StoneCutters Island

Of the myriad of islands that surround Hong Kong, only Hong Kong Island itself and Stonecutters Island are British territory. The latter was ceded to Great Britain in 1859 as part of the Convention of Peking that signalled the end of the Second Opium War.

Just a mile offshore from the Kau Lung Peninsular, this barren and uninhabited island has been intensely quarried to provide stone for all the building work about the colony. It is of little interest in the game, and mentioned here for two reasons. As mentioned above, it is the only island (other than Hong Kong itself) that is British territory rather than Chinese. And secondly, because, in the era and world from which Tom Olam originates (or so he tells me), land reclamation has resulted in its being no longer an island but a part of the Kau Lung peninsular.

Lamma

Also known as Pok Liu Chau, Lamma Island is almost uninhabited and provides an excellent hideaway for Captain Harlock, his ship The Rime and his crew of seven men. The crew comprises sailors of mixed nationalities who have jumped ship, and joined Harlock because he promised to make them rich. For the sake of simplicity, these men are average in all abilities, with the exception of the two stokers who work in the boiler room and are of Good Physique (). They are petty criminals, with a desire for easily-gained riches, but with little stomach for a fight. All of them are wanted for some crime or other in Hong Kong.

Figure 46 - Captain Harlock

The self-styled Captain Harlock (of mixed Portuguese and Chinese descent) has a secret hideaway on Lamma Island, from where he demands his ransom from the China traders of Hong Kong. The Captain is a mad scientist, who has invented a freeze ray capable of turning the waters of the sea to ice thick enough to crush the hull of the wooden trading ships used by the hongs. Unless the hongs pay him a significant sum of money, he is threatening to cripple and sink their ships.

Captain Harlock is driven by greed, but he (like his crew) is basically a coward at heart, and has no desire to be hunted for murder for the rest of his life. Some of the Chinese merchants have already paid protection money to ensure the safety of their fleets, but none of the large Western hongs has acceded to his demands. Harlock has yet to fulfil his threats, and really does not want to. The thought of sailors being drowned as a result of his sinking their ship worries his conscience. So far, the risk that he might harm somebody has outweighed his greed.

If the Western hongs continue to refuse to pay, he knows that the time is coming when it will be necessary to demonstrate that his threats are to be taken seriously. His crew have no scruples about taking a human life as long as there is no risk to themselves, and are getting restless as the weeks pass and they are no richer as they were promised. They are pressing the captain to go after one of Jardine's ships. Making an example of the Princely Hong will surely bring all the other trading companies in line, and convince them that paying the ransom is in their best interests.

Captain Harlock is not a black-hearted villain. If the ambitions of his crew can be thwarted, perhaps by capturing them and returning them to the authorities on Hong Kong Island, he could be persuaded to reform. Although the characters would need to keep his ego suitably boosted, the captain, with his Frost Ship The Rime, could also be a useful ally. Conversely, he could bea great danger in the future if he offered his allegiance to Anarchists, the World Crime League, or the Steam Lords.

The Frost Ship Rime

At first glance The Rime, Captain Harlock's Ship, appears no more than a small steam-powered cargo vessel. In writing up the description of the ship in his journal, it should be noted that Sir Sebastian is unfamiliar with maritime jargon and does not use nautical terminology. I make no apology for using his own words here, though seafaring readers may despair of the simplistic and possibly even erroneous description.

'The two holes in the front of the hull, through which one would expect the anchor chains to descend, were in fact nozzles, used to propel a fine spray at high pressure in front of the vessel. This mist was chillingly cold, and a thick sheet of ice formed wherever it touched. When sprayed on the sea, it caused the very water to freeze. Though made of thick iron pipe, and too heavy for a man to manipulate, a series of capstans, gears and winches allowed the nozzles to be targeted within a thirty degree arc to either side of the prow.

