<ROUND 314>

Star does some crafting! They throw together Sol Aeterna and Creation's Flames to create Sol Ultima! Next, they combine Omo's Codex Hammer with 5 Praetorian Dogtags, 5 Ohmetal, and 3 Reaper's Souls to create the... Necronomicon?

OMORIKA: I hear that is the name of a famous summoning grimoire in human culture.
OMORIKA: It will be a fitting name for my weapon.
OMORIKA: Wouldn't you agree?

Uh, okay. Star also fuses together one more item, using the Unforgotten Circlet, a Lily of Infinite Quietus, a bag of Gaiadiamond Dust, and 3 Mythril Ingots. This creates the Shining Memory, which Omorika has also decided to name herself. She equips her two brand new items.

Star also takes a moment to converse with Mari. A request comes forth. Could she spare the "thinking" Iti? Mari raises an eyebrow.

MARI: All the thinking Iti? Like... all the smart ones?
MARI: Unfortunately, the smart ones are usually the ones trying to kill us.
MARI: Or do you mean like... the ones that are more than just their connection to the Hivemind?
MARI: Ones that can speak and think, and have hobbies beyond just killing us indiscriminately.
MARI: Ones like... dunno, El Iti? Cowboy hat sorta fella?
MARI: We can sure do our best, I guess.
MARI: Besides, you probably don't need to worry. It looks like we've been doing a good job as of late with collecting those sorts of guys.

MARI: ...Hey.
MARI: What do you think will happen once the Sphere goes kaput?
MARI: Think the Iti will still be around, or will they all get Phantom Menace'd or something?
MARI: These are the sorts of questions we really can't answer... which kinda sucks for you and Maxim.

It'll probably be fine. Probably.

The game also remembers to do some stuff from last round. A prototype Azure Bomber is slotted into the Protoforge, and immediately upgraded to have 5 Downs loaded. The Reflector also gathers some stray carts around the Sky Labs, disassembling them for their contents. 15 Crystal Conduits, 4 Hyperprocessors, 2 AI Cores, and 10 Arkalloy

---

Hex does some statting! Some minor adjustments are made to the build as he equips Andre's Occult Foam Plasma Pistol of Banning. This means that Hex now has 4 different Basic Attack modifiers. This is likely what we call "excessive", but oh well. The game also searches through and fixes a few inventory rendering issues.

Hexagon also decides to go talk to a few folks. He approaches and squints at Acacia, attempting to speak. Once he gets even a single word out, she freezes up. Oh god. It IS him. Not this guy, the goddamned pyromaniac. It makes her want to...

ACACIA:
ACACIA:
ACACIA: DIE.

Well, it doesn't make her want to die. It makes her want to commit die. Or uh, y'know, commit murder. Hex is immediately point-blanked with a Devastation boosted Siege Spire for (77-1) damage. This hurts a lot, and probably kills him. Fortunately, he's not in combat, so he just sorta respawns immediately.

Then, out on Sequoia's Lake, Hexagon offers the Legion a day's worth of fish. They dismiss that offer.

LEGIONARY: we're actually pretty good on food
LEGIONARY: we just kinda... fish for fun?
LEGIONARY: dinner is a nice bonus i guess

LEGIONARY: just... go, and it'll probably be for the best
LEGIONARY: like, you know you're still a wanted criminal, right?
LEGIONARY: we should be attacking you, except we're sentient creatures and don't want to die
LEGIONARY: but some idiot's gonna think they can kill you and become a hero
LEGIONARY: and we're gonna need to have a closed-casket funeral for that sucker

He then travels around the map at blinding speeds, being the housekeeper that one could only dream of. In the Rosen Catacombs, 100 Credits are given to the chef Maw over at the Rose Cafeteria. The Maw immediately commits a health and safety violation by removing their hairnet, revealing their spiked maw in all of its glory. They wander around the kitchen, grabbing and flinging random ingredients into their mouth. A potato, some meat, milk, butter... things like that.

A minute of random ingredient collection later, a Steak, Potato and Mushroom Dinner shoots out of the Maw's mouth, and enters the inventory. It's... perfectly cooked! Though, the fact that it came out of a Rose Cultist immediately makes it just a little suspicious. Still, though. It looks really good.

Hexagon also heads to the Forge, attempting to talk to a sentient suit of armor. He pops the armor out of the description and onto the map, attempting to talk to it. Though, it doesn't seem like this armor is much for conversation. Each and every eye present on the armor glares at Hex, longing for... something. Wordlessly, the cultist named "Bandage" lobs a simple cloth at Hex. What to do with this?

Finally, over in the Vault Ruins, Hexagon takes a moment to boost the area's Safety Rating, scattering yellow tape everywhere. They also take a moment to mine some of the Creation Meteorites around the area, zipping around and drilling into some of them with a Foam-boosted Everdrill. 15 units of Creation Meteorite are mined before he meets a slight complication: two Purifires manifest, making their way towards Hexagon! Looks like the noise of the drill woke them up. Gotta deal with them before getting to more ore, it seems.

---

Adria does a bunch of things! To begin, they do some stat-based work: the Chronodust Continuum is equipped, and some stats and resists are shunted. Mari smiles with confidence as Adria dons the getup. Looks like it fits properly. I mean sure, it's just a modified version of her old blazer, but she was worried the tech implementation might make it needlessly bulky.

Then, over at the cafe, Adria confirms Mari's suspicions that making another Chronodust barrier would take a significant amount of energy. A small barrier is too inefficient for the size needed as well. Mari nods her head. She wonders; how could it be possible to get around those issues?

MARI: I wonder if aerial travel is viable?
MARI: Surely the storms and sand don't reach the clouds.
MARI: I bet if you flew high enough, you could minimize most of those weird complications that excessive amounts of Chronodust could cause.
MARI: Aerial base of operations. Send teams to the ground below with like... dunno, a fancy rope???
MARI: I'll... need to workshop that one.

Mari takes another sip of coffee as Adria then mentions they should probably fix up the timeline and meet up later. Mari nods. While she's not sure of the in-universe mechanics of this sort of timeline tugging, she's aware of the gameplay mechanics of it.

MARI: Hm, alright.
MARI: See you later? Or uh, right away?
MARI: Universal mechanics are weird, y'know?
MARI: The Thymefield does crazy things to reality.

The timeline sneezes as Mari and Adria meet up over at the House. Mari mentions that she didn't really know what she was doing with the Chronodust, but Adria insists that what she did was phenomenal! For her first time, anyway. Apparently, this sort of "dust on apply directly to face" gear was used before more sophisticated devices were made. But on Nedilia, there's energy dampening that makes this sort of technique... difficult. Adria mentions taking Mari on a tour once they're done with the Sphere. Mari breathes a sigh of relief.

MARI: oh thank god
MARI: I was thinking I'd need to learn from a goddamn textbook or whatever.
MARI: Or your explaination, which... while probably fine, isn't too easy to work with.
MARI: I'm more of a "doer" than a "reader", I'd say?
MARI: Learning something is far more intuitive when you actually get to see it in action, or work with it yourself.
MARI: Can't wait to violate continuity!

As they approach the house, they take notice of some weird party setup. Notably, there's an animatronic DC that appears to represent a bunch of shrunken heads on strings. They're playing some loud, obnoxious track that could probably be heard for miles off.

MARI: I guess we're partying down since we're approaching the Sphere tomorrow.
MARI: For all we know, we could die a horrible, horrible death. I mean, we're totally not, but we could!
MARI: I guess we're just like... getting spirits up before the end.
MARI: Odds are, most of us will be parting ways once the Sphere's gone.

MARI: ...Kinda sad, if you think about it.
MARI: Some of us aren't that cringe. Like y'know, you.
MARI: Really, there's a few people I'd like to keep in contact with.
MARI: Like, I need to know how Irongutta's paints work. Red paint equals zoom? How the hell does that work?

Should someone tell her? Nah.

The three "hat children" then take a moment to do a few tasks. Sophia begins dancin' on the dance floor. Dorothy settles into bed near a chest, and Hannah... Hannah commits murder. She promptly murks and disposes of a Harpy that's harassing Lutea. Or was she harassing it? Lutea breathes heavily, panting after the Harpy has been obliterated.

LUTEA: T-Thank you...
LUTEA: I-I'm fine! It didn't m-manage to scratch me...
NANA: W-We're both fine, yeah!
NANA: Thank you for the help- t-those things are menacing!
LUTEA: No matter how many Iti you fight, i-it never gets any less nervewracking...

Phew. The two of them sit down and take a breather. Harpies are not good for the lungs. Whether you're fighting them, ingesting them, or they stab your lungs. Actually, that makes all Iti bad for the lungs, doesn't it?

Finally, down in the Cave That Contains God In It, Shelly commands Chaos real quick. It's time to escape AS FAST AS THEY POSSIBLY CAN. Full speed retreat! Now! Go, go, go! Chaos slams the big red button labelled "reverse" on the submarine. This promptly reverses the submarine into a corvette, which, given the laws of boats, causes it to immediately ascend to the surface. As they surface, Chaos shoves the Portable Corvette back into the inventory.

