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Questionably Soteriological: A Puzzle/Mystery Quest with Kids, Science, and Fun!

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> Lucy: Repair clock and be introspective
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    • massdefect76 said:
    [X] Disassemble and install the other fish/gears.
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    You use the LONG-HANDLED NET to pull the other CLOCKWORK FISH from the AQUARIUM, turn it into a PILE OF ASSORTED GEARS, and then PLACE those GEARS in the GRANDFATHER CLOCK. They fit together perfectly! As you carefully place each and every gear into the clock, you start to feel a slight pain in your head - but you're on a puzzle-solving roll, and so you ignore it, slotting them in with as much precision as your eleven-year-old fingers can manage.

    As soon as you place the last gear in, you hear a loud click, as if something has been unlocked, and a HARSH LIGHT emanates from behind the mechanism, blinding you for a few seconds before it fades away into a much less painful to look at SOFT GLOW. A few seconds pass, and just when it seems like things have stopped from being events that are happening, things very suddenly unstop from being events that are happening as the entire room starts to shake, and you hang onto the GRANDFATHER CLOCK for balance as you hear an almost overwhelmingly loud GRINDING SOUND, like the sound of some distant mechanism being switched on. The sound, too, fades after a while, leaving the room exactly as before save for the now REPAIRED GRANDFATHER CLOCK.

    Well. That honestly raised more questions than it answered. Which, as you're quick to explain to people whenever the opportunity comes up, is actually the OPPOSITE of what a JUNIOR SLEUTH is supposed to do.
    veekie said:
    [X] Use DFD on yourself
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    The very notion strikes you as completely absurd. Really, what a silly, silly idea. And yet... while you're here, with the reflective glass of the AQUARIUM... you might as well take a good look at yourself, right?

    The CLASS MACHINATION [DEDUCTION FOR DUMMIES] has been activated!
    You are LUCY CALLOWAY. You are ELEVEN YEARS OLD, you DON'T KNOW WHERE YOU ARE, and you're SCARED.
    For a second, the first thing that you notice is that there's something weird about your eyes - but then it's gone. It must have been a trick of the light. They're brown and inquisitive, just like normal. Your hair is black, and cut into its usual bob. But something seems a little strange... it's the same length as you last remember it, but the cut is ever so slightly different. How long have you been here? You don't remember. Your head is REALLY STARTING TO HURT, now.

    You decide it's best to stop trying to REMEMBER and go back to ESCAPING. Yes. That seems like a good plan.
     
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    • Broken25 said:
    Use DFD in the REPAIRED GRANDFATHER CLOCK.
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    The CLASS MACHINATION [DEDUCTION FOR DUMMIES] only works for items in your INVENTORY! You can, however, EXAMINE the GRANDFATHER CLOCK, which you do. The CLOCK is much the same as ever, except now it is full of ASSORTED GEARS and emanating a SOFT GLOW. Underneath the CLOCK FACE is a SMALL BRONZE PLAQUE reading:
    Doors open at twelve and six, and three and nine.
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    That plaque didn't stop from being a thing or anything.
     
    Hmm. I don't expect this to work, but...

    [x] Move hands such that they're pointing to 6:00
    [x] Move hands such that they're pointing to 9:15

    Unfortunately, there's no way for the hands of an analogue clock to point to exactly 3 and 9, as either way you do it (3 as the hour hand or 9 as the hour hand) the minute hand is going to move the other hand, knocking it off centre.

    Maybe we should reinstall the pendulum? Or try the combination we used to unlock the safe?

    [x] EXAMINE SMALL BRONZE PLAQUE
     
    Rem Ipsum said:
    [x] Move hands such that they're pointing to 6:00
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    Determined to figure out what's going on here, you take a firm grip of the HOUR HAND and pull it down. Surely, this will - whoah! As the HOUR HAND moves around, you hear the GRINDING SOUND once again, only much louder. It's deafening, a sound that reverberates through your bones and pounds itself into your skull. Logically, you know it must be the sound of some VAST MACHINE. But it feels like it's the sound of a VAST BEAST, one that's looking for you but has yet to find you, one that has your scent and knows where you are and wants you dead.

    You lose your balance again as, instead of only shaking, the room itself starts to feel like it's MOVING. You fall to the floor as the grinding noise continues and eventually STOPS. You feel dazed and confused, and it takes you a few seconds to get unsteadily to your feet - something feels DIFFERENT about the ROOM.
    Rem Ipsum said:
    [x] EXAMINE SMALL BRONZE PLAQUE
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    Not a lot to see here! It's just a plaque with some writing on it. Pretty normal, as plaques go, not that you're any kind of plaque expert or anything.
    TurtleDucks said:
    [X] Set the hands of the clock to 12:30 and 3:45
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    Rem Ipsum said:
    [x] Move hands such that they're pointing to 9:15
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    You feel as if you should perhaps work out WHAT'S CHANGED IN THE ROOM before you engage in more CLOCK-RELATED SHENANIGANS.
     
