From 5f6484529f97e8802da22c92e74ec05dd54d0d66 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: "Christopher P. Brown" <christopher.p.brown@gmail.com>
Date: Thu, 22 Dec 2022 20:44:45 -0700
Subject: [PATCH] 47

---
 basement.order          |   1 +
 src/characters/alex.md  |   4 +-
 src/epistolary/00047.md | 116 ++++++++++
 www/index.html          | 103 ++++++++-
 www/rss.xml             | 475 +++++++++++++++++++++++++---------------
 www/spoilers.html       | 103 ++++++++-
 6 files changed, 613 insertions(+), 189 deletions(-)
 create mode 100644 src/epistolary/00047.md

diff --git a/basement.order b/basement.order
index 371914f..5f9aad8 100644
--- a/basement.order
+++ b/basement.order
@@ -28,6 +28,7 @@ src/epistolary/00043.md
 src/epistolary/00044.md
 src/epistolary/00045.md
 src/epistolary/00046.md
+src/epistolary/00047.md
 src/bestiary/index.md
 src/bestiary/aur.md
 src/bestiary/blahoblin.md
diff --git a/src/characters/alex.md b/src/characters/alex.md
index 9885b87..baf1cb5 100644
--- a/src/characters/alex.md
+++ b/src/characters/alex.md
@@ -13,8 +13,8 @@ Alex is like Corraidhin in some aspects, he’s younger, more brash, more given
 
 - Player: sinatra
 - XP: 1
-- Skills: Do Anything 1, Investigation 2, Illusions 2, Sneaking 2
-- Equipment: 
+- Skills: Do Anything 1, Investigation 2, Illusions 2, Sneaking 2, Sysorcery 2, Stabbing 2
+- Equipment: a bunch of STAG drones
 
 Paths:
 
diff --git a/src/epistolary/00047.md b/src/epistolary/00047.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..ce123e4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/epistolary/00047.md
@@ -0,0 +1,116 @@
+---
+title: 00047
+created: Thu, 22 Dec 2022 16:51:54 -0700
+updated: Thu, 22 Dec 2022 16:51:59 -0700
+syndicated: yes
+public: yes
+---
+### 00047 {#00047}
+
+> Damn it! I should've left the little goblin in the balloon, this
+> could get tricky..
+> 
+> Time slows for just the briefest of moments while Alex calculates
+> his next move. Looking at the position of the pirates he can
+> probably yeet the middlemost one away from the group into the left
+> most pirate. Best case this sends both of them sailing over the
+> edge of the ship, worst case it just slightly knocks them off
+> balance. In either event this gives me enough time to dart from
+> cover and quickly dispatch the right most pirate with Uncle's
+> dagger. I've got to sever each connection point between the
+> ecotplasm and the cybernetics, nothing quite as quick and easy as
+> flesh and blood, but a quick slice to the left most armpit, and
+> another to the right most leg right above the carotid artery should
+> do it..
+> 
+> Jumping immediately to action Alex casts `yeet.middle_cyberplasm()`
+> sending the middle  pirate into the left most pirate away from the
+> hemogoblin while he dashes forward to take the third right most
+> pirate by surprise. As he reaches the right most pirate he makes
+> two quick slices, first at the leg, followed by a quick upper cut
+> to the left arm.
+
+<!--
+Alex rolls Do Anything 1 to yeet the cyberplasm
+3 = Things go poorly. Gain 1 xp.
+Spend 1 xp to pass and gain Sysorcery 2
+//-->
+
+You channel some of the ambient environmental charge into your
+prepared incantation. It's comforting sometimes to peer behind the
+veil and see the world through this lens. It's so simple. The
+separation of self and other is an illusion: everything is just a
+table. The concept of time itself is simplified: coroutines prevent
+everything from happening all at once and create the illusion of
+concurrency. It's all really quite elegant.
+
+Anyway so the hemogoblin sidles up next to the pirates at the
+railing. It's not tall enough to see over the railing, and starts to
+kind of jump up and down, trying to catch a glimpse. The pirates look
+down at it in confusion just as the `yeet` happens, and they knock
+into each other. The leftmost one almost manages to regain its
+balance but then trips over the little blood gremlin and pitches over
+the railing. The middle pirate yelps as the startled hemogoblin darts
+between its legs to get out of the way. The pirate stumbles and then
+slips in a small puddle of blood. Its feet shoot from beneath it and
+it too tips over the railing.
