Part 7: The High Tower
Part 7: The High TowerLast time we went to the depths of the marcher, and determined gravity was misbehaving. We have concluded that this is because the dragon Baros is not behaving properly. (That's the same "Baros" as in barometer, by the way; it's the ancient Greek for "weight.") On the way back we pass back through the Paper Garden. There are two obvious exits here we didn't check. Let's start with the observatory door on the west.
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>WEST
(first opening the painted door)
It seems to be locked.
>EXAMINE PAINTED DOOR
The observatory door is painted with Rococo cherubs and maidens, no doubt alluding to the Muse of Astrographerie. (The maidens are all tastefully veiled, to your long-time disappointment.) The door is closed and locked.
Come on, kid, focus. At least you've still got the Nave. The lock here (like the obsidian door at the end of the burning corridor) is simply described as "locked". This isn't a case where someone put a weird makeshift padlock or sorcerous defense on it—the handle just doesn't turn. The Barosy was locked with a big fancy brass padlock, but it's just an ordinary, if formidable, lock.
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>LOOK AT IT THROUGH OCULUS
Through the oculus, the observatory door gives the impression of fulsome Renaissance natural science.
Can we please stop trying to see if the resonant oculus will remove their veils and return to the issue at hand? Go check that paper maze.
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>EAST
You step through the arch. Within moments, you are entirely turned around.
Lost in Paper Maze
This is a hedge-maze, formed of paper screens taller than you. The passages fork and fold in every direction.
>LOOK THROUGH OCULUS AT MAZE
The oculus shows the paper maze as symbolizing the necessary mystery of the Retort's operation. You're not sure why it's necessary. (If you knew, it wouldn't be a mystery, you suppose.)
>NORTH
You turn right, but you only find more pathways.
Lost in Paper Maze
You are surrounded by a maze of tall paper screens, painted to resemble hedges. The passages fold and fork in every direction.
The paper maze is the nest of the dragon Pneuma. Only senior officers are supposed to enter—but you've never heard that the maze was difficult.
>NORTH
You take several random turns. You only become more lost.
Lost in Paper Maze
You are standing amid tall paper screens which form a maze around you. The passages fork and fold in every direction.
This is really much more confusing than it should be.
>WEST
After some blind turns, you catch a glimpse of the archway, and stumble back out into the garden.
That wasn't entirely pointless after all. We have another named dragon—Pneuma. Pneuma apparently does not lair in the Birdhouse, and that's some decent evidence that the dragon Baros lairs in the Barosy. If so, though, we may have a problem. We could see into the Barosy from the marcher's basement, and it was described as "empty, like an abandoned graveyard." Could the marcher's crash be related to its dragons going missing?
More mysteries to ponder. Also, it occurs to me that I forgot to mention one of the meta-commands back in update 5, because it's semi-standard. We can get a listing of all the non-hidden ways to go in any location with the >EXITS command:
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>EXITS
Exits are north, south, and down; the observatory door is west, and the maze is east.
... down?
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>DOWN
You take a deep breath and jump into the chilly water.
Garden Pool
You are floating in a well, eight feet across and perhaps ten feet deep. The water is cold and still. The water's surface is a sheet of light above you, and the base of the well is a circle of darkness below.
In the center of the darkness you see a darker hole. It's an opening in the floor below you, a narrow shaft running downward out of sight.
>DOWN
You kick downwards until your lungs heave in your chest. But the channel's end is still nowhere in sight. You flip around and stretch for the surface.
You can't hold your breath much longer.
There's something down there but it won't let us explore it. Also, jumping in the water would ruin any paper or liquid reagents we were carrying, except for the fact that the fire already destroyed them. Running out of breath doesn't kill us; it just forces an >UP command and takes us to the surface again.
Letting the fire resistance potion run out while in the inferno room, on the other hand, does kill us:
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Your fingers are no longer tingling. Instead, they're burning, along with the rest of you. Your dissolution is brief but extremely unpleasant.
*** You awaken again ***
This is equivalent to a >RESET, but a lot more painful. There's been some speculation already in the thread that we're some kind of homonculus or golem that's borrowing Forsyth's memory and body, and this may be considered evidence of sorts that we've got some way of getting a body back afterwards, too.
"Dissolution" is an interesting choice of words, while we're at it.
Anyway, that was a pretty dumb move, so let's maybe not have done that and move up to the northern wing and the upper parts of the ship.
