The Black Campbell

While similar to its successor, the S-38, the Sikorsky S-36 is featured in our current campaign, so here it is in all its subdued glory…

Bernadette, a 1927 Sikorsky S-36 Air Yacht

The S-36 is an eight-seat flying boat first debuted in 1927, and produced for Pan American Airlines. The S-36 improved on the S-34 with room for two more passengers, double the range (with a typical range of about 750 miles, although this can be extended with extra gas tanks lashed under the wings, on top of the cabin), and Wright Whirlwind J-5 radial motors producing a total of 400hp. Like the S-34 and its successor, the S-38, these airplanes featured a boat hull fuselage that was connected to the wing and tail structure by a trellis frame. The S-36 features retractable wheels for ground landings.

Only six of these craft were built before the improved S-38 entered service in 1928.

Passengers face each other in bench seats, which face fore and aft. Bernadette began life as a Pan Am short hop airplane — she is #5 of six built, and has registry number G-AAER. Her owner, Lady Ansom-Bose, has pulled one of the bench seats to make room for a drinks cabinet near the back of the cabin, so the aircraft can only hold four passengers, now.

Size: 8   Def: 4   Str: 8   Speed: 120mph   Ceiling: 15,000′   Range: 750mi.**   Han: -2   Crew: 2   Pass: 4   Cost: $5,000 (used)

** With the external tanks for fuel, Bernadette has a range of 900mi. and a ceiling of 14,500′.

The daughter of Colonel Lord Athlestan Ansom of the Survey Corps of the Indian Army,  and his wife Emma neé Devon, Margaret was born in 1905 and raided in India until 1918, with end of the Great War. Her father had served in the war in the Palestinian Campaign and was killed in action. Her mother died a few months after they arrived in England from the Spanish Influenza. She was send to live with her eccentric uncle, Lord Trevor Ansom, a lecturer in antiquities at Oxford, and a veteran of the Great War (he served in France.) She was a student of Miss Wimplecote’s School for Girls.

Trevor dragged her all over the world looking into folklore, rumors, and myths — Egypt, India, Mexico, and South America. As a result, Margaret — who styles herself “Zara” — is a woman of action and independence, often given to wanderlust. She is a “modern woman” — a product of the ’20s flapper era: sex, drugs, booze, and music. In 1925, she learned to fly from a handsome Italian chap while living in Africa. She began her career as an aviatrix with the purchase of a used, surplus Sopwith Pup until she crashed it in 1929 during a bad landing at Croydon Airfield.

All this came to an end with the Crash of 1929, which cleaned out the Ansom fortunes. To preserve their lifestyle, Zara married American oil tycoon George Bose of Texas in 1930. He bought her a used Sikorsky S-36 “air yacht” she calls Bernadette. The marriage quickly came apart between her constant traveling and carousing, and his intense work schedules and philandering. They recently divorced (amicably) and are still friendly. (She especially appreciates that alimony check every month!)

Archetype: Adventuress     Motivation: Escape     Style: 6     Health: 5

Body: 2   Dexterity: 2   Strength: 2   Charisma: 4   Intelligence: 3   Willpower; 3

Size: 0   Move: 5   Perception: 6   Initiative: 5   Defense: 4   Stun: 2

Resources: Artifact 2: Bernadette, a Sikorsky S-36; Follower 0: Rigoletto, a capuchin monkey; Refuge: Higgsdown House, Sussex; Status 1: +2 social tests in English society; Wealth: $400 [£80]/mo.

