TEXT: i
  GAME MASTER’S
  COMPANION
  2021 FASA GAMES INC.
  TM
  
  1
  GAME MASTER’S
  COMPANION
  2021 FASA GAMES INC.
  TM
  
  2
  Dedications
  C R E D I T S
  Developer
  Andrew Ragland
  Line Developer
  Brad Decker
  Art Director
  Don Higgins
  Development
  Brad Decker
  Andi Watson
  Project Manager
  Andi Watson
  Senior Editor
  Brad Decker
  Associate Editor
  Kathy Czechowski
  Layout
  Don Higgins
  Administration
  Andi Watson
  1879 is a Trademark of FASA Corporation
  1879: The Roleplaying Game, 1879: The Roleplaying Game Players Guide™, The GrosvenorLand™, 
  The Gruv™, and the Samsut™ are trademarks of FASA Corporation.
  1879 and all associated Trademarks used under license from FASA Corporation.
  Published by FASA Games Inc., USA under license from FASA Corporation.
  All rights reserved. PDF Released January 2021. First Printing February 2021.
  Copyright © 2021 FASA Corporation.
  Printed in the U.S.A.
  No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopy-
  ing, recording or otherwised without the prior written permission of the publishers.  Permission to copy is 
  granted for the Appendices for personal use only.
  This game takes place in an alternate history form our own world.  As such, numerous actual historical 
  personalities, events, religions, and other institutions are referenced.  No endorsement, approval, disre-
  spect, disparagement, or other opinion or view on actual, real-world persons, faiths, nations, or other 
  entities is intended, implied, or imputed.  This is a work of fiction based on our world.
  Cover Art
  Don Higgins
  Web Design
  Brad Decker
  Interior Art
  Meghan Higgins
  Tanner Lyttle
  Victoria Suppon
  Karen Gosselin
  Gregery Miller
  Don Higgins
  “This book is dedicated to all those who play in and contribute
  to the 1879 product line: past, present, and future.
  It is only through your support that this game world exists,
  and only through your involvement that it can continue to grow.”
  
  3
  Table of contents 
  Introduction ....................................................5 
  Vehicles ...........................................................9
  Secret Socs  ................................................41
  Dragons  ......................................................95
  Death And Disease .................................. 119
  New Spirits ................................................135
  New Creatures ...........................................147
  Time Line....................................................185
  Index............................................................253
  
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  5
  Chapter 1
  1879 Gamemaster’s Companion
  Introduction
  “The greatest happiness is to transform one’s feelings into action.”
  – Madame de Stael
  1879 takes place in an alternate history, where Prince Albert survived and became 
  a champion of science in the British Empire, where Queen Victoria took up the cause of womens’ rights 
  after Dr. Elizabeth Garrett Anderson saved both the Prince Consort and young Albert, the royals’ son. 
  The Raj still holds power in India, but the Confederacy survived the War of Secession and North America 
  has balkanized. The Prussians have made significant advances in electrical technology, catching up to and 
  threatening to surpass British microsteam. Elsewhere, the course of history is familiar, and yet different, 
  creating opportunities for both the heroic and the dastardly.
  In this world, a Weird Science experiment in Greenwich Park opened a portal, the Rabbit Hole, 
  to another world, and let loose a flood of mana, magical energy, into Earth. The surge precipitated the 
  return of Earth’s own magic, and now the victims of Looking Glass Fever, the Boojums, divide into the 
  four subtypes of elf, dwarf, snark, and troll, having emerged from human stock as their innate magical 
  nature expressed itself. With the rail lines of the Iron Tunnel extended through the Rabbit Hole, the 
  British Empire expanded into the new world, the Grosvenor World or simply the Gruv, to run headlong 
  1
  
  6
  INTRODUCTION
  into two races.
  One, the Samsut, appear to be descended from the Akkadians and Babylonians and Hittites, 
  suggesting that three thousand years or so ago there was another portal. Having found a trove of 
  technology from a highly advanced and long vanished civilization, the Samsut can treat mana, or life 
  energy, as a power source. Their military carries mana-powered railgun rifles, and deploys battery-powered 
  undead as shock troops. They view the British as despoilers of the land and wasters of precious energy. 
  The British view the Samsut as despoilers of the dead. Of course they went to war.
  The Saurids call themselves native to the Gruv, and are descended from something resembling 
  a velociraptor the way humans are (according to Charles Darwin) descended from something like a 
  monkey. All of them amphibious, but some spending more time in the water than others, they divide into 
  three primary cultures, Plains, Mountains, and Forest, with different views on gender roles, religion, and 
  appropriate use of technology. All of them know of machinery and fossil fuels, but choose to live without 
  them, substituting biological sciences and handcrafted items for steam and factory production. A fourth, 
  the kistalmi, high in the mountains, may have more advanced uses of low-impact technology, but hold 
  themselves remote from the rest of the world, not welcoming visitors.
  How to Use This Book
  This book expands on the materials presented in the 1879 Gamemaster’s Guide. We start 
  off with Vehicles, providing more background, context, and colour, along with statistics for a few 
  
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  Chapter 1
  new vehicles, The Gamemaster should familiarize themselves with the rules for vehicular combat and 
  run a few practice battles if at all possible, so that there’s no delay looking up the mechanics at a 
  dramatic moment when the heroes are about to board the enemy vessel.
  The Secret Societies chapter profiles more organizations useful more to the Gamemaster than 
  the player. The Organizations presented will provide additional flavor for the world as well as new 
  challenges. The Prodigals have called up something they cannot put down, and that has taken over 
  their organization, providing an otherworldly threat. 
  The Dragons chapter gives the game mechanics for these extremely powerful entities, and 
  describes the few dragons that have been seen thus far since the opening of the Rabbit Hole. Again, 
  the Gamemaster should give careful thought to inclusion, and note that Dragons are best dealt with 
  from a very long distance away.
  Two chapters, New Spirits and New Creatures, provide descriptions and game statistics to 
  expand on the Spirits and Bestiary chapters of the 1879 Gamemaster’s Guide. In addition, the New 
  Creatures chapter details how to create new creatures, and introduces the first folkloric creatures of 
  Earth, those of arcane nature that have appeared since the opening of the Rabbit Hole.
  Finally, the Timeline chapter details the course of history in the game world. Scholars of real-
  world history will be able to use this to spot the turning points where the game world differs from 
  ours, such as the establishment of the hajj as as ascension requirement of the Ottoman Sultanate. 
  The Gamemaster can use this to build adventures resulting from historical events, and expand the 
  game world by following the established course or finding a new turning point for their campaign.
  The 1879 Gamemaster’s Companion concludes with an Index for ease of reference.
  YZ
  
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  9
  Chapter 2
  1879 Gamemaster’s Companion
  Vehicles
  “Suppose now,” queried a very Conservative Lord of George Stephenson, at a 
  Parliamentary Committee meeting on railroad safety, “one of these engines of yours to be 
  going along a railroad at your forecast speed of thirty miles an hour, and that a cow were 
  to stray upon the line and get into the way of the engine; would not that, think you, be a 
  very awkward circumstance?”
  “Aye,” Stephenson replied drily, “verra awkward indeed f’r the coo.”
  The 1879 Game Master’s Guide provides game stats for a number of 
  ground vehicles, ships, and airships, in the Steam Powered chapter (p.255). The 
  goal here is to provide roleplaying material to layer atop those game mechanics, for 
  enhancing descriptive passages and deepening player experience. Some new game 
  stats are provided along the way, where new types of equipment are introduced.
  2
  
  10
  Vehicles
  Air Travel
  There’s a few ways to get about by air, some more practical than others. We’ll focus here on 
  those generally available.
  Giffard Travel
   
  On Earth, Giffard travel 
  has become commonplace, at 
  least for the well off. It’s only a 
  couple of shillings for the thrice-daily 
  cross-Channel run from Dover to Cal-
  ais, although that’s limited to luggage the 
  passenger can carry themselves and a space 
  on a bench, as one would expect from a ferry. 
  Transatlantic Giffards reach a new definition of 
  expensive, not just due to the limited number of passengers they can carry, but fuel, food, water, 
  crew, luggage, and so on. A first class stateroom on a Cunard ocean liner from Liverpool to New 
  York runs thirty guineas, wines included, and lasts a week on average, while the same trip aboard 
  a Giffard costs sixty guineas on the average, but requires only three days. Even the fastest steamer 
  can only cut the trip down to four and a half days, and that’s at the cost of trading all luxury and 
  comfort for speed. For those whose time is worth more than seven guineas a day, the Giffard offers 
  the best option.
  Given the cost, anyone on board a transoceanic Gifard who’s not a royal or a mercantile 
  baron is assumed to be in government service of some sort. Oh, yes, you’re carrying fnan-
  cial papers for the Rothschilds, we understand. (Whispered behind a hand, of course he’s 
  a spy.)
  – Whitehall Charlie
  The actual cost of Giffard travel is determined partly by distance and partly by weight. Fare 
  quotes are for an average human man, woman, or child of twelve, with baggage costs quoted in 
  twenty pound increments. Most Giffard lines will have a weight limit for personal luggage. For 
  example, White Star Lines restricts first class passengers to fifty pounds total boarding weight, 
  including suitcases, trunks, handbags, briefcases, and all other carry-on items, and twenty pounds for 
  steerage passengers. Boojums may have to make special arrangements, especially trolls, who may not 
  even fit into the ship, much less the cabin. At the aerodrome, the incipient passenger steps onto a 
  scale, and their baggage is likewise weighed, to determine the actual price of the ticket. First class 
  
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  Chapter 2
  Giffard passengers and their luggage are weighed in private. The cost is then assessed. Nobody likes 
  discussing the fare they paid, as it reveals sensitive personal information, except for the odd duck 
  who brags about how they’ve travelled light to save money. The savvy traveller will skip breakfast 
  the day of boarding, and visit the necessary before showing up at the ticket counter. Shipping 
  heavier items, that one can survive without for a few days, by express train or packet steamer will 
  save considerably on luggage charges. While a steamer trunk that’s over the limit may be able to 
  be boarded as air freight, the costs for such are frightful, and there may or may not be room for 
  it in the ship’s hold.
  The Experience
  The cabins of a passenger Giffard, regardless of class (and there’s only first and steerage on 
  most) always smell of old canvas and paper, because when there is no passenger for the cabin, they 
  load it with bags of mail. There’s always mail to be delivered, and hauling a few extra bags means 
  recouping more of the cost of the flight.
  First class cabins provide a table and chairs that fold out of the way in the evening, and a 
  bed large enough for two that’s generally a sort of Murphy arrangement, dropping down out of the 
  ceiling or folding up flat against the wall when not in use. The facilities take up a corner by the 
  door, generally being an enclosed cubicle the size of a coat closet just big enough for toilet, sink, 
  and a sprayer for washing while standing. Even in first class, water for personal use is sharply limited, 
  and one shouldn’t expect more than a quick wetting, a scrub, and an equally quick rinse. The other 
  corner by the door provides storage for luggage, hanging space for garments, and so forth, in an 
  equally cramped space.
  Steerage cabins provide a bunk large enough for one person, with a compartment at the foot 
  for stowing one’s suitcase, and a reading lamp at the other. Some cabins will have three bunks, one 
  above the other, with barely enough clearance to roll over, while others will have only two bunks to 
  allow for larger passengers at a higher cost. The facilities will be at the end of the corridor, shared 
  with at least one other steerage cabin, possibly with a total of four or six. 
  Snark passengers will find both first class and steerage accommodations cramped and 
  uncomfortable. Trolls attempting to travel by Giffard should make arrangements with the company 
  beforehand. Showing up at the aerodrome and expecting to be able to find accommodation the day 
  of the trip does not generally end well for anyone involved. The troll passenger will generally find 
  themselves with a hammock slung in the cargo hold, the fare being double what a human would 
  pay for a steerage bunk due to their weight. Some lines simply won’t accept troll passengers due 
  to sanitary issues, their ships having no facilities large enough for the troll passenger to fit into.
  As far as crew goes, one will see a larger number of women and Boojums (and Boojum 
  women) than might have been expected, given the divisions of the general population. Giffards are 
  an integral part of both peacetime civilian existence and of modern warfare. With the opening of 
  the Grosvenor World, and the subsequent demands of both exploration and the conflict with the 
  Samsut, many airmen, like railway workers during the Crimean War, have left their civilian jobs for 
  military service. Once again, women have gone into the labour force to replace the men, resulting in 
  a high percentage of female pilots, engineers, and other crew in civilian cargo flights and passenger 
  service. Since their appearance, Boojums have also found homes as mechanics, airfield workers, and 
  so on, in a world where they were still considered potentially contagious and had difficulty finding 
  employment in industries not so desperate for resources. Now that we know that Boojums are new 
  species arisen from human root stock, the stigma of Looking Glass Fever as a disease is fading, 
  
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  Vehicles
  although more virulent beliefs are taking hold in the population. Nevertheless, the air travel (and 
  railway) companies have grown accustomed to Boojums in specific positions in their workforce. 
  Thus, the stereotype of the snark or troll yard worker, the elven pilot, and the dwarf train driver 
  have arisen.
  All of this covers only civilian vessels. Exploration ships are a rule unto themselves, often 
  being custom fitted for the team expected to travel aboard. Military vessels tend to a more spartan 
  accommodation, with only the captain having a private cabin, the officers being in bunks, and the 
  crew slinging hammocks in whatever space they can find. The experience may vary according to the 
  nation that built the ship (Prussians priding themselves on surviving in the most sparse of quarters, 
  and French officers demanding more space both for themselves and for storage of personal kit, such 
  as those terrifically fancy dress uniforms they’re so fond of), its purpose, and the funding available 
  at the time of construction or refit.
  In the Gruv, Giffards are generally reserved for military and scientific use. They’re highly 
  vulnerable to Saurid Sky Riders, especially if the rider can get a fire arrow lit, or go over the top 
  of the Giffard with a burning pitch pot or a vial of acid. Giffard deck guns swivel up to fend off 
  overflights, but have their traverse stopped to keep them from firing into their own gasbag just as 
  their horizontal traverse won’t allow them to sweep their own deck.
  Tis also hasn’t covered illicit use of Gifards. Scotland Yard has a fle on a fabulously suc-
  cessful burglary gang with their own Gifard – not air pirates, but looters of wealthy homes 
  who descend from above. Te police know these people exist because of evidence left behind 
  – forced locks on roof access doors, footprints in tar down the stairs, and the like – but have 
  no clue who they might be, where they come from, where they go, or how to put a stop to 
  their crimes. Te coppers haven’t got enough airships of their own to patrol all of Britain, 
  and these people hit London one night, Manchester the next, and Edinburgh the third. 
  Te newspapers are calling them the Ghost Gang or the Flying Burglars.
  – Djehuty Jones
  Safety
  Travel within a nation tends to be regulated, although better in some than in others. Poorly 
  written regulations and human corruption produce unsafe conditions in the British Empire and 
  elsewhere. International travel relies upon agreements between nations being upheld in the waters 
  and skies between countries, areas which are much more vulnerable to the vagaries of legal 
  interpretation (sometimes across multiple languages) and the venality of human nature. As a result, 
  safety equipment tends to be woefully under-supplied. Steamships do not carry half enough lifeboat 
  capacity. Airships may or may not have parachutes available, and if they do, there’s not enough 
  and they’re not reliable. It’s only a matter of time before a ship goes down with a loss of life both 
  considerable enough, and sufficiently affecting the upper social strata, to force the international 
  conventions to be revised and enforced. The well-seasoned traveller maintains their vigilance, and 
  sees to their own safety where they can. Often, this is less through packing specialised equipment 
  as it is through study of the measures already in place.
  The railings around the deck of an airship will prevent a casual stumble from pitching one 
  into empty space, but turbulence or accident may throw people against the railing hard enough to 
  send them right over. Safety lines are rigged to prevent this, often made of bright orange rope to 
  differentiate them from stays and bag-lines. Safety belts look like mountaineering harness, with 
  
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  Chapter 2
  carabiners to connect to safety lines. There’s multiple clips, allowing connection to a new line before 
  unclipping from the old one. The more cautious airship sailors will keep two clips attached, each to 
  a different line if possible, and move a third clip to the next attachment point. 
  Airships present a special consideration for crew and passenger safety, previously only of 
  concern to mountaineers, miners, and bridge-builders. Caisson disease, also known as altitude 
  sickness or Roebling’s disease (after Washington Roebling, one of the most famous victims) results 
  from going too rapidly from an area of high atmospheric pressure to an area of low pressure. (See 
  the entry for Caisson Disease in the Death and Disease chapter) Lack of oxygen can exacerbate this 
  condition, hence the tanks of gas variously known by its proper chemical name of oxygen, Lavoisier’s 
  Gas, or phlogisticated air for those determined to carry Priestley’s torch, carried by mountain 
  expeditions and on board Giffards that may seek extreme altitudes. Recent work by Dr. Andrew 
  Smith and Ernest William Moir in the Union and the Siebe Gorman Company in Britain have 
  led to decompression and recompression chambers, known more commonly as Siebe chambers, 
  to treat caisson disease, and Henry Tables, dive/ascent timetables based on William Henry’s work 
  at the beginning of the century, to prevent it. Caissons and mines now have airlocks to maintain 
  pressure and provide the proper adjustment time for those passing through it. Airships adjust their 
  ascent and descent times to prevent caisson disease among the crew and passengers, and may have 
  pressurised cabins if they intend to ascend to considerable heights. 
  Military Air Power
  As of 1880, no nation has an air-specific branch of its military. The British Army and Navy both 
  employ airships, predominantly as scouts and for courier duty, as do the Prussians, the French, 
  the Russians, and so on. The Confederacy maintains a technological lead in airship construction, 
  having produced the first military Giffards. Tactical deployment of air power remains a new con-
  cept, only used successfully in breaking the Union blockade during the War of Secession. Since 
  then, long arms and artillery have increased in both range and accuracy. Naval vessels and Army 
  kettles built after 1870 have high traverse weaponry, which can be loaded with incendiary rounds. 
  This makes bringing a Giffard to a battlefield or flying it over an enemy fleet a chancy proposi-
  tion at best, and survivable only if distance is kept both laterally and vertically from the enemy.
  Te use of Air Cavalry in the Grosvenor world represents an entirely new approach on the 
  part of the British military, although it is old hat to the Saurids, who are of two minds 
  about teaching the concept to the British. Some Saurids believe that they are sowing the 
  seeds of their own destruction by teaching the Red Men how to ride airborne mounts. 
  Others believe that the British will never master the art, and it’s damn funny to watch 
  them try. I fnd myself more and more in alignment with the latter school.
  – Maj. Everett Cliford, 2nd Cavalry, US Army
  Military Giffards are used for aerial photography, delivery of perishable items to the front 
  such as medications, and transfer of messages and personnel when ground transport or telegraph 
  simply do not suffice. Putting a Giffard up behind friendly lines and using cameras affixed to 
  telescopes results in pictures of the enemy that can be developed on board and sent down to the 
  command staff on the ground. Glass plates must be sent down by parachute, or in a bucket hanging 
  
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  Vehicles
  from a mooring-line that has a brake on the pulleys. Prints and metal plates can be packed in an 
  armoured and aerodynamic canister and chucked over the railing. The plates can also be held for 
  hand-over upon landing, although generally only pre- and post-battle reconnaissance allow the luxury 
  of that much time between exposure and review. 
  A similar approach did well for the New-York Times in 1869, when they photographed 
  the driving of the golden spike at the meeting of the Central Pacifc and Union Pacifc 
  Railroads. Teir hired Gifard cast of immediately after the ceremony. Two days later, 
  it moored at the Chatham Street headquarters building and a waiting copy boy ran the 
  plates down to the compositing room for the evening edition. Te Times, by taking the 
  direct air route and travelling non-stop, published their photos of the event a full day and 
  a half before rival papers who relied on the express rail service.
  – Te Dean of Manhattan
  While temporary rails can be set up quickly, using prebuilt sections of track complete with 
  sleepers hauled to the end of the line ready to be bolted on, enemy shelling can break the line, 
  halting the supply train. Artillery and kettle officers know to watch for steam plumes. With the 
  train restricted to the route of the track, calculating the lead and trajectory to drop an explosive 
  shell on a moving locomotive can be done in seconds by any gunner worthy of the name. Electric 
  locomotives, that don’t mark their location with a plume, are under development, but haven’t proven 
  reliable enough yet for battlefield use. Getting perishable supplies to the front, especially high-value 
  items such as antivenin, falls to the Giffard corps. Again, parachute drops from altitude close to 
  the enemy, or low-level armoured container drops further behind friendly lines, can put the materiel 
  where it’s needed with less risk to the transport method. 
  While Giffards of a reasonable size for battlefield deployment simply don’t have the weight 
  capacity to haul a regiment, a small group of specialists and their equipment can be brought close 
  to their deployment point with no regard whatsoever for road conditions, location of rails, and the 
  like. All that’s required is weather good enough to fly in and a crew with absolutely no regard for 
  their own safety, and a platoon of sappers, each with a pack of high explosives, can be put down 
  hard by the structure they’re ordered to bring down. Likewise, replacement officers, medical staff, 
  and intelligence operatives can be ferried by air with only the consideration of staying far enough 
  from the enemy to avoid incendiary shot.
  And then there’s the black Gifards. Tey’re not actually black, they’re mottled grey, but 
  shadow camoufage Gifards doesn’t sound as dramatic, does it? Tese small craft are de-
  signed for foating quietly through the night above enemy territory, to pick up a packet of 
  information, or a passenger or two. Te crew take terrifc risks, of course. If they survive 
  being shot down, they’ll be hanged as spies. Flying aboard one of these is an experience not 
  to be missed, if you’re not faint of heart.
  – Lt. Arbuckle Smith-Smythe-Smith, Some Brigade or Other, Her Majesty’s 
  None of Your Bleeding Business
  As far as weaponry goes, military Giffards carry the same basic armament as naval vessels 
  – rifled breech-loading cannon in turrets amidships, pintle or pivot mounted smaller guns as bow 
  and stern chasers, and the occasional Maxim or similar to repel boarders. The traverse does not 
  
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  Chapter 2
  allow firing upwards at a steep enough angle to intersect the ship’s own gasbag, creating a sizeable 
  blind spot in the Giffard’s fire pattern. Only two turrets, one port and one starboard, can be put 
  aboard even the largest of military Giffards due to weight limits, with a maximum of two guns each. 
  Ammunition likewise can only be scantily provisioned. The advantage of putting even one pair of 
  guns well above an enemy, with a clear view of the range, should be obvious enough to justify the 
  practice. Two or three rounds of canister dropping in from long range can be sufficient to disrupt 
  even the tightest and most well disciplined of infantry formations. Torpedoes have been tried, in the 
  form of air to air missiles, but so far have not been successful. No captain worth his salt would 
  even consider igniting a rocket aboard a Giffard. Using a delayed ignition mechanism, that fires 
  the rocket after the torpedo has dropped away from the hull sufficiently to not endanger the gasbag, 
  generally results in wildly inaccurate shots, assuming the mechanism even works.
  Drop Gliders
  Larger airships, that have sufficient lifting capacity, may carry one or more drop gliders, one-
  person vehicles used for reconnaissance, messengers, strafing runs, and the like. These gliders are 
  normally carried folded and stowed, so as not to produce drag on the ship. They’re hung below the 
  hull of the airship, and fall into flight with the release of the latching mechanism. Being gliders, 
  they’re at the mercy of wind and thermal updraughts, and may not be able to return to the airship 
  when their mission is done, especially if they’ve landed. Drop glider pilots are often young women, 
  because of the need for someone small and light. Early attempts to recruit steeplechase jockeys 
  didn’t work out, partly because a willingness to ride a horse at full gallop over fences doesn’t 
  preclude a fear of heights, and partly because that same willingness indicates a reckless nature, and 
  gliders aren’t terribly forgiving of such.
        Mechanics: Setting one up takes ten minutes, and a Mechanic or        Crew 
  Vehicle Test against the Barrier Rating of the glider. 
     
            The Prussians 
  have been experimenting with the 
  Raketenkrähe, or rocket crow. Based 
  (very loosely) on the design of the 
  Magic Flying Crow, a winged 
  aerial torpedo driven 
  by four solid fuel 
  rockets described in 
  the Fire Drake 
  Manual, the 
  
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  Vehicles
  Raketenkrähe consists of a larger and sturdier glider, with a shield above the pilot, and a single-
  use solid fuel rocket mounted in the latching mechanism above the wing. The glider performs 
  similarly to the British version in deployment and flight. To return to the carrier airship, the 
  pilot ignites the rocket, and uses its power to gain sufficient altitude. When the glider’s hooks 
  engage with the latching mechanism extended by the airship, the rocket’s mountings release, and 
  the rocket continues on (or falls away, if spent) while the glider is brought aboard the airship. 
  At least in theory. During testing of the design, seven glider pilots died, from failure of the heat 
  shield to protect them from the rocket’s exhaust, the latching mechanism failing and the damaged 
  glider falling, and in one case the rocket turning abruptly upwards on release and detonating the 
  gasbag, in which case the entire crew of the airship perished along with the glider pilot. Despite 
  all of this, the Prussian military has the Raketenkrähe working well enough that they have begun 
  limited field trials. 
  I’ve seen one crazy-mad Prussian (is that redundant?) let her rocket go while diving 
  straight at a French airship, then snap-roll to starboard. Bloody glider actually held 
  together against the stress of the manoeuvrer long enough the Prussian made it back 
  across the battle line and parachuted down as her glider came apart in mid-air. Te 
  rocket ﬂew straight into the French Giﬀard’s gasbag with spectacular results. Turns 
  out skygirls are as capable of a Husarenstück as their brothers on horseback. Te 
  Prussians are now working on a rack to mount a pair of rockets below the pilot, as 
  armament. Far too soon, the Prussians may release drop gliders as ﬁghting aircraft, 
  so that their foes must contend not only with the Prussian Giﬀards but swarms of 
  biting midges as well.
  – Captain Levente Foldenyi, Artillery, Royal Hungarian 2nd (Szeged)
  Drop Glider
   
  Cost: £20 
  Fuel Charge: None  
  Availability: Very Rare
   
  Speed: 14  
  Maneuverability: 9  
  Armor: 0
   
  Armament: None (pilot may carry personal arms)
   
  Ramming: 5 (taken by both target and glider)
   
  Passengers: 0 
  Cargo: None 
   
  Crew: 1
   
  Damage:   
  Disabled: 22 
   
  Destroyed: 27
   
  Critical Threshold: 8
  Note: The latching mechanism and boom required for the airship to act as a carrier must be 
  installed at an airship yard, at a cost of £80 and requiring three days. The boom can be used to 
  bring the glider back aboard as well as deploy it.
  Flying the glider requires a Pilot Vehicle (8) Test as a base. The glider has an optimum 
  glide ratio of 40:1, meaning that it loses 1 unit of altitude for every 40 units it travels forward. At 
  maximum Speed, in one combat round the glider will travel forward about 136 yards while dropping 
  about 3 yards. Gaining altitude from a thermal (a column of rising warm air) requires a Pilot 
  Vehicle (13) Test, with five hundred feet gained for each success. Thermals may be sought only once 
  every six combat rounds, to represent the distance between them. A round spent thermal-hopping 
  takes the pilot’s entire Action. Theoretically, a pilot could thermal-hop to gain sufficient altitude 
  
  17
  Chapter 2
  for a docking attempt. Such an attempt requires a Pilot Vehicle (16) Test, as drop gliders aren’t 
  designed for the maneuver. A simple failure damages the latching mechanism. A Rule of One result 
  damages the glider beyond its Disabled rating.
  Raketenkrähe Glider
   
  Cost: £28 
  Fuel Charge: £6 per rocket Availability: Very Rare
   
  Speed: 13 (18 with rocket firing) 
   
  Maneuverability: 8
   
  Armor: 3  
  Armament: None (pilot may carry personal arms)
   
  Ramming: 6, 9 with rocket firing (taken by both target and glider)
   
  Passengers: 0 
  Cargo: None 
   
  Crew: 1
   
  Damage:   
  Disabled: 26 
   
  Destroyed: 32
   
  Critical Threshold: 9
  Note: The latching mechanism and boom required for the airship to act as a carrier must be 
  installed at an airship yard, at a cost of £90 and requiring four days. The boom can be used to 
  bring the glider back aboard as well as deploy it.
  Flying the glider and seeking thermals use the same rules as the Drop Glider. Igniting a 
  Raketenkrähe booster requires a Pilot Vehicle (9) Test and a Simple Action. Once the rocket fires, 
  the Target Number for all Pilot Vehicle Tests increases by +4. The rocket allows the pilot to gain 
  altitude as if chasing a thermal, but at a rate of one thousand feet per success. Altitude increases 
  may be sought every combat round while the rocket is burning, and count as Simple Actions. The 
  standard issue Raketenkrähe unit fires for seven combat rounds. An emergency jettison mechanism 
  can be used to release the rocket before the glider latches onto its carrier. Using this requires no 
  Test, and is a Simple Action. Attempting to dock with the rocket firing requires a Pilot Vehicle 
  (17) Test. Further attempts can be made after a simple failure if the rocket is still burning. A Rule 
  of One result does the glider’s Critical Threshold in damage to both the glider and the airship. 
  Attempting to dock after releasing the rocket requires a Pilot Vehicle (12) Test, but can only be 
  made once, as a failure results in altitude loss. 
  Stirling Engines
  Stirling engines work off heat differential between two cylinders, one expanding a heated gas 
  (which cools it) and the other compressing the same gas (which heats it). An internal heat exchanger 
  and thermal store, called a regenerator, makes the closed-loop system work. Robert and James 
  Stirling built their first hot-air engines in 1816, found service for them in 1818, and then steam 
  took off and the Stirling Engine was nearly forgotten for decades. Around 1860, a way to make a 
  Stirling Engine work at lower temperatures was found, requiring less energy input and running at 
  safer thermal levels. The Confederacy began experimenting with this design, and has just recently 
  begun building Giffards using Stirling Engines instead of microsteam.
  The standard design uses an inboard microsteam engine, with its terrifically expensive 
  aluminium cooling fins, and belt or chain drives to the outriggers where the props are located. 
  Bigger Giffards may put microsteam engines in the outrigger pods themselves, using those props 
  for steering, and a larger microsteam or traditional boiler steam engine inboard to drive a pusher 
  propeller at the stern, for motive power. This avoids the vulnerabilities of the chain drive system, 
  and provides considerably more power for moving a larger ship, or attaining higher speeds with a 
  smaller vessel. The outrigger pod design also increases safety, by putting the source of any possible 
  
  18
  Vehicles
  sparks well out away from the gasbag. If an engine catches fire, or threatens to explode, the pod can 
  be jettisoned and trim adjusted, losing an engine but saving the ship. 
  In the new design, three Stirling Engines are used in the same basic configuration, one large 
  inboard for push and two smaller outrigger engines for steering. The Stirling Engines use either 
  twelve or sixteen beta-type cylinders for outboard or inboard respectively, each cylinder hot at the aft 
  end and cool at the forward, with a displacer in the cylinder to shunt air between the ends instead 
  of a regenerator to manage an external loop. A more recent design adds a pipe from the cool end 
  of each cylinder to the hot end of another cylinder two places away, to keep the air circulating 
  continuously through the engine and give it a bit more time to cool off as it passes through the 
  pipes. The burners, powered by hydrogen, only take a moment to heat the cylinders, and then an 
  electrical motor run by a battery starts the cylinder pistons into motion and sets the axle turning. 
  Once in motion, the axle will continue turning under the Stirling’s power until the burners are cut 
  off and the cylinders cool. A clutch engages and disengages the prop from the axle, and reverses the 
  prop for faster turns. Power take-offs from the axle drive generators for running and landing lights, 
  inboard power, and charging batteries. The Stirling requires less heat shielding than microsteam, no 
  cooling fins, and only passive airflow for ventilation. While the Giffard does away with the massive 
  supplies of coke and water required for microsteam, it must carry extra acid and zinc for the Kipp, 
  as the Kipp supplies not only gas for lift, but for motive power as well, the ship cooking its own 
  hydrogen as it flies. 
  Mechanics: Using this system drops the Cost of the Giffard by 15%, and reduces the Fuel 
  Charge by one third. The Speed Step goes up two points, and Maneuverability comes down two 
  points. Availability rises to the next level, so a ship that is normally Very Rare becomes Bespoke. 
  Converting a microsteam-powered Giffard to Stirling Engines costs 35% of the price of the ship, 
  and requires both four weeks of drydock time and the services of an engineer with a Mechanic 
  Skill of no less than Rank 7. Selling the aluminium cooling fins from the microsteam engine will 
  reduce the conversion cost to 25%, assuming that the market for aluminium holds. A number of 
  metallurgists are working on cheaper extraction methods for aluminium, and if any one of them 
  succeeds, the price of the metal will drop sharply, eliminating this route of cost savings.
  Ground Vehicles
  This section expands on the road vehicles, trains, and kettles described in the 1879 Game 
  Master’s Guide, starting with discussion of the laws and social environment surrounding these 
  vehicles, then moving on to the finer details of their construction and operation. 
  Legislation
  In the 1860s, Conservatives in Parliament, terrified of the new steam technologies and 
  the social and financial disruption they brought, tried to push through legislation to stifle their 
  development. A number of accidents at intersections where careless vehicle operators caused injury 
  or fatality to horses provided ready evidence for the need. The Locomotive Act of 1861 went through 
  with some opposition, and put harsh restrictions on what the law called “road locomotives”, a term 
  that had to be defined in the Act itself as most people were already calling them “steam coaches”. 
  
  19
  Chapter 2
  The restrictions on minimum size and the tolls imposed turned out to be nearly meaningless, as they 
  were imposed on vehicles with a gross weight exceeding two tons, or towing one or more wagons, 
  and only affected the freight lorries as a result. The largest problem was the speed limit imposed, a 
  maximum of five miles per hour in inhabited areas (such as London), a speed commonly surpassed 
  by horse-drawn conveyances, and ten miles per hour on the open road. In response, steam-coach 
  makers turned out smaller, lighter conveyances, creating the in-town delivery lorry with its standard 
  weight of one and a half tons.
  Furious, the Tories designed new legislation and proposed the Locomotive Act of 1865, which 
  the newspapers dubbed the Red Flag Act. Among its more ridiculous provisions was the requirement 
  for a minimum crew of three on all “road locomotives”, with one man required to walk sixty yards 
  in front of the vehicle carrying a red flag if the vehicle had two or more wagons attached. Nobody 
  was running trains on the roadways, and certainly nobody was going to try to run a steam-coach 
  towing a string of wagons through the crowded streets of Manchester or London, but reality did not 
  enter into the equation. Worse, though, the 1865 Act would have brought the speed limit down to 
  four miles per hour on the open road and two miles per hour in town, with a fine of ten pounds 
  for exceeding either limit.
  Prince Albert, determined that Britain would not be technologically outpaced by France 
  and Prussia, took on the Squirearchy and the horse culture in person. In a series of meetings, 
  technology demonstrations, and political manoeuvrers, he cajoled, shamed, and outright threatened 
  the more recalcitrant retrogressives into withdrawing the Act from Parliament’s consideration. Where 
  necessary, the Prince set economic rivals against each other, pitting the manufacturers, shipping 
  firms, and railways against the landed aristocracy, and made it very clear where Britain’s fortune was 
  to be made. Facing the wrath of the Prince, the potential of being shamed in public if the Empire 
  were surpassed in economic prowess because of limitations on technology, and the clear threats of 
  the business world to reduce the aristocrats to paupers if that was what it took to haul them out 
  of the Eighteenth Century, the conservatives withdrew the Act. In 1866, a new Act was introduced 
  that brought up the speed limit for vehicles travelling without attached wagons, required lights fore 
  and aft on every powered vehicle on the road, and forbade the use of whistles in inhabited areas 
  except under cause of emergency.
  The more recent 1878 Highways and Locomotives Amendment Act concerned itself primarily 
  with funding sources for constructing, maintaining, and repairing roads and bridges. The sanitary 
  districts received authority over the roads within their borders, effectively turning over property, 
  revenue, debts, and the physical labours to Public Works, consolidating roads with sewers and other 
  public throughways and utilities. A scale of fees for assessing the costs of road wear based on traffic 
  weight and volume spread the fees out across all travellers based on their usage of the highways. 
  Bicycles and animal-drawn vehicles were added to the list of regulated traffic. The primary cause of 
  road accidents, the operators of the vehicles, was still not addressed. Whilst inspections for powered 
  vehicles were mandated, checking lights, warning systems such as bells and whistles, wheels and 
  axles, and brakes, and bicycles and horse-drawn vehicles were required to have functional brakes and 
  wheels shod in a way that did not cause excessive damage to the road, no competency examination 
  or licensing for drivers was stipulated. 
  In the current day, permits are required to operate a cab or omnibus, but those apply to 
  the vehicle, not to the driver. Proof of tolls paid must be presented upon demand when travelling 
  through the cities, but the driver is not required to meet any standard for skill in operating their 
  vehicle. A cultural shift and the retirement of coaching-days leftovers in Parliament may be required 
  
  20
  Vehicles
  before focus shifts from the vehicles to the people driving them. Steam-coaches do not steer 
  themselves into collisions, after all.
  Current Operating Conditions
  While a considerable variety of power systems are available in this modern era, some are more 
  prevalent than others. Electric cars enjoy more popularity than the new alcohol-fueled booze-wagons 
  partly due to noise. The electric car makes a happy buzzing sound as it whirs past, while the internal 
  combustion engine sounds like a Vickers gun, frightening horses and disturbing the peace. Steam 
  cars and buses likewise are quieter, and a familiar sound from the trains that have long been with 
  us, and the drivers know better than to blow their whistle near a horse. That’s what the bell is for.
  Road quality is critical for powered vehicles. Cobblestones, which provide good purchase for 
  horses, just won’t do for a steam-coach, creating difficulties in steering and a bone-jarring ride. Tar 
  and macadam (layers of single-sized crushed stone compacted by pounding or rolling) over crushed 
  gravel became the standard for road construction by 1870, which proved difficult for horses. This 
  in turn drove more people to abandon horse-drawn vehicles in favour of steam and electrical power. 
  The aforementioned 1878 Highways Act provided for a purchase tax on powered vehicles, and a 
  road tax based on vehicle weight and miles driven per year. This in turn created a thriving market 
  in odometer and paperwork falsification to avoid road taxes. 
  Always a bit of a scandal when a gentleman is found to be shorting his coach taxes. Cab 
  and lorry drivers faking their mileage? Routine, and the cab company pays less in bribes 
  to the inspectors than the taxes would cost.
  – Djehuty Jones
   Axle weight in its own turn became an issue due to road maintenance and construction 
  costs, which drove progress from classic boiler to microsteam. Big lorries sometimes have multiple 
  engines, usually two, one per drive axle. It’s horribly complicated to keep the engines in synch, but 
  the profit margins remain viable. This gave rise to a new social class of mechanics, engineers, and 
  drivers, labour professionals paid clerical rates to keep the Empire moving. The slang term “being 
  paid rolling wages” comes from this.
  Boiler-based steam vehicles normally require two people to operate, a driver to tend to the 
  engine and a steersman to see to navigation, sometimes called an engineer and a driver. Later 
  vehicles, starting with those using the new microsteam system, can be operated by one person, but 
  take a lot of work to manage the engine and guidance all at once. Driving a steam vehicle goes 
  well beyond considerations of gears and clutch, turning radius, and stopping distance. There’s no 
  single control for acceleration. Instead, there’s a pressure regulator that determines how much steam 
  goes to the drive axle(s), and a fuel supply adjustment lever to control how much steam the engine 
  generates, which must be balanced against each other. On seeing an approaching hill, the driver 
  must first increase the fuel supply to build up steam, then increase the pressure to the axle to get 
  the vehicle up the hill. There’s not one gear shift, but two, one for the forward gears and a separate 
  lever to engage reverse gear, both a hand brake and a foot brake, a pressure gauge and a water gauge 
  that have to be watched, and so on. Between letting the steam off, putting the gearbox in neutral, 
  and working the brakes and steering, a driver bringing a freight lorry to a halt is incredibly busy. 
  Forgetting to set the pressure relief valve before backing off the regulator results in the steam going 
  
  21
  Chapter 2
  out the safety valve, which makes a terrific screeching whistle as a warning. Teakettling your lorry 
  is the mark of a sloppy driver. Someone “what’s got the kettle on” isn’t paying proper attention, 
  not doing things right or safe.
  Trains
  As I was going up from town, I met the grain trains rolling down
  Every day a hundred trains
  Every train a hundred cars
  Every car a hundred tons
  Every ton a hundred sacks
  Every sack ten thousand grains
  And that’s what cities get from trains
  – Leslie Fish
  Military Trains
  Every rail-capable nation uses trains to move its military and supply its forces. As previously 
  noted, the fixed routes and smoke plumes of locomotives make them easy targets for enemy artillery. 
  Military trains compensate with heavy armour, increased speed, and ready availability of repair and 
  replacement. Loading on armour can protect a locomotive from direct assault or a nearby artillery 
  shell detonation, but will slow the train by adding weight. Increasing the locomotive’s horsepower 
  can increase speed, but at the risk of a devastating explosion if a high-pressure boiler gets punctured. 
  Reducing armour and relying on speed generally does not work out well, as artillery officers simply 
  recalculate their leading distance and drop a shell where the train will be. Being able to lay new 
  track and bring up a new locomotive quickly can compensate for the loss of either to enemy fire, 
  but gets very expensive in short order. Moving supplies at night to make the smoke harder to spot 
  has been tried, but of course the enemy just puts dwarves and trolls with the artillery crew so that 
  they can spot the train by the heat plume. Batteries for electric locomotives haven’t the capacity to 
  move broad-gauge traffic over long distances. Even with a tender full of batteries, Welsh gauge over 
  less than eight miles is the best that’s been achieved, although that’s enough to drop ammunition 
  resupply for a regiment at the rear of the fighting line. As with any ongoing arms race, no great 
  advantage has been found for either side. In the meantime, rail remains the best option for moving 
  large amounts of materiel and troops over long distances.
  Most military locomotives are adapted from civilian models by the addition of armour and 
  weapon mounts. This keeps replacement parts more readily available, as custom parts do not have 
  to be made, and spare parts can be cannibalized from stock in the field. A few special-function 
  locomotives have been put into use, mostly for political reasons. Special-function wagons are more 
  widely deployed, as they simply need a locomotive capable of hauling them.
  Coal Trains
  The coal trains that feed the war effort are nicknamed after the terrible reputation of the 
  Commissariat from the Crimean War, due to critical military need for coal that was never properly 
  met. Officially, the heavy locomotive that brings coal from the mines to the distribution yards is 
  the Fleete class, named after the commissary general in charge of coal contracts at the start of the 
  Balkan conflict, and the light loco that hauls graded coal to the fuelling depots is the Galliput class, 
  
  22
  Vehicles
  
  23
  Chapter 2
  for the officer who was in charge of bunkering. Unofficially, they’re known as the Slowcoach and 
  the Filder, the one an old British slang term for anyone moving with an inappropriate lack of speed, 
  especially those who are wide and heavy and puff mightily with exertion, and the other because it’s 
  a lightweight of old design that’s wasn’t up to the job when it was new, as a jab at William Filder, 
  head of the Commissariat during the Crimean War.
  Fleete Class  
  Cost: £1850  
  Fuel Charge: 8d  
  Availability: Rare 
  Speed: 10 
   
  Maneuverability: 7  
  Armor: 8
  Armament: Pintle mounts left/right on cab 
  Ramming: 12
  Passengers: None 
  Cargo: 300 tons
  Crew: 2 (Driver, stoker); train may also have conductor, brakemen, and other crew
  Damage: 
   
  Disabled: 96
   
  Destroyed: 112
   
  Critical Threshold: 26
  A high-pressure boiler combined with a 2-6-6-2 bogie configuration puts considerable 
  horsepower on the drive wheels. While the locomotive is thoroughly capable of pulling a substantial 
  load, its towing capacity outstrips its weight, resulting in lowered efficiency. Generally, two or more 
  Fleete class locomotives will be used for any coal train, in order to have enough weight on the axles 
  to prevent slippage. 
  Galliput Class 
  Cost: £1100  
  Fuel Charge: 4d 
   
  Availability: Rare
  Speed: 12 
   
  Maneuverability: 7  
  Armor: 4
  Armament: Pintle mounts left/right on cab 
  Ramming: 8
  Passengers: None 
  Cargo: 150 tons
  Crew: 2 (Driver, stoker); train may also have conductor, brakemen, and other crew
  Damage: 
   
  Disabled: 70
   
  Destroyed: 83
   
  Critical Threshold: 20
  Designed to be counterbalanced by a tender, the Galliput class uses a 2-4-0 bogie design that 
  has proven problematic from the outset. While it might have been useful in test runs with just a few 
  cars, or under duty as a shunting engine, the Galliput simply doesn’t have enough tractive efficiency 
  to pull a bunkering train by itself. Running two Galliputs stern to stern with a large shared tender 
  between them solves some of the problem, but creates opportunity for manual error in operation. 
  While some locomotive designs are sworn by as staunch and reliable, the Galliput is more likely 
  to be sworn at.
  Rail Artillery
  While the British, French, and Union have built flatbed wagons with integrated cranes for 
  carrying artillery pieces, and quickly loading or offloading them, the Prussians have gone one better. 
  
  24
  Vehicles
  They built a flatbed car with an integrated howitzer, based on Commandant Mougin’s firing of 
  French guns from rail cars in 1870. The 18 inch gun fires a half ton explosive shell, with recoil that 
  rolls the wagon back on the rails ten yards or so. Traversing such a massive piece on a car mount or 
  top carriage mount and maintaining structural integrity when firing have thus far not proven mutually 
  possible, so they use curves in the rail lines for positioning. While it takes fifteen minutes to set up 
  a shot, including cooperative aiming between the artillery officer and the locomotive driver, a single 
  round can destroy half an encamped battalion and leave the survivors maimed and unfit for action. 
  Aerial bombardment from an altitude out of range of man-portable weaponry has proven effective 
  against such a piece, as vertical traverse is also not an option. The Prussians have learned from 
  this and now send air cover with their railway guns. The only good news for foes of the Prussians 
  is the prohibitive cost of such a gun, that has kept the number in existence in single digits. Not 
  just the gun must be paid for; each one must have a dedicated locomotive with a specially trained 
  driver and relief driver, plus cars in the train for ammunition, spare parts, guard troops, mess and 
  supply facilities, and so on, becoming a six to eight car rolling military camp all to support a single 
  artillery piece. The guns thus exist more as strategic weapons, used for propaganda and demoralising 
  the enemy, than anything practical on the tactical level.
  Riesige Eisenbahnwaffe (Giant Railway Gun)
  Cost: £1800  
  Availability: Bespoke
  Speed: 10 (maximum, the axles overheat and warp at 11)
  Maneuverability: 9 
  Physical Defense: 2 plus current Speed Step
  Mystic Defense: 10 
  Physical Armor: 7  
  Mystic Armor: 0
  Damage: 10x50 (3D20+D12+2D8) 
   
  Success Bonus: +8
  Area of Effect: 100 yards radius from point of impact
  Rate of Fire: 1 per 15 minutes
  Range: 1000 (minimum, for cartridge to arm after firing) / 20,000
  Crew: 8 (Gunnery officer, gun crew, mechanical crew); support train must have driver, stoker, 
  mechanic, protective troops, etc.
  Barrier Rating: 
   
  Disabled: 86
   
  Destroyed: 102
   
  Critical Threshold: 24
  Ambulance Trains
  Railways have been used to remove the injured from battlefields since the American War of 
  Secession, when wounded soldiers were piled on flatbed cars like cordwood and hauled away to 
  be sorted at the far end into the dead, the dying, and the salvageable. Medical care and hospital 
  trains have come a very long way since then, partly due to the influence of Florence Nightingale 
  on Isambard Kingdom Brunel. In his last years, Brunel, while bedridden, continued designing 
  specialised cars based on the needs communicated to him by medical staff. The modern hospital 
  train generates its own electric current, providing well-lit and ventilated facilities throughout. All 
  cars are steam heated. At least one car is fitted up as a mobile operating theatre. Onboard bathing 
  facilities double for hydrotherapy, so that burns can be treated while in transit. The standard British 
  hospital train carries a medical staff of 39, including doctors, nurses, and orderlies, and has beds 
  
  25
  Chapter 2
  for 400 soldiers.
   
  Te infection rate is still high, even with penicillin and sulfa, so the smell on board 
  a hospital train is fearsome, counteracted with tobacco, incense, carbolic acid, and 
  whatever else can be obtained. Te supply of anti-infection drugs just can’t keep up. 
  Maintaining Dr. Lister’s antisepsis regimens aboard a train, sometimes in motion, 
  often ﬂooded with wounded soldiers brought straight from the battleﬁeld and still 
  encrusted with mud and soot and ﬁlth, simply cannot be done.
  – Hiram Goldberg, M.D., HM Army Medical Service
  Given the conditions aboard such trains, and how quickly they can break down, the Army 
  Medical Service has begun actively recruiting among the Nightingale Sisterhood and any other 
  practitioners of healing magic they can find. Thus far, this has not been successful. The low pay and 
  poor working conditions of the Army Medical Service, the lack of military rank which engenders 
  a lack of respect for medical staff, and the lengthy field postings abroad have already resulted in a 
  two year drought of applicants. As magic becomes more acceptable within medical practice, healing 
  magicians have found themselves in very much of a seller’s market, in which the Army Medical 
  Service simply cannot compete. Substantial reform on the level of Cardwell has been rumoured, 
  with a reorganization into a proper Royal Army Medical Corps with commissioning of doctors and 
  nurses as officers, but thus far the paperwork for such has not made it out of study committees. 
  Until such happens, the presence of someone capable of cleansing a newly arrived patient with a 
  gesture, establishing hygiene before taking the wounded on board, remains a pipe dream.
  
  26
  Vehicles
  Hospital Train: Unit Car
  The Unit Car combines the functions of galley and surgical suite, leveraging the efficiency 
  of putting the gas, electricity, and water supplies requisite to both in a single wagon. At one end, 
  the vestibule holds dry goods lockers, and lets into the kitchen area. The cooks’ quarters lie just 
  beyond, separated by a curtain and resembling the spartan accommodations of submarine crew. At 
  the other end, the vestibule holds bandage and towel lockers, and lets into a combination dispensary 
  and surgeon’s office and quarters. Beyond that area, a dressing room provides facilities for cleaning 
  and bandaging of wounds, and such minor surgery as might be accomplished in tight quarters with 
  minimal staff. A side passage, wrapping around the back of the dressing room, allows the porters to 
  convey victuals from the kitchen through the dispensary and to the rest of the train in that direction.
  Doesn’t matter where in the train you put the Unit Car, it’s damned inconvenient. 
  At either end and you have to cart food and wounded soldiers all the way through 
  the train, and if you’ve put the dispensary entrance at the tail end, you’re hauling 
  wounded through the kitchen to get them into the surgical suite. Put it in the middle 
  and all the traﬃc in the train goes right through the dispensary and the kitchen. Bet-
  ter minds than mine have tried to ﬁgure this muddle out and yet to come up with 
  anything like a workable solution.
  – Llarina Del Moral, M.D., HM Army Medical Service
  Cost: £2000  
  Fuel Charge: 0 
   
  Availability: Very Rare
  Speed: NA   
  Maneuverability: NA  
  Armor: 8 
  Armament: NA  
  Ramming: NA  
   
  Passengers: 5 (4 cooks, 1 surgeon)
  Cargo: NA
  Damage: 
   
  Disabled: 80
   
  Destroyed: 95
   
  Critical Threshold: 20
  Hospital Train: Ward Car
  The Ward Car carries 32 patients in double berths down each side, one below and one 
  above, leaving the central aisle clear for medical staff and patient transport. In all cars after the first 
  generation, the actual floor slopes downward toward the centre of the car, with a drain at the lowest 
  point. A metal grid laid atop support rails provides a level surface above and allows fluids and 
  unwanted substances to drop through. When the car is vacant, a pressure hose can be used for rapid 
  cleaning. At one end, the sanitary facilities take up one side with an enclosed toilet cubicle and an 
  open area with two hand sinks, the other given over to storage lockers for linens, medication, and 
  associated supplies. At the other end of the car, a dressing room provides an enclosed space and 
  limited supplies for changing bandages and surgical dressings, clearing drains, and similar patient 
  care. In a crisis, the dressing room can be pressed into service as a makeshift surgery.
  
  27
  Chapter 2
  And far too often is.
  – Llarina Del Moral, M.D., HM Army Medical Service
  Cost: £1500  
  Fuel Charge: 0 
   
  Availability: Very Rare
  Speed: NA   
  Maneuverability: NA  
  Armor: 8 
  Armament: NA  
  Ramming: NA 
  Passengers: 3 (2 nurses, 1 physician) 
   
  Cargo: NA
  Damage: 
   
  Disabled: 80
   
  Destroyed: 95
   
  Critical Threshold: 20
  Civilian Trains
  Substantial changes have been made in locomotive and railway design since the days of 
  Brunel’s gauge conversion. Different requirements and differences in environment have produced 
  variations between Earth and Gruv equipment. Trains in the British Empire and those in other 
  nations vary not only in distance from wheel to wheel along the axle, but in carriage design, 
  standards of luxury for first class passengers, and adaptation to purpose. As a long ago engineer 
  said, the nice thing about standards is that there’s so many of them to choose from.
  Wagons tend to telescope under impact, to collapse from the front and back toward the 
  centre. This is due to the nature of train collisions, where the entirety of the force is normally 
  transmitted from the point of collision directly along the line of cars, and any momentum those cars 
  may have pushes the other direction at the same time. Besides the terrible result of the passengers 
  being crushed, the gas canisters under the floor tend to rupture, resulting in explosions and fire that 
  kill anyone who survived the initial impact. Reducing the casualty rate in a train collision has been 
  a primary concern of engineers around the world for generations. British passenger cars, both on 
  Earth and in the Gruv, tend to use wooden frame construction, partly for cost savings but also for 
  weight considerations. The less the car weighs, the less it costs to tow it, and the more profit can 
  be made from the usable load. Protests over railways putting profit margins over safety have thus far 
  not moved Parliament to regulate the materials that may be used in passenger cars. The Prussians, 
  on the other hand, driven by numbers as they are, looked at the labour-hours lost from an average 
  adult casualty, put that against the ongoing fuel, construction, and maintenance costs, and went to 
  steel frame carriages lit by electricity ten years ago.
   
  Mechanics:
  Prussian passenger cars cost 12% more than British, but gain 15% to their Armor 
  (rounded up) and move up three rows on the Attributes Table for all Damage statis-
  tics. Taking Damage past its Critical Treshold breaches the car’s lead/acid batteries, 
  creating a hazard underneath the car, but only releasing acid into the passenger com-
  partment if the Damage exceeds three times the Critical Treshold.
  If a British-made passenger car takes Critical damage, its gas canisters are breached, 
  creating an explosion hazard. Treat as an Explosive Gas trap (1879 Game Master’s 
  Guide, p.216). If the car takes double its Critical Treshold, the trap is automatically 
  triggered. Te car erupts into a Step 10 Fire (1879 Game Master’s Guide, p.225) 
  
  28
  Vehicles
  that will burn for 20 minutes or until extinguished. 
  Train collisions cause a Damage Step equal to the current Speed Step of the train, 
  doubled, for a collision with a stationary object, or the combined Speed Steps of 
  the train and what it collides with for impact with a moving object, such as another 
  train. Tis Damage Step is applied to all cars from the point of impact onward, 
  dropping 2 Steps per car. All persons and objects within a car take the same Damage 
  Step as the car itself, reduced by the car’s Armor. Tus, if a car with Armor 8 takes 
  Damage of Step 22, the passengers within take Damage of Step 14.
  Mounting a locomotive’s expansion cylinders inside the wheels instead of outside reduces 
  hammer blow (the vertical impact on the rail when the connecting rods and pistons reach the end of 
  their cycle), which in turn requires less counterweight on the drive wheels. This reduces maintenance 
  costs on the rails, to replace track pounded out of shape by locomotives with poor drive wheel 
  balancing passing over it, and reduces the weight on the drive wheels themselves, producing greater 
  fuel efficiency. However, maintenance costs for the locomotive are significantly higher for inside 
  cylinders as compared to outside cylinders, because inside cylinders can only be accessed from 
  underneath the locomotive. This requires a pit facility, with all its associated costs of excavation, 
  drainage, lighting, and so on. Working in such an environment requires more effort on the part of 
  the maintenance crew, which increases the labour-hour cost of maintaining the locomotives. Given 
  track maintenance costs in the Gruv, which include military escorts, hazardous duty pay, and a 
  higher incidence of accident, injury, and fatality among the navvies, on the balance it’s turned out 
  more economical to spend the money on the locomotives than on the tracks. Greenwich Station 
  has had a pit facility added so that maintenance of Gruv locomotives can be done on either side 
  of the Rabbit Hole. On Earth, however, the British Empire continues to use the less expensive 
  outside cylinder design.
  While several efforts are underway to develop a mechanical stoker, locomotives currently 
  require a fireman to load coal, maintain steam, and generally tend the boiler and firebox. Big 
  locomotives require two firemen, one at the firebox and the other at the tender, swapping off to 
  prevent overheating. The human maximum for shovelling coal is about 5000 pounds per hour. 
  Snarks can do better, but don’t fit on the plate very well. Trolls don’t fit at all, which annoys 
  railroad management considerably. Putting a dwarf in as driver clears a bit of space, so a dwarf/
  snark combination has become popular enough to be lampooned in Punch.
  Military Vehicles
  A far cry from the first armoured tractor, today’s modern armoured steam vehicles, known 
  colloquially as “kettles” for tolerably obvious reasons, carry substantial firepower, protect their crew 
  while allowing rapid egress in case of structural or mechanical failure, and provide considerable 
  manoeuvrability and towing capacity. The related assault carriers allow rapid insertion of shock 
  troops into hostile environments, with armour to keep the troops safe until deployment and machine 
  guns to keep enemy forces at bay. The British Army has also fielded armoured cargo vehicles, for 
  delivery of supplies into active battle zones, and command carriers, so that senior officers can direct 
  the flow of battle from close quarters without being an easy target for the enemy. All of these as a 
  rule feature independently driven treads, armour plating across the underside as well as around the 
  sides and over the top, and some form of defensive weaponry to keep infantry from getting close 
  enough to toss a Molotov or a grenade. Action reports from the first-generation kettles, such as 
  
  29
  Chapter 2
  the Gordie and the Havelock, have resulted in design improvements, while commitment to mass 
  production has brought down manufacturing costs. Let’s look at one of the second-generation kettles 
  as an example of evolving design philosophy.
  “Ellis” Class Light Kettle
  The Ellis represents a departure from the ever-increasing size and firepower of British kettles. 
  In tonnage comparable to the Gordon, the Ellis design puts more of the kettle’s mass into engine 
  and loadout, resulting in a faster, more agile vehicle that hits harder and has broader applications. 
  Built too heavy to be a true skirmishing vehicle, the Ellis nonetheless serves alongside infantry 
  and light cavalry. Its ability to force a passage, like its heavier cousins, has already endeared it 
  to many in the lower echelons. The dual machine guns, one on either side of the turret, give it 
  excellent antipersonnel capability. The over-and-under dual breech loading 3-inch main guns can lay 
  a persistent barrage on a fortified target, or load canister or incendiary shells against enemy troops. 
  The Ellis has gained quick acceptance in its role as mobile shield and path-maker for troops on foot 
  or horseback, finding service more usually embedded with the infantry or cavalry in pairs or threes 
  instead of in squadrons with its armoured kin.
  Cost: £1200  
  Fuel Charge: 7d 
   
  Availability: Very Rare
  Speed: 15 
   
  Maneuverability: 5  
  Armor: 14
  Armament: Turret with twin over/under 3-inch breech-loading rifled cannon, two Maxim 
  .450 machine guns with 45 degree traverse each mounted 15 degrees off the main cannon to either 
  side, Maxim .577 machine gun fixed mounts port and starboard with 90 degree traverse. Main 
  gun ammunition capacity is 60 rounds, usually carried as 30 explosive shells, 20 canister and 10 
  incendiary. Each Maxim has a 1000 round dedicated storage locker with direct feed. Taking ammo 
  from a storage locker and loading it for another gun is a complex task requiring eight combat 
  rounds and a Gunnery (10) Test. Unlatching an empty storage locker, replacing it with a full one, 
  and readying the weapon takes three combat rounds and does not require a Test. Standard loadout 
  for the turret Maxims consists of one locker mounted to the gun and one more under the gunner’s 
  seat. The side gunners have room for two lockers under their seats.
  Ramming: 17  
  Passengers: None  
  Cargo: 2 tons (towing capacity)
  Crew: 6 (Driver, commander/turret gunner, loader/turret machine gunner, mechanic/stoker, 
  2 machine gunners)
  Damage: 
   
  Disabled: 110
   
  Destroyed: 130
   
  Critical Threshold: 30
  “Seat”, there’s a laugh. Ever see the seat on a tractor? It’s basically a metal pan shaped to 
  ft your bum, mounted on a strut. Kettle crew get shoehorned in however they can make 
  us ft. We count ourselves lucky to have somewhere to park our arses that’s not the engine 
  shroud or a gearbox covering or a stack of cannon shells. Even with the strut being spring 
  steel, so it fexes a bit, and the heavy padding in the duty uniform they started adding so 
  
  30
  Vehicles
  we wouldn’t stuf our blankets down our trousers, your kidneys are beaten into pudding 
  by the end of a fght, and the less said about the bruising up your backside the better. Let’s 
  just say there’s a reason why they call us bluearses in the barracks.
  – Sgt. Edward Niles, 1st Armoured Cavalry
  Heavy Armoured Infantry
  Known informally in the military as HATs, Heavily Armoured Trolls, the Heavy Armoured 
  Infantry performs a similar function to the Armoured Cavalry division. Consisting, as the nickname 
  might suggest, of troll soldiers in massive plate armour, carrying heavy automatic weapons and 
  backpacks full of ammunition, HAI units deploy at critical points along the front line, draw enemy 
  fire away from their unarmoured comrades, and breach the enemy line to allow the regular infantry 
  through. 
  The initial theory was that they’d require less maintenance, less in the way of spare parts and 
  supplies, and would be less likely to bog down in the mud than the kettles. This has sadly not 
  been the case. The loading per square inch on an armoured troll’s boot can actually exceed that of 
  an armoured vehicle’s track. While the kettle weighs in at an order of magnitude greater than the 
  troll, the surface area it rests on is considerably greater in ratio to its size. In the second battle that 
  armoured trolls were deployed in, a breaching carrier had to be diverted to pull a troll unit out of 
  a trench, with two of the trolls having sunk thigh deep before aid arrived. Justifying the die-hard 
  complaints about automatic weaponry wasting ammunition, the troll units must have battlefield 
  resupply between waves in order to keep fighting. Their armour requires considerable maintenance 
  after each engagement, for cleaning and corrosion prevention. The rations requirements of trolls are 
  already infamous within the logistics division, and have massively escalated the conflict between the 
  supply chain officers and the Commissariat and Transport groups. 
  For all the problems that the troll units have, your battalion having HATs on does 
  give them a lower casualty rate and a greater chance of breaching the enemy line. 
  Tey’ve also got a morale eﬀect similar to the Prussian blitzschutzen, although now 
  the Russians are starting to ﬁeld their own trolls in plate. I can see a time in the 
  immediate future when we’ve returned to the medieval ages, and the bloody great 
  armoured knights form the centrepoint of the clash, while the peasant infantry mill 
  around them having at each other in the shadow of the giants.
  – Capt. Deborah Goldstein, 4th of Foot
  Troll Heavy Armour
  Physical Armor: 11 
  Mystic Armor: 0  
  Initiative Penalty: 5
  Cost: £380  
  Weight: 80 
   
  Availability: Bespoke
  Troll heavy armour typically has a pintle mount for shoulder carry of a Maxim .450 or similar 
  machine gun, although a body harness for support and recoil distribution has been fitted to a few 
  suits for the chain-fed punt gun. Use of the punt gun requires two snarks or a mix of four other 
  races in support roles, to carry ammunition, spare barrels, and the like, and to act as spotters.
  
