"Excuse me, honorable ancestor, but who are you, and what is it that you think we have that is yours?"
Talk to corpseboy, but try to sound suitably reverential to hopefully placate it a little. Maybe now we'll find out what exactly we are transporting.
Name: Adam Blavatsky Darvaza
Description: A young man of slightly pale complexion and eternal 9 o’clock shadow, he was raised in a small village. While the village priest and passing mystics droned with endless sermons of the Church and their teachings, what had always captivated young Adam’s attention more were the stories of his Granny.
Old stories of the world as it once was, before people were forced to flee to the caves and crannies of this damp hell. Of warm days where pleasant green plants tickled your feet as you walked through them and a cool breeze blew through your hair. Where food was plentiful, nature was benign and endless vistas reached as far as they eye could see.
Adam was nominally a card-carrying member of the church, though he mostly did it for the connections and perks that brought. They were powerful and had ancient lore, all things he would need to fulfill his true heart’s desire: to return to the surface, vanquish the madness that tainted their homeland and reconquer paradise.
After his encounter with a Word of God, the edges of his vision are flickering with black flame and his skin is extremely pale with what appear to be black veins instead of the normal blue ones. It also forced him to reevaluate his views on the cthonic church and god.
Goal: Plunge the secrets of the depths below to find an answer to the horrors above.
Stats Str: 10
Dex: 10
Spe: 11
End: 10
Awa: 11
Cun: 10
Kno: 10
Ner: 13
SkillsDiving: +3
Stealth: +2
Occult: +1
Can see things in great detail as well as look through objects such as walls. Rolls Nerve.Inventory1 soldier chestplate
Clothing: simple priest robes, shortened a bit so as to less restrict his movements
1 ethral rifle [10 rounds] (pierce 2)
1 black flame
1 Silent Night
4 worm blood
1 minor artifact
1 beaker artifact (found in crystal ruins) => in locker
1 crystal construct
Transport mission papers
1 black book copy
1 black book
1 book "Artifacts of Faith"
1 empyrean city map
1 field lighter
1 radio
6 fathoms
-loaned 40 to Cara (Tiruin)
207 fathoms (payment from pilgrim escort)
1 unspent skillpoint
"It is unsurprising you do not know. The name of Izbin-ikaer, Lord of Umbral Bone, is not one oft spoken by living lips. As per what is mine, the avian scum with which you dealt most recently granted you a series of boxes, though I believe they never vouchsafed what lay within. Not for true, at least. Within are my loyal citizens, rudely stolen from me. Open them and you will see that I do not lie."
((See? This is where some flamethrowers or other big guns would have been useful.))
: Battle stations. Prepare to repel undead boarders. : Kara announced through the intercom.
Stand ready to close the dome's iris if things go badly. If any of them manage to get in, then run away. I don't want to start shooting in the bridge, I could damage something important. Unless Vikkan's in danger, then shoot the zombies, defending him takes priority.
Try to figure out which parts of the bore are more susceptible to boarding and if we could dig a hole quickly enough to inconvenience the boarders or if it would be better to run.
Have I heard of this guy before or someone like him?
Name: "Kara" is what most humans call her, though the closest pronunciation would be Kr'ra-Kax
Race: Corven (advantage for climb, disadvantage for falls)
Appearance: She is a crow-like Corven with matte-black feathers. A bit short. Constantly moves her head around, examining her surroundings. Moves her tail up and down whenever she's excited.
Age: Adult, but just barely
Goal: Wants to find artifacts and experiences that she can use to make an (under)world-famous museum. Wants to prove herself to her mother and piss off her brother with her success (both financially and socially).
StatusSacrificed left arm to reverse time (eaten by giant Shluck-like thing). Bandaged and given spider venom for the pain.
