Then, remembering, he too eyed Zijan before resuming his interrupted retreat post haste -- this time actually half-running to catch back up with Limen: "I wasn't here!"


Shall we begin building the Ascender, Ninth World? :)

OOC: If you need 400 meters of rope that's about 25 coils, as one coil of rope is 15 meters. You'll need to see if there are enough townspeople willing to give up their rope for this cause. As for the rest of the ascender, describe how it would function and I'll tell you what you'll need to construct it.

"Interesting..." admitted the old man once he'd finished sketching, stepping back to look down on the thing and the parts-lists scribbled over it in his spiky scrawl.

"Now I admit, Limen-pup, that right now I have no idea how to build this wonderful little engine here," he tapped the squat cylinder dominating one end of the looped-rope drawing, "But it'll come to me, it'll come to me... Shall we get cracking on the heart of the system?" An enthousiastic slam of a metal hand next to the hollowed-out wheels and pulleys of their Ascender


Actions: Let's see. Since the pulley system itself is a commonplace object, Fraksel has just drawn a plan for building it, thereby decreasing the assessed DC by 1 to 2, making the craft time 1h once we've assembled all the parts (do I have that right? I'm guessing some sort of engineering roll to make commonplace plans?). He'll help Limen during the build itself, reducing the difficulty of each sub-tasks by 1 as well (uh, make that +1 to the roll since Fraksel isn't trained in crafting commonplace items).

Limen asked for the drawing Fraksel provided and spread it out in front of her, holding it up towards the sun, turning it left and right and letting out a low "hm..." until finally she nodded.

"Yeah this'll work, toss me those parts there and if we just tape-" The loud thunk of her bag of tools dropping onto the ground, followed by the ruckus of her rummaging through it downed out the next few words. Her head soon pops up from her bag, a wrench-like object rimmed like a hard metal that glowed slightly green in one hand, and a wheel of adhesive strips in the other. "Hey, what do you think of using a low-friction alloy for the little loops and axles we've got to wide the rope over for the pulley? It'd take even less effort to draw the seats up- I mean, it'd make it more likely the seat would drop, but it'd only be in free fall for," She tilts her head back and forth, considering, "fifteen feet before the safety catch catches it."

With Fraksel's help, she'd see about sticking metal and wood of different shapes and sizes together into a the base of a pulley system, then nailed down to something sturdy so all that was left to do was take the rope and side it into its place proper.

Also with Fraksel's help, the first and only subtask of level 1 auto-succeeds. For the final roll:

17:59, Today: Limen rolled 16 using 1d20.  Final task for building the pulley: assessed difficulty 2, reduced to difficulty 1 with Faksel's aid.

Backtracking a bit, Fraksel creates a commonplace plan for the Ascender Mk 0, with effort since he does everything to the fullest:

21:43, Today: Fraksel M'ba rolled 19 using 1d20.  Ascender mk 0 pkans with Int effort.

Oh hey, Minor effect! Requires less materials than initially planned...? Polished appearance? Takes less puller(s) to operate thanks to an efficient force-multiplying pulley system?

OOC: I'll give you one of the first two. The third would take a major effect.
This message was last edited by the GM at 03:03, Fri 09 Nov 2018.

"Of course, Detlun.  Fraksel and Limen have a most unconventional way of thinking that will help this unconventional problem, while you and Kullen have the knowledge of the Beanstalk and the town to work with Lym in finding a way to route the water collection to another place, while Etra and Scytain know which buildings must be evacuated versus those which can be dismantled and moved during this crucial time.  Liballa, a good friend of mine, once told me that a single dossi is easy prey for a storm, but a herd can weather it when they work together.  Come, let us go about our very important work, for we have little time to waste."

In reply to The Ninth World (msg # 47):

Let's go for the second then: Professional Build "This build has been made by professional (or inspired amateurs) and it shows." Inspires confidence and maybe even admiration in those that use/look upon it. :D

Fraksel peered at their contraption with some pride: They'd outdone themselves, with just the perfect materials at the right place (the electric-blue plas wheels were a nice touch, he had to admit), and even the shape was pleasing to the-

"'Seats'? What 'seats'?" the old inventor finally clicked, blinking at Limen.

There on the page there wasn't any seat, only regularly spaced loops along the cabling, metal crimped and just the right size to place a foot in -- or hook-in a load, as the case may be.
This message was last edited by the player at 23:15, Fri 09 Nov 2018.

 Lym slowly walks up to the rest of the group having spent his time in town and away from the building of the contraption for the most part. He yawns deeply his hair tossled from enjoying a nice long nap and binge of various different food and drink while within the town limits.

" So what do we have here, this contraption gonna fix our problem?"

