Chapter 10: Chapter 10 A Series of Fortunate Events Persevere

  The Quagmires, Baudelaires and Judith spent some time recuperating and going over their V.F.D. notes realizing that the secret organization used many codes, ciphers, and ridiculous amounts of disguises, so that any picture's found within the documents held almost no meaning. The only consistency was the eye insignia and that there had been a schism that had wrecked the organization. There were 2 sides, the firefighting side and the fire-starters. Even with all the documentation they had no clue as to who was on which side. The children strongly believed that their parents had been on the firefighting side. Judith agreed with them and made the point that they were hitting a dead-end without any keys to uncover the information. She had gone to Dr. Orwell who had explained that while she had been in V.F.D. she hadn't exactly been part of the disguise/code side, she'd been more of a researcher and hadn't done any missions to warrant giving her any of the keys to any codes. Dr. Orwell even revealed only to Judith that she had been in a relationship with Count Olaf before the Schism and that when it occurred he had left her to die. She had in fact been planning to double cross Olaf when he'd come to her with his plans, it was one of he reasons she agreed so readily to join Judge Strauss, since the fire-starters were bad for business. "I mean if everything burns, what value would money have?" After hearing that Judge Strauss attempted to get any answers from Josephine Anwhistle, but was rebuffed, she was so fearful that her reply was an almost incoherent shriek of "NOOO!" followed by the door to the house being slammed and the audible sounds of many bolts being locked into place. Seeing this Judith left and tried getting her investigative colleagues assistance, but they claimed that any codes they knew just spat out gibberish.

'System I have high int. stats, Basic Languages D+, and Parallel Thinking G+, why am I unable to break what I distinctly remember was childishly simple codes from V.F.D.?'

[The Dimension will only allow protagonists to have easy codes and only when they reach appropriate key points in the story. User would be able to forgo this if had the appropriate skill available. They would be an even higher Int. stat, higher language and mathematics skill level, and having any rank of Coding higher than G. User's current age in this Dimension makes learning Code Skill 90% harder unless an appropriate Achievement is earned.]

  With that knowledge Judith knew that she would have to continue the storyline in it's order so she set about pushing some paperwork around to prime the protagonist pump as it were. Then she showed to the children that the list they had gotten from Mr. Poe was complete, so they had no more leads currently to use to unravel what they had. Duncan Quagmire said with a sigh, "If only Quigley were here, he's a master with codes and puzzles. I bet he'd have figured most of these codes out already." Klaus who'd been reading a map exclaimed, "Look, I've found a town called V.F.D. on the map maybe it will have some of the answers we seek." The other children and Judith looked at the map and proceeded to debate the merits. As the debate dragged on Isadora declaimed, "Decide one must whether it be good/bad; Let failures come but never become sad." After a moment the children came to the conclusion that they would check out this town V.F.D., since they had no other leads and didn't feel confident that they could break these codes without some sort of hint. Judge Strauss agreed with the children and they began packing some essentials to take with them to the town of V.F.D.

  The village is located far outside the City in a barren, desolate region known as The Hinterlands, which is basically the middle of nowhere. They went to the town hall to ask for information on V.F.D. where they learn that the town is called Village of Fowl Devotees and were given a brief history of the place. The town was founded 306 years ago, by a group of explorers, who were fascinated by the migratory patterns of the crows in the area, and established a settlement there in order to idolize them. They were told to meet with Hector the handyman who would show them the beloved Nevermore tree where the crows rest every night. When they meet Hector he is a nice fellow who seems to be very tired. On the way to see the tree they ask him why he's so tired. Hector explains that currently he is the only one responsible for the maintenance of the city and to make sure everything stays clean. The children are saddened to hear that he was the only one doing any work, so they asked him why he kept working there. His response was, "My father was the handyman before me, and his father was the handyman before him, and so on and so on. I'm just keeping up tradition while I plan my retirement getaway. After me there will be no more handymen from my family working for V.F.D."

