Day 1 Night

[12npcs]

[ Over the murmur of conversations, explorations and violent attempts at escape, there comes a sound tick tick tick tick tick.............. CLICK.... The sky above snaps across the dome from blue to black... and everything goes dark.

A glow comes from the front door of each of the inns and one by one, you can see street lanterns begin to light up steadily past each of the gates.

The only flickering, organic light comes from above in the tower, spluttering high, high above everyone, through the slats of the closed shutters. After a moment, it's gone. ]

Comments

Re: [ MEANWHILE IN A DARK ALLEY ]

[12npcs]

[It takes a little clever movement and some patience to tug the cloth around unmoving arms, but you eventually get both garments off.

The chest and neck exposed have been carved with a good eye for detail, following human musculature and bone structure. The sweep neither has nipples or bellybutton, the area just smooth where either should be.

You do find faint lines, almost hidden by lines and indentations of the body itself, they make a long rectangle around the chest and abdomen.]

Re: [ MEANWHILE IN A DARK ALLEY ]

[devotedtothecore]

[ Clever movement and patience at least when it comes to these things he can do. He folds the clothes quickly and carefully after taking them off, setting them beside the sweep's feet, and runs his fingers over the grooves of that panel. ]

...there's a start.

[ Mumbled around the candle in his mouth. Takes out his lone screwdriver-- flatheaded, and a good thing too. If there's no screws to be undone on this, maybe he can just carefully pry it open.

...taking care not to strain any other components. (Another almost-guilty glance at the bent fingers.) ]

Re: [ MEANWHILE IN A DARK ALLEY ]

[12npcs]

[The casing comes off easily enough showing a breathtaking number of complex mechanisms. Long and short pistons are set to power the turning of series of more and more complex cogs and wheels of different sizes and groove spaces. Brass valves seem to vent for some sort of piping, but it's hard to tell what it is... or what would power it.

Dazzling, complex, this simple figure has a lifeswork of automation arts in it, rivaling easily some of the Pavionian works you've dissembled.... except... pegs and screws on the inside, here and there, stand empty. Here and there, a gear wheel sits with noting connecting it to push or power in turn.]

Re: [ MEANWHILE IN A DARK ALLEY ]

[devotedtothecore]

[ Just stands there for a moment, one hand against the doll's side, the other holding the candle closer to the components, studying everything with wide eyes. Intent on tracing connections, the interplay of parts....

...wouldn't put it past a Pavo's hand at all. And it would explain some things about this whole place, in fact.

... ]

"Decored"....? Or at least missing a few...

[ reaches in to carefully feel at the pegs and screws surrounding one of the empty spaces, feeling for any traces of a forced removal-- rough edges, or flakes of metal... ]

Re: [ MEANWHILE IN A DARK ALLEY ]

[12npcs]

[Gone, simply gone.





Above you, you begin to hear a loud ticking, and the first plucked notes of a music box.]

Re: [ MEANWHILE IN A DARK ALLEY ]

[devotedtothecore]

[ --pulls his hand out and stares upwards, trying to place the ticking-- looks down at the doll again, it's clearly not coming from there but--- ]