The Ballad of Bass Rock - Introduction

[Cearlan]

"Uh Thankin ye Ladies," utters Carruthers as he steps through the doorway before changing out of his sodden clothing into something that is at least sevicable, if only just.

"Aye Laddie that wuid make sense tae keep it in thae cellar, Let's agan lookin' then."

[Priest]

First floor (British first floor): Cynthia; Claire; Roberto, Aidan and the O’Keefe’s.

Spoiler:

Led by an intrepid, if badly attired Cynthia, the wooden door blocking the stairs is found to be unlocked . It opens into a circular room, sparsely furnished which although neat and relatively clean shows all the hallmarks of a simplicity of style and functionality that is rarely found beyond a male only work area. No pictures adorn the white painted walls, and other than a solitary window overlooking the sea below, a single roughly levelled shelf bearing a collection of books of various size and age and a large chart detailing the are around the rock they are bare of any embellishment.
There is a much battered roll-top desk of a pre-war age and style upon which a pile of papers and an open book rest, with an uncomfortable looking office chair, complete with castors, at an angle in front, as if recently used and casually abandoned. Beneath the desk a partially open wooden crate appears to have been used as a footrest from the marks and stains that you can see.
Other than the desk the room contains two ancient, but sturdy, tables upon one of which sits a large black radio transmitter. The other is covered in an untidy collection of bits and pieces, some boxes and others various mechanical parts.
Of the lighthouse keeper there is no sign, but of his recent presence there is. On the desk, beside the open book, there is an empty stained plate, and an equally stained mug, an unstoppered ink bottle and a pen resting upon the book itself.
The wrought iron stairs continue in a spiral around the walls upward to another door.

Basement: Carruthers; Parhurst and MacLean

Spoiler:

Where the steps descend below the entrance hall, a wooden door blocks further access. Below this, you were assured by young Aidan before he had joined those going upstairs, was the basement where the generator would be found.
The door is unlocked and opens easily on well greased hinges, revealing that the stairs spiral below into some form of room, though the dim light which seems to be coming from the southern end provides limited vision.
However, the first thing you notice upon opening the door is the smell. Strong enough to make your eyes water and have you retching it smells bad, akin to a hot day at a fishing port mixed with the smell of decaying and rotting foodstuffs.

OOC: Please roll Con x5 to avoid suffering nausea effects. Failure -1 to Hit Points (Temporary)

From the steps as your eyes adjust to the light, you can see that the room itself is mostly circular but a oblong annex has been constructed. This ‘annex’ opens to the south, unnoticed during you hike from the beach, whatever doors block access to the basement from the outside must be open to allow so much light in. Normally you would imagine that the area is lit by the single light flex which protrudes from the centre of the ceiling, yet even in this light you can see that the end of the flex is bare of any bulb or housing.
In the brighter light that spills from the southern end of the room, there is something near to the opening that looks vaguely mechanical but as to what it is there is no way of telling without entering the basement proper.

[yockenthwaite]

"Interesting old-looking books," says Claire, looking briefly towards them. "But first things first. Does anyone here have experience of using a radio transmitter? I'm quite handy with electrical gadgets, and so may be able to get this working." She walks towards the transmitter, looking to see if it appears straightforward to use.

[PatGrillo]

Hmm, what's that Dear?.. Oh, one of the gentlemen downstairs perhaps. It's boys who tend to like tinkering about with mechanical things." ~ Except for you and your silly old camera. ~ Cynthia walks over to have a glance out of the window, then returns to the table to examine the open book.

[Cearlan]

Carruthers,[url=http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/4128097/]Con x 5 (65%) (1d100=42)[/url]

"Gods that stench is foul beyond all reason" Carruthers coughs as he waves his hand in front of his face as he enters the room.

[Mr. Handy]

OOC,Ah, nuts, I'd wanted to go upstairs. And of course I failed the roll. :(

William feels queasy when the stench reaches his nostrils. "Did something die in there?" he asks as he covers his mouth and nose and follows Carruthers inside.

