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Preamble: For this leg, let’s be thoughtful about what we’re doing and why we’re doing it.
- The Boatman: Redux
- The Boatman: Redux
We proceed toward the fire. Sitting by the fire, looking not particularly surprised to see us, is the boatman. He doesn’t invite us to sit, but we feel welcome to join him.
Storr begins. “Were you expecting us?”
I felt confident that you were coming back eventually. It seems you have completed one path, and you have two.
Bran: Did we do it?
Only you can answer that.
Storr: Where are we now?
You’re in a cave behind a waterfall.
Br: Are we near where these people last you?
The worlds are more complicated than you I suspect, so you are both near and far from where you expect. As you travel you come to understand all these things better.
Does water connect the different places?
Water connects many things.
Storr: How long have we been gone?
Not long as far as I’m concerned. (He’s very old, so really 🎵 time has no meaning🎵)
The Boatman is an older gentleman.
Storr asks about the four girls we found instead of just the one. Do you know who would have done this and why.
I don’t now I— missed the rest of this answer.
- <Ryan misses more time>***
Balz: We believe we found the girl we were seeking, and left her in capable hands. We discovered a tower where someone as constructing an interesting device.
The future is always difficult to tell, but for a long time people have looked to the stars for inspiration, and for someone to peer closely makes sense.
Balz: We found a village of people that seem to worship Gorgomogg, and we encountered them as they were preparing for a festival, with a fertility ceremony. Any thoughts.
Interesting that an entity like GG who is so often spoken about in hushed tones of evil darkness could be spoken about by others in a positive light. I do find the nature of stories and their power over the mind to be fascinating.
What are your feelings on GG?
I don’t have any one set of feelings, but I have heard of him as you describe as a god that brings an abundant harvest that brings plent, husbands animals, and also a terrible evil king of the dead who seeks to overthrow the living, but again the power of stories is far reaching, so probably both are true in their own way.
Storr talks of how the seasons changing in Nyth. Have you visited?
Perhaps I did once. I was on a lake in which things were as you describe, but mostly I simply ferry travelers from one place to another, and dont travel much myself.
Balz: This waterfall we jump from from Nyth above, fed from that same lake.
Boatman nods. You might find that if you go outside this cave, the waterfall doesn’t fall quite as fall as you remember it, but water can have strange properties, especially when it connects one place top another. They say sap has to travel… (look this up)
Storr: Why did you choose to come here?
I had a premonition that you would find me. You say that you were falling for a long time, but it was not a struggle to get here before you.
The walls are rough, but this is a human cleared space. Not clear what the purpose is. Not a ruin. What you see is what you get, and that seems strange. There’s not another entrance, no symbols. It’s a created space for someone’s arrival. Seems like a meditative space, a meeting space.
I have never met her, but I have seen her footprints traveling from one place to another and wondered who was following those paths.
Silas: Where were these paths?
It is somewhat hard to describe these to someone that rather like walking in the countryside and through a forest and coming across footprints of another traveler who leaves a scent behind or other evidence. If you travel enough paths, or come to enough crossroads, you come to recognize those things.
Bran: What do you think is under the lake?
There are many stories.
Which one do you give credence to?
The Boatman talks about stories and how they influence people’s opinions and beliefs, but also how the stories influence those in the stories themselves. “And so I wonder whatever is beneath that lake, perhaps some call it GG enough so that what it is. Others call it a nameless evil. I’m not sure the name of it affects its nature, but the way it’s spoken about does.”
We share Osgog and the dragon.
Bran: Another nameless thing. Parallel?
If there is something large and incomprehensible to people, those things maybe go unnamed. It’s a sign of a lack of understanding.
Did they call it a dragon because they didn’t know what elose to call it? (Dragon is a singular noun in this world) This thing is “Dragon”
Bran: Did Osgog build the dagon or did it already exist?
All the stories I have heard told it is always his creation. Before boatman.
Br: When did you show up?
I showed up when people needed ferrying. It is not up to me to ferry you, you can ferry yourselves. In fact, I have a boat for you, outside waiting for you.
Br: You don’t want anything?
It’s a long term lend.
Balz: Did the people name the dragon after the constellation or vice versa?
I’ve always understood the constellation to be an image of Osgog’s creation.
Balz: Watcher in the tower. Was that simply a watchtower or did it serve another function?
The stories say that long ago great and terrible powers were trapped beneath the mountain range and less those powers reemerge, a watch was set. And that tower from what I understand was amongst those that set the watch, but something went wrong and the watcher became the thing that was watched and a great darkness was released. And so that tower is said to have fallen.
