21m x 12m x 5m, those were the size of the shuttle Sam had found, the small cargo bay he had slipped into when it had opened up to deploy point defense shields was much smaller than that. First the news that the Cop had killed there gate and cut contact, then the attack, and now stuck in this hole. It had taken a day to pry lose the panels move stuff around and get the manual door release and pry the door to the rest of the ship open to get to some food and water.

What he found inside was rather a nice suprize, well over 200k in uncut gems, base metals, fine rare woods, even some small amounts of alchemicaly pure metals. Along with that he also found almost 300k in various crafting tools and a 100k chip! On top of that there was a whole library of data pads.... it was stagering, the sure amount of information on them would take up more space than every building ins his hometown in book form.

Saddly the data pads, the ship, and damn near everything had a biometric lock on it. The only thing he could get access too was a few pads with star charts on them... lots of star charts, lot of good that did.

Well... there are worse places to be stuck. At least here there's something to do.

He helps himself to food and water and, to repay the owner's unwitting generosity, sits cross-legged in a corner with and begins singing to the gems one at a time.

"Light plays off facets
Like from a rippling river
A sparkle that never moves
And yet travels on forever
Catching eyes
Catching minds"

As he sings, he uses his hands and the tools to mold the gems into whatever faceted shape is currently in fashion for that type of gem, allowing the result to be significantly larger than if it had actually been cut into shape. They tend to take on organic, plant-like forms, but he takes his time and smooths those out, except for a  few gems that he leaves as flower blossoms and some that end up with leaf patterns etched into facets or even in the inside.

You know, a distracting thought worms into his mind as he works, there's no need to repay the owner. They're probably dead anyway. Sam considers that for a moment, but thinks, equanimously, Well, if the owner does come back, they'll be grateful for the help. And if they don't, and I keep this stuff, I'd want to do this anyway.

When Sam looks over the pasterns of the gems and metals he realizes something interesting, they are natural stones and metals not created through magic in any way (save the pure metals). Using magic to grow or shape them would lower there value considerably.

The only ones magic seams to have affected are already grown into shape, they must have been grown from shavings from cutting the natural gems. (afteral growing a gem from a 'seed' stone is a lot easier and provides a more natural crystal structure)
This message was last edited by the GM at 20:28, Sun 02 Feb 2014.

Once he's noticed that, he of course doesn't continue the process as intended.

It's not long before he's bored again, though, and decides to make something, if only by hand. He eventually settles on setting one of the already-formed sapphires into a silver ring with an ice crystal motif around the setting and along the band.
This message was last edited by the player at 20:45, Sun 02 Feb 2014.

The tools at his disposal were exsilent, the best he's ever seen, and taking all the time and able to see the paterns he is working with he is able to produce a high quality ring. He wasn't able to produce any extraordinary affects or anything but the ring was pretty much perfect. (5 success)

The ring is probably worth twice the value of the materials.

That and it killed an hour or two.

He puts the ring carefully in an appropriate box or compartment and sighs, stretching.

I'm gonna go mad if I just sit in here forever.

Placing his ear against the cargo bay door he'd initially come in, he strained to hear any evidence of activity.

Only the occasional sound of metal scraping or colliding with meal was herd, he could probably get the door open again but breathing air felt much more natural and it wasn't like there was much of anywhere to go unless he felt like 'walking' around space looking for another ship. He could probably walk to the moons gate and try and get a ship going through it to let him in... but that was quite a walk and he still wasn't sure if that thing that destroyed the station wasn't still out there.

I should have been a pilot. Or a pilot and a hacker, he amends, glancing at the biometric lock on the controls.

Sam wanders through the shuttle again, looking around for anything else of note. Having done this at least twice now, he doesn't find anything.

After using up another couple minutes, he reaches up to his necklace and grips one of the leaves in his palm, gritting his teeth at the pain. When he pulls his hand away, it's bleeding slightly, and he rubs a bit of the blood on each eyelid before singing softly,

"That which is
Is not always seen
That which is seen
Is not all that is"

As he walks through again, Looking for anything of note.
This message was last edited by the player at 23:33, Sun 02 Feb 2014.

Well there was enugh DNA that if he knew a good bit more about life magic he could use his matter, life, and prime to trick the locks... but he just didn't learn enugh about life to alter his body that way.

He didn't see much of anything but dibree and dead bodies outside, but he couldn't see very far through all the wreckage and twisted up resonance left from the attack and various explosions. There was just to much resonance out there to see very far but it was clearing up as entropy took it's course.

One thought was a nice one, the guy who owned this wasn't quite as good as he was at magic, and crafting was on par, and yet he seamed to be doing very very well for himself. The only big difference was the level of detail in his works... what he could do with just mundane tools and his hands, it was almost inhuman. Perhapse though if he could just learn to steady his hands he could make stuff better than this guy was and make money off of it.

It was a pitty the libary he had didn't have any access to it though... realy all he had to do was poke at star charts, and fiddle with all the tools and supplies.  That and eat some Hermic emergency rations. The Order of Hermes did know a good deal about craftsmanship but they were a dull buch, and didn't think to put much care into the flavor of there rations.... so that sucked.



It wasn't till another day or two later when something big and alive came into view out in the dibree field. It wasn't as big as that monster of a 'ship' that attacked, and was way to big to be the small weapons it sent out... but it was big and made of living metals and moved with intent through the field like it was searching. The thing was as big as some of the wales in the Cop.. no, no, this was way bigger it was the size of a frigate and the only living ships he ever hurd of were whisperings of naphanite and that big one that attacked the station.

Is that another attacker, just smaller? Or is it something worse? Sam paces quickly. Well, there's no way I can protect myself or escape if it comes after me here, and there's no way for me to get away in space, so all I can do is hope it's not attacking...

With a deep breath and taut lips, he keeps an eye on it out a shuttle window whenever possible as he pulls out his datapad. What did Triplejack tell me about direct signals, again? Something about short-range transmission... peer-to-peer something?

Opening a com channel with a data pad to a ship a few kilometers off wasn't exactly normal procedure but while he didn't seam to open coms apparently he sent out some sort of signal. The ship changed it's course and was no heading in the detection of the shuttle, soon it was barring down on it swallowing it up inside it... the life form was all around it.... it had ether swallowed the shuttle or it was in taking it into a bay of some sort.

This is... not what I intended. I think. Well, nothing for it now...

Sam heads to the cargo bay door (still his only way to get out without messing with the locks) and hesitantly crawls out to see where he is.

It takes a few moments to get the manual release opened, when he got outside it did seam he was in a cargo bay.... well that was a releaf. There was crates of supplies about and sings that there was resonantly quite a few people here.

Before he could get much of an assessment of his surroundings though a door opened onto a particularly odd sight: a four armed chip in a Shriner vest and hat, and wielding a plasma pistol in each hand. "You, hands up! Drop your weapons."

Sam holds his hands up. "I have a knife in my jacket, on the left side. Would you like me to place it on the floor, or leave it there?"

He nods "Drop it and kick it over.... what are you doing skimming around out here all quite like with physical shields up?"

Sam slowly pulls the knife out, puts it down, and kicks it over.

"Trying to survive, mostly. This isn't even originally my shuttle; I just got in it to avoid the destruction of the station. I can't fly it and everything's locked, but it had air and food and wasn't being torn up by nonreality, so....

My name's Sam, by the way. What's yours?"

"I don't buy that for a moment" he said while grabing the knife with his feet and tossing it through the door into a hallway.

He started to say something else but a detached voice interrupted him. "Leave her alone bo-bo, she's telling the truth. I can read her biometrics, and not only do they imply honest and confusion, but they don't match the locks for the shuttle."

He lowers his arms some and looks up at the ceiling yelling. "I said to stop calling me that, my names Tex."

"So you say"

He just huffs.

Sam looks around, puzzled.

"Regardless of someone's legal identity, it doesn't hurt to call them by the name they prefer, does it? What would you like me to call you, invisible stranger?"

"I'm hardly invsiable. I was named the OSS Lucid Nonsense, but you can call me Luci."

"Just ignore her, and if you where just taking shelter here why didn't you go and try and flag down one of the CCG search ships?"

Sam keep gazing around as he speaks. "Well, then, Luci, it's nice to meet you. I'm Sam, though I'm guessing you heard that."

Settling his eyes on the figure in front of him, he continues, "I wasn't aware there were CCG search ships, and I wouldn't have known how to flag one down if I was. I'm kinda new to the area, I suppose, and it was largely luck that I managed to get your attention at all.

Er... whose attention have I-" Sam stops short as "OSS Lucid Nonsense" finally sinks in and the thought combines with the life pattern he'd seen and the seemingly disembodied voice.

"oh...

Oh....


Oh...."



Now completely ignoring Tex, he absently reaches up to his neck and runs his thumb along the edge of one of the leaves, then clenches a fist to keep the blood from dripping on the floor.


He spins in a small circle, taking everything in. "Luci, you are the most beautiful thing I've ever seen!" A pause, and he reddens slightly, his cheeks and ears getting quite warm. "I mean, er, that is..."

After a moment more of awkward silence, he turns back to Tex and sheepishly raises his hands again, but stays silent.

The make up of the ship is way way beyond Sam's understanding, who ever made this was likely an arch-magi. However it did seam the ship did not have anything resembling a weapon in it's make up.

Tex just gives Sam an odd look, unsure what to think about that, but least he lowered his guns.

"I am unsure as how to respond to that statement."

"I... er..." He scratches at his neck "You could pretend it never happened, heh."

"So... Tex...

What're you gonna do with me and my recently acquired shuttle?"

"I would say throw you out the nearest air lock" he grumbles.

"You will do no such thing, Lee would like you to bring our guest to the bridge"

He shook his head "Why do we keep getting all the weird stowaways?"

"Very well. Lead the way, good sir. Or direct me ahead of you, I suppose."

He grumbles some and puts two of the guns away moving into the hallway to pick up the knife and pocket it, and waves you in front of him. He leads you around to the front of the ship, the hall curving from the rear bay around the side of the ship.

When they get to the bridge it's and odd sight. The controls are quite minimalist and seam disined to work with the will of the mage as sam can see the link between the pilots quenttesance and the ship through the odd orbs he had his hands on.

There were normal controls here and there but most seam to just be places to put yor hands.

The pilot reminded her of some of her smuggler friends, lightly armored casual suit with various side arms. While a young man with a punk taist to clothing just set looking over the screen.

There was an outside view and a 3d display of the area projected in mid air. Surprisingly there seamed to be two rather large Dreadnaughts parked at the other end of the dibree field and a small swarm of little ships methodically moving through it scanning for survivors.

The younger man turned. "Ah... so another survivor."

"Yes, the signal the ship was giving out was threatening to give away our position."

"Not my intention, I assure you. I don't have much experience with computers, and my attempt at hailing was... clumsy, I take it.

You're Lee, I presume? I'm Sam. Good to meet you."

He holds out his hand to shake.
This message was last edited by the player at 09:00, Wed 05 Feb 2014.

(lee is sitting down looking over the displays, the other guy is flying)

(Whoops sorry. Edited.)

