Trinity Universe: The Lost Treasure of Sir Henry Morgan

[Archer21]

Still fighting to attach the bandage in any sort of useful fashion, Roughneck looks up in relief as Ms. Morgan arrives with Cody in tow. Finally giving up, he gestures with one bloody end of the bandage. "I got 'im, but he cut me pretty good. Sorry 'bout your floor, Ms. Morgan. I tried to staunch it, but I can't seem to get this tied on right."

[Ayre el KaBeer]

As Tom and Min arrive, they see David looking up at the roof, David hushes them, and signals Tom to the same spot. Whisperring to Tom "I think there's someone up there, quick give me a boost". ::sly

[ProfPotts]

Park heads into the house, quietly looking around until he happens upon the others. He calmly glances over the scene with Roughneck, the unconscious intruder, Mrs Morgan, & the new guy. He smiles ::smile & comments,

"Nice catch y'got there Hawkshaw. Reminds me o' this one time in the Orient when me & th' boys were at this inn trying th' local raw fish. There we were, mindin' out own business, when all o' a sudden in comes this..."

He pauses in mid anecdote, looks around, then turns to Mrs Morgan & asks,

"Is your maid safe, Madame? I didn't see her on th' way in."

[Asbjørn]

[inside]

\"I got 'im, but he cut me pretty good. Sorry 'bout your floor, Ms. Morgan. I tried to staunch it, but I can't seem to get this tied on right.\"

Seeing the blood and the rather useless piece of bandage, Mrs Morgan quickly goes back to her office and returns with a proper first aid kit. Setting it down on the floor next to Roughneck she orders him to take off his shirt before she cleans and dresses the wound. \"It looks worse than it really is\", she says. \"As long as you don't strain the area too much, you should be ok in a week or so. Nothing to fear, at least not with a physique like yours...\"

\"Is your maid safe, Madame? I didn't see her on th' way in.\"

- \"You didn't? I think she's downstairs in the kitchen, but I don't know... Maria!\" She calls out, and a few moments later Maria can be heard running up the stairs. She comes around the corner of the hallway and looks at the scene there. \"Yes?\" Mrs Morgan looks a bit relieved, and says \"Good to see you're ok, Maria. I need you to prepare our special guest room for this gentleman.\" She gestures at the intruder, and Maria goes off to do her job.

Turning to the others, Mrs Morgan adds \"Meanwhile, let's find out who he is and what he's doing here. Any ideas, Mr Hawkshaw?\"

[Outside]

\"I think there's someone up there, quick give me a boost\".

With Tom's help, David quickly scales the wall of the villa. Climbing from windowsill to windowsill he soon reaches the roof and slowly peeks over the edge prepared for whoever might be waiting up there. On top of the flat roof there's nothing but an odd mechanical contraption. Hoisting himself over the edge he sees that it is a flying machine of some kind, with a wingspan of about 15 feet. The wings are protruding from a metallic box that looks a bit like a small backback, and the whole thing is tied to an open hatch in the roof to keep it from being carried off by the wind.

[Archer21]

At Ms. Morgan's instruction, Roughneck removes his shirt. His current knife wound will leavea scar, but it will be in good company. Dozens of scars criscross Roughneck incredibly muscular torso. Bullet wounds, claw marks, even some that look suspiciously like those from a lash or whip; all evidence of the varied injuries suffered in service to the Empire.

Relinquishing himself to Ms. Morgan's deft hands, he remains silent until she's finished. Grinning, he answers her question.

\"Meanwhile, let's find out who he is and what he's doing here. Any ideas, Mr Hawkshaw?\"

"Yeah, let me dangle the bugger for the sharks." His grin fading, he hands her the golden rod he discovered earlier. "I found this on him. Might be a clue of some kind, but I've no real idea. Any thoughts?"

[Ayre el KaBeer]

After making sure that there is no one else is accompanying him on the roof, David pops his head over the side and calls down to Thomas "Tom you're going to want to see this! ::hehe Ahhh, but first we should check on the other's". With that said David possitions and lowers himself safely to the ground, when/if Tom asks him what he saw, David replies "A toy I'd keep you away from, old boy, that's for certain! ::sly ".

