thebastion | Core Event: Day 259 [open]

I'm expecting simple steel bars and stone walls.

[He's walking at a sedate pace, quite happy to lead the way.]

But for everything I've seen of Caelondia, I'm not ruling out the possibility that there may be deadfalls or turrets in place to hamper attempted escapes.

I'd rather not run into either...deadfalls are bad enough, but turrets without anything to guide them...

[That was almost as scary a proposition as dealing with a ghost. Almost.]

[Simple steel bars and stone walls are indeed all that is there. No traps are present to surprise the group, though the door looks solidly built and possibly would have been a problem to get it open, if not for the fact that the door is already open.

Inside is a pretty basic, low-tech setup. It's smartly built, with minimal amounts of technology so that everything can function even if the power is out. Rows and rows of labeled keys are on one wall, though many are missing.

If anyone investigates the main post, over by the side that oversees the main doorway into the part where the prisoners are kept, they will find an interesting bit of ingenuity. The gate has a double-lock mechanism: somebody has to unlock it down below, and at the same time someone has to be holding down a pedal up here in the guard tower. The gate won't open unless both things happen at once.

Currently, that pedal is being held down by a cinderblock, and the gate is open.

You might also find other interesting things while looking around.]

[Zuko pauses as they enter the guard tower to notice the block. Between that and the missing keys-]

Looks like someone was alive to make it out.

[Should that be a relief or a worry? Zuko wonders if they have anything to do with the raiders the Ura mentioned.

She's not going to waste too much time thinking about it now. Hopefully they're long gone from here.]

I don't think so... The guards wouldn't have needed to leave a block like that...

[Colin looks around, and he frowns slightly.]

I'm going to check the locking mechanism, see if I can't keep it open. Can you two try to find a map, and maybe some weapons?

I don't have high hopes for the latter, given...

[He gestures to the key rack. He then moves to examine the gate pedal. He wasn't kidding about checking the mechanism to see if he could jam it open without the brick, but what he really wants to check is the dust. If there's not a lot, or none at all, someone else could be here...]

[There is several months worth of dust all around the area, including on the cinderblock. Whoever put that there, they did it a long time ago.

However, there are footprints within the dust, which are starting to gather dust again. Someone has been through here at some point between when the initial action in here happened and now, but it was at least a couple weeks ago, if not more.

Interestingly, all the keys missing are from a specific cell block, as well as a few cells around there. Also, the jail master keys are among those missing.]

[Ippo nodded, leaving Colin and Zuko to their own devices as he set about checking any desks or other furniture he might run across. Eventually though, he did come across the key rack and stared at it quizzically, tilting his head as he looked closer at the cell block where all the keys were missing from, trying to see if he could find out which one it was.]

Huh...that's weird, all the keys are missing from this section. Maybe someone was looking for something there?

[Zuko takes a moment to check the view from the guard tower to see if there's anything of note before helping to search drawers for any plans. Not that she can read any of the documents they do find, but it's easy enough to recognize a map.

She glances over at Ippo.]

Inside a cell block?

[What would you expect to find there?]

That's never a good sign. Odds are very good that whoever broke in was looking for someone in specific. Or an individual looking to free a group of people. If it was the latter, we can only hope that they all got turned to ash in the calamity.

Are there any labels on those keys? I can read Caelondian. Likewise, Zuko, if you find anything that looks important and you can't read it, bring it over to me.

Also...

People have been in and out of here with enough frequency that it wasn't a one time thing. Nobody's been in this room for a while, BUT there've been people in here on several instances.

[He scans the mechanism, producing tools to start taking it apart. A system like this shouldn't be too difficult to lock open and disable completely.]

[That is a good question, Zuko! Further investigations will have to happen to figure out what was going on.

