A visit to Davaar Manor

Here is the next part of the serialized tale from our role play group "The Messdeck".

You can start from the beginning here.

Previously Lt Cmdr Maxwell MacDonald-Smythe and the crew of the aged cargo airship HMAS Doris are on their way to the Royal Navy base at Scapa Flow in the dead of winter. During a very cold night tied up to a docking tower at York, Max is visited by an old acquaintance, a Lt Barbesly, who tells Max about the events surrounding the precipitous departure of the HMAS Velvet Brush from Esquimalt two years before. Lt Barbesly now works for the formidable head of the Royal Navy's Intelligence service Fleet Admiral Avis Chicheley. Continuing on their journey North Max takes the Doris on an un-authorised side trip to visit the home of the Velvet Brush's  medical officer Christine Pearse the Duchess of Argylle.

Frozen Sky

A serial story from The Messdeck.

Part V

Collected and edited by Kevin Jepson

*It is late in a bright but frigid winter afternoon and The HMAS Doris is approaching Davaar Manor, the home of Dr Christine Pearse, and her husband the missing scientist and inventor the Duke of Argylle.*

Max at the wheel keeps his eyes fixed on the looming Manor. "Hold her elevation steady at 200' I'll get a feel for the surface winds as we pass"

"Aye Sir." Sgt Fraser is at the elevator controls beside him watches the angle and the elevation closely.

"Hmmm, no sign of any winds, none of the chimney smoke is moving, should be good to go. We will do a pass then line up on the courtyard. It will be a tight fit."

"Aye aye Sir!"

*As the old airship slowly passes over Davaar, Max eyes the courtyard looking for anything that might cause problems with landing.*

"Looks a lot different than the last time we was here eh Sgt?"[1]

"Aye Sir it do indeed."

*The Navigator and Miss BB come out of their cabin and watch the manor passing below.*

"My compliments Lt Belava, your navigation was superb."

"Thank you Sir!"

"Any messages from the manor Lt?" Max asks Miss BB as she stretches out over the window sill to look down into the courtyard.

"Oooh looks nice, much better without all that smoke! Um, yes Sir, The Doctor says 'Welcome back exclamation point' Sir."

"Thank you Lt. Right, let us go down and see how the good Doctor is faring shall we?"

"Aye aye Sir!"

*Max sets the telegraph to engine stop and begins to vent hydrogen slowly to let the airships settle. As the Doris lowly begins to drop towards the courtyard of the Manor Max can see the Duchess and her mechanical butler Mr Gears waiting by the doorway.*

I hope we don't scratch up all that nice new paint!

Fraser calls out the elevation "40 feet, 30 feet, 20 feet, 10 feet". The old Doris inches lower, the roof of the Manor rising beneath them until it is even with the airship's envelope. "Contact Sir!"

*Max sets the telegraph to finished with engine and the Doris settles down with a slight creaking nestled neatly in the courtyard.*

"And that is that! Secure from flight stations and let us go ashore."

"Secure from flight stations aye Sir!"

Any landing you can walk away from Max me lad, any landing...

(Continued below the break)

======
[1] After a sabotage attempt on the HMAS Velvet Brush while in the airdock at Portsmouth, Doctor Pearse returned to her Manor at Davaar. The manor was attacked by a band of mechanically enhanced mercenaries attempting to acquire the secret research of the Doctor's husband the Duke. Max took the ship's Marines and other members of the crew North on a "private" rescue mission. The ensuing battle, while successful in repelling the mercenaries, left the manor severely damaged.

A Winter Morning


Here is the  next part of the serialized tale from our role play group "The Messdeck".

You can start from the beginning here.

Previously Lt Cmdr Maxwell MacDonald-Smythe is in command of the old airship HMAS Doris currently moored to a tall tower in York on her way to Scapa Flow.  He is visited by a fellow officer Lt John Barbesly. Max knew him as the aid to the Admiral of the Pacific Airship Fleet in Esquimalt but he is now working for Naval Intelligence under the formidable Fleet Admiral Avis Chicheley.  He tells Max about the mystery surrounding the sabotage attempt on Max's ship, the HMAS Velvet Brush, in Esquimalt two years ago.


Here is part IV

Frozen Sky

A serial story from The Messdeck.

Part IV

Collected and edited by Kevin Jepson

Feb 2
* Lt Barbesly excused himself on the grounds of doing his trick on ship watch for the black naval airship moored beneath the old Doris on the tower.  He kindly "donated" the heater to the cabin for the comfort of Miss BB and Iveta, and promising to tell the rest of the Doris' crew that they weren't expected back until first light, he took his leave. After a quick and very cold tour of the Doris to make sure everything was secure, Max went back to the little cabin in the control car and is soon fast asleep.*

*Three hours later, with the automatic timing of a sailor long used to standing 4 hour watches, Max shakes himself awake and does another ship check. As dawn breaks across the grey winter sky the crew begins to climb back up. The first to appear is Sgt Fraser with Cpl Cooke close behind him.*

Fraser comes across the walkway and as he steps onto the control car he comes to attention and salutes smartly. "Good Morning Sir!"

"At ease Sergeant, I trust you had a comfortable night below?"

"Aye Sir. I half expected to find you frozen solid though Sir!"

Max chuckles. "That might have been the case Sergeant, save for a happy intervention by an old friend of mine. How did the rest of the crew fare?"

"No troubles Sir, most spent it in the pub with the crew of that black ship below us. Miss BB seems to have accumulated a fair pile of additional scarves and blankets though."

"And not a small amount of coin either I expect."

"Aye Sir more an likely."

Cpl Cooke comes aboard with a large box which he puts on the deck before saluting Max smartly. "A care package from Lt Barbesly Sir, said he didn't think we was equipped properly for such winter travels."

*Max opens the box to see several canisters that look like they would fit the bottom of the mushroom heater in the cabin. There are also several loaves of bread, some insulated jars of mulled wine, and a lovely old bottle of rum.*

Max clicks his tongue in appreciation. "Ah John, always the organized one eh? Thank you Cpl please stow this in the cabin."

"Aye aye Sir."

