43, 44

2022-12-20 09:12:10 -07:00 · 2022-12-20 09:12:10 -07:00 · 5185a2789e
parent 1f54892cbc
commit 5185a2789e
6 changed files with 583 additions and 6 deletions
--- a/basement.order
+++ b/basement.order
@ -24,6 +24,8 @@ src/epistolary/00039.md
 src/epistolary/00040.md
 src/epistolary/00041.md
 src/epistolary/00042.md
 src/epistolary/00043.md
 src/epistolary/00044.md
 src/bestiary/index.md
 src/bestiary/aur.md
 src/bestiary/blahoblin.md
--- a/src/epistolary/00043.md
+++ b/src/epistolary/00043.md
@ -0,0 +1,110 @@
 ---
 title: 00043
 created: Mon, 19 Dec 2022 08:03:20 -0700
 updated: Mon, 19 Dec 2022 08:03:25 -0700
 syndicated: yes
 public: yes
 ---
 ### 00043 {#00043}
 > Pirates?! Again?! Alex groans, unfortunately he's run into this crew
 > of dastardly mostly cybernetic punks in the past. Nasty group back
 > home, always kept the precinct busy. Not necessarily with the
 > detective work, it was always a little obvious when they showed up.
 > They have a flair for the dramatic.
 > 
 > Alex shouts to Inky & Jarrod "Come on, we need to get in one of those
 > balloons and fast!" he then darts off in the direction of the nearest
 > abandoned balloon in the market place, not looking to see if his
 > companions had followed him.
 > 
 > *internally* I know these guys have pulled off smaller heists, they
 > could just be attacking the hotel to plunder riches from its guests.
 > They don't seem the likes of a retrieval team.. Then again, that
 > Blavin fellow has multiple teams working for him, and he doesn't seem
 > all too picky about how they get the job done, it wouldn't be
 > surprising if he'd hired some brigands hoping they'd get the gems
 > faster.
 > 
 > Alex conjures up another bug, a stag beetle this time, and casts it
 > away at the pirate ship. It'll probably take some time to catch up,
 > but once it does we'll be able to keep an eye on the pirate's ship
 > and general actions, at least within line of sight of the bug.
 > 
 > As Alex reaches the balloon he grabs the ruby hilted dagger and cuts
 > the mooring lines keeping it down, and jumps into the basket
 > preparing for take off.
 You spot a balloon that has already been knocked half loose of its
 mooring by the pirate attack. The basket is listing to the side and
 tugging at the one remaining rope tying it down Its owner scurries
 around in circles trying to secure it.
 The vertical panels of the balloon are all different colors, creating
 a brilliant rainbow pattern. The large woven basket is large enough
 for maybe three people.
 You leap inside, swinging the ruby hilted dagger at the remaining
 mooring line. The balloon owner cries out in dismay. The basket
 shifts beneath your feet as the balloon tugs it skyward.
 In the burner, a small sunspoke---a minor fire elemental---is merrily
 burning away, producing a modest flame that is hot enough to lift the
 balloon slowly above the market into the sky. There is a knob valve
 on the side of the burner to allow more oxygen to flow in, thereby
 feeding the sunspoke and encouraging it to burn more intensely and
 raise the balloon higher and faster. The valve is currently only
 about one third open.
 A pile of blankets in one corner of the basket---and that area of the
 basket itself---is covered in blood. Somebody injured in the pirate
 attack must have temporarily climbed into the basket looking for
 cover? As you're about to look away, something large-ish (small for a
 human, large for an animal) under the blankets shifts and moves.
 > Inky stares after Alex's sprinting figure before shrugging and
 > stepping towards one of the stalls selling sandwiches bowled over
 > by one of the large boulders. They place some loose change on the
 > stall's wooden sign that had tipped over on the ground and pocket
 > one of the sandwiches displayed inside an open chest oven. Next,
 > they pick up several of the scented candles scattered on the ground
 > by the crash, throwing some coins in the direction of the
 > disoriented vendor before continuing at a leisurely pace up the
 > steps to the hotel, taking in the balloonship and surrounding
 > scenery. The members of their merry party arriving first can hold
 > their own as well as the fort of a hotel.
