main
parent
336ddd9377
commit
3c19180709
|
@ -30,6 +30,7 @@ src/epistolary/00045.md
|
||||||
src/epistolary/00046.md
|
src/epistolary/00046.md
|
||||||
src/epistolary/00047.md
|
src/epistolary/00047.md
|
||||||
src/epistolary/00048.md
|
src/epistolary/00048.md
|
||||||
|
src/epistolary/00049.md
|
||||||
src/bestiary/index.md
|
src/bestiary/index.md
|
||||||
src/bestiary/aur.md
|
src/bestiary/aur.md
|
||||||
src/bestiary/blahoblin.md
|
src/bestiary/blahoblin.md
|
||||||
|
|
|
@ -8,7 +8,8 @@ public: yes
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
Being apocryphal and supplemental material posted to the *Barefoot Quackery*
|
Being apocryphal and supplemental material posted to the *Barefoot Quackery*
|
||||||
thread on tildepals, including depictions of loose pages torn from books of the
|
thread on tildepals, including depictions of loose pages torn from books of the
|
||||||
Runesocesius Library, and original fictions and other diversions, and more.
|
Runesocesius Library during the assault by the Cyberplasms, as well as original
|
||||||
|
works of fiction and other diversions.
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
### Cease and Desist
|
### Cease and Desist
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
|
|
@ -16,8 +16,8 @@ What do you plan to do with your cut of the money? Buy lots of ink ingredients,
|
||||||
</details>
|
</details>
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
- Player: mio
|
- Player: mio
|
||||||
- XP: 1
|
- XP: 0
|
||||||
- Skills: Do Anything 1, Persuasive 2, Plantomancy 2, Throwing 2
|
- Skills: Do Anything 1, Persuasive 2, Plantomancy 2, Throwing 2, Medicine 2
|
||||||
- Equipment: Handy Duffer Discette, Fine Feathered Quills, Jade Tea Set, Mountain Range Glyph Ink, Bead of the Werehare
|
- Equipment: Handy Duffer Discette, Fine Feathered Quills, Jade Tea Set, Mountain Range Glyph Ink, Bead of the Werehare
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
Paths:
|
Paths:
|
||||||
|
|
|
@ -0,0 +1,156 @@
|
||||||
|
---
|
||||||
|
title: 00049
|
||||||
|
created: Thu, 29 Dec 2022 18:55:34 -0700
|
||||||
|
updated: Fri, 30 Dec 2022 08:12:55 -0700
|
||||||
|
syndicated: yes
|
||||||
|
public: yes
|
||||||
|
---
|
||||||
|
### 00049 {#00049}
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
> "They *are* a good guide," Inky corrects adamantly. "Do you hear
|
||||||
|
> that, Bread? You're not allowed to disappear until you've had an
|
||||||
|
> entire bag of these croutons, and even then you're still not
|
||||||
|
> allowed. If I'd known you'd never had croutons before I wouldn't
|
||||||
|
> have let you walk a step further into that hall. That was
|
||||||
|
> simultaneously the worst and best idea ever. Mango! Croutons! What
|
||||||
|
> a travesty. Did you even taste any of it? No? You have to! How can
|
||||||
|
> you offer guests delicious fondue without croutons? Speaking of
|
||||||
|
> which, we haven't gotten that fondue you promised yet, that's
|
||||||
|
> reason #144 you can't disappear. What's reason #143? Crostinis.
|
||||||
|
> Small toasted bread. Slice of life. You can put cheese on it too,
|
||||||
|
> if you really must …"
|
||||||
|
>
|
||||||
|
> And so on. While Inky talks at Bread in a bid to keep them
|
||||||
|
> conscious, they whisk out a first-aid kit from their courier bag
|
||||||
|
> and kneeling on the floor, proceeds to stem the bleeding from the
|
||||||
|
> chest wound with coagulant-coated bandages. Slowly, they tip a
|
||||||
|
> flask of tea infused with some restorative herbs down Bread's open
|
||||||
|
> mouth, careful not to pour too quickly. Inky pauses mid-diatribe
|
||||||
|
> and mid-pour to thrust another flask of tea into Confidence's hand,
|
||||||
|
> the one wrapped four-fifths of the hotelier and ask, "Are you
|
||||||
|
> injured? Please keep an eye on your companion, I will summon for
|
||||||
|
> assistance."
|
||||||
|
>
|
||||||
|
> Standing up, Inky walks to a window, opens it and peers out. They
|
||||||
|
> look around for a hot air balloon and notice the unmoored airship.
|
||||||
|
> After squinting at it with a mini-spyglass, they see Alex standing
|
||||||
|
> at the helm of the ship with a young hemogoblin on board. Inky
|
||||||
|
> waves, and makes a vertical cross sign with a fist and thumb on the
|
||||||
|
> opposite upper arm a few times. Next, they pull out a small tin
|
||||||
|
> whistle, and toot a few sharp notes in the same cadence as the
|
||||||
|
> one-liner directed at Bread earlier by the gondola station. After a
|
||||||
|
> moment, a scops owl swoops in to land on the windowsill. Inky
|
||||||
|
> inserts a rolled piece of paper into a small pouch hanging at the
|
||||||
|
> bird's back, and the bird flies off again.
|
||||||
|
>
|
||||||
|
> Returning to the figures slumped against the wall, Inky places the
|
||||||
|
> Ginnarak crystal in a lightly padded cloth bag, stowing it away in
|
||||||
|
> their knapsack-style backpack. They resume checking and tending to
|
||||||
|
> the toques' injuries, while expounding upon various permutations of
|
||||||
|
> toasted bread to a captive audience.
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
Bread closes their eyes and smiles dreamily at the descriptions of
|
||||||
|
various breads. They weakly sip the tea as you tip it into their
|
||||||
|
mouth and swallow with effort.
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
<!--
|
||||||
|
Inky rolls Do Anything 1 to stabilize Bread
|
||||||
|
2 = Things go poorly
|
||||||
|
Spend 1 remaining xp to advance = Success + gain Medicine 2
|
||||||
|
//-->
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
They sigh and open their eyes. They focus on you and maintain eye
|
||||||
|
contact as you draw from a seemingly bottomless well of knowledge on
|
||||||
|
the topic of toasted breads. Bread and life are clinging fast to each
|
||||||
|
other, neither ready or willing to let go of the other. They are
|
||||||
|
going to be okay.
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
Confidence's wounds are superficial. They are winded from dragging
|
||||||
|
Bread and the hotelier up seven flights of stairs. But they are fine.
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
The hotelier's wounds are sadly quite fatal. Honestly it was all over
|
||||||
|
for him the moment he took the full force of the captain's plasma
|
||||||
|
canon to his chest. He babbles, "It's not ... I wasn't ..." And then
|
||||||
|
with sudden realization and quiet resignation, a clear-eyed, "Oh."
|
||||||
|
And then he is gone.
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
His courage in the face of danger is the reason you now have the
|
||||||
|
third of the five Ginnarak Crystals in your pack. Whether or not his
|
||||||
|
death was in vain is now largely up to you and what you decide to do
|
||||||
|
with the crystal.
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
~
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
Downstairs in the Great Hall of the library, one of the remaining
|
||||||
|
Cyberplasms crouches down next to the inert cybernetic eye that until
|
||||||
|
very recently belonged to their captain. They pick it up and turn it
|
||||||
|
over in their hand. "Worry not, my captain," the ghost mourns. "We
|
||||||
|
will find the quintessence. And once we do, we will be made anew in
|
||||||
|
the forge of our Mother."
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
He rolls the orb in palm of his hand. A faint arc of energy crackles
|
||||||
|
across its surface. And the eye rolls over of its own volition and
|
||||||
|
looks up at the pirate.
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
Suddenly reverent, the pirate gently places the eye on the ground as
|
||||||
|
a ghostly face begins to form around it. The pirate waits patiently,
|
||||||
|
attentively. It's not every day one gets to bare witness to a new
|
||||||
|
birth. The ectoplasm that gathers around the eye forms a rail-thin
|
||||||
|
body. Its head is bald and its face sports a neatly trimmed mustache.
|
||||||
|
It is missing an arm and a leg.
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
Dutifully, the witness fetches a recently discarded arm canon and leg
|
||||||
|
booster. The exotica tap into the energy provided by a new crossing
|
||||||
|
over, and come online, and create a new mesh.
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
The hotelier stands and looks down at its new body. As it were. It
|
||||||
|
looks around at its surroundings. It picks up a few books and starts
|
||||||
|
shelving them.
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
The pirate, mostly wishing to provide companionship and comfort to
|
||||||
|
the new ghost, assists with tidying up.
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
~
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
Alex, you are at the helm of the balloon-ship. As you start to drift
|
||||||
|
slightly up and away, the blue dome of the hotel comes into view. On
|
||||||
|
its peak you can see a life-sized statue of a stern-faced
|
||||||
|
Runesocesius wielding a spear, drawn back as though ready to hurl an
|
||||||
|
angry thunderbolt down at the world below.
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
The hemogoblin is still down on the deck by the canons. You see it
|
||||||
|
waving cheerily at the library tower. You squint in that direction,
|
||||||
|
but can't see what has caught its attention.
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
A small tufted-ear owl silently lands next to you breaking you from
|
||||||
|
your reverie. The owl is wearing a small harness with a pouch at the
|
||||||
|
back. Inside the pouch is a rolled piece of paper signed by Inky, up
|
||||||
|
on the seventh floor of the tower.
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
You count seven windows up the side of the tower from its base. There
|
||||||
|
seems to be some movement inside, but you can't make much out from
|
||||||
|
here. With a lucky shot, you think you might be able to hook the
|
||||||
|
window frame with a zipline.
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
~
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
Outside, a pink zephynos is spinning raw cloud into a minuscule opera
|
||||||
|
house and performing arts center under the direction of an amber imp
|
||||||
|
with a new hunger for life. It is an organic looking structure: a
|
||||||
|
primary concert hall, surrounded by a number of smaller stages and
|
||||||
|
performance areas spiraling out from the center like a nautilus
|
||||||
|
shell.
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
The imp smiles happily, proudly. What tales will be told here! What
|
||||||
|
songs will be sung! "Lorehold," it whispers to itself. "You will tell
|
||||||
|
the world's stories."
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
It is already trying out lines in its head, imagining the play it
|
||||||
|
will write of this day. About the hotel and the library and the
|
||||||
|
pirates and the cloud dragons. About a pair of adventurers. And a
|
||||||
|
very brave and lucky drone pilot that dared to chase its dreams.
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
WHAT DO YOU DO
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
[www](https://framalistes.org/sympa/arc/tildepals/2022-12/msg00252.html)
|
||||||
|
|
|
@ -50,7 +50,7 @@ Each crystal has an associated *element*, a *location* appropriate to the elemen
|
||||||
| -- |---------|-----------------------------|--------|
|
| -- |---------|-----------------------------|--------|
|
||||||
| ✅ | earth | cave | coin |
|
| ✅ | earth | cave | coin |
|
||||||
| ✅ | water | underwater pirate shipwreck | mirth |
|
| ✅ | water | underwater pirate shipwreck | mirth |
|
||||||
| 🚫 | wind | cloudstuff | lore |
|
| ✅ | wind | cloudstuff | lore |
|
||||||
| 🚫 | void | spaaaaace | craft |
|
| 🚫 | void | spaaaaace | craft |
|
||||||
| 🚫 | fire | volcano | tact |
|
| 🚫 | fire | volcano | tact |
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
|
136
www/index.html
136
www/index.html
|
@ -320,6 +320,7 @@ of the Were-Hare</a></li>
|
||||||
<li><a href="#00046" id="toc-00046">00046</a></li>
|
<li><a href="#00046" id="toc-00046">00046</a></li>
|
||||||
<li><a href="#00047" id="toc-00047">00047</a></li>
|
<li><a href="#00047" id="toc-00047">00047</a></li>
|
||||||
<li><a href="#00048" id="toc-00048">00048</a></li>
|
<li><a href="#00048" id="toc-00048">00048</a></li>
|
||||||
|
<li><a href="#00049" id="toc-00049">00049</a></li>
|
||||||
</ul></li>
|
</ul></li>
|
||||||
<li><a href="#bestiary" id="toc-bestiary">Bestiary</a></li>
|
<li><a href="#bestiary" id="toc-bestiary">Bestiary</a></li>
|
||||||
<li><a href="#geography" id="toc-geography">Geography</a></li>
|
<li><a href="#geography" id="toc-geography">Geography</a></li>
|
||||||
|
@ -352,10 +353,10 @@ Runesocesius</a></li>
|
||||||
</ul>
|
</ul>
|
||||||
</nav>
|
</nav>
|
||||||
<h2 id="stats">Stats</h2>
|
<h2 id="stats">Stats</h2>
|
||||||
<p>Total length: 51977 words / 222 minute read. (Mind you, that’s the
|
<p>Total length: 53179 words / 227 minute read. (Mind you, that’s the
|
||||||
length of this entire page, including all the extra bits and bobs. Not
|
length of this entire page, including all the extra bits and bobs. Not
|
||||||
just the story.)</p>
|
just the story.)</p>
|
||||||
<p>There have been 171 messages posted over 169 days since the first
|
<p>There have been 173 messages posted over 170 days since the first
|
||||||
post on July 13, 2022 for a daily post rate of 1.01.</p>
|
post on July 13, 2022 for a daily post rate of 1.01.</p>
|
||||||
<h2 id="about">About</h2>
|
<h2 id="about">About</h2>
|
||||||
<p>This is a game that me and the kids in the basement are playing over
|
<p>This is a game that me and the kids in the basement are playing over
|
||||||
|
@ -510,8 +511,9 @@ very soon!</p>
|
||||||
</details>
|
</details>
|
||||||
<ul>
|
<ul>
|
||||||
<li>Player: mio</li>
|
<li>Player: mio</li>
|
||||||
<li>XP: 1</li>
|
<li>XP: 0</li>
|
||||||
<li>Skills: Do Anything 1, Persuasive 2, Plantomancy 2, Throwing 2</li>
|
<li>Skills: Do Anything 1, Persuasive 2, Plantomancy 2, Throwing 2,
|
||||||
|
Medicine 2</li>
|
||||||
<li>Equipment: Handy Duffer Discette, Fine Feathered Quills, Jade Tea
|
<li>Equipment: Handy Duffer Discette, Fine Feathered Quills, Jade Tea
|
||||||
Set, Mountain Range Glyph Ink, Bead of the Werehare</li>
|
Set, Mountain Range Glyph Ink, Bead of the Werehare</li>
|
||||||
</ul>
|
</ul>
|
||||||
|
@ -5476,6 +5478,127 @@ It was Bread’s idea. They were a good guide.”</p>
|
||||||
<p>WHAT DO YOU DO</p>
|
<p>WHAT DO YOU DO</p>
|
||||||
<p><a
|
<p><a
|
||||||
href="https://framalistes.org/sympa/arc/tildepals/2022-12/msg00250.html">www</a></p>
|
href="https://framalistes.org/sympa/arc/tildepals/2022-12/msg00250.html">www</a></p>
|
||||||
|
<h3 id="00049">00049</h3>
|
||||||
|
<blockquote>
|
||||||
|
<p>“They <em>are</em> a good guide,” Inky corrects adamantly. “Do you
|
||||||
|
hear that, Bread? You’re not allowed to disappear until you’ve had an
|
||||||
|
entire bag of these croutons, and even then you’re still not allowed. If
|
||||||
|
I’d known you’d never had croutons before I wouldn’t have let you walk a
|
||||||
|
step further into that hall. That was simultaneously the worst and best
|
||||||
|
idea ever. Mango! Croutons! What a travesty. Did you even taste any of
|
||||||
|
it? No? You have to! How can you offer guests delicious fondue without
|
||||||
|
croutons? Speaking of which, we haven’t gotten that fondue you promised
|
||||||
|
yet, that’s reason #144 you can’t disappear. What’s reason #143?
