- This time it was Ethan’s turn to meet another Lord of Gossamer and learn more about ‘how stuff works’. Hence this session included a lot of expository which sometimes just needs to happen. There is a bit of repetition at the start of Session 28 as we were very tired at the end of Session 27 so the detail started to become thinner – hence we expanded upon the end of Session 27.
Realm 0 - Shadow Earth 1986 (Brown Door)
Westgate and Eastgate
- With the primary repairs complete, Ethan returns from Clockworld to Northgate accompanied by the frail Jacob. Jacob asks Ethan to take him to Eastgate cottage and Ethan drives over in the Eidolon Car. It is early in the morning and they do not attract attention. Ethan has no idea how long he has been working in Clockworld – his body never gets hungry or tired there and his wristwatch does not function. He wonders how much time has passed.
- The Eastgate cottage is two miles to the east of Fiveways and is a mirror-opposite cottage of Westgate. Despite not being occupied, Eastgate is in immaculate condition as if brand new. There is no dirt or dust. Jacob is disappointed – none of the Wards are working and he remarks that it will take him a lot of work to reinstate them.
- They drive back via Fiveways and Ethan picks up the newspaper, some milk, bacon and eggs. It is 24th May 1986, two days after he left.
- Once returned to Westgate, Ethan cooks up bacon, eggs and toast (with the assistance of two cats) and makes a big pot of tea. Jacob eats heartily, as does Ethan. Jacob seems to be filling out and Ethan notes that he is using Eidolon to do it. Jacob also noted that Ethan had met the Xalyans (a reference to the cats and ravens) and Ethan acknowledged this.
- Ethan flicks through the paper and finds that people are flocking to York in the hope of a repeat Miracle. The Queen has made a public statement. Unfortunately Ethan also spots his face in one of the photographs (on page 3 of the paper) and notes that he is the only one who doesn’t look ‘well’ – he still looks gaunt and haggard. He keeps going through the paper and finds the Eidolon Car on page 7, photographed by an amateur photographer. The article even gives Ethan’s name as the builder of this ‘concept car’. (GM’s note – David definitely enjoyed this part. Ethan has Bad Stuff and there was plenty of fertile ground here)
- The meal takes some time, and Ethan chats with Jacob to learn more about what it means to be a Lord of Gossamer.
* Image by Nicolas Kole on DeviantArt
About Eidolon and the Body
- Jacob is using Eidolon to improve his digestive and recuperative systems in order to quickly absorb the food and repair his body, rebuilding muscle. He explains that the secret is to ‘go slow’ with Eidolon and use it gently to help with the regeneration process.
- Jacob explains that Eidolon moves something towards its ideal state. It doesn’t weaken things (unless you are crafty). (GM’s note – Ethan had read something of Eidolon from his time in Marindar, so this was not completely new to him, but it did advance his understanding.)
About Sorcery
- Jacob says that he doesn’t know much complex magic as he relies upon constructing artifices instead (GM’s note – a reference to Wrighting). However, he did explain the theory and give Ethan some ideas as to what was possible. Ethan asked whether he needed to attend some sort of school to learn magic and Jacob advised him that the opposite was true. Sorcery is a tool to manipulate reality, and Ethan needed to learn to channel the energies in the reality around him in order to make the ‘magic’ possible. Jacob asked if Ethan knew how to ‘teleport’ and Ethan was shocked by this as it didn’t fit with his mental model as to what a ‘Jedi’ could do. It gave him new ideas.
- Microspells and cantrips were also mentioned during the exchange. Ethan asks about Icons and Jacob offers to make him one of himself in the form of a pocket watch. Ethan also asks about if there is a way of maintaining an array of ‘spells’ and Jacob made some suggestions. (GM’s note – David surprised me at this point by deciding that we come up with our own House rules for Sorcery. We both know that the rules, inherited from Amber Diceless, are clunky. So he and I are going to come up with something better to use as in the interim until jdurall publishes his Sorcery alternatives.
About Clockworld
- Jacob tells Ethan that he, Elijah Crees and Lucien built Clockworld to stabilise the flow of time in the Earth reality after the Great War. Jacob is an engineer who has devoted himself to repairing worlds that were badly damaged as a result of the conflict, and he mostly works through the medium of clockwork. Lucien helped with the Doors and the cross-reality flow of energy, while Elijah and Jacob built the great machine that regulated the flow of energy.
- Clockworld is not a separate domain, but is a ‘pocket reality’ tethered to Shadow Earth (GM’s note - we refer to the Home Reality as Reality 0 in this game - this is an out of character numbering system and not what Ethan or Grant would say in character). Jacob says that the reason why the machine was built is because the Earth realm was damaged in the Great War. The Dwimmerlaik used Umbra which fractured time itself – the machine was needed to prevent the realm from disintegrating completely. He also mentions offhand that he helped repair the damage to Xalya.
