All,
At Tom Trigg's suggestion, this is an effort to restart a "war" between rival rail barons that apparently ran in the past. Tom posted excellent rules here.
We begin with a recent bulletin in the No'u'ea (Pronounced "nowhere") Star Advertiser...
MYSTERIOUS HAPPENINGS AT HALUKU'ILIO DOCKS!
A local citizen gathering opihi, a native limpet of excellent flavour, snapped a photograph of a strange happening at the Haluku'ilio Docks. Noting the unusual apperance of a coach usually reserved for railroad executives, their guests, and the Royal family, he snapped the following picture before noting further oddities of armed men and what most certainly must be pirates surrounding a partially obscured top-hatted figure.
Our early morning fisherman, taking the long way around the station, snapped the following of what appeared to be a deal of the type most nefarious right in the shadow of the Triple O's beloved steam tram, Eliaka Ahi (Fiery Elias). With men numerous and well armed, our anonymous would-be opihi picker elected to make a discrete retreat.
Long time readers will recall that
"Douglas Flatbottom, President and CEO of Rosebud Falls Scenic Railways was the target of several kidnapping attempts. He is currently listed as 'missing in action', it is beleived that he is currently resting at the bottom of the Koi pond when the Fast Attack Trawler S.S. Minow capsized and sank in a storm 5 years ago."
Conspiracy theorists have already speculated the top-hatted man may in fact be the apparently not-so-dead Mr. Flatbottom.
Attempting to ascertain the meaning of this day's movements on the docks, Advertiser reporters contacted the Triple O's offices, which claimed that a group of paniolo from an upcountry ranch had chartered Eliaka and the coach for a special team building trip. They also wondered what kind of readership really tracked train movements to a degree the professionals rarely do. We leave you, gentle reader, to answer...
As an aside, the staff notes this strange occurence happed against the backdrop of the still stalled tariff negotiations between the NSPA (No'u'ea Sugar Planters Association) and representatives of continental agricultural concerns. We note that the president of the Triple O is linked to "Big Sugar" through marriage. Though the staff of the No'u'ea Star Advertiser is loathe to speculate, the staff admints that current politics do lend a degree of intrigue necessary to spur on the wilder speculations now circulating about today's happenings on our island's rails.
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