Patrick Hand

I kinda think of the Berlin Wall... You can travel between the North and South, but the trench systems are very impressive on both sides.... (Passports from the different Countrys would be a fun "Future Project" ) Yeah... everyone knows about Bigfoot, you just don't see them very often (Well no one really believes anything Ol' Charley at the saloon says anyway....) The Stories exist about monsters in the Wild Lands.... but any contact with monsters should be a very rare thing... Oh yeah.... and we already have our Captain who may be a ghost, or may so disfigured that he is a part of the ship.... That's a good sized helping of Sci-Fi right there.....

It never got built... Why would the Union of the United States want to spend the money to build a railway line through the Wild Lands to the Republic of California? Also, the Union of the United States and the Republic of California are having a squabbling match over whaling in the Pacific... That's kind of along the line of what I'm thinking... Because of fowling, "Blow-back" wouldn't work as well.. so you would have to resort to mechanical means to get an automatic weapon to work.... Wind-up/hand crank/pump sub-machine guns just have more of a Steampunk look to them.....

Quite.... The Lost Valley in the Brazilian Amazon is aptly named.... Aah... here's Baxter with more brandy...

Spelling out M.U.D. might work, but we'll need to work on the name to come up with something a little more "heroic"..... Basically the simple version.... the Confederacy wins the American Civil War and secedes from the Union..Texas then secedes from the Confederacy, and California from the Union...There is no Transcontinental Railroad, so everything is shipped by air... I have to re-do the map (a better version) this is the rough draft without the changes to French Canada... Trade routes and what the cargoes being shipped would be very helpful for the story, The Confederacy grows and ships cotton and tobacco, raw goods to and from the factorys in the Union... There wasn't an "Armageddon.", just a different History... most of the Countrys in North America are doing rather well for themselves, but the fragmentation makes a good, working setting for Airship Pyrates.... Not exactly, but this does bring up and interesting point... How can you have Vampire or Werewolf Hunters without "monsters".... Not something that happens everyday (this isn't D&D..) , but a little (very little) of the unknown does add some spice to the setting...

SHIP

SAIL....

REAL

I figure that the Patch Monkeys rig hammocks and nests between the airbag supports where they live and play... The name is partly a reference to their swinging around on the airbag supports... the little buggers are quick.... Some of the crew have seen glimpses of them and their "nests" when on repair duty in the envelope, but the Captains orders not to interfere with the Patch Monkeys or their toys is obeyed (if you know whats good for you...) The "Boarding Parties" wearing a quick-release harness and balloons... then jumping out and onto other Airships not good enough for you ? How about duty in the observation gondola ? it's basically a chair on the end of a long cable with a telephone... dropped below the clouds for observation (if your not already crazy, you will soon be..) just dress warmly, it does get kinda cold.... That could be kinda funny... It would take a little fiddling with to get it to work... But it would be lonely....what with the crew avoiding you, and the Captain never speaking to you.... (Of course with the Captain's Wife eating at the Officers Mess, it would also keep the number of Officers down.... ) Still need to come up with a good name for the Captain.......

once again..... BEER

"It's not my fault, society is to blame...." "Right... then we'll arrest them."

Hunting tigers in Africa is all well and good.... But for real sport, you should try Dinosaur hunting in the Jungles of Brazil...

Look at the bright side... it's to late for our period.....

a CAKE

Get on yer mark... Get set.... GO.... a RACE....

PACK.... Still only changing one letter and just rearranging the rest of them.....

This is going to be a weird rambling thread, because it will be part continuing story, part background development and information, and an online meeting place for Airship Pyrates. And if we ever do get together… A Steampunk Group, similar to the 1720 Careening Camp at PiP… where everyone is geographically separated, but when we do get together at PiP, we already have everything figured out… That’s an awful lot for one thread… We already have a name; the Columbia’s Revenge… We have a Captain… we’re just not sure if he is a ghost, or so horribly disfigured that with the aid of “Modern Medicine” he is actually a part of the Ship… (still don’t know what his name is yet…) We have a rough draft of a map showing the Countries for our alternative History… A Bombardier and a Cook…. I have a whole lot of ideas for the Columbia’s Revenge…But this isn’t just my project, we all get to be a part of the development…A Collective Steampunk Fantasy for Airship Pyrates… Some of my ideas…. Patch Monkeys: There are an unknown number of “Wild Boys” that live in the Airship’s envelope. During Battle they patch any holes in the envelope and the gasbags. Cooked food, patches, repair materials and “trinkets” are left in the envelope, but sometimes they sneak into the crew’s quarters and steal small items… But the Captain won’t let anyone hunt the Patch Monkeys (some sort of “truce”.) They are sometimes a nuisance, but very useful at keeping the Columbia’s Revenge airworthy. Steam Power: Gasoline engines do exist, but they are too fiddly for practical use. Black Powder: Smokeless powder hasn’t been invented yet. (How do you overcome the problems with “fowling” when you’re trying to invent a machine gun?) I still have to finish drawing a rough cross-section of the Columbia’s Revenge kind of showing approximately where everything is… then we can modify that… Of course I have a bunch more, but I want to let other people play also…. On Crew Positions… Just pick one, or make one up… but lets try not to get it to “Top Heavy” with a whole bunch of Officers…Yeah, I know… it’s one of my “pet peeves” when you meet three Pyrates, one is the Captain, the next is the Quartermaster and the last is the Gun Captain…. So who is doing any of the work on the Ship? Go for “Job Positions” instead of Rank… “I’m part of the Gun Crew” or one of the Gattling Gun Crews, or a Steam Engine Mechanic…or just a part of th’ Scummy Crew…. Hey, if you simply “Must be an Officer”, no problem…But we should have more Crew than Officers....

TRIP rearranged and changed one letter....

Or a SEAL....

"What is the unladened airspeed velocity of a swallow ? " "What; African or European ? "

BARE...... :angry:

"What.... behind the rabbit ?"

DEAD......

BEAK to BEAR Just so I don't have to wait to post.... BEER

WEEE........... OK that was WEAK

A tiger...In Africa ?