Print

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

[piecewise]

(It’s been a while, eh? Sorry about that)

1- If I’m aware of the opals, go grab a bunch.

2- If I’m aware of the vehicle depot, check out one of the smaller ones, see if I think I could get it running? Maybe Clare could help me engineer it to have non-crystaloid controls?

3- Try to use the Voice on the library and/or the trade depot.

If that’s too much for one turn, then just do the opals.

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. One of her eyes is covered with an eyepatch. 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:12
Spe:11
End:11
Awa:11
Cun:14
Kno:11
Ner:12

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

2 unassigned

Condition
Hand has been severed, then reattached (fully healed).

Inventory
Eyepatch
Radio
Mail shirt (protect 3)
Small Obsidian Knife [cut, stab 3. Fragile]
Crystal cutting utility knife (free to borrow)
50 Obsidian Shurikens (cut 3, fragile)
Obsidian arrowhead (cut 4, fragile)
6 Octahedrons
Half a ton of obsidian
5 Large branches of crystalline lead
Crossbow (crossbow 3)(5/5 bolts)
 -25 bolts [pierce (Random, d4 each time)(fragile)]
Lucky Shot (7/7)(23 rounds)
Short sword (cutting 3, pierce 2)
Voice in the Eyes (in eye socket)
Field Lighter
9 Path Markers
2 mechanical arms (belong to Kara and Vikkan)
6 sturdy glass bottles
395 fathoms

Its been so long I'm not actually sure where you should be and what you should have in character knowledge of. We'll assume that you followed Naturegirl and got the opals as its the easiest for you to have actually heard of.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

 Name: Rhea Alcove
Description: A female human with blonde hear. She holds a Hooked Cleaver in her right hand and wears a Mail Shirt for protection. She wears a denim shirt and denim jeans, along with tennis shoes.
Goal: To explore and learn as much as she can

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

Skills:
Weapon Skill(Cleaver): 1
Diving: 1
Unarmed: 1
Persuasion: 1
Defense Skill(Mail Armor): 1
Survival: 1
Biological: 1
Caving: 1
Navigation: 1
Animal Handling: 1

Inventory:Free Clothing
Worm Blood x2
Organic Junk x2
Hooked Cleaver
Mail Shirt
4 handfuls of opals

Do I find any rooms through the stone?

I'm not entirely sure what you're asking.

You can see lots of things through the stone, are you asking if you can see like...secret rooms?

Nyw turns to Alex and curiously asks "Do you think they might be the ethral police?"  He pauses for a few seconds, thinking and listening to the bullets pinging against the hatch.  "Hmm.  No, no.  Ethral bureaucracy isn't so efficient, they wouldn't be able to issue a death warrant before we even finished tying the man up.  Criminals, then."  Nyw nods firmly, then continues.  "Alex, would you please go man the cannon?  I'll head to the helm, perhaps the bore is agile enough to step on them, but if not I'll need you to shoot them.  Baxter, go with him, and Gus, go find Ashul and explain the situation."

Head to the helm, and take manual control over the bore.  Ideally, Nyw would like to just have it step on the moths, but failing that, maneuver it into a position where the cannon can fire on them.  Nyw has +1 vehicle skill, which I only now realize should be Vehicle Skill (Bore), as that's what I intended it to be at the start of the game.

As for the cannon, send Baxter along with Alex if Alex goes to man it, or have Baxter man it if Alex doesn't.  Baxter has orders to shoot the murderous moths.

Send Gus to go find Ashul and tell it what's going on.  OOC, yes, I know he's in a dive, but Nyw doesn't.

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

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

((One murakumo! ))
Goal: Inscrutable, which is code for "Talks like this.".

Stats:
Str: 15 
Dex: 9
Spe:11
End:14
Awa:14
Cun: 9
Kno: 8
Ner: 12

Skills:
Unarmed: +1
Defense Skill: +3 (Full Plate)
Vehicle Skill: +1
Caving: +1
Navigation: +1
Murakumo: +2


Inventory:
Full Plate Armor [Protective 4]
Ornamental Mask of the Child

Extremely crude harness, holding all Nyw's weapons:
Crystal Murakumo [Cut 6, Pierce 3]
----Enchanted to remove fragility.
Giant Guardian Hatchet [Chop 4, ]
Two knives [Cut 2, Pierce 2]
Tungsten Toothpick [Pierce 5] (10/10)
Slave Trap
Three smoke grenades
Tunnel Clearer shotgun [5/5 shotshells] [shotgun 3] [Pierce 3] (5 spare shotshells) (3 spare slugs)
Guard rifle [Pierce 2] (10/10) (40 spare rounds)
Pistol [Pierce 1] (?/?)

