The older woman continues to press her attack upon the sathosh...

Attilisk misses his his, but Paraton does not, slamming their quarterstaff into the un-Cubed sathosh over and over until it ceases to move.  Or live.  Cube continues to grip and absorb its sathosh until it too is entirely gone.  Eleisai feels a relaxation of the atmosphere, and hears the whimpers of the thuman anew.  The ledge that it's on is about twelve feet above the ground, and there are some smears on the wall that seem to indicate it might have scrambled up there with some kind of assistance.

Delfino cautiously enters as Cube makes short work of the other sathosh body as well, blinking as the flashing lights of the crystal continue.  There are a few other non-sathosh bodies in the corner, and another exit from the room to the south, about five feet off the floor, round and dark.  Delfino tries to examine the crystal to get it to stop flashing, and has to shade his eyes, shaking his head as if he's dizzy.

Attilisk will examine the room for any additional threats.  Finding none, he would begin to search the room (and the bodies) for valuables and clues.  "I am depeleted."

As Attilisk examines the various bodies, he sees a varjellan, long dead and desiccated with a pack on its back, a couple of humans dressed as city folk with small messenger bags, also long dead, and one human who is alive and just coming awake!

Attilisk will grab the messenger bags, as they're likely easier to dis-entangle from the corpses.  He holds his staff warily as he picks through the containers.

The older woman nods.

"Anyone who needs healing, please let me know.  Before exploring too far in there, let me scan to make certain there are no further hidden dangers.  I detected the sathosh before they attacked, but you entered before I could give warning.  After scanning, I can attend to your wounds, and to the distressed creature on the ledge..."

She stretches forth her scanning senses, including the flashing crystal and the creature.  Assuming she eventually detects the living human, she will move to assist ASAP...

Voices rouse Porgot from unconsciousness. What just happened? He wonders as he opens his eyes and struggles to sit up. Where do you send me, transifugred one?

Bodies surround him as he takes in the scene, Am I meant to be dead? He looks up as the voices he hears take the shape of words, "I am no danger!" He calls in the direction of the voices, "I am Porgot, a servant of the Transfigured God, and come here at its behest, please, I mean no harm!"

The human voice allows Attilisk to relax a bit and focus more on his efforts to find useful items among the fallen.

Cube gives a ripple that seems to serve as a shrug when Eleisai asks if anyone needs to be healed.  Delfino also seems to be all right, and he gives her a quick smile of encouragement before turning back to their new arrival.

"Transfigured God?  That is a new entity to me.  I am Delfino, a Brethren of the Form," he says, giving a small bow.  Delfino is, in every way, an identical twin to Attilisk.  "Attilisk is my Form, and Cube and Eleisai are companions of his.  What designation do you go by?"

Attilisk pokes through the messenger bags, and the backpack too for good measure.  He finds a good six units of io, a cylinder of pale fluid containing a red and green block he recognizes as mother marrow, a round container of apt clay, a curious meter square silk sheet that seems to change color constantly, two glowglobes, some long-desiccated rations, four empty canteens, a steel dagger, and an organice-looking syringe full of violently red fluid.

Attilisk makes use of the messenger bag to store some of the small treasures he's found.  The dusty rations are left behind, as are a messenger bag and backpack.

"How's the ... human?"  He works out some of the pain in his joints.  "I could use some healing when you get a chance, ma'am."

Picking up on Delfino's cue, he waves to the person recovering consciousness.  "I'm Attilisk, by the way."

"Oh how I envy you! Your world has so much room to grow! The Transfigured God is the great orchestrator, the inspiration, the one who guides us to ascendence! I am here at its direction, on a quest I cannot deign to understand. Perhaps it is to bring its ways to you in this dark place. I am overjoyed at the opportunity! I am known as Porgot the Adherent, a tool in the Transfigured God's quest to raise humanity to ascendence." Porgot pulls himself up to a kneeling position, his head spinning.

"You must forgive me, it has brought me to this place through mysterious means. I was in a different room when my whole world became a silver blur, then black, and now I wake here. I do not understand what happened, but I believe I require a moment to regain myself." He holds one hand to his hand, the metal of his garb clanging against each other to make a metallic song.

"I believe I am whole, if a little shaken." He answers Attalisk. "It is curious to meet you all, I am glad whatever has transpired here has spared you who seem to be amiable. Where is this place I have been brought?"
This message was last edited by the GM at 00:18, Tue 29 Oct 2019.

Using their quarterstaff as a pole, Paraton jumps to the wall just so, and hops on a minuscule ledge precisely that way, to land silently next to the thuman. They soothe the poor beast with careful pats and judicious application of a few scraps of dried meat. Then, using a large neckerchief they tie the animal to their back and descend. The whole operation is a joy to watch.

As they get down, Paraton salutes the awakened man and asks Eleisai for help soothing their nerves.  Then they throw a wobbler.