CHAOS: oh yeah
CHAOS: [t]hese guys.

The Fell Beasts that surfaced earlier whilst trying to escape the Fell God are still in the corridors, each and everyone one of them infested to some degree. There's almost certainly too many to fight, but they're still too wary to approach the party.

CHAOS: jus[t] ge[t] pas[t] [t]hem and we [c]an es[c]ape [t]he beaver god
CHAOS: ...beaver god.
CHAOS: man [t]ha[t] sounds weird now [t]ha[t] i'm saying i[t] ou[t] loud

So. Scared beavers. Gotta get past. But how? The water churns behind the trio- looks like the Fell God is trying to make their way up to the surface. Fortunately, a creature of their size likely won't surface any time soon. In fact, they're probably really quite slow.

We can hope so, anyway.

---

Kalis ingests some stats. Right into their veins. There's a lot of stats, and this took awhile to do. But it should be all good, we hope! But... yeah. That's all for this post.

---

Destiny does some crafting! But for one particular craft... she's gonna need Marron's arm. She teleports about a foot away from Marron, hastily stating that she'll need her right arm. With a quick cut, Marron's right (thankfully, puppet-y) arm is torn from her body. It's not painful at all. In fact, she fails to notice for a couple seconds, at least until she tries to grab her cup of choccy milk.

MARRON: ...Wait a sec.
MARRON: D-Destiny, did you just... s-steal my...?
MARRON: Y-YOU CAN'T JUST TAKE THAT, YOU-

Marron winds up to punch Destiny with her remaining left arm, but she's already long gone by this point. Turning her attention to whatever Destiny placed on the table, it's... Bergilmir's old right arm. She picks it up, not entirely sure exactly what the hell this is. At least, until it twitches. In a panic, she drops the arm.

MARRON: E-EYAAAAAH!

Marron's scream is rather audible, probably still heard from wherever it is Destiny is crafting. She assembles the God Tier Emblem, the Hand of the Seamstress, and the Puppetmaster's wings in record time. While they do receive a few adjustments, the work is successful. All that's left to do is return the arm to Marron!

...Who has managed to assemble a flail out of Bergilmir's arm. Marron sends the arm Destiny-ward, the fingers of Bergilmir's arm splayed out in ideal slapping position. According to a HIT roll, Marron's flail hits blank space as Destiny phases out of existence for a moment. The arm weakly splaps against the wall... which glows with crimson energy for a moment as a chunk of it is suddenly launched, blown into the adjacent hallway. She stares blankly at Destiny, who grabs the flail from Marron.

MARRON: ...Uh.
MARRON: N-No hard... feelings?
DESTINY: Next time don't even try it.

THWAP. Marron eats a minicrit from the Bergilmir's Right Arm Flail. While it deals practically no damage, the arm's enchantments cause it to apply a rather large amount of force to Marron, flinging her across the room and into a window. Which is still enchanted enough to not break from the impact, so Marron instead just ricochets off and onto the floor. Ette's ready with a heal, so the (physical) pain that Marron feels is very short lived. The mental pain, however...

MARRON: ...
MARRON: t-thank you

Wordlessly, Marron equips her new gear.

---

Marron returns to her chair as Asha reveals her character sheet! She is playing as Sir William Pummelton, a tiefling who does the cool punching thing! He is a true sir, through and through. Especially since he's been knighted. Chloe continues to be a proud parent.

CHLOE: You really have a flair for this, don't you Asha?
CHLOE: I like it a lot!
MARRON: I like it a lot, too!
MARRON: But like, how are you gonna punch a dragon? Aren't dragons historically hard to punch?
CHLOE: Monks have more tools than you think!
CHLOE: I'm sure she'll find a way to be punching dragons in no time.

CHLOE: How about you, Marron? Who's your character?
MARRON: Um... here.
MARRON: I... think I did it right?

Marron holds up her character sheet. Like Ette's, she's taken a moment to draw her character! She's a tall, somewhat meek looking elven woman, veiled from head to toe in a mystic's robes. She has violet eyes, and equally vibrant claws extending from her hands.

MARRON: This is Voidia, my elven sorcerer!
MARRON: I... haven't thought about my character as much as Asha, but she's a really cool, mysterious lady who has a demonic bloodline! Or uh, an abyssal bloodline?
MARRON: She has these really cool claws, and is really good at summoning friends to help her battle!
MARRON: Menacing creatures like... uh... rats, and eagles, and stuff?
MARRON: I-I can't summon demons yet.

She's a little bit miffed about that.

MARRON: She can also shoot acid blasts, lift things with telekinesis... and also like find magical objects, but that's a bit boring.
MARRON: Her stats are also really good, too!

Chloe takes a look at Marron's stats. Voidia is minmaxed to hell. At least, minmaxed to what Marron's interpretation of minmaxing is, anyway. There's definitely a ton of optimizations Marron would've done if she knew she could do them. Chloe shivers a little. She was worried about this, but thankfully only one of the party is minmaxed. But still. She's proud!

CHLOE: Nice one, Marron!
ETTE: She's really cool, sis!
ETTE: I like that she has a lot of pets! That'll be really fun!
MARRON: Hehe! Thanks!

ETTE: It's interesting that you made someone with like... the opposite of your body type!
MARRON: U-Um... w-well-
ETTE: You wanna try being tall like sis, don't you?
MARRON: Y-Yeah! Definitely that.
MARRON: Definitely.

As everyone then takes a few moments to finalize their characters, Asha performs trade operations with Chaos! She exchanges the Replica Dreamer for exactly three cool swords... and four Eviscerated Cans of Bepis. These are shoved into the inventory, where they continue to spew their beavenly bontents.

---

Verdana does some crafting! A variety of materials are thrown into a pot, producing the Guardian Shortsword, the Cherubian Helper, and the Ardent Aegis. That second item is giving off third trumpet vibes for whatever reason. It's probably nothing. It will definitely not kill the party at any point. Mostly because it's just a trinket.

Calibri also heads over to Chloe to ask if he could be allowed to use the Azure Faith. Though Calibri feels the slightest bit awkward about this, Chloe grabs the sword from the inventory, kneels down, and presents it to him.

CHLOE: It's all yours!
CHLOE: Thanks for asking, by the way. I'd be fine if you just took it, but that's polite of you.
CHLOE: I'm sure you'll make good use of it!~

That was easy. :petthechloe:

---

Auth does some crafting and respeccing! They bop together the Saint's Heart and the Iubar Seraphim, and modify their stats somewhat. Auth's meditative power is now officially off the charts. That's like, a casual 63 MP on demand? Man's not gonna run out any time soon.

He also continues his conversation with Taeda, showering the priestess with praise. She's hardly ever complained about her time with the party- fantastic traits for those within the Highchair. And though she thinks herself a lowly priestess with a gun, she's a priestess who can personally invoke their deity to obliterate people.

TAEDA: I-I guess no matter how you look at it, that's impressive, isn't it?
TAEDA: M-Maybe I really am fit...
TAEDA: Thanks, Author! I'll be sure to talk to miss Omo about it!

Returning to Omorika, the Author delivers a quick report. Taeda is definitely willing. Now it's just a question of how Omorika responds to this.

OMORIKA: She's truly interested? Fantastic.
OMORIKA: Before I make any steps to properly recruit her though, I should definitely discuss her position with the other remaining members of the Highchair.
OMORIKA: After all, this is not my decision alone.
OMORIKA: But... I'll be sure to let her know.

Omorika respectfully bows to the Author, and Taeda obtains a new cosmetic ability. Her power as the highest priestess increases by the day.

---

Irongutta makes preparations! They upgrade some of their gear, creating the Eye of Mork, Rosen Destroyer, and Momentum Accelerator. They also equip a new Perk, and upgrade their trait.

Magnolia pipes up as Irongutta does his work.

MAGNOLIA: Wow! We've come really far together, haven't we Mr. Irongutta?
MAGNOLIA: I know we're gonna do great things together!
MAGNOLIA: We're gonna go to the Sphere, and beat it up in no time at all! It'll be great!
MAGNOLIA: We're an unstoppable duo, you and me!

She decides to tier herself up to Tier 8, as one does when their owner completes a respec. It takes quite the force of will to tier oneself up to Tier 8 on a whim like that.

---

remiel has the last respec we're almost there. Fortunately, Spark covered this one for me. Whew. My brain is saved!

---

With that, this update is complete! I've decided that the next battle will be beginning tomorrow. Prepare yourselves! Who might be attacking the House tonight? It's probably Iti. No guarantees, but it's probably that. Who knows, though? Maybe it'll be the Rebels.

At Sequoia's Lake, Hexagon regards the Legionary, and finally shrugs.

