"They Rode to Perdition" starring Arcade's Gang (D&D/Boot Hill)

[Queenie]

Whoops, our bad... sorry Arcades Gang!

 

[Silver Moon]

Chapter 83, “A Change in Direction”, Monday, March 13th, 1882:

The gang asks Manuel Gonzales about the disguise and he tells them “I couldn’t go around town as myself. I’m still wanted by the Texas Rangers for my participation at the Alamo.” Hank says, “I’ll pretend that I didn’t hear that.” “You’d better,” Morgana comments. Several players make comments in reference to the ‘Texas Rangers’ baseball team.

Sam asks, “So, how are things back in Promise City.” Gonzales replies, “Pretty quiet these past few months. The new town Marshall Wyatt Earp keeps a tight reign on things.” Morgana interjects “Earp is now the Marshall!” Arcade says, “Hmmm, I may have accidentally left a light on over in England. We should go back and check.” Louie says, “Want to go home.” “Back to China?” Gonzales asks. Louie says, “No, Promise City. Have things for Mary Wong. She still there?” He replies, “Yes, the Wong Family is still there.”

“How are our horses?” Morgana asks. Gonzales hesitates then says, “Yours is fine. So are Arcade and Hanks.” The others notice his omission of Sam’s and the young man says, “What about mine?” Gonzales says, “I’m sorry Sam, I’m afraid it’s dead. A friend was riding it and got shot at.” Sam yells out “What!” Gonzales interjects, “But I have a friend who owns a ranch and we will find you a fine replacement.” “Oh, okay then,” Sam says, apparently not having been too attached to the mount.

Arcade asks, “So how do we go about clearing up this misunderstanding about being wanted?” Gonzales replies, “That’s easy. Your passports show when you entered and left Great Britain. I’ll take those back and use those to clear this all up.” Hank says, “Hey, how did you know we were in Britain?” He replies, “Morgana is my apprentice. I’ve been keeping an eye on you guys. In case you hadn’t heard yet, two days after you rescued that French druid she caused the collapse of the French government.” Morgana asks, “So, she’s running France now?” He replies, “No, nobody is, or more accurately lots of people are simultaneously claiming to be. In truth the France is in a complete state of anarchy.” “And that’s different than before?” Arcade quips.

“How long will it take to clear our names?” Louie asks. He replies, “I’m not sure. But the Judge is in town so it shouldn’t take too long.” “So we’re stuck here in Texas!” Arcade exclaims with no attempt to hide the anger and distain in his voice. Hank exclaims, “That’s great! We can visit my family in McKinney!” Arcade mutters, “A whole family like him? I think not.”

Gonzales replies, “Actually, I have another errand I’d like you to take care of in the next few days.” Arcade says, “If it doesn’t involve staying in Texas I’m all for it!” Gonzales says, “Good, I need you to go to Louisiana. There is a person in New Orleans I would like you to meet.” Arcade exclaims, “New Orleans! We were just there last week! We’re going backwards!” Morgana mutters, “At least it isn’t Texas.”

“Why do we need to go there?” Louie asks. Gonzales replies, “I need to you meet up with the Grand Arch Mage Andre Marc Guilleault.” “A Frenchman?” Arcade says. “Well, it is New Orleans,” Morgana states. Gonzales says, “Yes. He’s new to the United States, is in some trouble and doesn’t know anybody here yet.” “So the first people you want him to meet are us?” Hank questions. “Yeah, that’ll give him a favorable impression of the county,” Arcade sarcastically states.

Gonzales says, “What he needs is your area of expertise. He needs to have some items stealthfully removed from a ship before it sets sail back to England.” Arcade says, “Hold on just one minute there! Are you asking an Englishman to help a Frenchman steal from the English?” Gonzales says, “I’m asking my apprentice and her friends to help a wizard protect and save some valuable artifacts before they are destroyed by the ignorant and unknowing.” Arcade says, “You’re calling the English ignorant.” The elderly wood elf replies, “Of magic, yes. And if that ship reaches England with these artifacts just how long do you think it will take that evil wizard who controlled your family to get possession of them?” Arcade ponders that and says, “Okay, those are valid points.”

“And you think they’ll be safer with the Frenchman?” Morgana asks. He replies, “Not at all. But while I’m sure that Guilleault would want to study them he understands that right now the priority is to get them to safe keeping. He’s agreed to let me hide them for now. What I need you to do is help him get the items off the ship and bring them by train back to Arizona.”

“What’s so special about these items?” Louie asks. Gonzales says, “Guilleault believes them to be Atlantian. Wizard magic was first discovered on the lost continent of Atlantis although the only references to have survived are in the writings of Homer. “The Iliad and the Odyssey,” Arcade says. Gonzales says, “Yes, plus a third test that is the basis for most wizards spells. Few copies of that volume survived the burning of the Library of Alexandria. There is no telling what secrets these artifacts might hold.”

Hank says, “Look Manny, we appreciate what you did for us with the bounty hunter and all, but I’m still not all that fond of the idea of running off to Louisiana to steal a bunch of magic trinkets”. Gonzales says, “Did I neglect to mention that Guilleault is rich? I’m sure that I can convince him to compensate you for your efforts. Perhaps a useful magic item for each of you.” “Let’s go,” Arcade and Sam say in unison.

In addition to the passports they convince Manuel to bring Louie’s truck back to Promise City as well as giving him a large quantity of their money. “Put it in the El Parador’s safe,” Morgana instructs him. He replies, “The El Parador doesn’t have a safe.” She says, “Use some of that money to buy one. Just make sure it isn’t a Harrisburg model.” He says that he will check on them and get back to them in a few days.

Gonzales gets beside the trunk. He sets up a brazier, which he lights, and tosses in some powder. He then casts an incantation which teleports him and the trunk back to Promise City. The others pack up and check out of the hotel. They head to the train station, keeping a close eye out for that bounty hunter. They board an afternoon eastbound train that two hours later brings them to the town of Beaumont, Texas.

At Beaumont they have the choice of taking a late night train that will bring them to Baton Rogue by dawn or to stay overnight and catch a morning train to Baton Rogue. They opt for the latter, figuring that they wouldn’t get a good night’s sleep on the train and wanting to be fresh and on alert for the meeting with the wizard. “Good, another night in the Lone Star State,” Hank interjects. They others groan at that prospect as they all head off to find lodgings.

 

[Silver Moon]

Chapter 84, “The City of New Orleans”, Tuesday, March 14th, 1882, 9:30 A.M.

The group sleeps in and misses the first eastbound passenger train of the day. But that also means that they have time for a nice breakfast consisting of steak and eggs, and also Chili for Hank. They do some shopping with Hank buying himself a Texas flag. “What are you going to do with that?” Morgana asks. “I’ll think of something,” he replies.

