In reply to Oak (msg # 129):

::Oak, give me a couple weeks.  I should have some new veggies ready that you haven't tasted  yet.:: Gardener replies.  The link ends.

I look up at Blake.

"The Gardener said, 'Oak, give me a couple weeks.  I should have some new veggies ready that you haven't tasted yet.'  So it looks like we will need to wait for a bit before visiting him."

"If you wish, we could go to meet the other verser I have been able to find here.  The Reptilan is not too far away..."

In reply to Oak (msg # 131):

"That'd be good." He says, and starts walking in the way you lead.  He's easily able to keep up with you, having the tireless stride of wilderness guide.  You notice he is checking around every few seconds for threats.

He follows you into the tunnel after telling you he's seen them, but never tried one.

Upon getting to the bottom, its a short walk to the Reptilan's camp which is empty of versers.  A quick check reveals that the alien is in the lake's deep.

"Hmmm...  It looks like he is in the lake.  I will see if I can contact him..."

I stretch forth my telepathic senses toward his vector.

:: Friend jl;kjkljk;, this is Oak.  I have found another of the Lost, and he would like to meet you.  Is now a convenient time, or would another time be better? ::

In reply to Oak (msg # 133):

::Are you hungry? I can get more slimebeasts while I am down here. I will be up shortly.::

In a couple minutes, he is up, pulling himself out of the water with great effort, staggering over to the campfire, and crouching almost on top of the fire.

::Another Human.  Perhaps I am fallen into the Human section of the Multiverse.::

Blake eyes him coolly, analyzing him, and then goes and fetches the slimebeasts retrieved from the lake bottom.  He takes them from the water's edge, and lays them near the fire.

"A fellow hunter.  Even if a cold-blooded carnivore.  Tell him, I am a hunter, like him, Oak."

I relay the initial reply from the bottom of the lake, and then nod and try to establish contact in response to Blake's prompting.

I pray, and focus, and attempt to reach out my telepathic senses to both of them at once.

:: Let me see if I can serve as a direct communication hub.  Can you both hear me?  And, through me, can you hear each other ::

In reply to Oak (msg # 135):

The link is established, and you're now an Intermind server.

The two quickly find a rapport around both being hunters.  It turns out that much of the Reptilan's high tech civ was also hunter-gatherer.  They compare knife-fighting to talon-fighting techniques.

Blake pulls out a mylar wrap which he arranges around the Reptilan to bounce back the fire's heat which makes the alien far more warmer.  Soon, the Reptilan is again functional, and is cooking slimebeast for all three.

And then you see a small flexible sided box thing roll into the clearing.  Another rolls in, and then another.  They bump into each other, and hang on.  More come, in larger numbers.  Soon there are twenty.

:: Do these look familiar to either of you?  Are they friend, foe, or other?  Do you want me to teleport us away? ::

: Dearest LORD, please guard and guide us now, I pray... :

In reply to Oak (msg # 137):

::They're the locals.:: The Reptilan replies.  Blake has his rifle out, and loaded.
::This is their level of the Onion.::

More of them arrive, and gather into a larger clump.

:: What are your impressions of them?  Likes and dislikes?  Strengths and weaknesses?  What tokens of friendship would be meaningful to them? ::

In reply to Oak (msg # 139):

"You can't tell who you're dealing with until you deal with them.  You could be dealing with a benevolent, lazy being one time, and a sharpie later.  And whether you meet them again or not is well, who knows.  But they all like slime beast.

They don't like people getting too close to them.  They are warm-blooded, like you two, not like me.

The bigger the pile, the smarter they are." The Reptilan says.  "They think a lot different than you two Humans do.  I feel like I understand you, especially Blake."

:: How do you communicate with one another? ::

:: Since you are familiar with them, do you want to take the lead in conversing with them now? ::

In reply to Oak (msg # 141):

::Telepathy. And yes...Boxthings, I am here. Do you want to trade food::

The voices that come back are more of a chorus that develops harmony for a few seconds, and then falls apart.  But each time it gets in snyc, you feel a sharp mind touching yours, and as more of the sorta boxy things join in, the mind gets clearer, more penetrating.

At first its words, and then its concepts, and not just at the top level of your mind, but deep in your mind at the same time.

You are informed that the residents of the second layer have unleashed Mindeaters, and you three oddlings will heroically volunteer to save the E Pluribus Unum from this deadly threat.  It is regretful that your personal existence as sub-entities is threatened, but the Greater Whole that you are would understand.  However, it is thought that if you surrender yourself to this goal you have a greater chance of survival than if you fight.

I pray silently.  Assuming that I do not receive any nudges to the contrary...

:: What is known of the residents of the second layer, and of these Mindeaters? ::

:: How do they threaten you, friends of the E Pluribus Unum? ::

:: What are their strengths and weaknesses? ::

:: What knowledge or resources do you have to aid us in this task? ::

:: I am willing.  What say you, friend jl;kjkljk; and friend Blake? ::
This message was last edited by the GM at 21:56, Mon 26 June 2017.

In reply to Oak (msg # 143):

You see large beetles, smaller than you, armored.  They communicate with pheromones, but they have creatures that are much larger, twenty feet long versions of the giant caterpillars, but they have much stronger psi potential.

And you realize that they're not friends of E Pluribus Unum, which is a concept name it snatched from your brain, but it is a singular mind of sorts.

It, for it has no gender, can change your pheromones so you smell bad or toxic to the others.  It will also gift you a mind sword, left from some other time.

The Reptilan is willing but grumpy about being coerced.  Blake shrugs and says 'As long as I get paid'.

:: What kind of payment do you wish from them, friend Blake? ::

:: Friends of the E Pluribus Unum, can you teach us the skill of pheromone changing?  If we are separated from you, and the battle rages long, we may need this ability ourselves. ::

:: Where do these Mindeaters roam?  How may they be overcome? ::

In reply to Oak (msg # 145):

::Good point.  How about free passage through their lands, and freedom to hunt anything not them in their lands.::

::Accepted:: Is the reply.

::These two do not have strong enough minds, but you, with that bit put in your mind, might.  Activate it.::

You see that they come from the nearer tunnel after digging in to it, and from several other tunnels.  E Pluribus Unum has won against them before with swarm attacks but many parts of it died.

I pray, and attempt to activate it.

:: When you swarm attacked it, how exactly did you attack?  Physically?  Psionically?  What kind of attack was it vulnerable to? ::

In reply to Oak (msg # 147):

You get a picture of them trying to eat it.

Your chip activates, and you can feel brilliance flare through you. Barbarian invasions typically occur from forced migrations occurs to you.

And then you feel the Ogre and E Pluribus Unum trying to use the same cycles, no stop, you have time to shout, but you're just faster than they are, and the snowball has started rolling.

Your pheromones have changed.

Reptilan lunges toward you. He tumbles past you.

Blake is fumbling for his rifle.  He's looking at  you with his eyes glazed.  He's drooling.

"Steak. Juicy, medium rare, prime rib.  Oh yeah."

OOC: Rolled a 100...

:: Stop, friends!  Pheromone malfunction! ::

I attempt to immediately teleport back to my garden...

In reply to Oak (msg # 149):

Blake pauses, looking confused, but there's still hunger in his manner.  You try to teleport, but no, and then you feel fire run up your back.  Lines of fire and pain as the Reptilan opens up your back with its claws, and it vaults over you, trying to knock you down.  You stagger forward a half-step but keep your feet.

Reptilan's right talons and fingers are coated red up to his first knuckles.  This brings new meaning to 'My back hurts'.

I pray, and belatedly press the button to manually activate the benevolent empathic field.

:: Wait, friends!  Don't attack!  Pheromone malfunction! ::
This message was last edited by the GM at 05:50, Fri 30 June 2017.

In reply to Oak (msg # 151):

Blake stares into space.  The Reptilan leaps at you, and rips open your shoulder as you duck.  He comes at you again, but slips in your blood.

: Dearest LORD, if you would have me remain here to serve you, please clear their minds, and preserve me from attack.  And if you would have me serve you elsewhere in the multiverse, Thy will be done... :

I move back as I even more belatedly press the button on my kinetic field device, attempting to surround myself in a protective bubble...
This message was last edited by the GM at 19:30, Fri 30 June 2017.

In reply to Oak (msg # 153):

The Reptilan leaps again, hits the field, and slows.  And then you see energy running down his arms, and grounding with sparks that smell of ozone and burnt onion in the ground.  And then your field pops.  You remember he was from an advanced civilization.

Shunk.
Riiiip.

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

Next world. "Oak Oak".