    TurtleDucks said:
    [X] check the door where that brick wall had so cruelly impeded your progress!
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    Unsteady and dizzy, you make your way over the DOOR, and open it to find that the BRICK WALL is gone! Yes! Today is truly a victory for LUCY CALLOWAY, JUNIOR SLEUTH. But... hey, wait a second! The view through here is strangely familiar. A plain, white, clinically lit room - this is the room you woke up in! You suddenly have very little idea as to what is going on.
     
    [x] Check the door we originally came in from.
    -[x] If a brick wall is there, try to mark it with the screwdriver.

    The most obvious guess would be that the room itself rotated.

    Presumably, each hour corresponds to thirty degrees, and thus by moving the hand Six hours, we spun 180 degrees.

    Edit: Do we know if the original time was 12:00?

    Edit edit: Nevermind. We do know that.

    causticAccolade said:
    The GRANDFATHER CLOCK appears to be STOPPED at TWELVE O'CLOCK.
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    Rem Ipsum said:
    [x] Check the door we originally came in from.
    -[x] If a brick wall is there, try to mark it with the screwdriver.
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    Gears (of the METAPHORICAL SORT) race in your head as you formulate a hypothesis and walk over to the DOOR you came in through, throwing it open to reveal... yep. Just as you'd anticipated. A hostile, unwelcoming, and damn well unconscionable BRICK WALL. You're not really sure what you should mark it with, and eventually decide on a SMILEY FACE. You feel the urge to smile back at the SMILEY FACE, but resist it because you are doing some SERIOUS JUNIOR SLEUTHING RIGHT NOW.
     
    [x] Move hour hand on GRANDFATHER CLOCK to 12:00
    -[x] Investigate the door that originally had a brick wall
     
    Rem Ipsum said:
    [x] Move hour hand on GRANDFATHER CLOCK to 12:00
    -[x] Investigate the door that originally had a brick wall
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    Once again, you move the HOUR HAND. This time, you're braced for the way the room shakes and spins around you, and although that doesn't make the GRINDING SOUND any less unpleasant or distressing, it at least means that you're still on your own two feet by the time it comes to a stop.

    Sure enough, the door that so cruelly led to a BRICK WALL when you first entered this room does so once more! On the BRICK WALL somebody has carved a SMILEY FACE. Of course, you have no idea who could have possibly done that, but you'd bet that it was someone who was VERY COOL and also MYSTERIOUS and GREAT AT SLEUTHING. You know. If someone made you guess.
     
    This quest is AWESOME, and LUCY CALLOWAY is a very FUNNY and endearing character.

    Also, I should note that "doors open at twelve and six, and three and nine" indicate only the movement of the hour hand, since the minute hand stayed on the same spot both times we tried it. So...

    [X] If previous actions do not open doors, set the hands of the clock to 3:00

    Let's see if this works.

    Edit:
    INVENTORY said:
    SLOT 2: [PILE OF ASSORTED GEARS]
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    [X] EXAMINE the PILE OF ASSORTED GEARS in your INVENTORY
    -[X] See if they retroactively vanish since all of the gears were installed in the GRANDFATHER CLOCK to make it work.
    :whistle:
     
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    > Lucy: Solve clock room puzzle
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    • EvilPorygon said:
    [X] Try to see if the SMALL BRONZE PLAQUE is unscrewable
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    Nope!
    Mithrandir said:
    [X] Taste the WATER in the AQUARIUM. Perhaps it is DRINKABLE?
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    You try to get some water out of the AQUARIUM with the only thing you have long enough to reach into it, the LONG-HANDLED NET. Shockingly and disappointingly, this does not work.
    Nevill said:
    [X] EXAMINE the PILE OF ASSORTED GEARS in your INVENTORY
    -[X] See if they retroactively vanish since all of the gears were installend in the GRANDFATHER CLOCK to make it work.
    :whistle:
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    You have NO IDEA where on earth you got it into your head that there were still ASSORTED GEARS in your inventory! What a RIDICULOUS NOTION to ENTER YOUR NOGGIN. Absolutely PREPOSTEROUS. If you were aware of MECHANICAL ABSTRACTIONS, you would shoot a disapproving look at whatever MYSTERIOUS FORCES update your INVENTORY and CHARACTER SHEET and those mysterious forces would be feeling QUITE SILLY right about now. However, you have no such awareness. Embarrassment: fortuitously averted.
    EvilPorygon said:
    [X] Set the hands of the clock to 3:45
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    As you've grown accustomed to, the room SHAKES AROUND and you hear that TERRIBLE GRINDING SOUND. However, once it's stopped, you see that there is nothing besides FEATURELESS WHITE WALLS behind both of the DOORS. Dang.
    Nevill said:
    [X] If previous actions do not open doors, set the hands of the clock to 3:00
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    Bracing yourself once again for that TERRIBLE GRINDING SOUND, you move the CLOCK HANDS to 3:00. As soon as you let go, you hear a resounding CLICK, like the sound of some sort of enormous lock or latch. Like the grinding sound, it's a sound that seems to settle in your bones, worming its way into every fibre of your being, resonating in your soul. Unlike the grinding, however, it doesn't seem like a malicious sound. It feels more like... a signal, an encouragement, a message that you're doing okay.