*Next to appear is Iveta who almost leaps aboard with a step so light that the control car barely moves. She gives Max a quick salute and a "Good Morning Sir!" and heads directly into the cabin to start working up the course that they will need to fly.*

*A few moments later Max can see Simpson at the top of the stairs burdened with a large duffel bag, followed by Miss BB with an equally large duffel and finally Watkins brings up the rear. Each member of the crew stops and salutes Max as they board the small airship. Except Miss BB who walks right by him before stopping most of the way to the cabin. With a muttered "Oh Dear!" she quickly turns and salutes with a squeaky, "Good Morning" and vanishes into the cabin.*

Max looks out at the slowly brightening winter day and says, "Well gentlemen, at least the wind seems to have dropped so maybe we will be able to make some headway." Turning to Watkins he says, "Prepare for up ship in 10 minutes!"

"Up Ship in 10 minutes Aye aye Sir!"

As the two mechanics climb up the ladder to the open keel walk Max can hear Watkins saying, "Right aft we go and get that old engine warming up, if she'll start at all in this cold!"

"Cpl Cooke!"

The Marine snaps to attention."Sir!"

"Think you can handle the unmooring?"

"Aye Sir, no worries Sir!"

"Very good, grab yerself another couple of them scarves of Miss BB's and standby to go aloft as soon as Watkins gets the drive going."

"Aye aye Sir!"

*As the crew begins the bustle and apparent chaos of a ship preparing to unmoor and head off into the winter skies, Max stands at the front of the control car, his hands clasped behind his back, looking down on the sleek black topsides of the navy airship moored below.*

Now, Mr John Barbesly, I'm thinking there is no way you just happened to be here by accident. You was sent by Admiral Chicheley I'm sure. She's keeping a close eye on us an no mistake. I wonder what she'll make of our little diversion today?

Part V is here.

Catching up!

Here is the third part of the serialized tale from our Roleplay group.

You can start from the beginning here.

Last time we left Max and his crew aboard the aging cargo airship HMAS Doris tied up to a mooring tower on the edge of York in England. It is a freezing cold winter's night. Since there is no lift and it would be a long climb for Max with his bad leg, he has sent his crew below so they can get warm and have some good food while he stays aboard on "Ship Watch".

Frozen Sky

A serial story from The Messdeck.

Part III

Collected and edited by Kevin Jepson 

 

Feb 1

*Max opens the cabin door. Standing in the control car is a tall Royal Navy Lieutenant in a heavy winter great coat with a leather satchel over one shoulder. His fur lined hood is thrown back and he has a great big grin on his  face.*

"John Barbesly! Good God man what brings you to ice bound Yorkshire? Come in and get out of this wind!"

"Could ask you the same question Sir."

"Belay that Sir stuff, nobody here to worry on it John."

*They go back into the little cabin. Max clears a space of the Navigator's charts, carefully avoiding the communications equipment, while the Lieutenant starts to unpack his satchel.*

"First off I'm going to get rid of this cold! You will like this Max!" and he takes out an odd mushroom shaped contraption and puts it on the floor under the table. After fiddling with it for a second or so he pushes a button and there is a quiet womph sound and then a rich red glow from inside the mushroom's top.

Max jumps back "Dammit man, you trying to blow us up!"

"No Sir! See this is based on the same pattern as the Davies Mine Lamps. The hydrogen may get inside but if it burns it can't get through the mesh."

*Soon there is a lovely warm current of air coming out from under the table. Out of the satchel comes cloth wrapped hot food and some insulated tankards of mulled wine.*

"I seen your Marine getting this ready to bring back up to you an overheard him talking to his Sergeant and he mentioned your name so I said I'd take it up to you."

"Much appreciated John, much appreciated indeed, was fair to being frozen solid I was. But what are you doing in old Blighty? Last we met you was Admiral's Clerk on that flagship in Esquimalt[1]. Were just before we left in such a rush!"

"Oh Aye and that's a tale indeed, you get going on that food and drink I'll fill you in!"

*As the chill finally starts to leave the little cabin on the Doris, the Lieutenant tells Max of the events that followed the precipitous departure of the Velvet Brush from Esquimalt*

"You hadn't even got over the horizon towards the mainland before all hell broke loose in the shipyard. There was Lobsterbacks[2] everywhere. One of our own detachments was detailed to try to round up as many of the Company Boffins as had not managed to leave. The ones they rounded up were surprised, it was like they couldn't understand what was happening."

Max munching on a pasty says "Well yer probably heard that someone had tried to disable us with a bomb. Were planted in the drive, would have taken our tail right off!"

"Aye we did hear that eventually, but we hadn't at that time. A signal had come from the Admiralty ordering the whole yard locked down! The Old Man was livid, he got the order direct and was told to take over the dockyard. Seems that the Admiralty wasn't taking any chances that the dockyard officers weren't in on something nasty."

"Argh, can't imagine that were a fun thing to do."

"Yer right on that score, the Marines were no problem, I think they would rather be under the command of a serving Fleet than a dockyard anyways, and they just wheeled about and got on with it. I went with my Admiral to the Dockyard HQ and was there when the he assumed command. The poor dockyard commander looked surprised but didn't bat an eye, simply stood up saluted and left his office. I was detailed to collect every piece of paper in the place, organize it by date and correspondent. Have you any idea how much paper there is in the HQ of the biggest airdock and naval base on the Pacific Coast!"

Max chuckles "Aye well yer did always like paperwork John."

"Well I tell you my taste for it waned considerable that night! But I tell ya Max, it were what happened the next morning that really made things go crazy?"

"We was heading north towards Prince Rupert by then, had some trouble with the drive arcing all over the place, burned one of our Black Gang pretty bad. Aye and just as he got better he was blown to smithereens in bloody Portsmouth!"

"I heard about that Max, lost yer Commander and them young lads and right in the middle of the largest naval base on Earth too. I can tell you that made every dockyard, port and base in the Empire act like there was war on! Was like somebody kicked the biggest ant hill the world had ever seen... But as I was sayin, next morning word came that somethin odd had happened at the Company yards outside Vancouver. The Old Man, having spent a long night interrogating the dockyard commander, 'in conference' is the term the report used, swore mightily and grabbed the Marine Major and his troop from the flagship, me, and a bunch of dockyard workers, and flew us in a runabout straight there."

Max nods and says "Ah, we seen what happened there as we flew over, were the strangest thing, there were a great ship just like us and she simply collapsed in on her self as we passed."

