Spring, 1889. Rangoon, Burma.
Recap: Rangoon (the natives seem to pronounce it "Yan-gon") sprawls across the delta of the Irrawaddy river. Twice a week, vessels travel between Rangoon and Hong Kong, the gateway to China. Having at least a few days to wait and under no time pressure to actually catch the next ship, Our Heroes found lodging at a hotel in the Anglish enclave. The concierge explained that upriver was Burma's rice valley. The lowlands had accepted the Anglish way of government shortly after the first airships had arrived on these shores not quite two decades ago. The current Burmese government "is a triumph of the Foreign Service and the Army." No railroads have been yet built, but one could travel up the Irrawaddy (the natives pronounce it "Ayeyarwady") by boat. Anglish crewed the faster steamboats; natives crewed paddleboats. The river's source is the highest point in Burma, Hkakabo Razi, over 5800 meters high, at the far north end of the country. The Burmese Highlands, long a stronghold of localized warlords (considered by the Anglish as bandits), had been conquered by the Anglish about a year ago. Rumour saith that there were still bandits in those hills.
"I am going to try to find Joseph Dagerall to learn why he sent me the piece of prayer wheel," said Mr. Ramsey.
"He'll be dead," Penrington warned the archaeologist, "or so near to it as to make no matter. Proceed with caution." The hunter proceeded to tell Ramsey the story of his stele piece, the deaths surrounding it, and how it led to the Party finding their first prayer wheel piece.
A quick check of local geography established that Dagerall must have sent the package from the only post office station in the Anglian section. With Miss Costorari helping steer the conversation, Mr. Ramsey asked the native postal employee about Dagerall. The sight of the gypsy seemed to stir some memories and the native recalled that right after Mr. Dagerall had mailed the package, he had been accosted by a flamboyantly-dressed man, of the same complexion as Miss Costorari. The gypsy man and the Anglishman had left together. "I am most very sorry," the native continued, "but nowadays your friend looks like a [unintelligible] addict." He pantomimed puffing.
Ramsey, drily: "He looks like an opium addict?"
Native: "That is the word. Opium. If you are his friend, will you pay for his mailbox? He is overdue."
Miss Costorari offered to pay and to deliver the contents. For half a shilling, the transaction was agreed to. The only thing in Dagerall's post office box was a card imprinted "Blue Peacock", on the back of which was written "Stop by. TFM"
The nearest opium den was a dark enclosed place. Stifling and made depressing with the moans and groans of its patrons, it made the visit to Bedlam look pleasant. At least the nuns had kept Bedlam clean. Mr. Ramsey muttered, after not finding his acquaintance among the few Anglishmen there, "It needs a good fire followed by a flood" and made his escape to the fresher, humid air of the outside.
Miss Costorari recommended asking for Dagerall at the Blue Peacock which, inquiries proved, was a restaurant-bar with an address on the bank of the Ayeyarwady. Penrington pointed out that the Blue Peacock was the one place the missing archaeologist wouldn't be because he hadn't gotten the calling card yet.
Penrington hired several street urchins to fan out and find word of Joseph Dagerall. While waiting, the group lunched at a local restaurant, finding the native cuisine, um, "volcanic". The druidess was determined to savour the exotic spicing. As the meal ended a street urchin returned and offered to take the party to Dagerall. They were led to another opium den, if anything less pleasant than the earlier one. The druidess - although still without powers because of being so long away from any Old Ones, felt that the place nonetheless drained her vital energies. Mr. Ramsey was led to a bundle of rags whose emaciated appearance and bent and crippled left arm were completely unfamiliar. It was, however, Dagerall, who woke at Ramsey's address and recognized him with startled surprise, "Maxwell!" Then his eyes widened and he started screaming, "The monkeys, the monkeys, the monkeys...." In reflex, the druidess put out her hand to cast a Healing spell; then turned away in shame and regret.
Ramsey: "Where did the wooden prayer wheel piece come from?"
For a brief moment, Dagerall was again lucid: "Taunggyi."
Ramsey: "Town Giggy?" but the addict had fallen unconscious. The archaeologist tried gently to rouse the addict again, in order to ask about the £ signs, but Dagerall failed to wake. The druidess could see that the addict was dying of extreme malnutrition; only the opium must be keeping the pain he had to be in at bay. She asked Mr. Ramsey whether there was anything they could do.
