Professor Thaum Posted April 24, 2020 Black Rock, april 620. Letter from Shaggy Wallace to the doctor Thaum. Doctor, at the end of Feb. 620, after a survey trip around Black Rock, we noticed that seemed to be an islander catamaran beached southeast of Phenix's Roost We quickly found the newcomers without revealing ourselves. They were 4 and engaged in a pretty strong earthwork. We spied them for about 2 weeks and finally decided to met with the newcomers as they finished a fine crafted stone idol on a fine paved floor. They were happy to find other peoples. They explained us that they lost their way in a storm, and finally reached Black Rock. For the knowledge sake, we supplied them with food,shelter and help to finish their work. The stone idol on the paved floor, is a kind of elaborate sextant as far as I correctly understood their explanations. They did not own any portable device like compass,spyglasses, sextant or chronometers. They travel from island to island keeping the same course and referring to the sun or the stars. If losing their way, they need to land and craft the "Thabthim" idol. ( they carry, on parchment, precise ratings to duplicate the same idol and the same paved floor in order to read the sacred abacus) They carry a big refined quartz crystal as a lens to insert in the idol hat and a smaller one for the idol right hand too. Then, after rotating some crafted stones and the idol they could locate and orient themselves, and mark the position on a map. As far as I could see, this is pretty accurate when they reported Black Rock on their map. We, then, exchange numerous committment to friendship, they thank us very much for our kind help and planned an official visit of one of their high ranked Tee Ree Dee as they call themselves. After effusives goodbye and many handshakings, they were all chopped up and their ship burned down to the keel, according to your specifications to keep Black Rock secret. We kept their maps, parchments, idol, abacus, paved floor and strange spyglass to your goodwill on Phenix's Roost. Regards S. Wallace Spoiler Later... Callaghan : Doctor, this statue is the same than the one we found in the jungle of El Oleonda ! Dr Thaum : Sure, Callaghan, and with the almost same towers on Cascadia and El Oleonda it means ? Callaghan : Errr, the Tee Ree Dee are appalling sailors and get themselves lost everywhere over Prio and New Haven Sea ? Dr Thaum : You're a bonehead Callaghan ! Iauln : No ! The Tee Ree Dee have ties with an ancient civilisation which dominate all these islands long ago Dr Thaum : Right my boy, right. This is my Cat. C entry, could probably be licenced as a cultural/educational small/medium property on Black Rock Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Beleg the Ranger Posted April 24, 2020 I like it a lot! The idol's head is large, which makes it look accurate, and the astronomical functions add interest and mystery. Two thumbs up! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Legonaut Posted April 26, 2020 I liked the Story, the build, everything, till the ship of the tyree'de burned down Pirates I guess Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Fraunces Posted April 26, 2020 Good story once again, the machine is based on a real life device?? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Tezclatipoca Posted April 30, 2020 Strange device... All this work to just rely on stars ?? Why do they just look at the stars directly ?? Well built Idol and the end of the story was quite surprising... Ah... Pirates ... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Professor Thaum Posted June 3, 2020 On 4/27/2020 at 12:11 AM, Fraunces said: Good story once again, the machine is based on a real life device?? Yes and no, only the big lens inserted into the hat was used as a magnifying lens for spyglasses, but it was nos built into a statue but rather on the top of a house or hooked to a tower or in the top of a big stair Sorry for the late answer... as already said I'm off with fairies at the moment. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
blackdeathgr Posted June 3, 2020 Really imaginative story! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites