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“Prof, she was simply following orders. If anyone should understand that it's you.” He seems offended by the comparison. “Are you saying you'd expect me to do this-” He gestures to the disembodied head trapped within its jar. “-Simply because my commanding officer told me to? That I have no conscience at all?” You shake your head, holding your hands up placatingly. “No, Prof, I'm not. I am suggesting that most people have difficulty standing up to voices of authority though, and for Fulvia, judging by what I've seen of her and other AI, she's probably incapable of disobeying a direct order. As in, she cannot conceptualize disobedience. She was just as much a slave as you were.”

You can tell his determination is faltering, his stone arm dropping to his side and beginning to reseal itself. You press on with your argument. “Profectus, do you recall the spirit I made a pact with?” He seems momentarily caught off guard. “Yeah, of course I remember. The fuck does that have to do with this situation?” You question for a moment how you want to phrase what you're about to say. “It revealed to me a secret of the ancient past. It told me that the fall of the Rhynian Empire was caused by the gods themselves stepping down from on high to rain their vengeance upon the Rhynians. If that is not punishment enough for their crimes, nothing is. It was a thousand years ago, Profectus. You need to let go.”

He sighs, slumping against the wall and reaching up to rub his eyes with his good hand “It wasn't a thousand years for me, Mik. I woke up two weeks ago from a nap to find my memory was lost and the world had changed. Now seeing this, seeing the methods my own people resorted to all in the hopes of advancing the Empire slightly no matter the cost... I'd built up this image of the Empire as a instrument of peace. Bringing the world to heel so that together we all might prosper.”
(1/2)

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>>32389691

>You understand that having one's worldview shattered is troubling, you've experienced it yourself, but raging impotently at a dead empire solves nothing.
>They sacrificed the few for the good of the many, even if it wasn't pretty it was necessary.
>Everyone has to face reality eventually.
>Write-in

>>32389708
>You understand that having one's worldview shattered is troubling, you've experienced it yourself, but raging impotently at a dead empire solves nothing.

>Everyone has to face reality eventually.

>>32389708
>You understand that having one's worldview shattered is troubling, you've experienced it yourself, but raging impotently at a dead empire solves nothing.

>>32389708
>>You understand that having one's worldview shattered is troubling, you've experienced it yourself, but raging impotently at a dead empire solves nothing.
>>They sacrificed the few for the good of the many, even if it wasn't pretty it was necessary.
>>Everyone has to face reality eventually.

>>32389708
>They sacrificed the few for the good of the many, even if it wasn't pretty it was necessary.
>Everyone has to face reality eventually.

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Even cutting edge technology cannot determine whether Soma has a dick or a vagina.

>>32389729
>>32389715
>>32389743
>You understand

>>32389715
>>32389743
>>32389760
>Gotta face facts.

>>32389743
>>32389760
>Sacrifice had to be made.

Writin'

>>32389743
>>32389760
In what way was it necessary? I am all for scientific advancement, but this was something else entirely. Ethics are important.

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>>32389788
>could indicate European

>>32389806
>I am all for scientific advancement, but this was something else entirely. Ethics are important.
>>32389708
>They sacrificed the few for the good of the many,

>even if it wasn't pretty it was necessary.

>>32389708
>>You understand that having one's worldview shattered is troubling, you've experienced it yourself, but raging impotently at a dead empire solves nothing.
duh

Are people seriously trying to justify these Ryhnian experiments?

“Look, Prof. I understand that having your worldview shattered is traumatizing. It happened to me too. I'm an innocent man but they still pinned me down and branded me upon the cheek before tossing me out in the desert to die. Those people were my friends, some were even my family, but that meant nothing once the Shah delivered his ruling.” You crouch down in front of him, reaching out to rest a hand on his shoulder. “We all must face reality eventually, Profectus. Raging impotently at a dead empire will accomplish nothing.”

He rest his head against the metal wall he's slumped against, staring past you towards the ceiling rather than making eye contact. He seems ashamed. “You're right, I know you're right. It still doesn't make me feel any better. I'm still a monster.” You shake your head. “You are not the whole of Rhynian, Profectus. You are not the commander who approved this experiment nor are you the Vatis who designed it. You are not a monster.” He pushes himself up. He looks weary and defeated but there is some steel in his voice. “Let's grant this poor soul a merciful death and then get on with the journey. There is still either a bandit to kill or a bandit's corpse to desecrate.”

