From where my character is standing, he shoots R4, the tank

Brutishace just shoots R4 with his Ruiner Pistol. He's not much in a position to do much else. He also heals himself with the third Nanotech's body while he can.

Emerald just sort of... attacks R4. Is this selfharm? Does this mean R4 is suicidal, or depressed? Probably not. It’s a tank.

<ROUND ONE-HUNDRED TWENTY-NINE>

...The game barely needs to process anything in the post so far, due to the tactical roleplaydop yesterday. In fact, there's only a few posts that it needs to actually bother with for this part of the update! Let's jump right into them.

Mustache Girl goes fishing! Or at least, water-testing! She tests the waters with meat... and is promptly attacked by some weird-looking fish- it seems like they've been partially consumed by red, pulsating flesh! Y'know, like every other thing in this game, somehow. Anyway, the meat she brought with her is shredded, and dies. Good thing she didn't jump in!

...Anyway, who wants to go fishing???

---

...That was easy.

Anyway, the game auto-collects a few items for you- Hex's Plushie from the Temmie Shop, Ohm's Law from Nia, and the Nesting Shield from Mari, who's not here yet, but oh well.

---

<FAR OFF FIELD, ROUND SEVEN>
With a pickaxe to the tread, R4's entire starboard side starts exploding! One fiery plume into another, a chain reaction of epic destruction! Escape pods begin to launch from R4 en-mass, each of them flying off into the far unknown. As the last of the escape pods depart, one truly massive fireball rocks the already-pulverized tread, created by an overloaded fire crystal! The sheer force of the blast launches R4 a few solid meters into the air! It tumbles through the air a little, turning ninety degrees and landing on its port side. There's the sound of creaking metal as the tank rolls onto its back.

NIA: ...Did we do it?
NIA: Did we actually kill a gigantic freaking tank!?

There's one more solid explosion from R4's chassis. Then, there's a bit of sparking on R4's underside. A flash of light cuts through a few pipes, steam and fire spewing out of them as they're breached. Soon, there's a small disc-shaped hole on the bottom, and various chunks of metal pop out of it, rolling off of R4 and onto the scarred earth below. Then, a white flag pokes through, waving in the wind. There's a somewhat weak voice coming from within.

REBEL IN HATCH: ...
REBEL IN HATCH: so am I allowed to apologize
REBEL IN HATCH: because there's a lot of fire in here
REBEL IN HATCH: and honestly I do not want to die this way
NIA: Hold on, I've gotchu, fam.

Nia dives into the smoking wreckage, and pulls the Rebel out from the wreckage. He's smoldering a little, but a few puffs of ice manage to extinguish the infant flames. He's thankful, right up until Nia then freezes him together, wrapping his arms and legs together with locks of ice.

NIA: And now, I've got you... in custody!
NIA: Victory, victory~
REBEL NOT IN HATCH: oh shut up
NIA: Anyway, what should I do with you...?

While Nia ponders that question, teasing the defeated Rebel, Omorika turns to face Scale Yggdrasil.

OMORIKA: Now, with the threat neutralized, I believe that Scale Yggdrasil will be dropping its barrier soon enough...
OMORIKA: It takes an incredible amount of magical energy to sustain a shield of that caliber. Keeping it up for even a second too long is wasteful.
OMORIKA: ...
OMORIKA: Three, two, one.

Omo snaps her fingers. The barrier around Scale Yggdrasil suddenly begins to wave and wobble, before slowing disappearing from the top down. It's quite refreshing, seeing the miracle of ancient wonder no longer rendered in bluescale. Omo, not wasting even a second, points menacingly towards the now vulnerable tree.

OMORIKA: Now, I believe our next action should be to raid the tree.
OMORIKA: Please take care not to destroy it. I rather like it, in fact.
OMORIKA: But, raiding the tree is necessary to reach the chamber at its top.
OMORIKA: ...Of course, it'd be quite nice to have a breather before then.

She sighs deeply, before taking a sit on the ground. She helps herself to a few sips of that coffee she got for Christmas, smiling gently but warmly, now that the battle is done.

...Anyway, with R4 destroyed, it's now safe to raid Scale Yggdrasil! And also possible. I'd advise spending a bit of time to prepare; with R4's defeat comes more skillpoints, and the ability to wear a full set of Tier 4 gear! Also, if you have any Tier 5 items, you can now wear one of them at a time. Still no crafting them, though! (Except with unique items.) When ready, head for the Elevator at Scale Yggdrasil! You'll need one team to defend the base of the tree, and another team to ride the elevator up! Odds are, the team entering the tree will need to be pretty specialized- bring flight, sustain, and good crowd control- in fact, laser type attacks will likely fairly powerful! Why?

No reason.

Take your time- there's no hurry! Also, if you're really feeling up to it, you could try fighting Yume right now. If you decide to do Yume and the Elevator (+ its ground defense) at the same time, I'll balance accordingly.

Packo feels good with himself. Despite not being able to convince the Rebels to share their nanomachinery with them, he feels happy that they were able to flee the battlefield, hopefully to never return.









Packo will spend this turn at J35 in Zone 0, ready to leave next turn if no one has asked him yet! He may aid you at cooking bread, or at least something...

A big, big apron with a note next to it is now placed on K36!

And finally, you can now talk to the Bumblebeeps as their own character, which will always be next to Packo when not in battle (in which case, they will count as being in the same space as Packo). They will find themselves in I35 for the time being!

Boshi dumps one of his skillpoints into INT and one into SPC. He swaps out Static Overcharge for Incantation, and the Alchemist's Tool Belt for the Aeternalis Ribbon in the Player Crafted Equipment inventory. He's going to be upgrading his hat later...

He also completely changes his special.



---THE HANGING GARDEN---

After Boshi's talk with Toast, he looks on at the place. Then, he sighs. Guess I have work to do too, he thinks.

He performs a time travel sort of thing like Toast. This time, into the past to help destroy R4.