Ramsey, with rough sympathy: "He will die comfortable here or he will die in pain elsewhere. He will not eat without opium and with opium, he does not wish to eat."
Tears filled Sunshine's eyes as she looked at the drug victim. "I am so sorry," she whispered. Unseen by her, Penrington passed a few coins to the keeper of the den, pointing at Dagerall. The vile little man nodded; the Anglishman would at least be properly buried.
Leaving the den, Po asked: "Does anyone want to visit a temple of the saffron-robed people who use prayer wheels?" The temples were common in Rangoon, and the group seemed interested so the Chinese boy led the way into a courtyard with shaded walkways around the perimeter. There were bells on a rack against one wall and another wall held two prayer wheels. A robed man came over and bowed to the group. Mr. Ramsey found he could converse with the monk in French, although the man's skill in it was limited [to 2 pts]. Po, the druidess, and Miss Costorari could follow the conversation somewhat with their current command of the language.
Monk: "Welcome to the temple of the six glowing bells."
Penrington advised: "In every temple I've been in, an offering is always acceptable." Miss Costorari slipped Mr. Ramsey some coins.
Ramsey: "We seek information about your worship practices. Are there Old Ones here? This wise," he gestured towards Sister Sunshine, "woman speaks to Old Ones in Anglia and would like to learn to speak to those of this country."
Monk: "Do you wish to speak with Manjushiri or directly with the Buddha?"
Miss Costorari, recognizing one of the words from her Mandarin lessons, to Po: "Is Buddha an Old One?"
Po, in French: "Buddha was a wise man who knew all the Old Ones."
Ramsey: "Is Manjushiri the head of this temple?"
Monk: "Manjushiri is Buddha. Manjushiri is one who ascended to Buddha-hood. This is a place where all learn enlightenment."
Miss Costorari: "I'd like to talk to Manjushiri." The monk gave a small bow and led the group to a room behind the wall with the bells. The doorway was low and dark. Mr. Ramsey dropped the coins into a bowl next to the door. The group crowded into a small room where there was a sandy floor, a wooden walkway around the perimeter, and a statue of the Buddha. The monk doused the one candle in the room and left, closing the door behind him.
As Voronika's eyes adjusted to the darkness, she noticed that there were lots of small holes in the ceiling of the room through which came bits of light. They seemed to be patterned after the constellations of the Chinese zodiac. The light filtered onto the sand and she had a realization. "This place is made to help in astrological predictions!" [+3 to astrology skill.] She tried to cast Po's horoscope, concentrating on "Where does he need to go?" Po whispered to her his birthdate, which she used in her divination. (Voronika realized, from the horoscope information the boy had provided, that he was about 15 years old.) She got back the odd impression that all the constellations were trying to influence the horoscope -- as though there was a piece of him under every sign, as though the constellations needed to be read backwards. Puzzled she said, "He needs to be somewhere before he was born." She looked at Po and said, "It doesn't make any sense to you either." For a moment the gypsy thought that the statue was smiling at her.
Meanwhile the druidess felt "this is not your route." She went back out to the courtyard. Penrington followed and made a donation at the prayer wheels. Another monk handed him a paper slip. The hunter wrote, "I pray that our adventure have a successful outcome." The monk placed the paper in the center of the wheel and sent it spinning. Sunshine made a request "to be led to the Old Ones so that I can become useful again." This was sent spinning in the second wheel. Neither wheel was ornamented with Zodiacal symbols.
The group met again in the courtyard. Ramsey determined that the French-speaking monk did not recognize "Town Giggy." Steele encouraged the asking of questions about the nature of prayer wheels.
Ramsey interpreted the answer: "It teaches you how to go through the act of dying."
Monk: "When this time goes."
Ramsey: "And the purpose of these temples...?"
Monk: "All places that study and follow have learned the book of not living."
Ramsey: "Is this book something you can hold?"
Monk: "It exists outside of you but is also written down so that you can teach."
Ramsey: "May I see this book?"
Monk: "Of course, but I do not think seeing it will do much good."
Ramsey, guessing: "Ah, it is written in a script I do not know..."
The monk took the archaeologist to a room on the opposite side of the courtyard from the astrology room. They took off their footwear. Their entrance seemed to surprise several monks therein; Ramsey's guide reassured them in the native tongue. The book was thick, closed, with a tooled leather cover evidencing vaguely Chinese-like characters.
