"Yes, I can see how that could work. Robes, or shirts and trousers?"
--M. J. Young
Harry's Game
(1350 posts) (7 voices)-
Fri Mar 19 2010 11:39 pm #
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johnosevens
Member"Trousers and coats. Something with a few large buttons, something easy to put on in a hurry, and easy to get out of in a hurry."
While I'm speaking with her father, I'll make sure to pay attention to Arabella, even if that just means little smiles or touches. Scratch her shoulders, toy with her hair, make sure she knows I'm not ignoring her just to talk shop with her father.
Sun Mar 21 2010 11:32 pm # -
She tickles your back in a rather distracting way.
Jacob offers to make some prototypes and you tell him where to send them. You will probably also, I presume, introduce him formally to Captain Peter (obviously they have met as groom's family and bride's family, but not as Captain of the fire brigade and Owner of the fabric mill) so that the idea is not a surprise to anyone.
And with that, I think you might be catching a carriage to a certain beachfront hotel?
--M. J. Young
Tue Mar 23 2010 2:19 am # -
johnosevens
MemberI squirm horribly and bat at her hands like a child. I'm horribly ticklish. And this is exactly the kind of bratty thing I fully expect my wife to take advantage of.
When I can focus again, yes, I will give Jacob the address of the fire house and formally introduce him to the Captain, and let them talk, seeing as how none of my other officers are still here (I did get a chance to give Tara a hug and send her home earlier, I presume).
And then, yes, it's time for a carriage to the hotel. Good food. Good mead. And... fade to black for a couple of days? (During this time I will be sleeping normally, whenever we do sleep, rather than trying to Remove Fatigue.)
Tue Mar 23 2010 2:34 am # -
Indeed, I will allow you to imagine what happens. Suffice it that Arabella is "innocent but well-instructed", and that your honeymoon is all that you would want except long enough. The crew is working short one leader.
I've been toying with the notion of promoting one more person to shift leader as a substitute, but at the moment I don't know that it's all that helpful, since you still have to have enough people on a shift and your manpower is spread about as thin as you can allow.
So after three days, you have to return to work; but first, you have to introduce Arabella to her new home. I don't actually recall what furnishings you've included, and although I know you did some work with it this will run more smoothly if you describe what you are showing her. That way we'll both be on the same page concerning what's been done in the duplex and what Arabella has seen.
--M. J. Young
Wed Mar 24 2010 12:18 am # -
johnosevens
MemberAs for the honeymoon, suffice to say I am 'inexperienced but attentive.' We probably go well together.
As for the crew being short a shift leader, they'll get another shift leader when I get six more recruits, when I get a promotion, or when we secure a constant stream of funding. I imagine I spend one day a week begging the General to keep shoveling money into this operation as it is.
As for home, I'm going with the assumption that the duplex is two stories on each of two sides...
I'll show her the space I'm planning to rent first, since that's easy seeing as the place is empty. Nice restored floors, a fresh coat of paint, ready to be someone else's home at a decent premium.
Then I'll show her our house. The first floor is divided into a living room when you first enter - a couch, a loveseat, and two chairs arranged in a semicircle around a low table in front of the fireplace, with two large cushions on the floor there - and a more 'formal' dining room in the back, connected to the kitchen at the very back of the house.
The stairs to the second floor ascend from the living room. Upstairs is a large closet, currently mostly empty, and two bedrooms. One is done up as a guest bedroom, in plain neutral colors, while the other is the master bedroom. This has a large four-poster canopy bed (because I've always wanted one, and now that I can afford it, why not?) with two solid wooden dressers, a vanity on her side of the bed that doesn't quite match anything else in the room, being of an obviously superior craft, with a genuine glass mirror. The sheets on the bed are the highest thread count I could find, and probably came from her father's mills at some point in their history.
Unlike the bare wooden floors and painted walls of the rental space, our house is wall-to-wall with rugs. While I try to keep to a general color theme in each room, it's impossible to find that many rugs, so they come off as something of a patchwork. I didn't go with actual carpeting because, in the absence of a vacuum cleaner, throw rugs are easier to maintain. I personally hate bare wooden floors, as they are cold and slippery and make a house feel sterile, while carpeting or rugs makes a place feel warmer, cozier.