  31
  Chapter 2
  Rivers and Oceans
  Travel across the water has been augmented by steam power for a hundred years. From the 
  first crude attempts with paddlewheels, to commercial success and the creation of the packet line, to 
  ironclad warships and screw-driven ocean-going vessels with steel hulls, the advance has been rapid 
  and inexorable. Sail has given way to steam.
  Riverboats: the Sidewheeler and the Sternwheeler
  Boats and ships designed to travel in freshwater may have screws, but the preference has 
  been for the paddlewheel. (For reference, if you can put a boat on it and it does not sink, it’s a 
  ship.) Screws tend to foul more easily in the often luxuriant growth of water plants, or the debris 
  of civilization. Paddlewheels require less draft, which is the measure of how far down into the water 
  the vessel extends, which means they can operate in much shallower lakes and rivers. They also 
  put considerably more motive surface in contact with the water, producing thrust by effectively 
  automating the work of rowing. 
  Mechanics:
  Generally, sidewheelers have a Maneuverability Rating a point or two lower than sternwheelers. The 
  Cargo capacity of a sternwheeler will normally be higher, by anywhere from 5% to 15%. In open water, the 
  sternwheeler takes a 1 point Maneuverability Rating penalty. Building and maintaining a sternwheeler costs 
  10% less than an equivalent sidewheeler, due to the less complicated drive system.
  Nobody uses sidewheelers in the open ocean any more, not since the Great Eastern made her 
  maiden voyage. On inland seas and lakes, that’s another story entirely. The Union and Canada have 
  regular packet line commerce going across Lakes Superior, Huron, Erie, and Ontario, sidewheeler 
  steamships being practical on the vast freshwater reaches of the Great Lakes. (Lake Michigan lies 
  entirely within the Union’s borders.) Similarly, Russia maintains internal trade across the Aral Sea 
  and external across the Black Sea with sidewheelers, often of elderly make or built by their captain 
  along idiosyncratic lines. Within the Union and Confederacy, especially along the Mississippi River 
  and its tributaries, sternwheelers still find considerable employ. While there are newer technologies, 
  the sternwheeler remains economically efficient, and so hasn’t been replaced. 
  Big Ships: Crossing the Oceans
  Safety remains a serious concern. Surviving any sort of disaster at sea requires the proper 
  equipment and someone skilled in its use, which in turn demands preparation of the sort that 
  only the military really does. Aboard civilian vessels, such as freighters and passenger liners, safety 
  equipment tends to be woefully under-supplied. Steamships do not normally carry sufficient lifeboat 
  capacity, averaging enough seats for about half their passenger and crew manifest. Lifeboat drills 
  simply aren’t done aboard passenger liners, for fear of worrying the passengers about the possibility 
  of needing to abandon the ship. Passenger line firms extol the reliability of their vessels, and omit 
  all mention of lifesaving equipment in their advertisements for fear of associating their ships with 
  the concept of sinking in the minds of the buying public. Airships may or may not have parachutes 
  available. If they do, there’s never enough, and only the crew are likely to have the training to use 
  
  32
  Vehicles
  
  33
  Chapter 2
  them. Also, while a sinking freighter on the open ocean leaves debris that may be clung to while 
  awaiting pickup by a lifeboat or rescue vessel, an airship that breaks up plummets from the sky 
  and leaves very little chance for survival. The issues involved in escaping from a sinking vessel 
  are best roleplayed with appropriate mechanics applied to the immediate issues being faced. The 
  possible challenges are considerable.
  Lifeboats may have problems launching, requiring a Crew Ship or Mechanic Test. This may 
  involve issues with the divots, where the lifeboat won’t swing out over the water, or the release 
  mechanism, that lowers the boat from the deck into the water at a survivable angle and speed, 
  or the ship being heeled over too far to allow the lifeboats on one side to be used at all. Once 
  launched, a Pilot Ship Test could be used to ensure the lifeboat gets far enough away that it isn’t 
  sucked down by the sinking ship’s vortices. Additional handling Tests may be required depending 
  on the environment.
  Aboard the ship, attempting to leave may be hampered or blocked by explosions, power 
  failures, mechanical failures, or the hatch needed already being under water. Use of Mechanic or 
  related Skills to overcome these challenges is handled in the rules for the Skills. For example, 
  rerouting steam through a secondary system could be done with Mechanic or Field Engineering. 
  Unsticking a hatch mechanism might require Clockwork, or Munitions if the character is in a 
  hurry and not worried about shock waves and further damage to the vessel.
  Steamships present a specific risk as they fail, that of boiler explosions, which can put 
  the ship past Destroyed in a single blast, possibly killing everyone still on board in the process. 
  Ships risk explosion if cold incoming water hits the boilers. If possible, the ship’s engineer will 
  vent the boilers, dumping pressure out the blast pipe, and quench the fires. However, any boiler 
  is put at risk when damaged. Older boilers, especially those built before 1850, are more likely to 
  fail because of their use of cast iron and one-off, manually riveted construction. It’s recommended 
  that Gamemasters use boiler explosions for dramatic effect, and not roll dice to determine if they 
  occur, as the possibility of ending an adventure with the death of the entire party as the result a 
  single dice roll exists
  Military Vessels
  The migration from sail-driven wooden hulls to steam-driven steel hulls wrought profound 
  changes upon both the working environment and the crew. Gone are the topmen, the elaborate 
  knot-tying skills, and the need for endless picking of oakum, although British sailors are still 
  called tars. Gone too is the crack of canvas, the creak of the lines, the deck heeling over under 
  full sail, and the need for work gangs to pull and haul. Both environment and crew deserve more 
  in-depth discussion.
  Environment
  The first thing everyone complains of is the noise. Steel hulls act as echo chambers, and 
  ship’s engines are great clanking behemoths. Every footstep on the metal deck, every dropped 
  spanner, every hiss of the relief valves, reverberates through the vessel. It’s most intense in the 
  engine space. Hearing loss has become inevitable. Senior engineers are half deaf by the time they 
  accrue enough seniority to rise to the position. 
  The second is the heat, made worse by the cramped space. There’s only so much room in 
  the hull, after all, and one can only pile so much into a ship before it sinks under its own weight. 
  Every last inch must be exploited, and preserved for more important items such as munitions 
  
  34
  Vehicles
  and fuel, with crew comfort being a dim flicker toward the end of the list. While the ocean is cold, 
  there’s only so much heat that can be siphoned away by the waters the vessel rides upon, and if the 
  engines aren’t generating massive amounts of heat, they’re not driving the ship. 
  Beyond that, the smell takes some getting used to. A vigorous mix of machine oil, hot 
  metal, old sweat, and burning coal permeates the ship, detectable even up in the rarefied strata of 
  officers’ country. The air circulation required to vent the fumes and heat from the mechanical spaces 
  unfortunately means piping air in and out through the upper decks, and leaks in the plumbing are 
  inevitable. If the galley serves cabbage for a meal, which happens rather often as it’s a cheap and easy 
  way to get produce into the crew, the reek hangs about like the last drunk at the pub after the bell. 
  The Prussians have experimented with the new internal combustion engine, which adds petroleum 
  volatiles to the mix. One hopes they’ll give that up as a bad idea, as being downwind of a freshly 
  off-boarded Prussian sailor leaves quite a bit to be desired. 
  Security has grown tighter with the changing times. Guards always stood with loaded pistols 
  and ready knives at the powder magazine, knowing that one careless spark or nihilistic saboteur 
  could blow the ship to flinders in a heartbeat. The same now applies to the engine spaces. Hang 
  a monkey wrench on the safety valve, and maybe someone will notice before the boiler sends the 
  ship skyward and the crew further on to Heaven. Access to the turrets and their munitions generally 
  requires a key, copies of which are tracked closely by the ordnance master. The water-tight hatches 
  throughout the ship must be kept closed and dogged down when no one is actively passing through 
  them. There’s a regular security patrol to ensure that. 
       Crew
  As noted above, the conversion from sail to steam required an entirely different type of sailor. 
  With no lines to pull, crew shifts have broken up into specialist teams, each with their own duty 
  assignment. The chanties have died away, there being no need for work songs to coordinate physical 
  effort. Today’s sailor is a technician, a mechanic, a repairman, someone who operates and maintains 
  a vast floating machine that generates its own motive power and goes where it wills, vagaries of the 
  tradewinds disregarded. 
  Each sailor normally has two assignments, one for routine work and one when the ship goes 
  to battle stations. For example, when the alarm sounds, the cooks immediately douse all fires in 
  the galley, secure any food under preparation, then turn to as firefighters, medic’s assistants, and a 
  variety of other support jobs needed only when the ship has entered the fray. If there are marines 
  on board, and there normally are, serving as the aforementioned security, they assemble on deck 
  in fighting kit, ready to repel boarders or to be boarders themselves, although many officers now 
  regard this as superfluous, given the distances over which naval engagements are fought in this age 
  of rifled guns with considerable accuracy at great range. Every man on board has training in two 
  specialties, all the way up to the captain, as there’s no room for someone whose skills only serve 
  in a single capacity. This explains some of the resentment shown to civilian specialists when they 
  travel aboard navy ships.
  The word “man” in that last paragraph bears a little discussion. There are no women aboard 
  British navy ships, even in this modern era when women serve with distinction as officers and 
  enlisted in the Army. This has been revisited frequently in discussions among the admiralty, but 
  the fact remains that no captain is willing to be the first to bring a female crew member on board, 
  knowing what would inevitably happen. A proposal for a ship with an all-female crew was shot down 
  
  35
  Chapter 2
  in seconds when the question was raised as to where the necessary seasoned crew for such a 
  vessel could be found. The Navy continues to struggle with this issue, determined to follow Her 
  Majesty’s direction to put to use every able and willing pair of hands in the Empire, but unable 
  to find a way to implement it without devastating consequences to the first women involved. 
  Vehicle Mechanics and Combat
  Shipboard Locations
  For those unfamiliar with nautical terminology, the basic directional terms used aboard a 
  ship are described here. These terms apply to nautical and airborne ships, but are not normally 
  applied to land vehicles. Starboard (in old times the steering-oar side) is the right side of a ship 
  when facing the bow (front). Port is the left side of the vessel when facing towards the bow, as 
  ships are traditionally tied to the pier on this side. Fore is forward, towards the bow, and Aft is 
  toward the rear (stern) of the ship, or astern. These four cardinal directions create the 6 firing 
  arcs shown below. Fixed ship weapons have a 60 degree firing arc along one of these directions, 
  while turreted weapons normally cover 180 degrees, or three adjacent hexes.
  Shipboard Locations Table
  Key
  Shipboard Location
  60° Firing Arc/Direction
  1
  Bow
  Fore (forward)
  2
  Starboard-Bow
  Fore-to-Starboard
  3
  Starboard-Stern
  Aft-to-Starboard
  4
  Stern
  Aft (rear)
  5
  Port-Stern
  Aft-to-Port
  6
  Port-Bow
  Fore-to-Port
  Frames of Reference
  When addressing vehicle combat, there are three frames of reference to bear in mind as 
  the round progresses.  They are, in order of their consideration through the round, Vehicle to 
  Environment, Vehicle to Vehicle, and Vehicle to Person.  
  Vehicle to Environment
  This frame of reference includes any factors that will affect vehicle navigation that do not 
  have any sort of Initiative value tied to them.  While this primarily represents environmental 
  conditions such as rain, wind, current, and so on, it can also represent operating conditions 
  affecting a vehicle directly, such as a fire in the engine room.  These factors may also have 
  relevance to other frames of reference.  As these factors do not have an Initiative value tied to 
  them, they should always be considered or resolved first in the turn order.
  
  36
  Vehicles
  Vehicle to Vehicle
  The frame of reference to resolve are all points that relate one vehicle to another (or multple 
  vehicles to each other, if there are more in the scene).  These factors include, but are not limited to, 
  speed, position (including altitude for air vehicles), heading, and visibility.   Declarations of intent 
  to change or maintain maneuvering actions should be declared at this stage. See Orders below for 
  additional details.  Vehicles move on the slowest Initiative of any crew members that are involved in 
  executing that movement.  Weapons and other aspects of a vehicle that are crewed separately from 
  their movement are able to function independently, but may be required to hold for movement to 
  occur in order to take advantage of position changes.
  Vehicle to Person
  This frame of reference includes all aspects of a vehicle that relate it to individual characters. 
  Position is an obvious factor here, such as if a character is trying to board or disembark from 
  a moving vehicle.  This also may include factors that relate to maneuvering difficulties for the 
  character, such as bracing against a sudden acceleration or maintaining balance on a rocking ship. 
  Finally, this may also relate to a vehicle taking damage and either coming apart and losing cover 
  for a character, or going critical and creating a hazard for a character to avoid.  Any hazards to 
  characters created by a vehicle, either by movement or by damage, will begin to take place on the 
  initiative order that the movement or damage occurs, and will affect each character after that order.  
  If a character moved before the change to the vehicle occurred, they will have to make any relevant 
  tests for the change on their Initiative in the next round.  
  Orders
  Unlike individual characters, vehicles require coordination among their crew in order to 
  take actions, and need to be announced prior to the actions of the individual crew carrying them 
  out.  Overall actions for a vehicle are delcared by its pilot or captain (or other terminology as 
  appropriate).  Crew must hold action until after their captain has given orders in order to be able 
  to carry them out (except for Open or Sustained Orders, see below). Vehicle movement takes place 
  on the Initiative of either the captain or the slowest moving crew member that is required for its 
  movement, which ever is last. Captains are able to take actions related to carrying out their orders 
  during their Initiative (such as ordering a change in direction and making a Pilot Vehicle test to 
  carry it out), but cannot take secondary actions (such as also firing a shot at another character). 
  Personnel aboard a vehicle but not actually taking part in crewing it are able to move freely during 
  their Initiative, within what is possible for the vehicle’s position on their turn.  Characters whose 
  Initiative is higher than that of the vehicle’s movement are allowed to hold action until the vehicle 
  moves to take adavantage of the change in position.
  Open Orders
  Open orders allow crew members autonomy within their Initiative to decide how best to 
  carry out the intended action.  This can include things such as “Fire at will” or “Take evasive 
  
  37
  Chapter 2
  action”.  In the case of actions related to positioning of the vehicle, these will take place on the 
  Initiative of the pilot or, if the vehicle requires more than one person to change its position, 
  the slowest Initiative of those involved. As these actions can be taken independently, they may 
  cause interference with one another, such as a ship’s pilot taking an evasive maneuver to dodge 
  and moving the gunners out of range or line of sight.  Open orders allow for quick action and 
  independent decision making at the expense of coordination.  Open orders continue until the 
  next Initiative of the captain where they give a new order to change or cancel.  As the crew is 
  allowed to act independently for the duration of an open order, the captain may take other actions 
  outside of commanding the vehicle during this time.
  Example
  The airship HMS Endeavor is on patrol several miles outside of Fort Alice when the 
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  ��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������
  �����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������
  ��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������
  ������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������
  a serpentine is the best course of action at the moment, and immediately veers the ship hard 
  ��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������
  ��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������
  sees the group attacking them is a small Samsut skermish group with limited ranged weaponry, 
  ���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������
  �����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������
  ��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������
  ����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������
  Sustained Orders
  Similar to Open Orders, Sustained Orders allow the ship’s crew to move independently 
  on their Initiative, but with a specific action that should be continued until they are ordered 
  to change.  Examples of sustained orders can include “Maintain course and speed” or “Steady 
  barrage on the target”.
  As above with Open Orders, vehicle movement will occur on either the Initiative of the 
  pilot or the slowest Initiative of all crew members involved with carrying out movement.  For 
  most vehicles, maintaining the same course and speed do not require full crew involvement to 
  carry out, which may free up some crew members for other tasks as appropriate for the vehicle 
  and circumstances. For weapons crews, orders for sustained fire will cause them to keep firing 
  on the designated target as often as possible until they are no longer able to do so, such as if 
  the target is destroyed, the target is no longer visible or in range, they run out of ammo, or the 
  weapon malfunctions.  In any case where a crew member is no longer able to follow a Sustained 
  Order, they will report the interruption to the Captain and hold for new orders.
  
  38
  Vehicles
  Example
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  ��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������
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  ������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������
  ����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������
  ����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������
  ����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������
  ���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������
  The Special Case of Trains
  Unlike other vehicles, trains do not have free range of motion; their movement is dictated 
  by their rails, and movement between rails is controlled by points (or switches as they are more 
  commonly referred to by those in the Americas) that are entirely external from the train itself. 
  If a set of points are extremely remote and not controlled by a signal box with its own operator, 
  and if they are not set in the desired direction, it will require the train to be stopped before the 
  junction so that someone can jump out to manually set the points over to the correct track (or 
  for a particularly daring adventurer, a very difficult and dangerous called shot to the controlling 
  lever from the moving train).  The vast majority of points on rails within the British Empire, 
  as well as most other European countries, are controlled by operators in signal boxes, but very 
  remote areas of the Gruv and some far out places of the Americas that aren’t on the main line 
  may still require manual controls.
  The lack of maneuvering control on the train itself does not mean that a train requires 
  any less skill to control safely.  Remember that the engine on its own may be a hundred tons 
  or more, not including the weight of whatever it is hauling, and that at high speeds it may be 
  moving in excess of 60 miles per hour. There are massive amounts of energy required in order 
  to move that much weight that quickly, generated by the pressure of water heated to the boiling 
  point and released in specific mechanical order.  It requires great care and concentration to ensure 
  that a train does not turn into a massive, high speed battering ram propelled by an explosion of 
  water hot enough to scald flesh from bone in an instant.
  Despite these concerns, if traveling on a straight, level grade of track, an engine can be 
  left to automate its movement for a short time without direct intervention by the engineer.  Treat 
  this as a Sustained Order, with the engineer able to move freely the next round after the speed 
  has been set.  While the engineer is not actively attending the controls, the train’s movement is 
  handled on an Initiative of 1.  
  After three rounds operating unattended, roll a Step equal to the train’s Speed rating against 
  the engineer’s Pilot Vehicle Step.  The results of this test should not be shared with players. 
  Success means the train is able to continue operations without issues.  Roll this test each round 
  the train continues to operate unattended, adding +1 to the difficulty for each successive round, 
  until the test fails.  Failure means a problem has occurred and requires intervention.  A Rule 
  of One result increases the severity of the problem, either in magnitude or decrease in time to 
  react.   
  
  39
  Chapter 2
  YZ
   
   Examples of potential problems include:
   
  • Pressure is building too high and requires release in order to prevent boiler             
   
     explosion
   
  • Throttle controls have started to slip, and the train is now either gaining or losing  
   
     speed
   
  • Insufficient water is moving to the boiler, and if left unattended the heat from the  
   
     fire will cause catastrophic failure
   
  • A hazard has appeared on the tracks ahead and will require intervention to avoid a  
   
     collision
  Generally, problems will take at minimum three rounds before the consequences must be 
  dealt with. A Game Master may call for a Perception test to notice the problem each round until 
  the consequences take hold.  If the engineer returns to attend the operations of the train before the 
  consequences of the problem arise, they will notice it with no additional tests required and may act 
  upon it accordingly. Bear in mind that any solution that requires the train to change speed or stop 
  will take time to enact; as stated above, trains have a lot of mass, and require time to overcome 
  their inertia.
  If a train is left to operate unattended in difficult terrain, begin rolling the above test 
  immediately, and if appropriate, add to the difficulty based on the area.  Difficult terrain can include 
  tracks that incline or decline at a high grade, include a lot of bends, includes a bridge or tunnel, or 
  has a high probability of a hazard getting in the way of the track.  When navigating such terrain, 
  it is common for the train’s fireman to have built up the fire prior to entering this area and devote 
  their attention to assisting the engineer, either in monitoring the operations of the engine or keeping 
  an eye out for hazards. A fireman performing as such may make a Crew Vehicle test (or Perception 
  test if they do not have Crew Vehicle) against the same target as the engineer, adding their number 
  of successes as a bonus to the engineer’s test. In this situation, an engineer may elect to hold action 
  until the fireman’s Initiative in order to receive their help. Similar to above, a fireman may allow 
  the fire to go unattended for up to three rounds before needing to return to it in order to keep the 
  engine up to steam.
  
  40
  
  41
  Chapter 3
  1879 Players companion
  Secret Societies
  The human mind always makes progress, but it is a progress in spirals.
  -- Madame de Stael
  This chapter presents a number of secret societies to which the player 
  characters, their allies, or their foes might belong. These include two political 
  organizations, the Levellers and the Reasonable Men, one unionists and the other 
  intellectual revolutionaries, and three new magical Lodges. The Theosophical 
  Society, an Order of Mages, seeks the philosophical and spiritual truths that lie 
  in the commonalities between the world’s great religions, and have delved further 
  into the nature of magic than most others. Sufis are Islamic mystics, dedicated to 
  seeking personal enlightenment while living in the world but not being of it. The 
  Sisterhood of the Third Unification, a women-only School of Weird Science, seeks 
  the unity of all forces in a mathematical quest for the true nature of reality, and in 
  the process builds terrifying energy weapons. 
  3
  
  42
  SECRET SOCIETIES
  The Levellers
  The Levellers are a working-class movement that pushes for social restructuring along vaguely 
  Marxist lines, labour law reform, an end to corruption in government and business, and the equality 
  of all humanity. Being union organizers and socialists in an early industrial and class-based society 
  led by a monarchy is dangerous. Look at what happened to the first group to bear the name 
  “Levellers” - dispersed and their leaders hung, for the crime of asking for justice.
  Origins
  Over the course of the  19th century, the situation of the working poor whipsaws between 
  advance and repression. The government repealed the Corn Laws in 1846, ending tariffs against 
  imported grain in the hope of making bread affordable and alleviating the ongoing famine (not 
  restricted to Ireland, but felt most strongly there). This knocked the bottom out of the British 
  domestic grain market. Thousands of tenant farmers were sent off their rented farmland and into the 
  cities when the price of wheat fell but rents charged by aristocratic landowners did not. The Swing 
  Riots rose up in Sussex, starving farmhands fighting back against the mechanization they saw as 
  driving them into the streets to starve. Troops were called in, a highly-biased court was held, and 
  many of the Swing rioters were executed or transported, leaving the cause of the riots unaddressed. 
  The Chartists, who started out as a non-violent petitioning organization, gave the working poor 
  a new voice, motivating them to work though the established system. Chartist assemblies in the 
  streets frightened the upper classes, so recently terrified by the Swing mobs. When violent activists 
  
  43
  Chapter 3
  began to gain control of the Chartist movement, repressive laws were passed against public assembly 
  and against speaking out over social injustice. If you lock down a boiler and leave the fire stoked, 
  pressure builds.
  Revisions to the Poor Laws forced more and more people into a workhouse system the entire 
  nation had seen exposed as abusive and corrupt in the recent scandals of Andover and Huddersfield. 
  The determination to halt all charitable work outside workhouses pushed far too many people past 
  the point of desperation. Parliament’s revisions of the Factory Laws, which raised the minimum 
  age for child labour and set restricted hours for labour for men, women, and children, had more 
  loopholes than moth-eaten lace, and were honoured more in the breach. The Conspiracy and 
  Protection of Property Act of 1875 legalized union activity, but only to a carefully delimited extent. 
  These measures were simply insufficient, the equivalent of blowing the train’s whistle when what was 
  really needed was to release the safety-valve. An explosion was becoming inevitable.
  The first Levellers, back in the 17th century, failed to achieve their goals, although their 
  writings had considerable influence on later movements, including the American Revolution. The 
  socialist-democratic movements of the early 1800s sought a variety of ways to correct the evils 
  they saw as persisting in the world. Josef Stiglitz, a Jewish scholar from Prague whose family had 
  settled in London’s East End, wrote a comparison between �������������������������� of the 
  17th century Levellers and ����������������������� of Marx and Engels. Stiglitz called for 
  levelling the political and social playing fields, eliminating corruption and privilege in business and 
  government, and ending both great wealth and poverty so that all men could live equally well. The 
  publication of Stiglitz’ paper caused considerable unrest and led to a violent confrontation between 
  poor labourers and the authorities, later to be known as the Fieldgate Street Riot. Stiglitz, who 
  had gone to Fieldgate Street to convince the labourers that violence would not achieve their goals, 
  was among the thirty-seven dead. In the aftermath, a few of the survivors gathered in a pub and 
  decided direct confrontation wasn’t going to work, but neither was trying to talk to an upper class 
  that clearly wasn’t listening. They needed to take their struggle underground. They took the name 
  of the Levellers, and made two decisions that would shape the future of the movement. To maintain 
  secrecy, they would avoid obvious signs of membership, such as the green ribbons worn by the first 
  Levellers. To prevent the police from halting the movement with a single raid, they broke up the 
  organization into cells.
  Goals and Methods
  Between the First and Second Civil War, the original Levellers sought equal treatment of 
  all persons by the law, as opposed to the preferential treatment enjoyed by the nobility, as well 
  as extending the right to vote to all men, not just landowners, and tolerance for all religions. The 
  current Levellers seek to bring the benefits of labour to the people doing the labour, and end the 
  feudal remnants of highly class based culture. While still pressing for social and political reform, 
  their views are substantially more Marxist than the previous Levellers, who founded their ideas of 
  nascent democracy on English common law and the Christian idea of natural rights.
  While the Levellers are supporters of the idea of religious freedom and will not stand for 
  intolerance within their own ranks, it’s not one of their primary goals. As such, while their nominal 
  by-laws specify religious tolerance as a requirement of members, no direct actions are being taken 
  toward creating such an environment in society at large. The Levellers are determinedly secular in 
  their efforts.
  Despite their reverence for Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, the organization has a hard rule 
  against contacting either man in person. Even though they live in London and are readily accessible, 
  the Levellers expect they are being watched by the authorities. Contact with Marx or Engels could 
  lead to betrayal of the movement.
  Henry George’s new book, ��������������������, has caused some dissension among the 
  
  44
  SECRET SOCIETIES
  Levellers. While the book makes a good argument for its principle, most Levellers disagree with it 
  on the basis that it supports the continuation of capitalism, an exploitive system by its very nature. 
  The more well-read Levellers argue George’s solution is far too simplistic, and fails to address 
  underlying corruption of the culture. They see Georgism as the equivalent of putting a new coat of 
  paint on a house with a rotten foundation. A few, however, have taken up the Georgist argument, 
  and point out that holding all land in common is a Socialist idea. Even in a Socialist society, one 
  must still have a way of accounting for value, and for encouraging and rewarding effort, and money 
  works pretty well for that. They see George’s idea as a happy medium between the oppressive 
  capitalism of current day England, and the paradise of communism Marx preaches that they believe 
  is unobtainable due to basic flaws in human nature.
  The Levellers directly oppose military drafts, press gangs, and similar uses of force of law or 
  person to compel military service. Some of their cells have attacked press gangs and dumped them 
  in the harbour (usually still alive, but sailors are notoriously superstitious about refusing to learn to 
  swim). Others have set fire to draft offices.
  The Levellers believe no person is exempt from the law. In a sensational incident just a few 
  months ago, a minor noble was released from potential charges after his carriage ran over and killed 
  a lower-class child. Both the judge and the nobleman came to a bad end a few days later, their 
  coaches set upon by masked mobs, and their bodies left hanging from nearby gas-lamps.
  Taxes, especially customs, duties, and fees upon labour, food, and sales, are held to be a 
  burden deliberately placed upon the poor, and those stalwart enough to strike out on their own 
  in business without obtaining a government monopoly. Exactly how to deal with this has yet to 
  be decided, but it’s already agreed the small grocer shall not be harassed for collecting the tax 
  upon food-stuffs, as he is held to the action by threat of force against his person and the loss 
  of his business and livelihood. Theft of tax monies collected against the will of the people or to 
  the detriment of the independent business-man is discouraged. It’s all well and good to exalt the 
  memory of Robin Hood, but in reality that sort of behaviour results in more police on the streets 
  and a harder time being had by all. However, some cells have found themselves with greater funds 
  for supporting their members through times of labour strikes and other hardships immediately 
  following a mysterious loss of coin by the Customs and Excise Authority.
  During the Swing Riots, farmers in Sussex received notes signed by Captain Swing threatening 
  them with being burned alive in their farmhouses if they didn’t destroy their threshing machines. The 
  authorities spent a lot of time, effort, and coin trying to track down Captain Swing, determined 
  to capture the leader of the rioters, to no avail. What they didn’t know was Captain Swing was a 
  pseudonym, used by whoever was writing the note. Chasing a non-existent leader kept the authorities 
  busy. The rioters frightened their targets more effectively by presenting them with a named enemy 
  who couldn’t be captured, instead of a diffuse movement or an actual person who could be brought 
  up on charges. The Levellers have a few pseudonyms they use for similar purposes, including Bob 
  Lewis, a legendary organizer who’s always said to be on his way or to have just left.
  The Levellers see the Rabbit Hole as a natural resource being exploited by capitalists, likely 
  to cause massive destruction. Direct actions against companies supplying Fort Alice and other New 
  World colonization efforts have included sabotaging factory equipment to halt or delay production, 
  tainting black powder in a Boxer-Henry cartridge works, and slipping mice into bags of grain 
  destined for Fort Alice. Some Levellers believe if enough of their membership could pass through 
  to the New World, they could split off from the military-controlled expeditions and found a workers’ 
  paradise in the wilderness. These cells are trying to get some of their people into Fort Alice with 
  forged papers, so they can then smuggle Leveller propaganda for distribution in the New World and 
  start accumulating tools and materiel toward a Leveller colonization effort.
  
  45
  Chapter 3
  Organization
  Leveller organization is cellular, with one person from each cell knowing one person from 
  another cell. Maximum cell size is eight. In theory, no one person should know the number 
  of cells in place in a business, factory, or other organization, but in operation this tends to be 
  honoured more in the breach, as planning for and coordinating actions reveals the number of cells 
  to the planner. After a large operation cell members are encouraged to move on, find new jobs, 
  preferably at previously unorganized factories, or otherwise make themselves scarce. The organization 
  has by-laws but these were written by the founding cells and have since propagated and mutated 
  considerably. No cell has authority over any other cell and so the by-laws are nominal at best, 
  themselves sometimes honoured more in the breach. With no central control, Leveller cells have 
  been known to embark on violent direct actions, bringing the authorities down upon cells whose 
  only direct action had been to organize non-violent labour strikes.
  Resources
  The Levellers have out of necessity become masters of operating with no budget at all. They 
  rely on working-class traditions of making do or doing without and on socialist ideals of sharing 
  whatever there is with whoever needs it. This has allowed the Levellers to succeed in some cases 
  where a more well funded group might have failed by encouraging their ability to improvise and to 
  use what’s ready to hand, but at other times has kept them from being effective. On a few rare and 
  notable occasions, wealthier members of the society have made large donations to the cause, but 
  this money quickly vanishes, partly out of fear of such a large sum attracting attention, partly out 
  of the constant needs of the Levellers and their members’ families which can consume any amount 
  of cash before it’s even counted.
  Membership
  Most Levellers are workers in the factories of London, Manchester, and similar industrial 
  cities. Levellers say “never trust a man with clean hands”, referring to the ingrained grime and 
  callouses that mark a factory labourer. Family members are generally kept in the dark, told only what 
  is necessary, in order to keep the society and its work secret. Intellectuals and members of upper 
  social classes are admitted to the Levellers, but only with the unanimous vote of the admitting cell. 
  Even then, the prospective member must usually prove their commitment to the cause, sometimes 
  through published statements of their ideology but more often through supplying the cell with 
  information, tools, or resources, or taking part in a direct action.
  James D’Ampton: The descendant of minor nobility whose family fell into genteel poverty 
  after an unknown creature ravaged much of their livestock, James studied under the legendary 
  engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel. Sadly, James didn’t have quite the flair for engineering as 
  his famous mentor, and is currently employed as a metallurgist, stress-testing parts for the Rabbit 
  Hole rail system. Cleverly, the Levellers recruited him into the organization based on their social 
  platform, appealing to the legacy of honour and duty that comes with the D’Ampton family name. 
  James is debating how to implement his cell’s requests. He cannot justify working beneath his own 
  standards, nor sabotaging his employer’s products and thus putting lives at risk, but he does have 
  an opportunity to help with the smuggling effort and the work of establishing a Leveller presence 
  at Fort Alice and points beyond.
  Liam O’Rourke: A descendant of Irish mine workers, Liam was brought up in the labour 
  
  46
  SECRET SOCIETIES
  movement. His family came to London thirty years ago, leaving the coal fields and their grinding 
  poverty for the factories and slums of the city (not much of a step up if you ask them). At the age 
  of twelve, Liam went to work in the textile mills, losing two fingers off his left hand in a Jacquard 
  loom before he grew too old and large for the job. Since then, he’s moved on to heavier labour in 
  the same industry, rising to foreman in a mill in Spitalfields. Liam has put his spare time to good 
  use, reading everything he can lay hands on, and sharpening his wits and debating skills in the pubs 
  and meeting halls. Now in his early forties, with the strain of years of hard factory labour wearing 
  him down physically, Liam has put his mind to work organizing for the Levellers. His fiery temper 
  held savagely in check and used as fuel for his determination, Liam never gives up, and has argued a 
  large number of his fellow workers round to the Leveller way of thinking. Frustration at the slowness 
  of progress, though, is wearing on him, and if the Levellers don’t achieve a major victory soon, he 
  may be found at the forefront of a wrecking crew some dark night, achieving by physical force what 
  his beliefs and words have not accomplished.
  Maria Von Bretten: The naïve, overly earnest daughter of Freiherr Karl Franz von Bretten, of 
  the Grand Duchy of Baden, a Prussian industrialist, Maria came into contact with the Levellers 
  through a school for the children of factory labourers she founded and taught in from 1874 through 
  1878. She began slipping the children whatever coin she could come by, along with food, clothing, 
  and other necessities of life, becoming somewhat adept at juggling her personal finances to hide her 
  charity from her father. Grateful parents developed a relationship with Maria and eventually came 
  to trust her enough to begin sounding her out as a possible ally for the workers’ cause. As Maria 
  debated whether to involve herself in labour politics, industrialists pushed local officials into closing 
  a flood-wall along the Shadwell Basin, diverting springtime floodwaters away from the factories. The 
  school building was inundated, drowning most of the students. Maria suffered a nervous breakdown 
  after being pulled from the wreckage. Her father sent her back to Prussia to recuperate. Shortly 
  after her return home, she slipped away from her caretakers and made her way back to England with 
  a sizeable amount of coin, most derived from selling small family heirlooms she took with her on 
  her departure. In the guise of Maria Harbou, she has opened an orphanage in Wapping. She spends 
  her evenings in Leveller meeting halls and gathering places, preaching a semi-coherent doctrine 
  of reconciliation that mashes together Leveller philosophy, Christian mysticism, and the fevered 
  imaginings of her own mind, still overburdened by grief. Maria believes a great prophet will come 
  who will present the arguments of the workers in such a clear way, and with the obvious approval 
  of Heaven, that the industrialists will have to accede to the workers’ demands. She’s beginning to 
  develop something of a following.
  Enemies / Allies
  The Levellers generally hold themselves apart from other labour and political movements in an 
  effort to keep themselves hidden. They’ve allied with labour unions in solidarity during strikes and 
  supported social reform at the street level, but these are marriages of convenience, quickly dissolved 
  when the effort is completed. As previously stated, they avoid contact with well-known political 
  figures for fear of police observation. Their enemies are many and powerful, and include the police, 
  Parliament, and every wealthy industrialist in England.
  Terminology
  Blackleg: A worker who crosses a picket line or breaks a strike to perform labour.
  Bob Lewis: A legendary organizer and leader of the movement who’s always said to either be 
  on his way or to have just left. In reality, Lewis is a way of distracting authorities into hunting a 
  non-existent man. The wild goose chase keeps the government from having enough men to track 
  down the real organizers.
  Direct Action: Any potentially confrontational activity of a cell or multiple cells. Distributing 
  
  47
  Chapter 3
  literature to factory workers is not a direct action. Rallying those same workers to strike against 
  their employer is a direct action. Cells normally require direct actions to be approved by consensus 
  or unanimous vote.
  Salt: To “salt into” a factory or firm is to take a job there with the express purpose of 
  organizing the workers.
  Scurf: an exploitive (beyond the normal) employer
  The Reasonable Men
  Properly the Fellowship for Empirical Thought and the Advancement of Reason, the 
  Reasonable Men are radical atheists who believe in a well ordered, mechanistic universe, and seek 
  to stamp out all belief in the supernatural. They hold that faith in or reliance upon the supernatural 
  restrains the mind of Man from achieving its full evolutionary potential, keeping the human race 
  from making the Great Leap Forward into the next level of existence. The Fellowship’s motto, 
  �������������������������������, translates as “The great leap does not require faith”, referring to 
  the advancement of the human race by triumphing over superstition.
  The motto of the Reasonable Men derives partly from the last words of Thomas Hobbes, 
  Magna saliet in tenebris, translated as “a great leap in darkness”, although it could also be translated 
  as “a great leap into darkness”, implying the destination cannot be known but the leap must be 
  taken regardless. The phrase Je n’avais pas besoin de cette hypothèse-là, attributed to the French 
  physicist and mathematician Pierre-Simon Laplace, also contributed to the motto. When asked by 
  Napoleon why he had not included God as the Prime Mover in his book on astronomy, Laplace 
  allegedly replied “I had no need of that hypothesis.”
  Origins
  The Reasonable Men first came together in 1668, in reaction to the censor of Britain denying 
  Thomas Hobbes a license to print his book, ��������. A small group of scholars felt no line of 
  inquiry should be stifled by a government official. They deliberately broke a law they believed to 
  be unjust by engaging the services of Ernest Chapman Bradbury, a printer in Cambridge. Bradbury 
  printed a run of five hundred copies of �������� on a hand press in a back room of his shop 
  under the guise of replacement student prayer books for the University. The books were privately 
  distributed, with no publisher’s imprint other than the Latin word “Veritas”, or “Truth”, over a 
  picture of a key. The Royal Censor made a brief inquiry upon the book being brought to their 
  attention, but found the responsible parties covered their tracks thoroughly. The inquiry was closed 
  on the grounds of insufficient evidence to justify further investigation. The scholars progressed from 
  Behemoth to other books frowned upon or outright banned by the Crown. Growing bolder and 
  more dedicated with each successful effort, but realizing secrecy must be maintained, the scholars 
  organized themselves into an initiatory society in 1674, creating the Fellowship.
  From a staunch opposition to any restraint of inquiry, the Fellowship moved on to the 
  empiricist idea of a mechanistic universe that does not require the existence of any supernatural 
  being, and from there to an outright rejection of religion and superstition. In 1726, atheism became 
  the official philosophy of the Fellowship, and was written into its by-laws, the initiation rites and 
  oaths becoming more complex in the process to secure the safety of the members. Atheism was 
  illegal, after all. Men who espoused religious views contrary to those of the Church of England 
  were no longer flogged, nor had their tongues pierced with red-hot pokers, like the Quaker back in 
  the 1600s, but just denying the Trinity was sufficient to leave one excluded from holding office of 
  
  48
  SECRET SOCIETIES
  
  49
  Chapter 3
  any sort for life. Openly denying the authority of the Anglican Communion ended in financial ruin, 
  imprisonment, and sometimes transportation, effectively a death sentence. The Reasonable Men, as 
  they now called themselves, found this intolerable, and sought ways to put an end to the power of 
  religion.
  By the beginning of the 19th century, the Fellowship had spread well beyond academic circles. 
  Still open to new members only by invitation, and then only after careful vetting of potential 
  inductees, the Reasonable Men found fertile ground for their ideas at the dawn of the Industrial 
  Revolution. Little by little, they began taking more direct action against the dominion of the 
  supernatural, which they saw as a corrupting influence in politics and in society. A few words in 
  Edward Miall’s ear in 1844, and a purse put at his disposal, and the Liberation Society rose against 
  the Church of England. The ideas the Chartists had spread during their brief run at creating a more 
  egalitarian society brought together those of liberal political persuasion, those who disagreed with 
  Anglican theology and policy, and those who felt oppressed by the Church of England. In 1853, 
  the Liberationists campaigned to disestablish the Church of England, to remove its official position 
  as the state religion. By then, Miall had been instrumental in the election of some forty religious 
  dissenters to the House of Commons, and a Parliamentary battle arose. Disestablishment would 
  have nullified the blasphemy laws by taking away the basis of their power, that being the need to 
  protect Anglican Christianity as the founding philosophy of the legal system. The law itself would 
  have been rendered secular. While the Liberationists failed to dethrone the Church of England, 
  the Reasonable Men achieved a victory of sorts. They proved to themselves they could influence 
  public opinion and government policy through a front organization. Many of the legal penalties 
  non-Christians and non-Anglican Christians faced were removed from the laws of England as a result 
  of the Liberationist campaign.
  The rise of spiritualism in the United States worried the Reasonable Men. They likened its 
  spread to the United Kingdom to a virulent disease carried across the ocean, affecting the mind 
  and poisoning it with strange beliefs. Women seemed to be especially susceptible to spiritualism’s 
  lure, with its promise of contact with loved ones who had passed beyond the veil of death. This 
  led to two momentous decisions by the ruling council of the Reasonable Men. In the first, the 
  council encouraged the recruitment of women, not only opening the Fellowship to the fairer sex, 
  but actively seeking out women who would accept the Fellowship’s beliefs, by-laws, and goals. “We 
  can no longer restrict our membership to men only,” the Chair stated in his comments on the 
  decision, “but must admit those women whose strength of mind is sufficient unto the purpose, or 
  risk losing such women to the lure of spiritualism and superstition. It is better that we support all 
  those who resist the non-rational than maintain the male-only tradition.” In the second, the council 
  decided that direct action was required to combat this new peril. “One does not treat a disease with 
  soothing words,” the Chair commented. “One applies the most vigorous remedy available.” The 
  Fellowship built new front organizations to investigate and expose spiritualists as frauds, interfered 
  with supplies for spiritualist periodicals, raised the rents on spiritualist meeting-halls, and took 
  whatever other actions they could without exposing their own organization. The council advised a 
  cautious and intermittent approach. Opposing quackery and fraud is a fine and noble activity, but 
  if one prosecutes the cause too vigorously, the public may come to equate one side with the other, 
  and regard both as equally irrational. With the return of magic, this goal is being revisited, but the 
  necessity of exposing fraud remains.
  In the modern day, the Reasonable Men continue the goals of their forebears: to promote 
  rational thought, to advance the empiricist philosophy and the idea of a mechanistic universe, to 
  oppose superstition in whatever form it may take, and to provide support and a safe environment 
  for those who subscribe to these beliefs and goals.
  
  50
  SECRET SOCIETIES
  Goals and Methods
  The Reasonable Men work in secret, remaining behind the scenes or at the command post 
  rather than being on the front lines themselves. Having substantial resources, both in money and 
  influence, the Reasonable Men create front organizations, provide support to politicians, call in 
  favours, and recruit mercenaries as needed. Quite often, individuals and organizations work for the 
  Reasonable Men without knowing who their employers really are. Standard procedure requires two 
  or three layers of cut-outs and fronts. For complex or risky operations, the Reasonable Men may 
  distance themselves by four or five layers of increasingly baffling misdirection.
  Disestablishment of the Church of England remains an important goal, but in light of the 
  recent failure of the Liberationists, a new approach is required. If you give official sanction to one 
  faith, all others are denigrated by definition. Therefore, Parliamentary representatives under the 
  guidance (and financial support) of the Reasonable Men will soon introduce a motion to revoke the 
  Anglican Church’s status as official religion of England on the grounds of religious tolerance. Of 
  course, once the Anglican Church is dethroned the next goal will be to abolish it entirely.
  While the Reasonable Men vehemently oppose all religion, they prefer to do so non-violently. 
  They regard violence as an admission that one’s argument was insufficient, a sign of mental 
  weakness. On the other hand, that weakness could be on the part of the opposition. Superstition 
  clouds the mind and cripples the intellect. If the opponent has been rendered too feeble-minded by 
  their belief in the supernatural to comprehend the argument, a sound thrashing may have to suffice. 
  This would be where the aforementioned mercenaries enter the picture.
  Having seen the initial field reports from contact with the Samsut, the ruling council is 
  certain some form of advanced technology motivates the cadavers, possibly the same energy source 
  that powers the Samsut weaponry. Obtaining that technology would give the Reasonable Men a 
  considerable advantage over their foes, as well as allowing it to be turned back against the Samsut, 
  once in the hands of British troops. No price or risk is considered too high to bring that technology 
  back through the Rabbit Hole for study and possible replication. If transport of Samsut technology 
  through the portal proves impossible, as it has with other artefacts found in the new world, a 
  research team must be dispatched along with the support staff and materiel necessary to construct a 
  proper laboratory in Fort Alice or points beyond. The Reasonable Men, or their front organizations, 
  will of course pay handsomely for any Samsut artefact, from heavy weaponry down to the smallest 
  scrap of writing, that a clever adventurer brings to them.
  The recent publication of the evolutionary theories of Darwin and Wallace caused great 
  excitement among the Reasonable Men. Although dismayed by Baden Powell’s statement that 
  evolution made the idea of creation rational, as it dispensed with the necessity of miracles which 
  violate the very laws the Almighty wove into His Creation, the Reasonable Men saw in this theory 
  the goal for which they had been striving. Great effort and no little expense had been incurred 
  bringing the theory to fruition over the past twenty years. Darwin was approached about possibly 
  joining the organization, but proved unsuitable due to his increasingly unstable mental condition. 
  Publication of tracts, articles, and books that support the secular nature of the theory is receiving 
  substantial capital, while documents supporting religious explanations of evolution, or opposition 
  to the theory, are having a hard time reaching their market. Paper supplies are diverted, presses 
  damaged by vandals in the night, and publishing houses find themselves threatened financially, 
  legally, or physically, depending upon the strength of their resistance.
  Technological enhancement of the human body distracts from advancement of the human 
  mind. While the Reasonable Men do not oppose the development of better prosthetics for those 
  injured in battle or factories, they discourage the use of prosthetics or other devices for enhancing 
  physical abilities. A monocle that allows one to see beyond the normal spectrum of light counts as 
  scientific apparatus. Replacing a perfectly good eye with an artificial one in order to have the ability 
  at all times engages one in the senses to the point of distraction from higher thought.
  
  51
  Chapter 3
  Since the rise of the global mana field has been proven, the Reasonable Men are investigating 
  the phenomenon thoroughly, using the same approach as with any other scientific inquiry. While 
  the first scientific magicians did not come from within their ranks, the Reasonable Men being more 
  cautious and conservative than the Ordnung Galvanische, they do in fact have such at this point.
  Front Organizations
  Some of the following are legitimate groups or firms in their own right, and have been 
  infiltrated or influenced by the Reasonable Men to support the cause. Others are shells, convenient 
  masks worn by the Fellowship to cover its activities, readily discarded if the need arises.
  The Ghost Club
  Founded in 1862 to apply scientific methods to potential manifestations of the supernatural, 
  the Ghost Club counts a number of illustrious men and women among its members. The noted 
  author Charles Dickens was an active member in the later years of his life, and took part in the 
  investigation of the Davenport Brothers’ spirit cabinet. The exposure of the Davenport Brothers as 
  frauds, using stage magic techniques to deceive the spiritualist community, gained the Ghost Club 
  a certain notoriety. The spiritualist periodicals called the Ghost Club quite a variety of unpleasant 
  names, taking out their displeasure over the deception on the ones who revealed it rather than the 
  perpetrators. This led to an ongoing battle between the Ghost Club and spiritualists, which fell 
  apart when Dickens abruptly died in 1870. After the great author’s passing, the Ghost Club fell 
  into obscurity for a time. In March of 1878, the Ghost Club returned to activity of a sort with the 
  exposure of Mrs. Abigail Pennyworth, a medium of some repute who was discovered to be using 
  an ear-piece telegraphic receiver. Her confederates in the next room would watch her customers, go 
  through the pockets of their coats, and perform what crude research they could on short notice. 
  They would then feed this information to Mrs. Pennyworth via a telegraph key, the medium listening 
  to the clicking of her earpiece and decoding it while appearing to be in a trance listening to the 
  spirit world, no mean feat really. Since then, the Ghost Club has carried out a series of scientific 
  investigations of purportedly haunted locations, and flushed out a few more frauds among the 
  spiritualists. They appear to have a new benefactor, who supplies them generously with the latest 
  scientific apparatus and considerable funds for travel and expenses, but it would of course be rude 
  to inquire as to the identity of such a person.
  Hatley and MacTavish
  With a reputation for daring, and sometimes unusual, acquisitions, the investment firm of 
  Hatley and MacTavish maintains a sizeable staff of engineers, accountants, and other specialists 
  skilled in evaluating the worth of a business. They visit the sites of manufacturing firms, import/
  export businesses, and trading ships, to determine whether or not Hatley and MacTavish should 
  acquire the business outright, invest in it, or pass on the opportunity. A good deal of money 
  passes through Hatley and MacTavish on its way out to the firm’s acquisitions, and back to the 
  shareholders and officers of the firm. Of particular note is the Special Enquiries office, a service 
  not advertised to the public. The men and women who work for Special Enquiries go in and out 
  of the front entrance under their own names, but pass through the service entrance at the rear under 
  the name of Fagin.
  
  52
  SECRET SOCIETIES
  The Laplace Society
  The weight of evidence for an extraordinary claim must be proportioned to its strangeness. 
  - Pierre-Simon Laplace
  Formed originally as a philosophical society, the Laplacians entered the political arena around 
  the time of the Liberationists’ defeat in Parliament. They apply a rational reductionism to all affairs, 
  looking for the best explanation with the least number of assumptions. Apparently well heeled, the 
  Laplacians have been routing considerable financial support to elected officials and campaigns that 
  agree with their ideals, and financing opposition to those who support religiously based laws and 
  engage in spiritualist pursuits. As with any private debating society, they keep their membership list 
  secret. It would of course be bad form to inquire as to the source of their recent increase in wealth.
  Organization
  Structure
  As with any academic society, the Reasonable Men maintain a great sensitivity to rank, ritual, 
  and achievement. Entry into and progression within the society is partly based on published work. A 
  man or woman who has not had a paper accepted or a tract see print is unlikely to even be invited 
  to join. To become a master, one must seriously advance the cause of science in a way that also 
  advances the goals of the Fellowship. The specific ranks within the Fellowship, and advancement 
  from one to the next, are dealt with in the section on Membership, further along.
  Departments are organized geographically rather than by academic discipline, and take the 
  place of chapters or cells used in other secret organizations. A department will normally include 
  more than one Professor, and a Dean, but may range from a handful of members to dozens. Within 
  the Fellowship, a small department is sometimes referred to as a lyceum or ecole, while a very 
  large department is called an academy. Considerable debate has arisen within the Fellowship about 
  breaking up the academies, as such large departments present greater risk of exposure to the world.
  Regalia
  The Key is the signet of the Reasonable Men, an iron skeleton key engraved with the Latin 
  word “Veritas”, meaning “Truth”. The item has multiple symbolic values, which are explained at each 
  successive level of initiation. The Key is not normally displayed except on ceremonial occasions, 
  when non-members will have no chance to see the item. Showing a Fellow of the society the Key 
  in any other situation conveys a sense of urgency, and potential danger, and commands the attention 
  of all present.
  Academic dress is mandatory for rituals and formal meetings. The only notable point of 
  difference between ordinary academic dress and that of the Reasonable Men being the Key, owning 
  this sort of garb is unlikely to attract attention.
  Rank
  Gown
  Headgear
  Additional
  Student
  Plain black
  Mortarboard cap,  
  no tassel
  Key worn on a chain about the 
  neck to remind the Student of the 
  burden of knowledge.
  Scholar
  Black with a dark 
  red border
  Mortarboard cap with 
  a red tassel, hung over 
  the left forward quarter
  Key moved to a wrist chain, so 
  that it is ready to hand.
  
  53
  Chapter 3
  Rank
  Gown
  Headgear
  Additional
  Fellow
  Black with a bright 
  red border
  Hood, black with a  
  bright red border, worn 
  down except during 
  advancement ceremony
  Key moved to a waist chain.
  Professor Black, with a white 
  border and a white 
  stripe across the 
  upper arm
  Hood, black with a 
  white border, worn 
  down except when 
  lecturing or officiating
  Key remains on the waist chain. 
  White stole with dark red border 
  worn when lecturing or officiating.
  Dean
  Dark red with a 
  black border and a 
  black stripe across 
  the upper arm
  Hood, dark red with 
  a black border, worn 
  down except when 
  lecturing or officiating
  Key moved to a chain of office 
  around the neck. White stole with 
  black border worn at all times.
  Chancellor White with dark 
  red and black 
  border,  
  and three stripes 
  across the upper 
  arm, the outer two 
  dark red and the 
  centre black
  Hood, white with dark  
  red and black border,  
  worn up
  Key placed next to the Chancel-
  lor's Scroll on the chain of office. 
  Dark red stole with black border 
  worn at all times.
   
       Recognition
  The Fellowship uses a wide variety of secret signals for recognition. At each rank, the 
  members learn passphrases and gestures, both to recognize and to warn off, to assure another 
  member it is safe to discuss Fellowship business and to give the alarm quietly that the situation is 
  dangerous, that there are spies or enemies about. The sequences are complex, and any of the gestures 
  or passphrases may be used in any combination as long as the math works. For example, a series 
  of gestures, plus asking about the time, must add up to a prime number in order to be valid as a 
  safety identifier. A recognition sequence that comes out to a non-prime number, or that includes 
  a warning-off gesture, indicates trouble. A sequence that meets both criteria is a cry for help. The 
  equations rise in complexity with rank in the Fellowship, and are changed at irregular intervals to 
  frustrate the organization’s enemies.
  Resources
  The Fellowship has few concerns when it comes to finance. Between academic sinecures that 
  ensure the leadership never has to worry about income, donations from the lower ranks and allies, 
  monies skimmed from front organizations, and shrewd investments, availability of ready coin is not 
  a concern. Having some of the leading minds in economic theory among its ranks bolsters the 
  Fellowship’s confidence, and indeed its efficacy, in the financial arena. They’ve got political influence 
  by the shovelful, with elected representatives all the way up to Parliament beholden to the Fellowship. 
  The section on Front Organizations gives some idea of the other resources of the Fellowship.
  
  54
  SECRET SOCIETIES
  Membership
  Rank
  New members join at the rank of Student, no matter what their previous accomplishments. 
  They are expected to obey the demands of the Masters without question, as unproven scholars, and 
  to accept the guidance of the Fellowship’s hierarchy without protest. Students may not commence 
  any work on behalf of the Fellowship under any circumstances, but will be required to perform the 
  low-level work necessary for the projects of those of higher rank.
  After noteworthy achievement and approval of the Fellows, the Student advances to Scholar, 
  and inherits responsibility for the training and advancement of Students. Scholars assist the higher 
  ranks in their projects as required.
  A Scholar who acquits themselves well, advances the goals of the Fellowship, and meets 
  the academic requirements, graduates to the rank of Fellow, at which point they gain authority to 
  organize small projects of their own, which must be approved by a Professor.
  The next step up being Professorship, the academic and achievement requirements become 
  strenuous. The potential Professor must defend their work to the Professors of their department, 
  and survive an interview with the Dean. Once invested as a Professor, the member may initiate 
  large works on behalf of the Fellowship, and are subject only to the authority of the Deans and the 
  Chancellor. Professors are expected to source their own budget, recruit promising new Students, 
  and generally advance the Fellowship with little or no guidance from above.
  Deans are elected from among the Professors when a vacancy in office occurs. An administrative 
  position rather than an academic one, a Dean manages the budget for the Professors in their 
  department, approves or rejects project proposals that would affect the entirety of the department 
  or require resources beyond what the professors are able to secure on their own, and officiates over 
  the elevation of Fellows to Professors.
  Above the Deans sits the Chancellor, elected from within the ranks of the Deans, and who 
  holds final authority over the Fellowship as a whole.
  Initiation and Advancement
  The initiation of a student involves investiture with cap and gown, signing of the Membership 
  Roll, and the swearing of the First Oath, in which the new Student promises upon their own 
  integrity to keep the secrets of the Fellowship, to obey the Masters, and to learn all that may be 
  learned. The new Student is presented with a Key, and instructed to use it to unlock the door of 
  reason. The Student literally unlocks the door into the inner meeting hall, letting themselves into the 
  sanctum by their own efforts, and is recognized within as a member of the Fellowship. Any member 
  of the Fellowship may attend the investiture of a new Student. Further advancement ceremonies 
  are restricted to those of equal or higher rank. Thus, Students may not attend the ceremony for 
  advancement to Scholar.
  Advancement to Scholar involves the swearing of a further part of the oath, in which the 
  Scholar promises to advance the causes of the Fellowship, and to seek out new opportunities for 
  learning. The Key is moved from the neck chain to a chain about the wrist, with emphasis on its 
  being “ready to hand”. The Scholar is told the second part of the Symbology of the Key, that 
  the existence of the Key implies the existence of the Lock. It is no longer sufficient to open doors 
  as they are presented. The Scholar must seek out doors of their own. Investiture with new regalia 
  includes the replacement of the plain Student’s gown with the red-bordered gown of the Scholar, 
  and the addition of a tassel to the mortarboard, initially placed on the right front quarter. The new 
  Scholar moves the tassel to the left front quarter after taking the oath.
  For a Fellow, the Key is moved from the wrist to a chain about the waist. In ancient times, 
  the chatelaine carried the keys of the castle in similar fashion. The Fellow carries the Key to 
  Knowledge thusly to symbolize their responsibility for the store of knowledge of the Fellowship, and 
  
  55
  Chapter 3
  for distributing it as needed. The third meaning of the Key, being the power to restrain or to set 
  free, is explained. While the Fellow is invested with an academic hood, of the mantle and liripipe 
  sort, the hood is raised only for the swearing of the oath, then brought back down, as a Fellow 
  should remain bare headed in token of humility.
  A new Professor has a stole added to the academic regalia, in token of their position as 
  authorities in their field. The fourth meaning of the Key is not explained. Instead, the pun on the 
  name of John Locke, an important figure in the Fellowship’s origins and philosophy despite his 
  religious convictions, is presented as a challenge for the new Professor. How could the works of 
  someone so convinced of the necessity of religion be critical to the Fellowship?
  Advancements to Dean and to Chancellor involve no new mysteries. Being administrative 
  rather than academic, the rituals may be attended by any member of the Fellowship above the 
  rank of Student. The oaths are themselves administrative in nature, promising to use the best of 
  judgement in guiding the Fellowship academically, financially, and politically. Resemblance to the 
  consecration of Church officials is carefully avoided.
  Secrecy
  Documents are kept in a series of highly complex multi-layered ciphers, one for each rank. 
  Keys to the cipher are themselves kept down to just a few copies. Fellows, Professors, Deans, and 
  the Chancellor are expected to memorize the cipher key as part of their ascension to office.
  The Fellowship invokes harsh penalties for revealing its secrets. Most Students hear about 
  Frederick Bolger before their initiation ritual, a young man who let his new status go to his head. 
  Just a few weeks after his induction into the Fellowship, he showed his Key to a young woman in 
  a pub in an attempt to impress her with the hint that he was part of something special. On their 
  
  56
  SECRET SOCIETIES
  way to his room, over a tinker’s shop just two blocks away, the potential lovers were dragged into 
  an alley. One of the assailants held a cloth over the young woman’s eyes, assured her that no harm 
  would come to her if she held her silence about the night, and let her go on another street with 
  eight pounds in a coin purse pressed into her hand. Frederick’s throat was cut, his money and his 
  Key taken, and his body left in the alley. When the mortician’s assistant went to Frederick’s room 
  the next day, sent to fetch clean clothing to dress the corpse in, he found the room empty, down 
  to the last speck of dust. Sadly, the young woman attempted to tell her story to the police, but 
  when they found her in possession of Frederick’s coin purse, she was convicted of theft and murder, 
  and hanged.
  Scholars learn the story of Zachariah Constance, who had set out for Vienna to pursue 
  research there for the Fellowship. Agents of the Prussian Empire, suspecting the young man of 
  being a courier for a spy network, took him prisoner and tortured him for two days, trying to break 
  him and learn what secrets he kept. On the third, Zachariah was found dead in his cell, apparently 
  having taken poison during the night. No explanation was ever found as to how a prisoner under 
  question obtained poison.
  Enemies / Allies
  The Reasonable Men, as an organization, have no allies. To make alliances would require 
  revealing the existence of the Fellowship. As individuals, however, they have many friends, and 
  cultivate a roster of favours owed. Masters of the Fellowship tend to hold high offices in government, 
  in academia, and in business. Their positions enable them to build networks of colleagues, political 
  allies, shareholders, investors, fellow officers of society. Of course favours can be done. This is how 
  the world actually functions, after all, the powerful seeing to it that each other’s interests succeed in 
  return for their own interests being advanced. Of course there are hidden agendas, but everyone at 
  that level of society has them, and it would be bad form to inquire as to exactly why this particular 
  favour should be done, as long as there’s no risk in doing it.
  The Anglican Church has long suspected the existence of something akin to the Reasonable 
  Men, based on the effects of the Fellowship on the world. While the exact nature of the organization 
  has yet to be determined, the Church knows there is organized resistance to the established faith 
  of the nation. The increasingly effective strategies of the opposition reveal it, just as the crack of 
  a gunshot and the sudden death of an officer reveal the existence of a sniper. The archbishop has 
  made gaining definition on the enemy a priority, but the Church is hampered by a lack of resources, 
  primarily manpower. To correlate the information required to define an enemy from the end results 
  of its actions requires a small army of clerks. A petition has been submitted to Parliament to 
  purchase an Analytical Engine for the Church, ostensibly for handling membership records, finances, 
  and the like. The archbishop hopes the Engine may be able to handle the correlation efficiently 
  enough to finally reveal the force opposing the faith.
  The ����
  �������������������������������������������������������
  Generally associated with Islam by Westerners but found in many religions, Sufis follow 
  an esoteric, mystical path that concerns itself more with understanding and motivation than with 
  theology and dogma. A Sufi must live in the world, but not be of it, and must be ever mindful 
  of the twin pillars of Love and Honour. To properly understand Sufism, one must practice it, as 
  knowledge without the understanding that comes from experience has little value. The regenerated 
  Sufi becomes aware of the true nature of reality, gains insight into it and some measure of power 
  over it, but may lose sight of those things prized by the unregenerated, such as possessions or 
  
  57
  Chapter 3
  finance. Use of magic squares, charms, and talismans, healing with a touch or a look, and control 
  over djinni and demons may all be part of a Sufi’s work, but their goal must always remain wisdom 
  rather than material gain.
  Sufism is a process, not a thing. Trying to capture its stages in rigidly defined quantifications 
  destroys the thing being measured. And yet we will try, for the sake of the game and to introduce 
  a mystic path into our world.
  Origins
  ���������������������
  Nobody really knows how far back the Sufic tradition goes, and Sufi teachers say that it’s 
  not relevant anyway. What matters is what Sufism is now, how its practitioners live today, and what 
  they will do tomorrow. Unlike some practices, Sufism keeps pace with the needs and realities of the 
  community in which it exists. Asceticism, monasticism, or any other withdrawal from society and 
  separation from the world deprives the Sufi of necessary experience. Instead, the aspiring Sufi takes 
  honest work, serves their community as best they may, and aspires to live an enlightened life in the 
  midst of their neighbours. This results in the actual practice evolving over time, to align with the 
  environment in which the Sufi lives.
  ��������������������������������������
  Sufism is a form of thinking clothed in a religious format, concerned with growth and the 
  organic evolution of humanity. Its practice may be found in any culture that permits questioning 
  of basic assertions of reality, and that understands and appreciates the transcendent. While Sufism 
  had its greatest flowering in the Maghreb, the Islamic world, this is less due to the dogma of Islam 
  and more due to the concepts in shari’a that allow exploration of esoteric philosophy as long as 
  the foundational assertion of faith is made. Among Christians, Sufic practice and thought tend to 
  take other names, and keep a low profile, as Christianity tends to be suspicious of philosophy that 
  does not hew tightly to the straight and narrow path described in European traditions. There are 
  questions one is simply not allowed to ask, which the Sufi must ask. Judaism has a greater tradition 
  of religious questioning, of theurgical argument, but still has its traditions to which the practitioner 
  must conform, among them language. One of the great Jewish Sufis, Avicebron, also known as 
  Solomon ibn Gabirol, was mistaken for an Arabic philosopher for many generations due to his 
  greatest work having been written in Arabic rather than Hebrew. Avicebron did not do this to hide 
  his work from the Jewish community, but because of language constructs that exist in Arabic that 
  are key to the philosophy, and that do not replicate in Hebrew. Sometimes the tools required for 
  a task just aren’t available locally.
  Goals and Methods
  ������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������
  ���������������������
  As with many mystic orders, the ultimate goal of Sufism is for the Seeker to attain 
  enlightenment, and then to bring that enlightenment back from their journey and help others 
  achieve it. Side effects are expected, such as promoting social harmony, increasing happiness in the 
  population, and developing understanding between people with different beliefs. 
  The follower of Sufic practice will not call themselves a Sufi until they have mastered the 
  practices, attained enlightenment, and added to the body of knowledge and tradition. Even then, they 
  may only accept the title of Sufi if it is bestowed upon them by recognised masters of the Path, 
  and will not arrogate it to themselves.
  
  58
  SECRET SOCIETIES
  �����������������������������������������������������������������������������������
  �������
  Sufic writings should never be taken at face value. The truth of the statement is less important 
  than its value, the symbolic associations it creates, the allegories and root-word linkages established. 
  Like a koan in Zen, the wording is not meant to be accepted literally, but to be considered, to see 
  what connections and insight might be discovered. Sufis are often gently subversive, hiding their 
  teachings in allusions to wine and grapes, or under cover of practices such as alchemy, in order to 
  slip their teachings past suppressive authorities.
  Information and experience are bound together. While people may agree as to what is fact, 
  what has objective existence, the meaning of a fact varies through how it is experienced. Gravity 
  exists, everyone may recognize this, but gravity is experienced differently by a rocket scientist than by 
  a gymnast. Gravity means something very different to a mountain climber than it does to a baker. 
  Experience cannot be separated. Information will always be seen through its lens.
  Nasrudin used to take his donkey across a frontier every day, with the panniers loaded 
  with straw. Since he admitted to being a smuggler when he trudged home every night, the 
  frontier guards searched him again and again. They searched his person, sifted the straw, steeped 
  it in water, even burned it from time to time. Meanwhile Nasrudin was becoming visibly more 
  and more prosperous.
  Then he retired and went off to live in another country. Here one of the customs officers 
  met him many years later.
  “You can tell me now, Nasrudin,” the customs officer said, “what was it you were 
  smuggling when we could never catch you out?”
  “Donkeys.”
  Harrison Wintergreen may have been inspired by this story in his recent trip to Mexico.  
  Like all materialists, however, he completely missed the point.
  – Carlton Thornhill, London Academy of Practical Spiritualism
  Much of Sufi writing is in the form of poetry, using complex allegory and wordplay based 
  around Semitic consonantal roots to imply deeper meanings. The more the Sufi contemplates the 
  poem, the more depth they find. For example, the palm tree has the triconsonantal root NKHL 
  in Arabic, which, like Hebrew, is written without vowels. This same root with a different vowel 
  set becomes “a fine essence descending almost impalpably”, often interpreted as baraka, the divine 
  essence. The word can also mean “sifted flour” or “a gentle drizzle of rain”. In Arabic culture, the 
  palm tree is associated with birth. Making reference to a palm tree in a poem, therefore, can imply 
  a source of divine blessedness as one interpretation. Again like a koan, the student must contemplate 
  the allegory to find meaning within it. 
  Nasrudin was seen walking through the town with a few people following him. Every so 
  often, he would suddenly bend down, touch his toes with his fingertips, then leap up with his 
  arms flung into the air over his head and shout, “Hu! Hu! Hu!” His followers would straight 
  away do likewise. A friend stopped the mullah and asked him, “What is this you are doing?” 
  The mullah said, “I am known as a shaykh, so these people have become my students, seeking 
  enlightenment.” The friend was puzzled, and asked another question. “How does this lead them 
  
  59
  Chapter 3
  to enlightenment?” Nasrudin smiled and said, “They become enlightened when they figure out 
  to stop doing everything I do!”
  Terminology
  Sufic practice, like other mystic traditions, has specialized words that convey meaning within 
  the tradition. Following is a brief glossary of a few terms that the Seeker may encounter. Bear in 
  mind no technique remains useful forever and definitions change. The Sufi accepts that change is 
  inevitable, and that even the method of teaching must evolve over time.
  �������������������������������������������������������������������������������
  • arif: gnostic or Adept, one who Knows, who has attained a holistic understanding
  •  fakir: a person who is humble, poor in spirit, who avoids materialism to focus on the 
  spiritual
  • hal: state, the mystical experience
  •  ilm-al-maarifat: the Science of Knowing, of achieving an intellectual and intuitive grasp 
  simultaneously
  • ilm-i-hal: the Science of State, which observes, quantifies, and applies hal
  • irfan: gnosis, ultimate realization
  • makam: stage, degree of knowledge of objective truth gained
  • murshid: spiritual director or mentor
  • tarika: organized Order or group(s)
  • tariqat: being on the path; a palm tree; potential or potentiality
  Magic
  Sufis believe humans are evolving to transcend time and space, and occasional instances of 
  prophecy or telepathy are the first stirrings of the nascent organs developed in this evolutionary path. 
  That magic has returned seems only natural. The world has advanced to make ready for the next 
  stage, as the people of Earth have advanced to be ready to move to that stage. The Sufis regard 
  LGF and magic as water, in which we must learn to swim. The swimmers will then make their way 
  to the next island, which is a metaphor for the next stage of human evolution.
  With the return of mana to the world, thaumaturgy has gained considerable strength. The Sufi 
  does not allow themself to be distracted by it. While they may work secular magic, thaumaturgy, 
  it is done to assist others, not for personal gain, and their primary focus must remain spiritual, 
  theurgical. State, hal, and stage, makam, remain paramount. Remember that hal is a methodology, 
  by which makam can be obtained. Hal is a gift, makam an acquisition.
  Nasrudin
  Stories of Mulla Nasrudin demonstrate key points of Sufic thought. As with other Sufic 
  writings, the meaning may not be obvious at first glance. If the idea behind a Nasrudin story seems 
  obvious, you have not looked at it from enough angles. There’s more there. It is said that seven 
  Nasrudin stories, studied in succession, may be enough to prepare an individual for the process of 
  enlightenment. Which particular seven will vary from one individual to the next.
  An argument arose over whether ���������������������������������������������������
  ��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������
  ���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������
  ����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������
  
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  SECRET SOCIETIES
  Mechanics
  A practising Sufi must spend at least an hour in prayer, meditation, and other mental and 
  spiritual disciplines each day. Failure to do so puts them at a Step penalty equal to the number of 
  days missed, to all Core and Optional Skill Tests, until they have resumed their required practice, 
  with the penalty reduced by 1 for each day of consecutive practice.
  The following modifications to the Priest Profession apply to the Sufi character.
  Overall:
  • Sufis gain +1 Step to Willpower, cumulative, to focus on the task at hand at each Tier. 
  They can redirect this to offset Wound Penalties for spellcasting, summoning, or other 
  mystical work, but can only do this once per Scene.
  • Artist (Poetry) replaces Artisan (Embroidery) in the Optional Skill list, and must be 
  learned at character creation.
  • Sufis exist in a loose network of students, teachers, masters, and poets. When building 
  a Sufi character, give them one free Connection to a teacher in addition to the standard 
  Connections for a starting character.
  • To be a Sufi, one must learn Arabic, because of the encoding and correspondence inherent 
  in the language. This language has to be bought at character creation. Learning Persian 
  is required for serious advancement, to read the works of the great poets in the original 
  language, and not lose the alliteration and encoding woven in by the language itself. This 
  must be bought upon achieving the Journeyman Tier, if it has not already been learned.
  Initiate/Novice:
  • Seeking ecstasy, or wajd, through dhikr, patterned movement combined with recitation, 
  opens the Sufi to Khairat, illumination. The character may trade one point of Strain 
  for casting spells that gain knowledge by extending the casting time one unit, up to a 
  maximum of their Professional Rank, by performing ������ For example, a Sufi of PR3 
  may reduce the Strain of a spell by 3 points by extending its casting time from 1 round 
  to 4 rounds.
  • For two points of Strain, a Seeker may repeat a failed Awareness Test, but must accept 
  the result of the second Test.
  • The Sufi may create single-use Summoning fetishes. These grant a Step bonus to a 
  Summoning Test for a specific spirit or type of spirit, once, and are used up in the 
  process. It takes 1 day per +1 Step to prepare the fetish, with a maximum Step Bonus 
  equal to the Sufi’s Rank in Summoning. Most often, these fetishes are complex magic 
  squares, arrangements of numbers with arcane meaning, or calligraphy that incorporates 
  the spirit’s Name and domain, drawn with pen and ink on parchment or fine paper. Cheap 
  materials will not do. 
  Journeyman:
  • The Sufi gains an intuitive sense that lets them see the most probable immediate future, 
  without effort. This may activate on its own, and show up as intuition or a general feeling, 
  and may act like Danger Sense, but going off in situations where physical injury is not 
  the immediate threat. For example, Sufis get a bad feeling when someone is about to try 
  to steal from them, and can see a social trap being laid before the conversation gets to 
  that point.
  
