Cycle 1063 (Winter): Day 2

[Urson]

Jo

Josephine will be near the lead of the group- or IN the lead, however it works out.

Arriving in the cave, she stops for a few moments, amazed by the sights on display. She stoops to taste the water, to be certain if it's seawater or fresh.

[atpollard]

Jo
She stoops to taste the water, to be certain if it's seawater or fresh.

The water is fresh.

[Zhym]

Doc Routledge is sorely tempted to stop and study the mechanism that operated the door; as it is, he practically has to be dragged away.

He takes a position somewhere toward the middle, if possible, and looks to the others. "Which way now?" he asks.

[Urson]

Josephine

The water's fresh, but full of iron- it's like drinking rust. This is good and bad- it doesn't respond to the tides, so we do not have that as a guide to guess when it may flood again.
Jo studies the high-water mark. Is there any way she can guess how long since it was formed?

[AsenRG]

"Madre de Dios!", exclaims Remy.
After the initial amazement, however, he touches the walls. And then he lifts a wet finger in the air to check for air currents.His grandma did that to make sure his grandpa wouldn't get his back cold.
"If it's not the tide that makes the water rise", he points out. "It might be a defence mechanism by whoever built this...place?"

[atpollard]

Josephine
Jo studies the high-water mark. Is there any way she can guess how long since it was formed?

The stains closely resemble the stains on pilings from the rise and fall of the tide, suggesting some slow, gradual, frequent and cyclical process rather than any sort of abrupt, intermittent event. From the organisms growing on the wood beams, the process has been going on for many ‘cycles’ (40 days per cycle).

[ffilz]

How knowledgeable about general science would a doctor be? There is a Scientist career but few science skills...

[atpollard]

Remy
After the initial amazement, however, he touches the walls. And then he lifts a wet finger in the air to check for air currents.His grandma did that to make sure his grandpa wouldn't get his back cold.

The air is completely still, however, while you are focused on detecting air currents, you hear a faint hum caused by wind blowing across an opening from the upper western caves. The sound is distant and barely audible.

[atpollard]

How knowledgeable about general science would a doctor be? There is a Scientist career but few science skills...

According to Gilbert and Sullivan, even the very model of a Modern Major General is thoroughly knowledgeable of matters “animal, vegetable and mineral” at least as far as “the beginning of the Century”.

In general, it is an age of science and garage tinkerers, so everyone has a chance to posses some knowledge gleaned from the journals of the age. Things like EDUCATION (the attribute) or SCHOLAR (the skill) suggest an affinity towards general knowledge, while any specific skill (like Mechanical) would suggest that you were probably familiar with articles related to that particular area of interest (like metallurgy). So look at your skills and attributes and background and suggest what a 19th century man of “enlightenment” might be familiar with.

I am pretty reasonable about such things. If the illiterate waif is familiar with quantum physics, I will probably question how he gained that knowledge, but a Physician with a detailed knowledge of biology or a basic familiarity with Chemistry would not raise an eyebrow.

[ffilz]

Doc Linkletter suggests that while fresh, the water may still rise and fall with the tides if a halocline is involved where there is a layer of fresh water atop the sea water.

With Scholar-2, INT B, EDU 8, I'm going to assume that Doc Linkletter is well read enough to know many of the science things I know that don't seem out of place for the era. I definitely don't have deep knowledge outside my computer knowledge (which certainly is out of place for this era...).

[Urson]

Jo

I mean no offense, Doctor, but doesn't that require an exceptionally salty layer of water? Far more than seawater?

[AsenRG]

"Let's go to the upper western cave", Remy whispers. "The sounds indicate there might be an opening there, which might be of interest. But I'd suggest closing the door first."

[Monsieur Rose]

Jacques

"Mon Dieu. What have we gotten ourselves into?" Jacques looks more concerned than any of you have ever seen him. "Ce n'est pas bien. No good." He quickly turns on Remy when he suggests a possibly defense mechanism. "A trap? That floods the cavern?" He quickly starts looking for high ground and ways out.

"Oui, oui. The upper caves. Let's go!"

[Urson]

Jo
Jo nods in agreement, and begins picking her way across to the upper western cave.

