Into The Past 2

Into The Past 2018/04/25

Radical Raven Timewarp Jak Venture 2

A Long and Uncomfortable Journey
Dr Moriarty turns out to be a pleasant enough table companion. Having heard Connor is a mathematician he tries to engage Connor in 'shop talk'.

Connor is more than happy to talk shop, though he has to work very hard to keep in mind what is known in this time period. He doesn't want to reveal anything that might be from the future.

Timewarp acts (and indeed is) uninterested in the maths talk. She observes people in the inn.

Connor tries to keep the discussion to historical topics, like his personal favorite mathematician, Euler. As Moriarty talks he discusses his work on the subject of finite differences. Connor recalls that Moriarty was expelled from Oxford after accusations of plagiarism from the unpublished Isaac Newton paper. However it's clear, to the person who can understand the subject, that even before seeing the paper Moriarty has already developed the guist of his own paper. In other words the plagiarism charge was untrue.

Amelia keeps mostly quiet. Unlike Tali she doesn't have the knack of copying the local accent. If you accept Moriarty's advice and try the beef stew it's not bad at all.

Timewarp is indeed happy to eat the stew.

Eventually time, as it has a habit of doing, passes. A coachman puts his head in the door and announces, "..coach ta Berry's place be leavin'."

Connor doesn't bother trying to sound British. Assuredly, he could be picked out as American very easily. He rubs his chin as he considers the conundrum. Moriarty turns to a life of crime after being charged with plagiarism. Does he just let it happen? Changing history seems fraught with issues.

Timewarp is glad the coach is going at last! Waiting is not her forte.

Amelia stands and stretches in a semblance of a ladylike manner. "Well we're in for a treat." she says quietly in a voice dripping sarcasm.

Timewarp says quietly to Amelia, "At least they have suspension by this point."

Connor hasn't ridden in a coach like this before, so...in a way, it is a treat. Though he might not feel that way in a few hours.

The coach has stopped outside the door of the Inn to pick up the passengers. It's an enclosed four-horse stagecoach. No suspension. The coach body connected directly to the axles and wheels. Amelia chuckles, "Didn't you notice when we were at the coach station. Their coachs don't."

Timewarp says, "Ugh. Hope they have decent cushions."

The coach journey is a rear numbing experience. It bounces and jolts with every inperfection of the road. No modern highway. Just a rutted dirt track.

The only good news is the coach makes regular stops to change the horses, which gives you all a chance to stretch the kinks out.

Timewarp mutters about the old-fashioned carriage on the way.

Connor does take the opportunity to stretch out when he can. He says as an aside to Timewarp, "Still no idea who might have invited you?"

Timewarp shakes her head. "Or why."

Connor nods. "I'd says...it wasn't our travelling companion. At least not yet. Might be a future version of him, I suppose."

By evening the prospect of an overnight stop seems highly appealing. The coach pulls up at a coaching Inn, the Larkman Arms. A genial host emerges from the Inn and welcomes you. "I have fresh bread and mutton ready to serve." the innkeeper tells you.

Connor winces a little at hte idea of eating mutton but not having dental floss handy later. It's only for a couple of days. Then he'll be back to civilization. Everything will be fine. Really.

Timewarp goes for an accelerated-time walk to stretch her limbs, too fast to see, before heading into the inn.

The inn has several tables. One is laid out for a meal with six places. Apart from you there's a the host, his wife, and a groom for the stables. Nobody else.

Connor smiles. "Well, it looks like we were expected. That's good, at least."

Moriarty's Japanese companion has his own way to loosen the kinks. He's doing what is clearly a form of martial arts kata. Recognisable to anyone from an era when martial arts films are popular.

Timewarp says, "I wonder why there's no one else here!"

Dr Moriarty overhears. "You don't travel much by coach, my Lady? Coaching Inns are too expensive for most local people." he says.

