Surviving Castle Heterodyne

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Re: Surviving Castle Heterodyne

Post by LAYF » Sat Feb 22, 2014 4:51 pm

"Oh, that would be great!" Bunn Bunn said, obviously only hearing the good news and none of the complains before them "They are mechanical right? no steam or voltaic cells, but driven fully by mechanically stored or transferred energy?" He says exited!
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Re: Surviving Castle Heterodyne

Post by spiderwrangler » Sat Feb 22, 2014 5:04 pm

Ursula hands the contents of the bundle she opened to Gabe, and takes the opportunity while the others are distracted or otherwise occupied to strip out of her prisoner clothes and don her own clothing.

Gabe seems relieved to have found his stuff, and promptly places his propeller beanie on his head... one rotor hanging somewhat forlornly. It is apparent that it will take a bit of work to get his headgear back into a functional state. He proceeds to put on the rest of his clothes as well.

August searches the cabinet, and finds some plates and bowls, along with assorted forks and spoons. He also notices a small paring knife and a larger blade that would likely be suitable for carving meat.

Sam tries opening the lock with his tweezers, but without success. It appears that despite their functionality for other tasks, the just aren't suitable for picking locks with.

Bunn ogles Sam's legs. Which is not at all creepy.

Hiero continues to contemplate the importance of moss.
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Re: Surviving Castle Heterodyne

Post by Alaen » Sat Feb 22, 2014 5:47 pm

August sighes. This is quite a stepdown from what he is used to, but it will have to do.
He will take both blades, using the smaller as a parrying knife and the larger for striking. Now that he has a weapon again, however crude, he feels much better. Being so long without one just felt wrong.
Now properly armed he will examine the door to find a way to open it.
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Re: Surviving Castle Heterodyne

Post by WearsHats » Sat Feb 22, 2014 5:58 pm

Gabe sadly mourns the wilted flower that once helped his dreams take flight. He will rebuild it. In time, he will make it better than it ever was. But proper tools and parts will make that much easier. So, first things first.

He goes to take a closer look at the lock, trying to see how it's fastened. He also examines the door hinges to see if they might be more vulnerable.

"Any of you remember anything about how to take a lock or a door apart? I'm sure I could figure it out, but that darned mind wipe is making it harder than it should be."
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Re: Surviving Castle Heterodyne

Post by Alaen » Sat Feb 22, 2014 6:07 pm

Weighing his options August decides to break his silence. He would have to work with the others sooner or later and this Gabe seemed fairly reasonable at least.

"Well under normal circumstances this would be no problem at all, but I don't think any of you have the ingredients for a shaped high-explosive charge. Plus I'm not entirely positive I could pull it off after this thrice damned mind wipe."
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Re: Surviving Castle Heterodyne

Post by BadgeAddict » Sat Feb 22, 2014 6:12 pm

(Sam will continue to study the lock until he levels up)

"hmm, perhaps if i had a long piece of metal or wire in which to poke in this lock i would be able to open it." Sam says half to himself, half to anyone else who may be listening. "Would any of you happen to have anything like that?"

As he looks into the lock, the wheels in his brain begins to turn as he imagines the things he could make out of gears and wheels and such that may help him with picking locks. He knew of course how a key worked in a lock, or at least...he thought he did. Perhaps when he solved this lock he would actually remove it from the door in order to study the inner workings of it so that he might then be able to create a...clockwork key. As he came up with the name of this new and soon to be created device he let out a little squeal.

"Naked man, I..I haven't asked you your name yet and it feels highly unprofessional to continue calling you by your lack of clothing." As he thought about it, he didn't know anyones names. Sam turned toward the others who were approaching the door and said as he bowed low "The name is Sam....Sam Griffin, professional of all kinds of clockworkery..at least...i think i am or perhaps i was." Sam found that trying to think about what he knew prior to being dumped in this place was quite difficult and made his brain hurt so he promptly gave up trying and turned back to focus on the lock.

