Boshi makes the Scarred next to him explode into messy giblets if it wasn't already. Shockwave Chamber used again.

---

Boshi stuffs the Fruitcake in the inventory after taking a quick slice out of it, excited to try a piece. Given he's not Gordon Ramsay, he doesn't critique it, but just savors it's perfect mix of flavors.

Hat Kid on the other hand...
"...fluffy~"
She's cuddling the fish plushie, clearly happy with the gift.

---

/working

-Mineshaft Battle-

Pumped up for battle, Irongutta moves over to F10, which triggers Unstoppable Force. He then uses his weapon skill, SHOCKwave, targeting Carrion4 as the primary target!

<ROUND ONE-HUNDRED FIFTEEN>
The game opts to start by doing a bit of processing. First, Nezira slips two gifts under the tree. Her post says three, but I only see two in the place where she put her gifts. The game then opts to process... gift unboxing! Both Ette and Omo are yet to open their presents, so the game opts to do that now.



The game then opts to process Omo's stack of gifts.

---

Ziah reveals that he's in a present. It appears that this was a packaged respec Ziah is joining the team, replacing Kokichi's build and such. That's some... that's some finely minmaxed stuff. oh god i'm gonna need to powercreep the foes soon aren't i

---

Daskter puts the Red Sap Tree back. It's probably better that way.

---

Maria and Venia celebrate a temporal rending day. Maria asks Chloe a question as they come up on the house.

CHLOE: Oh, him?
CHLOE: His name is Bass. He's like one of the Rose Cultists, but he's a good guy.
CHLOE: He didn't like them, so he left. Plain and simple!

Then, the group finally arrives at the house. Time paradoxes resolve themselves, with Chloe now only just now opening her presents and stuff. It's there where Maria and Venia reunite. Maria eagerly hops to her present, opening it! And, as the post suggests, Maria finds a cutesy magical wand! She promptly tests it out, firing a snowball indoors and having it explode on a wall. Even though it's Maria's, the Snowball Wand has been added to the inventory!

Chaos immediately grabs Marron, and puts her on janitorial duty. She sighs, and begins sweeping up snow and tossing it outside. Even as Maria keeps firing it at the wall. She considers smacking the girl for it, but smacking children is a couple notches too low for Marron to go through with. She sighs, and keeps on shoveling the snow. Venia then opts to talk to Nia about Maria. Nia seems enthralled.

NIA: So that adorable lil' cutie is a PRINCESS?
NIA: She's like, the best disney princess to ever exist! And now she's an adorable lil' wizard!
NIA: Aaaah, I should get her a present! Maybe! I don't know what kids like, though...
NIA: I think they like... V-Bucks and bad dances? I dunno...

NIA: ...So anyway, do you know why her parents sent her to this rather dangerous planet?
NIA: I mean, parents might be kinda gorilla, but they're rarely so gorilla that they send their children to like what's probably the most dangerous place in the...
NIA: ...Solar system? Where are we, anyway?
NIA: That's not important, though.

She also thanks Chloe for watching over Maria in the same paragraph, causing a little bit of confusion but whatever.

CHLOE: No problem!
CHLOE: I-I mean, who would I be if I-I left her while all that was happening?
CHLOE: I don't think I'd be able to live with myself, eheheheh...

Venia then notes that she's ready to do the thing with the ring. Nia stops helping Maria pelt Marron with snowballs, and she suddenly becomes rather somber.

NIA: Oh, right.
NIA: We need to do that, don't we.
NIA: ...W-Well, I guess I'm as ready as I'll ever be...
CHLOE: I-I'll be there too, d-don't worry!

While the two girls ready themselves mentally, Venia goes and works on Maxim, using the Golden Dream Ring on it! There, she finds about what she expects, skipping a cutscene- dark mini-sphere in the mind, gigantic hole in it where the energy probably burst out from. This sphere appears to be particularly flayed- it appears to be mostly annihilated, with gigantic cracks travelling up, down, and around its surface. In fact, its own strange gravity is probably what's keeping it together!

From there, Venia floats into the sphere, hoping to find notes on Maxim's clicking. However, she's not entirely sure how to go about finding any sort of information in here. However, she soon finds an answer- the Sphere itself appears to be a sort of flesh. Like, it's wood, but it's also a flesh. And from it, she can sense the being of the Eliti- and from there, it's memories.

