- Session Summary with Balthazar
Image:
Balthazar in his library.jpg
After a protracted debate on strategy, we tactfully retreat in our own particular… (idioms, sir?) idioms! Branwen and I convene in a grassy field near the center of the island, and find a porous, oxidized, and markedly conspicuous rock. A meaningful glance between us precedes a tacit understanding: we must abscond with this rock! The Rose People give chase, but fail to intercept us, and halt their pursuit at the shore. We plunge, vigorous, into the clear water of the lake and, despite our best efforts, survive the passage back (here I r efer to both our maladroit lakefaring and apparent inclination for thrill-seeking (see Appendix IX: There Are No Ointments For Rash Impulses, or That Time Two Of Us Did Not Live Up To Our Potential (Energy)). We gather our gear, board our vessel, and venture stalwart into endless hemispheres of sea and star.
- A Tactical Pregame T, MR, and R discuss next step, namely Storrs Storries. Trebuchets were talked about. Portaging the boat from the bay like the Egyptians. Swimming under the island. (Maybe the ston is the grave? Or the capstone over a well? Perhaps it’s a well through which we can travel.
We would not be able to find the one eyed man next to the grave of his mother without this navigational device. We can’t just follow the stars, though we haven’t been able to see them very much on this island. Without knowing what magic means, we would think this thing is magical.
M: This thing brought us here, this is likely where we’re supposed to be.
N: Remember that when we came here, there were the chimes and we were moving two wheels. Bran talked about this when we first arrived. We had input in where we ended up.
M: There are other features here to explore. If we consult it again, maybe it will lead us to another place.
We begin.
- We Buttonhook ‘Em BUT what if we DON’T retreat? We discuss possibilities of tactics. Bran will head east and misty steo for maximum movement. Balz will also head east directly through the brambles and take a bit of damage. Storr will head south to the shore. Silas takes a couple bear swipes at one of the beasts and ki disengages south toward Storr.
Branwen heads west into a clearing. She sees a naturally gray and red colored watermelon looking stone with swiss cheese hollows.
Balz dashes and checks out the watermelon stone. It looks oxidized, iron inside it? Weighs about 30 lbs.
B and B dash to the shore. S and S make their wway over to where they’re headed. They prop the stone onto the logs and swim it back across.
We make it back across, although not very athletically. We’re wet, no exhaustion though. We build a fire.
K uses stone sense. He thinks it’s metal, not stone.
It may be of interest that there are elemental-adjecent monsters on this island, things that we’ve seen before. We probably won’t get much more information as to why they are here or who put them here.
Balz:
We got this metal stone. We figure the blacksmith we seek would be interested in this material. We decided to leave this location and head to the big boat.
- Our Journey Back to the Longship We journey back to the boat. We make slow progress. Silas finds a dry camp site under some hemlocks, some good kindling.
We start out again in the morning, following the river. Its pouring rain. We come to the top of a waterfall from the north. We hear the falls and see the mist rising over the edge. WE walk up to the stable rocks at the top.
Balz goes to the bottom and sees that there are many boulders at the bottom, so Silas and Bran jumping over is probably not a great idea. We examine the pool, The boulders seems to have broken off the edge. The pool is clear but turbulent. Behind the waterfall is a natural amphiteater curve. Doens’t look like there’s a csve, there’s room to fit, but no hidden space.
We make radiohead puns for like, a while.
We get in the boat and push out into the sea. It is getting toward evening. The rain slackens as we get out into open water.
We take out the navigation device. Silas is able to tell that the chimes that sound when turning the inner wheel are the minor pentatonic scale, the series of notes most of the music his people would play is in.
For next week: We’re going to figure out a configuration to use for this device by Monday dinner.
Full description of the device: [[8/21/25 The One Where We Converse With the Ambivalent Boatman in a Cave Beneath a Waterfall#Our Very Own Golden Compass (and Iron and Silver and Bronze and Stone)|http://osgog.mrobinson.us/index.php/8/21/25_The_One_Where_We_Converse_With_the_Ambivalent_Boatman_in_a_Cave_Beneath_a_Waterfall#Our_Very_Own_Golden_Compass_(and_Iron_and_Silver_and_Bronze_and_Stone)]]
The web version: https://editor.p5js.org/mhopps/full/QmE9APJFb
Our previous configuration: Purple gem, aligned with wings, aligned with purple sandollar loop.