- New Year's Day
Krawr announces formation of PAW (Patriotic Army of the Web), "army"
of exiled Garu; promises
to restore order to Web as first step towards exoneration.
- Icicles 7
Second Graf victim, Wuwu, found.
- Chill 4
Third Graf victim, Broda, found. Divination shows Graf's presence
at scene. Over the next few days, a manhunt closes in on Graf, but
he manages to escape over the bodies of several of his pursuers.
Capturing Graf announced as "meritorious act".
- Blizzards
Graf is
spotted in Web.
- Rain 11
Gerath and Aubrey Rensaleur found murdered in Web, matching Graf's mo .
Krawr announces PAW's intention to capture Graf.
- Mud 4
Commodore Barafar (old friend of Krawr's) buys Warlord Gabrar's
Mansion as rendez-vous place for Krawr and his wife Crioo.
(Crioo found out about secret tunnel to Web in Mansion through
research and Divination.)
- Mud 10
PAW finds Graf's hiding place in Web. Battle
leaves many PAW casulties; Graf is wounded but escapes.
- Truffles 10
Lord Ben and his entourage arrive at Crystal Palace
for annual Tribute visit. Entourage includes acrobat Claude, who
cannot enter Palace limits.
- Crickets 2
Lord Ben selects Purple Pom as location of acrobatics
exhibition starring Claude.
- Crickets 7
Classical Dragon-harpist Feng Shui volunteers to accompany
acrobatics show.
- Crickets 8
PAW attempts raid on Gaboo's home.
Raid is unsuccessful,
but some soldiers loot anthropomorphs from antechamber.
- Crickets 9
(Epsiode 1: Lord Ben's Acrobats)
Rehearsal for acrobatics show at Purple Pomegranate. Director
Zzazza becomes suspicious of musical accompanist Feng Shui,
who shows anti-Gorilla bias. She asks Bert Howler to arrange
extra security.
- Crickets 10
(Lord Ben's Acrobats)
Director Zzazza discovers sabotage attempt, and captures Cham saboteur
Tricksash (who had been smuggled in Feng Shui's harp case), with
Bert Howler's help.
Acrobatics show is success. Wu Li and Chan Minh meet and fall in love at show.
- Crickets 11
Tricksash exiled, but does not reveal
employer.
- Crickets 13
(interlude) Auditor Kara comes to Pom to
interview witnesses of sabotage attempt. Bert surprises
vandals at Wu Li's store.
Kara and Zzazza investigate. There, Ben the clock reports himself
to Kara as being
Gaboo's property stolen by "police" in raid.
- Frogs 1
(Episode 2: Dragon Love) Kara meets Slick and Mei-ling.
They discuss ways to help Wu Li court Chan Minh.
Mei-ling's sister Cheng-wei asks her to provide
entertainment at dinner party, which Chan Minh will attend.
Mei-ling asks Wu Li as her escort. Sneaking around Cheng-wei's party,
Slick overhears guests conversing about Wu Li, then sending
Gabby (the house Darby) off with message. The three hurry
off to warn Wu Li, and spring the trap set for him by his rival for
Chan Minh's affections.
Mei-ling puts on preliminary version of "The Story
of Noah".
- Frogs 2
(Episode 3, The Hunter Hunted, prologue) Buzz about "Noah" gives
Mei-ling ideas about political interpretations.
Begins to contemplate full-scale version.
- Frogs 4
- Frogs 5
(Episode 4, Browsing the Web, prologue) Gaboo hires
Mordecai to track stolen anthorpomorphs.
- Frogs 6
- Frogs 7
Graf tracks Krawr to tunnel to Warlord Gabrar's Mansion from
Web.
- Frogs 8
- Frogs 9
(The Hunter Hunted, prologue)
Slick, as Wu Li's second, meets with Chan Minh's mother to
negotiate dinner plans. Settle on Frost dinner
date. Slick gets permission for the lovers to meet, unofficially but
chaperoned, before then.
- Frogs 10
Graf follows tunnel to Warlord Gabrar's
Mansion; kills couple in connected sewers.
- Frogs 11
- Frogs 12
(The Hunter Hunted, prologue), Kara investigates sewer murders,
finds clues pointing to Graf.