Br: So that shadow that we saw, we describe it.
That seems perhaps to be some very small piece of it perhaps was tied to the place. I had not heard of that anything was lingering there.
Br: Are there many such towers?
Yes
How many?
Not sure.
Balz: Why the thing that went terribly wrong have to do with Osgog weakening the boundaries between worlds or realms or gaining access to the realm of the dead? The schisms that we’ve traversed and the sentinels we met?
He finds the sentinels fascinating and while it see, perhaps that its news to him he doesn’t look shocked or surprise. He doesn’t really know what happened or how it happened, that s a mystery that gets discussed, but he doesn’t understand it.
Bran: In your travels, have you heard of that rift cause by Mons by some or Osgog by others? Who are the culprits?
I have heard that both Mons and Osgog were responsible for that rift, that in each case someone was looking for an ancient power and that power proved too string. But whether it was either one, I’ve also heard that it was neither that were in the tower that did the digging.
Balz: You had mentioned that Osgog had looked took closely at the darkness at the creature beneath the lake and it changed him? Did this occur at the lake or at the tower?
It would be at that tower.
Silas: You’ve told us the bear is one of the twins. I’ve come to understand that I am entwined with the great bear in more ways than i understand. If there was some particular action for me to take to awaken this bear, what might that be in your estimation?
- I think you would have to find him, first.
Silas: Am I the Great Bear?
- Well, at any rate… not yet. Lol
- The Great Bear is always spoken about as a powerful being who in ancient times was subdued by the forces of mankind and who many say he will never arise to his full strength again because his time has passed. But his memory lingers on (CRANBERRIES) and there are those who still believe in him, so perhaps he still has some power.
Silas: Seren said the bear will never awaken. Agree?
- That’s above my pay grade, I’m just a boatman.
- If you travel and listen and remember what you hear, you gain certain insights. But I’m a listener and a gatherer of moss, not so much a doer and a shaker.
Bran: Who is the other twin
- I’ve heard described as a tree
Storr pulls out her katana and nonchalantly prods the fire embers. The Boatman gives everyone the “this lady with you?” look.
Silas: Can you tell us how the bees, the great bear and the mother tree are connected?
- I can only tell you that they always seem to be. Whatever is happening with the bees is ancient, and lingers in stories. But it’s not something that I understand.
Bran: Could the bees be messengers from one place to another?
- I’ve always understood the bees that we encounter to be the workers and completers of tasks.
Balz: Fibonacci? 21 bees?
- A long time ago, I climbed one of the peaks near the lake where we met. And high amongst the rocks, a giant raven landed next to me. A big one. And told me that he could hear the buzzing of his fellow bees on the wind. And that is the most specific information I’ve ever gotten from anyone about it!
Bran: Shot in the dark, buuuuuut… If I were to say the phrase, “The sun/son husband turned to black”, does that mean anything to you?
- I’m not familiar with the phrase, buuuuut your connection seems valid to me.
Bran: Do you think it was son/sun?
- Why not both?
Bran: Son of a bitch!
Silas: Could it be a husband and wife or a husband or animal husbandry?
- Look how smart you can help!
Balz: We found ourselves in Caerosgog in the festival and it seems to be honoring the girl that sacrifices herself to the tree, that whole tale. They seemed surprised and alarmed to see Silas, as some aspect of the bear.
Boatman: CO has lived in isolation for ages and ages. To have outsiders suddenly arrive at such a time, surely you’ve header the rumblings of someone styling himself the Sun King making trouble shall we say, and the inhabitants of CO would much rather that where they are remain unknown to someone such as SK. For people to show up in the midst of the festival with shall we say adorned by powerful tokens, it’s enough to raise eyebrows and make people question.
Balz: The legend is that the bear will return?
Boatman: Some say such things, others believe that not to be true.
- Our Very Own Golden Compass (and Iron and Silver and Bronze and Stone) Storr: Where are we headed if we take your boat.
Boat: You haven’t told me where you’re going yet
(The one-eyed blacksmith)
Boat: I have a suspicion who it is you’re talking about. He goes by many names and none. He’s been missing,. IO have not seen him in a long time. So, I’m giving you an object. This is a wayfinder of sorts [later named the Mornaswydh]. Perhaps of the use of this you can use this (it’s either an alethiometer, or the anti-kythera mechanism) to guide yourselves to guide yourselves across the waters i the boat to find what you’re looking for.
https://editor.p5js.org/mhopps/full/QmE9APJFb (A/S, Z/X turn the dials) IDKFA to get all the keys and weapons.
