Battle: The Rosen Forge

"Oi now Magnolia, now ain't the time to doubt yerself! You are yer own axe -- er, girl -- an' ya gotta think on yer own 'ere. Just 'coz you respect him doesn't mean that he has respect for you. All he wants is your obedience 'coz he believes that he has power over you."

Irongutta straightened up a bit from his usually hunched posture, more sure of himself than ever. "An' I feel it's up to us, me an' you, to prove him wrong. Together, we make the strongest, most dead 'ard pair on all of Sussui! There ain't nuffin' out there that can stop us!"

Irongutta stepped over to L13, not taking his eyes off of Yulania. He uses Fury on Crystal and himself to finish off his turn.

ABOVE THE FOREST
Remiel moves to P18 and attacks Reborn3.

If the Everbloom is alive but Remiel has enough MP to kill it with Cherry Energy, they do so. If Remiel doesn't have enough MP but two uses of Yggdrasil would add enough, they do that too.

PICNIC
Elsewhere, Remiel shows up at the picnic.
REMIEL: sorry i'm late, i was doing stuff
REMIEL: oh, and i brought cookies

<ROUND 273>

IT'S SPOOKY MONTH! Wait no, I mean Christmas. Yeah.



Now, on to the normal posts!

---

Crya attends a picnic. She decides to conjure and contribute two whole tubs of ice cream to the party. Chloe appreciates the notion, but is a little confused.

CHLOE: ...Huh.
CHLOE: I didn't think goddesses could will into existence specific brands of ice cream.
CHLOE: Here I was, thinking you'd make like... Goddess-Brand™ ice cream, straight from the forges of... ice cream heaven?
CHLOE: I dunno. But thanks!

Were Nia in the area, she'd surely lay claim to one of the tubs herself. But she's not here. Yet.

---

Venia explains to Nia that she needs to do some stuff. "Stuff" in this case is not Nia, so she simply bobs her head.

NIA: Uh, alright!
NIA: See you later, then?
NIA: Chloe's havin' a picnic up in the Sky Labs. Wanna meet there once you're done with your stuff?

Should that be the case, Nia will part from Venia with a kiss, and skip on off... somewhere. Who knows what Nia does when nobody's looking? Probably be cute or something. Kinda like what Maria's doing with Aoki. The small princess gives Aoki a hug, surprising her the slightest. Not something she was used to, but okay. Also, why do baby fluffles explode?

AOKI: Well, baby Spiralfloofs are incredibly territorial, and easily aggravated creatures.
AOKI: They'll explode on just about anything that isn't their mother, you know!
AOKI: This behavior does mean that the Spiralfloof line has little in the way of predators, though. So I suppose it has its benefits.
MARRON: Actually, the real reason they explode is because life is cruel to cute and fluffy things.
AOKI: Those cute and fluffy things over there seem fine to me.

She looks over to the mattress of Spiralfloofs. The one named "Sofa" seems to have stuffed their cheeks full of foam cubes. Are... are they tasty to them, or something? Then, with the attention span of... well, a seven year old child, Maria decides she wants to go and deliver her present to Ette now. She then wanders off towards the exit, Spiralfloofs in tow. Marron follows behind her.

MARRON: Um... bye.
MARRON: I guess.
AOKI: Um... goodbye?
AOKI: Be careful, you two!

As Maria leaves the room, parts of the map decide they want to update. Cool. Take a look around? Marron takes note of this, noting Ette's new position across the hallway. The ex-puppet somberly stares towards the ground which she sits upon, eyes a bit sunken.

MARRON: Oh! There's sis.
MARRON: Maria, you should carry the present over to her.
MARRON: She seems to be a bit... mopey, at the moment, but it should cheer her up!
MARRON: What happened anyway?

...Marron must've not been around for Acacia's death. Might wanna update her on that.

---

Crystal decides to be crafty. Not like, "clever at achieving one's aims by indirect or deceitful methods", but like... they're doin' crafts. Three of them, actuallly. It's a Christmas Crafttactular!

First up is the MK-2 Augmented Psiplate, using a copy of the MK-2 Modular Cinderplate, a Mental Cluster, a Nanostorm Drive, and a Crystalline Conduit. The Operant Emblem is created with a Mental Cluster, a Darkmatter Cluster, and 5 Platinum Ingots. We will not talk about the suit that was mercilessly butchered to create the emblem. Suits should be worn as suits. You monster. Anyway, they then proceed to make the Astral Sigils with the Meteor Sigils, mixed with a Searing Cluster, a Glacial Cluster, 2 Ember Cores, 2 Bronzewood, and a Cyan Diamond.

They're all rather shiny, aren't they?

---

Echoss pokes Nana at the picnic. Is she doing alright? She nods her head, slowly but unsurely.

NANA: I-I'm fine. It's just a-a lot of people here.
NANA: T-That's all! Not used to it.
NANA: N-Nor am I... u-used to having...

Her eyes drift over to Maxim's host body. How could she NOT have noticed? They're horrifyingly out of place, even for this merry band of travellers. And don't even get her started on how horrifying it looks when it lashes out to eviscerate a chunk of meat. She shudders as it does it again. That poor bacon strip.

NANA: ...T-That thing, e-eating with us!
NANA: I-It almost killed m-me, you know! I-I probably s-should've died b-back then!
NANA: A-And now we're j-just going share a nice luncheon with it?
NANA: How c-can we do that?

Nobody tell her about the relationship Mario and Bowser seem to have, where they fight one day and go party the next. Anyway, down in the Everground, Not!Echoss attempts to rules lawyer the Coursing Shadow's SHP out of existence! However, it equips a pair of reading glasses, and shows various examples from the Codex Proelium of Bonus SHP notation being represented this way. So, try as he might, Not!Echoss is not able to ignore the SHP. He still however, manages to tire out the Coursing Shadow, dealing a solid (40) damage to its SHP. The light fries Not!Echoss, dealing (5) damage to him. Ouch. He also tapes a Reverie to a microphone, which... stuns it? Okay. Why not?

---

Fran experiences a connection error. Welcome back! The universe pets tem on the head as they do minor stat work. aw yeee

---

Calibri heads to the kitchen! Since they're not EN, they decide to not commit uncountable sins. So, they create a large pot of Hearty Yggstew with 2 Yggcrawler Meat, 3 Yggherbs, 3 Gaiaroot Potatoes, a Yellow Sap Blob, and a MIGHTY BANANA. OHHHH BANANA. Soon, Calibri arrives at the picnic, bringing the pot and a boatload of fresh fruit with him. Chloe waves him over, smiling happily.

CHLOE: Heya! Glad you could make it!~
CHLOE: Thanks for the stuff, too! Here, lemme try!

Chloe helps herself to a bowl of the stew. While she's certainly confused about the banana slices surrounding the meat and potatoes, she still seems to enjoy her first spoonful.

CHLOE: A-Ah! Hot!
CHLOE: It's good, though! Thanks!
CHLOE: Always love a good stew!
CHLOE: Or, uh, just meat in general. But the point still stands- its good!

While Chloe's exchanges her hunger for happiness, Mr. S.E.D. points up, and commits a homicide via harpoon launcher. A Reverie is grinded up into delicious meat(no) paste, and then fired off towards the Coursing Shadow. Oh, I suppose the harpoon that dragged it away was also fired off. (25) damage to the lower left wing! It also probably goes without saying that the Reverie there is dead.

f

---

The Scion consumes sandvich. It's pretty good. Maxim meanwhile, takes notice of Nana. It makes... concerning clicking noises. It rips a small fragment of bone from one of the pieces of meat Chloe gave it, and, with incredible difficulty, uses its own body as a catapult to fling the fragment at her. Bop! Direct hit, right on the noggin! It's not a large piece in the slightest, so the most it does is cause her a fright, but...

NANA: E-Eep! W-What was that?

Hm. Things may get dicey pretty soon. Just like how things are about to get dicey in the Border Outpost.

---

Hannah attempts to rip a wing off the Coursing Shadow! Firing an arrow towards the upper-right wing, then one down towards the bottom-left wing, she strings a string between the two wings! This string transmutes itself into a tough looking dark blue chain! It pulls tighter and tighter, and RRIIIIIIP! The bottom-left wing is torn from its body!

With both sets of wings missing... well, a wing, the Coursing Shadow's flight patterns grow highly erratic! It's amazing that its still airborne, really. It thrashes throughout the air, as the light energy built in its head discharges! A vibrant ray of prismatic light erupts from its beak, the unpredictable flight pattern causing the beam to sweep in every direction! As the beam's not very strong (and for certain reasons, not very aimed), it strikes everyone for (5) damage.

The light that's built around the head fades, the SHP vanishing with it. The tail also manages to reform, and continues to suck in light. Is it worth smashing it again? Or will destroying the head destroy the creature itself? Only one way to find out! ATTACK!

Oh, Hannah also continues her works down in the Border Outpost.

---

Emerald re-joins the game! Hello! They also spend some time creating a powerful bow known as the Worldly Spirit! Which I may or may not have forgotten to initialize earlier! Looks like you haven't acted in combat yet though, so it shouldn't be an issue. Anyway, the bow is made with 5 Gaiameld Ingots, 10 Harpy Feathers, 2 Fell Blades, 2 Puresilk, 10 Replicant Matter, a Fell Beast Tail, and a coil of Feather Rope. This is promptly equipped.

...Also, I hope you're confident in your ability to roll DGE! Roughly as confident as Marron, anyway.

