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[Gentlefish]

Let us worry about getting out of this dream alive, Drett adds to the conversation as he makes his way into the library, then perhaps we can negotiate what our lives are worth while we still have them. I'm down to a single round in my rifle. And we still have ...
 Let's see. There were six. One was dead. The pathway idol. The tree. The dead idol. The hallway. That makes five... One challenge left to clear. Hopefully.

Crawl into bookshelf land carefully. Study the books. Anything tangentially related to medicine that I can tell, at all?

Drett, Doktormoth

[syvarris]

Nyw just stops and stares down at Alex for several seconds, his face unreabable behind his mask.

"Alexander, you do realize that I am an Honored Dead, yes?  While I do not necessarily oppose theft, if done for a just and deserving purpose, stealing the goal of our employer, after said employer has paid us to retrieve it, and then increased our pay to match the risk we assumed, is blatantly not justice.  It is simple, corrupt, greed.  It is your option to tread that path, Alex, but do not expect to find the Honored Dead traveling alongside you."

[Hotfire90]

"Yes Nyw, I'm well aware that you're an honored undead, without you surely more of us would've been injured or killed. You do remember that the first guardian we encountered was already dead? I suspect that the Church already sent a previous group and thus knew about the dangers in the vision, and by withholding that information, they were acting maliciously towards us.

Regardless of whether you think that trying to obtain the core for ourselves is corrupt and greedy or not. We should try to find out whether the Church knew about the dangers present in the vision and whether they acted maliciously by withholding that information from us. Even if it turns out that my suspicions were incorrect, it would aid with the upcoming negotiations."

[Ozarck]

"The Millipede People created this Vision World to discredit the Church and secretly take control! We're all pawns of the wasps, attempting to lay their eggs in the millipedes. It's all layers!" AsHul rants.

[piecewise]

Get the well meaning birb friend off me, then finish applying gauze.

Spoiler: Harm (click to show/hide)

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. She wears a mail shirt underneath her clothes.
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:11
Dex:11
Spe:11
End:10
Awa:11
Cun:12
Kno:10
Ner:11

Skills
Weapon smith (3)
Mechanical (2)
Lucky Shot (1)

1 unassigned

Condition
Bad cut on hand.

Inventory
Radio
Mail shirt (protect 3)
Small Obsidian Knife [cut, stab 3. Fragile]
Crystal cutting utility knife (free to borrow)
Obsidian arrowhead (cut 4, fragile)
6 Octahedrons
Half a ton of obsidian
5 Large branches of crystalline lead
Lucky Shot (6/7)(14 rounds)
Short sword (cutting 3, pierce 2)
Voice in the Eyes- and intricate mechanical eye
Field Lighter
10 Path Markers
2 units mechanical junk
2 mechanical arms (belong to Kara and Vikkan)
6 sturdy glass bottles
144 fathoms

[20]
Ah well...at this point its kind of a waste of gauze.  You draw your sword with your good hand, place your other arm on the table and proceed to hack your already injured hand clean off with a single blow.

"There, problem solved!" you say with a smile, admiring the spurting stump before passing out, slamming face first into the table top and crumpling onto the ground.

"Come now, quit struggling. I need to cut it cleanly so that the new one grows properly."

Hope that my single noodly birb arm was not enough to cause too much damage.

Hope that someone can convince me humans don't actually regrow their limbs.

Try once more to heal his arm, using the bonus from the bore's medical room. My luck will turn around eventually. I hope.

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 and given spider venom for the pain.

Stats
Str:9
Dex:13 
Spe:13 
End:7
Awa:12
Cun:10 
Kno:12
Ner:11

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

Inventory
Radio
3 fathoms
Ethral Rifle (scope+bipod) (rifle 3, pierce 3) 7/7
Ethral Rifle magazine 7/7
Ethral Rifle magazine 6/7
Field Lighter (Fire 2)
Grappling Hook + Ethral Silk rope 100 ft
Simple Clothes
Kara's Diary

In Storage
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)
Cot
Book (Adventures of Pilgrim)
Deck of Cards
Mechanical Arm (not installed)
Crystal Friend
Bomb collar (unlocked)
All bomb collar remotes

Kara watches the impromptu amputation with not a small amount of distress and then immediately grabs Harm's unconscious body and drags it to the medical room, leaving a blood trail behind.
[13, 18]
Once in the medical room Kara flies (metaphorically) around the room, trying desperately to find a thing to fix this. The best she can manage is to grab a jar of wool balls and jam it over the stump. This probably helps. A little. Maybe.