Fortunately for Ippo, the cell blocks are labeled by numbers, not letters, and the Caels used the same roman numerals that someone from Earth would recognize. Most of the keys missing are within cell block 3, specifically in the range of 3-20 to 3-49. There are a couple outliers besides that: 1-37, 1-41, 4-2, and one labeled [Caelondian word]-3. If Ippo takes it to Colin, they'll be able to find out that the Caelondian word on there is 'Solitary'.

If anyone looks out the windows, they will be able to see that the four main cell blocks all have big, bright numbers painted on their roofs (the tower is taller than the blocks), but the solitary area is not clearly labeled.

Unfortunately, due to how the system is set up, the pedal can't be 'disabled' beyond putting a weight on the pedal. It is basically a chain attached to a thing attached to another chain attached to a pulley, and thus so low-tech that it can't be hacked beyond putting heavy things on it. The other option is to break into the (stone) wall and tie off the chain somewhere, to keep it in the locked position.]

[Ippo did take that outlier to Colin so they could figure out what it was...and with the information at hand, there were a few options they could pursue now.]

Well...it looks like something was going down in Cell Block 3...either someone was looking for someone or something. It might not hurt to take a look...maybe even the solitary confinement places might have something...can't hurt to go take a look, could it?

[Zuko throws Colin a sharp glance.]

It might be convenient for us not to run into any trouble, but I'm not going to hope whoever it was died. Just because they were in prison doesn't mean they deserved to be here, or that their crimes were that severe.

[Speaking as someone who got two of her loved ones (and herself, briefly) thrown in prison...]

It looks like the cell blocks are marked [somehow], so we should be able to figure out which one that is to check it out.

[Colin takes a moment to curse in a decidedly foreign tongue as he studies the mechanism. He starts putting away the tools he was taking out, and he glances to Zuko. He starts to open his mouth, then he pauses and shakes his head.]

There are reasons for us to want this place empty, and that's all I'll say on the matter here. I'm happy to debate it, but this is the wrong time and place.

[Colin takes the key from Ippo, giving it a quick look.]

"Solitary." I'm curious what's down there. But we're not going to have time to search a whole prison. We still need to find a map to the prison's storage area. Or, y'know, the Warden's office. We could probably find a prisoner manifest there to figure out who was supposed to be in these cells.

Nothing else useful? No weapons?

[Not that he's surprised. If people have been through here, they'll have been looking for the same thing. His biggest hope now is to find a locked armory, or some overlooked caches somewhere...]

Edited 2014-12-15 23:59 (UTC)

[If they can find the Marshall's wing of the prison, they'll find the Warden's office. The service wing is also not too far from the tower, and also is just outside the gates to the cell blocks, so it would not be much of a hike.

Maps of the jail, however, will not be found within the jail itself. It's almost as if they wanted to make it difficult for anyone who hadn't memorized the floorplan ahead of time to find a way out unassisted. Curious, isn't it?]

[Well, the Warden's Office was as good a place as any to start the search for anything of major import; even if they just found notes or clues, there were likely to be at least some of those lying around.

As well, Ippo would carefully pour around the desk or any cabinets looking for anything that might be useful, either to them right now or to the Bastion as a whole. Who knew what he might run into?]

[Between the guard tower and the warden's office, they still don't seem to be finding anything too useful. If there was anything, whoever came here before probably cleared most of it out, like the weapons Colin seems keen to find.]

I still don't see anything like a map. Some of these might be lists, but...

[It's gibberish to her. Lists of prisoners? Requisitions? The warden's personal grocery list?]

We might be better off going to check that cell block.

[Lists of prisoners, prisoner transfer requests, parole requests, requests for family visitations, all sorts of paperwork can be found here.

There is one letter within an already-opened envelope that might be of interest, though. Even those who can't read Caelondian should be able to tell it is important, because the seal on the envelope is the seal for the Mancers.

If the letter is read, it's a response to a previous letter, or possibly a chain of letters. The exact reason for this chain of letters is not apparent, but there is one very, very important detail that can be gleaned from it:

Rucks was about to be arrested.

Given how this is on top of the pile of mail, it was probably one of the most recent letters received, right before the Calamity hit. The letter details Rucks' work schedule, with the intent of finding the best time of cornering Rucks and arresting him.]

Look, let's take just a minute here first. If we know who's in that cell block, or WHAT they were in for, we can know what we're likely going to find down there. Or not find, as it seems more likely in this case.

[Colin's going to leaf through the letters, paying special attention to that one with the Mancer's seal. He arches an eyebrow, and gives a low whistle.]

Well, well... looks like Zulf, Raile, Zia, and Rucks' little plan hadn't been going unnoticed... This letter's saying that they'd been planning to arrest the old man.

And given that it's at the top of the pile, seems likely to me that this was shortly before the calamity...

[He glances at Ippo and Zuko with a grin, then he looks around the Warden's office with some new curiosity.]

I need a prisoner manifest, and I want to see if there's any more of these Mancer-marked letters... it strikes me that there's some good information to be had here.

[He also isn't giving up hopes for cache of shards or weapons or SOMETHING, but he knows this place has been heavily picked over already. He wouldn't be surprised if the Ura hadn't already raided this place to free their countrymen...]

Especially for Cell Block three. That's where all those keys seemed to be missing for...

[Well...that was certainly news to be sure. He'd heard about the group through the grapevine, but that was about all...things considered, it was disconcerting to say the least. Still, he'd continue rummaging around, looking for the things Colin had suggested...the more information the better after all.]

But...what do you think it all means?

[Zuko hasn't heard too much about them, and the fact that someone was going to be arrested doesn't mean much to her. How are old arrest records going to be useful information? Still, she starts rooting around to see if there's anything else with that seal.]

You think they kept Ura sympathizers here?

[Maybe the people who came in here before were from the Ura camp?]

I think that the Caelondians were like every short-sighted victorious force in a war that sought to dominate rather than repair.

[Just a trace of bitterness in his tone there.]

Other than that, I don't know. I suspect that the Mancers had domestic spies that were looking for dissent and treason anywhere they could find it, but... until I find something more, I've got no proof other than historical precedent.

[He's going to leaf through the mail pile first, though he suspects there's not going to be too much more useful stuff in there... then he's going to start going through the warden's desk. And probably taking it apart. Experience has taught him that everyone in positions of power have things they don't want other people to see, and in a pre-information age, that means hidden compartments in places they view as under their strict control...]

[There are lots of letters to go through, and it will take a lot of time to actually go and read all of them here. But, just at a glance, the group would be able to find a couple groups of letters that might be interesting.

For one, they can find several more with the Mancer symbol on them, likely the rest in the chain of letters. Additionally, if Colin actually does start dismantling the desk, he will find a secret compartment with a couple letters and a small logbook in it. Finally, if they read through the dates on the letters, they will be able to sort out the ones that came in the week preceding the Calamity.

However, due to shenanigans in another thread, this group only has enough time to do one of the following before shit hits the fan:

1: read one of the groups of letters

2: pocket the letters and go check out the jail cells

3: pocket the letters and go try to track down the solitary confinement area.

What do you do?]

[You better believe that he's taking that desk apart. Fortunately, with the combination of his eye and his engineering expertise, as well as a predilection towards breaking things, and understanding how things are made, that's not too difficult... With all this reading material, though...]

Okay, there's going to be plenty of stuff to read for later.

[Into the satchel it goes.]

If you've found anything good, let's see it... if not... Well, do we wanna check the possible mass breakout, or do we wanna check whoever was important enough to separate from everyone else?

[Nothing but paperwork, Colin. Zuko hands over what she's collected for his satchel.]

We still don't know where solitary is, do we?

[Plus it's not like they'd find anyone alive in there after all this time.]

I guess not...so, to the cell block then?

[It would have been nice to check Solitary, but Zuko made a fair point as she usually did. It was better to take a shot where they had multiple chances at finding something rather than one big gamble.]

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