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David Brisbane wanted adventure. He had the means to accomplish most things any reasonable man could want. He was well liked and thought of. He was also terribly bored but he wasn't about to do anything really dangerous like shipping off to sea so he traveled about, looking for something that would catch his fancy and add some adventure to his life. Soon all manner of people attached themselves to him, inventors, speculators and travelers as he was willing to invest in some of the mad schemes where no one else would.

Then one day Dr. Herbert Horowitz introduced David to something he could be part of. No backbreaking labor (well maybe for his assistant) no extreme danger to his life (his mother would kill him if he died). Dr. Horowitz had concocted a device and a plan to bring culture to the Amazon. A device that could replicate any number of actors to play parts in a play. Via hypnosis various settings and qualities are conveyed. By bringing the classic greek plays and the works of Shakespeare to the natives, their lives could be lifted from their darkness and they could join the rest of the world in the cultural revolution to come! To accomplish this however Dr Horowitz needed one leading actor and one leading lady (who would be played by his daughter Anne).

There was one actor that could fill the role, only one would do, Edward Paddington. If only he could be somehow persuaded. . .

Oh yeah, how to play on a forum. Pick your five methods and tricks, and post them with your action. Change the font color to white for the list.

Like this.
And this.
And this.
And this.
And this.

By highlighting the text it becomes (more) visible. The background for the posts is grey but it makes it less obvious.

Remember, working together helps a lot (scores add together) and when in a contest with another character there are two main strategies for winning, get a higher score on the main attribute than your opponent or change the contest with a trick.

If at any point you think you character should be able to do something in with their skills that the existing methods and tricks don't handle, just let me know what it should be and I'll try to work it up.

Brisbane examined Horowitz's machine. He expected it to be theatrical and spectacular, with lots of levers and switches, maybe sparks flying all around, but the look of the soundly named HypnoMechanical Theater was subtle. No stage, no curtain. Just a wooden frame housing a metallic box with a huge vertical hemisphere attached to it, about six feet in diameter. The hemisphere bore a red and white spiral painted on it. He touched the spiral's center and found that the hemisphere was able to rotate.

Then he tried to recall other inventions by Horrowitz. Brisbane was usually overflown by information about various inventors and adventurers and things were mixing up easily in his head. Luckily he had his loyal servant, McLusky the butler to take care of such things and filter information for him, the same way a caring bird-mother chews food before pushing it down her hatch-lings' throats. But McLusky was out in the car before the old warehouse at the given moment.

The other thing that worried Brisbane was the nature of his companions. No, not Paddington. He handled all these hired sword type adventure-hardened cutthroats (as he used to call them) easily. Now, the doctor's daughter, Anna, on the other hand, was a whole different business. So he decided to get past this problem before discussing Paddington.

"Say, my good doctor," he turned to Horrowitz, "is bringing an innocent young woman along to such a dangerous journey a good idea? As my old friend from the African jungles M'kuammba used to say, 'better three raging lions than a single female', and he knows just too well, poor thing, getting poisoned by your own wives is never a good thing."

Being a bachelor with wealth and fame, David Brisbane was always surrounded by women, but he never let them get close to him. He was, to be honest, quite inept when dealing with the "weak sex", awkward and clumsy at times. So he had more than just a moral reason to guard his chastity.

"All true sir, but without my dear Anne we would be without a leading lady and many of the great plays could not be performed. Besides, our mission is in truth her passion. I built this device to carry out her mission of compassion. You'll find her sturdier than you'd think and she has memorized the lines of over two score of plays. Why here she is now."

A slender young lady dressed in a white lace dress and carrying a parasol enters the warehouse.

"Papa!" she exclaims as she floats across the room and hugs him. She is young but has a grace about her of a proper lady. She turns to Brisbane "Is this Mr. Brisbane?" Her father nods. She curtseys "Thank you Mr. Brisbane for funding this endeavor. Your name will soon be in the history books as the man who made bringing culture to the Amazon possible. As soon as we hear word from Mr. Paddington we will be ready to depart. I've sent for him and I expect him to arrive presently."

Elizabeth adjusts the contour of the cape against my arm. I personally see no difference after she makes her little tweaks, but it pleases her, so I've learned to leave her to it.

"I don't know what you would do without me.." She says, the minuscule adjustment in my cape very clearly the most essential part of my appearance. As the carriage draws to a stop, we exit and I pay the driver. "It's a bit run-down.."

"I've slept worse places." Right. These people want Paddington the Actor. Paddington the Gentleman. It's not exactly the role I was born to play, but I can certainly make it work.

We sweep through the door, my assistant in my wake, "Good day to you all, sirs, miss." I bow and doff my hat, then take the girl's gloved hand and kiss it lightly. Anna, I believe her name is, or something to that effect. "Edward Paddington, at your service. This is my personal assistant, Elizabeth Stone. I believe you have a proposal."

