The Hourglass Association

Fallen London
41

[quote=Appolonia]She turns to the sensible sounding woman with the cane.

&quotSomeone found a recording? Of a woman? Singing or speaking?&quot

&quotAnd the sound of it made you temporarily deaf or otherwise hurt the ears?&quot

&quotI am something of a scholar of music and poetry and dream, if that is any help.&quot

&quotYou are surely right that caution is warranted.&quot

&quotDid the sound provoke any effect other than discomfort and loss of hearing?&quot[/quote]

The Relaxed Individual decides to fill her in, retelling the recording in short and, thankfully, without ear-melting sounds.
&quotSome of us had blood flow out of their ears for a bit, but that may have just been D____'s rubbery associate’s screaming.&quot

42

She smiles at Vavakx. &quotThanks.&quot

&quotThat is curious. I am not sure if this is helpful, but it is Dante, yes, but Paradiso. Not Inferno.&quot

&quotThe Terrace for Lust, filled with poets.&quot

&quotThe first line is not Italian. The speaker, Arnault, is one of the few in the poem who speak in their own language. Occitan, I think? The second line is Italian, the return of narration after the quote ends.&quot

&quotArnaut Daniel. One of Dante’s favorite poets. A troubadour.&quot

&quotThe longer context is something like:
‘I am Arnaut, who weeps and sings. I acknowledge the folly of my past, and now, joyfully, anticipate the day that awaits me. I pray, by the power that guides you to the top of the staircase, remember my pain at the time relevant.’ Then he dives or hides back in the refining fire.&quot

&quotThe last bit is what she said: ‘Remember my pain at the time relevant’. And then the line about returning to the purifying fire.&quot

&quotSo, people in purgatory. One with hope of ascension. One who warns a traveler - remember the pain I had here (the punishment for lust) while I had to be refined in the fire, before becoming ready for paradise.&quot

&quotPerhaps something to do with the dreams of fire here?&quot

43

&quotAha!&quot comes a voice from the ceiling. &quotThanks for clearing that up, darling!&quot

A candle suddenly flames somewhere up in the darkness. The candle is held by a woman. The woman is reclining in a hammock slung between two rafters.

Everybody is looking up at her, quite nonplussed. She smiles, quite dazzlingly. &quotWait, I’ll come down. You’ll cramp your necks looking up like that much longer.&quot In a swift, fluid motion, she unties one end of the hammock and glides down the piece of cloth to land elegantly between the two &quotreserved&quot seats in the middle of the room, blowing out her candle and taking a short but elegant bow.

She is wearing a practical, completely unremarkable, everyday walking-dress of indifferent colour. On her head, however, perches a ridiculously elaborate hairdo that seems to defy the laws of physics - it probably wouldn’t last on the surface, but down here, those laws are less strict…

She puts her dazzling smile on her discombobulated audience. &quotThank you, Miss von Ravenscroft. Paradiso, eh? Wouldn’t’ve thought of that! Only ever read the Inferno part. Personal interest, you know.&quot

&quotKoldun, my dear. I suggest next time you want to set up a discreet meeting of your not-so-secret society, you choose a venue with a few holes less in the roof.&quot

&quotVavakx, good to see you still pursuing mysteries every which where. Say, would you mind running after that stupid captain who left earlier? He’s gonna get himself killed. Not that I mind, but he’s gonna get his crew killed, too, and I hate to waste good zailor stock like that.&quot

&quotAmelia, I’m so surprised to see you here! And sober, too! You’re not suddenly turning all austere and respectable on us, are you?&quot

&quotDirae, Professor van Allen&quot, she nods respectfully to the two academics. &quotHonoured to meet you two. I’ve read all your papers. Even might’ve understood a few of them.&quot She completely ignores the Silesian detective.