Connor nods. "Ah, that makes sense. I wonder...does it make it difficult for a business like this to remain open?" Moriarty shakes his head, "These inns are essential to the coaching trade. The coach companies make sure they stay open." he tells Connor.

Your host serves up food and drink. Of palatable quality. In fact, more than just palatable. Fresh food, and from a period before taste was sacrificed for ease and speed of intensive farming.

Connor partakes of the meal, seated at the table. His hunger wins out.

Timewarp sits at a corner of the table where she can get out if needed: mobility is important to her.

Jack Fortune has been relatively quiet this whole time- Timewarp might recognize that as a form of slight temporal shock- or maybe just the trauma for the ecarriage ride. Whatever it is, the boastful Jack kept to himself- perhaps producing a bit of an aire of mystery around him but when spoken to by anyone he was friendly and nice.

He sits down to the table and a rumble of his stomach. "Mmmm- it sure smells good. My compliments to the chef!" He says aloud after taking a deep whiff. Amelia sits opposite the Japanese companion.

Ambush at the Coaching Inn
The Inn door is thrown open and a dozen rough looking men rush in. One is holding a pair of single shot pistols, one in each hand. The others are armed with a variety of knives, cutlasses, and clubs. The man with the pistols shouts out, "I be Mad Mick da Murderer. Yu'll be handing ove' yu money and valuables. I's knws yu goin' ta acution with a lad of cash." He speaks in a strong Irish accent.

Timewarp holds up her hands, not wanting to let on about having powers in front of people unless it proves inevitable.

Connor reflexively gets to his feet and considers the men closely, though he doesn't take an aggressive action. The Japanese companion to Dr Moriarty starts to rise from the table but Moriarty speaks to him.

Jak does the same- playing along for now but he can't help but smirk. He tilt his head down low, letting the brim of his hat obscure his eyes.

The door behind the ruffians slams shut with a loud bang. For a moment the ruffians instinctively turn to look that way. Fully invisible telekinesis can be useful as a distraction Amelia muses silently.

Timewarp dashes about the room extinguishing all the lights. Not that she can see in the dark either, but it should surprise them and allow secret use of power.

The gust of wind from the door being opened apparently also blows out all the lights!

There's a cry of pain a moment after the darkness descends. In the darkness Moriarty's companion flings a throwing star at the pistol armed Mick. He misses but clips one of the ruffians clustered around the bandit leader.

Connor reaches out, hoping the dark will cover his action...though it won't have the effect he initially desired, either. He induces a broad space dilation, aiming for where the door was. The room suddenly seems...much larger, to those who can see such.

Venture moves his hand to his pistol tucked underneath his jacket at the small of his back- pulling it smoothly from the quickdraw holster.

A whine can be heard as he moves the gun into line with where his target just was. He ticks down the dial, not wanting to kill anyone but certainly wanting to startle the mess out of 'mad Mick da murderer' and hopefully incapacitate him long enough for whatever passes for police arrive.

There's cries of pain from where the ruffians were stood and the sound of bodies hitting the floor. If it could be seen, and Amelia can do so, Mick da Murderer was hit by Venture's shot and hurled violently back into another of the ruffians, taking both down.

Timewarp, in accelerated time, feels her way back to the ruffians, carrying a stool with her. There she hits all she can find with the stool before retreating to a safe distance.

There's the sound of cries of pain and bodies hitting the floor. Timewarp manages to hit five of the ruffians.

Venture second guesses holstering his weapon. He was hoping to have just sat the ol 'Mad Murderer' down but with the lights staying off he redraws it. He figures there are a few to either side so as long as he moves by about 5-10 degrees he should nail one or two more.

Jak's shot is quite naturally wide, with both space and time conspiring against his aiming.

There's the sound of a chair overturning and a sense of movement from where Moriarty's companion was seated. However his martial attack was aimed at the spot where a ruffian was stood - before Connor changed space - and thus misses.