[Priest]

Basement: Carruthers, Parkhurst and MacLean

“Crikey!- several something’s I should say and a while ago”, answers Parkhurst, nose wrinkling as he steps from the stairs onto the stone floor of the basement.
“Yuk, everything seems to be covered in some sort of oily residue. Look you can see it dripping from the ceiling.” Indeed he seems right every surface, walls, floor and ceiling are coated with the foul smelling slime from which the stink of putrefaction arises.
Scattered around the basement, no doubt adding to the smell, are the rotting remnants of various foodstuffs, boxes, cartons and tin cans seemingly crushed and split open without any rhyme or reason, and the device that can be found opposite the stair was indeed once a generator. However whatever caused the damage in the basement has also damaged the generator.
In the centre of this mix of rotting food and dripping slime is an area of particular note, an irregular shaped patch of the noxious slime and rotting food mix seems to be a focal point of some description. In that patch the slime has pooled to form a coating of semi-gelatinous residue which gives the impression that whatever the source of the slime, it had lain here.
In the southern part of the basement, the area that had been enlarged to create the annex, you can see that the entrance is open to the elements. Indeed the double doors that had once closed off this entrance now hang, barely supported, on torn hinges.

OOC: Dice roll for Robert Parhurst in Dr Peterson's absence 1d100 → [23] = (23) http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/4130424/ Con x 5 60%

[Mr. Handy]

"Well, I cannae fix that," says William.

[RulerMan]

''I don't have much experience with these kind of radios'' Roberto says to Claire - ''but we don't have much choice besides trying to make it work,right?.'' He then will see if he understands any basic concept of operation the radio has.

[Priest]

First floor: Cynthia, Claire, Roberto and the NPCs

Cynthia, seeming to show no interest in the presence of a radio, glances briefly out the window.
The view is monotonous, little more than rough sea and pounding surf breaking far below on the same rocky beach from which they had so recently escaped. Rain lashes at the glass providing evidence of little change in the current weather conditions and from the dark grey of the sky little prospect of any. Sniffing at Claire and the foreign Johnny, Roberto she thought he had said his name was, and their interest in the radio, she walks over to the desk and picking up the book, noting its handwritten style, she reads:

Tuesday, 19:39
Everything working as it should. Perhaps Moby-Dick is getting to me. I could have sworn I saw something—small whale? Huge killer whale?—down near the water’s edge just now. Maybe just a trick of the light, shadow, dark and unmoving. Dinner.

Wednesday, 20:01
Lamphouse again. Lamp working fine, all is fine. I thought I saw the dark shape in the water again. Shone my torch, but it has no reach, nothing there. Not sure it was a killer whale. Something about it not right. Went to look again. Nothing. Probably just tired. Need a break off this rock.

Thursday, 19:22
Rotten weather, but all’s fine. New lamp still ticking away grandly. Need to call Adamson at the Lighthouse Commission to get another shipment of paraffin sent out. Saw the killer whale again just after sunset. I’m sure it’s a killer whale now: even through the rain I could make out black and white markings, bobbing up and down near the shore. No idea what it’s doing— no seals on Bass Rock to my knowledge.

Friday, 19:50
Gale outside, but all’s well with lamp and lighthouse. Made nice stew and had to get candle! Checking downstairs—electrics out and generator just made bloody awful bang. Shook the whole lighthouse!

***********************************************************************************************************************

Claire and Robert study the black bakelite radio noting the large tuning dial in its centre which seems to be set to 195 kHz long wave, and the myriad of switches and knobs that all seem to have various functions. However one, the largest switch, is labeled on/off and seems to currently be in the off position.
Repeated switching of this on/off switch elicits no response in either noise or motion of the power display needle. It would appear to be without access to a power source.

OOC: Claire and Roberto may attempt either Mechanical or Electrical repair rolls (highest your choice) + 20% to ascertain the problem.

Aidan points to the stairs that continue upward, “Yon steps lead up to the keepers quarters then again to the light housing, from there I should be able to watch for signs of me Da, with these” he indicates the binoculars that Captain Parkhurst had given him, he glances over to where Michael O’Keefe still attempted to share warmth with his shivering bride, “Wherever Charlie may be, there will be warm dry clothes upstairs, you ken.”
Michael O’Keefe nods and steers Emily towards the stairs.

