Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[syvarris]

...Yep, only weapon/defense/vehicle skill levels on crit.  Because each of those can be gained multiple times for different items.  That makes sense.

Carefully offer the wolf man a shoulder.  Do be sure it doesn't have a weapon or anything, but I think Nyw is resilient enough to not need to worry about a sudden attack.  Help it back into the tunnels, then... decide whether Nyw could carry it on his own.  If so, he'll tranq it, I guess.  Nyw's carrying tranqs meant for people, and this thing is probably just an abomination, and therefore people.

From there... yeah, just take it to the police.  I'm tempted to go ask the church if it's an escaped pet, but honestly if their pet escaped and started cutting up kids, they definitely aren't responsible owners who should have it returned to them.

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 Injectable 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

[NAV]

According to other crew mates, who are currently off doing other things, there was a diver who wasn’t careful. Don’t try repairing anything until everyone gets back. The results of the failed dive are in a sphere which is contained by a fungus, wanna take a look? As long as you don’t touch it it should be fine. My name’s Rhea. What’s yours?
Ensure that this newcomer doesn”t damage the bore while examining it

"Wäreige. Don't worry, just lookin. Ain't gonna just start fixin up someone else's bore for free now."

"...No thanks. Not interested in diving or fungus or mysterious spheres from diving. Try to stay as far from that sorta thing as possible."

[piecewise]

Let me take another look at this thing. Now that Friend Kara has given me an idea of what it is and how it should work, I may be able to look at it in a more targeted way and figure something out. If I can, then I think we are already in the correct place to solve the problem. Seeing as this is the place the original signal was started and then catastrophically cascaded from, it would make sense that we should transmit the cancellation signal from here as well.

Going to somewhere else where the overmind is wouldn't really help much in regards to the signal, I don't think. When I spoke with the overmind in the other ruin it was through a kind of, ah, wired connection if you will. So that wouldn't help us with this 'wireless' signal, otherwise the Overmind surely would have already devised some way to do something in all the time it has had.

However, if I am not able to glean the way to cancel out the signal, we may still have to go ask the Overmind. Or let Friend Adam attempt his dive.


Now that Kara has told me the basics of what this thing is and how it works, take a look at it and this entire situation again (both in the general sense and using my crystal powers. Approach the problem from multiple angles if need be). Armed with the new info, try and figure out the way to send out a new signal that cancels out or replaces the one that is currently gimping the overmind.

Have Kara brainstorm with me if I think that could help.

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
pair of crystal swords. (cut 6, pierce 3) 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.
10 Crystal spears (pierce 3)
6 crystal lazer guns (pierce 3)


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

"I think going to a strong concentration of crystal would be a good idea, but before we try anything novel we could just ask the overmind how to reverse or cancel the deleterious signal. Perhaps it retains enough knowledge of how this thing works to be able to give us detailed instructions on how to undo this.

Alternatively, after some meditation I've determined that the dive required to divine the method of fixing this is doable. Not easy, and I'd definitely want a good sacrifice and some prep work, but it's a viable option.

Clate, it's up to you."

Help Clate with figuring this shit out.

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
Skills
Diving: +3
Stealth: +2
Occult: +1
Flammenvision!
Inventory

anti-heat suit
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 broken crystal construct
labradorite rod

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
324 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
set of numbered metal plates
anatomical drawings of ancient corpses found in the molten heart

- 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 (!unknown destination!) :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.

"If you feel like you can do it, then I'll try to help..."