    Or maybe you're just THINKING WISTFULLY and READING TOO MUCH INTO SOUNDS. Maybe you're feeling a LOT MORE SCARED than you let on, and concentrating on PUZZLES and MYSTERIES and being a COOL JUNIOR SLEUTH is the only thing keeping you from curling up and crying a little.
    ...
    Anyway! You swiftly put an end to all that introspection and put your mind back to matters at hand. This puzzle isn't going to solve itself! You've got NEWLY ROTATED DOORS to check!
     
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    • > Lucy: Level Up! [CRIME-FIGHTING KINDERGARTENER]
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    • EvilPorygon said:
    [X] Check the doors
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    For the sake of CONVENIENCE, you decide to start referring to the two DOORS by what you feel are the CORRESPONDING TIMES on the CLOCK.

    The THREE O'CLOCK DOOR leads to a long corridor with GLOWING ARROWS leading down it on the floor. Shadows loom, and although it seems slightly sinister, especially since it gets too dark to see to the end of it, it appears otherwise innocuous. That is, until you hear a SERIES OF CLICKS and all of a sudden BLADES are swinging from the ceiling, one of them every few paces or so, scything through the air so quickly that they look like a blur. You jump back as one passes through the air JUST THROUGH THE DOORWAY, so close to your face that you feel a soft breeze blow on your cheeks.

    The NINE O'CLOCK DOOR also opens to a corridor, with a high ceiling, white walls, and FLUORESCENT LIGHTS that FLICKER every now and then to plunge the CORRIDOR into COMPLETE DARKNESS. By the entrance, someone seems to have scrawled AN ARROW on the wall in RED MARKER pointing down the corridor. Whenever the lights flicker on, a BLOODY FOOTPRINT becomes visible near the entrance.

    [TALLY UNLOCKED! AREAS ESCAPED: 1]

    After looking through both doors, you realize that neither of the options appeal to you, but that you're going to have to go down ONE PATHWAY OR ANOTHER. Of course, being Lucy Calloway, the greatest JUNIOR SLEUTH in the nation (if you may say so yourself), you're definitely not FRIGHTENED. You're way too cool for that. No, you just... think it would be better if you sat down in the middle of the room and played your VIOLIN a little.

    The notes of a HAUNTING REFRAIN fill the air as you close your eyes and lose yourself in the music.

    LUCY CALLOWAY has GAINED A LEVEL!
    You have ascended from [TRAIL-FOLLOWING TYKE] to [CRIME-FIGHTING KINDERGARTENER]

    Select ONE STAT INCREASE:

    [] +5 VIGOR
    [] +5 MOXIE
    [] +5 GUMPTION

    Select ONE CLASS MACHINATION:

    [] ANALYSIS FOR AMATEURS: You're a smart kid with a keen eye, and you can make detailed observations in real time. Your reaction times might not be the best, but you're great at predicting the places where things will end up being and not being in those places. This CLASS MACHINATION allows you to use ACUMEN to DODGE ATTACKS or HAZARDS instead of NIMBLENESS.
    [] FILM NOIR: Your eyesight is incredible, and years of rebelliously staying up past your bedtime like the hardboiled sleuth you are have left you with remarkably good night vision. This CLASS MACHINATION allows you to SEE CLEARLY in LOW-LIGHT CONDITIONS with an accuracy that approaches NIGHT VISION.

    The music you're playing makes you feel far away, while it lasts. It takes you to a magical place, a little world where all that exists is yourself, and the music, the only things that matter you and your instrument, the world around you fading as you're enveloped in the melody. When you finish the song, the sense of peace and tranquility lingers, and you know for sure that you'll be proceeding through...

    [] The THREE O'CLOCK DOOR
    [] The NINE O'CLOCK DOOR
     
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  • Threadmarks
    • [X] +5 MOXIE

    MOXIE is important. One can never forget about MOXIE.

