Matthew listens attentively, forming his own theories and possibilities. " Perhaps they aren't after hundreds of tons of ore, perhaps it is something smaller but of equal or greater value. An artifact? An ancient Lairds treasures? Precious stones?" looking out the window toward the eastern horizon, he asks Latimer, " Are you certain the entrance is the ONLY access to the mine? How far are we from the coastline? Where is the nearest castle relative to the mine?" His study of geography lead him to believe that Scotland was an area where coal would be predominant, and such shale deposits were often honeycombed by natural cave systems.

In reply to Denholm (msg # 79):

Grimsby said "If need be, Her Majesty's Government might choose to exercise the right of eminent domain, claim the mine, and then return it to Lord Kentigern.
But if these persons chose to contest it legally, it might be quite a lengthy process, and might involve international complications, if as you suspect, these persons are agents of an unnamed hostile power.
Since they have set the precedent of appealing to force, we may feel entitled to meet force with force.
 But I confess I am puzzled just what they are doing.
If they are intending a short occupation, quick looting and a speedy retreat, I should expect them to depart by air. Since they arrived by land, that would imply they have allies who might come by air to carry them away. Remi and his crew may want to keep watch for any approach by air, while the rest of us close in on them by land."

Dash pondered the offerings of both Matthew and Grimsby.

"Actually, you both make good points, based on these blackguards apparent disinterest in any blockades that Lord Kentigern may set up." Dash said, his New English mode of speach coming forward, "Either they have some means of a rapid escape overland -- or by air" Dash nods toward Grigsby, "-- or they have some other means by which to leave."

"So.  How to approach this subject..?  Brother Grigsby, here, as a Government Man -- and therefore our resident expert on British Law --" Dash flashes an evil grin and a wink towards Grimsby, knowing he's placing the Colonial Agent on the spot, "has said that violence can be applied against these brigands...if necessary.  He also brings up the possibility of a planned aerial escape, which we must take into account the possibility of."

"Brother Matthew, now," Dash gestures towards the man "brings up the interesting suggestion that these devils may have some other means of exit in mind -- no pun intended -- and that they may leave via some unknown underground route towards the coast.  While this may be merely a guess, my own experiences tend to prevent me from writing off those things which may seem unlikely.  The unlikely choice has too often risen up to bite me in the a..." with a sudden glance towards the women-folk, Dash catches himself, "...uh, that is...has bitten me, uh, by surprise."

Dash pauses a moment in thought, then turns towards the Ruritanian.

"Brother Viktor!  I take it from your bearing, as well as several comments you've made, that, like myself, you are a former Cavalryman.  You were a professional soldier, yes?"
This message was last edited by the GM at 05:12, Thu 14 Nov 2013.

"Indeed I was" replied Viktor, "and my instincts on this tell me we need reconnaissance before we proceed too much further. Some of us should go have a look about and gain more intelligence about our adversaries strength and motive before we rush into any action."

"As I also believe." Dash agreed with a nod, "However, as I see it, there are two areas that come to the forefront of interest."

Dash raised a finger, "One, on the chance that Matthew is correct, and these cheats have some means of exit other than the main mine enterance, I believe an aerial recconnaisance looking for activity at nearby ruins, or ships anchored just off the coast might be in order."

Dash raised another finger, "Two, mention was made of a pair of tents set up by the skalawags.  I believe it more likely that this is the quarters of the two leaders, rather than that they sleep inside the mine.  And, as such, it may be where they keep any papers that might indicate their plans."

"Rather than any attempt to infiltrate the mine, I would suggest we pursue these two venues.  Brother Remi," Dash turned towards Remi, "I take it that you are familiar with ships and their usage, as well as the ways of some...sailors." Dash said that last with a smirk and a wink at the big man, "So you might have a weather eye for hidden lairs or coastal caves and passes amoung the hills."

"That, and your blimp is faster and more agile than Lord Kentigern's dirigible, so it would be the better choice for an aerial recon."

Dash picked up his coffee cup, saw that it was empty, shrugged and put it back down.