|
||||||
|
Crostinis. Small toasted bread. Slice of life. You can put cheese on it
|
||||||
|
too, if you really must …”</p>
|
||||||
|
<p>And so on. While Inky talks at Bread in a bid to keep them conscious,
|
||||||
|
they whisk out a first-aid kit from their courier bag and kneeling on
|
||||||
|
the floor, proceeds to stem the bleeding from the chest wound with
|
||||||
|
coagulant-coated bandages. Slowly, they tip a flask of tea infused with
|
||||||
|
some restorative herbs down Bread’s open mouth, careful not to pour too
|
||||||
|
quickly. Inky pauses mid-diatribe and mid-pour to thrust another flask
|
||||||
|
of tea into Confidence’s hand, the one wrapped four-fifths of the
|
||||||
|
hotelier and ask, “Are you injured? Please keep an eye on your
|
||||||
|
companion, I will summon for assistance.”</p>
|
||||||
|
<p>Standing up, Inky walks to a window, opens it and peers out. They
|
||||||
|
look around for a hot air balloon and notice the unmoored airship. After
|
||||||
|
squinting at it with a mini-spyglass, they see Alex standing at the helm
|
||||||
|
of the ship with a young hemogoblin on board. Inky waves, and makes a
|
||||||
|
vertical cross sign with a fist and thumb on the opposite upper arm a
|
||||||
|
few times. Next, they pull out a small tin whistle, and toot a few sharp
|
||||||
|
notes in the same cadence as the one-liner directed at Bread earlier by
|
||||||
|
the gondola station. After a moment, a scops owl swoops in to land on
|
||||||
|
the windowsill. Inky inserts a rolled piece of paper into a small pouch
|
||||||
|
hanging at the bird’s back, and the bird flies off again.</p>
|
||||||
|
<p>Returning to the figures slumped against the wall, Inky places the
|
||||||
|
Ginnarak crystal in a lightly padded cloth bag, stowing it away in their
|
||||||
|
knapsack-style backpack. They resume checking and tending to the toques’
|
||||||
|
injuries, while expounding upon various permutations of toasted bread to
|
||||||
|
a captive audience.</p>
|
||||||
|
</blockquote>
|
||||||
|
<p>Bread closes their eyes and smiles dreamily at the descriptions of
|
||||||
|
various breads. They weakly sip the tea as you tip it into their mouth
|
||||||
|
and swallow with effort.</p>
|
||||||
|
<!--
|
||||||
|
Inky rolls Do Anything 1 to stabilize Bread
|
||||||
|
2 = Things go poorly
|
||||||
|
Spend 1 remaining xp to advance = Success + gain Medicine 2
|
||||||
|
//-->
|
||||||
|
<p>They sigh and open their eyes. They focus on you and maintain eye
|
||||||
|
contact as you draw from a seemingly bottomless well of knowledge on the
|
||||||
|
topic of toasted breads. Bread and life are clinging fast to each other,
|
||||||
|
neither ready or willing to let go of the other. They are going to be
|
||||||
|
okay.</p>
|
||||||
|
<p>Confidence’s wounds are superficial. They are winded from dragging
|
||||||
|
Bread and the hotelier up seven flights of stairs. But they are
|
||||||
|
fine.</p>
|
||||||
|
<p>The hotelier’s wounds are sadly quite fatal. Honestly it was all over
|
||||||
|
for him the moment he took the full force of the captain’s plasma canon
|
||||||
|
to his chest. He babbles, “It’s not … I wasn’t …” And then with sudden
|
||||||
|
realization and quiet resignation, a clear-eyed, “Oh.” And then he is
|
||||||
|
gone.</p>
|
||||||
|
<p>His courage in the face of danger is the reason you now have the
|
||||||
|
third of the five Ginnarak Crystals in your pack. Whether or not his
|
||||||
|
death was in vain is now largely up to you and what you decide to do
|
||||||
|
with the crystal.</p>
|
||||||
|
<p>~</p>
|
||||||
|
<p>Downstairs in the Great Hall of the library, one of the remaining
|
||||||
|
Cyberplasms crouches down next to the inert cybernetic eye that until
|
||||||
|
very recently belonged to their captain. They pick it up and turn it
|
||||||
|
over in their hand. “Worry not, my captain,” the ghost mourns. “We will
|
||||||
|
find the quintessence. And once we do, we will be made anew in the forge
|
||||||
|
of our Mother.”</p>
|
||||||
|
<p>He rolls the orb in palm of his hand. A faint arc of energy crackles
|
||||||
|
across its surface. And the eye rolls over of its own volition and looks
|
||||||
|
up at the pirate.</p>
|
||||||
|
<p>Suddenly reverent, the pirate gently places the eye on the ground as
|
||||||
|
a ghostly face begins to form around it. The pirate waits patiently,
|
||||||
|
attentively. It’s not every day one gets to bare witness to a new birth.
|
||||||
|
The ectoplasm that gathers around the eye forms a rail-thin body. Its
|
||||||
|
head is bald and its face sports a neatly trimmed mustache. It is
|
||||||
|
missing an arm and a leg.</p>
|
||||||
|
<p>Dutifully, the witness fetches a recently discarded arm canon and leg
|
||||||
|
booster. The exotica tap into the energy provided by a new crossing
|
||||||
|
over, and come online, and create a new mesh.</p>
|
||||||
|
<p>The hotelier stands and looks down at its new body. As it were. It
|
||||||
|
looks around at its surroundings. It picks up a few books and starts
|
||||||
|
shelving them.</p>
|
||||||
|
<p>The pirate, mostly wishing to provide companionship and comfort to
|
||||||
|
the new ghost, assists with tidying up.</p>
|
||||||
|
<p>~</p>
|
||||||
|
<p>Alex, you are at the helm of the balloon-ship. As you start to drift
|
||||||
|
slightly up and away, the blue dome of the hotel comes into view. On its
|
||||||
|
peak you can see a life-sized statue of a stern-faced Runesocesius
|
||||||
|
wielding a spear, drawn back as though ready to hurl an angry
|
||||||
|
thunderbolt down at the world below.</p>
|
||||||
|
<p>The hemogoblin is still down on the deck by the canons. You see it
|
||||||
|
waving cheerily at the library tower. You squint in that direction, but
|
||||||
|
can’t see what has caught its attention.</p>
|
||||||
|
<p>A small tufted-ear owl silently lands next to you breaking you from
|
||||||
|
your reverie. The owl is wearing a small harness with a pouch at the
|
||||||
|
back. Inside the pouch is a rolled piece of paper signed by Inky, up on
|
||||||
|
the seventh floor of the tower.</p>
|
||||||
|
<p>You count seven windows up the side of the tower from its base. There
|
||||||
|
seems to be some movement inside, but you can’t make much out from here.
|
||||||
|
With a lucky shot, you think you might be able to hook the window frame
|
||||||
|
with a zipline.</p>
|
||||||
|
<p>~</p>
|
||||||
|
<p>Outside, a pink zephynos is spinning raw cloud into a minuscule opera
|
||||||
|
house and performing arts center under the direction of an amber imp
|
||||||
|
with a new hunger for life. It is an organic looking structure: a
|
||||||
|
primary concert hall, surrounded by a number of smaller stages and
|
||||||
|
performance areas spiraling out from the center like a nautilus
|
||||||
|
shell.</p>
|
||||||
|
<p>The imp smiles happily, proudly. What tales will be told here! What
|
||||||
|
songs will be sung! “Lorehold,” it whispers to itself. “You will tell
|
||||||
|
the world’s stories.”</p>
|
||||||
|
<p>It is already trying out lines in its head, imagining the play it
|
||||||
|
will write of this day. About the hotel and the library and the pirates
|
||||||
|
and the cloud dragons. About a pair of adventurers. And a very brave and
|
||||||
|
lucky drone pilot that dared to chase its dreams.</p>
|
||||||
|
<p>WHAT DO YOU DO</p>
|
||||||
|
<p><a
|
||||||
|
href="https://framalistes.org/sympa/arc/tildepals/2022-12/msg00252.html">www</a></p>
|
||||||
<h2 id="bestiary">Bestiary</h2>
|
<h2 id="bestiary">Bestiary</h2>
|
||||||
<p>Some of the creatures who inhabit the world of Basmentaria</p>
|
<p>Some of the creatures who inhabit the world of Basmentaria</p>
|
||||||
<dt>
|
<dt>
|
||||||
|
@ -5850,8 +5973,9 @@ more gentle conclusion.</p>
|
||||||
<h2 id="appendix-a-barefoot-quackery">Appendix A: Barefoot Quackery</h2>
|
<h2 id="appendix-a-barefoot-quackery">Appendix A: Barefoot Quackery</h2>
|
||||||
<p>Being apocryphal and supplemental material posted to the <em>Barefoot
|
<p>Being apocryphal and supplemental material posted to the <em>Barefoot
|
||||||
Quackery</em> thread on tildepals, including depictions of loose pages
|
Quackery</em> thread on tildepals, including depictions of loose pages
|
||||||
torn from books of the Runesocesius Library, and original fictions and
|
torn from books of the Runesocesius Library during the assault by the
|
||||||
other diversions, and more.</p>
|
Cyberplasms, as well as original works of fiction and other
|
||||||
|
diversions.</p>
|
||||||
<h3 id="cease-and-desist">Cease and Desist</h3>
|
<h3 id="cease-and-desist">Cease and Desist</h3>
|
||||||
<blockquote>
|
<blockquote>
|
||||||
<p>To: durrendal<br />
|
<p>To: durrendal<br />
|
||||||
|
|
921
www/rss.xml
921
www/rss.xml
|
@ -5,149 +5,6 @@
|
||||||
<title>BASEMENT QWEST</title>
|
<title>BASEMENT QWEST</title>
|
||||||
<link>https://tilde.town/~dozens/quest/rss.xml</link>
|
<link>https://tilde.town/~dozens/quest/rss.xml</link>
|
||||||
<description>Friends having ADVENTURES! Huzzah!</description>
|
<description>Friends having ADVENTURES! Huzzah!</description>
|
||||||
<item>
|
|
||||||
<title>46</title>
|
|
||||||
<author>dozens@tilde.team (dozens)</author>
|
|
||||||
<guid isPermaLink="false">46 - Thu, 22 Dec 2022 12:36:07
|
|
||||||
-0700</guid>
|
|
||||||
<pubDate>Thu, 22 Dec 2022 12:36:10 -0700</pubDate>
|
|
||||||
<description>
|
|
||||||
<![CDATA[
|
|
||||||
<h3 id="00046">00046</h3>
|
|
||||||
<blockquote>
|
|
||||||
<p>Ah so I suppose those Toques were being honest then, there
|
|
||||||
was a Ginnarak crystal, and I guess they were going to give it
|
|
||||||
to us.. oh well, nothing good in life comes easy.</p>
|
|
||||||
<p>Alex cranks the dial on the sunspoke, grabs the hemogoblin
|
|
||||||
from the basket, and jumps out of the balloon and onto the
|
|
||||||
deck of the ship. He rushes over to the nearest pile of
|
|
||||||
bundled rope and barrels and stows his new hemo friend. “Just
|
|
||||||
stay hidden little guy, let me take care of these pirates
|
|
||||||
first.”</p>
|
|
||||||
<p>Alex grabs the dagger from his side as he makes his way
|
|
||||||
towards the side of the ship, first thing first, best to cut
|
|
||||||
the mooring lines and zip lines. The static clawing sensation
|
|
||||||
appears at the back of Alex’s mind, but he attempts to ignore
|
|
||||||
it. There’s too much that needs to be done too quickly, and
|
|
||||||
he’s all too aware of the danger he’s put himself in. “What
|
|
||||||
would Corraidhin do..” Alex thinks to himself, “perhaps a
|
|
||||||
spell?”.</p>
|
|
||||||
<div class="sourceCode" id="cb1"><pre
|
|
||||||
class="sourceCode lua"><code class="sourceCode lua"><span id="cb1-1"><a href="#cb1-1" aria-hidden="true" tabindex="-1"></a><span class="kw">function</span> target<span class="op">:</span>new<span class="op">(</span>obj<span class="op">,</span> tbl<span class="op">)</span></span>
|
|
||||||
<span id="cb1-2"><a href="#cb1-2" aria-hidden="true" tabindex="-1"></a> obj <span class="op">=</span> obj <span class="kw">or</span> <span class="op">{}</span></span>
|
|
||||||
<span id="cb1-3"><a href="#cb1-3" aria-hidden="true" tabindex="-1"></a> <span class="fu">setmetatable</span><span class="op">(</span>obj<span class="op">,</span> self<span class="op">)</span></span>
|
|
||||||
<span id="cb1-4"><a href="#cb1-4" aria-hidden="true" tabindex="-1"></a> self<span class="op">.</span><span class="cn">__</span>index <span class="op">=</span> self</span>
|
|
||||||
<span id="cb1-5"><a href="#cb1-5" aria-hidden="true" tabindex="-1"></a> self<span class="op">.</span>x <span class="op">=</span> <span class="dv">0</span></span>
|
|
||||||
<span id="cb1-6"><a href="#cb1-6" aria-hidden="true" tabindex="-1"></a> self<span class="op">.</span>y <span class="op">=</span> <span class="dv">0</span></span>
|
|
||||||
<span id="cb1-7"><a href="#cb1-7" aria-hidden="true" tabindex="-1"></a> self<span class="op">.</span>speed <span class="op">=</span> <span class="dv">0</span></span>
|
|
||||||
<span id="cb1-8"><a href="#cb1-8" aria-hidden="true" tabindex="-1"></a> reutrn obj</span>
|
|
||||||
<span id="cb1-9"><a href="#cb1-9" aria-hidden="true" tabindex="-1"></a><span class="kw">end</span></span>
|
|
||||||
<span id="cb1-10"><a href="#cb1-10" aria-hidden="true" tabindex="-1"></a></span>
|
|
||||||
<span id="cb1-11"><a href="#cb1-11" aria-hidden="true" tabindex="-1"></a><span class="kw">function</span> target<span class="op">:</span>yeet<span class="op">()</span></span>
|
|
||||||
<span id="cb1-12"><a href="#cb1-12" aria-hidden="true" tabindex="-1"></a> self<span class="op">.</span>x <span class="op">=</span> <span class="dv">100</span></span>
|
|
||||||
<span id="cb1-13"><a href="#cb1-13" aria-hidden="true" tabindex="-1"></a> self<span class="op">.</span>y <span class="op">=</span> <span class="dv">100</span></span>
|
|
||||||
<span id="cb1-14"><a href="#cb1-14" aria-hidden="true" tabindex="-1"></a> self<span class="op">.</span>speed <span class="op">=</span> <span class="dv">50</span></span>
|
|
||||||
<span id="cb1-15"><a href="#cb1-15" aria-hidden="true" tabindex="-1"></a> <span class="cf">return</span> self</span>
|
|
||||||
<span id="cb1-16"><a href="#cb1-16" aria-hidden="true" tabindex="-1"></a><span class="kw">end</span></span></code></pre></div>
|
|
||||||
<p>After preparing the spell Alex makes his way towards the
|
|
||||||
guard rail ready to cut the mooring and zip lines, spell at
|
|
||||||
the ready should an enemy appear.</p>
|
|
||||||
</blockquote>
|
|
||||||
<p>You crank the dial to 11. The sunspoke squeals in delight
|
|
||||||
and burns like a tiny star. You grab the hemogoblin, who
|
|
||||||
chirrups and clings tightly to you, and leap from the balloon
|
|
||||||
onto the deck of the airship.</p>
|
|
||||||
<p>You think you can hear—barely audible—the sunspoke singing
|
|
||||||
a song of homecoming as the hot air balloon continues to rise
|
|
||||||
unpiloted up toward the sun.</p>
|
|
||||||
<p>You rush over to cover behind a barrel, and deposit your
|
|
||||||
new hemogoblin friend safely inside the center of a large coil
|
|
||||||
of rope. It looks up at you quizzically, but nods when you
|
|
||||||
tell it to stay put.</p>
|
|
||||||
<p>You invoke the powers of the moon and prepare a quick but
|
|
||||||
(hopefully) sufficient Spell of Yeeting.</p>
|
|
||||||
<!--
|
|
||||||
Alex rolls Do Anything 1 to cut the lines and avoid detection
|
|
||||||
6 = Great Success! Level Up!
|
|
||||||
//-->
|
|
||||||
<p>When you draw the dagger, the world develops a faint static
|
|
||||||
background noise which is easy enough to ignore at the moment
|
|
||||||
given the state of things. You dash forward and start sawing
|
|
||||||
at the thick mooring lines. The dagger’s ruby hilt flashes in
|
|
||||||
the sunlight as you work, and in your mind’s eye you see a
|
|
||||||
bright red wine, and a drop of blood red ink flowing from the
|
|
||||||
nib of a fountain pen.</p>
|
|
||||||
<p>You shake the images from your head just as you finish
|
|
||||||
sawing through the rope. A Cyberplasm who was shimmying back
|
|
||||||
up the rope from the hotel to the ship yelps as the line goes
|
|
||||||
slack and swings back into the side of the cliff. The pirate
|
|
||||||
rebounds from the impact, bounces off the mountainside a few
|
|
||||||
times, and falls from view as it disappears through the clouds
|
|
||||||
below.</p>
|
|
||||||
<p>The ship drifts lazily, rising slightly, and despite your
|
|
||||||
best sneaking around, the remaining Cyberplasms on board
|
|
||||||
cannot help but notice that the ship is no longer tethered.
|
|
||||||
You successfully hide behind a barrel as three cyber ghost
|
|
||||||
pirates come rushing over to the ship railing and lean over,
|
|
||||||
looking below at where there are no longer any ropes attaching
|
|
||||||
the ship to the hotel.</p>
|
|
||||||
<p>Out of the corner of your eye, you can see the hemogoblin
|
|
||||||
toddling across the deck toward the Cyberplasms, no doubt
|
|
||||||
curious about what they’re looking at over the side of the
|
|
||||||
ship.</p>
|
|
||||||
<blockquote>
|
|
||||||
<p>“Indeed, Bread, it’s me. You have not yet escaped your fate
|
|
||||||
of untraceable disappearance just yet.” Inky deadpans, then
|
|
||||||
smiles. “We have much to discuss, but later. I do need a guide
|
|
||||||
… to your hotelier. Presumably I will find them by following
|
|
||||||
the racket and trail of ruined decor, but maybe you know of a
|
|
||||||
quicker route?”</p>
|
|
||||||
</blockquote>
|
|
||||||
<p>Bread smiles at the threat of being untraceably
|
|
||||||
disappeared, mostly confident that they are on the inside of a
|
|
||||||
private little joke and that they are presently in no actual
|
|
||||||
danger from Inky. They grip their hammer a little tighter
|
|
||||||
nonetheless.</p>
|
|
||||||
<p>Confidence slips their trowels into their apron. “Yes, this
|
|
||||||
way!”</p>
|
|
||||||
<p>They hurry down the hall. You know you’re going the right
|
|
||||||
way because tattered, torn, charred books litter the ground in
|
|
||||||
increasing numbers. Bits of paper and ash fall like snow.</p>
|
|
||||||
<p>Confidence guides you away from the entrance to the
|
|
||||||
library’s Great Hall, and takes you instead to a smaller, more
|
|
||||||
discreet staff entrance. They open the door a crack, and as
|
|
||||||
you look through you are just in time to see the ship captain
|
|
||||||
with their cybernetic leg, arm canon, and eye. Now that the
|
|
||||||
crew have cleared the way for them, they stroll across the
|
|
||||||
library over piles of fallen, damaged books.</p>
|
|
||||||
<p>A thin bald man with a neatly trimmed mustache is on the
|
|
||||||
other side of the hall, his back turned to the pirate. He
|
|
||||||
wears a fine suit and has just finished unlocking a glass
|
|
||||||
display case. He retrieves a multifaceted blue and gold stone
|
|
||||||
and hugs it to his chest with both arms. He throws a panicked
|
|
||||||
glance over his shoulder at the slowly approaching pirate, and
|
|
||||||
turns to run away. His retreat is halted by a small explosion
|
|
||||||
at his feet. He skids to a stop and looks back at the pirate,
|
|
||||||
who is lowering their arm canon.</p>
|
|
||||||
<p>“The crystal,” the captain demands in a voice part ghostly
|
|
||||||
moan, part mechanical drone. “Hand it over, hotelier.” It
|
|
||||||
steps closer. “Mother has promised us new bodies if we deliver
|
|
||||||
the quintessence. You won’t be permitted to stand in our
|
|
||||||
way.”</p>
|
|
||||||
<p>One pirate near the breach tucks a couple volumes of manhwa
|
|
||||||
under its arm and climbs out onto the mooring line, returning
|
|
||||||
to the ship with its plunder. It howls as the line suddenly
|
|
||||||
goes slack, flinging the pirate and its comics into the
|
|
||||||
mountainside, and then out into space.</p>
|
|
||||||
<p>Sunlight pours into the library from outside as the shadow
|
|
||||||
of the airship shifts as it starts to drift, suddenly
|
|
||||||
unmoored.</p>
|
|
||||||
<p>WHAT DO YOU DO</p>
|
|
||||||
<p><a
|
|
||||||
href="https://framalistes.org/sympa/arc/tildepals/2022-12/msg00231.html">www</a></p>
|
|
||||||
]]>
|
|
||||||
</description>
|
|
||||||
</item>
|
|
||||||
<item>
|
<item>
|
||||||
<title>42</title>
|
<title>42</title>
|
||||||
<author>dozens@tilde.team (dozens)</author>
|
<author>dozens@tilde.team (dozens)</author>
|
||||||
|
@ -297,6 +154,149 @@
|
||||||
]]>
|
]]>
|
||||||
</description>
|
</description>
|
||||||
</item>
|
</item>
|
||||||
|
<item>
|
||||||
|
<title>46</title>
|
||||||
|
<author>dozens@tilde.team (dozens)</author>
|
||||||
|
<guid isPermaLink="false">46 - Thu, 22 Dec 2022 12:36:07
|
||||||
|
-0700</guid>
|
||||||
|
<pubDate>Thu, 22 Dec 2022 12:36:10 -0700</pubDate>
|
||||||
|
<description>
|
||||||
|
<![CDATA[
|
||||||
|
<h3 id="00046">00046</h3>
|
||||||
|
<blockquote>
|
||||||
|
<p>Ah so I suppose those Toques were being honest then, there
|
||||||
|
was a Ginnarak crystal, and I guess they were going to give it
|
||||||
|
to us.. oh well, nothing good in life comes easy.</p>
|
||||||
|
<p>Alex cranks the dial on the sunspoke, grabs the hemogoblin
|
||||||
|
from the basket, and jumps out of the balloon and onto the
|
||||||
|
deck of the ship. He rushes over to the nearest pile of
|
||||||
|
bundled rope and barrels and stows his new hemo friend. “Just
|
||||||
|
stay hidden little guy, let me take care of these pirates
|
||||||
|
first.”</p>
|
||||||
|
<p>Alex grabs the dagger from his side as he makes his way
|
||||||
|
towards the side of the ship, first thing first, best to cut
|
||||||
|
the mooring lines and zip lines. The static clawing sensation
|
||||||
|
appears at the back of Alex’s mind, but he attempts to ignore
|
||||||
|
it. There’s too much that needs to be done too quickly, and
|
||||||
|
he’s all too aware of the danger he’s put himself in. “What
|
||||||
|
would Corraidhin do..” Alex thinks to himself, “perhaps a
|
||||||
|
spell?”.</p>
|
||||||
|
<div class="sourceCode" id="cb1"><pre
|
||||||
|
class="sourceCode lua"><code class="sourceCode lua"><span id="cb1-1"><a href="#cb1-1" aria-hidden="true" tabindex="-1"></a><span class="kw">function</span> target<span class="op">:</span>new<span class="op">(</span>obj<span class="op">,</span> tbl<span class="op">)</span></span>
|
||||||
|
<span id="cb1-2"><a href="#cb1-2" aria-hidden="true" tabindex="-1"></a> obj <span class="op">=</span> obj <span class="kw">or</span> <span class="op">{}</span></span>
|
||||||
|
<span id="cb1-3"><a href="#cb1-3" aria-hidden="true" tabindex="-1"></a> <span class="fu">setmetatable</span><span class="op">(</span>obj<span class="op">,</span> self<span class="op">)</span></span>
|
||||||
|
<span id="cb1-4"><a href="#cb1-4" aria-hidden="true" tabindex="-1"></a> self<span class="op">.</span><span class="cn">__</span>index <span class="op">=</span> self</span>
|
||||||
|
<span id="cb1-5"><a href="#cb1-5" aria-hidden="true" tabindex="-1"></a> self<span class="op">.</span>x <span class="op">=</span> <span class="dv">0</span></span>
|
||||||
|