...She's not really quite sure how to draw them out from there, though. She'd probably need a straw. Okay, not a straw, but something better than that.

Elsewhere, Krabs takes a visit to the Rainbow Mountain, and then the Bedroom. He loots the knife, ever-so-carefully. Yume doesn't seem to move, even as he grips the knife and pulls it out of the ground. He then plants the knife in the Nexus... and then the room goes white. An immensely powerful light has flooded the room! It's hard to see what's going on, given just how bright everything is...

---

Packo goes gardening! Ette helps him plant 27 Wheat Seeds, 9 Psychoid Seeds, and 18 Gaiaroot Potatoes. We say a bit less than listed, because each plot holds 9 because Minecraft™. The farm is almost full now! Anyway, Ette attentively listens to Packo, sitting down in one of the empty plots. Ette seems confused when Packo mentions the bashing. Then, Packo notes how he wants to learn how to speak with his hands. Ette hops up, and nods up and down towards him. She then pulls out a stone slate from... somewhere. It's her christmas present- the thought-to-text tablet! Ette begins to speak through the words of the tablet.

ETTE: (Okie dokey!)
ETTE: (I can teach you how! I have a book... but I might've left it at home.)
ETTE: (In a different world.)
ETTE: (It's complicated!)
ETTE: (But, because of this handy stone tablet thingy that Nezira gave me, I can teach you with this!)

Ette begins to go over the basics of her arm-flop based language. Apparently, the angle of her flops mean different letters. Flopping her arm straight upward is an A. An upwards flop with a bit of a twist to it is a B. An upwards flop with her arm sorta curled up is a C. And so on, for several different angles of flop. She also apparently has a few "common words" that she uses with specialized gestures. Packo's not entirely sure how much he retained in the crash course, but it probably helps!

ETTE: (Oh, also! Question, question!)
ETTE: (...Why would you be promoted for hurting someone?)
ETTE: (It doesn't sound right...)

Ette looks at Packo with her button eyes, somehow full of curiosity.

---

The Man decides to do some crafting. He lobs together his Perfectly Darkmatter Sunglasses, 15 Simple Fabric (which, in turn, is 15 Silkweed), 4 Durasteel, an Ace of Spades from the Cultist Card Deck, and 5 Titanium Ingots. This creates the Shade Protector, which loses out on a point of SKI and CRT because he's already adding +3 to DEF, and a massive 30% Piercing Resistance.

---

Nezira tosses one more gift under the tree. That one from earlier that wasn't included. Maybe Pope will come around to open it...?

---

Toast equips her new earrings. Marron beams at Toast, relived that she likes them.

MARRON: I'm glad you like them, Toaster!
MARRON: I was worried that the metalwork I did on the frames wouldn't look good... a-and if you look close enough, there's definitely some imperfections...
MARRON: I-I can't really work with metal too well...
MARRON: But... they look good on you! Really good!

The two of them share Christmas together near the tree, resting together. It's even almost peaceful, save the sounds of Maria shooting snowballs everywhere, birbs chipping in the basement, and the whir of a drone flying above the two, holding a piece of mistletoe...

...Marron shoots the drone. It spirals into the ground, exploding. The mistletoe burns up. She goes back to semi-cuddling with Toast right afterwards, acting like nothing happened.

---

<SCALE YGGDRASIL CORNER, ROUND FOUR>
The Rose lies broken, most of them in the literal sense. Marron kicks away one of their heads, and watches it roll towards the fence surrounding the garden.

MARRON: Whew! Glad that's over with...
MARRON: So, Toaster? How about we finally host that club we've been talking about now?
MARRON: It'll be fun!

While Marron's busy chatting with Toast, Hemlock takes a moment to catch her breath.

HEMLOCK: That was... interesting.
HEMLOCK: I've never actually fought against the Rose before.
HEMLOCK: Anyway, if the child made it out safely, it's mission accomplished, I guess.

Hemlock plants the barrel of her gun towards the ground, and leans on it. She seems a little tired, but not really worse for wear. Bass meanwhile, is performing a victory dance with two frames of animation. Anyway, with the Rose out of the way, perhaps it's time to engage the Rebel Siege Machine? You probably have enough people to do it, even with a few of you away at the mines.