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>UNDO
Burning Hall East
[Previous turn undone.]
North of Paper Garden is where everyone lives when they're not actively on duty.
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Quarters Access
This wing of the Retort is all quartering and mess. The hall continues north to the elevated realms of the officers. Your lowly domain is to the west. The body of the marcher is south.
A fragment of paper lies in the junction.
>READ FRAGMENT
You don't recognize the handwriting. "...that the form or structure of a thing may be joined to the spirit or essence, thus replicating the thing itself, is the foundation of modern practice. Indeed, historians argue that the 'marriage' metaphor of ancient alchemy prefigures this principle. But to apply it recursively, parsing the structure and spirit of the spirit itself, requires the utmost care..."
You memorize the information, and also pick up the sheet. Just in case.
Could this be a clue as to what we are, or where we got that replacement body? As a rule, Zarf never tells, but he does like to suggest.
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>WEST
Scrubs Country
This familiar, faintly grubby hallway runs west towards the quarters and mess of the midshipmen and ensigns. To the north is a study room for you apprentices; to the south is your wardroom.
Unfortunately, another crack prevents you from proceeding any farther down the hall.
>SOUTH
Under Ward
This closet-sized room is reserved for the rest and relaxation of the ensigns. Normally a few of you are about, studying or eating or (commonly) both; but these are not normal times and the room is abandoned.
Someone has left a tiny recipe sheet on the floor.
You notice somebody's torch-lighter here. Not that any ensign would ever sneak an illicit roll-up.
You can also see two chymic flasks (vitriolic acid and alum) here.
>READ RECIPE
(the tiny sheet)
The sheet describes another formula. The word of anaphylaxis inflames the sensitivity of contrary elements.
You memorize the information, including the word of anaphylaxis. You also add the sheet to your bundle of paper.
>EXAMINE TORCH-LIGHTER
You've lit things with lighters all your life; nothing unusual here. It's a ceramic oval the length of your little finger. When you squeeze it, a little flame shoots out of the end.
>EXAMINE VITRIOLIC
Vitriolic acid is a strong acid produced from sulphur.
>EXAMINE ALUM
Alum is a white, astringent powder.
None of this is immediately useful to us, but it all seems reasonably practical. Meanwhile, across the hall...
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Study Room
This small library is used by the apprentices and trainees to swot up on lecture notes. Introductory textbooks and battered lexicons are heaped up untidily in the corners. The exit is south.
Two papers, a torn sheet and a filthy sheet, are lying here.
A ricepaper ribbon is poking out from under a stack of books.
You catch a spark of light reflected in the oculus from somewhere.
>READ TORN
This is another potion receipt. "A POTION to HOLD ONE'S BREATH: By properly balancing the phlogiston of the lungs and blood, one may retain breath for several minutes without discomfort. Prepare an exhilarant environment; aroma is particularly important for this working. One will also need a paten of exhilarant symbolism, prepared on the gestalt shelf. Place a measure of saline into the bound. Begin with the simple sealing, followed by the Anodyne Evocation. Place a bit of elemental wood upon the paten and ignite it. Conclude with an elementary binding."
You recall, from an unusually digressive lecture, that one never uses the chymic retort for potions intended to be drunk. You're also pretty sure that exhilarant symbolism has to do with wind, air, and breath. Also, for some reason, seaweed.
You memorize the instructions, and also add the sheet to your bundle of paper.
>READ FILTHY
This describes the creation of an alchemical instrument. "TO CREATE A PLANETARY LENS (which reveals symbolic associations of the celestial sphere): This will require two glass lenses of matching curvature. Prepare an environment with lunar influences, ensuring that the atmosphere is free of aromas. Place one lens within the bound, and invoke a simple sealing, followed by a word of essential nature. Let one drop of Java spirit upon the lens, and place the other lens atop it. The Binding of the Celestial Sphere will fuse the lenses and empower them."
You memorize the instructions, and also add the sheet to your bundle of paper.
>GET RIBBON
Taken.
>X IT
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.)
These, on the other hand, sound much more immediately useful, since we didn't have enough lung capacity to reach the bottom of that pool. We've got everything we need to do the breath-holding potion—the "paten of exhilarant symbolism" is almost certainly the paten we found the fire door key on. It had the Chinese symbol for "breath" on it. That said, if "aroma is particularly important" we will need to find something that stinks of seaweed. Let's see if anything else turns up before rushing over to try i tout.
