[Game Thread] Book 2 Chapter 1: A New Dusk

[jj_wolven]

Kalbee, Central US - Tuesday, noon

Grant turn and heads in the same direction as the other two, back toward the marketplace. A glint flashes as the sun catches on his mechanical arm, but the blue glow on the inside is nearly invisible in daylight. Tam catches up to him as they make their way back to where the caravan and employment jobs are at the marketplace, thinking back of what he has heard of the two that are currently in quarantine.

He Note on knowledge skills:
One houserule that I am putting in for Knowledge skills is that you cannot Take 10 unless you have at least one rank; otherwise a commoner of average intelligence can name all the planes and identify what type of stone they see.
Also, remember that higher results on Knowledge get more results.remembers that the Demin Kel caravan was out for resource gather for two nights. Some said it was for food and others for seeds. He has no idea what Scouting Group Gray was out for, but that is not unusual as the scouting groups are not made known until they return. He thinks that they were out in the Wilds for over a week based on a vague rumor he heard at the time of a group slipping out without fanfare.

John returns to his stand to find that nothing has been moved, but that is no surprise in a town this small. He writes a quick not and sends it off with his mechanical familiar, who return less than an hour later. Unsurprisingly, there is no answer at this time nor does he expect one today.

[ricktur63]

The scene was enough for Joya, she knew what she had to do. She went on to the 'Fuzzy Navel', a tavern where she worked the early shift this week. She started with doing her cleanup from the previous evenings patrons. The night shift was supposed to do their own cleaning before they went home but as usual they only did the bare minimum.

She went through the rest of the day only mildly distracted by her thoughts of the two people in those cocoons. She smiled and flirted with the customers as she always did but her heart was not truly into it this evening. It was just before dark before she made her way to her father's place. They normally shared supper on the nights she had off.

[Jeffkevlar]

Chester returned to the Ratfolk stall. It didn’t look much like anyone had been shopping. The random odds and ends that his brethren specialized in seemed mostly untouched. Too much excitement about the quarantine being lifted, probably.

It looked like Bigs and Smalls, the two rat folk who were the best bargainers and usually ran the stall were packing up for the day. Chester helped them close up.

I wonder if Jon want to go for a drink, he thought and headed over towards his friends stall to make the offer.

[Unforgiven]

John Yug (Yg'ffwla'vngl'asr) John spends some time trying to hawk his wares, to little success today. No one seemed to want mechanical trinkets, potions, or any of the other myriad of things he makes. No orders either, an all around very slow day. As the afternoon wears on and the ratfolk begin to pack up, John relents and packs all of his things into a backpack and gets ready to head home. When Chester walks up to him he smiles with his lopsided smile and waves; "Good evening Chester-friend, How can I be of service to you? I have had a most slow day due to the excitement and find myself with a lack of orders today."

[jj_wolven]

Kalbee, Central US - Tuesday, noon

As John and Chester chat, the crowd in the marketplace begins to grow with the expected lunchtime crowd. A few people stop by the shops to look over the wares as they move through, though few look serious about buying.

Through the still-light crowd, they notice the two men from the quarantine area approaching. As a bit of sunlight reflects off one man's arm, John recognizes him a Grant - having caught his attention previously due to a completely functional mechanical arm replacing his original. Unlike any that he has seem before, it is appropriately sized and doesn't seem to need an engine or winding. Additionally, it doesn't seem to require any more direction than a normal arm.
He had seen similar arms, but those always had higher level of magic than the minor amount picked up of Grant's. None of those he had seen were nearly as elegant as this one.
The man walking beside him as they talk is one that he has heard younger people refer to as a hermit, living away from town and barely within the borders of the pylons.

[Unforgiven]

John Yug (Yg'ffwla'vngl'asr) John's eyes light up as he sees the exquisite mechanical arm once more, and having packed most of his stuff up already, he will sling his pack and walk up to grant with a big half smile on his face, like he didn't have feeling in one side of it. He holds out a hand in greeting and speaks in a jovial tone; "Greetings Grant-customer, I have noticed before, but I cannot help but admire your mechanical arm! If you have time, might you allow me to disassemble it to see how it works? Or at the least, question you of it's make and specifics? This is so I might look to incorporate it into my work for the benefit of all of course. I would be willing to share shinnies with you in exchange!" He continues to look out of place as a grizzled gunslinger, giddy with joy at the idea of looking at mechanical devices.

[Jeffkevlar]

Chester smiled.

"Don’t worry ‘bout my friend here. He won’t tear you apart unless you ask him to. He just gets excited by mechanical things."

He held out his hand to the newcomer. "Names Chester. Chester WhiteEye. Pleased to meetcha."