---THE FAR OFF FIELD---

Boshi turns to Ette. "(Well, thanks for the help. I was expecting to die, but this is a better outcome. So, thanks.)"

He then looks to the path back to Scale Yggdrasil. "(...though it does mean less wasted time, too. I've got more important business to attend to than a celebration. See ya.)"

He takes off for Scale Yggdrasil.

---SCALE YGG--

Boshi makes it to Scale Yggdrasil in record time. Thankfully it seems like Sophia is still there, waiting. She saw the barrier go off, after all. And she knows people are going to be converging on the base of the tree soon, so she stuck around, to see if she could draw some more attention.

Boshi looks on as he's helpless to do anything to help, but alas. He waits for everyone to gather around the base of the tree.

...It wasn't long before he catches a whiff of smouldering grass and dirt, and goes to check out the northwest side of Scale Yggdrasil. He, unsurprisingly, finds Mari there. "(Oh, hey there. Wondered what that meteor from a few seconds ago was. Ya look... sorta familiar. Have we met? Don't think so... well, not properly, anyway.)"

"(...Well, I'm Boshi. Pleasure to meet ya. I... er, normally travel with Sophia, AKA Hat Kid, around the place, but uh, something's happened. I'd, er, rather not go into details right now. Complex subject, and all.)"

Then he hears Toast and Marron shouting at each other, and immediately snaps to the exit and goes pale. "(...Ah gorilla, exactly what I hoped would not happen... uurrrggghhhhhh... well, can't do much about it right now...)" Boshi seems to be internalizing his frustrations... but quickly gets back on track as he turns back to Mari. "(Aaaanyway, we've got plenty of stuff for you to chose from. We'd be happy to have you on board, yadda yadda, you know the drill with these bloody recruitment procedures. Lookin' forward to working with you nonetheless, though.)"

If she asks for what they're doing soon, Boshi responds, "(So we're either going to be taking down an Eliti or taking the tree for the glyph. Dunno which. You'll probably hear about it soon enough, don't worry.)"

"(Well, I've got something to do. See ya.)" Boshi books it back to Sophia... who appears to be crafting something!?

---CRAFTING---

Sophia gets bored of standing around for ages, so she decides to craft something. Boshi feels like he should take his hat off... so he does so.


Boshi equips the Scooter Cap.

---MINING ADVENTURE---

/working

The Man adds 3 skillpoints to SPC and 2 to STR, and then says some witty comment about beating the R4, or something.

Character Stuff
Replace Soldiers Journal with Guide to Logistics.
Replace Patch of Focus with Tactician Implant.

Stats:
Place 5 points into INT
Remove 1 point from SKI

Nidra puts two points into SKI

---

Nidra quickly falls asleep as soon as the battle ends. However, her stuffed koala makes its way to...wherever the inventory is, and grabs a Megu Patch out of it. It also grabs a few pieces of rose weave and quickly fashions a tiny needle out a platinum ingot. With a quick bit of magic, the koala extracts and disposes of the entropy energy inside, preparing to use it as simple fabric. A few minutes of sewing later, and the eyepatch is perfectly sized for the koala. It then puts it on.

---

The koala then takes the pocket watch from Nidra's pockets. It opens it for a second, seeming to consider the inside, which you can't see from your perspective. The koala then grabs a few mental clusters and a bit more rose weave, somehow mashing the materials together to create a tiny floating sheep that eternally orbits around the outside of the stopwatch. It stares at it for almost a minute, entranced, before slapping itself to snap out of it.

---

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1iJq...#gid=1354470354

RP: Nia

Venia sighs. "...What did we see? A look inside your mind, what did we see? ... A lot."

Venia breathes in, and starts speaking-she speaks of how she entered the Mindscape and the cold winter wonderland landscape she spawned in, how the chibi Nias found her, how the alarm sounded, how she witnessed the Blood fight the army of chibi Nias. Venia states how she thought the Blood was some kind of agent of the Chaos Butterfly, initially, some manifestation of Nia's psyche corrupted by it. She tells how it was defeat, and of and Queen Nia letting her into the mountain and all that followed, and everything Queen Nia said-and Venia's responses. Venia states how she basically ignored Queen Nia's warning to not go near the abyss-she was a hologram and she had no other leads, so she figured she'd take the plunge.

Venia speaks how that she took notes as she did all of this, and how Chloe reacted to the existence of the Blood, and it is at this point Venia speaks of what the Blood was-a surge of surplus negative emotions, thoroughly surpressed by Nia, to convince herself and others (mostly herself) that she wasn't a broken wreck saddled by baggage. She speaks of how Chloe cried at not having known. She speaks that Venia, herself, already knew-suspected as soon as they met and confirmed for certain as soon as the small episode at Sequoia's Lake. Each passing moment just made her worry worse how deep the wounds were.

Venia speaks of what laid at the bottom of the abyss-a massive cavernous expanse of red and black goo. Venia speaks of Her (or 'Your Shadow' to keep Nia minimally confused), Nia's suppressed negative emotion given form-how it spoke, how it summoned the Bloods, how it was attempting to 'send a message' upstairs and what happened the one time it succeeded, and how it wished to be 'set free.' And Venia speaks of how she saw all of this and heard all of this and even though she braced for it as best as she could, she didn't know why, but she felt incredibly hurt at just seeing it all-the implication of Nia's suffering being too much to bear.

Venia says how she hugged the Shadow, how she tried to comfort her, how she insisted that she was better than what she said she was (and how Nia herself also applied). Venia speaks of how she insisted that Nia's Shadow was indeed Nia and Nia her Shadow and yadda yadda, and having known all along, with no biases agreed to help-if it meant Nia would ultimately come out better, happier and stronger. Venia admits at this point that she ran off of instinct rather than rationality, the sheer emotion swelling in here then overwhelming her better judgement-or perhaps her unneeded caution. Venia speaks of how she got Chloe into the Mindscape to witness to, and how she reacted... And how she asked Nia's Shadow to show Venia everything.