- Frogs 13
(The Hunter Hunted, part 1)
Kara, Slick and Mei-ling think about Graf decoy.
Philisophe crew descend on Pom. Mei-ling befriends
barbarian crew members Kavendish and Lucifer. Slick and
Kara look up sewer connections in Ministry
of Public Works. Kara and Mei-ling attend Commodore
Barafa's inspection
of the Philisophe, and talk to Captain Arbray.
Mei-ling invites Wu Li to escort her to dinner party at Admiral
Feng's in honor of Arbray Thunder 2.
- Thunder 1
(The Hunter Hunted, part 1)
Slick and Mei-ling make a Kara-decoy
to trap Graf. Kara and Slick investigate residences off sewer system.
Chan Minh invites Mei-ling to tea, where she tries to set her up
with some of her own rejected suitors, including Yat-Fai Leung
(She misinterpreted Wu Li's frequently
escorting Mei-ling and got jealous.)
- Thunder 2
(The Hunter Hunted, part 1)
At the dinner party for Arbray,
Mei-ling and Kara cover for Slick, who slips off to investigate
sewer link to Warlord Gabrar's Mansion.
Slick finds a secret tunnel, and
follows it to Web, where he eavesdrops on PAW soldiers.
Slick's disappearance, leaving courting couple
unchaperoned, infuriates Chan Minh's mother.
At the party, Dr. Galin expounds on a theory that the upper-class of Dragons
are suffering from in-breeding, to Yat-Fai Leung's fascination.
- Thunder 3
(The Hunter Hunted, part 2) Because of danger from Graf
(who targets female Garus), Dean
Tolerance replaces Kara with Counselor Perseverance on
murder investigation. Perserverance, Mei-ling, and Slick
stake-out and then raid Warlord Gabrar's Mansion. Raid
springs PAW's trap for Graf. They escape, and Slick, hiding,
eavesdrops on Krawr's plan to reset trap at Arbray's house
the next day.
- Thunder 4
(The Hunter Hunted, part 2) Perseverance, Mei-ling, and
Slick organize with some of Dean Tolerance's employees and
Arbray and his sailors to out-trap Krawr at Arbray's house.
Graf uses anibots stolen from the Ministry of Public Works
and reprogrammed to spring some of Krawr's traps, but is
unprepared for our party.
They capture Graf in the sewers under Arbray's house.
Krawr escapes, shamefully defeated.
See Pipo's Article for Thunder 8
for a news account of The Hunter Hunted plotline.
- Thunder 5
(Episode 4: Browsing the Web) Zzazza, Slick, and Mei-ling shop
for a make-up present for Minh Kao (Chan Minh's mother)
in the Tower of Beauty,
where they see flashbacks of Julian Pepperidge's army going
off to the Neng Crusade. They consult with Helaha about why
Arbray's cargo of magic shells has stopped working. Dean
Tolerance appoints the three to CAPSIZE, a grand jury-like
civilian oversight board charged with investigating ways
of regulating the Web to prevent spill-over violence.
- Thunder 6
(Browsing the Web) Seeing Pipo's story on the capture of Graf,
Mordecai comes to Pomegranate to interview group about PAW.
He finds Perseverance and Zzazza, who tells him about meeting
Little Ben in Wu Li's store. On way to Wu Li's store, group
hears UGF vigilantees beating up Garu pair. They bluff the
vigilantees into turning over the injured Garus and interview
Karl Trickster about UGF.
- Thunder 7
(Browsing the Web)
Through Karl, CAPSIZE, Perseverance, and Mordecai set up meeting
with UGF leader, Dick Trickster the next day. That night,
Mei-ling and Zzazza put on a gala performance of "The Story of
Noah" which wows the audience at the Pom.
- Thunder 8
(Browsing the Web)
During the day, Mordecai, Zza, Slick, and Mei-ling visit
various businesses in the Web (both UGF and PAW affiliates)
and interview the owners. At various PAW-affiliated pawn
shops, Mordecai recovers Gaboo's stolen anthropomorphs,
Kali and Suzie. Slick makes unsuccesful inquiries about
purchases of anibot equipment, hoping to solve the mystery
of the unnaturally pristine anibots Graf used to spring Krawr's
trap. That night, the group dines with Dick Trickster, his
pack, and employees of many species. Dick promises to co-operate
with CAPSIZE and a basic protocol for UGF/CAPSIZE communication
is agreed on.
