>>992966
Welcome to Shadowrun Occultist Quest!

>What is Shadowrun?

Shadowrun is an RPG series set in the world of 2072, 60 years after "The Awakening", the return of magic, spirits, and fantasy races into the world. Metahumanity now lives in a world of advanced technology and magic, where megacorporations are above the laws of nations and one-third of all humanity have no legal rights. Crime and corruption run amok, and mercenary operatives known as "shadowrunners" ply their services to both the criminal underworld, and to the very corporations that officially fight against them.

>How are success and failure determined?

A number of d6's are rolled equal to the relevant attribute+the relevant skill. 5's and 6's are successes, and the dice are rolled against a target threshold (1 for something trivial; 6 for a highly difficult /intricate task. 10 for something next-to-impossible). Each 6 rolled results in one additional die being rolled in the pool. Results are as follows:

Target number of successes is met: the action is a success.

Target number of successes is not met: the action is a failure.

Target number of successes is met, but more 1's are rolled than any other number in the pool: a "glitch" occurs: a minor outside complication arises that prevents success.

Target number of successes is not met and more 1's are rolled than any other number: critical glitch. Your actions fail in a way that is potentially disastrous for your long-term goals or your health.

You will have 2 points of Edge each "session" that you can spend to tip the scales in your favor. When requesting an action, you may specify that you want to spend a point of Edge to add "luck" or "effort" to a roll. "Luck" will add five dice to the roll's pool (great for situations where Redd is forced to work out of his depth). "Effort" will re-roll all failed dice on a roll if it does not meet the threshold, glitches, or critically glitches (the point will be refunded if none of these happen). This is good when you are playing to Redd's strengths, but want to make sure you don't botch something.

Good luck, and remember the fundamentals of shadowrunning:

>Shoot straight!

>Conserve ammo!

>Never make a deal with a dragon!

>>992970
Cast:

>Rhun "Hela'R Dryw" map Gaelwynn
A short, toned, and angry Welshwoman who serves as your crew's close-combat expert and recon gal. Has enough chrome and bioware in her body that she could probably tank a fall from the 10th floor of a skyraker into an acid vat. Against all odds, holds a Master's degree in Welsh History. Likes: Parkour, sex, narcotics, alcohol, swordfighting, Welsh autonomy from the UK, Lofwyr (The CEO of Saeder-Krupp), Saeder-Krupp. Dislikes: The English, the Irish, the Scottish, Tir Elves, "wankers", people who don't like Lofwyr or Saeder-Krupp. Is trying to quit Bliss.

>Rex Stirling
A Chicago native and former cleaner for Saeder-Krupp, now demoted to shadowrunning due to a series of unwise decisions that started with a decision to do a hit-and-run on the leader of a major street gang. A veteran of the Sinai Shadow Operations of 2065. Consummate professional (apart from the hit-and-run) and a hard, hard man. Likes: clean runs, gray suits, the Chicago Shatterers Urban Brawl team, and "Pacey Rae", his Gauss rifle. Dislikes: Messy runs, being double-crossed, "wizard bullshit". Has some unresolved trauma from the Sinai.

>Sudo Morphus/"N0b0dy"

The crew's decker. Used to just be an IT nerd, until S-K got leverage on him for redirecting spam-mail from one of their subsidiaries back to said subsidiary's servers. You have the closest relationship to him our of anyone on the team. Suffers from Sudden Unexplained Resurgent Genetic Expression (SURGE), which gives him oily, bright-green scales instead of skin, along with a tail. Likes: MMO gaming, decking, the occult, "me time", you (in a platonic way). Dislikes: violence, being overworked, Lance, himself. Mildly depressed.

>Tizona Cortez

An ex-pirate technically-nun, Tizona Cortez is your group's mage. She channels the power of God to smite your enemies and bring down the heretic government of Aztlan (formerly Mexico). Lives apart from the rest of the crew, in a convent in Charlotte. Likes: Jesus, helping the unfortunate, low-riders, sangria, Marlboros, fire, killing Aztlanti. Dislikes: heresy, blasphemy, apostasy, hangovers, Aztechnology, The Aztlanti, being ordered to spare the Aztlanti.

>"Barbie"/Lenore Lancester
Not a part of your crew, but a close associate. A total ditz when it comes to anything but fashion, smoothies, and calculating the thousands of variables needed to make the perfect sniper shot. Over 40 confirmed kills. Color-coordinates her duffel bags with her outfit. Suprisingly nice for a professional sniper. Does her work to help out her large family. Likes: fashion magazines, shopping, smoothies, small animals, her BFF Rhun, killing "bad guys", you. Dislikes: white after labor day, socks and sandals, unnecessary violence, reading. Your girlfriend.

>"Black Forest Bogeys":
A strange, secretive race of protosapients who live in the Bavarian Alps. Tall, thin, and with skull-like facial markings, they are stealthy, curious, and dangerous.

