Cal does nothing.

"...Can't do much without breaking camo."


Verdana decides to relocate onto the roof, almost. He's not in direct line of sight, and is clinging to one wall of the house like an observer, close enough to intervene should dangerous things happen involving the floof and Maria.

"Hmm."


EN takes a brief detour from plan "apply stuff to airship" to go seek out a store, buy an Aspect of Void, track down Taeda, and hand it to her.

"Sup, Tae. Prolly 'bout time y' got one o' these thin's. Apparently y'all jus' put it 'gainst yer chest an' it makes yer special cooler. Or somethin'. Ah dunno."


"...Dialogue."

Auth has been astutely taking notes, trying to think up a design for the trap he discussed with Omo. No dice.

uA: Hah. Yeah, we're those Spherebreakers you may or may not have heard about.

Auth nods, waving to Boshi as he heads for the Caravan.

uA: Anything else we can help you with? If I heard right, you're ex-Legion...

Auth thinks to himself for a second.

uA: Well, you heard what Omo had to say about us, but I feel it good to add that we do have a number of Chairians in a similar position to you. Well... three, including Omo, but the point stands.
uA: You're welcome to join us. I think you've got quite a useful ability, from what I've seen, and we'd appreciate your help quite a lot.

Auth is clever enough to know an opportunity when he sees it, more allies are always helpful. He figures he can ask, if it gets turned down, fine, if it gets accepted, good. Auth waits for a response... before heading over to the caravan himself. He should be getting ready for that.

----

Auth nods to Lutea.

uA: Quite plenty. Thanks, Lutea. I'll be sure to tell you if I think of anything, and when we find out what the new remedy does.

Auth is visibly, physically taking down notes in a notebook, quickly writing that Nana likes gardening and reading (what a coincidence), and that she dislikes loud noises.

uA: I bet Nana would have spent a lot of time in the Grand Library, then...
uA: Alright, it's going to bother me if I don't ask but don't feel obligated, I just need to ask. How old is she?

Auth sighs, getting that off his chest.

uA: Besides that... any specific genre she likes, to your knowledge? And that should be everything. Thanks for your time.

Because I spent the whole day up until now helping someone move... Fast post just to craft something.

Corrupted Cleric's Veil (T4) -> Sequencer Visor (T5)


STAT SHUFFLE TIME
Thina takes out a bunch of points, and adds a bunch of points. Specifically...
-2 AGI
-3 INT
-2 DEF

+4 STR
+2 SKI
+3 RES
+1 SPC

Then she swaps out Tilde Auth (inaccurate piece of mutter mutter...) for the new Noxious Staff, swaps out her current helmet for the new Sequencer Visor, swaps her Amesthyst Kimono for Tetraphobia, then finally swaps the Storm Bracer for the Megu Patch.

Finally with her two new spell slots (Tetraphobia giving the fourth, specifically) she takes Noxious Cloud and Deep Thinking.

"Hey, magic cooking that works sounds like my kind of thing."
Toast thinks a bit.
"Well, we could... start now?"

<ROUND ONE-HUNDRED SIXTY-SIX>

Stats! Stats! Stats!



Now for the rest of the update.

---

Echoss does the things. First, he immediately notifies Mari of the fact that her coffee is probably faulty.

MARI: ...That'd explain the spice.
MARI: Also the fact that it doesn't taste like coffee, and more like gorilla.

...She's already consumed half a mug of the stuff.

MARI: I thought it was like, a Chairian thing.
MARI: Good to know that their coffee isn't actually awful.
MARI: But hey, as long as it wakes you up...

Mari walks off, seemingly unharmed by the amazingly spicy coffee. Echoss takes a whiff of the coffee- how could such a thing not bring the scientist to her knees? While he's pondering that, Mari swaps the Hotpoints within for the proper beans, then continues her development process.

Elsewhere, Echoss inquires about the tools within the Rosen Observation Outpost.

BASS: Oh, yeah.
BASS: They're sorta fused with souls or something like that.
BASS: Some guy thought it'd be a cool way to "automate the system", but it turns out spreading a soul across multiple items isn't exactly great for their health, or their willingness to carve up things.
BASS: It's kinda screwed up.

BASS: Pretty sure the guy who had the idea was shoved into a set of tools later down the line.
BASS: He had it coming.

...Delightful. Back in Zone 2, Echoss's butterflies loots the Dance Floor tiles he helped the Mechanic loot, then says his farewells. He too, waves goodbye, and hops off, happy that his work is now finished. Anyway, 15 Dance Floor Tiles obtained!

Then, since he's probably never actually done, he decides that he's going to commit to helping Chloe with her work. Except this involves working with Mari, or something? Uh, it's a bit convoluted as to what you're doing exactly, but this consumes 20 Thyme Matter, 6 Thyme Crystals, 1 Darkmatter Cluster, 1 Phase Matter, 1 Hardened Glass, 20 Durasteel Ingots, 10 Circuit Boards, 30 Wire Scraps, 1 Small AI Core, and the... Bottled Bottled ERR?

