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((quickpost :v ))

Where is the nearest hotspot of bandit activity in this area? Or any known bandit camps/locations?

Spoiler: Darwin Zeppeli (click to show/hide)

Name: Darwin Zeppeli
Appearance: An old medicine man.

Magic path: alchemist gut-reader
Strength: d4
Speed: d6->d8 + 1
Endurance: d6->d8 + 2
Knowledge: d10
Will: d8 + 2
Senses: d10 + 1

Mana: 39
2 bottles with 10 thaum each (20 total)
Ongoing effects: None


Magical materials

Vacuum!
Reanimate
Sharpen
Viscera
Diamond
Rope

Inventory

1 sedated bugman

dissection knife: d4
Springy metal knive: d6
Springy metal sword: d6
Springy metal halberd: d8
Curved blade: d6
Icepick: d4
gun: d8 [50 rounds left]
9 smokebombs
thaumic bomb (currently empty)

Ecalir's old armor: d8 (in use)
shield (+1 to protective rolls from armor)
Sealer Suit: d4 (vs magic)

Alchemist’s Gear
408 gold 
2 silver
Octopus core
15 kg black biometal

A glass slab with a topographical map of the kingdom carved into it
a bottle of glowing blue sea water, inside protective box with lock
a glass orb with barely visible lotus inside of it, inside staff assembly.
magic coin
Small book
magic compass + map
Gimbal that points towards diamonds (range around 100 meter)

book on normal plants and animals
book on magical plants and animals/creatures
handbook on making weapons&armor, including a list of known types
a detailed account of the Artifacter war
map of the old world
good quality book&pen
good history book
series of good maps of area around Alkahest and the volcano

Paradox snail (inside jar) and things to keep them happy and fed, linked to Ecalir
Extra pair of paradox snails
Doctor's bag
set of ingredients (plants, chemicals and the like) for making poisons or antidotes (21 uses left)
High quality backpack
donkey named Yvonne for carrying
Zomboraptor head
Lantern
several hundred feet of rope
climbing crampons
a grappling hook
iron stakes
net made of rope
several vials with imp fat
20 vials
2x Collapsible rod
10 oil flasks
300 feet of really big, thick, strong rope
100 feet of metal chain
box of metal spikes
pair of binoculars
4 boxes of rags
Medium armor: d6 (not in use)
2 sets of digging tools (for Darwin + Ecalir)
Extra digging tools (for hired workers)
tarps, paint, and other stuff we can use to camouflage things with
17 leather skins (30 gold worth)
2 doses of fast-working anesthetic for knocking out humans

You ask around about bandits. They say that there are probably hidden camps, but that the largest concentration seems to come from the old city of Pinguious, to the south. Its half sunk, abandoned my the rightful citizens but now under the control of others.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

 Name: Eve
Appearance: 4 ft tall female human with long hear that constantly changes color. She always wears a long sleeve shirt and jeans. She has slightly tan skin and green eyes. most of her right arm is made of aluminum, from her hand to her forearm.
Magic path: Servant Sculptor
Mana: 9
Strength: d4
Speed: d8
Endurance: d6
Knowledge: d10
Will: d8
Senses: d8

Ongoing effects: None

Items needed for current Sculpture

1. An arrow, caught mid flight.
2. A piece of Amber containing a living thing
3. A block of Lead
4. A compass
5. Solidified Smoke.

Spirit: A silver quiver with 5 arrows that looks like a rib cage
Spirit Task: Unknown
Inventory: Doctor's bag, Thick fur shirt d4, Thick fur leggings d4, ghost charm, 100 ft of string, a pry-bar, 9 gold’s worth of food and water, Idol of Flux, 18 gold, a silver quiver thst looks like a rib cage, a bow, and 2 silver arrows.
Materials: Lightsilver, Silver, Stone, Water, Mercury, Erode, Channel

Buy a flashlight and warm clothes like a winter coat, warm boots, snow pants, a hat, some gloves, and a sweatshirt or 2

Flashlights aren't terribly common so we'll give you some torches instead. You get your gear for 3 gold.

Smush some magic rocks for mana.

Spoiler: Zavi (click to show/hide)

Name: Zavirius En-Drani Haver, Painter
Appearance: A girl of unknown but apparently foreign descent. She claims to be the last surviving member of a long-dead ancient race, kept preserved in some kind of magical stasis, but this is likely untrue. Though her skin is a strange shade not normally seen on the continent, and her hair is bleached white with a slight green reflective tint. She is not very tall but stout like a dwarf and startlingly strong. She's wearing a red gambeson, gray pants, metal bracers, shin guards and a sallet helm.
Mana: 5
Method: Flesh-Inscribed Channel
Materials: Lightweight, Explosion, Toxic, Lightning, Sunlight
Strength: d10+1
Speed: d8+2
Endurance: d6+2
Knowledge: d8+1
Will: d8+1
Senses: d6+1

Ongoing effects: Permanently immune to nerve gas

Inventory:
160 Gold
Backpack
Tattoo kit
Paints and brushes
Medium Armor (d6)
Kite Shield (d6)
Long Sword (d6)
Catch Pole
3 Small Bombs
Manacles
1-mana/shot explosion powered rifle.

Silver axe-helm.

Salt the Condor-Winged Baboon
Strength: d8
Speed: d8
Endurance: d6
Knowledge: d4
Will: d4
Senses: d6

Small bag

In Alcahest:

Wooden Arm-Guards (d4 armor)
Hemp sack
Kukri (d6 weapon)
Square-tip machete

[6v8][3+1v6]
You attempt to crush a piece of magicoal down into a powder, but even your best wild flailing only turns it into pebbles, which you still fail to draw mana from.

I subtracted the extra mana point from the 11 cost.  It doesn't matter anyway.  Can the eye see through objects?  It explodes out objects and allows Ekrov to see their components, so if he stares at a wall, can he see some bits of the stuff behind it?  What if he hangs a thin cloth over it?

Anyway, you said to do this again.  So do it again: "Assist Saeko with researching how to make/repair thaumic items, and in particular examine the gold wire and wire-laying tools.  Disassemble one of the tools in the process, and sketch out its design in detail while doing so."

...Go grab some ash from the thaumic furnace area real quick.  Ekrov needs some and I've somehow forgotten this for the entire time we've been here.

See if a few more chunks of magicoal can't be melted into thaum quicklike.  Having a bit more mana before the incoming fight would be a good idea.  If that can't be done in combat time, oh well.

Finally, scry the incoming monster worm lights things.  Do this by drawing a rough overhead map of the area that they're heading into, and draw a single line on the very edge.  Use "animate" to animate the line into a live depiction of the closest monster, moving into the environment, and once it's fully inside the picture, cast another animate to zoom in on it, follow it, and make it more detailed.  Repeat, if necessary, until a clear idea of what the monster is can be obtained.  Provide supplementary sketches as needed, and directed by the magic.

EDIT: Heal Saeko's hand, with "human".

Ekrov walks up behind Saeko, placing his hand on his shoulder and gently tugging her around to look at him.  He smiles warmly, trying to look comforting, though the black eye in his forehead disrupts the effect.  "It's okay, Saeko.  The mage breakers need to know.  Maybe, if things were different, they would come after us.  I'm not sure.  But currently... something is coming, and they know not to start a war.  They need allies, and we will be seen as perfect allies, with the power gained from this place."  He nods, smile widening slightly.  "You don't need to worry.  We can't use all of this ourselves, and the mage breakers are better than most of those who can.  Right now, they have a goal we can agree with; protecting the country from what is coming.  I... can see the future now, or limited parts at least, and I *know* this.  We should be honest with them, and work with them.  It is the best path for us, and for everyone else."

Spoiler: O.o (click to show/hide)

Name: Ekrov Trenian Vyachilad
Description: A noble's son, Ekrov is a boy on the cusp of adulthood, and barely looks it.  His hands are soft, his appearance somewhat unkempt, but his body has toughened from his time on the road.  He's no longer scrawny, though he's still somewhat short--though it's hard to tell whether that's due to age or genetics.  His eyes are calm and constantly look around in absentminded wonderment; he seems continually fascinated, but almost amused as well, as if there's a hidden joke in everything he sees.  He wears a clearly high-quality outfit, but to his credit it looks unusually practical for a noble, subdued brown in color and light aside from thin pieces of light leather in strategic locations, clearly intended more as protection than a fashion statement.  He carries a small backpack, and wears a light cloak that's had an absurd number of little pockets clumsily sewn into it.  He has a very large third eye in the center of his forehead.  It is rotated ninety degrees from his other eyes, and has a glittering gold iris set into an entirely black sclera.  It cannot turn to look at things without him moving his entire head, and is rock solid.
Magic Path: Alchemist Sculptor
Mana: 82 (0 thaum carried)
Magic Words: "Animate", "Cloud", "Banish", "Iron", "Human", "Clockwork"

Stats:
Strength: d6
Speed: d6
Endurance: d6+2
Knowledge: d12+5
Will: d6
Senses: d12+1

Ongoing Effects:  None.

