Sorry about messing Empires up a little; it was only after I'd posted that I realised I'd left no-one any space to post between my entries. In effect, I've made it a little bit harder for us to reach a conclusion by the end of the year... but we'd probably have reached that situation without any help at all, given our progress in previous years :)
The broken lock The next building looked very much like the one they'd already been in: limestone build, low roof (but no rotting demon chunks on the top), glassless windows revealing gloom inside, and a firm wooden door. That proved to be open because its lock was broken, smashed apart by something heavy from the inside. Lord Derby looked at it and realised that it was set slightly further back than the first building, and decided it was unlikely he could have chanced to come in here first... probably a good thing given that the demon would have been able to follow him in. The inside was an astonishment: the floor was missing here as well, but now because it had been quarried out. There was a large generator with a smell of oil that Tomasz turned on without difficulty. It chugged to life, the roar slightly deafening to ears used to the near-silence of Carcosa and a slightly burned, acrid smell swirled around them. Tomasz turned on bright white lights mounted on yellow stands patterned with rust revealing thick black cables that snaked across the floor, steps chiseled into the edge of the pit, spiralling around and down, and large pieces of machinery intended to be operated by at least two or three people in concert. Samual walked nervously to the edge of the pit and peered over the edge and visibly relaxed as he saw the steps, each three metres wide and reassured himself that even if he fell he wouldn't hurt himself before landing on something solid. "It goes down a long way," he said. "I can't see the bottom here either." "There are more generators lower down," said Tomasz. They power more lights. There wasn't enough cabling to stretch from the top all the way down." "What were you hunting for?" asked Lord Derby. "We were just after stone," said Tomasz. "We needed to build." "Was the house built after you finished quarrying then?" "No?" Lord Derby sighed. "Tomasz, I think you're telling the truth-" "I am!" "-which means you've not been told the truth." "Lies!" Samual turned at that. "Calm down," he said. His voice was steady, calm, and his gaze met Tomasz's eyes and didn't let him look away. "Lord Derby always explains himself, so let him speak and then respond." Tomasz's gaze was defiant, but he muttered something almost inaudible about dignity and then looked at Lord Derby. "How do you get stone suitable for building out of this building?" asked Lord Derby. Before Tomasz could answer, he continued, "You can't. Even if you put the walls up for defense you'd want a crane to lift undressed stone out, and since you've left everything else here, where's the crane? This wasn't a mining operation, it was a hunt for something. Something important enough that whoever was hunting it for didn't want anyone else to know it was a hunt." "Are we going down there then, milord?" asked Samual. "I don't think so," said Lord Derby. "Either it was found and taken away, or we'd have to quarry ourselves to keep looking for it. And I, for one, am not dressed for stonework." He looked around. "That was a joke," he remarked. "Oh well. A mining operation. There's rope here then. Tomasz?" Tomasz was staring at Lord Derby as though he'd grown an extra head. It took him a few moments to realise he was being addressed. "Oh! Yes, yes there is. Lots of it."
Out of practice with acrostics, but here we go... ========== Locked my heart up and threw away the key Only you could find a way Very sneaky, not Everyone could break the lock on my heart
Greg - nah, you didn't mess it up. I think you got us rolling again quite nicely, actually. I think we still have a reasonable amount of time left to get somewhere close to a conclusion.
Been slacking on comments again so it took me a moment to get back into the story. But then I did and you carried me right along to the end as usual. More fascinating developments. Still wanting to know more.
Morganna - ah, it's all practice here :)
Nicely done, it's good to see you writing these again!
3 comments:
Sorry about messing Empires up a little; it was only after I'd posted that I realised I'd left no-one any space to post between my entries. In effect, I've made it a little bit harder for us to reach a conclusion by the end of the year... but we'd probably have reached that situation without any help at all, given our progress in previous years :)
The broken lock
The next building looked very much like the one they'd already been in: limestone build, low roof (but no rotting demon chunks on the top), glassless windows revealing gloom inside, and a firm wooden door. That proved to be open because its lock was broken, smashed apart by something heavy from the inside. Lord Derby looked at it and realised that it was set slightly further back than the first building, and decided it was unlikely he could have chanced to come in here first... probably a good thing given that the demon would have been able to follow him in.
The inside was an astonishment: the floor was missing here as well, but now because it had been quarried out. There was a large generator with a smell of oil that Tomasz turned on without difficulty. It chugged to life, the roar slightly deafening to ears used to the near-silence of Carcosa and a slightly burned, acrid smell swirled around them. Tomasz turned on bright white lights mounted on yellow stands patterned with rust revealing thick black cables that snaked across the floor, steps chiseled into the edge of the pit, spiralling around and down, and large pieces of machinery intended to be operated by at least two or three people in concert.
Samual walked nervously to the edge of the pit and peered over the edge and visibly relaxed as he saw the steps, each three metres wide and reassured himself that even if he fell he wouldn't hurt himself before landing on something solid.
"It goes down a long way," he said. "I can't see the bottom here either."
"There are more generators lower down," said Tomasz. They power more lights. There wasn't enough cabling to stretch from the top all the way down."
"What were you hunting for?" asked Lord Derby.
"We were just after stone," said Tomasz. "We needed to build."
"Was the house built after you finished quarrying then?"
"No?"
Lord Derby sighed. "Tomasz, I think you're telling the truth-"
"I am!"
"-which means you've not been told the truth."
"Lies!"
Samual turned at that.
"Calm down," he said. His voice was steady, calm, and his gaze met Tomasz's eyes and didn't let him look away. "Lord Derby always explains himself, so let him speak and then respond."
Tomasz's gaze was defiant, but he muttered something almost inaudible about dignity and then looked at Lord Derby.
"How do you get stone suitable for building out of this building?" asked Lord Derby. Before Tomasz could answer, he continued, "You can't. Even if you put the walls up for defense you'd want a crane to lift undressed stone out, and since you've left everything else here, where's the crane? This wasn't a mining operation, it was a hunt for something. Something important enough that whoever was hunting it for didn't want anyone else to know it was a hunt."
"Are we going down there then, milord?" asked Samual.
"I don't think so," said Lord Derby. "Either it was found and taken away, or we'd have to quarry ourselves to keep looking for it. And I, for one, am not dressed for stonework."
He looked around. "That was a joke," he remarked. "Oh well. A mining operation. There's rope here then. Tomasz?"
Tomasz was staring at Lord Derby as though he'd grown an extra head. It took him a few moments to realise he was being addressed. "Oh! Yes, yes there is. Lots of it."
Out of practice with acrostics, but here we go...
==========
Locked my heart up and threw away the key
Only you could find a way
Very sneaky, not
Everyone could break the lock on my heart
Greg - nah, you didn't mess it up. I think you got us rolling again quite nicely, actually. I think we still have a reasonable amount of time left to get somewhere close to a conclusion.
Been slacking on comments again so it took me a moment to get back into the story. But then I did and you carried me right along to the end as usual. More fascinating developments. Still wanting to know more.
Morganna - ah, it's all practice here :)
Nicely done, it's good to see you writing these again!
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