After this meeting with the locals, the party can make plans to continue their endeavours. Now that the the party has seen the 'Knowe up close, they might prepare for a new plan of attack; alternatively, the party might deem it diplomatic to help search for the missing child, Elsie. Or they might embark upon a combination of these two goals.
Digging In...
The party may have many different approaches to working upon the mound. They'll need axes, or mattocks, to cut through the hawthorn bush which covers it, and they'll need shovels to dig through the peat. Most of this stuff they can find in a shed behind the rectory. Any more intricate equipment, such as tents or surveying gear, will have to be obtained from Longhope, on the southern side of the isle - they can borrow the Reverend's Range Rover (or a horse and cart if this is a 1920s scenario) and this will take up a day of the party's time.
Once they have the things they need, they can start examining the mound. As stated earlier, the peat covering the top of the 'Knowe has been dug away and stone has been exposed in a scar from the top of the hillock to a short distance down one side. Onto this was poured some kind of accelerant and a fire started. Peat, being flammable, smouldered away and blackened the stone beneath, but fortunately a rainstorm put out the fire before it got too far advanced.
From their reading, the party should be up-to-date with the standard arrangements and construction of Orcadian communal tombs and other buildings. The Orkney Isles are blessed with a flat slate-y type of stone deposit that fractures lengthwise in long flat planes. This is excellent for building walls and buttresses. Most constructions are built horizontally, with tall flat stones forming strong uprights between which dry stone walls are built. In some forms of building - like Maes Howe on Mainland - the tall buttress stones are completely absent; however, often, a ring of tall stones forms one or two retaining walls within the mound itself. There are a variety of standard forms and they are as follows:
1. - The Maes Howe Type
This is a central walled chamber at the end of a long passage, from which several other small cells extend. It typically has one or two retaining walls encompassing it, within the soil of the covering mound.
2. - The Tripartite Type
This mound conceals a widened tunnel of lined stone at the end of a short passage; the tunnel is divided into three by tall buttressing flat stones; occasionally, shelves are built between the buttresses.
3. - The Stalled Type
Whilst many of these communal tombs stop at just three chambers, many extend as far as the land will permit, into many further chambers; again some of these feature shelves.
4. - The Bookan Type
This tomb begins like the Maes Howe type as a tunnel leading to a central chamber; however, the dependent cells are formed by erecting upright stones for demarcation, between which dry stone walls are built.
5. - The Hybrid Type
This kind of tomb combines many elements of the other standard styles and indicate an interface between island cultures or the development of an earlier style into a more modern one. The best example of this type of tomb is at Isbister, the so-called "Tomb of the Eagles".
Making their Idea Rolls (or Archaeology Rolls, if appropriate), the party will begin to notice that there are some peculiarities with the Devil's Knowe:
First, it becomes clear that the entrance to the 'Knowe is at the top of the mound rather than the more usual side entrance; second, this entrance is blocked by three thick stone slabs, the sort that would normally form upright buttresses in a standard communal tomb, and leads to a chimney of stone walls. It would seem that this is a type of cist buried under the peat at the top of a small mound. The party may decide to open the cist - after all these are just small stone boxes which normally hold a single burial, or a scattered arrangement of sacred objects - and bring the mystery of the Devil's Knowe to an end. Or they may wish to re-bury the lot and leave the enigma until such time as paid archaeologists are able to investigate further.
The Search Goes On...
Some (or all) of the party members may have decided to join the search for the missing child Elsie, especially since their information has now moved the search area closer to the church and rectory. Under the direction of Liam, the searchers decide to walk along the glebe from the rectory and then fan out to the east, moving along the hillside and scanning the uplands for any sign of her. They allow sheep-dogs to sniff an old home-made doll belonging to the child and set off.
The weather will be drizzly and cold with a stiff wind blowing westwards. The usual fences and swamp need to be negotiated and soon the group will converge at the Watcher, whereupon Liam will give a cry of dismay:
"Someone's been digging here!" he will exclaim; "the Watcher's been interfered with!"
He will go on to blame the party members for sticking their noses in where they weren't wanted and he will rebuff any attempt by the party members to deny their interference. If asked how he knows the Watcher has been meddled with, he points to the gravel that covers the base of it - he claims that the standing-stone always stood on the surface and that grass grew right up to it; now it seems that someone has dug around the 'stone and hurriedly replaced the soil without regard to its original state. Throughout this confrontation, the Reverend will be strangely silent, seemingly embarrassed by the conflict but unwilling to take sides. A Psychology Roll (or an Idea Roll) will remember that he had freshly dug up artefacts on his desk in the study at the rectory. Some party members may thereafter accuse the Reverend of the interference and he will be in no position to deny that he has been digging there. If the party accuses him while Liam and the men are present, this will cause an irrevocable split between the Reverend and the villagers, who will lump him and the party members together as Outsiders - "ferryloupers" in the Orcadian dialect - not to be trusted.
First, it becomes clear that the entrance to the 'Knowe is at the top of the mound rather than the more usual side entrance; second, this entrance is blocked by three thick stone slabs, the sort that would normally form upright buttresses in a standard communal tomb, and leads to a chimney of stone walls. It would seem that this is a type of cist buried under the peat at the top of a small mound. The party may decide to open the cist - after all these are just small stone boxes which normally hold a single burial, or a scattered arrangement of sacred objects - and bring the mystery of the Devil's Knowe to an end. Or they may wish to re-bury the lot and leave the enigma until such time as paid archaeologists are able to investigate further.
The Search Goes On...
Some (or all) of the party members may have decided to join the search for the missing child Elsie, especially since their information has now moved the search area closer to the church and rectory. Under the direction of Liam, the searchers decide to walk along the glebe from the rectory and then fan out to the east, moving along the hillside and scanning the uplands for any sign of her. They allow sheep-dogs to sniff an old home-made doll belonging to the child and set off.
The weather will be drizzly and cold with a stiff wind blowing westwards. The usual fences and swamp need to be negotiated and soon the group will converge at the Watcher, whereupon Liam will give a cry of dismay:
"Someone's been digging here!" he will exclaim; "the Watcher's been interfered with!"
He will go on to blame the party members for sticking their noses in where they weren't wanted and he will rebuff any attempt by the party members to deny their interference. If asked how he knows the Watcher has been meddled with, he points to the gravel that covers the base of it - he claims that the standing-stone always stood on the surface and that grass grew right up to it; now it seems that someone has dug around the 'stone and hurriedly replaced the soil without regard to its original state. Throughout this confrontation, the Reverend will be strangely silent, seemingly embarrassed by the conflict but unwilling to take sides. A Psychology Roll (or an Idea Roll) will remember that he had freshly dug up artefacts on his desk in the study at the rectory. Some party members may thereafter accuse the Reverend of the interference and he will be in no position to deny that he has been digging there. If the party accuses him while Liam and the men are present, this will cause an irrevocable split between the Reverend and the villagers, who will lump him and the party members together as Outsiders - "ferryloupers" in the Orcadian dialect - not to be trusted.
To Be Continued...
No comments:
Post a Comment