(Funny, I’m listening to Alan Silvestri’s “Back to the Future” soundtrack as I type this up….. It still rocks after all this time)
Realm 0 - Shadow Earth 1986 (Brown Door)
21st May 1986 7am GMT - The Eidolon Car, Part 2
- Ethan wakes and instinctively checks his watch to find that less than 4 hours have passed. There is no sound from the Servant so he goes to find what has happened. Ginger, one of the cats who is keeping a lookout, tells him that the Servant left some time ago. Ginger does not know where the Servant is gone but is sure that it is no longer nearby.
- Ethan inspects what is left of his 1982 Ford Escort. It looks like the Servant reversed time on it, restoring it to its prime before smashing it into teeny-tiny pieces. The wreckage of the car is strewn all over the gravel driveway.
- Ethan focusses and uses his ‘Jedi’ powers (GM’s note - which are in fact Eidolon powers) to work out how easily he can restore the car. He believes he can do it - most of the fluids are in the area (oil, brake) but he would need to extract them from the earth. However, there is likely to be too little petrol to get the car running. Ethan makes a trip to the garage and brings back a fuel can for the lawnmower which has a small quantity of unleaded fuel, then begins.
- This time, Ethan has no interest in making the vehicle look like a 1982 Ford Escort. He unleashes pure Eidolon to rebuild the car, and ends up with ….
- It looks nothing like the Ford Escort. Only the numberplate is left. Even the Ford emblem itself is gone. Ethan’s confidence with Eidolon has grown enormously, and he thinks very little about the consequences of what he has just made. Instead, he is already thinking of the additional tools and workshop that he will need to improve his lightsaber in order to construct weapons and defences should he encounter a Servant again. He is also thinking of what portable tools he may need to fix the Clock Tower if he is able to somehow gain access to it.
21st May 1986 8:15am GMT - Too Much Attention
- Ignoring breakfast, Ethan heads to the local hardware store which is only a few miles away. It’s only when he drives into the parking lot when he realises how conspicuous the Eidolon Car is. He goes inside and buys a variety of precision hand tools, nails, screws etc. When he returns to the parking lot, the Eidolon Car has drawn a crowd. No one has seen anything like it before, and everyone looks shocked when nineteen-year old Ethan admits to being the driver. Some ask him where he got the car from, and Ethan confesses that he made the car, to the incredulity of the people around him. The people seem even more surprised when they see that he is buying tools which he says are to fix the engine, but those his own age cheer him on and congratulate him for building it. Ethan drives away, a bit shaken and wondering if anyone recognised him.
- Ethan then makes a second stop and stops in the town of Fiveways to buy milk, bread and every newspaper that he can. His Miracle is on the front page of every newspaper - even Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, US President Ronald Reagan and Pope John Paul II are making public statements about what has happened in York. There has not yet been any public statement from Her Majesty, the Queen of England, but Ethan realises that it is only a matter of time before she too makes public comment. What he has done in York has garnered worldwide attention. Ethan returns swiftly to Westgate to read in detail what has happened since he was in York.
- Shortly after his arrival back at Westgate cottage, the phone rings. It is Bartholomew Smith, one of the lawyers that Ethan visited in York. He asks quietly whether Ethan had anything to do with the events of the previous 24 hours, and Ethan clams up. Bartholomew asks if Ethan would like him to do what he can to hide that Ethan was in York yesterday and Ethan agrees. The lawyer calmly says that this sort of thing has happened before, but advises that it would be helpful if he could be notified in advance. Bartholomew says that it will be hard to cover up what has become global news, but he will do what he can. He advises Ethan to keep a low profile and let it blow over.
- Ethan’s immediate thought is that the Eidolon car draws too much attention. He considers leaving and heading out onto the Grand Stair again, but decides to spend another day in the cottage and head back to Northgate that evening.