[yockenthwaite]

Claire takes a closer look at the radio transmitter, trying to figure out what's wrong.

OOC Easily pass Mechanical repair + 20,[url=http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/4131764/]Trying Mechanical Repair (50) + 20 (=70) to try to see what's wrong with the radio transmitter (1d100=8)[/url]

[PatGrillo]

Cynthia: "I say, seems like Mr. Lighthouse Keeper was starting to see things. I'm surprised he wasn't claiming a monster! Don't they say they have those in your um lake thingys up here in Not-so-bonny Scotland?

[RulerMan]

Roberto awaits to see if Claire has any success in operating the radio transmitter before he attempts anything.

Spoiler:

OCC:Mechanical Repair roll - [dice]0[/dice](20+20=40%)

Then when he hears what Cynthia says about the book:
''Not trying to sound cold but it seems this Lighthouse keeper was starting to get crazy for staying such a long time alone around here. believe me, I had similar sensations in my life before. Thankfully, I was able to overcome all this loneliness.''

[Cearlan]

Carruthers, fighting the need to retch and gag, stumbles over to the remains of the generator, making sure that he doesn't step in the pool in the middle of the floor.

Mechanical Repair roll (1d100=66), fail 66/20

"Well looks tae me as thae it is totally beyond hope o' repair, not that I'm an expert mind you. As for whit has happened here, I neither ken nor really wannae."

[Mr. Handy]

"Well, let me give it a go," says William, examining the generator. ""Hmm...I may be able to do something with this after all.""

[PatGrillo]

Cynthia (to Aidan): Well, it doesn't look like there's much more I can do here. Come along Young Man, lets go up to the housing as you suggest.

[Priest]

Basement: Carruthers, Parkhurst and MacLean

Steeling himself to the odor, Robert, careful of where he treads, joins the others at the ruined generator, “Let me have a look old chap”

Spoiler:

OOC: Dice roll for Robert Parkhurst in Dr Peterson’s absence 1d100 → [83] = (83) http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/4133167/ Mechanical Repair 20% failed.

For several seconds he peruses the machine with a most serious expression, “No don’t understand it at all, old fruits”

After a few minutes of intense study which includes the opening of various panels, William MacLean concludes that the generator is beyond salvaging. Even with replacement parts it would need a major reconstruction to start it working again.

“Hmm…” says Robert studiously looking around at the ruin of the basement, “Whatever caused this…damage, seems to have left through the doors.”

OOC: please roll a Spot Hidden. If successful a track roll +40%.

*************************************************************************************

First Floor: Cynthia, Claire, Roberto and the NPCs

Claire and Roberto study the radio attempting to ascertain its lack of power. To Roberto’s chagrin it is Claire that spots the wire leading to the wall plug. Although switched on the fact that the radio is dependent upon the light houses electrical circuit explains its lack of power. However she quickly concludes that other than the power problem there seems to be nothing wrong with the set. She also notices the panel near the base of the set marked ‘Batteries’, however when opened the panel reveals its empty condition. If there are batteries here they are not in situ.

Taking the journal from a disinterested Cynthia who seems bent upon going upstairs to the keepers living quarters, Roberto reads the entries for himself.

Led by the eager boy, and closely followed by the O’Keefe’s, Cynthia finds the door to the keeper’s quarters unlocked. Beyond the entrance she sees a small kitchen and washroom separated by a long threadbare curtain. Once again, as downstairs, the room contains a single, porthole style window and more stairs which again rise to the ceiling.

[RulerMan]

With nothing more to do in the room, Roberto follows the others to the next floor. When he reachs the floor, he gaves a quick glance at the window to see if he can notice anything of interest from here.

[PatGrillo]

Cynthia: Er HELLO.... Is there anyone at home?

[Mr. Handy]

"Ach, it's as I thought," says William. "It isnae possible to fix it without replacement parts, and even then it would take a lot of work and time. But how did this happen?"