I talked with the party and explained to them all the things that had happened with respect to Shakespeare, Marlowe, and Cambieul, and we decided to go to the address from the fax for Cambieul. It's a gated community, with the name "Jonathan Foster". They did not let us in, but suggested that I make an appointment. When I did that, I told the concierge that I wanted a personal appointment with Mr. Foster, as I was a student of Mr Foster's old friend. He, of course, asked for the name of the friend, so I told him "William Shakespeare". I was granted a 6 am appointment on Thursday. Barton is going to drive me there, but they are having some trouble figuring out how they get a car that will make Barton happy. Barton went to the airport, and came back with a commercial driver's license. Dana and I went to Macy's and got me a nice (but expensive!) suit for me to wear to my meeting. Barton looks like Antonio Banderas... The gate person lets us in, and I was ushered into a room, with a broadsword made of some transparent material. He was cursing at the computer, which had smoke coming out of it. After he noticed my ears, I was in suddenly surrounded by darkness, with magic swirling around me. He spent what felt like 3 months for me questioning with more karma and magic than I've ever seen, trying to figure out what I really was. (He didn't believe that I was really a 3rd-circle troubadour.) In doing so, he found out *everything*--that I was from 2060, that the party existed, that I really had been "born" a few months ago but my body was 20 years old, etc. When he finished, he did have pointed ears, and was wearing white facepaint and a black diamond over one eye. He doesn't think he's written the letter that I read yet. "Marlowe" died in 1590ish. "Melody Smith" died a few months ago. In 1990, he doesn't have a public identity, but in 2060 it's likely that he does, is involved in politics, and in some excavation project. "He is loyal to the court in his heart, but to the breakaway(Leng) in his actions." He has a passion for the youth, and for education. Cambeiul said that he considered this talk a favor "to our mutual friend" and asked that if I saw him again to say that he said hello and "No hard feelings". I plot-dumped to the party, who said that "Lemuria" is likely what Marlowe is related to, and that Leng is out of a Lovecraft story as well as being one of the 4th age Great Empires, and that "The Plateau of Leng" in that is what is now Tibet, and that short hairy not-quite-human men there had a plot to accumulate all human knowledge. (Lemuria is the corp that runs the Bubba Gump Shrimp Co, and the Timmy the Magic Shrimp Co, and all the things related to that episode, is excavating 4th age things, and is looking for Death's Sea.) We decided to go back to 2060. After a bunch of talking, we realized that "the Gateway Arch" was the obvious right place, so we went to St Louis. We tried to go through in the van, and felt a tugging, but realized that the van was keeping us back. The next night, Tom the "Wheelbarrowmaster" built a cart for us to pull Alpha through, and we found ourselves in The Gateway City, approaching customs. We spent all our 1990s money and took a loan for the rest of our tourist visa. "Carrying weapons is legal. Using them is illegal: it will get you killed, and then arrested" This is the biggest marketplace I have ever seen. It may well be the biggest marketplace that exists. Barton traded his sword for a cloak and a ring. There were four signposts: Elven supermacy, Cthonian, 4 Monarchs, and ____ We tried to walk through and were a little lost, and as we came through a weird garden, we found a pair of young women who seemed seriously lost. "Hi. I'm Lina Inverse" (reputation: she's a licensed bounty hunter and an investigator for the Draco Institute for Magical Research) The other woman is Abby Sterling. Apparently they were on a mission in Amazonia to find a magical flower for DIMR, and took a wrong turn. Despite Barton's objections, we offered to lead them out. I told Lina she'd fit right in with the Oracle Corp, told her about what we do. She said she subcontracted, and then I explained that our last few buildings had burned down, flooded, sunk into the swamp, etc. Tristain commented "Look out for falling ninjas" and one fell into our path. (A few moments later it was unconscious and melting into the floor) We kept walking, and Barton went to the Gateway City. We walked out the gate and into the city, and got a few hotel rooms. A'leia, after it was pointed out that she had a stamp to leave the country but not one to enter, told the party she was headed to the airport. I took the train to the St Louis Airport, with my backpack and her passport. I tried to get swept up in the crowd and then tell a customs agent that they appear to have missed stamping my passpord. (First Impression: cute but harried traveller, success by 7). They asked for a form I didn't have, but they bought my story and sent me off. My passport still has a weird inconsistency, in that I entered the Tir, and then entered the UCAS. When I arrived back, I reactivated my credstick and we decided to bring Lina and Abby in, kind of on a trial basis. We told them that we are investigating the Lemuria Corp, and in particular a man whose name we don't know who has an object that someone else needs. Alpha explained that we need to do some investigation on the company in general since they are either Ehran the Scribe sounds a *LOT* like the guy we're looking for. He supports the Young Elven Technologists. The legends indicate that he's got around 30 circles in various disciplines. He has a reputation for spending thousands every few days on new clothes, and is on the Council of Princes of Tir Taingire. " The dragon image is probably a feathered serpent. Alpha: " I just had a conversation about Trowa and our... employer, kinda... close enough. The Ambasador volunteered for the job of causing the Tir to have adepts. He's supposed to be doing a lot of things along those lines, but other than recognizing the prophecy that we are supposed to be Adepts he hasn't done much about it. Every time he has helped us, it was really the Council paying the bill. Many of the things that the Ambassador has "done for us" have not actually been the Council, even though he implied that they were being done with his forces and his equipment. Trowa also said that the other Princes were starting to take interest in us as well. (We already knew that Lofwyr had taken an interest in us, but apparently others are getting interested in us too). Trowa thinks the Ambassador is on the Council of Princes, and Trowa's undisclosed patron is, and (likely) so is Lofwyr. Erihn the Scribe is also probably on that council. The next morning, I told the party I was leaving to go talk to the police. I went to the police dept. and said "Hello. You wanted to talk to me?" (It worked for Jonathan!) They asked me to take a "polygraph" test--I guess that means some kind of writing exam--but they wired me up to a machine and asked me questions about the day the party attacked the vans --who was there, what was happening, etc. Finally, the man said I needed a lawyer so he wouldn't get fired. (Why would he get fired?)