Matthew pales at the mention of torture, swallowing loudly. He begins to mull over reasons to excuse himself as they await the delivery of kerosene, then decides to offer the man a way out of bodily harm. " Please sir, these gentlemen are offering more than simple threats. These are men of action who will follow through. Please, tell them what you know, I beg of you sir." he leans in closer, whispering, _{" ...We're Americans. This ain't no joke. They will seriously hurt you."}

"Damned Colonials!" Lord Kentigern snarls as he comes out of the tent, though it isn't clear just who he's referring to. "We'll have none of that. A gentleman treats everyone with honor, whether they have any or not. If you don't, then you are just as bad as they are and don't deserve any consideration."

"That doesn't mean we have to be fools. Did you search them? Before you give this man his shoes back, search him and search those shoes. His sort likes to hide things in the heels."

Dash frowns and heaves an exaggerated sigh.

"Oh, very well, your Lordship. We'll coddle 'em...for now"

Dash winks at the tough guy who reacted to the mention of Cavor being in Graustark, "But the next time I ask you a question, Hans, if you don't tell me what I wanna know...things will get warm for you."

Dash turns toward the tent, "Viktor, old Cossack, if you wouldn't mind, would you take charge of the prisoners while Grimsby, Matthew and I search the tent for the clues his Lordships believes are there?  Perhaps you and Mister Clemens could search their pockets, while we are in there?"


OOC: are Hugo, Clemens and Tesla here?

Lord Kentigern and Samuel Clemens accompanied Hugo up the road, but Nikola Tesla remained behind.


Searching the tent does not reveal any astounding discoveries. The three confirm that the coffer full of cavorite is missing. A few documents for a Jurgen Penst, Wolfgang Altmann, and Erich Ingall are found, which seem to belong to the three captured guards.

Three bunks to the left of the tent entrance were theirs, while two on the right were the bosses' bunks.

Apparently all three of the guards traveled with valises, which are tucked under each bed. There is a change of clothes in each one, and in the one where the guard was sleeping you find found two pistols.

Under the boss's bed, Matthew finds a torn piece of paper. It has three words written on it:
The only other thing of interest is 'French postcard' found in the bunk of one of the miners.


Back outside, there are several discoveries. All of the guards had a knife tucked into their boot, besides the pistol carried in a holster, each had a second gun in the small of his back, the heel of each left boot had some small device hidden in it, and the one that reacted to mention of Graustark had slip of paper in his pocket that had two words written on it: Graustark and Vril.
This message was last edited by the GM at 01:48, Mon 13 Jan 2014.

Grimsby eyes the notes thoughtfully."Yetive...Vril" those words should mean more to me.  I shall have to think a moment."

"Fleur...as in Fleur-de-Lis?" Dash asked, incredulous, "The symbol for the House of Bourbon and the Spanish Monarchy?  What the hell does Spain have to do with this?"

In reply to Denholm (msg # 160):

Grimsby, having thought a moment, replies, "Spain is not the only Bourbon realm -- Bourbonny island is under Queen Fleur, who claims descent from King Louis XVI of France. And Yetive is the Princess of Graustark -- this matter may be taking us into exalted circles."
This message was last edited by the player at 03:26, Thu 16 Jan 2014.

OOC: I hope I got my geography right ^_^


"Bourbonny Island?" Dash asks in a puzzled tone, "You mean that backside-of-nowhere little island east of Madagascar?  That's just a coaling station for the French East India Company...isn't it?  That island is ruled by a Bourbon Queen?"

"And Graustark!!  That's on The Continent, right?  What is going on that's involving two petty monarchies on opposite sides of the globe from each other?  Lord Kentigern do you have any dealings with anyone from either nation?"

Dash gives an almost-Gallic sigh-and-shrug.

"Great! A quick side trip to Scotland to look into mining futures now turns into a globetrotting adventure.  If I don't bring back some kind of trade deal, my Uncle will kill me...then throw me out of the Family."

Dash looks up and scans the faces of their prisoners, finally facing Lord Kentigern.

"Your Lordship, I think it wise we make any further plans out of sight and sound of these rascals.  Now that we have them, their fates are yours to decide, of course." Dash grins slightly, and gestures towards the prisoner he had gotten up from the mine.

"However, I would like to point out that I made a deal with Fritzi, here, that if he cooperated he might gain his freedom, and maybe even a little coin to jingle in his pocket.  So far the man has kept his side of the deal; not only surrendering with no problem, but also giving up some useful information -- which I'll pass on, after these other rascals are dealt with."