HEXAGON: VERY WELL THEN. I WILL MAKE MY DEPARTURE. WHAT YOU SAY IS TRUE: ANY SORT OF COMBAT WOULD LIKELY BE UNWISE- EVEN IF I WOULD TRIUMPH, ENERGY MUST BE PRESERVED FOR OUR MARCH TO THE SPHERE TOMORROW.
HEXAGON: BEING UNDER THE WEATHER FOR THE FINAL TRIAL WOULD NOT BE WISE. COMBAT WILL BE.. FRENZIED, NO DOUBT.
HEXAGON: FAREWELL. ENJOY YOUR FISH.

Hexagon waves at the guy, and then zips off.

Back at The House, Hexagon dies. Rather violently, too. He is caught off guard as Acacia proceeds to obliterate him with her Siege Spire, and respawns back into existence at the House's spawn point, standing still for a moment before snapping back to attention and striding back to where he was standing before. Before he speaks again, though, he very quietly retrieves a convenient shield from the inventory and points it Acaicaward, keeping a buffer between him and the Death Spell.

HEXAGON: QUITE A IMPRESSIVE DISPLAY OF MAGIC. EVEN IF IT WAS ALSO: RUDE. BUT HARMLESS, I REALIZE. HAS MY PRESENCE DISTURBED YOU, CHAIRWITCH? OR DID I JUST UNWITTINGLY SURPRISE YOU?
HEXAGON: IF YOU WISH FOR BATTLE, I'M SURE THERE WILL BE PLENTY OF IT IN THE FUTURE.

Outside, yet another Hex slides up to the DJ Headz animatronic(?), ready with a question.
HEXAGON: HELLO, RANDOM SEVERED HEADS THAT HAVE APPEARED OUTSIDE OUR ABODE. I MUST ASK OF YOU A QUESTION.
HEXAGON: QUERY: HOW DO YOU EAT. NO. REALLY. LIKE, NO HANDS. HOW DO YOU DJ, TOO. I SOMEHOW DOUBT YOU ARE VERY..
HEXAGON: GOOD. AT IT.

---

At The Forge, Hexagon snatches the cloth out of midair, and inspects it. Hm. Cautiously, ready to jump back just in case, he extends a arm and slowly tries.. cleaning off the armor with the cloth? Hopefully that's it. If the armor begins to glare, he ceases and gives Bandage a questioning glance.

Down in the Vault Ruins, Hexagon stares down the Purifires, only twitching slightly when he hears the dangerously horrible pun in their name. From thin air, he whips out his newly obtained Foam Pistol, and dual wields it with the Everdrill, before engaging in a IMPROMPTU CAUCUS. Diplomacy is dished out in its purest form, that being rapid fire lasers and bullets from his weapons. The Purifires are STUNNED into PURE SILENCE by the HARD BOILED ROBOT'S CAREFULLY WORDED ASSAULand no hes just shooting them a lot. As his bullets rain upon them, the Everdrill begins to glow. After all, it specifies it's powered by a heat recycling energy source. And that it's extremely strong in hot environments. Hexagon glances down at his opponents- composed of pure flame- and his environment- a giant crater that was just recently bombarded by flaming meteors of flamey death and flamey fire.

He nods, and just proceeds to shoot both the Purifires once more with the Drill. Creative.

---

Hexagon casts Phase Shift on Marron's ribbon, quickly nailing some crafting materials onto it to ascend it to T7 before poofing it back to her head. Nobody will ever notice.
(this link also has the formatting for serp, sparked, and semples crafts because why not :chloehappy:)
Stripes of Rage

---

Some small things on the doc that I didn't want to spam ping on discord forrrrr:
- On the cell directly next to the Metamagic explainer cell, on Marron's sheet, for Threads of Fate, there's a extra note that I believe is related to her previous weapon.
- Royalmatter is listed twice in the inventory.
- Revelation's base damage is wrong. The T0 weapon, not the T8 one.
- Farming Scythe (..the t2 weapon)'s base damage is wrong in both the inventory and shop. I believe it has something to do with the Perfectly Generic Object, which is right under it in the inventory and lacks a damage note?
- Hat Plushie Ultra has a note on a (+1 SPC) stat up. I assume that's not intended.
- Pocket Abacus' Dark Resist talks about the stats for Temmie Capos in a note, for some reason.
- Rosen Destroyer has a ability note, once again on the HIT up.
- Somehow, I doubt Ette still has the Overcharged Mana Potion equipped, or that Venia has the Silenced Gauntlet. (I think there are quite a lot of T6s that still say they're equipped when they've been replaced by upgraded versions. It's a minor thing, though!)
- Nidra's koala, both in the inventory and on her sheet, lists the Apprentice ability as making spells cost X less to cast. It.. doesn't list a X.
- In the achievements tab, the Security Hub's "It's A Feature" needs a space after the 25.
- In Magnolia's Weapon Skill description, in both sheet and inventory, it still says "Has the Watching passive."
- Cells X242, W251, and W352 in the character sheets tab all have left over notes.

..sorry about all of these.

Adria

Adira nods when Mari expresses her disinterest with reading textbooks, being more of a doer. She giggles a bit at Mari's enthusiasm, as usual. They also probably sit at one of the nearby party tables.

ADRIA: Oh absolutely!
ADRIA: In fact, that very concept is how our education is built up from!
ADRIA: Why teach a kid math in a boring classroom when you can have them physically doing stuff that would actually be helpful?
ADRIA: Of course, such resources are always available for further research should it be needed.
ADRIA: It allows someone as young as Sophia to pilot a spaceship!

ADRIA: From what I've heard from Hannah's mom, the system used on Earth is almost nothing like ours for the first several years...
ADRIA: It's all textbooks and classrooms and boredom for eight-ish straight hours a day for five days straight with only two days after that for a break...
ADRIA: And even that's inconsistent throughout the entire planet for some reason!
ADRIA: There would be an outrage if something like that were implemented back home!
ADRIA: There's like zero free time to do anything!
ADRIA: So inefficient! Sheesh...

Yeah she gets it. She absolutely gets it.

As for the house happenings, Mari notes that since it's the last day before marching to the Sphere, a party has been set up. Adria's head slowly moves itself towards the general direction of the stairway... but she quickly snaps herself out of it.

ADRIA: So it's already the last day...?
ADRIA: ...For how recently I joined, I do feel a little nostalgic for this place, still...
ADRIA: The people I met, the shenanigans that occurred... all in a single day.
ADRIA: Marron, Chloe, and a bunch of others.
ADRIA: All of whom I may never see again.

ADRIA: ...Well, except you, Mari.

She sighs.

ADRIA: ...And yet... it'll be nice to get back home, at long last.
ADRIA: It feels like it's been years... even though it was only a couple months at most.
ADRIA: I wonder how the old house is doing...

She stares up into the sky for a good while, sorta zoned out. Soon enough she lowers her head again and sighs. Homesick, probably.

She comes to soon enough, and they continue their conversation from the skylabs.

ADRIA: On the topic of flying vehicles, though...

ADRIA: Lower altitude vehicles are currently limited in size thanks to the presence of flying monsters, but space travel is obviously possible, as are satellites.
ADRIA: After all, how else would Sophia have gotten here?
ADRIA: Or me, for that matter.
ADRIA: We just haven't gotten around to implementing something like that for a sort of "fast travel" around the planet.
ADRIA: Too busy with other projects. At least... w-when I was... forced into leaving...
ADRIA: Hopefully the work's cleared up some during my absence.

Adria's head lazily turns towards the basement, before snapping back to attention.

ADRIA: ...I'm tempted to get a nice glass of wine, but... I also don't really want a hangover tomorrow.

Adria then suddenly remembers something, and places the Mana Flower on the table.

ADRIA: Oh yeah, weren't you going to upgrade this flower at one point?
ADRIA: I'm still excited to see what you come up with!

Adria will likely give out any sort of cash or materials Mari needs.

---

Hannah

HANNAH: A-ah, you're welcome... I guess...

Hannah turns to the nearby windows and sighs, completely spent in several ways. She climbs through the windows and heads downstairs.

She skips the ground floor and heads to the basement, giving a brief murderous glare at IKEA's head canister on the way down. Huh, they really did stuff a bad guy's head in a jar. Go figure.

Anyway, she heads down to the basement. She remembers seeing an empty bed nearby out in the open. She could really use a place to crash for the night, and cave stone just ain't gonna cut it.

Right as she passes by the first row of chests, Hannah spots the bed. And who else but Dorothy was laying on it, passed out. Hannah couldn't help but feel a bit bad for her friend.

HANNAH: ...Aw, poor thing... it's been a rough couple hours for you, huh...

Wordlessly, she walks up next to the bed. She gently pulls the blankets over her sleepy friend, smiles, and walks away from her. Dorothy deserves to have the bed to herself anyway, she figures.

And thus, Hannah returns through the portal. This time, she takes the long route around from the Crystillery to the Everground. The very top portion of it. The area which started it all. She sighs once again. She sits down near the wall, completely lost in her own thoughts.

...


...Eventually, she remembers something someone said to her.