+
+<!--
+Alex rolls Do Anything 1 to sever connections
+1 = Things go poorly. Gain 1 xp.
+Spend 1 xp to pass and gain Stabbing 2
+//-->
+
+The hemogoblin dashes right into the waiting arms of the rightmost
+Cyberplasm. "Gotcha, you little ... ugh! What ..." The pirate is
+starting to regret snatching up the little furball, which is
+defensively gushing blood all over it, when you make your first slice
+into its left armpit. Half its cybernetics go offline. One arm goes
+limp and it drops the hemogoblin, which scurries around and hides
+behind you. The pirate turns toward you, now full of regrets, and you
+stab into its right leg, knocking its tech completely offline and
+dispersing the ghostly energies.
+
+As far as you can tell, the ship is now free of Cyberplasms.
+
+The hemogoblin thrusts its tiny fists in the air and cheers.
+
+> Inky shakes out several large and very fine kerchiefs, handing two
+> each to the guides and gestures for them to cover their noses and
+> mouths with them while they perform the action themselves to
+> demonstrate.
+> 
+> Donning a pair of skydiving goggles snatched from one of the souvenir
+> stalls at the gondola station while no one was looking (replacing it
+> with its approximate weight in silver coins), Inky retrieves a black
+> metal box that previously served as a portable camp stove from their
+> knapsack and removes the lid. The inside of the box is filled with
+> dry wood chips mixed with a pine green powder, and Inky throws in the
+> wicks pulled from some of the scented candles that were pushed into a
+> heater flask to melt fully during the walk up the hotel steps.
+> Finally, Inky pours another vial of foul-smelling liquid over the
+> contents, opens the door just wide enough to slide the metal box
+> through to one side of the door a few paces away.
+> 
+> A mildly sweet, cloying smoke emanates from the flameless heat inside
+> the box, which begin to fill the library hall with a rapidly
+> thickening cloud. It is also taking on an acrid and slightly sooty
+> edge. Near the door, Inky fans more of the smoke in the direction of
+> the cyberplasmic apparition with a thin bound manuscript laying on
+> the floor.
+
+Bread, Confidence, and you all don protective gear. You push the camp
+stove through the door like an Olympic curler. It glides across the
+library floor a respectable distance considering the book debris and
+the lack of sweepers. Much more quickly than one would think
+possible, the hall is filled with a thick, sooty smoke. The
+Cyberplasm captain groans with frustration as even the short distance
+between it and the hotelier (and the crystal) becomes occluded in the
+smoke screen. The hotelier wisely doesn't make a sound as he
+disappears from view.
+
+Bread nudges you, grins, and gives you a thumbs up.
+
+WHAT DO YOU DO
+
+[www](https://framalistes.org/sympa/arc/tildepals/2022-12/msg00234.html)
diff --git a/www/index.html b/www/index.html
index 88dd658..bc74f0e 100644
--- a/www/index.html
+++ b/www/index.html
@@ -318,6 +318,7 @@ of the Were-Hare</a></li>
 <li><a href="#00044" id="toc-00044">00044</a></li>
 <li><a href="#00045" id="toc-00045">00045</a></li>
 <li><a href="#00046" id="toc-00046">00046</a></li>
+<li><a href="#00047" id="toc-00047">00047</a></li>
 </ul></li>
 <li><a href="#bestiary" id="toc-bestiary">Bestiary</a></li>
 <li><a href="#geography" id="toc-geography">Geography</a></li>
@@ -327,10 +328,10 @@ of the Were-Hare</a></li>
 </ul>
 </nav>
 <h2 id="stats">Stats</h2>
-<p>Total length: 44522 words / 190 minute read. (Mind you, that’s the
+<p>Total length: 45381 words / 193 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 165 messages posted over 162 days since the first