Kara shall also join the intense thinking session. Some of the below ideas are based on thinking of the problem as a signal or infection, so they might not really apply to this magic thing, but just in case they're relevant.
Can we simply "play" the signal in reverse?
Could we temporarily stop ALL Crystal transmissions to "kill" the signal and stop it from repeating, to force a sort of "hard reset"? Perhaps by using the weapon to force the overmind to transmit some sort of white noise signal equivalent? Would the original signal then "restart" due to the physical presence of Crystal, the Crystal serving as a sort of hard drive?  Has the physical Crystal itself been infected, meaning the corrupted signal would return? Would destroying the infected parts help? Or is it all infected?
Could we use diving to bring the original overmind signal from the past and use that as a guide to repair this thing?
Could we use diving to target the signal contained in the weapon and use it as a template to destroy the signal in its entirety?
Is this thing like an artifact? Could we burn it to go inside it and... I dunno, find the metaphorical representation of the signal and fix it there? Or insert Clate into the signal to serve as a new template?

If we aren't able to come up with a solution that would work here, then consider this: Would my idea of taking the weapon to a large concentration of Crystal (say one of those Crystal trees, the branches of the original Crystal that gave birth to the Crystal people, the ones Clare says exist somewhere off-map) and using the weapon as a sort of transmitter to boost their "original" signal and thus override the corrupted signal via sheer brute force? Or perhaps using their signal as a template for us to repair the signal in our local area?

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
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
Suit Repair Kit

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
Simple Clothes (with hood)
Cot
Book (Adventures of Pilgrim)
Deck of Cards
760 fathoms (1% royalty for flame)

Kara's Diary

[10]
After much thinking, this is what the three of you come up with.

Following the radio example, the weapon can be thought of as a sort of template for a signal. The template is made and then placed where it was before. Energy is drawn into the room and the entire structure broadcasts it to the overmind signal. In order to change the signal, the weapon itself must be modified. This can be done using crystal forming. To cancel the existing signal- and do nothing else- would likely require the broadcast of an "inverted" version of the original signal, which would then equalize it and effectively cancel it out.

To do this three things must be done.
1. The weapon must be altered to "play" the inverted signal. The danger is you won't know if this was done correctly until it is "played". The result will ripple out cross the world in the overmind's signal, so any mistake could have large scale unpredictable consequences. They accidently wiped out their entire race last time, remember.
2. The weapon must be reinstalled into place. This is somewhat difficult because it was traumatically torn out and thus would normally require stone forming to be replaced.
3. Once everything is in place, the machine must be activated and draw energy. The "Machinery" for this is all still in place, but the method of activation or the location of the controls are not currently known.

Hi. I see you’re looking at the bore here. What drew your attention?
((NAV, hi))

"So it isn't abandoned after all. Hello!

 What drew my attention? Well it was the rather interesting state of the bore and it's repairs. What even happened to it? Y'see I'm a licensed bore mechanic, among other things, and I see a bore that looks like it might need a bit of TLC."

Look at bore. Attempt to discern model/year/place of manufacturing?

What sort of repairs are on it, and how high quality?

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Name: Währeige
Description: An Ethral, a bit smaller and scruffier than average. It's difficult to tell where the grease stains end and his natural fur colour starts. He wears a mask with several clockwork mechanisms of unknown purpose and several interchangeable lenses.
Goal: Just wants to tinker
 
Stats
Str:7 
Dex:12 
Spe:10 
End:8 
Awa:7 
Cun:16
Kno:13 
Ner:10

Skills:
+2 Electrical
+2 Mechanical
+1 Machine control
+1 Chemical
+1 Weaponsmith
+1 Armoursmith

Inventory:
Mask
Clothes
Dynamo Lantern
Field Lighter
Empyrean Nail
100 feet of Silk Rope
2 units of Electronic Junk
2 units of Mechanical Junk

According to other crew mates, who are currently off doing other things, there was a diver who wasn’t careful. Don’t try repairing anything until everyone gets back. The results of the failed dive are in a sphere which is contained by a fungus, wanna take a look? As long as you don’t touch it it should be fine. My name’s Rhea. What’s yours?
Ensure that this newcomer doesn”t damage the bore while examining it

Hi. I see you’re looking at the bore here. What drew your attention?
((NAV, hi))

"So it isn't abandoned after all. Hello!