- Thunder 9
(Browsing the Web, epilog)
Mordecai returns anthropomorphs to Gaboo and recieves agreed on
fee.
- Thunder 13
(Episode 5: Menace From the Blue, prolog),
Gaboo hires Mordecai to find out
the ``real reason'' for the raid on his mansion, starting
with discovering Krawr's sponsors in the military.
- South Wind 2
(Episode 5: Menace From the Blue, part 1);
Mordecai returns to Pom to begin his investigation.
Zzazza and Mei-ling hire him as CAPSIZE security consultant.
A message from Ariadne Huffington, managing director of the
Lakeview Theater, arrives, requesting an appointment with
Mei-ling and Zza. The three go to Lakeview Theater, where
Ariadne informs them that an anonymous ``angel'' wishes
to sponsor a gala, fortnight-long production of ``The
Legend of Noah'' at the Theater. They discuss production
and security issues, with Mordecai playing ``security
consultant''. The PCs agree to meet back at the Pom the
next day.
- South Wind 3
(Episode 5, Menace From the Blue, part 1) The three meet at the Pomegranite.
Kavendish from the Philisophe arrives
looking for Mei-ling. He has decided to learn how to
read and would like some advice. Regatta Vancouver
suggests he ask her aunt, Penelope Vancouver, who runs
an experimental school,
for instructional materials. Kavendish, not being a
citizen, needs an escort to enter the city, so Mei-ling
volunteers to accompany him.
As they're leaving, Mordecai
notes a suspicious-looking Cham following them. Mordecai
and Zzazza decide to follow too, keeping back to stay
unnoticed. Mei-ling and Kavendish arrive in the school
in Lakeview Bazaar, where they are told that the class is
having a summer swim break at the Lake. Mordecai and
Zzazza, in a conjured disguise as a butterfly and puppy,
continue to track the invisible Cham following them.
There they meet Penelope, as well as Dr. Galin, who
is spending time with a friend of his, Leyanna, a
Unicorn naturalist who teaches in Penelope's school.
Penelope is excited about helping Kavendish learn to
read.
Suddenly, there is a great commotion in the
water, as the young swimmers are attacked by giant
voracious eels. Zzazza creates an illusory bird
to divert one eel away from a Unicorn foal, and Mei-ling
sends her animated harness out to rescue the foal.
Kavendish rushes in and carries a young Dragon to
shore. Meanwhile, another eel has bitten a Garu
cub and pulled him under the water. Mordecai plunges
in and dives to the bottom of the lake, with Zzazza
creating an underwater light for him to see by in the
mirky depths. The eel does not let go even after Mordecai
has sliced its head completeley off with his dagger,
but once the cub is brought to the surface, Galin is
able to dislocate the eel's jaw and begin treating the poisoned
bite wound. Zzazza flies off to fetch a Makoo healer
from a Utopiary gathering, nearly disrupting the Utopiary
with a flash of light to get the Makoo's attention.
Once the children are safe, Mordecai and Zzazza return
to track down the Cham following Mei-ling, who
just sat and watched the whole attack. The Cham runs,
but Mordecai tracks him by scent, and Zzazza tags
him with an illusion. When they catch and subdue him, he shows
them a detective's license under the name Ickinoz, and tells
them that Chimesh, another Cham PI, is his employer.
(Menace From the Blue, part 2)
As Zzazza and Mordecai are escorting Ickinoz to the Web for
further questioning, Slick arrives looking for the group.
He has just come back from a Ministry emergency, and wants
to return to the problem of the strange anibots Graf was
using; also, he's interested in an update on Wu Li and
CAPSIZE. Since the Ministry's records indicate that the
anibots came from the outflow tunnel in the Lake, he has
looked up the codes to control the inflow and outflow
tunnels, and brought some underwater Ministry anibots.
