187 lines
7.9 KiB
Markdown
187 lines
7.9 KiB
Markdown
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---
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title: 00036
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created: Fri, 11 Nov 2022 08:02:38 -0700
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updated: Fri, 11 Nov 2022 08:02:44 -0700
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public: yes
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syndicated: yes
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---
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### 00036 {#00036}
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Prelude:
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The gods are missing now. But before they went into hiding, the Trine
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walked the earth and actively participated in the affairs of mortals.
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Sweet, tenderhearted Neddas---god of sages and starlight---fell in
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love with the worldkin and often gave away trivial little bits of
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their divinity as gifts to the people. Chief among these gifts were
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the divine aspects of coin, mirth, lore, craft, and tact. With these
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gifts, civilizations grew and flourished and accomplished great
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things.
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Then the Artifice Wars rocked all of Basmentaria and the gods
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vanished. And even with Neddas's gifts, civilization still struggles
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to reach its former heights.
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> I watch as the magical bolt sails away overhead meeting its target,
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> receding back into the depths of the hull of the ship as the
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> skeleton drags me down. The fork bomb goes off flawlessly, and the
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> world comes to a screching halt around me, only to slowly rewind
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> itself.
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>
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> I contemplate the absolutely absurd position I've put myself into
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> as the skeleton pulls me back down into the depths and I watch the
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> would be theif take a direct hit again.
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>
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> "Okay, THAT was a good shot." I say to myself as the scene repeats
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> again. I could probably watch that a few times. But after about the
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> hundredth time the feat seems a little less epic. And the skeleton
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> a lot less frightful and a lot more dull.
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>
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> *Sigh*
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>
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> Kevin always said this would happen. "Corraidhin, you can't play
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> with dangerous scripts like that, you'll crash your systems". Right
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> you were Kevin, right you were. Corraidhin casts his eyes around
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> wistfully. I guess I got that boat I always wanted? And it's filled
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> with treasure. That's a positive. Oh and um I'm not alone, yeah,
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> that's right. You're stuck here too Mr. Skelly. (The skeleton does
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> not reply). Oh come on now, don't be rude. (still no reply). *sigh*
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> right, sorta dead, I shouldn't expext more than a loving embrace
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> from you as you try and invite me to look at your treasure right?
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>
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> After about the thousandth time the Sysorcerer was still in a rut.
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>
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> I'm stuck insid the crash, not from without. It seems this moment
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> is just going to idle on perpetually. (he rummages in his pockets),
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> okay I guess I still have the Ginnarak crystal, and stabby. Those
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> seem safe enough here with me.
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>
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> So long as I don't go crazy I guess there's hope. If not, what a
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> damn foolish way to die.
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>
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>
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> MEANWHILE
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>
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> An automated alert system triggers as the Sysorceror blips out of
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> existence. And then on, and then off, and then on, and then off.
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>
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> ```
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> (Problem: Corraidhin: Entity not found)
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> Problem started at 19:37 on 2281.67.43
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> Porblem Name: Deadman's Trigger: Entity not found
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> Host: Corraidhin
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> Severity: Critical
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> Operation Data: (corrupted)
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> Problem ID: 92746027498
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>
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> (Problem: Corraidhin: Entity not found)
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> Resolved in 1d 0h 0m 0s: Entity not found
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> Problem Name: Deadman's Trigger: Entity not found
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> Problem Duration: 1d 0h 0m 0s
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> Severity: Critical
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> Original Problem ID: 92746027498
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> ```
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>
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> Bloody Zabbix alerts flapping again, what the hell does it mean
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> that Uncle Corraidhin is gone. You can't Die then Live over and
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> over and over. Stupid broken monitoring system. Guess I had been
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> check in on him, bloody fool constantly gets himself in trouble.
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>
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> Alex grabs his shortsword and backpack and shoulders them. If
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> anyone will know what's foolhearty issue his uncle has gotten into,
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> it'll be Kevin as the Sysorcerors Guild.
