Nembellick may be one of the most unique cities you have yet seen.  When Fakeen Orris hired you to tend to the needs and safety of her caravan, she had promised you that she went to some rather unusual places.  She has yet to disappoint; likely that is the reason she was perfectly fine hiring someone as unusual as Cube.

You've been with the caravan for a month, the first week spent traveling between small claves in the Beyond.  Fakeen knew her markest, and traded ore from one place for thin sheets of synth in another, trading those for flocks of feathered, six-legged sinuous creatures in clear bubbles, the creatures for heavy synth bags of some kind of sloshing liquid, so and so forth across the countryside.

For the past three weeks you have traversed the Black Riage mountains, trading at tiny villages, hamlets, and claves that one had to know they were there to find them at all.  The caravan of twenty aneen had little trouble navigating the slopes and turns of the range, though you've had to fend off occasionally attacks of broken hounds at night, and two raids by abhuman bands looking for a quick bit of loot and mayhem.

As you descend from the foothills into Navarene, the aneen are now burdened with bundles of a thick red fleece that the last village harvested from the churning of the crimson waterfalls near their home.  Fakeen had recommended not drinking any of the local brews while you were there.  As the foothills become more and more gentle, Fakeen nods to Eris (and Erin) on their own gold and white aneen, gesturing to what appear to be two large structures atop stilts in the distance.

"That'll be our next village, Nembellick.  They do fancy feather cloaks and fabrics - the stuff looks grand and is light as a cloud, but 'tis more suited for them that don't have to dirty their hands for work.  City folk in particular will pay handsome for it," she says, raking her silver hair out of her eyes, her one crystalline hand flashing in the late summer sunlight.  "Should be there in a few hours."

That's a bit interesting, because it suggests the tall structures are quite tall indeed, though estimating size at a distance can be deceptive.  As you draw closer, you notice something quite odd about the little town, in particular across the structures.  The long stilts supporting the building, they seem to be organic.  That's not entirely unheard-of, but certainly less common.  Then you realize that there are structures atop the largest parts of the silts.  And the tall towers that rose above the city are attached to them.

Nembellick is a cluster of buildings atop the backs of two enormous four-legged bird-like beasts, with ropes that stretch between them for people to visit the opposite part of town.  Long cord ladders dangle down the necks from the head, where a single structure with a single person sits.  Below the "backs" of the birds are a series of slings and more ladders and ropes for people to dangle or swing on.  It seems, from the piles of refuse at one end, and the small flocks of dossi being tended in the shadow of the birds' feet, that the large creatures move very slowly, if at all.

As the caravan draws closer, the older children who seem to be in charge of the dossi herds shout and laugh, pointing at the caravan as someone swarms up a ladder to alert anyone who hadn't already known of the group's presence.

As the other children herders begin to call and use crystal-tipped staves to get the dossi together, there is a rumble in the earth.  With a shriek, one child loses his footing and falls out of sight as two surprised dossi tumble after him, lowing their distress over the harsh, staticky cry of something very strange...
This message was last updated by the GM at 15:48, Mon 01 Oct 2018.

Atop their ochre and white aneen, Makhai, the two nobles nodded in tandem at Fakeen's pithy summary of the opportunity that Nembellick presented. On both faces their lips quirked up in a smile, knowing a little of the kind of parties and gatherings that such garb might well be worn. Knowing a little of those who might wear it, though their own upbringing was ... well, rougher ... in the Malevic fashion. They wondered if such fabrics were their next cargo, and - if so - whether the trader meant to aim them for one of the larger Navereen cities, or to somewhere who might take such and render it into the confections it was suited to. Such idle musings occupied them on the ride, a thought simmering whilst they keep their watch on threats to the serai.

And such thoughts wended their way to more philosophical ones, questions of what role the swaying nomadic nature of the settlement might have on those within it; questions of their surety and safety, with the herds being tended to by the most vulnerable. Unless they were bait or slaves, they mused, though it seemed unlikely; few places practised the same economics as their homeland. They smiled, in tandem.

And then the earth spoke, a coughing rumble that had one of them sliding from atop broad-shouldered Makhai: Erin, who they called Oft-Scout in private between them, with their bow and short blades and tight-braided hair; they slid to the tumbled earth and began to cover the distance forward toward the child-herders and the yawning maw forming in the earth. Eris, still mounted, wheeled their thoroughbred aneen, half a shoulder taller and broader than the biggest of the trader's mounts, and scanned the surrounded plains for threats even as they called out to the others, "Hie, Walkers! 'Ware for threats, below and about!"
This message was last edited by the player at 05:46, Wed 03 Oct 2018.

Already headed for the ground section of the new town Cube, who usually stays on the fringes of any settlements, neither slows down nor speeds up as the rumble of the earth sends ripples cascading across his outer surface.

With just the one speed, slightly faster than the wagons, Cube often drifts off from the road they follow, in the many types of terrain traveled none have slowed his forward speed, only failed to support his mass.

The older woman focuses intently as the scene unfolds before her.

As if in slow motion, she sees the child and the dossi disappear, and hears their cries of distress... followed by an altogether different cry.

"Sovereign One, please guard and guide us now, I pray..."

And as if in slow motion, she rises into the air, moving toward where the child was last seen...

As the commotion draws the attention of the caravan and the city both, things begin moving.  In the underslings along the legs of Nembellick, Eris can see motion as what looks like adults begin pointing bows, crossbows, and some glinting, unfamiliar numenera towards the disturbance.  The herders shout and begin wheeling the dossi back towards the feet, trying to shoo the scaled herd beasts away from whatever swallowed two of their fellows and one of the herders.

Eris quickly looks around for an other impending action, checking earth and sky for more disturbances.  For the moment, the only thing making a fuss is what you see near Nembellick.  Erin runs quickly towards whatever melee is happening, and sees something something large (easily as large as a dossi), wormlike and with several small hands or tentacles has emerged from the ground.  The two dossi are collapsed on the ground near it, and it seems to be pointing one spindly limb at the herder, suspending the child in the air.

OOC: "large as a dossi" being about the size of a real-world cow.

Cube begins his move right after Erin; while lacking her loping gait, his relentless strength and indifference to terrain gives him a steady speed to come close to her.  In the next few moments you'll be on the shrieking beast!

Eleisai rises in the air through her strength of mind, seeking the next twist to take her closer to those in distress.

Fakeen reins in the caravan, keeping her distance and a lookout.  "'Ware!  Circle up tight and let the Walkers work!"

--

Those advancing by esotaries or otherwise can get close enough to attack in the next few moments.  The shooters in the underslings seem to be trying to get a bead on the strange creature, which those drawing closer can see has strange markings seemingly drawn upon it.  It has a toothy maw with yellowed teeth, and a faint haze of distortion shows at the tips of its limbs.  The herder, a youngling in wrapped robes, seems to be suspended in mid-air, limp and either unconscious or dead.

The eyeless beast gives another staticy screech that grates upon the ears, and the dossi upon the ground howl and moan in pain.

"Well that's ugly," the usual smirk on his face morphing to a scowl.  The young man sat on the edge of a wagon, one leg dangling and leaning on one arm.  Fakeen calls out and Fen sighs at the outlook of conflict with this thing.  He drops off the wagon and starts walking forward.  His distance behind Cube and Eris no bother to him.

With a simple check, Fen confirms his weapons still attached securely and begins to pick up his pace without drawing them.  It didn't even have eyes, so he couldn't poke it there.  Goals and priorities aligning.  The young man in that things grasp wouldn't last long.  Cube and Eris could fight that thing or drive it back into its pit, Fen would be ready to zip in and swipe the young man away as quick as can be.
This message was last edited by the GM at 15:52, Wed 10 Oct 2018.

The older woman continues floating through the air, upwards and onwards, as she makes her way toward those in need.

As she floats, she focuses into the distance, and begins to step forward in mid-air.

From her point of view, the rest of the world becomes distorted as if viewed through a fish-eye lens, while her foot slowly extends forward toward her point of focus.

From the point of view of an observer, she looks as if she starts to elongate quickly forward, stretching and reaching with her foot through the air toward a point ahead of her.

Closer... closer... closer...

Contact.

And the older woman is suddenly about a hundred feet ahead of her previous position, and floating that much nearer to the scene of the action...

Cube ignores the herdsmen and beasts for any purpose other than to swerve slightly to avoid running into them as they move around erratically.  Approaching the gap in the ground that looks like it is the source of something interesting Cube goes right up to the edge of any cliff or pit but neither goes in nor initiates interaction with anything inside.  Merely inspects the area for anything new and interesting.

The older woman stretches out her Empathic and Nano Scanning senses toward the youngling and the creature as she floats nearer... and gently but firmly takes the youngling into her arms...

"Makhai, hai!", called out Eris, long braids following the sweep of their eyes even as they made one final scan of the plains around them; winds ruffled the yellowed grass, a tousling that reminded them of their brother. With their words and their heel, the aneen sprung forward towards where the dossi lowed and brayed and the townsfolk had begun to react.

Closer, and Erin unlimbered their bow, notching an arrow even as they slowed to track the creature's movements and markings; they had not met such a thing before, nor seen such symbols but were keen to know of them should they do so again. Eyes and ears focused on the beast, both of them sought familiar shapes and signs that might indicate whether it was smart enough to reason with - or controlled by one who might be

At the gap in the ground, the worm-creature spins and roars, tentacles flicking out to strike at Cube.  Cube responds instantly, gripping two of the limbs that had come to strike it in an unyielding grasp.



Fen speeds closer, ready to snatch and grab, but as Cube closes with the creature and holds some of it still, it lurches and thrusts the limp form the young herder higher than Fen's hands. 



The creature below is caught fast in Cube's grasp, but it still doesn't care to release its prey.  As Eleisai comes closer, she can feel a hatred and a hunger pouring out of the creature, and gains a sense of a biologic creature with an advanced nervous system and an abundance of energy.  As she grabs the young herder, pain sears along Eleisai's nerves, as if the intangible grasp of the creature is trying to extend to her.



Erin can see the markings look elegant and deliberate - not like a brand, more like very careful scarification.  This looks like the work of intelligent hands.  The marks don't match any language you know.

Eris can see the Nembelleck natives had raised their weapons slightly - with Eleisai and Fen so close, they seemed reluctant to fire on someone who was coming to the aid of one of their own.

Fen watches as it thrusts the young herder into the air.  He's going to go too high.  A slow smile spread across Fen's face, but his muscles tensed for a spring.

"It's cattle, not a wild thing", called out Erin softly to those of the Walkers close to them, moving closer towards where it writhed in Cube's grasp and wrestled with Eleisai for its prize, "Or perhaps a pet?"

Advancing towards it, they kept their bow in hand but lowered and began to call babble softly at it; that it was someone else's property did not make the Malevichan value the creature more, but shifting the responsibility for it's harm to its owner and master

Atop the golden aneen, Eris rode closer, calling out to the gelatinous member of their coterie, "Any sign of more? Or the creature's keeper?"

The older woman sets her jaw as the searing pain passes through her, blinks to clear her watering eyes, and floats away from the creature as quickly as she is able to bring the youngling to safety...

OOC: What did the scan tell her about the youngling's condition?  :o

Holding the tentacles fast Cube seems content to wait as they slowly begin to devolve, safely contained at least for the moment he seems content to let the creature's struggles dictate its own fate.

Fen sees the youngling flying high, and, already tensed to spring, leaps for the youngling before the child can be flung, dropped, or something else happen.  His leap meets the youngling as Eleisai was trying to grasp them, and between Eleisai's tugging and Fen's mighty leap and shove, the child comes free from the creature's grasp and can be taken away with Eleisai.  Fen lands softly, and has a surge of confidence as the creature rears back slightly in surprise.




The babble brings nothing but another screech from the creature, and Erin can almost feel the intensity of its hate as she draws near.  Eris cannot see any further signs of more creatures, or any other person who might be directing it.



With Fen's help, Eleisai is able to float away with the youngling.  Her nano senses tell her that the child is unconscious and in great pain, its body systems affected badly by the creature's touch.



Cube's grip is relentless and painful, and the creature reacts very violently, lashing out at everyone with its remaining tentacles.  Instead of contacting them, rocks from the disrupted ground begin to float around it, along with one silvery, glowing chunk of what looks like numenera of some sort.  It screams as it flings out the projectiles with invisible force.

OOC: Speed check DT 6 to avoid 6 points of damage.

The chunk of numenera it tries to push into Cube, leaking a violently orange light.

"Thank... you... Sovereign... One..."

The older woman gratefully drifts through the air, bearing her precious burden, propelled through the air by the momentum from Fen's push and the sudden slingshot release from the creature's hold.

The youngling is unconscious and in great pain, and her empathic senses throb with a shared pain that mirror her own injuries.

As they float, she tries to focus upon healing the youngling, but her own pain plus the youngling's pain she empathically shares overwhelm her ability to concentrate...

RPoL Dice Roller:

18:51, Today: Eleisai rolled 2 using 1d20.  Youngling Healing Touch w/Extra Healing Effort DT2 .

EDIT:

As rocks flew outward from the creature, the older woman did her best to shield the youngling.  Her searing pain redoubled as a flying rock struck her...

RPoL Dice Roller:

22:24, Today: Eleisai rolled 12 using 1d20.  Cranky Critter Carnage, Speed Roll, DT6.

This message was last edited by the player at 05:29, Mon 15 Oct 2018.

Rather than move and risk releasing the tentacles he olds fast Cube simply weathers the brunt of the creature's assault rippling like a slow motion pond whenever a projectile hits him, but not really showing all that much cumulative wear form the impacts.

“Enough”, roared both Eris and Erin in one pain-laced voice as they suffered a torrent of shrapnel and invisible lashes from the beast; swiftly loosing an arrow with the blue-grey fletching of D'Iscordian, Erin watched it arc towards it, even as Eris swept beside and past them atop Makhai, broadsword swinging at the apex of their charge past Cube's bulk

RPoL DiceRoller:

12:39, Today: Eris rolled 6,9using 1d20,1d20 ((6,9)). Speed, DT 6 - Eris, Erin => 4 Might to Eris, 5 Might to Erin
12:44, Today: Eris rolled 15 using 1d20.  Attack with Bow - Erin. => 4 Damage
12:44, Today: Eris rolled 14 using 1d20.  Attack with Sword - Eris. => 4 Damage

Eleisai holds on as well as she can to the youngling, the hate of the creature below her like a blazing furnace...



Nothing matches the stoicness of Cube in battle, and the creature manages to wrest its crushed limbs from Cube's grip only due to its double attack.



Sword and arrow strike close enough to the creature for it to feel the wind of their passing.  With another screech, it abruptly vanishes downward, burrowing into the earth with shocking speed.  In seconds, the pit is empty of life.  Only its strange, smooth sides remain, carved with sinuous symbols similar to the ones that had adorned the creature's body.  Nearby, the two dossi groan and slowly start to pull themselves to their feet...

Fen did his best to hop and dodge as rocks and debris started flying toward him, but a few hit hard.  He stumbled to the ground and reached out with his hands to find his balance.  His gaze sharpened at the creature.
Fen reached down and drew his sword.  The rapier was razor sharp but wouldn't be much more than a toothpick to this thing.  But a toothpick he would jam in its eye!

