Cycle 1063 (Winter): Day 1

[atpollard]

Remy Hernandez in Old Town
Cycle 1063 (Winter): Day 1: Shift 2: Hour 7 [Hamlet of Gwynedd: 45N,25W]

Remy ventured off to the Hearthfire Inn in Old Town to carouse with the middle class survivors of the shipwreck and see what they might have heard. Unfortunately, the Hearthfire Inn, itself proved a poor location for gathering any information. The owner kept a sharp eye and ear on the commons and his guests and with the first mention of the Grogg and tankard, he his quick to make his feelings known … " Tis bad for business and bad for the community, says I. Sooner the lot o’ naer-do-wells are gone, the sooner things can return to normal." With the proprietor so strongly opinionated, few guests were willing to speak of the matter further.

Fortunately for Remy, there are people just wandering the streets who were far more willing to talk. Two ladies out shopping informed Remy that the crime wave had even struck the merchants of old Town.

" Poor Mr. O’Dorcey was complaining that someone kept robbing his Flour Mill. He has tried to catch the thieves, but they keep stealing grain right out of his silo without a trace. He was saying that crisis or no, he has no choice but to raise his prices to cover the theft."

While not one of the shipwreck survivors, it was impossible to discuss the question of the Grogg and tankard without running across Jim, the ill-mannered, ill tempered, bad smelling town drunk who was always quick to share an opinion on that particular subject … " You know everyone that works for Gottard is a thief." he confided in you far too close for that breath. "Tis true and I can prove it! Take the maid, Abi Farley. You just ask around town and see for yourself if she wasn’t fired from the Gwynedd Hotel for stealing. Course Gottard had no problems about hiring her. Seems she fits right in with the rest of his thieving clientele. Don’t take my word. You ask around for yourself and see it that ain’t the truth of it!"

An odd report came from a shipwreck survivor that reported seeing “something” in the small graveyard behind the Church. Pressed for a description of what he saw … "I saw ghosts! There I said it, now have yer laugh. You asked and I said it. Twas a being of light with no legs just floating above the ground."

A second person confirmed seeing something strange as well. One moment there was nothing there, and then something just suddenly appeared out of nowhere. " It wasn’t natural. If you ask me."

[AsenRG]

Remy Hernandez in Old Town
Cycle 1063 (Winter): Day 1: Shift 2: Hour 7 [Hamlet of Gwynedd: 45N,25W]

Remy ventured off to the Hearthfire Inn in Old Town to carouse with the middle class survivors of the shipwreck and see what they might have heard. Unfortunately, the Hearthfire Inn, itself proved a poor location for gathering any information. The owner kept a sharp eye and ear on the commons and his guests and with the first mention of the Grogg and tankard, he his quick to make his feelings known … " Tis bad for business and bad for the community, says I. Sooner the lot o’ naer-do-wells are gone, the sooner things can return to normal." With the proprietor so strongly opinionated, few guests were willing to speak of the matter further.

Fortunately for Remy, there are people just wandering the streets who were far more willing to talk. Two ladies out shopping informed Remy that the crime wave had even struck the merchants of old Town.

" Poor Mr. O’Dorcey was complaining that someone kept robbing his Flour Mill. He has tried to catch the thieves, but they keep stealing grain right out of his silo without a trace. He was saying that crisis or no, he has no choice but to raise his prices to cover the theft."

While not one of the shipwreck survivors, it was impossible to discuss the question of the Grogg and tankard without running across Jim, the ill-mannered, ill tempered, bad smelling town drunk who was always quick to share an opinion on that particular subject … " You know everyone that works for Gottard is a thief." he confided in you far too close for that breath. "Tis true and I can prove it! Take the maid, Abi Farley. You just ask around town and see for yourself if she wasn’t fired from the Gwynedd Hotel for stealing. Course Gottard had no problems about hiring her. Seems she fits right in with the rest of his thieving clientele. Don’t take my word. You ask around for yourself and see it that ain’t the truth of it!"

An odd report came from a shipwreck survivor that reported seeing “something” in the small graveyard behind the Church. Pressed for a description of what he saw … "I saw ghosts! There I said it, now have yer laugh. You asked and I said it. Twas a being of light with no legs just floating above the ground."

A second person confirmed seeing something strange as well. One moment there was nothing there, and then something just suddenly appeared out of nowhere. " It wasn’t natural. If you ask me."

