After distracting the Corsair forces into tracking a zeppelin that seems to have vanished in mid-air, Barty drops the Shifting Dragon once again into a sleek pinnace and pulls into a hidden cove on the windward side of Corsair.

Patrols are less there and the cleverly disguised Protectors pass into Treasure City undetected. It's a lively bustling place and quite unlike an armed camp, but the roads resemble a very convoluted maze.

Your destination is a large walled fortress at the top of a wide hill. Barty reviews the intelligence report again, reading it aloud for shared input.

"We have to go to the steam station and take the supply train headed for the fortress. We should be able to connect to the station hub by taking a taxi, provided we can choose the right numbered one. The train inspectors are very cautious, so we'll have to have a manifest, a weight quota, and the correct order of the train cars to board, Then we can get into the fortress through the trade entrance if enter the correct combination on what our informant calls the XYZ Lock."

"Heavens!" exclaims Daisy. "I only feel confident about finding Ali and making sure she's safe, but the rest," she turns to the Protectors, "I have to leave to you."

"We have to start with the taxis, I think. They're right over their at the taxi hub, and all of them have numbers."

(OOC: So the right number taxi, deal with the supply train at the station hub. steam up the hill to the supply entrance and enter the elusive XYZ code. Piece of cake, right? All clues are on the OOC thread for this chapter.)

Frieda sat quietly in the Shifting Dragon and tried to quiet her feverish little weasel-girl brain. It proved to be an impossibility, her mind was flooded with images of home, her mate, her children, and her work as Healer's Hall back on Terra. She also had a sudden, intense craving for a gingersnap. Her wild imagination was abruptly silenced as the craft touched down on solid ground. "We're here Lady Frieda," Barty announced.

Out in the city, The Protectors kept a low profile and arrived at the designated meeting point. "You have your instructions, pick the correct taxi, ride the train and enter the fortress with the correct XYZ code." Barty gave Frieda a look of concern. "Our chances are slim if we get any of the codes incorrect."

Frieda set out and within a few moments came upon the taxi drivers. She quickly deduced the vehicle number she should employ and gave the chubby driver her destination. Arriving at the train station, she tipped her driver and strode toward the platform to locate her train. "Golly! These clues are the worst!" She muttered to herself as she filled out the train's color, weight and cargo data on a burgled blank train manifest form. "This had better work, or this is going to be a real short trip."

She sat alone and did her best to look nonchalant as the train approached the fortress and she worked the XYZ puzzle in her mind. She was never good at Trigonometry, but she loved Algebra in apprentice school. "I just hope the guards aren't counting heart or breathing rates," She continued her self-talk as the train pulled into the fortress station.

As she entered the XYZ code, and the lock clicked, she is surprised to see that the guards could care less about who entered the fortress as long as the correct XYZ had been entered. Such complacency would never be tolerated in her kingdom. Something just isn't right in this world, she mused.

What combination of lowest common denominator of 12 could match all situations? We can infer that there the 12 taxies are numbered 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, etc. up to 12. That’s logical, right? So the age of the fat taxi driver has to be a multiple of 12 in order for us to arrive at a solution.

If the age of the driver was:      12     then the kids could be:                  2, 2, 3       one child has an odd age and the number of children is odd.                  2, 6           but the driver would be too young to have fathered a child (at the age of 6) or obtain a permit to operate a taxi (we are assuming this of course. )

     24     then the kids could be:                  2, 2, 2, 3,  an appropriate age for the driver, but one of the children's age is odd.                  2, 2, 6,      odd number of children.

     36      then the kids could be:                 2, 2, 3, 3,    even number of children, odd ages for two children                 4, 3, 3,        odd number of children, odd ages                 4, 9             even number of children, odd age.                 6, 6             even number of children, even ages and the sum adds up to 12!  This is the solution. Chose taxi

I don’t mean to fuss, but this is how I solved it and presuming that the taxi driver was 48 didn’t work out in my solution. I am most certainly wrong in my presuppositions and am willing to admit so. But I’m not seeing how 48 is possible.

The Trains:

The Train Manifest:

The XYZ Code:

XYZ XYZ +XYZ

ZZZ

or...

XYZ+XYZ+XYZ=ZZZ 3(XYZ)=ZZZ XYZ=ZZZ/3

ZZZ could be 111, 222, 333, 444, 555, 666, 777, 888, 999.

so....

111/3=37 a two digit number couldn't be XYZ 222/3=74, a two digit number couldn't be XYZ 333/3=111 a three digit number, but all digits are the same, and cannot represent XYZ, which are different numerals 444/3=148 a three digit number, but the Y(4) is in the wrong sequence and doesn't match up with the Z(also 4 in the ZZZ) 555/3=185 a three digit number, X=1, Y=8, Z=5. The correct XYZ sequence is 185.

[/spoiler]

So we have

For the Trains: 1: green grain car weighing 40tons 2: mauve milk car weighing 30tons 3: white mail car weighing 15 tons 4: blue wool car weighing 20 tons

For the XYZ Puzzle: 185 185 +185

555

Cabbie # 12

Team Reaver has the following solutions

Puzzle 1:

cab number 12

Puzzle 2:

1. Green with trees, grain car, weighing 40 tons 2: Mauve with kittens, milk car, weighing 30 tons 3: White with flowers, mail car, weighing 15 tons 4: Blue with clouds, wool car, weighing 20 tons

Puzzle 3:

185 185 185

555

X=1 Y=8 Z=5

Solutions for Team Wand & Moon:

About the Taxi:

Picking cab number 12

About the supply train:

The first car is green with trees, weighs 40 tons and is the heaviest of them all. It beholds grain. The second one is mauve with kittens and ships milk and has a weight of 30 tons. The third car is the lightest and weighs 15 tons. It's white with flowers and the mail car. The fourth car is the blue with clouds one and it contains wool. It weighs 20 tons.

The XYZ puzzle:

185 +185 +185 = 555

--> X=1 ; Y=8 ; Z = 5