On January 31st, at promptly 10:00 AM, all the Ellipsoids (as the Times has been calling them) who have enrolled by 1/30 (See the Times) receive by courier a packet of travel documents from Her Majesty's Government, a Grand Ellipse token, and an invitation to a reception at the best hotel in London, held by Lord Martin Kendall, Special Secretary for the Grand Ellipse.

At some point during the day on the 31st, each Ellipsoid is visited by Basil Cartwright, a reporter from the Times, and asked for an interview. Should you grant the interview, you are asked the following questions. (Please email replies.)

1. What prompted you to compete in the Grand Ellipse?

2. What special characteristics or qualifications do you have that you think will help you win?

3. Do you think that any of the female competitors are at too much of a disadvantage to compete effectively?

4. What do you plan to do if you win?

5. Would you care to make any other statements to the Times?

Queen Victoria herself attends Lord Martin's reception, with her granddaughter, H. R. H. Princess Elizabeth of Hesse, in tow. Half of London seems to have turned up, and the Ellipsoids are the center of attention. Basil Cartwright, the reporter, has an invitation is well, and is apparently quite chummy with Lord Martin's deputy secretary, a rather dour, constipated-looking gentleman. The food is fabulous--Lord Martin having employed several French chefs for the occasion--and there is plenty of champagne. Her Majesty makes a brief speech to the Ellipsoids.

We are pleased and proud to welcome all the participants, reporters, and spectators of the Grand Ellipse to London. The Competitors have come from all points of the British Empire; from as far away as Hong Kong and as near as down the street, as well as from America. We would like to wish you all the best of luck in the adventure to come, and we hope that you enjoy your travels as much as we know we will enjoy hearing about them.

The reception runs late into the evening, although Her Majesty and Her Royal Highness departs around 10:00 PM.

The following morning, before the announcement of the route, a photograph of all the Ellipsoids is taken by the Times. Basil Cartwright announces that he will be traveling the route of the Grand Ellipse, although not as a competitor. Lord Martin announces the Route. Queen Victoria makes another speech.

As you set out on your journeys, we are sure that you will at all times conduct yourselves in the spirit of fair play and sportsmanship which is so appropriate to our subjects, and which has always added to the glory of the British Empire, so that your grand enterprise may go down as one of the high points in history.

For ourself, for our subjects, and for all the Great British Empire, we hereby declare this competition has begun.

H. R. H. Princess Elizabeth of Hesse is present, but does not make any public comments.

Each Ellipsoid will collect a token from Her Majesty's duly designated representative at each location. Each Ellipsoid will also sign in with the date and time at each location, and the date and time will be countersigned by Her Majesty's duly designated representative and a third party.

You may depart from London for a port via train, carriage, or river ferry. There is a 4:30 train to Dover, where you can catch a ferry across the channel to Calais (London-Dover = 50 miles). The Calais ferry departs twice daily at 10:00 AM and 4:00 PM. (Dover-Calais = 30 miles).

Trains for the port of Southampton depart at 3:00 and 5:30 (London-Southampton = 70 miles). There is a 4:00 train to Brighton (London-Brighton = 40 miles). From either Southampton or Brighton, you may books passage to the French port of Le Havre (Southhampton-Le Havre = 125 miles; Brighton-Le Havre = 105 miles). From Le Havre, you can catch a river ferry to Paris (Le Havre-Paris = 135 miles by river, due to the wanderings of the Seine) or engage an overland conveyance (Le Havre-Paris = 105 miles by land). From Paris, you can catch a train to a host of European cities.

If you wish to make the trip from any of the three ports to Gibraltar entirely by sea, refer to the distances calculated in the Route. There are any number of freighters departing from Southampton and Brighton at a variety of times (translation=you can leave within an hour of your arrival time, provided you have the money to book passage). The latest departure on the 1st is no later than 6:00 PM. The earliest departure on the 2nd is 6:00 AM.

Ellipsoids may email me for further travel information.

Upon arriving at Gibraltar, you are taken to Government House, where you are greeted by Colonel Adam Barstow, Lord Fairfax, Her Majesty's Representative at Gibraltar for the Grand Ellipse.