QUOTE

"THE SCION": The Symphony is... my home. "THE SCION": Some people with nowhere else to go, united by the Conductor's vision!

Right, she can go there if she feels either bit lonely. Kinda like tonight. She does have the key after all.

Any door with a lock, they said... well, if any old door would do...

Hannah cobbles together a doorframe made of iron, an actual door made of uniform logs, hinges made of iron, and then she pieces together a locking mechanism also using iron. She then digs out a small space in the wall to fit the door into, and shuffles the doorframe into it. She then pins it down with some more iron.

Then she puts the door together properly, making sure it's all secure. Despite how it looks, it's surprisingly quality workmanship.

Now there's a door leading to absolutely hecking nowhere in the Absence Caverns, with another one a level below it.

Truly incredible.

Hannah, satisfied with her work, looks the door up and down. She takes a deep breath.

HANNAH: Well... here's hoping someone's home.
HANNAH: ...Hopefully there is.

---

run

No sooner had they surfaced and noted the threat of beavers had Shelly taken out a single Arsonist's Lash and a Flamethrower, and started blitzing towards them.

SHELLY: The sooner we're out of here, the better.

And once she starts swinging, the hot oil is ignited by the flamethrower, creating a flaming blade. She then swaps it to barrier mode, creating a wall of fire. It's bad enough for the Migi in their hosts that they have to deal with a flamethrower, but now they also need to deal with this.

The sheer heat from both implements begins burning off the fur and flesh of the beavers at record pace, boiling whatever rotten blood they have left in them and frying the parasites within. Shelly continues to move forward, making sure to stop every once in a while when she encounters a "living" Fell Beast. Assuming they haven't all been scared off by the firewall.

Shelly also seems to be leaving a lot of still-ignited oil on the ground, which burns up fairly quickly and ensures nothing gets through, though not long enough that it'd impede progress.

Here's a respec sheet to keep track of the ultimate goal. So many things are changing that it's just not possible for me to write up, in text, what those changes are, apologies.

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

---

Zone 0 - The House

Verdana has more crafting to do. But in preparation for said crafting, he's interrupted by a call. One of those ones from the phones used to represent mental connection communication or something. Either way, he has a request to fulfill...



Request fulfilled, and now Verdana starts work on his actual goal...



"That should have me sorted out..."

Verdana smiles to himself faintly. Then, he overhears someone approach, turning to observe. It's Lato.

"...Are you done?"
"Am now. Need to make something?"
"I would certainly like to test my aptitude, indeed."

Verdana nods, moving to leave, tossing Lato the prior-made Invincibility Field on the way out. She catches it, then cracks her knuckles and gets started on her creation...

---

"...I... Huh."

Beat.

"Th-Thanks, Chlo."

Calibri experiences complicated, awkward feelings while taking the offered Azure Faith from Chloe, despite her assurances. Probably because he hasn't processed her own replacement sword yet... Come to think of it, he should probably do that.

"Right, uh... Probably would be a good time to get that upgrade sorted out for you, huh..."

Since he already did the crafting process earlier, it should just be a matter of having her hand over the Excalibri and pulling that prep work from the past to make it into the Auric Caliber...

And once that has been processed, he'll hand the Auric Caliber back with a grin.

"Heh... It ain't much, but I hope it'll serve you well."

---

The Old Pass...?

"..."

One can safely presume that all other things being equal, EN is following along, and occasionally straight-up blasting Fell Beasts even if she doesn't strictly need to be doing so.

This time, Crya crafts harderTM!

Reisz wavedashes with Jaunt(), going to whereever Droplet is.
----
Bauhaus just stands there. He looks back into the house.

"Well, it seems that there is nothing to be done here." He walks through the front door, stops, and aims his flamethrower outside.

"They will never see it coming!"

CRAFTING

To avoid continuity issues while also making more sense from a character motives point of view, it is Dramatically Revealed that the Star who was crafting items for Omorika was actually the Reflector all along. Everyone is shocked by this revelation, and then continues about their business.

Anyway.

1. CFtUMC, Vol. 2 (Condensed Field Guide to Unconventional Mana Channeling upgrade): Condensed Field Guide to Unconventional Mana Channeling + Royal Magus Spelltome (x1) + Starite (x2) + Creation Meteorite (x5).

2. Rocket Clogs (Woodmaster's Clogs upgrade): Woodmaster's Clogs + Termite Remnants (x10) + Synthfuel (x10) + King's Armor Fragments (x5).

---

ZONE 5.5 EXPLORATION CONTINUES

Somehow, Star ends up at the Central Sky Labs. How did they get here? Regardless, they investigate the pool of Thyme Matter near the elevator on the ground floor. What could be down there, buried under such a huge amount of Thyme Matter?

Well, being an Iti, Star is immune to the damaging effects of Thyme Matter. So, they just... dive in, and attempt to "swim" through it.

---

PATHFINDER

"The Scion" eagerly examines the other party members' characters, excited to start the game... until, predictably, a huge enemy force is sighted and interrupts them.

The House

In the basement, Irongutta put the finishing touches on some much-needed upgrades to his gear. If there was one thing he enjoyed more than a good fight, it was picking up the resulting scraps to use afterward. After the Dream of Unity crashed, the prospects of getting to pick the wreckage made him a bit giddy.

Wiping his brow with his work done, he leaned back in his chair. Magnolia, nearby, energetically spoke of their adventures together. "Right you are, Magnolia. Wotever awaits us in The Sphere won't stand a chance. Not when we're together!"

Asha upgrades Marron's scarf while she waits for Pathfindium to begin (even though realistically it will be interrupted before they can start their first proper session).

(T7 Hat) Shards of Brilliance
TOAST: No matter what, you can always count on me to protect you!
Effects: (+5 STR) (+4 AGI) (+2 DEF) (Shimmering Shards)
Resists: Slashing (20%) Fire (30%) Dark (40%) Light (-20%)

Shimmering Shards: Whenever you perform any type of critical hit, gain a Divine Shield. This may only proc once a round.

Ingredients: 1x Core Regalia, x3 Creation Meteorite, 3x Starite, x10 Dream of Unity Fragment, x1 Crystalweave Scarf

The scarf now has two forms. Out of combat it's an immensely warm scarf that fills the wearer with the spirit of comf :marroncomf:. However, once combat begins, the scarf whirls around the wearer as a storm of crystalline shards, intelligently blocking enemy attacks.

<ROUND 315>

---

After departing from Sequoia's lake, Hexagon chats with Acacia! After he respawns, of course. Did his presence disturb her?

ACACIA: Gee, do you THINK?
ACACIA: Y-You're... you're the one that made me into a weird-gorilla disgusting robot!
CYPRESS: Barely robotic. Skin graft, eye. Hardly a robot. Or even cyborg.
ACACIA: Yeah yeah, shut up. Wise guy.
ACACIA: Can't believe you have the gorilla audacity to show your face here.
ACACIA: I'd kill you again, but... I'm out of MP.
ACACIA: And Omorika won't let me use any of the mana potions.
OMORIKA: Those are for combat use only. Have you considered trying meditation?
ACACIA: AS IF I COULD MEDITATE WITH ALL THESE gorillaHOLES AROUND.

Acacia emits a powerful "hmph", steam emerging from her nostrils. Though she would attempt another attack on Hex, she'd rather only make an attack that's guaranteed to kill. Her staff probably doesn't hit hard enough, and if Hex decided to retaliate... she'd want at least one full mana bar.

Elsewhere, Hex talks to a cluster of animatronic heads. How do they eat? Or DJ for that matter. In response, one of the heads launches out to the turntables, and begins to violently rub against it. This produces a variety of lovely scratching noises, like one would expect from a DJ. As one head does this, another head breaks out a corn dog and promptly massacres it in front of Hex's eyes, stick and all. Of course, being an animatronic, the bits of the corn dog just sort of awkwardly hang in the robot's mouth. It'll probably spill out some time later, and Chaos will need to clean that up. Disgusting.

Meanwhile, over at the Forge, Hex begins to polish the sentient suits of armor with the actually completely ordinary cloth. Unexpectedly, it begins to purr as he polishes each and every inch of the dirty metal. Bandage nods once, slowly and courteously. Perhaps the armor is happy enough now. Dare he take it along, though? The suit is Tier 7, it seems. But do we dare talk about the moral complications of wearing armor that can maybe feel pain? nah lets just use it

Next, Hex absorbs the heat of the crater and multiple Purifires! This levels up the Everdrill, ascending it from a Tier 7 Everdrill to a Tier 7 Everdrill! I guess that helps. Also he shoots them. A lot. The Embers are dead. He sucks the Purifires into the drill. No evidence. The perfect crime.

And finally, Hex works on Marron's ribbon. As the ribbon is mostly for cuteness points and not supporting her hair, she barely notices it vanish... until it's swapped back onto her head, where the surprise weight causes her to slam her cranium on the table. Fortunately, Marron has quite the thick skull, so this does little more than cause her a bit of a headache.

MARRON: O-Ow!
MARRON: W-What the heck?

