Journey’s First Step: A Chronicle of an Aspirant

Overview

I found this in the nightstand drawer of a resort bungalow in Western Hawaii. It’s a journal, filled with handwritten marginalia. It describes a man descending into a schizophrenic breakdown, brought on by a sudden unemployment. But the second writer seems to share in the delusion. Bizarre writings must draw the crackpots out of the woodwork.

Flyleaf

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Journey’s First Step

A Chronicle of an Aspirant

By George Baxter

Typsetting and Printing by Jamison and Bowles, London

Copy 61 of 100

marginalia by Deklatu

First Steps

My name is George Baxter. This morning, I was let go from the hospital.
But I am young, and I have my health. I purchased a bound journal and writing
supplies from my severance. I will keep a record of these difficult times, so
that I will not forget what I have learned.
Work the job to acquire health, funds, and DREAM.
Truly remarkable. How many of us began with idleness and boredom,
rather than necessity?
—–

Last night, I dreamed of the old man from the hospital, and a light in a
dark wood. It seemed significant. I should write these things down when I
awaken, and perhaps I will learn to remember more. Something has awakened a
fire in my soul, and I will not allow it to go out.
The dream yields contentment, passion, and TIME.
My paltry severance stares me in the face, and in it I see the face of a
starving man. I must keep the wolf from the door. I therefore resolve to
risk my health on the drudgery of unskilled labour. I hope I will not become
injured.

Work with health to get fatigue, vitality, funds.
The passage of time allows STUDY.
I have returned from my labours. I am exhausted, yet I can feel my heart
thrumming strongly in my chest. The physical activity has done me good. Even
so, my body is weak, and I must rest.
Dream with fatigue to restore it to health in half the time.
—–

My exhaustion yields a deep and dreamless slumber. My body is refreshed,
but my soul still hungers.
Odd. The old man named me in his will. I was just a porter; why would he
have any interest in me? I could certainly use the funds, though. I have done
the calculations, and I cannot sustain myself with my current efforts. My
expenses are simply too great. If I could work more, I could remain afloat
indefinitely, but I cannot work while I am exhausted. For now, I delay the
inevitable. I return to manual labour, and perhaps I will find a way to
survive before my funds are as exhausted as my body.
Study provides funds*9, reason, and the bequest.
Work with health again to get fatigue, vitality, funds.
When I returned from my labours, I discovered that the old man left me a
modest sum, and an assortment of papers. The funds, I immediately added to my
coffer, but the papers would have to wait for another day. Even so, the wheels
of my mind began to spin again.
I recalled the sensation of vitality I felt after a long day of hard labour,
and devised a structured programme of exercise. With a stronger body, I would
not be quite so exhausted in the evenings, and perhaps I could dream again.
Alas, not tonight.
Study both vitality for another health, and strength.
Dream with fatigue to recover health.
Who was he? Was that the entire collection? Send Knock adept to the
hospital, with Moth adept, to check records. Same with solicitor.
—–

Again, I can recall nothing of my dreams after working to exhaustion. But
sleep has restored my body. Rather than return to work immediately, I embark
upon my exercises and wait for them to bear fruit.
It is working. I am stronger, and heartier. I return to the grind.
Work with strength, and add health, to get similar results in less
time and with lesser possibility of injury.
In the evenings, as I no longer tumble straight into bed, I now have some
time to study the old man’s papers. Some of them look very intriguing. I
elected to take a methodical approach, rather than tearing through them at
random, and allowing my intuition to take charge. I sensed this choice was
significant in some way.
Study the bequest, and add reason, to get Lantern-2 lore, a contact
lead, a location lead, and desire for knowledge. Study it with passion, and
get Forge-2 lore and a desire for power, instead.
I found several items of interest, but I was most interested in the obscure
bookshop. I resolved straightaway to find it.
Study the location lead to get the bookseller location and
EXPLORE.
Explore immediately grants SecretHistories-2 lore.
So helpful to be handed such a short cut, and to recognize its worth.
—–

I was injured at work, and simultaneously contracted a pernicious illness.
Were it not for my exercises, I feel certain this would have been the end of
me. I have defeated exhaustion, but I must grow stronger still, to ward
off injury and illness. But first, I must nurse myself through the current
crisis. If I am still invigorated by my labors, or by exercise, I need not
spend my precious funds on cures and medicines. All I need is restful sleep.

Working with health or strength can grant an injury instead of fatigue
and vitality.
Illness will take one of your health and turn it to affliction.
If you have no health to spare, you will die.
If an affliction times out, that health is gone. If injury or
starvation times out, it turns to decrepitude. Try to avoid this.
Dream with an affliction or injury, and add vitality or funds to restore
it to health.
I must attend to the needs of my body. I fear that if I do not act on my
ailments quickly, the health I have gained may be lost, and my labours would
be made more difficult for a long time to come. I will therefore spend my
funds, if I must. I dare not pursue any other goals until I am strong.
He did not know a ritual exists to reverse decrepitude.
—–

I have made a science of vitality. If I can accumulate enough data, and if
I remain free of injury and illness long enough, I may be able to increase my
strength further. For now, I must continue to work at manual labor, without
interruption. I know nothing but toil and sleep, but the way out is in my
sight.
I am ready. I began my improved programme of exercises. My employment has
suffered for it, but I will risk injury one more time, as I cannot afford to go
long without pay.
Study strength, and add vitality *4, to get iron physique and health.
While studying, work with health to preserve your funds.
I wish I had done this before the Gate of Ivory. It would have been
easier to do while young and undistracted.
—–

I am now strong enough to work continuously without injury or exhaustion,
and still do my exercises in the evening. My studies lead me to believe that
my strength may be refined further. Even now, I can finish a day’s worth of
rote manual labour in less time than my peers. The bosses have noticed, but
my fellows now look on me with envy, and avoid my company.
Work with physique for the same results, in less time, and without the
chance for injury.
Study health to acquire vitality, without fatigue.
I have completed additional study of human physiology, and have once again
developed a programme of exercise to increase my strength. While it is in
progress, I once again risk injury by inattentiveness at work, but it would be
a mere inconvenience to me now.
Study with iron physique and vitality *6, to get steel physique and
health.
While studying, work with health to preserve funds.
I am made of steel. I finish my labours with enough time and energy to
spare on exploring the city occasionally. I continue with my studies of
vitality, but I have noticed an external component. It is almost as though a
life force flows through me, and by damming it up at the proper time, I may
grow even more hale than what my prodigious strength has already conferred.
Without fear of being overpowered by ruffians or miscreants, I have
discovered that the more unsavory characters of this city have taken to
offering me their dubious services in lieu of threatening violence. This may
be useful later, but I have neither the desire nor the spare funds now. In
addition to the bookshop, I have discovered an auction house and a nightclub.

Lighting the Fire

Today, at work, I was crushed under a load of brick. While under the pile,
I barely had the wherewithal to rearrange the debris, such that fewer questions
would be asked. When the other workers dug me out, I feigned pain and
disorientation until I was left unattended, then made my escape. The ordinary
hate and fear the extraordinary, and I did not wish to reveal myself. Not yet.
I must be cautious.
I perfected my body out of fear of injury, and yet now I fear that someone
might notice that my injuries mend before one’s very eyes, in mere minutes. I
spent some time tonight cutting off fingers, and watching them grow back. And
yet, I still become ill. I may yet grow old. I still suffer from the vagaries
of chance, and the sway of the seasons. Even Rasputin, whom I believe to have
discovered the same secret as I, was murdered, though it took some doing.
The seasons are despair, suspicion, silence, visions, and serenities.
The season of despair will end you if it accumulates three dread and
then times out. Contentment cancels out dread. You can dream with funds to
generate a contentment, and dream with dread and add contentment to cancel out
both. Restlessness turns to dread when it times out, but working with passion
and adding restlessness destroys it.
The season of suspicion opens an investigation. If there is no hunter,
it will take a mystique or notoriety and spawn one at random. If there is a
hunter, the hunter will take mystique or notoriety. After taking a notoriety
or running out of mystique, the hunter will then try to generate or upgrade
evidence. The number of interesting hunters varies, but big cities usually
have about four. But you will never run out of boring, old, flatfooted cops.
The season of craving will have different effects based on your desire,
but in the beginning, it mainly just gives you restlessness.
The season of visions will end you if it accumulates three fascination
and then times out. Dread cancels out fascination. Gaining dread on demand
is difficult, but there are many ways to get it randomly. Dreaming with
fascination and adding dread will destroy the fascination and leave the dread,
so if a season of visions approaches, you might be able to cancel out more than
one fascination with a single dread.
A pleasant day generates contentment. Contentment has no drawbacks,
and can save your hide if you have too much dread built up.
Yes, attention draws out the wrong sort. Imprudent action generates
an aura of mystique, and unsavory action creates notoriety. Ware these when
the season of suspicion is nigh.
Tomorrow, I shall plan out a different future.
—–