Dash turns his head to give a really big smirk towards the prisoner from the tent, "You've just made bad decisions all around, haven't you, Hans?  Should have cooperated when you were asked."

Dash made a show of raising his Mauser, pointing it between the fellows eyes, and pretending to fire.

OOC: Dash did not - DID NOT! - pull the trigger on an empty gun, here!  He'd charged the Mauser earlier, so there IS a round in the chamber.  He's just miming firing the gun, and it going off.
This message was last edited by the player at 05:28, Fri 17 Jan 2014.

Grimsby commented, "Lord Kentigern, it is your right to bring a complaint against these prisoners, but Her Majesty's Government may also have grounds for holding them until we have ascertained what foreign agents are doing on British soil.I would suggest that we transfer them to a suitable gaol if our interrogation has been suspended." 

Mercy had been standing there not really paying too much attention to the conversation that was going on at the moment.  Something kept nagging at her as she kept repeating the word virl over and over.

"OH," she suddenly says as her eyes went wide as it dawned on her. "Virl is from the book The Coming Race. That's why the term sounded familiar. I knew I had heard it somewhere before.  Well technically it was read, but that's beside the point."

Grimsby says "You're right, Mercy. I knew I had seen that word before.  Unfortunately, I have not actually read the book, though I looked at it in a library once.  Can you tell us more about it?"

"Well," Mercy begins to say as she ponders how to summarize the book. *"The book is about a young, independently wealthy traveler, who accidentally finds his way into a subterranean world occupied by beings who seem to resemble angels and call themselves Vril-ya.

The Vril-ya are masters of Vril energy, an "all-permeating fluid" that is a latent source of energy that spiritually elevates its hosts that gives them the ability to heal, change, and destroy beings and things.

But only those who can master their will through training and to a degree also depends upon their hereditary constitution. The destructive powers in particular are awesomely powerful, allowing a few young Vril-ya children to wipe out entire cities if necessary. It is also suggested that the Vril-ya are fully telepathic.

But it seems that the Vril-ya will run out of habitable spaces underground and start claiming the surface of the Earth, destroying mankind in the process if necessary."

She pauses a moment to catch her breath and then continues.

"The uses of Vril in the novel among the Vril-ya vary from an agent of destruction to a healing substance. Vril can be changed into the mightiest agency over all types of matter, both animate and inanimate. It can destroy like lightning or replenish life, heal, or cure. It is used to rend ways through solid matter. Its light is said to be steadier, softer and healthier than that from any flammable material. It can also be used as a power source for animating mechanisms. Vril can be harnessed by use of the Vril staff or mental concentration.

A Virl staff is also mention.  The Vril staff is an object in the shape of a wand or a staff which is used as a channel for Vril. It is describes as hollow with 'stops', 'keys', or 'springs' in which Vril can be altered, modified or directed to either destroy or heal. The staff is about the size of a walking stick but can be lengthened or shortened according to the user's preferences. The appearance and function of the Vril staff differs according to gender, age, and so on. Some staves are more potent for destruction, others for healing. The staves of children are said to be much simpler than those of sages; in those of wives and mothers the destructive part is removed while the healing aspects are emphasized."


* Information used from here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vril
This message was last edited by the player at 01:52, Sat 18 Jan 2014.

Grimsby listened intently to Mercy's explanation and replied, "Indeed! It seems Vril may be a very potent power. We must see that the villains we are now investigating do not gain access to it. A Vril staff in the wrong hands could be deadly!"

"All-permeating fluid," Dash snorts, "sounds as ridiculous as Liquid Aether, to me.  Hey!  Maybe Tesla knows more about this Vril stuff.  I mean, if it's real, maybe he's worked with it before, or knows of someone who has."

"Hold on . . . hold on," Mercy says as people seem to get their knickers in a wad. "Vril may or may not exist. Hypothetically if vril did exist, it could be any number of things. For all we know it could just be another name for greek fire or nitroglycerin. We really can't take what is written in that book at face value."

Grimsby responded to Mercy more cautiously this time, "Vril does not sound like Greek fire or nitroglycerin from your description of Vril's properties.  Both are nasty in their own ways, but they could not destroy entire cities, nor do they have the potentially positive powers vril apparently has, assuming the book is correct. That, of course, is another question.  As I have not read it thoroughly, I cannot estimate its reliability, but I don't care to take risks with possible dangers to the nation."

"Well, now, that explains a lot," Sam Clemens speaks up then. "I've heard of this Vril Society. They tried to get Nikola to join, but he turned them down flat. The book was pure fiction, only barely entertaining. Nikola said as much."

