Fantasy Steam and Sand: Steampunk Wild West

[Fishman Lord]

The year was 1799. The French and American revolutions were fresh in the world's minds, and more nations were beginning to demand independence and the abolition of monarchy. But on the stroke of midnight that brought the year 1800, something amazing happened. Massive rifts opened up all over the world, and out poured creatures from the past. Mammoths lived in the north once more, packs of raptors hunted across the desert, and sauropods bigger than imagining roamed the world. This caused chaos around the world, and for 10 years government verged on collapse. This finally ended when Napoleon found a way to tame and militarize the dinosaurs and conquered all of Europe except for Russia. Soon after, the USA rose again as well, as did a British government-in-exile in Canada. By the year 1870, steam technology had developed to the point where mechs and massive airships were common in war, and ironclad ships sailed the seas. Now the year is 1880, and the USA and the rest of the world are strong enough to begin recolonizing the wild earth. Now seven factions all fight for dominance of the Wild West: The French Empire of Europe, The Russian Empire, The U.S.A., The British Government of Canada, The Shogunate of Japan, The Kingdom of Spain and Mexico, and the natives of the area. With all this conflict and tension, the Wild West is the place for adventurers and profiteers. Whether you are a mercenary with your assault gun, a trader with a wagon full of goods, or a hunter out to hunt the dinosaurs and other giant beasts of the land, the West is the place to be.

 

[Fishman Lord]

Denver Outpost, Colorado Territory, U.S.A.


Mark had finally arrived at the meeting place. He tied up his Allosaurus in a safe place and walked to the area. There, other members of the expedition were gathered. Two of the more notable people were a man with what appeared to be some Japanese equipment and a person with a massive arm-pack. Mark had been told to find a scientist from Toronto who would be the main scientist of the expedition to report to, yet he couldn't see him anywhere.


After a bit of searching, he decided to ask someone. He looked at a younger woman and decided she looked normal enough. He approached her and asked her about the scientist. "Excuse me, I'm supposed to report to a scientist from Toronto? Older man? Last name 'Wright'?"


@Sora


@inFamousCheese @Aughto von realname @Winged Destiny @ChazGhost @Sizniche @Huor Spinks @Alushey


We can begin! Yeah!

 

[Sora]

Agnes Wright



"Ah yes, that would be me! Except maybe for the older man part." Agnes chirped. She had just been checking the letter her father gave her, as it has been originally mailed to him, where the names and occupations of all participating explorers were listed. Checking them all off was a bit of a pain, seeing as how she hasn't slept all night due to excitement. This whole expedition was practically her dream come true.


"You see, father hut himself in an untimely accident, so of course the privilege of exploration fell to me! I'm Agnes Wright, and you are..." She quickly pulled up the list of participants. She already crossed off Gravedigger as the man in mechanical suit is hard to miss. Doctor was also quite identifiable. However the fact that not all explorers were present and some haven't even confirmed their arrival made finding the name a bit more difficult.


"WAIT! Wait, don't tell me, I'll guess..." Her green eyes moved back to the parchment while she absentmindedly scratched her messy hair bun. "Okay, you're either Mark Winberri or Rex Scale, which is it?" She grinned as she extended her palm for a handshake.

 

[Sizniche]

Gravedigger


Aside from the leader of the exploration herself, Gravedigger was one of the first to show up. He stood silently as he was making adjustments on his left arm on his mechanical suit, as the motor inside of it keeps choking at the most inconvenient of times. Gravedigger was fiddling around under an opened hatch in the arm, filing down a piston in the engine inside the arm to make it an easier fit in the engine. He does his work without so much as a word, listening to the background noise of the other explorers meeting each other.

 

[ChazGhost]

Rex showed up on his Raptor, which had blood dripping from its mouth. "Stay here and don't eat the others mounts. You had some fresh meat, you should be good for awhile." Rex said demounting the raptor and tied it away from the other mounts.