300' of silk rope
2x Silent Night
2x Black Flame
2x Cave Spider Venom
30x Path markers
~25x Vial of Haze

Followers:
Gus (Young human with minimal training.  Healthy.)
--Equipped with a small iron melee weapon.  A knife or shortsword or something.
--Equipped with a low caliber ethral rifle.  [Pierce 2] (10/10)
Baxter (Young human with minimal training.  Healthy.)
--Equipped with a small iron melee weapon.  A knife or shortsword or something.
--Equipped with a low caliber ethral rifle.  [Pierce 2] (10/10)

Hireling Achievements That Probably Deserve a Reward:
--Catching the runner who was gonna report on Nyw interrogating the Haze-selling chemist.

"I didn't expect them to find us so soon, we may have to go straight for their leader next. I'll get them with the cannon if they're still a threat, try to leave one of them alive for interrogation if you can."

Lock the hatch, wouldn't want them to board us while we're getting into position. Man the cannon and fire at the moths if more than one of them is alive.

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

Skills:
Explosives 2
Mechanical 1
Survival 1
Caving 1
Chemical 2
Geology 1
3 Skill points

Inventory:
Dynamo Lantern
Field Lighter
4 TNT (explosive 4)
Bladed Shovel (Cut 3)
3 Fathoms
Crystal box of golem limbs
Golem buddy (flat disc and hooks)
Black Flame (Cut 3)
Rifle (Pierce 2) 3/10
Grappling Hook
Moon bladed staff (Cut 4, ?)
Silk shirt (oversized and bloodstained red)
Gas mask
2 lenses
A severed leg
5 ancient human books
20 copied ancient dictionary pages

Nyw and Alex scramble to their battle stations after locking the hatch. [14, 19] However, once they reach their stations and look outside for their assailants, the group is gone. In the time it took them to reach the guns and the control room, the moths must have turned and fled back out of the tunnel and into the city. 

"Hit and run assassination attempt eh?" Nyw grumbles, slumping back against the driver's seat. He grumbles for a few more moments before getting up and heading downstairs. He funds Ashul mid dive and pokes the insensible abomination in the head with one finger.

"Thanks for the help."

Ingest a little more of the water. Does this cause my gravity to invert? If I start falling uncontrollably toward the ziggarat, Dive out of here. Otherwise:
can I use one of my occult junks as a container? Call it a skull, I guess, and use that to hold some of the water. If not, then soak my rope in the water. After this move away from the waterfall and look for other paths. If no other paths present themselves, Dive out of here.

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

Name: AsHul
Description:Former human. Awful, ugly, indifferent.
Goal:To find God
 
Stats
Str:10  Dex:9  Spe:10  End:12  Awa:13  Cun:13  Kno:12  Ner:16

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

Inventory
Relic Fragment
Black Book (Genuine)
Black Book (copy, strata 1,2,4)
2 Silent Night
4 Worm Blood
100 ft of rope
1 knife (cut/pierce 2)
2 Occult Junks
some kind of lightning tree from the plane of elemental forces
Song Book (Treasure, Vomit, Dissociate, Shred) (Shape Steel: untested, very hard to play)
neodymium collar
1 Bone-fretted haunted electric guitar
1 mundane acoustic guitar with wave patterns in abalone and turquoise
1 Crystalline Clate Guitar
156  Fathoms

You drink a few more handfuls of the water. Your gravity doesn't fully invert, but you do become much "lighter", able to hop several feet in the air with little effort.

You fill the braincase of a skull with the water and then start looking around for other ways out.  There turns out to be several; you count 7 tunnels out of this large chamber. Two are down here, the rest are up on the ceiling and seem to follow the path of the larger "rivers" flowing out away from the ziggurat. You look down the two tunnels you can easily access. One leads to a steam breakdown, a slope of large boulders that descends into what looks like another chamber. The second quickly ends in a T intersection with what looks like an animal-made tunnel.

"Wow, look at that! It's like they're your big brothers." Kara said to Crystal Friend. She knew the thing couldn't understand her, but it was nice to have someone to talk to nonetheless.
"What do you say we free one of them, eh?"

Could Crystal Friend break enough of the wall quickly enough to be able to free one of the smallest movers? If so, have him start working on the wall while I go drag Clate here.

Go find Clate and ask him if he knows how these things work. Do they need fuel of some sort? Could I order them around with the control rod safely? Could we fill one of them with treasures and dig our way away from here, to a place where we can randezvous with the bore?