[ProfPotts]

... and Maria goes off to do her job.

The Captain heads off with Maria, explaining to her with a smile ::smile ,

"I hope you don't mind if I accompany you, young lady, I was wantin' a good look 'round th' place in any case."

The Captain does indeed have a good look around, checking for further signs of intrusion, as well as seeing what interesting nooks & crannies the villa may have.

[Asbjørn]

[in the hallway]

\"Yeah, let me dangle the bugger for the sharks.\"

Pretending to give him a strict look, Mrs Morgan looks at Roughneck and says \"I think we'll try just talking to him first, thank you very much.\" ::sly ::wink

His grin fading, he hands her the golden rod he discovered earlier. \"I found this on him. Might be a clue of some kind, but I've no real idea. Any thoughts?\"

::blink Seeing the rod Mrs Morgan's eyes grow wide. \"Why, that's... He must have stolen that before you caught him! It's a piece from one of Henry Morgan's treasures that Frederick recovered!\" After a few moments in silent thought she continues, \"But why steal that? And how did he know it's here?\"

[Outside]

\"A toy I'd keep you away from, old boy, that's for certain!  \".

- "Well, what is it?" Both Min and Tom follow David inside to check on the others, and it's obvious they're not gonna stop asking until he answers...

Moving inside and up the stairs they find the group gathered in the hallway.

Meanwhile, the captain accompanies Maria down to the basement and into a bedroom behind a heavy door with solid locks. She explains that the newly built villa was made complete with this 'guest room' to take care of unwanted guests until they can be handed over to the police. She makes the bed and makes sure there's food and drink in the room.

Afterwards she shows the captain around. the villa is less than a year old and all parts of it are in prime condition and of top modern standard. There are two floors in addition to the basement, and the various rooms include several bedrooms and offices located on the second floor, an exercise room, a small hospital which appears to never have been used, a dining room, a library and a lounge. He sees no signs of intrusion in any of the rooms they pass by and through.

The lounge has several sitting groups, as well as shelves with international newspapers and magazines and various exotic objects that Maria explains are collected by Mr King, Dr Morgan and Mr Archer. Among other things, in a glass display case the captain spots a golden rod that looks very similar to the one he saw Roughneck show to Mrs Morgan just before he left with Maria.

[ProfPotts]

Among other things, in a glass display case the captain spots a golden rod that looks very similar to the one he saw Roughneck show to Mrs Morgan just before he left with Maria.

Park checks to see if the display case has a label of any kind, & if anything seems to be missing from the room.

Then, after thanking Maria for the tour, he returns to the others.

"Right", he says, "who's the new boy?"

He points towards Cody.

To Min he asks,

"So girl, I presume y'kept these lads out o' trouble? What'd y'find?"

To Mrs Morgan he inquires,

"Just how many o' them golden rods are there, Mrs Morgan? Any idea what they are? Keys? Controls o' some kind? A coded map maybe? Just so long as it's not another o' them 'death rays' like in we found in Stockholm that time. There we were, mindin' our own business, when this strange crimson light flashed out towards th' ship. At first we thought it was a new fangled type o' lighthouse, then things started to burst into flames. That, I figured, was a trifle unusual. So me & a couple o' th' lads thought we better have a look-see..."

Catching a harsh look from Min, the Captain trails off, just adding,

"... Right, golden rods it is then - never trust a man with a golden rod in his pocket, mark my words." ::sly

[Ayre el KaBeer]

- \"Well, what is it?\" Both Min and Tom follow David inside to check on the others, and it's obvious they're not gonna stop asking until he answers...