<THE MINESHAFT, ROUND THREE>
Speaking of those of you in the mines, you should punch through the Iti's frontline. If you lose your forward momentum, there's the very real future of you getting overwhelmed and crushed to death under the sheer weight of Iti that's coming towards you. Also watch out for the Screamer- if that silences Nezira, you're probably all screwed should you need to fight the encroaching horde.

"Nice one!"
Toast spins to L12 and tosses a card or two at Chosen2.

~~

Meanwhile, in a time out of time, she's with Marron, opening presents. Toast is given a pair of earrings from her girlfriend. She's visibly happy with the gift.
"Aaah! These are awesome, and so pretty! I-I had a replica of my Mindscape ones... but I think I lost them a few days ago. So... these are especially awesome. Thanks."
After an obligatory tight hug, she puts in her earrings. Unsure what to do as Marron leans her head on her shoulder, Toast peacefully places her head against Marron's.

"H-Hurting someone... I did hurt my friend, didn't I?" Packo seems distraught at the thought of hurting his work partner. He lowers his head, but he keeps speaking with Ette.

"B-But I don't understand! Even if it was an accident... Why did I get promoted? It makes n-no sense... I didn't even know was 'hurting' was before I came here! I-I..." He takes a small pause, unable to speak for a while. Instead, he starts to move his hands slowly, moving his arms in a certain way...

(Is 'hurt' only here?)

(Or also everywhere?)

(Licheria... No 'hurt'.)

(Never 'hurt' before.)

Small tears form in his eyes, but he wipes them away quickly. Instead, he starts asking himself what happened to his friend... And what did he do to him.

_______________________________________________________

The battle is over! Packo feels like he didn't do a lot, but he is still glad that he was there to help.

"W-What happened with those people...? Did they come from that Ball, too?" More than ever, he is set on his objective to destroy the Sphere.

He takes one point off SPC, one off AGI, and puts two into MHP and one into DEF, and finally equips the Packo Plushie.

Pope Bill comes around to the tree, and opens the present meant for him. What’s inside it...? he wonders; he’s excited about the fact that someone thought to give him a present!

-Mineshaft Battle-

Irongutta steps forward to H9 and attacks Carrion2! He then retreats to I8.

Destiny runs to E8 and shanks the Carrion. She then turns her head to Nana.

Ay, Nana, was it? Some very interesting arms you got there. Would you mind if you used 'em on that vile creature down there? Come over here!
Destiny motions to H8 and the Seeker.

RP: Scale Yggdrasil

Venia's severe look persists and remains locked at the dead cultists as her terraforming spell buries the remains. "... Hrmph. Shame they went mad... Or, almost all of them." Venia muses to herself.

"... Hemlock. I'm... Uh. Venia. I don't think we've met... I'm, uh. I'm Maria's... Guardian, I guess? Uh. I don't really know anymore... Thank you! Seriously, just... Thank you. I don't know what I'd have done if she... No, no. Nevermind that. Uh. Pay. Reward! Uh. We're really strapped for cash right now. Best approximation is, uh, this," Venia says, handing Hemlock two things; a Platinum Ingot and a Chairian Pastry. "... Uh. Also, uh. There were two cultists at the reception. Emphasis on were. Echoss... Uh. He. He kind of, just... You know. And the Bladedancer wasn't... Very amused by that. Just, letting you know. Pastry's for her."

"OH! Yeah! Gotta spread the word. Yaga's dead! We killed it. Uh, yeah. It's pretty dead. I can prove it, if you need," Venia adds. If Hemlock requests proof, Venia shows off several of the Yaga's bladed teeth as well as its eyestalk, without giving them to Hemlock or removing them from the inventory. Just for show.

"Thank you, again, for the tour. I'd ask if, uh, there's anything else you'd need, but honestly, at this point we're probably gonna just make every Iti and Rebel-related problem here vanish before the day's done at this rate. Seems, uh, to be a theme," Venia says. Before she leaves, she moves over to Bass.

"Nice work, man, and thank you for coming along... Seriously. I appreciate it," Venia says. "... Uh, nice dance," She adds, looking at Bass. "... I haven't seen a two-frame dance before."

---

RP: Zone 0

Weird time shenanigans unparadoxify into a coherent narrative with Venia's return. But that's just a side-note at this point.