 What drew my attention? Well it was the rather interesting state of the bore and it's repairs. What even happened to it? Y'see I'm a licensed bore mechanic, among other things, and I see a bore that looks like it might need a bit of TLC."

Look at bore. Attempt to discern model/year/place of manufacturing?

What sort of repairs are on it, and how high quality?

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Name: Währeige
Description: An Ethral, a bit smaller and scruffier than average. It's difficult to tell where the grease stains end and his natural fur colour starts. He wears a mask with several clockwork mechanisms of unknown purpose and several interchangeable lenses.
Goal: Just wants to tinker
 
Stats
Str:7 
Dex:12 
Spe:10 
End:8 
Awa:7 
Cun:16
Kno:13 
Ner:10

Skills:
+2 Electrical
+2 Mechanical
+1 Machine control
+1 Chemical
+1 Weaponsmith
+1 Armoursmith

Inventory:
Mask
Clothes
Dynamo Lantern
Field Lighter
Empyrean Nail
100 feet of Silk Rope
2 units of Electronic Junk
2 units of Mechanical Junk

Its an older bore for sure. It, like almost all bores, was probably made in Anvil. However, you find that a lot of its identifying marks like the serial number, manufacture date, even the factory insignia, have been removed or intentionally obscured. Likely this thing was used by criminals. It might still be...you eye the person staring at you suspiciously.

The repairs appear to be a lot of patches and reinforcements of the upper levels, as though something detonated up here.  The patchwork is good quality though...Ethral work you'd guess. No one else would use filigree on patches. 

...Yep, only weapon/defense/vehicle skill levels on crit.  Because each of those can be gained multiple times for different items.  That makes sense.

Carefully offer the wolf man a shoulder.  Do be sure it doesn't have a weapon or anything, but I think Nyw is resilient enough to not need to worry about a sudden attack.  Help it back into the tunnels, then... decide whether Nyw could carry it on his own.  If so, he'll tranq it, I guess.  Nyw's carrying tranqs meant for people, and this thing is probably just an abomination, and therefore people.

From there... yeah, just take it to the police.  I'm tempted to go ask the church if it's an escaped pet, but honestly if their pet escaped and started cutting up kids, they definitely aren't responsible owners who should have it returned to them.

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 Injectable 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

You turn the wolf in. The cops seem rather surprised, both at the fact that you came in dragging an injured wolfman and the fact that said wolfman seems oddly cooperative. They ask you about the circumstances of the encounter and take down your story. And, of course, pay your bounty.

[Naturegirl1999]

Did you ever hear of a cult? I and the other owners of the bore had to fight off cult members who were after the church. Didn’t manage to learn why they’re against the church though. Wow, I haven’t noticed the lack of numbers, spent time either in the bore or working in town. The others’ll be back at some point

[Pancaek]

Well, this is...less than ideal. Our way forward is now clearer, but no less difficult.

I can attempt to reverse the settings of this weapon, but the only way to know for sure if I did it correctly is actually using it.

We'll have to somehow slot it back into place once the adjustments have been made. Normally this would be done with stoneforming, but since I can't get close to it's emplacement, you two will have to figure something out. Either you go there, make a description/drawing of what parts are missing, and I can attempt to stoneform replacement parts or adapters of a sort here that you take back and slot into place. Or we just use a lot of duct tape or something.

Lastly, once everything is in place, we'll have to power this entire shebang. I'm positive that all the machinery is in place, but I don't actually know where the big ON button is. Maybe I'll need to take another swim through the library for that.

[Parisbre56]

"Well, imagine ball filled with spikes and all the spikes point at the center, holding the weapon in place. I suppose we'd just need to carefully put it in place and then heal the seams... somehow. Maybe if we had some sort of crystal glue? A more controllable form of those replicator grenades?"

"It could be done by diving but that would be further risk I'd like to avoid. Or you could try boosting one of our control rods so we can try stoneforming it ourselves. The door didn't turn out so well but maybe if my rod was more powerful it would be easier to control?"