 You do a little leisurely shopping as the vendors and other shoppers
 put out fires and tend to the injured. With a couple scented candles
 and a sandwich safely in your pocket, you start to climb the cloud
 steps, enjoying the scenery as you go. Bread and Confidence have
 quite a bit of a head start on you, and are nowhere to be seen. As
 the stairway winds around the mountainside, the market and its bustle
 recede from view, and soon you are quite isolated and alone.
 The majesty of creation is humbling here: the endless, roiling ocean
 of cloud; the towering mountain of rock. It's as though this was the
 creator's playground when they were still trying to figure out scale.
 Before they quite got it right for human-sized creatures.
 About halfway up your climb, it starts raining sheets of paper. You
 snatch one and read it. Some heroic fantasy about slaying demons and
 facing great peril. You grab another. A bodice-ripping romance.
 Another. A gourmand's food tour of Basmentaria, eating their way from
 coast to coast. A murder mystery whodunnit. An aetherwael handler's
 guide to interplanetary travel. How to grow your own fortified
 pumpkins. On the Care and Maintenance of Fortles. The Rise and Fall
 and Rise of Palace Runesocesius. Within a minute, you have fists full
 of an entire library's worth of snippets and passages.
 ~
 It looks as though Alex will approach the hotel by balloon from the
 non-pirate side. And Inky's approach by stair will deposit them at
 the hotel entrance, roughly pirate-adjacent.
 WHAT DO YOU DO
 [www](https://framalistes.org/sympa/arc/tildepals/2022-12/msg00217.html)
--- a/src/epistolary/00044.md
+++ b/src/epistolary/00044.md
@ -0,0 +1,52 @@
 ---
 title: 00044
 created: Tue, 20 Dec 2022 08:47:08 -0700
 updated: Tue, 20 Dec 2022 08:47:11 -0700
 syndicated: yes
 public: yes
 ---
 ### 00044 {#00044}
 > 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.
 > 
 > Gripping the dagger firmly in one hand Alex grabs the blankets from
 > the corner of the balloon basket revealing whatever lay beneath.
 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.
 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.
 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.
 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!
 WHAT DO YOU DO
 [www](https://framalistes.org/sympa/arc/tildepals/2022-12/msg00219.html)
--- a/www/index.html
+++ b/www/index.html
@ -251,6 +251,8 @@ of the Were-Hare</a></li>
 <li><a href="#00040" id="toc-00040">00040</a></li>
 <li><a href="#00041" id="toc-00041">00041</a></li>
 <li><a href="#00042" id="toc-00042">00042</a></li>
 <li><a href="#00043" id="toc-00043">00043</a></li>
 <li><a href="#00044" id="toc-00044">00044</a></li>
 </ul></li>
 <li><a href="#bestiary" id="toc-bestiary">Bestiary</a></li>
 <li><a href="#geography" id="toc-geography">Geography</a></li>
@ -260,11 +262,11 @@ of the Were-Hare</a></li>
 </ul>
 </nav>
 <h2 id="stats">Stats</h2>
-<p>Total length: 41570 words / 177 minute read. (Mind you, that’s the
+<p>Total length: 42782 words / 182 minute read. (Mind you, that’s the
 length of this entire page, including all the extra bits and bobs. Not
 just the story.)</p>
-<p>There have been 148 messages posted over 157 days since the first
+<p>There have been 155 messages posted over 160 days since the first
-post on July 13, 2022 for a daily post rate of .94.</p>
+post on July 13, 2022 for a daily post rate of .96.</p>
 <h2 id="about">About</h2>
 <p>This is a game that me and the kids in the basement are playing over
 email.</p>
@ -4778,6 +4780,129 @@ bounding up the cloudstuff steps.</p>
 <p>WHAT DO YOU DO</p>
 <p><a
 href="https://framalistes.org/sympa/arc/tildepals/2022-12/msg00203.html">www</a></p>
 <h3 id="00043">00043</h3>
 <blockquote>
 <p>Pirates?! Again?! Alex groans, unfortunately he’s run into this crew
 of dastardly mostly cybernetic punks in the past. Nasty group back home,
 always kept the precinct busy. Not necessarily with the detective work,
 it was always a little obvious when they showed up. They have a flair
 for the dramatic.</p>
 <p>Alex shouts to Inky &amp; Jarrod “Come on, we need to get in one of
