Steamworks Brass and Earth

[Knight Errant]

In the middle of Muffinville park, over the series of a few minutes... minor earthquakes shake... gently swaying the trees. Finally... with an explosion of dirt, dust, and rocks... a massive greenish brass colored drill breaches the surface. It continues up... spiked wheels on the side of the cylinder behind it gripping tightly and hauling the machine further out of the ground. Once the cylinder under the drill is about ten feet exposed, the whole machine goes silent with a rattle... and a faint put putting of engines.

A large door with a very stylized V folds outwards like a drawbridge... the ramp having a red velvet staircase on the inside as the base clangs against the ground... revealing a dark archway into the strange machine.

((I'm starting a thing! All aboard the plot device for adventure, excitement, and danger!))

[Kether]

*in his standard mechanical form he saunders up lazily or as lazily as one might be able to do with mechanical perfection... or something like that. That is to say without much concern!*

[Blaze]

And who should come walking along but Jean! Carrying a digital camera around her neck. She stares at the big digging machine with a small smile, watching the ramp. She starts to walk up it, peeeking around the arch.

"Hello?! Could I have permission to take a photo of your machine please?"

[Whatevr89532]

A young, blond-headed man wearing perfectly casual clothes--but for a pointy, dark-blue hat with yellow stars scattered on it--meanders up near the machine around the same time as Jean does. A muffled squeak can be heard from just above his head, likely from the inside of his hat. "Oh come now, Jyr, that's rude." And, to another squeak he replies, "Well, yes, but it's still a rude way to say it.."

[Knight Errant]

The inside is dark... and... musty. It smells vaguely of old mansions, rich furnishings locked in unopened rooms for decades. Mixed with the faint smell of oil. The whole machine rumbles faintly... little pops and hisses and gurgles heard through the device.

As Kether saunters into the darkness... the floor depresses slightly from his weight, and with a hum and sudden brightness... yellow bulbs fixed to lamps and chandeliers light to reveal the interior... Or... not. As a few of them pop... the glass tinkling to the floor as the filament sparks slightly. Still the light from the remainder is enough to illuminate the sight all entering the machine would see.

The room is cylindrical as one might expect. With rows of red velvet chairs lining the walls to the left and right... circling around to meet at the beginning of a stained mahogany bar directly opposite the doorway. The lantern lights are set into the walls every few intervals... allowing them to see the chairs are framed of metal and bolted to the floor and walls... and have safety harnesses. A closer look at the bar would reveal the bottles and glasses are all very firmly secured against what one would assume would be a bumpy ride.

In the center is an ornate spiral staircase made of metal. It disappears into a closed hatch on the ceiling. Behind the staircase is another hatch leading down, also closed. And hung from the ceiling nearby is the ornate chandelier. Around a third of the bulbs have burst... casting the room into a mix of light and shadows. Not hard to see in, but a bit eerie. The wood paneling on the wall is bare in a few places... or even set with glass portholes to reveal the pipes, valves, and gears of the machine behind them. Most of which are still... but for the occasional puff of steam.

[Kether]

*he heads up the stairs, should they not fall apart or any such shenanigans he reaches up for the hatch and attempts to rip it open*

[Blaze]

Jean smiles up at the robot.

"I will check downstairs!" she calls up after it, twisting the hatch at the bottom of the stairs open and moving down!

[Feng]

A raggedy man approaches the strange edifice, a metal detector in hand. Gawking up at the structure he shambles forth towards the door, muttering something incoherent about space lobsters!

[Knight Errant]

The stairs deign to support his weight. The top hatch is locked, but with enough force it pops open to reveal what seems to be the pilots cabin. Strange dials, levers, and buttons line the walls. Readouts behind green tinted glass sit, mostly darkened. The machine seems to be powered down or in low idling. Oh and there is a corpse in the pilots seat. Desiccated and with a faint layer of dust over it, it seems to have been a man dressed in faded green with brass buckles and buttons on his pilots suit, a goggled leather helmet in his lap. Of note, there is an open log book on the console in front of him. Also of note is a strange looking pistol on the floor by the chair, the hole in the corpses head, and the faded brown stain on the ceiling behind it.

Jean goes downwards! The faint put putting and whirring of gears is much louder as she descends the wooden ladder. There is a lantern set in the wall to the right, as well as warning signs for goggled helmets and gloves to be worn. Apparently she is descending into the engine room!

The raggedy man shambles into the door... and sees carpets, chairs, and a bar!

[Kether]

He quickly looks over the gun to get a baring on what sort it is. Followed by checking the log, obviously the murder was of little concern*

[Blaze]

Jean examines the sign and takes a helmet, goggles and gloves from seemingly nowhere! She puts them all on, tucking her hair under the helmet before picking up the lantern and venturing further down, towards the noises!

[Feng]

Inwards ventures the hobo-without-a-name, leaning upon an ancient-looking (but quite sturdy) pointy walking stick, the top adorned with the remnants of a garbage collecting stick.

His eye lights up as he espies the bar. "By the All Father" he roars with glee, spirits lifted. He immediately sprints over to raid the booze supply!

[Knight Errant]

He quickly looks over the gun to get a baring on what sort it is. Followed by checking the log, obviously the murder was of little concern*

He finds the pistol has a nearly full magazine! Its of a strange design... and what would happen if he pulled the trigger isn't exactly apparent. But its a safe bet that flowers don't come out the end of the barrel. One side of the barrel is stamped with a maker's mark.

The log describes trips between locations he has never heard of... one location in particular seems to be the most visited. 'Vendigroth' wherever that was, also listed are the names of passengers and cargo. On the last page, instead of departure and arrival times, a more haggard and hurried scrawl.

"Barely escaped those things... Fueled up, but the docking clamps are released in the control tower. No one there now. Going to wait a few days before drawing straws to see who goes for the run."

"Simmons got the short straw. The dock looked empty... but by his screams... he didn't make it."

"Still trapped... food is all but out..."

"I'd rather die than try my luck out there. Starving isn't much of a better option... Of course... there is the third option."

Thats all there is. Besides the blood stain.

Jean examines the sign and takes a helmet, goggles and gloves from seemingly nowhere! She puts them all on, tucking her hair under the helmet before picking up the lantern and venturing further down, towards the noises!

She ventures down through the putting machine. Down a downwards spiraling tunnel through the pipes, valves, and gauges. Up ahead she hears a repeating buzzer... and sees a pair of flashing lights. Something was wrong, apparently!

Inwards ventures the hobo-without-a-name, leaning upon an ancient-looking (but quite sturdy) pointy walking stick, the top adorned with the remnants of a garbage collecting stick.

His eye lights up as he espies the bar. "By the All Father" he roars with glee, spirits lifted. He immediately sprints over to raid the booze supply!

He heads over! And discovers... past the rich, wooden bar... a desiccated corpse lies on the ground between the bar and the shelves. An empty bottle in its arms. But hey! The shelves seem to still have some bottles with liquid sloshing underneath their dusty glass.

[Blaze]

Jean walks along the winding corridors, using a piece of chalk to mark her route in case she got lost... when she notices the flashing lights, and heads towards them!

[Feng]

The dead body gives the raider pause and he stops dead in his tracks! Glancing down at the corpse he gulps, taking off his knitted hat before grabbing one of the full bottles and emptying its contents into the skeleton's open mouth.

"Cheers to ya, Gladys" he says somberly as he empties the booze. His good eye turns it way towards the corpse' pants. Maybe he had some loose change? =D