The older woman wheezes with pain as she maintains her hold upon the youngling, reeling from the attacks of the creature.

"Sovereign One...  Please aid us now, I pray..."

As they continue floating through air, drifting forward from the momentum of Fen's push, she closes her eyes for a moment, breathing deeply.

Her shuddering breaths stabilize, and she opens her eyes once again, gazing upon the youngling.

Then her hand acquires a gentle blue glow, which she places upon the stricken youngling...

RPoL Dice Roller:

19:36, Today: Eleisai rolled 12 using 2d6+2.  1 action recovery roll.
19:39, Today: Eleisai rolled 10 using 1d20.  Youngling Healing Touch w/Repeat Attempt Effort DT2.
19:40, Today: Eleisai rolled 2 using 1d6.  Youngling Healing Touch.

This message was last edited by the player at 05:01, Wed 17 Oct 2018.

Even as the yellow glow begins to fade Cube makes no obvious effort to begin moving again, as if waiting for some kind of after effect or return of the creature before deciding what activity to undertake next.

With the creature's sudden departure, Erin moves to stand close to Eleisai as she tends to the youngling; they leave the arrow where it has fallen for now, noting it only to recover later. Wheeling the thoroughbred aneen to a slow trot, Eris scans the surround even as they side-step their mount towards the elder folk of the settlement, seeking a spokesperson or leader of whom questions concerning the beast can be asked

The creature has fled, leaving behind a strange pit marked with the same symbols that had adorned its flesh.  Fen's sword winks in the sunlight, ready for any return...  Nearby the collapsed dossi finally lurch to their feet, shaking themselves vigorously, making their scales clack against each other loudly.



The young herder blinks slowly in Eleisai's arms, and the lines of pain on their face smooth out.  In repose, Eleisai realizes this herder is a young woman of perhaps thirteen, wearing dark wrapped clothes around her body and head.  She has a small knife in a leather sheath, and a metallic talisman of some sort around her right wrist.

"Nimah?" she asks weakly.



Cube waits with perfect patience, but at the moment there is no sign of the creature's return.



As the quiet prevails and it's clear the immediate danger is past, two more young herders come running back towards the group.  In the underslings of Nembellick, one person dives out into the air, shining struts snapping into place across their back trailing wispy synth sheets that catch the wind and let them glide.  They land near the Walkers at nearly the same time as the two young herders pelt up to them.

The two younger herders are young boys, maybe eleven and fourteen, the younger with very dark brown skin and a rounded figure, the older with brilliant crimson skin and a powerful build.  Both wear the dark, wrapped clothing and headcloths as the wounded herder, and carry sheathed knives, staves, and have metallic talismans dangling from one wrist.

The older glider is an elderly woman with snow-white hair and deeply tanned, wrinkled skin, wearing well-worn leathers.  She has what looks like a powerful dart launcher at her side, and exudes a strong scent of flowers.  A panel of what looks like glass is attached to one wrist, bearing softly glowing yellow symbols.

The herders are a little ahead of the elder, and speak with the eagerness of youth.

"You saved Sukkah!  What was down there?  Was it a broken hound or a nano spirit or an abhuman marauder?  Are you magicians?  Is that a numenera artifact?" The last is said while pointing at Cube.

The older woman speaks soothingly with gentle reassurance.

"You are safe, dear one.  Rest a few moments now..."

As they continue floating through the air, she Scans the youngling with her Nano senses to discern her current state of health...


Eleisai calls down to them with a warm smile, which turns to a concerned glance toward where the creature vanished.

"Whatever that creature is, my dears, it is full of hate and hunger.  I suggest we keep our distance from this newly made hole."

"Where is a place of safety that I may bring this youngling?  Can you lead me?"

Leaving Erin and the matronly priest to handle the youngsters, Eris waited for the elder; they slipped off their aneen, indicating to it that it should remain close with a whistle-click and then studying the wrinkled features of the woman as she came closer

"Eris D'Iscordian of the House of Iscordian, bound to the Merchant Orris to provide protection for her and her wares", they began smoothly, though inside they winced a little; such words would win Fakeen an edge in negotiation and that bonus might be passed on in part, but it felt like they were parodying their mother as they said them

"We have caused the creature to flee; it may return. You should move your settlement on, if you can..."

Closer to the younglings, Erin muttered to them, "Do not fear our companion; it is a person, much like your or I, but wearing a different shape"

Fen looked at the hole in the ground.  One eyebrow arched as he considered the creature.  His shoulders relaxed as he turned to consider the others.  With a steadying breath he started his walk back toward the others, stopping by Eleisai. "Thank you for the help.  The young man is well?"  He slid his sword back into its scabbard with a faint sound.
He considered the matronly woman and smiled.

Eventually cube gives up on the surveillance of the hole, content that the creature is either sufficiently hurt it wont be back any time soon, or it is sufficiently cunning that it wont be using the same ambush point a second time.  In either case he neither turns away from the hole nor reorients the four vertical faces at all, simply moving in what should have been a backwards direction away from the hole and back to the group of humanoids without the need to turn around.

Coming to a rest near his fellow travelers but not to close to the new ones, Cube maintains a single bodily length distance from each of them, in his case that amounts to a five foot separation.  From that distance the sound of what passes for his voice is both quiet and more than a little eerie, more like a loud stage whisper than normal speech it lacks the subtle but powerful characteristics of intonation and tone completely.  "This place may not be safe for long, we should conduct our business and be on our way as quickly as is reasonable."

The young woman seems stable enough for now, just exhausted from her ordeal.




"Keellah is here!" one of the herders says, pointing to the old woman.  "And we can bring Sukkah to town!"



The woman speaks after a moment of blinking at Cube. "The transparent one is correct, let us get away from here so we can speak," she says, her voice sounding oddly high and young. She suits words to actions and leads the group at a brisk walk towards Nembellick.  She makes a few gestures to the other herders, and they quickly raise their talismans, murmuring soft words.  The talismans ring slightly, and the dossi grunt and follow them as they walk behind you.

The old woman makes expansive gestures towards the caravan, and Fakeen begins to lead the caravan towards the town by a circular route to avoid the hole.



The old woman nods slightly, bowing her head briefly to Eris.  "I am Keellah Longeye. A thousand thanks for your quick action.  The thing was hard to hit from the underslings."  She goes to Eleisai to look the girl over.  The girl murmurs something in an unfamiliar language, and Keellah only nods and touches her forehead before turning back to the group.  ""What manner of creature was it?  I only saw some tentacles..."



"Young woman, and she is alive thanks to your actions," Keellah says.  "Not as much help from me as we had wished.  I am a good shot, but the ground collapsed like nothing I've seen.  We've been here for years, and the Nems never stay on unstable ground."  She gestures at the town as she speaks, and you gather that the "Nems" are likely the giant birds upon which the town rests.

"I have not seen it's like before", acknowledged Eris once the woman began her walk back towards the settlement and Fakeen had prodded the caravan into motion; behind them Erin whistled once, a double-trill that ended higher than it began, and Makhai began his long easy steps toward them, slowly to allow the archer to mount up and trail them slowly

"I have not even heard tale of such a numenera", continued Eris, keeping their eyes roving past Keellah on the route they took and the movement of those around them both, "But it was a creature full of hate and pain and ... perhaps, torment. You have not come across it before, nor seen the kind of traces it has left behind?"

Fen looked around, his lips pursed.  Looking at the others and back to Fakeen.  His hand roamed over where he was hit by the creature.  Was Nembellick worth this?
Fen followed the others as they started walking toward town.  His eyes squinted as he checked the ground for any other signs of their subterranean friend returning.  All the dossi seemed to be up and about, would they drop again first?

"I have not seen its like before...  Then again, I will confess I saw little of it at all.  But certainly nothing that shattered the ground and could cause the dossi to drop and Sukkah to be hurt like that.  Did I see rightly, was it suspending her in the air?"

As you draw closer to Nembellick, you can see there is something like a corral that circles two of the westernmost Nem's feet at a distance.  It seems to be made of enormous feathers, though they do not budge in the breeze, and anchored by more large feathers thrust into the dirt.  Upon closer inspection, the feathers seem to be stiff like horn, rather than soft and silky.

Keelah taps her glowing wrist-plate, and a series of long slings descends down the nearest leg of the westernmost Nem.  "Come up, everyone!  Get the dossi inside the corral, and then I want everyone up!"

Keelah urges Eleisai, Sukkah, and the herders up first - they can sit in the slings, which are more like cocoons, which then rapidly ascend.  More slings descend, and Keelah urges the others up, including Cube in a very sturdy sling likely used for heavier cargo.  Keelah says to wait for Fakeen, and nods at Eris and Erin to put their aneen in the corral with the docile dossi.

Those ascending arrive at a level of cloth with a sky of feathers.  The Undersling of Nembellick consists of a network of ropes, synth sheets, and various kinds of tough cloth all suspended from the tough, horn-like feathers of the Nem.  The area here mostly seems to be storage as well as lookouts, those who scan the horizon for any visitors.  The other lookouts give the Walkers a hearty series of thanks, punctuated by small bows and elaborate gestures.  To get up to the town proper, one can either climb the ladder-like feathers up certain routes on the Nem, or they can ride another sling up the side to get Topside.

Topside, the buildings of West Nembellick are made of more of the stiff feathers in various colors, with doors and windows made of synth sheets and struts salvaged from elsewhere.  The buildings rise and fall with the lay of the Nem's body, clustering around a large divot in its back that is large enough to make a big pond of clear water.  Most of the signs above the business doors are in Truth, or else depicted pictographically.  There is a large dome-house with the symbol of the Order of Truth on it, several crafters of feathers, metal, or synth, a butcher, leather-worker, scale-crafter, one who provides fruit and grain from boxed trees or plants nestled amongst the feathers near the Nem's tail, a gathering-square with a fine statue of a slender woman with one arm, one leg, and one eye, but a serene expression.  It looks like most of the residents are emerging from their homes, brought by the shouts of the young herders announcing their adventures.

Fen looks around at the various methods and is rather non-plussed.  He walks at mosey over to the ladder of feathers and climbs at his own pace.  Reaching the top he turns and sits on the ledge looking outward.  He looks out as far as he can and see and waits.
In his own good time, he rises and turns, Fen walks in toward the gathering square ignoring the herders and their attentions.

Eleisai nods, and starts descending as she floats toward Keellah.




Eleisai nods back toward Fen quietly, somewhat painful still.

"Thank you for your help, friend Fen.  The grip of that creature was most... unpleasant, and your intervention was most timely."


Eleisai nods.

"You saw rightly... and that creature's grip was most unpleasant.  Thanks be to the Sovereign One that Sukkah is safe now..."


Eleisai gratefully rests a bit, catching her breath after her painful encounter with the creature.  The physical pain had been extremely unpleasant, true... but the emotional pain had taken quite a toll on the Empath as well.  The intensity of the creature's hate and hunger had been most unsettling.  She prays silently for a moment while waiting for the sling, and feels a peace flowing through her soul.

As the others settle in and the sling ascends, she looks at Sukkah and the herders.

"'Peace be unto you.'  I am Eleisai.  I know that you are Sukkah.  What are your names, my dears?"

After introductions, she asks Sukkah how she is feeling, and also encourages them to tell her about their home as various things come into view...

Nodding to Erin to remain with the aneen and doshi, awaiting Fakeen, Eris rides up in the slings to the topmost level of the settlement, finding their way slowly to the gathering square. Content for Eleisai to mother the townsfolk out of their shock, they instead let their gaze range over the settlement and the placement of the other Walkers. Despite the creatures retreat, it may simply be biding time before returning in strength

Taking the cargo elevator as far as the first floor of sturdy cloth Cube finds a place in among the similarly shaped boxes and seems perfectly comfortable to wait there while the others climb ladders or swing from ropes.

As Fen looks out over the horizon, he sees something curious.  At a goodly distance from Nemballick, he sees another sudden slump of drit, another pit form, and from within a slim, tentacled, wormlike creature nearly the size of an aneen rise into the air from it.  It wriggles and writhes in the air, a swirl of drit-clods and possibly other things orbiting it, before it suddenly dives back below and vanishes.  Then all is quiet and calm again.



"I'm Kimmah, and that's Ivvrah, Seetah, and Nimmah!" says the boldest youngling, a boy perhaps fourteen years of age with crimson skin and a powerful build.

"Kimmah doesn't know how to be quiet," Sukkah says, rubbing her head a little.  "I'm feather-sky fine, just got a noggin," she adds with a little wince.  "You're a good lady, Sovereign One Eleisai...  Were we flying?"

After Eleisai answers, the children are quick to answer their visitor's questions about Nembellick.

"This is the West Nem, and it's been the West Nem for all my life, but my pater said that when I was born this was the East Nem, so really we're supposed to call this one Bel and the other one Ellick, but sometimes we call the other one just 'Lick'."  This brings a chorus of giggles from the herders.  "My mater and muth are scale-workers, and they make books and things that the traders like.  Pater and path are feather-harvesters, Ivvrah's muth is a feather-crafter and beastly strong, Seetah's path is a Nem-tender-" Kimmah babbles on, pointing up the long column of the Nem's neck, draped with a corded ladder that seemed to be made from synth and hard feathers.  "Eeevah gets the water to come by speaking to a blue rock, so we don't have to wait for rain anymore, and I'm training with Nimmah's mater to be an Undersling shooter when I'm too old to be a herder, except I'll be better and won't miss because I'll know about those underground things!"

Kimmah prattles on about the relationship, people, and doings of Nemballick with great enthusiasm and many interjections by his peers, eventually drawing Eleisai towards the market where an older man at a table is selling some freshly-baked, sweet-smelling pastry in a stunning shade of sky blue.  He pressed one on her in thanks, and if she eats it, finds it tastes of sweet fruit and flowery breezes.



While Eleisai is met by the children, Eris is met by the rest of the elders of Nembellick.  Keellah, the sharpshooter who met you below, waves at them, speaks briefly, and retreats back down to the Undersling.  The three elders, a brown-haired plump woman with a motherly air about her, one arm wrapped in black, a rail-thin man all in pale blue with shockingly long yellow hair, one leg wrapped in black, and a sturdy woman of advanced years with her hair hidden by a white scarf, clad in pale robes that shimmer through a thousand different colors, her left eye covered by a black eyepatch.  It is the last who speaks first.

"My thanks to you again for what you did for our younglings.  This is the Elder Council of Bel, and I am Yeevah, our Aeon Priest is Jarsh, our Mother is Dummalah.  You have done us a great kindness.  Have you ever seen such a thing before in your travels?  You seem like a person who has had a wide experience with the world."



Fakeen comes up after perhaps an hour, silver hair shining, crystal hand glinting in the sun.  She's met by Keelah, the older sharpshooter who's come back to the Undersling to oversee the unpacking of the caravan.  The bundles of red wool are stowed carefully, some up against other storage bales.  Cube can find some nice, squarish packages of dossi scales and books to settle against.  After Fakeen directs her drovers to settle her goods, she turns to Cube.

"Aye there Cube, what was that thing you fought looking like?  I'd like to know what could be nibbling on my aneen.  Mayhaps I've seen it before," she asks.
This message was last edited by the GM at 06:37, Sat 17 Nov 2018.