StatsStr:9
Dex:13
Spe:13
End:7
Awa:12
Cun:10
Kno:12
Ner:11
Skills1 unspent
Rifle: 1
Medical: 1
Translate: 1
Acrobatics: 1
Caving: 1
Machine Control: 1
Stealth: 1
Geology: 1
Archeology: 1
Navigation: 1
InventoryRadio
3 fathoms
Ethral Rifle (scope+bipod) (rifle 3, pierce 3) 7/7
Ethral Rifle magazine 7/7
Ethral Rifle magazine 6/7
Field Lighter (Fire 2)
Grappling Hook + Ethral Silk rope 100 ft
Simple Clothes
Metal Card with the address of the Gilded Crow (corven Gangsters of Goldshore)
Kara's DiaryIn StorageCrystal Tablets (diary about All-Eater and Great Destroyer, inventory, obedience rod instructions, construct assembly instructions)
Church Documents (document ownership and events, and recommend favorable treatment)
Cot
Book (Adventures of Pilgrim)
Deck of Cards
Mechanical Arm (not installed)
Crystal Friend
Bomb collar (unlocked)
All bomb collar remotes
You whisper the command through the bore's audio system. If Mr. Izbin notices, he gives no indication of it. After everyone has been warned you move into a good position to close the dome's blast shielding and then start thinking.
[5]
That is a necromancer. You are basically certain of that fact. But you can't remember any real specifics about what necromancers are or any weaknesses they have or anything like that.
[11]
The bore is pretty resilient but you think that any of its entrances might be a weak point. But you're not sure how strong these creatures are...if they can punch through plate steel then talk of "Weaknesses" is basically meaningless. As per digging a hole....it would probably be a pretty good way of shielding at least part of the bore, though the cockpit section would probably still be exposed to some degree.
Get in the bridge and ready myself to defend if things get hairy. If the zombies break through the glass dome, start shooting. If they get too close, attack with the sword, but try to keep range on them. Also, spy with my little eye on the zombie king guy.
Name: Harmony “Harm” Li
Description: Lean and broody looking. This woman has short black hair and is partially covered in interlocking black tattoos. One of her eyes is covered with an eyepatch. She wears simple black clothes, with a knee-length Maggot Wool Coat overtop. She wears a mail shirt underneath her clothes.
Goal: Overall, Harm would like to find a place where refugees and travelers could seek refuge without dealing with the dogmatic influence of the church. Right now, though, she just wants to get away.
Stats
Str:11
Dex:11
Spe:11
End:10
Awa:11
Cun:12
Kno:10
Ner:11
Skills
Weapon smith (3)
Mechanical (2)
Lucky Shot (1)
1 unassigned
Condition
Hand has been severed, then reattached (fully healed).
Inventory
Eyepatch
Radio
Mail shirt (protect 3)
Small Obsidian Knife [cut, stab 3. Fragile]
Crystal cutting utility knife (free to borrow)
Obsidian arrowhead (cut 4, fragile)
6 Octahedrons
Half a ton of obsidian
5 Large branches of crystalline lead
Lucky Shot (6/7)(14 rounds)
Short sword (cutting 3, pierce 2)
Voice in the Eyes (in eye socket)
Field Lighter
10 Path Markers
2 units mechanical junk
2 mechanical arms (belong to Kara and Vikkan)
6 sturdy glass bottles
Preserved severed eye
94 fathoms
You climb up into the bore cockpit and, because things haven't started devolving yet, you try to look non-nonchalant but dangerous. Like a club bouncer ready to eject rowdy patrons.
Kara slowly approached Kalagony, nervously fidgeting with the limp sleeve of her shirt that would had held her missing arm.
"Erm... Hi!" she began raising her arm in greeting and quickly bringing it down again.
"I just wanted to... apologize. When you last spoke to me, you were honest and trying to help, but... Well, I know it's no excuse, but I was dealing with a lot of things at the time. I panicked and just didn't want to deal with my condition or fears or... anything related to it at the time and so I just said what I thought was the easiest way out."
She made an effort to look at him in the eyes to show how sincere her apology was.
"I am deeply sorry if I hurt or insulted you. I hope you can forgive me. Or at least hold no grudge against me. If there's anything I could do to make things better between us..."
While Kalagony couldn't even recognize Kara's face due to his poor eyesight, he still felt she was being sincere.
"This scent... Kara, isn't it? You don't have to apologize... You had a reasonable reaction, which I expected and was the reason I was too nervous to ask you before. I'm not the kind of guy who holds grudges, either..."