They board a train shortly after 11:00 and cross over into Louisiana shortly after noon. Arcade comments, “Is there where I do my ‘we’re out of Texas’ happy dance?” Morgana says, “Don’t celebrate too quickly, we’ll probably be traveling back through Texas to get home.” “Gods, I hope not,” Arcade exclaims. “Avoiding it would take us hundreds of miles out of our way,” she replies. “It would probably still be worth it,” is his response.

The train stops at the Louisiana communities of Vinton, Sulfur, Lake Charles, Jennings, Crowley and finally Lafayette where they have an extended layover while the train takes on water and coal. It pulls out of the station at 3:30 PM and thankfully has no stops until Baton Rogue, which they reach shortly after 5:00 PM. They investigate transportation to New Orleans, finding that the rail system doesn’t extend there yet. A riverboat down the Mississippi River is leaving in a half-hour so they hurry and board it, being thankful that they managed to rid themselves earlier of Louie’s trunk.

The boat makes a leisurely ride down the river. Hank plays a few hands at one of the gambling tables, winning a total of $ 11.00. Morgana and Arcade wander around deck together hand-in-hand taking in the scenery. Louie complains to Sam about having to ride another boat. Qualtaqa, in elvan form, just enjoys the ride. The ship docks in New Orleans at 10:45 P.M.

They exit the riverboat and walk through the city. Sam asks, “How are we going to find this arch mage? All we know is his name. This is a big city!” Qualtaqa says, “Tenth largest city in the United States according to the boat conductor.” “And that French guy is new here too, folks won’t know him yet,” Hank exclaims. Morgana states, “They might, he’s a Grand Arch Mage, so would be rather powerful.” Arcade says, “Let’s do it tomorrow, I’m tired.”

They head towards one of the better parts of the city, stopping at the multi-story ‘Vin de Fleur’ hotel off from Jackson Avenue. They check into a three-bedroom suite on the third floor. Arcade says, “This room is nice. Why don’t we just stay here until Gonzales gets around to contacting us? He told us yesterday that he’d get back to us in a few days.” Morgana replies, “No, we don’t know when he’ll get to this city.” Unbeknownst to Morgana, Gonzales is actually in New Orleans right then, at a Creole nightclub less than a mile east where he is currently dancing with his other apprentices following a dinner with the French mage (as referenced in the “Wizards, Whiskey and Wonderful Things” Story Hour, Chapters 40 to 43.)

Wednesday, March 15th, 1882, 8:30 A.M.

The group sits down for breakfast at the ground floor restaurant of the hotel. Arcade declares, “I’ll have the French Toast, or as they call it here, toast.” After breakfast Louie says, “Where we go to find French wizard?” Morgana says, “Might as well start in the city’s French Quarter.” They decide to keep the hotel room for another night so as not to have to lug all of their possessions. They travel south and then east, soon finding themselves in Jackson Square, with an oversized statue of Andrew Jackson riding a horse in the part and a large Roman/Greek church cathedral across the street from it.

A very large man with a long dark beard approaches them. “Would you be Morgana?” he asks. He is dressed rather simply and so assuming that he isn’t the mage she replies, “Yes, who are you.” He replies, “My name is Maurice, I am a friend of Manuel’s. He asked me to keep my eyes out for you.” Morgana is skeptical and says, “Exactly what did he tell you?” Maurice says, “He asked me to watch out for his ‘little bird’.” “Okay, it’s legit,” she tells her friends.

He leads them to a building on Burgundy Street where they walk up a short flight of stairs to an exterior door. He unlocks the door, the hallway on the other side, with stairs going both up and down. He leads them down, into a large forty-by-sixty foot basement room. As houses in New Orleans don’t have basements due to the low water line the party immediately realize that magic is part of this building.

The center of the room has a stage with a piano and dozens of other musical instruments, with chairs arranged around the remainder of the room facing the stage. A bar is in the northwest corner of the room and a kitchen in the southwest corner. A high elf is on stage playing an odd wood pipe. Two other people are in the room, a wood elf and a dwarf. The wood elf makes a gesture at the end of the high elf’s song and the elf and dwarf leave.

The wood elf approaches them and says, “Hello, my name is Pasqual Alvaro. I own this establishment. We are old friends of Manuel and he asked us to offer you our assistance if he could.” Maurice says that he will go contact Guillieult to arrange for a lunch meeting. An elvan Indian arrives who Pasqual introduces to the group as his wife, Rain Tchoupitoulas. Morgana takes an interest in all of the unusual musical instruments. Rain explains, “We operate this as an invitation only private club, where those who appreciate the universal language of music can come and share in each other’s songs.”

The group stays at the club until Maurice returns, stating that an 11:30 A.M. meal reservation has been made at Commander’s Palace, the finest restaurant in the city. Pasqual tells the party, “Manuel was unsure if Guillieult could be fully trusted. Be careful. If you run into any trouble or need a place to go to avoid him please feel free to return here.” Morgana thanks them and they party heads off to lunch.

They head to Louisiana Avenue and to a large two-story wooden building painted teal green with white trim that has a three-story clock tower in the corner. They enter the building, which has multiple private dining rooms off from the main room. It is early and they are just opening for the lunch crowd. The host approaches them and Morgana mentions Guillieult. They are shown to a table. Shortly thereafter a man dressed in elaborate clothing joins them.

 

[Silver Moon]

Chapter 85, “Your mission, if you choose to accept it”, Wednesday, March 15th, 1882, 11:30 A.M.

The man introduces himself to them as Marc Andre Guillieult. He is tall and thin with a full head of white hair and a white-and-gray van dyke beard. He is attired in an ivory-colored three piece suit with gold necktie over a white shirt, gold cufflinks, gold necklace, four gold rings with fancy gems. They introduce themselves.

He says, “Thank you for coming so quickly.” Arcade replies deadpan “We travel light”. The waiter arrives and Guillieult orders for the entire table in French. He then reaches into a vest pocket, removing a pinch of green powder, which he causally drops onto the flames of a lit candle in the center of the table and makes a short incantation. He explains, “That will keep others from eavesdropping on our conversation.”

As the meal is served he hands Arcade a copy of the New Orleans Times Picayune newspaper, stating, “This was from two days ago.” Arcade reads:

Mystery at Sea The British merchant ship, the S.S. Jesmond, made an unscheduled stop in its journey on its way to our city. It had departed from Messina, Sicily with a cargo of dried fruits on February 26th.

