Part 13: A Spark of Animation Without Volition
Part 13: A Spark of Animation Without VolitionLast time, something bad happened. Let's continue from where we left off.
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*** You awaken again ***
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Secondary Alchemy Lab
(You make your way to the Chymic Lab, brew the fungicide, and open the Mechanica Lab door.)
Mechanica Lab
This workshop features two of the more mundane devices of the alchemist's life: a hand-cranked wire-drawer, and the wire-splicer wheel.
The lab door to the north is open. The crawlway hatch is open. You also see a small storeroom to the west.
An extremely corroded cabinet is fastened to the wall. It is closed.
To one side, some supplies are lying on a counter: two metal rods (platinum and nickel), an iron bead, and a lump of rock salt.
Something glitters on the floor. It looks like a circle of fine glass thread.
You notice a fresh sheet of paper by the door. Hm? That wasn't there before.
Is this the Retort we knew?
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>READ FRESH
The paper appears freshly written, but you don't recognize the script.
"A homunculus is not a daimon or a servant. It is a seed of animation without volition, a quickening spark. It cannot act or move on its own; but in combination with other works, it may become something greater."
Uncannily relevant. Possibly an explanation for why we can move and act but everyone else is frozen behind fractures.
Speaking of fractures, the one underneath the Secondary Lab has changed:
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Secondary Lab Crawlspace
You are in a low, dimly lit corridor that runs from east to west. A hatch by your (ducked) head opens to the laboratory above.
Lt Anderes has vanished. Only a shadow remains within the fracture.
To the east, the crawlspace is interrupted by another fracture—or perhaps the same one you saw in the lab.
A chymic flask rests nearby; it reeks of rubbing alcohol.
>EXAMINE SHADOW
You see a faint trailing shadow where Lt Anderes was standing.
>LOOK THROUGH OCULUS AT SHADOW
This is very strange. Through the oculus you do not see a shadow, but words:
"I must bring to your attention certain discrepancies in the storage records. Significant quantities of reagents have vanished—always those rare and most dearly sold on the black markets at home. The records have been skillfully obscured, but the evidence implicates Lt Anderes."
>LOOK THROUGH LENS AT SHADOW
You peer at the shadow of Lt Anderes. It doesn't seem to be visible through the lens at all.
That's troubling, though perhaps it also explains her miserliness when distributing reagents to the other alchemists. Let's check in on the other places we'd seen the crew. Ensign Ctesc was in the Main Store:
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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.
Ensign Ctesc has vanished. Only a shadow remains within the fracture.
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, a length of silk cord, and a length of silver chain are within reach.
>LOOK THROUGH OCULUS AT CTESC
Again, strangely, the oculus renders the shadow in words:
"I am concerned about Sydney. Diligence is commendable, but I fear that his thirst for alchemical lore may lead him down dangerous byways. He has made shrift to get hold of textbooks not normally available to students, at least."
I wonder what Ctesc would make of us in our current state. I wonder if he'd consider it worth the cost.
Lt. Powes was at the top of the Grand Stair, but before we get there...
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Lab Wing Hallway
This hallway runs east and west. However, the fire door to the west is locked, sealing you off from the rest of the Retort. A smaller door to the north leads to the Primary Alchemy Lab; it is open, but blocked by another fracture. An archway to the south leads to the Library.
You see Lt Anderes here—no longer isolated by any fracture, but still unmoving. Whatever has the Retort in its grip, it has not let her go. She seems to be peering at the fracture to the north, as if contemplating the Primary Lab.
Another standard glass chime lies in the middle of the hall. This one is a glass G-flat.
>EXAMINE ANDERES
Lt Anderes is a tall, sour-faced officer. She is no longer behind the fracture, but she still seems to be frozen in place.
>LOOK THROUGH OCULUS AT ANDERES
You peer through the oculus, and see the complex mesh of elements that makes up a human body.
Lt Anderes is a tall, sour-faced officer. She is no longer behind the fracture, but she still seems to be frozen in place.
>LOOK THROUGH LENS AT ANDERES
You peer at Lt Anderes through the lens. She has Gaian associations, as human beings always do. The image is oddly distant, though.
>TOUCH ANDERES
Although she is no longer fracture-blocked, she feels like a statue—not stone, but hard and utterly still. It's as if she exists within an imperceptible layer of altered time.
Well, at least now we don't have to worry about how to get past a fracture for plans that involve aura impersonation.
Then we reach the Nave, where we were last seen Ruining Everything.