- Ethan spends the rest of the day indoors. He fixes his Walkman (adjusting it using Eidolon so that the Marindan and Earth technology will work together to produce a functioning sound system) and listens to the tapes that he bought in York. He prepares a tool-box with the newly purchased tools, and sleeps much of the afternoon.
21st May 1986 6pm GMT - A Quiet Night
- In the evening, Ethan walks into town, visits the Tipsy Elephant and quietly purchases the evening edition of every major newspaper. He has a bite to eat over a pint, and reads page after page about the ‘Modern Miracle’ that he has performed. Then he heads back to Westgate to rest.
22nd May 1986 1am GMT - Return to Northgate
- Ethan makes final preparations at Westgate cottage and then drives to Northgate in the Eidolon Car under the cover of darkness and then hides the vehicle under a tarpaulin that he has brought with him. Again he enters Northgate, but this time he can open the Door behind the tapestry with Harold Crees’ Silver Key, and he steps through to the world beyond.
Realm 0b - Clockworld 1986 (Brown Door)
Time Uncertain - The Heart of Clockworld
- On the other side of the Door is a world of interconnecting gears, cogs, chains, pendulums and counterweights. Some are golden, other seem to be made of transparent, even translucent crystal. The noise is deafening as the machinery shudders and clashes with itself. He looks at his watch and finds that it has stopped working. In this place, the second hand attempts to move, but cannot. There is no wind - the air is still, but cool. The machine around him is colossal - such that he cannot tell where it ends.
* Image by Shortgreenpigg on DeviantART
- The catwalk in front of Ethan is smashed, as if torn apart by some huge pendulum. Ethan takes a few moments to ‘feel the Force’ (GM’s note - using Eidolon) and then lifts off the gantry using Sorcery and flies to the other side. He uses Wayfinding to search for the Heart of the mechanism, but it is very difficult as many passages are blocked, choked with gears and mechanisms that should not be there. He finds some gears are themselves static and meant to be used to access other levels, but in other places the entire section of mechanism is in motion. Ethan is blocked many times, but each time he uses Eidolon to ‘fix’ the mechanism, slowly putting the gears and cogs back where they should be and allowing him to pass. He loses track of time. It feels like hours have passed but he doesn’t really know.
- At last he makes his way to a crystalline stairway which leads to the Heart of the mechanism. At the top of the stairs is a room of crystal where the discordant noise of the surrounding mechanism does not reach, and light is channelled into the room from many places through translucent gears that act as focusing lenses. In the centre is a great golden egg, like a giant Faberge egg. It is sealed, but is clearly designed to open like petals of a flower. The mechanism has failed and it cannot open without intervention. Ethan can sense a mind inside, but it is weak. He can tell that the chamber itself is channelling Eidolon to the interior.
- Ethan puts his hand on the egg and says that he is here to repair it. There is no answer, so Ethan starts tracing the fault. He finds it quickly, and manually overrides the locking mechanism. Inside there is a thin, frail figure who is little more than skin and bones sitting in a control chair. His eyes are open but he has no strength to move.
Time Uncertain - A Lord of Gossamer
- Ethan senses that this man inside is a Lord of Gossamer. (GM’s note - we already established as a ‘house rule’ in the game that a Lord of Gossamer can sense another back in Session 16) Ethan offers him food and water, and the man accepts a little. He can barely speak, but Ethan pieces together that he has been here a long time. Over one hundred and fifty years. It is only Eidolon that has sustained his body for this long. He has been trapped in the mechanism, and been attempting to keep the realm from drifting into the Earth reality. The machine around him is sustaining the time rate in Ethan’s Home Realm of Earth, which does not naturally flow at a consistent time rate, but the machine is breaking down. It is effectively a time controlling machine.
- Ethan offers his assistance to repair the machine, and Jacob, the Lord of Gossamer indicates a red lever that he should pull. Ethan pulls the red lever and a small clockwork bird (named “Gearwings”) pops out and starts ‘speaking’ to Ethan using noises that sound like a wind chime.
* Image by Dreamspirit on DeviantART
- Gearwings leads Ethan through the mechanism to another chamber to begin work.