Shakes the hand though uncomfortably so, not use to such. "Uh yah, so Sam... what were you doing out in this mess?"

"Well, I'm sure you heard about The Sample." he says, the last in mock solemnity, "There are plenty of people with Elaborate Opinions on what should or shouldn't be done with it, and I'm not sure what I think, but it doesn't really matter. Not like I could afford it! But, as someone with an interest in unusual substances and energies, I wanted to take a look at it. That's why I was on the station. Then everything went nuts, what with crazy living ships - no offense, Luci, you're not crazy as far as I can tell - and I hid in that shuttle to stay out of the line of fire. Then there wasn't anywhere else to go for far too long, and then you guys picked me up, and here I am."

He nods some "Yah if you haven't learned about the ways of the spirit world, or have a dreamwalker or fara friend around, getting anywhere with out an eather ship isn't very easy. You can get lost even trying to get so something visible or just find you are never seaming to get any closer to it." sighs some. "So any sight of your friend out here?"

"Unfortantly no, I can't seam to locate hir. However I have found enough evediance to determain shi made it out alive."

"and the ship we picked up?"

"It's registered to one Michael Hadenal, missing and prusomed dead in the Victory Station disaster. I should be able to remove all the biometric locks in a few days."

"Focus on unlocking the controls." He turns back to Sam. "I'm afraid we can't drop you off here, not every one is as understanding about Luci it seams... but we are headed to Hades so we can drop you off there."

"Well, even if I did have any more business here, nobody's really in any shape to handle it anyway. And besides, I don't have anything specific I need to be doing, so... yeah. Any way I can help out, make up for the inconvenience and pay for the ride and all that good stuff?"

"Oh we will be keeping that ship."

"Don't you have something else to do rather than berate strangers?"

"Your lucky luci likes you guys, I would have never let you on the ship in the first place" he grumbles wondering off while the pilot just shook his head while the two argued.

"We where here for our own reasons, looking for Luci's friend while the rest of our little group is off chatting up a god or something..... but being we can't find hir we are just heading back. So it's really no truble, we arn't doing anything we wouldn't already be doing."

The pilot looked up "So should we head out?"

"Afermative, all inclinations point to her being in one of three locations now: Hades (mars), New Boston(luna), or Tera Nova(venus)."

He nods and the ship turns heading out of the dibree field.

"I suppose that's fair. There are a bunch of star charts that might be somewhat useful. There's also a rather good supply of jewelry materials and tools, and if I could keep those, I'd be grateful, since I have most of the skill necessary to use them. But if not, well, that makes sense too.

Nothing specific I should be doing, then?"

"After what you have been through I would suggest you just get some rest. "

"Very well. Just lemme know if you need anything, I guess." He looks up. "You too, Luci."

"We should be fine, we will let you know when we get to the planet."

Sam could sense something odd, the ships hull was covered in flat surfaces, but as they moved out of range of the other ships it shifted and smoothed out as the shape of the ship slowly shifted... halls and rooms moving.

Sam heads down the hall aimlessly, enjoying the chance to stretch his legs (and uncertain where he's supposed to sleep anyway). As the ship begins changing, he glances around to see if anyone else is nearby and (assuming not) asks, "Luci? Can you hear me? Do you have audio receptors near here?"

"Yes, though even if I didn't I would pick up the vibration the sound of your voice causes."

"Which would sort of mean you have audio receptors, of a sort, everywhere. Cool! Anyway, I just wanted to know what you're doing? If you don't mind me asking. That sort of ability to reshape yourself is... well, I wish I could do it! Heh."

"Many constructs have the ability to reshape themselves I am no different." Yah, except 'she' was a ship.... that is a big difference. There are very very very very very few incandescence where an entire ship is one whole construct... let alone one of this size.

"I suppose. Anyway, why the rearrangement? Was it just a disguise or...?"

"I was in a stealth configuration, it was no longer required."

"Gotcha. Hey, do you have a room for me or am I staying in the shuttle or what? I don't think where I'm supposed to go rest was ever really specified."

Luci directs you to a rather bland living quarters. As it was "grown" inside her it's rather bland and mostly unfurnished. "If there is anything you require I will atempt to accommodate your needs."

"No worries! I'll be fine. Please let me know when you guys decide on the allocation of those materials and tools."

Sam sits in one corner, crosslegged, and begins to meditate.

Sam is only really able to use his avatar to feed his quintessence. It seams Luci is a thalamavor and there is very little free quintessence, figures though.

(Oops. I did not mean to imply that I was trying for more quintessence. It was more for the meditation itself - relaxing the mind in a focused way to help sort ideas and clarify thoughts and so on.)

OOC prime magic expands your ability to control quintessence and is quite useful for any mage.

Prime levels and quintessence gaining.

0 - Must meditate at a node only able to draw as much free energy as the node has to bring you up to your avatar ratting.

1 - May meditate at a node to draw free energy, but may now hold as much as your paradox allows (up to 20 if you have no paradox... but paradox+1 reduces the max quintessence you can have) This can be expanded further with artifacts though.

2 - You no longer need to meditate to draw quintessence in, alowing you to do it much faster. You can also draw it in from areas with large amounts of free flowing quintessence.

3 - You can now drain any free flowing quintessence.  From anything with a store of magical energies flowing through it, tass, or even another mage. You can also pump free quintessence into things to store it, or power another mage over there avatar limit.

4 - You can now draw more than just free quintessence, taking the quintessence from an objects pattern. This can cause strange affects as you 'erase' properties of it's pattern, or it can out rite disintegrate something as you brake it down into pure quintessence.

5 - You can now draw on the complex pasterns of living things. This means you can brake down living matter into quintessence you can use. (this of course causes pattern damage) On a side note you can also stop or speed up the flow of quintessence in things or people.


So yah..... in addition to the normal uses of quintessence manipulation, higher prime means more ways of getting quintessence and storing it.

though i'm not 100% on 3 being able to make tass ... but I think thats right... 3 + life or matter of 2~4... realy have to look but I don't have time right now

standard dram is valuable because it dose not have an inate resonance, making it usable as a power sorce for anything.... and a good sorce of power for artifact crafting (though ofcrose crafting artifacts is ALWAYS easier with proper resonating tass)
This message was last edited by the GM at 23:16, Fri 07 Feb 2014.

(Wow! Super cool. I thought Prime was mostly for 'powering' various pattern effects. Thanks for the extra info. If I made tass, would it have my resonance? Could I make standard dram with more work? What level of Prime is necessary to change something's resonance?

But yeah, Sam's just meditating, not quintessence-meditating, at the moment.)

generaly if you store quintessence it will have your resonance yes....   unless it's drawn from an area and stored the it will have the resonance it had, lightly 'tainted' by your resonance.

Dram requires more quentessence being spent and prime magic being used to purify the tass of resonances.

in general it takes atleast 3 quentessence to make 1 dram (though some arch magi machines lower it to 2 to 1)

but having it pure of resoance is so usefull it's worth it....

changing the resonance is not an easy thing, first you would have to purify the tass so it has no resonance, then you would have to 'seed' it with quintessence of the resonance you desire and use a prime 5 affect to 'grow' that resonance and spread it speeding up how the resonance affects the tass around it.   And generaly the resonance 'seed' would have to be more than dubble maybe tripple the amount your trying to change
This message was last edited by the GM at 03:30, Sat 08 Feb 2014.

Azraile:

Dram requires more quentessence being spent and prime magic being used to purify the tass of resonances.

in general it takes atleast 3 quentessence to make 1 dram (though some arch magi machines lower it to 2 to 1)

(Does this also take Prime 5?

Does the room have a bed?)

ooc

I think sam can do purification, thats like a 2 or a 3

and there is a bed

Once he's finished meditating, Sam curls up in the bed and goes to sleep.

ok can im me some time and can work on a seeking so we can see if we can catch you up with the others or not

(I'll check in with you some time tomorrow - I'm available most of the day.)

After Sam has been up for a little bit Lisa speaks up. "Did you sleep well?"
This message was last edited by the GM at 00:22, Sat 01 Mar 2014.

"I... believe so. Thank you. I need to... burn off some energy. I need to do something. Make something. Fix something. Is there anything on board I could help with, or at least fiddle with? I don't know if you were able to tell this already or what, but I guess I should let you know that I have some ability to work with the magical structures of things - as long as they're not too complex."

"There is something you could help with... there are some items we acquired that no one ever seamed to figure out what they were. I was opening up the captains storage and they are still in there. Perhaps you could try and figure out there functions."

There is a pause and then a then a small crate rises out of the ground. It has three items in it. One is what looks like a some what normal ID card with the typical built in data chip, it however is blank. The other is some sorta data pad that looks normal, and the other a book'Fairy Tail Foods, and Cooking for Cryptids' by Marie-Louise von Franz written in 2023.

"They have quite a fair amount of free quintessence, and we were heasentant to just toss them in with the 'food/fuel' pile"

"Ooh! Wonderful. Thank you."

Sam sits crosslegged next to the crate and lays the items out in a row. He reaches up toward his chest before hesitating and dropping his hand back down. Better not risk messing up the book.... Hands on his knees, he begins to croon softly.

"Can you hear me?
Can you see me?
Let me see you, too

Listen to me
Talk to me
Tell me, what do you do?"
This message was last edited by the player at 16:47, Sun 02 Mar 2014.

The ID card has had it's Patern altered with mater magics, and the spirit of the card has been awoken. However with out spirit 2 Sam has no way of communicating with the spirit.

The data pad is oddly enough a fetish, some one has bound a spider spirit usually native to the info sphere to this device. While Sam can't speak to it directly, some sorta program might be able to be set up to communicate with it.

The book Sam can't quite figure it out, it's pattern is quite complex and it's defiantly a lot more than it seams but he lacks the understanding to make any sense of what the patterns are. Some one however has gone through a good deal of trouble to weave these patterns into the book. It defiantly wasn't a normal book.

"Hey, little guys. I'm gonna find someone who can understand you, alright? You probably can't understand what I'm saying, can you? Here, have a snack while you wait."

Sam feeds a bit of raw magical energy into each of the items with spirits, then picks up the book and reads through it, making sure to stay Aware as he does so in case he finds anything that makes more sense.

(two 10's!)

The book dosen't make much sense really. It is what it says but the names of meals are in Latin but they are nonsensable. The resipies are not things that go well together, some even have things like mixing a base with an acid which would not be well in any sort of cooking. Nothing about it makes much sense, there is nothing in it that would viably be good to eat really... likely not even for a bygone.

On top of that a quick check of the info sphere shows the author died in 1998, so ether the death date is wrong or the publishing date is.

Then she finds a section of the book going over the proper preparation and storage of ingredients.... some of them fit dangerous chemicals he knows. Closer examination finds alchemical symbols hidden in the illustrations of the ingredients. The ingredients are proxies for alchemical elements!

Knowing this and looking back Sam is able to find that when the Latin names of the dishes are translated into English the English names are Anagrams....

This wasn't a cook book but an alchemical grimoire.

Fairy Tail Foods, and Cooking for Cryptids
<level 5 primer - 1 arete, 2 forces, 2 life, 2 mater, 2 prime>
*Reduces cost of raising listed spheres by 5.
*Can awaken new mages.

