Urgh... I uh. I suppose... I don't do so well under pressure. Drett takes a minute to recompose before he hears shouting from behind him. He turns away before seeing Wiellste gting put back together to see Kara's arm suddenly missing.
Lights above, disasters really do come in threes, he mutters to himself before rushing over to Kara, toolbag in hand.
Looks like you and Vikkan match now, he says as he begins to work, desperately trying to distract himself from the brutal reality of the collar around his neck, Now let's make sure you stay alive to appreciate it.
Time to play Doktor with birdgirl. Deaden the pain with a "small dose" of spider venom, then work on closing the wound. Cauterize it if necessary.
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
"Well, that worked surprisingly well. Maybe I am luckier than I- Um. Where is the sword?"
Wiellste takes a quick survey of the room, and notes that the bird person seems to be missing an arm. And screaming. And bleeding. And more screaming from elsewhere, though more panicked than in pain.
"Dear human god of depth and darkness. Nyw, what's happened here?"
Try to stop Kara's bleeding.
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
Kara's first thought was That worked! It was surprisingly easier than expected. No special words or drawings as they do in stories.
However, after witnessing the monster, all her thoughts could be summed up with a single letter: AAAAAAA"AAAAAAAAA"
Scream. Cry.
Try not to die. Apply pressure and all that. Maybe use some clothes as a tourniquet if nobody offers aid, using my beak and remaining arm to tie it. EDIT: Gentlefish talks about cauterization. Don't know if it would help to take the oil from my lighter.
Also babble about what I saw. Can't go wrong with some good old babbling in the face of otherworldly horrors.
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
The Two moths descend on Kara with such speed and intent that they almost resemble hungry predators attacking wounded prey. She babbles something about "Big Snow Shluck" while Medizin rolls her on her side to get a better look at the injury. [8] Medizin uncorks a bottle of spider venom and pours maybe a quarter of it onto the wound, trying to coat as much of the tissue as possible. He tries to set the bottle down beside him, to cork it when this is done, but accidentally tips it over as he does, spilling the venom out onto the floor. It runs down along the uneven ground into the lowest point in the room. Medizin grumbles but Kara's struggling and screaming lowers a fair deal as the pain in her arm numbs out into a dull throbbing sensation. [10][13] Wiellste acts as assistant while Medizin works on Kara's injury, quickly cauterizing the arteries before she can exsanguinate and then bandaging the rest of the bloody stump up after a generous dose of disinfectant. The finished bandages wrap all the way around her chest and bulge out a good 3-4 inches from the stump; gauze pressed deep into muscle to soak up any excess blood.
"Lucky it didn't penetrate the chest cavity. That would have been a whole new level of fun." Medizin says, cleaning blood off his hands.
The abomination sat in her diving mediation position for a moment, a tongue peeking out of her mouth and wiping against her eyeball. Then she flops down on four limbs and crawls her lizard ass back to the bore.
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
One stone snake piece
Just assist Vikkan to operate the Bore IF assistance truly is needed at the moment.
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
"I could do with some help in case I start feeling fainter. This whole thing put a strain on me." Vikkan replied.
Do the useful stuff. Get people on the bore by controlling the harness.
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
-Crystal key golem (actually Garos', but he forgot to add it to his sheet)
Back to the bore!
Name: Auft Kindheart
Description: Standing 3'10", with even fluffier than usual snow-white fur, this Ethral radiates adorable innocence even by the standards of her kind. Her porcelain-white mask is a circular shape carved into slices, each bearing a smiling face with eyes and mouths arched in joy, and adorned with pink blush marks. Her cloak is similarly pure white and a little too large for her, adding to her cute and defenseless appearance.
Goal: To amass and improve loyal pets and slaves.
