Scene 8: Castle Death (earlier)

[zipp]

The tunnel is lined with apparatus the likes of which you've never seen or imagined. So foreign is the make of these machines to you that you can't even describe them to yourself properly or guess at their function. They look like giant furnaces and hum with a sound loud enough to drown out a Dwarven forge. Wires and ropes connect the machines and they lead ultimately to the end of the hall, where a large squat machine sits. You assume this is what you've come to destroy, but Jaspar made no mention of how you were to do that.

[Gregor]

Gregor walks into the hall and stands with his mouth wide open. Never in his life would he have imagined he would be staring at such a sight. Machines lay everywhere and Gregors eyes sparkled as much as the light on the devices did.

Setting Sherri down against the wall and ensuring she was comfortable, Gregor approached the main machine to see if he could contemplate any of it.

Mental roll to see if I can figure anything out? Or a Skill? I guess like last time it would be Mental to understand the theory of what they are doing and Skill to actually put hands on and make them work. I'll roll both just in case to help move things along.

Mental (1d20=10, 1d20=18, 1d20=15, 1d20=19, 1d20=12, 1d20=14)

Skill (1d20=10, 1d20=20, 1d20=10, 1d20=18)

Depending on your DC, thats not bad for both! [/color]

[zipp]

Though he'd never seen such a machine before, Gregor thought he could understand it well enough. The design, he realized, was more simplistic than it appeared. It was basically a metallic chamber with a simple series of valves on the front which he assumed controlled the flow of whatever was inside. Based on the machines around him and how Jaspar (thinking of the man brought a brief but painful stab to his conscience) had called it a generator, Gregor assumed that it held energy, probably some concentration of magical or elemental force.

He thought of the machine much as a wine barrel with multiple spigots. About eighteen tubes came out of the valves on the machine. He assumed that simply shutting them off would take down the power to the castle without a need for any kind of large, dangerous, explosions.

[Gregor]

Jul 15, 2009 5:07:51 GMT zipp said:

He assumed that simply shutting them off would take down the power to the castle without a need for any kind of large, dangerous, explosions.

Can Gregor do that then? I guess what could happen, could turn one valve off and see what happens. Or would there be an order that they need to be turned off without resulting in an earth-shattering kaboom?[/color]

Gregor took a few deep breaths and placed his hand on one of the valves. Before he turned it he looked back at Sherri.

"Well, my girl, here's hoping.."

He turned the valve and held is breath as he waited for the results.

[zipp]

As you shut off the valve, you hear a loud clanging behind you. Turning, you see nothing except the long rows of gigantic metal containers behind you, though you are sure the sound has come from one of them.

You can either try turning off another valve or you can make a skill roll to see if you can learn anything from what's just happened.

[Gregor]

I'll make the roll, cause you never know!

1d20=6, 1d20=18, 1d20=10, 1d20=18 [/color]

Gregor took a couple of steps back as he heard the clang behind him. Turning and following the noise from where it originated, he tried to see what impact it had made on the container. Nothing had blown up, to his relief, so he went back to the console and tried another valve.

[zipp]

From what you can tell, you've now shut off the flow to one of the large machines, which means that it is no longer gaining energy, and thus supplying energy to some part of the castle... or the city... wherever the machine feeds out to.

You also sense, though, that things won't be as simple as shutting down all the valves. You can tell, from various gauges on the machines, that when you turned off the flow to one machine, the flow to others was increased. You're sure that if you increase the flow too much, you'll meet with disaster.

As if on cue, you hear a voice behind you... Sherri has risen and is pointing to the machines, babbling numbers. With a start, you realize she is telling you the pressure level of each of the machines. Shortly, you compile this into a list in your mind.

There are 10 machines that the valves feed into. You've turned one of them (#9) off. Every time you turn one off, it feeds its power level into the next highest machine. If any machine's level exceeds 1000, it will trigger an explosion. Turning the valve back on will take back the energy from the next LOWEST. If that machine doesn't have enough energy, it will take from the next LOWEST, and so on, looping back to #10 after #1.

You have to turn all the machines off.

1: 250
2: 600
3: 700
4: 100
5: 250
6: 150
7: 200
8: 400
9: 550
10: 300

Try and solve this. If you decide it is unsolveable, you'll have to blow up the machine.

[Gregor]

Im working on this, whats the deadline?

And some clarification about taking/giving. When you say next highest/lowest do you mean, for example, if I turn of 1: 250, that energy will pass to 10: 300 to make 550?? [/color]

[zipp]

An example:

turning off 1 would make 2 850. But if you turn back on 1, it takes it from 10, making 1 have 250 and 10 have 50. Then, if you turn off 10, 1 will have 300.

So you'd have three numbers at this point with different values from their original: 1 would be at 300, 2 would be at 850, and 10 would be at 50.

I'll give you another couple nights. One piece of critical information I forgot to give you... At level 950, you can turn a machine off WITHOUT THE POWER RECONVERTING TO ANOTHER MACHINE.

[Gregor]

Right... Ive had a go, but I cant get all of them down. The most I can get is 4, so it looks like I'll have to blow the machine. Before I do, can I determin an exit that me and Sherri can get out quickly enough, how I can set the machine to blow so it gives us the best chance to run and how big the actual explosion will be! [/color]

[zipp]

Well, the only exit seems to be the way you came, and about a quarter way up, the stairs are out. Also, the machine is beginning to make a very bad noise. You imagine it wasn't designed for tampering. I'll let you make a skill check to see if you can find some secret way out of here.

[Gregor]

skill check to find secret doors (1d20=4, 1d20=7, 1d20=10, 1d20=7)

Gregor wiped the sweat from his brow. The machine was churning wildly and he had no idea on either how to stop it or how to get it back to the state it was. Frantically he tried to search for a way out other that the way he had come, but nothing seemed obvious.

Gregor slumped his shoulders and sighed.

"Somedays you just cant get rid of a bomb," he said outloud, mostly to himself, as he was aware by now that Sherri was beyond his help right now.

Turning, he grabbed the girl by the arm, then rapidly flicked all the switches to off. He then turned sharply and ran for all he could, trying to get distance between the machine and himself. Sherri babbled to herself about the numbers over and over, but the mage wasnt listening. He prayed silently to Kai and Ishir to watch over them both, as he feared they might not make it out of this particular situation alive...

[zipp]

The last thing Gregor heard before falling into darkness was a deep rumble, as if the earth itself was sighing. Then there was a sudden heat, followed by the peaceful calm of a dark night.

believe it or not... you're not dead. In fact, you've completed the chapter. No further experience this round, though there will be a group experience pool you can draw from. Keep an eye out for it on the main board. Next chapter, everyone will be together.

[Gregor]

Thank you sir. Numbers just arent my thing. Words yes, numbers no![/color]