[Caveman]

Tam, discarding the dying embers of his now-spent roll-up glanced sideways at the man beside him. They seemed to be wandering int he same direction, and Tam's never been one for idle chatter when sullen silence will fill the space just as well. As they pass John's stall, Tam sighs inwardly and rolls his eyes, though not so as can be seen. In another guise he's had plenty of dealings with the man over time and has never understood how someone can be so positive without strong booze inside them - and he never seems like he's had any of the requisite libations.
As Chester's hand pokes out to be shaken by Grant, Tam steps around them and grunts as he passes on. "Time for a beer for me." Even as he says it he's struck by the memory that the Catwoman who'd hissed at Scar was a barmaid he knew! Of course, the girl was a sucker for mysteries, always chattering and flirting with him when all he wanted was warm, flat ale. Well, she wouldn't have known him so no reason to draw attention. Chuckling grimly he stepped round the mechanic's stall and stalks on to the jobs board...

[jj_wolven]

Kalbee, Central US - Tuesday, noon

Grant slows down as the already slow conversation between himself ant Talam dies out, responding to the call.

Talam continues moving, increasing his speed until he arrives at the Fuzzy Navel. His eyes take a moment to adjust, but the place is only about half full. This is no surprise as it is the normal state during lunchtime where some come in to eat while other brought theirs from home. Another glance does not find the cat lady anywhere, but since he just saw her recently she could still be in the back.

 

E Abed contacted me. He was loaded down with a significant increase in work at the same time as he injured himself. He will be slow posting for a bit, but will increase later. -me

[Evil Abed]

Grant Walker Grant reaches out with his mechanical arm and shakes Chester's hand. "Pleasure to meet you as well. The name's Grant." Grant turns and shakes John's hand with the same arm. "You can feel free to take a look at the arm but please don't try to disassemble it." Grant holds up the arm so John can get a better look at it. Oddly enough John can't place any seams, screws, or removable parts on the arm. It's a more elegant appendage from a more civilized age. Grant flexes and moves his fingers so John can get a good look at the fluidity of the arm. He sees no delay in movement, no jerking motions. It functions as if it was made of flesh and bone. He says to both of them and gestures toward Tam, "I reckon that there is a good point. Y'all feel up for a snifter full at the Fuzzy Navel? You can ask me all the questions you like about my arm."

 

Sorry for the delay. Last week was pretty garbage.

[Jeffkevlar]

Chester smiled. A drink would be good.

"Sure. Let’s head over there and get a couple drinks in," he said.

[Unforgiven]

John Yug (Yg'ffwla'vngl'asr) John nods slowly, while still looking at the arm, "Yes the alcohol dispensary is fine, I must say, I have not seen crafting like this since before we .... er... my tribe arrived in Kansas city.... to the surface world... most of our tribe members who could craft them died after we arrived...." He stands awkwardly for a moment before hurrying to the tavern.

[jj_wolven]

Kalbee, Central US - Tuesday, noon

Tam hears to door open an close behind him as he sees Grant, John and Chester walking into the bar. As had happened with Tam, it takes a few moments for their eyes to adjust to the light change before they see Tam in front of them. The bar is relatively empty so it is easy to find a nearby table. When they sit, John is able to take a good look at the mechanical arm but hasn't really seen anything like it.

The arm looks like decorated metal bracers with a few gaps between the plates where you can see bundled tubing of quality beyond anything you have seen. There are no obvious screws or removable pieces beyond a piece that resembles a dial on either side of the joints. A faint bluish glow comes from somewhere inside, very faint between the tubing.
In the plates between the upper and lower arm there is a barely visible ball joint. There is a pair of pistons connecting the upper to the lower arm, but the connections for those are hidden beneath the plates. The pattern is maintained as it goes up the arm and connects to the shoulder, but nothing is visible at the shoulder joint as it covers like a form fitted pauldron.
At the other end, a wrist joint with a small dial-like connection connects the wrist to an articulated metal hand. Between the dials on either side of the wrist, you can see a number of pistons connecting them together.

After a few minutes, they see a familiar face in one of the waitresses - the catgirl they saw in the quarantine area in the morning.

[ricktur63]

As the three men made their way into the tavern Joya came from out of the back room with a tray of food. She took the tray to a table near where the men came in and sat. She placed each bowl down before her customers and then came to the table where Grant John and Chester were had sat down.

"Mutton stew is the special today. Can I start you fellas off with a tankard of mead or an ale? Perhaps a bottle of Percy's mulberry wine?" She smiled and acted as if she didn't remember the man that had growled at her in the market earlier this morning.

[Jeffkevlar]

"I’ll have an ale," Chester said without making eye contact with the server.

He had been in here several times, and had been served by her before, but he still remained uncomfortable. Cats. He shuddered slightly. He had. No reason to distrust this woman but something deep inside him just could not feel comfortable with someone with feline features.

"An arm like that," Chester said to Grant after they had settled in, "you can’t be from around here. Moved here from Kansas myself. You from Kansas? Maybe we know some of the same people."