The Affair of the Golden Slab
A violent storm left amber scattered across the beaches of Hobart, strange objects lying within. Concerns about their contents have arisen- especially of one opaque slab larger than a person.
Aspects
- Relevance: Rose
- Relevance: Lantern
- Incident
Visitors: Lantern
| Visitor | Start | Fail | Success | Acted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lady Audrey Leigh Howard | One of my contacts retrieved something from the amber in Hobart. A small bell, made of alloys unlike any other.‘ | I’ve made arrangements for the slab to be taken to a local facility of mine. My usual methods could open it, certainly, but doing so without damaging its contents requies more exacting arts.‘ | In Britain, it is said those of Ys, the Land Beyond the Wave, know the secrets of forging alloys which can strike down the Hours, which rival or even surpass the Glory in power. Perhaps it is time for those secrets to be ours.‘ | Lady Audrey believed the slab contained alloy-secrets of the Land Beyond the Wave and found methods to safely extract them from the slab. |
| Dr Delilah Molotla | In the earliest days of the Shadowless Empire, they sometimes titled the Watchman ‘the Eye in the Egg,’ before the Church settled their doctrines. They called him that in Tasmania too, until the Europeans arrived.‘ | As ‘the Eye in the Egg,’ he was always tied to amber, whether being composed of, being formed within, or producing it; not that these were exclusive. It’s a particularly snarled area of study, so if you could help me untangle it just a bit, I’d be grateful.‘ | The Watchman was once described as a lens: a magnifier and divider of light; subservient to light; the road by which light passes. For now, he stands before the Glory; but another Light, it seems, intends to win him over to its service, and this amber is its first step. Good day, Librarian.‘ | Dr Molotla concluded another Light is employing the amber to win the Watchman over from his place before the Glory. |
| Dr Shams Mohammad | Amber: a stone of light and blood; of potential. A number of Hours make use of it, though very few of those uses are well-meaning.‘ | Something intends to acts at Hobart, and this amber is their way of preparing. If I understand what power is at work, I could understand what could come to pass; I could understand how it may be changed.‘ | It seems a power beyond the wave intends to make landfall. The technique is familiar to that of my mentor, though it is a mere shadow in comparison. Still, I must observe what occurs, for her sake. Thank you, Librarian.‘ | Dr Mohammad surmised ‘a power beyond the wave’ is using the amber to prepare for their arrival, finding similarities to the techniques of his mentor, the Chandler. He decided to observe what else may occur in Hobart, ‘for her sake.” |
Visitors: Rose
| Visitor | Start | Failure | Success | Acted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sra. Bartolina Mamani | Do you know of the Pilgrimage? Seven souls will ascend to the Glory, afforded passage by the Watchman. Its time has always been uncertain, but I believe its precursor has arrived…’ | Besides the Vagabond, the identities of the Pilgrims remain unknown, but travelers all enjoy exchanging rumors of who may join. I’m hoping to find some clues in the amber down in Hobart, and I’d like to brush up on how those signs may appear.‘ | I won’t find any answers there, but I’ll at least uncover a few questions. I already have ideas for who is vying to join the Pilgrimage - or rather, where they’re from. Only one place paves their roads with amber, and its not on this side of the wave, Librarian. Thank you.‘ | Bartolina traveled to Hobart in the hopes of finding clues about who may join the Watchman’s Pilgrimage. She believes one candidate will come from a place with amber-paved roads - suggesting they hail from the Land Beyond the Wave. |
| Libreng Ibon | What washes upon the shore always comes from somewhere, but rarely do we question from when it came.‘ | Something slumbers within the slab, of that I’m certain. What it is and why it appeared now - less so. I hope to resolve these ambiguities.' | 'Amber contains; amber brings gifts; amber does not destroy.’ I suspect that slab contains a Name of one cast down, one we call the Leak in Crossrow. Perhaps he sensed an opportunity to return - or perhaps the birds informed him of it. They know most things first, after all.‘ | Libreng Ibon determined the slab contained a Name of the cast-down Hour called ‘the Leak’ in Crossrow, believing it was sent in anticipation of his return. |
| Capt Tuponotanga | You know the story of the Twins; that they sailed across the sea from the West. There’s a little-known tradition which says they came aboard a ship of amber from the Land Beyond the Wave. I fear this slab is another vessel.‘ | The place from which they fled, it continues to send out emmisaries searching for the two. Wherever they walk, the world changes. Catastrophically. I must send this slab and its passenger back before disaster crashes over Hobart.‘ | The Sister withdraws to Nowhere on occassion, where her pursuers cannot touch her. Of course, this sometimes mean a Nowhere-Hour takes her place above. But you can always trust a monster to be a monster, in the end. Thanks, Librarian.‘ | Fearing the slab came from the Land Beyond the Wave, Tuponotanga set himself to send it back before its passenger could emerge. |
Faculty Consultations
| Faculty | Start | Finish | Effect |
|---|---|---|---|
| I Who Did-Still-Will Continue | Amber… the blood of the First History… its flesh… its shell… | It is the youngest, yet the first… it is the first, but not the eldest… closest to Glory, the blood named Uzult… closest to the Chandler, if she be she… | Lesson: Inks of Revelation |
| Charles Lacombe | The Land Beyond the Wave; called it Ys back home - my first home? It always burned on the horizon. Or glimmered? Bright nonetheless. | Ys is a fire (a wetter fire) in many ways: beautiful, promising, all-consuming. I can never go there - neither me nor the Dottore - but as much as we’re its opposite, we can appreciate its fruits from afar. And I’d hope the same from the Ysiens. | Lesson: Pyroglyphics |
| Isidoro Dahlmann | There are ways in the Mansus the Watchman knows but does not walk… or rather, only walks once. | Many adepts view the Watchman as synonymous with the Glory, though not without reason. Certainly, he remains close, holds its Light, but if the Glory was all he sought, why did he deign to return? Why does he not ascend once more? I spent my years searching for the answer, and it seems I shall spend more yet. | Lesson: Watchman’s Paradoxes |
| La Magdalena | The cat listens as I recount to her the tales of amber and storms (or perhaps I imagine she does). When I finish, she trails along the walls before looking back at me to follow. | I walk behind her round and round the room, until the floor sways and the walls waver. My vision blurs, blood pounds against my ear - and I see corals of canal, flowing with light; hear laughter spill in from mouth and mandible. Along the quays are their owners, with masks of elfin flame and blood; they beckon to me. Then the cat mewls, and the visions run like wax; I am here, I am now. | Lesson: Transcendance & Ascendance |
| Socorro Valenzuela | What falls may yet rise, and what rises may yet fall. Easy to forget upon the earth, remembered best at twilight; but utterly irrelevant to the Land Beyond the Wave. | You are aware that all of us leave trails in our wake, each unique and individual. That is the blessing of Time and History - or curse, depending on your persepective. Those Beyond the Wave see these trails as treasures more than anything, very precious ones; and they are not especially eager to let their treasures escape. Be wary around them - or better yet, never be around them. | Lesson: Path & Pilgrim |