Part 19: The Flowering of Knowledge
Part 19: The Flowering of KnowledgeLast time, we performed the Great Marriage in the Chancel, but it didn't work:
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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.
The Lone Badger gets very close to the right of it:
The Lone Badger posted:
I think the place is right but the final invocation is wrong. We need another alien glyph.
This idea is based on our attempt, back in update 15, to create our first dragon fulcrum. If we used the Dracon Invocation instead of an alien glyph, we got this message:
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You rumble your way through the Dracon Invocation. But the words are not true.
However, there's a closer match than this. I didn't actually try this in the LP until just now, but if you attempt to perform the dragon summoning as part of the emergency dragon subsumption without placing the dragon fulcrum at all, you get the wheel-spinning message exactly.
The problem isn't the truth of our words, it's a lack of leverage. We'll need to create and place a fourth dragon fulcrum.
While the ultimate goal was thus slightly off, the proximate goal is nevertheless spot on: we need another alien glyph. And that means we need to check out that bit of writing we couldn't quite make out, behind alien glass.
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*** You awaken again ***
Let's take stock of our situation there. We're blocked from proceeding further into the alien wreck because we need zafranum to create the aither-resistance potion, but we also need zafranum to get the materials we need for the glass permeability inscription.
We don't really have a lot of clues for how to proceed, so let's flip the question around. What can we do now that we couldn't do at the start of Act III? What new abilities has repairing the dragons gotten us that we have not yet used?
Well, the Tertiary Alchemy Lab had some high-end reagents and we haven't used any of them yet.
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>GO TO TERTIARY ALCHEMY LAB
You make your way to the Scaphe Arcade.
You repressurize the Exoscaphe Bay.
You make your way to the Exoscaphe Dome.
You take the spare lab key.
You make your way to the Lab Hall Northeast.
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".
The Anti-Tellurian distillate presumably can stand in for the Counter-Gaian precipitate. That means that we can create two lead weight modification inscriptions as long as one is a weight decrease.
The nickel, on the other hand, is consumed only by the creation of sublime spirit. That also requires elemental fire, but as we saw last time, we have two units of that now too. This means that we can now create clock tincture and aura invisibility on the same run. That might have been handy while we were performing dragon subsumptions, but it seems less promising now.
We might be able to have some fun with that lead counterweight in the observatory, though.
Before anything else, though, let's learn from our previous mistakes.
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>CREATE DISPERSAL BRUSH. CREATE RESONANT OCULUS. CREATE PLANETARY LENS.
That done, now let's start by breaking the chain.
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>PERFORM LEAD WEIGHT INCREASE. GO TO OBSERVATORY.
You make your way to the Secondary Alchemy Lab.
You take the sprig of rosemary.
You make your way to the Under Ward.
You take the flask of vitriolic acid.
You take the flask of alum.
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 Opticks Lab.
You make your way to the Main Store.
You take the length of silver chain from the shelves.
You make your way to the Pyrics Store.
You take the silver coin.
You enchant the lodestone of purity.
You make your way to the Opticks Lab.
You use the purity lodestone to recover the elemental earth.
You make your way to the Chymic Lab.
You brew a vial of Gaian precipitate.
You make your way to the Exoscaphe.
You take the horn coin from the bench.
You make your way to the Nave.
You conjure a ponderosity symbol onto the chip of granite.
(You are now in the Nave.)
You head to the Deck Suite.
You take the impet of kelp oil.
You make your way to the Chymic Lab.
You take the flask of saline.
You make your way to the Pyrics Lab.
You make your way to the Secondary Alchemy Lab.
You take the impet of ginger oil from the side table.
You take the impet of peppermint oil from the side table.
You brew a bottle of fire-resistance potion.
You drink the potion of fire resistance.
You make your way to the Pyrics Lab.
You reach into the kiln and take the porcelain paten.
You take the splinter of elemental wood from the table.
You make your way to the Under Ward.
You take the torch-lighter.
You brew a bottle of breath-holding potion.
You drink the potion of breath holding.
You stash your possessions, swim through the flooded crawlway, unlock the observatory door from the inside, and then retrieve your possessions.
You make your way to the Observatory.
The breath potion has worn off. You suck in a startling gasp of air.
The fire-resistance potion has worn off.
Observatory
This is the observatory, the Retort's guiding eye. The dome overhead is set with windows, and each window shows a different sky and a different array of stars.