"Did anyone else notice the giant cragworm like creature in the distance over there?  Big and ominous looking.  This area seems to have a few too many things underground waiting to prey on us.  It may be time to make our exit."

His comments sound a bit blase' as he wipes some of the dust from his jacket.  A bit aloof, he just stands there looking at the others.  It was obvious that this wasn't a safe place to be if you could randomly be sucked underground by some large worm creature.  The smartest course of action was to depart.

Eris inclined their head politely to each of the elders, one after another. Letting their gaze drift to the woman who spoke - her in the rainbow raiment - a quick shake of their head and a few words seemed sufficient, "We have travelled much of the length of the Wandering Walk, my companions and I, these latest in the service of the merchant, Fakeen. Never have I nor my twin come across these creatures, nor I suspect the others. Are they not familiar to you, native to this region?"

Below the aforementioned twin continued their watch on aneen and dossi alike

The older woman smiles kindly.

"I am only called Eleisai, dear one.  I am but an unworthy servant of the Sovereign One, Creator of All.  And yes, we were flying.  You were being held in mid-air by that creature, so I needed to fly up to fetch you safely away."


The older woman takes the pastry with warm thanks, closing her eyes as she enjoys the taste of the first bite.  She then offers pieces of it to share with the children.

"That tastes lovely.  I am Eleisai, by the way.  'Peace be unto you.' . Thank you again for your kindness.  Please, what is your name?"
This message was last edited by the player at 06:10, Fri 23 Nov 2018.

At Fen's words, an older man carrying a long metal staff comes over, looking very worried.

"Cragworm?  Tell me that's not true!  We'd be likely to get eaten alive, Nems and alll!"




Yeevah shakes her head.  "I'm afraid not.  Such a thing has not been seen, and if it can collapse the ground, we fear for the Nems.  If it were to collapse the earth under one of their feet, even as big as they are, it could mean disaster for Nemballick."

Dummalah, the plump woman with the arm wrapped in black, speaks next, "You are strangers to us, but already you know more of this threat than we do.  Could you help us find where the thing is coming from and keep it from coming back?"

Jarsh, the Aeon Priest with the leg wrapped in black, says, "Travel may not be safe with that thing on the loose, and I would hate for Fakeen to take harm, nor you and yours."



Sukkah seems very impressed by that.  "Sky-seeker!  Wish I could do that!  Would be a far feather easier than all the climbing!"



"Thurash, Eleisai.  'Twas in thanks for aiding the younglings.  What have you seen of the danger below?  We've got rumors flying like dander up here."

The young herders are quick to give him a loud, overlapping, somewhat exaggerated account of what had happened, the rumbling of the ground, the earth dropping away, the bizarre beast-thing, and the dramatic rescue.  Thurash's eyes look over the children to Eleisai, quietly asking her for the truth.

Fen looked at the old man, his staff and back to him.  "The creature that just attacked may be more likely, but I still see it out there.  What is it and how long has it been about causing problems?"

His irritation didn't show.  Fen strolled around the man and pointed to where it had just attacked the dossi.  Then placed his hand on the older mans shoulder and pushed him gently away and walked to join the others.  This seemed to be getting nowhere.

"'Tis a new thing!  Before an hour ago, I never saw such!  But you can bet your last feather that the Elders will want to get to the bottom of it.  If it burrows up under the feet of the Nem, the whole town could fall!" the man says in obvious distress.  He waves to the town square, where three people are speaking to Eris, likely indicating the Elders of the town.

"It is an amazing feeling... but it takes much effort to master such abilities..."



The older woman smiles fondly at the children, and exchanges a knowing glance with Thurash.

"Well met, Thurash.  It was our privilege and pleasure to be useful in their time of need."

"It was a large, powerful, dangerous, burrowing creature, full of hatred and hunger.  I would not want to dwell near such a creature..."

At the elder's words, Eris nodded sagely, "We could, willingly, but I will need to speak to Fakeen. She holds our contract"

"Did you have to study or get an implant or is it from controlling a nulment like we use for the dossi?" she asks.  She raises up the small amulet that dangles from her wrist, like that off all the herder children.



"The Nems move in their own time.  Our Nem-tenders," he nods to indicate the long neck of the Nem with its rope ladders and cable stretching up to a small structure on the Nem's head, "are more of those who let us know when the Nems are going to move and where, rather than getting them to move.  But sometimes, with some powerful things, they can get the Nems to move how we want.  It's been an age since the last time that happened though..." Thurash says thoughtfully.

----



Fakeen is waved over by the Elders, and quickly filled in.  She looks back at Eris as if she's taken leave of her senses.  "If you be thinking I'm risking my caravan over open ground with some flying, burrowing, hateful thing ready to pounce on us...  Nay, is safer for all if that thing is dead or driven away.  Or made a friend of, if that's a thing that can be done.  I'm not worried on the particulars, as long as we aren't at risk for being sucked into the ground on the next leg of our trip!" Fakeen says, running her crystal hand over her head in agitation.

Eris nodded at the merchant's words, though their bargain was foremost in mind, "Guarding was our hire, but hunting we can do. We keep what we find, agreed?"

Presuming no disagreement, they turned and called the other Walkers to them, "Hai, Walkers!"

The older woman smiles kindly.

"The Sovereign One blessed me with certain gifts, and I had to study to learn how to use them."

She looks at the small amulet with interest.

"What can the amulet do?"



"Is it known what kinds of things may have prompted them to move in the past?"

Fen looked around at the others.
"we're the hired help here.  What's going on?"

"Master Fen", Eris acknowledged, gesturing to the elders and their merchant, Fakeen, "We have been asked to investigate this threat a little more; I'm so inclined, if the rest of the Walkers are willing"

"Agreed and agreed!" Fakeen says.  "There's no profit in being eaten by a beast!"



"Oh, they let you talk to the dossi like you were their mater, 'cept it only works if you're not full-grown for some reason," Sukkah says.  "My muth and mater's family found them a long time ago, and we've used them ever since."




"Aye, when something actually hurt one of the Nems enough for it to feel, and once when the Iron Wind came by," he says, shuddering.  "Gave me nightmares for a long time, and it actually managed to just miss us.  And one time, in my elder pater's time, they say they turned the Nems away from a hoard of abhumans.  Supposed they had some bit of numenera to get the Nems' minds going that something would hurt in the future, nay?"



"That is the right of it," Dummalah says, gesturing with her unwrapped arm.  "Can you find the source of this beast and stop it from coming again?  We fear for our herds and the Nems if it were to come up under their feet."

"We can search, for certain", acknowledged Eris, putting on a smile as they waited for the others to come closer, "But any information you have on these creatures before we arrived would be of immense help"

Below, Erin ceased their watch of the aneen and began to collect up the Walkers

The older woman nods thoughtfully.

"Do they work with any creatures besides the dossi, like the Nems?"


The older woman considers.

"I have gifts that might be able to reach the mind of a Nem, if needed.  Do you think that I should try?"

The Elders shake their heads.  Jarsh, the Aeon Priest, says, "This is the first time such a thing has appeared.  I consulted the records from the descriptions that the herders gave me, but nothing matched.  These are relatively new grounds for the village, so perhaps this thing has some cyclical life cycle that caused it to emerge now."



"They're not supposed to; because the Nems are big and dossi are smaller.  We're not allowed up on the heads when we're wearing our nulments, just in case," Sukkah says.



"Talk to the Elders first!  'Tis dangerous to try to move the Nems if people are unawares!  But if we can get away from some nastiness, then they might decide it's worth it," Thurash says.

The older woman nods thoughtfully.

"Where can I find the Elders, friend Thurash?"

Thurash points over on the other side of the square, where Eris and Fen are speaking with three people: brown-haired plump woman with a motherly air about her, one arm wrapped in black, a rail-thin man all in pale blue with shockingly long yellow hair, one leg wrapped in black, and a sturdy woman of advanced years with her hair hidden by a white scarf, clad in pale robes that shimmer through a thousand different colors, her left eye covered by a black eyepatch.

"The Eldest is Yeevah, the Mother is Dummalah, and Jarsh is the Aeon Priest," he says, nodding.  "They will need your wisdom to know what is best for the Nems."

--

Below the ground...

Q'nur has been exploring the complex he found for several days, finding several interesting things, avoiding a few more, and seeing one creature that might have been more than something to merely avoid.  A few hours ago, there had been the sounds of a battle, then a retreat.  But now it has been silent for a while, the air above heavy with ponderous waiting, and a faint stomping of feet of many animals...

Q'nur held his hand out in front of him, even in the dim light he could see it was still trembling, but only very slightly now. Now that his chest had finished thumping so hard, he cleared his throat, spat out the dusty phlegm, took a deep drink from the skin at his belt and just smiled. Today was a good day to be alive.

When he was sure that it wasn't coming back to consume his essence, he crept out from behind the rock pile he had dived behind, grabbed his gear, then headed back towards the main chamber, mumbling yet another quick prayer to the spirits of the deep for protecting him this day.

The sensible part of him was desperate to grab what treasures he could to fill his bag, and head back up to the surface as fast as he could. But he heard Bugrum's words in his mind.

"If you can't see the beauty in something, then you are not looking hard enough. Anyone can be stricken by the fear and lash out, or run. but Delvers push beyond fear to see the world for what it truly is. A never-ending story filled with wonders and awe. Wonders that we can bring back for everyone else to enjoy...assuming that you want to eat of course?"

He smiled as he thought of the old man. Bugrum was right, as always. Part of him desperately wanted to see that creature again. It was one of the most beautifully dangerous things that he had ever encountered.

He had almost been able to taste the waves of hate and rage coming off as it had swam upwards through the rocks and headed for the surface. The way it had slid effortlessly through the rocks reminded him of his own abilities; perhaps it had encountered the same device that he and Bugrum had?

He really hoped that the sound of fighting and screaming that he had heard after, had not been someone harming it.

He wondered if there was some way of talking to it, of finding out why it was so...angry. Perhaps it could be calmed down and examined? Were those symbols a numenera that helped it to communicate? Or perhaps they helped it slip through the rocks? But then again, something that angry might not be in the mood to talk, which was a shame, as Q'nur was sure it would have some fantastic stories to trade.

He headed back to the chamber with the synth pods in it and unpacked his tools. Surely there was something in here that he could salvage if he really put his mind to it.
This message was last edited by the player at 08:20, Sat 26 Jan 2019.

Below the ground...

Q'nur examines the synth pods carefully.  Whatever it contains must be large, numerous, or at least voluminous, for each could contain an adult aneen.  The pods are a soft green synth with a faint appearance of a split near one oval end.  At each end near the split are three long crystals, dark green, dark blue, and light green, that seem to be partially stuck into the pods.  The room is thick with the pods, with barely room to walk between some of them; most are touching.  The walls are slightly curved, the ceiling high above you, with a hole from some large pipe on the eastern side.  The other way in is the arched entry you found into the room in the first place.

With some experimentation, you can dislodge the dark blue crystal from a pod.  When you do, a syrupy pink sludge begins to pour of the pod at a rather alarming rate!

After speaking with the Elders, Eleisai, Fen Arada, Eris, Erin, and Cube all descend from Nemballack to examine the sinkhole where the tentacle beast had emerged.  In the hour or two from its initial attack, the sinkhole has settled somewhat, revealing an open, octagonal hatch about six feet below the subsided drit.  Beyond that is the gleam of polished metal and the softer sheen of synth from a large chamber below, with faintly-glowing pipes that snake along the walls.  Darker squares show where more passageways branch off the chamber, leading who knows where...

Glancing at one another, Erin and Eris positioned themselves that one might provide some cover whilst the other stepped down into the sinkhole beside the octagonal hatch. They smiled, both thin smiles in near tandem, as they watched the rest of the Walkers arrayed themselves

"Ware, in case of noxious fumes or fiends emerging", Eris warned, the one closer to the hatch, "Wait a moment or two and then we descend"

When everyone has signalled their readiness, they dropped down into the room below
This message was last edited by the player at 20:43, Tue 05 Feb 2019.

The fall is a little longer than expected, as if perhaps there was more space traversed than was simply visible by the naked eye.  But when Eris and Erin land on the roughened synth floors, oddly they feel like they've dropped no more than inch or two, the impact is so light.

The room smells faintly bitter, as if something perhaps was burned here a while ago.  The glowing pipes that snake around the room are well-reflected by the polished metal walls, pale blue, dark green, bright pink, and soft yellow, in various sizes.  The pink one seem to be particularly warm, giving off waves of distorting heat into the air, while the dark green ones drip what seems to be condensation onto the floor.  There are three entrances from the room - a triangular one that seems to have been punched through forcefully from the opposite side just a few feet above the floor, a small round one about ten feet above the floor, and a larger one at floor level that is flanked by the pink pipes on all sides.  There's rushing sounds of liquid and a distinct low rumble that permeates the space.

--

Q'nur, as you investigate your pods, one of them to the left of you suddenly splits open.  Inside are what appear to be several dozen laask (a small poisonous lizard-like creature perhaps a foot long) that slither off towards the direction you saw the tentacled beast.  They slither in a strangely rigid formation, rows of two, three, four, three two, and repeating.  Ignoring you, they continue to form up and slither off out the door...

Accepting the preference of the others as usual Cube waits for the sound of the first few impacts before sliding off the edge of the sinkhole and down into the put.

Once in the lower chamber he waits only a moment before heading for the triangluar hole in the wall.  Adjusting his shape in much the same way a humanoid would crouch down Cube becomes a triangular prysim for the few moments it takes to slip through the hole and into the next chamber.

With a squelching sound, Cube pushes through the triangular opening with just a little resistance.  In the next space is a tall, slender corridor incised with pale blue lines on all surfaces.  The sensation on the bottom surface of Cube is... ticklish, for lack of a better term.  The bitter scent is stronger here, and there are faint interruptions of the scratches along the corridor, as if something went through here carelessly, striking the sides in some fashion.

There are no obvious exits but straight ahead, and the blue lines give off a faint glow that fades into orange in the distance.  In that distance is a faint sussurating sound that seems to be growing imperceptibly louder...

Q'nur steps to the side to observe these poisonous little beauties doing their own thing, while this will make another fantastic story, he's starting to think that having some drawing materials to sketch some of the things he encounters might add to his stories. Heck if the ancestors are pleased enough, he might even be able to trade his sketches the same way he barters his tales.

Trying, and failing miserably, to find some tiny spark of wonder and amazement in the sickly-sweet smell of the pinkish fluid leaking out the pods, he continues on with his salvaging operations, but slightly more carefully now that he knows the pods contain laask.
This message was last edited by the player at 13:54, Wed 06 Feb 2019.

Eris and Erin fanned out once they had landed, their knees flexing instinctively though there was little need with the strangely lengthy fall. They moved in tandem, one mind in two bodies.

Both sniffed, testing the acrid scent that hung in the air.

Behind them, Cube clumped down into the chamber and squelched down one of the passageways, an unstoppable mountain. They exchanged glances wordlessly, Eris following him whilst Erin covered the entry chamber

Following Cube, Eris can feel the deep ridges in the floor as she steps into the corridor outside.  The walls, ceiling, and floor are all identical, and the grooves deep enough to provide purchase to climb the walls, if that was one's wish.  Ahead, the sussurating sound grows louder, and now both Cube and Eris can see ranks upon ranks of small, foot-long, brightly-colored lizardlike creatures in a repeating diamond formation coming towards them!  They are perhaps thirty feet away, and beginning to separate so one diamond formation is on the walls, ceiling, and floor!