<span id="cb1-6"><a href="#cb1-6" aria-hidden="true" tabindex="-1"></a> self<span class="op">.</span>y <span class="op">=</span> <span class="dv">0</span></span>
|
||||||
|
<span id="cb1-7"><a href="#cb1-7" aria-hidden="true" tabindex="-1"></a> self<span class="op">.</span>speed <span class="op">=</span> <span class="dv">0</span></span>
|
||||||
|
<span id="cb1-8"><a href="#cb1-8" aria-hidden="true" tabindex="-1"></a> reutrn obj</span>
|
||||||
|
<span id="cb1-9"><a href="#cb1-9" aria-hidden="true" tabindex="-1"></a><span class="kw">end</span></span>
|
||||||
|
<span id="cb1-10"><a href="#cb1-10" aria-hidden="true" tabindex="-1"></a></span>
|
||||||
|
<span id="cb1-11"><a href="#cb1-11" aria-hidden="true" tabindex="-1"></a><span class="kw">function</span> target<span class="op">:</span>yeet<span class="op">()</span></span>
|
||||||
|
<span id="cb1-12"><a href="#cb1-12" aria-hidden="true" tabindex="-1"></a> self<span class="op">.</span>x <span class="op">=</span> <span class="dv">100</span></span>
|
||||||
|
<span id="cb1-13"><a href="#cb1-13" aria-hidden="true" tabindex="-1"></a> self<span class="op">.</span>y <span class="op">=</span> <span class="dv">100</span></span>
|
||||||
|
<span id="cb1-14"><a href="#cb1-14" aria-hidden="true" tabindex="-1"></a> self<span class="op">.</span>speed <span class="op">=</span> <span class="dv">50</span></span>
|
||||||
|
<span id="cb1-15"><a href="#cb1-15" aria-hidden="true" tabindex="-1"></a> <span class="cf">return</span> self</span>
|
||||||
|
<span id="cb1-16"><a href="#cb1-16" aria-hidden="true" tabindex="-1"></a><span class="kw">end</span></span></code></pre></div>
|
||||||
|
<p>After preparing the spell Alex makes his way towards the
|
||||||
|
guard rail ready to cut the mooring and zip lines, spell at
|
||||||
|
the ready should an enemy appear.</p>
|
||||||
|
</blockquote>
|
||||||
|
<p>You crank the dial to 11. The sunspoke squeals in delight
|
||||||
|
and burns like a tiny star. You grab the hemogoblin, who
|
||||||
|
chirrups and clings tightly to you, and leap from the balloon
|
||||||
|
onto the deck of the airship.</p>
|
||||||
|
<p>You think you can hear—barely audible—the sunspoke singing
|
||||||
|
a song of homecoming as the hot air balloon continues to rise
|
||||||
|
unpiloted up toward the sun.</p>
|
||||||
|
<p>You rush over to cover behind a barrel, and deposit your
|
||||||
|
new hemogoblin friend safely inside the center of a large coil
|
||||||
|
of rope. It looks up at you quizzically, but nods when you
|
||||||
|
tell it to stay put.</p>
|
||||||
|
<p>You invoke the powers of the moon and prepare a quick but
|
||||||
|
(hopefully) sufficient Spell of Yeeting.</p>
|
||||||
|
<!--
|
||||||
|
Alex rolls Do Anything 1 to cut the lines and avoid detection
|
||||||
|
6 = Great Success! Level Up!
|
||||||
|
//-->
|
||||||
|
<p>When you draw the dagger, the world develops a faint static
|
||||||
|
background noise which is easy enough to ignore at the moment
|
||||||
|
given the state of things. You dash forward and start sawing
|
||||||
|
at the thick mooring lines. The dagger’s ruby hilt flashes in
|
||||||
|
the sunlight as you work, and in your mind’s eye you see a
|
||||||
|
bright red wine, and a drop of blood red ink flowing from the
|
||||||
|
nib of a fountain pen.</p>
|
||||||
|
<p>You shake the images from your head just as you finish
|
||||||
|
sawing through the rope. A Cyberplasm who was shimmying back
|
||||||
|
up the rope from the hotel to the ship yelps as the line goes
|
||||||
|
slack and swings back into the side of the cliff. The pirate
|
||||||
|
rebounds from the impact, bounces off the mountainside a few
|
||||||
|
times, and falls from view as it disappears through the clouds
|
||||||
|
below.</p>
|
||||||
|
<p>The ship drifts lazily, rising slightly, and despite your
|
||||||
|
best sneaking around, the remaining Cyberplasms on board
|
||||||
|
cannot help but notice that the ship is no longer tethered.
|
||||||
|
You successfully hide behind a barrel as three cyber ghost
|
||||||
|
pirates come rushing over to the ship railing and lean over,
|
||||||
|
looking below at where there are no longer any ropes attaching
|
||||||
|
the ship to the hotel.</p>
|
||||||
|
<p>Out of the corner of your eye, you can see the hemogoblin
|
||||||
|
toddling across the deck toward the Cyberplasms, no doubt
|
||||||
|
curious about what they’re looking at over the side of the
|
||||||
|
ship.</p>
|
||||||
|
<blockquote>
|
||||||
|
<p>“Indeed, Bread, it’s me. You have not yet escaped your fate
|
||||||
|
of untraceable disappearance just yet.” Inky deadpans, then
|
||||||
|
smiles. “We have much to discuss, but later. I do need a guide
|
||||||
|
… to your hotelier. Presumably I will find them by following
|
||||||
|
the racket and trail of ruined decor, but maybe you know of a
|
||||||
|
quicker route?”</p>
|
||||||
|
</blockquote>
|
||||||
|
<p>Bread smiles at the threat of being untraceably
|
||||||
|
disappeared, mostly confident that they are on the inside of a
|
||||||
|
private little joke and that they are presently in no actual
|
||||||
|
danger from Inky. They grip their hammer a little tighter
|
||||||
|
nonetheless.</p>
|
||||||
|
<p>Confidence slips their trowels into their apron. “Yes, this
|
||||||
|
way!”</p>
|
||||||
|
<p>They hurry down the hall. You know you’re going the right
|
||||||
|
way because tattered, torn, charred books litter the ground in
|
||||||
|
increasing numbers. Bits of paper and ash fall like snow.</p>
|
||||||
|
<p>Confidence guides you away from the entrance to the
|
||||||
|
library’s Great Hall, and takes you instead to a smaller, more
|
||||||
|
discreet staff entrance. They open the door a crack, and as
|
||||||
|
you look through you are just in time to see the ship captain
|
||||||
|
with their cybernetic leg, arm canon, and eye. Now that the
|
||||||
|
crew have cleared the way for them, they stroll across the
|
||||||
|
library over piles of fallen, damaged books.</p>
|
||||||
|
<p>A thin bald man with a neatly trimmed mustache is on the
|
||||||
|
other side of the hall, his back turned to the pirate. He
|
||||||
|
wears a fine suit and has just finished unlocking a glass
|
||||||
|
display case. He retrieves a multifaceted blue and gold stone
|
||||||
|
and hugs it to his chest with both arms. He throws a panicked
|
||||||
|
glance over his shoulder at the slowly approaching pirate, and
|
||||||
|
turns to run away. His retreat is halted by a small explosion
|
||||||
|
at his feet. He skids to a stop and looks back at the pirate,
|
||||||
|
who is lowering their arm canon.</p>
|
||||||
|
<p>“The crystal,” the captain demands in a voice part ghostly
|
||||||
|
moan, part mechanical drone. “Hand it over, hotelier.” It
|
||||||
|
steps closer. “Mother has promised us new bodies if we deliver
|
||||||
|
the quintessence. You won’t be permitted to stand in our
|
||||||
|
way.”</p>
|
||||||
|
<p>One pirate near the breach tucks a couple volumes of manhwa
|
||||||
|
under its arm and climbs out onto the mooring line, returning
|
||||||
|
to the ship with its plunder. It howls as the line suddenly
|
||||||
|
goes slack, flinging the pirate and its comics into the
|
||||||
|
mountainside, and then out into space.</p>
|
||||||
|
<p>Sunlight pours into the library from outside as the shadow
|
||||||
|
of the airship shifts as it starts to drift, suddenly
|
||||||
|
unmoored.</p>
|
||||||
|
<p>WHAT DO YOU DO</p>
|
||||||
|
<p><a
|
||||||
|
href="https://framalistes.org/sympa/arc/tildepals/2022-12/msg00231.html">www</a></p>
|
||||||
|
]]>
|
||||||
|
</description>
|
||||||
|
</item>
|
||||||
<item>
|
<item>
|
||||||
<title>47</title>
|
<title>47</title>
|
||||||
<author>dozens@tilde.team (dozens)</author>
|
<author>dozens@tilde.team (dozens)</author>
|
||||||
|
@ -525,157 +525,6 @@
|
||||||
]]>
|
]]>
|
||||||
</description>
|
</description>
|
||||||
</item>
|
</item>
|
||||||
<item>
|
|
||||||
<title>41</title>
|
|
||||||
<author>dozens@tilde.team (dozens)</author>
|
|
||||||
<guid isPermaLink="false">41 - Wed, 14 Dec 2022 17:50:38
|
|
||||||
-0700</guid>
|
|
||||||
<pubDate>Wed, 14 Dec 2022 17:50:44 -0700</pubDate>
|
|
||||||
<description>
|
|
||||||
<![CDATA[
|
|
||||||
<h3 id="00041">00041</h3>
|
|
||||||
<blockquote>
|
|
||||||
<p>Alex grips the encoded message he received in reply to his
|
|
||||||
last request firmly in his coat pocket. It was simple, curt,
|
|
||||||
impactful. “Trust no one”. Which begged the question, could
|
|
||||||
even it be trusted? Was HQ compromised? His informants in
|
|
||||||
danger? His allies and leads awash in the dark grey mist of
|
|
||||||
uncertainity. Or had his message been intercepted, cracked,
|
|
||||||
and a farsical response been sent in its place. Alex wasn’t
|
|
||||||
certain which, but the strange format and unusually speedy
|
|
||||||
response had him on edge.</p>
|
|
||||||
<p>This anxiety didn’t boil up to the surface, not a line of
|
|
||||||
worry or hint of the inner turbulence broke his cold blue
|
|
||||||
eyes. Outwardly he was just as composed as ever, but between
|
|
||||||
these uncertainties, the loss of his uncle, and now this
|
|
||||||
utterly strange dagger he’d found amongst his uncle’s
|
|
||||||
belongings, he wasn’t certain how long that composure would
|
|
||||||
last. It didn’t held that he felt this gnawing at the back of
|
|
||||||
his mind, as though something was probing, attempting to
|
|
||||||
communicate with him, somewhere between telepathy and utter
|
|
||||||
magic, and not in any sense that Alex understood.</p>
|
|
||||||
<p>And here he stood, a stranger amongst amidst his uncle’s
|
|
||||||
allies, and very little intention to change that situation at
|
|
||||||
the moment.</p>
|
|
||||||
<p>As the gondola touched down and the Toques rushed to greet
|
|
||||||
them Alex jumped blithely off the ship and onto firm, but
|
|
||||||
fluffy, ground. He cast a look around him at what appeared to
|
|
||||||
be an ordinary port of entry, noting the crowds of people
|
|
||||||
passing by. As the Toques arrived Alex spoke curtly to them,
|
|
||||||
“Who sends you to greet us, and where do you wish to take us,
|
|
||||||
and by what means do we travel?”. Short, cut, information
|
|
||||||
only. There’s too much unnerving in an unknown situation like
|
|
||||||
this.</p>
|
|
||||||
</blockquote>
|
|
||||||
<p>~</p>
|
|
||||||
<blockquote>
|
|
||||||
<p>Inky greets the toques in turn politely, then turns to the
|
|
||||||
second toque and says, “A little bit of bread and no
|
|
||||||
cheese.”</p>
|
|
||||||
</blockquote>
|
|
||||||
<p>“Cheese?” Bread cocks their head looks at Inky with a touch
|
|
||||||
of embarrassment. They start patting at their pockets,
|
|
||||||
presumably looking for a morsel of cheese to share with the
|
|
||||||
travelers, but finding none. They groan miserably. Confidence
|
|
||||||
butts in apologetically, “There will be plenty of food at the
|
|
||||||
hotel if you want some! Some delicious fondue perhaps? Kelsun
|
|
||||||
Peak’s famous liquid gold!”</p>
|
|
||||||
<p>“Blavin Blandfoot arranged for us to meet you,” Bread
|
|
||||||
answers Alex. Confidence nods enthusiastically in agreement.
