---RPDop---

Berg hears Nia's response and nods gratefully.

cA: That woulds't be of wondrous assistance, Lady Nia. Perhaps thou coulds't also aid me in integrating these metal artifices with greater skill. I endeavored this task by my own lonesomeness, but the machine contributes a fair amount of backlash when engaging the secondary actions...

As an impromptu demonstration, Bergelmir points the robotic arm towards the sky and fires a longer-than-usual shot of Breath of Nia. An unhealthy-looking amount light-blue electricity sparks from him, making the ice giant grimace in pain. He halts the process, and a light amount snow falls to and frosts the ground.

cA: ... I hope there is a solution, or at the very least nevertheless a stopgap measure, I humbly confide.

"The name's Keiko Yukimura. If the feeling of numbness persists, go call another one of the resident healers, and yes, shooting the ball is impertinent to your survival. Now if you'll excuse me, I have other business to attend to..."

Keiko leaves the vicinity of Packo to enter the duel she's supposed to be attending. She spawns at E17, moves to F13, spawns a Patchwork Totem with Earth Resist at E12, and places Cover onto G13.

Irongutta puts 1 point into DEF and 1 point into SKI.

((Maybe more WIP if I have tiiiiime?))

<ROUND NINETY-SEVEN>
Late night updating! Let's see how much I can get done...

Venia talks™. She talks a whole lot, again. She decides to tell Nia what'll happen if the Butterfly goes critical. Full control.

NIA: W-Wait, wait, wait!
NIA: I-If it fully takes over... I-I become a puppet!?
NIA: That sounds delightful I mean awful!
NIA: We can stop it, right!? Please tell me you have a countermeasure, or a cure, or a hack, or something!

Venia decides to explain how she can help, because she prepared that. Foresight! Nia seems to calm down a bit...

NIA: So you need to... check me out?
NIA: heh : P
NIA: I'm fine with that. If it helps you make me not become a gorillaing murderpuppet, do whatever you need!
NIA: ...Even if it hurts.

Venia then asks Nia to finish her story about how she ended up like this. Nia shrugs, and waves Chloe over to her.

NIA: Okay, so I -think- I have a grasp as to what happened to my bod, and how I got here.
NIA: Chloe, I want you to correct things, since I'll probably gorilla up a bunch or something.
CHLOE: W-Wait, we're doing this now!?
CHLOE: I... I guess there's not really a big problem with that.
NIA: Alright! I'mma just... wait a moment.
NIA: Creating spoiler...



NIA: Whew! Lots of words.
NIA: TL;DR: Chloe and I fought with fists and stuff. It didn't end well.

NIA: I'd like to go more in-depth into my conversion process. I've asked about it, but it involved a lot of jargon and I honestly don't remember it at all.
NIA: I'd need to like, talk with Xavier. We're actually pretty casual with one another, even though like all this happened.
NIA: So sorry~

Venia then comboslams together 3 Locustgrowth, 20 Aurora Crystals, and 1 Boilblubber (+3 Durasteel Ingots as added payment for Ette) to create the Heroic Headband, Hope's Bulwark, and to edit The Magical Ice Sculpture Hat of Being Crazy Awesome! Ette also takes Venia's advice of upgrading to a scarf. Venia also mentions something about the field permanently upgrading Chloe...

CHLOE: I-I'm actually surprised I survived, too!
CHLOE: I-I mean, it certainly made me want to just sorta give in to the pain and give up...
CHLOE: I-I'm surprised I'm still standing, honestly.

CHLOE: Also, thanks for the upgrade! You're the best, Venia!

Venia then also opts to give Nia 400 Credits; her prices dropped due to being unreasonable! She then asks about how exactly she does this...

NIA: Oh, the bypass-y thing?
NIA: Well, since Xavier sorta created the thingy inside the Sphere, he knows the ins and outs of the thing.
NIA: Apparently, he was literally able to 'hack' the field- with a computer and everything!
NIA: All of his weaponry didn't work when he came here, but he managed to like, change the permissions on it or something.
NIA: I can also do that! I'm just... not technically minded.
NIA: I don't really have Chloe or Xavier's smarts, but I have willpower and a handy tutorial video on my side!

NIA: ...If you're wondering why I take credits, there's a simple explanation for that!
NIA: I like money.
NIA: Money's nice.

NIA: I can also like, awaken the 'true potential' of an item, but I actually have no idea how that works. It takes Iti Samples to do, though, since I need to like, fuse the field into the item, or something...
NIA: ...I don't know the jargon. At all.

