<ROUND ONE-HUNDRED AND ELEVEN>
Marron finds a brief moments of quiet somewhere on the map. She takes cover... and, feeling a little festive, decides to sing quietly to herself.

MARRON: Dashing through the snow
MARRON: In a one-horse open sleigh~
MARRON: Through the fields we go
NIA: PADORU PADORU!
MARRON: nIA WHAT THE gorilla-


Marron groans in anger, surprise, and near heart attack. Nia snickers to herself, before posing a question.

NIA: ...Hey, it's not even close to Christmas, is it?
NIA: We're in like... the middle of October. It's a bit early for Christmas carols.
MARRON: Well, where I come from, this idiot decides to celebrate Christmas whenever he damn pleases...
MARRON: It usually happens... about now, I think.
MARRON: Christmas is... alright. A bit cold for my tastes.
MARRON: The gifts are always fun, though!
NIA: Oh, yeah!
NIA: I mean, if you're celebrating Christmas... should we do it, too?
MARRON: Unfortunately, Christmas lands right after a bunch of events, so...
MARRON: I dunno. That'd be like, event over-saturation!
NIA: Aw...

Marron sighs.

MARRON: I mean, if you wanna give someone a gift, don't let me stop you.
MARRON: I-I mean, I-I'll probably give something to s-someone, anyway...
NIA: Ooh! Romantic!
MARRON: I-It's n-not what y-you t-think! I-I swear!
NIA: Ehehehehe~

A drone flies above the duo's head. It's a drone with a piece of mistletoe danging from it.

MARRON: ...Oh god no.
MARRON: Chaos set up those drones again!
MARRON: Nia, make yourself useful and smash them!
NIA: Nah.
NIA: Christmas is a time for magic to happen! The... dubious soul piloting those drones is here to invoke the magic!

Marron quickly sinks a needle into the drone. It spirals into the ground, and explodes.

MARRON: Screw magic, then!
NIA: Aw...

...Elsewhere, Christmas Magic has been invoked! A Christmas Tree has spawned within the house! You may place gifts under it to give to NPC's, or other players! PM me crafting recipes (with appropriate effort), and you can place a gift under the tree. It'd also probably be helpful to address them to people! Items created to be placed underneath the tree will consume far less resources than normal. Maybe you'll get something else nice on the 25th? Who knows?

Anyway, on with the update!

---

Echoss continues his talk with Chloe. He notes how Chloe may ask questions and time she likes.

CHLOE: T-That'd be cool!
CHLOE: M-Maybe we can t-talk more once the Rose doesn't kill me!

He then notes that HE'S the way Chloe is meant to contact everyone.

CHLOE: ...Oh.
CHLOE: W-Well, p-please get to it! I-If they get to us, I-I don't think I'll be able to hold for long...

Echoss then floats one of his butterflies towards the Rose Cultists, before promptly disguising himself and moving in. He asks if they're the members of the Rose Cult.

CULTIST 1: i mean you tell us
CULTIST 2: ...is that our name? rose cult?
CULTIST 1: yeah
CULTIST 2: wait that's our name!?
CULTIST 1: you really didn't know?
CULTIST 2: gorilla I thought this was cooking club
CULTIST 2: no wonder my panini's haven't improved
CULTIST 1: you're an idiot
CULTIST 2: yes sir

...Infiltration successful? Anyway, he then requests an upgrade on the Bottled Bottled Paradoxium from Nia, spending 40 credits. She gives him a funny look before starting her work. He then decides to codify a recipe for Manabloom Tea, narrowly avoiding making potent drugs in the process. This uses 1 Uniform Log (teacup), 2 Fresh Manabloom, and 2 Psychoid Seeds. He then lobs together 4 Yggcrawler Exoshell fragments and 6 Titanium Ingots to create 2 Yggcrawler Shields. They don't appear to be too effective- perhaps on-demand Guardian is a bit much...?

He then lobs a note to Omorika. She snags it out of the air, reads it, and nods knowingly to him.

---

Maria continues her increasingly-scary garden trip! She still seems to be mostly oblivious to the danger, so Chloe tries to keep her comfortable.

CHLOE: W-We can't see the jukebox! T-The jukebox is... s-scary! It's actually a monster!
CHLOE: ...

Chloe's heart-rate increases as Maria begins to get scared, due to herself getting scared. She takes a few deep breaths to try and calm herself down, to no avail. Yet still, she tries to put on a brave face.

CHLOE: I-I... um, well, we're going to be attacked.
CHLOE: T-There are... b-bad people coming here, who want to hurt us.
CHLOE: They're called the Rose Cult. M-Maybe Venia's talked to you about them?
CHLOE: B-But... w-while I am s-scared...
CHLOE: I-I promise I won't let them h-hurt you! W-We have f-friends to help us!
CHLOE: I-If I could j-just get you to safety, t-then... I-I could do this, w-without any worries...

To Chloe's surprise, Maria then mounts Piggo, saddling it up without a saddle. She declares that she's going to joust the mon-stro-city. Chloe forgets her worries for a moment, and giggles at the sight of Maria.

CHLOE: Hehehehe~
CHLOE: Aw geez, that's cute, that's cute...
CHLOE: ...Dangerous, but cute.
CHLOE: U-Um... I-I don't think charging the monster would be a good idea-

Maria promptly asks her what a monster is.

CHLOE: O-Oh, um...
CHLOE: Monsters are like... um...
CHLOE: They're creatures that are fierce, scary, and hurt people.
CHLOE: So like... one might be a bird that tries to hang people with its wings. For example. The Iti you've seen around this planet... t-they're all monsters, in every sense of the word.
CHLOE: ...Also, I don't know why it's a jukebox. We've been attacked by some strange stuff... but nothing quite like a jukebox.

