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src/epistolary/00039.md
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src/epistolary/00040.md
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src/epistolary/00041.md
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src/epistolary/00042.md
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src/bestiary/index.md
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src/bestiary/aur.md
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src/bestiary/blahoblin.md
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@ -0,0 +1,154 @@
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---
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title: 00042
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created: Sat, 17 Dec 2022 08:01:41 -0700
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updated: Sat, 17 Dec 2022 08:01:48 -0700
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syndicated: yes
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public: yes
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---
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### 00042 {#00042}
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> This seems a bit strange. Certainly Blavin has been pulling strings
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> from behind the scenes the whole time, but why coordinate a special
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> escort for us when there are other retrieval teams, and we've been
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> less than amicable with the bloke the entire time.. Alex thinks to
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> himself.
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>
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> *DM: I'd like to check for any signs of deceit in the toques
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> demeanor or communcations with us*
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>
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> Confidence you said right? What would you do if I simply chose not
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> to accompany you? I mean, there's a whole city around us, perhaps
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> I'd prefer a drink before climbing a mountains worth of stairs. Or
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> better yet, I could get back on the boat and ride to the top and
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> same myself the hassle.
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Bread once again looks confused. Confidence looks surprised, caught
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off guard.
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<!--
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Alex rolls Investigation 2 to check for signs of deceit
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3 5 = Partial Success / Success at Cost
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//-->
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Confidence sputters, "Well, yes, of course. You've been traveling for
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some time now, haven't you? I can assure you that the food and drink
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at Runesocesius will be better than anything you can get here! But
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the choice is entirely yours. Feel free to avail yourself of the
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local offerings. We will wait here at the steps for you."
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Bread nods slowly, and seems to trailing behind the conversation just
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a second or two.
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Their reactions seem genuine to you despite the circumstances. They
|
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seem like a couple of low level employees of a luxury hotel earnestly
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trying to follow the instructions they've been given.
|
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There are a couple of stalls and vendors set up around the gondola
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station. Many of them serve mulled wine and hot chocolate. There is
|
||||
some edible fare. Hot sandwiches and pitas. Nothing that an empanada
|
||||
from Enrique's wouldn't put to shame. But they look hot and steamy,
|
||||
and of great comfort to anybody who might be hungry and cold. There
|
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are a few fire pits, next to which there are long benches with
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||||
blankets, where you might sit and warm up for a bit.
|
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The gondola lift ends here, and does not continue up to the mountain
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any further. The cloud steps are the most common way to get up to the
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peak, and to the Runesocesius. But you're pretty sure one or two of
|
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the stalls here offers balloon rides up to the peak for thrill
|
||||
seekers and for those with accessibility needs.
|
||||
|
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> "I think you already know I'm interested in neither bread nor
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> cheese, the second of which I certainly did not ask for yet you
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> tried to offer in your hasty pretence." Inky smiles thinly at the
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> toques.
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>
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> Taking out a small bag of gold coins and weighing it slowly on one
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> hand to the sound of coins clinking inside the pouch, Inky
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> continues, "Speak, answer our questions frankly and you will be
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> rewarded. The hotelier up there need not know. Breathe a word of
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> our little chat to another soul, however …" Inky's gaze cut briefly
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> to four snow ravens perched atop a spiral lamp post and back, "and
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> you will learn the meaning of disappearing without a trace."
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Bread looks confused. You are starting to believe it is their default
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expression. "So, you *don't* want no chee---"
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"Our only desire is to help!" Confidence hastily interrupts. He
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smiles pleasingly. "We are your guides! Not just physically up the
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steps, but in all things here on Kelsun Peak. You have but to ask,
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and if it is within our power to give it, it will be yours! We are
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but humble ser---"
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And just then Confidence is also suddenly interrupted. A thundering
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boom like a canon sounds from somewhere nearby, followed quickly by
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an explosion somewhere up above. Snow ravens fly off in all
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directions in a panic. The sound ripples through the mountaintop,
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rattling the ground on which you stand. A bunch of small rocks and
|
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two large boulders shake loose from the mountainside. Shoppers and
|
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travelers shout and duck for cover as they are pelted by the scree.
|
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One of the large boulder bounces clear over the station and plummets
|
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down the side of the mountain before disappearing into the cloud
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ocean below. The second one falls straight toward the platform. A
|
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vendor selling wreaths and candles dives out of the way as his stall
|
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is crushed by the boulder. A bench is toppled over, spilling its
|
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blankets into the fire pit, and catches fire, quickly spreading to
|
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another nearby stall.
|
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|
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Bread looks up at the sky, confused. You see a thin line of black
|
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smoke starting to rise up into the sky from over the ridge where the
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Runesocesius lies. Confidence shouts, and you see him pointing at the
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sea, where a balloonship is rising up out of the cloud bank, sailing
|
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quickly toward you and the summit of Kelsun Peak.
