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[m1895]

"I hear ya boss" Swis whispers, "but uh, could I borrow a knife to do it?
Swis will try her hand at opening the door, presumably with the moff and npc help.

Spoiler: Birb (click to show/hide)

Name:Swis Hartra
Description: a (relatively) tall golden eagle type Corven, she tries not to look too wary and moves with eerie grace.
Goal: either make a load of money as a "free shooter" or die trying
Stats:
Str:8 
Dex:16 
Spe:13 
End:6 
Awa:12 
Cun:10 
Kno:8 
Ner:10
Skills 10-3-3-1-1
Lucky Shot Revolver 2
Acrobatics 2
Stealth 1
Survival 1
Navigation 1
Caving 1
Inventory:
Lucky Shot Revolver [7/7]
Path Markers [10]
free clothing: Rathide Cloak
Currency:Nothing

[Pancaek]

Wait until Adam does his thinkin', then lead the team to the library. See if I can swim through and learn what's there. Just browse for anything interesting, but specifically keep an eye out for stuff about how this place/machine works and what it is.

If we don't run into any trouble and can seqrch the library this turn, also make a stop to that cooler area to see what's up there.

Spoiler: Clate (click to show/hide)

Name: Clate
Race: Shluck
Description: To bring back the crystal race
 
Stats
Str:  12
Dex:  9
Spe:  10 (+1 from levelup not added yet)
End:  13
Awa:  12
Cun:  9 (+1 from levelup not added yet)
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
(((1 free skillpoint from levelup)))

Inventory
pair of crystal swords. (cut 6, pierce 3) They look basically like normal crystals, but flattened so that two of its sharp edges are aligned.  There are no handles, as you can just fuse them to your body.
10 Crystal spears (pierce 3)
6 crystal lazer guns (pierce 3)


Bladed Shovel - handle coated with Pseudomagnetic mortar
Knife (cut2, pierce2)
TNT x5 (3 fitted to spiderbots)
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 x2 (1 on loan to Kara, 1 in Clate's possesion)
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. Ramiel V2.0, half the size of the original
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.
7. 3 suicide spiderbots. Smol, fast, each holds 1 TNT charge.
8. Knifebirb: Two long legs, attached to a single, long, razor sharp blade of crystal. It moves in a jittery, rapid way that makes anyone with flesh that can be cut stay far away from it. Cassowary Sized.
9. Protecto: a big rolling wall of hexagons that can reshift themselves around to form shields of different sizes, shapes, and thicknesses.
10. Death Blossom:  floating flower, it has a bunch of little points  and when attacking it rotates rapidly in place, firing small energy bolts from those points, like a minigun.


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]

"I hear ya boss" Swis whispers, "but uh, could I borrow a knife to do it?
Swis will try her hand at opening the door, presumably with the moff and npc help.

Spoiler: Birb (click to show/hide)

Name:Swis Hartra
Description: a (relatively) tall golden eagle type Corven, she tries not to look too wary and moves with eerie grace.
Goal: either make a load of money as a "free shooter" or die trying
Stats:
Str:8 
Dex:16 
Spe:13 
End:6 
Awa:12 
Cun:10 
Kno:8 
Ner:10
Skills 10-3-3-1-1
Lucky Shot Revolver 2
Acrobatics 2
Stealth 1
Survival 1
Navigation 1
Caving 1
Inventory:
Lucky Shot Revolver [7/7]
Path Markers [10]
free clothing: Rathide Cloak
Currency:Nothing

Direct the flighty friends to try and unlock the door.  If they are catatonic, direct one of the human adventure kids to give it a try.

While they're doing that, walk a few paces to the right of the door, then use the tungsten toothpick to smash a hole in the wall at eye level.  Nyw's eye level.  Stand away from the hole and loudly ask what's going on.

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

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

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

Stats:
Str: 15 
Dex: 10
Spe:11
End:14
Awa:14
Cun: 10
Kno: 9
Ner: 13

Skills: (Two unspent skillpoints)
Guard Rifle: +3
Unarmed: +1
Defense Skill: +3 (Full Plate)
Vehicle Skill: +1
Caving: +1
Navigation: +1
Murakumo: +2 (+1/3)


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.
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
Nine smoke bombs
Five flashbangs
Tunnel Clearer shotgun [5/5 shotshells] [shotgun 3] [Pierce 3] (5 spare shotshells) (3 spare slugs) (-2 on to-hit rolls)
Guard rifle [Pierce 2] (10/10) (210 spare rounds)
Pistol [Pierce 1] (?/?)

300' of silk rope
2x Silent Night
2x Black Flame
2x Cave Spider Venom
30x Path markers
10x Injectible tranquilizer.

77 fathoms.