---

Nettle pays off her debts to Nia. This costs 100 credits, and... doesn't take up a crafting slot, for whatever reason? Guess she's already technically done the work? Or maybe the GM is lazy. Whatever.

---

Auth asks Nana what's wrong. As she's already explained it to Echoss, she repeats something similar... before asking him a question.

NANA: U-Um...
NANA: C-Could you keep an eye on M-Maxim for me?
NANA: J-Just in case they try anything, y-you know?
NANA: I-I know we're m-meant to be enjoying t-this, b-but I'm just s-so uneasy...

...Nana's bladed arm seems to be the slightest bit unstable at the moment. Were it not for the cutproof sleeve, it'd probably have unfurled by now. Regardless of how he responds, Nana snuggles up to him a bit, for both comfort and protection.

Elsewhere, also still in the Sky Labs, Auth adventures to the Aviation Chamber. Aoki is still in the foam pit. Is she doing alright? Having already shaken off her sleepiness with her earlier encounter, she seems rather fine, bobbing her head.

AOKI: I'm alright, yes. Thank you for your concern.
AOKI: But... I really must be going.
AOKI: Do you know of a way out of the facility? I must say, I've never been here before...
AOKI: ...or at least, to this part of the Sky Labs.

AOKI: I held a concert here once. It was to celebrate the end of a rather arduous project.
AOKI: I believe I held it... at the foot of the gigantic airship that's on display in central?
AOKI: What was its name, again...?
AOKI: Huge airship. Military vessel. Decommissioned. Do you know what I'm talking about?
AOKI: I suppose that's irrelevant, though.
AOKI: If you know a way out, that'd be much appreciated.
AOKI: How rude of the legionary soldiers, leaving me behind...

...She knows something about Central, then? Perhaps it might be worth trying to convince her to tag along. There's also something about a mysterious, gigantic airship. What could that possibly be? Strange.

---

Remiel brings cookies to the picnic. yuss

CHLOE: Cookies! Yay! Thank you!
CHLOE: I thought Marron would be the one to bring cookies though, y'know?
CHLOE: Where is she, anyway? I think she'd enjoy this.

Chloe munches on a cookie. It's rather nice. While normally she'd be concerned about the volume of food she's been consuming and how it'd affect her appearance, the sheer amount of combat she's done today probably counts as enough exercise. Plus, it's cheat day. Every day is cheat day when you're fighting for your life.

---

<ABOVE THE FORESTS, ROUND 3>
So. Apparently, there's a lot of you now. The player cap has been re-increased to compensate. I'll also be spawning in plenty of extra foes, so have fun with that! For now though, watch out for the two Amphi! Especially since they're accompanied by two Vesperia, which are giving them a LOT of AC! Break through with the strongest attacks you can muster, or pick off the Vesperia before going after the Amphi!

<THE ROSEN FORGE, ROUND 3>
With a blast from the Incandescent Key, Yulania stumbles backward. The power of Ordo begins to stream from a wound on his forehead, wisps of white light wafting into the stale air. He falls to his knees, propping himself up on his hammer.

YULANIA: Hmph.
YULANIA: How bothersome. It was worth the try though, I suppose.
YULANIA: Until this body expires, I will-

Venia's summon, Batman jumps in! Like the hero he's named after, he pulls out a gun and gorillaing caps Yulania between the eyes. The sheer force of the shot causes him to fall backwards onto the ground, sap and other juices flowing from the hole in his head and splattering across the floor. The core's been pierced, and he's not moving.

MAGNOLIA: F-FATHER! NO!
MAGNOLIA: Y-You can't! You c-can't be dead!

Before anyone has a chance to examine the body, a black mist begins to engulf his body. Particles are torn from his body, converting into a dense cloud of black smoke. To Venia and Nidra, this would be a familiar sight- it's exactly what happened to Yew back when she met Yulania in prison. Her body faded into dust, and joined Yulania somehow. Though, instead of merging into his gauntlet, the smoke rolls across the floor, northward bound. In their wake is a suit of empty armor that Yulania once wore. The eyes upon it roll shut. Then, one by one, their eyes explode outward in a burst of sap. More smoke emerges from these new wounds, following the original mass up north.

With a rush, the smoke shoots forward. It punches straight through the large gate to the north, leaving a buckshot-like array of holes. There's silence, but only for a few moments. From behind the gate, a faint light shines through. An ethereal voice accompanies it, its booming presence shaking through the ground.

YULANIA: Calm down, my dear.
YULANIA: There is no need to worry. Father is here.

The light behind the gate begins to intensify. It begins to turn a gentle crimson. Magnolia's gentle sobbing grows quiet.

YULANIA: I thought it would come to this.
YULANIA: Truthfully, it would've been easier to just do this from the start.
YULANIA: But, if there was a chance to avoid resorting to this, I had to try.
YULANIA: A pity.
YULANIA: Regrettably, my first moments in this body will not be to fly alongside them.
YULANIA: But, what can be done?

YULANIA: Begin the soul infusion.

A loud scream echoes from behind the gate. The sheer power of Yulania's roaring anguish ripples through the floors, walls, the ceiling- everything. Stone tiles fall from the ceiling, and cracks tear through the walls. The light from behind the gate crescendos into a violent crimson. And soon, both the screaming and the light dim to nothingness. There's a piercing silence. Even the cultists remaining in the combat are uneasy.

Then, there's a loud crash. The cultists jump out of fear. A large dent has appeared in the gate. It's caving outward. Another crash follows suit, another dent forming in the door. Then, like hail falling on a metal roof, a cacophony of crashing steel rings through the entire room. With one final blow, the gate is flung right off its hinges, crashing onto the floor. As it crashes, it bursts into a storm of metal shards, scattering themselves across the floor.

MAGNOLIA: F-Father? I-Is that you?
MAGNOLIA: W-What... what have you done?
YULANIA: Ars Alas.
YULANIA: My ultimate creation.

A large mechanical silhouette looms in the smoke. A light hums from behind it, a set of six jets of orchid flame giving the appearance of wings. Disconnected from the main figure are six gigantic mechanical hands, each forged from pure Fluxtainted Metal. Were Mari in the room, she'd probably try to sue. The hands swing outward, dispelling the cloud of smoke. A gigantic mechanical... thing floats in the air. It seems vaguely like a human skull, though very narrow as it nears the bottom. There's also only eyehole, located in the center of the body.

YULANIA: Behold, Spherebreakers.
YULANIA: A vessel designed to accompany my god as they achieve Reunion.
YULANIA: The culmination of my research.
YULANIA: It is a shame, needing to sully it disposing of heretics like yourselves.
YULANIA: But, it has to be done. Your might has allowed you to vanquish the First Sin.
YULANIA: To hold back would be to allow the Rose Cult fade into dust.
YULANIA: So, I shall repay the favor.

Hundreds- no, thousands of eyes open up across the surface of Ars Alas. Single eyes of many different colors, each one in some sort of anguish. Some cry tears of Fluxblood. Some dart around in a panic, looking for a way out. Some stare towards the party blankly, begging for death. Then, a single, piercing crimson eye opens upon the front of Ars Alas. It shares Yulania's own, ice-cold glare.

YULANIA: Fade into dust, Spherebreakers.
YULANIA: You will be forgotten with the ascension of our God.



You are accosted by...

YULANIA, ARS ALAS
Armor of One Thousand Souls

PLAY - Rapture (Lobotomy Corporation)



...This is it! The last of what the Rose Cult has to offer! Destroy Ars Alas, and the Rose Cult is done for! Of course, that's easier said than one- Ars Alas is incredibly durable, and its six hands allow it to deal a lot of damage! In addition, the raw flux spewing from behind Ars Alas will vaporize whatever's behind it. So... do not allow it to reach the bottom of the screen. Or you'll all DIE. Good luck!

Now that the Magic Club Supplies are opened, have the full crafting sequence for them, so you can see all the things I made for them!



==BATTLE==
ACTING LAST IN THE PLAYER PHASE:

Crystal acquires a smirk from having come up with a very good plan.

He pulls out the Airship Controller, Overclocking it for 250 Credits and calling down the Fluxblood Gundam onto himself. Then, he expends two uses of Universal Cognizance, activating Logos! Using Logos, he calls up the information of the Fluxblood Gundam and makes an edit to it, changing its name from the Fluxblood Gundam to the Ordoblood Gundam for the battle, then pushes the rest of Logos' reality-editing power into the ripple effects of that change, tweaking and editing himself as necessary. After the reality-edit has passed, the Gundam has been temporarily inverted from a Fluxblood-powered gundam to one powered by Order -- the ultimate weapon against the Butterfly and all its works -- thus granting it powerful anti-Entropy buffs since all its weapons are suffused with Ordo.

A long arm extends out of the cockpit of the newly-renamed Ordoblood Gundam, smacking the nearby GodArm4 with a banhammer before retracting. Crystal hops away in the Gundam to N12, before turning and firing the Twin Railcannon at whichever Arm of Yulania is most damaged -- if it would be overkilled by the attack (ie, if one hit would be enough to take it out), he targets the second-most-damaged instead. He spends 10 MP to activate Unload and fires the Light Laser Turrets at the second-most-damaged Arm of Yulania, or if he targeted said arm with the Twin Railcannon, the most damaged Arm instead.

He also says some things to Magnolia.

