The Booking Office

[Laraqua]

The little office contains a telegraph machine sitting on a desk by a fabric-protected window with a typewriter in the middle, some paper, and two ink stands and some lists to the right. A kettle sits on a little gas stove (unlit) on the filing cabinet in the corner. A filing cabinet stands at the other end of the long narrow room with a small key rack above it, post boxes line the back wall while policies and procedures in poster form, alongside a calendar and a clock are on the other wall. (To search the room you should really enter the appropriate thread, but may read both. To drag him out you can simply keep posting here.)

A fellow in Station Master uniform lies face down on the floor, sprawled out in the little office, one booted foot pressed up against where the base of the door had once stood. He groans a little, shifting slightly at the rush of warm air, as the room he is in was quite chilled as though it were twenty degrees (Fahrenheit) cooler in there. The air also smells strongly of rancid butter mixed with some awfully strong perfume.

Chemistry,the distinctive smell of rancid butter might actually signify Butyric acid which is a fatty acid occurring in the form of esters in animal fats. It's a medium-strong acid when undiluted that reacts with bases and strong oxidants, such as many metals. It is an oily, colorless liquid easily soluble in water, ethanol and ether and often used in food and perfume additives, and even as a fishing bait additive. Inhalation of butyric acid may result in soreness of throat, coughing, a burning sensation, and laboured breathing. Ingestion of the acid may result in abdominal pain, shock, and collapse. Physical exposure to the acid may result in pain, blistering and skin burns, while exposure to the eyes may result in pain, severe deep burns and loss of vision.

Chemistry or Medicine,While there is no guarantee that the problem is chemical in nature, should the portable gas stove be leaking gas, it would be a dangerous and scent-free gas that could easily cause collapse and unconsciousness. While there is a way to tell it is only by looking at the man's face that you could be certain. The correct procedure for dealing with such a situation is to remove everyone from the building and open all windows and doors to ventilate the property (naturally with lights off for black out purposes). The gas in question is a heavy gas unlikely to affect the second storey. It can also cause a collapse in a single breath if it becomes dense enough.

Architecture,this room is more recently refurbished than most of the others. (1-point spend available if you search the room)

Evidence Collection,this room would contain all the files needed for the Station to run. (1-point spend available if you search the room)

[Ritterton]

Artemis' face scrunched at the pungent, unsettling smell as he made his way about the room. He left the prone man to one of his fellow travelers, and began to search through the room as quickly as he could trying to stomach the terrible stench. What is that smell? It's not that familiar, but not totally unknown to me, Artemis kept trying to focus on his searching of the desk and files.

Spoiler:

I will spend an evidence collection point. So, if I understand that I roll 1d6 and add a one. [dice]0[/dice]. Oh, and apparently we have that dice rolling issue going on here...so Laraqua, you will have to roll this for me I guess.

[Laraqua]

Artemis,you don't need to roll to use the first three columns of investigative skills. Only General skills require a roll. The first lot automatically succeed, so long as you make the spend. You search through the desk and find the usual materials, including a timetable for the train's expected arrival times and departures as well as a record of the actual arrival times and departures, and ticket sales. There's a small till in the desk, as well. Fumbling around, he notices one of the drawers is a little bit too short. Pulling it free you find another one of those silver medallions and a note saying: [i]I'm sorry. I couldn't wear it. I had to see![/i] The handwriting doesn't match that found on the ledger.

[Ritterton]

The smell of the room continued to press upon Artemis' senses. The files and papers he came across were what one would expect to find in such an office. However, one set of papers caught his attention and he folded them into his jacket pocket. These time tables could help us understand the trains passage through this place, and if nothing else when we can catch the next one to get on our way, he thought to himself. As he searched the desk, he noticed that the drawers were different or rather one drawer was odd. It was small, or rather it was shorter than the others. He focused his attention on the drawer, and away from the continual smell, and he turned his head trying to see what was different.

He pulled out the drawer and when it caught, he pulled it a bit harder. When he did, the drawer came loose and with it a flash of silver fell from the drawer, as well as a slip of paper. He grabbed the silver, and turned it about, it looked like the type of thing the others had found earlier in the waiting room.

I'm sorry. I couldn't wear it. I had to see!

The note was written by someone other than the writer of the things about the desk. Artemis shook his head, grabbed the note and headed back to the waiting room.

Spoiler:

Ok, got it regarding the use of points and thank you for tracking that already on the Character Sheet, was trying to figure out how do I do that...lol. So, I went a bit quicker and there could be an interject by other players regarding the Station Master.

