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[m1895]

-snip-

"Oh yeah I'll join up with you guys." Her eyes lighting up at the mention of riches
she tenses up a bit at the mention of Diving "Oh no, I'm a gunslinger by trade, never touched any of that diving nonsense. Just seemed like a lot of sacrifice and risk for little gain."

Spoiler: Birb (click to show/hide)

Name:Swis Hartra
Description: a (relatively) tall golden eagle type Corven, she tries not to look too wary and moves with eerie grace.
Goal: either make a load of money as a "free shooter" or die trying
Stats:
Str:8 
Dex:16 
Spe:13 
End:6 
Awa:12 
Cun:10 
Kno:8 
Ner:10
Skills 10-3-3-1-1
Lucky Shot Revolver 2
Acrobatics 2
Stealth 1
Survival 1
Navigation 1
Caving 1
Inventory:
Lucky Shot Revolver [7/7]
Path Markers [10]
free clothing: Rathide Cloak
Currency:Nothing

[Parisbre56]

A moth stumbles out of some small corner in the bore and calls out.
^{_{"Kara? Are you here? I've been sick."}}

"Wiellste! Are you feeling well? Do you need anything? ... It's not contagious, is it? Or is it an Ethral thing? Were you molting? Do Ethral molt? Does it have the same taboo as being naked does for humans? No, don't tell me, it doesn't matter, as long as you're here and you're okay. I'm just curious. Sorry. Hi!"

"Oh yeah I'll join up with you guys." Her eyes lighting up at the mention of riches
she tenses up a bit at the mention of Diving "Oh no, I'm a gunslinger by trade, never touched any of that diving nonsense. Just seemed like a lot of sacrifice and risk for little gain."

Kara starts raising her arm to touch where her other arm should be before stopping herself.
"Sometimes the sacrifices are worth it."
She continues walking, leading the Corven into the bore.
"But, I agree. Most of the time they're not."
"Anyway, our bore is the Nameless Nomad. Nomad class bore, mostly meant for exploration. The Church confiscated it from a gang called the Iron Teeth (who probably stole it from somewhere else) and gave it to us in exchange for an artifact. It's pretty old, it's seen a good deal of the underworld. We've got an almost complete automap! It's spacious but also quite quick for its size. And we recently got a weapon installed, though we haven't had a chance to test it yet. Poor girl's mechanical brain is a bit too old to handle a weapon so we've set it to manual fire for now."

"Through this door are the workshops. General, chemical and weapon workshop. If you want to build something or maintain and improve your equipment, that's the place to do it. Or you can ask some other crew member to do it, we've got some pretty good Tinkerers. And over there is the medical room. We've got enough supplies and equipment to fix most minor injuries and keep you alive for major ones, but that's it. To fully heal from major injuries we need either a medical center with the proper equipment or diving and neither are easily available. So do be careful."

"Over there you can see our crawler. Good for small trips or for places the bore doesn't fit. We've also got a Bore Piercer mounted on it, for defence."

"This room is the storage area. You can claim a chest and use it to store things you don't want to drag around with you. Some of the chests are claimed, don't mess with those. The rest you can take, but you should let someone know first. If you need an item owned by someone else don't be afraid to ask. Most of our crew don't mind sharing if the reason is good."
Kara reached into a chest and pulled out a radio which she handed to the other Corven.
"All of our crew have radios like this one. They've got pretty good range. And if we need even better range or to communicate with nearby bores there's a large radio up in the control room."

"Speaking of which, I should let the others know you joined up. Some of them are out in the city."
She pressed the button and spoke into the radio.
: Hey everyone! This is Kara. Just letting you know we have a new crew mate. She's a Corven Gunslinger. Let's work well together! That is all. :

"Nyw, our Honored Dead crew member, is out chasing a bounty, you can contact him if you wanna help out."