Spoiler: "Kara" the Corven (click to show/hide)

Name: "Kara" is what most humans call her, though the closest pronunciation would be  Kr'ra-Kax
Race: Corven (advantage for climb, disadvantage for falls)
Appearance: She is a crow-like Corven with matte-black feathers. A bit short. Constantly moves her head around, examining her surroundings. Moves her tail up and down whenever she's excited.
Age: Adult, but just barely
Goal: Wants to find artifacts and experiences that she can use to make an (under)world-famous museum. Wants to prove herself to her mother and piss off her brother with her success (both financially and socially).

Status
Sacrificed left arm to reverse time (eaten by giant Shluck-like thing). Bandaged.

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

Skills
Rifle: 1
Medical: 1
Translate: 1
Acrobatics: 1
Caving: 1
Machine Control: 1
Stealth: 1
Geology: 1
Archeology: 2
Navigation: 1
Unspent: 1

Inventory
Heavy Crystal Armour
Golden pin (in forearm)
Crystal Friend (with riding harness + Obedience Rod)
Radio
35 fathoms (1% royalty for flame)
Ethral Rifle (scope+bipod) (rifle 3, pierce 3) 6/7
Ethral Rifle magazine 7/7
Ethral Rifle magazine 6/7
Crystal Weapon
Field Lighter (Fire 2)
Shiny interconnected colorful gems
Grappling Hook + Ethral Silk rope 200 ft
1 Dynamo Lantern (Light 3)
1 Knife (Cut/Pierce 2)
2 Slave Traps
Simple Clothes (with hood)
Cot
Book (Adventures of Pilgrim)
Deck of Cards
Notes on insect saddle construction
Ancient Bird-people idols
Ancient Mole-jewels depicting unknown beast
Kara's Diary

In Storage
15 chemical junk
22 mechanical junk
Crystal Tablets (diary about All-Eater and Great Destroyer, inventory, obedience rod instructions, construct assembly instructions)
Church Documents (document ownership and events, and recommend favorable treatment)
Metal Card with the address of the Gilded Crow (corven Gangsters of Goldshore)
Mechanical Arm (not installed)
Bomb collar (unlocked)
All bomb collar remotes
A large number of shiny gold-like messenger path rocks

Depends on how fast is "quickly enough".  You get him started regardless.

Since Clate is a no-show, we'll assume he would help.  They are probably fueled by the power of the crystal, so they might function more or less depending on the area. The control rod could be used.  And probably, you could.

[Naturegirl1999]

(Yes)

[piecewise]

(Yes)

[15]
Nothing that you would really consider "Secret" there are restricted rooms and rooms that are over grown with crystal and such, but none that look purposefully hidden.

[Naturegirl1999]

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

 hide)
 Name: Rhea Alcove
Description: A female human with blonde hear. She holds a Hooked Cleaver in her right hand and wears a Mail Shirt for protection. She wears a denim shirt and denim jeans, along with tennis shoes.
Goal: To explore and learn as much as she can

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

Skills:
Weapon Skill(Cleaver): 1
Diving: 1
Unarmed: 1
Persuasion: 1
Defense Skill(Mail Armor): 1
Survival: 1
Biological: 1
Caving: 1
Navigation: 1
Animal Handling: 1

Inventory:Free Clothing
Worm Blood x2
Organic Junk x2
Hooked Cleaver
Mail Shirt
4 handfuls of opals

Are there any rooms which look like they contain more items/

[Radio Controlled]

((I enjoyed that loredump peedubs ))

As per the timeline, there is a great deal of it. But in general it is just a sort of back and forth of wars and trade and various goings on. No great world shattering events are recorded. But that might be due to the rather dry and matter of fact way the crystal records things. It would probably record the destruction of Empyrean as "Human city destroyed".

Start working my way backward from the timeline to try and find any sort of connection/recognition point to either our own recorded history or old myths, legends or stories.

Should I find nothing, then try to use wizard eyes and Clate's stonesense help to start charting a drilling path way out of this place that both avoids the moths and which won't cause damage to this place.