Connor turns off the spatial distortion, realizing he's likely making things worse on his allies than he is on the robbers. Otherwise, he just crouches a bit, waiting.

Amelia breathes a sigh of relief. She can see as if it was daylight. What's the use of a Bane of Darkness who can't see at night? But Connor's space warpping was giving her a headache. Talking of which, grabbing one of the bottles on the table she throws it at a ruffian's head.

The ruffian hears something coming his way and ducks, avoiding the bottle.

The ruffians call out to Mad Mick. And get no answer. Their nerve breaks and they rush back for the door, fumbling blindly.

There's the sound of the ruffians moving back, and shouts of 'where's the door?' and 'flee' and 'lets get out of here'.

Timewarp lets the ruffians run. Defeating them all, would, after all, take some explaining. She ducks under a table to pretend she was hiding the whole fight.

Venture chuckles to himself as he hears them scrambling and actually telling each other to get out of here. He holsters his weapon- not that he needed it to begin with. But the unnatural whine of his weapon should spook the natives enough- he doesn't want to push his luck.

He returns to his meal. It really is quite good by his standards. He's paid good money for something much worse in London, somewhere relatively nearby but some 230 years from now. If only he could warn himself away. Which of course gives him pause- while he reviews what he knows of things so far.

"Hmmm..." He says into his bowl before taking another bite. With company present he can't very well give wings to word so he leaves it at that.

Connor doesn't see a reason to interrupt as their erstwhile attackers flee. He just waits for them to exit, remaining on guard in the meantime.

Over the next few seconds things quieten down. The innkeeper manages to get a candle lit and after the darkness of an enclosed room with windows shuttered even candlelight seems quite bright. Moriarty is standing by the chair he was seated in. His silver headed cane is revealed to be a sword-cane. Seven of the ruffians are out cold. Mad Mick looks in a bad way with blood coming from his nose and mouth.

Timewarp crawls out from under the table, timidly.

Moriarty speaks to his companion. The tone seems congratulatory. But the Japanese companion shakes his head and seems puzzled as he looks at the number of ruffians laid out.

Moriarty then turns to the innkeeper. "Send your groom for the Sheriff." he commands.

Connor smiles and turns to Timewarp and Venture. He speaks quietly, "Nicely done. I'm afraid I complicated matters."

Arrival at Berriwick Hall
Timewarp is somewhat less than her usual cheery self in the morning. She's not looking forward to a further journey in the outmoded, leaf-springless carriage.

Connor finds himself wishing that he still had access to the magic he controlled previously when he wakes up. Perhaps the stiffness of his back wouldn't be as much of an issue.

Jak isn't either, grumpily nursing on his 3rd cup of tea when the others wake. He also can't seem to get a good night's sleep here either. He thought his 'Grandmother' had it bad with her old style spring mattress, but this 19th Century bedding makes the ground seem appealing.

He waits for the others, or the Innkeep to find out whatever happened to Ol' Mad Murderering Mick. He saw the way his crew left him, bleeding from nose and mouth alike. Part of him almost felt bad for leaving him in such disarray, but most of him is sure he'd be hard pressed to find anyone more deserving.

The morning dawns in drab cheerless mist and persistant rain. At least the coach has a roof. More than the coach driver has. The journey is just as bad as Tali expects but most of the distance has already been covered. The coach turns into the estate of Berriwick Hall just after mid-day. Leaving a couple of hours to view the items in the auction.

The driveaway to the Hall is laid out in a sweeping curve, so as the coach makes its way you get to see the old ganite building looming out of the mist through the rain. Like some scene in a horror movie.

Timewarp waits for the lightning. There's already the rain and the spooky building.

Connor furrows his brow a bit as he sees the building, "Cheery."

As if on cue... there's a brilliant flash and immediate roar of thunder just as the coach comes to a halt by the main door of the Hall.

Timewarp grins to herself. Called it. Amelia looks out and whispers to Tali, "... another day at the office."