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It resembles a seafaring ship, but instead of masts and sails, it has
|
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two large, colorful, patchwork balloons that provide it lift. A large
|
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fan on a pivot at the rear of the ship provides thrust. As you watch,
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it fires a second canon---that *is* what the sound was!---nearly
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straight up, arcing up and over the peak at Palace Runesocesius.
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The crew of the ship bustle around on the deck of the ship, reloading
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the canons, firing the balloons, shouting, giving and following
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orders.
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"Cyberplasms," groans Confidence, and Bread whimpers. Alex, that
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quiet, dull, static roar that has been constantly tickling the back
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of your head ever since you found that dagger seems to rise in pitch
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and in tone. It conveys a sense of urgency, of warning. You can
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*almost* hear a desperate voice behind the static fuzz cautioning
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you, "Evil..."
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The only corporeal element of the crew are their cybernetic
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enhancements. A mechanical leg. A synthetic eye. A claw, a hook, a
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hand. An arm canon. Almost all of them have more than one, some as
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many as 3 or 5. The cybernetic pieces of each individual crew member
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are held together by plasmic energy arcs, crackling blue and green.
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And surrounding the bioware and the plasmic arcs of each crew member,
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like a blanket or a cocoon, is the translucent, wavering, ghostly
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form of some humanoid long-dead.
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The figure standing on the deck surveying the work of the rest of the
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crew---presumably the captain---has a synthetic eye rotating freely,
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360 degrees in all directions, inside its skull-like head; a bulky
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arm canon; and a thin robotic leg terminating in a thick boot.
|
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Plasmic blasts arc through its core, sometimes disrupting and
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glitching its ghostly body.
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The captain raises its arm canon and shouts to the crew. Its voice
|
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carried on the breeze sounds like something otherworldly rising
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slowly from the murky deep. "Fire the canon, boys! And fire up the
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balloons! Drop the ballast! That crystal is *ours!*"
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It happens very quickly: the ship ascends to the summit and soon is
|
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firing grappling hooks at it to pull themselves in and breach the
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walls of the hotel.
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Bread looks at you, wide-eyed and trembling. They let loose a pitiful
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wail and turn and start running up the steps. "Bread!" Confidence
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yells after them. They cast a backward glance at you. "I've got to
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help Bread! We've got to save the hotel!" And they give chase to
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their fellow toque, bounding up the cloudstuff steps.
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WHAT DO YOU DO
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[www](https://framalistes.org/sympa/arc/tildepals/2022-12/msg00203.html)
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130
www/index.html
130
www/index.html
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@ -250,6 +250,7 @@ of the Were-Hare</a></li>
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<li><a href="#00039" id="toc-00039">00039</a></li>
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<li><a href="#00040" id="toc-00040">00040</a></li>
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<li><a href="#00041" id="toc-00041">00041</a></li>
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<li><a href="#00042" id="toc-00042">00042</a></li>
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</ul></li>
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<li><a href="#bestiary" id="toc-bestiary">Bestiary</a></li>
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<li><a href="#geography" id="toc-geography">Geography</a></li>
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@ -259,11 +260,11 @@ of the Were-Hare</a></li>
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</ul>
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</nav>
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<h2 id="stats">Stats</h2>
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<p>Total length: 40358 words / 172 minute read. (Mind you, that’s the
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<p>Total length: 41570 words / 177 minute read. (Mind you, that’s the
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length of this entire page, including all the extra bits and bobs. Not
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just the story.)</p>
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<p>There have been 143 messages posted over 156 days since the first
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post on July 13, 2022 for a daily post rate of .91.</p>
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<p>There have been 148 messages posted over 157 days since the first
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post on July 13, 2022 for a daily post rate of .94.</p>
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<h2 id="about">About</h2>
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<p>This is a game that me and the kids in the basement are playing over
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email.</p>
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@ -4654,6 +4655,129 @@ cloudstuff. “Come! The hotelier will be very excited to greet you!”</p>