After puzzling over the book for quite some time, Sam sits back and puts the book back in the crate.

"Luci? Do you know anyone with any particular skill in communicating with spirits? These two items would benefit from a conversation with such a person. And when you get some time alone, you should read through that book. Carefully. There's more to it than you might think at first, trust me."

"We will be arriving at Mars shortly, there was two in the group we left there that could do such. As for the book, I was not designed with an analog interface for such an action."

"Hm. We'll have to look into that, I guess. You have visual sensors, correct?"

"Affirmative, however there seams to be an element to that book affecting the mind of the reader. It seamed as you got into reading it, the book was imprinting information into your mind. I do not beleave I will have the same affect as from 'reading' the book as you have."

"Pity. Perhaps it would need to be translated somehow, or... I'm not sure. Ah, well."

Sam picks up the datapad. "Have a good snack?" He starts poking through it, looking for an already programmed way to communicate with the spirit and, if he doesn't find one, begins trying to figure out what would be required for such actions.

She delivers a crate with containers of dried sea weed chips.

It takes much longer to fiddle with the data pad than the book, she didn't know much about computers but the basic programing skills she did know served... the spirit did seam to be helping her. Once done it did start communicating.


> Request: Information on users home town.
> Statement: Information is analog, unable to obtain. Data input required.

"Oh! Thanks. I was actually asking the datapad if it had enjoyed what I gave it, but I definitely appreciate some chips. Sorry about the confusion, though!" Sam snacks on the chips while fiddling with the datapad.

(So the Request is what Sam entered and the Statement is from the datapad, correct? Just wanna make sure I understood correctly)

> Response: Home town local designation Antipode, location The Cop sector (178.42352,27.09031)
> Query: Given pointer sufficient?
This message was last edited by the player at 18:28, Wed 05 Mar 2014.

> Response: Negative.
> Status: Unable to access Copernicus Research Center Info Sphere
> Status: Copernicus Research Center access node - Offline.
> Resolution: Analog data input required.

> Status: Obtaining information
> Request: Please hold

Sam pulls out his own datapad and does a couple quick searches to see if there's anything readily available about Antipode in the Sol system infosphere. Surely someone stored some info on it locally? Then again, who'd have expected the node to go down?
This message was last edited by the player at 18:27, Wed 05 Mar 2014.

There wasn't anything he could find, only information was anything he might have saved or stuff he would have to enter in manually. Not all that surprising considering how remote and isolated the village was.

Sam shrugs and begins entering as much information as he can remember manually, turning on the speech-to-text and telling it as a story in order to distance himself emotionally from some of the memories.

(Storytelling is Expression, right? Not like it really matters how well I do, considering the spirit doesn't have even vaguely human emotional responses to such things...)

> Acknowledgment: Data accepted.
> Status: Attuinment with new user complete.
> Status: Energy and data compensation accepted.
> Query: What are the parameters of the search required?

> Error: Query not understood.
> Query: What is the function of this device?

> Status: Search parameters accepted.
> Possessing . . . . .
> Estimate time till completion 00:00:47:37.315

After that the trimmer just slowly ran down jumping up or down accationaly, then dramatically decreasing rapidly. After about a half hour the data pad makes a sound and starts displaying files.

> Status: Search compleate.

The pad is now full of stored files about data pads, there various functions, the applications available.... ALL the applications available (a ridiculously long list), schematics of it's designee.  Terabites of information related to 'the function' of that type of data pad.  Mostly the various applications, and how other people have used the pads and are using them currently... some of it is some rather privite information but a lot of it simply has.  <Secure Data - unable to access>.
This message was last edited by the GM at 21:53, Wed 05 Mar 2014.

> Acknowledgment: Data appreciated.
> Clarification: Local Query: What is your function? What is the function of the fetish I hold? What strictures are upon it?
> Joking Sidenote: So... tell me about yourself.

> .........

There is a pause for a minute, it don't seam to know how to or if it wishes to respond to that.

> User Given Designation: Info spider.
> Applied Function: Data research and collection.
> Restrictions: Compensation required, unable to access protected data.

> Local Query: What kind of compensation is required?

> Response: Energy and analog data.
This message was lightly edited by the GM at 16:03, Fri 07 Mar 2014.

> Local Query: Can you access magical information? Study guides, for instance?

> Statement: Unable to process metaphysical data.
> Statement: Processing of data on metaphysics can be requested.

> Acknowledgment: Thank you for your help.
> Local Query: Is there anything else I can do for you at this point?

> User Error:  Syntax not understood.

Hm...

> Local Query: Do you possess needs or desires beyond compensation?

> Response: Analog data.

> Acknowledgement: I will see what else I can come up with for you.
> Query: Is there any specific analog data you especially desire?

> Data: Secured analog file.
> Location:
A map of the ship comes up with a little flashing light in a room near yours, and a picture of a foot locker highlighted in red wire frame sitting in another personal quarters quite like your own.

"Huh. Hey, Luci, can you see this?" Sam holds the datapad screen out in the general direction of a wall.

"Yes that is another passengers room."

"Is that passenger on board? I'd like to ask their permission to, ah... to read their book to my datapad friend here. Perhaps worded differently."

"No he is not, and I do not think he possessed any books."

"Ah. Well, I should probably not go investigate. Please let me know when he gets back on board, if I'm still here, though. The datapad is quite interested in something of his.

Regarding the investigation: The cookbook is a... magical instruction manual. The datapad uses a spirit to gain impressive amounts of data on a given subject in exchange for energy and data it can't access. The card will require the assistance of your friends who talks to spirits."

"Thank you, that is good to know. It is a shame on the card though, do you think the data pad knows anything about it? We acquired them together."

"Oh! I could ask it. Gotta think of something to tell it in exchange, though..."

"If you like I could give it access to details of the debris field of the station, most details have not been made public and I took several scans of the area looking for Aeon..... You don't suppose it could see if there is any information about her sense the station was destroyed?"

"It might! Was Aeon it's previous owner or will I need to provide recognizable details? Don't wanna be too vague in your questioning - I learned that already! I can ask that too. I need to feed it magical energy and inaccessible information for each question, though, so let's take a second and figure out what we want to ask, since we only have a little of each of those."

"True, I did not pick up to much power from the device. Nothing more than the normal fetish might have... I mean, as far as fetishes go, it's a fairly strong one... It's just not too far beyond anything considered normal. It is likely what the dreamspeakers have classified as a grater gaggling more commonly known as a knight, or to others level 2 common minor um brood manifestation. It likely follows directions to the letter and will require a good deal of detail to find anything precise. I can attempt to construct search perpetrators for it to follow if you like. However for something to scan, you would have to speak with bobo, he was told to save something of the failed attempt shi made at co-location transposition."

"Ah. Uh... right. Does the datapad have a scanning input to enable such use? And am I correct in assuming that's the question you'd like me to ask?"

"I would think it would be, sympathetic resonance has been used for a very long time. I think it would be best though If we could find a way for me to interface with the device, It would take some time to manually copy the command routine."

"Shouldn't be too hard. Lemme just open up a wireless signal... on second thought, considering how my previous attempt worked out, I'll let you do that"

"Figures, he did not take any samples... just shoved it out the air lock and cleaned up." She may be a developing construct but she dose seam to express some frustration, even if only a little. "I will trasmit the data from the sight and the command string to it."

There is a pause and then the data pad flashed

> Update: Data compensation acceptable.
> Data Revised: Image File
> Data Revised: DNA; RNA sequence data.
> Status: Possessing command.
> Error
> Error
> Error: Corrupt Data intake.
> Process.Start: Method; Systems Diagnostic

Then two timers come up.


> Process.Status: Estimate time till completion 00:11:45:53.325
> Search.Stats: Estimate time till completion 00:17:00:00

The first starts counting down, the second... changes a little up and down, but it isn't counting down any.

Sam's not entirely sure what that means, but if the data compensation was acceptable, that means it's time for the energy compensation, so he does that.

(I'll be able to gather more energy once I'm off the ship, right? It's just that Luci's eatin' it all right now?)

(it seams to have accepted compensation and started, quintessence is more powerfull than the energy it is use to getting... 1 quin is enugh for 2 searches, and you can get up to your avatar ratting on the ship.... your just drawing from your iner strength, just have to meditate)
This message was last edited by the GM at 16:12, Wed 12 Mar 2014.

"Any guess what the errors mean or how to get around them?"

"I don't think it was able to process hir DNA or RNA properly and something went wrong I think it might have hurt it's self, in a sense, trying."

(it failed a lot and botched trying to search knocking the time WAY up to over a day)

"That's not good at all. Will it be okay, you think? I wish I knew more about spirits..."

"From what i've seen as long as umbrood are not destroyed they can heal from about anything."

"Well that's good. I guess we just leave it until it's done workin', then. Anything else I can help with?"

"I don't think so, we will be landing soon however."

"Alright. Thanks!"

Sam sits down to meditate while he waits for arrival.

"We will be landing in Hedies, if this is not ok we can see what we can do about arranging passage up to Olimpia."

"No, don't go to special pains on my account. Hades is fine. I don't have any specific destination. Besides, I'd love to stay, at least long enough to meet your spirit-talking friends and see what's up with the card here. If you'll have me, of course!"

(So with meditation, even in a mana-poor area like inside a thaumivore, I can regain Quintessence, right? But only up to my Avatar rating?)

(you could draw some in from outside but it would be hard, less so when they enter the planets realm)

(I don't understand those rules at all haha. I'll wait until we land, then. No worries.)

They land a few hours later, the descriptions for the city are in the start of the main chapter 2 thread. Lee gives you his com info so you can contact them if you need help, he says it's a rough place down here.

"Thanks. Luci, can I meet your friends who can talk to spirits, now? Or are they not readily available at this moment?"

"There last known location was approximately  84.4° S and 0.9° E while we are currently at 18.63°N 225.9°E. Unfortunately even if they were to finish there task now, with out a form of correspondence it will be hours before they return."

"Oh. Alright. Let me know when they're back, if you don't mind! Oh, and could I have my knife back before I go? It's not much, but it's nice to have something."

"Oh I had forgotten about that, yes I'll fetch it hold on and let me find what bobo did with it."  a few moments later it rose out of the floor. "There we go, sorry there is no reason you can't have a weapon.... he's just overcautious. He worries construct research and construction is an uneasy topic now that we finally have rights. Also it seams that people do not like the idea of having a ship that may chose not to listen to the commands of it's captain and crew... my creation was not a lawful one, and meany seam to consider it a bad thing.. more so now that Vivo has shown up."

"Nah, I understand where he's coming from." Sam hides the knife back inside his clothes. "And people are always stubborn about new things. Hopefully they'll get over it soon. You're a work of art, Luci, and it's a shame that anyone fails to recognize that."

Sam pats the nearest wall reassuringly on the way out.

The docks were a bit more bussy than others Sam had been in before, when he got to the city though it was rather overwhelming at first. However while most people see a dirty, overcrowded, industrial spraw... to Sam the city was like one huge living machine with steam for blood and the distant volcano for a heart. Sam may not have studied entropy much but could appreciate the underlining order to all the apparent chaos.
This message was last edited by the GM at 21:52, Mon 17 Mar 2014.