Current Sculpture Materials:
1. Something of perfect roundness
2. Ash from the ruins of a city
3. Skin containing an old scar
4. A book
5. Honey
6. Something that came from beyond the skies

Inventory:
Backpack
Lightly armored traveling outfit (enchanted to d6, from d4)
Wooden shield (+1 to armor rolls, most of the time)
Steel stilleto (d4 melee)
Merc Longsword (d6 Melee)
Ornamental spring pistol (d6 ranged) [6/6] (30 spare shots)
Alchemist gear
12 gold, 8 silver (Saeko owes him 400 gold...  For someone with d12 sense, Ekrov can be pretty gullible.)
LOTS of thaum.
Orb key thing, looted from long dead pilot corpse.
35 (!) Clockwork mainsprings capable of powering full robots
Enough pieces to reassemble a full combat robot.
FERROUS MEMENTO, THE MEMORY SKULL!
--Enchanted to only open when the correct passphrase is spoken to it.  Only Ekrov knows the passphrase.
--Enchanted so that Ekrov is always aware of its location and status.

Two broken clockwork robots, shoved in crates.  Details here,  here, and here.  And a question about rewriting their minds here.
A pair of strength-increasing clockwork gauntlets, which were clearly meant to be used by the robots, "seemingly for bending metal".
A strange blunt clockwork circular saw that is extremely effective at cutting through metal.
A  straight bladed clockwork sword, with a slot in the bottom for a power cell.  It is a lightning saber; when properly empowered, it will produce high heat and electrical discharge that will greatly enhance both its cutting power and the damage it causes.  It needs a power cell of the right size; which is basically a charged battery.
A large bag of bomblets, taken from an unexploded clockwork bomb.

Paints, a dish, sands, glitter, water, general scrying supplies.
Pencil + Paper.
Expensive medical supplies.

Sketches of:
Gyrotourbillon's workings
Benedict the Griffon
Detailed but incomplete schematics of clockwork robot people.
Clockwork machinegun schematics.
Simple clockwork tools schematics.
Schematic for a simple remotely-operated alchemist-gear manipulator thing.
Maps to the three caches of clockwork loot buried somewhere between Alkahest and Lake Candentis.
The design and construction for a full combat robot, of the kind found in Gravid.
The structure and enchantment framework of a flying thaumic warmachine, found within Gravid.  Incomplete, due to Ekrov's lack of understanding about how the machine knows what to do.
The structure and functioning of a thaumic rifle, found within Gravid.


TO-DO LIST:
MEMORY TINKER!!!

Clockwork stuff:
Fix a robot
Try to reverse engineer and understand those power pellet crucibles.
Fix the broken machine guns
Look into cloning machine gun ammo?  Probably not something we'll care about ever, but I wanna DAKKA...

Cache A: The buried death pellet furnaces, both the unopened ones and the empty opened one.
Cache B: All the unexploded bombs from the wreck, including one that's been opened and had some of the bomblets taken out.
Cache C: The rest of the loot from the wreck, buried inside crates.  Contains:

"A large number of tools (These are what you could call mundane tools like wrenches, screw drivers, plyers, and the like. There are a lot of them in different sizes and shapes but none are hugely rare or valuable on their own. Though they are admittedly well made.)"
"A pnumatic self heating rivet gun and the air compressor for it"
"A sort of 'Jaws of Life' style combination spreader and cutter. Basically a massive pnumatic pair of plyers/snips."
"3 more working machine guns, and a half dozen that are broken in some way"  ((These deal "d12 [damage], if memory serves, though they often roll multiples."))
"About 10 or so big boxes of ammo (there are a lot of loose belts around so the amount isn't exact)"
"A welding system"

When you stare at a wall, it doesn't explode components. Instead you see small phantoms of its component materials. Apparently if something has no real moving parts you just see what its made of.

[9+5 v8]

Ok so I'll just lay this out. Gold wire channels mana from a source. It is passed through something inscribed with a word or runic representation of magic, causing the mana to be formed into whatever that word or combo of words is, and then it travels along the wires some more until it comes out. In the flyers the core of this thing is the lantern, which focuses the burning magicoal's energy into life for the machine. However, in terms of how that machine is controlled, thats where spirits come in. These guys have harnessed spirits and used them as components for the machines, giving the otherwise dumb device an intelligence.

You grab some ash.

In the time it will take, We can melt 2. 35+38 for 73 total thaum.

[2+2v4] You get her hand healed, though only barely. The Newly regenerated parts are pretty weak and emaciated.

[12+5v4] -4 mana.  You rapidly create a map. Rather than messing with paper or drawing you instead point a finger at the sand nearby and animate it, causing it to rise and form a perfect topographical map of the entire local area. The monsters appear as floating masses of sand, slowly winding forwards like snakes swimming through water. With a wave of a finger the map "Zooms" in on the monster and gives you a better look at it. Each is 200 or so feet long but relatively skinny. Mechanical, clearly, a sort of worm zeppelin or something like it. You can make out individual segments, cables connecting body sections, thin bladed limbs, camera clusters, propellers. No rider or head or any kind of obvious center of intelligence.  At current slow rate of movement, they're roughly 30 minutes out. Maybe more like 15 now, at the end of the turn. They seem to be searching.

"..."

"Is that like a prophecy?"

"..."

"Is it the same here, then, Ekrov?"

"Always another dark lord?  Always another threat that's going to destroy the world, unless it's us who saves it?"

"I did that already.  And what I learned when travelling is there's always another threat, always another monster, always someone else to fight and kill."

"I.. didn't want that.  I wanted to travel, see the world, help people on an individual basis.  Instead of ending the next Dragon Lord, the next Vampire King, the next Alien Space Bat, I'd get to make specific people happy.  I'd get to do things for one person at a time, and that felt better."

"I guess I'm getting a sequel instead."

Grab one of the thaumic rifles, and one of the defensive rods.

Go head to one of the machine guns, and get it ready.  Use a (2hr duration) 1d8 Strengthen Enlarge spell to make it and it's bullets a bit larger than the one that attacked the siren was, about 35mm or so.  That one had a d6 strengthen enlarge spell on it.
Cast three more temporary support spells on it, all also 2hr duration.  A d6 Strengthen Speed Steel spell to increase the velocity of the bullets, a d8 Strengthen Steel spell to give the bullets hardened steel penetrators, and a d6 Strengthen Force spell to make the bullets hit even harder on contact.

Retry all failures.  Currently have 52 mana.

Ekrov, please heal the missing fingers with your Human, please.  Shouldn't be too hard.

(Should be more effective than the one was in the cavern.  Bigger enlarge spell, d8 compared to d6, the extra velocity spell has a steel word to specifically boost the now-steel bullets, and there's an extra Force spell making them hit even harder.)

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Japanese girl with a long black braid and a white and red fitted robe with long gloves.  Clothing made of metallic thread.  Pointy, somewhat elfish ears.  Violet eyes that glow brightly.  Visibly glowing with a pinkish-purplish light.  Missing fingernails on right hand.

Invoking Empath

Str  d6 +1
Speed  d8 +1
Endurance  d10+3
Knowledge  d8+2
Will  d10+3
Senses  d8 +2

Materials: d12 Ape, d12 Grow, d12 Strengthen, d12 Expand, d8 Bird, d6 Force, d4 Ice
Location: Ruins of Gravid.
Status: Fine.  Missing fingernails on right hand. Slightly enhanced hearing.
Temporary Effects: d8 Grow Strengthen for hearing, day 10/30.

Familiar.  "Benedict"  Cougar/red-tailed hawk, adequate flyer, garage-sized with 120ish foot wingspan.
Natural weapons d10, d10+d6 with swooooop.  5/4+1 enchantments. d6 Strengthen Grow, d8 Strengthen Grow, d10 Strengthen Grow, d8 Strengthen Bird Speed, d12 Strengthen Grow over 1 week.  Eats 3 gold/day worth of food.  Properly harnessed and well kitted out for riding and baggage.  Equipped with a steel helmet.

Str D20
Spd D6
End D12
Kno D4
Will D8
Sen D6

Expedition Status:
Saeko, Ekrov, Zavi.
3 guards, 2 in personal service.
3 assistants and workers.
Excavation tools and equipment.
20 days worth of supplies.
Key orbs: Soldier, Technician, Aristocrat
Accessable locations: All of lower level of city ruins, save for king door.  Likely access to still-unexplored upper levels.

explored: Through soldier-locked door. leads to..
storage rooms
guard rooms
farm area
garbage disposal + magicoal furnace
hangars
armouries.
control room
King door

Loot:
8x suits of silk clothing.
8x suits of cotton clothing.
26x Thaumic sabres.
56x magic rifles
19x suits of magic armour
Broken magic armour bits.
Thaumic tools
3x Thaumic wire-laying tools
3x gold wire spools

3x deactivated golems
6x gold swirly orbs (explosives)
16x telescoping silver rods (portable force fields)
4x big rifles
1x rifle with flower petal rod

Art Pieces:
statuary of harp-playing waifish girl.
very fine quality evocative bust.