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<p>WHAT DO YOU DO</p>
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<p><a
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href="https://framalistes.org/sympa/arc/tildepals/2022-12/msg00193.html">www</a></p>
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<h3 id="00042">00042</h3>
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<blockquote>
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<p>This seems a bit strange. Certainly Blavin has been pulling strings
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from behind the scenes the whole time, but why coordinate a special
|
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escort for us when there are other retrieval teams, and we’ve been less
|
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than amicable with the bloke the entire time.. Alex thinks to
|
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himself.</p>
|
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<p><em>DM: I’d like to check for any signs of deceit in the toques
|
||||
demeanor or communcations with us</em></p>
|
||||
<p>Confidence you said right? What would you do if I simply chose not to
|
||||
accompany you? I mean, there’s a whole city around us, perhaps I’d
|
||||
prefer a drink before climbing a mountains worth of stairs. Or better
|
||||
yet, I could get back on the boat and ride to the top and same myself
|
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the hassle.</p>
|
||||
</blockquote>
|
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<p>Bread once again looks confused. Confidence looks surprised, caught
|
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off guard.</p>
|
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<!--
|
||||
Alex rolls Investigation 2 to check for signs of deceit
|
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3 5 = Partial Success / Success at Cost
|
||||
//-->
|
||||
<p>Confidence sputters, “Well, yes, of course. You’ve been traveling for
|
||||
some time now, haven’t you? I can assure you that the food and drink at
|
||||
Runesocesius will be better than anything you can get here! But the
|
||||
choice is entirely yours. Feel free to avail yourself of the local
|
||||
offerings. We will wait here at the steps for you.”</p>
|
||||
<p>Bread nods slowly, and seems to trailing behind the conversation just
|
||||
a second or two.</p>
|
||||
<p>Their reactions seem genuine to you despite the circumstances. They
|
||||
seem like a couple of low level employees of a luxury hotel earnestly
|
||||
trying to follow the instructions they’ve been given.</p>
|
||||
<p>There are a couple of stalls and vendors set up around the gondola
|
||||
station. Many of them serve mulled wine and hot chocolate. There is some
|
||||
edible fare. Hot sandwiches and pitas. Nothing that an empanada from
|
||||
Enrique’s wouldn’t put to shame. But they look hot and steamy, and of
|
||||
great comfort to anybody who might be hungry and cold. There are a few
|
||||
fire pits, next to which there are long benches with blankets, where you
|
||||
might sit and warm up for a bit.</p>
|
||||
<p>The gondola lift ends here, and does not continue up to the mountain
|
||||
any further. The cloud steps are the most common way to get up to the
|
||||
peak, and to the Runesocesius. But you’re pretty sure one or two of the
|
||||
stalls here offers balloon rides up to the peak for thrill seekers and
|
||||
for those with accessibility needs.</p>
|
||||
<blockquote>
|
||||
<p>“I think you already know I’m interested in neither bread nor cheese,
|
||||
the second of which I certainly did not ask for yet you tried to offer
|
||||
in your hasty pretence.” Inky smiles thinly at the toques.</p>
|
||||
<p>Taking out a small bag of gold coins and weighing it slowly on one
|
||||
hand to the sound of coins clinking inside the pouch, Inky continues,
|
||||
“Speak, answer our questions frankly and you will be rewarded. The
|
||||
hotelier up there need not know. Breathe a word of our little chat to
|
||||
another soul, however …” Inky’s gaze cut briefly to four snow ravens
|
||||
perched atop a spiral lamp post and back, “and you will learn the
|
||||
meaning of disappearing without a trace.”</p>
|
||||
</blockquote>
|
||||
<p>Bread looks confused. You are starting to believe it is their default
|
||||
expression. “So, you <em>don’t</em> want no chee—”</p>
|
||||
<p>“Our only desire is to help!” Confidence hastily interrupts. He
|
||||
smiles pleasingly. “We are your guides! Not just physically up the
|
||||
steps, but in all things here on Kelsun Peak. You have but to ask, and
|
||||
if it is within our power to give it, it will be yours! We are but
|
||||
humble ser—”</p>
|
||||
<p>And just then Confidence is also suddenly interrupted. A thundering
|
||||
boom like a canon sounds from somewhere nearby, followed quickly by an
|
||||
explosion somewhere up above. Snow ravens fly off in all directions in a
|
||||
panic. The sound ripples through the mountaintop, rattling the ground on
|
||||
which you stand. A bunch of small rocks and two large boulders shake
|
||||
loose from the mountainside. Shoppers and travelers shout and duck for
|
||||
cover as they are pelted by the scree. One of the large boulder bounces
|
||||
clear over the station and plummets down the side of the mountain before
|
||||
disappearing into the cloud ocean below. The second one falls straight
|
||||
toward the platform. A vendor selling wreaths and candles dives out of
|
||||
the way as his stall is crushed by the boulder. A bench is toppled over,
|
||||
spilling its blankets into the fire pit, and catches fire, quickly
|
||||
spreading to another nearby stall.</p>
|
||||
<p>Bread looks up at the sky, confused. You see a thin line of black
|
||||
smoke starting to rise up into the sky from over the ridge where the
|
||||
Runesocesius lies. Confidence shouts, and you see him pointing at the
|
||||
sea, where a balloonship is rising up out of the cloud bank, sailing
|
||||
quickly toward you and the summit of Kelsun Peak.</p>
|
||||
<p>It resembles a seafaring ship, but instead of masts and sails, it has
|
||||
two large, colorful, patchwork balloons that provide it lift. A large
|
||||
fan on a pivot at the rear of the ship provides thrust. As you watch, it
|
||||
fires a second canon—that <em>is</em> what the sound was!—nearly
|
||||
straight up, arcing up and over the peak at Palace Runesocesius.</p>
|
||||
<p>The crew of the ship bustle around on the deck of the ship, reloading
|
||||
the canons, firing the balloons, shouting, giving and following
|
||||
orders.</p>
|
||||
<p>“Cyberplasms,” groans Confidence, and Bread whimpers. Alex, that
|
||||
quiet, dull, static roar that has been constantly tickling the back of
|
||||
your head ever since you found that dagger seems to rise in pitch and in
|
||||
tone. It conveys a sense of urgency, of warning. You can <em>almost</em>
|
||||
hear a desperate voice behind the static fuzz cautioning you,
|
||||
“Evil…”</p>
|
||||
<p>The only corporeal element of the crew are their cybernetic
|
||||
enhancements. A mechanical leg. A synthetic eye. A claw, a hook, a hand.