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Re: Surviving Castle Heterodyne

Post by LAYF » Sat Feb 22, 2014 6:48 pm

Looking at Gabe Bunn Bunn says exited, arms flying while he does "Oh yes! I do!" Bunn Bunn says exited "We could construct two swings mounted to the ceiling, on those we would place a hollow ram of sorts, light enough for us to draw back and up, lock it to the ceiling, then, we will load every heavy object we can find into it, increasing its mechanical potential, and the! release the power hehe!" He looks overly excited, not having noted that most things to use are not accessible.
If Sam allows it, he continues to study the legs same time as he says to him, not reacting to the naked part "Oh.. I have this! is that of use? oh, and call ma Bunn Bunn, everyone does, but name is Bunn Aquarium" while he hands over his [role of steel wire (0.3mm thick and 10 meters)], "you probably want to twist some of it for strength! I'll need the rest back!"
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Re: Surviving Castle Heterodyne

Post by BadgeAddict » Sat Feb 22, 2014 7:07 pm

A loud squeal of excitement escapes Sam lips as he happily accepts the roll of wire from Bunn and then proceeds to twist and poke and prod the lock with the wire in an attempt to open the lock.

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Re: Surviving Castle Heterodyne

Post by nikohl » Sun Feb 23, 2014 1:48 am

"Gentlemen, I have a few of my tools with me, should they be of use... Of course, I shall require them back. If you cannot pick the lock, I will attempt to dismantle it... It shall be no match for our combined intellect, mind wipe or no mind wipe!" Ursula offers her screwdrivers for use, then packs her things into her new backpack. If they have given up on picking the lock, she will try to disassemble it instead.

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Re: Surviving Castle Heterodyne

Post by spiderwrangler » Sun Feb 23, 2014 7:52 am

August feels a bit more at home with blades in his hands, and inspects his find. The paring knife was probably used for preparing vegetables and the like, and isn't the best suited for combat, though it could do in a pinch. Attempting to deflect a blow with this knife would probably result in damage to the wielder's hand. The larger knife has a much more substantial blade and handle, with a bit of a guard to protect the hand. The blade has a slight curve down its length to the tip.
  • Paring Knife - 7cm blade, in combat gives +1 ATT, with a 25% chance to give +0 ATT instead
  • Carving Knife - 30cm blade, in combat gives +1 ATT, with a 25% chance to give +2 ATT instead
August moves over with the others to examine the door.


Gabe is filled with a resolve to get through this door, and examines the fastening of the lock and hinges. Unfortunately, a cursory glance reveals that the hinges are on the workshop side rather than the kitchen side, and while there are four bolts holding the lock's panel in place, only the rounded heads of the bolts are on their side, with no purchase for a spanner.

Sam, in a flash of brilliance, dreams up the concept of a clockwork key... a device that would surely make pesky locked doors a thing of the past. Unfortunately, it would probably require a closer examination of a locking mechanism to construct such a device. Fortunately, Bunn has some steel wire he can use, which seems better suited for the task than the forceps he'd been trying previously. Perhaps if he modified a few lengths of wire to allow him to manipulate the mechanism a bit easier, he'd make progress quicker.
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Bunn, after handing over his spool of wire, returns to studying one of Sam's gams.
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Ursula offers the use of her tools, provided they are returned in good order, or to attempt to dismantle the lock if they decide to go that route.

Hiero gets all up in that moss's business.
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Last edited by spiderwrangler on Tue Feb 25, 2014 8:17 am, edited 2 times in total.
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Re: Surviving Castle Heterodyne

Post by Alaen » Sun Feb 23, 2014 8:42 am

Seeing that the others are dealing with the lock, August will hang back a bit and look for something to sharpen and polish his knifes a bit.