Colonel Barstow (as he prefers to be addressed) is a long-time military man, who carefully records each Ellipsoid's date and time of arrival in a small notebook he produces from his pocket. Each Ellipsoid is then asked to countersign the book, and is presented with a small bronze medallion with the Rock of Gibraltar in bas-relief on the obverse. The reverse side is engraved "Her Majesty's Grand Ellipse - Gibraltar, 1882."

Each Ellipsoid is invited to stay for whatever meal is appropriate to the time of day. Players may email me for any other information specific to their characters, or for interaction with Colonel Barstow.

Before we go into this, Cathy has a great format for documenting her travel, which I present here for your perusal:

London - Brighton (rail) Feb. 1
Brighton - Le Havre (sea) Feb. 1
Le Havre - San Sebastian (sea) Feb. 2-3
(I calculate the distance here as about 400 sea miles around the French coast; assuming no delays, this puts me in San Sebastian around noon on Feb. 3.) San Sebastian - Gibraltar (rail, by way of Pamplona, Madrid, Cordoba. Straight lines between the major cities add up to 550 miles, which hopefully brings me to Gibraltar around breakfast on the 4th. At the very latest, teatime on the 4th, if all departure times were not ideal.

Keep in mind the surface travel multiplier of 1.5 x Map Distance. This reflects the fact that roads, rail lines, etc. do not go in straight lines, nor are there always direct routes. That noted, we proceed to...

Travel info from Gibraltar to Malta: You Can't Get There from Here

The southern land route:
There is rail service from Algiers to Tunis, but it's not especially reliable, and it's definitely not ready for prime time between Tangier and Algiers.

As far as going on to Egypt, there is some rail service in and around the Alexandria area, but again, it's not especially reliable.

There are camel caravans available for the truly adventurous.

The northern land route:
European rail service is both available and reliable. A recently-completed line can take you from southern France (Marseilles), through a new tunnel in the Alps, to northern Italy (Turin). From there, you can take another train ride down to southern Italy (Major stops in Rome, Naples, and Reggio). Of course, the trains don't run on time, but they are in much better condition than the North African lines.

By sea:
There is no direct sea transport from Gibraltar to Malta, unless you charter a boat. There is a lot of sea traffic all over the western Mediterranean, however, so you can hop from short run to short run. There is plenty of freight traffic between Europe and the Balearic Islands, Corsica, Sardinia, and Sicily. Likewise, plenty of sea transport between the larger islands in the western Med and Sicily. You can get from any port in the Tyrrhenean Sea to any other port in the Tyrrhenean Sea in one hop.

From almost any port in southern Italy, you can get a boat to Sicily. There's a mail boat daily from Syracuse (eastern Sicily) to Malta. You can also catch a freighter from Tunis to Malta.

Major North African ports are Tangier, Algiers, Tunis, and Tripoli. You can find a boat in any of these ports that will take you to any other major port in the western Mediterranean. You can try for a smaller port if you wish, but you may encounter language difficulties in smaller towns if you don't speak Arabic or the local language.

Lord Weatherby is compentent, but distracted by his children. He asks each Ellipsoid to record his or her date and time of arrival in a leatherbound journal on his desk in his office. He will then initial the entry. Each Ellipsoid is presented with a small bronze medallion with an outline of the island engraved on it, with a Maltese cross engraved insode the outline on the obverse. The reverse side is engraved "Her Majesty's Grand Ellipse - Malta, 1882."

Each Ellipsoid is invited to stay for whatever meal is appropriate to the time of day. Players may email me for any other information specific to their characters, or for interaction with Lord Keating and his munchkins.

Standings After 2 Weeks of Play

Travel from Malta to Alexandria: Easier Said than Done

Leaving Malta is easy; you can go to Tunis, Tripoli, or any port on Crete in one jump. From all three of those ports, you can get a steam launch to Alexandria. After that, it gets tricky.

The main rail lines east and west of Alexandria have been damaged by explosions on 2/10, and will take several weeks to repair. Therefore, getting to Alexandria directly by rail is very difficult, as the trains are being rerouted in a fashion that appears random.

The predawn rail explosions seem to have touched off the riot in Alexandria that begins in the early morning hours on 2/10 and peters out around 4:00 AM on 2/12. During that time, it is extremely unsafe to travel through the city. Ships cannot dock or disembark until the afternoon on 2/12.

Her Majesty's Representative at Alexandria for the Grand Ellipse is Major James Forsythe, Lord Harston.