Venia speaks of the four memories, in order-of Nia dyeing her hair, of Nia being abused by her mother, of Nia being bullied by Natz, and of Nia's despair at learning her mother truly did not care for her. Each time she speaks of details to ensure Nia knows that she didn't read any minds. Between them, she also discusses what Her spoke, and of Venia and Chloe's constant reassurance of Nia's Shadow (and Nia herself) that they were truly friends, and wanted what was best for her, and left on a positive note, one that hoepfully would give Nia a bastion of strength she didn't even know she could use to fight against the Butterfly if it came to it.

And Venia speaks of the Butterfly. How it looked, what it did (a whole lot of nothing other than stare), what it had been doing, and some good news-that Venia figured that all it would take to rid it was to simply displace Nia to a new robotic body, that the Chaos may even enable them if it meant that it kept Nia's original body, but at the same time, that the Chaos was waiting for any vulnerability in Nia's defenses-mental and otherwise-to strike and possess her.

"... And that's... That's everything." Venia says, head hung low. Throughout the talk, it occurred to her that perhaps digging into Nia's darkest memories by what was clearly against her conscious wishes was a bad idea, even if everything else was a result of trying to find out about the Butterfly. "... Can't go back and undo what I did, or Chloe, but that's why it was just the three of us. No-one else speaks of this unless you, Nia, explicitly want us to. We won't have to talk about what we saw exactly, we don't have to do anything weird-in fact, for now, we don't do anything. We just... Take a breather, so to speak. We'll talk later. It won't be anything more than talking. We never, ever, ever have to do that ever again unless you really, really want to, or there's some absurd emergency that would require absolutely nothing else. We are done with that."

"As for the Chaos... well. Good news, mostly. No widespread corruption, and nothing to anchor it into your Mindscape beyond being there. Yanking it out, or pulling you away from it, should be easy. That said... there's also nothing stopping another possession like the river crossing to speak of. Nothing I saw other than the brace... so it's clearly just waiting for the right moment. Possibly, this was all part if the plan... Maybe. Maybe it's just so thoroughly unable to comprehend basic decency it literally cannot understand how what happened could go wrong for it."

"... You are a better person than you think, as I believe I mentioned to your Shadow. You made a mistake, you got emotional... It does happen. You haven't done anything worse than I have by any stretch-you've been unfairly shafted for the one time in your life you made the wrong choice after years of doing everything right. I knew all of this on some basic level and I swore that I would repay the favor you did to me-if nothing else, by giving that stupid insect the boot. Even if it kills me to do it. I just want the best for you, OK? Just, a life worth living."

"... If you want to talk or shout, do it. If you want to punch me, go ahead! Do it. By all means, I feel like I deserve whatever you have. A lot of people would agree. More than. Just don't hurt Chloe, please... If that's not what you want, there's some sort of duel thing going on, I guess we can participate on opposite teams and you can cream me there, or... Whatever... I'unno, I just... I'm just sorry, OK? Impulse. It was a stupid impulse. Maybe it wasn't a mistake, though? I just wanted everything to be a little more bearable... That's all I was thinking of. But it isn't fair to just keep everyone in the dark about what you're dealing with. Just imagine: if Chloe came to school one day covered in her own blood and tried to have you just ignore it, you'd want to find out what happened despite her insistence, because you care for her, right?... That's what I felt. That's all. I'm sorry."

Venia remains sitting, hand pressed to her temple.

---

MAGIC CLUBBBBBB

Not much to report here, actually. Maria just notices the lack of anything interesting going on, loses interest in poking Sophia's glitchy form, and waves everyone goodbye as she returns to the house with a smile.

---

RP: Verdana

Venia stares at the Engie drone.

"... I've met someone like that, unable to process doubt. Or, almost. I... OK, I have very unpleasant experiences on the matter. I'm sorry. I'm sure Verdana's a better person than he would be, though, but... I... I really can't deal with that again, on top of everything else. Sorry."

Venia's head hangs low, again, before walking away.

---

Skillpoints, Spells and Sidegrades

Venia takes her new 2 points and puts them into her MP. Venia switches Pow Hammer for Force Nail. She adjusts all the modifiable resistances on her clothes (Ga'aunt and the Radiant Glove) to resist Ice instead of Fire, putting her Ice Resistance to a noticeable 70% while dropping her Fire Resistance to 20%.

Venia slaps her trait with a nerfbat, lightly. Her damage percentile for using Alteranting Weapon Attacks now goes up every 5 SPC instead of every 4. This means she currently does 30% damage instead of 40%.

Venia then takes 5 Copper Cogs, and, in a blatant display of not giving one gorilla for how anything works, period, just kind of violently shoves them directly into the barrel of her gun. Then, she shakes the Slayer's Splintershot around, which causes an unusually massive amount of noise as she goes, until she feels fit to call the whole thing done. She aims down the sights of the gun at a tree. Golden chains pop up as normal-but unlike before, these chains have noticeable spikes jetting out of them, digging into the tree. Wrapped tight, but not tightly enough to constrict movement-just enough to seriously reconsider it.

"Lovely."

Venia's changed her Slayer's Splintershot, somewhat; instead of applying that wonky CRT buff, Venia applies Lockdown3 for 2 rounds as well as the Ensnared3 for 2, and clarified a few keywords that were pretty much already on there.



Formatting page for Ire.

---

Nia build suggestions

not even gonna super-duper RP this, just throwing it here.

>Switch Silverglitch for the Whispering Staff. ("... His name is Boxican. He's very loud and shouty. But he'll grow on you, and get strong, as you need him to be. He's quite like my gauntlet in that aspect. I believe he's to your specialty-he'll rattle whatever you move, however you move it. Oh, and he can't talk with anything that isn't touching him, so... That'll be useful.")
>Switch Salvation for Phase Shift, or whatever other spell Nia's interested in. ("... Salvation's very useful and all, but like, you don't have to use it if you don't want to. You can keep the tome, though. Its a marvel of magic, and all.")
>Take the Throwlem Hand over the Portable Tellyporta. ("... Don't tell Irongutta this, because that thing's cool, but I think you may really like this. For some reason, it makes things move farther if you force them to move. Which, works well with Boxican and your general strategy, I think. We don't really have a mage like you, you know... I think its actually really smart and neat, what you do. Line 'em up, knock 'em down."