That's all there is to see here in Scrub Country. Let's go rise above our station.
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Officer Country
It is widely rumored that an ensign walking this far up the hall will instantly combust. You still might, you suppose. The officer's mess is somewhere up there, but a fracture prevents you from going any farther.
The senior officers' quarters are east, and the juniors' are west.
That's the Captain leaning against the wall! You freeze in reflexive panic, before realizing that she is behind the fracture, frozen herself.
>X CAPTAIN
Captain Hart leans her burly frame against the wall. She's eyeing the hallway, as if worried that someone was about to walk by—which is absurd, of course. The Captain doesn't worry; lowly officers worry about her.
>RECALL HER
Captain Hart is a dark, burly woman. Her head is shaved clean, and set off by a gleaming, not-quite-regulation gold earring. Ensigns walk in fear of being noticed by her. She looks like she could pick up an errant scrubbie and throw him off the Retort—probably with one hand. (Not true, of course. She'd just frown and a lieutenant would do it for her.)
Captain Hart is right here, stuck in the fracture.
>WEST
Junior Quarters
This long room is the bunk space of the junior officers—"junior" meaning "still above you," of course. The bunks are narrow but fussily neat, with a locker next to each. The exit is to the east.
The largest locker draws your eye: its latch is tied shut with a knot of white cord. A broad sheet of paper is pinned next to the locker.
You also notice a clay tile lying under one of the bunks.
>X PAPER
(the broad sheet)
This seems to be a practical assignment for the junior alchemists. "Today's friendly challenge for the juniors: open your locker! The cord is white-fuse, a material which burns quickly and cleanly—but only when ignited with elemental fire. I've left tomorrow's assignment in the locker, so don't dawdle." You recognize Sergeant Brooks' handwriting. He really treats the juniors much more kindly than the swabbies, doesn't he.
Printed on the back of the sheet are the formal instructions: "IGNITING ELEMENTAL FIRE: Fire is the only pure element (of the European tradition) which cannot be refined from mundane matter. It must be ignited, and only phlogisticated gold can support its combustion. If one has a source of elemental fire, igniting a new wick is simple; but if not, the procedure is arduous. One must place the phlogisticated metal in a vapor crock with a bit of camphrost and burning blackwood—the only flame hot enough to begin the reaction. Seal the crock. Once the camphrost's vapor pressure has built to the flash point, the metal will be ignited."
You memorize the instructions, and also add the sheet to your bundle of paper.
>X CLAY TILE
This is a small clay tile, embossed with a labyrinth figure.
>LOOK AT IT THROUGH OCULUS
Through the oculus, the tile's maze is redoubled into a infinite regression of forking paths.
Well then. This is a lot to take in. The Captain's gaze does not burn us to ash. She got caught in the same disaster that hit everyone else. And somehow, Sergeant Brooks is the one giving orders to the proper officers, too. This kind of thing makes me wonder what this marcher is really for. It seems like some kind of traveling university, with the alchemists mostly here to learn to be better alchemists.
Also, we now have a recipe for elemental fire, and it looks really straightforward. The only item that isn't already just sitting in the Pyrics Lab is the phlogisticated gold, and that was in the Materials Store. Our list of Things To Try Immediately keeps growing.
Time to check out the less junior officers.
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Deck Suite
This looks like a comfortable place to drink tea. It must be a lounge set aside for the deck officers—the three important enough to rate private staterooms. The three doors are marked with the symbols of Venture (north), Alchemy (south), and Aithery (east). All three are closed.
A locked cabinet hangs on the wall.
You notice another aromatic impet nearby. It's labelled "kelp".
Prying into the business of your superiors, now. Maybe there's hope for you, kid.
Jackpot! Every discussion of breath-related atmospheres so far has mentioned seaweed. With this kelp impet, we can surely make the breath holding potion.
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>OPEN CABINET
The cabinet is locked with an Aithery File lock.
>X IT
The cabinet is a squarish compartment of some anonymous alloy. It is locked with an Aithery File lock.
Three doors. Let's check them all and read all the papers.
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>NORTH
You open the door, and discover another Hadean landscape.
This world is dark, layered with black dust—not the common stone-grey of most Hadean lands. The sun is a blinding pinprick on the horizon.
>CLOSE VENTURE DOOR
You shut the door on the Hadean land.