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Nave
The Nave is the marcher's heart, though the rows of benches are empty now. The seats face a pedestal, on which is a ritual bound and shelf. The side walls boast symbolic frescos; the south wall is a high, ornamented metal mesh—the writ screen—which separates the Nave from the Chancel.
Something has happened here.
The murals are badly cracked. One to the southwest has collapsed entirely, leaving a ragged gap which leads down into a crawlspace.
The main corridors run east and west from here, and the Retort's entry hall is north.
The black markings have disappeared from the broken mural. No, they've been replaced. Rewritten? You now see a dense cluster of silvery lines on the ceiling, directly above the pedestal bound. They do not resemble the black graffiti you saw before; this is a random scribble of silver.
What is this?
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>EXAMINE SILVER
Is this the homunculus that the ritual promised? You have no idea what a homunculus is supposed to look like, outside of the doll-figures of medieval art. You suppose this silvery scrawl might be a distant cousin of the dragon-mandalas that you've seen. But it is entirely disorganized, chaotic.
Although if you squint, you could imagine that the scribble has a dog-like outline.
The scribble seems to have changed position slightly.
Puppy!
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>LOOK THROUGH OCULUS AT HOMUNCULUS
You peer through the oculus at the silvery scribble. It has a more symmetrical, intricate cast from this vantage. You can make out the blend of fire, water, earth, and air that went into its making.
The scribble shifts slowly across the ceiling.
>LOOK THROUGH LENS AT HOMUNCULUS
You peer at the silvery scribble through the planetary lens. Its associations are incomprehensible.
Symmetrical and intricate, and with strong but incomprehensible planetary associations? That's a lot like what we saw when we turned those tools on ourselves. A spark of animation without volition...
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>WEST
West Side Hallway
The Retort's main hallway continues from the Nave, to the east, towards the exoscaphe bay to the west. A cross-corridor runs north towards quarters wing and south to the paper garden.
The scribble silently arrives.
Awww. It's following us! I will name you Argy.
A spark of animation without volition... What happens if we lead Argy to Lt. Powes?
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The scribble slides into the room behind you.
The scribble slides past the Lieutenant's frozen form. As it does, you hear her voice: "How can I get the stuff out without being seen?"
You peer at Lt Anderes. No, she has not moved, not even her lips. But the words echo in your ears nonetheless.
Interesting. That doesn't sound good for her. We proceed towards where we last saw Lt Powes.
Argy reacts a bit in the Paper Garden.
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The scribble arrives a moment later. It is slightly distorted, tilted towards the arch.
Argy influenced the human crew. Is the dragon Pneuma having a similar influence on Argy?
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>SOUTH
Grand Stair, Top
Two hallways intersect beneath an elegant vault of brick-red tile, which sweeps around to follow a grand staircase down to the lower levels. The garden is visible to the north. To the west is the ornate door of the Birdhouse, which is closed.
The hall to the south is blocked by yet another fracture. The side corridor to the east is much the worse; its far end seems to be on fire.
Lt Powes has vanished. Only a shadow remains within the fracture.
The scribble drifts into the room. It is slightly distorted in the direction of the engraved door.
>DOWN
You head down the grand staircase. The air grows cooler and quieter as you descend into the depths.
Grand Stair, Bottom
This basement is bare, square, and dank. It has, as far as you are aware, no function whatsoever. (Perhaps every house needs a basement, but the Navy does not stoop to clutter.)
The walls are tile; they arch up to join the grand staircase as it ascends to the main levels. The Barosy lies to the east, through a narrow iron gate with a brass lock. An irregular gap in the south wall opens out into a larger, darker space.
The chamber has been defaced with more of the illegible black marks.
Your eye is drawn to a pale yellow bead lying in a corner.
The scribble arrives a moment later. It is slightly distorted in the direction of the iron gate.
Syndesis is behind the door up top, and Baros behind the iron gate. Argy is definitely being drawn towards the dragons.
But the dragons can wait. We've still got to investigate the rest of the crew.
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>LOOK THROUGH OCULUS AT POWES
Again, strangely, the oculus renders the shadow in words:
"I am certain that Lt Powes has been covertly compromising alchemical supplies. What is less clear is his motivation. The contaminated reagents are not in Powes' area of oversight, which suggests that he is setting up another officer for blame. Please permit my discretion in investigating this further.—M"
Hmmm. The last shadow, if this pattern holds, will be in Officer Country.
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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.
Captain Hart has vanished. Only a shadow remains within the fracture.
The scribble silently arrives.