"Aye and when we got there all that was left was a mass of girders. It was odd indeed, there weren't a single piece of fabric anywheres in that pile. Nothing, not even the cloth covers of manuals and books, no seabags, no tool bags, nothing! Were like she had been attacked by a giant swarm of moths. Well we secured the site and I went with a couple of Lobsterbacks to secure the office. But as we were approaching some bastard set fire to the place and it was pretty well done by the time we got there. Heard later the bloke who set the fire had died in it too, served the bastard right."

"So did you find out anything about that ship?"

"Aye more 'n I wanted to know, I were put in charge of the team searching it. I can tell you she were nearly finished but that she would never have flown."

"Eh? Why is that?"

"She were a direct copy of your ship, but she had no core.[3]" Max starts and John holds up his hand "Aye and that's OK Max, I been briefed since as to what that means and all, it's my new job see?"

*He folds his collar back and Max sees the insignia of Naval Intelligence.*

"Ah, if she had no core then how could she have flown?"

"Well see that is the question the Intelligence Boffins had too, best guess, and you never heard this from me, is that if that bomb had gone off and disabled your ship in Esquimalt the Company would have spirited the core away and mounted it in the copy. Along with a bunch of other equipment that hadn't been installed yet but was just lying around."

Max takes a big swig from his mulled wine, and after a second or two says "Seems like there is no way they could have got away with that."

"I agree and that were the conclusion of the brass hats in Whitehall too. Don't know the official rationale but personally I think it was a botched job. The sabotage may have been intended to happen somewheres over the rough country North of Vancouver, then they could have salvaged the core and other bits and mounted it in their copy and nobody would be the wiser."

"Christ John, you saying they intended to bring us down in flight!"

"I am Max, and everything that's happened since would tend to confirm that wouldn't you say? Were only cause you were tipped off by finding that device before you left that you been able to stay in one piece."

"An that's a comforting thought to be thinkin and all. So how did you end up in Intelligence then?"

"Well, see that ain't something I'm really sure about. Was about two months later, after we heard about the attack on the Velvet Brush in Portsmouth when I were approached by this odd fellow from England."

"Odd fellow?"

"Aye some high brow named Biffington, he had my transfer papers and within a fortnight I was in Portsmouth talking to..."

Max finishes his sentence "Fleet Admiral Avis Chicheley"[4]

"Aye that's her, and things have been very interesting indeed ever since!"

Part IV is here

======

[1] Esquimalt just outside Victoria, British Columbia was the second largest Royal Navy base in the Pacific after Hong Kong during Queen Victoria's time. In our world it is also a major Navy Airship base. Max and his crew received the HMAS Velvet Brush from the Company builders there nearly two years ago.

[2] Lobsterback is a navy slang term for Royal Marine, used because of their bright red tunics. The other term often used is Bullock, which means bull.

[3] The Core is the extremely powerful heat source that powers the HMAS Velvet Brush and a major military secret. See my Practical Airship Design series for more info on this fascinating Airship.

[4] Second in command of the entire Royal Navy and head of Naval Intelligence, a formidable and manipulative power behind much of the events of the past two years in our Role Play World.

A visitor arrives


Here is the second part of the serial tale from our Role Play group.

Part I is here.

Frozen Sky

A serial story from The Messdeck.

Part II

Collected and edited by Kevin Jepson

Feb 1
*After an uneventful, but very cold, trip following the railway lines up to York, the Doris is tied up to the top of a commercial mooring tower on the edge of town. Below her on the tower is a very sleek looking Navy Airship, her hull is flat black with no markings visible at all.*

The very cold and cramped control car
of HMAS Doris*

Simpson climbs down from the keelwalk and says "Mooring is secure Sir!"

"Very good, well done Simpson."

"Thank you Sir"

Max sets the engine telegraph to "finished with engine" and then taking the voice tube he yells into it "Watkins! Secure the engines and get yerself forward we are going ashore."

*A tinny "Aye aye Sir!" comes back and soon the steady thumping of the old engine stops. Max then knocks on the door of the single cabin at the back of the control car before entering.*

"We are moored and it's time to get off this icy balloon and have us some warm food by a fire eh?"

*Miss BB and Iveta are seated on either side of a table top, which Iveta's charts and Miss BB's Aetherwave set are vainly trying to share. Iveta is wearing her uniform greatcoat and cap but seems unperturbed by the cold, the only concession to comfort being her half gloves. Miss BB, however; is swathed head to toe in a bizarre and very colourful mix of scarves, sweaters, and cloaks, with only her face and uniform cap to mark her as an airship officer.*

"Will you be able to climb down the mooring tower in all that Lieutenant?"

"Oh, I will take them off before I do." then almost as an afterthought "Sir".

Turning to the Navigator Max says "How long will it take to plot a course North from here? The railway lines don't go where we are heading."

"I have it already Sir, also the diversion is plotted too if the weather permits Sir."

"Very good, now let us be about getting warm shall we?"

"Aye aye Sir!"

*A dockyard worker unrolls a rope bridge like structure from the tower out to the control car. The crew start to carefully cross the windswept gap to the platform on the tower. As the Sun is setting it is getting increasingly cold. Already the ground below is in darkness. Max is the last to leave and as he makes his way carefully across he sees Sgt Fraser and Cpl Cooke engaged in an intense bout of Rock Paper Scissors. Sgt Fraser soundly beats the Corporal and with a wide grin waits at the end of the bridge as Max comes across.*

"And what was all that about Sergeant?"

"Sir, we were deciding who gets to stay up here on ship watch Sir. I won Sir, so I get to stay."

"Ah, however 'rank hath its privileges' Sgt and no you don't!"

"Sir?"

"We is a hundred feet in the freezing Yorkshire sky Sergeant, and the dockyard tells me they haven't got a lift so I will be staying on ship watch, you go get yerself some hot food and warm drink. Send Cooke back up with something hot."

"Aye aye Sir!" and with a salute Fraser turns and heads toward the tower ladder.

*Watkins and Simpson are busy helping Miss BB negotiate the top of the ladder. Iveta watches for a moment and then with a slight smile simply swings herself out over the side of the tower and disappears into the darkness down the OUTSIDE.*

Cooke shakes his head "Jeezus Sergeant did ya see that!"

"Aye I did, that one is happier on the outside of an airship than she is on the inside."

