Editing The New World

The New World is set in 1901 America and details the adventures of a small band of newfound friends that undertake the task of saving America from a mysterious conspiracy.

The game began in Bristol as various Europeans queued to board the last open immigrant ship to the USA. Once aboard, they quickly build friendships so as to have some company in their new lives abroad.


=Characters=

'''Falko Hendrick Hoogenboome''' - 18. Falko grew up in Amsterdam in Holland. He had some basic schooling and is completely literate and bilingual as he can speak fluent English as well as his native Dutch. After his brief schooling he got a job as a metalworker in a factory to keep him out of the house. His father often mistreated him and beat him all throughout his childhood, often over very minor things. He also kept out of the house by spending time with his friends, who often had to apprehend muggers and other lowlifes. He developed a very strong sense of hatred for such people and now has a very profound view that every man should work for every coin he spends.
A friend of his, who he considered as close as a brother, was stabbed in one such fight and, though they won the fight, the friend was clearly on the brink of death. In his last moments, the friend told Falko he had a decent skill and had no future in Holland with his father. Following the death of his friend, he decided to leave Amsterdam to start his own life in the United States of America.
He stole a large sum of money off his father and fled into Belgium. He then made his way to France where he crossed the English channel and purchased a ticket in Bristol for a boat to New York in the USA.


'''Fergus O'Flaherty''' - Early forties. Fergus has had a hard life so far; the family evicted from their County Clare farm during the worst of the Potato Blight, The deaths from influenza of all but Fergus and his younger sister Deirdre, their poverty-ridden existence in Dublin, and their final split just before Deirdre's departure for America. Fergus knows only that she was supposed to have gone there -- after she left Dublin there was no word from her ever again. They had agreed to look for one another in New York, but that hope has been dashed, now, by recent events. Fergus left Ireland finally, for England, where he became apprenticed and learned the trades of both a blacksmith and a carpenter; he worked as both and also maintained a steam traction engine for his Master, so far identified only by the surname "Gill." 

After being 'impressed' into the local military Levy as a fifer, of all things, he was shipped off to Africa, where he served in both the Islandwana (Zulu) Campaign, and on the side of Britain during the Matabele Rebellion, achieving the rank of Colour Sergeant, before his unit was disbanded, and he and his fellows were furloughed, then summarily discharged (albeit honorably). He returned to Master Gill, and worked for him for several more years before leaving for Bristol with Gill's blessing, and boarding the ship for New York.

'''Alexandre Ashlock''' - 18. Alexandre (or Alex, as he prefers most people call him) grew up in London to a seemingly normal family. His father was a soldier, who had been discharged honorably after receiving a VC. His father travelled to France, where he met Alex's mother, a parisian opera singer. They were married in London, and soon Alex was born. His father always expected Alex to pursue a career in the army and so taught him skills like fencing and shooting, but Alex had always drifted towards the stage, like his mother. This angered his father, and they got into several fights, and Alex ran away from home many times. He always returned, though always after his father relaxed. Alex did have an older sister, who was married to an government official. This marriage occurred a month before his parents' death, which occurred in a house fire. Seeing now future for himself in London, Alex decided to travel to America, where he was determined to have the world know who he was.


'''Gebbert Freidhelm''' - 48.

'''Reginald Isley''' - 23. Reginald was born in the states in a small mining town in California. From a young age, he always enjoyed tinkering and taking things apart. At the age of 11, Reginald was able to fix his father's pocket watch and tractor in the same day. At 13, he took a job in a local watch shop sweeping floors and cleaning windows. Eventually, Reginald found himself on his own after the shop and most of the other businesses in town went bankrupt after the coal ran dry. He figured with the money he had saved, he could start out on his own. After a few years of odd jobs and whatever work he could get, he opened his own workshop out of an old one man airship he bought called "The Iron Crow". He spends most of his time inventing new contraptions and outfitting the Crow with new parts

=The Story begins=

==  The ship in Bristol==

-Falko stands in the queue and observes the world around him while he waits to board the ship.

-Alexandre sees Falko in front of him (the two do not yet know each other) and pledges that the world will know his name someday.

-Vincenc (Cenek) sees Falko and Alex and decides to slip into the queue where they are and briefly introduces himself to Alex.

-Julius, a few spaces behind Alex, is slightly disapproving of the younger Cenek's manner and cautions him while moving Cenek behind him in the line so as to avoid potentially missing the boat.