Traits: Attractive

Flaws: Curious, Deep Sleeper, Loyal, Scandalous, Thrillseeker

Languages: English (native); French, German, Hindi, and Spanish

Vehicle: Bernadette, Sikorsky S-36 — Size: 8   Def: 4   Str: 8   Speed: 120   Han: -2   Crew: 2   Pass: 6   Ceiling: 16,000′ Rng: 750 mi.;

Austin Seven — Size: 2   Def: 4   Str: 6   Speed: 50   Han: 0   Crew: 1   Pass: 3   Cost: $500 [£100]

Weapon: Astra “Ruby” .32 — Damage: 2L   Rng; 25′   Cap: 7 (m)   Rate: M   Spd: A

Rigoletto

Archetype: 3 yr. old Capuchin monkey   Motivation: Survival

Body: 1   Dexterity: 3   Strength: 1   Charisma: 0   Intelligence: 1   Willpower: 3

Size: -1   Move: 4   Perception: 4   Initiative: 4   Defense: 6   Stun: 1   Health: 2

Style — Zara can use style points for Rigoletto

Skills: Acrobatics 2/5, Brawl 2/3, Larceny 1/4, Stealth 2/6, Survival 3/4

Flaws: Near Human — cannot communicate, but can use tools

Weapons: Bite 2L, Claws 1N

One of the featured toughs in our game this week drove a 1930 Mercedes Manheim 370 six-seater, four door saloon. Presented here is the beast, herself…

Built on the W10 platform, the Mannheim n 3689cc straight-six engine producing 75PS (73 bhp) of power through a three speed gearbox, with a top speed of 63mph!

Size: 2   Def; 6   Str: 8   Spd: 60   Han: 0   Crew; 1   Pass: 5   Cost: $1000 (used), $6000 (new)

There’s plenty of secret societies in the Hollow Earth Expedition and Secrets of the Surface World books. We just introduced the Terra Arcanum and Thule Society into our current campaign, and we’ve used the Green Gang in Shanghai before, and of course, the Ahnenerbe… One of the groups our intrepid explorers has crossed paths with is a Jewish Relief Society in Istanbul that is working s an underground railroad to get Jews out of the Ukraine. So here we go…

The Bosphorus Hebrew Relief Agency

This “secret society” is hardly that — registered in 1925 with the Turkish government, the BHRA has been instrumental in aiding many Ukrainian Jews escape from the Soviet Union since the post-war pogroms began. More recently, they have been bringing in many of the German scientists and entertainers currently settled in Istanbul.

The head of the BHRA is Rabbi Chaim Riger, a charming, middle-aged man from Odessa, who fled his country in 1922. He is the public face of the legitimate organization aiding jews throughout the Soviet Union and Europe.

The BHRA, due to their work, is tied tightly to organized crime, and specifically the Rabinowitz Group — led by Cantor Werner Rabinowitz, late of Warsaw. His arrival in 1930 saw the disparate Jewish gangs in Istanbul pulled together to help fund the BHRA and other Jewish groups. While the cantor is not involved in day-to-day criminal enterprises, he is the undisputed “boss”, making sure a cut of the various illicit activities goes to the various aid groups. His brother, Pavel, is his right hand, and is known for his “object lessons” doled out to those that would operate outside the Rabinowitz Group’s direction.

Mostly, the group is involved in smuggling — people out of Europe and the USSR, guns, opium and hashish into Europe through Greece (Turkey is not a signatory to the International Opium Convention), as well as gambling and prostitution, and the protection thereof. They are known for delivering swift and violent retribution on Turkish and Greek gangs that cross them, and they have a tight relationship with Armenian gangs.

Sample character: Nathan Baum

Nathan is one of the Rabinowitz go-to toughs. Born in the Crimea in 1910, his teen years were shaped by the violence and hardships of the post-revolutionary Ukraine. He is a strange man, highly loyal and sympathetic, yet willing to commit grave acts of violence. He has been known to cry over people he has had to kill, and even paid for burials and the support of widows. He drives a 1930 Mercedes Manheim 370 saloon, and his favored weapon is the Luger P08 9mm. I described him as a sort of Daniel Craig-esque fellow.

