Revenge in Rio (1931: Rio de Janero)

This adventure combines elements of the private detective genre, espionage and the supernatural. It is important in preparing to run this adventure to be suse that the right kind of characters are selected. It is intended for a fairly small party, probably with no more than 4 actual player characters, though they might pick up a henchman or two along the way. There should be one central character. Ideally he should be a private detective or mercenary type who would be willing to undertake a search and rescue mission in a foreign country. He would be responsible for selecting other characters to help him. He might have regular associates, such as a strong-arm man of some sort, an associate adventurer, a researcher, even a girlfriend. Given the location and nature of the adventure it might even be good to pick up someone who speaks Portuguese, perhaps a former client who is a Portuguese-American dockworker, or something along those lines. It is also possible that a character associated with the subject of the mission (Elaine Patterson) might be able to go, perhaps her brother. Remember that it will be the primary detective-type character who will be hired, so their should be a logical reason why he would hire assistants, and they should be meaningfully employed. Naturally, characters will have to be from Baltimore or somewhere nearby.

Since this is an international adventure and takes place in several nations, matters of travel, passports, visas and accomodation will have to be dealt with. It would be difficult to list rates for every hotel or means of transport, so to make things easier the most logical choice will be provided and detailed. You can deal with this by saying that arrangements were made by Jerome Patterson through his agents in Rio. Keep in mind that as this is inended to be a fairly compact adventure, the organization is fairly linear, and you may have to add digressions and variations as you feel they are needed. Also, many descriptions will be fairly general, dealing mostly with situations, so you may have to add detail and specifics. Remember that you are the GM and how you adapt or adjust the adventure is up to you.

Background & Situation

It is April of 1931 and Baltimore is already beginning to feel the heat of summer. The Primary Character receives a letter, presumably at his office, inviting him to meet with wealthy industrialist Jerome Patterson at the Patterson estate at Clifton Park in North Baltimore. One half of a $1000 bill is enclosed with the letter. The meeting is set for 10 that evening.

Patterson meets the Primary Character in the smoking room of his large house, carefully arranging things so that none of the family or servants except the butler see his visitor. When the PC arrives he will give him the other half of the $1000 bill. He has a situation which he wants resolved by a professional. When it is completed to his satisfaction he will pay the PC an additional $4000. This will be a flat fee, and any expenses will have to be taken care of out of the $5000 total paid, which should be more than enough for any expenses, as it is a respectable yearıs wages in this period.

Patterson is a wealthy insustrialist from an old Maryland family. He has lots of money and even more power, but he cannot afford even a whif of scandal to touch is family. Characters may have heard rumors that his two children, Elaine and Jerome Jr. are rather less responsible than the family had hoped for, and there are hints at darker problems. The basic problem is that three days ago Elaine Patterson left for a party with some friends and was not seen again. After the party a car was sent round to pick her up, but she had left earlier in a cab and that was the last which was seen of her.

The background of the situation is that while Elaine was home from Smith College earlier that summer she met Roger Mulliken, a rising executive in her fatherıs operation. They became romantically involved, much to her fatherıs chagrin. He forbade Elaine to see Mulliken, and arranged for Mulliken to be transferred to oversee his large sugar cane interests in Brazil, thus separating the lovers. All this happened three months ago, and now Elaine has been missing for three days, and her father suspects that she had been in touch with Mulliken and has taken a ship down to Brazil to be with him. He mentions that she has always been a headstrong and impulsive girl.

What he wants is for someone to go down to his plantation near Rio de Janeiro, talk to Mulliken, find his daughter and bring her home so that she can return to school with a closer eye kept on her. They should feel free to take whatever measures are necessary to deal with Mulliken, but should try to avoid embarrassing publicity. He will arrange for round trip first class passage for the PC and up to 3 additional people on the Zeelandia, a ship of the Royal Holland Lloyd Line leaving for Rio de Janeiro the next afternoon. It is of Dutch registry, but it is the soonest available transport, and will be arriving from New York in the morning, staying for 6 hours and leaving a bit before nightfall. If there are no problems with this, he will consider the $1000 an advance and they should rush right home and start packing for their imminent departure.