Ramsey: "May I open it?" Receiving permission, he found that the book was brightly illuminated (albeit without gold leafing) and written in characters that were similar to but not Chinese. There were inexpert illuminations seeming to depict women in saris. There were marginalia showing images of fire, dripping swords and axes, people falling off cliffs, and storms. When asked, the monk said that there were no pictures of prayer wheels therein.
Sister Sunshine commented that the marginalia seemed akin to the Prophecy that predicted dire events for Po.
As the group left the temple, the monk said, "There are many paths to enlightenment. May you find yours through the middle."
Ramsey replied: "May you find yours where it suits you," which garnered him a quizzical look from the monk.
Po admitting to never looking at books while in China due to a prophecy. He "learned from life, not from reading."
Walking through the streets of Rangoon, Sister Sunshine noticed a stone set aside in an empty lot. As she watched, a woman presented the stone with a basket of fruit, made some offering and then took her fruit basket away. Resolved to try this native method of contacting Old Ones, the druidess persuaded her comrades to buy some fruit. She tried praying at the stone and, for a moment, thought an Old One had "magiked away" a piece of fruit. Then she saw the tiny white-faced monkey hiding behind the stone. Clutching an apricot, the miniature animal clambered into the druidess' flowing sleeve and settled itself comfortably.
The group made its way to the Blue Peacock. The hostess asked "Bar or verandah?" In the late afternoon the establishment was only lightly patronized although the group were not the only European patrons. Ramsey offered the calling card; the waitress took it away on her tray. She returned with all the drink orders save Ramsey's. "Come with me, please," she told him and led the way through the office area into a large room with two fan-wavers and an obese Anglishman. "Mr. Ramsey, what a surprise!" I had your drink order brought in here."
Ramsey: "You must be the Fat Man."
TFM: "Yes, I am."
Ramsey: "You seemed to have expected me."
TFM: "I am delighted you came."
Ramsey, taking the bull by the horns, told of his search for Dagerall.
TFM: "Dreaded drugs drag so many down. Such a shame. Such a promising young archaeologist."
Ramsey: "How do you know of me?"
TFM: "Are you not the Ramsey who is expert on _____________. Who published the _____________. One of the last people to see the golden bird of Akhenaten."
Ramsey: "You may have mistaken me for my father."
TFM: "I doubt that very much, Mr. Ramsey. I'm very interested in obtaining the statue of the golden bird for obvious archaeological reasons. You may be able to help with that."
Ramsey: "Tales of golden birds are common in many cultures. There's so little truth behind most tales."
TFM: "Wouldn't you rather see it in the hands of an Anglishman than a Frenchie? I'm sure that I can pay more than DuBois."
Ramsey: "You have me at something of a disadvantage. I do not possess a clue as to the location of such a bird."
TFM: "Of course you would say that. All you have to do is to name a price."
Ramsey, continuing: "I cannot in good faith name a figure when I can't make good on the sale."
TFM: "Sleep on it. Come see me again if a price occurs to you. And, Mr. Ramsey? Please take care of yourself. Rangoon is a dangerous place."
Ramsey: "Your name will be the first to occur to me if I have reason to determine a price."
Back at the table, Ramsey told the others, "It seems that the Fat Man believes I have information he would pay for. I do not care to sell any information at this time."
Penrington, eyes lighting up: "What sort of information does he want?"
Ramsey, coldly: "I think discussing such a thing here is tantamount to giving it to him."
Penrington noticed a bar patron with a military bearing; he avoided the man.
Voronika considered hunting up Dagerall's Romany acquaintance.
Back at the hotel, Ramsey told more about his conversation with the Fat Man.
Penrington: "May one ask, where is your father?"
Ramsey: "He's probably on some dig somewhere. He is also an archaeologist. He ran the dig where Dagerall and I worked together."
Penrington: "Did you find a golden statue?"
Ramsey: "No. If such had been found, the entire dig would have known about it."
Costorari, eyes gleaming: "Once we are done with our current project, if you wanted to extract a large sum of money, you could..."
Ramsey, with authority: "The Fat Man is a man from whom you do not take money unless you are prepared to give him exactly what he paid for. Perhaps, however, Dagerall sold information he did not possess. About a Ramsey finding a statue."
Penrington: "Did he mean you or your father?"
Po: "If it was made up, it did not matter."
Ramsey: "He would not have sent the package to Maxwell Ramsey if he'd meant my father."
Steele: "Perhaps there's a golden bird at the end of this quest. Given where we found the first prayer wheel...."