+<p>There have been 170 messages posted over 168 days since the first
 post on July 13, 2022 for a daily post rate of 1.01.</p>
 <h2 id="about">About</h2>
 <p>This is a game that me and the kids in the basement are playing over
@@ -363,8 +364,9 @@ he can slip by.</p>
 <ul>
 <li>Player: sinatra</li>
 <li>XP: 1</li>
-<li>Skills: Do Anything 1, Investigation 2, Illusions 2, Sneaking 2</li>
-<li>Equipment:</li>
+<li>Skills: Do Anything 1, Investigation 2, Illusions 2, Sneaking 2,
+Sysorcery 2, Stabbing 2</li>
+<li>Equipment: a bunch of STAG drones</li>
 </ul>
 <p>Paths:</p>
 <ul>
@@ -5156,6 +5158,99 @@ 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>
+<h3 id="00047">00047</h3>
+<blockquote>
+<p>Damn it! I should’ve left the little goblin in the balloon, this
+could get tricky..</p>
+<p>Time slows for just the briefest of moments while Alex calculates his
+next move. Looking at the position of the pirates he can probably yeet
+the middlemost one away from the group into the left most pirate. Best
+case this sends both of them sailing over the edge of the ship, worst
+case it just slightly knocks them off balance. In either event this
+gives me enough time to dart from cover and quickly dispatch the right
+most pirate with Uncle’s dagger. I’ve got to sever each connection point
+between the ecotplasm and the cybernetics, nothing quite as quick and
+easy as flesh and blood, but a quick slice to the left most armpit, and
+another to the right most leg right above the carotid artery should do
+it..</p>
+<p>Jumping immediately to action Alex casts
+<code>yeet.middle_cyberplasm()</code> sending the middle pirate into the
+left most pirate away from the hemogoblin while he dashes forward to
+take the third right most pirate by surprise. As he reaches the right
+most pirate he makes two quick slices, first at the leg, followed by a
+quick upper cut to the left arm.</p>
+</blockquote>
+<!--
+Alex rolls Do Anything 1 to yeet the cyberplasm
+3 = Things go poorly. Gain 1 xp.
+Spend 1 xp to pass and gain Sysorcery 2
+//-->
+<p>You channel some of the ambient environmental charge into your
+prepared incantation. It’s comforting sometimes to peer behind the veil
+and see the world through this lens. It’s so simple. The separation of
+self and other is an illusion: everything is just a table. The concept
+of time itself is simplified: coroutines prevent everything from
+happening all at once and create the illusion of concurrency. It’s all
+really quite elegant.</p>
+<p>Anyway so the hemogoblin sidles up next to the pirates at the
+railing. It’s not tall enough to see over the railing, and starts to
+kind of jump up and down, trying to catch a glimpse. The pirates look
+down at it in confusion just as the <code>yeet</code> happens, and they
+knock into each other. The leftmost one almost manages to regain its
+balance but then trips over the little blood gremlin and pitches over
+the railing. The middle pirate yelps as the startled hemogoblin darts
+between its legs to get out of the way. The pirate stumbles and then
+slips in a small puddle of blood. Its feet shoot from beneath it and it
+too tips over the railing.</p>
+<!--
+Alex rolls Do Anything 1 to sever connections
+1 = Things go poorly. Gain 1 xp.
+Spend 1 xp to pass and gain Stabbing 2
+//-->
+<p>The hemogoblin dashes right into the waiting arms of the rightmost
+Cyberplasm. “Gotcha, you little … ugh! What …” The pirate is starting to
+regret snatching up the little furball, which is defensively gushing
+blood all over it, when you make your first slice into its left armpit.