The walls are decorated with seascape paintings and tapestries, including a wall-sized map of the Greater Syndic shipping circuit framed over the mantle in the living room. The living room and each bedroom also have one wall each dedicated to (currently empty) bookshelves. Empty except for my couple of books of Sardic history in the living room.
For personal defense, I keep a knife in the top drawer of each bedside nightstand, and there are pegs set into the bedroom wall on my side of the bed for my sword and gun belts.
If she's at all sensitive to such things (as she may not be, but even in our magically numb world some people are) she might pick up on my holy ground in the bedroom. Eventually I'll have to explain that to her, but not tonight...
At some point, once she has settled in, I'll also offer to show her the fire house.
Wed Mar 24 2010 1:21 am # -
I would assume the house is three stories tall, but the top story is a one-room (on each side) attic bedroom with single end windows front and back and a couple dormers to the outer side, sloped ceiling following the slope of the roof, which is not too steep since you're in the southern latitudes. I'll assume everything else you describe is accurate.
She seems impressed with the house and the furnishings.
Looking at the firehouse schedule I conclude that you probably got married on the seventeenth day of the cycle because Matt was working day and Tarah could cover your evening shift and take over the evening on Day 18, when you are off. Matt then covered for you on days 1 and 2 (he works those shifts with you, but they'd have been short a man), and on day 3 you return to work at 8 in the morning. I'll assume, then, that the hotel stay began the evening of the seventeenth day of the (eighteen-day) rotation after the wedding, you stayed there that night, the night of the eighteenth day, and of the first day, and on the afternoon of the second day of the rotation you returned to the house, giving you that afternoon and evening to get settled and getting you back to work eight o'clock the next morning, the first day that Matt doesn't work that shift. You relieve Captain Peter and are relieved by Tarah; both welcome you back and ask how the honeymoon was, although they probably don't expect a real answer.
If there's nothing else, you're back to the routine.
I would assume that Arabella does not sense the holy ground. As magic-averse as you think our world is, it's evident that some of the indigs perform magic within it, and that's not true of her world at all. They have no churches; they have no holy ground.
--M. J. Young
Wed Mar 24 2010 11:12 pm # -
johnosevens
MemberI'll give them a generic 'it was nice' sort of answer, the kind of answer whereby they know they're not getting any details. Because it's not your business so bugger off, that's why.
There's nothing major else. Back to routine is fine, but I will ask if anything interesting happened while I was away, particularly if they did any good training drills or if they had another fire to fight.
If neither is true, then the next weekend I will try to rent that space outside of town again and see if we can go out there for another training drill. Meanwhile I'm going to try to get some wood brought in so they can practice the proper use of an axe, go to that one carpenter and see if my ladders are ready yet, and write a letter to my father-in-law inviting him for a tour of the place as well.
Unlike before, when I basically lived in my office, I will now be hurrying home to my wife (the very thought of having a wife makes me grin) as soon as my shift ends.
Wed Mar 24 2010 11:29 pm # -
They mostly just held down the routine; you were only gone less than a week, after all.
Did we establish how many days were in a week here? I made that mistake in another game. I'm assuming it's seven, and that this means the 18-day rotation constantly changes its relationship to the weekends, and that further means it doesn't really matter which upcoming day I decide is the weekend; but I could be wrong if you've been tracking days somehow.
You can get firewood for axe practice easily enough; and one of your ladders is finished, to spec.
You get home to find that your wife has cobbled together something for supper. "There wasn't much in the larder," she says, "and we hadn't really talked about the food budget and such, so I didn't want to go shopping without checking with you first."
I don't guess you had anything around but some rice, maybe macaroni, flour, salt, a bit of baking soda perhaps--all dry stuff that can be kept without spoiling, and of course the water from the pump out back. There's not much she can make of that, but she made something.
--M. J. Young
Fri Mar 26 2010 5:02 am # -
johnosevens
MemberI blink in surprise.
"I hadn't given it any thought," I admit, "I'm still adjusting to the idea of being regularly home." I'll leave my boots and cloak by the door, and hang my weapon belts on the handrail of the stairs, to carry up later, after dinner.
"Next time I have an off shift during the day, we need to go down to the Sardic Shipping offices down by the docks, and make sure they know you can draw on my account. Then we can go to the market and get this place properly stocked up."
