Railway Station Waiting Room

[Ritterton]

Hearing his name from the other room, Artemis turns in frustration as the door did not even budge with his efforts to open them. He pushed through the curtain to find one of the new arrivals pointing a gun in the general direction of Jonathan and Charlie who had his hands up. Jonathan pushed past him and began pounding on the door as it appeared that Frank was going to put the gun away.

"Charlie, did you find anything upstairs? See anything out any of the windows regarding the train? Seems that the door got locked and shut from the outside." Artemis tried to keep his voice relatively calm, but his mind was spinning as to what was going on in the Station. "Any sign of anyoe else in this bloody place?"

[RhinoRat]

Frank Durant

Frank pointed the gun at the ground, but held his other hand up in a "keep your distance" sort of gesture at Charlie Hagan. He had no intention of anyone wrestling his gun away at this point but he realized that keeping it pointed toward the door was just creating more anxiety and making him look like the enemy.

"You must be Mr. Hagan. Miss Lacey mentioned that you were upstairs and that you were the one that found the mysterious letter, yes?"

Addressing Jonathan Alden he began calmly, "Sir, you are correct that we are in the middle of a train station in England, but if you haven't noticed there is a WAR going on and there are blackout curtains on the doors and windows for the simple reason that we don't want to be a target for a German bomber, and anywhere a German bomber can reach there is also a possibility of German paratroopers. So between that, the concern and mention of sabotage, and the fact we currently seem to be locked in the station, this seems like EXACTLY the type of situation that might require a gun!"

He slumped against the wall, gun still pointed down, other hand rubbing his forehead.

He began speaking again, softer this time, "Mr. Alden, I beg your pardon. That was uncalled for. I assure all of you that I am not a danger and on the contrary I am just trying to ensure our safety. Please indulge me for another moment so we can make sure we are not in imminent danger, and I will put away my pistol. Ladies, I truly apologize for my rash behavior."

[Laraqua]

The train whistles away some steam as it finally chugs into the station, and you can hear its wheels slow as it moves into position. Beyond it you can hear the sound of chain links being rattled, which is odd, because there are no fences out there. The fire in the fireplace burns low for a moment and then flares back to its normal life. At least it's still warm and cozy in here. At least that's something.

Out the window,the fog is so deep you can't really make out the train now that it's pulled up into place. If anything it just looks like a deeper darkness filling the space just beyond the platform.

[Ritterton]

"Can anyone see what is going on with the train? I can't get the door to budge at all." Artemis turned and looked across the room at the other inhabitants. "Where is that damned Station Manager?"

[Mr. Handy]

Kate peeks out the window. "I see aught but fog," she says, "but I could hear the train pull in." She inspects the door closely. "Perhaps there's a better way to open this than by using brute force."

OOC,Spending 1 point of Craft.

[Laraqua]

Miss Lacey,as the hinges are on this side it would be a relatively simple matter to undo it on the hinges and then even if the chains have bee somehow secured to the middle of the door, it could be opened on the sides. Alternatively if it isn't actually connected to the chains, even if locked, it could be wedged out as a whole object. This would be a Mechanical Repair roll and would require some form of tools. There may be tools in the Station Master's office or in the Baggage Room. Alternatively you could always remove the glass from the windows, though that would be a noisy affair as none of these windows actually open. The upstairs windows might open but then you'd need to climb down from them. If you moved the black out structure to face over one of the windows, you could also peer out on the platform without revealing any light -- though it would doubtless be simpler to just go upstairs.

[Mr. Handy]

"Yes, we'll need some tools," says Kate, "but we can easily remove these doors since the hinges are on the inside. We might find them in the Station Master's office or the baggage room, but those doors are locked. The chains won't matter then. We can just pull the doors inside. Or we could wedge them outward as long as the chains aren't secured to the doors themselves. We could also try removing the glass, but that would make a lot of noise. These windows weren't designed to open. If you want to get a better look at the platform, we could move the blackout structure over a window, which will keep light from getting out. Or someone could just go upstairs."

[Ejstricker]

The countess rises from her seat after watching them all moving here and there, and slinks over to Frank Durant with a gliding walk. Her gaze catches his, and she asks, "Why do you have a gun?" A simple question, but her voice purrs around the edges.

[Charlie Hagan]

Charlie drops his hands. "So some nutters have locked us up in here? I was worried something like this would happen."

[jimjam]

"Oh me. I'll go upstairs." Ilona, steps forward, hand half raised. She gives Charlie a sideways glance with a frown, then quickly heads out of the room.

[RhinoRat]

Frank Durant

Frank stood up away from the wall, looked the Countess in the eyes and said quietly with a sad smile"I used to be a private investigator. Things didn't work out."

He walked away from her, seemingly lost in his own thoughts, back to where his boot case laid open in disarray. Looking around and coming to terms with the fact that no one was currently invading the station he decided to holster his pistol. He then picked up his discarded suit coat and slipped it on, put everything back in his case, snapped it shut, and locked it.

[Laraqua]

The train would be sure to leave soon. It would only wait a few short minutes before moving on.

[Charlie Hagan]

"So what have they done, locked the doors? Chained them? Barricaded them?" Charlie goes around to inspect the locks and apply pressure to the doors as he asks, trying to project an aura of calm.

[Laraqua]

The doors don't budge. They're likely locked, but there may be an additional barrier as suggested.

[Overlord87]

"Well, I want to get out of this place. Miss Lacey, you mentioned the possibility of forcing the door open from the inside, having the proper tools? Well then, let's find these tools. Surely we should be able to force our way into the Station Master's office", Jonathan says, then moves towards the office's door and slams into it with his shoulder, trying to force it open.

Spoiler:

I suppose I need to roll Athletics. I spend 2 points.

Rolled a 7. http://orokos.com/roll/408230

[Laraqua]

Thud, thud, crack. On the third time he puts his shoulder to the door, Mr. Alden manages to break the lock and the door bounces against a soft weight and swings toward a closed position once more. The vague scent of rancid butter mixed with some awfully strong perfume floats out through the gap.

[Ritterton]

Artemis watched as Alden walked across the room to the Station Master's office and after juggling the handle throwing his upper body against the door. On the third try, the door opens slightly and the comes to a closed position. Artemis walked quickly, his walking stick tapping out his pace on the polished floor.

"Here Jonathan, let me see if I can help you with that one at least," as he approached Alden and the door he caught the odd combination of heavy perfume and rancid butter. He grimaced slight as he closed with Alden. "What is that smell? Let's see if we can get inside there and find those tools."

[Mr. Handy]

Kate smiles, obviously impressed, as she hurries to the Station Master's door. "I was going to suggest picking the lock." she says, "but this way was quicker. A blow that strong likely would have broken open the front doors." She wrinkles her nose at the smell. "Yes, let's find those tools fast so we can remove the hinges. That train won't wait forever." She stands ready to follow Jonathan into the office.

[Charlie Hagan]

Catching the smell, Charlie frowns. "Hold on a sec. You know I found some torn up notes upstairs, they painted an interesting picture. I think whoever's locked us up are the ones who wrote those notes, and they mentioned the smell of rancid butter, apparently it hwralds a woman the person who wtote the note was quite afraid of... I'm sure some of you will find this idea preposterous, but I have experience with such thing and..." He pauses for effect. "I believe these people have been driven mad by restless spirits."

[RhinoRat]

Frank Durant

"Thank you Mister Hagan," Frank thought, "People probably no longer think I am the craziest person in the station."

He stared at Hagan trying to even comprehend what Hagan was talking about.