I have decided to examine the jumble of my life’s elements, and put them
into a proper order. In my mind’s eye, I place current events, moods, and
random happenings in the center, representing the present.
Above, I place time itself, and the ebb and flow of the seasons it spawns.
By casting my thought into the flow of time, I have some limited ability to
predict what is coming next. This may occasionally be useful in my planning.

Below, I place my activities. Work, study, dream, explore. Here, I will
plan my days and nights more efficiently.
At my right hand, I array the resources of my body: health, passion, and
reason, like toy soldiers in ranks and files. At my left hand, I place the
locations I have discovered.
I place the scraps of esoterica in my possession–including the notes on a
possible collaborator–at a long reach to my left. The knowledge of my meagre
quantity of funds, I set beneath time, which inexorably devours my coin.
Useless. There is only so much one can do without speaking with others.
Hunt down that collaborator, before it is too late, fool!
—–

After a conflux of seasons of despair and ambition in a row. I am desperate
to find some cheer. I have already spent too much on the druggist’s wares. I
will return to the moonlit streets to find peace.
I cannot allow another bout of restlessness turn to dread. I have purchased
canvas and paints, and I shall employ passion to let my feelings gain form
through art.
Between the painting and the wandering, I have often felt a sort of
fluttering sensation in my soul. I should pay closer attention to these.
My study has increased my passions, and honed my imagination. But I must
interrupt them, as my wanderings have fueled a bout of visions with
fascination. I have turned to reading anything I can lay hands upon as I await
a fresh onset of dread, to free me from my visions before I go mad.
Study both glimmering to gain imagination and passion.
I started painting to quell my restlessness before it turned to dread and
ended me, but some of my work might sell. It is not quite so reliable as the
manual labour, but if I can build up a reputation, it might pay better. I can
still work with my strength when I have exhausted myself creatively.
It turns out that my work sells at higher prices when I devote myself to
flimflammery instead of putting forth an effort. My next piece will be about
contempt.
Work with imagination and add passion, mystique, or notoriety to create
art. This can result in contentment, funds, glimmering, mystique, or nothing
at all. Adding more mystique or notoriety increased the likelihood of funds
and mystique.
Study reason to gain erudition.
Study two erudition to gain scholarship and reason.
Study scholarship and erudition *4 to improve scholarship and gain
reason.
Study imagination with glimmering *4 to improve imagination and gain
passion. This allows artwork with 3 resources.
Study imagination again with glimmering *6 to improve imagination and
gain passion. This allows artwork with 4 resources.

Extending the Will

It would seem that the publicity I generated to sell my paintings has
attracted an irritant. This person attends all my gallery showings, yet
never buys anything, and frequently annoys the purchasers with impudent and
probing questions about me and my work. Whenever a season of suspicion comes,
my tormentor consumes the mystique I have built up, like a ravenous locust.
What did I do to be hounded so?
Always have we been hunted by those who fear those who can become
greater.
I continue to paint. Choke on my fame, hound. I will drown you in it.
Unwise. Some hunters will fabricate evidence just to be quit of you.
One cannot safely engage in the more rewarding activites as they watch.

As I have grown more comfortable engaging in unctuous conversation with
members of high society, I have decided to track down that potential
collaborator, and see what they have to offer.
Finally!
Study the contact lead to gain mystique and TALK.
I have met someone else that shares the old man’s interests, and we had a
very stimulating conversation. The topic of secret organizations was broached,
though I am not certain that I am quite ready to make such a commitment yet. I
barely even have an inkling of all the things I do not know. I shove it off to
the far right corner of my mind, where that thought can wait for me to act upon
it. I am concerned that rumours of my frank discussion with this new
acquaintance might reach the wrong ears.
Talk will generate your first acquaintance. Talk to your new contact to
get your first notoriety and the option to found a cult. Don’t do it yet.

I was right to worry. It would seem that word has gotten out. One of the
people to whom my acquaintance has been speaking has heard my name, and
repeated it. Out of desperation, I engaged in long meditation, cradling this
rumour in the focus of my thoughts, just as my tormentor ceased his questioning
of one owner of my paintings and moved on to the next. It was as if that
element was shrouded in my shadow, and unable to move from my thoughts into
another’s. To my relief, it was as though the rumours racing about town never
reached the ears of my hunter.
Now this is useful! I had not known it to be possible. Is this the
power of the Moth? I must try this immediately.
Pin a card by clicking on it and holding the mouse button down. Pause
with the space key to perform other actions, and re-pin before unpausing.

I have surrounded my hunter with a cloud of my mystique, and used my
notoriety to publicize my art exhibitions. I occasionally need to engage in
focused meditation to keep my darker activities secret, but if I am careful
about these things, the rumours will dissipate, and the wrong people will never
know they existed.
Begin an artwork just before a hunter finishes investigating a mystique,
and up to four notoriety will eventually time out without risk of generating
evidence. Meanwhile, they produce funds. One additional notoriety may be
pinned, but then one cannot pin a fascination or dread when in need. If I ever
become quite that notorious, it would be wise to immediately cease all furtive
activities and focus on manging my reputation.
—–

While burying my hunter in mystique, I am forced to continually produce and
promote my paintings. I walk strange streets for inspirations, and read
nothing but sentimental literature instead of studying. I am awash in
glimmerings. Just as I have done to grow hale from excess vitality, I believe
I may be able to expand my passions without end. My collaborator has said that
strength of the soul is crucial to navigate the Wood, though I am not certain
what forest it is, specifically.
You have been neglecting your dreams. It is a wonder you have come this
far without them. All you do is sleep to rest and heal, but I suppose that was
how you discovered that Moth trick. Visiting the Mansus, even the Wood, will
break a pin! I learned that the hard way.
Study imagination with glimmering *8 to gain passion.
It was probably not necessary for Baxter to do this more than six times,
but all it costs is time, and can be done whenever burning down notoriety.
Moth-Forging one’s self is apparently much easier than Heart-Forging, and I
have already done it myself, many times. Lantern-Forging, on the other hand,
is nearly impossible at this stage. The mind resists changing itself, and it
is difficult to acquire enough erudition to trigger it without several acadmic
contacts and an extensive lore library.
I am confident now that the fires in my soul will never dim. The rumours
have abated, and I have earned a modest sum of funds from selling paintings.