Ally 2

Archetype: Criminal     Motivation: Survival   Style: 3   Health: 8

Body: 3   Dexterity: 2   Strength: 3   Charisma: 2   Intelligence: 2   Will: 4

Size: 0   Move: 5   Perception: 6   Initiative: 4   Defense: 5   Stun: 4

Skills: Athletics 2/5, Brawl 2/5, Bureaucracy 2/4, Con 2/4, Drive 2/4, Firearms 2/4, Intimidation 2/4, Linguistics 3/5, Melee 2/5, Stealth 2/4, Survival 2/4

Talents: Iron Jaw

Resources: Artifact 1: Mercedes 6-seater saloon, Rank 2: Rabinowitz Group (+2 social bonus and Artifact resource)

Flaws: Loyal, Vow

Weapon: Luger P08 — Dam: 3L   Attack Rating: 7L   Cap: 7   Rng: 50′   Rate: M/A   Spd: A(this is one of the few artilery select-fire versions that uses a wooden shoulder stock to activate automatic fire. If he knows he’s going into real trouble, he has a 32 round drum for the pistol.)

The characters left Switzerland after an altercation with men, possibly sent by the Gestapo, to stop them in their quest to find the Eye — a mystical or superscience device left behind by…they don’t really know who. (See here for the first episode, and here for the second..) After a tense night where Lady Zara fell asleep at the yoke of their plane, Dr. Guld as able to wake her just as the lane stalled out. A few tense minutes of plummeting to the ground later, they were able to limp into Istanbul and land.

While a local mechanic was trying to suss out the damage they’d done to the motors, the band got a hotel room and started looking for the whereabouts of Rudolf von Sebottendorf. Zara checked in with the British Embassy, Gustav with the Germany, and Gould touched base with the local Jewish relief group that was aiding Jews escaping the communists in the Soviet Union. They quickly learned the address for Sebottendorf, but found they’d picked up a Gestapo tail while in the Grand Bazaar.

Gustav, rather that eluding them, engaged the men in conversation (they wouldn’t admit they were following them, but he was able to keep them busy) while Gould and Zara (who had bought a money she named Rigoletto) secured a taxi with some difficulty. The driver of the vehicle that picked them knew they were being followed, as well, and quickly, expertly, lost the Germans. Nathan, it turned out, had been sent by Cantor Rabinowitz to aid them.

At Sebottendorf’s house, the old man who started the Thule Society, only to be cast out, was shocked to hear they had discovered another “Eye” in Africa, and that they had gotten it to work! He figured out Gould was the key — an actual descendent of the Thule! He brought out a scroll with runes similar to Linear A, hoping he could read it. (He could not.) But when he had him hold a spear with the runes, Gould could feel it wake.

That’s when four men burst in, armed to the teeth. They wanted the spear, but also to stop them from their mission. Gould knocked Sebottendorf down to save him, Gustav threw himself on top of Zara, but before Gould could hand over the spear to prevent violence, the ir masked attackers realized the runes were glowing — he was a child of Atlantis! Zara has secretly given her wee Astra .32 to Gustav, who took the opening and dropped two of the men. For two style points, Rigoletto suddenly became useful and jumped on another of the men; he is now a full-fledged “follower” for Zara and will get statted out. Gould let fly with a blast of electricity or something from the spear, dropped the last man.

With a shot in the ass for good measure from Zara, they questioned the two men still conscious — they were all carrying a pendent: a triangle with the All-Seeing Eye. They learned they were members of a secret organization bent on protecting dangerous bits of knowledge and ancient technology like the spear — and the children of Atlantis, like Gould — from forces that would misuse them. They are the Terra Arcanum!

Knocking at the door might be Gestapo, or reinforcements for the Terra Arcanum people, or the police, but they quick made their get-away down a secret staircase to the Istanbul catacombs with the aid of Sebottendorf (who kept the spear.) His last words were that the Eye — last he knew — was in a cave under the Northern Chapel of the Potala Palace. After retiring to their hotel with the aid of Nathan (who had been the man at the door, it turns out), they find out the plane still has a day left until fixed, and they get an invitation to see one of Zara’s old friends who is here in Istanbul.

Her husband is a member of the India Survey (also the Indian Army’s intelligence corps), and it turns out Terra Arcanum. They had no knowledge of Gould’s nature, but now that they do, they are eager to help them get to the Eye in Lhasa before the Germans do. A contact in Simla, a member of the Survey, who knows Lhasa…

The race continues!