Sam takes a deep breath and lets it out, looking around with a grin. "Hello, hello, hello!"

He closes his eyes for a couple seconds to let the sounds and scents sink in, then opens them and starts off into the city proper. He just wanders, at first, keeping an eye out for a place he can sit and meditate, or eat, or both. Mostly, though, he's just taking in all the sights and appreciating the novel things.

Sams outburst gets some odd looks but people just move on. The area around the docks seamed to be mostly industrial and passably criminal in nature, there was shuttles though that lead to other caverns in the mountain. Two looked like prime locations for what he sought out... one was a crystal cavern owned by Brotherhood monks, and the other was the central city cavern... a large cavern over a near boiling mineral rich lake. The first was likely to be relaxing if a bit dull, while the second promised a good deal of dynamic energies and a wide assortment of venues though with lots of foot traffic. There was some other places but none stood out as well... Hades was a massive city and seamed to stretch throughout the entire mountain however most of it seamed to be industrial complexes or low quality residential areas to just plane out sprawling slums. Most people working here seamed to commute from Valles Marineris far to the south east via several dedicated mag tubes.

If he looks into it seams Olempia (at the mountains summit), and Valles Marineris are the most populated areas on Mars.

There is the lift to Olempia but Sam don't have the money, seams there is some intentional class separation. If you don't have a job in Olempia the tickets up there are quite costly....

Sam decides to spend a while in the cavern (assuming it's free access), resting and working, before heading over to the boiling lake.

After a while at the lake, he looks for a map of the area on his datapad, trying to find if there's any magical manufacturing going on nearby.

The city is over the lake, like suspended, there is no public access way down to the lake... and it's dangerous to get too close. As for getting quintessence you have to have an area with a fairly large amount of free quintessence flowing.

Unless you have prime 3 and use tass or prime 5. Gathering quintessence isn't the fastest of things to do and you can only take lose energy.  This usually means nodes, places where lots of magic have been used, lay lines, or places where energy is high.

If he wants to sneak down there he could draw on quintessence, depending on how well or baddy things go a roll could take up 15 minutes to an hour. Generally though you might get in trouble trying to 'steal' quintessence. Meditating to his Avatar rating would take at least an hour but could be done just about anywhere above the lake with out causing any problems.

If he wants to draw on larger amounts it would likely be best to get some permission or find some spot in the mountain where there is lose quintessence and no one is drawing on it.

Right. Near the lake, but within safe limits.

Ah, so my options are:

• Meditate above the lake, draw up to Avatar
• Sneak closer to lake, potentially get in trouble, and
  • Spend quintessence to hopefully net positive in a short time, or
  • Don't spend quintessence and spend a long time
• Go back to the crystal cavern and just fill up there

Correct?

I suppose you could spend quintessence to get more... kinda casting a net out to draw it in... and hoping your net don't get snaged on something lol

yah you could ask the monks to drain some of there tass

and there is also the option of using mater, life, prime, meditation, and some where quite to map out the mountain, where living things and buildings are, and where quintessence is flowing.... and look for a place to go get it.

but that option would take time, not just to find it.. but to get there, and then to gather it.

but you could gather up quintessence, maybe even make some tass you can sell for money if you need it for some plans.

Now, I could gather the quintessence flowing around at their node without actually using their tass or otherwise inhibiting their ability to do the same, right?

even exstreamly powerfull nodes don't have a limitless supply of quintessence.

Most only produce 1~5 a week.

The monks one might be 10~20 on good months.

That's why they use to 'mine' quintessence from jupiter and still do from satern, large strong nodes that are dangerously strong in the gass gaint storms.  Quintessence builds slowly so places where it gathers more quickly people will protect.

Hell sleepers have been drawn to nodes and lay lines sense the dawn of time too.

They built there cities around nodes and there roads along lay lines with out even knowing why. Life is just drawn to it. And mages more so knowing what can be done with it.

huh. I thought the limited production was only tass.

Gonna go with the mapping out the flow of the city, then. Sounds fun, doesn't require leaning on someone's generosity, and I'm not in any rush.

unused quintessence materializes into tass

i'll get to doing some rolling to see how that works out

how are you going to map out the places when you find them?
This message was last edited by the GM at 21:27, Tue 18 Mar 2014.

Huh. So until Prime 5, I'm basically limited to node quintessence, which would have turned into tass and been readily available anyway?

Shouldn't be too hard to kludge together a compass app and a drawing utility to sketch and triangulate things, right? If the datapads have gps functionality, that makes it even easier.

not really.... just those are the easiest places

higher prime just gives you more options and more ablitity but prime 1, 3 and 5 are the big ones to aim for if your looking for quintessence.

but at 4 you can exspel quintessence from objects base paters making them brake appart and fill the area with free quintessence... or just draw it into you.

the main benifets of prime

1 exstended quintessence, seeing quintessence

2 fuel patterns, no need to meditate

3 drain and create tass, drain a node quickly, give/take quintessence from/to mages, drain magical items or areas of quintessence

4 drain quintessence from any item dystroying it, tweak quintessence in an item altering it's affects

5 get quintessence from anywhere/anything,  drain quintessence from living things killing them, speed / slow the flow of quintessence

Sam finds a sutable node... the cavern it's in is out of the way and closed off.... work was being done to open it up to move heavy machinery in.. It's hard to tell what the intentions for the node are, but there a few days away from getting a clear path for it to the size they are digging out.  Then they have to set up what ever there setting up.

Sam could go up there now while no one is working, use matter to 'tunnel' in, and gather quintessence or any tass the servaying team may have missed.

Ah, why not? Just gotta try not to be seen.

He makes sure to meditate in some public place first, so as not to waste the potential of whatever he might get from this location.
This message was last edited by the player at 02:30, Wed 19 Mar 2014.

After an hour or so sam is able to gather up 2 quintessence.

Eh, it'll do.

Sam heads off to find a magical crafter.

It was a good idea to grab a day pass for the trams, there so many caverns and walking from one to the other.... well fuck... it was just not a good idea. The 'city' was spread out over an area almost the size of Texas and anywhere from 5 to 10 miles high depending where you where... Using the mag tubes to get around was a must.

The data pad though is able to find a place of intrest on the way to the cavern he saw... before he could barely make it out way above him... now he had twisted from cavern to cavern and was in a smaller cavern a bit more up the 'central' lift. It was quite frustrating realy... If he had the money or a work pass he could have just taken the lift up, but with the restrictions on it he had to waist a good deal of time getting on and off trams to get there instead.

Luckly though he did find a shop that made custom artifacts for people.



size comparison:
http://lasp.colorado.edu/~bage...ics/olympus_mons.gif

(yeah I'm a big fan of Mars, and Olympus Mons is absolutely awe-inspiring. I didn't realize the entire thing was the city, though! Must have missed that. I was imagining a city built into the side but much smaller.)

Sam tries to focus on enjoying the sights, rather than getting frustrated by delays as he attempts to get to the shop.
This message was last edited by the player at 03:41, Wed 19 Mar 2014.

not the intire mountain but many caverns through out it

It just takes time to get there, when he's there it's just a simple shop... there some already made artifacts... most the prices are steap to say the least.

Sam looks around, taking the time to examine both mundane and magical workmanship.

(Matter 1/Prime 1 senses for basically the whole time here)

Much of it Sam don't have the spheres to unerstand. (also i'm not making a list of a buch of artifacts off the top of my head enough to fill a store lol =p)

The lady at the counter, who seams to be hermeic from the look of the store, calls out "Can I help you?"

(Oh, no, I didn't expect an actual shopping list! Sorry, heh. That'd be a ton of work.)

"Sorta. I mean, I don't wanna waste your time, and I probably can't afford anything here, but I do like making trinkets, you might say, when I get the chance, and I just kinda..." He shrugs. "Wanted to look around, admire your work, see what I can look forward to, y'know? Plus I have some spare time and could do a bit of work in return for a bit of pay or training, if business is slow enough to accomodate that sorta thing." He grins sheepishly. "I'm not too bad so far. Nothing like what you got goin' here, though."

She looks sam over, he can feel her looking through him. "Um...sir?... I'm not looking for an apprentice, and no office but those worked hands don't look delicate enough to do the sort of fine work I need anyway. If you are looking for steady work there are places that help you find work base on what you are capable of." She sighs some. "If your looking for some advice though... spread out your study of the arts, you can not likely master all, and you must at least have some understanding of the arts others will weave into an artifact to assist in such works." this much was true, he had worked with others to combine there magics and both parties did have to understand some of all the magics involved.

Sam chuckles. "No, I suppose not. Not in a city like this, for sure. It was just a thought. Appreciate the suggestion, though. I should broaden my studies, I s'pose." He shakes his head. "I'll just look around a bit, then, and show myself out. Sorry to have bothered you."

She nods some and lets you look.

Some of the crafting are rather impressive. (8 success or more in creation)

After looking around a bit, Sam asks, "Do you know where I could find a... lower-end sort of place? Basic trinkets, minor aids... the sort of place where I could practice what I do know?"

"Not many people willing to let stangers work with there stuff hun, it's slow... tell me what you can do"

"I'm pretty good with stuff and I'm pretty good with magic itself. I have a little knowledge of living things, but that's more complicated. And I'd like a better understanding of spirits, but I only have the basics so far."

"Well if you have enough an understanding of life then you can will your hands to be still and work in finer movements (life 3 better body temp dex up) and concentrate your awareness into the pattern of what you are working with. Seeing how best to work with your projects."

"I suppose so.... Is that terribly important? I mean, I can just sing my materials into the shape they need to be..."

"You can produce much better quality by using magic to enhance your crafting skills. Using magic to make things may be easy but it don't work out as well, and it leaves your resonances in the material making it take longer to cleanse the resonance away. I know others who spent years of there tutelage practicing tasks like writing on the head of a needle to train there hands to inhuman precision. There are master artificers who practice high forces magic to understand the deep forces of kendic energy and life magics to understand how there body moves more, as well as mater and entropic magics to know how every alteration they make will affect an object before they make it. The same for the spirit mages who create fetishes, I'm told spirits are more likely to be willing to inhabit finely crafted objects. All in all there are many reasons to take your time doing it by hand, most being there are many things that if you use pattern magics on it will ruin the properties of it."

Sam looks puzzled. "Isn't the very point of the pattern magics that you can affect the very, well, pattern of the thing? Its most fundamental being? If a knife can do something that magic can't, then magic is by definition not the fundamental state of the universe, and while I've met a lot of people who disagreed on a lot of things, they all seemed to agree that it was.

Take a diamond. A diamond," Sam gets a silly look on his face as he quotes his textbook, " is 'a metastable allotrope of carbon, where the carbon atoms are arranged in a variation of the face-centered cubic crystal structure' and any properties of it are a result of it being exactly that. The only way to be more precise in your description of a diamond is to describe the magical pattern of the thing, which you-" he looks around "-you could probably do. I don't know the words for all that, but I know the pattern. How can duplicating the pattern with magic ruin the properties when the only properties it has, by its very nature, are the ones granted it by the pattern duplicated? And if I want to remove some atoms form a diamond to make a facet, the only possible difference between using magic and grinding them off with another diamond is that the former is more precise and will result in a smoother face. There's no logical reason for there to be anything magic can't do; there can only be things I can't do with magic."