Rex started looking around at the members of expedition and smiled. "This group seem like a lively bunch" Rex said before starting the search for the doctor he was supposed to meet. By he quickly realized that there wasn't a old man in the group. I geuss the mans late... well scientist are always doing experiments and things... Rex thought to himself before pulling out his flask and take a gulp of his moonshine.

 

[Fishman Lord]

Agnes Wright



"Ah yes, that would be me! Except maybe for the older man part." Agnes chirped. She had just been checking the letter her father gave her, as it has been originally mailed to him, where the names and occupations of all participating explorers were listed. Checking them all off was a bit of a pain, seeing as how she hasn't slept all night due to excitement. This whole expedition was practically her dream come true.


"You see, father hut himself in an untimely accident, so of course the privilege of exploration fell to me! I'm Agnes Wright, and you are..." She quickly pulled up the list of participants. She already crossed off Gravedigger as the man in mechanical suit isn't hard to miss. Doctor was also quite identifiable. However the fact that not all explorers were present and some haven't even confirmed their arrival made finding the name a bit more difficult.


"WAIT! Wait, don't tell me, I'll guess..." Her green eyes moved back to the parchment while she absentmindedly scratched her messy hair bun. "Okay, you're either Mark Winberri or Rex Scale, which is it?" She grinned as she extended her palm for a handshake.

Mark was slightly shocked at this statement, and even more so that this young woman was replacing him. He quickly recovered and replied. "Yes, I'm Mark Winberri. I'm a hunter and can't fight if need be. I hope your father recovers well." Mark noticed another man enter the room and saw him search for someone. "Well, I suppose I should meet some of the other people."


Mark walked up to the new man. "Saw you looking for something. If you're looking for our scientist, he wasn't able to come. His daughter's over there. She'll be taking his place." Mark pointed at Agnes.


@Sora @ChazGhost

 

[ChazGhost]

Rex capped his flask and chuckled a little. "Well that explains why I couldn't find an old man, because he isn't here." Rex said before looking the female scintist up and down for a second. "Well she'll probly be able handle the trip better then her father. Ohh were my manners, my names Rex Scale" Rex said putting his hand out.


@Fishman Lord

 

[Sora]

Agnes Wright

"Thank you very much." She replied smoothly, although his shocked expression bugged her mind. She was aware of the fact that she wasn't the 'real deal'. People must have expected her father, a well-known man with plenty of experiences. Regardless, she pushed the thought to the back of her mind. The group had to be assembled, the names had to be called and the objective stated before their departure. So far the experts of various fields who had been called out to chart the west were all scattered around the area.


A young well-built male approached her and she couldn't help but secretly check him out from head to toe. One surely has to know their subject before conducting any experiments.


"Pleasure meeting you Rex, I am as stated earlier Agnes Wright, head scientist for this trip." Pausing she looked around. Surely others would need an explanation as well. "Excuse me for a moment." She stated in her typical heavy British accent before turning to her faithful mount.


"Para, I'm going to need you to signal."


[media]



[/media]
Soon enough the trumpet-like sound emitted from the giant lizard as a signal to everyone around. Although fumbling with her papers Agnes collected the courage and tried to keep a clam, proper posture.


"Excuse me, ladies and gentleman! My name is Agnes Wright and I am here in the stead of Richard Wright, who I believe you have all been expecting. So... um, yes I am the scientist... Anyhow - may I please ask you to respond and tell me your occupation when I call out your name? We'll also need to format a group in a way, but I don't really... But that shall wait until later! Oh and also you must tell me whether or not you have a dinosaur, that is absolutely crucial!" With that she began calling out the individuals gathered...

 

[Aughto von realname]

Johnathan walked into the outpost haggard and covered in dust save for his prized hat of course. He looked around the outpost then at the papers he taken from a carcass he passed on his way to the outpost taking note of the surname wright that appeared numerous times in the documents he had on hand though he wished to look further into the businesses of whomever wright is He was suddenly interrupted by the roaring of a Parasaurolophus. Aside from completely ruining his train of thought the strange beast also drew in his attention allowing him to hear the name wright. He walked over to the group of individuals that surrounded the strange beast and awaited for Agnes to finish addressing the motley collection of hunters and scientists around her.