Contacts

I have begun to speak publicly about esoterica. It grows my mystique, and
these contacts I make now may become useful later, when my collaborator and I
found that secret society we discussed previously. Doing this out in the open,
rather than hunting down furtive rumours, gives my hunter nothing that is not
already known, and protects some of my buyers from annoying probes. But it
occupies some of my passion for a time, which is of little import, as that I
now have in abundance.
Not that you would have any useful rumors anyway. You still haven’t
found the Wood! I must admit, I became quite notorious while exploring the
rumors I gleaned from my dreams in the Wood, but I found new acquaintances all
the same, and it didn’t require any application of passion.
My parlour discussions have attracted the attentions of some wealthy
patrons. It took some of my reason to convince them to speak with me openly.
It seems that they can offer me tutelage in the languages found in older texts,
but they refuse my funds. They traffick in a different kind of coin, used only
among those well versed in oddities. I may earn some, if I am willing to do
some academic work on their behalf, but I believe those may require a greater
level of scholarship–and a larger library–than I currently possess.
I did not realize this. I made all my acquaintances in the shadows,
following rumors, but I missed out on those who would pay me in spintria for a
little bit of research. I had no need of their tutelage, as I learned those
languages by reading primers and textbooks. Spending an iron spintria would
certainly have been easier than tracking down those books. It isn’t as though
there are any living tutors for Phrygian, Farcine, or Deep Mandaic though, and
there is only one way to learn Vak. Still, it might serve to excite one’s
Lantern-aspect, to increase reason. Perhaps that’s not as difficult as I
had previously thought.
I have met a potential patron, but this one disturbs me. On further
questioning, I got the impression that the topic not discussed explicitly was
a willing human sacrifice, and I wonder why I would ever be expected to agree
to it. I should probably avoid this person until I have a friend insane enough
to walk that path without coercion.
Those obsessed with Winter are dangerous. I wonder if a creature
summoned from the Mansus would satisfy the requirements. It seems unlikely.
Every new person I meet now turns out to be just a poseur. In all of
London, there are only 34 people with either knowledge or skill. There is no
more profit in talking publicly, so I have abandoned the practice. It will
likely devolve into young gentlemen and ladies distracting themselves with
wild tales and stories, and giggling into their hands, while seeking euphoria
in French wines.
I found only 21 in New York. Count yourself lucky, Baxter. Get a
little bit of Grail in you, and those young folks will do more than just get
drunk.

• Laidlaw (Forge)
• Leo (Heart)
• Dorothy (Heart)
• Renira (Grail)
• Victor (Edge)
• Tristan (Forge)
• Eldridge (Edge)
• Rose (Edge)
• Violet (Winter)
• Cat Caro (Lantern)
• Salba (Grail)
• Ysabet (Moth)
• ‘Pope’ Clifton (Lantern)
• Clovette (Heart)
• Valciane (Forge)
• Sylvia (Moth)
• Slee (Lantern)
• Neville (Knock)
• Auclair (Winter)
• Enid (Knock)
• Porter (Moth)
• An assortment of eight hangers-on with some talent

Enough

I grow weary of the ants of this city hanging on my every word. It is time,
I think, to return to being an unknown. Perhaps then my hunter will relent
and leave me alone.
I have stopped painting, except when I feel particularly restless. I do it
for my own satisfaction, rather than for the funds. I have a decent amount
set aside. But to preserve it, I return to manual labour. In the evenings, I
read newspapers. The hunter remains. Why?
I have confronted my tormentor. His name is Wakefield, and he works with
the Suppression Bureau. He admitted to investigating me. My impression of
him was of someone very meticulous. It would be unwise to give him even a
scrap of information, lest it be turned to evidence against me. And yet, here
I was, talking to him directly. He also seemed a grim sort of fellow. So I
took a chance, and spoke to him of my own dread, in the hope of demoralizing
him. I fear this only strengthened his resolve and idealism. I would have to
try some other tack.
My first shadow was Detective Sullivan, of the Special Investigations
Division. I hired a thug to kill him. It made a bit of a stir, but he was no
longer available to look into it, so the murmurs died away in time.

I had acquired quite a bit of erudition over time by reading ordinary books
and newspapers, but it was never quite enough to increase my scholarship. I
might have relied on the occasional burst of insight, but a surer way was to
keep it alive in discussion with another before bringing up the actual business
at hand. I spend nearly an hour in discussion with the good inspector before
coming around to the horrors lurking in dreams, and this allowed me to study
using erudition that would have otherwise faded from memory. It wasn’t a
complete loss.
Very clever. I employed my adversaries to my own advantage in other
ways. Wakefield was lucky Baxter knew nothing of Winter. Or the Spider’s
Gate.

Taste of Knowledge

With my increased reason, I find myself in need of study materials more
useful than newspapers and dry academic texts. For these, I will need funds,
and in greater quantity than those available to artists and labourers. And I
do not care to encourage Wakefield any further with my gallery antics. The
time has come to seek employment with one of the staid business firms in the
City. Today, I have swallowed my pride, and secured a junior clerical position
with Glover and Glover.
I am surrounded by pimple-faced children. With a little extra effort, it
should be a simple matter to secure a promotion.
As expected, the company has promoted me. The supervisor, Mr. Alden, has
taken an especial interest in me, which is to say he has selected me to do his
work in addition to my own. Or perhaps he is as annoyingly meticulous as
Wakefield. There is nothing for it but to keep my head down and do the work.
I am capable enough, and this will pay for my studies. Whenever I am allowed
to go home to them.
Just kill him! Hire some professional muscle and send him off to play.
I am buying books faster than I can read them. My funds are decreasing at
an alarming rate, but I do not care. My position at the firm seems secure,
and they have cash to spare for one as capable as myself.
I had to dash off a quick painting today, to deal with some restlessness.
It very nearly made me late for work. I cannot afford to give Alden cause to
reprimand me. The books will not buy themselves. Perhaps next time, I will
simply allow it to turn to dread, and rest and reflect upon it when I have
some contentment.
The bookshop has closed. The proprietress has gifted me with an unusally
uplifting poem that is oddly compelling, along with a useless work of pure
fantasy and misdirection. I sold it at the auction house. I will have to
search there for additional study materials, though I fear my funds are low
enough that I may be outbid. I was able to buy 27 books:

• 3 collections of poetry passion
• 3 collections of essays reason
• Gildersleeve Latin translations
• Kuehner and Gerth Greek translations
• Gartside Sanskrit translations
• An Introduction to Histories SecretHistories-2 lore
• Travelling at Night (Vol 1) erudition, Moth-2 lore
• Travelling at Night (Vol 2) erudition, Winter-2 lore
• The Locksmith’s Dream (Vol 1) erudition, Lantern-2 lore
• The Locksmith’s Dream (Vol 2) erudition, Knock-2 lore
• The War of the Roads, 1450-1580 (expurgated) SecretHistories-4
  lore
• The Six Letters on Necessity erudition, Forge-2 lore
• The Victory of Crowns Edge-2 lore
• On the White Winter-2 lore
• The Burning of the Unburnt God Rite of the Crucible Soul,
  Forge-4 lore
• The Queens of the Rivers SecretHistories-2 lore
• The Humours of a Gentleman Lantern-2 lore
• Apollo and Marsyas Heart-2 lore
• The Skeleton Songs Grail-2 lore
• The Orchid Transfigurations (Vol 1) [Latin] glimmering, Grail-2
  lore
• The Orchid Transfigurations (Vol 2) [Latin] Grail-4 lore
• De Horis (Book 1) [Latin] erudition, Moth-2 lore
• On What Is Contained By Silver [Greek] Rite of the Watchman’s
  Sorrow, Lantern-4 lore

The auction house has had a few items of interest, here and there. I
purchased a total of 10 items before that well ran dry:

• 2 collections of poetry passion
• 2 collections of essays reason
• Gildersleeve Latin translations
• Kuehner and Gerth Greek translations
• Gartside Sanskrit translations
• De Bellis Murorum [Latin] Edge-4 lore
• Asclepian Mysteries of the Roots of the House [Greek] Rite of
  the Map’s Edge, Heart-4 lore
• STUMM! [film] dread, Sunset Rite, Winter-6 lore

I have reserved several pages in the back of this book for a table of my finds,
organized by apparent rarity and by language.