17 barrels of magicoal. 3d20+10 pieces each, each containing 3d20 mana.
first barrel has 44 chunks.

Items:
Ghost Charm
Alchemist's Gear
Two machine guns! with lots of ammo.
52 mana
90 thaum
243 gold
d8+1 armour: The outfit, and a shield.  Weighs as if it were d4.
parachute popsicle-stick.
Sealer-suit gloves
Shield.
Adamant Weave Backpack.  Contents are magically lightened via Lightweight spell.
Waterskin
Adamant Weave Cloth.  Sufficient for an outfit or two backpacks.
5kg steel rod
Compass
Goggles
Doctor's Bag
Sealer suit material.
Surgical tools
Magic Spyglass
~250 gold value of gold and silver ingots and precious gems.

Jade tablets with d8 View, d10 Steel, and d10 Speed.
disassembled force-field rod with [Force D4] [Wall d12] and [Permanent d10]

Alchemy Supplies

Stashed:
Cable-wrapped metal box of happiness.
Box of painting-golem

Notes: Improving physical stats with strengthen, d4->d6 is d6, d6->d8 is d12, d8->d10 is d20 or more.

Done.

[3+3v6] -6 mana.
[10v3] -3 mana
[9v2]-2 mana.
[3+3v6]-6 mana.
All spells in place.





The worms are 15minutes out (Thaum conversion of sy is assuming using whole 30 minutes) assuming they stay on current course. Still searching. Moving in inter weaving grid, almost helical in nature. Ekrov thinks that when they pass over this place two will be close to it while the third will be a ways out.

[Naturegirl1999]

(How many torches?)

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

 Name: Eve
Appearance: 4 ft tall female human with long hear that constantly changes color. She always wears a long sleeve shirt and jeans. She has slightly tan skin and green eyes. most of her right arm is made of aluminum, from her hand to her forearm.
Magic path: Servant Sculptor
Mana: 9
Strength: d4
Speed: d8
Endurance: d6
Knowledge: d10
Will: d8
Senses: d8

Ongoing effects: None

Items needed for current Sculpture

1. An arrow, caught mid flight.
2. A piece of Amber containing a living thing
3. A block of Lead
4. A compass
5. Solidified Smoke.

Spirit: A silver quiver with 5 arrows that looks like a rib cage
Spirit Task: Unknown
Inventory: Doctor's bag, Thick fur shirt d4, Thick fur leggings d4, ghost charm, 100 ft of string, a pry-bar, 9 gold’s worth of food and water, Idol of Flux, 15 gold, a silver quiver thst looks like a rib cage, a bow, 2 silver arrows, a sweatshirt, a winter coat, a hat, a pair of gloves, winter boots, snow pants, 3?4? torches
Materials: Lightsilver, Silver, Stone, Water, Mercury, Erode, Channel

Continue to Kaolin, equipping warm clothes as it gets colder

[Devastator]

Lets get the super autocannon mounted up on Benedict.  At the same time, cast two d4 Permanent Strengthen Steel spells to summon him up some front and back steel plates to help his armour.  Also, buff Ekrov's Endurance to d8, with a temporary Strengthen spell, and my own Speed to d10 with a temporary Strengthen Speed spell.  Aim for 1hr duration on both.

Then mount up and take to the air.  The workers are to hide in the ruins, and the guards are to get the other machine gun to help cover them from the ruin entrance, or follow Zavi's orders if Zavi wants to direct the defence in some way from the ground.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Japanese girl with a long black braid and a white and red fitted robe with long gloves.  Clothing made of metallic thread.  Pointy, somewhat elfish ears.  Violet eyes that glow brightly.  Visibly glowing with a pinkish-purplish light.  Missing fingernails on right hand.

Invoking Empath

Str  d6 +1
Speed  d8 +1
Endurance  d10+3
Knowledge  d8+2
Will  d10+3
Senses  d8 +2

Materials: d12 Ape, d12 Grow, d12 Strengthen, d12 Expand, d8 Bird, d6 Force, d4 Ice
Location: Ruins of Gravid.
Status: Fine.  Missing fingernails on right hand. Slightly enhanced hearing.
Temporary Effects: d8 Grow Strengthen for hearing, day 10/30.

Familiar.  "Benedict"  Cougar/red-tailed hawk, adequate flyer, garage-sized with 120ish foot wingspan.
Natural weapons d10, d10+d6 with swooooop.  5/4+1 enchantments. d6 Strengthen Grow, d8 Strengthen Grow, d10 Strengthen Grow, d8 Strengthen Bird Speed, d12 Strengthen Grow over 1 week.  Eats 3 gold/day worth of food.  Properly harnessed and well kitted out for riding and baggage.  Equipped with a steel helmet.

Str D20
Spd D6
End D12
Kno D4
Will D8
Sen D6

Expedition Status:
Saeko, Ekrov, Zavi.
3 guards, 2 in personal service.
3 assistants and workers.
Excavation tools and equipment.
20 days worth of supplies.
Key orbs: Soldier, Technician, Aristocrat
Accessable locations: All of lower level of city ruins, save for king door.  Likely access to still-unexplored upper levels.

explored: Through soldier-locked door. leads to..
storage rooms
guard rooms
farm area
garbage disposal + magicoal furnace
hangars
armouries.
control room
King door

Loot:
8x suits of silk clothing.
8x suits of cotton clothing.
26x Thaumic sabres.
56x magic rifles
19x suits of magic armour
Broken magic armour bits.
Thaumic tools
3x Thaumic wire-laying tools
3x gold wire spools

3x deactivated golems
6x gold swirly orbs (explosives)
16x telescoping silver rods (portable force fields)
4x big rifles
1x rifle with flower petal rod

Art Pieces:
statuary of harp-playing waifish girl.
very fine quality evocative bust.

17 barrels of magicoal. 3d20+10 pieces each, each containing 3d20 mana.
first barrel has 44 chunks.

Items:
Ghost Charm
Alchemist's Gear
Two machine guns! with lots of ammo.
35 mana
90 thaum
243 gold
d8+1 armour: The outfit, and a shield.  Weighs as if it were d4.
parachute popsicle-stick.
Sealer-suit gloves
Shield.
Adamant Weave Backpack.  Contents are magically lightened via Lightweight spell.
Waterskin
Adamant Weave Cloth.  Sufficient for an outfit or two backpacks.
5kg steel rod
Compass
Goggles
Doctor's Bag
Sealer suit material.
Surgical tools
Magic Spyglass
~250 gold value of gold and silver ingots and precious gems.

Jade tablets with d8 View, d10 Steel, and d10 Speed.
disassembled force-field rod with [Force D4] [Wall d12] and [Permanent d10]

Alchemy Supplies

Stashed:
Cable-wrapped metal box of happiness.
Box of painting-golem

Notes: Improving physical stats with strengthen, d4->d6 is d6, d6->d8 is d12, d8->d10 is d20 or more.

[Radio Controlled]

You ask around about bandits. They say that there are probably hidden camps, but that the largest concentration seems to come from the old city of Pinguious, to the south. Its half sunk, abandoned my the rightful citizens but now under the control of others.

Buy 10 new smokebombs, supplies for a couple days (cost?), then head in that direction. Scout out the area a bit first, and try to get a positive ID that they are indeed bandits/murderers/ne'er-do-wells. 

Spoiler: Darwin Zeppeli (click to show/hide)

Name: Darwin Zeppeli
Appearance: An old medicine man.