--

In the chamber

Q'nur works with care, not wanting to be subject to a flood of laask.  He's able to dislodge the other two crystals, giving him three, six-inch perfect crystals for his salvaging.  As he removes the last one, the pod surface beneath him suddenly softens and threatens to split!

Suddenly, it gives way, spilling Q'nur into the pod below.  Instead of ending up waist-deep in squirming laask, Q'nur finds himself about ankle-deep in the pink sludge that had been pouring out the end of the pod.  It's warm, nearly body-heat, and smells vaguely like both meat and synth, with a hint of citrus.  It also starts to slowly seep up his legs...
This message was last edited by the GM at 09:40, Sun 10 Feb 2019.

Quietly bringing up the rear and keeping watch behind as well as before them, it takes the older woman a moment to discern the coming threat.

"It looks like we are outnumbered, friends.  Shall I seal off the passageway, or shall we flee?"

"You think it is a response to our presence?", enquired Eris softly, studying the bright lizards, "and them a threat?"

"Always take a heartbeat to embrace a new experience, but keep minding, some wonders are best appreciated from atop the next hill."

The words of his mentor rang solidly in Q'nur's mind as he watched the sickly-sweet smelling, warm, bright pink, slime slowly starting to ooze its way up his legs.

'Hmmm' he thought, 'these pods were upfilled with laask, so Ancestors' mind just how poison-filled this stuff might be. Time to 'appreciate from afar' Q'nur my lad.'

He then tries to climb out the pod that he's fallen into, and then get to scraping and washing the slime off himself, before he has to find out if it's poisonous or not.
This message was last edited by the player at 11:16, Sun 10 Feb 2019.

Either not aware of the threat, or unconcerned with it Cube continues forward down the tunnel at a steady pace, investigating the path or taunting the lizards to take the first move.

"Unknown and unknown, but there is significant potential danger. "

She looks as Cube moves forward with thoughtful concern.

"Well, it looks like we are about to find out.  Hopefully, friend Cube will be a sufficient barrier..."

Eris holds up their hand, in habit of calling a stop, "Perhaps we had best retreat a few paces, in case his nature is something they squeeze through"

The older woman sighs.

"My defense against them would be to seal the passageway, but I do not want to seal Cube on the other side with them."

"I could also hover, hopefully out of their reach unless they drop onto me, but that wouldn't do either of you any good."

"If they do prove to be a threat, we may be rapidly outnumbered..."

"Hover", commanded Eris with a decisive tone in their voice, "If all else fails I shall avail myself of our friend as a mount and barrier both"

Beneath their breath, they add, "At least I hope I can leap that high"

Q'nur climbs out with a bit of awarkness, the goo pulling at him at first, then abruptly releasing him with a slurping out, slopping partway out of the pod without dripping to the ground.  Legs wet but not covered with the pink substance, Q'nur can't feel any burning, pain, or numbness that might signify poison.  But he hears the goo in the pod begin to shift around, and suddenly a wet, pink hand clutches the edge of it and pulls itself upright.

Q'nur is suddenly looking at a jelly-like version of himself, seemingly formed out of the substance in the pod and staring at him with wide and expressionless eyes.

--

In the corridor



The laask continue their march forward, the ones on the floor and walls leaping up to march over Cube, their colorful skins sliding over his surface, leaving discoloration behind.


The laask show no signs of stopping, and begin to hiss in chorus as they troop towards Eris and Eleisai, a peculiar pink mist beginning to emit from their mouths...

Perturbed by the pink mist, Eris called out to their companions even as they retreated themselves, "Back! I feat they are not trying to perfume us!"

Even after the creatures jump and slide over the Cube it takes a moment for the lumbering block of ooze to stop and turn about, giving chase to the far faster and more numerous creatures.

Q'nur whistles with amazement as the slowly oozing, pink, slime becomes more and more Q'nur-like.

"Ancestors protect us both my friend; you're one eye-pleasing strange pink beastie aren't you?"

Deciding that this particular wonder definitely needs some closer examination, he slowly reaches his hand out to touch it....
This message was last edited by the player at 00:49, Thu 14 Feb 2019.

The older woman frowns with concern, and turns back the way they came, and begins to step forward.

From her point of view, the world revolves around a point in the distance, and her surroundings warp as her foot slowly... moves toward... that... point...

Externally, space around her seems to warp as her foot stretches toward a point in the distance behind them.

Closer...  closer...

And... her foot makes contact.

One moment, the older woman was here.  The next... she is there...

OOC: Far Step back to where we dropped into this level.

In the pod room



Q'nur touches the strange double of himself, feeling it to be somewhat slimy, but also warm.  As he touches it, the being imitates his movements, and ever detail about it sharpens.  Every feature, every mark, scar, every bit of clothing becomes more defined.  Then slowly, it begins to take on his coloration, the pink slowly rolling away from skin, hair, and clothing...

------

In the corridor



Cube can't get a grasp on the little creatures, and in its attempt to get a grip, slides backwards on the grooves in the floor.  Quickly, it realizes that the grooves could easily aid its movement.



Eris quickly retreats towards the room they had left, getting to just in front of the triangular opening.  She can see her double standing there, concern clear on her features.



Eleisai is swiftly back where she started, next to Erin, and can turn and look down the corridor at Cube (covered in small lizards), and Eris, who was quickly coming her way.  This room is pleasingly free of lizards, though it's clear the creatures are not stopping their forward march and will be here very soon!

"well bless my ancestors"
Q'nur is amazed by whatever this wonderful person-copying pink goo is. He actually forgets where he is and laughs out loudly in amazement and excitement, ignoring the fact it echoes down the hallway. He then sits back somewhere that looks comfortable and waits to see what this new Q'nur does. He gets out a bit of food and water and sets it down between them, in case it's hungry when it's finished becoming him.

At the other's reappearance, Erin quickly knelt and cupped their hands, providing a boost to their twin, that they might make it back up to the smaller tunnel over head-height. One of them called out to Eleisai, "You may need to hover, priestess"

As the pink being slowly finishes become Q'nur, it blinks at him and stands, slowly climbing over the edge of the pod to stand next to Q'nur.  It stares down at the food between them, then lifts them to drink a little, eat some, then hand them back to Q'nur to finish.



The twins climb up to a higher level, but as the lizards get to the triangular rent into their room, they begin to climb down, up, left and right, forming a constantly-moving grid of living bodies across the intrusion between chamber and hall.  Cube finds himself now lizardless, all of the little incidental foes now forming a sort of wall back the way it had come.  The way forward is open, and there is a faint rosy glow coming from down the hall now...

Q'nur finishes the food and smiles. He tries to communicate with 'pink Q'nur'

"hello my friend, I am Q'nur."

He indicates at himself

"Q'nur"

"Q'nur"
This message was last edited by the player at 16:59, Wed 27 Feb 2019.

The older woman offers a boost to the remaining twin, then Far Steps up to join them...

Not to be easily ignored the Cube stops and reverses its path, no effort is wasted in turning around it simply uses a different face as forward.  Slamming into the wall of lizards from behind many of them are absorbed, crushed, and tossed out of position.
This message was last edited by the player at 06:44, Sun 10 Mar 2019.

Erin nodded and let themself be boosted up to ... well, themselves; this was a tricky situation for sure
This message was last edited by the player at 11:54, Tue 12 Mar 2019.

Pink Q'nur repeats the phrase, first soundlessly, lips stretching cautiously around the forms of the Truth, then in a whisper, a croak, and finally, words.  "Hello my friend, I am Q'nur.  Q'nur.  Q'nur.  Hello, well bless my ancestors!"  A pause, and then a cautious smile.  "Hello, Q'nur.  I am not Q'nur.  I am new.  I am not an ancestor."  He lifts his hands, wriggling the fingers in some amazement before lowering his arms back down.

--



Now up above the floor and hopefully out of the immediate reach of the lizards if they decide to stop imitating bars and enters, Eleisai can see the following carnage...



Cube slams into the lizards, and Eleisai and the twins can see many of them becoming absorbed into Cube's substance, the front of it becoming pink with residual lizard.  The remainder spring into action, scurrying all over Cube's top and sides at an increasingly rapid pace.

OOC:  Might defense DT 4 for Cube, or find your senses confused, resulting in making things one step more difficult for 1 minute.

Churning up the lizards already absorbed, and pulling in others by rotating outer surfaces inward the Cube continues demolishing the swarm of lizards, unconcerned by their silly tricks.

"So my wondrous friend, what shall we call you then? Can you remember anything before you grew out of that pink gloop?"

Cube continues to crush the lizards, heedless of their poison, which does nothing more than turning it a rather vibrant shade of pink.  In a few moments there is nothing left of the lizards but the color of Cube!

--

In the pod chamber...



"I remember being new, I remember being tasked, I remember having a question that needed to be answered.  I don't remember what it was.  I am... seeking a question and an answer," pink Q'nur says.  "Shall I be Seek?"

--

Near the pod chamber

Attalisk found the patterns of curving lines and starbursts on the corridor wall quite worthy of recording and had lost himself in drawing them.  It was only long moments later that he realized he hadn't heard Q'nur in a while.  And a quiet Q'nur was not always the best of possible outcomes...

The older woman calls down.

"Are you all right, friend Cube?"

It takes quite some time, probably to long, before the now mostly pink Cube comes into view at the bottom of the pit, a trail of slightly pink tinted ground behind it the only clue that any part of the lizards is not being absorbed into its structure properly.

The last few straggling lizards are crushed, absorbed, and filtered for their value in a very anticlimactic way, leaving the Cube alone at the bottom of the pit, presumably observing the others from below.

Satisfied that he'd recorded enough of the design to use later, Attilisk slid his sketch pad back into his bag and turned to Q'nur ... only to find an empty hallway.  "Q'nur?"  No one answered.  Attilisk cursed at himself, readied his quarterstaff, and started off in the direction they'd been heading.

After a few dead ends and dark rooms, he made his way to a room filled with large, green, egg-shaped objects and "Two Q'nurs?  How did you make another you, my friend?"
This message was last edited by the player at 14:08, Tue 19 Mar 2019.

With the crushing defeat suffered by the lizards, Eris and Erin leap down beside Cube, both raising eyebrows at the vibrant pink shade it has become. In tandem , they echo Elesai's question, "Are you ok?"

Q'nur doesn't bother to look round at Attilisk.

"Don't look at me. One moment I was standing in pink...goop. The next it had grown into this beautiful creature here.

He smiles at not-Q'nur.
This message was last edited by the player at 15:46, Tue 19 Mar 2019.

"What inspired you to stand in pink goop?"

Attilisk examines the pods more closely, both the open and the sealed.  He keeps a wary eye on the Q'nur still partially in one of the pods.

Q'nur looks at Attilisk with a confused expression on his face.

"Why would you NOT want to stand in strange pink goop at least once in your life?"

In the entry shaft

Cube seems to be undamaged and moving normally, if far more vividly colored than normal.  Though... something curiously happens after a few moments.  The trail of sludge and lizard bits behind Cube seems to coalesce, slurping together to form... a smaller, pinker version of Cube, trailing behind it at a distance of three feet?

Also, the quartet (quintet?) hear a faint echo of conversation from down the corridor, in tones that sound like the Truth.

---


In the pod room

Not-Q'nur nods at Attilisk and looks around the room, then at the way the lizards Q'nur had seen had gone.

"The Brethren have gone that way.  They have found Form as well," it states, something like a stiffened smile crossing its face.

Attilisk, the pods have tube attachments on one side, and seemingly an ability to open from the top side.  Their contents seem to be decidedly fluid.  It seems that there is a small gap on the tube attachment side which would be small enough for a little creature or object to enter.  Assuming that the fluid is the same in all the pods, one could create many Q'nurs, or other things, with the contents of this room!  Dozens, hundreds, or thousands, depending on the size of the thing in question...

Attilisk looks at the new Q'nur and wonders aloud, "To whom do you owe allegiance?  From whom do you take commands?"  After a little while, he adds, "May I give you a tattoo, so that we may easily distinguish you from the first Q'nur?"

While he waits for answers, he rummages in his pack for a container in which to gather and seal up some of the pink goo for potential later use.  He's hoping he can collect it without touching it directly.

"I am a Brethren.  We owe only to our Forms and each other.  I owe Q'nur, for he has given me Form," not-Q'nur says.  When Attilisk pulls out a small jar and gingerly scoops a small amount of goo inside, careful not to touch it, not-Q'nur looks curious.  "Why do you do that?  And is a tattoo a sort of Form?"

Attilisk pulls up his sleeve and then one of his pant legs.  "Tattoos are designs and words and pictures added to your skin.  They can make you more unique or help remind you of important things."  As he seals up the jar, he raises it to not-Q'nur.  "This is to examine more later.  I want to understand it better.  And maybe it will come in handy."  He returns the jar to his bag and wanders around the room more, breaking out his sketch book to take down some of the more interesting designs of the chambers, the patterns of the pipes, the facets of the crystals.
This message was last edited by the player at 21:30, Sat 23 Mar 2019.

Q'nur looks somewhat confused and looks not-Q'Nur in the eye.

"You owe me nothing my friend. You are your own being and can go and do what you like.

So what are the Brethren?  What are forms?"
This message was last edited by the player at 21:25, Sat 23 Mar 2019.

The older woman observes their companion with some relief before looking with curiosity as Cube's miniature copy coalesces.

"You seem to have company, friend Cube..."

She stops, and listens attentively as the sounds of distant voices drift into her ears, and exchanges glances with the twins.

"We seem to have company as well..."

She far-steps down to join her companions, and moves toward the mini-Cube curiously with empathic senses extended.

"'Peace be unto you.' Can you understand me?"

She scans the mini-Cube and a nearby portion of the original Cube, comparing them...

The Cube doesn't really have a trailing end, or much limitation based on friction or joint stress that most creatures have, as such the transition between moving in one direction and reversing that motion to slam full speed into the smaller but likely still threatening Cube happens far more quickly than most creatures would expect it to.

The pod chamber

The pod room is rather crowded, the pods nearly touching in places, so it's a bit of a squeeze to move around, but certainly not impossible.



"Words," not-Q'nur says, seemingly thoughtful.  "I am seeking certain answers, and questions.  Is there a symbol or tattoo-word for a Seeker?  It is the best name for what I am."



not-Q'nur, or perhaps Seeker, as he has named himself, gestures to the other pods in the room with an expansive sweep of his arm.  "The Brethren are here.  We... find Forms, use them to answer questions.  The questions are hard to say.  I speak now because I took your Form, but not all of your words match what I can say.  A Form is an expression of shape.  Yours is an interesting Form."

----

The entry shaft



The mini-Cube quivers all over for a moment, then produces an echoey small voice, similar to Cube's.  "I understand."

In scanning Cube and mini-Cube, she finds that both are made up of organic matter that seems to be identical.



Cube attacks with its usual gusto, slamming into its odd little follower.  Instead of crushing it, the mini-Cube seems to lean into Cube, absorbing into its body.  Those outside Cube can see the outline of the mini-Cube inside Cube's body.

Cubes inside cubes.  A cubeception, if you will.