Time Uncertain - Repairs to Clockworld
- In the new chamber, Gearwings plugs itself into a pair of bellows to enable it to speak. The clockwork bird explains that many parts are broken, others have been dislodged and stuck in the mechanism itself. Ethan uses ‘Jedi flight’ to lower himself into the symphony of moving gears, following Gearwing as it guides him to each of the problem areas. Ethan uses some of his own tools, and some tools from the Clockwork world in order to remove six cogs that have been dislodged and caught in the mechanism, preventing it from operating. Some of the cogs are beyond repair and need replacement. Others simply need to be repositioned.
- Ethan asks Gearwings why they need to perform such manual maintenance, and Gearwings plugs itself into the mechanism to answer. It tells him that the Servants would normally assist, but they are malfunctioning. The two of them then work to recall the Servants and return them to their ‘tubes’ in a dormant state until they can be made ready to assist with the repairs.
- When these initial repairs are complete, Gearwings takes Ethan to another chamber, this one with a inverted chandelier inverted similar to the one that Grant and Ethan encountered in Xalya [i[(GM’s note - way back in Session 4!!)[/i]. Gearwings plugs itself into another talking machine and explains that there are memory drums that have been dislodged and as such much of the information as to how to repair the mechanism is out of sequence and scrambled. Gearwings asks for Howard Crees’ Diary, which surprises Ethan. Ethan feigns ignorance, but offers to find it for the machine. He asks why the journal is important, and Gearwings politely explains that Jacob and Howard were two of the creators of the Time Machine. Ethan remembers the statues in Xalya of three Lords of Gossamer and realises that he is helping to repair one of their constructs. Ethan agrees to help, but Gearwings is a little frustrated by his initial reluctance. Gearwings explains that while the machine is unstable, the time rate on Shadow Earth is also unstable, and in time, Ethan’s Home Realm will likely be destroyed by the Time Machine. It occurs to Ethan that Gearwings is ‘alive’, a true clockwork life form.
- Ethan then returns to the Northgate Door and steps across the threshold back into his Home Realm.
Realm 0 - Shadow Earth 1986 (Brown Door)
18th May 1986 3am GMT - Where am I?
- Ethan arrives back in Northgate and his watch starts ticking again, showing 3:07am - which is incidentally the same time as every other clock in the place which has stopped. Ethan heads outside but the Eidolon Car is missing, along with the tarpaulin and any trace that the car was ever here. Gloomily, Ethan starts walking to the nearest bus stop, conscious that it will be hours before any bus starts running.
18th May 1986 9am GMT - When am I?
- It is nearly 9am when Ethan arrives back at Fiveways and goes to buy the local paper. To his utter shock, the date on the newspaper is 18th May 1986, the day before he is due to arrive back in Westgate. He stares at the Clock Tower in disbelief and wonders if it is possible to recover Howard Crees’ Diary from Westgate without creating a paradox.
- He sits down for a cup of tea to think it over, and quickly comes up with a plan. He then marches over to Westgate.
18th May 1986 10:15am GMT - Avoiding a Paradox
- To the complete surprise of the cats and ravens of Westgate, Ethan opens the front door and heads upstairs to the attic to recover Howard Crees’ journal. The cats and ravens hurriedly scramble to clean up the place but Ethan tells them not to bother. Socrates tells Ethan that the Clock Tower appeared in the town overnight, shortly after 3am. Ethan tells them very little, but as he is leaving he directs them to ‘forget that they had seen him, and to act surprised when they next see him’.
- The cats and ravens give a glazed look, and Ethan realises that without thinking he has used a ‘Jedi mind trick’ on them. (GM’s note - they have very low Psyche and are easily mind-blanked by Ethan). He shuts the door and heads back into town.