[m1895]

-snip-

wow great job with that one Swis, amazing first impression "Oh right uh, my name's Swis by the way, and I'm not much for crafting so I guess I'll rely on your Tinkerers for that." she looks fairly uncomfortable about
"well uh, I don't have much of anything to put in a chest, but I'll keep that in mind for later. anyway I'll leave you two time to catchup with eachother" She clicks on her radio "Nyw was it, care if I join you on that bounty?"
and with that she wanders off in his general direction

Spoiler: Birb (click to show/hide)

Name:Swis Hartra
Description: a (relatively) tall golden eagle type Corven, she tries not to look too wary and moves with eerie grace.
Goal: either make a load of money as a "free shooter" or die trying
Stats:
Str:8 
Dex:16 
Spe:13 
End:6 
Awa:12 
Cun:10 
Kno:8 
Ner:10
Skills 10-3-3-1-1
Lucky Shot Revolver 2
Acrobatics 2
Stealth 1
Survival 1
Navigation 1
Caving 1
Inventory:
Lucky Shot Revolver [7/7]
Path Markers [10]
free clothing: Rathide Cloak
Currency:Nothing

[Naturegirl1999]

((I didn’t know everyone had the radios, I’ll add that to my character sheet))
”Hi Swis, I’m Rhea”
She turns to the Ethral
”Are you alright? What happened?”

[Egan_BW]

Wiellste puts her fingertips together nervously.

^{_{"I- well, n-no, I guess... I mean, it's not like that. I've just felt... bad. For a long time now, and I felt like I had to hide but that just made things worse. I tried to leave this place behind me, move on with my life, but now I've found myself back here because I couldn't bear- I couldn't just move on, you understand?"}}

[Parisbre56]

"... not really? I'm sorry. Is there something I can do? Or... I dunno, wanna go outside and do something?"

[Egan_BW]

^{_{"...That would be nice."}}

[Naturegirl1999]

^{_{"...That would be nice."}}

”What do you want to do? Anything in particular?”

[piecewise]

Leveled Up
Dex goes to 14 (yay! now rifle shots are at 70%. Not that I shoot that often, but it's nice to have options)
Cunning goes to 12 (makes sense, considering her past actions. Now I can lie, cheat and steal even better)
Knowledge goes to 13 (translation and archeology at 70%. Archeolobirb is ready to explore ruins and make new friends!)

How many fathoms to fit the Crystal Mover with the life support necessary to allow fleshies to breathe in it and survive in it as it moves through magma?

How much for Diving-enhanced protective suits that would allow us to survive the extreme heat and lack of breathable air we are likely to face in the Molten Heart Crystal People ruins? Do they only work for a limited time? Do they need to recharge oxygen/vent heat periodically? Do they need some sort of umbilical connected to a master life support system? Or do they work all the time? If they work all the time, could we forgo the life support upgrade for the crystal mover completely or would it still be useful as a place where we can eat and sleep and take care of other bodily functions?

Could we lower the cost if we had Clate make the suits out of Crystal and then simply paid someone to enchant them?

If the heat down there really is so bad as to require us to wear diving suits, would we even be able to use equipment that isn't made of crystal? Would our conventional guns and swords catch fire and melt?

Irrelevant, can I just buy an artifact fragment for the price listed in the google doc? Or would I need to find a shady dealer?

Spoiler: "Kara" the Corven (click to show/hide)

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).

Status
Sacrificed left arm to reverse time (eaten by giant Shluck-like thing). Bandaged.

Stats
Str:11
Dex:14 
Spe:13 
End:10
Awa:12
Cun:12
Kno:13
Ner:12

Skills
Rifle: 1
Medical: 1
Translate: 2
Acrobatics: 1
Caving: 1
Machine Control: 1
Stealth: 1
Geology: 1
Archeology: 2
Navigation: 1
Unspent: 1

Inventory
Heavy Crystal Mirror Armour Shroud
Golden pin (in forearm)
Crystal Friend (with riding harness + Obedience Rod)
Radio
780 fathoms (1% royalty for flame)
Telegrabber with Stasis Box (Rifle, 100 meters max grab range)
3 Stasis Boxes (diving enhanced containment container) for the Telegrabber
Ethral Rifle (scope+bipod) (rifle 3, pierce 3) 6/7
Ethral Rifle magazine 7/7
Ethral Rifle magazine 6/7
Crystal Weapon
Black Flame Crystal Golem
Field Lighter (Fire 2)
Shiny interconnected colorful gems
Grappling Hook + Ethral Silk rope 200 ft
1 Doctor's Bag
1 Dynamo Lantern (Light 3)
1 Knife (Cut/Pierce 2)
2 Slave Traps
Simple Clothes (with hood)
Cot
Book (Adventures of Pilgrim)
Deck of Cards

Kara's Diary

In Storage
15 chemical junk
22 mechanical junk
Crystal 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)
Metal Card with the address of the Gilded Crow (corven Gangsters of Goldshore)
Mechanical Arm (not installed)
Bomb collar (unlocked)
All bomb collar remotes
A large number of shiny gold-like messenger path rocks
Notes on insect saddle construction
Ancient Bird-people idols
Ancient Mole-jewels depicting unknown beast

Depends. Do we want to basically turn the entire interior of the thing into a livable space? Or do we wanna like...basically install a metal pod inside it where people can survive?  Like do we want to turn this thing into a bore of its own or do the bare minimum for survivability? Bare minimum is cheaper of course.