Followers:
Gus (Young human with minimal training.  Healthy.)
--Equipped with a small iron melee weapon [Cut 3, Pierce 3] and a Black Flame [Cutting 3]
--Equipped with a low caliber ethral rifle.  [Pierce 2] (10/10), 50 spare bullets
--Armored with a mail shirt [Protect 3], and has two smoke bombs.
Baxter (Young human with minimal training.  Healthy.)
--Equipped with a small iron melee weapon [Cut 3, Pierce 3] and a Black Flame [Cutting 3]
--Equipped with a low caliber ethral rifle.  [Pierce 2] (10/10), 50 spare bullets
--Armored with a mail shirt [Protect 3], and has two smoke bombs.

Bore NPC "recruits":
--Five moths
--One lizard dude
--Two humans

[16]
Swis steps up and, with a bit of scrap metal, jimmies the lock in about 15 seconds. As soon as she finishes, Nyw grabs her shoulder and directs her away from the door, putting himself in her place. He grabs the handle and very slowly opens the heavy iron door, keeping his bulk in between whatever is inside and his companions.

Inside is what could be called a workshop. The room is very clearly not designed to be anything other than a connecting space between two aqueducts, its basically nothing more than an oversized hallway, which immediately turns left from the door, travels that way for a good 30 or 40 feet, and then turns right, presumably to another door. Someone has dragged a lot of tables, tools, and cages down into this room, lining the walls with them and filling the hall to the point that Nyw will have to turn sideways to walk through it at several points. Most of the cages seem to be empty. 5 of them are full. Two contain young girls, one contains a young boy, and the other two hold what look like children entirely bound up in church garb. Black shawls and wrappings, iron masks, iron gloves and boots, and a breastplate and back plate, each displaying church iconography. The tools and the tables look like one part machine shop and one part back alley surgeon, and there looks to be blood on most of the tools to some degree.  Nyw checks the back of the door and indeed someone has been strung up there, chained to it using eyehooks welded to the four corners. Young girl, gagged but still wailing and struggling. The three children are screaming to Nyw now, but the two in church garb are silent. They're looking at Nyw, but not speaking.

The place smells of damp, mildew, iron, and sweat.

He says that there looks like there might be areas near the center that are cooler. He points to a specific place, which you obviously can't see, but assume Adam can.

And what can Adam see there exactly?

He points towards another place, this time up and parallel to here. He says there's a lot of data stored there, but in a form only crystal people can access. The "Swim through to learn" kind.

Are they slabs we could pick up and bring back for Clate to read, or are they too big? Or is that place not near the core enough to be dangerous to our crystal boyo?

but the golem doesn't  get much further than Clate's current position before keeling over, separate pieces clanking to the floor and rolling back down.

Can we repair this crystal baby, or is it destroyed for all intents and purposes?

Diving might be the more reasonable option.

Assuming I used Es to move the crystal out of the way (move it down to the side of the rest of the tunnel), which material spheres seem appropriate here? Akhmah probably since it's crystal, but perhaps also Yengenze or Balarim? And how many reinforcements of each sphere to move this amount of material?

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: 13
Awa: 12
Cun: 11
Kno: 10
Ner: 14
Skills
Diving: +3
Stealth: +2
Occult: +1
Flammenvision!
Inventory

anti-heat suit
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
labradorite rod

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
324 fathoms
5 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
set of numbered metal plates

- 0 x portal knife, not yet enchanted
- 1 x sacrifices for +3

1 x large collapsible doorway (large enough to allow crawler to move through), enchanted, but badly (!unknown destination!) :v
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.

1. A series of square shaped rooms. Cells, likely.
2.No. Like back in that other ruin, its information encoded into stone via its crystalline matrix and contents. Literally impossible for any non-crystal person to understand. Well, maybe not impossible but would require extensive knowledge and processing of the stone. Its not closer to the core, so it should be ok.
3. Unknown. If the thing forcing the "mind" out of it is destroyed, it might return.
4. Akhmah is likely enough, since this crystal here might have some mind to it, and might be considered technology, but at the core its still just rock. As per reinforcements, Material I'd say 5, but action 2-3.

Wait until Adam does his thinkin', then lead the team to the library. See if I can swim through and learn what's there. Just browse for anything interesting, but specifically keep an eye out for stuff about how this place/machine works and what it is.

If we don't run into any trouble and can seqrch the library this turn, also make a stop to that cooler area to see what's up there.

Spoiler: Clate (click to show/hide)

Name: Clate
Race: Shluck
Description: To bring back the crystal race
 
Stats
Str:  12
Dex:  9
Spe:  10 (+1 from levelup not added yet)
End:  13
Awa:  12
Cun:  9 (+1 from levelup not added yet)
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
(((1 free skillpoint from levelup)))

Inventory
pair of crystal swords. (cut 6, pierce 3) They look basically like normal crystals, but flattened so that two of its sharp edges are aligned.  There are no handles, as you can just fuse them to your body.
10 Crystal spears (pierce 3)
6 crystal lazer guns (pierce 3)


Bladed Shovel - handle coated with Pseudomagnetic mortar
Knife (cut2, pierce2)
TNT x5 (3 fitted to spiderbots)
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 x2 (1 on loan to Kara, 1 in Clate's possesion)
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. Ramiel V2.0, half the size of the original
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.
7. 3 suicide spiderbots. Smol, fast, each holds 1 TNT charge.
8. Knifebirb: Two long legs, attached to a single, long, razor sharp blade of crystal. It moves in a jittery, rapid way that makes anyone with flesh that can be cut stay far away from it. Cassowary Sized.
9. Protecto: a big rolling wall of hexagons that can reshift themselves around to form shields of different sizes, shapes, and thicknesses.
10. Death Blossom:  floating flower, it has a bunch of little points  and when attacking it rotates rapidly in place, firing small energy bolts from those points, like a minigun.


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

The library isn't much of a place for outsiders; there are very few "hollow" spaces: its almost entirely solid stone. [8] You wander about, swimming through the stone and the "clouds" of information that hang in it. You test them bit by bit, looking for something meaningful. Finally you think you find something and spend a minute or two swimming back and forth, letting it pervade you until you think you have it.

You move back to the group and attempt to recount it as best you can. Its a bit hard, since "reading" these records isn't like reading a book. Its like having a memory pass through your head.

The basic concept is simple, in the way that shooting someone with a gun is simple in concept. Crystal people are minds held in a matrix of stone, while organic races are minds held in a matrix of flesh. The weapon's function was simply to destructively copy the organic mind and replicate it in crystal.  A conversion bomb, through not a bomb since it isn't destroyed in the process. Obviously the records don't indicate what happened, but its easy enough to guess that their attempts to rip minds from organic life resulted in it ripping the minds from them instead. As per how it rippled out from here...that's not as easily guessed.

[Parisbre56]

"I suppose investigating their 'cells' and 'labs' might be a logical next step? It could give us some ideas about what might had gone wrong or how this thing is triggered or spread. Plus, I can't help but feel some morbid curiosity about what we'll find there. What kind of organisms they used, I wonder? What kind of horrid half-formed hybrids did their experiments create? What would drive them to do such a thing? Was there some dire event, some existential threat that made them rush the project? Or was it perhaps an accidental activation of some desperate weapon of mutual destruction? For obvious reasons though we shouldn't risk activating anything."

[Radio Controlled]

"The dive required for us to reach the core seems quite doable, though no dive is risk-free of course. Once ya'll are ready to go for it, tell me and we can check it out."

Collect pieces of broken crystal baby. Then go check out the cells I guess? Make sure to us wizard eyes in case one of them holds an undead boyo waiting to be accidentally released or other such shenanigans.

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: 13
Awa: 12
Cun: 11
Kno: 10
Ner: 14
Skills
Diving: +3
Stealth: +2
Occult: +1
Flammenvision!
Inventory

anti-heat suit
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 broken crystal construct
labradorite rod

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
324 fathoms
5 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
set of numbered metal plates

- 0 x portal knife, not yet enchanted
- 1 x sacrifices for +3

1 x large collapsible doorway (large enough to allow crawler to move through), enchanted, but badly (!unknown destination!) :v
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.

[syvarris]

Free the three unmarked children in cages, probably by just ripping open the cage doors.  Then inspect the one chained to the door, checking for traps or danger of some kind.  Ungag her if it doesn't look like it might set off a bomb or something, and then ask if it's safe to free her.  Do so if possible and safe, either by breaking any locks, or severing the chains near their base with a crystal murakumo.  Try to do a minimum of damage to the chains and door; I'd like to leave this place intact.

Reassure the children that they're safe now, and will be rescued soon.  Inspect them for wounds, then give them all hugs.  If any are in pain, apply small drips of cave spider venom to whatever injuries they have.  Once they're calmer, try to ask what happened, who they are, and whether the kids in church garb are safe to free as well.

Have Gus stand guard outside the door we came in through, gun at the ready.  Baxter should guard the other door, or at least the far end of the hallway.

Do any of these children match descriptions of kidnapped kids?

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

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

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

Stats:
Str: 15 
Dex: 10
Spe:11
End:14
Awa:14
Cun: 10
Kno: 9
Ner: 13

Skills: (Two unspent skillpoints)
Guard Rifle: +3
Unarmed: +1
Defense Skill: +3 (Full Plate)
Vehicle Skill: +1
Caving: +1
Navigation: +1
Murakumo: +2 (+1/3)


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.
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
Nine smoke bombs
Five flashbangs
Tunnel Clearer shotgun [5/5 shotshells] [shotgun 3] [Pierce 3] (5 spare shotshells) (3 spare slugs) (-2 on to-hit rolls)
Guard rifle [Pierce 2] (10/10) (210 spare rounds)
Pistol [Pierce 1] (?/?)

300' of silk rope
2x Silent Night
2x Black Flame
2x Cave Spider Venom
30x Path markers
10x Injectible tranquilizer.

77 fathoms.

Followers:
Gus (Young human with minimal training.  Healthy.)
--Equipped with a small iron melee weapon [Cut 3, Pierce 3] and a Black Flame [Cutting 3]
--Equipped with a low caliber ethral rifle.  [Pierce 2] (10/10), 50 spare bullets
--Armored with a mail shirt [Protect 3], and has two smoke bombs.
Baxter (Young human with minimal training.  Healthy.)
--Equipped with a small iron melee weapon [Cut 3, Pierce 3] and a Black Flame [Cutting 3]
--Equipped with a low caliber ethral rifle.  [Pierce 2] (10/10), 50 spare bullets
--Armored with a mail shirt [Protect 3], and has two smoke bombs.

Bore NPC "recruits":
--Five moths
--One lizard dude
--Two humans

[m1895]

stand guard and be prepared to disassemble any booby traps Nyw activates

Spoiler: Birb (click to show/hide)

Name:Swis Hartra
Description: a (relatively) tall golden eagle type Corven, she tries not to look too wary and moves with eerie grace.
Goal: either make a load of money as a "free shooter" or die trying
Stats:
Str:8 
Dex:16 
Spe:13 
End:6 
Awa:12 
Cun:10 
Kno:8 
Ner:10
Skills 10-3-3-1-1
Lucky Shot Revolver 2
Acrobatics 2
Stealth 1
Survival 1
Navigation 1
Caving 1
Inventory:
Lucky Shot Revolver [7/7]
Path Markers [10]
free clothing: Rathide Cloak
Currency:Nothing

[Pancaek]

Here is what I learned from the library, in a nutshell: Crystal people are minds held in a matrix of stone, while organic races are minds held in a matrix of flesh. The weapon's function was simply to destructively copy the organic mind and replicate it in crystal.  A conversion bomb, through not a bomb since it isn't destroyed in the process. The records don't indicate what happened, but its easy enough to guess that their attempts to rip minds from organic life resulted in it ripping the minds from them instead. That does leave the question how it rippled out to all the crystal people everywhere, though.

As Kara says, we should check out the cells/labs next.


Lead Kara and Adam to the cells/labs and see what's up there. Look around for clues as to what they were doing here exactly and what happened with the shattering, and possibly how to stop/reverse it.

Also see if I can't repair Adam's crystal baby.

Spoiler: Clate (click to show/hide)

Name: Clate
Race: Shluck
Description: To bring back the crystal race
 
Stats
Str:  12
Dex:  9
Spe:  10 (+1 from levelup not added yet)
End:  13
Awa:  12
Cun:  9 (+1 from levelup not added yet)
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
(((1 free skillpoint from levelup)))

Inventory
pair of crystal swords. (cut 6, pierce 3) They look basically like normal crystals, but flattened so that two of its sharp edges are aligned.  There are no handles, as you can just fuse them to your body.
10 Crystal spears (pierce 3)
6 crystal lazer guns (pierce 3)


Bladed Shovel - handle coated with Pseudomagnetic mortar
Knife (cut2, pierce2)
TNT x5 (3 fitted to spiderbots)
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 x2 (1 on loan to Kara, 1 in Clate's possesion)
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. Ramiel V2.0, half the size of the original
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.
7. 3 suicide spiderbots. Smol, fast, each holds 1 TNT charge.
8. Knifebirb: Two long legs, attached to a single, long, razor sharp blade of crystal. It moves in a jittery, rapid way that makes anyone with flesh that can be cut stay far away from it. Cassowary Sized.
9. Protecto: a big rolling wall of hexagons that can reshift themselves around to form shields of different sizes, shapes, and thicknesses.
10. Death Blossom:  floating flower, it has a bunch of little points  and when attacking it rotates rapidly in place, firing small energy bolts from those points, like a minigun.


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]

stand guard and be prepared to disassemble any booby traps Nyw activates

Spoiler: Birb (click to show/hide)

Name:Swis Hartra
Description: a (relatively) tall golden eagle type Corven, she tries not to look too wary and moves with eerie grace.
Goal: either make a load of money as a "free shooter" or die trying
Stats:
Str:8 
Dex:16 
Spe:13 
End:6 
Awa:12 
Cun:10 
Kno:8 
Ner:10
Skills 10-3-3-1-1
Lucky Shot Revolver 2
Acrobatics 2
Stealth 1
Survival 1
Navigation 1
Caving 1
Inventory:
Lucky Shot Revolver [7/7]
Path Markers [10]
free clothing: Rathide Cloak
Currency:Nothing

Free the three unmarked children in cages, probably by just ripping open the cage doors.  Then inspect the one chained to the door, checking for traps or danger of some kind.  Ungag her if it doesn't look like it might set off a bomb or something, and then ask if it's safe to free her.  Do so if possible and safe, either by breaking any locks, or severing the chains near their base with a crystal murakumo.  Try to do a minimum of damage to the chains and door; I'd like to leave this place intact.

Reassure the children that they're safe now, and will be rescued soon.  Inspect them for wounds, then give them all hugs.  If any are in pain, apply small drips of cave spider venom to whatever injuries they have.  Once they're calmer, try to ask what happened, who they are, and whether the kids in church garb are safe to free as well.

Have Gus stand guard outside the door we came in through, gun at the ready.  Baxter should guard the other door, or at least the far end of the hallway.

Do any of these children match descriptions of kidnapped kids?

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

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

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

Stats:
Str: 15 
Dex: 10
Spe:11
End:14
Awa:14
Cun: 10
Kno: 9
Ner: 13

Skills: (Two unspent skillpoints)
Guard Rifle: +3
Unarmed: +1
Defense Skill: +3 (Full Plate)
Vehicle Skill: +1
Caving: +1
Navigation: +1
Murakumo: +2 (+1/3)


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.
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
Nine smoke bombs
Five flashbangs
Tunnel Clearer shotgun [5/5 shotshells] [shotgun 3] [Pierce 3] (5 spare shotshells) (3 spare slugs) (-2 on to-hit rolls)
Guard rifle [Pierce 2] (10/10) (210 spare rounds)
Pistol [Pierce 1] (?/?)

300' of silk rope
2x Silent Night
2x Black Flame
2x Cave Spider Venom
30x Path markers
10x Injectible tranquilizer.

77 fathoms.

Followers:
Gus (Young human with minimal training.  Healthy.)
--Equipped with a small iron melee weapon [Cut 3, Pierce 3] and a Black Flame [Cutting 3]
--Equipped with a low caliber ethral rifle.  [Pierce 2] (10/10), 50 spare bullets
--Armored with a mail shirt [Protect 3], and has two smoke bombs.
Baxter (Young human with minimal training.  Healthy.)
--Equipped with a small iron melee weapon [Cut 3, Pierce 3] and a Black Flame [Cutting 3]
--Equipped with a low caliber ethral rifle.  [Pierce 2] (10/10), 50 spare bullets
--Armored with a mail shirt [Protect 3], and has two smoke bombs.

Bore NPC "recruits":
--Five moths
--One lizard dude
--Two humans

[13]Nyw and Swis move in, carefully checking for traps as they go. After several minutes of checking they come to the conclusion there are none; This guy seemed to believe his obscure location would keep him safe.  They do however find a ring of keys hanging from a peg on the wall, and use them to unlock the various doors and chains they need to.

The children in the cages are uninjured, save for some minor scrapes and bruises. The girl on the door is more injured, with large bruises and sores from hanging on the door and struggling against her bonds. You check their faces against the descriptions of the missing children and only the girl on the door matches one of them. The others confirm they were street children and likely had no one reporting their loss.

Nyw asks them about the children in church garb and what happened here, and if there was an Ethral involved. The children describe the one who took them as "A monster", even the older girl. Furry, giant mouth and teeth, huge eyes,  long fingers and claws, growled when he breathed. They all say the same thing in regard to what happened, though to more or less detailed degrees. The children in the church garb are like that because he put them in that garb. They're wearing metal suits and they can't get out of them. The next part gets muddled but they say he "Cut them up and put them in it" though getting exact details about that means seems impossible. The kids in the garb are clearly alive and moving, though sluggishly, but they don't speak and seem sort of out of it.

Here is what I learned from the library, in a nutshell: Crystal people are minds held in a matrix of stone, while organic races are minds held in a matrix of flesh. The weapon's function was simply to destructively copy the organic mind and replicate it in crystal.  A conversion bomb, through not a bomb since it isn't destroyed in the process. The records don't indicate what happened, but its easy enough to guess that their attempts to rip minds from organic life resulted in it ripping the minds from them instead. That does leave the question how it rippled out to all the crystal people everywhere, though.

As Kara says, we should check out the cells/labs next.


Lead Kara and Adam to the cells/labs and see what's up there. Look around for clues as to what they were doing here exactly and what happened with the shattering, and possibly how to stop/reverse it.

Also see if I can't repair Adam's crystal baby.

Spoiler: Clate (click to show/hide)

Name: Clate
Race: Shluck
Description: To bring back the crystal race
 
Stats
Str:  12
Dex:  9
Spe:  10 (+1 from levelup not added yet)
End:  13
Awa:  12
Cun:  9 (+1 from levelup not added yet)
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
(((1 free skillpoint from levelup)))

Inventory
pair of crystal swords. (cut 6, pierce 3) They look basically like normal crystals, but flattened so that two of its sharp edges are aligned.  There are no handles, as you can just fuse them to your body.
10 Crystal spears (pierce 3)
6 crystal lazer guns (pierce 3)


Bladed Shovel - handle coated with Pseudomagnetic mortar
Knife (cut2, pierce2)
TNT x5 (3 fitted to spiderbots)
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 x2 (1 on loan to Kara, 1 in Clate's possesion)
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. Ramiel V2.0, half the size of the original
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.
7. 3 suicide spiderbots. Smol, fast, each holds 1 TNT charge.
8. Knifebirb: Two long legs, attached to a single, long, razor sharp blade of crystal. It moves in a jittery, rapid way that makes anyone with flesh that can be cut stay far away from it. Cassowary Sized.
9. Protecto: a big rolling wall of hexagons that can reshift themselves around to form shields of different sizes, shapes, and thicknesses.
10. Death Blossom:  floating flower, it has a bunch of little points  and when attacking it rotates rapidly in place, firing small energy bolts from those points, like a minigun.


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

"The dive required for us to reach the core seems quite doable, though no dive is risk-free of course. Once ya'll are ready to go for it, tell me and we can check it out."

Collect pieces of broken crystal baby. Then go check out the cells I guess? Make sure to us wizard eyes in case one of them holds an undead boyo waiting to be accidentally released or other such shenanigans.

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: 13
Awa: 12
Cun: 11
Kno: 10
Ner: 14
Skills
Diving: +3
Stealth: +2
Occult: +1
Flammenvision!
Inventory

anti-heat suit
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 broken crystal construct
labradorite rod

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
324 fathoms
5 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
set of numbered metal plates

- 0 x portal knife, not yet enchanted
- 1 x sacrifices for +3

1 x large collapsible doorway (large enough to allow crawler to move through), enchanted, but badly (!unknown destination!) :v
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.

You could repair the golem, but doing so would basically mean remaking it from scratch and injecting some life into it. You could use the parts from it for its form, but its "spark" is gone.

You skirt the danger zone and move to the holding cells. They're on the edge of the danger zone but Clate can get just close enough to let Adam into the cells, though he dares not go any closer. The entire area in and around the cells is, judging by instrument readings in the suits, habitable for ordinary organic races. Warm, dry, and stale, but habitable. About half of the 30 or so cells are empty, while the others contain bodies. Mummified remains of...well...several species. Including what you think might be the bird-like ancestors Kara has been investigating. 

[Radio Controlled]

Investigate the bodies, leave the birdy ones for Kara first if she wants dibs. In case we can gleam any hints or info regarding the conversion process from them, and also general archeological interest. And see if they had any items on them, but don't touch anything yet, don't wanna ruin these by accident.
 

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: 13
Awa: 12
Cun: 11
Kno: 10
Ner: 14
Skills
Diving: +3
Stealth: +2
Occult: +1
Flammenvision!
Inventory

anti-heat suit
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 broken crystal construct
labradorite rod

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
324 fathoms
5 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
set of numbered metal plates

- 0 x portal knife, not yet enchanted
- 1 x sacrifices for +3

1 x large collapsible doorway (large enough to allow crawler to move through), enchanted, but badly (!unknown destination!) :v
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.

[Parisbre56]

"Caw! That's so cool! I wonder what things you must have seen... Though it does make me wonder... From what I knew the Korax were supposed to be friendly and averse to violence. I find it unlikely that they were the enemies of the Crystal People. True, one can't expect every member of a species to be the same. Maybe those Korax were criminals. Maybe they had offended the Crystal People somehow. But I can't help but feel uneasy. Maybe the Crystal finds it hard to understand how hurting an individual could be bad, when they are all interconnected. Or maybe it is simply due to the fact that they are all interconnected, that they act like a single entity. If I become desperate or angry or hateful or mad, I am just one Corven. My agency is limited and there will be others with stronger morals or better circumstances that can help me or hold me back. With the Crystal, it's more scary, because sure, it may be more resilient, less prone to change, but if it devices you are an enemy, then you are an enemy to all of it. If grows desperate, then all of it is ready to discard its morals more easily. If it goes mad... If the minds that make up the collective were ripped from their bodies and stored somewhere... Those are the same minds that caused all this death. If they are released from their prison, will they go back to doing what they were doing? Making a weapon that robs organic life of choice? Or have they perhaps had enough time to calm down and think things over? Or... If they were trapped for so long without a body, without any senses... I would had certainly gone mad. Or maybe they had their collective flooded by tortured and confused organic minds of those they killed... Before they could induct them and orient them those minds... What kind of horrible amalgamation that would create..." Kara rambled into her radio as she went from room to room, examining the bodies and their surroundings. She simply said what came to mind without much thought, sharing her worries in an effort to calm herself and focus on her work.

Investigate the cells for any clues. Maybe if I'm lucky one of them carved something on the walls or left something else I can use my translate or archeology skill on. Also examine the bodies. What state are they in? Have any of them been mindripped? Do they appear to have died calmly, suddenly, starved to death?

Generally I'm looking for a story of what happened here. Was it something sudden or gradual? Was it something that affected organics too, only certain organics, only Crystal people? Was it purposeful or accidental? Did any of them manage to escape, perhaps reach the food stores? How large were their food stores? Large enough to show that these people were kept here for a long time

Of secondary importance is other stories I could glean from them, who they were, what species they were, what were they wearing and carrying, what could I guess about who they were and where they were taken from, things I could write in my diary and keep as personal treasures.

Finally, see about any passages that could lead further towards the weapon's control room or some sort of lab. Maybe they needed passages to bring the organic test subjects close to the weapon to test it.

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:11
Dex:14 
Spe:13 
End:10
Awa:12
Cun:12
Kno:13
Ner:12

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

Inventory
Heavy Crystal Mirror Armour Shroud
Golden pin (in forearm)
Crystal Friend (with riding harness + Obedience Rod)
Radio
Telegrabber with Stasis Box (Rifle, 100 meters max grab range)
3 Stasis Boxes (diving enhanced containment container) for the Telegrabber
Ethral Rifle (scope+bipod) (rifle 3, pierce 3) 6/7
Ethral Rifle magazine 7/7
Ethral Rifle magazine 6/7
Crystal Weapon
Black Flame Crystal Golem
Field Lighter (Fire 2)
Shiny interconnected colorful gems
Grappling Hook + Ethral Silk rope 200 ft
1 Doctor's Bag
1 Dynamo Lantern (Light 3)
1 Knife (Cut/Pierce 2)
2 Slave Traps
Suit Repair Kit

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
Notes on insect saddle construction
Ancient Bird-people idols
Ancient Mole-jewels depicting unknown beast
Simple Clothes (with hood)
Cot
Book (Adventures of Pilgrim)
Deck of Cards
760 fathoms (1% royalty for flame)

Kara's Diary

[syvarris]

"Hmm.  I wonder if this the church's work, or simply a... misguided follower.  These children are our goal, in any case.  Gus, Baxter, you will take the children back to the surface, bringing them to the local law enforcement.  Swis, Wiellste, you may accompany them if you wish.  I will stay here until the monster that did this returns, and then I will capture it.  You are welcome to stay and assist as well, though mind that it may take some time."

The two NPC adventure kids will take all the kids back into the city, and to police, turning them in and getting our bounty.  Nyw will stay here, closing all the doors so that it's not obvious someone broke in, and wait for the... inhabitant to return, however long that takes.  He'll try to grab them when they come through the door.

In the meantime, look around and make sure every part of this little workshop is explored.  How inhabited is it?  Is there a bed?  Foodstuffs?  Are there any particularly neat weapons lying around?

Edit: Also give Swis one of Nyw's spare knives.

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

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

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

Stats:
Str: 15 
Dex: 10
Spe:11
End:14
Awa:14
Cun: 10
Kno: 9
Ner: 13

Skills: (Two unspent skillpoints)
Guard Rifle: +3
Unarmed: +1
Defense Skill: +3 (Full Plate)
Vehicle Skill: +1
Caving: +1
Navigation: +1
Murakumo: +2 (+1/3)


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.
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
Nine smoke bombs
Five flashbangs
Tunnel Clearer shotgun [5/5 shotshells] [shotgun 3] [Pierce 3] (5 spare shotshells) (3 spare slugs) (-2 on to-hit rolls)
Guard rifle [Pierce 2] (10/10) (210 spare rounds)
Pistol [Pierce 1] (?/?)

300' of silk rope
2x Silent Night
2x Black Flame
2x Cave Spider Venom
30x Path markers
10x Injectible tranquilizer.

77 fathoms.

Followers:
Gus (Young human with minimal training.  Healthy.)
--Equipped with a small iron melee weapon [Cut 3, Pierce 3] and a Black Flame [Cutting 3]
--Equipped with a low caliber ethral rifle.  [Pierce 2] (10/10), 50 spare bullets
--Armored with a mail shirt [Protect 3], and has two smoke bombs.
Baxter (Young human with minimal training.  Healthy.)
--Equipped with a small iron melee weapon [Cut 3, Pierce 3] and a Black Flame [Cutting 3]
--Equipped with a low caliber ethral rifle.  [Pierce 2] (10/10), 50 spare bullets
--Armored with a mail shirt [Protect 3], and has two smoke bombs.