 those balloons and fast!” he then darts off in the direction of the
 nearest abandoned balloon in the market place, not looking to see if his
 companions had followed him.</p>
 <p><em>internally</em> I know these guys have pulled off smaller heists,
 they could just be attacking the hotel to plunder riches from its
 guests. They don’t seem the likes of a retrieval team.. Then again, that
 Blavin fellow has multiple teams working for him, and he doesn’t seem
 all too picky about how they get the job done, it wouldn’t be surprising
 if he’d hired some brigands hoping they’d get the gems faster.</p>
 <p>Alex conjures up another bug, a stag beetle this time, and casts it
 away at the pirate ship. It’ll probably take some time to catch up, but
 once it does we’ll be able to keep an eye on the pirate’s ship and
 general actions, at least within line of sight of the bug.</p>
 <p>As Alex reaches the balloon he grabs the ruby hilted dagger and cuts
 the mooring lines keeping it down, and jumps into the basket preparing
 for take off.</p>
 </blockquote>
 <p>You spot a balloon that has already been knocked half loose of its
 mooring by the pirate attack. The basket is listing to the side and
 tugging at the one remaining rope tying it down Its owner scurries
 around in circles trying to secure it.</p>
 <p>The vertical panels of the balloon are all different colors, creating
 a brilliant rainbow pattern. The large woven basket is large enough for
 maybe three people.</p>
 <p>You leap inside, swinging the ruby hilted dagger at the remaining
 mooring line. The balloon owner cries out in dismay. The basket shifts
 beneath your feet as the balloon tugs it skyward.</p>
 <p>In the burner, a small sunspoke—a minor fire elemental—is merrily
 burning away, producing a modest flame that is hot enough to lift the
 balloon slowly above the market into the sky. There is a knob valve on
 the side of the burner to allow more oxygen to flow in, thereby feeding
 the sunspoke and encouraging it to burn more intensely and raise the
 balloon higher and faster. The valve is currently only about one third
 open.</p>
 <p>A pile of blankets in one corner of the basket—and that area of the
 basket itself—is covered in blood. Somebody injured in the pirate attack
 must have temporarily climbed into the basket looking for cover? As
 you’re about to look away, something large-ish (small for a human, large
 for an animal) under the blankets shifts and moves.</p>
 <blockquote>
 <p>Inky stares after Alex’s sprinting figure before shrugging and
 stepping towards one of the stalls selling sandwiches bowled over by one
 of the large boulders. They place some loose change on the stall’s
 wooden sign that had tipped over on the ground and pocket one of the
 sandwiches displayed inside an open chest oven. Next, they pick up
 several of the scented candles scattered on the ground by the crash,
 throwing some coins in the direction of the disoriented vendor before
 continuing at a leisurely pace up the steps to the hotel, taking in the
 balloonship and surrounding scenery. The members of their merry party
 arriving first can hold their own as well as the fort of a hotel.</p>
 </blockquote>
 <p>You do a little leisurely shopping as the vendors and other shoppers
 put out fires and tend to the injured. With a couple scented candles and
 a sandwich safely in your pocket, you start to climb the cloud steps,
 enjoying the scenery as you go. Bread and Confidence have quite a bit of
 a head start on you, and are nowhere to be seen. As the stairway winds
 around the mountainside, the market and its bustle recede from view, and
 soon you are quite isolated and alone.</p>
 <p>The majesty of creation is humbling here: the endless, roiling ocean
 of cloud; the towering mountain of rock. It’s as though this was the
 creator’s playground when they were still trying to figure out scale.
 Before they quite got it right for human-sized creatures.</p>
 <p>About halfway up your climb, it starts raining sheets of paper. You
 snatch one and read it. Some heroic fantasy about slaying demons and
 facing great peril. You grab another. A bodice-ripping romance. Another.