Standings After 3 Weeks of Play

Arrival in Alexandria

Major Harston asks each Ellipsoid to sign a ledger on a small writing-table in a corner of the office. Next to the ledger is a stack of tokens; you are instructed to help yourself to one of them. One of Major Harston's healthy staff members then initials the entry for him. The token for Alexandria is a small brass medallion with an artist's conception of the Lighthouse engraved on the obverse. The reverse side is engraved "Her Majesty's Grand Ellipse - Alexandria, 1882."

Each Ellipsoid is invited to stay the night at the embassy, as temporary lodgings are difficult to come by at the moment. Players may email me for any other information specific to their characters, or for interaction with Major Harston.

1) By Land: Land travel is indirect at best, as there's no good way to cross the Arabian Peninsula. There are camel caravans, but they take meandering routes, and anyone who can't speak Arabic is at a considerable disadvantage. There's no overland travel at all through the Empty Quarter, nor will any dirigible pilot make the crossing. It is possible to get to Jerusalem by rail, and from there, to Damascus and Baghdad. However, Ellipsoids are warned that the overland route is plagued by bandits and inhabitable by belligerent nomads. Also, there's no rail from Baghdad to Bahrain. It is possible to sail downriver from Baghdad to the Persian Gulf, and thence to Bahrain. Bear in mind that this route will take you through the Ottoman Empire, which is known to be open to Prussian influence. British opinion on the Ottoman Empire is divided. The Liberals are definitely anti-Ottoman, and wouldn't be sorry to see the Empire fall apart. The Tory position favors promoting western-style reforms within the Empire, if only to keep the Prussians from doing it first.

Bear in mind as well that unaccompanied female Ellipsoids are at a distinct disadvantage in theMuslim-controlled Ottoman Empire.

2) By Sea: Ellipsoids may charter a boat in Alexandria and go through the Suez Canal (lots of traffic) and into the Red Sea, around the Arabian Peninsula, and up the Persian Gulf to Bahrain. There's also plenty of freight and passenger traffic. For regular commercial traffic, expect to make several stops along the way. If you wish to avoid the Suez Canal traffic, you can take a river ferry to Cairo. From Cairo, there's a rail line to Port Said, which is a stop on both the freight and passenger routes. Some of the stops are in Ottoman-controlled ports, but the Ottoman Navy does not interfere with international maritime traffic. Although the route is rather longer, it is generally considered safer.

Arrival at Bahrain

As Bahrain is an island, everyone arrives in the international point of entry, the city of Manama. In order to get to Government House, you must make your way through the bazaar. The bazaar is open around the clock, but most shops and vendors shut down during the middle of the day, and again after midnight. However, there are always a few intrepid souls--usually junior brothers-in-law of the shop owners--who mind the stalls in the off hours.

If you arrive while the bazaar is in full swing, you are amazed by the array of exotic goods--Kashmiri woollens, Indian cottons, brasswork, and silverwork, Chinese silks, tea, and spices, coffee from Arabia, incense and perfume, Persian and Turkish rugs, books and scrolls in a score of scripts, all manner of presumably edible items, from live chickens to exotic fruits, hats, jewellery, parasols and umbrellas, knives and swords, lamps and hookahs, herbs and potions, clay water jugs and copper pots. The rich colors and polished metals gleam in the light. There are street perfomers eating fire, charming snakes, and telling fortunes. Messengers dash through the crowds, small boys wiggling past people like greased eels. Vendors sell every kind of food imaginable--and some that aren't--from the streets. The smell of grilled lamb and fresh lemons mixes with that of hundreds of people, animals, and the sea. Scribes and apothecaries offer their services in more languages than you have ever heard in one place. Voices call out, haggling, hawking, and calling to one another in Arabic, Persian, and a dozen other tongues. People push past each other in opposing tides of humanity.

Government House is a stark contrast to the bazaar, with its immaculate, orderly, quiet corridors and air of Western efficiency. Still, little touches of the city appear in the artfully painted tiles and exquisite objets that grace occasional tables and display nooks. Glorious rugs both large and small are displayed on the floor as carefully as any painting on the wall of a London gallery. Lord Brixby awaits you in his office.