And then, since why not. Maria tracks down Chaos and asks for a story. Chaos groans.

CHAOS: man i didn'[t] [t]hink being redu[c]ed [t]o side [c]hara[c][t]er would resul[t] in so mu[c]h weird workkkk
CHAOS: bu[t] uh anyway
CHAOS: i don'[t] really... have a s[t]ory ready?
CHAOS: [c]an'[t] your [t]o[t]ally no[t] evil ki[t]sune [t]ell you a s[t]ory, or some[t]hing

CHAOS: i [c]ould like, [t]ell you marron's backs[t]ory or some[t]hing
CHAOS: bu[t] [t]ha[t]'s like [t]he only a[c][t]ual s[t]ory i know
CHAOS: give me enough [t]ime and maybe i [c]ould [t]hink of some[t]hing not horribly offensive

Storytime has been cancelled, however temporarily.

---

Destiny notes how she has good reflexes, and how she'll dodge and / or counter Chloe should she attack. Nia raises a finger in concern, before lowering it.

NIA: ...The fact that you don't seem to be above countering her is a bit concerning.
NIA: Just don't hit her -too- hard, alright? If she actually ends up hitting you and doesn't immediately apologize, go ahead and smack her around a bit, but please don't beat her unconscious or something...

Destiny then notes to Chloe how she simply doesn't understand her position.

CHLOE: Okay, sure. They're insulting you!
CHLOE: But do you really need to freaking... butcher them like animals?
CHLOE: If you're gonna kill them, just kill them! Don't prolong it, damn it!

...Chloe's fists ball up. However, they soon loosen as she sighs. She did literally just talk about how Nia got to be like she is now. Oh, then Destiny meets up with a murderous ice goddess. Surely, Chloe and her could be best friends! /s

---

Terry goes on a collecting spree, t-posing into every Yggapple and Fruit Tree, collecting 5 Yggapples and 2 Giggistems. This guy named Vox then decides to work on the Airship, slapping together 2 Darkmatter Rockets, 1 Tornadopetal, and 2 Joltwire to install some rather dangerous looking engines onto the Airship. +20% Progress! There's almost no way in hell that's safe, though.

---

Koharu decides to go and harvest some Megabark, which isn't really ore but oh well. She takes 12 pieces from one of the 'veins', expending 4 Stone Brick Blocks in the process. Nobody will notice. She also +2's her MMP.

---

Boshi decides to tell the Ashstormer to get going. He nods, before wordlessly sprinting away into the woods. He then goes to engage in combat against the Chairians at Sequoia's Lake, but gets sidetracked because that'll be starting at the end of this post!

He- or rather, Mustache Girl, attempts to initiate combat against the Yggcrawlers. However, given that one part of her player character (kinda) is starting a battle at Sequoia's Lake, this seems like it might be hard to pull off.

---

Hex decides to attempt a general grabbing of everything within Scale Yggdrasil's reach. This notes everything he can get his hands on, which immediately ends when a Yggcrawler almost rips his head off for attempting to put it away. He does however, manage to walk away with 6 total Megabark. He probably would've gotten some fruit had he been quicker- someone else already scooped it all up!

---

Auth exercises his right to talk with everyone. First, he talks with the group of Prinus, Gum, and 'Twig'. He notes how the Sphere's going to detonate.

PRINUS: Oh, sure. Sure it'll explode.
PRINUS: You just want us to go turncoat, like Miss Omorika did.
PRINUS: I'd like to think I'm more loyal to the cause than one of our literal leaders, thank you.

Auth leaves the area. The trio of Chairians motion to leave as well.

GUM: oh hey
GUM: good luck with whatever you're doing
GUM: it's all i can really offer in thanks for back then
GUM: byeeeeee
PRINUS: ...

The library becomes vacant once again. Elsewhere, Auth confirms that Nana can come with the group. She springs up and cheers in joy. She seems... really eager.

NANA: Alright! I'm happy to be a part of your group!
NANA: Let's get going right away! If she gets too far, I'm afraid something unsavory will happen, and I'll never see her again...

Nana has joined the group! Auth also takes a moment to inquire as to what Nana's friend looks like...

NANA: Oh, she's...

...She takes a moment to scratch her head.

NANA: She has this really long, droopy foilage...
NANA: She has a sword- no, two swords! I think she's a Orsier or something...
NANA: That should be enough to find her, I'd think. I'd recognize her from a mile away, anyway...