*Max waits till everyone has begun the long descent and then crosses back to the control car. The wind has strengthened so he carefully checks the mooring lines and then climbs laboriously up to the open keelwalk and goes back to check on the cargo and the engine. By the time he returns to the control car he is very cold and is having trouble holding the rungs of the ladder when he climbs back down into the control car.*

Well Max, you'll be solid ice in an hour if you don't get out of this wind!

*Max goes into the little cabin and taking up some of the scarves and blankets from Miss BB's pile he sits in her chair at the table. Soon he is dozing off as he gets slightly warmer. An hour or so later Max is startled awake by a change in the feel of the control car.*

Ah we got a visitor must be Cooke with a toddy. That'll go down well about now.

A strange voice calls out "Ahoy the Doris! Permission to come aboard."

=================

Part III is here.

*The painting is of the control car of a WWI German Zeppelin painted by Felix Schwormstadt in 1917

Frozen Sky Part 1

Our Role Play Group, the Airship's Messdeck, is on a bit of a hiatus while we try to sort out how our main story will carry on into the future.

I'm going to serialize three of the side stories that came up during this time to give you a bit of a feel for the World in which we are playing. The parts of the story are presented here pretty much as they appeared in our role play.

Note that Max (me) tends to talk to himself, which is useful in the RP as a way to give out some more info.  Sections that begin and end with an '*' are descriptive.  I'll try to clarify history and details from previous roleplay as footnotes when necessary.

A special thanks to my fellow shipmates and partners in adventure:
Jayne Barnard
Stewart MacPhee
Monica Willard
Andrew Nadon
Karen Seimens
Jossana Justine
Christie Vanderloh
Sandor Sanchez
Thank you for your wit, your sense of fun, and your willingness to help create this wonderful world.


I hope you enjoy it.

Keep your sightglass full your firebox trimmed and your water iced
KJ

Frozen Sky

A serial story from The Messdeck.

Part 1

Collected and edited by Kevin Jepson

Introduction

While our fine ship, the HMAS Velvet Brush, is in the Airdock for her much needed refit, the crew is dispersed to other duties.  Her Chief Engineer Lt Cmdr(E) Maxwell MacDonald-Smythe aka Max, is ordered to take an old airship, HMAS Doris, up to the Royal Navy base at Scapa Flow. He is to begin testing a new device known as the Chirper, that can determine elevations and depths, much like a modern sonar depth scan.

With him he has several members of the Velvet Brush's crew. Two members of his Black Gang, John Watkins and Philip Simpson who invented the Chirper, the Navigator Lt Iveta Baleva, the communications officer Lt Beulah Bueckert, aka Miss BB, and two of the Marine contingent, Sgt Kade Fraser and Cpl Ellis Cooke.

It is winter and the old Doris has seen better days.

Jan 28
Airdock 6 at the Experimental Airship Division yard near London

*Max is standing at the side of the airdock surveying his new command. Having received her from the hands of the Airdock Boffins only a few minutes before, he now watches as the last of the dockyard workers file away and his ship sits alone with her new crew*

Well Max me lad, she's all yours now. This will be an interesting junket and no mistake.

*HMAS Doris is a smallish, hydrogen filled, cargo carrying airship. Until recently she was a commercial tramp carrier called "The Matilda" on contract to the Navy supplying remote light houses along the Northern coasts of Scotland. The Doris is small, she could fit entirely inside the Velvet Brush between the forward accommodation and engineering, with room to spare! The outer cover of her hull is dirty grey and streaked with coal dust. Bright white squares show where her old threadbare cover has been repaired.*

Well yer no stranger to the North at least.

Max spots the bright crimson uniform of Sgt Fraser approaching "Ah Sergeant, all secure?"

Sgt Fraser snaps to attention and salutes sharply "Aye Sir, ship is cleared of all dock workers Sir!"

"Very good, please maintain ship watch. I expect the last of our supplies will be arriving shortly, make sure they get squared away as soon as possible."

"Aye aye Sir!" Another quick salute and Fraser turns and takes up his post beside the entrance to the control car of the airship.

Well, no luxury on this trip Max, be nice to sleep in a hammock again while aloft though, like sleeping on a cloud, if a bit noisy and breezy.

*Max walks aft past the control car under the belly of the airship his cane making tapping sounds that seem oddly loud in the cavernous space of the airdock. He walks past the cargo car in which the Chirper is safely installed, to the third car that houses the engine. There is an open triangular keelwalk connecting the three cars that hang below the hull like rowboats suspended from a bridge. Using the keelwalk while in flight will be an adventure in itself. As he approaches the third car he sees Watkins climbing down from it, he is covered in soot and his coveralls are all greasy.*

"Well Watkins, will she fly?"

"Aye Sir she will, but not fast. She'll be lucky to make 20 knots and against any kind of wind we'll be sitting still. Don't know how them fellows kept station in the North Sea Sir."

"Well if they could do it we can. Were you able to get something setup for Comms and the Navigator in the control car?"

"Aye Sir, we took that little box they called your cabin and set it up for them, at least they won't have the wind whistling past 'em."

*The control car and the engine car are open with no glass in the windows to save weight.*

"Well we best make sure they have some warm woolies just in case eh?"

Watkins smiles "Aye Sir, but I think Miss BB has that handled Sir."

"How's that?"

"Well Sir, she arrived this morning with a Jessus big trunk and had a couple of the dock yard blokes stash it in the back of the cabin Sir. When I asked her about it she said it were warm rough weather clothes for all of us Sir."

"Hah! Well she is resourceful that one, probably won it all off the Quartermaster at poker if I know her!"

Watkins laughs, "Aye Sir, probably Sir."

"Well I'm off for my final report to Admiral Wilcox, get her ready to go as best you can I don't want anything left adrift when we leave."

"Aye aye Sir!" and with the touch of his cap Watkins heads back up the ladder.

*Max heads toward the gate, past the control car returning Sgt Fraser's salute as he passes.*

Well now maybe I can find out more about what we are supposed to be doing all the way up in Scapa Flow...

But Mary will be there too and I don't dare even say hello, blast and damn!

*At the gate of the airdock, Max turns and looks at his new command one more time trying to imagine her puffing her way through the winter skies on her way to Scotland.*

Well you're no beauty, but I'll wager yer a tough old girl and all.