 A gourmand’s food tour of Basmentaria, eating their way from coast to
 coast. A murder mystery whodunnit. An aetherwael handler’s guide to
 interplanetary travel. How to grow your own fortified pumpkins. On the
 Care and Maintenance of Fortles. The Rise and Fall and Rise of Palace
 Runesocesius. Within a minute, you have fists full of an entire
 library’s worth of snippets and passages.</p>
 <p>~</p>
 <p>It looks as though Alex will approach the hotel by balloon from the
 non-pirate side. And Inky’s approach by stair will deposit them at the
 hotel entrance, roughly pirate-adjacent.</p>
 <p>WHAT DO YOU DO</p>
 <p><a
 href="https://framalistes.org/sympa/arc/tildepals/2022-12/msg00217.html">www</a></p>
 <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>
 <h2 id="bestiary">Bestiary</h2>
 <p>Some of the creatures who inhabit the world of Basmentaria</p>
 <dt>
--- a/www/rss.xml
+++ b/www/rss.xml
@ -154,6 +154,169 @@
        ]]>
      </description>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>43</title>
      <author>dozens@tilde.team (dozens)</author>
      <guid isPermaLink="false">43 - Mon, 19 Dec 2022 08:03:20
 -0700</guid>
      <pubDate>Mon, 19 Dec 2022 08:03:25 -0700</pubDate>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[
          <h3 id="00043">00043</h3>
          <blockquote>
          <p>Pirates?! Again?! Alex groans, unfortunately he’s run into
          this crew of dastardly mostly cybernetic punks in the past.
          Nasty group back home, always kept the precinct busy. Not
          necessarily with the detective work, it was always a little
          obvious when they showed up. They have a flair for the
          dramatic.</p>
          <p>Alex shouts to Inky &amp; Jarrod “Come on, we need to get
          in one of those balloons and fast!” he then darts off in the
          direction of the nearest abandoned balloon in the market
          place, not looking to see if his companions had followed
          him.</p>
          <p><em>internally</em> I know these guys have pulled off
          smaller heists, they could just be attacking the hotel to
          plunder riches from its guests. They don’t seem the likes of a
          retrieval team.. Then again, that Blavin fellow has multiple
          teams working for him, and he doesn’t seem all too picky about
          how they get the job done, it wouldn’t be surprising if he’d
          hired some brigands hoping they’d get the gems faster.</p>
          <p>Alex conjures up another bug, a stag beetle this time, and
          casts it away at the pirate ship. It’ll probably take some
          time to catch up, but once it does we’ll be able to keep an
          eye on the pirate’s ship and general actions, at least within
          line of sight of the bug.</p>
          <p>As Alex reaches the balloon he grabs the ruby hilted dagger
          and cuts the mooring lines keeping it down, and jumps into the
          basket preparing for take off.</p>
          </blockquote>
          <p>You spot a balloon that has already been knocked half loose
          of its mooring by the pirate attack. The basket is listing to
          the side and tugging at the one remaining rope tying it down
          Its owner scurries around in circles trying to secure it.</p>
          <p>The vertical panels of the balloon are all different
          colors, creating a brilliant rainbow pattern. The large woven
          basket is large enough for maybe three people.</p>
          <p>You leap inside, swinging the ruby hilted dagger at the
          remaining mooring line. The balloon owner cries out in dismay.
          The basket shifts beneath your feet as the balloon tugs it
          skyward.</p>
          <p>In the burner, a small sunspoke—a minor fire elemental—is
          merrily burning away, producing a modest flame that is hot
          enough to lift the balloon slowly above the market into the
          sky. There is a knob valve on the side of the burner to allow
          more oxygen to flow in, thereby feeding the sunspoke and
          encouraging it to burn more intensely and raise the balloon
          higher and faster. The valve is currently only about one third
          open.</p>
          <p>A pile of blankets in one corner of the basket—and that
          area of the basket itself—is covered in blood. Somebody
          injured in the pirate attack must have temporarily climbed
          into the basket looking for cover? As you’re about to look
          away, something large-ish (small for a human, large for an
          animal) under the blankets shifts and moves.</p>
          <blockquote>
          <p>Inky stares after Alex’s sprinting figure before shrugging
          and stepping towards one of the stalls selling sandwiches
