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Post by missyfan45 on Aug 26, 2020 21:49:54 GMT
we all know that the 3rd doctor and 9th doctor visited it but theres many more to the story, plus a tsunami that was arguably more deadlier happened after that as well.
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Catsmate
13th Incarnation
It's complicated....
Posts: 3,749
Favourite Doctors: Thirteen, Six, Five, Two, Eight, Eleven, Twelve, One, Nine...
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Post by Catsmate on Aug 26, 2020 23:09:39 GMT
Hmmm, it's on my list of ideas for 'The Nemo Legacy'. What if the eruption wasn't a natural event but was assisted?
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Catsmate
13th Incarnation
It's complicated....
Posts: 3,749
Favourite Doctors: Thirteen, Six, Five, Two, Eight, Eleven, Twelve, One, Nine...
Traits: Eccentric, Insatiable Curiousity.
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Post by Catsmate on Aug 27, 2020 10:43:40 GMT
OK, I as see it (and if anyone has other ideas please post them) there are five ways to use Krakatoa in a Who game.
Firstly one nitpick: 'Krakatoa' is the name of the island, still there albeit much diminished. The three 'cones' were Perboewatan, Danan and Rakata, each believed to be part of a connected system of underground/underwater magma chambers and passages.
1. Stopping it. How do you stop a volcano of such size and power? It'd either require a lot of engineering (and be very obvious) or some serious ultra-tech.
Perhaps someone tried and failed? There was plenty of warning. The eruption of 26AUG1883 was presaged by a series of precursor events; steam venting from Perboewatan on 19MAY was followed by ash clouds and the sounds of explosions. After a quiescent phase eruptions restarted in mid-June (14-17 depending on source); the islands (Krakatoa and the smaller Verlaten to the north-west) were covered in a cloud of choking smoke and ask for five days. When this was cleared by a change in wind two columns of ash were seen.
During this period small eruptions, earthquakes and tidal waves were common; causing problems for shipping. By July the effects were felt over a hundred kilometers; Earth tremors, tidal surges and floating masses of pumice.
Early in AUG1883 a Dutch1 engineer and cartographer named Ferzenaar landed on the island. His report summarises as:
- There were three ash columns being continually emitted from the three volcanic cones
- He counted eleven other fissures emitting steam.
- There was nothing alive on the islands. The steam, ash and gases had wiped out all vegetation and trees2.
- The island was covered in a half-metre layer of ash2.
- There were almost continual earth tremors.
- He recommended no-one should land on or approach the island3.
So what if someone decided that a soon-to-blow volcano was the perfect place to test his latest invention? A Mad Science device that drains the thermal energy from lava. Of course it goes terribly wrong and leads to the catastrophe of 26AUG1883. Probably because the PCs meddled.
2. Saving someone Most of the 36,000 or so people killed by the eruption died on the coasts of western Java and Sumatra, mainly drowned or crushed by the resulting tidal waves, though hot and toxic gas clouds and falling chunks of volcanic rock killed many. The main tsunami was about forty metres high when it struck the coast (and washed over smaller islands) and destroyed about 165 coastal villages and towns. The Dutch government steamship Berouw (which had been at anchor at Telok Betong) was displaced about 1.5km inland into Sumatra, all 28 crew were killed. Another steamship, the Gouverneur-General Loudon had been anchored nearby, taking shelter. Her master, a Captain Lindeman, took her out to sea, planning to head back to Anyer as it was impossible to land at Telok Betong. By excellent seamanship and luck he and his ship rode out the giant wave.
- Lindeman and the Loudon were no strangers to Krakatoa; in May he's made a lucrative business of taking sightseers to the island.
- His ship had several hundred passengers among which "all categories were represented". These included three hundred "chain boys", prisoners condemned to forced labour in the chain-gang, and about 100 labourers picked up an Anyer.
So what about saving someone? Perhaps a time traveller wants to rescue,or prevent the death, of someone who died as a result of the eruption. Well unless they get there early and have a plan for getting to high ground, and supplies, this will be tricky. The noise of the explosive eruption sent people running in panic.
3. Causing it The darker option is that Krakatoa wasn't supposed to erupt in AUG1883 but that someone, or more likely a group deliberately intervened to cause the event. This would be no trivial task, though far easier than stopping the eruption.
It is generally held that Krakatoa blew because of a chain of events.
- The initial events, in May and June, were symptomatic of the collapse or subsidence of the island into a hollow magma chamber that had underlayed the island since its formation in a previous eruption.
- The first of 'main events' of 26-27 August was caused by either a further, rapid, subsidence of the volcano or the entry of a large amount of sea water through vents under the sea. Either way major flooding occurred and the contact of sea water and magma caused the first explosions4.
- The water cooled the magma sufficiently for a solid crust to form. This 'bottled up' the magma for a few hours until the main explosion, of about 200 megatonnes effect.
Maybe the initial events were down to some super-science device, a giant digging machine or just lots of explosives?
Now why would anyone want to do this? A science experiment on a grand scale? Or was the explosion actually planned to be far worse? Globally the ash and gases produced caused an average temperature drop of between 0.4 and 0.7°C. Did someone want the effect to be far worse? s (interaction of ground water and magma). seawater to cool the magma enough for it to crust over and produce a "pressure cooker" effect that was relieved only when explosive pressures were reached.
4. Tourism. Maybe someone just wants to watch the fireworks (I'd recommend and aircraft). They could be sight-seeing time travellers, jaded Dark Tourists who're there to watch the destruction or scientists out to study and document the events.
Whatever reason they're there (and there's no reason for just one group) and they have the potential for causing trouble. Do they lose some device or artefact that's souvenired and taken home, only to be discovered decades later to be more than it seems? Do they accidentally meddle in events? Cause someone to survive who shouldn't?
5. Stranded. The classic theme for an early Who story is for the TARDIS to arrive and the party not realise where they arem until it's almost too late. This was used in The Time Tunnel too.
Expect lots of running around and looking fro high ground (though if they're on Krakatoa iitself this won't help).
References and further reading. The Time Tunnel episode episode Crack of Doom was set around the eruption. Eye-witness accounts. Simon Winchester's book Krakatoa - The Day the World Exploded is the definitive work on the eruption, its background and consequences. A very useful reference. Live Science The Dark Tourism website has a piece though from a modern day perspective. Pillar to Post has a piece, The Blast Heard Around the World, Scientific American.
Comments? Ideas? Suggestions? Is anyone particular;y interested in developing one of these scenario ideas?
1. Remember Krakatoa was part of the Dutch East Indies at the time, administered from Jakarta.
2. This is a detail often omitted from media regarding the main eruption; by 23AUG Krakatoa was no longer a lush tropical island.
3. The sort of sound, sensible, advice that no PC would take.
4. Technically called a 'phreatic explosion'.
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