Post by W.I. Constantine on Dec 1, 2013 16:45:07 GMT -5
After careful review, I believe I have been able to piece together the events that occurred during the investigation, “The Fall of the Minoans.”
It came to my attention that a posting on Shane Tyree's Art Studio page connected to a recently deceased former acquaintance, Professor Charleston Winters. Although he seems to have been a bit of an Indiana Jones, scouring the world for archaeological treasures, his expertise was in the history of Ancient Greece. However, I believe that was a cover story he used as an agent employed by the Esoteric Order of Dagon, who tasked him with finding powerful, ancient artifacts.
At the time of the Facebook posting, his granddaughter, Miss Cassandra Lakatos, was in London, helping to resolve his estate. While packing books in his study, she discovered a piece of an old map. My investigators directed her to search the room in the hopes of finding anything that might be related to her grandfather’s research or the deity Dagon. Soon afterwards, she discovered an envelope in the desk that contained a letter to her from her grandfather, a silver key, and a couple dozen pages torn out of a journal.
Professor Charleston Winters was inordinately fond of puzzles and ciphers and seemed to have a touch of paranoia. The letter indicated that Miss Lakatos needed to use the journal pages to find a box that he hid. The first major clue was a book cipher created from a copy of “Leaves of Grass” by Walt Whitman found in the professor’s library (copyright 1922 from The Modern Student’s Library American Division, Charles Scribner’s Sons; available to investigators at the Google Play store online). Investigators managed to decipher the message, which read “Retrieve box at Silver Key Storage and Security.”
When Miss Lakatos called Silver Key Storage and Security, she was told that the company required copious amounts of paperwork for them to be able to provide her with the unit number. While investigators worked to crack the next clue from the journal pages, someone tried to break into Silver Key Storage and Security. Although nothing was taken, this break-in attempt seemed to indicate that the Esoteric Order of Dagon knew about the box’s location and that Miss Lakatos could be in grave danger. Fortunately, the investigators were able to figure out the answer to a chess-related puzzle involving a famous match that Lord Dunsany played in 1929. After determining which squares on the chessboard related to the each clue given, the investigators then alphabetized the answers (A4, C6, E4, G5) to provide Miss Lakatos the correct unit number (4645) to retrieve the box. Using the silver-colored key from the envelope to open the unit, she found only a single wooden box, carved with ivy leaves and vines.
During her journey home, Miss Lakatos was attacked (fortunately escaping unscathed). When she finally returned to her grandfather’s place, Miss Lakatos found a note on the door: "Hand everything over or else. - The Esoteric Order of Dagon." Concerned for her safety, I urged her and the investigators to turn the box over to me for safekeeping. The field investigators decided to forge ahead, however, in the hopes that something in the box could protect Miss Lakatos. By following a leaf clue on another journal page, investigators were able to determine that the word “DOOM” converted to the number “3442” by matching the numbers 0-9 with the corresponding letters in the alphabet (A=0, B=1, J=9, K=0, L=1, etc.).
Inside the box was another letter to Miss Lakatos, the other half of the map piece, a stunning star sapphire, and a number of mysterious coins. On the back of the map, the following words were written, “He is above. He is below. The stars sleep. He rises. IA. IA. Cthulhu comes.”
The origin of the sapphire is rather questionable - the professor’s research seems to indicate that the gem in question has its origin in Greek legends, beginning with the story of Prometheus. From there, the professor traced the sapphire to a Minoan temple (to Dagon), where it was stolen, allegedly bringing about the destruction of that island when it disappeared. There is a bit of a gap in this supposed history, but Professor Winters seemed to believe that Helen of Troy wore the gem and, after the fall of Troy, it found its way to the Oracle at Delphi. From there, the star sapphire disappears from historical tales. Could Professor Winters have found this theoretically “protective” sapphire during one of his expeditions to Greece? It is possible, I suppose. However, his notes seem to indicate that he was trying to tie this gem to the Star of India sapphire, donated to the Smithsonian by J.P. Morgan. The professor insinuates that the mythical sapphire was switched with a similar gem during a theft in 1964 and the swapped stone was the one returned to the Smithsonian. This is nonsense, of course. I believe he made up this far-fetched theory to increase the value of the gem in his possession. “Named” jewels with interesting origins tend to have a higher value than ordinary gems, and it seems likely that an immoral treasure hunter like him would fabricate these types of tales to boost his profit.
As for the coins, Miss Lakatos had found a picture of one of them in the professor’s belongings with the word “Cursed” written on it. Investigators believe that the coins were from the city of Sarnath, but there is little to indicate proof of that.
Still, the Order of Dagon appears to want these items, and I worry about leaving them in Miss Lakatos’s hands. Although a few investigators agree with me, the majority advised Miss Lakatos to hide the box and protect the contents per her grandfather’s wishes. Miss Lakatos then took the wooden box and its contents to an unknown location, where she plans to remain until she decides where to hide it permanently. While I still don’t agree with my investigators’ recommendation, I must trust that they made the best decision for Miss Lakatos and the artifacts. Fortunately, no harms seems to have come to her yet, as Miss Lakatos recently resurfaced to let investigators know that she is still safe. I can only hope that the Esoteric Order of Dagon doesn’t find Miss Lakatos and that she remains unharmed, wherever she is.