One level above you, an ironwork bridge crosses the dome, north to south. A ladder descends at either end, but only one of the two is lowered, and that one is obstructed by a fracture that cuts off the north side of the dome. The south-side ladder is folded up under the bridge; its counterweight hangs near the floor.
The door to the east is open. Open alcoves to the north and south house additional equipment, but again, the north side is fracture-blocked. You also see the flooded crawlway hatch at your feet.
In the center of the chamber, beneath the bridge, stands the compass pedestal with its capsule of elemental water.
>TOUCH WEIGHT WITH GRANITE
You carefully lay the ponderosity symbol against the lead. The symbol flares brightly and transfers to the counterweight.
The cable vibrates with sudden strain, and then emits a portentous creak. You jump back just as it snaps. The counterweight, now freed, slams to the floor and lies there like the corpse of Atlas.
The shock has evidently been too much 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.
>EXAMINE WEIGHT
A massive block of lead is lying here. You see a ponderosity symbol glowing on the weight's surface.
Well, it broke loose.
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>GET IT
A team of Hibernian marines couldn't pick up the lead weight right now.
Okay, maybe not. What if we get rid of the ponderosity symbol?
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>BRUSH SYMBOL
(with the dispersal brush)
You brush the feather across the counterweight. The ponderosity symbol blurs and fades away. You see no other obvious difference, but the weight shifts just a little on the ground.
>GET LEAD
The counterweight is too heavy to carry.
Well, all right. But we could push it around on its chain when we put the gossamerity symbol on it, and we still have the anti-Tellurian distillate under our hat. Let's see if we can start carrying around a giant chunk of lead about the size of our entire body.
Swapping out the ingredients does mean we'll have to re-do the ritual, though:
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>FIND ROSEMARY. GET IT.
The sprig of rosemary is in the Nave, as you recall. You head that way.
You make your way 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.
You can also see a torch-lighter, a splinter of elemental wood, a porcelain paten, a flask of saline, an impet of kelp oil, a horn coin, and a sprig of rosemary here.
Taken.
>PUT HORN COIN ON SHELF
(first taking the horn coin)
You put the horn coin on the gestalt shelf.
>PUT GRANITE IN BOUND
You put the chip of granite into the pedestal bound.
>SPEAK SIMPLE. WAVE ROSEMARY. SPEAK ESSENTIAL NATURE.
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 ANTI-TELLURIAN IN BOUND
You empty the vial of anti-Tellurian distillate onto the chip of granite. The indigo-blue liquid swirls 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.
Simple enough. Unlike the cases like the moon-metal rod, this actually changes our Alchemy Journal; we now have two entries for the lead weight decrease inscription, marked "(with distillate)" and "(with precipitate)".
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>GO TO COUNTERWEIGHT
The counterweight is in the Observatory, as you recall. You head that way.
You make your way to the Observatory.
Observatory
This is the observatory, the Retort's guiding eye. The dome overhead is set with windows, and each window shows a different sky and a different array of stars.
One level above you, an ironwork bridge crosses the dome, north to south. A ladder descends at either end. One ladder is obstructed by a fracture that cuts off the north side of the dome. The other, thankfully, is now within reach.
The door to the east is open. Open alcoves to the north and south house additional equipment, but again, the north side is fracture-blocked. You also see the flooded crawlway hatch at your feet.
In the center of the chamber, beneath the bridge, stands the compass pedestal with its capsule of elemental water.
The counterweight lies here, looking massive.
That is indeed how lead often looks, even though we've been working with multiple metals with a greater density than lead this run.
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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 counterweight shifts a little against the ground. It no longer seems as immovable as it was.
The eyes of Ensign Forsyth are sharp indeed. In fact, this even is reflected in the room description now:
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The counterweight lies here, looking less massive than usual.
And now we can have some fun.
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>GET COUNTERWEIGHT
You lift the counterweight. It's still heavy, and it retains a massy inertia that makes it feel like it's floating in molasses. But you can carry it.
One of the earliest space opera series was the Lensman books, by E. E. "Doc" Smith. In those, spaceships were able to break the lightspeed barrier and generally accomplish all the necessary space opera things because it was possible to retain mass while cancelling inertia. Here, we seem to have managed the opposite trick.
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>GO TO F-SHARP CHIME
The bronze F-sharp chime is at the Chasm Rubble, as you recall. You head that way.
You make your way to the Chasm Rubble.
Chasm Rubble
Rubble and fallen rocks litter the ledge here. You can walk north or south alongside the abyss, which waits patiently to the west.