He then talks with the Legion at Yggdrasil's Approach. He asks about the child. The Yggrider, while understanding, appears to be confused.

YGGRIDER: ...Honestly, I don't know why there's a child.
YGGRIDER: There's been a few sightings of children around here. And by a few, I mean like three- this is the first time I've witnessed a 'child'.
YGGRIDER: Either someone's been taking their child to work, or something's wrong here...
YGGRIDER: But if a child was actually lost and suffering in the woods... I'd help them.
YGGRIDER: While it was foolhardy to dispatch some of our men to try and retrieve the child while our battle was raging on, it took a weight off of my heart.

Auth then goes to find Nia, and asks who she is.

NIA: Oh, hiya!
NIA: I'm Nia. Nia Khioneas! I'm...
NIA: ...Didn't we fight? Like, I know we fought! Not recognizing me is rude : (
NIA: Eh, it's no big deal. I don't know your name either, so...

NIA: Oh! What's your name?
NIA: Never got to ask. Y'know, since we were fighting and stuff.
NIA: Hopefully, we'll become good friends!

Moreelsewhere, Auth decides to visit the dueling grounds. He notes that he'll be on standby, ready to aid whoever gets injured. All he's graced with is a condescending response from Acacia.

ACACIA: Well, I sure as hell don't need you.
ACACIA: Feel free to tend to your friends when this is over, but don't you lay a finger on me. You won't need to.
ACACIA: Who the hell do you think you're impressing, running around and wasting time helping the enemy?
ACACIA: You're just like that dumb cleric I met. Sympathizing with you jerks- what's her deal? Stupid, stupid...

...She just doesn't seem to understand the benefits of free health care.

---

Bergilmir quickly talks with Nia. He accepts her idea of upgrading the arm. She quickly runs over to his side, and immediately begins fiddling with his arm.

NIA: Okay, I'm not much of an engineer, so sorry in advance if this hurts a bunch!
NIA: Here I... go!

She conjures up a screen next to her. It's a YouTube video created by probably Xavier, who goes over the process of manually replacing damaged components in her arm. She takes out a small package of replacement parts, then promptly begins to work on Berg's arm. She tries to follow Xavier's carefully calculated steps to free the components in the arm, and barely succeeds. Sure, half of the condensation controller and the freezing module are stuck inside the arm once she's done 'extracting' them, but a quick few stabs to the arm promptly put an end to the problem, dislodging the bits of the 'replaced' components.

NIA: ...Uh, oops!
NIA: That looks like it hurt. A lot.
NIA: Sorry! Just let me...

Nia promptly snaps the replacements to the replaced components in. While the frame itself hasn't really been remarkably improved, Berg can immediately feel the difference when he goes to use Breath of Nia again. Even if his arm hurts like a ton. Ice-Armed Arm upgraded to Tier 4!

NIA: There we go! Everything's generally better!
NIA: It should also suck waaaay less of your energy when it fires off those ice blasts.
NIA: Enjoy! Also, sorry for the arm pain!

---

Irongutta equips a point of DEF and a point of SKI. Really, this is just me filling space in order to make this look more like a full post. Will I do this in the future? Probably not.

---

Toast plucks a flower from a nearby flower bed, and asks if she can stick it in her hair. Marron smiles warmly in response, whilst also plucking a flower of her own. She stands still as Toast slides it on into her hair. She then gestures to her friend's own bed of hair.

MARRON: Here!
MARRON: I think this lil' red flower here would look good on you, too!

Assuming Toast accepts, she jumps up and plants it snugly in the right side of her hair. Regardless, the couple moves over to the Approach, checking up on the Chairians there. She notes that they're free to go, and that if they oppose them again... she won't hold back. As a display of power, she creates an arc of lightning, which, judging from the Chairian's reactions, gets the point across. The Yggrider steps forward, and bows.

YGGRIDER: ...
YGGRIDER: I... must thank you for your mercy, Outsider.
YGGRIDER: While I'm afraid I cannot ensure that we will not be forced to come to blows again, I will try my best.

YGGRIDER: Helix bless your way, Outsider.

Somewhat timidly, the group runs off into the woods, to the East. Perhaps they're going looking for a certain child. Who knows? Toast then waves over Marron, and asks how she looked.

MARRON: I think you were pretty awesome, Toaster!
MARRON: I mean, you didn't really say anything badgorilla, but that lightning display was pretty cool!

