Pulp Mini Six - Session One: Part Three

This is the third and final post for the first session of our Mini Six pulp RPG game. I will say that this part of the adventure, being mainly a transitional and setup stage for the real meat of the adventure is a bit lighter than the opening and development scenes earlier in the session. Don't get me wrong, there was still some fun here but you will see that the action and intrigue was a little thinner here...

Having already made arrangements for their travel, Sussex and his driver/pilot Henry were waiting on the platform for Jenkins' arrival. Jenkin's surprised by this arrangement found himself a bit off balance and excused himself to make a quick wire to his superiors at the university, giving a vague explanation that his travel plans had been abruptly extended. Sussex, concerned that he might be tailed after his meeting with the "agents" earlier that night, kept himself alert as he waited on the platform alone while Henry made sure the luggage which included all their maps, equipment and weapons was properly loaded and secured on the train.

As Jenkins returned to the platform, the two adventurers perked up as they heard an outburst down the platform. They could see people hurrying out of the way and heard a man shouting "Stop that kid!" At first they could not see the individuals involved in the chase but it soon became obvious that a rather rotund conductor was chasing a particularly scruffy young boy down the platform.

As the boy neared where Sussex and Jenkins watched and waited to board the train, Sussex stuck out his cane to trip the boy up, causing him to fall and slide to a halt on the platform. The out of breath and quite disgruntled conductor rolled his way up to them and demanded they get out of the way so he could take the boy. As usual, demands were met by Sussex with his usual polite affrontery and he challenged the conductor insisting that he explain what the boy had done.

The conductor explained that the boy had stolen a woman's purse. Sussex observed that there was no such on item on the boy's person at the time and then asked the boy if he had done anything of the sort. The boy denied any such thing with wide innocent eyes shining out from his dirty face. When the conductor became insistent on taking the boy into custody, Sussex announced that the boy was to depart with them and asked how much a ticket would cost. The conductor was not to be so obviously circumvented and insisted that the boy be turned over, but to no avail. When it became clear that Sussex was not going to turn the boy over, the conductor then explained that he would only let the boy off if Sussex paid not only for a ticket but for the "damage to his best pare of shoes, scuffed in the chase". Sussex provided the thinly veiled bribe and the trio boarded to the train.

The trip on the train was narrated a bit vaguely as nothing much was to happen on this leg of the journey. The adventurers learned that the boy's name was Mickey, nothing but Micky. They also learned that he had some minimal schooling and could read and write. When asked if he had ever been to the Orient, Mickey said, "Isn't that that place down on 4th," showing his obvious lack of worldly experience.

The group's time in San Francisco was also uneventful and was used for the players to grab a few additional items and to provision Mickey for the trip. Their trip on the ocean liner to Hong Kong was also uneventful and was described with a few brief remarks about their shipboard leisure activities and Mickey's propensity for finding trouble. Many red lines and dots later and the adventurers debarked on the docks of Hong Kong.

As they waited for Henry to arrive with their cars, they observed that some sort of celebration was going on in the city with fireworks, loud instruments and a general buzz all about. Henry explained to them that a local driver had informed him that the celebration was in honor of the funeral of some local bigwig and that the streets were choked throughout the city. An alternate route had been provided by this local and they set out, but despite this they still found themselves mired in traffic, waiting for the funeral parade to clear an intersection they had to go through to get to their hotel. Bogged down with the parade in front and local traffic behind, the adventurers sat waiting until a rapping on the window next to Jenkin's side of the car alerted them to a presence at their car side.

The figure indicated that Jenkins should roll down the window and as he did, the flashing, vibrant lights of downtown Hong Kong revealed a man in a dark, pinstriped suit with a very non-Asian jawline and smile peaking out from under his tipped down hat. "Out of da car," was all he said.

Jenkins tucked the stone tablet into between the seats and opened the car door and stepped out, finding the man was not alone and flanked by a trio of suited Chinese men. The man then began to press Jenkins to hand over an item he was sure they had. When Jenkins played ignorant to the possession of the item, a rather menacing hatchet was produced from under the jacket of one of the Chinese fellows.

Meanwhile, inside the car, Sussex had slipped the stone relic into Mickey's pocket. Pointing out their hotel on the skyline, he instructed Mickey that he was going to get out of the car himself and that when he did, he wanted Mickey to slip into the crowd and hurry to the hotel as quickly and discretely as possible without being seen by their "guests".

As the exchange between Jenkins and the suited thugs heated up and more hatchets were produced, Sussex got out of the car and began to apply his own special sort of charm to the conversation. As the pinstriped thug lit into Sussex for not minding his business, mickey slipped undetected into the crowd and on his way.

"Give me da item or my friends here are gonna get happy with their choppers," the thug exclaimed.

Just then then parade cleared the intersection and the traffic behind their Rolls nudged forward, striking their bumper and causing the car to lurch forward a bit. The momentary distraction was all that was needed for Jenkins to shove the thug away as he and Sussex jumped back into the car. Henry stomped the gas and the car sped off down the street, catching a hatchet in the process.

As they pulled up to the hotel, the valet cringed as he saw the battle-scarred Roll pull up and reluctantly received the keys. Henry got out, explaining that he would wait for the arrival of the porters with their luggage and all chuckled as they caught site of Mickey pulling up in a rickshaw demonstrating his seemingly endless appetite as he munched on some skewered meat.

To be continued in Session Two.