"...Do you know why did I chose you? Not because of your physical power or skill, but because of your spirit. That day, I saw someone willing to sacrifice parts of their body to save others. From a frail and crippled Corven, I saw true strenght and determination."
Kalagony chuckles for a moment.
"Honestly, you remind me of myself when I was younger."
"Truth is, that I'm getting old. My vision isn't as good as it was in my youth, but my fighting spirit continues to be as strong as the steel I bear in right arm. ...Yet, I can feel my physical strenght waning as my body ages."
"So... Just know, I'm still willing to take you as... You know, my apprentice. My personal fighting style requires a mechanical arm, but I still could teach you some of the basics of unnarmed combat, as a way to express my gratitude..."
Move towards the glass and prepare for combat. Attack as soon as they break into the bridge, using my mechanical arm as both a shield and weapon. Go for crushing attacks with my fists instead of slashing attacks with my claws. Aim for the head of the undead, and arms if they keep moving after that. If I notice that I'm getting surrounded or there are too many hostiles, retreat and find a better place to continue fighting like a hallway from which I know where the enemy will come from. If there are way too many of them and I'm alone, just retreat and regroup.
Name: Kalagony
Description: Kalagony is a short but muscular Mole-man. He's a martial arts fanatic, and willingly replaced his healthy arm with a mechanical version just to improve his lethality in melee combat. He has a particularly large tentacled star-shaped snout and a small pair of black, beady eyes. His hair is dark brown.
Goal: His life goal is to challenge and fight against the best warriors in the world, to crush his opponents and claim the title of the strongest fighter.
Stats:
Str:15
Dex:11
Spe:8
End:13
Awa:11
Cun:10
Kno:10
Ner:11
Skills:
Unarmed: 3 (2+1 Mole-Man Claws)
Defense Skill: Mechanical arm Block: 3
Caving: 1
(1 Unused Skill Point)
Inventory:
Mechanical arm (Right arm, claw weapon)
Grappling Hook
Silk Rope (100 feet)
Field Lighter
Martial Arts Gi
You head up to the cockpit and also make ready to defend the bore. Of course unlike Harm you make ready mostly via talking- and bragging- continuously.
"We are being paid to transport cargo. We were not informed beforehand what we would be transporting. I believe that the items in our cargo bay officially belong to our employer, but I think that the simplest and most beneficial outcome for us both would be for you to buy that cargo from us for fathoms or goods of greater value than our employer is paying."
Negotiate. For more money, obviously.
Name: Wiellste Gunsmithy
Description: A young Ethral, no taller than 4 feet. Her fur is unpatterned and a milky white. Usually wears a rather plain quilted brown silk cloak, and a polished copper mask with symmetrical, spiraling lines etched on the sides.
Goal: The spheres remain intriguing, but it's become clear that it would not be good for Wiellste's health to become a diver. And... neither Ethral or Corven culture demand it, but Wiellste feels that she owes Kara something. There's a difference between someone who saves your life and someone who brings you back from the dead.
Stats:
Str: 8
Dex: 12
Spe: 10
End: 9
Awa: 7
Cun: 15
Kno: 13
Ner: 11
Skills:
SKILL 1
Weaponsmith 2
Diving 2
Pistol 1
Bore 1
Translate 1
Stealth 1
Inventory:
Silk cloak
Copper mask
Human-made revolver (Pistol 3) (6/6)
Notes
1 Fathom
[10]
The corpse laughs -a distinctly unpleasant sound- and points a curved blade at you.
"The insect thinks I should pay for my own property?" He says, seemingly amused, "What a curious view on life these subhumans have."
Vikkan's mustache visibly sagged. What had he done to deserve such grim excitement? "I believe are being paid to transport goods, not to fight off those who say they own them." he pointed out in a tired tone. He wanted to drive a bore, not continually get into horrible misadventures aaaaaaa. He'd heard of and seen Honored Dead before, but the interloper did not look like one of them. The newcomer was much spookier, and far less interested in defending any fleshy comrades.