>SOUTH
(first opening the Alchemy door)
Master Rector's Quarters
This is where the Master Rector of The Unanswerable Retort sleeps, and presumably where he incinerates anybody who sniggers at his title. You can't see any scorch marks, but that just means he's tidy.
In one corner is a compact writing desk, with a couple of sheets of paper stacked on it. You see a rough sheet and a fine sheet.
>READ ROUGH
"BRODZIK'S INSCRIPTION, to RENDER ONE'S AURA IMPERMEABLE TO HARM: Invoke an environment of spiritual peace. Begin with a quartz token in the bound; this represents the ka soul. Invoke the Ka Sealing. Place a bit of orichalcum into the bound, representing the ba soul. Speak a word of anaphylaxis. At this point, but no sooner, add a strengthening element to the atmosphere. Close with the Binding of Antipathy, to repel harmful influences. Touch the token to a subject, and his aura will be nearly invulnerable for a few moments." Then, on the back: "Spiritual environment: meditative symbols on shelf. (Rainbow!)"
You memorize the instructions, and also add the sheet to your bundle of paper.
>READ FINE SHEET
The paper describes two mathematical structures: an isomorphic group and an idempotent group.
You memorize the information, including the two formulae. You also add the sheet to your bundle of paper.
One for two so far. Brodzik's Inscription should protect us from the aura vortex, but we're missing the Ka Sealing and the orichalcum. (The rotor has a rainbow setting, and the citronelle oil from the tutorial adds a strengthening element.)
One room left, and by process of elimination, it must be...
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High Tower
You have found Captain Hart's private quarters. In marcher lore (though never in the Captain's presence) this hallowed spot is called the High Tower. It looks disappointingly un-medieval, though: spartan decor, a bunk of regulation width and crispness.
Some small clay disks are strewn on the bunk. They have designs imprinted on them—are these reverse molds for the Retort's file badges? The Venture, Alchemy, and Medical molds are visible.
Another cabinet hangs on the wall. This one has no seal or keyhole, but an alchemical symbol shines on the cover.
A shiny sheet of paper has fallen near the cabinet.
>READ SHINY
It appears to be a research note. "THE PHLOGISTICATION OF ELECTRUM REGIUM: Phlogisticated gold is well-known, but it is not the only metal which may be alchemically charged. Electrum regium (an alloy of platinum and moon-metal) is by far the easiest; unlike gold, it may be phlogisticated with a simple laboratory procedure. Place a rod of electrum into a catalytic environment, and seal with a simple sealing. Pour yang oil over the metal and invoke an elementary binding." Then, on the back: "While phlogisticated gold is commonly used to support elemental fire, recent research indicates possible substitutes. Electrum regium is the most promising. While it does not survive the usual camphrost procedure, phlogisticated electrum regium can be ignited directly from an existing source of elemental fire."
You memorize the instructions, and also add the sheet to your bundle of paper.
>EXAMINE CABINET
The cabinet is a squarish compartment made of plate rutilum. (Fancy. Or perhaps practical; rutilum is supposed to have spiritual qualities.)
The cabinet is closed. The alchemical symbol for attraction shines on its surface.
>OPEN CABINET
You pull on the cabinet, but the cover is stuck tight. The symbol must be holding it closed.
>GET MOLDS
Venture File clay mold: You pick up the Venture File clay mold.
Alchemy File clay mold: You pick up the Alchemy File clay mold.
Medical File clay mold: You pick up the Medical File clay mold.
Oh man, we're going to have so much fun with these, at least once we figure out how to get up to mischief with them.
That wraps up the northern and upper wings. Where do we end up if we keep going west from the Nave?
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Scaphe Arcade
You are in a pleasant red-brick gallery edged by a row of wooden columns. A heavy steel portal in the west wall is the access to the marcher's exoscaphe. It's currently closed. A valve wheel is mounted next to the portal.
The arcade runs north towards an overlook window. There is a corridor to the east. You also see a crawlway hatch in the floor; it's open, but it seems to be flooded.
You notice a small brass cube lying by a column.
>EXAMINE CUBE
It's a tiny brass measuring block, meant for a balance scale. The number "27" is engraved on one face, along with a mark certifying precision.
>LOOK THROUGH OCULUS AT CUBE
When viewed through the oculus, the measuring block displays an orderly nature.
>NORTH
North Arcade
This is the north end of the gallery. A long window in the west wall overlooks the exoscaphe bay. You can see the 'scaphe itself on the other side, hooked up to the portal you saw back south.