"I'm sure it would be better for your business", Remy nods politely, before paying his tab and leaving.
And this is why they shouldn't, he thinks for himself.

"Ah yes. Almost like they were doing'im a favor", he nods politely. "I mean, raising prices? What else does a merchant want? And they never attacked him...the ones that assaulted a man today weren't nearly that shy. Nor the arsonists from last night".

"I'll ask. And if what you said is wrong, I just might come back and bash your nose in", Remy promises."Or buy you a drink if it is."

"Err...why should I laugh?", Remy asks."It's not like forces from beyond don't exist. I seen stuff I can't imagine being real. But then I can't understand an iron hand working by itself. Or a wheel spinning to move a ship. I'm but a simple man..."
He looks back at the man.
"That said. People who try to make it seem like there's a ghost are more numerous than ghosts, a shaman told me once. He should know."

[Urson]

Jo

In the Mercantile

Jo hurries up and down the aisles, consulting her notepad. Large, wide wheels will make it easier to move overland. I'll need drive chain, sprockets, and one of those donkey-engine steamers. MacAllan brand, if we can find one- they're best made in the industry.... and so forth as she looks for the light cart components.

[atpollard]

Samuel Linkletter, Mercutio Routledge, Josephine Baxter-Smith, Jacques Bonnet & Remy Hernandez in Company Town
Cycle 1063 (Winter): Day 1: Shift 3: Hour 5 [Hamlet of Gwynedd: 45N,25W]

Mercutio and Josephine quickly located a carbide lamp and easily mounted it securely to a suitable cart. The optics proved both a challenge and an opportunity as they located the pieces of a damaged Fresnel lens and spend several hours repurposing the cut prisms and fabricating a custom frame to control and direct the “spotlights”. While a suitable engine was easily located, the mechanics of a self-propelled cart proved a stubborn challenge. After more than a shift working and reworking the chain drive and gearing, it barely propelled itself with any reliability. You had several pages of sketches for an improved “next generation”, but fabricating the parts would take at least a full day and assembling and adjusting them probably most of another shift. Mr. Linkletter suggested that the prudent course was to simply forge ahead with the current version: "Perfection is the enemy of good enough."

With an uneven chugging, lurching, grinding, halting and hopping motion … the cart climbed the hill with much coaxing and the occasional beating with a hammer. At last it arrived at the rocky clearing with no obvious exit that you had searched the day before. With the cart in position, Josephine opened the valve and water slowly flowed from the reservoir into the gas generator filled with calcium carbide. Mercutio lit the hissing mantle and a bright, white flame erupted in the center of the wagon. The flow of water was slowly increased and the flame grew in response. The lens gave off a wide beam brighter than daylight that could be rotated and pointed to illuminate a 60-degree cone.

Everyone joined in the search for clues to the vanishing arsonists.
Josephine carefully tended the light. The chemical reaction was exothermic and it required constant monitoring of the gas chamber to avoid melting the entire machine down, while attempting to generate as much light as possible to aid the search.

Samuel located several scuff marks on stones that indicated the passage of those city shoes that they had originally been following. It was not enough to actually follow a path, but it steered the party to the general area to search closer.

Jacques located a clear footprint heading into a shallow cave barely the height of a small man and no more than three or four feet deep, and Remy was right beside him to more closely examine the area.

Josephine and Samuel moved the cart to better illuminate the cave.

Remy quickly observed a suspicious natural crack in the rock inside the cave. A crack in a rock outcropping was not suspicious in and of itself, these rocks had thousands of cracks and fissures. However, Remy observed that this crack completely circled the back of the cave, like a doorway.

Mercutio moved forward to examine the crack closely with his magnifying glass and discovered the very tiny, but unmistakable markings of a metal chisel. A master stone-worker had clearly been at work here.

Pushing and pulling and banging yielded no results; the stone appeared both solid and permanently fixed in place from an external examination. The only clue was a small crack that concealed a carefully drilled hole about the size of a woman’s pinky. Inserting a small stick into the hole revealed it to be about three inches deep.

[Zhym]

Mercutio was never all that fond of the bromide that "perfection is the enemy of good enough." In his opinion, "good enough" is a dastardly villain in need of a good perfect whalloping. But he demurs from trying to spend more time on invention at the cost of doing the thing that these people need the invention for.

