Grand Line Adventures IC - Part 2

"No prob... Was guessing that not everypony could move the cannon itself away, so it'd not be extra trapped... While the fuse seemed to be a clear-cut secondary trapped location." Boomer comments.

Zarhon wrote:"Quick thinking dere', Boomer! And now we got ourselves an alternate exit!", Shallow remarks, greatly relieved.

Stuff:

Looking in there is marine laying on the floor. He appears to be have been knocked out by the explosion.

"Are they alive?" asked Sixty-Two, making conversation. Sneaking about wasn't exactly his strong suit. Researching, there was something he was good at. That and battle.

Torque looked around inside the storage room. "Nopony's dead, although this one got knocked out by the explosion. Must have wanted to try getting a sneak attack on us. However, I doubt the cannon being flipped around factored into his plans." Torque took a quick glance around the room to see if there was anything salvagable.



Rolling Perception...3 (1d20) + 8 + 3 (Sharp Eyes) + 1 (IP)= 15

"Poor guy. Could have been worse, tho, for eitha' party! Shall we continue to da' chain's chamber of weakness, or go an' see wat' da' situation be outside?", Shallow barks, taking his own look through the gunpowder stores.

Stuff:

Lyntermas wrote:Torque looked around inside the storage room. "Nopony's dead, although this one got knocked out by the explosion. Must have wanted to try getting a sneak attack on us. However, I doubt the cannon being flipped around factored into his plans." Torque took a quick glance around the room to see if there was anything salvagable.


Rolling Perception...3 (1d20) + 8 + 3 (Sharp Eyes) + 1 (IP)= 15

Zarhon wrote:"Poor guy. Could have been worse, tho, for eitha' party! Shall we continue to da' chain's chamber of weakness, or go an' see wat' da' situation be outside?", Shallow barks, taking his own look through the gunpowder stores.

Stuff:

Looking around there are 6 cannons ,including the one shot at you, that would be workable on the ship. There are a few scattered piles of shot and balls lying around. However there are only two or three small barrels of gunpowder that was not caught in the explosion.

"....Hmmm." Torque started to grin. "Granted, it's a bit much to lug around, but if we could get our ship close enough..." Torque took a look out of the hole in the wall to try and figure out where they were in relation to the ship and the waterline.

Rolling Perception...4 (1d20) + 8 + 3 (Sharp Eyes) + 1 (IP)= 16

Lyntermas wrote:"....Hmmm." Torque started to grin. "Granted, it's a bit much to lug around, but if we could get our ship close enough..." Torque took a look out of the hole in the wall to try and figure out where they were in relation to the ship and the waterline.

Rolling Perception...4 (1d20) + 8 + 3 (Sharp Eyes) + 1 (IP)= 16

Outside there is about a foot of ledge and then a sheer drop ending some rough looking waters...

"Well, that's disappointing. 62, if you can fit some of these supplies into your pocket dimension, that might be useful. Otherwise, we'd have to either get a pulley system to lower the cannons down to our ship (provided we can maneuver it in those waters), or we'd have to wheel the cannons out the front door, which would require essentially taking out all the other guards. We can discuss options later, though." Torque takes a careful look back down into the hallway and tried to figure out where the chain room could be.

Stuff:

"Well, if we be cartin' a cannon wit' us, takin' out da' Marines won't be an issue. We just aim it in dere' direction, pretend we be lightin' da' fuse, and wait for dem' to scatter."  

Lyntermas wrote:

Stuff:

Torque leads the crew into the fort's mechanical room without incident. If the note was accurate the flaw is buried deep in the innards of the machines...

(need a mech or history roll for planning...)

Shallow looks around the machinery's layout, keeping note of the sharp and pointy bits that could crush or cut whilst active, so that they be best avoided.

History:

Zarhon wrote:Shallow looks around the machinery's layout, keeping note of the sharp and pointy bits that could crush or cut whilst active, so that they be best avoided.

History:

The larger exposed gears look like they will have to be stopped, some of the weights will have to be moved, a few parts simply don't make mechanical sense so they may be magical , and finally there will need to be a decent amount of force to create a break even at the weak point.

"Well, I'm no expert, but if we want tah' avoid an unpleasant method of obtaining powdered bone, da' spinny bits need tah' stop, da' weighted bits gotta go entirely, dere's some magic mojo tah' deal wit', and it needs a solid buck in da' right place. I can provide dat' last bit. Let me take a closer look at da' magic mojo as well...", Shallow deducts, taking a more Voodoo-oriented approach to his inspection.

Arcana:

"Hmm, let's break this down, shall we?

-I think I might see what I can do about the larger gears. At worst, I have a spell that can strengthen any given item, which can be used to jam the larger gears...for about a minute. At best, I can follow the transfer of force to some smaller gears or mechanism which can be more easily dealt with, which will stop the larger gears down the line.
-The weights can be moved by somepony of sufficient strength. Perhaps Tortoise Shell or a larger Carat could give it a go?
-The magical aspects...um, 62, would you mind giving Shallow a hoof with that?
-The final blow could be given by a strong buck by either Tortoise or Shallow, or possibly one of Boomer's bombs."