Chloe's eyes light up. A lightbulb goes off inside her head.

CHLOE: O-Oh! Maria!
CHLOE: You and Piggo... w-we can get you out of here!
CHLOE: Piggo's fast enough to sprint by the enemy, so when they come to us... y-you can ride off on Piggo! He'll keep you safe, a-and maybe take you back to... V-Venny?
CHLOE: ...You call her Venny, right?

CHLOE: H-How does that sound? I-I know you might feel safer by our side, b-but... I-I think it'd be more dangerous for you if you stuck around...

Chloe awaits a response from Maria. Meanwhile, the Rose Cult begins their march around the tree, leaving a member to guard the exit.

Elsewhere, Venia opts to place an order with Marron... but first, she gives her Therma.

MARRON: T-Therma? It's been awhile, hasn't it?
MARRON: H-How'd you get it to work past the field!?
MARRON: ...Eh, who cares.
MARRON: Thank you!

Marron seems massively more thankful than usual. Probably because Toast made Therma originally. Anyway, Marron seems happy enough to accept the three orders, claiming 120 Credits in the process.

MARRON: ...Hm? Don't put rude stuff on the Blade Charm?
MARRON: ...I wasn't aware that was a possibility. Heh.

...Oh dear. Anyway, crafting started!

---

Mustache Girl keeps on digging. She whacks away (Q81), and creates a vine rope with 1 Iron Ingot and 5 Sturdy Vines. She then obliterates (Q81) with a drill made of 1 Durasteel, and watches as the drill falls down into a massive cavern! What is this place, anyway...?

The Everground has been discovered! There's something haunting about this place...

---

<THE PRESERVE, ROUND EIGHT>
The Yaga finds itself without an eye or tongue, and soon, without a life. Maxim finds itself legless and mentally damaged, but alive. As the dust settles, it's a decisive victory for the Spherebreakers. Treason Club. Whatever your preferred name for them is. Two Chairian women find themselves liberated- Nana from Maxim's grasp, and Willow from Maxim's ruthless (wo)manhunt. They both take a moment to breathe- it's been awhile since they've actually been safe!

WILLOW: Well. I can't believe I actually survived that!
WILLOW: I've had a history of unreasonable survival, but... this takes the cake, I think!
WILLOW: Two Eliti! TWO! And now they're both dead!
WILLOW: Man, you guys are total badgorillaes!
SALIX: ...I suppose they are.
SALIX: Anyway, thank you all again for your help.
SALIX: I'd... love to pay you for your help, but as per usual, I don't think we can provide...
WILLOW: ...I'd like to work with you guys more, but... w-well, my everything hurts, a-and I'd rather NOT be seen as a traitor...
WILLOW: S-Sorry...
SALIX: We also need to go and find Clausa. He's probably... well...
WILLOW: Freaking out about needing to fight you guys?
SALIX: Sure. Inelegant, but sure.
SALIX: Anyway, we'll be sticking around for a bit.
SALIX: If there's anything you need, just ask.
WILLOW: Not that we can really do much. We're in your debt, again!

WILLOW: Oh, uh...
WILLOW: Here!

Willow hands someone in the group a small mobile device.

WILLOW: Emergency signal!
WILLOW: They're one-use, because apparently their broadcasting range and power fries their circuits, or something...
WILLOW: But if you ever really need help, we might be able to respond if you use this!

The group obtains the Trio Signal! Nana also takes a moment to talk with the group.

NANA: I-I'm sorry that I put you all in danger...
NANA: Maybe if I had been more careful, M-Maxim wouldn't have been able to use my body against you guys.
NANA: B-But still... I-I'm just thankful t-that I-I'm... a-alive!

She takes a deep breath, before taking a seat on the ground.

NANA: I-I... don't really know what to do now...
NANA: I'm probably not going to be let back into the Legion, especially if they know that I've literally held an Eliti inside my body...
NANA: And...w-well, if I've been seen around like you guys, then I might be marked as a traitor, as Willow was talking about...
NANA: I have no idea what to do...

Nana's left to sit around, pondering her life. Perhaps you should give her some suggestions... and maybe actually recruit her into the group? Who knows? Anyway, if you're feeling up to it, you can go and engage the next boss in combat! But for now, maybe spend those skillpoints, and maybe equip one more piece of T4 equipment? Right now, you're allowed to equip 4 pieces of Tier 4, so make use of that! After this boss, you'll be able to go full-on T4, so have fun with that!

Hex blushes as the Christmas Tree appears, and has a thought.
HEX: Oh! I could... yeah!

Hex then sits, and meditates for a second, recovering some knowledge in the back of his head....
Trait Changed from Power Play to Scarlet Switch:
Trait: Scarlet Switch
You gain stacks of Switch for attacking enemies, and new enemies entering the field. You start any battle with 8 and have a cap of 24. As a bonus action, you may mark a tile in Range 1-(X/4), where X is any amount of Switch you wish to spend, to a minimum of 8. As another bonus action, you may target any entity (including yourself) in the same range, and immediately teleport it to that tile. These bonus actions are mutually exclusive.
Also, at either a new trait level or appropriate SPC it gains the ability to move tiles. This does not move the person on the tile, so you can move tiles under people without moving them.
Hex gets up, and grabs two random objects, a fork and a book. He sets them a decent distance away from eachother, then focuses on them. Then he raises his hand, and does
SNOP
The objects swap places via telepoof. Hex smiles, and tests it out some more randomly, telepoofing random things around, waiting for something interesting to happen.

I put my new point into HP, because that's a nice, safe bet. I also swap out material transfer with Pow Hammer, though I'll probably swap that back out at some point as well.


