(IC) Lost In Dreams [Peter]

[the_matrix_walker]

Peter searches for weaknesses in his containment he might exploit to get free, but absent that he bides his time and keeps an eye out for an opportunity for escape, and peers out the windows hoping for signs of a fuzzy follower.

[ericthered]

Originally Posted by the_matrix_walker

Peter searches for weaknesses in his containment he might exploit to get free, but absent that he bides his time and keeps an eye out for an opportunity for escape, and peers out the windows hoping for signs of a fuzzy follower.

The slits for viewing are narrow, but he thinks he just might have seen the dog. He sees a lot of skinny people in the city, watching the carriage.



The Manacles do not budge.



Peter is led into a what looks like an old fortress, or maybe a castle. Its made of stone, and has slits rather than windows. His manacles don't come off until he is placed in a stone room with four men, all 40 or older. The room is dark, lit only by a kerosene lamp, but has six fairly nice beds, and a table with chairs, paper, pens, and charcoal. There is an embroidered rug on the floor. The door is heavy, wooden, banded with iron, and has a roughly foot by foot window with iron bars four inches apart and a padlock on the outside. there is one other half door, more for privacy than for security.



His cell mates are surprised to see a boy. They speak English.



"Welcome to the upper dungeon, son. I'm Dr. Goslin. This is Mr. Cardin, Mr. Patterson, and Dr. Caldwell. What's your name? And who are you? they don't stick just anyone in the upper dungeon."

[the_matrix_walker]

"Well, I guess if they are going to put me in prison, at least it's the one with the good beds. My name is Peter. They threw me in here because they think I have 'divine power' but if I do, I don't really know how to use it yet... It's my first day in this world. What about you guys?"

Peter will see if he can push the magic around without the incense or feel any variations from what he's sensed so far. If there are any outside windows, he'll take in the view and hope against hopes to see his faithful companion.

He'll make polite conversation with the other prisoners.

If it's after lunchtime by now and they haven't brought food, he'll complain to the guards "I'm hungry! Don't you guys have rules about feeding prisoners? Your guys snatched me before I could get breakfast."

[ericthered]

Dr. Goslin shakes his bald head. "Now they're going to start kidnapping children to turn into more of their priests."


Dr. Goslin: "I'm a nuclear scientist from south carolina. They're trying to get me to explain atomic bombs to them... beyond just the basics. Some idiot already told them that."


Mr. Cardin: "I own several petroleum refineries in Wyoming. They're holding me and Patterson for ransom."


Mr. Patterson: "I'm the mayor of Springfield, Iowa. They keep on changing what they want in exchange for me. Food, Internal combustion engines, unmarked small bills... next they'll probably be asking for kitchen appliances. Just stuff. They're greedy and evil."


Dr. Caldwell: "I'm an inspector at a pharmaceutical plant. They want me to tell them how to make drugs. A lot of their medical support went down when their world broke. Faith healing doesn't cut it when the gods go on holiday."



It turns out that these men were all grabbed by raiding parties through portals. How much will Peter tell them about how he got here?



He can't push around the local magic without incense... does he have the ability to remember the words the priest said?


There are no windows, just the kerosene lamp and the barred window in the door



Lunch comes on schedule: a small bowl of soup with a little bit of bread. Its just barely enough for a meal.

[the_matrix_walker]

Peter does not volunteer the information that he came here under his own power.

((IQ roll to remember the words 3+2+4=9 Made IQ roll by 3))

Do they seem in good health? Do they appear to be mistreated?

"What a bunch of idiots. Taking people for ransom when they could just trade for this stuff... I bet they'd advance a lot faster if they were civilized about this." Peter raises his voice with his frustration.

He has a look around for what else may be in the room beside the beds. He has a watchful eye for anything he might be able to burn to craft a Karana creation he might fashion into a tool to help them escape or a critter to scout for them.

[ericthered]

Mr. Patterson has a single old bruise on his face, but other than that, they seem to be in good health. As for treatment... they aren't being physically shoved around, the food is solid, even if it is minimal, and the paper seems to indicate at least some requests are being fulfilled.



At his outburst, he hears someone call out and laugh from outside: "Decadent Weaklings!"


If you're looking for a way to make smoke, there is a stack of paper and a flame you can get access to in the lamp...

[the_matrix_walker]

Peter makes mental note of the paper and materials, but he's not ready to make a move just yet. He will wait through the day and check out the routine here, and see if he can see any activity through the window in the door to get an idea if the door is always watched, or if there are passing patrols.

[ericthered]

A seemingly endless procession of guards comes by the cell, about once every 15 minutes. They come in pairs, and they don't seem to take the check too seriously. Most of them you only see once or twice in a day.


The men spend their time writing, reading (local stuff only, it seems), playing either poker or chess (both items handmade out of paper), and speculating about home and this place. The city they are in seems to be important, but the world has no proper empires, just cities that are more or less notable.



Three times a day, the proper jailer comes by to deliver food. The men make their requests to him. They say he won't bring everything they ask for, but he brings enough that they keep making the requests. He also doubles as a mailman. The evening meal sees the most mail. Almost all of the mail is between them and their captors. Mayor Patterson says he's gotten occasional mail from home, but never without strings attached or as part of some negotiation. The jailer does make a few remarks to the prisoners, and seems to know them. "And we have some mail for the boy!"


He pulls out a package with a note and a book. both are in the local language. The note translates roughly to "Find your God/Place/Powers in this book". Its signed by Tuvo Kyridas.*


The book is a grand compilation of Sigils and Symbols, thousands of them. Peter can read the language the book is in, but little of it is actually language. It seems to be a catalog of Gods. The list is repeated seven times, each organized a different way, and the symbols might be different each time.



*Did you ever give him your name?

[the_matrix_walker]

Peter never did tell him his name.

He'll ask his fellow prisoners for any other information they may have on this world, and if they could get out of this cell, do they know anywhere they could go.


He will check out the book and see if anything makes sense to him.

[ericthered]

Originally Posted by the_matrix_walker

Peter never did tell him his name.

He'll ask his fellow prisoners for any other information they may have on this world, and if they could get out of this cell, do they know anywhere they could go.

They can tell him a lot. I'm unsure of just how much to tell you:

• This world has a fair number of robots
• City states are independent
• Electronics don't work here
• They report a huge number of active Gods... but the prisoners haven't seen any of them apart from the priests doing miraculous things, while the books have living memory accounts of physical visits.
• They have a fairly strong class system, and the peasants and workers general work in poverty
• Their governments range from oligarchies to kingdoms to theocracies
• They have myriad languages, but a single formal "trade language" that the prisoners can now speak.
• If they escaped, they'd want to go north west to the city of Ith-Melgo, which is an oligarchy traditionally opposed to Thuroma, and the only city in the area capable of standing up to the exceptionally strong city... and even then it'd be a good idea to keep moving.
• They also express worry that if they escaped they'd eventually loose the ability to speak the language... it doesn't last forever. Dr. Goslin has lost it once and had to have the ceremony again.

He will check out the book and see if anything makes sense to him.

He can look up a deity by the sound of their name, the shape of their sigil, their location in the world, their areas of domain (such as growing crops), or their familial relationships, and find out that information for any one deity. He can also look up a their noteworthy divine servitors once he knows the diety, though for those there is only a name, a role, and a cryptic classification.