"... Why she's here?" Venia says in response to Nia's questions. She looks towards the sliding door, where Maria plays with her new wand and the Kitsune stands vigilant. But only over Maria. She keeps an eye on it as she speaks "... Her father, her majesty, caved into her demands to see me... I can understand why she wouldn't get the danger, she's just a kid, but he knew full and well exactly why he shouldn't have sent over young children. He's either very confident in me, or, well... He must be very confident in me. Overly confident, then... " Venia says, pressing her temple, still looking at the Kitsune. "... I really don't want it to be anything else."

"As for gifts, well. She likes animals. Especially fluffy animals. Bit obvious. Plushies work, I think?... It's been a while since I last saw her. Almost a year, relatively." Venia says. "I'm not sure if I'm 'up to date' so to speak..."

She then notices Nia deflate at the prospect of her mind being read. Venia keeps silent for several seconds.

"... It will be OK. OK? I know you're worried about what will happen, or scared of what we might think of what we see, but... It will be OK," Venia says.

---

Maxim Mind Reading

Venia's gotten this far without incident, so it was time to try something out. Venia first identifies where the memories of the clicking lexicon are strongest, if she can. Whether she can or cannot, her next step is to pull out the Psyche Shard and activate it, creating a sphere-like object in the Mindscape made of shadow, with a jeweled 'eye.' If Venia did not already identify which memories are relevant, the 'eye' will scan every memory available until it finds the necessary memories. If she has, it will only scan those memories.

This is when things get interesting. The Psyche Shard will then transmit a purple beam of light between it and the memories, once all of them have been scanned for the appropriate data. It will not destroy the memories; they will remain, for now. (If possible; otherwise they're as good as gone.) Instead, the Eye begins to copy them, its sphere-like form becoming doubly evident as kind of memory orb, the shadowy center beginning to turn blue and glow accordingly with its newfound knowledge. This process continues as long as Venia can get it to do so, unimpeded.

Once the eye is done, the darkness unfurls around the eye, leaving a hovering, fully-functioning Memory Orb for Venia in the Mindscape to take, blue in color and making a constant rhythmic clicking noise. The remaining darkness fades back into the considerably smaller eye as it looks upon the memory orb.

If Venia can, Venia 'extracts' the Orb into a physical form, using the Psyche Shard to 'stab' the orb and directly siphon it off into the real world, forcing it to materialize in what would be a very easy-to-interrupt and slow process if there were any defenses to worry about. Otherwise, if Venia cannot complete this process without being interrupted or simply cannot initiate it at all, Venia grimaces and uses the Psyche Shard to absorb the memories into herself directly, giving herself direct access to the lexicon at the cost of some immediate Psychic damage.

It kind of hurts to abruptly assimilate a lot of memories that aren't your own, especially as something as comprehensive as an entire language.

Either way, or assuming neither is possible, Venia backs out for now, memory orb potentially in hand, and a useful test of the Psyche Shard's capabilities also in mind.

---

Skillpoint Distribution

Venia will slide in another point into RES. Simple, no?

She will also switch out the Stunning Glove for the Radiant Glove from Nia.

---

Labwork

Venia spends 10 Flux to purchase the Twisted Rose. Also easy.

---

Other?

Venia heads back up the stairs and activates the save point before anything else can happen. Like, right now. Saving is an important part of playing any game, and smart decisions now lead to dividends later.

Terry -1s his MP, and +2s his SPC.

"Great job, guys!"

He then yeets himself to the House, opening the two gifts from Chaos.

The Man throws a skillpoint into SPC and waits for something to happen.

Alright, so, I'm a round behind of a bout of self-induced "BLEEEEEEEEEEEEGH" but now I'm back, and it's time to catch up.

Chloe thanks Echoss for her gift and he smiles and shakes his head. "Miss Elem, it is fine. In all truth, the gift you gave me is probably worth more if we go by value alone, but your gratitude alone is enough, and the sentiments behind your gift to me. Thank you."

Echoss watches as Boshi and Hat Kid enjoy their gifts. Elsewhere, he smiles softly.

Echoss smiles and nods when Omorika thanks him. "You are more than welcome Miss Omorika. Should everything go smoothly with our work here, I would be more than willing to assist with restoring the rest of the damaged and destroyed books. Though the damage is quite hefty, I have methods at my disposal that should function to help restore most if not all of the lost works once the Thymefield has been properly disabled."