Magic path: alchemist gut-reader
Strength: d4
Speed: d6->d8 + 1
Endurance: d6->d8 + 2
Knowledge: d10
Will: d8 + 2
Senses: d10 + 1

Mana: 39
2 bottles with 10 thaum each (20 total)
Ongoing effects: None


Magical materials

Vacuum!
Reanimate
Sharpen
Viscera
Diamond
Rope

Inventory

1 sedated bugman

dissection knife: d4
Springy metal knive: d6
Springy metal sword: d6
Springy metal halberd: d8
Curved blade: d6
Icepick: d4
gun: d8 [50 rounds left]
9 smokebombs
thaumic bomb (currently empty)

Ecalir's old armor: d8 (in use)
shield (+1 to protective rolls from armor)
Sealer Suit: d4 (vs magic)

Alchemist’s Gear
408 gold 
2 silver
Octopus core
15 kg black biometal

A glass slab with a topographical map of the kingdom carved into it
a bottle of glowing blue sea water, inside protective box with lock
a glass orb with barely visible lotus inside of it, inside staff assembly.
magic coin
Small book
magic compass + map
Gimbal that points towards diamonds (range around 100 meter)

book on normal plants and animals
book on magical plants and animals/creatures
handbook on making weapons&armor, including a list of known types
a detailed account of the Artifacter war
map of the old world
good quality book&pen
good history book
series of good maps of area around Alkahest and the volcano

Paradox snail (inside jar) and things to keep them happy and fed, linked to Ecalir
Extra pair of paradox snails
Doctor's bag
set of ingredients (plants, chemicals and the like) for making poisons or antidotes (21 uses left)
High quality backpack
donkey named Yvonne for carrying
Zomboraptor head
Lantern
several hundred feet of rope
climbing crampons
a grappling hook
iron stakes
net made of rope
several vials with imp fat
20 vials
2x Collapsible rod
10 oil flasks
300 feet of really big, thick, strong rope
100 feet of metal chain
box of metal spikes
pair of binoculars
4 boxes of rags
Medium armor: d6 (not in use)
2 sets of digging tools (for Darwin + Ecalir)
Extra digging tools (for hired workers)
tarps, paint, and other stuff we can use to camouflage things with
17 leather skins (30 gold worth)
2 doses of fast-working anesthetic for knocking out humans

[Lenglon]

((Sorry about the long silence, RL got in the way of doing pretty much anything for the last month-ish.))
So the fish are acting like algae, and the fish-eating families, exactly one memeber per, as also acting like algae, and the algae itself is growing and collecting unusually. The distribution of one effected per household is very interesting. Either the target selection is intelligent and going for an even distribution, or the effect is location-based, and can only effect one person per location, prioritizing the first the eat the fish? more likely intelligent target selection... Adam found them boring, wondering if they get better, and he tends to amplify emotions apparently, so.... huh... It seems to be safe to enter the water... I'll remain cautious and try to look up possibilities in my materials without going in yet, but if I can't find anything then I'm willing to take a look-see in the water itself to see if maybe I can see any patterns or possible sources down there.

[piecewise]

(How many torches?)

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

 Name: Eve
Appearance: 4 ft tall female human with long hear that constantly changes color. She always wears a long sleeve shirt and jeans. She has slightly tan skin and green eyes. most of her right arm is made of aluminum, from her hand to her forearm.
Magic path: Servant Sculptor
Mana: 9
Strength: d4
Speed: d8
Endurance: d6
Knowledge: d10
Will: d8
Senses: d8

Ongoing effects: None

Items needed for current Sculpture

1. An arrow, caught mid flight.
2. A piece of Amber containing a living thing
3. A block of Lead
4. A compass
5. Solidified Smoke.

Spirit: A silver quiver with 5 arrows that looks like a rib cage
Spirit Task: Unknown
Inventory: Doctor's bag, Thick fur shirt d4, Thick fur leggings d4, ghost charm, 100 ft of string, a pry-bar, 9 gold’s worth of food and water, Idol of Flux, 15 gold, a silver quiver thst looks like a rib cage, a bow, 2 silver arrows, a sweatshirt, a winter coat, a hat, a pair of gloves, winter boots, snow pants, 3?4? torches
Materials: Lightsilver, Silver, Stone, Water, Mercury, Erode, Channel

Continue to Kaolin, equipping warm clothes as it gets colder

Kaolin is a temple city, the place at the top of the world, closest to heaven, where the old departed gods are still worshiped. Endless temples of varying sizes crowd the mountain top, clinging to sheer cliffs or balancing on precipices, with the grand "Temple of all gods" sitting atop the peak. The rest of the city is almost entirely devoted to catering to the pilgrims who come here, offering places to stay, food to eat, and ritual materials for their worship. The adventurer -whose name you still don't know- steers you away from the sacrifice grounds on the east side of town and over towards the housing row, where inns and tenement houses are built in clustered and tightly packed rows.

He says there's three days till the rest of the party shows up and gives you a location to meet them at on that day.

You ask around about bandits. They say that there are probably hidden camps, but that the largest concentration seems to come from the old city of Pinguious, to the south. Its half sunk, abandoned my the rightful citizens but now under the control of others.

Buy 10 new smokebombs, supplies for a couple days (cost?), then head in that direction. Scout out the area a bit first, and try to get a positive ID that they are indeed bandits/murderers/ne'er-do-wells. 

Spoiler: Darwin Zeppeli (click to show/hide)

Name: Darwin Zeppeli
Appearance: An old medicine man.

Magic path: alchemist gut-reader
Strength: d4
Speed: d6->d8 + 1
Endurance: d6->d8 + 2
Knowledge: d10
Will: d8 + 2
Senses: d10 + 1

Mana: 39
2 bottles with 10 thaum each (20 total)
Ongoing effects: None


Magical materials

Vacuum!
Reanimate
Sharpen
Viscera
Diamond
Rope

Inventory

1 sedated bugman

dissection knife: d4
Springy metal knive: d6
Springy metal sword: d6
Springy metal halberd: d8
Curved blade: d6
Icepick: d4
gun: d8 [50 rounds left]
9 smokebombs
thaumic bomb (currently empty)

Ecalir's old armor: d8 (in use)
shield (+1 to protective rolls from armor)
Sealer Suit: d4 (vs magic)

Alchemist’s Gear
408 gold 
2 silver
Octopus core
15 kg black biometal

A glass slab with a topographical map of the kingdom carved into it
a bottle of glowing blue sea water, inside protective box with lock
a glass orb with barely visible lotus inside of it, inside staff assembly.
magic coin
Small book
magic compass + map
Gimbal that points towards diamonds (range around 100 meter)

book on normal plants and animals
book on magical plants and animals/creatures
handbook on making weapons&armor, including a list of known types
a detailed account of the Artifacter war
map of the old world
good quality book&pen
good history book
series of good maps of area around Alkahest and the volcano

Paradox snail (inside jar) and things to keep them happy and fed, linked to Ecalir
Extra pair of paradox snails
Doctor's bag
set of ingredients (plants, chemicals and the like) for making poisons or antidotes (21 uses left)
High quality backpack
donkey named Yvonne for carrying
Zomboraptor head
Lantern
several hundred feet of rope
climbing crampons
a grappling hook
iron stakes
net made of rope
several vials with imp fat
20 vials
2x Collapsible rod
10 oil flasks
300 feet of really big, thick, strong rope
100 feet of metal chain
box of metal spikes
pair of binoculars
4 boxes of rags
Medium armor: d6 (not in use)
2 sets of digging tools (for Darwin + Ecalir)
Extra digging tools (for hired workers)
tarps, paint, and other stuff we can use to camouflage things with
17 leather skins (30 gold worth)
2 doses of fast-working anesthetic for knocking out humans

10 smoke bombs for....5 silver. Supplies for...1 gold.

You ride south of the Oasis, down towards the reported location of Pinguious, until you come across the flux shore. You follow it, knowing that the bandit town is apparently on a peninsula projecting out into the lake. The shore curves and heads north east. You begin to find sure signs of banditry; totems and signs with warnings and bodies meant to scare away anyone who would come close. They've dug in out there and don't want anyone coming to get them, so they've gone the intimidation route instead of maintaining secrecy. You ignore these and continue on under cover of darkness until you get a view of the city from a sand dune about a mile off. The city is clearly old and run down, but has been somewhat repaired in a ramshackle way and decorated in the garish, gaudy, and grim way bandits seem to love. You can see them, lit by firelight, carousing in the streets, drunk and rowdy. They seem to have slaves or maybe prisoners.

((Sorry about the long silence, RL got in the way of doing pretty much anything for the last month-ish.))
So the fish are acting like algae, and the fish-eating families, exactly one memeber per, as also acting like algae, and the algae itself is growing and collecting unusually. The distribution of one effected per household is very interesting. Either the target selection is intelligent and going for an even distribution, or the effect is location-based, and can only effect one person per location, prioritizing the first the eat the fish? more likely intelligent target selection... Adam found them boring, wondering if they get better, and he tends to amplify emotions apparently, so.... huh... It seems to be safe to enter the water... I'll remain cautious and try to look up possibilities in my materials without going in yet, but if I can't find anything then I'm willing to take a look-see in the water itself to see if maybe I can see any patterns or possible sources down there.

 
You look up what you've learned in your book and find the following.

Sungazer's Algae.
Unknown origin. Sungazer's Algae appears to be normal, aquatic algae but is actually the embryonic form of a pseudo parasitic creature known as sungazer. The normal life cycle of the sungazer is to be laid as "algae", eaten by fish, and then eaten by birds which carry the maturing parasite into the sky, its natural habitat, where it feeds on sunlight.  In order to expedite the process, the algae effects the minds of its hosts, causing them to become fearless and docile, as well as to move towards the surface of the water so that the can be more easily seen and caught.

