Play@YSDC

Duc's Palace, Great Hall - Vyones, Auvergne, France
9:00 AM - Monday, April 20, 1517

Story, Elizabeth, Brook, and Jacques soon caught up to Leonardo da Vinci as he departed the hall, as he moved slowly due to his advanced age. "It is good to see all of you again," he said. "I would be happy to show you my works in greater detail if you like. If you wish to see the dead man by daylight, I imagine they'll have moved him to the ice house. Bodies tend to decay quickly otherwise. I would actually like to perform an autopsy on the corpse."

When you return, please let me know what the Psychology roll was for, and I'll let you know what you've learned.

Brook gulps, suddenly deciding that checking out the corpse might not be such a good idea after all.

However, this is not something she wants to admit.

“Okay, let’s get on with it, while the guy is still fresh… ish…”

"Yes, an excellent suggestion," said Leonardo. "The sooner I begin my examination, the less chance the cadaver will have to decay. I always like to conduct an autopsy on a fresh corpse, if possible. Is that acceptable to the rest of you?"

Jacques:

Jacques looks basically appalled at the idea of the ladies sitting in while Da Vinci conducts his "examination".

"Ah, Master, if you could spare a few more minutes before you find the dead thief, we were hoping to talk to you privately first. Perhaps in your rooms?"

"If you wish, Monsieur," said Leonardo, "and if the ladies do not mind waiting?"

Jacques:

"Ladies, shall we adjourn to Master Da Vinci's rooms for a brief spell?" Jacques looks politely hopeful.

Elizabeth looks archly at Jaques, wondering what he has up his sleeve. She looks at her companions and then nods her head.
“Lead on, Monsieur, it might be sensible to talk first.”

“Yep; lead on,” concurs Brook.

"Very well, then," said Leonardo, leading the group back to his rooms. Once they arrived and entered, he closed the door. "Now, what is it you wish to discuss?"

Jacques:

Jacques sighs. "I think we need to consider the possibility that the author of that letter to the thief may be the Duchesse. The first time we heard his full name was after she whispered it to the Duc."

"I can tell you what I know of her:"

"The duchesse is part of the highborn Beaufort family in Paris, the daughter of a Comte. She was remarkably well-educated, and her marriage to the Duc was a political and economic one to form an alliance between their families, the Duchesse being nearly twenty years younger than her husband. She is the smart one in that marriage. He hunts and arranged parties, she manages their affairs."

"Of course it may be that she only knows the thief's name as he was a guest. But if she is the author of the letter, there is little chance of further justice being found here. The Duc will take her side and that will be that. Except perhaps for her accusers."

"Now may not be a good time to show too much interest in this matter, at least not publicly."

Leonardo stroked his beard. "That is a possibility," he said. "While the letter was written in Italian, that may be merely because Giuseppe was Italian himself, and the Duchesse would know multiple languages - though I doubt she knows as many as I do. Though, if it were her, why would she not simply have a trusted servant do the deed when I was out of the room? Still, it something to consider. We must indeed be circumspect. We will need solid evidence before we make any accusations."

Jacques:

Jacques looks to the ladies. "Ladies, I do beg of you that you consider letting Master Da Vinci conduct his study of the dead thief without you."

"I can tell you, I have seen the insides of more men than I care to count and would spare you the experience if I could."

"Remember my offer of a horse ride?"

“I’ve never ridden a horse in my life,” Brook replies. “But if it’s that or see a day-old corpse get up, then get me in the saddle!”

Jacques:

"The Duc's stables will have ponies trained for just such occasions. And I will be there to make sure nothing goes wrong."

"Just don't give Buttons the impression you're withholding treats from him. But I'm sure by now he's taken out the majority of his morning ill humour in the stable boys, never fear."

“Well… okay then, so long as they’re docile…” Brook replies.

Elizabeth has been thinking.
“If I were the Duchess I wouldn’t use a servant who could be traced back to me but rather a professional individual.
“There is something else too.
This play that is on tonight, ‘Le Roi en Jaune’ I have heard of the King in Yellow before.”

Elizabeth stops, wondering how much to say.
“The King in Yellow is a herald, of a, ur, demon known as Hastur, which causes corruption and decay.. The King wears a mask and ragged yellow robes and causes people to descend into madness.

There has been a play before, in England, by the name of the King in Yellow and the performance culminated in chaos and riot; it ended in disaster for all concerned- and yet no one could remember what actually happened.”

"An excellent point," said Leonardo in response to Elizabeth. "At this point, we can rule out nothing. I shall keep the crystal in the puzzle box, and the puzzle box upon my person, at all times. If there is another attempt, we shall be ready. As for this play, I have not heard of it before. The play will not actually be performed until tomorrow night, the Duc said. Tonight there is a banquet, at which we will have the opportunity to meet the players."

Jacques:

"Master, will you still conduct your examination of the dead thief even without us? I assume you do not normally have much of an audience?"

"You assume correctly," replied Leonardo. "I work better without distractions in any case. Feel free to do what you wish in he meantime."

Jacques:

"The other question I still wonder about is why your strange suit of armour decided to kill the thief? Has is shown any further interest in moving by itself?"

"No, it has been remarkably sessile," said Leonardo. "That means it doesn't move. You can still see it over there." He pointed to the suit of armor, which was in exactly the same position. "The controls have not been modified, I checked. You are free to examine it yourself if you wish - at your own risk, of course. Still, it hasn't killed me yet, and I'm a lot easier to kill than you are."