Considering I'm Greek and a fairly good cook myself, it's sort of embarrassing for her to catch me with an empty house, but I'm also a terrible housekeeper and I hate grocery shopping, so it's also altogether likely. Still, I am grateful for dinner and I'll make sure she knows it.
"I hadn't given any thought to any sort of budget at all. I make more than enough money to sustain myself, but... wow this whole head of a household thing is new to me. We should sit down and get that all worked out. I'll make sure to bring a copy of my schedule home tomorrow, too, so you'll always know when and where to find me."
There's also the fact that I am still at a loss for our in-Verse economics. Converting Durnmist's 2-ounce gold coins into American dollars, about how much do I make per year, relative in terms of buying power? Like, relative to the local economy, do I have the buying power of someone who makes $30k? $80k? $250k? I'm not really sure what an officer's salary is actually worth besides the idea that I could sink a ship with the weight of my salary if I took it all in cash.
Fri Mar 26 2010 5:15 am # -
I don't actually see in my notes any statement of salaries of anyone working for the city watch. I know that salaries of sailors are very generous, but this is because they have no expenses while at sea and they face significant dangers and can't lead a normal life--and that aspect of "have no expenses" means that because their food and lodging is covered, the money they make doesn't have to pay for such bills. I also know that depending on where you buy the provisions, food and drink for the full (twenty-seven man) crew runs between 400 (in Sardic and Durnmist) and 800 (in Tristar) Diktar per day. That, of course, is provisioning the ship, including medical supplies, engineering equipment, weapons upkeep, ship maintenance, charts; but it means that it's about fifteen diktar per day per man to supply the ship, and thus you can probably figure that you're going to spend ten to twenty diktar per day on food (you can buy fresh food cheaper than they can buy dried and preserved food, at least when it's in season, and Durnmist has long growing seasons because it's in the south).
Mostly you should probably figure that things cost in diktar about what they would cost in dollars, except where there are technological or cultural reasons for them to be different. My impression is that the housing costs were lower because there isn't an overpopulation/crowding problem creating significant demand.
If you have a note somewhere that says what your salary was as a junior investigator or was after your promotion to commander, please fill in my ignorance. Otherwise, I'll work from what I know and get you a decent wage.
As to the empty larder, I did not recall you ever putting any food into it or eating any meals there, but I couldn't figure what would happen if there were no food at all in the house, so I perhaps generously tossed a few things there that you might have had delivered at some point as part of setting it up for future use.
"I certainly don't mind doing some shopping whenever there's time, but the question is, what are we going to eat tomorrow? There's only so much I can make from these basic ingredients."
--M. J. Young
Sat Mar 27 2010 2:57 am # -
johnosevens
MemberFirstly, no, we never established how many days are in a week here. I've been assuming seven, but ten is also a fairly easy number, too. The Forgotten Realms runs a ten day week.
Secondly, you're absolutely right, I never did mention filling the larder. My current predicament really is entirely my own fault.
From Page 5 of Behind the Screens 2009:
That suggests that he'll make more than the typical ship's security guard but less than Balcon, the Security Chief. Then there's the second complication: Harry will be paid on the basis of real time, while Balcon is paid based on average ship's run. Also, Balcon works every day, and Harry will have days off. I'm putting all this out so I can get it in the mix in my brain; we'll come up with a salary as soon as he asks.
That was when I was a Junior Inspector, and you heavily implied that I would be getting a significant increase in wage now that I am in effect second in command of a department, but never said exactly how much. Consider this asking.
"I don't know. I've never really been home long enough to have to think about it. I'm sorry. Let's see...," I always have some credit notes on me, so I'll leave her 100 diktar worth of them, more than enough to take care of herself for a day or two.
"I'm working the day shift tomorrow (day 4) and the next day (day 5), but I'm actually off the day after that. Do you think we can make due with eating out for a couple of days, and we'll go shopping by the end of the week?
We'll tour the market and the docks, go down to the Syndicate office, make a day of being all domestic and getting settled in and ordering in enough food to eat like royalty. I'm sure keeping the place stocked up will be easy once we get started at it. And to make it up to you for the oversight, once we get everything squared away, I'll cook so you can relax."
I've also realized something with this business of credit notes that we've ad-hoc'd in: we're not actually using a coin economy any more. The inconvenience of the weight of these coins has actually shifted our economy out of a gold coin economy into a gold-standard paper money economy, they just call them credits instead of dollars.