>>992986
Attributes:
>Body 3
>Strength 3
>Agility 3
>Reaction 3
>Logic 6
>Willpower 6
>Intuition 4
>Charisma 6

Skills:
>Magic 3
>Computer 7
>Academic Knowledge: History 7
>Academic Knowledge: England 1
>Artisan 1
>Leadership 2
>Interest Knowledge: Conspiracy Theories 2
>Language: English (native speaker)
>Language: Mandarin 2
>Language: Japanese 2
>Chemistry 4
>Etiquette 7
>Software 3
>Academic Knowledge: Magical Theory 6
>Academic Knowledge: Biology 5
>Language: Spanish 2
>Academic Knowledge: Ancient Languages 7
>Academic Knowledge: Philosophy 6
>Academic Knowledge: Religion 7
>Instruction 2
>Professional Knowledge: Wondertainment Industries 3
>Con 1
>Negotiation 2
>Professional Knowledge: Business Administration 6
>Enchanting Skill Group 1
>Arcana 2
>Assensing 2
>Blades 2 (NEW)
>First Aid 1
>Survival 1
>Professional Knowledge: Small-Group Tactics 3 (NEW)
>Street Knowledge: Magical Theory 3 (NEW)
>Academic Knowledge: Literature 3
>Alchemy 4 (Upgraded!)
>Pistol 1
>Pilot: Ground Vehicle 2
>Sneaking 3
>German 2 (New!)
Modifiers:
>Scarred: -1 on non-Intimidation Charisma tests, +1 on Intimidation tests.
>Blurry vision: -1 on Perception tests and Firearms tests on shooting someone more than 10 meters away.
>Social Stress (Gangs, Personal Intimacy): -2 on all Charisma-based tests when dealing with gangers or in a situation that demands emotional honesty or vulnerability with someone close to you.

>>992990
Synopsis of previous thread, found here:
>>970043

Well, the good news is you managed to stop that maniac Lance from carrying out some kind of terrorist attack on a local Urban Brawl game. The bad news is that Lance got away with it and is making BTLs that can make other people go crazy in the same way he did. Great. On the other hand, you feel like you and Barbie have really bonded AND you've managed to track down a dream-observatory in Bavaria! You and Rhun were hiking to it when you came across a badly-mauled hunter; one who had been attacked by something that wasn't a bear, given that bears can't draw pictograms. The culprits, you discovered, were the creepy-as-shit "Black Forest Bogeys" (naming tentative pending further scientific study), a hitherto-unknown species of protosapients (AKA near-human-intelligence creatures) who have been stealing people's food and trinkets. You aren't sure why they attacked the hunters yet, but something about them fascinates you...

Meanwhile, your dreams have gotten worse. Last night you had one where you occupied the body of a professor at Miskatonic U in Massachusetts, who was apparently in some kind of cult. And you just fell asleep when you woke up in... this scenario: >>992970

>>993040
Shit: THIS scenario: >>992966

Head into the cave

Black Forest Beastmen is a better name.

>>992966
>>Turn around and head into the cave

>>993105
>>993287

You turn around and see that the cave has been excavated. A sturdy metal door fitted with a commfeed now stands outside of it, with a drone-manned machine gun right nearby. A military vehicle is parked outside.

>Call for someone

>Try to get commlink reception

>Start walking back towards the outpost

>Try to hail someone on the door comms.

>Examine the military vehicle.

>Write-In

>>993395
>>Try to hail someone on the door comms.

>>993395
Use the comm the same as we do every day, as if it were as natural an act as breathing.

>>993395
>Try to get commlink reception
Looks like this is a dream of the future.

Any insignia on the vehicle to identify the military?

File: ADL_2072.jpg (1.57 MB, 2565x3628)

1.57 MB JPG

>>993452
>>993404
>>993496

You flip open your commlink and request attempt to raise anyone on the other side of the door. All you get is a canned response from the door in German:

"We are very sorry, but AGS Shelter 3 is at maximum possible occupancy. If there are any vehicles remaining outside, please use these to seek shelter elsewhere. All Allied German State shelters are located on the on-board map, which should be accurate within tolerances for the next year. Good luck, citizen!"

Other than them, no commlink signal exists out here.

You turn to the vehicle. It has the logo of the AGS armed forces stamped on the hood. The keys are in the ignition. When you turn it on, a map pulls up on the dashboard holoscreen showing a map of the AGS. Several large red dots appear on the map. One of them is in Hanover, another is where you are, a third is in Essen, and the last is in Frankfurt. Several areas, including Berlin and the Black Forest Republic, are highlighted in a toxic dark shades, with "BREACH ZONE" written on them. They are surrounded by lighter shades, with "EXCLUSION ZONE" written on them.

>Drive to (Location: Map of Germany enclosed within for reference, edited map with markups soon, but for now whether an area is in a BREACH ZONE or EXCLUSION ZONE available on request. Destinations that readily occur in your mind are the outpost and one of the three other SHELTERS)

>Explore the surrounding forest

>Write-in

>>993620
(Reference guide to AGS countries. Apologies, it is in German: http://shadowiki.de/Allianz_Deutscher_L%C3%A4nder#Die_Allianzl.C3.A4nder_der_ADL )

>>993620
>Write-in
Check our features in the rear-view mirror; is it us, or are we piloting a different body in the Yith fashion?

Then drive to the nearest town; perhaps there are some terminals we can access that will have information on what happened, as well as the current year.

Drive to one of the exclusion zones. See just what is going on here.

File: ADL_2100.jpg (2.28 MB, 2565x3628)

2.28 MB JPG

>>993657
You look at yourself in the rear-view mirror: yep, that's definitely you.

(Updated map enclosed. Apologies for it looking like a toddler doodled on it: I am a spaz.)

>>993657
This guy has the right idea

File: destroyed arcology.jpg (111 KB, 1024x768)

111 KB JPG

>>993816
>>993657

You start up the car and start driving down the dirt road leading up to the clearing.

The forest is fog-shrouded, and the trees tower above you like dark sentinels. The atmosphere is dark, and oppressive.

As you roll out of the forest, it begins to rain, and the fog clears. The road is cracked and neglected ahead. You manage to wind through back onto the highway and start heading towards Munchen.

8 miles outside of Munchen's sprawl, and you hit a roadblock. Cars are piled up on the freeway, blocking any practical passage. In the distance, you can see a hint why.