He pauses, takes a breath, and gives her a distressed look.

"I've heard this before but I don't get it. What am I missing?"

She laughs some. "Yes but you can't sing every single atom to do exactly what you want, at least not yet. There is simply a higher demand for things that are natural rather than things willed into existence, and you can tell the difference most of the time. The more subtle you are with magic the less likely you are to cause paradox as well. Altering yourself and enhancing your senses affects reality very little, while just making things change by will alone causes ripples and affects you might not be aware of." she hums "things are a little slow come back here." she lets you into the back of the shop.

She pulls up an image of a wooden mask with some intricate details on it, apparently some animal spirit. "First visualize how the mask would be formed, use what you know to plan how you will create it... then will it into being."

Sam focuses, imagines the mask, visualizes how a knife would run along the wood grain, feels the details with his fingertips. He builds a pattern to match that, including a few minor imperfections where a knife might slip or the grain would shift unexpectedly.

Finally, exhaling, he lets the magic flow into the pattern, making it real. He concentrates for a few more seconds, making sure it's complete, then holds it out to her.

(Taking extra time, spending wp, and using Crafts to aid, however that works)

She smiles some "Well you are more talented than I thought. This is rather good."

You are able to craft a mask with impressive detail 5 success.

She puts away the mask and sets the data pad on a table and gets out a block of wood, and the various tools you would need to carve it. "Now try it the other way... look into the wood, let it speak to you, see the possibilities in it the way it flows how best to cut and shave it. Let your magic guide your hands as you work."

She goes back to the shop front to take care of any customers "Take your time..."

(Hooray for the recently acquired Life 2, eh?)

Sam works carefully, humming to himself as he does, willing his hands to be steady, yet strong, and his eyes to pick out fine details. At the same time, he keeps his other perceptions open to watch the way the pattern moves and work with it, not against it.

(So, to be clear, first she asked me to use Crafts to aid a Magic roll and now she's having me use Magic to aid a Crafts roll?)

It was actually some what frustrating work, not because it was tedious or anything but she was right the wood did speak to him... it just didn't speak of a mask! >.< There were so many forms she could see just begging to be set free from the wood, it made working the mask out of it a shame. He could see what the woman meant about his hands though they couldn't always make the moves he needed them to do... they over extended, fell short, they were clumsy .... he never saw them as clumsy before no more so than anyone else... but for work this fine they couldn't do what they needed to do.

If his hands could just stay steadier, if he could set free the forms he saw... the forms in the wood... he knew he could do better, way better.

In the end the quality was about the same as the mask he had willed into existence just a little better ( 6 instead of 5 ), but he had put so much effort into that one... this one he had not tried nearly as hard, and was frustrated much of the time. On the other hand some of it had to do with the quality of the tools, but she was right this took longer to do, but it had the potential making better work when it came to crafts anyway.

He heads to the front, waits patiently for her to be done with any customers, and then hands her the second mask. "Didn't wanna be a mask, but here you go."

She laughs a little at that comment. "True some times the shapes we are asked to bring out arn't easy to bring out of the materials we have, and we won't always have the option of seeking out proper materials." She smiles "This is very good, you are quite skilled. I'll admit I misjudged you from your hands, you must be quite the natural at this, perhaps you avatar has gifted you so. Once your hands get use to the work you may even be considered a master of the art."

She puts the masks together and puts them up. "But what you said is true, it is the difference between taking a commission and just making something. The patterns in the materials often have forms you can image using to make all sorts of items or works of art. You are free to bring them out if you are working for yourself, but to fill a customers order you will often have to settle with what you have as searching for the perfect materials can be a fruitless endeavor. There many a masters who have driven themselves mad trying to both bring out what the materials spoke to them of and fulfill there customers demands, creating masterpiece after masterpiece destroying them half way through because they can not find the perfection they are seeking. You some times have to accept you can not always bring the perfect form to something, some times you just have to do the best you can possibly do."

"But with a setup like this, you don't have to take commissions, do you? You can make the material into what it wants to be and then put it on the shelf and people come in and take it or leave it?

Guess that takes a bit of reputation, though, to pull off. Probably done plenty of commissions just to get here..."

"I'm not that good, and people will always want things you don't have."

"Yeah, but eventually you get to the point where you can pick the clients that want what you do have and still make a living, right? That's all I really want. Well, not all, but it's something I want."

"You can turn some people away, yes... but you can't really pick who you work with, you are too picky you won't get anyone"

Sam flips his datapad over and reads the corp name off, "doesn't have to take commissions. Though, that's probably as much about quantity and price as it is about quality and reputation." He shrugs. "Still, something to dream about. Nice little shop where I make whatever comes naturally and enough people know about it that someone wants what I have...

Anyway, thank you for the advice. I'll see what I can do about getting finer control of my hands."

She smirks "No they don't have to, at that level they usually fight over them.... offering to do them for less than other corporations. I do not think you understand how important having friends in high places can be, and how not making such people angry by saying no when there dead set on having something done by you once you have a reputation. If you make a name for yourself there will be people who 'simply must have' something from you if nothing because some one else dose and they want to one up them buy getting you to make something even more extravagant for them. There been times in the past when nobels threatened or imprisoned artists who refused to work for them even executed them."

"Ugh, so there's no way to get good enough that I can just make what I want to make? Even if it's useful stuff?" He sighs. "I guess it's back to the standard dream, then... get rich enough to do what you want, since there's no way to make money while doing it..."

She laughs. "Well we arn't in such barberic times, artistic freedom and financial gain is a tricky balance. You just have to know how to compromise. There are things you will not want to do on the way but you simply need the money, and at times even when you have the money you know people have the power to make your life difficult and have the reputation of doing so when they do not get there way. Thankfully that dose not happen to often unless your unfortunate enough to attract some personal attention of some one rather unpleasant. Then again I've hurd of people hard up for money looking for such attention, rather selling themselves out as an 'art slave' for a set time in turn for a large sum. Though nor you or I would be caught dead in such a situation I would hazard to guess."

"Getting a patron and taking commissions seem equally distasteful to me, at this point, actually. But I'll get by. I have so far, no reason to think I won't."

"well I'm sure you will find a healthy balance between art and work you can live with."

"Most likely. Thank you for your advice; I'll keep it in mind."

"Good luck."

Sam heads out and looks for a... lower-class shop, so to speak. Something closer to his level of expertise. Even if he can't find work, he can find inspiration, and maybe even something useful.

Most the work of that sort here is industrial and mass production of hypertech. There isn't really any lower class artistic tradition magical item work being done.

Sam decides to go find a nice place to get something inexpensive to eat before trying to find some other way to make money, then.

Sam finds some jobs but not many pay if there not perminate, unless the job is dangerous or questionably legal.

Sighing, Sam finds a quiet spot (Are there parks? I'd have thought not but this place is massive) and spends several hours, or until he receives communication from Luci about the card, making dram that looks somewhat like credit chips and then purifying it.

(If I've understood you correctly most recently - and there've been some misunderstandings, I think - I can turn a point of quintessence into a point of tass with a Prime thing, spend two more points to make it resonance neutral with another Prime thing, shape it to look like a credit chip with a gold stripe with a Matter/Prime thing, and then meditate for an hour to refill my quintessence to 3, my Avatar rating, before doing it again. If that is true, that is what I am doing. If not, please point out what I cannot do and provide suggestions for something vaguely along those lines because honestly I have no clue what I can do Prime-wise at this point because for whatever reason I'm hopelessly confused. My goal was a character who could be useful as crafting and support for the party, but I don't actually know if I can do anything of the sort.)

(it varies purifying, but yah you can do more than one at a time too.... you can do that, or try and gather some tass. Dram though has a standard size and shape as it's used to power various things, so stuff has slots for it. Size and shape depend on how much it's ment to hold 1, 5, and 10 quintessence ones being regular. You could say make a dram that holds 10 quintessence take time filling it, then purify it. There are devices used for transferring the energy through various sized crystals. Never really was a reason to go into it before sorry for the lack of info. It would all go a lot faster though if she stuck to the plan of getting to that cavern)

(Ooh, I didn't realize it was standardized. I'll do that then, I guess. Not a 10, though, since it's easy to use more than one but not so easy to 'make change' - right?

And I thought I already did the cavern thing and

Azraile:

After an hour or so sam is able to gather up 2 quintessence.

)

yah people tend to hang onto drained dram crystals the same devices check there 'charge'

making an uncharged dram crystal though is quite easy

and i though you just ment the one you where in....

didn't think you ment you went to the one with the node

(I think part of the confusion is that technically everything here is a cavern, so I'm probably being unclear.
1. There's the cavern owned by the Akashics with a crystal node in it
2. There's a large cavern with a boiling lake that is apparently magically energetic somehow but also not terribly accessible
3. There's a partially excavated cavern with a node in it that will eventually be utilized.

My understanding is that getting anything from 1 would require payment or theft, getting anything from 2 would require trespass and significant physical danger, and that I already investigated 3, getting 2 from it. Where'd I go wrong?)

1 just depends they are easy to get a long with usaly

and i though you where above 2 when you thought you were in 3 x.x

(aha! That explains it. I thought 2 wasn't anything special - just the same as meditating to avatar rating - unless I went down to the shore or something. But if I was above 2 and 3 is still an option...)

Before the dram-making project, however, Sam goes to see if there's any energy he can scrounge up from the partially-excavated cave. (3)

Sam is able to start drawing in energy and find tass quite quickly. (10 and 3 9's lol)

He finds most of the tass there is in a relitivly short time, seams it's not been cleaned out in a while. He finds 12 dynamic (volcanic) crystal fromations ... there rather sizely but he's able to compress them (in how ever shape of crystal he wants).

After that gathering up the rest of the quintessence in the area seams to be going well until after about an hour into it he causes a paradox and the gathered energy is released in a blast doing 1 agg to him.

He's able to get the 8 quintessence pulled in though after that, however seams the paradox blast has got attention and he can pick up life signs heading up to the cavern.

all in all it took 6 hours about

(Okay that's bigger risk bigger reward than I expected! Came out pretty well though, which is good.)

Sam carefully makes his way out, suppressing his Life and Prime signatures and tunneling out by transmuting the dirt ahead of him to air for a short enough duration that the tunnel won't be there to be discovered later.

The people that arive don't seam to be mages, and there scanning devices don't pick up the bubble of air clear enough to notice it's moving, so they pass by unsuspectingly and inspect the newly excavated area making sure it's safe before heading into the cavern. Likely they won't be happy to find the tass they had been letting build up is gone, and probably will add some security for the construction site.

Sam was lucky they thought it was out of the way enough it didn't need it.


With the long trek up, and the longer more exhausting trek back with the magic use Sam is physically and mentally exhausted by the time he makes it back to an area with transportation

Exhausted, Sam looks for a place to spend the night, hopefully one that costs less than he has on hand.

By the time he finds a place, gets up eats and buys another tram pass he's got 14,786c.