Echoss snaps out of his stupor, and frowns a bit, almost snarling, and facepalms, pinching himself a bit. And then moves over to Hemlock.
"Thank you for your assistance in the battle Miss Hemlock, I believe we are currently on our way to destroying the Rebels' siege engine so as to secure Yggdrasil from enemy bombardment, but I suppose that isn't really your concern until we succeed.
But again, thank you. The help in securing our friends' safety is greatly appreciated."


Since I missed the second half of scale yggdrasil, I equip my gift from Chloe in place of the spaghetti pocket, and I throw another point into health because I don't feel like properly respeccing yet.

Definitely-Not-Echoss comes back to the shop and requests the bottled bottled nightmares be upgraded again. Because this wasn't a bad enough idea as is.


Also, I need to do crafting and actually freaking get to work on upgrading the farm.

Oh yeah and we have a siege engine to smash.

Boshi dusts himself off from all the damage he took, inflicted mostly by himself.

He +1s his RES, and decides to modify his trait a bit. More specifically, the first part.

Previously: Every round, gain a stack of Brew. Brew can be spent on potions with an action, which are then added to the inventory for the battle.
-To use a potion, an action must be taken.
-Potions cannot be used on the round of creation.
-All potions disappear when the battle ends.
-Potions may be used on others within Range 1-3.
-Brewing Potions is a Bonus Action.

Now: For every round you don't attack, gain a stack of Brew. Brew can be spent on potions with an action, which are then added to the inventory for the battle.
-Using potions is a Bonus Action.
-Potions cannot be used on the round of creation.
-All potions disappear when the battle ends.
-Potions may be used on others within Range 1-3.
-Brewing Potions takes an Action.

---

Boshi and Hat Kid don't stay long, but they first travel back in time to when they open their presents. Cue events continuing on from there.

...That being said, nothing much happens.

---

/working... i know i said that last time and there's been little to no fruits for it, but maybe i'll get around to it later...?

you know what time it is
that's right
its craftting time
goooo.
MATERIALS USED:
Roseweave x3
Ruby x1
Eterna Flower x1
Bloodhound Hide x1
Ashen Crystals x3
Entrophy x2
Ninja Hood x1
Astrec purchases a ruby from the Temmie Shop, then thanks the Temmies.
He also asks Nia to upgrade the Assorted Gun Parts to Tier 4.
He then sits at the Spiritweave Loom, and gets to work.
First, he takes the Ninja Hood, Hex's. He then takes the Roseweave, and the Entrophies, and begins threading them through the loom. Somehow. As he does this, he grinds up a Eterna Flower and sprinkles it into the thread, empowering it. He hammers the Entrophies as they go in, forcing them into the thread, melding the two, creating a soft red glowing threadlike material, that accelerates the healing of wounds a bit. He puts his hands against it, feeling it, and nods, satisfied. Then, he brushes the Ash off the Ashen Crystals, and takes a chisel and hammer. Then, he breaks up the crystals into smaller bits. He then smooths those pieces out, getting a bunch of equally sized chunks of Ashen Crystal. He takes the Bloodhound hide, and inserts the Crystals on it, adding a field of the little gems across it. Then, he takes the Ninja Hood out, again. He then unweaves most of the thread, leaving just a clasp and the bare bones of a good. He begins replacing the thread that was there with the Ashen Bloodhound Hide, creating a defensive layer, except he also adds onto it a cloak part, so it is both a hood and cloak. He then layers the inside with the Entrophyweave, creating a comfy layer so you aren't feeling the hard and rough Bloodhound hide when wearing it. Finally, he takes the Ruby, and gets to work, slowly carving it into the intricate shape of a rose, etching designs into it. This takes quite a while, around a hour, but once he's finally done, he nods, and replaces the generic clasp with the carved rose. With that done, the Rubyweave Cloak is complete, which because it's a hood is actually a hat. MAGYKK.
Stats are:
(T4) Hat: Rubyweave Cloak
Adorned with a single, beautiful, ruby. The rest of the cloak is interweaved with Entrophy, and glows with a unearthly light, giving the wearer a soft aura of crimson. It's actually kind of pretty... (wait this isn't a ha-)
Stats: (+5 AGI) (+3 SKI) (+3 CRT) (-2 DEF) (+1 HP Regen)
Resists: Electric (40%) Air (35%) Poison )15%) Slashing (-40%)
Hex equips this a replacement for his Hat.
He also drops one Skillpoint in AGI.
And so, the quest for being the speediest boi continues. who will prevail, Hex, or Simeon? Find out next time, on Thymium: Mighty Toast.
/wip

Ziah nods at Nana, partly out of appreciation for the help, but mostly impressed by her blades. Looking ahead, he notices the wall of Iti and sighs. He pulls out a small metal disc, engraved with two different symbols, before flipping it in the air and catching it in his hand.