"Magnolia! Do you know how I can tell your father doesn't respect you? Parents who respect their daughters don't tell them to abandon their friends when they've found friends they like; they say 'good for you for having found people you like being around!' and support them! Yulania's only interested in keeping you under his thumb as a subservient person he can use to fulfill his own ambitions -- just look at how he's kept trying to tell you to turn against us! Why would he soulbind you into an axe, robbing you of the ability to even act for yourself without either being wielded or puppeting someone and making you a literal tool for other people, if he respected you and wanted to see you be independent and grow as your own person? This soulbinding process seems to me to encapsulate how he thinks about other people -- he makes them into literal tools, only able to be wielded by others. That's not what someone who cares about a person does to them, least of all to their own daughter. He's only trying to use you; he doesn't deserve your respect or your allegiance."

The figure, seeing a perfect opportunity for a shot, eyed the lineup of various Aello's about, and the nest from which they were originating. Hm... they couldn't make that shot themselves, but... they smirked, eyeing the ballista in the central deck, then that console they happened to be standing next to. A few dexterous taps, and there was a creak as that ballista began lining up, aiming initially at the Nest through the Iti shielding it. They frowned. No, that was more likely to miss a few things. Instead, they adjusted their aim to target AA21, and... pause. Those were evasive little buggers, weren't they? Spotting a second console, they frown, drawing Marron's attention through firing a harmless arrow at her feet, pointing their bow at the ballista, then the console, and hoping Marron understands to move to the Utility Console, and activate the Rangefinding Sensors. Afterwards, they point their bow at Aello5. ...Then they fire the Ballista (which should hit Aello 2, 3, 4 and that Nest). At once, their attention shifted back to the battle proper, pointing their bow at Bileprincess2 to declare a duel with the... thing... and then shooting it in the face. Hopefully this kills it.

(Aka, tell Marron to move first, go to Utility Console and activate Rangefinding Sensors, move to Q23, and shoots Aello5. Yato then fires Ballista at AA21 to hit Aello 2-4, and the Nest. Then shoot BP2. Sadly, I cannot actually duel BP2, due to it not being within Range 1-3. It is at Range 7. Personally, I think that I should be allowed to duel anything ever wherever I please, this definitely isn't because I want to be even more powerful.)

Skylabs - picnic affairs

"...So, this is a picnic."

Calibri looks around at the events nearby, looking for things to comment on so as to not waste his presence. Naturally, being the kind of guy he is, that means peering at people's notes. First, the note above Chloe. The one that mentions her waiting for people.

"There's like ten people here. Assuming Maxim counts (yes that's an Iti I'm aware I'll comment on their status later). And not counting Piggo because... well, pig. But, yeah, that note can probably be changed."

To not seem weird, he does decide to comment more directly to Chloe.

"...Anyway, putting aside the note most people probably don't see... Glad you like the stew, heh. Don't mind the banana slices, I just figured they'd look nice. They're still edible too, I guess."

He appears to have nicked a sandwich for himself while in the middle of talking, and is in the middle of chowing down on that. Now, in the meantime, a look over at... who's next... Taeda, probably. Her note says something about tea.

"Tea, huh. What kinda tea? Black tea? Green tea? Herbal tea? Someteang else besides? Heh."

And a courtesy glance to Nana. Her note is something about the sight of people. And marmalade. After finishing the sandwich he got earlier, Calibri comments there too.

"Not a fan of crowds, huh. That's fair."

Then, to finish off, he takes a look over at Maxim. He remains silent for a moment, thinking about things. He vaguely remembers the eliti fought in the past. The one with a markedly more... aggressive personality, to put it lightly. But also, he ponders how this one could still be around, functioning independently of outside influence and docile enough to be a picnic participant. Perhaps there's something to study here.

He turns away, rummaging around inside himself for a moment. Or, more specifically, his core... apparently. Soon, he pulls something out - while Maxim would not get to see it, and probably would not have any reason to put their attention over to him, somebody else might catch a glimpse of what he's holding onto.

His old trophy, Reisz's cell.

---

Battle - The Forge
"...Huh. He turned into a giant monster."
"Cliche, right?"
"Yeah, glad you agree."
"Anyway... thanks for the assist. I'll take it from here."

Calibri blinks out of existence. Verdana is the one to resume taking the stage. Once he's taken a bit of time to take in Yulania's upgraded form, he... turns away a little and scoffs, then takes another look.

"Amazing. Since you couldn't be the first sin, your plan was to become as ugly as sin. That's... almost laughable, if I'm honest. For all your bluster, for all your works, which I should point out are not even scratching the surface of what sapient weapon could be - believe me, I'd know, I both am one by technicality and am related to one - you're just a random guy who's gotten desperate now that he's backed into a corner."

Verdana idly spins his wand around in one hand, then moves over to G12 and smacks GodArm3 with a Gravity Hammer. After that, he ponders for a moment, turning his gaze over to Magnolia.

"You know, for someone who claims to respect you, this Yulania guy seems a bit manipulative. Something about the whole you will listen thing, and the whole they only wish to lead you astray... Oh yeah, and the whole thing where he's the de facto leader of a cult that commits all manner of atrocity in the name of its god. Hell, that skullbot thing he's in right now, it's clearly made of sentient equipment sacrificed for that exact purpose! And... actually, I probably shouldn't say this next bit out loud."

A pause. Verdana's eyes flash. Now he has a means of more directly addressing Magnolia without the annoying issue of people's other voices getting in the way.

<I read some files on my own basically-a-dad while I was away. Me, my brother, and my sister. We're all weapons to him, all made for a specific purpose - fulfilling his idea of Negentropy to counter the Chaos Butterflies. The reason why I told you that is... Since Yulania made you into an axe, and axes are a weapon, do you remember what purpose he made you for?>

---

Zone 0 - the house
"...Hm."

EN-913 realizes something. Something really suspicious. She wanders over to inspect the christmas tree quite closely. Something seems a little off, doesn't it? But what could that be... She ponders that with some serious thought for a bit.

"Y'know, ah'm no botanist, but..."

Grab. Oh boy, the tree is pretty screwed, given EN is now holding onto it with a death grip.

"Trees ain't s'posed t' sweat thyme matter."

She stares very intently at the tree for a few seconds, determining what it will likely do now that it's been found out. Not that it matters too much now. She already has all the information she needs. And she has decided that, while the christmas tree was useful, given the events that happened to the equally-useful christmas tree from last year, this one should meet a similar fate. It's only fair. The only question is what to turn it into. That, she can't decide on her own. So she...


o̴̞̍p̵̨͕̜̬͇̻͜͝ě̴̢̧̖͎̲̹͓̬̠̙͗͌̀̒̀͆̉̀͐͝n̷̡̠͍̮͙͎̙͇͐̅̊̏͊̚͜s̸̙͙̫̺͚͔̯̞̽͝.̴̡̧̥̪̭̼̳̲̞̈́̀̃͑͐̌̈͑̽̓͋̌ͅ


To spare some details that humanity and locaakind was not meant to know, the christmas tree promptly meets a horrible fate to... whatever the hell you want to call that thing. Once EN returns to a normal state, she waits for a moment to make sure everything has settled, then heads off to the kitchen.

Oh no.



Behold, the Treecle Tart. It's actually a really potent combination of revive and empowerment. But would you really want to so much as sample that, knowing what it's made from and how bad the chef is?

---

Everground

S.E.D observes the Coursing Shadow's abrupt swervy flight path and courses of action. At least, it's probably observing, kinda hard to tell when the bot in question is a tank-style drone with no eyes or any sort of things that look like sensor arrays. At least the harpoon gun is facing the Coursing Shadow. Internally, the limited self-awareness ponders whether it would be right to get the kill. After all, S.E.D isn't even a named character, for a given definition of named... And, come to think of it, would the shot even land, given the one firing it lacks plot significance so far?

As such, the drone goes for a safer option. By which I mean firing a chain-harpoon to skewer the Coursing Shadow through the midsection, then hunkering down and grinding its treads hard into the floor of the platform, slowly pulling itself back away from the Coursing Shadow. Naturally, this has the effect of dragging the Coursing Shadow closer to the platform, whether that creature likes it or not, and helping make sure everyone else has ample opportunity to beat the Coursing Shadow like a pinata that owes some major unpaid debts.

Battle - Above The Forests

WAIT FOR NIDRA

Adria pokes the Remote Airship Controller, drilling the Observer good. Then, she casts Galeforce Sweep NorthWest again, sending all targets off the map again (Blossom, Observer/Gazyer, Predators 1 and 6, Reborn 1). Save for Reborn 1, which dies. Due to its lack of MP, it won't be able to revive itself.

ADRIA: Hah! You wish, beasts!

Adria also uses Adaptability to drop Ace in the Hole (dropping the Spawn Point spell as it's relatively worthless here), and equip Parasol Protector, set to Fire and Ice.

---

Adria

At the picnic, Adria glares at Maxim after they perform that little stunt. Her left eye twitches, and yet, she does nothing. She wearily sighs to herself as she takes up a fruit from the barrel, taking a large bite out of it. She holds Dorothy close, and eagerly waits for Taeda's tea to be done.

ADRIA: ...So, uhm.
ADRIA: There's certainly a lot of variety amongst yourselves.
ADRIA: T-that's not a bad thing, though! Just... not quite the variety I was expecting!

Dorothy, meanwhile, takes a fruit for herself and begins nibbling away at it. She's still not much for conversation, but it looks like she's doing much better now.

...

Meanwhile, the Adria near the more serious events eventually shakes her upsetness at seeing a body. That being said, she decides not to stick around much longer after that, and exits that area.

As she leaves the last set of husks, she decides to look around the places that were... away from the body. She tinkers with the Sand Sculpture, finding the appropriately-leveled keycard to operate it. She fiddles with it, creating various landscapes from her home planet. Some "rock" formations, some sand cacti, some dunes, and an incredibly tall "stone" tower, to name some of the more notable details.

