbered but posses superior weaponry. Many English ships explode wooden hulls crack in torrents of fire. Other craft get right alongside the Nazi Ships to board them with Royal Marines. The great Bismark is the most obvious vessel in view, with an active firefight on its vast deck.
For the heroes this is all to familiar, they have learned that Hitler's Youth cannot be killed, nor can they be. For some minutes the heroes talk of avoiding the battle altogether, their real purpose here is not to fight after…
As they get closer however, and their view of the battle grows they realize that Atlantis is guarded by an enormous Sea-Wall. A great metal net is strung up by two towers blocking ships from reaching the beach. What makes things worse is that the Khan's eunuchs do not speak English, and continue to row directly ahead - right to the Bismark.
A desperate cross-cultural, cross-lingual exchange is given and the Kid gets the Junk to turn Right. Ermanach, Officer Weston, The Kid, and the American use hooks, ropes, and ladders to get onto the Bismark. As they clamber aboard they are met by a squad of marines who gladly take their help. The heroes split into teams of two to fully retake the bridge. Showing no fear or whizzing lead.
Edith steers the Junk to the nearest English vessel.
Constable Weston and the Kid head to the Stern of the Bismark, eager to silence and commandeer one of its enormous guns. They make short work of the Hitler Youth, and begin to see if they can understand how to operate the gun.
In the other direction, Ermanach and the American look for the Bridge. They meet no resistance, seeing that the Royal Navy had whipped out almost all the opposition. Until that is they reach the captain's office. Inside, they find Nazi Admiral Blohm, unkillable but unarmed. Quickly Ermanach punches him and the American wrestles Blohm to the ground.
Blohm laughs and curses the heroes futility, "Captain Hoss reached the beach, he is in Atlantis. Once he reaches the palace he will unleash magic more terrible than you can imagine. We will win the war, Hoss found a solution!"
The heroes race to regroup, not giving Blohm any additional thoughts beyond tying him up.
Meanwhile Edith reached the British Frigates, where she meets Addington. She informs the Lord Admiral that they've taken the Bismark but still need to reach Atlantis proper. Addington designates 30 Marines and send them to shore. He will stay on the water to cleanup.
After minutes of inspection and guesswork the Marines, supervised by Officer Weston and the curious street Urchin, load the Bismark's deck gun. Knowing they yet need to reach the beach, they blow a hole in the sea-wall. The 15" shell didn't land where they wanted, but an opening was made nonetheless. Just before they all race to rowboats, the American asks a few Marines to stay behind and wait for his flare, should they need more backup.
A handful of Marines from the Bismark, many more from Addington, and all the heroes regroup and meet up on the beach of Atlantis.
The Palace of Atlantis is clearly visible, but they path there is less clear, with debris and locked gates along streets. Still everyone races along up the many stairs, climbing hills to the high district of the city. When they come to a locked guardhouse the American uses his ancient tablet to decipher a password. He announces the name of Atlantis' King, Poseidon. Following a trail of bodies they reach the Palace and burst in on King Poseidon held hostage by a platoon of proper Nazi soldiers.
Edith fires first, shortly followed by a volley from the Marines. Many duck behind cover, many continue to shoot. While the Kid runs along unseen in the battle. As Nazi's fall all along the great hall, the kids gets very close to Captain Hoss. He sees that Hoss has some many of Spellbook in his hands.
The Kid dispatches Hoss with the Mauser pistol before any more rituals can be performed. As Hoss's brains hit the floor, his blood begins to pool into an elaborate design. Cracks form in the floor and blue light shoot up from below.
As the heroes rush to help the King, Poseidon explains that is it too late. Because he was dethroned the new laws were broken. The old King will regain the crown.
Just as the Heroes try to speculate who this old king was, or how to get Poseidon back on the throne. A fissure opens up in the floor, as something attempts to break out.
All sense is offered that the heroes must flee. Officer Weston and Ermanach each take a shoulder of Poseidon and lead him out. Marines and all the rest of the heroes rush for the outside and the ground continues to tremble.
As citizens of Atlantis, soldiers, and our brave heroes alike rush for the boats, Poseidon explains his father is escaping prison. Cronus is the father of Zeus, Hades and Poseidon, the three of whom worked to overthrow the tyrant and the other Titans. Only by the establishment of their new order is the Titan locked away. If Poseidon is no longer King, Cronus is no longer caged.
True to Drama, Cronus took that opportunity to throw the palace off his back and stand up. His giant body, made of obsidian and basalt, demolishing everything nearby.
True to Drama, Cronus took that opportunity to throw the palace off his back and stand up. His giant body, made of obsidian and basalt, demolishing everything nearby.
The American fires his flare, hoping a blast from the Bismark can injure the mad Titan. A familiar boom and whoosh comes from the sea. But the shell lands on the ceiling of the underworld. A gap opens up in the roof and from above pours sunshine.
Cronus witnessing the surface takes this opportunity to stop flattening Atlantis and to rise ever higher. He gives a great leap and gets a handhold on the earth's gap high above.
As the heroes speculate on just how up the ceiling is, and wonder about the surface so far away, Cronus gets his knuckles hit by a croquet mallet. Standing on the surface is Glumdalclitch, who beats Cronus back before he can make it up any higher.
The heroes do not pause any longer. Atlantis crumbles around them. The Titan's enormous body falls from the ceiling, triggering more collapsed building and debris. They all simply run for the boats. At the beach they find Charon / Reiser who summons the Betsy out of the water of the River Styx. All the heroes clamber aboard, and Charon powers up the Betsy, taking off for the end of the Zee. It is time to take the heroes to Hades.
It doesn't take long to reach the court of Hades. Then again time never seems to be consistent down in the underworld. Hades elaborates on the release of Cronus, saying that he and his brothers will have to cooperate again to imprison their father once more. The gods have work to do, but what about the mortals.
Hades says that he has watched everything they have done down here, and knows they've glimpsed the surface. So, he offers them a choice, they can stay in London and be part of his kingdom forever, or they can return to the surface. "If you do that," he adds, it won't be like you remember it."
The heroes beg him to answer more questions and to explain their future, but Hades cannot. "None of this is for me or you to say, all morals and gods have limits."
Ermanach decides to return to London, as the other 4 wish to see the surface.
Stairs appear, and the heroes begin to ascend, the Kid rushing faster than any of the others. They climb for a long time, ever onward through the darkness. Until, they wake up.
Its morning, and they know that it is morning because they can see the sunshine outside their bedroom windows. Slowly they clamber out of bed and look outside. They take a moment to enjoy the light. Then, they try and remember the dream they were just having. But try as they want to they cannot recall any key details.
Dreams are, by definition, things that never were. Whatever they had before is gone now, irreplaceable. They take another moment to consider what dreams may come next time around... but it is not a time for dreams. They are awake, and it will be a while before they sleep again.
Adventure 1 — Adventure 2 — Adventure 3 — Adventure 4 — Adventure 5 — Adventure 6 — Adventure 7 —Adventure 8 — Adventure 9 — Epilogue