---

NPC Services

Venia will politely ask Mari to begin research on the MMPBoost V1. And welcomes her into the party, if she hasn't been already. "Mari! Nice to see you again. Even if you had to take the trip here twice... Its very convenient. We've got a bit of downtime, so I think I can sort you out."

Assuming no-one else has any suggestions/gifts for Mari, Venia hands her the Air Controller (Weapon), Comissiar's Hat (...Hat), Solar Array (Trinket) and Megu Patch (Trinket). The first three come from the Player Crafted Inventory and are T3, for the record.

---

Bugfixing

>+1 Flux from Ohm's Law was missed.
>Mari's full name isn't rendering.
>Aerobeam and Guiding Hand on Mari have not been scaled. Her unique sub-trait is not rendering in her character sheet.
>Mari hasn't been given a backstory, her proper karma value, or the 'Aquaintences' level for Puppet Friend.
>Mari's MX Drone should have the 'Insignificant' passive, preventing them from having ZoCs, giving SP to enemies, or leaving named bodies.
>Megu Patch's Intangible Distortion should read "Once per battle, as a bonus action, you may apply the effects of Manafuelled5 to a spell with the Splash keyword that you cast. In addition, that spell's Splash value increases by 1."
>Yume's Battle Cap is not displaying.
>Monika isn't present on the field map in Zone 2 at the Hall of Sages area. (Should be at S18)
>Water tiles should deal water damage, rather than ice damage.
>Lutea's free Tornadopetal solution was already taken, but a text error prevents her shop from reflecting this.
>the link to Scroll 6 of 13 for the Hoshi Homura ARG hasn't been added to Keiko's "Mark of the Healer" accomplishment in character sheets.

<ROLEPLAYDOP>
Oh lawd, another one already? Well, this one is here to cover a single event. So... here we go! Thanks to Toast for helping write this!

---

CHLOE: Okay!
CHLOE: So, Toast is waiting at Yggdrasil's Approach!
MARRON: S-She is?
CHLOE: Yeah.
CHLOE: Don't fret too much- it'll end well, I know it!
MARRON: Well, if you say so...

---

Yggdrasil’s Approach. A place where the flowers are in constant bloom, shining color and joy onto their surroundings. In contrast to the beautiful blooms is one somewhat guilty-looking self-proclaimed sorceress- Toast.

Since her most recent arcane disaster, her thoughts have been dominated by guilt, confusion, anger, and fear. But now, she hopes to fix that- or, at the very least, apologise.

She sees her girlfriend, Marron. Moving aggressively towards her, a fury still aglow in her eyes. To her surprise, the puppeteer is being accompanied by someone she detests- Chloe, who seems to be a bit nervous, her hands fidgeting with the locks of her golden hair. As the two approach her, Toast swallows nervously, anticipating the worst.

CHLOE: U-Um, heya, Toaster!
TOAST: H-hey...
CHLOE: S-So!

She claps her hands, trying to pump herself up. She gestures to Marron, who stares blankly at Toast.

CHLOE: Marron… has something she’d like to say to you!
CHLOE: So, um… why don’t you-
MARRON: No. She can explain her stupidity first.
CHLOE: W-Wait, didn’t we go over…
CHLOE: ...
CHLOE: A-Anyway, a bit hostile there, but alright...

Toast swallows again. This is gonna be slightly more difficult than she anticipated.

TOAST: M-Marron… I'm… really sorry about this.
TOAST: Th-that you got caught up in it, that I… n-nearly killed you… a-and for running away after.
TOAST: I-I was just really scared of what you would say…
TOAST: ...A-and I didn't want you to be afraid of me.
MARRON: …

Marron scoffs at Toast.

MARRON: Scared… of you!?
MARRON: gorilla OFF! I’m not scared of you! You and your… stupid magic!
MARRON: You’d think that being an all-powerful sorceress would require having a few gorillaing braincells!
MARRON: But apparently, it doesn’t! After all, anyone with ANY COMMON SENSE AT ALL would check to make sure that they DON’T BLOW UP THEIR FRIENDS!
CHLOE: U-Um, Marron? You might wanna j-just-

Marron begins yelling louder, any sort of composure she had earlier falling to the wayside and exploding in a glorious fashion.

MARRON: You know, if I was paying as much attention as you were, I’d be DEAD!
MARRON: Because you were paying NO attention! I barely escaped that attack with my life!
MARRON: And then I lost my arm, and now I’ve lost you, and UUUUUUUGHHHHH-

All the while, Toast is left frozen as her worst fears for this endeavour have come to pass. Chloe slowly backs away. Fighting a tank is one thing. Dealing with a small angry puppet girl is another class unto itself.

MARRON: IN FACT, I BET YOU AIMED FOR ME, DIDN’T YOU!?
CHLOE: Wait wait wait, she clearly didn’t-
TOAST: M-Marron! I didn't-
MARRON: IT ALL MAKES SENSE! NOBODY’S STUPID ENOUGH TO DO THAT… ON ACCIDENT! YOU HAD TO!
TOAST: Y-you know I wouldn't do that! I made a mistake!
MARRON: I would barely describe “almost killing me” as a mistake!
MARRON: That’s like, a MAJOR gorillaUP AT MINIMUM!
TOAST: I make mistakes, Marron! I'm not some sort of legendary archmage!
TOAST: I'm not perfect!
TOAST: Sometimes, these things happen, and that's why I'm here- to apologise!
TOAST: I'm spilling my heart out for you, and you're stomping on it!
MARRON: WELL, I DON’T NEED YOUR HEART!

