Day 129 and Day 130 :: The Mancer Observatory

[bastionpc]

Who: Nathaniel and the characters listed here
Open: Closed
When: Days 129 and 130
Where: The Mancer Observatory
What: With enough power and supplies to make the long trip out to the Mancer Observatory, a small group has gone there to look for clues about the Calamity.
Format: action
Warnings: None so far

[After finding several pieces of information and some intense discussion, Nathaniel has decided that it would be best to head to the headquarters of the Mancers, the Mancer Observatory. After all, if anyone would have an understanding of what cause the Calamity, it is the Mancers, and several clues have been pointing in that direction already. Nathaniel is apprehensive of what he will find there, but he still has to look. If something can help them figure out just what happened to rip the entire universe apart, then maybe they can find a way to fix it.

However, Nathaniel can't do this alone. He is just one man, and he cannot protect himself on the Skyway for as long as it will take to get to the Mancer Observatory. So, he has arranged to have a small team of residents go with him, so that they can use teamwork to accomplish their goal of finding out more about the Calamity. With rations and supplies for two days, the group sets off from the Bastion on Day 129, early in the morning.

Hopefully all of them will return, safe and sound, in a day or so.]

Thread links:

Day 129- getting started
Day 129- Observatory: front gates
Day 130- continuing the search
Day 130- the records building

Comments

getting started

[bastionpc]

[As they travel on the Skyway, headed towards the Mancer Observatory, Nathaniel decides to share some important information with the group.]

Okay, I gotta warn you guys: I'm not sure how much of it is still active, but the Mancer headquarters is booby-trapped to hell and back. I'll be there to deactivate any that are still left around, but while we're there you guys need to be really careful about what you touch. You could set off a trap without meaning to.

[amnesiadragon]

[Ryu nods, listening carefully.]

I've dealt with some trapped areas before... I'll try to be careful...

[If nothing else he can be a good meatshield.]

[hellpyre]

Right...

[Booby-traps.

Rin let out a huff as she followed along, hefting one of the heavier bags with rations and equipment along with her swords.

Fucking wonderful. That was not a place for a reckless girl like herself, but she was just going to have to try her best to not completely throw herself all over the place and accidentally activate something.

She did promise Bon she would come back alright, after all...]

[superdrowningskills]

[Alucard heaves a sigh at the news.]

Ah traps, how I have missed thee...

[The dhampire is not generally given to sarcasm, but given how utterly used to dodging traps he'd been forced to become, it's rather warranted in this case.]

[wayofvoice]

[Paar's voice comes from above, flying as usual.]

I will keep such warning in mind, although I do not think I will have to deal with such things.

[He kinda. Can't. Fit in most buildings.]

Unless, of course, this place is considerably large enough, or there are many windows.

[After a thousand years of having to live on a mountain, you get used to having to cling to cliffsides and such. He's fairly certain that if Mancer buildings are at least as sturdy as Nord architecture, they... should be able to withstand him scaling the sides and peering in windows.]

[freedom_engineer]

At the risk of sounding overconfident... I'm not terribly worried about traps.

[Traps are an engineering problem. He can't afford to be lazy, but spotting a mechanism to trigger it shouldn't be terribly difficult.]

If you're alert and cautious, most traps can be defeated with an application of wits. I'm a little more worried about automated defenses. Cameras, turrets, hunter-killer systems... that sorta thing. Things that will take offense to just our presence, rather than our sloppiness...

[bastionpc]

Hey, don't blame me. The Mancers have always been suspicious of the other groups, especially the Masons. Theft was a very real problem, back before the Calamity.

Also, I wouldn't underestimate Mancer traps. They're not your usual trap. If you can get around them then fine, go for it, but keep your guard up.

[The next part is directed at Paarthurnax.]

Some parts are large enough. The hangar could fit your easily, though you'll have to walk through it instead of fly. As for the rest, we can grab a set of radios once we get there, so we can stay in contact.

[superdrowningskills]

...I believe that some of us require an explanation of what a radio is, as some of us predate man harnessing the power of lightning.

[Or at least he assumes that the radios are devices that run on captured lightning. ...Although the fact that he refers to electricity like that is really a pretty good indicator of his lack of experience with it.]

[hellpyre]

Uhm...

[That would be Rin speaking up.]

It's somethin' that allows you to speak to people over long distances.

[That's... so descriptive.]

[thirdoutofthree]

They already have those. They're called letters.

[ Someone's a smart ass today. ]

[hellpyre]

Faster than letters.

[And someone's cranky.]