Real Echoss makes a brief stop by the house and crafts up some things while everyone else is figuring out what they're gonna do for their turn. 4 Christmas presents are placed under the tree, and quickly as he entered, he is gone.


Echoss quickly engages the cultists on a discussion of religion, and what the exact details of the tenets of their belief are, taking out a notepad and scribbling down notes on it they do so.
Then his conversation with Venia, down in Tazz's post, happens. He nods to himself and looks up at the cultists.
"Yes, thank you guys SO much, this is really useful. I seem to have dropped something back near the entrance, would you mind looking over my notes while I go back and see if I can grab it? Just to make sure I didn't get anything wrong."
The cultists flip through his notebook, it looks like everything is order. No major glaring misconceptions or omissions, everything looks pretty much proper until the third page of the notebook, when one of the cultists notices something odd in the margins, its still words, but its in much sloppier, or maybe more stylistic, handwriting than the neat, formal handwriting of the rest of it.
Finally, however, they figure out what it says. "Fun fact: I prepared explosive runes this morning.. Boom.

Then Venia shows up, and does her rant and corpse-kick while the cultists are still reeling from having a notebook explode violently in their faces, while also trying to figure out where the not-so-nice guy who came and asked them questions went, only for Echoss to walk up beside Venia and ready his weapon.

STRIFE!


Echoss, for lack of me having any resource harvesting or facility upgrading ideas I want to use right now, takes the dead plants out of the vases in the house and plants some new flowers, some spirit blossom, some manabloom, and, because there don't seem to be any nice-looking plants left, a nondescript fern.

Build Stuff

Venia puts her new skillpoint into RES, giving her 7 SHP total. This part is simple.

---

Research

Venia uses 125 Samples to obtain the MHPBooster, giving everyone +2 HP through use of a nice nano-weave vest. Cheap, easy to wear under everything, and somehow capable of fitting on damn near everything, even 2D Dream Demons.

---

Crafting: Golden Dream Ring Repair

---

RP: Maria's Wonderful Garden Trip (and Venia losing it again holy wow)

Venia's spider-like form diffuses after a few tense moments, watching Hat Kid's pocket, returning to... Wait, that's not right-Venia is definitely taller, not a brunnette, does not have black horns that taper off into multicolored shifting horntips, and doesn't have brown eyes. Her clothes are right, and somehow tailored, but that's quite confusing.

"OK, so, that was a-wait."

The look on this girl's face tells everyone that this definitely wasn't to plan. She immediately reaches for her face, and static abruptly covers the girl's position. The next you see of it, Venia is back there-as she was before-clutching a mask with her left hand.

"... Note to self, form I take upon leaving Combo-form not always form I left in..." Venia says, crushing the mask in her hand. The fragments dissipate into blur goo, then nothingness. Rather queer.

"... As I was saying, that fight was a rousing success! Two Eliti dead. I'll have to inform Cypress later... He'll probably be happy to know," Venia says, dusting herself off. " OK, with all of that taken care of, uh, I've got to, got to go get Maria. Alleviate Chloe of ba, ba, uh, looking after her.

An Echoss butterfly, upon hearing that, flutters over to her. It transforms into a hologram Echoss on Venia's shoulder, which catches Venia's attention. "Oh, uh, hi...?

"Um... Miss Praefortis, you're going to need to bring a few of the others with you, some rose cultists have moved into the area, and they seem intent on engaging in combat with the group Maria is with," the Mini-Echoss says.

Venia's face falls like a rock at the news. "...What?"

"I'm currently attempting to stall them, but some reinforcements would be appreciated so the fight can be initiated before the others are in danger," Echoss continues.

Venia is twitching. She is sweating. Venia's brow furrows in focus; she begins moving, fast, towards the emergency tunnel, breaking into a full sprint in seconds and leaving the Mini-Echoss behind. "Maria, MARIAAAAA!" She screams, breaking the entrance on the Preserve tunnel in seconds, flinging herself through the cavernous hall, a frenzied panic hitting her mind, primal, roaring at her to do the one stupid thing she threw the rest of her life away to accomplish, no no no no no!

She bursts out of the tunnel, not even bothering to say hi to Lutea or the like, and turns the corner to the Approach. "BELLUI!" She screams, charging right past the Artist, a glitchy afterimage appearing right behind the Artist as Venia charges forwards. The 'afterimage' quickly becomes a black crystalline skeleton, jagged and vicious, and covered with body-length silver strands of 'fabric' as an approximation to hair, completely concealing the face; Venia's soul given form, and its even taller than the real Venia. Two pairs of claws clamp down on the Artist's neck and head, and in a single violent motion, the Artist is decapitated and alleviated of a head. The soul fades immediate as Venia charges at the Scarred. "MORI, MONSTRA!" She screams, whipping out the Entropic Key. The Scarred readies his weapons as Venia charges up her key, turning the red-silver key into pure silver and coating Venia in purest white, as she leaps up and over the Scarred with one swift motion-excessively agile for someone so large, as she's bounded high enough for the Scarred's swords to be out of range. Landing behind the Scarred, she unleashes her Purge, a blade of bright light manifesting around the Key as she swings backwards, effortlessly bisecting the Cultist in two across the chest.

She's now made quite frankly a lot of ruckus, and her grand laser show could not have gone unnoticed. She flips and turns to the rest of the Cultists, palpable fury now plain on her face as she kicks the dead Scarred into their midst (which is quite impressive as that's a lot of distance).

"Don't you dare! Don't you DARE! Venia screams. "Not a single step further! NOT ONE! I'm the one you want! I killed your little hip hop buddy, right?! Not them! Not her! I'm the one carrying around heresies like its going out of style, scrubbing your precious little butterfly taint, right, RIGHT?! And you know what else?! I'M GOING TO KILL THE REST OF YOU TOO!" She screams, somehow even more pissed off than at Maxim-and she screams loud enough to be heard from across the damn zone! At the bare minimum, it reaches all the way to the other side of the Preserve, making it pretty obvious where she's about to commit multiple angry acts of violence.