A particularly massive slab lies at the chasm edge. Half its length rests on solid ground; but the far half hangs out over empty space, quite unsupported.
You see a bronze chime lying on the far end of the slab. It looks very far away.
If we try to >GET CHIME now, we'll end up performing the metal attractor synthesis, which consumes the zafranum. We've been trying to avoid that, so let's look at this situation more carefully.
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>EXAMINE SLAB
The slab is at least fifteen feet long, and more than a foot thick. The upper surface is worked flat; it must have been part of a bridge or balcony, somewhere above you, before the catastrophe. Now it lies precariously balanced on the edge of the chasm.
You see a bronze chime lying on the far end of the slab. It looks very far away.
>PUT WEIGHT ON SLAB
You put the counterweight on the near end of the slab, where it won't unbalance anything.
Can physics succeed more cheaply than alchemy?
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>GET CHIME
You step out on the slab, and kneel at the balance-point. Unfortunately, the lessened mass of the counterweight is insufficient to anchor things. You can get a few inches closer to the chime; but it's not enough.
Perhaps we should physics harder.
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>BRUSH COUNTERWEIGHT
(with the dispersal brush)
You brush the feather across the counterweight. The gossamerity symbol blurs and fades away.
The counterweight shifts slightly, settling into the slab with renewed force.
>GET CHIME
You step out onto the slab, and kneel at the balance-point. The counterweight seems to be holding it steady, so you slowly stretch forward...
You are keenly aware of the empty abyss directly below you. But as you crawl forward, the slab does not shift. You keep your movements steady, and after what seems like hours, your fingers meet bronze.
You grasp the chime, crawl backwards, and roll off the slab onto solid ground. Whew.
We've done it! Now we can just create the tools we need and head into the wreck.quote:
>CREATE AITHER RESISTANCE
You make your way to the Nave.
You take the flask of saline.
You take the impet of kelp oil.
You make your way to the Mechanica Lab.
You take the lump of rock salt from the counter.
You make your way to the Herbarium Nook.
You take the pinch of zafranum.
You make your way to the Nave.
You take the torch-lighter.
You brew a bottle of aither resistance.
(You are now in the Nave.)
>CREATE VACUUM POTION
You take the flask of saline.
You make your way to the Nave Crawlway.
You take the vial of highlime.
You make your way to the Nave.
You take the impet of kelp oil.
You brew a bottle of vacuum protection.
>PERFORM GLASS PERMEABILITY
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.)
>GO TO WRECK
You drink the potion of vacuum protection.
You close the inner door and depressurize the airlock.
You make your way to the Hadean Land, at Wreck.
Hadean Land, at Wreck
You stand at the foot of a wall of metal. It's not a simple construction; it leans inward here, outward there, tracing an irregular shape that looms over the dusty plain. Perhaps it's broken, for debris is scattered around.
Mountains rise all around, forming a jagged grey bowl which cups the metal wreck. You can see the canyon pass to the northwest.
A hexagonal outline on the wall, to the east, might be a door. If so, it is closed.
Next to the hexagon, a small circular arc is incised into the metal.
A small puddle of mercury gleams in the dust.
>EAST
(first opening the outer door)
You take the droplet of mercury.
You apply the mercury to the circular arc.
You invoke the caudex pattern to open the outer door.
Strange Airlock
This chamber is not hexagonal, but it reminds you of a hexagon in all directions, if that makes sense. Perhaps it doesn't.
Strange as the architecture may be, an airlock is clearly an airlock. The outer door to the west is open; the inner door to the north is closed.
Next to the door is another small circle. This one contains a film of black liquid.
>NORTH
(first opening the inner door)
You drink the potion of aither resistance.
You invoke the radix pattern to open the inner door. The blue haze in your vision darkens; your teeth feel numb.
Bent Chamber
This chamber has odd angles, but you're pretty sure they're not all intentional. The walls look crumpled and the ceiling is bent downwards. Hallways may have once run in several directions, but the only one that remains wide enough to pass is to the east.
The airlock door to the south is open.
>EAST
Ruined Hallway
This hall runs east and west, but to the east the walls are crushed together like a paper sculpture.
A wide trapezoidal window is set into the north wall. It looks like ordinary glass, although you suppose one never knows.
As long as we're here, maybe physics will solve our problems here, too?
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>BREAK WINDOW
The glass won't break.
Oh well. I hope it is glass, and not some kind of wacky transparent aluminum or something.