^{_{"Human anatomy is weird. Well, vertebrate anatomy in general."}}

Assist Kara in general.

Spoiler: Wiellste? (click to show/hide)

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:  8
Dex: 12
Spe: 10
End:  9
Awa:  7
Cun: 15
Kno: 13
Ner: 11

Skills:
SKILL 1
Weaponsmith 2
Diving 2
Pistol 1
Bore 1
Translate 1
Stealth 1

Inventory:
Silk cloak
Copper mask
Human-made revolver (Pistol 3) (6/6)

Notes

1 Fathom

Missed me ya big dummy.

^{_{"Oh... oh dear. Kara, I don't think that making additional cuts will be helpful. Would you mind if I helped?
Adam! T-there's no need for physical interven-"}}

Wiellste objects too quietly for Adam to be able to hear her. She decides to get out of the way.

[1]

Wiellste comes in, carrying the hand. She removes the jar of wool, grabs some surgical tools and quickly gets to work. It takes basically the entire trip through the tunnel and halfway through she has to put  her patient down with a jar of ether, but after several hours work the hand has been reattached and the injury on it mended.

"Whew" Wiellste says, settling down to sit against the wall. "No more medical work for either of you."

So you guys wanna drill straight through to goldshore instead of following the path? There's a fault and a river between you and it on a straight line. Wanna just barrel through?  Or you wanna plot a different path?

Can't we start by taking the path (hunter's pass) until we pass the fault and river, and then start digging the rest of the way? If yes, do that.

"Hey, what are you guys WHAT THE CRAP?!"

Try to restrain Kara/get her off of Harm if she doesn't come back to her senses (assuming this happens within earshot, if not then nevermind, nothing I can do).

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: 10
Dex: 10
Spe: 11
End: 10
Awa: 11
Cun: 10
Kno: 10
Ner: 13

Skills
Diving: +3
Stealth: +2
Occult: +1
Can see things in great detail as well as look through objects such as walls. Rolls Nerve.

Inventory

1 soldier chestplate
Clothing: simple priest robes, shortened a bit so as to less restrict his movements

1 ethral rifle [10 rounds]  (pierce 2)
1 black flame

1 Silent Night
4 worm blood

1 minor artifact
1 beaker artifact (found in crystal ruins) => in locker
1 crystal construct

Transport mission papers
1 black book copy
1 black book
1 book "Artifacts of Faith"
1 empyrean city map
1 field lighter
1 radio
6 fathoms
   -loaned 40 to Cara (Tiruin)
297 fathoms (payment from pilgrim escort)
1 unspent skillpoint

It takes 10 units of fuel to take the path up and into the natural caves. You make it relatively quickly and immediately come across a ruin directly to the west of where the path enters the cave. Unlike the one from before, this ruin is right out in the open and visible: Its a door.  It appears to be made out of stone, with stone hinges, and is quite flat and unremarkable except for the fact that it is unimaginably huge. Its maybe 100 times the size of a normal door for humans, though it looks to be about the same in construction. In fact, it is impossibly the same. There's no way something that big should be able to follow the same plans as  a normal door but it does. And its very slightly ajar with light streaming out from inside.  You take a moment to stare at it with your wizard eyes and notice that the entire place is blacked out; must be overwhelmingly supernatural.

Continue to Goldshore? 

"Well, Nyw," -sniffle- "I'm probably not in a good place to," -sniffle- "be making decisions, what with the" -cough- "strain all this Diving and being sliced, diced, crushed, eaten, and rebuilt has put on me."

AsHul pauses and takes several deep, metallic breaths.
"But this is a local job and does not concern the Church at large - just the local body. I suspect we could, if negotiations fail, present a reasonable case to an arbiter in the Faith. And it wold be easier to gain a hearing if we retain something of value to the local church here.

