Crossing the way of the Mansion's inhabitants

Suddenly meeting Gomez Garcia or any of the seven Men of Chedham Police, on the Estate or in the Mansion, doesn't change much to the following business: thil will be som'tin' of a thrashin' and for sure a questioning in due form, twenty-four hours of police custody, etc.! Last, but by far not least, the Governor and the Parents of the culprits will be informed, which is the promise of another thrashing and related punishments, which we let you, Friend Game Master, manage with your mood of bad days…

The difference is that if one is caught « only » by a Policeman, the good-tempered man will proceed to the arrest and bring all involved kids to the Prison for the police custody before informing Gomez Garcia of the situation and herewith let the Governor be informed. After that, Gomez Garcia will overtake the further proceedings of the case.

One doubt rightly whether a single Policeman can manage a whole group of wild kids like that; aye! He can't! However, the island is small and each single boy or girl will generally be recognised, except by night in darkness for instance. Gomez Garcia will probably try to catch at least one of the group in the following order: the oldest one, Poerava or, in a last attempt, the closest to him. He'll even try to catch two of them if he can but doing better is impossible: that's plain, the other will, however, loose anything in waiting for their own punishment!

If Gomez Garcia in person witnesses the offence without being himself seen, he will let go and observe (though it implies a risk to be discovered himself); then, having sufficiently understood what's going on there, he'll go get assistance of Ruggero and Allemania, if possible, to organise the capture of the whole little group. In that case, the first questioning will probably be organised directly in the Governor's Mansion… moreover, very likely, with attendance of the master of the place himself!

Note that if Gomez Garcia already caught our Friends Young Pirates at the time of one of their meetings with Poerava, even if she wouldn't have spoken out a word of the project, he would have let one of his Men watch the activities of the group members and will have taken part himself in that job. In that case and if our young Crew doesn't take care more than that, it can be that Gomez Garcia be together with one or two Policemen to capture them.

So, then, what can be the follow-ups? Gomez Garcia is strict and has a strong « prison-watch » attitude and the Governor will for sure have sprung out of his hinges. They are aware, however, that they are facing children and a good deal of a thrashing will do, while requiring to return the stolen things if applicable (in that case comes also a better deal of a thrashing, aye!) and, above all, some explanations. And there comes the most important part of the business, of course: what will reveal the Crew Members of their plans once they've got a special cudgelling program not only on agenda but also on the buttocks, along with the menace to get complimentarily some more? One will have to have Got a Nerve! Aye, for sure! But it'll never be too damaging to be able to play with some finesse, here, to dodge suspicions and bring the questioning on wrong scents…

And if, by misfortune, the secrets of the Pirate Pact and the (re-) discovery of the Suzon, things could really take a bas turn: the Governor will require the Pact to be broken forever and Poerava herself could well « throw in the towel », at least with such a Crew Members, who « can't haul the winds in their scuppers ». She herself will never spit out a word about anything, so incredibly strong being her yearning for liberty…

To summarise: ouch, ow! Aye, for sure or we'll be burnt! That said, the Governor is no better than Gomez Garcia or one of his Men able to capture the whole little group alone and he will react in the same way as Gomez Garcia, with the difference that he'll set a priority on catching Poerava if she's in the group taken in the act.

If the Governor is in position to go and get some support to catch the whole group, he'll try to do it, as well as Gomez Garcia would do, that is to say picking up Ruggero, Allemania and, if possible, Gomez Garcia or the Policeman on duty on the Estate; but since the latter is, a priori, not necessarily easily localisable, you can, Friend Game Master, manage that with a Dice, for instance deciding that the Governor gets him only on an even result.

In the general case, an encounter with the Governor is thus to be manged in a very similar way to an encounter with Gomez Garcia, except that the Governor will let the case be ruled directly at the Mansion, without going through the Prison step. There is, however, one case where things may happen differently and turn really bad…

If the Governor catches our friends Young Pirates (with or without Poerava anyway) in his Bedroom or his Treasure, even more if they are right stealing things like the Voodoo Compass or his Captain costumes… His furor strengthened by astonishment and by an extreme feeling of the intimacy of his past life being violated (A constant repression issue, which it would be interesting to study under other circumstances!), the Governor reacts then very violently, as follows:

• If that happens in his Bedroom, the Governor starts with a reprimand, then immediately shouts a call to « all the Personnel in the Mansion » and sends somebody to go and get Gomez Garcia and his Police before he closes the door of his Bedroom and locks it. He then orders while going away: « Allemania! Go out and watch the windows of my bedroom: none of those nasty kids may escape through the windows! » The follow-up is very similar to that, which already discussed.
• If that happens in the Treasure, his reaction is even more brutal; after a short moment of astonishment, he shouts in bewilderment out of wrath: « You'll never come alive out of here, you, little prats or I'll be hung! » then he goes back upstairs and locks the door of the secret passage. One can hear him making some business in his Bedroom, above, but the Governor won't warn anybody else and takes care of the punishment himself, as now follows, to keep his secret.

After a long moment, the Governor opens the door of the passage again and calls: « Poerava ! I now want you to come up back here one by one when I call… But for thy part, thou shall come last!

If the little group and / or Poerava obeys, a first Mate of the Crew shall thus go upstairs and get a mastery of a thrashing - pants off: the Governor also checks that nothing has been stolen - in the Governor's Bedroom, so that all can well hear what happens. After a relative silence – time for some questioning, speaking normally – another thrashing session will probably be applied as a first conclusion. While questioning, the Governor threatens he will - and alternately offers the promise he won't - inform the parents, in order to get more information, even if his true intention is to not talk to anybody about the event, fearing that it might lead to the disclosure of some of his secrets.

Finally, even if our friend Young Pirate tells no word about anything, the Governor, still using a half-threatening, half-conciliating tone takes out of a purse, which he carries on himself, a shining gold coin – Bearing on Heads the nicely cursively written word « Uno » and on Tails a skull on two crossed shinbones: it's a Goldowbollon, the Pirate Currency of Tortuga! – and says: « Keep secretly that beautiful coin on you, as a token of our common secret, and take care to keep silent about what you saw here… or beware the consequences!

However, if he knows that a Pirate Pact exists among our friendly Crew or if he happens to discover it from the questioning, the Governor will be very strict on the point and put conditions before offering the Goldowbollon: « Thou hast to break that non-sensical Pirate pact. It'll bring thee only bad things. Let that beautiful golden coin be the token of our new pact: no word about that, which you saw here, not a word about Piracy anymore and we can be good friends in the future. Otherwise… Beware the consequences! »

Now, one of your Players (otherwise Poerava if you wish to play the option) can well have the idea – se disant justement que dans la pénombre le Gouverneur n’a pu voir exactement tous ceux qui étaient là – to let one or two Members of the Crew hidden in the Governor's Treasure to be in position to search the room at will some time after that sequence is finished…

It goes on at any rate as we already discussed and, at last, the Governor calls Poerava. She of course earned a « special care course », that is to say a more intensive questioning and several hard thrashing « broadsides » but she won't let come a single word out. Hence, as a punishment, the Governor will summon Gomez Garcia to bring Poerava to and shut her up in the Lantern for a week with only a piece of bread and a water pot daily… But that is not heard by the other Crew Members!

If Raffie is not already part « of the gang », meeting her can be very sudden and loud: it is surprising how such a little female Yellow Capuchin Monkey, the Governor's pet, can actually yell so loudly! And it is no easy thing to calm her down… Candies are maybe a good idea (You'd rather forget about meat!) but one needs to have some in reach… Quickly! Otherwise… A good idea is to leave the vicinity before the whole neighbourhood has gathered around!

Another way to meet Raffie can be, of course, while she is trying to steal something in the pockets of the Crew for she is a serial Kleptomane! The high-tuned screams are for sure the next step if one runs after her and tries to catch her.

However, familiarised and « trained » for precise tasks, if there is a « payment », Raffie can become very useful… (The option is described in two places of our story, which are of key importance… Are you still there?!)

One last note: even if Raffie became a good ally for one or two bigger businesses, there is rather only a few chances that Raffie becomes so familiar with our Young Pirates as to be ready to follow them in their adventure for, in her very heart of a monkey, she remains very fond, if not of the Governor himself, at least of the Estate and her living standard here. That said, up to you! After all, she's got such a personality that it is not granted that anybody wants to take her with on Board! (Other details about her are attached to her Character's Sheet and are worth at least a short diagonal look.)