Part II is here

A presentation!

My character in our role playing game was ordered to make a public presentation about some of the technological advancements embodied in our Airship. Basically the Government wanted to share these advancements with the Civilian companies as a way to boost the Empire's commercial competitiveness.

Just for fun I decided to actually give the presentation as part of an ongoing series of Absinthe Cafes here in Calgary.

I presented it in character and in costume, and it was a lot of fun.

Lt Cmdr(E) Maxwell MacDonald-Smythe
Photo by Lewis King

The information presented here is based on my Practical Airship Design series.

Here is the text of my speech.
Enjoy

Keep your sightglass full, your firebox trimmed and your water iced.
KJ

 --------

A January evening in the latter years of the 19th century.

Madame and Mr Chairman, My Lord, Ladies and Gentlemen.
Good evening.

I have been asked, by the Experimental Airship Division of the Royal Navy, also known as the the EAD, to present some of the technical details of one of the marvels of our age!
 
It is the hope of Her Majesty's Government that by releasing this, hitherto classified, information to the British business and manufacturing community, that the further development of these exotic and ground breaking technologies will help to maintain our Empire's lead in global commercial and military affairs.

Many of you have probably seen or heard the reports concerning the latest experimental airship of Her Majesty's Navy. You may also have seen the speculation concerning many of the developments and mechanisms that she has on board.

I have the honour to have been, and continue to be, her Chief Engineer.

And, Ladies and Gentlemen, as much as I would like to confirm that she is powered by exotic Indian demons and lifted by some remarkable gaseous material never seen before, and even that she can fly in the vast reaches of space, I must assure you that everything we will discuss this evening is in fact the product of the investigations into Natural Philosophy conducted over many years by brilliant men and women just like yourselves.

Nothing of what I will be showing this evening is in the province of the Metaphysical realm.

Having, alas, thus ruined your excitement concerning the information I am about to present to you, I hope that you will find the real information just as intriguing.

And so, to begin…


Here is the object of our discussion this evening.

Her Majesty's Air Ship The Velvet Brush!

She is truly a marvelous vessel, the largest self mobile object ever built by human beings!
Her dimensions are enormous,

• Her Length is 245 m or 800 ft, longer than the largest ocean liner.
• The Diameter of her hull is 42 m or 137 ft
• She contains a Gas Volume of 231,000 cubic meters or 8 million cubic ft
• She weighs uninflated 150 tons
• When in flight trim she can carry a cargo load of 28 tonnes
• Her propulsion system can move her at a steady cruising speed of almost 120 km/hour or  65 knots, thus making her one of the fastest ships in the Airship Navy.
• Her maximum speed is still classified as is her maximum altitude, however; I can say that she has maintained that 120km/h value at elevations in excess of 1800m or 6,000 ft above sea level on numerous occasions. Her operational pressure height is 1200m or 4,000 ft under normal load conditions.
• Her maximum cruising range is currently unknown!

I will say that on her very first flight she flew non-stop from the Royal Navy Airdock in Esquimalt British Columbia across the breadth of British North America, and the North Atlantic, to Portsmouth a distance of some 9000 Km or 5500 miles. This trip was accomplished in the dead of winter no less.

Ladies and Gentleman the Velvet Brush is a truly amazing ship, and despite the controversies and scandals attending her construction, she will be a model for future large Aerial Vehicles.

So to the technological developments that allowed the Royal Navy to construct such a stupendous vessel.

There are three developments that I will discuss this evening.

The first is the intellectual development that permitted her to be designed,

The second concerns the key material used in her construction,

And the third is the novel form of her lift generating system.

Many of you I am sure are aware of the advances in mechanical computation that have attended the construction of the Lovelace-Babbage engines in use at Oxford and Cambridge. The Difference Engine, designed by Charles Babbage under contract to the Royal Navy to produce navigational tables, was completed in 1849. Babbage completed the design for his more advanced Analytical Engine but it had not been constructed by the time of his death in 1871.

However his associate Augusta Ada King, Countess of Lovelace, continued working on the design, again under contract to the Royal Navy and the new machine was produced and first began calculations in 1880. Along with the physical design of the machine, the countess was instrumental in composing the grammar for the lists of instructions that the machine uses. Her treatise on "Simulation of mechanical processes by computation", published when she was in her 60s in 1875, earned her a worthy place in the Royal Academy.

One of the first applications of the Lovelace-Babbage machine was the analysis of stress and strength in the metal components of ships hulls. It was also used in the computations to design the first Naval scouting Airships and the first Cunnard Passenger Airships that followed soon thereafter.

The design of such a magnificent vessel as the Velvet Brush would not be possible without the speed of computation, and the elegance of the Countess's Analytical Engine Grammar.

As part of the technology transfer program of her Majesty's Government, two new Lovelace Babbage machines, of the latest design, will be available for public use starting later in the year. One will be in London the other in Liverpool.

Now, as to the construction of the Velvet Brush herself.

Elegance!

An interesting picture.

Dating from the first decade of the 20th century and ostensibly a fashion plate from a magazine.

It should be quite apparent to any Parasol Duelist that this is in fact an illustration of the latest fashion for Duelists. While uncommon by this time there must have been some schools still operating.

Note that the figures are slightly different but would still be recognizable to a duelist from Victoria's time.

The "reverse plant" shown by the lady on the left is a figure not documented under Her Majesty's rules and may have been a local variation. That or a permitted flirtation move perhaps given the gentleman beside her.

Also the twirl has degraded somewhat as it is allowed to rest on the shoulder.

The previously wide interest and popularity of Parasol Duelling is evident in these late illustrations. When one goes looking for them they seem to be everywhere!

 Keep your sightglass full, your firebox trimmed and your water iced.
KJ

A Rudyard Kipling SF tale.

Reading the Log of the H.M.A. R 34 I posted about last time I came across this gem:

10.15 a.m. Weather report from St. John's :"Barometer 1010.2.Steady ; temperature 44 F. Fog. Visibility about half a mile, fog seaward, wind westerly, very light."
This is all right.
Turned in for an hour, but unable to sleep.
Become absorbed in Kipling's story of "The Night Mail" in Actions and Reactions. Think I must have read this story fifty times! Every time I read it the more impressed I become with the reality of its prophecies, which give one that very same  "atmosphere" of Aerial Liner travel that we are actually experiencing during every
moment of this journey.

