Wyvern commits mild self harm, firing off another Evolve Strain, then commits self treatment by eating another burrito, before jetting to N11 where he, hopefully, commits major harm to the Husk by slashing at his face. Unless he misses, in which case I want you to know that he'll be very sad.

At Ziah's request I am posting for them:

Leaf will stay in place and Catalyst the Husk
Her splinter spider will move to O17 and basic attack the Husk

==RP==
Mari.

“Indeed! Most people go about their normal lives in a world full of pure science and technology, unaware of the occult. As far as I know, it is Earth -- though, I suppose an Earth is the correct term, so yes, an alternate Earth.

Given that our 'normal' world sees magic as a myth like any other, video games are normal -- though I have seen some subtle nods to magic's existence in some of them that lets me know that someone in the know worked on them; the magic systems having one or two actual words of power in their spells (though not enough to form an actual effect), or accurately-portrayed alchemy, and so on.”

==CRAFTING==
N/A

==LOGISTICS==
N/A

==BATTLE==
Arthur moves to O9 and reaches into his satchel, taking out a flask of poisonous liquid. Infusing mana into it, he shakes it for a second, then throws it at M13, gas erupting from it and spreading out to poison the Husk and the four nearby totems. That done, he retreats to N8.

Keiko sprints to relocate herself to N8, making a path to the now hyperactive Summa.

-Battle: The Church of Helix-

In the midst of combat, Irongutta suddenly blacked out...

...And then just as quickly he came to again. However, something seemed off. He felt small, that is in a physical sense. Looking around, he realized that all he could see were the legs of his party members.

Irongutta attempted to say something in alarm, but the only sounds that came from his mouth were snorts and oinks! His rising suspicions were quickly confirmed when Nia headpatted him and referred to him as "Piggo."

Almost recoiling in shock, he flopped on his back for a second and squealed loudly. All he could do now was think to himself. (Zog it all! 'Ow am I supposed to do anythin' when I'm like this!)

An idea struck him, however. (I wonder if I can still...) Concentrating his mind, he reached into the strange hammerspace that was the gang's collective inventory. Using his mouth, he attempted to pull out a weapon he might be able to use like this: a Durasteel Halberd! Whether it's possible or not, the Irongutta in Piggo's body moves to Q12.

(I'm making this move under the assumption that this counts as an equipment swap and will take up my action as Piggo!Irongutta. If it doesn't, he'll also basic attack Helix Idol 1).

This is not the greatest post, but oh well. Feels like I have so little time...

Thina sets the resist on her armor to poison.

Then she deliberately walks down into the poison cloud over at J10, hiding behind it like it was a game of hide and seek.

Then she casts Transfusion, burning 8 HP for a total pool of 21 HP. She heals Nettle for 7, then heals Summa for the rest.

With this new DNA, she evolves filtered eyes for light and dark resist, as well as a general inability to hit things.

<ROUND ONE-HUNDRED SEVENTY-SEVEN>

Echoss does a variety of things, except we're actualy starting with Pionobot today. Huh. Anyway, Pionobot uses 2 Titanium Ingots to reel in a formation of rocks! This yields him a Blizzard Regalia.

Elsewhere, this time within Zone 0, he gets some golems to gently expand the map of Floor 1, pushing the eastern boundary over a few tiles. This reveals a small patch of woodland (it could probably be cut down), as well as a small dilapidated storage shed. There's not much within it, save for splinters and the like. A quick survey of the nearby land reveals that yes- the ground below is more than stable enough, and the stone isn't very far- in fact, it seems that the basement of the house reaches into it fairly well.

He also spends some time crafting some Simple Fabric, using 15 Silkweed Bundles. He also cobbles together 6 Titanium, 6 Iron, and 6 Copper Gears to create 2 Clockwork Bombs. They're not too powerful, but their versatility may be nice!

Not!Echoss also grabs Nia, handing her Therma and... somehow, Ette's arms. More likely, Ette was pulled over for a few minutes of her time. Nia nods, and begins tinkering with both "weapons", taking 200 Credits as pay. She takes the time to elementally overcharge Therma, turning it into... Therma, but better! She also paints more runes onto Ette's arms, then applies a platinum "trim" of sorts to her arm, upgrading it into... still the Priestess's Phalanges!

Ette is politely returned her arms afterwards. Anyway, these upgrades will be equipped after combat- or at least, Ette's will. 2 Flux is also harvested.

---

Auth talks about spiders and books. First off, spiders with Chloe. Despite his potential protests, Chloe affirms that yes- she wants to learn about the spiders that he has. Once he's done, he realizes that Chloe's broken into a cold sweat.