...The ERR refuses to properly be worked with, and ends up violently dissolving 5 additional Durasteel, 10 Circuit Boards, and 5 Wire Scraps! 20 Bottle Bottles of Water enter the inventory. It seems like the system DOES work, but as a result of the Bottled Bottled ERR, it is incredibly unstable, and as a result, it may randomly dissolve requested items into bottles. You may want to get that fixed.

---

Crya does shopping, of a sort! She tosses 400 Credits at Chaos, buying 64 Samples. This pile of Samples, along with the rest of the party's collection of Samples, is funneled into Hound Rush and Mass Animation, burning 100 Samples.

---

Maria showers Cushion in affection. She then asks the Spiralfloof a question: how'd it get on the roof? Instead of getting an answer, the Spiralfloof stares at her with a confused ":3". Fortunately, Chaos is there to give an answer! Unfortunately for her, he also stares at her with a confused ":3". Truly, this is a fate worse than death. Except Chaos is kind enough to eventually give an answer.

CHAOS: i [t]hink i[t]'s par[t] cloud or some[t]hing
CHAOS: al[t]erna[t]ively, it has wings
CHAOS: like a [c]a[t]
CHAOS: wai[t] no i'm [t]hinking of alba[t]rosses
CHAOS: bu[t] yeah i[t] has wings
CHAOS: and is generally ligh[t] and fluffy
CHAOS: i[t]'s basi[c]ally [c]hea[t]ing i[t] doesn'[t] need to be ligh[t], fluffy, and flying
CHAOS: pi[c]k [t]wo meme here

Venia meanwhile, goes to ask a favor from Mari, whilst gushing about how she finally got a date with Nia. Mari seems surprised, to say the very least.

MARI: Y-You what?
MARI: W-Wait, you two are a couple?
MARI: ...Didn't see that coming.

MARI: I mean, I could see the incredible tension between Marron and Toast from miles away, but... you and Nia, in like the span of a day or two?
MARI: Damn.
MARI: Guess "love at first sight" is a real thing, then.
MARI: I'm happy for her, though- it's like, the least she deserves after being a shell for the Butterfly for like, almost a year.
MARI: You're here to ask for soundproofing stuff, aren't yo-

Venia then notifies Mari what she's here for- scan data! She shrugs.

MARI: Uh, alright.
MARI: I guess you can scan me.

Mari pulls up a chair and takes a seat, her left leg raised and crossed in a way that it rests upon her right knee. While Venia (presumably) gathers the data, she asks Mari a few quick things: how's your day? How's Maria?

MARI: It's been... uninteresting.
MARI: Somebody apparently sabotaged the coffee machine, but I don't think I died to it.
MARI: As for Maria, I think she's cuddling a gigantic cloud creature.
MARI: A... "Spiralfloof", I think its called.
MARI: Big-gorilla cat sorta thing. It can fly and stuff.

MARI: I need a pillow made out of its fluff. NEED.
MARI: Okay, maybe not NEED need, but god I would stab a gorilla to get one.

Then, because proxy characters, Venia sends a maid down into the Everground, vacuuming 7 units of Fluxblood off the wall. It appears to be a rather potent material, despite being naught but blood. Just what did Mustache Girl end up blinding...?

---

Brutishace prepares a Torrent Claymore! This is pieced together with 5 Whirlpool Clusters, 3 Amphi Aura Extract, 2 Plasteel Ingots, and a Tornadopetal! Will this kill a few people? Probably.

---

Boshi performs some Iti murder! He slams the Shuria into each other, merging them into a bigger Shuria or something. This also kills them both though, so no problems there. He then jumps a desk, and bludgeons the Breaker on the other side of the room to death. He then gently baps the first bag in the room- unsurprisingly, it's a Mimic.

The bag suddenly and violently grows to consume Boshi! He does manage to kill the sentient bag, but takes (11) damage in the process. Not the most ideal way to prepare for a battle, but at least the bag's dead. With the mimic done with, he's free to claim the remaining bag!

Boshi sets the bag down in front of Nettle, who starts rifling through it without so much as a thank you. She takes a quick inventory: Generic travelling supplies, a change of clothes, some kind of walking staff with an eye engraved in it... and a Seeker. That's... probably not supposed to be in there. It's stuck in a map tube, and seems to be just finishing off the last scraps of a map.

NETTLE: No no no no no!

Nettle eyes become filled with rage. With a wave of her hand, roots shackle the poor Seeker to the ground. She spins the staff in her hand and impales the Seeker over and over with the surprising sharp base. Eventually, she calms down, and searches through the corpse, finding only the map's dissolving remains. She sighs.

NETTLE: Dammit.

...That's unfortunate. While Nettle's probably busy grieving over a map, Mustache Girl uses a Fell Beast Tail (which doesn't actually break), splattering the Breaker's head, slaying it. The Chime then attempts to smash her with a salvo of metallic rods, but she's able to roll behind a tree which absorbs the hits for her. The tree would probably appreciate some healing but alas, it is a tree. It cannot press E to request a medic.

