In the late 1600’s John Aislabie was the MP for Ripon. He served this area from 1695 - 1721 and was eventually made Chancellor of the Exchequer. Unfortunately, it was at the time of the ‘South Sea Bubble’ episode and in March 1721 he was found guilty of “the most notorious, dangerous and infamous corruption”. He was expelled from the House and imprisoned in the Tower of London. It was said he accepted a bribe of some 20,000 pounds.
However, when he was released from the Tower, he met an old eastern business partner who had made a lot of money in dealing with John. As a gift in return for this wealth, he presented John with a magic amulet that would transform his life.
The magic amulet was as you suspected no ordinary trinket, but neither was it just a route to money. It was given on the understanding the owner would be prosperous through integrity and this would bring contentment and thus happiness. All he had to do was keep it safe and trust in its power. It worked for John and over the years after leaving prison, he did prosper, and he did find contentment. Such was his generosity that he wanted to help everyone in his ward so he devised a way of using the amulet to help as many people as he could for generations to come. He was worried that the amulet would fall into the wrong hands so to safeguard the location of the amulet he wrote several scrolls with clues on to keep its location secret. However, the answer was invisible to the ordinary eye. A problem had to be solved for the next scroll to be revealed. It was kept as a family secret. Over the years the family updated the scrolls when locations in the City changed but they were eventually lost due to time and circumstance. However, the myth persisted.
Recently you bought an old desk at an auction and inside a secret compartment you discovered some old scrolls. A note was attached that explained the myth but not where the amulet was hidden. However, only the first scroll contained words. You decide to accept the challenge and see what happens.