"I also believe you are someone honorable, so I would like an explanation about this cargo and why it belongs to you, out of politesse as I am fatally out of depth here." he added, addressing the mummified man knocking on the window.
Talk to undead. Prepare for combat, hope it doesn't happen..
Name: Vikkan Laerthe
Description: A human from Anvil and a moderate Chthonic who was born and raised close in the neighborhood of the Hammerfall boreyard, where his parents were employed as menial workers. Being so close to a place so filled with machinery and boring machines left a lasting impression on Vikkan, who became a furnace helper, then a drivemaster's apprentice until he finally reached the controls of a bore. He's quite good at conducting driving bores and, most importantly, he deeply enjoys his work.
Bore love aside, Vikkan is also generally quite friendly and good-humored even when he's not behind a bore's controls. He is, however, aware of his limitations out of the control room, and he'd rather leave most other matters to more skilled people. What he lacks in intellectual education he displays in polite curiosity, and he tends to be interested in listening even to topics he can only vaguely grasp, making for a good talking and drinking buddy if nothing else.
At odds with his friendliness, he looks rugged, if young. His hair is dark brown and cut short, and he has a well-groomed handlebar mustache (though he's been known to let it grow and style it into a horseshoe at times). A small diagonal scar moves from his right eyebrow to the bridge of his nose. His skin is brown and displays a few burns thanks to a few years of furnace and boiler work. He's fairly hairy, with his shirt's sleeves covering hairy arms and a few spots of scar tissue. His uniform is made of thick cloth and utilitarian, overalls, a long-sleeved shirt and a cap. His major concession to vanity is keeping his uniform and mustache impeccable.
He doesn't have a right hand.Goal: To deep driving bores and having fun while doing it. It's not a difficult dream, even if it can be hard at times.
StatsStr: 11
Dex: 11
Spe: 10
End: 11
Awa: 13
Cun: 10
Kno: 11
Ner: 11
Skills (1 point unspent)
+3 Vehicle (Bore)
+2 Navigation
+1 Defense (Mail Shirt)
Inventory-Conductor's Clothes
-Dynamo Lantern
-Black Book (Copy)
-Field Lighter
-Mail Shirt
-Short Sword
-Rifle
-Knife
-100ft silk rope
-142 Fathoms
-Neck chain (that used to hold a black flame that actually never existed)
-Black Flame
-Clockwork arm
1 Mission and counting
Level 0: +3 Awareness
Level 1: +1 Str, Dex, End, Kno, Ner. 1 skill point unused.
"You are right, human. Right indeed. You are in fatal depths, that is true enough. But I am beneficent and take pity on fragile beings like yourself. That false cargo of yours contains my subjects, as I stated before. They were stolen from my domain by the avians and their brethren, no doubt in some attempt to unravel the secret methods of Izbin-ikaer. They will fail, of course, and I am by no means lacking in servants but I cannot allow such impudence to stand. It is a matter of principal; the lower beings should not harvest the higher. No such is a complete reversal of the natural order.
But come now, I am fair. You are but unwitting pawns in this game and I am not so cruel as to visit violence on fools who have had their simple natures exploited. Give back what is mine and...ah I know." He suddenly reaches into his robe and produces a fathom. One of the larger denominations by the look if it, but its hard to tell by how he's holding it. "I recognize no authority above my own but your kind seeks masters to serve, and this is one of your master's treats, is it not? Be good fools and return that which is mine and I shall give you these things. All that those who stole my servants had on them before they too became my servants. Ah, I grow soft and compassionate in my age, granting charity to thieves and considering the ideas of mere insects." He laughs to himself again.
AsHul growls in frustration.
"Faugh! I'm going after the last guardian. Those who wish to exit the Vision, I assume the way forward is straight out that door into the sky. But use your own judgment. Auft, I am taking your slave with me."
Take Auft's slave and whichever teammates explicitly say they are coming along and retrace our path until we either encounter the lizard again or arrive at the hall where we met him the first time. If we encounter him again, approach and stick my hand through into the facade room, then enter and follow. If we get to the hall instead, simply enter the facade hall and go forward.
