Advice needed

[Madasasteamfish]

As some of you may know I'm currently writing a steampunk novel and I need some advice.

I'm currently writing a chapter including a chase sequence from a military base, with the protagonists fleeing from their adversaries in a steam wagon, and I need them to encounter a problem/obstacle which they can't avoid and I can't think what this obstacle be. So any suggestions from my fellow BG members?

[MarcusJuliusCroft]

What is the terrain around the military base like?  Do they have a direction in mind or are the fleeing in a random direction?  What is your steam wagon like/how is it built? MJC

[kidkunjer]

a useful tool in writing is google image search.
do a search for a similar location and see what kind of obstacles you can see in the pictures that might be appropriate.

[oldskoolpunk]

Have you seen "Steamboy"?  Or "Nadia"?  Both have such scenes. There's also such a scene near the end of  "Pavane", by Keith Roberts.

Actually, most steam wagons could be caught by anyone on a horse.  Think agricultural tractor. Steam cars of the early 20th century were much faster. 

[Madasasteamfish]

Well at the minute they've entered a nearby town and trying to make a rendezvous on the other side of the town. They are currently being pursued by several other steam wagons and a couple of horse drawn carts, which have troops in the back firing at them. The steam wagon they're in is essentially a canvas covered lorry (much like a sentinel).

The problem is I need the obstacle to be something immovable and which they can't just ram through (they've already done that a couple of times) but can be avoided as the plot needs them to take a violent turn, which makes crates in the back of the wagon fall over, and break open to reveal military rockets which they utilise to keep their pursuers at bay (yes, it's essentially a steampunked version of the dam escape level from Call of Duty).

[Lady Chrystal]

How big an obstacle do you need? It could be they come across a market unexpectedly and have to turn quickly to go down a side street.

Depending on era, there could be a building that's collapsed and blocked the road (probably got people clearing it away).

[MarcusJuliusCroft]

What type of day is it during the chase?  For instance you could have a parade/festival going on it town(similar to the Chinese New Year)with lots of people and vehicles in the way.  They could be rushing through and have to swerve to avoid a wagon or statue, instead having to drive through the crowd.  I would say watch the chase scenes from Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom and the Mummy Returns, although they are not the right time period, you could change them by altering the surroundings.

PS.  I would advise getting them out of the wagon as soon as possible
I have a certain inkling of what may happen if they are in a wagon full of explosives with several hostile wagons following them shooting on all sides.  On contrary to popular belief the average Joe does not have the miraculous ability to shoot like a pro, even if they are rockets.
MJC

[Aleister Crow]

I think the traditional obstacle for this situation is a cow. Might be kind of odd to find one in a town, though

[Arkwright]

PS.  I would advise getting them out of the wagon as soon as possible
I have a certain inkling of what may happen if they are in a wagon full of explosives with several hostile wagons following them shooting on all sides.  On contrary to popular belief the average Joe does not have the miraculous ability to shoot like a pro, even if they are rockets.
MJC

"Would you mind not shooting at the thermonuclear weapons?"

I suggest digging the road up. You know - a hole in the ground, temporary fences, workman's cabin, men standing around drinking tea. It sounds like you've already done the cart full of fragile goods, the two men carrying a pane of glass etc...

[pakled]

Why make it an external obstacle? They could just run out of coal/wood/fuel...or failing that, a long 'warm-up' period getting the steam up to temperature...just a thought. Or they could run out of water...

[Madasasteamfish]

Nice ideas guys but not sure if they'll work, mainly as the scene is set in late evening/early night (around 9/10pm).

As for the rockets, I am intending to have my characters use the rockets, with some limited success, mainly taking out one or two of the pursuing steam wagons and spooking the horses (the year I've set it in is 1887 so the use of rockets as artillery is still quite rare and were often fired out of a cannon or off a rail to help guide them), but fear not, my characters are not 'average Joes' two of them are former military turned mercenary/pirate types, and another is an intelligence agent so I reckon they can use the rockets without jumping any sharks.

Although I'll admit I am feeling myself leaning towards a collapsed building or something of that nature (they do burn a building down in the same town earlier on in the story so said fire could easily have spread and damaged other buildings before it was brought under control), possibly being brought down by a rocket fired from one of the pursuing vehicles. I may have to resort to having a cart pull out of side street unexpectedly, or being pushed into the street by the crew of a wagon/ cart that's overtaken them along a parallel road.

[Sam Watson]

What if one of the pursuing vehicles has a mortar mounted on the back of it? A near miss in front of the protagonists would make a crater which has to be swerved around. Or perhaps the mortar (or grenades, or rockets fired from the pursuing vehicles) hits a building/telegraph pole/chimney which then falls in front of the steam car.

Or if you don't want to use a mobile mortar (which, admittedly, would be difficult to operate), since they're escaping a military base there are probably some large-caliber guns (howitzers) there which could do the requisite damage at a longer range.