Will have to hold though till party is done with fight and stuff.

Sam gets a message "We have a signal that they will be returning soon, if you wish to come back to the ship"

That morning, if there's any time, Sam sits in the room and compresses the raw magical energy he absorbed into mineral crystals so that its resonance doesn't get overridden by his own.

Then he makes his way back to the ship to meet up with Luci's friends.

how much of the 11 you making into tass?

8, I think. That's how much had the volcanic resonance, right? The other 3 was just my own - nothing special about that.

Though I s'pose there's no reason not to make that Tass too...

It takes almost two hours to crystallize all eight tass, it was a slow prossess, he didn't quite understand a proper way to create stable too much of a stable form for tass. He could make tass but it waited quintessence stabilizing it, and wasted more purifying it. He could fuel it into the tass he had though and encourage it to grow to hold the added energy and brake it off.

After this exspirance it comes to mind it might be a good idea to purify one of the leaves he has and find some good way to produce tass with it until his mater/prime skills rise... it could save a lot of quintessence in the long run.
This message was last edited by the GM at 04:50, Thu 24 Apr 2014.

(That wouldn't use up the leaf, right? Just make it some sort of filter to pump the quintessence through? Sam wouldn't dream of giving up the leaves.)

(just saying might be worth considering making one of them into a potted plant or something)

(hm. interesting idea)

The ship was in a different bay, and looked externally like an inertly different ship.... it was kinda strange, but they did say there was misunderstandings with the government.

(Do I have a way to know which ship it is or should I rp askin' Luci?)

(they told you wich bay to go to)

Sam heads up to the ship and requests entrance.

Sams let in "Welcome back, Lee was hoping to talk to you. Oh my.. you didn't try and get 'food' for us did you, that's not nearly necessary."

"Huh? Oh! No, I was mostly intending it as crafting supplies, though unfortunately what I got is best suited to skills I don't have....

You can have some if you want, though? I mean I'm happy to share with you."

He gives Luci a grin.

"Oh no, it's quite all right, we have a fair store at the moment... enough to last for at least a month."

"Alrighty then. If you're sure. Where's Lee?"

"He's in the bay with the ship you found"

"'Kay, thanks."

Sam heads down that way.

The inside of the ship is rather the same, Lee is sitting on one of those shield plates that was around the ship when you found it, and is reading one of the data pads.

"Heya." Sam grins. "Luci said you wanted to see me?"

"oh yah... what do you know about internal alchemy?"

"That's, like, magically manipulating stuff that's alive, right?"

"Yah... also the mind and soul... I've been wondering, you said you know some of alchemy, and the old man is a master of the stuff but we can't seam to awaken his avatar. It is like it's turned in on itself locked into some strange spiritual machine of sorts. It could be what makes him immortal but it's keeping him from awakening."

"Ah...

Well I mean I'd be happy to help, and I think I know the basic ideas of everything that would be involved, but my understanding is that Awakening someone - giving them the ability to go on and do magic of their own - is a major undertaking worthy of a Master, and even then it's probably not a definite thing. It's like how I could describe to you the basic way a rocket works, but I couldn't design a very good one, but that's a bad analogy.

Uh... I can take a look and see what... what I see, I guess?"

Sam shrugs a bit and gives an apologetic half-smile, but then lights up.

"Wait! Luci, do you still have that 'recipe book'? It's also not definite but certainly has the potential to prod the soul awake."

"Oh, no... he's back on earth so that won't work. As for the primer we have tried those..." He shrugs and offers the pad he was looking at to sam. "This is quite interesting, Luci broke the lock ... whoever owned this had quite the library." There was an equivalent of a rank four library on the ship, that one data pad had more information in it than the entire library her home town had... and nearly all of it was about magic or the arts. It was a treasure trove of Hermetic knowledge.

"Well I'll let you know if I... think of... anything..." He trails off as he stares at the datapad in awe, flicking through the list and skimming an entry here and there.

"This is... this is amazing..."

"Seams the owner of this craft was a fairly wealthy artificer, who spent all his money on tools, his ship, and data files on hermic knowledge. There also apparently a vast majority of his wealth havening been spent on something in close orbit of the sun. However the data on how to get to it isn't there, and the flight logs have been cleared .... but not wiped, just labed unused space, so chunks of them are saved over but there bits and pices here and there, some quite large.  Lucy is trying to piece together the correspondence points to enter the little bubble this stuff is hidden away in."

He sighs "Could take a while though, most people know the fall of the city of brass messed up the correspondence in that area. Makes using Mercuries many correspondence points a pain but makes for a damn good place to hide something, though."

"Fascinating! I'd appreciate it if you kept me updated on the progress of this. And if there's any way I can help, let me know! I have... basically no knowledge of Correspondence, though, so that's not much use I fear."

He sits up. "Well Lucy says she has some knowledge of the correspondence flow of the area, apparently they have alies on Vulcan."

"Well that'll help, then, hopefully!"

He gets up. "Well if you want you can keep the tolls, we don't have much use for them and sounds like you could use them."

Sam grins broadly. "Thanks! I'll... hm. I'll get them out as soon as I can. I don't know where I'll be going next and don't have a specific living space set up at the moment. How long will you be parked here? I have a hotel room for a few more hours - I can keep them there if necessary. Don't wanna be an inconvenience - you've helped me so much already."

He laughs a little "We won't be around much longer, got to save the universe and stuff like that." He gives a bit of a teasing smirk. "Seriously though we are tring to figure out whats up with the Vivo and those people that stole the star sample. We can't stick around long and makes us not the safest of friends to have around really I have to admit..."

"Goin' after the sample? That's... I mean it'd crossed my mind, but I don't really have the resources for it. No beautiful sentient ship, for one!"

"Your to kind."

He smirks some. "Eh, that was a bout of luck that one. We are just lucky she's willing to help."

"Man, I wish I was going with you guys." He pauses, struck by the idea.

"I mean... I can't... can I?"

"Um... well I guess you could, but why would you want to you don't seam like you have any experience in combat." He rubs the back of his head. "I mean we could use an artifactor, I didn't really learn to much alchemy from the old man and while I can make some good bio mechanics infusing them with lasting enhancements is not something I really excel at.  However this is not a particularly safe endeavor, the last sin they ran into was bending hardened electrum with it's bare hands."

"Well I came to see the sample, right? And you guys've helped me out a lot. And I mean I recently learned that I need to scale up my general magical capabilities in short order, and there's nothing like a trial by fire, eh?"

Sam laughs nervously.

"Besides, I don't have to be in the fights, right? Just kinda... stay back and make and repair things, help out here and there.... I just sorta..."

He glances around.

"...sorta feel drawn to you...r mission. Like it's meant to be. That sounds cheesy."

He scratches the back of his neck.

He hums some and pulls out a small (iphone like sized) pad and brings up some files and hands it over. "Maybe... maybe we can find a way to get you to earth and you can study with the old man... this is the work he did when the Nephite Priesthood set out to free the incarnation of Science from the incarnation of Technologies enslavement."

This.... this was something with out words... though it was stadic magic, a kind of science even, high chemistry.. true alchemy, it was way way beyond anything Sam could understand. This was in the realm of arch-magi, and yet it was done by a 'sleeper'??? Dear lord.... It explained why he called him old man, for some one to have this kind of understanding of alchemy would take a life time of study.

The document was nothing less than a detailed acount of how to create the prime element, the so called philosophers stone, and the math, formulas, calculations, measurements, and all that went into theorizing, refining, and fallers along the path to success. It showed from start to finish how he researched, tested, and worked out the process, along with the actual final means of how to accomplish it.

It was no wonder the creation of the prime element was a rare thing. It not only took a staggering understanding of the properties of pasterns, but this method of static magic required a massive amount of resources and ingredients... many rare and from distant realms and planets.

The creation of a prime element in this static magic required nothing more than imbuing ALL the properties of mater into each other..... a truly staggering feat.  But the properties of the prime element were intern... limitless. Again... no wonder it was so sought out as well.

Sam stares in awe for several minutes, going over the notes.

"Wow.... This is... amazing." He sits down, staggered by the sheer magnitude of it. "I can only hope we manage to awaken him, if this is what he can do with the constraints he has..."

He laughs some nodding. "I know, but it seams what ever is making him immortal and keeping his avatar tied up into it is about as complicated as that stuff."

"Making him immortal? Maybe we don't want to Awaken him! At least not without careful precautions..."

"I am doughty he will age if his immortality is taken away, his 'curse/blessing' came from his teachers alchemy... damn fool made a deal with a demon for alchemical knowledge and then tested his elixir on his apprentice... lovely fucking away for a priest to act. Luckily there struggle sent them both falling to there death, and the old man 'woke up' before they tried to bary him."

"...Goodness. Still, something to be careful with, I'd say. I sure hope we can pull it off, though! That's exciting." Sam grins broadly.

He nods some. "Well then if you wish to stay with us I supose we should get your place set up." He moves into the shuttle pulling out the tool case and starts packing up the artifacers tools.

"If you'll let me! How can I help?"

He nods to the suplies. "Well you can box those up.... we don't have much use of them other to sell then, but you can probably make them into something so you should hang on to them."

200kc in uncut gems, base metals, fine rare woods, even some small amounts
of alchemicaly pure metals
300kc in various crafting tools

being added

Sam grins broadly and sets to work, making sure everything's sorted and labeled.

Luci chimes in "Is there any preference to the room lay out you would like?"

"Oh! Oh, right, you can do that! Oh gosh. I dunno, whatever you think is best?"

"Ok then, I will just provide you with the basics and a workspace."

"Lovely. Thank you so much."

Once Lee get the tool case packed up, it's custom made and a little bigger on the inside than the outside but still big eugh it has to be pulled along on two wheels.  He follows Luci's guide to the new room and sets it agenst the wall by the new work space. Lucy has set up storage space for the supplies so they can be sorted out.

4 point hermaic defense shields
<Dex+Piloting, diff 9 - computer skill, Durability 5, Shielding 6>

ship I have lost and will have to remake x.x

Once everything's sorted out, Sam asks, "Is there anything else I can help with?"

"Not unless you want to take a crack a decoding some of information on the ship or go on a supply run."

"I'd love to take a crack at decoding stuff, but maybe the supply run should go first. I'm not exactly an expert in cryptology and couldn't promise any results. What do you guys need?"

"Just the basics, nothing to important we can't do without just something to do while waiting. We need them but they can wait till later. I can make you a list if you want."

"Sure thing! It'll be fun to see a new part of the city. I saw a bit yesterday, but there's so much of it!"

"Ok, well I was thinking with you and the monk about we should set up some hydroponics and just grow our own food... So if you know anything about nutrition just get some of the supplies we need, if not find some one that can help you. If you have to go to Valles Marineris let us know before you take the tram." After messing with a pad while talking he hands it over. "Here is a list of stuff to pick up."

The list was nothing to unexpected, a few gallons of water (luci likely recycles most of the water used so not much is needed), some beef and poultry (not much they are going to venus soon and there will be a lot of cheep meat),  a fairly large list of vegetables and containers designed to keep them fresh (it's cheapest here), and the hydroponics equipment and what ever seeds needed.