If an Arbiter of the Faith determined that our contract was made in good faith from both parties and that the local church hadn't deliberately underrepresented the risks or had fairly compensated us, well, that would be that, wouldn't it?
I guess for now we'll just have to wait and see how the local church reacts to our situation." 

Continue to foster calmness and resolve. Keep up with the main group, but don't move ahead yet.

Reflect on what AsHul knows of 'minor' relics and 'minor' communions. Is our experience in line with what was presented to us by the church, or does it seem that we're in a higher class of Communion? I know that bad rolls have played a part in the amount of trouble we've experienced, but is that enough to account for the challenges we've faced?

Spoiler: Not so much a character, but a mistake (click to show/hide)

Name: AsHul
Description:Former human. Awful, ugly, indifferent. Currently a dream robot
Goal:To find God
 
Stats
Str:9  Dex:8  Spe:9  End:11  Awa:12  Cun:11  Kno:11  Ner:16 (-1)

Skills
3 Diving
2 Animal Handling
1 Survival
1 Weapon skill: Guitar

Inventory
Relic Fragment
Black Book (copy, strata 1,2,4)
1 Silent Night 
3 Worm Blood
100 ft of rope
1 knife (cut/pierce 2)
2 Occult Junks
59  Fathoms (One magnetically welded to the wall of his room in the Bore, one "shiny," 57 standard)
168 Fathoms (Team Account. Kept on AsHul's person for safekeeping. Stored separately from his personal funds.

Stored at warehouse during Relic Vision:
Firing Control Module (Brass Brain)
Book of sheet music (from Balaram) [stack of about 100 pages bound by three brass rings along the top of the sheets]
his former bomb collar - made of something like demagnetized neodymium.
One Bone-fretted haunted electric guitar
One mundane acoustic guitar with wave patterns in abalone and turquoise

Notes:
Travellers' guild is offering a relic retrieval job. Local hazards ('living').

You follow along quietly, eyes drying as you do.
[14]
You're really not sure if this is normal. You've heard things about communions but never anything this intense. Maybe the group just got unlucky? 

"Hmm.  You raise an interesting point, Ashul.  I do still feel hesitant asking a favor of the greater church, after all they have done for us already, but if the local chapter does not compensate us fairly I will not hinder efforts to negotiate with their superiors.  That is, assuming such efforts are not conducted by you, personally; you are in no shape to negotiate, Ashul."

Stay with Ashul, until we reach the jump off point that sprawled Clate and Auft.  Don't enter the room, just stay with Ashul and be ready to disable him if necessary.  He's an emotional wreck of a bomb, right now...

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

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

((No murakumo anymore.  ))
Goal: Inscrutable, which is code for "Talks like this.".

Stats:
Str:14
Dex:8
Spe:10
End:14
Awa:14
Cun:8
Kno:7
Ner:10

Skills:
Unarmed: +1
Defense Skill: +3 (Full Plate)
Vehicle Skill: +1
Caving: +1
Navigation: +1
Murakumo: +1


Inventory:
Full Plate Armor [Protective 4]
Ornamental Mask of the Child
Shattered to powder, which is held in a little cloth bag: Crystal Murakumo [Cut 6, Pierce 3, Fragile]
Giant Guardian Hatchet [Chop 4, ]

Probably left in the warehouse:
A hooked cleaver [Cut 3]
Two knives [Cut 2, Pierce 2]
Guard rifle [Pierce 2]
A bunch of bloody guard garments, to be used as raw material.

Nyw sticks next to Ashul and watches him with calm compassion but also worry. He waits for him to either cool off or heat up. Either way, he's ready.

"These look rather neat, even though I haven't the faintest clue what's in them."

Grab two or three of these books at random. One's with "pretty" pictures in them get priority

Spoiler: Clate (click to show/hide)

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:  11
Spe:  9
End:  10
Awa:  10
Cun:  16 (+3)
Kno:  12
Ner:  11

Skills (1 point unused)
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.
Mail shirt (Made to integrate directly into the exosuit, protecting surface that houses Shluck including head.Protect 3)
Bladed Shovel - handle coated with Pseudomagnetic mortar
Knife (cut2, pierce2)
Rifle (pierce2, 6/10 magazine)
TNT x5
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)
1 Bow from weird eyeball creature. Produces a bone arrow when drawing the string.