Cube "hears" a vibration much like its own speech from the enveloped form inside itself.

"Oh my!"

"'Seeker' is definitely a word we can tattoo on you, friend.  Perhaps on the hand you reach out to the world with?  I can sketch you a design later."

As Attilisk continues his exploration of the room, awkwardly squeezing between pods, he comes to one that is broken open and empty.  "Has this one been used then?  Is it ok if I take it apart?"

Glancing toward one another at the emergence of the mini-Cube and its subsequent cubeception, Eris and Erin exchange grim smiles and re-enter the corridor from whence they fled the lizards, making their way towards the Truth

Q'nur smiles again, filled with excitement and enthusiasm.

"A seeker of answers and questions, how wonderful.There was a creature, with tentacles. It climbed up through the earth and radiated fear and anger. Was that one of the brethren also?"

In the pod room



Seeker holds out both hands and wiggles the fingers extravagantly.  Then shrugs as Attilisk asks about the empty pod.

"It is but a shell, a temporary Form.  If you wish to reForm it, please do," Seeker says, wiggling its fingers still.



"Oh.  Yes.  There was another, and it disturbed one of the pods and shared a Form.  It did not seem to enjoy that there was another with its Form, and fled with much noise."  Seeker sits down atop one of the other pods, then slides down the side of it, smiling slightly.

---

In the corridor



As Eris and Erin head down the corridor, they find a slightly rounded rectangular opening that leads into a short, smooth hallway that widens like funnel.  And the end of that it opens into a huge room that is densely crowded with large, hard synth pods about the size of an aneen.  Thick tubs, two each of differing colors and thicknesses, penetrates the pods at one end.  About six pods away are three people, seemingly human, two of which are precisely the same!

Q'nur squats down and looks at Seeker with some concern.

"My friend, I hope your Brethren was not injured by the creature? That creature seemed incredibly aggressive, breathtakingly so."

"I shall tattoo your hands in the light of day, Seeker."  He smiles gently and pats his pack.  "There is some planning needed before I begin.  I do appreciate your enthusiasm, though."

As Attilisk begins to pull a few tools from pouches and loops at his belt, planning to salvage what he can from the used pod, he notices movement at the door.  As he takes in the two very tall people, he blinks, turns back to Q'nur and Seeker, then back to the people at the doorway.  "Did you stand in the pink goop also?  Which one of you is the original?"  He looks at them a bit more closely.  "Magnificent tattoos, by the way.  Who did them for you?"

He glances back to Seeker.  "See?  Excellent way of differentiating you two."
This message was last edited by the player at 01:53, Fri 29 Mar 2019.

Seeker looks around the room, brow furrowed.  "There was some damage, which was why countermeasures deployed.  They were to protect the Brethren, or find a stronger Form if necessary.  We may need to find the intruder-creature, to be certain the Brethren do not become contaminated by its waveforms."



Seeker nods at Attalisk's comment, then takes in the sight of the two identical people in the doorway.  He stared at them with wide eyes, then leans over to Q'nur.  "I cannot be certain without further information, but I am not sure if they are Brethren or not..."

Attilisk lets the silence draw out a bit before continuing.  To the tall pair at the door, he says "How long ago did you step in the goop, anyway?  You've obviously had time to find different clothing and distinguishing tattoos."

He gestures to the used pod before him.  "Any advice on taking one of these apart or maybe you know what's inside?"

Eris looked at Erin

Erin look at Eris.

Both raised an eyebrow, simultaneously.

They looked back at the three figures, two twins and a tattooist.

Back at one another.

Finally, one of them spoke, "Goop?"

"Be careful Attilisk, unlike friend Seeker here, these two do not appear to remember what has transpired. Perchance there is another nearby Numenera that has done this? Wow that would be amazingly wonderful if that was truth."

He looks directly at the twins and beckons them over, speaking in a safe, reassuring voice to them.

"Come Bretheren. Come sit with us."

He indicates Seeker.

"This is Seeker, he is one of you. Well he is one of one of you I guess. Which one of you is the...original form?"
This message was last edited by the player at 13:30, Sat 06 Apr 2019.

"You will need to speak more sense", offered Eris, raising an eyebrow with their twin at the rambling words of the shorter dungeoneer.

"Our nature is as you see us", continued Erin, "As it has been for many years"

"Who are these Brethren?", one of them pressed, "Are you not twins as we?"

"Twins?" Q'nur grinned at the revelation.

"I have not met twins for years. That explains the confusion."

He indicated Seeker.

"This is Seeker. He is one of the Brethren. He took on my form when I fell into that pile of pink goop over there. However he is a delightfully charming individual in his own right.

When we saw you both, we naturally assumed you were, or at least one of you,  was a Brethren also."
This message was last edited by the player at 06:09, Sun 07 Apr 2019.

The older woman blinks at the sight of the smaller cube within the larger one.

"Are you all right, friend Cube?"

Eris nodded at Q'nur's explanation, even as Erin turned to the Brethren, "You are ... of this place then. What can you tell us of the creature that attacked us on the surface?"

Assessing the newly arrived twins to be, at minimum, not an immediate threat, Attilisk kept an ear on the conversation as he began tinkering with the component viscera of the used pod.

In the pod room

When asked about the creature which attacked on the surface, Seeker replies, "It appeared in the chamber, as if from nowhere, as if the air split.  It likely came in contact with one of the Brethren and gave it Form.  If it is angry and vengeful, it passed that along with its Form.  I am not certain exactly how, but one of the pods was damaged, so that may have something to do with it.  Perhaps the first one did not like having its Form shared?"

As Attilisk tinkers with the spent pod, he's able to gather a couple of crystals (one white, one pale green), several lengths of synth and tubing (equal to 4 units of parts), and a residue of goo that forms into a slushy ball that mimics the color of whatever it touches (an oddity).

---

In the entry chamber

Cube has the notion that if it were to flex its internal structure ("flex" being a relative word given the makeup of Cube) it could likely crush the little copy inside without difficulty.  But there is no pain to it being there for the moment, only an oddness.  The little copy speaks again, vibrating itself as Cube does to speak.  Very different.  Very unique.  Hello!

Eleisai, Cube does not seem to be in immediate distress, though it seemingly hasn't decided what to do with the little version of itself.

One of the pipes in the entry chamber begins to hum, then blow out a cool stream of air filled with a soft, silvery mist.  Frost begins to creep up the walls as the temperature drops.

Attilisk stows his tools and new discoveries as he stands back up and collects his quarterstaff from where it was leaning on another pod.  "Large, frightening, and angry.  I'm glad it's gone and I hope it stays that way."

He turns to the true twins.  "What brought you to this installation?  Had you heard the same stories Q'nur and I did?  There seems to be enough to share, if you are looking for treasures."  He waves at the mass of pods.  "And we've really only begun to explore."

“We sought the source of the salivating stalker”, stated one of the twins, “It attacked the town wandering past overhead... they were concerned at the threat”

Persistent, if nothing else, the Cube continue's its effort to purge the pink duplicate.  Both crushing and dissolving the thing just as it did the lizards.  Neither fast, nor easy, the process is however inexorable and results eventually in a single defined cube mostly clear in consistency.  Only then does the focus of the Cube turn outward again, and begin to investigate the chamber it is in for additional exits, as up is not likely to be an option.

The older woman looks with some regret at Cube's efforts.

She is relieved that her companion has not been harmed, and is able to repel the unauthorized intruder... but it is nonetheless sentient, and seemingly non-violent.

Observing the apparent demise of such an interesting unknown creature is painful to the empath.

She sighs, and then looks at the gathering frost.

"I am glad you are unharmed by the lizards, friend Cube, though I am concerned that the frost may not agree with you."

"What were you able to sense of that curious miniature cube?"

She moves with a heavy heart to examine the remains of the crushed mini-cube...

In the entry chamber...



When Cube is done there is only the faintest of pink residue left trailing after it on the floor, and no lingering echoes within.

As Eleisai examines the remains, she sees the pink residue is decidedly slippery, and slightly speckled with minuscule bits of what appear to be metal.  The same, as a matter of fact, as the residue of the laasks who had tried to pen you into this chamber in the first place.

The silvery mist continues to pour into the chamber and the frost continues to thicken.  It's getting frigid in here, and before too long it will be downright painful to stay here without some protection against the cold.

"You're chasing that big thing?  That sounds like a decidedly unsafe course of action."

He turns to Seeker.  "You said it just appeared?  Maybe if we look around, we can figure out where it came from and send it back.  Maybe it just wants to go home?"
This message was last edited by the player at 11:23, Thu 11 Apr 2019.

“Guarding a caravan isn’t safe work”, noted Erin, with Eris adding, “Though typically there is less chasing monsters into unexplored ruins”
This message was last edited by the player at 15:08, Thu 11 Apr 2019.

Well this one was definitely not safe. I could feel the anger and hatred coming off it like heat off a stone that has been out in the sun all day. It was both frightening and...interesting.
This message was last edited by the player at 12:20, Sat 13 Apr 2019.

In the pod chamber

As the three (five?) converse, Attilisk begins to examine the pod. 

As if your speech of the angry tentacle beast has conjured something, there is a distant banging, followed by a hollow scream from one of the doorways off the pod room (the same doorway Q'nur and Attilisk had entered in the first place).  The walls actually shudder for a moment, and you see a tentacle scythe through the wall without disturbing it, vanishing again as if it were the limb of a ghost!

Attilisk recoils from the wall the tentacle went through and grips his staff a bit tighter.  "Well, that doesn't bode well.  Seeker, do you know anything of the greater complex we are in?  Size, layout, purpose, what equipment might be here?"

Whilst the other's chat, Erin steps forward and nock an arrow; behind them, Eris draws their blade - ready to leap into action. Both make their way to the entranceway from whence the tentacle appeared

The older woman shivered.

"Friend Cube, this area is turning less hospitable.  I think that we should look in on the twins before we freeze here.  Shall we?"

She focuses upon a point in the direction she last saw the twins, and the world warps as her foot far steps through space to meet it...

While not able to warp space to move quickly in any single direction the abruptness with which the Cube can change directions is still impressive as it once again remaps what forward means rather than turning to follow Elesisai in the direction of whatever exit she has decided makes the most sense, clearly not inclined to further split their limited resources.

As Attilisk waits for Seeker to answer, he moves closer to the nearest whole pod and rests his hand on the control mechanism.  He begins pondering the value of another ally in the possible altercation that the ghostly tentacle threatens.

As Eleisai and Cube join the others in the crowded pod room (which now contains Erin and Eris, Q'nur and the identical-looking Seeker, plus Attilisk), the tentacle scythes through again, then jerks back as if startled.  In the doorway across the room (opposite where the Walkers entered), you can see a few more tentacles, these looking distinctly more solid, decorated with the same markings the Walkers remembered from the initial attack.  The tentacles are mostly draped on the floor, as if exhausted.

Flinching briefly as the phased tentacle again flails through the wall, Attilisk turns his attention to the pod beside him.  He deftly adjusts the crystals at the top before using his dagger to puncture his inner lip just a tiny bit.  After yanking a few hairs from his head, he spits bloody mucus onto them and then applies the strange mixture of spit, blood, and hairs to the green crystal of the controls.

"I'm getting us a little more help, all, so please don't panic when he shows up.  I've also got a cypher that might help us figure out how that ... thing," he waves his quarterstaff in the general direction of the tentacles, "got here.  Maybe we can spot a way to send it back."

Attilisk turns to gauge interest in his suggestion, and finally notices the two new arrivals to the crowded room.  "Oh! Hello.  Um ... what is that?" he asks, indicating the large, mobile cube of gelatinous material.

Q'nur looks over at the new arrivals, almost ignoring the threat from the tentacles at the hint of something new and interesting. He speaks to the older woman who has just entered with a large hulking blob behind her...

I am Q'nur, seeker of Numenera. What in the name of the ancestors is that you have there?  It is spectacular"
This message was last edited by the player at 12:30, Wed 24 Apr 2019.

The older woman takes in the scene before her with interest.

"I am Eleisai, and this is Cube.  Peace be unto you."

She looks from Attilisk to Q'nur to Seeker, nodding thoughtfully.

"I see you have already met Eris and Erin... and some familiar looking tentacles."

"The creature we saw with such tentacles was full of hate and hunger, with a touch that is most unpleasant.  It is dangerous, so please beware..."

She regards the tentacles with both empathic and scanning senses...

"I'm staying as far from the crazy tentacles phasing through the walls as I can get." Attilisk scratches his head as he surveys the new arrivals.  To Eleisai, he says, "And what ... um ... role ... does Cube have in your group of caravan guards?"  He continues to be genuinely perplexed as to what Cube is and what it does.

"It is a guard, the same as the rest of us", stated Eris simply, frowning as they added, "Perhaps not quite the same, but ..."

Attilisk's various biologic material vanishes as if absorbed, and a few moments later the pod begins to bulge in odd places.  Then it splits neatly, and a person identical to Attilisk (minus his tattoos) emerges from the interior, shedding bits of pink ooze that run back down into the pod.  The new arrival looks at Attilisk, then Seeker, and nods.  It peers at Eris and Erin, frowning, before blinking in mild confusion. Then it turns its regard to Cube, and looks a little sad, before turning back to Seeker.  "The situation is urgent?  This is the sixth Form in one span!"

There is a howl outside, angry and also sounding pain, and the walls vibrate as something smashes into them!

"Yes, it is quite urgent.  There is a very large, angry tentacled thing over there.  In addition to phasing through the walls and bashing up this place, it's also been attacking their caravan." He points to the twins, Eleisai, and Cube.

"I'm hoping that we can just sent it back where it came from, and everyone can walk away happy.  But if your goop can put some functional armor on you, that wouldn't be a bad idea."  Attilisk pauses a moment and looks around.  "What six forms?  And how long's a span?"

New-Attilisk looks at his progenitor with curiosity, then nods sharply.  “A span is a span of life-cycling.  Six new Forms – The tentacled one, the many small lizards, the one who is now Seeker, the one who is now lost, the one who is now Formless forever, and myself.  The tentacled one… is not a serene form.  We may have to fight.”  New-Attilisk snaps upright and presses his hands into the pod of goo behind him.  A carapace of armor grows over him, looking angular and gelatinous as Cube – as he does this, you notice that Seeker draws closer to New-Attilisk.

The tentacles in the hallway slither out of sight, and abruptly the wriggling, flexible head of the tentacled horror phases through the wall, roaring loud enough to make your ears ring!

"Is that ... sheath ... something you might offer others", enquired Eris, even as they and Erin prepared themselves to tackle the monstrous creature. Glancing round to ensure their companions are safely shielded, they remove an uneven shaped crystal and toss it down the hallway the tentacles vanished, calling out, "Fire in the hole"

OOC: What does she sense?

Attilisk wiggles his fingers in his ears to lessen the ringing in them and says to Eris, "I sincerely hope that device you threw will help to calm or sedate that beast."

To his "clone", he states, "I would like to call you Delfio, for ease of communication.  And if you know that the Brethren made contact with that," he shakes his quarterstaff in the direction of the bellowing maw jutting from the opposite wall, "might you have any knowledge of how it came here or why?  What it wants, that we might satisfy it in a way that causes harm to no one?"

Q'nur pushes up to Erin/Eris.