Sat Mar 27 2010 3:37 am # -
As a junior investigator you were making 70D per day, plus a 5% bonus for evening shift and a 10% bonus for night shift, so your weekly income ranged from 420 to 462 Diktar depending on what shifts you were working. As a commander, you make 100D per day plus the same shift bonuses, but the eighteen-day rotation against a seven-day work week means your weekly pay fluctuates significantly, depending on what shifts and days you actually work. You work five days (1-5) of day shift (100D) then take a day off (6), returning for five days (7-11) of midnight shift (110D) and a day off (12), and then five days (13-17) of evening shift (105D) and a day off (18), which gives you 1575 Diktar every 18 days; but you get paid for a seven day week, and since the eighteen-day rotation does not align with the seven-day week very often your pay varies. The smallest check you would receive would be 500D if the week starts on Day 18 and ends on Day 6, because you get paid for five days of day pay; the largest would be if the week begins in day 7 and ends on day day 13, 655D.
Pay is paid on the second day of the week, and as it is with the shipping company your pay is credited to an account at the watch office against which you can draw.
For reference purposes, here is the amount of each check based on the day of the week on which the pay period ends, i.e., #1 means that the first day of the eighteen-day rotation was the last day of the seven-day work week:
- 625D
- 620D
- 615D
- 610D
- 605D
- 500D
- 610D
- 620D
- 630D
- 640D
- 650D
- 550D
- 655D
- 650D
- 645D
- 640D
- 635D
- 525D
Do you think we can make due with eating out for a couple of days, and we'll go shopping by the end of the week?
"Why, Mr. Sevenwinds, you do spoil me; and I thought the honeymoon was ending." She smiles coquetishly. "I'm sure I don't mind sampling the local restaurants until we can get some food in the house."
And to make it up to you for the oversight, once we get everything squared away, I'll cook so you can relax.
"You are full of surprising talents, and I would love to sample your cooking; but then, it sounds as if you expect me to laze about all day and do nothing. I will cook sometimes, too; after all, my mother felt it important that I learn to cook for my husband, and given all you do for me," she raises her eyebrows suggestively, "I ought to be doing something useful."
Somewhere in the Game Ideas Unlimited articles there's one called Cash that considers exactly this kind of evolution of money. However, Durnmist is not there yet. Local merchants expect payment in cash for most purchases, for nearly all purchases under fifty diktar, and some will not take your credit slips at all for any amount, but will insist on accompanying you to the office that holds your cash and getting them to pay or certify payment.The inconvenience of the weight of these coins has actually shifted our economy out of a gold coin economy into a gold-standard paper money economy, they just call them credits instead of dollars.
Arabella will have to take the credit slips to the shipping office to get cash for them, but she says she can do that.
She also looks forward to the upcoming shopping day.
--M. J. Young
Sun Mar 28 2010 11:33 pm # -
johnosevens
MemberThat eats my brains. I think I'll focus on the 'your average is 612.5D' line. Considering you said 'things cost in D what they cost in Dollars,' this is about twice what I make right now IRL. Sadly that means I still only make about 32k a year, about half what an actual fire chief makes, but enough to support a small family. I guess I'm going to have to look into more fundraising, or getting that other apartment rented out and rent coming in ASAP.
I smile back, "I don't mind taking a turn cooking now and again either. In my family the men were always the best cooks. My mother couldn't be trusted to boil water for tea without setting a kettle on fire. But if you can make this," I indicate our current dinner, "out of the nothing I had in house, I think I'll have to mind my waistline."
After dinner, since she cooked I'll clean. I hate doing dishes, but I'll clean up if she'll keep me company while I do.
While working, I tend to sing, usually working songs. Tonight, I think, 'Strike the Bell.'Mon Mar 29 2010 2:17 am # -
I notice that that is a 2008 video, and so wonder whether you knew the song before you versed out; but since it's not a critical issue I don't guess it matters.
She appreciates your help with the dishes, but insists on doing at least some of it. "After all," she says, "there's not much I can do to help you fight fires, other than make sure you're well fed and happy."
She asks whether that's something you sang aboard the ship when you were at sea.
Otherwise, we have fairly routine events for a couple days, taking us to your shopping day.