[freedom_engineer]

A simplified description. Basically, a Radio allows real-time communication, speech primarily, over comparatively long distances. Full conversations can be had even if you're miles apart.

[He's more than a little interested in getting his hands on the tech, though. It's primitive to him, but even short range communication is better than what they've got now. And he can use it to make BETTER stuff back at base...]

If you want a more detailed explanation, I'd be happy to give it, but it gets technical. Especially when I'm telling it.

[thirdoutofthree]

And we have those? [ Her face brightens. Her excitement over new things cannot possibly be pulled down by the possibility of danger (at least not yet). ]

That's even better than the lights! [ She's never had electricity in her house, just seen it in cities. ]

[amnesiadragon]

That sounds useful. I'm glad we have them, then.

Should we all stick together when we get there, or are we going to have to split up?

[wayofvoice]

They are, although I hope they do not require any particular gentleness...

[He will break them. Just a warning. Please be voice activated, or something.]

It already sounds as though I at least must stay outside if the hangars do not lead deep inside.

[freedom_engineer]

Paarth, you and I need to have a nice, long sitdown once I get my workshop. I need to show you the joys of Elerian equipment.

Once we get the radios, I can make you something that'll fit. You won't be the first dragon I've designed for.

[hellpyre]

[Just ignore Rin back there, Colin. She's being rude and making mouth-flapping movements with her hand while mouthing 'blah blah blah'.

Once she's finished mocking the man, she directs a question at Nathaniel.]

Okay but why was theft so common? What was there to steal?

[bastionpc]

[People going 'ooh' and 'aah' over the wonders of short-wave radio befuddles Nathaniel, to say the least. Sure, not everyone in Caelondia had a way of transmitting signals, but most people had a radio of some sort, to listen to the broadcasts.

Rin's question gets him to speak up again, though.]

Everything. Mancers develop new technology all the time, it's kind of our job. Every scientific advancement in the last hundred years has been pioneered by a Mancer. Anybody'd want some of that technology.

The Masons were mostly after things that made their lives up on the walls easier, but they were also too impatient. They didn't understand things like "highly unstable" and "still needs to be tested". And of course they would come back and blame us anytime a Mason died because of stolen equipment, so we had to start locking it up better, if only to keep the Marshalls out of our hair.

[superdrowningskills]

[Rin, why are you making those ridiculous hand gestures?]

I imagine some were attracted simply because of the traps. Some have a taste for defying death after all.

[Humans seem particularly keen on it, if what he'd read was any indication. An odd tendency, but he's not going to judge for it. ...Well, okay, maybe a little.]

[wayofvoice]

I look forward to the discussion. Other races make such interesting things.

[But he'll listen to Nathaniel's explanation as well. Hmm, this story is starting to sound familiar!]

The mages too had such issues when they were not despised- enchanted weaponry is an edge in any battle. For greed to be directed towards it is not surprising.

[amnesiadragon]

... It sounds sort of like what the Empire was planning to do w...

[Ryu just trails off. Let's not talk about the Empire.]

[thirdoutofthree]

I dunno, I think I understand why the Masons would want to steal your stuff. If things were really hard for them and they didn't feel like they had any alternatives, they probably got desperate.

[ Playing devil's advocate today, as she knows a couple of well-meaning thieves who just wanted to get by. ]

Not that that makes it okay. [ She added. ] Especially since you guys were getting blamed for what happened to them.

[freedom_engineer]

[Like Nathaniel, Colin feels like everyone here is going to blow their minds when he really starts getting to work on technological stuff. Which is why he's so eager to come here. The tech here won't be groundbreaking for him, but he can salvage a LOT... Nathaniel might not like it later on, but he'll worry about that when it comes up.]

A tech wonderland for this world, then. No big surprise that it was a magnet for looters.

Think there's any worthwhile projects left over? Or are we only going to find intel?

[bastionpc]

It depends on how much is left, honestly. You guys have seen the state of the rest of the city, there's no telling how badly the observatory is damaged.

[He knows about you and your love of tech, Colin, so he says a bit more too.]

Obviously I can't stop you if you decide to mess with stuff, but I'm going to ask you not to anyway. A lot of the stuff there is incomplete and highly dangerous, you could hurt yourself messing around with it.

[freedom_engineer]

Hey, no worries. Salvage rules 101. You touch something before the site-master says it's okay, your estate's paying for your own funeral.

And everyone else's.

[He gives Nathaniel a grin.]

If I see anything I need, I plan to ask very nicely what needs to be done to take it.