Episode description[edit | edit source]
Collector-Curator,
It took two months, but I’ve finally convinced Tel and Havelton to see things my way.
For weeks, the old man spent the day attending to his dandelions, and dismissing me whenever I ran new apparitive patterns by him. He’d shake his head, cough out a grumble, and rattle on about some absurd, missing component: A “tower of tomorrow’s light.” The “speaking sands of Rosemerrow.” A new archive of “broken, whole mirrors.” A “stolen fiddle in its home.”
But I did it. He asked me for a lukewarm sun, and I’ve given it to him. In their whispers, they still speak against our pursuit, but they can not deny my results any longer.
Havelton packs for travel now. The path is clear. The Original Pattern is within reach.
This week on Friends at the Table: Make The Spring Last Forever
Kurr,
I did not open the restriction on your so-called “apparitive patterns” that you could complain about the complexity of the semiotics you pursued. In future letters to me, do not waste time on such matters unless the pattern explicitly calls for it.
And Kurr? There are patterns that even an amateur can detect. When he sleeps, destroy the wind blossoms.
Collector-Curator Kall Fer
Contents[edit | edit source]
Plot[edit | edit source]
Ephrim finds himself caught between life and death, standing in Samothes' forge. Samothes offers him the choice of life and death, and Ephrim chooses life. In exchange, Samothes requests that he work to convert Fero to his creed, and also take back an object from Lem that belongs to Samothes. Ephrim asks Samothes why he has been chosen to have the powers he does, and Samothes simply says that it's not fate or destiny, he just saw Ephrim as a like soul. Samothes concludes by warning that Summer is coming, but that they can put it off by making Spring last forever. Then Ephrim wakes back up into reality.
The rest of the part is surprised by Ephrim's revival, but quickly turns their attention to Corsica Neue and the bandits. Three bandits surrender to Corsica but the rest flee. Corsica offers the living safe passage the New Archives, revealing to Lem's surprise that she and the Unstill live at the Archives. They also take some time to adjust (poorly) to the sudden brightness of the sun, which they haven't seen in weeks. The people of the village are upset at Faro for the whole he dug to get them out. Ephrim tries to calm tension and gives them gold and a horse to help them afford reconstruction.
The party travels with the Unstill towards the archives. Lem chats with Corsica and learns that she is recruiting all undead to her faction, as she believes her experience and toughness can help orient the regular villagers who don't adjust well to becoming undead. She also reveals she was once an Archivist, and that the Ordenan armor she wears is stolen. She thinks that the biggest problem facing the Archives is not the schism about illusion and pattern magic, but how the existence of undead threatens the prohibition at the Archives of categorizing people.
When they arrive at the towns around the Archives, they find that the towns have divided themselves between living and undead. Corsica and her people remain on the outskirts, while the party heads into the New Archives. Lem tells Devar he's going to find Morbash before Morbash finds him, which rattles Devar because Morbash is intimidating. Lem asks Devar to illusion the plant to that Morbash won't be angry, which rattles Devar even more. Devar leaves the party to visit his family but they make plans to meet up later.
Lem gets access to his old room, and the admin helps them sidestep a bureaucratic maze that would normally be required to register Ephrim and Fero as guests. When they get the room they find that it looks like it's been ransacked and turned over. They try to get some extra bedding but end up giving up the one bed they already had. As Lem straightens up the room, he realizes it wasn't actually looked through and was just tossed to send an intimidating message to Lem. Lem also learns about some echos of the recent schism, when Archivists debated what is real and not when it comes to invoking pattern magic. Ephrim goes to stay in the local church of Samothes, while Fero leaves to a cave in the mountains where he previously lived. Fero takes the time to contemplate his choices in the campaign so far.
The party meets back up a Lot 27 where they are set to meet up with Devar again to get an illusion placed on the plant. They notice the sun is not setting when it normally would have before it first disappeared. They enter the room and see instead of a room, waves crashing on a shore by a giant statue cut from the rocks.