Part 18: An Incomplete Understanding
Part 18: An Incomplete UnderstandingLast time, we made a plan. Let's carry it out.
quote:
*** You awaken again ***
Step one is to get the obsidian solvent without using up our elemental earth. First the easy bits...
quote:
>CREATE BAMURIATIC. FIND MURIATIC. TAKE IT. FIND MARBLE CHIP. TAKE IT.
And now for the perfect diamond that should be able to substitute. How did that go again?
quote:
>RECALL PERFECT DIAMOND CREATION
"A DIAMOND PURGED of EVERY FLAW: This ritual requires an environment influenced only by living stone; the deeper and purer, the better. Place a diamond within the bound and employ a phlegmatic (passive) sealing word. Sound a note in the mode of ostension. Place elemental earth upon the gestalt shelf, to serve as a template. Speak the Crystalline Tempering. This will bring the structure of the diamond as close to perfection as mortal substance can sustain."
Well, that all seems simple enough except for the "mode of ostension."
quote:
>RECALL MUSIC THEORY
"Music is the most complex of ritual elements; one might well call it 'obfuscated.' We begin with the nursery-school lessons: the pitch A is associated with iron, the color red, the liver; B with bronze, orange, the stomach; C with brass... yes, you can all chant along. But this is simplified to uselessness. What of non-classical metals? We now associate C-sharp with rutilum, F-sharp with aluminum, G-sharp with nickel. Researchers have invented entirely new scales to deal with the spectrum of aither-metals. Then the Eastern Empire uses the well-tempered scale; thus while F-sharp is the mode of extension, G-flat is the mode of ostension, G-natural is intension, G-sharp is paratension, and H—yes, there's an H—is the mode of recension..."
I take that back. That one's simple too; there was a glass G-Flat chime just kind of lying around in the east wing hallways.
quote:
>FIND DIAMOND. GET IT. FIND EARTH SHARD. GET IT. FIND G-FLAT. GET IT.
An environment influenced only by living stone is a little oblique, but there's no real ambiguity about what it is.
quote:
>GO TO DEEP LAB
You make your way to the Deep Lab.
Deep Lab
This chamber looks like a natural cavern, squared and smoothed with the crudest of tools. Stalactites hang from the roof; flowstone drips down the walls. An uneven passage runs east.
In the center of the chamber is a boulder. It is inscribed with a ritual bound in an archaic, almost crude style. A smaller slab serves as a gestalt shelf.
This should do just fine.
quote:
>PUT DIAMOND IN BOUND
You put the rough diamond into the stony bound.
>SPEAK PHLEGMATIC
You take a breath, trace the bound in your mind, and intone the phlegmatic sealing word.
The arc begins to glow gloomily around the rough diamond.
"Gloomily" is a new adjective. Here's hoping that's super-earthy the way "crimson" in the Pyrics lab was super-fiery.
quote:
>STRIKE G-FLAT
The glass G-flat chime rings sweetly, and you let its resonances fill your mind.
The diamond darkens, absorbing light.
>PUT SHARD ON SHELF
You put the shard of elemental earth on the gestalt shelf.
>SPEAK CRYSTALLINE TEMPERING
You recite the Crystalline Tempering. The diamond darkens further; the elemental shard begins to vibrate on its shelf, emitting a faint, high-pitched hum.
Then, with an almost audible shock, the ritual closes: the diamond emits all its stored light in a blinding flash. You blink away tears, to find that the cloudy crystal is now flawless and bright.
Now that's a nice trick, swabbie.
It sure is, Sarge. Now to create our solvent with it.
quote:
>GO TO CHYMIC LAB
You make your way to the Chymic Lab.
Chymic Lab
This wide room is dominated by a huge glass retort. You've practiced many chymical rituals in this apparatus. Hanging above the retort is an instructional sign.
The lab door to the east now opens onto the hallway, as it used to. The only other exit is the hatch in the floor, which is open.
A supply rack holds three chymic flasks (sand, vinegar, and muriatic acid), neatly lined up.
Two papers, a folded sheet and a wrinkled sheet, are lying here.
You can also see two chymic flasks (saline and vitriolic acid), a dried mushroom, a brass coin, and an impet of citronelle oil here.
>PUT MURIATIC IN RETORT. PUT BAMURIATIC IN RETORT. SPEAK HERMETIC.
You pour a measure of muriatic acid into the retort.
You empty the vial of bamuriatic acid into the retort. The acid mixture fumes acridly, and turns slate-grey.
