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Sord Presents: How to Find a Quarry

special thanks to Dors and the Quarry Guide for getting me started

see also Marble

Quarry Overview

Quarries are buildings used to obtain marble. Quarries require four people to operate them.

Quarries will collapse after being used for some time. I do not know if it based on the # of pulls or the # of marble produced. I have heard reports of quarries collapsing soon after 10 marble and others that approach 30 marble. The average seems to be around 20 marble.

To search for quarries, you need:

• Perception of 1 or higher, depending on the type of marble you are searching for.
• Rocks of the Ages skill. Learned at a School of Conflict for 10 slate. You must have sufficient perception both while learning the Rocks of the Ages skill and while prospecting. You may use temporary food modifiers in both cases.
• A partner, who also fulfills the same requirements.
• Slate. The Rocks of the Ages skill is 10 slate to learn. Each prospect attempt requires at least 2 slate and may use 0, 1, or 2. Expect to use 50-100 slate while prospecting. You'll also need another 25 slate to build the quarry.

You can use food to up your perception, but your perception level is checked every time you prospect for marble. So if you use perception food to get the skill, and then it runs out, you won't be able to prospect anymore until you eat more food, or get your perception up by other means. Getting to Gastronomy 7 will give you 1 permanent perception. You can only be trained to find one type of marble at a time. Learning to search for a new type of marble will overwrite the previous marble type.

To prospect

While standing near your partner (0-30 coordinates), click "Self->Special->Prospect for <marble>." You will get one of three results: The bundle remains intact: This means your prospecting partner is too far away. You lose 0 slate. 1 slate breaks: This means your partner is within range, but you don't sense any marble. You lose 1 slate. 2 slate breaks: This means your partner is within range, and you're sensing a quarry spot nearby. You lose 2 slate.

Changes from Tale 1

You now need two people to prospect. The radius is no longer given when you learn the skill, but is based on the locations of the partners prospecting. (The maximum radius is 30 coordinates - MarvL). You no longer get a message saying you sense <x> quarries. Now, you either sense one or more, or you sense zero. This obviously makes it more difficult to track down a quarry when others are nearby. When you prospect exactly on the quarry spot, you no longer get a special message saying so, and only 2 slate breaks instead of 5. In Tale 1, you would lose the skill at noon, Egypt time. This no longer is the case. Quarries don't have the same build cost as Tale 1. Ability to attune yourself to a certain marble is based on Perception, not Tug level. Actually working the quarry has not changed from Tale 1.

Finding a Quarry

The following is only a theory, but I have managed to find a number of quarries in the Sinai area using it.

The basic idea of the theory is that when you prospect, you are testing the area between you and your partner. I don't know the exact shape, but I'm guessing it is either round or elliptical. The area seems to extend past you (so both you and your partner are inside the tested area) and the size varies with how far apart you are. The area for you and your partner may not be exactly the same, but it does appear to be quite quite similar. You can save a lot of slate by only having one partner doing the propspect tests.

Start with you and partner standing about 30 coordinates apart. For example, to search an East/West strip of land, have your partner stand at south edge of the strip and you stand at the north (fig 1). One of you prospects and if exactly 1 slate breaks, you both move over 10 coordinates and try again. If 0 slate break, you are standing too far apart (move a bit closer). If 2 slate break, you've found the right area! Now you need to narrow it down.

To narrow it down. Have one partner (the one that isn't dropping slate) move to the halfway point between you. The other partner then tests each of the 4 compass points to determine which direction the marble deposit is in (fig 2). Each time you get a 2 break, have the non-prospecting partner move halfway and then repeat (fig 3).

When you get down to less than one coordinate between you, you are very close to finding the quarry spot. However, you need to be very exact. I highly recommend spending extra slate to do a number of test prospects in the area to find the center. Ideally you will find a spot where both partners can stand and still get a 2 break. However, the search area is so small for two overlapped partners that it may not be possible to get an exact hit.

Once you've found your spot, you can build a quarry for: 25 slate 15 rope 2 pulleys 100 bricks