Cycle 1063 (Winter): Day 3

[atpollard]

It is now 3 Bells on Second Shift. You have 13 hours remaining before bedtime. How do you intend to use those hours? Just a list of possibilities from things left hanging ...

• Question people on town about anything. (the more people you ask about any particular topic, the more chances you have to obtain random information about that topic).
• Work on repairing the winch to salvage a boiler to repair the boat.
• Explore the tunnel beneath the Tanner's barn further.
• Visit the home of the mysterious Mr Studley that is for sale.
• Decide WHERE you will secure your valuables (the BOOK and the EMERALD NECKLACE and the OLD COIN are all on your persons at the moment).
• If Linkletter wished to pursue research on his OLD COIN, there is a TAS Lighthouse atop a peak near #36 in Industry Park that could provide information.

The patients are all resting at the moment and the prisoner will not be ready to be questioned until tomorrow (Day 4, Shift 2).

[Urson]

Josephine
I know where I need to be- I'll be at the salvage boat, or at the blacksmith's shop. If any of you wish to join me, you'll be put to work.
With that, Jo heads for the docks. Her first stop is the salvage boat, to determine exactly what needs done for the crane and winch. She struggles to take notes and measurements one-handed, but manages. Next will be the smith, to arrange for the repairs.

[Monsieur Rose]

Jacques

He casts a smiling eye at his friend. "Ah, Remy. You always cut to the chase, I think. It had occurred to me, that possibility. And I cannot claim that I am not intrigued. C'est Bien. But first, we must obtain the Crown. Then we deal with the politics."

"Getting that boiler is a good step. Hiding the diary, among other things, is imperative as well. Having a residence of our own would make that a bit easier. Perhaps we should take a look at the house for sale. Mon dieu! There are so many things to do in a short time."

"Until we find a secure place, I think we keep it on our person."

"Docs? Maybe the patient will not need full-time care and you can join me on for house hunting?"

[ffilz]

Doc Linkletter would be happy to help pursue putting a bid on the house.

[AsenRG]

"I cut to the chase, and I cut the chase's tail, monsieur", Remy confirms.
"Of course, I'll be with you on the house-hunting, monsieurJacques. Who buys a house sight unseen? And if we have the time afterwards, we might check on that tunnel we found..."
Besides, if the monsieur is keeping a book as valuable as this one on his own person, not to mention other valuables, he'd need some armed escort.

[atpollard]

Josephine Baxter-Smith (Industry Park)
Cycle 1063 (Winter): Day 3: Shift 3: Hour 1:00 [Hamlet of Gwynedd: 45N,25W]

Josephine started out at the Drydock (#20) where the Salvage Boat was kept docked and drafted whomever happened to be around to help disassemble the hoist so she could begin repairs. The Captain had absolutely no objections to anyone that wanted to fix his boat, so Jo was able to get whatever help she needed.

The remainder of Shift 2 was spent running between the Drydock (#20), the Foundry (#28) and the Machine Shop (#26). Logan was busy, as usual, but Gwen Howard was happy to help you cast the needed parts and Gabriel Martin took pity on your one-armed condition and did the machining of the parts for you. By First Bell on Shift 3, the hoist was working and the Captain “owed you one”.

One event of significance on two fronts occurred during your time working on the hoist. You met “Big Jim”. The name was a bit of a joke among the other workers on the Drydock, since Big Jim was 5’2” tall and skinny with a high-pitched voice that sounded naturally boyish. However, Jo soon learned firsthand that Jim was stronger than he looked as he lifted parts single handed that larger men would have struggled to lift. What made the short 40-year-old even more interesting to Jo was the discovery that Big Jim was one of the best Salvage Divers in town.

As Jo and Jim worked together on the hoist, you had the opportunity to ask why Jim wasn’t on the salvage operation for the giant steamship and why you hadn’t seen him around. Jim explained that he was “laid up” for the past few weeks. Jim had been one of the victims of the random criminal attacks even before the ship arrived and sunk. He was only just cleared to return to work and really needed the money.

While discussing your own injury and the mysterious “Frenchmen”, Jim commented that a few days before he was attacked, he saw a couple Frenchmen sneaking from the Hotel Gwynedd into the farmland behind the “Broken Rudder” … “but one of those Frenchmen was carrying a club and neither had a gun.”