Can unfortunately end up in human hosts, who will begin acting somewhat like the fish as they are not recognized as the intended avian hosts. Only one parasite will effect one fish, so often it is whoever is getting the first cut of the fish or whoever is preparing it that will be infected.

Recovery requires the effected individual to be elevated to a height at which the Sungazer will naturally leave their bodies, believing itself to be in the sky.

Lets get the super autocannon mounted up on Benedict.  At the same time, cast two d4 Permanent Strengthen Steel spells to summon him up some front and back steel plates to help his armour.  Also, buff Ekrov's Endurance to d8, with a temporary Strengthen spell, and my own Speed to d10 with a temporary Strengthen Speed spell.  Aim for 1hr duration on both.

Then mount up and take to the air.  The workers are to hide in the ruins, and the guards are to get the other machine gun to help cover them from the ruin entrance, or follow Zavi's orders if Zavi wants to direct the defence in some way from the ground.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Japanese girl with a long black braid and a white and red fitted robe with long gloves.  Clothing made of metallic thread.  Pointy, somewhat elfish ears.  Violet eyes that glow brightly.  Visibly glowing with a pinkish-purplish light.  Missing fingernails on right hand.

Invoking Empath

Str  d6 +1
Speed  d8 +1
Endurance  d10+3
Knowledge  d8+2
Will  d10+3
Senses  d8 +2

Materials: d12 Ape, d12 Grow, d12 Strengthen, d12 Expand, d8 Bird, d6 Force, d4 Ice
Location: Ruins of Gravid.
Status: Fine.  Missing fingernails on right hand. Slightly enhanced hearing.
Temporary Effects: d8 Grow Strengthen for hearing, day 10/30.

Familiar.  "Benedict"  Cougar/red-tailed hawk, adequate flyer, garage-sized with 120ish foot wingspan.
Natural weapons d10, d10+d6 with swooooop.  5/4+1 enchantments. d6 Strengthen Grow, d8 Strengthen Grow, d10 Strengthen Grow, d8 Strengthen Bird Speed, d12 Strengthen Grow over 1 week.  Eats 3 gold/day worth of food.  Properly harnessed and well kitted out for riding and baggage.  Equipped with a steel helmet.

Str D20
Spd D6
End D12
Kno D4
Will D8
Sen D6

Expedition Status:
Saeko, Ekrov, Zavi.
3 guards, 2 in personal service.
3 assistants and workers.
Excavation tools and equipment.
20 days worth of supplies.
Key orbs: Soldier, Technician, Aristocrat
Accessable locations: All of lower level of city ruins, save for king door.  Likely access to still-unexplored upper levels.

explored: Through soldier-locked door. leads to..
storage rooms
guard rooms
farm area
garbage disposal + magicoal furnace
hangars
armouries.
control room
King door

Loot:
8x suits of silk clothing.
8x suits of cotton clothing.
26x Thaumic sabres.
56x magic rifles
19x suits of magic armour
Broken magic armour bits.
Thaumic tools
3x Thaumic wire-laying tools
3x gold wire spools

3x deactivated golems
6x gold swirly orbs (explosives)
16x telescoping silver rods (portable force fields)
4x big rifles
1x rifle with flower petal rod

Art Pieces:
statuary of harp-playing waifish girl.
very fine quality evocative bust.

17 barrels of magicoal. 3d20+10 pieces each, each containing 3d20 mana.
first barrel has 44 chunks.

Items:
Ghost Charm
Alchemist's Gear
Two machine guns! with lots of ammo.
35 mana
90 thaum
243 gold
d8+1 armour: The outfit, and a shield.  Weighs as if it were d4.
parachute popsicle-stick.
Sealer-suit gloves
Shield.
Adamant Weave Backpack.  Contents are magically lightened via Lightweight spell.
Waterskin
Adamant Weave Cloth.  Sufficient for an outfit or two backpacks.
5kg steel rod
Compass
Goggles
Doctor's Bag
Sealer suit material.
Surgical tools
Magic Spyglass
~250 gold value of gold and silver ingots and precious gems.

Jade tablets with d8 View, d10 Steel, and d10 Speed.
disassembled force-field rod with [Force D4] [Wall d12] and [Permanent d10]

Alchemy Supplies

Stashed:
Cable-wrapped metal box of happiness.
Box of painting-golem

Notes: Improving physical stats with strengthen, d4->d6 is d6, d6->d8 is d12, d8->d10 is d20 or more.

I'm gonna save this until Sy and Egan post to handle it all at once since this is basically the last prep turn you guys have.   I did roll it out though.

Mounting went fine, spells were cast for total of 5 mana, buff was ok and cost 5 as well,  and your temp spells were a total 6. All went fine.

[Lenglon]

Watchtower.
Inform the villagers that they need a tall watchtower or viewing platform, and to allow those infected to climb to the top of it to recover. also that any uninfected should avoid the super-easy-to-catch fish. If they can't build one big enough, the next best bet is to climb a mountain. the infected individual will recover in response to going high enough, and  these treatments are means to that end. heck, there's a chance a simple rope swing might be able to do a good enough job, and they could set one of those up real quick at the water's edge and let people swing on it and jump off into the water. Figure riding a rope swing would simulate being in flight pretty darn well.

[Naturegirl1999]

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

 Name: Eve
Appearance: 4 ft tall female human with long hear that constantly changes color. She always wears a long sleeve shirt and jeans. She has slightly tan skin and green eyes. most of her right arm is made of aluminum, from her hand to her forearm.
Magic path: Servant Sculptor
Mana: 9
Strength: d4
Speed: d8
Endurance: d6
Knowledge: d10
Will: d8
Senses: d8

Ongoing effects: None

Items needed for current Sculpture

1. An arrow, caught mid flight.
2. A piece of Amber containing a living thing
3. A block of Lead
4. A compass
5. Solidified Smoke.

Spirit: A silver quiver with 5 arrows that looks like a rib cage
Spirit Task: Unknown
Inventory: Doctor's bag, Thick fur shirt d4, Thick fur leggings d4, ghost charm, 100 ft of string, a pry-bar, 9 gold’s worth of food and water, Idol of Flux, 15 gold, a silver quiver thst looks like a rib cage, a bow, 2 silver arrows, a sweatshirt, a winter coat, a hat, a pair of gloves, winter boots, snow pants, 3?4? torches
Materials: Lightsilver, Silver, Stone, Water, Mercury, Erode, Channel

“Which deity are you helping? What are we doing?”

[syvarris]

I'll melt just one of the chunks of magicoal.  Too many buffs needed to spend the whole turn on mana.  Give 20 mana to Saeko, and 20 EDIT: 33 mana to Zavi, for them to use as they feel necessary.  Saeko should buff Ekrov's endurance when he gives her mana.

If she does buff his end, detach the ammo from her machine gun, and then enchant the bullets with "Banish Clockwork", intended to detonate or disappear clockwork on impact, after firing.  If this is unreasonable, cast "antiClockwork" on them instead.

Next, scry with "Animate Clockwork" while sketching on a piece of paper to rapidly draw out detailed schematics of the internals of the incoming clockwork dragons, or the nearest one if the magic wants to focus on a single one.  Focus on finding and detailing the design of the clockwork brain, and/or the controls for whatever enables their flight; the primary purpose of this is to act as a focus for Ekrov's attack spell, not ^_just because I want to steal their design.  Definitely do this on a piece of paper, and keep the spell active so that it can be used to judge the state of the clockwork dragon.

Said attack spell will only be cast if Ekrov successfully received an end buff.  He'll use "Animate Clockwork" as an offensive enchant on the leading clockwork dragon.  Specifically, use the force from "Animate" to jam, shift, or rip out small and integral gears in the brain, specifically focusing on finding ones that control the thing's flight; the goal is to make it lose control and just crash into the ground.  Repeat on further clockwork dragons if the spell proves successful.

...I should probably state that Ekrov will remain inside the ruins once the dragons are getting closer, unless he thinks the ruins will block his spells or something.  Worst case scenario, he stands right outside the entrance just long enough to cast, then retreats inside for cover.

Spoiler: O.o (click to show/hide)

Name: Ekrov Trenian Vyachilad
Description: A noble's son, Ekrov is a boy on the cusp of adulthood, and barely looks it.  His hands are soft, his appearance somewhat unkempt, but his body has toughened from his time on the road.  He's no longer scrawny, though he's still somewhat short--though it's hard to tell whether that's due to age or genetics.  His eyes are calm and constantly look around in absentminded wonderment; he seems continually fascinated, but almost amused as well, as if there's a hidden joke in everything he sees.  He wears a clearly high-quality outfit, but to his credit it looks unusually practical for a noble, subdued brown in color and light aside from thin pieces of light leather in strategic locations, clearly intended more as protection than a fashion statement.  He carries a small backpack, and wears a light cloak that's had an absurd number of little pockets clumsily sewn into it.  He has a very large third eye in the center of his forehead.  It is rotated ninety degrees from his other eyes, and has a glittering gold iris set into an entirely black sclera.  It cannot turn to look at things without him moving his entire head, and is rock solid.
Magic Path: Alchemist Sculptor
Mana: 117 (0 thaum carried)
Magic Words: "Animate", "Cloud", "Banish", "Iron", "Human", "Clockwork"

Stats:
Strength: d6
Speed: d6
Endurance: d6+2
Knowledge: d12+5
Will: d6
Senses: d12+1

Ongoing Effects:  None.