Echoss (the real deal) slides up behind her, having apparently done so after she obliterated the cultist that was guarding the way in. "Miss Praefortis, please calm down at least a little bit. Killing the cultists here won't do you much good if you bring all of the Iti in the zone down on our heads in the process."

Venia does not let her eyes off the Cultists. "THEY'RE THREATENING HER! THEY'RE TRYING TO KILL A CHILD! A DEFENSELESS LITTLE GIRL!!" She yells, still bellowing, shaking from rage.

Echoss nods. "I am aware. And the Iti would do the same, so I repeat, please calm yourself before you draw more enemies to our location," he says.

Venia apparently caught wind of that, but she doesn't quite stop-not until she takes an abrupt episode of blurring, sending her goop everywhere and forcing her to her knees, clutching her side. After she recovers, she takes Echoss'es advice, drawing breath in an attempt to calm herself, but she is hyperventilating quite heavily. "Have to, I have to, gotta kill 'em. Gotta stop 'em. I HAVE to stop them!"

Venia feels a hand on her shoulder, and turns to meet the Collector face-to-face. "And we will. Considering our recent slaughter of a pair of high-tier monstrosities back in the Preserve, these schmucks don't stand much of a chance, killer jukebox or no."

Venia pauses, trying to regulate her breathing and keeping an eye on the Rose Cultists at all times, before getting up to her full height and nodding at Echoss, who nods back. "Then let's do this already!" She says, rushing into the fray, full tilt, Entropic Key ready to claim more Rose Cultist kills. Echoss follows after her.

---

Meanwhile, at the other side of the tree and a few moments prior to Venia's arrival, Maria listens to Chloe. "Oooh, so it's like a Fiend," Maria says, responding to Chloe's comments on what a monster is.

At the statement of running away, she looks especially frightened. "But, but what if somethin' else mean and bad and nasty like another 'Iti' thingy comes and you're not there?" She asks, clearly terrified. "You're a superhero! For work! And, and, Miss Chloe, I'm really scared-"

Cue Venia's extremely pissed-off screaming from the other side of the tree. Maria covers her ears until the screaming has stopped. "... What was that?! That was even scarier!" Maria says, now clutching onto Piggo even tighter. It's pretty obviously Venia's voice, natch, but it appears Maria can't identify it for... Some reason. "Was that the jukebox monster thingy?"

---

Other

Venia initiates the Rose Cultist Battle at Scale Yggdrasil, just in case it wasn't pretty thoroughly obvious.

Venia also puts two gifts under the Christmas Tree... Somehow. Ire knows the contents as I PM'd him those contents.

Here's the short of everything...

Boshi drops his HP by 2, DEF by 2, and increases his STR by 1 and RES by 4. He equips the Razorwind reaver and Hookshot Badge in place of the Venia Plushie. This should bring his air resistance up to 70%.

He then swaps out Elemental Phial for Elemental Barrier (Air). Finally, he joins Venia and Echoss in their endeavors to murder some cultists. He engages from the North.

Presents are still being determined, please be patient...

---

The battle dies down, and Boshi was chilling for a bit. Hat Kid runs back over, and hugs him, thankful that he's still alive.

Boshi suddenly looks to the side, and sees a stray sword - likely Willow's sword. He picks it up, and hands it to Willow. "(Think this is yours.)"

He and Hat Kid then manage to eavesdrop on the conversation involving Venia and Echoss. Hat Kid immedaitely goes pale at the sound of Maria being in danger. Boshi was also a bit worried, to be fair.

Then, Venia goes batshit crazy. Boshi jumps the heck out of the way to avoid being trampled by the angry gal. Boshi looks over to where Venia was headed before picking himself off the ground. "(...She's got this. Let's go and destroy that sie-)"

Boshi was stopped mid-sentence by Hat Kid jumping down from Boshi and pulling on his collar with a surprising amount of force. "(Grk-- what now?)"
"We're gonna save Maria!"
Boshi sighs. "(Look, Venia's got this, along with whoever else joins her. Maria will be fine! Now let-)"
"No! I wanna go save Maria!"
"(Ugh... seriously, now. They don't need us right now. They can handle themselves fo-)"
Hat Kid tugs again. "But we just met her and she's nice and I don't wanna lose her to a jukebox monster or those creepy red people!"
Boshi's voice grows stern. "(Little missy, we are go-)"
"NO!" Hat Kid suddenly yanks on Boshi's collar so hard onlookers are surprised she didn't rip either the collar or Boshi's neck off. Hat Kid is really determined to get her way with this, it seems... she's not budging on her stance at all.

Silence for several long, cold seconds. A simple, soft "...please...?" comes out of Hat Kid's mouth.

Another long, drawn-out silence... then, Boshi finally concedes. "(Ugh, fine. We're goin-)"
"YES LET'S GO NO TIME TO LOSE EVERYONE PLEASE HELP BYE"
Hat Kid darts off to the tunnel-- "(WOAH-)" --dragging Boshi along. No seriously, how is that child so freaking strong?

---

Midway through their travels, it seems like Boshi managed to get back onto his feet after being dragged trough the mud by Hat Kid for about half a minute. He swaps his gear around - the air-based Ashen Reap, the Razorwind Reaver - swaps places with the sledgehammer. The venia Plushie disappears, only to be replaced by the Hookshot badge made earlier. His spell lineup also changes: Elemental Phial for Elemental Barrier (Air).