--M. J. Young
Tue Mar 30 2010 12:32 am # -
johnosevens
MemberI was going to Faire since... I want to say 2005. This will be my third year on the cast, I was Friends of Faire for at least two years before that, and I was going to Faire for at least a season before that, so yeah I'm going to go with I learned that song in 2005 or 2006.
I tell her that it is, and it's close enough to true - it's in the right pattern and I probably did sing this aboard ship at least once, I just didn't learn it there.
"Trust me, I'm normally terrible at housework. Appreciate the help while you can get it."
All of this routine is beginning to worry me. If we don't have any fires to fight we won't be able to keep getting funding for this. In the interim, I'm going to schedule another training run to the Off Site for... I can't keep up with this 18-day rotation out of character. I want to say "next Thursday and Friday," basically.
During these two days off, I'll ask if she wants to write home, maybe drop in by her father's place, or her sister's place, for dinner after our shopping?
So, shopping...
Shopping has to begin at the Syndicate office down by the docks, to show them who Arabella is and make sure she can use my account.
The itinerary, I think, should go from the Syndicate office to the docks if there be a dockside market, for staples like salt and imported goods like cheese, spices, and wine that are more easily come by there. Then on to the common market, for the goods like grain and fruit that are best bought from local farmers, and things like meat that need to be bought fresh. Also if we need actual means of storage, now would be a good time to acquire that. I'm probably used to food coming out of salt barrels after two years at sea, but I doubt anyone does that on land. Seeing as we are a coastal city (are we on a river mouth?) it's not inconceivable that they might have developed the idea of an ice box here, but... wait what the hell am I saying? I can Restore Freshness whenever I please, although it might take a little explaining.
That reminds me, I should leave a message for Captain John at the Syndicate office, asking him if he used the gift I left for him last time he passed through Emerald. (Remember I cast a huge Restore Freshness over the main hold, that required him to kick in the door at the appropriate moment. If he did it right, he probably made enough money on that run to sink the Piper in emeralds.) I wonder if he used that money to retire someplace warm...
Tue Mar 30 2010 3:37 am # -
On day 6 you are off, shopping in various parts of town. You are at the docks looking over imports and seafood when you hear the familiar watchman's whistle calling all city watch personnel within earshot to respond. It is probably about two blocks away.
--M. J. Young
Tue Mar 30 2010 8:38 pm # -
johnosevens
MemberI ask Arabella if she will be alright without me. Even off-duty I have to at least see if they need the extra hands.
If she says she is ok, I'll leave her to do her thing, with my promise that I will meet her back here as soon as we're done.
If she says she is not ok, I'll hail a carriage to take her home, with my promise that I will meet her there as soon as we're done.
If she says she wants to come along, well, that would make me grin, and I'll bring her with me, at least until I figure out who blew the 'all hands on deck' and make sure it's not dangerous for her to be there.
Either way, I see to her, and then go to investigate.
Tue Mar 30 2010 11:22 pm # -
"You go ahead, John. I'm sure I can find you when I'm done here."
You head in the direction of the whistle, and find that there is a warehouse afire. You are probably about two miles from the fire company office. Watchmen are attempting to put out the fire in the typical haphazard manner you observed of your own unit.
--M. J. Young
Thu Apr 1 2010 12:24 am # -
johnosevens
MemberI try to find out who is in charge here.
If there is someone in charge here, I'll introduce myself, "Commander John Sevenwind, Fire Watch."
In this case, the first order of business is to find out if the person in charge wants to be in charge, or just happens to be in charge because he blew the whistle. If he wants me to take over, skip to below. If he is in charge, I will follow his commands to the best of my abilities.If there is no one in charge or the situation has broken down into utter chaos, I will attempt to take command.
In that case, the first thing I need to do is find a Watchman to relay word to the Fire Station what's going on. Two miles is a hell of a run, but a warehouse fire is going to take a while in any case. "Tell the Commander of the Watch to get everything we've got down here."
The next order of business is to secure a perimeter, to control the looting and to keep curious people from getting too close.
Then I need to know if anyone has found out where the fire started, how far has it spread, and what's in that warehouse? (If it's a warehouse full of cheese, my people know what they're doing. If it's a warehouse full of gunpowder, we need to be organizing an evacuation.)