To the north is a massive door of pale marble, outrageously carved. The door is closed.
Perhaps the door has suffered some damage. A chip of white marble is lying loose on the floor nearby.
>EXAMINE DOOR
The door to the north is an imposing marble slab, carved with cherubs and incongruously cheery grapevines. You've always wondered if this part of the marcher was taken from a decadent bathhouse somewhere. Not that decadent bathhouses are part of your life experience. Be that as it may, the door is firmly shut.
Decadent bathhouses might not be part of our life experience, but this is, like, the third most outrageous decoration we've encountered just in the past hour, at most.
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>OPEN DOOR
You tug on the marble handle, but the door is locked.
No fun.
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>LOOK AT EXOSCAPHE
Through the window, you see that the bay roof is badly damaged. Chunks of brick vaulting have fallen away, leaving a wide crack, through which shine the brilliant forbidding stars of a Hadean land.
Pieces of roof have fallen on the exoscaphe itself. It's hard to tell, but it looks like the 'scaphe's upper dome is also cracked, and the rest of the hull is battered and dented.
Important facts: the marcher as a whole is on a Hadean land right now, and our lunar rover has taken some damage and maybe isn't completely Hades-worthy. The lower levels might be OK though.
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>SOUTH
>EXAMINE VALVE WHEEL
The valve wheel is marked "Emergency Bay Pressurization," and is also marked with the shorthand symbol of Pneuma.
Sounds like the dragon Pneuma is responsible for keeping the air breathable. Let's see what's reachable without its help.
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>WEST
(first opening the heavy steel portal)
Exoscaphe
The exoscaphe is a vehicle for exploring hostile lands. From the inside, it's more like being in a spherical steel tank. A windowless tank, at that. Presumably there's a better view from the pilot's dome; but the hatch above your head is closed.
A circular bench runs around the perimeter, broken only by the dark engine compartment to the west and the exit portal to the east. The portal is open. You see a small emergency lever next to it.
A cabinet is fastened to the wall. Its latch is tied shut with a knot of white cord, much like the one you saw on the locker.
On the bench are a crumpled sheet and a horn coin.
>EXAMINE LEVER
This hand-length lever is marked "Emergency Exoscaphe Pressure Equalization".
If the upper dome is open to vacuum, pulling this lever is probably a bad idea.
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>READ CRUMPLED SHEET
This explains the Binding of the Celestial Sphere, which is used in rituals involving astrological constructs.
You memorize the information, including the Binding of the Celestial Sphere. You also add the sheet to your bundle of paper.
>EXAMINE HORN COIN
It's a coin, crudely carved of animal horn. The symbol of an anchor is cut into one face.
>LOOK THROUGH OCULUS AT IT
When viewed through the oculus, the horn coin displays an anchored nature.
That's a new nature, and that's also the final component we need for the Planetary Lens.
We've finished our circuit. It's time to put our new knowledge to use. The three rituals we can perform right away are the breath-holding potion, the planetary lens, and elemental fire ignition.
We create the breath-holding potion in the Nave with no difficulty:
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>OPEN KELP
You pop open the impet, and the kelp aroma rolls out, salty and faintly rotten.
>PUT PATEN ON SHELF
You put the porcelain paten on the gestalt shelf.
>PUT SALINE IN BOUND
You locate a beaker in the clutter, pour a measure of saline into it, and place it within the pedestal bound.
>SPEAK SIMPLE SEALING WORD
You take a breath, trace the bound in your mind, and intone the simple sealing word.
The arc begins to glow golden around the beaker of saline.
>SPEAK ANODYNE EVOCATION
You begin the Anodyne Evocation. The rhythm beats in your chest and blood. Slowly, the liquid in the beaker begins to effervesce.
>PUT ELEMENTAL WOOD ON PATEN
You put the splinter of elemental wood on the porcelain paten.
>LIGHT ELEMENTAL WOOD WITH LIGHTER
You hold the torch-lighter to the splinter of elemental wood. The elemental wood catches quickly, and burns with a yellow flame.
>SPEAK ELEMENTARY BINDING
You intone the elementary word of binding. The liquid in the beaker roils, bubbles dramatically, and goes abruptly still. The splinter of wood, equally abruptly, is extinguished; the bound emits a bright pulse of light and vanishes.
The bound fades. You lift the beaker and gently decant the clear potion into a fresh bottle. You set aside the empty beaker.
