Part 1-The Polo Journals

8/2/2019 Part 1-The Polo Journals

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/part-1-the-polo-journals 1/8

Written by

Andrew Roberts

These stories are based on

characters and settings by Pinnacle

Entertainment and Great WhiteGames.



London-1936

“I hope you are not inconvenienced by this Mr Savage.” Museum curator Frederick Colton said as

his Rolls Royce pulled up outside the British Museum.

The renowned treasure hunter Buck Savage said nothing as he was led into the museum by

Colton. Accompanying him was the enigmatic scientist and inventor Doc Gold. Buck had come to

England to consult with Doc Gold about a burrowing machine for an archaeological dig in the

Middle East. It was there he met Frederick Colton, who recruited both of them for another treasure

hunt.

Colton brought the pair to a conference room, where a second man was waiting. “Good morning

gentlemen,” the second man said, shaking their hands. “I am Sir Wallace Finchley; my donations

to the British Museum over the years have been well-received.”

Part 1- The Polo Journals



“Glad to make your acquaintance Sir Wallace,” Buck replied. Sir Wallace turned their attention to a

large Venetian sculpture.

“I recently acquired this sculpture from an auction at Sotheby’s.” he explained, “However, we

found a compartment in the base containing several pages from a journal.”

Doc examined the pages. “I believe that this was written by Marco Polo.” He told the others.

“That must be his missing diary.” Buck commented, “I believe it mentions the Dragon of the Khan.”

“What’s this talk of dragons?” Sir Wallace asked.

“The Dragon of the Khan was a dragon statue carved of solid gold and encrusted with jewels,

about the size of a grand piano,” Buck explained, “It was commissioned in 1271 by Kublai Khan to

mark the beginning of the Yuan Dynasty’s reign in China. In 1292, the Dragon was presented to

the Polo family as a token of his goodwill for Polo’s service. Polo had it sent to Venice as a gift to

the Doge, but it never arrived.”

“What happened to it?” Sir Wallace asked.

“No one knows. The most common belief was that it was stolen by pirates during the journey.”

“Where should we start looking?” Doc asked.

“I suppose we should go to Venice.” Buck replied, “We may be able to find the rest of the journal in

the university library. On top of that, there’s an old friend of mine who could help us.”

“If this is the case, I am willing to finance your expedition.” Sir Wallace informed the pair.

“After all,” Colton added, “This Dragon will be a fine addition to the museum’s Oriental collection.”

Later that day, Buck and Doc were seated on the next plane to Venice.

“Who’s this friend of yours who can help us?” Doc asked.

“His name is Professor Burton Sawyer,” Buck replied, “He’s an Australian archaeologist I met after

my somewhat short schooldays. I met him at an archaeological dig in Florida once. He’s my old

mentor.”

“Did your father approve of that kind of truancy?”

“My father was a poverty-stricken boxer who became a debt collector for some loan shark in New

York. He wanted me to lead a better life than he did, so he was pissed when I got expelled from

several schools. However, when I started working with Sawyer, old Joe Savage began to relent.”

“Well, that’s a heart-warming story Savage.” Doc commented sarcastically, “How do we know

where to find this chap?”

“He’s retired now, and living in Venice. Maybe he’s got notes on the Dragon.” Buck sat back in his

seat morosely.

“You’re thinking about Virginia aren’t you?” Doc asked. Buck didn’t answer. “I’m afraid I believe it

wasn’t meant to be. You shouldn’t torture yourself Savage. I know you felt like you were getting

closer to her last year but you need to let it go.”



When the plane arrived in Venice, the pair travelled to the city university. A clerk showed them to

the archive, monitoring them as they searched the correspondence for Polo’s journal. As the pair

searched, locating the journal among other ledgers and records, a clicking sound was heard. Buck

turned around to see two sharply-dressed men standing over him and Doc.

“We’ll take the book now.” One of the men said. Buck listened closely to the command, trying todetermine the man’s accent. He didn’t sound Italian. Could he be Greek? Or was he Spanish? He

sounded Galician or Basque. Buck’s thoughts were quickly disrupted by a cold touch on his torso.

The cold touch of a .38 snub-nosed revolver pressed against his stomach.

“Hand it over.” The man said softly. There was a pause. “Now!”

Buck gently placed the journal into the man’s open hand. The man passed it over to his partner.

As the journal was taken, Buck felt the .38’s barrel being eased away. He reacted, grabbing a

bulging ledger from the nearby shelf and hitting the man across the face with it. The second man

immediately made a run for it with the stolen journal.