David holds off on answerring Tom and Minerva, just incase the 'toy' takes his fancy and he decides to take it for a spin before anyone else has a had a chance to examine it. \"Just wait alittle while and I'll tell everyone at once, you two\". David marches on and keeps silent untill they reach the others. ::closedeyes

To Min he asks, \"So girl, I presume y'kept these lads out o' trouble? What'd y'find?\"

Grining slightly at Tom with an 'I know something you don't know' ::sly expression David proceeds to tell the others what he found "Well captain, apart from the tracks young Min found, there's a type of flying machine on the roof, quite small with a harness for it's pilot... Pretty clever, really."

Looking at the others he notices Roughneck, David catches himself before swearing aloud "... ahem... ::crazy Are you alright? What happened here?" ::unsure

[Asbjørn]

\"Just how many o' them golden rods are there, Mrs Morgan? Any idea what they are? Keys? Controls o' some kind? A coded map maybe?

- \"Just this one, as far as I know. But I don't know what it's for. I've always thought it was a symbol of office or something for some ancient indian nobility, but that's just my theory... Good thing he didn't get away with it, though...\"

\"Well captain, apart from the tracks young Min found, there's a type of flying machine on the roof, quite small with a harness for it's pilot... Pretty clever, really.\"

Turning to look at David, Mrs Morgan says "That must be how he planned to get away. He was headed for the stairs when you stopped him, wasn't he, Roughneck?"

Tom's eyes light up as David mentions the machine. "A flying machine?! Wow. That I have to see." Turning to Cody he adds "That should be right up your alley too, right? Steven told me you're brilliant on the tech stuff..."

[ProfPotts]

\"Just this one, as far as I know. But I don't know what it's for. I've always thought it was a symbol of office or something for some ancient indian nobility, but that's just my theory... Good thing he didn't get away with it, though...\"

The Captain rubs his beard in thought, then gestures over his shoulder, towards the lounge, with his thumb,

"I guess that either this'n, or that'n in the lounge, is a fake th' thief fella' planted then? Th' label said it was Mayan - th' only such item your late husband kept, I'm led to believe. That probably means it's somehow related to th' lost ship & treasure he was searching for - part o' th' same horde I'd guess off the top o' my head. Maybe he figured it'd help him find th' rest somehow?"

He glances at the comatose thief,

"I guess someone else thought so too..."

If no-one else has, the Captain knees & removes the thief's mask [what does he look like?].

Glancing up at the others he suggests,

"This fella' seems to be all tricked-up, what with flyin' machines & all. Maybe one o' you fella's who's good at the science & gadgetry should cheack th' fake rod out for any nasty surprises?"

[Archer21]

\"That must be how he planned to get away. He was headed for the stairs when you stopped him, wasn't he, Roughneck?\"

Standing up, and stretching lightly to test the bandages, he answers in the affirmative. "I believe so, Ms. Morgan. He was all spider-like on the celing when I first saw him, sprayed me with a sleeping potion or such. When I didn't pass out, he seemed surprised and tried to attack me. Course, that didn't work out too well for him."

"You want me to take him down to the guest room for you?"

[Asbjørn]

\"I guess that either this'n, or that'n in the lounge, is a fake th' thief fella' planted then? Th' label said it was Mayan - th' only such item your late husband kept, I'm led to believe. That probably means it's somehow related to th' lost ship & treasure he was searching for - part o' th' same horde I'd guess off the top o' my head. Maybe he figured it'd help him find th' rest somehow?\"

Looking a bit thoughtful as she finally understands that there are two rods, Mrs Morgan answers \"Well, Frederick always did believe that there was something special about it. It's not all that special looking, so there had to be some other reason why Sir Henry kept it instead of selling it or presenting it to the crown...\"

If no-one else has, the Captain knees & removes the thief's mask [what does he look like?].

Removing the mask reveals a rather pale, average-looking man. He's clean shaven, with short, dark blonde hair, and a straight scar runs from his left eye and halfway down his face, giving the impression of a tear.

\"You want me to take him down to the guest room for you?\"

- "Yes, please do. It's in the basement. Maria will show you the way. Meanwhile I think we should all go down to the lounge and see if we can tell the real rod from the fake one. And maybe one of you young boys could go upstairs and bring that flying machine down to the terrace?"