>Wait just a moment, you want to see if the disembodied head is at all cognizant. Allow it a chance to speak.
>You're glad he's seen reason. Destroy the head and then move on to investigate that maintenance lift.
>Tell him to wait here, you need to go check on Fulvia.
>Write-in

>Wait just a moment, you want to see if the disembodied head is at all cognizant. Allow it a chance to speak.

unlikely but we should check
and like that one anon said, we might be able to regenerate him if we are at grandmaster level

>>32389944
>Wait just a moment, you want to see if the disembodied head is at all cognizant. Allow it a chance to speak.

>Wait just a moment, you want to see if the disembodied head is at all cognizant. Allow it a chance to speak.

>>32389944
>Wait just a moment, you want to see if the disembodied head is at all cognizant.

>>32389944
>>You're glad he's seen reason. Destroy the head and then move on to investigate that maintenance lift.

>>32389944
>Wait just a moment, you want to see if the disembodied head is at all cognizant. Allow it a chance to speak.

He should at the least get a chance to speak his last words before we presumably put him out of his misery.

>Wait a moment, see if it's cognizant at all.
Writin'

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>>32389944
I'd just like to say that I love you for running this late.

>>32390105
Man I have been seeing that comic used for reactions like a lot today. Weird.

“Wait just a moment, I'd like to see if the head is at all cognizant. After all, every man deserves to speak his last words.” Profectus seems hesitant. “I don't know, Mik. I... really don't want to know what that thing has to say. It's been trapped, tortured for a thousand years. How do we know it won't simply beg for death?” You shrug your shoulders. “We don't, but consider the alternative. What if it's still capable of independent thought after so long as nothing but a head?” He shakes his head but in the end relents. “Alright, but don't say I didn't warn you.”

You approach the head, leaning towards the glass and trying to find some way to open the jar without breaking it. Unfortunately it looks like they really sealed this thing off as well as they could. The glass is melted and seemingly fused to the metal. You're left with no other recourse but to smash the glass in order to reach the head within. “Profectus, do you still have my crowbar?” You hear him rifling through his pack before responding. “I do, be careful.” He says while handing you the steel bar.

You carefully control your swing, and with your first strike merely crack the glass. You're second swing breaks through the container and lets in a rush of air to what had apparently been an utter vacuum. No wonder they needed to keep him supplied with oxygen. The gurgling is much louder now that the glass has been broken, it's fairly clear he's screaming despite his mouth being full of liquid. You clear away the rest of the glass while the head stares ahead dispassionately, not really seeing at all.

Once the glass has been cleared away you hesitantly reach forward and begin trying to disassemble the harness sealing the tube over his mouth and nose. It takes some doing, but eventually you manage it. As you slowly remove the tube from his mouth a reddish-brown liquid spills forth, along with the hiss of air from two holes that would've been positioned over his nostrils.
(1/2)

He's moving his mouth, shouting incoherently at first as the liquid drains out of his mouth. Only slowly does what he's saying become understandable. At the top of his lungs he screeches. “Warning! Warning! Process incomplete! Please re-engage activation switch! Warning! Warning! Process incomplete! Please re-engage-”

>Just put him out of his misery.
>Write-in

>>32390214
>Just put him out of his misery.
Man, I'm listening to some really happy music right now and it's just totally clashing with this quest right now.

>>32390214
>>Just put him out of his misery.

What's the Samjan equivalent of "Rest in Piece?"

>>32390214
>Just put him out of his misery.

>>32390232
Peace to the departed soul.

That phrase is fairly prevalent around the globe, with little difference in meaning between versions.

we more or less screwed if we need the chamber now.

>Put him out of his misery.

>>32390214
>>Just put him out of his misery.

"Peace to the departed soul."

>>32390214
>>Just put him out of his misery.
Really, just kill it already

>>32390270
The AI wasn't actually that useful. We did all the work save figuring out how to turn it on.