Marron pulls on her Heart Bracelet, breaking the strap that held it onto her normal arm. She then hurls it at the ground, and it skips a few feet away. Chloe quickly scrambles over to it to pick it up, dusting off the heart-gem upon it… but upon further inspection, it’s been cracked! Toast's immediate shock is quickly overtaken by anger. Her lip curls in rage.

TOAST: Fine! I don't even know why I bothered trying to apologise to you!
TOAST: Apology officially rescinded!
TOAST: If you're just gonna stand here and criticise every mistake I make, then what was the point!
MARRON: I-I don’t know! I don’t even know why I even felt-
CHLOE: OH MY GOD EVERYONE SHUT UP!

Chloe has placed herself in-between the two girls, sweat and fear composing her face. She takes a moment to breathe, before talking, a clear hint of deliberation in her words.

CHLOE: Marron.
CHLOE: Why don’t you just… state the reason you came here?

Marron sighs. It looks might she have calmed down.

MARRON: …
MARRON: FIGHT ME!

...She did not.
As if in response, Toast's crystal arm becomes wreathed in lightning, a very slightly completely furious look in her eyes. She takes a step forward towards Marron, before she's stopped by a exasperated Chloe.

CHLOE: W-What she means, s-she wants to have a duel with you!
CHLOE: Like… like what you did when you met here!

CHLOE: I… I thought that maybe, it’d be better if it was actually planned?
CHLOE: I-I don’t want anyone getting hurt too badly, and I know that things won’t really be resolved unless you two did something about it…
CHLOE: And, well… I don’t think words a-are working too well right now…
CHLOE: If there’s a clear winner and loser… i-it’d be... m-more cathartic? Less painful?

She stares at both parties, trying to gauge their reactions. Marron had made plans about this beforehand, so she’s not really surprised. Toast's gaze remains locked on Marron, until she flicks her head away theatrically. Her rage tempers, fading from a monstrous inferno to a cool blaze.

TOAST: Fine. If Marron wants to fight, we'll fight.
MARRON: I mean, I’ll win easily. I’ve learned from last time.
CHLOE: W-Well, looks like we’ve reached an agreement.

Chloe breathes as much of a sigh of relief as one can at the moment.

TOAST: But!
CHLOE: oh god
TOAST: If I win, then you have to accept that it was an accident, and also accept my apology.
TOAST: apology officially un-rescinded
MARRON: And if I win… then you can go and gorilla off!
CHLOE: R-Really? That’s all you two wan-
CHLOE: ...A-Anyway!
CHLOE: I-I was thinking that maybe, you two should go and… gather team members, o-or something?
CHLOE: I-It’d be best if you two spent a bit of time apart, a-anyway...
TOAST: Fine. But I'm taking Chloe.

Chloe goes silent. She begins sweating bullets.

CHLOE: U-Um, h-how do I say…
CHLOE: I-I was going to be on Marron’s t-team…?

Toast clenches her jaw, glaring not at Chloe, but at Marron. The puppeteer sniggers back at her.

CHLOE: D-Don’t get me w-wrong, b-but…
CHLOE: I-I… e-erm, you killed Wyvern, a-and t-that’s just…
CHLOE: …
CHLOE: O-On the other hand, i-it’d be a really great chance for me to train, a-and… y-yeah…?
TOAST: …
TOAST: Fine. If you want to be on her team, go wild.
TOAST: I'll go recruit my own team.

Toast, much, much angrier then when she arrived, storms off to find people who weren't completely alienated by her most recent mistake. Chloe tries to cry out something to her as she leaves.

CHLOE: I-I’m really sorry!

...Once Toast is out of view, Chloe turns to face Marron, suddenly furious.

CHLOE: WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT!?
CHLOE: W-We discussed how we’d do this! A-And now, y-you’ve totally screwed up your-
MARRON: I-I FREAKED OUT, O-OKAY!?

Marron’s both blushing and teary-eyed, her words barely coherent.

MARRON: I-I h-had what you said in mind, b-but I freaked out, a-and I couldn’t think, and I just kept getting angrier and angrier…
MARRON: A-And I’ve just made things w-worse, a-and now s-she hates me...

She turns away from Chloe, trying her hardest to hide the fact that she’s crying.

CHLOE: …
CHLOE: N-No, I understand…
CHLOE: I understand completely. I-It’s just like…
CHLOE: …

CHLOE: W-Well, we should go and get prepared. You can try and apologize later, even if you’ve… w-well...

Marron nods, still not turning to look at Chloe. The blonde crouches down next to her, and pulls her into a tight hug, leaving her to bawl for a moment. A few seconds later, Chloe pulls away… and hands the damaged Heart Bracelet to Marron.

CHLOE: Here.
CHLOE: A reminder of your past mistakes… and the knowledge of how to avoid making those mistakes ever again.

Wordlessly, Marron takes the Heart Bracelet, stitches the strap back together with a few quick words- the ones she learned from Toast at Magic Club, only a few hours before. The two of them walk off, not discussing plans or team members… but the future.

---

...And with this, you're now officially allowed to discuss teams with both Toast and Marron. Toast can accept up to three more members, while Marron can only take one.

==RP==
--Chloe--
Nezira looks at Chloe for a second, shocked at her perceptiveness.
"H-how did you figure that out... That was exactly the next step wands took in history, down to a T. People started to mix materials for efficiency, utility, and so on -- things like wood with metal cores, crystal-tipped wands and staves, and so on. Channeling mana through different materials at the same time let them sort of magically 'merge' and be counted as the same object for magical purposes."

She pauses for a second, reflecting on how things have gone.

"I suppose I have dumped a lot of information on you during this club, haven't I? I tend to get excited that way, when the conversation's about magic. How about we meet up again once things have calmed down a little, maybe after we make bit more progress towards our goal -- I'll have made some wands by then, and I can teach you some spells as well! It's probably best to teach you some practice to go along with this glut of theory, after all. (Again, sorry about that, I do get enthusiastic.)"