At the fore of the Rime's hull, lying under the water and extending below the level of the keel, were two skis. The vessel could push its prow onto the ice created by the Freeze Ray, whereupon the front end would skate across the surface of the ice, breaking the floe as it went but vastly reducing the friction of the water. The stern screws remained in the sea to propel the vessel, and the reduced friction allowed it to travel at speeds in excess of fifty knots. Small bergs of ice remaining in its wake, but melted quickly in the warmth of the South China Sea leaving no evidence for any pursuing vessels to explain the sudden turn of speed.'

Figure 47 - Captain Harlock's Ship, The Rime

If the characters find The Rime at anchor on Lamma Island, then it will be taking on seawater in preparation for a final (non-lethal) demonstration that Captain Harlock hopes will persuade the hongs to reconsider their stance against paying him. He intends to use the Freeze Ray to destroy an almost intact wreck, a vessel grounded in a storm several years ago that could not be refloated. (See 'The Wreck of the Good Ship Hesperus' in the next section of this document.)

Anatomy of a Freeze Ray

The ray works on a simple precept of the science: the relationship between temperature and pressure. A high-pressure stream of liquid focused through a narrow nozzle will cause evaporation with the sudden change in pressure, and a subsequent loss of energy that leads to freezing. The front two cargo compartments of The Rime contain large tanks capable of holding water at extremely high pressures, designed and constructed using a similar technology to that of deep-water submersibles (such as the Captain Nemo's Nautilus). Mighty pumps, powered by the steam turbines of the ship's engines, pressurise this liquid to several atmospheres and stored in the cylindrical tanks until needed.

When the Captain first developed his ray, he encountered some difficulties because the freezing point of salt water was far lower than that of pure water, and the energy required to supercool saline was much higher than could be generated by the converter. Furthermore, salt water proved corrosive to the valves. On the Rime, Harlock's primary supply of water was the sea, so it proved necessary to desalinate the water before converting it to ice. In a tank located in a compartment adjacent to the boiler room, seawater is heated resulting in evaporation. The resultant steam is used to power the ship's engines, and then condensed once more as pure water for use in the Freeze Ray. The salt residue from evaporation is discarded over the side of the vessel.

Lantau

Lantau Island is also known as Tai Yue Shan or Big Island Mountain, and is actually larger and has higher peaks than Hong Kong Island. It was a staging post for the China Traders before the cession of Hong Kong to Great Britain, but was largely abandoned after 1841. Despite its size, with the exception of a few small, isolated monasteries, the island is almost uninhabited.

	Figure 48 - British Troops on Lantau Island	Figure 49 - A British Barrack Ship at Anchor

This has made it an excellent base for the British forces awaiting the Governor's orders to attack Kwang-Tung. The army shelters in makeshift camps in the lower slopes of the mountains while the fleet rides at anchor hidden in the rocky bays about the Eastern shore of the island. If anybody does discover the troops bivouacked on the island, then the official story is that they are training; but so far nobody has learned of their presence.

Actually, that last statement is not quite true: in the months before Christmas, Sir Sebastian spent some time exploring the islands and discovered the forces based here, but was able to avoid being noticed by the guard patrols. It was the presence of entire army brigades secreted on the island that prompted his series of coded messages, which the characters may have found in his trunk at Victoria Apartments, to Sir Jeffrey Manders in London. Though all the regiments received orders sending them here, the Foreign and War Offices in Whitehall are unaware of their location, believing them to be in other parts of the Empire. Only a very few of the senior officers are aware of the Governor's plot, and know that what they are doing is illegal. However, they also know that if the plan succeeds all irregularities will be overlooked and they will be considered heroes.

Should the characters encounter a patrol on the island, or a navy vessel in the waters off the coast, this could cause them considerable problems. Initially a patrol will just try to send the characters away. If it is necessary, they are under orders to take any intruders prisoner and bring them to their commander. If this happens, the characters will be passed up the chain of command, until eventually they meet Admiral Sir Charles Cortauld. The Admiral will be unwilling to allow anybody to leave the island with news of the military presence until the war against China has commenced. If the characters have been asking about Sir Sebastian (Captain Thomas) in Hong Kong, then he will certainly know about their interest and will not be permitted to leave. Foreign characters may even be accused of spying. Escape from the midst of the British encampment will not be easy, and will certainly take time. The characters should realise that they have a deadline at this point, and may get worried that they will run out of time. It can be useful to play on the sense of paranoia that this generates.

