- Rehashification and Connections to Bremphyr Fast travel: Seren had said that if we send her a message by leaving it in the trunk at the base of the tree after we had traveled through the water elemental puddle, she may be able to let us know how to get to a place quicker.
We discuss theories, specifically the Moon King potentially having a hand in the bear’s current state. Silas maintains that the moon’s friendly relationship with druids and the bear, and relates that he saw the moon horns behind the bear as an indication of the wisdom the bear holds. He wouldn’t have seen the classic Moon King imagery of the crescent moon horns until he came here.
It seemed to Silas that he had gone underground in his bear vision, but there was in fact a sky above him.
Balz posits that the moon could represent both the dark and the light.
Storr, perhaps there’s a connection between the Moon King and the bear in that they depend on eachother, a yin and yang.
Balz: Could be a poetic device to link the two.
The party notes that we’ve seen reference to other things buried under the ground. (poems) Purple eye? Watery eye?
Bran off the wall: maybe the bear being of the earth and life and having a crown of death, does it have something to do with “Osgog’s creation” when he made the dragon/monster of death.
Bran’s primary theory: The Black Water is currently poisoning the bear so that man can rule
Balz was sent by SK to get The Black Water on behalf of SK so that he can rule
“Violet smirking eyes”
Woman that was buried under the tree in Tawesek (mother of Glasses Girl). She died after giving birth, buried under the derwen sapling that grew overnight. K had a vision where her grave was empty like she had been absorbed.
Was Glasses Girl supposed to be the next sacrifice?
The Abbot willingly gave himself up as a sacrifice. Why? To buy more time? Gwedhen also sacrificed herself in the story.
We rehash more lore for forlorn Thor on the fourth floor. Nathaniel says that this isn’t necessarily a waste of our time mentioning these connections, since we have new information.
On the subject of Bremphyr. Bran reviews the lineage of Brem. Storr mentions that Brem created gale and infused the wind. Did Bremphyr teach the weavers how to do the same? Kevnys may have, but we never asked them.
If we have Seren-fast-travel, perhaps we can go back to the bee hive/basket islands.
Next steps:
- Play the new song for the bear?
Bran: Maybe we need to find Brem and tell him The Black Water is trouble, people are stealing its power, help us close it up. Black water is an evil leaking from Moon King’s prison. Someone from outside could have cracked the prison open. The Black Water could be his power leaking from the prison. The entire lake is black water, but notably The Boatman’s boat did not get annihilated.
- What are YOU Doing Here?
Could each of us describe what the party’s overall purpose is at this point in light of this conversation?
Storr: We are searching for the cause of The Black Water leaking into the world and a solution as to how to stop it from destroying that which it comes into contact with.
Bran: Your task is no more than to bring the tangled garden to bloom. ~Mother Night to Branwen
All things are circles, and balance is paramount. The banishing of death, the subduing of the Bear, the actions of the Sun King - they are literally tearing the world apart. We need to temper the arrogance of man, and save Norvys from him, and in order to save him from himself.
Balz: By means of three smaller quests proffered by The Oracle, our party’s larger goal is to find and stem the source of The Black Water in order to right Ancient Wrongs against the Balance of the World (i.e. Mons, et al, corrupting Man’s relationship with Nature by ceasing to work in accordance with Nature and choosing instead to wrest Nature to the Will of Man). More personally, Balz hopes to learn of his own true nature and destiny, if any, and where best he might apply himself to aid in the grander pursuit.
Silas: The party has been drawn into goingson that speak to the history and mythology of men. The black water seems to be a real element of this mythology, and is causing corruption across this and potentially other realms. Having found its source, we’re now to determine why it’s leaking into the world and discover a way to keep it from doing more damage, including by those who may seek to use its power.
- ??? sWe roll for our questions.
Bran(5/15):
- Q: The black water: is it the unsought revenge of the Dead or the greater harm that befalls the living when the Dead are forgotten?
- A: The black water leaking has more to do with the greater harm that befalls the living when the Dead are forgotten.
Storr (7/5)
- Q: Is this a moment to ask her ancestors for guidance in helping this bear restore itself to its ferociglory?
- A: Ask Merthyn
Balz (15/27):
- Q: (missed it)
- A: The Sun King is probably not worldly enough to know much about the black water. The Sun King and his operation feels powerful, but of the present time; not organized or powerful enough to be responsible for the Bear’s slumber. B suspects that the Bear is asleep at the behest of the Singers we encountered. B believes the Moon King could be responsible, and thinks it would be more likely than the Sun King to due his mythological figure. The messages seem to have been coming from either Seren or the Tree, not the Bear. Due to B’s perspective on life in general, he is likely to believe that the Moon King is not responsible for the Bear’s predicament, because B is defiant of the Moon King and death in general.