>>32390270
Only thing he did was to count down and that wasn't really helpful at all. Though he might have been controlling some things in the background regarding the machines work but i doubt it.

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In your native tongue you remark somberly “Peace to the departed soul.” while placing your palm to his forehead. You channel fire magic into your armor's control panel and in but a few seconds a jet of flame has reduced the head to a burnt out husk. The brain activity monitor slams to zero, after a thousand years of torment you can't help but hope he's finally found peace. With the scent of burning flesh filling the air and the sound of Profectus quietly praying, you turn and leave the chamber.

You brush past your party, Chryssa and Darzi speaking with Fulvia in low tones. Profectus trails behind you, and after a time the rest of the party falls in behind you as well. You walk in uncomfortable silence to the intersection which led you to this abomination. They likely wish to avoid sparking another argument between Profectus and Fulvia, though you doubt that's a concern. He'll probably apologize for lashing out later if your guess is correct.

You take the right path this time, towards the Maintenance Lift. The concept a shortcut to the bottom of the mine is tantalizing, to say the last. You wonder if it will take you all the way to the bottom or if you'll be forced to get off and hike the last few hundred levels. You also wonder absentmindedly what sort of horrors might infest the maintenance tunnels further down, or even the elevator shaft itself.

After a few hundred feet the walls of the hallway widens out into a large room, holes in the ceiling and floor allowing a diagonal rail to pass through the room. No lift is present, but you see a small panel with both an up and down button. You also note an array of crates stacked against the center of the room, a strange symbol stamped on their side. You can't help but wonder what might be contained within.

>Have Fulvia call the lift while you pop open those crates.
>Just have Fulvia call the lift. You're just about done with surprises for this dungeon dive.
>Write-in

>>32390437
>>Have Fulvia call the lift while you pop open those crates

>>32390437
>Have Fulvia call the lift while you pop open those crates.

Rolled 2, 2, 9 = 13

>32390437
>Have Fulvia call the lift while you pop open those crates.

Here's hoping there's some materials to purify Fulvia's core. Also, dice, because there haven't been any for a long time.

>strange symbol
yeah nah

keys put them into our cloak and open them later in a safe open place at a distance.
This could be toxic waste for all we know

>>32390437
>Have Fulvia call the lift while you pop open those crates.
There is no way we would see crates and not open them. Well, maybe if they were covered in skulls and such we could think about it for a moment and examine them before opening them anyways.

>Pop dose crates.
Writin'

>>32390482
or delirium shipment

but since banished players are fucking retards and can't help but choose the mystery option we all know we'll end up song something without thinking for a second about safety

>>32390502
It's more because its the IC thing to do.

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>>32390502

>>32390502
>lets go dungeon exploring without opening the crates and chests.

“Fulvia, go call the lift. I'm going to investigate those crates.” She remarks with clear concern in her voice. “That symbol marks it as toxic to life. There is no telling what it might contain but it will not be good.” You were already halfway to the crates when she explained it to you. Shouldn't your implanted knowledge have informed you of such a detail? Perhaps the symbol was only a recent creation, or limited to this facility.

You approach the crates cautiously, but your armor's hazmat function does not activate. Perhaps it is not delirium, or perhaps it is and the crate is simply well shielded to prevent it's escape. As a precaution you activate your magic sight and focus your attention in the direction of the crates, but you don't see the distinctive bile yellow glow that delirium corruption produces.

By this point Fulvia and your companions have gathered around the call button for the lift. You can see the chains that operate the lift churning along through the gaps in the steel plating that lines the elevator shaft. If you opened these crates and it turned out to actually be something just horribly toxic, your companions would likely have enough time to escape.

>Open it anyway, despite Fulvia's warning. If it's not Delirium you want to know what it is.
>Don't open it, it's not worth the risk and it's not going to be anything good.
>Write-in

>>32390608
>>Open it anyway, despite Fulvia's warning. If it's not Delirium you want to know what it is.
Active the hazmat function anyway.

>>32390608
> dont open it, its not worth the risk and its not going to be anything good

>>32390608
Throw it in the cloak

>>32390608
>Open it anyway, despite Fulvia's warning. If it's not Delirium you want to know what it is.

