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[flabort]

((I came up with an idea last night. Not something my character can do, nor something that could be seriously proposed to the mages guild, but what if a mage visualized a black sphere between a tree and a tortoise boulder, then used the boulder to push on the visualized sphere as if it were real? I'm imagining it just creates wind flow, but even that may be useful))

[Samarkand]

((I came up with an idea last night. Not something my character can do, nor something that could be seriously proposed to the mages guild, but what if a mage visualized a black sphere between a tree and a tortoise boulder, then used the boulder to push on the visualized sphere as if it were real? I'm imagining it just creates wind flow, but even that may be useful))

((You, my dear friend, are quite clever. I thoroughly enjoy your participation in this game and look forward to you controlling a character in the future. ))

[IcyTea31]

((I'm a lucky son of a carp. I honestly expected at least one of the steps to fail.))

Cast a bronze ingot, but cool it down only to glowing hot solid, and place it on the crankhammer-anvil. If successful, call for a presentation to the Forgemaster and any other parties who might sponsor me.

[Harry Baldman]

"Pleased to meet you, sir, I am Iktaka Moddri and I will be supervising and organizing the experiments. Who might you be?" Moddri asks of her new helper, since she still feels a bit guilty about not finding out that poor previous fellow's name before he expired. Writing that note had been very awkward, it needed mentioning.

After that is out of the way, Moddri lays down some rules. "Now then, sir, you may have heard of what happened to the previous man who took this job - an accident happened, and he fell into a crate of crystals that pierced his flesh, and he died of the poisoning that followed. We can take an important lesson from this - only open the crate of crystals when you are using it, and close it immediately after the crystals are removed. I hope that's clear, and we won't have any problems with that, yes? And also be wary of the successful trees - they can swing their limbs around and hit things, and also push and pull things toward them. Be very careful around them, keep an eye out, and you should be fine. Okay?"

"I assume you've been briefed about what we're doing here - inserting crystals in trees and watching the fireworks, basically, then experimenting on the things we get afterward. First off, we've got to make use of these fruit trees we have - the others are less important, since we've already got preliminary data on them."

Introduction.

Safety instruction.

Then the next tests!

Spoiler: Test 4: the Fruits of Our Labors (click to show/hide)

Look at the apple trees - what stage of ripeness is their fruit at currently?

After that, use the aid of my mage friend to implant crystals into three of the five apple trees.

Observe any changes that may happen. Pay special attention to the fruit, and whether they change in any way.

Spoiler: Test 5: Deprivation (click to show/hide)

Have the mage remove the shard from the fighting tree remotely, with magic and stuff if he can - see what happens. If he can't do it remotely or doesn't possess magical ability somehow, have him do it by hand and help him out by spotting for him, watching the tree and warning him of any dangerous movements.

If successful, examine the inserted crystal, and whether it has changed in any way since insertion. Also, examine the insertion spot (or have my helper do it while he's there) and see if it has changed in any way.

Then see if the tree loses its abilities after the shard is removed, immediately or over time, and how long it takes if it does.

[flabort]

((Harry... I'm afraid that for test 5, you lack the proper help. Your current helper appears to me to be from the Carpenter's guild))

[Harry Baldman]

((Harry... I'm afraid that for test 5, you lack the proper help. Your current helper appears to me to be from the Carpenter's guild))

((You see, I don't know that. I did specify I wanted a mage assistant, and neither my assets nor anything said by anyone says anything one way or the other. And even if he isn't, it doesn't change much. Just alters the methods of removal.))

[_DivideByZero_]

Sleep! Then investigate the boulder early in the morning.

[Samarkand]

Turn 10: Presenting the Prototype

Iktaka Modri
Standing before him was a bald man with a number of scars. Not your typical mage…"Farrek is my name. You don't need to worry about me, I'm familiar with a bit of danger. And I've been briefed by your guild. In fact, there's a bit of irony to this whole thing. See, you've just been reprimanded for playing with corpses. I was kicked out of the Mage's Guild for vivisection. Wanted to know how crystals worked in them blink dogs. Marichemists Guild picked me up. Did dissections for them for a bit, then had some philosophical disagreements with them as well. See I'm a man with knowledge but no connections. That's the what your Guild wants, so they have to put up with my past." The man seemed proud of this fact.

After the introductions the two got to work. [Ripeness: 8] The apples would be ripe soon, and they got to work putting crystals in the trees.

Spoiler: Test 4 Rolls (click to show/hide)

• Step 1: Simple = 8, 5, 3
• Step 2: Moderate= 8, 9
• Step 3: Simple=8, 7

One of the trees was difficult to drill into, and got marred to badly for further drilling attempts today. The other two were easily embedded with crystals. Farrek was much more skilled than the previous helper. Maybe his misfortune hadn't strictly been luck after all. The changes were subtle, at least in the fruit. These trees adopted many of the same traits as the others, but with some care Modri and Farrek managed to avoid any incidences. It seemed watering them before approaching helped calm the trees. This allowed them to make careful measurements of the trees. Here Modri realized just how precise Farrek was. He took repeated measurements of every apple and carefully recorded the results. He even got in the habit of watering the trees without crystals as he approached, to ensure there would be no bias. Through these careful techniques they realized the apples were slightly larger. Further measurements would need to be taken after the apples fell.