"Well, what do you say?"

--Magic Club, General Wrap-up--
Nezira stands up and says a few things.

"Hey, everyone! Since it seems like things are winding down here, I just wanted to notify everyone of a few things that could be of interest. First off, I'm planning to make some stationary emplacements that restore health and mana and put them in place at our home base. The health should be useful in case anyone gets especially roughed up in a fight, but more importantly for right now, the mana one should be useful if anyone wants to practice the magic they've learned about here, since it'll let you refill your power quicker. (I'm also going to make them using magic, so if anyone's interested in watching that, it's more magic to learn from!) Also, if anyone wants some type of magical implement, I had a few ideas for specialized wands thanks to someone giving me inspiration, and I'm not going to really need the test models much after I make and test them -- so I anticipate them being up for grabs if anyone wants to drop by in a while and get one -- I'll put a note up once they're available. Lastly, even though the first meeting of Magic Club is ending, if anyone wants to learn more magic outside of the club, feel free to come to me, I'd love to help you with it!"

She waves, then sits back down again.

--Duel Plans--
Nezira walks up to Marron, Chloe, and Ette.

"...Hey. I heard you were wanting to duel Toast. I think I'd like to be on your team, if you'd have me. I don't bear any huge ill will against her, but she did do something irresponsible with magic and hurt a few members of our party, and caused a big rift as well. A duel seems like a fine way to resolve things, at least if nobody gets permanently hurt during it and it helps get out feelings... and being on your side seems more ... what's the word ... it's not 'justified', or 'supported', but it's close. I guess what I'm trying to say is that you were hurt by her, even though it was an accident, so it seems more... attractive, morally, to be on your side? Words still fail me sometimes."

She pauses for a second.

"...Marron, I just hope you and Toast can work things out. I can tell both of you care for each other... Toast seemed really torn up after her mistake, and you, well, I can see how much you've been affected by whatever happened between you and her that left a duel floating as an idea. It can be hard to talk to people when you're hurt and angry and sad, and it can get away from you, but... sometimes talking is what needs to happen."

Nezira sighs.

"Maybe, after the duel, feelings on both sides will have cooled enough to allow for talking it out. I feel like that'd lead to the best outcome for everyone."

"...Anyway. I'd like to be on your team, if you'll have me?"

==LOGISTICS/CRAFTING==
Nezira decides to make those fortifications for the house that she mentioned at Magic Club.


While she's creating things, she makes that wand for Chloe.

She also makes a new trinket for herself.


Nezira also recrafts the Recharging Scanner to literally just change its flavor text to,
POWERING UP... PORTALS SCANNERS ONLINE

==RESPEC==
Nezira takes all five skillpoints out of RES, then adds one skillpoint to HP (6 total), three to SKI (10 total), and three to SPC (14 total).

She swaps her spells around to:
Proximity Burst; Twin Shards/Seas Seas/Serpents; Guiding Hand; Shopping Spree.

She also replaces her Cardboard Amulet with the (now crafted) Hammerspace Sack.

She rewords and respecs her trait: Scan range increased to 1-7. Scanning an enemy inflicts Analyzed(X) on them for the battle. Any attack or counter on an Analyzed enemy has +X HIT/CNT and CRT.

Codex Burst gets replaced with Refine Understanding: (If you scan an Analyzed basic enemy, you may opt to forego Analyzing them again to instead apply a bonus based on the types of Analysis on them -- listed under the Analysis listings.)

...In fact, I'll just post a link to my new trait/new trait wording...

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1xSq...220470&range=B6

One more thing; she also changes her special's fill conditions to just read "Scanning Enemies" instead of "Scanning Un-Analyzed Enemies"

Destiny walks over to Toast.

So I heard things are not going so great between you and your lover...
I also heard about a duel between you and her. I want to join in, a spar is something I have not had in a while. I will consider joining with you.

Destiny then puts a point into AGI and a point into HP.

She then decides to craft.



She quickly equips this, replacing Backup.
-----

Crya decides to ask for what her aura is like.

This aura stuff is interesting! Try mine! Try mine!

After everything is done, Crya gives a little applause.

That was a lot of fun! We should meet again some time.

Well, these last few turns have been a total gorillashow, wasn't it?

Auth wakes from his absolute stupor. Time to actually do things. First: 1 Skill Point into MP, 1 into INT.

---

Magic Club! Magic Club!

Auth thinks quietly for a second.

uA: I mean... I'm not sure how I'd do that, Marron... The primary issue is that the spectres are bound to me. I don't know how to transfer that.

Auth seems to be thinking about it, as he pulls out a sword, sheathed and bound in a dimly glowing purple chain around the handle, keeping it trapped within the sheath. It's the real Inkscalibur, if the gem in the pommel is anything to go by.

uA: Well, I'm not sure about how effective it could be used as a weapon like this...

Auth pulls out what appears to be a protective plate, revealing six sigils in a row. In order, (Writ Upon The Heavens), (The Wound That Saves Your Life), (A Mistake, Forged Into A Triumph), (Two Futures, Endlessly Circling), (A Commingling Of Radiances) and (To Become Fire, Rather Than Be Burned). Not that anyone but Auth would know, of course. Together, they seem not to hurt.

uA: Six sigils for a sentence, seven for a name. Mortals like you and I aren't supposed to be able to comprehend it, especially when spoken. I know that Flukes use it to destroy ships... oh, that's pretty neat. I can even show that...

Auth stands up, and moves a fair distance. He sets up a wall using some iron plates, about as big as a person.

uA: Alright, you guys might want to cover your ears, or this'll hurt.

After that warning, and giving people a few seconds, he starts speaking. The people would probably still be able to hear, something that sounds partly between fire, static and unholy screaming. Not in Auth's standard voice, however. It sounds extremely different, like something that should not be coming out of any normal person't mouth. The metal screams under the stress from Auth speaking like this, before shattering into a billion pieces. Just from Auth speaking the Correspondence.

uA: Well? What do you think?

