Hannah gets lost in thought at Yew's statement. Was she too soft? She kinda likes a few of them; Sophia and Dorothy were the main two for her. She wouldn't forgive herself if she had to attack Dorothy, or the helpless Maria, but it's less so for Sophia. Though she was... cursed and helpless too, kinda, so that really wouldn't be fair. Boshi would probably chase and turn her into a fine red mist if he found out. Venia too, probably. Chloe, absolutely.

Though then again, there'd definitely be some who would welcome the new challenge. On top of that, a lot of them can respawn or have died often enough that it doesn't really bother them.

...Then she remembers that Destiny exists. Hannah realized that she was among the closest to her own personality; just replace sadism with sociopathy. And yet they put up with her. So perhaps it's fine? Just so long as she doesn't harm the non-combat-worthy, she'll be fine.

...She snaps back to reality when Yew shoots the Harpy instead of the Aello. I guess half of her thought that they wouldn't be able to reach it. Oh well. "Huh. The wing must've been showing and I didn't notice. Nice."

...The Engie Drone lands next to her with a loud thud, dying in the process. Hannah was kinda just deadpan about it. "Thaaaat's gotta hurt. Talk about reckless."

She points to the Aello for real this time, now that the Harpy's done for. She also loots the Engie Drone's corpse. "Anyway, yeah, on second thought, it might actually be fine up there. I just remembered they had someone like us up there. Chick named Destiny, apparently a goddess, used to dying a lot, utter sociopath, would probably appreciate witnessing some creative deaths of her enemies or heretics."

"...Well, I guess she's not exactly like us, but she's among the least likely to tear us to shreds if we stray from the party's 'norm'. But other than her, I know there's a few who'd welcome the new challenges we'd pose to them. Competitive sorts, y'know?"

"...Also we kinda just come back after dying. Don't ask how that works. So yeah, so long as we avoid a select few of them, we should be alright to do as we please! Or somewhere close to that, I guess."

She pauses for a moment to check something on some sort of device, and sighs.

"...Speaking of, are you at all fond of the Rose Cult? I mean, it's highly likely you've been turned into a weapon by them, so probably not."

"Well... we've just got a juicy new target to try out our new power on! Something called the First Sin. But, hm... we're pretty far down, and whatever's causing me to become massively sick is gonna get in the way..."

"...Oh well, time magic will halfta do for now."

She pulls out her time piece again, and it pulses. She puts it back.

"There. We should be there right about now."

---

Hannah pops up in the Origin of Sin at (L29). She pulls up a database, and frowns. "Aw, why's it gotta be resistant against our stuff?"

She turns to Old Guard <6>, and grins. She casts Focus Energy on herself as a Bonus Action (for 13 MP). "You, on the other hand... hehe, fire at that one," she says, pointing at them. Basic Attack!

---

Boshi takes a look at the Jotun, and sneaks his way around it to the back again, only this time, he gets closer to the Nanite before flashing the card. He also grappling hook's the boat and pulls it out of the way; that Nanite might want it later when it's back at Droplet's. As in, he shoves it in the inventory once he gets a hold of it.

Emerald Lattice: Light
Resists: Dark, Fire, Dark
Spawn... somewhere? Move to O25, Bag of Tricks Eye6, shoot Eye6, retreat to O24.

Battle: Origin of Sin

Venia's overwhelmed-the stench of the flesh, the sight of the living fortress, the raw ugliness of everything around her, the noises of the life uncomfortably magnified.

And yet, here she is, body almost automatically walking towards it, flashing the Origin Scale at it all, mockery like nothing else. "... I s-suppose we have a, a, a... Tricky history, ehehe. If, uh, you are who I, uh, think you are. But... Here it is. P-proof. Your god bleeds. Against its will. Uh. But this is, like, a holy relic? This is literally a part of it. Nothing holier to you. Right?"

Venia steels herself a bit. Then, she grips the Origin Scale, little more than a trophy, and yet simultaneously the holiest thing in the room by the standards of the Rose Cult-and in one swift, satisfying motion, she activates her Ordo, and in plain view of everything in the room. incinerates the Origin Scale.

Her allies are coming behind her-they're already rushing in. She smirks confidently, flashing her weapon. "... Sinners! We, we are here to put you out of your misery. I doubt you'll, like, let us, in your state. But, so be it. SPHEREBREAKERS!" She shouts. "KILL THE ROSE CULT! KILL THE FIRST SIN! DESTROY THEM TO THE L-AAH!!"

Venia's interrupted from her shouting by Cushion barreling into her from behind, making her land squarely upon his saddle.

"C-cushion, what?" Venia says, startled as her allies run past. She checks the area for Maria, but doesn't find her-but does find a note on her saddle, written in crude crayon.

"Venny,

I was getting worried about you so i sent cushion after you. He will take care of you and fluff you and you can fly on his back.

-Maria."

"Awww, bless her heart, my little muffin is worried about me!" Venia exclaims. "...Battle, right. Cushion, forwards!"

-----

Venia, riding Cushion spawns in at J29, activates (or has activated?) Ordo via her bonus action coat, and uses Incantation to summon a Lovely to her side at I29. It looks like a tiny Nia in a wedding dress with fairy wings and it is adorable. Cushion stays put and uses his basic attack on Old Guard 5.

Venia then eats a slice of the Princess Special, as well as Cushion. Also Venia activates Thymebent Mode.

When Auth spawns in later, Cushion will spend the MP to activate Cotton Guard on him, to hopefully receive Preserverence in return.