So... lets assume a normal diving suit (ie pressurized, water tight suit) that is then modified via Diving to withstand heat in addition. There are a few options. You can get one with a permanent heat blocking enchantment like the ones that protect bore paths through magma from melting. It's the most expensive because its basically a very high level, focused enchantment.  A lower level version would be one that, rather than just magically ward off heat would instead shift it to something else. This is what is commonly used for temporary passages though magma; they'll link the heat from the suit to something like a tungsten heat sink and until that heat sink reaches the temp of the magma, it will absorb the heat for it. This has its good and bad parts, but will do for short treks. The final one you could do is a purely technological choice of linking a suit to the life support system and running coolant through it. Need an umbilical for that of course, and it will limit your range.

I'm not sure how clate is going to make flexible crystal. Theoretically yes, it would be cheaper though.

That depends on the heat. Lets say its 100 C down there. Thats definitely enough to kill you, but not enough to melt metal. A sword would work  in that heat basically as well as in normal temps. Conventional bullets might cook off, I'm not sure, but they might not.  But if things were 1000 C...well then you have problems.

We'll assume you can just buy one.

Spoiler: Levelup rolls: (click to show/hide)

Str: 15 (4+5+6=15)
Dex: 9->10 (1+4+6=11)
Spe:11 (1+2+6=9)
End:14 (2+4+4=10)
Awa:14 (1+2+5=8)
Cun: 10 (2+3+5=10)
Kno: 8->9 (1+3+5=9)
Ner: 13  (1+1+6=8)

Nyw has become more dextrous and knowledgable!

Nyw will pursue the missing woman case, by personally going and finding the girl's family or friends.  He'll ask them for information, when she went missing, if she was in any bad relationships, etc.  Meanwhile, Gus and Baxter should ask around more publically; they're not honored dead, so they can ask questions without sending up quite as many warning bells.

Spoiler: The Unpronounceable Undead (click to show/hide)

Name: Nyw'geuq Otin Sunam; calls himself "The Lords' Child"
Description:

((TWO murakumo!  FINALLY, hahahaha!))
Goal: Inscrutable, which is code for "Talks like this.".

Stats:
Str: 15 
Dex: 10
Spe:11
End:14
Awa:14
Cun: 10
Kno: 9
Ner: 13

Skills: (Two unspent skillpoints)
Guard Rifle: +3
Unarmed: +1
Defense Skill: +3 (Full Plate)
Vehicle Skill: +1
Caving: +1
Navigation: +1
Murakumo: +2 (+1/3)


Inventory:
Full Plate Armor [Protective 4]
Ornamental Mask of the Child

Extremely crude harness, holding all Nyw's weapons:
Crystal Murakumo [Cut 6, Pierce 3]
----Enchanted to remove fragility.
Crystal Murakumo [Cut 6, Pierce 3]
----Enchanted to remove fragility.
Giant Guardian Hatchet [Chop 4, ]
Three knives [Cut 2, Pierce 2]
Tungsten Toothpick [Pierce 5] (10/10)
Slave Trap
Nine smoke bombs
Five flashbangs
Tunnel Clearer shotgun [5/5 shotshells] [shotgun 3] [Pierce 3] (5 spare shotshells) (3 spare slugs) (-2 on to-hit rolls)
Guard rifle [Pierce 2] (10/10) (210 spare rounds)
Pistol [Pierce 1] (?/?)

300' of silk rope
2x Silent Night
2x Black Flame
2x Cave Spider Venom
30x Path markers
10x Injectible tranquilizer.

77 fathoms.

Followers:
Gus (Young human with minimal training.  Healthy.)
--Equipped with a small iron melee weapon [Cut 3, Pierce 3] and a Black Flame [Cutting 3]
--Equipped with a low caliber ethral rifle.  [Pierce 2] (10/10), 50 spare bullets
--Armored with a mail shirt [Protect 3], and has two smoke bombs.
Baxter (Young human with minimal training.  Healthy.)
--Equipped with a small iron melee weapon [Cut 3, Pierce 3] and a Black Flame [Cutting 3]
--Equipped with a low caliber ethral rifle.  [Pierce 2] (10/10), 50 spare bullets
--Armored with a mail shirt [Protect 3], and has two smoke bombs.