+Half its cybernetics go offline. One arm goes limp and it drops the
+hemogoblin, which scurries around and hides behind you. The pirate turns
+toward you, now full of regrets, and you stab into its right leg,
+knocking its tech completely offline and dispersing the ghostly
+energies.</p>
+<p>As far as you can tell, the ship is now free of Cyberplasms.</p>
+<p>The hemogoblin thrusts its tiny fists in the air and cheers.</p>
+<blockquote>
+<p>Inky shakes out several large and very fine kerchiefs, handing two
+each to the guides and gestures for them to cover their noses and mouths
+with them while they perform the action themselves to demonstrate.</p>
+<p>Donning a pair of skydiving goggles snatched from one of the souvenir
+stalls at the gondola station while no one was looking (replacing it
+with its approximate weight in silver coins), Inky retrieves a black
+metal box that previously served as a portable camp stove from their
+knapsack and removes the lid. The inside of the box is filled with dry
+wood chips mixed with a pine green powder, and Inky throws in the wicks
+pulled from some of the scented candles that were pushed into a heater
+flask to melt fully during the walk up the hotel steps. Finally, Inky
+pours another vial of foul-smelling liquid over the contents, opens the
+door just wide enough to slide the metal box through to one side of the
+door a few paces away.</p>
+<p>A mildly sweet, cloying smoke emanates from the flameless heat inside
+the box, which begin to fill the library hall with a rapidly thickening
+cloud. It is also taking on an acrid and slightly sooty edge. Near the
+door, Inky fans more of the smoke in the direction of the cyberplasmic
+apparition with a thin bound manuscript laying on the floor.</p>
+</blockquote>
+<p>Bread, Confidence, and you all don protective gear. You push the camp
+stove through the door like an Olympic curler. It glides across the
+library floor a respectable distance considering the book debris and the
+lack of sweepers. Much more quickly than one would think possible, the
+hall is filled with a thick, sooty smoke. The Cyberplasm captain groans
+with frustration as even the short distance between it and the hotelier
+(and the crystal) becomes occluded in the smoke screen. The hotelier
+wisely doesn’t make a sound as he disappears from view.</p>
+<p>Bread nudges you, grins, and gives you a thumbs up.</p>
+<p>WHAT DO YOU DO</p>
+<p><a
+href="https://framalistes.org/sympa/arc/tildepals/2022-12/msg00234.html">www</a></p>
 <h2 id="bestiary">Bestiary</h2>
 <p>Some of the creatures who inhabit the world of Basmentaria</p>
 <dt>
diff --git a/www/rss.xml b/www/rss.xml
index c7863e7..69d56dc 100644
--- a/www/rss.xml
+++ b/www/rss.xml
@@ -297,6 +297,123 @@
         ]]>
       </description>
     </item>
+    <item>
+      <title>47</title>
+      <author>dozens@tilde.team (dozens)</author>
+      <guid isPermaLink="false">47 - Thu, 22 Dec 2022 16:51:54
+-0700</guid>
+      <pubDate>Thu, 22 Dec 2022 16:51:59 -0700</pubDate>
+      <description>
+        <![CDATA[
+          <h3 id="00047">00047</h3>
+          <blockquote>
+          <p>Damn it! I should’ve left the little goblin in the balloon,
+          this could get tricky..</p>
+          <p>Time slows for just the briefest of moments while Alex
+          calculates his next move. Looking at the position of the
+          pirates he can probably yeet the middlemost one away from the
+          group into the left most pirate. Best case this sends both of
+          them sailing over the edge of the ship, worst case it just
+          slightly knocks them off balance. In either event this gives
+          me enough time to dart from cover and quickly dispatch the
+          right most pirate with Uncle’s dagger. I’ve got to sever each
+          connection point between the ecotplasm and the cybernetics,
+          nothing quite as quick and easy as flesh and blood, but a
+          quick slice to the left most armpit, and another to the right
+          most leg right above the carotid artery should do it..</p>
+          <p>Jumping immediately to action Alex casts
+          <code>yeet.middle_cyberplasm()</code> sending the middle
+          pirate into the left most pirate away from the hemogoblin
+          while he dashes forward to take the third right most pirate by
+          surprise. As he reaches the right most pirate he makes two
+          quick slices, first at the leg, followed by a quick upper cut
+          to the left arm.</p>
+          </blockquote>
+          <!--
+          Alex rolls Do Anything 1 to yeet the cyberplasm
+          3 = Things go poorly. Gain 1 xp.
+          Spend 1 xp to pass and gain Sysorcery 2
+          //-->
+          <p>You channel some of the ambient environmental charge into
+          your prepared incantation. It’s comforting sometimes to peer
+          behind the veil and see the world through this lens. It’s so
+          simple. The separation of self and other is an illusion:
+          everything is just a table. The concept of time itself is
+          simplified: coroutines prevent everything from happening all
+          at once and create the illusion of concurrency. It’s all
+          really quite elegant.</p>
+          <p>Anyway so the hemogoblin sidles up next to the pirates at
+          the railing. It’s not tall enough to see over the railing, and
+          starts to kind of jump up and down, trying to catch a glimpse.
