A Question

fgalkin · Post by **fgalkin** » Thu Jul 23, 2009 1:47 pm

Anything of interest in the sleeping tents? Anything about its past occupants which can be determined from the items they left behind- weapons, mosquito nets, reading materials, alcohol, clothing, etc. Basically, anything that could tell me who was living in this camp before it was abandoned?

If you want, you can just make a list here, and I'll describe looking through it in-game myself.

Have a very nice day.
-fgalkin

Academia Nut · Post by **Academia Nut** » Thu Jul 23, 2009 10:58 pm

Okay, so I would have replied sooner but I didn't actually fire up my computer until 10:30pm MST today. Anyway, the stuff in the sleeping tents are a mixed bag. For the most part you're looking at personal effects, books, cards, porn, etc. Stuff that you expect of people out in the middle of the jungle to bring to stave off boredom. Most of that sort of stuff is in Spanish.

One of the tents however also includes a lot of what looks like technical papers of various sorts. A lot of them are in Spanish, along with some other European languages, probably German or Dutch or something like that with maybe some French as well, but one is rather surprisingly labelled with the header for the Lomonosov Moscow State University, Faculty of History. The document is a study done in the 1970s as part of a joint Cuban-Soviet study of pre-Columbian Cultures, primarily Cuban for obvious reasons. The text is highly technical and hard to understand and seems to mostly talk about Carribean and Mesoamerican trade patterns in the 13th century.

Finally there in one of the tents there is what looks like a finance ledger that is bizarrely enough looks like it might be in Finnish, but the handwritting is also small and crammed together, if precise.

Those are about the most important key points. Curiously there don't look like there are any sort of jounrals or diaries that might shed light on the people who were here.

fgalkin · Post by **fgalkin** » Thu Jul 23, 2009 11:51 pm

What is the ratio of books to porn? How many of the tents have mostly books and how many mostly porn (I would assume that scientists and laborers would not be living in the same tents)?

Many (if not all) NYC high schools require a second language, and most don't offer Russian, so Nadya knows a little high school Spanish- enough to understand the pilot's announcement (as I noted in one of the posts) and the titles and subjects of the Spanish books. Going through the tents, aside from general literature titles, what are the fields in which the books and technical papers are written in? History, archeology, biology, etc?

Also, I would look for any personal effects identifying the areas of origin of their owner- documents, local periodicals, souvenirs, etc. Anything to give an idea of the composition of the camp and its residents.

Also, please note if there is any digging equipment lying in plain sight.

Have a very nice day.
-fgalkin

Cynical Cat · Post by **Cynical Cat** » Fri Jul 24, 2009 10:49 am

Add French for Dane, although Nadia doesn't know that yet.

Losonti Tokash · Post by **Losonti Tokash** » Fri Jul 24, 2009 12:56 pm

Forgive my infrequent posting, most of the time when I'm able to use the internet is when I'm on my phone, and the board is almost completely incompatible with my phone's browser.

fgalkin · Post by **fgalkin** » Fri Jul 24, 2009 5:07 pm

Nadya's language skills:
English: Excellent
Russian: Speaks with an American accent. Has some difficulty reading, especially technical terms. About a 9th grade vocabulary
Spanish: 3 years of High School classes, enough to get by in a Spanish-speaking country and read some things.
Chinese: Took a year in Vladivostok as a child, before leaving the country. Mostly remembers some characters, and that's about it.

Have a very nice day.
-fgalkin

fgalkin · Post by **fgalkin** » Sat Jul 25, 2009 1:41 pm

What time is it now? Are the radio components ripped out or gently removed? Are there any other documents, maps, photos, books or equipment that could clue us about the expedition's purpose? Any signs of a struggle or the disorder that is everywhere else in the camp?

How large is the tent? Can it accommodate all scientists, or only a few? How many computers and work spaces are there?

How thick is the logbook?

Have a very nice day.
-fgalkin

Academia Nut · Post by **Academia Nut** » Sat Jul 25, 2009 2:07 pm

You don't exactly know the time due to the crash, but it was getting close to midnight when everything went to hell.

The radio is intact, its just that the necessary wiring is completely missing. There are some local maps and geological surveys, although with the latter none of you have the technical training to really understand them as they are in Spanish.

No signs of struggle, but there is the sort of general disorder of people leaving in a hurry.

As to the purpose of the camp, it seems like most of the important data was kept either off-site or on the computers, which are powered down and unplugged, with their power connections to the generators stashed away.

The tent is quite large and can probably fit at least a dozen people in at once.

The logbook is fairly thick and seems to go back nearly a year, although most of it is just routine transmissions about requests for supplies. The handwriting is different at the start though, and there is an abrupt two week interruption three months where nothing is writen before it picks up again in the handwriting of the latest guy. Most transmissions seem to be about getting adequate fuel supplies.

fgalkin · Post by **fgalkin** » Sat Jul 25, 2009 2:16 pm

Are there clocks, watches, or any timekeeping devices in the tent or in our posession?

How many messages are exchanged in a typical day? Looking through the past few pages, is there any sign as to what caused the fuel shortage?

Have there been any previous requests for pickups or extractions? Any unusual messages before or after the gap in messages?

Any mentions of the camp being moved at any time before?

Any sign of a satellite uplink of some kind?

According to the maps, is the camp near a river? A hill? Ruins? What is the local area's elevation above sea level? Is there a landing strip cleared near the camp?

