%% date:: [[2024-03-10]] %% # [[002_20240310 The Golden Dome]] ## Session Summary > [!tldr] [[002_20240310 The Golden Dome]] > There was some suspicion among the circle, and we all went around talking about why we could be trusted (except Sadie, who's so quiet nobody suspects her). > > Celine went home, where she asked her assistant Giles to reach out to her man at the Red Hand, Cedric, but she didn't get much information. Giles said it's probably not a good idea to go to the criminal element too much. > > Sadie and Lily went together to Briarburn College. Sadie went to see her favourite professor from when she studied there, an Antiquities professor named Faith Credence. Faith is concerned at the sight of Sadie, who has lost a lot of weight and has become a lot more nervous since she was a student. Faith is worried about her, but IS able to help. She told Sadie the mythology and concepts around some of the images. Sadie admitted to Lily that she had an altercation with another student at the College in her last year there. > > Lily went to her ex-girlfriend Dr. Isabel Redcliffe, a linguistics professor at Briarbank College. Isabel wasn't happy to see her, but did give us a lot of useful information by deciphering all the instructions for the six images, including a caption that talked about a Dagger of Sorrow. But that came at a cost-- she's probably not someone Lily can go to again. After the tension of the encounter, Sadie went home. > > Leopold went to his contact, a boy selling papers named Finnegan who seemed to know "Mr Max" quite well. Finn might have used some magick to give him some information: a story about a scientist that had been able to transmute lead into gold. > > Edward then spoke to his contact, a Professor Hemslock that seemed to have met with Edward before. Edward revealed that they'd been meeting up since Edward's brother's death. The Professor said that it was about a series of rooms, each with its own challenge, that led up to the bird at the end. He said that there was something called "The Endless Descent" that might represent the stairs at the beginning. > > Everyone headed back to Brewed Englightening Teas and Coffees to meet back up with the information we learned. ^summary %% ## Video [Video](https://youtu.be/CUHTkrDGpjw) 00:00:00 Going to Briarbank College 00:06:16 Meeting Professor Faith Credence 00:19:58 Three statements and one of them is false 00:25:33 Don't throw your life away 00:27:28 Sadie's final year was rough 00:29:26 Dr. Isabel Redcliffe 00:35:17 I'm with someone 00:37:48 Real, unlike us 00:45:40 The captions of the images 00:51:39 Leave Sadie alone 00:53:18 Don't come back 00:55:00 Sadie goes home 00:57:26 Going to the Circle Park 01:00:15 Finnegan the paper boy 01:05:23 The urchin does magick 01:08:22 Professor Hemslock 01:13:48 Someone in the park is watching them 01:14:49 This is a quest 01:17:50 The Endless Descent 01:19:36 The Professor sees the OUP tail too 01:22:11 Leopold reads the alchemical story %% --- ## Recap ![[ttrpgs/Circle of Uncut Diamonds/001_20240303 The Box of Suffering#^summary]] --- ## Log Decided on a Circle ability: > [!NOTE] In This Together > > When you spend drive to help an ally on a roll, on a result of 3 or less, you both earn back 1 drive point of your choice. %% My three people: - Olive Sinclair, my estranged sister in the Pyre (Flint). I was thinking that she and I might have gone separate ways after she insisted that she could see the future, which I couldn't believe... until something she foresaw actually happened. - Dr. [[Isabel Redcliffe]], an ex girlfriend and rival who is a professor at Briarbank College. Linguistics - Lucien Leroux, a close friend on the Periphery and someone I'd trust with my life. %% There's a map. Gold dome with instructions around it. Celine - Shoulder-length dark wavy hair, always dresses in black, trousers and a long overcoat. Always wears gloves. - practical, smart, put together, a bit formal - beret with a half veil Leopold - 5'9" tweed suit with patches on the elbows - aggressive handlebar mustache - monocle on a little chain on a waistcoat pocket - silver-headed cane that is more of an affectation than something he uses to walk - pocket watch on a chain - revolver on a holster - demeanor is mildly offputting and staring through people and taking everything in at all times - looks at the different symbols and says "Oh... dammit" Sadie - tall, frail-looking woman with fiery red hair - well-dressed and stylish but not in a showy way - dark clothes, long silk gloves to fit into those on the third floor - Was hesitant when touching the object in the first place Edward - Is looking at the artifact for information for the professor. What do we do next? Detective Leopold Maxwell. [[Halen State University]]. (not the Ivy Leagues) - [[The Sidle]]. But I'm not from that. I am from [[Venderberg College]]. It's in Briar Green, where a lot of colleges are. Rival of Briarbank College, a perpetual second. Edward knows [[Professor Hemslock]] at Venderberg. (Vultures were their team) Council (?) Valterra. Her friends call her Celine. She's with the Primacy (government). Sketches of bridges and stairs Can't read the words yet, but it's a series of instructions once we're there. Leopold takes photos of the new map. We've never heard of a Golden Dome, but we know it's from [[Oldfaire]], which is the civilization that [[Newfaire]] was built on top of. Sketches: - Stairs - Ghosts - Bridge - Snake - Masks - Bird There are no papers from Oldfaire. There are no scrolls, books. Everything that was organic and perishable was destroyed in the flood. All that we have are the ruins and the inscriptions that were carved into the ruins. No one has a map of Oldfaire. The map seems to contain a set of instructions to do after we get to the Golden Dome, whatever that is. People would kill us for this. Edward thinks it's safer here than wityh the hands of the Red Hand. Edward has known Professor Hemslock since he was a boy. Why should we be trusted? - Edward says he has a lot of knowledge about artifacts from Oldfaire. - I say I've already helped Edward - Leopold thinks we should trust each other becuase we already all trusted [[Madam Lia Fidovich]]. If we didn't trust each other to begin with, then we were fools. - Celine: Willing to trust but not blindly. She's a patriot and she'll do what she can for the country. - Sadie: Celine