"H-hey, Adam! I'm b-back! Can I g-go with you?"
Follow Adam and explore the ruins.
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
((Hey guys, something that was discussed on the discord recently: would you guys prefer to return tot the bore soon and get the mission over with, or would people prefer to hang around more to do more exploring? It seems some people were waiting to leave a couple turns ago but then started looting since other people weren’t going yet.))
You're 99.9% certain its literally a trash can. Albeit an odd one. You grab a rock and throw it into the thing. The rock disappears beneath the fluid despite the fact that the thin layer of fluid shouldn't have been able to cover more than a fraction of the stone. So its either deeper than it looks or is fantastically quick at destroying stone.
"Sorry boys, looks like what you found is some sort of trashcan or trash compactor. I wouldn't stick my hand in it if I were you, in case it can get rid of more things besides stone."
Prelim action: Explore the ruins some more in search of valuables or interesting things, using my crystal construct to open doors as needed.
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
17 fathoms
(loaned 6 fathoms to aigre)
1 crystal construct
The mother of all snips.
Adam is surprised by the bird as she details her idea. He hadn't thought her so combative, but all the better.
"Well, it's good to hear we have someone else who doesn't trust those rogues and let the artifact fall into their hands. However, I have thought about trying to protect us from radiowaves in order to prevent the collrs from being detonated, but it'd be very risky. Both because it would be a difficult dive in and of itself, where failure might have grave consequences indeed, and the fact that the collars might have countermeasures against these types of interference. A deadman switch could prove fatal indeed, though we might be able to find that out by pretending to the guards that the artifact is in a shielded room or something. And if they have no key, then we'll need to find some other way to disable them, in which case we might as well do that now since it'll probably involve a dive.
As for the rest, I'll have to think about it more first."
((Aka gotta run, more responding later, maybe.))
You have a crystal construct? Hmm I don't remember it. I only remember Kara's, Irony's, and Clate's. Remind me what it is? I'll assume you have it anyways.
[14]
You wander about for a while, opening doors. You find a good number of empty rooms and even more rooms with little of interest in them unless you want general stone furniture. You choose the rooms at random and there is a distinct feeling in your gut that you're somehow choosing each and every one that has nothing.
"If it does that to more than just rocks then it'd be perfect for trash disposal, specially in a place like a bore. But since the crystal people were... Well, crystals, I'm not sure it's as good at disposing of anything else." Vikkan commented, looking for and failing to find anything disposable non-rock/metal object on his person he could use for an experiment.
Intercepted by Kara, Vikkan sighed. "How many of the preparations need to succeed for you to want to go on with the plan? I was truly hoping we'd be either set free after this, or at least kept like this for more tasks and given more time to prepare to break out. I can understand not wanting to wait and see, specially in this situation."
More looting. Preferably find another crystal construct to act as a key as well.
Name: Vikkan Laerthe
Description: A human from Anvil and a moderate Chthonic who was born and raised close in the neighborhood of the Hammerfall boreyard, where his parents were employed as menial workers. Being so close to a place so filled with machinery and boring machines left a lasting impression on Vikkan, who became a furnace helper, then a drivemaster's apprentice until he finally reached the controls of a bore. He's quite good at conducting driving bores and, most importantly, he deeply enjoys his work.
Bore love aside, Vikkan is also generally quite friendly and good-humored even when he's not behind a bore's controls. He is, however, aware of his limitations out of the control room, and he'd rather leave most other matters to more skilled people. What he lacks in intellectual education he displays in polite curiosity, and he tends to be interested in listening even to topics he can only vaguely grasp, making for a good talking and drinking buddy if nothing else.
At odds with his friendliness, he looks rugged, if young. His hair is dark brown and cut short, and he has a well-groomed handlebar mustache (though he's been known to let it grow and style it into a horseshoe at times). A small diagonal scar moves from his right eyebrow to the bridge of his nose. His skin is brown and displays a few burns thanks to a few years of furnace and boiler work. He's fairly hairy, with his shirt's sleeves covering hairy arms and a few spots of scar tissue. His uniform is made of thick cloth and utilitarian, overalls, a long-sleeved shirt and a cap. His major concession to vanity is keeping his uniform and mustache impeccable.
He doesn't have a right hand.Goal: To deep driving bores and having fun while doing it. It's not a difficult dream, even if it can be hard at times.
StatsStr: 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 Book (Copy)
-Field Lighter
-Mail Shirt
-2 Fathoms
Proceed looting along with Vikkan.
"Perhaps this time we will have more luck. I am sure a place full of crystals has more to offer than just some fancy trash bin."
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
[18][3]
You both wander around for a long while until Garos notices a little golem. This one is really nothing more than a faceted sphere rolling along one wall, defying gravity. Vikkan plucks it up with his good hand and examines it. It doesn't grow legs or change or anything...it really is just a polygonal ball shape made of some kind of semitransparent white quartz, about the size of a clenched fist. He carries it over and taps it against a door and it lets his hand pass through.
"Totally functional, I suppose. Maybe even better since it won't wander off."
"Anything would be better than giving up. That is certain death."
Sigh. Sige next.
What limbs does the seemingly modular construct have available? Any that seem intended for combat?
Also: I have diving skill, tell me what physically happens to objects that are used as sacrifices.
Also also: I'd like to capture a crystal golem. I plan to sacrifice it in a dive relating to Balarim, so something that looks more complex and valuable would be better.
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
[9]
Sige is a place of constant change, realm of a force known as "the Flux". Its a fluid dimension, filled with liquids of different densities and materials, all shifting like a lava lamp. There are islands of more solid material, but their shapes are always changing. The inhabitants are equally mutable gel like creatures who seem to share a consciousness and hate stagnant or unchanging things. They want to spread the flux and are known to act...deviously to do so. They seem to have great difficulty distinguishing one human from another and understanding the concept of individuality. Dangerous to go there for any long period of time as it will result in mutation.
They are consumed. How that happens varies depending on the spheres involved but they are taken and cannot be returned.
[5]
You walk around and eventually spot a golem on the ceiling. It looks like a line of cut emeralds with smaller stones bulking up the space between them, crawling along like a caterpillar on the ceiling.
Standing stock still ever since Nyw touched her, the abomination slowly opens her mouth, snake bits falling freely, and grabs at her collar as she begins to dive.
Travel from Noth to Sige: 4
Reinforce Noth: 1
Reinforce Sige: 2
Saintly Check: 1
Sacrifice all but one of my snake pieces for better results.
Rolling eight dice to reduce the friction around my neck and head in order to slip the collar off.
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 many tongues have been replaced with metal tendrils 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: 9 (temp -4)
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
Armful of stone snake pieces
You missed the final roll of that. The Dex roll for Noth.
You kneel down and set the snake sections out in front of you, placing your hand over them before beginning the dive. The snake sections shimmer into a bright glow, then seem to...simplify. Their facets just sort of become fewer and fewer, their level of detail diminishing until nothing but a flat white plane and then a glowing speck, then nothing.
(9, 6, 20, 3, 9, 19, 6) [-2 nerve + 2 from sacrifice= -0 nerve][18, 2]
You return to yourself with a WHOMP and fall over backwards. Your head hits the ground and spreads out like jello before slurping back into place. You touch your face and find it very strange indeed. Its not that your bones are soft...its simply that they seem to slide across each other. Your flesh is much the same, sliding about as though it were attached via magnetism instead of sinew. You grab the collar and slip it over your head and neck with relative ease, though it deforms your head somewhat as it does so, dragging your jaws a good 8 inches out forwards before letting them snap back into place.
You look at the collar and note that it feels very slick in your hands. You should show this to someone.
Oh, light above does she have to do it here? Drett mumbles as the abomination settles into a dive. But I agree. We must guarantee our freedom. The constructs are not a bad idea, as they could be seen as possible gains from the mission. However, I am afraid I will be useless until after the ordeal is over; I have not combat skills having grown in the archives.
I may be able to envenom one of the guards, but that will be the extent of my abilities.
Stay safely away from the diving lizardfreak. Are my doses of spider venom in individual hypodermics, or would I have to use a piece from my doctor's kit?