Current Sculpture Materials:
1. Something of perfect roundness
2. Ash from the ruins of a city
3. Skin containing an old scar
4. A book
5. Honey
6. Something that came from beyond the skies

Inventory:
Backpack
Lightly armored traveling outfit (enchanted to d6, from d4)
Wooden shield (+1 to armor rolls, most of the time)
Steel stilleto (d4 melee)
Merc Longsword (d6 Melee)
Ornamental spring pistol (d6 ranged) [6/6] (30 spare shots)
Alchemist gear
12 gold, 8 silver (Saeko owes him 400 gold...  For someone with d12 sense, Ekrov can be pretty gullible.)
LOTS of thaum.
Orb key thing, looted from long dead pilot corpse.
35 (!) Clockwork mainsprings capable of powering full robots
Enough robot pieces to reassemble a full combat robot.
Ash from the ruins of Gravid. (sculpture mat)
FERROUS MEMENTO, THE MEMORY SKULL!
--Enchanted to only open when the correct passphrase is spoken to it.  Only Ekrov knows the passphrase.
--Enchanted so that Ekrov is always aware of its location and status.

Two broken clockwork robots, shoved in crates.  Details here,  here, and here.  And a question about rewriting their minds here.
A pair of strength-increasing clockwork gauntlets, which were clearly meant to be used by the robots, "seemingly for bending metal".
A strange blunt clockwork circular saw that is extremely effective at cutting through metal.
A  straight bladed clockwork sword, with a slot in the bottom for a power cell.  It is a lightning saber; when properly empowered, it will produce high heat and electrical discharge that will greatly enhance both its cutting power and the damage it causes.  It needs a power cell of the right size; which is basically a charged battery.
A large bag of bomblets, taken from an unexploded clockwork bomb.

Paints, a dish, sands, glitter, water, general scrying supplies.
Pencil + Paper.
Expensive medical supplies.

Sketches of:
Gyrotourbillon's workings
Benedict the Griffon
Detailed but incomplete schematics of clockwork robot people.
Clockwork machinegun schematics.
Simple clockwork tools schematics.
Schematic for a simple remotely-operated alchemist-gear manipulator thing.
Maps to the three caches of clockwork loot buried somewhere between Alkahest and Lake Candentis.
The design and construction for a full combat robot, of the kind found in Gravid.
The structure and enchantment framework of a flying thaumic warmachine, found within Gravid.  Incomplete, due to Ekrov's lack of understanding about how the machine knows what to do.
The structure and functioning of a thaumic rifle, found within Gravid.


TO-DO LIST:
MEMORY TINKER!!!

Clockwork stuff:
Fix a robot
Try to reverse engineer and understand those power pellet crucibles.
Fix the broken machine guns
Look into cloning machine gun ammo?  Probably not something we'll care about ever, but I wanna DAKKA...

Cache A: The buried death pellet furnaces, both the unopened ones and the empty opened one.
Cache B: All the unexploded bombs from the wreck, including one that's been opened and had some of the bomblets taken out.
Cache C: The rest of the loot from the wreck, buried inside crates.  Contains:

"A large number of tools (These are what you could call mundane tools like wrenches, screw drivers, plyers, and the like. There are a lot of them in different sizes and shapes but none are hugely rare or valuable on their own. Though they are admittedly well made.)"
"A pnumatic self heating rivet gun and the air compressor for it"
"A sort of 'Jaws of Life' style combination spreader and cutter. Basically a massive pnumatic pair of plyers/snips."
"3 more working machine guns, and a half dozen that are broken in some way"  ((These deal "d12 [damage], if memory serves, though they often roll multiples."))
"About 10 or so big boxes of ammo (there are a lot of loose belts around so the amount isn't exact)"
"A welding system"

[Devastator]

(Defaults for Zavi.)

Take the 20 mana, stay on the ground.  Cast a weak temporary (d6) Lightning spell on the three flying up there, so they're a bit lightning resistant.  Cast a temporary d6 (Lightning Explosion) spell on the ground machine gun, to make the bullets explode in lightning balls when they hit stuff.

[Egan_BW]

Have one of the large thaumic guns' platform modified so that it can fire upwards, like a flak cannon, and have it wheeled outside and put somewhere fairly concealed. d8 Endurance Lightning Explosion enchant it to temporarily modify its firing action to instead fire a lightning bolt which creates an explosion at its impact point powerful enough to destroy one of the enemy flying machine's sections. Repeat failure.
Once the closest two craft come overhead, shoot one and then shoot the other as quickly as possible.

Will need about 33 more mana to use this, as each shot consumes 10 mana.

Spoiler: Zavi (click to show/hide)

Name: Zavirius En-Drani Haver, Painter
Appearance: A girl of unknown but apparently foreign descent. She claims to be the last surviving member of a long-dead ancient race, kept preserved in some kind of magical stasis, but this is likely untrue. Though her skin is a strange shade not normally seen on the continent, and her hair is bleached white with a slight green reflective tint. She is not very tall but stout like a dwarf and startlingly strong. She's wearing a red gambeson, gray pants, metal bracers, shin guards and a sallet helm.
Mana: 5
Method: Flesh-Inscribed Channel
Materials: Lightweight, Explosion, Toxic, Lightning, Sunlight
Strength: d10+1
Speed: d8+2
Endurance: d6+2
Knowledge: d8+1
Will: d8+1
Senses: d6+1

Ongoing effects: Permanently immune to nerve gas

Inventory:
160 Gold
Backpack
Tattoo kit
Paints and brushes
Medium Armor (d6)
Kite Shield (d6)
Long Sword (d6)
Catch Pole
3 Small Bombs
Manacles
1-mana/shot explosion powered rifle.

Silver axe-helm.

Salt the Condor-Winged Baboon
Strength: d8
Speed: d8
Endurance: d6
Knowledge: d4
Will: d4
Senses: d6

Small bag

In Alcahest:

Wooden Arm-Guards (d4 armor)
Hemp sack
Kukri (d6 weapon)
Square-tip machete

[piecewise]

Watchtower.
Inform the villagers that they need a tall watchtower or viewing platform, and to allow those infected to climb to the top of it to recover. also that any uninfected should avoid the super-easy-to-catch fish. If they can't build one big enough, the next best bet is to climb a mountain. the infected individual will recover in response to going high enough, and  these treatments are means to that end. heck, there's a chance a simple rope swing might be able to do a good enough job, and they could set one of those up real quick at the water's edge and let people swing on it and jump off into the water. Figure riding a rope swing would simulate being in flight pretty darn well.

You let the mayor know about the algae and the the cure. He thinks that the most simple method would just be to take them up the mountain, as it saves them having to build a watch tower. Or rope swing.  He asks you if there is a way to prevent the infected fish from spreading the parasite, since they're very easy to catch and have been a great boon to the town in recent weeks.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

 Name: Eve
Appearance: 4 ft tall female human with long hear that constantly changes color. She always wears a long sleeve shirt and jeans. She has slightly tan skin and green eyes. most of her right arm is made of aluminum, from her hand to her forearm.
Magic path: Servant Sculptor
Mana: 9
Strength: d4
Speed: d8
Endurance: d6
Knowledge: d10
Will: d8
Senses: d8

Ongoing effects: None

Items needed for current Sculpture

1. An arrow, caught mid flight.
2. A piece of Amber containing a living thing
3. A block of Lead
4. A compass
5. Solidified Smoke.

Spirit: A silver quiver with 5 arrows that looks like a rib cage
Spirit Task: Unknown
Inventory: Doctor's bag, Thick fur shirt d4, Thick fur leggings d4, ghost charm, 100 ft of string, a pry-bar, 9 gold’s worth of food and water, Idol of Flux, 15 gold, a silver quiver thst looks like a rib cage, a bow, 2 silver arrows, a sweatshirt, a winter coat, a hat, a pair of gloves, winter boots, snow pants, 3?4? torches
Materials: Lightsilver, Silver, Stone, Water, Mercury, Erode, Channel

“Which deity are you helping? What are we doing?”

He explains that there have been reports of worshipers being spirited away by some unknown force to the south of here, in the ruins of Old Kaolin, were there are still ancient temples and altars that are sometimes used. They're supposed to go out and "Fix it" via whatever means are nessicary. Maybe violence, maybe agreement. The old gods of Earth, Sky, and Water have long since departed, leaving only Fire, but the smaller gods are still here. The local gods of mountains and streams and such, all gathering here in Kaolin. One of them is probably annoyed about something and snatching up folks in retaliation.