Munchen lies in ruins. Its high skyscrapers crumbling, its arcologies dashed.

>Try and proceed on foot.

>Find/make a way around.

>Head back.

>Try to wake up!

>Write-In

>>993947
Go on foot

>>993947
>Write-In
Check the map, see if there's another, smaller town or city outside of Munchen.
I'd rather not try to brave whatever paracritters have made the arco their home.

Staying up late for the dream sequence!

For real this time.

>>993947
>Find/make a way around.
Gotta find something.

Go on foot!

>>994085
>>993971
You get out of the vehicle and prepare to head in on foot. Before you leave the car, though, it occurs to you to check in the back for supplies. You find a gun labeled an "Onotari Executioner", some kind of carbine. You load up and head out.

After two hours of grueling walking, you manage to find an emergency ladder that isn't rusted to ruin and climb down onto street level.

The streets are deserted. You see the occasional rat scurry around the corner or pigeon take flight, but otherwise there is no life to be seen. Ugly, blotchy rainclouds form overhead, with a repulsive... greenish?... tinge to them.

It begins to rain and the impact of each drop makes the horrid hissing noise of an acid. As it hits your skin, you can feel it eating away at your epidermis. You know that you have to find cover, quickly!

An abandoned... former department store of some kind and an apartment complex offer the most obvious shelters. However, there is also a car nearby that has its roof intact, AND a manhole that has had its bolts pulled off and its cover left slightly ajar.

>Take shelter in the store.

>Take shelter in the apartments

>Take shelter in the car

>Take shelter in the sewer

>Write-In

>>994161
>Take shelter in the apartments

>>994161
>>Take shelter in the apartment

>>994181
>>994256
You rush to the complex's door and almost batter it down with the force of your entry.

As you desperately grab at the cushion of a deteriorating lobby couch to soak up the acid, the stench of blood, viscera, and shit assaults your nostrils. There is something freshly-dead nearby.

You hear a clattering, clanking noise coming up from the stairwell at the end of the apartment hallway, and the sound of a voice garbled by echoes.

>Call out

>Hide

>Get ready to ambush

>Write-In

>>994283
>Call out

>>994283
>Hide
I ain't about to fuck with that.

Since I'm pulling an all nighter, I will be taking questions till QM comes back! I'm Rhûn's player!

>>994508
First off, how long have you had this character, and how did you come up with their backstory?

How long have you guys been playing together? what about Shadowrun in general?

How often do you meet up to play, and are the stories we see on the thread related directly, tangentially, or not at all?

Did everyone in the group start at the same time, or did people come and go as time went on?

Would you recommend Shadowrun to someone who has only played D&D 5e?

>>994508
What's the story behind Rhun's loyalty to Lofwyr?
Is it to Saeder-Krupp and Lofwyr, or is she only loyal to Saeder-Krupp because it's owned by Lofwyr?

How does she view dragons in general?

>>994525
6 Months! Eh, some inspiration here, a lack of knowledge but an interest in Wales there and you have the trappings of a good PC. Helps I was playing some good SR reference games and like to use media as an inspiration without straight up plagiarizing.

We've been playing tabletop for 2 years now. We've known one another for 7 but because I've been geographically out of reach for 4... it's complicated. As for SR, we started in the summer this year and have run 1.5 campaigns (one was a test drive for this current one)

We meet regularly save for holidays when we're all in different towns.

We all started at the same time, save for Tizona, who has yet to find a good niche for their PC, and I feel will get some needed dev in time. Has been a blast to play with as the player has a wonderful sense of humor that's nice and playful in a setting like SR.

I would recommend it. I like d6 pools far more than d20 systems both for probability curve and the way they pool success/failure conditions and are super flexible for mods. They are also easier to modify to suit your needs should an area of gameplay not feel like you want it to.

>>994529
Long story! Will post soon.

Story Time!
>>994529
Rhûn Hir ap Maelgwyn (AKA Hela'r Dryw) owes her loyalty to mostly S-K but by extension sees it as loyalty to Lofwyr due to the company structure and stylings (fatherly and imperial). Her whole life basically owes its existence to S-K, her father worked for them also as a runner, and he used his years of work to call in a favor for them: giving his daughter a fake SIN for a normal(ish) kinda life. However it appears running just comes natural to his side of the family and she was part of the gang's new guard by high school and old guard by college, however had to leave for Denmark because of extenuating circumstances. She really only respects two Dragons: Lofwyr and The Red Dragon of Wales. Both of them for helping her in some rough patches here and there (Lofwyr much less directly if he can even be attributed to it) and the Red Dragon because they both share an affinity for medieval Welsh music and history. The Red Dragon also is an avid Jackpoint user and set her up with some good running while also in general being more personable than some of her other contacts.

Also to be fair, I don't wanna answer questions about the QM because that's his business, mine is Rhûn and Rhûn related accessories. Appreciate the questions though.

>>994298
>>994302
Sorry, passed out. Okay, tiebreaker vote between these two, first vote decides, etc.

>>994951
Ambush and call out.

>>994283
>>Get ready to ambush

>>994525
Hey, QM here, before I continue this story, let me answer the third question's second bit. The stories in this quest are currently directly related to the game. However, if things develop to the point where Redd has to strike out on his own (a real possibility based mostly on player input), the story will become more tangential, but still set in the same universe.

>>994981
>>995000
You slide behind one of the couches in the lobby and ready the Executioner, then call out "Hallo?" up the hallway.