"You."

Ziah pulls back his string and fires a needle of water at the third Carrion, aiming his shot at its jaw.

Nezira moves up to H8, scans the Netwyrm (S) with a bonus action, restoring 2 MP, gaining 2 Samples, Analyzing it, and unlocking its Codex entry, and summons a Behemoth at G10.

Behemoth stats:
Damage: Piercing.
Weaknesses: Earth (30%), Earth (20%), Earth (10%)
Resistances: Piercing (40%), Crushing (10%), Slashing (10%)
Upgrades: Puppetlike, Reactive Core.
SPC Milestone: Nanomachine Hull.
Point allocation: 7 Upgrades, 3 MHP, 3 MMP, 2 CNT. (15 total.)
Final stats, with 16 INT:
68 MHP (2 AC, 3 regen), 0 SHP, 25 MMP, (3-4) Piercing damage, 6 CRT, 11 HIT, 0 DGE, 12 CNT, 12 CAV.

Her Construct, meanwhile, moves up to D6, hits the Screamer with a basic attack, and retreats to E7.

Nidra equips the spidersilk pillow. She also puts a point into INT and one into SKI.

She also heads to the northern flank of the library, and idly kills the seeker there.

Toast purchases the Radvessel. Rad.

~~

"Oh yeah, magic club. Should we start gathering people together for that?"

Calibri takes a look at the sword that Chloe made for his christmas present thingy. He seems appreciative of it, giving it a careful swing to test the weighting... He then nods with a grin over at her.

"Alright, pretty good. Feels a little lighter. Kinda want to test it out somewhere soon... There any available fights?"

...Beat...

"Also, heh. Enjoy the cat. It... felt somehow fitting to make that, dunno why."

Also in case it was unclear, he equips the Switched Slicer.


In the meantime, EN shrugs at Tae.

"Heh, ah'm kinda more Authy's adoptive mama... or, uh... geez, I dunno th' terminology. Somethin' like tha'. It ain't some kinda weird bio thin', is wha' ah'm tryin' t' git at."

Another pause. She takes a quick look around the nearby area. From where she's standing, she can't see anyone in her field of vision, so she just turns to Taeda again, looking a bit confused.

"...Where be e'eryone? Ah'm sure there's gotta be more than jus' ourselves hangin' out 'ere, but ah can't see anyone from where ah'm standin'..."

<ROUND ONE-HUNDRED AND SIXTEEN>

The game opts to start off by doing a few NPC-based things- for instance, Marron's Needleweave Cloak is done! She loots it from her own shop.

---

Packo and Ette talk, with Packo only really just realizing that he hurt his friend. He asks if "hurt" is everywhere.

ETTE: (Hurt isn't just part of this world!)
ETTE: (I think getting hurt can happen in every world...)
ETTE: (Nobody likes getting hurt- in any world! Except Chloe's boyfriend from in the Mindscape. He was kinda weird!)
ETTE: (Maybe your world never called "pain" pain? I-I don't know...)

Ette tries her hardest to comfort Packo, giving him a shoulder to lean against. An incredibly soft shoulder to lean against. He then rotates his skill points, getting +2 MHP and +1 DEF in exchange for -1 AGI and -1 SPC. He also equips the Packo Plushie in place of the... Emerald Plushie, I'm guessing...?

---

Pope heads over to the tree back at the house, and loots his present! Tearing away the pyramid covered paper, he unveils the Blooming Bowtie! It appears to be made out of a piece of Megabark, enchanted to the high heavens with Manabloom essence. It's rather simple in terms of stats, but who said simple was bad...?

---

Venia does another sizable amount of things. First, she introduces herself to Hemlock. Hemlock introduces herself in turn.

HEMLOCK: Salutations, miss Venia. I am Hemlock.
HEMLOCK: Thank you for your services today... even if your presence might've caused the incident.