My first undertaking was the essays. I read extensively to build up my
erudition, then tackled the collection. Each time, my reason improved.
Afterward, I became able to navigate complex concepts and trains of thought,
and remember things I had previously read.
I have finished with the language texts. I performed rote translations
of the Greek and Latin books in my possession, but have not yet analyzed
their contents.
I purchased a projector and watched the German film. It has left me deeply
disturbed, but I have learned the details of some ritualized magic.
I have finished researching my entire collection, which represents all that
London has to offer me openly. I think I have enough knowledge to accept some
commissions. Not from Mme. Lascelles, though. I am not comfortable with her
bargain.
Some of these commissions are beyond the scope of my library. I may be able
to combine my notes from different texts to fill in the missing pieces.
I simply do not have time to work on my commissions with Alden sucking up my
time night after night. I am not certain what I might do about him, but one of
these nights, I might walk down a certain alley, and drop the right amount of
coin into the right hand, and then I might be paid the same for the work of one
man, rather than two.
Yes! Do it!
Alden cannot take my sleep away from me. I will follow the lore that I have
researched, and dream with passion, holding the light of the Lantern within. I
must prepare a room without colour, and sleep in it. This shall reveal the way
to the Wood below the Mansus, where Moth holds sway.
It took you long enough. Or you could just honor Moth directly, by
cutting a lock of your hair, as I did. Or use Knock, and have a snake bite the
sole of your foot, as no one does. But yes, by all means, use the knowledge
you had at your fingers since the beginning, in the old man’s bequest!

Scouting

Perhaps I should have done this earlier. I have glimpsed the Mansus. It is
one thing to read about it, and quite another to see it with closed eyes,
dreaming. I cannot describe it here, but I will make a painting, just for
myself.
I have brought back some knowledge of the Secret Histories from the Wood. I
think it refers to a place here in London. I will explore, and see if I can
find it.
My walks in the Wood led me to secret places in New York, and sometimes
upstate, New Jersey, or Connecticut. The closer you get to the Glory, the
farther afield you will go.
I have discovered several locations where I might find secret treasures. But
they are protected. I am formidable, but I cannot do this alone. Nor am I
entirely comfortable placing myself at risk from the creatures I have glimpsed
in the depths of my dread. Better perhaps to risk coin or companionship than
myself.
Or a servant summoned from the Mansus with rites.

• Strathcoyne’s Residence
  1. mortal watchers Edge, Grail, or Moth
• Cater and Hero Ltd.
  1. treacherous ground Forge or Lantern
• Forgotten Mithraeum
  1. hidden door Lantern or Knock
• Saint Agnes Hospital
  1. Dry Soul curse Heart or Lantern
• The Forsaken Reach (multiple sites)
  1. treacherous ground Forge or Lantern
  2. mortal watchers Edge, Grail, or Moth

I used the Winter lore gleaned from the German film to walk the hidden paths
the Dead use to reach the White Door, and I have explored the lands beyond.
The secrets learned here are more significant.
The lore of Knock or Lantern would also suffice.
My duties keep me in London, but I have hired agents to help me track down
other leads in Britain:

• Gladwyn Lake
  1. a great serpent a.k.a. Younger Sister; Knock or Edge
• Keglin’s Scratch
  1. treacherous ground Forge or Lantern
  2. dead watchers Edge or Winter
• Crowkiss Hill
  1. warded door Forge or Knock
• Lockwood Fen
  1. treacherous ground Forge or Lantern
  2. mortal watchers Edge, Grail, or Moth
• Kerisham (multiple sites)
  1. mortal watchers Edge, Grail, or Moth
  2. warded door Forge or Knock
  3. Fifth Eye curse Heart or Winter

Again, I have allocated space in the back of my journal for location notes.
From the White Door, I followed my desire to reach the Stag Door. To
gain passage, I must answer a riddle. My lore research gives me the answers to
many riddles, but not the one that was asked. I must find additional sources
to proceed. I must assemble expeditions to the sites I have found, and
plunder their secrets.
I have researched some sites on the continent:

• Chateau Raveline
  1. hidden door Lantern or Knock
  2. Dry Soul curse Heart or Lantern
• The Vandershaaf Collection
  1. warded door Forge or Knock
  2. Fifth Eye curse Heart or Winter
• Orthos Wood
  1. dark forest Forge or Moth
  2. mortal watchers Edge, Grail, or Moth
• Fermier Abbey
  1. dark forest Forge or Moth
  2. disciplined watchers Edge or Moth
• The Unnumbered Stones (multiple sites)
  1. dark forest Forge or Moth
  2. hidden door Lantern or Knock
  3. mortal watchers Edge, Grail, or Moth

Watch out for those curses! Lose a fight, and your minions die, but if
they fail to break a curse, it will come back and get you. Send
overwhelming power in the correct influence, and make sure those people don’t
die before they get to the curse! Dry Soul is usually no problem, since you’ll
send Lantern for wayfinding anyway, but Fifth Eye is annoying, as you have to
send Heart or Winter specifically to break the curse.
Every night, I dream at the White Door, looking for clues from the Secret
Histories. When I am able, I am researching, to turn multiple lesser clues
into one greater one. I may be able to find every significant site in the
world, with enough patience, but that is one thing I lack. I am aging. I have
strengthened body, mind, and soul, but I am still mortal. Only those who can
pass the tricuspid gate will not die. Like every other man, I do not know how
much is allotted me of Time. Alden is stealing from me that which is most
precious. And as Wakefield has apparently become idealistic as well as grim,
I cannot sway him with words. It is time to recruit some cat’s paws.
To anyone reading this, Baxter waited far too long. It is better to
deal with such matters swiftly and without remorse. All those who impede you
are your enemies. Give them no quarter.

Expeditions

I spend many nights looking for hirelings, but none have been suitable.
I have hired a professional. I sent him after Wakefield. I await word.
Wakefield has been captured! Perhaps I can find another use for him. I
offered my hireling some bonus work, and aimed him at Alden. It is dangerous
to do so with the notoriety that will be generated by Wakefield’s
disappearance, but he is certainly in no position to hunt me now. Had the
attempt failed, I would have had to wait, and find another helper, but fortune
smiles today.
I have used a subtle fracture gleaned from my nighttime wanderings with
Wakefield, and the lore from STUMM!, to enact the Sunset Rite. If my
calculations are correct, the combination of Winter and Heart, along with the
invocation of Knock, will summon one of the Voiceless Dead.
The rite was difficult. I was forced to employ my passion to get the
creature back under control, but I was successful. And so too was my hireling.
Alden is gone, but Alden is also still here. I have his corpse. But the work
is done when I say it is done. I’m afraid you will have to remain until I am
satisfied. I sent the killer and the Dead to Strathcoyne’s, just to keep them
occupied. Glovers’ has given me some time off, as they deal with the sudden
loss of Alden, so I will research rites before returning.
I tried. But I lacked sufficient lore in Edge or Moth to make Alden work
late. I was forced to dispose of the body, before it was discovered. Some of
these rites require tools. I will have to find some.
Or make them.
I used some of my fascination in the Sunset Rite, with Wakefield and Winter,
to invoke The End is Beautiful. It did not succeed, but the dread will put an
end to my visions.
Back to work. I will apply extra effort, now that Alden is no longer here
to take credit for it.
My minions returned. They brought back treasures:

• The Wainscot Histories SecretHistories-4 lore
• The Journal of Alexander LaCroix ♥♥♥♥♥♥ translations
• a cracked Noonstone repair with Forge and iron spintria
• The Rose of Hypatia [Greek] Moth-4 lore, Heart-4 lore

So that’s where The Wainscot Histories went. Re-read that part of
Strathcoyne’s journal. It was his prize. The rest seem like random esoterica.
I sent the Dead to the continent alone, to the forest sites, starting with
Orthos Wood. The killer, I paid handsomely for his discretion, and released.
I will need someone with more than just skill in Edge to crack sites in
dangerous and obscure locales. A fortune-teller, bomb-maker, or cat-burglar
would complement my summoned Dead best. I will search for one after the
current expedition ends.
I have been promoted to a senior position at Glovers’. This work is
demanding, and leaves little time for other pursuits, but the money is good,
and I am largely anonymous to everyone but upper management and those whom I
supervise. No one cares what I do, but then again, I have no time to do much
of anything. I will accumulate funds for a bit, and see what happens.
—–