Cheung Chau

The name means Long Island in Chinese, although it is only very small compared with Lamma or Lantau. Cheung Chau has been home to fishermen for over 2500 years. In the South-west corner of the Island is the cave hideaway of Cheung Po Tsai, the infamous pirate who has been preying on shipping in the waters around Hong Kong for several years, and has so far managed to avoid capture. The island is located just a few hundred yards offshore from the South-Eastern corner of Lantau. It is ironic that the British fleet is so close to the most wanted man in the South China Seas with neither realising that the other is there.

Pirates in the Islands

Figure 50 - Cheung Po Tsai, the Pirate Chief

Cheung Po Tsai and his gang of pirates have a reputation as vicious and merciless cut-throats. If (as the host) you are running this adventure over several gaming sessions, then a fight against the pirates can be an interesting diversion from the main plot. If you are running the adventure as a single (marathon) gaming session, it is better if the characters do not meet up with Cheung Po Tsai and his men.

Hunting down the pirates, even with the resources of the British fleet, could be an adventure in itself. Cheung Po Tsai has all the cunning of a fox and the luck of the devil, which is how he has been able to operate so successfully to date. It also helps that he and his men know the hundreds of islands in these waters. They have hiding places everywhere, can avoid the sandbanks that would trap a larger vessel and threaten the inhabitants of the remote islands to ensure their silence.

A Joyful Reunion

When the dramatic characters return at last to Hong Kong Island, they will find Sir Sebastian ensconced once more in the Victoria Apartments. Though there is still a price of two hundred guineas on his head, the investigation that the Chief of Police, Edgar Sinders (see the paragraph about 'The Police Station') is currently undertaking are causing some apprehension to those who might otherwise have considered trying to earn the bounty.

Doubtless the characters have already learned much of what Sir Sebastian discovered concerning the Governor's plot, but this would be the appropriate point to exchange stories and bring the characters up-to-date on anything that they have missed. What they will not know is that Sir Sebastian contacted Sir Jeffrey Manders in London while he was in Peking, informing him of the situation. So the British Government is now fully aware of the Governor's illegal actions concerning the forged orders for troop movements, and a senior representative from the Foreign Office is already on the way to Hong Kong to replace Sir Robert.

Of course, the characters may have informed the Foreign Office (Mycroft Holmes) themselves, either directly or indirectly through Sir Jeffrey Manders or other contacts. This would serve as independent verification of Sir Sebastian's own telegram to Sir Jeffrey, and would certainly be more up-to-date information. Given the severity of the situation, the Foreign Office representative might be sent to Hong Kong using sorcerous means, but the time difference between Britain and Hong Kong means that it will still take two or three days. It would appear that the characters and Sir Sebastian must simply keep the peace between Britain and China until the new caretaker governor arrives.

Sir Sebastian Thomas

Athletics [GD] Charisma [GR] Connections [GR] Education [GD] Fisticuffs [GD] Perception [GD] Physician [PR] Performance [GD] Stealth [GR] Marksmanship [PR] Social Graces [GD] Tinkering [GR]

Sir Sebastian knows that the Chinese are not willing to make any further concessions of territory to Great Britain. Unlike during the First and Second Opium Wars when Britain faced only the local militias, this time the vast Chinese army will defend Kwang-Tung, backed by all the dragons of the Empire.

It is not certain who will actually win this war. Both armies are large, but although the Chinese have dragons on their side the army has not seen combat in many years, while the British Army has seasoned troops and regiments of Faerie and Sorcerers. However, regardless of the eventual outcome of the battle, the conflict will seriously damage both nations.