Once the perimeter is secure and I know what we're dealing with, I'm going to try to organize a bucket brigade. This time I'm going to organize the whole thing in two lines, one going from the nearest water source into the fire, and one with perhaps one half or one third as many people going back to keep the buckets flowing. If there's any backlog on the buckets, I'll come down like the hammer of God until they get it together - this isn't rocket surgery.
I'll see if anyone has an axe, and if I can get an axe (which I don't carry when I'm off-duty), I'll go up to the walls and see if I can find a good place - not too far from the fire but not too near, either - to breach the wall. (Breaching a fire is balls-all dangerous, as it can result in a nigh-explosive backdraft if done incorrectly, which is why I do it myself. I can heal myself fairly easily, after all. Not that I'm not terrified every time I do it, but still...) Arabella forgive me for the foolish things I do for the good of others...
If I cannot find an axe, but the bucket brigade holds together, I'll take my own place near the fire end of the line, hurling buckets. I dosed my Remove Fatigue... BUGGER! Why does it always happen that I have a fire on days when I sleep the night before? Gods give me strength... I continue hurling buckets until my arms hurt.Thu Apr 1 2010 1:34 am # -
You find the watchman frantically trying to figure out what to do.
"Commander John Sevenwinds? We've heard of you. I'm grateful to have you here, and happy to pass command to someone who knows what he's doing."
He sends someone to the fire hall, and then you start dividing your somewhat limited troops between bucket brigade and crowd control. No one yet knows what's in the warehouse; they can send someone to find out, but you're pretty short on help as it is.
The bucket brigade stumbles a bit; maintaining the rhythm takes practice that these men have not had. However, it is running.
There is nothing at hand remotely like a fire axe.
--M. J. Young
Fri Apr 2 2010 2:58 am # -
johnosevens
MemberI'll get up on something and start stomping my foot on a milk crate, soap box, rain barrel, whatever is at hand. Not in a mean or domineering way, but because it will help them set a rhythm. one *TWO* three, one *TWO* three, a simple waltz beat. Hand the buckets off, toss, hand the buckets on, take a bucket, toss. Lather, rinse, repeat.
I'll recruit a civilian to find out about the warehouse. Surely there were some workers in there who fled when the fire started, or a foreman on watch, or someone employed there who would know?
Fri Apr 2 2010 4:29 am # -
It takes about fifteen minutes to find someone, a private guard who was awakened by the commotion and doesn't know how it started. He does know, though, that the warehouse includes mostly ship food supplies, including rum, oil, flour, sugar, and ale, along with dried fruits and meats and other easily transported foods.
--M. J. Young
Sat Apr 3 2010 3:25 am # -
johnosevens
MemberOk, good.
Wait, flour? ... Nah, what are the odds? That won't happen...
I'll give the order to fight more aggressively, and start looking for a ways in. After fifteen minutes we probably have the outer walls decently soaked, so the fire shouldn't be spreading as quickly, now it's time to make in-roads towards putting it out, and that means going inside.
I wish I knew how this building was constructed. It makes me long for those nice little signs on buildings back home. The ones that tell you whether or not the roof will fall on you the instant half a wall gives out. Nothing for it, now, though. My men are probably another twenty minutes away, and I can't let this fire go half an hour unchallenged.
I'll ask for two volunteers from our already spread-thin forces to go scout inside and see if they can find us a path to where the fire is rooted.
Sat Apr 3 2010 1:09 pm # -
The watchmen are obviously nervous about the idea of going inside a burning building. One of them, not wanting to appear cowardly, says, "Beggin' your pardin, commander, but--how do we do that?"
--M. J. Young
Mon Apr 5 2010 1:49 am # -
johnosevens
Member"One of you stands here, and keeps the beat for the people still working the buckets. Then three of you follow me, and do as I tell you."
I'll lead them on a quick patrol around the place, to find where the fire is now.
Then we'll enter from the entrance farthest from the fire, and work our way in.
Once we find where the fire actually is rooted, we go back out, and establish the bucket brigade to there.All of this is, of course, done with an excess of caution - I would rather lose the goods in this warehouse than the men following me. Gods I hope my crew get here soon... we built our office near the warehouse district for exactly this reason! Where's our response time going?
Mon Apr 5 2010 4:03 am # -
Technically, this particular warehouse is outside the intended response area. You were to cover the twelve by twelve one hundred forty-four block area a bit south of here. Your ability to cover up here is taxing the expectations, but will certainly be a coup for your team if they can pull it off.
