Sam: Mapping The Underdark

[Bluehorse]

Mapping The Underdark
Under HQ
September 10, 2018 8:20 am
Nice out!  Cool and cloudy

Sam goes to the manhole as he did before.  This time, it is obvious that the homeless man has since packed up and moved since the previous scare some days ago.  He is easily able to get down into the drainage system like before.  He will see that it moves north to south as far as he can see with a periodic opening for rainwater allowing a little bit of daylight into the otherwise darn passage.  The ground is slopped slightly downward to the north where he went before.

Actions?

Brownie Point Pool:
Sam Strickland 90/90

[Samwell Turleton]

Sam Strickland

“These tunnels have some real character”, Sam says with his hands on his hips. “A couple of lights here and there, Jack drifting through a wall in a dimly lit tunnel, I think we could make an appealing underground tour down here.

Sam retraces his steps from the day before. The map is a simple node and line diagram indicating intersections where he discovered the wall markings. If there are interesting and dramatic areas Sam makes a special note. He continues making notes until lunch time. He is working his way back to the church doors and the hospital tunnels.

The Ghostbusters Underground Tour Sam jots down in his notebook with a little doodle of Jack.

[Bluehorse]

Mapping The Underdark
Under HQ
September 10, 2018 8:40 am
Nice out!  Cool and cloudy

Sam easily retraces his steps down the much drying and slightly better lit drainage tunnel.  As before, each intersection he comes to has a set of crude but sometimes even colorful markings mostly scratched into the cement work of the walls.  Most all have been filled in at some point with chalk or grease marker.  There are arrows pointing, indicating which direction. Arrows pointing right say things like "Mall" or "Rogers" or "Jenny Lind". East say "RR" and "Creek" and "River." South "T W." North "DT & LT"

Roll Brains to see what you can make of this. I will award knowledge and/or deciphering according to the score you roll.

Actions?

Brownie Point Pool:
Sam Strickland 90/90

[Samwell Turleton]

Sam scratches his head as he looks at the markings but makes sure to copy the letters faithfully.

Why would somebody mark over these signs?

Brains [2d6] = 7, Ghost [1d6] = 1, BP [5d6] = 15

[Bluehorse]

Mapping The Underdark
Under HQ
September 10, 2018 9:30 am
Nice out!  Cool and cloudy

Sam looks over the marking and can tell that these are directions, which are obvious. Some look official and are much more professionally done, stamped into the original concrete while others are more crude in the way they are made but also tend to be more colorful.  At some point while examining these signs, Sam realizes he has wandered the wrong direction and not mapped his way.  Sam now stands at an intersection and he cannot be 100% sure which way is which.  


Roll a moderate cool to literally keep your cool. >10

Roll brains to see if you can find your way.

If you fail the Cool roll, your Brains will be Hard, >20 if you succeed then it will be Moderate. >10

Actions?

Brownie Point Pool:
Sam Strickland 85/90

[Samwell Turleton]

Sam wonders, how do I keep getting myself into such a mess of a situation?

And then says, "One second I am diligently marking down my directions and now I am hopelessly lost in the tunnels again. I wonder what the other guys and Julia are up to right now? I wonder what Hrothgar is thinking? I wonder when that rare flower bloom is supposed to take place."

Sam packs up his mapping supplies, since he has now lost his continuity of his map, and sets off looking for some new clue that will indicate where he is beneath the city.

Cool [2d6] = 7 : [1d6] = 2
Brains [2d6] = 7 : [1d6] = 5

[Bluehorse]

Mapping The Underdark
Downtown
September 10, 2018 10:30 am
Cool, but dark, a little scary, lost, claustrophobic, and scary...

I promise I have not forgotten about you.  Been working out how to map this without 1. it being huge, and 2. being readable.  3. is the same old standard of time and availability.

Sam, despite his enthusiasm for the project, loses his nerve a bit and he can tell it is messing with his ability to decipher where he is in relation to the map he was making before he got distracted. He wanders around for the better part of the next hour, running into narrowing tunnels that have warning signs about Drains to River or occasionally bricked up walls that cause you to turn around as well.  Eventually, you are able to find you way back more or less to the correct drainage tunnel and can peek through the drain at street level to see that you are back to Towson Ave.  Your nerves can finally settle and you can get back to mapping.

What you have learned though is:"RR" obviously mean Rail Road.
"Creek" and "River." indicate where the tunnels come out to drain on the western edge of town.

South "T W." remains a mystery, but you are now sure that North "DT" means head north to Down Town.

Sam manages to get to where he found the opened wall that leads into the greater and mostly sealed up tunnels.  As before, these tunnels appear to be much other than the more modern drainage system he has just exited.  They are much more open, and he can now take the time to learn they are about 20 feet wide, just enough for 10 or so men to walk abreast of one another, or... come to think of it, tight as it would be, two cars to pass one another.  There is a very slight slope to the grade of the gravel floor seeming to favor the western direction, but you can barely notice that.  This is certainly not a drain, but more of an underground passageway going more or less northwest to southeast.