---

EN-913 donates an Aspect of Void to Taeda. She eagerly takes the ill-defined item, and holds it up to her chest like the android asked. Soon enough, its power kicks in, leveling up Taeda's special!

TAEDA: T-Thank you!
TAEDA: I... d-don't really know what that was for, though.
TAEDA: I feel different, though! I-Is that normal?

Taeda attempts to awaken her new powers by flailing her arms around. It doesn't seem to help.

---

Nettle, now just kind of more annoyed than furious, listens to Auth's pitch. She seems to be only half paying attention until he suggests that she join them. Her expression is almost suspicious at first, as if unsure if Auth is serious or not.

NETTLE: Wait, what? Join you?
NETTLE: That's, er-
NETTLE: You're serious?
NETTLE: (Beats my plan of joining the R-)

She realizes she was muttering aloud, and continues a little differently.

NETTLE: Point I was getting to is that you seem a bit more capable than most.
NETTLE: Especially the legion.
NETTLE: Getting a chance to beat some sense into them might be...
NETTLE: ...Cathartic?
NETTLE: I don't know, but it sounds nice.
NETTLE: And... with the battle the blue thing mentioned, it could be a chance to let off some steam, too.

She shifts on one foot, then the other, deliberating on this. When she speaks again, she seems to be having some difficulty getting the words out.

NETTLE: So, er.
NETTLE: If you are willing to take me, and this isn't some cruel joke-
NETTLE: -(in which case I will absolutely impale you here and now)-
NETTLE: I... accept?
NETTLE: (some new gear might be nice too)

At the same time, Auth keeps on chatting with Lutea. He asks of Nana's age, and what sort of books she might enjoy.

LUTEA: Oh, she's... I think she's 35?
LUTEA: If you're wondering, I'm about 32. Only a bit younger.
LUTEA: As for her favorite sort of books... I don't really know!
LUTEA: I do find her reading lots of stuff about nature and botany, but I taken a look at one of the books she was reading, and it was like, a-a fantasy adventure w-with... a-a bit of h-handholding...

LUTEA: U-Um...
LUTEA: M-Maybe you should ask her yourself?

how indecent

---

Toast asks Marron if they could start their break now. She nods.

MARRON: Yeah!
MARRON: Let's do it. Right now!

The two get up (with Marron maybe beckoning Summa along), and begin their somewhat short trek to the house- the portal system that the sorceress set up earlier is certainly helping a good deal! They quickly warp into the basement, then head to the kitchen.

MARRON: So...
MARRON: You wanna start cooking practice now, or do you just wanna... do something else first?

MARRON: If you don't wanna cook, we could... play a game, maybe?
MARRON: I had a few board games back at my place on Nightmare Mountain.
MARRON: Of course, I wasn't too tactically minded back then, so I wasn't very good at them...
MARRON: Got any ideas? Or maybe we could just cuddle n' gorilla, too. That'd be nice.

---

About 24 hours after the update properly "concluded", Irongutta answers Nia's questions. Nia's excitement increases at the prospect of magical rocket launchers. He notes that he might want to get one of "the lads" to help him with the construction. Nia's hand shoots up.

NIA: Oh, I could help!
NIA: I'm like, a qualified wizard!
NIA: Okay, maybe "qualified" is a lie, but that's probably better if we're doing something crazy like magic rockets!
NIA: It'll be fun!

Then, Irongutta asks if Nia could maybe teach him how to use magic. Nia's smiles and nods... before suddenly slowing down, and stopping.

NIA: I... I dunno if I can help you with that.
NIA: Like, I'm a wizard, but I don't really know WHY I'm a wizard?
NIA: It's like, the red lady in my head- her name is Persephone now, by the way- she's the one who handles the magical stuff.
NIA: Technically, she's me, and I'm her, but I still don't really understand how my magic works.

NIA: Maybe like, Toast could teach you? She hosts that club, but I dunno.
NIA: Ooh, maybe you could ask Nezira, too! She's teaching Chloe how to be a wizard n' stuff, so maybe she's your best bet?

...Nia appears to still be fantasizing over a rocket launcher that can fire rock-ets. If Irongutta could hear the pun she just made in her head, there's a fair chance he'd die on the spot. Also around the same time, R-8733 is invited to view an explosion. But we'll see the results of that... right below this post?

---

Meanwhile, at the Old Pass...

An overcast sky, with occasional bouts of snowflakes drifting down onto the Mountain Passage, an ancient pathway used in days of old. For many years now, the passage has been considered "safe" as far as any sort of trade route can be. Guarded by a town smack dab in the middle of it, and with mountains flanking the route itself, it has proven itself to be quite the safe haven for a traveler.

Of course, this is all about to change. The Spherebreakers position themselves where they can. Behind a tree. In the branches of a tree. Inside the tree itself. Perhaps in a snowbank, or that snow bank Chaos built a few moments ago. There, they lie in wait. One of them, an ork named Irongutta, stands near an explosive plunger. The anticipation is building. The clattering of wheels, and the collective stomping of several dozen Chairians echoes from the distance.