....Fortunately, Hex was stealthy about it, unlike Destiny. He is safe. Or rather, Marron is safe. She can't get countered this time!

---

Adria! Mari! The real OTP! They continue their conversations, though this time sans drinks and chisps. Adria makes a comment about the education system on Earth; it's so inefficient, right? Right?

MARI: Right! It totally gorillain' sucks!
MARI: And I needed to like, learn French! Like, I was FORCED to!
MARI: Nothing wrong with French as a language, but the only languages I need to know are English, Java, C, C++, C#, Python-

She lists out about twenty five different programming languages before stopping, not missing a single beat. Does she really know all of these? And why does she potentially know Braingorilla?

MARI: ...and maybe Japanese. Because all the cool games have Japanese dubs.
MARI: Besides, I have a translator-y thing. Or like, I could make one.
MARI: The system's pretty goddamn criminal if you ask me.
MARI: And I went to a private school, too! I couldn't even imagine how much a public school would suck.

Adria also learns that it's the last day before the party marches upon the Sphere. She can't help but feel a little bit nostalgic already... and reminisce on the people she'll be leaving behind. Mari shrugs.

MARI: Eh, I'm sure some of us will keep in touch.
MARI: Chloe's probably excited to have a cool older sister like me, and god knows Chaos will grab me for something sooner or later.
MARI: I bet the next time the world's threatened by a vaguely spherical object, we'll be the first ones called up to bat.
MARI: Either that, or Chaos will offer me minimum wage to make him a fancy website or something.
MARI: But if you wanna keep in touch with anyone in particular, why not ask them for their number?
MARI: Or whatever the hell it is you have. Maybe you have like, space phone numbers or something weird.

There's also a quick thing about aerial vehicles, flying monsters, and... space travel?

MARI: Flying monsters? Probably should've expected that.
MARI: Though, space travel? I guess it makes sense you guys can do that, but still. Hell of a leap for people who technically can't pull off a plane.
MARI: And here I was, thinking you'd be threatened by a goddamn space dragon or whatever.

Oh, yeah. The Mana Flower! Could Mari upgrade that for her? Mari accepts the commission, snagging it as well as a few assorted goods from the inventory. With 3 Royalmatter, 1 Abyssal Essence, and a single blob of Starite, Mari creates the Ethereal Talisman. The scientist claps her hands as she finishes the creation, automatically slotting it into Adria's loadout.

MARI: Did it. Solved mana, forever.
MARI: This is a more traditional magical enchantment, instead of anything too tech-y.
MARI: Really, I was mostly inspired by those weird ashes we had- kinda surprised we haven't fought like, Thyme Calamitas yet or anything.
MARI: I specialize in a variety of fields, mostly since I come from Chaos's mindscape.
MARI: Can't say magic's my best subject, though. Even if I'm like, built like a mage.

While Mari debates making more Calamity references, Hannah makes a door in the Everground! This consumes literally no resources, and does nothing but increase aesthetic levels in the Everground. Does the Everground need two doors that lead to literally nowhere? Of course it does.

Finally, Shelly decides to dye some beavers the color of oil. With real oil. There are now burning infected infested undead beavers- a terrifying sight to everyone, including the other similarly-adjective'd beavers. The hordes of beavers becoming a scuttling, burning mass of fur, like lava that flows up hill and also screams. Shelly and EN burst out the cavern entryway they came from, chunks of flaming beaver accenting their exit.

With the light of the moon shining over them, things almost seem peaceful. Save of course, for the beavers running out into the night, going as far as they can before all the Migi in their systems are baked to a crisp. And the rest of their bodies. What's worrying is that there are still tremors coming from deep below. The Fell God must be hellbent on following them. But, with the amount of mountain between them and the beast, along with how much larger the Fell God is compared to the tunnel systems... it should take some time!

Right?

RIGHT!?

---

Calibri and Verdana enter sicko mode. The amount of respeccing that occurs blots out the sun, kills my non-existent cat (which would explain why I lack one), and other exaggerations of this respec's power. Fortunately, the Co-GM's were willing to handle this sort of thing for me... which saves me so much trouble, and I am forever thankful for their help! Though, I'm pretty sure only part of this was processed, or like, the final product can't be reached right now? dude i am so confused

Meanwhile, Calibri is a little bit shocked that Chloe's just fine with giving away her sword. Though... doesn't she need a new weapon to make up for the loss of the Azure Faith? Chloe pulls out the Excalibri, still in its sheathe. She gives it a swing through the air, a noisy swoosh rippling through the air.

CHLOE: Hm... I mean, if you wanna give me something, then sure!
CHLOE: Don't feel like you've gotta, but if you're offering... I'd be happy to get something!
CHLOE: This current sword's really good, but I bet you can make it even better!

Chloe bobs up and down on the spot as she awaits the Auric Caliber's creation. she want

---

Crya does some crafting! A tagger is shoved into a fedora to create the Infinite Candy Cane Fedora, and then a trenchcoat is reinforced with the Protemmietor Armor to create the Coat of the Arbiter! The Sleuth appears to rather appreciate the gift, flicking Crya one of the many, many pieces of infinite candy corn. Then another. And another. Though it's a slow process, he seems intent on giving Crya as much candy corn as possible.

This may take a bit.

---

Reisz visits Droplet! This involves a long, convoluted process of wavedashing like it's Melee, or perhaps even Waveland. Up and down Reisz goes, pausing to make use of Turn() for increasingly tactical, complex wavedashes. She reaches a new land speed record for creatures on Sussui, eventually hyperdashing directly into the Church of Helix. This probably demolishes a stained glass window or two, which Taeda will be mortified to discover.

This interrupts Droplet's very nice session of forceful protolyzing, where she was attempting to convert Calypse to her religion. Whatever religion it is that the Grey Iti follow. Or perhaps being grey is a religion in itself? Droplet immediately chronoblinks over to Reisz, threatening her with the blade of her mic stand.

DROPLET: Who the HELL do you think you are!?
DROPLET: You can't just... wait.

Droplet stares at the figure. She's pretty sure she knows this chick from somewhere. And they're grey now, too! Another Eliti! A cause to celebrate! Droplet's jubilation is-

DROPLET: OH gorilla NO.
DROPLET: WHY

Reisz is more confused than anything. Isn't Droplet meant to be celebrating her present? Maybe it's because she didn't go into the box like all of the other nice Grey Iti. That must be the problem. She floats off, up a stairwell as Droplet begins a tyrade against the universe.

DROPLET: UUUUUUGH, LOOK AT ME, I'M A SPHEREBREAKER
DROPLET: I REWRITE FUNDEMENTAL LAWS OF gorillaING EXISTENCE JUST SO I CAN YELL "GOTHCA gorilla" AT A POOR INNOCENT LADY WHO HAS DONE NO WRONG.
DROPLET: NEXT IN ORDER TO DISPROVE THE EXISTENCE OF DROPLET'S SMOKING HOT HUSBANDO, WE WILL GO BACK IN TIME AND ERRADICATE HIM FROM EXISTENCE.
DROPLET: WOOOOOOOW

Droplet blinks once, then twice. Where'd Reisz go? She immediately bolts off after Reisz, who has decided to investigate the area for a box to sit herself down in. She's going in the wrong direction, yes, but she's trying. She confronts Reisz at the bottom of the tower, stopping her from proceeding any further.

DROPLET: HOLD ON A SEC, I WAS VENTING!
DROPLET: DO YOU HAVE NO MANNERS!?

Reisz's one eye rolls. This might take a hot minute. Nonetheless, it seems that Reisz has been recruited by Droplet! However weird this recruitment process might be.

---

Star does some crafts for Omo! They slap together her field guide with a Royal Magus Spelltome, 2 Starite, and 3 Creation Meteorites to create the fabled Volume 2 of the CFtUMC. Now in paperback! They also combine her clogs with some Termite Remnants, Synthfuel, and King's Armor Fragments to create some Rocket Clogs.

OMORIKA: ...I hope you're aware that I am not qualified to operate flying vehicles.
OMORIKA: Well, I know how, but I lost my qualifications after I crashed a vessel into IKEA's flagship.
OMORIKA: ...Also, I am unaware of how to operate such... small craft?
OMORIKA: Are these even considered aircraft? Or are these just... clogs, with wheels and rocket boosters strapped to them?
OMORIKA: Either way, this seems... exceedingly dangerous.

Omorika begins to scoot around the room at a dangerous pace. She's surprisingly comfortable with this. Or at least, it seems that way until she punches a hole in the nearby wall. She'll be fine, though. Probably.

Star then decides to take a nice bath in some Thyme Matter. Something like this can't harm them, as they're an Iti! They dive down into the Thyme Matter, and... find a little submerged storage room. They're certainly not meant to be here, but they're here now. What has been opened cannot be unopened, and what has been opened are two surprisingly docile Bilequeens. Or uh, you can see the head of one. You can see the rear end of another just down there. And... that's an incredibly THICC Iti. It probably has like, at least 500 HP. Try and Relinquish Will that, Remiel. I dare you.