-Rosalia, doing her best to avoid being seen by the search party she is convinced her father has sent, accidentally collides with Cenek and Alex.

-Luke notices the happenings further forward in the queue and has some brief thoughts about them.

-Arx pickpockets a ticket and moves in line with the others.

The group begins to talk and become acquainted with each other.

-Fergus boards the ship separately from the group.

-Falko escorts Rosie to her room before finding his own, which he shares with Alex.

They split off into separate conversations as they converge on the deck. Alex says his goodbyes to England. Fergus goes to the mess hall to eat. The others eventually do so as well. Arx and Cenek arrange a deal whereby Arx robs various cabins and they split the wealth between them. Luke and Fergus begin talking, which introduces Fergus to the group. Most of them hold discussions about their plans for their future in America. Rosie and Falko hold a conversation on the deck, during which they admit some feelings for each other and they decide to have a relationship.

Once everyone has dispersed again somewhat, a gunshot is heard from the deck. Upon further investigation it is revealed that one man is lying wounded on the deck, having been shot by a kitchen crew member, while other kitchen crew attempt to negotiate and apprehend the shooter. The shooter commits suicide and both he and the wounded passenger are taken to the kitchen rather than the medical bay.

==  The end of the voyage==

A time jump takes place. Upon investigation by Falko it is revealed that the wounded man was never seen again and was killed because he discovered something he should not have known which the kitchen crew know. The events on the deck after the shooting are revealed to be a charade and the shooter was in fact sacrificed to keep the information secret while avoiding arousing too much suspicion. It is also revealed that, as the entire ship essentially bore witness to the shooting, the kitchen staff plan on destroying the ship in New York harbor by overloading the boiler. The post with this information can be found here: [http://brassgoggles.co.uk/forum/index.php/topic,28789.150.html])

-The group hold a meeting where they decide to get off the boat by stealing a tug, which they would then use to hijack another small ship after 'accidentally' crashing the tug to avoid being caught as they dock. They split into 4 groups. Rosie, Falko and Alex are to steal the tug boat, Luke and Julius are to find the ship's logs and papers in the hope that they may have some further information, Cenek and Fergus are to tamper with the boilers so that they cannot be overloaded and Arx is to find disguises and outfits for them all so they can blend in upon arrival in New York.

-Rosie, Falko and Alex decide that Alex will head to the deck where he will create an argument to help draw away crew from the tugboat station so that Falko and Rosie have less crewmen to apprehend in order to obtain control of the tug.

-Fergus and Cenek go straight to the boilers where they make them impossible to overload intentionally.

-Julius and Luke burn the documents of the group to make them untraceable and steal the captain's logs.

-On the deck, Anna notices Alex, who is posing as a rich gentleman, and decides she should pickpocket him as he seems wealthy.

-Rosie and Falko overrun the tug crew and kiss on the deck on the tug while they wait for the others.

The group eventually all make it to the tug, minus Arx, and set off. They 'accidentally' sever the rope from the tug to the main ship. They spot a private yacht out in the harbor which they decide will be the ship they will hijack. The team pull up along side it and jump aboard.

-Fergus is the first aboard, where he secures the steering room.

-Cenek joins Fergus in the steering room where he takes control of the yacht.

-Alex is next aboard, he apprehends the men who have reacted and gone to the deck.

-Falko jumps aboard and makes for the first of two crew cabins. He apprehends the men inside but is shot in the left shoulder in the process.

-Rosie finds Falko in the cabin where he is conscious and stable.

-Fergus begins treating Falko's wound.

-Julius sets the tug on a course that will have it crash into some rocks. He jumps overboard and begins to swim toward the yacht but soon finds himself exhausted and about to drown.

-Luke stays on the tug the longest to keep it balanced while the others board. he apprehends the men in the second crew cabin.

-Alex jumps overboard to help Julius but soon finds himself close to drowning as well.

-Falko has a short hallucination where he sees what he thinks are angels. He disregards it as him being in shock. He is soon stitched up.

-Anna raids the owner's lavish cabin before finding Falko and Rosie. She and Falko have a short argument about her way of life and it's unsuitability for the new life the group still wishes to start together.

-Fergus saves Alex and Julius from drowning and sets about warming them up while Luke finds some blankets.

-Falko finds some more respectable clothes so as to disguise himself in the owner's cabin.

The group finally reach the dock where Luke reveals he has a way of wiping the memory of the crew members Alex pacified. The crewmen's memories are subsequently wiped to protect the identities of the group members.