There are only two entrances to this warehouse, the large wagon door that is barred on the inside and the smaller office door alongside it that connects from outside through the small office into the warehouse to open those doors. There are a few windows in the roof, which can be opened from inside for ventilation and illumination, but the roof is three stories tall.
The fire is to the front of the building not far from the wagon door on the opposite side from the office. Your water supply is behind the building, but you are within two hundred yards of a pier and could draw water from the ocean directly as well or instead. It appears to be mostly sails and rigging that are burning at the moment, although the wall near there is blackened and it could easily head up to the ceiling. Barrels of what appear to be oil are not too distant from this, but the fire has not headed that way yet. The air inside is still and smokey, and the roof windows are all closed.
By the time you are out again, three of your firefighters have arrived and announced that the crew is gathering and bringing wagons. One has an axe in hand.
--M. J. Young
Tue Apr 6 2010 12:44 am # -
johnosevens
MemberI'll direct the crew not to breach the wall, and not to open the wagon doors. I don't need this fire getting any more oxygen if I can help it.
I'm going to direct the brigadiers to switch their water supply to drawing from the pier. I want that blackened wall and the area around it soaked while my men get inside and start working.
Once I have people inside, I want to start by containment, and that means getting those barrels of oil the hell out of there. We can use the warehouse's own workers for this - there's no significant danger there.
The wagons they're bringing... It's been long enough now that one of them should be equipped with one of my collapsable ladders. I want to use that ladder to go up and open one - and only one - roof window, and that on the side nearest the fire. That should let out some of the smoke without creating too strong a chimney effect. I don't want the whole place drawing in cold air from down below and fanning the flames, I just want enough air flow to suck out some of this damned smoke. The office door will need to stay open in order to let in my bucket-brigadiers, but that can't be helped. I want as little airflow as possible, but I don't want the stagnation to create a hazard in itself. Hopefully we'll be able to contain the fire before the chimney effect spreads it. Sailcloth burns slow, and wet sailcloth doubly so.
By the time all of that is done, my crew should be here, and they can take over directing people to lead the bucket brigade.
This gives me an idea for another spell, but I'll have to sit down with it later. Now is not the time to pester the gods on a moment's notice.
Tue Apr 6 2010 2:57 am # -
There are no warehouse workers here; as you move inside you find three men overcome by the smoke somewhere near the oil barrels.
Your ladder arrives; the windows do open and close on rope-and-pulley systems on the walls, so it's not necessary to climb to the roof.
Your fire crew begins arriving.
--M. J. Young
Wed Apr 7 2010 6:57 am # -
johnosevens
MemberI order my crew to do what they do - start organizing people, bolster the bucket brigade and replace the people too tired to continue.
I'll take those two watchmen who followed me into the building before and get those three workers out into the clean air.
Once the window - one window only - is open and the smoke venting, I'll get my people going in through the office door to put out the base of the fire.
If I have enough people, I want that ladder up to the window, and a bucket train going up the ladder to pour water down from the window to soak the wall and pour still more water into the fire.
Wed Apr 7 2010 12:44 pm # -
You get the window opened and the unconscious warehouse workers out, and as the smoke vents the fire starts burning a bit brighter and hotter; but your wagons have arrived and your team is starting a second line from the ocean to the front door.
Tarah is watch commander, and Brandy was first on the scene after you; Lars and Albert brought the wagons along with four others responding to the alarm off-shift. A message was left directing any other responders here.
As you set up the ladder, Tarah surveys the situation.
"You know," she says, "I wish there were a way to set up like a pump and a lot of pipe, to bring the water from there to here without having to string our people out all that distance." She shakes her head.
The roof window is not quite over the fire, but it's close enough that with a bit of effort you can get water down that way. Someone rigs a rope for hauling buckets up, but it's not easy getting them around the eaves without spilling them.
The fire is still essentially contained in the sails area; the two men you brought are inside moving the oil out of the way.
--M. J. Young
Thu Apr 8 2010 12:53 am # -
johnosevens
Member"I've heard of something like that," I'll tell her in a break between the stages of this, "But I've no idea how it works. If you think it's worth the expense, I'll go down to the docks. The people who make bilge pumps for ships would know how to make the kind of pumps we would need."
Once we have the fire well in hand, I'll stop the train up to the window and devote all of our efforts into putting out the sails storage and ending this fire for good and all.