18th May 1986 11am GMT - Taking Advantage of the Situation
- As Ethan arrives back in town, the penny drops for him that he has the advantage of foresight and newspapers for three days in the future. Using coins, he rings Bartholomew Smith in York and tells him that he will visit York in three days, deposit some gold and then go and do something very stupid which will attract global attention. Ethan directs the lawyers to cover him his involvement, but also to ring him at approximately 9:30am on 21st May to ask if he has had any involvement and whether they should take steps to intervene. He asks them to make sure that they remind him to notify them in advance wherever possible (thus avoiding a paradox). Bartholomew takes this all in, and asks if there is anything else that he requires.
- Ethan’s mind is suddenly ablaze with ideas, and he says that he will call the Bartholomew back. He goes to the pub, sits down with a pint and scours the financial papers for those shares and options which will be most impacted by his Miracle. He asks George (the proprietor) for a calculator and does some sums. Then he rechecks them. When he is sure of what he wants, he calls Bartholomew back to direct him as to which options to buy/sell with the money that he will deposit in three days. He tells the lawyer that he’ll be vague about what to invest the money in on 21st May, but tells him exactly how much he will hand over and act immediately once Ethan has departed on 21st. The lawyer calmly listens to the instructions and asks if there is anything else that he can do for Ethan. Ethan takes a deep breath and asks Bartholomew to buy him an ordinary car and have it delivered on 22nd May to the Westgate cottage.
- Ethan finishes off his pint, and thinks hard. Really hard. Trying to think how else he can use this information. He comes up with a few more ideas, and as he is leaving the pub, he heads to the local corner shop and buys a lottery ticket with the winning numbers for the 20th May draw. It is only one quarter of the First Division prize but it is still a huge amount of money for Ethan (he assumes that his meddling will not change the result)
- Ethan catches the bus back to Northgate and re-enters the Door behind the tapestry.
Realm 0b - Clockworld 1986 (Brown Door)
Time Uncertain - Repairing Clockworld
- Ethan is met by Gearwings at the Door, and is led back to the the chamber with the inverted chandelier. There he hands over the Diary of Harold Crees which is whisked away into the library chute and a fan starts up. Then there is the flipping of pages and then the journal is spat out for his collection.
- Gearwings plugs itself into the bellows and tells him that the calibration has been successful and that the memory corruption has been identified. Ethan agrees to get start immediately and the two work as a team to locate and recover the memory drums, reinstalling them into the correct positions. They then work on a number of the misaligned, damaged and missing gears, repairing what they can, and replacing what they cannot.
Realm 0 - Shadow Earth 1986 (Brown Door)
Time uncertain - In the Black Forest
- When spare parts are needed and not available, Gearwings takes Ethan to another Door which leads them to a forested location that Ethan feels is also Earth, but somewhere else on Earth. In this location is a castle which has a storeroom full of replacement parts - crystalline and metallic. Some of the cogs are huge - weighing hundreds of kilograms - but Ethan is able to move them.
Realm 0b - Clockworld 1986 (Brown Door)
Time Uncertain - Repairing Clockworld
- Over the next few days (weeks?), Ethan explores more of the Clockworld, and gains more of an understanding as to the size and operations of the mechanism. The construct is vast, many kilometres across, and contains many Doors which lead to other places on Earth. There are twelve Doors in all, all guarded and all requiring a special Key to use. The noise in the mechanism is lessening as Ethan continues to make repairs under the guidance of Gearwings, but there is still much work to do.
- Jacob’s health continues to improve. He tells Ethan that he and two others (Ethan assumes Harold Crees was one of the others) built the machine in order to regulate the time flow for Earth. He also tells Ethan that his home is Eastgate Cottage, and Ethan offers to take him back there.
The session ends with Ethan escorting Jacob back to Eastgate Cottage, which is a near mirror copy of Westgate, but situated to the west of the town of Fiveways. Clearly Ethan needs to talk further with Jacob, and there is further repair work that Ethan needs to perform on the Clockworld before he heads off once more in his search for Lucien.
PS: I need a picture of Jacob to add. David hasn’t decided upon one yet.
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