2 Octahedrons - supposedly replicate materials
1 container of Pseudomagnetic mortar
labradorite/Obedience rod


100ft silk rope


3 structural junk
30 chemical junk
1 gold ingot
143 Fathoms


Crystal Babies

2. 8 sided diamond (looks like  Ramiel from EVA and floats). 8 inches to an edge
3.  Crystal snake. hiss. 18 inches long.


Warehouse/bore storage:
 1. Dodecahedron, no limbs, rolls. Fist sized.
4.  Spiky daddy long legs like Irony has. 1 foot legs, fist sized body.
5. Thing looks like (see pic). about 8 inches to a side.
7. Wheel sort of thing that has a fat inside edge and tapers to a sharp edge on the outside. Foot and a half in diameter.
1 corpse (missing: skull, neck vertebrea, some bones)
Bomb Collar
Slate box with multicolour crystal toothpick - supposedly turns someone into a gemperson.
Spool of thermoreactive wire.
Acoustic guitar (Metal + guardbone, totally mundane.)
Box with "kidnapper bell"
6 Octahedrons - supposedly replicate materials

Clate pulls books from the shelf at random, tossing the boring ones away and keeping the first three he finds that have the most pretty pictures.

"Perhaps the threat of calling in an Arbiter might be enough for them to let us leave with the core. If they did act maliciously, then they wouldn't want the church to find out about it."

Continue following.

Spoiler: Alex Wells (click to show/hide)

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: 11
Spe: 10
End: 11
Awa: 11
Cun: 12
Kno: 11
Ner: 11

Skills:
Explosives 2
Mechanical 1
Survival 1
Caving 1
Chemical 2
Geology 1
1 Skill point

Inventory:
Dynamo Lantern
Field Lighter
4 TNT
Bladed Shovel (Cut 3)
Mail Shirt
39 Fathoms
Crystal box of golem limbs
Golem buddy
Black Flame (Cut 3)
Rifle (Pierce 2) 4/10
8 Structural Junk
Grappling Hook
Moon bladed staff (Cut 4)

Alex hangs around with Nyw and Ashul, rocking back and forth on his heels.

Let us worry about getting out of this dream alive, Drett adds to the conversation as he makes his way into the library, then perhaps we can negotiate what our lives are worth while we still have them. I'm down to a single round in my rifle. And we still have ...
 Let's see. There were six. One was dead. The pathway idol. The tree. The dead idol. The hallway. That makes five... One challenge left to clear. Hopefully.

Crawl into bookshelf land carefully. Study the books. Anything tangentially related to medicine that I can tell, at all?

Drett, Doktormoth

Drett makes it into the room relatively ok, though it seems impossible to make it in gracefully.  He picks himself up and waddles to the bookshelf, picking up the books that have been tossed away and stacking them in a pile.

"Very rude to our papery friends. Very rude" he mumbles before plopping down and spreading one of the books open. [16] The text looks familiar but he can't place it. With a shrug he starts sorting through the books until he finds one that looks medical in nature. Human medicine by the look of it, though rather ancient.

[Gentlefish]

A shiver runs down Drett's back, vibrating him gently. Why do I feel like someone I know almost ruined someone else's limbs? He quickly shakes off the feeling, however, as he has books to study.
Hm. These books are quite interesting. I would be able to figure out the language given another reference, I feel.

Takes some of the more interesting books, as many as I can carry comfortably. Medicine has priority for me, and anything seemingly occult is next. Other sciences after that.

Drett, Doktormoth

[Egan_BW]

^{_{"Hmm.
That was interesting. Maybe I should have taken that medical class."}}

Check on Harm's hand. Is it functional now?

Try to follow Kara, if possible.