Jacques:

Jacques regards the suit of armour with very evident distrust. Without thinking about it, his left hand comes to rest on the scabbard of his sword, ready to hold it steady for a quick draw with his right hand.

"There are two very different mysteries for us now, are there not? Who commissioned the thief to steal the jewel? And why did the suit of armour kill him?"

"Well, perhaps daylight will help find an explanation."

Careful not to get close to its front, Jacques circles the suit to inspect its rear. He gets very close, studying it from foot to helmet.

The suit of armor still carried the halberd gripped in its right gauntlet, though the blade had since been cleaned, and the armor itself was well-polished. The controls that could be used to manipulate it were in the rear.

Anyone who wants to try to determine how the controls work may roll Mechanical Repair (for the TARDIS crew) or Repair/Devise (for Jacques).

Jacques:

1d%p/d20%

OOC:   Fail. Definitely not Jacques' forte.

"I'm still imagining the scene you described, Master, of armies of these suits going into battle with each other, and not a person in sight."

"It will be a long time before that happens," said Leonardo. "I shall not live to see that day, and it will most likely be after your lifetime as well. It is indeed a mystery how this automaton was able to kill the thief. The only logical conclusion that comes to my mind is that someone operated the controls. If you like, I can explain how they work."

Jacques:

"I should be most grateful if you would, Master." Jacques gets out of the way, casting another (superstitious) glance at the armour. Absent-mindedly, he kisses the ring on his hand that bears the St John's Cross.

[2] = 2
Mechanical Repair (20%) d%: [ 2 ] = 2
Wow!

Brook peers over the inventor’s shoulder at the controls. Maybe it’s her (albeit limited) knowledge of 20th century technology, but to her it all seems pretty obvious.

Elizabeth takes a quick look at the back of the automaton but it looks rather complicated to her.

Roll:85

“Could we perhaps reenact the scene- without the casualty of course- Ivwonder if someone could use the controls without the thief seeing them.”

"It certainly looks possible," said Leonardo. "The knight is larger than either you or your younger friend. If either of you stood behind it, someone in front of it would not see you, and the controls are in the rear." He spoke to Brook. "I see you understand the controls, Mademoiselle. If you would like to do the honors, we could reenact what must have happened. I have a man-shaped mannequin that would make a suitable target."

Brook quickly got a sense of how to operate the mechanical knight. It was much simpler than robots or similar devices from her own time, almost five hundred years hence. The jaw looked and operated just like a human jaw, and she could see how use the controls to open or close it. Likewise, the controls could be used to move the arms and legs, all of which had accurate joints. It would be a simple matter for her to make it sit down, stand up, salute by raising its visor, and swing its halberd.

Brook grins as she operates the mechanism, causing it to wave at her friends and, if she can work it out, do the mash potato.

Eventually, she harrumphs and settles down.

“Okay then, who’s for the chop?”

Brook actually was able to make the suit of armor dance, and rather well at that.

"Impressive," said Leonardo with a bow. "You operate it better than I do." He went over to a large wardrobe and opened it, revealing a six foot tall wood figure with the accurate form of a human male. "Our wooden friend here will take the blow. Will you help me move it into position, Chevalier?"

I'm reminded of this scene from Red Dwarf, which I just watched recently.

Jacques:

"Of course!" Jacques springs into action to assist, very conscious of not letting the elderly master over-strain himself.

Jacques positioned the wooden dummy directly in front of the mechanical knight, and then everyone stood well back. When Leonardo gave the signal, Brook made the automaton bring its halberd down in a mighty stroke that caused it to embed itself in the chest of the mannequin.

"Yes, this is consistent with what happened last night," said Leonardo, examining the impact site. "Giuseppe was shorter than our target, so his wound was higher up on the chest, of course."

“Gosh!” Exclaims Elizabeth. “How awful. The poor man; even a thief doesn’t deserve that! Good work, Brook. Our mystery puppeteer must have had some practice beforehand and was prepared, one would think.”

How much fun did they have making that programme!

“I surprise myself sometimes,” Brook grins.

“So this thing could’ve been operated by someone without the thief seeing him, or her. But if that’s the case, where did they go to? We all arrived pretty soon afterwards and didn’t see anyone… The secret passageway maybe?”

"It makes sense that there would be secret passages," said Leonardo. "Someone could easily use them to slip in and out of the room. It was also dark in here at the time, so it would be even easier for an intruder to hide."

Everyone, please roll Listen.

Jacques:

1d%L25%

Jacques observes the halberd strike with professional interest. "Well, that would do the trick."

"There are secret passages? Not that it really surprises me."

[43] = 43
Listen 55 d%: [ 43 ] = 43

Despite being engrossed in operating the automaton, Brook’s senses remain on the alert.

This is 6th edition, so there's no spending Luck, but Brook rolled well enough. Let's just say you think you heard something, but you don't know what it is.

Brook heard footsteps approaching in the hall outside. Whoever it was was trying to be quiet - and failing miserably.

Cocking her head, Brook waves everyone into silence; forgets that she’s still operating the machine and, once the creaking and rattling has died down, waves everyone into silence with her own limbs.

She nods towards the corridor door and mimes someone sneaking outside.

Jacques:

Jacques' eyebrows raise and he actually smiles at this point. Something of a hunter's smile.

"Miss Brook, you must show me again how you manage the suit. I'll come over to see exactly what your hands are doing."

With that, left hand holding his scabbard, Jacques strides swiftly to the corridor door and flings it open.

Everyone is moving to the thread linked below:

Surprise Guest