Then, the caravan itself comes into view. A quick count reveals over fifty Chairians escorting one hell of a wagon- probably the vehicle containing the Glyph. The word "wagon" isn't quite accurate, though; it's more like a spider-drawn mobile fortress of wood, veiled with an impenetrable barrier. A few smaller carts squeak on near it, seemingly powering the shield itself. It'd take some incredible effort to topple this defensive position.

As the caravan passes by Irongutta's position, the anticipation is simply too much! He has to do something. There's the "ka-chunk" of a lever. What was that? He didn't intend to make that noise, if it was him. Then, it occurs to him that he might've set off his bomb, "Da Mountainsmasha" by accident, amidst the excitement. As the name might imply, this highly over-engineered bomb has the ability to slay your average mountain.

And slay a mountain it does.

Perhaps ten seconds too early, a small mushroom cloud obliterates the peak of a mountain on the eastern side of the pass. The blast is absolutely deafening, causing every last member of the caravan to duck and panic. Whatever sort of discipline they carried with them is instantly shattered as they witness the very mountain themselves awakening, crashing down itself to deliver its rightful vengeance upon the cruel earth.

Except, the mountain misses. By quite a bit.

Instead of crushing the caravan itself, the resulting avalanche of rock and snow from the blast only claims an innocent Observer who was clinging to a rock outcropping nearby. It is promptly juiced via giant rock spike. The rest of the mountain only ends up totally blocking forward passage for the Caravan. However, a missed mountain is still a mountain dropped on the enemy. No enemy could stay composed with a mountain being dropped on their faces. With this moment of disarray, the time to strike is now.

Out of the trees and snow, the Spherebreakers burst into the horizon, sights aimed on the caravan. Their mission: to retrieve the Glyph from within.



- = S T R I F E ! = -



<THE CARAVAN, ROUND ONE>
A new battle dawns! The Caravan is split into three segments: the North, the Center, and the South. Each has a different class of enemies associated with it; the north brings with it an assortment of mages, the center elite melee troops, and the south an entire horde of light infantry. Choose your battle wisely- try to pick a part of the Caravan that you're more suited to dealing with! Also be prepared to deal with reinforcements: Rebel aerial troops will arrive from the North, and some Iti will be arriving from the South. There also may be something coming into assist the center of the caravan, but you don't have intel on that.

((Post for the previous DOP turn directly above. Wowie!))
RP with Nia

Irongutta pondered Nia's wild suggestions with great interest. "Ya got some decent ideas in that head o' yours there, that's for sure! I think I like that first one the most. We could make a dead-killy rokkit launcha that uses rokkits that explode... differently! Yeah, that'd be it! We would make the rokkits explode with the power of the elements!"

He thought about the project a bit further, fueled by Nia's growing excitement as well as his own. "I gotta get one of the other lads to give me a 'and wivv this one I think. Wouldn't be the first time I worked wivv someone else."

Irongutta continued responding to Nia's bunch of questions.

"Yeah, yeah! It's all random-like, like wot ya said about Toast."

He raised his eyebrows when Nia asked if he could do magic.

"Well I dunno 'bout all that. Although this is a weird zoggin' planet I wound up on. I'z sure you've seen me out there movin' people wivvout even touchin' em? When I do that, I see a big green hand grab 'em, like it's from Gork himself! I could never do anythin' like that before I came 'ere, so maybe I could learn?"

Irongutta let the question hang in the air, though he knew Nia would have something to say.

---

Irongutta responded to R-8733's request to see the explosion.

"Well soon is now, ya git! Get over 'ere by me an' take cover. That big caravan should be arrivin' any minute."

A new battle?
Letsid seems enthusiastic but... (!) Ette (!) will be there will she?
Using a move she saw in a Chinese animation, she runs a bit to gain momentum and then jumps between trees with her extraordinary agility.
In response to the dangerously low health, she begins to do some shenanigans that kinda break the 4th wall:
-5HP
+5RES
-5STR
+4RES
+1SPC
-1INT
+1MP
whoo.... much better
she stops in one of the trees near the new battle and waits.
Time to get this right (and not near (!) Ette (!) ).

"Holy Moly, we're having another battle already? I barely got any time to fit in a nap after our last one...

+2 HP
+1 STR
+1 SKI

Ah, Echoss crafted that Rage Aura Amulet for her! With glee, Summa puts the Amulet around her neck, finally able to replace the stupid looking Cardboard Amulet.

"Huh, I should probably learn how to make stuff in this place..."

Replacing "Summa Supreme" with "Kais'ara's Clash"...

+1 to RES.

---

Adrian and his friends hear the sound of a blast, and immediately turn their gaze to the South of the Caravan. Adrian, and only Adrian, for some reason, goes to check on what happened.

---

Adrian spawns at R14 (South). Somewhat intimidated by the large amount of forces in the area, he simply opts to tame the Wooly Mollusk.