CHLOE: A-Ah, u-um...
CHLOE: Y-You don't happen t-to have eye protection of s-sorts, do you?
CHLOE: M-My eyes are, r-really, really itchy all of a sudden, a-and why haven't you gone and exterminated the darn things yet?
CHLOE: AND WHY CAN THE SPIDERS BE A BOAT!?

It is quite possible that if Chloe goes to London, she'll become known as the Sorrow-Slayer, Grand Arsonist of London. It'll probably take at least 200 Dangerous to stand a chance against her in a special card that you can get.

While Chloe's busy freaking out a little, Auth asks Nana about what she likes reading. She panics a little at the mention of the subject.

NANA: A-Ah, nothing v-very interesting!
NANA: J-Just like, fantasy stuff.
NANA: You know, l-like, brave Legionaries, Fell Behemoths, and charming princesses...
NANA: There's this really nice one with a Tabletopian guy, and a Chairian girl, who work together as mercenaries, a-and t-they...
NANA: T-They... u-um...
NANA: ...T-They do, like, t-things together!

Nana takes a few seconds to compose herself.

NANA: I-Is it weird to like those books?
NANA: S-Some people think that fantasy stories are c-childish, and m-maybe they are, b-but they're a lot of fun!
NANA: ...I also like the occasional bit of historic stuff. It's really fascinating! Also things about gardening, but that sorta c-comes with my job, right!?

NANA: A-Ah, what do you like to read?
NANA: With a name like "The Author", I'd imagine that you have really refined tastes, right?

Nana twiddles her fingers around as she awaits an answer.

---

Maria pelts R-8733 with snowballs. In response, he places down a Firework Turret, discards the fireworks, and then loads a bunch of snow into its belt feed. Somehow, this works, and it fires bursts of snow at Maria. Has war been declared?

---

Arthur and Mari continue their chat. The GM almost called Author as "Author", due to the proximity of their posts.Also, I bet you thought the usage of "Author" back there was a mistake, but I did it for comedy or something. Yeah.

MARI: Huh. It is Harry Potter. Damn.
MARI: Wonder what it's like, living in a world like that...

MARI: Wonder what else is different with your world.
MARI: Or how you keep magic secretive, because there's no gorillaing way to properly keep magic a secret.
MARI: Using Harry Potter again... do you have like, potions or spells to erase minds, or something? You probably have something like that in your world.

As a note, Mari's offer to make a "potion paintball gun" still stands from last update. Maybe chat about that, if you feel like it? Or decline her. Who knows?

---

<THE CHURCH OF HELIX, ROUND FOUR>
I'm gonna be real the husk is hitting like a wet noodle, so just sorta smack him into his next phase please. Of note is that 50% of your overkill damage will transfer into the next phase, so that'll be helpful! Expect him to cleanse upon entering his new form, so focus on buffing yourselves instead of debuffing further! Also watch out for the (13-13) Unmoddable Damage incoming this round. It'll sting a bit.

Overworld actions:
Pionobot dunks gently sets the blizzard regalia in the bucket up to the top layer, and then ferries the second level bucket up to the top bucket as well. He then hops down to the next level down and grabs the mortar shell, sticking it carefully back in the inventory so it won't detonate.
He then takes some iron and titanium, as well as a tier 1 water crystal and makes an airlock in the tunnel. Two doors, with the water crystal acting as a pump to allow in and out water without it flooding into the rest of the cavern system! This is a bit more complicated than the preferred method on account of water pressure existing on Sussui rather unlike how it functions in Minecraft.

Back at the house, more building materials are added onto the pile, more simple fabric is made, and one of the golems gets out the tittanium lumber axe and goes to down on the woods East of the house, trimming them back and adding the harvested wood to the pile of building materials. While it would be nice to have woods just adjacent, it'd also kinda leave us open to Iti attacks so those trees have gotta go.

Down in the dugout bedrooms, the other golem slaps a note on the counter noting that the establishment down here was established without permits or permission and the bedrooms are being repossessed for use by the actual owners of the property. There's also an actual legal notice attached to it. It seems that if Chaos or the Temmies want to contest it when they see it they'll actually have to go to court over it.
No more illicitly charging NPCs for using bedspace in our own house.
Additionally, the golem lays down some nice wooden flooring in the bedroom area that was carved out but not furnished yet. This uses up a little bit of refined wood.

Things to determine:
Both of Chloe's open gathering forms are commissioned to just generally top up the crystals and clusters we're currently low on.

The relic coupon is used to purchase the Origin String, since nobody's offered any better ideas.


Battle action:
The Echoss echo moves to O15, tosses a salve to Piggo and then basic attacks Dome Idol 4 before retreating south a tile.

Battle in the Church
Passives in effect: +50% DMG, -35% DMG Taken.