"Hallo! Wir meinen Sie nicht schaden! Mein Name ist Eric, und mein Freund ist lang-reißt! Wir waren nur die Reinigung dieser Wohnung, wenn das Anomalie-Wetter begann. Welche Art von Handel üben Sie? Sind Sie neu in München, oder sind Sie einer der Grenzländer?" (Hello! We don't mean you any harm! I am Eric, and my friend here is Long-Fang! We were scavenging this apartment when the anomaly-weather started up! What kind of trade do you practice? Are you new in München, or are you a Borderlander?)


>I'm an alchemist, from the Alps!

>I'm an alchemist, from England!

>I'm an alchemist, and where I'm from is my business!

>Who I am and where I'm from aren't any of your business!

>I will say nothing until you show yourself!

>Write-In

>>995013
>I'm an alchemist, from England!

>>995013
>>I'm an alchemist, from England!

>>995022
>>995025
"Ich bin ein Alchemist, aus England! Ich verstecke mich seit den Anschlägen in den Alpen! Kann mich nicht mehr erinnern, ich glaube, ich habe Amnesie!" (I'm an alchemist, from England! I've been hiding out in the alps ever since the attacks! Can't remember much, I think I have amnesia!)

You hear a scratching noise come from up the hallway, almost drowned out by the approaching footsteps.

"Langzähne sagt, er tut leid für Sie, Fremder! Wenn Sie nach Nahrung und Wasser suchen, braucht mein Halten jemanden, der Schmerzmittel machen kann! Wir werden für Essen und Unterkunft handeln und vielleicht versuchen, die Lücken in Ihrem Gedächtnis zu beheben!" (Long-fangs says he feels sorry for you, stranger! If you are looking for food and water, my hold needs someone who can make painkillers! We will trade for food and lodgings, and maybe try to fix the gaps in your memory!)

The footsteps sound like they've reached the lobby. You raise your head up and take a look at the scavengers.

Eric is an unkempt elf (although he somehow managed to look like a fashion model even in a disheveled leather jacket and blood-stained pants: fucking elves) armed with a shotgun and carrying a loaded-down backpack. Standing next to him is... a Black Forest Bogey, dressed in an ill-fitting pair of camouflage pants and a pair of bandoliers, carrying a large backpack on its back, and wearing a necklace made of metal scraps and bells. The necklace makes clanking and jangling noises with each preternaturally quiet step.

>What the hell is that thing?

>What is your hold?

>What is going on here?

>Do you have anything to drink?

>Write-In

>>995081
>>What is your hold?

>>995081
>Write in
What year is it?

>>995081
>Write-In
What year is it?

>>995091
>>995092
>>995179

"Welches Jahr ist es? Und was ist dieser "Hold", von dem Sie sprechen?"
(What year is it? And what is this 'Hold' you speak of?)

"Sie müssen eine Menge im Kopf fehlen. Es ist das Jahr zweitausend und hundert, oder so. Und der Halt ist gut, wissen Sie? Wie eine Festung?" (You must be missing a lot in your head. It is the year two thousand and one hundred, or so. And the hold is, well, a hold, you know? Like a fortress?)

Long-Fangs pulls a tattered notebook and pen from his bandolier and starts writing.

"Wir leben im Stadttunnel-Flussplatz." (We live in city-tunnel-river-place) His writing is shaky and imprecise.

"Mein Freund meint die Kanalisation. Nachtkobolde wie er haben keine großen schriftlichen Vokabeln" ("My friend meant the sewers. Night-goblins tend to have small written vocabularies.")

Long-Fangs glares at Eric and starts scribbling furiously.

"Nicht wahr! Ich kenne fünfhundert Worte! Mehr als Rest der Familie!" (Not true! I know five hundred words! More than the rest of my family!)

>Night-goblins?

>Why are you living in the sewers?

>What happened to Munchen?

>Write-In

"I feel like, yes, I've seen these night goblins before. But I can't remember anything about them."

>>995196
>What happened to Munchen?

>>995196
>>What happened to Munchen?

>>995196
>"I feel like, yes, I've seen these night goblins before. But I can't remember anything about them."

>>995196
>>Why are you living in the sewers?
>>What happened to Munchen?

>>995257
>>995263
>>995278
>>995249
>>995285

"Ich fühle mich wie ich diese Nacht-Kobolde gesehen haben, aber ich kann nichts über sie zu erinnern." (I feel like I have seen these night-goblins before, but I cannot remember anything about them.)

Eric laughs.

"Hah Sie müssen etwas Glück gehabt haben, um einen dieser Kerle zu sehen! Niemand wusste, dass sie existierten, oh, vor etwa drei Jahren! Ich weiß, sie sehen erschreckend aus, aber sie sind wirklich schüchterne Leute. Bevorzugt nicht einmal gesehen oder gehört, die meiste Zeit. Anscheinend lebten sie in den Alpen, aber eine Art von Angriff durch Jäger spülte sie in die Tiefebene. Sie pflegten, Dinge einfach zu stehlen, als wir nicht sahen, versuchten und spooken uns weg von ihren Höhlen, diese Art der Sache. Wir dachten, sie waren nur eine Art von Lebewesen, aber es stellt sich heraus, sie sind etwa so schlau wie eine Person! Kann nicht sprechen, obwohl: ihre Stimmbänder sind für dieses schreiende Zischen geformt, nicht zum Reden. Sie leiden alleine, aber sie sind gut darin, sich zu bewegen, ohne gesehen oder gehört zu werden, so dass wir sie mit uns im Austausch für sie fangen, die gefährliche Bereiche aufspüren und für uns suchen." (Hah! you must have had some luck to see one of these guys! No one knew they existed until, oh, around three years ago! I know they look terrifying, but they're actually shy folk. Prefered not even to be seen or heard, most of the time. Apparently, they used to live in the Alps, but some kind of attack by hunters flushed them into the lowlands. They used to just steal things when we weren't looking, try and spook us away from their dens, that sort of thing. We used to think they were just some kind of critter, but it turns out they're about as smart as a person! Can't speak, though: their vocal cords are shaped for making this screaming hiss, not for talking. They were suffering on their own, but they're good at getting around without being seen or heard, so we let them live with us in exchange for them scavenging dangerous areas and scouting for us.)


"Okay ... was ist mit München passiert? Zuletzt wusste ich, es war eine funktionierende Stadt, und jetzt ..." (Okay... what happened to Munchen? Last I knew, it was a functioning city, and now...)

Eric's face goes hard. "Das große Unglück geschah." (The Great Calamity happened.)

File: darkness rising.jpg (202 KB, 1600x990)

202 KB JPG

>>995351
"Vor fünf Jahren ... etwas verändert in der Welt, wie das Erwachen, aber ... so viel schrecklicher. In der ganzen Welt, große Löcher am Himmel geöffnet, und Armeen von ... Dinge gießen durch. Wir übernehmen unsere Welt und machen sie zu IHNEN. Die Gesetze des Universums begannen, rückgängig zu werden, Monster erschienen überall, Menschen gingen wahnsinnig von den Hunderttausenden ... Die Korporationen und Regierungen versuchten, es zuerst zu stoppen, aber irgendwann flohen sie nur in Schutzhütten auf der ganzen Welt Die Eliten der Gesellschaft. Nun gehört die Welt zu ihnen, und wir - die Menschheit - leben nur in ihren Schatten.

Die Dinge in dieser Welt ... Ich habe gehört, einige sagen, sie sind nicht einmal verantwortlich. Sie machen die Welt zu ihren Meistern bereit." (Five years ago... something changed in the world, like the Awakening, but... so much more terrible. All over the world, great holes opened in the sky, and armies of... things came pouring through. Taking over our world, making it part of THEIRS. The laws of the universe began to come undone, monsters appeared everywhere, people went insane by the hundreds of thousands... The corporations and governments tried to stop it at first, but, eventually, they just fled into shelters across the world, taking society's elites with them. Now, the world belongs to THEM, and us- humanity- just live in their shadows.

The things in this world... I've heard some say they aren't even in charge. They are just making the world ready for their masters.)

You see Long-Fangs shivering as Eric says this.

>The Horrors...

>How many cities remain?

>Does England still stand?

>Write-In

>>995354
>The Horrors...
>Does England still stand?

The horrors... When did this start?

Seriously find out when this started. If this dream is prophetic

>>995372
" Y'i Ulthgru Shub Zo'ogab! Y'i Shogxeggruulth! Die Schrecken! Wann ist dies geschehen?" (<<The Mighty Timeless Kings! The Gods-of-the-Land-Beyond-Light-and-Thought>> The Horrors! When did this start?)

"Ich habe Ihnen gerade gesagt, vor fünf Jahren, vielleicht ein paar Jahre früher! Was macht es aus? Es ist passiert, jetzt wirst du uns helfen oder nicht?" (I just told you, five years ago, maybe a couple years earlier! What does it matter? It happened, now are you going to help us or not?)

>You start to feel a faint pulling on the edge of your consciousness, like before. Time is running short.

>These anomalies: what causes them?

>How many countries remain? Is anywhere safe?

> (Give into the flow)

>Write-In

>>995506
Ask about the cause and effect. Early warning signs.

Tell this dude straight up that we're from the past and looking for insight to stop this.

"What about the dragons?"

>>995506
>Write-in
Make the painkillers.

>>995522
>>995534
"Bitte, ich bin aus der Vergangenheit, du musst mir alles erzählen, irgendetwas, das könnte mir helfen, das zu stoppen, ich gehe bald wieder in der Zeit. Was waren die Zeichen?" (Please, I am from the past, you need to tell me anything, anything at all, that could help me stop this, I am going to go back in time soon. What were the signs?)

Eric stares at you.

"Wenn dies ein Witz ist, haben Sie eine echte kranke Zeit, es zu spielen ausgewählt, Sie Bastard. Ein letztes Mal: hilfst du meinem Volk oder nicht? Denn wenn du nicht dabei bist, werde ich dich hier mit den anderen Wahnsinnigen verrotten." (If this is a joke, you've picked a real sick time to play it, you bastard. One last time: will you help my people, or not? Because if you aren't going to, I'm leaving you to rot up here with the other madmen.)

>The pull is getting stronger.

>No, please, tell me what caused them!

>I'll help, okay, just tell me what I need to know? What caused this?

>(Give in to the flow)

>Write-In

>>995522
Why should he believe us and why would someone who wasn't a magical researcher by how he described the events even know about any early warning signs, even if there were any?

We already inadvertently caused the night goblins to be driven from their homes because we couldn't keep our goddamned mouth shut.

>>995610
>Write-in: Okay, what ingredients do you have available? I'll make what I can, and while I do, tell me about anything strange that happened from 2072 to 2095. What are the dragons and the Tir's doing now?

For fuck's sake, we're talking about a 23 year period from when we are to when the portals opened. That's too fucking long to be able to pinpoint anything unless the guy is a historian or some kind of arcane researcher. Don't ask him questions he won't be able to answer.

>>995631
Dude, we have about five more seconds before we get pulled back to our time. We aren't going to be making shit.

>>995761
Then maybe we shouldn't have wasted time asking him to repeat himself.

>>995807
I'm with you there. But that was these other idiots.

>>995809
I know you are but what am I?