Mariaaaaa

Maria turns to look at Bow Kid, smiling. "Uh. Hi Bow Kid! That's a weird name. I'm Maria, I'm a Princess, and this is Cushion, and I love him!" Maria says, petting Cushion more.

And then she receives the news that Cushion can fly. Her pupils expand as she gasps. "Cushion can fly?!" Maria exclaims. "...I wanna fly. I wanna ride Cushion and fly with him everywhere! I wanna fly, I wanna fly, I wanna fly!"

Maria wastes no further time in immediately mounting Cushion. "I'mma go flying with Cushion!"

---

Did you just say Maria is playing with a Spiralfloof

Venia obtains the scan data easily and nods along with Mari's statements, until she says of course that Maria is cuddling a Spiralfloof.

"...Oh my gosh I have to see this right now."

Venia does a bit of time-looping to get all her business out of the way with the cavern, in case that wasn't already covered. She then whips up the stairwell and rushes out to the outside, and when she fails to find Maria there she rushes upstairs and onto the roof. Her face lights up in elation as she sees Maria on top of Cushion, petting Cushion's head. "Oh my gosh! Maria! My little muffin! What're you doing? Who's that big cutie you're on?" Venia says, touching her line wristband. It begins a simple sequence to start taking photos and video footage.

"Venny! I made a new friend! His name is Cushion, and he is a really big fluffy, and he can fly! I wanna fly. I wanna go on flyin' adventures. I love him," Maria says.

Venia's smile wavers at the idea. "Uhh. Maria, flying is really dangerous! You could fall and hurt yourself-"

It was at that moment that Cushion finally got Maria's memo. His limbs tensed, and then he leaped-leaped right off the roof!

"MARIA!"

"AAAAA!"

But, rather than fall, as most might, Cushion stayed level with the roof, and then started to rise, rise, rise, up, up, up! Maria, screaming with an internal mixture of excitement and terror, clutched onto Cushion's ample fluff for dear life as Venia watched on, capable of a ton of things and not one among them extended flight in the Thyme Field. The Black Kitsune also whipped up, whole body tensed.

"Oh god, oh god, oh god! Oh god! Uhh, can anyone fly?!" Venia says, briefly catching Bow Kid and restraining herself from the mention of scat in unpleasant tones. "Mari can fly, she's a storm elemental, that's basically like being made of wind! I think! Uhh, no no no no no!"

Venia whips down into the basement. "MARI! Maria's riding a spiralfloof into the stratosphere and I can't follow her! She's not safe! Uh, you can fly, right? Storm transcendent?! Do you have anything?! Is there anything?!"

Meanwhile, the Black Kitsune approaches Chaos. "Is there any method to track or retrieve her highness, anything you own? If she were to die, his majesty the Emperor would not take it well. The last time anything bad happened to her highness, he slaughtered a whole village that he presumed to hold the responsible parties."

---

Cushion appears to register loud screaming as the cue to go higher, if Maria's endless wail and Cushion's endless ascent were any indication. "AAAAAAAAAAAAA!" She screams, eyes shut, terror completely taking her, as Cushion takes her higher and higher, and further and further, from the house.

Cushion ceases ascending, still hundreds of meters in the air, as it came into a break in the clouds. And Maria, at this point appeased with screaming her lungs out, opens her eyes.

She finds herself above the world of wood, the sun shining bright as ever, as she gazed upon a world in miniature-trees as small as fingernails, world as beautiful as sunlight. it was almost nothingness. Cushion slowed down to a not-Sprint pace as it began cruising over the land still moving away from the house and towards a mountainous area (The Old Pass-not like Maria knew where that was), as Maria took in the whole of Sussui beneath her-Trees, Lakes, Mountains, everything.

"...Wooooooooooah!" Maria exclaims, as she takes in the sights. "This is AMAZIIIIIIING!" She squeals, raising her head to get a better look. "Wheeeeeeeeee!" Maria squeals, using a hand to pet cushion (and keeping her other hand firmly secured on Cushion).

Maria soaks it in-burns the whole sight into her memory, the sensation of cold wind blowing and moisture on her skin, the sun and Yggdrasil shining like stars, the clouds and the world below as she and Cushion rode off to somewhere. It would be impossible for her to forget this-it'd be one of those memories that would never die. Childish elation filled her spirit as Maria beheld the beauty of flight.

Needless to say, Maria considered all of this the best day of her life.

---

Everground

The Maid heeds Mustache Girl's request, and heads down into the Overground Depths, only to notice that she's kinda already giving the Chime a proper smashing. Instead, the Maid focuses in on the Plasteel above. She retrieves the vaccum, again. The Vaccum proceeds to whip its mouth directly into the vein of Plasteel and begins a brutal campaign of vicious sucking, immense suction enveloping the molecular structure of the Plasteel (and only that) with such immensity that if the Plasteel were anything lesser then it'd probably mean the Everground was about to be a whole lot more open space, but that isn't the case. Sucking continues with full force, annihilating all probability of the Plasteel's resistance-eventually, inexplicable ingot-shaped plasteel chunks, purified of all contaminants, shape themselves from the vein and slide into the vaccum for retrieval later.

