EPISODE TWO: Fate Hangs In The Balance

Precariously suspended between a pillar of rock and one of ice, Erik The Red's Drakkar

Picking up from the end of the last episode, our heroes were confronted by the sight of Erik The Red's two-masted longship, The Drakkar, suspended precariously between a pillar of rock and a pillar of ice.

An enormous chasm split the subterranean cavern in which we found ourselves, dropping away hundreds of feet to freezing water below and opening to the sky far above us, causing the ice to glitter with ambient light.

Buck (my world-weary explorer), Dick (Kevin's former G-man), and Freya (Clare's photojournalist) stood at the foot of the rocky pillar, the words of our benefactor Professor Casper Wieloch ringing in our ears about his quest for a mysterious artefact from this site.

Clearly this dangerously balanced Viking longboat was the ideal place to hide such an item.

It was quickly decided that Buck would climb up to the ship, as climbing was one of his areas of expertise, and then Freya would follow to lend support.

Dick would stay on the rocky ledge to keep an eye on things outside of the longboat. 

[Unfortunately, this did mean that Kevin was rather side-lined for a vast portion of this session, which I felt rather bad about as Buck took the spotlight].

Carefully, we made our way onto the ship... but not carefully enough. We had barely taken a step onto its deck when it shifted and dropped dramatically at one end.

We could see a trapdoor hatch near the prow and so, roped together, Freya and Buck cautiously made their way along the central aisle, between the oarsmen's seats, as the boat groaned and shifted beneath us.

Buck made it through the hatch, and Freya followed. We found a cargo hold full of crates, rotting barrels, and frozen fish, but the beady-eyed Freya couldn't see any indication of treasure down here.

She did draw attention to the cracked and loose floorboards though, which gave Buck the idea of prying one up to see if anything was hidden underneath them.

This the two adventurers did. And the first thing they saw was the glint of gold coins!

They needed to lift up a second floorboard so Buck could get down there, but the ship lurched dangerously to one side, not only sending crates and barrels sliding about, but also dislodging a small collection of gold coins.

Once the ship had settled, Buck lowered himself down and, ignoring the few gold coins scattered around, immediately saw the skeleton of a Viking warrior laid to rest in the crawlspace under the hold. The long-dead Norseman was clutching a scrap of paper and a large metal disc.

Buck delicately removed both items, but that movement was the final straw for the ship. It started to noisily crack in half and was obviously going to plummet the great distance into the icy water below.

Witnessing this from outside, Dick took hold of the rope that was attached to his comrades, who were racing out of the crumbling relic. 

In a storm of rotting wood, Buck and Freya leapt to safety, secured by Dick.

Taking a breath on the ledge, Freya read the scrap of parchment:

She translated the Greek text as "Island of Atlantis".

Dick, on the other hand, examined the disc - which was actually three discs, joined together, with Latin letters on, and realised it was some form of ancient cypher.

Clearly this is what their paymaster had been seeking.

The ancient cypher

EPILOGUE:

After the bold trio made their way to Nuuk, and met up with aviatrix Oynx (Mark's character), they flew on to Austria where they met Professor Casper Wieloch at his home overlooking Lake Wolfgang.

He was delighted with what our heroes had achieved and admitted that he already had a lead on how he could crack the Norse code.

TO BE CONTINUED...

CAST:

• Buck Hannigan - Me
• Freya Larson - Clare
• Dick Tate - Kevin
• Onyx Jones - Mark (absent)

DIRECTOR:

• Pete