MARRON: I'll give you like, an eight out of ten.

She giggles, before taking Toast's hand again.

MARRON: Anyway, I think there'll be something starting up to the East soon...
MARRON: Should we get going? If I'm being honest, I'd like to just enjoy this moment... but I guess we could like, have a battlefield date.
MARRON: Sure, it wouldn't really beat chilling at the house and like... baking cookies, or playing games... but it's probably the best we can settle for. You have a job to do, and all...

MARRON: Oh, also; should we tell Ette about... us?

She gestures to Ette, who's standing off in the background, waving and being cute.

MARRON: I-I mean, I don't really see why we shouldn't tell her... b-but, eh...
MARRON: I just kinda feel like... she'd be overly coddling or something, and I don't really want people really butting into all of this...
MARRON: I... just want it to be us for a bit.

---

Sequoia's Lake.

A once beautiful (and honestly still kinda okay) tourist destination, now host to a seemingly never-ending battle between two rival factions of Chairians. The Legion, and the Rebels. Magical bolts and less-magical bullets sweep across the bridge, parts of the bridge becoming collateral damage.

And now, you intend to cross that bridge. You begin to group up at the western end of the bridge, both Rebels and Chairians stopping their endless stream of attacks. They stop and stare for only a moment. The silence is palpable. A few of your allies follow in, like the just-recruited Nana.

...A Bladedancer on the other side of the bridge seems to shriek upon sight of your group. She immediately turns and bolts to the East. The remainder of the Chairians in the area promptly steel themselves for your sudden intrusion. It doesn't look like they're having any sort of ceasefire, unfortunately.

It looks like it's time for one big messy free-for-all. And if the Rose is still following you, this'll get even messier than possibly anticipated. Especially if a healthy dose of Iti is thrown in, too. A warcry from both sides break out- it looks like your little intrusion isn't going to put an end to this battle!

This should be fun.

- = S T R I F E ! = -

...

Oh, also:

ACHIEVEMENT UNLOCKED: The Deathtrap
ACHIEVEMENT UNLOCKED: A Legion of Your Own

Getting A Legion of Your Own yields the Command Banner!

---

<SEQUOIA'S LAKE, ROUND ONE>
Your objective is simple; cross the bridge. This isn't actually simple, as there's a lot of enemies between you and the end of the bridge. Not DIRECTLY in the way, but there's sure a lot of mages and the like watching over it! There's a few options here- cross the bridge itself, or ford the river to the north or south. Both have their ups and downs, and those of you with heavy armor might find it hard to swim! Perhaps consider splitting up? A lightly-armored platoon could easily get to the fortified enemy positions across the water, and break them apart.

((Nothing battle-related happens in this post.))

So her name is Keiko? Well, Little Packo is grateful that all he got from this whole predicament was just a Licherian greeting... Now, he will get to know more people! They have to be friends, right? Some of them, at least...

"H-Hello? Is anyone here a resident healer? My name is Little... Packo is my surname... So my name is Little Packo, Bread Seller From Licheria, Member of the MOLD...


He's repeating what he told Keiko earlier. Hoping that not all of these ball-destroying "allies" leave for the nearby battle that seems to be happening, he tries to catch the attention of some of them...

"I can't m-move! B-But I'm fine... Do you people know this uh... Coffee drinking friend?

Crya attempts to ice skate over to Toast, but fails to create enough ice and instead ice hops over to Toast.

Heya, Crystal Arm lady! I'm Crya, and I was sent to find out what happened to Destiny, but now I'm sorta trapped here since I'm powerless now...
Anyways, I heard something about a magic club! I'm pretty well versed in ice magic, and even if it doesn't exactly work well I could show you a few examples, like this!

Crya opens her hand and a snowflake forms.

See? I'm an ice magician! So can I join the magic club pleasethankyou?
---
Crya is then accepted by Toast.

Yay! Thanks!

Meanwhile, Destiny spawns in at Sequoia's Lake in C12. She runs to H11 and then hookshots to J10.

Koharu remembers the flower charm around her neck.

"No. I can't... I can't keep that there, can I? Not after what she did to me..."

She grabs it, pulls, pulls again, and startles herself as it disconnects from the magical string.

"I swear she must've put something in there to keep me... under her control..."

She pulls out a saw and cuts the metal charm in half, splitting it horizontally along its length. A small piece of arcane stone falls out. It's engraved with a magical glyph, which seems to have lost its power...