|
|
||||||
“But I suppose technically the hotelier sent us.” Bread points
|
|
||||||
up at the sky, in the general direction of the summit of
|
|
||||||
Kelsun Peak. “We are to escort you to Palace Runesocesius.”
|
|
||||||
They thumb over their shoulder in the general direction of the
|
|
||||||
stairs. “By way of the cloud steps. On foot.”</p>
|
|
||||||
<p>Confidence leans in close and lowers their voice. “A
|
|
||||||
Ginnarak Crystal! I can’t hardly believe it! Thought they had
|
|
||||||
all been lost to the ages. I hear it’s complete dumb random
|
|
||||||
luck that this one turned up. Story is, an aetherwael beached
|
|
||||||
itself on some wide zephynos boulevard. Happens sometimes.
|
|
||||||
Poor things can’t distinguish between clouds and cloudstuff. I
|
|
||||||
don’t blame ’em! At a distance, you and me can’t either!
|
|
||||||
Anyway, this aetherwael has got a harpoon stuck in its side.
|
|
||||||
Dratted poachers. May they all fall out of the sky and be
|
|
||||||
dashed to a thousand pieces on the rocks below. But it had a
|
|
||||||
harpoon in its side and was trailing behind it a float bag
|
|
||||||
tethered to the harpoon. And you probably already guessed what
|
|
||||||
was inside of it!” By the time Confidence finishes their brief
|
|
||||||
story, they are trembling and nearly breathless with
|
|
||||||
excitement.</p>
|
|
||||||
<p>“Anyway,” Bread interrupts their excited companion in an
|
|
||||||
attempt to restore decorum. Both of the toques have been
|
|
||||||
gently herding you toward the base of the stairs this whole
|
|
||||||
time. “You know how the zephynos are. You could give them all
|
|
||||||
the coin in Basmentaria, or something priceless like a
|
|
||||||
Ginnarak Crystal, and they’d just as quickly misplace it out
|
|
||||||
of carelessness. If it’s not a cloud they can sculpt into the
|
|
||||||
shape of seussomorph or the likeness of some fantasy creature,
|
|
||||||
they just don’t give a fig. Luckily the hotelier caught wind
|
|
||||||
of the aetherwael and found out about the crystal before they
|
|
||||||
managed to lose it, or bury it inside of a sculpture or
|
|
||||||
something silly! He has it safe and sound in the library up at
|
|
||||||
Runesocesius now.” Bread climbs the first step, his foot
|
|
||||||
sinking barely a centimeter into wispy cloud before striking
|
|
||||||
the solid 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>
|
|
||||||
]]>
|
|
||||||
</description>
|
|
||||||
</item>
|
|
||||||
<item>
|
|
||||||
<title>44</title>
|
|
||||||
<author>dozens@tilde.team (dozens)</author>
|
|
||||||
<guid isPermaLink="false">44 - Tue, 20 Dec 2022 08:47:08
|
|
||||||
-0700</guid>
|
|
||||||
<pubDate>Tue, 20 Dec 2022 08:47:11 -0700</pubDate>
|
|
||||||
<description>
|
|
||||||
<![CDATA[
|
|
||||||
<h3 id="00044">00044</h3>
|
|
||||||
<blockquote>
|
|
||||||
<p>As Alex spots the sunspoke valve he grabs it and cranks it
|
|
||||||
up to the 2/3 mark. “Sorry little friend, we’re going to need
|
|
||||||
a little bit more juice”. The baloon lurches upwards as air
|
|
||||||
rushes in feeding the sunspoke, causing it to burn more
|
|
||||||
intensely. After setting the sunspoke ablaze and shouting back
|
|
||||||
to the balloon’s owner Alex takes account of his surroundings.
|
|
||||||
It’s during this time he spots the bloodied, moving blankets.
|
|
||||||
They seem to writhe, as though something beneath them is
|
|
||||||
injured.</p>
|
|
||||||
<p>Gripping the dagger firmly in one hand Alex grabs the
|
|
||||||
blankets from the corner of the balloon basket revealing
|
|
||||||
whatever lay beneath.</p>
|
|
||||||
</blockquote>
|
|
||||||
<p>The sunspoke stretches its little arms and wriggles its
|
|
||||||
little fingers. It sighs happily, luxuriating in the extra
|
|
||||||
fuel. It burns twice as bright, shooting a hot jet of bright
|
|
||||||
yellow flame up into the parachute. The sunspoke starts to
|
|
||||||
glow a molten red, and you start to rise faster.</p>
|
|
||||||
<p>As you rise up over the peak, you can finally spot the
|
|
||||||
Runesocesius. The grand hotel is draped over the top of the
|
|
||||||
mountain, clinging to it like a dragon resting on its
|
|
||||||
hoard.</p>
|
|
||||||
<p>The “cyberplasms” as Confidence called them have docked to
|
|
||||||
the side of a tower on the other side of the peak from you.
|
|
||||||
They have shot a large hole in the side of the tower, and you
|
|
||||||
can see them now starting to zipline into the building. A
|
|
||||||
thick plume of black smoke billows out of the side of the
|
|
||||||
tower, carrying pages and pages of loose paper into the air
|
|
||||||
with it. They rain down like snow. The tower must house an
|
|
||||||
extensive library.</p>
|
|
||||||
<p>You cautiously pull back a corner of the bloody blankets,
|
|
||||||
jeweled dagger raised and ready to strike. You reveal a small
|
|
||||||
bloody furry blob. You see two big round eyes, a short-snouted
|
|
||||||
face, and enormous pointed ears. It quickly looks away from
|
|
||||||
you, chirps pathetically, and trembles as it cowers in place.
|
|
||||||
You have found a frightened hemogoblin stowaway!</p>
|
|
||||||
<p>WHAT DO YOU DO</p>
|
|
||||||
<p><a
|
|
||||||
href="https://framalistes.org/sympa/arc/tildepals/2022-12/msg00219.html">www</a></p>
|
|
||||||
]]>
|
|
||||||
</description>
|
|
||||||
</item>
|
|
||||||
<item>
|
<item>
|
||||||
<title>48</title>
|
<title>48</title>
|
||||||
<author>dozens@tilde.team (dozens)</author>
|
<author>dozens@tilde.team (dozens)</author>
|
||||||
|
@ -914,6 +763,203 @@
|
||||||
]]>
|
]]>
|
||||||
</description>
|
</description>
|
||||||
</item>
|
</item>
|
||||||
|
<item>
|
||||||
|
<title>44</title>
|
||||||
|
<author>dozens@tilde.team (dozens)</author>
|
||||||
|
<guid isPermaLink="false">44 - Tue, 20 Dec 2022 08:47:08
|
||||||
|
-0700</guid>
|
||||||
|
<pubDate>Tue, 20 Dec 2022 08:47:11 -0700</pubDate>
|
||||||
|
<description>
|
||||||
|
<![CDATA[
|
||||||
|
<h3 id="00044">00044</h3>
|
||||||
|
<blockquote>
|
||||||
|
<p>As Alex spots the sunspoke valve he grabs it and cranks it
|
||||||
|
up to the 2/3 mark. “Sorry little friend, we’re going to need
|
||||||
|
a little bit more juice”. The baloon lurches upwards as air
|
||||||
|
rushes in feeding the sunspoke, causing it to burn more
|
||||||
|
intensely. After setting the sunspoke ablaze and shouting back
|
||||||
|
to the balloon’s owner Alex takes account of his surroundings.
|
||||||
|
It’s during this time he spots the bloodied, moving blankets.
|
||||||
|
They seem to writhe, as though something beneath them is
|
||||||
|
injured.</p>
|
||||||
|
<p>Gripping the dagger firmly in one hand Alex grabs the
|
||||||
|
blankets from the corner of the balloon basket revealing
|
||||||
|
whatever lay beneath.</p>
|
||||||
|
</blockquote>
|
||||||
|
<p>The sunspoke stretches its little arms and wriggles its
|
||||||
|
little fingers. It sighs happily, luxuriating in the extra
|
||||||
|
fuel. It burns twice as bright, shooting a hot jet of bright
|
||||||
|
yellow flame up into the parachute. The sunspoke starts to
|
||||||
|
glow a molten red, and you start to rise faster.</p>
|
||||||
|
<p>As you rise up over the peak, you can finally spot the
|
||||||
|
Runesocesius. The grand hotel is draped over the top of the
|
||||||
|
mountain, clinging to it like a dragon resting on its
|
||||||
|
hoard.</p>
|
||||||
|
<p>The “cyberplasms” as Confidence called them have docked to
|
||||||
|
the side of a tower on the other side of the peak from you.
|
||||||
|
They have shot a large hole in the side of the tower, and you
|
||||||
|
can see them now starting to zipline into the building. A
|
||||||
|
thick plume of black smoke billows out of the side of the
|
||||||
|
tower, carrying pages and pages of loose paper into the air
|
||||||
|
with it. They rain down like snow. The tower must house an
|
||||||
|
extensive library.</p>
|
||||||
|
<p>You cautiously pull back a corner of the bloody blankets,
|
||||||
|
jeweled dagger raised and ready to strike. You reveal a small
|
||||||
|
bloody furry blob. You see two big round eyes, a short-snouted
|
||||||
|
face, and enormous pointed ears. It quickly looks away from
|
||||||
|
you, chirps pathetically, and trembles as it cowers in place.
|
||||||
|
You have found a frightened hemogoblin stowaway!</p>
|
||||||
|
<p>WHAT DO YOU DO</p>
|
||||||
|
<p><a
|
||||||
|
href="https://framalistes.org/sympa/arc/tildepals/2022-12/msg00219.html">www</a></p>
|
||||||
|
]]>
|
||||||
|
</description>
|
||||||
|
</item>
|
||||||
|
<item>
|
||||||
|
<title>49</title>
|
||||||
|
<author>dozens@tilde.team (dozens)</author>
|
||||||
|
<guid isPermaLink="false">49 - Thu, 29 Dec 2022 18:55:34
|
||||||
|
-0700</guid>
|
||||||
|
<pubDate>Fri, 30 Dec 2022 08:12:55 -0700</pubDate>
|
||||||
|
<description>
|
||||||
|
<![CDATA[
|
||||||
|
<h3 id="00049">00049</h3>
|
||||||
|
<blockquote>
|
||||||
|
<p>“They <em>are</em> a good guide,” Inky corrects adamantly.
|
||||||
|
“Do you hear that, Bread? You’re not allowed to disappear
|
||||||
|
until you’ve had an entire bag of these croutons, and even
|
||||||
|
then you’re still not allowed. If I’d known you’d never had
|
||||||
|
croutons before I wouldn’t have let you walk a step further
|
||||||
|
into that hall. That was simultaneously the worst and best
|
||||||
|
idea ever. Mango! Croutons! What a travesty. Did you even
|
||||||
|
taste any of it? No? You have to! How can you offer guests
|
||||||
|
delicious fondue without croutons? Speaking of which, we
|
||||||
|
haven’t gotten that fondue you promised yet, that’s reason
|
||||||
|
#144 you can’t disappear. What’s reason #143? Crostinis. Small
|
||||||
|
toasted bread. Slice of life. You can put cheese on it too, if
|
||||||
|
you really must …”</p>
|
||||||
|
<p>And so on. While Inky talks at Bread in a bid to keep them
|
||||||
|
conscious, they whisk out a first-aid kit from their courier
|
||||||
|
bag and kneeling on the floor, proceeds to stem the bleeding
|
||||||
|
from the chest wound with coagulant-coated bandages. Slowly,
|
||||||
|
they tip a flask of tea infused with some restorative herbs
|
||||||
|
down Bread’s open mouth, careful not to pour too quickly. Inky
|
||||||
|
pauses mid-diatribe and mid-pour to thrust another flask of
|
||||||
|
tea into Confidence’s hand, the one wrapped four-fifths of the
|
||||||
|
hotelier and ask, “Are you injured? Please keep an eye on your
|
||||||
|
companion, I will summon for assistance.”</p>
|
||||||
|
<p>Standing up, Inky walks to a window, opens it and peers
|
||||||
|
out. They look around for a hot air balloon and notice the
|
||||||
|
unmoored airship. After squinting at it with a mini-spyglass,
|
||||||
|
they see Alex standing at the helm of the ship with a young
|
||||||
|
hemogoblin on board. Inky waves, and makes a vertical cross
|
||||||
|
sign with a fist and thumb on the opposite upper arm a few
|
||||||
|
times. Next, they pull out a small tin whistle, and toot a few
|
||||||
|
sharp notes in the same cadence as the one-liner directed at
|
||||||
|
Bread earlier by the gondola station. After a moment, a scops
|
||||||
|
owl swoops in to land on the windowsill. Inky inserts a rolled
|
||||||
|
piece of paper into a small pouch hanging at the bird’s back,
|
||||||
|
and the bird flies off again.</p>
|
||||||
|
<p>Returning to the figures slumped against the wall, Inky
|
||||||
|
places the Ginnarak crystal in a lightly padded cloth bag,
|
||||||
|
stowing it away in their knapsack-style backpack. They resume
|
||||||
|
checking and tending to the toques’ injuries, while expounding
|
||||||
|
upon various permutations of toasted bread to a captive
|
||||||
|
audience.</p>
|
||||||
|
</blockquote>
|
||||||
|
<p>Bread closes their eyes and smiles dreamily at the
|
||||||
|
descriptions of various breads. They weakly sip the tea as you
|
||||||
|
tip it into their mouth and swallow with effort.</p>
|
||||||
|
<!--
|
||||||
|
Inky rolls Do Anything 1 to stabilize Bread
|
||||||
|
2 = Things go poorly
|
||||||
|
Spend 1 remaining xp to advance = Success + gain Medicine 2
|
||||||
|
//-->
|
||||||
|
<p>They sigh and open their eyes. They focus on you and
|
||||||
|
maintain eye contact as you draw from a seemingly bottomless
|
||||||
|
well of knowledge on the topic of toasted breads. Bread and
|
||||||
|
life are clinging fast to each other, neither ready or willing
|
||||||
|
to let go of the other. They are going to be okay.</p>
|
||||||
|
<p>Confidence’s wounds are superficial. They are winded from
|
||||||
|
dragging Bread and the hotelier up seven flights of stairs.