“Get after him!” Doc called as Buck gave chase. “I left my gadgets back at the hotel!”



Buck followed the thief to the balcony and onto the roof of the university via a drainpipe. As he

reached the roof, he caught notice of the thief jumping to the next rooftop. He quickly jumped after

him. Doc Gold attempted to follow them from the street, swiftly navigating his way through

passers-by while trying to maintain his sight of the rooftops.

As Doc ran through the streets, his route was blocked by a crowded marketplace in the Piazza. He

cursed to himself as he negotiated his way through the crowd. Meanwhile, Buck had managed to

catch up with the thief, tackling him while attempting to recover the journal. The thief drew a knifefrom his pocket, slashing at Buck before making another break for it as his pursuer leapt

backwards to dodge the blade and leaping to the next rooftop. Buck attempted to follow him, but

fell short, grabbing the gutter and scrambling up onto the roof.

The thief quickly leapt down to one of the market stands, using the cushions displayed there to

break his fall. As he got back to his feet, he noticed Doc Gold running towards him. He ran down

to the nearby canal where a motorboat was moored. He leapt in and started it up, speeding off

before Doc could reach him. Buck spotted the boat from the rooftop and leapt down, landing onthe canvas covering the back seats. He attempted to grapple the thief, who attempted to deliver

several punches while keeping control of the boat. As they wrestled, they failed to catch notice of

another boat heading towards them. The sound of a gunshot rang out, catching their attention.

The boat’s outboard engine was slowly clunking to a halt, the fuel tank punctured by a well-placed

bullet. When the thief turned to examine the damage, Buck opportunistically delivered a left hook

to his face, causing him to fall into the canal.

“Do you need a ride?” a voice asked. Buck turned around to see the other boat pulling up next to

his. As he turned, he was greeted by the sight of Virginia Dare at the wheel, with Danny seated

next to her. Buck picked up the journal, which the thief had dropped during the scuffle, andclambered aboard Virginia’s boat.

“It’s great to see you again Doll.” He said as he seated. Virginia slapped him acr oss the face.

“I know you’re looking for Marco Polo’s journal, and if you call me ‘Doll’ again, I’ll just take it and

leave you in the canal.” She said sternly, but with a degree of amusement.

“So, you want the Dragon of the Khan too.” Buck deduced bluntly.

“That’s correct. I learned from your friend Sawyer that you might be paying him a visit. He said to

bring the journal, but I noticed that someone had beaten me to it.”

“Dr Wetmore hired us again.” Danny explained, “I’m surprised he couldn’t recruit you for it as well.”

“I was in London meeting with Doc Gold when the British Museum hired us to find the Dragon.”

Buck replied, “We’ll need to pick him up before we meet with Sawyer.”

An hour later, the intrepid four had reunited and were heading for Professor Sawyer’s apartment.

Virginia knocked on the door. A kindly-looking, slightly plump scholar in his late fifties answered it.

“Buck!” the professor called in delight, “It’s great to see you again! I always wondered when we’d

have a reunion. This calls for a celebration. Come on in! Make yourselves comfortable!”



The group entered the apartment and were shown to a small, well-kept living room. They sat down

on the two sofas surrounding a small coffee table. Sawyer ambled into a nearby kitchen area,

bringing a tray carrying a bottle of white wine and five glasses. He brought up a chair and

uncorked the wine.

“How do you feel about Prosecco?” he asked, handing out the glasses. Buck sampled the wine

and nodded.

“So, how have you been holding up?” Buck asked.

“Well, I’ve been living in Venice ever since I retired five years ago. I sometimes give lectures at the

university, but it’s mostly quiet. Your father would have been proud of you if he saw you now.”

“We can reminisce my childhood some other time Professor, but right now we have an important

matter to discuss; We need information on the Dragon of the Khan.”

The professor was speechless. He’d been searching for the Dragon for most of his life. He had all

but abandoned it after his retirement.

“I don’t have any correspondence on that I’m afraid.” He said solemnly, “All I have is a cipher to

decrypt the code in Polo’s journals. But I can’t use it without the journals.”

Buck immediately placed the journal on the coffee table. His mentor beamed brightly.

“You found it!” he said in a giddy manner, “There’s no time for questions; we must find the cipher!”

He leapt out of his chair and scuttled through another door. Buck followed him and found himself

in a cluttered study. Various papers covered the desk while the shelves were jam-packed with

tomes and ledgers. Sawyer frantically rummaged through one of the desk drawers and produced a

small notebook.

