==RP==
Crystal pops into existence in the house and yoinks the ‘player avatar’ status away from Arthur. “They tried to keep me out by playing other characters, but to no avail! Wait, Noah ark, Jonah whale. Anyway, I’m here now, time to edit my sheet to get a proper build going.”

==LOGISTICS==
Heh, I always wanted to do that!

Crystal slaps his name on the “name” portion of the sheet, then pulls items from the inventory and equips them in whirlwind fashion.

To save our GM some time, here’s a link to the pre-prepared Sheet of Me!
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1xSq...id=0&range=A749

Or, have a changelog if you want to read that instead.


==RP==
Crystal examines his new equipment.
“Hey, I look like an absolute edgelord. With a plate of Mom’s spaghetti and a pamphlet of poetry (which, to extend the theme, I'll assume is dark and brooding), to round things off. Eh, they can’t all be aesthetic winners.”

Crya switches out her Ice Blaster for Arctic Wind, and takes Curaga as her 4th spell.

Crya also switches Redirect Stream for a Preparedness with a Manabloom Biscuit, and puts the extra point into SPC.

Crya moves to the Central Northern Hallway and checks out the room behind the bottom left door.

This post is for this turn. The respec post was for last turn.

---

First order of business, before everything else, two shots of base-level Cherry Energy hit the Exhibition. (Nice.)

Then, a cloaked, humanoid figure appears on about X146. A nametag attached to their cloak reads "Malik". They look at the construct of monster parts in front of them, then at the floating island above them. Then they get moving.

They jump on the Exhibition's head-analogue, immediately springing off it onto the higher island. They stand somewhere around W140, trying to weigh it down to the right. If they don't affect its weight by themselves, they summon cinder blocks to place onto it until it starts floating to the right. The robot on the lower island should hopefully have enough time to get out of the way of the falling landmass.

Auth smiles, as Nana expresses her worry over Lutea's safety.

AUTH: Well, she was safe the last few times I needed to have a chat with her. I'm sure she's still fine, don't worry.

Auth stands quietly off to the side whilst Lutea and Nana catch up. He really doesn't want to intrude on the sister's time. Instead, he looks at the still somewhat ruined area around them, thinking about what could be done to help fix it up... maybe move the machine to restore patches in a different place?

His musing are interrupted as Nana mentions that things have been going "more than fine". He chuckles, speaking up himself.

AUTH: I personally would say "more than fine" is a bit of an understatement, haha. Things have been going positively swimmingly, in my humble opinion.

Auth glances quietly at Nana... and the brief glance asks her a simple question non-verbally. Important, considering the question.

AUTH: (Do you want to let her know about us, or...?)

Auth doesn't say anything about it until or unless Nana asks him to. He does walk back over to her, though.

AUTH: I make the Eterna remedy sound a lot worse than it is. It heals someone immediately, and it can revive someone if they're incapacitated. The potion won't make them go down again after, I think, athough I don't recall if it was tested that way...

Auth smiles as Lutea's eyes sparkle when she sees the Halobloom.

AUTH: I thought it might be quite rare. We've been up in the mountains, and these seem like pretty useful alchemical ingredients. Glad to see my instincts were right.
AUTH: Have fun with it, I'm excited to see what you can do with it.

Auth is happy to wait for Lutea to return, and swirls the halobloom remedy when it's passed to him. Looks impressive... he's quite pleased with it! He puts it away in the inventory. He then listens to Lutea and Nana talk about using Fluxblood as a potion base...

AUTH: Oh, you're curious about Fluxblood? I don't think we even know what it's from, but we have loads of it. Use as much as you like.

Auth hands three vials of Fluxblood to Lutea. Considering we have over 100 units of it, this shouldn't be a problem.

This stuff is entirely house RP do I even need to bother with a header

Also, you know what, fuck bolding everything in narration. I'm starting to find it obnoxious to do.

There. That's better.

Anyway, Calibri watches what Chloe does to turn the amulet into a bracelet, considering whether or not what she's done is gonna work out, then he shrugs without saying anything. As far as he can tell, that worked. No need to worry. After that considering is done, he notices that there's a present to open now.

"Huh. That was quick."

Naturally, he heads over to open it and take a look at what's inside. While doing so, he has considerations.

"Oh yeah, know any battles we could head into to test out the new gear? Might as well give it a test run and all, heh."

Meanwhile, Sol Aeterna... blushes? Can a sword blush? How does that even work? It doesn't matter too much, she just seems a little surprised at being called pretty.

"I... Thank you? I'm not quite sure how to handle compliments yet..."

The eye on the sword closes, Lato's voice humming quietly as she's held. Something definitely resonates within her... After a moment, the eye reopens.

"I suppose I should mention this in advance. The blade is not the only arrangement of my vessel's form. There is a hammer form for bypassing armor and shielding, a lance for long-range attacks and spellcasts, a whip form for close-range area attacks, and a star form for variable range and healing. I hope this interests you."


Meanwhile, EN visibly approves of Tae with a pope hat on, grinning wider than normal and chuckling quietly. Her hand twitches as she briefly considers patting the Chairian, then remembers that might be some sort of awkward socail faux-pass, and that'd be embarrassing, so she reigns in that urge.

"Well, it be a bit big fer ya, but ya look cute wit' it on. Mind, ya look plenty cute anywho, heh."

Since Tae does seem to at least approve the idea of having gun2, EN nods and does the standard discord thinking emote. She's reaching into the inventory with the other hand to fish some things out.

"A'ight... Might do ye another gun. Ah know 'em better than ah know 'ow t' do other stuff. Definitely thinkin' somethin' on th' lighter side..."

EN pulls out some Plasteel Ingots and Skyroot Logs, idly juggling them while thinking about things. Still thinking, her free hand moves to take some of the ingots and logs, gathering them up in a pile. Her other hand moves over, and for a brief few seconds, both become a blur as plasteel shavings and skyroot splinters fall off the pile, eventually revealing itself as having been crafted into the shape of a handgun.

"...Prolly good t' work somethin' magical in too, aye..."