"What is going on here where am I this is not me this is not my land who are you all who are you all who tell me who," Paraton yells as they flail.

The realization of having been translated to a completely new place has finally clicked. Paraton will indeed need some help.

Paraton rolled 20 to climb up and down to get the thuman.
This message had punctuation tweaked by the GM at 01:54, Tue 29 Oct 2019.

Attilisk rises from his seated position.  "I can tell you my part of it.  We are in Navarene.  Q'nur and I came to explore a series of caves or underground complex or something.  The rumors weren't certain.  We arrived and starting looking around.  In a room filled with pods that were able to create Brethren," he says, waving to Delfino, "We encountered Eleisai, Cube, and the true twins.  Seeker and Delfino came from the pods and we were attacked by the angry noodle-armed beastie.  It fled, phasing through the walls.  We followed, trying to find the Brethren version of the beastie to figure a way to calm one or both, so they would not attack the village overhead, that I didn't even know was there."

He pauses and collects his thoughts.  Some sense of guilt is evident in his words.  "As I was trying to manipulate the controls on the spiraling ramp we were traversing, I somehow managed to make the bugs ... align in a very strange and powerful way.  Q'nur, Seeker, the twins ... they all walked into the light that blazed from inside the pattern.  They vanished.  Window and Paraton arrived from where the light vanished, but Window," Attilisk points back to the room they just left, where a human-shaped tree has rooted in the metal floor, "He didn't make it through the battle with the Sathosh.  And that was my Cypher, too."

Attilisk stands in silence, fighting to control his features from succumbing to the weight of lost lives.

"When we get out of here, I'll design a tattoo to memorialize them.  Perhaps Delfino will do me the honor of wearing it."

The older woman blinks calmly as her eyes water slightly.  Her empathic senses are awash with the strong emotions of Porgot, and Paraton, and Attilisk, and even the thuman.  Her reaction to their feelings is... empathic.  She feels their confusion, grief, and pain.

As Attilisk finishes speaking, she gently lays her hands upon him with a reassuring and healing touch before turning to speak to them all.

"Peace, friend Attilisk.  Our lost companions knew the risks, and still chose this path."

"Cube and I arrived here with a caravan a couple of hours ago, just in time to rescue a villager from an earlier attack from that same worm-like tentacled creature.  The Elders here asked us to follow the attacker's trail into this place to investigate."

"I am a humble servant of the Sovereign One, Creator and Savior of all.  It sounds like you may have some knowledge of Him, friend Porgot.  I have a copy of His Sacred Scriptures, and we can read it together later when time permits, if you wish."

"Peace, friend Paraton.  It can be unsettling when our paths lead through Numenera, but so it was decreed by the Sovereign One from the foundation of the world.  It was meant to be.  We are in good hands."

Having given some comfort to those working through the strongest emotions, she gently turns to the thuman with her reassuring and healing touch as well.  As she does so, she stretches forth her telepathic senses to touch minds with the distressed creature.

:: Peace, dear one.  You are safe now.  What is your name? ::

Paraton's leap to the thuman has an interesting effect.  They did a running leap to the wall, caromed off the flashing crystal, and then landed on the ledge.  As they touched the crystal, it abruptly flashed once, then subsided into a dim glow.  The thuman is pathetically glad to have a friendly face as they descend to the ground.  It nudges Paraton as they freak out, licking their covered hand and leaning against them despite the wound on its leg.  Its oddly human-like face is broad and pink with dark brown eyes, and its body is a soft, plush blue-gray.  The wound in its leg looks like it came from a heavy blow, possibly a bad landing or being hit in mid-air.

As Eleisai bends her empathic senses upon it and healing powers, the leg straightens out with a soft pop.  It makes the thuman yelp, but it stays still as Eleisai projects welcome and warmth at it.  When she asks its name, she feels a flood of fear and then relief.  It makes a sound of, "Nu-mar," the voice thin from exhaustion.

"Navarene...." Porgot lets the word roll around his mouth and hang in the air after hearing it. "It sounds as though you have been tested as well. I wonder if this is these chambers' true purpose. I wonder what aspect of the Transfigured God the Sovereign One comprises or the other way 'round! I would be very interested to learn of its words when we've time to share them, and I'd like to share the Transfigured God's teachings in turn. I believe I'm destined to learn of something critically important here, but I know not what so my appetite is voracious!"

He walks to Paraton and holds a hand out, "Yes, peace, friend. I am lost as you, I believe we have found safe succor here." He gestures to Eleisai and Attilisk before turning to them. "It is curious that this place can create beings... Brethren you call them? Perhaps the divine pulses through the numenera here, and takes many forms as they've delivered me and this one," He points to Paraton again "In such similarly dissimilar ways. Let us hope we find answers where we may not even seek them, new friends!"

Porgot takes in the room after speaking, turning and examining the walls and exits as best he's able.

