Another Basilisk Robbery
Last night there was another robbery, this time at the Ohio Archaeological Institute. It's the same MO as the last two robberies: Guy in a lizard suit, another guy wearing goggles and a hat, some sort of nerve gas, yadda yadda. One new development, however, is that this time a guard actually managed to get a shot off before being paralyzed. Although it doesn't seem to have done any good. It does, however, confirm the accounts we've seen that basilisks have very tough hides. It seems that in ancient times people used to use basilisk hides to make shields for combat. This is not terribly reassuring. If a bullet can't penetrate this thing's skin, we're going to have a hard time killing it when we finally catch up to it. I'll have to keep searching for a weak spot.
Getting back to the robbery, the item that was stolen is a telescope dating from the 18th century. It was recently salvaged from a shipwreck off the coast of Maine. It's not a particularly valuable item, at least not in terms of archeology or craftsmanship. It was only at the Institute as part of an exhibit on maritime technology. However, there may be more here than meets the eye.
I did a little research, at Mr. Giles' request, and discovered an account of a magickal telescope that was lost in the 18th century. Apparently, it had the power to show its user approaching dangers long before they could have been detected with an ordinary telescope. There were also some rumors that the telescope's power could be harnessed to control storms, though there are no accounts of anyone ever actually witnessing such an event.
It should also be noted that this item is associated with the element of water, according to an index of magickal properties. This means that our perpetrator now has artifacts associated with the elements of earth, air, and water. I don't think it's too much of a stretch to assume that his next target will be an artifact that has an association with the element of fire. I think it would be a good idea to start creating an inventory of any such items that are currently housed in the Cleveland area. I could use some volunteers to assist with that while I continue to search for the basilisk's weak spot. This is a project that is going to take some time, so the more volunteers the better.
And finally, before someone else can take the opportunity to point it out to me, it has not escaped my attention that Andrew was out of town when this occurred. It looks like Rupert may have been right about him. We'll just have to widen our search for a likely suspect.
Getting back to the robbery, the item that was stolen is a telescope dating from the 18th century. It was recently salvaged from a shipwreck off the coast of Maine. It's not a particularly valuable item, at least not in terms of archeology or craftsmanship. It was only at the Institute as part of an exhibit on maritime technology. However, there may be more here than meets the eye.
I did a little research, at Mr. Giles' request, and discovered an account of a magickal telescope that was lost in the 18th century. Apparently, it had the power to show its user approaching dangers long before they could have been detected with an ordinary telescope. There were also some rumors that the telescope's power could be harnessed to control storms, though there are no accounts of anyone ever actually witnessing such an event.
It should also be noted that this item is associated with the element of water, according to an index of magickal properties. This means that our perpetrator now has artifacts associated with the elements of earth, air, and water. I don't think it's too much of a stretch to assume that his next target will be an artifact that has an association with the element of fire. I think it would be a good idea to start creating an inventory of any such items that are currently housed in the Cleveland area. I could use some volunteers to assist with that while I continue to search for the basilisk's weak spot. This is a project that is going to take some time, so the more volunteers the better.
And finally, before someone else can take the opportunity to point it out to me, it has not escaped my attention that Andrew was out of town when this occurred. It looks like Rupert may have been right about him. We'll just have to widen our search for a likely suspect.