Drett Medizin, Ethral- Str: 07
- Dex: 12
- Spe: 10
- End: 08
- Awa: 07
- Cun: 14
- Kno: 15
- Ner: 10
SKILLS:- Medical +2
- Biological +2
- Mechanical +1
- Chemical +1
- Occult +1
- Archeology +1
INVENTORY:- Doctor's Bag x1
- Field Lighter x1
- Cave Spider Venom x6
- Fathoms x10
They're in little glass vials, you'd need to use your own...applicators.
Find a room to use as a base of sorts for crafting/materials storage. Go get materials from the barrel and retrieve knife. Use knife to turn some material from barrel into bladed weapon. Probably a short sword or a machete kind of weapon. FYI the barrel junk is currently reflected as generic structural junk in my inventory.
What does the blue crystal in my inventory count for? Additionally, does it seem like it would be sharp and strong if used for a weapon?
Also, should each chunk of crystalline lead in my inventory count as chemical junk? If so, could I use it straight up to craft bullets?
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
Crystal cutting utility knife (free to borrow)
Silver/Tin wire spool
3 gold cubes
7 Octahedrons
5 Large branches of crystalline lead
Several large chunks of blue crystal
Lucky Shot (6 rounds)
Field Lighter
10 Path Markers
8 units structural junk
2 units mechanical junk
You start to move but the guard blocks your way. He tells you, quite firmly, that no one is coming back onto the bore until they have the artifact.
"I'm not sure how helpful those constructs will be in fighting the guards, though there is a solid obsidian cube in another room, we could test their effectiveness there."
Assemble the golem and convert the barrel and the box into junk.
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
Broken Bladed Shovel (Handle and Shovelhead)
Mail Shirt
8 Fathoms
Stone and crystal samples (including a diamond, black opals, quartz and goldlace marble)
Junking it will require breaking it apart.
As per your golem, the mothy lady and your own examinations tell you that you can't just slap every limb in the box on the thing; there are too many. In terms of things that look like modes of transport there are
1. 4 highly faceted orbs that look like they could work as wheels of a sort.
2. 4 long spidery limbs
3. Two thick, stumpy limbs
4. four even stumpier limbs
5. A single flat disc.
In terms of limbs there are a sorts including
1.segmented serpentine things
2.grasping clamps
3.hooks
4. 8 fingered hands
5. Thick stalks that end in spheres.
Try to read the last entry in the diary tablet we found. What is it about?
You go through the tablets one by one, translating each. The translation isn't perfect but you think you get the gist of each. There are three distinct subjects: the first is a diary...or maybe a record of current events of the time? Hard to say since they make no reference to themselves or any of their thoughts, they just record whats going on. The second is instructions for the use of an "Obedience rod" a tool for manipulating specific kinds of stone. The third is a short list of objects, apparently an inventory.
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
InventoryFire Orb Artifact (in backpack-like thing made from shirt)
Ethral Rifle (rifle 3, pierce 3) 7/7
Crystal Friend
Field Lighter (Fire 2)
Simple Clothes (no shirt)
Kara's Diary
[12] You can't quite get it, but you get the vague impression that it is talking about construction of some sort.
"I'll just be rounding up these constructs while you guys hammer out the details then. I'm perfectly willing to try and make poison gas to disperse in the vents or something, if we can scrounge up the chemical components somehow.
Just so you know, that tablet didn't have a 'follow' command on it, so we may need to get creative in getting them to the bore. It does have an 'attack' command, so at least we're covered there."
Inspect the door, is it open now that the construct did its thing? If not, jab the rod in the direction of the door and say "SERVARE : BREAK". If the doors is opened at any point, inspect what's behind then.
Then, go around the place and touch the rod to any construct I find. See if they follow me after I touch them.
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 - handle coated with chrome stuff
Silk rope (100ft)
TNT x3
Dynamo lantern
Field lighter
Path markers x10
8 Octaherdrons - supposedly replicate materials
2 gold cubes
1 container of Pseudomagnetic mortar
labradorite/Obedience rod
Slate box with multicolour crystal toothpick - supposedly turns someone into a gemperson.
7 structural junk
30 chemical junk
5 Fathoms
You walk over to the door and poke it with a hand. You pass through the solid stone as though it were thick syrup. You poke your head through the door and look around. The room is rather uninteresting; another home by the look of it. Bed, chair, and one of those barrels but it looks like this one is sitting open.
Author
Topic: DIG: Heresy (Read 413785 times)