Stats
Str: 7
Dex: 12
Spe: 10
End: 8
Awa: 7
Cun: 16
Kno: 13
Ner: 10
Skills
+1 Medical
+1 Translate
+1 Acrobatics
+1 Persuasion
+1 Stealth
+1 Animal Handling
+1 Archeology
+1 Biological
+1 Chemical
+1 Occult
Inventory
2 Fathoms
Ethral Rifle [7/7]
Doctor's Bag
Dodecahedron Spider-Thing: Fist-sized dodecahedron body, long unjointed legs that move in very slow cascades. Ceased moving upon being picked up.
2 quarter-inch cubes of impossibly heavy black stuff: Estimated 50 lbs weight total
I’m just going to have a seat and catch my breathe
"But I haven't seen anything yet..."
Just follow Adam.
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
"An interesting and mysterious little thing we found, wouldn't you agree? Though I fear we'll have to wait with studying it for later as it seems the time to leave this place is rapidly drawing near! Shall we?"
Carefully grab the beaker. Try to wrap some of my robe around my hands so I don't directly touch the container itself.
Then start heading back. Retrieve my artifact fragment from Wiellste. Head back up to the bore, or go out over the bridge should the rope not be available/safe.
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
Moku, Kindheart, Lokam and Adam -who is carefully holding the odd beaker in both hands, with several layers of robe between his flesh and the bottle itself as though it might be very hot- get themselves winched back up into the bore under Vikkan's careful guidance. Vikkan remains standing via Garos' careful guidance as a human crutch. Everyone who gets themselves back up into the bore is guided up and out of the engine room and into one of the large, unfinished rooms where they find Harm either asleep or close to it.
"Friends, I return. And I bring 7 stone constructs with me. I'm assuming we will be returning to the bore post-haste?"
I'm returning to the bore with the constructs. I'm assuming the way to go is to send the constructs up first. Bop each construct and give the SUSPEND command (RHENE), so they don't do silly shenanigans going up. Then send them up one by one, or multiple at a time if we can fasten them securely. If they don't go into some kind of hibernation mode for some reason, wait for doing so and have a think about wether I could safely haul them up while they're awake.
Also, take a moment while doing all of this to inspect every construct briefly, since I didn't take the time to do so when I gathered 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.
Metal spike with gems on it - apparently some sort of crystal people fashion item.
7 structural junk
30 chemical junk
5 Fathoms
Seeing as there seems to be LITTLE TIME to send each and every construct up on its own, let along to look at any of this shit in detail, you bop each construct with your rod, stuff the ones that are small enough into your bag and then grab the remaining ones in both arms. You use a sort of hopping pelvic thrust to pull the rope three times and then ride up, cradling your new crystal babies as you do. You get into the bore with some difficulty, having to be dragged in ass first and nearly dropping your load in the process. But you manage to get them all in and, via a few trips, carry them up into the room with everyone else.
Alex's eyes widened as he saw the fissures in the rock.
"THE CAVE IS COLLAPSING! WE HAVE TO LEAVE! NOW!"
Run back to the borehole, should anyone near me not try to escape to safety, drag them behind me.
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)
Crystal box of golem limbs
Golem buddy
You ignore the harness and instead take off across the abomination bridge, running across the thin stone pathway all the way over into the horizontal bore hole. You stop only once you've got a few hundred feet away from the borehole's entrance.
Move a relatively safe distance down the borehole and Dive into Yengenze.
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 (currently at -1)
Skills
Diving: 3
Animal Handling: 2
Survival: 1
Inventory
Relic Fragment
Black Book (copy)
1 Silent Night - calming. gives advantage on diving rolls
3 Worm Blood - steadies nerves (restores to max)
2 Occult Junks
3 Fathoms (One magnetically welded to the wall of his room in the Bore, one "shiny," one standard)
One Brass sphere with clockwork innards (From Balaram)
Book of sheet music (from Balaram) [stack of about 100 pages bound by three brass rings along the top of the sheets]
You run equal distance down the tunnel as Alex before slowing to a stop and immediately dropping to your knees. [10] You fall through the floor, your consciousness dropping away from your body and into somewhere else. You find yourself standing on a shelf. Or rather one of the shelves of a book case. Specifically you are behind the books, in a thin crack between the back of the shelf and the books themselves. Its very dark back here, with nothing but the light that shines in from over and around the books to illuminate things. You look around and estimate that you must be about 1/4 inch in size. Huh.