Name: AsHul
Description:Former human. Awful, ugly, indifferent. Currently a dream robot
Goal:To find God
Stats
Str:9 Dex:8 Spe:9 End:11 Awa:12 Cun:11 Kno:11 Ner:16 (-1)
Skills
3 Diving
2 Animal Handling
1 Survival
1 Weapon skill: Guitar
Inventory
Relic Fragment
Black Book (copy, strata 1,2,4)
1 Silent Night
3 Worm Blood
100 ft of rope
1 knife (cut/pierce 2)
2 Occult Junks
59 Fathoms (One magnetically welded to the wall of his room in the Bore, one "shiny," 57 standard)
168 Fathoms (Team Account. Kept on AsHul's person for safekeeping. Stored separately from his personal funds.
Stored at warehouse during Relic Vision:
Firing Control Module (Brass Brain)
Book of sheet music (from Balaram) [stack of about 100 pages bound by three brass rings along the top of the sheets]
his former bomb collar - made of something like demagnetized neodymium.
One Bone-fretted haunted electric guitar
One mundane acoustic guitar with wave patterns in abalone and turquoise
Notes:
Travellers' guild is offering a relic retrieval job. Local hazards ('living').
Auft trills in annoyance.
"My slave goes with me! Unless you want to buy me a new one if you break him."
She daintily clears her throat.
"Fortunately I intend to come along as well; if some of us are completing the quest, it seems most wise for all of us to do so."
Go with AsHul to defeat the last challenge.
Name: Auft Kindheart
Description: Standing 3'10", with even fluffier than usual snow-white fur, this Ethral radiates adorable innocence even by the standards of her kind. Her porcelain-white mask is a circular shape carved into slices, each bearing a smiling face with eyes and mouths arched in joy, and adorned with pink blush marks. Her cloak is similarly pure white and a little too large for her, adding to her cute and defenseless appearance.
Goal: To amass and improve loyal pets and slaves.
Stats
Str: 8
Dex: 13
Spe: 10
End: 8
Awa: 8
Cun: 16
Kno: 13
Ner: 10
Skills
+1 Medical
+1 Translate
+1 Acrobatics
+1 Persuasion
+1 Stealth
+1 Animal Handling
+1 Archeology
+1 Biological
+1 Chemical
+1 Occult
[1 Skill Point]
Inventory
82 Fathoms
Ethral Rifle [1/7]
Doctor's Bag
Dodecahedron Spider-Thing: Fist-sized dodecahedron body, long unjointed legs that move in very slow cascades. Ceased moving upon being picked up. Can be trained in simple commands via clear hand signals, bops, and repetition.
2 quarter-inch cubes of impossibly heavy black stuff: Estimated 50 lbs weight total
Thug with metal teeth in his mouth and on his arm
Mediocre Skull Mug: A mug made from a skull. It works, but it's pretty meh considering it's made from a skull.
Shitty Bone Pan Flute: Several long bones crudely strapped together, long to short. Despite this, the actual notes are arranged randomly, out of tune, and lack much range.
Inanimate Vertebra Scarab: A bug-thing with a single human vertebra for a body, fingerbones for legs, teeth for mandibles, and so on. Needs an appropriate sacrifice to animate, like a "large" insect.
Iron Teeth, Slightly Demuscled Thug
Knife (Cut/Pierce 2)
Soldier Chestplate
Slave Trap
"Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear. We'd best stick together, splitting seems like a bad idea overall."
Lock and load, we're following Ashul towards our last challenge
Name: Clate
Race: Shluck
Description: Being a Shluck, Clate is rarely seen outside of his environmental suit. Inside, he is the standard albino mollusk, with his only true defining characteristic being the alternating white/borwn pattern of his beak, much like on a nautilus shell. His environmental suit and exoskeltons are full of scuff marks and small blemishes from work, but the knowledgable observer will notice that it is mechanically kept in tip-top shape. He wears a toolbelt and a satchel to store his tools and other knickknacks, and has a blue cap perched on top of his helmet.
Goal: To create great works of craftsmanship and become filthy rich in the process.
