Crya listens to Taeda's explanation for a moment before nodding a bit.
That is most interesting. I was somewhat expecting something like "they are a wise deity who we may not always understand" or something about his appearance, though Mollusks being of his image can give me a good idea of that. It seems to me that Helix's relationship to you and the people of this land is less direct than my relationship to the people of my land. Quite a few times I have directly communicated with priests and priestesses, but I guess not all gods are like that.

= Responding to Mari =

VolatileLily0058: ... uh... this isnt... a video game?
VolatileLily0058: ... then... how did i get here??
VolatileLily0058: i _guess_ im somehow outside of the game system (?) but... wow ok this is really weird

Lily kind of processes a thought for a moment.

VolatileLily0058: im from this mmo called warriors of ethelwynn
VolatileLily0058: i dont actually know _how_ but i ended up here after entering a dungeon instance that i'm assuming was bugged somehow??

She looks at Mari's cool hovering chair, which now exists in the space in front of her.

VolatileLily0058: uh... do you have different commands here? cause thats not a valid command where im from
VolatileLily0058: also if this is actually real life im glad to finally be real i guess xP
VolatileLily0058: well uh i think i better go exploring
VolatileLily0058: bye! ^^

= Getting things done =

Moving on, Lily moves over to the western hall...

Pionobot shwoops up the salt in the medical wing, and then goes to join the battle just north of the airship crash.


Not!Echoss continues bulli, and has one of his arms extend outwards like that one attack that temmie does, squiggling all over the chamber before it reaches over to the other entrophy and violently rips it out of the stone face's eye socket.

Eastern Hub

"Alright, that's sufficient, ish... We just got some more info, though," Venia says. "Rebels infiltrating in the western hall, cut off the Legion contacts and are threatening massive damages across the whole area via sabotaging the generators. Flipside, we've just cleared out live specimen testing save for two migi and one fell beast, pressed up right to the wind barrier. I'm sure they'll be cleared out quickly with a bit of assistance. Oh and one of the team's impersonating you, that's the Reflector, they kinda do that. Eastern hall looks bad-there's this 'molten' looking Iti with sharp appendages from what little we can see of it on the other side of a crashed helicopter, know anything about that particular nut?"

"...Oh, and uh, warning in advance, there's weird things we occasionally do that are on a list of 'cool stunts' basically, I'unno how we got it, I blame WARE. Anyways it has a few tasks written out and if we complete them we get cool stuff, and we've used quite a bit of it so we're going to attempt two of them now. So if these next few fights look a bit strange on division of manpower, that'd be why."

Venia scratches her head, before heading off east to initiate the fight in the supply room, stopping only to put the Ohmnic out of its misery through a few shots to the face.

---

Yewscape

Venia wisely leaves the room before the gas can come any further, then reads the dossier from the safety from above. She stays there, Calm Mind Shard at the ready, watching over the railing for signs of anything untowed below. She hands the Gas Mask off to her partner.

---

Gibbet

"Big cutty is very good! Not what I was expecting, but very good!" Venia says. "Now, there's one more thing I'll have you try for training before we move to live..."

Venia brings out three more blocks of wood. She shapes them into the rough forms of training dummies, with the caveat that the main body transitions to the head with no obvious neck-they have obvious limbs, but no obvious head. She makes all three dummies nearly identical, then sets them reasonably close, but not too close, to one another.

"Try to attack all three at once, or at least, really fast so it's almost like its all at once."

---

Mariaaaaaaaa
Pt. 1

Maria's eyes follow Marron's, allowing her to catch sight of Electrophorus at the same time. "Woaaah, it's super-weird!" She says, clearly entranced by the freaky thing. And let's face facts, it's a sphere-made giant fly/swimming snake thingy, that thing is pretty strange to say the least.

After a few seconds, her eyes light up a bit in realization. "Oh! Oh! We gotta go inside! I don't wanna be eaten by the giant weirdo fiend. We gotta go inside!"

Maria takes Marron and Maple by the arm and starts leading them to the door to the Skylabs (she saw it earlier). "Everyone go inside a big scary monster thingy is outside and it wants to eat us probably! Gotta go insiiiide!" She shouts, heading into the door and holding it open for everyone to filter in. "Getting eaten up ain't fun. Venny said so. Get inside, get inside, get insiiiiiiide!"

Once everyone has actually made it in, or close to that, she closes the door, though she can't actually lock it. "... Hooray, we're inside! Now we can do the thingy, and not get eaten by a big weirdo fiend. You saw that right? It was super-big and super weird, like a snake made of balls, and it was swimming in a water cloud, it was weird. We can do the thingy here right? Make Ette's present?" She asks Marron.

Pt. 2

She blinks at Hannah. "Venny's here? Venny's here!" She says, clearly excited. "I wanna go play with Venny. Wait, no, I wanna make Ette's birthday present here, and also, not get eaten by super werido fiends," Maria says, going back to expectantly looking at Marron to help her start making a scarf.

---

STATISTICS

The Reflector replaces their Reflect Slash perk with the Parasol Protector perk, putting the resistances in Earth and Air. This bumps their Sinner's Mantle's Slashing resistance up to 50%.

They also retrieve a Soul Key and use it, upgrading their trait to tier/level/rank/whatever 3! Protean can now switch between physical and magical resistances, although possibly with some scaling (1 point of magic resistance = 0.5 points of physical resistance?).

