Session Notes for 2005-04-08

Jack feels pulled back toward the pool and heads that way.

Sen sees the hedgehog dig out of the cobblestone street. Once it has his attention, it leads him south.

Anna, Mad dog, and I head deeper into the alley we're hiding in. To our left, the south, is a large, two-story building. To the right are some other buildings.

Deeper into the alley we come upon the ethereal, winged woman. She asks if we're ready, if we've prepared. Prepared for what? She fades away saying, "Move with caution, you still have time."

One of the police Sen-people enters the alley from behind. Mad dog and Anna try to hide. I prepare to fight. It turns out it's Sen. He warns us that more cops are coming. We hide, but they don't approach.

Jack watches the pool. It seems malevolent to him. Part bubbles and he feels briefly threatened, but it passes. He continues to watch. The water nearby starts to swirl. Jack again fends off some sort of mental attack. Finally, a dark cloaked figure rises from the pool. The figure shrieks, deafening and injuring Jack. Jack tries to blast it, but he power fizzles. The figure sinks back into the pool. Jack notices the hedgehog behind him. It leads him south.

Sen heads out to the street. North are a store with a sheep on it, a Bistro labelled "Angel Hair Bistro", and a shop labelled "Sweet Meets." A doored stairwell has a sign reading "Madame Corelina: Potions for All Needs."

The large brick building to the south has a number of windows and an entryway in the middle. It looks like a tavern and inn. The first floor windows are barred.

Sen heads around to inspect the alcove entrance. In the alcove are two barred off, well tended gardens. To either side of the door are a torch and a large bell. Perhaps this is the Flaming Bell.

Jack heads to the church. He enters the yard and approaches the main entrance. The wall is covered with imagry of angels, but the button with images of crushed devils.

We head southeast past the tavern. We cross a bridge. To the left of the bridge is a wooden shack. It looks like a boathouse. There is a light inside. Peering in a window, it's full of racks of small paddle boats. A stove in the middle provides the light. A figure moves around. It's a gnome smoking a pipe. Whatever.

We move on, passing a fountain. A column shoots water ten feet up.

Crossing a second bridge, we arrive in a run down neighborhood. The buildings are multi-story tenaments.

There is a loud crash from an alley ahead. There is a jackel headed fellow picking himself up off some garbage. Several more lurk in the darkness. They fling daggers at us, but miss. We charge, but they run away. Anna happily claims the throwing daggers.

5 thugs

Jack heads back to the clock tower. He convinces the caretaker to speak to him. They briefly chat about the symbol from the floor. The caretaker suggests that the symbol might have been drawn by a member of a rival temple.

We approach the temple and consider heading in. As we dither, a spot the hedgehog near the pool. We follow it counter-clockwise around the pool. It leads us to the clocktower where Jack is waiting. It sinks into the ground.

We head up to the clocktower. Mad dog knocks and the scribe opens the door. We tell him more of our story. When he realizes we aren't police, he tries to run, but I catch him. He agrees to try and help.

He recognizes the woman of the lake from the stories. He guesses the ghostly woman is Beaulna, the angel of the mist. There is apparently a third: Naubeal. Naubeal often appears in animal form. They are all elemental spirits. The scribe knows nothing of Glitterstore. He mentions that the roof may be a nexus of air.

We head up to the roof, I drag the scribe along. Anna says the bag of tiles is vibrating. Four in total are vibrating. (Previously 5-6 burnt up.) The symbols are 2-3, 3-1, 7-8, and 8-9. The scribe says the top three sephiroth have to do with the mind.

Mad dog takes the 3-1 tile and walks around the roof. It catches fire and disappears. The other tiles stop vibrating. Suddenly we understand faintly what is going on. There are three tiles moving around the board. The tiles must stay within their triangles (10 is unaccessable). The tiles must all be connected. We have only four moves, one for each element. We've made two moves, earth and air. Each state has it's own effects.

The first state had loss of memory, irrational fears, trapped nearby the pool, and our perceptions are altered.

Moving to node 1 explained the puzzle.

Moving to 2 will restore our memory.

Moving to 4 will cool Abunea's anger.

Moving to 6 (our first move) cancelled the irrational fears and and reduced our delusions.

Moving to 7 increases our power against Albunea and her minions.

Moving to 9 will restore our view of reality and reduces the power of Albunea and her minions against us.

We could break the enchantment if we move all three tiles to the right side, but we no longer have enough moves.

This move heals us, and I feel slightly less drunk.

The wind dies down and the tower doesn't seem as tall.

20 puzzle move