You take a breath, trace the bound in your mind, and intone the Hermetic Sealing.
The retort's equator begins to glow pearl-grey around the reservoir of grey acid.
>PUT PERFECT DIAMOND IN RETORT
You drop the perfect diamond into the retort. The bound's pearly light ripples.
>SPEAK WORD OF ANAPHYLAXIS
You intone the word of anaphylaxis; it makes your mouth itch.
The diamond fizzes and dissolves. The grey acid solution darkens and thickens until it is black as ink.
>PUT MARBLE IN RETORT
You drop the chip of marble into the retort. It dissolves instantly into the black reagent.
>SPEAK BINDING OF ANTIPATHY
You begin invoking the Binding of Antipathy, forcing out the bitter phrases. The black reagent seethes, and then begins to bubble slightly.
By the time you have finished choking out the formula, the black solution has quieted. It seems less viscous now. You tap the solvent into a fresh vial—which doesn't dissolve, you are happy to see, so you've probably gotten the ritual right.
Looks good! That's step one complete. Step two is to get two units of elemental fire. To do that, we'll have to perform the electrum phlogistication ritual, and to do that we'll need some yang oil and some electrum.
quote:
>CREATE YANG OIL. CREATE ELECTRUM ROD.
You make your way to the Chymic Lab.
You take the flask of mineral oil from the rack.
You make your way to the Herbarium Nook.
You take the sprig of honeysuckle from the herb shelf.
You make your way to the Pyrics Lab.
You take the splinter of swamp pith from the table.
You take the splinter of green linden from the table.
You make your way to the Under Ward.
You take the torch-lighter.
You make your way to the Mechanica Lab.
You take the platinum rod from the counter.
You draw the platinum rod out into wire.
You lay the length of platinum wire in the bound groove.
You brew a vial of yang oil.
(You are now in the Materials Store.)
You take the length of platinum wire from the groove.
You take the moon-metal rod.
You draw the moon-metal rod out into wire.
You splice the length of platinum wire and the length of moon-metal wire into an electrum regium rod.
(You are now in the Mechanica Lab.)
We need a catalytic environment, and since we no longer have any platinum to work with, we'll have to do it in the Tertiary Alchemy Lab.
quote:
>GO TO TERTIARY
(the spare lab key)
The spare lab key is in the Exoscaphe Dome, as you recall. You head that way.
You make your way to the Scaphe Arcade.
You repressurize the Exoscaphe Bay.
You make your way to the Exoscaphe Dome.
Exoscaphe Dome
If you were piloting the 'scaphe, you'd sit in this seat and work the controls, peering out through the glass dome around you. The vehicle looks to have fallen on rough times, however—or vice versa. The dome is cracked and the controls look dead.
The only exit is the hatch in the floor, which is open.
A dessicated sheet of paper and a thin key are visible under the console.
This is your periodic reminder that even after decades of refinement parser input can still be frustratingly picky. This won't be the last time we struggle with the parser this update either.quote:
>GET IT
Taken.
>GO TO TERTIARY LAB
You make your way to the Tertiary Alchemy Lab.
Tertiary Alchemy Lab
This is the Retort's fanciest lab, all shiny and new. Of course, the rectors usually have it reserved for fancy shiny work.
The center of the room is a dais, built with a ritual arc in bright platinum inlay. The door to the west is open.
You notice two vials here: a blue vial labelled "anti-Tellurian distillate" and a pale-gold vial labelled "nickel".
Okay. Now we can do the actual ritual.
quote:
>PUT ELECTRUM IN BOUND
You put the electrum regium rod into the catalytic bound.
>SPEAK SIMPLE SEALING
You take a breath, trace the bound in your mind, and intone the simple sealing word.
The arc begins to glow green around the electrum regium rod.
>POUR YANG OIL ON ROD
You empty the vial of yang oil onto the electrum regium rod. The oil sinks into the metal, giving a flush of richer gold to the electrum's sheen.
>SPEAK ELEMENTARY BINDING
You intone the elementary word of binding; the syllables snap cleanly away.
The green light flares, focusses, and bursts as a shower of sparks from the electrum rod. When your eyes clear, the rod looks no different, but its sense of imbued energy is palpable.
All right. Now, the note we saw that taught us about electrum phlogistication noted that it did not survive the usual camphrost procedure. Are we going to take some random sheet of paper's word for this? I think not.
... but we will save first so I don't have to burn a reset.
quote:
Pyrics Lab
Waves of heat fill this room, radiating from a massive brick kiln and the roaring gas burners that fire it.