---

Boshi and Hat Kid rush in a little while after Venia. Boshi uses his sheer speed to wrap around the tree, and to the other side of the Rose Cultists, cutting off their advance to the group up ahead.
"(How bold of you, going after a helpless child. Shameful... shameful!)"
"(also you almost made hat kid irreparably upset so i'm legally obligated to murder you now)"

Boshi engages the Rose Cultists from the North side!

---

/mustache girl and presents stuff here later

The Man equips the Electro Tie and Portable Armory upgrade, and then tosses a skillpoint into HP. He then goes to the other north of the Preserve.

Oh yeah, he also asks Salix if he's seen a missing briefcase of some kind.

Nezira does some fiddling with her own stats.

Specifically, she adds "Endless Archives" as a modifier to her special, probably unlockable at 15 INT and SPC -- "You may now copy any available spell, with no scaling." -- and also adds Summon Damage as an SP gain method to her special.

Additionally, she does some trait-rebalancing, turning the percentage bonus to CRT into a flat +CRT (+5% CRT ==> +1 CRT) and decreasing the HIT increase by some amount.

She then harvests all the harvestable plants at the Farm (i.e., everything except the Gigistem), as well as all the Crystillery, then decides to do some crafting to upgrade her own Starcrystal Scarf.



Nezira equips the Triangle Scarf in place of her Starcrystal Scarf, then removes a point from MMP and puts that point, along with the new point, into SPC.

[Seeeeecret giftmaking goes here~]

Nezira also buys Sword Beam from the Temmie Shop.

Terry respecs to the build in the link below (in the tab "LATEST BUILD").
Here it is!

---

Terry regains his focus, then hears the John Mulaney reference that is Exhibition's current playlist. He goes to check it out, sneaking around the Scarred, popping up in the bushes. Then, he notices the cultists carrying it around.

"Oh. It's you guys.

Well, you have great taste in music, but you're those crazy evil guys, so I have to kill you now."

With a trail of rapidly-color-changing energy, Terry charges into the Onlooker, headbutting them into the Barrier, then fries them with a shot from his Zaliska. He then pokes the Exhibition with his sword to recharge his gun. Oh, and

Terry engages the Exhibition!

Packo puts a point into SKI, removes one from DEF, and puts one into AGI.

________________________________________

At the same time, he decides to talk with Nana.

"H-Hello..."

With a shy expression, he approaches her.

"I saw that weird thing coming out of you... Are you feeling better?" He then extends his hand.

"My name is Little... But you can call me Packo. I make bread, and I am here to destroy the ball... These people have been nice to me... And I almost abandoned them, because I was afraid..."

He looks like he's deeply ashamed of his actions. He stares at the floor.

"B-But I can't help it, y-you know? I was... I had 'fear' in me..." And then, he looks back to Nana. "B-But I'm sure that these people are doing their best to help me... I owe them that much, at least... And that's why I'm going to destroy that big ball over there!"

________________________________________

In other news, Packo is looking for ways to make more bread!

"Uh... Is there a place where I can grow wheat? I-It would be nice..."

________________________________________

With that said, and after the victory, Packo starts crafting some things:







________________________________________

Packo equips the new Jewelscale Gloves, along with an Emerald Plushie (Resistances to Slashing and Piercing, Weakness to Psychic)

-=+=-

Kokichi sits on the roof of the house, looking off into the sunset, his hair blowing in the wind like an anime protagonist... Upon further inspection, it's not the wind causing his hair to billow all dramatic-like...

It's a fan.

Kokichi has stolen someone's fan. There's a grin on his face, although surprisingly, it isn't malicious, although his general reputation doesn't make it easy for anyone to tell... not that anyone could anyway. Nobody can see him.

Because he's on the roof.

...

With a stolen fan.

-=+=-

Meanwhile, a strange box has appeared seemingly in the middle of the house. The box itself is wrapped in candy red wrapping paper, decorated with various white suit signs and the occasional... number 20? Why? Regardless, the whole thing is topped with a cute little white bow.

What's not so cute is the fact that the box is breathing.

Brutishace wakes up from his fugue and finds the battle over. Thankfully, his teammates have destroyed the threats ahead... It seemed oddly short, however.

Nevertheless, Brutishace sinks his next skillpoint into SKI. He opts not to craft anything- resources are quite scarce.

Simeon equips Lost Soul for armour, and switches out the Nanobots to a Modded Scanner.

He also updates his skillpoints to:
MHP: 3
MHP: 2
STR: 6
AGI: 8
INT: 0
SKI: 8
DEF: 0
RES: 8
SPC: 7

He also sets the resistances of the Yggcrawler Exoskull to Ice.

Destiny takes 2 points out of HP and puts all 3 points into SKI. She then takes out 1 piece of clay, which she bakes into a tablet. She then uses her daggers as writing tools. She decides to write about automatons.



She then puts this in a box and writes it as a gift to Omorika.

At The Preserve, with the battle coming to a close, all is quiet once more. That silence didn't last very long, as the belly-up Yaga corpse begins to move a bit. Muffled yelling can be heard from within. The struggle continues for a moment before the Yaga's considerable maw is wrenched open by a pair of green hands. It was Irongutta, battered but still very much alive!

He steps over what remained of its sharp teeth before releasing his grip on the beast's mouth and stumbles to the ground a few feet away. Irongutta was drenched in a mixture of saliva, blood, and thyme gunk. Lying flat on his back and breathing sharp, ragged breaths, he lets out a short yell at the sky as his adrenaline wears off. "Bloody 'ell... that was... fraggin' awful."

Irongutta craned his neck up off the ground, looking himself over in the light. He first noticed a couple of puncture wounds on his right arm. More pressing was a deep gash across his stomach, which started to make itself known as a sharp pain. Clutching his midsection hard with his good arm, he clenches his teeth as he gets up off the ground. "Bugger snuck up on me, but little did he know that he was swallowin' me! Woulda killed 'em myself if I coulda found 'is liver, but it was too damn dark in there."