Bore NPC "recruits":
--Five moths
--One lizard dude
--Two humans

[m1895]

"I'll stick with you boss"
Stay with Nyw, help clean up the place and take an ambush position
EDIT: also take the knife Nyw offered

Spoiler: Birb (click to show/hide)

Name:Swis Hartra
Description: a (relatively) tall golden eagle type Corven, she tries not to look too wary and moves with eerie grace.
Goal: either make a load of money as a "free shooter" or die trying
Stats:
Str:8 
Dex:16 
Spe:13 
End:6 
Awa:12 
Cun:10 
Kno:8 
Ner:10
Skills 10-3-3-1-1
Lucky Shot Revolver 2
Acrobatics 2
Stealth 1
Survival 1
Navigation 1
Caving 1
Inventory:
Lucky Shot Revolver [7/7]
Path Markers [10]
free clothing: Rathide Cloak
Currency:Nothing

[Pancaek]

Friend Kara, are you allright? I'm unsure if you are in distress or merely thinking out loud.

Though I must say, I do share some of your concerns about the hivemind nature of the crystal. It does seem to be a factor to what led to this current situation. It is my intention to (assuming I retain my individuality, which I still believe will be the case) to implore the Overmind to let me and others act as ambassadors and council of a kind.

The Overmind should make decisions where it concerns the crystal, but we "half-bloods" for lack of a better term could council it in its interactions with the other races. From what we have learned of the past, it's decisions that led to this situation were in part because of the difference in nature between it and the other nature that caused many misunderstandings. So to act as a sort of buffer should lead to a better cooperation between the Crystal and others.

Keep staying out of range of the Shattering Device's effects. Answer questions and give directions to Kara and Adam if they need them.

Try and remake repair Adam's golem in the meantime, or rather "remaking" it in the same form.
Also look/feel around the structure some more to see if I missed any important parts earlier. 

Spoiler: Clate (click to show/hide)

Name: Clate
Race: Shluck
Description: To bring back the crystal race
 
Stats
Str:  12
Dex:  9
Spe:  10 (+1 from levelup not added yet)
End:  13
Awa:  12
Cun:  9 (+1 from levelup not added yet)
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
(((1 free skillpoint from levelup)))

Inventory
pair of crystal swords. (cut 6, pierce 3) They look basically like normal crystals, but flattened so that two of its sharp edges are aligned.  There are no handles, as you can just fuse them to your body.
10 Crystal spears (pierce 3)
6 crystal lazer guns (pierce 3)


Bladed Shovel - handle coated with Pseudomagnetic mortar
Knife (cut2, pierce2)
TNT x5 (3 fitted to spiderbots)
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 x2 (1 on loan to Kara, 1 in Clate's possesion)
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. Ramiel V2.0, half the size of the original
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.
7. 3 suicide spiderbots. Smol, fast, each holds 1 TNT charge.
8. Knifebirb: Two long legs, attached to a single, long, razor sharp blade of crystal. It moves in a jittery, rapid way that makes anyone with flesh that can be cut stay far away from it. Cassowary Sized.
9. Protecto: a big rolling wall of hexagons that can reshift themselves around to form shields of different sizes, shapes, and thicknesses.
10. Death Blossom:  floating flower, it has a bunch of little points  and when attacking it rotates rapidly in place, firing small energy bolts from those points, like a minigun.


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

[Parisbre56]

"Kra! Yeah, sorry! I guess I'm a bit nervous, that's all."

"Don't get me wrong, I still believe what we're doing is the right thing. More species in our underworld community will make for a richer underworld (both figuratively and literally). We will be better together. But I'm not naive enough to believe that once we solve this problem everything else will magically work itself out. I'm not naive enough to think everyone else will think like we do."

"What you described is probably the best outcome. The Crystal People's settlements could act similarly to those of the Molepeople, isolated communities with only certain ambassadors and traders venturing out of them. But will the Crystal decide to go for something like that? And if it does, will it be able to? The Ethral have pillaged their cities for years. What if they are unwilling to let them go? And what if the church knows about the Crystal's past war with organics and decides they're a threat to humanity that should be exterminated before it's too late? What if there's some sort of misunderstanding or accident as the Crystal wakes up that leads to hostility and fear that will take years to dissipate? There's so many things that could go wrong..."

"I guess what I'm saying is, I hope we can make the right decisions that lead to a good outcome for everyone. But without knowing what the right choice is... It's stressful. It's a lot of responsibility."