---

The Way Forwards

"Nothing to be done about it then," Venia says, upon hearing Mari's news. "They already know our position. As, as long as nothing else comes up, all we have to do is... Uh, be careful with him. And, uh, properly restrain him."

Venia then turns to Omorika, looking a bit... Unhappy.

"... I've been bouncing this theory, uh. In my head. Since I met him, since I saw the R-4 and what Cypress wrote on it, since the general tech level of the rebellion, been watching closely. But, you saw the systems aboard the Duneyrr, right? I saw it too. and you saw Vedfolnir, and how it spoke. It glitched up when it tried to say more than three words in a sentence? And how it was only speaking three words a sentence? ... It's. I don't think it's a, uh, a coincidence. It's. Uh. I've seen that exact glitch somewhere else, in fact. Uh. It was, it was on Cypress's automatous drone. I've seen it a couple of times. Came to pick up Acacia earlier. He said it would glitch out if he had it say more than, more than three words. Thought-to-speech. It would. Uh. It would explain a lot."

Venia pauses.

"... It's just a theory, but there's... A lot of evidence towards it... And if it is, uh. Quite frankly, uh, he's basically trying to, uh, do what you're trying to do with us, uh. Perhaps just, not as wisely, is all. Uh. Assuming this is all connected, and he even is. Not saying it's 100% confirmed, uh, just yet. But... Yeah. Yeah."

---

NPC services

Venia commissions a Chloe form to help repair and repurpose the Duneyrr at The Way Forwards, at least a little. "Chloe, we got a tank! An entire tank, stolen from the rebels! It's a huge find. A lot of it got blown off, but. Tank! Uh, we need help repairing it."

---

The Rosen Catacombs.

Venia somehow manages to fit in a bit of time shenanigans to appear at the Chapel, at the foot of the Sacrificial Altar, Incandescent Key in hand. She does not speak, but her face crunches up, her lips fading into water. It does not please her.

She calmly walks up behind the altar, revving up the key, letting Pulchritude flow through her-like it has many times before, as she steps upon the altar itself. She takes the key in both hands, raises it up... And stabs directly downwards into the altar, letting it strike clean through.

And then, she lets loose Purge-hopefully destroying the entire altar in a cleansing blast.

"No more! No more! Never again! No more sacrifices! No more worship of that thing! That abomination! NO! MORE!"

While Venia commits holy sacrilage against the Butterfly, Mr. Krabs moves into the Sideways room and talks to the Rose Cultist like a normal person. "Ahoy there matey! What's going on in here?"

---

Basscaper

Venia draws the Calm Mind Shard within the Mindscape like it was a lightsaber-and with pulchritude dancing upon it, it certainly had that feel. And yet, pale pink scales? That was not usual.

"Bass? ... I'm here to help Bass. I want to help Bass Americana. If that's, like, his real name and not a pseudonym. You know what I mean! I want to help him remember everything. Don't hurt me. I don't want to hurt Bass. I don't want to hurt you, if I don't have to. That's why I only did that small patch-in case it was hurting Bass. You. Are you bass? I don't know."

Venia doesn't make any moves to aggravate the creature further, not advancing or retreating, just keeping in a defensive stance.

---

SKILL POINTS:
So many skill points, so little time! The Reflector invests one skill point into MHP and two skill points into RES (to boost it up by only one, sadly). Gotta get those absurd SHP numbers one way or another.

---

ROLEPLAY:
@Franciacorta
I stare at the creature before me. Words fail to describe their majesty, but I try anyway.

"FRAN": Exquisite.
"FRAN": Divine.
"FRAN": And most importantly, the funniest shit I've ever seen.

I take a moment to admire what I have wrought.

"FRAN": Wonderful job.
"FRAN": Now, shall we --

My thoughts are interrupted by a booming, monstrous noise coming from the catacombs, one which I can hear from the house despite the fact that we're probably above ground and possibly not even in the correct time frame. The powers that be seem to be urging me to direct my attention to the impending boss fight rather than this hilarity. Fine.

"FRAN": Well, it looks like we've got a scuffle on our hands!
"FRAN": I know you don't fight on the front lines, but I hope you'll be there to watch Francia's kid apprentice.
"FRAN": Now, do you want to stop being a literal mirror, or shall I wheel you all the way there?

---

THE FIRST SIN:
I spawn in at space L27 and move up to space K25. As a bonus action, I apply Shields Holding to myself to gain some added durability. I then decide to try out a move the Reflector was never quite in the position to utilise: their special, Shield Burst, taunting both Pustule 3 and Pustule 4. Will its release hurt the Fluxflesh nearby, thus helping to clear the path? Hell if I know.

AUTH: How frustrating...

Auth steps back and thinks about how to deal with the Exhibition.

AUTH: From the looks of things, there might be some pretty useful things in there... if we can deal with that mass of swords.
AUTH: I agree, I don't think they would have left an exhibition here if there wasn't something valuable...

Auth pulls out the scanner, and uses it to scan the Swords exhibition as it passes by the door. Intelligence gathering is an important aspect of a confrontation.

AUTH: This isn't exactly an executioner. I don't think we can fight it by ourselves. What we can do, I think, is box it in so it can't move anywhere. If it follows a simple patrol...

Auth pauses to play out the scenario in his head.

AUTH: But does it have the ability to detect things behind it...? And what would we need to make a barrier out of to stop it? I can see a fitting place but I'm not sure how to get this to happen.

Auth sighs.

AUTH: It would be much easier if we had more room or more people or one of those fancy keys that mess up Entropic foes... Alas. Do you have any ideas for how to deal with this? I admit I doubt I'm knowledgeable enough to come up with a functional plan...

Auth points a little to the right, into the corner near them. On AM16, specifically.

AUTH: I think I wanna box it in there, if we don't come up with a better plan...
----

In the meantime, Auth assigns one skill point into Hope, Perseverance and Liberation, two into DEF and one into SKI. Auth then spawns in a grand light show on K29, floating high in the air to try and get a look at the area.

AUTH: Venia, I must assume you are quite mad to have performed that action so early. I would have recommended holding until after we deal with... this.
AUTH: Oh well. It's too late now, I suppose. The least I can do is this...

Auth casts Perseverance on Venia, protecting from Light.

Skillpoints:
Same as last time. Cal AGI +1, Cal HP +1, Ver DEF +2.

RP - zone 1

Verdana nods in understanding at Maple.

"Tech augmented eyes are pretty cool, yeah! I don't have a great amount of tech experience, but I know someone who does. I'll head back to the house and let her know, feel free to tag along if you wanna meet her, see the house, or just don't feel comfy near legion territory."

With that, he promptly turns and nyooms off back to the house, with optional friendo in tow.


RP - house

Yeehaw transitions. Once Verdana returns to the house, he passes by EN, pausing for a spot of conversation.

"Heya, 913! Got a commission for you."

EN, who was in the middle of a conversation and waiting on a comment from her conversation partner, turns and glances at Verdana, maybe also Maple if the scarlet lass did indeed follow him.

"A'ight, wha's th' dealio?"
"Cybernetic eye. For a Scarlet friend of ours. She lost one due to... let's just say her boss didn't like what she was doing and leave it at that."
"...Bloody 'ell, wha's wit' th' leadership 'ere? Firs' Tae gets thrown through a wall by 'er boss, then th' Rebellion also turns out t' 'ave leadership issues... At this rate ah'd naw be 'alf surprised if we git t' th' citadel an' Spark atomizes someone fer mildly annoyin' 'im."

There's a pause, and some obvious signs of EN winding down after having gotten herself a little worked up. Then, she nods.

"Aye, ah'll sort th' eye soon."
"Okay good. Just don't stick weird things in it."

It's a bit hard to tell, but Verdana's tone of voice seemed to go mildly snarky just then... Still, he yeehaws into the house and promptly crashes onto the couch, namely on the side where there's plenty of room, while EN pulls out a blatant-rip-off-of-the-iPad and begins doing up some eye diagrams. Or deyeagrams if you like puns.


RP - Everground

"Wow that stings. Part three. The end of a trilogy that nobody asked for."

Engie's definition of what happens at 0 health appears to be a lot different to what most people recognize. Namely, the only thing of note that appears to have happened is his legs aren't quite fully there anymore. That is to say, he lost the lower half of them somehow. He remains still for a moment...

"...Right, better log that respawn and move on. No use manifesting water from my eyeballs over an accidental excess distribution of bovine baby food."

He logs a respawn, promptly regrowing the missing leg parts and standing back up. It seems he refuses to acknowledge that he should've been put back at the surface post-respawn. Not that the end result is functionally that different from respawning normally and walking all the way back down...


RP - IDK just slot this in wherever

Lato senses a disturbance. Something large and dangerous has been found. It must be destroyed. Her eye manifests. She isn't sure where she is, probably in the anomalous situation most sentient weapons find themselves in when actively equipped but not given a specific place to be kept, but she knows what needs to happen.

"My wielder. Our services are required. The First Sin has been found, in the room beyond the Steps to Oblivion. I would like us to go there. Between your skill, my forms, and our friends, we may put the abomination to rest."


Battle - orange is sinful

Calibri spawns at K27, moves to J25, and activates Roris Marini. He does not retreat. His eyes darken visibly at the sight of the sheer magnitude of this blasphemous abomination that lays before him, all the twisted flesh and etc etc... Though as he holds his blade and closes his eyes, that darkness fades. Once he opens his eyes again, his gaze is of resolute steel.

"Well, I'd be lying if I claimed that didn't scare me. But staring at it all just makes me imagine. Namely... how many lives were ruined to create that creature, or this entire setup the cult built down here. How many lives have been forfeit to the chaos butterfly's influence. How many lives..."

He trails off for a moment, then grits his teeth. The resolute steel of his gaze slowly gives away to a burning wrath.

"How many lives must be begging... praying... DEMANDING RETRIBUTION FOR ALL THAT HAS BEEN WROUGHT HERE. VENGEANCE FOR THE FALLEN! NO SIN OR SINNER SHALL LEAVE THIS PLACE ALIVE!"

He mad.

Kalis unpauses, after a long period afk. There's a realization that's been glinting on the edge of their mind for a while, one they were meant to have not long after Monika, but it's not quite written yet. Soon, it will drop.

Kalis goes into their Options menu and sets their preferred pronouns to they/them, like they really should have done in the first place. Then they get to work updating their build with the new stuff unlocked in preparation for the boss fight ahead.

First, their spells. Zillycharm and Force Nail were both tech choices for a very different kind of encounter than the one which they now face. They replace Zillycharm with Siege Spire, for unloading damage on Eyes, and Force Nail with Encourage, because the fight is likely to go long. Deep Thinking is also not likely to be useful in a lengthy-looking boss fight like this, so they swap it for Solar Singularity, perfect for burning holes in swathes of flesh. Seriously, this boss fight is freaking metal. It looks like Darkest Dungeon and Doom had a baby- no, had several thousand babies, all of whom merged into a single writhing mass of undifferentiated childflesh.

Then, their skill points. Anomalous, while something they were looking forward to try out, is too risky for a boss fight. They remove it to gain 3 KP, then put 6 KP in MOV (bumping it up to 5), 1 KP in MP, and 1 KP in RES.

Finally, their actual action for the turn. Kalis spawns on L28 and moves to L25, then casts Chaos Bolt, targeting Anomalous Eye 6, and using Magic Flux to halve its damage but cause it to ricochet to two nearby targets.

Irongutta put two KP into DEF and one into HP.

Battle: Origin of Sin

The Ork strolled down into the darkness behind the rest of the party, lugging Magnolia over his shoulder. However, given the state of things his normally nonchalant attitude about the grim surroundings of the catacombs quickly faded away when he saw what was down there. His mouth hung open for a moment as he processed the monstrosity before him.

"Bleedin' Mork, I knew R-8 and I shoulda blown this place to smithereens!"

Irongutta grit his teeth and wielded Magnolia, holding her out before him. A question burned at the back of his mind. "Magnolia, any chance ya knew 'bout this monster down 'ere?"

His actions were then as follows:
Spawn in at L26.
Give Lukas some verbal encouragement (read: yelling), buffing both Lukas and himself with Fury.

Posting for Eph, since they were sleepy!

Ziah joins the fight! He spawns in at J28 and moves to J27, then meditates, unless a later post for Ziah overrides this!

With Marron:
Echoss smiles wryly
"Perhaps here on Sussui, but there are in fact a few better options elsewhere.
I doubt the thymefield would allow importing anything of that grade however, so we'll see how mithril goes."

With Maple:
Echoss considers her words, then nods.
"While I cannot speak for the entire team, I think we would be more than happy to have you as a member of the Spherebreakers. Welcome to the team Miss Maple."

House defenses will wait until I have ideas.

Pionobot charges up another wind shot, in case the Aellos/harpies need to be dealt with en masse. This shot will discharge to boost his next attack, no matter who he makes it against.

Echoss spawns into the Origin of Sin (I don't know where yet). His face is grim, with a tinge of a disgusted sneer as he takes in the room.
He casts shopping spree, obtaining 4 Light element El-Ite Knives

That sure was one hell of a conversation. Shame it ended so soon, for something important was left unsaid.
That, of course, is that the materials could otherwise be brought in to no ill effect if more effort was invested into it. Perhaps if one was to use a combination of game-sanctified spells and special crafting in order to hold open a stable portal to the Palais des Estivaux, one that existed as an on-map game construct rather than simple flavour text. Or maybe, maybe the past hundred pages should be combed through until how Echoss got his golems and became a delivery service is revealed. In fact, that would be excellent for everything, if only it were manageable! But no, there is no time, no essence, there is nothing to do but wonder how anybody ever achieved anything of importance, the nescience hurts, how, how, it hurts, it hurts, it hurts, it hurts, it hurts it hurts it hurts it

---

Stats

+2 to SPC

---

First Sin

Chara spawns at J28 and deads tile H24 like a basic virgin. Happy?

==CRAFTING==
Crystal decides to beef up the house’s defenses, because it seems pretty inevitable that it’ll get attacked by Rebels sometime tonight. Defense systems ahoy!



Multiple Glue Sprayers and one single Overcharger Engine crafted!

Stats here:
Glue Sprayers https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1xSq...6837&range=A120
Overcharger Engine https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1xSq...56837&range=A58

==LOGISTICS==
Crystal buys a duplicate of the Discordance Headband, then equips it instead of his Slayer's Helmet.
He swaps Preparedness to have a Manabloom Biscuit.
He also swaps the Poetry Pamphlet’s Magical resistance to Earth.
Finally, he swaps skillpoints to be: 7 HP, 1 MP, 14 STR, N/A AGI, 14 SKI, 14 DEF, 13 SPC, and 6 MOV.

==BATTLE==
Crystal spawns at J28, moves to G26, and basic attacks the Old Guard, following up with a Dust Blast that blows him backwards to H26 and the Old Guard to D26. The leftover light dust that settles onto his weapon flashes into Ordered light as he activates Light Eternal, converting it to Ordo.

After an absence, Pope Bill comes back.

He puts 4 points in DEF, then spends 1 point in AGI. Suffocating Hatred gets changed out for Cleave.

--

Pope Bill moves to F27, where he attacks the Old Guard stationed there with a basic attack.

"Oh, the Hold fight is over? Well, I guess the big events are off for no- GOOD LORD, WHAT IS HAPPENING IN THERE!?"

Looking into the Origin of Sin, Hoshi looks over Angel's head with a devilish smile.

"Well, looking from here, sounds to me like a certain heart hasn't learned from last time... and who am I to disappoint?"

Hoshi immediately jumps into action at M27, leaping to P24 and grabbing the 6th Eye in what almost looks like a choke hold, trying to force it as far as possible with Guiding Hand before leaping back to P26, the already dead flesh at P24 and R22 starting to wither away and die thanks to the eye right next to it being thrashed about like Hulk vs. Loki.

<ROUND TWO-HUNDRED TWENTY>

It's time for stats! Lots and lots of stats.



Anyway, let's proceed!

---

Malik investigates a tank. He asks nobody in particular what's going on. Miss Omorika disperses herself from the nearby crowds, and approaches Malik.

OMORIKA: Good evening to you, sir.
OMORIKA: I believe we are unacquainted, but I am Miss Omorika. It is a pleasure to meet you.
OMORIKA: We have just finished capturing one of the Rebellion's leaders, whilst also stealing their spider tank.
OMORIKA: It was a... fairly clean operation, circumstances considered.

...The fact that the starboard side of the tank is in shambles really seems to say otherwise.

---

JOE continues to empathize the "Fortified" in the Fortified Farm. He plans some stone spikes to the eastern side of the farm, then continues sweeping away at the soil. He frees up one of the tiles... but also reveals some kind of leftover explosive. It must've found its way here amidst the chaotic combat. It seems... somewhat damaged. Mishandle it, and the farm (or at least, some crops) will bite the dust! Hopefully, JOE is well-versed in the art of bomb disposal...

---

Hannah continues to talk with Yew. She notes a few party members that Yew might be like: namely, Destiny! Also, there's the fact that none of them actually die for whatever reason. Yew's one eye... "frowns", about as well as an eyeball can.

YEW: Is that the case?
YEW: How... boorish. What beauty is there in our work if it can merely be shrugged off?
YEW: Surely, there must be a way around that? Oh, if only...

Hannah then asks about how they feel about the Rose Cult. Yew ponders this for a few moments.

YEW: Oh, the Rose? Why, we're on lovely terms!
YEW: I signed up for this personally.
YEW: Sell my old, withered shell of a body for a body of metal and crystal? I did it in a corebeat.

YEW: If there is one thing I miss though, it's mobility.
YEW: I got cast away not long ago... and ended up here.

YEW: Tell me.
YEW: Do you know of something called the "Sphere"?
YEW: I remember it being quite a big deal to my previous master. She wished to destroy it.
YEW: If I recall correctly... not long after it appeared, she grew to despise me, and threw me away.
YEW: I can't recall her face, or her name though.
YEW: Not that it mattered much to me. I was happy just to finally be able to do what I was made for~

YEW: A shame she couldn't appreciate my art.
YEW: Before the Sphere, she never allowed me to fire upon living organisms.
YEW: While she was magnificent once the Sphere arrived... if I'm being truthful, she was quite boorish before then.

Meanwhile, out on the lake, Boshi attempts to stealth-ride his vessel around the Jotun. It is however, quite difficult to stealthily ride a boat at that range, and the Jotun yeets a rock at the boat. It smashes into the side of the hull, dealing (20-7) damage. At the very least though, he manages to activate the Grey Card on the Nanite for real this time! A beam of light whisks it away into the inventory. He also tries to grappling hook the boat away, but it seems that the vessel is much too big to stuff into the inventory. Or at least, too big to yank with a grappling hook.

---

Venia continues her work at the Duneyrr. She asks Mari to properly restrain Linseed. She nods, and in a few moments, she's placed some heavy iron cuffs around Linseed's hands, forcing them behind his back.

MARI: Holding his hands back there like that should prevent any woodmancy-based threats.
MARI: Also, as for the key to these things... there isn't one. Those sorts of things always get lockpicked, and also most of us have some weird-gorilla way to remove it safely, anyway.
MARI: Anyway, we should probably get this piece of work to the House or something, then?
MARI: Assuming the Rebels really DO know our position, anyway.

Mari awaits further orders. Venia also shares a theory of hers with Omorika: What if Cypress is working with the Rebellion? Omo darts her head away from the duchess, eyes narrowing. She sighs.

OMORIKA: Miss Praefortis, that is simply ridiculous.
OMORIKA: I know Cypress, and I know that he...

She trails off. Soon enough, Omo begins mumbling to herself. While she can't really make it out, Venia hears something about "flamethrowers" and "technology". Once the librarian's finished organizing her thoughts, she turns back to Venia, head slightly tilted.

OMORIKA: After further consideration... the theory does make sense.
OMORIKA: Like myself, Cypress was put into a position where he was forced to work for Spark.
OMORIKA: It is reasonable to assume that he would try to do something about his situation.

OMORIKA: I still have my doubts, however. Surely, Cypress wouldn't take such an aggressive, cruel stance against his own people?
OMORIKA: While yes, there are people in the Council like Acacia, who are impossibly aggressive for their position... they are ultimately loyal to Locaa and its citizens.
OMORIKA: ...Even if she did launch miss Taeda into a building.
OMORIKA: I'm sure she felt like it was the right course of action at the time.
OMORIKA: Even if it wasn't.

A few moments later, Chloe marches over to the Duneyrr with a small toolbox. She looks up at the towering spider tank, mouth agape.

CHLOE: V-Venia, you k-know I'm happy to help w-with these sorts of things, but...
CHLOE: T-This is way out of my paygrade! I-I'm good with machines to an extent, just n-not... like, something like this!
MARI: Well, good thing there's a local expert who's just spent the last few minutes getting a feel for this bad boy.
MARI: Come on up. I'll show you around.
CHLOE: O-Oh, Mari!
CHLOE: Thanks a bunch!

Chloe is helped up onto the Duneyrr. The two siblings(?) working together manage to get a fair deal of work done, piecing together a lot of the missing chunks of hull, and repairing the damaged systems that were behind them. It's not a complete or perfect repair, but it has its little charms to it. Chloe is then helped off the Duneyrr. She waves goodbye to Mari and Venia, and then she's off to the house once more.

Meanwhile, in the middle of the Catacombs, Venia decides to go and blast apart the Altar within the Chapel. Holy light crackles across its surface, the fluxblood and sap upon its surface sublimating. Moments later, the Altar falls apart, and the light of Ordo fades. Elsewhere, Mr. Krabs talks with the Cultist in the Sideways Room. What's up?

CULTIST: i can't turn this stupid thing
CULTIST: is it stuck somehow?
CULTIST: you're meant to be able to turn this, and the hallway goes crazy or something, and its a fun practical joke
CULTIST: or at least it is, until you get trapped down here
CULTIST: any ideas?

To wrap things up, within Bass's Mindscape, Venia tries to talk with the reaper-like figure before her. She barely gets past the "i want to help bass" part of her little speech before the reaper freaks out. Its weapon alights with a crimson glow, and it springs forward towards her! Venia barely darts out of the way, but the blade nicks her arm, leaving a shallow cut. Which isn't a big deal, as she can't be harmed unless she actively uses the Calm Mind Shard.

...Or at least, its not a big deal until she feels droplets of blood rolling down her fingers. She's almost certain that she didn't cut herself there, or that she was bleeding before she entered the room. The Bass Plushie begins to bap against Venia, trying to signal her attention.

BASS PLUSHIE: I don't think that thing's native to this place.
BASS PLUSHIE: You should probably kill it. The Scale Reaper.
BASS PLUSHIE: that's what I'd call it, anyway
BASS PLUSHIE: cool name, right?

This "Scale Reaper" then flash-steps over to the bit of corruption that Venia purged not a moment ago, and suddenly vomits up what seems to be a pile of Fluxblood onto the ground. The blood immediately begins to bond with the floor, forming that same crimson blight she just wiped away. The creature continues to fidget with its scythe, staring at the duchess. Things are about to get messy, aren't they?

---

Auth and Nana try to come up with plans. How to deal with that Exhibiiton? Auth suggests trying to box it in, but Nana seems opposed to that.

NANA: T-That seems dangerous!
NANA: W-What if it lashes out at us, l-like a cornered spider?
NANA: Plus, w-we'd both need to get into harm's way to do that, too...

The two continue to wait behind the door. Something is bothering Nana.

NANA: W-We'd need to time when we go in, so that we don't o-open the door a-and have it see us i-immediately...
NANA: H-How can something so b-big be so quiet, though!?
NANA: I-I can't tell when it's rounding the corner, or when it's close to the door at all...

Nana continues to consider her options.

NANA: D-Do we have any way of b-being... invisible?
NANA: I... don't actually know if any one of us can do that. Huh.
NANA: M-Maybe we should ask them for help?

The apothecary daydreams about an invisibility cloak. How nice it would be to have one right about now...

---

Verdana tells Maple that they could get a cybernetic eye. Maple cheers.

MAPLE: Hurray! Thank you!
MAPLE: You guys are great!

MAPLE: I'm gonna stay here for now, though.
MAPLE: I'd like to get permission to see your place first, since I know that the Rebellion is trying to find it.
MAPLE: I-I'm actually a-a bit nervous that some of you might n-not... trust me?
MAPLE: I-I mean, I probably seem pretty suspicious to y-you all...
MAPLE: I just want to be sure that you guys can trust me, alright?

She seems... a bit less pumped than before. Such is the way of these things, though?

---

Irongutta mentions that he should've blown the Catacombs to smithereens. Magnolia begins shaking.

MAGNOLIA: W-Wait, don't do that!
MAGNOLIA: I like this place! It's my home!
MAGNOLIA: We can't blow it up! Nuh-uh! I'm against it!
MAGNOLIA: Lots of other people call it their home too!
MAGNOLIA: We can't ruin everyone's home!

Irongutta then asks Magnolia about the First Sin. She hesitates for a moment, but eventually responds, energetic as ever.

MAGNOLIA: The First Sin is like... our leader! He's really smart!
MAGNOLIA: He's also the founder of the Rose Cult, and is like, a billion years old!
MAGNOLIA: Or a thousand! One of the two!

MAGNOLIA: He has lots and lots of eyes on his body as a sign of devotion to <0>.
MAGNOLIA: He isn't able to speak, but we know how much he likes all of these improvements, so we keep expanding him each and every day!
MAGNOLIA: I think he wants to be as big and as powerful as <0>, so that he can be best buddies with him!

---

Echoss speaks with Marron and Maple. With the puppeteer, he notes that there are materials even better than Mythril! The puppeteer raises an eyebrow.

MARRON: Huh? You sure about that?
MARRON: Mythril's like, the best! My crossbow here has Mythril in it, so that's proof!

Marron beholds Therma. Surely enough, there's a small gleam of Mythril in the construction, making up some of the frame.

MARRON: Chaos says that "adamantite" or something is pretty good, but he said that his world generated Titanium instead.
MARRON: Whatever that means.

Elsewhere, Echoss accepts Maple into the party! Maple's smile beams down towards him, and she leaps off the windowsill. She lands on the ground with the classical three-point superhero landing, a pressure wave sending blades of grass spiraling up into the air. She then rather suddenly pulls Echoss into a quick hug.

MAPLE: Hurray!~
MAPLE: Thank you so much!
MAPLE: You won't regret this!

She's equally quick to back off, before celebrating her recruitment. Then, something crosses her mind. She stops, spins towards Echoss, and raises her hand.

MAPLE: Oh! Could I ask a favor?
MAPLE: It's... about my equipment.
MAPLE: My weaponry is in good shape and everything, and there's no real issues...
MAPLE: But... it feels wrong to be using fire-based weaponry.
MAPLE: Do you know if it'd be possible to get a retooling? You can change it to whatever element you think would be helpful!
MAPLE: Just as long as its not fire.

Meanwhile, in the Everground, Pionobot prepares another windy shot. While he hasn't activated it yet, it'll probably make short work of whatever he targets, assuming he mentions it with his next post.

---

Crystal whacks together some gun turrets! Okay, maybe only one of them is a gun, but shhhhh. 25 (15) Green Sap Blobs, 5 Serenea Flowers, 1 Pail of Pure Water, 5 Assorted Chairian Weapons, 10 (0) Iron Ingots, 5 Durasteel Ingots, and 1 Bastion Thymeport are combined to create the Glue Sprayers! Then, 15 Copper Gears, 1 Searing Cluster, 10 (0) Iron Ingots, 1 Electromagnetic Cluster, 10 (0) Wire Scraps, 1 Vilebaron Warbanner, 1 Electrum Ingot, 1 CPU, and 3 Thermal Gel is used to create the Overcharger Engine! Now... where to place these machines? I'll assume you have 2 Sprayers, and 1 Engine.

---

<ORIGIN OF SIN, ROUND TWO>
It's going well enough. It is only the first round, though! Hannah's also been sniped down, so maybe go and revive her. Anyway, now that the First Sin's BPM is beginning its steady climb, things are only going to get rougher from here on out! It's probably worth making sure that things don't ramp totally out of control: smash the Netwyrm Heads, destroy turrets when you can... everything helps!

The Hannah in-battle crumples over, wishing she actually ate the cake this time. Oh, and she also flips off the amalgamated eye that shot her.

She patiently awaits revival...

Upon revival, she moves to (N25), reapplies Focus Energy as a Bonus Action (as the old one should have disappeared with her being KO'd) and pulls out a nasty looking vial. "Goneblossom extract and Deathcap spores... mixed with a biiiit of a Rotting Widow's venom, some rotting flesh, and magic to finish it... time to rot something~"
Necro Coating activated! (+1 Protoenergy) She uses it immediately on Old Guard <4>, applying it to Yew's bolt as it exits the weapon. On contact, the Old Guard starts bleeding(?) profusely and was literally melting from the poison, but as if that wasn't bad enough, the flesh started rotting even more than it already has. She "retreats" to (O24).

---

Meanwhile, back in the mines...

Hannah seems to agree with the sentiment, to an extent. She decides not to mention Maria. She wouldn't dare touch her, for several reasons. "Yeah, it is, kinda. I wonder if I could test out some experimental mixes on some of them..."

"Though on the bright side, I won't die either, so we can kill more stuff!"

Yew mentioned she signed up for being turned into a weapon. Hannah definitely didn't mind. "I do sometimes think about what it would be like to have a body of metal. Like a robot or mech, or something. That'd be cool~"

Yew then asks if Hannah heard of the Sphere. Hannah listens to her spiel with interest, only responding when she finishes. "Funny you should mention the Sphere; all of us are here to destroy it too, but it's more like we're some random group of misfits that somehow got together one day."

"Most of them are these 'goody-two-shoes' types, meanwhile I'm just here to help out some friends of mine. I could care less about the rest of 'em. I bet if they captured some sort of mass murderer or arsonist they wouldn't kill them, or even make them suffer at all... honestly, mmm, that's pathetic. Personally, I'd love seeing someone like that suffer..."

Hannah has that dreamy look to her as she points at the Aello for Yew to shoot at. Little does she know that they actually captured a mass-murderer arsonist that they were intending to not really do anything with. At least, by her definition.

"...But yeah, your former mistress sounds like one of those 'goody-two-shoes' types of people. Those kinds of people don't see all the possible beauty of things dying. How to move in to sneakily yet gracefully cut off someone's head," she glances at the Harpy that had its head chopped off. "Or when to even kill someone, for that matter. That still irks me to no end... like, why the gorilla do they revive their enemies after they drop them!? Who does that!? Pfeh... at least they have no problem ripping Iti and Rose to shreds... with the Legion and Rebels all they're doing is extending some stupid civil war..."

She shakes her head, refocusing. "Sorry, hm, rambled a bit there. Let's get back to it, shall we?~"

---

Boshi, being a master of positioning to screw someone over, decides to screw the Jotun over by recalling its maximum throwing range, and moving out of its maximum range. Then, he pulls out two Railguns, and starts railgunning it from far away, using them to knock off its armor while dealing some unholy chunks of damage.

Origin of Sin

For tactical purposes only, Nidra moves first. Otherwise things are normal.

Cushion moves to H25. Venia uses the Helix Totem and uses Purge on that exact tile, nailing Old Guard 5 with enough damage that, in conjunction with Aleph Annihilation flatly ignoring all of his damage, this means that the Old Guard's Ordo is forced to proc. In addition, he now has Purge-all it takes is one good hit from Pope to finish him off. This gives Venia a stack of Heart.

Venia has Cushion complete his Swift-boosted move at G25, where Cushion flaunts his ability to fly by ignoring the negative tile effect. Venia's hat pings the Algamated Eye to get scan data on the First Sin, while Cushion himself uses Fluorescent Breath directly north, hitting quite a few Fluxflesh tiles and the Algamated eye with bubbles. Deadly bubbles with a lot of surprisingly high force, but, bubbles. He then retreats to H25.

"Break through! Break through! Burn it, hack it, destroy it all! Come on, Rose Cult! Come on and die! You end here! For Ga'aunt! For Boxican! For Magnolia! "

Venia's ferocious roaring contrasted with the ever-fluffly Cushion on her back is a silly sight to see.

In the event that, after Crystal's action, the Old Guard Johnny 5 is somehow still alive, Venia then burns a stack of Heart on a Direct damage ping on that exact Old Guard, again sliding past its shields or whatever else is left to immediately, unquestionably down the fellow.

Meanwhile, the Lovely will move to F26 and attack the Algalmated Eye, inflicting Bleed and nothing else. The Lovely retreats to F25.

---

Basscaper

"You're part of the corruption then?! Time to go!"