---

ZONE 5

"Cypress" guides the scientist to the bathrooms, walking straight by the rebels in the hallway ahead.

"CYPRESS": Obtain water here.
"CYPRESS": Avoid rebels. Hostilities imminent.

Meanwhile, the Reflector picks up a map from the stand near the Chairbot, since no one seems to have done that yet.

Finally, near the frozen door, as the Reflector investigates it, their form begins to change, slowly morphing into a green-skinned, tusked figure with an aged face. The new reflection begins muttering to himself intently.

"THE THAUMATURGE": Thaw the i(e within? The impli(ation there being, of (ourse, that the i(e is an obsta(le to be removed by for(e. I thoroughly disagree with that premise.
"THE THAUMATURGE": I(e is merely another state of being, of (ourse, one of stasis, one I have mu(h experien(e with.
"THE THAUMATURGE": But (an this little one handle an unveiling? De(isions, de(isions.

"The Thaumaturge" rubs his chin for a moment, then places his hand up against the frozen door.

"THE THAUMATURGE": Too risky. (onventional means will have to do, little shade.

"The Thaumaturge," using a combination of the Reflector's spellcasting and his own ice powers (or the Reflector's best attempt at mimicking them), casts Collapsable[sic] Shield on the slab of ice blocking the door. After all, it is currently serving as a shield for the door, and you know what just roll with it, ice powers. The slab collapses into a much smaller and denser sheet of ice, which "the Thaumaturge" picks up and gently rests in a safe area, where it will hopefully not impale nearby creatures. Then, "the Thaumaturge" pulls open the door and steps into the frozen room, the cold not bothering him in the slightest. (Protean also enables this shenanigan on a mechanical level, as the Reflector swaps around their resistances when they assume a form to match that form. 100% Ice resist, baby!)

Bauhaus picks up the smell of smoke somewhere in the Skylabs. Where there's smoke, there's probably fire. And wood hates fire! And most of the people here are made of wood! Someone is probably in trouble!

Bauhaus rushes all the way to the Western Hall, approaching the crowd of Chairians. "Step away from those bombs!" he shouts.

Stats Hell

Hannah swaps her gear around a bit, equipping:
-Biometal Helmet (Crushing, Piercing, Poison, Poison)
-Origin Amalgam (String, Bone) (Piercing, Fire, Fire, Light, Light)

She also shuffles some stats to compensate:
-Take 2 from INT, 2 from MMP
-Add 2 to STR, 1 to SKI, 1 to MHP

She also shuffles her spells to better accommodate her new setup:
-Noxious Plume
-Material Transfer
-Vampiric Venom

She also puzzles out a brand new way to weaponize making people so sick that they vomit up poisons along with their bodily fluids, granting her special poisons a new effect! Trait Upgraded to T3! (T3 Trait Upgrade allowed by Ire some time ago thanks to the Adria RP)

---

Skylabs - Hannah

Lily & Mari

...Hannah was still nearby. She blinked, and looked up at Mari. "Oh, so you know what she's saying. I guess that frees me up. I'm gonna take a look over there, looks like there's something in that hallway. See ya."

Hannah walks away at a relaxed pace. Too relaxed, one might say...

Eastern Hall

Hannah ends up in the Eastern Hall, where she spots some sort of cargo. Given her size, it might be either very smart or very dumb to go in to get it, so she sizes up the area properly first.

She remains on standby, though, ready to leap into the room to her north once the fighting starts.

Outside & Maria

...This version of Hannah didn't really have much to do after her little keycard-stealing stunt. So she's kinda just vibin' near the edge of the island, her legs dangling off the edge. Though it was quite boring.

Though give it to Maria to make things a little less boring. And a lot more worrying. She's pretty easily startled when Maria started shouting at people to get inside; Maria really shouldn't be up here. She scoots onto the ledge before standing up and sighing.

She walks to the door, but stops once she faces Maria, a worried frown crossing her face. "...Why are you up here of all places? It's really dangerous up here, even past that big dumb eel! If Ven sees you up here, she'll flip!"

Once everyone's inside, Hannah looks at Maria again. "Just... just don't go any further in than this room, okay? It's way too dangerous anywhere else but here right now. Got it?"

2

...She didn't get the message, but chances are she's not gonna go anywhere too dangerous. Still, it may be smart to remain on lookout. Hannah's not taking any chances here. And if she has to drag Maria back to the house, by helix she'll do it for her own sake.

She takes the time to move further in herself... and pocket the damaged hoverchair while she's at it. That's a disaster waiting to happen. She sticks around in the hallway nearby.

Yew, Venia, Nidra

Hannah's standing by and waiting for something to happen. Though she's starting to become visibly impatient, lightly tapping her foot, arms crossed, fingers fidgeting, and a bored look on her face.

---

Recollection Lake - Boshi

The boat's pretty banged up. Boshi parks his boat at the island, then dives under again to pry off the few still-decent pieces of pirate ship off of the sunken ship, and piles them up onto the island. He fits the bits and pieces of wrecked boat onto his own boat, using Green Sap to seal it up. He then uses Plasteel to help make up the rest of the boat's durability. Plugging up holes, replacing bits too damaged to function, that sort of stuff.

---

Chapel - Adria

Adria shifts in place a little. "Well, that certainly is a flower bed... but I remember hearing that some other things can go into soil to help a flower grow. It depends on how picky the flower is, I assume."