ADRIA: A nice demonstration piece. Works super well with deserts, but I mean, obviously it does. It's sand.

She goes over to poke at the portable mortar setup. A curious device to her. It's modified to shoot beanbags as a demonstration, which was an interesting choice all things considered. The more concerning thought that popped up in the back of her head was why a mortar was up here in the first place... weren't Chairians like, made of wood? Wouldn't explosive shells be extremely dangerous for them? Perhaps she'll never know why this even exists.

She wanders next to Maple, who was playing a video game. Savvy folk would identify it as Hollowed Temple of Chaos fame. Adria is not one of those folk.
Though, she was just savvy enough to identify the game as a bullet hell.

ADRIA: Oh, um, I think you're supposed to avoid the red dots.

She doesn't keep Maple for long (unless she wants her to stick around), and moves on. She just so happens to spot Ette being mopey in the corner. How she didn't notice before was a mystery for the ages, but she took notice right then.

Naturally concerned, Adria walks up to Ette.

ADRIA: Um... hi.
ADRIA: Is... something the matter?

---

Hannah

Hannah sees the opening S.E.D. was making for the party, dragging it closer. Without hesitation, she leaps on the tense chain and climbs up. Thanks to her light frame, S.E.D. should have no trouble keeping the pull going.

She runs up the chain (taking a little damage from ascending) and leaps onto the beak, holding onto the eye sockets for grip. She pulls out Maxim's Razor, and starts cutting and stabbing it up, the blade effortlessly piercing the thing. She doesn't stop until the head's thoroughly torn to ribbons.

Hopefully having killed it thoroughly, Hannah drops down, knife still embedded within the flesh of the Coursing Shadow, splitting the entire thing lengthwise, until she reaches the tail, where she clings on. She cuts the tail off mid-air, stuffing the crystals into a bag, before tossing a harpoon of her own into the side of the island.

Her work done, she lets go of the beast, allowing herself to swing below the island.

HANNAH: Uhhhh... a little help here?

...

Venia continues to berate Hannah for her questionable at best decision (rightfully so), even as she dangles from the edge of the island on a harpoon chain. Something stuck out for her... did Venia just imply Hannah was unwanted idiot baggage to her? Or perhaps it's what Hannah thinks is how Venia sees her as. Hard to say. Regardless, something in her blatantly snaps.

HANNAH: ...You haven't even tried preparing yet, have you. Ugh...
HANNAH: That would explain a lot...

...She groans, patience near-immediately vanishing, and annoyance rapidly amping up.

HANNAH: Wouldn't you like to know!?
HANNAH: I KNOW I'm doing something stupid! I KNOW this isn't really gonna affect me after this! I KNOW it shouldn't matter to me!
HANNAH: But I know I... I-I can't just let him be!
HANNAH: Even IF I fail, I'll die knowing it'll be my LAST failure of many! I-I wouldn't have to think about it anymore!

She shudders, the chain swaying back and forth slightly. A moment of silence. Annoyance rolls over into pained anger.

HANNAH: You want my advice, for whatever the peck that's worth to you?
HANNAH: Get even more help. Or, or, better yet, get Nia to get that help. Or both of you at the same time, whatever!
HANNAH: I've already given you one person to seek out. Take that opportunity while you still can.
HANNAH: And if you do nothing? You're LITERALLY SHOOTING YOURSELF IN THE FOOT!
HANNAH: If you're THAT doubtful of yourself, there's ABSOLUTELY NO WAY YOU SHOULDN'T!
HANNAH: I know you've been itching to get rid of that PECKNECK for a long time! I get you wanna be prepared! I WANNA BE PREPARED TOO!
HANNAH: B-BUT FOR GOD'S SAKE, VENIA! ACTUALLY TRY TO BE PRE-

-A note sticks itself to her nose, somehow. Hannah immediately stops dead in her tracks, still fuming. Well, until she reads the note. She instantly deflates.

HANNAH: ...o-oh...
HANNAH: ...oh...

...A quiet whimper. By now, Hannah had been thoroughly defeated. Shouting took a lot out of her, along with the damage she took and the trick she pulled just now. Though the intensity and immediacy of that outburst, along with that note that appeared out of nowhere, might be concerning...

...She slips off the chain, falling down a short ways before it becomes evident she's wrapped the end of it around one of her feet. The chain swings as she dangles head first towards the ground below. She stares down. The abyss stares back. A tired, upset sigh comes from Hannah.

HANNAH: ...whatever... i'll be there later, i guess...
HANNAH: just... go. leave me alone. go ask someone else. you clearly don't want or need me.
HANNAH: (why did i even bother... i'm better off working apart from everyone else...)

...She continues staring downward. While hanging, she remembers her other goal. The reason she's back down here. A faint spark of determination.

HANNAH: ...Tamaugachi. R-right...
HANNAH: ...I won't fail... I-I can't fail...

Hannah starts scheming for later...

...

...A sticky note sticks itself to the back of the maid's left arm. No sign of anything or anyone nearby.



Carica

As expected, the storage people filed out of the building to check out the fire.

Well, they'll have a lot more to worry about in a minute, Hannah thinks with a wide smirk (obscured by the mask).

As the last person exits the building, Hannah makes her move. While the last handful nearby are distracted, she silently runs to the side of the building and quickly pries off one of the loose-looking boards/bits (or failing that, corroding it off), pocketing it, then slipping in.

She first visits the northernmost Supply Pallet, taking a quick look over it for some fuel for her Locust jetpack; there's gotta be something here.

Regardless, after a while, she slips over to the explosive pallet and takes a few explosives. She then heads to the Chainknight Suits, and places several bombs behind them. Specifically behind them, near the battery pack. She keeps one of the smaller ones, for ranged detonation later through one of the many holes.

As the last few leave the area, Hannah moves to the AA Gun. It's big. It's dangerous. It's illegal. It's a perfect gift for her boi behind the shop stall. But can she fit it into the inventory? Probably not in this state.

...As if on cue, another tome appears right next to her. She rolls her eyes, then picks it up, quickly flipping through the pages. In moments, she has an idea on what to do, much like what happened in the Everground. She extends her hands out to the AA Gun...

The air around the gun goes dark as several dark blue chains erupt from the floor and wrap around the entire thing. The chains pull themselves tight into the floor, receding into it. A patch of wispy blackness opens slowly, accelerating its growth until the entire AA Gun could fit into it.

The AA Gun slowly begins to sink into the dark patch, slowly accelerating as the chains pull ever tighter. The scraping and creaking of metal on metal, perhaps imperceptible in relation to the roaring inferno going on over at comms (or perhaps it's a part of the spell?), fills the area as the base, and eventually the gun itself, sinks into the depths of the darkness.

The spell begins to fade. Noting that it might draw some attention later, Hannah exits the way she came as the darkness fades and the "portal" closes. By the time all was said and done, Hannah was already back behind her bush, nocking an explosive arrow she made out of one of the explosives.

Without thinking twice, she fires it through a hole that had line of sight to the back of the chain knight outfits. She expects a massive explosion, so she books it deeper into the forest to escape. This should hopefully give "Lilac" a bit more breathing room in comms.

...

Another Hannah, still next to Chaos's shop stall, smirks.

HANNAH: Oh, what have we here? A big, highly illegal souvenir just came in? Heh, don't mind if I do!~

She turns off the lights and extends her arms, much like her counterpart at the rebel base. Slowly, the room turns darker as another wispy black "portal" appears on the ceiling near Chaos. Once it opens up all the way, the base of what looks to be an Anti-Aircraft Gun emerges from it. It looks like it's being lowered by dark blue chains, kept stable by even more chains.

Slowly, the AA Gun lowers to the ground. The chains dissipate as the room fades back into relative brightness. Hannah turns the lights back on.

HANNAH: Told ya I'd get one soon! What's more illegal than a high-caliber anti-aircraft gun?
HANNAH: ...Well, a lot of things, really. But we're dealing with people who rushed to get poorly-made storage shacks up and running here. Can't expect godly force.

Basically, she gives the AA Gun to Chaos as a souvenir.

BATTLES - THE ROSEN FORGE

"The Scion" waits for Venia (controlled by Nia) to complete her turn. In fact, she'll wait for as many people as possible to go before taking her turn, so as to act whenever Yulania has the lowest possible AC (from having less arms).

"THE SCION": Thank you! I hope whatever I'm about to do works for you...

Then, assuming she is no longer Silenced, she moves to K10 and uses her Special.
Hives and boils burst out across her entire body, her skin turning somehow even paler than before. Black liquid begins to run down from her eyes, which have turned a sickly green. She coughs up a bit of bile, then stares at Yulania and grins.

"THE SCION":


She casts Sapping Sigil on K6 for free, taking Manafuelled2 on it because why not. The spell gains fourteen buff levels from the eight debuffs the Special gives her, the Plague she still possesses, Elemental Mastery, and Manafuelled. Also, Ordo from VeNia happens. As she applies Weakened to the Wings (sadly not to Yulania, because no damage reduction), she copies her own Bleeding7 status effect to each of them.
She then uses the Violence Virophage as a bonus action to copy all of her own basic debuffs onto Yulania and possibly GodArms 3 and 4 (if they're still alive). Finally, she retreats to M12.
At the end of her turn, the plague spreads from Yulania to his first wing, and... possibly from GodArms 3 and 4 to GodArms 1 and 2? Very unlikely that all of those are still alive after other people's turns. We'll take chip damage where we can get it.