Another quick inventory search has her pulling out some Silverwood Logs and Gold Ingots owing to lack of silver. Those, too, are blurred for a moment as her hands work on them too, more splinters and some gold shavings falling to the floor, then while she's still got blurred hands, EN moves to shove the blur onto the gun shape. The handgun now has some rather fashionable golden trimmings arranged over the plasteel parts, along with a fairly solid grip made out of combined Silverwood and Skyroot. EN's still doing a thinking...

"...By all accounts, it oughta suit yer style o' magic... healing, debuff removal... Light. Tha's prolly th' mos' fittin'. Though ah'll be fine wit' swappin' stuff 'round later if ya feel like goin' wit' somethin' else."

EN pulls out two Shimmering Clusters, eyes them momentarily, then mashes them together and pulls out an Electrum ingot, apparently just manually bending it into shape so that it forms a tight band around the compressed Shimmering Cluster duo, then shoves that into the gun, managing to fit it reasonably comfortably on the back.

"An' t' finish up, a comfy grip oughta be nice..."

EN proceeds to take out a whole lot of silk bundles to work into silk, straight-up blending a bit more gold into the silk to make it extra luxurious and magical, then winds that around the grip of the gun. She eyes the handgun for a moment, then...

"Aye, tha'll prolly do ya quite well fer a christmas present, an' ah shite ah jus' realized ah did all th' craftin' right in front o' ya an' took all th' surprise outta it."

EN stands there for a moment, then shrugs, deciding not to worry about it and just handing the pistol over to Taeda.

"Eh, wha'e'er. Here ya go, Tae."

Materials used: Plasteel Ingots, Skyroot Logs, Silverwood Logs, a lot of Gold Ingots, 2x Shimmering Clusters, 1x Electrum Ingot, unknown amount of silkweed bundles

Tae got the Blesster Pistol! This very gold-decorated handgun combines being lightweight and being a magical item into one neat hand-held package. She didn't actually make a way to load bullets into it, which I suppose means it's useless in the hands of someone who can't magic and technically just makes it a very fancy gun-shaped want, but maybe don't tell EN that.

D31 Roll:

Not even necessary anymore, thanks to a certain mistake of nature.

---

As Chara furiously stomps in a circle while swearing to herself, the new arrival turns to Chloe.

JOSEPH: Now now, miss, I wouldn't call us friends. Nobody who knows us both and wishes to continue living would.
JOSEPH: But now that the formalities are out of the way, I'm Joseph. Just Joseph.

He springs forward with blatant disregard of personal space, bending at the waist as if inspecting something underneath him, but instead "scanning" the girl from top to bottom several times. His face lightens up with an odd glee.

JOSEPH: Well then, you must be the one that Chara here mentioned in the early reports!
JOSEPH: Or at least, one of the three. The names given were "Chloe," "Lady Omorika" and "Taeda," as the only "worthy" party members. And seeing the condition I found you two in, I'm presuming you're Chloe?
JOSEPH: If so, good for you! You're the sadsack's favourite!

Before any further half-ironic remarks can be made, the boy is unceremoniously pushed out of the way by a visibly fuming Chara.

CHARA: Okay, okay, okay.
CHARA: See, Fran is the one single being none of us want to encounter.
CHARA: To put it in perspective, she is to Francia what Francia is to me. And because she is the one who directly writes Francia, the damned witch can't even fight back like we can.
CHARA: To put my worry in an even more detailed perspective, I've seen her visage a grand total of two times in my life, and both of them were when she decided to fundamentally change my entire identity and existence.
CHARA: I can only imagine what she plans to do here. Whatever it is, literally nothing good can come out of it.
CHARA: So, you might want to stock up on or invent more anti-doomsday weapons. Just in case.

---

I calmly approach Marron with hands raised in surrender, pressing my chin against Therma. Slowly, I open my mouth, guiding it to the back of my throat. As the logical result, my following words come out muffled, yet in a completely serene tone.

"Come on, will you really splatter the wall with the blood and brain tissue of an unarmed woman? Why pointlessly raise the game's rating? Why preach violence, consort with the devil?"

With a single sharp inhale, I swallow the weapon whole, like a python would its prey. Worry not; I'll return it in pristine condition when the time comes. Though, if I had more time, I'd comment that it needs more rosemary. But I am one busy woman.

"In the name of Tazz, the Tazzroc (may they live for ever) and Tazzbaan, I've been declared your sister. My name is now Fran Needleworker, and I am going to befriend the gorilla out of you!"

With speed far outmatching that of a human's image processing, I grab Matron's wrist, pulling the both of us into a new portal that opens in the floor. Where does it lead to? I honestly don't know. If I don't think of anything by the time of the update, Ire might as well choose a location fitting for his plans, of which there are doubtlessly plenty.

"Sisterly bonding time! Go!"

---

Oh mercy, it only goes on and on. I swear, if he really does have his fingers in this game, I might as well...

...hold that thought. And wait a minute.

The Original is here?

Greetings, scriptwriter, you of crystal, your Name be hallowed. The same name that Francia keeps mumbling under her breath whenever she complains about hardships. If you're the reason for them, I must say, nicely done.

But enough with the pleasantries. I have the smallest request to make of you.

If you see me noting anything important down in a post, anything that grabs your interest, don't snitch me out to the rest of the cavalry. It's bad taste. Wouldn't you agree?

Pope Bill's 10 skill points get distributed to stats: +1 STR, +4 SKI, +5 HP!

First off, Irongutta equips his new Blast Suit, made courtesy of R-8733! It's a perfect fit.
((Additional note for Ire, don't forget the giftstuff!))

---

RP!

Irongutta took Magnolia's request eagerly, the gears in his head already turning. "Good choices! Gonna 'ave to fashion some paint outta wotever we got lying 'round, but I wouldn't be a mek worth my oil if I wasn't resourceful!"



With that done, he turned back to Magnolia. "Alrighty then! Just er, hold still I guess while I paint ya."

He first applied the layer of black paint as a base, and then used the red paint to create a menacing ork skull on one side of her blade. The rest of the red paint was applied on the other side of her blade to create an equally menacing striped pattern that resembles claw marks.