Bore NPC "recruits":
--Five moths
--One lizard dude
--Two humans

[14, 19][3]
Both you and your young wards go off in search of clues. Your attempts to gain information are unfortunately unsuccessful. You talk to the families and friends, reassure them, and generally get some basic info on the girls but nothing that seems to connect them or otherwise give you some clue as to why they were taken. No real physical similarities, no real interconnection between them, nothing to link them other than their routes taking them through that part of town. Though "That part of town" is about 10 blocks so its a hell of a lot of area to cover.  Your wards return with a similar story: nothing specific, just lots of hearsay and rumors, many contradictory. About the best you get is that the kidnappings all seem to happen within a roughly 2-3 hour span in the middle of the night and that the girls did not usually take these routes nor were they generally out this late.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Name:Rhea Alcove
Description: A female human with blonde hear. She holds a Hooked Cleaver in her right hand and wears a Mail Shirt for protection. She wears a denim shirt and denim jeans, along with tennis shoes.
Goal: To explore and learn as much as she can

Stats:
Str:11
Dex:10
Spe:11
End:11
Awa:11
Cun:13
Kno:11
Ner:12-4

Skills:
Weapon Skill(Cleaver): 1
Diving: 1
Unarmed: 1
Persuasion: 1
Defense Skill(Mail Armor): 1
Survival: 1
Biological: 1
Caving: 1
Navigation: 1
Animal Handling: 1
Geology: 2

Inventory:
100 Fathoms
Free Clothing
Organic/Bio Junk x3
Hooked Cleaver
Mail Shirt
Relic Fragment
Crystal Egg Creature
Grappling Hook
Radio

Rest to recover Nerve

Alright.

Lvl me up please! Hopefully the current lack of crap-rolling Ozzes in the game will mean my level-ups go better this time around. :v

Fold the portal up so that the activation rune is broken and the portal is physically closed.

If that's not possible or doesn't deactivate the portal, exit the room and tell them to activate their dive failure protections to undo the dive, or whatever countermeasure they think appropriate to activate.

Spoiler: Adam Blavatsky Darvaza (click to show/hide)

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: 11
Dex: 11
Spe: 13
End: 12
Awa: 12
Cun: 11
Kno: 10
Ner: 14  -6
Skills
Diving: +3
Stealth: +2
Occult: +1
Flammenvision!
Inventory

Soldier's chestplate
Clothing: simple priest robes, currently worn long to hide the black veins
Rubber Suit
Sobriety helmet: provides a +3 bonus against mind fuckery, though it will degrade over time as it gets "hit" with more effects.

1 ethral rifle [7 rounds]  (pierce 3)
5x black flame
2x smoke bomb
1 flashbang

3 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
portal knives design
325 fathoms
4 unspent skillpoints
copy of cult papers sold to the church
cult holy book sold to the church
scribbled notes with faces of cult conspirators sold to the church
lenses of telescope that can look through solid matter
slabs with the history of the crystal people
mysterious cult chest sold to the church

- 0 x portal knife, not yet enchanted
- 1 x large collapsible doorway (large enough to allow crawler to move through), enchanted, but badly :v
- 1 x sacrifices for +3

1 x portal knife, enchanted
1 x Custom collapsible doorway, enchanted (Warning: portal's end point isn't very well anchored to the physical object. There's some drift involved (4,5 meter), so you will come out in the general area, but maybe not spot on.) Currently deployed on the bore, there is padding on the floor to prevent damage from drift.

Str: 11 (5, 4, 2)
Dex: 9 (2, 4, 3)
Spe: 7 (1, 1, 5)
End: 14 (5, 3, 6)
Awa: 11 (3, 2, 6)
Cun: 9 (1, 5, 3)
Kno: 9 (4, 4, 1)
Nrv: 14 (3, 5, 6)

So +1 to End.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

You fold up the portal. It deactivates. When you open it, it reactivates. Hmm. You fold it back up again.

Since Kara is checking our mission requirements and my gaggle of golems is done, let's gear ourselves up for war.

Attempt to fashion myself two crystal blades. Make them in a form that is compitable for use with my current body.