Lord Brixby's office is, if possible, even more immaculate than the rest of Government house--not a speck of dust nor a grain of sand in sight. Lord Brixby himself, a tall, roundish gentleman, is likewise immaculate; perfectly dressed, freshly shaven, shoes shined within an inch of their lives. A basin, pitcher of water, and small lump of French olive-oil soap are on a small table by the door, for the comfort and convenience of visitrs. As soon as a visitors avails him/her self of the basin and pitcher, a servant replaces the items with clean ones, along with fresh water.

Each Ellipsoid is presented with a small silver medallion with an outline of the island engraved on it, with a dhow under the Union Jack engraved inside the outline on the obverse. The reverse side is engraved "Her Majesty's Grand Ellipse - Bahrain, 1882." Lord Brixby also passes on a message from Scotland Yard, which is that Herbert Addison may be stalking one or more of the Ellipsoids, for reasons that cannot be revealed at this point in time. Each Ellipsoid is warned to be extremely cautious, and if s/he should spot Addison, to report the time and location in as timely a fashion as possible. Lord Brixby also presents each Ellipsoid with a small package, wrapped up in brown paper and string. The package contains an Arabic-English/English-Arabic phrasebook and a note from Lord Longsworth-Brundfondle. The content of the note indicates that the phrasebook is a gift to his fellow Ellipsoid, and he hopes it will prove useful on the remainder of the journey.

Players may email me for any other information specific to their characters, fun and games at the bazaar, and for interaction with Deputy Minister Basil Metford-Kingsley, Lord Brixby, Her Majesty's Representative at Bahrain for the Grand Ellipse.

Standings After 4 Weeks of Play

Travel from Bahrain to Madras

After a long trip, the best part of Madras is that fact that the ground stays perfectly still. As you make your way from the railway station, the narrow streets are lined with vendors--in stalls, with rugs or blankets on the ground, or wandering about with their wares. The sheer number of people is amazing, second only to the number of languages that they seem to be speaking. A number of thin cows seem to be wandering through the streets unattended, and rather than making any effort to round them up, the natives actually make way for them. Priests or monks of half a dozen religions make their way up and down the street, and you pass a fakir lying on a bed of nails, apparently without discomfort.

Under the tropical sun, everything seems brighter--the pinks, blues, and oranges of womens' saris, the glitter of brass, gold, silver, and copper, even the glare off the light-colored buildings. The sea breeze, and the time of year, keep the temperature comfortably warm, although you suspect that summers must be swelteringly hot.

Government House is constructed to take advantage of the sea breeze, and to provide plenty of shade. When you arrive, a receptionist notes the date and time of your arrival, and asks you to sign the register. This done, he sends a message to His Honour. Each Ellipsoid is presented with a small silver medallion with Her Majety's portrait engraved inside the outline of India, with the letters "VRI" below the portrait on the obverse. The reverse side is engraved "Her Majesty's Grand Ellipse - Madras, 1882."

Players may email me for any other information specific to their characters and for interaction with His Honour Sir Samuel Collins, Her Majesty's Representative at Madras for the Grand Ellipse.

Travel from Madras to Rangoon

Arrival in Rangoon

Rangoon is even more amazing and exotic than India, which you may not have thought possible until seeing it. Government House is convenient to the teeming harbour. The usual dockside smells, combined with those of the fish market, invade your nostrils as you make your way to the front steps of Government House.

When you arrive, a secretary notes the date and time of your arrival, and asks you to sign the register. This done, he sends a message to Father Dean. The good father is rather aged and forgetful, the secretary mentions, and you are encouraged to make yourself comfortable, as there may be a bit of a wait. You are offered tea and sandwiches, unless it is mealtime, in which case you are offered to join the clerical staff for their meal. Each Ellipsoid is presented with a small brone egg-shaped item--essentially, a three-dimensional ellipse--engraved "Her Majesty's Grand Ellipse - Rangoon, 1882."

Players may email me for any other information specific to their characters and for interaction with Father William Dean, Her Majesty's Representative at Rangoon for the Grand Ellipse.

Travel to Hong Kong

Arrival in Hong Kong

Your initial impression of Hong Kong is that it seems far too small to contain all the activity. It is obviously a major port of call, as there are warehouses and docks as far as the eye can see. Smaller boats weave in and out of the harbour on their way out to sea, or back again. Upon disembarking, you can catch a rickshaw or carriage to Government House, which is on the top of a low hill. The scenery shows you why Chinese landscape paintings look the way they do, although the quint little villages generally look much cleaner than Victoria does.

