The ship lifts off and heads out over the sea. Some of the people remain at the site where you landed waving goodbye until the ship is out of sight... perhaps hoping it'll turn around and come back.

It only takes about two hours before the ship approaches the opposite shore. Remi has taken it up fairly high to stay out of sight of the ground, but also because Graustark is in the mountains.

In reply to Connor Holmes (msg # 146):

Dash pauses a moment to smell the coffee beans, then looks to the grinder.

"Ah, you forget, my dear Connor, that our Cap'n Remi is from Fezzan; a north african culture that is very much under the influence of France. And you know how the French like their coffee ... almost as much as the Italians." Dash smiles, "However, while the good cap'n does have a grinder in his galley, it is both small and finicky of operation, so this replacement is a wonderful surprise."

Dash then turns to Stella, "I thank you for the card game, Stella, it was a pleasant diversion. Although I could not really tell the difference between the game you were showing me, and the games of BlackJack I've seen played in San Francisco gambling halls. Perhaps the nuances were too subtle for me." Dash again flashes his Boston Blueblood smile.

"Well, this coffee won't make itself." He says, hoisting the bag into his arms, "And it gives me an excuse to skip the launching proceedures! Ta-ta!"

Dash scuttles off to the small galley, to heat some water and grind some beans for a fresh pot of coffee.

Out on deck, while Viktor mans the helm for the moment, Remi continues to keep an experienced eye out for the black ship or any other flying ship. At least he doesn't have to watch our for dragons or rocs.

"What concerns me are the air currents around Graustark," he comments to the others. "Mountains are always tricky... full of updrafts, downdrafts, cross currents, and unexpected swirls."

"I examined the maps while you were sending the telegram and fetching the coffee... much appreciated, by the way... so few airships have ventured into the Balkans that not much is know about wind patterns. I think our best approach is from the south. The cross currents should be fairly consistent at this time of day, and the downdrafts won't have started yet."

"If any of you have any experience in the Balkans, even if it's not flying, I would appreciate the input."

Without any other duties Bellgrove makes his way to the ship's bridge. It has been not so long since he was on track to one day be a Captain of such a vessel himself and the excitement he feels being up the ship actually takes him a bit by surprise. When Remi describes his thinking as to how to approach the journey he shrugs his shoulders, "I am afraid this shall be my first time in the Balkans, so I have nothing useful to contribute. That said, your thinking about how to get from here to Graustark illustrates why you are the Captain of this ship!"

Grimsby, having failed to elicit any new response from the prisoner, joins the others on the bridge in time to respond, "I regret I have not had a mission in the Balkans before.  I have passed through the Mediterranean en route east of Suez, and I have come down from Russian Central Asia into the Caucasus, but that is as close as I have yet been to the Balkans.  From my experience in the Himalayas, I fear you are right about the winds in the mountains, though the Balkan peaks as not so high."

Connor bustled about making fresh pot of Irish Breakfast tea for a time before arriving on the bridge area of the airship in time to hear the others discussing the route into Graustark.

"You'll need your best men on in the engine room, and your best at the helm and the elevator wheel, Captain," the felinoid spoke up after taking a sip from his tin cup full of tea after he'd fixed it up to his taste, "The winds through the mountains in the Balkans can change at the drop of a hat, so this ship will need to be able to turn on a sixpence and be ready go full astern to stop or use the screws to help pivot around some of the more difficult bits at a moment's notice.

That being said, your navigator and I were discussing the best route through here, and he and I were batting about the idea of taking an alternate route, with your approval, of course."

Walking over to the chart table, Connor put his finger on a river that wound through a set of lowlands, explaining as he moved along the route, "If we follow the rivers through these smaller hills, we'd have a greater margin of safety, for the hills and the forests to either side act like windbreaks, and since the terrain isn't as rough, there'd be more spaces to put down if the weather deteriorates or we have a mechanical problem. It takes longer than a more direct approach, perhaps a full day or two more, but the upshot is besides a safer passage, the only mountain crossing we have to make is when we get close to our final destination, and the peaks there aren't so high, so we can skim over them without going too high where the air is too thin for us to breathe or the boilers to support combustion."
This message was last edited by the player at 02:36, Wed 15 Oct 2014.