[Madasasteamfish]

What if one of the pursuing vehicles has a mortar mounted on the back of it? A near miss in front of the protagonists would make a crater which has to be swerved around. Or perhaps the mortar (or grenades, or rockets fired from the pursuing vehicles) hits a building/telegraph pole/chimney which then falls in front of the steam car.

Or if you don't want to use a mobile mortar (which, admittedly, would be difficult to operate), since they're escaping a military base there are probably some large-caliber guns (howitzers) there which could do the requisite damage at a longer range.

I was thinking about something along those lines, but it is primarily an airship base, so they probably wouldn't have too many artillery pieces, but I suppose it isn't out the realms of possibility that an airship is launched and then the fire from that creates a crater.

[MarcusJuliusCroft]

How close are the vehicles chasing the characters?  If they are reasonably close you could have one hit and spiralling out of control, before exploding right in front of the good guys.

[Captain Braid]

Choices:

Too narrow a bridge.
Market Place fountain.
Panicked woman with overturned perambulator and child (Pram).
Panicked horses overturning "dog cart".
Brewery Dray unloading Barrels. (Who wants to waste good beer?)

[Darkhound]

Few people remember just how big and solid an obstacle a crashed freight wagon actually was. 25ft long by 10ft wide, 8 toms of goods, and a six horse team with harness added another 27 ft of length for a Conestoga, considered a medium freight wagon in it's day. Roll one of those over in a reasonably sized street and said street is well and truly blocked!

[Madasasteamfish]

Well I never thought I'd get such a prolonged and varied response and thank you all. I've actually been able to decided on the obstacle, which is going to be an overturned dray (being overturned by the horse, having broken a leg and then being put down) which, along with the spilled cargo and the body of the horse, well and truly blocks the street.

[Aleister Crow]

A quote I came across last night in Terry Pratchett's Feet of Clay, it just seems to fit with this thread-

"This always happens in police chases anywhere. A heavily laden lorry will always pull out of a side alley in front of the pursuit. If vehicles aren't involved, then it'll be a man with a rack of garments. Or two men with a sheet of glass. There's probably some kind of secret society behind all this."

 

[Madasasteamfish]

I'd just like to thankhe following you all for once again your advice, and also ask your advice on the following passage;

Warning may be NSFW

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

‘Tie him up. Over there.’ Whilst the engineer’s twin restrained him, the other, lankier man who had followed Harrier belowdecks helped him undress. As the portly man finished tying the final knot and moved away, Harrier approached, rolling his head to relax the muscles in his neck, giving Jones the chance to witness the multitude of scars which criss-crossed his torso. The first blow came out of nowhere. A powerful right hook sent Jones’ head reeling. As he tried to recover and shake away the blinding spots of light, another blow came from the other side of his face and dislodged a tooth. Harrier had dropped into a pugilist’s stance and was raining blows upon Jones, who tried to anticipate them as much as possible.  But Harrier’s strikes were wild and unpredictable. A left hook to the temple, another blow to the body with his right fist, another blow to the body, all before a brutal haymaker blow to jaw. The only sound was the powerful beat of the engines and Harrier’s grunts as he delivered each strike. Jones heard a sickening crunch and felt his nose break as Harrier delivered a punch to his face. The two men Harrier had brought with him looked on passively as he delivered strike after strike to the restrained man. Eventually Harrier spoke;
‘So, why did you do it?’ He asked in between breaths. ‘What did they promise you, eh? Money? Power? Women?’ punctuating each word with another blow, when he received no answer, he placed his hands on Jones’ shoulders and drove his boot heel into the other man’s groin, making him gasp in pain. ‘Why did you betray them?’
Jones coughed, spraying blood and spittle across his lips.
‘You already know why. I did it for the crown. For power.’ Jones didn’t feel scared of Harrier, he had been prepared for this as part of his training, he knew exactly what to expect from an interrogator, and when to give out pieces of information to gain respite. Harrier laughed in response, and the two men with him joined him. Jones let out a nervous chuckle, desperately hoping to be informed of the cause of their mirth. His laugher was silenced by Harrier headbutting him, further damaging his already broken nose.
‘I’m not talking about that. I know why you betrayed your country, and broke your oaths. You think I care about those bastards in London? About what you told those frog bastards about what goes on in your ‘civilized’ world? I don’t. They can all go to hell for all I care. I’d happily send them all myself.’ He delivered another blow which sent Jones falling over backwards. The portly man who had accompanied Harrier to the engine room walked over and put Jones back up.

I apolgise for the long post, but I'm writing an interrogation scene and this is one of the scenes in my novel in which I make the casual sadism/brutality of my protagonist (Harrier as he is referred to in this extract) and as a b**stard.

I feel I should make it clear, over the course of the novel I want to establish Harrier as a serious anti-hero, he's not the hero Britain wants, nor is he the one Britain needs, but he's the hero Britain's got.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

For a sample of my work check out http://www.inksprite.org (look under fiction, novels)