The C.Officer move to O9 then starts yelling out orders (Pollen Wave)
Enlightened 5 to Katyusha and Mari.

Daskter moves a tile north, P9 and summons the last of the reinforcements:
Construct: Vanguard appears on P11

The Katyusha move to Q8 and unleashes a barrage of Psychic Rockets (Elemental Slingshot)
(Enlightened5 and +50% DMG buff here we go! Also Direct Hit and +20%HIT)

Partisan, Fortifies, then attacks Husk
Poison7 and Aching5 applies, for three rounds

RP: Church of Helix

The Husk's weakened state, and the information the scan provided, did not paint a wonderful picture of the immediate situation. Now was the time.

"CHLOE! PURGE! NOW!"

---

Maria

Maria just stares dumbfounded as R-8733 performs his work, and is promptly unable to really counter the barrage of snow sent at her. She's completely buried in snow in seconds.

A few seconds later, she pops out of the small mound of snow. "That was amaziiiing!" She squeals. She seems to be appeased by this, even if she's now clearly shivering.

"... I'm cold." She says. You'd think so considering she's in jean shorts and a t-shirt. She probably expected warmer weather than mountainous terrain...

---

Fluxblood extraction for real this time

Hat is too busy suplexing his past self for not actually getting this done to get this done, so instead his past self takes the hint and starts de-blooding the Flux. He hires eighty-eight vampires via eighty-eight hire me vouchers from beyond space and time. They come, and are promptly incinerated by the sun. Hat then hires eighty-eight sunproof vampires via eighty-eight hire me vouchers from beyond space and time. This works, for real. Hat orders them to do pretty much the obvious, suck the Fluxblood. THey do so, and die eighty-eight horrible deaths as the flux warps their organs into <0>rgans, except no, it just kills them normally, <0>rgans aren't a thing. However, with the blood of the fluxblood sucked, this leaves behind only the flux. Hat jars this flux.

Hat proceeds to suplex the resulting time paradox into submission.

---

Battle: Church of Helix

Venia orders Chloe to have Priority, move to O14, and Purge the hell out of the Husk.

Venia's Chibi self will buff Venia with Ordo again. The Socialite will just slap the Husk normally.

Venia first uses Anarchy Road to drag Dome Idol3 to P11, having it politely eat 28 damage bare minimum. She then activates her 100 SP special, Unexistant Breach, creating a spear of broken reality to stab the Husk with for 30 direct damage that fails to get countered. She then launches a more counter-able Devilish Rave with Crushing Damage to deal even more brutality, because look who decided to stay in range 1, just for her? The Husk did. She then moves to O16.

If Chloe has missed her Purge by some unfortunate means, Venia will burn her Ordo to give Chloe an additional round, which ends Venia's turn. She will ask Omorika to move to P11 to give Chloe her Null Somnum so she can reattempt the attack.

If Chloe hit, which is far more likely, Venia will just do what she's been doing-Shoot the husk in the face, then CROSS the Husk as well, ending her turn as well.

Both of these outcomes detonate her Distortion's Dynamite, harming the Dome totems with the weaker splash.

After this, and much later, after all other players have made their moves, Venia will finally activate Converge, making the Husk explode into hopefully-considerable amounts of Direct Damage.

"TAEDA! USE YOUR SPECIAL, GIVE US THE HEALING! NIA, NETTLE, BOMB THE HUSK'S POSITION!!"

---

Other

More, Later!

Lukas looks around, and closes his eyes, clutching the Key as if it were something, or someone, dear to him. Then he's gone.

Or is he?

---

Lukas activates Pink Like Petals, blinks to Q9, then shoots The Husk.

Summa uses her Bloody Scarf to teleport to M10, very suddenly appearing next to the Dome Idol.

"Hello there~!"

She again double basic attacks, but this time to the Dome Idol next to her! Again feeling the burn of her Hyperactivity, Tsar'ina downs a Charian Brew!

"K-kinda hurts..!"

Ziah post:
Leaf: Move to R16, Shadow Leaf on HelixIdol, followed up with an Ice elemental shot
Spitter: Basic attack DomeIdol1, Crushing Clockwork Bomb the Husk

Crya moves to O16 and pops a shot from her Ice Blaster at the Husk.
Lil' Nia moves to Q5 and shoots Dome Idol 3 before retreating to Q3.

Nidra Power Naps Crya, uses the Sheep Counter on herself, and basic attacks the Husk twice. If the Husk is dead, hit DomeIdol2 instead.

Auth shrugs, he'll have a look. He's really not sure, so he takes off his coat to look. Chloe may notice that the inside of Auth's coat has lots of pockets. Like, a lot of pockets.