+          The pirates look down at it in confusion just as the
+          <code>yeet</code> happens, and they knock into each other. The
+          leftmost one almost manages to regain its balance but then
+          trips over the little blood gremlin and pitches over the
+          railing. The middle pirate yelps as the startled hemogoblin
+          darts between its legs to get out of the way. The pirate
+          stumbles and then slips in a small puddle of blood. Its feet
+          shoot from beneath it and it too tips over the railing.</p>
+          <!--
+          Alex rolls Do Anything 1 to sever connections
+          1 = Things go poorly. Gain 1 xp.
+          Spend 1 xp to pass and gain Stabbing 2
+          //-->
+          <p>The hemogoblin dashes right into the waiting arms of the
+          rightmost Cyberplasm. “Gotcha, you little … ugh! What …” The
+          pirate is starting to regret snatching up the little furball,
+          which is defensively gushing blood all over it, when you make
+          your first slice into its left armpit. Half its cybernetics go
+          offline. One arm goes limp and it drops the hemogoblin, which
+          scurries around and hides behind you. The pirate turns toward
+          you, now full of regrets, and you stab into its right leg,
+          knocking its tech completely offline and dispersing the
+          ghostly energies.</p>
+          <p>As far as you can tell, the ship is now free of
+          Cyberplasms.</p>
+          <p>The hemogoblin thrusts its tiny fists in the air and
+          cheers.</p>
+          <blockquote>
+          <p>Inky shakes out several large and very fine kerchiefs,
+          handing two each to the guides and gestures for them to cover
+          their noses and mouths with them while they perform the action
+          themselves to demonstrate.</p>
+          <p>Donning a pair of skydiving goggles snatched from one of
+          the souvenir stalls at the gondola station while no one was
+          looking (replacing it with its approximate weight in silver
+          coins), Inky retrieves a black metal box that previously
+          served as a portable camp stove from their knapsack and
+          removes the lid. The inside of the box is filled with dry wood
+          chips mixed with a pine green powder, and Inky throws in the
+          wicks pulled from some of the scented candles that were pushed
+          into a heater flask to melt fully during the walk up the hotel
+          steps. Finally, Inky pours another vial of foul-smelling
+          liquid over the contents, opens the door just wide enough to
+          slide the metal box through to one side of the door a few
+          paces away.</p>
+          <p>A mildly sweet, cloying smoke emanates from the flameless
+          heat inside the box, which begin to fill the library hall with
+          a rapidly thickening cloud. It is also taking on an acrid and
+          slightly sooty edge. Near the door, Inky fans more of the
+          smoke in the direction of the cyberplasmic apparition with a
+          thin bound manuscript laying on the floor.</p>
+          </blockquote>
+          <p>Bread, Confidence, and you all don protective gear. You
+          push the camp stove through the door like an Olympic curler.