When the ship reached an area 200 miles west of Madeira and 200 miles south of the Azores they noted that the ocean had become unusually muddy and that the vessel was passing through enormous shoals of dead fish. The ship's Captain David Robson then saw smoke on the horizon, which he presumed came from another ship.

The next day the fish shoals were even thicker and the smoke on the horizon seemed to be coming from the mountains on an island directly to the west, where, according to the charts, there was no land for thousands of miles. Captain Robson anchored offshore, worried that this uncharted island was surrounded by reefs. Even though the charts indicated an area depth of several thousand fathoms, the anchor hit bottom at only seven fathoms.

Robson went ashore with a landing party and found a large island with no vegetation, no trees, no sandy beaches, bare of all life. The shore they landed on was covered with volcanic debris. With no trees they could easily see a plateau beginning several miles away and smoking mountains beyond that.

They headed toward the interior in direction of the mountains but found that progress was interrupted by a series of deep chasms. To get to the interior would have taken days. They returned to their landing point and examined a broken cliff, part of which seemed to have been split into a mass of loose gravel as if it had recently been subjected to great force.

The sailors then found an arrowhead in the broken rock, and Captain Robson send for picks and shovels form the ship so that the crew could dig into the gravel. He and his crew soon uncovered crumbling remains of massive walls. They continued to dig near the walls for better part of two days, finding bronze swords, rings, mallets, carvings of head figures of birds and animals, and two vases or jars with fragments of bone, and one cranium.

Then they found what appeared to be a mummy enclosed in a stone case, encrusted with volcanic deposit so as to be scarcely distinguished form the rock itself. The rock sarcophagus aboard the Jesmond as dark clouds began to roll in off of the horizon, and Robson resumed his course. This reporter has examined the artifacts and they appear to be authentic. Robson's plans to donate the artifacts to the British Museum upon his return to England.

Morgana states, “So you believe that this mysterious island that suddenly resurfaced was Atlantis?” Hank says, “Can’t be, that’s a city in Georgia, not an island.” “Atlantis! Not Atlanta, you dolt,” Morgana exclaims. Guillieult reiterates what Gonzales had told them about the dangers and risks of these items falling into the wrong hands, adding “Especially the sarcophagus.”

Louie asks, “What’s so special about it? Just box with dead person.” Guillieult says, “Not just a dead person. To receive such an elaborate burial coffin he would have been an Atlantian Emperor, one of their most powerful mages. Atlantian wizard magic was renown, but their knowledge of clerical magic was lacking. Whatever ailment killed this Emperor could most likely be reversed using today’s medical science and the most powerful of clerical magic spells could be used to resurrect the dead. This man from Atlantis could be revived! There is no telling what knowledge he might possess, which could be abused and corrupted by whoever possesses him!”

The group ponders this. Morgana says, “There is another unpleasant possibility. Don’t powerful wizards have the possibility of become powerful undead when they die?” Guillieult says, “Yes, I believe the term you are looking for is that of a Lich. A Lich could be equally dangerous if allied with an nation seeking conquests.”

Guillieult then says, “Mr. Gonzales indicated that you might be able to help me to remove those items from the ship they are on before it sets sail.” “When will that be?” Morgana asks. He replies, “Saturday.” “No problem,” Hank exclaims. Morgana says, “Actually, there could be many problems. How many men are on the ship and how many guards?” Guileful replies, “When I looked yesterday there were a dozen city police on the dock and a small skeleton crew on board.” Louie comments, “When you say skeleton crew you mean few of them, not undead, right?” Guillieult replies, “Oui.”

Arcade says, “Look, before we agree to anything I’d like to take a look at this ship. Why don’t you give us directions to where it is docked and we’ll go have a look? We can meet you back here at supper time.” The French wizard agrees. Arcade’s Gang gets up and departs, leaving Guillieult with the check for the meal. Once outside Louie comments “The food was good there.” Arcade says, “I thought so too, that’s why I wanted to get a free supper as well.”

They wander through the city and down to the earth and stone levee that protects the city from Mississippi River flooding. On the other side of the levee are stairs down to the docks. They group keeps their distance, but manage to get within a few hundred feet of the Jesmond. The dozen New Orleans police are standing on the dock in different spots in groups of twos and fours. Arcade says, “We’ll need to find something to distract them.” Sam says, “We could hire some prostitutes.” Hank replies, “That would distract us.” Louie adds, “Then just hire them for Sam then.”

Arcade says, “We not only have the problem of the police, but getting a sarcophagus and those other items off might attract attention. These docks are a fairly open area. It might be easier if we just steal the entire ship.” They debate the merits of that plan. Hank agrees to the plan provided they agree to sail it to Texas. Arcade says, “We can hire a crew to sail it around South America and on to Arizona.” Hank says, “There are no ports in Arizona! It’s all mountains and desert!” Arcade replies, “I didn’t mean all the way back. You can sail up the Gulf of California in Mexico to Puerto Penaso, that’s only around fifty miles from the Arizona border.” Hank replies, “I still like the sound of Texas better.”

Morgana asks, “What is the alternative?” Arcade replies, “Fighting our way onto the ship, find the items including a large stone sarcophagus. Take them off of the ship and then bringing them through a crowded city, and then finding a way to get them to Baton Rogue to put on a train. Stealing the ship is a much easier solution.”

Louie comments, “Seems like a big thing to steal. Let’s just put a hole in the side of the ship and take it out that way.” Hank replies, “Easier said than done, and we’d still have to sneak it through the city without being seen.” Arcade says, “We would all wear hats as disguises.” “What about the sarcophagus?” Sam asks. “Put a hat on him too,” is Arcade’s answer.

Morgana says, “If we steal the ship we would still have to sail it close to 100 miles downriver before we reach the Gulf of Mexico. They could get word ahead to Navy ships to cut us off.” Hank points and says, “I see Navy ships docked right over there. We could wind up having a running gun battle down the Mississippi.” “Sounds like fun,” Arcade replies. “But not necessarily easier,” Morgana comments.

Hank says, “I like the idea. It’s like piracy! As soon as your steal-the-boat plan is approved I’m going to go out and buy myself an eye patch and a parrot.” Louie says, “Why not wait until Saturday and steal it as it leaves?” Morgana replies, “Three days from now? It might be too late then. We’d better assume that the French and Spanish already know about the items and are working on their own plans to steal it.” Louie says, “So we’re one of a dozen or so groups planning the same thing?”

“Maybe they already taken it?” Sam comments. Arcade says, “The police wouldn’t still be there if they had.” “Only if the police know,” Morgana adds. Hank says, “Yeah, the police seem to only be on the dock. Somebody could have come in by boat on the water side.” “Hey, we can do that,” Arcade says. Morgana adds, “I can’t swim.” “Then don’t fall into the water,” Hank exclaims.