His voice is filled with the bare minimum of curiosity as he runs a gloved hand along the object as though he'd learn more about it just through diffusion a long wide smile on his face as he glances over to Limen hoping she will explain more.

Detlun nods, visibly relieved that he did not offend Zijan. They stay around, however, watching with fascination as Fraksel and Limen assemble the installation they had been speaking about. As they work on building the pulley system over the next hour, various townspeople willingly contribute rope to the project, encouraged by the elders.

When the project appears to be finished Detlun looks it over, attempting to hide his being impressed by their ingenuity. "It's a pulley system," he explains to the wide-eyed Kullan. "It's intended to hoist an individual or so up to a height roughly 200 meters. It appears they hope to reach the base of the Beanstalk." It is at this point a barely veiled look of condescension creeps into his eyes. "What I'd love to see is how in the world they plan to get the other end of this pulley system attached that far above our heads."

"And how far above our heads would that be, hm, Deltun?" Reminder of what the priestly fellow should be doing instead of gawking at travelling geniuses.


(Fraksel will then go and inspect the pile of donated ropes, rejecting any section that looks even a bit dodgy, ripping them off with is 'bare' hands after a starter-snip from a tiny glassteel scalpel taken from one of his pouches...)
This message was last edited by the player at 03:01, Wed 14 Nov 2018.

As for his question...

"Ah, Lym: perfect timing! Want to play for who gets to wear the wings and fly?" The old inventor's eyes were bright, almost... challenging: he wouldn't let this blue-steel opportunity for adventure go so easily.

He held up a closed fist before him...

Rock-Paper-Scissor, ninth world style:

• Drit beats/burries Monolith
• Monolith beats/controls Iron wind
• Iron wind beats/transforms drit

Fraksel has already posted his play in a private line to GM, so... your turn to choose!

Zijan waits until Fraksel and Lym have finished competing for the honor of testing new equipment at high heights before posing a question to Lym.  "Lym, in your explorations in the countryside around the Beanstalk, have you noticed any likely places to scavenge, should we end up needing more parts for whatever may need crafting?  It would be good to know such things before you ascend, so we can make preparations for needful things."

"And everything is probably going to be needful at some point," Fraksel helpfully added in typical science-y style. Anyways, putting aside the question of who flies up for a moment: "Let's build our first instrument of measure, shall we Limen-pup? The Giant Slingshot of Inquiry! (Mk I)"


Maybe something like this? https://www.geeky-gadgets.com/...Slingshot-Cannon.jpg

Design parameters: can consistantly fire projectiles 200m away. Projectiles don't need to be very big or heavy, just big enough to be visible from 200m away (Reflective/Painted bright colours maybe? if somebody in town has opera glasses or equivalent, the projectiles/slingshot can be even smaller!).

The idea is to test gravitational and magnetic fields around the boulder before sending a fragile flyer up there. Fire projectile near the boulder, watch trajectory for signs of disruption, repeat.

Thoughts, build DC, materials/parts/iotum?

But first, a plan. He starts drawing in bold lines, black on the blue of the pressed-synth paper :

18:47, Today: Fraksel M'ba rolled 10 using 1d20.  Slingshot of Inquiry Mk I -- Plans.
18:48, Today: Fraksel M'ba rolled 5 using 1d20.  Slingshot of Inquiry Mk I -- Plans with Effort.

Oky doke.

18:15, Today: Fraksel M'ba rolled 15 using 1d20.  Slingshot of Inquiry Mk I -- Plans with Effort. - Build diff is now 4/2 days (1/2 a day per subtask)

The design proved more elusive than before, maybe because Limen - his ward - didn't seem that into it... But finally, after 3 hours and a small, roving pile of crumpled blue sheets, Fraksel stood triumphant!

"There! Now all we need is to build the thing- Oh and parts- Parts for the ratchet-crank- And the trigger too, of course- somewhere around-" Various clanging and scrambling noises as he rummaged through the stuff he'd accumulated, even in so short a time. "Aha!"

Fraksel contributes 2 Parts from his personal stash.

"That'll do nicely..." He swiveled on those watching, fully in the moment: "Struts, lumber, laminates, who has them? Who will contribute to the frame of my glorious Catapult of Inquiry!? We can even inscribe your name on the side."

Looking to crowd-source those 5 units of materials :) (Extras welcome, will no doubt need them later)

Several of the townspeople pour through and examine the contraption, many dubiously. Most of them pretend they don't hear the older man's bold request. One woman does leave then returns with a unit of material.

"Despite these selfish people's unwillingness to help, I believe in your machine and what you're trying to do. Thank you for helping to save our water supply." She hands the material to Fraksel, smiles, and curtseys awkwardly.


