"Money. In rolls and tight wraps. A hugh haul of coins and notes, in scores of currencies. Shekels, nobles, and guineas, yes, the newest decades old, but there were ducats too, dollars, and rupees and sandnotes and arcane bawbees, square coins, little ingots from maritime provinces, from Shankell, from Perrick Nigh and from cities Ori was not sure he believed in.
A 'contribution', said the note enclosed. 'To hep with a Good Plan. In Jack's memory'."
Iron Council, China Mieville
This beauty stands approximately 17mm tall. A very small cake on a cake serving stand. Although it doesn't look it will be too filling, It looks like it may be tasty.
To other "lost & found"
Edited on 5/25/23 @ 4:18 PM, added Although...;
A sailor is brought up with a catch of fish and he posseses the journal of Ponce de León. This mysterious phenomena and the possession of the journal made the king of Spain order three ships to investigate the report of Ponce de Leon having found the fountain or youth.
In serach for the sivler chalices, Jack Sparrow finds Ponce de Leon's ship teetering upon rocky fissure.
All screenshots are from Pirates of Caribbean, on Stranger Tides
Shimmer me timbers me buckos. I had the map all along. .
Map to the location to the treasure on Treasure Island
"Fifteen men on a deadmans chest-
“Far over the misty mountains cold
To dungeons deep and caverns old
We must away, ere the break of day,
To find our long-forgotten gold,”
Having traveled far they still travel further.
“Far over the misty mountains cold
To dungeons deep and caverns dim
We must away, ere the break of day,
To win our harps and gold from him!,”
Images from The Hobbit an Unexpected Journey, Text from The Hobbit, J.R.R. Tolkien-The Dwarfs song
Through a manuscript that was circulated during the Middle Ages Prester John was said to be the Emperor Byzantium. Whether he is a priest, king, or both, all is lost in history. However, some of what he is purported to have written to a response to a request from the Vatican is quite intriguing.
“I Prester John, who reigns supreme, I excel in riches, virtue, and I have power over all creatures that dwell under heaven. Seventy-two kings pay tribute to me. Honey flows in our land and milk everywhere abounds. In one of our territories no poison can do harm and there are no noisy frog croaks. There are no scorpions, and no serpents that creep through the grass. No venomous reptiles can exist there and use their deadly power.”
The Lost City of Z, David Grann
Professor Moriarty, The Hound of the D’ Urbervilles, Kim Newman
“I read the iron-bound books of Skelos, and talked with unseen creatures in deep wells, and faceless shapes in black reeking jungles. I obtained a glimpse of your sarcophagus in the demon-haunted crypts below the black giant-walled temple of Set in the hinterlands of Stygia, and I learned of the arts that would bring back life to your shriveled corpse. From moldering manuscripts I learned of the Heart of Ahriman. Then for a year I sought its hiding-place, and at last I found it.' “
Chapter 1, O Sleeper, Awake!, The Hour of The Dragon, Robert E. Howard
'Q. has had to go and see his friends in Paris,' it began. 'Traverse Handle S. "Once around the grass, and twice around the lass, and thrice around the maple tree."'
The Inmost Light, The House of Souls, Arthur Machen
"Yet I suspected that something more than extravagance lay at the back of that seemingly wasteful act of tossing sapphires into an abyss, for thee were in the depths of it those two dragons of gold of whom nothing seemed to be known. And I thought, and I think so still, that Singanee, terrific though he was in war with the elephants, from whose tusks he had built his palace, well knew and even feared those dragons in the abyss, and perhaps valued those priceless jewels less than he valued his queens, and that he to whom so many lands paid beautiful tribute out of their dread of his spear, himself paid tribute to the golden dragons. Whether those dragons had wings I could not see; nor, if they had, could I tell if they could bear that weight of solid gold from the abyss; nor by what paths they could crawl from it did I know. And I know not what use to a golden dragon should sapphires be or a queen. Only it seemed strange to me that so much wealth of jewels should be thrown by command of a man who had nothing to fear—to fall flashing and changing their colours at dawn into an abyss."
Tales of Three Hemispheres, Lord Dunsany
I am amazed how often Jack Sparrow is without a ship to command. In the opening scene in the Curse of the Black Pearl, Jack he is seen sailing up to a peer in a small boat as it is clearly sinking. Again in the end of At Worlds End you see Captain Jack Sparrow in command of another small sail boat sailing the ocean blue.
Here Jack is checking his compass that never seems to point north, however, it does seem to have some super-natural abilities and points to whatever Jack wants.
Perhaps when combined with the map fragment that Jack stole from Sao Feng he will come upon some priceless treasure. I will have to wait and see On Stranger Tides.
Screenshots from Pirates of the Caribbean At Wolds End, Disney Films
An idea for a perfect game scenario.
“It had taken the adventures three days to pass the lake. Six to seven days march after it, the ground was scattered with elephant tusks in ‘such numbers as is incredible’. Some had lain there for hundreds of years. There were some that so large and heavy that even the strongest man among them could not lift them. As to the number of tusks; there was enough to load a thousand of the biggest ships in the world. The weight of just one tusk there was estimated to weigh three hundredweight, a fabulous treasure in its self.”
The Life, Adventures, and Piracies of the Famous Captain Singleton, Daniel Defoe.
This is my second Lost Treasure post. Whether this article is fact or fiction it does seem to provide some evidence that suggests that there might have been a huge treasure trove of thousands of articles that had been squirreled away by the ancient Incas after being double crossed by the Spaniards.
The mystery is; does it still exist? This story might be a great scenario for a role playing or miniatures game. What do you think?
There are Inca miniatures, and treasure piece miniatures, and I am sure we can find miniatures suited for the other players in this adventure game.