It would seem that this phase of my journey consists largely of sending out
hirelings to investigate sites of interest, and researching their finds. It
may soon be time to assemble that secret society, but I haven’t decided on its
mission yet, or how I wish to approach the Tricuspid Gate.
My Dead sent back treasures:

• Leathy Moth-8 ingredient
• bronze spintria spintria-4 tool
• dappled mask Moth-8 tool

I confess some disappointment at the lack of written materials to research.
You did write that you needed tools. Too bad about that job, eh?
Typical to find Leathy at forest sites.
I have decided to send my Dead to drive the younger Glover to uselessness,
and make an attempt at his seat on the Board.
It took a second try, but the younger Glover is now a babbling lunatic, and
in no position to run a business. I killed Wakefield and disposed of the body.
I sent a bomb-maker and my Dead to a warehouse in The Forsaken Reach. Biding
a while before making a try for the Board. They might not appreciate my
current level of infamy. At least I have time to do commissions now.
I have acquired a new Hunter. I will call on him later and see if we can’t
come to a better understanding than with Wakefield.
My current expeditions team seems capable enough. I will keep sending them
to warehouses until they fail or all that I know about have been searched. I
will leave enough space to list their finds here.
The Forgotten Reach (multiple):

• cinnabar amulet Forge-4 tool
• rose pearl dust Heart-4 ingredient
• martensite paste Edge-4 ingredient
• The Devoured Tantra Grail-6 lore
• iron spintria spintria-2 tool
• Sunset Passages [Latin] Winter-4 lore
• Chione at Abydos Winter-4 lore
• The Rose of Waznei [Greek] Edge-4 lore, Lantern-4 lore
• De Horis (Book 2) [Latin] Edge-2 lore
• iron spintria spintria-2 tool
• whispering amulet Grail-2 Moth-2 tool
• Byzantine tinct Knock-4 ingredient
• The Treatise on Underplaces Knock-4 lore
• Refulgin Lantern-4 ingredient
• rose-pearl dust Heart-4 ingredient
• Marruvine idol Heart-4 tool
• Refulgin Lantern-4 ingredient
• martensite paste Edge-4 ingredient
• bronze spintria spintria-4 tool
• piebald pigment Moth-4 ingredient
• vital pigment Grail-4 ingredient
• iron spintria spintria-2 tool
• piebald pigment Moth-4 ingredient
• stained gloves Grail-4 tool
• On Matthias and the Amethyst Imago: Transformation [Aramaic] Forge-6 lore
• Travelling at Night (Vol 3) Forge-2 lore
• The Irreproachable Traditions of S.N.E. [Latin] Forge-4 lore
• Lord Franklin Bancroft: Diaries 1750-1790 [Latin] Lantern-6 lore
• Magus von Brandt Aramaic translations
• bronze spintria spintria-4 tool
• The Locksmith’s Dream (Vol 3) Moth-4 lore
• Those Indignities Perpetrated by D.F.O. [Latin] Winter-6 lore,
  Rite of the Watchman’s Sorrow

I think I could perhaps paint with some of these ingredients.
I mixed them into the metals of my castings, for my series of Hours
figurines. They don’t make the strongest of tools, but sometimes you just need
a tool with the correct influence. Even spintriae can be used in a pinch.

Expeditions 2

This watcher has created evidence from thin air! There is no way they
could have known! Damn the attention. I will deal with him immediately.
I tried horrifying this new hunter, Spencer Hobson, with Winter lore, but he
has simply become an idealist. I will try to fascinate him with Lantern lore
before ending him.
At least you’re giving them a chance to give up. I find my arguments
are more convincing during the seconds when they have several large holes in
them.
Hobson has now become grim and tenacious. I fear I have only created a more
formidable adversary. I will send my Dead to destroy his evidence instead.
Just get rid of them. They never respond well to talk. But as long as
you can remove the evidence, you’ll never get convicted.
For now, I keep my Dead and my hireling occupied in conversation with one
another. This consists of grim silences interleaved with nervous silences. It
is surprisingly engaging. I cannot run an expedition, as I need to hire
another murderer.
I answered Ghirbi’s riddle. I can now pass the Stag Door.
Just make sure you hang on to your level 6 lore fragment until you can.
My previous murderer has left London, and gone to New York. I must find
another as skilled with Edge.
Oh? Talk with the Edge adepts. Perhaps there is a connection.
It was James. After working with one of the Dead, he bugged out.
After he got here, killing regular people for money didn’t excite him any more,
so he started hanging around the bookshops to meet likely people, and joined up
with us. He’s not bad at killing for a septuagenarian.
What kind of world do we live in where one cannot go out and hire an
assassin upon a moment’s notice, and be back before tea? I have finally found
the right sort of fellow, and pointed him at my troubles.
I am once again unhunted. My expeditions resume.
Cater and Hero:

• The Shaven Lock Tantra [Sanskrit] Moth-6 lore
• bronze spintria spintria-4 tool
• The Rose of Nuriel [Greek] Knock-4 lore, Grail-4 lore

Another hunter. I fascinated her with Lantern lore, and she has gone mad.
What a pity. She can no longer hunt me, and I gained no infamy. But I
fascinated myself in the process.
Interesting. Talking actually worked?
Keglin’s Scratch:

• Greydawn oil Winter-4 ingredient
• Kuehner and Gerth Greek translations
• The Concursum Diaries [Phrygian] Lantern-8 lore

Lockwood Fen:

• vital pigment Grail-4 ingredient
• The Known-Unknown Tantra [Sanskrit] Lantern-6 lore
• silver spintria spintria-8 tool

Fermier Abbey:

• Against the Sisterhood of the Knot and… [Greek] SecretHistories-8 lore
• The Ceaseless Tantra [Sanskrit] Heart-6 lore
• Sthenic venom Knock-8 ingredient

I have let my bomb-maker go, and returned my Dead to the Mansus, and
engaged a cat-burglar, or “entry specialist”, as it were.
Crowkiss Hill:

• bone flute Winter-4 tool
• The Account of Kanishk at the Spider Door [Aramaic] Edge-6 lore
• The Incandescent Tantra [Sanskrit] Forge-8 lore

Forgotten Mithraeum:

• Noonstone Lantern-4 tool
• The Tantra of Worms [Sanskrit] Winter-6 lore
• On Matthias and the Amethyst Imago: Pursuit [Aramaic] Grail-6 lore

Gladwyn Lake:

• Gildersleeve Latin translations
• The Encircling Tantra [Sanskrit] Knock-6 lore
• Xanthotic essence Forge-8 ingredient

I have let my sneak-thief go, and secured the services of two
fortune-tellers. The first had to endure plenty of tedious conversations with
me while I sought out the second, but there was the occasional offer of
additional funds to make it worth her while, so she endured it.
Talk to a hireling about nothing in particular to keep them from leaving.
Talk to them about funds to renew their interest in your work. Talk to a
summon about a hireling to keep them both engaged. It is also possible to use
someone as an inspiration for artwork to delay their departure. One can
conceivably send off an expedition with as many as four hirelings, but it will
burn down your funds, and drive you crazy juggling them through talk, explore,
and work. Easier to found a cult and have members with the appropriate skills
on hand. Start with a fortune-teller or bomb-maker, talk to them until you
can find any other hireling at all, and send the chump you just hired as the
leader. Then add your cultists based on need. If someone dies, the leader and
assistant tend to go before the ones you sent later. Baxter here apparently
wants to do it the hard way.
St Agnes Hospital:

• Gartside Sanksrit translations
• cracked wildering mirror repair with Forge
• On Matthias and the Amethyst Imago: Loss [Aramaic] Moth-6 lore,
  Rite of the Map’s Edge

I have enough texts in Aramaic that I decided it is worthwhile to pay Dr.
Ibn al-Adim to tutor me in it.
I learned from an old Hasidic Jew. He also taught me how to find the
best delicatessen in the world, and that only cost me one gold spintria.
It was worth the price.