    [X] FILM NOIR: Your eyesight is incredible, and years of rebelliously staying up past your bedtime like the hardboiled sleuth you are have left you with remarkably good night vision. This CLASS MACHINATION allows you to SEE CLEARLY in LOW-LIGHT CONDITIONS with an accuracy that approaches NIGHT VISION.

    [X] The NINE O'CLOCK DOOR

    Red marker person is probably more trustworthy than whoever made the puzzle death trap. Also, Lucy needs to stay far away from blades. Who knows, maybe the person who made that footprint was already bleeding when they went in.
     
    [X] +5 VIGOR

    We are not a cannon, yet we are made of glass. That's just unfair. A bit of resilience won't hurt even the JUNIOR SLEUTH.

    [X] ANALYSIS FOR AMATEURS: You're a smart kid with a keen eye, and you can make detailed observations in real time. Your reaction times might not be the best, but you're great at predicting the places where things will end up being and not being in those places. This CLASS MACHINATION allows you to use ACUMEN to DODGE ATTACKS or HAZARDS instead of NIMBLENESS.

    Dodging is good. Dodging allows you to live longer.

    [X] The NINE O'CLOCK DOOR

    Follow the RED MARKER! She seems like a sane and responsible individual.

    Also, there is noticeable synergy between the two CLASS MACHINATIONS and our immediate destination choice, which is precicely why we should choose the opposite option. Obviously we are being railroaded towards certain character progression choices by MAD SCIENTISTS, and we must not conform to their expectations!
     
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    [x] +5 VIGOR

    [x] ANALYSIS FOR AMATEURS: You're a smart kid with a keen eye, and you can make detailed observations in real time. Your reaction times might not be the best, but you're great at predicting the places where things will end up being and not being in those places. This CLASS MACHINATION allows you to use ACUMEN to DODGE ATTACKS or HAZARDS instead of NIMBLENESS.

    aaaand

    [x] The NINE O'CLOCK DOOR
     
    [x] +5 VIGOR

    [x] ANALYSIS FOR AMATEURS: You're a smart kid with a keen eye, and you can make detailed observations in real time. Your reaction times might not be the best, but you're great at predicting the places where things will end up being and not being in those places. This CLASS MACHINATION allows you to use ACUMEN to DODGE ATTACKS or HAZARDS instead of NIMBLENESS.

    [x] The NINE O'CLOCK DOOR
     
    [X] EXAMINE BLOODY FOOTPRINT

    I want to see if the footprint more likely belonged to a kid or an adult, and which direction it comes from. Furthermore, are there any other signs of blood? If it's just footprints, it becomes more likely they stepped into an unrelated puddle of blood than that they're bleeding themselves, which would be... disconcerting. (Well, unless they're bare footprints, in which case they were obviously bleeding from the feet, but that just sounds uncomfortable.)

    Even then, though, if they got cut on the hallway of death, they'd 've tracked blood through the astrology room, right? Unless someone cleaned it, of course, but that has its own implications...

    [X] +5 MOXIE

    If we go the NINE O'CLOCK route , MOXIE is definitely a must. RED MARKER seems vaguely benevolent, but they also don't seem quite right in the head. Of course, they might've just been really stressed out from the paranoia and seclusion of being trapped in a weird puzzle-solving facility by themselves; no telling how long they've been here, and anyone in that situation would go a little crazy after a while. Even if they've gone completely axe-murderer, though, I still fancy our chances better over there than in the hallway of death; we're a MOXIE build, after all, so we may as well take advantage of it. (Of course, this is all assuming that RED MARKER isn't secretly us! :V)

    [X] FILM NOIR: Your eyesight is incredible, and years of rebelliously staying up past your bedtime like the hardboiled sleuth you are have left you with remarkably good night vision. This CLASS MACHINATION allows you to SEE CLEARLY in LOW-LIGHT CONDITIONS with an accuracy that approaches NIGHT VISION.

    [X] The NINE O'CLOCK DOOR

    This is one point where I'm perfectly fine with following the tracks laid out before me.

    (Apologies for any mistakes, by the way; I haven't been able to find my glasses, so currently I can only see about six inches in front of my face.)

    EDIT: The irony of being given an insightful rating on a post where I can't find my glasses is vaguely amusing. :V
     
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    [X] +5 GUMPTION
    [X] ANALYSIS FOR AMATEURS: You're a smart kid with a keen eye, and you can make detailed observations in real time. Your reaction times might not be the best, but you're great at predicting the places where things will end up being and not being in those places. This CLASS MACHINATION allows you to use ACUMEN to DODGE ATTACKS or HAZARDS instead of NIMBLENESS.
    [X] Lick your FINGER and try to SMUDGE the WRITING. Is that really MARKER?
     
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