Morgana says, “Why don’t we try to get on board now and find where these items are.” Arcade, “Because we haven’t agreed to do this yet. Let’s meet this guy for supper and see how much he’s planning to pay us before we risk arrest or worse.” The others concur and they head back to their hotel to just relax until suppertime.

They meet with Guillieult for supper. After the meal Morgana asks what type of magical assistance he can provide. He explains that he has a large number of spells at his disposal, although he would need to first study for them. “Could you make our whole group invisible?” she asks. He says that he can. Louie says, “Can you make large hole in side of ship?” He says that he can do that too, that a Passwall spell creates a temporary hole.

Arcade says, “So it comes down to either my idea of stealing the ship or Louie’s idea of rowing out to the ship, putting a hole in the side of the ship, pulling out a one-ton coffin, rowing it across the water and back across the harbor without sinking, and sneaking it through the city.” Guillieult replies, “Either of those plans is viable.” The group continues to debate both options.

 

[Queenie]

I can't wait to find out what's going to happen!

 

[Silver Moon]

Stay tuned.....

Chapter 86, “The Heist”, Wednesday, March 15th, 1882, 5:30 P.M.

Hank says, “Hey Arcade, It’s a British ship. Your family is all high-muckity-mucks in England. Why do you just use that to get on board, say that your are an Emissary for the King.” “England is ruled by a Queen!” is his reply. “Yeah, whoever they have now,” Hank replies. Morgana sarcastically comments, “You’d hardly know he just spent several months there.” Arcade says, “The problem with that plan, other than the fact that I have no desire to associate with a bunch of lower-class sailors, is that we sent our passports back so I have no identification.”

Morgana says, “Mr. Guillieult, would you presently have an Invisibility Ten-foot Radius spell memorized so that we could go scout out the ship?” He replies, “Oui, when we conclude the meal we can find somewhere private for me to cast it on you.” “Won’t you be joining us?” Sam asks. He replies, “For the heist, absolutely, but you do not need me for the scouting. You are experienced at that, I am not.” Morgana glares at the others and says, “We can do this part without him.”

Louie quips, “So we sneak in, find the things, then sneak out.” Arcade says, “Sounds uncomplicated enough.” Louie asks, “So do we sink boat on our way out?” “Only if the items are already gone,” is Hank’s reply. “Why would we have to sink it in that case?” Sam asks. Hank answers, “No reason, it just sounds like something fun.”

Arcade looks to Guillieult and says, “There’s still one fundamental question to be answered, what’s in it for us?” The Frenchman replies, “Mr. Gonzales indicated that some additional incentive would be in order. I have managed to pull together a half-dozen different magical items that I can reward you with. The first of these is a magical leather duster that affords additional protection to the wearer; the next item is a Hacksaw of Cutting, that will cut through any object; I have a case of twelve 44-40 rifle cartridges that create a fire where they strike; I have an Invisible Tent large enough for two people to comfortably sleep; I have a pair of boots that allow the wearer to walk on water; and last I have a pocket watch that is a Polymorph Item, allowing the person holding it to change their physical image to one imprinted on the watch.

Morgana inquires about the image and he explains, “Your friend Gonzales knows how to imprint the image, which reminds me.” He then reaches into his pocket and hands her a ring saying “He asked me to reset and recharge this for him, it is also a Polymorph Item. Please give it to him when you see him next.” The group decides that the payment plus enough money for train fare back to Arizona is sufficient. Next they discuss the possibility of maybe using some of the items, specifically the Hacksaw and Boots, to assist with the present operation.

The meal ends and they all head outside. Arcade is still uncertain as to which of their two plans to go with. He suggests to Guillieult “Why don’t you study spells for use with either idea. How long would that take you?” He indicates around five hours so Arcade says, “Fine, meet up with us down by the levee near the ship at around 11:30 tonight.” “We’re doing this tonight?” the wizard exclaims. Arcade says, “Sure, the sooner we do this the better.” Morgana then has the wizard cast an Invisibility Ten-foot Radius spell onto her so that the gang can go investigate the ship.

They silently make their way down to the dock, being sure to all stay close to Morgana. They carefully circumnavigate around the policemen and climb up onto the ship. Most of the ship is deserted, with them seeing four men working in the engine rooms and another two running around the ship performing routine maintenance.

Arcade tells the gang “See, stealing this ship will be easy, there are only a handful of folks here who we’ll just get to assist us.” Morgana says, “And they’ll do this just because we ask them nicely?” Hank says, “No, they’ll do this because we put guns in their faces.” Morgana says, “It’s unlikely they will be willing to just stay on as crew, they’ll see us as pirates.” Arcade replies, “So, we dump their bodies in the Gulf of Mexico.” Louie exclaims, “Kill the crew? Arcade, these are Englishmen. They’re your own people.” He answers, “Yes, but they’re the lower classes.”

Morgana doesn’t favor that plan and says, “Maybe we can just make them forget or confused about us. If that wizard can do a Mass Invisibility spell maybe he knows some type of Mass Hysteria spell.” “Mass hysteria? Haven’t we been doing that all along?” Sam comments. The group then discusses the timing of this, deciding that the early morning hours would be best.

They decide to check out the Captain’s quarters, encountering two more crewmen on board, the Captain’s Yeoman and the ship’s cook. They check some maps and logs, noting that the ship’s next port of call is the Island of Barbados. Arcade points out how that would give them documentation to sail across the Gulf and they’d just have to turn south prior to that island.

They make their way down to the ship’s hold. Between Louie and Morgana they are able to get the padlocks off of the doors to the hold. A survey of the room finds the sarcophagus and four large chests with the other artifacts, which they also open. Morgana makes paper rubbings of all of the magical writings on the sarcophagus and other tablets in the trunks. They find a section of the hold along the river that the Passwall spell could be cast and confirm that they are still above the waterline. They depart, replacing but not fully closing the padlocks.

Getting off the ship they are nearly caught by the policemen who hear some of their movements. They have a quick discussion and conclude that coming in by boat on the opposite side of the ship might be the best approach with either strategy in order to avoid being heard by the policemen. They head back to their hotel to discuss this further, during which time Sam, Hank and Qualtaqa inadvertently wander too far from Morgana and become visible.

Sam and Hank check out of the hotel with all of the group’s luggage. They head back for the dock, leaving Sam, Hank, Qualtaqa and the luggage on the levee wall to wait for Guilleault while Morgana, Arcade and Louie head off in search of a boat to use.