I have been promoted to the Board at Glover’s. The work is very light, and
the pay is obscene, but I will have to be cautious about scandal. It would
not do for old Glover to hear about my unseemly activities.
Chateau Raveline:

• meteoric bullet Edge-4 tool
• On the Matter of Deeds and Serpents [Vak] Knock-10 lore
• wakeful tympanum Heart-8 tool

I found the way to the Spider’s Door using Lantern lore. It wants blood.
Knock or Grail lore would also suffice.
Whenever I am not enthralled by visions, or ill, I am dreaming through the
Stag Door. Whenever I am awake, I am working or researching the Secrets.
Whenever I am not sending out expeditions, or recruiting hirelings, I am
scouting sites. Whenever I am not keeping one hireling’s interest while I seek
out a partner, I am talking to patrons and seeking commissions. I am very
busy, but it is all in preparation. I feel as though I could lead nine
different kinds of cult, but I have been unable to decide which one.
Unless you have some way of traveling back in time and resuming your
life from a critical decision point, you just can’t do them all. Starting a
cult, and then raising a follower from believer, to adept, and then to master
is truly an achievement, but you can’t get 17 achievements in the same
lifetime. Unless… there is a book called the “Save Text” that supposedly
records an image of an instant in the reader’s life. The lore states that one
can copy this image, and keep it with you, then return to the plinth of the
original, and put your copy upon it, and all that you have done since making
the copy will be undone, leaving only the knowledge you gained from living in
the years that never happened. It can also provide infallible predictions of
future events, such as the seasons and the outcomes of random events. But the
book is written in a language called Json, for which no textbook or tutor
exists on this planet, and can only be reached by stepping outside of reality
itself, and examining the machinery that powers it. If one were to learn Json
and write into the Save Text, that person would be able to erase notoriety,
dread, or fascination; wipe away visions, despair, or investigations; increase
one’s funds, health, passion, or reason; transform one book into another, or
even bring back the dead. And not as the Silent Dead, but as a real, living,
breathing, speaking person. No rituals; just words on parchment. This power
would render the quest to pass the Tricuspid Gate meaningless. As such, it is
probably best left to the Long, who have already passed it. Probably nonsense,
anyway.

Expeditions 3

Enough with these hirelings and their failures. I have the means to summon
a variety of creatures, so I will use them to clear out the sites I have already
researched. Starting with two Hints for the warehouses around town. I have a
Maid-in-the-Mirror on standby to murder any hunter assigned to investigate me.
If he is captured alive, I will take him to the Spider Door.
What? No talking?
The Hints can go for now. The Maid-in-the-Mirror and a Caligine will clear
out the Kerisham sites and Vandershaaf. I have taken leave from Glover’s. I
will explain to him when I return. After the rumours about accepting strange
shipments and furtive nighttime activities abate, of course.
Kerisham (multiple):

• Byzantine tinct Knock-4 ingredient
• As the Sun His Course [Aramaic] Edge-8 lore, Rite of the Rebel Striving
• The Orchid Transfigurations (Vol 3) [Latin] Heart-2 lore
• silver spintria spintria-8 tool
• The Book of the Centipede [Greek] SecretHistories-6 lore
• silver spintria spintria-8 tool
• The Gospel of Zacchaeus [Greek] Knock-6 lore, Rite of the Mother’s Mercy
• Book of True Blood [Latin] Edge-10 lore

The Vandershaaf Collection:

• jumble sell at auction
• paradoxical curio Secret-4 tool
• winged doll Moth-4 tool
• The Silver Book [♥♥♥♥♥♥] Knock-8 lore

Summoned another Hint, and sent it with Maid-in-the-Mirror and Caligine to
the Unnumbered Stones.
The Unnumbered Stones (multiple):

• icon of St Agnes Knock-4 tool
• The Twin-Serpent Tantra [Sanskrit] Knock-8 lore, Rite of the Mother’s Mercy
• The Iron Book [♥♥♥♥♥♥] Forge-8 lore
• Bitterblack salts Forge-4 ingredient
• The Thirsting Tantra [Sanskrit] Grail-8 lore, Rite of the Sea’s Feasting
• The Ciphered Journal of Alessandro LaCroce [Latin] ♥♥♥♥♥♥ translations
• iron spintria spintria-2 tool
• Biedde’s blade Edge-8 tool
• The Book of Thrones [Phrygian] Edge-10 lore, Secret-10 lore
• Bitterblack salts Forge-4 ingredient
• The Serenity of the Black Wood [Greek] Moth-10 lore
• Xanthotic essence Forge-8 ingredient
• Greydawn oil Winter-4 ingredient
• The Burning Woman [Phrygian] Forge-10 lore
• History of the Shadowless Kings [Aramaic] Secret-10 lore, Heart-10 lore
• The Furious Tantra [Sanskrit] Edge-6 lore, Rite of the Rebel Striving
• The High Mysteries of the Innermost C.C.S. [♥♥♥♥♥♥] Lantern-10 lore
• The Book of Dissolution [Deep Mandaic] Forge-10 lore, Rite of the Crucible Soul
• iron spintria spintria-2 tool
• Elagabaline manacle Winter-8 tool
• A Second Glory [Deep Mandaic] Winter-10 lore, Rite of the Beast’s Division
• iron spintria spintria-2 tool
• The World Does Not Weep [Aramaic] Winter-8 lore, Rite of the Beast’s Division
• The August Stone [Aramaic] Deep Mandaic translations

I have completed a series of paintings, using rare pigments, dedicated to
the eight aspects. These will be useful in rituals, especially Map’s Edge
and Crucible Soul.
Does everyone do this? What happens to them all?
I used Edge lore to find the Peacock Door from the Spider Door.
Knock or Lantern would also work.
I have returned to Glover’s. I placated him with Moth-fueled fantasies. I
need to restore my fortunes before financing scouting missions and expeditions
to locales further from my home. I must put in more effort. My colleagues
suspect I have more than the ordinary number of secrets.
I have scouted some locations on the continent, beyond the forests.

• Cave of Candles
  1. high pass Winter or Forge
  2. Younger Sister Knock or Edge
• Tower Revek
  1. hidden door Lantern or Knock
  2. Creeping Breath curse Heart or Grail
• Grunewald’s Permanent Circus
  1. mortal watchers Edge, Grail, or Moth
  2. The Worms in the World curse Moth or Lantern
• Voivode’s Citadel
  1. dead watchers Edge or Winter
  2. hidden door Lantern or Knock
• Foxlily Meadows (multiple sites)
  1. high pass Winter or Forge
  2. mortal watchers Edge, Grail, or Moth
  3. Fifth Eye curse Heart or Winter

I have scouted some sites in the mountains on the far side of the
continent.

• Hunter’s Pits
  1. high pass Winter or Forge
  2. mortal watchers Edge, Grail, or Moth
  3. Younger Sister Knock or Edge
• Mausoleum of Wolves
  1. dead watchers Edge or Winter
  2. high pass Winter or Forge
  3. warded door Forge or Knock
• Snow’s Keeper
  1. high pass Winter or Forge
  2. dead watchers Edge or Winter
  3. The Worms in the World curse Moth or Lantern
• The Eye of Ikirmawi
  1. high pass Winter or Forge
  2. warded door Forge or Knock
  3. Fifth Eye curse Heart or Winter
• Tombs of the Shadowless Kings (multiple sites)
  1. high pass Winter or Forge
  2. mortal watchers Edge, Grail, or Moth
  3. hidden door Lantern or Knock
  4. Creeping Breath curse Heart or Grail

The high desert beyond the mountains has a few sites of interest.