One thing which Patterson may also reveal is that his son, Jerrome ŒJerryı Patterson, Jr., may become involved in the search. He disappeared on his own in search of Elaine the day before, and he has been known to be rather obsessive, and to harbor an unnatural affection for his sister. He may select what parts of this to pass on, but he suspects that Jerry may try to sail on the Zeelandia, as it is the only ship leaving Baltimore for Rio that week. Emily is presumed to have left on the Flandria, which left three days ago. As part of their service he would like them to keep an eye on Jerry and see that he stays out of the trouble which his unstable character and nasty trouble could get him into. They might even try to disuade him from sailing, if they encounter him, but he should be handled with care.

Sailing Down to Rio

The Zeelandia is a large, fairly recently outfitted passenger liner. When the characters come aboard they some of the other passengers will also be boarding and some will already have boarded, some earlier that morning and some in New York. Passengers they are likely to see when boarding include Sturm Dietrikson and the five Nomarian Elders. There will be some 50 passengers aboard, all first class, plus mail and cargo. When they board they will be greeted by Captain Johan Haas and escorted to their cabins by a steward. First class cabins have two bunks and a shower each, and are relatively small, as this is not one of the grand luxury liners of the time. There is one dining room. Breakfast is served from 7am to 9am. Lunch is served from 12pm to 2pm. Dinner is served from 6pm to 8pm, and the bar in the dining room is open until midnight. After dinner entertainment will be provided throughout the voyage by Ricardo Boro and his Rio Balladeers, who are just completing a successful tour in the United States and returning to their native land from New York. The trip to Rio will take 10 days if all goes well, with brief stops in San Juan, Caracas and Natal.

While they are on the ship it is possible that they may interract with or become curious about several of the stranger passengers. This is covered by the following descriptions of possible encounters to use on the boat.

Meeting Jerry Patterson

While they are aboard the ship it is quite likely that they will encounter Jerry Patterson. There are not a great number of passengers, and he will stand out at dinner the first night as being rather drunken and behaving rather obnoxiously to a waiter. He is seated at Captain Haası table, but the captain tactfully ignores him. The characters will probably recognize him at this point, and if they are wise and can get to the captains table where they will be seated if they have SOC of 16 or more they can befriend him and escort him out of the dining room. If they befriend him fairly civily and get him to bed, he will become friendly for the rest of the voyage, perhaps even confiding in them his mission to rescue his sister.

An Evening with Ricardo Boro

After dinner each evening of the trip the dining room is given over to dancing and musical entertainment, featuring ŒRicardo Boro and his Rio Balladeersı, a 12 piece band from Rio which has been playing in a New York club and is now on its way back to Brazil. The band is quite good, playing a selection of popular tunes and updated versions of traditional Brazilian folk music. Much of the material is instrumental and suited to dancing, but Boro sings many of the numbers as well as conducting the orchestra. Boro and his men are all young, healthy and athletic, with some military background, which they may need before the adventure is over. Characters who stick around after the entertainment will notice that Boro is quite attractive to the ladies, with his dark foreign looks, and that he favors some of the fairer passengers with significant attention, though none of them are ever seen to go back to his cabin. As the tour goes on, if the characters get connected to some of the older, gossipy women aboard, they may hear a rumor that Boro has a woman in his cabin who takes her meals there and does not emerge. Observing the cabin will reveal that the kitchen does deliver food their, but the pursar will reveal no more about the occupancy of the cabin.

The Strange Cargo of Sturm Dietrikson

One passenger who is seated at the captainıs table, and whom they may meet is Sturm Dietrikson, a German merchant who claims to be looking for new sources of rubber for an unspecified German automobile manufacturer. However, if any of the characters know anything about rubber or cars, he seems to have no more than a lay knowledge of the topics. He is fairly affable, and will talk gently about such things as racial destiny and the improvement of world conditions through selective breeding. If anyone seems receptive he will even distribute some appropriate literature from National Socialist organizations in England or the US, and talk in more detail about his dream of a new order in Germany and the destiny of the Aryan peoples. He will only open up to someone he sees as a fellow Aryan. Aside from his political views he is a bit of a drinker, but a decent enough sort. Remember that this is 1931 and Nazism will be a fairly obscure political deviancy, and he could easily be taken as perfectly harmless. He certainly seems too innocuous a sort to be a spy or foreign agent. Characters who associate with him will also note that he has a bad back, and often needs to be helped up from his seat after a long evening sitting in the lounge or dining room.