 A quick lookup on Google and I discover this wonderful tale:

With the Night Mail

A STORY OF 2000 A.D.

(TOGETHER WITH EXTRACTS FROM THE CONTEMPORARY
MAGAZINE IN WHICH IT APPEARED)

BY
RUDYARD KIPLING

Illustrated in Color
BY FRANK X. LEYENDECKER
AND H. REUTERDAHL

NEW YORK
Doubleday, Page & Company
1909



This is a wonderful SF tale about traveling on a Mail Packet across the Atlantic. A delightful look at a future where airships are as much a part of regular air traffic as are heavier than air craft.

You can read the whole book, complete with the original colour illustrations, at Project Gutenberg here:

"With the Night Mail" by Rudyard Kipling

A bonus is the ads and articles that make up the "EXTRACTS FROM THE CONTEMPORARY
MAGAZINE IN WHICH IT APPEARED" portion.  Here is an example:

 High Level Flickers
"He that is down need fear no fall"

Fear not! You will fall lightly as down!

Hansen's air-kits are down in all respects. Tremendous reductions in prices previous to winter stocking. Pure para kit with cellulose seat and shoulder-pads, weighted to balance. Unequaled for all drop-work.  Our trebly resilient heavy kit is the ne plus ultra of comfort and safety.  Gas-buoyed, waterproof, hail-proof, non-conducting Flickers with pipe and nozzle fitting all types of generator. Graduated tap on left hip.
Hansen's Flickers Lead the Aerial Flight
197 Oxford Street
The new weighted Flicker with tweed or cheviot surface cannot be distinguished from the ordinary suit till inflated.

So what exactly is a "flicker" a parachute or some sort of personal lift device?
Lots more intriguing bits and pieces of the world of 2000 AD as envisioned by Rudyard Kipling.

Keep your sightglass full, your firebox trimmed and your water iced.
KJ

Wonderful!

A delightful short film by Laurent Witz.

This short won the Best Animated Short Film Oscar in 2013.

 Check out the trailer:



If you get a chance to see this I highly recommend it.

Keep your sightglass full, your firebox trimmed and your water iced.
KJ

Thanks to everyone who entered their solutions.

SPOILER WARNING this post contains the solution to the Mystery of "The Evil Eye of Africa" if you would rather try to figure it out on your own first you can start at the beginning here.

Here is Margaret Curelas of Tyche Books, with her announcement of the winners and the solution!

Keep your sightglass full your firebox trimmed and your water iced.
KJ

 

"The Evil Eye of Africa"
By Jayne Barnard

A Guess-the-Murderer Mystery in Two Acts 

Steampunk Mystery Game Solution and Winners

Thank you to everyone for reading and submitting solutions to "The Evil Eye of Africa" Steampunk Mystery Game! Many thanks to Madame Saffron for reviewing entries. And, of course, our deepest appreciation to Jayne Barnard for writing the story and giving us such amusement.

Three intrepid detectives have solved the mystery: H. L. Dickson; Tim Ford; and James Prescott. All three submitted wonderful analyses of the mystery, and their solutions are presented below. Each poses several queries that we hope Hercule Hornblower will be able to resolve when he makes his arrest.

Now, the moment you have been waiting for...it is time to unmask the murderer of Baron von Boddy!

The murderer unmasked?

We come to it at last!

The final post of Jayne Barnard's "The Evil Eye of Africa."

In which our intrepid investigator holds the traditional summation with all the suspects together in the manor of the late Baron Von Boddy!

If you think you have solved the mystery email your deduction to:  madamesaffron at gmail.com.
We will be accepting your guesses and deductions until midnight on Sunday September 14th.

Madame Saffron (aka Jayne Barnard) will be drawing from all the correct solutions for some prizes from Tyche Books!

 The first post is here.
A list of all the characters is here.

You can get all the posts by clicking on the mystery tag.

Good luck with your sleuthing!
Keep your sightglass full, your firebox trimmed and your water iced.
KJ

"The Evil Eye of Africa"
By Jayne Barnard

A Guess-the-Murderer Mystery in Two Acts 

Act II: Hercule Hornblower Investigates

---

From the Case Journal of Hercule Hornblower: 

August 30, 1898




It is time.
As  I have collected all the images from all my spiders old and new, I have assembled all the suspects and will now put to them the questions of my little gray cells.

Madame Midas-White: Did you or did you not know the research that guided Baron von Boddy on his travels was in fact stolen? Did you kill the baron to silence the man you believed the only one who might challenge your claim to a treasure you had invested so much to recover from its desert hiding place? Or, when he refused to refund to you all the money he had cost you by claiming all his purchases in England and Egypt were made with your approval, did you shoot him for ruining your perfect record of money-making?





 

Professor Plum: You stole the research into the Nubian mask from Professor Indy Brown, is it not so? Did you come to Boddy Manor to claim your share from the baron, and kill him when he refused to split the proceeds? Or, if he had failed, to kill him before he could confirm your theft and see you ejected from the highest university in the land (yes, I know Cambridge will argue that it is the highest, not Oxford, but for the purpose of this discussion…)

 


Colonel Cardsharp, er, Mustard: You claim to have been the oldest friend and the trustee of Baron von Boddy, and you were missing from London when he reappeared here and vanished again. Did you, being desperately short of money and on the verge of being thrown out of the very regiment where you had accumulated so many battle honours, kill your old friend for the treasure he may have brought back from Africa?

Professor Indiana Brown: You lost your own original research, the product of many years’ labour, to the baron. You were laughed out of the most illustrious university in the English-speaking world (yes, I know all about what Cambridge would have to say on this subject). You were beaten to a treasure and the undoubted fame that would rightfully have been yours. Did you come here to confront the baron on his secretive return, and kill him in a fit of your undoubted American temper?






 

Sir Ambrose Peacock: Perennial financial distress is your lot. You gambled away the last of your own fortune to Colonel Mustard – and nobody would blame you for wanting to murder HIM – and your hope of marrying another fortune was misled by a female fortune hunter of convincing guise. Did you kill your uncle to inherit his estate, and any treasures he may have accumulated in his latest African adventure?