|
||||
An arm canon. Almost all of them have more than one, some as many as 3
|
||||
or 5. The cybernetic pieces of each individual crew member are held
|
||||
together by plasmic energy arcs, crackling blue and green. And
|
||||
surrounding the bioware and the plasmic arcs of each crew member, like a
|
||||
blanket or a cocoon, is the translucent, wavering, ghostly form of some
|
||||
humanoid long-dead.</p>
|
||||
<p>The figure standing on the deck surveying the work of the rest of the
|
||||
crew—presumably the captain—has a synthetic eye rotating freely, 360
|
||||
degrees in all directions, inside its skull-like head; a bulky arm
|
||||
canon; and a thin robotic leg terminating in a thick boot. Plasmic
|
||||
blasts arc through its core, sometimes disrupting and glitching its
|
||||
ghostly body.</p>
|
||||
<p>The captain raises its arm canon and shouts to the crew. Its voice
|
||||
carried on the breeze sounds like something otherworldly rising slowly
|
||||
from the murky deep. “Fire the canon, boys! And fire up the balloons!
|
||||
Drop the ballast! That crystal is <em>ours!</em>”</p>
|
||||
<p>It happens very quickly: the ship ascends to the summit and soon is
|
||||
firing grappling hooks at it to pull themselves in and breach the walls
|
||||
of the hotel.</p>
|
||||
<p>Bread looks at you, wide-eyed and trembling. They let loose a pitiful
|
||||
wail and turn and start running up the steps. “Bread!” Confidence yells
|
||||
after them. They cast a backward glance at you. “I’ve got to help Bread!
|
||||
We’ve got to save the hotel!” And they give chase to their fellow toque,
|
||||
bounding up the cloudstuff steps.</p>
|
||||
<p>WHAT DO YOU DO</p>
|
||||
<p><a
|
||||
href="https://framalistes.org/sympa/arc/tildepals/2022-12/msg00203.html">www</a></p>
|
||||
<h2 id="bestiary">Bestiary</h2>
|
||||
<p>Some of the creatures who inhabit the world of Basmentaria</p>
|
||||
<dt>
|
||||
|
|
149
www/rss.xml
149
www/rss.xml
|
@ -5,6 +5,155 @@
|
|||
<title>BASEMENT QWEST</title>
|
||||
<link>https://tilde.town/~dozens/quest/rss.xml</link>
|
||||
<description>Friends having ADVENTURES! Huzzah!</description>
|
||||
<item>
|
||||
<title>42</title>
|
||||
<author>dozens@tilde.team (dozens)</author>
|
||||
<guid isPermaLink="false">42 - Sat, 17 Dec 2022 08:01:41
|
||||
-0700</guid>
|
||||
<pubDate>Sat, 17 Dec 2022 08:01:48 -0700</pubDate>
|
||||
<description>
|
||||
<![CDATA[
|
||||
<h3 id="00042">00042</h3>
|
||||
<blockquote>
|
||||
<p>This seems a bit strange. Certainly Blavin has been pulling
|
||||
strings from behind the scenes the whole time, but why
|
||||
coordinate a special escort for us when there are other
|
||||
retrieval teams, and we’ve been less than amicable with the
|
||||
bloke the entire time.. Alex thinks to himself.</p>
|
||||
<p><em>DM: I’d like to check for any signs of deceit in the
|
||||
toques demeanor or communcations with us</em></p>
|
||||
<p>Confidence you said right? What would you do if I simply
|
||||
chose not to accompany you? I mean, there’s a whole city
|
||||
around us, perhaps I’d prefer a drink before climbing a
|
||||
mountains worth of stairs. Or better yet, I could get back on
|
||||
the boat and ride to the top and same myself the hassle.</p>
|
||||
</blockquote>
|
||||
<p>Bread once again looks confused. Confidence looks
|
||||
surprised, caught off guard.</p>
|
||||
<!--
|
||||
Alex rolls Investigation 2 to check for signs of deceit
|
||||
3 5 = Partial Success / Success at Cost
|
||||
//-->
|
||||
<p>Confidence sputters, “Well, yes, of course. You’ve been
|
||||
traveling for some time now, haven’t you? I can assure you
|
||||
that the food and drink at Runesocesius will be better than
|
||||
anything you can get here! But the choice is entirely yours.