  61
  Chapter 3
  Some boys wanted to run away with Nasrudin’s slippers. They crowded around him and 
  said, “Mulla, nobody can climb this tree!” Nasrudin shook his head, and said, “Of course they 
  can. I shall show you how, then you will be able to do it.” He was about to leave his slippers 
  on the ground, but a feeling came over him, and he tucked them into his belt before starting 
  his climb . The boys saw their plan falling apart. “What are you taking your slippers for?” one 
  shouted up to him. “Since this tree has not been climbed, how do I know that there is not a 
  road up there?” the Mulla answered.
  • The Sufic practitioner may not have an answer, but is adept at opening the door to further 
  questions that might lead to deeper truth. When faced with a puzzling situation, they 
  may make a Perception Test to know what the next question ought to be, with the Target 
  Number set by the Gamemaster.
  • Sufis may converse with each other in signs, gestures, and other shorthand that conveys 
  deep and complex meaning to the illuminated, but looks like arrant nonsense to the 
  unregenerated. 
  Another mystic stopped Nasrudin in the street, and pointed at the sky. He meant, “There 
  is only one truth, which covers all.” Nasrudin was accompanied at the time by a scholar, who 
  was seeking the rationale of Sufism. He said to himself, “This weird apparition is mad. Perhaps 
  Nasrudin will take some precautions against him.” Sure enough, the Mulla rummaged in his 
  knapsack and brought out a coil of rope. The scholar thought, “Excellent, we will be able to 
  seize and bind up the madman if he becomes violent.” Nasrudin’s action had, in fact, meant, 
  “Ordinary humanity tries to reach that ‘sky’ by methods as unsuitable as this rope.” The 
  “madman” laughed and walked away. “Well done,” said the scholar, “you saved us from him.”
  Warden:
  • A Warden Sufi gains control over their presence �������� and absence ���������, previously 
  used to mean a focus of consciousness rather than a location of physicality, but gaining 
  new meaning with the return of mana. They may be fully present in either the physical 
  or astral world, and not visible from the other, but this requires concentration, and they 
  cannot take direct action while in these states. The Warden makes a Willpower Test and 
  pays Strain of one point less than their Wound Threshold, and may then maintain the 
  state for a number of minutes equal to the Test result. Any direct action, such as use of 
  a combat Skill, ends the state and returns the mystic to normal existence. Travel, such as 
  walking, does not end the state, nor does passing through an unlocked door, but slipping 
  past a Ward or picking a lock does.
  • Sufi teachers and masters receive messages, which may just be a strong feeling, a call to 
  go to a place and assist with a force that has become derelict and needs attention. The 
  Sufi is of course where they are needed; they only have to discover the nature of the need.
  Master:
  • The Master becomes a dual natured being, present in both physical and astral spheres at 
  once. They may make themselves absent from one or the other with no effort, and go 
  on about their business.
  • The Master no longer pays any cost for astral or magical perception. This applies to 
  Skills, spells, and innate abilities.
  
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  SECRET SOCIETIES
  • Sufi Masters can grant visions, or send people on quests that appear to take days or even 
  years, but have an exit condition that brings the person back to the moment in which they 
  left. This should be roleplayed, rather than reduced to dice rolls.
  Organization
  Sufism has no hierarchical degrees, only a recognition of greater or lesser capacity. There is a 
  threshold of enlightenment to cross to become a student, and another threshold to cross to become 
  a shaykh, or master, but where these thresholds are varies from one school to another, and even 
  from one Sufi to another. Some may study all their lives and never achieve mastery, while others 
  may walk the Path for only a few years before being recognised by the masters as one of their own. 
  Each teacher maintains a Halka, a circle, admitting only those students they personally 
  approve. The salik spends a time in poverty, working for the teacher, maintaining strict discipline 
  and proper observance, and learning fundamental exercises and scriptures of the Halka’s practice. 
  Teachers in turn belong to Orders, and follow the principles laid down by the Order’s founder. 
  More advanced practitioners follow the founder directly, sometimes physically, other times (especially 
  if the founder has passed on) in a more spiritual sense.
  Sufi Orders are named after their founder. A form of academic lineage applies. The four main 
  Orders today are the Naqshbandiyya, Chishtiyya, Qadriyya, and Suharwardiyya, descended from the 
  Companions of the Bench, the Ashab-Us-Safa, a mystical fraternity among the Prophet’s immediate 
  followers. Whether the term Sufi comes from souf, or wool, from the humble robes worn, or Safa, 
  purity, is a matter of some debate.
  As an example, here are the Rules of the Naqshbandi Order.
  1. 
  Awareness of Breathing. The mind must be attuned to be secretly aware of everything, 
  even breath. At the same time, the mind must pulsate with thoughts of the Infinite 
  (divine essence and omnipotence).
  2. Travel in One’s Own Land. It must be remembered frequently that the Sufi is a traveller 
  along the Sufi Path.
  3. Watching the Feet. When walking, the Seeker must glue his gaze upon his steps. The 
  secret meaning of this is that he must be aware of where he is going, in a metaphorical 
  sense. 
  4. Solitude in Company. The mind is to be repeatedly concentrated so that, even in 
  company with others, in the midst of distractions, the Sufi may keep his thoughts 
  relevant to his task. 
  5. Remembering. The Sufi must never forget that he is a dedicated person. 
  6. Restraint. This refers to short prayers which are used to punctuate the repetitions of the 
  Dhikr. 
  7. Awareness. The mind must become aware that there are many distractions. These are to 
  be combated.
  8. Recollection. Concentration must be possible through thinking this word, and without 
  words. 
  9. Pause of Time. During pauses in thinking, the Sufi must recapitulate his actions, and 
  examine them.
  10. Pause of Numbers. Awareness that the required number of repetitions of the Dhikr 
  phrase have been completed.
  11. Pause of the Heart. During this pause, the mind is trained to visualize the Seeker’s heart 
  bearing the Name of Allah.
  
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  Chapter 3
  Resources
  One of the constraints of the Sufis is that they cannot amass personal wealth. While they may 
  live comfortably, they must not live luxuriously, as that distracts them and foregoes the root concept 
  of humility vital to Sufic practice. If a Sufi amasses wealth, it must be temporary and not for their 
  own benefit, such as raising funds for a charity. This said, an Order may own land, in order to feed 
  their members, and a building to house them, and facilities in which to teach and to meditate. No 
  profit may be made from these properties, and if any does accrue, it must be delivered to those who 
  need it more, under the rule of charity.
  “I hear a burglar downstairs,” the Mulla’s wife whispered to him one night. “Not a 
  sound,” replied Nasrudin. “We have nothing for him to steal. With any luck, he might leave 
  something behind.”
  Sufis must have a constructive vocation, as work is where the greater treasure sought by the 
  mystic derives. They can gain bonuses at a specific vocational Skill, and excel at a particular trade, 
  in addition to their esoteric pursuits.
  Membership
  Potential students generally start with some basic idea, a yearning toward the Path of Love, 
  that leads them to a teacher. Sufi teachers in turn discourage disciples, and will not accept students 
  who do not already have a sense of the central mystery. Becoming a Sufi in a quest for personal 
  power cannot succeed. Only those motivated by the desire for wisdom, and willing to search for 
  truth, can understand that study is not sufficient. Assimilation is required.
  The Sufis believe enlightenment will only come to those who actively work for it, and who 
  start with an honest and open mind. Preconceptions tend to be barriers. As with many mystic 
  traditions, the Seeker forms a relationship with a teacher or Guide, who instructs the Seeker in what 
  has been learned previously, and shows them methods that tend to result in progress on the path 
  to understanding. The aspiring student must be able to recognize their teacher as a demonstration 
  of their readiness. The Seeker may meet several Masters before finding the one that is the correct 
  Guide for them, and must have some sort of feeling or instinct that draws them to the right Master. 
  ��������������������������������������������������������
  Sufi masters will not normally accept a student who is not already a Seeker, who does not 
  have a basic understanding of what they are looking for and how they might go about finding it. It 
  is not the Guide’s job to set the Seeker on the path, but to give them a map, show them how to 
  use a compass, and tell them about the milestones along the way. 
  �����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������
  Sufism is immersive; one cannot properly study it and gain an understanding of it without 
  practising it. Trying to break it down into precisely measured stages with rigidly defined milestones 
  loses the essence of the practice. The journey is a point in and of itself, and what is learned and 
  experienced in each individual’s journey toward enlightenment is critical to and has meaning for that 
  individual alone. Sufism is a necessary adventure in living, its diversity and motion preventing it 
  from being systematized. That having been said, it is possible, within Sufi terminology, to identify 
  six stages that may be passed through or achieved along the Path. 
  • At Stage 0, the Seeker, or Salik, gains initiation into Sufic thought. They begin to 
  grasp the idea of the Path, and the potential of enlightenment. Their mind opens to new 
  possibilities, and they become receptive to the teachings of a Guide. 
  • At Stage 1, the Salik becomes a Murid, or Disciple, of a Pir, or Guide, corresponding to 
  the Initiate Tier of the Profession. The Guide may be a Sheikh/Shaykh (both spellings 
  are correct, as the word is Arabic and does not translate easily to English spelling) or 
  
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  SECRET SOCIETIES
  Master, or may be themselves at an earlier or later stage of the Path. What matters is that 
  the Guide has attained sufficient knowledge to teach others of the Path, and has discarded 
  their own need to be a leader so their ego does not get into the way of their teachings. The 
  Murid follows their Pir without question, learning the recitations and exercises needed to 
  discipline the body, mind, and spirit, and begins to learn how to be in the world but not 
  of it. While the Murid can work a little bit of magic, they are only capable of istidraaj, 
  illusion, conjuring tricks, and works of stealth. While a Sufic practitioner may be able 
  to perform magic, they do not depend on it for their reputation or identity, nor do they 
  depend on their reputation itself, as it’s secondary to their work.
  • At Stage 2, the Murid attains Tariqat, or Potentiality. They become an Initiate of the 
  Sufi Tradition, and gain the Novice Tier of their Profession. Working directly with the 
  Sheikh or Murshid of their Order, they begin a series of physical journeys to mirror their 
  spiritual ones. The Tariqat leaves their first school, and travels to others, both to learn 
  from different teachers and thus gain perspective into spiritual matters, and to learn from 
  their physical travels and gain perspective of the world. They begin to practice Sihr, the 
  lawful magic permitted by the Sheikh of their Order.
  • At Stage 3, the Tariqat gains the title of Arif, or Knower, and advances to the Journeyman 
  Tier of their Profession. This puts them on the Safar-ullah, the Journey to Knowledge, 
  where they attain greater spiritual and occult powers, and seek mystical unity with the 
  Founder of their Order, aligning themselves more closely with the principles of the 
  Order and the pattern set by the Founder. Their magical practice extends into the field 
  of Mu’awanat, or thaumaturgy, and may include flight and the manipulation of space and 
  time. These workings must be done for the betterment of others, and out of love, not for 
  ego or material gain. To do so breaks the Sufic tradition, and may deprive the mystic of 
  their abilities until they regain their spiritual perspective. 
  • At Stage 4, the Sufi achieves Fana, or Annihilation of the Self, and reaches the Warden 
  Tier. They turn to the Safar-li-Allah, the Journey Away from Neglectfulness, having 
  achieved the Summit and the truth they sought. They begin seeking oneness with the 
  Spirit of the Prophet, whichever one their outer religion points to – Mohammed, Moses, 
  Jesus, all are paths to the One, what matters is the rightfulness of the journey. The mystic 
  becomes capable of Karamat, or wonders, walking on water, predicting the future, and 
  similar great workings.
  • At Stage 5, having reached the Master Tier, the practitioner has passed beyond their 
  own enlightenment, and has become a Wali, or saint. They travel upon the Safar-Billah, 
  returning to the world to guide others. They now work Mujiza, or miracles, the magic 
  restricted to prophets and wali not by men but by the laws of the universe, mystical 
  workings simply not possible for anyone who has not passed through the full extent of the 
  Path and returned to bring a measure of enlightenment to the world. 
  Enemies / Allies
  Nasrudin and a scholar are on a ferry. Nasrudin says something grammatically incorrect. 
  The scholar corrects him, and asks, “Have you never studied grammar?” Nasrudin says no. 
  “Half your life has been wasted,” the scholar chides. “Have you learned to swim?” Nasrudin 
  asks. “No,” says the scholar. “All of your life has been wasted,” Nasrudin says, “the ferry is 
  sinking.”
  The Sufi uses religion as a stepping-stone to ecstatic mystical experience. While they may 
  genuinely subscribe to a religion, they are not bound by it, and will pass through it to greater 
  truths, to then return to the world and serve as a guide. As a result, the more orthodox a religion 
  is, the less likely it is to tolerate the questioning and direct spiritual approach of Sufism. This puts 
  Catholicism at odds with Sufic practice, as well as Anglicanism to a lesser extent. Some forms of 
  
  65
  Chapter 3
  Islam have looked askance at Sufism, and suppressed its practice. Sufis however are not generally 
  persecuted as an organization, but rather as individuals depending upon how much their Path brings 
  them into conflict with the intolerant of other faiths.
  The confluence of essences of the Sufis does not equate to the commonalities of the 
  Theosophists. Sufis find the Sufic stream within each culture, the deeper truths within each religion 
  examined in its own context, where the Theosophist synthesizes multiple faiths to find a broader 
  truth that exists across many cultures and religions. This tends to result more in intellectual conflict 
  than any direct acts of intolerance.
  Spell List
  Spell
  Tier
  Known As
  Style
  ������������
  Improve 
  Recovery
  Initiate
  The Body Heals 
  Itself
  The magician gently 
  reminds the patient 
  that their body will 
  take care of itself if 
  they get their mind out 
  of the way.
  Range Rank feet, 
  no touch required; 
  Strain 5.
  Read Thoughts
  Initiate
  The Unregener-
  ated Mind is 
  Readily Visible
  The magician frowns 
  slightly as they try to 
  focus on something 
  that is itself not 
  focused.
  No modifications.
  Stun
  Initiate
  Sudden Realiza-
  tion
  The magician reveals a 
  truth to the target that 
  leaves them incapable 
  of action for a brief 
  time.
  Reduce Strain by 
  1; targets must be 
  able to understand 
  the magician.
  
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  SECRET SOCIETIES
  Spell
  Tier
  Known As
  Style
  ������������
  Heal
  Novice
  A Handful of 
  Barley
  The magician speaks 
  briefly of the duty all 
  have to provide what 
  aid they can to each 
  other.
  If the magician 
  willingly accepts 
  any payment for the 
  spell worth more 
  than a farthing, they 
  take the injury they 
  just healed.
  Improve At-
  tribute
  Journeyman Expand the Mind The magician reveals 
  a truth that increases 
  the mental capability 
  of the target for a brief 
  time.
  PER only; 4 Strain 
  + 1 per success.
  Invisible Hand
  Novice
  Reach Beyond the 
  Body
  The magician mimes 
  the actions of the 
  telekinetic “hand” with 
  their own.
  No modifications.
  Read Object
  Novice
  All Things Have 
  Memory
  The magician reminds 
  themselves and any on-
  lookers that conscious-
  ness is not necessarily 
  restricted to people.
  No modifications.
  Reduce Wound 
  Penalty
  Novice
  Divert From Pain
  The magician gives 
  the target a thought 
  to focus on instead of 
  their pain.
  No modifications.
  See the Future
  Novice
  The Most Likely 
  Path Before
  The magician meditates 
  on probable actions 
  for the duration of the 
  spell.
  No modifications.
  The Theosophical Society
  At its heart, the Theosophical Society seeks deeper truths in the commonalities between the 
  world’s great religions. At their central library in Madras, India, the Society gathers sacred texts 
  of the world and makes them available to anyone who wants to learn. The most important aim of 
  Theosophy is to relieve human suffering, moral as well as physical. Breadth of knowledge as well as 
  depth is required. In their philosophical quest for ultimate divine truth, the Theosophical Society has 
  explored higher axioms of magic, both ancient and modern. They would be formidable opponents 
  if they chose, but prefer to spend their time in research, avoiding conflict in accordance with the 
  Hindu concept of ahimsa, or doing no harm. Nevertheless, do not give a Theosophist reason to 
  resort to force. Their magicians and spirit-workers can draw on considerable power, and have no 
  qualms about using it in the defence of justice and truth.
  
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  Chapter 3
  Origins
  Following a series of meetings among many of the world’s leading lights of interfaith 
  scholarship and occult study, the Theosophical Society was formally chartered in New York City 
  on 17 November, 1873. Its founders believed the best interests of religion and science would be 
  promoted by the revival of Sanskrit, Pali, Zend, and other ancient literature, in which truths of the 
  highest value respecting man and nature had been preserved. A society of an absolutely nonsectarian 
  character, whose work should be amicably prosecuted by the learned of all races, in a spirit of 
  unselfish devotion to the research of truth, and with the purpose of disseminating it impartially, 
  seemed likely to do much to check materialism and strengthen the waning religious spirit of the 
  age. From the charter, the objects of the Society were the following:
  First. —To form the nucleus of a Universal Brotherhood of Humanity, without distinction of 
  race, creed, sex, caste, or colour.
  Second. —To promote the study of Aryan and other Eastern literatures, religions and sciences.
  Third. —A third object—pursued by a portion only of the members of the Society—is to 
  investigate unexplained laws of nature and the psychical powers of man.
  Founding Members of the Theosophical Society, New York, 1873 
   
   
   
  Helena Petrovna Blavatsky
  Col. Henry Steel Olcott
  William Quan Judge, LLD
  Pradeep Kumar Jain
  Emma Hardinge Britten
  S. Pancoast, M.D.
  George Henry Felt
  Krit Anand Singh
  John Storer Cobb, LLD
  Henry J. Newton
  Charles Sotheran
  Rev. J. W. Wiggin
  R. B. Westbrook
  Charles E. Simmons, M.D.
  Herbert D. Monachesi
  Charles Carleton Massey
  W.L. Alden
  David E. de Lara
  Within three years, branches had opened in Chicago, San Francisco, Buenos Aires, London, 
  Paris, Edinburgh, St. Petersburg, Jerusalem, Cairo, Singapore, and Bombay. In 1879, the headquarters 
  and central library moved to Adyar, in Madras state, India, where it remains to this day.
  Numerous members of the Theosophical Society studied the Rabbit Hole between its 
  creation and opening. A few, notably Annie Besant, were present at the Grosvenor Experiment, 
  Besant going on to say in later interviews that the Experiment awakened her interest in the occult 
  and led directly to her meeting with Helena Blavatsky and the founding of the London chapter of the 
  Theosophical Society. How the timeline of events actually works has remained unclear, with Besant 
  and Blavatsky both refusing to address the confusion as to exactly when they first met.
  
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  SECRET SOCIETIES
  Goals and Methods
  ������������ ��� ���� ��������� ��������� ��� ������� �������� ��� ���� ���������� ��� ����
  ��������������������������������������������������
  �����������������������The Key to Theosophy
  The Theosophical Society seeks to produce the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, which 
  is grafted onto the Tree of Life Eternal. Every deeper meaning found in the conjunctions between 
  religions reveals a great truth. Theosophy is sunlight, and the religions of the world the coloured 
  rays emerging from the prism of the human mind. Theosophists are not competitive. Everyone else 
  is welcome to their beliefs. Theosophy holds that its truth is higher and deeper, but does not call 
  the beliefs of other traditions false, just incomplete, badly translated, or inadequately understood.
  The duty of the Theosophist is to see to the happiness of others, and “the fulfillment of 
  right for the sake of right”, comparable to the Khemetic concept of Ma’at. The Theosophist must 
  aid those less fortunate, to assist them in body so they may have room to be enlightened in mind, 
  and thus win free of the karma that has put them in such a lowly station and ensure them a better 
  place in their next life. This does not mean giving money to charity, but active work to educate 
  and elevate. 
  Theosophy, with its ideas of karma and reincarnation being determined by previous 
  life’s deeds, supports the class structure found in Britain, Europe, and India. If you have a 
  terrible life, you did something in a previous life to deserve it. There’s a bit of Calvin there, a 
  presumption of guilt. On the other hand, one who is born to luxury and riches, and then abuses 
  it by failure to be generous and kind, will also be judged, and in for a bad time of it next 
  life. In many ways, this is closer to the Christian beliefs of the period than the Theosophists 
  would like to admit.
  – Carlton Thornhill, London Academy of Practical Spiritualism
  Teachings divide into exoteric (outward) and esoteric (inward) forms. The lesser mysteries are 
  revealed to the novices and to some extent the public. The greater mysteries are reserved for those 
  who are ready to understand them. More about this division, and the actual practices of each part 
  of the Society, may be found in the Organization section.
  Beliefs
  While the Theosophists do not have a dogma, they do have a cosmology. They believe in 
  a single Great Cycle, with a Universal Divine Principle from which the world condensed, and to 
  which all shall return at the end of the great cycle of Being. There is also a Lesser Cycle, wherein 
  the spiritual nature of the world refreshes over the course of eons, beyond the life of any one race. 
  Recent research has indicated the possibility of an even shorter cycle, that humanity may have passed 
  through multiple times, but this has not been given any serious consideration. Effectively, in terms 
  of a faith, they are panentheists, believers in an omnipresent Divine Principle that is inherent in all 
  of Creation. The Universe not only exists in the Mind of God, but God permeates the Universe; 
  they are one and the same.
  ������������������������������������������������������������������������������
  ���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������
  ����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������
  art one, and in the secret of Thy unity the wisest of men are lost, because they know 
  ���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������
  
  69
  Chapter 3
  
  70
  SECRET SOCIETIES
  ��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������
  ��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������
  ���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������
  ��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������
  �����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������
  sphere, without circumference, in its symbolism, which has but one ever-acting attribute 
  �������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������
  impulse to manifested, eternal, and immutable laws, within that never-manifesting, because 
  ��������������������������������������������������������������������
  �����������������������The Key to Theosophy
  The number seven has mystical significance and recurs frequently throughout Theosophical 
  belief. Earth is believed to be one of seven worlds, with the other six on other planes of being. 
  The existence of the Gruv is seen as validation. These worlds correspond with the seven states of 
  consciousness and the seven fundamental forces of nature. The worlds and forces also align with the 
  seven aspects of the nature of humanity, not directly but in mystical significance and symbolically. 
  (The Theosophists use “humanity” to refer to all the races collectively, holding that the outer forms 
  of Boojums, which are ephemeral, have significance to their inner forms, which are eternal, only in 
  terms of the experience of a single life.) Humanity has two natures: an upper or spiritual nature with 
  three aspects, a triad referred to collectively as the Man Who Thinks, and a lower or physical nature 
  with four aspects, a quaternary known as the Man Who Records the Thoughts. The lower quaternary 
  is held to be an emanation of the upper triad, the Kama-Manas being effectively a projection of the 
  Nous. Neither is equipped to perceive the other’s realm. Physical senses perceive reality. The Nous 
  recognizes the noumena. 
  Unquestioning faith, Theosophists believe, is a mental disease. Real faith is belief based 
  on knowledge. They abide by principles similar to science, allowing only that which has been 
  corroborated and verified through multiple separate experiences. At the same time, though, they 
  reject science, partly because science can and will entertain multiple, possibly conflicting, hypotheses 
  in regard to any particular phenomenon, whereas Theosophy only admits of one hypothesis at a 
  time. 
  Theosophy is an integrative method, a means for examining all the revelations of all the 
  religions of Earth and finding the common truths that underlie them. Falling into any sectarian 
  structure limits the available truth and separates the sectarian from the greater universe and the 
  greater truths. Theosophy rejects the idea of an extra-cosmic and anthropomorphic God, and 
  has extensive logical arguments against the existence of the God of the Book. This has led to 
  considerable conflict with the Christian, Judaic, and Mohammedan traditions.
  There is a terrific arrogance in Theosophy, that says that Christians, Buddhists, and 
  other traditions going back hundreds or thousands of years, have failed to understand their own 
  faiths, that the translators and interpreters and metaphysicians have confused terms and failed 
  to understand critical concepts.
  –  Carlton Thornhill, London Academy of Practical Spiritualism
  Practices
  Theosophists do not pray to a deity. It’s pointless. Why would the Infinite listen to petitions 
  of the finite, most of which are selfish and egotistical, and no few of which are malicious? Why 
  would the Divine, for example, provide assistance to two armies, both of the same faith, in 
  
  71
  Chapter 3
  slaughtering each other? Why should Man be given his daily bread instead of working for it? 
  Why would an Omniscient and Omnipotent God need guidance from the petitions of mortals? 
  Theosophists act. Prayer for Theosophist is not a petition. It is an occult process by which thoughts 
  and desires are transmuted into spiritual will. Essentially, prayer is focusing desire into will to change 
  reality. Ergo, magic.
  Organization
  At its simplest, the Theosophical Society divides into Exoteric and Esoteric Sections. Each 
  pursues part of the overall goals of the Society, with some overlap in duties and considerable overlap 
  in requirements.
  Exoteric Section
  The Exoteric Section focuses on the outward duties of the Society, being the gathering 
  and dissemination of knowledge, and assisting humanity (including themselves) to reach sufficient 
  enlightenment to begin study for the Esoteric Section. This divides into scholarship, teaching, and 
  public works.
  Scholarship for the Exoteric membership involves collection of written works of the world’s 
  religions, creating at the Adyar library as much correct information as possible about the beliefs 
  of Mankind, and translating, republishing, and otherwise making available such information. In 
  the reading rooms at the headquarters campus and most chapters and branches, any member of 
  the public may peruse the available portion of the collection. The Exoteric Section also operates 
  a publishing, printing, and shipping firm located in Adyar, engaged in the translation of religious 
  works into other languages, reprinting such works as they may obtain the rights to, and printing and 
  distributing the magazines and books of the Theosophical Society itself.
  Teaching is the act of conveying truth to another, which may be as simple as educating 
  children in the basic skills of literacy and doing their sums, or as complex as lecturing at Cambridge 
  on abstruse points of theology. Exoteric Section members may thus be found at all levels of 
  academia. They make no secret of their inclusion of Theosophical philosophy in their teachings. 
  Far from it; Exoteric teachers do their best to bring the foundations of enlightenment to humanity, 
  which includes the basic ideas of the Society. 
  To help promote the brotherhood of humanity, Theosophy members assist in the international 
  exchange of arts and products, but may not accrue any benefit to themselves or to the Society 
  other than that required to pay for chapter or branch expenses. Theosophists thus serve as brokers, 
  translators, and any other function that encourages interdependency, as a public service.
  The hungry and deprived cannot learn, as their thoughts are focused on their next meal, 
  where they will sleep that night, and their personal safety if they are unfortunate enough to live 
  in an area torn by conflict. Bringing in food and water, building shelter, and assisting people in 
  setting up workshops and farms where they can produce their own necessities contributes toward 
  the enlightenment of humanity. Therefore, Theosophists may be found in the Crimea, in the 
  Zone Rouge, and wherever war, plague, or famine have struck and left the population destitute and 
  desperate. They are not the International Red Cross, and do not pretend to operate on either the 
  principles or the scale of that august organisation. Rather, Theosophists lend their hands where they 
  can make a difference on a smaller scale, sometimes working alone, sometimes in groups, seeing to 
  their own enlightenment by assisting others.
  Exoteric teachings are by their very nature, and that of the audience, inaccurate, broad 
  interpretations often overshooting the mark. Reliance on the exoteric leads to error, both by lack 
  of understanding and failure to teach accurately. Deeper exploration in the realm of the esoteric is 
  
  72
  SECRET SOCIETIES
  required for true understanding. Difficult metaphysical doctrines have been withheld from the masses 
  by all faiths, all religions, because of the danger in perplexing those who are not ready, the confusion 
  leading to partial and incorrect understanding, perhaps even to the audience believing their direct 
  fallacies to be confirmed. One does not teach a child how to drive a steam-car, nor give an idiot a 
  cannon. (Unless one is in the military and the idiot an officer, but that is a discussion for another 
  time.) The problem that then arises is the proliferation of error by the exoteric, by the masses who 
  poorly understand and do not have the entirety of truth, which in England alone has led to three 
  hundred sects of Christian faith that bitterly contest with one other.
  Esoteric Section
  The Esoteric Section focuses on the mystical, the occult, and the arcane, working to gain 
  understanding of deeper metaphysical truths. Here may be found the magical practitioners and 
  mediums. Far from being showy table-tappers like the Spiritualists, the Esoteric Section more closely 
  resembles a scientific organisation, methodically working its way through performing experiments, 
  collating data, and developing new hypotheses for testing. 
  Entering the Esoteric Section of Theosophy requires a rebirthing ritual, after which the 
  member is considered, for magical purposes, a new person. ��������������������������������������
  Continuing to carry on with serious vices or moral defects is grounds for expulsion. Achieving the 
  inner circle requires a commitment to altruism, abandonment of ego, vanity, and pride, a life of 
  abstinence, self denial, and strict morality. In return, Esoteric members obtain arcane knowledge 
  and the support of their fellows.
  Knowing the philosophic basis of any occult practice is required for responsible use. Since 
  magic is a matter of symbolism and intent, the value of the symbol not only to the magician but 
  to the outer world carries weight. Theosophy rejects the ceremonial magic of Kabalists and anything 
  smelling of necromancy as dangerous. Theurgy requires holiness and purity to avoid descending into 
  black magic. Theosophists spend considerable effort on philology, divining the origins of terms, 
  analyzing words for their roots and deeper meanings.
  No Esoteric Fellow is allowed to use knowledge gleaned from any other member for selfish 
  gain, on pain of expulsion. Theosophy holds that acquisition of magical power without altruism 
  and abandonment of ego creates a person who will slide into black magic simply by having power 
  and being selfish. This means a Theosophist Mage cannot charge for the use of anything they have 
  learned from their Lodge’s practice, although compensation for materials used for someone else’s 
  benefit has been ruled acceptable (although perhaps morally a bit shaky).
  An expelled Theosophist is not released from their oath of secrecy. They can still practice, but 
  cannot reveal to outsiders anything they learned while a member. The oath is binding until death, 
  which has led to some extreme risks being taken.
  Mechanics: One effect of breaking the oath is loss of Karma. Not only is the current pool 
  emptied, the Step is permanently reduced by half, rounded down, and the Cost permanently 
  doubles. Any Karma-related bonuses gained while a member are lost.
  Chapters, Lodges, and Branches
  The Society divides itself into three types of groups, all reporting to the central campus in 
  Adyar. Each group frames its own bylaws and manages its own local business without interference 
  from headquarters, provided only that the fundamental rules of the Society are not violated.
  
  73
  Chapter 3
  Chapters
  Formally organized and chartered Exoteric groups, Chapters pursue the outward interests of 
  Theosophy. They hold classes, operate public reading rooms, gather funds and use them in works of 
  charity, and speak with potential new members. Chapters handle legal necessities, such as property 
  ownership, hiring and payment of labourers for building and maintenance, and payment of taxes or 
  filing of proper tax exemption forms according to the nation of residence.
  Lodges
  Lodges pursue the esoteric, turning inwards, and normally existing in parallel with a hosting 
  Chapter. This allows Esoteric Fellows to avoid having to deal with money or other worldly concerns 
  which might distract from their studies or the purity of their path. Lodge members may reside at 
  the Chapter if it has the appropriate facilities.
  Branches
  A Lodge consisting of a single faith or belief system is called a Branch, or a Branch in 
  Partibue. These groups allow exploration and discussion of that faith in detail, where Chapters 
  must remain agnostic and not focus on any one faith in specific. Some Theosophists consider 
  Branches only a stepping-stone to proper membership, while others see them as means of exploring 
  a particular viewpoint in depth. Whether or not the Esoteric Section should allow Fellows who focus 
  on a specific faith instead of the broader nature of reality is still being argued. In the meantime, 
  a Branch can support a Lodge dedicated to its faith in the way a Chapter can support a Lodge 
  dedicated to the larger cosmology.
  At-large Fellows
  Those Fellows who reside in areas where there are not enough members to form a Chapter 
  or Branch are granted At-large membership. Attached members are part of a specific chapter or 
  branch, which may be nearby but not sufficiently so. For example, a Fellow in Vitry-sur-Seine, a 
  considerable drive outside the arrondisements of Paris, may be attached to a Chapter in the 13th 
  Arrondissement, but may not see their Chapter Fellows more than once a year. Unattached members 
  have their diploma from the central authority in Adyar but do not belong to a Chapter.
  Resources
  The Society itself is perpetually nearly broke, but always seems to come up with a donation or 
  other funding in the nick of time. Much of the funding that keeps the Madras campus going comes 
  from its publishing house, with the printing facilities located on Vasanta Press Road just south of 
  the campus proper. Besides the sacred texts of several major religions and a host of volumes written 
  by Theosophists and people of similar interests, the Society also publishes several magazines.
  • The Theosophist, a monthly of news and essays, printed in Madras, actually makes a 
  profit. 
  • �������, printed in Chester, which British booksellers and WH Smith’s railway stands 
  won’t carry, has never broken even, and is in danger of ceasing publication. Changing 
  the name has been proposed multiple times, but names have weight and the publishing 
  committee of Lucifer insists the title is appropriate.
  • ��������� is published in France. Privately funded, it circulates reasonably well in France, 
  Belgium, and Switzerland.
  • ����������������� and the ��������������������������� are neither one breaking even, 
  and are being kept in print by private donations.
  
  74
  SECRET SOCIETIES
  The headquarters, offices, and managing staff at Adyar, a suburb of Madras, occupy twenty-
  seven acres from Adyar Bridge Road in the west to Broken Bridge coastal road in the east, atop the 
  seawall, and from the Adyar River in the north to Vesanta Press Road and the recently-named Besant 
  Avenue Road in the south. Besides the Oriental Esoteric Library, the Adyar Exoteric Library, and a 
  spacious hall wherein the General Council meets annually in Convention on the 27th of December, 
  the campus includes the Buddha Temple, the Bharatha Samaja Temple, the Church of St. Michael 
  and All Angels, the Zoroastrian Temple, and the Adyar banyan tree. At the northeast corner, the 
  Garden of Remembrance creates a space for memorials out where the river flows into the ocean.
  Well connected socially, Theosophists can often call in favours, or convince a friend or ally 
  to render aid in promise of future recompense. The nature of such favours depends on the Social 
  Level of the connection, as always, but the readiness of connections to render such generally runs 
  higher than the normal. Given the high social places of many of the founding membership and 
  current leaders of the Society, the potential of the Theosophists in the favour economy should not 
  be underestimated.
  Membership
  Most of the requirements of the Esoteric and Exoteric Sections have already been covered 
  in the Organization section. No person’s religious opinions are asked upon his joining, nor is 
  interference with them permitted, but everyone is required, before admission, to promise to show 
  towards his fellow-members the same tolerance in this respect as he claims for himself.
  The Esoteric Section does not require vegetarianism or asceticism, but the nature of the work 
  tends to lead to ascetic practices. While they discourage alcohol and drug use, they do not forbid 
  it, but will expel the habitual drunkard or drug-fiend.
  Theosophists can act only on the physical and psychic nature, and will not interfere with free 
  will, which is regarded as black magic. Such practices risk snapping the thread that links the spirit 
  to the soul, and the soul on death then dissolves back into the aether, the personality annihilated. 
  In a noteworthy case not discussed outside the Esoteric Section, the soul of a recently 
  departed black magician, desperate to exist, wove an astral thread to the reincarnating Ego of 
  another soul, becoming a spiritual parasite. The effort to chase it down, separating it from the 
  newborn infant to which it clung without harming the child, and sending it off to dissipate was 
  quite the adventure, let me tell you. How do I know about this? Large weather we’re having, 
  isn’t it?
  –  Carlton Thornhill, London Academy of Practical Spiritualism
  Strictures
  The following are quoted from the �������� ������ ��� ���������, as printed by the 
  Theosophical Society Press, Adyar, Madras, India.
  • No Theosophist should be silent when they hear evil reports or slanders spread about 
  the Society, or innocent persons, whether they be colleagues or outsiders.
  • No Theosophist ought to be contented with an idle or frivolous life, doing no real 
  good to themselves and still less to others. They should work for the benefit of the 
  few who need their help if they are unable to toil for Humanity, and thus work for the 
  advancement of the Theosophical cause.
  • No working member should set too great value on their personal progress or proficiency 
  in Theosophic studies, but must be prepared rather to do as much altruistic work as lies 
  in their power. They should not leave the whole of the heavy burden and responsibility of 
  
  75
  Chapter 3
  the Theosophical movement on the shoulders of the few devoted workers. Each member 
  ought to feel it their duty to take what share they can in the common work, and help it 
  by every means in their power.
  • No Theosophist should place their personal vanity, or feelings, above those of their 
  Society as a body. They who sacrifice the latter, or other people’s reputations on the 
  altar of their personal vanity, worldly benefit, or pride, ought not to be allowed to remain 
  a member. One cancerous limb diseases the whole body.
  • No Fellow has a right to remain idle, on the excuse that they know too little to teach. 
  For they may always be sure that they will find others who know still less. And also it 
  is not until one begins to try to teach others, that they discover their own ignorance and 
  try to remove it.
  • No Fellow, whether exoteric or esoteric, can force their opinions on another. No officer 
  may preach sectarian views to members assembled, unless specifically invited to do so, 
  or in assembly with only those of the same beliefs, in which case there’s an implicit 
  invitation. Two warnings are given before expulsion on the third offence.
  • Justice consists in doing no injury to any living being; but justice commands us also 
  never to allow injury to be done to the many, or even to one innocent person, by allowing 
  the guilty one to go unchecked.
  Enemies / Allies
  Theosophy falls into the failing of denigrating those who disagree with it, especially 
  current psychology and physical science, which it dismisses as materialists, and reviles for lack of 
  consideration of spiritual phenomena. This has driven a deep and painful rift between the Society 
  and the Galvanic Order, which takes scientific investigation of magic and spiritual phenomena very 
  seriously indeed. Those closest to agreement are far too often the bitterest of foes.
  The Spiritualists hate the Theosophists with a bitter passion, over both a doctrinal point 
  and a procedural and legal one. Theosophists believe that summoning a spirit calls a reincarnating 
  Ego from Devachan to commune with Earth. This interferes with the Ego’s time in paradise, 
  its reward and rest from its previous life on Earth, and creates a heavy karmic burden for the 
  summoner. Calling forth a spirit currently reincarnated would pull the soul out of a living person 
  in order to speak with its previous identity, a dangerous and dark action indeed. Keeping track of 
  the reincarnation lineage of an Ego thus becomes as vital to the Theosophist as stud books are 
  to a horse-breeder. Spiritualists buy into none of this, believing the spirits they commune with are 
  done, for the most part, with Earth, and have only stayed or returned to deliver a message to the 
  living. With no way to prove either definitively, the two organisations have taken to interfering with 
  each other in court and in the press. Theosophists have been known to disrupt seances in order to 
  free the spirits that have been summoned. In retaliation, Spiritualists have disputed property lines 
  and leases, libelled Theosophy and its Fellows in newspapers, magazines, and book prefaces, and 
  on one noteworthy occasion led the Arcane Crimes Branch of Scotland Yard to believe there was 
  active necromancy being practised in a Lodge facility in Oxford, leading to a raid, some minor 
  injuries, considerable property damage, and a court case waiting for an appointment before the 
  Queen’s Bench.
  Theosophy is also in direct dogmatic conflict with the Christian Church. Their duty to those 
  whose karma has placed them in low station and hardship runs counter to Victorian culture’s belief 
  that the poor deserve to suffer. Theosophy rejects the Christian doctrine of resurrection in the flesh, 
  which they blame on speculations of later Christian theologians borrowing from Greek and Egyptian 
  exoteric systems via the Gnostics.
  
  76
  SECRET SOCIETIES
  �������������������������������������������������������������������������������������
  ���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������
  individual has contributed to the general good what he can of money, of labour, and of 
  ennobling thought, then, and only then, will the balance of National Karma be struck, 
  and until then we have no right nor any reasons for saying that there is more life on the 
  ����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������
  �������������������������������������������������������������������������������������
  and by a supreme effort to re-adjust the balance of power, and save the people from 
  a moral ingulfment a thousand times more disastrous and more permanently evil than 
  the like physical catastrophe, in which you seem to see the only possible outlet for this 
  �������������������
  �����������������������The Key to Theosophy
  The Society for Psychical Research remains highly sceptical of the Theosophists, even after 
  the incident of the Mahatma Letters turned out with vindication of Madame Blavatsky’s claims 
  to be in communication with spiritual entities. The fact that Madame Blavatsky, whose writings 
  had deeply annoyed the members of the SPR, proved to be a genuine psychic with demonstrable 
  and verifiable abilities, was taken as something of a personal insult by certain of the SPR senior 
  membership. Again, this generally does not tend to be a violent conflict, although some would say 
  the investigatory and legal fees that have mounted up have done considerable violence to the bank 
  accounts of all those involved.
  Other foes include clergy of all denominations, usually restricted to arguments in the press 
  and on the street, and missionaries, especially in India. The most serious enemies, though, are 
  former members. One should never trade an old friend for a new enemy, but sometimes this comes 
  about through no fault of one’s own. Why do those leaving, or exiled from, the Theosophical 
  Society turn so bitter? In the words of one of the Society’s leaders:
  �������������������������������������������������������������������������������������
  ���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������
  ������������������������������������������������������������������������������������
  ���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������
  ���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������
  as to ��������������������������������������������������������������������������������
  �������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������
  ���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������
  ! Another one, after intriguing in every possible way to be placed at the head of a large 
  �����������������������������������������������������������������������������������
  ������������������������������������������������������������������������������������
  whenever he could, simply because the latter could not, and would wot, force him upon 
  �����������������������������������������������������������������������������������
  ����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������
  ��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������
  �����������������������������������������������������������������������������������
  lies against the same hapless leaders in the most virulent manner, endeavouring to break 
  �������������������������������������������������������������������������������������
  ������������������
  �����������������������The Key to Theosophy
  
  77
  Chapter 3
  The Adepts of the Black Brotherhood serve as an example of such, an order of mages who left 
  (or were thrown out of) the Theosophical Society to follow (or because they were already following) 
  a darker path. They do not discuss their work outside their own circle, and thus avoid trespassing on 
  the Theosophists’ oath. This does not stop them from being in direct conflict, sometimes violent, 
  with the Society, nor does it stop the Theosophists from trying to hunt them down and put an 
  end to their arcane wrongdoing. Other dark Lodges, such as the Brothers of the Shadow and the 
  Dug-pas, have also been in conflict with the Theosophists. 
  In a more specific case, W. L. Alden, one of the founding members, left very shortly after, 
  telling his friends he had been “dragged into it”. An editorial columnist with the New York Times, 
  Alden has turned his caustic wit on the Society on numerous occasions. His ridicule has branded 
  the Theosophists with the nick-name of “Dead-heads”, much to their annoyance. However, at no 
  point has he broken any oath he had taken, and his exposure to the Society’s arcane lore had been 
  minimal at the time of his departure, if any at all. Thus, the damage he can do is restricted to the 
  social, as if that were not enough.
  Special Abilities
  Mediums, priests, and mages of the Society gain advantages and unique powers through the 
  long and intensive training they undergo. Some of these abilities include the following.
  • Theosophists add their Spellcasting, Summoning, or highest Mystic Power Rank to their 
  Mystic Defense and Social Defense when defending against one another. This includes 
  former or exiled members who are still under oath. Oathbreakers lose the Defense 
  bonuses themselves, but still count for the purposes of current members, who get the 
  bonus against them. 
  • Mediums gain Astral Projection as a Spell Slot option at Novice. This gives them a 
  significant advantage, as if they take it as a Core Skill they may spend Karma on it. 
  Mages and Priests gain it as a Tier Ability at Journeyman, and use their Professional 
  Rank minus 4 instead of Spellcasting Rank, thus starting with a Rank of 1 and not being 
  able to advance past 11.
  • The deeper initiates can project their double consciously and at will. Mediums gain 
  Astral Double as a Spell Slot option at Warden. Mages and Priests may learn the spell 
  at Master as normal.
  • Theosophists can access previous records in their own Ego. These are not the Akashic 
  Records, the collective memories of humanity, but recollections of the specific Ego’s 
  past lives and experiences, memories of previous incarnations. Not all such memories 
  are useful. They may be from non human existences, or may simply not be relevant 
  due to context. Mediums, Mages, and Priests can all gain the State of Jhana Ability 
  at Warden, and with it can achieve an exalted spiritual state, allowing tracing the line 
  of their lives. Connecting to previous lives and bringing their memories into current 
  memory is difficult and hazardous, as the conscious mind interferes with actions of the 
  Spiritual Ego. The character makes a Willpower + Professional Rank Test against a 
  Target Number of 50, and takes a Wound’ worth of Strain. If the Test is successful, 
  the State of Jhana is achieved. For each success, one relevant memory may be retrieved. 
  What specifically is retrieved and how useful it is should be roleplayed. Gaining the 
  ability requires a year of study, during which the Theosophist must spend at least half 
  their time in meditation.
  • The complex arcane structures Theosophists build have considerable staying power, but 
  require time to complete. The Theosophist may add their Professional Rank to the 
  
  78
  SECRET SOCIETIES
  duration of their spells and magical Skills at no extra cost. Study time to learn new 
  spells or alchemical formulae, and research time to create new spells and gain magical 
  knowledge, is doubled.
  • Theosophists understand the power of Names. If the Theosophist knows the full name 
  of a thing, such as having heard a person say their entire legal name, or knowing the full 
  taxonomy of a plant or animal, and can invoke the name, they may spend the target’s 
  Mystic Defense in Strain to lower the Target Number of any spell or magical Skill being 
  used on that target by the Rank of the Skill being used, to a minimum of 2.
  Spell List
  Do not expect Theosophical magic to be simple. Each spell embodies a relationship of 
  principles, and carries within its title an explanation of the mechanism of action. Theosophy assumes 
  a scholarly commitment on the part of the mystic, a willingness to expend considerable time and 
  effort in order to understand the deeper mysteries of reality. Those in search of easy answers, and 
  spells with short titles, should seek elsewhere.
  
  79
  Chapter 3
  Spell
  Tier
  Known As
  Style
  ������������
  Decode
  Initiate
  The Secret 
  Alphabet 
  (Read)
  The magician focuses 
  their mind on the math-
  ematical precepts of the 
  Angelic Script, and works 
  a calculation involving the 
  Golden Constant and the 
  numeric significance of the 
  encrypted text.
  Requires two rounds to 
  cast. Strain -1. 
  Encode
  Initiate
  The Secret 
  Alphabet 
  (Write)
  The magician either writes 
  the message themselves 
  with a quill pen, or 
  brushes a quill across the 
  page, rendering it into the 
  Angelic Script.
  The spell cannot be cast 
  without the use of a 
  quill. Strain -1.
  Shield
  Initiate
  Agnoaiac 
  Refusal
  The magician dismisses 
  incoming attacks as non-
  sense, brushing them aside 
  as irrelevant.
  Add Professional Rank 
  to the Effect Step. 
  Strain +1. 
  Stun
  Initiate
  Manasic 
  Shock
  The magician targets the 
  lower nature, knocking it 
  out of alignment with the 
  nervous system.
  Add Professional Rank 
  to the Effect Step. 
  Strain +1. 
  Bolt
  Novice
  Striking the 
  Tether
  The magician targets the 
  link between Manas and 
  Phren, the higher and 
  lower spiritual existences 
  of the soul, causing physi-
  cal shock to the nervous 
  system.
  Resisted by Mystic 
  Armor. Target takes -1 
  Step to all Tests for 
  each extra success on 
  the Spellcasting Test, for 
  Rank rounds. Can only 
  be used against sentient 
  beings. Strain increases 
  by Rank. 
  Explosion
  Novice
  The First 
  Unlocking
  The magician unlocks the 
  energetic potential in an 
  object within range, caus-
  ing it to explode.
  If the magician has a 
  physical key to use as a 
  wand, Strain -1.
  Heal
  Novice
  Manasic 
  Repair
  The magician reflects the 
  pattern of the physical 
  back into the actual physi-
  cal, restoring the body to 
  its proper state.
  If the magician knows 
  the Name of the person 
  or creature being healed, 
  reduce Strain by -1 and 
  add +1 to the Effect 
  Step. 
  Improve 
  Defense 
  Rating
  Novice
  Manasic 
  Strengthening
  The magician focuses on 
  their own physical pattern, 
  and reinforces it.
  Restricted to the magi-
  cian’s own Physical De-
  fense. Physical Defense 
  is increased by +2 per 
  success. Strain -1. 
  
  80
  SECRET SOCIETIES
  Spell
  Tier
  Known As
  Style
  ������������
  Thought 
  Link
  Novice
  Thought 
  Transference
  The Theosophist com-
  poses their mind, taking 
  a moment to reach out to 
  their Fellow. 
  Restricted to connecting 
  with other Theosophists. 
  Strain -1. A version 
  without reduced Strain, 
  able to connect with any 
  other person, is learned 
  at the Journeyman Tier.
  Explosion
  Journey-
  man
  The Second 
  Unlocking
  The magician unlocks a 
  greater potential within an 
  object within range, caus-
  ing it to explode.
  Add Professional Rank 
  to the Effect Step. 
  Strain +2. If the magi-
  cian has a physical key 
  to use as a wand, reduce 
  Strain  by 1.
  The Unificationists
  An intellect which at a certain moment would know all forces that set nature in motion, 
  and all positions of all items of which nature is composed, if this intellect were also 
  vast enough to submit these data to analysis, it would embrace in a single formula the 
  movements of the greatest bodies of the universe and those of the tiniest atom; for such 
  an intellect nothing would be uncertain and the future just like the past would be present 
  ����������������
  ����������������������� Essai philosophique sur les probabilités,�������������������
  The Sisterhood of the Third Unification seeks to bring Maxwell’s work to its ultimate 
  conclusion and find the grand unifying theory that explains the underlying phenomenon behind light, 
  electricity, heat, gravity, and magnetism. Following the opening of the Rabbit Hole, magic has been 
  added to the list of universal forces that must be explained by the Third Unifying Theory. While 
  they build astonishing devices, these are secondary to the Order’s purpose. The force or forces being 
  applied, converted, controlled, or otherwise handled remain the primary concern. 
  Origins
  In 1875, two years after James Clerk Maxwell published his Treatise on Electricity and 
  Magnetism, correspondence began among a small group of women mathematicians. They sought a 
  higher truth in mathematics, and began delving into physics, the new name for what had so long 
  been called “natural philosophy”, as a means of testing their theorems. They believed nothing is 
  gained or lost, only transmuted from one form to another, and that a unification beyond that of 
  Newton and Maxwell is possible. As their work expanded, so did their numbers, but quietly and in 
  secret, partly to avoid exposing their work to the disdain of men. Far too many women have had 
  their work disparaged, stolen, or dismissed by men, years of effort tossed into the bin or published 
  under the name of someone else solely on the basis of gender. When the Sisters do publish, it 
  is under their own names, and only after they have mercilessly peer reviewed their work. It is not 
  enough for their efforts to excel. To survive in an academic world still dominated by men, their 
  
  81
  Chapter 3
  papers must be unassailable. Small wonder they become obsessive, paranoid, and occasionally 
  vengeful. Small wonder they have built such frightening devices. Only a display of horrific violence 
  will convince a man that one is serious. The Sisterhood tries to self police, but every so often there 
  are incidents, and really, who could blame her for using induced magnetic resonance to cause the 
  man who soiled her reputation to suffer a cranial implosion? It’s not like he was keeping anything 
  worthwhile in his head, after all.
  The Sisterhood traces its formal founding to a discussion over tea at the Parisian salon of 
  Princess Mathilde. Dr. Elizaveta Litvinova complained she could not publish her latest work because 
  it had not been peer reviewed, and if she sent it to peer review in Bern, she would see it published 
  under a man’s name the very next day. Dr. Sophie Kowalevski agreed that, if Dr. Litvinova were 
  Prussian, she would not have this issue, but anywhere outside the Socialist Empire, a woman had 
  nearly insurmountable obstacles in her way. Her Highness demurred, saying women had sufficient 
  resources of their own in any nation to overcome these minor hurdles, and offered to put Dr. 
  Litvinova in touch with the women of the aforementioned correspondence, Princess Mathilde having 
  been taking an interest in higher mathematics of late. This brought together the three factions 
  that would form the Sisterhood of the Third Unification: the truth seekers, the professionals with 
  a desperate need for peer review, and a salon with access to considerable resources in terms of 
  connections and favours owed. The Steering Committee of the Sisterhood still meets at Princess 
  Mathilde’s salon.
  Goals and Methods
  Following the dictum of von Helmholtz, the Unificationists at first disdained practical 
  applications of their work. They sought to gain greater understanding of light, heat, electricity, and 
  other forces. In so doing, they built extraordinary devices for their laboratories. These began to 
  draw attention, as such things do, from the military and commercial interests. Between the financial 
  pressures of performing leading-edge research into forms of energy, and the advent of magic in 
  1877 further widening the field of study, some of the Unificationists have developed high-energy 
  equipment for industry, or specialized devices for research facilities. Weaponry has also been 
  created, although the Sisterhood as a policy prefers to retain destructive devices for their own use, 
  as demonstrations of their abilities. Most Sisters, shunning the spotlight such contracts bring, find 
  their funding in research grants, private donations, and the occasional bit of mercenary work. Their 
  primary goal, however, always remains returning to their laboratories, pursuing their studies, and 
  
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  SECRET SOCIETIES
  contributing to the Third Unification. In this way, they resemble the Newtonians, seeking ever for 
  the primal force, spending considerable time and effort in building the equipment they need for their 
  experiments, and selling some of their effort on the side to fund their research.
  Recently, the Unificationists have begun considering the idea that matter itself might be 
  energy in solid form, combustion being a process that turns matter into energy. Nothing is gained 
  or lost – it is only transmuted. Just working through the foundations of this idea may take them 
  considerable time. A tiny sub-group of a School admittedly small to begin with believes when the 
  root equation of this equality is found, it will unlock forces that have not even been dreamt of yet.
  Each Sister is left mostly to her own judgement as far as the lines of research she pursues 
  and the methods by which she funds her work. Restrictions are laid upon the Sisterhood for the 
  School’s preservation. No research can be published without subjecting it to harsh peer review, to 
  forestall any attempt by rivals, especially men, to discredit or disprove the work. No device may 
  be built that would tip the balance of power in the world. There have been too many wars already, 
  driven by male pride. Women will not contribute to further slaughter. This rule may find itself under 
  extreme pressure if the matter-energy equation is derived. Testing the theorem could require building 
  a weapon more powerful than any yet conceived in the history of the world.
  Organization
  At the heart of the Sisterhood is the Steering Committee, a group of the five most senior 
  members as determined by longevity, academic position, and publication history. They meet formally 
  every three months at the salon of Princess Mathilde, to take up whatever official business is 
  required, such as approving the printing budget. Matters of policy are routinely discussed outside of 
  the committee meeting, with meeting time being reserved for achieving consensus on specific issues 
  and finalizing policy decisions. Princess Mathilde attends these meetings as a non-voting member, 
  able to contribute her opinion but not having a part in the consensus process.
  The Review Committee consists of the three Sisters with the most publication credits, 
  assessed annually. They control the peer review process, accepting papers from the Sisterhood, 
  checking them for structure and basic subject matter, and then passing them on to other Sisters 
  for in-depth review. Every paper must be validated by at least five Sisters, with no reservations 
  expressed to the Review Committee, before a paper is approved for publication. More controversial 
  papers may require more reviewers, or a second pass to double-check the arguments. Any Sister 
  publishing without approval of the Review Committee is expelled from the Sisterhood, immediately 
  and without appeal. Exceptions have been made in the past where matters of international security 
  or human lives were involved. For example, the Review Committee excused Prof. Lavagne of the 
  École Centrale de Lyon when she sent her preliminary research into harmonics to the Ministre des 
  Travaux Publics, and headed off construction of a bridge that would have shaken itself apart from 
  the prevailing winds of the proposed location. 
  Beyond the Steering and Review Committees, there are no standing committees or departments 
  at the Sisterhood level. Working groups are formed as required, and dissolved when the requirement 
  is met. In some cases, this has kept working groups going for several years. The Optics Interest 
  Group does not see an end to their work in refining the calculus of light anywhere in the near future. 
  Local groups organize their own committees and working groups according to their own needs. At 
  Vassar, the Sisterhood chapter maintains a working group to administer a challenge examination 
  comparable to the Cambridge Tripos. At Swarthmore, the recruiting committee speaks with each 
  incoming new student to sound them out as possible Sisters, and reviews their work to see if their 
  academic strength is sufficient.
  Each individual Sister sets her own course, subject only to the basic constraints of the 
  organization as a whole. Beyond that, the Sisterhood exists to enable women’s academic freedom, 
  not constrain it.
  
  83
  Chapter 3
  Resources
  Money
  Financially, the Sisterhood itself could be considered impoverished. The general fund does not 
  retain much. When a project is deemed worthy of funding by the Steering Committee, monies are 
  gathered from the Sisterhood’s various sources, then disbursed from the general fund. Wealth has 
  never been the goal of the School. 
  That said, individual Sisters have at times done quite well for themselves. While many senior 
  members hold professorships or other academic positions, and thus enjoy more prestige than 
  payment, the books they have written bring in a fair penny, and the contracts they occasionally 
  take are far more lucrative. While not required, each Sister is encouraged to maintain a fund for 
  the School, setting aside a bit of their earnings whenever possible in an interest-bearing account or 
  other growth investment. These monies can then be tapped when the Sister needs to support her 
  own work or that of other members of the School. While the collective funds of the Sisterhood 
  would not purchase a battleship, they could certainly afford an escort cutter. 
  A very few women of means have been allowed to know of the Sisterhood. These ladies 
  make occasional donations to the general fund, in return for being able to command the presence 
  of a Sister at their salon, charity event, or other social function where a prestigious academic of 
  the female persuasion would make an impression. Most of the time, a small percentage of the 
  collection from such events is routed to the general fund as a thank-you. In times of crisis, these 
  women can be approached for a special donation, although this has only been done once in the 
  admittedly short history of the School, when Marie-Ygritte Forissier had the opportunity to lead a 
  contingent from the University of Lyon to Camp Burlington, providing that she was able to cover 
  the group’s expenses.
  Facilities
  The Sisterhood itself maintains no facilities outside of Princess Mathilde’s salon, keeping the 
  files required of the Steering and Review Committees alongside the Princess’s personal documents, 
  in a purloined-letter concealment. Each Sister has access to the facilities of their academic institution 
  or private laboratory, and is expected to grant access as feasible and required to other Sisters. The 
  central fund can be used to lease or purchase facilities as needed for critical projects, but at this 
  time only the Optics Working Group holds any such, renting an observatory in the Auvergne on 
  a ten year agreement.
  Contacts
  Among other connections to institutions both official and underground, the Sisterhood 
  notably maintains strong links to the Flying University of Poland. Tracing its beginnings to an 
  1863 decree from the Ministry of Education in Warsaw banning women from enrollment in Polish 
  universities, and the efforts of Russia to eradicate Polish culture, the Uniwersytet Latajacy formally 
  organized in 1872, offering a few classes in Polish history taught in the Polish language. Since then, 
  the Uniwersytet Latajacy has grown to include courses in mathematics, science, political theory, 
  and many other subjects. Tuition goes to paying the professors, who incur considerable risk by 
  their participation, and to maintaining a secret library, which like the classes floats or “flies” among 
  multiple privately held locations. While the Flying University cannot grant degrees, not being an 
  accredited institution, its students and graduates can apply what they have learned in practical ways, 
  and in some cases use the Flying University as a preparatory school for testing out of coursework 
  at official schools. Some members of the Sisterhood have taught at the Flying University; others 
  have been recruited there.
  On certain days, the spirit of Marie-Sophie Germain, who passed on in 1831, can be consulted 
  at Pere Lachaise, and once a year, on the day her paper appeared in ����������������, she attends the 
  
  84
  SECRET SOCIETIES
  salon. Mme Germain achieved distinction with her work on elasticity, including a paper that led to 
  the discovery of the laws of equilibrium and movement of elastic solids. She corresponded regularly 
  with Carl Friedrich Gauss at the University of Gottingen, who said of her, “How can I describe my 
  astonishment and admiration on seeing my esteemed correspondent M leBlanc metamorphosed into 
  this celebrated person. . . when a woman, because of her sex, our customs and prejudices, encounters 
  infinitely more obstacles than men in familiarising herself with [number theory’s] knotty problems, 
  yet overcomes these fetters and penetrates that which is most hidden, she doubtless has the most 
  noble courage, extraordinary talent, and superior genius.”
  Membership
  Each prospective member must pass a rigorous examination, both written and oral, according 
  to their current level of academic achievement. They must be recommended by at least three Sisters 
  in good standing, with written personal references. Once accepted, they must sign the Code of 
  Conduct of the Sisterhood, which sets out its rules and regulations in plain terms. There is no formal 
  ritual common across the Sisterhood, each chapter and geographic region having its own traditions. 
  In France, the new member is escorted to tea at the chapter’s expense, but expected to present her 
  current research or interest during the occasion. In the British Empire, a weekend gathering is held, 
  with a formal dinner and a speech required of the guest of honour. The celebrations of Swarthmore 
  have tended to be a bit more raucous, with a newly minted tradition of playing practical jokes on 
  the new member, such as putting a complex puzzle lock on her office door. 
  The Code of Conduct
  • Sisters may not reveal the existence of the organization to men.
  • No publication can be made without approval of the Review Committee. 
  • Each Sister must donate funds and time to the Sisterhood according to her capability. 
  • Weapons capable of unbalancing nations must not be constructed. 
  • The Steering Committee may make exceptions to the Code of Conduct, but may require 
  conditions that are not debatable.
  • 
  Other rules of the Sisterhood are found in the bylaws, which define the committees, the 
  policies, and methodology of operation, as such documents do.
  