 

[Sizniche]

Gravedigger


"Gravedigger," Agnes read from her list.


"Gravedigger, Mechanical Engineer, no dinosaur," He responds to the role call, still tweaking his arm's engine. His voice would be completely silenced by his mask had it not been for a voice recorder and playback system working on a similar principle to the mechanical phonograph cylinder, playing his voice back on a slight delay outside of his mask. When he speaks, it sounds like you're listening to him on a record.


He puts a few finishing touches on the arm's engine, then stands up and tests the arm. He then glanced at the new arrival, covered in dust with the exception of his hat. "Hey, uh, who's that guy?"





@Sora @Aughto von realname

 

[ChazGhost]

"My names Rex Scale. I'm a professional big game hunter , sometimes bounty hunter, and a bit of an expert on dinosaurs and other wildlife. And I also have a red and black Raptor, but don't worry I keep it well fed" Rex said grinning when his name was called. After speaking he opened his flask up again and drank some more. "Anyone want a sip?" Rex offered.

 

[Aughto von realname]

"Johnathan, Johnathan McCullin and I have a paper some papers from one Mr. or Ms." Johnathan turned to gravedigger and noted his rather large arm-pack along with his gasmask which to him was impractical as the lighter ones were cheaper and easier to carry in Johnathan's opinion.


"Also why do you have an arm pack and can I get a cheaper and lighter version of your arm pack" He held his hands out and awaited for Gravdigger to shake hands with the man or woman with his or her real hands rather than the mechanical ones as the size suggest they could easily crush his.


@Sizniche

 

[Sizniche]

Gravedigger


"Sorry, I'll pass," Gravedigger says to Rex, "I mean, I assume it's alcohol the way you're offering it, and, as a rule, I don't drink," he turns to the walk-in, "Oh, well hello, Johnathan," he walks up to shake the man's hand, "Funny thing, these are actually my own design. They are specially designed to have several times more lifting power than the lightweight ones. They can lift a mid-sized steam engine along with its furnace, as that's something I often found myself doing in my work. Each hand actually has its own engine, which is why it's so large," Gravedigger points to the exhausts on each arm as well as the pack, "Without this kind of power, I probably would've blown up on a steamboat with a defective engine years ago." Gravedigger laughs nervously.


@ChazGhost @Aughto von realname

 

[Aughto von realname]

"No drinks for me either I've been sober for thirty one years and I'm trying to see how far I can remain as such" Said Johnathan to the bounty hunter offering drinks.


"I see, maybe you should patent that stuff and start selling them as I know a lot of venture capitalist moaning about the inefficiency of ship hands loading cargo onto ships but I digress. so do you know a Mr. Or Ms. Wright around here, I found papers meant to be for her off a dead man on my way here says something about an exploration of sorts." He handed the papers over to Gravedigger in hopes that he knows who this person is as the last time he did this for anyone he had to travel across the continent of america to find the owner of said papers.

 

[Sizniche]

Gravedigger


"Oh boy. She's the one doing role call right now, so... you might want to tell her she's going to be short a crewman," Gravedigger says. He then looks around. "Ah, I think you may have found our poor, unfortunate navigator. You may want to tell her, otherwise she'll be in for a shock. Navigators for this region are hard to find, and I doubt she'll be pleased to hear ours is lying in the dust somewhere."





@Aughto von realname

 

[Aughto von realname]

"yeah, Maps drawn for this area are terrible to navigate along with the fact that it's much more safer to work at sea than around here kinda makes navigating for ships look much more enticing than navigating for explorations deep in land. However I am curious how much much is she paying?" He placed the papers into his backpack seeing as how most of it was probably just proof of identity or some other nonsense.


@Sizniche

 

[Sora]

Agnes

Agnes studied the flask in Rex's hand with caution. She wanted to, but she knew she shouldn't. Same with gushing over his dinosaur. Her brows furrowed as a small huff of defeat escaped her lips. "Not... Not now, maybe later, thakyouverymuch." She mustered before turning her attention back to calling names. In secret she added little hearts to the names of everyone who stated they owned a dinosaur. No doubt those babies need to be checked out!