The lab door to the south is open. A storage area lies to the east.
Lt Powes has vanished. Only a shadow remains.
Within the kiln, half-obscured by rippling heat, you can see a porcelain paten.
A table at the other end of the room supports a glass vapor crock. The crock is open and empty.
You also see a jar of cedar splints on the table. Next to this are four splints of assorted woods: blackwood, winter-oak, maple, and elemental wood.
>PUT ELECTRUM IN CROCK
You put the phlogisticated electrum rod into the vapor crock.
>EAST
Pyrics Store
This is a tangle of storage racks, mostly empty. The Pyrics Lab is to the west.
On one rack you notice a jar of camphrost lumps.
A silver coin and a lead rod lie on another rack.
A stack of firebrick in back serves as a crude ritual bound, complete with gestalt shelf.
>GET CAMPHROST
You shake a lump of camphrost from the jar.
Wisps of blue vapor steam from the camphrost.
>WEST
Pyrics Lab
Waves of heat fill this room, radiating from a massive brick kiln and the roaring gas burners that fire it.
The lab door to the south is open. A storage area lies to the east.
Lt Powes has vanished. Only a shadow remains.
Within the kiln, half-obscured by rippling heat, you can see a porcelain paten.
A table at the other end of the room supports a glass vapor crock. The crock is open; it contains a phlogisticated electrum rod.
You also see a jar of cedar splints on the table. Next to this are four splints of assorted woods: blackwood, winter-oak, maple, and elemental wood.
>PUT CAMPHROST IN CROCK
You put the lump of camphrost into the vapor crock.
>LIGHT WINTER-OAK
(in the gas burners)
(first taking the splinter of winter-oak)
You hold the splinter of winter-oak to the gas burners. The winter-oak catches quickly, and burns with a yellow-white flame.
The lump of camphrost is shrinking visibly. The vapor drifts from the open crock.
>LIGHT BLACKWOOD WITH WINTER-OAK
You hold the burning splinter of winter-oak to the splinter of blackwood. The blackwood catches quickly, and burns with a star-blue flame.
>PUT BLACKWOOD IN CROCK
(first taking the burning splinter of blackwood)
You put the burning splinter of blackwood into the vapor crock.
>CLOSE CROCK
You close the crock and seal its lid.
>WAIT
Time passes.
The camphrost is nearly gone. The vapor accumulates in the crock.
>WAIT
Time passes.
The blackwood flares up. Then, with a violent hiss and an electric-blue flash, the camphrost vapor ignites.
In the brief flare, the splinter of blackwood is extinguished; the lump of camphrost vaporizes; the phlogisticated electrum rod melts.
At this point the only thing left in the crock is the splint of blackwood. No melted electrum or anything.
quote:
>RESTORE
Ok.
Now let's do the obvious thing. We'll ignite the phlogisticated gold as usual, and then...
quote:
>LIGHT ELECTRUM WITH GOLD
You hold the flaming phlogisticated gold rod to the phlogisticated electrum rod. The electrum begins to glow—not the dull red of heating metal, but with an inner lucence. The golden light seems to throb, and unfurl, and expand, all at once. Heat presses against your face as you peer into the flame.
You pull the gold and electrum rods apart. Golden elemental flames now burn steadily on each of them.
That's step two. Step three is to get two units of elemental air.
quote:
>GO TO OPTICKS CLOSET
You make your way to the Opticks Closet.
Opticks Closet
This closet is sometimes used for storage, but the whims of marcher scheduling have left it empty at the moment.
In one dusty corner you notice a fist-sized glass bubble, which is rather dusty itself.
>GET BUBBLE
Taken.
>GO TO SCRATCHED BUBBLE
The scratched bubble is in the Medical Workroom, as you recall. You head that way.
You make your way to the Materials Store.
You take the long quartz prism from the storage bin.
You make your way to the Chymic Lab.
You take the impet of citronelle oil.
You make your way to the Main Store.
You recall the combination, and unlock the safe.
You take the orichalcum rod from the safe.
You make your way to the Library.
You take the rotor card.
You make your way to the Opticks Annex.
You conjure an impermeability symbol onto the long quartz prism.
You make your way to the Medical Wing Hallway.
You apply the impermeability symbol to yourself and stride through the cloud.
You make your way to the Medical Workroom.
Medical Workroom
This side room is equipped for routine medical workings. You see a white workbench with a ritual bound and gestalt shelf. The only exit is back west.