          bowled over by one of the large boulders. They place some
          loose change on the stall’s wooden sign that had tipped over
          on the ground and pocket one of the sandwiches displayed
          inside an open chest oven. Next, they pick up several of the
          scented candles scattered on the ground by the crash, throwing
          some coins in the direction of the disoriented vendor before
          continuing at a leisurely pace up the steps to the hotel,
          taking in the balloonship and surrounding scenery. The members
          of their merry party arriving first can hold their own as well
          as the fort of a hotel.</p>
          </blockquote>
          <p>You do a little leisurely shopping as the vendors and other
          shoppers put out fires and tend to the injured. With a couple
          scented candles and a sandwich safely in your pocket, you
          start to climb the cloud steps, enjoying the scenery as you
          go. Bread and Confidence have quite a bit of a head start on
          you, and are nowhere to be seen. As the stairway winds around
          the mountainside, the market and its bustle recede from view,
          and soon you are quite isolated and alone.</p>
          <p>The majesty of creation is humbling here: the endless,
          roiling ocean of cloud; the towering mountain of rock. It’s as
          though this was the creator’s playground when they were still
          trying to figure out scale. Before they quite got it right for
          human-sized creatures.</p>
          <p>About halfway up your climb, it starts raining sheets of
          paper. You snatch one and read it. Some heroic fantasy about
          slaying demons and facing great peril. You grab another. A
          bodice-ripping romance. Another. A gourmand’s food tour of
          Basmentaria, eating their way from coast to coast. A murder
          mystery whodunnit. An aetherwael handler’s guide to
          interplanetary travel. How to grow your own fortified
          pumpkins. On the Care and Maintenance of Fortles. The Rise and
          Fall and Rise of Palace Runesocesius. Within a minute, you
          have fists full of an entire library’s worth of snippets and
          passages.</p>
          <p>~</p>
          <p>It looks as though Alex will approach the hotel by balloon
          from the non-pirate side. And Inky’s approach by stair will
          deposit them at the hotel entrance, roughly
          pirate-adjacent.</p>
          <p>WHAT DO YOU DO</p>
          <p><a
          href="https://framalistes.org/sympa/arc/tildepals/2022-12/msg00217.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>
      <title>39</title>
      <author>dozens@tilde.team (dozens)</author>
--- a/www/spoilers.html
+++ b/www/spoilers.html
@ -251,6 +251,8 @@ of the Were-Hare</a></li>
 <li><a href="#00040" id="toc-00040">00040</a></li>
 <li><a href="#00041" id="toc-00041">00041</a></li>
 <li><a href="#00042" id="toc-00042">00042</a></li>
 <li><a href="#00043" id="toc-00043">00043</a></li>
 <li><a href="#00044" id="toc-00044">00044</a></li>
 </ul></li>
 <li><a href="#bestiary" id="toc-bestiary">Bestiary</a></li>
 <li><a href="#geography" id="toc-geography">Geography</a></li>
@ -263,11 +265,11 @@ id="toc-acknowledgements">Acknowledgements</a></li>
 </ul>
 </nav>
 <h2 id="stats">Stats</h2>
-<p>Total length: 41570 words / 177 minute read. (Mind you, that’s the
+<p>Total length: 42782 words / 182 minute read. (Mind you, that’s the
 length of this entire page, including all the extra bits and bobs. Not
 just the story.)</p>
-<p>There have been 148 messages posted over 157 days since the first
+<p>There have been 155 messages posted over 160 days since the first
-post on July 13, 2022 for a daily post rate of .94.</p>
+post on July 13, 2022 for a daily post rate of .96.</p>
 <h2 id="about">About</h2>
 <p>This is a game that me and the kids in the basement are playing over
 email.</p>
@ -4781,6 +4783,129 @@ bounding up the cloudstuff steps.</p>
 <p>WHAT DO YOU DO</p>
 <p><a
 href="https://framalistes.org/sympa/arc/tildepals/2022-12/msg00203.html">www</a></p>
 <h3 id="00043">00043</h3>
 <blockquote>
 <p>Pirates?! Again?! Alex groans, unfortunately he’s run into this crew
 of dastardly mostly cybernetic punks in the past. Nasty group back home,
 always kept the precinct busy. Not necessarily with the detective work,
 it was always a little obvious when they showed up. They have a flair
 for the dramatic.</p>
 <p>Alex shouts to Inky &amp; Jarrod “Come on, we need to get in one of
 those balloons and fast!” he then darts off in the direction of the
 nearest abandoned balloon in the market place, not looking to see if his
 companions had followed him.</p>
 <p><em>internally</em> I know these guys have pulled off smaller heists,
 they could just be attacking the hotel to plunder riches from its
 guests. They don’t seem the likes of a retrieval team.. Then again, that
 Blavin fellow has multiple teams working for him, and he doesn’t seem
 all too picky about how they get the job done, it wouldn’t be surprising
 if he’d hired some brigands hoping they’d get the gems faster.</p>
 <p>Alex conjures up another bug, a stag beetle this time, and casts it
 away at the pirate ship. It’ll probably take some time to catch up, but
 once it does we’ll be able to keep an eye on the pirate’s ship and
 general actions, at least within line of sight of the bug.</p>
 <p>As Alex reaches the balloon he grabs the ruby hilted dagger and cuts
 the mooring lines keeping it down, and jumps into the basket preparing
 for take off.</p>
 </blockquote>
 <p>You spot a balloon that has already been knocked half loose of its
 mooring by the pirate attack. The basket is listing to the side and
 tugging at the one remaining rope tying it down Its owner scurries
 around in circles trying to secure it.</p>
 <p>The vertical panels of the balloon are all different colors, creating
 a brilliant rainbow pattern. The large woven basket is large enough for
 maybe three people.</p>
 <p>You leap inside, swinging the ruby hilted dagger at the remaining
 mooring line. The balloon owner cries out in dismay. The basket shifts
 beneath your feet as the balloon tugs it skyward.</p>
 <p>In the burner, a small sunspoke—a minor fire elemental—is merrily
 burning away, producing a modest flame that is hot enough to lift the
 balloon slowly above the market into the sky. There is a knob valve on
 the side of the burner to allow more oxygen to flow in, thereby feeding
 the sunspoke and encouraging it to burn more intensely and raise the
 balloon higher and faster. The valve is currently only about one third
 open.</p>
 <p>A pile of blankets in one corner of the basket—and that area of the
 basket itself—is covered in blood. Somebody injured in the pirate attack
 must have temporarily climbed into the basket looking for cover? As
 you’re about to look away, something large-ish (small for a human, large
 for an animal) under the blankets shifts and moves.</p>
 <blockquote>
 <p>Inky stares after Alex’s sprinting figure before shrugging and
 stepping towards one of the stalls selling sandwiches bowled over by one
 of the large boulders. They place some loose change on the stall’s
 wooden sign that had tipped over on the ground and pocket one of the
 sandwiches displayed inside an open chest oven. Next, they pick up
 several of the scented candles scattered on the ground by the crash,
 throwing some coins in the direction of the disoriented vendor before
 continuing at a leisurely pace up the steps to the hotel, taking in the
 balloonship and surrounding scenery. The members of their merry party
 arriving first can hold their own as well as the fort of a hotel.</p>
 </blockquote>
 <p>You do a little leisurely shopping as the vendors and other shoppers
 put out fires and tend to the injured. With a couple scented candles and
 a sandwich safely in your pocket, you start to climb the cloud steps,
 enjoying the scenery as you go. Bread and Confidence have quite a bit of
 a head start on you, and are nowhere to be seen. As the stairway winds
 around the mountainside, the market and its bustle recede from view, and
 soon you are quite isolated and alone.</p>
 <p>The majesty of creation is humbling here: the endless, roiling ocean
 of cloud; the towering mountain of rock. It’s as though this was the
 creator’s playground when they were still trying to figure out scale.
 Before they quite got it right for human-sized creatures.</p>
 <p>About halfway up your climb, it starts raining sheets of paper. You
 snatch one and read it. Some heroic fantasy about slaying demons and
 facing great peril. You grab another. A bodice-ripping romance. Another.
 A gourmand’s food tour of Basmentaria, eating their way from coast to
 coast. A murder mystery whodunnit. An aetherwael handler’s guide to
 interplanetary travel. How to grow your own fortified pumpkins. On the
 Care and Maintenance of Fortles. The Rise and Fall and Rise of Palace
 Runesocesius. Within a minute, you have fists full of an entire
 library’s worth of snippets and passages.</p>
 <p>~</p>
 <p>It looks as though Alex will approach the hotel by balloon from the
 non-pirate side. And Inky’s approach by stair will deposit them at the
 hotel entrance, roughly pirate-adjacent.</p>
 <p>WHAT DO YOU DO</p>
 <p><a
 href="https://framalistes.org/sympa/arc/tildepals/2022-12/msg00217.html">www</a></p>
 <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>
 <h2 id="bestiary">Bestiary</h2>
 <p>Some of the creatures who inhabit the world of Basmentaria</p>
 <dt>