As she reads further on into the hymnbook, Taeda pops in to take a look. In response, she merely gives a kind and knowing, if weary, smile. "Nonsense, I think you would do wonderfully, dear! Though, I do understand if you don't want to."

Yewscape:

Nidra puts on the gas mask and goes to check out the unexplored room, weapon at the ready.

Crystal does a few things, in preparation for the next battle:

-He assigns his free skillpoint to HP.
-He replaces his Golden Revolver with a Poetry Pamphlet, setting its Magical resist to Fire.
-He jams a Soul Key into the middle of his forehead and turns it once, 'unlocking' his metaphorical third eye and upgrading his trait to Level 3!

It gains the following bonuses:
-A Range of 1-2.
-An extra bonus-action use per battle.
-A e s t h e t i c .

Rosen Catacombs

Irongutta watches Piggo and the other sapsqueal with interest. They seemed to be playing, or maybe training? Might even be both, Irongutta thought. He watches the two run around a little while longer until, without even thinking about it, he began tapping his foot. Folding his arms, he called out to the two sapsqueals. "Alright you two, these catacombs are stuffy and boring since we went and stomped the place. How's about I lead ya both outta here and we can all be on our way?"

With that, he made his way out of the catacombs, hoping the two animals would at least listen to him.

---

Skylabs

Irongutta made his way over to the Western Hub, noticing the smoldering hole in the first oaken barrier. He folded his arms indignantly and let out a loud sigh. "Aww, you lot blew it up and didn't even let me watch? That's a shame, that is."

Auth thinks for a moment... and then nods.

AUTH: I figured it would probably be something like that, yeah. A shield makes more sense for a practical application.
AUTH: It would be awfully heavy if it was a shield, though, wouldn't it? Especially if it folds up and such...

Auth doesn't seem to think it was such a good idea either. As for the popsicles, Auth pulls out one of the staves he thinks is what Nana's talking about.

AUTH: I didn't use it, so I don't think I'm the right person to talk about it. I don't actually remember who did - we started to make and use our own equipment relatively quickly, but I could ask around and see what they thought.

---

With Lutea, Auth shrugs.

AUTH: I believe Nia... created them, somehow? I couldn't tell you how it works, I wasn't the one to request... or find it, as the case may be.

Auth listens to Lutea's request.

AUTH: I don't think we have anything that fits your request... but I'll keep an eye out. I'd imagine something that fits your request is up in the Skylabs.

At that, Auth looks to Nana.

AUTH: Think it might be time to head out? We've got to go get that thing.

---

With Chi, in the Skylabs.

AUTH: I might not have much in the way of technological aptitude, but I can still see how the integration of magic and technology would create something stronger than either might be for a single purpose individually.
AUTH: The research that you do here is important, I think. Not everyone is magically adept, or at least, I don't think so, but everyone can operate technology with enough training.

Auth seems quite interested when Chi says she's new.

AUTH: Oh? If you don't mind my asking, where were you before? I don't know much about the hierarchy here, but you must be quite talented, or experienced, to be able to get to be the secretary of the boss here, right?
AUTH: You're probably more accustomed than I am, I've only been on the planet for... five days? It felt longer than that, wow.

Auth thinks quietly, at Chi's question.

AUTH: Well, I think my question is on the table. In the course of fairness, please feel free to ask questions of me. I can't really speak to the personal histories of the party, but I was one of the first Spherebreakers to arrive on Sussui.
AUTH: Oh! Actually, I do have one more burning question, if you don't mind. What did you do to treat Acacia? I know she's mad about it, whatever you did, but I'd like to know what you did, which will probably help us get it out again.

---

As it happens, Auth has another person he needs to have a word with.

Auth sighs, near Atalus.

AUTH: Good morning. I feel like I should object to your characterisation of our presence here.
AUTH: We have no intention of striking anyone down here. Or, as it happens, even attacking Acacia.
AUTH: Would you mind settling down for but a moment? I don't think your panic helps anyone.

Auth allows Atalus to continue his stressed ranting, though.

AUTH: Hey, Atalus, I don't see why you think that the Skylabs will be left defenceless after we've completed our objectives. It happens that helping you fend off the Iti is also in our interests. I feel like I should note that after clearing the Endless Gardens, they have, at least for the past couple of days, remained safe.

Upon reaching the second barrier, Auth thinks for a minute.

AUTH: I don't suppose you could ask Acacia to let us in? We're here to treat her burns, properly. Try to fix what we did to her. It's only right.

<ROUND 248>

---

Crya suggests that Lord Helix's relationship with his people is far less direct than her own relationship. Taeda nods.

TAEDA: Yeah.
TAEDA: Although, I can't help but wonder... is it good for the gods to be so hands-on with the people?
TAEDA: As far as I know, you're constantly meddling in the afar of your people.
TAEDA: Won't it be hard for your people to grow and become independent if the gods are constantly managing their every move?

TAEDA: I-I don't mean to be offensive or a-anything! I'm r-really just curious!
TAEDA: You don't get to talk with a goddess too often...

Taeda sways on the spot, praying to Helix that she didn't accidentally anger the goddess.

---

VolatileLily mentions that she's from an MMO! Specifically, one called "Warriors of Ethelwynn". The scientist tilts her head, tapping her foot as she rakes the depths of her mind. Was that name familiar?