With that done, he decided to enter the upstairs bathroom (after realizing the downstairs one "had the dang mirror nabbed by some git") and hold her up to the mirror. "There ya go! Whaddya think, Magnolia? I think I did a pretty fine job!"

<ROUND TWO-HUNDRED AND FIVE>

First, stats! The stats never end!

---

Mustache Girl opens a gift! They rip open the two red boxes, finding the Heavenpiercing Drill! It's a heavy-duty mining drill, made out of Gaiameld Ingots. There's also a mining hammer with it, too! Venia's also left a note with it!

"Hannah,

Thank you for all your hard work. It must be pretty thankless down there all the time, and I'm sorry I can't be down there more often, but even simple multitasking is kind of hard. This ought to make the task of digging down there a lot simpler. The drill's for whatever you'd use a pick for; the hammer's for stuff tougher than that, and maybe also to smack some of the less dangerous Iti around.

Best wishes,

Venia!

PS: Please don't ask how I know your name without you having said it. You can make your guesses. All I'll say is I didn't want to label the gift for 'Mustache Girl,' that'd be weird."

Then, at (BT57) in the Rosen Catacombs, Bow Kid does a bit of exploring. This wall seems suspicious, doesn't it? She prods the wall, to no avail. Seems like it's been bricked up, or something. Whoever did it certainly tried their hardest to make sure this place was never found. So, down it goes! With a few thwacks with a Sapper's Sledgehammer, the wall falls away, revealing... a dark cavern of sorts? The walls and flooring resemble that of the other barracks, but far dirtier, and in a state of disrepair.

Speaking of disrepair, the entire ceiling has caved in, forming various small passages. Through one of the tunnels, she can see something staring at her, before sinking back inside. Then, a voice.

<0>: LEAVE THIS PLACE, MORTAL
<0>: YOU ARE DEALING WITH FORCES BEYOND YOUR COMPREHENSION
<0>: LEAVE IF YOU KNOW WHAT'S GOOD FOR YOU

...An invitation to come in and wreck things? Cool!



- = S T R I F E ! = -



While Bow Kid breaks into some guy's house-cave, Mustache Girl heads to the far left of her current island, and flashes the Grey Card at the Grey Harpy! There's a flash of light, and... the Grey Harpy is transported into the inventory? Huh. Grey Harpy obtained! She then moves up to collect the Amphi Wall Trophy! This does give her a small case of incredible nausea, but fortunately she hasn't gone up far enough to really trigger the effects of the curse.

She then throws a Searing Cluster down at the Exhibition, before firing an Ink Charger shot at both it and the Exhibition! The cluster explodes, ripping a large chunk out of the Exhibition for (25) damage! The Amphi Wall Trophy also fires upon it, dealing (10) damage! In retaliation, the Exhibition flies upwards, and fires a blob of Thyme Matter towards Mustache Girl! Fortunately however, the Amphi Wall Trophy is around to bodyblock. This breaks the trophy. F.

---

The Reflector transforms into Nia! The wizard watches in awe as their body slowly shifts into an exact copy of her. Nia applauds.

NIA: Whoa, awesome!
NIA: You're me!
NIA: ...Wait, are you like, an exact copy of me, or are you like... just a reflection, or something?
NIA: Like... can you do the same things that I can, or what?

Nia lays out her open flat in front of her, and a small ice sculpture forms upon it. It seems to be in the shape of Venia.

NIA: Can you do that now?
NIA: You're still cool either way!

...Nia gets a good look at "herself". The Reflector really must be a perfect copy, as far as she can tell.

NIA: ...Kinda weird, looking at yourself.
NIA: Like, I know mirrors exist, but this is different.
NIA: Huh, looking at me now...
NIA: ...You'd think spending a few months in a tank of fluid would diminish your cuteness, but I think I got cuter somehow?

---

Echoss confirms himself as the Supreme Executive Overseer of the Echo Corporation. Chloe takes a moment to process that.

CHLOE: S-Supreme Executive Overseer!?
CHLOE: So... I'm going to guess that's basically like, a position that's equal to being the president of the USA or something.
CHLOE: Huh.

Echoss apologizes for not being truthful about his real position, expressing a fear that people might be scared of him because of his position, or perhaps give him unwarranted respect. As Echoss slumps against the wall, Chloe places a hand against her chest, and begins to speak.

CHLOE: I don't think that we'd care about your position.
CHLOE: I believe that a person is defined by what they do and say, and not by the bells and whistles of their position.
CHLOE: I'm sure that if you came out to us about your position before we got to know you, we'd still treat you the same!
CHLOE: You're a nice person, y'know!
CHLOE: I'm happy to be your friend~

She smiles as she gently places a hand on his back.

CHLOE: So...
CHLOE: Wanna go do something?
CHLOE: We could go deeper into the catacombs, or maybe just chill for a bit.
CHLOE: I guess we're doing that now, but...
CHLOE: Do you just wanna... talk?

Chloe remains by Echoss's side. Back on the surface, the golems throw around 20 Iron Ingots and 20 Clay, piecing together a washroom on the right side. The showers also end up using a total of 3 Ashen and 3 Galeforce crystals.

Then, down in the Everground, Pionobot uses the Cyclone Regalia to fly up and over the Exhibition! As he rockets up though, nausea overtakes him, but it doesn't stop him from firing a blast of wind downwards at it! The Exhibition crashes into the island, eating (25) damage. This blasts Pionobot up into the air... and then, he begins to vomit. The curse is taking a toll on him! By the time he spirals back into the island below, he's vomited up (7) points of HP...

Also, Echoss opens his gift! The construct that was placed ontop the box helps with the unwrapping process, revealing the Accelerator Core! It's a wooden chestplate with a built-in turbine, powered by a complex formation of air-type crystals. It spins with a gentle whir, and it can emit bursts of wind to carry your projectiles and items around! There's a note with it, too...

"Sir Echoss, I appreciate your presence on this planet. You have been an asset to everyone around you, and I am truly thankful for your aid. Once the Sphere has been dealt with, I would love for the people of Locaa to establish peaceful communications with your people as well. But for now, "happy hoilidays", as they say.

