Five and Twenty Ponies
The Characters
Sir Percy Stanmoor - Another cardboard character. Oh, how my public love me!
Who was Sir Percy Stanmoor and why did the French show so much interest in him? Stanmoore was one of the political elite and was the up and coming member of Pitt's government. However, Stanmoore had become quietly opposed to Pitts foreign policy and saw France as an allie in a much bigger picture, the downfall of the European monarchies and the bringing together of a disaffected Europe into one European state. To accomplish this he begun to communicate with the French via a spy that, lucky for Mike Newman, was to be discovered very early on in the campaign. However, the connection between this spy and Sir Percy was never established and Mike carried on oblivious to this fact.
The previous year Sir Percy had established the "Quandrangle ". This was a cartel of .Jacobins based in Bossingham, Whitehaven, Port Knappwell and Newchapel who were dedicated to bring French revolutionary ideals to Britain. With rumour of an intended invasion of Britain by Napoleon the "Quadrangle " saw this as a superb opportunity to help Napoleon in his hour of need. As the French landed they would co-ordinate an uprising to frustrate the intended plans for Britain's defence. To accomplish this they would smuggle gold to France and buy guns and ammunition to arm their insurgents. Using "Jack Sparrow" and the Carters as their unwitting accomplices they would smuggle the weapons back to Britain in the Carters ships. The Carters and Jack Sparrow would be none the wiser.
Sir Percy then hatched an ingenuous plan to get himself over to France without being suspected so that he could co-ordinate his uprising with the French invasion and return to Padforshire after "escaping" from a French prison. He invited the French to "invade " Padfordshire and "capture " him. Phil played the numerous French roles given to him with gusto and achieved his objective and more. Not only did he ,r capture Sir Percy, but he also managed to wreck the Carters smuggling operation beyond repair. This played into the "Quadrangles " hands as they could now employ the Carters under their terms instead of the other way round. Without any ships the Carters smuggling operation was all washed up and the only way to continue it was to work for the "Quadrangle ". Drawn in hook line and sinker by their tempting offer, the Carters became unsuspecting accomplices in a treasonable act. In their last shipment they unwittingly smuggled the first batch of guns and ammunition into England. Had the campaign continued and Abraham Pike (Mike Newman) found out about this and captured the Carters, they would have been hung as traitors.
Now, I hear you say, why did I only mentioned Abraham Pikes name in this last sentence, what about Captain Nash (Mike Whiteford), isn't he a government man? Well, unfortunately, Captain Nash had turned to the "dark rum side " and had fallen in with the Carters. He was taking a 25% cut from the Carters that ensured the Carters would remain unmolested. He also had eyes on Abraham's overland convoy of captured contraband that was being transported to Whitehaven at the end of the Month. Nash had plans to "escort" it to a "safer" place. However, had Abraham found out about Nash's activities and a connection had been made between Nash, the Carters and the "Quadrangle ", Nash too could also have found himself swinging from a gibbet!
So, there we have it, "Five and Twenty Ponies " more than just a smuggling
campaign!
How did everyone fair in terms of their objectives? Well, turn the page and you will see, and I think you 'II be surprised at the results.
|