It came to my attention that a posting on Shane Tyree's Art Studio page connected to a recently deceased former acquaintance, Professor Charleston Winters. Although he seems to have been a bit of an Indiana Jones, scouring the world for archaeological treasures, his expertise was in the history of Ancient Greece. However, I believe that was a cover story he used as an agent employed by the Esoteric Order of Dagon, who tasked him with finding powerful, ancient artifacts.
At the time of the Facebook posting, his granddaughter, Miss Cassandra Lakatos, was in London, helping to resolve his estate. While packing books in his study, she discovered a piece of an old map. My investigators directed her to search the room in the hopes of finding anything that might be related to her grandfather’s research or the deity Dagon. Soon afterwards, she discovered an envelope in the desk that contained a letter to her from her grandfather, a silver key, and a couple dozen pages torn out of a journal.
Professor Charleston Winters was inordinately fond of puzzles and ciphers and seemed to have a touch of paranoia. The letter indicated that Miss Lakatos needed to use the journal pages to find a box that he hid. The first major clue was a book cipher created from a copy of “Leaves of Grass” by Walt Whitman found in the professor’s library (copyright 1922 from The Modern Student’s Library American Division, Charles Scribner’s Sons; available to investigators at the Google Play store online). Investigators managed to decipher the message, which read “Retrieve box at Silver Key Storage and Security.”
When Miss Lakatos called Silver Key Storage and Security, she was told that the company required copious amounts of paperwork for them to be able to provide her with the unit number. While investigators worked to crack the next clue from the journal pages, someone tried to break into Silver Key Storage and Security. Although nothing was taken, this break-in attempt seemed to indicate that the Esoteric Order of Dagon knew about the box’s location and that Miss Lakatos could be in grave danger. Fortunately, the investigators were able to figure out the answer to a chess-related puzzle involving a famous match that Lord Dunsany played in 1929. After determining which squares on the chessboard related to the each clue given, the investigators then alphabetized the answers (A4, C6, E4, G5) to provide Miss Lakatos the correct unit number (4645) to retrieve the box. Using the silver-colored key from the envelope to open the unit, she found only a single wooden box, carved with ivy leaves and vines.
During her journey home, Miss Lakatos was attacked (fortunately escaping unscathed). When she finally returned to her grandfather’s place, Miss Lakatos found a note on the door: "Hand everything over or else. - The Esoteric Order of Dagon." Concerned for her safety, I urged her and the investigators to turn the box over to me for safekeeping. The field investigators decided to forge ahead, however, in the hopes that something in the box could protect Miss Lakatos. By following a leaf clue on another journal page, investigators were able to determine that the word “DOOM” converted to the number “3442” by matching the numbers 0-9 with the corresponding letters in the alphabet (A=0, B=1, J=9, K=0, L=1, etc.).
Inside the box was another letter to Miss Lakatos, the other half of the map piece, a stunning star sapphire, and a number of mysterious coins. On the back of the map, the following words were written, “He is above. He is below. The stars sleep. He rises. IA. IA. Cthulhu comes.”
The origin of the sapphire is rather questionable - the professor’s research seems to indicate that the gem in question has its origin in Greek legends, beginning with the story of Prometheus. From there, the professor traced the sapphire to a Minoan temple (to Dagon), where it was stolen, allegedly bringing about the destruction of that island when it disappeared. There is a bit of a gap in this supposed history, but Professor Winters seemed to believe that Helen of Troy wore the gem and, after the fall of Troy, it found its way to the Oracle at Delphi. From there, the star sapphire disappears from historical tales. Could Professor Winters have found this theoretically “protective” sapphire during one of his expeditions to Greece? It is possible, I suppose. However, his notes seem to indicate that he was trying to tie this gem to the Star of India sapphire, donated to the Smithsonian by J.P. Morgan. The professor insinuates that the mythical sapphire was switched with a similar gem during a theft in 1964 and the swapped stone was the one returned to the Smithsonian. This is nonsense, of course. I believe he made up this far-fetched theory to increase the value of the gem in his possession. “Named” jewels with interesting origins tend to have a higher value than ordinary gems, and it seems likely that an immoral treasure hunter like him would fabricate these types of tales to boost his profit.
As for the coins, Miss Lakatos had found a picture of one of them in the professor’s belongings with the word “Cursed” written on it. Investigators believe that the coins were from the city of Sarnath, but there is little to indicate proof of that.
Still, the Order of Dagon appears to want these items, and I worry about leaving them in Miss Lakatos’s hands. Although a few investigators agree with me, the majority advised Miss Lakatos to hide the box and protect the contents per her grandfather’s wishes. Miss Lakatos then took the wooden box and its contents to an unknown location, where she plans to remain until she decides where to hide it permanently. While I still don’t agree with my investigators’ recommendation, I must trust that they made the best decision for Miss Lakatos and the artifacts. Fortunately, no harms seems to have come to her yet, as Miss Lakatos recently resurfaced to let investigators know that she is still safe. I can only hope that the Esoteric Order of Dagon doesn’t find Miss Lakatos and that she remains unharmed, wherever she is.