Chapter 3: Mutiny!

[Solomoriah]

Lars nods to all and says "Have a problem to tackle." With that he gives his fair wells and heads out to find the on shift steward. Upon finding him he notifies him that he was told their was a problem with the plumbing, but it would help if he knew who was having the problem. He needs to isolate it to fix it. If the steward could let him know which passengers were effected, and get their permission to enter their rooms to check things out, it would be greatly helpful. While the steward does that, he will run down a ships schematic with the plumbing system on it so that he can try to trace the issue once he knows what rooms are having the problem.

OOC: Sorry if I have misled you. Please review the Gondola Floor Plan:

http://basicfantasy.org/tsgs/Morgana%20 ... 20Plan.png

None of the passenger (or crew) quarters have private bath or toilet facilities. Beyond the aft passenger corridor door, there are rooms marked "Men's Bath" and "W.C." (to starboard) and "Ladies' Bath" and "W.C." (to port) which are shared by passengers of the appropriate genders. The crew have a single "Crew Bath and W.C." on B deck for their use. So the room to which Lusk has directed Lars would be the aft-most chamber on the starboard of A deck: the Men's Water Closet.

The toilet facilities on A deck (the passenger facilities) drain through pipes attached to the pillars in the Cargo Hold, into a holding tank below the gondola. When over land, the tank is closed, but over the ocean it is generally opened to drain to the sea below.

I'll revise your orders to allow for the above.

He will also get some tools ready: wrench, wire, torch (flashlight!), etc. Then he will try to fix the problem!

Lars went to the storeroom and got his tools, also selecting a fish-tape to clear the clog with (if, in fact, that turned out to be the problem). Stepping out of the storeroom, Lars saw Second Steward Greaves just sitting down in the mess to eat.

"I say, Mister Lars, doing some plumbing?" he asked. Upon being asked about the problems in the Men's W.C., he said, "Strange, I don't recall anyone complaining to me about the toilets. I wonder who Lusk talked to. Come to think of it, I don't believe I saw him at all during the watch... I think he was inspecting the framework or engines or some such."

He also wants to send out a wire to Ireland to receive instructions. The alone time will allow him to write it carefully so as not to arouse suspicion.

Mom,

I have recently found employment on an airship heading towards the United States! I know you may worry, but just like my last job in the field, this one is a true opportunity for you and I both mother! I am currently fine, and well provided for, although one of the passengers is a tad worrisome. I had a few ideas to improve your house as well, as I am always thinking. I will send along my ideas when I get to the States. You'll love them, especially my new window designs, I'm sure you'll think at least one of them is great. Well, until we speak again, I hope you and the family is well. Is there anyone in the Boston area right now? Do you know? I would love to catch up with some of our long lost cousins! Fair well and blessed be!

- Simon

OOC: You need to rewrite this. It will be VERY expensive to send such a message by telegram. Telegrams are always written out in very sparse language, and instead of periods the word "STOP" appears. Look here:

http://www.telegraph-office.com/pages/telegram.html

... for more information on how to do it.

[crazycrypt]

"Mister Mansel, right on time," said Lt. Briggs, the First Mate. "I do appreciate punctuality. Speaking of punctuality, where is Leftenant Sullivan?"

Upon being informed that Sullivan was running behind schedule, Briggs sighed. "Well, what can you expect, RAF and all that. Doesn't know how to run a tight ship. I suppose Neville and I can leave the ship in your hands for a little while. Mister Neville, you are relieved. Let's go get some of that prime rib I hear they fed the passengers, eh?"

"Thank you sir, and enjoy the rib, it was quite good."

"I'm not hungry, sir," replied the Second Helmsman. "Bit of a stomache ailment, I suspect. I'm going to shower and then take a nap, if there is a bunk available."

"Well, carry on then," said Briggs. "I'll have a word with Leftenant Sullivan when I see him, Mister Mansel, you can count on it."

Tommy chuckles a half chuckle to Briggs's comment and says, "The last I saw of him he was enjoying some of that rib as well." With that, he will take control of the ship until Sullivan's arrival.

[Mak]

"Sure, Artie," she said, obvious concern in her eyes.

"Appreciate it," says Artie sincerely. He rises and moves behind Lily's chair to pull it back while she stands, then crooks his arm to escort her the few paces to the long table.

As they approach he nods at Catherine (if she looks up from the book). All the while he concentrates on what the totem is saying, letting the sound wash over him and trying to maintain a sense of himself and his separateness from it, like in one of those impossible avant-garde compositions where the right and left hands play in different time signatures. He looks at the faces of the others around the table, wondering if anyone is affected by the totem in the way that he is.

[Solomoriah]

As they approach he nods at Catherine (if she looks up from the book). All the while he concentrates on what the totem is saying, letting the sound wash over him and trying to maintain a sense of himself and his separateness from it, like in one of those impossible avant-garde compositions where the right and left hands play in different time signatures.