Have one of the large thaumic guns' platform modified so that it can fire upwards, like a flak cannon, and have it wheeled outside and put somewhere fairly concealed. d8 Endurance Lightning Explosion enchant it to temporarily modify its firing action to instead fire a lightning bolt which creates an explosion at its impact point powerful enough to destroy one of the enemy flying machine's sections. Repeat failure.
Once the closest two craft come overhead, shoot one and then shoot the other as quickly as possible.

Will need about 33 more mana to use this, as each shot consumes 10 mana.

Spoiler: Zavi (click to show/hide)

Name: Zavirius En-Drani Haver, Painter
Appearance: A girl of unknown but apparently foreign descent. She claims to be the last surviving member of a long-dead ancient race, kept preserved in some kind of magical stasis, but this is likely untrue. Though her skin is a strange shade not normally seen on the continent, and her hair is bleached white with a slight green reflective tint. She is not very tall but stout like a dwarf and startlingly strong. She's wearing a red gambeson, gray pants, metal bracers, shin guards and a sallet helm.
Mana: 5
Method: Flesh-Inscribed Channel
Materials: Lightweight, Explosion, Toxic, Lightning, Sunlight
Strength: d10+1
Speed: d8+2
Endurance: d6+2
Knowledge: d8+1
Will: d8+1
Senses: d6+1

Ongoing effects: Permanently immune to nerve gas

Inventory:
160 Gold
Backpack
Tattoo kit
Paints and brushes
Medium Armor (d6)
Kite Shield (d6)
Long Sword (d6)
Catch Pole
3 Small Bombs
Manacles
1-mana/shot explosion powered rifle.

Silver axe-helm.

Salt the Condor-Winged Baboon
Strength: d8
Speed: d8
Endurance: d6
Knowledge: d4
Will: d4
Senses: d6

Small bag

In Alcahest:

Wooden Arm-Guards (d4 armor)
Hemp sack
Kukri (d6 weapon)
Square-tip machete

The workers do as you ask, but warn that the modification was hasty. It likely won't survive many firings.
[6+2v8] [-8 mana] The enchantment takes, though just barely.

I'll melt just one of the chunks of magicoal.  Too many buffs needed to spend the whole turn on mana.  Give 20 mana to Saeko, and 20 EDIT: 33 mana to Zavi, for them to use as they feel necessary.  Saeko should buff Ekrov's endurance when he gives her mana.

If she does buff his end, detach the ammo from her machine gun, and then enchant the bullets with "Banish Clockwork", intended to detonate or disappear clockwork on impact, after firing.  If this is unreasonable, cast "antiClockwork" on them instead.

Next, scry with "Animate Clockwork" while sketching on a piece of paper to rapidly draw out detailed schematics of the internals of the incoming clockwork dragons, or the nearest one if the magic wants to focus on a single one.  Focus on finding and detailing the design of the clockwork brain, and/or the controls for whatever enables their flight; the primary purpose of this is to act as a focus for Ekrov's attack spell, not ^_just because I want to steal their design.  Definitely do this on a piece of paper, and keep the spell active so that it can be used to judge the state of the clockwork dragon.

Said attack spell will only be cast if Ekrov successfully received an end buff.  He'll use "Animate Clockwork" as an offensive enchant on the leading clockwork dragon.  Specifically, use the force from "Animate" to jam, shift, or rip out small and integral gears in the brain, specifically focusing on finding ones that control the thing's flight; the goal is to make it lose control and just crash into the ground.  Repeat on further clockwork dragons if the spell proves successful.

...I should probably state that Ekrov will remain inside the ruins once the dragons are getting closer, unless he thinks the ruins will block his spells or something.  Worst case scenario, he stands right outside the entrance just long enough to cast, then retreats inside for cover.

Spoiler: O.o (click to show/hide)

Name: Ekrov Trenian Vyachilad
Description: A noble's son, Ekrov is a boy on the cusp of adulthood, and barely looks it.  His hands are soft, his appearance somewhat unkempt, but his body has toughened from his time on the road.  He's no longer scrawny, though he's still somewhat short--though it's hard to tell whether that's due to age or genetics.  His eyes are calm and constantly look around in absentminded wonderment; he seems continually fascinated, but almost amused as well, as if there's a hidden joke in everything he sees.  He wears a clearly high-quality outfit, but to his credit it looks unusually practical for a noble, subdued brown in color and light aside from thin pieces of light leather in strategic locations, clearly intended more as protection than a fashion statement.  He carries a small backpack, and wears a light cloak that's had an absurd number of little pockets clumsily sewn into it.  He has a very large third eye in the center of his forehead.  It is rotated ninety degrees from his other eyes, and has a glittering gold iris set into an entirely black sclera.  It cannot turn to look at things without him moving his entire head, and is rock solid.
Magic Path: Alchemist Sculptor
Mana: 117 (0 thaum carried)
Magic Words: "Animate", "Cloud", "Banish", "Iron", "Human", "Clockwork"

Stats:
Strength: d6
Speed: d6
Endurance: d6+2
Knowledge: d12+5
Will: d6
Senses: d12+1

Ongoing Effects:  None.

Current Sculpture Materials:
1. Something of perfect roundness
2. Ash from the ruins of a city
3. Skin containing an old scar
4. A book
5. Honey
6. Something that came from beyond the skies

Inventory:
Backpack
Lightly armored traveling outfit (enchanted to d6, from d4)
Wooden shield (+1 to armor rolls, most of the time)
Steel stilleto (d4 melee)
Merc Longsword (d6 Melee)
Ornamental spring pistol (d6 ranged) [6/6] (30 spare shots)
Alchemist gear
12 gold, 8 silver (Saeko owes him 400 gold...  For someone with d12 sense, Ekrov can be pretty gullible.)
LOTS of thaum.
Orb key thing, looted from long dead pilot corpse.
35 (!) Clockwork mainsprings capable of powering full robots
Enough robot pieces to reassemble a full combat robot.
Ash from the ruins of Gravid. (sculpture mat)
FERROUS MEMENTO, THE MEMORY SKULL!
--Enchanted to only open when the correct passphrase is spoken to it.  Only Ekrov knows the passphrase.
--Enchanted so that Ekrov is always aware of its location and status.

Two broken clockwork robots, shoved in crates.  Details here,  here, and here.  And a question about rewriting their minds here.
A pair of strength-increasing clockwork gauntlets, which were clearly meant to be used by the robots, "seemingly for bending metal".
A strange blunt clockwork circular saw that is extremely effective at cutting through metal.
A  straight bladed clockwork sword, with a slot in the bottom for a power cell.  It is a lightning saber; when properly empowered, it will produce high heat and electrical discharge that will greatly enhance both its cutting power and the damage it causes.  It needs a power cell of the right size; which is basically a charged battery.
A large bag of bomblets, taken from an unexploded clockwork bomb.

Paints, a dish, sands, glitter, water, general scrying supplies.
Pencil + Paper.
Expensive medical supplies.

Sketches of:
Gyrotourbillon's workings
Benedict the Griffon
Detailed but incomplete schematics of clockwork robot people.
Clockwork machinegun schematics.
Simple clockwork tools schematics.
Schematic for a simple remotely-operated alchemist-gear manipulator thing.
Maps to the three caches of clockwork loot buried somewhere between Alkahest and Lake Candentis.
The design and construction for a full combat robot, of the kind found in Gravid.
The structure and enchantment framework of a flying thaumic warmachine, found within Gravid.  Incomplete, due to Ekrov's lack of understanding about how the machine knows what to do.
The structure and functioning of a thaumic rifle, found within Gravid.


TO-DO LIST:
MEMORY TINKER!!!

Clockwork stuff:
Fix a robot
Try to reverse engineer and understand those power pellet crucibles.
Fix the broken machine guns
Look into cloning machine gun ammo?  Probably not something we'll care about ever, but I wanna DAKKA...

Cache A: The buried death pellet furnaces, both the unopened ones and the empty opened one.
Cache B: All the unexploded bombs from the wreck, including one that's been opened and had some of the bomblets taken out.
Cache C: The rest of the loot from the wreck, buried inside crates.  Contains:

"A large number of tools (These are what you could call mundane tools like wrenches, screw drivers, plyers, and the like. There are a lot of them in different sizes and shapes but none are hugely rare or valuable on their own. Though they are admittedly well made.)"
"A pnumatic self heating rivet gun and the air compressor for it"
"A sort of 'Jaws of Life' style combination spreader and cutter. Basically a massive pnumatic pair of plyers/snips."
"3 more working machine guns, and a half dozen that are broken in some way"  ((These deal "d12 [damage], if memory serves, though they often roll multiples."))
"About 10 or so big boxes of ammo (there are a lot of loose belts around so the amount isn't exact)"
"A welding system"

Ok.  Yes buffed.
[3+2 v3] [-3 mana] Ammo enchanted (Temporary)
[3+5v10] Dang. [-10 mana] No joy on that scribbling.
Because you couldn't scry the location of a brain, I'll shift your spell to be weaker but more wide spread. Less a surgical death blow and more a overall crippling shot.
[7+2 v 3]

Lets get the super autocannon mounted up on Benedict.  At the same time, cast two d4 Permanent Strengthen Steel spells to summon him up some front and back steel plates to help his armour.  Also, buff Ekrov's Endurance to d8, with a temporary Strengthen spell, and my own Speed to d10 with a temporary Strengthen Speed spell.  Aim for 1hr duration on both.

