The group is in the newly-discovered pump room in the upper city, where several house fronts make a fake terrace. Behind that facade is a pump arm of brass and wood, as long as the boulding, moving from floor to arch-supported ceiling. With each movement one end dips into a well, and as it rises, it brings up water, which floods over into several pools. Those pools drain into pipes that, in all probability, go to fountains around the city. At least one leads down to the Dolphin Fountain in the lower square.

Filinia is here, looking at the pump arm with professional interest. She has her kit with her - not just the usual carpet bag, but long bars and spanners and hammers as well. She is looking at the counterweight on the end of the pump, and at pivot, with some interest.

Amy has definitely come along with, because those folks who attacked last time are still on her mind. As in- she's still got it in her mind to go teach them again not to mess with this group. And Amy isn't even one of the fighters of the group. She's just feisty.

\

Gavin? Gavin is here to keep the feisty one from whooping everyone. That ussually means he get thrown at something big. That's alright he's bing. He's at the moment sitting on something not important and eating an apple. He's keeping a look out for trouble makers until Filinia asks him to come hold something.

Danielle looks at the pump "Well if we want to learn which each pump feeds I suppose we'd march around the city shutting water off but how would we find where it comes from? Underground presumably?

Filinia thumps what looks like a wrought-iron spanner against her palm. "I can't even work out how this is powered," she says. "Except if it's by the water. Which isn't warm so it ain't thermal. S'weird. But I think we could probably jam it. It would take a while to slow down. But I wonder if it's here to slow down the water. Where I's from you'd send a demon - it's a little scuttly thing - into the pipe. Might even get it back."

Amy arches a brow, as she considers the discussion. "I don't think we have anything small to send in there. Nobody has any such familiars." She pauses after that word comes out, and then shrugs. It'll do. "I suppose we could also break things apart and follow the pipe that way," she muses. "But that seems somewhat excessive, time consuming and likely to irritate the whole city. Which of course may also happen if we stop the water from running."

Filinia says, "That suggestion of Dirk's - putting dyes in. I like that. But if we break down the walls of the well and it turns out that it's under high pressure, we are in a whole lot of hot water. Well. Cold. But we could probably do it by mining if we were really careful. I'm not an expert though and I don't swim well." Funny. Rats generally do.

As they look, and talk, the arm begins to slow down, and finally just stops, with water welling out beneath it. It might be possible to get in, if one were a demon. Or a fish.

Danielle hms "We have to be careful not to permenantly damage the city's water supply. We'd have a riot on our hands and can't say I'd blame em. What ever we'd do would have to be carefully done. Dyes are the least invasive and disruptive

Filinia stares at the arm as it pauses, and says, "Yeaaaah. So... did anyone do anything that did that?"

"Not that I am aware," Amy replies to Filinia dryly, staring at the pump.

Water still floods out, rather faster than when the 'pump' is moving. Filinia glares at it. "Alright. What's it powering? It's a limiter. Don't tell me they're wasting that power!"

"That's a good question," she muses. "I don't know what it's powering, but there must be something. I haven't actually seen anything like this technology since we got here. It's all hidden."

Amy muses.

The big arm starts to move again. Filinia's distress increases, although she keeps it in check. However, as the arm plunges down, it is into a central pool that is already over-full. Water flows out everywhere, sloshes over the floor, goes down gratings.

Filinia gets her feet wet, which is unusual, for her usual instinct is to have already backed away and started running.

Danielle hms "I"VE not scene any large scale mechanism in the city that would actually require poweing. no fancy lighting systems no large mills or machine works. She reaches out to see if she can sense a change in the power flow since the machine has slowed

\ "It would have to be something safe. Something that's not a poison if you put dye in." Gavin says and then adds, "And in a quanity that it will be noticed." Gavin says as he munches on his apple.

Danielle rolls with advantage 1 at difficulty 20, using occult, pattern meditation.
The result is a success.

The water feels soothing to Danielle, coming from somewhere deep and bringing with it a hint of powers that should not really *fit* into mere water. This is more real than it should be - charged with impossibility, promise, and her birthright.

"Or a flavour," Filinia mutters. "Spice i' up a bit..."

Amethyst rolls with advantage -1 at difficulty 15, using no talents or gifts.
The result is a failure.

Danielle rolls with advantage -1 at difficulty 15, using no talents or gifts.
The result is a success.

The gratings that the water flows down catch Danielle's eye a little - although they look old, they were not here last time she was in here.