Irongutta pulled some consumables out of his Snack Pocklace and shoved them into his mouth. Food could dull the pain a bit.

---

Filled with the merry spirit of the season, Irongutta works on putting together a gift!

uA: Nana, it's okay. Ask anyone - we're more concerned that you and everyone else is okay.

Auth sits next to Nana, making sure that she's okay.

uA: Nothing that happened here is your fault. At all. I don't think you could have helped what happened, even if you were more careful. The damage that could have been done was limited. You aren't to blame for this.

Auth gives Nana a look of significant pity when she comments about her options.

uA: If you want my opinion, but I might be marginally biased, I think you should stick with us. If the Legion knew about what happened, and they may, I don't think they would welcome you back.

uA: It's not an irrational course of action, to be frank. You may be branded a traitor but... so has Miss Omorika, and she's doing fine. The worst option here is to be out on your own. So I think you should stick with us.

Auth looks over Nana again.

uA: At the very least, you should come back to our base with us for a little bit. You can get yourself cleaned up, you can get a nice meal, and then you can decide what you want to do from there.

Auth stands up, and offers a hand to Nana. The offer to come back with the party is twofold, one part is so that Nana can clean herself up and sleep somewhere safe for the night, and the other part is so that Auth can clean up his coat that he loaned to Nana.

Auth, in terms of stats, takes 2 points out of STR and puts 4 Skill Points into DEF.

<ROUND ONE-HUNDRED AND TWELVE>
...Wait, what do you mean Christmas was yesterday?

Anyway, v1.2, Nia is a Wizard, is out! Take a look at the Patch Notes tab to take a look at the comprehensive list of changes! Standout changes involve Water and Poison, a host of new spells and balance changes, and MHP buffs! Also, as an update present, you've been given the spell Super Soak for free! Still waiting on a decision for the second spell since it's inconclusive, so maybe give it a talk-over with the party on Discord...?

---

First off, it's time for the GREAT STAT-CHANGE-INING. Let's just jump into it, I guess.



...Whew! That wasn't as bad as some of the other respec rounds! Let's get to the actual update now!

---

While I'd usually do Echoss's post first, it does refer to a conversation in Venia's post, so I'll do it first! Venia decides to lose it, again. She's getting really, really good at chaining these together! Poor girl might blow a fuse or two. After getting the news from Echoss, she rushes out of the Preserve. She instantly decapitates the Artist as she passes by, the latter still managing to get a few words out as they die.

ARTIST: S-Some people... c-can't appreciate... t-the arts...
ARTIST: Adieu, adieu...
ARTIST: dies

..."Dies" is a weird last thing to say, but alright. While Venia progresses forward, Echoss rolls out his plan! The Rose takes a look at Echoss's little notebook, flipping through it. One of them (a Chosen) is instantly obliterated by a prepared Explosive Runes. This alarms the Rose, causing them to panic, as they hear a screaming. Not the pained sort of screaming. The enraged sort.

Venia eviscerates the gatekeeping Scarred, also frying their body with Purge. There's not much left of them by the time they hit the ground... or when they're punted into the group of Cultists, which forfeits any sort of surprise attack they could've gotten. I mean, all the carnage from earlier also gave them away, but yeah.

CULTIST 1: not cool
CULTIST 2: most certainly not cool
CULTIST 4: i think it's time we unleash
CULTIST 4: the art
CULTIST 1: ...why is your number 4?
CULTIST 4: the scarred was number 3
CULTIST 4: feels rude to infringe on his number
CULTIST 1: fair
CULTIST 1: so anyway yeah this chick is psycho
CULTIST 1: do the art thing
CULTIST 4: yeah alright

Cultist 4 looks at the jukebox, looking for a switch. They shrug, and promptly kick the thing. There's the sound of breaking wood and shredded metal as a slurry of both entropic flesh and pure chaotic energy busts out of the side. It forms into a limb, which flops around on the ground. Another limb bursts out of the box, followed by four more. Then, there's the sound of breaking glass as another appendage bursts out of the front. This limb promptly crashes down into the frayed corpse of the Scarred, ripping off its head and affixing it to itself.

CULTIST 4: oooh, it has a fashion sense!
CULTIST 1: actually that's messed up
CULTIST 4: your mom is messed up
CULTIST 1: fair

The limb that now has a head affixed to it raises up, as two arrow brackets form around the face. A <0>. Then, a cascade of records break out of what seems to be the back of the jukebox, their broken fragments forming a set of wicked looking wings. It then pulls out a strangely-intact record, and loads it into the somehow still intact rotary player. The song, being one of the many Dark Carnival tracks that consist solely of screaming, lets the beast pretend that it's capable of letting out a guttural roar. The head it's affixed onto itself plays along, miming the screaming.

A limb then inserts itself back into the rotary player once it's done screaming, lobs the previous disk into the woods, and then inserts a new disk. A groovy track begins to play.

CULTIST 4: now, behold!
CULTIST 4: the power
CULTIST 4: of the arts!

The track progresses. The Rose Cultists form up into a group.

JUKEBOX: V-VOCAL PERCUSSION ON A WHOLE NOTHER LEVEL
JUKEBOX: COMING THROUGH MY MIND
JUKEBOX: VOCAL PERCUSSION ON A WHOLE NOTHER LEVEL
JUKEBOX: COMING THROUGH MY MIND

Two more Rose Cultists (both Scarred) inexplicably slide out of the woods, dancing along with the song as it plays. You have a feeling that the Exhibition summoned them here.