Silas (8/21):
-
Q: Remembering what my sister told me in a dream, I believe now that I’m not meant to wake the bear, and that the bear will never wake. I believe that the bear is all knowing, as shown to me by my old friend, the Moon, crowning the bear with horns of wisdom. The Moon, which, as taught to me by my folk, cares for all no matter how well it is hidden. She said that I can hear him, the bear, and perhaps that’s enough. She spoke of a task for me that she herself had started. She spoke of a direction to show me. My question is this: What is the task that Seren spoke of that falls to me now?
-
A: Silas would figure if he thinks that he’s not meant to wake the bear, that would have been his first inclination. Saying I think i’m not going to do that, he would see that Seren has been opening ways, pathways through some metaphysical forest that we’ve been traversing and perhaps that she’s gotten the bear to rollover with a scent on the wind and Silas would suspect that if the bear is under that mound with these creatures singing to it, while the bear may be staying there that doesn’t mean knowledge of him should remain trapped, and especially looking around at others in the party that haven’t considered this being to exist at all, that no, this is an important aspect of this balance. You all won’t restore it without being. The wisdom and the goal of the bear needs to be out in the world.
We catch in his spill of words in human and animal languages, we hear him talk about a fiery fierceness, about an endless slumber, about individual responsibility, and about individuals coming together as a whole to complete a task.
Silas notes that “restoring” the bear may not mean awakening it, just that the wisdom and power of the bear be restored to the world. Silas calls the bear a “he” which from what we’ve heard is accurate.
Is the Moon King a female? No, they are the other half of the Mother Night dichotomy: they are a hetero couple. Morianoth and gorgomogg are Mother Night and the Moon King. In the town where Balz was crowned for the harvest, their interpretation was… mhopps@gmail.com
Balz at this point doesn’t assign good or evil to a god based on appearance or rumor. Anything’s game.
Bran: No good or evil, just keeping things balanced.
Storr: SK is espousing propaganda about himself. Nathaniel: We would get the sense that, he might be very powerful, but he has not attained the status of a god.
Multifaceted gods: Many cultures have had this. A single entity can have many facets. The moon has two faces.
Balz: The moon only has two faces because of the sun. Greek mythology corner: Maybe the three sisters combine make of the facets of a single god. Maybe one of those is the sun, the source that gives the moon its facets.
Bran: Morianoth wasn’t seeking power, but only attained it from encountering the sisters (the titans)
“All women are Morianoth” discussion. Parts of Geshwa and Weyland are read in relation to M being left in the snow. Morigan from Celtic mythology, a three faced entity, a triple goddess.
To M: Why are we small.
He says a lot of things about the shapes and sizes of things, but its obvious that he doesn’t understand our questions. Notions of scale don’t register.
Storr: Do you know how we can get back to the cave where the varmints were singing to the bear.
M: talk of work and the creation of paths and speaking to things in their own language. We would get the sense that such a thing was possible and that he was somewhat skeptical of our decision to do that and also that he’d kind of be “your life, your choice” kind of thing.
Bran: We just fought a shadow bear. Do you know anything about that.
M: He would start talking, we’d hear more about Koth onan, about inventions, separate minds, about contagion and virus and shadow, a bunch of the crashing, discordant sounds in his speech, vocalization gone wrong in the description talking about the bear.
Bran: Shadow bear any relation to the bear under the round?
M: (he’s understanding us, but we’re getting this output) The answer to that would lead to the same sort of answer.
Bran: Is the bear being kept asleep, being poisoned? Is that the contagion? Is the bear hibernating or is he under a nefarious influence?
M: We definitely hear words like “plague” and “death” and “pestilence”. We would also hear things about “old”, and “battle” and “ax”. We would hear “man”, “confusion”, “healing song”, some of the tones that we heard the creatures singing outside of the cave.
Bran: The bear is being influence by some sickness. The singers are helping heal him to negate this pestilence?
M: The same sort of sounds. (Bran perception roll: 24) Pretty sure he was saying something along the lines of the creatures trying to heal the bear through sleep.
Bran: The bear is under a nefarious influence, but the singers are trying to heal him with a song and trying to keep the bear going despite the dark influence. The bear is in trouble and the singers are on the side of the bear trying to keep it alive. “Ax” brings up the image of a tree. Someone attacking the tree speaks to Gwedhen. The old battle of trying to take out nature. “Death” and “pestilence” speak to the moon king’s involvement. (more spitballing: maybe the wife and husband are different sides of death: pestilence, plague, etc.)
Next time: Merthyn is in front of us. Further questions, conversations? If we want to get out of here, he has the potential to get us out of here. What do we want next week to look like. Anything we want to discuss before leaving.
Nathaniel: Use the text chain as a vetting mechanism for discussion. If something requires a roll, we can pull that out and start with those questions next week.