When you arrive, a secretary summons Deputy Minister for Special Services Sir Japheth Tanahill, Her Majesty's Representative at Hong Kong for the Grand Ellipse. Sir Japheth shakes your hand vigorously, and invites you to stay for supper and whatever entertainment he has planned for the evening. naturally, you are welcome to stay as long as you like, as he has plenty of guest rooms. He is full of questions about your voyage from Rangoon, particularly about the weather and any unusual events that may have occurred. As he is talking to you, he leads you into a salon, where you sign the register and receive your silver-gilt token, which has been made to resemble a local coin, complete with hole in the middle. The obverse has several Chinese characters on it, and the reverse is engraved with "Her Majesty's Grand Ellipse - Hong Kong, 1882" across the top. A Chinese dragon unwinds across the bottom of the disk.

Players may email me for any other information specific to their characters and for interaction with Deputy Minister for Special Services Sir Japheth Tanahill, Her Majesty's Representative at Hong Kong for the Grand Ellipse.

Superficially, Osaka resembles Hong Kong. However, upon closer inspection, one can begin discern the differences in architecture, clothing, and so on. One of the most noticeable differences is the aggressive campaign of Westernization that was begun after the restoration of the Meiji Emperor fourteen years ago. Most of the Occidentals in Osaka are americans, although there are some British and Dutch as well. You can also observe that although Osaka is as crowded as Hong Kong, it seems rather less chaotic.

The British Consulate is located across the street from the American Consulate, next door to the Institute for the Study of Earthquakes, which is a joint British-Japanese scientific endeavour. If you wish to take a tour of the facility, its Assistant Director, Mr. Akira Kobayashi, will happily give you a tour.

The British and American Consulates and the Institute are all obviously new buildings in classic European style. Upon your arrival at the British Consulate, Lord Weatherwax, Deputy Consul and Her majesty's Representative at Osaka for the Grand Ellipse, is summoned. He brings the ledger and the token, which is silver-gilt with an engraved rising sun design superimposed over an outline of Japan on the obverse and "Her Majesty's Grand Ellipse - Osaka, 1882" on the reverse.

Vladivostok's harbour looks rather like a mirror-image of San Francisco Bay. It is a bustling military port, filled with the finest ships in the Tsar's Pacific Fleet. The waterfront is crowded with sailors and soldiers of many ethnicities--Slavs, Koreans, Chinese, Japanese, and some less readily identifiable. Likewise, a dozen languages and more can be heard on the docks. Most of the dockside taverns and inns cater to what is euphemistically referred to as the "maritime trade." If you want a cheap meal, a cheap room, or cheap negotiable affection, this is the place. As one heads north, towards the Consulates and better parts of town, the quality of life increases. There are two European-style hotels, several restaurants and boutiques, and other services catering to the expatriate European community.

Upon your arrival at the British Consulate, Consul Edgar Marshall, Lord Westerbrook, Her Majesty's Representative at Vladivostok for the Grand Ellipse, is notified of your arrival. He brings the ledger and the token, which is heavy enough to be solid gold. The obverse displays an engraved Romanov eagle, with Vladivostok in both English and Russian at the top and bottom, respectively. The reverse reads "Her Majesty's Grand Ellipse - Vladivostok, 1882". Each Ellipsoid also receives a Russian-English/English-Russian phrasebook, courtesy of Lord Longsworth-Brunfondle. Players may email me for any other information specific to their characters and for interaction with Lord Westerbrook.

NOTE: The Trans-Siberian Railroad has not been constructed yet; construction won't begin until the early 1890s. This means that you cannot cross Russia by rail! As a result of my utter inability to find an 1880s Russian rail map, I have arbitrarily decided that the end of the Russian line is Blagoveshchensk. You can also take a Manchurian rail line up the Amur river, to the point where it is navigable. From there, you can take a river launch to the Lake Baikal ferry. Rail lines pick up again at Perm and Kazan, far to the west. Once you have crossed Baikal, you are faced with the vast wilderness of Siberia. You may hire native guides and escorts at any point in your journey. Some Siberian rivers are intermittently navigable. However, as the major rivers all flow from south to north, the upper reaches of the river are still frozen, which causes the lower reaches to flood.