>LOOK THROUGH OCULUS AT CAPTAIN
Again, strangely, the oculus renders the shadow in words:
"I suspect that the Captain has been fraternizing with an officer under her command. I realize the seriousness of this charge, and I have no direct evidence to offer. However, I am sure that she has been adjusting duty schedules to this end, and to the detriment of the Retort's good conduct. Please look into this.—N"
I'm starting to feel like whatever has befallen the Retort did not have a single cause. This also raises the question of what villainy Forsyth got up to, but I suppose we'll have to find our own shadow to learn that.
I begin searching through the Retort more thoroughly, hunting for the crew's new locations and to let Argy sample their memories. Ctesc is in fact just to the east:
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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.
You see Ensign Ctesc here, in the middle of the room, but still unmoving.
A locked cabinet hangs on the wall.
You notice another aromatic impet nearby. It's labelled "kelp".
The scribble drifts into the room.
The scribble slides past the Ensign's frozen form. As it does, you hear his voice: "How can I get those books from the Rector's quarters?" But he has not moved.
>EXAMINE CTESC
Ensign Ctesc is a round-faced young man who always looks slightly unkempt. He is peering at the doors with unnerving intentness.
Lt Powes is in the burning hall:
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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.
Lieutenant Powes stands here. His eyes are narrowed, fixed on the flames—or the door at the far end of the corridor. You have to reassure yourself that he is frozen in place, like the others, and not merely stilled by intense concentration.
The scribble arrives a moment later.
The scribble slides past the Lieutenant's frozen form. As it does, you hear his voice: "How can I ensure that the blame falls as it should?" But he has not moved.
>EXAMINE POWES
Lt Powes is a thin man with unnervingly sharp eyes. He is looking down the corridor towards the high wing.
That is not okay, Lieutenant.
Finally, the Captain herself is in the Exoscaphe Arcade:
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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 see the Captain here. She is still frozen stiff—caught still while peering around the room.
You notice a small brass cube lying by a column.
The scribble arrives a moment later.
The scribble slides past the Captain's frozen form. As it does, you hear her voice: "How can I clear out that crawlway without alerting anyone?" But she has not moved.
>X CAPTAIN
Captain Hart is a burly woman with a clean-shaven head and one gold earring. She is looking around with a discontented air.
Not as damning as the other three, but it's curious that the Captain is worred about "alerting" her crew.
There's one last new thing to check. There was something in the Nave we didn't check out.
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Nave
The Nave is the marcher's heart, though the rows of benches are empty now. The seats face a pedestal, on which is a ritual bound and shelf. The side walls boast symbolic frescos; the south wall is a high, ornamented metal mesh—the writ screen—which separates the Nave from the Chancel.
Something has happened here.
The murals are badly cracked. One to the southwest has collapsed entirely, leaving a ragged gap which leads down into a crawlspace.
The main corridors run east and west from here, and the Retort's entry hall is north.
The scribble silently arrives.
Do you see it?
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>SOUTHWEST
You twist yourself through the crack.
Nave Crawlway
This was once the north end of a crawlway, but the passage has collapsed, leaving only this small space. Debris is heaped up to the south. Light slants in from a gap in the ceiling.
You see a vial of white powder lying in the rubble. It's labelled "highlime".
>EXAMINE HIGHLIME
This vial contains a small quantity of highlime, a bone-white, crystalline powder.
>EXAMINE DEBRIS
The crawlway to the south has collapsed. Slabs of rock lie half-buried in a spill of earth. It doesn't look very stable, even now.
>SEARCH IT
You tentatively dig under one of the slabs. It shifts, and an alarming runnel of earth slides down past it. You quickly back away, hoping that the entire heap isn't about to envelop you.
A new reagent, albeit one for which we have no known use. What else might be here?
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>LOOK THROUGH OCULUS
You peer through the oculus. Everything acquires a colorful, hazy fringe.
The oculus reveals a lavender spark floating in the air.
We're not yet done with this mechanic, no.
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>EXAMINE LAVENDER SPARK
You focus on the lavender spark through the oculus. A new memory comes into focus. It concerns a potion. "MULDOON'S POTION, for SURVIVAL in VACUUM: This potion is a staple of marcher work, for it permits one to walk freely in Hadean lands for up to six hours. Fortunately the procedure is simple. Prepare an exhilarant environment and a measure of saline. Begin with a sealing word of passivity. Add highlime to the beaker; follow with the Anodyne Evocation and the Greater Phlogistical Saturation."
You consider these memories.
That sounds very useful indeed. That will get us not only into the Exoscaphe Bay for that sheet of paper we don't understand, it will get us outside into the Hadean Land itself. Six hours is long enough that the game isn't tracking time, so it's essentially forever.