Seriously, there has to be thousands of them. Eventually, Auth withdraws a set of goggles, dyed a very faint red. In fact, it would definitely be familiar to Chloe if she ever saw Auth injured, since it has a similar colour to Auth's blood.

AUTH: I have Violant goggles, if they count. They'll help improve memory too.
AUTH: I mastered the refinery process for these. You'll still mostly find regular Neathglass or Irrigo goggles, but I managed to get Violant goggles that don't make a person totally useless after a walk down the street. I was proud of them.

Auth puts them back in his coat.

AUTH: As for the Tree of Ages? It's just a really big Spider-Council. Not much else to say about it, really. It's a big enough spider amalgam to float and get around on the Unterzee.

Auth then sighs.

AUTH: We do have a... whole department assigned to dealing with Sorrow-Spiders. Among other things, really. The Department of Menace Eradication. It's just... there's a lot of them. Not much you can do about it really. They're worse out by the White Well, so we're actually fairly lucky.
AUTH: Don't ask. You really don't want to know.

Auth takes a deep breath. (The girl is afraid of us.)

----

Auth gives a slight chuckle as Nana says her literary interests aren't very... interesting.

AUTH: Ah, but I like fantasy stuff. I've always adored stories of valour and chivalry, of a knight in shining armour surrounded by a company of companions to fight of a great and ancient evil.

Auth thinks for a bit, trying to correlate what Nana's reading to anything he might have read. He can't think of anything off the top of his head just yet, he doesn't think...

AUTH: It might be a little childish. There's nothing wrong with that. Grand epics and journeys have always, and I mean always, been something that people have written and read, and they probably always will. They've been done to death and reborn and killed again in so many different ways it's... well, perpetual. Those stories will always exist.

Auth and nods as Nana suggests that she likes historical stuff and gardening books. She then asks what he likes... and Auth can answer that very quickly.

AUTH: Ever since I was really young, my favourite type of novel has been mysteries. I like reading a case that unfolds before me, and trying to outdo the characters in the book and beat them to the correct solution.
AUTH: A lot of the time, you find that people can be really creative in their cases to stand out, and when they work they really work.

Auth closes his eyes and smirks, reminiscing of his childhood.

----

Battle...

In battle, as soon as Auth is covered in Fluxblood, he reacts violently to get it off ASAP. There is, unfortunately, far too much for him to deal with, and once the flow stops, he's on his knees and struggling for air...

And then something rather strange happens. His body begins to unravel. Starting at the tips of his fingers, and then working over to the rest of his body. Eventually, what's left is a field of red strings, neatly composed.

All except in one place. In one place, roughly near Auth's core, most of the strings have tangled, disrupting the movement and flow of the strings. This is soon fixed, however, as many of the strings are severed and reconnected... including all of the tangled strings. While there's a new cluster of disrupted string, it doesn't appear to be as bad. The disruptions weakening what probably represents a lot of the body.

The strings recompile themselves, and then Auth is back. His features look sharper, much sharper than before. He smells very strongly of rot and ash, and Auth has an extremely strong compulsion to get the hell out of dodge. A holy place, Auth was uncomfortable before...

And while he might feel a little stronger physically... as soon as he realises that healing will hurt him, Auth is truly aware of how up the creek he is. The answer being extremely.

Auth flies to O6, and fights to get his body to cast Fire Perseverance on Taeda.

First, Laranei moves R9!

Then Laranei prepares to fire! And by that, I mean she uses her Fire Delivery Weapon of Mild Doom known as her Great Divine Fireblaster's to fire two shots at the Husk!

The two Bow Kids opt to fall back this turn. They move last, in case anyone aims to buff them.

Bow Kid 1 moves to (E16) while Bow Kid 2 moves to (E17). They then smugdance the turn away. They look pecking adorable.

Depending on how Smugdance works with Fractured, it will change what they do.
-If the traits count as separate instances, both kids swap out their MOBILIZE beats for UNIQUE beats. Thus, they store ATTACK, STATUS, and UNIQUE beats in their respective meters. This is probably preferrable for balance reasons.
-If they count as one thing, only one of them changes one of their beats to UNIQUE, and all beats get filled. This is unlikely to happen, but I just felt like I should bring it up.

"Time to prepare for the next phase. Let's be honest, there's no way it would end here, considering a glyph is involved..."

Calibri chuckles bitterly, then takes a simple basic attack swing at the Husk. No movement from him this round.


Dialogue format dump zone

Battle: The Church of Helix

Piggo!Irongutta, that is, Irongutta in Piggo's body, moves to P15 to gain the full benefit of Charge Ram! This movement is accomplished by avoiding The Husk's ZoC by moving through P11, O12, O13, and O14.

With the Durasteel Halberd still shakily held in his mouth, Piggo!Irongutta strikes at The Husk!