Ortgeist - Act 1

Act 1: Sleeping with the Fishes

When the furniture spirits move into the Jackson Park area, Min is separated from Kikimora and the others, who he depended on for warmth and security. Upon moving onto the dock, Min is instantly smitten by Klabautermann, and smothers her with affection Klabautermann is initially irritated like the rest of the spirits at the arrival of Min and the others. They are, after all, enemy invaders, like the kind she had seen in the war long ago. One day, however, she falls in love, against all odds, with the needy Min. She is ashamed, and attempts to hide
this affection from the other nature spirits by slightly
abusing him, tossing him off of her and onto the
shore. Eventually, Bloop realizes what is happening,
and tosses Min into the water. Klabautermann must
decide which she values more: her kinship with her
nature spirits, or her budding romance.

Puzzles

The puzzle for this piece is a slow one. The cult has spotted a piece of furniture bobbing out in the water and has found canoes to investigate. Hauling up the furniture the players discover that it is tied to a night blooming water lily, which reveals a hidden message in the moonlight. The players now follow this clue through a series of night blooming plants.

Spirits

Min
The early history of Min, spirit of quilts, is shrowded in mystery. The only story he tells is of how he came to Catherine of Aragon upon her wedding to Henry VIII. After Henry banished Catherine from the court, Min assumed that she would take him with her. When she left him behind, he felt alone and completely abandoned. He eventually grew to like Anne Boleyn, and was thus totally traumatized after her death. He continued to attach himself to the rest of Henry's wives, in the hope that one of them would finally love him. In the end, however, he left with severe attachment issues. When he came to live in the apartment with the other furniture spirits, he became extremely attached to and dependent on others for comfort and warmth.

Klabautermann
Klabautermann, or as he calls himself 'the woman of the pier', has always been an adventurous spirit, but not much of a world traveler. Despite her masculine, German name, she spent the greatest portion of her time in Britain, where she lived in both the London Docklands and the Albert Dock. For many years, she watched ships come and go, full of cargo and excited men and women. She was in Albert Dock during World War II, and got one of her only tastes of real adventure when Albert Dock was damaged during air raids. Since then, she has always longed to explore, to go on quests of her own. In Jackson Park, she was forced to simply watch exciting events take place upon the water that lay next to her. She became extremely envious of Bloop and other spirits of the water, who seemed always in on whatever action was going on. She has begun to become insecure, to question her purpose in the world, and why she was given that purpose.