[Urson]

Josephine
After her initial surprise at the difference between Jim's looks and his abilities, Jo quickly begins relying on him to help her through the shift.
At some point: Are you fit to dive, Jim? I'm involved in a big salvage job- we're trying to raise a boiler as part of a ship refit. I would be glad of your skills and strength, if you're ready.
Jo watches his face and body language as he answers, hoping to determine if he actually feels ready, or if he's just blustering to impress her.

[atpollard]

Jacques Bonnet, Remy Hernandez, Samuel Linkletter (Company Town)
Cycle 1063 (Winter): Day 3: Shift 2: Hour 5:00 [Hamlet of Gwynedd: 45N,25W]

A quick visit to the bank reveals that Cr 16,000 will purchase to mortgage and buy the house outright. If no one steps forward to purchase the house before Day 7, then the House will be put up for auction and sold to the highest bidder. The banker is happy to provide you with a key to the house and informs you that the house is sold “As Is”. You are welcome to look around but must not remove any objects from the house as they are included with the sale of the house.

[CLICK FOR LARGER IMAGES]



Unlocking the front door immediately reveals three things about Mr Studley:

1. He was a man of some means.
2. He was a man of diverse interests.
3. He was a bachelor.

The front porch opened to the main street and a narrow veranda wrapped around the entire house. The front door connected the porch to a large Room #1 that was open to the floor above and was probably intended as some sort of parlor. The actual furnishings consisted of a high-quality roll top desk and chair, and built in shelves covered with books. The shelf near the circular stair was two stories tall with books in French, English, German and Spanish … both old and new. There were a handful of large steamer trunks along the walls.

Room #2 was probably intended as a dining room, or an informal sitting room, but it was furnished as a combination workshop and laboratory with glassware and hand tools scattered across multiple tables.

Room #3 was a kitchen with a small table, two chairs and assorted pots and cooking utensils. From the stains and discoloration of some of the items, you suspected that more than food was cooked in those pots.

Room #4 was a combination bedroom and drafting room.

At this point, it must be noted that every room on the main floor shared one common trait. Every flat surface except the floor was covered with sheets of paper containing diagrams and notes. Often new notes were written along the margin of an older note.

A quick look at the upstairs revealed that the circular stair opened into a sitting area that was unfurnished except for an old rocking chair that faced thee window. The ceilings on the upper floor sloped from highest in the center down towards the long walls of the building where there were only short, wide windows.

Room #5 and Room #7 appeared to be intended as bedrooms with Room #6 being a private study or sitting room with a railing overlooking the two-story room #1. In actual practice, all of the upstairs rooms appeared to store “junk”. A wide variety of wood and metal and paper and rope mechanical constructs and crates, chests, barrels and bushels containing even more.

The spiral stairs also lead down from the main level to a storage area on the lower level that is empty except for a handful of boat related items … an extra lantern, a pair of oars, a bucket of tar. A large double door (locked from the inside) opens to the beach and a small door opens to a dock with a hoist for lifting a boat up to 9’x30’ out of the water for storage or maintenance.

If you wish to search any of the rooms on the First or Second Floor, it will take about 2 man-hours to search a room. Let me know what room (if any) you examine in detail.

[atpollard]

Mercutio Routledge (Grogg & Tankard)
Cycle 1063 (Winter): Day 3: Shift 2: Hour 4:00 [Hamlet of Gwynedd: 45N,25W]
Sat at the bar at the Grogg and Tankard enjoying a pint of bitters and pondering what he wanted to do today. To head over to the House for sale, or to work on fixing a hoist and a steamship, or perhaps to go explore the Landings, a part of town he knew so little about.

[ffilz]

I've lost track of what I've spent money on, but I think we might be well off to just purchase the house now before it goes on auction. We might get it cheaper at auction, but if we buy it now, we get immediate access to those papers and prevent anyone else from possibly absconding with them.

[Zhym]

Doc Routledge, not needing to watch over his patient, accompanies the others to the house showing. He has more than a little money stashed away and property ownership has a certain appeal. Somewhere with room for a proper machine shop...ah, that’d be fine.

