h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

If you are not playing the part of Captain Briggs, then DO NOT READ ANY MORE OF THIS THREAD.

"I will sail my vessel, 'til the river runs dry"

THE CAPTAIN

Captain Benjamin Spooner Briggs, Master of the Mary Celeste

YOUR STORY -You are the proud master and part owner of a cursed ship. That is a joke, of course. A few intemperate old fools may mumble about curses, but you hear none of that nonsense from the men who've actually sailed on the Mary Celeste. She's as fine a vessel as ever sailed, as true as the tides when steered with a steady hand, and your hand is steady indeed.

True, Mary's first captain died before her first voyage. And she's had a history of bad luck. It is enough to make you think, but not enough to interrupt your sleep. You have had nothing but good luck during your short time as the Mary Celeste's captain.

You are not so confident about your current cargo. You know nothing about commercial alcohol, except that it cannot be drunk (otherwise you would not have allowed the demon's brew aboard your ship). You have been assured that the casks of alcohol are safe, but you have worries. The cargo has been jostled during the recent rough weather, and it is uncommonly warm. You are concerned that you may have a hold filled with volatile vapours. But then, perhaps you are merely overly concerned because you have your family aboard.

This day is ending in a most peculiar fashion. First, the ship was hailed by a wild woman in a canoe. A canoe! It is just hides stretched over a wood frame, yet here she is hundreds of miles from land. By the look of her craft she's been in the water a long time. She was quite insistent about coming aboard and speaking with someone in charge. That is quite all right, you would not have had it any other way. You are eager to speak with this savage woman and hear her explain herself.

As this woman and her canoe were being hoisted aboard Mate Richardson discovered another woman, this one hiding in the forecastle. A stowaway! You are not happy with the idea that she has been hiding aboard your ship since you left New York. You are not sure what idea strikes you as most improbable -this stowaway on your small ship, or some Indian woman paddling across the Atlantic. It seems to be a good day for the impossible.

Impossible or not, you now have two strange women on your ship and you are not sure how you'll accommodate them. You shall probably have to bunk with one of the mates while these women move into your cabin. You'll have to take this up with your wife.

Also, as intruders on your ship (particularly the stowaway) these women ought to be searched, though that is hardly a proper thing. You shall have to ask Sarah to conduct the examination and pray the ladies do not mind.

All this has you on edge. But then, you have been feeling apprehensive all day. For the last three days Sarah has reported a growing feeling of nameless dread. Perhaps it is just that her mood is infectious, or perhaps it is real and growing stronger, now you feel it as well. You are a pious man and not at all given to superstitious nonsense. Just the same, what with all this strangeness going on, you are considering having the deck lit tonight.

Oh, well. Come volatile cargo, strange women, nameless dread and all you'll still see the day through and this voyage as well. And you'll keep your ship in good order. You are not given to the sin of pridefulness, but you know that you are a good captain, and you know it from the only evidence that really matters. You have the respect and loyalty of the men who sail with you.

GOALS AT A GLANCE - Maintain order, keep the ship running smoothly, permit no nonsense. Sort out these "mystery women" as swiftly as possible. Your duty is to your family, your crew, your ship, and yourself (in that order).

ROLE-PLAYING HINT - You are a pious Yankee, a man of few words (none of them more profane than " damn!" and basically a very good man. You run a tight ship but you are by no means a slave driver, something would have to go very badly wrong before you would resort to harsh measures. You do not consider yourself a prig, however you react strongly to profanity (particularly if your wife or child is present) and very strongly to any thought of alcohol consumption.

STATISTICALLY - You are a very fit man. Though you are a peaceable man you can hold your own in a brawl. You are also a fair shot. With a sword... well, you know which end of a cutlass to hold, and which end to point, but that is about all most men in this age know.

THE OTHER CHARACTERS

SARAH ELIZABETH BRIGGS - Your wife, your better half, the best thing that has ever happened to you. A strong and capable woman, were she a man you would be proud to have her as your mate. Truly the perfect partner for you. You do not believe you could live without her.

