(no subject)

[claudiometer]

Hokay, so. I tracked down some nuts and bolts on this Solomon Ring situation, with a little help from the Google. Still really wishing I could just call Artie and put him on it, but the regular Internets will have to do. [If she'd found any hint of a database like the Warehouse's, she would have hacked the shit out of it, but alas.]

Name, as suspected, comes from the Biblical king, who supposedly had the first of these things. This isn't the second or even the third, but the last one set up was a good several centuries back. This one's got backing from the royal family and some dude called the Manticore, and with the spirit situation that's probably not a cute nickname; they've been working on getting it set up for a few decades now.

As far as why goes, and why now, that's trickier to place. There's a laundry list of dust-ups and incidents cited as reasons to get some intelligence-gathering going in the Spirit World, but I'm not sure if one in particular set off interest or sped the project up or what. I'm gonna keep digging as best I can.

And then there's what it does, which is establish a permanent gateway to the Spirit World - or as 'permanent' as it is allowed to stay upright, considering the older ones are all long gone. One entity gets through it at a time, but you don't need much power at all to open it, so it'd make it possible for just about anyone to go back and forth between planes.

Anyone else find out anything worth knowing, about this or other stuff?

Comments

[awitchdidit]

I made my own inquiries, albeit using a series of tourist disguises and not "the google". According to the lore of this world, the legendary "Solomon's Ring" was this precise manner of permanent magic circle, and not a piece of jewelry - which makes a certain amount of sense, when one thinks about it.

The "Solomon Ring" that the British Empire is building here is not just the same manner of device, but meant to be as exact a replica as can be managed, even importing materials supposedly from Solomon's ancient sources - gold from his legendary mines, that sort of thing. All the supplies are supposedly arriving in country this coming week.

I can't say I'm fond of the idea of this level of magic in the hands of a superpower government, let alone the possibilities should it fall into the hands of anyone else. Spirits are largely living in harmony with humans now, but a permanent gateway changes the dynamic entirely...

[claudiometer]

Hey, I'm not gonna hold research methods against anyone. Some people do better with the personal approach. Anything that gets us useful info is worth doing.

No kidding. I don't need to be Pete to have a bad vibe about this whole thing, but... I can't tell if we're supposed to disrupt it, or make sure it gets installed without a hitch, or something in between. We don't know enough yet.

Is investigating always this frustrating?

[awitchdidit]

I've only done it once, and all I did there was dominate a bunch of teenagers in flashy arguments. I haven't the faintest idea if there was a goal on that one.

This is a similar feeling of tension to Bando, though. One false step could have incredibly dire consequences, and I'm quite certain there are forces at work behind the scenes with personal agendas.

[dreamingking]

Where do I begin? Most of what I've learned probably isn't terribly relevant, but I will share.

First, the cats have pointed out to me several places of heavy spirit activity. The most important, I've learned, will be the site this Ring will be built. I intend to investigate it at some point soon and see if the place can tell me anything else.

Secondly, Fae and spirit may well be interchangeable terms here. Whether it is because they are actuallly the same thing, and merely given different names, or the Fae that have made themselves known went under the more acceptable moniker, or everything is a spirit, and legends tend to follow similar paths, I don't care to guess. The most relevant information I've learned is that a famous "Fae Queen" was around during the reign of Elizabeth I, and apparently gained power from strong female rulers. She was called Gloriana, and is the last spirit who was fully public before the comet that made the current world possible. In my world, this Gloriana is a feature in a poem by Edmund Spencer.

The last and most important is that Manticore will be arriving here presently with the current rulers. I've learned that he takes a very negative view towards cat-spirits, but is quite firm in establishing his rule over this land. Also that he eats people.

I have also acquired a small entourage of cats which can investigate people or places and report back to me. If there is anything worth looking into, they are glad to go.

1/2

[claudiometer]

Eats people? How charming. [The fact that most of this guy's information revolves around cats, spirits, or cat spirits she lets slide, for now. Everyone has their reasons for poking at things.]

Well, pretty much nobody's going to suspect a cat, that's for sure. If something needs pursuing it'll become clear pretty...

[claudiometer]

['Quickly' was the end of that thought, but Claudia's brain finally caught up to the part in the middle.]

Gloriana? That's the current queen's name. And she... gained power from strong female rulers...