  85
  Chapter 3
  No regalia or symbology has been defined for the Sisterhood. Given their secrecy, it’s 
  doubtful any sort of prominent emblem would ever be adopted. 
  Founders
  Dr. Sophie Kowalevski, a lecturer at the University of Gottingen, is (thanks to Prussia’s 
  egalitarian policies) the first woman in Europe to hold a doctorate in mathematics (summa cum 
  laude). In her spare time, she volunteers with a work crew in the poor areas of the district, wiring 
  homes for electricity. 
  Dr. Elizaveta Litvinova, U.Bern, has recently returned to Russia, but due to her ignoring the 
  recall of women students in 1873, is blocked from finding an appointment by decree of the Tsar. 
  She has been working with a samizdat movement, hiding her tutoring of promising female students 
  and her research into arcane mathematics with a teaching position at a women’s high school. 
  Mathilde Bonaparte, Princesse Française, no longer lives in quite so elegant a mansion as she 
  did before the fall of the monarchy, but has a very nice hotel she acquired upon her return from 
  Belgium. Her salon has been re-energized, her marriage in 1873 to the artist and poet Claudius 
  Marcel Popelin having brought back the literati and artistes to mingle with the philosophers, 
  scientists, and politicians of her previous acquaintance. While not a Sister in her own right, 
  Princess Mathilde takes a proprietary interest in the Sisterhood, providing them with a venue for 
  their meetings, a central point through which their correspondence might flow, and access to the 
  intellectual life and printing facilities of Paris. Being the salonnière of such an organization, even 
  if she cannot speak of it to most of her friends, gives her a glow of pride she really quite enjoys. 
  Prof. Susan Jane Cunningham, Professor of Mathematics at Swarthmore College, graduated 
  from Vassar after studying with Maria Mitchell, and went on to found the mathematics and 
  astronomy departments at Swarthmore. She’s regarded as the best candidate when the current 
  Department Chair retires. 
  Prof. Ellen Amanda Hayes, the controversial Professor of Mathematics at Wellesley, has 
  created a storm of controversy through her outspoken atheism, her penchant for dressing in 
  utilitarian men’s clothing, and her advocacy of socialist ideas. She’s also an astronomer with a 
  credit for calculating the orbit of 267 Tirza. Her teaching degree is from Oberlin College. In her 
  spare time, she helps run a program to educate working girls, to get them off of the factory floor 
  and into the factory offices.
  Notable Members
  Alicia Boole, third daughter of George Boole, currently a student at Queens’ College, is 
  already doing work with four dimensional polytopes, including coining the word “polytope”.
  Sophie Willock Bryant, graduate of Bedford College, staff teacher at North London Collegiate 
  School, widow of Dr. William Hicks Bryant (surgeon) after only a year of marriage, is currently 
  studying for her doctorate at the University of London. She’s already won First Class Honours in 
  Mental and Moral Sciences. Her father, Rev. Dr. William Willock DD, is Professor of Geometry 
  at the University of London, which requires her to keep her work with the Unificationists an 
  absolute secret until she can win her degree, which should be in 1884 if she continues her work at 
  its present rate.
  Charlotte Angas Scott just this year became Resident Lecturer in Mathematics at Girton 
  College, Cambridge. While she’s doing her graduate work under Arthur Cayley at Cambridge 
  University, her studies are being accredited by the University of London, as Cambridge does not 
  yet grant degrees to women (for which they are being sorely beset). Her position at Girton was 
  something of a consolation prize, as she came eighth for the Cambridge Mathematical Tripos exam, 
  but Cambridge would not allow the title of Eighth Wrangler to go to a woman. She still has the 
  laurel crown the students at Girton presented her with, hanging on the wall of her office. 
  
  86
  SECRET SOCIETIES
  Mary Watson Whitney, assistant professor to Maria Mitchell at Vassar, specializes in celestial 
  mechanics. She has her masters from Vassar and three years’ study in Zurich. While Professor 
  Whitney is not an extraordinary mind as compared to some of her Unificationist sisters, she 
  nonetheless leads her field partly by her teaching work and partly by her organizational efforts. 
  Under Whitney’s direction, the observatory at Vassar has become a hotbed of publication, with 
  the number of papers being published rising geometrically. In private, Prof. Whitney coordinates 
  the Union activities of the Unificationists, serving as the central administrator for the Sisterhood 
  in the USA. 
  Christine Ladd, currently a graduate student at Johns Hopkins University, has done work 
  on the algebra of logic that parallels in some ways the arguments of Wilhelm Wundt, but Ladd’s 
  work reduces psychology to mathematics. This is leading the Unificationists toward mathematical 
  modelling of human behaviour in the aggregate. With proper calculations, they may be able to 
  defuse crowds and prevent riots by introducing the right stimuli at the right moment. 
  The chapter at Wellesley College in Massachusetts has just recently recruited a promising new 
  student, Annie Jump Cannon, a transfer from Wilmington Conference Academy where she excelled 
  in mathematics. Miss Cannon also has an interest in physics and astronomy. She’s enrolled in 
  Professor Sarah Frances Whiting’s course on Practical Astronomy. 
  Enemies / Allies
  The Unificationists are fierce rivals of the Galvanic Order, for academic reasons. Explaining 
  the differences the two Schools have would take (and has taken) several papers requiring advanced 
  degrees to understand. Rivalry does not equate to enmity, however, and while the Unificationists and 
  the Galvanics do not see eye to eye when it comes to theory, they have joined forces in practice 
  on more than one occasion.
  The Royal Society has not officially heard of the Unificationists, but a few of its inner 
  circle know the rumours. While some would welcome highly skilled mathematicians and physicists 
  of either gender into the august ranks of the Society, others maintain a staunch defence of the 
  patriarchal nature of the organisation. Having that botanist granted membership at HRH Albert’s 
  insistence was chafing enough, but at least she’s in the Gruv and not sitting with the men. As more 
  women are admitted to the ranks, the old guard will have to adjust its thinking or find another 
  venue, but they certainly won’t go without a fight.
  The Sons of Thoth have begun to realise the women building those marvellous devices have 
  some sort of organisation behind them. Being what they are, the Sons are willing to admit women 
  to their ranks if they are sufficiently ruthless and able to keep up with the men. If the Unificationists 
  resist being infiltrated and taken over, the Sons may declare war on them, as a threat to global 
  conquest.
  Devices
  Electro-Whip
  Physical Defense: 3  
  Mystic Defense: 4  
  Physical Armor: 4
  Mystic Armor: 3 
   
  Barrier Rating: 12  
  Range: 12 yards
  Duration: 12 rounds (cumulative) 
   
   
  Effect: Step 13 damage plus special
  Cost: £25 
   
  Weight: 2 lbs 
   
  Availability: Very Rare
  Created while studying the interaction of electricity and magnetism, the Electro-whip uses 
  magnetism to control an electric arc, a sort of blitzschutz with much better aim. The device itself 
  consists of a metal cylinder a foot long and two inches in diameter, with a heavy rubberized grip 
  and a vulcanized rubber guard. When switched on, the Electro-whip throws a 12 yard long bolt of 
  electricity, which can be wielded as a standard bullwhip. Anyone struck by an Electro-whip takes 
  
  87
  Chapter 3
  a penalty to all Dexterity and Dexterity-based Tests for three rounds, at -2 Steps per extra success 
  on the Attack Test. Anyone entangled with an Electro-whip takes the weapon’s base damage each 
  round, ignoring armour. Building an Electro-whip requires a Craft Device Skill of at least 6, and 
  knowledge of a Lightning Bolt or Galvanic Arc type spell. The Electro-whip can be switched off 
  to conserve battery, holding enough charge for twelve combat rounds of use before needing to be 
  recharged with reliable high tension current.
  Gravitational Field Enhancer
  Physical Defense: 3  
  Mystic Defense: 4  
  Physical Armor: 3
  Mystic Armor: 2 
   
  Barrier Rating: 12  
  Range: 10 yards
  Duration: 6 rounds  
  Effect: Special 
   
  Cost: £12
  Weight: 4 pounds including power supply 
   
  Availability: Very Rare
  The Gravitational Enhancer enacts a Deny Movement spell (1879 Players Guide, p.376) 
  at Rank 6 by intensifying gravity. This will halt movement by most races. In addition, the device 
  increases the TN for STR tests by 6 for the duration. 
  Magnetic Disarming Gun
  Physical Defense: NA 
  Mystic Defense: 5  
  Physical Armor: 3
  Mystic Armor: 4 
   
  Barrier Rating: 13  
  Range: 5 yards
  Duration: Instant 
   
  Effect: Special 
   
  Cost: £3/6/-
  Weight: 2 pounds  
  Availability: Very Rare
  Using focused magnetism, the Disarming Gun was designed to yank away an enemy’s metal 
  weaponry. It loosely resembles a heavy-bodied shotgun with a reinforced metal dish a foot across at 
  the business end. Make a Called Shot against the foe’s pistol, sword, or other one-handed weapon. 
  Extra successes roll over to the Effect Test at +1 Step each. If successful, make an opposed Step 
  18 Test against the foe’s Strength. If this is successful, the weapon is torn from the foe’s grasp, and 
  slams into the Disarming Gun’s dish, dropping away at the end of the combat round. The wielder 
  of the Disarming Gun must then make a Knockdown Test against the Size of the weapon +2 per 
  extra success on the Called Shot Test. 
  Sun Thrower
  Physical Defense: 6  
  Mystic Defense: 9  
  Physical Armor: 3
  Mystic Armor: 6 
   
  Barrier Rating: 32  
  Range: 2 miles
  Duration: Special
  Effect: Step 50 damage to target, step 35 within 5 yards, step 20 within 10 yards, step 10 within 
  20 yards
  Cost: £12,000 
   
  Weight: 1.75 tons  
  Availability: Only to the British and French Military
  A solar-powered heat ray and one of the most powerful and yet impractical weapons ever 
  developed, the Sun Thrower requires a large and fragile array of solar collectors, hence the low 
  Physical attributes. It can only be fired every other combat round on a bright clear day in a desert. 
  On an average fall day in England, one would be fortunate in the extreme to get off a shot within 
  five minutes of the last. That said, a Sun Thrower can knock a Giffard out of the sky at two miles 
  with that one shot. The effects of the steam explosion caused by firing into the sea near an enemy 
  vessel are too terrible to describe here. The Empire has a pair of them at Dover, another pair at 
  Folkestone, and a pair being built at Hastings and Bournemouth. The French have a pair at Calais, 
  and one at Verdun, anchoring the south end of the Zone Rouge. The Paris situation has precluded 
  construction of further installations. 
  Rumours of Sun Throwers in London were the result of experimental solar collection 
  arrays at the Royal Arsenal, used for testing power accumulation levels. Of course they were.
  – Percival Pemberton, Nuisance At Large
  
  88
  SECRET SOCIETIES
  Prodigals of Nlalg
  Origins
  The Prodigals of Nlalg were founded by a group of wealthy commercial investors and 
  researchers, who came together to take advantage of the changing world, to try to capitalize on 
  new discoveries. When a cosmic shift occurs, someone turns a shilling from it. Reginald Crichton, 
  Kenneth Radford, Bernard Cronin, Catherine Davies, and Faycal McIndoe each owned tracts of land 
  and were engaged in social mobility. They had different business ventures, but all had made their 
  riches primarily upon speculating with money they were born with. They approached the sudden 
  changes to their world with the eye of financiers.
  They began sifting through ancient records in search of magical knowledge, ordering research 
  projects into foreign libraries as one might order from a menu, seeking advantage. Before long, 
  they had piles of books and research reports. With the eyes of those used to exploiting the labour 
  of others, they ensured none of their researchers possessed enough of their larger plans to become 
  competitors.
  After considerable work led by the brilliant Catherine Davies, they prepared for a powerful 
  ritual to summon a “Finder of Knowledge”. Bringing together a plethora of paraphernalia that may 
  or may not have been required, they attempted to summon what they believed would be a sentient 
  magical encyclopedia. What they ended up summoning was an ancient and bizarre being, altered 
  by countless years in the astral plane, that promised them knowledge and information if they could 
  help it. This led to the Prodigals bringing Nlalg into our world. 
  An ancient group created Nlalg as a magical servitor, tasked with the equivalent of passing 
  messages from place to place and other small things. Nlalg was put on the proverbial shelf one day, 
  and as magic faded from the Earth, the society was unable to further deal with it. Nlalg consumed 
  other creations that had been left behind, using them to grow and sustain itself. Eventually, it gained 
  sufficient strength to break free of the spells that bound it, allowing it to wander the astral plane. 
  There, it grew, and learned. 
  The Prodigals’ ritual was the result of extensive trial and error. While it allowed them to 
  recall Nlalg to the world, tearing it from the astral plane caused it major trauma. The bindings 
  that would have compelled it into service were improperly executed, leaving it free to subjugate the 
  Prodigals to its whims. 
  Nlalg is still wounded and psychically traumatized. The orders it gives are at times 
  contradictory or nonsensical. The directions given to the Prodigals, as a result, often result in the 
  cult flailing about with little direction. All of this is couched in terms that greater magical power, 
  more understanding, and deeper knowledge are all just a couple more favours away. Nlalg now exists 
  as a sort of whim-ridden demigod with a tiny fiefdom. It avoids any other groups of magicians that 
  might have the capacity to bind it or otherwise wrest control over its little area of influence. The 
  power it has gained from the Prodigals’ tributes have raised its Force Rating. Three more grand 
  rituals and achieving Great Form will be within its grasp. That accomplished, no one will ever fail 
  to take Nlalg seriously again.
  Nlalg:
  Force Rating: 12
  DEX: 11 
  STR: 11 TOU: 14
  PER: 12 
  WIL: 15 CHA: 15
  Initiative: 11 Physical Defense: 24
  Actions: 3 
  Mystic Defense: 24 
  
  89
  Chapter 3
  Attack: 21 
  Social Defense: 24
  Damage:  
  Physical Armor: 8
  Claw (9): 20 Mystic Armor: 15
  Death: 90 
  Recovery Tests: 7
  Unconsciousness: 76 
  Knockdown: 11
  Wound Threshold: 21 Movement: 24
  Adventure Award: Journeyman Tier
  Skills: Spellcasting (12): 24; Willforce (13): 28
  Powers: Aid Summoner (12), Astral Sight (24), Empathic Sense (24), Evil Eye (27), Find 
  (24), Lifesight (24), Manifest (12), Possession (27)
  Loot: Whatever is in its hoard
  Rules
  Nlalg has all spells within the Prodigals of Nlalg options, in addition to Bolt, Bind, 
  Darkness, Fly, and Invisibility.
  Goals and Methods
  In essence, the Prodigals are serving a science experiment run amok. Though they believe 
  they are pursuing further power, immortality, and a slew of other things that have been promised to 
  them, none of these promises will be delivered.
  The organisation stockpiles sources of knowledge about magic and anything even vaguely 
  magical in nature. Of particular interest is the magic of the Saurids of the Gruv, representing 
  something that might be completely different from what Nlalg is familiar with. These resources are 
  brought, through circuitous paths, into the control of the group and given to Nlalg. The entity then 
  makes a determination of whether or not each item is of use. Things that are of use are taken and 
  believed to be consumed by Nlalg, though they may also be sequestered somewhere unknown to 
  the membership. Artefacts that are rejected are passed on to the highest tiers of the organisation.
  The Prodigals thus hold a small but powerful stockpile of magical artefacts, related items, and 
  information in the name of Nlalg. Ostensibly, Nlalg is preparing to go to war with some outside 
  force, but even it seems to be unaware as to what that might be. It is, in essence, preparing itself 
  for a position of mutually assured destruction: should anyone try to attack it or bind it again, it 
  will turn on them and ensure they are destroyed. 
  Organisation
  The society is structured like a pyramid with Nlalg at the top, the circle of founding members 
  below, then a series of lesser ranks. Nlalg maintains the fiction that as members are promoted to 
  higher levels of the group, they are awarded increased magical power. In reality it’s the reverse: as 
  they achieve greater knowledge and magical power, they are promoted up the ranks. This keeps 
  members dedicated to the cause, believing only through their dedication can they attain more power. 
  None within the organisation contradict this dominant narrative.
  In turn, the group chooses to recruit only members who are pliable and unlikely to rock the 
  boat. Keeping the highest echelons of power in the hands of the initial circle, they have ensured it 
  remains stable and relatively unknown. 
  Jealously protective of their personal fiefdoms, each member of the initial group has been 
  bringing in followers and close allies, ensuring their loyalty is both toward the person who brought 
  
  90
  SECRET SOCIETIES
  them in, but also to the larger organisation. This division of loyalty has resulted in a great deal of 
  infighting.
  Nothing in the organisation’s official structure reflects these fiefdoms. The official structure 
  ranges from Considerate, someone they are considering for membership, to Initiate, and finally 
  Brother or Sister once they are full members. There is no official process in place for moving up 
  these ranks; each moves up as their magic becomes more powerful. 
  The group is difficult to infiltrate despite the gullibility of the membership and common 
  infighting because it is not widely known. Their main defence is remaining a secret to the rest of the 
  world. Should that secret ever become public knowledge, they would shrivel under public scrutiny. 
  Nlalg would abandon its erstwhile followers and go on to other things.
  Resources
  Commercial interests pursued before Nlalg returned to our plane continue to exist. Many who 
  were part of the group that summoned Nlalg continue to work for the organisation, unable to find 
  a way to remove themselves from it. 
  The Prodigals have no official unified front organisation. However, any business owned by 
  a high-ranking member becomes a de facto arm of the secret society. In some, only a few of the 
  employees serve the Lodge, or are tasked without knowing who they are serving, their resources 
  diverted to support the organisation. A few operate with their main purpose being to further the 
  organisation.
  Though a great deal of wealth resides in the hands of Nlalg, the entity is a packrat. Individuals 
  from the upper echelons end up funding most of their own operations, or ones they might have an 
  interest in. Almost all of these are undertaken beneath one cover or another. Sending someone into 
  the Gruv, for instance, could be easily written off as an exploration for a viable mine or to establish 
  trade, when it actually serves some far more sinister purpose.
  Membership
  The highest levels of membership have been stagnant, consisting solely of the original group 
  that summoned their otherworldly patron, jealously guarding power and position. They continue to 
  recruit new members at the lower ranks, which tends to happen through approaching previously vetted 
  individuals, or more commonly through the introduction of friends to the fold. Like fraternities, 
  the Prodigals grow through a member meeting a potential resource for the organisation, feeling 
  them out, then introducing them to other Lodge members before the newcomer is voted into the 
  organisation. Direct vetting, doing a background check and then bringing the individual straight in 
  without the social connections and voting, only tends to be used in times nearing crisis, when there’s 
  a lack of expertise that limits the organisation, such as needing a contact in some remote location 
  with specific skills. In those instances, the Prodigals identify an individual they have leverage over, 
  to ensure they will comply with the wishes of the organisation. 
  Membership is based upon magical ability, or at the least potential. Members are not chosen 
  solely for this ability; many are recruited for their skills in other areas. Possession of magical ability 
  is a prerequisite solely because they believe Nlalg can help them improve their magical ability, and 
  addicting their membership to this process will ensure they remain under the group’s thumb. 
  As a result, most new members join already capable of using magic. The Lodge has become 
  a dangerous combination of the gullible and the magically inclined. Infighting is incredibly common, 
  but often of limited impact. Most of it is small scale, such as hoarding of books or squabbling 
  over which individual is under the command of which head of the Prodigals. 
  Enemies / Allies
  Nlalg is wary of any magicians that lie outside the Prodigals. This attitude permeates the 
  
  91
  Chapter 3
  Lodge’s ranks, making them especially sceptical or secretive around other magicians, often being 
  justified by concern that others would attempt to steal Nlalg and the “gifts”.
  Nlalg has lied to the group about this, claiming credit for increasing powers within the group 
  that can be attributed to other causes. In many ways, it is similar to a martial arts teacher claiming 
  credit not only for the expertise being imparted, but for the biological process of being stronger as 
  well. With so little currently understood about magic, the Prodigals are unable to disagree, and the 
  fiction is one of the main unifying forces of the group. 
  Gifts from Nlalg
  Nlalg has been able to dole out a series of gifts to its followers in the form of teaching 
  them different spells. The spells are powered by their absolute belief Nlalg is some higher power 
  that has come to them, proffering them gifts and other advantages. Their belief still works, despite 
  not realizing Nlalg is little more than an experiment that sat on the shelf for too long and grew 
  a bit weird. 
  The ongoing success of the organisation has ensured Nlalg has additional gifts in its hoard to 
  distribute as needed, either as artefacts and treasures that have been given to it, or through learning 
  spells from materials it’s been given, then deducing its own spells from them. 
  Spell List
  Spell
  Tier
  Known As
  Style
  ������������
  Read Memo-
  ries
  Initiate
  Seeing of 
  Truth
  The magician must touch the 
  spell target. 
  This spell works as 
  the Read Memo-
  ries spell in the 
  1879 Players Guide, 
  p.389, but the group 
  believes it is a way 
  of seeing the truth of 
  the subject’s experi-
  ences.
  Determine 
  Components
  Initiate
  Assess 
  Value
  See new spells below.
  See new spells below,
  Read Intent
  Initiate
  Read 
  Intent
  See new spells below.
  See new spells below.
  Astral Sight
  Initiate
  See Truths
  The Prodigals have required 
  the use of seeing and sensing 
  the magical and otherworldly 
  for their goals. 
  Same as in the 1879 
  Players Guide, p372.
  Entropy
  Novice
  Rust
  The target object rusts at an 
  alarming rate. Burns appearing 
  to be chemical in nature etch 
  the sides, and it falls apart. 
  This spell works like 
  Entropy but has a 
  range of 10 yards 
  instead of Touch. 
  Strain 6.
  
  92
  SECRET SOCIETIES
  Spell
  Tier
  Known As
  Style
  ������������
  Fix
  Novice
  Mend
  The object appears almost 
  alive under the ministrations 
  of the Prodigal, wrapping itself 
  back together and working to 
  mend itself.
  Range 10 yards 
  within line of sight 
  (extended from base 
  spell Touch); Strain 
  7. 
  Read Object
  Novice
  Know 
  Origins
  Looking into the past of an 
  object, Prodigals can learn 
  its potential value, either to 
  the original owners or those 
  who don’t want it revealed. 
  The only visible change to the 
  object is a slight shifting of 
  its shadows as it is read. 
  Range 10 yards 
  within line of sight 
  (extended from base 
  spell Touch); Strain 
  7.
  Reduce At-
  titude
  Novice
  Bribe
  The order’s specialised version 
  ties to the concept of bribes 
  and favours. There must be an 
  exchange of money, an object, 
  or the promise of a favour 
  from the magician to the other 
  party for this spell to work. 
  None.
  Improve At-
  titude
  Novice
  Befriend
  Often disguised with a pat 
  on the shoulder or a hearty 
  handshake, the Prodigals have 
  been able to use this and write 
  it off as just “one of those 
  things”. 
  None.
  Summon 
  Great Nlalg
  Journey-
  man
  Summon 
  Great 
  Nlalg
  See new spells below.
  See new spells below.
  New Spells
  Determine Components
  Tier: Initiate
  ������������������ 6
  Casting Time: 1 round
  Range: 10 yards
  Duration: Instant
  Effect: WIL + Rank
  Strain: 3
  This spell is unique to Nlalg’s followers, based on an old spell found in an early medieval 
  grimoire for alchemists and others who needed to know the precise makeup of compounds, and is 
  now used to determine the value of various products they find and to replicate the composition of 
  others. This spell allows the caster to know the constituent parts an object is made of: they can 
  identify if an object is gold or feldspar, or the chemical makeup of an alloy, for example. 
  
  93
  Chapter 3
  YZ
  Read Intent
  Tier: Initiate
  ������������������ TMD
  Casting Time: 1 round
  Range: 10 yards
  Duration: Instant 
  Effect: WIL + Rank
  Strain: 3
  The magician must be able to see the target, and focus on them for a few seconds. This 
  ability allows them to determine the target’s intention for their next immediate action, in broad 
  strokes. This does not allow them to see the future; it is merely showing their intention for their next 
  action. This spell is another Nlalg has helped his disciples develop for relatively mundane purposes. 
  They use it, most often, to give them a slight edge in business dealings. Through determining the 
  next action, they are often able to say the right thing in the middle of a business deal to defuse a 
  situation, or something in a similar vein.
  Summon Great Nlalg
  Tier: Journeyman
  ������������������ TMD
  Casting Time: Ritual, 30 minutes
  Range: 1,000 km
  Duration: Instant
  Effect: Special
  Strain: 12
  The practitioner creates a circle of bones and places one of the five summoning flutes in 
  the center. This allows them to summon Nlalg from anywhere in the astral planes to within the 
  current circle. The spirit is not bound to the circle, as that portion of the spell has been lost. 
  The practitioner must make a Spellcasting Test against Nlalg’s Mystic Defense, if it is resisting. 
  If successful, Nlalg appears. Nlalg can choose to come willingly, in which case the spell is 
  automatically successful if performed properly.
  
  94
  
  95
  Chapter 4
  1879 GAMEMASTER’S Guide
  Dragons
  “Noble dragons don’t have friends. The nearest they can get to the idea is an enemy who 
  is still alive.” 
  -Terry Pratchett
  Introduction: The Idea of Dragons
  A close look at the abilities and statistics of dragons should reveal one obvious truth: 
  the adventurers are unlikely to face anything more dangerous! The youngest of dragons is more 
  powerful than most heroes. No one in their right mind would take on a great dragon with anything 
  less than a reinforced armoured battalion, preferably with artillery support. Fortunately, only rarely 
  will adventurers find themselves facing a dragon, and likely they will never confront a great dragon 
  directly. Nonetheless, using dragons in adventures is a delicate business.
  The Gamemaster must consider carefully which dragon to use, as well as the role the dragon 
  4
  
  96
  Dragons
  should play in the adventure or campaign. Before we address these issues, we should ask one 
  question. Should dragons be this powerful?
  Absolutely.
  Dragons are the oldest and most powerful creatures in the world. Their knowledge of magic 
  is far beyond that of a world newly awakened to the possibility. Even the greatest magicians of the 
  Saurids pale in comparison to a dragon’s magical ability. High Tier adventurers should feel nervous 
  at the thought of facing off against them under any circumstance. Gamemasters should exercise great 
  care when using dragons, and ensure they don’t become just another monster. Dragons are powerful, 
  intelligent beings with their own desires and goals.
  In 1879, dragons may be allies, enemies, or puppet-masters. They function best behind the 
  scenes, spinning plots and pulling the strings of great powers. A great dragon could lay waste to a 
  country in a single night, but they prefer to act indirectly. This fact, along with their nature to act 
  alone, explains why the dragons don’t simply descend en masse against those who offend them. They 
  take a much longer view. After all, what is a century to a being who measures time in millennia?
  As a side note, when a dragon causes property damage and/or loss of life, one’s interests will 
  be served better by Chancery than the Assizes. Those bold enough to demand recompense, or a 
  blood price, will generally find the dragon willing to hold to the ancient concepts, and pay for their 
  misdeeds in gold. Those who attempt to bring charges, on the other hand, may find it difficult to 
  locate a Crown Prosecutor willing to file the papers, much less a police officer willing to place the 
  dragon under arrest. On a good day, the dragon’s response might be a chuckle and a question as 
  to which army the officer has brought to enforce the demand. On a bad day, well, now we’re back 
  to Chancery, aren’t we.
  Dragons as Allies
  Dragons are intelligent beings with their own desires and goals. These can sometimes coincide 
  with those of lesser beings, as demonstrated with Hyrdofeay’s efforts to clean up the Thames. These 
  situations allow a Gamemaster to introduce dragons as allies or patrons of the player characters.
  With their considerable knowledge of magical and mundane matters, a dragon ally can provide 
  secrets of the rich and powerful, magical knowledge, spells, and other important information. 
  Dragons are also known for having great wealth. With a dragon as patron, it is possible for 
  adventurers to have their expenses covered, as long as their actions further the dragon’s cause.
  But dragons are not known for their generosity. They give nothing away unless it benefits them 
  in some way. Gifts given to the player characters come with the expectation of loyalty and service. 
  While beneficial in the short term, an alliance with a dragon is likely to be temporary. Once the 
  dragon’s objectives have been met, support will vanish like smoke in a high wind.
  A typical arrangement might involve the dragon asking the player characters to perform a 
  specific task in exchange for some service or resource the dragon has to offer. For example, the 
  characters might seek out the great dragon Leydon in hopes of learning the location of a scroll 
  that survived the burning of Alexandria. In return, Leydon asks the characters to stymie the plans of 
  the Hesperidean Society, whose name alone offends the guardian of the Garden of the Hesperides. 
  Upon bringing proof that the Hesperideans have been thwarted, Leydon gives the player characters 
  the information they seek.
  Gamemasters can also establish more lasting relations. A dragon can serve as patron and 
  mentor for the heroes. In exchange, they serve as the dragon’s eyes and hands in society. Dragons 
  practically invented spycraft, running networks of agents.
  
  97
  Chapter 4
  While dragons usually treat their servants well, they are not bound by the culture and beliefs 
  of other races. Dragons are arrogant and often treat the lesser races as children or pets. It is not 
  uncommon for a dragon to sacrifice agents in pursuit of a goal. Heroes chosen for sacrifice will 
  likely not take the same dispassionate view of the situation as their patron. If they survive, they may 
  choose to seek revenge on their former mentor.
  Dragons as Enemies
  A dragon can be an epic foe for an 1879 campaign. They have great physical ability and 
  magical power, and the intelligence to use both well. Fighting a dragon should never be easy; such 
  a battle should be the climax of a long campaign, rather than a simple encounter.
  Fortunately, dragons rarely wait around for would-be hunters to come and find them, being 
  plotters and schemers by nature. To carry out their plans, they operate through complex networks 
  of servants and informants. The nature of dragon culture and custom keeps them aloof and separate 
  from the day-to-day affairs of mortals.
  A dragon villain works best behind the scenes. During their early adventures as low-Tier 
  heroes, the characters interact with the dragon’s servants and agents, their master’s presence virtually 
  unknown. As the characters gain power and advance in Tier, they encounter more powerful servants 
  and uncover more schemes, becoming a thorn in the dragon’s side. Eventually the heroes may gain 
  enough power to confront the dragon directly and slay it in an epic battle that shakes the earth and 
  makes the front pages of newspapers the world over. The defeat of a dragon is the stuff of legend.
  The power and nature of a dragon creates an interesting dilemma for Gamemasters, because 
  a dragon can easily kill all but the most powerful heroes. While character death – especially cheap 
  character death – is generally undesirable, the hazards of facing a dragon should not be downplayed. 
  If the characters escape unscathed every time they encounter a dragon, the significance of dragons 
  becomes diluted. The threat and danger they present to the world becomes less sincere.
  So how can a Gamemaster use a dragon as an enemy, maintaining the threat a dragon 
  represents, but not kill the characters in each adventure? Following are some suggestions for how to 
  resolve this dilemma, while remaining true to the essence of the 1879 universe.
  Dragons should be long-term opponents. They should be used over an extended campaign in 
  which the characters discover the dragon’s plans, encounter its victims, or witness its powers in use. 
  This serves two purposes. First, the players encounter the dragon indirectly. Over time, they learn 
  of its influence and ability. Second, an extended story gives the characters a chance to expand their 
  own power and experience. This makes them more able to face the dragon, or at least its servants.
  A dragon should not be something fought once and slain. Only the most experienced 
  adventurers have a chance at surviving an encounter with a dragon, let alone defeating one. Each 
  dragon presents an opportunity for a unique storyline based on the individual dragon’s attitudes and 
  goals. Allowing the characters to learn about, confront, and battle Leydon in the course of a single 
  adventure is a waste of a good opponent.
  Characters need not directly confront the dragon at all. Many dragons work through agents. 
  Some might not even be aware they serve a dragon’s goals. A series of adventures focusing on 
  disrupting the dragon’s plans allows these powerful creatures to be used without risking the lives of 
  the characters, at least too much.
  Of course, if a dragon’s plans are disrupted too often, it might just focus its attention on 
  the responsible party. This is generally a bad thing and should be used to emphasize the dangerous 
  nature of the world of 1879. Even if they survive, the characters should suffer losses of some sort 
  
  98
  Dragons
  to reinforce the power a dragon represents. It should be a significant event, destruction of their 
  home, loss of title or lands, scandal and humiliation in the press; not simply one of the players 
  needing to make a new character. Don’t let the death (or other type of loss) of a character happen 
  for no good reason. The characters in 1879 are heroes. If they are going to go down, let them go 
  down heroically!
  Customizing Dragons
  The game statistics provided in this chapter present only a rough guideline for the powers and 
  abilities of dragons. The Gamemaster should use these as a starting point, not as the final word 
  on any specific dragon. These are not simple monsters to slay; they are individuals with goals and 
  motivations.
  Gamemasters should reflect a dragon’s individuality by adjusting the abilities, attributes, 
  and Step numbers given in the examples to suit the characteristics of the dragon in question. For 
  example, if a dragon is intended to be larger than average, it might have increased physical attribute 
  Steps, Attack and Damage Steps, and similar characteristics. A dragon said to be skilled at magic 
  would have a higher Spellcasting Step. Individuals may also have different Ranks for their Skills 
  and Powers, and may have different Powers from those provided. Refer to the Special Abilities of 
  Creatures section of the Bestiary chapter, 1879 Gamemaster’s Guide, p.346, for additional Powers, 
  such as Venom.
  Remember each dragon has a unique appearance, personality, and goals. The Gamemaster 
  should consider: what sets this dragon apart? What does it want and how does it go about getting 
  it? Like any sapient being, personality and temperament can provide notable insight into the way a 
  dragon will relate to other people.
  Types of Dragons
  Dragons show considerable diversity of form and colouration, much more so than humans, 
  Boojums, and Saurids. Two hatchlings from the same clutch may resemble each other only in basic 
  morphology – having four limbs, wings, a head and a tail – and may otherwise differ in colour, 
  scale pattern, dorsal ridges or plates, whether or not they have horns or tail spikes, and so on. 
  That said, dragons classify roughly into five types, with one (Great Dragons) being an evolution of 
  
  99
  Chapter 4
  another (Common Dragons). An examination of each of these in turn is in order before going on 
  to specifics about powers, culture, and so on. 
  Western “Common” Dragons
  The first rule of common dragons is, don’t call them common dragons. They’re proud, fierce 
  entities that do not take well to the meaning of “common”, and tend to find themselves hungry 
  after encountering the word. Dropping the offensive term and simply calling them “dragons” will do, 
  but then there’s the problem of differentiating them from the other types. Thus far, no satisfactory 
  solution has been found in any Terrestrial language, although “Western dragon” at least makes 
  reference to their usual geographic origin and habitat, and does distinguish them from the Eastern 
  sorts, who also have morphological differences.
  These dragons take the form best known to people of European descent: a massive creature 
  the size of a bus, with four limbs, the forward of which can be used to some extent as arms as well 
  as legs, bat-like wings sprouting from a second shoulder girdle just behind the first that supports the 
  forelegs, a long saurian tail, and an equally long neck. Their heads are generally triangular in shape 
  as seen from above, with bony crests over the eyes flaring out to expand the wedge, and a pointed 
  snout with massive teeth that can be kept hidden in the mouth, unlike the carnivorous dinosaurs 
  some people try to compare them to. The males generally have horns, and once in a while the 
  females also, rising from the top of the skull well behind the eye ridges. Some have a ruff around 
  the base of the head that blends into a row of spines down the dorsal ridge, with others have no 
  ruff, and may have triangular plates like the stegosauria. Colouration tends to be darker down the 
  sides and back, and lighter on the belly and the undersides of the limbs, sometimes of two or more 
  hues. Tail spikes may or may not be present.
  Leviathans
  Found in the deep rivers, larger lakes, and the open ocean, leviathans have no wings, and are 
  built longer and more slender than Western dragons. Their legs have little dexterity, and their feet 
  are webbed for better navigation in their native environment. Their scales tend to be smaller and 
  more tightly overlapping, giving leviathans a wet, iridescent appearance, even out of the water. They 
  
  100
  Dragons
  tend towards oceanic colours of blue-green, with some paler and darker colours known. When they 
  leave the water, which is rare, their movement is sharply limited in speed and agility. Through the 
  use of magic, they can fly, undulating through the air as if through water, although they find this 
  tiring and use the ability only when they must. Contrary to myth, leviathans can breathe air as 
  comfortably as water. 
  Facially, they more resemble a crocodile than a land-dwelling dragon, with a long, toothy 
  snout capable of engulfing an entire school of fish at a mouthful. Their bite is their most terrible 
  weapon, although some can also strike considerable blows with their tail, and even the weakest 
  leviathan can reduce a Cornwall coastal fisher to splinters with a single attack. Their tail may also 
  include a venomous stinger, although if such is present, the dragon will normally hold it back for 
  a foe requiring such and not use it casually. 
  Eastern Dragons
  Eastern dragons are similar in appearance to leviathans in that they have no wings and long, 
  sinuous bodies, but the similarities end there. They have a fringe of whiskers along the chin and 
  back of the head, as well as a pair of horns whether male or female. Their limbs are well developed 
  and highly dexterous, as much so as those of a human or Boojum. Their senses of sight and smell 
  are similarly well developed, and they have larger eyes and nostrils than Western 
  dragons. Where Western dragons appear armour-plated, Eastern dragons have 
  small, iridescent scales in a variety of colours, green, blue, red, and 
  gold being predominant. 
  Eastern dragons swim through the air by magic 
  as leviathans do, though much more gracefully. 
  They tuck their legs up close to their bodies and 
  move with an undulating motion, constantly 
  swirling through the air, demonstrating their 
  mastery of the winds. They tend to have 
  their lairs in high places exposed to the 
  air, such as mountain peaks. A few of 
  the greater Eastern dragons have used 
  elemental magic to sculpt cloud palaces 
  high above the earth, elaborate structures 
  quite unlike the simple network of caves 
  associated with Western dragons. 
  Feathered Serpents
  Found from Mexihco down through 
  Central America and well into the South American 
  continent, feathered serpents vaguely resemble the 
  Eastern dragons, but have only one pair of forelimbs, 
  no hind legs, and a great pair of feathered wings. Their 
  bodies are also covered in feathers, with a ruff around 
  the neck and a tuft at the end of the tail, all in brilliant 
  colours, blue, green, red, yellow, and purple all being 
  possible in a single dragon. Overall, they are smaller than 
  
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  Eastern dragons, which makes them the smallest of the four primary types in general. One should 
  not underestimate them though, as they are still dragons, capable of great and powerful magic and 
  tremendously strong. As well, feathered serpents have venomous fangs, and a similarly venomous 
  spine hidden in the feathers at the end of their tail, of a particular virulence. 
  Tradition holds that feathered serpents are adept with illusion magic, both of the physical and 
  mental variety. Looking back into Meso-American mythology, these dragons were revered as gods, 
  and served both by scholars and by priests who offered blood sacrifices. What the true nature of 
  these beings may be, especially in such a different world than that of Kukulkan and Quetzalcoatl, 
  remains to be seen.
  Great Dragons
  Not a separate species, but an evolution, 
  Great Dragons may occur within any of the 
  previously described four types. As 
  dragons age, they continue to grow, 
  physically, magically, in knowledge, 
  and in power. There comes a point 
  where a dragon is recognised by 
  its fellows as an elder, one who 
  has gained the wisdom and 
  subtlety required to provide 
  leadership and guidance 
  to the younger of their 
  kind, and where those 
  already acknowledged 
  as Great Dragons 
  accept a new peer.
  In general terms, 
  a 
  Great 
  Dragon 
  has at least twice the 
  physical strength and endurance 
  of a younger one. They may be 
  able to control their fiery breath with 
  considerable precision, able to pop a 
  kettle of popcorn without scorching a 
  single kernel. Their Dragonspeech will 
  reach further, and delve deeper into the 
  minds of lesser beings. They may be able 
  to create new magical effects not before 
  seen whenever they need to. More than 
  any of this, though, their knowledge of the 
  world stretches back for thousands of years. 
  Great Dragons will have done and seen more 
  than any being born since the turning of the last 
  millennium. Their plans stretch back behind them into 
  
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  Dragons
  distant aeons, and forward into all the possible futures. Attempting to outwit a Great Dragon would 
  require a mind more subtle than the greatest Go master Nippon has ever brought forth.
  Dragon Powers
  All dragons have Armored Scales, Dragonsight, Dragonspeech, Karma, and Spellcasting. 
  They may also possess other powers, depending on their age and status. As a dragon ages, it 
  develops new powers and improves existing ones. Great Dragons often have all of these powers (and 
  more). There are no hard and fast rules for what additional powers a dragon may have, as each one 
  is a unique individual.
  Armored Scales
  Step: NA
  Action: NA 
  A dragon’s armoured hide provides great physical and magical protection against attack. 
  Damage resulting from extra successes on attacks is reduced by one Step per success. For example, 
  under normal circumstances an attack with a melee weapon with two extra successes does +4 
  damage. Against a dragon with Armored Scales, this only does +2 damage, each extra success 
  losing one Step of staging. This damage reduction also applies to spells that deal extra damage 
  with additional successes.
  Dispel Magic
  Step: Rank  +  WIL
  Action: Simple 
  Because of their innate understanding of magical forces, dragons can disrupt magical effects 
  at will. This power works like the Dispel Magic Skill (1879 Players Guide, p.194), but is a Simple 
  Action, and has a range of 30 yards.
  Additionally, this power can be used to dispel the magical effects of Skills and creature 
  powers (including spirit and dragon powers) with a sustained duration. Use the Skill or power’s 
  Step Number as the Tier on the Dispel Difficulty Table (1879 Players Guide, p.367) to determine 
  the Target Number for the Dispel Magic Test, where Initiate = 1, Novice = 2-4, Journeyman = 5-9, 
  Warden = 10-12, and Master = 13-15. If a creature power or ability Step Number is higher than 15, 
  add +1 to the Dispel Difficulty for each Step above 15. For example, a power with Step 17 would 
  have a Dispel Difficulty of 24 (22 + 2).
  Disrupt Fate
  Step: Rank  +  WIL
  Action: Free 
  This power allows the dragon to alter the fate of other creatures. The dragon spends a Karma 
  Point and then makes a Disrupt Fate Test against the Mystic Defense of a target within line of 
  sight. If successful, the target must immediately repeat the most recent Test made. The new Test 
  result stands and cannot be disrupted a second time.
  As long as the dragon has Karma Points available, it may make as many Disrupt Fate tests 
  
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  as there are targets, but only one Test per target in a combat round. Spending the Karma Point 
  entitles the dragon to use this ability; the dragon’s Karma Step is not added to the Test.
  Dominate Beast
  Step: Rank  +  WIL
  Action: Standard 
  The dragon can control animals through a combination of intimidation and mental control. 
  The dragon makes a Dominate Beast Test against the Mystic Defense of any animal (or the highest 
  Mystic Defense in a group of animals) the dragon wishes to control, the only limit being that the 
  target beasts must be within line of sight. If successful, the dragon controls the target creatures for 
  a number of minutes equal to its Dominate Beast Step.
  An animal under the effect of this power will not take any hostile action against the dragon, 
  and will perform one simple task for the dragon that does not exceed the duration of the power. 
  Attempts by player characters or GMCs to dominate or control a beast under the effect of this 
  power must exceed the result of the dragon’s Dominate Beast Test.
  Dragon Breath
  Step: Rank  + 15
  Action: Simple 
  Dragons are notorious, and rightfully feared, for their fiery breath. Most Western cultures 
  have tales of a furious dragon raining destruction down on villages, towns, or cities. Dragon Breath 
  targets everything within a 90-degree arc, using the dragon’s mouth as the arc’s center. The distance 
  the flame extends is based on how much Strain the dragon is willing to take, as indicated on the 
  Dragon Breath Table.
  Dragon Breath Table
  Strain
  Range
  1
  10 yards
  5
  20 yards
  15
  40 yards
  30
  60 yards
  The dragon makes a Dragon Breath Test and compares the result against the Mystic Defense 
  of each target within the area of effect. All affected targets take damage equal to the Test result, 
  reduced by Physical Armor. The flames last for one round per success on the dragon’s Dragon 
  Breath Test. The dragon makes a new Dragon Breath Test for damage each round, which is applied 
  to all affected targets.
  Dragon Breath damages and burns items, including armour and weapons. Damage is applied 
  to the Barrier Rating of the item each round, potentially rendering them useless, though magical 
  items are only affected if the dragon’s Dragon Breath test equals or exceeds the item’s Mystic 
  Defense. Armour and weapons suffer 2 points of damage each round they are exposed to the flames, 
  with the losses being spread as evenly as possible among the item’s ratings. For example, fernweave 
  
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  Dragons
  armour would lose 1 point each from its Physical and Mystic Armor each round.
  If an item’s Barrier Rating, a weapon’s Damage Step, a shield’s Physical Defense bonus, 
  or a suit of armour’s Armor Rating(s) are reduced to 0, the item is destroyed. If an item is not 
  completely destroyed, damage may be repaired as normal (1879 Players Guide, p. 278 for damaged 
  weapons, p. 293 for armour and shields).
  Dragonsight
         Step: Rank  +  PER
         Action: Simple 
          Dragons can view astral space, with Dragonsight working like the Astral Sight Skill (1879 
  Players Guide, p. 183), without the Strain requirement. Dragonsight has the same range as the 
  dragon’s physical vision, giving it a massive advantage over Astral Sight. The dragon makes a 
  Dragonsight Test as an astral sensing Test. For more information about the use of astral sensing 
  abilities, see Astral Sensing in the 1879 Players Guide, p. 341.
  Dragonspeech
  Step: Rank  +  CHA
  Action: Free (Special, see below)
  Dragonspeech allows dragons to transmit thoughts directly to any being within range (line 
  of sight for entities the dragon has not previously met, Rank x 100 miles for known entities). 
  The dragon can also send simple images as well as speech through its mental link. Dragonspeech 
  transcends language, allowing a dragon to communicate with another being whether or not it 
  normally understands the subject’s language. The target hears the dragon as an echoing ‘voice’ in 
  their head and recognizes it as the dragon. In turn, the dragon can ‘hear’ the target’s reply, whether 
  it’s spoken aloud or thought about with the intent of the dragon hearing it. There’s an entire suite 
  of etiquette involved in dragons using Dragonspeech to communicate with each other. Mortals don’t 
  qualify for that level of politeness.
  Dragonspeech can be used to communicate with spirits. Use this power in place of Spirit 
  Talk or Elemental Tongues for negotiations. Dragonspeech can also be used in place of the Read 
  Thoughts and Read Memories spells (1879 Players Guide, pp.389, 390). Range for both effects 
  is line of sight, casting time is instant, and there is no Strain cost. Use the Dragonspeech Rank 
  to replace Spellcasting Rank. Targets of the Read Memories effect suffer some discomfort, with a 
  feeling as if their head is a file cabinet and the dragon is riffling through it.
  Fear
  Step: Rank + CHA
  Action: Free
  Dragons project an intimidating, even terrifying presence. The dragon can at any time make 
  a Fear Test against the Mystic Defense of all characters within 40 yards. If successful against a 
  given character, the target suffers a -2 Step penalty per success scored on the dragon’s Fear Test on 
  all Tests the character makes against the dragon until the next sunrise or sunset (whichever comes 
  first). This power cannot be used against a target again until the duration has expired, even if it was 
  initially ineffective.
  
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  Karma Cancel
  Step: Rank  +  WIL
  Action: Simple (see below)
  Karma Cancel allows a dragon to override another character’s use of Karma. The dragon 
  makes a Karma Cancel Test against the Mystic Defense of a target character within line of sight. If 
  successful, the dragon may spend a Karma Point to cancel the target’s use of Karma on any Test 
  as a Free Action until the next sunrise or sunset (whichever comes first), whether or not the target 
  remains within line of sight. No further Test is necessary – the dragon simply spends a Karma 
  Point to nullify the target’s Karma expenditure. If a target spends multiple Karma Points on a Test 
  (for example, when using the True Shot Skill), the dragon must spend the same number of points 
  to cancel them.
  Karma Points
  Step: Special (see text)
  Action: NA
  All dragons have Karma, with a Step indicated by the value in parentheses after the Karma 
  power in the description, and a Karma Modifier of 4, which is multiplied by the dragon’s Karma 
  Step since dragons have no Professional Rank. Dragons may spend Karma on any Test. Unless 
  otherwise noted by a particular power, a dragon may only spend one point of Karma per Test. 
  Dragons regenerate one fourth of their Karma per day.
  Lair Sense
  Step: Rank  +  PER
  Action: Free
  Dragons can easily notice intruders anywhere within their lair, the place they have claimed as 
  their home. This means that Hyrdofeay can sense intruders in Westminster. Any time a character in 
  a dragon’s lair performs an Action that requires a Test, the dragon makes a Lair Sense Test against 
  the character’s Mystic Defense. If successful, the dragon knows the character’s location and what 
  they have just done. This power can only be used against any given target once every ten minutes. 
  Dragons often set traps in their lairs to take advantage of this power, forcing characters to take direct 
  action against the trap and thus reveal their presence.
  Poison
  Step: Rank  +  TOU
  Action: NA 
  Dragons with this power are able to damage a victim with poison. Some dragons have 
  venomous fangs; others have a stinger on their tail or glands that inject venom with their claws. If 
  the target takes damage from an envenomed attack, they must resist the poison’s effects. Dragon 
  venom is typically a damaging poison, but may be of any variety. Some dragons even have a 
  combination of poison types. See Poison in the 1879 Gamemaster’s Guide, p.239, for more 
  information on the game statistics provided. A single character can only suffer from one use of the 
  Poison power at a time.
  
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  Dragons
  Regeneration
  Step: Rank  +  TOU
  Action: Simple
  Dragons may heal damage at any time by making a Regeneration Test and reducing their 
  Current Damage by the result. Use of this power costs the dragon a Recovery Test and 1 Karma 
  Point. The Karma Point spent does not add a Karma die to the Test. This power may also be used 
  to heal a Wound instead of reducing Current Damage.
  Skills
  Step: Special (see text)
  Action: Special (see text)
  Dragons may know any Skill in any 1879 sourcebook. Refer to the Skills chapter on p.169 
  of the 1879 Players Guide for a description of the more common Skills and how they work.
  Spellcasting
  Step: Rank  +  PER
  Action: Standard 
  Dragons have an inherent ability to manipulate the energy of astral space, and as a result cast 
  spells. The dragon doesn’t need to have learned the Base Spell or KAV. It simply shapes astral 
  energy to its will and the spell happens. 
  Dragons cast all spells with the following modifications. 
  Astral Condition TN Adjustment: Dragons take no TN Modifier for Open, +1 for Tainted, 
  and +2 for Corrupt.
  Focus TN Adjustment: Dragons gain an extra point of advantage, while Great Dragons gain 
  double advantage from having a Focus. For example, normally a blood sample grants a -2 reduction 
  to the Target Number. If a Western dragon has a blood sample from the target, they gain a 
  reduction of -3 to the Target Number for the spell, while a Great Dragon with a blood link would 
  gain a reduction of -4 to the Target Number.
  Base Strain: Reduce Base Strain by half for adult dragons, and to one-fourth for Great 
  Dragons.
  Raw Magic Warping: Dragons do not check for warping in Safe or Open areas. Adult dragons 
  reduce the Warping and Damage Steps by half in Tainted and Corrupt areas. Great Dragons reduce 
  the Warping Steps for Tainted and Corrupt to 2 and 3, and the Damage Steps to 3 and 4.
  Casting Time: Because dragons have direct access to mana, Casting Time is reduced. 
  Hatchlings still require the same amount of time as mortals, using the Casting Time as listed for 
  the Base Spell or KAV. Adult dragons cast all non-ritual spells as Simple Actions. Great dragons 
  cast all non-ritual spells as Free Actions, their only restriction being their Actions per combat round. 
  Yes, this means the great dragon Hyrdofeay, with 5 Actions, can cast 5 spells in a single combat 
  round, and still take 5 physical Actions.
  
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  Chapter 4
  Spells
  Step: Special (see text)
  Action: NA
  Dragons are natural-born spellcasters, with an inherent knowledge of the workings of 
  magic. They do not know spells in the same way as mortal magicians. As described above under 
  Spellcasting, the dragon simply shapes astral energy into the desired form. The Spells power 
  represents the maximum Tier of spell effects the dragon can produce, and so is listed as Novice, 
  Journeyman, Warden, or Master, instead of a number. Dragons may use any spell in the 1879 game 
  world of their Tier or lower.
  Suppress Magic
  Step: Rank  +  WIL
  Action: Standard 
  Some dragons have developed their ability to shape magic to the point where they can 
  interfere with the use of magic by other creatures. The dragon makes a Suppress Magic Test against 
  the Mystic Defense of the target, which must be within 30 yards and line of sight. If successful, the 
  target takes a -2 Step penalty per success to magical Skills, damage from magical weapons, and any 
  other magic use. Enchanted armour and weapons cannot have their protection or damage decreased 
  below their base ratings. For example, a heavy revolver enhanced with Forge Firearm cannot have its 
  Damage Step taken below 8 by this power.
  The effect lasts until the next sunrise or sunset (whichever comes first) and may only be used 
  against a given target once per day. Dragons can selectively use this ability to suppress a specific 
  type of magic, such as Skills, magic items or spells, instead of suppressing all types.
  Wingbeat
  Step: Rank  +  STR
  Action: Standard
  Dragons with wings can use them to knock over opponents. The dragon makes a Wingbeat 
  Test against all characters in a 10-yard long 90-degree arc. All characters within the area of effect 
  must make a Knockdown Test against the dragon’s Wingbeat Test result. If a character fails the 
  Knockdown Test, they are knocked back a number of yards equal to the amount by which they 
  failed the Test. For example, a character failing the Knockdown Test by 8 is knocked back 8 yards.
  Draconic Culture
  As with humans and Boojums of different nations, different types of dragons have unique 
  cultures, but there are some commonalities that are worth mentioning. Knowing the basic rules of 
  draconic society and etiquette may mean the difference between leaving the lair on foot, or in half 
  a dozen small boxes.
  
  108
  Dragons
  Language
  The Draconic language is partly spoken, although with the Dragonspeech power, and partly 
  a matter of posture. The young are taught several hundred Postures, ways of standing, sitting, 
  holding their wings, and learn to communicate a great deal with the tilt of their head, a widening 
  or narrowing of the eyes, and other subtle cues. Like the pitch of the voice in an atonal language, 
  the posture of the dragon adds meaning, turning what could have been a statement into a question, 
  or a query into a flat declaration that the one being questioned already knows the answer, and all 
  that is sought is confirmation. Those who are not of draconic nature, and do not have the necessary 
  anatomy, simply cannot learn Draconic properly. Badly spoken Draconic may be taken as an insult.
  The good news is that dragons have an apparently infinite capacity for learning the languages 
  of lesser beings. They generally regard it as polite to speak to each person in that person’s native 
  tongue, and so can be counted on to be fluent in English, French, German, Mandarin, Hindi, 
  Kannada, Xhosa, or whatever else is needed. If all else fails, Dragonspeech bypasses the issue of 
  language entirely, allowing direct mind to mind communication in which each person involved hears 
  everything said in their own native language. 
  Forms and Formalities
  Etiquette, it is said, is the grease in the machinery of society. Knowing the proper form for 
  addressing a dragon based on its type, origin, age, and so on, contributes substantially to making 
  a good first or lasting impression. Performing the correct rituals for greetings, departures, and 
  petitioning for favours shows respect for the dragon, and may grant the petitioner an edge in gaining 
  what they want from the meeting. When dragons speak directly with each other, or much more rarely 
  meet face to face, observing the proper forms and formalities keeps the encounter from turning 
  bloody and possibly causing collateral damage to the nearest town. 
  Leviathans tend to observe the formalities only with each other, having little interest, if any, in 
  life on the surface. Earth long ago lost its aquatic lesser cultures, and so the leviathans have had no 
  one to reawaken the ancient memories of the forms involved in dealing with them. Approaching a 
  leviathan requires great caution, and a willingness to put on enough of a show of respect to gain the 
  dragon’s attention, as they tend to ignore anything that isn’t a threat, a meal, or another leviathan. 
  With the last, or a surface-dwelling dragon, the meeting is likely to start with a Rite of Challenge or 
  a Rite of Courtship, as leviathans rarely approach each other except to fight for territory or to mate.
  Eastern dragons, on the other hand, relish the attention and adoration of lesser races, building 
  elaborate palaces or taking on servants to do so, and populating them with sages, poets, musicians, 
  athletes, and entertainers of various stripes. Resuming their culture from aeons ago has been easier 
  due to the long memory of the East, and the surviving myths and traditions the Eastern dragons 
  have been able to tie into and reawaken. On their appearance, many people swore themselves into 
  the dragons’ service, and more gathered in hopes of being hired on as guards, mercenaries, builders, 
  and the like. The dragons in turn have taken up their legendary positions as patrons of the arts, 
  sponsors of great works of scholarship, and near-divine entities residing in celestial palaces, or at 
  least elaborate lairs built in the heights of the mountains.
  Their emphasis on manners and decorum reflects the cultures that surround them, and may 
  form some of the basis for the Japanese and Chinese insistence on formality (while this may be 
  stereotypical, it is an extremely pervasive view held for this time period). Their rites and rituals are 
  more complex and cover more situations than those of Western dragons. Spending the time to study 
  
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  Chapter 4
  their etiquette is critical to the success of any audience with them. Knowledge of the arts, of history 
  and science, and a talent for conversation will also win points. Those who can pay the appropriate 
  compliments to the delicate pottery and fine jade sculptures in the dragon’s lair, without being overly 
  effusive or directly flattering to the host, will rise in the dragon’s estimation.
  Little is known of the etiquette of feathered serpents. Perhaps those with ancestry leading back 
  to the Toltecs, the Olmecs, and other native peoples of Central and South America will be able to 
  determine how to treat with beings found in the legends of their forebears. Maybe a new role will 
  arise for the feathered serpents in the radically different world they have awakened to, after the fall 
  of so many great civilizations and the rise to dominance of the European colonizers.
  Great Dragons hold the position of elders within each type of dragon. They care for the eggs 
  of their type, younger dragons bringing theirs to the Great Dragons to be added to the clutch for 
  safety. They carry forward the traditions, and teach the young the Rites and Rituals necessary to 
  the survival of their species. They guard the past, the troves of knowledge gathered by dragonkind 
  over millennia, making sure that ancient secrets are neither forgotten, nor learned by those who are 
  not ready for both the impact and the responsibility. Each Great Dragon is a rule unto themselves, 
  and has the right to determine how they should be approached, addressed, and bargained with. One 
  should never assume that because one has dealt with a Great Dragon before, that the experience will 
  be in any way applicable to the next.
  Dragons of Britain and Western Europe
  Later works will explore the dragons of other lands, and may introduce new dragons in the 
  British Isles and northern/western Europe.
  Average Statistics
  Western “Common” Dragon
  DEX: 18 
  STR: 25 TOU: 27
  PER: 19 
  WIL: 22 CHA: 20
  Initiative: 21 Physical Defense: 25
  Actions: 1 
  Mystic Defense: 22
  Attack: 23 Social Defense: 20
  Damage: 
  Physical Armor: 29
  Bite 32; 2 × Claws 30 Mystic Armor: 14
  Death: 240 Recovery Tests: 13
  Unconsciousness: 220 Knockdown: 27
  Wound Threshold: 41 Movement: 8/20 *
  Adventure Award: Master Tier x 2 (Group)
  Powers: Armored Scales (7); Disrupt Fate 25; Dragon Breath 25; Dragonsight 25; 
  Dragonspeech 25; Fear 25; Karma (10); Karma Cancel 25; Lair Sense 20; Regeneration 10; Spells 
  (Warden); Suppress Magic 8; Venom 25; Wingbeat 30
  Skills: Dispel Magic 23; Spellcasting 23; Summon 23
  Karma Points: 40
  Loot: Magical items and a hoard of coins, gems, artwork, and other valuables worth around 
  £300,000
  * The second value is the dragon’s flying Movement Rate.
  
  110
  Dragons
  Leviathan
  DEX: 15 
  STR: 25 TOU: 25
  PER: 12 
  WIL: 20 CHA: 15
  Initiative: 16 Physical Defense: 25
  Actions: 3 Mystic Defense: 20
  Attack: 16 
  Social Defense: 15
  Damage: 
  Physical Armor: 25
  Bite 30; 2 × Claws 25; Tail 15 Mystic Armor: 10
  Death: 220 Recovery Tests: 12
  Unconsciousness: 200 Knockdown: NA
  Wound Threshold: 38 Movement: 4/15/10 *
  Adventure Award: Master Tier x 3 (Group)
  Powers: Armored Scales (6); Disrupt Fate 25; Dragon Breath 25; Dragonsight 25; 
  Dragonspeech 25; Fear 25; Karma (10); Regeneration 10; Spells (Warden)
  Skills: Dispel Magic 14; Spellcasting 14; Summon 14
  Karma Points: 40
  Loot: Magical items and a hoard of coins, gems, and other water-resistant valuables worth 
  around £100,000
  * The second value is the dragon’s Swimming Movement Rate, and the third is Flying.
  Eastern Dragon
  DEX: 14 
  STR: 27 TOU: 24
  PER: 28 
  WIL: 28 CHA: 25
  Initiative: 26 Physical Defense: 24
  Actions: 3 Mystic Defense: 30
  Attack: 20 Social Defense: 28
  Damage: 
  Physical Armor: 22
  Bite 38; 2 × Claws 35 Mystic Armor: 16
  Death: 200 Recovery Tests: 12
  Unconsciousness: 559 Knockdown: 27
  Wound Threshold: 38 Movement: 7/25 *
  Adventure Award: Master Tier x 2 (Group)
  Powers: Armored Scales (5); Disrupt Fate 25; Dragon Breath 30; Dragonsight 25; 
  Dragonspeech 25; Fear 25; Karma (15); Lair Sense 25; Regeneration 13; Spells (Master); Suppress 
  Magic 10
  Skills: Dispel Magic 35; Spellcasting 35; Summon 35
  Karma Points: 60
  Loot: Magical items and historical artefacts, some from thousands of years ago, and a hoard 
  of coins, gems, artwork, scrolls, books, and other valuables worth around £300,000
  * The second value is the dragon’s flying Movement Rate.
  
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  Chapter 4
  Feathered Serpent
  DEX: 18 
  STR: 23 TOU: 23
  PER: 22 
  WIL: 25 CHA: 25
  Initiative: 23 Physical Defense: 23
  Actions: 3 Mystic Defense: 27
  Attack: 23 Social Defense: 24
  Damage: 
  Physical Armor: 20
  Bite 30; 2 × Claws 28 Mystic Armor: 15
  Death: 200 Recovery Tests: 11
  Unconsciousness: 175 Knockdown: 23
  Wound Threshold: 35 Movement: 7/22 *
  Adventure Award: Master Tier x 2 (Group)
  Powers: Armored Scales (5); Disrupt Fate 25; Dragon Breath 25; Dragonsight 20; 
  Dragonspeech 20; Fear 20; Karma (12); Lair Sense 20; Regeneration 10; Spells (Warden); Suppress 
  Magic 10; Venom 25; Wingbeat 23
  Skills: Dispel Magic 28; Spellcasting 28; Summon 28
  Karma Points: 48
  Loot: Magical items and a hoard of precious metals, gems, and other valuables worth around 
  £300,000
  * The second value is the dragon’s flying Movement Rate.
  Hyrdofeay
  Pronounced “hear-doh-fee-ay”, with the stress on the second syllable, and properly spoken with 
  something of a West Anglia accent, Hyrdofeay proclaims himself the Guardian of the Thames and 
  Thames Basin. His colouration matches that of the river, which means right now he’s a purulent, 
  slightly iridescent brown flecked with peculiar shades of yellow, and quite irked about it. He’s about 
  the size of a pair of double-decker buses laid end to end, which, coupled with his Fear aura, produces 
  an appearance sufficiently off-putting to discourage all but the most determined visitors.
  When he takes mortal form, he prefers that of a tall, elegant human, clean shaven, with skin 
  the same brown as his scales and hair the iron-grey of the Channel. (He does not advertise the 
  fact that he can actually control his skin and hair colour, as well as his race and gender, in casting 
  a Transform Self, as can any dragon.) It was in this form, and dressed in a bespoke Savile Row 
  that cost more than a baronet’s household budget, that he addressed Parliament on 20 July 1879, 
  briefly discussing the state of the Thames in highly pejorative terms, and advising Parliament that 
  he expected them to do their duty. 
  The previous day, Lord Sedgmore had responded to Hyrdofeay’s written summons to a joint 
  session in the Commons with what was perhaps an overly tart reply that only the sovereign could 
  call a joint session and then only in the Lords. Hyrdofeay turned up at Lord Sedgmore’s London 
  townhouse in full draconic form. He gave the household staff three minutes to evacuate the building, 
  then levelled it with a single blast of dragonfire. After containing the blaze magically so that it did 
  not spread to the neighbourhood, he gave each member of the staff a purse of a hundred guineas 
  as recompense for the loss of their personal belongings, and noted that Lord Sedgmore could file 
  suit against him in Chancery if he felt it appropriate. Lord Sedgmore did not.
  
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  A few of the more brazen backbenchers, however, and a clark of the chancellor’s staff who 
  had not previously been thought to have quite so much spine, told off Hyrdofeay for daring to 
  address Parliament without being on either the electoral or tax rolls. The dragon left the Commons, 
  went up to the top floor of Victoria Tower, took down the flagstaff, and informed Parliament by 
  dragonspeech that he had established a residence. A few days later, Mr. Fairchild paid him a social 
  call, then informed Parliament of his own opinion, that while the Knights of the Grail could 
  dislodge the dragon, the destruction of Victoria Tower and the loss of the archives of Parliament, 
  still being reconstructed after the 1834 fire, would be a near certainty. Since then, Queen Victoria 
  has not been able to make a proper entrance to the House of Lords, as the Sovereign’s Standard 
  cannot be raised over Victoria Tower. She has made her displeasure with Parliament over this breach 
  in tradition known.
  Hyrdofeay has since bought property, including a townhome in Holborn, gained the liberty 
  of the City, retained a highly reputable accounting firm to make sure that all appropriate taxes are 
  paid, and filed proof of his residency within the boundaries of Londinium (requiring the clark’s 
  office to bring in, with some discomfiture, a Catholic priest to translate the document’s Roman-era 
  Latin). He still won’t let anyone into the top floor of Victoria Tower, and takes up residence there 
  whenever Parliament is in session. His investments tend to be either property along the watercourses 
  of London and its surrounding region, sometimes with the goal of squeezing out tenants he finds 
  objectionable, or firms engaged in improving the quality of the Thames and its tributaries. His 
  authority apparently does not extend out past the estuary, as he has shown no interest in the 
  Channel, once commenting in passing those waters were “her problem”, but declining to specify 
  who he meant.
  The aristocracy has added him to the invitation lists, albeit with some trepidation, and in 
  return the dragon has organised a charity gala of his own, benefiting the Sewer Workers’ Relief 
  Fund. While he has not snubbed anyone from his list, those engaged in business activities at cross 
  purposes with those of the dragon find their invitations suggesting a markedly higher donation to the 
  charity. An excellent dancer, a wine and art connoisseur with encyclopedic knowledge of the fields, 
  and a gifted conversationalist, Hyrdofeay has acquitted himself magnificently on the social stage, 
  the only whiff of scandal being the protégé he has recently taken, a young woman from a mining 
  family in Cornwall whom he has raised from a Parliamentary page to something of an assistant and 
  representative. Tamsin Quick has proven herself a fast learner, but her origins are still held against 
  her by some of the older guard.
  Those who have gotten to know him describe his sense of humour as arch and acerbic, his 
  fashion sense as rivalling that of Brummel, and his business sense to be as ruthless and cold-blooded 
  as one might expect. Anyone with news of particular interest, a business deal that would advance his 
  aims, or an introduction to an exclusive tailor, can get an appointment with him and might actually 
  emerge only slightly shaken. Those who waste his time consider themselves lucky to survive the 
  encounter. Hyrdofeay very rarely resorts to physical violence, noting that generally putting one head 
  up on a stick is sufficient warning to all others, but his sarcastic disapproval is caustic enough to 
  take off skin in broad strips. Don’t ask for his attention without proper cause.
  