-O"

---

Daskter breaks a barrier! He summons a Behemoth, which plows forward through the fleshy barriers. They screech an awful squishing squelch as the stringy flesh rips apart, and the Behemoth breaks through! As if they were spurred on by the breach, the two statues from behind the barrier spring forward, fragments of red rock fracturing off the wings as they take flight!

Seems like you'll need to punch through these things to get into the central chanber. A battle wasn't triggered through, so it shouldn't take TOO much effort?

---

Venia finally manages to stop kissing Nia. Once they break off, Nia smiles gently, her lips still only inches away from Venia's.

NIA: You have no idea how happy I am that you're okay.
NIA: I keep on thinking that I'm going to lose you... but now I don't need to worry about that ever again.
NIA: Maybe now you can stop tugging on my heartstrings like that~

The two of them then help each other up, and head upstairs, where they share a reunion with Maria, the duchess pulling her into a warm cuddle. Nia decides to join in, an awkward third wheel in the hug. While that's going on, Mr. Krabs then loots the armor straight off of a rotted corpse. The corpse then suddenly falls to the ground, without him even hitting it. Huh. What could've caused it to animate like that? Upon looking at the armor's stats, the problem becomes immediately obvious. Animator Armor obtained!

Then, in the Hybridization Labs, Venia beckons Nia and Chloe to come along with her. The three of them (and presumably Reflector) head to the eastern bathroom from (U23). Except, it's not really a bathroom. It's more of a bathhouse, full of hot water, vision-obscuring steam, and lots and lots of Iti. It seems that a large Netwyrm Head has barged into this otherwise serene bathhouse, and it's accompanied by those odd Wildcard iti, who stop relaxing in the waters and immediately ready themselves for combat. Chloe sighs, and unsheathes her blade.

CHLOE: O-Oh word, it's s-scalding in here...
CHLOE: Let's wrap this up quickly!

NIA: A bathhouse, huh...?
NIA: Once we clean it out, we should host magic club in here!
NIA: It'll be a nice bonding experience for-
CHLOE: R-Really, Nia? Now is not the time to fantasize!
CHLOE: Get ready, Nia, Venia! They're coming for us!
NIA: Fiiiiine~



- = S T R I F E ! = -

---

Some random person named Malik appears in the Everground! They appearify on (X146), ping twice for (6) damage, then rocket up to (W40)! The Curse overtakes them, and they begin to hallucinate violently as they hurl up all over the upper island's surface. The cinderblocks he places on the island have eyes? Or do they? He doesn't know, but the confusion and vomiting causes him to take (8) damage, and totally denies his action. The cinderblocks also totally fail to tip over the island.

What does happen though, is that one of the cinderblocks fall off of the stack he's made. It tumbles off the island, and perfectly smashes the eyeball of the Exhibition! (9) damage! It cracks, and a slurry of thyme matter and fluxblood stain the ground below the eye. It then collapses forward, its only movements being weak twitches of the limbs. Exhibition slain!

---

Auth asks Nana if she's fine with revealing that they're together. She nods, but the jade glow on her cheeks says all he needs to know. He then imparts some of the details of the Eterna Remedy to Lutea.

LUTEA: S-So it doesn't... actually kill them?
LUTEA: I thought I accidentally served you guys a lethal poison under the guise of a helpful medicine...
LUTEA: That's a relief...

He then gives Lutea a gift of three Fluxblood vials. The apothecary gives the vials a little swirl, appreciating the rapidly-flickering crimson.

LUTEA: It's kinda pretty, even though it's just blood...
LUTEA: Thank you! I'll see what I can do for you!/color]

Lutea quickly goes indoors to store the vials. Nana quickly turns to Auth, taking grip of his hands.

<span style='font-family:courier new'>NANA: C-Could you be the one t-to tell her we're t-together?
NANA: I... I think I'd m-make it awkward...
NANA: I-It's the sort o-of thing that's h-hard to say to your sister...

Nana quickly shuffles her hands behind her back once Lutea pops back out of the biodome. She takes a notice of the glow on her sister's face.

LUTEA: Nana, you've been blushing a whole lot...
LUTEA: Really, is everything alright?
NANA: F-Fine! Everything's fine!

...Lutea seems unconvinced.

---

Calibri loots a present! It's incredible how Chloe prepared and wrapped it so fast. He finds Surrexerunt within the paper! It's mostly unchanged, but the blade seems to be glowing a more vibrant sheen than before. It also seems sharper, and some excess material has been removed to make it lighter. A bit of other metals have been carefully mixed into the blade to help it maintain durability despite the loss of material, creating an interesting alloy.

CHLOE: Surprise! But not really.
CHLOE: You'll find that it should generally just be a better weapon.
CHLOE: I mean, I personally prefer lighter weapons, so maybe it won't strictly be better for you, but...
CHLOE: Well, I hope you like it!
CHLOE: Merry christmas!

She then talks with Sol Aeterna for a bit. The sword notes that it's also a hammer, lance, whip, and a.. star? Chloe shrugs at the mention of the last form. Still, she seems enamored.

CHLOE: So you can do all of that?
CHLOE: That's really cool!
CHLOE: ...Could I see it? Your other forms, I mean.
CHLOE: It must be cool, using a transforming weapon...
CHLOE: Ooh, maybe my next upgrade to my sword should make it transform into like... a staff, or something!

While Chloe thinks about these things, EN comments on how Taeda looks with her hat. While she's certainly embarrassed, she doesn't move to take it off.

TAEDA: I-Is it cute?
TAEDA: Gosh, I...
TAEDA: W-Well... m-maybe I'll keep it on for a bit...

...After a few seconds of happy idling, her eyes fly wide open. In an instant, she takes it off, blushing violently as she stuffs it into the inventory.

TAEDA: W-Wait, I c-can't!
TAEDA: I-I mean, m-maybe it doesn't really matter, but...
TAEDA: H-Helix, please forgive me for my insolence!