Spoiler: Wiellste? (click to show/hide)

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:  8
Dex: 12
Spe: 10
End:  9
Awa:  7
Cun: 15
Kno: 13
Ner: 11

Skills:
SKILL 1
Weaponsmith 2
Diving 2
Pistol 1
Bore 1
Translate 1
Stealth 1

Inventory:
Silk cloak
Copper mask
Human-made revolver (Pistol 3) (6/6)

Notes

1 Fathom

[The Lupanian]

Sleep it off
Also, if I’m lucid by the time we reach the door, vote for continuing on to Goldshore and hitting the ruin on the way back.

Spoiler: Harm (click to show/hide)

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. She wears a mail shirt underneath her clothes.
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:11
Dex:11
Spe:11
End:10
Awa:11
Cun:12
Kno:10
Ner:11

Skills
Weapon smith (3)
Mechanical (2)
Lucky Shot (1)

1 unassigned

Condition
Hand has been severed, then reattached.
Healing cut on hand.

Inventory
Radio
Mail shirt (protect 3)
Small Obsidian Knife [cut, stab 3. Fragile]
Crystal cutting utility knife (free to borrow)
Obsidian arrowhead (cut 4, fragile)
6 Octahedrons
Half a ton of obsidian
5 Large branches of crystalline lead
Lucky Shot (6/7)(14 rounds)
Short sword (cutting 3, pierce 2)
Voice in the Eyes- and intricate mechanical eye
Field Lighter
10 Path Markers
2 units mechanical junk
2 mechanical arms (belong to Kara and Vikkan)
6 sturdy glass bottles
144 fathoms

[Ozarck]

"Well, I suppose we'll walk the path God has placed before us. Trials and injustices are there to build our sols, or to refine them, as in a black fire. IF we get less than we've 'earned,' that will be a weight of sin for another to bear on their own journey into darkness."

Do a mental health self exam. what lingering effects from my three failed nerve rolls remain? Once I've done that, slowly ascend the square spiral staircase, looking around for interesting loot rooms like the library. Do not get more than two sides of a square ahead of the main group. Stay in visible contact. Watch for trouble. Retreat from trouble.

Spoiler: Not so much a character, but a mistake (click to show/hide)

Name: AsHul
Description:Former human. Awful, ugly, indifferent. Currently a dream robot
Goal:To find God
 
Stats
Str:9  Dex:8  Spe:9  End:11  Awa:12  Cun:11  Kno:11  Ner:16 (-1)

Skills
3 Diving
2 Animal Handling
1 Survival
1 Weapon skill: Guitar

Inventory
Relic Fragment
Black Book (copy, strata 1,2,4)
1 Silent Night 
3 Worm Blood
100 ft of rope
1 knife (cut/pierce 2)
2 Occult Junks
59  Fathoms (One magnetically welded to the wall of his room in the Bore, one "shiny," 57 standard)
168 Fathoms (Team Account. Kept on AsHul's person for safekeeping. Stored separately from his personal funds.

Stored at warehouse during Relic Vision:
Firing Control Module (Brass Brain)
Book of sheet music (from Balaram) [stack of about 100 pages bound by three brass rings along the top of the sheets]
his former bomb collar - made of something like demagnetized neodymium.
One Bone-fretted haunted electric guitar
One mundane acoustic guitar with wave patterns in abalone and turquoise

Notes:
Travellers' guild is offering a relic retrieval job. Local hazards ('living').

[Parisbre56]

Kara breathed a sigh of relief.
"Thanks Wiellste. I was so worried..."
She looked at Harm apologetically.
"Let's... pretend this didn't happen and never speak about it again?"

Mystery door! Must investigate! A small, cautious peek inside wouldn't hurt, right? EDIT: But before I get too close, attach the grappling hook to some rock and then tie it to some rope. Tie the other end to myself. Just in case it tries to suck me in.

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 and given spider venom for the pain.