\ Gavin sits there for a moment eating his apple. "Apples float. They're noticable. They don't kill people. Can we throw in an apple? See where it comes out at? Hope it don't get clogged up somewhere? A small apple?"

Filinia rolls with advantage 0 at difficulty 20, using notice.
The result is a success.

Amy concentrates, meditating a bit on the image of the pattern in her head. She is curious to see if she can see anything as well, and really she figures the only way would be via that - uncanny sense.

Filinia splashes away from the water to look at the apple. "Problem is, pipes get thin," she says. "That clog... if it's happened..." Only Gavin gets to see her eyes go wide, then narrow. She turns back to the pump and says, "Of course, if it was really well made, and you put one in, where it came out would tell us things. If people found it."

(outside...)

Amethyst rolls with advantage 1 at difficulty 20, using occult, pattern meditation.
The result is a success.

Amethyst feels something that might or might not be the world's pulse changing, just at the moment Filinia speaks. What she was starting to concentrate on flickers, and then is steady.

Filinia looks from the pump to Gavin and back again.

Danielle sighs "reality is still shifting which makes sense if the patten is in play and people here have shown an ability to shift it though i'm not sure it's in all cases consciousness and purposeful but i'd be willing to bet it s in some cases. as if someone doesn't want us to find things

"If we put something in, it would have to be something that we'd hear about, right?" Amy says thoughtfully. "I mean, something small yes, and not poisonous, but also something that wouldn't just have folks think "oh someone just tossed this and it rolled into the fountain."

\

"Just an idea? Maybe a Walnut? I mean we might need to put several in. I mean, chance are some kid will find it and well make off with it?" The Knight than points at Danielle, "Yeah I'm pretty sure somebody plays games with us. I mean the little guy at the gates."

She looks over to Danielle and shrugs. "It feels like it's mostly steady on, but there's a flicker every so often."

Amy looks over to Danielle and shrugs. "It feels like it's mostly steady on, but there's a flicker every so often."

Danielle adds "We could use beet juice couldn't we. Make thinks nice and red but not harm a thing

"We'd need hundreds," Filinia says. "At that point, we might as well get dye. But maybe we can take soundings? If we get the arm to stop again?" She glances to Gavin. "Sorry. The apple was..." Maybe she thought it was a good idea. "Yeah. If it's red. An' we can crush it here. We have got, I tell you, power to... probably push walls over. Not big ones - the arm'd break first."

Gavin nods, "It was a thought." Gavin agrees with Filinia. Then the Knight says, "What about one of the magic types witching the pipes? When I was a boy the court wizard and even a few of the wise women could witch a well. They could take a young supple peach limb and find water. Said they could sense the movemen of the underwater river. Is this not an underwater river? I know it's a bit different."

Maybe Filinia twitches a bit at that. It's hard to tell. She busies herself by looking for something in her bag, opening it all the way.

"That might work, though I don't know who would be able to do that," Amy says. "I don't know how to."

"Mmm. So we've got ... less think. Down at the bottom end a flow of twenn'y standard... About. Because it's rated for about twice that but then the water comes out..." Filinia is muttering numbers in her own measuring system.

Gavin looks at Amy and frowns as Filinia is talking to her self in the most horrific of tongues, math. He whispers, "Is she alright? I didn't mean to confound the issue."

Danielle hms Well I don't know how to find water by using magic but this water is pattern flavored so we could track the sensation. if only we had a spell or something that could find the signal. like tanya's tracking spell that buried it's dang self in my finger

Filinia says, "Tanya's not allowed near my stuff," as an aside. She opens up her chalk and starts scribbling on the actual *floor*. The nearest surface. Engineer nerd-sniped. Send help or intervention.

"I think so?" Amy says to Gavin. "Filinia? You are going to explain this to us, right?" she asks. Then she looks over at Danielle. "That's true, but so far at least my Pattern sense is pretty high level. A tracking thingy - do you know how to make one?"

Filinia says, "Just looking at the flows. Uh, Gavin, this'll sound really weird but can you try to stop that? I want to make sure it's not balanced against it or weird, or anything. Try to keep the weight end from going down when it's at its lowest." At its lowest, it's about eight feet off the floor - it's a pretty impressive counterweight, and does not go as low as the 'pump' end in the water."

Danielle hms "Not yet I don't but tanya had a tracking spell which proves such a thing is not out of the realm of the probable

Gavin rolls with advantage 0 at difficulty 25, using athletics and spending will.
The result is a failure.