Spoiler: Adam Blavatsky Darvaza (click to show/hide)

Name: Adam Blavatsky Darvaza
Description: A young man of slightly pale complexion and eternal 9 o’clock shadow, he was raised in a small village. While the village priest and passing mystics droned with endless sermons of the Church and their teachings, what had always captivated young Adam’s attention more were the stories of his Granny.
Old stories of the world as it once was, before people were forced to flee to the caves and crannies of this damp hell. Of warm days where pleasant green plants tickled your feet as you walked through them and a cool breeze blew through your hair. Where food was plentiful, nature was benign and endless vistas reached as far as they eye could see.
Adam was nominally a card-carrying member of the church, though he mostly did it for the connections and perks that brought. They were powerful and had ancient lore, all things he would need to fulfill his true heart’s desire: to return to the surface, vanquish the madness that tainted their homeland and reconquer paradise.
After his encounter with a Word of God, the edges of his vision are flickering with black flame and his skin is extremely pale with what appear to be black veins instead of the normal blue ones. It also forced him to reevaluate his views on the cthonic church and god.
Goal: Plunge the secrets of the depths below to find an answer to the horrors above.
Stats
Str: 11
Dex: 11
Spe: 13
End: 12
Awa: 12
Cun: 11
Kno: 10
Ner: 14 
Skills
Diving: +3
Stealth: +2
Occult: +1
Flammenvision!
Inventory

Soldier's chestplate
Clothing: simple priest robes, currently worn long to hide the black veins
Rubber Suit

1 ethral rifle [10 rounds]  (pierce 3)
2x black flame
2x smoke bomb
1 flashbang

3 Silent Night
4 worm blood

1 minor artifact
1 minor artifact belonging to Rhea
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
portal knives design
123 fathoms
   -loaned 40 to Cara (Tiruin)
3 unspent skillpoints

[piecewise]

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

 hide)
 Name: Rhea Alcove
Description: A female human with blonde hear. She holds a Hooked Cleaver in her right hand and wears a Mail Shirt for protection. She wears a denim shirt and denim jeans, along with tennis shoes.
Goal: To explore and learn as much as she can

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

Skills:
Weapon Skill(Cleaver): 1
Diving: 1
Unarmed: 1
Persuasion: 1
Defense Skill(Mail Armor): 1
Survival: 1
Biological: 1
Caving: 1
Navigation: 1
Animal Handling: 1

Inventory:Free Clothing
Worm Blood x2
Organic Junk x2
Hooked Cleaver
Mail Shirt
4 handfuls of opals

Are there any rooms which look like they contain more items/

[3]
There are lots of rooms containing lots of items; but you do find one that might be worth checking out. Its beyond this area, out in the overworld. It looks to be the wreck of an old bore or maybe even the precursor to one. Its  a few miles outside the city and maybe two down. You mentally mark it on the map.

((I enjoyed that loredump peedubs ))

As per the timeline, there is a great deal of it. But in general it is just a sort of back and forth of wars and trade and various goings on. No great world shattering events are recorded. But that might be due to the rather dry and matter of fact way the crystal records things. It would probably record the destruction of Empyrean as "Human city destroyed".

Start working my way backward from the timeline to try and find any sort of connection/recognition point to either our own recorded history or old myths, legends or stories.

Should I find nothing, then try to use wizard eyes and Clate's stonesense help to start charting a drilling path way out of this place that both avoids the moths and which won't cause damage to this place.

Spoiler: Adam Blavatsky Darvaza (click to show/hide)

Name: Adam Blavatsky Darvaza
Description: A young man of slightly pale complexion and eternal 9 o’clock shadow, he was raised in a small village. While the village priest and passing mystics droned with endless sermons of the Church and their teachings, what had always captivated young Adam’s attention more were the stories of his Granny.
Old stories of the world as it once was, before people were forced to flee to the caves and crannies of this damp hell. Of warm days where pleasant green plants tickled your feet as you walked through them and a cool breeze blew through your hair. Where food was plentiful, nature was benign and endless vistas reached as far as they eye could see.
Adam was nominally a card-carrying member of the church, though he mostly did it for the connections and perks that brought. They were powerful and had ancient lore, all things he would need to fulfill his true heart’s desire: to return to the surface, vanquish the madness that tainted their homeland and reconquer paradise.
After his encounter with a Word of God, the edges of his vision are flickering with black flame and his skin is extremely pale with what appear to be black veins instead of the normal blue ones. It also forced him to reevaluate his views on the cthonic church and god.
Goal: Plunge the secrets of the depths below to find an answer to the horrors above.
Stats
Str: 11
Dex: 11
Spe: 13
End: 12
Awa: 12
Cun: 11
Kno: 10
Ner: 14 
Skills
Diving: +3
Stealth: +2
Occult: +1
Flammenvision!
Inventory

Soldier's chestplate
Clothing: simple priest robes, currently worn long to hide the black veins
Rubber Suit

1 ethral rifle [10 rounds]  (pierce 3)
2x black flame
2x smoke bomb
1 flashbang

3 Silent Night
4 worm blood

1 minor artifact
1 minor artifact belonging to Rhea
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
portal knives design
123 fathoms
   -loaned 40 to Cara (Tiruin)
3 unspent skillpoints

[1]

Though its nothing concrete, you think you can piece a few things together from what you remember about history and mythology. For example, the excepted church history states that when humans descended to the underground the were the only "true" society and intelligence but that they spread their gifts to others. They make specific mention of the uplifting of the species now known as the Corven, with the phrase "Took wings made useless by the stone and gifted them mind and purpose in return."  Its possible the early civilization of mankind somehow uplifted the Korax, altering them physically and mentally. But this would be way back in the very dawn of the human empire underground, putting these records sometime before that.

