Tears Across the Dream-lanes

Dates: July 20 – August 3, 1936

Location: San Francisco, Germany, Tibet, Shamballa

Player Characters: The Silver Ghost, The Lotus Avenger, John Philmore

NPCs: Rena Anders, Gabrielle DeBerardinis-Sabre, Marius Del’vach’ar

Synopsis

Rena Anders comes to Robert Kane with a tale of a boy calling out to her in her dreams. Under hypnosis, it’s revealed that the dreams are the psychic sendings of a child from another planet, whose parents, peaceful ob-servers of humanity, had been murdered by the Nazis seeking their advanced technology.

The Silver Ghost, Anders, a young playboy named John “Phoenix” Philmore, and a half-American, half-Japanese scientist/adventurer known as the Lotus Avenger travel to the German/Swiss border, where they rescue the child Marius and the owner of the chateau where he was held, Gabrielle DeBerardinis-Sabre (mother to the late Evan Sabre).

Pursued by the Nazis, the company flees to Lhasa, Tibet, where they elude a couple of spies (one German, one Japanese) and take the boy through a hidden gateway to the extradimensional realm of Shamballa. The Shamballans agree to give the boy sanctuary, but in order to leave the realm with their memories intact, each of the other travellers must face a test of integrity — to either face their greatest fear or deny their greatest desire.

They all succeed, and return to Tibet for one last confrontation with the spies before they return home. Gabrielle emigrates to America, settling in Seattle near Daniel Evans.

Elements of Note

Gabrielle DeBerardinis-Sabre and Marius Del’vach’ar make their first appearances in this adventure, as does John “Phoenix” Philmore. This is also the first time that the characters learn of and travel to Shamballa, through the black granite gates.

GM’s Comments

This was the first of the truly epic Chamber stories, an adventure that took the characters almost literally around (and beyond!) the world as well as taking a number of gaming sessions to play out fully. It was also the first time alien beings had appeared in the game. 

There were a myriad of cool moments that stick in my mind about this adventure. They included big ones — like using magnesium tape explosives to open a cliffside cell and rescue prisoners — and quiet but emotionally intense ones, as each of the PC’s confronted their fears and desires in order to win their release from Shamballa.

I wanted a roller-coaster ride for this story, and I think I got it.