- Making our way up the shoreline We debate on what to do next. There’s talk about kicking, killing the badger Mochyn. Splitting the party up on our approach into the city.
Silas talks with the badge again:> BADGER: I don’t know she sent me. You know, the woman. I lives in the forest not far from here.
PARTY: Has the badger ever been into this city?
BADGER: I was told the way through. If you follow me, I’ll get you there.We follow the badger up the shoreline.
We see some markings on the city walls and flags flying, but nothing we’d recognize. We see smoke from chimney fires, but nothing out of the ordinary. There are sparse guards along the walls.
Further up the shoreline, we see some folks preparing to head out to the city walls. Storr calls out to them and the badger bites Storr in the ear. The rest of the party slinks into the brush to hide. They group looks in our direction. The badger jumps off and starts nickering. The people call out, “Who goes there?”> STORR: “I go there. Who are you?”
PEOPLE: We were on our way into the city. We don’t come across strangers.
S: What city is this?
P: Where are you from?
S: I come from the north, across the ocean. I’m lost.
P: We don’t often see strangers here. What are you doing here?
S: I need a rest. Is there a place in the city?
They look at eachother, they back away and converse. P: “Tonight is the night of the festival and its not a good night for you to be there.”
S: Would tomorrow be better?We try to communicate to Storr from the bushes that we should make our way into the city, but not with these folks. They’re skeptical, they eye Storr, and then start rowing out across the river. The badger runs over to Silas and gives Storr some looks. Once the men disappear, Mochyn pads along the trail again and we follow.
We come to a manmade inlet with stone piers. Across the inlet is a set of stone stairs, probably going up the side of the second waterfall. There’s some apparati (pullies, ropes, etc) used to carry loads up and down the slope. There are boats here. The badger starts nosing toward the boats.
RYAN YOU’RE DOING AN EXCELLENT JOB AND I WANT TO ACKNOWLEDGE YOU — thank you Tom. You’re a good friend.
We take his advice and go to the boats. Mochyn is looking nervous, looking to us now for direction. There are rowing boats, sailing boats.
Image:
Caerosgog.png
- Traversing the city It’s about dusk. We start to hear noises from the city: horns, firecrackers, voices. Most of the noise is in the southwestern corner. Fireworks start. We row out to the water and have agreed to approach the northern water inlet.
There are stone quays on each side of the waterway. There is a bridge spanning the protected harbor. The water is flowing here, not so fast. Past the bridge we’d be between some sheer walls of buildings. We pull the boat up to the pier on the western side. The badger hops out and we follow him.
We see a group of people heading away from us. They’re wearing mostly purple and black. (NB: From “Mons and the God of Death”: “And so, one morning the people of the City woke to find all the land covered in black butterflies with purple eyes on their wings.“)
We follow the badger and the people.
We’re amidst mostly residences. Not so many shops. A few are three stories. The badger edges us on. We continue to hear noises off in the SW direction.
A narrow alley heads off to the east, there seems to be some green space there. We continue.
At one point, the badger slows down. We’ve come to a crossroads. Mochyn peaks around the corner and heads to the right. Storr looks to the left. We have come out to the main thoroughfare. To our left, there is an open square, past which is are the main docks on the other side of the city. Mochyn is looking at us anxiously. A narrow path heads off in front of us. Off to the SW, the terrain is lower. The badger wants to head off toward a city gate and a bridge that leads to the smaller structure where The Black Water is coming from. The festival noises are in the other direction.
Mochyn continues over the bridge. Throughout our travels, there’s not much for Cricket to read.
We cross the bridge and enter the smaller structure. There’s an open square in front of us. It’s quiet here. We continue.
There’s another bridge to the NE that connects to the landmass at the upper waterfall. Mochyn turns a corner and we’re standing next to the black stream on the eastern edge. The path walks along the stream and goes up to a doorway.
We’ve reached the outer wall of the city. The gateway is 10 ft wide and high, like an arch. The doors are currently open. If we look out through the archway, we see the black stream flowing in. The walkway seems out of place, like it doesn’t make sense in Euclidean space. Cricket reads some text over the archway:> “The gate of The Oracle.”This gate is freaky. We’re getting straight Trenewydh vibes from this gate.T
- The Boatman We leave the city and the black water is still with us, even though we couldn’t see it flowing into the city structures.
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Black lake of osgog.png
We agree to forego the festival and follow the badger for THREE DAYS. We climb into the mountains. Trees get shorter. After an arduous climb, we arrive at a high mountain lake. We’re at elevation. Breathing is difficult. Mochyn leads us up to a small stone hut. The stream has been all black water to this point, as is the lake. This is The Black Lake of Osgog. There’s a small dock with a boat tied up. There is a little rocky island out in the middle of the lake.
On the door of the hut is a crow. If you pull the tail, it knocks. Balthazar peeks in the window and sees an old man sitting at a table. He looks over his shoulder and he sees us.
The man is dressed all in black. He is old and strong. Feathers in his hair.> CRICKET: Is this your badger?