[atpollard]

Josephine Baxter-Smith, Remy Hernandez, Mercutio Routledge, Samuel Linkletter, Jacques Bonnet & Philip Ancalagon (Secret Door in woods [near #19])
Cycle 1063 (Winter): Day 2: Shift 2: Hour 5:50 [Hamlet of Gwynedd: 45N,25W]

Returning to secure the secret entrance, the group stepping carefully … single file … along the narrow-submerged ledge towards the western wall. Mercuito misstepped on a loose stone that slid off the ledge under his weight, but quickly recovered with excellent reflexes.

[#1 on the map]
Jo stood at the head of the line and the end of the ledge. The only thing separating you all from the upper cave was a 20 foot free climb up the vertical wall. At least the water would break your fall … unless you hit the ledge and split your skull open, of course … but better to focus on the positive. With a boost from Remy to give her a head start up the cliff, Josephine struggled with the upper body strength to pull herself with only her arms and the dexterity to climb around large projecting rocks, but her determination refused to let her quit and she clawed her way over the lip and into the western tunnel.
Remy followed behind and made the task seem effortless.

Mercutio’s mechanical arm throws his center of gravity off far enough that he almost instantly falls as he begins his attempt to climb. Remy acting as an anchor from above as the rope pulls tight and Samuel quickly grabbing him from behind keep him safe. Several variations of carrying the arm are attempted, but these prove even more unstable than wearing it, until Mercuito eventually stumbles upon an attachment that allows the arm to serve as a piton (rock anchor) allowing Mercuito to scale the wall in a clumsy, but effective manner.

Even Samuel’s dexterity is no match for the wild gyrations of the rope in the wake of Mercuito’s unique climbing style and more than once Samuel found himself yanked off the cliff and forced to grab onto something for dear life. Yet determination, inexhaustible energy and shouts from Jacques to hurry brought him to the top.

Jacques only climbed about half way up when he decided that there were more than enough people at the top to anchor the rope, so he released the face of the cliff and simply climbed the rope to the top.
Philip was young and strong and hurried up the face of the cliff to keep up with jacque and avoid the tug of the rope between them.

At last everyone stood, soggy shoed, on the floor of the dry upper cavern. The passage was only about 4-feet wide but 10 to 12 feet tall and nearly level.
(to be continued)

[Urson]

Jo
Jo pauses to cath her breath. It appears it's been too long since I climbed the rigging. Thank you for your help, gentlemen.
She uses the carbide lamp to light the tunnel ahead.

[AsenRG]

"You're welcome. Excuse me for not having a hat to tip, Madame", Remy answers, imitating a reply he'd heard from Jacques some time ago.

[Monsieur Rose]

Jacques

Now up on dry ground and in a larger area, Jacques relaxes a bit. He smiles at Remy and Jo, glad to be a role model. "So now what? Are there any tracks around? Does anyone know if this is a natural cave or man-made?"

[atpollard]

Does anyone know if this is a natural cave or man-made?

Natural.

Josephine Baxter-Smith, Remy Hernandez, Mercutio Routledge, Samuel Linkletter, Jacques Bonnet & Philip Ancalagon (Secret Door in woods [near #19])
Cycle 1063 (Winter): Day 2: Shift 2: Hour 6:00 [Hamlet of Gwynedd: 45N,25W]

[#2 on the map]
The natural cave was widest where it connected to the large chamber [#1] and off to the left [#2] was a tall slender shaft (a “chimney” in cave terms) just 2 feet across and 6 feet wide that extended down into the water and up another 10 feet to join with the ceiling of this cave.

As you walked down the main passage towards [#3], you observed that the left wall bulged towards you at the center and the right wall bowed away from you. Staring at the left wall, there appeared to be a very narrow ledge, about 6 inches wide, running 6 or 7 feet above the floor of the 10-foot-tall cave.

[#3 on the map]
The left wall is abruptly split open by a crevice barely 12 inches wide but as deep as a man’s arm. As the lantern shone on it, it seemed dark and unremarkable. However, when Jacques and Philip (at the end of the line) came to pass it, they could see some sort of faint glow coming from the crevice.

[#4 on the map]
Meanwhile, Jo and Remy studied area [#4] from the head of the line with the lamp and were concerned about what they saw. The bulge on the left wall had collapsed across the path scattering piles of rocks that seemed rather precariously stacked. Remy didn’t like the looks of the cracks in the right wall or ceiling either. On the other hand, Remy also pointed out that ‘something’ had worn a very narrow path through the center, but the surface was too hard to leave any identifiable boot prints.

[ffilz]

(Hmm, Linkletter may be a bit knowlegable about caves too... the real me is a Caver though I haven't been underground in close to 20 years...)