|
||||||
|
But they are fine.</p>
|
||||||
|
<p>The hotelier’s wounds are sadly quite fatal. Honestly it
|
||||||
|
was all over for him the moment he took the full force of the
|
||||||
|
captain’s plasma canon to his chest. He babbles, “It’s not … I
|
||||||
|
wasn’t …” And then with sudden realization and quiet
|
||||||
|
resignation, a clear-eyed, “Oh.” And then he is gone.</p>
|
||||||
|
<p>His courage in the face of danger is the reason you now
|
||||||
|
have the third of the five Ginnarak Crystals in your pack.
|
||||||
|
Whether or not his death was in vain is now largely up to you
|
||||||
|
and what you decide to do with the crystal.</p>
|
||||||
|
<p>~</p>
|
||||||
|
<p>Downstairs in the Great Hall of the library, one of the
|
||||||
|
remaining Cyberplasms crouches down next to the inert
|
||||||
|
cybernetic eye that until very recently belonged to their
|
||||||
|
captain. They pick it up and turn it over in their hand.
|
||||||
|
“Worry not, my captain,” the ghost mourns. “We will find the
|
||||||
|
quintessence. And once we do, we will be made anew in the
|
||||||
|
forge of our Mother.”</p>
|
||||||
|
<p>He rolls the orb in palm of his hand. A faint arc of energy
|
||||||
|
crackles across its surface. And the eye rolls over of its own
|
||||||
|
volition and looks up at the pirate.</p>
|
||||||
|
<p>Suddenly reverent, the pirate gently places the eye on the
|
||||||
|
ground as a ghostly face begins to form around it. The pirate
|
||||||
|
waits patiently, attentively. It’s not every day one gets to
|
||||||
|
bare witness to a new birth. The ectoplasm that gathers around
|
||||||
|
the eye forms a rail-thin body. Its head is bald and its face
|
||||||
|
sports a neatly trimmed mustache. It is missing an arm and a
|
||||||
|
leg.</p>
|
||||||
|
<p>Dutifully, the witness fetches a recently discarded arm
|
||||||
|
canon and leg booster. The exotica tap into the energy
|
||||||
|
provided by a new crossing over, and come online, and create a
|
||||||
|
new mesh.</p>
|
||||||
|
<p>The hotelier stands and looks down at its new body. As it
|
||||||
|
were. It looks around at its surroundings. It picks up a few
|
||||||
|
books and starts shelving them.</p>
|
||||||
|
<p>The pirate, mostly wishing to provide companionship and
|
||||||
|
comfort to the new ghost, assists with tidying up.</p>
|
||||||
|
<p>~</p>
|
||||||
|
<p>Alex, you are at the helm of the balloon-ship. As you start
|
||||||
|
to drift slightly up and away, the blue dome of the hotel
|
||||||
|
comes into view. On its peak you can see a life-sized statue
|
||||||
|
of a stern-faced Runesocesius wielding a spear, drawn back as
|
||||||
|
though ready to hurl an angry thunderbolt down at the world
|
||||||
|
below.</p>
|
||||||
|
<p>The hemogoblin is still down on the deck by the canons. You
|
||||||
|
see it waving cheerily at the library tower. You squint in
|
||||||
|
that direction, but can’t see what has caught its
|
||||||
|
attention.</p>
|
||||||
|
<p>A small tufted-ear owl silently lands next to you breaking
|
||||||
|
you from your reverie. The owl is wearing a small harness with
|
||||||
|
a pouch at the back. Inside the pouch is a rolled piece of
|
||||||
|
paper signed by Inky, up on the seventh floor of the
|
||||||
|
tower.</p>
|
||||||
|
<p>You count seven windows up the side of the tower from its
|
||||||
|
base. There seems to be some movement inside, but you can’t
|
||||||
|
make much out from here. With a lucky shot, you think you
|
||||||
|
might be able to hook the window frame with a zipline.</p>
|
||||||
|
<p>~</p>
|
||||||
|
<p>Outside, a pink zephynos is spinning raw cloud into a
|
||||||
|
minuscule opera house and performing arts center under the
|
||||||
|
direction of an amber imp with a new hunger for life. It is an
|
||||||
|
organic looking structure: a primary concert hall, surrounded
|
||||||
|
by a number of smaller stages and performance areas spiraling
|
||||||
|
out from the center like a nautilus shell.</p>
|
||||||
|
<p>The imp smiles happily, proudly. What tales will be told
|
||||||
|
here! What songs will be sung! “Lorehold,” it whispers to
|
||||||
|
itself. “You will tell the world’s stories.”</p>
|
||||||
|
<p>It is already trying out lines in its head, imagining the
|
||||||
|
play it will write of this day. About the hotel and the
|
||||||
|
library and the pirates and the cloud dragons. About a pair of
|
||||||
|
adventurers. And a very brave and lucky drone pilot that dared
|
||||||
|
to chase its dreams.</p>
|
||||||
|
<p>WHAT DO YOU DO</p>
|
||||||
|
<p><a
|
||||||
|
href="https://framalistes.org/sympa/arc/tildepals/2022-12/msg00252.html">www</a></p>
|
||||||
|
]]>
|
||||||
|
</description>
|
||||||
|
</item>
|
||||||
<item>
|
<item>
|
||||||
<title>39</title>
|
<title>39</title>
|
||||||
<author>dozens@tilde.team (dozens)</author>
|
<author>dozens@tilde.team (dozens)</author>
|
||||||
|
@ -1120,6 +1166,199 @@
|
||||||
]]>
|
]]>
|
||||||
</description>
|
</description>
|
||||||
</item>
|
</item>
|
||||||
|
<item>
|
||||||
|
<title>45</title>
|
||||||
|
<author>dozens@tilde.team (dozens)</author>
|
||||||
|
<guid isPermaLink="false">45 - Tue, 20 Dec 2022 10:15:23
|
||||||
|
-0700</guid>
|
||||||
|
<pubDate>Thu, 22 Dec 2022 09:29:11 -0700</pubDate>
|
||||||
|
<description>
|
||||||
|
<![CDATA[
|
||||||
|
<h3 id="00045">00045</h3>
|
||||||
|
<blockquote>
|
||||||
|
<p>As the blankets draw back from the bloody mass, a cute
|
||||||
|
little hemogoblin appears. “Aww little fellas just scared.”
|
||||||
|
Alex lowers the dagger, but otherwise ignores the hemogoblin.
|
||||||
|
Best to leave it be for now, there’s more important
|
||||||
|
things.</p>
|
||||||
|
<p>As the balloon gets within range of the ship Alex begins to
|
||||||
|
scan the deck for Cyberplasms. At the same time he checks his
|
||||||
|
bug to track the location of the cyberplasms more acutely. It
|
||||||
|
looks like there may be an opporunity to jump from the balloon
|
||||||
|
to the ship. After that cutting the zip lines would give me
|
||||||
|
the opporunity to steal the ship, leaving the cyberplasms
|
||||||
|
trapped at the top of the hotel.</p>
|
||||||
|
</blockquote>
|
||||||
|
<p>Just a few Cyberplasms remain on the deck of the airship.
|
||||||
|
The vast majority of them have zipped into the hotel
|
||||||
|
tower.</p>
|
||||||
|
<p>You check your bug’s feed. It has gone almost entirely
|
||||||
|
unnoticed in the fracas, and you are able to piece together a
|
||||||
|
clear picture of the inside of the tower. It is indeed a grand
|
||||||
|
library, its galleries spanning each floor of the tower. One
|
||||||
|
of the largest collections in all of Basmentaria.</p>
|
||||||
|
<p>The Cyberplasms have breached the tower near its base and
|
||||||
|
are pouring into the Great Hall. You tune in just in time to
|
||||||
|
see a rail-thin, bald and mustachioed man standing defensively
|
||||||
|
in front of a display case. “No! You can’t!” he exclaims as a
|
||||||
|
disembodied sickle approaches him in a cloud of electricity
|
||||||
|
and ectoplasm.</p>
|
||||||
|
<p>Behind the glass in the display case is a bluish hunk of
|
||||||
|
rock the size of a melon, with gently pulsing gold veins.</p>
|
||||||
|
<blockquote>
|
||||||
|
<p>Inky puts away the papers they caught in passing or picked
|
||||||
|
up along the path up to read later, including a number that
|
||||||
|
from a cursory glance appear to be from a culinary collection
|
||||||
|
and a few from some moth-eaten but finely illustrated
|
||||||
|
botanical tome, among others.</p>
|
||||||
|
<p>Eventually arriving at the hotel entrance, Inky enters and
|
||||||
|
manages to catch a frantic-looking attendant near the
|
||||||
|
reception to ask the whereabouts of the hotelier, indicating
|
||||||
|
they had a business appointment with said manager.</p>
|
||||||
|
</blockquote>
|
||||||
|
<p>You walk in through the hotel’s main entrance. The grandeur
|
||||||
|
would take your breath away were it not for the shouting and
|
||||||
|
the smoke and the explosions coming from down the hall to your
|
||||||
|
right.</p>
|
||||||
|
<p>You wave down a passing hotel clerk and inquire after the
|
||||||
|
hotelier. They are hauling a large bucket of hot water, and
|
||||||
|
carrying an oversized bundle of clean towels under one arm.
|
||||||
|
They pause for a moment to look at you incredulously before
|
||||||
|
running off in the opposite direction.</p>
|
||||||
|
<p>A cry rings out nearby and a Cyberplasm flies through an
|
||||||
|
open door down the hallway. It lands in a heap of crackling
|
||||||
|
energy, smears of ectoplasm streaking the floor as though it
|
||||||
|
were bleeding heavily. It seems to be barely held together by
|
||||||
|
the energy stored in its cybernetic leg and a metal skull
|
||||||
|
plate.</p>
|
||||||
|
<p>It scoots backwards on its hands and its butt, trying to
|
||||||
|
stand up. Two toques leap out of the door after it. You
|
||||||
|
recognize Bread and Confidence right away.</p>
|
||||||
|
<p>Bread has obviously been to the kitchens. They are wearing
|
||||||
|
tin baking sheets and an oversized pot on their heard as
|
||||||
|
makeshift armor, and have a couple of dangerous looking
|
||||||
|
kitchen knives hanging from their belt. At the moment they are
|
||||||
|
swinging a large meat tenderizer over their head as though it
|
||||||
|
were a war hammer.</p>
|
||||||
|
<p>Confidence, meanwhile, has been to the gardener’s shed.