Spoiler: Test 5 Rolls (click to show/hide)

• Step 1: Difficulty = 9, 10
• Step 2: Moderate= 11, 8
• Step 3: Simple=7

The tree had grown around the crystals, turning them into bulging bark covered growths. Farrek had to pull the crystals out of the tree, ripping through the bark. It seemed dicy to Modri, but he insisted he could do it, and pointed out that trying to manually take a crystal out would probably rile up the tree substantially. So Modri and Farrek hid behind trees and he pulled. To Modri it looked like the tree just shook a bit at first, and then leaves started getting pushed away. Branches were pulled from nearby trees and it was a veritable maelstrom of magical powers, and then suddenly the first growth gave and the crystal came flying out of the tree. Farrek carefully directed it to the ground before pulling on the second one, which elucidated weaker reactions from the tree. Soon both crystals were safely away from the tree, at which pony they were carefully examine. There was no disturbance of any kind on the faces of the crystal, no pitting or discolorations, not even any substantial scratches. Farrek started throwing stuff at the tree to confirm it was inactive now, and found no response. It appeared crystals were entirely necessary for its function. This made Modri brave enough to examine the holes. It appeared the growths were dense and vascular.


+ Farrek, + Almost Ripe Apples, +2 Crystal Embedded Apple Trees, + 1 Deprived Tree

Spoiler: Assets (click to show/hide)

64 iron shillings
Vast supply of scrapwood
4  live trees
1 Crystal Embedded Tree
1 Unreactive Crystal Embedded Tree
1 DeprivedTree
Small Crate of Shards (296)

George Thain
George was having an adventure!

Spoiler: Items (click to show/hide)

Force crystal
200 iron shillings

Bane Willedhelm
[Sleep: Simple=6][Investigate Boulder: SImple=8] Bane and Podri both got some rest before waking in the early morning to check on the boulder. It was precisely where they had left it, not a flower had been disturbed. Except for the ones Bane himself had disturbed. Those were thoroughly disturbed. Uprooting will do that to a flower.

Spoiler:  Assets (click to show/hide)

3 Sea Silver Harpoons
78 iron shillings
Podri
Hidden Boulder

Herman Tongs
[Cast Ingot: Simple=11]Herman poured an ingot which he carefully cooled only partially, leaving a bar of workable metal. [Test Anvil: Simple= 11] He placed this bar on his anvil and started cranking. It was hard work but no harder than smithing manually. Before his eyes the hammer fell repeatedly, and the ingot was gradually flattened. His machine worked!

[Call for presentation: Moderate=11] Herman was clever, if he went straight to the Forgemaster he might be dismissed quickly. Sure, he might get some of the materials. The Guild was wealthy and the Forgemaster would give out funds just to avoid being bothered. But if he wanted everything necessary to complete his next constructs he would need to really capture the man's attention. He started at the bottom, grabbing the attention of some apprentices, giving a small demonstration. This led up the chain, there was a master who was genuinely interested. He chatted about his current machine, and how it related to his future designs. And then he pulled out his real weapon, his sketches. They perfectly depicted the machine, in such clear detail there could be no doubt it would work. By the time he had finished discussing these drawings, the master in charge of casting had gone to intercede with the Forgemaster on his behalf, Herman himself didn't even have to ask.

The Forgemaster came after only the shortest amount of time from the master leaving. "Alright, show me what this thing is. You've got this one about ready to wet 'imself with excitement."

Spoiler:  Assets (click to show/hide)

Access to bronze for casting
160 iron shillings
Sketch of Hand-Crank Hammer

• Hammer
• Two Mechanisms
• Metal Frame
• Spring
• Crank

Intricate Sketch of Powered Hammer

• Columnar Hammer (Must be Iron)
• Large Anvil (Must be Iron)
• Metal Frame
• Four Mechanisms

Intricate Sketch of Magical Water Power Source

• 3 Rust-Proof Pipe
• Rust-Proof Resevoir
• Rust-Proof Corkscrew Rod (Difficult)
• Mechanism
• 4 inch diameter Crystal Plate

Wax for Casting
Great Hand-Crank Hammer

Wol Fann
[10 credits to Tox: Moderate= 10][5 credits to volunteers: Moderate= 2] The toxicologist gladly accepted the credits and offered his help. A little money could smooth over a lot of reservations with the state the Guild was in. It could not, however, smooth over the fact that one of the experts involved in the earlier discussion had apparently divulged the nature of his experiments. He wasn't going to find any willing volunteers in Paludan anymore.