They find one that meets their needs further upriver fastened to a deserted dock, a long wooden pram-style boat that appears strong enough to bear the weight of the casket. The four invisible party members climb onto the boat and untie it from the dock, so that it sails downriver appearing to have just lost its moorings. They allow it to sail by the Jessmond before starting to steer it towards the bank. They land it on the opposite side of a dock out of sight from the Jessmond.

Guillieult arrives with a borrowed wagon drawn by a pair of horses. The group’s luggage is loaded up into the wagon and Qualtaqa agrees to stay and guard it while in elvan form. Guillieult casts an Invisible Ten-Foot Radius spell onto himself, Sam and Hank. He also casts an Invisibility spell onto the boat and they make their way across the water towards the Jessmond, bringing the boat to where they believe the hold to be, although they are not completely certain.

Thursday, March 16th, 1882

Shortly after midnight Louie, Morgana and Arcade make their way up to the railing using Hank’s magical rope and then head back down to the hold. They open up a porthole window and point out where Guillieult should cast the Passwall Spell. He does so, with the group then dropping down ropes to anchor the boat to the side. Once in they decide to try to go with the plan to take the items rather than stealing the ship, as doing so could hopefully be done without alerting anybody to the theft.

Guillieult has a Tensors Floating Disk spell, which at his level is of strong enough to create a force platform that will hold the trunks although he is unsure about the sarcophagus. They have him using this spell and Boots of Levitation that he wears to make several trips with his force platform, bringing each of the chests to the boat.

At Morgana’s suggestion, before attempting to bring down the sarcophagus he first goes into the water and casts a Mud to Stone spell on the river bottom so that if it falls it will not sink into the multiple feet of mud and silt covering the bottom. This proves to be a very good idea, as the weight of the sarcophagus is too much and begins to tip the boat, so Sam and Hank push it off before the boat sinks. Guillieult casts a second disk spell and then brings the sarcophagus back up to the surface of the water. The decision is for him to just maintain it on the platform until they reach shore, with him changing the levitation boots to the water walking ones instead.

Back in the ship, Morgana, Arcade and Louie close the portholes and she then casts a Dispel Magic to end the Passwall spell. They move some crates in the hold and cover them with tarps to give the appearance that the missing items are still there. They then exit through the ship, locking the door behind them. They slide back down the rope to the boat. Hank asks “When does the explosion go off?” Morgana asks, “What explosion?” He replies, “I thought you were going to blow up the ship to cover our escape!” Guillieult replies, “It is covered, nobody knows that we are here.”

They manage to row back to where the wagon has been left. Guillieult first moves the sarcophagus up onto the wagon and then uses the floating disk to bring the trunks. Once everything is loaded onto the wagons the items are covered over by blankets and tarps. Qualtaqa steers the animals through the streets of New Orleans, leaving the populated areas on the main road west of the city at around 2:00 A.M.

 

[Silver Moon]

Chapter 87, “Go West Young Man”, Thursday, March 16th, 1882, 6:00 A.M.

The group proceeds westward on the road northeast for the remainder of the night. They reach the town of La Place, Louisiana shortly after dawn and have two choices, heading north along the isthmus between Lake Maurepas and Lake Pontcharta or continuing northwest. They decide to go the northern route as that will get cut thirty miles off their journey, getting them to the train station in Hammond Louisiana several hours sooner than going to Baton Rouge.

Along the way they pass through a town where a casket making operation is located. Guillieult has them stop and purchase the largest size casket, which is big enough to contain the stone sarcophagus and therefore disguise the item. They also purchase black mourning clothes for Morgana and Arcade, with Guillieult explaining “If you tell the people on the train that he died of a very contagious disease they will not attempt to open the casket.” Morgana tells Arcade, “Dear, your Uncle Horace died of smallpox. We’re bringing him west for burial in the family plot.”

They press on, reaching the train station at Hammond, Louisiana at 2:00 P.M. They have a three-hour layover until the next train west so use that time buying supplies, including additional ‘mourning’ clothes. Guillieult says that he will return from there to New Orleans.

The Frenchman purchases the group tickets for the train that will bring them to Houston, followed by another train that will take them to Indian Junction (later Oklahoma City) where they will change trains again that will take them through Indian Territory (Oklahoma), north Texas, New Mexico and on to Flagstaff, Arizona. They will then take another train south and east to Tombstone by way of Phoenix and Tucson.

Because of the number of train transfers and layover times between them Morgana is concerned about the moving of the casket, as it will weigh far more than a normal casket should. Guillieult has brought the materials for scroll creation so uses the next few hours to imprint his remaining five Tensors Floating Disk spells onto the parchment for her to use when needed.

By a quarter past five they are westward bound. Not wanting to let the artifacts out of their sight, Morgana manages to obtain permission for her and Arcade to remain in the baggage car, explaining that they cannot leave the body “for religious reasons”. The train makes stops at what appears to be every town along the rail route, but most of the party does not notice, as they have been awake since fairly early Wednesday morning so sleep soon overtakes them.

Friday, March 17th, 1882, 4:00 A.M.

The train reaches Houston, Texas. Arcade has some difficulty getting Hank and Louie to wake up to exit the train, as they want to sleep for a few more hours. They have a long layover until their next train arrives.

Arcade decides that it is best for them to all just wait at the Houston train station. Hank says, “Ah, I get it. You don’t want to be seen around a town where a bounty hunter was after you three days earlier.” Arcade replies, “No, I just don’t want to be in Texas. If you guys wander off we might miss the train and we’d have to stay here longer.” Hank exclaims, “What’s wrong with Texas?” Arcade replies, “Well, it’s big, flat and full of cows.” Hank snaps, “I’m from Texas.” Arcade adds, “That too.”

By 8:00 A.M. they are riding north of the Train to Indian Junction by way of Dallas. Qualtaqa and Louie join Morgana in the baggage car for this leg of the journey, leaving the three human males in the main passenger car. The train makes stops at several small towns along the way.

At 11:30 A.M. they reach the town of Corsicana, Texas, which is around fifty-five miles south of Dallas. At that stop a man from the railroad enters the train holding a telegram and looking for “Josiah and Morgana Arcadiam.” Arcade is napping and Hank says, “Bring it here good man.” Sam says, “Why do you want it, you can’t read.” Hank says, “I can to. There’s no point in waking up Arcade.” The clerk then says that there is a “Ten dollar fee.” Hank shakes Arcade and says, “Hey, wake up, you’ve got a telegram.”