At the same time, Venia applies psionic force through the Maid, razor-compressing and heating up the Plasteel within the Plasteel vein, breaking it up from the wall and thus reducing its resistance to the powerful vaccum, and also just kind of adding to the already-immense pull of the vaccum, seriously what's powering this thing a black hole? Twenty? A hundred? This can't be normal suction going on here. No, no no, no no no, no, this is not your average everyday suction. This is... Advanced suction, a suction considerably more dangerous and complicated than regular suction. The levels of suction involved are simply way out of proportion. Its utterly unreal. Absolutely mad.

Eventually, the sheer force of the sucking proves too much, and the whole vein desposits itself into the vaccum, at which point the thing immediately ceases. The Maid stores the Vaccum in one of its probably-not-there-before pockets and considers its next actions.

Battle: Caravan (North)

Venia performs some more timeline mangling to spawn into this battle rather than begin a massive freakout over Maria getting kidnapped by a cloud. Venia spawns in and ushers Chloe, Nia and Mari to follow her. "Come on, come on! Blitzkrieg, Blitzkrieg! Hit hard and hit fast, and they wont' get a chance! Nia, drop a Glacier on that Faithful! Chloe, prepare a dive into "

Venia spawns in at B12 and uses Incantation on C13. Out of a rainbow-y fog comes a positively tiny fairy-like thing, wings thrice as big as its body (yet it seems to naturally hover), with a messy smattering of curly cyan hair, a set of emerald eyes, and a chain of golden crowns dangling off of its head and nearly to its feet. Eye and hair aside, it bears a striking resemblance to Maria. It yanks out a yellow wand from behind its back and points it at the Legionaires, smiling.

"... Eeeeee, its so cute!" Venia squees.

Link to Whimsy Stats here.

---

Boshi casts GO FIRST! on the Center Caravan Battle.

Boshi pops out of the tree at (H11) at the Center Caravan Battle (Effectively moving to there from (E11)). He then Blade Rushes East, catching the Devout in the process and landing at (M11). He then Phase Shifts with Devout1, plopping them on (M11), and putting him at (L8).

He then casts Intimidate, hitting Sappers 1 and 2, Firefighter 3, the Blizzard Robe, and a Morph. This offends the Blizzard Robe and Firefighter 3.

---ooh, flying---

Bow Kid watches on as Maria floats up on the Spiralfloof. She was mostly starting to panic when Venia started panicking, but secretly she was quite jealous of having such a fluffy boi to carry her around, and even fly.

Then Verdana went and started flying, too. The fact that he was going after Maria was reassuring to some extent, but also served to make her even more jealous. She pouts.

"Aww, I wanna fly too..."

She looks at the Time Piece she owns. Then at Venia, whom she remembers made some sort of thing with magic. Then at Chaos, whom was sorta out of the ordinary and easy to be distracted by. Then back at her time piece. She remembers that she has a bit of magic herself. Perhaps... maybe she could make something that can fly with her magic, with the Time Piece as a sort of catalyst...?

She ponders this as she jumps off the roof, landing safely on the ground below, and walks towards where Maria and Cushion were headed...

---oh hey robotics---

Hat Kid was still flipping through the roomba booklet. Though it also appears she's pulled out a few pieces of paper to start drawing on, too...

She seems to be drawing a robot of her own design, based off the roomba in the booklet. While crude, it's starting to take shape...

---time to yeet a tree---

MU puts away the Fell Beast tail, and hauls out a Jotun Arm. She holds it by the bone (or bone-like structure) at the start of the arm, and manipulates it in such a way as to have it grab the tree at (O113/P113). She then uses the arm to yeet the tree straight at the Chime.

Whether dazed or not, MU bolts from behind her tree and slams the Jotun Arm into the Chime. Multiple times if necessary.

Once done, she puts the Jotun Arm back into the Inventory, and pulls out her Giant Spoon again. She holds it in such a way so that the Observer would end up looking at itself. Maybe it'll find itself quite handsome. Or something.

Either way, she heads further right.

+1 to CRT.
Hex finally pops out of inactivity, running out of the house and towards the Caravan. Meanwhile, the clone of him in the mine moves, heading over to the vault. He looks at it, then gets a idea, running all the way over to the statis’d Mortar shell. He then casts Channel Magic, transferring the Statis effect to a Gaiaroot Potato, and pulls the Mortar Shell over to the Vault Door. He then takes a lot of steps backward, and detonates the Shell, blowing the Durasteel Door off its hinges. If the door is still intact, he throws it over near the bucket. Then, he retrieves an Effect Egg, 1 Amphi Extract, and 7 Yaga Scales from the inventory. He draws a circle in the dirt with his skates, and traces out some ornate symbols. Placing the Effect Egg and scales at the center, he uses the Amphi Extract to cast a spell, the egg and scales vanishing as he transforms into a small lizard with scales just like that of the Yaga. Lizard!Hex scurries over to the tunnel the Eyestalk popped out of and uses its newfound phasing powers to zip through it, following it. If the tunnel seems to come to a end at some point, he phases through the tunnel walls and observes what’s at the end of it without coming out of the tunnel. If it looks safe, he phases through the walls and somehow scans everything he can in range with his lizard hands.