1 down, 4 to go...

The old man curtsied back with an imaginary skirt (he wasn't at his first weird custom), then gripped her shoulder in a large metal hand: "Good woman," he declared with a firm nod. "And your name is?"

"Chatton," the woman says and smiles warmly. "I wish you good luck... or the guidance of your gods, in succeeding." She smiles and stands back to watch the continued progress on the building of the contraption.

"Hm, Chatton's Giant Slingshot of Inquiry...? Has a definite ring to it," the white-bearded inventor admitted. "Remind me to add cat ears over the business-end, will you Limen-pup? Something tasteful." He picked up a large chopping axe leaning against the enclosure and swung it on his shoulder before pointing outwards dramatically: "And now, onwards to the nearest forest, kids! Lym, could you guide us please?"

Heading for the nearest place where they can gather Materials. If we should happen on something with potential iotum inside, we'll do a detour for that as well of course. :)

Zijan smiles warmly at Chatton.  "You are a credit to the town for your generosity, Chatton. I will accompany Fraksel to harvest what else we need for the ascent and investigation.  If anyone else wishes to accompany us in this endeavor, then we would welcome your company.  Everyone else, I urge you to move what people, livestock, supplies, and even structures that are in the possible path of peril out of danger.  Together, calmly and cooperatively, we can find a solution."

Detlun clears his throat. "Might I make a recommendation? Perhaps you could salvage wood that's already been processed from the Qualseth? While there are many many trees around us, they would need to be cured and milled after being chopped, unless you can work with very rough wood that would warp as it dries over time.

"The Qualseth is a prior world machine- or maybe a creature- that mills itself. That is to say, it's a wooden structure/entity that builds onto itself using its own wood. Large pieces of wood drop from it regularly as the old pieces no longer accommodate its new shape, which it then pulls back into itself to repurpose into pieces that it uses to reshape itself. Kind of cyclically. Apparently it can be pretty challenging to get those pieces of wood, but a few people have been successful. Many have not, though."

In reply to Zijan (msg # 62):

"Careful," fake-warned Fraksel in an aside just for her. "You're likely to bore Lym to tears with all this calmness 'crap'."


After the amber priest finished speaking of his idea: "Good one for once, Deltun!" admitted the grumbly old inventor. He pointed dramatically in an entirely different direction than before -- and probably just as wrongly.

"Onwards to the nearest Qualseth, Lym-lad! Sim, Sam, Sung, you're with us!"

(A short pause before the three scuffed marble-drones roll-bounced out of the surrounding junk, only to take their usual bobbing hover-positions a foot or two above Fraksel's bald head and robed shoulders; their round laser eye, one each, glowed softly as they slowly swiveled, looking about.)

Onslaught-enablers now in place :)

Etra claps her hands to get the people's attention. "Alright everyone, let's get moving. We need to relocate as much stuff from the buildings next to the water collector as we can. We also need to start conserving water in the event that things come to their worst, so let's start filling up any spare jugs and bottles we have. We have some time as far as we can assess at this point, so let's take out time and be careful and thorough."

The people start getting to work, though no one has volunteered to accompany them to the qualseth. Detlun provides them directions to where they can locate it; it can be reached in half a day's travel.


It's currently midday and it will be dark by the time you arrive if you leave now. Do you want to make haste or wait until morning, and is there anything else you want to do in town before you depart?

"Half a day?!" Fraksel almost threw both arms in the air -- considering he was holding a felling axe at the time, that might have been... unfortunate.

With a sigh the old nano considered hard, thoughtfully pulling on chin hairs : That was a full day they'd be wasting just on travel! Did they really need the Chatton Engine that bad? (For a supposedly simple build, one only meant to insure the safety of their flier beforehand to boot, this was turning out to be...

Although...

Maybe the Chatton Engine could be made man-portable with a few modifications? Then it would probably be a simple matter to have it fire a grappling line too, and then- He gazed up at the floating boulders, the vertiginous distances between it and the other mountains in the chain, between it and the beanstalk itself. Hm... He started slowly grinning: Maybe. Maybe!

As for the rest:

"Aneen. Who would like to rent their aneen for a noble cause? You, Vols, you have one don't you? And a cart too if my old eyes didn't betray, hm?" Maker's randomizer if they were going to drag all that wood back by hand.


If it comes to negotiation, Fraksel will defer to Zijan's expertise in that domain. :) Idea = maybe someone would like a portion of the fine wood they'll bring back in trade?

For the Chatton Mk II, I'm thinking we could add a few Parts and/or iotum to the plan to make it a man-portable? Say stronger elastic material for example
This message was last edited by the player at 23:57, Wed 28 Nov 2018.