As for the D&D game... we'll see what happens when the enemy armies arrive, won't we?

---

...As the night winds down, a bunch of introverts secretly pretending to be extroverts are sat around a table. Chloe, the supposed leader of this band of introverts, wears the coveted Game Master's Hat. Really, it's just a poofy witch's costume hat, but the tip of it is especially crooked and it makes Chloe feel all sorts of special. She gestures a completely ordinary stick towards a floating golem of light, as if this was a perfectly ordinary thing to do.

CHLOE: Oh yeah, Dawn! Introduce your character to us!
DAWN: VERY WELL.
DAWN: MY CHARACTER IS ASTARIAL, A FALLEN GOD FROM A LAND LOST TO TIME.
DAWN: THEY ARE WEAK, AS NONE WORSHIP THEM ANY MORE. THEY WISH TO ASCEND THE THRONE OF THE HEAVENS AND URSURP THE GODS, EVEN IF IT MEANS WORKING WITH THE PEASANTS THEY REGARD AS BELOW THEM.
DAWN: THEY ASSERT DOMINANCE OVER THEIR FOES THROUGH THEIR RADIANT LIGHT-
MARRON: It says here you're a bard-
DAWN: YES. I AM A BARD.
DAWN: I HAVE A CHARISMA SCORE OF 18. ASTARIAL SHALL REGAIN THEIR POWER BY ENTRALLING THE PEOPLE THROUGH SONG.
DAWN: THEY ALSO LACK A GENDER, AS A BEING SUCH AS MYSELF IS ABOVE SUCH PITIFUL SOCIAL CONSTRUCTS.
DAWN: TRANS RIGHTS.
MARRON: Yeah!

Chloe, though not expecting such an out there character, is equally proud of Dawn's character as she is with everyone else's. Though, she can't help but feel that Dawn is projecting a little. At least the lamp shade over their head stops them from literally projecting over everyone's eyes, though.

CHLOE: Great job, Dawn!
CHLOE: Now, we can begin our game!
CHLOE: A quest where nothing is as it seems, in a mystical land ruled by magic and forces beyond our mortal comprehension!
CHLOE: Now... prepare yourself!
ETTE: Ooh, how exciting!
MARRON: ...Yeah! This is kinda exciting!
DAWN: INDEED IT IS.
DAWN: WHERE SHALL OUR MYSTICAL ADVENTURES BEGIN-
CHLOE: YOU ALL MEET IN A TAVERN.
DAWN: OH.

Chloe clears her throat.

CHLOE: So, all of you meet for the first time in this tavern.
CHLOE: A stout, cannonball lookin' dwarf heads over to your table. He is one of the many barmaidens of this fine establishment, except he's hella buff.
CHLOE: There's a look of panic in his eyes for whatever reason. Urgently, he delivers the party a message-
SALIX: Something's approaching. Be ready for anything.
CHLOE: Actually, there's a pack of kobold's about to attack the town, but-

Chloe pauses. She blinks once. Salix has barged into the kitchen on the back of his Spiralfloof, Nimbus.

CHLOE: W-Wait, seriously!?
SALIX: Yeah.
SALIX: Far as I can tell, it's the Rebellion.
CHLOE: B-But... that doesn't make any sense!
CHLOE: A-And why now!? I was so excited to start this!
MARRON: Y-Yeah! Didn't we sorta assert our dominance over them?
MARRON: Or like, aren't they helping us now?
SALIX: I know.
SALIX: It doesn't quite make sense.

SALIX: Assume the worst for now. Maple's taking a closer look at the situation as we speak.
SALIX: She'll be back within a few minutes once she identifies what sort of threat we're dealing with.
CHLOE: Uuuuu...
CHLOE: W-Well... I guess we're cancelling tonight's session...
CHLOE: M-Maybe we can meet up after the Sphere goes down?
MARRON: Aw... fine.
ETTE: That's okay! Somethings things happen.
DAWN: A DISAPPOINTMENT, TO BE SURE.
DAWN: THE INTRUDERS SHALL FACE MY HOLY WRATH.

The adventuring party picks up their armaments, and begin to assemble. Chloe runs around the house, shaking people awake. Marron and Ette haul some key defensive structures around. Dawn floats around, doing absolutely nothing. Omorika and Cypress, not actually having gone to bed, assemble at the front of the house. It's here where Maple touches down, a large stream of sap gushing down her forehead. She's... the slightest bit completely utterly mortified.

OMORIKA: Miss Maple. You're injured. What happened out there?
MAPLE: T-They're... b-back...
OMORIKA: Who? Who has returned?
MAPLE: T-The Tabletopians... h-have returned t-to... Locaa...
MAPLE: B-But... why?

Maple collapses into Omorika's arms. Holding up the injured Scarlet, Omorika turns to Cypress.

OMORIKA: Tabletopians.
OMORIKA: Cypress.
OMORIKA: What. Did. You. Do?
CYPRESS: Disclaimer. Am innocent.
CYPRESS: Haven't done anything. However, a hypothesis.
CYPRESS: Their mission? Retrieving IKEA's head.
OMORIKA: ...You can't be serious. How would they know we're in possession of the head?
CYPRESS: Tabletopia: eyes everywhere.
CYPRESS: It was inevitable. Truthfully.
CYPRESS: Armaments: rebellion made. Assembled while aiding. Stolen. Repurposed. For this operation. All this time.
CYPRESS: We've no choice.
CYPRESS: Surrender the head.

Omorika would likely slap Cypress, were she not holding up Maple at the moment. At the very least, Taeda's arrived to pump some HP back into Maple's body.

OMORIKA: Out of the question.
OMORIKA: We cannot allow IKEA to return.
OMORIKA: If the Tabletopians reclaim their king... we will be wiped out the moment the Sphere is destroyed.
OMORIKA: This does not even begin to touch on the matter of all the crimes IKEA has committed against our people.
CYPRESS: Risk: our operations. Destroying the Sphere. Can't jeopardize. Tabletopians: hardy opponents. Can't risk it. Action: surrender head.
OMORIKA: ...No.
OMORIKA: Besides, the Tabletopians are bloodthirsty. Do you believe they'd stop after claiming his head?
OMORIKA: They have a warband inside of our borders. With the rebellions in the capital, the loss of Spark and his Praetorians, and every other circumstance affecting the people at the moment... it'd be the perfect time to strike.
OMORIKA: We MUST stop them here and now.

OMORIKA: Besides...
OMORIKA: A squadron of Tabletopian troops will not be a problem for the Spherebreakers.
OMORIKA: We have conquered Spark, blessed by the full power of the Sphere.
OMORIKA: We have toppled the Chairwitch at the peak of her power.
ACACIA: THAT WAS A FLUKE AND YOU KNOW IT
OMORIKA: We have slain foes of size immeasurable, their body spreading out beneath our continent.
OMORIKA: What's a squadron of our mortal enemies troops meant to do to us?
OMORIKA: They're small fry.
CYPRESS: ...You've a point. I suppose.
CYPRESS: Won't argue it. Not now. Action: must take.
OMORIKA: I'm glad.

It's not long before the Tabletopians are spotted amidst the murky night. While their gear is certainly makeshift, much like the Rebels they assisted, it's of unmistakable craftsmanship. The finest of Tabletopian engineering techniques can turn even a simple piece of metal into a razor blade capable of rending the heavens themselves. They move in formation, unfazed by the impenetrable fortress that stands ahead of them.

...In the house lies IKEA's head still. Try as one might to move it, shackles made of the Thymefield are holding it in place. IKEA laughs sinisterly to himself.

IKEA: SO-MY-PEOPLE-HAVE-COME-FOR-ME
IKEA: THERE-IS-LITTLE-YOU-CAN-DO-TO-STOP-MY-MEN
IKEA: WE-ARE-THE-RULERS-OF-THIS-PLANET
IKEA: WE-SHALL-NOT-BE-STOPPED
IKEA: WE-SHALL-NOT-NEGOTIATE
IKEA: THE-ONLY-OPTION-SPHEREBREAKERS
IKEA: IS-TOTAL-DESTRUCTION

And so, on the fringes of Seatopolis's lands, the End War would continue. And, should the Tabletopians succeed... it will truly be the final battle of the war. Of all wars.

- = S T R I F E ! = -

---

<THE HOUSE BESIEGED AGAIN, ROUND 1>
It's time for the second, and almost certainly last house siege. While there's no strict win condition in sight just yet, something big is definitely arriving in the distance. Prepare yourselves mentally to deal with that, whatever it is. For now though, focus on the entire armies of Tabletopian troops. They're rather terrifying in terms of HP and damage... but you have Tier 8 equipment now. GIVE THEM HELL.

"Surely they won't expect that I expect them to be..."

He spins around, into the pool table, and halts, bow in hand.

"...inside the house!"
----
Bauhaus spawns at P15, moves to P12, vents to AB11, then casts Wide Watchful Eye, boosted by Greatbow. The Pins (by gawd!) may or may not be intimidated by his SUS STANCE.