“We’ll figure this out in no time!”

A few moments later, Sawyer had emerged from the study with Buck, giving him a notepad.

“What did you find?” Doc asked.

“We decoded the journal on the Dragon.” Buck explained. “But the translation is still cryptic. It says

‘In the great cave of Mandaru does the Dragon rest. It awakens when the guardian wars in theWest.’ What do you think that means?”

“I believe it’s a mechanism that leads to the Dragon’s resting place. I think Polo learned why it

didn’t reach Venice.” Sawyer explained.

“Where is Mandaru?” Danny asked.

“I don’t know. It’s uncharted.” Sawyer replied. “I believe that there are three artefacts that serve as

keys: The Shield of the Guardian, the Sword of the Guardian and the Helm of the Guardian. It’s

suggested that the Sword and the Shield contain inscriptions that contain the coordinates toMandaru.”

“Surely these artefacts would be of little use if they’re all at the same place.” Virginia commented.



“No.” Sawyer answered, “Only the Helm remained on Mandaru. The others went to other parts of

Asia. I believe that the journal speaks of ‘The Temple of the Sword in the snows of Sagarathma.’-

the Nepalese name for Mount Everest. Supposedly it’s still there.”

“What about the Shield?”

“That was hidden away in India, but had been discovered by the British at a temple near Mysore in

1799. Unfortunately, it was stolen by a Thuggee cult from the nearby palace at Pitambar in 1812.”

The group sat in silent contemplation for a moment, finishing their drinks. Afterwards, Danny

spoke.

“I do have one question.” He began, “If Polo discovered all this, why didn’t he mount an expedition

to reclaim it?”

“He was imprisoned upon his return to Europe.” Sawyer told him, “Captured by the Genoese

during their war with Venice. He was released in 1299, but he elected to settle down and raise a

family.”

“Well, we have no time to lose.” Buck said, “It was great to see you again professor, but we need

arrange some transportation.”

That evening, Buck and Doc had returned to their hotel with Virginia and Danny in tow. Buck was

brandishing their tickets.

“I’ve got us on the next plane to Mysore. We fly tomorrow morning.” He informed. Virginia and

Danny took their respective tickets and left.

As the Dare siblings were heading back to their own hotel, they were met by Professor Sawyer.

“I forgot to tell Buck to take this.” He said, handing Virginia a small but bulging diary, “It’s a

translation of Polo’s journal. It will contain all the information you need.”

“Thank you Professor.” Virginia commented, “I will give it to him tomorrow morning.”

Sawyer watched them leave. He skimmed down the street in the opposite direction, arriving at a

small, shadowy apartment. After knocking on the door, he was greeted by one of the men from the

archives, nursing a black eye and a broken nose. He beckoned him inside, leading him to a dimly-

lit study. Another man was seated in the corner of the room reading a newspaper, his face

concealed by the shadows.

“What’s the news?” he asked in a low voice with a Basque accent.

“They have the translated journal.” Sawyer replied, “They fly to Mysore tomorrow.”

“Muy Buen . You made the right decision Señore Sawyer. My associates are envious. Do they

know of your nature?”

“No. Buck doesn’t suspect a thing.”



“I hope so. However, only I must proceed to Pitambar. You are no longer of use to us.”

He picked up a silenced Luger from the drawer next to his seat. Sawyer eyed it with terror.

“You promised you’d release my wife! What’s going on?” He asked, trembling like a leaf, sweat

forming across his forehead.

“I am.” The unseen man replied, “I’m sending you to see her right now.” He raised the Luger an d

pulled the trigger. There was a sound resembling a stifled cough. Professor Sawyer looked down.

Blood was oozing out from his abdomen. He collapsed to the floor. The Luger coughed again. A

single bullet entered his skull.

“I must claim my prize. My employer will not approve if I fail. This includes arousing Buck’s

suspicions.” The man said as the Professor’s body was taken away. “The Dragon of the Khan will

go to my hands, by any means necessary.”

iSavage Worlds, Smilin’ Jack, Deadlands, and all of our other Savage Settings, and the Pinnacle logo are Copyright

Great White Games, LLC; DBA Pinnacle Entertainment Group. All rights reserved.

Characters by Shane Lacy Hensley.

Written by Andrew Roberts.

Part 1-The Polo Journals

Documents

Transcript of Part 1-The Polo Journals