"Since it seems that we will be stuck here together for quite a while, I guess introductions are in order. My name is August Gallardi, gentleman adventurer and weapon specialist extraodinaire. *he bows with a flourish* May I inquire the names of you ...gentlepersons?"
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Re: Surviving Castle Heterodyne

Post by LAYF » Sun Feb 23, 2014 9:52 am

"I must say, these legs of yours Mr. Griffin is more than interesting. really nice design! is it your own making?" Bunn Bunn says as he continues to study the legs and look at Sam's work "Oh, nice to make your acquaintance Mr. Gallardi and Ms. Ursula... I am Bunn Aquarium, but call me Bunn Bunn, and Yes, our combined minds... In a clockwork clank clank! With Spring loaded transport catapults for arms! and... and A salt water battery to fuel its target lights! It will be brilliant" He says as he is close to throw Sams legs to both sides in excitement!
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Re: Surviving Castle Heterodyne

Post by spiderwrangler » Sun Feb 23, 2014 10:02 am

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Re: Surviving Castle Heterodyne

Post by nikohl » Sun Feb 23, 2014 3:26 pm

"Goodness, man... floppy wire is not an appropriate lockpick." Ursula strides over to where August found the cutlery and avails herself of the smallest spoon and a mid-sized fork, then sits down and attempts to repurpose them into rudimentary lockpicks by using her assorted dismantling tools (i.e. bending/cutting/otherwise reshaping the spoon into a curved tension bar and making the fork into a pick/rake by taking off some of the tines.)

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Re: Surviving Castle Heterodyne

Post by BadgeAddict » Sun Feb 23, 2014 5:24 pm

Feeling as though his methods were under attack, Sam paused for a moment and gave the large breasted woman a squinty-eyed look before letting out a hurumph and turning back towards the task at hand. "Perhaps If i had two pieces of wire to work with and then bent one into a crooked end" he thought aloud as was his typical method when working on new task. Sam removed the piece of wire from the lock and then snapped off about two pieces that are each about 4 inches long. (using a method of bending back and forth again and again to break them) He then bent one of the pieces to be slightly jagged on one end. After bending the pieces and using two hands, one on each piece of wire, Sam went back to jamming the pieces in the lock hoping to unlock the door.

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Re: Surviving Castle Heterodyne

Post by WearsHats » Sun Feb 23, 2014 6:28 pm

Gabe sits down on the floor. He disassembles his cane, pulling various tools out, some from a hidden compartment in the hollow of the shaft, some from inside the handle (which also has a small cache of spare parts), and some cleverly disguised as ornamentation. He's very happy to discover that everything is intact and where it should be.

Tools arrayed before him, he sets to work repairing his hat.
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Re: Surviving Castle Heterodyne

Post by spiderwrangler » Mon Feb 24, 2014 9:54 pm

After introducing himself to the others, August leaves them to their lock work and spends some quality time with his new knives. They certainly look nice and shiny when he's done.
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Bunn Bunn raves about some fantastical contraptions while continuing to turn SamÔÇÖs external appendages over in his hands with wonder.
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Sam, realizing that he needs the wire to be a bit more useful to be able to get very far, breaks off two 10cm sections and bends the end of one of them to help catch at the mechanisms of the lock.
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He inserts them into the lock and keeps fishing around, hoping to spring the lock. They are certainly more effective than the unmodified end of wire he was using before, but still not as easy to maneuver as if he had an actual set of lockpicks. He is starting to get a feel for the layout inside the lock.
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Ursula, fed up with Sam and his floppy wire tries to repurpose some of the flatware into something better suited for picking locks. She works on removing some of the tines from the fork and trimming the spoon into something that will be able to fit into the lock.
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With the flatware trimmed, she uses her pliers and file to shape them into something more useful for manipulating a lock. She consults with Sam to get a better idea what she needs to make.
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Gabe takes inventory of his hidden toolkit within his cane, and is please to see that nothing is missing. He selects the appropriate spanner and begins work on removing the bent metal propeller blade.
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He attempts to get it bent back into shape...
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...but realizes that he will need to apply heat and hammering to get it back into shape to be able to balance properly or replace all of the propeller blades with ones made of another material.