One evening, if he has made friends, he will seem agitated, and confide in his friend that he has a rather valuable cargo aboard which he is concerned about, though he does not want to trouble the crew. He would like to check on it, but it is in a trunk in the hold, and his back makes it hard for him to move the trunk so that he can open it and check the contents. If someone is willing to help him, he will go down to the hold and inspect his trunk. Note that a good judge of character may suspect that he wants company more to show off his prized possession than for labor, as he could have a crewmember help him. The door to the hold is kept locked and if there has been trouble there will be a guard the Nomarian Elders may have caused some trouble. The Pursarıs Mate will have to accompany them to let them into the hold and make sure they donıt molest anyone elseıs cargo. Once they move several boxes from around it, they can watch while he opens it. Inside they will see a selection of items, including clothing, some common artworks, and an ornamental wooden box containing a large, decorative book which seems to have been written by hand in a strange script which none of them recognize. After looking at the book, Dietrikson will close the trunk again with a new lock. He will say little to them if asked about the book, save that it is very valuable and that he plans to sell it to friends in Germany. He will have to trust them not to steal it, so he will ask help only of one person, and only if he seems reliable and well enough off not to resort to theft.

Note that this book is in fact the book of Nomar, and if circumstances seem right, this inspection might lead to a confrontation with the Nomarian elders, who are trying to get the book back before it gets to Rio or at least before it gets to Germany. This might also be valuable information for some characters.

The Nomarian Elders

Most of the characters travelling on the Zeelandia will notice some strange passengers at dinner, notably a group of five men who sit at a table together, dress in what appear to be black evening clothes inappropriate to the season and place and keep pretty much to themselves. If asked, they will explain that they are Elders of the Brotherhood of Nomar, sent by their church on a special mission to rescue a holy relic, the Book of Nomar, which was stolen from their temple at TempeAZ and which they believe a certain passenger pointed looks at Dietrikson may have knowledge about, as he was in Tempe recently and certain evidence makes him suspect. Note that they may do several things to aid their mission. They may offer to pay a PI to recover their book for them, something on the level of $3000, though they are cheap and will try to pay much less. Failing this, or even before they are approached, they may try unsuccessfully to break into the hold and check out Dietriksonıs lugage, which will lead to a guard being put on the hold. Their standing plan is to keep an eye on Dietrikson and ambush him somehow in Rio. However, they profess non-violence, so they really do need someone to do their dirty work for them, either on the ship or in Rio.

The Veiled Lady

Late on night during the journey, a member of the party may be walking on deck, preferably a single person alone. He will wander towards the back of the ship, where he will see a fairly tall woman in a dark dress wearing a veil and looking out over the sea. If she is approached, she will flee and will not speak. If she is followed, she will be seen to go into Ricardo Boroıs cabin. If they try to start trouble there they will be met by Boro who will not be pleased, and will do his best to discourage them, claiming that the woman is his sister, who was at a special school in America and speaks only Portuguese. If there is an incedent of this sort he will keep the cabin locked and open it only himself. If they keep a watch on the cabin, they will see meals delivered only when Boro is there. If they do not disturb the woman she will continue to take an hour walk on deck around midnight each night.

The woman is, of course, Elaine Patterson, but there is no evidence or reason to believe that. If they should break into the cabin to kidnap her, Boro and some of his hefty band members should show up, possibly with crew support, to discourage them. She does not want to go with them, and will be very angry if discovered, though she also speaks Portuguese and may try to pass as Brazilian from behind her veil.

When they arrive in Rio Boro and the girl will be met by more of Boroıs friends and taken directly by car to the Copocabaia Palace Hotel on Avenida Atlantica/$12 per room per night, where Boro maintains rooms and entertains in the casino. They can be followed, but are in too large a group to be interfered with.