MARI: ...Nope, never heard of it.
MARI: Ethelwynn... is it a recent thing?
MARI: Was it like, a competitor to World of Warcraft or Runescape?
MARI: I'm pretty good on video game history, so it's kinda surprising I haven't heard of it.

MARI: Although, the programmers must be kinda gorilla if there's a bug that causes people to get stuck between dimensions, or whatever.
MARI: Then again, it'd be hard to explain why "fixed a bug that caused NPC's to become sentient and also real" would be on the patch notes.
MARI: It's gotta be intentional! Right?

It doesn't seem that Mari was talking to anyone in particular there. She suddenly snaps back to attention, as Lily decides she's going off to explore.

MARI: Oh, be careful.
MARI: This place is kiiiinda dangerous... but you'll probably be fine.
MARI: MMO characters have a good track record for killing gods n' gorilla, so... yeah. Don't think I'll need to worry.
MARI: Still though, maybe I'll tag along?

Is it adventure time? Also, maybe Lily could explain a few things about Ethelwynn, and also explain to Google why I tried to find a game that didn't exist.

---

Pionobot shwoops up some salt. Being a robot, and also therefore part vacuum cleaner, he's able to suck up all 20 bags worth of salt, and also develop some acute sodium poisoning!

Meanwhile, in the Everground, Not!Echoss commits bully, ripping out another Entrophy from the stone wall face. Wait, is that even bullying at that point? Seems more like flat-out assault to me. Anyway, this deals (20-5) damage. All of a sudden, the stone face stops bellowing out air, its mouth sliding shut. Replacing it are tears of Fluxblood that begin to roll down the face itself.

It also coughs up 100 Credits, hurling them up towards the exit of the cavern in what's either a skilled or lucky shot. Where'd it get those, anyway?

---

Venia relays some information to Cypress. Rebel forces have infiltrated the western hallway, and are threatening to destroy this part of the lab's generators.

CYPRESS: Rebels? Here?
CYPRESS: Rebels at labs. A rare occurrence. Only glyph: here. Potential raid reasoning?
CYPRESS: How annoying. Shouldn't be here.

CYPRESS: Second query: Iti. Name: Mitocyst. Threat level: Keter.
CYPRESS: "Molten" is inaccurate. More of "decayed". Body barely holds. Body undergoes divisions. Constant, cannot stop.
CYPRESS: Native to labs. None have escaped. One escaping: destruction. One becomes army.
CYPRESS: Mitocyst: Eliti potential? Warrants designation: maybe. Certainly annoying enough.

Venia also notes that the Reflector has made a copy of him, and that the party is prone to doing very weird things. He simply nods.

CYPRESS: Goes without saying.
CYPRESS: Spherebreakers: very weird. No offense. Fact of nature.
CYPRESS: Impersonation, however: no. Very rude. Cease.
CYPRESS: Some things should n--

Cypress's voice modulator glitches out. A few moments of tinkering later, he manages to reset it.

CYPRESS: Short version: cease. Please. Thank you.

With that out of the way, Venia heads to the east, investigating the Storage sector to the north of the hall. After popping an unfortunate Ohmnic in the face a few dozen times, she skips through the door. She finds herself in a cargo bay. Dozens of copies of that molten Iti she saw are dotted about the place. She tries counting them. One, two, three, four, five- actually, now there's seven of them. There's only going to be more of them, isn't there?

Guess it's time to get to work, isn't it?

- = S T R I F E ! = -

Elsewhere, Venia decides to try and teach Gibbet the way of group-based combat. Humanoid figures, with no real neck to crush. Gibbet flies around the group a few times, surveying the figures. They bob around for a bit, eventually trying to peck at one of them. Bop. Bop. Bop. (3) damage! Kinda underwhelming. However, with the conclusion of the three pecks, an aura of power surrounds the birdie. Gibbet soars over the trio of wooden figures, a ghastly apparition of a gigantic bird following them in their wake!

As the bird passes over, spiritual Sentences descend from the wings of the gigantic bird, one gigantic noose for each wooden figure. The nooses clip through the bodies of the targets, tightening around what's likely their midpoint. Gibbet then touches back down in front of Venia, the immense power fading from their body.

...They tilt their head towards the wooden figures. They're not very dead. Gibbet then casts Big Cutty upon one of the wooden figures, the guillotine blade effortlessly cutting through a singular figure. In an instant, large chunks of the other figures are forcibly torn from them, yanked out by an invisible force. These giblets are thrown a fair distance, landing in a distant woodland. Satisfied, Gibbet flaps over to the two badly damaged figures, and pecks each of them once. They suffer from critical existence failure, falling over and breaking into fragments.

GIBBET: (does that count?)
GIBBET: (want to be shiny again)
GIBBET: (become a big birdy!)

...Special attack learned? A safe distance away from Gibbet, Maria decides to lead Marron, Maple, and a few others into the Sky Labs. Marron shrugs. The labs are totally safe. Nothing bad could happen in there. Nope. Maria asks the seamstress if they could go and make Ette's gift now. Marron nods, setting up shop upon Mentha's big ol' secretarying desk.

MENTHA: D-Do you mind!?
MENTHA: Y-You can't just barge in here a-and-
MARRON: I am making something hella cute for my sister!
MARRON: If you intervene, you'll make her sad.
MARRON: And if you make her sad, I will gorilla fury all over you.
MENTHA: ...

Silently, Mentha wheelies backwards, using her legs to push back her chair. If the panic button weren't still frozen, she... probably still wouldn't press it. Marron then happily gets to work, also placing down a chair for Maria to use.

MARRON: Okay, Maria!
MARRON: I'm gonna make the base of the scarf itself.
MARRON: Think you could make something pretty to put on it?
MARRON: Like... a fancy centerpiece, or whatever. A big pretty gem, a teddy bear... anything works.
MARRON: Maple! Could you help her with that?
MAPLE: I have some experience with that sorta stuff!
MAPLE: Leave it to me!~

Maple remains on standby to help Maria, while Marron begins her work. She already has all of Ette's measurements recorded from when she was transmogrified, so it should be a cinch. In theory, anyway!

Finally, Venia continues her work within Yew's Mindscape.

---

"Cypress" guides a Chairian scientist to a place to relieve himself. Totally ignoring the army of rebels, the Scientist sneaks by into the washroom. Loud slurping noises can be heard from behind the doors.

Ever so quietly, the Reflector slowly backs away, all the way to Chairbot and their kiosk. There, they snag a map. The map really isn't all that informative. It's just a rough outline of the area. Interestingly enough, it seems that in the side hallways, there are meant to be ways to go up a floor. Seems like the staircases haven't been rendered though, as the playable area is only the ground floor for whatever reason. Anyway, a quick examination of the map reveals that to the West is the Aviation Testing Chamber, and to the East is a gigantic Chemical Lab. All of this is clearly very, VERY safe.

As they head eastward to maybe investigate the Chemical Lab, the frozen door catches their eye! They morph from the form of Cypress to that of a being known as the "Thaumaturge". They Collapsible Shield a slab of ice out of existence, making it possible to open the door. They step into a break room... although it's more like a Broke Room now, right? Right?

...I'll see myself out.

Also, the Reflector pokes and nudges their stats! They purchase and equip Parasol Protector for 50 Samples, setting it to Earth and Air. This also boosts their Slashing Resistance to 50%. They also impale themselves with a Soul Key, leveling up Protean to Level 3! This gives them the ability to edit their Physical Resistances into Magical Resistances, and the other way around as well. That's... probably kinda scary. We'll see how that plays out.

---

Bauhaus A-clicks directly into the Rebel Army. He yells at them to stay away from those bombs!

REBEL: Of course we're staying away from the bombs! We're not idiots-

REBEL: ...Wait, who are you?
REBEL: Judging just from your appearance... you're not a Legionary!
REBEL: Don't tell me that you Spherebreakers are here too now.
REBEL: oh god this is gonna be such a pain

The Rebels prepare to engage with this random boy who just sorta walked in. They also heed his warning, taking a few steps away from the bombs. Safety first!

- = S T R I F E ! = -

---

Hannah sizes up the damaged vessel. It's not doing much of the "being on fire" thing, so at least that's not a threat. It seems that whatever sorts of crates and boxes the cargo is held in is what's propping up that section of the ship, so removing the boxes might be a death sentence. Still though, there's enough of a gap that she could slip in. What to do after she gets in, though? And how could she prop the ship up?

At Recollection Lake, Boshi decides to repair his own boat by salvaging chunks off of the shipwreck. This process, however slow, does fix up the ship. And, since there's no threats around, he's able to fully repair the ship.

Finally, in the Chapel, Adria notes that there are probably some things they can put into the planter they need to make to help the flower grow. Chloe nods.

CHLOE: Hm, yeah.
CHLOE: I guess we need to consider fertilizer and things like that, right?
CHLOE: Maybe it'd also help to get soil from a holy place?
TAEDA: M-Maybe? I don't know the specifics of what a Godblossom needs.

Then, Adria notes that she'd love to hear Taeda sing! She blushes a bright green.

TAEDA: A-Ah, you're much too kind!
TAEDA: I-I'll do my best!

Taeda grabs a copy of the hymnbook, flips to a specific page, and then stands up straight and tall. The priestess clears her throat, and begins to sing, softly and gently. She has the sort of voice that'd be lost in a crowd- were anyone else singing or even just chatting, her voice would easily be drowned out. While yes, her voice is certainly unrefined, there's earnest passion behind it and a bit of untapped potential.

TAEDA: ♫ Joy to the world, Lord Helix reigns! ♫
TAEDA: ♫ Let devouts, their songs, rejoice! ♫
TAEDA: ♫ While trees and flowers, 'round Yggdrasil, ♫
TAEDA" ♫ Repeat his random voice, Repeat his random voice, ♫
TAEDA" ♫ Repeat, repeat, his random voice! ♫

After only like one verse of song, Taeda is out of breath, and sits back down. Chloe tilts her head. That sounded awfully familiar. Still though, she claps.

CHLOE: Tae, that was great!
CHLOE: I don't get the lyrics, though...
TAEDA: W-Well, Lord Helix's has always been a bit of a... c-chaotic god.
TAEDA: He wouldn't want his hymns any other way, I'd think!
TAEDA: A-And thank you for the praise! I-It means a lot!

Taeda pulls out a thing of water, and takes a sip. The poor thing seems a bit tired.

To wrap up, Hannah does some shuffling. She equips the Biometal Helmet and the Origin Amalgam, goes +1 MHP, +2 STR, +1 SKI, -2 INT, and -2 MP. She then rotates out all of her spells, and (finally) finishes upgrading her trait to Tier 3!

---

Nidra continues her journey through Yew's Mindscape.