EDIT: Are there any other generators in sight?

Have a very nice day.
-fgalkin

Soontir948 · Post by **Soontir948** » Sun Jul 26, 2009 8:22 am

How long can the food supply last if reasonably rationed.

Cynical Cat · Post by **Cynical Cat** » Sun Jul 26, 2009 5:08 pm

I'm presuming its a big dirt floored cooking/dining tent. There's plenty of room for a fire pit.

fgalkin · Post by **fgalkin** » Sun Jul 26, 2009 5:20 pm

Cynical Cat wrote:I'm presuming its a big dirt floored cooking/dining tent. There's plenty of room for a fire pit.

We're in the command tent, which might just be a plain tent without any outlet except for the entry flap.

Also, there is another consideration that needs to be taken into account when choosing the location, but Nadya, unlike the more supernaturally inclined members of the expedition, probably will not make the connection. Please consider the absence of any signs of wildlife in the camp.

Have a very nice day.
-fgalkin

Cynical Cat · Post by **Cynical Cat** » Sun Jul 26, 2009 5:44 pm

Dane's speaking of the cooking/mess tent which will have space for a fire and multiple people. Right now Dane's rationalizing the lights as the reason for the absence of wildlife. Yes, the lights should draw bugs and they aren't. Yes, there is a little bit of denial and rationalization to fit into his world view.

All the devils of the world are men.

People do terrible things because of their belief int the supernatural. The supernatural is not real.

The X-Files sucks.

Poor man. Only the last is likely to be true in game.

fgalkin · Post by **fgalkin** » Sun Jul 26, 2009 6:16 pm

I didn't expect Dane to react any other way, to be honest. It's all up to Losonti and Zach for this one, because Nadya is going to defer to Dane on this, unless someone contradicts him

EDIT: It appears, I forgot entirely about another tent. Any volunteers to go explore it?

Have a very nice day.
-fgalkin

Academia Nut · Post by **Academia Nut** » Sun Jul 26, 2009 11:23 pm

To poke some of the other players into action, I have things set aside in that last tent since I read the character descriptions for Dane and Andy. I also have other general clues.

Soontir948 · Post by **Soontir948** » Mon Jul 27, 2009 4:17 am

Putting it that way, shall I just mention that on the way I saw an empty lit tent?

Losonti Tokash · Post by **Losonti Tokash** » Mon Jul 27, 2009 8:12 am

Don't really have the ability to write out a full post (will try to on my lunch break) but an indoor fire will likely kill everyone via carbon monoxide.

fgalkin · Post by **fgalkin** » Mon Jul 27, 2009 12:27 pm

Nonsense, there are some houses and banyas in Russia that are heated via indoor fire, with the only outlet being a hole in the roof, or simply the windows and door. As long as we open a flap to the ourside, or make any other outlet, we should be perfectly fine, if uncomfortable.

Have a very nice day.
-fgalkin

Cynical Cat · Post by **Cynical Cat** » Tue Jul 28, 2009 8:18 pm

A wood stove would be better, obviously. This set up is lush enough it might have one. And does Dane find anything oh mighty GM?

Academia Nut · Post by **Academia Nut** » Tue Jul 28, 2009 9:34 pm

The inside of the final tent has the following features:

*tables covered in light digging equipment and photographs

*cork boards covered in various photographs and survey maps

*a cave opening at the back of the tent, the cave being strung up with an excessive number of lights. It twists off fairly quickly so you can't see what is at the back

*many recent muddy footprints leading into the cave, along with a dropped cable from what appears to be the radio

Additionally, amongst the photographs, which seem to be pictures taken from the inside of the cave of various markings apparently made by indigenous peoples. Some of these markings are recognizable. Dane knows a few of them from the crime scene photographs from the deaths of his family. Andy knows some different ones as graffiti in the subways

In this tent there is less disarray than the others, and in general it would seem that rather than out the panic was to get inside the cave

Oh yes, and it seems one of the corkboards was set on fire at some point as it is blackened and charred, the photos bits of ash on the ground. The tent roof above shows no signs of smoke damage.

Those should be all the salient points, I leave the rest for you to either ask me about or to fill in the little bits with your fertile imaginations.

Cynical Cat · Post by **Cynical Cat** » Tue Jul 28, 2009 11:10 pm

I warn you, I'm prepared to escalate to curling up into a ball and crying.

fgalkin · Post by **fgalkin** » Wed Jul 29, 2009 10:14 am

Do it. Should be good fun for all involved.

Have a very nice day.
-fgalkin

Academia Nut · Post by **Academia Nut** » Wed Jul 29, 2009 11:30 pm

Well now, on the one hand I don't get to show off the other cave paintings down in there. On the other hand I now get to hunt you all down. Should be fun

Let it not be said that I railroad you. Just know that the locomotive will follow you whether you like it or not

EDIT: Also, the only tracks you see are leading into the cave. A number of people went in there, but they haven't come out.

Cynical Cat · Post by **Cynical Cat** » Wed Jul 29, 2009 11:33 pm

You talk like Dane is in a state to rationally examine the evidence.

Academia Nut · Post by **Academia Nut** » Wed Jul 29, 2009 11:35 pm

Just making sure you knew what was going on rather than misread something. Of course, the fact that people went in and haven't come out for a plane crash and subsequent survivors rooting around in their camp could be taken far more ominously than them running away.

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