>>32390608
>Don't open it, it's not worth the risk and it's not going to be anything good.

>Don't open it, it's not worth the risk and it's not going to be anything good.

>>32390617
This

>>32390608
>>Open it anyway, despite Fulvia's warning. If it's not Delirium you want to know what it is.

>>32390617
This, open it later

>>32390608
>Don't open it, it's not worth the risk and it's not going to be anything good.


Guys...are you kidding me? We're in the equivalent of a Russian neural experimentation facility, and you want to open their hazardous waste bin.

>>32390608
Just pu it in the cloak to deal with later.

no risk and we can deal with it when we're better prepared

>>32390617
That seems lie a decent way to proceed.

>>32390621
>>32390620
>>32390616
>>32390630
>Don't open it.

>>32390618
>>32390623
>>32390613
>Open it.

>>32390622
>>32390617
>>32390629
>>32390635
>>32390633
>Stuff it in the cloak.

Writin'

>>32390630
no need to samefag.

Don't open it

>>32390617
second

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>>32390639
I resent your assertions, and would like to present evidence to the contrary.

>>32390608
>>Don't open it, it's not worth the risk and it's not going to be anything good.

>>32390651
>implying a two year old couldn't shop that in a second and a half

>>32390630

like I said moments before, a good deal banished players are some of the worst retards I've seen in quests.

What if we didn't have fulvia? We'd be slurping down whatever is in there just to see how it tastes.
Then they'd defend their idiocy with "hurr durr it's in character, Mik is INSANE LOL XD"

>>32390715
your still but hurt huh.

>>32390715
>"hurr durr it's in character, Mik is INSANE LOL XD"
fuck off

You glance from your companions and then back to the crate once more. You take a moment to think about the situation, and then determine that stuffing the crates into your cloak to deal with later is probably the best solution. You can decide to either properly dispose of them somewhere, in more colloquial terms dump them in a ditch, or sell them to a shady merchant to do who knows what with, or even open them yourself for your own nefarious purposes. No matter what you win. With that in mind you whip off your cloak and begin to force the crates inside. It doesn't take you long to fit everything in there.
>Loot Gained: 4x Hazardous Materials Shipments!

Once you're done shoving suspicious crates into your cloak you don the garment once more and rejoin your companions in waiting for the lift. You end up waiting for quite some time, largely in silence too, but finally you see the lift slowly rising up from the depths below. You're pleased to see it is entirely devoid of monsters. “So how far do you think this will take us, Fulvia?” She thinks for a moment. “I would posit that there are checkpoints set up every fifty levels or so for security purposes, however the number of levels between checkpoints may increase the further down we go. If I had to guess I'd say the lowest level we could reach is level eight-thousand four-hundred. That is merely a guess.”

>Ride this lift as low as it can go.
>Ride this lift to level 100, then ride the main lift from level 103 to the bottom.
>Write-in

>>32390744
>Ride this lift to level 100, then ride the main lift from level 103 to the bottom.
Baldev and his party rode the main lift, thus it will be easier to track them if we ride the main lift.

>>32390744
>Ride this lift as low as it can go.

>>32390744
>>Ride this lift to level 100, then ride the main lift from level 103 to the bottom.

>>32390744
>>Ride this lift to level 100, then ride the main lift from level 103 to the bottom.

Off the main man, then ditch this pit of horrors.

>>32390744
>>Ride this lift as low as it can go.

>>32390744
>>Ride this lift to level 100, then ride the main lift from level 103 to the bottom.
The main lift works

>>32390744
>>Ride this lift to level 100, then ride the main lift from level 103 to the bottom.
What if this one stops a thousand levels above the bottom? Do we want to traverse through levels that deep looking for our way down? I don't.

>>32390744
Can we ride the elevator back up?

>>32390744
>Ride this lift to level 100, then ride the main lift from level 103 to the bottom.

>>32390744
>>Ride this lift to level 100, then ride the main lift from level 103 to the bottom.
Let's not get stuck at level 8 thousand

>>32390790
>>32390780
>>32390778
>>32390760
>>32390759
>>32390751
>>32390800
>Level 100, then main lift.