You see a small clay disk on the floor. It looks like another reverse mold—this one is for Aithery File.
You also notice a fist-sized glass bubble with a valve on it.
You can also see a ragged sheet and a narrow sheet here.
>GET BUBBLE
(the scratched bubble)
Taken.
>WEST
Medical Wing
This would be a waiting room, were it not as cluttered as every other part of the medical wing. The uncomfortable-looking chairs are outnumbered by the obscure-looking equipment.
You know that the open glass box is an aeroclave. Next to it rests a heavy steel tank, a pressurized container of elemental air. A miasma gong hangs by the door.
You see a workroom to the east, and a very dark doorway to the west. A passage south leads to more of the medical wing, but a fracture blocks it.
You can see a crusty scalpel and an impet of eucalyptus oil here.
>PUT DUSTY ON NEEDLE
You press the bubble onto the needle valve. The valve emits a sharp, rising hiss; you can just see the jet of elemental air, like a heat-ripple inside the dusty bubble. After a few seconds, the valve shuts off, and you remove the fully-charged bubble.
>PUT SCRATCHED ON NEEDLE
You press the bubble onto the needle valve. The valve emits a sharp, rising hiss; you can just see the jet of elemental air, like a heat-ripple inside the scratched bubble. After a few seconds, the valve shuts off, and you remove the fully-charged bubble.
Not really any surprises or puzzles there, just a bit of care taken to ensure that we don't get locked behind the vortex too soon.
Step four: Make or get everything else we need to reach the Antechamber and perform the Great Marriage.
quote:
>CREATE FIRE-DEVOURER. CREATE EPHEMERIS BILLET. FIND ROSEMARY. GET IT.
Step five: Get the aura impersonation symbol working without consuming our elemental water. We'll do this by using the jade-based inscription instead, which uses one of our elemental air units instead. We can spare an air bubble. The rest of the material components are trivial too.
quote:
>FIND JADE BEAD. GET IT. FIND IRON BEAD. GET IT. FIND CEDAR SPLINT. GET IT. FIND TORCH-LIGHTER. GET IT.
This actually failed too.
It knew the jar of cedar splints was in the pyrics lab, but it wouldn't let me get one with >GET IT because it's only moving individual splints into the game world as-needed.The less obvious requirements for this ritual are these:
quote:
Construct a meditative environment based on the Book of Changes. (One should use the central ritual bound of the house, as the symbolism of this tradition always places the five elements in perfect balance.)
"Based on the Book of Changes"—there was an amulet with I Ching symbology on it, but it's not clear whether or not that counts as meditative. I forgot to make the resonant oculus after the reset, but what the heck, the oculus is trivial to create.
quote:
>CREATE RESONANT OCULUS
You make your way to the Mechanica Lab.
You take the glass loop.
The moon-metal rod became the length of moon-metal wire, which became the plain electrum regium rod, which is now in the Pyrics Store.
(While trying to acquire the moon-metal rod, to set up an appropriate environment, to enchant the resonant oculus.)
(You are now in the Mechanica Lab.)
OK, that one is on me, for using a consumable to create the lunar atmosphere. Let's do this more sustainably.quote:
>FIND SILVER COIN. GET IT. GO TO OPTICKS ANNEX. PUT SILVER COIN ON SHELF. PUT GLASS LOOP IN BOUND. SPEAK SIMPLE SEALING. SPEAK RESONANT TONE. SPEAK SYLLABLE OF COUNTERBALANCE.
There. Now then.
quote:
>EXAMINE RIBBON
The amulet is a small ribbon of ricepaper, painted with I Ching trigrams in the Oriental tradition. (The Empire is even-handedly syncretic—it steals from everybody—and the Navy uses these amulets to set up rituals of Chinese derivation.)
>LOOK THROUGH OCULUS AT RIBBON
When viewed through the oculus, the Chinese amulet displays a spiritual nature.
"Spiritual" should be close enough to "meditative." Off to the Nave ("the center of the House") to execute the ritual.
quote:
>PUT RIBBON ON SHELF
You put the Chinese amulet on the gestalt shelf.
>PUT IRON BEAD IN BOUND
You put the iron bead into the pedestal bound.
>PUT JADE BEAD IN BOUND
You put the jade bead into the pedestal bound.
>SPEAK SIMPLE SEALING
You take a breath, trace the bound in your mind, and intone the simple sealing word.
The arc begins to glow indigo around the jade bead and the iron bead.