When they inevitably attack him, they would be pinned (hah!) to the walls with arrows the size of metal pipes. One of them would even be knocked onto the pool table, into one of the holes.

Pre-Battle

Adria shakes her head in disappointment as she's told that Earth's system is borderline criminal.

ADRIA: Word, that's worse than I could've imagined... I'm actually impressed at how bad it is.
ADRIA: And now I can only imagine what other worthless guff they teach down there...

Mari mentions that if she wanted to keep in touch with anyone, she should just ask. She tilts her head and smiles.

ADRIA: Yeah, that's true.

Mari remarks that it's a heck of a leap to go from land travel to space travel without going through aerial travel. Adria shrugs.

ADRIA: Oh, there've been tests done and stuff. We know how it all works, just no real way to use it outside of space travel or the city walls yet.

Mari then turns the Mana Flower into something cool. Adria equips it and smiles.

ADRIA: Looks good! Thanks!~

Mari then notes that she specializes in a variety of fields, including magic, though that's not exactly her strong suit.

ADRIA: Well, sounds like I have a lot more to learn from you, hm?
ADRIA: I... only really specialize in a couple fields. I mean, up until recently, magic was mostly foreign territory for me.
ADRIA: Still... I'm glad I'm picking up on this stuff quickly. So thanks for that too!~

Adria sighs, as she looks down the road.

ADRIA: Well isn't that just swell...
ADRIA: Looks like we'll need to cut the conversation here.
ADRIA: But before that...

Adria pulls out the Overwhelming Creation and looks to the sky. Time slows around the duo as Adria's blazer activates. To others, they appear to be going much faster than normal.

ADRIA: I think it's time.
ADRIA: Let's get that satellite done up.



This will continue on below the battle part of the post.

However, this part isn't done quite yet. Sophia also notices the oncoming siege, pouts at the rude interruption to her dancin', and runs downstairs in a blur. Seeing as probably a lot of the non-combatants are down here, she does the only logical thing and lifts the two hallway turrets up into the air and carries them to the portal. Just in case.

She then hides next to one of them, 'brella and blade in hand. If she needs to cut a peckneck up to keep everyone safe, she'll do it.

...Somehow all the ruckus only causes Dorothy to briefly stir.

---

Battle

First off, spawn things:
-New Project: Single Target, Status (Root, 2), Boring
Adaptive Headwind (12 MP -10% = 10 MP). Deal (22-22) Air Damage, and apply Root for 2 rounds. Range 2-7.
-Watching Over You: Star

Adria spawns in on Floor 2, at (M8). She immediately uses Hypercharge on Star, granting them insane survivability. She then moves to (P11) and downs a Candy Corn Liquor, gaining a hefty Enlightened14.

ADRIA: War isn't the answer.
ADRIA: It'll just get responded to in kind.
ADRIA: It's honestly sad that you folk think otherwise.
ADRIA: And that you don't realize how big of a mistake you're making.
ADRIA: Lengthen!

Adria uses Sands of Time's Lengthen to extend the Enlightened14 by another round at the cost of 2 Chronodust. Oh god what has Mari created for her.

Adria then uses Full Attention To Praise! for another +3 Buff Levels (plus whatever it rolls).

Adria then sends a Symbiote drone with 10 Buff Levels to Star.

This drone then immediately casts Hardened Carapace on Star for a nice 16 Bonus SHP.

---

Mari + Adria in spaaaaaace

Continuing from the crafting portion of the post...

After a short series of airlocks, they've entered the station proper. If one were to describe the interior, it would be "exactly as techy as one would expect from a high-tech kinda person like Adria". Metallic flooring, artificial lighting of all varieties, even those weird lines of light present on the walls. These ones are a brilliant violet.

And yet, despite the techy feel, there's still a little smidgeon of plant life in suitably techy pots. Bushes with leaves that are stupid thick and dense, with little blue flowers sprouting from their surface. There's a few near each sliding door to the next room or wing.

Several monitors line the rear of the station showing all sorts of data. Some of it makes sense, like station status and such, along with fuel amount. Some others, though, don't. There's a couple lines on graphs that make minimal sense, except they're being plotted against time. There's a particular vertical red line at one notable point. The date at which this part of reality gets blown to bits, probably.

Underneath some of the monitors is what appears to be a sort of landing pad within a cylindrical container. A sliding door sits at the front of it, opening and closing to reveal its interior.

And out in front, between them and the giant window to space at the front, is a comfy seat for the pilot, as well as a few co-pilot chairs and several sets of seemingly complicated controls.

>Welcome back, Madelyne Adria.
>Welcome, Mari Elem.
ADRIA: Well, um, sorry for the abrupt field trip...
ADRIA: I forgot that I left something up here, and I couldn't risk anyone else getting their hands on it if a drone flew down.

A drone flies over to Adria, carrying an armband of sorts. She slips it on her right arm, rolling up her sleeve to do so. It seems to fit quite snugly on her arm, and she doesn't seem at all bothered by it even as she rolls her sleeve back down over it. Another drone appears with one for Mari.

ADRIA: "Classical" teleportation was actually a relatively new technology back when I was home. Hence why we haven't used it for that "fast travel" idea we discussed earlier, and why there's this experimental sleeve attached to it.
ADRIA: I was one of the lucky ones to get the first batch of teleporters, hence why I have one here.
ADRIA: Even so, it only works one way. We still need to descend to the planet in drop pods. Yeah, we can recycle those after use...
ADRIA: But to be honest, nobody in their right mind would want to trek through goodness knows where just for a drop pod. So they're somewhat limited in that regard.
ADRIA: It might also seem similar to the Timely Displacements I sometimes use, but that's a completely different kind of thing. Mainly because the materials that made up my blazer were magical in nature.
ADRIA: That's fantastic grounds for some research though. We should have true "classical"
teleportation in no time with enough effort.

She stays silent for a moment, taking the station in once more. It... kinda reeks of vomit, blood, and horrendous cooking. It's probably coming from one of the wings. Adria nearly gags at the pungent smell.

ADRIA: Urp-
ADRIA: Ugh... t-the Rumbi and other bots haven't cleaned the place much yet... s-sorry.
ADRIA: W-we can try to find a not-disgusting room if you want to stick around f-for a bit...
ADRIA: W-we're probably already doing stuff in standard time, s-so we can stay for a bit...
ADRIA: B-but if you just want to leave and come back later, I-I don't blame you...

Adria waits for a response, holding her nose to counteract the stench in the meantime.

---

run

Shelly looks behind her. She knows the mountain wouldn't keep the beast for long.

SHELLY: Get a move on, this mountain isn't gonna hold it.
SHELLY: I'll keep watch from the far mountain, you two get going.

Since Hannah's not really using it right now, Shelly runs down the mountain with the glider and uses the speed to take off. She lands shortly after on the far mountain, returning the glider to the inventory and looking out over the mountain they were once on.

---

Hannah

Hannah takes a deep breath as she stares down the door she just created. She's sadly oblivious to what's going on back at the house. Not that she should be worried. Anything that steps on the house grounds is long dead.

But for now... it's time to go visiting.

HANNAH: Well, here goes.

The key that Reflector!Scion gave her pops out of her shadow and into Hannah's hand. She approaches the door, inserts the key, and turns it.

After whatever ends up happening to the door (if anything), she anxiously knocks.

HANNAH: Uhh... hello?

-----

The timeline inadvertently splits in two as Auth flies in from the sky as Hannah leaves the others alone. Hannah was slightly taken aback by the sudden thanks.

HANNAH: Uh, n-no problem!...

...She very clearly zones out immediately after this interaction, completely lost in thought. She takes an uncertain glance at her spear and sighs. She doesn't really move from her position, though.

Wonder what she's thinking...

BATTLES - THE HOUSE

Star spawns at L8 on floor 2 with Sol Ultima in hammer form and flies seven spaces to K14 (without breaking the window). They smack SCU 2 with the hammer, dealing (31 * 1.3 = 41) minimum damage with Armorpierece8 and Slip5, and then toss an Infinidagger at it for (7 * 1.3 * 0.8 = 8 - 4 = 4) minimum damage, which should be enough to down the SCU assuming no misses. The corpse will fall to L15 and immediately die from taking fall damage, but luckily, it's a machine and not a living Tabletopian.

Star will then retreat through the wall (using Photonic Traveler) to K12.

---

HOUSE RP

As the Tabletopians arrive, "the Scion" ducks under the table.

"THE SCION": No, no, no... not again...
THE REFLECTOR: how inconvenient troubling confounding.
THE REFLECTOR: please do not, do not at all worry yourself ms luesi.
THE REFLECTOR: we will deal with the situation and then your game will resume.

The Reflector takes a different form and then disappears. To find a megaphone.

---

THYMEFLOODED PASSAGE

Several minutes ago, Star activates the Vacuum Energy feature of their armor, enabling teleport. They phase through the Bilequeen's bile sac, grabbing the shiny item, and then retreat out of her body and the hallway. On their way out, they Scan the Bilequeen for good measure.