Arriving In Rio

The characters, when they arrive will be met by a car from the Hotel de Londres on Avenida Atlantica, where rooms are reserved for them rooms are $4 per night. This hotel is some three blocks from the Copacabaia Palace and other major hotels on the Praia de Copacabana, and all the way across town from the main port almost 4 miles.

There are several things which they may wish to do while they are in Rio, and several things which may happen to them or events which they may encounter. These are described in the following sections.

Mama Lemoja

While the Copacabaia has Ricardo Boro for entertainment the Hotel de Londres has a rather less sophisticated form of entertainment in its lounge, in the form of Mama Lemoja, a local character renowned as a witch and mystic, who performs predictions and tells fortunes in the hotel lounge.

Although she puts on a good show of mystic power, it is not all show, and she does have considerable knowledge and ability with the supernatural, as well as good knowledge and connections in the uderworld of Rio.

Mama Lemoja may be a good contact, because for the right fee she can pass on valid information masked in mystical mubo jumbo. Among the things she can discover for them is the fact that Elaine is with Ricardo Boro and not Roger Mulliken, and even some of the activities which are going on out at the plantation. She could be a useful source, but will require significant payment for any services, and does not advertise her abilties or connections.

At the Plantation

Roger Mulliken can be found at Jerome Pattersonıs sugar plantation north of Rio. Locally the plantation is known as the Plantation of Sao Francisco de Sertoes, after a ruined church on the grounds.

They will probably decide to visit Mulliken at the plantation at some point, either to enlist aid or investigate him. If they come to the plantation house during the daylight hours they will be told that he is in the fields supervising. If they come at night he will meet them at the house and deal with them there. If they go to the fields to look for him they will have a very hard time finding him, and may eventually be led to the ruins of the Church of Sao Francisco de Sertoes, which is covered in jungle growth at the north end of the plantation. Rather than supervising the sugar planting, which he has left in the hands of assistants, he has taken a crew of workers to the old church, and is digging out artifacts which seem to be part of a treasure hidden there by refugee nobles in the early 19th century during the Reign of King Joao I. Mulliken will become embarassed if discovered and will wind up confessing all. He has been removing these treasures for some weeks, has not informed Mr. Patterson, and has made arrangements to get them out of the country without dealing with the Brazilian government which would surely regard them as state treasures. He is essentially an honest fellow, and is ready to split the $25000 or so of treasure with Mr. Patterson, though he might be receptive to a direct deal with the investigators where they get some 10th of that amount for their silence.

Aside from that there is little which is questionable going on at the fairly well-run plantation, and he is certainly not harboring Elaine, who he has been too busy to worry about lately. If he hears that she has taken off with Boro he will become enraged, and may gather a group of his tougher workers and head into town to rescue her. The investigators may have to guide or control this intention.

A Visit from the Police

With all the activity which the characters are likely to become involved in, they may get a visit from the Rio Police. This will be in the form of the diminutive and vicious Inspector Cabrales and three of his rather tough looking men, who will ask their questions quickly, with implied nasty actions threatened for those who do not cooperate. Keep in mind that the Getulio Vargas and his military Junta have recently (1930) taken control of the country and that the police currently have considerable power in the unstable situation.

Likely areas for questioning are the Nomarian business on board the ship, just what the investigators are doing in Rio, any information they may have on Boro, who is suspected of being a dissident, and anything they might know about questionable activities out at the plantation. More specific and appropriate questions might depend on what the characters have done at the point that the police are brought in and what of their activities will have become public knowledge, though questions about Dietrikson and the Nomarians are probably inevitable.

Jerry Patterson Takes Action

If Jerry Patterson is still around and on the loose by the time they reach Rio, he will probably be able to discover where Elaine is in 2 or 3 days. At this point he will take action, going to the Copacabaia and confronting Boro. If he is friendly with the investigators he may ask them for help or tell them he is going to do this.

Boro and his men are able to handle themselves well, even against a dangerous type like Jerry. However, Jerry may be armed, so he may shoot or kill one of the band members before being disarmed. If he just shows up and causes trouble he will be beaten and left in an ally where he will be robbed and beaten some more. Then he will probably get drunk and be arrested. If he injures someone he may be killed and left somewhere obscure, which could lead to more trouble, though no one will finger Boro or his men. How you work this up is in the hands of the GM, but there are many options possible.