"That makes them fanatics. This isn't about Germans, but something deeper."

Grimsby snorts"'Barely readable' was my experience of the only novel of Bulwer-Lytton's I've read, so I can well believe it of this one too. But if the Vril Society is real enough to have tried to recruit Nikola Tesla, they are a significant menace. Who knows how many other scientists they may have tried to recruit?  And not all of them may have had Tesla's good sense to reject the offer."

Without Professor Cavor, there isn't really much point in continuing the mining operation, since the Welsh miners only have a vague clue of what they were looking for. With the samples gone, there's not even anything to compare.

"For what it's worth, you've done an outstanding job in reclaiming my mine for me," Lord Kentigern comments to everyone.

"I'm not really sure what to do with these cads, but I believe we can find a place to secure them until I decide."

"We might as well head back to the manor. Latimer, invite the miners, please. We shall give them a hearty meal, a warm bed and decent night's sleep, and suitable pay. Then we will see about continuing the mining operation."


It's a relieved but quiet party that makes the short trek back to the manner. The exercise helps keep the chill away until the morning sun sheds its warmth over the landscape, even if it won't be much at this time of year.

As they are walking back, a shadow passes over them. It is Remi's airship... and it appears to be heading BACK to the landing site.


When they get back to the manor, Remi is waiting for them.

"I am ashamed to say that you were correct," he admits to the group. "There was another airship, a small black cigar-shaped dirigible. It would have been hard to see in the darkness, which was no doubt the intent of its design. It had already departed, and I would not have seen it except that it stood out against the false light of dawn."

"It is as fast as my own ship, so it was impossible to catch it. It would have been hard to bring down even if i had caught it. It was heading southeast over the channel when I decided to turn back."

Grimsby exclaims, "Confound it! More international complications! I do not blame you for turning back --we have enough to do without bringing the French into it, or whoever else may be involved. But we will have to do more to find out who is back of this."

Mercy follows the group in silence as everyone makes their way back to the manor. "So what now," she asked. It seemed like there were so many things going on at once.

"Well, as I see it, we have not, yet, accomplished our goal." Dash says, "We promised his Lordship, here that we would assist him in regaining his mine.  Now, while we may have helped him regain control of a hole in the ground, by his own declaration, the mine is useless without this Cavor character.  So, by my thinking, we've only recovered half of the 'working' mine."

"Thus, as much as it grieves me to agree with Grimsby, here, about wanting to avoid international entanglements, I think it is clear that we must go to Graustark and rescue Mister Cavor, and bring him back to Lord Kentigern."

Dash turns towards the big African and raises an eyebrow,

"All this would have to be done on the sly, so that Lord Kentigerns enemies hear nothing of our intent. It will probably involve illegally entering the territories of a sovreign nation, or two.  It will, in fact, be rather dangerous.  I don't suppose you'd know where we might find an airship that could perform such activities, would you, mate?"

"I daresay you are even more conservative than I am, Grimbsy!" Lord Kentigern comments on the detective's statement. "And while I don't wish to disagree with you, France does not own the air! Even if some treaty agreed to not violating their air space, however would they enforce that?"

"In this case, it would be necessary to disregard that anyway. It's not so much that WE have to get Professor Cavor back as it is to prevent others from gaining his services. He's the only one that even knows what cavorite is... and what it can do."

He lowers his voice conspiratorially at that point.

"Anti-gravity."

As if on cue, one of the miners brings in a small box and hands it to Lord Kentigern, who promptly turns around and hands it to Matthew.

"I understand you are a scientist. This is a pound of the cavorite ore. See what you can discover from it."

He then turns to see what Remi's response is to Denholm's 'suggestion.'

It wasn't that he was disregarding Dash's question, which was clearly directed at him, but he was waiting to see what Lord Kentigern had to say in response to Grimsby. Now he'd heard.

Anti-gravity? He knew what the idea meant, but what did it really mean?

He preferred not to stay in one place for two long, and his one day in London had somehow managed to bring trouble down on him. It had never been directed at him, but he'd been caught up in it just the same.

Here in Scotland, it had been his decision to 'get involved', but that had been more about getting out of sight of the London gendarmes.

Had he not been a pirate in a 'previous life', then flying a stolen French airship over France would have been crazy! Actually, it was still crazy, but now it was like Fate had thrown down a gauntlet at him.

"You wish to fly into the face of danger," he finally says, "and ask if I will guide you. But of course!"

"I do appreciate a good adventure and relish the challenge!"

He looks around at the others and asks: "So who will join us?"