Jak doesn't seem to mind the weather, instead relying on his hat's wide brim to keep him from the worst of the rain and his hair from being too noticed by the locals.

He watches the house near through narrowed and focused eyes, but is otherwise quiet.

Timewarp nods, and waits for the door to open, so she can stretch her legs and work out her aches.

The main door opens and a period English butler steps out holding a large black umbrella to provide shelter from coach to Hall.

"Welcome to Berriwick Hall, ladies and gentlemen." he says.

Timewarp avails herself of the umbrella, much as she'd prefer just to hurry inside.

Connor follows the others out of the coach and to the building proper. Once you are all inside the Hall, the butler asks to take your coats, and then leads you into the great dining room where the auction will take place. There's already a dozen or more people in there. Arrayed around the walls are some of the items that will be on auction.

Timewarp has a quick look at all the items, to get a sense of whether there is more than one item of interest there. And also the other people, to see if there's anyone she recognises.

Connor looks around slowly, curious about the artifacts, but also about whoever invited Tali. He tries to focus on anyone giving their group an inordinate amount of attention.

After handing off his coat to the Butler, Jak makes a slow jaunt around looking at the items- but pauses in an alcove to make sure no one is looking at him. He disappears in the blink of an eye.

One of the items for auction is a painting. The description states it's a painting by Andrea Salai, dated 1512. It's a coffee house scene. Two gentlemen playing chess in a coffee house. In the background of the painting is a group of three seated at another table. One of the three is a red headed young woman. Another of the three looks very much like Tali's father. The third person is almost certainly Tali.

Timewarp almost drops out of accelerated time in surprise. She hasn't met her father. Yet.

No doubt one of the items that draws Connor's interest is the manuscript of Isaac Newton's. It's a collection of loose leaf sheets held in a pile by a faded green ribbon sealed with wax.

Timewarp struggles to contain her excitement at finding out she'll apparently meet her father! But she continues her examination of the other items.

Connor is both happy and sad that he doesn't really have the time-period-appropriate money to actually buy the item in question. Messing with time too much can cause so many problems. Moriarty's companion moves straight to a sword on display. The description is 'curved sword of unknown origin, possibly Turkish.' But modern eyes will immediately recognise it as a katana. Modern eyes will probably also note the presence of a smallish box, about the size of a shoe box. It's made of a polished metal. The only 'decoration' on the box is a red and white radiation hazard trifoil.

Connor walks over close to Moriarty's friend. "It's a katana, yes? Was it made by someone highly skilled?" He has no idea if the man speaks English. But Connor doesn't speak Japanese, so...limited options.

Timewarp tries to judge the time period the box belongs to. Moriarty's companion looks at Connor shaking his head and speaking Japanese. But his attention only leaves the katana for a few moment. However he does pull up the right sleeve of his kimono to show Connor a tattoo and then points to the same symbols engaged into the blade of the katana.

Timewarp has seen too much history in the wrong order. She's really not sure.

Jak reappears a while later seemingly more comfortable with his surroundings than before. He saddles up next to Connor as moment before his eyes catch the box with the modern emblem engraved into it. He fights the urge to whistle a tune- one likely far from being invented yet so he thinks better of it.

Instead he hovers near the radioactive symbol and looks to read what people of this time think it might be. He has no idea of the time-warping mystery contained in it or even of the painting foretelling an event that has yet to come to pass- for Tali at least.

Connor nods slowly to the other man. "From your clan, then? Well...good luck." He excuses himself and goes about looking at the other items. The radiation symbol is likely to draw his attention, for sure. There's a young woman in the crowd. She's wearing a veiled hat that conceals her hair and face. Her clothing is period, but the material of her clothing is, just like your reproduction clothing, too fine weave to be authentic.

The description for the box is 'metal box of small size containing glowing rods of unknown material.'

Connor smacks his forehead when he sees the description on the box. He takes a deep breath, realizing that it's not just a matter of...well, not messing with time. Someone already has done so, if this is here.