Unfortunately, we lack the Greater Phlogistical Saturation, so we can't actually perform this yet. We're out of rituals again, though we do at least have Argy here to keep us company.
So this seems like a fine time to look through the rituals we have in fact already completed. When we were trying to make lead weigh less, we were messing with the horological symbolism of the components, trying to use Gaian Precipitate and the Binding of the Celestial Sphere to align with a Saturn-Earth axis instead of an Earth-Saturn one.
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THE SYNTHESIS of GAIAN PRECIPITATE: This reagent is of great value in rituals pertaining to the Earth. Prepare your retort with a measure of vitriolic acid; place orichalcum therein. Invoke the sealing and raise the heat. When the metal dissolves, recite a symmetric sequence (the symmetry induces a positive connection to the Earth). Measure in alum until the solution turns violet; then add pure elemental earth and reduce to a powder.
The symmetry induces a positive connection to the Earth. When we learned the symmetric sequence formula we also learned the antisymmetric sequence formula. Can we reverse the ritual by inducing a negative connection to the Earth, and leave the planetary alignments intect?
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>PUT ORICHALCUM AND VITRIOLIC IN RETORT. SPEAK HERMETIC SEALING. TURN ON BURNER. WAIT. WAIT. WAIT.
orichalcum rod: Done.
flask of vitriolic acid: You pour a measure of vitriolic acid into the retort.
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 orichalcum rod and the reservoir of vitriolic acid.
You twist the knob. The gas burner hisses, and then bursts into flame.
The gas flame heats the vitriolic acid.
Time passes.
The gas flame heats the vitriolic acid.
Time passes.
The vitriolic acid bubbles over the flame.
Time passes.
The orichalcum slowly dissolves into the acid, lending it a lovely sky-blue tint.
>SPEAK ANTISYMMETRIC SEQUENCE
You begin reciting the values of the antisymmetric sequence. After a few minutes and a bit of counting on your fingers, you reach the end (which is of course the inverse of the beginning).
The sky-blue acid bubbles over the flame.
>PUT ALUM IN BOUND
You pour a gentle stream of alum into the retort. At first nothing happens; the powder simply dissolves into the sky-blue solution. Then the color begins to darken. You pull back your hand, and watch the solution turn to a clear indigo.
The indigo solution bubbles over the flame.
>PUT EARTH IN BOUND
You drop the shard of elemental earth into the retort. The bound's pearly light ripples.
The elemental earth dissolves. The indigo solution boils more vigorously, now releasing a thick cloud of steam.
Slowly, the solution is reduced, growing darker and more opaque. You coddle the gas valve as it thickens. After several careful moments, you have dried the solution to a indigo-blue dust. Excellent. You shut off the heat, and tap the counter-Gaian precipitate from the retort into a fresh vial.
That looks promising. Let's leave the rest of the lead-weight increase ritual the same and use this instead.
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>PUT HORN COIN ON SHELF. PUT GRANITE IN BOUND. SPEAK SIMPLE SEALING. WAVE ROSEMARY. SPEAK WORD OF ESSENTIAL NATURE.
You put the horn coin on the gestalt shelf.
You put the chip of granite into the pedestal bound.
You take a breath, trace the bound in your mind, and intone the simple sealing word.
The arc begins to glow slate-blue around the chip of granite.
You wave the sprig, and inhale its fresh, resinous aroma. The air seems to sharpen.
You intone the word of essential nature. The mineral nature of the chip rises to the surface.
>PUT COUNTER-GAIAN PRECIPITATE IN BOUND
You empty the vial of counter-Gaian precipitate onto the chip of granite. The indigo-blue dust whirls around the pebble for a moment; then the vortex tightens and is absorbed.
>SPEAK BINDING OF CELESTIAL SPHERE
You begin invoking the Binding of the Celestial Sphere. The sounds seem distant and foreign, but you speak them precisely.
The blueish light flares, drawing together the mineral and celestial principles you have assembled. When it fades, a symbol shines on the surface of the chip of granite.
>GET GRANITE
You pick up the chip of granite, careful of its inscribed gossamerity symbol.
Gossamerity seems like a worthy antonym to ponderosity.
We got access to the Aithery before by using lead weight increase to snap the cable. What happens if we decrease it, instead?
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>TOUCH GRANITE TO COUNTERWEIGHT
You carefully lay the gossamerity symbol against the lead. The symbol flares brightly and transfers to the counterweight.
The cable relaxes slightly. The weight is now swinging more easily, almost bobbing back and forth.
>GET WEIGHT
You seize the counterweight. It moves in your grasp, albeit sluggishly. But it's still fastened to a cable; you couldn't walk away with it. So you let go again.