Other things line up in vague ways: Shang-Gei sound remarkably similar to the Hydine, though much mellowed. If you remember right, "Shanglee" or something like that means "Ancestor" in their language.  And if the Moths are correct in their assertions they came from another area of the underground, its possible they also showed up sometime around the appearance of mankind.  Your knowledge is mostly that of human history, church history and lore, but its possible that more complete records exist in the history and myths of the Corven and Shang-gei; since by your judgement they were here before humans were.

[Naturegirl1999]

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

 Name: Rhea Alcove
Description: A female human with blonde hear. She holds a Hooked Cleaver in her right hand and wears a Mail Shirt for protection. She wears a denim shirt and denim jeans, along with tennis shoes.
Goal: To explore and learn as much as she can

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

Skills:
Weapon Skill(Cleaver): 1
Diving: 1
Unarmed: 1
Persuasion: 1
Defense Skill(Mail Armor): 1
Survival: 1
Biological: 1
Caving: 1
Navigation: 1
Animal Handling: 1

Inventory:Free Clothing
Worm Blood x2
Organic Junk x2
Hooked Cleaver
Mail Shirt
4 handfuls of opals

Try to find the rest of the group and tell the, about the telescope that can see through stone, ask Adam if I can have my relic fragment so I can Dive to learn more about said telescope. Lead Adam and Clare to the telescope

[Radio Controlled]

Make sure all the things we learned today are noted down and documented.

Try to find the rest of the group and tell the, about the telescope that can see through stone, ask Adam if I can have my relic fragment so I can Dive to learn more about said telescope. Lead Adam and Clare to the telescope

"a what now? Telescope that can see through solid matter? Amazing! Yes, please do show me where you found this, sister, I would like to study it.

As for your relic fragment, I am willing to give it back to you. First I'd like to inquire however, what is the goal of your dive? And which path do you think of walking through the spheres to achieve it?"

Be shown the way to the telescope. Check out its make, use wizard eyes to look inside it as well. How does it look through solid stone? Does it work in a similar way to my wizard eyes? Or is it a diving effect perhaps?

Spoiler: Adam Blavatsky Darvaza (click to show/hide)

Name: Adam Blavatsky Darvaza
Description: A young man of slightly pale complexion and eternal 9 o’clock shadow, he was raised in a small village. While the village priest and passing mystics droned with endless sermons of the Church and their teachings, what had always captivated young Adam’s attention more were the stories of his Granny.
Old stories of the world as it once was, before people were forced to flee to the caves and crannies of this damp hell. Of warm days where pleasant green plants tickled your feet as you walked through them and a cool breeze blew through your hair. Where food was plentiful, nature was benign and endless vistas reached as far as they eye could see.
Adam was nominally a card-carrying member of the church, though he mostly did it for the connections and perks that brought. They were powerful and had ancient lore, all things he would need to fulfill his true heart’s desire: to return to the surface, vanquish the madness that tainted their homeland and reconquer paradise.
After his encounter with a Word of God, the edges of his vision are flickering with black flame and his skin is extremely pale with what appear to be black veins instead of the normal blue ones. It also forced him to reevaluate his views on the cthonic church and god.
Goal: Plunge the secrets of the depths below to find an answer to the horrors above.
Stats
Str: 11
Dex: 11
Spe: 13
End: 12
Awa: 12
Cun: 11
Kno: 10
Ner: 14 
Skills
Diving: +3
Stealth: +2
Occult: +1
Flammenvision!
Inventory

Soldier's chestplate
Clothing: simple priest robes, currently worn long to hide the black veins
Rubber Suit

1 ethral rifle [10 rounds]  (pierce 3)
2x black flame
2x smoke bomb
1 flashbang

3 Silent Night
4 worm blood

1 minor artifact
1 minor artifact belonging to Rhea
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
portal knives design
123 fathoms
   -loaned 40 to Cara (Tiruin)
3 unspent skillpoints

[Parisbre56]