[Maybe it's a coincidence. But Artie doesn't believe in coincidences, and that has a way of rubbing off. Either it's one hell of a coincidence or someone has some 'splaining to do, and either way this is definitely ringing some bells.]

[dreamingking]

Playing Faerie Bride always ends so well at that.

More likely, though, if this queen is a spirit, her husband is also likely to be. They would not be the first otherworldly beings to exert a more subtle rulership over humans than arrogant powerhouses like Manticore and his ilk. If they are spirits, they are the ones I would watch most closely.

[loyalrebel]

If you could ask your friends to not go after me when I am a sparrow I would appreciate it.

I have horns, they are... fairly distinct.

[loyalrebel]

Could this spirit world be Liminal Space?

I will see what information I can gather as a bird and otherwise. Nobody notices a sparrow on a windowsill.

[claudiometer]

I dunno, a sparrow with horns might start attracting some attention. Not as much here as in some other worlds, granted.

...hmm. We can't rule out Liminal Space having a connection to the spirit world, but I don't think it is the spirit world. I wouldn't be surprised if digging proves one or more of the things on this laundry list ended up sounding a lot like 'this is another Grid or Nova Venezia.' Obviously not as bad as the latter or someone would've reported flashbacks by now, and no one seems overly suspicious of us in particular so far, but.

[awitchdidit]

As a source of magical power and spirits with unclear agendas, it reminds me more of the Fae world the Illuminants hailed from...which isn't to say that wasn't a kind of Liminal Space, but it wasn't the same inter-world Liminal Space we've been using.

[brokers]

It is certainly not a nickname. From what I have been able to determine, the Manticore is one of the most powerful and influential spirits to enter this world in the last century. Most of those who cross over are weaker beings, and prefer to blend in, not to shape a dynasty to their will and empower a small army of soldiers.

[claudiometer]

What I'm hearing here is that the Manticore, at least, is Bad News Bears. Or, well, kitty. [But then why would... no, Claudia needs to stop that thought process before she puts all her eggs in the wrong basket.]

Still not enough to really figure out what it is we're meant to be doing here. I guess we'll just have to get more information.

[awitchdidit]

Manticores, for the record, are lions with scorpion tails, and often other animal features. Courage and subtle venom at the same time, sort of a nastier Sphynx.

[Which gives her an idea, but she'll keep it to herself for now.]

Scorpion imagery is a magical weakness of mine, so I'll probably have to avoid the man.

[asinisterkid]

That's about what I got -- tracking it on social media came up with some talk of protests, but we're talking a few people with signs, a flash mob... Nothing that's even made the news, just people's twitter accounts.

If there is any kind of organized resistance, it's not advertising itself.

[claudiometer]

Well, if one of this thing's backers might eat any more obvious resistance, I can't say I blame 'em for keeping on the downlow.

[taiyny]

Shit.

[ Someone has experience with things ripping holes in reality to other dimensions. ]

You only need one entity to get through for mass destruction to happen. The wrong one. Any idea where this thing is at, or will be?

[claudiometer]

At a guess, I'd say the fenced-off construction site, but good luck getting past all the guards.

[Which isn't the same as 'don't even bother,' just a heads-up that she'll have her work cut out for her.]

[mysunnydisposition]

I think it's definitely worth a look, before they finish the thing and turn it on.

You wanna go check it out together? I don't know about you, but whatever security they've got shouldn't be much of a problem for me.

[highsteaks]

I've heard about the protests too. I was thinking of maybe going next week? Just to see what happens.

[claudiometer]

Huh. Maybe people just aren't fussing too hard right now because it's a special week? It's a possibility, anyway.

[protect_and_serve]

We are on island with a gateway. Like those who went back to Plathville found?

[claudiometer]

Not... exactly, I don't think. From the sound of things there, that one could've potentially accessed all kinds of different dimensions. This one's only designed to access one other place.

I mean, it's still an interesting theory and one that might be worth digging into.

[summerorange]

The first shipment is due to come in within the next few days, from what I've read thru the news. And with all the guards around it, I wouldn't be surprised if someone doesn't at least try and make off with a piece of it.

...not that they shouldn't, as far as I can tell.

[claudiometer]

It's impossible to tell whether they should or not, so far. But someone probably will try.

[Probably some of the investigators will try, just based on the reactions here.]