>>995834
Look, if you can't even be bothered to read the QM's posts and actually read what our character is being told, why are you responding to story posts?
What made you think saying we're a time traveler would have any chance of working?

>>995838
Because we're in a prophetic dream and this is a fucking game. Calm down.

>>995631
"Alles klar, ich mache, was immer du willst, ich habe nur noch eine Frage: Was machen die Drachen und die Tirs jetzt?" (Alright, I will make whatever you want, I just have one more question: what are the dragons and the Tirs doing now?)

"Tir na nOg existiert noch, soweit ich weiß. Und für die Drachen, das alte Wyrm Lofwyr's lording es über uns alle in Essen. Seine Drachenritter fegen durch diese Gegend hin und her, um zu tauschen, aber sie stehlen alle guten Schrammen aus den Trümmern und verlassen uns mit den Fetzen! Nun, es klingt wie der Regen hat aufgehört, Herr Zeitreisender, also gehen wir jetzt." (Tir na nOg still exists, as far as I know. And as for the dragons, that old wyrm Lofwyr's lording it over us all in Essen. His dragon knights sweep through this area every once in a while to trade, but they steal all the good scavange from the ruins and leave us with the scraps! Now, it sounds like the rain has stopped, Mister time traveler, so we go now.)

He shoves a thumb at the door.

>The current is building even stronger now. You don't have much time left.

>Go with him.

>Resist

>Give in to the flow

>Write-In

>>995838
>>995840
Please, there's no reason to argue. I don't want this thread to devolve into a slapfight.

>>995877
>Go with him

>>995900
You get up and start following Eric out of the door and down the street. The rain has stopped and the sky has cleared up, although you can still smell the sharp chemical stench on the wind.

Eric starts talking to you from over his shoulder.

"Dort. Sehen Sie, Herr Zeitreisender? War das ... so ... hart ..." (There. See, Mister time traveler? Was that... so... hard...)

Eric's gun clatters to the ground as he turns around fully and stares at something behind you, above the level of your head.

>Judge Intentions: Naked terror and despair are plain to see in his eyes.

>The pressure history shunting your mind back to the present is building.

>"Are you okay, Eric?"

>Turn to see what he's looking at.

>Give into the flow

>Write-in

>>996028
>Turn to see what he's looking at.

>>995840
This is Shadowrun and Lovecraft we're dealing with.
Dreams are not safe, nor simply unidirectional.

>>996073
Come to think of it, Redd, myself, the QM, and at least one other anon are fairly familiar with Lovecraft's stories and the Cthulhu Mythos (we're mostly talking about Mountains of Madness, the Dream-Cycle, Dunwich Horror, Shadows over Innsmouth, Shadow out of Time, and the Nameless City).

Is there anyone who isn't familiar with those stories and the concepts within them?
Especially regarding the power and importance of dreams, and the ancient civilizations and libraries scattered across the world?

In the latter regard, both Lovecraftian and Shadowrun in origin.

>>996028
>Turn to see what he's looking at
Welp, everyone get ready for some more "insight"

>>996062
>>996180
You turn to see what Eric is looking at, and-

The thing is titanic in scope. Dozens of eyes, each the size of a jumbo jet, stare unblinkingly down at you from a skull the size of the entire city center. Tendrils that must, you realize, stretch kilometers trails behind it as it moves silently above. Lightning dances along its horrid length and clouds roil from its unholy flesh.

>2 Insight gained

>Composure: It takes all of your will to prevent yourself going completely mad at the mere sight of it, Terror and awe comprise your entire conscious mind at this moment.

>the current grows stronger still: it is getting very hard to hold on.

>GOD! IT IS GOD! Rhan! Rhan! Tur shubti gru Dim! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.

>DIEDIEDIEDIEDIE!!!!!!!!! (Empty clip at the sky)

>*Incoherent mumbling and whimpering*

>NO!... no... nonononononononononononono (start raising gun towards mouth)

>Go with the flow (requires Composure check)

>Write-In (requires Composure check)

File: Gru Tur Gog Ni Ni Qua Los(...).jpg (183 KB, 652x874)

183 KB JPG

>>996272
Shit, forgot pic.

QM Question, related to this post >>996152

Would you anons out there appreciate an infodump where I discuss the basic themes and give plot synopses of Lovecraft's plot-relevant stories (basically all the ones listed in Prime Runner Anon's post plus The Lurking Fear and The Mound)? Redd already knows this sort of information, but you guys could use it as well.

>>996272
>Write-In
"Yog-Sothoth knows the Gate, is the Gate, is the key and guardian of the Gate. Protect me from Their sight."
Don't actually try to invoke Yog-Sothoth yet, but use the incantation to help center us, reminding us that there are powers above the Horrors who can be invoked if absolutely necessary.
Turn around and drag the elf away to cover..

>>996294
Here's a link to all of the Lovecraft stories available for free online.
http://www.hplovecraft.com/writings/texts/

It contains all of the relevant stories we've been discussing.

>>996313
>Yog-Sothoth
Oh, wait, instead of going straight to one of the Outer Gods, let's use Nodens instead.
Elder god is probably going to be a little better to invoke.

>>996313
Maybe they are the horrors

>>996445
The Horrors would not be the Elder Gods. The most likely candidate are the Great Old Ones.

>>996313
>"Yog-Sothoth knows the Gate, is the Gate, is the key and guardian of the Gate. Protect me from Their sight."

>>996489
>>996272
Shit, wrong one

>>996489
>>996492
As I indicated, Nodens might be a better entity to invoke.

Nodens helped out Randolph Carter and will sometimes help humans because he hates the Great Old Ones and Nyarlathotep.