==  The loss of the steamship==

At the dock, the group hears a very loud 'boom' and look across the harbor to see the ship they had taken to America has somehow been destroyed in a boiler explosion, even though they made such a thing impossible.
A strange blue light appears beneath the ship which seems to be a portal. It is drawing in water and dragging the ship and everyone aboard into it. The yacht they are on, which is not tied to the dock, begins to move so the group promptly exit the yacht. Falko is the first to do so and blacks out on the dock after and outburst in which he complains he his freezing cold.

===  Falko's vision===

The post detailing this can be found here:
[http://brassgoggles.co.uk/forum/index.php/topic,28789.400.html]

While blacked out, Falko has what he believes is a vision. He looks around and can see lights that seem to represent the people around him and can see an exceedingly bright light where the portal beneath the ship would be where several smaller lights are being snuffed out upon contact with the larger light. An unseen being talks to him and reveals he is in the Aether.
In conversation with the entity, he is told that someone is posing a threat to America which is somehow linked to the manipulation of a being similar to the one communicating with Falko. Falko suddenly finds himself back in the real world, though he still feels exceedingly cold.

===  Acquiring abilities===

The group is somehow affected by the portal and bizarre things immediately begin happening around them.

-Rosie begins to hear what she believes is many voices talking. A window shatters behind her.

-Fergus begins emanating some smoke and, upon contact with the wooden dock, causes it to smoke too.

-Alex begins to see people's 'Auras'

-Cenek finds several metal objects begin attaching themselves to him.

-Fergus manages to discern that Rosie is hearing their thoughts.

-A mist settles around the dock.

-Anna observes the events happening around her and attempts to rationalise each as she refuses to accept anything 'supernatural' is occurring.

-Julius begins to feel sick and causes a spike of earth to appear beneath his feet. Once upon this patch of rock he does not feel sick.

-A lightning bolt shoots from Falko's hand.

-Fergus manages to separate the metallic objects from Cenek's hands.

-Falko also discovers he can manipulate air pressure and, by extension, temperature.

The group quickly move off the dock where Julius opens a temporary tunnel which the group travel down for a short while until they stop and Julius constructs a small cave which they decide to use as a temporary base. Falko reveals what he has learned in the Aether to the group and they agree to help stop whatever threatens The New World.

Fergus builds a smithing room so they can have some tools and basic weapons while Julius works on keeping the cave structure intact. The group agree to go into the city at sunrise, which by this point is only a few hours away, to try and find anything that may give clues as to what is about to happen in America. The rest of the group decide to get some sleep.

=America=

== New York==

===  Gebbert===

The group again decide to split into teams. Alex is to get groceries and other living needs. Falko and Rosie are to observe the city and attempt to glean some information as to what is about to happen. Julius stays behind to work on the cave. Fergus also stays behind to construct some weapons and tools. Anna also stays behind and helps Fergus in the smithy. Luke also heads into the city, as does Cenek. cenek is stopped by some thugs who he quickly apprehends with the help of Fergus before deciding to return to the cave.

Rosie visits a friend of her in the city. Falko buys a newspaper where he reads about an earthquake in San Francisco that only seemed to affect a few city blocks. He walks about the city and some thugs attempt to mug him. he apprehends them and takes their weapons to avoid them going after him but realises he cannot carry the weapons around the city. He enters a pawn shop next to the alley that the scuffle took place in where he sells the guns. In the shop he meets Gebbert Freidhelm, a Saxonian German and the owner of the shop.

Gebbert reveals that the seismograph he has gave a reading that would suggest an explosion rather than an earthquake, despite the happenings during the event itself being synonymous with an earthquake. Sensing he has a lead and has found someone who could be helpful, Falko invites Gebbert to join the group. Gebbert agrees and the two decide the group will go the the shop tomorrow where Gebbert can pack some items into crates.

When he arrives back, Falko realises that in the mad rush of the previous days nobody had noticed that Arx never made it onto the tugboat and would have been killed on the main ship when it was sunk. The group toast his memory and also those of other people they had lost back in Europe.

===  The airship===

Upon everyone's return to the base, Falko mentions his meeting with Gebbert and the unusual nature of the San Francisco earthquake. He asks if they will help Gebbert pack his many devices into crates then commandeer an airship so they can travel to the west coast to investigate further.

The next day they promptly head into the city where they find some crates and enter Gebbert's shop. Luke and Gebbert agree to take the crates back to the docks above the base while the others steal a police airship. As the leave, Falko finds a note from Anna in his suitcase informing them that she has decided to leave the group and start her own life in New York.