Sunshine: "How would Dagerall know that?"
Penrington questioned the group's knowledge of golden birds.
Ramsey: "Akhenaten was the pharaoh who introduced monotheism officially into Egypt. His name was originally Amenhotep IV; he changed it to Akhenaten meaning 'I'm with Aten.' He worshipped the sun. 'Aten' is the sun, or the sun's disc. It was symbolized by the solar disk, or the solar disk with wings, or Ra's falcon. The dig we were on had only the disc and the winged disc in its reliefs and frescos. After the pharaoh Akhenaten was deposed, the Egyptians returned to polytheism, the worship of a pantheon of gods."
Penrington: "Then a golden bird would be an appropriate symbol."
Ramsey: "There was no bird on the dig." He paused. "I take seriously the Fat Man's threat. He would not take 'no' for an answer. Although I was quite clear that I did not have the information he wanted."
Penrington: "We might search for some information on DuBois."
Ramsey: "I am concerned that ignoring the Fat Man might be as dangerous as any other choice."
Penrington, reconsidering: "Dubois might not be a good idea. The Fat Man might take offense if you're thought to be negotiating with the Frenchman."
Ramsey, considering other aspects: "Certainly a golden bird would be worth 3£ signs. But... an opium addict would not have paid the postage to send a package to Egypt."
Someone: "Then he was not a opium addict when he sent the package. Only after he went with the gypsy and... whatever."
When evening fell, the breeze died and the air, already hot, became steamy. As a precaution, Steele and Ramsey switched rooms. Watches were set:
First - Po, Sunshine, Voronika
Second - Steele, Ramsey
Third - Forester, Penrington
As Sister Sunshine watched the hall, she noticed the tiny monkey hanging out of her sleeve and staring worriedly down the hallway towards the stairs. She gestured to attract the other watchers' attention. Po walked to look down the stairs. The gypsy aimed her rifle at the head of the stairs. Nothing appeared.
Sunshine watched the monkey whose head swiveled as though something had passed them. The druidess started backing up towards Ramsey's old room and the monkey's expression seemed to indicate that she was keeping pace with Something. She reached her other hand out towards the air next to her. Suddenly a low voice growled, "Merde!" and the druidess was grabbed by the neck, a thin garrote cutting into her throat. Choking, she couldn't get any leverage against the narrow cord. Miss Costorari, noticing, said, "You should probably let the good sister alone," and pointed her rifle at the man now visible and holding the druidess as a shield. Po stomped down the hall towards the contretemps. Her captor dragged the druidess backwards and kicked in the next door and sidled into the room.
Steele turned towards the noise and took in what was happening. "You harm one hair on her head and you're a dead man," he said, leveling his gun arm at the assassin. "Merde!" grated into the druidess' ear and suddenly she was flying towards the mechanical man. As the intruder tossed Sunshine, he dropped something. Miss Costorari, seeing it fall, rushed to attack with her sword - and missed. BANG! The explosion woke the entire hotel.
Mr. Steele caught the druidess, but all four of Our Heroes were blinded and deafened by the smoky explosion and took some time to recover. The hotel's night manager was convinced that "that mechanical thing exploded" and took some convincing that, instead, they had been attacked by a thief.
Forester determined that the incendiary device had not used radiology. Steele believed that it was not steam magic. The little monkey hid and would not look at the remains.
Po: "I guess our precautions were a good idea." Sister Sunshine looked embarrassed.
Searching for Romany in Rangoon the next morning, Miss Costorari determined that the person known as "the Gypsy" works for the Fat Man. The Gypsy could make daggers appear out of thin air and was stealthy. Dangerous. He had a droopy right eye. Not wishing to attract the Fat Man's notice further, Miss Costorari returned to the hotel. There was no gypsy community in the town.
Down in the restaurant Steele discussed tourist spots with a military type who was fascinated with steam appliances. Officer: "Taunggyi is the furthest thing I can imagine from a tourist spot. It was one of the last towns taken last year. The 43rd went up hill and it was quite a dust up. Lots of bandits are still holed up there."
Steele learned that the route to Taunggyi was two weeks up river to Mandalay and then cut across into the hills. The military didn't leave much of Taunggyi. Steele also got the name of a soldier who'd been part of the capture of the town.
Ramsey then looked said soldier up and bought him a drink, going right to the point (albeit politely) about what he knew of Dagerall's association with Taunggyi.