[Archer21]

\"Yes, please do. It's in the basement. Maria will show you the way.\"

Winking at Maria, and still shirtless, Roughneck leans down and hoists the intruder onto his shoulder with very little effort. "Right then. I'll follow you, Miss Maria."

[ProfPotts]

Standing as the unconscious man is picked-up, the Captain points-out (probably needlessly, but he's old, he gets away with stuff like this...),

"Remember he's a thief, Hawkshaw, if he can break into places, chances are he can break out handily too..." ::sly

Having stated the obvious, Park heads with the rest of the group to the lounge.

[Asbjørn]

Blushing as he winks at her, Maria makes sure to walk ahead of Roughneck (who looks like he could have easily carried at least five men on his shoulder...) down to the basement. Following her he soon arrives in a guest room with no windows behind a heavy door and puts him down on the bed. Since he's already searched him, he's confident the room will be safe enough to keep him inside. Especially after taking a second look at the bolts and locks of the heavy door he realizes that he too would have trouble breaking out of this place...

Leaving the room, Maria locks the door securely before she brings the keys up to Mrs Morgan. Before turing to leave the room, she looks at Roughneck shyly and asks "Would you like me to clean and stitch your shirt for you, sir?"

Tom gathers up the rest of the thief's equipment and brings it to the lounge. Once they're all there, Mrs Morgan opens the display case. Taking a close look at both the rods, she ties a ribbon around the one thief carried to keep them apart. Then she puts them both down on the table for all to see. At first glance and to the untrained archaeological eye the two seem completely identical.

Mrs Morgan looks at them both closely before she sighs and says. "I have no idea. I could see no signs that the case had been opened, but these two look like two drops of water to me... ::confused"

[Archer21]

Before turing to leave the room, she looks at Roughneck shyly and asks \"Would you like me to clean and stitch your shirt for you, sir?\"

Smiling broadly, Roughneck winks again. "I'd like that very much, Maria. Thank you. If you wouldn't mind, my warbag's got some spares. Could you bring it up for me?"

After she leaves, Roughneck turns and looks at the rods on the table. "Can't say as I see any difference either. What do we do now?"

Remembering the captains comments earlier, he glances at Park.

"Oh, and Cap'n, don't worry 'bout that bloke escapin', it's a bloomin' fort downstairs. Unless he can walk through walls, he's well stuck."

[ProfPotts]

\"Oh, and Cap'n, don't worry 'bout that bloke escapin', it's a bloomin' fort downstairs. Unless he can walk through walls, he's well stuck.\"

"I never 'worry'. But, there was this one chap I met in Tibet who claimed he could wailk through walls, just like a ghost. It was the strangest thing to witness - to this day I don't know whether it was a skilled illusion, or a genuine mystic power."

As he talks, the Captain taps out his pipe in an ashtray, before cleaning, refilling, & relighting it.

[Asbjørn]

\"I'd like that very much, Maria. Thank you. If you wouldn't mind, my warbag's got some spares. Could you bring it up for me?\"

- \"Of course, sir\" Maria leaves and returns a minute or two later, half dragging Roughneck's bag with her. In the meantime Minerva has been exceptionally quiet, not saying a word and all the time watching Roughneck's every movement with complete fascination.

\"Can't say as I see any difference either. What do we do now?\"

Mrs Morgan leans back in her chair and says "Well, if none of you gentlemen have any idea, we'll just have to wait until the thief wakes up and ask him. Or maybe Jake can have a look at it. Jake Hudson, who some of you have met, is a very good investigator and has good connections with the police. Maybe he can find some fingerprints or something to at least tell us which one is the original..."

[ProfPotts]

"Well", offers the Captain, "I've no claim to scholarship m'self, but it'd seem an obvious place to start by looking at th' markings on each. If both are identical, then they can't be the important part of the rod - as stealing the original would make no difference to the fella' who knows 'em well enough to make this copy. Speaking of which, have there been any photographs or pictures published of th' rod? How many people have had th' chance to examine it? Were any detailed measurements taken when it was first found & catelogued, & if so, where were they stored & have they been tampered with? Someone had some very precise information on this thing in order to make such an exact copy."