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>RING CHIME
You tap the bronze F-sharp chime. Its soundless vibration runs through your fingers.
>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.
>NORTH
You slide through the vibrating glass.
Ruined Chamber
This chamber is empty and derelict—cracked, crooked, uneven. The only exit is a dark gap to the east; you can't tell if it's the remains of a hallway or just a hole in the wall.
A wide trapezoidal window is set into the south wall. The F-sharp chime is embedded in the window.
A small knot of black marks is drawn on one wall.
>EXAMINE KNOT
You gaze at the knot, willing understanding.
comprehension
This fourth symbol brings you a new image: the black magnetic oil flowing over ceramic shards. You recognize the debris which lies outside the wreck.
All right. That's a good hint, but unfortunately, we'll have to reset the world to get that magnetic oil again—opening the airlock is irreversible and makes the radix access locker inaccessible this reset.
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*** You awaken again ***
Recreate our tools, go to the wreck, and...
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>GET MERCURY. PUT IT IN ARC. SPEAK RADIX ACCESS. GET OIL.
You glance around for a container, and settle on a broken saucer-shaped bit of ceramic. You gently scoop up the mercury droplet.
You tilt the mercury droplet against the circle. It sticks to the metal, and slowly spreads out until it reaches the edge. There is now a perfect circle of quicksilver, mirror-flat, clinging to the wall.
You begin running through the radix access geometric sequence in your head. The quicksilver circle vibrates in response; complex ripples refract across it.
When the sequence is complete, a metal panel neatly and silently rotates, hiding the quicksilver circle from view. Instead, a small niche is now visible, containing a vial of black oil.
Taken.
Now then. We've known about the ceramic shards, because we've been using them to ferry mercury around all game. What secrets do they hide?
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>EXAMINE SHARDS
A few shards of ceramic lie around the wreck, as if they had fallen from it. None of their shapes look meaningful.
>PUT OIL ON SHARDS
You look for a large bit of ceramic, and pour the black oil onto it. It flows off in inky streams, which branch and ramify in the Hadean dust.
For a moment you are looking at familiar—that is, familiarly strange—twisted black markings. They refer to calyx access, the flowering of knowledge... not a physical transition, but a pathway of communication. It has the odor of dragons about it.
Then the oil sinks into the dust, all at once, and is gone without a trace.
Radix, caudex, and calyx are all Latin words for parts of plants - root, trunk, and bud or husk, respectively. When the words are imported into English, calyces aren't quite flowers, but they're close. They're, for instance, the part of the hibiscus we actually make the tea out of.
One of the things I like about the alien alchemy is how their formulae seem to be entirely built out of mathematical transformations. Terrestrial alchemy is sometimes similar—we've got the symmetric and antisymmetric sequences, for instance, which seem to involve reciting series of numbers, while the alien patterns involve visualizing geometrical transformations—but the human experience of alchemy is much more visceral.
It seems like, at some level, alchemy in Hadean Lands is about managing an evolving series of precisely calibrated symbols to represent and induce changes within the world itself. While the alien techniques revolve around mathematical transformations that can be, presumably, generated to order, the human alchemies rely on less precise methods for producing the results. By combining a rare spice's odor with the scent of the sea, for instance, we get a sense of distance and foreignness that is called out in the ritual description and which is representing the foreign aither that this ritual will let us survive. And here, it is paying off because the geometric transform we have learned smells like a dragon. Do dragons really have distinctive odors? One hasn't been described until now, but that's how our alchemically trained mind is interpreting the equivalent patterns we have just been taught.
At this point, there's only one dragon left. Let's see how Syndesis reacts to calyx access.
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>SPEAK CALYX ACCESS
You run through the calyx access sequence in your head. Syndesis's runes quiver in response. You have a sudden sense of the Retort's operation: the routine maintenance of coherence and integrity, air and light, structure and position, weight and gravity.
A thought flows from the dragon to you: "Marcher systems are alive; transition may now be possible. Please attempt reanimation procedure in the Chancel. Extended status report via memory dump, this location."
You catch a glint of light in the oculus. You're pretty sure it wasn't there before.
Man, when an alchemical dragon does a memory dump, it means it literally.
If we didn't have the oculus with us, we'd instead be hinted to bring one in with this:
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You sense... something... radiating from the dragon, although you can't see anything.
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>LOOK THROUGH OCULUS
You peer through the oculus. Everything acquires a colorful, hazy fringe.
The oculus reveals a colorless spark floating in the air.