Also, I still have a skillpoint from the levelup. What are my options for combat skills utilizing my stoneforming? Can I just grab a general combat stoneforming skill?

Spoiler: Clate (click to show/hide)

Name: Clate
Race: Shluck
Description: To bring back the crystal race
 
Stats
Str:  12
Dex:  9
Spe:  10 (+1 from levelup not added yet)
End:  13
Awa:  12
Cun:  9 (+1 from levelup not added yet)
Kno:  14
Ner:  15

Skills
Natural +3 Caving
Natural +3 Geology
Natural Mute
Natural No clothing
Natural Stonesenses
Natural Stoneshaping

Unarmed: +2
Weapon skill: Stone Blade +2
Stealth: +1
Archeology: +2
Weaponsmith: +2
Navigation: +1
Armorsmith: +1
Chemical: +1
Crystal Biology: +1
(((1 free skillpoint from levelup)))

Inventory
Bladed Shovel - handle coated with Pseudomagnetic mortar
Knife (cut2, pierce2)
TNT x5 (3 fitted to spiderbots)
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)
100ft silk rope
6 Octahedrons - supposedly replicate materials
1 container of Pseudomagnetic mortar
labradorite/Obedience rod x2 (1 on loan to Kara, 1 in Clate's possesion)
Silver ethral pendant: small silver pendant in the shape of a compound eye wreathed in white fire
Ethral archive promissory note



243 Fathoms


Crystal Babies
1. Ramiel V2.0, half the size of the original
2. Pryamid with stumpy limbs
3. Crystal snake. hiss. 18 inches long.
4. snake golem. Its larger than the original by several times and rougher, sort of like a squirming line of uncut gemstones, each the size of a human fist.
5. Crystal Praying Mantis (Can fire lazer, Cut 4 Claws)
6. 2 small golems with black flames mounted on their heads. Suicide bots.
7. 3 suicide spiderbots. Smol, fast, each holds 1 TNT charge.
8. Knifebirb: Two long legs, attached to a single, long, razor sharp blade of crystal. It moves in a jittery, rapid way that makes anyone with flesh that can be cut stay far away from it. Cassowary Sized.
9. Protecto: a big rolling wall of hexagons that can reshift themselves around to form shields of different sizes, shapes, and thicknesses.
10. Death Blossom:  floating flower, it has a bunch of little points  and when attacking it rotates rapidly in place, firing small energy bolts from those points, like a minigun.


Warehouse/bore storage:
Bomb Collar
Slate box
Spool of thermoreactive wire.
Acoustic guitar (Metal + guardbone, totally mundane.)
Rifle (pierce2, 6/10 magazine)
Small Knife from crystal barrel
Small bowl from crystal barrel
roll of very thin and flexible stone
small cube of the extremely dense material
sharp pyramid shaped wedge thing
3 structural junk
30 chemical junk
1 gold ingot

We can call it "Stonesmithing" for all your melee weapon stoneshaping needs.

[10] You assemble yourself a pair of crystal swords.  They look basically like normal crystals, but flattened so that two of its sharp edges are aligned.  There are no handles, as you can just fuse them to your body.

-snip-

wow great job with that one Swis, amazing first impression "Oh right uh, my name's Swis by the way, and I'm not much for crafting so I guess I'll rely on your Tinkerers for that." she looks fairly uncomfortable about
"well uh, I don't have much of anything to put in a chest, but I'll keep that in mind for later. anyway I'll leave you two time to catchup with eachother" She clicks on her radio "Nyw was it, care if I join you on that bounty?"
and with that she wanders off in his general direction

Spoiler: Birb (click to show/hide)

Name:Swis Hartra
Description: a (relatively) tall golden eagle type Corven, she tries not to look too wary and moves with eerie grace.
Goal: either make a load of money as a "free shooter" or die trying
Stats:
Str:8 
Dex:16 
Spe:13 
End:6 
Awa:12 
Cun:10 
Kno:8 
Ner:10
Skills 10-3-3-1-1
Lucky Shot Revolver 2
Acrobatics 2
Stealth 1
Survival 1
Navigation 1
Caving 1
Inventory:
Lucky Shot Revolver [7/7]
Path Markers [10]
free clothing: Rathide Cloak
Currency:Nothing

We'll assume you find and join up with Nyw.

[Radio Controlled]

So +1 to End.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

You fold up the portal. It deactivates. When you open it, it reactivates. Hmm. You fold it back up again.