Auth listens to the others now, seeming quite interested as Toast talks about Aura.

uA: Hm... what's mine like? I... am not totally convinced I'd have one, if it's related magic. I've been totally magically inept for my entire life - Genoa tells me my ink stuff isn't magic, as much as most people don't believe it.

Auth waits to find out what Aura he'd have at that point.

---

After R4 goes down... Auth starts moving immediately after he hears about the rebel potentially burning to death in there, but he sighs in relief as Nia gets him out safely. Auth rushes over and checks the rebel for injuries.

uA: Hey... are you okay? Need any injuries patched up? Sorry about the, uh... likely expense, but we really don't want you blowing up the Legion base.

Auth heals any injuries indicated to him... before nodding and walking over to Marron in the next area.

uA: Hey... I saw what happened out there. Do you want a hand? Let me take care of those, Marron, I can't let you get into another fight in that state. If something happened to you, I'd never forgive myself, when I could have done something.

Auth rushes back to the field where they fought R4, and looks around for Marron's arm. When he finds it, he brings it back. He starts tending to any of Marron's wounds that aren't the arm, before holding the arm back to her.

uA: Do you want to do this yourself, or would you like me to help you with this? I don't know how to reattach it, so you'll need to advise me that way though.

Auth makes sure Marron is okay once she's patched up, and then checks on Chloe.

uA: Here, let me help you with those, too...

Auth heals Chloe up too, and smiles to make sure she's okay. After that, he goes back to Marron.

uA: It... seems you might be angry with Toast. I can understand why, considering what I saw happen. I might have said this before, but I'll say it again just in case. If you need help with anything, let me know, I'm willing to help in any way I can.

Trusting in Nezira's likely-extensive knowledge of both cookies and magic, Toast gives a thumbs up to Marron.
"Okay, so if I remember correctly, the modifier word is 'Medeo'. It translates roughly to 'persist', which means..."

She holds her hand out, palm up. "Tifi Tifi Medeo Cartum." A cookie appears in her hand. Those who could see Toast's aura would see it shrink by a significant amount for the amount of matter created. She looks kinda tired, though that's likely in part due to the aura-investigations, "I was gonna give this to you, Marron, but I feel like I actually kinda need to eat this to get my energy back."

She does so. In one bite. Contented sounds quickly follow.

Additionally, while Nez describes how the counterspell circle works, Toast takes shorthand notes. She's no stranger to magical mishaps, so a structure like that could be useful for mitigating them.

~~

At that, Toast claps her hands with a disappointing 'clang'.
"So, I think that's all we have time for. We'll probably come back and do this tomorrow maybe. We'll see how things go. In any case, be sure to practice, if you've decided to pick up a new system of magic. That's, er, my homework for you all!"
Toast, not really sure how to conclude, takes an awkward bow, before time travelling back to R4. Or just like, walking over there. Instancing.

Hex celebrates the fall of R4 by looting everything that remains of it that hasn’t already been grabbed.. only to find most of it is already gone. He shrugs, and proceeds to rip out the steering wheel and control panels and chuck them into the inventory. Maybe they could be used on the car?
He then picks up the Hex Plushie
“Awww, it’s really cute! Thanks, Marron! Oh, and best of luck with your duel!”
“..by the way, is your puppet arm going to be okay? It kinda got.. ripped off. You seem to have it handled, but it looked pretty bad.
STATSS He replaces the Pro MLG Charm with the Hex Plushie, which he.. uh, just sticks on his head. Because that’s cute and somehow doesn’t use the hat slot. He then takes 1 point from SKI, and 1 from INT, and then adds that, with the 2 points from R4, into MOV, for +1 MOV. Finally, he changes the methods of gaining Switch to: Regen Phase, Dodging Attacks, Attacking Enemies, Gaining SP.

ITEM STUFF (Blood, soul)

Hex then gets two very, very, terrible ideas. He yanks Maxim’s Corpse out of the inventory, and drags it over to the blood vial altar, and stuff one of the tentacles of it into the first slot, then sticks his arm into the second, and activates it. TL;DR: Maxim + Hex Blood vial created. He then applies a few Salves to heal the damage done by the transfusion, and looks with hunge- erm, interest at the new blood vial, and puts it into the inventory.

Then, he pulls a bottle out of nowhere, and attempts to repeat what he accidentally did during the R4 Battle, namely, ejecting his soul. Once/if it pops out, he bottles it, trapping his soul.
he then falls over dead from error 404: soul not found Well, hopefully /s.

CRAFT: Rubyweave Scarf.
Materials used: 5 Ashen Crystals, Rubyweave Cloak
Hex unclips his cloak, and looks at it. It was good, but to be honest, it was kinda weird wearing it over his power armor, and it tore easily. He walks over to the Workstation, and places the Scarf down, and removes the clip, causing it to fall apart, a bundle of soft, overly magical fabric. (That’s probably not how cloaks work but sssshhh reality doesn’t know that.) Hex then cuts of small bits of the cloak, changing the shape, repositioning the gems, and for good measure, grabs a handful of the Ashen crystals obtained from mister big-ass death tank. Then, he cuts them up with Helix’s Hand, into smaller, more plentiful, beadlike shapes, and places them along the cloak, lining it, and giving it a fiery aura. Then, he ties it up, and equips it.
T4 Hat: Rubyweave Scarf.
Tooltip: and the case for Hex secretly being a anime character grows
Stats: same as the Cloak, but with a massively toned down Slashing weakness, and if possible, a small buff to the regen.

RP:

Hex asks Toast what his aura would be.
THE SPHEREBREAKERS VS. THE VERY BIG TREE

Hex, done with his crafting, runs to Scale Yggdrasil, readying himself for battle, fire trailing behind hi- and he set the path on fire goddamn it Hex. He panics, then quickly douses the flame, and turns towards Yggdrasil, unsheathing his blade
“Wow, okay, we’re doing this. Welp, let’s go siege a tree.”
He strikes a anime pose, because that’s probably required in situations like this, and runs forward, ready to engage, joining the attack team!

Magic Club

Irongutta is further interested by auras as Toast continues to explain them, and even describe that of others present at Magic Club. The Ork eagerly raises his hand.

"Ooh, do me next! I'z real curious about wot mine's like, Toast!"

---

The R4 went up in a massive explosion, which forced Irongutta to dive away for his life because he was practically hugging the tank when it went treads-up. With his ears ringing, he quickly checked himself to make sure all of his limbs were still attached. Everything seemed to be in order.

After hearing Nia's victory yell, Irongutta let out one of his own. !"WAAAAAAGH! We did it! We actually did it! We uh... really did a number on 'er now that I look at 'er." He put a hand against what remained of the tank's burnt-out shell, seeming a little down. "Poor thing."

He looked up at Nia, who was still atop the tank. "Wot do ya think, Nia? Could we still fix 'er after all that?"

Irongutta puts 2 skillpoints into AGI.

Brutishace applauds Toast's investigation of auras at the Magic Club, and volunteers his own aura to be examined.

"Could you examine my aura too, once you can?"

The Necromancer also allocates one skill point each into HP and MP, while transferring his two Skill points from STR into INT.

"..."

Inside the house, Verdana gradually manages to calm down, although anyone bothering to give him the barest of glances would quickly tell that he's still very much on edge. Once he's calm enough, he sighs and moves to push himself up to his feet, gripping the windowsill near him to steady himself.

"...That was unpleasant. I'll... probably just keep to myself for a while. No need to worry anyone..."

He turns, heading back down into the basement to go back to tending to Gibbet. While he is still quite shaken from recent events, he'll at least be okay for that.


Meanwhile, Calibri at magic club still seems to be fine just hanging out. He glances over at hat kid, noticing that she answered the writing, and thus has at least some way of seeing some things done by at least one person. Probably best to keep her informed, so a bit more "writing" (read: lasering the ground) should cover that...

We don't know. Something must have happened. We'll work on finding out.

With that done, he returns his focus to Chloe.

"Yeah, that helps a bit. Let me just figure out some things and... Okay. I'm fairly sure of Expression and Confidence, heh. Probably also Order, if my own experiences are anything to go by... Ain't really sure of the other two. What sounds like it'd fit?"


Elsewhere, EN chuckles, amused at Lutea and Beluta's struggle to carry the tornadoshell, taking hold of it and carrying it fairly easily with just one hand. Granted, she herself is having a bit of issues just due to how shaky it is with the tornado in there...

"Y'all ain't needed t' struggle wit' carryin' tha', y'know. Ah'd've been fine lendin' a 'and wit' it. Don't get me wrong, 's kinda cute tha' y'all blush green, but still. Anywho, ah'll go test this thingy out once there's a good opportunity, well as th' 'nado remedy, an' git back t' ya on 'ow tha' goes, aye. See ya's 'round, heh."

EN proceeds to carry the shell and free instance of remedy off, deciding to go check in on other things. And also get some things sorted...

It's craftpost time, darling~ why the fuck did I say that



Later, at the Yggdrasil's Approach, EN wanders over to go check out Mari. It's painfully obvious she's going to say something incredibly cheesy just by her expression as she approaches and sees the pod...

"Yo, Mari. Did it 'urt when ya fell from 'eaven?"

Seinfeld theme. Over-the-top laugh track. EN chuckling to herself at her own pun. These sounds all blare at the exact same time once she's finished her sentence. After that, she smirks, then...

"Ah've been wantin' an excuse t' use tha' one fer a while, heh. Real speakin', it's a terrible pickup line, 'cept fer real specific circumstances. Anyway, sup. Heard ya was 'round 'ere. Ah take it yer joinin' us or somethin', since ya did put yer sheet in th' NPCs tab an' all...? Ah'm assumin' so. Apologies if ah git a bit full on wit' this next bit... Gearin' up."

EN shrugs. She pulls out the Air Dominator, handing it over to Mari.

"E'en if ya wasn't joinin' us fer some reason, y'ain't e'en got a gun wit' ya. Have a gun. They're neat."

After a pause, EN snaps her fingers. A copy of the Multipoint Witch and Dispenser Headgear appear to either side of her.

"An' 'ere's a pair o' hats. Either o' 'em have appeal t' ya?"

And then another snap of the fingers. EN's holding a Megu Patch. She's also holding a Solar Array.

"An' 'ere's a pair o' trinkety thin's. Ah feel like they'd suit ya. So, yeah. Nice t' meet ya again once again."


Meanwhile, in the Everground, the Engie drone turns to Mustache Girl and nods.

"I see. This must me one of them sidequest areas where player NPCs or whatever they're called get relegated to doing things by people who don't want to stick to one character doing everything. That's neat. So, there's Iti below, and other stuff around the place. I'll go check out the lake, it's simpler."

He proceeds to wander off to the lake, obliviously smashing his body against the tunnel walls due to being kind of big and bulky compared to most everything else, then he stares into the lake for a while. It seems he is aware of there being things in there... As such, he takes out what looks like a harpoon gun, then fires it, sending a harpoon with a chain on it into the lake in the hopes he can spear one of the monstrofishties and yank it outta there onto dry land for a better look.

"I have been down here for not very long, and I am already not sure why anyone would want to come down here, for the record."


Oh, also, stats and equipment stuffs.

Calibri: Change Illusory Trap to Sword Beam. +2 STR. Change Soldier's Journal to Eviscerator Bladetip with slaspierce and piercing resistance. Move skillpoint from AGI to SPC.
EN: +1 DEF. +1 RES. Change Hunter's Mark to Sandvich. Change every instance of Ice weakness to Water weakness Actually, hold off on that until Water tiles are updated to deal Water damage. Move 2 skillpoints of STR to SPC. Change Manifest Gun and HDA to Intimidation and... Flirt. WE'RE DOING THIS.