---

SYMPHONY HALL

The door Hannah has constructed shimmers with golden light, turning into a much more ornate wooden door. A plaque in a language Hannah does not recognize reads, "Symphony Hall." It is only after reading the strange script that Hannah realizes she understood it anyway.

As Hannah's fist makes contact with the door, it silently slides open.

Through the rectangular aperture in space-time is a large, beautiful lobby. Fancy chairs and tables decorate the area, and red-curtained staircases lead off in various directions. It is also absolutely devoid of people.

Until, a few moments later, another door opens on the far end of the lobby. Out steps a human (probably) woman, seemingly in her mid-twenties, with olive skin, black, curly hair, and dark eyes that sparkle with tiny internal lights. She wears a black silk blouse, jacket, and pants. Strange patterns are tattooed in black ink across her skin.

As the woman sees Hannah, she snaps her fingers and suddenly teleports, appearing in a chair much closer to Hannah. She picks up a glass of a reddish beverage from a nearby table and pours herself a glass.

???: oh hey
???: don't think i've seen u here b4
???: u one of aegra's friends?

Down in the Vault Ruins, with his firey foes vanquished, Hexagon continues harvesting Creation Meteorites. If any more Meteos or Purifires shows up, he brandishes his DRILL OF JUDGEMENT at them, then zaps them some more, channeling the RIGHTEOUS POWER of SAFETY bestowed on him by the caution tape. The giant ruined ashpit needs to be safe for.. tourists?, after all.

In the Rosen Forge, Hexagon warily regards the armor. It's likely supremely useful, but his allies might have.. ethical issues with it. So he pokes it with a scan to see it's stats. If nothing else, he can carry it off to the house to make it more comfortable until they make a body for it. This dusty old murder cult forge can't be.. exactly comfortable.

---

At the House, he continues his friendly talk with Acacia and their pleasant discussion of the weather.
HEXAGON: I WAS NOT THE SOURCE OF YOUR CONVERSION, HOWEVER MINOR IT MAY ACTUALLY HAVE BEEN.
HEXAGON: I DO BELIE-
He's promptly cut off by the IKEA Squad's appearance, and quickly begins to prepare for combat as he talks.
HEXAGON: -AH. WELL. IF YOU WISH TO CONTINUE A ASSAULT AGAINST ME, IT WOULD NEED TO BE POSTPONED TO AFTER OUR IMMINENT VICTORY.
HEXAGON: I BELIEVE THE INTRUDER'S PRESENCE WOULD BE AS EQUALLY AGGRAVATING TO YOU AS MINE IS, YES?
HEXAGON: I DO NOT BELIEVE ANYBODY WOULD PREFER INFIGHTING ON THE FIELD.
HEXAGON: ESPECIALLY NOT OVER A MATTER AS SERIOUS AS THE CAPTURE OF THE HEAD.

HEXAGON: (CYPRESS. QUERY, REGARDING REBEL SUPPLIES. DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEAS OF MACHINES THE TABLETOPIANS COULD'VE TAKEN. THERE IS LIKELY SOMETHING APPROACHING. A DUNEYRR, PERHAPS?)

---

Battle Action
Hexagon goes before Bauhaus, flicking into existence at O15 on the First Floor. When Bauhaus spawns, Hexagon uses Power of Friendship:tm:, expending 10 MP to bless Bauhaus with Foam. This puts Power of Friendship into Reloader.
Once Bauhaus has acted, Hexagon casts Mirror Image on N15. A glitchy blob of red solidifies into a second Hexagon, which stands up. For convenience, it has: 60% of his MHP/SHP, 85% of his MMP, 65% DGE, 65% CNT, 0 AC, 75% of his damage and 100% of his healing. Also Foam.

When Asha spawns in, he then whacks her with his Weapon Skill to grant Foam, using 1/2 Bonus Action uses of that.

HEXAGON: TABLETOPIANS. I QUESTION WHY YOU DESIRE THE HEAD SO GREATLY. SURELY YOU KNOW THAT GOING UP AGAINST THOSE WHO HAVE CONQUERED SPARK HIMSELF WOULD BE. NOT SO SMART. ARE YOU TRULY SO FANATIC FOR A FALLEN LEADER, ENOUGH TO THROW AWAY YOUR FINELY CRAFTED MACHINES AND A CHANCE AT SEIZING THE CAPITAL?
HEXAGON: (NO OFFENSE, HIGHCHAIR.)
He then sits tight on the spawn tiles so he can and his Mirror can get that sweet Swift2 and MP from Protowell Seeker.

Finally, a cannon forms on his shoulder, and spins to lock onto the SHERIFF. Or, uh, Chaos. It fires a salvo of Credits at him, paying him for goods and services.

Tenative NPC Orders
If somebody else gives NPC orders, use those instead.
Bottom Floor:
Omo, R8, Taeda, Chloe, Maxim, Nia
Omo: Turn 1 summon using Running Start. Spawn at F9, to be safe for now.
R8: Spawn P16, shoot Maruder4 with Basic Attack, place two Mines at Q20 and O20? Don't retreat because >0 Retreat moment.
Nia: Spawn R15, Glacier Drop P23, retreat to S15.
Chloe: Spawn at G9, jump to F11, self cast Sword Beam, then use the Auric Caliber's full action move, then Unsheathe it.
Taeda: Spawn H9.
Maxim: [ACT BEFORE ASHA] Spawn at P15, give Asha symbiote and Razor Focus, pay the 9 MP to get Razor Focus as well, then dance to P13.

---
Top Floor:
Cypress, Marron, Mari, Nana
Cypress: Spawn at M8, dash to S11. Use Portal: Spawn the first one at P9 and the second one at W10.
Marron: Spawn at K9, use Interwoven.
Mari: [SPAWN BEFORE KALIS] Spawn at L8, move to I9, build a Drone, then hand both Drones to Kalis and let them act.
Nana: Spawn M7, hit Lato with Empowered7.

I grab a copy of Manabloom Tea, Splinters, and a Temmie Powder Cake using Winter Blast.

I then join the Besieged House Arc x2 Combo, and spawn on Floor 1 at P20 with Eager Beaver, and move to P21. I cast Intimidate on Marauders 4 and 5, Duelists 3 and 6, and Buzzlaunchers 1 and 2. Then I use Offend on Marauders 4 and 5, and use Nothing Ventured's taunt on Marauder 3, for a total of 25 MP. I also use N&M's Fire Spin attack.

cA: We killed Spark, children. What makes you think you will fare any better?

Daskter quickly swaps out Flicker of Insanity for Terraform for this battle.

The House of House
Daskter gets inside the house (P11) and calls for a Rocketeer at (O13)


Stats:
Basic: crushing
Spell: Electric
Weak: 40% Crushing
Resist: 50% Fire, 20% Poison

Tactic: All-Out

Before combat starts, Asha swaps Encourage for Sword Beam.

~~

Asha spawns at Q15 in Pierce Stance, pulling out a long thin blade with a razor edge. Choosing the Sprint, Ice, and Timestop hats, she awaits Hexagon and Kalis' turns.

She activates the Sprint Hat and teleports to D4. Then, she activates Toxin Coating (Burning), before attacking the Everbloom. If Foam procs, I guess that's that, and she retreats to E6.

- If it doesn't, her attack applies Burning14 for three rounds, as well as Slasblight4 (Identify Weakpoint) and Manaburn10 for two rounds (Always Watching, 5 MP) to the Everbloom. Then, she retreats to D6 and uses the Violence Virophage to spread all of the Everbloom's negative statuses to the others. (All relevant statuses have been doubled already.)

Soul Hauler also means she'll get 2 MP back (or 6 MP if Foam triggered).

Kalis spawns on H9 and casts Focus Energy as a bonus action.

They then activate Rerepresent, spawning Kalis2 on H8. Then Kalis1 to D5, where they cast Pow Hammer as a normal action on the Everbloom, using Wild Light's Flux Cascade. (This loads Kalis1's Loaded Spellbook with Pow Hammer.)

Kalis2, meanwhile, sprints, moving 5 to K3, 1 to K3 on the upper map, and 2 to I5. There they stop and cast Pow Hammer as a bonus action on Reborn2.

Nidra upgrades her trait to have her start each battle asleep.

The House
Spawn at P16.
Play Soft Chime: Perseverance.
Move to P19.
Cast Psycho Link from Mechdru2 to Buzzlau2 (initial).
Retreat to P18.
Power Nap self.
Remember the Trellis Guardian exists, and have it Spread Roots to F14.

Destiny spawns at the First Floor of the House at AF4, rushing to AD9, then after Remiel acts observing Pin 3 and drinking a Soulblossom Tea before using Whirling Blades AC10, AB11, AC11, AD12, AC13, AB13. Destiny retreats to Y11.\

Destiny crafts even harder!


Also, Cypress starts researching Purity.