Bear in mind that when and where Siberia is not frozen, it is likely to be swampy. There is little to no infrastructure of any kind, and most of the Western population are transportees. There is an amazing variety of native peoples with varying levels of technological sophistication and knowledge of the Russian language. This means that your roubles and kopecks may not have any value until you reach Irkutsk. The area is crawling with wildlife, edible and non, dangerous and non. Please email me with detailed plans and preparations for crossing Eastern Siberia. If I don't hear from you, I will assume that your character is hanging around Vladivostok. Please note that crossing Siberia is likely to be the riskiest part of the Ellipse. Consider yourselves warned.

The occasional European-style village announces its presence by first a ring of traps and snares, and second, closer in, a ring of tree stumps. Most villages are tiny, only a cluster of huts housing extended families, flocks of chickens and geese, and several none-too-clean goats. There is rather less cleared farmland than one might expect—the villagers fish, hunt and trap for their meat, and gather prodigious quantities of nuts, mushrooms, and berries. Every village has several beehives as well, more than one would see in western Europe. The reason for this soon becomes apparent—vodka is rare out here; the main alcoholic drink is mead. The villagers are, for the most part, stereotypically poor-but-honest folk. They are fairly clean for peasants, as each village has a steam bath in which the travelers are welcome to use. These are usually built close to cold ponds, in which one takes a plunge after a good steaming. Visitors are welcome, as much for novelty as any other reason. The people are hungry for news of the capital—wars, scandals, royal births, royal deaths, royal weddings, even weather predictions. Hospitality generally includes all the mead one can drink and then some, along with hot soup, potatoes, and creamy, fresh goat cheese. There are also warnings about a veritable menagerie of mythological creatures—dragons, dog-headed birds, gigantic, talking wolves, forest spirits, water spirits, and of course, Baba Yaga. “Of course, she is not usually so far east, but you can never tell, eh?”

Native Siberian settlements are both less obvious and less frequent. They are very much off the beaten track, and the guide tends to avoid them. The Russians—the only Europeans known to many of these remote groups—have laid a heavy hand over Siberia, and are therefore avoided by the indigenes.

After weeks traveling through the forest, passing by Lake Baikal, Irkutsk is a bit of a shock, even though the city itself is not very large. Emerging from the forest, one sees a good-sized frontier town. The main industries are mining and logging, making the area around the city a stark contrast to the deep, untouched forests on the taiga. Recent rains have left the ground muddy, making foot traffic an exercise in balance.

Irkutsk appears to be growing, judging by the amount of construction underway. However, there is but a single hotel. It has a single dining room, which is the only real restaurant in town. (There are a number of taverns and pub-like establishments which serve food.) Times reporter Alexei Karlov is a fixture at the hotel lobby, expect during meals, when he is a fixture in the dining room. Karlov has left a note for each Ellipsoid at the front desk of the hotel, requesting an interview.

Upon your arrival at the British Consulate, Consul Sir Marcus Lister, Her Majesty's Representative at Irkutsk for the Grand Ellipse, greets you personally. He brings the ledger and the token, which is made of shiny, new copper. The obverse displays an engraved Romanov eagle over a forest, with Irkutsk in both English and Russian at the top and bottom, respectively. The reverse reads "Her Majesty's Grand Ellipse - Irkutsk, 1882". Players may email me for any other information specific to their characters and for interaction with Sir Marcus.

Rail lines pick up at both Perm and Kazan, by GM fiat. You can get to either of those places by a series of river ferries and short, overland portages. (There is no express ferry.) The ferries move both freight and passengers, and the accommodations that are available--for a price--will be rather cramped, far from the grand style of ocean liners. The food aboard the ferries is plentiful, if plain, and mostly traditional Russian fare.

Most of the rivers flow into Lake Baikal, so you will be traveling upstream for most of the first part of the voyage. Western Siberia is a bit more settled, and there are plenty of small villages--as well as good-sized towns--along the the banks of various rivers. The scenery is mostly the now-familiar forest of deciduous trees, such as birch, willow, and poplar. Like eastern Siberia, the forest is teeming with wildlife, and one can easily spot foxes, otters, hare, elk, reindeer, sable, and even the occasional wolf pack.