wants to know if any of her contacts would have heard of the Golden Dome. - She has an assistant named [[Giles]] who lives with her at home. He's not home, but she writes her report and he comes home. - He's about 18. He's wearing a hoodie sort of thing. Cockney accent. There's something that sounds like a marble that goes onto the floor. - He just calls her "Miss" even though she's asked him to call her by her name. - Waiting for some shipment that's coming in from some other nation. - Celine asks him to go to a Red Hand contact she has ([[Cedric]]) and ask about the Golden Dome. Nothing specific. Anything we can find out would be appreciated. - He was able to talk to Cedric. He'd never heard of anything called The Golden Dome. It seems like asking about anything like that is dangerous, but Giles got away just in time. Maybe not do anyone from the criminal element for this. - She puts some lotion on her arm/hand. Healing salve, she called it. We're meeting at [[Brewed Enlightening Teas and Coffees]]. - Lily and Sadie are going to Briarbank College. Sher has a contact there, a professor. - Edward and Leopold are meeting at "The Spot", which is a big circular park in the centre. [[Faith Credence]], department of antiquities at Briarbank College. Briar Green is a verdant district. Academic, distinguished looking buildings. Briarbank is the hoity-toitiest college. Most prestigious. Antiquities building. Sadie studied here. - Faith is in her 50s. She's in her office, finishing up with a student. The student is excited about his first dig. - It's been a few years since Sadie was here. She looks very different. She's lost a lot of weight, and now is much more nervous. She was more conversational and outgoing as a student. - Weird hug/pat between the two of them. Faith seems surprised to see Sadie. - She's always been very attuned to Sadie. Wants to catch up with her. - Sadie's been graduated for four years, married for three (it was a whirlwind love affair). Cavendish manor is a well-known property in [[The Eaves]]. [[Thomas Cavendish|Thomas]] has been a donor to the antiquities department. - Mixed success: one piece of true knowledge or three where one of them is false? Leah chooses three. - Ghosts are all about connecting with the dead. Connecting with the beyond. Séances? - Masks (multiple faces): identity and hiding identities - Bird: It's a phoenix. Very powerful in mythology. - Sadie says this is from an archaeological expedition financed by her husband. Sadie promises her she won't take risks but she's totally lying and Faith knows it. "If this is something from Oldfaire, then you're already taking risks." - Lots of anguish and concern for Sadie from Faith. Sadie said her final year was rough. There was an altercation. There was another student... she's not happy being here. On the way to Isa's office. There's a male member of the faculty who sees me there who's totally oblivious. Takes a while to tear myself away from him. [[Isabel Redcliffe]] - It's been about 8 months since we saw each other. - She's very angry with me, but I use Sadie as a shield. - I convince her to look at the thing because it's something new and real... "unlike us", she says. - She has a way of always making it seem like something is her idea. She's always telling me what to do. - When she focuses on something, she puts her whole focus on that. For a while, that was me. That focus was like sunlight, but that has set. - She's doing it because I care about it. She does it for me. - It's an Oldfaire dialect. She puts together the words. Stairs Ghosts Bridge Snake Masks Bird “Sense the steps of death and avoid them as you walk down the stairs” Sketch of stairs “One alone must remember a beloved ghost of five to open this passage for all.” Sketch of ghosts “Use the Dagger of Sorrow before crossing this bridge, or it will crumble.” Sketch of a bridge “Pass through the hall of deadly snakes to continue.” Sketch of a snake “See the faces in the hall, and find the one that does not match, to continue.” Sketch of masks "Choose one to renew." Sketch of bird I've heard of [[The Dagger of Sorrow]]. "beloved ghost of five" may not be exactly right, she says. She's smug in a way that I hate. prying dynamic. She was very controlling. She wanted to know where I was and what I was doing. She thinks Sadie's my new girlfriend. We get the papers back but she says don't come back. She's interested in Sadie-- Sadie probably has a better chance of getting stuff from her than I do next time. Sadie goes home. Leopold - A boy that's hawking papers, like an urchin. Orange-gold hair. - Edward sees that the headlines he's saying are not the same ones that the others are saying. His name is [[Finnegan Moon]]. - ![[Pasted image 20240318141010.png]] - Leopold says he's interested in "back issues" relating to some of the photos. Finnegan calls him "Mr Max". - There's nothing direct for him today. Finnegan is Sensing him. Finnegan pulls out some older issues, a story on one of the back pages. It's about a scientist claiming to have found the alchemist formula: transmuting lead to gold. Leopold can read this at his leisure. Edward ([[Circle Park]]) - Professor Hemslock - They've met here before. It's common procedure. They sometimes get a coffee afterwards. They've been doing this since Edward lost his brother. - Edward says "It's Oldfaire". Hands him the photos. - Edward lies and says it's part of an auction sale. - Oldfaire iconography. This is a hero's quest. More a puzzle than a story. The steps that you take towards reaching a great reward or something along those lines. It's a set of chambers with challenges that should be overcome sequentially before reaching the bird or whatever at the end. - The map itself doesn't correlate with anything in Newfaire. The Professor says he should keep this information close to his chest. - There's something called "The Endless Descent" that is just a set of stairs that go down and down and down. Everyone who has tried to see what's at the bottom has died. - There's someone from [[The Periphery]] watching them. The Professor has clocked it too. The alchemical story - Anonymous sources - It's not a scientific article - There's a chance that you get it wrong. It's dangerous. You could reverse the process and turn existing gold and turn it back into lead. Edward and Leopold head back to [[Brewed Enlightening Teas and Coffees]].