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Corraidhín settles in for what may or may not be a lifetime of stasis
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aboard the glitch formerly known as the SS RSS. At least Stabby will
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be good company if it ever wakes up from its blood coma. Hmm,
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actually that's debatable. Now that you think of it, you're not sure
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you're up for a lifetime of ranting about blood and evil.
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The merbear and the tardigrade are on the ship deck, also trapped in
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the fork bomb. You're not sure whether you can reach them or not.
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You see a flickering of motion and a flash of light outside the ship
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as what looks like a small school of fish moves darts in and out of
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view. It rushes past, doubles back, and swims past again, passing
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close enough that one or two get sucked into the fork bomb with you.
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Impossibly, what you thought were fish were apparently small birds?
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Or, perhaps they were fish after all and some quality of passing
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through the boundary of the fork bomb simply turns them into birds?
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Either way, two small blue songbirds with red heads and forked tails
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hop around inside the ship chirping incessantly. You watch as one of
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them hops toward one of the sea bunny slugs and pecks at it, and then
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scoops it up in its beak and swallows it whole. The second does the
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same. They hop from side to side a bit, and then set to feasting on
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the slugs. A couple more birds pop through the membrane separating
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you from the outside world and join in.
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~
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Alex grabs his perfectly normal, blissfully non-sentient shortsword
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and heads off to the Cabinet, where the Sysorcerers Guild is. He has
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to detour around the Wandering Bazaar, which decided to plop down in
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the middle of the street, but nonetheless arrives in short order.
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He finds Kevin working in the library on Kevin's Document Language.
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Alex describes the errors and Kevin groans, "Ugh, I told him! I told
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him you can’t play with dangerous scripts like that, you'll crash
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your systems! We'll have to try a manual reboot. Well don't just
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stand there, young person. Come on, come on, try to keep up. We have
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work to do!"
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> Inky follows the bundle's path as it sinks downwards and maneuvers
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> the bubblebee to retrieve it along with the eye.
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>
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> Floating to a stop above the ledge of the trench, Inky looks at the
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> small golden orb, then removes an empty lunch pail from their
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> knapsack and drops the eye and several small glass marbles into it.
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> The contents jostle around inside the pail in a cacophony of whirs,
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> clicks and clatters. With the lid firmly closed, Inky tosses the
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> makeshift percussive instrument into the trench for the harrowkrake
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> so it could jam with its new tanokuma buddies.
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>
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> Staring at the bundle, Inky suddenly recalls the projectile that
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> had come from the general direction of the SS RSS shortly before
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> the horkosgrampus got to Mr. Not-So-Lucky. Master Corraidhín! They
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> turn back to the shipwreck, only to find the entire ship had turned
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> eerily translucent, like a ghost ship from some tipsy sailor's
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> tale. Inky halts a short distance from the wreckage for a closer
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> look, though something about the apparition told them it would be a
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> terrible idea to enter the ship's hull now. Something had happened
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> to the ship's remains, with the sysorcerer trapped inside. Maybe it
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> was all part of the sysorcerer's plan, that he had teleported
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> himself back to a safe location and this was a mirage, just a
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> remnant from the moment of teleportation.
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>
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> Or at least Inky hopes so.
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Inky drops the improvised goldeneye noisemaker down into the trench.
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The rattling as it falls is reminiscent of Gerald's laughter. One
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slender tendril reaches up out of the abyss and grabs the rattle, and
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then disappears once more into the murky dark.
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You are now in possession of the second Ginnarak Crystal. A blue
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stone with lightly pulsing gold veins. As you gaze at it, it's almost
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as though you can hear peals of tinkling laughter in the back of your
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head.
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The horkosgrampus, temporarily sated having removed the liar from
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this timeline, drift lazily away.
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The giant, candy-seeking manta ray passes closely by and fondly
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caresses the bubblebee with one wing in passing. Its little manta
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face pulled up into a chubby smile.
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The bear facsimiles join you and begin crying when they see their
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"brothers" trapped on the deck of the ship.
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You see a small school of fish making multiple passes by the SS RSS
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like birds skimming insects from the sky.
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WHAT DO YOU DO
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[www](https://framalistes.org/sympa/arc/tildepals/2022-11/msg00083.html)
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