  After he said that they went along in silence, until they saw the Nevermore tree in the distance. The tree was tremendous in size and a beauty of a tree. No crows could be seen though because they were spread across the town. Isadora spoke in reverence, "It watches birds fly and the flowers grow. Its wisdom advancing to higher peaks. Aren't we so lucky to have it bestow. Its accomplishments through all that it speaks." Duncan Quagmire turned to Hector and began to question him about what he knew of the town of V.F.D. He responded, "This village has been called V.F.D. for more than three hundred years. Scarcely anything has changed since then. The crows have always roosted in the same places. The meetings of the Council of Elders have always been at the same time every day. Also the main founder was a firefighter. There's nothing else to add other than that this town has a ridiculous amount of rules to follow, I mean like over 20,000 rules. I recommend that you get out of town before you accidentally break one of the town rules and are punished for it." After that they took one last view of the ginormous tree, turned around and began to leave the town.

  As they were leaving a woman went up to Hector and said, "We've got Count Olaf apparently he escaped prison and now we have him. We're holding him in our prison and will probably burn him at the stake for being a villain, which breaks one of our town rules." The children and Judge Strauss were stunned since Count Olaf's injuries from the lightning strike had hospitalized him, so whomever they had couldn't possibly be him. They immediately joined Hector on returning back to the town center to see who had been captured. Once they got there they saw a man tied to a stake who had a unibrow and a tattoo of an eye on his ankle, those being the only physical similarities that he shared with Count Olaf. He was shouting, "My name is Jacques Snicket, I am not Count Olaf. I was just passing through looking for the children of my friends." Judge Strauss immediately turned to Hector and asked, "Does your retirement plan have a quick getaway method?" Hector nodded and explained that he had a hot-air balloon device that he almost had finished for his getaway, he just needed to do a couple more modifications before liftoff. Turning to the children Judge Strauss said, "Kids I need you to help Hector finish his device, while I try to calm these citizens down, or at least get a stay of execution. We might need to stage a prison-break if I'm unable to get this man safely away from this mob."

  The children nod and immediately head with Hector to his home to begin the escape process. Judge Strauss makes her way through the crowd of angry villagers to notify them of their mistake. The council of elders are making statements to the crowd explaining the laws that this man had broken by being a villain, not a citizen of the town, breaking town ordinances, etc. Judge Strauss makes it to the center and begins explaining that the notorious Count Olaf had already been captured, was awaiting trial and no longer shared one of the distinct characteristics that Jacques Snicket had. "Count Olaf lost his unibrow when he was struck by lightning. Does this man look like he survived being struck by lightning?" The mob began to calm down, when a female cop came up and said, "I'm here to protect the fine citizens of V.F.D. and even though this woman has made a claim, I think we should err on the side of safety and just burn her at the stake as well, since she seems to be an accomplice of Count Olaf otherwise how would she know these new details?" The mob began to pick back up at the instigation of the female cop. Judge Strauss took a closer look and realized that it was Esme Squalor in disguise! Turning to the mob Judge Strauss exclaimed, "I am Judge Judith Strauss, one of the High Judges of the city, I'm only in this town today to learn the history of this fine town and look at the exquisite fowl habitat. The reason I know the details of Count Olaf is that I recently handled his case, learning his current condition and pertinent details. In fact I recognize that your police officer seems to resemble a criminal I saw arrested recently. How long has she been an officer of this splendid town?"

  The mob began to explain that the female officer had been hired to assist the Chief of Police who was getting on in years and wanted to train a new replacement. Esme turned to the crowd and stated, "The Chief of Police has given me authority to handle this matter while he takes his afternoon nap. To the fine folks of V.F.D., I bring you protection and style. Enjoy my fabulous officious outfit as I serve up piles and piles of justice!" Even saying this doesn't help her case though since now it was a battle of words between a Judge and a Deputy. After spending time making point after point the crowd had gotten bored and slowly peeled away to head home. The council of elders seeing that they were losing control, hurriedly stated that they would hold a trial the next day to prove that Jacques Snicket was really Count Olaf. They then dismissed what was left of the mob and called over the other assistant police officer, who looked like one of the members of Count Olaf's troupe, the hook handed man. Judge Strauss turned to him asked, "Are you sure you are helping the right person right now? Being an accessory to murder is no joke. You still have options to choose, you and your fellow members." His response was, "I've got nowhere else to go, give me and my fellow members an option and we'll jump towards it. Until then we're just trying to get by and will do our best not to harm anyone in our crimes. Can't talk further, she's watching us." Turning abruptly he drags Jacques Snicket away.