[Charlie Hagan]

As he turns he sees Charlie standing there, "Another item that was supposed to protect them, there should be more throughout the station, perhaps with more letters."

[Ritterton]

"Protect them from what? And why? Artemis asked Hagan as he flashed the silver medal and the note. "You never did say what you found upstairs, so what's up there?"

[Charlie Hagan]

"Well, all the lights are blown, one room had a bunch of torn paper with letters addressed to various people by obviously disturbed minds, another had a bloodstained mattress. As I've said, I believe these medallions were supposed to protect them from the restless dead that haunt the area. Clearly they failed."

[Ritterton]

"this just does not make any sense," Artemis spoke with an obvious level of frustration. "I think we need to go talk to the Station Master and everyone else to figure out what is going on here. With no tools, we are going to have to try breaking a window or two to get ourselves out of this place. "

Artemis turned towards the door and walked back into the Waiting Room.

[Charlie Hagan]

Charlie exhales noisily through his nose, then follows.

[jimjam]

Ilona moves straight towards the key rack to see if the keys to the upstairs doors are there.

[Laraqua]

The three keys sit there, as expected, as well as a spare key to the baggage room, booking office and the front door. The key for the maint. (whatever that means) is currently missing.

[jimjam]

Ilona snatches up the keys off the rack and instead of leaving the room immediately, she goes over to the desk and has a quick look at the papers on the desk and the typewriter.

[Laraqua]

A chunk of the papers has been swept out and removed into the main hall, judging by the empty spaces. A quick glance shows nothing out of the ordinary. What did this guy do all day? Perhaps in the filing cabinet...?

[jimjam]

She'll check the filing cabinet.
Maybe that might hold some further clue as to what's going on? Do I really want to know? Perhaps I'll find out that this is all some kind of strange military exercise and it will put my mind at ease. Not likely. Oh come on now, positive thoughts...

[Laraqua]

The filing cabinet is ... locked. And she doesn't have the key. It looks like it would be a relatively small key required to unlock the cabinet.

[Charlie Hagan]

Charlie breezes in and goes over to the telegraph machine. He pauses, his finger hovering over the lever, and frowns.

[Laraqua]

Charlie is starting to get a headache. Light, at first, but still there.

[Charlie Hagan]

Charlie taps out three dots followed by three dashes then 3 more dots, after a brief pause he does this again, and again, then one more before leaving the room.

[Laraqua]

The little office contains a telegraph machine sitting on a desk by a fabric-protected window with a typewriter in the middle, some paper, and two ink stands and some lists to the right. A kettle sits on a little gas stove (unlit) on the filing cabinet in the corner. A filing cabinet stands at the other end of the long narrow room with a small key rack above it (emptied), post boxes line the back wall while policies and procedures in poster form, alongside a calendar and a clock are on the other wall. The room is quite chilled as though it were twenty degrees (Fahrenheit) cooler in there. The air also smells strongly of rancid butter mixed with some awfully strong perfume.

Chemistry,the distinctive smell of rancid butter might actually signify Butyric acid which is a fatty acid occurring in the form of esters in animal fats. It's a medium-strong acid when undiluted that reacts with bases and strong oxidants, such as many metals. It is an oily, colorless liquid easily soluble in water, ethanol and ether and often used in food and perfume additives, and even as a fishing bait additive. Inhalation of butyric acid may result in soreness of throat, coughing, a burning sensation, and laboured breathing. Ingestion of the acid may result in abdominal pain, shock, and collapse. Physical exposure to the acid may result in pain, blistering and skin burns, while exposure to the eyes may result in pain, severe deep burns and loss of vision.

Chemistry or Medicine,While there is no guarantee that the problem is chemical in nature, should the portable gas stove be leaking gas, it would be a dangerous and scent-free gas that could easily cause collapse and unconsciousness. While there is a way to tell it is only by looking at the man's face that you could be certain. The correct procedure for dealing with such a situation is to remove everyone from the building and open all windows and doors to ventilate the property (naturally with lights off for black out purposes). The gas in question is a heavy gas unlikely to affect the second storey. It can also cause a collapse in a single breath if it becomes dense enough.

Architecture,this room is more recently refurbished than most of the others. (1-point spend available if you search the room)

Evidence Collection,this room would contain all the files needed for the Station to run. (1-point spend available if you search the room)

[Mr. Handy]

Kate heads directly to the telegraph to see if it is in working order and connected. If so, she begins to transmit a message requesting immediate assistance from the Home Guard.