"There is a fire in a hole? You can make fire with that thing you threw? How absolutely wonderful. Perhaps the rage creature will be calmed by a nice warm fire. I know I am."

Not-Attilisk shakes his head at Eris' query, "You are not Brethren, and you cannot call the form...  Though maybe you were?"  He blinks and brings up his version of Attilisk's quarterstaff to a guard position as Eris tosses her detonation.  There is a loud, shattering explosion as the crystal detonation wrecks havoc in the corridor outside, and the head lunges forward, bringing the tentacle-beast fully into the room, half-phased through the pods that crowd the floor, solid above.

Eleisai brings herself in tune with the creature and finds it to be enraged, damaged, and an organic invertebrate with parts of it stretching into another dimension, a high intellect, with threads of metallic substances running through it.



Eris' detonation decidedly has not calmed the creature down in the slightest.

Delfino is looking behind him, clearly ready to run to get away from this beast if he must.  "I thank you for the name, and this beast's from stretches across the boundaries of worlds.  It is angry at being here, I think, and more so for there now being a second one of itself!"

The beast lashes out with its tentacles, grasping a fitting high in the wall and hurling it at Attilisk, making a swiping motion at Q'nur that feels like an invisible wall has rushed at him, and reaches for Seeker.  He gasps as he is suddenly held in the air by an unseen force, writhing in obvious pain!
This message was last edited by the GM at 07:23, Thu 02 May 2019.

Not inclined to stop and ask questions even in the most delecate situations the Cube hardly takes a second to reorient the closest face and charge into the beasts center of mass, seeking a piece solid enough to grab and important enough to matter.

Attilisk looks down at his chest, which now sports a round, silvery pipe protruding from the side of it.  It seems to have hit mostly the meat of him, and while painful, isn't bleeding badly.  It does, however, seem to be slowly leaking a cold, silvery mist.


Cube powers forward, its body slipping through the crowd of the pod to crush and grip one of the tentacles.  However, as it goes to grip onto a passing, flailing appendage, it phases right through Cube.  Cube ends up hitting one of the pods by accident, letting loose a wave of pink goo that washes over it.  Out of the goo rise size smaller pink cubes, perhaps an eighth the size of Cube.

Seeker and Delfino move to opposite sides of the room, likely to try to divide the creature's attacks, or perhaps just to not hit each other.  Delfino is getting into position to strike with his quarterstaff, while Seeker raises his hands, which begin to glow and seemingly become translucent at the same time...

Attilisk grunts as he pulls the leaking metal from the wound.  Hoping the chill might slow down the beast, he takes aim and tries to throw it into the gaping maw next time the creature roars.

Pausing for a moment to feel the pulse of the creature's motion, Erin let's loose a shaft at the creature's tentacled head; knowing their twin's intent, Eris waits overlong for their own strike at the snout and slashes through empty air

20:31, Today: Eris rolled 19 using 1d20.  Attack with Bow - Erin - Practised.
20:31, Today: Eris rolled 6 using 1d20.  Attack with Sword - Eris - Practised.

The older woman was torn.  The creature was intelligent, and she longed as an empath to bridge the gap between them, and find a peaceful and mutually beneficial path forward together.  But it was also dangerous, and seemed too enraged to be open to reason.

"Sovereign One, please guard and guide us now, I pray..."

And a bolt sprang forth from her outstretched hand...

RPoL Dice Roller:

21:11, Sat 04 May: Eleisai rolled 17 using 1d20.  Onslaught w/ One Level of Damage Effort.

More distracting than effective the single minded Cube continues to assault the inaccessible central mass, ignoring the tentacles and the collateral damage caused by the creature.

Attilisk hurls the pipe at the tentacle beast, and it sails through it cleanly, ricocheting off the opposite wall and shattering into little pieces on the floor.



Erin's hit is square, and the shaft seems to be swallowed by the tentacle-beast's body.  In the next instant it bellows in rage, even as Eris' strike misses.



A bolt of pale energy leaves Eleisai's hand like a beam of sunlight, illuminating the tentacle-beast under the skin and seeming to sear it!



Cube caroms into the small cubes, bouncing them harmlessly into the other pods, then sails right through a phased part of the tentacle-beast.

However, it seems that all of the various strikes that have hurt it, and the threats of more, have given the creature pause, as it withdraws through the wall.  You hear a fainter roar down the hallways outside the room as it seems to retreat...

Attilisk breathes a sigh of relief and leans back against the nearest pod.  He pulls a small yellowish capsule from his pocket and swallows it.

"Thank you," he says to the newcomers.  "If it had just been Q'nur and I against that noodle-armed beast, I fear we would have been quite dead by now."

He surveys the scene, taking in the damage to the people and machines.

"We must pursue, Walkers", stated Eris even as Erin notched another arrow, "We cannot leave the .... noodle-armed beast. Not with the settlement above"

They turned to Attlisk, "You and the Brethren are welcome to accompany us"

Attilisk nods wearily.  "I speak only for myself.  I'd be content to crack its skull if need be, but if we can find a way to simply send it back where it came from, I'd prefer that path."  He winces as he stands and puts some pressure on the spot that the pipe had impacted him.  "I don't want that thing any more mad at me than it already is."

The older woman nods at Eris, and looks with concern as Attilisk winces.

"Do you need healing, friend?"

"Just a bit, if it's no trouble.  I'll live, either way."  He moves closer to Eleisai.  "What means of attack have you found effective so far?  Perhaps a simple strike with my staff would be best, as my aim seems less than perfect today."

He pats his bag.  "If we have a few minutes to prepare, and the brethren can tell us just when that thing arrived, we may be able to glean a clue as to how it got here, and so how to send it back."

Seeker relaxes slightly when the tentacle-beast retreats, but does not release the glow of his hands.  "It arrived a cycle ago!  Delfino said that to you," he says, slowly going to the doorway and peeking around the corner cautiously.  "It's not in sight now, though I think it is drawn to us, understandably."  Delfino nods, and you're fairly certain that jiggle the six small Cubes give is some sort of nod as well.  They stack themselves up until they are nearly as Cube, and glide around the floor in two towers of three each, seemingly examining the other pods.

Attilisk sees that the pod they came from was damaged beyond repair, and can salvage that one if he wishes.

Eris, Erin, Q'nur, and Eleisai, you can spy something else that was knocked free when the tentacle beast attacked - the room has some panels marked with glowing symbols and small wisps of smoke in strangely confined patterns, one of which is up on the wall where the fitting was knocked out, the other atop the doorway where Delfino was looking into the hallway.

"Seeker, I need to narrow the time down a bit to be more useful, I think.  The cypher I have has a very limited amount of time it can view.  I would be glad of your help in targeting the period to be displayed.  We have but ten minutes of the past that may be revealed to us."  He held out the device for inspection, to the extent Seeker or Delfino wanted to assist.

Mentally, he planned ahead for the salvaging operation, preferring to settle the beast issue before settling down to dismantle the broken pod.
This message was last edited by the player at 11:12, Tue 14 May 2019.

When the concept of "minutes" is mentioned, Delfino, Seeker, and possibly the mini-cubes (though they might be just jiggling nearby) spend some time questioning Attilisk about these units of time.  When the concept of seconds, minutes, hours, days, years, and decades is established, the Brethren can give Attilisk a better idea of what they mean.

"The creature we saw emerged eighteen hours ago" Delfino says with confidence.  "Our cycle is eighteen of your hours."

Attilisk can take about fifteen minutes to salvage the damaged pod.

Attilisk dials the viewing cypher to about 1 minute before the creature appears and activates it.  He tries to hold the device in such a way that as many people as possible can see the events of the phasing-beasts arrival.

When Attilisk employs the viewing cypher, a twelve-sided window, lined with silvery blue light, stretched into the air to reveal the past 18 hours ago.  The pod room looks entirely intact in the window, a faint, silvery dust falling from the ceiling constantly.  Then an ocher ripple of light stretched across the doorway to the room, spreading open like a sickening smile.  From inside it, the tentacle-beast emerged, the area behind it looking like a churning malestrom of dirt, energy, and glowing particles.   The tentacle beast heaves itself out, and the room abruptly stops glowing, the silver dust ceasing.  One of the tentacles brushes a pod, likely the one that was damaged when Q'nur first came in here.  After a long moment, the pod splits, and a second tentacle beast emerges.  The pod seals up behind it, and the first tentacle-beast shrieks in what sounds like rage.  The second echoes it, howling even louder.  Then both move, seemingly chasing each other in a frenzied fury out of your line of sight!

To keeps his hands busy while he thinks of something to do about the beast, Attilisk salvages what he can from the recently broken clone pod.
This message was last edited by the player at 13:01, Sun 26 May 2019.

Not particularly well suited to this kind of investigation work the Cube focus on the smaller coppies consuming them one by one as the others do stuff.  Quiet but not fully silent the process is slow and methodical.

Cube finds the smaller copies nimbler than it, but after a few moments of chasing them through the maze of pods, is able to integrate each back into itself.  There are a few fragments of speech that come through before each is consumed, but no more than a few words.

Seeker and Delfino look rather sad as Cube consumes the mini-Cubes.

"Are you attempting to integrate enough pre-Form formula to initiate a full doubling?" Delfino asks.

Seeker wrenches his gaze away from Cube to examine the picture that had formed of the past.  "Perhaps the tentacle-beast initially came here because of a weakness in this area? But the creation of a secondary Form seems to have startled it. Perhaps the attacks have been because one is chasing the other?"

The older woman hands glow gently as she lays them near his wounds.

"The attacks of friend Cube have been quite effective.  Arrows and Nano bolts have also been useful, as was that explosion..."



The older woman observes the cypher with interest...


The older woman looks sad as well when the mini-Cubes are consumed, and moves to join Seeker and Delfino.

"Perhaps if we could better understand the nature of these Forms, we could better understand the cause of the attacks.  That creature is highly intelligent, enraged, and hungry.  It is also multi-dimensional.  Would the Form of that creature share those traits?"

Her eyes move to the exposed panels.

"Please, do you know what the symbols on these panels signify?"

"Thank you," says Attilisk to Eleisai, as he shifts his attention to her conversation with the Brethren that remain.

Once the last small cube is gone, and the large one back to normal it comes to a real near Delfino and a quiet vibration rises just bairly above the level of a whisper.
"I am unique, others are not safe."

"Hmm," Delfino looks at them, curious.  "Less familiar to me.  Something something... door?  Something up something power... meter?  Extrude something quiche plumb-bob something tailfeather?"  He suddenly looks embarrassed.  "Um... likely some translation errors on that last one.  The symbols are only a little like some I've seen before."



Seeker's eyebrows raise and he looks at the others.  "Form-folder Cube has a valuable insight: if the hostile original Form was unique and saw another of its kind, that might have caused the extreme agitation that caused it to surface to your place above, and attack this room again, because it is trying to find the Brethren and eliminate it."

Attilisk does a double-take as he realizes that wobbly box can speak.  His eyes widen and it takes a moment for him to shake the look of disbelief off his face.  Eventually, he returns his attention to more pressing matters.

"Is there a way to track the monster brethren?  If we find it, could you convince it to change forms so as not to enrage the large original monster?" Attilisk says to no one in particular as he approaches the unknown script, trying to see if it is at all familiar.
This message was last edited by the player at 22:36, Thu 06 June 2019.

Erin and Eris exchange a glance, both nodding simultaneously, before they each go to examine the ciphered cyphered Delfino had attempted to translate. It is Eris who speaks, confirming their own belief in the theory put forward, "Perhaps it is territorial... or simply belligerent in nature. Regardless, it is engaged about this place, and perhaps the Brethren"

"Perhaps it can be tracked or lured away before it comes back to do lasting harm?  Once Formed, we only retain certain base knowledge, but the pod where it came from may retain some semblance of the original Form," Delfino says, turning to Attilisk.  "Perhaps the parts you have might serve in that way?"

Attilisk steps to the broken pod that Delfino has indicated and inspects what remains.
This message was last edited by the player at 00:13, Tue 11 June 2019.

Attilisk finds the symbols rather familiar from tomes he has read in the past, and he finds some insight there.  As he examines the remains of the pod, he finds the section that the tentacle beast had initially touched, then converts some of the parts of the pod that detected new input to extending its range, added a segment of the glowing wire that seemed to serve as a power source, fed the pod fragment in, and there!  It begins to hum slightly off-key.  As Attilisk turns, the hum changes tone until it becomes very discordant when turned away from the hallway, and very pure when pointed towards the hallway.

Attilisk perks up and wiggles his new thing-a-ma-bob.  "Well, we can find the little monster.  But can we reason with it?"  He smiles to himself at his seeming success and ponders how to use his fresh understanding.

"If we cannot reason with it", muttered Eris

"We can end it", finished Erin

The older woman considers thoughtfully.

"Hopefully it will not come to that.  I know that it is intelligent.  Who knows what cause it may have for the actions it has taken?"

"I do not relish taking life, if it can be avoided.  For it is written, 'Thou dost not murder.'  The Sovereign One has commanded, and I must obey."

"I do have means of communicating telepathically.  We shall see if they can be used successfully..."

"Well, let's find it first and we can figure out how to deal with it on the way."  He slides into the hall to follow the sound that seems to indicate the direction of the Brethren beast.  "Let's hope this works the way I think it works."

Attilisk holds the "detector" in his left hand, quarterstaff ready in his right.  He advances slowly, constantly checking for obstacles or threats.

Ready to defend themselves, Attilisk takes point as Eleisai, Eris, Erin, Cube, Seeker, Q'nur, and Defino arrange themselves behind him.  Following the pure tone, they head out of the room, into the corridor, down a segment that is slightly inclined downward and floored in something that resembles short pale green grass (though it does not seem to be alive), bypassing a sealed door that glows a soft shade of pink, and to a large square opening, perhaps twenty feet on a side, that leads to a large spiral ramp that penetrates deep into the ground.  The ramp is covered with more of the "grass" and lit by a series of floating, glowing insects, each perhaps a meter long, triple-segmented and with wings that buzz constantly to keep them in place.  There is a smooth synth wall on the outside of the ramp, but the inside is open, plunging down at least a hundred feet.  To fall here would be... painful at best, but most likely lethal.  At at least two places you can see, you spy a capsular form stuck to the wall with some kind of pale orange webbing.  The pure tone seems to indicate "down" is the way to go...

Attilisk waits for the group to converge at the top of the spiraling ramp, judging the width of the walkway, diameter of the shaft, and the state of any railing that may be or have been present.  He also appreciates the beauty of the glowing creatures.

"Any thoughts on our progress?  Our path?"

The older woman considers.

"I could try scouting ahead first.  If the ramp proves stable, you can follow.  If not, I can Hover or Far Step out of danger..."

The shaft is perhaps sixty feet wide, the path perhaps ten feet wide, and the grade is not too steep.  There are no railings on the inner, open edge, so one must exercise caution.  Eleisai can scout ahead, finding the "grass" to be springy but also providing good grip.  It would be difficult to slip and fall, though stumbling or being pushed could still be accomplished.  As she draws closer to one of the cocooned beings, she can see that within their capsular form is a silvery humanoid with closed eyes.  Below Eleisai can hear a faint hissing sound, like the escape of gas from a vent, and a low thrumming, like that of great machine.

The older woman examines the cocooned being with both mundane and empathic senses.