- (The man reaches down and pets the badger.)* MAN: No this isn’t mine. I think he’s quite his own.
PARTY: Do you know him?
M: I don’t think I’ve met this badger
P: This badger wanted us to find your hut. Any idea why?
M: The only reason people come to see me is to be taken across to see the oracle.
- (We introduce ourselves. He’s called The Boatman.)*
P: How long have you been at work here?
BOATMAN: I cannot count the years.
P: Who is the oracle?
B: The oracle lives out on the island down in a cave. People come from far away to hear her words.
P: What is her name?
B: She no longer has a name aside from the oracle.
P: What do you know of the black water?
B: Only that it has been here for a long time and is part of an ancient evil and there are those of us that are tasked to watch it and protect from its reemergence.
P: What do you do for fun?
B: I ferry people across. I farm.
P: Are there a lot of folks that come to cross?
B: Not often. Searchers come. A few a year.
P: Who put you up to this work?
B: I don’t remember if anyone in particular tasked me to do this job or if I took it on myslef.
P: Can we offer him payment?
B: No, not particularly. The task is reward enough.
- (Balthazar recalls a runic message mentioning a boatman.)*
P: Do the people that go to see the oracle come back?
B: The people that go to see the oracle do come back, presumably changed.Cricket recalls a message about “The story of daughter and mother - one and the same” We don’t know who TW’s mother is, who The Abbott..ahem…bedded.
We climb down to the boat. The badger nodes to the boatman and retreats to the side of the cottage.
The boatman remarks on Balthazars horn. “That is a mark I have not seen on one like you.”
Balthazar asks if he has knowledge of his condition? Do I have opportunity to get rid of these horns?
(I missed his answer)
The boat looks sea worthy. Flat bottomed. Not so fast, but also not a long distance to travel. The boatman gets in and stands in the middle to row.
Storr asks how he knows other like Balthazar.
Most folks remember the first horned beings that came up over the mountains and attacked the city. He’s met others, but he recants the story of this being having been riding a chariot pulled by two goats. > BALTHAZAR: What became of this monster?
BOATMAN: I always heard the people say that Mons defeated it.
(Balthazar says something here that I missed.)
Bo: Ah yes, they do tend to blame that on Osgog.
Ba: What was the city it attacked?
Bo: The city of Mons.
CRICKET: Is that Monsoth?
Bo: No, Monsoth is here if you follow the sea.
C: Did Osgog summon his monster here?
Bo: That’s a good question. Did Osgog summon a monster or did he find something ancient that was beyond the imagination of most people and therefore called it a monster because they were afraid.
- The Oracle He pulls the boat up to a large flat stone. He braces the boat so we can all climb out. As we look, this island is twenty feet across. A pile of rocks with earth and grass growing over the top. There is a portal of stones with a hole that you walk through and past that is a staircase going down into the island.
We offer for him to join us. “No I stay in the boat.”
We approach the stairs. They’re single file, lit by candle light.
Party order: Storr, Silas, Krambler, Cricket, Balthazar
Arthen retreats back to the boat.
The staircase opens into a stone chamber. There a small child dressed in rags sitting, misshapen. It looks up at us.> O: You come seeking the future
C: We don’t know what we’re here for. We just learned of your existence today.
O: I am the voice of osgog. People come to me and dont always walk away happy.
B: How many questions can we ask?
O: As many as you like, but I don’t need to answer.
B: Do you know of the three woman by the well?
O: Sea, storm and stone? I know of them yes. They are shadows of things that were once and have forgotten themselves.
B: What do you know of Mog?
- (She looks at B.)* O: You could find him easily and both gain and lose something you desire. (Michael Robinson has insights about this)
S: What do you know of the bear.
O: The sleeper? He sleeps and some hear him. And you are marked by him.
C: Do you know Mabnoss’ intentions?
O: Her intentions are entirely her own. She intends to continue, as she always has. For her, a circle ahs no beginning.
S: How does one wake the bear?
O: First you may need to find him.
S: Where is the bear?
O: Do you not feel him everywhere?
S: Yes
B asks about the circular message we found in the tower
O: They are both circles but not the same circle.
C: Bryok?
O: Only rumors to me have returned to me of the Foundling.
C: Why do they call him the foundling.
O: What do you know of his origin? Only that he left long ago.
C: From where?
O: He left the city to go keep a watch.
- The Choices The oracle tells us that there is a choice ahead of us.
You have a choice of three things, which will leave you each changed in ways potentially unrecognized. Your Journey moves on, but your destination is yours to decide.
1. # *1. Shall you continue this search and travel towards the mountains amongst the stars,*
1. # *2. Shall you find the one eyed man who waits by the grave of his mother,*
1. # *3. Or will you travel through darkness at the hand of the boatman and give and receive your gifts.*
C: Are these mutually exclusive choices?
O: For now?
C: Do we need to make the same choice?
O: It will be difficult to make different ones.
C: What if we have follow up questions?
O: Your time here is done. You must leave.
- Next time To reconvene and discuss the choices we were given at the flat rock on the edge of the island.