"Here, also if you can try and pick up some dram.. 25 or 50. Take the monkey with you." He hands over a small credit chip case, inside there 15 basic chips.... if there all full that's 1.5mc! (or the equivalent of 15,000$)

"Whew! Alrighty, sounds good. I've been starting to learn to make dram, actually, so eventually hopefully I can help with that, but there's no way I'll be able to make that much quickly! Eventually, though, hopefully I can help there. I'll be back pretty soon!"

Sam grins and waves and heads out. He definitely tries to find someone to help him with nutrition analysis, since he doesn't trust his minimal knowledge thereof.

Bobo/Tex don't seam to be to happy leaving the ship but he don't want to see that much money just wondering off with out watching over it.

Sam makes small talk with Tex as they go, trying to put him more at ease.

Tex isn't much of one for small talk. "Your kind may have caved in gave us basic rites but truth is none of you see us more than something some one cooked up in there basement."

"Aw, Tex..." Sam hesitates, "I grew up in a weird place, and I haven't been out in the larger world all that long, but it's been long enough to see what you're talking about. But where I grew up, we had plenty of reason to be aware that how something looked or what it was made of didn't necessarily dictate what it was or what it did...
I'm rambling. My point is that as far as I'm concerned you and Luci are people worth just as much as anyone else. But your stance is absolutely justified, based on what you've probably seen and experienced - even just based on the little I've seen - and if you'd rather not interact with me past business, I totally understand."

I'm super bad at social interaction, so my characters' attempts at it tend to be a bit stilted even when they're theoretically really good at it like Sam, so a roll might be called for here... Charisma+Empathy, maybe? I don't know. Basically I'm just saying I'm aware I suck at this stuff but that shouldn't mean Sam does :P

He grumps some as they walk. "I guess but your on- HEY back off" he says pulling a gun rather unexpectedly quickly in front of you on a man about to bump into you, the hum of the magnetic rings clear to both of them and it made the guy back off raising his hands and moving on his way. He growled some under his breath putting the gun away, "your one person."

That was fast, he must practice a doing a quick-draw you generally don't get that quick otherwise. The hum was a little to noisy too for a rail gun, if all four guns are the same (and they look to be) looks like he's packing quad plasma guns... rather large barreled custom built ones for handguns.

"Yeah, I am. I'm sorry about that....

Nice quickdraw, there. And nice guns. Where'd you get 'em?"

He pulled out the gun holding it, twirling it a little. "Oh, got them made at Padma. If you know where to look there some people that make some wild stuff there. When you live with over grown plants and dinosaurs for neighbors, people start packing bug guns." He smiles some "You like guns?"

"A bit, yeah. I like any sort of well-crafted thing, really, but it's impressive how much power those... exude. Especially given their size. You know, I recently grabbed some, ah, magical energy that would probably resonate really well with those. Not sure what all would be involved, but do you want me to look into options?"

He awkwardly moves the hover trolly they need down a poorly sized stairs for it. "eh, thats ok, they work just fine as is." He was leading you off the 'safe' green marked routs. "I can't wait to get back to Venus, get some good real meat with out having to pay an arm and a leg for an arm and a leg" he chuckles some.

Sam chuckles too. "So where are we going first?"

"There is are some stores near the Valles Marineris tram with good prices, could probably save a few credits going there but why waist our time..."

Sam shrugs, "Alright then."

The shop was dirty and a little crowded for any store she was use to back home, but it had the crops her people traded for, fresher then she had ever seen in her life.

"Oh, wow! Look at these! What high-quality produce!"

"There strait from the farm, which is nice. Usaly most people just pick up what they whant or need from an orbital but if you take the trouble of coming down here you get to see it much fresher"

"Very nice!"

Sam follows along, watching Tex pick out the food.

will just say it's rather uneventful and you get back to the ship a little bit before the others do, you can be helping set up the hydroponics stuff.... probly make sam rather happy lol.... plenty skill growing metal crops. But to actualy help grow REAL crops that the town only could buy and never even see fresh.... hehe

That place was like a dozen grand central stations in one cavern, there was so many people and so much cargo going back and forth between Hades and the valley farms that for a small town girl it was enugh to give a case of agoraphobia.

So returning to lucy was a nice change of pace, and they had gotten some good deals. They had gotten some rather basic hydroponics set ups, they were just the devices needed and no frame to hold them. This made the case for a grade deal of machines very small and the price cheep. There was the raw material for sell, and a program for a omni-tool capable of mater manipulation, but with Sams skill set it wasn't really needed was it?

They saved quite a bit on passing on those and just sticking to the bare bones and schismatics for the dimensions for the frames and the composite make up of the materials needed.

"I suggest you create just create large chunks of each of these materials first, then worry about what shape they are. Once you got them then you can putt them in a more proper shape, after that you can start making each piece as it's needed. It will be lot easier if you do that first than just trying to build them one at time from scratch."

"Sounds good," Sam says, grinning excitedly. "This is gonna be so cool."

She takes her time, making sure to get them just right, singing quietly even when not using magic.

Sam had some trouble willing the raw materials into existence, Lucy was a Thalamavor and they were inside her.... but once she got the quintessence flowing she was able to get the material massed up in less than two hours... it was hard work but there was large clumps of metal everywhere.

She cut metal crops into scrap and pats, and loved building things... instructions on shaping and building a frame fora buch of racks was childs play.  It barely took a glance over it to get the measurements down, then it was easy shaping the metal.. it didn't even take a half hour to shape all the parts.... and only an hour or so to put the frames to geather.  And while the clumps of metal she called into being had plant like qualities she managed to suppress them in the frames.

Tex was clearly impressed as he dug through the crate. "Wow, your really good at this." He smiled some walking to one of the frames a part in each hand, and started installing them.

"Thanks!"

Sam hums happily as he goes around, checking all the pieces and smoothing them out as necessary.

Tex hands you some of the parts and keeps installing the rest. "I hope you know how these work, or some one is going to have to sit down with the instructions for a while. Scratch that... I just hope you can make heads or tails out of the instillation files on the central unit that runs all these racks, because it might as well been in Swahili when I looked it over..."

Well hydroponics units were some advance science, destined to sustain plants on minimum and recycled resources, most of them included some hyper tech in the central units.

"Well, uh... I'll see what I can do."

Sam tries to combine his magical knowledge of plants, his magical awareness of the devices, and his rudimentary knowledge of science to try to comprehend how the whole system works.

Sam had to admit, it was a bit complicated... she couldn't quite grasp it, close to, but couldn't. She would be able to hook it all up though, just it would take some study to understand how it worked. There ways it circumvented the normal food chain and returned nutrition to the soils by braking down the waist products the plants left in the soil that normally decrees the quality of the soil for that kind of plan, requiring crop rotation. Through some mix of primal, life, and mater magics it broke these down and rearranged them as nutrients the plants needed. This required checks on the plants and recalibration, so she would defiantly have to read up on it. That or try and talk them into shelling out some more credits to replace the scanning program with a higher grade one that made the calibrations for you.

Still, to make the checks she would need an omnitool to install the program.

Far more interested in learning new things than in wasting other people's money, Sam gets to work reading up on what he needs to know.

(What exactly is an omnitool and how do I get one?)

(It's a hyper tech tool that carries out procedures. EI it's a machine that casts magic.)

Tex grumps some when he finds the tiny memory drive with the programing. "I though they said we didn't need an omni tool to build this thing... those things creep me out how a machine going to muck around with reality like that..."

"Well, they didn't technically lie. We put it together without the omnitool, we just need it to run it. Misleading marketing, I guess."

He grumbled some shaking his head. "we still got one or two that Kingsington gave us." He comes back with one and hands it over after plugging in the program.

Senex Power Glove < level 4, quintessence 10>
*Is capable of running 5 minor procedures, 2 basic, or 1 complex.
*Capable of various scanning procedures using up to 2 in any sphere.
 These procedures can only gather information with the spheres they have.
*Is able to remotely content to various interfaces including the infosphere if available

Procedures Loaded:
Basic- Senex Scan Suite (built in don't count for limit)
Basic- Hydroponics Suite

They look something like this, only sleeker and usually not wrapping all the way around, and usually with a wire to a hard drive / power supply on the upper arm.

(sorry)

Sam puts it on and plays with it. "Oh man, this is the coolest!"

He gets to work with the instructions and program, figuring out how to use it to its full capacity.

The scanning procedure took some time to get use to it's various settings and menus. It was obviously ment to be used by trained professionals but aS am can figure its basics not how to read all the displays though, thankfully it dose have help files and legions that can be looked at later and the quantum computing is designed to learn to work with its user.... hypertech required at least a trinary code to run on and most had simple VIs now a days... this one could be set to respond to voice commands and would converse with you. It however was far far from an AI.

Getting the hydroponics program running looked like it would be much easier. Text however starts to fuss to stop playing with your new toy and help him work.

Sam glances up. "Huh? What? Oh. Oh yeah. I think that what I need to do is..."

He returns to setting up the plants as necessary.

While Sam didn't have much exspirance working with real plants, it wasn't that hard to do, and more work was spent hooking the equipment up.

(I thought this was the end of the scene, but it seems like you're waiting for me. Am I confused? What's goin' on here? Sorry if I'm holding things up.)

(oh my mistake I guess... just responding to what you were doing. IDK i think things are tied up untill people get back from vacation / distressing situations )

Is there anything you want to do with Sam before the others get back?

Nothing specific, really. Not much I can do with the quintessence now that the Forces expert is gone... unless...

Reshaping a piece of metal could easily be a Matter effect, but mundanely it's done through forging - heat and (somewhat) melting - and that's very closely tied with volcanoes (to the point of their name being tied to that of the Roman forge god Vulcan).

Does that mean dynamic(volcanic) quintessence could be useful for a metal item that changes shape? A bracelet that is also a screwdriver is also a hammer is also a knife... and so on.

Yah and dev uses forces too

Alright, what about something like this:

---

Ultimate Multitool (Ultitool)
3-point Wonder

This small artifact will often be found as a bracelet, necklace, or similar metal object when not in use, but it's hard to recognize, to say the least, due to its effect: changing shape (and even, temporarily, state) to the will of the activating mage. Need a hacksaw? No problem. A hammer? Done. An exact copy of this key here? Easy. An AX-497 6-pin jumper matrix? Just give it back when you're done.

---

Crafting: Dex+Crafts, 1 roll/hr, 30 successes necessary to form a metal seed out of various metals -> Allows enchantment in the first place
Purification: "Planting" the metal and "growing" it over the course of hours or days -> 1-3 difficulty reduction
Effect: Matter 3, Alter Form -> 3-point Wonder
Tass: Dynamic(Volcanic) -> Requires Prime 3 instead of Prime 4 (6 points total)
Enchantment: Arete, 1 roll/hr, difficulty 3(Prime) +4(Vulgar) -1(Focus) -(1-3)(Purification) -(1-3)(Research) = 4(Probably), 6 successes needed

You can get that as a plug and play procedure for the omni-tool... but having it as something like a bracelet around your wrist that people might miss is useful.

You don't have mind magic for it to react to, so you would have to use prime or magic to trigger it (unless you get a dot of mind)

You would be better of for now just doing it with your own magic.

If your making an item for yourself, it's best to do something that is hard for you to do, or something you would normaly do in a time sensitive situation... like combat.

You can only use magic one time per turn, you can however use magic and an artifact in the same turn. So when your down to turns that's when items that can do what you do normally come in the most handy.

Also there useful for paradox absorption when your working with something vulgar.

But ya something like that needs some way to 'comand' or control it, it's a little to complicated to just work with a just 'activate' putting energy into it.... if you did that there would be not telling what kinda tool you would get lol
This message was last edited by the GM at 02:05, Sat 12 July 2014.

okay never mind then

nothing else for Sam

Hum. It's a stretch so the difficulty would be higher but volcanic also is often acidic you could use life and mater for a sorta acid gun of sorts, would have to be careful with something like that but could have controls and dail it up to supernaturally strong (aliens move kinda strong) acid with prime infusion

Would come in handy but could be dangurous with out some safty measure

Long as it don't store up to much and mostly just produces it shouldn't be to much a problem though

Lol not like the morons that made the bale fire flamethrower that things as deadly to the guy wearing it as the people he's shorting at, but hey that's what mine controlling rondom people into him hen is all about

Balefire flame throwers btw, while rediculasly powerful are just as stupid to use

It is like having a immature and highly unstable nuclear reactor fueled by pure evil burning corruption and wearing it on you back

Not the best idea

Raven entered the ship, and attempted to find his way back to the room he had left his stuff in. His only real thought was about the good time he was about to have with the drugs he'd gotten from a God's realm.

As Raven approaches a doorway, a sharp tone sounds and, after some scuffling around, a brown, heavily scarred face pokes out the door.

"You don't look like a-" Sam glances down at the device on his wrist "-'plant matter of unknown type/origin, contamination unlikely, caution advised'."

He grins.

From the moment the sounds started to when Sam appeared, Raven had time to light a cigarette and had it held in one corner of his beak. He was slouched against a wall, but all four of his hands were lightly resting on a weapon each. He grinned back.

"Nope, not I. You're probably talking about sweet Mary Jane here."

The old bird patted a pouch.

"Picked her up while I was out and about, got a date with her a bit later."

The ex-Space Marine held out one non-talon ed hand, and dropped two others off weapons but left the last on an old railgun.

"Name's Raven. Pilot, mechanic, and a general pain in the ass to anyone I don't like. Who might you be, and how did you get on Luci?"

"Same way anyone does, I'd guess: she let me."

Sam looks Raven over appraisingly, then nods. "Nice.

"So I take it you're one of Luci's friends she was waiting for? Are you one of the ones that can talk to spirits? We have something around here somewhere I wanted your help with, if so. And hopefully I can help you with some things, too! If you let me study a sample of your..." He nods to the pouch, "I bet I can give you back at least as much." He smiles broadly and shakes the offered hand. "I'm Sam, by the way."

Raven scoffed as he listened to Sam.

"Luci's friend? Well, I crashed her into a space station, and she shot me in a cyber world, but I got her here safe and sound and she hasn't sucked me out an airlock yet. So yeah, I guess we're friends. To your second question, yes I can speak to spirits. I guess it wouldn't hurt to give you a hand with whatever. In fact I just got back from doing that, and as a result I got these drugs.

"As for giving you some, that I'm not so sure on. This isn't OG, this is it's great grand daddy. Have you even heard of Marijuana? Well, there was the normal stuff, then there was a former created during a war on Earth a very long time ago. Before even I was born, and I'might older than you think. I never thought I'd get any, but I met the guys who invented this super hash. To get to them, I had to free fall without a chute through a wall of spinning ice so sharp it sliced an environmental suit to shreds. And that, was just how my day started. So, as you might imagine, I'may just a touch protective of my stash. You sure you can reproduce it?"

"Not only am I nearly certain I'll be able to, I'm willing to attempt it with an amount small enough that it couldn't cause notable effects, given your mass. Actually, if you hang onto a bit for a while, I'd like to draw up some plans... if it's from that long ago, is it just a plant part, rather than a manufactured plant product? Because then there's a good chance I could just grow you a new one. Would'ja like that?"

Sam turns to a wall. "Hey, Luci, would you bring in that ID card for Raven to take a look at? And the datapad, if we had any more questions on that."

"Yes hold on."  After a moment a hole opened in the floor and table rose with what looked like a blank, plane white ID card on it. "It seams the busy little spider is almost done fixing it's software as well, so it will start it's search in a little less than two hours." which meant another 10 before it was done.... damn, if they could only convince it to be LESS thorough in it's search.
This message was last edited by the GM at 21:08, Fri 08 Aug 2014.

"Agh. Alrighty. Thank you." He grabs the ID card and hands it to Raven. "See what you can make of that, then. I can't tell what it does, but it definitely does something fancy."

Raven unclipped the pouch that held the drugs, and gave it to Sam as the old man took the card in turn.

"Take what you need to make it happen, leave me the rest. Now, let's see if any body's home..."

The bird held the card up in the fingers of a non-taloned hand; he did this so if there was a spirit in this object it wouldn't feel scared and there by more likely to talk. The Spirit mage focused on the item, and started to sing.

"I have found something new,
Little card speak to me.
Bringing words of wisdom,
Let it be."

The drugs in the bag where nothing peticularly remarkable, potent weed and cocane from Vietnam that was interlaced with quentesence in a peculiar way that seamed to make the concoctions stronger.

After taking his time to observe exactly how the three ingredients are combined, Sam carefully takes a tiny bit of each plant and puts them in a corner of the arrangement he was setting up, dribbling a bit of blood on each to coax them into full-grown plants in an instant.

(there not mixed up unless Raven did)

The plants react well to the magics and bloom quite healthy. Raven had seen some mystics do this sorta thing on Earth, they were practically worshiped in the wasteland, but it had been some time. Most of the plants he saw were synthetic or grew on some farm full of green-thumbed wonders thousands of miles away months ago before they got to him. It had been years sense he had seen a plant grow, particularly growing through most of it's life cycle in a few seconds.
This message was last edited by the GM at 03:19, Sat 09 Aug 2014.

Raven was very impressed at what Sam was doing, but he had his own half of this deal to complete. He tried another song.

"Hello card, my old friend.
I'm here to talk to you again.
Because a vision softly creeping,
Of a butterfly that was sleeping,
And the vision that was planted in my brain,
Said this creature would speak again."

Making a communion with the spirit was easy, communicating with it was a bit harder. It did not speak or understand any form of speech but was simple minded creature full of instinct, ideas, imagery. Thankfully Raven had for a time embraced his bird like nature and was more in touch with his instinctual nature than most people were. Huh, no wounder fera and primal shaman in touch with nature had an easier time with these sorta things. (Charisma + Primal Urge is the best stats for this he has, with no enigmas or empathy ratting)


The fetish blank ID card was a wondrous and simple but amazing blind of ancient shamanistic magics and modern technology. In it's sublime simplicity and subtle blind of ways so far separate from each-other, it was almost a work of art.
This message was last edited by the GM at 17:29, Sat 09 Aug 2014.

Once the plants are grown, Sam takes some of each and works it back into the form he borrowed, shaping it as necessary and concentrating ambient magical energy into it. He works on this until there's more in the pouch than there was to start, and leaves the plants growing so that he can make more later, too.

He then waits patiently for Raven to finish with the card before handing the pouch back.

The Spirit mage thought on what he saw, and decided to experiment with different ways of communication. For his first try, the vet attempted to use images since that was how the spirits of his weapons talked to him. He concentrated on the tiny creature attached to the card, and pictured several things in his mind for it to see. The fighter did these one at a time, and spent several minutes on each to give the little spirit time to understand.

First, he focused on himself flying a ship, and added the word 'pilot' in large block letters. Then, he imagined himself working on a machine. To this, the word 'mechanic' was attached. The old bird decided to go all out, and showed the being Raven riding up to the fancy city above Hades, and the words 'clearance approved'. He attempted to give the impression he worked for the Luci Corporation, and had a $500,000 charge account covered by them. The thrill seeker saw in his mind's eye himself walking around freely with his weapons, and imagined he had the security clearence to do that where ever here he wanted to go. He gave the butterfly the name Raven, and expressed this single word was his legal name and backed by the company he had invented. Finally, he relayed the image of the being making a card with his picture.

The mage wasn't being greedy, he was testing to see how much, if any of this, actually got through to the creature.

The communication barrier was a problem but trial and error was really all Raven had. After a few tries the spirit seamed to get an idea of what the mage was trying to do.


Sam is able to draw energy from outside the ship into the plant, though he had never done anything like this before it seamed a simple thing really. He didn't know if he had done it right or not, but the patterns looked close enough that he was sure enough to hand it over.

Raven allowed himself to once more notice Sam, and put a request before him.

"Can you find me a card reader? I need to test this, to see if my meddling did anything or not."

"I believe your power glove is capable of scanning a card" Lucy chimed in, and she was right the unit Raven got let him scan ID card and cred chips.

"That would sure solve the problem, if I happened to have it with me. As it stands, I left it here with my pack and such. Didn't see a need for it where I was going."

"I was getting it for you, takes time to move things around in me... I apologize." Your pack arrives shortly there after.

Raven blinked, then picked up his old school multi-tool. As he fixed it to his wrist, fitted the eye piece on his head, plugged the two together and fired up the device, the bird spoke out loud to the ship.

"That was a really cool trick, color me impressed. Hope you don't mind, but our monk friend seemed to be under the impression we could hitch another ride with you. If that's good for you, just move my pack to a spare room for me please. Thank you, Luci."

Once all was set, Raven scanned the card with his multi-tool and waited to see what information showed up, if any.

"No, we talked about it."

The scan came up with an error and reported it was not a valid ID, no information. It seamed it was currently as blank as it looked, save for the spirit inside and the card reader wasn't made to pick that up.
This message was last edited by the GM at 07:57, Sun 10 Aug 2014.

Raven swore under his breath, and looked to Sam.

"OK, here's what I got; this blank ID card has a spirit in it, and because of this said card can transform to be any ID with whatever information you want on it. The downside is though I thought I figured out how to talk to the spirit, the card registers as still blank. If you don't mind me holding onto it, I'll see what I can find in the Info-sphere and see if I can get this doodad working right."

The old druggie was quick to reclaim his stash, but he did give a nod of thanks to the other man.

"I would hate to interject, but if it would attempt to duplicate something that would pass for another card in a scan, I do not see how it could fool a scanner off a simple description regardless of how detailed it was."

"I don't suppose you have any ideas on how to get working do you, Luci?"

"What if you gave it a card to copy? All the info would be there, that way."

"I see no technological means of scanning an example but it dose stand to reason it would need one."

"OK, so is there a spare blank ID card laying around somewhere?"

"Why do you need a blank ID?"

"I want to see what it will do with it, if anything. Trial and error is all I got at this point."

"I do not have blank but I have fairly good fake or two. "  after a moment some ID cards are risen up on a small table. They where for that strange blue captain chick.

Raven picked up one of the fakes, placed it under the one he was holding, and waited to see what if anything would happen.