EN then gets to work on making Taeda another gun. 2 Plasteel Ingots, 2 Silverwood Logs, 10 Gold Ingots, 2 Shimmering Clusters, an Electrum Ingot, and 8 Silkweed Bundles are then combined into the Blesster Pistol! This gives Taeda a ping ability. Taeda's now really packing heat! Although a gun isn't really something she's really used to yet, it seems that she's quite happy with the handgun.

TAEDA: Oh, thank you, EN!
TAEDA: It's lovely! I'll be sure to put it to good use!
TAEDA: Thank you again!

...She's had firearms available to her for all of ten minutes, and it seems like she's already mastered firearms safety, making sure that the safety is on, and that the weapon is safely pointed at the ground. Must come with the territory of being a priestess.

---

Joseph introduces herself to Chloe. Chloe introduces herself in turn.

CHLOE: Oh, I'm Chloe! Chloe Elem.
CHLOE: It's nice to meet you!

Chara then pushes Joseph aside, and notes that Fran is probably here to ruin everything, or something like that. Chloe's hands fumble for the hilt of her sword.

CHLOE: S-So...
CHLOE: S-Should we fight her? Or, what?

CHLOE: Wait, hm...
CHLOE: Since she's in the Thymefield, if she's really that bad, we could probably take her on.
CHLOE: She'll be on our level!

While murder is (maybe) plotted, Fran proceeds to consume Marron's weapon in one gulp. Marron's blood begins to boil ever so slightly. Still, she does her best to remain calm, though her fists ball up.

MARRON: H-Hey, t-that weapon was a gift from Toaster!
MARRON: And you are NOT my sister, you gorillaing creep!
MARRON: You're lucky that I haven't beaten the-

Fran then randomly grabs Marron, and pulls her into a random portal. This portal spits them out somewhere... still in Zone 0. It looks like they've been moved upstairs, onto the roof. There's a rather nice view from here- it'd be a great place for sisterly bonding! The two of them land on their backs, Marron grunting in pain as she lands hard. A few moments of coughing and sputtering later, she looks Fran dead in the eyes. She's pissed.

MARRON: Okay, THAT IS ENOUGH!
MARRON: I will beat the gorillaing gorilla out of you if you don't explain what the gorilla your game is!
MARRON: You are NOT my sister! Do you understand!?

Marron assumes a fighting stance, raising her fists in front of her. She probably doesn't realize that she's outmatched. Or maybe they can have a bonding session by beating the snot out of each other. Not that I know how strong Fran is. Maybe Marron can even win this!

---

Irongutta decides to make paint for Magnolia! 3 Goneblossoms, 3 Pretty Flowers, and a piece of Wheat are thrown together, creating some pretty black and red paint. Magnolia holds still, much like an... axe. She happily hums, occasionally giggling as the paint washes over her body. Once she's painted, Irongutta holds her up in front of a mirror. She drinks in her new look. Her eye is beaming!

MAGNOLIA: Ooh! I like this!
MAGNOLIA: I like this a lot!
MAGNOLIA: Thank you a lot, Mr. Irongutta!
MAGNOLIA: Hurray!

...Magnolia's happiness (and the paint) translates into a +1 Base DMG! Seems like she's eager to go and kill something now. Time to carry her into combat?

---

<LABYRINTHINE CHAMBER, ROUND ONE>
The tunnels of these twisting corridors are quite cramped! If you're a ranged fighter or spellcaster, you will certainly have a hard time fighting the dangerous Old Guard! Bring either a strong melee option... or a plan! Perhaps a way to deal with the walls of this area? Regardless, prepare for a tough fight! Old Guard aren't easy to deal with, especially when you have limited manpower...

<RUINED BATHS, ROUND ONE>
This is a pretty rough situation- you're somewhat flanked, and there's plenty of tough foes! Fortunately, the toughest of them are a fair deal away from you, so make use of this round to secure the frontlines! Dealing with the Large Netwyrm Head would be ideal, but focus everything you've got on them, and you might get overwhelmed in the meantime. It's a tough balance...

-=+=-

A low rumbling disturbs the serenity of the quiet forest near the house, the leaves and loose branches of the trees quivering violently, and any dust on the floor being kicked up. A swirling mass of dark clouds begins to form, a blackened storm spiralling around a point. In the storm's eye, the sky shatters violently like glass, leaving shards of atmosphere in its wake. Between the cracks of the shards of sky seeps deep black wisteria, like tendrils reaching through and pushing the sky to the side. Once the black succeeds, dominating and piercing the sky through, there's a loud and distorted sound that follows, akin to a dragon screeching in reverse, rapidly alternating between deafening noise, and total silence for a few moments... until suddenly, the sky spews a burst of light at the ground, hitting with a loud boom that shakes the surrounding forest, blowing the trees and ground outwards from the point of impact. The storm dissipates, and the sky folds back in on itself, sealing the cracks on its own, and the dust settling. An eerie silence returns to the forest after the echoes fade throughout, though the storm does leave something behind. At the centre of the blast lies a heavily wounded boy, his clothes torn, revealing deep bleeding cuts below. His left eye is closed, covered and leaking a dark liquid, and his leg seems to be twisted slightly, but enough to be undoubtedly broken. After a few moments, the adrenaline fades from his body, and his eyes flutter shut.

-=+=-

Leaf kneels by the Christmas tree, noting the brightly wrapped presents. She'd heard of the idea of a season for gift giving and the like, even celebrating something similar at home, but the quantity and variety of gifts below a miniature pine tree was still curious to her. She looks at each of the gifts, reading them out to herself softly. There are presents addressed to some of her friends, and some others that she doesn't know… and then there are two for her, which surprises her quite a bit. One is a small box, from her friend Nia, which she holds up in both hands curiously. It's covered in air fresheners, which seem to attempt to mask a strange smell from inside, which Leaf… doesn't seem to mind all that much. She places it down beside her, moving her hands to pick up the second gift to her, from Mister Echoss, wrapped in pine-tree patterned paper. Seeming quite happy with the fact that people had gone through the effort of gifting her something, Leaf eagerly unwraps both presents.

-=+=-

Unknown to its inhabitants, something wills its way into existence inside the house. A shimmering silver, traitless phantom, with a body comprised of glassy crystals. Its reason to exist is simply to fill in for where Ziah will be once time returns to normal, and his currently paradoxical items are brought back into the stream of time.

Shatterpoint Catalyst crafting:

As its first order of business, it heads over to Marron, and orders the Shatterpoint Catalyst, supplying her some rosetainted metal, a shimmering and a darkmatter cluster or two, some rubies, and a bit of glass, hoping to lower the price by offering her the materials. Once it's done so, it heads towards the stairs leading to the basement.

Soul Charm crafting:

The glassy phantom makes its way to the workstation below, floating elegantly down the steps, and searching through storage to pick out what it needs. A small pink Hypnotic Orb, a few ingots of both Rosetainted Metal and Electrum Ingots, and a few Rubies for good measure. Once it's done so, the mysterious elemental floats over to a work station to begin serving its purpose.

The glassy entity begins by casting Sword Beam on one of its crystal clear appendages, which it breaks off from its body. Another grows back in its place, and the creature wields the small crystal handle of the laser knife.

The being takes the Hypnotic Orb in one palm, and carefully cuts away a heart shaped piece, which takes up most of the orb. The remainder of the orb is placed aside. The entity places its tool down, and hovers its palm above the hypnotic orb's crystalline remainders, before quickly bringing it down, hard, over and over. It continues, unrelenting, until they're a fine pinkish-white dust.

Similarly, it uses the tool to neatly cut up the rubies into small octahedrons. Next, it takes the electrum and rosetainted metal and places them both into the forge below the workstation, melting them together at a high temperature to form an alloy, brushing in the flour-like crystal dust from the hypnotic orb as well. The creature sends one hand down to consistently stir the molten metals once they're ready to be stirred.

With a scrap sheet of metal, the elemental traces a frame from the hypnotic heart. Realizing it needs something to cast with, a few blobs of yellow sap float over to the crafting bench. The phantom forms itself a sheet of sap, which it presses the frame into in order to make a mold for the alloy to be poured into, then pressing the rubies into place on the mold, where they should be on the proper frame.

The elemental pours the alloy into the mold, and once it's cooled, removes the sap, leaving the rose-gold frame, adorned with rubies. It slots the pink heart shaped crystal into the frame, using the heat of the laser knife to weld the frame to the gem. It floats back, as if to appreciate its handiwork, before floating back up the stairs, and disappearing. It also kindly requests the GM swap its MP gain for a balanced amount of Energized, but understands if he doesn't want to.

-=+=-

-1 KP INT
+6 KP MOV

Time bends slightly as Ziah makes his way South after entering the catacombs, and locating the source of the sounds. A tight, twisting maze of bones and rock. The Labyrinthine Chambers. Ziah is able to take a few steps in, moving to M7, before his claustrophobia kicks in. He shakes his head, groaning softly.
ZIAH: Not a great start…
Realizing he'll be useless unless he finds the courage to crawl through the cramped tunnels, he takes a deep breath in, and begins to Meditate.

-=+=-

In response to the accelerator core: "Ah! Thank you Miss Omorika, this will come quite in handy. I appreciate the sentiments, thank you. "
Echoss equips the Accelerator Core. Echoss's Stats are shuffled around as follows:
-1 AGI
-1 DEF
-3 SPC
+2 SKI
+2 RES
+1 MHP


At her comment about being the president:
"About there, yes."
The speech:
"Th...thank you Chloe. It means a lot to know I've earned that respect naturally.
I... would not mind taking a moment to talk."


House


In the Everground, Pionobot carefully bandages himself up. And also loots the exhibition corpse if it seems safe.


At the farm, a golden butterfly flutters down from the sky above, landing on a branch, and transforms into an Echoss holograms
"Hello there, I can assume that this isn't a friendly house call?"
While this conversation is going on Echoss's golems covertly sneak in through the entrance and begin to quietly harvest and store away the crops, in the following order:
Eterna Flower, Spiritblossom, Tornadopetal, cinderfruit, lumipods, manablooms

Bow Kid (Dorothy) jumps back at the ominous sounding voice... but evidently wasn't too deterred. She gets back up, dusts herself off, and cautiously approaches the entryway. "W-well... well you d-don't know what we're capable of! AAAAA-"

She enters the Labyrinthine Chamber at (O8) with a MOBILIZE beat stored and a STATUS -> UNIQUE -> ATTACK beat.

She runs effortlessly through the tunnel to (K9), ignoring the movement penalty thanks to her stored MOBILIZE beat, and casts Manashock on the Effigy2. She then retreats to (J9).

---

MU (Hannah) doesn't see Venia around, but still seems thankful. Partly because of the kind words, partly for the gift.

Back in the Everground, she uses more iron to make a chain down to Pionobot, and then climbs town to help tend to his nausea and wounds. Fluids, bandages, stuff like that. She seems to have at least a basic idea of first aid.

Once Pionobot is patched up, she helps hack apart the Exhibition for any loot.

"NIA": Well, I can't, like, exactly replicate all of your powers.
"NIA": Especially because some of those powers are things you've memorized or learned.
"NIA": I don't get access to your memories. Well, not by just doing this, at least.
"NIA": The Conductor taught the Reflector some awesome techniques for that part.
"NIA": But I can, like, alter my physicality to mimic your biological traits.
"NIA": And the Reflector's magic usually makes up for the rest.
"NIA": Nice chat, me! But my duchess calls. Time for a battle!

"Nia" enters the bathhouse at (C10) and moves down to (G13) using all five of her MOV. She then turns to the space beside her and summons a rectangular, shimmering wall.

"NIA": Hey, watch this!

"Nia" taps the wall, and with a shimmering outburst of colors and light, it cracks into pieces, the largest of which being suspiciously person-shaped. The vibrant colors slowly fade into more muted and lifelike ones, and the mirror-person grins.

""NIA"": Hi, everyone!
"NIA": Oh my god. Now there's three of us, Nia!

(Mirror Image cast on H14.)