>>32390754
>>32390762
>How low, can you go. How low, can you go.

Writin'. Oh fuck it's 5 AM. Seriously, where the fuck did the time go. I'll probably end this session as you reach the main lift.

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>>32390715

>>32390805
But seriously, you're fucking awesome for running this late Soma.

Best androgynous QM ever

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>>32390805
heh.
>>32390825
Very true.

>>32390813
>>32390742
>>32390736

and you people are still fucking retards and you should be called out at every single opportunity lest you think otherwise. Maybe one day you'll get it through your thick skulls into your peanut sized brains.

“Lets just drop down to level 100 then, after that we'll walk the last three levels to the main lift and then descend the rest of the way on that.” Fulvia remarks. “Recall that Baldev departed the lift on level seven-thousand two-hundred eighty-six. He was likely attempting to simply reach the bottom, however the lift got stuck on that level for some reason and forced him to proceed the rest of the way on foot.”

You'd completely forgotten about that little tidbit. Fuck. There are more than a thousand levels between Baldev and the bottom of the mine. There's no way he could make that climb. Why was he so desperate to reach the bottom of this mine and retrieve a key his lieutenants or fellow commanders had copies of? He couldn't know that they were dead and that you had stolen their copies of the key. You're positive the other bandit vatis weren't wearing communication brooches. It seems to you as though he consigned himself to certain death almost on a whim, or simply because Darzi hurt his pride.

Not to mention, why now? He's had three months to do this and yet he only now begins the expedition. Why not take the other two vatis with him? Why not take the whole damned bandit band down there? Was he simply overconfident, or does he know something you don't?

You find yourself lost contemplating these questions as the lift descends the fifty levels between you and level one hundred. Did he perhaps intend to stab the other two Vatis in the back and run off with all the loot? Was there something at the bottom of the mine shaft he knew about but the others didn't, and finding the key merely provided him a convenient excuse to go and investigate it? Some paranoid part of you wonders if perhaps that bandit you interrogated was merely leading you on, if Baldev hasn't actually run off days ago and the bandit just expected you to die down here.
(1/2)

Before your mind can carry you any further down that rabbit hole, you arrive at the landing for level one hundred. This level is devoid of any strange marked crates or really much of anything. You step off of the lift and make your way towards the exit, which you note is on the opposite side of the room compared to the landing above it. It doesn't take long for you to find yourself stumbling out into the brightly lit main hallway of a Rhynian checkpoint almost identical to the one above it, save for the fact this one lacks a purification chamber.

You're relieved that, over the course of descending from level 100 to level 103, you encountered only two monsters. They were small, dog-like creatures with long horns on their heads, sharp teeth, and vaguely wing-like appendages tipped in spikes on their back. You and your party made short work of them, hopefully putting the fear of the Gods in any beings which may have been watching. You once more find yourself falling in line behind Chrys as she leads you to the lift, and as you step into the main antechamber that surrounds the lift you're relieved to see that it hasn't gone anywhere.

That is, until you see it's soaked in blood and there is a severed hand sitting abandoned in the corner.

>AAAAND END SESSION!
>Goodnight everybody!

>>32390931
How's being a booty blasted 12 year old treating you?

Seriously, I voted to leave that shit alone, and even I can tell the only person who's being retarded here is you.

>>32390952
>>32390942
These are me. Lost my trip.

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>>32390952
G'night! Thanks for the late run, you're an awesome QM.

http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive.html?tags=Banished%20Quest
Archived here.

>>32390942
Why are we going after this guy again?

>>32390952
Thanks for running a 14 hour continuous session! Get some sleep, Soma!

>>32390984
more like why did we leave the safety and speed of the maintenance shaft.

>>32390952
Well then...

Thanks for the run Soma. This will likely be a very interesting session next time .

>>32390952
Thanks for the great run Soma.

>>32390984
I partly agree with you, I even suggested a few times that we just leave this Balder be and leave this facility. But i kinda want to continue too, right now. I wonder what we'll find further down, I am also curious about this Balder guy (and his gear).

To answer your question, we are mostly going after him for adventure. Our main objective is, more than finding Baldev; searching, discovering and looting this hell hole.