>>996321
>>996313
>>996489

Before this immense daemon, for the first time in your life, you offer up a nameless prayer to ANYTHING out there that was well-inclined towards yourself and mankind to prevent this sight from reducing your mind and soul to tatters. By some superhuman effort, you pull yourself together.

You quickly grab the comatose form of Eric and pull him into the nearest alley, out of the line of sight of the immense thing. As you fall against the wall for comfort, the world starts spinning and turning to mist, and you fall into blackness...

>>996515
You jerk awake in the campsite tent, soaked in your own sweat.

>Perception: For a brief instant, you feel a SQUIRMING sensation from the depths of your own head, but it quickly passes.

You stumble out of the tent into biting cold. You check your commlink's thermometer: it registers -10 Celsius.

You see Rhun turning toward you, lookout camera in hand.

"Oi, we got a whiteout on the horizon- oh gods, we need to dry you out in this weather!"

>What happened while I was asleep?

>Need to move camp inside cave...

>Rhun, we need to investigate the ruins NOW.

>Write-In

>>996531
>Need to move camp inside cave...
If it's a whiteout coming then we won't be able to make it back to the cabin, and we need to get into the cave where we'll be protected from the weather. Especially since we lost our sleeping bag and we're soaking wet.

>>996531
>Need to move camp inside cave...
>What happened while I was asleep?

>>996547
>>996615

"Need to move camp inside cave..." you mumble through chattering teeth.

"Are you mad? I don't intend to get mired in a cave in a blizzard and starve. And for all the importance the site holds I don't intend to die out here because we were undersupplied a day march from base camp."

"Not option... eight hours back to cabin... whiteout hits us on way back, we die..."

"You're sure?"

>Judge Intentions: Rhun looks very worried

>More is at stake here.

>I am, trust me

>No, let's get out of here.

>Write-In

Rhun has a point; our rations are down by a quarter.
But if the whiteout is already on the horizon, it's a gamble either way.

Is there any way to gauge the speed?
Does our survival kit include a satphone so we can get a weather update?

>>996774

Your survival kit is equipped with gear to measure weather conditions and a weather satlink. Predictions say the storm is closing in fast, on winds in excess of 100 kilometers per hour!

>>996889
>Predictions say the storm is closing in fast
Does it give an estimate of when it will hit us?
Or of how fast it's traveling and where it is, so we can calculate if it would hit us while we're still moving towards the cabin?

Because right now, it honestly does look like we're going to need to shelter in the cave because the hike back to the cabin is 8 hours and we'll be hit by the blizzard before that.

>>996739
>>I am, trust me

>>996895
Well before 8 hours.

>>996926
>Well before 8 hours.
Alrighty then.

>>996739
>I am, trust me
"And look at this weather report; we'd be part way to the cabin when we get hit by the blizzard. Even with a compass, I doubt either of us has the outdoors experience to navigate a whiteout with just a compass."

>>996531
>Write in
Is there any reception? We might need to tell the cabin we're here, in case we do get mired.

>>996945
>>996896
>>997042

"I am, trust me. Look at this weather report: we would be part way to the cabin when the blizzard would hit us. Even WITH a compass, I doubt either of us have the outdoor experience to navigate a whiteout with so little equipment."

""I dunno how comfortable I am camping in a site we know is pretty shifty as is."

"Would you prefer to stumble through a whiteout and most likely die?"

“Fair point. How much food do we have left? Aside from my bully beef my trail rations are for a few days and I can hunt I guess. Not that there's a lot of game around here."

>Analytical Mind

"I have 14 rations left. Each one is meant to fulfill half of your daily nutritional requirements in a high-activity scenario. We can last for close to 10 days if we eat one and a half each per day. In an emergency, we can extend that through rationing and the removal of excess tissue. Hopefully, this blizzard will blow itself out by tomorrow, and that will not be necessary."

"I don't have excess tissue mate."

"I have all of my original limbs, and you have a greatsword. If the time comes, I trust you to do what is needed to ensure our survival."

>Judge Intentions: Rhun looks a mix of shocked and impressed by your willingness to go to extremes to survive.

"Let's... jest get the stuff inside. How long did you say the dig was going to be, again?"

"It should not be much of one: the ruin was built in a cave system here in the Alps, according to my research. It will just be a matter of following the subtle signs."

An hour later, you are all set up in the cave, a couple dozen meters away from the entrance. You get ready to start your day.

Food and Water:
>Eat half a ration

>Eat a whole ration

>Eat 1.5 rations (standard)

>Write-In (custom measurement)

Activity Levels:

>Half Energy: spend half of day resting, other half active.

>Full Energy: Spend whole day active.

>Low Energy: Spend whole day resting.

>Write-In (custom energy budget)

Activity:

>Improving Shelter

>Searching for Entrance

>Write-In (other)
>>997042
The signal is spotty, this far out in the mountains, and the blizzard will just make things worse.

>>997057
>>Eat a whole ration
>Full Energy: Spend whole day active.
>Searching for Entrance

>>997057
>Eat a whole ration
>Full Energy: Spend whole day active.
>Searching for Entrance

>>997057
>Eat a whole ration
>Full Energy: Spend whole day active.
>Searching for Entrance
Then tell Rhun about the dream when we go to rest. Teach the Night Goblins our system of writing if we see them again, we need all the help we can get before They come.

>>997287
>Teach the Night Goblins
I'm doubtful that they'll take kindly to the people who called down a lynch mob of hunters with high-powered hunting and assault rifles coming to kill them all.