---

Meanwhile, another Hexclone zips over to the Cathedral, and rapidly kicks all of the Totems. Screw the Chaos Butterfly! He tries to think of other ways to make <0> mad at him and gather Attention, but none come to mind, so just returns to Sequoia's Lake in Zone Three. He pulls the Arcane Angler from the Inventory, along with some Plasteel, a Entropy, and a Amphi Extract. Laying the Arcane Angler down, he melts down the Plasteel with a superheated burst of flame, and mutters a spell incantation, causing the Plasteel to form around the Angler, recoating it. Then, he insets the Entrophy into the bottom of the fishing rod, and uses the Amphi Extract to enchant the Arcane Angler with luck, so that it'll have a much better chance to catch good fish and loot. He dubs the new fishing rod the Enchanter's Angler.
Then, he searches through the inventory for something to use as bait. Finding nothing, he purchases a food package from the Temmie Shop, hooks it on, and just fishes for a bit. If this fails to catch anything, he switches the bait to Spider Meat.

---

A red blur suddenly zips through the air as Hex spawns in at the Central Caravan, on D16. He casts the arcane spell GO SECOND!
He strides over to I16, and menacingly brandishes his skates. Nothing happens... and then the blades retract and out pops buzzsaws made of tiny chainsaws. The rockets light up and Hex takes off, laughing manically as he moves to J15, K15, L16, M15, M14, M13, and K12. Then he pokes the Blade Dancer next to him with the psychic damage.
tl;dr: WHIRLING BLADES OF CHAIRBOI DEATH

==RP==
In the house...

On the spot where the portal to Xavier's house stood last night, space warps and turns in on itself for a second, opening into a vortex and disgorging an indistinct figure in a flash of light, along with several pieces of what looks like complex lab equipment, before slowly rippling back to what could be called relative normalcy. The figure sits up, rubbing their head and muttering to themselves.

???: “Ugggh... What happened? In retrospect, it may not have been a good idea to add that fairy-ring mushroom to the potion... especially considering it already had concentrated ectoplasm, rabbit’s toe, extract from those strange starfield-patterned berries, and a healthy pinch of cayenne. The last thing I remember was seeing it turn prismatic when I put it back on the heat. Where am I?”

The figure gets up, revealing itself to be a middle-aged, balding man clad in a stained leather labcoat and wearing thick gloves, and looks around.

“Hello? Is anyone there? I appear to have been transported into your house by a lab accident, I’m sorry to intrude!”

==LOGISTICS==
New character! Nezira's sticking around for RP, though.

To save time with importing the character, my build is here; https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1xSq...id=0&range=A569

Notes:
I haven’t added the Manafuelled of the Noxious Staff to Arthur’s spells yet; either the power boost or the MP cost increase. Tried to scale the spells as best I could though, and the weapon, trait, and special have also been scaled.
We only have the one Heartless Catalyst, so as part of switching I'm buying a second one for 200 credits.
Feel free to rework the SP cost and/or SP fill effects of the special; I mainly just want MP Spent and something that scales off applying status effects roughly proportional to the “strength” of the effect.
Bio will be updated after a bit more RP with him goes by, which should be pretty soon.

==BATTLE==
Chronologically after whatever happens in the house goes on and he’s been fully read in on the situation, Arthur joins the South Caravan battle at G6 and casts Noxious Plume on K4, before retreating to F7.

Crya jumps into the Southern section of the Caravan at S4 and runs to R4.
Hope you're alright if it's a bit chilly!
Crya immediately casts Ice Stalagmites on Cannoneer 1 before retreating to T5. Chibi Nia is summoned at T6.

The Ambush

Daskter moves to his his ambush spot at U11
Has the battle begins
He starts summoning Conscripts units at S12

Settings:
Attack: Slashing
Resist: Crushing+Piercing
Weak: Slashing+Light
Special: Blitzkrieg

The Conscript simply calls for another brother at S13
and quickly fires a quick unaimed burst at Brute1

Toast hmms. It seems that she's deciding among the myriad options presented to her. Well, until she responds.
"What's a board game?

~~

I can't really find an in-character justification for it, but Nettle somehow requests Natural Domain from Marron. It's not actually "not armor". It's like an amulet or something.

Also, Nettle's readout should have 67 MMP. My bad.

[SOUTH]
NETTLE: The Legion are here?
NETTLE: Now that's perfect.

Nettle spawns in at E10 and moves to G8. She casts Upheaval at L9, augmented with the Megu Patch.

Hundreds of roots burst out of the rubble, empowered by Nettle's shiny new Spherebreaker equipment. They surround the Legion, wrapping around their legs and tremoring slightly.