She chuckles, if in a slightly malicious fashion. She does however, seem quite happy with the pay. 1 Platinum Ingot, and 1 Chairian Pastry expended!

HEMLOCK: ...Payment? You didn't need to pay me. But hey, thanks.
HEMLOCK: Anyway, I'll be sure to bring this to the bladedancer. She's quite the foodie.
HEMLOCK: I'm not... quite sure as to what might've happened to Rose Cultists of all things to upset her, but it was probably necessary.

Hemlock is then shown the bits of the Yaga. She admires the gigantic razor-teeth of the beast. She doesn't seem to be quite as awe-struck as some other Chairians might be, though.

HEMLOCK: ...Amazing.
HEMLOCK: I didn't think that thing could be killed.
HEMLOCK: Between those rookies taking out an Eliti, and you guys taking out the Yaga on your own... you're making us look bad. Us veterans, anyway.
HEMLOCK: Good work.

HEMLOCK: Anyway, I'll be seeing you, probably?
HEMLOCK: Good luck with whatever the hell it is you're doing here.
HEMLOCK: Goodbye.

Hemlock departs to the south, back to her station at the Reception. She also complements Bass on his dance.

BASS: oh hey, thanks
BASS: it's kinda hard to do, moving your arms so fast
BASS: but it looks kinda neat

Bass continues his celebration, since he has nothing better to do. Elsewhere, Venia answers Nia's questions about why Maria is here.

NIA: She wanted to see you that badly?
NIA: ...What happened for that to be a thing? I-I mean, you're awesome, but how badly do you need to want someone to go to a spooky deadly planet for them?
NIA: She probably really, really likes you!
NIA: Anyway, I know you can take care of her! You've done really well so far, so... everything should be fine!

She then notes gift preferences for Maria. Plushies, for instance!

NIA: Ooh, plushies! That sounds good!
NIA: ...I already commissioned Marron for that plush of Chloe earlier, and I don't think she'd be willing to accept another request from me, though...
NIA: I also don't have nearly as much talent in crafting n' stuff, like Chloe and Xavier...

Nia bites her cheek, kinda miffed about her own inadequacies. The touchy subject of the mind-reading then comes up. Nia sighs.

NIA: I-I know i-it'll probably be okay, b-but that d-doesn't stop me from quivering in anticipation. You will see probably what you expect.
NIA: ...T-The gorillaing butterfly! I-Is there a way w-we can make it s-stop giving enlightening commentary and gorilla OFF-

Nia loses her composure, and takes a few moments to take some deep breaths. Despite this, she still seems incredibly volatile.

NIA: I-I swear, it's getting more pervasive by the second- more aggressive, I guess?
NIA: It's like it's... getting closer to doing something stupid again. I can't wait.
NIA: I know you need to do it, but I still really, really don't want anyone poking around in there...

Anyway, in not-really roleplaying related terms, Venia keeps going through Maxim's mindscape, scanning through its head to find memories. She then begins to copy some of the memories into some sort of eye-scanner she's using. Anyway, even with the memories coalesced into an orb, she finds herself unable to port it into reality- you'd probably need something along the lines of the Dreamer to print out something! And you don't have a Dreamer. She does however, print the memories into her head. No item obtained, since the memories were ported into her head. However, maybe now she can request something, and get some useful information? Of course, there's always a chance it might be corrupted, so who knows what'll happen?

Venia then does a bit of distribution, +1ing her RES and equipping her Radiant Glove. Nia, despite her earlier slight meltdown, notes that it looks cute on her. She also spends 10 Flux to buy the Twisted Rose! Venia then saves the game. This was probably a good idea.

---

Terry +2's his SPC, and -1's his MMP. He then opens the two gifts that Chaos left the party! He first... takes the about 5 cartons of Eggnog that Chaos put beneath the tree, since opening them now seems like a waste. 5 Eggnog Cartons obtained! He then opens the main package... and finds a variety of things!

-A Santa Hat (Tier 4)
-x500 Credits
-x64 Samples
-x3 Flux
-x200 Crafting Credits
-x1 Relic Coupon (Works on Chaos's current rotation of relics, and that rotation only.)

...You're not entirely sure where he found all of this, but it's quite the bounty! Maybe you can make use of those coupons now...? Or save them for after this zone's midboss, and maybe you can get some nice T4 equipment.

---

The Man +1's his SPC, and waits for something to happen. The game wants something to happen too, so it'll be starting a boss battle soon.