"Though I am loathe to separate our forces, I believe this to be the best way to utilize the manpower that we have."

"Some of us should go with Brother Remi to scout the region, while the rest of us raid the scoundrels tents. I would also put forward that the ladies accompany the aerial recconnaisance, as well as Mister Clemens -- in deferrence to your age, and the rugged terrain, sir." Dash nodded respectfully towards Mark Twain, "I would not presume to dictate Mister Tesla's choice, but I do believe you, also, would better serve aboard the blimp, sir."

"The rest of us will trudge overland and make an investigation of the tents and encampment."

Dash sat back in his chair, and smiled broadly at the group.

"That is, those are my suggestions.  If anyone has any other thoughts, I am amenable.  But, unless Mister Clemens can produce one of his Mediums, or someone of that nature, to divine us some answers, this is how I believe we should proceed."

Dash suddenly sat up and snapped the fingers of his right hand.

"And what about the mine supervisor, this, uh, Cave-er fellow you mentioned before?  Where is he?  If we actually end up needing to enter the mine, he might be a useful fellow."
This message was last edited by the player at 02:30, Fri 15 Nov 2013.

Grimsby said "I agree that Remi and his ship should watch from above, with those who would be safer on her, while the rest --including myself--approach on the ground. Whether that approach turns into an actual attack on the tents may depend on what we find are we get closer to them."

Latimer finally finishes his full English breakfast, all the while listening to the planning.

"Cavor and the two miners spend most of the day in the mine," he explains, "which isn't all that large or deep. It's only gotten a bit bigger than the original pit because the vein they were following went sideways. They come up for meals. The Welsh miners don't give a fig who winds up with the ore, they just like mining."

"Cavor is a bit obsessed about this strange ore, too. Never did understand it, but he's convinced my father of its importance. I just never get the impression he has much loyalty. It may have something to do with a problem he had at unversity."

"At night, Cavor and the miners sleep in one of the tents with two or three of the guards. Lambrecht and Walmond sleep in the other tent."

"They haven't let me into the mine for awhile now, and finally banned me from the site a few days ago. I tried to get the local constable to intervene, but he's convinced the Germans have legal title to the mine. I don't know how. Don't know if they bribed him or what."

"There was no other way out of the mine when I was last there. I suppose they could have dug something since then, the peat is soft enough, but it would need braced. I haven't seen any indication that sort of material has been brought in."

"With all due respect, Mr. Hawkesbury, you need to take a look at a map of Scotland. We're a hundred miles from either coast. Wagons and horses don't cross the moors very well either."


"I'm going with Latimer!" Mercy speaks up as she flourishes the lightening gun.


"I daresay I'm not as old as you think I am, Mr. Dash!" Mr. Clemens adds, as he flashes a derringer. "I may not be as spry as I was in my younger days, but I assure you that the reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated!" He says this last with a twinkle in his eye.

"I shall accompany Mr. Hugo up the main road. If I encounter the opposition, I shall convince them that I am reporting on this new substance and that Hugo is my amanuensis! Should those brigands choose violence, I shall take refuge behind Hugo... until you deal with them, of course!"


"I shall have to decline participating in this sortie," Mr. Tesla said. "I am not trained in combat or weapons, and would be more of a liability."


"Well, whether it's scouting or sortie," Latimer says, "we'd best be going. It'll be light soon."

Remi ate sparingly. The food in a 'fully Monty' as it was sometimes called was not to his liking. He'd learned that a full stomach was not the best thing to take into battle.

"Going aloft may have its advantage, but we shall no more be able to see into the tents or the mine than you will from the ground," he responds to Dash's suggestion. "We put down on the other side of the hill so that the guards wouldn't spot us. Airships are quite readily spotted when they are in the air."

"Should we actually encounter another airship, what do you propose we do about it?"

"Mind you, I'm not objecting to your plan, Dash, but I fail to see what advantage it gains."