---

Crystal modifiers their trait! Or really, they modify themselves in general, but we gotta lead with a clickbait-ish headline. +1 MHP, item rotated, and Trait upgraded with a Soul Key! Oh, they also send their aesthetics through the roof.

---

Irongutta exits the catacombs. He hopes that the two pigs will follow him out. Luckily for him, they do! Once the light of the sun graces their snouts again, the two pigs oink happily, before resuming their chase. As he watches, he notices that Piggo seems to be slowly getting faster. While such progress would normally take a long time, video game laws demand that his aptitudes rise quickly.

Elsewhere, upon the Sky Labs, he approaches R-8733, expressing disappointment with not being able to see the blast. R-8733 immediately gets on his knees, assuming the traditional apologizing pose.

R-8733: Apologies, master!
R-8733: I'll ensure that you're here to witness the next detonation.
R-8733: In fact, I'll give you the pleasure of setting it off yourself.

He then rather suddenly pops up, possibly like a pop tart exiting a toaster at high velocity. He points to the other barriers.

R-8733: We think there's two more barriers.
R-8733: I wonder why Acacia blocked it this off heavily? Perhaps there's an ancient super weapon beyond there capable of the largest explosions?
R-8733: We should probably break in, though. Not just because whatever's in there might be cool, but so that Acacia can't use it.
R-8733: That's like, the least safe thing I can possibly imagine.

On cue, there's the sound of an explosion. R-8733 raises his arms up high. Must've been a good ol' blast.

---

Auth does stuff. "Stuff" is not Nana, before anyone makes that joke. According to Rimworld, "stuff" is now-

But anyway, Auth chats with Lutea. Apparently the flower came from Nia. Lutea gives the flower a closer look. How did she do that?

LUTEA: This was... deliberately created?
LUTEA: I guess it'd be hard to have something like this occur naturally... b-but why?
LUTEA: It's still beautiful, but I'm s-so confused...

He then notes that he doesn't have any sort of powerful ice-related flora, but he'll try and find some within the Sky Labs.

LUTEA: That's okay!
LUTEA: It doesn't need to be an icy plant, though! Anything works!

LUTEA: You can probably find all sorts of interesting things in the Sky Labs.
LUTEA: ...C-Can you? I've never been up t-there myself. What's it like up there?

As Auth ponders that question, he also tugs on Nana's sleeve. Maybe they should get going. Nana nods gently.

NANA: O-Okay!
NANA: W-We should say our goodbyes first though, right?
NANA: We should... a-also purchase a few items! Keep the family business afloat!
LUTEA: Please do! Every bit helps!
LUTEA: ...But if you really need it, I can supply you with some free potions.
LUTEA: Just be sure to keep visiting though, alright?

Free potions! Does he accept? Elsewhere, up in the Sky Labs, Auth has appointments with two other Chairians. First with Chi, Auth asks about if she was here before in the labs. How did she become the secretary of the boss of the whole place? She trips and stumbles on her words, trying to formulate a response. Why's she sweating so much?

CHI: Um...
CHI: I... was hired b-by Cypress because of my medical e-expertise!
CHI: W-With... the Iti going around and terrorizing the people, Cypress needed someone who was knowledgeable of medicine to assist him.

CHI: Before I came to the Sky Labs, I was a doctor. Some might've called me "one of the best", but really, I'm just good at curing various ailments and poisons.
CHI: I... suppose I also have a variety of talents in other sorts of operations, but diseases and poisons were always what I was the best at treating.
CHI: You know, back when there was this lady called the "Poison Archer" running about, I was actually able to save her last victim from the poison they employed!
CHI: She was a nasty serial killer, but she... died, or something.
CHI: Nobody really knows what happened to her.

Chi clears her throat.

CHI: P-Pardon my ranting, though.
CHI: My days as a doctor... well, they weren't exactly long ago, but it feels like it's been months...

Auth then asks how she treated Acacia. She shakes her head.

CHI: Oh, I wasn't involved in that operation.
CHI: That was all Cypress. I don't know much about cybernetics, or how to treat a burn.
CHI: You're best off asking him.
CHI: I heard that she... willingly gave up a part of her that was perfectly healthy, though.

CHI: Cypress accidentally let that slip.
CHI: Talking with three words must be hard sometimes.
CHI: Speaking like this. Pain amount: large!

Chi giggles to herself, before wiping the sweat off her brow.

CHI: So, sir Author!
CHI: What brings you to Sussui?
CHI: It's not often we see outsiders around here. Most of them visit Tabletopia, far as I know...
CHI: Is it to deal with the Sphere? Or did you have other reasons?

Later, Auth ends up chatting with Atalus. Could he settle down for a moment, and cease his panicking? At the moment though, he's sitting down.

ATALUS: I am sitting down in a calm manor!
ATALUS: I could not be any more calm, given life's strenuous circumstances at the moment!
ATALUS: Be grateful that I'm even capable of showing this much restraint!

The vampire then notes how the Sky Labs will likely be fine even after he and his team complete their objectives. Killing the Iti is their interest at the moment, and they're not here to slaughter everyone.

ATALUS: How do we know you're not all just playing the long game?
ATALUS: Trying to win our trust... then stabbing us in the back, like typical outisders!
ATALUS: I'm not saying you're a backstabbing gorilla, BUT THERE'S ALWAYS THE CHANCE!
ATALUS: Even the old Chairheir wasn't trustworthy! Crazy, right?

He also asks if he could maybe just get in to treat Acacia's burns. He stands up, walks over to the second wooden barrier, and gives it a knock. A few seconds later, he slowly walks back to where he was sitting, and plops himself back down.

ATALUS: Acacia says "I WILL gorillaING RIP YOUR SPINES OUT YOU gorillaS".
ATALUS: I mean, she said that in reference to you guys. Not at this very moment, but a few hours ago?
ATALUS: Point is, no. No visiting her.
ATALUS: You'd just make things worse, man.

Looks like you're really going to need those bombs.

---

<GENERATOR WAY, ROUND ONE>
So, we have a bunch of rebels. Fortunately, the back line is currently in the front, so you have a chance to gank the squishies before the more durable Chain Knights and Fell Riders get into position. Speaking of the latter units, they have the ability to obtain debuff immunity! See if you can stack on some debuffs before they get that off, or if you can dispel that effect from them! Also consider stopping the Rebels to the north, in the generator room. You do not want the generators to go down.

<SHIFTING STORAGE, ROUND ONE>
This is truly a curious battle. The enemies are all very scattered, so there really shouldn't be many worries about getting swarmed to death. Or at least, that's what I'd say if the Mitocysts weren't a thing. They're capable of rapidly cloning themselves, so make it your priority to destroy them! In fact, killing them all is your requirement to win the battle. If you're smart about it, maybe you could speedrun the map...?

Remiel removes Live to Serve and Protowell Seeker, putting 4 KP into SPC and 3 KP into SKI. They also drop Life Essence Augment and replace it with Abduction.

<Shifting Storage>
Remiel spawns at E20, moves to D11, and self-Sleeps. The Raindrop that Fell to the Sky is active, Remiel gets a random modifier spell, and the Predator gets Traced if it retreats.

Then spoke the thunder.
(WHAT THE THUNDER SAID: ACTIVE)

<Zone 0>
A hooded figure wrapt in a brown mantle glides into the house and greets the new arrivals. They speak with Remiel's voice.

Remiel?: Hail, travellers.
Remiel?: If you seek audience with us, you have found it.

Skylabs

Venia looks at the absolute mess in there and decides that, for once, she deserves something less high intensity. She closes that door, and instead turns around to see the Reflector barge into the frozen room. "Oh, hey. Cypress told me that they are really not keen on you transforming into them, uh, so, uh, don't do that? That's just what I've heard, passing it on," Venia says.

"I'm gonna help you out here," Venia says, moving in to appraise the room. "I don't think I'll be useful in either engagement, so, uh, yeah, downtime. I guess. Still work, just uh, less time spent murdering..."

Venia takes a good look around the room, and notices the ice-frozen scientist in an (easily accessible) corner, the cryocore in the other, and well over there-a bomb, just like the last. "Melting this would take an age... And, uh, that doohicky over there, that'd probably re-freeze it. Breaking through is only so effective, and uh, that device... Doesn't look like it'd take it well. Hang on," Venia says, leaving.

"Oh, my little snowflake, where are you?" Venia calls, expecting Nia. "I want your love and affection, and need your mighty magic power!" Venia shouts. "A giant wall of ice impedes our progress, and we need someone who can wield the power of cold to clear the way!"

...Venia also thoughtfully sets up Sol Aterna near the frozen scientist to get him out of his jam before the long-term effects of freezing kick in. Being that it deals fire damage and is a fiery sword, she figures it's as close as it'll get to a safe way to radiate heat over the sucker. She also uses the basic terraform spell to block off the vent into the room, because she might as well.

---

Gibbet

"It counts," Venia says. "That'll be all for now. I'll get you when we need you, OK?

She gives Gibbet one more Mighty Banana as a treat and returns him downstairs, concluding this for now. Thank goodness.

---

Yewscape

Venia, inside the Mindscape, cups her nose and just books it to the end of the staircase. Areca's good lung capacity and strong legs should make a small sprint without breathing a cinch. Passing by the door, she hammers it a bit, and gestures to the door, opening her mouth for the first time-but at a whisper.

"Woodmancy that door shut with the wall, it's sprading out too fast."

Outside of the Mindscape, she gestures to Hannah. "Please retrieve Chi and politely inform her that her expertise are needed regarding the Poison Archer. We just need relevant information on, say, household poison cures, and anything she happens to know about any detective Areca. Preferably bring her here to help-tell her its urgent. And say I'm sorry in advance. Really sorry."

---

Mariaaaaaaaaaaaa

Maria's eyes pop up as Marron curses. "You can't say that word, that's a naughty word, you're not supposed to say that!" Maria says. "You're not supposed to say thaaat!"

"Ooh, ooh, ooh. Uh, I have no idea what I'm doin," Maria says, to the later rsponse of 'make a big pretty thingy' . "But I think, I think a big pink heart jewel would be pretty. Very pretty. It's gonna be big and pretty and a heart, and sparkly," She says.

"I'unno how to get into the, uh, invent-or-e, but there's probably somethin' in there, right?"

---

"Good. Now excuse me while I disarm those bombs."

< BATTLE ACTION: Generator Way >
EDGE OF DAWN ELEMENTS: Light/Poison
Bauhaus spawns at U14, moves to R14, and charges up Dawn of Existence.