Nidra puts three points into SKI.

Nidra joins the centre battle at E7, stores Last Dream in spell storage, uses the sheep counter, and power naps the next ally to enter range.

Packo is back! And with a new Packo, ready to at least destroy the Sphere, regardless of an uncertain future, he makes some changes.

First of all, stat changes:

+1AGI
-1DEF
+2STR
+1SPC

Then, Packo switches out his Ranger's Coverings for the Evisceator's Garments, with a 20% Earth resistance and a 20% Poison weakness. Everything else stays the same, just for now.

Finally, Packo enters the South Caravan fight!

Now that the ambush has started, Packo spawns at E4. Then, he moves to I2.

"Hello! If you don't mind..." Packo then uses Warp Step right in the middle of the enemy formation at L2! Then, he whacks Lancer 3.

"Time to go! Go! Go!" Packo sends up Beep and Boop towards Archers 1 and 2 to taunt them! Both bots seem to bother both Lancers by using distorted, ultraloud sleigh bell sounds!

BATTLE TALLIES

North: Venia(Nia), Auth, Laranei, Echoss, Chloe, Mari
Center: Boshi, Hex, Nidra, Leaf, Summa, Verdana, Bass, Ette
South: Adrian, Nettle, Arthur, Crya, Daskter, Brutishace, Packo, Wyvern, Taeda, Omorika

North: 4/8 PCs. NORTH IS NPC LOCKED
Center: 6/10 PCs. 2/3 NPCs.
SOUTH IS FULLY LOCKED

NPC assignments as decided in Discord:
Nia (with heart locket), Chloe, and Mari all head North.
Ette and Bass go Center
Taeda and Omorika go South.

1 NPC slot is not filled. Why is that? Because Marron and Nana are both being given time off and that leaves us 1 NPC short.

ENTER THE HEAT OF BATTLE:
I'm a bit tired for doing battle text so here it is free of frills:
Echoss joins Caravan Battle North, spawning at T13. (personal inventory items: 1 Electromanaetic Pulse Emitter, 1 Furniture Flinger, 1 crystal bomb shell)
I AUTOCONSERVE use the Lightning Strikers on Frostrobe 4
He then attempts to tame the splinter spider.

If the Splinter Spider was successfully tamed:
Splinter Spider wanders up to O12 and uses the COMBINATION ORB. Let's hope that either A. the Spider survives or B. the spell will still trigger in regen even if the spider gets a little splattered.


Overworld actions:
I quick-craft a fragapple Grenade and a Searing Bomb

In the Winding Tunnel, an Echoss mini golem creeps over to the no-longer-sleeping Rotting Widow and opens a small portal. A room that seems like a cavelike comfortable-ish lair, much like the current one, rests on the far side. In it is a plate of sapsquel meat (5 units taken from inventory) to entire the rotting widow.
The rotting widow, hungry for something meatier than death shrooms, creeps in to investigate. The portal closes behind it. The rotting widow is no longer in the cave, but none of its drops are dropped either.

Echoss looks over at the stone maws and growls almost imperceptibly. He pulls a unit of searing powder out of the inventory, and an ashen crystal. Carefully splitting the two up and putting them into a pair of small pouches made from the last unit of simple fabric, he tosses each pouch. One into each 'garbage disposal maw'. The maws reach up out of the ground and promptly crush the ashen crystal, igniting the searing powder and destroying the maws when their "meal" explodes violently.
"Disgusting, filthy things."



Note to self: fix the scavenging portal next round.

Auth nods his head when questioned whether or not he's being serious.

uA: Yep, dead serious. It doesn't make sense to joke about such a thing, does it?

Auth nearly went to offer his hand to shake on it, but he remembers quickly that it's a big no-no, and instead bows. Super natural.

uA: Welcome to the party. We can fix you up some equipment, sure thing.

Auth glances at the eye-staff that Nettle was using though...

uA: Excuse my question, if you don't mind, but what's with the staff? I've not seen anything like that before...
uA: The eye on the staff, notably.

Play dumb long enough and eventually somebody slips something.
----

Auth spawns on T8, and flies high enough above the wall to make sure that he's seen by everyone.

uA: Good morning, folks! I'm sure you all probably have an idea of who we are, so I'll make this quick.
uA: Please surrender the Glyph you are carrying to us. We don't wish to fight you, and the sooner we get this over with the sooner you all can go home. That would be preferable for all of us, yes?
uA: There's likely to be more hostiles on the way, and they might not be as willing to let you go as we are.

After it inevitably fails to convince any of them to even leave, Auth sighs and casts Liberation on Fighter 4.

Should anyone ask why he's offering them the chance, Auth responds thusly:

uA: I'm offering so nobody can say we didn't give them the chance to resolve this peacefully.
uA: If we give them the chance, ask them nicely to surrender before we fight them, we might eventually come across a group that will surrender, that will choose not to fight us, because we gave them the choice not to.
uA: Better to ask and fail than to hurt someone we don't need to.