JUKEBOX: IT'S LIKE A BURNING SUNRISE
CULTISTS: ahi makareru makare punpun kete
JUKEBOX: IT'S LIKE A BURNING SUNSET
CULTISTS: ahi makareru makare punpun kete

...Despite what the Cultists might believe, the dance isn't as aggravating or as painful as anyone might think. Everyone stares onward in bewilderment as the song finishes... and then the Rose Cultists freak. A little, anyway. One of them.

CULTIST 4: heck
CULTIST 4: that should've killed like, at least half of them
CULTIST 1: oh well
CULTIST 1: let's just dumpster them
CULTIST 4: aight

The Rose Cult attacks! However, this whole commotion prompts Hemlock and Bass to come running. Chloe meanwhile, decides to stay with Maria as to comfort her.

CHLOE: M-Maria, I'm gonna stay by your side!
CHLOE: I-I'll be here to protect you, I promise! A-At least, for now!
CHLOE: ...Also, yeah. That was Venia screaming.
CHLOE: She really, really cares about you! It's nice to have a sister like that, I'd think.
CHLOE: ...She's your sister, right? Caretaker? I don't actually know your connection...

Anyway...

- = S T R I F E ! = -

...Venia also does a few more things! She researches the MHP Booster, giving everyone +2 MHP! She also repairs her Golden Dream Ring with 2 Seer Crystals (10 Credits), 2 Golden Ingots, and one of Maxim's legs. It recovers 2 charges.

---

Echoss opts to evict some dead plants from the house, and plants a Spiritblossom, a Manabloom, and a non-descript fern. The house gains a +3 to Beauty.

---

Boshi gifts Willow her other sword. She happily takes the blade, and examines it. She frowns when she finds that the blade itself is quite damaged.

WILLOW: Aw. Iti must've stepped all over it, or something...
WILLOW: But hey, thanks!

He then darts off to fight some Rose Cultists, reserving himself a spot and the top spawn point.

---

The Man asks Salix about a suitcase. To his surprise... he gets something.

SALIX: A suitcase? I haven't seen one personally, no.
SALIX: However, I have heard word that a mysterious briefcase found its way into the Skylabs somehow...
SALIX: I can't be too sure about credibility, though.
SALIX: ...Why are you looking for a briefcase, anyway? Military secrets- that sort of stuff?

---

Nezira goes harvesting, taking some time to loot everything from the Farm and Crystillery. This yields a total of 30 Psychoid Leaves, 50 Hotpoints, 20 Frostleaves, 30 Gaiaroot Potatoes, 1 Eterna Flower, and 20 Ashen / Frigid / Seer / Gaia crystals. She also purchases Sword Beam from the Temmie Shop.

---

Terry engages the Exhibition! This reserves him a spot in the battle, and also spawns him in. Neat.

---

Packo talks with Nana. He asks if she's alright, and the like.

NANA: Yeah. I-I'm feeling better.
NANA: J-Just knowing that even something like that was inside me... w-was unsettling, and it's a miracle that I'm alive...
NANA: But yeah. I'm alright. Maybe not totally okay mentally, but physically, I think I'm alright.

NANA: Anyway, my name is Nana Markhamia. I-It's good to meet you!
NANA: W-While I was originally the sort to vouch for NOT destroying the... "ball", as you called it... well, I've sorta changed my opinion as of a few minutes ago. I probably don't need to say why...

NANA: Don't worry about being scared, or fearful, or things like that.
NANA: S-So many of us in the Legion are scared. Deathly scared.
NANA: The future is so uncertain, with the h-hordes of Iti coming at us day after day, a-and what'll happen once the Sphere is ready to deploy...
NANA: Nobody can blame you. But it's great that you're still fighting for the people you care about!

Nana beams towards Packo. It looks like she's calming down a fair bit now. Packo then asks around, trying to see where he could grow more wheat. He manages to get Ette's attention. Marron promptly translates for her.

ETTE: (There's a place in the forest, I think!)
ETTE: (There was this guy who made a bunker into a farm! It's a really nice place to grow stuff and things!)
ETTE: (I can show you the way, if you want!)

If Packo asks, Ette will guide him to the Fortified Farm down in Zone 1.Anyway, Packo opts to do a bit of crafting, combining 2 Splinters, 10 Refined Wood, and 5 Compost Blobs! Despite the use of 10 Refined Wood, only 5 units of Stinky Splinters are created.

---

Kokichi adds a present below the tree. This probably won't kill anyone.

---

The Author talks with Nana. He checks up on Nana, trying to make sure she's alright, while also reassuring her that what happened wasn't her fault.

NANA: I... I guess it wouldn't be my fault.
NANA: T-Thanks.

He then poses her the option of sticking with them as she laments about her lack of options.

NANA: S-Stick with you guys?
NANA: I-I...
NANA: ...I guess it's the least I could do for you guys, huh?
NANA: A-And besides, w-we have miss Omo on our side! She's wise beyond her years!

She gives him a hug, pulling him in tightly.

Nana has joined the party!

...Auth feels a sharp pain in his back as Nana hugs him. A piercing pain. Nana doesn't seem to notice that he's in pain.

NANA: T-Thank you s-so...
NANA: ...
NANA: M-My hand feels warm... a-and wet.

Nana backs away from the Author around the moment he realizes that there really is a sharp pain in his back, as well as a rather large amount of blood. Nana takes a look at her right hand- it's transformed into a bunch of bladed tentacles.

NANA: WAIT WAIT WAIT NO NO WHAT-

Her arm promptly morphs back as she panics. The sight of the blade vanishing calms her down slightly, prompting her to experiment a little. She manages to seamlessly morph her right arm between blades and a normal state.

NANA: I-I, w-what!?
NANA: I-I can... transform?
NANA: Maybe that bug left a permanent effect on my body, or something! D-Doing this feels really, really natural...