|
||||
Feel free to avail yourself of the local offerings. We will
|
||||
wait here at the steps for you.”</p>
|
||||
<p>Bread nods slowly, and seems to trailing behind the
|
||||
conversation just a second or two.</p>
|
||||
<p>Their reactions seem genuine to you despite the
|
||||
circumstances. They seem like a couple of low level employees
|
||||
of a luxury hotel earnestly trying to follow the instructions
|
||||
they’ve been given.</p>
|
||||
<p>There are a couple of stalls and vendors set up around the
|
||||
gondola station. Many of them serve mulled wine and hot
|
||||
chocolate. There is some edible fare. Hot sandwiches and
|
||||
pitas. Nothing that an empanada from Enrique’s wouldn’t put to
|
||||
shame. But they look hot and steamy, and of great comfort to
|
||||
anybody who might be hungry and cold. There are a few fire
|
||||
pits, next to which there are long benches with blankets,
|
||||
where you might sit and warm up for a bit.</p>
|
||||
<p>The gondola lift ends here, and does not continue up to the
|
||||
mountain any further. The cloud steps are the most common way
|
||||
to get up to the peak, and to the Runesocesius. But you’re
|
||||
pretty sure one or two of the stalls here offers balloon rides
|
||||
up to the peak for thrill seekers and for those with
|
||||
accessibility needs.</p>
|
||||
<blockquote>
|
||||
<p>“I think you already know I’m interested in neither bread
|
||||
nor cheese, the second of which I certainly did not ask for
|
||||
yet you tried to offer in your hasty pretence.” Inky smiles
|
||||
thinly at the toques.</p>
|
||||
<p>Taking out a small bag of gold coins and weighing it slowly
|
||||
on one hand to the sound of coins clinking inside the pouch,
|
||||
Inky continues, “Speak, answer our questions frankly and you
|
||||
will be rewarded. The hotelier up there need not know. Breathe
|
||||
a word of our little chat to another soul, however …” Inky’s
|
||||
gaze cut briefly to four snow ravens perched atop a spiral
|
||||
lamp post and back, “and you will learn the meaning of
|
||||
disappearing without a trace.”</p>
|
||||
</blockquote>
|
||||
<p>Bread looks confused. You are starting to believe it is
|
||||
their default expression. “So, you <em>don’t</em> want no
|
||||
chee—”</p>
|
||||
<p>“Our only desire is to help!” Confidence hastily
|
||||
interrupts. He smiles pleasingly. “We are your guides! Not
|
||||
just physically up the steps, but in all things here on Kelsun
|
||||
Peak. You have but to ask, and if it is within our power to
|
||||
give it, it will be yours! We are but humble ser—”</p>
|
||||
<p>And just then Confidence is also suddenly interrupted. A
|
||||
thundering boom like a canon sounds from somewhere nearby,
|
||||
followed quickly by an explosion somewhere up above. Snow
|
||||
ravens fly off in all directions in a panic. The sound ripples
|
||||
through the mountaintop, rattling the ground on which you
|
||||
stand. A bunch of small rocks and two large boulders shake
|
||||
loose from the mountainside. Shoppers and travelers shout and
|
||||
duck for cover as they are pelted by the scree. One of the
|
||||
large boulder bounces clear over the station and plummets down
|
||||
the side of the mountain before disappearing into the cloud
|
||||
ocean below. The second one falls straight toward the
|
||||
platform. A vendor selling wreaths and candles dives out of
|
||||
the way as his stall is crushed by the boulder. A bench is
|
||||
toppled over, spilling its blankets into the fire pit, and
|
||||
catches fire, quickly spreading to another nearby stall.</p>
|
||||
<p>Bread looks up at the sky, confused. You see a thin line of
|
||||
black smoke starting to rise up into the sky from over the
|
||||
ridge where the Runesocesius lies. Confidence shouts, and you
|
||||
see him pointing at the sea, where a balloonship is rising up
|
||||
out of the cloud bank, sailing quickly toward you and the
|
||||
summit of Kelsun Peak.</p>
|
||||
<p>It resembles a seafaring ship, but instead of masts and
|
||||
sails, it has two large, colorful, patchwork balloons that
|
||||
provide it lift. A large fan on a pivot at the rear of the
|
||||
ship provides thrust. As you watch, it fires a second