Arcade grumbles about being awakened and then reluctantly pays the clerk. He looks at the message. “What does it say?” asks Sam. Arcade replies, “Well, the first line reads, “Please pay the Clerk Ten Dollars.” “Great, we’ve been scammed!” Hank exclaims as the train departs the station. Arcade says, “Nah, the rest is important. It was sent by Morgana’s mentor. It was sent from that town in Louisiana where we boarded the train.” He reads the remainder of the telegram to Hank and Sam:

YOU HAVE DONE VERY WELL THUS FAR STOP
BRITISH SHIP STOLEN BY SPANISH MILITARY THURSDAY DAWN STOP
FRENCH MILITARY FOLLOWED TRAIL NORTH STOP
GUILLIEULT BEATEN AND HOSPITALIZED STOP
FRENCH KNOW YOUR PLANNED ROUTE WEST THEN NORTH STOP
SIX TO EIGHT FRENCHMEN ON TRAINS NORTH THAN WEST STOP
WILL REACH DALLAS ONE HOUR PRIOR TO YOUR SCHEDULED ARRIVAL STOP
TAKE ALL NECESSARY PRECAUTIONS STOP
I WILL PLAN TO MEET UP WITH YOU TOMORROW STOP
MANUEL

The telegram sends Sam into a panic. Hank says “Relax Son. It says there are only six to eight of them. We’ve handled worse.” Arcades says, “Yes, I’ll get to kill me some more Frenchmen. Sounds like fun.” Sam points out that the others may not agree and need to be warned. The three contemplate trying to get back to the baggage car on the moving train but opt instead to just wait until the next station, Ennis, Texas, which is thirty miles south of Dallas.

At the stop the three head back to the baggage car and hand Morgana the telegram. She makes the immediate decision that they are getting off the train NOW! Hank starts to argue but she cuts him off, pointing out that the awaiting Frenchmen are probably powerful wizards. She casts another Disk spell from the scroll and they quickly unload the casket, trunks and suitcases. The train departs north. Arcade points out “That train will soon reach Dallas, it won’t take the Frenchmen long to realize we’re not on it.

Hank points out that his home of McKinney Texas is just a little ways north of Dallas. They look at a railroad and conclude there is no easy way to get there without first going through Dallas. They inquire about southbound trains back to Houston. The next one isn’t for another two hours, but there is one arriving in thirty-five minutes going to San Antonio by way of Waco and Austin. Arcade says, “That’s even better, it brings us closer to home. We could transfer there to another train to El Paso.”

While they are waiting Hank sends his mother off a telegram from the train station letting her know that he was in the area. He then buys them all lunch at a local restaurant, some famous Texas Chili that the others conclude could be used to light fires with given how hot it tastes. Arcade complains at great length about the food. Hank replies, “I’m not taking food advice from an Englishman!”

They soon board the southbound train, which is an express rather than a local and gets them to San Antonio stopping only in Waco and Austin rather than all the other small towns along the way. At 5:15 P.M. they transfer over the westbound train to El Paso. While on this train they debate whether from El Paso they should continue north or if it would actually be quicker to buy a wagon and head overland to Promise City, as it is only 180 miles due west from the Texas town.

At 7:30 P.M. they have passed Fort Hancock, Texas and are nearing the town of Acala, Texas, fifty miles southeast of El Paso when Hank notices something very unusual out the window. “What in Sam Houston’s name is that?” he exclaims. Sam and Arcade look up to see a long black cigar-shaped object, 240-feet long and 60-feet in diameter, 100 feet up in the air and flying parallel to the train. Suspended beneath the object by cables, ropes and rigging is a rectangular compartment, twenty-five feet long and ten-feet high and wide. They see people inside the compartment.

Sam says, “Some type of hot air balloon I think.” Arcade says, “Not like any I’ve ever seen or heard of before. It isn’t flying with the wind, and it seems to be keeping up with this train when we’re going close to fifty miles-per-hour!” The object starts to move closer and lower towards the train. Hank comments, “You don’t suppose it being here now is just some sort of coincidence?” “Not hardly,” Arcade says as he opens up his travel bag and removes his sidearm.

 

[Silver Moon]

Chapter 88, "The Dirigible", Friday, March 17th, 1882:

Arcade, Hank and Sam watch as the airship moves closer to the train. It flies at an altitude of eighty feet above the train from the caboose to the engine. It then begins to drop back and descend. Once it starts to lower Arcade yells, “Let’s go!” The three exit the passenger compartment and climb the ladder up to the roof of the car.

They soon see that their assumption was correct as the dirigible is now matching the speed of the train and hovering twenty-five feet above the roof of the freight car where Louie, Morgana and Qualtaqa are inside with the artifacts. A trapdoor beneath the dirigible’s passenger compartment opens and a rope ladder is dropped down.

Arcade and his gang members are two cars back. They move as quickly as they can upon the roof of the passenger compartment, being careful of their footing as the engineer has poured on extra steam and now increased the speed of the train to fifty miles-per-hour. The train engineer has the train barrel through Fabens, Texas, which had been the last scheduled stop before El Paso. The Fabens Stationmaster quickly tends a telegram twenty-five miles up the line to El Paso alerting them that it appears that a train robbery is in progress.

The three gunslingers successfully jump from the passenger compartment to the rear baggage car, one car back from the one with their friends. Just then a man begins to descend from the rope ladder. He is facing forward towards the front of the train, so does not see the three on the roof. He is attired in a uniform of the French Foreign Legion. “Well, I guess that answers one question,” Arcade says.

They move forward across to the front of the railroad car roof. The first French soldier is now ten feet down the ladder and a second one has now started to descend. “Cover us Sam” Hank exclaims and he jumps across onto the next freight car. Sam draws his revolver as Arcade then makes the jump. Inside the car, Morgana and Qualtaqa both hear the thumps on the roof. They shake Louie to awaken him.

Hank and Arcade both draw their own revolvers and move forward towards the end of the rope ladder now dangling fifteen feet in front of them. Sam tucks his gun back into his belt and jumps across himself. Hank fires a shot into the back of the French soldier who is lowest on the ladder. The shot is not fatal but does cause the man to release the ladder and fall the remaining ten feet to the train roof. The man hits hard and is unable to grasp the roof before he slides off, landing on the rail as the train wheels then crush him.

Hank grabs onto the ladder and begins to climb up. Arcade fires up into the other soldier, killing him with the second shot. The man’s body falls the fifteen feet down, barely missing Hank, and bounces off of the train’s roof. Below, Louie and Qualtaqa have both drawn their weapons, uncertain of what all the sounds above them mean but fearing the worst.

Hank scurries up the ladder as quickly as he can, having an easier time once Arcade also grabs onto it and adds the extra weight. Hank is less than five feet from the dirigible’s trap door when a French Soldier holding a rifle looks down below from the compartment. Hank had anticipated that and had his magical rope ready. He lasso’s the man's rifle, pulling it from the man’s grip. The man reaches out through the trap door to grab the rifle, unable to do so as Hank flings it to the side.

