Laboratory Lamentations (storyline)/Summary page

Laboratory Lamentations is a storyline run during the 2024 Rumor Woods event.

04-21-2024

Fryc and Shives are standing over a brick that has been thrown through a glass window. There is debate over who threw the brick, who stole materials, and who was trying to rig the competition. Fryc and Shives argued heatedly despite folks trying to calm the situation. Fryc accused Shives of stealing some of his items out of his office, while Shives tried to point out that he didn't.

Some interesting points were:

• Fizwixit works for Fryc and is responsible for the mechanical flowers in the beetles.
• Zelwixit works for Shives and helped with the alchemy behind the yarn.
• Shives and his employees created the spider.
• Fryc and his employees created the beetle.
• Fryc and Shives are really concerned about the competition which is, in a nutshell, which is better Alchemical Engineering Coupled with Magic or Straight Engineering and Design.
• Fryc and Shives are married.
• Part of the tension between the two stemmed from the recent golem invasion in Duskruin where it looks like some of their designs were poorly implemented. They are now suspicious of each other and thus why the competition is so important.

The Brick

a hemp-tied dark red brick sitting in a pile of broken glass
A single ambiguous bug has been haphazardly drawn on the paper folded between the hemp and brick, its seven legs flat against the parchment.

Later that day...

Uvaldov was found loitering and spoke with adventurers about the ways that a seven-legged mount would be far superior to any six or eight-legged mount. He wasn't sure yet how to accomplish such a thing but definitely felt that it could be done. He also accused the gnomes of being tricksters who shouldn't be trusted and asked adventurers to spy on them for him. He needed to learn how they were able to create the clockwerke creatures and to learn how they worked.

Uvaldov also tried to remove the leg of a nearby orbweaver with little success.

04-27-2024

Ulvaldov met with adventurers and visited Fryc and Shives Laboratories. While there, they overhead some voices discussing the brick that was thrown through a window of the laboratory. Ulvaldov denied any involvement with incident and made some vague mentions that something would be happening the following day. He and the players quietly snuck out of the lab to discuss things elsewhere, which led to Ulvaldov recruiting a few spies. He confided that the gnomes were up to something and he knew that they would try to do something dastardly the following day.

While some are suspicious of the smelter, others have considered working for him.

04-28-2024

Fryc, Shives, and Fizwixit were overheard arguing again, and several people came to see what was going on. It appears that the duo have finally stopped accusing one another (mostly), while Fizwixit had to admit that several more "tiny design samples" have gone missing. Numerous clockwork bugs were seen scurrying about, and Zelwixit was apparently out searching the grounds for missing ones. Delindra suggested the Rumplesnoots Adventuring Company be brought in to handle the bug problem, and she volunteered, as a card-carrying member, to send the request. There was more discussion about the dwarf trying to get plans, but other than a mention by Meliyara that she had heard of the dwarf and his name started with a "U," no one would really admit any knowledge of the dwarf. Fryc and Shives requested everyone be on the lookout for the dwarf trying to bring ruin to FSL.