---

THE BORDER OUTPOST

"Randa" does indeed fly the Mechonis back to the House.
Meanwhile, ""Lilac"" quickly darts over to loot the crate of its item, then heads through the airlock to discover what is inside.

---

ZONE 5 - PICNICCCCCCCC

"The Scion" pokes Maxim on the arm and smiles.

"THE SCION": Um... hey, Maxim.
"THE SCION": Nana doesn't really want to talk to you right now, I think?
"THE SCION": She's still getting over the part where you puppeted her body around against her will...
"THE SCION": I know that was only partially your fault and partially WARE's fault, but you need to respect her space, okay?
"THE SCION": Respect her space, or I will use the chain to tear your weak little body out of that shell we built for you and leave you to rot in the inventory for the rest of your life.

"The Scion" delivers the last line in exactly the same cheerful cadence as the rest of her speech, without missing a beat. She turns back to see what's happening on Nana's end.

"THE SCION": Sorry about them. They're still learning how to move past being a creepy parasite, I think.
"THE SCION": Not that there's anything wrong with that... But it is poor table manners.

Move to N10, Radiant Core my Silence to P9, use Pustule and Overpowering Stab on GodArm4. Grow another Pustule.

Remiel, who downed the Everbloom last turn, gets the 3 Downs Mana Manipulator upgrade, adding +1 base damage and "When you Meditate, you may fire this weapon as a Bonus Action."

Acting before Marron, Remiel Cherry Energies Predator5, moves to V20, and Cherry Energies Reborn3. They warp-ring to X21, and shoot Reborn3 with a basic. They then Cherry Energy Aellos 1 and 3, as well as the Nest if it counts for assists/downs on the Mana Manipulator. They then activate their Special, damaging Aellos 2, 4, and 5.

Ideally getting assists on:
Predator5
Aellos 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 if the latter is downed
Nest, if it counts
Reborn3, if it goes down

If this pushes Remiel over 6 Downs/Assists, they get the upgrade for +1 base damage and +6 MMP. If somehow they reach 10 Downs/Assists, they get that upgrade for another +1 base damage and glitch damage.

Above the Forests
Power Nap should've procced.
Warp Ring to P15.
Use Sheep Counter on Predator1.
Cast Last Dream on Predator1, with Cuteness Overload changing type to Dark.
Retreat to Q15.
Power Nap Kalis.

NPC Assignments:
Omo is directed to research Define Bombardment for the Traktor Cannon (deals mild crushing damage and moves target. Perhaps it could act in Splash1, moving all affected the same direction and amount but not sparing allies from the damage?)
Nia is commissioned to upgrade the Temmie "Powder" and Opo Opo Opo again. Unless someone else says not to. If any other posts say to cancel this commission, even if they don't replace it, cancel this order.
Cypress is directed to do Improved Fusion for the elemental sniper.
Since the Sleuth comes off cooldown this round, he's hired to scan a Bileprincess and Everbloom

Purchases need to happen but also need other people's okay.


Picnic:
Echoss nods at Taeda's response.
"That's quite fair, on both counts. If you need to move a bit further from the group I don't think anyone would mind.
It can be difficult to adjust to a large crowd like this all at once."
He glances over at Maxim.
"As for Maxim... I am not completely certain myself.
I am operating under the assumption that they've "turned grey".
WARE controls the Iti from inside the sphere, forcing them to be more aggressive and... well, monstrous.
Judging from our encounters with Droplet, some measure of their personality remains even with that, but it wouldn't be too far off to consider Maxim as having been a mind control victim themselves during your and their interactions in the past."
Maxim chooses that moment to fling a bone shard at Nana. Echoss calmly, gently turns his head towards Maxim, and gives A Look.


Evergroud
Hannah calls out for a little bit of help. It is at that point that the others in the everground notice that Not!Echoss is not actually there, instead having left behind a blue cardboard box labeled 'Not!Echoss'.
As everyone's looking around trying to figure out where he went, he suddenly descends from the 'sky', in a Sphiroth costume, doing Sephiroth's Dair (or as he likes to call it, the Daerith) straight through both of the Coursing Shadow's remaining wings. He hits the bottom of the stage, but us having established that the bottom of the current segment isn't a valid KO zone at the moment, rebounds off of it back up onto the island.
He turns around, grabs the Reverie, and swallows it whole. This somehow restores HP.


Battle:
Pionobot moves to R20, triggers the weapons console (firing dual railcannon at the Observer cannon, may change if someone says this isn't the best target) and then blasts Aello1 out of the air with his basic attack.

The Rosen Forge

"... That's it?" Venia says, still mildly surprised when Nia's voice comes out of her mouth. "I'm sorry-you basically spent your whole life building up to that ugly worthless nothing? Is that why you turned your daughter into an axe?!"

"... Magnolia, think on the First Sin for a moment-you shared a moment with them, right? You remember what they said? After all that time, years and years-all they wanted to do, even as the mighty leader of the Rose Cult-do you think they asked you that because they were happy about any of it?"

"And think about what he just said to Ponderosa and Longavea! He deliberately threw them in, his words, the worst materials he could find deliberately, and tossed them into crates to never be found again! And even then, they can't move on their own! And what about all the armor Yulania was wearing, and all the eyes on that creation-look at them, do you think they really wanted to be a part of that big, ugly piece of scrapl?"

"Magnolia, that's not your dad speaking over there-that's some thing using his voice, just like the First Sin! Yulania's a puppet on a string for the Butterfly. Trust me-it's modus operandi is to get inside your head and never go away. Your dad is sick... And we have the medicine to help him! But we can't get that dumb thing out of his head if we're dead, Magnolia! Please, help us!"

---

With dialogue out of the way...

Nia moves up to L16, flirts with Venia twice (to shove her all the way to E9), finishes movement at N14, and charges up Super Soak. I remember her trait exists and promptly give Irongutta the Ever Onward boosts.

Venia uses her special, Hopeful Heart, targeting the Scion and removing their Silenced status-as well as giving them more HP, MP, and Ordo for 3 rounds (and a reminder that this ability can overheal!). This also procs the Valor Catalyst, which means Venia gains a load of buffs. Venia then uses Purge on the 1st Short Arm of Chaos-which absolutely destroys it and then some, as the Short Arm of Chaos doesn't benefit from its SHP, can't dodge it, and takes a load of damage from being Entropic. Venia retreats to D11 (if the Fractal Garden is downed) or D9 (if it isn't).

---

The Everground

You can tell Hannah's dialogue has distracted Venia: she's barely attacking the big ass iti monster in front of her. (Then again it's probably already dead.) Mostly-the thought of Yew somehow coming away with her memories.

And also Hannah grasping a potential idiot ball.

"... Why are you taking the incentive of a psycho bow to kill a man you barely personally know? Does no part of that even slightly sound suspicious to you even before the fact he's seriously important to my life to the point that this is definitely meddling with it in a seriously messed up way?"

A pause. "... I'm not happy about this. This is seriously warping major aspects of my life that you barely know about, and will likely never bite you nearly as hard as it will invariably bite me even if we succeed, necermind failing. I didn't want to deal with more enemies, especially while dealing with a good chunk of everything on the planet, before we take the Thymefield looking at Regalus primed to be a big fat obstacle to us into account..."

A sigh.

"...Whatever. I don't, don't have time to deal with you lot for arranging this in the first place. He doesn't know there are any assassination attempts either, so we can probably get a real plan of action going without him aware... It'll be fine. Just, give me time to arrange Maria's safety, and then we'll meet... Uh, at the Old Pass in the church basement."

Venia probably figured any plans on Regalus's rule were due for after the Sphere was dealt with. She also probably figured it'd be a more diplomatic affair too. She seems good for it, though.

... Then she remembers the giant monster problem ongoing. "Oh yeah, that."

Venia whistles to Mr. Krabs. Mr. Krabs whistles to Brazil. Brazil invokes the movie of the same name, and sucks the Coarsing Shadow through a portal-though somehow it only traps the head. Now, little known fact: Brazil, the movie, has a very coarse texture, like being dragged through sandpaper, if sandpaper was also barbed wire and extremely painful. This causes the Coarsing Shadow to undergo a massive amount of head-related injury at record-breaking pace, including a rather effective scarring of all three eyes, and also most likely a big heaping of death as the portal closed shut, most likely decapitating the thing.

---

Mariaaaa

Maria spies Ette, and comes forth after her, giggling with her mattress of Spiralfloofs in tow. "Ette! Ette, it's your birthday, happy happy birthdayyyyy! I got you a thingy. I got you somethin'! It's a present, a birthday present!"

---

Chaos

Venia heads downstairs and confidently takes position at Chaos's stall. She briefly looks around the room, spying for the other three members of the royal family. Seeing none, she takes the remaining issue out of the equation-she looks at the black kitsune, glares directly at it, and gives a sly hand signal. The black kitsune doesn't budge, but Venia knows that it got the message-the message being 'this didn't happen, so don't tell them.' She can't afford carelessness.

"Chaos. I have an important request," she says, tone low. "... To keep it simple; keep Maria away from the rest of her family. I don't want to delve into details, but Regalus is... Unstable and manipulative and I worry seriously for her safety and well-being, and unfortunately for me, a few people have decided he's so disgusting that they want to out-and-out assassinate him here-and-now. Maria risks getting caught in the crossfire. And to be honest, I don't know how the other members of the family will react, at all."