Noticing Min's attitude he raises his voice just a little as he calls to her,

"Min! What do you think?.." ::sly

[Asbjørn]

\"Min! What do you think?..\"

- "Huh? Sure! ... Er... I don't know..." ::blush The captain's words snapping her out of whatever thoughts she was lost in, Minerva looks a bit flustered as she turns her attention first to her grandfather and then to the table. "What did you say, granddad...?"

Giving Min what looks like an understanding smile, Mrs Morgan answers "No, there hasn't been much publicity around it. Some of his colleagues in the archeological community knew about it, and of course the collector he bought it from. Although he knew even less about what it was... Come to think of it, I think it has been catalogued in the University's archives, which would make a detailed description available to those few who knew that it existed."

[Archer21]

"Should we swing by the University then, maybe see if there's any clues there?"

[ProfPotts]

"Or just 'phone them & ask who's been looking in those archives..." ::sly

[Asbjørn]

\"Should we swing by the University then, maybe see if there's any clues there?\"

Looking at Roughneck, Mrs Morgan shakes her head silently. Meeting his gaze, she explains "I'm afraid we don't have the time. I'll have Jake look into it, but it appears we'll have to leave for the Cayman Trench as soon as possible. I was on the phone with our man in Port-au-Prince, and it appears the competition has launched an expedition this morning. If half of what Tom's told me about your ship is correct, Captain, we should have no problems reaching the site ahead of them, but we have no time to waste. I just hoped we could reach a conclusion on this matter first..."

[Asbjørn]

[Double post deleted]

[Archer21]

\"I'm afraid we don't have the time.\"

Looking back at her, Roughneck nods. "Right then. If we've got to go, we've got to go." Opening his bag, he rummages about for a few seconds before withdrawing a clean and folded white linen shirt. Pausing in the act of closing the buttons, he asks, "What about the prisoner? Do we take 'im with us?"

[ProfPotts]

\"What about the prisoner? Do we take 'im with us?\"

"No", states the Captain flatly.

When he realises that further explaination appears to be in order, he adds,

"Self-defense & a citizen's arrest is one thing - kidnapping & unlawful imprisonment is somethin' quite different. We leave him for th' proper authorities."

He then smiles & further adds,

"We are, after all, the good guys." ::sly

Park draws a few puffs from his pipe, looks thoughtful, then comments,

"Still, if he wakes-up before we leave, it'd seem impolite not to ask th' fella' a few friendly questions..." ::sly

[Archer21]

\"Self-defense & a citizen's arrest is one thing - kidnapping & unlawful imprisonment is somethin' quite different. We leave him for th' proper authorities.\"

Roughneck nods in agreement. \"Right by me, Cap'n. I didn't figure you wanted him onboard, anyways.\"

\"Still, if he wakes-up before we leave, it'd seem impolite not to ask th' fella' a few friendly questions...\"

Cracking his knuckles loudly, Roughneck grins. "Awfully impolite, it would be."

[Ayre el KaBeer]

"Ms. Morgan, may I see those more closely?" reaching over to take the rods, David nods 'thanks' and begins to inspect them, almost immediately after he says "odd..." looking to the others, he clears his throat "I agree witht the captain that they seem to be of Mayan make, you see the paterns on the 'heads'?". He holds out one of the rods and places a finger on the smooth handle "However most Mayan artefacts are enitirely covered with these decorations, I've never seen any reference to there being artfacts that were only partially engraved. It's quite possible that these are excellent mockups, or just as likely the shafts were added at a later date to genuine heads"

(OOC: sorry been working, and haven't had enough free time to check the boards in the last couple of days)

[ProfPotts]

Listening to David's words the Captain asks,

"Is it possible that th' rods (or rod, if only one is genuine) are part of a greater whole - that th' undecorated parts weren't meant to be seen?"