The Lootventure continues, or Kara Raven steals more shiny things!
"Bore crew! Today, we will steal the shiny things! We can take anything-"
Loot montage part 1: choose the smallest crystal people great mover. Christen it Big Friend. (hopefully being small means it can keep going longer before it runs out of energy)
"Bores!"
Loot montage part 2: load the Big Friend with sturdy looking artifacts. Try to get the great ant saddle on there if I can. (maybe with the help of crystal friend?)
"Ancient art!"
Loot montage part 3: load the Big Friend with as many ancient texts as I can fit on there.
"The great library!"
Loot montage part 4: pad the Big Friend with easy to sell valuables like barrels of gems, precious metals and fragments of crystal.
"Shiny barrels!"
Loot montage part 5: admire Big Friend currently overflowing with loot
"We claim this in fortune's name!"
Loot montage part 6: begrudgingly accept that I might actually need to lighten the load a little. Maybe after I deposit the goods I can come back for more.

Spoiler: "Kara" the Corven (click to show/hide)

Name: "Kara" is what most humans call her, though the closest pronunciation would be  Kr'ra-Kax
Race: Corven (advantage for climb, disadvantage for falls)
Appearance: She is a crow-like Corven with matte-black feathers. A bit short. Constantly moves her head around, examining her surroundings. Moves her tail up and down whenever she's excited.
Age: Adult, but just barely
Goal: Wants to find artifacts and experiences that she can use to make an (under)world-famous museum. Wants to prove herself to her mother and piss off her brother with her success (both financially and socially).

Status
Sacrificed left arm to reverse time (eaten by giant Shluck-like thing). Bandaged.

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

Skills
Rifle: 1
Medical: 1
Translate: 1
Acrobatics: 1
Caving: 1
Machine Control: 1
Stealth: 1
Geology: 1
Archeology: 2
Navigation: 1
Unspent: 1

Inventory
Heavy Crystal Armour
Golden pin (in forearm)
Crystal Friend (with riding harness + Obedience Rod)
Radio
35 fathoms (1% royalty for flame)
Ethral Rifle (scope+bipod) (rifle 3, pierce 3) 6/7
Ethral Rifle magazine 7/7
Ethral Rifle magazine 6/7
Crystal Weapon
Field Lighter (Fire 2)
Shiny interconnected colorful gems
Grappling Hook + Ethral Silk rope 200 ft
1 Dynamo Lantern (Light 3)
1 Knife (Cut/Pierce 2)
2 Slave Traps
Simple Clothes (with hood)
Cot
Book (Adventures of Pilgrim)
Deck of Cards
Notes on insect saddle construction
Ancient Bird-people idols
Ancient Mole-jewels depicting unknown beast
Kara's Diary

In Storage
15 chemical junk
22 mechanical junk
Crystal Tablets (diary about All-Eater and Great Destroyer, inventory, obedience rod instructions, construct assembly instructions)
Church Documents (document ownership and events, and recommend favorable treatment)
Metal Card with the address of the Gilded Crow (corven Gangsters of Goldshore)
Mechanical Arm (not installed)
Bomb collar (unlocked)
All bomb collar remotes
A large number of shiny gold-like messenger path rocks

[Naturegirl1999]

Make sure all the things we learned today are noted down and documented.

Try to find the rest of the group and tell the, about the telescope that can see through stone, ask Adam if I can have my relic fragment so I can Dive to learn more about said telescope. Lead Adam and Clare to the telescope

"a what now? Telescope that can see through solid matter? Amazing! Yes, please do show me where you found this, sister, I would like to study it.

As for your relic fragment, I am willing to give it back to you. First I'd like to inquire however, what is the goal of your dive? And which path do you think of walking through the spheres to achieve it?"

Be shown the way to the telescope. Check out its make, use wizard eyes to look inside it as well. How does it look through solid stone? Does it work in a similar way to my wizard eyes? Or is it a diving effect perhaps?

Spoiler: Adam Blavatsky Darvaza (click to show/hide)

Name: Adam Blavatsky Darvaza
Description: A young man of slightly pale complexion and eternal 9 o’clock shadow, he was raised in a small village. While the village priest and passing mystics droned with endless sermons of the Church and their teachings, what had always captivated young Adam’s attention more were the stories of his Granny.
Old stories of the world as it once was, before people were forced to flee to the caves and crannies of this damp hell. Of warm days where pleasant green plants tickled your feet as you walked through them and a cool breeze blew through your hair. Where food was plentiful, nature was benign and endless vistas reached as far as they eye could see.
Adam was nominally a card-carrying member of the church, though he mostly did it for the connections and perks that brought. They were powerful and had ancient lore, all things he would need to fulfill his true heart’s desire: to return to the surface, vanquish the madness that tainted their homeland and reconquer paradise.
After his encounter with a Word of God, the edges of his vision are flickering with black flame and his skin is extremely pale with what appear to be black veins instead of the normal blue ones. It also forced him to reevaluate his views on the cthonic church and god.
Goal: Plunge the secrets of the depths below to find an answer to the horrors above.
Stats
Str: 11
Dex: 11
Spe: 13
End: 12
Awa: 12
Cun: 11
Kno: 10
Ner: 14 
Skills
Diving: +3
Stealth: +2
Occult: +1
Flammenvision!
Inventory