+          It glides across the library floor a respectable distance
+          considering the book debris and the lack of sweepers. Much
+          more quickly than one would think possible, the hall is filled
+          with a thick, sooty smoke. The Cyberplasm captain groans with
+          frustration as even the short distance between it and the
+          hotelier (and the crystal) becomes occluded in the smoke
+          screen. The hotelier wisely doesn’t make a sound as he
+          disappears from view.</p>
+          <p>Bread nudges you, grins, and gives you a thumbs up.</p>
+          <p>WHAT DO YOU DO</p>
+          <p><a
+          href="https://framalistes.org/sympa/arc/tildepals/2022-12/msg00234.html">www</a></p>
+        ]]>
+      </description>
+    </item>
     <item>
       <title>43</title>
       <author>dozens@tilde.team (dozens)</author>
@@ -460,6 +577,105 @@
         ]]>
       </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>
       <title>39</title>
       <author>dozens@tilde.team (dozens)</author>
@@ -667,101 +883,96 @@
       </description>
     </item>
     <item>
-      <title>41</title>
+      <title>45</title>
       <author>dozens@tilde.team (dozens)</author>
-      <guid isPermaLink="false">41 - Wed, 14 Dec 2022 17:50:38
+      <guid isPermaLink="false">45 - Tue, 20 Dec 2022 10:15:23
 -0700</guid>
-      <pubDate>Wed, 14 Dec 2022 17:50:44 -0700</pubDate>
+      <pubDate>Thu, 22 Dec 2022 09:29:11 -0700</pubDate>
       <description>
         <![CDATA[
-          <h3 id="00041">00041</h3>
+          <h3 id="00045">00045</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>
+          <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>~</p>
+          <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 greets the toques in turn politely, then turns to the
-          second toque and says, “A little bit of bread and no
-          cheese.”</p>
+          <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>“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>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/msg00193.html">www</a></p>
+          href="https://framalistes.org/sympa/arc/tildepals/2022-12/msg00227.html">www</a></p>
         ]]>
       </description>
     </item>
@@ -967,100 +1178,6 @@ EXTREME CAUTION IMPERATIVE.</code></pre>
         ]]>
       </description>
     </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>38</title>
       <author>dozens@tilde.team (dozens)</author>
diff --git a/www/spoilers.html b/www/spoilers.html
index 56150d9..d36f8eb 100644
--- a/www/spoilers.html
+++ b/www/spoilers.html
@@ -318,6 +318,7 @@ of the Were-Hare</a></li>
 <li><a href="#00044" id="toc-00044">00044</a></li>
 <li><a href="#00045" id="toc-00045">00045</a></li>
 <li><a href="#00046" id="toc-00046">00046</a></li>
+<li><a href="#00047" id="toc-00047">00047</a></li>
 </ul></li>
 <li><a href="#bestiary" id="toc-bestiary">Bestiary</a></li>
 <li><a href="#geography" id="toc-geography">Geography</a></li>
@@ -330,10 +331,10 @@ id="toc-acknowledgements">Acknowledgements</a></li>
 </ul>
 </nav>
 <h2 id="stats">Stats</h2>
-<p>Total length: 44522 words / 190 minute read. (Mind you, that’s the
+<p>Total length: 45381 words / 193 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 165 messages posted over 162 days since the first
+<p>There have been 170 messages posted over 168 days since the first
 post on July 13, 2022 for a daily post rate of 1.01.</p>
 <h2 id="about">About</h2>
 <p>This is a game that me and the kids in the basement are playing over
@@ -366,8 +367,9 @@ he can slip by.</p>
 <ul>
 <li>Player: sinatra</li>
 <li>XP: 1</li>
-<li>Skills: Do Anything 1, Investigation 2, Illusions 2, Sneaking 2</li>
-<li>Equipment:</li>
+<li>Skills: Do Anything 1, Investigation 2, Illusions 2, Sneaking 2,
+Sysorcery 2, Stabbing 2</li>
+<li>Equipment: a bunch of STAG drones</li>
 </ul>
 <p>Paths:</p>
 <ul>
@@ -5159,6 +5161,99 @@ 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>
+<h3 id="00047">00047</h3>
+<blockquote>
+<p>Damn it! I should’ve left the little goblin in the balloon, this
+could get tricky..</p>
+<p>Time slows for just the briefest of moments while Alex calculates his
+next move. Looking at the position of the pirates he can probably yeet
+the middlemost one away from the group into the left most pirate. Best
+case this sends both of them sailing over the edge of the ship, worst
+case it just slightly knocks them off balance. In either event this
+gives me enough time to dart from cover and quickly dispatch the right
+most pirate with Uncle’s dagger. I’ve got to sever each connection point
+between the ecotplasm and the cybernetics, nothing quite as quick and
+easy as flesh and blood, but a quick slice to the left most armpit, and
+another to the right most leg right above the carotid artery should do
+it..</p>
+<p>Jumping immediately to action Alex casts
+<code>yeet.middle_cyberplasm()</code> sending the middle pirate into the
+left most pirate away from the hemogoblin while he dashes forward to
+take the third right most pirate by surprise. As he reaches the right
+most pirate he makes two quick slices, first at the leg, followed by a
+quick upper cut to the left arm.</p>
+</blockquote>
+<!--
+Alex rolls Do Anything 1 to yeet the cyberplasm
+3 = Things go poorly. Gain 1 xp.