|
||||
canon—that <em>is</em> what the sound was!—nearly straight up,
|
||||
arcing up and over the peak at Palace Runesocesius.</p>
|
||||
<p>The crew of the ship bustle around on the deck of the ship,
|
||||
reloading the canons, firing the balloons, shouting, giving
|
||||
and following orders.</p>
|
||||
<p>“Cyberplasms,” groans Confidence, and Bread whimpers. Alex,
|
||||
that quiet, dull, static roar that has been constantly
|
||||
tickling the back of your head ever since you found that
|
||||
dagger seems to rise in pitch and in tone. It conveys a sense
|
||||
of urgency, of warning. You can <em>almost</em> hear a
|
||||
desperate voice behind the static fuzz cautioning you,
|
||||
“Evil…”</p>
|
||||
<p>The only corporeal element of the crew are their cybernetic
|
||||
enhancements. A mechanical leg. A synthetic eye. A claw, a
|
||||
hook, a hand. An arm canon. Almost all of them have more than
|
||||
one, some as many as 3 or 5. The cybernetic pieces of each
|
||||
individual crew member are held together by plasmic energy
|
||||
arcs, crackling blue and green. And surrounding the bioware
|
||||
and the plasmic arcs of each crew member, like a blanket or a
|
||||
cocoon, is the translucent, wavering, ghostly form of some
|
||||
humanoid long-dead.</p>
|
||||
<p>The figure standing on the deck surveying the work of the
|
||||
rest of the crew—presumably the captain—has a synthetic eye
|
||||
rotating freely, 360 degrees in all directions, inside its
|
||||
skull-like head; a bulky arm canon; and a thin robotic leg
|
||||
terminating in a thick boot. Plasmic blasts arc through its
|
||||
core, sometimes disrupting and glitching its ghostly body.</p>
|
||||
<p>The captain raises its arm canon and shouts to the crew.
|
||||
Its voice carried on the breeze sounds like something
|
||||
otherworldly rising slowly from the murky deep. “Fire the
|
||||
canon, boys! And fire up the balloons! Drop the ballast! That
|
||||
crystal is <em>ours!</em>”</p>
|
||||
<p>It happens very quickly: the ship ascends to the summit and
|
||||
soon is firing grappling hooks at it to pull themselves in and
|
||||
breach the walls of the hotel.</p>
|
||||
<p>Bread looks at you, wide-eyed and trembling. They let loose
|
||||
a pitiful wail and turn and start running up the steps.
|
||||
“Bread!” Confidence yells after them. They cast a backward
|
||||
glance at you. “I’ve got to help Bread! We’ve got to save the
|
||||
hotel!” And they give chase to their fellow toque, bounding up
|
||||
the cloudstuff steps.</p>
|
||||
<p>WHAT DO YOU DO</p>
|
||||
<p><a
|
||||
href="https://framalistes.org/sympa/arc/tildepals/2022-12/msg00203.html">www</a></p>
|
||||
]]>
|
||||
</description>
|
||||
</item>
|
||||
<item>
|
||||
<title>39</title>
|
||||
<author>dozens@tilde.team (dozens)</author>
|
||||
|
|
|
@ -250,6 +250,7 @@ of the Were-Hare</a></li>
|
|||
<li><a href="#00039" id="toc-00039">00039</a></li>
|
||||
<li><a href="#00040" id="toc-00040">00040</a></li>
|
||||
<li><a href="#00041" id="toc-00041">00041</a></li>
|
||||
<li><a href="#00042" id="toc-00042">00042</a></li>
|
||||
</ul></li>
|
||||
<li><a href="#bestiary" id="toc-bestiary">Bestiary</a></li>
|
||||
<li><a href="#geography" id="toc-geography">Geography</a></li>
|
||||
|
@ -262,11 +263,11 @@ id="toc-acknowledgements">Acknowledgements</a></li>
|
|||
</ul>
|
||||
</nav>
|
||||
<h2 id="stats">Stats</h2>
|
||||
<p>Total length: 40358 words / 172 minute read. (Mind you, that’s the
|
||||
<p>Total length: 41570 words / 177 minute read. (Mind you, that’s the
|
||||
length of this entire page, including all the extra bits and bobs. Not
|
||||
just the story.)</p>
|
||||
<p>There have been 143 messages posted over 156 days since the first
|
||||
post on July 13, 2022 for a daily post rate of .91.</p>
|
||||
<p>There have been 148 messages posted over 157 days since the first
|
||||
post on July 13, 2022 for a daily post rate of .94.</p>
|
||||
<h2 id="about">About</h2>
|
||||
<p>This is a game that me and the kids in the basement are playing over
|
||||
email.</p>
|
||||
|
@ -4657,6 +4658,129 @@ cloudstuff. “Come! The hotelier will be very excited to greet you!”</p>
|
|||
<p>WHAT DO YOU DO</p>
