Lets finish up selecting scrips so we can get underway!

- Edmund

Everyone except Mark gets to start with all their thematic batteries charged by one level.

Here is a (somewhat expanded) version of the situation abstract presented on the Engineering sheet.

//The R.V.S.S. Iris is in the East London docks, undergoing a refit and the installation of a Babbage engine, Plans to relaunch the famous vessel under the flag of British Solar Exploratory Ventures, Ltd. hit a snag when the B.S.E.V. Board of Directors is approached by Sir Quentin Winston Smythe-Peabody, MP, with an offer to undercut the Merchant Marine Association and supply cheap crew for the vessel. This upsets the current crewmembers who have been hired on, as rumors circulate that B.S.E.V. may terminate their services in order to hire cheaper labor from Smythe-Peabody. Negotiations between the Merchant Association, Sir Smythe-Peabody, and B.S.E.V. are currently heated.

The Babbage engine being installed is of a revolutionary (some might say crackpot) design, created by the late Horace Faustus Coppersmith. Rumors abound about the supposed capabilities (and shortcomings) of the device, and it is well known that several industrialists, including Smythe-Peabody, as well as the governments of France and Belgium, offered the Coppersmith estate substantial sums for the plans, only to be turned down flat by the inventor's notorious bluestocking daughter. Much rides on the success or failure of the engine, in particular the future of Horace's sister, the widow Diana Glimmerfield, who recently lost her modest savings through the unfortunate combination of bad investments in the funds, and a robbery of her estate.

Rumors have begun to circulate of a new disease beginning to spread through London's poorer quarters. Venusian Pulmonary Disequilibrim, a disease formerly unknown on earth, has caused a number of illnesses and a few deaths. The Crown, fearing an epidemic, has announced that it will grant royal title to whoever can discover a cure.//

I decided to focus on the thematic batteries of the characters when engineering the first situation, since it would a) put the action squarely in areas that characters were interested in exploring, and b) it would give us a chance to practice a lot with thematic batteries.

I'll post the Situation Engineering Sheet as soon as it is finished.

The Funny Proper Name Generator suggests:
Jeffrey Nat Checklebury
David Douglas Sisslelock
Graham Emmett Bemmertvtch
Lance Denny Bemmertutch
Mark Troy Mabblefield
Leander Logan Clellerway
Martin Dennis Drocklebanks
Felix Alex Bapperwell
Gene Bradley Brookstock
Thaddeus Chester Bennerkvd
Felix Scott Bennerkud
Michael Christopher Smallgold
Cedric Ryan Munderbury
Jonas Deuteromy Noddlespear
Willis Franklin Pugglehvt
Stephen Robert Pugglehet
Willis Duane Paddlekvtch
Alan Stuart Paddlekotch
Toby Arthur Drollergold

I vote for Jonas Deuteromy Noddlespear. ^_^

Amy’s life had its ups and down. Her nearsightedness and enthusiasium compounded by her tendency to become completely absorbed into her current work, often makes Amy appear immodest and slightly daft. Friends and jobs floated unheeded though her life like thick clouds until, there was that little debacle with the Tingamabobulator. That unfortunately, caused the laboratory, most of her friendships, and her career to be abruptly terminated. (Most of her friends were work-friends who did not want to be associated in ANY way with her or the Tingamabobulator.)

Recently, her phenomenal energy and her revolutionary but accurate findings in the areas of geology and biosciences have resulted in semi-forgiveness by the scientific community. At 34 years old, she tearfully ended a five-year romantic relationship with her lab assistant. She has slapped on her snappiest set of goggles and resolved that she would further engulf herself in her work and at least perfect one portion of her life.

Using all of her very limited connections, she was able to secure a position on the British Solar Exploratory Ventures, Ltd. She is not sure if the crew knows about the Tingamabobulator Debacle and she is not going to bring it up. Deeply excited about the potential for fabulous new discoveries depths of space, Amy is ready to give it her all. Space HERE SHE COMES - Make room!

You will pardon my terrible bad manners in arriving late at what amounts to my own party. I humbly beg your forgiveness.

I thank you all for agreeing to participate in this grand experiment known as Full Light, Full Steam! I hope it will be a rewarding and educational experience for us all!

We made great strides in setting things up for our adventure at our last meeting, but some items remain to be done. Chief among them are certain elaborations that must be made on each character prior to the commencement of festivities. Those of you who have access to the rulebook can find a smashing description of this preparatory activity on page one-hundred-and-six, but for those of you who may lack the wherewithal to peruse this useful resource, I shall summarize in brief.

Each player should take the time to elaborate on their character in text or image. You may write a brief history of your character, produce a suitable work of art depicting your character, or both. An important consideration in undertaking this activity is to make reference to your character's thematic batteries in the course of producing your creation. Doing so allows you to charge your thematic batteries by one level each prior to the commencement of play.

Once these creative endeavors have reached their inevitably satisfying conclusion, you should post them here to the wiki in the "In Character" section for all to observe and admire.

I would like the characters to have their background complete within the week. I am currently deeply engrossed in engineering the first situation for your stalwart adventurers, but you may avail yourself of my assistance should there be questions which you need answered.

Thank you all once again for your participation - adventure awaits!

Your Host

Mr. W.H.L. Edmonstone
Director
British Solar Exploratory Ventures, Ltd.

• Octavius A semi-famous ghost ship that lost her crew in the 1760's trying to sail the northwest passage. Naming a ship after her might add a bit to our notorious legendary status.
• Fortune Because that's what merchant ships are looking for
• Trenchant Sounds like a Victorian ship's name, and it means sarcastic, which fits our group well
• Amaranthine An archaic word meaning never-ending, and a cool ship name

I'm a bit of a fan of RSS feeds for forums, especially since I can add the feed as a bookmark in Firefox, in my email client Thunderbird, or add it to my Google home page. This makes it pretty easy to keep abreast of new posts on a forum or Yahoo Group.

I figured out how to do it with WikiDot… it's a little cumbersome setting up, but works nice once it's going.

Here are the steps I took to set up RSS as a bookmark in Firefox:

1. In the upper right corner, pull down the My Account option
2. Select Notifications
3. Select Watched
4. Select RSS Feed

In the text on the RSS Feed screen will be a username and a password. The username will be your WikiDot username. The password will be a random string of numbers and letters. Copy the password.

Now, back at the forum, click on the link next to the RSS icon, and supply the username and password.

If you're using Firefox, it will automatically ask you to save the feed as a bookmark.

If not, you'll get a funny looking page. Copy the URL and use it in your RSS reader (such as Thunderbird).

Clunky, yes. But useful.

I'm here!

Ed & Sophie, thanks for putting this together. I'm looking forward to some fun.

Cheers,
-Mark