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  Chapter 4
  Draconic Form
  DEX: 22 
  STR: 30 TOU: 29
  PER: 27 
  WIL: 27 CHA: 25
  Initiative: 25 Physical Defense: 32
  Actions: 5 Mystic Defense: 40
  Attack (8): 30 
  Social Defense: 37
  Damage: 
  Physical Armor: 31
  Bite (11): 41; 2 × Claws (13): 43 Mystic Armor: 34
  Death: 719 Recovery Tests: 14
  Unconsciousness: 603 Knockdown: 30
  Wound Threshold: 44 Movement: 7/24 *
  Adventure Award: Master Tier x 3 (Group)
  Powers: Armored Scales (9); Disrupt Fate (5): 32; Dragon Breath (12): 27; Dragonsight (7): 
  34; Dragonspeech (6): 31; Fear (7): 32; Karma (18); Karma Cancel (6): 33; Lair Sense (7): 34; 
  Regeneration (3): 30; Spells (Master); Suppress Magic (5): 32; Wingbeat (9): 39
  Skills: Dispel Magic (12): 39; Durability (15); Spellcasting (13): 40;  Summon (10): 37
  Karma Points: 72
  Loot: Magical items and historical artefacts, some from thousands of years ago, and a hoard 
  of coins, gems, artwork, and other valuables worth around £25,000,000 **
  * The second value is the dragon’s flying Movement Rate.
  ** The 1880 UK Defense Budget was approximately £22m.
  Y Ddraig Goch
  For the non-Welsh speaker, the pronunciation of thes name will likely cause some consterna-
  tion. The exact tones don’t properly translate to English, but the closest phonetic approximation 
  is something like “Ah Thraig Gok”. Even this has its failings.  The sound from the Y is not 
  heavily emphasised, more of a subtle tone that tends to be pronounced quickly without much 
  pause before saying the rest of the name and inded, in many writings is left out entirely).  The 
  sound produced by a “dd” is not quite the same as that of a full “th”, but is sort of a mix with a 
  standard “d” noise, with more emphasis on the former.  The g at the end of Ddraig also tends to 
  trail off a bit in the pronunciation, almost leaving a bit of an air gap between it and the next g, 
  which has a much sharper start.  Finally, the “ch” at the end of the Goch is produced more with 
  a sort of gutteral sound at the back of the throat.  Those wishing for an easier reference could 
  simply refer to him as “The Red Dragon”, since that is the translation, though if meeting with 
  him and wanting to make a good impression, it’s best to actually learn to pronounce his name 
  properly.
  ���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������
  ������������� 
  – Djehuty Jones
  The Welsh dragon’s awakening surprised quite a lot of people who thought he was just a 
  handy symbol from the Ninth Century Historia Brittonum, representing the indigenous British 
  tribes the Saxons failed to conquer and who became the Welsh. In early 1880, Frank and Stanley 
  Elmore, having invented a new flotation process for extracting copper from ore, had installed their 
  prototype equipment at the Sygun mine on the Afon Glaslyn, less than a mile downstream from 
  
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  Dragons
  Llyn Dinas and the hill of Dinas Emrys. The increased efforts of the miners, to bring up enough 
  ore to feed the new machinery, drove a new shaft northward, coming up against a wall of basalt 
  that shouldn’t have been there, geologically speaking. Upon setting off a blasting charge, the 
  miners breached the hibernation lair of Y Ddraig Goch. The abruptly awakened dragon spared the 
  miners, who spoke Welsh, but killed the Elmore brothers and their English-speaking engineering 
  crew, then took up residence on Dinas Emrys for the next few weeks. He took some of the min-
  ers into his employ straight away, and had them haul up enough of his hoard from his hiberna-
  tion chamber to purchase the Glaslyn valley up through the north end of Llyn Dinas. Months 
  later, he settled out of court with the heirs of the Elmore family, agreeing to a blood price in 
  gold for the fatalities, and buying the flotation process from the family along with the mine. 
  Since then, Y Ddraig Goch has made a considerable sum selling the process to the Mormons in 
  Deseret, and to South American copper mining concerns in Chile and Peru.
  Toward the end of the year, Y Ddraig Goch moved to Cardigan Castle in Aberteifi, buying 
  the property outright from the Bowen family. (Coincidentally, Cardigan Castle is right across 
  Green Street from a pub called the Grosvenor.) He has granted a limited number of interviews 
  with journalists, providing they speak fluent Welsh, in which he has stated categorically the White 
  Dragon, his ancient rival, is long since dead, and that his principle concerns are the advancement 
  of modern Welsh people and their culture. Among other proclamations, he has demanded that the 
  Eisteddfod be returned to Cardigan, as the first Eisteddfod was held there and the tradition should 
  come home. While this has not yet happened, the National Eisteddfod Council is considering 
  accepting the dragon’s offer of hosting and relocation of the National Eisteddfod from Denbigh. 
  Y Ddraig Goch has also established a genealogical research centre at Cardigan, in the old guild 
  hall at Pendre and Priory Streets, and is building an Engine facility backing up to it on Upper 
  Mwldan, where ancestral records will be stored in algorithmic form for more efficient correlation 
  and searching.
  “What he doesn’t say is what he’s doing with the old records. Y Ddraig Goch, like all 
  dragons, holds a grudge for centuries. He’s been searching out the descendants of Vortigern 
  and Llwyllyn the Last and providing them with coin, and talking about restoring the old 
  ruling line of Gwynedd. Te lines of Lludd, king of Britain, and Llefelys of France have 
  been diminishing of late, with no solid evidence to back the idea that the dragon is taking 
  vengeance on their descendants for the mead pit, but there it is.”
  – Owain ap Grufydd of Llandeilo
  Y Ddraig Goch, as his name suggests, is red from nose to tail, dark crimson over his back 
  and sides, brilliant scarlet underneath. The joints of his wings and legs are a dark blood-red, and he 
  has points like  a cat of the same hue, markings around his eyes, along the sides and backs of his 
  ears, and the edges of the spines down his neck. He rarely takes human form, but when he does 
  appears of solid Welsh stock, a bit round of face, with dark eyes and hair, and an olive cast to his 
  complexion. Like other dragons, when in human form he dresses very well indeed, in bespoke suits 
  or traditional Welsh jacket, breeches, woollen stockings, and a low-crowned black hat with a wide, 
  floppy brim. He’ll always have a splash of red about him somewhere, his neckerchief or tie or hat 
  ribbon. In person, he’s charming, well spoken and more widely read than one might expect, although 
  most conversant with Welsh literature, and likely to threaten more in subtext than directly. He sings 
  
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  high tenor, and has been known to join the crowd at the Grosvenor if they’re singing in Welsh.
  Draconic Form
  DEX: 20 
  STR: 28 TOU: 25
  PER: 25 
  WIL: 26 CHA: 27
  Initiative: 22 Physical Defense: 29
  Actions: 5 Mystic Defense: 37
  Attack (8): 28 
  Social Defense: 40
  Damage: 
  Physical Armor: 28
  Bite (10): 38; 2 × Claws (11): 39 
  Mystic Armor: 31
  Death: 617 Recovery Tests: 12
  Unconsciousness: 562 Knockdown: 30
  Wound Threshold: 38 Movement: 9/23 *
  Adventure Award: Master Tier x 3 (Group)
  Powers: Armored Scales (8); Disrupt Fate (8): 34; Dragon Breath (11): 26; Dragonsight (11): 
  36; Dragonspeech (9): 36; Fear (7): 34; Karma (22); Karma Cancel (6): 32; Lair Sense (7): 32; 
  Regeneration (5): 30; Spells (Master); Suppress Magic (7): 33; Wingbeat (8): 36
  Skills: Dispel Magic (14): 40; Durability (15); Spellcasting (15): 40;  Summon (8): 34
  Karma Points: 88
  Loot: Treasure worth several million pounds in coins, gems, jewelry, artwork, plus priceless 
  historical artefacts like the sword of Vortigern and the crown of Llwyllyn the Last. 
  Rules
  * The second value is the dragon’s flying Movement Rate.
  Alamaise
  Little is known of the Great Dragon Alamaise before his arrival in Alsace-Lorraine a year 
  after the opening of the Rabbit Hole, almost to the day. He flew into Strassburg carrying a chest 
  nearly the size of a hogshead, landed in the street in front of the main Strassburg branch of Société 
  Générale, transformed into a tall red-headed human man in an expensive suit, and strode into the 
  bank. By the end of the day, Alamaise owned property in all three districts of Alsace-Lorraine, 
  including an entire block from Place Gutenberg to the Rue de Miroir and from Rue Gutenberg to 
  the Rue des Serruriers. He retained the staff of the hotel, moved into its top floor, paid off the other 
  guests to relocate to other hotels, and closed all the businesses in the adjoining buildings. What else 
  he has bought or invested in, with the estimated half-ton of gold and gems in the chest, remains a 
  closely held secret. Those who try to investigate are warned off politely. Once.
  Since then, Alamaise has brought in contractors and building materials, and engaged on a 
  grand remodelling, turning what was a four-story hotel and a few adjoining buildings of shops on the 
  street level and apartments on the upper floors into a residence to rival the planned Kaiser’s palace 
  across the canal to the north. The building has been enhanced considerably by magic, presumably 
  by the dragon, with the stone walls in the completed sections being fused into solid blocks, in 
  turn fused to the foundations, which themselves have been merged into the bedrock they rest upon. 
  Likewise, all wooden beams and framing have been merged into single units, rendering nails and 
  screws and pegs merely decorative. Alamaise maintains a considerable staff in the Hotel Gutenberg 
  wing, including his social secretary, his legal department, and the personal banker assigned to him 
  by the Société Générale. 
  
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  “Te fusion of the walls has done much more than strengthen the building against assault. 
  By growing the stone together and into the bedrock, Alamaise has efectively made the 
  building an extrusion of the Earth itself, as if it had been grown up out of the bones of 
  the planet. Tis in turn has rendered the building astrally opaque. One can no more see 
  through, or pass through, the walls in the astral plane than in the physical. He has also 
  bound elementals of various sorts as guards. Unless one is freproof and able to withstand 
  being pummelled by fsts of solid rock, I can’t recommend attempting any sot of intrusion.”
  – Herr M. Detweiller, Eastern Prussian Arcane Society
  In his draconic form, Alamaise has gold and red scales, like a sunset, and brilliant yellow eyes 
  that glow with a fire of their own. His tail carries spines five feet long at the tip. Notably, he has 
  a pale streak down his chest, from the base of his neck on the right to nearly the top of his right 
  foreleg, where the scales are smaller and lighter in colour. He carries himself with substantial pride 
  and arrogance, even for a Great Dragon, obviously considering all others beneath him and barely 
  worthy of his notice. He seems to have a particular disdain for elves, has none on his staff, and has 
  notably snubbed a few well placed elven aristocrats, costing him a bit of social credit – but no one 
  is brave enough to strike him off their invitation list.
  His preferred form when shape-shifting is the tall human man seen at his arrival in Strassburg, 
  clean shaven, skin lightly tanned, hair red as fire caught back in a fashionable short ponytail. 
  While he dresses very well indeed, his suits are cut conservatively, of dark fabrics, and carry less 
  embellishment than might be expected. He’s not seen out in public often, only when his business or 
  the social calendar demands it, and prefers, so it is said, to dine alone, although his table manners 
  have been noted to be excellent at the banquets he has attended. 
  The true nature of his business in Alsace-Lorraine remains to be seen. As previously stated, he 
  and his staff actively discourage enquiries. It has been noted, though, that a great many crates have 
  been delivered to the Strassburg palace bearing shipping marks from foreign lands, and the taxes and 
  tariffs on those generally list them as “antiquities” or “scientific specimens”. Quite a lot has come 
  from Greece and Russia, but items from China, India, Poland, and Morocco have been seen. As 
  well, he has visited the museums, and the university and private libraries, in the region, sometimes 
  casually browsing, other times going to see a specific volume or painting or sculpture. The fact he 
  has settled in a territory recently seized by the Prussian Empire from France, and bought property 
  for a residence in the German part of the city, but chosen a French bank to handle his funds and 
  act as his financial representative, has puzzled quite a few. Exactly what his long term plans are is 
  anybody’s guess.
  Draconic Form
  DEX: 29 
  STR: 38 TOU: 42
  PER: 31 
  WIL: 37 CHA: 29
  Initiative: 29 Physical Defense: 43
  Actions: 6 Mystic Defense: 45
  Attack (15): 44 
  Social Defense: 43
  Damage: 
  Physical Armor: 54
  Bite (18): 56; 2 × Claws (15): 53 
  Mystic Armor: 56
  Death: 1138 Recovery Tests: 23
  Unconsciousness: 977 Knockdown: 38
  
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  Chapter 4
  Wound Threshold: 73 Movement: 12/28 *
  Adventure Award: Master Tier x 6 (Group)
  Powers: Armored Scales (12); Disrupt Fate (13): 50; Dragon Breath (14): 29; Dragonsight 
  (14): 45; Dragonspeech (13): 42; Fear (15): 44; Karma (28); Karma Cancel (12): 49; Lair Sense 
  (14): 45; Regeneration (11): 53; Spells (Master); Suppress Magic (12): 49; Venom (12): 49; 
  Wingbeat (12): 50
  Skills: Dispel Magic (15): 52; Durability (15); Spellcasting (15): 56;  Summon (15): 56
  Karma Points: 112
  Loot: Treasure worth millions in coins, gems, jewelry, artwork, ancient manuscripts, and real 
  estate, scattered across many countries. Artefacts of previous civilizations as necessary to his intent.
  Rules
  Fireball Spit: Alamaise may use his Dragon Breath to spit a fireball, with a range of 100 
  yards and causing a Step 52 explosion at the target point, with anything surviving being set ablaze 
  at Step 12. Make a Dragon Breath Test against the Physical Defense of the target for accuracy, and 
  roll extra successes to the Effect Test at +2 Steps per success. A miss places the explosion a number 
  of yards away in a random direction equal to the difference between the Test result and the target’s 
  Physical Defense. On a Rule of One result, the fireball is not launched. This costs the dragon 10 
  points of Strain per attempt.
  * The second value is the dragon’s flying Movement Rate.
  YZ
  
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  Chapter 5
  1879 GAMEMASTER’S Guide
  Death and Desease
  “Madnesses of the past are not petrified entities that can be plucked unchanged from 
  their niches and placed under our modern microscopes. They appear, perhaps, more 
  like jellyfish that collapse and dry up when they are removed from the ambient sea 
  water.”
  – H.C. Erik Midelfort, A History of Madness in Sixteenth-Century Germany
  This chapter delves into some of the horrific, grotesque, and far too commonplace 
  ways the Victorian era killed people. From poisons in the food supply to diseases 
  with no cure, life at the end of the Age of Steam and the beginning of the Age 
  of Electricity wasn’t much improved from Hobbes’ definition of life in the Middle 
  Ages. 
  A Terrible Miasma
  By 1880, Leeuwenhoek had been gone for a hundred and fifty years, John Snow and Henry 
  Whitehead’s investigation of the Broad Street cholera epidemic was twenty-five years in the past, and 
  5
  
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  Death and Disease
  Pasteur’s process had been under patent and in commercial production for fifteen years. Even with 
  all of that, some people still gave credibility to the idea that disease was caused by the miasma, or 
  foul vapours emitted from garbage, decay, and poor sanitation. There are those for whom no amount 
  of evidence will suffice. It only takes a few such in Parliament to seriously impede the progress 
  of the Empire. HRH Albert, God save him, has begun to show signs of weariness after spending 
  much of his life arguing for the advancement of science. Without him, the Empire surely would have 
  stagnated and been surpassed long ago. 
  On the other hand, belief in the miasma theory has driven a good deal of improvement 
  in London and other cities. The necessity of protecting the public from foul vapours has led to 
  considerable funding for sanitation projects. Joseph Bazalgette was brought in, and Parliament 
  allocated £2.5 million (about £300 million in 2018 currency) of public funding to create a 
  network of sanitary sewers, routed to six main interceptor lines, and from there out to the estuary, 
  so London’s sewage could be flushed out to sea on the tide instead of dumped straight into the 
  Thames. Mr. Bazalgette personally reviewed every plan, and still oversees the Metropolitan Board 
  of Works as its chief engineer. As a result of his constant doubling of capacity estimates, London’s 
  sewage system should be able to handle the growth of the city far into the next century.
  Other cities have not been so fortunate as to have someone willing to work themselves 
  to exhaustion for the public good, or the funds available. Paris has run into severe infrastructure 
  troubles on top of resource shortages, the entire city honeycombed belowground with crypts and 
  mining galleries that go back before the Roman occupation of Gaul. Berlin simply brought in the 
  military and set the soldiers to work digging, a typical Prussian solution of putting more men on 
  the job. As long as their economy does not falter, the German approach of locating the funding 
  when the bills come due may very well carry them through. New York’s efforts have bogged down 
  both figuratively and literally, mired in the city’s political corruption and having to drain a number 
  of literal swamps the city has been built atop of, so that the pipes can rest on stable foundations. 
  Sewage of course is not the only challenge to public health. Garbage collection and the 
  disposal of same has been a problem for every city since the time of the Pharaohs. The British 
  habit of keeping a pig in the garden, and feeding it the table scraps and kitchen waste, takes care 
  of one problem, but creates another. A pig out back of every house plus the horses going up and 
  down the street in front keeps the dung-carts on the move, all day, every day. The refuse collectors, 
  known in Britain as dustmen, stay similarly busy, as they do in all cities around the world, trying to 
  stay ahead of the population and keep the environment liveable. They don’t always succeed.
  Just riding the bus can be risky. Bad enough getting in and out requires climbing past 
  everyone else, the potential of a poke with an umbrella, a jab with a cane, treading on someone’s 
  foot. The knifeboard doesn’t even have steps going up to it, just a ladder if the gentlemen (ladies 
  don’t sit up there) are lucky, cleats nailed to the back of the bus if they’re not. Only the recently 
  introduced garden-seat buses, with benches like those found in the parks set transverse instead of 
  longitudinal, and modesty boards around the edge of the roof to keep people looking up a lady’s 
  skirt, have steps, and those are a tight spiral of cast iron and difficult to navigate in a crinoline. 
  But then there’s finding a seat, good luck, most men won’t rise for women on the bus, and nobody 
  gives up a seat to the elderly, especially if they’re obviously of lower class than those already seated. 
  In that sort of crowding, every time someone coughs, everyone else risks tuberculosis, or whatever 
  other communicable disease is going around this week.
  
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  Infectious Diseases
  Speaking of diseases, let’s talk about a few that might have been mentioned in passing but 
  not covered before.
  Diphtheria
  Type: Debilitation
  Onset Time: 2 to 5 days after exposure
  Effect Step: 11
  Duration: 2 weeks
  Usually spread by physical contact, but in crowded conditions as an airborne infection, 
  diphtheria causes a low fever, sore throat, and fatigue. As it progresses, the disease destroys tissue in 
  the nose and throat, which accretes in a greyish pseudomembrane. This causes a croup-like cough, 
  trying to dislodge the membrane, which can only be done surgically. If the membrane extends 
  to cover the trachea, the victim will be unable to breathe. Tracheostomy has been successful in 
  approximately 25% of these patients. Further symptoms may also include swelling of the neck, rapid 
  heartbeat, kidney failure, and loss of the blood’s ability to clot, due to the toxins released by the 
  disease organism. Paralysis of facial, head, or neck muscles may also occur. No effective medication 
  has yet been found that will treat or prevent diphtheria, although recent experiments in developing an 
  antitoxin from horses exposed to the disease have been promising. Globally, the fatality rate is 50%. 
  Effect: On exposure, make a Toughness Test against the Effect Step of the disease. On a 
  failure, roll 1d4+1 to determine how many days before symptoms begin. The individual becomes 
  infectious within the hour, capable of spreading the disease before symptoms begin. At the onset of 
  symptoms, the victim becomes Fatigued. Each day, the victim makes an opposed Toughness Test 
  against the disease Effect Step. If the victim succeeds, the disease’s Effect Step is decreased by 1. 
  A decrease to zero cures the victim and allows recovery from Fatigue. If the disease succeeds, the 
  victim takes its Effect Step in damage, and the Effect Step is increased by 1, plus 1 for each extra 
  success scored. If the victim takes a Wound, they develop one of the additional symptoms listed. 
  Difficulty in breathing is automatically the second additional symptom, and blockage of breathing 
  is the fourth. These Wounds may be healed by the usual mechanism of spending the day’s first 
  Recovery Test. Performing a tracheostomy requires a Physician Test against the Effect Step of the 
  disease, at a penalty of -1 Step per Wound the victim has taken. A failure causes an additional 
  Wound, and incurs an extra Effect Test from the disease. On a Rule of One result, the patient dies.
  Leprosy (Hansen’s Disease)
  Type: Chronic
  Onset Time: Unknown; individuals have developed symptoms up to 20 years after contact 
  with victims
  Effect Step: 9
  Duration: Ongoing
  While the causative agent (Mycobacterium leprae) was discovered by Dr. G. H. Armauer 
  Hansen of Norway in 1873, thus granting the disease his name, leprosy remains one of the oldest 
  and most poorly understood diseases of Mankind. Historically, lepers have been required to segregate 
  themselves from the population, and to give warning on their approach, based on an assumed high 
  risk of contagion. This has been shown to be erroneous, as prolonged exposure to leprosy patients 
  by caregivers has not resulted in the sort of transmission rates that would justify the pariah status 
  
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  Death and Disease
  assigned to victims of the disease. Poverty-ridden areas have a higher incidence of leprosy, possibly 
  due to overcrowding encouraging the spread of disease, but this does not differentiate leprosy from 
  any other contagion. Red squirrels in Europe and armadillos in the Americas have been found with 
  strains of M. leprae also found in humans, and active cases of the disease. Whether these animals 
  are vectors, or the origin of the illness, or simply other victims, has not yet been determined. Given 
  that no cases of leprosy have been found in the records of Native American tribes prior to contact 
  with European settlers, transmission from human to animal is most likely in regard to the armadillo, 
  but how such transmission might have occurred remains a mystery.
  Initial symptoms may be mistaken for neuropathy due to diabetes or injury, manifesting as 
  numbness, increased and painful sensitivity, or tingling in the hands and/or feet. Skin lesions, 
  initially numb to the touch and insensitive to temperature, and oddly or under pigmented, follow. 
  As the disease progresses, these lesions may become raised, reddened, or ulcerated, and may be 
  mistaken for the rash following an insect bite or contact with irritants such as poison ivy. Long 
  term, the hands and feet may become clubbed as secondary infections cause cartilage to be resorbed. 
  Nerve damage and insensitivity to pain may result in secondary injuries, which in turn may lead to 
  infection and poor healing.
  Treatment with white mercury has shown no more benefit than it has with syphilis. A 
  temporary remission of symptoms may be obtained, but at the cost of mercury poisoning, and 
  the symptoms will return as soon as the treatment halts, the disease merely repressed and not 
  
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  cured. Thus far, none of the known antifungals have been shown effective against Hansen’s disease. 
  Prognosis for victims is poor, and treatment remains palliative, consisting of management of 
  symptoms and behavioural training for self-monitoring. Ostracism by society and isolation by law 
  remains common throughout both Western and Eastern cultures. 
  Mechanics: Development of an active case of leprosy should be discussed between player and 
  Gamemaster, as the social stigma and slow erosion of an incurable disease will significantly impact 
  the character’s playability. Each game week, a Disease Effect Test is made against the character’s 
  Toughness Step, and the character takes Damage equal to the result. This Damage may be healed 
  normally. For each Wound, the player puts a tick mark next to a physical Attribute (Dexterity, 
  Strength, or Toughness), as they would for significant use of a Skill. When three tick marks 
  accumulate, the tick marks are erased and one point of that Attribute is permanently lost. One tick 
  mark should be then be put next to the Wound Threshold. The character ignores Wound Penalties 
  equal to the number of Wound tick marks accumulated, but takes an equal number of points of 
  Strain for each Action while Wounded, to reflect their insensitivity to pain. Wounds taken from 
  leprosy Effect Tests require one week to heal, with a Recovery Test spent each day. Any day a 
  Recovery Test is not spent takes one Test off the accumulated count. If the character’s status as a 
  leper is known, they will be treated as being a number of Social Levels below their actual SL equal 
  to the number of Attitude steps below Awestruck of the GMC toward them, which may put them 
  into negative Social Level (see Infamy in the 1879 Players Guide, pg.165). For example, a GMC 
  who had previously been Friendly toward the character would treat the character as being of 2 Social 
  Levels lower due to their disease. The GMC may also become Unfriendly at the discretion of the 
  Gamemaster.
  Picardy Sweats
  Type: Debilitation
  Onset Time: 1 to 6 hours after exposure
  Effect Step: 14
  Duration: 2 to 3 days
  A recurring illness of unknown origin, the Picardy Sweats originally appeared in the Picardy 
  region of France in 1718, hence the name. The symptoms are similar to the English sweat, which 
  has not been seen since 1551. During the onset time, the patient may experience chills and shivering, 
  dizziness, pain in the neck, shoulders, and upper back, and a sudden onset of exhaustion. After the 
  onset time has passed, the disease progresses to a high fever, a purulent rash normally confined 
  to the face and upper torso but sometimes spreading to or appearing in patches on other parts of 
  the body, and bleeding from the nose. In more severe cases, headache, delirium, intense thirst, and 
  tachycardia may appear. Unlike the more common relapsing fever, there is no scab or targeted rash 
  to indicate a tick bite. While the method of transmission remains unknown, the Picardy Sweats are 
  highly contagious. Anyone having direct contact with a victim risks infection.
  Mechanics: Roll 1D6 for the onset duration. The victim is immediately Fatigued and remains 
  so until the disease has passed. Make a Disease Effect Test against the victim’s Toughness Step 
  every three hours, with a minimum of one Test. The victim takes an amount of Strain equal to the 
  Test result. Once the onset has passed, make an opposed Effect Test against the victim’s Toughness 
  Step every 4 hours. If the disease succeeds, the victim takes the Test result in Strain. If the Test 
  scores more than one success, make a second Test for actual Damage taken by the victim. If the 
  victim succeeds, the disease Effect Step is reduced by 2. When the disease Effect Step reaches 0, 
  
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  Death and Disease
  the victim is cured and no longer contagious. On a Rule of One result for the disease, the victim 
  has shaken it off and may recover Strain and Damage taken as normal. On a Rule of One result 
  for the victim, one point is permanently lost from the Toughness Attribute. Both Strain and Damage 
  caused by the Picardy Sweats can cause Wounds, reflecting the lethal nature of the illness. Every 
  third Wound causes the permanent loss of one point from the Perception or Willpower Attribute, 
  at the player’s choice. One dose of aspirin every four hours reduces the Disease Effect Step by -4 
  Steps, with a minimum Step of 1. No other treatment is known at this time. Anyone treating a 
  victim, or spending more than half their time in proximity, must make a Toughness Test against the 
  victim’s current Disease Effect Step every four hours to avoid infection.
  A Toxic Environment
  As if all of this wasn’t bad enough, people in the late 1800s went out of their way to make 
  their world more dangerous. Some of it was done because they didn’t understand the risk, and 
  some because their enthusiasm for a new thing ran ahead of their common sense. Sometimes, it just 
  came down to the desperation to maintain enough of a profit margin to keep the business afloat, 
  or greed for more profit at the cost of customer safety. All of this combined to produce some very 
  dangerous materials, risks in the food supply, and occupational hazards that in the modern era would 
  shut down the factory for decontamination.
  Materials and Comestibles
  Let’s take a little stroll through the marketplace, and note what should be avoided. Hint: all 
  of it.
  Arsenic
  Poison Type: Damage
  Effect Step: 12
  Onset Time: 1 hour
  Duration: 1+ hours
  A poison known for getting rid of rats and troublesome lodgers, arsenic has long had a place 
  in the wainscoting and the tea pot. One would think with it being so well known for its toxicity, 
  arsenic would be a controlled substance, one that people would take some sort of care with. Far 
  from it; arsenic  is the asbestos of the 1880s, dozens of household uses and it’s in everything. Got 
  bedbugs? There’s an arsenic laundry soap for that. Just be sure to rinse thoroughly, don’t want any 
  left in the linens. Want a pop of colour in the parlour? Arsenic makes a lovely green dye, used in 
  wallpaper. The fumes aren’t really that bad, but do keep the children from licking the walls. Oh, 
  and it takes so well to fabric, too, but a high collar and proper undergarments will be needed to 
  wear that green ballroom gown safely. Don’t want the dye leaching into one’s skin. Skin blemishes? 
  Nibble an Arsenic Complexion Wafer. It may not get rid of the pimples, but at least one will be 
  fashionably wan. 
  The ease with which anyone could obtain arsenic, among other poisons, of course contributes 
  to the number of poisonings occurring each week, both accidental and not. The official numbers 
  can’t be trusted, nobody’s going to report a poisoning that benefited them, regardless of whether 
  
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  Death and Disease
  they had anything to do with it. The rules of evidence are a bit thin, especially down on the bottom 
  end, and suspicion of being a poisoner can be enough for a one way ticket to the Gruv and the 
  Hornblower’s Hill penal settlement. The odds of getting away with it were actually pretty high for 
  a long time. With the symptoms being so very much like cholera, it’s not until well after Dr. Snow 
  and Rev. Whitehead carried out their crusade that people really started looking at those who died of 
  gastric complaints. Imagine sending a child, a girl of barely eight years, off to the chemist’s shop 
  for thruppence worth of arsenic soap. Does the chemist worry they’re selling a deadly poison to a 
  child? Is there at least a book to be signed? It is to laugh. That should take care of the bedbugs, 
  says the chemist, pats the child on the head, and sends her off with her toxic burden.
  Small wonder Mary Robson was able to pour a cup of tea for so many people that annoyed 
  her. Twenty-one, they thought, or at least that’s all they were able to document. 
   
  Mary Ann Cotton, she’s dead and she’s rotten
   
  Lying in bed with her eyes wide open.
   
  Sing, sing, oh what should I sing?
   
  Mary Ann Cotton, she’s tied up with string.
   
  Where, where? Up in the air.
   
  Selling black puddings, a penny a pair.
  Mechanics: Arsenic initially causes vomiting, abdominal pain, bloody diarrhoea, headache, 
  and confusion. Make an Effect Test against the victim’s Toughness Step on exposure, as normal, 
  to see if the poison takes effect. If this Test succeeds, the victim takes the Test result in Damage, 
  is Fatigued, and takes an extra -1 Step to all Perception and Willpower Tests and all Tests based 
  on those Attributes. The poison lasts for one hour plus one additional hour for each extra success 
  on the initial Test. Each additional hour, make another Effect Test for additional Damage suffered. 
  There is no antitoxin or chelation for arsenic, although magic may be able to help. The Fatigue and 
  Step penalties last until 8 hours after the final Effect Test, or until all the Damage and Wounds 
  caused by the poison are healed, whichever comes last.
  Celluloid
  The wonder material of the era, the first true plastic, flammable, sometimes explosive, 
  celluloid can be found in hundreds of forms throughout the world. Alexander Parkes originally 
  named the compound of camphor and nitrocellulose as parkesine. Yes, nitrocellulose is also known 
  as guncotton, an explosive used in ammunition. Parkes went bankrupt trying to scale up the process. 
  When John Wesley Hyatt and Daniel Spill formed competing companies to produce the material in 
  America and Britain respectively, people rejected the old vanity title and adopted the American name 
  of celluloid. The cheap plastic could be formed into the likeness of much more expensive materials 
  such as tortoiseshell and ivory, allowing women who could not afford the rare natural materials to 
  own brooches and combs that at least looked expensive. In a less modified form, celluloid made 
  for white detachable collars and cuffs that could be rinsed in cold water each night to remove 
  grime or ink, leaving the lowly clark’s sleeves ready for the next day’s calculations. Unfortunately, 
  as celluloid ages, it decomposes and becomes more likely to burst into flame when jostled unduly. 
  The compressed celluloid of a billiard ball tends to detonate in more spectacular fashion, resulting 
  
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  in at least one gunfight in Silver City, Nevada, that started when the cue ball exploded on the 
  break. Safer materials are being researched. Until they come onto the market, though, one should 
  be careful to enquire as to whether or not the billiards are ivory.
  Mechanics: When an item made of celluloid takes damage over its Critical Threshold, it 
  catches fire and burns at Step 4, taking damage itself as well as doing damage to its surroundings, 
  until its Barrier Rating is exhausted. If the item takes double its Critical Threshold or more in a 
  single hit, it explodes, at a Step equal to its remaining Barrier Rating and with a blast radius of 5 
  feet. If no Barrier Rating or Critical Threshold have been assigned, assume both to be 4 for small 
  objects such as decorative combs, 7 for medium objects such as hanging mirror frames, and 10 for 
  large objects such as decorative folding screens. Compressed celluloid items, such as billiard balls, 
  explode at Step 12 and, like dynamite, become much more prone to do so as they age. A freshly 
  made celluloid billiard ball has a Barrier Rating and Critical Threshold of 12, but loses one point 
  of Critical Threshold each month. After a year, a simple collision with another ball on the table is 
  enough to set it off. The impracticality of carrying old billiard balls as grenades should be obvious. 
  Food Adulterants
  We spoke of greed and desperation surrounding the profit margin above. Here’s where it 
  shows up the most readily. All manner of substances were chucked into the food supply to make it 
  go farther, be more attractive to consumers, or just keep it on offer that one day longer. 
  Bakeries tend to be a primary example in most documentaries. The process of adulterating 
  bread dough can be readily demonstrated, and the results compared to a proper loaf with ease. As 
  the century progressed, the bakery was one of the last workplaces to be automated. This combined 
  with the sharp rise in flour prices thanks to the rescinding of the Corn Laws drove the cost of 
  producing a loaf of bread for sale so high that only the middle class and above could afford proper 
  bread. The bakers started tossing in pretty much anything even vaguely flour-like that was cheaper. 
  Alum, sawdust, chalk, you name it, if it would add bulk and weight to a loaf and stay down when 
  someone ate it, they used it. The bakeries survived, most of them, some long enough to afford 
  industrial mixers and chain ovens, and like everyone else make it up in volume. Those bakeries that 
  couldn’t crank up their production levels either got fancy, selling braided loaves and marzipan cakes 
  and such to the high street trade, or went out of business entirely.
  And that was just the bread. Meat, in the days before widespread availability of refrigeration, 
  got treated with a wide variety of chemicals and a total lack of respect. If you were lucky, your 
  butcher had a cold room in the basement, and only cut up what they thought they could sell 
  of a day. If you were unlucky, or poor, or both, that meat may or may not have been today’s 
  butchering. If it didn’t smell too bad to eat, you ate it, because it was what was available. Veg came 
  in a bit better, generally brought into the cities before dawn and distributed to the shops and the 
  pushcarts and the cress girls by daylight. It’s hard to freshen up or disguise a wilted bunch of cress. 
  Vegetarianism wasn’t popular in Europe in those days, though. If you weren’t from India, and you 
  didn’t eat meat, people wondered what sort of odd spiritual group you’d joined. Yes, the Seventh 
  Day Adventists had it a bit rough. They were generally healthier for it, though, as was anyone who 
  took a bit more care with their food supply.
  
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  Mechanics (Optional Rules): Anyone with a Social Level of 3 or better, attempting to eat 
  food obtained from an SL 2 or SL 1 establishment, must make a Willpower (8) Test to not spit 
  it right back out. After a week subsisting on what food is available at SL1 or SL2, SL3 and higher 
  characters become Fatigued. This represents the lack of nutrition and the difficulty of digesting the 
  non-food additives. Anyone from SL1 of SL2 attempting to consume food prepared to SL4 or SL5 
  standards must make a similar Willpower (8) Test, and must also make a Toughness (6) Test to 
  handle food that is too rich for their system. Failing the Toughness Test brings the meal back up. 
  After a week of being able to handle higher SL foodstuffs, SL1 and SL2 characters gain +1 Step on 
  all Toughness Tests to resist disease, and for endurance, such as to resist being Fatigued. 
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  who could raise the capital, bought tractors and other heavy machinery, and made a go of it, compensating in volume 
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  – Djehuty Jones
  Industrial Diseases
  The concept of a safety and health department looking after British factories appears to 
  have been completely foreign. Literally so, as the Prussians have such, what with worker resource 
  losses having adverse effects on the efficiency ratings. The idea that dangerous machinery should be 
  enclosed so it doesn’t snatch people up by their shirt sleeves and rip their arms off, or that chemical 
  fumes should be kept contained and contamination avoided, was for a long time (and to some extent 
  still is) seen as expensive, something that cuts into the profit margin. If a factory worker gets cut 
  into, well, another one can always be hired, there’s a line at the door waiting for the next opening.
  Caisson Disease
  Type: Damaging
  Onset Time: Variable; based on compression depth and decompression time
  Effect Step: Variable, from 8 to 25
  Duration: 8 Effect Tests
  Poorly understood, but known to be related to atmospheric pressure and its effects upon 
  the body, caisson disease was first named by Dr. Andrew Smith in 1869, project physician for the 
  Manhattan to Brooklyn suspension bridge. The malady left Washington Roebling, chief engineer of 
  the project, bedridden only a year after ground had been broken, and led to his wife, Emily Warren 
  Roebling, becoming the first female field engineer of a major construction project in the Union. 
  Over the course of building the two stone towers that bear the weight of the bridge across the 
  East River, dozens of workers in the caissons, giant boxes made of fifteen feet of southern yellow 
  
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  Death and Disease
  pine, fell ill after working in the compressed-air atmosphere at the bottom of the river. Eventually, a 
  system of decompression time was worked out by trial and error, waiting chambers built adjacent to 
  the airlocks that let workers into and out of the caissons, and incidents of caisson disease declined. 
  Dr. Smith wrote a paper on the phenomenon, and co-authored multiple others with physicians 
  and physicists around the globe, properly naming the disease as “decompression sickness”, but the 
  popular nickname persists, as such things do.
  The onset of caisson disease may be immediate after the victim leaves the compressed 
  environment, whether that be exiting a pressurised caisson or coming up to the surface after a diving 
  excursion in the ocean, or may not be until hours later. Symptoms divide into three broad categories, 
  each with nicknames given by those working in industries at risk. The “bends” strike the joints, 
  muscles, and skeletal systems, inflicting pain that may range from annoying to agonizing, often 
  contorting the victim both by pressure within the affected body part creating flexion and spasms, and 
  by attempts to relieve the pain through posture. The “chokes” affect the respiratory system, causing 
  difficulty in breathing, which may be due to lung damage, or to spasms in the diaphragm, or both. 
  The “staggers” reflect neurological damage, causing difficulty in balance and motion, slurred speech, 
  and other symptoms easily mistaken for a stroke by someone unfamiliar with the victim’s history. 
  More than one of these symptom clusters may be present. Decompression sickness is governed by 
  the Harvard Law, and will vary considerably from one victim to the next in symptoms, and whether 
  or not it even strikes. Individuals with the exact same experience in compression and decompression 
  may present with no symptoms at all in one and lethal collapse in another.
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  Currently, the only therapy for decompression sickness is immediate recompression and staged 
  decompression according to the proper tables. The longer the victim goes without recompressing, 
  the more damage will be done. While medications, such as opioids, will help with the pain, they 
  will not treat the underlying cause.
  Mechanics: On exiting a compressed environment in haste, without following the proper 
  decompression protocol, each character must make a Toughness (26) Test. If successful, no 
  symptoms occur. On a failure, each victim’s disease Effect Step is set to the number by which they 
  missed the Target Number. For example, a victim rolling a 14 on their Toughness Test would face 
  a decompression sickness Effect Step of 12. The Effect Step determines how often an Effect Test 
  is made, and the onset time.
        Decompression Sickness Effect Step Frequency Table
  Step Range
  Frequency for Test
  Onset Time
  0 – 5
  1x / day
  1 day
  6 – 10
  1x / 12 hours
  12 hours
  11 – 15
  1x / 6 hours
  6 hours
  16  20
  1x / 3 hours
  3 hours
  21+
  1x / hour
  1 hour
  
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  If the victim takes twice or more than their Wound Threshold from any Effect Test, they 
  lose one point from Dexterity, Toughness, or Perception, at their choice. This determines whether 
  they have the bends, the chokes, or the staggers respectively. After the first Effect Test, players may 
  choose to lose a point from a different Attribute, and may substitute Willpower for Perception if 
  they have previously taken a loss from Perception. This reflects expansion of the symptoms and the 
  far-reaching nature of neurological damage. Wounds caused by caisson disease may not be healed 
  until recompression therapy has been successful.
  Recompression therapy requires the proper equipment, normally only found in industrial and 
  military sites where compressed environments are present. To be effective, therapy must begin before 
  24 hours have passed since symptoms appeared, or 2 Attribute points are lost, whichever comes first. 
  After that point, therapy will not work. Make a Physician Test against the victim’s decompression 
  sickness Effect Step. One Test may be made per hour, up to the character’s Rank in Physician. 
  Once a successful Test is made, the right decompression protocol has been established, disease 
  Effect Tests stop, and the victim may begin to recover. 
  Miner’s Lung
  Type: Debilitation
  Onset Time: Variable; requires ongoing coal dust exposure
  Effect Step: 9
  Duration: Chronic
  Also known as black lung, miner’s lung develops from long-term inhalation of coal dust. 
  The malady may be found in mild to moderate forms in the larger cities, in the poor areas where 
  lack of ventilation traps the dust in the living quarters, and in those who work as firemen, boiler 
  technicians, steamfitters, and stationary engine drivers. More severe cases occur in the coal mining 
  industry, with the worst being found in long-term employees of the cheaper concerns, the ones that 
  don’t wet down the coal and flush out the air in the mines as often as they should.
  Once inhaled, coal dust remains in the lungs, an inorganic substance the body has no way of 
  dislodging. Scarring forms around the particles, and over time can develop into obstructive fibrosis. 
  This leads to loss of lung capacity, which in turn causes loss of stamina. In addition, persistent 
  inhalation of particulates causes chronic bronchitis, a condition characterised by a persistent 
  productive cough for periods of three months or longer. The presence of chronic bronchitis does 
  not necessarily indicate miner’s lung as a coexisting condition, but an ongoing cough that does 
  not respond to chlorodyne should be checked by a physician as a possible indication of something 
  serious.
  Both miner’s lung and chronic bronchitis are closely related to silicosis, caused by inhalation 
  of dust in a desert or sandy environment. This is rapidly becoming a problem in the dry areas of 
  the Gruv. Travellers in the central plains are advised to wear dust masks when passing through areas 
  of scrub or hardpan, as the soil of the Gruv is high in silica, and the dust kicked up by passage of 
  animals and vehicles can be hazardous.
  Mechanics: Persons routinely exposed to airborne coal dust take a penalty to Fatigue Tests 
  and other Toughness-based Tests that involve breathing capacity. See the following table.
  
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  Death and Disease
  Black Lung Capacity Loss Table
  Exposure Level
  Penalty of
  Every
  Typical Of
  Mild
  -1
  3 years
  Living in London’s East End
  Moderate
  -1
  2 years
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  Severe
  -1
  Year
  Working as a coal miner
  Extreme
  -2
  6 months
  Working in a poorly run coal mine
  Whenever a victim of miner’s lung fails a Toughness-based Test involving breathing capacity, such as 
  Fatigue after exertion, they take Damage equal to the Effect Step of the disease. On a Rule of One result 
  for the Toughness Test, the victim is incapacitated by coughing for five minutes, unable to take any Simple, 
  Standard, or Sustained Actions. If the victim takes a Wound from the disease Effect Test, the Effect 
  Step is permanently increased by +1. Damage and Wounds from miner’s lung may be healed normally.
  The same mechanics can be used for silicosis caused by dust in the Gruv. No mechanics are 
  required for chronic bronchitis, although it is suggested that victims should take a -3 Step penalty to 
  attempts to be quiet, due to the uncontrollable nature of the cough.
  Phossy Jaw
  Type: Debilitation
  Onset Time: Variable; requires substantial phosphorus exposure
  Effect Step: 10
  Duration: Chronic
  Early matches were of the “Promethean” type, the end of the stick coated with a mixture of 
  potassium chlorate and sugar and allowed to harden. To light it, the match was dipped in sulphuric acid, 
  then held well away for a moment while it fizzed and then burst into flame. Having Promethean matches 
  meant carrying a little bottle of sulphuric acid, which came in handy as adventuring kit. However, a better 
  solution was needed.
  The first friction matches used a mixture of potassium chlorate and antimony sulphide, and were 
  “strike anywhere” matches, not exactly safe as any friction against the head could ignite them, but safer 
  than carrying a vial of sulphuric acid. Safety matches followed, which had to be struck on the box, as 
  the striking strip was impregnated with red phosphorus and reacted with the head of the match during 
  the strike. A move to white phosphorus made the matches safer for the buying public, but still highly 
  dangerous to the workers, mostly women, who made them.
  Manufacturing with white phosphorus without regard to contamination of the working environment 
  releases vapours that transfer to the workers. Most factories do not provide a lunchroom. Few even provide 
  a sink where the workers can wash up before their meal break. This results in phosphorus contamination 
  being transferred from the workers’ hands to the food consumed. Over time, exposure to phosphorus 
  causes decay of the teeth and jaw, a condition known as phossy jaw.
  The match girls (and anyone else with the condition) suffer horribly. The condition starts with 
  toothaches and swelling of the gums, then moves on to abscesses, tooth loss, and bone decay settling into 
  the jaw. Long term, the condition causes brain damage and eventually death. Affected bone glows greenish 
  in the dark. The only treatments are surgery and removal of the patient from the environment that caused 
  
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  the condition, neither of which the match girls can normally afford. (See the 1879 London Sourcebook, 
  p.89, for a note about this.) 
  Mechanics: While phossy jaw is the result of a Poison, the symptoms act more like a disease. 
  Phossy jaw starts after at least one week of heavy white phosphorus exposure, such as in a munitions 
  factory explosives mixing room, or one month of mild exposure, such as in a match factory. Make the 
  initial Test using the disease base Step of 11 plus 1 for each day of heavy exposure or week of mild 
  exposure, against the victim’s Toughness Step. If the Test succeeds, the victim takes the base Effect Step 
  in Damage. Make another disease Effect Test using the base Step against the victim’s Toughness Step 
  each week that white phosphorus exposure persists, and one week after exposure is discontinued. Each 
  Wound taken represents rotting of the teeth and jaw. Every other Wound causes the permanent loss of 1 
  point of Charisma Attribute. Every third Wound causes the permanent loss of one point of Toughness 
  Attribute. Every fourth Wound causes the permanent loss of one point of Perception Attribute.
  Wounds caused by phossy jaw cannot be healed by normal means. All exposure to white phosphorus 
  must cease for at least one week before any attempt may be made. A Physician Test against the base 
  Effect Step of the disease plus 1 for each Wound the victim has suffered must be made to attempt surgical 
  excision of diseased teeth and bone from the victim’s jaw. If successful, and the victim is not further 
  exposed to white phosphorus, the progression of the disease is halted. Wounds may then be healed by the 
  normal means, but disfigurement from the surgery and the disease remain. Lost Charisma and Toughness 
  may be bought back up with character advancement only after successful surgery, representing post-surgical 
  treatment to restore function and appearance. Lost Perception cannot be regained, as neurological damage 
  is beyond the capability of the era’s medicine.
  
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  1879 GAMEMASTER’S Guide
  New Spirits
  It is on the acceptance or rejection of the theory of the Unity of all in Nature, in its 
  ultimate Essence, that mainly rests the belief or unbelief in the existence around us of other 
  conscious beings besides the Spirits of the Dead.
  – Helena Blavatsky
  New Spirit Powers
  See Spirit Powers, 1879 Gamemaster’s Guide, for further explanation of how these work.
  Enhance Summoner
  Step: CHA + Force Rating
  Action: Standard
  The spirit is able to provide a significant increase to its summoner’s magical ability, but only 
  for a short time. The spirit merges with the summoner, and makes an Enhance Summoner Test 
  against the summoner’s Mystic Defense. Each success grants a +1 Step bonus. If the Test scores 
  multiple successes, the summoner may distribute the Step bonuses as they see fit - multiple Step 
  bonuses to a single Test, each one to a different Test, or any combination thereof - but may only 
  apply a Step bonus to one Test per round. The effect lasts until the summoning ends, or all Step 
  6
  
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  New Spirits
  bonuses have been spent. The summoner takes Strain equal to the spirit’s Strength Rating when 
  the Enhance Summoner Test is made, to reflect the difficulty inherent in channelling the spirit’s 
  energy. While the power is in effect, the summoner takes on some superficial characteristics of 
  the spirit, which are exaggerated when applying the bonus to a Skill or Test. For example, an air 
  elemental would cause the summoner’s hair to drift as in a breeze, a fire elemental would result in 
  the summoner giving off streams of smoke, or a water elemental would result in the summoner’s 
  movements becoming more fluid and graceful.
  Hardened Armor
  Step: NA
  Action: NA
  Earth and wood spirits only. Additional successes from Attack Tests do one Step less damage 
  per success against an elemental with this power. For example, instead of +2 Steps damage per 
  additional success, the attacker only gets +1 Step damage per additional success.
  Poison
  Step: Force Rating
  Action: NA 
  Ally and wood spirits only. The spirit’s attacks are envenomed. The most common poison 
  causes damage, though some spirits may have debilitating or paralytic poison instead.
  New Spirits
  Ally
  This category covers those spirits that are neither elemental nor ancestral, including entities 
  from the deep astral, spirits of civilization, and spirits of nature. 
  Kolero
  Put too many rats in a box, and they start eating each other. Cities are just big boxes to keep 
  people in, and crowding too many people together results in violence sooner or later. There’s some 
  argument as to whether Kolero came into being as a manifestation of urban rage, or already existed 
  and was drawn to a resonant phenomenon. Those encountering the spirit generally aren’t concerned 
  with such abstruse points, but rather more with their own survival, or the destruction of their target, 
  but not usually both at once.
  The larger and more bloodthirsty the mob, the more likely Kolero is to be part of it. The 
  spirit encourages rage, and feeds off it, in a violent cycle that can be difficult to break. The tighter 
  the crowding, the faster tempers rise. Suddenly, a passenger on a crowded train savages another with 
  teeth and nails over a collision that barely merited an “excuse me”. Their passion spent, Kolero 
  moves on, leaving the perpetrator aghast at what they did under its influence. Scotland Yard’s Arcane 
  Crimes Division has learned to send a spirit worker or two any time the riot squad is called out, 
  looking for anyone with glowing red eyes, or a dark swirl above the part of the crowd that’s pushing 
  hardest. 
  
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  Summoning Kolero can be done, but one would have to wonder to what purpose. Vengeance, 
  maybe, or mayhem; some dark motive that involves wielding rage like a weapon. Anyone doing so 
  is likely to be charged with an offence, should Arcane Crimes catch up with them.
  Force 9 Ally (Urban) Spirit, “Kolero”
  DEX: 14 
  STR: 15 TOU: 14
  PER: 12 
  WIL: 14 CHA: 12
  Initiative: 14 Physical Defense: 21
  Actions: 3 Mystic Defense: 20
  Attack: 18 
  Social Defense: 20
  Damage: 
  Physical Armor: 10
  Claw 13; Bite 16 
  Mystic Armor: 12Death: 78 Recovery Tests: 6
  Unconsciousness: NA Knockdown: 15
  Wound Threshold: 19 Movement: 12
  Adventure Award: Warden Tier (Group)
  Karma Points: 18 
  Karma Step: 12
  Powers: Aid Summoner (9); Astral Sight (21); Empathic Command (23); Empathic Sense 
  (21); Enhance Summoner (21); Find (21); Frenzy 9 (23); Incite Mob (23); Lifesight (21); Manifest 
  (9); Possession (23); Spellcasting (21)
  Rules
  When using Enhance Summoner, the host becomes visibly enraged, their muscles tense, their 
  veins bulging, eyes glowing red, and hair standing on end. The host automatically fails any Test to 
  restrain themselves from violence or furious action. Under Possession, the same appearance applies, 
  but the host may make an opposed Willpower Test against Kolero’s Willpower to hold back from 
  violent action. This Test does not count as a Willpower Test to force the spirit out, but if such 
  a Test immediately follows, the host gains +1 Step to the second Willpower Test for each extra 
  success scored in the first. 
  Ixthalion
  While there may be many ways for a spirit to rise in status, one of the quickest ways is 
  by being summoned and completing services, which in turn adds to the spirit’s energy. Repeated 
  summonings make for more powerful spirits, as every priest and shaman knows. Ixthalion would 
  very much like to not be one of the lesser entities, kicked around by the big spirits and at risk of 
  being eaten if a Great Form feels peckish. Being summoned, though, just doesn’t sound like the 
  best option. Older spirits tell such horrible stories about the Earthly plane, about summoners who 
  demand great service for little reward, about enchanters who bind spirits into items and drain the 
  spirit like a battery. The whole thing sounds dodgy at best, and terribly risky. This has left Ixthalion 
  in a quandary, paranoid about being summoned and what might happen, and yet needing to enhance 
  its power so it’s no longer one of the little fish in the big pond of the astral domain. To add to 
  the problem, its name has become known to the spirit working community (rookie mistake on its 
  part), so Ixthalion is one of the few spirits that can be specifically summoned. The end result is a 
  twitchy, nervous spirit that constantly looks for the flaw in the bargain. 
  Force 4 Ally Spirit, “Ixthalion”
  DEX: 5 
  STR: 5 TOU: 5
  PER: 6 
  WIL: 6 CHA: 6
  Initiative: 8 Physical Defense: 11
  
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  New Spirits
  Actions: 1 
  Mystic Defense: 13
  Attack: 9 
  Social Defense: 13
  Damage: 
  Physical Armor: 5
  Unarmed (5): 10 
  Mystic Armor: 7
  Death: 32 
  Recovery Tests: 2
  Unconsciousness: NA Knockdown: 5
  Wound Threshold: 8 Movement: 12
  Adventure Award: Novice Tier
  Karma Points: 8 
  Karma Step: 7
  Powers: Aid Summoner (4); Astral Sight (10); Confusion (10); Detect Trap (10); Detect 
  Weapon (10); Empathic Command (10); Empathic Sense (10); Lifesight (10); Manifest (4); 
  Spellcasting (10); Suppress Curse (10)
  Rules
  Ixthalion cannot be summoned without a bargaining Test (1879 Players Guide, p.405, and 
  1879 Gamemaster’s Guide, p.447), whether or not the summoner’s Skill Rank is greater than its 
  Force Rating. It gains a +4 Step bonus to its Force Rating for all Tests involved in negotiating 
  for its services. Ixthalion will not agree to any service that is open ended, has no time limit, or 
  would drain its energies. Attempts to bind the spirit, such as using it to power an enchantment, or 
  otherwise restrict it, grants the spirit an immediate and free opposed Test, its WIL+FR against the 
  summoner’s Summon Skill, to break free. Ixthalion never attacks a summoner if negotiation fails 
  or it goes free, but instead immediately flees to the depths of astral space. Attempting a repeated 
  summoning after a failed negotiation or a betrayal requires two extra successes. 
  Ancestral
  Eorma
  When Eorma still carried an axe, his king was Cnut, and he came to England to fight against 
  Edmund’s forces in the reconquest. Although the Danes won at Assandun, Eorma had quarrelled 
  the night before with his cousin Malte over a woman, and in the rush of the battle, Malte struck 
  him down from behind with an English pike seized in the fight. Finding his body with a bloodied 
  English weapon next to it, everyone assumed he was just another casualty, he was mourned, and they 
  moved on. They had half of England to rule, after all. 
  Eorma has not been able to rest. The usual expedient of seeking justice against his murderer 
  went by the wayside hundreds of years ago. His remains got proper treatment, so that’s not an 
  option either. Eorma can be called upon to assist in setting right a betrayal, especially one by family. 
  He may show up on his own if such a thing has happened. It’s possible he may be able to move 
  on once he’s set to rights enough injustices, operating under a situational binding. Exactly how this 
  sort of thing works is still under study, as it’s only been a few years since the existence of spirits 
  became provable.
  Force 9 Ancestral Spirit, “Eorma”
  DEX: 14 
  STR: 14 TOU: 14
  PER: 13 
  WIL: 13 CHA: 13
  Initiative: 13 Physical Defense: 20
  Actions: 3 Mystic Defense: 21
  
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  Attack: 18 
  Social Defense: 21
  Damage: 
  Physical Armor: 10
  Spectral Axe: 19 
  Mystic Armor: 12
  Death: 78 
  Recovery Tests: 6
  Unconsciousness: NA Knockdown: 13
  Wound Threshold: 19 Movement: 12
  Adventure Award: Warden Tier (Group)
  Karma Points: 18 
  Karma Step: 11
  Powers: Aid Summoner (9); Astral Portal (9); Astral Sight (22); Confusion (22); Detect 
  Trap (22); Detect Weapon (22); Empathic Sense (22); Evil Eye (22); Find (22); Lifesight (22); 
  Manifest (9); Possession (22); Spellcasting (22); Temperature
  Rules
  Eorma’s spectral axe goes against Mystic Armor, not Physical. If summoning Eorma to fight 
  against someone who has committed a betrayal, make the Test at +2 Steps. If the foe has committed 
  treachery against blood kin, Eorma will grant an extra service beyond those obtained in negotiation 
  or the Summoning Test. If the proper formula for calling up an axeman to the banner to stand in 
  battle can be recited in 9th Century Danish, the Summoning Skill is not needed to call Eorma 
  forth, although a negotiation Test may still be required, especially if the reason for the summons 
  cannot be clearly expressed in the same language. (Best to actually learn old Danish and not try to 
  do the summon phonetically.) If the summoner or another person willingly allows Eorma to possess 
  them, the duration is extended from minutes to hours, and control of the body’s actions can be 
  passed at will between Eorma and his host. When Eorma possesses a person, he can fight with his 
  own stats, and Manifest his armour and axe. 
  Jeanette Hartley
  Jeanette, a shopgirl from Leeds, died in 1853 at the age of 22 when she was murdered and her 
  body thrown off a bridge into the canal. Heavy rain that night caused an overflow into the sewers, 
  and her remains have been caught in the depths ever since. Jeanette has spent her time rising in 
  the spiritual hierarchy, responding to open summonings and performing whatever tasks she could 
  in order to increase her strength and gain power. She hopes that one day a summoner will ask 
  her what she would require for a great service, or that she will find someone willing to entertain a 
  bargain offered by a spirit. She wants her remains to be dredged up and given a proper burial, so 
  that she might have a chance to move on to whatever destination awaits her. As for justice, her killer 
  was arrested eight months later on an unrelated charge. He was given a choice of imprisonment or 
  enlistment, and died in battle in the Crimea.
  Force 6 Ancestral Spirit, Jeanette Hartley
  DEX: 9 
  STR: 7 TOU: 9
  PER: 10 
  WIL: 10 CHA: 10
  Initiative: 10 Physical Defense: 14
  Actions: 2 Mystic Defense: 16
  Attack: 12 
  Social Defense: 16
  Damage: 
  Physical Armor: 6
  Unarmed: 8 Mystic Armor: 10
  Death: 56 
  Recovery Tests: 4
  Unconsciousness: NA Knockdown: 7
  
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  New Spirits
  Wound Threshold: 14 Movement: 12
  Adventure Award: Journeyman Tier
  Karma Points: 12 
  Karma Step: 9
  Powers: Aid Summoner (6); Astral Portal (6); Astral Sight (16); Confusion (16); Detect Trap 
  (16); Detect Weapon (16); Empathic Sense (16); Find (16); Lifesight (16); Manifest (6); Possession 
  (16); Spellcasting (16); Temperature (16)
  Rules: Jeanette prefers not to use her Possession ability. She believes it to be rude, even with 
  consent from the target.
  Elemental
  Caridea
  Caridea is what happens when a summoner becomes arrogant and attempts to control 
  something beyond their reach. A powerful air elemental, Caridea was badly abused by a previous 
  summoner, who succeeded in binding it when negotiations failed, and tortured the spirit when it 
  disobeyed. The spirit has not recovered from the experience, reflected partly in its lower Charisma, 
  Toughness, and Damage Ratings, partly in its increased Willpower, and will lash out at the slightest 
  provocation. Caridea does not manifest in any solid or static form, showing up only as swirls of 
  wind, a gathering of storm clouds the size of an elephant crackling with tiny lightning, or a vaguely 
  defined and translucent avian / draconic form constantly shifting in structure and detail. 
  Force 10 Air Spirit, “Caridea”
  DEX: 14 
  STR: 13 TOU: 11
  PER: 14 
  WIL: 15 CHA: 11
  Initiative: 14 Physical Defense: 26
  Actions: 3 Mystic Defense: 26
  Attack: 24 Social Defense: 24
  Damage: 
  Physical Armor: 12
  See Powers Mystic Armor: 10
  Death: 54 
  Recovery Tests: 5
  
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  Unconsciousness: NA Knockdown: NA
  Wound Threshold: 15 Movement: 20
  Adventure Award: Warden Tier (Group)
  Karma Points: 20 
  Karma Step: 13
  Powers: Aid Summoner (10); Astral Sight (24); Detect True Element (24); Engulf (23); 
  Enrage Element (25); Find (24); Frighten (25); Insubstantial; Manifest (10); Manipulate Element 
  (25); Share Knowledge (10); Spear (23); Spellcasting (24)
  Rules
  Caridea becomes violent on any failed negotiation Test or other interaction Test that attempts 
  to bargain with or dominate it. If no actual harm was meant, an interaction Test with an extra 
  success will calm the spirit. If any harm was done, or shown to be intended, the spirit will not 
  relent until it has caused a Wound, or until it has taken a Wound, at which time it will attempt 
  to break free of its summoning and flee. It prefers to attack from a distance by enraging the air 
  around its target, following up with Lightning Bolt spells and Air Spears. Only in extreme situations 
  will it resort to its Engulf power, and will not relent until its victim is unconscious or dead. Note 
  an Engulfed victim is effectively held by the attacking spirit. Caridea has been known to carry its 
  Engulfed victims upward to great height, then release them from the attack. Falling Damage isn’t 
  the spirit’s problem.
  Cinder
  Born in a tenement fire just two weeks ago, summoned into existence by one of the flat-
  dwellers burning to death when the building collapsed, Cinder has a long way to go before it can be 
  counted among the ranks of the Blazing Ones. Already, though, it has learned that when it burns 
  a person, it gains mana from the attack, from scorching the life force away from its victim and 
  subsuming it into itself. Not cruel, just hungry, Cinder has no understanding of what it is doing 
  – it’s too new, too raw, too beholden to basic drives and has not yet developed the intelligence to 
  pick and choose how it feeds. Rats won’t do, nor pigeons. They can be tricked into picking up the 
  glowing spark, the shiny thing, the warmth that lays out false promises as bait, but the reward from 
  scorching them is nothing compared to the gush of energy from something intelligent, something 
  Boojum, something human, something with consciousness of its own mortality. The cruelty of the 
  very young carries no malice, only the focus on the needs of the self, the gratification of the desires 
  of the moment, and at the moment, Cinder is ravenous.
  Force 1 Fire Elemental, “Cinder”
  DEX: 5 
  STR: 4 TOU: 4
  PER: 3 
  WIL: 5 CHA: 3
  Initiative: 7 Physical Defense: 8
  Actions: 1 
  Mystic Defense: 8
  Attack: 6 
  Social Defense: 5
  Damage: 
  Physical Armor: 5
  Burn: 9 
  Mystic Armor: 1
  Death: 28 
  Recovery Tests: 2
  Unconsciousness: NA Knockdown: NA
  Wound Threshold: 8 Movement: 6
  Adventure Award: Novice Tier
  Karma Points: 2 
  Karma Step: 4
  
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  Powers: Astral Sight (4); Elemental Aura (1); Detect True Element (1); Manifest (1); 
  Manipulate Element (6); Spellcasting (4)
  Rules
  Cinder manifests as a bright spark, a pinpoint of heat and light, a cast-off from a larger fire 
  that simply won’t go out. It floats about the city, feeding occasionally on anything flammable as 
  it feels the need, and looks for opportunities for greater input. A creature of base drives, Cinder 
  will land right under the thumb of someone about to grasp firmly, searing a tiny burn into their 
  flesh and rejoicing in the surge of astral energy, the spike of pain and mana released by the wound. 
  How many like it are loose in London right now, sparks that flew out from a great conflagration, 
  seeking more fuel? 
  Galenea
  Although she speaks fluent Hellenic Greek and several other Mediterranean languages, 
  Galenea prefers the far northern or southern climes, the closer to the poles the better. She, for the 
  elemental insists that she is female and always manifests as such, disdains the fluidity of liquid water 
  for the crystalline brilliance of ice. Summoners are advised to brush up on their ancient Greek in 
  language, etiquette, and literature, as Galenea has little patience for the boorish and uncultured. To 
  those who properly address her, who extol her beauty in extemporaneous verse, and who respect her 
  disdain for summer, may find her granting their wishes in abundance. The best results come from 
  those who summon her from the ice of a frozen river or lake, surrounded by new-fallen snow, and 
  use the Athenian formulae for their incantations.
  Force 8 Water (Ice) Elemental, “Galenea”
  DEX: 9 
  STR: 8 TOU: 8
  PER: 9 
  WIL: 9 CHA: 11
  Initiative: 13 Physical Defense: 21
  Actions: 2 Mystic Defense: 22
  Attack: 19 
  Social Defense: 21
  Damage: 
  Physical Armor: 8
  Unarmed: 8 Mystic Armor: 8
  Death: 44 
  Recovery Tests: 4
  Unconsciousness: NA Knockdown: NA
  Wound Threshold: 13 Movement: 7
  Adventure Award: Journeyman Tier
  Karma Points: 16 
  Karma Step: 11
  Powers: Adaptability (8); Aid Summoner (8); Astral Sight (17); Detect True Element (8); 
  Elemental Aura (8); Engulf (17), Enrage Element (17); Manifest (8); Manipulate Element (17); 
  Share Knowledge (8); Spear (16); Spellcasting (17); Temperature (17)
  Rules
  Galenea refuses to Manifest unless at least ten gallons of water are present, from which she 
  can form a temporary body made of ice using her Temperature and Manipulate Element powers. 
  The resultant ice golem, or animated ice sculpture, has her stats, and cannot be easily shattered as 
  would natural ice. She can only use her Temperature power on water she is manifesting through, 
  to freeze it for her preferred form. In a fight, she has been known to abandon a manifestation one 
  round, and create another the next, effectively vanishing from in front of her attacker to reappear 
  behind them, or to use her Spear power from directly below her foe if they are standing in snow 
  
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  or on ice. Characters Engulfed by her take Step 8 Cold Damage, armour piercing, per round, 
  in addition to any other effects. Summoners who have actually learned Hellenic Greek with their 
  Speak Languages Skill, and who make a successful First Impression, Etiquette, or Seduction Test 
  against her Social Defense after a successful Summon Test, gain one extra service for each success. 
  A further relationship with the elemental may arise based on how graciously the summoner treats 
  her. Summoners who recite the formulae phonetically gain one extra service in addition to whatever 
  their Summon Test brings them. 
  Kinzoku Ganmoku-sensei
  A metal elemental from Nippon, Ganmoku-sensei manifests as a sculptured and filigreed 
  dragonfly, varying in size from the actual insect to a behemoth that rivals a true dragon, as 
  the need arises. While it spends most of its time tending to its primary purpose, guiding and 
  assisting the great smiths of its native land, the spirit has been encountered in many other nations. 
  Ganmoku-sensei seeks out metalworkers of high skill, and provides them with inspiration and higher 
  knowledge of their craft. In return, it asks for purified bits of metal, not just smelted to remove 
  foreign substances, but ritually cleansed of influence. The specific metal varies, but generally will be 
  one of the more rare ones found in the region. Ganmoku-sensei has at different times asked for an 
  ounce of nickel, ten grams of tungsten, and a gram of osmium, and rarely seeks precious metals 
  such as gold and silver. In return, the spirit grants knowledge of smelting, forging, and smithing 
  techniques, provides guidance in chasing and etching and other forms of embellishment, and leaves 
  the metalworker substantially more skilled in their craft. Some metalworkers in Nippon regard the 
  spirit as a divine being, or a revered ancestor, and build shrines to it in their workplaces. Doing so 
  does not guarantee its favour, nor a visit, but the rituals of preparing purified metals for offering 
  at the shrine definitely improve both the skill and focus of the metalworker. Attempts to summon 
  Ganmoku-sensei are only made by the most arrogant or ignorant, and tend not to end well, as the 
  spirit does not take kindly to blatant shows of disrespect.
  