After you arrive at the rail depots, you will quickly discover that the road to Arkhangelsk leads through Moscow. Indeed, it's difficult to go anywhere in European Russian by rail without going through Moscow. One sight of note is a single stone obelisk, its sides aligned to the cardinal directions, beside the railroad in the Ural Mountains. Carved into the eastern side of the monument is a single word in Russian--"Asia." Likewise, "Europe" is carved into the western face.

Arkhangelsk's port is beyond bustling, beyond busy, all the way to chaotic. The port is icebound most of the year, so everything that's going to be shipped must be shipped now. You can hear sailors, dockwokers, sea captains, and a variety of other passers-by calling out in Russian, Scandinavian languages, German, and even English. Arkhangelsk is also the most European of the three Russian stops on the Ellipse, partly because of its location and partly because of the relatively large population of foreigners. Commerce is rampant, from grandmothers selling chickens and potatoes from baskets to cartloads of cotton, wine, coal, and steel rumbling through the streets. The din never stops, and as the better hotels are nearer to the waterfront, it will keep a light sleeper awake at night.

Upon your arrival at the British Consulate, the assistant undersecretary to Deputy Trade Representative Clive Wycliffe, Lord Butterfield, Her Majesty's Representative at Arkhangelsk for the Grand Ellipse, greets you and apologizes for his principal's absence. Lord Butterfield receives Ellipsoids only between 3:30 and 4:00 PM every third Thursday, and you will have to wait until the next appointed time.

Players may email me for any other information specific to their characters and to obtain their tokens. (For those who must know, the tokens for Arkhangelsk are brass. The obverse displays an engraved Romanov eagle over a star, with Arkhangelsk in both English and Russian at the top and bottom, respectively. The reverse reads "Her Majesty's Grand Ellipse - Arkhangelsk, 1882". )

With the amount of sea traffic that goes through Arkhangelsk, you can catch a freighter any time of night or day, although the captains are reluctant to give up cargo space to passengers, even at premium rates. You can go to Moscow by train or river ferry; the train leaves at 10:00 on weekday mornings, the river ferry leaves at noon daily, except for Sundays. From Moscow, you can can catch a series of trains overland to most major European cities. Trains also run to Saint Petersburg three times a week--Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Passenger liners depart for Copenhagen on Tuesdays and to Oslo and Stockholm on Fridays. You can catch passenger ships to Edinburgh, Dundee, or Aberdeen from any major Baltic Sea or North Sea port. All three of those cities have rail lines to Glasgow. There is a direct rail line from Glasgow to London, with express trains leaving at 9:00 AM and 3:00 PM on weekdays, and at noon on Saturdays.

Upon arriving in Glasgow, Ellipsoids who arrive after Colonel Davis are greeted by cheering crowds at both the train station upon arrival and at Government House when they pick up their tokens. The noise is quite deafening. Rail workers at the station and soldiers at Government House asisst the Ellipsoids in navigating through the exuberant throngs of well-wishers, remarking upon the enorous crowds.Small children offer bouquets, and many people in the crowd are waving British flags, calling out encouragement, advice, and invitations, or holding out notes.

Lady Kendall herself receives the Ellipsoids at Government House, and conducts them to the Special Representative, Sir Norris Crossleigh. Lady Kendall appears younger than her forty-some years, with sparkling green eyes and a razor wit. Crossleigh is impeccably dressed in his formal regimental uniform, and, after offering the ledger and token with great ceremony, invites the Ellipsoids to stay for refreshments with himself and Her Ladyship. the token for Glasgow is silver-gilt, with an outline of Scotland with a thistle inside it on the obverse, and "Her Majesty's Grand Ellipse - Glasgow, 1882" in elaborate Gothic lettering on the reverse.

Everywhere the Ellipsoids go in Glasgow, there are adoring fans, autograph-seekers, photographers, journalists, and persons of dubious cleanliness selling makeshift Grand Ellipse souvenirs. Ellipsoids have no difficulty in obtaining hotel rooms or restaurant tables, although it seems that the moment one walks into a place, it is instantly mobbed. Privacy is practically non-existent; no hour of the day or night is empty of someone--anyone--seeking access to the Ellipsoids. It is impossible to simply walk down a street, have a quiet meal, or accomplish any business whatsoever without polite interruptions every few minutes.