  After having assured the council of elders that everything is alright, Esme walks up to Judge Strauss and proceeds to pull out a notepad to take notes from the interview she would be taking with the Judge. "Come with me to headquarters, I have questions I need you to answer for the case tomorrow." Judge Strauss responds, "Sure, I just need to get a copy of the town rules to better be able to present my client Jacques Snicket, at tomorrow's trial. I imagine that this town is very particular about how it runs their court." On the way to the Chief of Police's office they grab the thick tome of rules that the town has produced over the years. Once they enter the room they see an old man in a tattered sheriff's garb sleeping in a hammock that is in the corner of the room. Esme turns to the Judge and hisses, "I want the Baudelaire and Quagmire fortunes and you're gonna give them to me. Otherwise things will get ugly real quick." The Judge responds, "It's the children's inheritance not yours. I know you have the skills necessary to make your own income, why don't you?" Esme, "Because darling, working is out and crime is in. Being a villain is currently the fashionable choice."

  They spent a bit debating the merits of crime being fashionable or not, when the sleeping Chief woke up and demanded that Officer Luciana should get him a hot cocoa and take their discussion to the office next door. Huffing Esme brews the Chief a hot Cocoa and takes the Judge to the room next door. Once in the next room the Judge has gained enough understanding that Esme is a person who is greedy, vapid, materialistic, vain, and is obsessed with popularity, status, trends, and fads. Taking that into consideration she says, "Esme do you want access to your accounts again? If you cooperate with me I can reactivate your accounts so that you can regain your lifestyle once more. As good as you look in that outfit, perhaps you'd be able to pull off the new items that are currently in fashion. Have you seen the people you've had to work with since you decided to become a criminal? Not exactly the most fashionable people in the world are they?" After thinking about it for a bit Esme began a bargaining session with Judge Strauss to regain access to her accounts and to have all charges dropped from her case. The Judge knew that it wouldn't be that easy, but if she tried maybe she could get Esme out of the storyline without bloodshed.  After a lot of back and forth they came to an agreement. Where the charges that had Esme on the run would be dropped, access to her accounts would be given and Strauss would use her Judge connections to put Esme Squalor back into the fashion industry, rather than the crime industry. They shook on it and Esme then explained that she had been sent there to dispose of Jacques Snicket, but now that she could get back to doing what she loves she'd be out of there like nobodies business. Handing the keys to the prison to Judge Strauss, Esme then called the hook handed man to leave and quit.

  Walking up to the Chief of Police Judge Strauss let him know that the citizens of V.F.D. almost executed an innocent man while he'd been napping. Expressing shock he led them to the prison to let the man go before the fake trial could occur. "I mean I knew the council of Elders have been getting on in years, but this is ridiculous. I may need to resign after this, I only stayed on to train someone new, but they just quit on me." He continued to grumble about various things as they headed into the prison. Thanking the Chief for helping them, Jacques Snicket and Judge Strauss made their way to Hector's place. When they get there Jacques Snicket greets the children warmly and mentions how he had known their parents while they were in V.F.D. He then mentions that Quigley Quagmire is still alive and currently searching for an important file hidden in Montgomery Montgomery's house. Hearing this everyone was overjoyed and immediately planned on going there to pick him up.

  Hector interrupted and mentioned that they weren't safe yet since it was obvious that the fire-starting side of V.F.D. had set Jacques up for death, meaning they might still be after him. "You've brought them to my doorstep, I may have been part of V.F.D., but I'm done with that, the schism showed me that the organization's message wasn't true. I'm leaving on my Self-Sustaining Hot Air Mobile Home that the children kindly helped me complete in the response to your execution. If anyone wants to come I'll take them with me otherwise, I believe it's time to vamanos. For those who are staying, here is all my paperwork on V.F.D. the organization. Adios." They thank him and he begins to float of by himself maybe to be seen again later. Turning to Jacques Snicket the Baudelaires, Quagmires, and Judge Strauss invite him to go pick up Quigley from the Reptile Room. He responds that he has to find a sugar bowl that is vital for the firefighting side of V.F.D. so he must go, before that he explains the code phrase to find out if a person is on the firefighting side. It's "The world is quiet here" and then he said that he would meet them later after he meets up with his sister. Waving goodbye they separate.