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  New Spirits
  Force 13 Earth (Metal) Elemental, “Kinzoku Ganmoku-sensei”
  DEX: 19 
  STR: 15 TOU: 15
  PER: 17 
  WIL: 18 CHA: 17
  Initiative: 19 Physical Defense: 27
  Actions: 3 Mystic Defense: 36
  Attack: 28 Social Defense: 34
  Damage: 
  Physical Armor: 32
  Claw (12): 27, Bite (15): 30 
  Mystic Armor: #
  Death: 92 
  Recovery Tests: 9
  Unconsciousness: NA Knockdown: 15
  Wound Threshold: 24 Movement: 6 / 22*
  Karma Points: 30 
  Karma Step: 16
  Adventure Award: Master Tier (Group)
  Powers: Aid Summoner (13); Astral Sight (30); Detect Element (31); Detect True Element 
  (13); Engulf (31); Enhance Summoner (30); Enrage Element (31); Gather Element (31); Manifest 
  (13); Manipulate Element (31); Remove Element (31); Share Knowledge (13); Spear (28); 
  Spellcasting (30)
  Rules
  * The second number is the spirit’s Flying movement.
  Ganmoku-sensei may appear on its own and offer a deal. If the metalworker to whom it has 
  appeared can provide it with a required amount of a specific metal within a specific time, the spirit 
  will remain as a teacher for a period of one week up to six months. Training under the spirit will 
  improve the metalworker’s Ranks in all relevant Skills by 3, up to the maximum for Core, Optional, 
  and Free Skills. The masterwork produced at the end of the training will be worth a year’s earnings, 
  assuming the metalworker is willing to sell it.
  Attempting to summon Ganmoku-sensei requires two extra successes. Subsequent negotiation 
  Tests are at 4 Steps for the summoner. If negotiation fails, and the summoner does not have the 
  Rank to demand service, Ganmoku-sensei will attack, with the intent of leaving the summoner 
  unconscious and visibly scarred.
  The spirit may use its Manipulate Element power to reshape anything made of metal into 
  any form of equal mass, as a Sustained Action requiring at least two combat rounds, and possibly 
  more for large and/or complex objects.
  Pinopsida
  A spirit of the high forest, of evergreens close to the snow line, Pinopsida could have spent 
  the next century as it had the last however many, seeing to the quiet groves and ranks of pines and 
  firs in the cold, thin air of the Pyrenees. Such was not to be. A new road had been decreed, across 
  the border from Lourdes to Pamplona. Such a route would drive through the center of Pinopsida’s 
  domain, severing one part of the natural world from another. After considerable effort to prevent it 
  entirely, Pinopsida accepted the fact that people are going to carve their way up into the mountains. 
  It made arrangements with the survey team and construction crew to spare its domain, and go 
  through a desolate neighbouring area instead, where the impact would be felt a bit less. The earth 
  
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  elementals felt betrayed by this, and hung Pinopsida out to dry, leaving it on its own. When the 
  planners changed the route back to its original route because of the increased financial costs of the 
  alternate one, Pinopsida had no recourse but its own strength, which dwindled as its domain has 
  been ravaged by steam shovels and men with axes. At this point, it’s desperate and will take whatever 
  help it can get regardless of the price, as long as its domain can be saved and the spirit will survive.
  Force 5 Wood Spirit, “Pinopsida”
  DEX: 7 
  STR: 8 TOU: 8
  PER: 9 
  WIL: 10 CHA: 9
  Initiative: 10 Physical Defense: 9
  Actions: 2 Mystic Defense: 19
  Attack: 16 
  Social Defense: 16
  Damage: 
  Physical Armor: 11
  Unarmed: 11 Mystic Armor: 5
  Death: 44 
  Recovery Tests: 4
  Unconsciousness: 36 Knockdown: 13
  Wound Threshold: 13 Movement: 6
  Adventure Award: Journeyman Tier
  Karma Points: 10 
  Karma Step: 8
  Powers: Aid Summoner (5); Astral Sight (14); Detect True Element (5); Engulf (15); 
  Enrage Element (15); Find (14); Hardened Armor; Manifest (5); Manipulate Element (15); Share 
  Knowledge (5); Spear (13); Spellcasting (14)
  Rules
  Pinopsida will accept any bargain offered that includes preservation of its domain and its 
  strength, as long as it does not involve being bound away from its domain in the process.
  YZ
  
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  Chapter 7
  1879 GAMEMASTER’S Guide
  New Creatures
  “Man selects only for his own good: Nature only for that of the being which she tends.”
  - Charles Darwin, The Origin of Species 
  This chapter provides the tools necessary to create new creatures for 
  1879, explores the magical creatures that have appeared on Earth since the 
  opening of the Rabbit Hole, and describes additional creatures that have been 
  catalogued in the Gruv. 
  Creature Creation Process
  The Bestiary chapter of the 1879 Gamemaster’s Guide provides many creatures that may 
  appear in an 1879 campaign or adventure. Eventually, however, player characters may become 
  familiar with these creatures’ powers and abilities, and will no longer be surprised by their sudden 
  appearances or overwhelmed by their attacks. This section provides guidelines to help Gamemasters 
  create their own creatures.
  7
  
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  New Creatures
  • Designing a new creature follows a series of eight steps:
  • Determine Attributes
  • Determine Characteristics
  • Determine Creature Traits
  • Determine Attack and Damage Steps
  • Determine Karma
  • Determine Powers and Spells
  • Determine Adventure Award
  • Write Commentary, Rules, Adventure Hook
  Determine Attributes
  Attributes are measured in Steps rather than values. There is no hard and fast way to 
  determine the average Attribute Steps for a new creature. Almost any combination is possible. The 
  following text serves as a guideline; use the existing creatures as examples.
  Dexterity: The smaller the creature, the more nimble it is (a mouse can react much more 
  quickly than an elephant). Dexterity also influences the base Step number for a creature’s physical 
  attacks.
  Strength: Strength determines the base Step number for the physical damage a creature 
  inflicts. The larger the creature, the stronger it will usually be. Because Strength determines how 
  much a creature can lift and carry, this becomes a particularly important Attribute for pack animals.
  Toughness: Toughness determines how much damage a creature can take before it falls 
  unconscious or dies. This Step number also determines how fast a creature heals.
  Perception: Perception relates to a creature’s innate intelligence. This value does not reflect its 
  sentience or lack thereof, but simply means that it is well-adapted and highly effective at identifying 
  food or enemies. A creature with high Perception also uses any innate magical abilities effectively.
  Willpower: A very tough creature with a low Willpower Step may wilt at the first sign of 
  danger, but take a very long time to die (whimpering and crying all the while). A creature with high 
  Willpower appears fearless and is less likely to believe illusions.
  Charisma: This Attribute determines how much of an impression the creature makes on others 
  and how resistant it is against taming and/or domination attempts.
  The Sons of the Sprocket have grown far too accustomed to the creatures they encounter in the 
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  149
  Chapter 7
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  Determine Characteristics
  Creature characteristics function like player character characteristics, although they may be 
  modified by creature abilities. See the modified Characteristics Table below to determine the base 
  characteristics of a creature. The equivalent Attribute values can be adjusted by the Gamemaster to 
  fine-tune the relevant characteristics.
  Characteristics Table
  Equivalent 
  Value
  Defense 
  Rating
  Carry
  Un-
  con
  Death
  Wound 
  Threshold
  Recovery 
  per Day
  Mystic 
  Armor
  2
  2
  2
  15
  4
  6
  3
  1
  0
  3
  5
  4
  30
  10
  13
  5
  1
  1
  4
  8
  5
  60
  16
  20
  6
  2
  1
  5
  11
  7
  95
  22
  27
  8
  2
  2
  6
  14
  8
  140
  28
  34
  9
  3
  2
  7
  17
  10
  195
  34
  41
  11
  3
  3
  8
  20
  11
  255
  40
  48
  12
  4
  4
  9
  23
  13
  330
  46
  55
  14
  4
  4
  26
  14
  410
  52
  62
  15
  5
  5
  11
  29
  16
  500
  58
  69
  17
  5
  5
  12
  32
  17
  600
  64
  76
  18
  6
  6
  13
  35
  19
  705
  70
  83
  20
  6
  7
  14
  38
  20
  825
  76
  90
  21
  7
  7
  15
  41
  22
  950
  82
  97
  23
  7
  8
  44
  23
  1085
  88
  104
  24
  8
  8
  17
  47
  25
  1230
  94
  111
  26
  8
  9
  50
  26
  1380
  100
  118
  27
  9
  10
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  150
  New Creatures
  Movement Rate
  A creature’s Movement Rate is based on its physical makeup. Use the Races as a guideline 
  and for comparison for bipedal creatures. For example, a humanoid creature will have a Movement 
  Rate of 6. Existing creatures can also be used for guidance. See the Creature Movement Rate table 
  below. Use these as a base and adjust them by +/–1 if necessary. The Movement Rate is further 
  modified by some of the Creature Traits below.
  Creature Movement Rate
  Creature
  Move
  Creature
  Move
  Creature
  Move
  Alligator
  6/8*
  Grenadier Bird
  3/10**
  Rhinoceros
  8
  Bear
  8
  Harpy
  15
  Rocky Anteater
  7
  Buff
  13
  Horse, Draft
  8
  Sabertooth
  7
  Cheetah
  9
  Horse, Pony
  8
  Salamander
  9
  Cheshire
  9
  Horse, Riding
  10
  Scorpiodied
  8
  Crawling Wig
  3
  Horse, War
  8
  Shardraqx
  9
  Dog, Guard
  7
  Hunchbeak
  10
  Sihrstuulah
  5/14**
  Dog, Hunting
  7
  Jabberwock
  11
  Sisnapishtu
  10
  Dog, War
  7
  Josisaur
  7
  Sissetbandura
  9
  Dormouse
  7
  Leopard
  8
  Snake
  5
  Eagle
  2/9**
  Lion
  8
  Sparker
  4
  Elephant
  8
  Lizard
  7
  Spikejawed Sandhog
  7
  Falcon
  2/9**
  Monkey
  6/7***
  Sticksand
  4
  Flatback
  5
  Mordslanger
  9
  Storkasaur
  4/12**
  Galvanant
  4
  Nallshpritzer Soldier
  7
  Storsventok
  7
  Garnickey
  8
  Nallshpritzer Worker
  7
  Tar Beetle
  4/6**
  Geealong
  7
  Pack Mule
  8
  Thorny Molecrab
  7
  Gengit
  5
  Purpose
  5/12*
  Trihorn
  9
  Giant Flea
  9
  Pythonipede
  12
  Tusk’r
  8
  Goat
  8
  Rail Runner
  13
  Wild Boar
  8
  Golden Sloth
  5
  Rat
  6
  Wolf
  8
  Gremlin
  11
  Reef Dragon
  8/9*
  * Second value is aquatic movement
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  *** Second value is climbing movement
  
  151
  Chapter 7
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  Determine Creature Traits
  A creature’s Characteristics do not solely depend on its Attributes, but also its physical 
  makeup. The Characteristics Table applies to creatures that have humanoid bodies. If the creature 
  is quadrupedal, or otherwise differs, apply one or more of the Traits listed below. There is no need 
  to list these Traits with the creature’s game statistics; they just serve to help when creating one. 
  However, any assigned Traits might influence the creature’s description (see Write Commentary, 
  p.157).
  Additional Arms: Increase the number of Standard Actions the creature can carry out each 
  round by +1 per additional pair of arms. 
  Additional Legs: Increase the creature’s Knockdown Step by at least +1 per additional pair of 
  legs. Use a base Movement Rate of 7 for dog-sized creatures with multiple legs, 8 for horse-sized 
  creatures, and 9 for creatures with six or more legs.
  Additional Sense: The creature has additional senses, such as Low-Light Vision, Heat Sight, 
  enhanced hearing, or Astral Sight. These provide no bonuses to Attributes or Characteristics, but 
  the additional sense(s) should be reflected in the creature’s Perception Step.
  Ethereal: The creature has an incorporeal form, much like that of a spirit. Increase the 
  creature’s Physical Defense by +5 or more.
  Fast: The creature can move faster than usual. Add +1 (or more) to its Movement Rate.
  Flight: The creature is able to fly or glide through the air. Add +2 (or more) to its Movement 
  Rate as a separate Flying Movement Characteristic.
  Gaseous: The creature has a gaseous form, and appears as a cloud of mist or smoke. Increase 
  the creature’s Physical Defense by +3 or more.
  Immunity: The creature is immune to a certain form of attack, such as non-magical melee 
  weapons or fire damage. This immunity must be listed in the rules section following the creature’s 
  statistics.
  
  152
  New Creatures
  Increased Karma Pool: The creature has more Karma Points than usual (see Determine 
  Karma, p.153). Increase the creature’s Karma Points by a multiple of +5, to a maximum of two 
  times the original value.
  Increased Knockdown Step: The creature has a higher Knockdown Step than normal, because 
  it’s heavier than usual for creatures of its size or because of its physical makeup. Add +1 Step or 
  more to the creature’s Knockdown Step.
  Karma: The creature is able to use Karma and has a Karma Step (see Determine Karma, 
  below) and a number of Karma Points available to it. Unless the description states otherwise, 
  creatures regenerate spent Karma Points at the rate of Karma Step points per day.
  Large: Any creature larger than 12 feet tall or wide, or weighing 1,000 pounds or greater, 
  subtracts –2 (or more) from its Physical Defense.
  Magical Immunity: The creature has a strong magical defense. Add +1 (or more) to the 
  creature’s Mystic Defense and Mystic Armor.
  Multiple Actions: Most creatures can perform just one Standard Action per round. Creatures 
  with this trait are able to take more Standard Actions during a combat round (in addition to 
  Additional Arms, above). As a general guideline, divide the creature’s Dexterity Step by 5, rounding 
  up from 2.5,  and use the result as the number of additional Standard Actions, with a minimum 
  of 1 extra Action. If the creature has powers, use the higher of its Dexterity or Perception Steps.
  Natural Weapon: A creature’s natural weapons, such as claws, sharp teeth, beaks, horns, 
  antlers, or stingers, increase the physical damage it can inflict on its victims. The Damage Step of 
  the natural weapon is based on its Size. Use the Melee Weapons table in the 1879 Players Guide, 
  p.281, as a guide.
  Natural Armor: A creature’s natural armor determines its Physical Armor. Use the Armor 
  Table in the 1879 Players Guide, p.295, as a guide. Initiative Step penalties may be applied or 
  disregarded as appropriate.
  Quick: The creature moves unnaturally fast in combat. Add +1 Step (or more) to the 
  creature’s Initiative Step.
  Reduced Karma Pool: If the creature has Karma, it possesses fewer Karma Points than normal 
  (see Determine Karma, below). Reduce its Karma Points in multiples of five, to a minimum of 5 
  points.
  Reduced Knockdown Step: The creature is easier to knock down than normal, because it is 
  lighter than usual for its size or because of its physical makeup. Subtract –1 Step (or more) from 
  the creature’s Knockdown Step.
  Shapeshifter: This ability can only be possessed by humans, who gain it from LGF as an 
  alternative to becoming a Boojum. Shapeshifters can change between their human and animal 
  forms by taking half their other form’s Wound Threshold in Strain and spending two combat 
  rounds unable to take any other Action, including Free Actions. Shapeshifters have two sets of 
  Attributes, one human and one animal. They advance their Attributes independently as they advance 
  in Professional Rank. When they shift, they get a free Recovery Test that does not count against 
  their daily limit. This Recovery Test can heal damage or a Wound at the player’s option. When 
  in human form, and put under stress, the player must make a Willpower (8) Test or shift to their 
  animal form. (The Gamemaster may adjust the Target Number of the Willpower Test according to 
  circumstances.) On one success, they remain human, but take on an animalistic appearance. This 
  gives a +1 to Social attacks but causes a temporary -1 shift in Attitude for NPCs and a temporary 
  -1 to SL. Lack of self control is considered shameful in Victorian society. Stress includes taking a 
  
  153
  Chapter 7
  Wound, taking a hit that scores more than one success, taking a social or Mystic attack that scores 
  more than one success, etc. If the result of enemy action, the Willpower Test is made at a penalty 
  equal to the opponent’s success count minus 2. A Taunt that scores 3 successes requires a Willpower 
  Test at -1 Step. In human form, the character will vaguely resemble their animal form. For example, 
  a fox shapeshifter will have high cheekbones and sharp teeth, and a small and graceful build.
  Slow: The creature moves slower than usual. Subtract –1 Step (or more) from its Initiative 
  Step. Subtract –2 (or more) from its Movement Rate. If the creature is unable to move (a plant, for 
  example), it has no Movement Rate, and is generally easier to attack (–3 or more to the creature’s 
  Physical Defense).
  Small: Any creature smaller than two feet tall or wide, or weighing twenty pounds or less, 
  adds +2 (or more) to its Physical Defense.
  Social Immunity: The creature is resistant to Social attacks, including attempts to tame, 
  control, or befriend it. Add +1 (or more) to the creature’s Social Defense.
  Vulnerability: The creature is susceptible to a certain substance or a special form of attack, 
  such as salt or fire-based damage. This vulnerability must be listed in the rules section following the 
  creature’s commentary, including any special rules that apply if the creature is confronted with it.
  Caridad has already given the Flying Ferret its Flight ability, but notes the creature has it for later. 
  She decides to make it both Fast and Quick, bumping its Movement to 9/11 and its Initiative Step 
  to 11. To compensate for this, she makes it easier to knock down, due to its being lighter than a 
  regular ferret, reducing its Knockdown Step from 5 to 4. The Flying Ferret is also Small, which 
  raises its Physical Defense by +2, to a 16. It’s going to be deucedly hard to hit, but if the party can 
  land a hit on it, it’s down easy.
  Determine Attack and Damage Steps
  A creature’s Attack capability is measured in Ranks, as if it had the Unarmed Combat Skill, 
  which are added to the creature’s Dexterity Step. As a rule of thumb, most creatures have 1 to 3 
  Ranks in this ability. More lethal creatures may have a higher Rank and thus a higher Attack Step.
  The base Damage Step is the creature’s Strength Step. Add to this if the creature has claws, 
  teeth, talons, or other natural weapons, which generally increase damage in the range of +1 to +3. 
  All the Flying Ferret has going for it is a bite attack, which it’s reasonably good at, but its teeth 
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  Determine Karma
  Magical creatures, such as dual-natured animals, spirits, and dragons, can have Karma. As 
  with people, a small number of mundane creatures are also able to develop magical powers and the 
  ability to use Karma. The higher the Karma Step, the more powerful the creature is. As a rule of 
  thumb, humans have a Karma Step of 5, and the great dragon Hyrdofeay has a Karma Step of 18. 
  Creatures recover a number of Karma Points per day equal to their Karma Step.
  
  154
  New Creatures
  Caridad decides the Flying Ferret doesn’t rate Karma, and doesn’t give it any.
  Determine Powers and Spells
  Creatures can be assigned to one of four categories: mundane creatures, dual-natured creatures, 
  spirits, and dragons. Each of these creature types has its unique list of abilities and powers. Use 
  common sense when assigning new powers to a creature. For example, horses certainly don’t know 
  how to handle melee weapons, but a buggane might learn. The Step of a power is usually determined 
  by adding the Rank to the corresponding Attribute Step. The maximum Rank a creature can have 
  in any power or ability is Rank 10 for mundane creatures and Rank 15 for magical ones.
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  Determine Adventure Award
  The final step in creating the mechanics for a new creature is to assign it an Adventure Point 
  (AP) Award. To do this, use the Creature Scaling Table. Use the highest Attribute Step, Attack or 
  Power Rank, Damage Rank, and Defense or Armor value for each category. If the exact value isn’t 
  found on the chart, use the next highest available. For example, if the creature’s Dexterity Step is a 
  10, use the PR5 row, Attribute Step 11.
  It is okay for one category to be a little high if another is low. In general, this is best applied 
  to the creature’s Attack and Damage. For example, most Initiate Tier (PR 1 equivalent) creatures 
  should have at maximum an overall Attack Step of 11 (Dexterity Step 8 + Attack Rank 3) and a 
  maximum overall Damage Step of 13 (Strength Step 8 + Damage Rank 5). It is okay to have a 
  creature with 4 Attack Ranks and a Dexterity Step of 7 for an Initiate Tier creature, provided that 
  the other categories match for an Initiate Tier opponent. In general, the Damage Step should be 
  lower to compensate. The table provides for a large variation, but your average Initiate Tier creature 
  would have Step 5 in most Attributes, an Attack Rank of 2, a Damage Rank of 3, Armor of 5, 
  
  155
  Chapter 7
  and a Death Rating of 32. 
  Once all the categories are determined, add the Award for each of the categories to get the 
  total Adventure Award for the creature. Round off to the nearest 100 APs.
  Spells
  If the creature has spells, compare them to the Attack and Power Ranks. If the highest 
  Tier spell the creature can cast is higher than the creature’s best Attack and Power Ranks, use the 
  equivalent maximum PR for the Tier for the Attack/ Power Rank line.
  Karma
  If the creature has a Karma Step higher than 4, the Adventure Award is increased by +1 PR, 
  or decrease the number of creatures appearing to 1 per 2 PC.
  Number of Standard Actions
  The creature’s Number of Standard Actions is used to determine how many characters are 
  needed to defeat it. A creature with one Standard Action will usually be a match for one character. A 
  creature with two Standard Actions is usually a match for two or three characters, and is designated 
  as “1 per 2 PC”. A creature with three or more Standard Actions will usually require the entire 
  group to defeat it, and is designated as “Group”.
  In addition, certain powers allow for additional sources of damage without a creature spending 
  a Standard Action. Examples include “Aura” powers such as Burning Aura and Freezing Aura that 
  cause damage to anyone near the creature, the Fire Trail power which causes damage as part of the 
  creature’s movement, additional attack causing powers such as Second Attack, or a multiple attack 
  power such as Multi-Strike. This does not include conditional attacks such as Air Dance, Swift 
  Kick, or Momentum Attack, which may or may not reliably work in any given combat round. 
  Decrease the number of creatures to 1 per 2 PC, or Group. If the creature needs further adjustment, 
  add +1 or +2 PR to the Adventure Award. If the creature is at PR15 (Group), increase the Adventure 
  Award to PR15 x2 (Group) instead of +1 PR, or PR15 x3 (Group) instead of +2 PR.
  Adventure Award Adjusting Powers
  +1 PR or decrease number of creatures to 
  1 per 2 PC 
  +2 PR or decrease number of creatures to 
  Group
  Burning Aura, Damage Shift, Freezing 
  Aura, Fire Trail, Reinforcement, Second 
  Attack, Second Charge, Second Shot, 
  Second Weapon
  Frenzy, Lightning Throw, Multi-Charge, Multi-
  Shot, Multi-Strike, Quickshot
  
  156
  New Creatures
  Adjusting Adventure Award and Number of Creatures
  By adjusting the Adventure Award downward and/or decreasing the number of creatures, a 
  Gamemaster can use a creature from a higher Tier. For every -1 PR, decrease the number of creatures 
  from 1 per character to 1 per 2 PC or 1 per 2 PC to Group.
  By adjusting the Adventure Award up and increasing the number of creatures, a Gamemaster 
  can use a creature from a lower Tier. For every +1 PR, increase the number of creatures from Group 
  to 1 per 2 PCs or from 1 per 2 PCs to 1 per character.
  Creature Scaling Table
  PR
  Tier
  Award
  Attribute 
  Step
  Attack/Power 
  Rank
  Damage 
  Rank
  Defenses/
  Armor 
  Rating
  Death 
  Rating
  1
  Initiate
  3
  5
  3
  5
  0
  19
  2
  Novice
  8
  7
  5
  7
  2
  35
  3
  Novice
  25
  8
  6
  8
  3
  45
  4
  Novice
  55
  9
  7
  9
  4
  55
  5
  Journeyman
  100
  11
  9
  11
  7
  65
  6
  Journeyman
  200
  12
  10
  12
  8
  75
  7
  Journeyman
  330
  13
  11
  13
  9
  85
  8
  Journeyman
  570
  14
  12
  14
  10
  95
  9
  Warden
  1000
  16
  14
  16
  13
  105
  10
  Warden
  2000
  17
  15
  17
  14
  115
  11
  Warden
  2500
  18
  16
  18
  15
  125
  12
  Warden
  3300
  19
  17
  19
  16
  135
  13
  Master
  4500
  21
  19
  21
  20
  145
  14
  Master
  5700
  22
  20
  22
  21
  155
  15
  Master
  7500
  23+
  21+
  23+
  22+
  165+
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  ���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������
  �������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������
  ������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������
  �������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������
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  157
  Chapter 7
  Write Commentary
  Once the creature’s game statistics have been determined, a commentary must be written, 
  describing the creature, and giving its common habitat, habits, and other characteristics. The 
  decisions made about the creature’s Attributes and Traits should provide a fairly clear idea of what 
  the creature looks like, what it eats, where it hunts and lives, and so on. As an option, answer the 
  following questions in order to help flesh out the creature. 
  �� What does the creature look like? 
  �� How does it mate / reproduce? 
  �� Is it a pack animal? 
  �� What does it eat? 
  �� How well does it get along with other creatures? 
  �� What does it fear? 
  �� When does it hunt and when does it sleep? 
  �� Can it be trained? 
  �� Where can it normally be found? 
  �� How does it relate to the other creatures in its ecosystem? 
  This step also requires a decision as to what, if any, equipment the creature may use. Most 
  animals and non-sentient creatures do not use equipment, but a race of subterranean creatures might 
  use stone spears and knives. 
  Finally, decide if the creature collects loot. If the creature is sentient, it may be guarding a 
  cache of money and weapons of previous victims. If the creature is a popular target of adventuring 
  groups, its loot may consist of the belongings of many previous challengers. Many creatures with 
  magical abilities hoard magical treasure or have magical body parts, including horns, feathers, teeth, 
  or blood. Decide what type of treasure a creature possesses, and its worth in pounds sterling and 
  Adventure Points.
  Rules 
  If applicable, add a rules section below the commentary. This section should describe how 
  the creature behaves in combat and any rules unique to the creature. Some creature powers need 
  special treatment, mostly with regard to characteristics such as range (Breath Weapons) and effect 
  (Poisons). Some creature traits also need to be addressed in this section, e.g., Immunity and 
  Vulnerability.
  Adventure Hook
  To give Gamemasters useful ideas on how to use the creature in their campaigns, add an 
  Adventure Hook suggesting how to use the creature as a starting point for an adventure.
  
  158
  New Creatures
  Example Creature
  Flying Ferret
  DEX: 10 
  STR: 5  
  TOU: 6   PER: 8     WIL: 7 
  CHA: 7
  Initiative: 11 Physical Defense: 16 
      Actions: 1 
  Mystic Defense: 11
  Attack (1): 12 
  Social Defense: 10     Damage: 
  Physical Armor: 0
  Bite (1): 6  
  Mystic Armor: 3     Death: 34 
  Recovery Tests: 3
  Unconsciousness: 28 Knockdown: 4 
      Wound Threshold: 9 
  Movement: 9 /11 
  Adventure Award: Journeyman Tier
  Rules
  The second Movement Rating is the creature’s Flying Movement. One of the more annoying 
  experiments to get loose from Dr. Wilhelmina Strauss’s laboratory during the Promethean Raids, 
  the Flying Ferret took to urban life in London like the proverbial duck to water. In some areas, 
  coveys of ferrets have pushed out the native rock doves, or eaten them, in either case taking over 
  their nesting grounds and feeding sites. The Metropolitan Board of Works has put a bounty of 1 
  shilling each on the flying ferrets, but given their speed, and enough wits to spot an obvious trap, 
  they’re deucedly hard to take. In form, they’re a bit shorter of body than the standard European 
  ferret, a bit closer to a stoat really, but narrow and light-boned. Their bat-like wings sprout from a 
  second pair of shoulders just behind the first, with the membrane attaching halfway down the body 
  for greater support. Their brownish fur and dark points blend in only passably well, much of London 
  being in shades of grey due to the coal smuts. Besides being quicker than a greased snake, and 
  preferring high cornices to burrows, they’re not much different from their original breeding stock 
  in terms of behaviour, diet, and so forth, but have very little fear of people. Strolling food vendors 
  have learned to carry sticks in ferret-infested areas, to drive the beasts away from the goods on offer. 
  The number of small lacerations suffered from a ferret snatching a roll or a bit of fried fish from 
  someone’s hand has risen alarmingly in Whitechapel.
  Adventure Hook: The nurses at London Hospital, on Whitechapel Road, have been 
  complaining about the flying ferrets roosting on the church across Oxford Street for some weeks 
  now. The other day, one of the novices was scratched across her face, narrowly missing her eye, by 
  a ferret in the process of stealing her lunch. Two other nurses have filed reports of ferrets stealing 
  their caps. The Hospital is offering a bounty on the entire nest. The deacon of the church won’t 
  allow anyone from the Hospital to go climbing up on the building, saying he’ll take care of it, but 
  he hasn’t yet, and the Hospital administration has complained to the Board of Works. Someone 
  needs to get up onto the roof of the church in the middle of the night, put paid to the ferrets, and 
  claim the reward from the Hospital without the deacon sending the coppers after them.
   
  Earth Bestiary
  This section details some of the creatures that have been identified on Earth since the 
  Opening. Current theory assumes the same basic factor that causes humans to suffer LGF and 
  transform into Boojums is also present in other species, resulting in fire-breathing turtles and dire 
  oxen. In many cases, these creatures resemble those out of regional legend, but only to a certain 
  extent. Perhaps once these creatures walked the Earth, and the legends are the distorted stories, 
  
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  handed down through countless generations, that have survived.
  We are deeply indebted to Dr. Max Keblovszkij, FRCVS, for permission to quote extensively 
  from his book, Veterinary Field Guide to Folkloric Creatures of the British Isles, 1881 edition. 
  Without Dr. Keblovszkij’s efforts to collate his case notes and field observations, and publish a new 
  version of his Field Guide each year, veterinary science would have nowhere near the grasp of the 
  new species arising as a result of the opening of the Rabbit Hole.
  We are also indebted to the Prophet Jones, also known as Rev. Edmund Jones of the Tranch, 
  a dissenting minister at the Ebenezer Chapel at Pontypool. If not for his works, the Account of 
  the Parish of Aberystruth, and the Relation of Apparitions of Spirits in the County of Monmouth 
  and the Principality of Wales, initially dismissed as the works of a far too credulous recorder of 
  folklore, we would have much less understanding of the folkloric creatures of Wales. These works, 
  so hard to come by in their original printing of just two hundred volumes each, have now been 
  collected and revised by the Prophet Jones’ nephew, Ebenezer Jones of Trevecca, as the Accounts of 
  the Spirits of Wales, and re-issued in a leather-bound edition of two thousand copies. The revised 
  volume maintains the original folklore but sets it next to field observations and accounts with two 
  or more witnesses of the actual folkloric creature, noting the differences between the lore and the 
  creature, which can be critical to the survival of those encountering such creatures.
  Afanc
  The afanc (pronounced avank) gets its name from a Welsh legend of a lake monster, but may 
  be found throughout Britain proper, and has become an especial problem in Cornwall. While it has 
  a shell like that of a turtle, it cannot withdraw into it. Its head and legs more closely resemble a 
  beaver or stoat, covered with heavy dark fur. Its short, blunt snout conceals teeth the size of daggers. 
  While its claws are likewise massive, the afanc uses them only for digging and for tearing apart prey 
  it has already slain, unable to bring them to bear as weapons due to its ponderous build. At its 
  fullest growth, the afanc approximates a cow in size and weight, resulting in a prodigious appetite 
  for meat that makes it a fearful creature indeed.
  One might not expect a beast as great and slow as the afanc to be an ambush hunter, but 
  like a crocodile, it lies in wait in the water, just the tip of its snout and its eyes visible. When prey 
  comes to the water’s edge, it uses its fiery breath to maim its target, then lunges from the water 
  to finish off its victim with its bite, easily a match for a snapping-turtle in power and for a wolf or 
  jackal in brute savagery. Given its size, it can readily consume a calf in one meal. While thankfully, 
  like many large predators, it dines only once per day, the losses to a dairy-cattle herd in a week can 
  drive a farmer to bankruptcy.
  DEX: 5 
  STR: 10 TOU: 10  
  PER: 3 WIL: 6 CHA: 5
  Initiative: 5 Physical Defense: 10 
  Actions: 2 
  Mystic Defense: 7
  Attack: 9 
  Social Defense: 7  
  Damage:  
  Physical Armor: 8
  Bite (4): 14 Mystic Armor: 7  
  Death: 100 
  Recovery Tests: 5
  Unconsciousness: 84  
   
  Knockdown: 12
  Wound Threshold: 16 Movement: 4 
  Adventure Award: Warden Tier
  Powers: Breath Weapon (Fire): 11; Durability: 3
  
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  Rules
  The afanc may only use its breath weapon when at least partly submerged in water. It takes 
  a -3 Step penalty to its Breath Weapon if the water is not its home. If in its home pond or other 
  body of water, the afanc cannot be forced out except by a pair of Ychain Banog, a breed of oxen 
  unique to Wales, two fully grown bulls that have not been bred. Two successful Grappling attacks 
  must be made to secure ropes or chains to the afanc. Until the slack is taken up and the bulls 
  begin to pull, the afanc may make an attack against the rope or chain to attempt to escape it or 
  break it, going against the Barrier Rating of the rope or chain or the result of the Grappling attack, 
  whichever is higher. Once the bulls begin to pull, the symbolic magic of the act takes effect and 
  the afanc is drawn forth from the water without any further Tests required.
  Adventure Hook: The Burton Textile Mill uses a water turbine to power its factory equipment, 
  driven by a millrace that used to feed a grist mill on the same location. An afanc has moved into 
  the millpond, and has been feeding off the area’s deer, the occasional stray dog, and in one tragic 
  case a mill worker who went down to the millpond for a smoke before her shift. The millrace and 
  the factory are both of wooden construction, and while the one stays wet and is thus more or less 
  resistant to the afanc’s fiery breath, the other is full of highly flammable materials. The Burton 
  family has offered a hundred pounds to anyone who can remove the afanc from the millpond without 
  setting fire to the factory, with the caveat that any damage to the mill will be deducted from the 
  reward. The mill worker’s family is offering ten pounds to anyone that can retrieve enough of their 
  relative’s remains to give a proper burial.
  Bodmin
  Taking its name from the Cornish moor where its folklore says it originated, the bodmin 
  appears as a pale greyish-brown cat, ideally coloured for vanishing into the moorland. For many 
  generations, rumours circulated through Cornwall that panther-like cats were roaming the area, and 
  responsible for the occasional partly eaten sheep or cow being found. Scientists dismissed the idea 
  out of hand, citing the lack of prey animals on Bodmin Moor, and in the region in general, to 
  support a viable breeding population of large predators. Now, however, we know the bodmin can 
  simply drop down to the size of a housecat when prey is scarce, and live comfortably on mice. When 
  a sheep wanders away from the flock, the bodmin can surge up to panther size, or to the size of a 
  bull mastiff for larger prey, such as cattle. A solitary hunter, like most cats, the bodmin only crosses 
  into the territory of its neighbours during the mating season. The females give birth generally in the 
  early spring, to two and sometimes three kits. As with most wild cats, the bodmin is shy of people, 
  and will either run, or use its size changing ability to drop down into the underbrush and slip away. 
  Only when confronted directly does it normally choose to fight, although a female with young is, 
  as with many species, not to be trifled with.
  DEX: 8 / 7 / 6 
  STR: 4 / 5 / 6 TOU: 5  
  PER: 4 WIL: 5 CHA: 4
  Initiative: 10 / 9 / 8 Physical Defense: 13 / 10 / 6  Actions: 1 
  Mystic Defense: 6
  Attack: 10 / 9 / 8 
  Social Defense: 6  
    Damage: 
  Physical Armor: 3
  Claw/Claw/Bite: 6/6/8 / 7/7/9 / 8/8/10 
    Mystic Armor: 4
  Death: 45 
  Recovery Tests: 2 Unconsciousness: 37 
  Knockdown: 4 / 5 / 6
  Wound Threshold: 8  
  Movement: 8          Adventure Award: Journeyman Tier
  Powers: Durability (3); Transform Self
  
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  Rules
  The bodmin’s stats are for its small, normal, and large forms, in that order. No Test is 
  required for its Transform Self power, but it can only use the power once per combat round, and 
  can only shift one size stage at a time, thus from Small to Normal, or Normal to Large, but not 
  from Large directly to Small. 
  Adventure Hook: The party has been engaged to intrude upon a factory in the middle of 
  the night and cause a small bit of mischief, nothing permanent, just enough of a problem to stall 
  production for a few days. Unknown to them, one of the factory cats is a bodmin, which has 
  recently delivered two kits. She will not take kindly to the intrusion.
  Bridgebane
  “Oo’s ‘at trip-trappin’ across me bridge?” Children all across Britain have heard this line 
  in the nursery, and children elsewhere in the world have heard variants of it, for generations, the 
  story of a troll who lives under a bridge and demands a fearful toll of those who would cross, 
  until confronted by a determined hero, often but not always a large billy goat. While we now have 
  trolls of a quite different sort living among us, people whom LGF has granted tusks, horns, and 
  massive size, these are just our neighbours, still people and not likely to make unruly demands of 
  pedestrians. The bridgebane, on the other hand, does just that.
  Short like a dwarf, squat and powerfully built, the bridgebane has both tusks and fangs, and 
  quite a few more teeth besides, and a voracious appetite for raw meat. Its arms, twice as long as its 
  legs, can reach up over the edge of a bridge or cliff or pier, raking its intended victim’s legs with 
  massive claws. Once the victim is down and bleeding, the bridgebane swings up and finishes the 
  job. From a distance, and with a bit of fog, the bridgebane’s profuse body hair and short legs led to 
  it being mistaken for a dwarf in a fur coat at its first appearance, at the old Stone Bridge in Tyne 
  below the High Level Bridge, causing a hue and cry to be raised for a peculiarly dressed murderer. 
  Three dwarf factory workers were set on by a mob and nearly beaten to death before constables 
  could pull them free. The next night, with all three men in hospital, the bridgebane struck again, 
  and this time the wagon driver got a good look at what cut his horse’s legs out from under it.
  Bridgebanes have a rudimentary sort of intelligence, and will sometimes challenge people 
  crossing its hunting ground rather than straight-up ambushing them. The well-prepared traveller, who 
  knows of the probability of a bridgebane in the area, can buy off their life with a few pounds of 
  cheap chuck, tossed over the side to the creature. This doesn’t always work though, as sometimes 
  the challenge is just a prelude to an attack, as a cat will let a mouse have a moment of freedom 
  before pouncing again. Hunting down a bridgebane can be difficult, as they ball themselves up in 
  the dark recesses under the bridge or in a cave on the side of the cliff. Finding them is the easy part 
  of the task though, as attacking them in such close quarters is terrifically dangerous. Smoking out 
  a bridgebane and shooting it from a fair distance requires a well coordinated team and the ability 
  to make a clean shot through a haze of smoke.
  DEX: 8 
  STR: 10 TOU: 9  
  PER: 4 WIL: 5 CHA: 4
  Initiative: 9 Physical Defense: 11 
  Actions: 2 
  Mystic Defense: 5
  Attack: 13 
  Social Defense: 5  
  Damage:  
  Physical Armor: 5
  Claw/Bite: 15/18 
  Mystic Armor: 5 Death: 55 
  Recovery Tests: 4
  
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  New Creatures
  Adventure Hook: The old bridge, built of stone in the 1500s, collapsed last spring. A new 
  bridge, of proper steel, was started this spring, but a bridgebane moved into one of the piers as 
  soon as the caissons were closed and the spans started to be added. Construction has come to a 
  halt after the loss of three workers. The firm putting up the bridge is frantic to make their next 
  deadline so they don’t lose the contract, and is offering £20 to anyone who can go out on a partly 
  completed bridge and get rid of the beast.
  Buggane
  While the buggane gets its name from a bestial ogre in Manx folklore, bugganes have been 
  spotted on the mainland, not just the Isle of Man, much to the sorrow of those encountering 
  them. Averaging eight feet tall, bipedal, with a thick black pelt, heavy claws, and tusks, they vaguely 
  resemble an unfortunate cross between a snark and an American black bear. Facially, though, they’re 
  more like a giant mole, with deep set squinty yellow eyes, a long snout with heavy whiskers, and a 
  receding skull that’s streamlined for underground travel. They generally make their home in a burrow 
  or handy underground shelter, such as an abandoned coal mine or the basement of a decaying 
  building. Bothering a buggane in its home results in its using Aggressive Attack every round until 
  the intruders are gone, rather like disturbing a very large badger.
  Bugganes have a particular hatred for religious symbols and structures belonging to traditions 
  newer than the Picts, which includes pretty much everything in the British Isles that’s not a dolmen 
  circle or a mound. While it’s somewhat dubious that a buggane actually tore the roof off St. 
  Trinian’s Church back in the 14th Century, they react with savage hostility when finding religious 
  structures, shrines, or people carrying obvious symbols in their territory. The best advice for 
  someone attacked by a buggane is to break the beast’s line of sight, put away the symbol, and then 
  show back up and toss the creature a bit of food, preferably a sweet. Thus distracted, the buggane 
  may forget about the icon it found so objectionable, assuming of course that while its line of sight 
  to one person is being broken, another isn’t laying about its head with a cudgel. Bugganes often 
  take bits of the smashed items back to their burrows, and create a small hoard with them. Why, 
  nobody knows.
  They cannot cross sanctified water, regardless of the Faith that consecrated it, but this applies 
  only to free-standing or flowing water, not to muddy ground made by pouring out a blessed vial. 
  Churches on the Isle of Man have been installing pipes a yard or so out from the building, in a 
  closed circle, to surround the building with holy water without having to dig a moat.
  DEX: 6 
  STR: 11 TOU: 9  
  PER: 4 WIL: 5 CHA: 3
  Initiative: 6 Physical Defense: 9  
  Actions: 3 
  Mystic Defense: 7
  Attack (2): 13 
  Social Defense: 5 Damage:  
  Physical Armor: 3
  Claw/Claw/Bite: 14/14/12 
   
  Mystic Armor: 8 Death: 57 
  Recovery Tests: 4 
   
   
  Unconsciousness: 48 
  Knockdown: 11
  Wound Threshold: 14 Movement: 6 
  Adventure Award: Journeyman Tier
  Loot: Broken religious relics and damaged sacred items
  Rules
  Bugganes are Immune to Fear and Charm attacks, so Battle Shout simply won’t work, and 
  resistant to Social attacks in general, giving them a slightly higher Social Defense. They’re highly 
  resistant to magical attacks, which boosts their Mystic Defense and Mystic Armor. 
  
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  Adventure Hook: St. Andrew’s in the Vale, as if it didn’t have enough problems being the 
  only Catholic church in a staunchly Protestant county, has a new shrine icon of St. Andrew arriving 
  in just three days. It’s a massive piece, the size of a door, and will have to be carried up from the 
  train station three miles away in an oxcart, as the road, hardly more than a sheep-path, is just not 
  up to handling a steam lorry. While it’ll be draped in canvas tied down with sturdy rope, the priest 
  is worried about the buggane that has taken up residence in the barrow-entry two thirds of the way 
  along. Father Nicodemus would rather not disturb the creature, much less harm it, although he’s 
  a bit dubious about its possible infernal nature, and worried it may be out and about and take 
  exception to the workmen’s crucifixes and his rosary, if not the icon itself. The bishop, who’s come 
  out to oversee the installation, has no such qualms, believing the buggane to be a fiend from Hell 
  and a worthy target for pious hunters, and wants it exterminated before the icon arrives. The village 
  folk don’t want a hunt for a large mystical creature going on in their vicinity, and would rather 
  everyone just calm down and deal with trouble if it arises. All three of these factions are looking 
  for assistance.
  Glaistyn
  The glaistyn (pronounced glaysh-tin), as far as we ken, are a race of shapeshifters living in the 
  ocean, who come ashore as horses or as humans looking for breeding stock (maybe). Where they 
  were the past thousand years, nobody knows, although there’s enough legends of something like 
  them that maybe they were there all along, and just couldn’t appear but once in a very great while 
  until the magic returned for serious. That’s as may be.
  What is known is the glaistyn come wandering up out of the surf looking for a likely young 
  lad or lass, they’re not picky. They get close, and read the person’s memories to find out what sort 
  of person they’re most like to be attracted to, then transform themselves into a reasonable facsimile. 
  Whether lad or lass themselves, the glaistyn always keeps their hair full and long, so they can hide 
  their ears, which stay a horse’s whether they’re in human or equine form. There’s some that say the 
  coastal folk habit of caressing the ear of a loved one comes from checking to make sure it doesn’t 
  come up to a point.
  If the lad or lass finds the glaistyn comely, and likely they will, the glaistyn turns on the 
  charm, giving their target’s attitude a little nudge here, a little nudge there, until soon enough 
  they’re agreeing to go sporting in the waves, and that’s when they’re done. As soon as the lad or 
  lass’s foot touches the surf, the glaistyn takes control of them, and marches them straight into the 
  ocean, never to be seen again by those on shore. What happens to them, really, nobody knows, 
  but folk like to think that their lost wee laddie or lassie are having babies with the glaistyn rather 
  than being eaten by them.
  While glaistyn also come ashore looking for prime horseflesh, and will enchant a stallion 
  or mare into the surf the same way they seek humans, they don’t seek out horses nearly so often. 
  Sometimes, they’ll appear as a particularly friendly and attractive steed, enticing a human to ride 
  them bareback, and off they go into the surf to claim their victim. Why they don’t target Boojums 
  isn’t yet known. Those that say Boojums are too ugly for the glaistyn get a loud harumph from the 
  elves, growls and possibly challenges from the dwarves and snarks, and laughter from the trolls, who 
  know that they’re just too big to carry off.
  
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  New Creatures
  Horse Form
  DEX: 7 
   
  STR: 8 TOU: 9  
  PER: 7 WIL: 7 CHA: 9
  Initiative: 7  
  Physical Defense: 8  
  Actions: 1 
  Mystic Defense: 10 
  Attack (3): 11      
  Social Defense: 13   
  Damage: 
   
  Physical Armor: 0  
  Bite/Trample: 11/16 
  Mystic Armor: 3 
  Death: 55 
   
  Recovery Tests: 4  
   
   
        Unconsciousness: 46 Knockdown: 10 
          Wound Threshold: 14 
  Movement: 10
  Human Form 
  DEX: 7  
   
  STR: 6 TOU: 9
  PER: 7 
   
  WIL: 7  
   
  CHA: 9
  Initiative: 7  
  Physical Defense: 10 
  Actions: 1 
  Mystic Defense: 10 
  Attack (3): 9 
   
  Social Defense: 13
  Damage: 
   
  Physical Armor: 0  
  Fist: 6 
  Mystic Armor: 3 
  Death: 55 
   
  Recovery Tests: 4
  Unconsciousness: 46 Knockdown: 6 
   
  Wound Threshold: 14 
   
   
        Movement: 6
  Adventure Award: Journeyman Tier
  Powers: Control Animal (8); Control Person (8); Improve Attitude (7); Read Memories (7); 
  Transform Self (7)
  Rules
  The glaistyn’s Transform Self power can only be used when their feet are in water, and can 
  only switch them between their equine and human forms. Likewise, their Control Animal and 
  Control Person powers can only be used when the target has at least one foot in water, or when a 
  human target is mounted on an equine-form glaistyn and the glaistyn’s feet are in the surf. Their 
  Read Memories does not require touch, and can be used at a range of thirty yards. 
  Adventure Hook: There’s been two recent disappearances at Brighton Beach, one a young 
  man from Sheffield and the other a young lady from Gloucester, both of whom had come down 
  to Brighton for the bathing season but had no other connection to one another. Both were last 
  seen in the vicinity of the surf and in the company of an attractive young person (a woman and a 
  man respectively) who now cannot be located. Rumours are beginning to fly that there’s a glaistyn 
  taking advantage of the warm-weather crowds to do a bit of hunting. The tourist bureau and the 
  railways are both offering a tidy sum for anyone who can put paid to the situation before business, 
  already slacking off in the middle of what should be the most profitable part of the year, takes a 
  critical tumble.
  Gryphon
  These four-legged creatures combine a lion’s body with the head and wings of a large eagle. 
  The gryphon’s front legs are covered in feathers and end in sharp talons. Its hind legs are properly 
  leonine, covered in soft fur and ending in paws. The gryphon stands twelve hands at the shoulder, 
  is five to six feet long, and has a wingspan averaging twenty feet. It may be found anywhere in the 
  British Isles and northern Europe, although not as far as Scandinavia, being somewhat averse to the 
  deep cold. Gryphons make their nests in the mountains, the steeper and more craggy the better, and 
  
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  generally act very much like horse-sized birds of prey. 
  While theoretically the gryphon could be tamed and used as a mount, thus far attempts to do 
  so have resulted in breakage and bedlam, more than a few maimings, and several fatalities. Gryphons 
  actively resist most techniques used in breaking horses and other land-based mounts. Falconers who 
  have been consulted have suggested raising the gryphon from a cub, the way a falcon or hawk is 
  raised from an egg. Some experiments in this are under way, mostly by the military of Britain and 
  Prussia, who have the resources for such long-term efforts. Consultations have also been held with 
  Saurid hapatvnorefvar, in hopes that the techniques they use to tame and ride the pteranodon-like 
  creatures of the Gruv might be useful. Not much has come of that as of yet. Of especial note is the 
  fact that gryphons cannot be stabled near horses. One simply does not put a massive predator where 
  the horses might smell it on the breeze without causing the aforementioned breakage and bedlam.
  DEX: 7 
  STR: 8 TOU: 7  
  PER: 4 WIL: 8 CHA: 5
  Initiative: 9 Physical Defense: 10 
  Actions: 2 
  Mystic Defense: 6
  Attack: 11 
  Social Defense: 10  
  Damage:  
  Physical Armor: 4
  Bite/Claw/Claw: 16/14/14 
   
  Mystic Armor: 4 Death: 58 
  Recovery Tests: 3 
   
   
  Unconsciousness: 48 
  Knockdown: 8 
   
   
  Wound Threshold: 11 
  Movement: 10 / 16
  Adventure Award: Journeyman Tier
  Powers: Aerial Combat (7): 12; Down Strike (5): 13; Durability (2); Enhanced Sense 
  (Hearing): 2; Enhanced Sense (Sight): 4; Social Immunity
  Rules
  Gryphons take no penalties to sight-based Perception Tests regardless of distance. If the 
  target is within line of sight, the gryphon can see it clearly. The second Movement Rating is the 
  gryphon’s flying speed. 
  Adventure Hook: A mated pair of gryphons has nested on the cliffside overlooking the exit 
  of a railway tunnel. Their two cubs, having recently fledged, have taken to chasing the trains going 
  into and emerging from the tunnel. Thus far, there’s been no collisions or damage, but the railway 
  is highly concerned about the risk. The passengers have been panicking, and some demanding their 
  fares refunded. Shooting the juveniles would bring down the wrath of the parents, and potentially 
  cause tremendous damage and loss of life. The likelihood of taking down all four gryphons in 
  a short enough time to prevent a counterattack, without use of military ordnance, is vanishingly 
  small. A proposal to drop dynamite on the nest from a Giffard was rejected outright, due to the 
  possibility of causing a landslide and blocking the tunnel. Dr. Keblovszkij has advised that chasing 
  off the gryphons from their nest would be exceedingly difficult, and it’s best just to wait until the 
  younglings leave on their own, at which point the nest will be abandoned. The railway isn’t satisfied 
  with that answer. Have you got a suggestion?
  Mauthe Doog
  A massive black dog, nearly the size of a calf, the mauthe doog gives its loyalty where it sees 
  fit, which is not always the most comfortable for those receiving it. If treated properly, as one would 
  treat a massive guard animal, the mauthe doog will take care of its domain, coming and going as 
  
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  New Creatures
  it believes its duties require. Those it finds trespassing, who do not bear the proper token or have 
  not been introduced properly, may or may not get a warning bark before the dog is upon them.
  One of the more notable mauthe doogs resides at Peel Castle, on the Isle of Man. It appears 
  in the primary guard chamber each evening, as soon as the first gas-lamp is lit, claiming a space by 
  the hearth, and vanishing when the last light is extinguished in the morning, leaving through the wall 
  as often as by the door when something on the property attracts its attention. The castle’s guard 
  force calls it Peveril, and leaves out a bowl with their dinner scraps each night. For the most part, 
  this has worked out quite well. One guard, though, having had more beer than his ration properly 
  allowed, defied procedure, snatched up the keys from the guard desk, and went out to lock up the 
  castle gates on his own, instead of with a partner as procedure decreed. A ferocious barking was 
  heard from the area of the first gate, and the guard returned at a dead run, ashen of complexion and 
  in a lather of fear, cast down the keys before the guard-captain, and fell dead on the floor. There 
  have been no violations of procedure since.
  DEX: 5 
  STR: 6 TOU: 5  
  PER: 4 WIL: 4 CHA: 4
  Initiative: 6 Physical Defense: 7 / 12 
  Actions: 1  
  Mystic Defense: 7
  Attack (3): 8  
  Social Defense: 8 Damage:  
  Physical Armor: 0
  Bite (3): 9  
  Mystic Armor: 1 Death: 29 
  Recovery Tests: 2
  Unconsciousness: 24 Knockdown: 6 
  Wound Threshold: 8 
  Movement: 7  
  Adventure Award: Novice Tier
  Powers: Astral Sight (12); Ethereal; Social Immunity
  Rules
  The mauthe doog can switch between its physical and ethereal forms as a Free Action, 
  taking no Strain. When ethereal, its Physical Defense is increased, it becomes immune to ranged 
  weapons, and takes damage from melee weapons based on Willpower rather than Strength. Its Social 
  Immunity boosts its Social Defense by +3 under normal circumstances, and gives it another +3 to 
  its Social Defense against fear, intimidation, or domination.
  Adventure Hook: Not recognizing it for what it was, the day shift warehouse crew at Findley’s 
  Iron and Steel chased the big black dog out, and threw scrap wood at it. The night crew foreman 
  called it a good doggie, and gave it part of his sausage roll. Now the dog won’t let the day crew 
  back into the warehouse. Chucking a brick at it did no good. The brick went right through, then 
  the dog turned solid again and nearly tore off Nesmith’s foot in retaliation. The night shift foreman 
  has been able to introduce enough day shift people who weren’t there the day the dog was run off to 
  keep the warehouse limping along, but half the shift can’t report for work. Findley’s could just fire 
  the offenders, but that would require replacing half the shift, including the foreman, and wouldn’t go 
  over well with the rest of the workers. Besides which, Mr. Findley will walk to Hell and knock for 
  admission before he lets some bloody spirit dog run his warehouse. Anyone with an idea of how 
  to either convince the self-appointed guard beast that the day crew should be forgiven, or run it off 
  once and for all, should apply at the central office.
  Redcaps
  Legend tells us that redcaps are brutal gnomes who get their name from dipping their woollen 
  caps into the blood of their victims. The fact that dying a cap with blood would turn it rusty brown, 
  
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  not red, should tell you how reliable the legend is in this case.
  First off, they’re not gnomes. They’re not even warm blooded. Redcaps are the mobile fruiting 
  bodies of a saprophytic fungus. They rarely occur in the singular, normally sprouting in rings of at 
  least three. What appears to be a bright red pointed cap is actually the fungal cap, the actual top 
  of the redcap’s head. The annulus below the cap folds down over the top end of the stalk in the 
  appearance of a face. Below that, the stalk sprouts arms off the side, ending in rudimentary hands 
  with claws like a badger, then bifurcates down to just above the volva, creating a pair of stumpy 
  legs. The fruiting bodies sprout, like most fungi, after a good soaking, usually with rain, growing 
  to a foot and a half high before maturing, but they’ll grow bigger and faster if the mycelium, the 
  network underground that forms the main body of the fungus, gets soaked with mammalian blood. 
  The primary purpose of the fruiting bodies is to provide decaying organic matter for the 
  mycelium to feed on. When anything warm blooded strays within range, the fruiting bodies separate 
  from their volvae and go hunting. Anything they kill, they bring back and dump on top of the 
  mycelium. The redcaps then emit a burst of reproductive spores and die, thus spreading the fungus 
  and providing more material for the mycelium to recycle.
  Besides being fast, tough, and murderous, redcaps can release spores with a variety of effects 
  – fear, paralysis, hallucinations, poisoning, or homicidal rage. These can be puffed out in a cloud, 
  spreading according to the breeze, or directed with a stream of air from rudimentary organs in the 
  stalk vaguely resembling lungs. The annulus flutters in a distinctive way when the redcap takes in 
  air to propel its spores, disturbingly resembling a tiny person drawing a deep breath. Anyone seeing 
  a redcap do this is advised to flatten it with a shovel before it can exhale, or run like the wind. 
  Getting caught in a spore cloud is a guaranteed way to make death by redcap that much more 
  miserable of an experience.
  It should be noted that redcap rings are exempt from the burn restriction orders put out 
  during dry weather. Anyone spotting a redcap ring is welcome to set fire to it, although they ought 
  to try to obtain a piece of one of the fruiting bodies first as evidence.
  DEX: 11 
  STR: 8 TOU: 7  
  PER: 3 WIL: 3 CHA: 3
  Initiative: 12 Physical Defense: 16 
  Actions: 3 
  Mystic Defense: 4
  Attack: 16 
  Social Defense: 4  
  Damage:  
  Physical Armor: 3
  Claw: 12 
  Mystic Armor: 3  
  Death: 41  
  Recovery Tests: 3
  Unconsciousness: 34  
   
  Knockdown: 9
  Wound Threshold: 11 Movement: 4 
  Adventure Award: Journeyman Tier
  Powers: Spores, Attack Step 18, Effect Step 16, effects may vary. Range 6 foot radius or 15 
  foot targeted stream (requires one combat round preparation before firing).
  Loot: Items left from previous victims
  Rules
  Redcaps will attack anything the size of a fox or larger that gets within fifteen feet of their ring. 
  Spotting them in the forest, in the heavy undergrowth the mycelium prefers, requires an Awareness 
  (10) Test.
  Adventure Hook: The groundskeeper of the local cemetery just filed a report with the 
  constable, having spotted a redcap ring sprouting down at the lower end by the woods. It’s raining. 
  By the time anyone gets there with Chinese Dragons, the fungus could have spread into the graves 
  
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  New Creatures
  for several rows. Who knows how many redcaps there may be awaiting when the cleanup crew goes 
  in. They’re offering fire-department rates to anyone that wants to pick up a shovel and help stamp 
  out the little buggers.
  Selkie
  Whether selkies derive from humans (or seals) undergoing LGF, or some other origin, 
  only they know, and they’re not talking about it. While they do not shed their skins in order to 
  shapeshift, everything else from the folklore about these human/seal shapeshifters seems to be true. 
  In seal form, they prefer the northern Atlantic, and rookeries on distant, rocky islands that are hard 
  to reach by boat. In human form, selkies tend to integrate with a human population, preferably an 
  isolated fishing village or other small habitation where they are known to the locals, who will not 
  reveal them to the wider world. This allows them to more easily keep their human-form clothing 
  and possessions stored away safely, such as in a boathouse locker, where they can dress/undress 
  and shapeshift in private. They work with their human neighbours and relatives in traditional 
  occupations, as fishermen, boat crew, dockworkers, and the like. Little gives them away; everyone in 
  their village may smell of fish and salt water, and being somewhat heavy-set and round of feature 
  isn’t that distinctive.
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  Selkies and their human relatives tend to be highly protective of each other, as families 
  generally are, and their immediate environment. Humans related to or part of a village with selkies 
  will not hunt seals, and will protect their rookeries, without explaining why. Selkies have been known 
  to sink whaling and seal-hunting vessels without warning. As the British Empire depends for most 
  of its economic and military might on the ocean, conflict with the selkies is inevitable. 
  Of note, children of selkies are always selkies, while children of a selkie and a human are 
  normally (approximately 80%) selkies. Watch for the children whose parents rush them inside, or 
  away from the water, or into a sweater or coat when strangers enter the village. Those will be selkies 
  nine times out of ten. While there’s not been enough time to establish a pattern, the Portal having 
  only opened three years ago, selkies in the folklore do not migrate away from shore, and tend to 
  stay close to their home villages and rookeries in general. The British Navy may find this a barrier 
  to recruiting them, if they can identify them as such for certain. It’s hard to determine someone’s 
  nature when they can quietly slip off the pier or over the gunwale and into the ocean while you’re 
  arguing with their neighbours, or they’re out to sea legitimately aboard a fishing trawler. 
  Seal Form
  DEX: 5 / 9* 
  STR: 8 TOU: 8  
  PER: 5 WIL: 6 CHA: 5
  Initiative: 6 / 12* 
  Physical Defense: 7 / 13* 
  Actions: 1 / 3* 
  Mystic Defense: 8
  Attack: 6 / 10* 
  Social Defense: 7  
  Damage: Physical Armor: 0 / 3**
  Bite / Charge: 12 / 18* 
  Mystic Armor: 3 Death: 79 
  Recovery Tests: 4
  Unconsciousness: 66 Knockdown: 8 
  Wound Threshold: 13 
  Movement: 6 / 12*
  Adventure Award: Journeyman Tier
  
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  Chapter 7
  Powers: Durability (3); Resist Temperature (Cold) (10); Transform Self
  Loot: Whatever personal possessions the selkie has accumulated
  Rules
  * First value is on land, second value is in water.
  ** First value is human form, second value is seal form.
  For most human form values, use the base Human statistics from the 1879 Players Guide, 
  or any handy human GMC, to represent variety in the human forms selkies have across their 
  population. Durability may vary from selkie to selkie in both human and seal forms. All Powers 
  are retained in both forms. Selkies in human form are rounded, plump, a bit graceless but strong, 
  with broad faces and large eyes. 
  Selkies may only shapeshift in close proximity (50 yards) to enough salt water to immerse 
  themselves in. Fresh water will not do. Carried items, such as human clothing, do not shift with 
  the selkie.
  Adventure Hook: The people of a small village in the Orkneys need assistance from someone 
  with both firepower and discretion. A foreign ship raided a seal rookery in the North Sea, just 
  outside of British territorial waters. While the hunting party was driven off, they fired a few parting 
  shots and promised they’d be back in greater force, to skin every last seal on the island. Besides the 
  island being in international waters, there’s other reasons the villagers don’t want to go to the Navy 
  for help. They’ve got relatives on that island, and would like to keep that from any government. 
  They can’t offer much in ready coin, but a favour owed by a selkie clan could be a powerful thing.
  Skogkatt
  The northern parts of the British Isles have much in the way of Scandinavian heritage, some 
  from trade, some from colonists, and some from raids by Danes going a-Viking. In the Orkneys, 
  the population remains over half Norwegian in ancestry despite four centuries of being under 
  Scottish rule and still leaning Jacobite a hundred years later.
  In the hills between Murra and Rackwick, and among the crags on the western coast of 
  Scotland from Kearvaig all the way down to the Isle of Mull, the skogkatt has found a new home. 
  Originally from Norway, this mountain dwelling cat looks from a distance like a hefty long-haired 
  barn cat, but up close turns out to be the size of a Welsh sheepdog. Farmers report the skogkatt 
  as amiable, but independent as cats tend to be and not amenable to domestication. If treated 
  properly, with food and water set out as one would with a working dog, and given the run of the 
  farm, including permission to come into the house on cold nights, the skogkatt will form a working 
  relationship with the farming family, and restrict its hunting to vermin and small predators, keeping 
  foxes out of the henhouse and rats out of the grain. The skogkatt’s true distinction, though, lies 
  in its climbing ability. 
  All cats, with very rare exceptions, climb, and enjoy high places. The common house cat 
  may of times be found atop the wardrobe. The skogkatt, however, takes this to extremes, and with 
  considerable ability. Not for the skogkatt the top of a fence post, no, although it may deign to 
  perch there briefly, surveying the pasture with regal disdain. No, the skogkatt ascends to the roof 
  
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  New Creatures
  of the barn, and takes up its post above the hayloft door, sitting as comfortably on the top end 
  of the highest beam as a cook might on a kitchen stool. What’s more, the skogkatt attains these 
  heights with precious little effort, walking up the barn wall as easily as you or I might stroll down 
  the pavement. In the wild, they have been observed to wander casually up sheer cliffs that a person 
  could not attain without pitons and a rope. Some form of magical effect may be involved, but thus 
  far nobody has investigated, there being more important things for magicians to do than determine 
  how a cat climbs a wall.
  DEX: 7 
  STR: 6 TOU: 6  
  PER: 4 WIL: 5 CHA: 3
  Initiative: 7 Physical Defense: 10 
  Actions: 1  
  Mystic Defense: 5
  Attack (3): 9 Social Defense: 4  
  Damage:  
  Physical Armor: 3
  Bite (6): 12, 2 x Claws (4): 10  
  Mystic Armor: 3 Death: 34 
  Recovery Tests: 3 
   
   
  Unconsciousness: 28 
  Knockdown: 6
  Wound Threshold: 9 Movement: 8 
  Adventure Award: Novice Tier
  Powers: ClimbingS (5): 12, Enhanced Senses (Listen, Sight) (4): 8, Great LeapS (4): 11, 
  Locate Target (5): 9, Low-Light Vision, Sense Magic (5): 9, Silent WalkS (4): 11, Sprint (2)
  Rules
  The skogkatt refers a Pouncing Attack from ambush, and will not chase prey more than two 
  combat rounds. Its Climbing Target Number is reduced by two rows on the Climbing Target Table 
  (1879 Gamemaster’s Guide, p.227), so that it treats a Sheer Surface (15) as a Rocky Cliff (9), a 
  Wall (12) as a Pole (7), and does not require a Test to climb a pole or tree. 
  Adventure Hook: The vicar of the local Anglican church has complained to the constabulary 
  of a very large cat in the steeple, ringing the bell at odd hours. The constable who climbed up to 
  humour the old man came back down more quickly than was really safe, swearing that there was a 
  tiger in the belfry. A local farmer bought a skogkatt from an unscrupulous animal dealer, hoping 
  to settle it on his farm, but it’s wandered off, and is living in the highest structure in the village. 
  When it gets bored, it plays with the bell rope. Technically, the farmer owns the skogkatt, as he 
  does have a bill of sale from the dealer, but the animal was caught in the wild in Scotland in 
  violation of the poaching laws. Some good citizen who could help the constabulary sort out the 
  mess would be owed a favour.
  Water Sheep
  Imagine you are a shepherd, and you go out one morning to find a tenth of your flock in the 
  bay. Not drowned and floating, no, submerged and contentedly grazing on seaweed. Your faithful 
  sheepdog runs up and down the shingle, barking frantically, but of course the sheep cannot hear her. 
  How will you get them back onto land before the tide goes out and the undertow sweeps them out 
  to sea? Can you, even, or are they solely aquatic now?
  That was the scene, and those were the questions, all along the coastlines of Britain, France, 
  Spain, Portugal, and Italy, as a breed previously believed to be a legend (and not a particularly clever 
  one at that) made its post Rabbit Hole reappearance. Thought to be a Roman fairy tale, the water 
  sheep proved to be quite real indeed, in all of its golden wooled, web footed, amphibious glory. But 
  how to build a paddock for sheep out in the water?
  The answer came from an equally old source, fishing, which provided the ideas of weirs and 
  
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  seining nets. All along the coastline, wherever the Roman Empire had colonised, land-dwelling 
  farmers went into the sea and set up fenceposts, wove wicker and hawthorn and whatever else was 
  ready to hand, and strung heavy netting with a mesh open enough to allow fish and other inlet 
  natives in and out, but keep the sheep penned. This solved part of the problem, but not all of it. 
  Sheep draw predators, and water sheep are no exception. The approach of anything large enough 
  to maybe represent a threat results in the sheep stampeding out of the water to escape ashore, or 
  vice versa. Not all farmers were able to capture their wayward animals, some of whom have survived 
  in the wild. Railways close to the water have had to build sheep fences to keep amphibious flocks 
  off the tracks. And how to herd animals in the water? While sheepdogs can swim, they’re not 
  particularly effective in the ocean. 
  Besides its golden colour, however, the fleece of the water sheep is naturally fire resistant, 
  not quite as much so as asbestos, but won’t cause lung disease just from having it about. Slowly 
  but surely, water sheep wool is becoming more popular as an alternative to asbestos for insulation 
  and firebreaks, as well as for turnout coats for firemen, work smocks for foundrymen, and other 
  applications where fire and heat are dangers. The backlash from the asbestos mining industry has 
  begun. Parliament may have to rule on the issues involved in the next session or so.
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  DEX: 4 
  STR: 5 TOU: 5  
  PER: 3 WIL: 3 CHA: 3
  Initiative: 4 Physical Defense: 5  
  Actions: 1  
  Mystic Defense: 4
  Attack (1): 5 Social Defense: 4  
  Damage:  
  Physical Armor: 2
  Headbutt (3): 7 
  Mystic Armor: 2 Death: 29 
  Recovery Tests: 2
  Unconsciousness: 24 Knockdown: 5 
  Wound Threshold: 8 
  Movement: 7 / 5 * 
  Adventure Award: Initiate Tier
  Powers: Sense Danger (5): 8; Sprint (4)
  Rules
  Water sheep take half damage from fire-based attacks, and cannot be set ablaze by anything 
  less than dragonfire. They may remain submerged indefinitely, but will leave the water for land if the 
  food supply runs low, or a predator appears, or something spooks them.
  * The second number is Swimming.
  Adventure Hook: The party gets a panicky telegram from a Weird Scientist of their 
  acquaintance, Terrible infestation, Come at once, and the address of a large estate out in the 
  country. On arrival, the Weird Scientist explains the Aristocrat who owns the estate is her patron. 
  She’s here to demonstrate her new amphibious submersible, a vehicle capable of travel on land, on 
  the water’s surface, and below the waves. She came down a couple of days early to set up. This 
  morning, she awoke to find a flock of water sheep had wandered in from somewhere and taken up 
  
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  New Creatures
  residence on the estate’s private lake, and on the pier where she’d set up her vehicle and equipment. 
  They’re underfoot, and she can’t start up the vehicle and do the test run, that she really needs to 
  do today, for fear of injuring or killing someone’s sheep. They don’t have ear tags, or identifying 
  marks that she or the groundskeeper could find. He’s out making the rounds of the nearby estates 
  to see if anyone’s missing a flock. Can you please get them out of the lake so she can do her trials 
  before tomorrow’s demonstration? In return, you get to stay at the posh estate as her crew for a 
  couple of days. 
  Yeti
  Legends have persisted in the Kingdom of Nepal and the surrounding region for generations 
  of a feral biped living in the high forests and lower slopes of the Himalayas, a species with heavy 
  fur to protect it against the cold and the snow. Known variously as the bun manchi (Nepali, wild 
  man), michê (Tibetan, man-bear), mi-go (Tibetan, wild man), or yeti (Tibetan, cliff bear), the native 
  peoples disagree as to whether the creature is ursine or hominid. Some of the tribes that still follow 
  a shamanic path believe it to be their God of the Hunt. The Sherpas call it yeti and believe it to 
  be a dangerous beast, one to be avoided, but not intelligent. Nepalis hold that it may be a race of 
  uncivilized people, closer to apes than humans are, living in the wild as is their nature and probably 
  best left undisturbed to find their own way.
  Whatever the nature of the creature may be, there can be little doubt it exists. British 
  expeditions in the area have encountered the creature, starting with Brian Hodgson in 1832. Up 
  until that point, Westerners had dismissed the stories as native superstitions, but when Hodgson 
  reported seeing a “tall, bipedal creature” covered in “long dark hair”, which “fled the guides as if in 
  fear”, there were those who took him quite seriously indeed. Within the last year, two noteworthy 
  encounters have proven beyond doubt the natives should have been taken seriously all along.
  In the first, a team mapping the area and led by Major Trevor Parnwell of Her Majesty’s 17th 
  Foot spotted a dark-furred hominid easily the size of a troll. The Major, who had been carrying 
  his rifle with a round chambered due to rumours of wolves in the area, fired, and the hominid fell 
  with a terrible scream. Several more hominids charged up over the rise, and battle might have been 
  joined, except the report of the Major’s rifle set off a small avalanche. In the aftermath, none of the 
  hominids could be found, nor could the British team including Major Parnwell, and the survivors 
  made their way back to base camp to file their report.
  In the second, a biological survey team had set up camp in the high forest, and staked out 
  a goat as bait in a nearby meadow. They had then taken up station in the treeline with dry-plate 
  cameras, in hopes of capturing images of the reputed wolves. To their surprise, a great furred 
  hominid rose up from out of the tall grass, having crept up on the goat undetected, cut the rope, 
  and ran off with the goat over its shoulder. The photographs did not show much in the way of 
  detail, but confirmed the creature was definitely anthropomorphic, bipedal, and while nearly the size 
  of a troll had no horns. The rope, when examined, showed indisputable evidence of having been cut 
  with a sharp implement in a single sweep, so the yeti is either a tool user or has claws equal to a 
  tyrannosaurus in size and a barber’s razor in keen edge.
  A bounty of £500 has been offered by the Royal Society for better photographic evidence, 
  £600 for a dead specimen, and £800 for a live specimen. A French expedition, carrying the latest 
  in moving picture technology, intends to leave for Nepal later this year. 
  