Catherine didn't look up, but Dr. Burton did. "Arthur, my boy, you haven't seen our finds yet, have you?"

The voices (for there were two) became louder, yet somehow still distant, like when someone on a long-distance telephone call yells so you can hear them.* Both voices were male, and both were deep, but there was a difference in tone between them... one relaxed and dominant, the other strident and forceful. But still, Artie couldn't understand what they were saying.

He looks at the faces of the others around the table, wondering if anyone is affected by the totem in the way that he is.

Nobody else at the table appeared to hear the Totem.

Catherine spoke up. "Look, this symbol, the first one, the book says it means 'using' or 'by means of.' And the third means 'door' or 'gate.' This fourth symbol means 'open' or maybe 'opened.' I can't find the second symbol, though. All four are in a single cartouche, so perhaps they are a sentence."

"I think I know where the second symbol is," replied Michael. "May I look?"

"Certainly," replied Catherine, handing him the book.

[rredmond]

Will marks Arties walk up, even before Dr. Burton's welcome. "You okay there?" He says watching Artie and his strange behavior, noting the concerned look on the singer's face. He keeps a half and ear on Catherine and Michael, but starts thinking about evasive action (which for Will is flat out running away) just in case anything aggressive comes about. "Um," he starts a bit tense, half to Artie and have to Michael and the Burtons "do the Mondabe have any kind of musical history? That we know about..."

OOC: cool, goosebumps.

[Rosisha]

REWRITTEN MESSAGE:

[Begin]
Lars Family, Fifteen North Earl St, Dublin, Ireland [BREAK]
Heading to America need family contacts [BREAK]
Everything good will send letter packet upon arrival [BREAK]
Simon [End Message]

STILL OOC: I think this is more in line with a real message, and if charged by 10 word slots it is only 16 words. As the Address shouldn't count against the total. Neither should the stuff in brackets. If this is still wrong I'll try again! Also my apologies on the passage, I thought you meant that each individual room had a restroom. I fluffed that one up! hehe lets proceed with the assumption I was just talking about the guest rooms in general, no specifics.

IC:

Simon shrugs, "I was told that a few of the gentlemen passengers were having difficulty with the flushing mechanism. I was going to head back to deal with the problem, but was going to examine the toilets themselves. If the problem is there, then I can fix it up there instead of going through the piping!" He smiles. Then goes through his tools, "It won't be a problem for me to dart up there and take a look will it? I don't want to do anything that will cause a problem for the ship or for you."

If there is no problem Simon will smile and head over to drop off his message and handle that business. Afterward he will head up to look at the toilets.

If there is a problem with him going upstairs he will nod and be completely understanding, apologize for the confusion, and request directions about what to do next. If there is a problem, he would love to get his hands dirty (hehe sorry for the poopy humor) and fix it. He will suggest that Greaves look into the problem and he will go back to deal with the plumbing and also have a chance to scout out the cargo room some more. Though this time he will just look while doing his work.

[Solomoriah]

REWRITTEN MESSAGE:
[Begin]
Lars Family, Fifteen North Earl St, Dublin, Ireland [BREAK]
Heading to America need family contacts [BREAK]
Everything good will send letter packet upon arrival [BREAK]
Simon [End Message]

STILL OOC: I think this is more in line with a real message, and if charged by 10 word slots it is only 16 words. As the Address shouldn't count against the total. Neither should the stuff in brackets. If this is still wrong I'll try again!

It's fine, however, this is how it will come out when Markwell is done with it:

LARS FAMILY
FIFTEEN NORTH EARL ST
DUBLIN IRELAND

HEADING TO AMERICA NEED FAMILY CONTACTS STOP
EVERYTHING GOOD WILL SEND LETTER PACKET UPON ARRIVAL STOP
SIMON

Not that it really matters...

Also my apologies on the passage, I thought you meant that each individual room had a restroom. I fluffed that one up! hehe lets proceed with the assumption I was just talking about the guest rooms in general, no specifics.

OOC: S'awright. So long as you are happy how I worked it out.

Simon shrugs, "I was told that a few of the gentlemen passengers were having difficulty with the flushing mechanism. I was going to head back to deal with the problem, but was going to examine the toilets themselves. If the problem is there, then I can fix it up there instead of going through the piping!" He smiles. Then goes through his tools, "It won't be a problem for me to dart up there and take a look will it? I don't want to do anything that will cause a problem for the ship or for you."

If there is no problem Simon will smile and head over to drop off his message and handle that business. Afterward he will head up to look at the toilets.

