Ravings of a Textual Deviant

In which Mrs. Atwood makes a decision, Team TransAmerica receives disturbing news from a Transylvanian of antique vintage, a geography lesson is warranted, Dr. Hu’s secret is revealed, and Mr. Carl takes matters into his own hands without warning.

As this episode opened, Mrs. Atwood’s suitors had once more upped their respective antes; she was informed (via notes with the elaborate floral arrangements that arrived that morning) the Baron had christened his newly-renovated castle “Villa Lilliana,” whilst Dom Mendoza had renamed a small island that had recently come into his possession “Lillian Cay.” “If only the castle were on the island,” Mr. Laughton said, when he was informed by an exceptionally jovial Miss Kingston (who was very much enthused by the fact that the situation was happening to anyone but herself). With the voyage drawing to a close, and Mr. Laughton’s continual prodding looming large, Mrs. Atwood found herself in a position to bring the balancing act to a close and make a Decision. To that end, she spent the remaining time carefully yet subtly interviewing both gentlemen as to their intentions, attitudes, &c.

Mr. Laughton took the earliest opportunity to inform, at least in part, the rest of his team of their new sponsors. Miss Kingston in particular was quite put out by the fact that a deal had been made with the undead. (see “Quote of the game,” below) Mr. Laughton, being somewhat more cosmopolitan in his attitudes, was pleased to have made a deal with a better class of undead.

As a result, it was almost a relief when the promised seven-foot-tall Transylvanian arrived, introducing himself only as “Vlad.” Vlad examined the stone porters, and pronounced them cursed; the general consensus amongst the team members was that Lisboa was probably responsible. Vlad also pronounced Mr. Carl’s mysterious emerald cursed, which rather put a damper on further questioning. (The nature of the emerald’s curse was to progressively weaken the victim, and the way to break it was to return the item to its rightful owners which were “probably somewhere in Mexico.”) Vlad assured the team that the two curses were not related, and that he could remove the one on their animate porters.

On the final full day of travel, Mrs. Atwood received a sterling coffee set from one suitor and the hoped-for tea service from the other. Composing herself, Mrs. Atwood finally expressed her feelings to the Baron (whom she politely dissuaded from further courting) and Dom Mendoza (whom she regretfully had to put off until her current charge was satisfied, but did leave the door open for future opportunities). She also accepted Dom Mendoza’s offer to lodge Team TransAmerica in his Montevideo townhouse during their brief layover. The Baron was gracious in defeat, and the Dom in victory. The following morning, Mrs. Atwood received a single, large bouquet of red roses and a very impressive tiara.

Meanwhile, Miss Kingston went down to the cargo hold to examine the expeditionary equipment and was confronted by a truly enormous rodent that hissed and chittered at her in a most menacing fashion. At the same time, Dr. Hu got a very bad feeling about something and urged Mr. Laughton to accompany him to the cargo area forthwith and at speed. The gentlemen arrived to see Miss Kingston aiming her derringer at what turned out to be the good doctor’s (previously unrevealed) ferret, which had been left on guard duty.

Upon disembarking, Our Heroes were met by a large wagon for their luggage and an even larger carriage to convey them to the Dom’s townhouse. They opted for a few stops along the way, namely the telegraph office, the Wells Fargo office, and a newsstand. Mr. Laughton received an apologetic telegram and a token sum from his family; apparently recent events made it difficult to access funds in newly foreign banks. Miss Kingston received a reply to her telegram to the (former) American Ambassador in Brasilia, inviting the team to lunch upon their arrival. Strangely, Mr. Guggenheim did not even reply to the most recent request for funds. However, that curiosity was lost in the shock of the larger news, as Our Heroes were forced to familiarize themselves with some new political realities resulting from the Second American Civil War. Somewhere along the way, Mr. Carl managed to slip away, leaving behind a note stating that he was heading to “ol’ Mexico” to return the emerald, and to please keep him apprised of future Ellipse checkpoints via telegrams sent to Mexico City.

And so we leave team TransAmerica in front of Dom Mendoza’s urban palace townhouse in the smarter end of Montevideo, trying to determine their current nationalities and wondering what the bloody blazes Mr. Carl thinks he’s doing.

Quote of the game: I don’t like where you’re from! —Miss Kingston, to Mr. Laughton, in response to his observation that where he’s from, they’ve been dealing with the undead for some time.

This entry was posted on Friday, June 3rd, 2005 at 12:20 pm and is filed under American Ellipse, Games & Gaming. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.