Then mount up and take to the air.  The workers are to hide in the ruins, and the guards are to get the other machine gun to help cover them from the ruin entrance, or follow Zavi's orders if Zavi wants to direct the defence in some way from the ground.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Japanese girl with a long black braid and a white and red fitted robe with long gloves.  Clothing made of metallic thread.  Pointy, somewhat elfish ears.  Violet eyes that glow brightly.  Visibly glowing with a pinkish-purplish light.  Missing fingernails on right hand.

Invoking Empath

Str  d6 +1
Speed  d8 +1
Endurance  d10+3
Knowledge  d8+2
Will  d10+3
Senses  d8 +2

Materials: d12 Ape, d12 Grow, d12 Strengthen, d12 Expand, d8 Bird, d6 Force, d4 Ice
Location: Ruins of Gravid.
Status: Fine.  Missing fingernails on right hand. Slightly enhanced hearing.
Temporary Effects: d8 Grow Strengthen for hearing, day 10/30.

Familiar.  "Benedict"  Cougar/red-tailed hawk, adequate flyer, garage-sized with 120ish foot wingspan.
Natural weapons d10, d10+d6 with swooooop.  5/4+1 enchantments. d6 Strengthen Grow, d8 Strengthen Grow, d10 Strengthen Grow, d8 Strengthen Bird Speed, d12 Strengthen Grow over 1 week.  Eats 3 gold/day worth of food.  Properly harnessed and well kitted out for riding and baggage.  Equipped with a steel helmet.

Str D20
Spd D6
End D12
Kno D4
Will D8
Sen D6

Expedition Status:
Saeko, Ekrov, Zavi.
3 guards, 2 in personal service.
3 assistants and workers.
Excavation tools and equipment.
20 days worth of supplies.
Key orbs: Soldier, Technician, Aristocrat
Accessable locations: All of lower level of city ruins, save for king door.  Likely access to still-unexplored upper levels.

explored: Through soldier-locked door. leads to..
storage rooms
guard rooms
farm area
garbage disposal + magicoal furnace
hangars
armouries.
control room
King door

Loot:
8x suits of silk clothing.
8x suits of cotton clothing.
26x Thaumic sabres.
56x magic rifles
19x suits of magic armour
Broken magic armour bits.
Thaumic tools
3x Thaumic wire-laying tools
3x gold wire spools

3x deactivated golems
6x gold swirly orbs (explosives)
16x telescoping silver rods (portable force fields)
4x big rifles
1x rifle with flower petal rod

Art Pieces:
statuary of harp-playing waifish girl.
very fine quality evocative bust.

17 barrels of magicoal. 3d20+10 pieces each, each containing 3d20 mana.
first barrel has 44 chunks.

Items:
Ghost Charm
Alchemist's Gear
Two machine guns! with lots of ammo.
35 mana
90 thaum
243 gold
d8+1 armour: The outfit, and a shield.  Weighs as if it were d4.
parachute popsicle-stick.
Sealer-suit gloves
Shield.
Adamant Weave Backpack.  Contents are magically lightened via Lightweight spell.
Waterskin
Adamant Weave Cloth.  Sufficient for an outfit or two backpacks.
5kg steel rod
Compass
Goggles
Doctor's Bag
Sealer suit material.
Surgical tools
Magic Spyglass
~250 gold value of gold and silver ingots and precious gems.

Jade tablets with d8 View, d10 Steel, and d10 Speed.
disassembled force-field rod with [Force D4] [Wall d12] and [Permanent d10]

Alchemy Supplies

Stashed:
Cable-wrapped metal box of happiness.
Box of painting-golem

Notes: Improving physical stats with strengthen, d4->d6 is d6, d6->d8 is d12, d8->d10 is d20 or more.

[2+2v3][-10 mana]
[9v4]
[8+1v1]

The group waits until the serpents are basically overhead before engaging. Zavi is first, firing a round from the hastily created thaumic artillery cannon.  An orb of red light the size of a basketball tears straight up and slams into one of the serpents  near the middle of its body. The resulting blast is not unlike that of a firework; a spray of hundreds of tiny bolts that lance out in all directions. Next is Ekrov, who waves a hand at the other dragon and bids its numerous gears and springs to revolt against their place in the mechanism, to run backwards, shatter, break free, and jam.  The effected dragon's elegant and slow curling suddenly lurches and seizes to a stop, replaced with a spasmodic and ineffectual slither.  Finally, Saeko makes it into the air and opens fire, putting bursts of high caliber rounds into the metal beasts. The mechanical creatures seem to try and break up, split into sections, severing useless pieces and carrying on as individual parts, but the damage is too wide spread and Saeko is able to pick off those pieces that are still limping along.

Ekrov is safe in the entrance to the ruin, and Saeko is safe in the air, but Zavi has to dive for cover under a large chuck of black stone as the broken remnants of the serpents rain down onto the sands.

The third serpent, the one that was quite distant from these two as they passed over the cam and is still several miles out, seems to turn. Nothing of it is visible but some distant lights...but it seems to be moving rapidly in this direction.

[Naturegirl1999]

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Name: Eve
Appearance: 4 ft tall female human with long hear that constantly changes color. She always wears a long sleeve shirt and jeans. She has slightly tan skin and green eyes. most of her right arm is made of aluminum, from her hand to her forearm.
Magic path: Servant Sculptor
Mana: 9
Strength: d4
Speed: d8
Endurance: d6
Knowledge: d10
Will: d8
Senses: d8

Ongoing effects: None

Items needed for current Sculpture

1. An arrow, caught mid flight.
2. A piece of Amber containing a living thing
3. A block of Lead
4. A compass
5. Solidified Smoke.

Spirit: A silver quiver with 5 arrows that looks like a rib cage
Spirit Task: Unknown
Inventory: Doctor's bag, Thick fur shirt d4, Thick fur leggings d4, ghost charm, 100 ft of string, a pry-bar, 9 gold’s worth of food and water, Idol of Flux, 15 gold, a silver quiver that looks like a rib cage, a bow, 2 silver arrows, a sweatshirt, a winter coat, a hat, a pair of gloves, winter boots, snow pants, 3?4? torches
Materials: Lightsilver, Silver, Stone, Water, Mercury, Erode, Channel

"Alright, let's figure out who/what's taking people" Head south

[Egan_BW]

Relocate the gun, aiming to keep it hidden from the remaining flier as it approaches.

Spoiler: Zavi (click to show/hide)

Name: Zavirius En-Drani Haver, Painter
Appearance: A girl of unknown but apparently foreign descent. She claims to be the last surviving member of a long-dead ancient race, kept preserved in some kind of magical stasis, but this is likely untrue. Though her skin is a strange shade not normally seen on the continent, and her hair is bleached white with a slight green reflective tint. She is not very tall but stout like a dwarf and startlingly strong. She's wearing a red gambeson, gray pants, metal bracers, shin guards and a sallet helm.
Mana: 20
Method: Flesh-Inscribed Channel
Materials: Lightweight, Explosion, Toxic, Lightning, Sunlight
Strength: d10+1
Speed: d8+2
Endurance: d6+2
Knowledge: d8+1
Will: d8+1
Senses: d6+1

Ongoing effects: Permanently immune to nerve gas

Inventory:
160 Gold
Backpack
Tattoo kit
Paints and brushes
Medium Armor (d6)
Kite Shield (d6)
Long Sword (d6)
Catch Pole
3 Small Bombs
Manacles
1-mana/shot explosion powered rifle.

Silver axe-helm.

Salt the Condor-Winged Baboon
Strength: d8
Speed: d8
Endurance: d6
Knowledge: d4
Will: d4
Senses: d6

Small bag

In Alcahest:

Wooden Arm-Guards (d4 armor)
Hemp sack
Kukri (d6 weapon)
Square-tip machete

[Devastator]

"Alright, let's figure out who/what's taking people" Head south

Aww.  I was hoping to read some investigation or exploration of the temple city.. it's a place I've wanted to go to, but never have had the opportunity.  Probably be a couple years before getting there.

Plus wouldn't mind seeing the rumored demigod present there, too.