[Scenario Seed] Pride and Prejudice and Silurians

[starkllr]

Inspired by Catsmate's latest fantastic post, I HAD to do it...

The TARDIS arrives at Lyme Regis sometime during the social season in 1802 or so. It could be totally random, or it might be a deliberate visit, with the Doctor (or whoever the Time Lord is in your campaign) taking his companions on a little historical visit to see/meet Jane Austen (either the Time lord is doing it to satisfy the curiosity of the companions, or to educate them, whichever suits the individual characters).

At first, it's a pleasant enough and harmless enough trip. They do in fact meet Ms. Austen, and doubtless there will be plenty of puns and allusions to novels she has yet to write. Then a very familiar series of events begins...

The Barnett family, composed of the patient Mr. Barnett, the somewhat hysterical Mrs. Barnett, and their five daughters, arrives in town. Mrs. Barnett is obsessed with marrying off her daughters to suitable (in other words wealthy) men. And it turns out that there is an extremely wealthy, and very mysterious bachelor in town. Mr. Darcy has a large estate, 50,000 pounds a year, and he is never, ever seen without the cloak and hood that completely obscures his face. He also never, ever removes his gloves.

Local rumor has it that Mr. Darcy was disfigured due to some accident in his youth, and cannot even bear to see his own visage in a mirror, but it's a very dodgy rumor. Nobody knows what the accident might have been, or when it might have happened, although everyone has their own pet theory. Nobody knows much else about him, either - his daily activities outside of the social calendar are a complete mystery. He also doesn't seem to have any close friends, and any questions about his past lead to dead ends. And he has a very distant and sarcastic manner. He looks down on pretty much everyone and is occasionally heard to mutter about how difficult it is to spend his days among "all these wretched, tiresome mammals." Still, he's worth 50,000 pounds a year, so all the mystery and his misanthropic attitude don't hurt his social standing one bit.

One of the Barnett daughters, Miss Eliza, takes an instant and intense dislike to Mr. Darcy (we all know what that means!), while her mother tries desperately to make a match between them. Who cares if she'll never see his face, as long as he's still got the 50,000 pounds a year?

Obviously, Mr. Darcy is a Silurian. The backstory:

Five years ago, on a solitary walk along the coast, the original, human Mr. Darcy happened upon a Silurian Hibernation Cave that had been partially uncovered in a rockfall. Hearing a voice that sounded distressed, Mr. Darcy charged in, despite having no idea what he was walking in to. Most of the hibernation modules were smashed beyond repair, their occupants dead, but one module still functioned with its occupant fighting to free himself amidst fire, arcing electricity and foul chemicals. Mr. Darcy pulled the Silurian free, but was mortally injured in the process.

With his dying breath, Mr. Darcy begged the Silurian to look after his young sister, Georgianna, who would have no one to protect her with him gone. Impressed that this mammal was willing to sacrifice his own life to save him, the Silurian agreed, and soon decided that the only way to honor Mr. Darcy's dying wish was to take on his identity and live as a human. Since all of his fellow Silurians in the cave were dead, and the hibernation machinery was destroyed, he didn't have many other good options anyway.

Back in Lyme Regis, where the story goes from there is up to the GM. It can play out like the Austen book, with the players helping Eliza to come to respect and even love Mr. Darcy, and convincing her to overlook the fact that he's not actually human at all. The story could end with them marrying and her agreeing to help keep his secret, even from her own family.

Or, the secret could be revealed, perhaps at a ball. There would of course be panic and chaos, and the players would have to find some way to save Mr. Darcy from terrified and enraged villagers.

Or, of course, the players might decide to dig into the many mysteries of Mr. Darcy and then have to decide what to do when they learn the truth.

[misterharry]

Love it. Now what's the plot of Sense and Sensibility and Sontarans?

[starkllr]

Jun 8, 2016 18:21:41 GMT misterharry said:

Love it. Now what's the plot of Sense and Sensibility and Sontarans?

Hmm...

I think it starts much as the Austen novel does. Mrs. Dashwood and her daughters are in dire straits after the death of Mr. Dashwood as all of his estate will pass to his son, leaving them with nothing to live on.

They visit Mrs Dashwood's cousin, and there they meet the dashing Colonel Brandon and his odd, unnaturally short military aide, Major Steele. The Major expresses confusion at the sad situation of the Dashwood sisters, and comments that if humans reproduced by cloning rather than inefficient, chaotic animal mating, such tragedies could be easily avoided.

Needless to say, the Major is a Sontaran. He was lost in the Vortex during one of the many failed Sontaran time travel experiments, and found himself in early 19th century England. As the British military was one of the strongest armed forces on the planet, and in constant action all over Europe, and since he had no way to return to his own world or time, the Major found a place in the Royal Army. It's not quite the same as battling Rutans for the glory of Sontar, but at least he gets into plenty of fights.

When the caddish Willoughby sets his sights on young Marianne Dashwood, and Colonel Brandon tells the sad tale of how Willoughby defiled his own young ward years ago, Major Steele does the only thing that a Sontaran could possibly do under the circumstances: he calls out Willoughby for a duel, and slaughters the man without mercy.

Young Marianne is strangely attracted to this forceful, honor-bound "man" and makes it her goal to marry him. Obviously, Marriane's feelings complicate things for everyone...