Thu Apr 8 2010 12:58 am # -
"Well, we are near the docks, and there's plenty of water there--and somehow I think that even if we weren't, wouldn't it be easier to pump the water into a pipe or trough than to carry buckets back and forth, especially when we're short-handed?"
But she gets back to the job quickly, not waiting for your response.
The sails are well-oiled, and the water creates some trouble, as it does not really dowse them that well and sometimes carries wisps of flame away from them riding on the wash.
--M. J. Young
Thu Apr 8 2010 11:29 pm # -
The cart contains about a hundred pounds of sand in two cloth bags and a half dozen shovels. Tarah suggests hauling the bags inside, dumping the cart contents, and running it to a nearby spot where the ground is exposed to fill with dirt.
--M. J. Young
Sat Apr 10 2010 12:09 am # -
The only person close at hand is one of the local watch, and he doesn't seem that helpful. First, he's asking why you want to take sand inside the building, and then he doesn't want to go inside a burning building himself.
While you're trying to get him to grab the sand bag and carry it for you, while Tarah is unloading the rest of the cart save for the shovels, you see Arabella wandering this direction.
--M. J. Young
Mon Apr 12 2010 1:28 am # -
johnosevens
MemberI give Arabella a quick wave, then I grab the bag in both arms and carry it my bloody self. Fifty pounds is sodding heavy, but I could carry fifty pounds for a good long way before I came out into the Verse, and two years at sea and a year of this can only have helped in that regard. At the very least I probably lost weight eating ship food.
When I get back out, I want that guy's name and station address. I will be writing him up for insubordination and refusing an order in a crisis situation.
Mon Apr 12 2010 3:26 am # -
I figured you were going to carry one bag yourself; it was the other bag that you needed someone to carry.
Once you have the one bag inside, are you applying it to the fire yourself or leaving it with others to manage?
--M. J. Young
Tue Apr 13 2010 12:16 am # -
johnosevens
MemberIf I have others inside, I'll leave it to them. Shoveling sand isn't that hard. I'll go back for the other.
If I have not others inside, I'll shovel it myself.Either way, I'm not going to forget to get that S.O.B.'s number when I get out of here. (Yeah, I'm a little vindictive about things like that...)
Tue Apr 13 2010 3:32 am # -
When you get back out, Tarah has left all the gear except a few shovels sitting on the street, including the other bag of sand, and has taken the cart out of sight to get dirt. Arabella is standing by the gear.
"I didn't think this should be left unattended," she comments as you approach, "particularly in a neighborhood like this--one cannot be certain things won't happen to board a ship, you know.
"My, it looks like you've got a fire. But you know that. If I can help, just say so."
Your errant watchman is not in sight.
--M. J. Young
Tue Apr 13 2010 10:00 pm # -
You haul the other sandbag inside. The fire is now somewhat contained; the floor has charred around it, but the sand has prevented it from spreading that way, and with this new bag you are able to cover the worst parts of the burning and keep the wall from catching.
In a moment, Tarah appears.
"Should we risk opening the door to bring this wagonload of dirt inside, or transport it in buckets, do you think?" The door is certainly close at hand to the heart of the fire, and you don't see any sign of it elsewhere, but you were keeping the air flow controlled to avoid a more serious blaze.
--M. J. Young
Thu Apr 15 2010 2:04 am # -
johnosevens
MemberI'll take stock of the situation.
I will open the door if:
The fire is separated from the wall,
The fire is contained, at least somewhat, on all sides,
The fire does not seem to be fluctuating too much when we use the other door.I will tell her to take it in in buckets if:
The fire has a ready supply of new fuel,
The area immediately around it is not either wet or sanded already, or
The fire seems overly sensitive to changes in air flow.Thu Apr 15 2010 2:34 am # -
It is evident that the fire is well contained and largely controlled at this point. When the main doors open there is only a slight increase in the blaze, and it is quickly countered by the manpower with the dirt and shovels.
Your fire is extinguished within another ten minutes. You and Tarah are eying it, looking for hot spots that might be trouble, but it seems to be under control.
A man comes over wearing commander bars. "So, your the new firewatch team. I must say, I'm impressed. I thought we were outside your area?"
--M. J. Young
Thu Apr 15 2010 9:53 pm #
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