[Obtain Pig: Moderate= 8] The toxicologist was able to help him acquire a pig. It was done from outside of the Guild though, and so Wol had to hand off 7 shillings. He'd have to keep this pig alive. [Train Pig: Moderate=8] Training it wasn't too challenging, it just took some patience; essentially the same method that worked on the rats worked on pigs.

-10 credits, + Toxicologist, -7 shillings, + Trained Pig

Spoiler:  Assets (click to show/hide)

Access to gardens and swamp
Workbench with mortar and pestle
20 Guild credits
33 iron shillings
Cowbane
Red Vine
Sage
White Crown
9 Dead Rat
Untrained Recovered Rat (Cowbane/White Crown)
Untrained Recovered Rat (Red Vine/White Crown)
Trained Recovered Rat (Red Vine/White Crown)
2 Unpoisoned Trained Rats
Toxicologist
Trained Pig

[Playergamer]

Carefully give the pig a safe dosage of Red Vine/Sage

Test it on memory.

[flabort]

I'm most enjoying following along.

Also, Bane/Divide, I'm sorry for this, but I kind of picked the guild I wanted to work for based on mortality; I keep expecting that the actions you take will lead to your death. I felt I should say this now, because I'm also enjoying watching your slightly less legal actions.

Heheh, "uprooting will do that to a flower". I'm surprised that having their roots up against a Tortoise Boulder didn't affect them. Glad, it means that Bane doesn't have to deal with murder flowers, but surprised. It seems logical that it should have affected them similar to how Modri/Harry's shards are affecting the trees, but perhaps it's because the crystal is not inside the flower, and maybe because the boulder is whole and has some sort of outer shell; the shell may be indeterminable from the inside of the crystal, but it may prevent similar effects that the shards have on lifeforms because they have other faces exposed (like the thin protective layer of aluminum oxide on drink cans).

[Samarkand]

I'm most enjoying following along.

Also, Bane/Divide, I'm sorry for this, but I kind of picked the guild I wanted to work for based on mortality; I keep expecting that the actions you take will lead to your death. I felt I should say this now, because I'm also enjoying watching your slightly less legal actions.

Heheh, "uprooting will do that to a flower". I'm surprised that having their roots up against a Tortoise Boulder didn't affect them. Glad, it means that Bane doesn't have to deal with murder flowers, but surprised. It seems logical that it should have affected them similar to how Modri/Harry's shards are affecting the trees, but perhaps it's because the crystal is not inside the flower, and maybe because the boulder is whole and has some sort of outer shell; the shell may be indeterminable from the inside of the crystal, but it may prevent similar effects that the shards have on lifeforms because they have other faces exposed (like the thin protective layer of aluminum oxide on drink cans).

((Yup, the boulders are actually rock that has crystals which are on the inside. The flowers have no way, in a short amount of time, to reach and incorporate the crystals.

Btw, most everything I write has some RL inspiration. Search Moeraki Boulders to see my inspiration for these. ))

[flabort]

((Ah. That explains why they're called boulders, too, when they're crystals. Because the crystals are inside. Cool. If it weren't for the lack of internet, I wouldn't mind living in your world IRL))

[Samarkand]

((Ah. That explains why they're called boulders, too, when they're crystals. Because the crystals are inside. Cool. If it weren't for the lack of internet, I wouldn't mind living in your world IRL))

((Museum exhibit. Regrettably have not seen in New Zealand, although its on my list of places I war to visit.))

[_DivideByZero_]

Move the boulder closer to the roads to make it seem like it's ours. Then look for travelling merchants willing to help us pick it up and bring it to Korinscove.

[IcyTea31]

((The ingot was supposed to be for the presentation, not another test, but I can roll with it. By the way, our Herbalist is missing from the player list.))

"The difference of a crossbow to a hunting bow. Easier to use, more powerful and much less straining. The archer's strength is loaded into just the moment of launching, with very little going to waste. In a similar fashion, I have created a hammer operated by a crank."

Demonstrate.

"While not quite as fast as a regular hammer for the same person, it is more accurate and requires very little strength on the smith's part. Now, what if we make this bigger?"

Pull out the sketch for the powered hammer.

"A huge amount of power, concentrated. One could create things out of metal larger than ever before, or create many small things at once. Now, you may ask, 'Where are we going to get that much power? Surely we wouldn't have a hundred people cranking it all day?' That is a very good question, and for that, I have..."

Pull out the sketch for the magic-engine.

"...this device. An amount of magic crystal exerts all the power the machine needs. Now, as you can see, these are quite complicated machines, so complicated, in fact, that I'm going to need more than just cast bronze for them."

"The hammer and anvil need the durability of iron. The pipes of the engine need the corrosion resistance of Sea Silver. The engine needs the strength of a magic crystal. And of course, in case something comes up, I might need some money too for miscellaneous purchases, such as hiring of workers."

Milk this for all it's worth.