Torque tried figuring out how the force was being transferred to the larger gears so he could find a more vulnerable point. "Let's see...there's that set of smaller gears over there....wait, but how...oh, yes, torque is force times distance, that explains it...perhaps pistons are at work?"

Rolling Mechanics...14 (1d20) + 12 + 3 [Eerie Focus] + 1 (IP) = 30

Carat pokes her head out of 62's mane, looking like a little gem mares might put in their hair for a formal occasion. "Well, unless those weights are way out in the open, I think it would be better to have Tortoise do that. By the way, 62, your mane is surprisingly comfortable! Much better than that other-dimensional-portal-thing."

"I'm glad you think so," responded Sixty-Two, "Though I can't imagine why. One would think a realm of nigh-infinite space would be spacious enough, no?"

"Well was such a space built for biological ponies to inhabit it? I bet not... And might've felt more caged by how endless it was to see." Boomer comments guessing to what the size changing pony's half of the talk was. Next she wordlessly goes to see if Torque needs any help (If not, Boomer's going to craft a huge bomb to finish things off with) and then moves to help deal with the magic theory side of this plan: weakness exploit...

skill checks:

Zarhon wrote:"Well, I'm no expert, but if we want tah' avoid an unpleasant method of obtaining powdered bone, da' spinny bits need tah' stop, da' weighted bits gotta go entirely, dere's some magic mojo tah' deal wit', and it needs a solid buck in da' right place. I can provide dat' last bit. Let me take a closer look at da' magic mojo as well...", Shallow deducts, taking a more Voodoo-oriented approach to his inspection.

Arcana:

Shallow becomes convinced that the only way to dispel the magic would be to sacrifice a virgin with a giant flaming flamberge...

Lyntermas wrote:"Hmm, let's break this down, shall we?

-I think I might see what I can do about the larger gears. At worst, I have a spell that can strengthen any given item, which can be used to jam the larger gears...for about a minute. At best, I can follow the transfer of force to some smaller gears or mechanism which can be more easily dealt with, which will stop the larger gears down the line.
-The weights can be moved by somepony of sufficient strength. Perhaps Tortoise Shell or a larger Carat could give it a go?
-The magical aspects...um, 62, would you mind giving Shallow a hoof with that?
-The final blow could be given by a strong buck by either Tortoise or Shallow, or possibly one of Boomer's bombs."

Torque tried figuring out how the force was being transferred to the larger gears so he could find a more vulnerable point. "Let's see...there's that set of smaller gears over there....wait, but how...oh, yes, torque is force times distance, that explains it...perhaps pistons are at work?"

Rolling Mechanics...14 (1d20) + 12 + 3 [Eerie Focus] + 1 (IP) = 30

Torque after some searching manages to find a sort of keystone set of small gears that appear to be directly connected to the main power source for the gears. Locking these up would bring all the gears in the way to a screeching halt.

Xel Unknown wrote:"Well was such a space built for biological ponies to inhabit it? I bet not... And might've felt more caged by how endless it was to see." Boomer comments guessing to what the size changing pony's half of the talk was. Next she wordlessly goes to see if Torque needs any help (If not, Boomer's going to craft a huge bomb to finish things off with) and then moves to help deal with the magic theory side of this plan: weakness exploit...

skill checks:

Boomer manages to construct a mold-able explosive putty that should have more than enough force to absolutely destroy the system if used correctly.

The main magic field in the way seems to be a stopgap measure on the weakness applying some kind of force field to prevent more damage. Right now shrugging off boomers attempts to disrupt it.

"Cube of iron?" Sixty-Two asked, pulling such seemingly out of thin air.

Spoiler:

Torque took the cube of iron from 62. "This could be useful, thank you. I am a bit curious as to how you just manage to pull random objects from thin air....Then again, I constructed a flying bus out of thin air, so I suppose I can't complain."

Zarhon wrote: "Anypon got someting' solid to jam dem' gears, or a flamberge?"

"...I'm not quite sure how a flamberge is going to help with...anything, really. I think Boomer has a better idea of the magical mechanisms, I think you should follow her lead."

Torque turned to the keystone set and tried to see if he could find the best way to jam the cube in to stop the gears. "Hmm...assuming the angular kinetic energy is constant...the smaller gears turn more rapidly, but would be more influenced by the cube's mass...also, the engineers may have neglected to oil some gears over others...so the best spot would be...right....THERE!" Torque brought the cube down into what he felt was the most vulnerable part of the gears.

Rolling Mechanics...15 (1d20) + 12 + 3 [Eerie Focus] = 30
Rolling Athletics (if necessary)...13 (1d20) + 5 = 18

Torque slams the cube down into the gears and for a moment it seems as if the speed of the gears will prevent it from staying in place but the cube sticks after deforming slightly jamming the gear. Within moments the rest of the gears come to a halt but with each passing moment gets slightly closer to breaking the jam. Torque estimates that it will last for about 80 seconds.

"Hol' on ther', cube, don' be goin' anywher' ye'!"  Tortoise tapped the cube more firmly in place with his hooves- hopefully jamming the mechanism for a significantly longer period of time.

"Now Torque, wha' were ya sayin' abou' movin some a' these weigh's?".  He went over and attempted to move the weights following Torque's instructions.

Spoiler: