Alright I think I'm done "having a flavorful build" and "using Bag of Tricks."
Time to do horrible things.
Fauxmary! (Not changing my name.)
14 AGI, 7 INT, 42 SKI, 5 RES, x3 Pop Pop
Weapon: Endless Blizzard
Hat: First Hat
Armor: Lost Soul
Trinkets: Pro MLG Charm, Power-Kore Shardstorm (Resist Crushing)
Spells: Toxin Coating, Mirror Image, Spirit Blade

Not!Echoss commits chaos
Not!Echoss swallows the wall chicken whole, which, strangely enough, puts it in the group inventory instead of consuming it. He then Backwards long-jumps through the wall, clipping through the map until he comes out in the Rosen Catacombs. Specifically the Central Northern Hall, where he completely bowls over the cultist there, causing him to launch out into the blast zone (don't worry, we're going by brawl physics so if someone taps the cultist's trophy stand he/she'll be fine). Not!Echoss catches the rubies the cultist drops in the process and pockets them.


Pionobot helps kill a house


Pionobot chats with people at the Skylabs:


Maybe some crafting?
Not!Echoss #2 (who is actually just Not!Echoss but an alt account) pops up in the house's kitchen and whips out some ingredients. Materials used: 4-5 celefruits, 2-3 Blockmelons, 2 sheets of glass, 10 iron ingots, 2 frigid crystals, 1 Ashen crystal, 1 barrel of fresh fruit, 3 buckets of salt water

First things first, Not!Echoss constructs one of those weird "water boiling" aparatuses, where you boil the water and the steam collects in the top, then recondenses and flows down into the output. He sets it up with an ashen crystal and does this with all 3 buckets of salt water. This adds 3 units of salt to the inventory, but also gives him a bunch of nice freshwater to use in his next thing.

Next up, he uses the frigid crystals to totally freeze the water into a giant chunk of ice. Using the rest of the iron ingots he constructs a giant blender and crushes the ice down into snow.

Having done that, he shapes the sheets of glass into a bunch of big smoothie cups (like the ones you get at old timey soda shops). Then he grabs the fresh fruit, the blockmelons, and the celefruit, and mash all of them up. Removing all things like cores, seeds, stems, and similar through a magical process that he has trademarked and thus I am not allowed to openly describe. This makes a nice, large, fresh fruit juice cocktail.

He then pours the snow stuff into the glasses, followed by the fruit juice. There are completed with tiny umbrellas.
New consumable made: Cele-melon Snow Cones!


Also, since we have credits again, I'm immediately going to spend a bunch.
Not!Echoss buys the Nerd Cave and the Second Office from Chaos.

STATISTICS

The Reflector puts their newly acquired skillpoint into Skill.

---

CRAFTING

The Reflector sets out to craft a permanent new body for Maxim. Well, permanent until someone blows it up, but the idea is no more body jumping for a fair while.

---

ROLEPLAY

@Maxim: After these crafting projects finish up (assuming they were all mostly successful), the Reflector returns to Maxim.

THE REFLECTOR: i am simply overjoyed to report to inform you that your new body is complete!
THE REFLECTOR: arm blades generously included by myselves. as for other equipment well your body should be plenty sturdy but i'm sure quite sure commissioning or borrowing equipment shouldn't be too difficult!
THE REFLECTOR: but well before you get too excited another reflection of mine would like to have a word with you.

The Reflector turns their face away from Maxim, and their entire body begins to shift in a flash of rainbow light. When the light fades, a tall, muscular female elf stands before Maxim. Her left arm and shoulder, along with most of the left side of her face, have been entirely replaced with metal, her left eye a robotic replacement of its former self. Meanwhile, her right arm has strange tattoos crawling down its skin. Inscribed on the elf's metalweave tunic are the characters "No. 2". The woman eyes Maxim with a hint of scorn as she produces the Maxim Chain (still needs a better name) from thin air with a crackling burst of electricity.

"THE METALLURGIST": I don't like repeating myself, so listen up, Iti.
"THE METALLURGIST": No. 6 seems to trust you, but I don't rely on outsiders' goodwill that easily.
"THE METALLURGIST": If you slip up and try to renege on our little agreement, I will not fucking hesitate to use this chain to make you kneel on the ground and regurgitate yourself from your own body.
"THE METALLURGIST": We all have a job to do. Do yours, and I'll let Six do theirs.
"THE METALLURGIST": But if I have to play bad cop, I'm more than happy to.
"THE METALLURGIST": Oh, and don't even think about trying to get your hands on this. The inventory's off-limits to a new recruit like you. And if any Spherebreaker thinks you're up to something, they can retrieve it in no time at all.
"THE METALLURGIST": Get it memorized.

With another whirling cloud of light, the Reflector appears once more, their frame noticeably lightweight compared to the reflection they had just assumed.

THE REFLECTOR: now then. are you ready to commence, to get started, to begin?

The Reflector pulls the newly crafted body and core out of a sack and pushes them toward Maxim, a noticeable cavity present in the body where the core will fit to activate the body as a whole.

Stats

Hannah +1s her SKI.

---

Recollection Lake - Boshi

"(Well, we certainly aren't the weirdest creatures in the kingdom. Walking mushrooms, giant turtles that try to take over the kingdom regularly, skeletons sometimes... it's actually kinda like when we first came to Sussui, at least in regards to foreign species; Yggcrawlers, Spiralfloofs, and the like. Spiders seem to be a constant species throughout every world though. No idea why. But I digress.)"

Boshi was about to set sail, but then the thought crosses his mind. "(...Right. We have two options right now. We can either go further down the lake and explore a bit - we might face Iti as we go, but we have weapons to take care of them - or we could return to dry land down the river to the west if you're not up for a trip.)"

"(Figured I'd make sure. It'd be rude not to ask.)"

---

House - Adria

"Any clothing will do. Robes, causal wear, plate armor... anything. So long as it's decent. But... well, i-if you're willing to wait, I'll head in now. Truth be told, I can barely take it anymore..."

Adria hops into the communal bathrooms for a shower. Of course, conveniently-placed fog obscures vision inside.

...After what is probably a little while later, Adria finishes her shower. Still in the fog, she likely reaches out to a bundle of clothing should it be prepared for her. She slips it on; like she said, she'd take any clothing she could get at this point.

Regardless of what she's wearing after the fog clears, Adria's hair has finally been done up; neatly combed and tied back in a moderate length ponytail. The scar's more hidden thanks to the way she's done her hair.

Her old clothing has been set aside, neatly folded and placed in the ceiling compartment of her shower. She brings the clothing out with her, and sets it aside on a side table or something.

Either way, she looks good as new, and a lot less tired. She stretches once she's out of the bathrooms. "Aah, much better. Sorry for making you wait, Chloe, dear. Onward we go."

Once upstairs, Chloe notes that people sometimes jump through the windows before opening them, thus breaking them. Adria seems baffled at the prospect. "...What. You have got to be kidding me, dear... b-but judging by that look on your face... you're not, are you?"

"...Windows aside, it's surprisingly intact up here. And clean... f-for what ended up happening last night."

...Her eyes seem to be avoiding the Hat Tent somewhat. Though that being said it would be hard to not notice, given it's a straight and narrow corridor. Adria takes mental note of the names she's hearing. Venia and Nia are a couple, as are 'Toast' and Marron. 'Toast' was an odd name for a person, though... maybe they have a real name hidden somewhere. Unbeknownst to her, she does have one. Other than the names, she doesn't know much else about these people except for some stuff about Marron. "They sound nice enough."

Though just as Adria was about to answer the question on what to do next, the loud sounds of the Mobile Home catch her attention. She moves to the window to the south and peers out. "...Um. A-am I seeing things, or i-is that house actually moving? And have eyes? A-and is moving towards those three over there!?"

"Gah, what a time to not have my railgun... o-or any weapon, for that matter..."

...She doesn't know about the inventory yet. Or the fact that there's a literal waterfall of weapons just begging to be used. So she's just worriedly staring at the scene, not sure how she could help.

---

Everground - Hannah

Hannah looks back on her work with satisfaction. "Huh. Who knew the secret to killing Observers without angering them was to crush them mercilessly under a rockfall? Shame we didn't see the mess after, but eh, what can ya do. Better than getting eaten in a single gulp."

Hannah's tempted by the Gold vein... but she really needs to get rid of this wind. She pushes forward once again, and once near the maw, looks for the source of the wind.

...Though as she does it, she snaps her fingers, linking her memories with her Skylabs self. This includes Yew. Likely some sort of temporal magic.

"...After this is dealt with, now that we're far away from prying ears, I'll tell you why I'm so creeped out by these guys... and so reluctant to even think about, let alone attempt, rebelling."

---

Skylabs - Hannah, but again

Hannah, finally done with the fighting, stares at the people tending to Hersilia, and sighs. She quietly mutters to herself, "...I don't get it... isn't this supposed to be a war? Take out the important people, and the soldiers scatter... and yet everyone here seems to be doing the exact opposite. And they somehow get away with it?"

"...It... kinda gives me the creeps, actually... Venia especially..."

She ponders further as she walks through the east watchtower, to get away from the rest of the rabble. She leans back against the wall on the east side of the tower, where she looks up to see the Sleuth. Right... yeah, he'd probably be able to answer her properly. But before that, she snaps to link her current memories with those of herself in the mines. This includes Yew. Likely some sort of temporal magic.

She approaches the Sleuth. "Hey, so, weird question, but... why do we go through the trouble of leaving the important people alive, like that spider chick? Isn't this a war or something? Wouldn't it just be easier to leave them dead so they don't get in the way?"

"I... can't get my head around why we'd leave them alive, let alone nurse them back to health..."

Okay, listen up, everyone. Ire has given me special permission to respec because apparently my build is too tanky.

Here you go, Ire. It's on "Bauhaus v2 (CURRENT)."
----
Bauhaus raises his hands up, and cheers. "Another victory for..." He then trails off, and looks around, confused. "...whatever we are." He cups his hand, and shouts in the general direction of the Skylabs. "Sorry for all the property damage."

He walks to the purple sap tree, sticks his hand in it, and eats some of the sap.

(OOC Stat Stuff: Woodthorne allocates his 6 KP to MOV, raising it from 4 to 5. Furthermore, Wilderness Lore is reworked to the version described in #theorycrafting (and also in this document), or some slight variation on it for balance reasons.)

Before leaving the battle, Woodthorne Tends to the wounds of one of the downed spiders. It's the least he can do.

Now that the battle is over, Woodthorne decides to finally take some time to settle in. After all, he's going to be here for a couple of days, he may as well make himself at home. So he leaves the Labs and makes his way back to the house for a bit.

First, though, he decides it's time to create his own upgraded weapon. While his shortswords are good, they don't offer much mobility (and are really just a reskin of the Vagrant's Will). He decides to upgrade his weaponry to address this issue, keeping most stats of the Vagrant's Will, but also hopefully making the weapon provide at least a bit of retreat value for extra mobility.

The Sky Labs

Venia kneels down to Hersilia's level. She doesn't have any healing abilities sufficient enough for the occasion, but she does almost reach for her hand-then realizes that's actually lewd, and opts for the far less intimate gesture of grasping her shoulder instead. "Hold on, Hersilia, you're getting medical treatment. Trust me, I'm fairly sure Acacia's would hate losing you far more than what she's got to deal with right now..."

---

The Old Pass

Venia waves goodbye to the Legionaire, and heads to one of the only places she can think of that she hasn't searched extraordinarily hard left in the area, namely the compound north. She was more concerned with routing the rebellion troops there last she visited than looking for goodies, but freshly armed with new knowledge she figures its the one place left to look. She notices the trapdoor-looking area under the sole standing shelf without much hassle with her new knowledge and goes down to retrieve the goodies there, gun at the ready in case anyone tries anything funky to her.

---

Gibbet

Venia feels like she's already bungled this up.

"OK. First, I have to check on someone. A friend.

Venia gracefully steps over to Bass's room and inspects the damages. If Bass is asleep still, Venia takes some of the water from the basement 'river' to wash up the dried fluxblood and contain it safely in the inventory, before leaving. If not, Venia still cleans up the Fluxblood, while talking to Bass. "Hey, uh, how are you feeling? I'm trying to train Gibbet, myself. Are you doing alright?"

---

Skillpoints/Purchases

Venia reduces her RES by 4, spends 10 Flux and uses her 5 skillpoints to obtain and equip the Purger perk.

With another battle won under his belt, Brutishace takes a point out of SKI, and sinks that point (and the point he just got from the fight) into STR in preparation for a change to his Necrotic Arcana Pistol.

Brutishace sits idly, making some preparations before heading into the Sky Labs, when somebody catches his eye.

Pionobot disembarks from the ship, looking around at everyone. He was only gone for a day or two… but the party composition seems to have completely changed. There's… well, there's Chloe over there, he remembers her, but she seems busy. So does… Auth was it? Marron's a bit intimidating so he'd rather not talk to her…

Hm, what about Brutishace? He seems like a nice enough guy. Pionobot turns his weapon into CELL PHONE-SCYTHE mode, and pockets it, walking over to Brut as nonchalantly as he can.

Brutishace takes notice of Pionobot and smiles at a familiar face.
BRUTISHACE: Ah, Pionobot. A pleasure to see you here.
PIONOBOT: Mhm, finally back in action after… 2 days? Three?
PIONOBOT: Kinda… don't remember much of while I was gone.
BRUTISHACE: I understand the feeling.
BRUTISHACE: I had an excursion from the party shortly into the raid on the Cultists’ hideout, and it feels like so much has changed.
BRUTISHACE: We’re going to a new area and all, I don’t know who’s left and who’s joined our party, it feels like chaos.
BRUTISHACE: I’m glad to see you around, though, since you’re at the very least a familiar face.
PIONOBOT: It's why I came over here, admittedly. I was gone even longer and I recognize… four people. Including you.
BRUTISHACE: Hmm, I’m glad to be a familiar face for you.
BRUTISHACE: Would you want to chat with anyone else here who you’re familiar with?
BRUTISHACE: I’d like to get some more conversation in.
PIONOBOT: Maybe Chloe or Auth. Marron's the only other person and she doesn't seem like the best choice for conversation.
PIONOBOT: ...is there anyone other than them here that you recognize who you could point out for me?
BRUTISHACE: I’m not sure how Auth’s changed, if at all, but Chloe I definitely recognize.
BRUTISHACE: I remember enjoying her cooking.
BRUTISHACE: It’s this late into the journey and only now I’m starting to try to converse with people...
BRUTISHACE: I’m grateful that you approached me and struck up a conversation. I’m glad to chat.

Pionobot nods, and scratches the back of his head.

PIONOBOT: Again, it's no problem, seriously.
PIONOBOT: I… don't think I've done much talking to people, just in general.
BRUTISHACE: Well, then I’m glad we’re both solving this problem together.
BRUTISHACE: Where have you been off to all this time, though?
PIONOBOT: I… I don't really know. I have scattered bits and pieces of lucidity wandering out in the wilderness, fighting off Iti, that sort of thing…
PIONOBOT: I think the thymefield conflicted with something in my code or the like, I woke up in the dueling hut. Apparently I exploded while fighting a seeker and that landed me there.
PIONOBOT: Haven't had any serious problems since then though.
BRUTISHACE: I’m glad to hear that, at least.
BRUTISHACE: The effect of the Thymefield on your code is pretty concerning, though.
BRUTISHACE: I remember this issue being persistent for some time… do you think it’d be worthwhile to try finding a fix to this glitch?
PIONOBOT: Probably. I have no clue how one would even start though, I'm… not a conventional robot.
PIONOBOT: Even I don't have any idea how I work.
BRUTISHACE: Hmm, that’s… unfortunate.
BRUTISHACE: Do you know who created you? If you did, you could find out from them.
BRUTISHACE: If not though, then I guess the best we could do would be to hope the glitch doesn’t take its toll at a critical moment.
PIONOBOT: I… I don't. I feel like that one guy… Echoss? Echoss I think.
PIONOBOT: I think he might have some clue, he was very… wary I'll say, about me when I got brought back to the house yesterday.
BRUTISHACE: Oh yeah, I remember Echoss.
BRUTISHACE: Do you know where he is now?
PIONOBOT: I don't. I suppose it'd be good to ask him when I next run into him though.
PIONOBOT: Hopefully he doesn't vanish like people seem prone to doing around here.
BRUTISHACE: I agree. I wonder if we could settle his concerns, or at least get more information on these glitches of yours.
BRUTISHACE: ...I wonder if my family thinks I’m safe.
PIONOBOT: It's only been a few days, hasn't it?
PIONOBOT: If they're worried they won't be for much longer I'd think, since tomorrow's our deadline. Or, the day after tomorrow.
BRUTISHACE: Hmm, good point.
BRUTISHACE: While this is a pretty treacherous journey, I’ve been on longer expeditions that were as dangerous.
BRUTISHACE: I was considering bringing my daughter or nephew over to this place, but I decided against it.
PIONOBOT: Probably a good idea. If things go south the thymefield means we're probably stuck here for whatever happens.
BRUTISHACE: Hmm, yeah. I’d hate for either of them to get stranded.
BRUTISHACE: Granted, they’d probably survive just fine, but I don’t think they could get used to how different the environment is on Sussui.
PIONOBOT: That makes sense.
PIONOBOT: Hopefully everything goes well though, and everyone gets to go home.
BRUTISHACE: I hope so too.
BRUTISHACE: I can’t wait to see my family again.
PIONOBOT: Hope you get to as well.
PIONOBOT: Come on, looks like people are getting ready to head inside.

After receiving a nod of approval, Pionobot takes his first steps into the Sky Labs, and Brutishace follows close behind.

Destiny puts her 1 point into MP.

Destiny decides to ask Chloe for a favor.
DESTINY: I was going to to enhance my garments but we don't have that much... high grade defensive cloth laying around. Could you grab more of this cloth? Destiny waves around a piece of Fireproof Silkweave. I believe you do have a bit of free time so that would be nice.

Assuming the crafts go through, Remiel sets the resists on the Shifting Rune to 20% Light, 20% Dark, and -20% Slashing, and the weakness on the Selfscape to -10% Slashing. They take a point from STR, then put one into INT and three into SKI. They also replace Reckless Revenge with Zillycharm.

Once finished managing equipment, Remiel begins tending to Hersilia and the RWidows with Life Essence Augment. They also inspect the wreckage of the railguns. If they're AI operated, then it might be reasonably possible to build an uplink from here to communicate with the AI. And then yell at it for breaking the First Law.

<ROUND 239>

We'll be starting with stats today!

---

Not!Echoss does a few bits of grunt work! First, he grabs a large, juicy piece of Wall Chicken, adding it to the inventory. He then fast-travels to the Rosen Catacombs, clipping into a Cultist in the process. This launches them into a pile of rubble, causing them to drop a ton of Rubies everywhere! He loots these rubies, before retreating at lightning speed. 12 Rubies obtained!

Elsewhere, Not!Echoss's sockpuppet account does some crafting! They lob together 4 Celefruits, 3 Blockmelons, 2 Glass Sheets, 10 (0) Iron Ingots, 2 Frigid Crystals, 1 Ashen Crystal, a Barrel of Fresh Fruit, and 3 Buckets of Salt Water! These are made into a package of 6 delicious Cele-melon Snow Cones! The process also adds enough salt to the inventory to set the Bags of Salt to a nice, clean number.

He then also throws 1,500 Credits at Chaos, purchasing the Nerd Cave and the Second Office from Chaos. Chaos consumes these credits, and sends them back in time a few years. These credits bore caverns just east of where this house would've been constructed. Now in the present, he's able to kick the wall to the east end of where all the spare bedrooms are, causing it to collapse and reveal two brand new rooms! These rooms are swiftly retrofitted with equipment for both a secondary office, and equipment for Mari's new nerd cave.

---

The Reflector works on a body for Maxim! Through a long, somewhat convoluted crafting process, they expend a grand total of a Core Regalia, 20 Silverwood Logs, 7 Yellow Sap Blobs, a Shackled Chain, 3 Mental Clusters, 5 Bronzewood, -75,000 Liar's Flesh, 2 Fell Blades, and a pail of Pure Water. The final result is a wooden body, which is a close facsimile of a normal Chairian Body.

As they prepare to deliver the product to Maxim, they deliver them a message from a new form- one that nobody in the Spherebreakers has witnessed before. The message is a warning: slip up, and they will be ripped from their body. Maxim's head bobs up and down in a sort of understanding.

MAXIM: (UNDERSTOOD.)
MAXIM: (LET US COMMENCE THE PROCESS.)

The Reflector then produces the Core and the Body from a sack. If they were in public, someone might find the fact that the Reflector was practically carrying a dead body around highly concerning. But they're not in public, and Maxim hardly cares. They flip themselves over with their bladed tail, scooch themselves around until they're facing away from the core, and then slam their tail as hard as they can into the ground!

Maxim launches themselves high into the air, completing a full midair spin before launching off of the ceiling. As they plummet, they hold their tail outward like a plummeting spear, and it pierces deep into the artificial core. A burst of sticky yellow sap spews forth from the wound! Not a second later, the tail seems to suck itself inwards into the core, the blade forcibly fusing itself to the wood in a somewhat messy fashion. An ugly scar is left behind on the Core.

They then do their best to cling to the Core, but it seems that they're having a hard time doing that without legs. Oh well.

MAXIM: (CORE ACCESSED.)
MAXIM: (COMPLETE THE INSERTION.)

---

Boshi's Daycare Service continues about its day. Boshi notes that he's far from one of the weirder creatures in the kingdom. The fisherman seems to have little doubt about that, silently nodding. Boshi then presents the fisherman with two options: go further down the lake, or return to dry land?

FISHERMAN: I'd rather return to dry land.
FISHERMAN: I'm more scientist than military personnel.
FISHERMAN: Truth be told, I've never held a weapon until the Sphere came around. Now I need to carry around a gun at all times.

They pull out a simple looking handgun. It's similar to what the Chairian Snipers carry around.

FISHERMAN: I can't imagine this pea shooter coming in handy against anything stronger than a Seeker, let alone what else might lie on the lake.
FISHERMAN: Still, some protection is better than no protection.
FISHERMAN: Anyway, let's get moving.
FISHERMAN: You never know if another one of those "Shardnados" might appear.

Back at the house, after a bit of freshening up, Adria emerges from the washroom. She's equipped in the Ranger's Coverings which Marron made a zone or two ago, which was probably the best compromise Chloe could find between casual wear and armor. Plus, leather / cloth armor is always in style!

CHLOE: Ooh, I like your hair!
CHLOE: Also, the armor looks great on you! I'm glad it fits, too!

The two then head upstairs, finishing up their tour. Adria expresses disbelief at the general intelligence of the party, to which Chloe can only awkwardly smile and shrug at. Their tour comes to an end at the window at the end of the upstairs hallway, where Adria catches a glimpse of the Iti known as "Mobile Home" off in the distance. Chloe fails to notice, instead rambling on about Toast and the others.

CHLOE: Yeah, they're all really nice people!
CHLOE: Toast taught me how to use magic, and Venia's just a real sweetheart! A... very, very complicated sweetheart, but she's still cool!
CHLOE: Nia's also my best friend, and Marron... is like, a tsundere? She's cool too, though.

CHLOE: Wait, what's this about a moving house-

Chloe presses her face against the window, getting a good look at the monstrous behemoth of a house in the distance.

CHLOE: U-Um, what the hell?
CHLOE: T-That thing is gigantic!
CHLOE: Auth and a few others just left the house earlier, too. I hope they're not tied up in this...
CHLOE: Regardless, I-I need to do something! If this thing decides it wants to crush the house, it could probably do it!

CHLOE: Also, here! Catch!

Out of the inventory, Chloe lobs Adria one whole Railfun™ from the inventory. It's probably a deal less wieldy and way weaker than what she's used to, but it'll do. Probably. Chloe then steps back, and kicks at the window! Her foot bounces off harmlessly, thanks to the reinforcement spell that Nezira casted upon it all that time ago.

CHLOE: O-Ow...
CHLOE: N-Note to self! Respect t-the windows!

Chloe quietly opens the window, before stepping out of it. Halfway out the window, she waves to Adria.

CHLOE: If you wanna help out, just follow me!
CHLOE: I'll keep you safe, alright?
CHLOE: Just be sure to keep your distance- something that large can't possibly move that fast, right?
CHLOE: Then again... you probably know this.
CHLOE: Anyway, c'mon!

Hop! Chloe's out the window, successfully sticking the landing on the lawn out front. She sprints off towards the house in the distance, weapon drawn. Seems like it'll take her some time to get there, though.

Meanwhile, down in the Evergrounnd, Hannah pushes even closer to the maw. What's the source of the wind? Although, now that she's closer, she can see the lips of the maw twitching... and the eyes are definitely moving. Actually, they might even be looking at her. Also, the wind seems to slowly be getting stronger. This combination of factors is all getting very concerning.

Finally, at the Sky Labs, Hannah approaches the Sleuth, asking why the hell they'd go through the trouble of keeping important people such as Hersilia alive. The Sleuth spends a few moments thinking about this, taking into account the fluctuations in the ALLEGIANCE MESH that would occur were any important figures were to perish.

THE SLEUTH: The Sleuth fiddles with a quill as he questions the small child's question.
THE SLEUTH: Soon, he comes to a conclusion. "The future needs to be considered in a case like this."
THE SLEUTH: He ruminates on this point. If many political figures were killed off, how would Locaa in a post-war world?
THE SLEUTH: Surely, society would collapse. Proper leadership would be required to lead Locaa out of the dark ages that would follow the dawn of the Sphere, especially if the Tabletopians get involved.

THE SLEUTH: It's all rather fascinating to think about, and while The Sleuth would likely explain his thoughts to Hannah, he feels that somehow, like many other people on this planet, she's already heard what he was going to say.
THE SLEUTH: Somehow.
THE SLEUTH: Truly, this was a mystery of the ages.

Hannah (likely) resists the urge to facepalm. Why must everyone around here be a lunatic?

---

Bauhaus loots the Purple Sap Tree! He obtains 10 Purple Sap Blobs... which is promptly reduced to 9, as he eats a unit of it. It tastes like a rather powerful grape jelly of sorts! Scrumptious! He's not really sure what it accomplished, though. At least it's tasty.

---

Woodthorne spends some time tending to the spiders. He tends to the two spiders in the rightmost gun bay, reviving them! The Rotting Widows chitter towards him, fangs bared! However, instead of biting him, they brush up against him.

OMORIKA: Hm, interesting.
OMORIKA: These sorts of spiders normally aren't so friendly.
OMORIKA: Perhaps they like you because you've triumphed over them in combat.

OMORIKA: It makes me wonder how Hersilia was able to tame them in the first place.
OMORIKA: She's not the type to suplex spiders until they submit. Maybe she simply has the touch required to work with them.

---

Venia does a variety of things! First, up at the Sky Labs, Venia does her best to comfort Hersilia. While she may not have healing abilities have things covered! As she speaks words of encouragement to the webweaver, she begins to stir. Ette smiles at the sight of Hersilia's red, surprisingly beady eyes. They're kinda spider-y.

ETTE: Miss Omo! Spider lady's awake!
OMORIKA: Oh? Thank you for your services, miss Needleworker.
ETTE: You're welcome!
ETTE: I'll be quiet- I'm sure you wanna talk with the patient!
OMORIKA: Alright.

Omo crouches down near Hersilia, who's still lying down. Doctor's orders and all that.

OMORIKA: Welcome back to the world of the... conscious, miss Hersilia.
HERSILIA: U-Ugh...
HERSILIA: H-Hello...
OMORIKA: It's okay. As Miss Praefortis said, you are in good hands.
OMORIKA: We won't hurt you, but I'm sure we'd like to ask you a few questions.
OMORIKA: Is that alright?
HERSILIA: Of... o-of course.
HERSILIA: J-Just... after my head s-stops pounding...

HERSILIA: Oh, c-could you do me a favor?
HERSILIA: T-That poison was a-awful, a-and I think it's still in my system...
HERSILIA: C-Could you find C-Chi?
OMORIKA: Chi? I've never met her.
OMORIKA: ...Or heard of her, for that matter.
HERSILIA: She's one of Cypress's assistants.
HERSILIA: Her first name is Stella, but you know how it is with those called Stella, names, s-so she insists we just call her "Chi".
HERSILIA: She's really good w-with poisons, a-and she'd be able to fix me up quickly...
OMORIKA: I'll see if I can locate her for you.
OMORIKA: Rest well, alright? Don't strain yourself. Acacia would hate to lose you.
HERSILIA: A-Alright...

Hersilia lies quietly against the ground, her breathing slow and pained. Elsewhere in the timeline, at The Old Pass, Venia shoves a shelf to the side, and finds a trapdoor! She flings herself into it, landing on a hard wood floor. It seems that there's a small cellar down here... which has been retrofitted into a Fell Beast den. And by "retrofitted", we mean "forcibly converted by random fell beasts". Tread lightly- waking up the Fell Beasts in such a tight space could be lethal!

Finally, over with Gibbet, she bids the bird adieu for a moment, visiting Bass's room. She takes a bit of water to the Fluxblood stains in his room, which she manages to clean with some effort. Bass suddenly shoots up as she does the deed, sitting up in the middle of his bed.

BASS: venia you would not buh-lieve the night i've had
BASS: aaaaaaaa

He flops backwards onto his bed, groaning. Moments later, he sits back up.

BASS: i required baked goods
BASS: also water
BASS: actually probably just water
BASS: please and thank you

He flops back down. Water. And maybe baked goods. Maybe he needs 1.121 quintillion cookies or something. Like a normal person.

---

Brutishace takes his first steps into the Sky Labs. I'll interpret that as "actually stepping into the front door". Pionobot joins him. The keycard fits into the card reader, and with a satisfying burst of air, the door swings inwards automatically.

The Receptionist pokes her head up, her eyes going wide upon seeing the duo. Despite the obvious(?) threat(?) to her life, she can only stare and shake at the duo. Still, it's probably only a few moments before she stops freaking out, and lunges for the panic button. How will you clear that distance in time, though?

---

Destiny requests Chloe to grab some Fireproof Silkweave. The blonde's usual smile and pep fails her as she meets eye to eye with Destiny again.

CHLOE: Oh, hey.
CHLOE: Yeah, I'll get you your stuff.
CHLOE: Just a sec.

She's quick to leave the house, returning in a timely manner with a wheelbarrow full of Fireproof Silkweave. Or like, one spool of it. Also, she's not actually the one with the wheelbarrow. It's Marron.

MARRON: Sup. Here's the stuff you ordered.
MARRON: I enchanted it myself, so it should be pretty damn good.

MARRON: Chloe seemed to be in a huff. Again.
MARRON: What's her problem, anyway?
MARRON: Anyway, enjoy...?

30 Fireproof Silkweave is thrown into the inventory. Marron parks the wheelbarrow by the front door, for when Chloe eventually returns.

---

Remiel tends to a few of the spiders. He's able to revive one of them, which immediately scampers off towards Hersilia. It stands by her side. While it's initially aggressive towards Ette and Taeda, it seems to calm itself once it realizes what the medical duo are doing.

HERSILIA: O-Oh, you guys are okay!
HERSILIA: O-Or at least, s-some of you are...

They also take a look at the wreckage of the railguns, trying to determine if they're AI operated or not. Simply put, they are! It's just that the AI is barely more complicated than "point towards the target, then mash LMB to shoot". You could scold it about the first law all you'd like, and it wouldn't feel any sadder.

---

Auth issues an order to fall back! The duo runs along with Auth, away from the gigantic mass of house + Iti. He then notes a few options to the party- they could shell it with the airship, or they could-

NANA: C-CALLING IT IN NOW!

Nana rapidly mashes buttons on the Remote Airship Controller, miraculously calling down a celestial bombardment upon the Mobile Home. Multiple explosions rock the thing, dealing roughly (60) damage and removing 4 AC worth of house, while also knocking it over! Nana stares in disbelief as the house promptly corrects itself, and resumes its movement towards the trio.

NANA: I-It lived t-that!? I-Impossible!
TAEDA: I-It is a house! Killing a house i-is probably pretty hard!

Auth also asks the two for ideas. Do they have anything.

NANA: U-Um... I-I think we need to run away, a-and poke at it from a distance w-with the biggest weapons w-we can find!
TAEDA: I-I concur!
TAEDA: B-But... maybe w-we could try and s-strip away its armor?
TAEDA: T-The bombardment tore off a chunk of the house, s-so maybe if we attack with the intent to s-shred its armor, t-that'd work?
NANA: O-Or, we could light it on f-fire!
NANA: O-Or... m-maybe don't do that!
TAEDA: Fire could work, b-but I'm worried about our own safety if we do that...
TAEDA: A g-gigantic flaming Iti? I'd r-really rather not, unless we have a w-way to pin it down!

It's a few options, but are any of them viable? Elsewhere, Auth says to Redbud that he'll see if he can find Omo. Up in the Sky Labs, Auth joins Ette and Taeda in tending to Hersilia. As he works, he asks Omo where he might be able to find a manual for basic healing spells. Omo's answer comes swiftly.

OMORIKA: My office, third shelf from the left, near the top.
OMORIKA: I keep most of the magical articles there, as leaving them open to the public would prove... problematic.
OMORIKA: They can be requested, but they're not allowed to leave the library.
OMORIKA: I wish you- or I suppose, the group- luck in their learning endeavors.

As Auth works on Hersilia, she becomes increasingly coherent. It seems that the toxins are still lingering in her system, though. Maybe it would be worth finding that Chi woman?

---

Asha pops up next to Marron! She gives the seamstress some praise, calling her a natural with her wings. Marron blushes gently, a small smile on her face.

MARRON: Aw, thanks!
MARRON: Flying in the open air is pretty magical.
MARRON: Kinda makes me wish I got wings before leaving the Mindscape- flying around Nightmare Mountain would've been fun!
MARRON: Plus, I wouldn't need to haul my butt up and down the mountain so much...

MARRON: And then we would've both had wings, and it would've been awesome.
MARRON: If you want a new pair of wings, I'll hook you up!
MARRON: How hard can it be to make wings, right? Right...?

She then leans to Nia, asking if the wizard could braid her hair. Nia nods.

NIA: Hiya! It's been awhile, hasn't it?
NIA: So, you want me to do your hair? I'm pretty good with this whole "being stylish" thing.
NIA: Sure thing!
MARRON: Braided Toaster? I'm interested.
MARRON: Maybe I could get my hair done too... but it's a bit short.
NIA: Maybe I could do something cool with you, but... you're pretty cute already!~
NIA: Not hitting on you. I swear!

NIA: Anyway, let me...

Nia's surprisingly skilled with her hands, easily manipulating Asha's hair into a standard five-strand braided ponytail. Marron pokes at Asha's braid once it's done.

MARRON: Whoa, that's really pretty!
MARRON: I didn't know you could do that with hair!
NIA: You should try growing out your hair, Marron!
NIA: There's lots of pretty styles you can do!
MARRON: Yeah, but... my hair never seems to grow much longer than this.
MARRON: I blame Chaos.

Poke. Poke. Marron is enthralled by Asha's braid. Will the braid survive more than a single round of combat, though? We'll see!

---

And with that, the first round of Sky Labs exploration is done! Why not try poking around other areas of the labs? You can try advancing forward, dealing with the receptionist, or maybe you could go and explore the ventilation system? Who knows?

Asha puts a point in MP. She swaps Hidden Force for Tumbling Walls.

She also removes the "gain half SP while active" part of Lingua Franca, and allows dropping it as a Free Action. She can't gain SP if it was active during any part of her turn.

~~

Asha drops herself down next to Marron.

"Hey, nice work back there. It's kinda cool seeing you up in the air like that! You're a natural!"

She also leans forward and gives a wave to Nia.

"Hey, long time no see! Or like, no speak? Anyway, I was wondering if you could give braiding my hair a try- I feel like you'd know how? Plus, it'd be fun to like, talk and stuff."

Auth looks at the house, then to the other two, and flies backwards.

AUTH: Get back! Quickly!

Auth looks at the house, thinking quietly.

AUTH: I think we have two options here, neither of which are particularly attractive.
AUTH: The first is getting the ship to use as many of its weapons on this thing as we can, but I don't know if it can come back here to shoot at it.
AUTH: The second is to let the mimic move on and then we move on, but I don't know about you, but I would rather avoid leaving it to potentially injure others. And it might approach our base, which... I don't know if that would be better or worse actually. We could pull everyone in to help fight it off...
AUTH: Do either of you have any better ideas? I don't think we have attacks strong enough to pierce its armour as-is.

Auth thinks, glancing either side to the Charians with him, then shaking his head. Seems like he had a bad idea.

---

Auth nods, confirming that he had heard what Redbud is talking about.

AUTH: I've heard about that. I can see both perspectives.
AUTH: I don't think it quite applies to this situation, but I understand where you're coming from.

Auth watches Redbud try to understand the Super Expert spells in the Masterwork Spellbook... and give it back, as it's too complex for her to understand. Auth puts the book away.

AUTH: Ah, sorry. I didn't know if you'd be able to understand it, and we're out of the standard books.
AUTH: It was all we had, I thought you might as well try it, y'know? If it works, hooray, if it doesn't, oh well.

Having checked and found himself unable to uncover any basic spellbooks, Auth considers the next step.

AUTH: I'll have a word with Omo. She'll probably tell me where I can find them for you.

---

The first thing Auth thinks to do in the Skylabs is fly over to the unconscious Hersilia, and swiftly heal all of her injuries. His magical healing is probably more than enough to set her to be as good as new. Once she's healed up and awake, Auth then flies around, resuscitating any Downed spiders that he can, and rescuing that one Rotting Widow that was thrown off the side of the Labs.

Once that's done, Auth waits to see if a conscious Hersilia is willing to talk to the party. In the meantime, he walks over to Omo

AUTH: Hey, Omo. I hope this isn't too problematic a question, but would you know where I might be able to find some kind of manual for basic healing spells? I've met a group who are taking shelter in the Library, and wish to learn some healing spells but can't find anything.
AUTH: I looked in the Library and I couldn't find anything relevant...

Skylabs:
Pionobot sees the receptionist lunge for the panic button and immediately thrusts his hands forwards. The receptionist's hand slams down towards the button, bouncing off the block of ice that has frozen itself into existence around the button before she could press it.
Pionobot lets out a sigh, and walks the rest of the way down the hallway to the receptionist. Since his weapon is currently in his pocket, he appears to be totally unarmed. His red/orange glowing eyes probably undo whatever good in not appearing threatening that would do however.
He stops a short distance away from the receptionist's desk, and looks around for a bit, then back at her.
"Hi, sorry for the abrupt intrusion, though I think you probably know why we're here. Sorry for freezing the button as well, hopefully it'll be fine when the ice melts in a few hours, but it's kinda for the better if we don't have to fight for every square inch of ground, yeah?
That said, we're not gonna hurt you so long as you don't attack anyone or like, try to call in turrets or soldiers or whatever, okay? Just sit tight for right now.
Oh, yeah. Would you happen to know where 'Chi' is? One of the people out front that tried to fight us off said she would like some help from her, so if there's a general direction we could look, that'd be nice."


More collection chicanery with Not!Echoss
Not!Echoss wanders down the hallway and comes to the bronzewood bench. Upon noting the runes lodged in it that might a problem, Not!Echoss paints over them with rune-b-gon, and then tosses the entire bench into the inventory.
It'll be fine.


Pionobot goes to fight a house.
Earlier in the day (probably, linear time is for suckers) Pionobot looks out a window of the house and sees the monster house rampaging off in the distance.
"...Someone should probably deal with that."
Pionobot then rushes for the door (like a sane person) and takes off on a jetstream of air as soon as he exits it.

Auth and the two chairian ladies hear a voice that signals the arrival of close air support.
"Target acquired." As Pionobot comes closer he quickly arrests his movement by swapping armistyx to Autocannon mode, opening fire on the house and blasting off massive chunks of wall and ceiling with cannon shots. The recoil from the shots bring Pionobot to a near stop, and he alters his course to land next to the others.
"Hi, thought you guys could use some help. There any plan of battle or do we just keep shooting it until it runs out of house to hide inside?"


Also Not!Echoss commissions the Sleuth to scan a Siren, and stealth-scans Hersilia.

Stats 'n' stuff, again

Hannah drops all of her Pop Pops, re-takes Agonizer, puts her 8 Skillpoints into INT, shifts her Psychic resistance on her Primal Baubles to Dark, and alters her spell lineup to include:
-Noxious Plume
-Toxin Coating (Aching, Burning, Brainburn, Manaburn, Healblock)
-Shackling Blast

---

Recollection Lake - Boshi

"(To shore we go, then. I can hopefully provide an escort to the Citadel, or somewhere else safe-ish - nowhere's really 100% safe nowadays.)"

Boshi takes one look at the firearm, and nods, agreeing that it wouldn't do much to even a Seeker. "(Hm... wonder if we've got something better than that lying around... ah, here's something.)" He pulls out the Ice Blaster from the inventory. "(Should keep you safer from Iti. Ice-based spray, can make cover to hide behind. Useful thing.)"

With that, Boshi drives the boat back to the Peaceful Riverbank, driving slow enough to not attract any unwanted attention.

...He notices the fire a few areas over, and sighs. "(Should've expected that sooner or later... give me a moment.)"

He leaps out of the boat, runs to the Farm Ruins: Cavern Entryway, pulls out a Cloud Cannon, and sprays down the fire as best as he could, containing it until it either burns itself out or just straight up douses itself.

He returns shortly after to help unpack the Fisherman's stuff... he might need to help carry some of it.

---

House - Adria

"It's how I usually do up my hair. I'm glad you like it!"

Adria adjusts her new clothing a little as she watches Chloe look out the window. Then out of nowhere she tosses Adria a railgun, catching her completely off-guard. She reacts fast enough to just barely catch it; it was definitely heavier than what she was used to. "U-um, thanks??"
By the time she calms down, she's confused as to why Chloe would have a railgun on her at this exact moment. "O-okay wow I did not expect that! How did-"

"...Oh. Wait. Hammerspace inventory. Duh. Not many explanations for that. S-still, thanks."

She then watches Chloe attempt to kick through the window. Adria catches Chloe as she falls backwards. Though she's obviously quite concerned at the stunt she was trying to pull.

...And then she just went and did it anyway. Adria panics, and looks out the window... to see that Chloe landed safely. She breathes a sigh of relief. "...I-I'll be down shortly."

She closes the window as she heads down the stairs to ground level. Like a sane person would. She rushes out the front door behind Chloe, not really paying attention to her surroundings. Her only focus was the Mobile Home. On her way, she fires off a few potshots at it from her railgun. A signal that help is on the way.

---

Everground - Hannah

"I-it's... actually alive!?"
"Ew."
"...Yeah, this is a Rose Cult thing. Go figure. Why should I be surprised. Yew, you know what to do. Go for the inside of the mouth. We can probably loot whatever's inside after."

Hannah directs Yew directly into the center of the mouth. Fire a bolt or several into there; what's the worst that could happen?

---

Skylabs - Hannah, but again

Sleuth

Unusually, beyond the initial 'wait what's happening' moment, Hannah doesn't seem all too weirded out by the Sleuth's "speech" patterns. She listens through to the end. "...So it's pretty much all political, huh? That makes some sense, I guess... (almost sounds like tearing apart tabletopians would be a lot more fun... and fulfilling... could help repel an invasion once all this is done with...)"

...She's zoned out, thinking while speaking.

"Though I have to admit, them getting all chummy with them is... how would I describe it... odd? Something about some of these guys doesn't sit right with me... (i'd take the place of leader, but i remember how bad that went last time...)"

"...Y'know, you could probably set up an audio recording device nearby so you can hear what we're hearing. Play it back, 'n' stuff. Gotta admit, having your thoughts project out like that's kinda a blessing in disguise, yeah? Gets what you want to say across without misunderstandings getting in the way. (kinda wish i had that kinda power)"

...She then realizes she jumped between points while she was zoned out. Didn't really register what she was saying. She hopes she didn't say anything too strange.

Venia

Hannah hears Venia approaching. She glances over, mildly irked. "...Oh. It's you. What d'you want?"

She listens to Venia's request to speak to Yew for a bit. Perhaps understandably, Hannah tenses up at the sentence before Venia clarifies her intent. With a sigh, she looks down and away from Venia. "...I don't have a choice, do I... fiiine..."

However, before she hands over the bow, Hannah clarifies one thing to Yew. "(look, just, just don't do anything stupid or dangerous, and you'll be fine, back in my hands in no time,)" she quietly and somewhat nervously whispers. After a brief moment of hesitation, she hands Yew over to Venia.

She sits back onto the nearby wall, pouting, arms crossed, with hints of anxiety showing through in her eyes.

Character Stuff
-1SPC
+2MHP

The Skylabs

"Rodger, we'll uh, we'll keep an eye and an ear out," Venia says.

Anything else on the immediate agenda... Right. She needed to find the craftsman responsible for the construction of Ga'aunt, and Yew might hold answers. She approaches Hannah.

"Hey, Hannah, I need to talk to Yew for a minute," Venia says. "...No you didn't screw it up, it's unrelated to, uh, that."

As Hannah complies, with notice but no action taken to her timidity around her (a familiar sight, really), she grasps the bow carefully, ensuring it can't be fired at anything of importance.

"I have heard from a cult smithy that you happen to know of your creator, father of magnolia, and where he may be. Please, tell me everything of what you know on the matter."

---

The Old Pass

A wonderful variety of Venia's worse memories happen to take place in small, confined spaces, so Venia's mood instantly drops upon noticing the horde of dangerous beasts.

"... OK, I can't just kill them normally. I need something especially quiet... Only one thing for it, then."

Venia pulls out a tome of Noxious Plume, as well as a tome of Terraform, holding each under the shoulder (it wasn't like she needed them open, oddly enough). The initial casting of Noxious Plume happened to be very bereft of noise, but that would only buy her seconds of time before the beasts woke up from the abhorrent scent, and the Terraform is only there to ensure the beasts have as much difficulty as possible reaching her afterwards.

Venia applies her knowledge of metamagic to the task at hand, focusing on the idea of delay, of waiting until a certain reasonable condition was met, and created a small magical rune (from a safe distance) directly under the Fell Beast at (AN5). The rune, in this case, is only designed to activate when the Terraform Spell is casted in reasonable proximity. She then takes a step back, and repeats this process one more time at (AN7), creating a second sigil. In the tight confines of this underground chamber-



-Venia blinks the past away. She looks around. These scenes aren't that similar, this situation not as that, she shouldn't be shaking. She definitely shouldn't be making noise-these things would not tolerate her presence here for a second. She shouldn't be comparing these things.

In the confined spaces, the noxious plumes would not fan out to their furthest degree, and in doing so gain a further degree of concentration. The Fell Beasts wouldn't last long. The only consideration would be roping them off, which, in the tight confines of the room, would be just one cast of Terraform.

Venia tightens her lips in concentration, before casting the spell-moving as much stone and rock between her and the rest of the room as she possibly could, barricading herself in with the ladder-and the Fell Beasts with the toxins.

She wouldn't see. She probably wouldn't hear, either. They were most likely awakened, if not from the sound of the earth's rumbling as it shifted in to trap them, then of the awful toxic scent as the runes came to life, spreading its toxic gas around the room. Maybe their screaming would reach her, through the rubble, if she stayed here. Ideally, though, it would be almost as if she had done nothing at all.

Venia withdraws the two spellbooks into the inventory, returns up the stairs, and keeps the hatch open-open only to shoot down into it in case the Fell Beasts think they could climb up to freedom.

---

Bass

"Right, water, coming up," Venia says, manipulating water out of the inventory (or just out of thin air with magic) and putting them into a multitude of chalices she generates from her shimmering distortions. "Drink as much as you need, uh, and keep the cups if you want. I think I'll get some, some good old bread down here soon, too."

Venia pauses. "I, uh, I saw the puked-up fluxblood, so I trust the night wasn't, wasn't very good."

---

Mariaaaaaaaaaa

Maria eventually gets bored of continuously petting the cute sapsqueal. "Bye Piggo!" She says, returning to into the house and wandering back to Chaos (and potentially his twin brother)

"Mister Chaos, do you have a birthday present? I want to give Ette a birthday present," Maria says.

---

ROLEPLAY

@Maxim: The Reflector completes the insertion, as requested. Somewhere in the distance, a man can be heard shouting, "IT'S ALIVE!" Probably.

@Zone 5: The Reflector decides to enter the vents. Because, why not?

Destiny walks up to the reception room, then looks at the Holodeck.
Hmm, a map of sorts. The technology here reminds me of the Place of Old...
Destiny walks up to it and then examines the Skylabs that is displayed. She looks particularly at the scale and defenses of the area. She then attempts to interact with the Hologram, trying to tap on various areas to get a closer look at them.

Destiny then does some craftingTM.

Since it didn't get registered last turn, Brutishace takes a point out of SKI, and sinks that point (and the point he just got from the fight) into STR in preparation for a change to his Necrotic Arcana Pistol.

Instead of immediately bringing his pistol to bear to threaten the poor receptionist, Brutishace tries taking the diplomatic option, and holds his ground. Although he is geared for it, he'd rather not get into a fight immediately. Plus, he'd rather not test how strong of a self-preservation instinct the receptionist has.

"Excuse me, please calm down. Pressing that button would cause a lot of paperwork, and you don't want that. Just wait a moment, and my friends and I can explain this situation. We're supposed to be here. Relax."

Hoping that acting like he knows what he's doing will convince the receptionist to behave to the party's benefit. If nothing else, he can stall for time if she's still on the fence of pressing the button.