Grimsby said to Remi, "If you would not feel ready to do battle with another airship, O Master of the Wind, you might at least follow the other and see where it went, if it carried off these Germans.  Your craft is swift and should be able to keep pace with anything they might have."
This message was last edited by the GM at 02:55, Sat 16 Nov 2013.

Matthew stands dressed in his long woolen overcoat and leather gloves, ready to ride. " So off to the stable then?" he asks, trying his best to mask the fear with a zealous smile of excitement. " Are we to apprehend them by sheer brute force or...?" he mimes a pistol with one hand, hoping nobody would hand him a gun.

Although Grimsby's comment did not quite sound like an insult, Remi might have considered it such in different circumstances. In this case, he decided that Grimsby's ignorance of aerial matters accounted for it.

"Even if we had the man-power," Remi responded to Grimsby, "it is almost impossible to board another airship in mid-flight. Other than that, it requires a cannon to engage in aerial combat, so unless you have one in your pocket, that can't happen either."

"Assuming that these brigands do have an airship, just how far would you expect me to follow them?"

In reply to Remi (msg # 90):

Grimsby shrugged and said "I have no weapon in my pocket ...large enough to stop an airship. I could requisition one, but by the time it arrived they would be long gone, assuming they came at all.
As to how far you would follow, you as the captain would make that decision.  I should think it would depend on how far and how fast they seemed to be flying.
If they showed signs of travelling a short distance at a slow speed--unlikely, I expect--you might stay with them to their destination before returning to report.
If--as is more likely--they departed with great speed and seemed likely to go far -- who knows, perhaps as far as Hamburg or even Riga-- you might only stay with them long enough to gain an idea of their approximate heading before turning back."

Matthew sympathizes with Remi's predicament and offers a solution, " I don't know what you have by way of raw materials on board, but with a few lengths of pipe, a pressure system and a release valve, I'm sure we could construct a pneumatic cannon quite readily." he shrugs at any puzzled looks, " ...Used to make them as a kid. Potato cannon. Spudzooka."

Dash smiled and slapped the tabletop, as he bounced to his feet.

"A direct assault it is, then!  Bully!!"

Dash then turned to Lord Kentigern,

"Your Lordship," Dash spoke jovially, "you have, here, at your command an armed force of mostly-foreign nationals in a country with rather strong gun laws, who are about to trespass upon land that the current occupants actually have some tenuous legal claim to."

The smile suddenly fell from Dash's face.

"As a businessman, I feel I should tell you that this has criminal action written all over it.  And as someone who followed Bloody Teddy up San Jaun Hill and lived to tell the tale, I can tell you this is damn foolish."

"We all want to help you, Your Lordship, but just what is it you wish us to do?  Do you want us to get them out of your mine?  Prevent them from doing any mining?  Stop them from profiting from this venture?  Determine just what this venture is, so that you can take the proper leagal steps?"

"What, Sir, exactly is it you want us to do?"

"If you are looking for a reason to bow out," Kentigern replies to Denholm with a scowl, "then you have my permission to withdraw!"

"Otherwise, I remind you that you are not on American soil! Your rebelious colonial laws are not in force here! This is MY land! I am the law here!"

"As to what I want you to do... what I want US to do... is... all of the above! Some nefarious scheme is transpiring, of which I am the victim! It is time we put a stop to it!"

"Now, those who are with me, we must go now!"

He gets up and follows his son out of the room, followed by Mr. Clemens.
This message was last edited by the GM at 01:01, Sat 23 Nov 2013.

Grimsby looks after Lord Kentigern with a rather wry expression and says quietly to
Dash, "Some of our old nobility tend to forget they are no longer feuding feudal barons. But in this case, I believe Her Majesty's interests will be served by supporting his lordship, and I hope the local constabulary will turn a blind eye on his foray." Then he turns and follows Kentigern briskly out of the room.

"I'm not saying I want to shoot anyone." Dash said, following Grimsby, "I got enough of that in Cuba, fighting for Uncle Sam.  I just wanted to be sure that, if it comes down to it, and I have to shoot at people, I'm not going to go to prison for it.  And His Lordship, there, seems pretty sure he's got the local law in his pocket, so I'm all in."