Jak nudges Connor with a raised eyebrow. "Alright Big Brain- what the heck is this doing here- and do we all have cancer now?" He asks with a hint of concern in his voice.

Slipping into accelerated time Tali twitches the veil aside to see the mystery woman's face. She is the red headed woman in the painting.

Connor shakes his head, "No idea. Curie is well after this. And I bet the box is shielded, so I suspect we're okay. Just...don't open it. At least with me around."

Timewarp thinks. o O (Is she the one who called me here? Or was she called here for the same reason I was?)

"Someone should tell everyone else that." Jak says, "I'm not going to be the one opening that thing." He takes a step backwards because he knows this is a danger he can't shoot at and hope to win.

Timewarp looks at the other people before dropping back to normal time in the same position she started.

Connor nods and says quietly, "No way to explain that without having too many questions to answer, though." He turns and looks around at the crowd again, refocusing on the mystery woman dressed in the veiled hat.

Timewarp quietly draws Amelia's attention to the anachronisms and the veiled woman - and of course the painting. Then goes to do the same for Connor and Jak.

Amelia nods to Tali. "Your call, Tali. I'll back you whatever you decide to do." she says.

Timewarp says, "Let's see how it goes for now. We still don't know for sure if it was her who called us here. Or why she or whoever it was did so."

Connor shrugs and says to Timewarp, "Honestly, I think it's worth talking to her."

Timewarp can't resist having a quick rummage through the woman's bag, too, looking for any clues!

Peeking into the woman's handbag, really, how can you be so crass, Tali finds in addition to the usual items: a silver pocket watch (*), a small revolver of about 1900's vintage, and several letters addressed to Miss Elizabeth Victoria Moriarty from a Mr H. G. Wells.

(*) Tali has seen the same or very similar watch before. A long time ago, when she was in high school and went to a ren-fair with Hunter, Martin, and Amelia.

Timewarp doesn't read the letters, not least because zipping about in front of this many people is limited. She returns and whispers her findings to the others. At least things seem to be linking together - though the order of the links is unclear!

Amelia mutters under her breath, just loud enough for her friends to hear, "I'm really missing google search about now."

Timewarp says, "I'm guessing maybe the watch is a time machine? I know H G Wells wrote about one. And it seems the Moriartys are somehow connected with him. But in what order? Does he know anything about all this, yet, or ever? Does she? It could have been her future self that brought us here. Or his. Probably not mine, I guess, unless my handwriting changes a lot!"

Connor smiles slightly, "Unless...you are her, when you get older? So, you're meeting yourself? That wouldn't be confusing.

Timewarp says, "I'm sure I'd have more sense. And anyway, I'm not getting older. Not yet, anyway."

Jak certainly looks confused by all this. "I'm pretty sure this is well outside my guesstimate average. It seems like there's a lot of misplaced things here today- temporally speaking."

When Tali claims to not be getting older he scoffs a bit but then considering who he's talking to shrugs it away.

Timewarp says, "Yes. The question is, who started it? Or," she grins, "will start it?" Amelia mentions, "Unless she's good actor, always possible, she's shown no sign of recognising you, Tali."

Timewarp says, "Yes. Though she is hiding behind the veil. That might be so Dr Moriarty doesn't see her."

Jak cuts his eyes towards the veiled woman for the first time, letting his allies do that previously. He didn't want to let her in that she was being discussed so he didn't rush to get a look.

"Sure would be nice if we could just ask them." He says jokingly. "Wait a second- do we know anything about what happens after this auction?" He asks, "Maybe that might give us a hint on what precipated it?" He's grasping at straws.

Timewarp says, "We didn't seem to find out much about that."

Amelia nods, "I found a biolog of Lord Berriwick and confirmation of the auction but that was it."

Timewarp says, "Which suggests nothing much notable happened."