As we move the two rings, it somehow has internal chimes in it, different chimes sound like the tonguedrum at different times as you turn the wheels.There are gemlike nodes around the inner circle:, orange gem has an asterisk pattern, blue has one line, purple has no lines. The middle piece is a sandollar but some sort of enamel has been added. Three circular pieces move interchangeable. You can hear internal chimes as you move it.
There’s also a video that Nathaniel made describing the orientations that create a particular chime: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Am8lRXtZMG4eYlL282j8SxTH9tlAOd95/view?usp=drive_link
What’s use to engrave the dragon?
It’s more stone. Black of the body are stone. Teeth and eye are gold. Horns bronze. Wing silver. Claws are tarnished iron.
Any guidance on how to use?
I don’t know how it works, but I understand that it is a guide to travel in the places you’re going.
Where’d you get it?
I was given it by a craftsman. I ask around about it when you mentioned your second task, and I was given this as something that might help. He did not give me his name, he simply gave this to me saying that it would work.
The boats has a single mast, central sail, carved wooden dragon heads at the front and back, like a viking longship.
Silver, gold and iron on the device.
Brown, dark grey, green, blue, purple. They mix as tey go from to the next.
Boatman: This is a wayfinder so it will set your direction. I suspect that if you arrange it in a certain orientation and are consistent in following it, perhaps rather it will turn the boat around the world, it will turn the world around the boat. Follow the moon.
We head out, and we see that the reflection casts a white path along the water. As we travel along it, a breeze picks up, so we pick up the sail. It seems that we;re getting close and closer to the moon, becomes harder to see past the axis of the moon, but the waves perhaps get a little bit bigger and we start smelling salt on the air, and suspect we are in a very different place entirely.
- If We Didn’t Already Know We Were Back in Osgog, We Do Now, Because We JOURNEY
It is a clear night out on the ocean. We look up and see stars and we don’t see land anywhere.
We align all the purple things with the wings of the dragon (screenshot) The video will describe the sounds the object, check it out.
We JOURNEY without a map, as we’re in the middle of an ocean
Guide: Branwen
Lookout : Balthazar
Scout: Silas
Hunter: Storr
1. Event 1
Guide rolls, 11. We make it 2 days.
Scout event. 27 (nat 20, lets go) Silas has scampered up to the ravens nest he turns into a bear to use his claws to get up more readily, after two days bear s and water don’t agree with each other. In doing so, without knowing it, because his sense of smell is much better as a bear, he gets up there and sniffs and says, “I think I smell land, straight ahead, every one, keep going.” Everyone’s a little apprehensive about Silas climbing up the pole as a bear. Fatigue saving throw does not increase.
1. Event 2
Guide roll: 3. 1 day.
Lookout event. 24. He sights land, we’re coming in toward the shore of this place, Balz is out there keeping he path steady as we come in, he gets excited and gets a little bit distracted and we run aground on some rocks about 100 yards from the beach. NBD, we’re able to wedge the board off the rocks, but we’re wet and tired from it. Fatigue saving throw increases by 1.
Late afternoon. The light is gray and flat. We see hills, not super steep and sharp, but not a ton of space between the sloping hills and the shoreline. We see some valleys (the blue flowing water) Island looks to be 5 or 6 miles across. Hills are a few 100 ft high. A large flow of water in the river in front of us.
We all pass the fatigue saving throw with flying colors.
- Landfall
We pull the boat up on the share. We’re in a bit of a saltmarsh area. We don’t see signs of habitation where we are. The hills are forested. No crazy undergrowth, but there are no trails that we see. Seems wild, no one’s here.
Mini journey. Balz is our guide (24) He does a great job, we head up the hill on our left. He manages (because he did an amazing job) to find a great vantage point that looks out to a flat valley with a circular lake and an island in the middle of the lake. We pick out what might be a stone circle in the middle of that island. Hard to tell. A lot of fog coming through the various valleys of the hills. The light is failing, evening is coming on.
Balz looks through the spyglass, more of the same, but a little more confidence that there’s a stone circle there. A little over a mile away from the island.
Couple hundred yards’ swim.
What’s the weather, explorer (Silas)? He feels pretty confident, that its not going to clear out, but its not going to rain.
Silas communes with nature and detects there is an overhang not far down the hill down under some hemlocks. We agree to camp there.
Storr hunts for us. She’s able to track down some stuff. Not enough for all five, but three can eat. The others of us take a ration.
We take a short rest overnight.