ELIZABETH "LIZZIE" BRIGGS - Your child. She was feeling poorly when this voyage began but thanks to Sarah's tender ministrations she is now healthy and strong. Lizzie is a wonder to behold, a quiet child but when she speaks she sounds almost like an adult. And Lizzie is only three! She is hardly ever any trouble, yet she is a constant worry. Lizzie is not like other children, you almost never see her at play, and you fear that she is not a happy child. You are hardly expert at rearing children and, while you do your best, the fear that you are not a fit parent is never far from your mind.

FIRST MATE ALBERT RICHARDSON - A fine young man. You have sailed with Albert as your mate before and you hold him in the highest regard. You have been the best of friends for four years, since he was your mate aboard the Sea Foam. Oddly, he and Sarah were once very close friends, now they hardly ever talk.

SECOND MATE DANE GILLING - This is your first voyage together, but he comes very highly recommended. You have found him to be a capable and obedient mate, though inexperienced.

COOK ALBERT HEAD - A good cook, but given to a love of seafood that would surely have driven the men to mutiny had you not ordered him to vary the daily menu. The cook generally keeps to himself.

THE FOUR JOHANS -Y our German born crewmen, all named Johan so you use their last names. You have never sailed with any of them, though they come highly recommended. Volkert and Goodschad are the best of the lot, perhaps the finest men you have ever served with. In a crisis these two men are the ones you want nearest at hand. Also, though a fine man, Goodschad is a bit of a child at heart and you have seen him teaching Lizzie to play games (something for which you are very grateful).

Lorenzen you have know the least well, and you sense that is how he wants it. He is a very solitary man. A capable sailor, but not a cheerful one.

Martens has been a trial the voyage through. Superstitious and fearful, he sees sea monsters in the shadow of every wave. He has driven you half mad with his worries. You believe the man he addled his brain with demon rum, a good thing you allow none aboard. You do not intend to sail with Martens again.

THE CAST A WAY IN THE CANOE - She hails your vessel and demands to "speak to man in charge." Well "Man in charge" certainly desires to speak to her! Though she's some sort of savage dressed all in furs you find it impossible to believe an Eskimo has paddled all to way from Greenland to speak to you. This woman shall have to explain herself to you in detail.

THE STOWAWAY - You find the very idea of a stowaway quite irksome. Since Albert found her you'll let him sort her out while you deal with the savage. Once your mate is through with the interview and reports to you you'll have some questions of your own for the lady.

THE SHIP'S CAT - Beastly animal. It actually seems to spy on people (surprising Martens has not reported that the cat has been spying on him). But Lizzie seems fond of the cat. You will endure the animal.
ITEMS

KEYS - These open every lock on the ship but for your men's sea chests. In particular, you have the only key to the weapons locker in the forecastle (containing 2 pistols and 4 cutlasses).

ITEMS NOT ON YOUR PERSON

You also have access to everything aboard the ship but for personal items (and in a pinch you can order a man to turn those over to you).

SWORD - You have an ornamental, but very functional, sword under your bunk.

SPECIAL ABILITIES

MASTER OF THE VESSEL - You are the Captain and must be obeyed. Anyone disobeying your orders is derelict of duty, insubordinate, and possibly mutinous. You can always enforce your orders unless everyone mutinies. Everyone is subject to your orders. Even your unwelcome visitors, though not members of your crew, can be forcibly restrained if they give you no other choice in dealing with them.

Oh yes. You are not authorized to read any of the fact sheets. Sorry.

Recieved and understood.
[b17]

Glad to have you aboard

Back tomorrow, you say? I guess you'll want your captain's hat back.

It's a shame, really. It looks quite good on Zeppo.

_/-\_

You're right d'E it does look rather fetching on him. perhaps he should keep it and I could use my spare?