Connor shrugs, "I'm assuming that Dr. Moriarty gets a look at the papers by Newton. It influences his work, etcetera, etcetera. But that's all I know."

"But it doesn't point us anywhere usefulll.. well- it was worth a try." Jak says in a tone implying he's not giving up that easily. "There's got to be something we're missing. Or you're missing..." He says, looking to Tali. "Something that's got to be obvious... or at least... familiar? Afterall- who would send someone through a wild goose chase through time?" He asks.

Timewarp says, "That's been the question all along..."

Progress is Made
Timewarp, now that it's mentioned, decides to give the building a quick check for bombs or other sorts of traps. Given a trap was one of the theories.

Connor mutters to himself, "I don't think having radioactive material showing up is a wild goose chase. Seems pretty solid to me."

A quick check of the building finds no traps. Tali does come across Lord Berriwick's heir. Bedridden. And almost certainly dying. The symptoms are consistent with exposure to radiation.

Jak snaps his fingers, pointing at Connor. "You've got a point. That is solid." He admits. "Ok- well a 'Scavenger Hunt through time but without a key to what you're looking for' was my first thought but that seemed like a mouthful."

Timewarp reappears. "There's someone in bed - looks like he's a relative of Lord Berriwick? - who's suffering from radiation sickness, I think. At least, is looks like what I saw after the 3rd Mexi - um, never mind. Can anyone help him?"

Amelia nods, "Yes. But not without breaking my cover. Which is why I didn't heal that bandit leader."

Timewarp nods. "Yeah. And maybe messing up the time stream. Though we never did learn what's supposed to happen to him?"

Connor takes a deep breath and says, "You know what...I spent my life following the rules. Go ahead and heal him. And we'll make sure we're leaving with the radioactive material."

Amelia nods. "I can live with that. Tali?"

Timewarp says, "And who's going to see you heal him but him? And a miraculious recovery is no problem if they don't know what the disease is. Go for it, I say."

Amelia nods again, "Lead on." she says to Tali.

Timewarp excuses herself and Amelia, and leaves the room. Then hurries her up to the room in question, to ensure they don't spend a suspicious amount of time away.

Jak shrugs. He doesn't have a dog in this race- he's just along for the ride and to provide backup if needed. Saving someone's life is breaking the rules? He likes it and looks plenty pleased by the prosepect depsite not giving his opinion one way or the other.

Amelia heals the heir to Lord Berriwick's estate. As he recovers he becomes conscious and coherent. "The angels!" he says as his eyes open to gaze on Tali and Amelia. "You're the angels of the Chiquinto."

Timewarp says, "Um - of the what?"

Connor says to Venture, "Now we just have to figure out how to win that particular item in the auction."

The heir gestures to a volume of Lord Berriwick's diaries on the table beside the bed. "Page 108." he says.

Timewarp reads the whole volume, for context. :) Also, to see if it casts any light on the other oddities.

Jak looks back to Connor with a smirk. "Why? It wasn't in the history Amelia read, right?" His eyebrow waggles. "We could just ... take it. Head home."

Connor nods slowly. "That's true. I just don't really want to disrupt things too much, either."

"That's a good point. Treading carefully is probably wise." Jak agrees tapping his right-thumb on the top of his belt-buckle as he thinks.

This volume of Lord Berriwick's daries covers a trip to the west lands of America, On the page mentioned there's a pen and ink sketch of the entrance of a native burial cave. Around the cave entrance are carvings showing the faces of Timewarp, Radical, Venture, and Amelia. The dairy contains the story translated from the carvings; of the angels who fought and defeated the demons of fire who had enslaved the Chiquinto tribe.

The dairy relates that the box, and another item, was taken from the burial cave.

Timewarp shows the page to Amelia. "Looks like this is more complicated than we thought!"

Amelia half grins, "It's time travel. What else is new."

"You didn't happen to bring any glowsticks with you did you?" Jak asks facetiously. "I doubt the yokels would know the difference." His tone is teasing, afterall- where would they get them in 1837 anyway?