Simon turned around, remembering the wire he wanted to send, and opened the radio room door. Inside, all was dark. "I say, Mister Lars," said a voice from behind the engineer, "Captain Pelton ordered me to close up at eleven." Turning, Lars saw Mr. Markwell, the radio man, with a plate of food in one hand and a cup of tea in the other. "Not that I minded, of course," he continued. "Between the French diplomat and Mister Monday, I didn't get a moment's rest. But if you have a personal message, I'll be happy to open up for you." Markwell put his plate and cup on the table in the mess, then came quickly down the corridor and took the message from Lars. Stepping into the radio room, Markwell came to a sudden halt. "I say, everything is off. How the devil did that happen?" Turning, Markwell flipped on the light, then set about trying to switch on the radio equipment. "It's no good," he said after a moment's work. "There's no power. Here, you're the on-duty engineer. Be a good fellow and see if you can get me some power, and then I'll send your message out."

Lars nodded, then began tracing the power cords from the radio equipment. Very quickly he discovered that the only equipment in the room with working power was the Automatic Electric telephone switch. It seemed that something was wrong within the radio itself. Markwell, his prime rib forgotten, watched Lars, and when it became apparent that the problem was within the radio transmitter itself, he said, "Well, sorry, old chap, seems I've wasted your time, as fixing the radio is my problem. Probably a bad transformer."

Lars indicated to Markwell that it was no problem, all part of the job, and picked up his tools and turned to leave the room. Just then, he felt a shudder go through the ship.

...

Will marks Arties walk up, even before Dr. Burton's welcome. "You okay there?" He says watching Artie and his strange behavior, noting the concerned look on the singer's face.

Artie seemed not to hear Will, but Lily nodded. She didn't seem entirely sure of it, though.

He keeps a half and ear on Catherine and Michael, but starts thinking about evasive action (which for Will is flat out running away) just in case anything aggressive comes about. "Um," he starts a bit tense, half to Artie and have to Michael and the Burtons "do the Mondabe have any kind of musical history? That we know about..."

Michael turned toward Will, a look of perplexity on his face. "Well, I'm not sure why it would matter, but the story does include a sort of ritual where they played drums and some kind of pipes." Shaking his head in a barely perceptible fashion, Michael turned back to the book. "Here, I've found it!" he said.

Just then, a shudder passed through the ship. Lily squealed and stumbled, bumping into Will. Catherine said "What was that?" and at the same moment Michael Lloyd dropped the book.

Almost instantly, the lounge door opened, and the steward walked in. Brandon, Will thought, his name is Brandon. He looked quickly around the room, then, spying Dr. Ringstrom just standing up from where he had fallen, he stepped forward and drew a handgun from his jacket. "Herr Doktor Ringstrom," he said, suddenly speaking in a distinct German accent, "you are a traitor to the Fatherland. Your sentence is death."

...

Tommy looked at the clock. 11:15pm, and still no Lt. Sullivan. Not that he minded being alone, but it seemed very strange that it would take him twenty minutes to eat his prime rib, knowing that he was running late already. Tommy wondered if he should pick up the telephone and call someone. The Captain, maybe? He might not even be asleep yet, mused Mansel.

He was still considering what to do when he felt Morgana shudder. What was that? he thought. Looking at the instruments, he quickly noted that the tachometer for the #1 engine was reading zero, and the airspeed indicator was rapidly falling.

GM Note: The characters in the lounge are now in "combat time;" play proceeds there in rounds. Characters not in the lounge are not necessarily acting in rounds yet, and their actions will almost certainly happen after the lounge events are resolved.

[Rosisha]

Simon took one look at Mr. Markwell and said "Bridge?" Without waiting he darted out to the corridor, looking both ways for damage then headed to the Bridge to get more information.

OOC: If I can assume he is told that the engines are out, he immediately heads to the engine room to find out what happened.

[Solomoriah]

Simon took one look at Mr. Markwell and said "Bridge?" Without waiting he darted out to the corridor, looking both ways for damage then headed to the Bridge to get more information.

Simon noted that only Tommy Mansel was on the bridge as he entered. Going quickly to the instrument panel, he saw that engine #1 was stopped, but #2 was still running. The engine temperature gauges for both were well within normal range and stable (of course, #1 would take a while to cool down after stopping). The tachometer for #2 seemed a bit jumpy to Simon, though.

Simon Lars must now choose... shut down the #2 engine from the bridge (leaving Mansel to try to control the ship without engine power), or go to the engine room and check the situation in person (down the B deck corridor, up two flights of spiral staircase, then down the long corridor to the engine room, about a half a minute at full run). Mansel may give an opinion if he wishes.

[Mak]

Almost instantly, the lounge door opened, and the steward walked in. Brandon, Will thought, his name is Brandon. He looked quickly around the room, then, spying Dr. Ringstrom just standing up from where he had fallen, he stepped forward and drew a handgun from his jacket. "Herr Doktor Ringstrom," he said, suddenly speaking in a distinct German accent, "you are a traitor to the Fatherland. Your sentence is death."

Artie steps in front of Lily protectively, in case stray bullets go flying. "Are you mad?" he blurts out... hoping to delay the would-be assassin. He hopes the voices suggest a good plan....