﴾ꙮ﴿

"So that's it... I'm free now, am I not? But... I was a killer robot back then... I don't want to end up like that again!"

Koharu contemplates smashing the stone, but instead she sands it down with a piece of sandpaper until the glyph is gone, then places it into her pocket.

She then harnesses the magical energies left over in the charm, placing them into a piece of Rose Weave. She bleaches it to white magically, before dyeing it a light blue with blue sap.

"Hmm. This blue color, it reminds me of..."

Koharu thinks for a while.

"I had a friend who loved this color... then, one day, she just disappeared..."

She picks up the fabric and makes a ribbon out of it, then ties it in her hair.

"I think this works. Alright, hahaha! I'm ready for this!"

Consumed: 1 Rose Weave, 3 Blue Sap Blob, Nullpetal's Blessing
Aeternalis Ribbon (T4): Perfect for anime girls.
(+4 MMP) (1 MP Regen) (Summoner's Intellect III: When using Summoning Spells, you have Intellect4.) (Unique)

---

Koharu goes to talk to Toast.
"Hey, I overheard something about a magic club earlier. Name's Koharu. I'm interested to see what you have to offer, and I might stop by with my summon magic..."

Character Stuff
I have become the Standard-Bearer,
I equip the Command Banner.

Stat adjustment:
-5HP
-6SPC
+4INT
+1SKI
+6RES

The Battle of Sequoia's Lake
"Let's hold the Legionaries back! I require assistance!"

I enter the battle at C10, and quickly summon a Rooted: Turret at E8.

Summon Settings: Piercing Damage
Weak: Fire(30%), Air, Psychic.
Resist: Piercing+Slashing+Earth

Brutishace thanks Toast for entry into the club and lets her know that he'll make sure to know if new developments arrive- but he hears a noise coming from Sequoia's lake. He hurries off to the field.

Once there, he spawns in at C11, moves over to G11 and strikes the first Rifler with two blasts of Twin Photons. He can just barely make its outline out, so hopefully he can focus on it- if both bolts hit, it should result in a down.

Oh yeah, Brutishace should be able to heal himself with Drain Life now thanks to 8 SPC, and he doesn't have meditative bonuses.

The Man spawns at C13, moves to E16, and fires at Assassin 3.

"Hey, Koharu, (cool name by the way). I'll count you and your summoning magics in whenever I get around to starting it."

~~

Earlier in the dop, Toast does accept the flower. Flowers are cool.
Later, Toast thinks for a moment. "I think you're right. It's probably better like this, at least for now." She smiles and gives Marron's puppet hand a brief squeeze. "A~nd... a battlefield date sounds cool. It's kinda fitting for you and me, too."
With a wide smile, she takes Marron by the hand and starts heading to Sequoia's Lake, figuratively picking up Ette along the way. The moment the small group enters the zone, Toast stops still. Her wide eyes drift to the water, then at the two conflicting parties. "H-hey, d-do you think it would be possible for us to, uh... find another way around the lake? O-or, um, just f-fight our way through the Rebels, o-or the Legion. I-it's just th-that if the bridge is blown up when we're crossing it, th-then we'll all be thrown into the water a-and... I... don't know how to swim."

Packo is ready to join the fight! And by "join the fight", I mean running towards the largest group of people he can find, and start bombarding them with questions and tiring words.

"H-Hello! Are you friends? Is this the group to destroy the Big Ball? Do you know Keiko? Who are these people? Is it okay if I join you? How do I know I won't die? Can I survive? Hello?

Little Packo spawns at B8, moves to D8, and guards.

"D-Do you know any 'resident healers'? What's a 'resident healer'?Why does Keiko want me to get a 'resident healer'?

Boshi -2s his STR and +2s his HP.

---

Boshi spawns at (C13), moves to (D14), Phase Shifts with Assassin 3, slams an Elemental Blaster (Light) charge on Eviscerator 1, and then Consecutive Normal Punches Eviscerator 1.

"(Yo, if this guy doesn't die, can someone help me out here?)"

---

/maybe more

Venia takes in the whole story quietly, though she raises an eyebrow only at the mention of Godmodding Wars-she didn't recall Nia participating in any... Chloe, she remembered, and Project Binary and the Operation were big things, weren't they? But she didn't hear of Nia directly... Later, maybe!

After the whole story, though, she nods. "... Thank you. I understand that, that must've been excruciating even if you've forgiven yourselves over it... It's real strength of character to be able to forgive people for stuff like that. You're both stronger than you think," Venia says. "It also means, well... OK, Venia, don't talk their ears off, uh... OK, so. The Butterfly's warded off by happiness, pretty much. Positive thought. It's not a permanent solution, and it has to be genuine, but its a ward. You didn't get voice-possessed when talking to Chloe, even through that stressful story-uh, because you're close friends. It corrupts through your hate, your despair. For instance: when that wretched rose manifested a fencing foil for you to fight with back at the crossing, it because it represented a regret-a weakness, and it, uh... Well, you get the gist. I may be presuming, though, but the glitchy aura makes me think the Butterfly's involved."

Venia muses to herself about the nature of the process before turning back to Nia. "...I could get into the fine details, but just to alleviate concerns, no, the powers that the defect may be granting you are... 'Safe,' to use. It has to modify you to control you, and its been proven that separating the power from the source seems to disconnect it from being controlled... I could list a dozen examples of such equipment, in fact. That means it can't control the powers it gives you, not directly; as long as you're in control of yourself, you can use them however you wish. Like, the foil, for instance; you could probably manifest that on your own power, just not sure if you've been doing so already. Uh, also, no backspace button for it; the powers, they won't go away on their own... Like, even if we un-possess and un-robot you they'll still probably keep. He'd have to waste energy to remove them, probably not worth it from his point of view... I'd understand if you're wary about all of that, though. Most of that's still theory backed by previous incidents."

"Uh, I'll just be checking up on you from time-to-time with this, mkay?" Venia says, holding the Flux Detector. "Just a system to measure Entropic flux, is all." Venia says, as she checks out Nia with the detector.

"Uh, hrm, one other thing, uh. I need to figure out the 'topography' of your... Uh, I need to basically look at your inner thoughts and being, if at all possible." Venia says. "I have a... View-only item that can help me see what's going on inside your mind; should give me deeper insight into how the Butterfly works and how I could theoretically sever the connection. Uh, such things... Uh, I could wind up seeing some very, very private things in there, things of yours, while searching. There'll be no way to avert that, if it happens it happens. So, uh. I won't do it right now. That's way too much to do all at once. But, uh, do I have your permission to look? In the future? Like I'll do it right now if you want, but I think that our meeting's already been kind of overwhelming. I ought to be a bit merciful to the game master with all the talking I'm doing..."

Venia only immediately acts upon it if Nia agrees to have it done now, in which case, Venia makes a mental note to repair the Golden Dream Ring later.

"Uh, with all of that out of the way-and I understand, uh, it is, it is kinda overwhelming, well... Uh. We have a bridge to cross, to get to the siege weapon. It's going to be an ugly fight..." Venia says. "We're not like Xavier; we try to go out of our way to not kill Chairians, but fighting them is unavoidable. Really helps that it is very hard to outright kill them in one shot, for whatever reason... Uh, yes. We would love to have you fight with us, every bit helps."

Venia guides Nia and others to Sequoia's Lake.

---- { <|0|>|----

-CASH 2 SHOP-

Venia purchases an Itisa Grenade from YV before combat begins. "Hrm, could be useful for those conceptual flags... Or just in general."

At the same time, Mr. Krabs, grimacing, slides Chaos 500 Credits. "Bypass Requirement for us, matey!"

---- { <|0|>|----

-CRAFTING, BUT SHORT THIS TIME-

The game master feels a terrible burden lift off of their shoulders at the revelation this already large post will not go super-size hold the fries with a crafting post, as there'll only be one thing to craft.

Venia takes one unit of Soulblossom and Goneblossom tea each, and presses out some manablooms with a juicer, creating a nice manabloom solution that's really close to liquid mana, which she pours into a vial. Venia takes the two teas and pours them together, mixing well with a pinch of sugar (because Venia is a fan of sweet tea), and then dropping in the vial of liquid mana from the manablooms and mixing that in as well, creating... Something? Some kind of super-tea?

The tea abruptly generates a cape. It is a super tea. Here to (help you) fight crime with its powerful flavors of magical potency!

---- { <|0|>|----

-DUEL ACTIONS-

Marron's going to do the thing she wants to do-she'll attack Hersilia and yank the spidernurse to H10. Venia throws Marron a thumbs up.