Stats
Str: 8
Dex: 11
Spe: 9
End: 10
Awa: 10
Cun: 16 (+3)
Kno: 12
Ner: 11
Skills (1 point unused)
Electronics 1
Mechanical 1
Biological 1
Chemical 1
Occult 1
Weaponsmith 1
Armorsmith 1
Stealth 1
Steal 1
Explosives 1
Inventory
Clothing: A tool belt that can be modified to fit the exoskeleton, a satchel and a blue cap with "If it ain't broke, fix it" embroidered on.
Mail shirt (Made to integrate directly into the exosuit, protecting surface that houses Shluck including head.Protect 3)
Bladed Shovel - handle coated with Pseudomagnetic mortar
Knife (cut2, pierce2)
Rifle (pierce2, 6/10 magazine)
TNT x5
Dynamo lantern
Field lighter
Path markers x10
"Muggy"(skull mug scrimshawed with "can we fix it?" on the side, "No, it's fucked." on the bottom. Has trigger on the inside of the spine-handle that, when squeezed, caused the mandible to open and close)
1 Bow from weird eyeball creature. Produces a bone arrow when drawing the string.
3 weird picture books
2 Octahedrons - supposedly replicate materials
1 container of Pseudomagnetic mortar
labradorite/Obedience rod
100ft silk rope
3 structural junk
30 chemical junk
1 gold ingot
143 Fathoms
Crystal Babies
2. 8 sided diamond (looks like Ramiel from EVA and floats). 8 inches to an edge
3. Crystal snake. hiss. 18 inches long.
Warehouse/bore storage:
1. Dodecahedron, no limbs, rolls. Fist sized.
4. Spiky daddy long legs like Irony has. 1 foot legs, fist sized body.
5. Thing looks like (see pic). about 8 inches to a side.
7. Wheel sort of thing that has a fat inside edge and tapers to a sharp edge on the outside. Foot and a half in diameter.
1 corpse (missing: skull, neck vertebrea, some bones)
Bomb Collar
Slate box with multicolour crystal toothpick - supposedly turns someone into a gemperson.
Spool of thermoreactive wire.
Acoustic guitar (Metal + guardbone, totally mundane.)
Box with "kidnapper bell"
6 Octahedrons - supposedly replicate materials
"Fine, you go take down the last guardian, but we're taking all the books with us!"
Head back to the library and start hauling ALL THE BOOKS to the statue room.
Name: Alex Wells
Description: A middle aged man standing 5'7" feet tall. He has short brown hair and an unkempt beard.
Goal: Exploring the depths and collecting its wealth.
Stats:
Str: 11
Dex: 11
Spe: 10
End: 11
Awa: 11
Cun: 12
Kno: 11
Ner: 11
Skills:
Explosives 2
Mechanical 1
Survival 1
Caving 1
Chemical 2
Geology 1
1 Skill point
Inventory:
Dynamo Lantern
Field Lighter
4 TNT
Bladed Shovel (Cut 3)
Mail Shirt
39 Fathoms
Crystal box of golem limbs
Golem buddy
Black Flame (Cut 3)
Rifle (Pierce 2) 4/10
8 Structural Junk
Grappling Hook
Moon bladed staff (Cut 4)
5 ancient human books
I cannot say I agree with your actions. However, I came along to make sure that we get as many of us back as possible. Therefore, I shall join you.
Go be the medic.
drett
Ashul retraces his steps back to the room with the lizard with everyone following along behind him. When he makes it there the creature has not returned so he just presses into the room. Nothing happens in that hall so he keeps going, moving through into another facade room, everyone else in tow. Nothing happens for several seconds. Then the room shakes, everything rattling as though there's an earthquake, and people stumble about trying to remain on their feet. With a sudden groan the room in front of this one...in front of in relation to the shaft that is...slides out of the way and this room slides forward to fill the space. This happens again with the next layer and now the room is only two layers deep. Out in the shaft they can see something moving, something enormous crawling along the shaft wall. Moving towards them.
Meanwhile, Alex, who is elsewhere, starts carting books from deeper in the maze towards the exit.
Author
Topic: DIG: Heresy (Read 413272 times)