Well, that's no fun. But there's still some fun to be had:
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>BRUSH SYMBOL
(with the dispersal brush)
You brush the feather across the counterweight. The gossamerity symbol blurs and fades away.
The loose cable twangs taut, vibrating with sudden strain. You jump back just as it snaps. The counterweight, now freed, slams to the floor.
The shock has evidently been enough for the jammed mechanism. The cable whips up and out of sight; the folded ladder, in reaction, unfolds segment by segment until it reaches the floor.
It looks like it's the shock and not the raw force that unjammed the ladder. That's possibly useful information, but given that these rituals all used the same components, it's just a curiosity. We have a much better use for that gossamerity symbol.
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>GO TO STORAGE NOOK
You make your way to the Storage Nook.
Storage Nook
You are in an awkward nook behind the storeroom's last shelf. The rest of the room is east.
You see another hatch in the floor, though it's too small for a person. The cover seems to be solid lead. It is closed.
A glint of light reveals an Alchemy File seal lying near the hatch. Some officer will be in deep trouble for losing it.
The scribble arrives a moment later.
>TOUCH COVER WITH GRANITE
You carefully lay the gossamerity symbol against the lead. The symbol flares brightly and transfers to the panel. The lead cover somehow looks less massive now.
>OPEN COVER
The lead cover retains a massy inertia, but you can lift it. The compartment opens in surreal slow motion. You discover a flimsy sheet and a singed sheet inside.
>READ FLIMSY
This recipe describes a specific solvent. (Which is far more useful than a universal solvent. Universal solvents just destroy your lab and kill you.) "TUCKER'S SOLVENT, which will DISSOLVE ONLY GRANITE: Begin with the Hermetic sealing, and a mixture of muriatic and bamuriatic acids. Add some elemental earth; use a word of anaphylaxis. Add a bit of slate—this being the symbolic opposite of granite—and conclude with the Binding of Antipathy."
You memorize the instructions, and also add the sheet to your bundle of paper.
>READ SINGED
It's a potion receipt. "THE FIRE-DEVOURER (a potion to extinguish even the greatest conflagration): Prepare a strong fiery environment—several influences should be combined for this ritual. Place a measure of alcohol into the bound. Begin with a sealing word of passivity to oppose the alcohol's fiery nature. Ignite the beaker with elemental fire; this will provoke combustion despite the passivation. Conclude with the Greater Phlogistical Saturation. The resulting potion is of great strength; one vial, flung into a burning building, often suffices to end the danger."
You memorize the instructions, including the Greater Phlogistical Saturation. You also add the sheet to your bundle of paper.
Jackpot. The Fire-Devourer should let us quench the burning hallway permanently, which means once we figure out how to get through that obsidian door at the end of the burning hall we don't have to worry about how to get back through the inferno again from the other side. Not only that, but learning this ritual also taught us the Greater Phlogistical Saturation, which means we can brew the Vacuum Protection Synthesis.
We don't really need to disolve granite, but we have a lot of stone chips we could experiment with, and we've been given a lot of information about what those chips might do.
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>RECALL PERIODIC TABLE OF STONE
"We are familiar with earth as a pure element in the Greek system. However, minerals need not be considered as imperfect approximations of a Platonic ideal; each has an alchemical structure, and we may discern relations between them. Thus, marble and obsidian are opposites—white versus black, crystalline versus glassy, pelagic versus volcanic. Soapstone and basalt are another light-dark pair. Other opposing pairs rely on different relations. Chalk and flint are found together, but with different qualities. Granite and slate are formed by opposing geologic processes; so too sandstone and malachite. Porphyry and quartz are an interesting case..."
Obsidian and marble. Wasn't there a marble door, too? We have access to both marble and obsidian chips. That sounds like a pretty good approach to getting those doors open, but we'd have to reset to play with those because they cost elemental Earth that we already spent opening the safe in the first place.
We can, however, perform the vacuum-protection synthesis right now.
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MULDOON’S POTION, for SURVIVAL in VACUUM: This potion is a staple of marcher work, for it permits one to walk freely in Hadean lands for up to six hours. Fortunately the procedure is simple. Prepare an exhilarant environment and a measure of saline. Begin with a sealing word of passivity. Add highlime to the beaker; follow with the Anodyne Evocation and the Greater Phlogistical Saturation.
Our list of formulae doesn't include "a sealing word of passivity," but it does include this:
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The phlegmatic sealing word creates a boundary circle. It has a stable, passive pattern—Yin in the Oriental traditions, cool and moist in the Greek.