Can you let me know of any info you have gleaned on behalf of the Captain. I don't want to read the backlog because that isn't sporting. I'll just catch up from the Mess table, but any other stuff I'd appreciate if you can let me know here. Thank you. Sorry again for having to lump command on your shoulders, but I should be fine to carry on from this point

The Captain can not hear or see the Ghost.

ok.

: Except in his private thread!

You can read pretty much the entire Mess Table thread starting at post 15 http://www.bbc.co.uk/h2g2/guide/FFM72915?thread=135701&skip=0&show=20#p1232549 , which is where I've had the captain the whole time. At the end, he goes to the galley to talk to Mr. Head, but we haven't had a conversation yet.

So I have nothing to report, captain.

_/-\_

I have taken it up from ther d'E, but was wondering if you wanted to speak to Mr. Head about anything in particular?
Has Mr. Richardson told you anything about the Stowaway yet? I am assuming not, so was going to have a word with him and Mrs. Briggs. The Cook appears to have run away, so I will be heading back out on deck soon.

The Captain hasn't spoken to Richardson or his wife yet. I think he was going to speak to the cook about having fish again.

Ah! Ok, thanks to the disembodied voice of a non-existant GL
Who definitely ISN'T here

Captain - I'll leave it to you to announce in the announcements thread when 9 bells ring.

Fine Gary. I think 9 bells is about 9pm, but can't remember, feel free to correct me if I'm wrong. What time would you judge it to be just now. I'd say about 7.30 or 8pm ish? Not long after dinner really and they used to eat quite early back then. Again, correct me if I am wrong, or have missed something here. Been a bit of a task to get back into this. Work and other external things are conspiring to keep my time on h2 very light, hence no Atelier for me just now

To be honest, I haven't a clue what time 9 bells corresponds to. I think you should call the meeting as soon as you have time enough to spend here on it. The time right now, is just after sunset, so I suppose we could work out just what that time was (we know where and when the boat was). But I think you should just assume 9 bells happens right when you want it to.

Fair enough G, thanks. Looks like it will have to be post weekend tho, again

*very fed up that he can only post sporadically last week and missed all the action*
Ok, GL. I'm back, for now. I'm currently lying unconcious/semi maybe in my cabin. I woke up and yelled, and slipped under again. What is happening & what, if anything, do I know about/did I hear/overhear whilst being in my current state?
Naturally I am going on the pretext that people in comas or unconcious can sometimes hear what goes on around them.
Up to you, sir
*happy to be on for at least a couple of days *

Well, it's probably best if you don't read the Captain's cabin thread, since some things happened that were more visual than auditory and you wouldn't have been aware of them Instead, I'll tell you here what your impressions were.

As you come to your senses, you start to recall fragments of conversations and vague impressions of what happened in the room while you were unconscious. The overriding impression is of sincere concern and love surrounding you. You are aware that Sarah was constantly near and Lizzie too. At one point, you felt yourself slipping away, falling through the air and some part of you knew that when you hit, you would be no longer in this world. But, before you could hit, you were caught gently in the talons of a huge bird, who spoke with Uli's voice and said: "Be strong Captain, I am here to help you. If you wish to come back I can carry you." You nodded and the bird carried you up ...up ...up.

You recall other voices in the room:

Richardson - a times sounding strong and decisive, and at others sounding vulnerable and once sounding very angry
Volkert - sounding strong and steady
Goodschad - sounding obedient and reliable
Cook Head - asking something

One conversation comes back hazily to you. It involved Volkert asking for the ship to be turned around and sailed to Baltimore. The first mate resisted, then Volkert did something to astonish everyone and the mate gave in. You felt the ship come about and you fear that it is now headed west instead of east.

When you wake you will find the following message in the Captain's log:

--------------------
Captin Brigg taken ill. Beein of sounnd mind an body"

~ "body" is crossed out ~

"I must resume my post as captain of Mary Celeste. I see from
prusing the log that Brigg was ov'rly concerned with groceries, writin
"tea" and "jam" and nonsenes. First odor of business cofiscate
cook's liquor. Drinks like a fish.

Cpt. R. McLellan, deceased."
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