Dakota Smith's Oriental Adventures, Part 4: The Lost City

    The board for the "Dakota Smith and the Lost City," containing all of the scratch-built temples I'd made over the last six months, along with an Acheson Creations one

I ran this scenario -- the 4th in a series -- for my Sunday night gaming group about a month ago, and am just now getting around to writing up a battle report. It was crunch time at the end of the school year, so I apologize if the details are hazy. In previous chapters, Dakota Smith and his rival teams of archeologists were hot on the trail of the Portuguese monk, Brother Virigi, who knew the location of the Lost City in the jungles of French Indochina. Rescuing the monk from the cookpot of cannibals, the French archeological team followed his lead to a splendid ruined city, built in the Middle Ages by the Khmer Empire and since lost to time. The other archeologists tracked the French party, and soon came upon the site themselves.

    Dr. Lambert, from the French archeological party, investigates a crumbled statue in the Lost City

Others were on the monk's trail, too, and soon emerged on the scene. The sinister Order of the Fire Coral, a secret martial arts society, sprang into action and did their best to hinder the archeologist's search of the ruins. Despite their persistence, the archeologists soon realized that inscriptions in the temples of the Lost City gave exciting information. They described the location of the mythical relic, The Tears of the Buddha. Legends say this crystal vial containing actual tears from the Buddha has magical powers. All who consume even a drop of the liquid lose all aggressive and violent thoughts, and succumb to the persuasion of peace. Upon reading an inscription below a frieze of carvings, Dakota Smith growled, "That's why Von Jaeger is here! Those damned Nazis want to find a way to make a weapons out of the Tears!"

This was also doubtless the secret the agents of the Fire Coral were trying to protect. Although the three martial artists fought long and valiantly against the Europeans, each of the archeological teams were able to decipher enough clues to point them in the direction of the Forbidden Temple, which is rumored to contain the vial. As the agents slunk away into the jungle, their leader admonished them not to give up. They would track the foreign devils through the very Lost Valley, if necessary...

    Allen, controlling Dakota Smith's team, wears the fedora which signifies he controls the initiative in the "Pulp Alley" rules we use for our 28mm Pulp games. Mike S, controlling Lady Shannon's Irish fortune hunters, laughs as Allen designates who will move next.