+Spend 1 xp to pass and gain Sysorcery 2
+//-->
+<p>You channel some of the ambient environmental charge into your
+prepared incantation. It’s comforting sometimes to peer behind the veil
+and see the world through this lens. It’s so simple. The separation of
+self and other is an illusion: everything is just a table. The concept
+of time itself is simplified: coroutines prevent everything from
+happening all at once and create the illusion of concurrency. It’s all
+really quite elegant.</p>
+<p>Anyway so the hemogoblin sidles up next to the pirates at the
+railing. It’s not tall enough to see over the railing, and starts to
+kind of jump up and down, trying to catch a glimpse. The pirates look
+down at it in confusion just as the <code>yeet</code> happens, and they
+knock into each other. The leftmost one almost manages to regain its
+balance but then trips over the little blood gremlin and pitches over
+the railing. The middle pirate yelps as the startled hemogoblin darts
+between its legs to get out of the way. The pirate stumbles and then
+slips in a small puddle of blood. Its feet shoot from beneath it and it
+too tips over the railing.</p>
+<!--
+Alex rolls Do Anything 1 to sever connections
+1 = Things go poorly. Gain 1 xp.
+Spend 1 xp to pass and gain Stabbing 2
+//-->
+<p>The hemogoblin dashes right into the waiting arms of the rightmost
+Cyberplasm. “Gotcha, you little … ugh! What …” The pirate is starting to
+regret snatching up the little furball, which is defensively gushing
+blood all over it, when you make your first slice into its left armpit.
+Half its cybernetics go offline. One arm goes limp and it drops the
+hemogoblin, which scurries around and hides behind you. The pirate turns
+toward you, now full of regrets, and you stab into its right leg,
+knocking its tech completely offline and dispersing the ghostly
+energies.</p>
+<p>As far as you can tell, the ship is now free of Cyberplasms.</p>
+<p>The hemogoblin thrusts its tiny fists in the air and cheers.</p>
+<blockquote>
+<p>Inky shakes out several large and very fine kerchiefs, handing two
+each to the guides and gestures for them to cover their noses and mouths
+with them while they perform the action themselves to demonstrate.</p>
+<p>Donning a pair of skydiving goggles snatched from one of the souvenir
+stalls at the gondola station while no one was looking (replacing it
+with its approximate weight in silver coins), Inky retrieves a black
+metal box that previously served as a portable camp stove from their
+knapsack and removes the lid. The inside of the box is filled with dry
+wood chips mixed with a pine green powder, and Inky throws in the wicks
+pulled from some of the scented candles that were pushed into a heater
+flask to melt fully during the walk up the hotel steps. Finally, Inky
+pours another vial of foul-smelling liquid over the contents, opens the
+door just wide enough to slide the metal box through to one side of the
+door a few paces away.</p>
+<p>A mildly sweet, cloying smoke emanates from the flameless heat inside
+the box, which begin to fill the library hall with a rapidly thickening
+cloud. It is also taking on an acrid and slightly sooty edge. Near the
+door, Inky fans more of the smoke in the direction of the cyberplasmic
+apparition with a thin bound manuscript laying on the floor.</p>
+</blockquote>
+<p>Bread, Confidence, and you all don protective gear. You push the camp
+stove through the door like an Olympic curler. It glides across the
+library floor a respectable distance considering the book debris and the
+lack of sweepers. Much more quickly than one would think possible, the
+hall is filled with a thick, sooty smoke. The Cyberplasm captain groans
+with frustration as even the short distance between it and the hotelier
+(and the crystal) becomes occluded in the smoke screen. The hotelier
+wisely doesn’t make a sound as he disappears from view.</p>
+<p>Bread nudges you, grins, and gives you a thumbs up.</p>
+<p>WHAT DO YOU DO</p>
+<p><a
+href="https://framalistes.org/sympa/arc/tildepals/2022-12/msg00234.html">www</a></p>
 <h2 id="bestiary">Bestiary</h2>
 <p>Some of the creatures who inhabit the world of Basmentaria</p>
 <dt>