Anne gets up on her toes as you take her hand and squeaks when you kiss it. She glowers at your assistant.

Dr. Horrowitz doesn't seem to notice. "Mr. Paddington, we are honored to have you in our humble warehouse. We have been to the theater to see your plays many times. I hope the letter we sent you sufficiently explained our purpose. Please, will you travel with us? Mr. Brisbane has agreed to pay you the generous sum of two pounds per week with all expenses paid for on the trip."

Mr. Brisbane doesn't specifically remember offering such a generous sum.

"Will you please make your talents available to us for this noble journey?" Anne asks.

"Well, I'm not certain how the pay matches up to some of the roles I've got available to me at the moment.." I look over to Elizabeth, who duly consults a notebook.

"Only a few come about to matching it, Sir." She confirms.

"Regardless, I grow weary of acting out the stories of others. I'm about ready to become part of a story of my own. Lady and gentlemen, you have your leading man." I admit Elizabeth did a fine job in arranging my outfit, the rich colour of my cape falling magnificently over my blue suit in my hand.

The girl visibly tries to contain her joy at this, "Marvellous!" She exclaims.

"Indeed, we're very pleased to have you on-side, Mr Paddington." Says the doctor.

"Please, call me Edward. When do we set off?"

"We can head for the port of Salvador Bahia within the week. There is a steamship headed there to pick up a cargo of rubber. We'll have a fast and pleasant journey."

The steamer leaves the port without incident. It is sensible that Anne and Paddington would practice along the way. To Paddington's horror he finds that while Anne has an extensive memory for lines and a good sense of timing, her delivery is wooden. She is more a stage enthusiast than a real actress. She begs Paddington to allow her to practice and that she would learn from his tutelage. Over the course of the trip she does improve but is still a bit lackluster. It's quite obvious that she has a crush on Paddington.

At the same time, during the trip she enjoys taking walks on the deck with Brisbane and she enjoys hearing stories of his exploits.

The trip is otherwise uneventful. On arriving in the port at Salvador Bahia, the Hypnomechanical Theater is unloaded but the crew is sloppy and drop the device from several feet up. Dr. Horowitz examines it and finds that it is in need of repair and testing. Getting together the parts will take several days and the doctor suggests that Brisbane and Paddington arrange for guides and whatever help and provisions they will need for the trip.

"Well, Mr Brisbane, quite a continent, isn't it?" I muse. I have long since abandoned my cape and jacket in this heat, and the sleeves of my shirt are folded up to my elbows.

David nods, "Yes, quite..." He and I hadn't done much bonding on the trip over. I've a tendency not to get on with his type. Normally I sort this out by getting better roles than his type, but I'm left here with a persisting and near-constant desire to punch him in the nose. "Well," He says after a short silence, "What's say we get going, take a stroll about town, find ourselves a native who knows his way around but doesn't know what a ha'penny's worth."

He gives me a moment to admire his humour, and I take that moment to not punch him, so that seems fair."Yes, let's."

"McLusky," He calls over his shoulder, not very loud. The volume presumes his manservant is ever-awaiting the call, and I'll be damned if he doesn't bound up to Brisbane's side in a moment with his rifle in one hand and his hat in the other, "Jolly good." Says Brisbane, taking the hat and placing it squarely over his head before setting off forth at a decent pace.

I pull the brim of my bowler down and set off after him.

Brisbane's mind was already over-occupied by the thought of drifting on the lazy brown Amazonas river - no wonder his answers were brief. The appearance of Anne Horrowiz brought him out of his laments for a second. One thing was strange about her, a least Brisbane thought so for a moment: her smell, which was all perfume but non of the usual (fairly pleasuring) smell of a young female's skin. But then the feeling was gone and Brisbane returned the greetings.

"History books are not my concern... writing history itself is what out journey is all about," he added, with a touch of pathos in his voice - he would make a great actor - in a bad theater. Anne displayed the same amount of antitalent, which Brisbane hoped the Hypnomechanical machine of her father would improve.

Most of the journey through the sea he spent in his cabin. He wouldn't admit, but he was kind of sea-sick. He thought he would get to know his companions better on firmer ground.

Paddington seemed to be a nice fellow, or a good actor. Brisbane thought he knew his type, this adventurer, probably brought up on the streets, bad company maybe, burglaries and the rest, but he knew better not to ask and he always judged people by their present and future deeds. A mistake, maybe.

"Yes, let uour journey commence! It's not my first time here in this lush region, I'm sure I will have the chance to tell you a few stories... if you take interest in hunting stories, Mr. Paddington. I cannot promise not to boast a little - but not as muchas I would do at home in my trophy room."

He descended to the ground. "Now, where is the good doctor and the young actress? I also cannot wait to see our machine in action. I've already payed my entrance fee, if you know what I mean," he tried to make a joke, looked like Paddington was into them more then hunting stories.