Other than the occasional sounds of traffic from outside rumbling overhead or elsewhere in the tunnel, it is eerie quite.

There is plenty of room to stand up and the space is much wider, enough for two maybe three people to stand abreast. The bottom is gravel and a further investigation reveals more markings at this intersection. The Arrow East has a trio of crosses, the arrows North say hotel in faded letters but is scratched out, also that way is brick and mortared up. West is a picture of $, food, & river.

I have added the explored tunnels (so far) to the map here:

https://tinyurl.com/y6fsz39p

Actions?

Brownie Point Pool:
Sam Strickland 90/90

[Samwell Turleton]

No worries about getting to this thread!

I am seeing that the link is restricted, is there a way to share the link to the google map a different way?

[Samwell Turleton]

Sam Strickland

Sam cups his hands over his mouth and shouts, Hullo..., then follows it up with another, hullo...hullo, hullo as if he is trying to fake an echo.

Sam would like to inspect the bricked up wall in the direction of the hotel.

I really should look into some of this city’s history. That may explain some of these bricked up passageways.

Sam says this as he rubs his hand along the surface of the wall.

[Bluehorse]

Mapping The Underdark
Under HQ
September 10, 2018 9:30 am
Cool, but dark, a little scary, lost, claustrophobic, and scary...

Click on Request Permission and I will unlock it for you.

Sam examins the bricks and can tell they are, like most everything else down here, fairly old.  The bricks were obviously mortared in from the other side as the cement on this side was never smoothed out.  It was very well done, however, and not likely to be broken through as easily as the bricks at the hospital which seemed to be done in more of a hurry or less professionally anyway.  Still, age is a factor, and there are bits that seem to have crumbled a bit, so you never really know.

Actions?

Brownie Point Pool:
Sam Strickland 90/90

[Samwell Turleton]

Sam Strickland

Perhaps another day with some other equipment, Sam says at the wall.

Sam checks the time on his phone.

It looks like I may have a little time. I should take a look in the direction of the three crosses. I don't remember visiting all of those doors.

[Bluehorse]

Mapping The Underdark
Under Imaculate Conception Church
September 10, 2018 9:35 am
Cool, but dark, a little more familiar now

Sam elects to head eastward as before, following the sign of the Three Crosses and an arrow pointing in that direction.  He finds himself retracing his steps back to the intersection from before.  He stands with the hospital tunnel shoot to his right, heading south, There is the dim lightbulb still burning over the door to his left clearly labeled I. C..  You realize there is a single crass drawn in chalk over the door, somewhat obscured by the shadow of the bulb itself.  Ahead of him, the tunnel continues eastward.

Actions?

Brownie Point Pool:
Sam Strickland 90/90

[Samwell Turleton]

This is the door I already learned was locked before, correct?

Sam looks at the door and thinks that this is a familiar door. It doesn't hurt to double check, he thinks as he tries the handle of the door to see if he can open it. If he needs to put a little muscle into it he leans over the handle to get some leverage.

Muscle [1d6] = 4 : [1d6] = 5

[Bluehorse]

This is the door I already learned was locked before, correct?

Yes, and the door prove to still be locked and very sturdy despite its age.

[Samwell Turleton]

Sam, deterred but not defeated, continues eastward through the tunnels in search of more opportunities.

[Bluehorse]

Mapping The Underdark
Under Imaculate Conception Church
September 10, 2018 9:40 am
Cool, but dark, a little less familiar now

Sam heads further into the unknown. The grade of the tunnel levels off a little though it was subtle to begin with. There are few offshoots of the main tunnel and nothing is really distinct until you see another large double door with a burned out lightbulb over it. Further inspection you see faded letters:

St. Boniface

And over the door are two chalk crosses. The door is in poor repair and rattles when you test it, but it is locked from the other side.

Actions?

Brownie Point Pool:
Sam Strickland 90/90

[Bluehorse]

Also, map is updated

[Samwell Turleton]

Sam Strickland

Sam is going to rattle the door once more in its frame for good measure and then continue along through the tunnel.

[Bluehorse]

Mapping The Underdark
Under St. Scholastica Monstery
September 10, 2018 10:20 am
Cool, but dark, a little less familiar now

Sam is unable to get the door to open despite how shaky it is in its frame. He continues on with the main tunnel. There are almost no intersections now, and they are smaller passages, many of which on the south side seem filled in or collapsed. None of the other passages seem particularly used or marked. After a little over half an hour, he can see another light ahead. When he comes to it, the bulb pulses slightly with a faulty connection. There is a door as before and it reads:

St. Scholastica

And over the door are three chalk crosses. The door is in much better repair than the last one, and even seems to have a newer, metal frame. The main tunnel does continue on, but beside the door you see an arrow pointing back the way you came, with DT which you have decyphered as reading Downtown. Another points down the way you have been heading saying:

<== DT
Mercy ==>
Sanitorium ==>

Actions?

Brownie Point Pool:
Sam Strickland 90/90