Dealing with Ricardo Boro

With the example of what happened to Jerry to look at and a good idea of what Boro and his crew are like, when the party finally find out that he has Elaine, they will probably be ready to proceed with caution. Although they do not know it, their best option would be to play a waiting game, because in 3-6 weeks Boro will probably become bored with Elaine and send her to Roger Mulliken, who it should be easier to get her away from. However, chances are they will either not figure this out or will want to take direct action anyway. Note that a good contact like Mama Lemoja may know about Boroıs tendancy to get bored with women and give them a hint in that direction.

Anyway, Boro lives in the Hotel Copacabaia and does his show in the casino annex there. He has a suite of rooms which he shares with three other members of his band. They donıt travel around armed, but these are dangerous times in Brazil, so they have weapons available for easy access. Elaine will stay mostly in the suite and get room service, though she will come down to see the occasional show in the casino. However, if there is any indication of interest in her Boro will get possessive and be with her at all times, having her in the casino during all shows and leaving someone with her whenever she is in the suite. If they are wary there should be at least two people with her at all time, either band members or associates.

How and when the investigators approach Boro or try to reach Elaine is up to them. If they case the situation well first they will note that Elaine is cooking for the band in a kitchenette in the suite, and that she goes to the Central Market accompanied by two band members every second day. This might be a good time to try to snatch her, but at these times her escorts are armed and they should expect fairly rapid reprisals. Boro is well connected in the underworld, and will hear of a snatch quite quickly and be able to gather a good, skilled force to deal with it. In general he will not put himself in danger, but will take drastic action and has an understanding with the police.

Jerry Goes to Jail

Given Jerry Pattersonıs personality, it is almost inevitable that if he stays alive in Rio he will eventually get arrested. In such a situation he will call on anyone he knows for aid to bail him out, and it would be convenient if by that point he knew some of the investigators so that he could call on them. They might feel obligated to help him out as they are working for his father. Unless he gets involved with Boro he will probably be in for drunkeness or getting in a fight, so the bail will be something around $20. It can be assumed that any money he had will disappear in the fight, while he is drunk or after he gets to jail. This is not an essential event, just a nice little annoyance.

Thug Attack

If Boro finds out what is going on or if the investigators cross Mulliken, there is a good chance that a group of about a dozen thugs will be sent to teach them a lesson. These will be people who are familiar with the streets of Rio and will have little trouble ambushing them, beating them up and robbing them. It is also quite likely that while they are out their rooms in the hotel will be searched, possibly by the police.

Roger Mulliken Takes Action

If Mulliken learns that Elaine is being kept by Boro before she has been rescued, he will probably take action. This will consist of getting two dozen of his favorite toughs dressed up in their best clothes, taking them down to the casino and having them raise hell with the band while he and his three best men go to the suite and rescue Elaine. It would be best that if this should happen it happens when the investigators are trying to do their rescue or while they are at least around, so that they can get involved and even get in trouble. There is a good chance that this approach will lead to open violence which, if prolonged will bring the attention of the police or military and find a nice spot for those involved in a rather nasty Brazilian jail. If investigators are arrested they will be treated badly and relieved of their money. However, should this happen it would be good if one cautious character were to escape so that someone is left to bail them out and clean things up.

Conclusion

If they succeed, they have open return tickets on a Royal Holland Lloyd ship to Baltimore, and will be paid off on their return with Elaine. If Jerry is humiliated but not hurt they will get a $500 bonus. If Jerry is hurt or killed they will get a cold brush off after payment. If he dies through their negligence Baltimore will be unhealthy for them. If they bring back Mullikenıs treasure to split with Patterson they will get a $2500 bonus. If all goes well Patterson may use them for future jobs and recommend them to friends.

Out of all this you should be able to make a good solid adventure. Stats for the background characters with translation guidelines follow in the next section, and maps are in the central insert. There may be some areas you will have to adjust or flesh out, but that should give the adventure a personal flavor. Keep in mind that a fast pace is essential and dimwitted characters may have to be helped along from time to time.