|
||||||
|
They are wearing a heavy leather apron and thick leather
|
||||||
|
gloves, and have a trowel in each hand, and a large hoe or
|
||||||
|
rake strapped to their back.</p>
|
||||||
|
<p>Bread lowers their hammer on Cyberplasms head, denting the
|
||||||
|
skull plate. And Confidence darts in and stabs with both hands
|
||||||
|
at the leg. As soon as the prosthetics go offline and the
|
||||||
|
plasmic arcs cease firing, there is nothing left holding the
|
||||||
|
ectoplasm together and the ghost kind of dissipates into the
|
||||||
|
air with a soft wail.</p>
|
||||||
|
<p>They look up and notice you at the same time, relaxing
|
||||||
|
their offensive stances. “Oh!” cries Bread. “It’s you!”</p>
|
||||||
|
<p>“You don’t happen,” asks Confidence, “to need a guide, do
|
||||||
|
you?”</p>
|
||||||
|
<p>WHAT DO YOU DO</p>
|
||||||
|
<p><a
|
||||||
|
href="https://framalistes.org/sympa/arc/tildepals/2022-12/msg00227.html">www</a></p>
|
||||||
|
]]>
|
||||||
|
</description>
|
||||||
|
</item>
|
||||||
|
<item>
|
||||||
|
<title>41</title>
|
||||||
|
<author>dozens@tilde.team (dozens)</author>
|
||||||
|
<guid isPermaLink="false">41 - Wed, 14 Dec 2022 17:50:38
|
||||||
|
-0700</guid>
|
||||||
|
<pubDate>Wed, 14 Dec 2022 17:50:44 -0700</pubDate>
|
||||||
|
<description>
|
||||||
|
<![CDATA[
|
||||||
|
<h3 id="00041">00041</h3>
|
||||||
|
<blockquote>
|
||||||
|
<p>Alex grips the encoded message he received in reply to his
|
||||||
|
last request firmly in his coat pocket. It was simple, curt,
|
||||||
|
impactful. “Trust no one”. Which begged the question, could
|
||||||
|
even it be trusted? Was HQ compromised? His informants in
|
||||||
|
danger? His allies and leads awash in the dark grey mist of
|
||||||
|
uncertainity. Or had his message been intercepted, cracked,
|
||||||
|
and a farsical response been sent in its place. Alex wasn’t
|
||||||
|
certain which, but the strange format and unusually speedy
|
||||||
|
response had him on edge.</p>
|
||||||
|
<p>This anxiety didn’t boil up to the surface, not a line of
|
||||||
|
worry or hint of the inner turbulence broke his cold blue
|
||||||
|
eyes. Outwardly he was just as composed as ever, but between
|
||||||
|
these uncertainties, the loss of his uncle, and now this
|
||||||
|
utterly strange dagger he’d found amongst his uncle’s
|
||||||
|
belongings, he wasn’t certain how long that composure would
|
||||||
|
last. It didn’t held that he felt this gnawing at the back of
|
||||||
|
his mind, as though something was probing, attempting to
|
||||||
|
communicate with him, somewhere between telepathy and utter
|
||||||
|
magic, and not in any sense that Alex understood.</p>
|
||||||
|
<p>And here he stood, a stranger amongst amidst his uncle’s
|
||||||
|
allies, and very little intention to change that situation at
|
||||||
|
the moment.</p>
|
||||||
|
<p>As the gondola touched down and the Toques rushed to greet
|
||||||
|
them Alex jumped blithely off the ship and onto firm, but
|
||||||
|
fluffy, ground. He cast a look around him at what appeared to
|
||||||
|
be an ordinary port of entry, noting the crowds of people
|
||||||
|
passing by. As the Toques arrived Alex spoke curtly to them,
|
||||||
|
“Who sends you to greet us, and where do you wish to take us,
|
||||||
|
and by what means do we travel?”. Short, cut, information
|
||||||
|
only. There’s too much unnerving in an unknown situation like
|
||||||
|
this.</p>
|
||||||
|
</blockquote>
|
||||||
|
<p>~</p>
|
||||||
|
<blockquote>
|
||||||
|
<p>Inky greets the toques in turn politely, then turns to the
|
||||||
|
second toque and says, “A little bit of bread and no
|
||||||
|
cheese.”</p>
|
||||||
|
</blockquote>
|
||||||
|
<p>“Cheese?” Bread cocks their head looks at Inky with a touch
|
||||||
|
of embarrassment. They start patting at their pockets,
|
||||||
|
presumably looking for a morsel of cheese to share with the
|
||||||
|
travelers, but finding none. They groan miserably. Confidence
|
||||||
|
butts in apologetically, “There will be plenty of food at the
|
||||||
|
hotel if you want some! Some delicious fondue perhaps? Kelsun
|
||||||
|
Peak’s famous liquid gold!”</p>
|
||||||
|
<p>“Blavin Blandfoot arranged for us to meet you,” Bread
|
||||||
|
answers Alex. Confidence nods enthusiastically in agreement.
|
||||||
|
“But I suppose technically the hotelier sent us.” Bread points
|
||||||
|
up at the sky, in the general direction of the summit of
|
||||||
|
Kelsun Peak. “We are to escort you to Palace Runesocesius.”
|
||||||
|
They thumb over their shoulder in the general direction of the
|
||||||
|
stairs. “By way of the cloud steps. On foot.”</p>
|
||||||
|
<p>Confidence leans in close and lowers their voice. “A
|
||||||
|
Ginnarak Crystal! I can’t hardly believe it! Thought they had
|
||||||
|
all been lost to the ages. I hear it’s complete dumb random
|
||||||
|
luck that this one turned up. Story is, an aetherwael beached
|
||||||
|
itself on some wide zephynos boulevard. Happens sometimes.
|
||||||
|
Poor things can’t distinguish between clouds and cloudstuff. I
|
||||||
|
don’t blame ’em! At a distance, you and me can’t either!
|
||||||
|
Anyway, this aetherwael has got a harpoon stuck in its side.
|
||||||
|
Dratted poachers. May they all fall out of the sky and be
|
||||||
|
dashed to a thousand pieces on the rocks below. But it had a
|
||||||
|
harpoon in its side and was trailing behind it a float bag
|
||||||
|
tethered to the harpoon. And you probably already guessed what
|
||||||
|
was inside of it!” By the time Confidence finishes their brief
|
||||||
|
story, they are trembling and nearly breathless with
|
||||||
|
excitement.</p>
|
||||||
|
<p>“Anyway,” Bread interrupts their excited companion in an
|
||||||
|
attempt to restore decorum. Both of the toques have been
|
||||||
|
gently herding you toward the base of the stairs this whole
|
||||||
|
time. “You know how the zephynos are. You could give them all
|
||||||
|
the coin in Basmentaria, or something priceless like a
|
||||||
|
Ginnarak Crystal, and they’d just as quickly misplace it out
|
||||||
|
of carelessness. If it’s not a cloud they can sculpt into the
|
||||||
|
shape of seussomorph or the likeness of some fantasy creature,
|
||||||
|
they just don’t give a fig. Luckily the hotelier caught wind
|
||||||
|
of the aetherwael and found out about the crystal before they
|
||||||
|
managed to lose it, or bury it inside of a sculpture or
|
||||||
|
something silly! He has it safe and sound in the library up at
|
||||||
|
Runesocesius now.” Bread climbs the first step, his foot
|
||||||
|
sinking barely a centimeter into wispy cloud before striking
|
||||||
|
the solid 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>
|
||||||
|
]]>
|
||||||
|
</description>
|
||||||
|
</item>
|
||||||
<item>
|
<item>
|
||||||
<title>40</title>
|
<title>40</title>
|
||||||
<author>dozens@tilde.team (dozens)</author>
|
<author>dozens@tilde.team (dozens)</author>
|
||||||
|
@ -1322,100 +1561,6 @@ EXTREME CAUTION IMPERATIVE.</code></pre>
|
||||||
]]>
|
]]>
|
||||||
</description>
|
</description>
|
||||||
</item>
|
</item>
|
||||||
<item>
|
|
||||||
<title>45</title>
|
|
||||||
<author>dozens@tilde.team (dozens)</author>
|
|
||||||
<guid isPermaLink="false">45 - Tue, 20 Dec 2022 10:15:23
|
|
||||||
-0700</guid>
|
|
||||||
<pubDate>Thu, 22 Dec 2022 09:29:11 -0700</pubDate>
|
|
||||||
<description>
|
|
||||||
<![CDATA[
|
|
||||||
<h3 id="00045">00045</h3>
|
|
||||||
<blockquote>
|
|
||||||
<p>As the blankets draw back from the bloody mass, a cute
|
|
||||||
little hemogoblin appears. “Aww little fellas just scared.”
|
|
||||||
Alex lowers the dagger, but otherwise ignores the hemogoblin.
|
|
||||||
Best to leave it be for now, there’s more important
|
|
||||||
things.</p>
|
|
||||||
<p>As the balloon gets within range of the ship Alex begins to
|
|
||||||
scan the deck for Cyberplasms. At the same time he checks his
|
|
||||||
bug to track the location of the cyberplasms more acutely. It
|
|
||||||
looks like there may be an opporunity to jump from the balloon
|
|
||||||
to the ship. After that cutting the zip lines would give me
|
|
||||||
the opporunity to steal the ship, leaving the cyberplasms
|
|
||||||
trapped at the top of the hotel.</p>
|
|
||||||
</blockquote>
|
|
||||||
<p>Just a few Cyberplasms remain on the deck of the airship.
|
|
||||||
The vast majority of them have zipped into the hotel
|
|
||||||
tower.</p>
|
|
||||||
<p>You check your bug’s feed. It has gone almost entirely
|
|
||||||
unnoticed in the fracas, and you are able to piece together a
|
|
||||||
clear picture of the inside of the tower. It is indeed a grand
|
|
||||||
library, its galleries spanning each floor of the tower. One
|
|
||||||
of the largest collections in all of Basmentaria.</p>
|
|
||||||
<p>The Cyberplasms have breached the tower near its base and
|
|
||||||
are pouring into the Great Hall. You tune in just in time to
|
|
||||||
see a rail-thin, bald and mustachioed man standing defensively
|
|
||||||
in front of a display case. “No! You can’t!” he exclaims as a
|
|
||||||
disembodied sickle approaches him in a cloud of electricity
|
|
||||||
and ectoplasm.</p>
|
|
||||||
<p>Behind the glass in the display case is a bluish hunk of
|
|
||||||
rock the size of a melon, with gently pulsing gold veins.</p>
|
|
||||||
<blockquote>
|
|
||||||
<p>Inky puts away the papers they caught in passing or picked
|
|
||||||
up along the path up to read later, including a number that
|
|
||||||
from a cursory glance appear to be from a culinary collection
|
|
||||||
and a few from some moth-eaten but finely illustrated
|
|
||||||
botanical tome, among others.</p>
|
|
||||||
<p>Eventually arriving at the hotel entrance, Inky enters and
|
|
||||||
manages to catch a frantic-looking attendant near the
|
|
||||||
reception to ask the whereabouts of the hotelier, indicating
|
|
||||||
they had a business appointment with said manager.</p>
|
|
||||||
</blockquote>
|
|
||||||
<p>You walk in through the hotel’s main entrance. The grandeur
|
|
||||||
would take your breath away were it not for the shouting and
|
|
||||||
the smoke and the explosions coming from down the hall to your
|
|
||||||
right.</p>
|
|
||||||
<p>You wave down a passing hotel clerk and inquire after the
|
|
||||||
hotelier. They are hauling a large bucket of hot water, and
|
|
||||||
carrying an oversized bundle of clean towels under one arm.
|
|
||||||
They pause for a moment to look at you incredulously before
|
|
||||||
running off in the opposite direction.</p>
|
|
||||||
<p>A cry rings out nearby and a Cyberplasm flies through an
|
|
||||||
open door down the hallway. It lands in a heap of crackling
|
|
||||||
energy, smears of ectoplasm streaking the floor as though it
|
|
||||||
were bleeding heavily. It seems to be barely held together by
|
|
||||||
the energy stored in its cybernetic leg and a metal skull
|
|
||||||
plate.</p>
|
|
||||||
<p>It scoots backwards on its hands and its butt, trying to
|
|
||||||
stand up. Two toques leap out of the door after it. You
|
|
||||||
recognize Bread and Confidence right away.</p>
|
|
||||||
<p>Bread has obviously been to the kitchens. They are wearing
|
|
||||||
tin baking sheets and an oversized pot on their heard as
|
|
||||||
makeshift armor, and have a couple of dangerous looking
|
|
||||||
kitchen knives hanging from their belt. At the moment they are
|
|
||||||
swinging a large meat tenderizer over their head as though it
|
|
||||||
were a war hammer.</p>
|
|
||||||
<p>Confidence, meanwhile, has been to the gardener’s shed.