Apologies for the slowdown... rough week. As I tend to tell people, some days are diamonds, some days are rust. Pretty much had a week of rusty ones, starting with computer issues last Thursday. Mostly fixed. Looks promising for some diamond days ahead... but then RL rears up and bites you in the arse!


Remi has discussed the issue with Viktor, who is from the Balkans, though not this immediate area. If time wasn't an issue, Connor's suggested course would be the way to go. As it is, Remi steers the ship a bit south of Graustark and approaches it more head on than cross-wise. That way, he'll be better able to adjust for sudden winds.

The ship approaches Graustark from altitude, slowly descending as it makes its way closer.

Of course, the one thing that they hadn't considered was weather. Although not normally noted for low clouds, they do happen. There's a few low-lying clouds over the country at the moment, and Remi has to pass through one to land.

Dropping out of the cloud bottom, the ship is only 1,000 feet up, and it doesn't take people on the ground more than a minute to notice the ship.

I got about halfway through the previous post when my computer developed a problem... a column of keys (3, E, D, C) suddenly stopped working. While the E is the most commonly used letter in the English language, making writing posts without nearly impossible (and making it impossible for me to sign in), the important key is the C, since Control+C could have gotten around that... albeit with difficulty. I'm currently using a friends computer until I can buy a new keyboard.


Remi's navigation was quite good, as the capitol city of Edelweiss was dead ahead. Two other airships can be seen. There is a Graf zeppelin moored to a mast on one of the castle towers. There is a second smaller ship moored on the ground at the edge of the city.

When people below see Remi's airship, they wave up at it. Remi directs the ship to the same field where the other airship is because they have not been invited to the castle. As he gets closer, he can see a British Foreign Office flag planted in the ground at the edge of the field.

Even as he brings the ship down, a carriage can be seen rushing through the streets, apparently bound for your landing site.

Presuming that the British flag represents a representative from the consulate, Grimsby starts moving the prisoner into position on the deck to be transferred to the representative below once they have landed. He asks "Can anyone give me a hand with this fellow?"

Bellgrove moves to assist Grimsby, "Of course!

Grimsby grunts "Thanks, Mr. Wander. This fellow's a bit of a dead weight.  I just hope he doesn't die on our hands, literally, before we can get him to the consulate's care."

"'Dead'weight until either he makes himself less or we figure out how to do it for him. One wonders what his masters might think if they knew we had him and did not know he was in this coma-like state."

In reply to Bellgrove G. B. Wander (msg # 159):

Dash, standing nearby with his arms crossed and glaring at the limp thug, speaks up.

"Oh, his masters probably know we have him, Bellgrove." Dash says, "He dissappeared after assaulting us in Marseille, and we know he had more confederates in that city, so they will likely have noted his disappearance. What his masters don't know is his condition, or whether we've made him do any talking. They probably hope he's in this condition. Or dead."

Dash then turns his attention to the other airship resting at this airfield -- mentally comparing it to the description of the airship they've been chasing.


OOC: does it resemble the ship we've been chasing?

In reply to Denholm Hawkesbury (msg # 160):

Grimsby remarks, "Mt. Hawkesbury is quite right. We must expect that the Vril know we have their agent, and we must expect they will do their best to ensure he does not live to tell us anything. The moment of his transfer to the consulate is likely to be an opportunity for them to strike, provided they have agents here --which is very likely --and they know we are here --which is more doubtful. We must be on our guard." 

"Ah, Mr. Grimsby Baskerville, I presume?" the man from the carriage says as he steps forward when Grimsby disembarks from the ship.

"Neville Haversham-Smythe, ambassador-at-large, at your service. I believe you have a passenger who has taken ill. Perhaps we should quarantine him at the embassy... just as a precaution." the ambassador said, producing his credentials. He didn't look around at all, but there was a hard twinkle in his eyes that indicated he was aware that people could be listening.


While Dash never actually saw the black ship, it's description was unmistakable. Even if this other ship could have changed color somehow--not all that far-fetched these days--there's no way it could have been reconfigured to resemble this ship. The black ship was more like a zeppelin, only smaller.

