"Kind ... of .. you. Hnnnngg."
Colse my eyes, cover my ears with my hands, lay or sit still, and in general try to shut out as much input as possible. Ride out the withdrawal, paying careful attention to the symptoms and side effects. Am I able to concentrate enough to communicate? Am I in control of my body? Aside from the overstimulation, is my mind generally clear?
Name: AsHul
Description:Former human. Awful, ugly, indifferent
Goal:To find God
Stats
Str:9 Dex:8 Spe:8 End:10 Awa:12 Cun:10 Kno:10 Ner:16
Skills
Diving: 3
Animal Handling: 2
Survival: 1
Inventory
Relic Fragment
Black Book (copy)
1 Silent Night - calming. gives advantage on diving rolls
4 Worm Blood - steadies nerves
2 Occult Junks
2 Fathoms (One magnetically welded to the wall of his room in the Bore)
You close your eyes, it feels like someone sliding a wet rubber blanket down over them. You lay on the ground; you can feel the pressure on your bones like you've been laying there for hours. You cover your hears with hands like lead mitts and try to shut everything out. You hear the pulse of blood in your hands and the echo of everything outside. You speak to Lokam and hear your words reverberate up through your throat and out your mouth like echos through distant tunnels. You can still speak, even though you feel like you might either be whispering or screaming. You still have control of your body, though the pain and over stimulation make you awkward and clumsy. Your mind is...well clear isn't the right way to describe it. You're not experiencing any hallucinations or cognition problems but it is still very hard to think like this. Trying having a good cohesive brain storming session while someone punches you in the gut. There's nothing preventing it...but its still pretty damn hard.
Search information regarding the Silent Night in my Black Book.
Name: Lokam Pilgrim
Description: Lokam is an Ethral Aspirant of the Tenebrous Chruch currently on pilgrimage. His soft fur is pale yellow, his large and fuzzy mane is golden and antennae and wings are dark purple with white details. His antennae, unlike most Ethral, are also very long and fluffy. Most of the time, he's wearing his silky church robes, which also have a hood included. His mask is very dark purple, with bright yellow spirals and curves, similar to tentacles.
Goal: His goal is to just complete his pilgrimage and ascend in the chruch. He wishes to go as deep as possible and someday become a Living Saint, Stygian or even a member of the Council. But his dream is to someday go deeper than everyone, reach the center and finally find God.
Stats:
Str: 7
Dex: 12
Spe: 10
End: 8
Awa: 7
Cun: 13
Kno: 13
Ner: 13
Skills:
Diving: 3
Caving: 1
Navigation: 1
Survival: 1
Translate: 1
Inventory:
The Black Book (Real)
Black Flame
Bag of Path Markers
Silk Aspirant Gray Robes
Purple Mask
You flip through the pages, scanning the text, but find nothing specifically relating to that drug. Through there are a few lines in the Fifth Stratum that touch on situations like this.
“GOD has granted freedom to Mankind, a gift both great and dangerous. Prepare always, you are your own guardian.”
Gonna Do a group post and then hit up some individual actions for the rest of ya. "Whew. This is hot. I really hope they made the inside magically cooler..."
Get inside and start exploring. My main aim is to find a way to the biggest tower but anything else (murals, books, everyday objects, corpses) is also interesting to me. Be sure to pocket stuff that look important and/or shiny.
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).
StatsStr:8
Dex:13
Spe:13
End:6
Awa:12
Cun:10
Kno:8 + 3 = 11
Ner:10
SkillsRifle: 1
Medical: 1
Translate: 1
Acrobatics: 1
Caving: 1
Machine Control: 1
Stealth: 1
Geology: 1
Archeology: 1
Navigation: 1
InventorySimple Clothes
Ethral Rifle (rifle 3, pierce 3) 7/7
Field Lighter (Fire 2)
Kara's Diary
Explore. Gotta be a library somewhere, right?
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: Wiellste is like many Ethral in that she seeks to gather knowledge about the world before all else. Though being an Ethral from Knot, her skills are largely more on the practical building side than the scholarly side. She isn't particularly invested in the teachings of the Tenebrous Church, but the idea of the spheres intrigues her, especially Balarim, with it's writings and technology.
Stats:
Str: 7
Dex: 12
Spe: 10
End: 8
Awa: 7
Cun: 15
Kno: 13
Ner: 11
Skills:
Weaponsmith 2
Diving 2
Pistol 1
Bore 1
Translate 1
Stealth 1
Inventory:
Silk cloak
Copper mask
Ethral revolver 6/6
1 Fathom
"It might have been a bad idea to let the goons control the bore. I'll be the first one back up so everyone's ascent isn't as bad as my descent." Vikkan commented in a worried tone as he massaged his muscles, now sore after the 'thrilling' trip down to the ruins.