"I don't care how much it costs, just make sure no-one touches her, no-one gets near here, keep her as far away from the rest of her damn family as possible. It's going to be complicated enough to explain it all to her, so preferably you'll avoid them at all costs."

"You can do that, right? All that's left is the cost. Name it."

Venia's stare is intense.

---

Regalus

He's still patiently reading, oblivious, or at least appearing oblivious, to everything going on beyond his sight.

Destiny first uses 1 stack to fire off a Solar Lash at Long Arm 3. She then uses Whirling Blades again, moving E11, F10, G9, H10, I10, H11, H12. After that, Destiny throws a Cinderfruit at the Fractal Guard. She then observes Long Arm 3.

Destiny looks up above at the construct above.
How abhorrent, the rotten fruits of your labor. You can barely make a body resembling a living being, let alone a beautiful one.
What kind of god allows this, nonetheless? Certainly not one that cares about you. For I would know that even the most cold, tyrannical god who still has a fragment of care for their world would have struck you down the moment you began construction on this horror! Who are you, to follow such a god, who would abide by the evils of shoving living, breathing, thinking beings into objects? It shall be you who is annulled by the sands of time, for you are a heathen to the true gods of this realm, and a blacksmith of damnable abominations! Such a life as yours should have never been allowed to take shape!

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

A-ah, well, about that Chloe, normally I actually can do that! I guess its part of my powers lost now. I was thinking about the greatest, best ice cream that I normally make but instead popped in two tubs of store bought ice cream. It's kind of weird, really, does the Thymefield think that my ice cream is too great a power to behold?

After that, Crya gets a sandwich, and makes herself two bowls of ice cream. The bowls are good ol' wood, cause we got an unlimited supply of that. She scoots over to Taeda, setting down one bowl of ice cream for her and setting down her food for herself.

Hello Taeda, I wanted to give a little something back to you after that delightful Halobloom Tea! Um, I'm not sure if you've opened my present then, so I'll just mention it. It's not really something as exclusive as that, but it's also something I'm not sure you've had before. It's ice cream, vanilla flavor! I'm not sure if vanilla really exists on this planet, so here you go!

Battle: The Rosen Forge

Irongutta took Ga'aunt's whisper into consideration. He did have some pressing questions for Yulania here.

"Say, wot made ya choose Magnolia to be the first to be put in a weapon anyhow? It ain't just somethin' that any git would go along wivv on a whim. You'd 'ave to make some shiny promises or serious threats to get somebody to be so willin' to lose their freedom."

His suspicions grew deeper. "Wot exactly did you tell Magnolia to get 'er to give up 'er own body like that? Especially when it seems like every other time you made a livin' weapon since, ya used it as punishment?"

Irongutta also had some choice words for Yulania's construction. "Hah, I've faced tougher than that. Hell, pretty sure I've built tougher, too! Gotta give ya a few points for makin' somethin' that'll be fun to smash up though."

---

For his battle action, Irongutta moves to H10, gaining the benefits of his trait! He basic attacks Arm 3 with a brutal swing and, if Dance of Destruction is activated, moves to G9 to hit Arm 1 with a follow-up attack.

Taking my own posting advice, I will do my action and likely forget to RP.

Auth self-targets a Hope cast, healing Chara and the Core.

Auth also picks up the gift from Nettle.

Nettle looks quizically at the plant. She turns it from side to side, looking for a way to put it on her head. Eventually, she just places it there. She probably looks slightly ridiculous, but maybe Ette doesn't think so.
:nettlestare:

NETTLE: is this right

~~

Asha slurps the milkshake. With a nod of approval, she seems to be enjoying the drink. She then opens the burrito-print gift from Irongutta (likely alongside the other NPCs who received one). After reacting appropriately (which i guess will be covered in my next post), she invites Marron to come with her to find Echoss and thank him for the gift. Eventually, they encounter him at the picnic!

"Hey, thanks for the gift! You really didn't have to do this, but the milkshakes were great! It's really nice trying all these new foods and drinks!"

She sits herself down at maybe BM33, probably alongside Marron, and probably within the quilt of cozy items.

(should we have brought food with us...?)

She shrugs and takes a bite of the first sandwich she can get her hands on.

~~

Nettle1 moves to M16, yeets a Siege Spire at Wing1, and retreats to L17. Nettle2 also tosses a Siege Spire at Wing1 and retreats to M17. These have 2 Buff Levels (Loaded Spellbook).

Kalis and their entourage make sure to act after Nidra and Adria.

Mirror Kalis uses a bonus action to attempt to hack the turret on W18, then casts Skeletal Toss, sending Predator 5 6 squares due west.

Kalis moves to N18, uses a bonus action to attempt to hack the turret on W18 (to turn it allied if Mirror Kalis succeeded in turning it off and to turn it off if they didn't), then casts Skeletal Toss, using Magic Flux to give it RBounce 2. Its target is Edges3, and its movement is 2 south, then 1 southwest, then 1 south, then 2 west. This means that if I have an unlucky bounce to Nidra, Adria or myself, they stays on the ship, but that Edges and any of the Iti my shot could bounce to go overboard if hit.

Edges1 will stay in place and target Predator2 if Predator2 is still alive and onboard the ship, and move to O11 and target Predator3 if it isn't.

Edges2 will target Predator3 if it's still alive and onboard the ship and and Reborn3 if it isn't.

-----

(Will edit in a craftpost if I have time, if I don't, no big deal just go ahead and dop)

<274>

More presents? More presents.

---

Crystal attempts to reason with Magnolia! While normally this would be handled mid-fightdop, I feel like this'll get rather expansive. Anywway, Crystal debates as to how Magnolia's father fails to respect her. Yulania shoots back with words of his own.

YULANIA: It is a father's duty to steer their family onto the right path.
YULANIA: To let herself be used by those who oppose our god. She is being led astray.
YULANIA: No, she has been led astray.
YULANIA: She has no faith towards our god. I will correct this.
MAGNOLIA: I-I still have faith towards <0>!
MAGNOLIA: B-But... I like these people a lot more than <0>!
MAGNOLIA: These people are really nice, and friendly, and they gave me shiny things!
YULANIA: Shiny things.
YULANIA: You would betray our god over shiny things.
MAGNOLIA: I-It's not just the fact that they're shiny!
MAGNOLIA: I mean maybe it is a bit about that, but the important thing is that they're from really nice people!
MAGNOLIA: When I see them, I think about the nice people, and I'm happy!
MAGNOLIA: I-It's... something I-I've never really felt before.

MAGNOLIA: C-Can't... I be friends with them? C-Can't we stop fighting?
YULANIA: Pathetic.
YULANIA: To think a High Priestess, my daughter- would be distracted by worldly possessions...
YULANIA: I will simply need to take them away.

Magnolia's Hesitation gets +10%. Keep on going!

---

Calibri, Verdana, and EN do a variety of things. Given the relevancy to the above post, let's start with Verdana's chatter with Yulania in the Rosen Forge. His taunts towards the mechanical monstrosity that he's become seem to have very little effect. All he manages to get from him is a glare full of disdain. Only when he begins conversing with Magnolia does he raise his voice.

YULANIA: Manipulative? You would call me manipulative?
YULANIA: She, for hundreds of years, has been a loyal servant of our god.
YULANIA: All of you are the ones manipulating her away from the path.

He then telepathically(?) messages Magnolia, and asks one very important question. Why was she made into an axe?

MAGNOLIA: H-He... made me into an axe to make sure I could live forever.
MAGNOLIA: Because he loved me.
MAGNOLIA: But...

She can't help but think about what Crystal said. "He makes people into literal tools. That's not what someone who cares about a person does to them." Is... is Crystal right? She was made because of his love for her, right? Hesitantly, she calls out to Yulania. Would the truth destroy her?

MAGNOLIA: F-Father...
MAGNOLIA: Why... why did you make me into a weapon?
MAGNOLIA: Y-You love me, r-right? Why did you make m-me into an axe?
MAGNOLIA: I-It's lovely, b-but... I don't get it. I don't get it at all.
YULANIA: Ignorant child.
YULANIA: How many times must I tell you that I did this out of my love?
YULANIA: Is it that hard to understand?
MAGNOLIA: O-Of... course.

Magnolia's Hesitation gets +10%. Elsewhere, at the picnic, Calibri ends up asking Taeda about Tea. Teada? That's her name now. I mean, I won't acknowledge that in the upcoming textblock, but it's her name now.

TAEDA: Green tea? Black tea? What's that?
TAEDA: How could a tea be a color? That's just silly!
TAEDA: What I do have however, is a nice hot kettle of Manabloom Tea!
TAEDA: Would you like a cup, sir?

Should he ask, Taeda will pour him a cup. He then turns away from the picnic, rummaging through his inventory. He pulls out Reisz's Cell, holding it close. It's his trophy. Chloe takes notice, peering at the black, white, and purple... thing. Is it even really organic?

CHLOE: Oh, what's that?
CHLOE: It's awfully pretty, but... also kinda scary?
CHLOE: I dunno. It's cool, though!

Spin, spin. Even now, Reisz's cell still spins. While Chloe admires its beauty, EN-913 commits sin. She firmly grasps the Christmas Tree, which begins to sweat Thyme Matter at a more profuse rate. Rather suddenly, every single last needle in the tree ejects itself into EN! This assault deals a grand total of (1) damage to EN. There's clearly multiple eyeballs visible now upon the tree, each one staring at EN-913 with the purest, most unimaginable fear. It's a Trickster! Chaos, sitting at his shop stall, claps his hands together.