|
||||
<p><a
|
||||
href="https://framalistes.org/sympa/arc/tildepals/2022-12/msg00193.html">www</a></p>
|
||||
<h3 id="00042">00042</h3>
|
||||
<blockquote>
|
||||
<p>This seems a bit strange. Certainly Blavin has been pulling strings
|
||||
from behind the scenes the whole time, but why coordinate a special
|
||||
escort for us when there are other retrieval teams, and we’ve been less
|
||||
than amicable with the bloke the entire time.. Alex thinks to
|
||||
himself.</p>
|
||||
<p><em>DM: I’d like to check for any signs of deceit in the toques
|
||||
demeanor or communcations with us</em></p>
|
||||
<p>Confidence you said right? What would you do if I simply chose not to
|
||||
accompany you? I mean, there’s a whole city around us, perhaps I’d
|
||||
prefer a drink before climbing a mountains worth of stairs. Or better
|
||||
yet, I could get back on the boat and ride to the top and same myself
|
||||
the hassle.</p>
|
||||
</blockquote>
|
||||
<p>Bread once again looks confused. Confidence looks surprised, caught
|
||||
off guard.</p>
|
||||
<!--
|
||||
Alex rolls Investigation 2 to check for signs of deceit
|
||||
3 5 = Partial Success / Success at Cost
|
||||
//-->
|
||||
<p>Confidence sputters, “Well, yes, of course. You’ve been traveling for
|
||||
some time now, haven’t you? I can assure you that the food and drink at
|
||||
Runesocesius will be better than anything you can get here! But the
|
||||
choice is entirely yours. Feel free to avail yourself of the local
|
||||
offerings. We will wait here at the steps for you.”</p>
|
||||
<p>Bread nods slowly, and seems to trailing behind the conversation just
|
||||
a second or two.</p>
|
||||
<p>Their reactions seem genuine to you despite the circumstances. They
|
||||
seem like a couple of low level employees of a luxury hotel earnestly
|
||||
trying to follow the instructions they’ve been given.</p>
|
||||
<p>There are a couple of stalls and vendors set up around the gondola
|
||||
station. Many of them serve mulled wine and hot chocolate. There is some
|
||||
edible fare. Hot sandwiches and pitas. Nothing that an empanada from
|
||||
Enrique’s wouldn’t put to shame. But they look hot and steamy, and of
|
||||
great comfort to anybody who might be hungry and cold. There are a few
|
||||
fire pits, next to which there are long benches with blankets, where you
|
||||
might sit and warm up for a bit.</p>
|
||||
<p>The gondola lift ends here, and does not continue up to the mountain
|
||||
any further. The cloud steps are the most common way to get up to the
|
||||
peak, and to the Runesocesius. But you’re pretty sure one or two of the
|
||||
stalls here offers balloon rides up to the peak for thrill seekers and
|
||||
for those with accessibility needs.</p>
|
||||
<blockquote>
|
||||
<p>“I think you already know I’m interested in neither bread nor cheese,
|
||||
the second of which I certainly did not ask for yet you tried to offer
|
||||
in your hasty pretence.” Inky smiles thinly at the toques.</p>
|
||||
<p>Taking out a small bag of gold coins and weighing it slowly on one
|
||||
hand to the sound of coins clinking inside the pouch, Inky continues,
|
||||
“Speak, answer our questions frankly and you will be rewarded. The
|
||||
hotelier up there need not know. Breathe a word of our little chat to
|
||||
another soul, however …” Inky’s gaze cut briefly to four snow ravens
|
||||
perched atop a spiral lamp post and back, “and you will learn the
|
||||
meaning of disappearing without a trace.”</p>
|
||||
</blockquote>
|
||||
<p>Bread looks confused. You are starting to believe it is their default
|
||||
expression. “So, you <em>don’t</em> want no chee—”</p>
|
||||
<p>“Our only desire is to help!” Confidence hastily interrupts. He
|
||||
smiles pleasingly. “We are your guides! Not just physically up the
|
||||
steps, but in all things here on Kelsun Peak. You have but to ask, and
|
||||
if it is within our power to give it, it will be yours! We are but
|
||||
humble ser—”</p>
|
||||
<p>And just then Confidence is also suddenly interrupted. A thundering
|
||||
boom like a canon sounds from somewhere nearby, followed quickly by an
|
||||
explosion somewhere up above. Snow ravens fly off in all directions in a