Highlime was revealed in the same place we found this ritual, so we're good to go.
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>OPEN KELP
You pop open the impet, and the kelp aroma rolls out, salty and faintly rotten.
>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 PHLEGMATIC SEALING WORD
You take a breath, trace the bound in your mind, and intone the phlegmatic sealing word.
The arc begins to glow golden around the beaker of saline.
>PUT HIGHLIME IN BOUND
You empty the vial of highlime into the beaker. The powder slowly dissolves.
>SPEAK ANODYNE EVOCATION
You begin the Anodyne Evocation. The rhythm beats in your chest and blood. The liquid in the beaker shivers and begins to effervesce.
>SPEAK GREATER PHLOGISTICAL SATURATION
You begin the Greater Phlogistical Saturation. The tonal vowels and labial stops require all your concentration, but you manage to hold them in place. The bubbling of the solution increases to a rolling boil, and then ceases abruptly.
The bound fades. You lift the beaker and gently decant the clear potion into a fresh bottle.
Let's give it a shot. There's that paper in the Scaphe Arcade we couldn't reach.
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>PERFORM GLASS PERMEABILITY
You make your way to the Chasm Rubble.
You make your way to the Scaphe Arcade.
You set aside your possessions for a moment and dive for the bronze B chime.
You make your way to the Herbarium Nook.
You take the pinch of zafranum.
You make your way to the Secondary Alchemy Lab.
You conjure an attraction symbol onto the bronze B chime.
You make your way to the Chasm Rubble.
You use the B chime to attract the bronze F-sharp chime.
You make your way to the Chymic Lab.
You take the flask of sand from the rack.
You take the brass coin.
You make your way to the Secondary Alchemy Lab.
You conjure a permeability symbol onto the bronze F-sharp chime.
(You are now in the Secondary Alchemy Lab.)
The scribble drifts in through a wall.
>GO TO ARCADE
You make your way to the Scaphe Arcade.
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 standing open. 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 see the Captain here. She is still frozen stiff—caught still while peering around the room.
You notice a small brass cube lying by a column.
The silver scribble trots into the room.
The scribble slides past the Captain's frozen form. As it does, you hear her voice: "How can I clear out that crawlway without alerting anyone?" But she has not moved.
>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.
The scribble slides in along the wall.
>RING F-SHARP
You tap the bronze F-sharp chime. Its bright resonances fill the room—and then shift to a steady, sustained hum.
>PUT CHIME IN WINDOW
You press the chime against the window. The glass vibrates, and the bronze sinks slowly into it—not like metal into tar, but like a knife sliding between infinitesimal layers of glass.
When you draw your hand away, the chime remains suspended in the glass. Its vibration continues at a steady pitch.
>DRINK POTION
You swallow the clear potion. The liquid feels waxy and thick in your mouth. After a moment, your skin itches furiously, all over—but only for a few seconds.
>WEST
You press your fingers against the glass. You feel a steady vibration... and a yielding, as the glass slides through your flesh. It's rather unnerving, and you push the rest of your body through as quickly as possible.
The vacuum plucks at your clothing for a moment, but the only other sensation is a nagging dryness in your sinuses. Very strange.
Unfortunately, your possessions do not fare so well. In the vacuum, two chymic flasks boil away; the torch-lighter shatters.
Whoops.
quote:
Exoscaphe Bay
You are in a wide brick hall, or perhaps an indoor courtyard. It is unfurnished and undecorated—not meant for human occupation. It was built to house the steel bulk of the exoscaphe, which vehicle occupies most of its floor space.
The west wall is dominated by enormous steel doors, wide enough for the 'scaphe to trundle out on its missions. The doors are currently closed. A much smaller (and darker) doorway is visible to the north. A long window on the east wall provides a view of the arcade.
Fallen bits of brick vaulting lie everywhere. Stars shine in through a jagged gap in the roof, and the dead silence of airlessness fills the hall.
A brittle sheet of paper lies on the ground near the window.
You no longer see the scribble.
The vibration of the bronze F-sharp chime continues.
Argy didn't follow us into the vacuum. I hope it's OK.
quote:
>READ PAPER
(the brittle sheet)
The sheet is somewhat fragile after its exposure to vacuum. It carries an alchemical formula of the Oriental tradition. The Name of the Tortoise is an elemental invocation of water. (Everyone knows that there are five elements in China, not four, but this is the first time you've seen one spelled out.)
You memorize the information, including the Name of the Tortoise. You also add the sheet to your bundle of paper.
That's a formula we'll need for the jade-based aura imitation inscription, but we don't actually have any jade.
quote:
>EAST
You slide back through the vibrating glass.
