Donutz said - You are Expected Brother James, please follow me. The King is in the library. They passed through the long gallery ....
The butler walked quite fast and Brother James had difficulty keeping up with him, he was a little out of breath as he arrived at the library ...
King Leopold: Donutz, pour Brother James a sherry.Donutz : Yes majesty
King Leopold : Welcome Brother James; nice of you to come and see us; Count Hermann and I have some documents we would like you to look at.
Count Hermann: A gentleman was found shot dead in a carriage on the road out of Wittenberg yesterday, the local authorities found some documents which were sent to me as they were rather unusual, would you take a look at them ?
Bother James: Yes of course (after taking a swig of sherry)
King Leopold : The first document is strange; the emblem at the top of the page looks like an eagle in a nest, followed by some nonsense text - after that there are more pages all in the same vein. For example under the eagle its says ...
Nothrat gingle swipdich ob dergy swaonlge damp netrts flaff bongle quabnoch ...
Count Hermann: I think its all in code, but I have no idea how to go about deciphering it - I've tried all the obvious ciphers.
Brother James: Ah .. hmmm. Yes. .. I think I have seen the emblem before. It is not an eagle in a nest but a Phoenix arising from a fire. Most interesting; your are right Count Hermann it is in code; the layout of the text reminds me of the works of John Dee.
King Leopold: can you decipher it ?
Brother James: On no your majesty - it is obviously quite a complex cipher. I think Cantor and his mathemetician colleagues of the Royal Society may be able to help.
King Leopold: Count Hermann arrange for the Royal Society to examine the documents, however do it here just in case they contain any sensitive information.
Count Hermann: Yes your majesty
King Leopold: Brother James would you like to stay for dinner ?
Brother James: Yes please you majesty ..
All three left the libary, Brother James finishing off his sherry before he left ...
[Note: the backdrops are from a book on Titanias Palace - a large dollhouse]
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5 comments:
A lovely saynete and an intringuing 'cliffhanger'...
Too glad the document does NOT read "Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn". Yet, a few of our scholars here in Monte-Cristo know of such texts...
Cheers,
Jean-Louis
Placing your figures in front of the backdrop as a very nice touch. Your site is a constant source of great ideas. Thanks for sharing. By the way, Reich Duke Wilhelm von Beerstein has invested King Leopold into the Ancient and Honorable Order of the Tankard. Best regards...Bill
The celebrated and penultimate Abbot of Spawnheim, Johannes Quattrophenius, published a groundbreaking grimoire on occult and esoteric communication, The Magiaographia, which was rumoured to permit the decryption of any human code, but the book was soon placed on the Index by the Holy Office, and the abbey itself was dissolved during the Reformation.
No authenticated copy is known to exist, although rumours of highly restricted copies in the Vatican Secret Archives and in the Privy Collection of the British Museum persist.
Intriguing.
The backdrops fit quite well.
The backdrops were spectacular . . . and provide a wonderful sense of the period.
-- Jeff
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