"Did I miss anything?" he added as he stopped dealing with his soreness.
Look around (visually only, don't stray away from the group) for any sign of what path was the most used in these ruins, and for safe paths around any rubble or dangerous areas.
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.
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.
Stats
Str: 10
Dex: 10
Spe: 10
End: 10
Awa: 13
Cun: 10
Kno: 10
Ner: 10
Skills
+3 Vehicle (Bore)
+2 Navigation
+1 Defense (Mail Shirt)
Inventory
-Conductor's Clothes
-Dynamo Lantern
-Black Flame
-Black Book (Copy)
-Field Lighter
-Mail Shirt
-2 Fathoms
Try again to identify the crystals. Do they appear to be the same crystals the buildings are made out of?
Wait until someone else progresses, then step in the next room. Take a look around, if nothing seems out of place, then search it.
Name: Harmony “Harm” Li
Description: Lean and broody looking. This woman has short black hair and is partially covered in interlocking black tattoos. She wears simple black clothes, with a knee-length Maggot Wool Coat overtop.
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:10
Dex:11
Spe:10
End:10
Awa:10
Cun:12
Kno:10
Ner:10
Skills
Weapon smith (3)
Mechanical (2)
Lucky Shot (1)
Inventory
Several large chunks of blue crystal
Lucky Shot (7 rounds)
Field Lighter
10 Path Markers
2 units structural junk
2 units mechanical junk
Adam comes down next and he's still getting the harness off
"Ah, that was a little scary, but it luckily everything went perfe-" Bonk
when Wiellste comes crawling down the rope and ends up stepping on his head as he struggles with a knot.
"Ah yes, glad to see you made it down safely as well, sister Wiellste." he finished with but the slightest tone of sarcasm.
Once everyone is down, Adam said "Thank you brother Clate for setting up that system, it worked wonderfully. And you brother Vikkan, my ride down here was some smooth sailing. I wish I could say the same about your ride."
Mentally try to orient myself in relation to the central tower, with the intention of staying aware of the direction of the central tower as we go down into the palace. After that, move along with the rest of the team into the crystal palace.
Also, loan 6 fathoms to aigre.
"Would be nice to be able to blow them up at will. Maybe they would learn some respect.
Speaking of, now that we're far out of earshot, do any of you have plans to get our of this somehow? They'll probably just kill us when we get back, you know. Or give us something else to do."
"It would be preferable if we could keep this relic out of the hands of these scoundrels. It belongs to the Church, they are the only ones who can handle these things safely and correctly. That said, it would do us no good to not be aware of the position we are in. They have great leverage over us through these collars and the fact all of them are heavily armed, while most of us are not.
However, if we could solve the issue of these collars at least temporarily, which I think should be doable through the use of the divine powers, then we'd have the element of surprise for our attack. We'd need to carefully coordinate this to stand any chance of success of course, and it could only work if everyone is on board. But I think we have a shot at it. Though even if we win, we'd still need to get rid of these collars permanently...
All that said, we could play along and try to rebel against these people later on. Why they'd keep us around after they've gotten their hands on the relic is beyond me however. It's possible they'll keep us around for future suicide assignments I suppose, but that seems rather unlikely to be honest, nor very enticing." he said, while scratching his neck near where the collar was.
"I've got an idea." Alex replied to Wiellste. "They want the relic, we could use that as a bargaining chip by threatening to blow the relic up, or by dropping it into the magma." Alex paused for a second. "Only concern is that the guards may not play along and just decide to take their chances and blow our heads off, that and that they might not have a key to disable the collars."
Alex sighed for a moment. "We could try our luck, but I think our chances of survival are best if we play along and deliver them the relic."
"But if this relic is indeed a thing of power, then we could make good use of it by turning it against our captors. So either way it seems our next step is to explore these ruins and locate our objective, wouldn't you agree?"
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.
Goal: Plunge the secrets of the depths below to find an answer to the horrors above.
Stats
Str: 10
Dex: 10
Spe: 10
End: 10
Awa: 10
Cun: 10
Kno: 10
Ner: 13
Skills
Diving: +3
Stealth: +2
Occult: +1
Inventory
Clothing: simple priest robes, shortened a bit so as to less restrict his movements
1 minor artifact
1 black book copy
1 black flame
1 Silent Night
1 field lighter
23 fathoms
Name: Aigresaur
Description: A sexy lizard with a serpentine head, smooth pale scales, a slender velociraptor's body with lanky arms and legs...