Soldier's chestplate
Clothing: simple priest robes, currently worn long to hide the black veins
Rubber Suit

1 ethral rifle [10 rounds]  (pierce 3)
2x black flame
2x smoke bomb
1 flashbang

3 Silent Night
4 worm blood

1 minor artifact
1 minor artifact belonging to Rhea
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
portal knives design
123 fathoms
   -loaned 40 to Cara (Tiruin)
3 unspent skillpoints

”I’m thinking Akhmah, Belarim because it is technology, and Yengenze so that the knowledge obtained enters my mind, but I’m unsure which action spheres to go to to learn who made it and/or how long ago it was made”

[Hotfire90]

"Our would-be assassins are already gone, off to inform their cultist friends about us if they haven't already. That however will not be a problem, I have a plan for quickly identifying and capturing the leader behind the operation.
 
While you continued investigating, I questioned our prisoner. Despite his answers being vague, I was able to learn that the cult sees their leaders as prophets and more importantly I concluded that their leader is someone important in society. There is no doubt that he knows the identity of their leader.

Now for my plan, you see this shirt I'm wearing is special, it came in a box labelled The Path of Remembrance. I'm guessing that when it's activated that I might use it to learn the leader's identity. However I can't guarantee that this will work, I don't know exactly what it's effects are once it's activated, the only thing I know for certain is that I need to be injured in order for it to be activated. I don't know how severely I need to be injured, but from the test I made I know that minor injuries don't cause my shirt to activate." Alex pauses for a while, feeling uncomfortable about what would happen next. "So I need to you stab me with your sword, please try your best to avoid hitting any of my organs and make sure to treat my new injury as soon as I'm done."

[Ozarck]

Let's go down the steam breakdown.

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

Name: AsHul
Description:Former human. Awful, ugly, indifferent.
Goal:To find God
 
Stats
Str:10  Dex:9  Spe:10  End:12  Awa:13  Cun:13  Kno:12  Ner:16

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

Inventory
Relic Fragment
Black Book (Genuine)
Black Book (copy, strata 1,2,4)
2 Silent Night
4 Worm Blood
100 ft of rope
1 knife (cut/pierce 2)
2 Occult Junks (1 a skull currently holding Lighter Water)
some kind of lightning tree from the plane of elemental forces
Song Book (Treasure, Vomit, Dissociate, Shred) (Shape Steel: untested, very hard to play)
neodymium collar
1 Bone-fretted haunted electric guitar
1 mundane acoustic guitar with wave patterns in abalone and turquoise
1 Crystalline Clate Guitar
156  Fathoms

[syvarris]

"Hmm.  That... is rather noble of you, Alex.  Very well, I will harm you, if you are truly certain you wish it.  I will not begin with the sword, however; It is best to not risk death, if it is unnecessary.  I have some cave spider venom, do you believe pain will be necessary for the effect?  If not, perhaps I ought to douse my weapons first, to dull the agony."

Welp, Alex apparently has a magic shirt of sacrificial divination, and wants Nyw to stab him.  I've no idea where that came from, but whatever, Nyw's good at stabbing.  If Alex accepts, he will first stab Alex in the arm with a knife, leaving it in the wound.  Then wait a little, and if Alex still says that's not enough of an injury, stab him in the torso with the murakumo, taking care to avoid any vital bits.  If Nyw would not know where vital bits are, or would not be rolling on Strength to check whether or not he's successfully nonlethal, DO NOT USE THE MURAKUMO.  Use a second knife instead.  Leave the weapon stuck inside.

Also, Nyw will douse his weapons with a small amount of cave spider venom beforehand, in hopes that it will take the edge off the pain.  Just a little bit though; err on the side of applying too little to help, rather than applying so much that it could paralyze.

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

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

((One murakumo! ))
Goal: Inscrutable, which is code for "Talks like this.".