• Star-Shattered Fane
  1. desolation Forge or Grail
  2. hidden door Lantern or Knock
  3. Fifth Eye curse Heart or Winter
• Messana
  1. desolation Forge or Grail
  2. mortal watchers Edge, Grail, or Moth
  3. Creeping Breath curse Heart or Grail
• Lagun’s Tomb
  1. desolation Forge or Grail
  2. warded door Forge or Knock
  3. Dry Soul curse Heart or Lantern
• Temple of Seven Coils
  1. desolation Forge or Grail
  2. warded door Forge or Knock
  3. The Worms in the World curse Moth or Lantern
• Miah (multiple sites)
  1. desolation Forge or Grail
  2. dead watchers Edge or Winter
  3. hidden door Lantern or Knock
  4. Creeping Breath curse Heart or Grail

Expeditions 4

I opened the wrong door in the Mansus, and used my memory of it to summon
the Baldomerian, Teresa. We speak in ♥♥♥♥♥♥. She could teach me, if I did not
already know it. She has no shadow. I cannot use her now, but perhaps I
shall call on her again later.
I hired a bomb-maker to repair my cracked Lantern tools. I used the mirror
to pass the Peacock gate. My hireling can keep repairing it as long as my
bronze spintriae hold out.
The influences are powerful so high on the Mansus. If I do not use them,
they become irritants. But this is the quickest way to find the secrets that
can be researched to find clues to sites in the islands. It is easy enough to
send summoned spirits off on expeditions.
Cave of Candles:

• iron spintria spintria-2 tool
• hallowed polos Grail-8 tool
• The Book of Masks [Phrygian] Moth-10 lore

Hunter’s Pits:

• furious sliver Edge-12 tool
• silver spintria spintria-8 tool
• The Vinzant Inscriptions [Phrygian] Forge-6 lore

Foxlily Meadows:

• iron spintria spintria-2 tool
• Glassfinger toxin Lantern-8 ingredient

I acquired a major grail influence, and used it to summon Ezeem. He taught
me Phrygian, which I had been sorely lacking. I then sent him to loot Messana.

Messana:

• Malleus Imperative Forge-8 tool
• gold spintria spintria-16 tool
• writhing caul Grail-12 ingredient

Ezeem, Teresa, and a Maid-in-the-Mirror can handle the rest of the far
continent sites. I do not fear failure. Their power is unmatched.
Tower Revek:

• iron spintria spintria-2 tool
• Leathy Moth-8 ingredient
• Chalice Murmurous Grail-12 tool

Grunewald’s Permanent Circus:

• jumble sell it
• iron spintria spintria-2 tool
• The Leonine Tantra [Sanksrit] Edge-8 lore
• Medusa’s Lament [Greek] Knock-10 lore

Voivode’s Citadel:

• iron spintria spintria-2 tool
• Glassfinger toxin Lantern-8 ingredient
• gold spintria spintria-16 tool

This was a long time coming, but Glover has paid me off to leave the firm.
I will not cause any further trouble for him and his gibbering son. My funds
are sufficient for me to live twenty years without earning another coin. I can
certainly survive on my commissions and paintings if necessary.
The same crew can handle some of the remaining sites I have scouted. I need
someone stronger in Forge for the warded doors. The bomb-maker might suffice.
If not, I will add a Caligine.
Snow’s Keeper:

• consecrated lintel Knock-8 tool
• silver spintria spintria-8 tool
• Alakapurine shears Moth-12 tool

Shattered Fane:

• Wildering mirror Lantern-8 tool
• ichor vitreous Lantern-12 ingredient
• The Voyages of Ferninshun of Oreol [♥♥♥♥♥♥] Secret-14 lore

Tombs of the Shadowless Kings (multiple):

• The Larquebine Codex [Phrygian] Heart-6 lore
• Wolf-Snow Winter-8 ingredient

Miah (multiple):

• The Fire-Circle Tantra [Sanksrit] Moth-8 lore
• writhing caul Grail-12 ingredient
• silver spintria spintria-8 tool
• gold spintria spintria-16 tool
• Labhitic grains Forge-8 ingredient
• The Origins of Hours [Vak] Moth-12 lore
• Labhitic grains Forge-8 ingredient
• Division bell Winter-12 tool
• witch-kissed oil Heart-8 ingredient
• The Time of Division [Deep Mandaic] Lantern-14 lore, Rite Intercalate
• The Watchful Tantra [Sanksrit] Lantern-8 lore, Rite of the Watchman’s Sorrow
• Azoth Knock-12 ingredient
• The Geminiad [♥♥♥♥♥♥] Moth-8 lore, Grail-8 lore, Heart-8 lore, Rite of the Sea’s Marriage
• The Sevenfold Slaying of the Seven-Coiled [♥♥♥♥♥♥] Edge-12 lore
• Amaranthine nectar Grail-8 ingredient
• holiest hemolymph Moth-12 ingredient
• cracked Watchman’s glass Lantern-3 ingredient
• Watch-Worms Winter-12 ingredient
• Those Who Do Not Sleep [♥♥♥♥♥♥] Heart-10 lore, Rite of the Sea’s Feasting
• Iotic essence Forge-12 ingredient
• The Sky, the Soul [Aramaic] Lantern-10 lore
• holiest hemolymph Moth-12 ingredient
• silver spintria spintria-8 tool
• The Scar in the Sky [♥♥♥♥♥♥] Winter-14 lore, Rite Intercalate
• Amaranthine nectar Grail-8 ingredient
• gold spintria spintria-16 tool
• A Catalogue of Uncharted Pleasures [Phrygian] Grail-10 lore
• Watchman’s glass Lantern-12 tool
• silver spintria spintria-8 tool
• The Dreams of the Conspiracy of the Lower Skies [Phrygian] Forge-12 lore
• witch-kissed oil Heart-8 ingredient
• The Focus of Amber [Deep Mandaic] Lantern-12 lore
• The Deeds of the Scarred Captain [Greek] Edge-8 lore
• Iotic essence Forge-12 ingredient
• The Velshorn Inscriptions [Greek] Phrygian translations
• gold spintria spintria-16 tool
• Sthenic venom Knock-8 ingredient
• The Songs of the Carapace Cross [Deep Mandaic] Knock-12 lore
• silver spintria spintria-8 tool
• gold spintria spintria-16 tool
• silver spintria spintria-8 tool
• gold spintria spintria-16 tool

Mausoleum of Wolves:

• Wolf-Snow Winter-8 ingredient
• The Morphy Codex [Aramaic] Secret-8 lore
• Where Has She Gone [Vak] Secret-12 lore

Eye of Ikirmawi:

• 26 Enticements, 7 Torments [♥♥♥♥♥♥]
• The Flayed Tantra [Sanskrit] Heart-8 lore
• gold spintria spintria-16 tool

Lagun’s Tomb:

• Atlas of Dreams Secret-8 tool
• How the End Will Begin [Vak] Edge-14 lore
• Five Creations [Vak] Grail-14 lore

Temple of Seven Coils:

• Watch-Worms Winter-12 ingredient
• The Ivory Book [♥♥♥♥♥♥] Winter-8 lore, Sunset Rite
• In Memory of Gods [♥♥♥♥♥♥] Winter-10 lore

I summoned King Crucible. If I did not already know Deep Mandaic, he (it?)
could teach me.

Expeditions 5

I have learned of an archipelago that appears on no chart known to mundane
mariners, shunned by wind and current. One who knows the secret ways can
reach them, and much knowledge has gone there and has not returned. I will
send Ezeem, Teresa, and King Crucible. And a Maid-in-the-Mirror.