Then she uses her Nano scanning senses as well...

Attilisk follows behind, about half a turn on the spiral farther back than Eleisai.  He continues to mind the Brethren-beastie detector and keep alert for danger.

The cocooned being is not human, though it is humanoid.  The face had broad cheeks and a projecting smooth muzzle, all of it in sleek, smooth silver.  Its closed eyes are huge, far larger than any human's.  It seems to be in layers of slightly squashy transparent wrappings that emit a sour smell.  It would be no bigger than four feet tall once no longer stuck to the wall. 

The detector still points down the ramp as where the tentacle-beast lies.  Q'nur indicates he'll go a little bit ahead to make sure nothing is coming up from below, giving the others a smile and a wave as he trots down a turn or two.  He comes back a little less jauntily a few minutes later, looking a bit more sober.

"There's a nice big bug-like swarm a few levels down, and a new cocoon that looks fresher than those two.  Beyond that is some kind of temporary wall with what looks like energy crawling over it, I guess to keep the bugs out," he says, keeping his voice down.  He also is sporting a flat synth panel of some kind, kludged together with a small red nodule and a few length of wire.  "Found a cypher in a busted panel though!  This one will make a nice little explosion if we need it."

"Swarm?  That's ... not good."  Attilisk looks down at the detector and fiddles with the controls.  Maybe he can change it from an audio indicator to an optic indicator.

The older woman frowns thoughtfully, glancing quickly to see how many other cocoons and bugs are visible from her current vantage point.

"These bugs may swarm and cocoon us if we are not careful.  Perhaps we should go back up the ramp now, and discuss strategy in a safer area..."

"The longer we wait, the more likely we will be to lose our best chance at finding that Brethren beastie.  If we move slowly, stay vigilant, and maintain a clear path to the exit, we should be ok."

Eris nodded, "Indeed. Keep moving"

Attilisk fiddles with his detector, but can't quite figure out how to get a vision display out of the thing.  The best compromise is to take a bit of a rag and muffle the port where the sound is being emitted for now, which at least dulls it.

Moving cautiously down the ramp, soon you can all see the swarm of glittering yellow insects, almost like a sideways cascade of glitter, drifting up the column of space on the inside of the ramp, across the ramp like a shimmering curtain, to a fresh cocoon on the wall that glistens with faint moisture.  About fifteen feet further down the ramp is a crackling wall of electricity that the insects seem to be avoiding.

"We could try to span the inner space, maybe?" Delfino asks tentatively, eyeing the wall and ramp.  "Or push the insects into the wall?"

Attilisk scowls at the lack of visual setting, but some things can't be helped.

"Eleisai, are you able to transport us across the gap?  Even one at a time?"   He considers further, looking at the barrier.  "But would it even help?  Even if we make it there, the barrier may be just as dangerous to us as to those ... things.  If we can find a way to test it first, we may even be able to just jump ... leap from the level above, cross the gap, and roll when we hit that level, right through that doorway."

Considering carefully, Erin moves to the wall and presses one of the marks

Eris examines the wall more closely and finds some fine marks inscribed there, very much like the ones in the pod room.  Upon pressing one of them, a round door about five feet across irises open right next to her, revealing a spherical room approximately forty feet high with a small walkway around the circumference.  Floating in the middle is a silvery=gray spiky object perhaps two feet wide that pulses and constantly grows and retracts new spikes. Directly across from the entry is another round door, and to the left (what would be the downward direction of the spiral) is a slim, rectangular door.  The room is lit softly above and below by glowing panels, and smells somewhat of crackling ozone.

The older woman considers thoughtfully.

"I can only transport myself, and I would pass through the space in between.  If the barrier is lethal, then I would not survive."

She observes with interest as the round door irises open, and nods approvingly.

"Well done.  Someone please keep an eye on the bugs while I scan the spherical room a bit..."

Attisk positions himself to observe the insectoid forms farther down the spiral while his comrades explore the spherical path.

Eris readied her blade, even as Erin nodded at the priestesses request. Both remained quiet and still

After Eleisai passes through the round door the Cube slides part way through, functioning as a square peg in a round hole as only semi solid structures can.  With the path effectively secured the waiting begins, to see which side becomes more dangerous.

In scanning the room Eleisai can see metallic walls with electrical power running behind them in a cage-like pattern.  With the large diameter of the room her scanning can't quite reach the spiky object in the middle, but it can brush across some of the spikes at they grow and retract.  They are a mix of several metals being powered by something that is not immediately identifiable (at least with only a partial scan), but you gather the potential power is incredible.  The glowing panel on the ceiling glows because of bioluminescence.

The open doorway to the left has a faint magnetic field across it.  The doorway across the room is too far away to scan.

Cube, at the moment the only movement, aside from the spiky floating thing, is the insect swarm a couple of turns down.  It drifts slowly back and forth, occasionally coming close to the larger floating insects that are suspended in the central shaft.  When they do, three protrusions, like antennae reach out towards them, and the swarm hovers in a circular pattern as they do.

Attilisk moves slowly on his side of the doorway, listening for threats or discoveries identified by his companions on the other side of the door and trying to discern patterns in the behavior of the insects and more closely studying their form and anatomy.

With their gelatinous companion blocking the entranceway, Erin moves to support Attilisk, whilst Eris trailed behind both

The older woman continues scanning, stretching her extraordinary senses further into the spherical room...

Erin and Attilisk can see that beyond the small doorway is a room full of floor-to-ceiling strands that glimmer like slime.  Periodically suspended in them are orbs perhaps the size of two fists put together, glowing a soft blue-green.

Eleisai carefully scans the rest of the room, finding that the liquid alloys around the spiky sphere in the center are surrounded an incredibly powerful fission power source.  A strong magnetic field is being emitted from the light panels above and below.  The walls are shielded against electromagnetic fields, and the far door is nearly a meter thick and has power running to it.

Noting the threads and the orbs they trap, the thrumming of power from the room, Eris tensed, "These rooms are taut with opportunity, Walkers. Or danger. Tread carefully"

Attilisk continues his vigilance, taking slow steps along the spiraling path, keeping an eye out for danger.  And opportunity.  Perhaps a panel will open up controls or a cypher has been neglected along the floor at some point.

Outside the room, Attalisk's prowling yields some interesting results.  As he draws closer to the swarm, he sees the larger floating insects that are suspended in the central space turn to face him.  The swarm, though not advancing on him, begins to look less like a cloud and more like a three-dimensional hexagonal grid as their flight patterns change.  Examining the walls for any possible other cyphers, he notes another panel that must be like the one that Q'nur had found.  This one seems intact, but faint ciphers and a hairline crack show where it is.  Prodding one, he can get the panel to open, revealing a wealth of small disks surrounded by hair-fine green wire, a quantity of white sand circulating through small clear tubes, and a small squashy dome of teal... jelly?  It might be connected to one of the parameters of this walkway, you think, but more knowledge will require a bit of experimentation...

Trying to keep one eye on the newly-aligned insects, he pockets the Brethren beastie detector.  Attilisk begins to prod and poke and riddle out the materials, functions, and controls he sees before him.
This message was last edited by the player at 00:09, Wed 17 July 2019.

The older woman relays her findings verbally to her companions as she scans, ending with a concluding query...

"Shall I explore further, or am I needed out there, or do you want to come in with me?"

In the hallway

Attilisk examines the various components, and after a bit of experimentation, determines that several of the disks, when gently prodded, can affect the surface of the ramp, turning it from bluish to bright yellow to eye-smarting pink to pastel lavender, and then change the texture from grassy to stony to pebbly to fairly slick synth and then to something like smooth rollers (you had to quickly change it back or find yourself sliding down).  The sand-tube can be moved into different configurations with the help of the jelly dome, and prodding that seems to get a reaction from the larger floating insects, making them move up or down, cluster closer together, and turn in specific directions.

--

In the room

Eleisai, as you consider, the spiky central object abruptly goes all spherical, drops three feet, wobbles violently, and then slowly rises and resumes its spiky meanderings.  As it drops, the magnetic field around the slim doorway vanishes for a few moments.

As these changes take place, the older woman calls out to the others.

"Something is changing..."

She describes the changes as she sees them.

"What are you all doing now?  We should track any actions you are taking, if any, and match them to what I can observe in here..."

Attilisk responds, in a volume as loud as he feels safe at this point.  "I found a control panel.  I can manipulate the walkway and some of what the insect swarm is doing.  Why don't we go through some of the changes and you tell me what works for you."  Sighing, he leans his staff against his shoulder, and pulls out his tablet and writing tool, so he can start making notes to associate changes with desired effects.

He says, more quietly to the others in the hall, "Let me know if there is a bug configuration that seems safer for us.  Or more dangerous, so I can avoid that."

Delfino watches carefully as Attilisk cycles through several combinations of color and texture on the ramp, eyeing both the large insects floating in the center space, and the ever-changing swarm blocking their way farther down the ramp.  When he gets the ramp in the very bright pink color and the texture something like soft sand, Delfino gestures at him to stop.  The swarm is now in a series of vertical lines with enough space between them for you to slip through!  A little further prodding at the sand tube and jelly dome evenly spaces out the large insects and turns their attention upward (as far as you can tell), and makes them still.  You aren't quite sure what the large insects do other than provide light, but anything to not aggravate the situation seems to be a good place to start.

--

Eleisai and Cube, it seems when Cube plugged the entrance, the spiky ball had its dramatic drop.  If there is some field in the doorway where Cube is, perhaps a sensor or something having to do with the electronics in the walls, that might explain the change.
This message was last edited by the GM at 09:07, Thu 15 Aug 2019.

Seeker, Q'nur, Eris and Erin head forward towards the swarm slowly as Attilisk had it arranged in a way that people could slip through it to the barricade beyond.  But as the four approach within a few feet, the swarm flares with light, blinding Attilisk and Eleisai (and possibly disrupting Cube's senses).  When the afterimage fades, all four are gone, as is the swarm, but in their place is a humanoid figure wrapped in anonymous robes...

"Um ... what the hell just happened?!"  Attilisk looks around extremely confused.  "Who the hell are you?  Where's Q'nur?  Where are the rest of them?"  Attilisk struggles to retain his composure.  His staff is again tightly gripped in his hands, note pad dropped to the floor.

Attilisk backs up to check on Eleisai, presumably still visible through Cube.  "Are you ok in there?  We just lost four people out here!"  He continues to eye the shrouded and motionless newcomer with suspicion.

The older woman turns away from her examination of the spiky ball, blinking in confusion and concern.

"Lost... four people...?  What happened?"

She makes her way toward the entrance...

"Q'nur and Seeker and those twins you came with all just tried to walk past the bugs.  They got swarmed, there was a bright light, and then they were gone, bugs and everything.  That ... person," he says, gesturing emphatically with his staff, "Is there instead now."  Attilisk turns to Cube.  "You saw that, right?"

Delfino edges a little closer to the strange figure, though still a good twelve feet a way, extending a hand slowly.  The robes shift a little, as if touched a physical hand, and Delfino takes a step or two back.

"I think whoever that is is alive," he says in a low voice.  "There is warmth under the robes, and it's not hard like synth or metal."

The figure glances to an adjacent door, then eases back from it.  He lowes his hood, exposing a face as human as anything you'd find in the Ninth World.

Raising a hand in a peaceful gesture, he speaks.  "I am Wyddno, I mean harm only to those who would harm me.  I was ... exploring, when a cloud of glowing insects, well, they apparently brought me here.  Possibly the same who removed your companions"

"Well that's just great for you, Window and the bugs you came in on!  But we're trying to track down the miniature clone of a giant trans-dimensional monster that attacked us and we just lost half our party to that insect swarm, including my friend and one of the only two people that might be able to communicate with the beastie clone!"

Delfino, a man who looks nearly identical to Attilisk in every respect, squats down to examine Wyddno with curious eyes.  "So you are not a transformed or melded form of our companions?  Very odd indeed.  I am called Delfino.  My Source of this Form is Attilisk," he points back to his double.  "The older woman is Eleisai, and the square one is Cube.  As Attilisk said, we are seeking a very angry tentacle-beast who can phase through walls and likely also through dimensions.  Our instruments suggest it went this way, except our way was blocked.  When we tried to find a way to bypass the glowing insects, other members of our group vanished.  We are a few days out from the Black Riage, in west Navarene.  Where were you before you came here?"

Wyddno ignores the rude stranger and addresses the friendlier one.  "Black.. Riage?  I've heard of the, but it's far..  I'm from, I was exploring a ruin east of Orrila.  The lights appeared and I was here.  I was alone then, and saw nobody during my, transition.  And yes, I am quite alive, and as human as anyone is likely to be in this day and age"

He turns to face Attilisk.  "I had nothing to do with your companions.  If those chose to explore such a place as this, they should have known the risks.  As I am here, I can help you with your hunt."

"Good, we can use all the help we can get!  Thank you."  Attilisk visibly relaxes a bit.  "That still doesn't answer how you got here, where they went, or how we might get them back."

He pauses a minute.  "Where is Orrila?  Is that along the western shores of the Steadfast?"

Attilisk bends down to pick up his dropped notebook.  "And what do you do?  I mean some help is only so helpful, depending on the situation.  Me, my tattooing ... not very helpful so far.  But dealing with machines ... much more useful ... right up until half the party disappeared."  He leans his staff in the crook of his arm and begins reviewing his notes about the control mechanism, trying to figure out what when wrong.
This message was last edited by the GM at 11:16, Thu 22 Aug 2019.

"Not really.  Milav does have a coast, but Orrila is inland.  Trust me, I'm keen to find out how I got here as well.  As to what I do, this.  I explore the ancient places.  I can protect myself, and do unto others.  I have certain ... gifts" Wyddno gestures, and some small pebbles float up into his hand

He looks around to get his bearings.  "I assume we are below ground?  How far have you come?"

"Q'nur and I had come from the nearby village, in the foothills.  The entrance we found was a few miles from there, at least. Apparently the big tentacled monster, not the clone, had broken through to the surface above by the ... that other place you mentioned, Eliesai.  Anyway, the other people, including Cube, came in through that hole.  From there, we've come, what, a couple of hundred feet or more?  Less than half a mile, certainly."

Attilisk tries to call to mind a map of the Steadfast, calculating a rough estimate of how far the newcomer had been transported.

To the best of Attilisk's knowledge, just estimating from roughly mid-Milave to west Navarene, it seems that Wyddno has been transported at least a thousand miles!

As the two talk, there is another flash from the vicinity of where the swarm had been, accompanied by what sounds like nothing so much as a backwards chiming sound.  Standing there, where Wyddno had arrived a few moments ago, is a different figure, this one tightly wrapped in clothes all over, even over the face.

Delfino stares at the extra newcomer, then looks back at Attilisk with his expression one of surprise and some alarm at having a second mysterious figure appear in so many minutes.  "That one is not of the Brethren!  We don't assume Forms like that!"

Attilisk sets down the notebook and readies his staff again.  "Window, did you have a traveling companion where you were, one that we should be expecting?"

Hey. I'm right here!
The person speaks slowly, with a throaty, metallic voice. Then it collapses to their knees. It's hard to discern anything about them under all the layers that cover them, save that they are tall. After a few seconds, they get up, coughing.

Damn this, Wyd. I said not to touch that slab. What is this? Who are you all?