Sam reaches the bottom of the ladder now and Arcade yells, “Just stay there and anchor it.” Sam does as instructed, which pulls the ladder taut. That enables Hank to quickly ascend the next two rope rungs, grabbing the arm of the man who had reached for the rifle. Hank pulls him down and through the trap door. The man falls the twenty-five feet down, kicking Arcade as he passes by. “Hey, be careful,” Arcade exclaims. The man lands on the passenger car next to Sam, who uses his foot to immediately shove the soldier off the train.

At this point Hank reaches the trapdoor and pulls his upper body inside, revolver still in hand. He sees seven men inside. One is the driver of the vehicle, who is at the front of the compartment and concentrating on steering the vehicle forward. Five are French Soldiers attired identically to the three who had left via the ladder. The soldiers are all carrying rifles, which they draw to their shoulders and take aim at the intruder. The remaining man is human with a thin mustache and attired in a suit. Upon spotting Hank he begins to cast a spell with the incantation in French.

Hank ignores the firing squad taking aim at him and fires his revolver into the spellcaster. The man is hit in the chest, stopping the spell. The five soldiers fire, with four shots missing and going through the open doorway with one hitting Hank in the shoulder. Ignoring the pain for the moment, Hank takes a second shot into the French mage, fatally striking the face.

Hank is then pleasantly surprised to see that the soldiers are using older single-shot breech loading rifles and have to all stop to reload. He empties his revolver into them, dropping two and wounding two more who manage to remain on their feet. The remaining three shoot, again with only one connecting, for a serious shot in the chest. Hank manages to remain awake and lowers himself out of the doorway and a few rope rungs down the ladder as Arcade climbs past him, revolver in hand.

Before Hank passes out from the pain he uses his magical rope to entwine himself to the rope ladder. Meanwhile Arcade draws his arm through the doorway and peers inside as the soldiers are finishing reloading for their next volley. Arcade shoots one between the eyes and yells in French “Surrender.” Ignoring his yell, the two remaining soldiers both fire. The shots hit Arcade's newly acquired magical long coat and deflect off for no damage. Arcade pivots and gut shots two bullets into one of the men who Hank had previously wounded, causing him to drop. The remaining soldier drops his rifle, raises his hands and yells out in French “I surrender! I surrender!”

Sam is halfway up the ladder and Arcade yells down, “It’s under control. We won.” Arcade climbs up into the airship and points to the pilot. “You going to cause me any trouble?” The pilot shakes his head and replies in a German accent “Nine, No.” Sam reaches Hank and says, “He’s passed out, and we need to get him down.” Arcade says, “No, get him up here.” He points his gun at the surrendered soldier and commands him to help Sam pull up the ladder and Hank.

Once they are inside Arcade kicks the trapdoor shut then tells the pilot “Pull up and away from the train but keep pace with it a quarter mile back.” “Yah,” the pilot answers. Arcade has Sam cover the pilot and soldier while he searches the body of the French wizard. He finds three vials of elixirs one of which is marked with the French word for “Heal”. Arcade pours it into Hanks’ mouth saying, “What the Hell, he’ll be dead otherwise.”

Hank regains consciousness and mutters, “Did we win?” “Yeah, you just stay put,” Arcade replies. They continue to follow the train as the skies darken. Once they see the buildings and lights of El Paso in the distance Arcade commands the pilot to land, stopping the airship behind a hill around two miles south of the town. They help anchor and tie down the vehicle down to rocks and trees.

The prisoner is made to remove the bodies of the soldiers and wizard from the airship, finding one of the ones that Hank shot to still be alive. Arcade allows the man to give him basic first aid. The two soldiers and the pilot are then tied and gagged. Arcade tells Sam “I’ll stay here with these guys. You head into town and get the others.” Sam heads off on foot towards El Paso.

 

[Steve Jung]

So that's how they got the zeppelin. Cool.

 

[Silver Moon]

Chapter 89, “Down in the west Texas town of El Paso”, Friday, March 17th, 1882, 7:00 P.M.

Louie, Morgana and Qualtaqa were unsure of that was happening outside of the moving freight car. They had heard a number of loud thumps and bangs on the roof above them, followed by gunshots, and then the sounds abruptly ceased. The train continued on for another twenty minutes before coming to a stop. They then heard sounds outside which Morgana interprets to be military officers giving orders to a large number of troops. She instructs Louie and Qualtaqa “Keep your weapons handy but not drawn, we don’t want either of you getting shot by accident.”

The freight car doors are then opened from the outside and they see around a dozen armed United States Army troops facing inside. The train conductor is standing beside them and he tells the sergeant in charge “It’s alright, they’re supposed to be in there.” “At ease men,” the sergeant says. Morgana asks the sergeant “What is going on?” He replies, “Attempted train robbery Ma’am. Nothing for you to worry about right now since the Engineer managed to outrun them. But you’d best get away from this area as soon as you can just in case those robbers may not have completely given up. Don’t worry though, it’s nothing that we can’t handle.”

Louie goes to the passenger compartment to find the others. They are nowhere to be found and the conductor does not remember seeing them leave. He returns and tells this to Morgana. She replies, “Well, they’ll just have to find us. Let’s get all of our things unloaded.” She uses another Floating Disk spell from the scroll to again levitate the casket as Louie and Qualtaqa act as pallbearers, moving it to the side of a building at the far end of the railroad depot where Morgana maintains the spells so that she can continue to move it later. Louie and Qualtaqa go back to move each of the four trunks of artifacts and the group’s luggage.

While all of this is going on a battalion of nearly one hundred soldiers have taken up positions around the train depot in anticipation of a possible enemy attack and are now in the process of moving two cannon into position. Amidst all of this Sam soon wanders into town. He reaches the train station and soon locates the others. He updates them as to what has transpired. Morgana has him go with Louie to rent a wagon and horses to haul the things back to the others. The items are loaded up and the wagon is ridden out of town.

As they ride around the hill two miles away Louie is flabbergasted by the size of the airship. Morgana is still maintaining the Disk spell and asks Arcade, “Are we loading onto that thing?” Hank is feeling much better now, having now received both of Arcade’s healing spells and exclaims, “Hades Yes, I’m keeping it!”

They check out the size of the compartment and conclude that all of the items should fit inside but that the weight might be too much. Morgana says that she will keep the Disk spell running under the casket to keep the weight down. They have a debate as to what to do with the prisoners. Louie says, “We could just turn them over to the Army. They didn’t seem to be too happy about the train being attacked.” Arcade says, “They’ll be even less thrilled when they find the attack was by a foreign country.” Hank says, “That’s why we keep a large army around here. There are border disputes regularly, although those are usually with Mexico and not France.”