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  Chapter 7
  DEX: 7 
  STR: 7 TOU: 7  
  PER: 4 WIL: 5 CHA: 5
  Initiative: 7 Physical Defense: 10 
  Actions: 1  
  Mystic Defense: 6
  Attack (7): 14 
  Social Defense: 7 Damage:  
  Physical Armor: 3
  Club (3): 10  
  Mystic Armor: 2 Death: 43 
  Recovery Tests: 3
  Unconsciousness: 36 Knockdown: 7 
  Wound Threshold: 11 
  Movement: 8  
  Adventure Award: Initiate Tier
  Rules
  Something akin to Neanderthals who have survived into the modern age, yeti are effectively a 
  primitive tribe that has managed to avoid contact with the modern world. How much longer their 
  seclusion can be maintained depends on the diligence of efforts of the outside world to find them, 
  and given the intrusiveness of Europeans, that won’t be long at all. Yeti are expert flint-knappers 
  and makers of bone and stone tools. They recognize simple metal and modern implements, such as 
  knives and shovels, and will use them if they can be acquired. They use fire to warm their caves and 
  cook their food, and are adept at building smokeless fires and venting any incidental smoke into 
  natural chimneys for diffusion and exit far from their location. Yeti are basket weavers, but have not 
  yet developed pottery. Their language is simplistic, partly due to their not having evolved sufficiently 
  for complex verbal communication. While shy, and generally pacifistic, they will fight to the death 
  to defend their homes and their young.
  Adventure Hook: Given the recent encounters, several expeditions have been planned to retrieve 
  a yeti specimen. The Nepali government has flatly rejected most of the applications, as they will not 
  allow the yeti to be hunted. It’s sacred to some of the people in the area, and there are tribes that 
  would open fire on anyone who attempted to kill a yeti and haul the body away for dissection. The 
  party has been hired to find a middle of the road solution – definitive proof and scientific evidence 
  of the yeti, without upsetting the locals or causing a diplomatic incident with the Kingdom of Nepal 
  or the Qing Empire of China. Their benefactor would also appreciate if it was done without unduly 
  disturbing the yeti themselves. If they’re a previously uncontacted culture, their scientific value could 
  be enormous as long as they remain uncontaminated. 
  Gruv Bestiary
  Before we get to the latest round of biting, stinging, venomous, and otherwise pugnacious 
  creatures, and the accompanying warnings and precautions, let us take a moment to consider the 
  flora of the Grosvenor World. Previous missives have catalogued a fair number, mostly those that 
  present some sort of hazard to life or limb, if for no other reason than those were the ones first 
  brought to my attention by the military. In focusing on those, we have missed a number of plants 
  with considerable utility for Earther settlers, and some that the average civilian may run afoul of in 
  less adventurous settings, such as farming or prospecting for mineral resources. Discussing these 
  specimens reveals deeper truths about the Grosvenor World itself, truths that have been speculated 
  upon, and occasionally stated outright only to be met with derision from certain elements within 
  the scientific community. Let us build a stronger case for this assertions, point by point, and let the 
  overwhelming weight of the evidence carry the argument, as is proper in scientific debate.
  
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  New Creatures
  Plants of the Grosvenor World
  Assertions have been made in reports on the animals, dinosaurs and related saurians, and giant 
  insectoids of the Gruv that apparently require further support. This section of my current report 
  turns to the plant life of the Gruv for that support, considering evidence from another kingdom 
  entirely for the sake of independence from previous data.
  Blue Sedge
  Plantae Angiospermae Poales Cyperaceae Carex coerulaes. That so many of the plants here 
  resemble those of Earth strains credulity. This is an alien world. Where are the truly alien flora, 
  plants we would have to create entirely new orders for? The fact that something so very like a sedge 
  grass can be found here, close enough to classify it under the genus of Carex, and performing a 
  function useful to Terrestrial colonists strains the imagination, and leads one’s mind in decidedly 
  unscientific directions. And yet here we are, with a broad leaf perennial grass, that grows in neat 
  clumps, spreads slowly and not aggressively, and gathers the metals in the soil into its leaves in 
  the process, with the copper combining with the plant’s natural sulfur compounds to produce the 
  characteristic blue coloration.
  The soil of the Gruv is generally contaminated with heavy metals – copper, lead, nickel, and 
  so on. I’m told there may be rarer elements as well, lanthanum and such. The Saurids have been 
  using blue sedge for hundreds of years to decontaminate their farmland, making it safe for growing 
  fodder, grain, and vegetables. Our own farmers have adopted this technique. A single crop of blue 
  sedge is not enough for heavily contaminated land, but good enough for the areas where we have 
  been settling, that have been chosen partly based on their contamination level. When the sedge is 
  harvested, pulled up roots and all, a simple extraction such as that used with woad derives a powdery 
  residue that can be sold on to a smelter for a few pence and the metals recovered from it. The 
  herbaceous residue can then be composted or used directly as green manure. One doesn’t even have 
  to be worried about livestock grazing it and requiring chelation later on, as it’s generally unpalatable 
  to any but the most determined or clueless – so keep the garnickies out of the field.
  Blue sedge seed prices out at 15/- a pound, with one pound seeding about an acre. Smart 
  farmers let the plant go to seed before harvesting.
  Iron Cactus
  Plantae Angiospermae Caryophyliales Cactaceae Cactoideae Echinocactus ferramans On 
  Earth, Pandanus candelabrum only grows in soil over kimberlite. The Boers and their British 
  successors in South Africa have used it as a diamond locater. Copper may be found in Deseret and 
  the far western Union by looking for the California poppy. The science of geobotany has arisen 
  to study the interrelationship of soil, minerals, and plants, partly to look for further such resource 
  identifiers. In the Gruv, deposits of iron have a highly obnoxious plant growing over them, because 
  of course they do, this is the Gruv and the plants have attitudes that would never be tolerated back 
  home. 
  E. ferramans, as its scientific and common name both might suggest, has a preference for soils 
  with a high iron content that verges on exclusivity. While it will germinate in iron-poor soil, it will 
  only mature when growing over deposits of magnetite or hematite. This would make E. ferramans 
  an ideal indicator of where to mine for iron, except of course for its aggressiveness and persistence.
  The common name derives not from the preferred growing conditions, but for the plant’s 
  uptake of free iron and its concentration in the cacti’s thorns. This gives the spines a noteworthy 
  
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  rusty colour and appearance. Contact with the spines should be avoided, as being pierced by one 
  presents the same problems as stepping on a rusty nail – infection, difficulty in healing the wound, 
  and the possibility of tetanus, better known as lockjaw. At present, no vaccine exists against tetanus, 
  and treatment for active cases gives a poor prognosis, as there is no cure, with palliatives only giving 
  the patient a slim chance of outlasting the disease.
  One would think avoiding a cactus capable of causing lethal illness would be a simple matter, 
  but of course it can’t be. E. ferramans grows similarly to its relative, the exploder pod, in small, 
  barrel-shaped extrusions above ground covered in spines, while the majority of the plant remains 
  underground. Immature cacti as small as a golf ball have the potential of causing injury. The plant 
  matures at nine inches in diameter, roughly the size of a football, by which time its spines have 
  become viable seeds, and two inches long with roughened ends that aren’t quite barbs. Being a 
  perennial, it can regrow from any reasonably sized root fragment, if the soil conditions are amenable. 
  This of course means the spoil heap must be regularly doused with kerosene and set ablaze. The 
  tailings mound should likewise be inspected every few weeks, and any patch attempting to establish 
  itself seen to, so the donkeys pulling the tailings carts don’t take a spine above the hoof, or a 
  labourer in the ankle.
  At least they don’t explode.
  Newly Described Creatures of the Grosvenor World
  With the flora attended to, let us move on to what I am sure most readers have skipped 
  ahead to anyway, the fauna. 
  Phantom Lizard
  Animalia Chordata Reptilia Squamata Lanthanotidae Lanthanotus evanescii
  Like its Terrestrial cousin, L. evanescii differs from monitor lizards in having no tympanum 
  or other externally visible auditory organ, although they can hear and are highly sensitive to ground 
  vibration. Averaging ten inches in length for the males and twelve for the females, they have the 
  cylindrical body, long neck, and short limbs of the monitor family. Most notably, though, these 
  brightly coloured lizards have gained the power of illusion magic, allowing them to keep their 
  colouration, used for mating, signalling, and so forth, and still avoid predators. Where the Terrestrial 
  chameleon shifts its skin colouration to blend in with its environment, L. evanescii bends light 
  around itself to present the appearance of something that is definitely neither a lizard nor edible, 
  much like the physical illusions of Earth’s Mages. The young hatch already able to make an illusion 
  of a rock. As long as they hold still, predators that rely on sight, and not scent or body heat, will 
  pass them by.
  As they mature, phantom lizards learn to imitate other things, normally the most common 
  lizard-sized objects in their environment. Many people have walked right past a phantom lizard 
  and not known it, since it was pretending to be a clump of scrub grass at the time. This imitative 
  ability has caused problems recently, and I’m sure the more clever among you are already nodding 
  your heads and seeing where this is going. What are the most common objects for a lizard that has 
  gotten into a military fortification? Imagine the consternation when a soldier wakes in the middle of 
  the night, their sergeant shouting at them to ready their arms and get to their position, only to find 
  three boots by their cot where there had been only two? And of course they grab the wrong one, 
  only to have it wiggle out of their grasp and run off? Sergeants do not like confusion among their 
  
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  New Creatures
  troops. Officers do not appreciate the humour when it disrupts their drill schedule. The poor lizard 
  doesn’t appreciate having a soldier’s foot land on it when it’s trying to take a nap.
  Dwarf and snark soldiers have been tasked with checking encampments for phantom lizards, 
  but this can only be done in the wee hours of the morning and the first hour after sunset, when 
  there’s enough difference in the temperature of the area and the body temperature of the lizard 
  for a casual glance to notice. A more intensive search can be done, but requires more time, and 
  the sergeants have better uses for their troops than hunting for stray wildlife. Among the civilian 
  population, some of the Boojum children have a thriving little business going, charging a penny 
  to come in and check the house for lizards, and tuppence each for removing any they find. Of 
  course, the more enterprising sorts find another house to let their fresh catch loose in, so they 
  can charge another tuppence for the same lizard. Factories in the Gruv that do not run round the 
  clock generally send an employee through the manufacturing floor with an air horn, the terrifically 
  loud honk being sufficient to startle vermin (phantom lizards, rats, etc.) into revealing themselves. 
  Those who live near factories can be guaranteed of being wakened at the start of the morning shift 
  by the horn chasers.
  DEX: 5 
  STR: 3 TOU: 4  
  PER: 4 WIL: 4 CHA: 4
  Initiative: 6 Physical Defense: 7  
  Actions: 1  
  Mystic Defense: 6
  Attack (4): 9 Social Defense: 6  
  Damage:  
  Physical Armor: 2
  Bite (4): 7 Mystic Armor: 2  
  Death: 18  
  Recovery Tests: 2
  Unconsciousness: 14 Knockdown: 6 
  Wound Threshold: 6 
  Movement: 7  
  Adventure Award: Novice Tier
  Powers: Camouflage (14); ClimbingS (5): 10; Illusion (Physical) (14): 18; SprintS (6)
  Rules
  The lizard’s Illusion (Physical) Power works as the Base Spell of the same name.
   
  Adventure Hook: After an incident in surgery, the chief of staff at the Grosvenor Memorial 
  Military Hospital in the Portal District believes there may be a phantom lizard loose in the 
  building. The nurses have also had some stories to tell, that are finally being taken seriously. 
  Someone must find the lizard, or whatever is causing the disturbance, and deal with it. The less 
  noise made, the better, as any official notice of the problem from outside the hospital would mean 
  a terrific lot of paperwork, as well as a slowdown of Rabbit Hole traffic while the inspections for 
  stray wildlife are tightened up. 
  Stinging Turtle
  Animalia Chordata Dinosauria Thyreophoroidae Pseudocrocodylidae Ostivenarius armispina
  While the stinging turtle does have considerable armour, it is most definitely not of the 
  Testudines, as it has no proper shell nor the ability to retract its neck within. O. armispina has 
  instead osseous scutes, and the distinctive pelvic girdle of the ankylosaurids and their relatives, 
  putting it into the Thyreophoroidae. The problem there, of course, is that the thyreophoromorphs 
  have up until now been exclusively herbivorous, and O. armispina is decidedly carnivorous. I propose 
  a branch to the Crocodylidae, to accommodate a flesh-eating ornithiscian. Given the anatomic 
  similarities to families scattered across the taxonomic tree, I expect the stinging turtle to be a subject 
  of debate for years to come. 
  
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  Chapter 7
  In the meantime, what we have is something like a crocodile, a comparison we will revisit 
  several times, that breathes air but lives primarily in water. Bony plates form a protective ridge 
  over its spine, and extend down in the fashion of roof shingles to the edge of the underbelly on 
  the sides, the knee of each leg, and the tip of the elongated snout. Where an ankylosaurid would 
  have a bony club at the end of its tail, O. armispina has a six-inch-long bony lance, with a channel 
  running through its centre from a venom sac between the hips. This gives rise to its common 
  name, as its hunting method consists of lying low in the water, keeping a lookout for prey with 
  just its eyes and nostrils above the surface, then stinging its target with an upwards thrash of its 
  tail. The neurotoxic venom paralyses anything the size of a deer or smaller within seconds, leaving 
  an easy meal. While prey animals tend to be cautious around watering holes, spotting the head of 
  the creature does not guarantee the position of the tail, as O. armispina has considerably more 
  flexibility than the Terrestrial crocodile, and can curl about enough to put its tail pointing the same 
  direction as its snout.
  Facing one of these out of the water can be just as dangerous. While O. armispina measures 
  only two to three feet in length, snout to tail-tip, a foot wide and equally high, about the size of a 
  corgi, its bite exerts a terrific pressure, sufficient to break both radius and ulna in a human at one 
  go. As well, it can whip its tail about much more quickly than might be expected, bringing that 
  awful stinger to bear. Given the length of the duct from the venom sac to the base of the stinger, 
  the creature always has enough venom for at least two strikes. Being stabbed with something akin 
  to a poniard can be lethal on its own, if the strike is well placed. 
  And of course one never encounters such a creature in the singular, oh no, that would be far 
  too kind of a Nature that in the Gruv has proven wickedly cruel. Stinging turtles cluster together 
  in groups whose size is determined by the water and prey quantities. A small pond might have only 
  two or three, while a lake could have dozens up and down its shores, rather like the crocodiles along 
  the banks of the Nile. This creature is of course one of the reasons the military’s order against 
  casual bathing is strictly enforced in the Gruv. Just putting a foot into water incautiously could be 
  enough to result in a fatality.
  DEX: 5 
  STR: 6 TOU: 6  
  PER: 4 WIL: 4 CHA: 3
  Initiative: 6 Physical Defense: 7  
  Actions: 2 
  Mystic Defense: 6
  Attack (5): 10 
  Social Defense: 4 Damage:  
  Physical Armor: 5
  Bite (9): 15; Sting (6): 12 
   
  Mystic Armor: 1 Death: 36 
  Recovery Tests: 3 
   
   
  Unconsciousness: 30 
  Knockdown: 6 
   
   
  Wound Threshold: 10 
  Movement: 6/8*
  Adventure Award: Novice Tier
  Powers: Poison (Paralysis, 18); Surprise Attack (6)
  Rules
  Damage must be done with the stinger to invoke the creature’s Poison. 
  * The second value is the creature’s swimming Movement Rate.
  Adventure Hook: An officer at Fort Wellington wants to borrow a trick from old-school siege 
  warfare, and interfere with the water supply to Maksudum-matam. The party has been asked to 
  retrieve a few stinging turtles, both male and female, to relocate upstream of the Samsut base, in 
  the hopes they will follow the water down to the enemy fort. How the party captures the stinging 
  
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  New Creatures
  turtles and gets them past Samsut lines has been left up to them, but the officer will want some 
  sort of proof that the job has been done.
  Whiptooth
  Animalia Chordata Dinosauria Saurischia Sauropoda Parvosauridae Viperasaurus veloxicans
  Here, the beastie’s name has been translated almost directly from the Saurid, and denotes the 
  primary attribute and danger of the creature. In form a saurischian, V. veloxicans stands only two 
  to three feet high at the shoulder, with a total length of ten to twelve feet snout to tail-tip, and an 
  average weight of only three hundred pounds or so, making it the smallest and lightest sauropod yet 
  discovered, living or in the fossil record. A browsing herbivore, V. veloxicans competes with other 
  herbivores such as the gengit for leaves, berries, and similar foodstuffs in the woods along the southern 
  base of the Gladstone Mountains and well into the western forests of the Grosvenor Peninsula. They 
  travel in small herds, in a structure similar to Terrestrial deer, with a single buck, the largest of the 
  herd, keeping a half dozen or so females and their young under his watch. Adolescent males are 
  turned out of the herd, and band together in twos and threes for survival, parting company when the 
  rut begins and they seek out older males to compete for the right to breed.
  All of this sounds so terribly innocuous, doesn’t it, but this is the Gruv, a land of deception 
  and danger, where even the flowers may bite. (No, I have not forgiven the Grinning Monkey Orchid 
  for existing.) V. veloxicans gains its common name from its defence mechanism. Where Terrestrial 
  deer have antlers, and speed, and can either charge or flee, the whiptooth is, typically of the Gruv, 
  pugnacious, and employs its fangs readily. Oh yes, we have here a venomous herbivore, one with large 
  hardy molars for crushing whatever plant matter it finds appealing, but also a pair of three-inch fangs 
  where a carnivore would have its eyeteeth. Like many snakes, the fangs fold out of the way up against 
  the bony palate when not in use. Imagine strolling through the forest and finding a charming scene, a 
  dozen tiny brontosaurii grazing contentedly in a glen, females the size of a small bear with their young 
  more the size of a borzoi at their sides, making noises somewhere between a duck and a clarinet, and 
  behind them all the buck, about a Welsh pony in volume, the bassoon in the orchestra. And then the 
  buck winds you, and lets out a great tuba-like honk, and the herd suddenly backs up against him, and 
  rears up on their hind legs, and hisses, a dozen boilers venting all at once and showing a dreadful lot 
  of fangs at the end of highly mobile four foot long necks that can strike like a snake.
  While V. veloxicans can and will bite from a stance on all fours, if it has the opportunity, it 
  assumes a threat posture first. Reared up, with its tail out back for balance, the head is suddenly eye 
  level with a troll. The beast hisses the way an American snake sounds its rattle, a warning that death 
  is in the air. Fail to heed it, and that four foot long neck lashes out like an uncoiling mainspring, 
  with uncanny accuracy striking for the one spot where bare skin might be found – just above a gorget, 
  for instance, or the base of the throat, or the wrist of an arm extended to aim a pistol. Once bitten, 
  the victim has scant seconds to receive aid, before the hemotoxic venom sends clots to the heart and 
  lungs. Now imagine our scene above, and know that your platoon may not be able to fire enough 
  shots in the first volley to stop them all, and your best option is to back slowly and carefully away, 
  making no show of threat. If you are lucky, and intelligent enough to choose this option, you will 
  retreat without engaging, and live to tell the tale.
  Small wonder one of the Saurid tribes has adopted the whiptooth fang as their mark. Obtaining 
  such fangs requires greater than average skill as a hunter.
  
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  Chapter 7
  ������������������������������������������������������������������������������
  – Alfred
  DEX: 6 
  STR: 7 TOU: 7  
  PER: 3 WIL: 5 CHA: 5
  Initiative: 7 Physical Defense: 9  
  Actions: 1  
  Mystic Defense: 4
  Attack (6): 12 
  Social Defense: 7 Damage:  
  Physical Armor: 6
  Trample (11): 18;  
  Bite (9): 16 
  Mystic Armor: 3 Death: 43 
  Recovery Tests: 3 
  Unconsciousness: 36 
  Knockdown: 10
  Wound Threshold: 11 Movement: 5 
  Adventure Award: Journeyman Tier (single), Warden Tier (herd)
  Powers: Poison (15); Spot Armor FlawS (8): 11; Surprise StrikeS (8): 15
  Rules
  Whiptooth poison causes damage (see Poisons, 1879 Gamemaster’s Guide, p.239), and lasts 
  for 10 rounds minus the victim’s Toughness Step, with a minimum of 1 round.
  Adventure Hook: A herd of whiptooths has gotten into the paddock with the yearlings being 
  raised for cavalry mounts. The horses and the whiptooths don’t appear to consider each other 
  dangerous, and are grazing more or less side by side. The whiptooths are not at all pleased to see 
  the farmhands, who have arrived to take the yearlings back to the stables. Does anyone want to lend 
  a hand separating out the two herds? Gunfire around the horses would of course be a terrifically 
  bad idea, they’re not trained for loud noises as of yet, and we don’t want to rile up the venomous 
  dinosaurs.
  Samsut Constructs
  This report not having a section labelled for abominable perversions of Nature, we will 
  document what is known of the Samsut undead here. Numerous specimens have been obtained, 
  some still with a bit of charge remaining in their battery. Without the Samsut control mechanisms, 
  we are of course unable to test for function, but have been able to make considerable observations 
  indicating a persistence of the last order that is revealing. Anatomic studies have revealed a few 
  disturbing conclusions of their own. I really must extend every possible honour to those brave men 
  and women who have captured the specimens we’ve had available, transporting them at considerable 
  risk. There’s still so much left to discover, and without the daring recoveries, often on the field of 
  battle, which have been effected, we’d make no progress at all. I must also give credit to all members 
  of the investigative team, and especially to our Engine and clockwork expert, Camilla Harcourt, who 
  hasn’t had anything hands-on to contribute, but provided insights into the logic of the unthinkable 
  that gave us the beginnings of understanding; to our fossil expert, Henry Fairfield Osborn, who gave 
  us such incredible detail from the bones, just recently a graduate student of the eminent Dr. Cope; 
  to our lead Galvanic, Doña Ana-Caridade Rubalcaba, who brought us official support at a critical 
  time and arcane support at another crucial juncture; and to Dr. Bernhard Grzimek, who saved us 
  all with a jar of camphoric ointment, and did so much of the nastier bit in working out what we 
  know of the zombies.
  
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  New Creatures
  ����������������������������������������������������������������������
  – Paula Nancy Millstone, Lady Jennings, CMG, FRS, Chief Biologist, Royal Society Grosvenor 
  Expedition, 1880
  Skeleton
  Both the simpler and the more complex of the two types of undead we’ve observed, the 
  skeleton is exactly that, a collection of bones once the internal supports of a person or animal, 
  with two necromantic devices installed. The first is a small, armoured version of the magical battery 
  that appears to power all of the Samsut devices. It’s normally found attached to the underside of 
  the sternum, putting it in a central location. Look for a vaguely silvery ovoid, a little closer to a 
  Valentine’s card heart than an egg in shape, about the size of one’s fist. Turning one of these off 
  is simple enough if one can get one’s hand into the chest cavity without being beaten to death 
  by the still-animated skeleton. When switched off, the battery releases from its attachment point, 
  and the bones collapse into a pile, no longer supported. What exactly does support them remains 
  a mystery – some form of invisible power the Galvanics are arguing about, whether it’s magic or 
  physics or something else. I think it’s both really and neither can accept the other might be partly 
  right. But I digress. 
  The second module is in the cranium, normally tucked up into the occiput, where the motor 
  cortex would be if a brain still occupied the skull. This one is harder to reach, or to hit from close 
  in or at a distance. The control module directs the skeleton, receiving its orders from the Samsut 
  taskmaster by radio, or thought transference, or some other method we haven’t thought of as yet. 
  Destroying the control module while the skeleton is under Samsut control seems to induce some 
  kind of feedback in the controller, which has made it difficult to obtain intact specimens, as the 
  soldiers, and especially the Maxim gunners, have been aiming for the upper part of the skull. The 
  module, not the same one used in zombies, apparently stores the instruction given to the skeletons. 
  It appears that only one instruction, albeit possibly one with a conditional or two, can be given to 
  skeletons, based on field observation and very limited captive specimen experimentation. 
  Exactly how the skeleton is held together, and how it follows orders and carries out motions 
  with no nervous system present, we’ve yet to determine. The sheer implausibility of the thing has left 
  some of the team feeling a bit addled. We’re trying to convince Dr.s Caton and Jackson to come to 
  the Gruv as their recent work in neuroanatomy, along with that of Dr. Wernicke of Prussia, could 
  be invaluable here. Until we have experts of their calibre on site, however, we shall have to muddle 
  through as best we are able. We’ve established that switching the battery back on will reconstitute 
  the skeleton, but either puts its previous orders in abeyance, or discards them, or the control module 
  goes into some kind of diagnostic mode and is awaiting input from a human operator. Everyone 
  on the team has their pet hypothesis, and none of us can think of a way to test them and find out 
  which one is right, and it’s driving us silly. As long as all the bones are piled up within about a 
  foot or so radius from the controller and battery, when switched on, the skeleton reassembles itself, 
  and rises up into a waiting posture with a blinking yellow light on the battery. We haven’t been 
  able to get any further. We do know if you take a non-structurally critical bone out of the pile, 
  the skeleton rises up as normal, but the light stops blinking and goes a sort of pale rose-pink. If 
  a major structural bone, like a femur, has been left out, the bones get sorted into a tidy pile, but 
  not assembled, and the yellow light turns blue. We cannot substitute a bone from another skeleton, 
  although logically there must be a way to get a skeleton to accept a replacement bone. We have yet 
  to find a way to safely recharge the batteries, and do not know how to trade out a dead battery for 
  
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  a live one, as we do not understand how the battery links to the control module. Miss Harcourt is 
  recovering nicely from the burns she suffered attempting to disassemble a live battery, and her steps 
  have been recorded for the next person to make the attempt, should we find a volunteer.
  DEX: 4 
  STR: 5 TOU: 6  
  PER: 4 WIL: 5 CHA: 3
  Initiative: 5 Physical Defense: 6  
  Actions: 1  
  Mystic Defense: 5
  Attack (4): 8 Social Defense: NA 
  Damage:  
  Physical Armor: 3
  By Weapon: 5+ 
  Mystic Armor: 3 Death: 36 
  Recovery Tests: 3
  Unconsciousness: NA Knockdown: 10 
  Wound Threshold: 10 
  Movement: 8
  Adventure Award: Novice Tier
  Powers: None 
  Loot: If Any
  Rules
  Skeletons are immune to Social Skills. 
  Zombie
  Somehow, this South American word found its way into the vernacular, and seems to have 
  been, like a harnessed pair at the bottom of a hill, just waiting in a convenient location to be of 
  use. Multiple dissections have proven beyond all possible doubt that these are in fact the bodies 
  of the dead, being reanimated by Samsut weird science devices in a horrid technological version 
  of necromancy. As such, they are vulnerable to all of the processes of decomposition, and move 
  through their stages in the course of being used for shock troops, agricultural slaves, and whatever 
  else a culture that can abide the constant presence of the dead might contrive. Eventually, the 
  remains are boiled to remove the last shreds of mortality, and the bones are sent off to be skeletons. 
  (All but two of the skeletons we have received have shown signs of being boiled, with the two 
  outliers showing the marks of beetle mandibles under the microscope.) One must wonder how 
  the Samsut feel, seeing the remains of their dearly departed being sent off to march against their 
  people’s foe, used as front-line troops because they cannot feel the shot tearing through them. But 
  again I digress. This manuscript shall need considerable review before submitting.
  �������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������
  ����������������
  – Jeremiah Carbottle, Secy., FRS
  Most encounters between Earthers and Samsut undead have been on the battlefield, with 
  the zombies arriving in the second wave, after the skeletons. The stinkers charge in with more 
  organization, hacking away at our forces with well-aimed swords and pole-arms, and occasionally 
  lining up and firing rifles as they advance to bayonet range. Again, field observation has determined 
  that a nearby controller or taskmaster is required for this sort of operation, as a feedback cycle 
  between the zombies and their master determines their actions. Miss Harcourt has theorised that 
  this feedback cycle could be exploited, and has suggested doing one’s fiercest damage to the 
  uninjured parts of the zombie in the hope that some lingering trace of sensorium might transmit 
  the pain to the controller. Logically, they would have to have the ability to feel pain from pre-existing 
  injuries shut off, as otherwise the controller would be continuously overwhelmed by the zombie’s 
  death wound. Our military has found that dead bodies absolutely cannot be left behind in a retreat, 
  
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  New Creatures
  as the Samsut will have them fitted with the necessary modules and back in line on their side in jig 
  time. Interestingly, turned Earther troops are the only source of Boojum zombies we have thus far 
  seen. Reports have come in also of Boojum bodies being left on the field by the Samsut undead 
  controllers, although any human bodies were of course taken for resupply. This couples with stories 
  of a lack of Boojums among the living Samsut forces, to raise a question another committee should 
  address: where are the Samsut Boojums?
  To return to the matter at hand, distant observations, such as those at Maksuddum-mattam, 
  confirm zombies are used in labour much like our ancestors used living human beings, for all the 
  drudgery of farming and maintaining a settlement. Again, a controller is required, and there seems 
  to be a limit to range of the controller’s devices, although a team of zombies can be set to a 
  number of different tasks working toward a common end. For example, one controller may handle 
  zombies cutting grain, binding it into sheaves, carrying the sheaves to a cart, and piling it on the 
  wagon, all at once. 
  In the absence of a controller, zombies appear to forget their previous orders, and revert to 
  an idle wandering, a sort of random perambulation much like a leaf caught in an errant breeze, or 
  a sort of trembling convulsion, centred around the oldest injury. This latter behaviour has left us 
  wondering if zombies have enough memory and presence of mind to recall how they died, and may 
  in that case be continuously suffering their death throes. A truly horrid thought, and one that if true 
  would justify our war against the Samsut in all its ends. All the while, the zombie itself stinks to 
  Perdition, drops little bits of itself as it rots, and violates the moral and ethical codes of multiple 
  religions and nations. As with the skeleton, two modules are involved in making one of these corpses 
  walk instead of staying decently in the ground, one located in the chest cavity, generally found just 
  below the top of the sternum, and the other in the cranium, generally in the back, inserted through 
  a slit made at the base of the skull. This again puts the controlling module in the vicinity of the 
  motor cortex, albeit possibly with some remnants of nerves that have not yet decayed to sludge that 
  the device might connect with. We’ve established that the zombie controller module is larger and a 
  bit more complex than the skeleton one, although not by much. The difference appears to be that 
  the skeleton module generates the field holding the beastly thing together, while the zombie module 
  deals with a good bit more information and more complex instructions.
  I realize this information is anxiously sought by the Society, and seriously needed by our 
  Army in the interest of securing victory. I speak for all of us here, though, when I say we would 
  rather this cup had not passed to us. For myself, I have gone from cataloguing wildflowers along 
  the edge of the marsh, to tangling with a creeper intent on having me for a snack, to most recently 
  knocking in the back of the skull of an animated skeleton as it menaced Mr. Osborn so that Doña 
  Rubalcaba could reach in and switch the bloody thing off. I find my behaviour becoming less and 
  less ladylike, and sorely miss long dresses, quiet strolls by the primrose hedge, and days when I 
  did not know how to swing a spanner as an improvised weapon. All in all, despite the sheaves of 
  photographs and reams of notes and reports which have gone over to the Flagship and onward to 
  Earth, I feel that we have, in the best of scientific tradition and much to the frustration of those 
  depending upon our results, raised more questions than we have answered. 
  
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  Zombie
  DEX: 5 
  STR: 6 TOU: 7  
  PER: 5 WIL: 6 CHA: 4
  Initiative: 5 Physical Defense: 9  
  Actions: 1  
  Mystic Defense: 9
  Attack (5): # Social Defense: 8 Damage:  
  Physical Armor: 0
  Claws (4): 10 
  Mystic Armor: 3 Death: 52 
  Recovery Tests: 2
  Unconsciousness: NA Knockdown: 10 
  Wound Threshold: 10 
  Movement: 6
  Adventure Award: Novice Tier  
  Powers: Immune to Social Attacks
  Rules
  Zombies use tools and weapons with a Skill Rank equal to what they had in life, or their 
  controller’s Abd-Salamtu Controller Skill Rank, whichever is higher. A Called Shot to the battery 
  or control module that scores more than one success damages the device badly enough to shut it 
  down. Note that making a Called Shot requires a clear line of sight to the target for ranged fire. 
  Swinging a melee weapon at the back of a zombie’s head in hopes of hitting the control module 
  requires a Called Shot to the back of the head with an extra success to hit the precise right spot. 
  YZ
  
  184
  
  185
  Chapter 8
  1879 GAMEMASTER’S Guide
  Timeline
  Curious, in time, I stand, noting the efforts of heroes;
  Is the deferment long? bitter the slander, poverty, death?
  Lies the seed unreck’d for centuries in the ground? Lo! to God’s due occasion,
  Uprising in the night, it sprouts, blooms,
  ���������������������������������������
  – ����������������, Walt Whitman
  Time Line
  This chapter lays out pivotal events within the game world which create 
  the present reality of 1879. Some of these events happened in our own history. 
  Others are specific to the game world. The intermingling of the two generates a 
  plausible alternate history, serving as a steady foundation beneath the more fantastic 
  elements. How the Gamemaster uses this time line is left up to the individual. 
  Events may inspire adventures, dealing with secrets or unfinished business from 
  the past. They may be tossed off in light conversation as an explanation of what’s 
  currently happening. Readers are encouraged to research events that catch their 
  interest. There’s as much to be learned from finding out an event is fictional as 
  there is to learning of one that actually happened. 
  8
  
  186
  Timeline
  Year
  Event
  539 BCE
  Fall of Babylon. The Babylonians pass through the 
  portal into what will later be known as the Grosvenor 
  World. Over the next three hundred years, Hittites 
  and Akkadians follow, before the portal closes.
  1729
  China makes opium illegal as a recreational sub-
  stance.
  1741
  Sultan Mahmud I of the Ottoman Empire makes the 
  ������������������������������������������������������
  Ottoman Sultan and Caliph to do so. Mahmud I does 
  little else of note during his reign, serving more as a 
  �����������������������
  1758
  Sultan Mustafa III makes the hajj. On his return, Hajji 
  Mustafa III is able to win the imams to his side, and 
  implements a series of reforms in the military. His 
  program of modernization in the military and the civil 
  service barely scratches the surface of what is actu-
  ally needed, but it gets the Ottoman Empire going in 
  the right direction.
  1763
  Frederick II of Prussia makes the Volksschule educa-
  tional system compulsory, laying the foundation for 
  later Socialist reform.
  1775
  Sultan Abdulhamid I makes the hajj. He continues 
  the reforms that keep the Ottoman Empire staggering 
  along, the Sick Man of Europe refusing to lie down 
  and die. The Janissary corps and navy are renovated. 
  The Imperial Naval Engineering School is founded. 
  The Empire continues to crumble at the edges.
  1790
  Sultan Selim III makes the hajj, a year after his acces-
  sion as has become tradition by this time. 
  1796
  Edward Jenner introduces the use of cowpox as a 
  vaccine against smallpox.
  1801
  ������������������������������������������������-
  ered carriage, takes six passengers from Camborne 
  Hill to the nearby village of Beacon.
  
  187
  Chapter 8
  Year
  Event
  1801
  Ottoman forces stand off the Wahhabi forces of ibn 
  Saud at Karbala, although with considerable losses.
  1802
  ������������������������������������������
  1802
  ���������������������������������������������������
  locomotive.
  1802
  Ottoman troops hold against the Saudi Wahhabis 
  under Abdul Aziz ibn Mohammed ibn Saud at Najaf, 
  relief forces arriving just in time to prevent the fall of 
  the city.
  1803
  An attack by Saudi Wahhabi forces on Mecca is 
  repelled by Ottoman forces. The various Shi’a peo-
  ples align with the Sunni Ottoman Empire against a 
  common enemy and the Wahhabis are pushed back 
  to Diriyah. Religious war between Sunni and Shi’a 
  forces on one side and Wahhabi forces on the other 
  rages in the Middle East for the next two decades. 
  �����������������������������������������������������
  each other, making it sometimes a three-sided war. 
  �������������������������������������������������
  Medina remain in Ottoman hands.
  1804
  �����������������������������������������������������
  steam-powered railway journey along the tramway of 
  �������������������������������������������������
  1805
  The Promethean match is invented. The end of a stick 
  is coated with a mixture of potassium chlorate and 
  sugar and allowed to harden. To light it, the match 
  head is dipped in sulfuric acid, then held well away 
  �������������������������������������������������
  �����
  1807
  The Janissaries, their power base threatened by con-
  tinuing reforms, overthrow Sultan Selim III and put 
  Mustafa IV on the throne.
  
  188
  Timeline
  Year
  Event
  1807
  Whitney’s mechanical short-staple cotton gin is in 
  widespread usage. Paradoxically, and sadly, this leads 
  to an increase in the demand for slaves in the Ameri-
  can South.
  1808
  Sultan Mustafa IV is overthrown before he can make 
  the hajj, breaking the tradition. Mahmud II takes the 
  throne as Sultan and Caliph. 
  1809
  Sultan Mahmud II makes the hajj, restoring the tradi-
  tion, and requires his heir to make the hajj before 
  being invested, starting a new tradition lasting for 
  generations.
  1812
  Ottoman forces stand off the Nejdi rebels at Medina. 
  ����������������������������������������������������
  between Sunni and Shi’a having reasserted itself.
  1812
  John Bellingham assassinates Spencer Percival, Brit-
  ����������������������������������������������������
  ���������������������������������������������������
  fears of revolution. 
  1813
  Father Jose Maria Morelos convenes a Congress 
  which produces a declaration of independence for 
  Mexihco.
  1813
  The Nejdi rebels attack Mecca. Predominantly Egyp-
  tian forces of the Ottomans hold them off, and the 
  rebellion is broken.
  1815
  George Stephenson designs a safety lamp for miners. 
  Humphry Davy designs a similar lamp, and accuses 
  Stephenson of stealing his design. The controversy 
  lasts for 18 years.
  1815
  Father Morelos is captured by the Spaniards and 
  executed.
  1819 (16 Aug)
  Henry Hunt speaks at a rally in Manchester. The 
  constables ride in swinging sabers and cause a panic. 
  A third of the casualties are women, far more of a 
  percentage than the crowd composition.
  
  189
  Chapter 8
  Year
  Event
  1820
  General Agustin de Iturbide is ordered to lead his 
  troops against those of Vicente Guerrero. Instead, 
  Iturbide joins forces with Guerrero.
  1820
  Hans Christian Ørsted discovers electromagnetism.
  1821
  Faced with the united front of Guerrero and Iturbide, 
  the Spanish crown signs both the Treaty of Cordoba 
  and the Declaration of Independence of the Mexican 
  Empire.
  1821
  The Stockton and Darlington Railway is commis-
  sioned by Parliament. George Stephenson surveys the 
  �������������������������������������������������-
  pany, to manufacture the locomotives, under strict 
  secrecy and tight control of the patents. The rails are 
  wrought iron, supplied by Bedlington Ironworks, 
  breaking a verbal agreement between George and 
  William Losh of Walker Ironworks for cast-iron rails. 
  Distrust of George Stephenson begins to spread. 
  1821
  ��������������������������������������������������-
  ���������������������������������������������������������
  scientists in his paper and his work isn’t developed 
  for a while.
  1823
  The Ecole de Médicine de Pondichéry opens, and ac-
  cepts women as well as men for degrees in Medicine.
  1823
  Iturbide is dethroned, and a republican constitution 
  creates the United Mexihcan States.
  1823
  �����������������������������������������������
  Charles Babbage to build the Difference Engine.
  1824
  �����������������������������������������������
  Britain.
  1825
  The Decembrist coup in Russia fails, awakening the 
  paranoia of the tsar.
  1825
  Michael Faraday isolates and produces benzene, 
  which at the time he calls bicarburet of hydrogen and 
  then later benzin. 
  
  190
  Timeline
  
  191
  Chapter 8
  Year
  Event
  1826
  John Walker, a chemist from Stockton-on-Tees, in-
  vents the friction match. They don’t work very well.
  1826
  Sultan Mahmud II abolishes the Janissary corps. 
  1829
  The Peele Act creates the Metropolitan London Po-
  lice. 
  1829
  Sir Isaac Holden improves the friction match. Samuel 
  Jones, a chemist in London, patents the idea and 
  starts selling lucifer matches.
  1829
  Robert Stephenson, after a three year absence from 
  England and rumoured to be estranged from his fa-
  ther, designs and oversees the building of the Rocket, 
  �����������������������������������������������������
  only locomotive entered in the Rainhill Trials suc-
  cessfully completing the tests.
  1830
  Charles Sauria of France invents the white phospho-
  rus match, which has to be kept in an airtight box. 
  Phossy jaw becomes an industrial disease.
  1830
  Isambard Kingdom Brunel is elected to the Royal 
  Society.
  1830
  Robert Stephenson designs the Planet, which moves 
  the cylinders inside the wheels. Robert and his father 
  George have a very public falling out over the design, 
  made worse when Planet proves to be substantially 
  ������������������������������������������������������
  George predicted. Robert moves to the United States 
  to supervise the Camen and Amboy Railway.
  1831
  Work begins on Brunel’s Clifton Bridge, but is sus-
  pended after the Queen Square riots. The investors 
  abandon the project.
  1831
  Michael Faraday discovers electromagnetic induc-
  tion.
  1831
  Sultan Mahmud II conquers the Iraqi Mamluks.
  1831
  Michael Faraday discovers EM induction. He puts 
  ����������������������������������
  
  192
  Timeline
  Year
  Event
  1831
  ��������������������������������������������������-
  gusta.
  1832
  The phenakistoscope is invented.
  1832
  Joseph Henry detects magnetic induction at a range 
  of two hundred feet. He produces high frequency AC 
  oscillations and demonstrates that capacitor discharge 
  can be oscillatory. Lord Kelvin later proves this math-
  ematically in a paper on Transient Electric Currents 
  in 1853.
  1833
  Joseph Clement halts operations and puts his work-
  men on notice after Babbage orders him to move his 
  workshop to a spot near Babbage’s home, but refuses 
  to compensate Clement for the expenses of the relo-
  ����������������������������������������������������
  and assumes control over the Engine project, citing 
  national and pecuniary interests. The workshop is 
  relocated to the Woolwich Dockyard.
  1833
  ����������������������������������������������-
  son had equal claim to having invented the safety 
  lamp. Davy goes to his grave believing Stephenson 
  had stolen his idea. The Stephenson lamp is used 
  exclusively in the North East of England, whereas the 
  Davy lamp is used everywhere else. The experience 
  gives Stephenson a lifelong distrust of London-based 
  ���������������������������������������������������
  south of England, whose elitism against the north is a 
  large part of the problem.
  
  193
  Chapter 8
  Year
  Event
  1833
  Isambard Brunel is appointed chief engineer of the 
  newly commissioned Great Western Railway. He 
  implements the broad gauge, partially because it adds 
  to passenger comfort, partially for stability at higher 
  speeds, but predominantly because Stephenson holds 
  a patent on the so-called standard gauge and will not 
  release or license it. Britain’s railroads are a hodge-
  podge of Stephenson’s standard gauge, narrow or 
  Welsh gauge, and broad gauge, with some one-off 
  railways here and there that don’t connect to anything 
  else.
  1833
  Robert Stephenson turns down an offer to move 
  back to London as chief engineer for the London and 
  Birmingham Railway. The post goes instead to James 
  Watt, Jr., son of the famed inventor, who brings the 
  project in massively over budget, and retires back to 
  Warwickshire.
  1833
  The East India Company loses its government-backed 
  monopoly. Competition begins to drive prices down 
  and the Company grows desperate.
  1835
  Thomas Guppy and Isambard Brunel form the Great 
  Western Steamship Company.
  1836
  ���������������������������������������������������
  service.
  1837
  King William IV dies on June 20, leaving no legiti-
  mate offspring. His 18-year-old niece Victoria (grand-
  daughter of George III) becomes queen of the United 
  Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. The news goes 
  �����������������������������������������������������
  so announced.
  1837
  Babbage publishes the Ninth Bridgewater Treatise, 
  in which he argues for the existence of God and the 
  nature of God as a machine designer. Babbage subse-
  quently leaves the Engine project and sets about work 
  on a new design, the Analytical Engine.
  
  194
  Timeline
  Year
  Event
  1837
  Charles Wheatstone and William Fothergill Cooke 
  patent an electrical telegraph.
  1838
  ���������������������������������������������
  the Differential Engine, installs it at the government 
  �����������������������������������������������������
  and begins work on the Version 2 Engine, known as 
  the Babbage-Clement Engine, a smaller, lighter, more 
  ������������������������������������������������
  parts.
  1838
  Brunel’s ship the Great Western sails from Bristol to 
  ���������������������������������������������������
  successful one, as the Sirius crew has to burn one of 
  their masts for fuel, while the Great Western arrives 
  with a third of its coal bunkers still full. The Great 
  Western also makes the crossing three days faster 
  than the Sirius.
  1838
  ������������������������������������������������
  1838
  Robert Stephenson and his wife relocate to Tuscany, 
  at the request of the Leopolda Railway. He spends 
  the next several years overseeing construction of the 
  Faentina line through the Muraglione Pass, alternat-
  ing with time spent in France consulting with Paulin 
  Talbot on the Chemins de fer du Gard running from 
  Beavoir to Ales, and in Spain  advising on the con-
  struction of the rail from the Bay of Biscay to Ma-
  drid.
  1838 (Dec)
  Construction begins on the Box Tunnel.
  1839
  British government begins to provide money for 
  elementary schools
  
  195
  Chapter 8
  Year
  Event
  1839
  The new commissioner for trade in Canton, Lin Zexu, 
  demands laws prohibiting opium be enforced, and 
  that British merchants surrender their stocks. The Su-
  perintendent of Trade, Charles Elliot, besieged in the 
  factories along with everyone else and facing a dwin-
  dling supply of food, makes a deal with the merchants 
  to pay for their opium with Crown funds, which of 
  course isn’t going to happen, as opium is illegal in 
  England. Over a thousand tons of opium are given to 
  Lin Zexu, who has it all dumped into the ocean.
  1839
  Sultan Mahmud II begins the Tanzimat reforms. He 
  �����������������������������������������
  1840
  Queen Victoria marries her cousin Prince Albert of 
  Saxe-Coburg-Gotha.
  1840
  Penny post (fast, inexpensive mail service) is estab-
  �����������������������������������������������������
  1d per half ounce regardless of destination, and post-
  age is paid by the sender. In London, hourly deliver-
  ies soon become standard, allowing invitations to be 
  sent at breakfast, replies received at lunch, and guests 
  greeted at dinner.
  1849
  The Vaccination Act not only provides for the im-
  munization of infants against preventable disease, but 
  acknowledges the government has a responsibility for 
  maintaining the health of its citizens.
  1840
  Sheridan Le Fanu becomes owner of the Dublin Eve-
  ning Mail and The Warder, two Irish newspapers.
  1840
  A contingent of the British Navy and the British In-
  dian Army (at the time the private troops of the East 
  India Company) arrive in China, and begin the First 
  Opium War.
  1840
  Sultan Abdulmecid I continues the Tanzimat reforms 
  of his father.
  1840
  Victoria Adelaide Maria Louisa, Princess Royal, 1st 
  child of Victoria and Albert, is born.
  
  196
  Timeline
  
  197
  Chapter 8
  Year
  Event
  1841
  The National Census is tabulated by the George 
  Street Engine. The Babbage-Clement Engine is com-
  pleted. Sales are brisk, and the V1 Engine falls by the 
  wayside.
  1841
  Albert Edward, Prince of Wales, 2nd child of Victoria 
  and Albert, is born. Nicknamed Bertie, he is desig-
  nated as heir to the throne.
  1841 (April)
  The Box Tunnel is completed, at the cost of 100 
  worker fatalities over the course of the project. The 
  tunnel, at 1.83 miles in length and a 1 in 100 gradient, 
  is the largest and steepest railway tunnel up to this 
  point.
  1842
  Routine passenger rail service opens between Man-
  chester and London.
  1842
  The London police establish a detective department.
  1842
  The Chinese surrender to the British. The Treaty of 
  Nanking requires the Chinese to pay for the seized 
  ���������������������������������������������������
  over Hong Kong to Britain as a Crown colony.
  1843
  The Autotill, based on the Babbage-Clement Engine, 
  is introduced. In a famous demonstration, the Autotill 
  is shown to be faster and more accurate than a Chi-
  nese accountant with an abacus.
  1843
  ��������������������������������������������������
  Babbage-Clement Engine. The design lacks several 
  key features, and requires constant adjustment to keep 
  its calculations accurate.
  
  198
  Timeline
  Year
  Event
  1843
  The Countess of Lovelace, Ada Byron, daughter of 
  the infamous poet, translates a paper by Luigi Mena-
  brea, an Italian mathematician and correspondent of 
  Babbage, from French to English. In her extensive 
  annotations, fully three times the volume of the origi-
  nal paper, she lays out the fundamental principles 
  for using the Analytical Engine to solve high order 
  mathematical problems, including a complete algo-
  rithm for mechanically deriving the Bernoulli num-
  bers. People begin calling the Engine programmers 
  ������������
  1843
  Brunel’s ship Great Britain����������������������������
  hulled propeller driven ship to cross the Atlantic.
  1843
  Alice Maud Mary, 3rd child of Victoria and Albert, is 
  born.
  1843
  After several years of increasing acrimony, Charles 
  Wheatstone and William Cooke dissolve their part-
  nership. Their patents are divided between them by 
  the judicial committee of the Privy Council, in an 
  ���������������������������������������
  1844
  The desktop 20-key calculator is introduced, based on 
  the Difference Engine.
  1844
  The Factory Act limits the working day in Great Brit-
  ain to 12 hours for people under 18.
  1844
  Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh, 4th child of Victoria and 
  Albert, is born.
  1844
  Sheridan Le Fanu marries Susanna Bennett, with 
  Isaac Butt as a witness.
  
  199
  Chapter 8
  Year
  Event
  1844
  Babbage delivers the completed plans for the Analyti-
  cal Engine to Lord Cheltenham. He had, however, 
  deliberately inserted a few small errors into the plans 
  that would have to be corrected before the Analytical 
  Engine would function. Joseph Clement dies before 
  completing his review of the plans. His former jour-
  neyman, Joseph Whitworth, is named the new chief 
  engineer at Woolwich. Babbage reveals to Lord Chel-
  ��������������������������������������������������
  that he has sold the correct plans, along with all of his 
  notes on Engine design and Lady Lovelace’s work on 
  Engine programming, to a pair of enterprising young 
  men from Scotland. Three days later, before the 
  government can act, Babbage has an altercation with 
  ��������������������������������������������������������
  drops dead of apoplexy.
  1844
  International Calculating Engines, Ltd., (ICE) begins 
  operations, run by John Griffon Montague Johnstone, 
  newly elevated to Baron Johnstone, and his cousin, 
  John Conway Levine Johnstone, the recently-created 
  ������������������������������������������������-
  ��������������������������������������������������
  ICE. Joseph Whitworth joins ICE as one of their lead 
  ����������������������������������
  1844
  The Enon Chapel scandal breaks, with a dustman 
  ���������������������������������������������������
  chapel had opened a burial vault in 1823, measuring 
  59 feet by 29 feet. Somewhere around 12,000 bodies 
  were interred, the last in 1839. The Sunday School 
  �����������������������������������������������������
  down by the parish.
  1845
  The Irish potato famine peaks, as the potato blight 
  spreads across Europe. Starvation and emigration 
  cause the population of Ireland to drop from 8.2 mil-
  lion in 1841 to 6.5 million in 1851.
  
  200
  Timeline
  Year
  Event
  1845
  �������������������������������������������������
  the market.
  1845
  Ernest accedes to the throne of Coburg. Prince Albert 
  is designated as his heir, bypassing Bertie, who is 
  already committed to the throne of England.
  1845
  ��������������������������������������������������
  published in Vienna.
  1846
  Robert Stephenson returns to England to work on the 
  Suez canal plans.
  1846
  Michael Faraday and Charles Lyell produce a report 
  on the colliery explosion at Haswell County Durham. 
  Coal dust is cited as a major contributor to the explo-
  sion. The risk is ignored by the industry.
  1846
  Helena (Lenchen), 5th child of Victoria and Albert, is 
  born.
  1846
  The Disease Prevention Act authorises sanitary im-
  provements by the General Board of Health.
  1846
  The Corn Laws are repealed. Grain prices tumble un-
  ������������������������������������������������������
  alleviated, as there is now bread the poor can afford, 
  but farms fail economically due to collapsing prices. 
  The rural poor begin to migrate to the cities in search 
  of work.
  1846
  William Cooke founds the Electro-Telegraph Com-
  pany. The startup costs, which include £120,000 to 
  Wheatstone for the use of his patents, remain a stone 
  around the company’s neck, and it founders six years 
  later. 
  1847
  Robert Stephenson is elected conservative MP from 
  ���������������������������������������������������
  He spends much of his time in government opposing 
  change in pretty much any form.
  
  201
  Chapter 8
  Year
  Event
  1847
  �������������������������������������������������
  seriously injuring nine others. Robert Stephenson, the 
  �����������������������������������������������������
  ���������������������������������������������������
  gains another design contract.
  1847
  The Baths and Washhouses Act allow parishes to set 
  aside funds for bathhouses, some of which provide 
  free laundry facilities for the poor during epidemics.
  1848
  Cholera, recurring in epidemic waves throughout 
  England’s cities, reveals a need for increased public 
  health measures.
  1848
  George Stephenson dies. His son Robert offers to 
  license the rail patents he has inherited, but by this 
  time multiple standards have been developed, and 
  distrust of the Stephenson family is too highly in-
  grained in Britain’s iron and steel industry. 
  1848
  Louise Caroline Alberta, 6th child of Victoria and 
  Albert, is born.
  1848
  The British royal family leases Balmoral.
  1848
  The Metropolitan Commission of Sewers Act creates 
  responsibility for sanitation, drainage, and water sup-
  plies.
  1848 (April)
  The Chartist Convention holds a mass meeting on 
  Kensington Common. Somewhere around 150,000 
  people show up in support of a petition for political 
  reform later submitted with over a million signatures.
  1849
  Carbon arc lights with magnetic generators become 
  the standard for lighthouses in Britain, operated by 
  Differential Engines. Lighthouse keepers become 
  largely a thing of the past, as the lighthouses are 
  automated, sending out pre-written messages by 
  telegraph when problems occur. Some lighthouses, in 
  remote areas where telegraph wires cannot be placed 
  or maintained, retain their keepers.
  
  202
  Timeline
  Year
  Event
  1849
  ����������������������������������������������������
  of benzene as a coal tar derivative.
  1849
  Dr. John Snow publishes On the Mode of Communi-
  cation of Cholera.
  1849
  The Industrial Boiler Safety Act is passed, requiring 
  boilers to be pressure tested to a decent safety margin, 
  safety valves to be installed, and pressure gauges to 
  be calibrated and connected before boilers were al-
  lowed into operation. Prior to then, boiler explosions 
  were commonplace. Even after, and up to the 1880s, 
  boilers still explode if they aren’t regularly inspected 
  for corrosion, or if one of the hand-peened rivets 
  gives out, or if the iron plating isn’t to spec. A steel 
  boiler with welded seams and machine-peened rivets 
  is required for proper safety, and even there, a weld 
  can fail.
  1849
  A Royal Commission condemns the use of untrussed 
  cast iron in railway bridges in general, after the col-
  lapses of the bridges at Dee, Wooton, Bull, Staplehu-
  rst, Inverythan, and Norwood Junction. 
  1849
  Jules Verne meets Alexandre Dumas, and the two 
  men collaborate on a play script, launching Verne’s 
  writing career.
  1850 (13 July)
  An article ostensibly by Mrs. Amelia Mouser (actual-
  ly the playwright Douglas Jerrold) appears in Punch, 
  ������������������������������������������������������
  at the forthcoming Great Exhibition. The nickname 
  ������������������������������������������������������
  the vernacular even though the building has not yet 
  been approved for construction.
  1850
  Arthur, Duke of Connaught, 7th child of Victoria and 
  Albert, is born. Arthur is christened with his name-
  sake, Wellington, as godfather.
  
  203
  Chapter 8
  Year
  Event
  1850
  The Metropolitan Interments Act grants the Board 
  of Health power to close full churchyards, open new 
  cemeteries, and purchase private cemeteries for pub-
  lic use. 
  1850
  Robert Louis Stevenson is born.
  1851
  The Crystal Palace Exhibition, organized by Henry 
  Cole and Prince Albert and others, opens. Carbon-arc 
  searchlights, with hand-cranked magnetic generators 
  directly attached, are demonstrated.
  1851
  New funding is found for the Clifton Bridge by Par-
  liament, under suggestion from Prince Albert.
  1851
  The British lose a war against the Basotho.
  1851
  ���������������������������������������������������-
  �������������������������������������������������������
  logistics.
  1851
  Prince William of Prussia and Princess Augusta arrive 
  in England, bringing Fritz and Louise, their children. 
  Vicky makes a considerable impression, although 
  ���������������������������������������������������-
  man, as opposed to Fritz’s poor English, having been 
  raised in a bilingual home.
  1852
  Britain formally recognizes the Transvaal Republic.
  1852
  Elisha Otis invents the safety elevator.
  1852
  While repelling an invasion of Swaziland by the 
  Zulus, the British capture King Mpande’s second son, 
  Mbuyazi. British diplomats convince Mbuyazi that an 
  alliance with the British would be good for the Zulu 
  Kingdom.
  1852
  Richard Garrett and Sons implement an assembly line 
  at the Long Shop in Leiston, Suffolk. They produce 
  steam tractors for agricultural use.
  1852
  The British again lose to the Basotho.
  1852
  Brunel designs the Great Eastern, originally called 
  the Leviathan.
  
  204
  Timeline
  
  205
  Chapter 8
  Year
  Event
  1852
  The British royal family buys Balmoral outright for 
  £31.5k. The residence is torn down and replaced with 
  a far larger one of Albert’s design.
  1852
  The Crystal Palace is removed to Sydenham.
  1853
  A near-rebellion by the Sepoys of India is headed off 
  ������������������������������������������������������
  guaranteed by both an imam and a Hindu priest to be 
  greased with ghee instead of lard or tallow.
  1853
  The Swedish V3 Engine is introduced, but achieves 
  little commercial success.
  1853
  Leopold George Duncan Albert, Duke of Albany, 8th 
  child of Victoria and Albert, is born. Queen Victoria 
  uses chloroform at the birth, thus ensuring its place as 
  an anaesthetic. Dr. John Snow is her anaesthetist.
  1853
  ��������������������������������������������������
  aquarium, opens, built along the lines of a green-
  house.
  1854
  The rebuilt and expanded Crystal Palace, on Penge 
  Common next to Sydenham Hill, opens as a perma-
  nent exhibition hall.
  1854
  Elisha Otis demonstrates the safety elevator dramati-
  cally at New York’s Crystal Palace, with the cable 
  being severed with an axe. 
  1854
  Oscar Wilde is born
  1854
  The Crimean War begins. The Earl of Cardigan leads 
  a charge of a light brigade at Balaclava, to disastrous 
  results.
  1854
  London’s Paddington Station, designed by Brunel, 
  opens.
  1854
  During the Broad Street cholera epidemic, Dr. John 
  Snow and Rev. Henry Whitehead identify the source 
  as the Broad Street public water pump. The science 
  of epidemiology is founded. The miasma theory is 
  considered discredited, but remains in circulation for 
  many years.
  