At the house, he assesses its suitability for his needs—at least until he spots the papers everywhere. He peers at some of them to see if he can make any sense of what the writings might be about.

[AsenRG]

Remy watches the house, and gapes upon seeing that many books.
"Dios, I didn't realize there's so many books!", he exclaims at first.
"Ugh, I mean 'in one place', of course!", Remy adds upon realizing what he'd just said. "But this man sure liked him his books. I can't even recognize some of the languages...ah well. Hey, we get all of this if we buy the house, is that so? I think there might be several thousand tomes. At least."
However, what he really pays attention to is the state of the walls, doors and windows. At least he understands more of this than he does from the books...and the drawings just make him feel like he might have some holes in his education.

[atpollard]

I've lost track of what I've spent money on, but I think we might be well off to just purchase the house now before it goes on auction. We might get it cheaper at auction, but if we buy it now, we get immediate access to those papers and prevent anyone else from possibly absconding with them.

The party can afford to buy the house collectively. All players have >10,000 credits and a 5 way equal share is only CR 3200 each. Several players could easily afford the house alone if they wanted it. (Linkletter has CR 30k, Routledge has Cr 90k, Bonnet has Cr 170k)

[atpollard]

Doc Routledge
He peers at some of them to see if he can make any sense of what the writings might be about.

A quick scan of several papers selected at random from different locations reveal notes on the following topics: Super-heated Steam; Clockworks; Hydraulics

[atpollard]

Remy
However, what he really pays attention to is the state of the walls, doors and windows. At least he understands more of this than he does from the books...and the drawings just make him feel like he might have some holes in his education.

Remy observes that an unusual level of craftsmanship went into the doors and trim. The grain on each of the eight inset panels was perfectly mirrored and matched with the panels opposite as well as above and below it. These doors were all custom made. The trim around each door and window was carved with a theme (Cherry Blossoms in room #1 and Oak leaves and acorns in Room #2) with each room having a unique theme to the carved molding. Outside the doors and windows were heavy shutters that could be closed to protect the glass from a storm.

[ffilz]

I say we form a partnership of anyone interested in a stake in the house and purchase it outright and don't wait for the auction. If no one else is interested, Linkletter will purchase the home from his funds.

He's curious if there are any medical tomes in the library.

[Zhym]

Doc Routledge is more than intrigued by the writings. “These come with the house?” he asks by way of confirmation.

Assuming so, he is happy to go in on a joint purchase.

[atpollard]

He's curious if there are any medical tomes in the library.

Linkletter conducted a search of the shelved books and discovered one written in German that he thought might be promising since it contained many detailed anatomical illustrations. As you began to read and translate the text, it quickly became obvious that this was a hand written treatise from a German Privateer on how to extract information from prisoners through prolonged torture without accidentally killing the subject. It also included descriptions of various mechanical devices that could aid in precisely crushing fingers one bone at a time.

It was not the sort of book commonly found in ANY library, although some of the notes on controlling pain and bleeding might have medical applications.

[atpollard]

Josephine
Are you fit to dive, Jim? I'm involved in a big salvage job- we're trying to raise a boiler as part of a ship refit. I would be glad of your skills and strength, if you're ready.

Aye, missie. I’m more than ready. I’ve been cleared to go back to work, but there’ll be little work until after sunrise an’ the great steamers return. ‘Til then I’ve bills a-plenty an’ lil’ prospect of payin’ ‘em. said Jim.

From the work he did on the winch, it was hard to imagine that Jim was not fit to return to work … but Jo could probably have the Doctors check him out just to be safe.

So if you really have a diving Job, then Jim’s your man. he said with a smile and the only questions that matter … how soon do we go an’ how much does it pay?

[ffilz]

Doc Routledge is more than intrigued by the writings. “These come with the house?” he asks by way of confirmation.

Assuming so, he is happy to go in on a joint purchase.

I would assume so, the banker asked us not to remove any contents since they come with the sale of the house. Here, I have found a rather disconcerting text in German about torture, but perhaps there might be some things of interest to one or both of us in it. I say that this lot of books and papers is valuable to us to better understand what has been going on here. Let us return to the banker to conclude a transaction before someone else nabs it up. In the meantime, I say we leave one or two of us here, probably observing from outside, to protect our interests until we are able to move in.