Lady Peacock, you loveliest of liars: You tried to induce the baron to marry you in Cairo, or, failing that, to take you with him on his treasure hunt. When that failed, you lured his feckless heir into marrying you instead, that you might inherit that treasure by another route. Did you come here to Boddy Manor to silence the baron before he could reveal to his nephew your true nature, if not your true name?

Lady Peacock?

Where is that young woman?

 The Lady disagrees

Here is the next post of Act II of Jayne Barnard's "The Evil Eye of Africa."

The first post is here.
A list of all the characters is here.

You can get all the posts by clicking on the mystery tag.

Remember that if you think you have solved the mystery email your deduction to:  madamesaffron at gmail.com.
Madame will be drawing from all the correct solutions for some prizes from Tyche Books!

Keep your sightglass full, your firebox trimmed and your water iced.
KJ

"The Evil Eye of Africa"
By Jayne Barnard

A Guess-the-Murderer Mystery in Two Acts 

Act II: Hercule Hornblower Investigates

---

From the Case Journal of Hercule Hornblower: 

August 28, 1898



 Colonel Mustard has fallen from formerly valiant warrior to vile seducer and worse. In my collection of images from the parlour spider-eyes is recorded a scene between himself and Lady Peacock that concluded with overt violence, from which the lady defended herself adeptly.

There are, however, a number of good views of the lady’s jewels, and it comes to me where I have seen them before: in a report in Cairo, from the jeweler who left the gems with Baron von Boddy “on approval” and never saw their return.

Can it be that the lovely and delicate Lady Peacock, who married Sir Ambrose within three days of meeting him, is the same woman as the mysterious widow the baron dallied with in Cairo?

What does she know of the baron’s quest? Has she too come seeking the treasure? Were she or Sir Ambrose, singly or together, at Boddy Manor when the baron’s ship came to rest here for that brief interval from his telegram to his death?

Click here for the next installment.

Threats!

Here is the next post of Act II of Jayne Barnard's "The Evil Eye of Africa."

The first post is here.
A list of all the characters is here.

You can get all the posts by clicking on the mystery tag.

Remember that if you think you have solved the mystery email your deduction to:  madamesaffron at gmail.com.
Madame will be drawing from all the correct solutions for some prizes from Tyche Books!

Keep your sightglass full, your firebox trimmed and your water iced.
KJ

"The Evil Eye of Africa"
By Jayne Barnard

A Guess-the-Murderer Mystery in Two Acts 

Act II: Hercule Hornblower Investigates

---

From the Case Journal of Hercule Hornblower: 

August 25, 1898





Professor Henry Walton Brown Jr., of Indiana, USA, has joined us today.

 I discovered him in the parlour, threatening Professor Plum with a revolving pistol.
 

 In the trunk I saw yesterday was a map such as Indiana Brown, in his ill-starred Oxford speech, claimed to have created, and a hand-drawn sketch of a mask such as he claimed he had assembled from ancient written descriptions. These resemble most closely the pages seen in Baron von Boddy’s photograph of the Eye of Africa mask. I am convinced Brown could identify them as his own property.

It is indisputable now: Professor Plum perfidiously stole his fellow academic’s research and sold it to the baron.

Click here for the next installment.

The Devil in the details

Here is the next post of Act II of Jayne Barnard's "The Evil Eye of Africa."

The first post is here.
A list of all the characters is here.

You can get all the posts by clicking on the mystery tag.

Remember that if you think you have solved the mystery email your deduction to:  madamesaffron at gmail.com.
Madame will be drawing from all the correct solutions for some prizes from Tyche Books!

Keep your sightglass full, your firebox trimmed and your water iced.
KJ

"The Evil Eye of Africa"
By Jayne Barnard

A Guess-the-Murderer Mystery in Two Acts 

Act II: Hercule Hornblower Investigates

---

From the Case Journal of Hercule Hornblower: 

August 24, 1898



A day of the most surprising in this investigation: Baron von Boddy did not drown. He was murdered.

The Cornwall Constabulary knows this, but has kept it silent from the newspapers to further the investigation. Naturally, I offered my inestimable services to aid them. It is to be hoped that Mrs. Midas-White did not kill him, as claiming my fee from a murderess I helped to arrest could prove awkward.

To record in brief my learnings:

1.    The skeleton clearly shows the nick of a bullet in a rear rib, indicating it was shot in the back.

2.    The airship salon’s panoramic forward window has cracks in one corner, radiating from a small hole.

3.    Some solvent, possibly fuel oil, has damaged the walnut flooring of the salon beneath the window. Did it dissolve a large blood stain?

4.    The trunk to which von Boddy was tied was filled with books and papers, much water-stained but all of them the property of the American Professor Indy Brown.

5.    Finally, the canopy and cork belt missing from the airship were found stuffed into a crevice on the moor.

For my reference, a view of the rocky shore where the skeleton washed up:

Click here for the next installment.

Searching

Here is the next post of Act II of Jayne Barnard's "The Evil Eye of Africa."

The first post is here.
A list of all the characters is here.

You can get all the posts by clicking on the mystery tag.

Remember that if you think you have solved the mystery email your deduction to:  madamesaffron at gmail.com.
Madame will be drawing from all the correct solutions for some prizes from Tyche Books!

Keep your sightglass full, your firebox trimmed and your water iced.
KJ

"The Evil Eye of Africa"
By Jayne Barnard

A Guess-the-Murderer Mystery in Two Acts 

Act II: Hercule Hornblower Investigates

---

From the Case Journal of Hercule Hornblower: 

Later on August 22, 1898




 When I returned to the parlour, I surprised Lady Peacock groping under one of the sofas. An odd preoccupation of a delicate lady, but perhaps she merely seeks to familiarize herself with every nook and cranny of her new home.

She made a graceful exit on Sir Ambrose’s entering the room. After gazing gloomily upon her retreating figure, my host asked me if I might lend him money. His wife had not, he added, a farthing to her name beyond her jewels, which she refused to sell.

It seems to me that the jewels she wore were of a style I have recently seen described, or in a photograph, but I suppose there are many such. Styles do not vary greatly between ladies.

Tomorrow I go to seek the Cornwall Constabulary, to view the airship Jules Verne, the trunk with which the baron washed ashore, and, if possible, the beach upon which he was found.


Click here for the next installment.

The Professor consoles

Here is the next post of Act II of Jayne Barnard's "The Evil Eye of Africa."