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.
The scribble drifts into the room.
Welcome back! We missed you.
Let's go visit a dragon, OK? As a spark of animation without volition, I know you can't pick which dragon to visit. So I outsourced your volition to a thread vote. At the time I'm writing this, the dragon priorities are such that we will be visiting Syndesis. So I make my way to the outside of the Birdhouse, and...quote:
>WEST
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 flask of muriatic acid from the rack.
The orichalcum rod is gone; you used it in a ritual, here in the Chymic Lab. You don't know where to get another one.
(While trying to create copper percalcinate, to create the aura invisibility, to open the engraved door.)
(You are now in the Chymic Lab.)
The scribble drifts in through a wall.
I guess we'll need a reset. Before we do that, let's get a little more use out of our vacuum support.
quote:
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.
On the bench is a crumpled sheet.
You no longer see the scribble.
>EXAMINE LEVER
This hand-length lever is marked "Emergency Exoscaphe Pressure Equalization".
>PULL LEVER
The lever is locked in place—no doubt because the steel portal is open. You wouldn't want to depressurize the entire marcher.
Well, we'd be fine, but I suppose all our lovely reagents wouldn't.
quote:
>CLOSE PORTAL
You close the heavy steel portal.
>PULL LEVER
You pull the lever. Air shrieks through the valve... and then the whistle fades away, as the pressure in the 'scaphe drops towards zero.
The vacuum plucks at your clothing for a moment.
Unfortunately, your possessions do not fare so well. In the vacuum, the flask of muriatic acid boils away.
>UP
(first opening the small hatch)
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, the air is gone, 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.
>READ DESSICATED
"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."
A note on the back says, "While elemental earth is essential for many procedures, a perfectly flawless diamond may sometimes be substituted. This is particularly true in the synthesis of caustic reagents."
You memorize the instructions, and also add the sheet to your bundle of paper.
Oh, that'll be nice. Earth and Orichalcum are the two reagents we have to reset the most often to restore.
quote:
>EXAMINE THIN KEY
This looks like a key to the Tertiary Alchemy Lab. Why someone left it in the scaphe, you have no idea.
That could have all kinds of great stuff in it. Now we just have to get the key out.
quote:
>GET THIN
Taken.
>EXAMINE DOME
The dome surrounds your upper body, allowing you to look out on the bay in every direction. However, the collapse of the bay roof has damaged the glass. The dome is still in one piece, but several cracks run across it. They look nasty enough to have let the air out.
>DOWN
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. You recall that there's a better view from the pilot's dome; you could climb up through the hatch and see.
The emergency evacuation has left the chamber in dead, airless silence.
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 closed. 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.
On the bench is a crumpled sheet.
>CLOSE HATCH
You close the small hatch.
>PULL LEVER
You pull the lever, but nothing happens. It snaps back when you release it.
>EAST
(first opening the heavy steel portal)
The steel portal cannot be opened against a pressure differential.
We're stuck in here, now. Pneuma controls the air pumps, and Pneuma is broken. We've only got one option left.
quote:
>WEST
Void
You find yourself drifting through a familiar void.
*** You awaken again ***
Secondary Alchemy Lab
(You make your way to the Chymic Lab, brew the fungicide, and open the Mechanica Lab door.)
Mechanica Lab
This workshop features two of the more mundane devices of the alchemist's life: a hand-cranked wire-drawer, and the wire-splicer wheel.
The lab door to the north is open. The crawlway hatch is open. You also see a small storeroom to the west.
An extremely corroded cabinet is fastened to the wall. It is closed.
To one side, some supplies are lying on a counter: two metal rods (platinum and nickel), an iron bead, and a lump of rock salt.
Something glitters on the floor. It looks like a circle of fine glass thread.
You notice a fresh sheet of paper by the door.
That's the same sheet of paper as before. But where's Argy? We head to the Nave, and...
quote:
The silvery scribble is visible on the ceiling, where you first saw it.
>X SCRIBBLE
You suppose this silvery scribble is the homunculus that you summoned. You have no idea what a homunculus is supposed to look like, outside of the doll-figures of medieval art. This scrawl might be a distant cousin of the dragon-mandalas that you've seen. But it is entirely disorganized, chaotic.
Although if you squint, you could imagine that the scribble has a snake-like outline.
The scribble seems to have changed position slightly.
>WEST
West Side Hallway
The Retort's main hallway continues from the Nave, to the east, towards the exoscaphe bay to the west. A cross-corridor runs north towards quarters wing and south to the paper garden.