After looking around for a bit, it stretches their arms and legs, and stands visibly relieved.
Nice place, this. I'd turn the lights down a bit, but nice. Hello. And no, I'm not one of the Brethren. I have many other charms, properties and small flaws, but not that.

They seem friendly.

"Do you even know what the Brethren are?  I only just found out today, and that was totally by chance."  Attilisk relaxes his stance just a hair.  The newest newcomer seems to know the other and neither has been aggressive ... yet.

Paraton starts ambling, looking carefully at the people around them and the space they find themselves in, standing up and down until they seem satisfied.

I am reasonably certain I haven't ever had to do with any nefarious organization, secret guild, dark entity, or country club named "the Brethren". So. I am Paraton. I seek. Who are you?
This message was last edited by the player at 14:07, Sun 25 Aug 2019.

Attilisk rolls his eyes.  "If I have to make introductions every five minutes, we're never gonna find this creature!  "I'm Attilisk.  Cube is the ... cube.  And Eleisai is the woman on the other side of Cube."  Attilisk frowns slightly.  "If you came from the same place as Window, you're 1,000 miles from where you started and we have no idea how to get you back.  Now, if you please, help us track down the small clone beastie so we can get rid of the giant angry one, or at least stay out of our way."

He picks up his notebook, dusts it off, and starts trying to find his place again.  Without looking up, he says  "I apologize if I sound cranky, but this day has been ... testing, to say the least."

I apologize too. You'll understand if I'm not all myself yet. Wyd, maybe you can tell me more of this place. When did you get here?

Paraton pauses, breathes deeply with a rasp that's surely nothing, surely it's no trouble.

But wait... What did you say about a beast you follow? Tell me about that. I think I can track that.

Paraton: M16/16, S14/14, I14/15
This message was last edited by the player at 20:54, Sun 25 Aug 2019.

Attilisk pulls the cobbled device from his pocket and unmuffles it, now that the bugs are all gone.  "Tracking isn't the problem.  But the creature can phase through normal matter, which makes following it difficult.  And we have no idea what other dangers might lurk in this complex, so we are trying to move cautiously.  The bizarre swarm of insects that consumed my friend and left Window was one such barrier."

OOC: Yes, I'm deliberately mis-pronouncing Wyddno's name, assuming Attilisk misheard it during the tumult of the disappearces/appearance.

Cube glides to the side, out of the doorway, but remains vigilant for any more threats or unexpected arrivals from within the room or further down the ramp.

Delfino says, "It may also have another Form of itself, so effectively there might be two."  It gestures at himself and Attilisk and their twin-like appearance as he talks.

Within the room near Cube and Eleisai, there is a curious humming sound.  The spiky ball has retracted much of its spikes, so now it is more of a nubby ball.  The room with the glowing orbs that was off to one side of the ball room seems to be the source of the humming.

"Two beast Brethren ..." begins Attilisk in a questioning tone before noting the noise coming from further up the ramp, from the doorway Cube just unblocked.

"What's that sound?"

Paraton ambles about the room and examining the ramp and the insects, mumbling something indiscernible until they suddenly raise their voice:

Wait! I got something here. The salientine umbrion here can tell me... Attila, wait! Where did it go? Did you see where the beast went? This thing can talk to me!

"I'm not entirely sure where it went.  And what can talk to you?"  He looked at the shrouded newcomer curiously.

"And it's Attilisk, by the way.  AT-til-lisk," he enunciated slowly.  "What should I call you?"

I am Paraton, I thought I did say, sorry. This thing, the salientine umbrion... The ramp and the insects, I can feel their music and... buzz questions, I guess. Give me what you did see, please. Try to remember the details. I might be able to ask this numenera where the beast went. I hope.

Delfino glances over at Attilisk and gives Paraton the best answer he can.  "Large, perhaps five meters long.  Wormlike.  Tentacles both on the body and around the head.  Toothy maw.  Tattoo or scar-like markings on the body.  Not scaly skin, more rugose.  Yellow ocher in color.  Did not make any identifiable speech.  Definitely capable of phase through solid matter.  Seemed to be quite angry."
This message was last edited by the GM at 04:10, Tue 03 Sept 2019.

"Right.  Paraton.  Sorry.  Missed it in the ... confusion."  He turns to his newly made twin.  "Thanks.  Excellent description."

While he waits for Paraton to ... do whatever it is he's doing, Attilisk consults his own device, trying to determine again the direction of the Brethren version of the creature.

The older woman did her best to monitor the interactions with the newcomers through Cube while keeping watch upon the spiky ball and humming sound.

With Cube moving aside and her room relatively stable, she steps out to join the others.

"Welcome, newcomers.  I am Eleisai.  'Peace be unto you.'"

"The spikes on the ball inside the room have largely retracted, and there is now a rather curious humming sound coming from the adjoining room with the glowing orbs."

"My vantage point has been somewhat limited.  What has been happening out here?"

While Attilisk fiddles with his device, Paraton's gloves waltz across the control panel, and the ramp changes. The robed figure coughs and umms until they get the attention of the twins.

Is this familiar to you?

A distinct trail of crusty black now undulates down the ramp.

"I do not recall it leaving such a trail before.  There isn't any on the upper level we entered on."  Attilisk holds his tracker near the dark material to see if there is a reaction.

And to you, tenfold, dame Eleisai Paraton replies to the old lady.

Turning back to Attilisk, they continue Perhaps not in this dimension?

Delfino nods slowly.  "It seems different minds think of different things."  He ponders that for a moment, then nods at Attilisk.  "Then we have a twofold way of following the thing.  Do we go after it now, or see if what Eleisai found will be of use to us in the hunt?"

"Those damn bugs delayed us enough that it doesn't matter if we rush at point.  I say let's see what that path has to offer before chasing downwards."  Attilisk muffles the beast tracker again and slips it into his bag, along with his notebook and writing stylus.  Hefting up his staff, he is again prepared to move.  "Any other thoughts?"

The path goes down the ramp, going over the barrier of oddment parts and continuing down.  It spirals down three more full circles until the ramp terminates in half-open door, the door itself round and half-irised open, crafted of a dull silver metal.  It's dark on the other side of the door, and there's a faint buzzing sound on the other side, along with some faint whimpering that sounds like either a human or possibly an animal in pain.

Attilisk pulls his remote control dragonfly from his bag.  Stepping back from the door a bit, he'll fly the oddity into the darkened room, back and forth through the door in longer passes, trying to get a sense if there is a reactive danger inside.

Inside the room the buzzing increases in volume, and the whimpering reaches a new pitch, as if something in there has definitely noticed you.  There's a slithering movement, and then in the slim light the door provides you can see several somethings further in the room as one shifts into the light.  Humanoid, maybe five feet tall, with ruddy ridged moist skin and a tentacle growing out of where a face would be, armed with a pale white sword and a rough synth shield.  There seem to be more of them beyond the reach of the light.  The floor seems to be bloody in patches, as if battle recently took place here.  As you watch, the tentacle-face reaches down and rolls its tentacle over the smears on the floor, seemingly absorbing them.

Within the room, the whimper becomes a shriek as you hear more movement in the dark!

Attilisk's eyes go wide as the dragonfly returns to his hand.  He retreats from the doorway a few steps before talking to his comrades.  "Abhumans," he whispers.  "And I think they have a captive.  Maybe several.  If we can bottle-neck them, I think I can eliminate many, but I don't want to hit their captive if I can help it."

He grips his staff in one hand and slides a cypher into a different pocket, ready for easy retrieval.  "Can anyone locate the thing whimpering in there?"

Paraton quickly grabs their bow and nocks an arrow, pointing it towards the tentacles, and walks into range.

I ... work better when I have a bit of time. But I can help clear the path.


Tension. Holding breath. Release. The arrow flies fast.

12:21, Today: Paraton rolled 12 using 1d20.  Shooting at the visible abhuman.

Attilisk risks a quick peak as Delfino moves on the opposite side.  Though it is dark in there, Attilisk does catch a brief glimpse of eyes fairly high up on the wall, as if something is sitting on a ledge or higher level, perhaps 12 feet off the floor.  The size and spacing of the eyes seems to indicate a human-like face is bearing them.  Delfino presses his hands together, a faint light starting to emanate from them.



Paraton's arrow flies true, striking the abhuman hard in the side.  Its tentacle flies up, and there is more movement in the dark.  You can see at least a half-dozen more of the creatures behind the first!  The wounded one makes no noise, but a terrible headache tries to clamp down upon Paraton's senses.

Attilisk pulls the cypher from his pocket, activates it, and tries to roll it into the other room, ideally right into the middle of the abhuman horde.

The abhuman defends itself fiercely, but at the same time gives away the game: Paraton will be ready the next time. For now, the robed figure shivers and reels under an acute migraine. Which might explain what happens next: a cloud of black and green nothing forms in front of Paraton and, through the pain, tries to shoot straight at the abhuman.

Paraton: M16/16, S11/14, I10/15
[OOC: Paraton rolled 7 using 1d20 trying to defend against an intellect attack. They are trained in Intellect defense.
Then they used Void Matter Blast, with 2 Effort (for damage) balanced by their 1 Speed Edge. Paraton rolled a 5 for this action :(]

[Also OOC: I need help interpreting Paraton's Void Master Blast focus ability: "You can unleash a blast of void matter at a target within short range at will. A void matter blast inflicts 3 points of damage (ignores Armor)." Which pool do I take from? I used Speed, since it's a ranged attack, and it's not exactly intellect-based, but...]
This message was lightly edited by the player at 18:29, Sun 22 Sept 2019.

Attilisk's launch of his plant detonation does not quite go as planned.  It ricochets off of a wall, bounces back out of the door, and squarely hits Wyddno in the chest.  With a whumph, a cloud of green gas surrounds him, and you hear some muffled cracking noises.  When the gas clears, there is naught but a vaguely human-shaped tree.



The blast of void matter does some harm to the crowd of abhumans, but mostly seems to anger them!


Cube moves steadily near the Wyddno-tree as the abhumans advance, and advances into one, its body gripping the nearest abhuman firmly and crushing parts of its body!

The five others advance and lash out with their swords, striking at everyone, two striking at Cube!  They move in eerie silence and without a single shouted word or command.  Cube's surface shimmers as the swords pass into him, but are repelled by the metalweave within its body.  Eleisai finches, crying out as the sword scores long her ribs.

OOC:  Everyone gets attacked once, Cube gets attacked twice.  DT 4 to avoid 4 damage.   

Eleisai twists the space around her and blinks out of existence, appearing further up the ramp and out of immediate reach of the abhumans.

"Sovereign One, please guard and guide us now, I pray..."

She winces from the pain of her wound, but there is no time to tend to it now.

She targets the most wounded foe, and a bolt of energy flies toward it...

OOC: Onslaught, as soon as she gets a turn after her Far Step...

Attilisk twists to avoid the slashing of the sword, but the horror of accidentally taking out Wyddno is too distracting and he isn't able to avoid the blow entirely.  He snarls.  His mind races to figure out his next move.

Paraton fares better against physical attacks, the sword hitting their armor with a satisfying thump. As they do, the void thumps back, grabbing their sword and shaking it, scaring them back. The robed Seeker then grabs a small gewgaw from their belt and throws it near where the most abhumans group, away from the party. The cypher explodes into a cloud that starts burning the nearest abhumans.

Paraton moves back, trying to set up another arrow.

[OOC: Paraton rolled 19 using 1d20.  Defense against abhuman, trained in Might defense. Minor effect: your foe is frightened by the green-black energy that resides in you and backs away, unwilling to attack. It can still defend itself.

Paraton rolled 10 (13 with Effort) using 1d20.  Speed attack with Cypher, 1 Effort for roll (balanced by 1 Speed edge], 1 effort for extra damage. Damage total would be 8 + 3.
Cypher – Mist Energizer. Level: 8. Usable: Handheld device that resembles a half-sphere with gel-like white buttons.
Effect: Alters the composition of a gaseous cloud no larger than 10 feet by 10 feet by 10 feet (3 m by 3 m by 3 m) so that it inflicts damage equal to the cypher level to anyone that enters it. Damage continues every round that a creature is within the energized mist, which lasts for ten minutes. The gaseous cloud can simply be the normal air, but it could also be an already poisonous vapor or some other gas.]


Paraton: M16/16, S10/14, I10/15

Eleisai focuses her attention on the one gripped by Cube, her mind reaching out to pierce the abhuman's with her own, and sees it collapse, limp and deceased!


With the abhumans close together to go after the mostly bunched-up group, Attilisk gets an idea.  Taking his anchor stone cypher, he pushes it into his canteen and then hurls it at the ceiling.  It bounces off and lands in the midst of the abhumans... except the anchor stone, once in contact with water, has become a 500 pound boulder!  Mayhem ensues as two are crushed outright and two more wounded!




The frightened abhuman and possibly another one or two just inside the doorway take the brunt of the burning vapors, charring into piles of ash!

The last remaining abhuman lashes out at Attilisk, not with its sword, but with its mind!


Cube notes that there seems to be one more abhuman within the room from where they emerged, but the burning vapor would be ill-advised to travel through.  Instead it turns and lashes out at the abhuman threatening Attilisk, gripping it and absorbing it with a neat economy of motion.


There are now no more abhumans on this side of the doorway (which is partially blocked by a large boulder and further blocked by burning vapors), but there seems to be one or two within the room beyond, as well as whatever was whimpering.

Attilisk's success with the anchor stone is quickly countered by the screaming pain in his head as the remaining abhuman's mental attack drills into his mind.

After the "success" with the idea of throwing the noxious gas cypher to the only point of access to the room in which someone else is held hostage, Paraton tries to think fast. They start talking with force:

Do not get near to the gas if you value your existences.

Just in case someone didn't notice the abhumans lighting up when they got in contact with the vapors.

Then, Paraton nocks their bow again, and shoots at an abhuman inside the blocked room.

[OOC: Paraton rolled 15: Shooting an arrow at abhumans inside the room.]

Paraton: M16/16, S6/14, I10/15. I adjusted these values, I had calculated my Effort/Edge values incorrectly. It's been a while...

Attilisk, your headache throbs from the abhuman's attack, but slowly starts to fade. 

Paraton, as you fire over the vapors, you hear more thrashing from inside the chamber; it seems you've scored a hit!  There is some shuffling beyond, then silence, then soft whimpering again.  Finally the vapors dissipate, and everyone can get a better look inside.  Though still dark, you can see there is a ledge partway up the wall upon which a hound-like beast with a human like face, a thuman, is lying with its leg dangling.  There is a tall growth of crystals in the center of the room, softly shining in the light of the door.  Beyond that, the room is in darkness...

As soon as it is apparent that the immediate abhuman threat is dealt with, Attilisk collapses into a cross-legged sitting position and whips out his notebook.  He furiously sketches and records all of the bizarre images that appeared in his head (along with the searing pain).  Notes about the imagined scent, the pattern of the circuitry, arrows pointing to the different notations for color and shape, the meaning of the odd recitation and even some bizarre phonetic attempt at the "words" he heard in his mind all fill the paper.

"Is this familiar to anyone?" he asks, almost panting from exertion, yet also energized by the act of creation.  As he ponders the implication of another tattoo in the same pattern as the circuitry, he says in a distant voice, "I hate sathosh."