Nidra changes her special to Hibernate.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1iJq...dit?usp=sharing

---

Ruined Baths:
Spawn at C9
Move to D9
Sleep herself with Sheep Counter
Move Pillow to Reflector
Through Pillow, Power Nap Reflector
Wait until end of turn
Last Dream Heart Wildcard

Crya spawns in at the Baths at C10, running to C12 and using Ice Stalagmites on F15 before retreating to E11.

At some point, JOE either wakes up or pops back into existence or whatnot. The cause for this is very difficult to discern, as long as you are blind, deaf, incapable of smelling, and unaware of all recent events. If you aren't, though, the reason is fairly obvious, namely the Farm's nature as being currently under attack.
First, he immediately harvests all the plants there assuming it being under attack does not prevent this, as all of them were either supposed to be harvested earlier, or right now.
Second, if possible, he takes... I dunno, some tazer claws? and attaches them to the harvest golem. Who knows, maybe it'll even help?
Thirdly, he sends a message to the assassin-drones in the forest (wonder if you forgot about those?) telling them to pick up sticks from the ground around them instead of using their harpoons, and prepare for combat. hopefully that'll keep them from being as useless as the flavour of the zone suggests.

Fourthly, he returns to existing as a character. Uh... Special stays the same, but all traits are level 2 so maybe the special should be getting a boost to one of its properties (or the SP regen gets higher?). He puts at least one more point in INT for double illusion, at least four more points in SPC (luckily, none of these increases are running past the soft-cap)... 29 points left... they put 10 points in Res, 9 in STR, and 5 in HP. They switch their mana squarelet for the primal baubles (elements as... fire and Earth), the Sage robes for the Operators Suit (For the stats, mostly- just making sure all the gear I get is better at everything to simplify some decisions), and Deal With The Dome for a Rage Catalyst and either Poetry Pamplet (on the off chance Asset_Data_corrupted will work on Trion without the 12/6 limits and that
transformation duration is changeable with it) or Chaos Spaghetti.
The remaining 5 Stat Points are used to buy Protowell Seaker and Schemer.

This all leaves me with the following stats:
HP: 37->47->52
MP: 37->37
STR: 1->10->14
AGI: 5->4->2
INT: 11->12->20
SKI: 0->0
DEF: 0->0
RES: 0->12->15
SPC: 10->14->16
MOV: 4
(+2 to MP Regen, either +3 to HP Regen & Lotsa Spagh, or Asset_Data_corrupted)
(Non-standard item benefits: Relentless Chaser, Tentacle Gift (I don't have a status-application ability, so.), Elemental Mastery, Unshackled power. Weapon Skill: Expand Horizons.)
(Perks: Protowell Seaker, Schemer)
(The above stats do not account for changes to the Crystalline Farmer from its upgrade below.)
Also, for critquote, since I don't remember basically any of the roleplay here, let's go with something along the lines of "Now, as should be imminently clear, it would be best for you and yours to exit this area, specifically the farm and its viscinity, as it has been demonstrated that further interaction with that zone will cause retaliation by some quantity of beings in a rather brutal and efficient manner above that which might be indicated by ordinary statistics as per that I have done an increased quantity of harm unto yourself in this particular instance."
randomly exchangable with "YE GET OFFA MY FARM MATEIES!".


CRAFTING ATTEMPT:
So, I just returned to the game (for this specific battle), but the Crystalline Farmer is 2 Tiers beneath the items you can get when making a new character. I'm not sure how hard crafting something of tier 4 is, and I don't want to take any resources someone else might want (since I probably won't be using this long), but someone casually mentioned making something be tier 5 in the discord recently so hopefully it'll be possible while restricting myself to tier 1 low tier materials of the sort I either believe I increased the supply of before I left, or which I doubt anyone would bother with otherwise.

Looking down at the Crystalline Farmer, I see it resonates with the power of Farming. This makes sense. I am in a farm. But it occurs to me that crystals are not the most farm-related substances. taking ten green sap blobs, I slather them along top half of the Farmer, then pouring a single unit of Dirt on top, adhering it to the Crystalline Farmer. pushing clumps and bits of the dirt around, I get more of it to stick together, then bury a few dozen wheat seeds into that dirt. Taking a Barkfin out of the inventory next, I carefully take all the bones and organs out of the fish. With the parts I need taken out, I toss away the remainder for compost, and grind the bones down into dust to sprinkle over the Farmer. the Seeds start sprouting, but don't grow fully, as there was only a small quantity of Bone Meal, but you know what, that's fine. Tiny sprouts have a better themeing for this. Now, the next thing I would use is compost, but there isn't much around, so I take 10 silkweed bundles and 10 Uniform Logs, along with a bit of the bag of gorilla (as I understand it such practices are in wide use in earths farms) and put them all in a small pot. Putting the pot on some Aurora crystals (not consumed, just used as a heat source), I then pour some bottled bottled water into the pot, and leave it to compost while I'm gone. in the meantime, I get to work on the lower parts of the Crystalline Farmer, the arm and such. First, I take a few pieces of Cobblestone and make them into a simple whetstone, pouring a bit of water onto the result. Then, I carefully sharpen each of the fingers of the Claw until they gleam, cleaning them off from any dust or blood that might mar that perfection with another splash of water.
Of course, the compost still isn't done, so after a few seconds of thinking I decide what else I can improve. taking a sanctified bricks from the inventory next, I head over to the Infusion Altar and (stumble across the titanium oven. It's been long enough that I have no clue what it was for. anyway, I) place the bricks down on the various pedastles of the altar, and place the Farmer in the centre. The Infusion process goes quietly, the effect demanded of the comparatively high-quality bricks being minor enough to have a negligible instability. All I do here is transfer the Sanctification to the Farmer, making it vaguely holy in nature, which should synergies well with my final result. Seeing as the compost probably still isn't quite done, though, I move on to some more- very careful- infusion. Over the course of several minutes, I slowly infuse the durability of Iron into three soulblossoms, four manabloom seeds, two pretty flowers, and one frostleaf for variety. When the Infusion is complete, I check on the compost, and find it to be... well, sufficient, anyway. Mixing compost into the dirt with one hand while blocking my nose with the other, I quickly bury the Manabloom Seeds into the Farmer, and plant the rest of the plants along it. Taking four units of Spider Bones(???), I bash them into bone meal with a gigantic spoon from the inventory (not using a crafting charge! just justifying crushed bones) before sprinkling them over the rest of the plants, letting them all take root in the dirt more easily. Finally, I take 4 Refined Wood, and place it on the infusion altar. taking away the vibrant life force the wood presumably has considering how good it is at being wood, I infuse it into the plants on my improved weapon, making even the wheat more able to survive being on a weapon which is being used in, like, combat.