>LIGHT CEDAR
(with the flaming phlogisticated gold rod)
You hold the flaming phlogisticated gold rod to the splinter of cedar. The cedar goes up in a bright flare; you snatch your hand away. Within instants, the cedar has been entirely devoured, and its flame winks out.
quote:
>UNDO
Nave
[Previous turn undone.]
>LIGHT CEDAR WITH TORCH LIGHTER
You hold the torch-lighter to the splinter of cedar. The cedar catches quickly, and burns with a dull orange flame.
>PUT CEDAR ON SHELF
You put the burning splinter of cedar on the gestalt shelf.
>SPEAK NAME OF TORTOISE
You call out the Name of the Tortoise in a firm voice. The splinter of cedar flares up and is abruptly quenched. The smoke whirls into a vortex around the iron and jade; the beads roll towards each other.
>DISCHARGE SCRATCHED ON BOUND
You twist the bubble's valve, and carefully vent the elemental air over the iron and jade. The beads are now clinging tightly together.
>SPEAK CHI BINDING
You begin the Chi Binding, paying proper attention to your tonality. The balance of the five elements comes into focus in your mind.
Spectral voices are chanting in unison, somewhere in the distance. (Song Dynasty rituals always unsettle you.) Slowly, the iron melts into the jade. When the binding is complete, the bound snaps into darkness; but a small symbol shines on the jade bead.
Great. Let's try it out.
quote:
>FIND CAPTAIN
(Captain Hart)
You make your way to the Lab Hall Northeast.
Lab Hall Northeast
This is the northeast corner of the laboratory hallway, which runs south and west. The lab stairwell opens to the southwest, but a fracture prevents entry. The Tertiary Lab is to the east; its door is open. The Pyrics Lab door to the north is also open.
The Captain is standing here, gazing moodily off down the hall. She looks nearly human like this; it's rather charming.
>TOUCH JADE TO CAPTAIN
You press the jade bead against Captain Hart. You feel nothing, but the symbol distorts, absorbing the imprint of her aura.
>GO TO CHANCEL
You extinguish the fire with the bottle of fire devourer.
You apply the obsidian solvent to the obsidian door.
The jade bead is already inscribed with the imitation symbol.
The jade bead is already imitating Captain Hart.
You apply the imitation symbol to yourself and open the gate.
You make your way to the Chancel.
Unlike with the moon-metal case for the resonant oculus, the autosolver will use an inscription symbol we've already created. Now let's try the Great Marriage again.
quote:
>PERFORM GREAT MARRIAGE
The Great Marriage requires your full attention; you can't go through it by rote.
Well, okay.
quote:
>PUT THICK KEY ON SHELF
You put the thick key on the gestalt shelf.
>SPEAK MARCHER'S INVOCATION
You take a breath, trace the bound in your mind, and intone the Marcher's Sealing.
The arc begins to glow smoke-grey.
>PUT EPHEMERIS ON SHELF
You put the ephemeris billet on the gestalt shelf.
>WAVE ROSEMARY
You wave the sprig, and inhale its fresh, resinous aroma. The air seems to sharpen.
>PUT FIRE ROD IN BOUND
The grey light ripples as you push through the arc. The elemental fire leaps from the rod; you pull the cold rod back. The flame whirls unsupported in the center of the arc, slowly dimming into an indistinct haze.
>PUT AIR IN BOUND
Which do you mean, the scratched bubble or the dusty bubble?
Even here, at the end, the parser betrays us.
quote:
>DUSTY
You twist the bubble's valve, and carefully vent the elemental air into the bound. It whisks around the arc, and joins the thickening haze.
>PUT WATER IN BOUND
You crack open the capsule, and pour the elemental water into the bound. The sparkling drops never land on the workbench surface. Instead, they whirl around the arc, and slowly fade into the thickening haze.
>PUT EARTH SHARD IN BOUND
The grey light ripples as you push through the arc. The shard of elemental earth does not fall. It hangs in the center of the circle, spinning and spinning, until it blurs into the thickening haze.
The whirling haze in the bound slows. It is more difficult to see, now; not dissipating, but developing an aching lucent clarity. The space above the pedestal seems more transparent than air.
>SPEAK DRACON INVOCATION
You rumble your way through the Dracon Invocation. There's no sense of resistance, though. It's like spinning a wheel that's not touching the ground, and when you're finished, nothing has changed.
I suppose it was too much to ask that the alien wreck's inaccessible room was some kind of red herring.