---

Echoss talks with a variety of people. First, he thanks Chloe for her gift.

CHLOE: H-Hey, it's nothing~
CHLOE: I'm glad you like it!

He also responds to Omorika's thanks. Perhaps he could tend to the restoration of the library?

OMORIKA: ...If you're willing to restore an excess of ten thousand damaged books... that would be appreciated.
OMORIKA: That might be hard for anyone to do. But perhaps you have "methods", as you said.

He then equips the Item Iris, and +1's his MHP. He(?) then commissions what's most certainly a bad idea, putting in the Bottled Bottled ERR into Nia's service, spending -40 credits on the transaction. It might be wise to cancel that order. But of course, letting it complete could be fun!

---

Boshi +1's his RES, and modifies his trait. They then go and loot their presents! Of which there don't seem to be any at the moment. Sadness ensues, probably.

---

Hex does some crafting! He glues together 3 Roseweave, 1 Ruby (-25 Crafting Credits), 1 Eterna Flower, 1 Bloodhound Hide, 3 Ashen Crystals, and 2 Entrophies to create the Rubyweave Cloak! He also places an order for Assorted Gun Parts with Nia, spending 40 Credits. He also +1's his AGI.

---

Nidra equips her newly-obtained Spidersilk Pillow, and then puts a point into INT and SKI. She also hunts down and kills a seeker for its crimes against the earth.

---

Toast purchases a Radvessel! Skillpoint softcap raised by 1! Go forth and minmax just a little bit harder! She also notes to Marron that they should start the Magic Club.

MARRON: Yeah, we should set up!
MARRON: ...I bet that even if a battle starts, we'd still be able to do it, too!
MARRON: Here, I'll go and set up a spot near Yggdrasil!'

Marron heads to the south-eastern side of Yggdrasil, and summons a picnic blanket. She carefully sets herself down upon the blanket, and beckons for Toast to come over.

---

Calibri equips the Switched Slicer, and talks with Chloe for a moment. He gives it a swing, appreciating the lighter weight.

CHLOE: Oh, you like it?
CHLOE: W-Whew! I haven't actually f-forged too many things in my time, s-so I'm glad you think it's good!
CHLOE: Anyway, I think you'll be able to give it a test soon. I kinda wanna see it in action against something more exciting than a wooden training dummy...

Chloe gives Cupcake a headrub as it wanders by her. She smiles warmly. Elsewhere, EN shrugs towards Taeda.

TAEDA: A-Adoptive mother?
TAEDA: That... that makes sense. I mean, i-it still doesn't given how different you two look...
TAEDA: B-But... family is family, however weird! I think.

TAEDA: Also, I don't really know where anyone is.
TAEDA: Maybe they're busy fighting people? I feel like I'm being left in the dark.

---

...The game, tired of waiting, opts to load the Far Off Field, far to the east of Zone 3. It's time to engage R4-Sat0skr! You have a feeling that someone's going to automatically engage with it come the start of the next round! So, maybe one of you can engage it and get some nice roleplaying in...?

...Speaking of R4-Sat0skr, it's time for a bit of dialogue.

The scent of ash and gunpowder is pungent. Cinders raise into the sky, wafting from the barrel of some metal monstrosity. A fusion of metal, fire, metal, brimstone, and even more metal. Exposed gears and cogs whir as a deafening "crack" lights up the area, the muzzle flash of the main cannon quite nearly blinding everyone who would dare look at the barrel of the machine. A shell of searing red crashes into Yggdrasil, its firework-like payload lighting up the sky around it, napalm dripping down onto the ground below.

You take a closer look at the machine. Treads that lust for the lives of infantry. Several metal struts that extend out of the tank, rooting it firmly to the ground. A barrel about as long as a Yggcrawler, and about as thick as Emerald's HP bar. Durasteel plating coats every square inch of the machine. It's impossible to imagine that this machine could've been produced by Chairians alone. Yet, here it is. Ready to rain ash until the end of time.

You might have a small problem on your hands.

---

<THE MINESHAFT, ROUND FOUR>
THE HORDE IS LOOSE. If you weren't already moving north, you should move north. The Carrion will start wearing your tanks down by sheer attrition (and poison) so you should be careful with them! In addition, Nezira is silenced, so your ability to dispose of them has sorta suffered. Careful, now!