[Ayre el KaBeer]

\"Is it possible that th' rods (or rod, if only one is genuine) are part of a greater whole - that th' undecorated parts weren't meant to be seen?\"

"I'm afraid, I don't know Captain. It's certainly possible but then, almost any speculation made is equally possible, we simply don't have enough information to narrow down the purpose of the rods." David passes back both rods "You know, the theif could have just come for the rod, these rods are both worth a fortune, even if one is a fake".

[ProfPotts]

\"You know, the theif could have just come for the rod, these rods are both worth a fortune, even if one is a fake\".

"It doesn't seem too likely that he'd be leaving a fake rod 'worth a fortune' if it was a simple case of money-motivated theft, now does it?" ::sly

[Ayre el KaBeer]

\"It doesn't seem too likely that he'd be leaving a fake rod 'worth a fortune' if it was a simple case of money-motivated theft, now does it?\" 

"That's assuming he planned to leave it behind, maybe he didn't want to leave his one anyplace he didn't think was secure, so just took it with him" ::bored he shrugs.

[Archer21]

Roughneck interjects. " 'Scuse me, mates. I don't think our intruder is a common thief. He's a bit too cocky, and he's got too many pricey gadgets. I think he may be working for Mr. Saturday, that's what I think."

[ProfPotts]

\"That's assuming he planned to leave it behind, maybe he didn't want to leave his one anyplace he didn't think was secure, so just took it with him\"

The Captain looks thoughtful,

\"That's certainly a possibility, although Mrs Morgan here did state that she only knew o' one such rod in existence. If this other one, whichever it is, is another genuine article, then it'd be reasonable to assume that it was taken from somewhere relatively near here; unless, as you say, our thief really is that paranoid.\"

\" 'Scuse me, mates. I don't think our intruder is a common thief. He's a bit too cocky, and he's got too many pricey gadgets. I think he may be working for Mr. Saturday, that's what I think.\"

Park smiles ::sly ,

"You'd know better than I on that score - you saw the fella' in action. He does remind me o' them assassin chaps from Japan, although he's clearly not o' that persuasion. He's also, obviously, not a negro so I have a certain amount of doubt as to whether he worked for this voodoo fella' or not. Generally speaking only the black man follows that particular 'religion' - but I guess this thief could be simple hired help."

[Asbjørn]

Mrs Morgan listens with interest to the various theories the gentlemen put forward, then sums up the situation. "I'll call Jake and let him handle the contact with the police. That way we might be able to get a few answers out of our guest before we turn him over. We'll have to let them have his flying machine too, of course, but I think we'll be able to persuade them to let us keep the fake rod 'in custody'. Since we don't know which one it is, I mean..." ::confused

"I don't think it's a coincidence that this thief showed up now, and my guess is that he is in some way connected to our... competition, and intended to replace the real rod with the fake one. Which of course means that there is something special about the original that we don't know about. Ergo: We should take it with us." - She turns to the Captain - " You have secure storage areas aboard, don't you?"

\"It's quite possible that these are excellent mockups, or just as likely the shafts were added at a later date to genuine heads\"

After Roughneck gets dresses again, Minerva listens closely to David's words, thankful for something else to focus on. Lost in thought for a while, she then says "You think they come off?"

[ProfPotts]

\" You have secure storage areas aboard, don't you?\"

Park smiles ::smile ,

\"Th' whole ship's secure, ma'am.\"

\"You think they come off?\"

Min's grandfather grins ::biggrin ,

"Typical - we're told it's a priceless treasure & your first thought is how t'break it!" ::wink

[The History Follower]

Cody had to intorduce himself several times, about once for every new person who showed up, "Hi, I'm Cody Quill, everyone calls me Dash."

He headed up to roof after it was mentioned that there was a strange craft up there. He had been fooling around with it for the last few minutes.

[ProfPotts]

\"Hi, I'm Cody Quill, everyone calls me Dash.\"

"That's nice, Mr Quill", replies the Captain, "but it tells me little about who you are apart from your name. Why are you here, what do you do, who invited you? Come on man, no need t' be shy!" ::sly