"Or... It's a bit far-fetched, but I have these crystal beads. I know they're somehow connected with each other. Maybe they're a way for you to extend the range of your abilities, some sort of repeater? Maybe if I placed those near the seams you could use your abilities through them to repair the connection?"

"Hmm... If this was a radio, rather than messing with the signal itself, I'd just make an adapter that inverts the output. Do you think you could make something like that?"

Look around for a storage room or anything useful. Maybe there's some useful equipment around? Some sort of crystal-glue or less violent replicator grenades or something? Some sort of more powerful control rod? Something that extends the range of stoneforming? Some workstation where they programmed the weapon with the appropriate signal?

Make sure to be careful for any defense mechanisms that could be hiding behind doors or in barrels. Use Crystal Friend to open doors if necessary but make sure to keep him away from the center, I don't want him to be damaged.

Also, from what I know, is there some way to test-fire the weapon by triggering while it's not in the firing chamber? Or maybe by firing it with reduced power? Maybe we could test fire it on some small crystal construct and/or small animal to see what it does when we invert the signal.

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
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
Suit Repair Kit

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
Simple Clothes (with hood)
Cot
Book (Adventures of Pilgrim)
Deck of Cards
760 fathoms (1% royalty for flame)

Kara's Diary

[NAV]

Did you ever hear of a cult? I and the other owners of the bore had to fight off cult members who were after the church. Didn’t manage to learn why they’re against the church though. Wow, I haven’t noticed the lack of numbers, spent time either in the bore or working in town. The others’ll be back at some point

"Cult, eh? Well I've heard of a pretty big one, they call it the Tenebrous Church.....That was a joke. Nah, I haven't heard about any cults lately."

So the bore doesn't have any identifying marks or anything. Surely I can identify something based on its lines and body style and other features. Wäreige has made scale models of most common bore designs, if he can't figure something out then it must be a very rare and unique bore indeed.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Name: Währeige
Description: An Ethral, a bit smaller and scruffier than average. It's difficult to tell where the grease stains end and his natural fur colour starts. He wears a mask with several clockwork mechanisms of unknown purpose and several interchangeable lenses.
Goal: Just wants to tinker
 
Stats
Str:7 
Dex:12 
Spe:10 
End:8 
Awa:7 
Cun:16
Kno:13 
Ner:10

Skills:
+2 Electrical
+2 Mechanical
+1 Machine control
+1 Chemical
+1 Weaponsmith
+1 Armoursmith

Inventory:
Mask
Clothes
Dynamo Lantern
Field Lighter
Empyrean Nail
100 feet of Silk Rope
2 units of Electronic Junk
2 units of Mechanical Junk

[Naturegirl1999]

Did you ever hear of a cult? I and the other owners of the bore had to fight off cult members who were after the church. Didn’t manage to learn why they’re against the church though. Wow, I haven’t noticed the lack of numbers, spent time either in the bore or working in town. The others’ll be back at some point

"Cult, eh? Well I've heard of a pretty big one, they call it the Tenebrous Church.....That was a joke. Nah, I haven't heard about any cults lately."

So the bore doesn't have any identifying marks or anything. Surely I can identify something based on its lines and body style and other features. Wäreige has made scale models of most common bore designs, if he can't figure something out then it must be a very rare and unique bore indeed.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Name: Währeige
Description: An Ethral, a bit smaller and scruffier than average. It's difficult to tell where the grease stains end and his natural fur colour starts. He wears a mask with several clockwork mechanisms of unknown purpose and several interchangeable lenses.
Goal: Just wants to tinker
 
Stats
Str:7 
Dex:12 
Spe:10 
End:8 
Awa:7 
Cun:16
Kno:13 
Ner:10

Skills:
+2 Electrical
+2 Mechanical
+1 Machine control
+1 Chemical
+1 Weaponsmith
+1 Armoursmith

Inventory:
Mask
Clothes
Dynamo Lantern
Field Lighter
Empyrean Nail
100 feet of Silk Rope
2 units of Electronic Junk
2 units of Mechanical Junk

What are you looking for? Bores don’t have parasites, they’re machines

[NAV]

"Not lookin fer, just lookin at. Don't mind me too much."