>CLOSE KELP
You snap the kelp impet closed. Its aroma fades.
Looks like an exhilarant environment produces a golden glow. Now off to the Opticks Annex, where the lenses await us and where we've already prepared the necessary lunar environment:
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>PUT CONCAVE IN BOUND
You put the concave glass lens into the tabletop 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 silver around the concave glass lens.
>SPEAK WORD OF ESSENTIAL NATURE
You intone the word of essential nature. The glassy nature of the lens rises to the surface.
>PUT JAVA SPIRIT ON CONCAVE LENS
You place a drop of lubanja onto the concave glass lens. It spreads into a fine film across the surface.
>PUT CONVEX ON CONCAVE
The silver light ripples as you push through the arc. You place the convex glass lens against the concave glass lens; the curved surfaces adhere on their delicate film of solvent.
>SPEAK BINDING OF THE CELESTIAL SPHERE
You begin invoking the Binding of the Celestial Sphere. The sounds seem distant and foreign, but you speak them precisely. The lenses glow as if in silver moonlight.
When the light fades, the lenses have fused into a single opalescent glass—a planetary association lens.
Great, a new tool, so now we have to examine everything three times.
Quit your kvetching, kid, test it out on stuff that's nearby.
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>LOOK THROUGH LENS AT MOON-METAL
You peer at the moon-metal rod through the lens, and perceive an association with the Moon.
Checks out.
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>LOOK THROUGH LENS AT ROTOR
When viewed through the planetary lens, the rotor card resembles a Hadean land.
... if you say so. Maybe because it's turned to moonlight? Time to throw some more fuel on the speculation fires:
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>LOOK THROUGH LENS AT SELF
You peer at your hand through the lens. Okay, that's not what you looked like the last time you played with this sort of lens. The human body is Gaian, or it should be—you don't recognize these associations at all. Something about the crash must have affected the lens's vision. (Just like the resonant oculus? Maybe it is you, after all.)
Not only are we non-Gaian, we correspond to no planet whatsoever. Are we extrasolar in origin or do we need to be transdimensional before the planetary sigils stop making sense?
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>LOOK THROUGH LENS AT KELP
When viewed through the lens, the impet of kelp oil is surrounded by faint planetary echoes, but the associations are not strong enough to visualize clearly.
Most things aren't horologically significant enough to register on the lens. But you know what is? That safe in the Main Store, with the combination lock made of astrological signs. Let's see if we can use this like some kind of safecracking stethoscope.
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>GO TO MAIN STORE
You make your way to the Main Store.
Main Store
This is the general storeroom for the Retort's laboratories. Shelves begin here and extend to the east and west. However, a fracture to the east blocks a large part of the room. The door to the south is open.
You recognize a figure to the east, beyond the fracture. It's Ensign Ctesc. He is moving towards you—or would be, if he were not frozen in place.
A steel safe is set into one wall. The safe is closed and locked with a heavy combination lock.
The nearest shelves are mostly empty, but a rough diamond and a length of silk cord are within reach.
>EXAMINE LOCK
The safe is a plain steel block set into the wall. The combination dial shows the thirteen Zodiacal constellations—slightly quaint, but the Service is slow to change a good thing.
The safe is closed and locked.
>EXAMINE CTESC
It's Sydney Ctesc—an East Empire name, his family is from out that way. He's an ensign in Alchemy, same as you, though a year senior. Short, quiet, studies hard.
You see something, a sequence of symbols, scrawled on Ctesc's hand. And his attention seems to be directed towards the steel safe.
>LOOK THROUGH LENS AT CTESC
Through the planetary lens, you can see the Zodiacal associations stream from Ctesc's hand towards the safe. The symbols are: Libra, Ophiuchus, Taurus, Scorpio.
That'll do. Once we enter the code...
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The safe's lock clicks and releases!
You open the safe, revealing an orichalcum rod.
>LOOK THROUGH LENS AT ORICHALCUM
You peer at the orichalcum rod through the lens, and perceive an association with Vulcan.
>X ORICHALCUM
Orichalcum, or quickcopper, is a brittle metal with a fiery, rose-pink luster. It's one of the rarer alchemical metals; this rod is half the length of your finger, but it's still more of the stuff than you've ever handled before.
I must admit, I was hoping orichalcum, as "quickcopper", would be liquid at room temperature, but it seems like it's just some wondermetal. This isn't enough to let us complete any individual rituals, though we can still mess with it.