|
||||
panic. The sound ripples through the mountaintop, rattling the ground on
|
||||
which you stand. A bunch of small rocks and two large boulders shake
|
||||
loose from the mountainside. Shoppers and travelers shout and duck for
|
||||
cover as they are pelted by the scree. One of the large boulder bounces
|
||||
clear over the station and plummets down the side of the mountain before
|
||||
disappearing into the cloud ocean below. The second one falls straight
|
||||
toward the platform. A vendor selling wreaths and candles dives out of
|
||||
the way as his stall is crushed by the boulder. A bench is toppled over,
|
||||
spilling its blankets into the fire pit, and catches fire, quickly
|
||||
spreading to another nearby stall.</p>
|
||||
<p>Bread looks up at the sky, confused. You see a thin line of black
|
||||
smoke starting to rise up into the sky from over the ridge where the
|
||||
Runesocesius lies. Confidence shouts, and you see him pointing at the
|
||||
sea, where a balloonship is rising up out of the cloud bank, sailing
|
||||
quickly toward you and the summit of Kelsun Peak.</p>
|
||||
<p>It resembles a seafaring ship, but instead of masts and sails, it has
|
||||
two large, colorful, patchwork balloons that provide it lift. A large
|
||||
fan on a pivot at the rear of the ship provides thrust. As you watch, it
|
||||
fires a second canon—that <em>is</em> what the sound was!—nearly
|
||||
straight up, arcing up and over the peak at Palace Runesocesius.</p>
|
||||
<p>The crew of the ship bustle around on the deck of the ship, reloading
|
||||
the canons, firing the balloons, shouting, giving and following
|
||||
orders.</p>
|
||||
<p>“Cyberplasms,” groans Confidence, and Bread whimpers. Alex, that
|
||||
quiet, dull, static roar that has been constantly tickling the back of
|
||||
your head ever since you found that dagger seems to rise in pitch and in
|
||||
tone. It conveys a sense of urgency, of warning. You can <em>almost</em>
|
||||
hear a desperate voice behind the static fuzz cautioning you,
|
||||
“Evil…”</p>
|
||||
<p>The only corporeal element of the crew are their cybernetic
|
||||
enhancements. A mechanical leg. A synthetic eye. A claw, a hook, a hand.
|
||||
An arm canon. Almost all of them have more than one, some as many as 3
|
||||
or 5. The cybernetic pieces of each individual crew member are held
|
||||
together by plasmic energy arcs, crackling blue and green. And
|
||||
surrounding the bioware and the plasmic arcs of each crew member, like a
|
||||
blanket or a cocoon, is the translucent, wavering, ghostly form of some
|
||||
humanoid long-dead.</p>
|
||||
<p>The figure standing on the deck surveying the work of the rest of the
|
||||
crew—presumably the captain—has a synthetic eye rotating freely, 360
|
||||
degrees in all directions, inside its skull-like head; a bulky arm
|
||||
canon; and a thin robotic leg terminating in a thick boot. Plasmic
|
||||
blasts arc through its core, sometimes disrupting and glitching its
|
||||
ghostly body.</p>
|
||||
<p>The captain raises its arm canon and shouts to the crew. Its voice
|
||||
carried on the breeze sounds like something otherworldly rising slowly
|
||||
from the murky deep. “Fire the canon, boys! And fire up the balloons!
|
||||
Drop the ballast! That crystal is <em>ours!</em>”</p>
|
||||
<p>It happens very quickly: the ship ascends to the summit and soon is
|
||||
firing grappling hooks at it to pull themselves in and breach the walls
|
||||
of the hotel.</p>
|
||||
<p>Bread looks at you, wide-eyed and trembling. They let loose a pitiful
|
||||
wail and turn and start running up the steps. “Bread!” Confidence yells
|
||||
after them. They cast a backward glance at you. “I’ve got to help Bread!
|
||||
We’ve got to save the hotel!” And they give chase to their fellow toque,
|
||||
bounding up the cloudstuff steps.</p>
|
||||
<p>WHAT DO YOU DO</p>
|
||||
<p><a
|
||||
href="https://framalistes.org/sympa/arc/tildepals/2022-12/msg00203.html">www</a></p>
|
||||
<h2 id="bestiary">Bestiary</h2>
|
||||
<p>Some of the creatures who inhabit the world of Basmentaria</p>
|
||||
<dt>
|
||||
|
|
Loading…
Reference in New Issue