I blame Gamescom, and the preparation to go there, and the resulting tiredness after going there.
World Difficulty: 8The Aglaia takes off once more, taking you to another hilltop. A few kilometers in the distance, you see a city, a lot of smoke and steam belching from the iron chimneys. Just outside the ship is a path, and a hundred meters beyond it is a small army camp. A few robots, at first sight powered by a furnace on their back, stand guard.
Attempt to gather more magesteel.
Attempt: 10 + 2You expected that the robots left in the camp would put up quite a fight if you tried to take their brains. You didn't expect that to be such an understatement.
You decided to go for speed: rush in, get brains, beeline out, the band of robots desperately trying to catch up with you. So you run for the first robot you see - another driller - and jump on his back. The robot immediately starts swinging his arms, trying to reach you, but to no avail. You attempt to pry his head open, but it seems to be can-opener resistant. You try again, with your magic this time, when a whole bunch of other guardbots comes closer and attacks. The combined bludgeoning, cutting, shooting, shotgunning, drilling, and bashing of the robot army leaves your shields weak, while you latch onto the head of the victim. When a dozen of angry, rifle-armed dwarves storms out of a nearby tent, you decide to skip to the beeline part of your plan. Just in time, when you reach the Aglaia, your shield flickers one last time and dies.
+5 Gather XPHmm, neat. I shall place the tree into group storage to get some influence, then I shall head out into the world once more. This time, I will 'gather elemental air'.
-1 Necrotic Tree
+114 InfluenceAttempt: 39 + 1You know how to gather air. Open flask, hold in air, close flask. Elemental air, however, is an entirely different matter. While air may be just a mixture of gases, the
element air is much more than that. It is what makes the wind blow, the birds fly, the clouds float. It is the very soul of the air. Now to find a way to extract it...
At the end of the day, you tried calcinating, distilling, summoning and conjuring, even threatening the air. All tests were negative - your air, no matter how air-y, was just gas/ Nothing elemental about it. You decide to read up a bit on the essence of elements.
+20 Gather XPFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu!
Attempt: 12 + 1You place your bots safely in a room in the Aglaia, and stand just outside. You load your brain with electromagneticism and a bit of wizardry, and slowly you feel the power filling every corner of your skull. Only when your mind has reach critical energy, you release it all, in a machine-massacrating blast of magnetic flux.
Suddenly, the Aglaia starts glowing red, and ports open everywhere to show massive gun batteries and flak launchers. The closest few of these guns point straight at you, and only when you slowly raise your hands in the air, the red glow disappears, and the guns disappear again. At the same moment, a stone construct in a ridiculously small uniform steps out of the Aglaia, grabs you, and brings you to an interrogation room deep within the ship.
After hours and hours of repeating you didn't intend to attack the Aglaia, the golem finally sets you free.
You get a negative disassembly modifier!
Kidding.
+6 Gather XPCollect metal
Attempt: 15 + 3You'd think a robot battlefield would have loads of scrap to collect. Sadly, the whole area seems to be devoid of useless metal. When you walk trough a forest, you notice a few robots pulling carts full of the scrap you were looking for, each with a guy controlling them, and throwing every scrap of metal they find on their cart. When the people on the cart see you, they make clear - using a lot of gestures and rifles - that you're not welcome to gather some metal with them.
+8 Gathering XPOne. Last. Time. Not on the bots, but factories! How eco-friendly they are!
Attempt: 38 + 2You decide to take a walk to the city. As you near the gates, the roads get busier, and soon you find yourself in the midst of a mass of people, slowly approaching the city.
One of the guards stops you, and says some words in a very obscure language. As you reply with "I don't understand you," the guards eyes widen, and while reaching for his sword, he screams: "Njósnari Cygnar! Njósnari!"
You don't want to cause an incident, or kill innocents, so you run.
+19 Gather XP (Level up!)Group inventory
4 oak logs. (25 each)
2 blocks of white stone. (50 each)
1 reddish-yellow metal bar. (100)
1 animal skull (possibly feline) (150)
1 Heavy Metal Rhino (I: 193)
5 Unspecified Brand Building Bricks (I: 10 each)
5 Wax Cylinders (I: 11 each)
4 Big Walnut Branches (I: 8 each)
4 Lapis Lazuli's (I: 6 each)
1 Oak Log (I: 25)
6 Alien Branches (I: 3 each)
1 Dead Fawn (I: 61)
1 Necrotic Tree (I: 114)
Ochita
Influence: 410
Stonecrafting: 5
Cooking: 0 (48/100)
Gathering: 3 (46/100)
Musician: 0 (31/100)
Musical spellmaking: 0 (91/100)
1 Big Bag of Stardust (I: 120)
1 The Rock (I: 340)
1 Rocky Rock Song (I: 278)
Reisen
Influence: 140
Alchemy: 6 (51/100)
Gathering: 3 (7/100)
2 Vials of Dark Liquid (I: 24 each)
3 Alien Rocks (I: 2 each)
1 Potion of Rocketeering (I: 380)
1 Bag of Stardust (I: 72)
1 Flask of Acidic Hallucinogens (I: 176)
Taric
Influence: 70
Robotics: 8 (53/100)
Fusion: 0 (6/100)
Golemancing: 0 (13/100)
Gathering: 2 (57/100)
1 Man of Steel (I: 222)
1 Random Quantum Robot (I: 106)
1 Multi-functional Robot (I: 132)
1 Robot Centaur That Shoots Drills (I: 236)
1 Magesteel Droplet (I: 10)
Unekaru
Influence: 134
Gem Elemancing: 5
Elementalist: 0 (5/100)
Necroplanting: 0 (50/100)
Gathering: 1 (58/100)
9 Boring Rocks (I: 2 each)
1 Shiny Geode (I: 38)
Neco Ferratum
Influence: 100
Metallurgy: 5
Gathering: 1 (80/100)
4 Lumps of Iron Ore (I: 11)
4 Small Gunbots (I: 3 each)
World difficulty: 35When the Aglaia lands this time, you are on top of a mountain. Or, considering the gaping maw a few meters from the ship, a dormant or dead volcano. All around you is water, and the land between the mountain and the sea is jungle. On one beach, you see several wooden buildings, and two medieval ships are moored nearby.
Seriously? Was there none of you who could just succeed? I guess random.org really does hate you. I'm sorry.