I need a "Secret Lair"

[Ironworker]

It's early 1919.  Your a German Baron fleeing from Germany with an ill-gotten fortune and a company of loyal men.  You must find a place to hide out where the athorities can't find you and can continue your life of crime which is probably related to arms traffickng and smuggling.  

Where do you go?  How do you get there with your fortune, men, and stolen goods?  How do you start up your criminal empire?  

I'm looking for ideas for an NPC I'm working on.

[Operator5]

Airship. Something similar to this.

[Will Bailie]

Having just watched "On Her Majesty's Secret Service", the first idea that came to mind was a fortress hideaway in the Swiss Alps, but I like Operator5's suggestion better!  Another option would be a supersized submarine, or maybe even an underwater city that can only be reached by submarine.

To take a slightly different route, and one which could tie into a Central Asian campaign, your Baron might be a former military advisor to the Ottomans or Persians.  He could be holed up in a secret mountain fortress somewhere in the Caucasus.  Loyal henchmen could be a combination of Asia Korps veterans and local tribesmen (maybe Armenians, they would certainly have a chip on their collective shoulder at this time).  Maybe he could be using Baku oil to fuel his diabolical machines!  

Check out Peter Hopkirk's "Like Hidden Fire:  on Secret Service East of Constantinople" for stories of some of the espionage and counter-espionage that happened in Turkey, Persia and Afghanistan during the Great War.

W

[Ironworker]

Great Suggestions guys.  I love that Airship by the way and I was planning on him owning a simmilar Airship/carrier anyway.

[Ironworker]

Airships are most certainly going to be part of the senerio.  It's certainly one of the ways he will get around to do buisness.  For his ultimate hidden lair I was thinking some kind of very remote and uncharted volcanic island surrounded by an extreamly difficult to navigate reaf and including a smoldering Volcano pumping out a constant cloud to help obscure the island from the air and a massive fortress/factory ala League of Extrodinary Gentlemen or Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow but the baron would also have other bases around the world.  Where exactly to put his hidden island fortress is part of my delima but I like some of these other ideas for some of his other secret bases.  He's certainly the kind of character who would sell arms and perhaps other services to either side in a conflict.  Right now his working name is Baron Manfred Von Hidleburg because that's about as campy a name as I could come up with so far.  He's pretty much a Sky Pirate himself though he's not one of the good guys.  His organization's symbol is an Iron Cross with a laughing skull in the center.

[Westfalia Chris]

I strongly suggest a tropical island, but make sure it also includes a beach - femme fatale harems tend to be notoriously picky when it comes to those creature comforts. However, make sure that you mine the surrounding waters and have discrete patrols of well-trained (possibly, or preferably!) robotic minions to stop those pesky secret agents right there on the beach.

[Overlord]

Now that the Tramp Steamer Contest is coming to an end, is anyone interested in a 'Secret Lair' Contest?


  A mountain-top retreat for your criminal mastermind to plan world domination with the aid of a smaller clone?

  A remote tropical Island for your master villain, with bikini clad hangers-on and remote control sharks?

 The secret underground base concealing the identity of an heroic   crimefighter and his faithful (Though slightly less impressive) sidekick?

  A fantastic submarine travelling the world at great speed, carrying a group of extraordinary heroes?

  An Antarctic ice palace, to perfect the breeding program of your fiendish killer penguins?

An extinct volcano from which to launch hunter-killer spacecraft from?

A cloudship, travelling the skies of the world to bring terror/salvation (Delete as appropriate)?


(And yes, I have seen too many 007 films...............No Mr Bond, I expect you to die!) :mrgreen:

[Ironworker]

That would be Sweet!

[Ironworker]

The South Pacific is looking good for a hidden fortress.  There are lots and lots of islands and small island chains in the South Pacific that are large enough to be the kind of thing I'm looking for yet small enough and remote enough to remain hidden.  I envision a final battle as an assault on the Baron's fortress perched on the side of a volcano where the goal will be dropping enough bombs to cause the Volcano to erupt and destroy the fortress like the Death Star trench run from Star Wars.  I'm even considering painting up a bunch of Tri-Faulkers in black and gray to mimic Tie Fighters.  Of course the explosion will also cause an earth quake that will sink the island or small island chain into the ocean.  The would make the final dilemma one of evacuating the island and escaping for both the heroes and villains alike.  Not very scientific but very pulpy.

[Westfalia Chris]

I'm even considering painting up a bunch of Tri-Faulkers in black and gray to mimic Tie Fighters.

What in the name of all thatīs camp and pulpy is a "Tri-Faulker"?!? :

Sounds fine, otherwise.

[Rhoderic]

Possibly tri-Focker (as in a Focker triplane)?

You be careful with starting any earthquakes in the South Pacific, you hear? We wouldn't want any ancient alien cities to rise out of the deep... again :wink:

[Westfalia Chris]

Possibly tri-Focker (as in a Focker triplane)?

Duh! Of course. Fokker Dreideckers in Feldgrau with Totenkopfs. Sounds great!

[Rhoderic]

Fokker even. My bad :oops:

[Westfalia Chris]

Fokker even. My bad :oops:

No, not your fault, itīs all the fault of those stupid Ben Stiller movies.  :x

[TadPortly]

This might be inspirational real 1920s pulp!:

http://militaryhistory.suite101.com/article.cfm/the_pirate_state_of_fiume_1920