NANA: ...W-Wait, I-I think I just stabbed you! I-I'm sorry, I'm really, r-really sorry!
NANA: N-Not the best first impression I could provide to a party...
NANA: If t-this causes you to r-reconsider my inclusion, that's fine...
NANA: B-But, I think I might be able to make use of t-this new ability! I-It's amazing how natural this feels...

Nana sighs, as she experiments further with her arm. Looks like this whole thing might take awhile to get used to...

---

<SCALE YGGDRASIL CORNER, ROUND ONE>
..I mean sure, Scale Yggdrasil doesn't really HAVE corners due to being rounded, but it's close enough! Anyway, the Exhibition possesses massive area damage! Try not to line yourselves up! Spawning from two different sides will certainly help your case for not getting splashed to death.

/en is directly gifting a gift to Taeda, and verdana a gift to the birb

That hurts. Being dead was not the greatest experience. Anyways onward for science!

I steal a Sap Tree at V65, Zone 0

Packo hears the screams of a very angry Venia, and starts walking slowly towards where he heard the sound.

As Packo makes his way towards Yggdrasil's Approach, one of the golden butterflies that appeared around the various zones during the Preserve Battle flutters down to come and rest on his shoulder. Packo then looks at the butterfly, and feeling a bit scared, tries to slowly blow it off.

The butterfly flutters for a second, then flaps its wings once and transforms into a small holograph of Echoss!

"Ah, apologies Master Packo, I'm so used to using my butterflies as messengers that I forget that other people are not used to it."

Packo looks at the holograph for a second.

"Echoss? Wait, are you a butterfly? I heard of some people being able to transform back in my home planet... But not into animals, but into other people..."

Echoss chuckles.

"Ah, no. I'm not a butterfly, it's a sort of a... Will extension, so to speak. They let me talk to other people while I myself am busy doing other things. You could crush one of these butterflies and it would do no real harm to me. Please don't, though, it takes a bit of energy to create these and I have to replace them when too many die."

"O-Oh... That's very nice! Oh my goodness, I would never hurt one of these things..." He says, as he starts accelerating his walk. "S-Sorry... I heard this woman screaming and I need to rush over... I-I think it's the same one who was very angry at t-t-that monstrous thing..."

"Oh, yes, that was miss Venia, some Rose Cultists are threatening Maria... I believe they are sisters? And Venia was very distressed at that prospect. Your assistance in the matter would be very much appreciated."

Packo has many questions about what "Rose Cultists" really are, but he decides to wait until he can check it by himself.

"Really? Oh my goodness..."He repeats. It is then when he goes even faster than earlier. "I am g-going! W-Who is there already? Is there a resident healer there?"

"Myself, Venia, Hatkid, Boshi, Bass, a tour guide of the gardens by the name of Hemlock, and Terry. I believe I myself am the only one suited to handle the role of healer, but I am not dedicated to that role."

Packo looks very worried about that. "I-I have a thing... With my roller..." He then looks at his weapon. "I m-might help you in a pinch...We'll see each other soon!" He says, with more conviction than before.

"Ah, life augment, yes? That's good, it should come in handy. Thank you for your assistance Master Packo, we shall see each other soon then."

Echoss gives a short bow, and then transforms back into a butterfly and flutters away.

"O-Okay..." Packo is still amazed at the sight of the transforming butterfly. And with that conversation over, Packo keeps running to where he needs to be.
_____________________________________________________________________

Packo finally reaches the site of the fight.

"O-Oh no... Is that thing still a- Wait w-what are these people doing?"

As he hears the horrifying music, Packo decides that enough is enough... He becomes very angry... Well, sort of.

"I-I'm going to have to ask you to t-turn that thing off... It gives me the creeps..." And since these Cultists aren't doing anything, Packo decides that he needs to take a stance.

Facing Venia for a second, he talks in a scared voice: "O-Okay... I'm going to ask them to stop and then maybe hit them o-once and pleasedon'tbeangryatmeIdidn'tdoanythingwaaaaaaaaaaa"

And with those words, Packo moves forward and engages the Cultists by hitting one of them hard with his weapon.

"I-I told you to turn that t-thing down! Now you made her mad..."
_______________________________

Meanwhile, in some weird time paradox way, Packo talks with Ette.

"O-Oh my goodness! I would love to see! Is there bread? I want to grow wheat!"

He looks really, really excited!

"T-Thanks so much...!" He then gets a bit emotional, maybe way too much considering it's just a farm.

_______________________________
Packo joins the fight against the Rose Cult! He spawns at O11, moves to K11, and hits the Onlooker with his basic attack.

Toast places her point into INT and switches the element of her weapon to Fire, and Hidden Force to Light / Ice.

"Mhm? Yeah, let's go! Might be nice to not have battle back-to-back..."
But little did Toast know that a group of cultists had revealed themselves at Yggdrasil, and she would soon find herself in the midst of yet another conflict. Such occurrences are possible, if not commonplace, in the Twilight Zone.

She (and presumably Marron with her) joins the active battle at O15, from which she moves to attack Scarred2, retreating to N16.

Hex swaps overpowering strike for Fluxblade and drops his skillpoint in AGI.
A random tree in Scale Yggdrasil's Corner suddenly finds itself replaced by Hex
(this also means a tree just appeared where Hex is in the House, so there's a tree there now uh)
Hex leaps up.
HEX: FEAR ME CULTISTS, AND MY TELEPORTING MAGYKKS!
He unleashes a flurry of slashes and fire in front of him, and-
HEX: wait shit this isn't in front of the jukebox
He sighs, and actually just spawns in at (IC moves from the tree to the spawn tile) N13.
He then...
K13 --> Lunge to J14, stabbo scarred