Huh. Any way of finding out/getting a clue as to where it leads that does not involve sticking my head through and just finding out (and apart from mundane options like doing careful testing and probes and such)?

If I did a new dive to try and fix the error with the destination portal, how many reinforcements of Noth and Xi would be needed?

Could I test out my wizard eyes in the diving vault? If yes, first rest again to let the nerve points restore (if not allowed disregard the test this turn). Buy a set of metal plates with numbers on them (say 1 through 10, how many fathoms per plate?) and try to delete one of them in the middle (hopefully if it works through En'ing them then the gap in the series will tip Adam off). Or maybe just focus on them really hard like and see what happens.   

Spoiler: Adam Blavatsky Darvaza (click to show/hide)

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: 11
Dex: 11
Spe: 13
End: 13
Awa: 12
Cun: 11
Kno: 10
Ner: 14  -6
Skills
Diving: +3
Stealth: +2
Occult: +1
Flammenvision!
Inventory

Soldier's chestplate
Clothing: simple priest robes, currently worn long to hide the black veins
Rubber Suit
Sobriety helmet: provides a +3 bonus against mind fuckery, though it will degrade over time as it gets "hit" with more effects.

1 ethral rifle [7 rounds]  (pierce 3)
5x black flame
2x smoke bomb
1 flashbang

3 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
portal knives design
325 fathoms
5 unspent skillpoints
copy of cult papers sold to the church
cult holy book sold to the church
scribbled notes with faces of cult conspirators sold to the church
lenses of telescope that can look through solid matter
slabs with the history of the crystal people
mysterious cult chest sold to the church

- 0 x portal knife, not yet enchanted
- 1 x sacrifices for +3

1 x large collapsible doorway (large enough to allow crawler to move through), enchanted, but badly :v
1 x portal knife, enchanted
1 x Custom collapsible doorway, enchanted (Warning: portal's end point isn't very well anchored to the physical object. There's some drift involved (4,5 meter), so you will come out in the general area, but maybe not spot on.) Currently deployed on the bore, there is padding on the floor to prevent damage from drift.

[Egan_BW]

^{_{"Anything is fine."}}

[Naturegirl1999]

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

 Name:Rhea Alcove
Description: A female human with blonde hear. She holds a Hooked Cleaver in her right hand and wears a Mail Shirt for protection. She wears a denim shirt and denim jeans, along with tennis shoes.
Goal: To explore and learn as much as she can

Stats:
Str:11
Dex:10
Spe:11
End:11
Awa:11
Cun:13
Kno:11
Ner:12

Skills:
Weapon Skill(Cleaver): 1
Diving: 1
Unarmed: 1
Persuasion: 1
Defense Skill(Mail Armor): 1
Survival: 1
Biological: 1
Caving: 1
Navigation: 1
Animal Handling: 1
Geology: 2

Inventory:
100 Fathoms
Free Clothing
Organic/Bio Junk x3
Hooked Cleaver
Mail Shirt
Relic Fragment
Crystal Egg Creature
Grappling Hook
Radio

I’m not sure of what to do either, maybe we can oook for and buy materials to craft with. Kara, did you have anything in mind when you mentioned going to town?

[syvarris]

Send the two human followers to see if they can't find a criminal contact, someone who might know something about any local slave trade.  Tell them to pose as people looking to buy cheap labor illegally.  Send the golden corven with them, if she's willing to keep an eye on them; M1895, this means you.

As for Nyw, he'll just look around the area that the disappearances happen in, see if he can find anything suspicious.  If the corven sticks with Nyw, I guess she can help look?  I'll post RP later/tomorrow, tired right now.

Spoiler: The Unpronounceable Undead (click to show/hide)

Name: Nyw'geuq Otin Sunam; calls himself "The Lords' Child"
Description:

((TWO murakumo!  FINALLY, hahahaha!))
Goal: Inscrutable, which is code for "Talks like this.".

