Session Date: 9/25/2023
We are in downtime due to the rail maintenance. We are all also aware that there is a potentially powerful person with another piece of the seal here.
The Sheriff shows up and we notice he’s downgraded to one pistol at all times. The deputy is more calm now. Bosch has been invited to the sheriff’s office. The entire group goes and we make it to the building. Bosch has found a good hiding spot for Bean and goes to see the Sheriff, away from the rest of the party. The Sheriff is telling Bosch that a career in law enforcement is definitely for him, and Bosch thanks him quite so much and lies saying he definitely thinks it’s the right place. The Sheriff says that he feels he should make the position official and that Bosch wouldn’t be paid because we are on an adventure, but he could be an official arm of the law. Bosch says that he is honored and he would love to be part of that.
The Sheriff recognizes that Bosch doesn’t normally operate as a deputy and Bosch tries to figure out what he means by that. He fully thinks that Bosch is normally a lawful person who definitely isn’t the type to rip railings off of a building to beat enemies with them. The Sheriff wants to give him the badge and Bosch explains he wants to think about this a few days and he will give an answer to the Sheriff before leaving town. The Sheriff is not surprised by this turn and just asks to speak again before we all leave.
We find a tavern and stop to get some drinks and food.
Tabby and Faylen vibe pretty well in the tavern. Faylen finds a group of college students he can socialize with and he talks about his studies and how awful all of his professors are and gets along pretty well with them. He talks magic and shop with some others from basically a magic community college.
Tabby decides to go with a more performative role in the tavern and starts to tell a tale, but then he realizes that he shouldn’t necessarily tell the specific details of the adventure so far. He ultimately decides to have the moment to himself and just drink some beer.
Mary has one drink and then heads out and finds a park that is quite lovely to walk through. She feels that everything here is a little too contained, even though it is rather nice (in comparison to all the buildings). She sits beneath a tree and just kind of watches while she lets Taletha run around and do her thing. She wonders about the seal and the fragments thereof, and if the seal is what is supposed to fixed.
The Seal of Infinity is said to be the source of all arcane magic — it’s a legend. She would think that magic is more complicated than it being stuck in one thing, no matter how powerful it is, but she could potentially use it. (Any of us potentially could.) For everybody it would be slightly different, but if we could attune to it we could pull something out of it that is unique to us.
Bosch has the desire to actually try to attune to the Seal, but he decides to hold off for now.
Later in our down time, Bosch finds himself hiking through the woods outside of the city, lit by whatever moonlight there is filtering through the trees. He has the Seal and eventually finds a clearing where he can try to attune to this thing. He grumbles about how he’s not strong enough and how they’re trying to tie him down. He reasons that he’s doing this away from others, he’s trying not to cause trouble, then he at the fragment of the Seal and shakes it a bit trying to figure out how to make it work.
The Seal shakes in his hands and goes straight into Bosch’s bones. For just a moment it is almost as if an enormous pressure goes into Bosch and he falls onto one knee, but this energy ripples through him and then the ground. There is a destructive natural power that goes through it and him. Bosch tries to grip it with both hands to keep a secure group and try to stop the shaking — he’s not sure what he’s doing. The power and energy is just a flash but the seismic power has changed the clearing so that there’s ripples and jagged pieces of stone around him.
He was almost able to wield the power of it, but just not quite. Maybe he will be able to do it soon and he recognizes there is definitely power in the stone for him.
Bosch tries again: he rages and hits the seal against the ground to activate it. He summons the seismic energy again and now he has complete control over it. The Seal is shaking and there’s a ten foot patch of stone around him. As long as Bosch has the Seal of Infinity on his person he can use the relic power “Shattered Earth”. This power feels good and natural to Bosch. He tears up one of the rocks that he unearthed and hurl it into a tree and cause some damage around yonder. The Seal’s power eventually ends, and eventually Bosch’s rage also ends.
Bosch slumps down and drifts to sleep here.
In the morning, the group rallies that Bosch is gone and Bean explains that Mary shouldn’t’ve said anything. We follow Bean to find Bosch and find the “clearing” in absolute ruins: it could be a new fucking quarry. We find Bosch, who is still sleeping and holding our fragment of the Seal. Mary says he might be dead and Faylen starts shaking him awake in panic and Bosch eventually wakes up.
Bosch explains that he figured out power is in there and he demonstrates the power he gained from it. Bosch tries to explain how to use it and Faylen tries to magically explain it and that doesn’t really work. Bosch offers to let someone else feel the vibration of the Seal and Faylen takes him up on that. Bosch tries to walk him through how to use it and the two essentially stand there in a primal scream for a while. Eventually Faylen stops and says he doesn’t think this is working for him, and Mary confirms we all likely have to activate it in a different way.
We go back to town for breakfast and Tabby asks what Bosch will be doing with regard to the deputy position. Bosch says he wants some help with that from Faylen: he isn’t sure how to turn the Sheriff down on the position.
After Bosch figures out how to use the Seal fragment, Tabby tries. He does a performance and his eyes light up and he realizes that he’s not alone in the forest: there are creatures around him, things not exactly of this world, that are watching him. They are whispering that he is the Chosen One, that he is interesting and they should watch. They are the fey. They will not always help, but if Tabby asks nicely they might hinder an enemy. The ability he gets is “whammy,” valid once per day. He can force an enemy to re-roll a successful whatever roll they did. The fey golf claps him for the success of his efforts.
He gets back and explains what his power from the Seal is.
Mary finally decides to check what her power is and she goes deep into the forest where it is heavily wooded. She sits down and meditates and recounts how so much has happened in such a short time. She finally opens her eyes and she is not in a clearing, but she is actually almost in the heart of the forest, surrounded by woodland creatures and animals. Almost every type of animal that lives here is here looking at her. She can get her woodland friends to help her and the Seal will protect them so they will not be harmed in the long run, they will not die. They are in no real danger.
Faylen, for now, researches in the library to change his spell list, and also researches into the Seal and powers granted by it. He figures out that nobody has tried to wield the Seal in centuries so we are basically in uncharted territory. Faylen is starting to glom onto the idea that he will have a card in his pocket to ask professors if they’ve ever once used the Seal of Infinity to channel power? No? Okay :)
Bosch does go back to speak to the Sheriff and apologizes that as much as he would love to serve as a deputy of Rosevale but he currently has an overriding mission for the Council that takes precedence at this time. The Sheriff is accepting of this and shakes Bosch’s hand after Bosch returns the temporary deputy badge. The Sheriff has completely misread Bosch, but Bosch has a friend in Rosevale forevermore.
We get back to Sheryl Hanson and she was writing for most of the day. We can expect the novel in a few months — she promises us autographed copies. The town actually gives us tickets to the thunder rail (first class). Except for Bosch, we are in the paper with pictures and names.
We board the train and we don’t expect any issues there. On long trips we expect to stop at some stations for 1-2 days, and we also know that there are creatures hunting for us. We are traveling more or less incognito: while people from Rosevale know of us, everyone else sees us as just travelers. Mary is currently carrying the Seal.
We get on the train and Bosch sneaks into the first class dining car hanging out with Sheryl and the Sheriff.
A big man with big steps comes out of the sleeping cart and he says it’s 5 o’clock somewhere, give him wine, and food, for he carries the Seal of Infinity.