Goal: it just wants to snuggle
Stats Shang-Gei
Str: 8
Dex: 15
Spe: 12
End: 8
Awa: 12
Cun: 10
Kno: 8
Ner: 10
Skills
shotgun: 3
acrobatics: 2
Unarmed: 1
Inventory
Tunnel Clearer 5/5
Slither along, following Radio Controlled if possible.
Follow the rest of the group, paying attention to the surroundings just in case there are valuable ores or crystals nearby.
Name: Garos Ellon
Description: Garos is a 4 feet moth-creature, with a black fur coating his body, the only different colors standing out on his form are located on his wings; blue circular marks that do give him two "eyes" on the back. Aside from the mask his kind naturally wears, he is also wearing a worn kettle helmet, which while doesn't provide the protection it normally should due to its current condition works like his lucky charm. The mask Garos wears is somewhat plain looking, all black aside from some blue marks along the "cheeks" and a crudely drawn star on the forehead area.
Goal: He is just hoping to gather himself a fortune and hopefully some fame too, just in case the hiring-and-shooting business becomes a necessity.
Stats
Str: 7
Dex: 12+2
Spe: 10+1
End: 8
Awa: 7
Cun: 13
Kno: 13
Ner: 10
Skills
Weapon Skill: 2
Stealth: 2
Acrobatics: 2
Defense Skill: 1
Inventory
(40)Ethral Rifle [7/7]
Silk Cloak
Go with the rest of the team. Along the way, keep my eyes open for things that are not bolted down that could be used for junk/parts. Also consider wether the stuff that is bolted down (walls/floor/etc) is made out of material that could be reporpused into useful crafting resources or not.
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: 10
Spe: 8
End: 10
Awa: 9
Cun: 16 (+3)
Kno: 12
Ner:10
Skills
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.
Bladed Shovel
Silk rope (100ft)
TNT x3
Dynamo lantern
Field lighter
Path markers x10
1 structural junk
5 Fathoms
"If that plan works, we'd secure both the bore and the relic for ourselves, the gain would be worth the risk."
Stick with the group and look out for any valuables
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: 10
Spe: 10
End: 10
Awa: 10
Cun: 12
Kno: 10
Ner: 10
Skills:
Explosives 2
Mechanical 1
Survival 1
Caving 1
Chemical 2
Geology 1
Inventory:
Dynamo Lantern
Field Lighter
3 TNT
Bladed Shovel
Mail Shirt
8 Fathoms
Fascinating, this building seems to remain cool regardless of the magma. This is a property worth investigating.
Follow the group inside and out of the heat. Keep an eye out for alternate paths to other important buildings for phat lewt.
Desc: Coated wholly in downy white bugfur, he is crowned with two fuzzy antennae and collared by a just-as-fluffy mane. His limbs are dainty, almost gangly if it weren't for his 4 hand a half foot stature. His cloak is a mottled light gray, able to blend in better with the environment than his alabaster being. A silver mask adorns his face, with a circle carve in the top third, stylized lightrays splitting the mask in half and coming down in symmetrical angles. The eyeslits are angled, almost malevolent looking.
Goal: Concerned with the Light of Knowledge, Drett has taken it upon himself to study the complexities of biological organisms, and lesser so, how those organisms may bond and interact with the world around them. Having learned all he could of Ethrals, he has signed onto the bore in order to better understand those species he coexists with
Str:7 Dex:12 Spe:10 End:8 Awa:7 Cun:14 Kno:15 Ner:10
Medical +2
Biological +2
Mechanical +1
Chemical +1
Occult +1
Archeology +1
1x Doctor's Bag - 25
1x Field Lighter -3
6x Cave Spider Venom - 18
Fathoms - 10
Use my bladed shovel to break off a chunk of crystal, then follow the rest of the weirdos.
Name: Moku Youkou
Race: Abomination Shang-Gei
Description: A female Shang-Gei cloaked in a heavy and rough looking worm wool coat. Underneath the clothing, is a heavily mutated figure. Her scales has been coat in plastic, giving each one a iridescent sheen to them.Spikes of melded plastic, metal and circuitry are studded haphazardly, the largest one is a foot long, spearing right above her pelvis. Her tongues have been replaced with metal tendils that sneak in and out of her mouth when she is not paying attention.
Goal: To "find" her mate.