&quotWell, this recording suggests the presence of some sort of religious zealots in the Northern Unterzee; near Codex, more precisely. That’s where St Francis-Look-Out is, you know? Most of the time, anyway.&quot

&quotWhich is a spot of bother for me. I rather like Codex. Lovely people there, you know? Never interrupt you when you talk to them. And I plan to hold a discreet meeting of my own not-so-secret society there by the end of the year. I really wouldn’t want to have half the invitees fall victim to some stupid fanatics on their way there. So, does anybody know which particular sect we’re dealing with here? Have those lunatics from the Chapel of Lights become even more hungry? Or is this a completey new brand of madness?&quot

44

[quote=phryne]&quotAha!&quot comes a voice from the ceiling. &quotThanks for clearing that up, darling!&quot

A candle suddenly flames somewhere up in the darkness. The candle is held by a woman. The woman is reclining in a hammock slung between two rafters.

Everybody is looking up at her, quite nonplussed. She smiles, quite dazzlingly. &quotWait, I’ll come down. You’ll cramp your necks looking up like that much longer.&quot In a swift, fluid motion, she unties one end of the hammock and glides down the piece of cloth to land elegantly between the two &quotreserved&quot seats in the middle of the room, blowing out her candle and taking a short but elegant bow.

She is wearing a practical, completely unremarkable, everyday walking-dress of indifferent colour. On her head, however, perches a ridiculously elaborate hairdo that seems to defy the laws of physics - it probably wouldn’t last on the surface, but down here, those laws are less strict…

She puts her dazzling smile on her discombobulated audience. &quotThank you, Miss von Ravenscroft. Paradiso, eh? Wouldn’t’ve thought of that! Only ever read the Inferno part. Personal interest, you know.&quot

&quotKoldun, my dear. I suggest next time you want to set up a discreet meeting of your not-so-secret society, you choose a venue with a few holes less in the roof.&quot

&quotVavakx, good to see you still pursuing mysteries every which where. Say, would you mind running after that stupid captain who left earlier? He’s gonna get himself killed. Not that I mind, but he’s gonna get his crew killed, too, and I hate to waste good zailor stock like that.&quot

&quotAmelia, I’m so surprised to see you here! And sober, too! You’re not suddenly turning all austere and respectable on us, are you?&quot

&quotDirae, Professor van Allen&quot, she nods respectfully to the two academics. &quotHonoured to meet you two. I’ve read all your papers. Even might’ve understood a few of them.&quot She completely ignores the Silesian detective.

&quotWell, this recording suggests the presence of some sort of religious zealots in the Northern Unterzee; near Codex, more precisely. That’s where St Francis-Look-Out is, you know? Most of the time, anyway.&quot

&quotWhich is a spot of bother for me. I rather like Codex. Lovely people there, you know? Never interrupt you when you talk to them. And I plan to hold a discreet meeting of my own not-so-secret society there by the end of the year. I really wouldn’t want to have half the invitees fall victim to some stupid fanatics on their way there. So, does anybody know which particular sect we’re dealing with here? Have those lunatics from the Chapel of Lights become even more hungry? Or is this a completey new brand of madness?&quot[/quote]

[li]
&quotMadness? Sounds correct for me. A catastrophe at sea. Dante, whom I appear to be the only person not to know… some italian for sure. Insane Sektenmitglieder who attack a ship, close to h— knows where… case closed. Deaths in the sunless sea every time on every voyage. No reason to care then. It was those insane as it appears… but that answer could be too simple. There may have been more complicated things. It was north, right? Even I, who was only at sea when I took the ferry to Dover, knows you should NEVER go north in the Neath… the question is… why? What happens in the North? And, am I understanding right, that… chapel of lights are canibals? Was it them who attacked the ship? Did they eat the crew? What was the captain doing there? Apparently very far north. Stupidity? Madness?&quot