He inspects the steamwork engine, and discovers that it suffered some minor damage and sets to repairing it.
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Hiero feels like he's been studying moss for days... but this stuff is really interesting.
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Re: Surviving Castle Heterodyne

Post by Alaen » Mon Feb 24, 2014 11:25 pm

August will keep working on the blades until the door is open.
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Re: Surviving Castle Heterodyne

Post by WearsHats » Mon Feb 24, 2014 11:51 pm

August Gabe will keep working on the blades his hat until the door is open.
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Re: Surviving Castle Heterodyne

Post by LAYF » Tue Feb 25, 2014 12:36 am

Yes.. continue study.

If no one objects, can we then skip till the lock is opened or deemed impossible to open?
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Re: Surviving Castle Heterodyne

Post by WearsHats » Tue Feb 25, 2014 1:14 am

My only objection is that picking the lock is going to take a long time, and may go better with a different strategy (if anyone has one). The "tool modifier" took a little bit to get, but we've gone from 50 CP (wire) to 45 CP (very crude wire lockpick) to (I think) 35 CP (crude spoon-based lockpick). In that time (5 turns), the D3 has yielded 12 CP. In other words, making a slightly better pick did more in three turns than a steady attempt to actually pick the lock did in 5. (Although, really, it's a case of parallel progress.)

So if there's a way we can further speed up the process, I'm all for it.

Which means I just talked myself out of working on my hat. (I was content to do that as long as Sam and Ursula seemed to have things in hand and my efforts seemed superfluous, but it's clear that even with the improved tool, this is going to take a while. At least another 8 turns, more likely about 12, I think.)

Gabe will sacrifice one of his smaller allen wrenches, a pair of tweezers, and some spare parts to (hopefully) craft a better lockpick. Any help on the project would be appreciated. If we do this right, it might just save a few turns.
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Re: Surviving Castle Heterodyne

Post by LAYF » Tue Feb 25, 2014 2:12 am

Bun Bun Hands Gabe his [pack of assorted springs (from 1mm small up to about 10cm)] "Hmm, I know nothing about locks, but I do know that my springs are very resilient and can handle a high amount of force due to the steels capacity to absorb and release energy through the way for deformation and self-reformation by flexibility, If that is of any use feel free to use some of them Mr. Gabe, just please inform me of any new discoveries into automated mechanical disassembleing of access prohibiting devices" he says and continues his studies, but listens if Gabe figures something out.

(In base, I figured that spring steel is probably the best material for a lock pick if you can change its form with tools, I think some of the 2-5 cm length should have a fine thickness for the job...)
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Re: Surviving Castle Heterodyne

Post by WearsHats » Tue Feb 25, 2014 2:32 am

Hmm, with a small coil spring, a small leaf spring, an allen wrench, and a spark's ingenuity, I wonder if I could make a pick gun. Gabe might have encountered something of the sort while doing deliveries, perhaps looking over a locksmith's shoulder when the house owner got locked out. (I was introduced to it in college, because some engineering students are just that way. The computers in one of the clusters I frequented were all named for lockpicking equipment.)

Basically, a pick gun consists of a thin metal strip which, with the help of a spring, can be vibrated at various speeds. That bumps all the lock's tumblers at once. Eventually, with a little luck and timing, you can get them to all click into place at the same time.

Gabe thanks Bun Bun and gets to work.
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Re: Surviving Castle Heterodyne

Post by Nerre » Tue Feb 25, 2014 3:31 am

"Really interesting stuff, this moss!" Hiero says and decides to have a little break. Having found out a bit about the moss, he puts his moss toupe back on, securing it in between both antennas now and walks into the kitchen. "Hello everybody. Did you find anything useful in here?" he asks politely.
He drinks a bit of water and eats a piece of zwieback or whatever they found in the kitchen, and observes the others trying to open the look while eating. After a while he asks. "Did you ask if Castlina can unlock that door? Castline, can you hear me in here and help us?"
:zzz:

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Re: Surviving Castle Heterodyne

Post by nikohl » Tue Feb 25, 2014 3:46 am

"Here, if you think your pick gun is possible, take this fork-spoon-thing for use as the rake. I have a good idea of how to make another if it doesn't work." Ursula hands over the most appropriate shaped tool and continues working on the other. (Presumably giving him the rake/pick and continuing work on the tension bar herself)

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