... Argy? Are we not friends anymore?
Turns out we have to wait around a few turns in the Nave before the homunculus re-imprints on us. That accomplished...
quote:
Grand Stair, Top
Two hallways intersect beneath an elegant vault of brick-red tile, which sweeps around to follow a grand staircase down to the lower levels. The garden is visible to the north. To the west is the ornate door of the Birdhouse, which is closed.
The hall to the south is blocked by yet another fracture. The side corridor to the east is much the worse; its far end seems to be on fire.
Lt Powes has vanished. Only a shadow remains within the fracture.
The scribble slides into the room behind you. It is slightly distorted in the direction of the engraved door.
>WEST
(first opening the engraved door)
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 flask of muriatic acid from the rack.
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 Chymic Lab.
You brew a vial of copper percalcinate.
You take the flask of mineral oil from the rack.
You make your way to the Mechanica Lab.
You take the nickel rod from the counter.
You draw the nickel rod out into wire.
You head to the Materials Store.
You make your way to the Storage Nook.
You take the rutilum Alchemy File seal.
You make your way to the Materials Store.
You take the phlogisticated gold rod from the cabinet.
You make your way to the Pyrics Lab.
You take the splinter of blackwood from the table.
You take the splinter of winter-oak from the table.
You ignite the blackwood splint from the winter-oak.
You place the phlogisticated gold in the vapor crock with camphrost, and ignite them with the blackwood splint.
You make your way to the Chymic Lab.
You brew a vial of sublime spirit.
You make your way to the Library.
You take the rotor card.
You make your way to the Opticks Annex.
You conjure an invisibility symbol onto the long quartz prism.
You make your way to the Top of the Grand Stair.
You apply the invisibility symbol to yourself and open the door.
Birdhouse
The Birdhouse is a circular chamber with no roof. It's not open to the sky; it just goes up forever. The door to the east is open. You also see a cracked flagstone with a gap leading to a crawlspace below.
The name comes from a ring of metal pylons that take up the center of the room. You can see the fanciful resemblance to a birdcage, although they don't imprison anything.
The dragon Syndesis is a mandala of alchemical runes inscribed across the curving wall. But the runes look lifeless and inert.
A fragment of paper lies to one side.
The scribble drifts into the room. It doesn't quite stabilize, this time. It seems to be drifting slowly towards the dragon-mandala.
Nothing to do but wait.
quote:
>WAIT
Time passes.
The scribble is drawn towards Syndesis like a bubble to a drain.
>WAIT
Time passes.
The scribble spirals around Syndesis—inward—inward—
The mandala flares with violet-red light, and it is blinding.
You hear the aroma of copal incense; smell the texture of shattering glass.
We seem to be making a habit of this.
quote:
*** You awaken again ***
Secondary Alchemy Lab
(You make your way back to the Nave.)
Nave
The Nave is the marcher's heart, though the rows of benches are empty now. The seats face a pedestal, on which is a ritual bound and shelf. The side walls boast symbolic frescos; the south wall is a high, ornamented metal mesh—the writ screen—which separates the Nave from the Chancel.
The murals are badly cracked. One to the southwest has collapsed entirely, leaving a ragged gap which leads down into a crawlspace.
The main corridors run east and west from here, and the Retort's entry hall is north.
You notice a fresh sheet of paper by the pedestal. Hm? That wasn't there before.
>READ FRESH SHEET
The paper appears freshly written, but you don't recognize the script.
"It is now clear that the ritual must be performed in the Chancel. I had hoped—foolishly—that the Nave bound was sufficient; but my attempts there have provoked no reaction from the Retort at all. I suppose that, in attempting to reanimate the dragons, I am in a sense re-enacting the marcher's original investment. I must therefore maximize the sympathy with the Chancel rituals.
"I am not sure whether I can break through the security strictures, but I will have to try. If I fail, then—whoever finds this—you will have to try harder..."
The Dracon Invocation is spelled out below.
You memorize the information, including the Dracon Invocation. You also pick up the sheet. Just in case.
... That's the second time we've gotten a new sheet of paper deposited within the Retort. Who exactly is giving us advice here?
Also, Argy is missing, and we last saw it merging with Syndesis. What has happened to the Retort's internal coherence?
quote:
>GO TO SECONDARY LAB
You make your way to the Secondary Alchemy Lab.
Secondary Alchemy Lab
The lab is unsettlingly dim, but familiar enough: rough wooden walls, the broad stone surface of the workbench. The lab door is to the north; it's open, and the lab hall is reassuringly visible outside.
Well then. That's a good feeling.
Next time: We explore our new options.