45

Ah, good, you are an inquisitive mind, Rusiek. Yes, the chapel of lights are cannibals, the north is a very strange place, and I’m sure given the opportunity I would take the same journey. As for stopping the Captain, my raven Brooks has been sent ahead to try and talk him out of it. Hopefully he’ll decide otherwise. When we do have enough information to set out to the North, I hope we can all do it together, we can use my ship. Personally, I suspect Frost found. All of those secrets found in the spires could drive a man mad, even to the point of quoting Paradiso. When my raven is done talking to the Captain, I will have him fly down to the Brass Embassy, and hopefully acquire some much needed information on the ship.
edited by Koldun on 5/25/2016

46

[quote=phryne]
&quotVavakx, good to see you still pursuing mysteries every which where. Say, would you mind running after that stupid captain who left earlier? He’s gonna get himself killed. Not that I mind, but he’s gonna get his crew killed, too, and I hate to waste good zailor stock like that.&quot[/quote]

&quotI’ll send someone to inform him. Wouldn’t want to miss whatever goes down here.&quot The Game-Carver says as they stroll outside to a hansom cab piloted by a burly old gentleman. A cab that, you are sure, stood there long before the Game-Carver was part of this small association.
After ten seconds, both parties leave the meeting grounds, with the member of the new society returning to the circle and the hansom cab thudding out it’s way on the cobblestone road.
In returning to the meeting, the Game-Carver comments on Koldun’s decision.
&quotForgive me if I seem to not pay attention, so you feel the need to oversee my own missions like this, but please stop doing so on such short notice. I’ll try to be more active from now on, so this would not repeat.&quot
edited by Vavakx Nonexus on 5/25/2016

47

Of course. I myself apologize. I trust you to take matters into your own hands. Now, what of my idea that it was the work of sirens that doomed that crew?

48

&quotAdmittedly, I do not know much about the Zee, as I have never had the honour of owning a ship, but I have never heard stories about sirens. If they exist, their story is far from well-known.&quot

49

[Your raven does not return Koldun, I’m sorry to say sending it after the Curious Captain is a hazardous task, especially when the first step of my voyage was to rejoin my ship at zee (where my SS save-game placed it) by traveling through the Mirror Marches. I promise you I shall return it none the worse for wear, and only six months older, when my character returns from Zee. Again, apologies, as well for speaking out of character.]

50

&quotAdmittedly, I do not know much about the Zee, as I have never had the honour of owning a ship, but I have never heard stories about sirens. If they exist, their story is far from well-known.&quot[/quote]

&quotWait, aren’t that those beautiful women who get sailors into the water with their singing where the sailors… drown? Wouldn’t surprise me if they existed.&quot

[li]

51

Appolonia looks suitably startled by the arrival of Phryne, and frowns as she speaks and at the conversation which follows.

&quotIf the goal is to compile what knowledge we have of ways to zail not just north but NORTH, and with the greatest protection, I am not unwilling to consider sharing some of the information I have accumulated. But, the summary of it would be that it is terribly dangerous, and not to be undertaken lightly, if at all.&quot

&quotNow, the Captain - Absimiliard - has in my experience zailed in some waters beyond places I know how to travel, and understands the risks. But I do not think it is quite the same place or path. Time is very strange, at least as you get close to Irem on such maps, as I understand it. And their vessel travels more swiftly than many - a curiosity. I am sure they will learn something and are more than capable of judging what risks they wish to and are able to take, and will send word as they can.&quot

&quotI myself have done a good bit of zailing here.&quot

Nothing about her appearance would have suggested it.

&quotThere are many hazards that could account for the loss of a crew. Even frost-moths, which you say the recording mentioned. I found an island just the other day where their wings slice like razors. There is also a wind from the Elder Continent, a killing wind, which flays flesh from bone, carrying tiny stones from that shore. Perhaps a greater wind? The Aeolian scream - but even moreso?&quot

&quotThe wind Storm will grant his faithful who wish to go NORTH is Auster, if that is helpful, in studying wind and wind-related noises.&quot