[piecewise]

Did you ever hear of a cult? I and the other owners of the bore had to fight off cult members who were after the church. Didn’t manage to learn why they’re against the church though. Wow, I haven’t noticed the lack of numbers, spent time either in the bore or working in town. The others’ll be back at some point

"Cult, eh? Well I've heard of a pretty big one, they call it the Tenebrous Church.....That was a joke. Nah, I haven't heard about any cults lately."

So the bore doesn't have any identifying marks or anything. Surely I can identify something based on its lines and body style and other features. Wäreige has made scale models of most common bore designs, if he can't figure something out then it must be a very rare and unique bore indeed.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Name: Währeige
Description: An Ethral, a bit smaller and scruffier than average. It's difficult to tell where the grease stains end and his natural fur colour starts. He wears a mask with several clockwork mechanisms of unknown purpose and several interchangeable lenses.
Goal: Just wants to tinker
 
Stats
Str:7 
Dex:12 
Spe:10 
End:8 
Awa:7 
Cun:16
Kno:13 
Ner:10

Skills:
+2 Electrical
+2 Mechanical
+1 Machine control
+1 Chemical
+1 Weaponsmith
+1 Armoursmith

Inventory:
Mask
Clothes
Dynamo Lantern
Field Lighter
Empyrean Nail
100 feet of Silk Rope
2 units of Electronic Junk
2 units of Mechanical Junk

You're not sure of the exact make and model, it appears to actually be a custom job. Not an expensive and made to order custom job mind, rather a bore thrown together from multiple sections and pieces of other models instead of made whole. There are places where you can tell it was extended or cut back to make other pieces fit. Judging by the layout and armament...well part of that is custom and newish...but it looks like an expeditionary bore. The legs are a Carmine 5000's -you recognize the "C" shaped knee struts-, the brain is...maybe a modified Deep Thinker? An early model at the very least.  Its old too. If you had to guess it was probably made sometime during the expeditionary rush that mapped the areas past the molten heart...though that would make it well over 100 years old. Some of the parts are older than that...some newer...a Frankenstein job if there ever was one.

"Well, imagine ball filled with spikes and all the spikes point at the center, holding the weapon in place. I suppose we'd just need to carefully put it in place and then heal the seams... somehow. Maybe if we had some sort of crystal glue? A more controllable form of those replicator grenades?"

"It could be done by diving but that would be further risk I'd like to avoid. Or you could try boosting one of our control rods so we can try stoneforming it ourselves. The door didn't turn out so well but maybe if my rod was more powerful it would be easier to control?"

"Or... It's a bit far-fetched, but I have these crystal beads. I know they're somehow connected with each other. Maybe they're a way for you to extend the range of your abilities, some sort of repeater? Maybe if I placed those near the seams you could use your abilities through them to repair the connection?"

"Hmm... If this was a radio, rather than messing with the signal itself, I'd just make an adapter that inverts the output. Do you think you could make something like that?"

Look around for a storage room or anything useful. Maybe there's some useful equipment around? Some sort of crystal-glue or less violent replicator grenades or something? Some sort of more powerful control rod? Something that extends the range of stoneforming? Some workstation where they programmed the weapon with the appropriate signal?

Make sure to be careful for any defense mechanisms that could be hiding behind doors or in barrels. Use Crystal Friend to open doors if necessary but make sure to keep him away from the center, I don't want him to be damaged.

Also, from what I know, is there some way to test-fire the weapon by triggering while it's not in the firing chamber? Or maybe by firing it with reduced power? Maybe we could test fire it on some small crystal construct and/or small animal to see what it does when we invert the signal.