Venia will then move up to J14. "Hersilia, do NOT be apologetic for her stupid behavior!" Venia shouts. "She'll learn the hard way, or not at all-there won't be fixing her condition except by telling her exactly why Abies would've been disgusted by her behavior! AND YEAH," Venia shouts, turning to Acacia. "HE WOULD'VE! I cannot name a single aspect of his character that would make him feel anything but quiet seething rage at your behavior! Hell, If you actually killed Omorika it would've invalidated the whole reason Abies died in the first place! He totally could've run and left Omo to die, he chose to sacrifice himself! And if not for those healers you were just shouting about you'd have trampled all over his final wish, too, so maybe you should stop spitting on his grave with every word outta yer mouth, huh?! COME ON!!!"

Venia pauses, then abruptly pops over the cover to nail Hersilia with her Splintershot. She flips Acacia the bird before popping behind cover again.

"If I can make Acacia doubt a core part of herself... If I can make her doubt something that close to her core, I can make her think whatever I want. Internal monolouging as exposition, yaaaaaaayyy... I wonder how Herseilia got her legs like that."

Her hat bemoans ranges four and up.

---- { <|0|>|----

-SEQUOIA'S LAKE-

Venia spawns in on L11 and moves to G10, activating Purge. "Just so you are aware I have more backbone, uh, more than just being knowledgeable... I have this, this purging power. It... Uh, destroys the entropic, basically. It's not strong enough to remove the Butterfly from your mind, not yet, but, uh, it could be... And even in this form, uh, it tears through butterfly stuff very well... This gives me hope. This is not impossible. Far from it."

Venia turns to Nia (who will presumably spawn in soon). "So, uh, weird thing about the Sphere... It likes it when we do unusual stuff? Uh, so, there's a lot of enemies around, so if you see a good cluster that'd be prime for, uh, say, dropping a load of ice on, let us know. Getting five hits at once is, well, that's a thing."

Her hat continues to bemoan range four and up.

---- { <|0|>|----

-MARIA-

Maria looks at Chaos curiously. "She doesn't tell me no stories even when I ask her too!" She says in response to the kitsune comment. "Also, what's a backstory? I haven't heard of no backstory before! Is it a story on your back? I wanna hear about this backstory!" Maria says.

---- { <|0|>|----

-THE MISCELLANEOUS CORNER-

Nia's trait apparently has no level (no "Level 1 / 3" thing). Same with the traits of Emerald, Destiny, Teag, The Man, Kokichi, Little Packo and Pope Bill.

Crys said the statblock for an item was in my Theorycrafting thing, or rather, says so later. To save you time, I've put statblocks for all of his crafts here for your reference. My own isn't here because I don't know what I created...

"Yeah, I hear you. Let's actually use some teamwork."

Keiko, moving first in the turn order, shifts the time-space location of her largest primate to D12, and casts Revive on Hex to make sure they don't die like an idiot.

Elsewhere, Keiko joins the battle of Sequoia's lake at C9, before moving to E10 and decides to make the meatshield in the room even meatier.
She casts First Aid on Packo, while placing a Mana Well beneath herself as normal protocol.

Nezira swaps her special to:

Transcendent Analysis
(Retains original fill requirements.)
This turn, treat yourself as having one copiable characteristic taken from an ally or non-boss Analyzed enemy in the current battle. Free Action.
(Base copiable characteristics: basic attack, skills, substats.)
SP Required: X, SP Cap: 2X. (Basically: It should be some type of capped special where Nezira can spend SP to copy characteristics -- spend X SP, cap of X*Y SP, etc.)
(Modifiers: [SP Cap increase and/or SP cost decrease, as is balanced]. At 10 SPC and 5 RES, add SHP to copiable characteristics. At 10 SPC and 5 DEF, add AC to copiable characteristics. At 25 combined SPC, RES, and DEF, add resistances to copiable characteristics. Perfected Form at 15 SPC. (When copying a numerical characteristic, you may halve your own copy of it, rounding up, and add it to your copied value.))

---

She decides to do some crafting and other tasks before joining the battle.

First of all, she harvests the Silkweed, Soulblossoms, and Manablooms in the Fortified Farm, leaving the fields fallow for now while she considers what to plant there next.

She then decides to give Chloe's Reforged Gladius another upgrade. 

She takes 10 Aurora Crystals, 5 Greatwood Logs, 3 Spiritblossoms, 10 Fresh Manablooms, and 2 Cinderfruit, and goes over and talks to Chloe. "Hey, I'm gonna be making some cooler armor for you, but before that, I'm getting the feeling that sword could have something really cool done to it now... want to come with me? You'll be needed in person for the upgrade."