CHAOS: ah
CHAOS: explains why [t]he [t]ree was so [c]heap
CHAOS: also explains why [t]he shopkeeper was dead
CHAOS: also explains why i didn'[t] need [t]o pay
CHAOS: also explains why i literally had to nail the thing to the ground

...As Chaos has noted, the Trickster is quite literally nailed to the ground. Carpenters everywhere lament the damage done to the floor. Unable to escape, the Christmas Tree Mimic is grabbed by EN, ripped from the floor, and pulled into the Kitchen Dimension. In a few moments, the subject is subjected to [REDACTED]-

Thyme Matter smears the walls and floors. At least three different murders have taken place in this room, or at least that's what one would assume until they saw EN-913. Then, combine that with the fact that she's in a kitchen, and they'd assume that at least eight murders have taken place in the room. The raw essence of Christmas Crafting causes the only thing consumed to be the mimic itself. Treecle Tart obtained. Geneva convention broken! Cake Boss achievement improved???

While Marron is suddenly overcome with the urge to weep, S.E.D. firing a chain-harpoon at the Coursing Shadow! It pierces right through the creature's midsection! While that doesn't have an HP bar, S.E.D. yanking on the chain keeps the beast in place! The next attack upon the creature will sting well and good!

---

Adria and Hannah do THINGS. Quite the tall post. I'm intimidated. But let's begin with Adria, who along with Dorothy, has a few monches at the picnic. At the same time though (probably the usual weird timeline stuff that goes on), Adria wanders around the Sky Labs. She finds Maple playing a very, very cool but unidentifiable video game, and explains to her that she needs to dodge the red dots.

MAPLE: Ooooh!
MAPLE: How was I supposed to know that? They should've told me.
MAPLE: Thanks though!

Maple's tactics immediately change, and she seems to become far better at the game as a result. Mostly because I refuse to believe anyone can actually be as bad at games as Dean Takahashi. Adria then wanders off further into the labs, where she locates a sulking Ette. What's the matter?

ETTE: O-Oh. Hi, Adria.
ETTE: I-It's... w-well, I-I wasn't to help Acacia.
ETTE: I s-should've been able to... a-and now, s-she's... gone.
ETTE: You k-know, I... t-though things would keep going r-really, really well for us!
ETTE: A-And now, this...

While Ette continues to mourn against the wall, Hannah decides to finish off the Coursing Shadow! S.E.D. tugs on the Coursing Shadow, dragging it right into position! Running up across the chain, she pulls out Maxim's Razor, and begins to rip into the beak of the beast. With a decisive swing, the beak is cleanly removed from the Coursing Shadow! It flails ever more violently, not quite dead. Jamming Maxim's Razor right into the beast, she runs across its surface, splitting the whole creature in half. Lengthwise. The creature begins to fall to pieces, fragmenting into tiny crystalline fragments.

Its tail however, in particular, has different plants. It completely flips polarities, sucking in the darkness around it. It begins to glow an impossibly dark light, which seems to cast shadow rather than light. Like that, everyone is lost in the dark. There's a tense silence, before an explosion rips through the crystal. A ring of darkness tears through the air as the crystalline tails shatters into millions of fragments.

Along with the chain that Hannah was clinging to as her lifeline.

Hannah flails as she plummets down into the depths below, a chain rustling alongside her. She falls for all of ten seconds before, her vision goes black. There's a splash, and warmth envelops her whole body. She floats in the murky darkness. Is this it? Is she dead? Existing was great while it lasted, she supposed. Though, she's also not sure why she's being so overly dramatic about this in this block of dialogue that's currently being written, given that she can respawn.

...Then, the darkness fades as her eyes open. She's alive. 1 HP sure, but that's technically still living! She floats upon a pool of water. Lucky her. If that water weren't there, she'd probably have just died. If only it had Minecraft water physics, though. But... why is it so warm? Hannah does her best to look around. Towering... "mushrooms", of a sort sprout from this part of the Everground. Water pours from the top of each and every one of them, many a stream pouring into the basin of another mushroom.

Looks like she's arrived at the Fourth Layer. Quite possibly the last layer on her journey. Is the worst yet to come down here in the Everground? Only time will tell. She however, cannot shake the feeling that she's been watched ever since she landed down here. Best to remain on full alert.

Oh, also. The Border Outpost. Havoc begins to unfold in earnest there.

---

The Scion gives Maxim a gentle scolding. Don't bully the Nana, or they will happily rip Maxim right fgrom their body, and leave them to rot in the inventory for life. The parasite gives a gentle "nod" of sorts to the Scion. It then quietly spits out a selection of bone fragments it had stored, creating a nice little pile at their feet.

The Scion then goes over to Nana, apologizing for Maxim's behavior. She tilts her head. Huh?

NANA: H-Huh? I-I mean, I don't like them, b-but they didn't do anything, d-did they?
NANA: U-Unless...

...She looks down at the bone fragment next to her. Was that Maxim? She resists the urge to yeet it back at him.

NANA: O-Oh! T-That was...?
NANA: I-I... guess i-it's alright. I doubt t-they can learn, b-but if you insist...

Can Maxim learn? Maybe. At the very least, they'll learn through blackmail and their forced obedience. It's something:tm:. Elsewhere, at the Border Outpost, Lilac descends into the depths of the Communications Hub.

---

Echoss continues his smalltalk at the picnic. He nods in response to Taeda, who... is confused. Were they even talking?

TAEDA: H-Huh?
TAEDA: There's a lot of people, but I'm fine.
TAEDA: Us Devouts learn to get over stage fright or anything like that fairly quickly.

...The game believes that he meant to nod at Nana's response, so now Nana takes her chance to speak. Would she like to move a bit further from the group?

NANA: N-No thank you!
NANA: I-It's loud, a-and kind of noisy... b-but at the end of the day, all of you are good people.
NANA: I-It'd be good for me t-to try and get over this, I-I think!
NANA: So... I'll stay here.

He also gives a nice, long stare to Maxim as they fling a bone shard at Nana. Maxim doesn't seem very intimidated by this. Only the Scion can yank their chain and probably kill them. At least, in theory. They're a bit foggy on that aspect. They'd go throw a bone shard at Echoss too, but the Scion is right there. Best to not.

Oh, also. Someone, who I assume is Not!Echoss, spends some time assigning NPC's to do things. Omorika is directed to research a bombardment style for the Traktor Cannon. Nia is asked to improve the Temmie "Powder" and the Opo Opo Opo, creating the Ia Ia Ia! Oh, she's also dragged off to prison, where she finds a Temmie Jail Meal. Nia transitions into Punished Nia, wearing a cute eyepatch. Cypress is told to work on the Elemental Sniper. The Sleuth also scans the Bileprincess and Everbloom.

>Codex Updated!
>Codex Updated!

Finally, down in the Everground, Not!Echoss eats a Reverie. This gives him severe indigestion, but also restores (7) HP. Crunchy.

---

Venia does a variety of things. To begin, Venia, or "Nia", asks Magnolia to think on the first sin. Does she remember what they said? She also tells her to think about Ponderosa and Longavea, who were forcibly turned into equipment. To think of those that were forcibly made into armor.

MAGNOLIA: N-No...
MAGNOLIA: L-Lots of people were turned into equipment as punishment. I-I wouldn't want to be... something like that.
MAGNOLIA: I'm happy t-that I'm a very good axe, b-but... i-it's wrong, isn't it?
MAGNOLIA: Having a body is fun! Lots of fun!

The duchess then claims that it's not her dad over there that's speaking. It's something just using his voice. Magnolia shakes her "head", mostly just swiveling a little in Irongutta's grip.

MAGNOLIA: B-But... that is my father.
MAGNOLIA: He's always been invested in his work. Perfecting his art.
MAGNOLIA: I-I've heard that even before the Rose Cult, b-before I was born... he was always experimenting and tinkering and stuff.
MAGNOLIA: He would do whatever it took to advance his creations.
YULANIA: I have not lost my path, miss Praefortis.
YULANIA: Some lose their minds to the Butterfly. I have remained.
YULANIA: I am me. I do not require your sick "medicine".
YULANIA: The Butterfly has offered me knowledge, so I have served it.
YULANIA: And behold, the beauty it has allowed me to create!
YULANIA: Of course dear, I can't forget to thank you as well. The first of many.

Ars Alas emits a powerful sheen from its eye. He would maybe strike a pose, but he's much to busy trying to kill everyone. So this will have to do. Magnolia's Hesitation moves in favor of the Spherebreakers, just a little.

Elsewhere, up in the Sky Labs, Maria jumps and hops towards Ette, present in hand, and Spiralfloofs following behind her. She drops the present off in Ette's lap, while chanting something sorta like the happy birthday song. Ette perks up as Maria arrives. Gotta put on her best face for the kid, right?

ETTE: W-Whoa! A present? For me! And it's not even legally Christmas anymore!
ETTE: Yaaaay!~ Thank you, Maria!

With fumbling hands, Ette parts the paper, finding... a blender box? Confused, they open the blender box, and find a custom made scarf! Super Sparkly Scarf obtained! Ette immediately wraps it around her neck. It's probably not the most fit for combat, but it's so cozy! Now she's wearing two scarves. The pinnacle of fashion. Ette smiles gently. At least something nice is happening here on the Sky Labs.

ETTE: This is nice.
ETTE: And pink! Pink is good!
ETTE: Thank you again! And thank you, Marron!

Marron, who is still following around Maria, blushes a little. Sure, it was mostly her work, but Maria did a lot, too! And Maple. She deserves some thanks, too.