More Boulders fall from the ceiling, growing larger every minute as the cavern threatens to shake itself apart. One, the size of a small house, slams into the abomination bridge and bisects it, leaving a 20 foot gap in the center. Another clips the balcony but the boulder is the one that comes out the worst in that exchange; it takes a bit of railing from the balcony but shatters into hundreds of pieces in the process, covering the balcony in gravel and large stones. The bore vibrates and then tilts slightly as the walls of the tunnel it is in shift slightly in opposite directions.
The guards with Vikkan in the control room start yelling at him to get the bore moving. He tells them, with a sort of exhausted, blood deprived, calm that the person with the artifact isn't onboard yet so it would be pointless to leave yet. Never the less he does ready the bore to get going, making sure all the leg motors and systems are warmed up and ready.
AND THEN, POSTING AFTER EVERYTHING IS DONE (Pancaek came in too, even later, but I can just slot his slow ass in earlier.)
"Explanations in due time, Little Artisan. For now, Kara, and escape. Do not resist, for all our sakes."
You said Nyw could store his 'kumo without hurting himself too bad? Do so. Then, wait until Kara is at least stable enough to not die during the ascent to the bore, and grab her with one arm, and Wiellste with the other. Then go up to the bore, and immediately carry them to a remote, unoccupied room.
...Unless that would actually require a str roll, despite them being tiny and Nyw being huge. In that case, just carry Kara, or if that requires str as well, force Wiellste into the harness.
Name: Nyw'geuq Otin Sunam; calls himself "The Lords' Child"
Description:
((Only one murakumo, but hey! Dual wielding them is stupid anyway.))
Goal: Inscrutable, which is code for "Mourning the foolish young moth".
Stats:Str:14
Dex:8
Spe:10
End:14
Awa:13
Cun:8
Kno:6
Ner:10
Skills:Unarmed: +1
Defense Skill: +3 (Full Plate)
Vehicle Skill: +1
Caving: +1
Navigation: +1
Inventory:
Full Plate Armor [Protective 4]
Crystal Murakumo [Cut 6, Pierce 3, Fragile]
Ornamental Mask of the Child
You stick the 'kumo down along your back in such a way that will probably not hurt you or anyone else. Then you walk over to the newly mended Kara and scoop her up off the ground with one arm. You grab Medizin and place him on your shoulders so that he can cling to your neck and head, and then pick Wiellste up by the collar and throw her into Kara's lap. Suitably loaded you stride over to the harness, across the newly smashed rock, and give it a good look. The harness is meant to hold the hips, lowering the person down roughly horizontal. But overloaded as you are, it would likely just pitch you forward and dump all your wards out onto the unforgiving stone. So you slip one booted foot through a loop meant for a leg and then wrap the rope several times around your free arm, setting it to sit in the crook of your elbow, turning the harness into a makeshift footloop. You jerk the rope three times and then cradle Kara as best you can while the entire bunch of you ascend.
The transition into the bore is the hardest part; Medizin scrambles in first, then Wiellste, before you half push Kara up into the hatch. There's a terrifying moment where her body sags and almost slides out of your grip, but both moths catch hold of her and you use your head and shoulder to prevent the slide, rotating jerkily around on the rope. You pass your sword up -climbing in with a long rod on your back would probably end in injury to you, damage to the sword, or a very awkward wedged position- before climbing in yourself. The little crawlspace between the drill and engine room is painfully cramped on a good day, but there are two moths, a Corven, you and a guard all jammed in here at the moment. You shoo them out, directing the moths to help Kara before you turn back to the hatch. You take one more look outside, doing a mental tally of the people you remember, and then drag the harness in and close the hatch.
Author
Topic: DIG: Heresy (Read 413703 times)