Our last remaining ritual to try is gold ignition, to get some elemental fire to go with our wood and earth. We have the phlogisticated gold rod already, and everything else awaits us in the Pyrics Lab.
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>PUT GOLD IN CROCK
You put the phlogisticated gold 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 lead rod lies on another rack.
A stack of firebrick in back serves as a crude ritual bound, complete with gestalt shelf.
>GET CAMPHROST LUMP
You shake a lump of camphrost from the jar.
Wisps of blue vapor steam from the camphrost.
Camphrost sublimates in air. I'm pretty sure this stuff is what we'd call camphor wax. Let's get it into the vapor crock before it turns entirely to vapor itself.
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>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.
A table at the other end of the room supports a glass vapor crock. The crock is open; it contains a phlogisticated gold rod.
You also see a jar of cedar splints on the table. Next to this are five splints of assorted woods: swamp pith, green linden, blackwood, winter-oak, and maple.
>PUT CAMPHROST IN CROCK
You put the lump of camphrost into the vapor crock.
>LIGHT BLACKWOOD WITH LIGHTER
You hold the torch-lighter to the splinter of blackwood. But the blackwood refuses to catch light.
... this presents a problem. Does the lighter only work on elemental wood or something?
quote:
>LIGHT MAPLE WITH LIGHTER
You hold the torch-lighter to the splinter of maple. But the maple refuses to catch light.
Not a great start.
quote:
>LIGHT WINTER-OAK WITH LIGHTER
You hold the torch-lighter to the splinter of winter-oak. The winter-oak catches quickly, and burns with a yellow-white flame.
>LIGHT GREEN LINDEN WITH LIGHTER
You hold the torch-lighter to the splinter of green linden. The green linden catches quickly, and burns with a dim red flame.
The camphrost is nearly gone. The vapor drifts from the open crock.
Better. I get the feeling this camphrost will fizzle before we're ready to start the procedure, though. (It's not really a ritual. This isn't a bound, and we aren't sealing anything.)
quote:
>LIGHT SWAMP PITH WITH LIGHTER
You hold the torch-lighter to the splinter of swamp pith. The swamp pith goes up in a bright flare; you snatch your hand away. Within instants, the swamp pith has been entirely devoured, and its flame winks out.
Yikes!
We'll have to try something that burns more vigorously than our little cigarette lighter. The parser's disambiguator has a suggestion, what with us being in the Pyrics lab.
quote:
>LIGHT MAPLE
(in the gas burners)
You hold the splinter of maple to the gas burners. The maple catches quickly, and burns with a yellow flame.
Promising. Very promising indeed.
quote:
>LIGHT BLACKWOOD WITH GAS BURNER
You hold the splinter of blackwood to the gas burners. But the blackwood stubbornly resists catching light.
Give me more power, Forsyth! More power!!
quote:
Burning Hall West
This hall runs west to east, from the grand stairs to the high wing. Except the high wing is on fire at the moment.
The entire east end of the hall is enveloped in flame. You can't tell what's burning—the walls? the floor? But the heat is intense; you can't go any further.
>DRINK FIRE RESISTANCE
You swallow the cloudy potion. The liquid leaves your mouth feeling slightly numb. Within moments, you feel a prickle in your skin; your hands go cold and stiff, like a long walk on a chilly autumn day.
>EAST
You step into the flames, which feel like a warm breeze on your skin.
Unfortunately, your possessions do not fare so well. In the heat, two chymic flasks and the torch-lighter shatter; the potion of breath holding explodes; the bundle of paper and the Chinese amulet burn up.
Burning Hall East
You are standing in an inferno. That is, you are at the east end of the hall, which is on fire. Even though you can barely feel the heat, the fire is hard to ignore.
To the east is an obsidian door, a dark rectangle amid the fire's glare. You know this door leads to the high wing and the Chancel, but it is closed and locked.
>LIGHT BLACKWOOD IN INFERNO
You hold the splinter of blackwood to the inferno. But the blackwood stubbornly resists catching light.
It's no use, Ekachloride, I'm givin' it all she's got!
... well, that's two out of three, at least, and the breath-holding potion has opened up at least one obvious additional avenue for exploration. There are other avenues available to us as well.
Next Time: We will, at minimum, finish our sweep of the easily-accessible parts of the marcher. We can start bypassing the barriers that remain to us, as well. The floor is open for suggestions on how to do this, or on how to get that blackwood to ignite.