MARRON: Aw, it was nothing.
MARRON: Besides, Maple and Maria helped a lot, too!
MARRON: We were a good team! Marron, Maple, Maria, MMM Corporation.
ETTE: Ooh! I'll be sure to thank her when I see her!
ETTE: And... once again, thank you both!

Ette springs up for a moment, wrapping both Maria and Marron in a tight hug. Elsewhere, back down at the House, Venia confronts Chaos, arriving at his conspicuously absent shop stall. Could he perhaps go and keep Maria away from the rest of her family? Regalus is almost certainly up to something, and Maria may be caught in the crossfire. What would it cost to make sure nothing happens to her? Chaos sits down, without a chair. He actually gives this a moderate amount of thought. Sure, he's a greedy, hypercapitalistic shopkeeper in this game, but Maria is... well, he would call Maria a "bean". That's an affectionate term, right?

CHAOS: ...i'll do i[t]
CHAOS: bu[t] i mus[t] warn you, i[t] won'[t] [c]ome [c]heap.
CHAOS: [t]he price is...
CHAOS: one quar[t]er.
CHAOS: kinda like [t]he one [t]ha[t]'s been [t]aped [t]o your forehead
CHAOS: wha[t] a [c]oin[c]iden[c]e, huh

Venia feels her forehead. There's no quarter there. Just then, Chaos yeets a quarter covered in tape towards Venia's forehead. It lands cleanly, and oh lawd does it sting, but... at least she has payment. Chaos's being flickers a little, as he smiles towads Venia.

CHAOS: so, how about it, miss Praefortis?
CHAOS: [c]api[t]alism awai[t]s your answer
CHAOS: [t]his will also [c]over paymen[t]s for maria's sna[c]ks

Chaos places a banana upon the counter. Except the shop's not there, so he just places it on the floor. He gives it a little pat. Good banana. Tasty banana. That baby will be worth 20 dollars, which could be essential when it comes to fighting the balloons off.

---

Crya attempts to explain why she has Breyer's ice cream. Perhaps, just maybe, her ice cream is too powerful for the Thymefield to comprehend? Chloe nods, not entirely sure if she believes that, but okay.

CHLOE: Well, one thing's for certain!
CHLOE: Once the Thymefield's gone, you've gotta give Nia a bowl of your finest stuff!
CHLOE: Oh, and me too! I won't object, either!

Then, scooting over a bit, Crya hands Taeda a bowl of ice cream. More ice cream! Yaaaay! Taeda, despite having just snacked on some before the picnic, decides a bit more can't hurt.

TAEDA: Ooh, thanks!
TAEDA: I don't really know what a "vanilla" is... but I'm sure it's as good as the one you made special for me!

She has a spoon. As it's only Breyers, it doesn't really blow her mind, but she still seems to enjoy it.

TAEDA: This is great, too!
TAEDA: Though, I will say it's not quite as good as the mint chip one.
TAEDA: But... I'd still like another scoop, please!
TAEDA: How about an exchange? Get me another scoop, and I'll give you this fresh cup of Manabloom tea!

Taeda places a cup and saucer in front of herself. Though it's not Halobloom tea like she had last time, the Manabloom tea still smells great. Anyway, shall she make the exchange? Probably. It'd be rude not to, right?

---

Irongutta asks Yulania a burning question. Why did he make Magnolia into a weapon? Nobody would go along with that on a whim, especially when their own freedom is on the line.

YULANIA: I told you.
YULANIA: I wished for her to live forever. So I imbued her soul into a weapon.
YULANIA: It was because I love her.
MAGNOLIA: F-Father...

Magnolia takes a deep breath, or at least the closest thing to a deep breath a sentient battleaxe can.

MAGNOLIA: F-Father, tell me t-the truth.
MAGNOLIA: Your body was perfectly normal until this point.
MAGNOLIA: Y-You lived for a really, really long time, without being a weapon!
MAGNOLIA: W-Why? Why did I need to become a weapon to live forever?
YULANIA: You're doubting me, dear?
YULANIA: Why are you doubting me? Do you doubt my love?
MAGNOLIA: I-If...
MAGNOLIA: I-If you really loved me, you w-wouldn't have turned me into a weapon!
MAGNOLIA: Y-You would've let me have a body, a-and let me s-stand beside you!
MAGNOLIA: Instead, y-you left me behind! I-In the catacombs! W-While you went a-and did your own thing!
MAGNOLIA: So... w-why? Why did you t-turn me into a weapon?
YULANIA: ...SILENCE!
YULANIA: You are being truly unbearable right now, daughter.

YULANIA: Hm.
YULANIA: Why don't we have this talk later? After I've dealt with these interlopers.
YULANIA: We will have all the time in the world.
MAGNOLIA: N-NO!
MAGNOLIA: A-Answer the question, n-now!

Irongutta then reinforces the question. What did he tell Magnolia to make her give up her body like that? Yulania's entire vessel trembles. He slams the ground with his fists, his voice echoing throughout the room.

YULANIA: ALRIGHT. FINE.
YULANIA: You wish to know why I made my daughter into a weapon?
YULANIA: Sure.
YULANIA: She's a battleaxe because she was the only one stupid enough to be duped into becoming a volunteer!

Magnolia goes silent.

MAGNOLIA: W-What...?
YULANIA Yes, Magnolia. You heard me right.
YULANIA: You were an obedient daughter. Hopelessly obedient. A "daddy's girl".
YULANIA: I merely had to tell you that this was a gift, a honor, and you leapt right for it!
YULANIA: Before I perfected the process, the volunteer for the soul infusion had to be a willing participant.
YULANIA: Nobody sane would do it.
YULANIA: Except for a girl who would blindly believe whatever lies her father told her.
YULANIA: Truthfully, it's amazing you're even alive right now! I had fully intended for you to die during the experiment.
YULANIA: But you lived. And truthfully? I was disappointed.
YULANIA: I would have learned so much more had you perished during the process.

YULANIA: But I suppose I should be grateful for one thing.
YULANIA: You were an incredibly good advertisement.
YULANIA: People flocked to become something more, something greater, once they saw you.
YULANIA: ...Magnolia.
YULANIA: I never loved you.
MAGNOLIA: I-I... y-you... t-that can't... w-why?

Magnolia trembles within Irongutta's hands.

YULANIA: But, there's a chance to change that.
YULANIA: Kill them. Kill every last one of them. Slaughter them to the last.
YULANIA: Do that, and I will truly love you, with all of my being.
MAGNOLIA: F-Father... y-you...
MAGNOLIA: I-If I did t-that, y-you would... l-love me?
YULANIA: Of course, dear.
MAGNOLIA: I-I...

Magnolia's eye shuts. She ceases her trembling in Irongutta's hands, no longer saying anything to anyone. Tears of fluxblood begin to roll down her, rolling down across the blade of the axe, and onto the floor. It's a few long moments before she finds the strength to say anything. But, when she does, a flame of passion hums through her words.

MAGNOLIA: T-That... t-that wouldn't... b-be love.
MAGNOLIA: W-What love is... i-it's not that!
MAGNOLIA: L-Love is when people care about each other! W-When they'd help each other!
MAGNOLIA: Y-You don't know what love is! Y-You don't know anything!
MAGNOLIA: Y-You're...

MAGNOLIA: YOU'RE JUST A STUPID OLD MAN!
YULANIA: W-What?
YULANIA: You would dare talk back to me?
YULANIA: The nerve.
YULAINA: How about this?
YULANIA: My request. Let me put it in a way your idiocy can process.
YULANIA: MAGNOLIA LILY DENUDATA.
YULANIA: OBEY ME, OR PERISH WITH THE REST OF THEM.
YULANIA: DO YOU UNDERSTAND ME?

Magnolia's eye flies open, full of vindiction.

MAGNOLIA: NO! I DON'T UNDERSTAND!
MAGNOLIA: You tricked me! Y-You lied to me!
MAGNOLIA: I-I... r-really thought you loved me!
MAGNOLIA: T-The only people w-who love me... a-are my f-friends!
MAGNOLIA: I-I don't need your love, i-if you can even call that love!
MAGNOLIA: The only ones I need... are them!
YULANIA: ...So be it.
YULANIA: Then, die.
YULANIA: Die with the rest of them. You're long overdue, anyway.
YULANIA: Daughter.

Though it pains her to do so, Magnolia steels herself. Maybe Venia's right. This man isn't her father. No father would do such a thing, right? Magnolia tiers up to Tier 7. She's definitely going to need some support from everyone to get through this, but for now... she has a lot of damage. Give Yulania hell!

---

Asha and Marron head to the picnic. They somehow manage to not leave the Quilt of Cozy Items the whole time, acting as a very comfy APC. They settle down at the picnic, and begin helping themselves to some hearty monches. She also asks Marron if maybe they should've brought food.

MARRON: I mean... maybe?
MARRON: Kinda nice to not do the cooking for once, though.
MARRON: monch

While the two of them enjoy some delicious snacks, Nettle struggles to find out how to wear a bonsai tree. She opts to just plomp it on her head. Does that look right? Ette bobs her head.

ETTE: Looks good to me!
ETTE: It's cute!

It really is cute. Maybe a bit dorky, but cute nonetheless. Or maybe that just makes it cuter in general? Who knows. Probably Ette. And she thinks its cute.

---

/battles

MEANWHILE, IN THE LAST UPDATE...
< BATTLE: ABOVE THE FOREST >
"Get back, monsters!"
Bauhaus moves to O15, and fires his two basic attacks in Earth Laser mode, pointing north-west.