In the cave, he looks at the drilled hole in puzzlement. "I would venture that this triggers the opening mechanism," he says. "But how?" He firmly pokes the stick further into the hole, hoping (but not really expecting) to activate a pressure plate at the far end.

[atpollard]

Mercutio was never all that fond of the bromide that "perfection is the enemy of good enough." In his opinion, "good enough" is a dastardly villain in need of a good perfect whalloping. But he demurs from trying to spend more time on invention at the cost of doing the thing that these people need the invention for.

In the cave, he looks at the drilled hole in puzzlement. "I would venture that this triggers the opening mechanism," he says. "But how?" He firmly pokes the stick further into the hole, hoping (but not really expecting) to activate a pressure plate at the far end.

Nothing happens.
A thorough examination of the hole reveals that it is just a hole drilled 3 inches into solid rock in a concealed location ... perhaps it supports a small flagpole?

[Zhym]

Mercutio continues to inspect the hole, unable or unwilling to believe that a small, concealed, manmade hole can be anything other than a way to open the hidden door.

Is the hole in the "door" itself, or nearby? Perhaps it is a socket for a door handle, which one could then push up, down, or to the side to leverage the door open?

[Urson]

Jo
Jo frets and fusses over the gadget like a mother hen. She'll grudgingly lend a screwdriver or punch for someone to investigate the hole further. A door handle would be awkward and difficult to use. Perhaps there are internal notches to make it function as a keyhole. Or perhaps you just need to push much harder.
For that matter, has anyone checked the other side of the outcropping? This might just be a concealed passage out of this cul-de-sac.

[atpollard]

Samuel Linkletter, Mercutio Routledge, Josephine Baxter-Smith, Jacques Bonnet & Remy Hernandez in hills near Company Town
Cycle 1063 (Winter): Day 1: Shift 3: Hour 5:30 [Hamlet of Gwynedd: 45N,25W]

Mercutio continues to inspect the hole, unable or unwilling to believe that a small, concealed, manmade hole can be anything other than a way to open the hidden door.
Is the hole in the "door" itself, or nearby? Perhaps it is a socket for a door handle, which one could then push up, down, or to the side to leverage the door open?

Do we see any indentations, holes, grooves, etc. in the hole, or is it just a smooth, drilled hole? I assume Mercutio's inspection already used his available tools, since you mentioned him using the magnifying glass, but should I specify anything else he tries to use to inspect the lock? I think one of his toolsets includes a locksmithing kit.

Mercutio examines the hole and finds it a smooth hole bored into the rock outside of the door about a hand’s width from the crack marking its boundary. A very careful examination reveals faint scratches in the side of the hole from something being inserted about 2 inches, but no scratches in the deepest 1 inch of the hole. If this is a lock of some sort, it is clearly not a simple mechanical device … yet there are other more locks. Mercutio selects several more esoteric tools from his lock kit to attempt an investigation ...

Probably not rated for steampunk locks, though.

[Who knows. I err on the side of “anything is possible” … so give me a roll.]

Jo
Jo frets and fusses over the gadget like a mother hen. She'll grudgingly lend a screwdriver or punch for someone to investigate the hole further. A door handle would be awkward and difficult to use. Perhaps there are internal notches to make it function as a keyhole. Or perhaps you just need to push much harder.
For that matter, has anyone checked the other side of the outcropping? This might just be a concealed passage out of this cul-de-sac.

Josephine attempts more force against the bottom of the hole and concludes that the bottom is quite solid. Whatever it is and however it works, short of drilling deeper, no reasonable amount of force will punch through the rock at the bottom of the hole … although a chisel might make enough of a gap in the crack around the door to attempt to force it open with a crowbar.

[Zhym]

I'm not sure which skill Mercutio would be using, or the modifier, so here's a generic 2d6 roll:

Generic skill roll: [2d6] = 5

[atpollard]

I'm not sure which skill Mercutio would be using, or the modifier, so here's a generic 2d6 roll:

Generic skill roll: [2d6] = 5

The hole and door respond to none of Mercutio's probings.

[Zhym]

Mercutio wonders if the door is steam-powered. He looks for a steam pipe in Jo's mechanical light that might be redirected into the hole, perhaps with some way to secure the pipe to the hole to ensure constant pressure. If he can rig a way to adjust the pressure, so much the better.