|
|
||||||
They are wearing a heavy leather apron and thick leather
|
|
||||||
gloves, and have a trowel in each hand, and a large hoe or
|
|
||||||
rake strapped to their back.</p>
|
|
||||||
<p>Bread lowers their hammer on Cyberplasms head, denting the
|
|
||||||
skull plate. And Confidence darts in and stabs with both hands
|
|
||||||
at the leg. As soon as the prosthetics go offline and the
|
|
||||||
plasmic arcs cease firing, there is nothing left holding the
|
|
||||||
ectoplasm together and the ghost kind of dissipates into the
|
|
||||||
air with a soft wail.</p>
|
|
||||||
<p>They look up and notice you at the same time, relaxing
|
|
||||||
their offensive stances. “Oh!” cries Bread. “It’s you!”</p>
|
|
||||||
<p>“You don’t happen,” asks Confidence, “to need a guide, do
|
|
||||||
you?”</p>
|
|
||||||
<p>WHAT DO YOU DO</p>
|
|
||||||
<p><a
|
|
||||||
href="https://framalistes.org/sympa/arc/tildepals/2022-12/msg00227.html">www</a></p>
|
|
||||||
]]>
|
|
||||||
</description>
|
|
||||||
</item>
|
|
||||||
<item>
|
<item>
|
||||||
<title>38</title>
|
<title>38</title>
|
||||||
<author>dozens@tilde.team (dozens)</author>
|
<author>dozens@tilde.team (dozens)</author>
|
||||||
|
|
|
@ -320,6 +320,7 @@ of the Were-Hare</a></li>
|
||||||
<li><a href="#00046" id="toc-00046">00046</a></li>
|
<li><a href="#00046" id="toc-00046">00046</a></li>
|
||||||
<li><a href="#00047" id="toc-00047">00047</a></li>
|
<li><a href="#00047" id="toc-00047">00047</a></li>
|
||||||
<li><a href="#00048" id="toc-00048">00048</a></li>
|
<li><a href="#00048" id="toc-00048">00048</a></li>
|
||||||
|
<li><a href="#00049" id="toc-00049">00049</a></li>
|
||||||
</ul></li>
|
</ul></li>
|
||||||
<li><a href="#bestiary" id="toc-bestiary">Bestiary</a></li>
|
<li><a href="#bestiary" id="toc-bestiary">Bestiary</a></li>
|
||||||
<li><a href="#geography" id="toc-geography">Geography</a></li>
|
<li><a href="#geography" id="toc-geography">Geography</a></li>
|
||||||
|
@ -355,10 +356,10 @@ Runesocesius</a></li>
|
||||||
</ul>
|
</ul>
|
||||||
</nav>
|
</nav>
|
||||||
<h2 id="stats">Stats</h2>
|
<h2 id="stats">Stats</h2>
|
||||||
<p>Total length: 51977 words / 222 minute read. (Mind you, that’s the
|
<p>Total length: 53179 words / 227 minute read. (Mind you, that’s the
|
||||||
length of this entire page, including all the extra bits and bobs. Not
|
length of this entire page, including all the extra bits and bobs. Not
|
||||||
just the story.)</p>
|
just the story.)</p>
|
||||||
<p>There have been 171 messages posted over 169 days since the first
|
<p>There have been 173 messages posted over 170 days since the first
|
||||||
post on July 13, 2022 for a daily post rate of 1.01.</p>
|
post on July 13, 2022 for a daily post rate of 1.01.</p>
|
||||||
<h2 id="about">About</h2>
|
<h2 id="about">About</h2>
|
||||||
<p>This is a game that me and the kids in the basement are playing over
|
<p>This is a game that me and the kids in the basement are playing over
|
||||||
|
@ -513,8 +514,9 @@ very soon!</p>
|
||||||
</details>
|
</details>
|
||||||
<ul>
|
<ul>
|
||||||
<li>Player: mio</li>
|
<li>Player: mio</li>
|
||||||
<li>XP: 1</li>
|
<li>XP: 0</li>
|
||||||
<li>Skills: Do Anything 1, Persuasive 2, Plantomancy 2, Throwing 2</li>
|
<li>Skills: Do Anything 1, Persuasive 2, Plantomancy 2, Throwing 2,
|
||||||
|
Medicine 2</li>
|
||||||
<li>Equipment: Handy Duffer Discette, Fine Feathered Quills, Jade Tea
|
<li>Equipment: Handy Duffer Discette, Fine Feathered Quills, Jade Tea
|
||||||
Set, Mountain Range Glyph Ink, Bead of the Werehare</li>
|
Set, Mountain Range Glyph Ink, Bead of the Werehare</li>
|
||||||
</ul>
|
</ul>
|
||||||
|
@ -5479,6 +5481,127 @@ It was Bread’s idea. They were a good guide.”</p>
|
||||||
<p>WHAT DO YOU DO</p>
|
<p>WHAT DO YOU DO</p>
|
||||||
<p><a
|
<p><a
|
||||||
href="https://framalistes.org/sympa/arc/tildepals/2022-12/msg00250.html">www</a></p>
|
href="https://framalistes.org/sympa/arc/tildepals/2022-12/msg00250.html">www</a></p>
|
||||||
|
<h3 id="00049">00049</h3>
|
||||||
|
<blockquote>
|
||||||
|
<p>“They <em>are</em> a good guide,” Inky corrects adamantly. “Do you
|
||||||
|
hear that, Bread? You’re not allowed to disappear until you’ve had an
|
||||||
|
entire bag of these croutons, and even then you’re still not allowed. If
|
||||||
|
I’d known you’d never had croutons before I wouldn’t have let you walk a
|
||||||
|
step further into that hall. That was simultaneously the worst and best
|
||||||
|
idea ever. Mango! Croutons! What a travesty. Did you even taste any of
|
||||||
|
it? No? You have to! How can you offer guests delicious fondue without
|
||||||
|
croutons? Speaking of which, we haven’t gotten that fondue you promised
|
||||||
|
yet, that’s reason #144 you can’t disappear. What’s reason #143?
|
||||||
|
Crostinis. Small toasted bread. Slice of life. You can put cheese on it
|
||||||
|
too, if you really must …”</p>
|
||||||
|
<p>And so on. While Inky talks at Bread in a bid to keep them conscious,
|
||||||
|
they whisk out a first-aid kit from their courier bag and kneeling on
|
||||||
|
the floor, proceeds to stem the bleeding from the chest wound with
|
||||||
|
coagulant-coated bandages. Slowly, they tip a flask of tea infused with
|
||||||
|
some restorative herbs down Bread’s open mouth, careful not to pour too
|
||||||
|
quickly. Inky pauses mid-diatribe and mid-pour to thrust another flask
|
||||||
|
of tea into Confidence’s hand, the one wrapped four-fifths of the
|
||||||
|
hotelier and ask, “Are you injured? Please keep an eye on your
|
||||||
|
companion, I will summon for assistance.”</p>
|
||||||
|
<p>Standing up, Inky walks to a window, opens it and peers out. They
|
||||||
|
look around for a hot air balloon and notice the unmoored airship. After
|
||||||
|
squinting at it with a mini-spyglass, they see Alex standing at the helm
|
||||||
|
of the ship with a young hemogoblin on board. Inky waves, and makes a
|
||||||
|
vertical cross sign with a fist and thumb on the opposite upper arm a
|
||||||
|
few times. Next, they pull out a small tin whistle, and toot a few sharp
|
||||||
|
notes in the same cadence as the one-liner directed at Bread earlier by
|
||||||
|
the gondola station. After a moment, a scops owl swoops in to land on
|
||||||
|
the windowsill. Inky inserts a rolled piece of paper into a small pouch
|
||||||
|
hanging at the bird’s back, and the bird flies off again.</p>
|
||||||
|
<p>Returning to the figures slumped against the wall, Inky places the
|
||||||
|
Ginnarak crystal in a lightly padded cloth bag, stowing it away in their
|
||||||
|
knapsack-style backpack. They resume checking and tending to the toques’
|
||||||
|
injuries, while expounding upon various permutations of toasted bread to
|
||||||
|
a captive audience.</p>
|
||||||
|
</blockquote>
|
||||||
|
<p>Bread closes their eyes and smiles dreamily at the descriptions of
|
||||||
|
various breads. They weakly sip the tea as you tip it into their mouth
|
||||||
|
and swallow with effort.</p>
|
||||||
|
<!--
|
||||||
|
Inky rolls Do Anything 1 to stabilize Bread
|
||||||
|
2 = Things go poorly
|
||||||
|
Spend 1 remaining xp to advance = Success + gain Medicine 2
|
||||||
|
//-->
|
||||||
|
<p>They sigh and open their eyes. They focus on you and maintain eye
|
||||||
|
contact as you draw from a seemingly bottomless well of knowledge on the
|
||||||
|
topic of toasted breads. Bread and life are clinging fast to each other,
|
||||||
|
neither ready or willing to let go of the other. They are going to be
|
||||||
|
okay.</p>
|
||||||
|
<p>Confidence’s wounds are superficial. They are winded from dragging
|
||||||
|
Bread and the hotelier up seven flights of stairs. But they are
|
||||||
|
fine.</p>
|
||||||
|
<p>The hotelier’s wounds are sadly quite fatal. Honestly it was all over
|
||||||
|
for him the moment he took the full force of the captain’s plasma canon
|
||||||
|
to his chest. He babbles, “It’s not … I wasn’t …” And then with sudden
|
||||||
|
realization and quiet resignation, a clear-eyed, “Oh.” And then he is
|
||||||
|
gone.</p>
|
||||||
|
<p>His courage in the face of danger is the reason you now have the
|
||||||
|
third of the five Ginnarak Crystals in your pack. Whether or not his
|
||||||
|
death was in vain is now largely up to you and what you decide to do
|
||||||
|
with the crystal.</p>
|
||||||
|
<p>~</p>
|
||||||
|
<p>Downstairs in the Great Hall of the library, one of the remaining
|
||||||
|
Cyberplasms crouches down next to the inert cybernetic eye that until
|
||||||
|
very recently belonged to their captain. They pick it up and turn it
|
||||||
|
over in their hand. “Worry not, my captain,” the ghost mourns. “We will
|
||||||
|
find the quintessence. And once we do, we will be made anew in the forge
|
||||||
|
of our Mother.”</p>
|
||||||
|
<p>He rolls the orb in palm of his hand. A faint arc of energy crackles
|
||||||
|
across its surface. And the eye rolls over of its own volition and looks
|
||||||
|
up at the pirate.</p>
|
||||||
|
<p>Suddenly reverent, the pirate gently places the eye on the ground as
|
||||||
|
a ghostly face begins to form around it. The pirate waits patiently,
|
||||||
|
attentively. It’s not every day one gets to bare witness to a new birth.
|
||||||
|
The ectoplasm that gathers around the eye forms a rail-thin body. Its
|
||||||
|
head is bald and its face sports a neatly trimmed mustache. It is
|
||||||
|
missing an arm and a leg.</p>
|
||||||
|
<p>Dutifully, the witness fetches a recently discarded arm canon and leg
|
||||||
|
booster. The exotica tap into the energy provided by a new crossing
|
||||||
|
over, and come online, and create a new mesh.</p>
|
||||||
|
<p>The hotelier stands and looks down at its new body. As it were. It
|
||||||
|
looks around at its surroundings. It picks up a few books and starts
|
||||||
|
shelving them.</p>
|
||||||
|
<p>The pirate, mostly wishing to provide companionship and comfort to
|
||||||
|
the new ghost, assists with tidying up.</p>
|
||||||
|
<p>~</p>
|
||||||
|
<p>Alex, you are at the helm of the balloon-ship. As you start to drift
|
||||||
|
slightly up and away, the blue dome of the hotel comes into view. On its
|
||||||
|
peak you can see a life-sized statue of a stern-faced Runesocesius
|
||||||
|
wielding a spear, drawn back as though ready to hurl an angry
|
||||||
|
thunderbolt down at the world below.</p>
|
||||||
|
<p>The hemogoblin is still down on the deck by the canons. You see it
|
||||||
|
waving cheerily at the library tower. You squint in that direction, but
|
||||||
|
can’t see what has caught its attention.</p>
|
||||||
|
<p>A small tufted-ear owl silently lands next to you breaking you from
|
||||||
|
your reverie. The owl is wearing a small harness with a pouch at the
|
||||||
|
back. Inside the pouch is a rolled piece of paper signed by Inky, up on
|
||||||
|
the seventh floor of the tower.</p>
|
||||||
|
<p>You count seven windows up the side of the tower from its base. There
|
||||||
|
seems to be some movement inside, but you can’t make much out from here.
|
||||||
|
With a lucky shot, you think you might be able to hook the window frame
|
||||||
|
with a zipline.</p>
|
||||||
|
<p>~</p>
|
||||||
|
<p>Outside, a pink zephynos is spinning raw cloud into a minuscule opera
|
||||||
|
house and performing arts center under the direction of an amber imp
|
||||||
|
with a new hunger for life. It is an organic looking structure: a
|
||||||
|
primary concert hall, surrounded by a number of smaller stages and
|
||||||
|
performance areas spiraling out from the center like a nautilus
|
||||||
|
shell.</p>
|
||||||
|
<p>The imp smiles happily, proudly. What tales will be told here! What
|
||||||
|
songs will be sung! “Lorehold,” it whispers to itself. “You will tell
|
||||||
|
the world’s stories.”</p>
|
||||||
|
<p>It is already trying out lines in its head, imagining the play it
|
||||||
|
will write of this day. About the hotel and the library and the pirates
|
||||||
|
and the cloud dragons. About a pair of adventurers. And a very brave and
|
||||||
|
lucky drone pilot that dared to chase its dreams.</p>
|
||||||
|
<p>WHAT DO YOU DO</p>
|
||||||
|
<p><a
|
||||||
|
href="https://framalistes.org/sympa/arc/tildepals/2022-12/msg00252.html">www</a></p>
|
||||||
<h2 id="bestiary">Bestiary</h2>
|
<h2 id="bestiary">Bestiary</h2>
|
||||||
<p>Some of the creatures who inhabit the world of Basmentaria</p>
|
<p>Some of the creatures who inhabit the world of Basmentaria</p>
|
||||||
<dt>
|
<dt>
|
||||||
|
@ -5925,7 +6048,7 @@ guardian and their minions.</p>
|
||||||
<td style="text-align: left;">mirth</td>
|
<td style="text-align: left;">mirth</td>
|
||||||
</tr>
|
</tr>
|
||||||
<tr class="odd">
|
<tr class="odd">
|
||||||
<td style="text-align: left;">🚫</td>
|
<td style="text-align: left;">✅</td>
|
||||||
<td style="text-align: left;">wind</td>
|
<td style="text-align: left;">wind</td>
|
||||||
<td style="text-align: left;">cloudstuff</td>
|
<td style="text-align: left;">cloudstuff</td>
|
||||||
<td style="text-align: left;">lore</td>
|
<td style="text-align: left;">lore</td>
|
||||||
|
@ -6001,8 +6124,9 @@ more gentle conclusion.</p>
|
||||||
<h2 id="appendix-a-barefoot-quackery">Appendix A: Barefoot Quackery</h2>
|
<h2 id="appendix-a-barefoot-quackery">Appendix A: Barefoot Quackery</h2>
|
||||||
<p>Being apocryphal and supplemental material posted to the <em>Barefoot
|
<p>Being apocryphal and supplemental material posted to the <em>Barefoot
|
||||||
Quackery</em> thread on tildepals, including depictions of loose pages
|
Quackery</em> thread on tildepals, including depictions of loose pages
|
||||||
torn from books of the Runesocesius Library, and original fictions and
|
torn from books of the Runesocesius Library during the assault by the
|
||||||
other diversions, and more.</p>
|
Cyberplasms, as well as original works of fiction and other
|
||||||
|
diversions.</p>
|
||||||
<h3 id="cease-and-desist">Cease and Desist</h3>
|
<h3 id="cease-and-desist">Cease and Desist</h3>
|
||||||
<blockquote>
|
<blockquote>
|
||||||
<p>To: durrendal<br />
|
<p>To: durrendal<br />
|
||||||
|
|
Loading…
Reference in New Issue