The first post is here.
A list of all the characters is here.

You can get all the posts by clicking on the mystery tag.

Remember that if you think you have solved the mystery email your deduction to:  madamesaffron at gmail.com.
Madame will be drawing from all the correct solutions for some prizes from Tyche Books!

Keep your sightglass full, your firebox trimmed and your water iced.
KJ

"The Evil Eye of Africa"
By Jayne Barnard

A Guess-the-Murderer Mystery in Two Acts 

Act II: Hercule Hornblower Investigates

---

From the Case Journal of Hercule Hornblower: 

August 22, 1898

While deploying my spider eyes about Boddy Manor today, I chanced upon Professor Plum consoling my employer, who appeared distraught. Doubtless her emotions are aroused by the possibility that she will not recoup her financial investment in von Boddy either by cash or by treasure. The professor is surely insinuating himself into her good opinion for future gains.

 I proceeded to place spiders in the library bookshelves, and in other presently unoccupied rooms. In several locations I discovered an older generation of spider-eyes, those incapable of self-mobility. They were placed discreetly among knickknacks to render them less noticeable. These I have replaced with my more elegant and functional insects, and will attempt to retrieve any older images captured by the stationary arachnoids.


Click here for the next installment.

Masher?

Here is the next post of Act II of Jayne Barnard's "The Evil Eye of Africa."

The first post is here.
A list of all the characters is here.

You can get all the posts by clicking on the mystery tag.

Remember that if you think you have solved the mystery email your deduction to:  madamesaffron at gmail.com.
Madame will be drawing from all the correct solutions for some prizes from Tyche Books!

Keep your sightglass full, your firebox trimmed and your water iced.
KJ

"The Evil Eye of Africa"
By Jayne Barnard

A Guess-the-Murderer Mystery in Two Acts 

Act II: Hercule Hornblower Investigates

---

From the Case Journal of Hercule Hornblower: 

August 21, 1898 

Already a surprise of the most immense: Colonel Mustard is here.

Not abroad ‘for his health,’ as his family would doubtless prefer.

Not dead by his own hand, as the regiment he lately disgraced would prefer.

Not in London paying off his debts, as his landlady and others would prefer, although his natty attire suggests he is not particularly penurious, neither down at heels nor fraying about the cuffs.
 

He claims to be the trustee of the von Boddy estate, and in that guise has been paying the housekeeper and feeding himself with the limited funds available from the estate.

Would a military man of valorous record use the funds of his deceased friend to furnish his own fine feathers? Of course, he did cheat at cards.
 

Click here for the next installment.

Spiders!

Here is the next post of Act II of Jayne Barnard's "The Evil Eye of Africa."

The first post is here.
A list of all the characters is here.

You can get all the posts by clicking on the mystery tag.

Remember that if you think you have solved the mystery email your deduction to:  madamesaffron at gmail.com.
Madame will be drawing from all the correct solutions for some prizes from Tyche Books!

Keep your sightglass full, your firebox trimmed and your water iced.
KJ

"The Evil Eye of Africa"
By Jayne Barnard

A Guess-the-Murderer Mystery in Two Acts 

Act II: Hercule Hornblower Investigates

---

From the Case Journal of Hercule Hornblower: 

August 21, 1898



After a long, slow journey across miles of desolate, windswept moor, Hercule Hornblower has arrived!

At Boddy Manor, that is, a gray stone pile much diminished from the implied elegance of the engraving the newspapers have used.

My first order of business will be to deploy my spider-eyes in every public room of the large house. The cunning beasts are the next generation, capable not only of recording images when anyone moves with in the room, but of scuttling into hiding when anyone approaches, thus preserving their mechanisms from swatting damage. 



Click here for the next installment.

Telegram from the beyond?

Here is the next post of Act II of Jayne Barnard's "The Evil Eye of Africa."

The first post is here.
A list of all the characters is here.

You can get all the posts by clicking on the mystery tag.

Remember that if you think you have solved the mystery email your deduction to:  madamesaffron at gmail.com.
Madame will be drawing from all the correct solutions for some prizes from Tyche Books!

Keep your sightglass full, your firebox trimmed and your water iced.
KJ

"The Evil Eye of Africa"
By Jayne Barnard

A Guess-the-Murderer Mystery in Two Acts 

Act II: Hercule Hornblower Investigates

---

From the Case Journal of Hercule Hornblower: 

August 20, 1898







Bah! Bodmin Moor is as cold and damp as Cairo was warm and sunny.

View out back of Jamaica Inn, Cornwall

 I sit in a gloomy, paneled room at the airship stop Jamaica Inn while the countrymen gossip over the mystery of Baron von Boddy’s death at home when they supposed him far away.

Aha! One rotund propper-up of the old oak bar says he knows the baron was in residence two weeks before he was found dead on the shore, for a telegram was called in from the manor by a man, and he himself sent it on to a London address. He cannot recall the address, but the text – if he is not embellishing – is clear:

HOME STOP SUCCESS STOP COME AT ONCE TO ADVISE NEXT STEPS STOP BVB STOP STOP STOP

Some person among his associates knew he was returned to England. That person may cast light on the manner of his strange death. Why have they not come forward?

Click here for the next installment.

To the manner...

Here is the next post of Act II of Jayne Barnard's "The Evil Eye of Africa."

The first post is here.
A list of all the characters is here.

You can get all the posts by clicking on the mystery tag.

Remember that if you think you have solved the mystery email your deduction to:  madamesaffron at gmail.com.
Madame will be drawing from all the correct solutions for some prizes from Tyche Books!

Keep your sightglass full, your firebox trimmed and your water iced.
KJ

"The Evil Eye of Africa"
By Jayne Barnard

A Guess-the-Murderer Mystery in Two Acts 

Act II: Hercule Hornblower Investigates

---

From the Case Journal of Hercule Hornblower: 

August 16, 1898

Addendum: I have left in progress at Cairo some necessary inquiries about the mysterious widow, as Mrs. M-W will of a certainty demand the retrieval of the various jewels charged to her credit on the hotel’s bill. Results will be telegraphed to me at isolated Boddy Manor, of which here I add an engraving that has appeared in the traveling edition of the London Aerogram.

It does not look an uncomfortable house but indisputably the chimneys will smoke. They always do.

Click here for the next installment.