Timewarp looks for any hint of what the other item was.

The Berriwick heir points it out when asked. It's a plasma pistol. Showing major decay from aging. More advanced than 2068 vintage.

Connor chuckles. "No glowsticks on this trip, no. Or any trip, really." He says more quietly to Venture, "But...I can grab it from clear across the room, if necessary."

Timewarp says, "Oh, by the way - those glowing sticks are probably what made you sick. The symbol on the box is a warning."

The now new Lord Berriwick takes that in. "Did they kill my father and his companions?" he asks. "They suffered the same symptoms as I did."

Timewarp says, "Probably, I'm afraid. If they had them out of the box much, anyway."

The Lord nods, "They did. Several times. I only saw them once, for a minute or so. You know about them, clearly. Can you take them away and dispose of them safely?"

"Well- that's incredibly handy and probably better than me grabbing it and flashing out." Jak says with a smirk. "Alright- so we've got a Plan B and C... but neither are rating high enough to be our 'Go-To'. Still, that is progress." He adds before wondering what the ladies have discovered upstairs.

He turns his back to their prize and begins to scan the room, looking for alternatives and openings in the room.

Timewarp says, "Yes. Though they're up for aunction, which isn't a good thing."

Timewarp takes a few moments to go through the diaries, looking especially for mention of the painting. SHe starts from the end, it seeming not unlikely the painting was acquired because of the image of one of the 'angels' in it.

The Lord struggles up and writes a letter. "This withdraws them from the auction and instructs that they are handed over to you. Give this to the auctioneer. Thank you, angels. Now I must rest. I am still weak."

What Tali finds is the painting was accquired long before the expedition to the west. And there's no connection made in the dairies. The tone of the writing indicates the painting wasn't valued. And probably stuck up on a wall in some infrequently used spare room.

Connor keeps an eye on the mystery woman, primarily to see if there are any particular items she seems to be interested in.

Timewarp says "Rest well," and, taking the letter, goes back down to present it to the auctioneer.

"I say I just make a break for it. I'm pretty sure I can get back to the last carriage house without a map." Jak says, growing impatient. "You guys ... I don't know. Say you met me ont he road and seemed nice enough. Excuse yourselves and boom- we head back to a time with paved streets and less tuberculosis."

Connor chuckles. "Let's try to not create a commotion, eh? There may be a more subtle solution."

The veiled woman seem to have her attention focused on the Newton manuscript.

Jak sighs. "Well, when you think of one let me know Big Brain. I'll back your play."

The auctioneer is displeased but complies. He instructs one of the auction assistants to give Tali the box.

Connor raises a brow at what happens with Tali. "So...there's the solution, it looks like." He makes his way over to the veiled woman, and says to her, "Interesting artifact, isn't it?"

The veiled woman turns to Connor. "I beg your pardon?" she says in a pleasant voice.

Connor smiles and motions to the Newton manuscript. "I noticed you were keeping an eye on this particular item. Intending to bid on it?"

Jak follows along behind but stops just within eavesdropping range. He admires whatever bauble is in front of him, pretending to be interested in it more than the ocnversation being had nearby.

Timewarp accepts the box. She's about to ask Connor if he wants to keep it, what with having pockets and such, but he starts a new conversation. So she puts it in her bag - at the bottom, just in case anyone has the idea of trying to go through *her* bag.

The woman nods, "There's no point in keeping it a secret as it will be obvious when it comes up for sale. Yes, I intend to bid for it."

Connor nods slowly, but continues to smile, "Trying to keep it out of Dr. Moriarty's hands, then? He'll be very disappointed."

The woman jerks her head round to Connor, "What..? How did you... Who are you?" she says in a startled voice.

Connor puts a finger up to his lips. "Shh." He smiles again, "I'm much like you. A stranger to...this place. And time."