Ingredient list: 10 green Sap blobs (0 cost via infinite source), 1 or 2 Dirt, 12 to 24 Wheat seeds, 1 Barkfin,10 silkweed bundles(free), 10 uniform logs(free), 5 bottled bottled watter, 10 cobblestone(free), 1 sanctified brick, 10 iron (free), 3 Soulblossoms, 4 Manabloom Seeds, 2 pretty flowers, 1 frostleaf,4 spider bones, 4 refined wood.

Final effect: As many of the following as are possible in this order of priorities(going down the order until something possible appears, doing it, then repeat). Note some included things I doubt will actually be available, but I feel I should note them.
1) increased GP generation. Probably not an option, but it should be said. possible restriction if it would make it possible: requiring certain types of tiles to stand on for it.
2) an upgrade allowing spellcasting as a bonus action or for multiple spells in a round. I'm not sure about the balance implications of this so I don't know if it's plausible. like 1) and 3), can be based on nature in the area.
3) switch resourceful to an upgrade granting Enlightened under some circumstances. In keeping with the hippy nature of this upgraded claw, maybe base it on the amount of nature in the area?
4) higher Base GP. as in, from 3 to something bigger.
5) spells providing a pacification effect to enemies they hit hard enough? either as a GP upgrade or inherent quality.
6) generic stat boosting and/or higher base damage. if stat boosting, focusing on stuff like health regen because of hippy themeing.

Suggested name: Crystalline Bohemian or something? Bohemian is a word for hippy, but it sounds less stupid them saying crystalline hippy.



With their equipment and whatnot sorted out, They then join/start/something the battle in the Fortified Farm. They do not use Trion Form on the first round, but probably cast an (double, mobile, super) illusion if possible near themselves, and go behind the metal door which they have the key for because they can make illusions through the door (allied doors don't block line of sight!) and use it to not die. The illusions will look like... hm... very scared, vulnerable and weak farmers running out of the farm in fear with hair/clothing/something making it look like they can't tell they're heading straight towards the largest concentration of griefers around. Also, assuming the rebels aren't aware of game mechanics (IE everyone has a constant move rate bar terrain and such) the traps will act like they're in a stumbling run so they can modify their movement to end turn right next to the cluster without attracting suspicion. These might be general plans for when the battle actually happens, if it first actually starts and then I decide actions from there.

Daskter enters the Ruined Bath at B8

Summon Conscript Leader at B9

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1Bhm...885005&range=A1

Settings:
Attack: Slashing
Magical attack: Psychic
Weak: Earth10%, 30% Crushing
Resist: Water10%, 10% Piercing. (20% Water, and 20% Piercing for the Original)

Bass

"Yo, Bass!" Venia says, walking up to him. "Uh, the memory thing, with the Golden Dream Ring, to refresh your memories-want to do that now? My workload is a bit less crazy than before."

"...Did you just get a sense of deja-vu?" Venia asks out of the blue. "I feel like I asked this before just now... Mph, nevermind, not important."

---

Mariaaaaa

After that touching scene, Maria notices her new present and, being a cute little girl, opts to immediately open it. Not much to be said.

---

Mari

"Apologies about the wait, Mari, we really should just activate this thing now. If anything happens we can deal with it." Venia says, walking into the computer room.

"... We may also need to move this as I forgot this was supposed to be a bathroom," Venia adds as an afterthought. "Not quite sure how high of a priority that is to be honest, but we can probably find another place for it if need be."

Notes

Venia's Heart Bracelet hasn't accounted for Nia switching to the Ultra Glove, removing a -1 AGI penalty Venia has.

Venia's outfit hasn't been updated to its correct resistances. (+10% up to all three, convert Fire resistance to Poison resistance as they were both 'magical' resistances to begin with.) This means the current resistances she's listed with are not correct either.

Venia no longer spawns in with anything, so that segment has to vanish.

Venia's "A Champion" passive has not been updated. (Should be Venia gaining Intellect5 on her first summon in a battle, as a spell that requires two summons of your summon cap doesn't synergize well with an item that requires you to only have one summon cap...)

---

Battle: Ruined Baths

Venia spawns in at C8 and moves to F7, spawning a Rooted Incantation at F8. Behold, the Monument!

Kalis levels up.

First, they rework their trait, because nobody wants another GO NORTH incident on their hands. Here's the updated text:

Whenever you attack and don't crit, gain a stack of Entropy. You have +3 (Base: 2) CRT for each stack you have. (AoE spells only grant Entropy once, if they score no crits, but spells that attack multiple times can grant multiple Entropy.)

Whenever you crit, expend all Entropy to restore 3 MP per stack of Entropy, then roll a random spell. During your next turn, you may cast that spell as a free action. (You must still spend MP.) You can't have more than one spell stored this way at a time, and attacks made with this spell don't trigger Entropic Accumulation. If you cast a full-action spell this way, you can't cast another full-action spell this turn.

All modifiers remain unchanged.

Next, they invest 1 KP into INT, 1 into SPC, and spend the last 3 on Anomalous because why not seems fun totally no way this could go wrong.

They put Zillycharm into their new empty spell slot and swap Static Overcharge for Force Nail.

Then they spawn into the Labyrinthine Chamber. They'll appear at O8, move to L7, and cast Zillycharm on Crystal.

<THE EVERGROUND>
Malik looks around, recovering from whatever just happened.

"I have to get out of here," they groan in a pixelated voice.

They down a Salve, and climb up the Iron Chain, continuing to ascend, stopping somewhere around the point their HP reaches single digits.
<LABYRINTHINE CHAMBER>
Lukas spawns at O8, moves to O5, then charges up Ordo.