(T4) Attuned Gladius crafted!
That aura on it only looks like blue fire. We're not killing Chairians today.
(10-10) Slashing Damage, Range 1, Retreat 2, Counter 7*, Hit 7, Stat Changes: +2 SKI.
WEAPON PASSIVE: Cobalt Bond. Counters deal +50% damage (additive), and have a doubled CRT chance.
*COUNTER: Cobalt Rebuff
Range: 1-4
Performs a generic counter on the attacker. Note the range!
Roll for countering before the enemy hits you. If the counter succeeds, treat the attack as a Glance (or reduce damage to 50% if it was already a Glance), then perform the counter as normal.

(NOTE: Stat block on my theorycrafting sheet, in the Weapon Planning section)

With that done, she decides on making Chloe that knight armor she requested. She takes Chloe's current Reinforced Tactical Vest and cannibalizes it for parts, mainly for padding and the little squares of chainmail she sewed onto it before, as well as three Silver Ingots, three Titanium Ingots, two Durasteel Ingots, three Skyroot Logs, 25 Soulblossoms, and 10 Silkweed Bundles.

She presents the whole thing to Chloe.

(T4) Valkyrie Plate crafted!
Stats: +5 MHP, +2 STR, +2 INT, +3 DEF, (Valhalla Echo) (may be too strong: if so, remove 2 points MHP)
Resistances: 30% Piercing, 30% Air
Valhalla Echo: "After you attack or counter, you gain a stack of Echo, which you may hold up to five of. You may spend a stack to restore (4-6) HP to an ally in Range 1-3 as a bonus action at any time. Healing scales with INT at a halved rate."
Stat block is on Tazz's theorycrafting sheet.

And, with all that done, she decides to make something for herself. She grabs her Resourceful Scanner, and, as well, 4 Shock Crystals, 1 Durasteel Bar, 3 Accursed Storybooks, 3 Joltwire, 3 Copper Gears, 10 Wire Scraps, and 5 Crushed Pop Cans.

Resourceful Scanner upgraded to Recharging Scanner!
(T4) Recharging Scanner
(Quick Scan) (Resource Scan)
Quick Scan: "You may scan as a Bonus Action. Start each battle with 2 charges. Scanning with this passive consumes one charge -- if it cannot consume a charge, it gains Reloader. Applies Observer Eye, if you wish."
Resource Scan: "Upon scanning an enemy, gain 10 Credits if they're a Chairian, 2 Samples if they're an Iti, or a small amount of related crafting materials if they're Wildlife."

---

Battle Action:
Nezira spawns at B13, moves to B14, and summons a Harasser at B15.

Zed +2's his SKI, then joins the Lake fight: he spawns at C13, flies to F15, then Twin Jolts the Eviscerator (or the Assassin if the Eviscerator is downed).

Nidra spawns on C9. She uses the pocket watch, moves to G9, then drops a Nightmare Singularity at H3.

Irongutta is ready to craft again! He gathers 1 Tuned LED Display, 4 Joltwire, 2 Durasteel Ingots, 10 Wire Scraps, 2 Iti Cells, and 1 Circuit Board. For additional crafting benefit, he uses one crafting charge of the Hunter's Mark.



On the way to Sequoia's Lake, Irongutta decides to introduce himself to the group's newest member, Nia.

"Oi! Nia, isn't it? Since ya seem to be stickin' wivv us now, I thought I'd introduce myself. Name's Irongutta!" Walking alongside her now, he gives Nia a hearty pat on the back. "Even though it was kinda against yer will, I gotta respect someone who tried to kill us and did a pretty decent job of it. 'Specially now that yer fightin' wivv us, hah!"

"So, ya got any idea on wot kinda munitions those rebels are packin'? Gotta be serious to make those Chairians hole themselves up in that big zoggin' tree for who knows how long." His eyes seem to brighten as an idea enters his head. "I'm sure the rebels wouldn't mind kindly givin' us wotever it is they have, roight? Heheh."

Then, the group arrived at the lake itself and were treated with the sight of an entire warzone. An entire warzone that ground to a halt upon their arrival. "Zog, that's at least two groups of gits who hate our guts. We gotta fight like bloody 'ell to get across this bridge, eh? Have at 'em is wot I say to that!"
--------

At the Sqeuoia's Lake battle, Irongutta spawns in at C13 and moves to D16, activating Unstoppable Force and charging up his Charging Vest. He then basic attacks Assassin 3, who had suddenly popped up there in place of where Boshi was before.