Stats
Str:9
Dex:13 
Spe:13 
End:7
Awa:12
Cun:10 
Kno:12
Ner:11

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

Inventory
Radio
3 fathoms
Ethral Rifle (scope+bipod) (rifle 3, pierce 3) 7/7
Ethral Rifle magazine 7/7
Ethral Rifle magazine 6/7
Field Lighter (Fire 2)
Grappling Hook + Ethral Silk rope 100 ft
Simple Clothes
Kara's Diary

In Storage
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)
Cot
Book (Adventures of Pilgrim)
Deck of Cards
Mechanical Arm (not installed)
Crystal Friend
Bomb collar (unlocked)
All bomb collar remotes

[Caellath]

"Well, that is sure a mysterious-looking door. What do you say?"

Waiting on whether people want to stick their dick into the supernatural (again). Follow the majority and hopes democracy does not turn out to be its own downfall.

Spoiler: Vikkan Laerthe, Human Bore Driver (click to show/hide)

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

Skills (1 point unspent)
+3 Vehicle (Bore)
+2 Navigation
+1 Defense (Mail Shirt)

Inventory
-Conductor's Clothes
-Dynamo Lantern
-Black Book (Copy)
-Field Lighter
-Mail Shirt
-Short Sword
-Rifle
-Knife
-100ft silk rope
-142 Fathoms
-Neck chain (that used to hold a black flame that actually never existed)
-Black Flame
-Clockwork arm

1 Mission and counting
Level 0: +3 Awareness
Level 1: +1 Str, Dex, End, Kno, Ner. 1 skill point unused.

[Egan_BW]

^{_{"Um... Not my choice, really. I have faith in your ability to get us out of trouble, if need be."}}

[syvarris]

"Yes Nyw, I'm well aware that you're an honored undead, without you surely more of us would've been injured or killed. You do remember that the first guardian we encountered was already dead? I suspect that the Church already sent a previous group and thus knew about the dangers in the vision, and by withholding that information, they were acting maliciously towards us.

Regardless of whether you think that trying to obtain the core for ourselves is corrupt and greedy or not. We should try to find out whether the Church knew about the dangers present in the vision and whether they acted maliciously by withholding that information from us. Even if it turns out that my suspicions were incorrect, it would aid with the upcoming negotiations."

((Was the first guardian dead?  I thought the first one was the grasshopper (?) thing with the moonblade staff, and it was very alive.  If it wasn't dead, I assume this conversation doesn't happen.))

"I disagree.  While it is most certainly possible that the church was fully aware of the danger, and I would be more than happy to bring justice upon them if so, there are entirely reasonable explanations beyond simple malice.  Perhaps, before they obtained the head, another group attempted to plunder its wealth, and failing, then sold it to the church.  Or perhaps they sent in their own clergy, who were martially incapable and only barely defeated the first; thus, they would believe our own group to have little difficulty.  Or perhaps the explanation is entirely beyond my grasp, due to my own severely limited knowledge.  The fact remains that I cannot in good conscience visit punishment upon a group for wrongdoing of which I have no evidence."

Nyw sighs heavily, before continuing.  "Beyond all that, Alexander, your plan is foolish.  This group, corrupt or not, no doubt has capable and fanatical divers, and strong connections to the greater church, while we are tired, drained, and unfamiliar with the building we began our dive within.  Were we to attempt leaving with the head's treasure, we would have to forego payment in fathoms--the priests will doubtless hand the money over only after receiving their goal--and almost certainly we would be forced to fight and kill church divers.  It is unlikely all of us would survive, and even if we did escape without issue, there would likely be a price placed upon all our heads.  A price, mind, which will exceed our danger; the church will be very eager to disproportionately punish anyone who has wronged them to such an extent, lest others begin to see their weaker chapters as easy prey."

"If you wish to gain more from this trip, Alex, and believe the priests to reward us insufficiently, then we should do as was suggested earlier.  Part peaceably, then go over their heads and alert the church's internal authorities to the corruption within this chapter.  It is the safest path, and likely a lucrative one as well.  Perhaps it still will not be commensurate to our hardships, but I for one am not eager to risk others' lives just to ensure fair payment."

Stay with Ashul, argue with Alex, punch anyone who starts to do something extremely foolish, kill any monsters that attack anyone, etc etc.

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

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

((No murakumo anymore.  ))
Goal: Inscrutable, which is code for "Talks like this.".