Stats:
Str: 15 
Dex: 10
Spe:11
End:14
Awa:14
Cun: 10
Kno: 9
Ner: 13

Skills: (Two unspent skillpoints)
Guard Rifle: +3
Unarmed: +1
Defense Skill: +3 (Full Plate)
Vehicle Skill: +1
Caving: +1
Navigation: +1
Murakumo: +2 (+1/3)


Inventory:
Full Plate Armor [Protective 4]
Ornamental Mask of the Child

Extremely crude harness, holding all Nyw's weapons:
Crystal Murakumo [Cut 6, Pierce 3]
----Enchanted to remove fragility.
Crystal Murakumo [Cut 6, Pierce 3]
----Enchanted to remove fragility.
Giant Guardian Hatchet [Chop 4, ]
Three knives [Cut 2, Pierce 2]
Tungsten Toothpick [Pierce 5] (10/10)
Slave Trap
Nine smoke bombs
Five flashbangs
Tunnel Clearer shotgun [5/5 shotshells] [shotgun 3] [Pierce 3] (5 spare shotshells) (3 spare slugs) (-2 on to-hit rolls)
Guard rifle [Pierce 2] (10/10) (210 spare rounds)
Pistol [Pierce 1] (?/?)

300' of silk rope
2x Silent Night
2x Black Flame
2x Cave Spider Venom
30x Path markers
10x Injectible tranquilizer.

77 fathoms.

Followers:
Gus (Young human with minimal training.  Healthy.)
--Equipped with a small iron melee weapon [Cut 3, Pierce 3] and a Black Flame [Cutting 3]
--Equipped with a low caliber ethral rifle.  [Pierce 2] (10/10), 50 spare bullets
--Armored with a mail shirt [Protect 3], and has two smoke bombs.
Baxter (Young human with minimal training.  Healthy.)
--Equipped with a small iron melee weapon [Cut 3, Pierce 3] and a Black Flame [Cutting 3]
--Equipped with a low caliber ethral rifle.  [Pierce 2] (10/10), 50 spare bullets
--Armored with a mail shirt [Protect 3], and has two smoke bombs.

Bore NPC "recruits":
--Five moths
--One lizard dude
--Two humans

[piecewise]

So +1 to End.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

You fold up the portal. It deactivates. When you open it, it reactivates. Hmm. You fold it back up again.

Huh. Any way of finding out/getting a clue as to where it leads that does not involve sticking my head through and just finding out (and apart from mundane options like doing careful testing and probes and such)?

If I did a new dive to try and fix the error with the destination portal, how many reinforcements of Noth and Xi would be needed?

Could I test out my wizard eyes in the diving vault? If yes, first rest again to let the nerve points restore (if not allowed disregard the test this turn). Buy a set of metal plates with numbers on them (say 1 through 10, how many fathoms per plate?) and try to delete one of them in the middle (hopefully if it works through En'ing them then the gap in the series will tip Adam off). Or maybe just focus on them really hard like and see what happens.   

Spoiler: Adam Blavatsky Darvaza (click to show/hide)

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: 11
Dex: 11
Spe: 13
End: 13
Awa: 12
Cun: 11
Kno: 10
Ner: 14  -6
Skills
Diving: +3
Stealth: +2
Occult: +1
Flammenvision!
Inventory

Soldier's chestplate
Clothing: simple priest robes, currently worn long to hide the black veins
Rubber Suit
Sobriety helmet: provides a +3 bonus against mind fuckery, though it will degrade over time as it gets "hit" with more effects.

1 ethral rifle [7 rounds]  (pierce 3)
5x black flame
2x smoke bomb
1 flashbang

3 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
portal knives design
325 fathoms
5 unspent skillpoints
copy of cult papers sold to the church
cult holy book sold to the church
scribbled notes with faces of cult conspirators sold to the church
lenses of telescope that can look through solid matter
slabs with the history of the crystal people
mysterious cult chest sold to the church

- 0 x portal knife, not yet enchanted
- 1 x sacrifices for +3

1 x large collapsible doorway (large enough to allow crawler to move through), enchanted, but badly :v
1 x portal knife, enchanted
1 x Custom collapsible doorway, enchanted (Warning: portal's end point isn't very well anchored to the physical object. There's some drift involved (4,5 meter), so you will come out in the general area, but maybe not spot on.) Currently deployed on the bore, there is padding on the floor to prevent damage from drift.

Does shoving someone else's head through count?  Other than that, you could dive to summon that knowledge to yourself. Or make a guess using what you know about that dive that created it. Chances are that it goes to someplace related to the spheres you dove, or the spheres themselves.

For safety, I'd say between 5-7.

What you'd see in the diving vault would basically just be nothing since that place is so densely packed with enchantments. You might see a few bits and pieces of things like say, pneumatic spikes or remote demolition charges, but only bits.