About The Great War
- Jacob says that he fought during The Great War (which makes him >600 years old). He describes the Dwimmerlaik as a threat with an empire spanning across a significant part of the Grand Stair. However, he says that either the Grand Stair has a guiding will or awareness, or someone controls it. Jacob didn’t believe in such things (even though Lucien did) but he now believes it to be true. Jacob explains that the Stair calls people to it to become Lords of Gossamer, often because they are the right person at the right place at the right time. During the Great War, the Stair called many new Lords to defend it. Jacob doesn’t know more than 20 Lords of Gossamer, but during the Great War there were as many as 50.
- Before The Great War, the Lords of Gossamer had no unifying motivation. The Great War brought a common enemy and Vala united them to fight against this threat.
- The War ended because the Stair changed the rules, and reorganised itself, cutting many realms off and giving the Lords of Gossamer the advantage. Before the Great War, there were no dead ends on the Grand Stair (that he can remember). However, at the end of the War, the Stair had been significantly changed and reconfigured. Ethan suggests that the Lords had not necessarily won the War as the Stair had intervened. Jacob advises him not to speak in this way to other Lords of Gossamer. Jacob notes that Drake in particular would become irrationally angry if Ethan said this to him.
- Ethan asks if the Dwimmerlaik were completely destroyed (GM’s note – knowing full well from Session 8 that they are not) and Jacob shrugs. He says that he has not seen any since The Great War.
About Survival
- Ethan asks about how to survive as a Lord of Gossamer and Jacob advises him that he needs to get some suitable protection (eg: armour) and to rely upon the strengths granted to him by the Stair. Ethan was a bit concerned by this advice as it sounded to him like a recipe for complacency. The advice wasn’t particularly helpful from Ethan’s perspective.
Interlude
- Ethan offers Jacob the use of Grant’s room to sleep in. Jacob is spooked by this as he can sense the taint of Umbra, but Ethan reassures him.
- When Jacob is asleep, Ethan asks Socrates about Jacob but unfortunately he knows only of him. Socrates has never met the Lord before.
- Ethan calls Bartholomew Smith (the lawyers) and they advise him to lie low. They also make reference to him being the only person in the security footage that wasn’t change by The Miracle. Bartholomew confirms that the options trades were successful and that Ethan is now an extremely rich individual. Ethan directs Bartholomew to bank one third of the wealth in Grant’s name, and shift the funds into onshore and offshore accounts quietly. To Ethan’s surprise, Bartholomew is also aware of Ethan’s lottery win. Again, the lawyer pleads for him not to draw any further attention to himself and to lie low. Ethan mulls the situation over over a cup of tea. (GM’s note - Ethan does a lot of thinking over a cup of tea.)
- With Jacob still asleep, Ethan drives to the local hardware shop in his new less conspicuous car. He buys more tools and orders equipment for a home workshop, including those required to build/maintain a vehicle (ie: to provide a cover for his Eidolon Car). When finished, he realises that he is famished. He heads back to the Tipsy Elephant for a meal, and for the first time, uses Eidolon on himself to gently accelerate his recovery process. He feels much better as a result.
Realm 0b - Clockworld 1986 (Brown Door)
Repairing Clockworld
- As Jacob recovers, Ethan spends more time in Clockworld, becoming more familiar with its layout and construction. He surveys a number of the Doors which lead to other places on Earth, and to his surprise finds that some of them are closer to Doors that link to the Grand Stair. Earth itself is a nexus of Doors!
- Of the twelve Doors that lead from Clockworld to Earth, there is one which goes to Northgate; one to the Black Forest (Germany), one in Canada, one in South America, one in Central Africa, one in Russia, one in the icy wastes of Antarctica, one in Japan, one in China, one in Greenland and one somewhere in the tropics. (GM’s note - David (Lurker37) hasn’t given me more information on these locations yet)
- Then one day Ethan concentrates on the tokens that he has of Lucien, and decides to use Wayfinding to locate him from within Clockworld. In doing this, Ethan finds a 13th Door made entirely of fine gears and cogs which needs no key. Ethan attempts it.
Grand Stairway Section 10 - The Clockwork Stair
- Ethan finds himself in a new section of the Stair that he has not seen before, filled with clockwork mechanisms, valves, copper piping and gaslights. Hidden machinery clicks and hums, and the metal decking gently shudders beneath him as he walks.
- Taking the tokens out once more, Ethan feels that Lucien is much closer now. He has made a major step in the right direction. Wayfinding guides him to a new door, again made completely of clockwork pieces.
Realm 29 - Nexopolis (Copper/Gold Clockwork Door)
- Opening the Door, Ethan finds himself in Nexopolis, a city made of clockwork. There is even a sign welcoming him, as if the natives are used to receiving arrivals from the Stair. Ethan can sense many many Doors in this place, and he can sense other Lords of Gossamer, both close and far.
And this is where we ended the session.
I’ll leave you with the blurb on Nexopolis, straight from Update #37 from the Kickstarter. This is where David got the idea from (which I don’t think I’d even read properly).
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