He has done a little research; in the Ministry's records,
the outflow tunnel had some work done on it long ago
to create a diversion to something called the "ACRES Blue
Project".
He finds Mei-ling with the police, who are cordoning off the lake.
Upon hearing about the attack, they decide to close both the
tunnel mouths.
Then they go fishing. Mei-ling buys some rabbits in the Lakeview
Bazaar as bait. While Slick has his anibots bring some rabbits
to the bottom, and waits for the eel-things to attack in range
of their recorders, Mei-ling sets up a very large animated fishing pole
that causes the rabbits to skim along the surface. Evidently,
surface-skimming rabbits are more appetizing, because she gets
the first bite. After a long struggle, where it looks like
the rope she used to attach the bait might break, an eel-thing
is brought up on the shore. (This seems to refute Mei-ling's
pet theory that the eels were tentacles of a huge optopoid in
the middle of the lake.) She animates a tarp sitting in a nearby
rowboat to entrap the eel, has the rowboat fill itself with water,
and then carefully places the eel in the boat. They then
get Dr. Galin to inspect the eel; he confirms his theory that
the eels are actually mutated tadpoles, by pointing out small
unformed legs. When they discuss going out under the lake,
Dr. Galin mentions that he owns a diving bell.
They decide to call it a night.
- South Wind 4
(Episode 5: Menace from the Blue, part 2)
The next morning, Slick and Mei-ling organize a massive fishing
expedition to rid the lake of the remaining eels. Slick gets
assigned some assistants from the Department of Public Works,
and is authorized to take control of the cordoned-off area
as the DPW's representative. Mei-ling goes to the hospital
that young Baruk is recovering in. After checking on Baruk,
she recruits the Makoo who healed him to stand by in case
any of the fishers are accidentally bitten. She then goes
to Baruk's school, and recruits his teachers Croga and Aroof
to help in the fishing expedition. (She thinks they need to
take positive action to avoid a guilt complex.) Slick organizes
the civil police, his assistants, Mei-ling's recruits,
and the civil police into
trolling rowboats. By mid-day, they have safely caught
a half dozen giant eel-tadpoles.
By the end of the day, they haven't caught any more, and they
begin to suspect that there are no more.
The lake is still cordoned off, but most of the helpers go home.
That night, they first begin setting up Dr. Galin's diving bell.
Mei-ling contacts Arianna Hoofings, and gets permission to dangle
the bell from a rope hooked to the Lakeview Theater, situated
directly over the center of the Lake. The Philisophe's sailors
begin moving the delicate equipment to the Lake.
Mei-ling and Slick take a break to visit with Wu Li. They discuss
his up-coming dinner with Chan Minh, and his need to start
designing his beauty gift for her. They brainstorm, and decide
that the perfect gift would be a magically animated crystal Phoenix.
Wu Li begins to work on the design.
- South Wind 5
(Menace from the Blue, part 2)
By the next morning, the diving bell is set up. It takes
two animators to control; one inside to maeuver the elaborate
flaps and panels that steer it across the lake bottom; and the
other on the shore
to operate a huge bellows that provides air circulation.
Dr. Galin takes it for a test dive, with Mei-ling operating
the bellows. He enjoys himself, but doesn't see any more
eel-tadpole creatures.
Then Slick and Mei-ling bring the bell to
the center of the lake, and search for
and find the iris valve to the outflow.
(Dr. Galin operates the bellows.)
Slick opens the valve, causing a slight but noticeable
breeze within the bell. Slick sends an anibot down the
tube. His records indicate that it should take the anibot
about 20 minutes to reach the diversion point and back.
The anibot returns, but over an hour later. Its recorded
data shows a tunnel that goes through a standard dimensional
twist, then proceeds to the diversion a few minutes later.
The tunnel is slimy before the twist, but clean after that.
After heading up the diversion, the anibot's recording
has been overwritten by a message. A pleasant Aerad
voice-over says, "Welcome to ACRES Blue, the Aqua-Culture
Research Environmental Station. If you are interested in
an educational tour, please contact External Relations
Director Zeep."
Slick and Mei-ling decide to head up to the surface, do
some more research, and return later.