Venia fully activates the Calm Mind shard (to be fair, it was active as she held it in lightsaber defense position before, so she doesn't think much of her new cut), but before the Scale Reaper can do much nonsense, Venia's already acting on it-the force of her personal charisma, her own Pulchritude, bounced off of her body and onto the Scale Reaper's in a flash! The reaper found their own scales abruptly moving around at a lazier, weaker pace, forcing him to be pinned down. (In other words, Venia used Queen of Hearts to spend a stack on immobilizing him. Gameplay and story integration, woo!)

Venia doesn't do much holding back at this point. Her weapon isn't the Entropic Key or its descendants, but that just means she has excuse to extend the blade into a lightsaber and, while not so careless as to hack away the surrounding scenery, definitely hacks directly into the Scale Reaper from as many angles as she can, while steadily moving sideways around the reaper to the right-hand side of the area. She doubts it'll go down in just a few hits, but she's gotten in some slashes and she'll see the bastard coming a bit better.

"That isn't even my worst! Come on!"

Just to punctuate it, Venia spends another stack of Heart (probably the one she just earned) to heal the minor cut she just got up, while having Hat-wait, no, Hat isn't here. It's just Venia, the Calm Mind shard acting as a weapon, her trait, and this bozo. Ah well.

"bass i'd really help if you could help me here somehow please"

---

Rosen Catacombs

Mr. Krabs decides to resolve the issue presented to him in the Sideways Room by pulling out the Edge of Dawn, again, and making exactly like the coffee statue from before; utterly annihilate the damn thing with the Edge of Dawn and then laserslash the remnants to even further imperceptible degrees. There should ideally be very little left of the statue.

"Practical joke my pirate's booty! Ah well, all good things must come to an end someday, eh?"

"Now then, ah, would you happen to know the whereabouts of the father of one Magnolia lass, eh lad?"

Asha moves to L24 and levels her robotic left arm at Eye4, casting Railgun Diplomacy (with Cheerleader Nia's help)!

"Let's negotiate. We win- you die!"

A magical, radiant burst of light reminiscent of a certain infernal railgun shoots forward from her palm, tearing through walls of Fluxflesh to reach its target. It probably stops short- but the now-smoldering flesh was her real goal.

Then, she focuses- a tendril of magical aura extends from her flesh-and-blood hand before exploding at K25. Lingua Franca activates! An emerald green field bursts outwards, the language of magic granting those within a new understanding of each other's powers!

Finally, she ends her turn to Alter Reality to change her Focused to Evasive!

She calls out to Bass.
"Hey, hop in there and toss Reflector to the other side of that flesh- it should come naturally to you!"

He can then move to J24 and use Irongutta's Skeletal Toss to yeet Reflector to L20.

(SP gain for Toast is halved while Lingua Franca is active)

RP - house

Well, a thing was required of EN, so she's gonna do some crafting now.

"Let's get started in 'ere."



Once the eye is done being crafted, Verdana senses significance time and goes to check on EN.

"Hi! Got it ready?"
"Aye. Or, er, eye."
"Phonetically you just said the same thing twice but I think I get what you were going for. Anyway, thanks!"

Verdana promptly takes the crafted eye and nyooms off.


RP - Outskirts

Verdana returns here, nyooming over to Maple and stopping once nearby, leaning on the side of the house. After he's had a moment, he goes over to her.

"Alright, friend made the eye. Er... How are you going to, you know... install it? Just wondering. I know I'm supposed to be in training as a healer, but I haven't done surgery-type things before, and that's usually how new organ things are put in people, last I heard."

Beat.

"Wait. It's part wood, or at least some alloy that's like it. Do you have woodbending? And could it work here?"

He holds out the crafted eye to Maple, if that's helpful and relevant right now.


Battle - orangutan of sin

Calibri overhears something happening, and his reaction is instant. One moment, he's where he was standing, next moment, he's used his combined MOV and weapon skill to dash over to P26, impaling Old Guard 6 on a laser blade of vague Order-y energy. No prizes for guessing what prompted him to do that.

"Get. Away. From her."

Given Old Guards have basically no DGE at all, and Calibri has quite a few buffs loaded up, some of which are specifically for wrecking Entropic enemies, that Old Guard is probably dead and gone now. After that's dealt with...

"...Moving on. The sooner that eye goes down and the way becomes clear, the better..."

Echoss chuckles
"I won't deny that it's an effective metal, though I suppose I can't really continue this conversation without knowing what kind of mithril it is. That name gets attributed to a lot of different metals.
Of course there are such metals as Divinium, True Steel, and Blackguard. Depending on what you need done, different materials are generally better for different things. For a crossbow, a livingsteel alloy would generally be ideal, I think, unless there were enough godly metals available at the time to use those."
Echoss seems to be getting into rambling mode...

In the Everground:
Pionobot, the harpy nest mostly dealt with, walks over to the bridge, and points his arm down, firing a sweeping laser across the lower island, air-lasering the two edges and the bilemother.

With Maple
"Ah yes, of course I can. Give me just a moment"
Echoss slides the gear (assuming Maple hands it to him) into the inventory, and then zones out for a moment.
Back at the house, his golems takes Maple's gear and retool it. This will get an actual description tomorrow if I'm not still feeling like a pile of flaming garbage at that point, but resource expenditure is:
6x Plasteel Ingots, 2x squall clusters, 10x wire scraps, 10x circuit boards, and 1x heroine booster greave salvaged for extra stabilizers.
The end result is transforming Maple's weaponry from fire element to air element.
Echoss un-zones and pulls Maple's refactored equipment back to her.
"Here you are, one elemental retool, as requested."

In battle, Echoss casts shopping spree again for another 4 light el-ite knives.