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[Ozarck]

Dive:
Yengenze Gesh
4 Path
Reinforce Gesh 6 Times.
10 nerve, Final Cunning, Nerve
Compel Alex to complete honesty during the interrogation. I should know if he resists or if the compulsion doesn't occur.

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:10  Spe:10  End:12  Awa:13  Cun:13  Kno:12  Ner:16

Skills (+1 skillpoint from levelup)
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: very hard to play. untitled song that makes people feel well but fall asleep and have a seizure)
neodymium collar (enchanted to be explosion, plasma, and mindbreak resistant.)
1 Bone-fretted haunted electric guitar
1 mundane acoustic guitar with wave patterns in abalone and turquoise
1 Crystalline Clate Guitar
140  Fathoms

[Radio Controlled]

Stick around near Ashul and Alex for now to be ready to help in case anything goes awry.

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
Sobriety helmet: provides a +3 bonus against mind fuckery, though it will degrade over time as it gets "hit" with more effects.

1 ethral rifle [7 rounds]  (pierce 3)
5x black flame
2x smoke bomb
1 flashbang

3 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
portal knives design
445 fathoms
4 unspent skillpoints
copy of cult papers sold to the church
cult holy book sold to the church
scribbled notes with faces of cult conspirators sold to the church
lenses of telescope that can look through solid matter
slabs with the history of the crystal people
mysterious cult chest sold to the church

- 1 x portal knife, not yet enchanted
- 1 x large collapsible doorway (large enough to allow crawler to move through)
- 1 x sacrifices for +3

1 x portal knife, enchanted
1 x Custom collapsible doorway, enchanted (Warning: portal's end point isn't very well anchored to the physical object. There's some drift involved (4,5 meter), so you will come out in the general area, but maybe not spot on.) Currently deployed on the bore, there is padding on the floor to prevent damage from drift.

[Pancaek]

Stick around for the interrogation, but at a distance. Try and make some simple golems while the other do their interrogation thing. Just small spider crawlers that can hold a TNT charge (or something similar) and detonate them when commanded, to serve as disposable suicide bots.

Spoiler: Clate (click to show/hide)

Name: Clate
Race: Shluck
Description: To bring back the crystal race
 
Stats
Str:  12
Dex:  9
Spe:  10
End:  13
Awa:  12
Cun:  9
Kno:  14
Ner:  15

Skills
Natural +3 Caving
Natural +3 Geology
Natural Mute
Natural No clothing
Natural Stonesenses
Natural Stoneshaping

Unarmed: +2
Weapon skill: Stone Blade +2
Stealth: +1
Archeology: +2
Weaponsmith: +2
Navigation: +1
Armorsmith: +1
Chemical: +1
Crystal Biology: +1

Inventory
Bladed Shovel - handle coated with Pseudomagnetic mortar
Knife (cut2, pierce2)
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)
100ft silk rope
6 Octahedrons - supposedly replicate materials
1 container of Pseudomagnetic mortar
labradorite/Obedience rod (on loan to Kara)
Silver ethral pendant: small silver pendant in the shape of a compound eye wreathed in white fire
Ethral archive promissory note



243 Fathoms


Crystal Babies
1. Chonky Ramiel, about the size of a car.
2. Pryamid with stumpy limbs
3. Crystal snake. hiss. 18 inches long.
4. snake golem. Its larger than the original by several times and rougher, sort of like a squirming line of uncut gemstones, each the size of a human fist.
5. Crystal Praying Mantis (Can fire lazer, Cut 4 Claws)
6. 2 small golems with black flames mounted on their heads. Suicide bots.

Warehouse/bore storage:
Bomb Collar
Slate box
Spool of thermoreactive wire.
Acoustic guitar (Metal + guardbone, totally mundane.)
Rifle (pierce2, 6/10 magazine)
Small Knife from crystal barrel
Small bowl from crystal barrel
roll of very thin and flexible stone
small cube of the extremely dense material
sharp pyramid shaped wedge thing
3 structural junk
30 chemical junk
1 gold ingot

[piecewise]

Dive:
Yengenze Gesh
4 Path
Reinforce Gesh 6 Times.
10 nerve, Final Cunning, Nerve
Compel Alex to complete honesty during the interrogation. I should know if he resists or if the compulsion doesn't occur.

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:10  Spe:10  End:12  Awa:13  Cun:13  Kno:12  Ner:16

Skills (+1 skillpoint from levelup)
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: very hard to play. untitled song that makes people feel well but fall asleep and have a seizure)
neodymium collar (enchanted to be explosion, plasma, and mindbreak resistant.)
1 Bone-fretted haunted electric guitar
1 mundane acoustic guitar with wave patterns in abalone and turquoise
1 Crystalline Clate Guitar
140  Fathoms

[4 + 16 + 10 + 14 + 19 + 7 + 4 + 1 + 13 + 18][18,2][-2 nerve]

The dive takes, but not quite right. You're not entirely sure how it was altered, but you know it was in some way. Still, you seem to have effectively laid a compulsion to tell the truth lest the dive let you know he's lying.

Stick around for the interrogation, but at a distance. Try and make some simple golems while the other do their interrogation thing. Just small spider crawlers that can hold a TNT charge (or something similar) and detonate them when commanded, to serve as disposable suicide bots.

Spoiler: Clate (click to show/hide)

Name: Clate
Race: Shluck
Description: To bring back the crystal race
 
Stats
Str:  12
Dex:  9
Spe:  10
End:  13
Awa:  12
Cun:  9
Kno:  14
Ner:  15

Skills
Natural +3 Caving
Natural +3 Geology
Natural Mute
Natural No clothing
Natural Stonesenses
Natural Stoneshaping

Unarmed: +2
Weapon skill: Stone Blade +2
Stealth: +1
Archeology: +2
Weaponsmith: +2
Navigation: +1
Armorsmith: +1
Chemical: +1
Crystal Biology: +1

Inventory
Bladed Shovel - handle coated with Pseudomagnetic mortar
Knife (cut2, pierce2)
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)
100ft silk rope
6 Octahedrons - supposedly replicate materials
1 container of Pseudomagnetic mortar
labradorite/Obedience rod (on loan to Kara)
Silver ethral pendant: small silver pendant in the shape of a compound eye wreathed in white fire
Ethral archive promissory note



243 Fathoms


Crystal Babies
1. Chonky Ramiel, about the size of a car.
2. Pryamid with stumpy limbs
3. Crystal snake. hiss. 18 inches long.
4. snake golem. Its larger than the original by several times and rougher, sort of like a squirming line of uncut gemstones, each the size of a human fist.
5. Crystal Praying Mantis (Can fire lazer, Cut 4 Claws)
6. 2 small golems with black flames mounted on their heads. Suicide bots.

Warehouse/bore storage:
Bomb Collar
Slate box
Spool of thermoreactive wire.
Acoustic guitar (Metal + guardbone, totally mundane.)
Rifle (pierce2, 6/10 magazine)
Small Knife from crystal barrel
Small bowl from crystal barrel
roll of very thin and flexible stone
small cube of the extremely dense material
sharp pyramid shaped wedge thing
3 structural junk
30 chemical junk
1 gold ingot

Stick around near Ashul and Alex for now to be ready to help in case anything goes awry.

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
Sobriety helmet: provides a +3 bonus against mind fuckery, though it will degrade over time as it gets "hit" with more effects.

1 ethral rifle [7 rounds]  (pierce 3)
5x black flame
2x smoke bomb
1 flashbang

3 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
portal knives design
445 fathoms
4 unspent skillpoints
copy of cult papers sold to the church
cult holy book sold to the church
scribbled notes with faces of cult conspirators sold to the church
lenses of telescope that can look through solid matter
slabs with the history of the crystal people
mysterious cult chest sold to the church

- 1 x portal knife, not yet enchanted
- 1 x large collapsible doorway (large enough to allow crawler to move through)
- 1 x sacrifices for +3

1 x portal knife, enchanted
1 x Custom collapsible doorway, enchanted (Warning: portal's end point isn't very well anchored to the physical object. There's some drift involved (4,5 meter), so you will come out in the general area, but maybe not spot on.) Currently deployed on the bore, there is padding on the floor to prevent damage from drift.

[7]
Adam and Clate hang around near by, idly waiting. Clate births 3 spider golems in the meantime.

[Ozarck]

"Please answer Nyw's question, Alex. And then tell us, are you an enemy of the Church? Do you wish to see humanity destroyed? And do you wish to call down the beings of the surface into the Depths? Do you wish to incur god's wrath upon us all?"

[Hotfire90]

Alex lets out a sigh before he starts to speak. "Very well I will answer all questions any of you may have, and after that I will reveal everything I learned. I however expect to be immediately released once I've explained everything.

Now Nyw there was one main reason why I offered talk in the language of its creators, it was to ensure that the faithful Chthonics of our group would not interfere while I was talking to it.

As for your questions AsHul. No I don't wish for the destruction of humanity and neither do I want those parasites to descend and kill us all. Now am I an enemy of the Church? That entirely depends on whether the Church has abandoned their original mission or not, but based on what I know I highly suspect that they did, which would make me one of their enemies. I also don't wish to attract the attention or wrath of your god, though I don't think it would even be possible for me to do either."

[syvarris]

Nyw claps his hands and speaks up with a jovial tone.  "Well, Ashul, your honesty spell worked!  He's too honest for his own good, now.  Please, do hold off on the proactive execution, he may be misguided but that does not mean he is not still useful to this crew, or incapable of improving."

[Ozarck]

"While his attitude is clearly hostile, Honored Lord's Son, he has yet to say anything quite worthy of execution. .Nothing worthy of praise, either. Though, he does admit he is no faithful Cthonic. Well, in this crew that is nothing unusual in itself. Tell us, Ignorant Alex: what interference did you expect from we 'faithful Cthonics?'
Tell us also, why do you think you have the ability to judge the Church, her mission, and her commitment to it?"

[Radio Controlled]

"Hmm. Perhaps it would be a good idea to first ask him to divulge all the things he and the warrior discussed, so as to provide context to his answers and to help us ask more guided questions."

[Hotfire90]

"A spell to compel honesty and plans to execute me, what makes you think I would simply accept such an outcome? Have you forgotten everything I've done for our group? Without me you would never have learned about the group that was plotting against the Church and now you repay me by threatening to kill me.

You call me ignorant, yet you're the one who doesn't know the truth. I know more about the Church than you do, I know about its origins, its past and about the true nature and form of the being they worship. What gives you the right to judge me and plan my execution? You and Adam may serve the Church but the rest of us do not! So what gave you the right to judge me?"

[Pancaek]

I'll admit: the whole "you're either a faithful Cthonic or we'd rather you didn't exist" thing, either implicit or explicit, is getting kinda old. I'd like it if we could just stop throwing accusations and listen to what Alex has to say.

Just my opinion, not that anyone asked.
Clate writes to nobody in particular.

[Ozarck]

I'll admit: the whole "you're either a faithful Cthonic or we'd rather you didn't exist" thing, either implicit or explicit, is getting kinda old. I'd like it if we could just stop throwing accusations and listen to what Alex has to say.

Just my opinion, not that anyone asked.
Clate writes to nobody in particular.

"You disappoint me. You all disappoint me with your mindless bigotry and prejudice. You are tired of an attitude that does not exist in our crew, and you lash out for the most foolish of reasons. Who do you think we wish did not exist? and why? Why do you think any such thing? What action ... no do not answer. You are derailing this interrogation with such talk. If you think us hostile to you, bring it up after we've dealt with the issue at hand, if you even remember what that issue is."

"A spell to compel honesty and plans to execute me, what makes you think I would simply accept such an outcome? Have you forgotten everything I've done for our group? Without me you would never have learned about the group that was plotting against the Church and now you repay me by threatening to kill me.

You call me ignorant, yet you're the one who doesn't know the truth. I know more about the Church than you do, I know about its origins, its past and about the true nature and form of the being they worship. What gives you the right to judge me and plan my execution? You and Adam may serve the Church but the rest of us do not! So what gave you the right to judge me?"

"The ravings of a madman, claiming to see beyond the veil. You lied to me and betrayed, not the Church, but your companions, in the middle of combat, for your own selfish purposes. that is what you are incarcerated for. For threatening our explicit goal. and now, like a narcissist, claiming that only you matter, that only you know the secret truth, that we are only where we are thanks to you, that without you we are nothing. Not a shred of remorse, not a shred of consideration for your fellows."

"Hmm. Perhaps it would be a good idea to first ask him to divulge all the things he and the warrior discussed, so as to provide context to his answers and to help us ask more guided questions."

"He is not on trial for the things the Warrior said. Have you forgotten? He is on trial for betrayal of trust in the midst of battle - a crime he has now admitted to, wholeheartedly. The Warrior's words are not context for Alex's actions. They are a byproduct. And I remind you, I remind you all, that I had no objection to hearing the Warrior's words in the open. Adam, you left the interrogation to me, you claimed. I'd thank you to trust me to do it properly."

[Hotfire90]

"What battle? There was no combat when you locked me inside, the warrior knew of our intentions the moment we opened the door and instead of attacking us, it offered peace and an opportunity to ask it questions. Why don't you explain how I threatened our goal? It was always my intention to reveal what I learned once I was done talking to it and to use that information to decide what to do next. We wouldn't be in this situation if you had simply waited for me to explain when you opened the door. Instead you imprisoned once again, acted without consulting me and now you're threatening me with execution. Your rash actions are to blame for this outcome, not some supposed betrayal on my part.

I don't think this interrogation of yours will lead to anything useful, so I suppose I should share what I learned, starting from the beginning before I talked to the warrior. Perhaps then some of you will understand why I couldn't openly talk about it.

I already told AsHul and Adam a little about what I learned when I read the Cognition magazine, in the volumes I initially read I learned that the ancient humans had discovered an unknown mass in the outer solar system, this object was directly headed for Earth, the planet we're on, what's specifically interesting about it was that it was able to ignore gravity during its travel and that it was noted that it moved towards Earth with intent. I was able to acquire the next volumes of the magazine and there I learned about what this mass was. This mass headed for Earth was a comet and it was alive in a way, I don't fully understand what the terms used to describe it mean, but it's not alive in the way we're familiar with. Additionally what could be described as its tail was also alive though composed of different matter. But the most interesting thing I read was that some humans started worshipping the comet. That was when I suspected that the comet was infact the Chthonic God, with the "tail" being none other than the horrors that plague the surface. This also meant that the Church originated from those humans who worshipped the comet before it arrived. The warrior merely confirmed my suspicions.

Everything else I learned is what the warrior told me, such as its purpose. It and its kin were built by the ancient humans, to defend their creators from the comet, they were specifically created to fight it, so if I were to guess they were constructed after their creators learned about the nature of the comet. Furthermore it fought on the surface for three years before it retreated underground with its creators where it continued its fight there and that's where it saw the rise of the Cult of Humanism. The Cult of Humanism was the past of the current Chthonic Church, the warrior told me that their goal has always been the preservation of humanity, it has also instructed me to go to Empyrean and to talk to the leaders of the Church.

There's one more important matter it told me and it concerns you Nyw.
You used to be just like the warrior before your death, you were created by the ancient humans to save humanity and to defeat the comet. Your failure to fulfil your purpose is what haunts and drives you, while it may be impossible to complete your purpose as it was given, perhaps there might still be a way to fulfil it.

Assuming what the warrior told me is true, then this shows just how amazing the technological prowess of the ancient humans was. They were able to create constructs that were capable of escaping death, even if that meant losing their memories in the process and even though their creations failed to defeat the horrors above and the comet, they were able to fight back for three years before retreating underground."

[Radio Controlled]

"Hmm. Perhaps it would be a good idea to first ask him to divulge all the things he and the warrior discussed, so as to provide context to his answers and to help us ask more guided questions."

"He is not on trial for the things the Warrior said. Have you forgotten? He is on trial for betrayal of trust in the midst of battle - a crime he has now admitted to, wholeheartedly. The Warrior's words are not context for Alex's actions. They are a byproduct. And I remind you, I remind you all, that I had no objection to hearing the Warrior's words in the open. Adam, you left the interrogation to me, you claimed. I'd thank you to trust me to do it properly."

"Indeed, as we had agreed, you shall lead the questioning. It was but a piece of advice, to take or leave as you see fit."

[Parisbre56]

"AsHul, please do not... what is that human expression? 'Shift the Goal Posters'? I mean, please do not change the reason of this trial. The agreement was to investigate if Alex is an enemy of the crew or of the people of the underworld. Whether or not you believe he betrayed you, it is not the proof you need to convince me of his guilt."

"Alex, I thank you for sharing that information with us. It is an interesting story and I would need time to think about it and consider what it might mean if it is true. I would be interested in discussing it with you further, once we're done with this. If you can find evidence to support it it would be very valuable indeed. If you truly believe the Church will help you, then I will not stop you from contacting the Church. However, I would plead you to be cautious about it. The Church is made of people and it is not uncommon for people of the same organization to have conflicting motivations and goals. If you contact the wrong people then not only you but the entirety of this bore crew could be in danger. Perhaps Adam can guide you to one of his contacts that would be willing to listen?"

"I would offer the same warning to the rest of our crew. If this story is a fabrication, then someone hearing it is dangerous to the crew only if those that hear it are fanatics of some sort that dislike this story. If this story is true and the Church or at least part of it wishes to suppress it, then it could end up with us being hunted by one of the most powerful organizations of the underworld. Our best bet then would be to find some other organization that can give us safe harbor like the Ethral or perhaps a revived Crystal People and even then it would most likely mean war for that faction. And I don't know about you, but I'd rather not spend what's left of my life hiding in a hole in one of Clate's Crystal Cities. No offense Clate."