Stats:
Str: 15 
Dex: 9
Spe:11
End:14
Awa:14
Cun: 9
Kno: 8
Ner: 12

Skills:
Unarmed: +1
Defense Skill: +3 (Full Plate)
Vehicle Skill: +1
Caving: +1
Navigation: +1
Murakumo: +2


Inventory:
Full Plate Armor [Protective 4]
Ornamental Mask of the Child

Extremely crude harness, holding all Nyw's weapons:
Crystal Murakumo [Cut 6, Pierce 3]
----Enchanted to remove fragility.
Giant Guardian Hatchet [Chop 4, ]
Three knives [Cut 2, Pierce 2]
Tungsten Toothpick [Pierce 5] (10/10)
Slave Trap
Three smoke grenades
Tunnel Clearer shotgun [5/5 shotshells] [shotgun 3] [Pierce 3] (5 spare shotshells) (3 spare slugs)
Guard rifle [Pierce 2] (10/10) (40 spare rounds)
Pistol [Pierce 1] (?/?)

300' of silk rope
2x Silent Night
2x Black Flame
2x Cave Spider Venom
30x Path markers
~25x Vial of Haze

Followers:
Gus (Young human with minimal training.  Healthy.)
--Equipped with a small iron melee weapon.  A knife or shortsword or something.
--Equipped with a low caliber ethral rifle.  [Pierce 2] (10/10)
Baxter (Young human with minimal training.  Healthy.)
--Equipped with a small iron melee weapon.  A knife or shortsword or something.
--Equipped with a low caliber ethral rifle.  [Pierce 2] (10/10)

Hireling Achievements That Probably Deserve a Reward:
--Catching the runner who was gonna report on Nyw interrogating the Haze-selling chemist.

[Radio Controlled]

"a what now? Telescope that can see through solid matter? Amazing! Yes, please do show me where you found this, sister, I would like to study it.

As for your relic fragment, I am willing to give it back to you. First I'd like to inquire however, what is the goal of your dive? And which path do you think of walking through the spheres to achieve it?"

Be shown the way to the telescope. Check out its make, use wizard eyes to look inside it as well. How does it look through solid stone? Does it work in a similar way to my wizard eyes? Or is it a diving effect perhaps?

”I’m thinking Akhmah, Belarim because it is technology, and Yengenze so that the knowledge obtained enters my mind, but I’m unsure which action spheres to go to to learn who made it and/or how long ago it was made”

"Hmm. I think that that Belarim is a good option for the material sphere indeed. And I do believe brother Ashul managed in the past to learn great secrets by summoning them with Yengenze, so that seems like a solid choice as well! And I think that's sufficient actually, I don't suspect you will need another sphere to learn the things you wish to learn. Of course, the success of your dive itself will also determine what secrets, if any, you are shown.

Now, in terms of reinforcement, what did you have in mind? And what about the environment, do you think this location is secure enough for you to commune with the beyond with peace of mind?

Finally, have you considered offering something up as a sacrifice to get on the good side of god and the beings of the spheres? Since we are trying to learn about an artifact presumably made by these crystal beings, or at least with a connection to them, perhaps offering up something that itself is made by or connected to the crystal race would work well?"

[Naturegirl1999]

"a what now? Telescope that can see through solid matter? Amazing! Yes, please do show me where you found this, sister, I would like to study it.

As for your relic fragment, I am willing to give it back to you. First I'd like to inquire however, what is the goal of your dive? And which path do you think of walking through the spheres to achieve it?"

Be shown the way to the telescope. Check out its make, use wizard eyes to look inside it as well. How does it look through solid stone? Does it work in a similar way to my wizard eyes? Or is it a diving effect perhaps?

”I’m thinking Akhmah, Belarim because it is technology, and Yengenze so that the knowledge obtained enters my mind, but I’m unsure which action spheres to go to to learn who made it and/or how long ago it was made”

"Hmm. I think that that Belarim is a good option for the material sphere indeed. And I do believe brother Ashul managed in the past to learn great secrets by summoning them with Yengenze, so that seems like a solid choice as well! And I think that's sufficient actually, I don't suspect you will need another sphere to learn the things you wish to learn. Of course, the success of your dive itself will also determine what secrets, if any, you are shown.

Now, in terms of reinforcement, what did you have in mind? And what about the environment, do you think this location is secure enough for you to commune with the beyond with peace of mind?

Finally, have you considered offering something up as a sacrifice to get on the good side of god and the beings of the spheres? Since we are trying to learn about an artifact presumably made by these crystal beings, or at least with a connection to them, perhaps offering up something that itself is made by or connected to the crystal race would work well?"

”I found some gems that look like opals. Will these work?”(shows opals to Adam) I think diving near the telescope would be fine, since it is what we are learning about”