"Tobias Grant!" She studied the group only to get no response from the meager crowd gathered around. "Mr. Grant?! Navigator I believe, local around here... is he around?" Agnes fixed a loose strand of hair behind her ear, restlessly scanning the area. A gunman could go missing, sure, but without a navigator they'd be done for.


@Aughto von realname

 

[Sizniche]

Gravedigger


"Well, now would probably be the time to ask her, as I only know what she's paying me as the engineer. Navigators are far more in demand," Gravedigger says to Johnathan, "I hope you got navigating skills, walk-in." Gravedigger then nudges the man forward with a metal arm.


@Aughto von realname

 

[Aughto von realname]

"Mr.Grant is dead Ms.Wright and these are for you correct? Also how much are you paying for a navigator as I may be able to stand in for him" He walked over to Agnes after taking out the paper out of his bag then promptly handed said paper to Agnes whilst he tried his best to ignore the dinosaur as he secretly wanted to run his hands over the Dinosaurs large Crest.


@Sora

 

[Sora]

"Dead? Seriously? But haven't even begun!" Agnes gave an exasperated sigh before grumbling something about a bet and having to pay her father. "Well, you either killed him or found him, so yes, Sir, we do require a substitute navigator." She took the papers from his hand, which only confirmed his words of Grant's absence.


"The pay fair, 2 per person a day and the group gets extra 5 for every flora or fauna and 10 specifically for every new dinosaur species we can discover. If we manage to chart the whole place, however... well, let's say some very wealthy people want to know what the west looks like. A lot. Everyone gets paid when we're done. In the meantime, we get all supplies and funding needed for travel. I hope you are a man of your words and can truly provide what you say you can, sir...? " She ended with a question, extending her hand to the stranger. Sure, he seemed like an odd man, but who in the currently assembled group didn't.

 

[ChazGhost]

Rex shrugged when everyone said they didn't want any of his moonshine. "Well then later if anyone wants any Ill be happy to share" Rex said closing his flask and put it in his pocket.


Meanwhile his raptor was eyeing the other mounts and licking the blood around his mouth. If it wasn't for him being tied down he would be hunting.

 

[Aughto von realname]

"No I found him quite dead on the side of the road about fifty kilometers away bearing forty five degrees southwest at an elevated height of twenty kilometers above sea level and yes I can provide the necessary skills however you must provide said tools as There isn't much work around here for navigators really despite the lack of competition." He firmly grasped Agnes' hands and shook it though he gave her a dirty look for accusing him of murder and questioning his abilities as a navigator.


"Oh and my name Johnathan McCullen and I have studied under Gram Hamilton, Served as a navigator on the ship USS Umbrella, and I can make a better sandwich than you ever will in your life, Pleased to meet you." He let's go of Agnes' hands then went off to join the rest of the group.


@Sora

 

[Sizniche]

Gravedigger


"Huh, USS Umbrella? You used to be a navigator in the navy?" Gravedigger asks Johnathan, "I've always wanted to see the engines in one of those new battleships. Well, by always I mean for five or so years; that's how long I've been an engineer. What are US navy ships like?"


@Aughto von realname

 

[Aughto von realname]

"Yeah I served in a couple of ships but the last one I served with was the umbrella and I've been in the navy for twenty years." Johnathan stopped for a moment to remove his hat and wipe the sweat off his forehead. "also the newer ones are much larger and easier to get lost in also the engine room is a bloody nightmare to work in because it's always boiling hot in there but overall they're pretty good though."


@Sizniche

 

[Sizniche]

Gravedigger


"Well, that's an engine room on a steam-powered boat for ya," he says,"I can recall many a day when I sweat so much in the engine room of the Missouri Jewel that my fireproof suit stuck to my skin. That's why I always got to remember to dry out my suit as often as possible. Anyway, we've got a long trip ahead, so I can check your firearms for you if you want," he asks Johnathan.


@Aughto von realname