The Chessboard and the Operation of Fortune

Upon first entering Perenelle I was greeted by a peculiar message that seemed to be sent from something called a "chessboard". Normally I am not used to being addressed by chessboards, and was surprised to hear that it informed me of my "fortune" - something along the lines of my being "one hundred per cent fortunate", which is of course good to hear.

Initially I put this down to some sort of malfunctioning mechanism, spouting Nonsense due to the decay of its Artificial Mind. I am not known for my attention to fortune-tellers of any sort.

I quickly found the Chessboard that had sent me the message, and saw that the "pieces" were not the normal rooks and pawns but in fact, representations of visitors to the area, namely, myself. As well as this it seemed aware of quite what I was doing at the time - walking, typing, flying et cie. I suppose that the Chessboard must needs be aware of whomever is in the area in order to send them Messages, and did not pay it all that much mind at the time, though it is an odd feeling to be spied upon by a Chessboard. It did not seem to be bothering me unduly and thus I felt no need to bother It.

Upon my first encounter with a Jellyfish, and the painful sting that resulted, the Chessboard proceeded to send me the entirely superfluous information that I had been rather unlucky to be stung - though I was surprised to see very detailed information on precisely how unlucky I had been.

When I availed myself of some of the antidotes present in the Expedition's supplies, I was then informed that I had been lucky, again in a very detailed way. I did not really pay an awful lot of attention to this until such a time as I was stung to excess and found myself entirely removed from the area, sent back to my Caledon home. My luck, I was informed by the Chessboard, had entirely run out, and I had been doomed!

From this I drew two conclusions:

1. That luck and fortune were somehow very significant in Perenelle, above and beyond their physical manifestations;

2. That the Expedition had placed this Chessboard in Perenelle in order to make them aware of their current state of Fortune to a more detailed level than is usual, which is something which would fit my Uncle's character well, at least in his more sensible periods.

These impressions were confirmed by further revelations from his Expedition Journal, which you may see if you care to read onwards.