• Raven Isle
  1. a Western sea Forge or Heart
  2. Soucouyants Moth or Lantern
  3. Fifth Eye curse Heart or Winter
• The Wreck of the Christabel
  1. a Western sea Forge or Heart
  2. Younger Sister Knock or Edge
  3. Creeping Breath curse Heart or Grail
• St Tentreto of the Deep Door
  1. disciplined watchers Edge or Moth
  2. hidden door Lantern or Knock
  3. Fifth Eye curse Heart or Winter
• Fort Geryk
  1. a Western sea Forge or Heart
  2. dead watchers Edge or Winter
  3. warded door Forge or Knock
• Port Noon (multiple sites)
  1. a Western sea Forge or Heart
  2. Long watcher Moth or Grail
  3. warded door Forge or Knock
  4. Fifth Eye curse Heart or Winter

Wreck of the Christabel:

• Kingskin Bodhran Heart-12 tool
• A Manual for Departure [Vak] Knock-14 lore
• In the Mountains as Upon the Plain [Vak] Secret-10 lore, Moth-10 lore

Raven Isle:

• The Manner in Which the Alchemist Was Spared [Vak] Forge-14 lore
• The Book of the Extinguished Heart [Deep Mandaic] Winter-12 lore, Rite Intercalate
• The Book of the White Cat [Phrygian] Heart-12 lore

St Tentreto of the Deep Door:

• Azoth Knock-12 ingredient
• Commandments for the Preservation [Deep Mandaic] Heart-14 lore
• enigmatic sculpture [Sanskrit] Vak translations (I stand corrected)

Fort Geryk:

• true blood of St Januarius Heart-12 ingredient
• ichor vitreous Lantern-12 ingredient
• gold spintria spintria-16 tool

Port Noon (multiple) xx:

• gold spintria spintria-16 tool
• Inaam, Kapigiginlupir, Garkir, Cryppys [Phrygian] Moth-14 lore
• true blood of St Januarius Heart-12 ingredient
• Skaptodon fang Edge-12 ingredient
• Carcass Spark Forge-12 tool
• My Deeds, My Powers, My Achievements [♥♥♥♥♥♥] Forge-12 lore
• Skaptodon fang Edge-12 ingredient
• Frangiclave Knock-12 tool
• gold spintria spintria-16 tool
• gold spintria spintria-16 tool
• gold spintria spintria-16 tool
• gold spintria spintria-16 tool
• gold spintria spintria-16 tool
• gold spintria spintria-16 tool

Madness

I made a foolish error. I have been dreaming too long on the ascending
slopes. I should have gone to the blades instead of the river. I have found
too many fascinations, and not enough time to scrounge up dread. I fear it
won’t be long now. Already the cracks in reality are opening up, spilling
their contents across my floor.
Oh, George. You were always so cautious. Too cautious, actually.

I don’t appreciate your condescension. It’s bad enough that you’re sitting
there writing in my journal. The least you could do is be polite. How
typical of you Americans. Go wherever you like, bold as you please. No sense
of decorum or tradition.
Are you speaking to me?
Writing at you, actually. The snarky American that thinks he knows so much,
marking up my diary with notes. Cease and desist immediately. Ah, there’s a
queer fellow. A little man made of triangles has come through my mirror to
tell me about Joseph Cosenza. He changed his name when he was 22 years old,
but he will always be an embarrassment to his father’s construction company.

I don’t answer to that name any more. How is this happening?
I already said. The visions are overwhaleming. They are swimming through
my study. Hello, Mister Whale! Have you brought me sea flowers? Is it my
birthday? My mistake, and I’m dreadfully sorry, Miss Whale. That’s
very kind of you.
George! George Baxter! Focus!
What’s that? Oh. She has gone. And we were getting on well. Why are you
so rude?
I am not rude; I am from New York.
Not to be contrary, but you certainly are.
I acquired this book, at great expense, from a collection in San
Francisco. I paid for it in blood. It’s mine now. You have been gone for
quite some time. I am writing in my book. Mine. It isn’t even the
original. They made 100 copies, and this was the only one I could find.

But it is my diary. That’s very personal. You shouldn’t even be
reading it.
And yet, here we are. I am not trying to be rude. I am trying to
find lore and secrets that will help me ascend the Mansus and pass through the
gate.
Why, that is exactly what I am doing. How are you getting on?
I am reading the journal of a man who has already gone mad before
learning anything I do not already know. The pinning trick was useful, I must
admit, but I am most in need of lore now.
I will ask one of my new friends. The man made of triangles says that you
should travel to Kauai, and follow the road to Hanalei. From there, follow
the Waioli Stream past the 6th branch, to the dry lake. There will be a shrine
to Pele there, on the east side. It was repurposed from a much older
structure, built by a cult dedicated to the Forge. There, you will find a
Heart of Fire, a powerful Forge tool, and the last surviving copy of
Ini’a’puhakaelemunu’a, which describes some sort of rite where the aspirant
dives into a caldera, swims down into the magma, and emerges with all fear and
doubt burned away forever. The golden dog tells me I won’t be able to get there
because the lake is still filled with water now.
Thank you, George. I wish I could help you. Perhaps… let us discuss
the descending slopes of the Mansus. There is a power there, from which
nothing more can be taken, because it has already lost everything. This power
cannot be deceived, and cannot be tempted, and cannot know mercy. The Elegiast
mourns all, and commemorates all.
I have heard of it.
There are Hours that were, and no longer are. They came from stone and
light, and went to Nothing. These things that cannot die may yet be lost
forever, because there is a power that creates endings, which will not be
denied.
My visions are abating! I felt a sudden dread come on. But before they go,
I must leave a message to myself. I must assemble a package, with some basic
lore and some funds, and send it to Rabbi Saul Cohen, in New York City, with
two gold spintriae. He is to hold it until a Joseph Cosenza, of Queens, flunks
out of college, and is disinherited by his father, at approximately 21 years of
age. He is to include directions to the occult book shop, and make an
introduction to another aspirant, and remain available to give academic
commissions. The aspirant himself will pay another gold spintria, for the
means to locate the delicatessen, when the job is done.
This is important! Do this, or I will have gone mad this very instant.
I have survived my bout with madness. I wrote as if I were having a
conversation with someone. But it was half heard. I sent a scout to the site
in Hawai’i, but there was nothing there but a mountain lake. I am somewhat
disturbed by what I wrote, but I will follow my own instructions. How can one
have integrity, if one cannot keep a promise to oneself?
I never knew where that bequest came from. Now I do.
I think I am ready. I will make the attempt. If I succeed, I will be
numbered among the Long.
—–

I have found all there is to find. I know the tongues. I recall the lore.
I possess the tools. I can summon assistance from a mere hint of an aspect.
It is time to ascend through the Tricuspid Gate.
I will end with the fires of passion. I dream upon thoughts of fire. I
work with my knowledge of fire. I burn expensive and exotic fuels.
It is time. I burn.
He never did get around to founding a cult…
—–

Here you go, Baxter, some helpful hints you can read the next time you
go nuts.
First, found a cult. This requires selecting a core aspect for your
cult, by using lore of the appropriate type, or secrets to run a generalist
sort of a cult. A specialist cult can train adepts skilled in the cult’s core
aspect to mastery, whereas a generalist cult can only have adepts. After
selecting an aspect, you must sacrifice of yourself. You don’t need to be
choosy about picking your first recruit. Any acquaintance will do.

To recruit members to your cult, talk about your cult, select an
acquaintance, and use a sufficient amount of influence. To send a member out
on cult business, talk to them directly, and use the cult as the subject.
Moth-aligned disciples tend to go crazy after a while. Best to use them
up before they burn themselves out. If anyone in your cult is expendable, it’s
the Moth mook. You could have given one of them to that Lascelles lady.

Locations

Rituals

• Moth, Knock, Grail: summon Raw Prophet
• Moth, Winter, corpse: infuse Burgeoning Risen
• Moth, Edge: Passion’s Gyre convert reason to passion
• Winter, Knock, Edge: summon Maid-in-the-Mirror
• Winter, Knock, Forge: summon Caligine
• Winter, Knock, Heart: summon Voiceless Dead
• Winter, Edge, corpse: infuse Shattered Dead
• Winter, Lantern: The End is Beautiful best not to try it
• Edge, Knock, Lantern: summon Hint
• Edge, Knock, Heart: summon Percussigant
• Edge, Lantern: Reason’s Glory convert passion to reason
• Lantern, Knock, Forge: summon King Crucible
• Lantern, Knock, Grail: summon Second Thirst
• Lantern, Knock, Secret: summon Baldomerian
• Forge, Grail: Forge’s Redemption reverse decrepitude