Jak can overhear more than Connor's conversation fo course and the one thing that stands out to him is the false courtesy that everyone seems to weild like a weapon. If he were just a bit less scrupulous he might turn that to his advantage and hustle himself up a bit business around here a few hundred years early.

Instead he turns slightly askew of the bauble in front of him as the 'Woman' is startled by Connor's pressing questions and pointed implication.

The woman looks more closely at Connor. "Are you here to interfere?" she asks worriedly.

Connor shakes his head, "I don't think so. Assuming what I'm guessing is correct." He leans in closer and says more quietly, "Are you trying to save him from the path he'll head down if he sees that manuscript? Or do you have another goal in mind?" The woman nods, "This manuscript ruined my grandfather's life. I will do almost anything to prevent him from seeing it." she says.

Connor takes a deep breath, "I know it's difficult, when you feel you can change something. And if you had asked me yesterday if you should do what you intend, I would have said 'no'. But today...things have changed. I will not stop you from trying to achieve your goal, Miss M." He doesn't use her full last name, just to be cautious about people overhearing. "My name is Dr. Connor Duran. I suspect we may run into each other again at some point. Or have already. Things can be confusing at times."

Jak is surprsied at Connor being so frivolent with the rules of time travel. He shrugs again, making his way towards Tali and Amelia to ask how the heck they managed to pull off nabbing that artifact before the auction even began. He's known for making deals but that is some next-level wizardry.

Miss Moriarty nods, "Thank you for not interfering. I doubt if we will meet again, Sir. This is my first and likely only journey into time. Mr Wells will have words to say about me borrowing his device."

Timewarp goes to study the painting with her in it again, looking for clues as to the circumstance. Just three people having coffee. Albeit in 1512 AD. The body language of the three appears relaxed and cordial.

Connor nods. "Please, give him my regards. He did write some amazing novels. And...you never know with traveling like this. It may happen again." He smiles and looks over at the painting that Tali is looking at. "You just...never really know." He takes a moment and then says, "Excuse me. I should return to the group I am with. Best of luck to you."

Miss Moriarty nods, "Thank you. And good fortune abide with you on whatever brings you to this time and place."

Connor smiles and nods to Elizabeth and heads back over to where the others are. His time as the Cartesian felt...stifling in comparison. Rebelling against that feels freeing.

A few more people arrive over the next couple of hours. But none of them appear to be of special interest. Then the auction starts. The first interesting item, lot #26, is the painting. There's little bidding on it and Amelia picks it up for a song. "Yours, Tali." she says when the hammer falls.

Timewarp says, "Thanks. I wondered if anyone else would be bidding, but it seems not."

The next item of interest, lot #68, is Isaac Neuton's manuscript. The bidding is fast and furious, Dr Moriarty bidding against the veiled woman. The bids climb to remarkable levels but in the end Dr Moriarty is out-bid. The veiled woman wins.

The box, originally lot #104, has been withdrawn. The final item of interest is the curved sword. There's limited bidding on it, with Dr Moriarty bidding on behalf of his companion. The sword sells for a modest price to the Moriarty party.

Connor says to the others, "I really hope I made the right call letting that bid happen as it did. I suppose we'll find out."

After the auction the guests are invited to stay overnight at the Hall and coachs will set out the next morning.

Timewarp watches the crowd - mostly to see if there's anyone watching them and/or the Moriartys. Who brought us here remains unexplained.

Jak keeps an eye out for his companions' sake- wary of jealous eyes who may want the mysterious metal box or the painting for whatever reasons.

Checking up on returning to modern times, as would be expected, you discover that Prof Moriarty made tenure at Oxford as a result of his paper on finite differences. After that he mostly coasted on that reputation. He appears to have taken a perverse pleasure in his name being used for the criminal mastermind in the Sherlock Holmes stories, stating on occasion he almost regreted the stories weren't true. He married, had two children, and six grandchildren. One of whom, a girl, was named Elizabeth Victoria Moriarty.