Julius manages to block most of the exits to the buildings around the airship yard while the others run aboard the ship. falko figures out the basics of flying the ship and, after apprehending a few police officers who try to stop them, they take off. Falko enters the envelope where he focuses on speeding up the ship after he hands control of the airship to Fergus. They arrive at the dock and pack the crates on as quickly as possible. They are forced to blow up a flatbed truck with an autocannon mounted on it. Falko manages to salvage the gun, though he does not manage to salvage any ammunition. With Falko's assistance with the airship's speed they make good ground.

Meanwhile, an American trader and businessman, Reginald Isely, makes a delivery but is forced to kill the captain of the ship he is delivering to as he refuses to pay Reginald and threatens him with a firearm.

The group on the stolen police ship find a map and some other map-related tools and attempt to figure out where they are. Unfortunately they are unable to do so as Julius spots an approaching airship. Soon, several others come into view and it becomes apparent they intend on attacking the group.

Falko decides to man the useless autocannon to act as a deterrent to any attack but Fergus manages to get the ship's weapons systems working. They open fire on the pirate vessels. Reginald notices the gunfire in the distance and moves in to investigate and potentially assist. He begins shooting down pirate vessels at the rear of the pirate fleet. Falko makes a large leap to one ship and takes it down before returning and deciding to conserve his energy. He focuses his power on stopping and deflecting missiles launched at their ship. The remaining three ships surrender. Reginald boards one to capture it, Julius boards the second and Falko boards the last. Fergus kills a pirate who attempts to board their ship. The three ships are captured. Control of Falko's ship is handed to Rosie so that Falko can get some sleep. Control of the ship cleared by Reginald is handed to Gebbert. Reginald informs them that they are about a day's flying away from San Francisco, much closer than they had thought.

==  San Francisco==

The group flies on through the night where they become more accustomed to flying the airships. The stolen police ship is named the ''[[Raptor]]'', Falko's ship is named the ''[[Falcon]]'' and Gebbert's ship is named the ''[[Osprey]]''.

===  The battle above San Francisco===

Upon arrival, they land down on a sky port. Seconds after disembarking an air raid siren blares out across the city and they get back in the ships to investigate. Once in the air, they see a large fleet of well over 50 plain black ships are approaching. they are not police or military vessels yet are, from appearances, seemingly a match for the military vessels.

Falko scouts ahead to count the ships, then returns to pass on the rough figure. He then maneuvers himself to flank the fleet before striking out with a large lightning bolt that downs 2 ships. He also destroys a third by making the air pressure within one ship's envelope too high, which blows it apart.

Julius flies forward and boards 3 ships one after the other. He destroys them by drawing up large spikes of rock from the ground below. He then uses the rock pillar to leap back onto his ship where he fires a full broadside at the enemy.

Reginald manages to board one of the larger ships, which he then destroys by firing an explosive round into the envelope.

Alex begins to man one of the ''Raptor'''s autocannons and shoots down a ship while he urges Fergus to bring the other weapons online.

The enemy begins to return fire, though mainly against the military vehicles attacking the other flank. Weapons far more advanced than those used by the military are being used by the enemy. Among these is a weapon that fires a wave of white-hot fire that burns down 5 ships at once.

Reginald fires a group of cannons that shoot out a cone of flames which destroys several ships but risks his own ship's safety as the pressure gauge for the weapons begins to show high readings.

It becomes clear that they are outnumbered and the military ships are outclassed but they have the strategic advantage. The group is not outclassed but only because of their powers or, in the case of Reginald and Gebbert, their inventions.

As the battle continues, Fergus boards and destroys 2 ships, which set of a chain reaction that ends up destroying around 8 ships. He jumps back on to the ''Raptor''. The military vessels are inspired by this and renew their efforts.

Falko continues destroying what he can through hit-and-run attacks.

Gebbert has meanwhile been struggling in the ''Osprey'' as he can not aim the weapons due to them not being automatic. He is forced to fire wild broadsides which have some success and destroy a few ships.

The ground defenses finally kick in and more ships are destroyed by tracer fire, though most of the salvo's are ineffective as they are better suited to destroying lighter pirate vessels.

Eventually, only their 5 ships and 2 military dreadnoughts remain, with about 15 enemy ships left. Some of the enemy vessels begin to retreat and, due to there still being other ships and the dreadnoughts being too slow to chase them, they manage to get away.