[AsenRG]

Remy looks confused.
"This looks like one of those machines your people are so unwilling to sell", he comments. "One of those shlockwork things...err, I ne'er got the hang of'em, myself. So it's best if you don't listen to this, I guess!"

[Urson]

Josephine
Jo uses a small mirror to light up the inside of the hole. I think you may be right- the proper key might be used to wind the mechanism inside the door and cause it to open.
She returns to the fussy Light Cart, making sure it's stablized. As she tends it, she looks through her tools for something that can grip the inside of the hole in two places.

[Monsieur Rose]

Jacques

"I haven't been in town long, but is there anyone in town that leans towards the more tinkery side of things? Besides you two, of course. This looks like some sort of complicated mechanism."

"Let's think this through." Jacques leans on his cane and ponders to himself. "We followed someone into the clearing, there are marks leading into this cave, there are marks on that hole. It must be a keyhole of sorts. In my experience, keyholes usually have more than one key floating about."

He looks about the cave for something nearby that may fit the bill.

[AsenRG]

"You think they might have a spare nearby?", Remy startles. "Yeah, I've heard that some people do that..."
He then joins the search. There are, of course, good odds that the two of them would try to stick some perfectly innocent items in the keyhole, just because the size fits! But if they were to succeed, things might really change.

[Urson]

Jo
Josephine is still digging through her toolkit, looking for a likely substitute.
That's a good idea. I've seen keyholders disguised as small rocks and decorative statues.

[atpollard]

Samuel Linkletter, Mercutio Routledge, Josephine Baxter-Smith, Jacques Bonnet & Remy Hernandez in hills near Company Town
Cycle 1063 (Winter): Day 1: Shift 3: Hour 6:20 [Hamlet of Gwynedd: 45N,25W]

Remy searched for a hidden key, even offering several suspicious sticks that had no effect on the door or the hole. During his careful observation of the local rock formations, Remy’s outdoor and stone working experience observed that these were an old mountain range with layers of soft stone folded over on themselves and pierced with shafts and layers of hard granite and basalt. From experience, water sometimes dissolved the soft rock and created natural passages that could be used to access deposits ores deep in the earth. These islands would be a good location for someone with the tools and knowledge for prospecting.

Josephine located a pair of expanding pliers and firmly gripped the inside of the hole. Turning the pliers either direction produced no effect on the door … merely a nails on chalkboard squeal of metal scraping against stone.

Mercutio has assembled his pipes and valves and rigged a crude gasket to seal the tube to the hole by the time Jo has finished her mechanical probe of the hole. He slowly turns the valve and touches the pipe to trace the progress of the steam. Then several pairs of eyes are fixed on the gauge and the hole as the pressure rises. A loud “BANG” followed by flying pipe, a hiss of steam and a wet expanding cloud of dampness that soaks the rock and anyone near it. Fortunately, no one was near enough to be seriously burned and the fittings would not permit super-heating of the steam. Unfortunately, one of the metal clamps had fallen into the hole in the rock further than a pliers could reach …
As Mercutio removes a small tool from his kit, he extends the telescoping handle and reached into the hole with a small magnet to retrieve the fallen clamp. As he withdraws the clamp, there is a faint ‘click’ from deep within the rock. Further probing with the magnet is able to repeat the single click, but no actions seem to open the door.

Jacques searched for a hidden key, even as the others attempted to force the lock with mechanical tools or steam. At last he was certain that his efforts had paid off when he discovered a loose stone in the face of a large rock. Removing the stone revealed that it appeared quite natural on the surface, but covered a perfectly square fist sized hole in the rock. The stone had been worked to fit exactly within the square hole. You had expected to find a key hidden behind the stone and were at first disappointed to discover that the stone plug completely filled the hole. However, there was something familiar looking about that hole and you eventually recalled that Masons used holes like that to erect their timber scaffolding and hoists during construction. Yet no mason you ever mew would work so hard to cover it with such a perfectly fitting piece of natural stone. Only a very skilled mason could perform this sort of work.

[Urson]

Jo
Jo steps back, her face crumpled in concentration. Magnets....

[Monsieur Rose]

Jacques

Jacques rejoins the group in the cave at the 'door'. "Mes Amies. I have found something, I think, odd." Jacques shows the others his find and muses. "Is there a mason in town that could do such work? I may have to hire them for myself." He looks up the rock cliff. "What could be the point? What is up there?"

Jacques spends a moment looking for another support hole.