Metal plates? Assuming any metal will do and they're not very big, 15 fathoms for the set of 10, or 2 per individual (they give you a bulk discount).  You're gonna have to give me an exact dive here, unless you're wanting to use a black flame...or something else?

Send the two human followers to see if they can't find a criminal contact, someone who might know something about any local slave trade.  Tell them to pose as people looking to buy cheap labor illegally.  Send the golden corven with them, if she's willing to keep an eye on them; M1895, this means you.

As for Nyw, he'll just look around the area that the disappearances happen in, see if he can find anything suspicious.  If the corven sticks with Nyw, I guess she can help look?  I'll post RP later/tomorrow, tired right now.

Spoiler: The Unpronounceable Undead (click to show/hide)

Name: Nyw'geuq Otin Sunam; calls himself "The Lords' Child"
Description:

((TWO murakumo!  FINALLY, hahahaha!))
Goal: Inscrutable, which is code for "Talks like this.".

Stats:
Str: 15 
Dex: 10
Spe:11
End:14
Awa:14
Cun: 10
Kno: 9
Ner: 13

Skills: (Two unspent skillpoints)
Guard Rifle: +3
Unarmed: +1
Defense Skill: +3 (Full Plate)
Vehicle Skill: +1
Caving: +1
Navigation: +1
Murakumo: +2 (+1/3)


Inventory:
Full Plate Armor [Protective 4]
Ornamental Mask of the Child

Extremely crude harness, holding all Nyw's weapons:
Crystal Murakumo [Cut 6, Pierce 3]
----Enchanted to remove fragility.
Crystal Murakumo [Cut 6, Pierce 3]
----Enchanted to remove fragility.
Giant Guardian Hatchet [Chop 4, ]
Three knives [Cut 2, Pierce 2]
Tungsten Toothpick [Pierce 5] (10/10)
Slave Trap
Nine smoke bombs
Five flashbangs
Tunnel Clearer shotgun [5/5 shotshells] [shotgun 3] [Pierce 3] (5 spare shotshells) (3 spare slugs) (-2 on to-hit rolls)
Guard rifle [Pierce 2] (10/10) (210 spare rounds)
Pistol [Pierce 1] (?/?)

300' of silk rope
2x Silent Night
2x Black Flame
2x Cave Spider Venom
30x Path markers
10x Injectible tranquilizer.

77 fathoms.

Followers:
Gus (Young human with minimal training.  Healthy.)
--Equipped with a small iron melee weapon [Cut 3, Pierce 3] and a Black Flame [Cutting 3]
--Equipped with a low caliber ethral rifle.  [Pierce 2] (10/10), 50 spare bullets
--Armored with a mail shirt [Protect 3], and has two smoke bombs.
Baxter (Young human with minimal training.  Healthy.)
--Equipped with a small iron melee weapon [Cut 3, Pierce 3] and a Black Flame [Cutting 3]
--Equipped with a low caliber ethral rifle.  [Pierce 2] (10/10), 50 spare bullets
--Armored with a mail shirt [Protect 3], and has two smoke bombs.

Bore NPC "recruits":
--Five moths
--One lizard dude
--Two humans

[5][1]

Both your human friends and yourself have some very good luck this time. Their is a slave trade here, as you'd expect, and it has both legal and illegal components. The legal side is the usual: Slavery for a set period as punishment for crimes. The illegal side, which is smaller but does exist, is essentially handled by many of the same people but instead is done via backroom deals and carries everything from orphans and generally disenfranchised and easily exploited people to specially kidnapped and sold individuals. As it turns out there was a buyer for who had been buying up both young men and women a while back but had stopped suddenly a few months ago. They couldn't get a name, obviously, but they did discover that he was an Ethral, which was quite odd. Both because the Ethral generally did not believe in slavery and because they were few and far between in the human capital.

Beyond this, Nyw discovers something of importance when examining the rough locations of the disappearances. They all took place near an aqueduct. See, the roof of the cave this city is built on leaks water naturally, so there are systems by which this water is captured and then transferred about, being used as needed and any excess that cannot be contained dumped down into the magma below. The aqueducts carry this water around the city and in some places are open air channels, in others closed pipes. Around this part of town, they're all open channels.

[piecewise]

Gonna shamelessly advertise this here once.

https://piecewise.itch.io/infinite-kowloon

Here is a ruleset I just published. Did a lot of work on it, its the first one I'm really selling as opposed to giving away. If you like my stuff, you might like this.

That is all.