Grimsby responds to Denholm, "If you came through Cuba, I expect you can get through this little expedition. I've done my share of shooting beyond the Northwest Frontier, though most of it did not involve open war."

"I do not skulk!" Lord Kentigern replies to his son Latimer, and accompanies Samuel Clemens and Hugo to walk up the main road to the mine.

"We will give you a 15-minute start," he concedes.


Latimer heads out south, skirting a few buildings to find one of the paths he mentioned. Mercy accompanies him.


So who is going with whom?

Grimsby says "I believe I may be more useful joining Latimer --I prefer not simply being a target, though it is also my duty to see Lord Kentigern does not die. I would rather do that by arranging that anyone who tries to kill him dies first."

He smiles a bit grimly and goes after Latimer, pausing briefly to remove a rather large pistol from his luggage.


This message was last edited by the player at 03:31, Tue 26 Nov 2013.

"Well, I do have a history of rushing up hills towards danger." Dash shrugs, following after Latimer, "Who am I to argue with history.  Unless history has cannons.  I'm not charging into cannon fire ever again..."

Dash follows Latimers lead in skirting buildings and staying to the shadows.

More sheep than shepherd Matthew is quick to follow Dash and Grimsby. He feels more than a little out of place with all the talk of cannon fodder, but his curiosity is stronger than the fear and he does his best to tread lightly as he follows the rest of the group investigating the mine entrance.

The baggage was all brought to the lodge while breakfast was served, so Grimsby has no trouble stopping to pick up his gun.


As the group, consisting of Latimer, Mercy, Dash, Grimsby, Matthew and Viktor, rush out of the house, Latimer stops in the den and opens the gun cabinet.

"Anybody else need a weapon?" he asks. He selects a revolver, and pockets a box of ammunition. "I don't expect this to be a war, just a skirmish. If we need more than 50 rounds, we may have already lost!"


Out of the lodge and down the road, past three of the houses, Latimer leads the group between two houses down along a footpath that heads off beind the houses into the moor.

There are no street lights, so the dark is only pierced by the stars, a few house lights, and a half moon low on the horizon. In the east, a faint glow can be seen on the horizon... what is commonly referred to as 'false dawn'.


Out on the moor, it is not as flat as it is usually portrayed or shown. It is lightly rolling, though little of it actually rises more than three feet high in this area. There are some grasses, mosses, bracken and ground-clinking heather, as well as an occasional shrub pretending to be a stunted bush.

Latimer walks quickly, not quite a run.

"We should get there in about 20 minutes," he whispers. "When we get closer, we'll need to crouch a bit to keep from being spotted against the night sky."

Noticing Matthew's aversion to guns... at least the firearms type, when they pass the houses and walk into the moor, she pulls out the electric gun she liberated from the would-be assassins.

"If you don't have any firearms training," she whispers, copying Latimer, "maybe this will suffice. You should have some sort of protection; I don't our opponents will bother checking to see if you are armed before they shoot you."

"It's an electric gun. Nick... Nikola Tesla... invented it, and I've built one, but this one we got from the assassins. It discharges a 'bolt of lightning'... well, it's just an electrical arc, but it looks like lightning. It's only good for about 30 feet."

Using the skills he was taught in the Army and in Cuba, Dash keeps pace with Latimer, while noting the -- compared to himself -- diminutive form of Mercy slogging along with the rest of the group.  He dropped back, noting that Mercy was speaking with Matthew and handing him something.

"Excuse me, Miss Mercy," Dash said quietly, as he fell in beside her, "But I would have thought that you'd have wanted to accompany Hugo the Mechanical Marvel, not slog it out on the moors.  Little Lord Latimer, up there, did seem to think it possible that we will see some gunplay, even if only a few warning shots.  Do you mind if I ask, purely for conversational purposes only, why you're out here, with us?"

A big grin spreads across his face, as he casts his glance at Matthew and winks.

"Perhaps this young buck has caught your fancy, Hmm?" Dash jokes, stretching around behind Mercy to slap Matthew on the shoulder.