Soldier: "Joseph Dagerall was not military. He came along due to a fascination with local temples, he said. Particularly old ones, he said. He said the ones in that area were the oldest in all of Burma. He wandered up into the hills after we took Taunggyi. Must have come back sometime. I saw him later."
Ramsey asked about monkeys.
Soldier: "There are monkeys crawling all over those temples. Locals don't eat them."
Ramsey asked something about local religious customs.
Soldier: "The Yellow Robes are long winded. Did you know that there are four different language groups in Burma. You can say the same thing four times. Most of the time you can find someone who speaks a bit of pigeon French or Anglish. I know just a few words in the local languages."
Ramsey found waiting for him a card from the Blue Peacock: "TFM".
Again the group visited the restaurant-bar. Again there was only one invitation into the back room.
Ramsey: "I presume the man who attempted to sneak into one of our rooms last night was not sent by you."
TFM: "I would not play such a Frenchified trick. We are Anglishmen in this together. I understand your compatriot left the golden bird up river in Taunggyi."
Ramsey, temporizing: "There is a clue that points up to Taunggyi."
TFM: "Since you found it once before, I'm sure you'll find it again. I await it eagerly. Tell me, Mr. Ramsey, how heavy is it? I don't know anyone else who has held it in their hand."
Ramsey, temporizing more: "If I said anything, you would consider it confirmation."
TFM: "The Gypsy was quite definite that you had held it."
Ramsey: "As I said before, yours is the first name I'll think of when I find this golden bird."
TFM: "That's the sort of promise I'm looking for, Mr. Ramsey."
After a description of the foregoing conversation to the rest of the Party:
Penrington: "Are there any periods you're missing your memories for?"
Ramsey: "Not to my knowledge."
Penrington: "Are there any other Ramseys that might be mistaken for you?"
Ramsey: "I have no living relatives besides my father. I was sent to Egypt to him after my mother died of consumption."
Penrington: "Was there any mystery about your mother's death?"
Ramsey, coldly: "Why the gods would take a lovely and dedicated woman with a small child at her side and no help near and destroy her with consumption, only the gods know!"
Penrington did not seem to care that he'd received a direct cut from the archaeologist. Sister Sunshine gently reached over and lightly touched Mr. Ramsey's sleeve in sympathy. "I am sorry there was no one there," she said almost too quietly to be heard.
Po to Voronika: "Do many of your people have powers like yours?"
Voronika told the group that there were many manifestations of the 6th sense in the Rom. It tends to manifest itself in families through either the male or female line, rarely crossing over within a family. Thus the Gypsy was not likely a relative of hers. Usually the 6th sense allowed one to see an evil person who wasn't there. Her own ability to see into an object's past was much rarer. None of the fortune-telling powers - seeing into the future -- really work dependably.
Our Heroes prepared, leaving in storage their mountaineering gear, and bought passage on an Anglish-crewed steam boat, so to try to reach Mandalay as quickly as anyone the Fat Man might be sending to observe them. Travel was up a broad river flanked by bright green rice paddies. In the distance one could faintly see the edge of the jungle. Sister Sunshine was distressed to find that the little monkey (who really wouldn't let any one else befriend it) got seasick on the rather flat water. As the vessel was a merchant craft, there were stops at every good sized town. When she found that the monkey got better on land, the druidess made a point of disembarking at every stop. She noticed that every village had monks in saffron robes.
Mandalay was a major trading town. Previous to the Anglish occupation, the Burmese Highlanders traded their green tea and cottons with China for food. Now they trade with the Burmese Lowlanders for rice. In the markets of Mandalay, the Anglish group could find a variety of (at home very expensive) teas for quite reasonable prices, and some Chinese trinkets (indicating that the trade with China had not quite ceased).
Penrington encouraged Forester to map out the trade routes between China and Burma even though the military routes were known to be well mapped. [No Society Points.] On a clear day via a telescope the mountains around the Ayeyarwady River could be glimpsed.
The druidess found herself wondering if Mr. Penrington could inquire of the military stationed in Mandalay what the usual fate was of Anglishmen who fell into the hands of Burmese bandits. Perhaps the Party needed to learn what would be effective in dealing with bandits if they still haunted Taunggyi, given that finding whatever temple or temples Mr. Dagerall had sought out previously seemed the goal of this current venture.
Next Run: Taunggyi.
(a) Cumulative (b) Cumulative since Volume II (c) Cumulative since Volume III
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