Stats:
Strength: 9
Dexterity: 8
Speed: 8
Endurance: 10
Awareness: 12
Cunning: 12
Knowledge: 11
Nerve: 11 (temp -2)
Skills:
Medical: +2
Machine Control: +1
Electronics: +1
Mechanical: +1
Armorsmith: +1
Occult: +1
Diving: +1
Stealth +1
Inventory:
Fathoms:16
Relic fragment
Bladed Shovel
Clothing with ? Balarim Jal
Follow the rest of the group. Along the way, look for hidden mechanisms inside the crystal palace that could lead to extra treasure.
Name: Rick. No last name, just Rick.
Race: Mole-Man
Description: Rick is muscular and tall, even by mole-men standards. His fur is black and generally messy. His body bears many scars from past battles, most notably one over his left eye.
Goal: Rick's goal is to become stronger, maybe even strong enough to one day face the horrors of the surface.
Stats
Str: 12 + 1
Dex: 10 + 1
Spe: 8
End: 12 + 1
Awa: 10
Cun: 9
Kno: 9
Ner: 10
Skills:
Unarmed + 3
Survival + 1
Navigation + 1
Acrobatics + 1
Animal Handling + 1
Inventory:
7 + 4 + 7 = 18 + 20 = 38Ordinary Clothes (-0)
Mail Shirt (-20)
Grappling Hook (-10)
Cave Spider Venom (-3)
100 feet of Silk Rope (-5)
Everyone gets their footing on the slick crystal and walks through the hexagonal doorway into the tower proper. Its immediately much cooler within the tower, almost chilly compared to outside. The smell of sulfur is much less too. The room through the doorway is unlit, but several people have lanterns and there is some light coming in from outside as well. The immediate thing everyone notices is that the room is set up in a completely different way from what they are used to: The different races have mildly different methods of setting up a room, but they all follow a fairly standard idea of flat floor, vertical walls, everything designed for people walking around on the floor. This room is like the inside of a geode a hundred small flat surfaces arranged seemingly randomly into a vaguely teardrop shape. The floor is slanted a good 30-40 degrees to the left and the walls aren't straight vertical nor are they simple, they're like organic crystal with lots of flat surfaces arranged at many different angles. Whats more, there are what look like shelves and furniture growing out of the crystal literally everywhere in the room; on the floor, on the walls, even on the "Ceiling" though the walls just kind of rise and arch inward towards a central point rather then there being any real "Ceiling." On the floor, at the end of the slope, is a slab that might be a bed or a table. Halfway up the left wall is what looks like a shelf filled with irregularly shaped stone slabs. Near the point of the ceiling is a cluster of barrel shaped stone structures. They look like containers but have no clear opening or lid to access their insides. Similarly, across the room, maybe 5 feet off the ground and tilted slightly inward towards the room, is another doorway. This one has a door in it...or rather there is what looks like a doorway that seems to lead to a solid wall.
Over on the far side of the room is a small creature; maybe 3 foot tall. It appears to be a tall shard of purple, semitransparent crystal walking around on four stubby legs. It seems almost confused, it walks around in circles, backs up, walks up the wall, rotates, walks back down, and effectively just keeps patrolling a small area of floor and wall. It doesn't seem to notice the group or, if it does, care about them at all.
Harm: [17] You look at the crystal. It looks the same as the crystals this place is made of. Feels the same too. But you're not really sure if it is the same or just similar.
Adam: [4] You carefully orient yourself towards the largest spire and lock that place into your mind. You make sure to keep it in the back of your head at all times, so that you can navigate with it as the point of reference.
Moku:[18] You smack the crystal balcony with your shovel, trying to carve a piece out. The shovel rebounds and the vibration of the blow rattles the bones in your arms. Once you get over that, you lower yourself down and peer at the stone. You've left a small crack in it, but not much more.
Pancaek: You look around for things that can be smashed and turned into tasty crafting materials. The thing that interests you the most is those barrel shaped things up on the ceiling. the slab can probably be smashed into structural or material goods, the shelf's slabs might have some interesting properties, but unknown treasures like within those barrels...if they are indeed barrels and not like...crystal explosives. You wonder if you can get anyone to smash one with a pickax. Preferably while you are at a distance.
Vikkan: You'd guess that the seemingly sealed doorway is probably the way out of this room; there doesn't seem to be any other. And judging by the odd shape and orientation of everything here, you're going to guess that the inhabitants could either freely manipulate the stone and just slide the slab or melt through it or something. Unfortunately that doesn't seem like an option for your group. You'll probably need to use more...blunt methods.
I think that's everyone. A few people were skipped because your actions either were covered by other people's or the large post.
Author
Topic: DIG: Heresy (Read 410444 times)