Stats:
Str:14
Dex:8
Spe:10
End:14
Awa:14
Cun:8
Kno:7
Ner:10

Skills:
Unarmed: +1
Defense Skill: +3 (Full Plate)
Vehicle Skill: +1
Caving: +1
Navigation: +1
Murakumo: +1


Inventory:
Full Plate Armor [Protective 4]
Ornamental Mask of the Child
Shattered to powder, which is held in a little cloth bag: Crystal Murakumo [Cut 6, Pierce 3, Fragile]
Giant Guardian Hatchet [Chop 4, ]

Probably left in the warehouse:
A hooked cleaver [Cut 3]
Two knives [Cut 2, Pierce 2]
Guard rifle [Pierce 2]
A bunch of bloody guard garments, to be used as raw material.

[Pancaek]

Flip through my new picture books for a bit, maybe I can descipher some kind of meaning here. If not, at least I get to look at the pretty pictures.
Stick with the team should they move on

Spoiler: Clate (click to show/hide)

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:  11
Spe:  9
End:  10
Awa:  10
Cun:  16 (+3)
Kno:  12
Ner:  11

Skills (1 point unused)
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.
Mail shirt (Made to integrate directly into the exosuit, protecting surface that houses Shluck including head.Protect 3)
Bladed Shovel - handle coated with Pseudomagnetic mortar
Knife (cut2, pierce2)
Rifle (pierce2, 6/10 magazine)
TNT x5
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)
1 Bow from weird eyeball creature. Produces a bone arrow when drawing the string.
3 weird picture books


2 Octahedrons - supposedly replicate materials
1 container of Pseudomagnetic mortar
labradorite/Obedience rod


100ft silk rope


3 structural junk
30 chemical junk
1 gold ingot
143 Fathoms


Crystal Babies

2. 8 sided diamond (looks like  Ramiel from EVA and floats). 8 inches to an edge
3.  Crystal snake. hiss. 18 inches long.


Warehouse/bore storage:
 1. Dodecahedron, no limbs, rolls. Fist sized.
4.  Spiky daddy long legs like Irony has. 1 foot legs, fist sized body.
5. Thing looks like (see pic). about 8 inches to a side.
7. Wheel sort of thing that has a fat inside edge and tapers to a sharp edge on the outside. Foot and a half in diameter.
1 corpse (missing: skull, neck vertebrea, some bones)
Bomb Collar
Slate box with multicolour crystal toothpick - supposedly turns someone into a gemperson.
Spool of thermoreactive wire.
Acoustic guitar (Metal + guardbone, totally mundane.)
Box with "kidnapper bell"
6 Octahedrons - supposedly replicate materials

[Hotfire90]

((The moon blade guardian is actually the 2nd one, we encountered the first one directly after leaving the tunnel.))

"I don't know how you came to the conclusion that I suggested that we should claim the core by force, it would be the most dangerous and frankly most idiotic way to go at it. Getting into trouble with the Church is a terrible idea, and picking a fight with them is an even worse one."

Alex took a deep breath and then continued. "Look, I'm proposing that we should try to claim the core for ourselves, and that we should try to do so by negotiating with the Church using any leverage we can find. But first and foremost we should investigate after we've dealt with the remaining guardians, taking a second more thorough look at the first guardian we encountered will be important to determine whether the Church sent a group before us. Once we're out of the vision, we question them and secure additional payment for the job. Once that is done, we should think about whether we have enough leverage over them to claim the core for ourselves."

Join Nyw in keeping watch.

Spoiler: Alex Wells (click to show/hide)

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: 11
Spe: 10
End: 11
Awa: 11
Cun: 12
Kno: 11
Ner: 11

Skills:
Explosives 2
Mechanical 1
Survival 1
Caving 1
Chemical 2
Geology 1
1 Skill point

Inventory:
Dynamo Lantern
Field Lighter
4 TNT
Bladed Shovel (Cut 3)
Mail Shirt
39 Fathoms
Crystal box of golem limbs
Golem buddy
Black Flame (Cut 3)
Rifle (Pierce 2) 4/10
8 Structural Junk
Grappling Hook
Moon bladed staff (Cut 4)