Qualtaqa points out that the horse and wagon should be returned. He offers to take them back along with the prisoners. Since he is not overly thrilled with the concept of flying through the air he offers to travel back overland in his centaur form rather than flying. He says that he will meet back up with the party in Promise City. Arcade agrees to the plan. They decide to leave the dead bodies where they are but make sure to search them first for any valuables. Qualtaqa becomes a centaur again heads north, leading the horses and wagon back to town with the two French soldiers, the German pilot having been left with the others to provide flying service.

Since the Disk spell only has a couple of hours left on it they decided to head off right away. Morgana unties and ungags the pilot and asks him his name to which he replies, “Hans Schmidt.” He then asks, “Who are you people?” She replies, “Your new bosses.” She then tells him their destination. Hans consults his maps and estimates that the winds are in their favor so they can expect a cruising speed of forty-five to fifty miles-per-hour, which would get them to Promise City in approximately three-and-a-half to four hours. “That sure beats the three-and-half to four days it would have been overland,” Sam comments.

Hank fastens his Texas flag onto the dirigible. “What are you doing that for?” Louie asks. He replies, “It’s my message. Don’t mess with Texas.” “Shouldn’t we fly the country’s flag?” Sam asks. Hank replies, “Son, haven’t you ever heard of the Republic of Texas. We were a country.” Arcade tells Sam, “Stop arguing with the guy. Nobody’s going to see it at night anyway.”

The dirigible is untied and takes to the air. Morgana has the pilot fly low and well south of the town to keep from being spotted and then due west towards Cochise County, Arizona. The first one hundred miles of the flight are along the New Mexico/Mexico border. Hank is as excited as a kid in a candy store. He gestures to Hans and tells Arcade “I’ve never seen anything like this before.” Arcade replies, “You’ve never seen a German?” Hank says, “No you idiot, the airship.”

Morgana asks, “So Hans, what’s the story on this contraption?” Arcade interjects, “And why were you working for the French Army?” Hans says, “Ah, this airship is a German and French collaboration. It is a prototype that was pressed into service prematurely by French wizards who were financiers of this project. They arrived at our Mexican factory early this morning. That wizard who you shot ordered my employers to have me fly the craft to Pecos, Texas. That is where those soldiers boarded.”

Arcade says, “So you aren’t a soldier working for the French Army?” Hans replies, “Nine, no. I am a civilian under the employ of Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin, a retired German General.” Hank says, “You aren’t any more. You now work for Arcade’s Gang!” Hans blinks and says, “The American gunslingers?” Arcade says, “Yep, that’s us. And you can consider this airship to be officially confiscated. Do you have a problem with any of that?” Hans replies, “Nine, no. Although the Count should probably be notified of these developments.”

“So who is this Count?” Morgana asks. Hans says, “Ferdinand von Zeppelin was born in Konstanz, Germany back in 1838. He joined the Prussian Army when he was twenty. Five years later he traveled to the United States as a military observer and consultant to the Union Army during your American Civil War. That was when he first went aloft in a balloon, which the Army used for reconnaissance of Confederate troops prior to battles.

When he returned to Germany he tried to convince them to invest in balloons but found little interest. He fought bravely during the Franco-German war of 1870 to 1871, which had begun when Emperor Napoleon III invaded Germany. France had some initial victories but then Germany fought back with a vengeance and eventually defeated France. Zeppelin was promoted to Brigadier General during the war. He was in charge of one of the Brigades that occupied Paris during 1871.

That was when he met the French balloonist Henri Giffard. Giffard had created the first dirigible almost twenty-years earlier. Giffard had come up with the cigar-shape for the craft and the use of fore and aft rudders and propellers but consistently had difficulty making the concept work. He used a series of helium-filled balloons fastened together but had difficulty keeping them together in the aerodynamic shape during flight, his longest flight being only seventeen miles. His steam- powered motors could also achieve a maximum speed of only three miles-per-hour, making them impractical compared to other modes of transportation such as rails.

The Count von Zeppelin and Henri Giffard then began a collaboration that has now lasted a decade. The count introduced the idea of using a rigid frame covered by a single rubberized cloth and using hydrogen rather than helium in the balloons. They realized that the key to better speed was a better engine and developed the idea of a battery-powered electric propulsion device. Unfortunately that also substantially increased the weight, so magical levitation devices were needed to counterbalance it.

When political upheaval occurred they realized that Paris wasn’t the best place to develop the craft, but German was also impractical due to restrictions on the use of magic. They eventually settled upon establishing their factory in the city of Chihuahua, in the Mexican Province of the same name, which is immediately south of west Texas and New Mexico. This airship was the first full-sized working prototype. The Count will be very upset when he hears of its loss.”

Arcade asks, “Won’t he just build another one?” Schmidt replies, “He was strongly opposed to the French backers taking it today. This will most likely end the collaboration with Giffard. The Count was becoming disillusioned with that relationship anyway and this will just be the last straw. The Count no longer needs him anyway to continue this work. I’m sure that he’ll just build a new factory somewhere else.” Morgana smiles and says, “I think I know just the place to suggest to him.”

Arcade says, “That’s not a bad idea. If this von Zeppelin worked with the United States Army before he can build upon this relationship. I’m sure that he can blame this current mishap entirely on the French.” Hans says, “That would actually be rather truthful.” Morgana says, “We can work out the details later. Let’s just continue back home.”

As they reach the southwestern tip of New Mexico, where Hidalgo County dips thirty miles further south for the border to then continue parallel to Arizona, they see lights and movement some forty miles south above the Mexican town of Ascension. As they continue west they see this light moving away from Ascension to the northwest. Hans says, "Those are probably the other Frenchman." "WHAT!" Louie exclaims.

Hans says, "The dirigible only had space for ten people and they had five wizards and three dozen troops. The other French wizards in Pecos spoke of using teleport spells to bring them to Mexico where some cannon were stored. I believe they were going to set up somewhere between El Paso and your home, assuming you would be traveling overland." "That would have been helpful to know before!" Arcade exclaims.

Hans replies, "Why?" It looks like they are travelling to the high ground of the Animas Mountains. We have no lights on and are too far away for them to spot us and will be long gone by the time they reach the mountains. "Unless something goes wrong," Sam states.

Fifteen miles later, as they approach the first of the Animas Mountains, Sam's words ring true as the Floating Disk spell ends and the one-ton weight of the stone sarcophagus is added to the compartment. The added weight is too much for the dirigible, which begins to rapidly loose altitude, dropping towards the mountains at a steep angle.