OOC: How many exits are there? What is the lighting situation? Does anything move other than the thuman and other adventurers? Are there any sounds?
This message was last edited by the GM at 04:11, Tue 29 Oct 2019.

"Unless someone's planning to stir up more trouble in the immediate future, I'm going to rest a moment.  Today has been exhausting, and I fear it isn't over yet."

Attilisk leans against the wall farthest from the corpses and pulls a waterskin from his pack.  He takes a few swigs before offering it to the others.  Some minutes pass as he takes in the room, the crystals, and the others with him.

OOC: ten minute recovery, for reference
This message was last edited by the player at 03:54, Tue 29 Oct 2019.

The room had one large arched exit to the east that spills out onto the ramp the group had indicated they had traveled down.  There is another exit to the south, about five feet above the ground, round and dark, perhaps big enough to allow a human to crawl on their knees.  There is a small ledge about 12 feet above the floor where the thuman had laid.  There is a large crystal cluster in the middle of the floor, nearly feet high, that glow softly.  Aside from the corpses of what possibly were explorers, there is nothing else moving in the room.  There is a faint, mechanical thrum through the floor and walls, more of a low vibration than a sound.  There is curiously little smell other than a faint tang of blood, probably because Cube, the unusual jelly-cube warrior, has absorbed all the sathosh bodies, leaving none to impart their smells to the air.  The dead explorers are desiccated and naturally mummified.

Attilisk concludes his rest with a quick sketch of the crystalline structure in the middle of the room, an exercise he finds calming and centering.  He then makes a more thorough examination of the corpses, muttering something about "No use letting something go to waste."

As he rifles through pockets and bags, along belts and in boots, Attilisk asks to no one in particular, "So what's our next move?  Are we still going to chase that big beastie and its Brethren double?"

"Spoken as one who recognizes the abundance that the world offers! Do you find iotum or useful parts among this sad pile, Attilisk?"

"I'm sure the Transfigured God has meant me to find you for one reason or another." Porgot lifts his pack from his back and sets it at his feet. "Should you mean to enter the darkened portal and require a bit of brightness, I may be able to mix something up that'll give you the eyes of a Cat!" His eyes get wide and he gestures with open hands on either side of his face.

"I am but a humble facilitator though, I'm afraid. The Transfigured God guides me to paths that lead, and I am prepared to follow whichever way you, my new path, point toward.

Delfino nods slowly.  "The day has been long, particularly from the perspective of those who came from the surface.  It might be good to rest.  Though Attilisk's detector should tell us if it is safe to do so.  There are many dangers here, but the Brethren that goes through walls is very unpredictable and seemingly very agitated.  I do not know why it hasn't come back for us...  Maybe it ran afoul of something?"

Attilisk continues to rummage through the possessions of the deceased.

To Porgot, he says, "Some iotum, yes.  Whatever these ill-fated explorers had carried.  By the way, do you need an empty canteen?"  He pats his bag with an audible clank.  Then he leans against the wall.  His hands examine more of the items he's found, but his eyes are staring blankly at the floor.

"I don't like the idea of that village being threatened.  And there's certainly interesting material down here."  Attilisk sighs as he ponders the objects he recovered, occasionally sucking blood from his nicked finger. Eventually, he comes up with a plan to offer.

"Maybe learn what we can from this room, explore another hour or two, and then try to find a safe place to bed down for the night?  That vision I had connected the creatures to this place, so maybe they'll stay within it.  Regardless, I'm certainly less useful if I'm battered, bruised, and exhausted when we do eventually find them."
This message was last edited by the player at 16:40, Sat 02 Nov 2019.

So, I have questions. But the first, and most important: how do we name this thupper? I vote for "Bront".

...I'm still feeling a bit unsettled, as should be obvious. So I agree with you on the learning and exploring. Luckily this voyage I was forced on left me with most of my things. About this room... Let me see.
The seeker takes some fiddly bits and a bottle that emits bubbles. The bubbles start glowing when they reach poorly lit areas of the room. With all this display, Paraton starts inspecting the room the group is in, especially the bits where the thuman was found.

13:19, Today: Paraton rolled 17 trying to find something useful about the room the party is in. assuming it's not the same room as before. They are trained in any task that involves learning something new.

Also, from a while ago: 10:49, Fri 04 Oct: Paraton rolled 12 using 1d20.  Finding cyphers. Trained in identifying Numenera.

"Thupper?  The thuman, you mean?  Didn't it say it's name was Nu-mar?  Although maybe Bront is better."  Attilisk keeps an eye on Paraton's explorations.  He has no idea, himself, how the thuman managed to get up on the shelf it was found on.
This message was last edited by the player at 18:15, Mon 04 Nov 2019.

It did make a sound of "Nu-mar", now that you mention it. I didn't think it was referring to itself.

I never stopped to think if they are sentient, now that you mention it.

Well, friend, what's your name? Are you Nu-mar? Is that your name?