&quotI have not personally encountered sirens, though I would be terribly interested if anyone has. I have been making a collection of zee songs, including the songs of the drownies. Songs of sirens would surely be fascinating. There is one spot, Port’o’Pearl, which I found but avoided for which I have tracked down notes from other captains including: ‘The song, my lads, the song’ and ‘Here is the wine that drinks captains’. I could probably try to find it again at some point in case there is more to be learned there, and we think it relevant. It is the closest thing to sirens I have heard any reference to. But the zee guards its secrets well. No telling what could be found on another trip.&quot

&quotHas anyone encountered sounds anything like what you heard? That seems important and - unless I am misunderstanding your descriptions - it was not particularly musical.&quot

&quotDr. Schlomo taught me a sound immense and terrible that drives away nightmare. Perhaps it is something of that nature? That no longer sounds particularly musical - but it is the remnant of a myth and a song. His song is from Philomel, the nightingale, the abused princess of Athens. He said it 'filled all the desert with invioable voice.&quot Perhaps something parallel, but of the zee? And, by reasoning of opposites, that increases nightmare, rather than easing it?&quot

52

&quotI find myself rather unconvinced by the Siren theory. Drownies, however, now that’s a different matter. They sure know how to use their voices in ways most persuasive. They are surely capable of luring zailors to their deaths, and some of them are black-hearted enough to find pleasure in such an activity. But the Fathomking usually holds a tight rein upon his people. If Drownies should now make a habit of preying upon ships near St-Francis-Look-Out - and this ship was not the first to disappear somewhere near that location - it would suggest they’re protecting something. Something valuable, to them at least.&quot

53

&quotThat is exactly what I assumed. Rubbery men’s minds are different than ours, their physiology is reminiscent of the octopi. Perhaps these creatures adapted to the harsh Zee by emitting sounds that are able to drive away large crustaceans and squid? Evolution states that those who are born with more beneficial characteristics breed more, so maybe these creatures need to be able to drive away large squid, and they use this song to defend themselves from them? Are frost moths known to emit such sounds? Nonetheless, I have sent my ape to the Brass Embassy, I have requested any and all documents on that ship. The Devils must have documentation on something that belonged to them, they may be born of hell, but they’re as civilized as a Society member, and at times, just as dull.&quot
edited by Koldun on 5/25/2016

54

&quotIt’s always like that down Zee, isn’t it? I’m sure a few warning signs would’ve solved the problem just fine.&quot the Game-Carver quickly corrects themselves &quotNot literal signs, but at least not quickly murdering pretty much everyone that gets near the island.&quot
They sigh. &quotAnyways, what are we to do after finding out the truth?&quot The Game-Carver does not seem to address anyone in particular &quotGo and… negate the threat? Leave it be? Something else entirely?&quot

55

Picks up his Rattus Faber rifle. “Exterminate the threat, maybe even obtain some treasures. We are adventurer detectives after all, but I see your point, what if they’re peaceful? What if Captain Wyrm was the one threatening them. But as I just said, we are the ones who shall find all of that out. First, let’s look at all of the documents on Wyrm’s ship. Ah, there’s Bartholomew!” An ape wanders in, smelling slightly of soot and coal, eyes dazed and a strange smile upon its visage. It places several bronze colored envelopes on the table and wanders off, stumbling slightly. Hitch shakes his head. “Must have slightly given in to the temptations of hell, I’ve never seen men this happy, and apes are harder to amuse.”

56

There’s an idle foot tapping as Amelia sits back and watches everyone else deduce the matter. To her it seems as if the only other respectable and sound individual in the room besides her sparring partner had left to the zee. The rest are squawking about like a duchess’ parade of white ravens. Too proud, too confident in their skills, and over all acting overzealous about one case. It annoys her to no end but there’s something to be gained from all of this. Or so she had assumed before someone decided to make their presence known and show off.