\

Gavin dragged over a block of stone that had been laying around for reason, annoyingly through Filina's math scribbles. Then sitting it down, he stood on the block, the reaches up to catch the counter weight as it came pressing down. His plan was he was to be the Atlas to this counter weight. "I got it!" Then as the weight continued to press down he ended up on his butt on the block, "I don't have it."

The slow, inexorable movement continues. Filinia looks over the water and the pools. "Lessay about two thousant-up 'ere, more if we stop the arm, and there is a way of stopping the arm. But... hmm." It is not much writing, but she looks around for volunteers. "And someone check my numbers?" Hopeful.

Then the block of stone hits the scribbles. Filinia looks at them in entirely unhopeful now.

The counterweight lifts off Gavin again, not crushing him. Nor does it attach to him in amusing fashion and lift him up.

Filinia sighs. "Well. I think this can support about a hundred fountains," she says. "It's not just the water that comes out of the top - the one in the square has a feed into the basin that's operated by weight, as well. Which was verdigrised to all-get-out, I gotta say. But there's a LOT of water ain't accounted for. Or it goes to private houses, an' stuff. But this is basically I think about a city-worth. Within one order of magni... within about how I'd estimate it."

"The whole city?" Amy says, aloud. "Wait, maybe it's powering the system to deliver the water to the upper city?"

Danielle shakes her head "Not good with numbers but need to find how to track it somehow. Beets or magic is really all i've got for ideas

Amy promptly goes to check and make sure Gavin is unharmed.

Filinia looks at the pump, and at Amy, and at the water. "Yeah, you could do some lifting with that," she says. "If you're running something down the central beam. I wanna get up there an' look."

Those who are concentrating on the Pattern feel another flicker, as Filinia walks towards the huge central post that supports the great arm. It is made of brass-bound oak, probably one single trunk.

Gavin was dazed but other wise unharmed. He looks at Amy for a moment, "I am not a fan of this math and science stuff."

As Filinia walks to the center, Amy stirs. "Wait, if flickered again!" Now she moves towards the central post, curious to see what is there.

Danielle rolls with advantage 1 at difficulty 15, using occult, pattern meditation.
The result is a success.

There's a grin at Gavin, and Amy says, "Next time a beach?"

Danielle rolls with advantage -1 at difficulty 15, using no talents or gifts.
The result is a success.

The engineer swings herself up onto a set of staples set into the huge post. Like the gratings, Danielle can be pretty sure they were not there last time she looked. Filinia just spotted them because she walked around the post - but Danielle had done that already, and there was no way up.

Gavin nods his head emphatically, "Beach." Then Gavin calls out, "Do you need help up? OH you found a way! Should we join you?" He says moving to the post and looking ready to help Amethyst up if she wants to go up.

Danielle hms "I swear it's listing, responding to what we wish to do. If we need a way up giving us a way up and so on

Filinia swarms up to the top, easily enough. While she might run away from people with weapons, people without weapons, people who might have weapons, or unspecified danger that may or may not have people or weapons, she is unfazed by a machine that could crush her easily. "Yeaaaaah. This is hollow," she says. "Got linkages in." She moves aside so others can come up as well, standing on the beam. People may notice she pats the beam first, before she does that, as if to thank it. "I ... I know I shouldn't, but yeah. I'm ...." Filinia looks down at Danielle and shrugs helpessly.

Amy arches a brow, and promptly moves to climb up as well. "This is turning into an adventure," she observes. "Alright, let's see what we can find?" She follows Filinia up to the beam above to see what's there.

Here, the beam is about two feet thick. It rests on giant brass hinges that let it rock back and forth. On either side of the hinges, the beam has a thick rod joined to it, by hinges that are only slightly shorter. When one goes up, the other goes down, although not by far. "That's... weird," Filinia says. "I'd expect these to be a lot further apart." They can only move a couple of handspans each.

\

Gavin joins the others up on the beam. He looks down, "Impressive. What are you two implying that Filinia is manipulating the machines with her mind. Like going through shadow?"

Filinia rolls with advantage 0 at difficulty 20, using no talents or gifts and spending will.
The result is a success.

Danielle sighs as she decides be a joiner and climb on up, physical exertion is not her thing but her she goes, carefully up and along the beam

Filinia kneels down, and asks the beam, "Stop, please?" and... the beam goes through another half motion, and stops in position of maximum flow. Filinia has to have a sit-down, which she does on the beam, feet resting on the post in front of her. The slowing is gentle - Danielle is in no danger of being jogged off.


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The pumping house in the top of Amber City has eaten people. Four people - Amethyst, Filinia, Danielle, and Gaving went in. Soon all the sounds from inside stopped, they say!
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