WEEK 5

[umbralant]

WEEK 5

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Was what happened on Friday yet another tragedy in a string of them or just a complete shitshow? Well, regardless of which line of thought you subscribe to, the reality of it is that another three of your number are no longer in this realm with you. At least the remains of what had happened last week have been neatly cleaned up as always, even if that might not change what’s been etched in your memories. The drum set in the jazz bar remains busted though, because the masterminds aren't that generous. At least the tarot shop and boutique remain fine even if the vanished crystals and women's clothing aren't going to be restocked.

But either way, it’s a new week, and that means new locations to explore as the fog gives way to more of the city and its lamplit streets. The new moon waxes to half this week, appearing as a crescent moon for most of the week. It's far from optimistic, but maybe the brightening is a sign that this will be over soon...? Or maybe it just means the worst is yet to come, it's hard to say.

[[Welcome to Week 5! Note that new areas have been added, and can be found under the Week 5 tab on our Locations page. Once again, feel free to make top levels at your discretion, and remember to note it in your header if you plan on investigating any locations. You can also privately contact The Lady or Rembrandt.]]

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Comments

[pr159]

[ And he's here because gears and clocks are kind of a thing... though he's also had little desire to really check this floor out so far because of it. ]

I'd say it would be nice to have a better idea of what we were looking for, but that could be applied to pretty much everything we've investigated during our stay here.

[ And like, every mission he ever went on. ]

[umbralant]

[And we're back here after four and a half long weeks. If you've been here before, it looks completely unchanged from how it appeared in the first week, but otherwise all the moving clockwork would probably draw one's attention. With that said, there's definitely a portion of the mechanism that looks a lot newer in comparison to the rest; maybe that's a good place to start?]

[reanbeans]

...Yeah, it could, but I guess that'd be too easy. And hey, look over here, I think we might find something interesting if we examine this.

[ He'll step over and begin to look more closely at this new piece here. What is strange about this new clockwork from a close up gaze? ]

[pr159]

[ Comes over to take a look... Hm. How does it look newer? Cleaner, different material? ]

Was this replaced recently...?

[umbralant]

[Rather than strange, it's more that it looks out of place? Definitely cleaner material and more modern-looking, even if it's made to work with the rest of the older clockwork, but it's also notable that some of the components do have some wiring on it that leads... well, somewhere behind the gears.]

[reanbeans]

[ That's weird.

Also is this copper wiring...? ]

Maybe...?

[pr159]

[ Going to try to position this candle to see if they can get a halfway decent view... how much can they actually see of the wiring? Is it apparent which direction it goes in?

Actually, about how many gears are there/how big are they anyway? idk if I have a great conception of the scale of this clock tower ]

[umbralant]

[They can see pretty much most of it and they can see what direction the wiring goes in, yes! There are a lot of gears and probably at least like... 10 around because each face of the clock would need some. As for the size, some of them are smaller and are like... face-sized but there are some that are larger and a couple feet across. There are larger clock towers out there, but the clockwork here is still pretty sizable.]

[reanbeans]

[ Allllright, Rean didn't know what to make of this at all. ]

...This is really a lot. But, I really can't say this is an area I have any expertise in.

[ As rare as it might be, Rean had little to no experience dealing and examining clockwork or anything relating to construction of clocks.

Anyway, is this wiring just going around the gears or is there some way to follow this...? ]

[pr159]

[ Rideaux was literally born holding a pocketwatch with gears etched into the cover, AND YET.... he doesn't really know either. ]

Should have brought a few wrenches to throw in there.

[ That's a joke, mostly, but he is considering more subtle ways of pausing the gears than blasting them with ice or whatever the hell they were talking about earlier.

Also is this like, a whole mess of wires or more like one/one per gear or something? ]

[umbralant]

[It's not one wire per gear, it's more like there's one set of wiring leading from between a couple of non-gear clock components. From the looks of it, there's an electric motor of sorts that's built to drive the gear train and the wiring leads only to the motor. If that makes sense.

Either way, the wiring goes above and over some of the gears but they can still peek above some of the smaller and lower ones to see that they all lead to one black box-like thing perched on the central pillar of the clock mechanism.]

[reanbeans]

...! There.

[ So is there a way to get around there to where that black box is...? ]

I think if we can just find a way to grab that, then we might get another clue in all of this mess.

[pr159]

[ sorry for my dumb questions the extent of my familiarity with the insides of clock towers is that scene in the great mouse detective

So are we saying the black box thing looks like IT'S the motor, or like it's there in place of it? Or like there is a motor there and this is also a weird thing that's there ]

Hm... Let's not commit to grabbing anything just yet [ since it's electric wires?? ] but if we can get a closer look at it...

[umbralant]

[The black box thing is connected to a motor and the motor is part of the newer-looking mechanisms! So yes, it is another weird thing but the motor obviously has like a metal axle sticking out of it that connects to the clockwork.

Why are clocks so complicated.

Anyways, they can't easily get around to where the box is because there are basically gears on all sides of it! In theory, they could still technically reach it if they like... contorted their arms to reach between the gaps in the gears but that could ruin a couple of outfits (and arms) if they're not careful.]

[reanbeans]

[ ....Neeeever mind then. ]

It looks like this helps power the clock. Though just by looking at it, it doesn't really tell us enough.

[ The dead had wanted them to find out more about what did power it. But he didn't see how they could reach it from where they were standing. Nnngh. ]

...Unless we did something like carve a destructive path to open a way up. But, what do you think of our options?

[pr159]

[ Considering......... ]

I'm pretty sure I could reach it, actually. I'm just wondering how risky it would be to cut the wires.

[ Like, he's willing to help to an extent, but he definitely has a limit here. ]

[reanbeans]

[ Rean was kind of wary of Rideaux just cutting the wires because that sounded dangerous??

But, hmm. ]

...Maybe we can get Zangetsu to do some freezing, then?

[pr159]

I'm not sure that really sounds that much safer, or more effective. Now that we know there's electrical wiring involved, I can't say I'm thrilled by the idea of splashing water around.

Are we even supposed to be trying to take this thing?

[reanbeans]

...Well, I don't know if we are or not. But, it'd be nice if we could find a way to examine it more, so we have a little more to go on than 'well we found a black box inside the clocktower'.

[pr159]

I mean, I don't disagree. I think we can probably assume it's some sort of battery, at the very least, if it's powering the motor here.

[ sigh........ staring at these gears is just kind of pissing him off now ]

Anyway, if we do want to take it, or at least see what happens if we stop the clock, I could use a knife to sever the wire from what would hopefully be a reasonable distance if it turned out to be a trap of some sort.

[reanbeans]

Mm, yeah...

[ Likewise. Rean doubted going to town on them with a sword was going to help any, so he didn't even dare present the idea.

But on the other hand... ]

...I think that's a good idea. Let's see what happens when you do that, and keep as much distance as possible.

[ He'll begin to do that himself, just in case, but was ready for anything. Though, this was a better idea than cutting a wire up close, as far as he was concerned. ]

1/2

[pr159]

[ Takes a knife out.






.... ]

[pr159]

On second thought, you know what, let Zangetsu knock himself out with that ice idea.

[reanbeans]

[ ...Well.

That's fine as well. It's time to buckle up and bring out the big guns, folks. ]

...Right, I'll be right back with Zangetsu.

[ He'll go and fetch him. And buckets, because yeah. ]

[moonfang]

[SPEAK OF THE DEVIL. Or rather, go fetch the devil. A devil with buckets. They now have four buckets of water!! SUCCESS. Of note, aside from the bucket, he also has his really long katana with him]

Ah. What're all those wires about...?