&quotTrust me, love. If I knew things would be a show and tell affair, I’d haul off to Mahogany Hall with the boys then sit back sober to this. Might be more than good for a blower like yourself to show up though. Never know when you’ll be needed as you’ve so kindly shown in tow.&quot She dusts her pants off a bit, seemingly bored by everything as she looks around. &quotYou lot can keep worrying over ta captain but it don’t change much. He left and sending a search party or messenger after him is just desperation settin’ in. Keep your hats on and make plans to set out if’n you please but going after him all willy nilly doesn’t make a lick o’ difference. You’ll just be expended resources than any good.&quot

She stands up. &quotNow unless that’s the only thing on ta table than I’ll have to decline this case for once. My expertise not on the zee and I can’t do much else save for supplies at best.&quot She bends her right wrist before snapping her finger and a card appears, wedged between to index fingers. It lists her name and address in a slanted scrawl. &quotBeen told I’m easier to find in Medusa than anywhere else these days. But if I’m not there, find me here or below.&quot She places her card on the table while stifling a yawn. If there is more she might stay but otherwise she sees no point in sticking around for the moment.

57

Raises a hand, &quotWait, the zee is not our only option, we also have this. He lifts the large bronze envelope. Perhaps the ship’s cargo consisted of something a third party would have wished be eradicated. If they did, then there would be some sort of documentation. We could use your influence to see if any outside parties could have had knowledge of the trip.&quot He hands her the largest envelope, &quotRead over that, see if you recognize any names, either rivals or allies.&quot
edited by Koldun on 5/25/2016

58

She quirks an eyebrow before taking the envelope with a few curses, some of it slurred street Irish. &quotCoulda told me that before,&quot she mutters off before taking her seat again. Her eyes scan through, a bit annoyed but watchful as she reads and ignores the crowd about. Eventually her eyes see one name that gets a good chuckle from her. &quotThis lily liver’d coward?&quot She laughs even harder. &quotTis has ta be a joke.&quot

59

“Well I did tell everyone I sent my ape to fetch some documents, and you did just see him return with several envelopes, and you did seem to hear me say he just came back from the Brass Embassy, so in a way, it was easy to put together, correct? Do you recognize anyone from the list, this coward, as you put it?”

60

The door is thrown open. Brooks flies in to land on Koldun’s shoulder. The Curious Captain strides back into the room. Despite having been gone for only a short time they return entirely different – they are now dressed in a gown fit for a ball, but their hob-nailed boots and spider-chitin gauntlets are more fit for a brawl. Behind them paces a tiger, his ears flat – parallel to the ground – his tail switching back and forth with tension.

&quotI do apologize for the delay. But even six-months at Zee is not enough wind in my sails to make the walk from Wolfstack Docks to here faster. And I truly apologize if Brooks’ absence caused you distress, they landed on my shoulder just as I was stepping into a mirror, and once we were in the Marches there was no turning back. The Honey Road that leads out towards the Khanate, where the Hussy lay at anchor, can not be traveled backwards.&quot The Captain shrugs.

&quotBut what I truly regret is that I found nothing. Even after battling lifebergs and pirate frigates my patrolling found no sign of St. Francis’ Lookout. In fact the good folk at Puckerridge’s Lookout say it has been gone for some time. The Priests at the House of the Question were no help either – none of my gods, Stone, Storm, nor Salt have taken it.&quot

Their tiger sits, but his tail reveals he is still tense. &quotWe spent two weeks cruising the zee near Codex and Whither, it is not there any more. I then zailed East, alongside the icebergs in the North, as far North as it is safe to zail. It is nowhere there, from Whither past the Avid Horizon, and even to Far Irem.&quot

The Captain’s face is disappointed as they sit once more. &quotI wish I had better news. I suppose it might be hidden in the forest of pillars near Gaider’s Mourn, but I think we shall need to search for it, perhaps find who moved it, and why. Searching the Unterzee without any clue is a fool’s errand, and even I am not that much of a fool.&quot The Captain grins at that – close-mouthed, friendly, self-deprecating.

{edit: because, OMG, I used a green-grocer’s apostrophe, uggh}
edited by absimiliard on 5/25/2016