  The children and Judge Strauss waste no more time and head off to pick up Quigley. On the way there they stop off at the safe house drop off the documents from Hector and proceed to their destination. They reach Lousy Lane and pick up Quigley who after seeing someone was coming had packed all his essentials thinking that he might have to make a quick getaway. Once he sees who it is he runs to his siblings and they embrace the Quagmire triplets are together once more! After tearfully recounting their individual adventures they do a once-over of Montgomery's house to find the missing important file. After a thorough search they agree to give up for now and proceed to return to the hideout to compare information and choose their next point of adventure. Once in the safe house they share an embrace, a meal, and proceed to go to bed.

[Ding for saving Jacques Snicket from death, increase in acting skill and gain Writing I skill. +20 Karma. For uniting the Quagmires, gain Cryptography I and Cartography I skills. +10 Karma. For diverting Esme Squalor from the storyline, increase acting, shooting and mathematics, gain perk Fashion Sense allows the user to know what to wear at any moment and know what materials, colors and designs go with each other. +25 Karma.]

'Stats'

User 01010111

Race: Eukaryomorphic Human (Human with many animal and insect, and some plant traits)

Age 61 Level 39 (exp 12300/39000)

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Condition: Normal

Stats

Strength 39H

Dexterity 60H

Constitution 80H

Intelligence 61H>62H

Wisdom 57H>58H

Charisma 22H>23H

Skills

Acting H>G, Basic Languages D+, Body Language E, Camouflage F, Car Mechanics H, Cleaning G, Cold Resistance F+, Cooking G, Digging F, Dive D, Driving G, Enhanced Hearing D, Enhanced Smell C, Enhanced Swimming C, Enhanced Touch F, Enhanced Vision E, Fist Fighting F, Gem Craft I, Heat Resistance G, Herpetology G, Hypnotism H, Night Vision H, Maintenance G+, Mathematics G+>F, Marine Martial Arts H, Medicine H+, Parallel Thinking G+, Shooting H+, Surgery H, Teaching I, Volleyball G, Woodcraft I, New Skills (Cartography I, Cryptography I, Writing I)

Perks

Entomorph: (Fall Armyworm), Fashion Sense, Fungalmorph: (Mushroom), Jurisprudence, Lachrymose Leech, Plantamorph: (Elm, Evergreen) Pupa, Stoic, Uncommon Physical Growth, Zoomorph: (Anchovy, Bass, Blue Wildebeest, Camel, Carp, Chicken, Crow, Cow, Crab, Deer, Eel, Goat, Goose, Hare, Horse, Impala, Kangaroo, Llama, Lobster, Mackerel, Mole, Mouse, Mussel, Octopus, Oyster, Pig, Pigeon, Possom, Prawn, Rabbit, Raccoon, Rat, Reindeer, Salmon, Sardine, Seagull, Sheep, Shrimp, Squid, Trout, Tuna, Turkey, Vole, Zebra), World Compass

Corpse Absorption Progress

Ant (.07828), Aphid (.00204), Bedbug (.00072), Bee (.00502), Centipede (.00009), Cockroach (.00698), Dandelion (.00026), Earwigs (.00082), Flea (.00043), Fly (.11807), Ivy (.068), Jellyfish (.00011), Lice (.00052), Mosquito (.07891), Moth (.00164), Pill Bug (.00185), Slug (.000499), Spider (.00055), Wasp (.03207), Worm (.00061)

Abilities:Tutorial Pocket. Sealed (Diagnose H+, Flight G, Ink Squirt, Photosynthesis.)

Achievements: Family Man, For The Family!, Globetrotter, Survivor

Karma: 314 Total Positive

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