Skylabs - Hannah

Cargo

...Seeing that the boxes are what's propping the ship up, Hannah thinks it might be ideal to not take out the boxes themselves, but instead just take out the contents. She climbs into the hold, keeping watch of her surroundings, and getting out if it looks like things are gonna collapse on her or otherwise go wrong.

She pulls out a Luminous Crystal for light, then Maxim's Razor and some corrosives to slather on it for cutting purposes, and begins cutting a circular hole in the container. Once she's in, she takes out whatever's in the box. She repeats that for every box until they're all emptied or something looks like it's about to go poorly.

Yew, Venia

Hannah stands to attention when she's addressed. Finally, something for her to do.

Then she hears the request. "Poison Archer"...? "Detective Areca"...? What in the world did they figure out in there? The first sounded a little like a codename... it sounded like the two were related somehow... though her questions would need to wait. Annoying.
Retrieve Chi... great, she already didn't trust her to begin with, and now she's gotta go and grab her without seeming suspicious of her.
And say 'sorry' in advance. Right, just in case she couldn't be more suspicious of her. Though, considering that conversation she listened in on, chances are it's better than the alternative.

"...I'll be on my way, then."

She leaves to get Chi, thinking about what she was just told. Poison Archer... Detective... they're related, most definitely. Perhaps the Detective was looking into the Archer, but then the Archer came by and flushed the Detective out in a murder-y sort of way. But why was the Detective looking into them in the first place?

She slips back into the Skylabs and walks up to Chi. "Hey, uh... really sorry to bother you about this (again), but Venia sent me, and she needs a little more information on the 'Poison Archer'; just any household cures that may be effective against her poisons. And any info about a 'Detective Areca', whoever that is? Yeah. Also it's kinda urgent, and she'd like your expertise if you're willing to help out. I think she'll tell you more about what she's doing if you ask her."

Upon hopefully receiving the information she wants, she either heads back to Venia and Nidra, or leads Chi to them.

Cable car

Not really doing much else, Hannah decides to ride the Cable Car, to see what's in store for them up ahead.

---

Recollection Lake - Boshi

Because the boat's fixed up now, Boshi sails further East, down the lake.

---

Chapel - Adria

Adria listens with a smile, a small glimmer in her eye as she sees something beneath the quiet voice before her. When it ends, she claps along with Chloe. "Bravo! Well done!" In the back of her mind, she wonders if Taeda would be capable of much more...

As everyone else settles down, she continues the conversation about the planter box, and the soil. "Yes, soil from a holy area would likely do the trick. You mentioned a 'Church of Helix' place before... maybe we could get something of the sort from there?"

Put point into RES.

Shifting Storage

Spawn at C20.
Use Very Sheepy on self.
Move to D16.
Basic attack Mitocyst5 twice.
Retreat to C16.

Yewscape

Nidra quickly opens the door to the hallway just an inch, takes the fan, and points it north-west toward the hallway. After the poison gas (hopefully) clears, she steps out and uses woodmancy to seal the door between the office and the hallway. Nidra then grabs the water gun, just in case, and prepares to descend the ladder.

No, no, it's fine! I totally understand that you are curious about our methods. We aren't a bunch of crazies who murder people for asking questions! We don't really intervene on every little thing either, we just do so when it's really needed.
But, anyways... it has to do with our past experiences. In the past, we tried to have a more distant relationship with humans. However, that didn't really work. Over a couple millennia humans began to create factions based on a singular deity. We tried to nudge humans in the right direction indirectly, but it became apparent that that style of influence wasn't really working.
One thing led to another, and eventually... there was a last straw. Once we learned of plans from one of the nations to create magical weapons of mass destruction in order to subjugate other nations. It was when we realized we had to take some more direct action. After some decisions we decided we should... have a clean slate, I guess we would say. These days I think we should have intervened far earlier, but... for a very long time most of the other gods and goddesses had faith that the situation would turn around.
We decided to build up humanity from the ground up once more, with more direct supervision, which is where we are today.

----------------------

Destiny rushes in to the Shifting Storage at C20. A Divine Watcher descends at J11.
Destiny runs up to D13 using the boosters then uses Whirling Blades from D13 up to D5 and then from D5 to F3. She then retreats to G3.

Swap Mirror Image for Focus Energy.

Shifting Storage
Move to J21
Focus Energy as a Bonus Action
Mana Leech
Attack Ohmic4
Phial Burst Ohmic4 as a Bonus Action.

(Apologies for late reply RP is hard to wriiiiiite)

"Maybe I could help you go through the vents? We could hold hands even, if you want! But also, don't feel pressured or anything. We can just figure it out. It's not like there's anything in there that we couldn't get by going around."

"In the meantime, we have some other things to handle around here? Maybe a good fight will take your mind off of things! Or, whatever you want?"

Asha isn't entirely sure how to handle this, but she does her best to be supportive.
Assuming Marron is willing, the two of them head off to Shifting Storage. Along the way, Asha requests a slight change to her hat (new statline is +3 MMP, +3 INT, +4 AGI, -1 DEF).

~~

Asha changes her trait! Mostly since no-one really needed mentoring. She also moves a point of SPC into MHP.

She heads into Shifting Storage with Marron, moving to C16 and D16 respectively. They do their classic buff strategy.
Marron uses Fury on herself and Asha (11 MP with Heart Bracelet effect).
Asha uses Alter Reality to swap her new Empowered for Enlightened, then casts Foresight on them both (also 11 MP).