>LOOK THROUGH OCULUS AT SPARK
You focus on the colorless spark through the oculus. A new memory comes into focus. "The pylons in the Birdhouse exhibit traces of oxidation. Marcher transit in this state is risky. Recommendation: inscribe an intensional ballast and place it below the Birdhouse."
And then: "An intensional ballast may serve to support a failing alchemical construct, though only in the direst emergency, for the results are uncertain and of limited duration. The ritual is simply a refinement of the universal tarnish cleansing. Add zafranum after the lubanja spirit, and conclude with the Greater Phlogistical Saturation instead of the Lesser. The brass token will then be able to infuse phlogiston, at need, directly into the nearest construct."
You consider these memories.
Hey, yet another use for zafranum! Now, what did we need for the universal tarnish cleansing inscription?
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>RECALL UNIVERSAL
"UNIVERSAL TARNISH CLEANSING: The basic tarnish rituals employ the law of similarity; a steel token removes rust from steel. To prepare a token that will work on any corroded metal, one must prepare a catalytic environment, rather than a fiery one. Place a token of brass or steel in the bound and begin with a simple sealing. Recite the categorical imperative; pour a drop of Java spirit upon the token; conclude with the Lesser Phlogistical Saturation."
Seems simple enough. And it looks like the Sergeant wasn't just messing around when he was having us fix tarnish back before the accident. Phlogiston infusion remains an important technique throughout one's career.
It's also worth noting that we didn't actually need to get into the room behind the window to learn calyx access; we only need radix access to get the polar oil, and that's available as soon as we complete the Great Marriage once. That means we can check in on the active dragon before the systems are all operational:
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You run through the calyx access sequence in your head. Syndesis's runes quiver in response. You suddenly sense the routine maintenance of coherence and integrity, along with weight and gravity.
The dragon is reaching out, trying to assess the damage to the Retort, but you can tell that it lacks the capacity. It seems only dimly aware of your presence.
This was a check after Syndesis had subsumed Baros. If I then check in on a still-inactive dragon, like Aistheta...
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You run through the calyx access sequence in your head. Aistheta's runes seem to quiver in response, but there is no other effect.
It's a bit of a sequence break, but not much of one. We need the fourth alien glyph to create the final dragon fulcrum, and the sigil for that is behind the glass.
Let's see what this Intensional Ballast is all about.
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>FIND BRASS PIN. GET IT. FIND LUBANJA. GET IT. FIND ZAFRANUM. GET IT.
We could make some platinum wire and make the ballast that way, but why bother when the Tertiary Lab is right here?
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>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 a blue vial labelled "anti-Tellurian distillate".
Wait, weren't we supposed to get a key first? And weren't there two reagents here? Apparently the autosolver will, of its own accord, use the vial of nickel shards here in preference to destroying the nickel rod, and we needed that nickel to create the sublime spirit to check on Syndesis.
Just a curiosity, though. Let's move on and do the ritual.
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>PUT BRASS PIN IN BOUND
You put the brass pin 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 brass pin.
>RECITE CATEGORICAL IMPERATIVE
You intone the categorical imperative. The metallic nature of the brass pin extends smoothly and clearly into a general class.
>PUT LUBANJA ON PIN
You carefully drip lubanja onto the brass pin; a cleansing solvent quality adheres to the metal.
>PUT ZAFRANUM ON PIN
The green light ripples as you push through the arc. You sift the zafranum threads onto the brass pin. They dissolve into the metal, lending it a clear green tint.
>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 energy pulses and converges. The green light goes blinding-bright, drawing together the blended aromas and the words that you speak.
When the light fades, a symbol shines on the surface of the brass pin.
>GET PIN
You pick up the brass pin, careful of its inscribed fixation symbol.
Syndesis told us to put this below the Birdhouse. Do we now have a use for that empty dead-end room?
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>GO TO BIRDHOUSE
You make your way to the Birdhouse.
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. The circles rotate majestically, shining with violet-red radiance (and hints of sea-green, yellow-white, and brown-gold).
A fragment of paper lies to one side.
>DOWN
Birdhouse Crawl
This space must have been a crawlway, but it's entirely fallen in now. You barely fit, and there's no space to wriggle in any direction but back up.
As you enter, the brass pin acquires a hazy glow.
That looks very promising indeed. With this, and the fourth alien glyph we learned from the process of learning calyx access, we should be able to perform the Great Marriage to full effect, as advised by the remaining dragon itself.
Next Time: We don't quite do that. But we make do.