In reply to GM StarMaster (msg # 162):

Grimsby bows slightly and says, "It was very good of Your Excellency to come in person. I am glad you recognize this Bruce-Partington case is a matter worthy of your attention." He includes the code words he had used in his message to confirm its authenticity. As he speaks, he accepts the ambassador's credentials and offers the ambassador his own. He scrutinizes the ambassador's credentials carefully.(OOC: Unless told otherwise, I will assume they appear genuine.) As all seems well, he goes on, "It is most kind of Your Excellency to offer the facilities of the embassy for the quarantine. It is very important" (he stresses the words slightly) "that this unfortunate fellow be kept under careful observation. If there is any change in his condition --especially if he regains consciousness-- please notify me at once. I am not certain where I shall be staying in Graustark, but you should be able to find me by enquiring from the captain of this airship while it is docked here."
This message was last edited by the player at 03:06, Thu 30 Oct 2014.

Bellgrove assists with the transfer of the Vril agent and as he does so keeps an eye out not only for untoward activity from the seemingly unconscious fellow, but from anyone or anything else. He is quiet otherwise and letting Grimsby lead and following whatever directions he is given.

In reply to Bellgrove G. B. Wander (msg # 164):

"Well, that is certainly not what we've been chasing." Dash says, pointing at the other airship on the field, as the thug is removed from theirs, "And the one up at the castle is too big. Which brings us to the next step..."

"We're here in Graustark for two reasons -- the first is to locate, and possibly rescue, Professor Cavor. The second is because we found a note with the name of the..." Dash suddenly stops speaking, a look of horror on his face -- as he realizes he's forgotten the Title held by the ruler of Graustark.

"Uh, the, uh...Duchess? Grand-Duchess?...of Graustark?  Anyway, what we do not know is whether her name was on this list because she is an ally or a victim of our opponents."

"Now, I think Cavor was some kind of metallurgist, wasn't he? I'm thinking we might locate the center of such industry here, in Graustark, on the chance that they are trying to have Cavor make a metal out of the ore that they stole from Lord Kentigern. Or, at least, make discrete inquiry as to where, if anyplace, such work might be done in this country."

"As for getting access to the Duchess...frankly, my friends, I'm stumped on that one."

Grimsby looks over his shoulder briefly to remark "The ruler of Graustark is Her Highness the Princess Yetive." Then he turns back to join Belgrove in carrying the prisoner over to the ambassador's carriage.
This message was last edited by the player at 03:10, Sat 01 Nov 2014.

In reply to Grimsby Baskerville (msg # 166):

Dash gently slapped himself in the forehead.

"Well Praise the Lord I didn't make that slip in front of a local!"

The ambassador's credentials appear genuine to Grimsby, and Grimsby is not only aware that Haversham-Smythe was assigned to the ambassadorship of Graustark last year, but he even knows the man by sight, both of them having attended a formal function a few years back, though they never actually met.

Neville looks a bit more well-fed than that time.

Feeling confident that he is dealing with the right man, Grimsby, with Bellgrove's aid, brings the prisoner over to the ambassador's carriage, attempting to shield the body as much as he can so the person would not be identifiable to spectators. He says to the ambassador, "If your excellency's coachman can assist us with the carriage door, we should be able to get this poor fellow safely inside."

As Connor disembarked the airship, once more attired in his robes and other clothing designed to at least try and camouflage his inhuman nature from the rest of the world, something he wasn't liking having to do much, he took in Graustark with a quiet curiosity as he let the others get on with moving the captive into the custody of the of the British ambassador and his men.

The felinoid said nothing as he quietly checked his watch with a leather-gloved hand, giving the timepiece's mechanism a good winding before replacing it back into his robe's pockets and leaning a little on his sturdy walking stick.

There isn't much privacy out on the field where the ship landed, but the best way to disarm potentially prying eyes is to to not try to hide what you are doing. Putting the man on a stretcher and transferring him to the carriage would be normal procedure for a sick person.

Everyone (that wants to go) is then escorted to the embassy.

It's a two-story building along the inside wall of the castle. There is almost a full town inside the wall, though the majority of the populace lives outside the castle in the town proper.

The ambassador discourages significant talk, except for weather, how was the trip, etc. until you are safely ensconced in his office.

"So, gentlemen, to what do I owe the pleasure of your visit to Graustark?" he asks once everyone is seated.

Grimsby replies, "Your Excellency may be aware there was an attempt to interfere with Lord Kentigern's project in Scotland, and although we were able to thwart it to some extent, we have reason to believe that the society responsible --the Vril -- is now intending new mischief in Graustark."