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
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
Suit Repair Kit

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
Simple Clothes (with hood)
Cot
Book (Adventures of Pilgrim)
Deck of Cards
760 fathoms (1% royalty for flame)

Kara's Diary

[8][4]

You discover what you think might be the controls for the weapon. Or that rather clate does and you recognize their significance. They're low in the ruins, down very near the  edge, actually submerged in magma. Probably to prevent anyone other than crystal boys from using them.

You cannot find any "Crystal Glue" or other materials to easily reattach the core of the weapon.  You attempt to use your existing control rods to form the stone but it seems like their power is either blocked or undermined by the "signal" in the area.

In terms of test firing the weapon, you aren't sure. In order to "try" it you'd need some kind of overmind like signal to put the new signal on. The weapon on its own cannot produce a "Signal" it simply alters or piggy backs onto one that already exists.

[Pancaek]

1. Go check out those controls for the weapon that Kara spotted under the lava. Can I make sense of them? Do they seem complete? If not, go take another swim through the library to hopefully found some kind of manual.

2. Try and figure out if I can alter the signal of the weapon via stoneforming. Try and approach this in two ways: either altering the weapon directly, or stoneforming some kind of adapter that inverts/adaps the signal. See whichever seems more likely to work.

3. Think about how to reattach the weapon. Can I stoneform sort of in-between parts that Kara or Adam can slot in between the weapon and the spikes that held it, to form in-between connections? I also still have a pseudomagnetic mortar that I picked up in a crystal ruin, could they use that?

Spoiler: Clate (click to show/hide)

Name: Clate
Race: Shluck
Description: To bring back the crystal race
 
Stats
Str:  12
Dex:  9
Spe:  11
End:  13
Awa:  12
Cun:  10
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
pair of crystal swords. (cut 6, pierce 3) 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.
10 Crystal spears (pierce 3)
6 crystal lazer guns (pierce 3)


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

[syvarris]

Seems like you never actually gave a price for how much this bounty would pay?  I looked back and didn't find it, anyway.  We rescued... I think six kids?  And retrieved the abomination who perpetuated the crime, alive?  How much is that worth?  As far as pay, I think Swis, Wiellste, and the NPCs were the only ones who assisted.  Prolly not gonna pay Wiellste (Egan) on account of him not posting much, though.

Also, stay with the wolfman while the police process him.  After last time, I don't want to let it out of Nyw's sight.  Do the police bring in a translator?  If not, give fathoms to one of the hirelings (they brought the kids in, so should be here) to find a translator.  Otherwise, send them to retrieve a representative of the church.

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 Injectable 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

[Radio Controlled]

For reattaching the weapon core:  would a dive with Balarim and Sige (and maybe some Es?) work to properly instal it? If yes, about how many reinforcements for each?

Assist Pancaek with his weapon modification by wizard eyeing the core to see what his alterations do and try to steer him in the right direction.

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
Skills
Diving: +3
Stealth: +2
Occult: +1
Flammenvision!
Inventory

anti-heat suit
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 broken crystal construct
labradorite rod

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
324 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
set of numbered metal plates
anatomical drawings of ancient corpses found in the molten heart

- 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 (!unknown destination!) :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.

[NAV]

"Yep, very...interesting bore. Do you kind if I take a look inside?"
Wäreige keeps examining the bore, making rapid fire comments about numeric things as (distance unit) to (time unit), and power equivalent to various animals, seemingly just to prove that he knows a lot.

[Naturegirl1999]

"Yep, very...interesting bore. Do you kind if I take a look inside?"
Wäreige keeps examining the bore, making rapid fire comments about numeric things as (distance unit) to (time unit), and power equivalent to various animals, seemingly just to prove that he knows a lot.

Sure, but I’m coming with you so I know you’re not taking anything. Yes, the bore is interesting, guess I haven’t paid much attention to it before

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

Go inside with Wareige, also make sure he doesn’t take anything