  206
  Timeline
  Year
  Event
  1854
  The Clifton Bridge is completed. Brunel makes the 
  Honours List and is awarded a Companionship in the 
  OBE.
  1854
  Britain formally recognizes the Orange Free State.
  1854
  Berend Wilhelm Feddersen demonstrates, using Ley-
  den jars, that electric sparks are composed of damped 
  oscillations.
  1855
  The Lundstrom company of Jonkoping, Sweden, 
  begins production of red phosphorus safety matches. 
  They hold an international monopoly on the invention 
  until 1903, which results in white phosphorus remain-
  ing in use in many countries.
  1855
  Dr. John Snow publishes a second edition of On the 
  Mode of Communication of Cholera, with data from 
  an investigation of the 1854 Soho outbreak that points 
  to the water supply.
  1855
  ������������������������������������������������������
  will bear his name.
  1855
  Sir Isambard Brunel is named chief engineer of Brit-
  ain’s railways, and charged by Parliament with stan-
  dardization. He begins a project that will replace all 
  but the Welsh gauge with broad gauge rail. The cost 
  is staggering at the outset, but the increase in pas-
  �����������������������������������������������������
  locomotives are able to achieve, massively increase 
  the revenues of the railways, resulting in the initial 
  outlay being paid off in eleven years.
  1855
  Florence Nightingale introduces hygienic standards 
  into military hospitals.
  1855
  The Wilde family moves to 1 Merrion Square. The 
  Wildes’ new home is larger and, with their sociality 
  and success, becomes a unique medical and cultural 
  milieu. Guests at their salon include Sheridan Le 
  Fanu, Charles Lever, George Petrie, Isaac Butt, Wil-
  liam Rowan Hamilton, and Samuel Ferguson.
  
  207
  Chapter 8
  Year
  Event
  1855
  Princess Alice of Britain has a bout of scarlet fever, 
  and never fully recovers. 
  1855 (Feb)
  Sir Isambard Brunel accepts a plea from Florence 
  Nightingale to design and build a prefabricated hos-
  pital that can be shipped to the Crimea. The Renkioi 
  Hospital sets new standards for hygiene, sanitation, 
  drainage, ventilation, and temperature control. Night-
  ingale’s enthusiastic praise for the design results in 
  contracts for similar facilities, and permanent ones as 
  well, across Europe.
  1856
  At the Battle of Ndondakusuka. Cetshwayo’s forces 
  pin down Mbuyazi’s. British reinforcements arrive. 
  Cetshwayo’s forces are slaughtered. Mbuyazi returns 
  home with his brother’s head on the end of a spear, 
  deposes his father, and takes the throne. Mbuyazi 
  then signs a treaty of mutual support with the British 
  Empire.
  1856
  The East India Company discontinues pension pay-
  ments, touching off the Sepoy Rebellion.
  1856
  Sheridan Le Fanu and his family move to 18 Merrion 
  Square. Susanna becomes increasingly neurotic.
  1856
  Jules Verne leaves the theatre and takes up a new 
  career as a broker at the Paris Bourse.
  1856
  �������������������������������������������������
  a new exhibit at Barnum’s American Museum on 
  Broadway in New York
  1856
  Chinese authorities seize the Arrow and its crew for 
  ����������������������������������������������������
  ����������������������������������������������������
  of Chinese origin, and were in Chinese waters. The 
  British representation in Canton insists the ship was 
  ���������������������������������������������������-
  ish ensign, and so the boarding constituted an insult 
  �����������
  
  208
  Timeline
  Year
  Event
  1856
  British forces attack Canton and its outlying forts. 
  Four sets of forts and twenty-three Chinese ships are 
  taken or destroyed. Everything between the Canton 
  city wall and the sea is pulled down or burned to clear 
  the way for naval guns, and the city is bombarded, 
  launching the Second Opium War.
  1857
  The British Crown revokes the East India Company’s 
  charter, nationalizes its assets, puts down the Sepoy 
  Rebellion, and begins the Raj.
  1857
  Victoria grants Albert the title of prince consort, frus-
  trated at Parliament’s unwillingness to grant Albert 
  any title other than prince.
  1857
  Frederick William of Prussia loses his sanity. 
  1857
  Beatrice Mary Victoria Feodore, 9th child of Victoria 
  and Albert, is born. The doctors warn Victoria that 
  this should be her last pregnancy. In Nebraska, a new 
  town is named Beatrice after the new princess.
  1858
  The Medical Act establishes the British register of 
  ���������������������
  1858
  ������������������������������������������������
  seated in Parliament, ending hundreds of years of 
  religious discrimination.
  
  209
  Chapter 8
  Year
  Event
  1858
  The Great Stink. Chloride of lime had already been 
  dumped in the Thames by the boatload, but an unusu-
  ally dry summer rendered that useless. The riverbed, 
  a mass of rotting waste, began fermenting in the sun. 
  On 19 June, Disraeli, the Chancellor of the Exche-
  �������������������������������������������������
  room because of the stench. Twelve days later, the 
  Metropolitan Board of Works had funds and authority 
  for a city-wide sewage project, under the Metropoli-
  ����������������������������������������������������
  Thames and the Main Drainage of the Metropolis.
  “The causes of the nuisance are perfectly clear, so are 
  the means of cures; but … no Minister has the cour-
  age to demand [what it will cost]. If it were a question 
  of arming ships, or embarking soldiers, there would 
  be not a day’s hesitation in asking for ten times the 
  sum – it is so much better to spend money in killing 
  our neighbours than in keeping ourselves alive and 
  ���������Illustrated London News, 26 June 1858
  1858
  The Treaties of Tientsin halt the Second Opium War, 
  with Britain, France, Russia, and the U.S.A. opening 
  embassies in Peking, ten more ports being opened to 
  foreign trade, foreign ships being given navigation 
  rights on the Yangtze, foreigners allowed to travel 
  within China proper, and a war indemnity to be paid 
  to Britain and France.
  1858
  ������������������������������������������������
  go into partnership, and begin production of steel at 
  �����������������������������������������������������
  drops from £40 per long ton to an average of £7 per 
  long ton.
  1858
  �����������������������������������������������������
  laid. The test message of 98 words takes 16 hours to 
  transmit, due to line noise, signal degradation, and 
  other technical issues.
  
  210
  Timeline
  Year
  Event
  1858
  Charles Wheatstone patents an automatic telegraphic 
  sender, using pre-punched paper tape, achieving 400 
  wpm.
  1858
  William of Prussia becomes regent. He makes it clear 
  he does not want a united Germany, full of unruly 
  non-Prussians.
  1858
  A Royal Commission under Secretary of State for 
  War Jonathan Peel begins investigations into the 
  impact of the Crimean War. In addition to the obvi-
  ous instances of incompetence and maladministration 
  which had been revealed, it was evident the provision 
  of an army of only 25,000 in the Crimea had stripped 
  Britain of almost every trained soldier. The lesson 
  was reinforced by the Indian Mutiny, which once 
  again required almost the entire usable British Army 
  to suppress.
  1858
  After Edwin Chadwick is sacked, having become 
  increasingly unpopular, the General Board of Health 
  is dissolved and the Metropolitan Board of Health is 
  created. 
  1858
  Susanna Le Fanu suffers an hysterical attack and dies 
  the following day under unclear circumstances. Sheri-
  dan Le Fanu stops writing until 1861.
  
  211
  Chapter 8
  Year
  Event
  1859
  Prince Wilhelm of Prussia is born to Frederick and 
  Victoria. His left arm is withered, due to the long and 
  ������������������������������������������������������
  her personal physician, Mrs. Innocent, a midwife, and 
  a bottle of chloroform. Vicky was initially attended 
  by Dr. Wegner, who called in Dr. Eduard Martin. 
  Clark was relegated to observing. Being foreign, 
  he would have been blamed for any trouble. Martin 
  discovered the baby to be in a breech presentation. 
  Martin requested Clark to administer chloroform, 
  ��������������������������������������������������-
  aged the baby’s left arm, which was folded up behind 
  its head. The baby did not breathe until massaged, 
  which further damaged the arm, and may have caused 
  brain damage. Wilhelm’s bad start affected the rest of 
  his life.
  1859
  The Swedish V4 Engine is introduced. Soon after, the 
  �������������������������������������������������������
  �������������������������������������������������
  1859
  Charles Darwin publishes On the Origin of Species 
  through Natural Selection.
  1859
  The Great Eastern undergoes sea trials.
  1859
  Robert Stephenson dies. His remains are given hon-
  ours appropriate to a long standing member of Parlia-
  ment.
  1859
  Sir Isambard Brunel collapses due to a stroke. He 
  survives, but is paralysed on his left side.
  1859
  The Aquarial Gardens open in Boston.
  1859
  The naval convoy carrying the new British and 
  French envoys destined for Peking runs afoul of Chi-
  nese forces at the mouth of the Hai River. Fighting 
  ������������������������������������������������������
  ���������������������������������������������������
  American battle group.
  
  212
  Timeline
  Year
  Event
  1860
  Princess Charlotte of Prussia is born to Frederick and 
  Victoria.
  1860
  Prince Albert, spending some time in Coburg to deal 
  with Bertie’s increasingly scandalous behaviour, is 
  injured in a coach crash. Queen Victoria pours vast 
  sums of money and Royal command into his medical 
  care. The constant medical attention leads to his sur-
  vival. Victoria, still having the mental and emotional 
  ������������������������������������������������
  passion to see him right no matter what. A reward of 
  several hundreds of thousands of pounds is offered 
  to the doctor or doctors who come up with a cure or 
  solution to his paralysis, and to the fevers that nearly 
  killed him during recovery from his injuries. This 
  pushes medical development to a breakneck pace. 
  Over the next few years, major advances are made 
  ������������������������������������������������������
  surgical procedures. Paralysed from the waist down, 
  �����������������������������������������������������
  push for the development of better science and tech-
  nology to improve the quality of life.
  1860
  The Nightingale Training School for Nurses is estab-
  lished.
  1860
  Mass production of the Spencer lever-action repeat-
  ����������������������������������������������������
  after the inauguration of President Lincoln.
  1860
  The Jardin d’Acclimatation in Paris and the Viennese 
  Aquarium Salon both open, and argue for years as to 
  �������������������������������������
  1860
  The Cobden-Chevalier Treaty opens free trade be-
  tween France and England. The economic knock-on 
  effects destabilize both economies for a short time. 
  They become interdependent as they stabilize, which 
  worries both nations.
  
  213
  Chapter 8
  Year
  Event
  1860
  The Great Eastern takes her maiden voyage, from 
  London to New York.
  1860
  Vicky and Fritz have their second child, Victoria 
  Elizabeth Augusta Charlotte.
  1860
  A joint British and French task force sails from Hong 
  Kong, captures two port cities, then besieges the fort 
  at the Hai River. With British troops marching on the 
  imperial capital, the Emperor sends representatives 
  ostensibly to negotiate, but instead has the British 
  delegation arrested and tortured to death in a particu-
  larly grisly and barbaric fashion.
  1860
  British forces take Beijing. Two of the Summer Pal-
  aces are looted and burned to the ground. The Fire 
  Drake Manual is discovered during the library pack-
  ing-up, and sent up through the command chain, with 
  copies and translations being made at various stages. 
  �����������������������������������������������
  brother to sign whatever the European forces demand. 
  The Treaty of Tianjin cedes Kowloon to Britain.
  1860
  Prince Louis of Hesse and the Rhine becomes en-
  gaged to Princess Alice. Prince Albert has the Talk 
  with Alice. Louis stays for Christmas.
  1860
  A telegram from Sans Souci to the Neue Palais sum-
  mons Fritz and Vicky to the deathbed of King Fred-
  erick William IV. He dies one hour after midnight, 
  leaving William and Augusta as king and queen, and 
  Fritz and Vicky as crown prince and princess.
  1861
  The Battle of Fort Sumter begins the American Civil 
  War, later known as the War of Secession.
  1861
  Russia emancipates the serfs. This does not improve 
  their situation.
  1861
  �����������������������������������������������-
  graph.
  1861
  Louis Pasteur proposes the germ theory of disease.
  
  214
  Timeline
  Year
  Event
  1861
  The Confederacy signs a treaty with the Mormon 
  Church, acknowledging it as the rightful government 
  of the Utah Territory, which the Mormons rename 
  Deseret. This gives the Confederacy access to plenti-
  ful supplies of copper. Brigham Young, President of 
  the Church of Latter-Day Saints and former governor 
  �����������������������������������������������������
  President, openly merging church and state.
  1861
  Victor Emmanuel II of the House of Savoy is pro-
  claimed king of a newly united Italy. He proclaims 
  Rome to be the capitol of Italy, even though it’s held 
  by Papal forces and not actually part of the newly-
  formed kingdom, and actually rules from Florence.
  1861
  William I is crowned King of Prussia. Prince Freder-
  ick William becomes Crown Prince Frederick. 
  1861
  Sheridan Le Fanu becomes editor of Dublin Universi-
  ty Magazine. He publishes The House by the Church-
  yard and Wylder’s Hand.
  1861
  James Clerk Maxwell’s paper On Physical Lines of 
  Force lays the mathematical groundwork to prove 
  ��������������������������������������������������������
  becoming senile, and is unable to contribute.
  1861 (16 Mar)
  The duchess of Kent dies at Frogmore House in 
  Windsor Home Park, with her daughter Queen Vic-
  toria in attendance. Alice spends considerable time at 
  Frogmore, caring for her grandmother and then help-
  ing her mother through the grieving process. Victoria 
  nonetheless has a nervous breakdown, and orders her 
  mother’s rooms to be left undisturbed.
  1862
  Prince Henry of Prussia is born to Frederick and 
  Victoria.
  
  215
  Chapter 8
  
  216
  Timeline
  Year
  Event
  1862
  �����������������������������������������������������
  achievement, the Victoria Prize, is established by the 
  Crown. As the prizes are very rich, many outside of 
  the Empire debate applying. Other nation states try to 
  copy the idea, but have no built-in system for other 
  than monetary awards. For example, long in the tooth 
  aristocrats looked for outside resources (American 
  money for example) to attempt to compete for these 
  honours.
  1862
  Sultan Abdulaziz continues the Tanzimat reforms. His 
  lavish expenditures, constant travel to foreign nations, 
  and alliances with Russia, the traditional enemy of 
  the Ottoman Empire, quickly make him unpopular.
  1862
  Louis Pasteur demonstrates germ theory, creating the 
  pressurized heat sterilization technique later known as 
  pasteurization.
  1862
  ����������������������������������������������
  norm, especially in the middle and upper middle 
  classes. The highest levels still do what they want, 
  feeling entitled, and no one else is going to say any-
  thing, although the best will do what is expected and 
  provide the example for others to follow. A feeling 
  that merit and achievement will be rewarded with 
  entry to higher social circles begins to spread.
  1862
  CSS Virginia is launched, the class ship of a new line 
  of casemate Confederate ironclads. At the Battle of 
  Hampton Roads, CSS Virginia sinks USS Monitor, 
  changing the course of Union ironclad design.
  1862
  Charles W. Smith replaces the sulfur and beeswax in 
  ��������������������������������������������������
  with a much reduced odour.
  
  217
  Chapter 8
  Year
  Event
  1862
  After three years of frustration over his physical 
  limitations, Sir Isambard Brunel falls out of bed 
  trying to get up on his own, fracturing his neck. His 
  body lies in state in Westminster Abbey before being 
  interred in the family plot at Kensal Green in London. 
  Queen Victoria gives permission for the cortege to 
  pass through Hyde Park. Over 3000 tickets are sold 
  for spectators. In his eulogy, he is called ‘the greatest 
  engineer of the present century’.
  1862
  Otto von Bismarck is appointed Minister-President 
  of the Diet by King William I of Prussia. Bismarck’s 
  policy of Blood and Iron begins to create friction 
  between the King and the Crown Prince.
  1862
  William Henry Ward patents wireless telegraphy us-
  ing atmospheric convection currents. Mahlon Loomis 
  patents wireless telegraphy using atmospheric elec-
  tricity. Loomis had been transmitting signals between 
  mountain peaks in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Vir-
  ginia using wire-strung kites as antennae since 1856. 
  The two patents were not compared until after the 
  War. Loomis’ system was not useful in the War due to 
  to its short range, obvious antennae, and dependence 
  on atmospheric conditions. It only worked when the 
  potential for a thunderstorm existed, but not in clear 
  weather or during an actual storm. Also, the kites 
  had to use wire instead of string, and had to achieve 
  the same altitude in order to have the same antenna 
  length. His experiments were done in Floyd County, 
  Virginia, as Loudoun County, where he held property, 
  was too dangerous due to the War.
  1862
  �����������������������������������������������������
  sections added covering electrostatics and displace-
  ment current. This includes the Faraday Effect, the 
  rotation of the plane of polarisation of light in a mag-
  �����������
  
  218
  Timeline
  Year
  Event
  1862
  The Royal Commission on the military turns in its 
  report, but few of its lessons are immediately imple-
  mented. The main obstacles are objections by the 
  defunct British East India Company and its executors, 
  who wish to maintain their own military establish-
  ��������������������������������������������������-
  most any reform on principle. The arch-conservatives 
  �����������������������������������������������-
  er-in-Chief of the Forces, Prince George, Duke of 
  Cambridge, Queen Victoria’s cousin and almost the 
  last of the typically Hanoverian characters thrown up 
  by the English ruling dynasty, who derived his ideas 
  on drill and discipline from Butcher Cumberland and 
  the Prussian school of Frederick the Great.
  1862
  The Queen’s Silver Jubilee. The celebration is some-
  what muted due to Prince Albert’s still-fragile con-
  dition, and rumours abound he has suffered more 
  than his injuries and a bout of cholera. However, the 
  banquet brings together the crowned heads of most 
  of Europe, and the formal ball brings a brand new 
  surprise: the Crown Prince leads his Queen in the 
  ������������������������������������������������������
  powered walking machine. 
  1862
  Princess Alice marries Prince Louis. Vicky is un-
  able to attend, staying in Berlin while pregnant with 
  her second son. Alice and Louis are married at St. 
  James’ Palace, like Vicky had been, creating a joyous 
  celebration not only of the nuptials but of Albert’s 
  return to public life, after two years of injury, illness, 
  recovery, and rehabilitation. The only dark spot was 
  the death of the grand duchess of Hesse, Louis’ aunt, 
  a month previously.
  
  219
  Chapter 8
  Year
  Event
  1863
  The CSA Merseyside ship incident escalates political 
  tensions across the Western world, and brings some 
  of the more questionable activities of the industrial-
  ists, aristocrats, secret societies, and the like to public 
  view.
  1863
  The London Underground (subway) begins regular 
  passenger service, using steam engines.
  1863
  Paired steam tractors are put into use by John Fowler 
  to drag an unpowered multiple-harrow plough 
  ���������������������������������������������������
  time needed for ploughing down substantially. The 
  heavier steam plough, with its relentless and untiring 
  mechanical horsepower, can also break up ground 
  a horse-drawn plough can’t, putting more acreage 
  under cultivation.
  1863
  A military report not widely circulated notes the 
  regular British military has managed to avoid facing 
  �����������������������������������������������������
  a while, and thus large battles have kept line forma-
  tions. Suggestions for revision of formation strategies 
  are generally ignored.
  1863
  Ferdinand Lassalle begins meeting with Otto von 
  Bismarck, Minister President of Prussia.
  1863
  Price wars with the Cunard and Inman lines leave the 
  Great Western Steamship Company deeply in debt. 
  The Great Eastern is laid up.
  1863
  An addendum to the Education Act, requested by 
  Prince Albert, makes elementary education compul-
  sory in England and Wales. Firms employing child 
  ���������������������������������������������������������
  literate teenage girl who reads out loud to the children 
  while they work. Prince Albert’s efforts do manage to 
  introduce some Prussian concepts to schooling, such 
  as map reading to the lower classes and mathematics 
  to the middle class.
  
  220
  Timeline
  Year
  Event
  1863
  Schultze Powder is developed in Prussia. Its deliques-
  cence makes it less than useful.
  1863
  Crown Prince Frederick of Prussia denounces Bis-
  marck’s restrictions on freedom of the press, at an 
  �������������������������������������������������������
  his military position and excluded from political life 
  for the remainder of his father’s reign.
  1863
  Jules Verne’s novel Five Weeks in a Balloon is pub-
  lished, leading to a long-term contract as a serials 
  writer for a magazine. 
  1863
  The New York City Draft Riots start over the poor 
  protesting against the rich being able to buy com-
  mutations and send someone else to military service 
  instead of going themselves. The open corruption of 
  the city’s Democratic political machine doesn’t help. 
  They expand over several days into race riots, tar-
  geting blacks especially. The Colored Orphans Asy-
  lum is burned to the ground, but thanks to the city’s 
  largely Irish immigrant police force, no lives are lost. 
  ����������������������������������������������������-
  burg, New Jersey, and further. The Confederate press 
  makes considerable grist from the events, and the 
  Union takes a beating in the British and European 
  press.
  1863
  The wet picker, a cotton harvesting machine us-
  ing smooth spindles kept damp, proves successful. 
  The initial model can only pick one row of cotton 
  at a time, but still replaces forty labourers with one 
  machine and its operator. The Confederacy is able 
  to continue producing cotton, their most lucrative 
  export, without using slaves. Later models can pick 
  multiple rows at a time, separate seed from lint, pry 
  open bolls that have not opened on their own, bale the 
  �����������������������������������������������������
  the raw cotton for the ginners.
  
  221
  Chapter 8
  Year
  Event
  1864
  Ferdinand Lassalle wins a duel against a Count from 
  Wallachia. His conversations with Otto von Bismarck 
  lay the foundation for Prussian Socialism.
  1864
  Thomas Briggs, a well to do banker, is murdered in a 
  ���������������������������������������������������
  ����������������������������������������������������
  train in English history. The suspect, Franz Muller, a 
  tailor recently immigrated from Germany to London, 
  is captured in New York, debarking from a sailing 
  ship, by a Scotland Yard detective who outran him 
  aboard a steamship. Muller is convicted and hanged; 
  his alibi, a known prostitute, discredited by her 
  reputation. The incident creates bad feelings between 
  native Brits of London and German immigrants, at 
  the time the largest immigrant group in the East End, 
  lasting for a generation.
  1864
  Maximilian I is crowned Emperor of Mexihco.
  1864
  The Great Eastern Steamship Company is formed, 
  by Daniel Gooch, Thomas Brassey, and John Pender. 
  They purchase the Great Eastern, and begin convert-
  ing it for cable laying, chartering the ship to the Tele-
  graph Construction and Maintenance Company.
  1864
  Prince Sigismund of Prussia is born to Frederick and 
  Victoria.
  1864
  Sheridan Le Fanu publishes Uncle Silas.
  1864
  Jules Verne publishes Journey to the Center of the 
  Earth.
  
  222
  Timeline
  Year
  Event
  1864
  Germany takes Schleswig and Holstein from Den-
  mark, after Denmark politically annexed Schleswig. 
  The family that had ruled the two duchies, Augusten-
  berg, are set aside, eliminating Christian’s claim to 
  the throne and leaving Lenchen’s future husband 
  with an empty title, no property, no income, and no 
  prospects. Vicky and Fritz support the claim of the 
  Augustenbergs, which puts them in opposition to 
  Bismarck.
  1864
  The Marine Aquarium Temple opens at the Zoologi-
  cal Gardens in Hamburg.
  1864
  President Jefferson Davis of the Confederacy dies of 
  a stroke. Alexander Stephens becomes President.
  1864
  CSS Hunley sinks the USS Housatonic, and returns to 
  its tender successfully.
  1864
  The Confederacy declares slavery illegal, rolling the 
  cost of slaves into indentures against them in a legal 
  ����������������������������������������������������
  with the Confederacy.
  1865
  The Great Eastern lays 4200 km of transatlantic tele-
  graph cable before the cable snaps and the end is lost.
  1865
  Frederick Augustus Abel patents a process that makes 
  guncotton much safer to manufacture, after the explo-
  sions of two guncotton factories in Austria. Within 
  weeks, the Prussians have either copied or purloined 
  the process.
  1865
  James Clerk Maxwell publishes A Dynamical Theory 
  of the Electromagnetic Field, demonstrating that elec-
  ������������������������������������������������������
  moving at the speed of light. Maxwell proposes that 
  light is in fact undulations in the same medium that is 
  the cause of electric and magnetic phenomena.
  1865
  Jules Verne publishes From the Earth to the Moon.
  
  223
  Chapter 8
  Year
  Event
  1865
  The ITU, International Telegraph Union, is founded, 
  a standards body regulating international telegraphy. 
  The ITU tries to restrict the use of telegraphic codes 
  by private citizens, but ultimately fails and abandons 
  the effort.
  1865
  �����������������������������������������������������
  network, strings of numbers with no header, no origin 
  code, and no destination tag. These become a legend 
  among telegraph operators, and the subject of consid-
  erable discussion in the industry, as nobody can trace 
  where they are coming from, and nobody knows, or 
  will admit to knowing, what their purpose is.
  1865
  Work begins on the Victoria Embankment, creating 
  a frontage for the Thames on the north side of the 
  river covering a network of transverse sewers routing 
  North London’s sewage out to the estuary.
  1865
  Rudyard Kipling is born in Bombay.
  1866
  Austria is defeated by Prussia. In a desperation move, 
  Franz Joseph I, Emperor of Austria, is crowned King 
  of Hungary, creating the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
  1866
  An armistice is declared between the Union and the 
  Confederacy, both nations worn down to the point 
  where neither can successfully prosecute the war 
  any further. The present battle lines are declared the 
  national borders.
  1866
  Bessemer buys Robert Mushet’s patents, rather than 
  deal with the embarrassment of legal action and 
  reputational damage, even though he had previously 
  proved that Mushet’s procedure was irrelevant to the 
  Bessemer process.
  1866
  Prince Sigismund of Prussia dies at the age of 2. 
  Princess Victoria of Prussia is born to Frederick and 
  Victoria.
  1866
  �������������������������������������������������-
  search laboratory.
  
  224
  Timeline
  Year
  Event
  1866
  Elihu Thomson and E.J. Houston work with high fre-
  quency oscillatory discharges, a prerequisite to radio 
  development.
  1866
  Construction begins on the Albert Embankment on 
  the south side of the Thames.
  1866
  The Great Eastern, having found the dropped end of 
  the 1865 cable and connected to it, completes laying 
  the second successful transatlantic line. This cable 
  carries 8 words per minute.
  1867
  Diamonds are discovered at Kimberley, starting the 
  South African diamond rush.
  1867
  �����������������������������������������������������
  male voters; John Stuart Mill’s amendment to women 
  by substituting ‘person’ for ‘man’ was defeated.
  1867
  The Constitution Act creates the Dominion of Cana-
  da.
  1867
  The conservadores decide that the federalist system 
  of the liberales is preferable to a monarchy with a 
  foreign king, and switch sides. Maximilian is execut-
  �������������������������������������������������������
  Presidente of the reborn Estados Unidos de Mexihco.
  1867
  While Sultan Abdulaziz Bahtsiz, the Unfortunate, is 
  in Britain, the Young Ottomans seize power, plac-
  ing their patron Mustafa Bahgat ‘Ali Fazl Pasha on 
  the throne, where he reigns as Suleiman III. The new 
  sultan reinvigorates the Tanzimat reforms and evolves 
  the Ottoman Empire into a constitutional monarchy.
  1867
  The stock ticker, and the related news ticker, are in-
  vented. They get their name from E.A. Callahan, due 
  to the noise they make. These are dedicated hard ter-
  ������������������������������������������������������
  ������������������������������������������������������
  news selected by keyword, region, or other criteria. 
  The tapes are cut up and pasted to sheets of regular 
  paper for distribution.
  
  225
  Chapter 8
  Year
  Event
  1867
  Charles Wheatstone’s electric Jacquard (an automatic 
  telegraphic sender and repeater) goes into widespread 
  use, especially for news transmission.
  1868
  Charles Wheatstone returns the Albert Medal from 
  the Royal Society of Arts because it had already been 
  offered to William Fothergill Cooke. Wheatstone 
  makes the next year’s Honours List and is knighted, 
  while Cooke has to make do with the academic 
  honour and a desperately-needed cash award coming 
  with it.
  1868
  Henry Bessemer designs a passenger steamship 
  where the cabins are set on gimbals, using hydraulics 
  controlled by a Differential Engine and a spirit level 
  with a light shining through it. The initial tests run 
  into a series of problems – the ship crashes into the 
  Calais pier on its maiden voyage, a feedback loop 
  tears the cabins loose from the hydraulics, and inves-
  tors pull out of the project.
  1868
  ������������������������������������������������
  Basotho, signs a treaty with Britain, making Basuto-
  land a British protectorate and ending threats from the 
  Zulus and the Boers.
  1868
  The Liberal party, under William Gladstone, wins the 
  Parliamentary elections. An era of reform begins.
  1868
  Gladstone appoints Edward Cardwell to the post of 
  ��������������������������������������������������-
  ging and other harsh disciplinary measures in the 
  army during peace time. This action is opposed by 
  ����������������������������������������������������
  the Duke of Wellington to validate their objections. 
  Flogging is retained as a punishment on active ser-
  vice, on the pretext that extraordinary powers of pun-
  ����������������������������������������������������
  abolished in 1876.
  
  226
  Timeline
  Year
  Event
  1868
  Prince Waldemar of Prussia is born to Frederick and 
  Victoria.
  1868
  The Pharmacy Regulation Act of 1868 sets out the 
  examination protocols and licensing requirements 
  for chemists. No longer would anybody with a set 
  of glassware be able to hang out a shingle on the 
  high street as a pharmacist and druggist. Applicants 
  had to have an academic background supporting the 
  trade, and had to pass a multi-part exam, consisting 
  of a paper in Latin, a paper on chemistry, a paper on 
  ������������������������������������������������������
  of unlabelled medication components, and a practical 
  test, which usually consisted of making suppositories. 
  (The Victorians used a lot of suppositories, and it’s 
  easy to tell a well made one from a bad one). The Act 
  ��������������������������������������������������������
  to who could take the tests. Thus, quite a few women 
  came forward, and not only took the examinations, 
  but scored very highly, taking a number of prizes and 
  gaining recognition. Thus, women entered the world 
  of commerce as high street chemists.
  1868
  The telegraph line from London to Bombay goes live.
  1868
  ����������������������������������������������������
  a benevolent monopoly. Telegraph service through 
  ��������������������������������������������������
  transmitting news and information for the common 
  people.
  1868
  James Clerk Maxwell publishes his paper, On Gov-
  ernors. It contributes substantially to the design of 
  steam engines, and to the nascent study of control 
  theory. Edouard John Routh uses it to derive the 
  equations for the general class of linear systems.
  
  227
  Chapter 8
  Year
  Event
  1868
  After Prince Albert privately shames a number of 
  reactionary MPs and Lords, making it very clear they 
  will suffer public shame if they are responsible for 
  France outpacing Britain in technological develop-
  ment, the Red Flag provisions of the Locomotives 
  Act die quietly. The Act that passes allows for prog-
  ress from horse to steam, although the squirearchy 
  continues to protest and make strident complaints in 
  the press. 
  1868
  The Abbey Mills pumping station opens, and London 
  stops having cholera outbreaks. This station joins 
  Crossness and two other great pumping stations in 
  sending London’s waste, gathered in the transverse 
  sewer under the Embankment, and the other inter-
  cepting sewers, out to Abbey Wood, where at high 
  tide it’s released into the ocean and swept out to sea. 
  1868
  Oriel Chambers, Liverpool, installs paternoster eleva-
  tors.
  1869
  Mbuyazi dies. His second son Nbomani ascends to 
  the Zulu throne.
  1869
  Charles Parsons, a young engineer at W.G. Arm-
  strong, invents the micro steam engine. This revo-
  lutionizes steam power and heads off later work in 
  petroleum fuels and internal combustion. Between the 
  installed base of steam power and coal fuel, the cost 
  of the new engine, its fuel incompatibility, and the 
  need and expense to create a new fuelling infrastruc-
  ture, internal combustion will not be adopted in the 
  British Empire for generations. The Prussians tinker 
  with it, but that’s a much later development.
  1869
  The Suez Canal opens.
  1869
  Imprisonment for debt is abolished by the British 
  Parliament.
  
  228
  Timeline
  Year
  Event
  1869
  The Treaty of Aliwal is signed between the British 
  ��������������������������������������������������
  leaving the Lost Territory west of the Caledon River 
  in Boer hands and effectively halving the Basotho’s 
  range. This will not turn out well.
  1869
  �����������������������������������������������������
  who had become increasingly unstable over the past 
  few years, frustrated that his book preaching against 
  women’s suffrage received so little support, blows up 
  ��������������������������������������������������-
  sives, he dies in the blast.
  1869
  A preliminary poll shows considerable support for a 
  ����������������������������������������
  1869
  Typhus and typhoid are recognised as separate and 
  �������������������������������������������������������
  and also known as gaol-fever. Typhoid is water-
  borne. 
  1869
  Jules Verne publishes Twenty Thousand Leagues 
  Under the Sea.
  1869
  ������������������������������������������������������
  formalising an arrangement begun a year previous. 
  Private leased lines remain available, and are popular 
  ����������������������������������������������������
  �����������������������������������������������������
  1869
  The Berlin Aquarium Unter den Linden opens, a 
  ��������������������������������������������������������
  aquarium in Europe separate from a zoo or other 
  menagerie.
  
  229
  Chapter 8
  Year
  Event
  1869
  Cardwell withdraws troops from self-governing colo-
  nies, which are encouraged to raise their own local 
  forces, resulting in the colonial militias and native 
  ����������������������������������������������������
  colonies was likewise a Wellingtonian policy. Its ini-
  tial motives had been to avoid the traditional British 
  suspicion of a standing army (led by the Whigs). The 
  policy was a failure on economic practicality, and 
  also prevented training at any level above that of bat-
  talion. By 1871, 26,000 British troops will have been 
  withdrawn from overseas territories and returned to 
  Great Britain.
  1869
  The Albert Embankment is completed. In a serious 
  ���������������������������������������������������
  1869
  �������������������������������������������������
  UK to admit women on equal terms with men.
  1869
  Britain refuses the Alabama Claims, in which the 
  Union demands reparations for naval losses to Brit-
  ish-built Confederate ships. Lord Redesdale main-
  tains the Union would have to seek reparations from 
  the Confederacy, and when the Chairman of Com-
  mittees renders such an opinion, the House of Lords 
  follows.
  1870
  Napoleon III of France starts a war with Prussia, and 
  is roundly defeated. France loses its emperor and the 
  provinces of Alsace and Lorraine.
  1870
  Sir Harry Verney discounts Florence Nightingale’s 
  letter defaming Mary Seacole, and assigns Miss Sea-
  cole as director of a British nursing and care unit to 
  be sent to the Franco-Prussian War, under the aus-
  pices of the British National Society for the Relief of 
  the Sick and Wounded. Miss Seacole acquits herself 
  admirably, but returns to London in June of 1871, 
  after the end of the war, in poor health.
  
  230
  Timeline
  Year
  Event
  1870
  Princess Sophie of Prussia is born to Frederick and 
  Victoria.
  1870
  ���������������������������������������������������
  in North America to have passenger safety elevators.
  1870
  W. E. Forster’s Education Act makes elementary 
  education available to all children in England and 
  Wales and establishes local School Boards. Everyone 
  who pays property taxes is eligible to vote for school-
  board members, and women may be elected to the 
  boards.
  1870
  �����������������������������������������������������
  ����������������������������������������
  1870
  Bessemer, having found new funding through the 
  military for the Bessemer Saloon, completes the 
  design for the counter-rolling ship cabin. The design 
  is implemented on a hospital ship, and receives warm 
  praise from the medical establishment. The Bessemer 
  Saloon will never become standard design – it’s far 
  too complicated and expensive – but can be found 
  aboard special-purpose ships for many years after-
  wards.
  1870
  Nbomani signs a treaty with the British to stabilize 
  his throne, creating the Zulu Protectorate.
  1870
  The population of North Georgia votes overwhelm-
  ���������������������������������������������������-
  sion from the Union.
  1870
  Italian troops march on Rome, and confront the 
  hopelessly outmanned and outgunned Vatican troops 
  of Pope Pius IX. The Pope barricades himself in the 
  Vatican. A plebiscite annexes Rome formally to Italy. 
  This begins the Papal Captivity, or the Era of Papish 
  Intransigence, depending on who’s writing the article.
  1870
  Moshoeshoe of the Basotho dies.
  1870
  ����������������������������������������������������
  as the main weapon of the infantry.
  
  231
  Chapter 8
  
  232
  Timeline
  Year
  Event
  1870
  �������������������������������������������������-
  writer, appears on the market. 
  1870
  Women are admitted to the Cambridge Local. This 
  exam not only provides measurement of academic 
  achievement on a standardized scale, but entry to 
  professional schools such as engineering and military 
  colleges, and to positions in civil service and teach-
  ing.
  1870
  Jules Verne is made a Chevalier of the Legion 
  d’honneur.
  1870
  Parliament votes for 20,000 additional men for the 
  army and two million pounds on a vote of credit. This 
  is followed by one of the most successful military 
  pamphlets to appear in all Victorian England, titled 
  The Battle of Dorking. Written by Colonel (later Gen-
  eral) Sir George Chesney, head of the Indian Civil 
  Engineering College. It raises the idea that, despite 
  the acts of Parliament during the previous year in 
  regard to the military, Britain faces the possibility of a 
  German invasion.
  1870
  Cardwell abolishes bounty money for recruits, and 
  sets out guidelines for the swift discharge of known 
  bad characters from both army and navy.
  1870
  The Army Enlistment (Short Service) Act is signed 
  into law. The maximum enlistment drops from 21 
  years to 12, with the standard being 6 years of active 
  service and 6 years of reserve service. The military 
  grows in strength considerably as a result.
  1870
  �������������������������������������������������
  various sections of the War Department are all com-
  bined in the same building; the Horse Guards are 
  �������������������������������������������������
  1870
  The Victoria Embankment is completed. 
  
  233
  Chapter 8
  Year
  Event
  1870
  The 15th Amendment to the Union Constitution is 
  �������������������������������������������������������
  colour, previous condition of servitude, or gender. 
  Blacks and women get the vote. Civilization fails to 
  collapse overnight.
  1871
  Basutoland is annexed to the Cape Colony.
  1871
  Oscar Wilde begins at Trinity College, Dublin, with 
  a royal scholarship to read classics. He becomes a 
  prominent student of J.P. Mahaffy, and a very close 
  friend. 
  1871
  The various German states are united in the Prussian 
  �����������������������������������������������-
  �����������������������������������������������������
  Prince. 
  1871
  The Regulation of the Forces Act prohibits the sale 
  ��������������������������������������������������
  Forces, and allows the government to seize control of 
  the railroads in an emergency. 
  1871
  ��������������������������������������������������
  secedes from the Union, and joins the Confederacy, 
  �����������������������������������������
  1871
  Trade unions are legalised in the British Empire.
  1871
  James Clerk Maxwell publishes his work in thermo-
  dynamics. He proposes the thought experiment that 
  becomes known as Maxwell’s demon, which discuss-
  es the second law.
  1871
  A statue of Samuel Morse is unveiled in Central Park, 
  NYC.
  
  234
  Timeline
  Year
  Event
  1871
  Cardwell passes the Regulation of the Forces Act, 
  with less Parliamentary opposition and less reluctance 
  on the part of Her Majesty to sign it into law than 
  the previous year’s effort. This divides the country 
  into 66 Brigade Districts (later renamed Regimental 
  Districts), based on county boundaries and population 
  density. All line infantry regiments now consist of 
  two battalions, sharing a depot and associated recruit-
  ing area. One battalion serves overseas, while the 
  other is stationed at home for training and recruiting. 
  The militia of the area becomes the third (reserve) 
  battalion. This Act also formally ended the Purchase 
  ������������������������������������������������-
  motions were bought. Monetary compensation is paid 
  ���������������������������������������������
  1871
  James Clerk Maxwell becomes Cavendish Professor 
  of Physics at Cambridge.
  1871
  The Great Chicago Fire. Over 3 square miles of the 
  predominantly wooden city burns, leaving hundreds 
  dead and a third of the city homeless. The same night, 
  Peshtigo, WI, is annihilated by a blaze that also burns 
  the Door Peninsula in Green Bay, and an area of 
  forest the size of Rhode Island, nearly 4000 square 
  ����������������������������������������������������
  1500 people and possibly thousands more. Separate 
  blazes destroy Holland, Manistee, White Rock, and 
  Port Huron in Michigan. Four days later, Windsor, 
  Ontario burns, with over 100 buildings in the city’s 
  downtown destroyed.
  1872
  Princess Margaret of Prussia is born to Frederick and 
  Victoria.
  
  235
  Chapter 8
  Year
  Event
  1872
  Britain annexes Kimberley and the surrounding land, 
  touching off another diplomatic incident with the 
  Boers. Cecil Rhodes, a British entrepreneur, backed 
  by Rothschild money, had already bought most of the 
  smaller mining concerns in the area, and the larger De 
  Beers claim.
  1872
  Cecil Rhodes dies of a heart attack at the age of 19, 
  ��������������������������������������������������
  and Sons continue with their plans, working through 
  Rhodes’ brother Herbert, John X. Merriman, and 
  Charles Rudd, eventually creating the De Beers Min-
  ing Company and the diamond syndicate. De Beers 
  promulgates Rhodes’ ideas of economic racism, need-
  ing a controllable work force for the diamond mines.
  1872
  South Carolina secedes from the Union and joins 
  the Confederacy. A plebiscite in Tennessee fails to 
  achieve the necessary majority, and Tennessee re-
  mains in the Union. Talk of war in the Union is met 
  with overwhelming opposition, largely from the 
  newly-enfranchised women, who sign dozens of peti-
  tions promising to vote out any politician who sup-
  ports a renewed war, swearing they will not send off 
  any more of their sons to die.
  1872
  The Prussians develop oxy-acetylene welding. The 
  Prussians make use of acetylene, which is a coal 
  byproduct used extensively as a precursor for indus-
  trial chemicals, and Priestley’s phlogisticated air, in a 
  complicated brass contraption that requires consider-
  able training to use safely. Doing it wrong leaves a 
  very large crater.
  1872
  ���������������������������������������������������
  dies in a fall from his horse during military exercises.
  
  236
  Timeline
  Year
  Event
  1872
  The Medical Act gives British women the right to 
  hold medical degrees, and creates the requirement 
  for medical and university institutions to allow them 
  equal access to education. The Married Women Prop-
  erty Act enables wives to buy, own, and sell property, 
  and to keep their own earnings. The New Reform 
  Act of 1872 gives urban woman who are heads of 
  households and were once married (i.e., widows) the 
  right to vote in the elections of the House of Com-
  mons. While this results in only a very small group 
  of women voters, it sends a strong and empowering 
  message to the female population of the nation.
  1872
  ����������������������������������������������
  receive a knighthood, when Queen Victoria creates 
  her a Dame Commander of the Bath. The controversy 
  takes years to die down, and only does so after the 
  ��������������������������������������������������
  else to talk about.
  1872
  Sheridan Le Fanu’s short story collection In A Glass 
  Darkly��������������������������������������������
  will be one of his most remembered stories.
  1872
  Jules Verne publishes Around the World in Eighty 
  Days.
  1872
  ����������������������������������������������������
  end of the year, the loudhailer is standard equipment 
  on Prussian warships. The battery-powered loudhail-
  er, known in England as a megaphone, is introduced 
  just before the end of the year.
  1872
  Joseph Stearns patents working duplex transmission, 
  doubling the bandwidth of the existing telegraphic 
  networks.
  1872
  Jardine, Matheson, and Co. drop out of the Chinese 
  opium trade. 
  1872
  Samuel Morse dies.
  
  237
  Chapter 8
  Year
  Event
  1873
  ������������������������������������������������-
  sity. The Oxford Local begins admitting women.
  1873
  The London Hydraulic Power Company is chartered 
  by act of Parliament, evolving from the Steam Wharf 
  and Warehouse Company founded in 1871. 
  1873
  James Clerk Maxwell publishes A Treatise on Elec-
  tricity and Magnetism, with four partial differential 
  equations later known as Maxwell’s Equations. This 
  �������������������������������������������������
  physics. Oliver Heaviside replaces electromagnetic 
  ���������������������������������������������������
  reducing the complexity to four differential equations 
  that become known as Maxwell’s Laws. Not until 
  many years later is the idea of the luminiferous ether, 
  the medium through which light allegedly moves, 
  discarded. 
  1873
  The London Times installs electric lighting in its 
  machine rooms.
  1873
  George FitzGerald proposes that EM waves could be 
  generated by capacitor discharge. A way of detecting 
  such waves is sought.
  1873
  The Union opens the National Aquarium in Washing-
  ton, D.C.
  1873
  Robert Louis Stevenson visits England, meets Sid-
  ney Colvin and Frances Jane (Fanny) Sitwell. Colvin 
  remains important in Stevenson’s life thereafter.
  1873
  Sheridan Le Fanu dies in Dublin at the age of 58 after 
  a bad attack of bronchitis, having spent his last twelve 
  years in virtual seclusion in the house on Merrion 
  Square.
  
  238
  Timeline
  Year
  Event
  1874
  ��������������������������������������������������
  states following popular votes in the Union-controlled 
  segments for secession. Votes in North Carolina and 
  Virginia fail to reach the necessary margins for open-
  ing discussion of secession in the state and common-
  wealth governments.
  1874
  Royal Albert Hall and the British Museum install 
  electric lighting.
  1874
  Women are admitted to Oxford University, although 
  not to Christ Church College, which remains a bas-
  tion of academic monasticism.
  1874
  Oscar Wilde moves to Magdalen College, Oxford, 
  where he reads Greats, fails to be elected to the 
  Oxford Union, and becomes a member of the Apollo 
  Masonic Lodge.
  1874
  Due to shockingly bad planning, the United Kingdom 
  general election sees the Liberals, led by William 
  Ewart Gladstone, win a majority of the votes cast, but 
  Benjamin Disraeli’s Conservatives win the majority 
  of seats in the House of Commons, largely because 
  the Liberals neglected to put up candidates for nearly 
  100 seats. Disraeli becomes the new Prime Minister. 
  The Conservatives hold the government for the next 
  �������������������������������������������������
  his reforms remain in place despite the efforts of the 
  remaining die-hards.
  1874
  Edison patents quadroplex transmission by superim-
  posing two duplex telegraphic lines.
  1874
  The Chelsea Embankment is completed. 
  1875
  John Tyndall discovers penicillin, giving the British a 
  huge edge in medicine. 
  
  239
  Chapter 8
  Year
  Event
  1875
  The Suez Canal, critical to the Raj, is primarily 
  owned by the Kediv. He offers the shares to Britain to 
  put off his bankruptcy. The Crown approves Dis-
  raeli’s purchase of the shares. Disraeli goes to Baron 
  Rothschild for the money. This gives Rothschild a 
  grip on the British government. Britain’s ownership 
  of the Suez Canal draws the Empire into the Middle 
  ��������������������������������������������������
  against the Russians, intensifying the Great Game. 
  Gladstone vehemently opposes this. Disraeli calls 
  Gladstone’s writings vulgar, but Gladstone has the 
  public at his back. Disraeli has to send the British 
  ���������������������������������������������������
  which brings public sentiment back to Disraeli. The 
  Russians back down and the route to India is secured.
  1875
  The Explosives Act is passed, banning chemists from 
  ��������������������������������������������������
  Fireworks and other explosives must henceforth be 
  ���������������������������������������������������
  facilities. This Act is later used against the early New-
  tonians.
  1875
  The Hansen tall model typewriter, which requires no 
  electricity, enters the market. Typewriters start be-
  coming standard equipment in business.
  1875
  The German company Bayer, founded in 1863, syn-
  thesizes acetylsalicylic acid, which had previously 
  only been obtained by reacting salicylic acid and 
  acetyl chloride, with the acid precursor coming from 
  plant extracts. Bayer markets the compound as As-
  pirin, after spiraea ulmaria, or meadowsweet. Within 
  two years, Bayer Aspirin is sold around the world. 
  1875
  Efforts by the Colonial Secretary to organize a fed-
  eration between the British territories in Africa, the 
  Orange Free State, and the Transvaal Republic fail.
  1875
  Victoria Station installs electric lighting. Work begins 
  on electric signals, which will lead to signal interlock.
  
  240
  Timeline
  
  241
  Chapter 8
  Year
  Event
  1875
  Werner von Siemens invents the electric elevator.
  1875
  Sir Charles Wheatstone dies.
  1875
  Sidney Colvin and Robert Louis Stevenson visit the 
  �����������������������������������������������-
  ley. Stevenson and Henley collaborate until 1888, 
  when they quarrel and break off their friendship. Hen-
  ley serves as the model for Long John Silver.
  1875
  Robert Louis Stevenson is admitted to the Scottish 
  Bar, but never practises law.
  1875
  Edward Alexander Crowley is born to wealthy upper 
  class parents. His father, Edward, is an engineer and 
  heir to the family brewery, married to Emily Bertha 
  Bishop of Devon and Somerset. Both are members 
  of the Exclusive Brethren, a radical and apocalyptic 
  Christian sect, with Edward pater being a fanatical 
  preacher.
  1875
  Suleiman III dies. His second son Ibrahim succeeds 
  him as Sultan Mahmud III, focusing heavily on tech-
  nological advancement and a separation of religion 
  from the state.
  1876
  Prince Albert organizes a 25th anniversary replay of 
  the Crystal Palace Exhibition. 
  1876
  ����������������������������������������������������
  the Union-controlled segment for secession. Another 
  ��������������������������������������������������������
  majority.
  1876
  ����������������������������������������������������
  Istanbul.
  1876
  Queen Victoria and Prince Albert add a typist to their 
  personal staff. The era of handwritten royal docu-
  ments comes to an end.
  
  242
  Timeline
  Year
  Event
  1876
  Heinrich Hertz, challenged by Professor von Helm-
  holtz, begins experimenting with Maxwell’s theory, 
  to test Maxwell’s predictions regarding the movement 
  and speed of electromagnetic waves. In the process, 
  Hertz invents the dipole antenna and the broadcast 
  and detection of ultra high frequency radio waves.
  1876
  The Bow Bells stop ringing the curfew at 9pm, when 
  the curfew, established in 1469 by the Common 
  �����������������������������
  1876
  Alexander Graham Bell patents the telephone.
  1876
  Samuel Plimsoll’s bill in Parliament requires draft 
  lines and safe load lines on the sides of commercial 
  ships. These marks become known as Plimsoll lines, 
  a circle with a horizontal line through it showing the 
  safe water level.
  1876
  The Great Silver Exhibition is opened by Queen 
  Victoria and Prince Albert on 1 May to enormous 
  crowds. The newspapers give triumphant reviews, 
  raving that “the Empire once again displays itself at 
  the very forefront of technological prowess, intel-
  �����������������������������������������������������
  �����������������������������������������������������
  previous exhibition, science and technology has pro-
  gressed by leaps and bounds, and many of the exhib-
  its are truly breathtaking.
  1876
  Lightning strikes the experimental apparatus at 
  Greenwich Park. Professor Oswald Grosvenor, his 
  technicians, and his equipment all disappear, and the 
  portal forms, initially an opaque grey disc. The best 
  minds, scientists, technologists and crackpots try to 
  make sense from what they can observe.
  
  243
  Chapter 8
  Year
  Event
  1877
  The opaque surface of the Grosvenor disc begins to 
  change, sometimes offering glimpses of what may lay 
  on the other side. Through the spring, more and more 
  can be seen, and general opinion is there is similar 
  land on the other side. As the one year anniversary of 
  the event approaches, observations of the other side 
  become clearer and clearer. It is a world with multiple 
  moons and a similar sun. Disraeli, realizing there is a 
  whole other world on the other side and foreseeing a 
  military manpower shortage, accelerates the incorpo-
  ration of colonial auxiliaries into the British military 
  structure.
  1877
  Annie Besant and Charles Bradlaugh, as the 
  Freethought Publishing Company, publish Charles 
  Knowlton’s 1832 birth control manual Fruits of 
  Philosophy, for which they are prosecuted under the 
  Obscene Publications Act of 1857. Prompted by the 
  urgings of Doctor Anderson, Queen Victoria inter-
  venes, pardoning the authors and subsidizing the 
  book’s publication. Almost immediately,  the rampant 
  population expansion in London falls away. The book 
  and the royal approval of the idea give women an 
  even greater sense of independence and control over 
  their lives.
  1877
  �������������������������������������������������-
  ward Wilson Very, is invented. Very, a captain in the 
  United States Navy in command of the experimen-
  tal battery at the Navy Torpedo Station at the time, 
  ����������������������������������������������������
  into the air with the pistol that took its name from the 
  ��������������������������
  1877
  At precisely 15:02 on 6 June, there is a snap and the 
  �������������������������������������������������������
  through from the Gruv to Earth and is never seen 
  again. 
  
  244
  Timeline
  Year
  Event
  1877
  Three soldiers are sent into the portal, on lines, and 
  have to be pulled back out quickly due to disorienta-
  tion and exposure to bad air. 
  1877
  Heinrich Hertz, recovered from an attack of vertigo, 
  notices odd measurements in his dipole antenna 
  broadcast experiments. Over the next several weeks, 
  he, Wilhelm Wundt, and Max Planck will discover 
  what is eventually realized to be the return of magic 
  to the world, and found the Galvanic Order. 
  1877
  Hyrdofeay orders the House of Lords, in writing and 
  by messenger, to attend a joint session in the House 
  of Commons for an address the next day. When told 
  by Lord Sedgemore that joint sessions could only 
  be held by the order of the Queen, and only in the 
  upper chamber of the Lords, Hyrdofeay gave Lord 
  Sedgemore’s household staff three minutes to evacu-
  ate his London townhouse, then leveled the building 
  ��������������������������������������������������������
  member a purse of a hundred guineas as apology for 
  the loss of their personal belongings. 
  1877
  ����������������������������������������������������
  and center of operations in the Gruv
  1877
  Hyrdofeay addresses Parliament in a joint session in 
  the House of Commons. He begins by stating that 
  he is not challenging Queen Victoria for her throne, 
  hence the gathering inCommons rather than Lords. 
  ������������������������������������������������������
  pejorative terms, and advises Parliament that he 
  expects them to do their duty. After being told off by 
  a few of the more brazen backbenchers and a clark 
  of the chancellor’s staff who had not previously been 
  thought to have quite so much spine, Hydrofeay 
  ����������������������������������������������������
  ������������������
  1877
  First contact is made with the Saurids
  
  245
  Chapter 8
  Year
  Event
  1877
  The Russo-Turkish War ends in a stalemate, the 
  superior numbers of the Russians counterbalanced 
  by Turkish technological superiority. The Treaty 
  of Berlin formally recognizes the independence of 
  Serbia, Romania, and Montenegro, although they had 
  been semi-autonomous vassal states of the Ottoman 
  Empire for some time. Bulgaria is reorganized as a 
  vassal state of the Ottoman Empire, with its capital at 
  �������������������������������������������������-
  tro-Hungary, who had both agitated for Bulgaria to be 
  reconstituted as an independent principality.
  1877
  Britain attempts to annex the Transvaal by a special 
  warrant, based on the threat posed to the Transvaal 
  by the Zulu Kingdom, massively increasing tensions 
  with the Boers.
  1877
  A week after the Portal opens, Looking Glass Fever 
  appears in London. Incidents of LGF soon appear in 
  other parts of the world, confounding explanations 
  that depend on proximity to the Portal. The terms 
  Boojum, elf, dwarf, snark, and troll enter the vernacu-
  lar.
  1877
  Adolf Horwitz creates the Routh-Horwitz Theorem, 
  using differential equations to analyse system stabil-
  ity, a major contribution to control theory that pushes 
  design of machinery forward considerably.
  1877
  Siemens creates the Elektromote, or electric trolley.
  1877
  The Bell Telephone Company is chartered.
  1878
  After experimentation shows that cast iron with an in-
  ner plating of lead will block the harmful radiation of 
  the portal causeway, the Iron Tunnel is built.
  1878
  A third plebiscite for secession in Tennessee fails. 
  The vote becomes a running joke in political circles, 
  destroying the credibility of secessionists.
  
  246
  Timeline
  Year
  Event
  1878
  Bram Stoker marries Florence Balcombe, disappoint-
  ing Oscar Wilde, who moves to London, never to 
  return to Ireland.
  1878
  Alexander Graham Bell demonstrates the telephone 
  to Queen Victoria and Prince Albert.The military and 
  commercial advantages of the instrument are immedi-
  ately apparent to Prince Albert, and a few days later, 
  Queen Victoria tasks the military with researching the 
  applications.
  1878
  Oscar Wilde suffers a bout of LGF and becomes an 
  Elf. No one who knows him is the least bit surprised.
  1878
  Sidney Gilchrist Thomas patents the Basic Bessemer 
  process, which lines the converter with dolomite 
  instead of clay. This process accumulates more slag in 
  the converter, taking more impurities out of the steel, 
  and allowing phosphate recovery for fertilizer as an 
  aftermarket product.
  1879
  The Garden Palace, built along the plans of the Crys-
  tal Palace, opens in Sydney, Australia for the Sydney 
  International Exhibition. It’s notable for the use of 
  electric lighting, imported from England, to allow 
  round-the-clock construction work.
  1879
  Commercial telephone service begins in London. 
  �������������������������������������������������
  ����������������������������������������������������
  refuses to allow the device into her living quarters. 
  Military telephone connections are built in the Gruv, 
  notably from Fort Alice to Camp Burlington and Fort 
  Wellington.
  1879
  Paul Vieille of France introduces Poudre B, aka white 
  ���������������������������������������������������
  ����������������������������������������������������
  quickly adopt it.
  
  247
  Chapter 8
  
  248
  Timeline
  Year
  Event
  1879
  David Edward Hughes discovers how to pick up radio 
  transmissions using a Bell telephone. He builds a new 
  microphone design, inventing the crystal detector, 
  and uses an induction balance to generate the signal. 
  1879
  James Clerk Maxwell is diagnosed with abdominal 
  cancer. The prognosis is dire, with him not expected 
  to last out the year. Mr. Fairchild pays him a call, and 
  brings him to Sefton House. A few days late, Max-
  well goes home to convalesce, having been cured. It’s 
  let out that the process is experimental, terribly ex-
  pensive, and reserved only for those deemed critical 
  to the Empire. At 48, Maxwell becomes more active 
  in the Presbyterian Church, and begins working with 
  both the Galvanics and a number of ecclesiastical 
  mathematicians and occultists, not all Presbyterian, 
  determined to derive the fundamental theorems that 
  Mr. Fairchild hinted at.
  1879
  ����������������������������������������������
  research laboratory at the University of Leipzig. He 
  keeps this work carefully separate from his activities 
  with the Galvanic Order.
  1879
  Battle of Isandlwana. Rebellious Zulus slaughter a 
  thousand British troops in a single day in a massive 
  raid. Zulu Royalist troops arrive late in the battle and 
  massacre the rebels. 
  1879
  ������������������������������������������������������
  the Samsut. Language barriers have been addressed 
  in prior encounters, but not entirely overcome. The 
  Samsut made a request for the British dead as pay-
  ment for use ofthe land. An undead servant was 
  displayed. Shocked at the desecration, some of the 
  ���������������������������������������������������-
  �������������������������������������������������������
  �����������������������������������������������������
  recover the situation. War ensues.
  
  249
  Chapter 8
  Year
  Event
  1879
  Prince Dabulamanzi KaMpande takes his ikhanda 
  through the Rabbit Hole to support the British at Fort 
  Alice, at the command of King Nbomani of the Zulu 
  ������������������������������������������������������
  the actual migration requires nearly a month. Build-
  ing the villages of the ikhanda continues on well into 
  July.
  1879
  Realizing Britain cannot keep everyone out or any-
  thing secret, Parliament passes the Grosvenor Transit 
  Act, creating an allotment system where zones are as-
  signed to the major powers for their exploitation. The 
  British Empire maintains its control of the portal and 
  ������������������������������������������������������
  direction.
  1879
  The Prussian colonisation of the Gruv begins, with 
  the establishment of Torgau Freistadt.
  1880
  Arthur Konig begins research into the origins and 
  nature of LGF. He takes over as research director at 
  Saint Drogo’s Hospital in Lambeth.
  1880
  The Linotype arrives in the UK. Very quickly, people 
  realize that Analytical Engines can be used for com-
  positing, feeding directly to the linotype. Algorithms 
  are developed that produced suggested layouts. The 
  best of the proprietary cardware is developed at the 
  Tribune. This allows a layout artist to composite on 
  preprinted forms, punch a few cards describing place-
  ment of items on the page, and have the Engine churn 
  out the plates ready for press.
  
  250
  Timeline
  Year
  Event
  1880
  The second Prussian colonisation expedition arrives 
  in Fort Alice, with Crown Prince Frederick Wilhelm 
  as the appointed governor of the intended colony. The 
  train carrying his son and heir, Prince Wilhelm, is 
  delayed in the Rabbit Hole, and arrives with one third 
  of the human passengers dead or comatose, and the 
  other two thirds Boojums. The transformation heals 
  Prince Wilhelm’s arm, damaged at birth, but reaction 
  to the Prince now being a snark is mixed at best. The 
  Prince doesn’t seem to care.
  1880
  In Berlin, Nikola Tesla uses spare equipment from the 
  S-Bahn to replicate the Galvanics’ experiments. 
  1880
  Robert Louis Stevenson and Fanny are married.
  1880
  �����������������������������������������������-
  ates at the opening ceremony.
  1880
  Edouard Branly demonstrates the radio conductor, 
  which will be renamed the coherer in 1883 by Sir Oli-
  ��������������������������������������������������������
  not sensitive enough to be reliable.
  1880
  Robert Louis Stevenson and Fanny take ship from 
  New York to Liverpool, meeting Sidney Colvin and 
  his parents on the wharf. 
  1881
  Louis Pasteur develops an effective human vaccine 
  against anthrax.
  1881
  Wilhelm Wien and Eugen Goldstein invent the cath-
  ode ray tube.
  1881
  Nikola Tesla develops alternators that produce 15,000 
  cycles per second, and the large air-gapped coil that 
  now bears his name. 
  
  251
  Chapter 8
  
  252
  
  253
  Chapter 9
  1879 GAMEMASTER’S Guide
  Index
  9
  A
  Adjusting Adventure Award and Number of 
  Creatures  156
  Adventure Award Adjusting Powers  155
  Afanc  159
  Air Travel  10
  Alamaise  115, 116, 117
  Ancestral  138
  Armored Scales  102
  Arsenic  124
  B
  Big Ships  31
  Bodmin  160
  Bridgebane  161
  Buggane  162
  C
  Caisson Disease  129
  Caridea  140
  Celluloid  126
  Characteristics Table  149
  Cinder  141
  Creature Creation Process  147
  Creature Movement Rate  150
  Creature Scaling Table  156
  Creatures of the Grosvenor World  175
  Credits  2
  D
  Death and Desease  119
  Dedications  2
  Determine Adventure Award  154
  Determine Attack and Damage Steps  153
  
  254
  Index
  Determine Attributes  148
  Determine Characteristics  149
  Determine Components  91, 92
  Determine Creature Traits  151
  Determine Karma  153
  Determine Powers and Spells  154
  Devices  86
  Diphtheria  121
  Dispel Magic  102
  Disrupt Fate  102
  Dominate Beast  103
  Draconic Culture  107
  Draconic Form  113, 115, 116
  Dragon Breath  103
  Dragon Powers  102
  Dragons  95, 96, 97, 98, 99, 100, 101, 102, 
  103, 104, 105, 106, 107, 109
  Dragonsight  102, 104, 109, 110, 111, 113, 
  115, 117
  Dragonspeech  101, 102, 104, 108, 109, 
  110, 111, 113, 115, 117
  E
  Earth Bestiary  158
  Eastern Dragons  100
  Electro-Whip  86
  Elemental  140
  Enhance Summoner  135, 136, 137, 144
  Eorma  138
  F
  Fear  104
  Feathered Serpents  100
  Flying Ferret  158
  Food Adulterants  127
  G
  Galenea  142
  Giffard  10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 18
  Giffards  10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17
  Glaistyn  163
  Glider  16, 17
  Gliders  15
  Gravitational Field Enhancer  87
  Great Dragons  98, 101, 102, 106, 109
  Ground Vehicles  18
  Gruv Bestiary  173
  Gryphon  164
  H
  Hansen’s Disease  121
  Hardened Armor  136
  Heavy Armoured Infantry  30
  How to Use This Book  6
  Hyrdofeay  96, 105, 106, 111, 112
  I
  Industrial Diseases  129
  Infectious Diseases  121
  Introduction  5
  Iron Cactus  174
  Ixthalion  137
  J
  Jeanette Hartley  139
  K
  Karma Cancel  105
  Karma Points  105
  Kettle  29
  Kinzoku Ganmoku-sensei  143
  Kolero  136
  L
  Lair Sense  105
  Laplace Society  52
  Leprosy  121
  Levellers  41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46
  Leviathans  99, 108
  M
  Magnetic Disarming Gun  87
  Mauthe Doog  165
  Military Vehicles  28
  Military Vessels  33
  Miner’s Lung  131
  Movement Rate  150
  N
  Nasrudin  58, 59, 61, 63, 64
  New Creatures  147
  New Spells  92
  New Spirit Powers  135
  New Spirits  135, 136
  Nlalg  88, 89, 90, 91, 92, 93
  
  255
  Chapter 9
  P
  Phantom Lizard  175
  Phossy Jaw  132
  Picardy Sweats  123
  Pinopsida  144
  Plants of the Grosvenor World  174
  Poison  105
  Prodigals of Nlalg  88, 89
  R
  Read Intent  91, 93
  Reasonable Men  41, 47, 49, 50, 51, 52, 56
  Redcaps  166
  Regeneration  106
  Riverboats  31
  S
  Samsut Constructs  179
  Secret Societies  41
  Selkie  168
  ��������������������������������������������
  81
  Skeleton  180
  Skills  106
  Skogkatt  169
  Spellcasting  106
  Spell List  65, 78, 91
  Spells  107
  Stinging Turtle  176
  Stirling Engines  17, 18
  ����������������������������������������
  Summon Great Nlalg  92, 93
  Sun Thrower  87
  Suppress Magic  107
  T
  Table of contents  3
  Terrible Miasma  119
  Theosophical Society  41, 66, 67, 68, 71, 
  74, 76, 77
  Theosophists  65, 68, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 
  76, 77, 78, 80
  Timeline  185
  Toxic Environment  124
  Trains  21, 24, 27, 38
  Troll Heavy Armour  30
  Types of Dragons  98
  U
  ����������������������������������
  V
  Vehicle Mechanics and Combat  35
  Vehicles  9, 18, 28, 36
  W
  Water Sheep  170
  Western “Common” Dragons  99
  What Are Secret Societies, and Why Aren’t 
  They All Secret?  42
  Whiptooth  178
  Wingbeat  107, 109, 111, 113, 115, 117
  Write Commentary  157
  Y
  Y Ddraig Goch  113, 114
  Yeti  172
  Z
  Zombie  181, 183
  
  256
  Index
  
  257
  Chapter 9
  
SOURCE: textdata/thevault/1879/1879 - Game Master's Companion {FAS52105}.pdf