Within a few days after we help an injured hunter back to the outpost, hunting parties from said outpost start combing through the forest to kill any Night Goblins they see. I think they'll make the connection fairly quickly.

And even assuming that the future can be changed (in Lovecraft's work, it can't), the ones to actually be of some help are likely the Draco Foundation, the Atlantean Foundation, and potentially some of the Great Dragons (though Lofwyr could be tempted to let things transpire as they will since he'll have complete control over his domain and the value of his hoard will only grow).

>>997287
>>997117
>>997067

You spend the next 12 hours mapping out the cave system with Rhun. You manage to cross out several sections from your map and narrow your search to a larger, deeper section located off of a 15-foot drop.

You return to the entrance once fatigue starts to overwhelm you. You had forgotten how high-activity spelunking can be.

You start talking to Rhun as you huddle around in the cave mouth, getting ready to sleep.

"Rhun... I have been meaning to ask you. What happened during your watch last night?"

"I saw them things you were going on about have a court session and come to the conclusion that one of them was in the wrong and was executed. Looked to have some kinda cult built around beer cans. I think that was the
'x' cans."

>Interesting...

>What was the argument about?

>A cult?

>Executed?

>Write-In

>>997636
>>Executed?

"It would seem that the head Nightgaunt is a bit of a bastard. He may have been the one who attacked the hunters."

Also, I think Nightgaunts would be a cooler name for them than Night Goblins.

>>997636
>>What was the argument about?
>>Executed?

>>997739
>>997848
"Executed?"

"Yeah, jest stabbed the other guy's throat out."

"That sounds... brutal. What was this argument about?"

"Ah... here, lemme show you, I got it on the camera."

Rhun turns the camera on, scrolls through footage, and then hands it to you.

You see five Night-Goblins (although "Nightgaunts" also occurs to you as a name, due to a passing resemblance to the monsters of Lovecraft's nightmares) sitting in the branches of the tree where you had been spied on eariler, in front of the drawings from yesterday. Three of them appear to be keeping watch. The other two are having an "argument" through pictograms.

One of them is dressed in a stolen faux-bear-fur pelt, and appears to be more muscular than the others. Gleaming metal bits (as you look closer, you realize that they appear to be crushed cans) adorn his belt. The other has a blue 'X' drawn across his face in some kind of natural dye, and is carrying a litter stick with several beer cans pierced on the end: the shape reminds you, oddly, of a mage's staff.

They appear to be "arguing" over the final symbol.

Bear Pelt (BP): (Bares teeth, makes gash on left side of symbol, then draws crossed-out tent)

X-Face (X): (Makes gash on right side of symbol, shakes head, draws a stick with a lightning bolt shooting out of the end)

BP: (Nightgaunt kneeling over prone human in sleeping bag)

X: (Makes a series of questioning furrows in wood, then draws arrows from symbol to BP's last character and the crossed-out can)

BP: (Stylized image of Nightgaunt lying prone in crowd of his tribesmen, with a human with a lightning-stick in one hand and a beer can in the other standing opposite. The human is drawn in a larger scale than the Nightgaunts, and has an evil expression on its minimalist face. Claw slashing human figure. Bared teeth eating beer can. Nightgaunts are now standing over a prone human figure, this time in a larger scale than the human)

X: (Draws a giant beer can in the background, larger than all other figures. The can somehow manages to look angry. Raps beer can several times, then points at BP.)

BP: (Makes dismissive gesture.)

X: (Draws a crossed-out human figure, then makes a THICK line between this and the angry 'X' can. Then draws a LARGE fire, makes an arrow from the can pointing to the fire, and finally, draws an arrow between the fire and the the crowd of Nightgaunts and emphatically crosses it out.)

BP: (Eyes widen, draws an arrow between large can and prone BFB, crosses can out, bares teeth at X)

X: (Expression of outrage crosses face. Suddenly lunges forward with staff and stabs hole in BP's throat with its exposed tip, then kicks BP out of tree.)

"It looks like..."

>An argument-turned-fight.

>A trial and execution.

>A religious coup.

>Write-In

>>997922
>>An argument-turned-fight.

"If I had to make an educated guess, they're arguing about beer, or alcohol in general. It appears a magic user found them and thought it would be a grand idea to give them beer. I'm assuming that they didn't hold their liquor too well and the mage found out the hard way. So they must be a difference of opinion on whether to find more beer, or to ban it's consumption altogether."

"It appears Mr. X was arguing for prohibition, and wouldn't take no for an answer."

>>997636
>What was the argument about?

>>997922
>Write-in
"It looks like they were arguing about a recent acquisition. X was saying "what have you done", BP was saying that he just took from a human and that they had did not have to fear the humans and their weapons.
"When BP indicated that he had killed a human, X reprimanded him that there would be a reprisal. When X said that if the death gets back to the outpost, then there WILL be a reprisal that will wipe out the Nightgaunts.
"BP said that yes, he killed a human and that the other one survived and made it back to the outpost."

This has nothing to do with alcohol.

>>998044
I support this interpretation

>>998082
>>998044

"It looks like they were arguing about a recent acquisition. X was saying 'what have you done', BP was saying that he just took from a human and that they had did not have to fear the humans and their weapons. When BP indicated that he had killed a human, X reprimanded him that there would be a reprisal. When X said that if the death gets back to the outpost, then there WILL be a reprisal that will wipe out the Nightgaunts. BP said that yes, he killed a human and that the other one survived and made it back to the outpost. X then executed him."

"I suppose that makes sense. They seem to have a big thing for beer, though."

"That might be the case, but I think this only has to do with beer tangentially. Maybe Bear Pelt attacked the human because he wanted his beer."

"Ah. Well, I think we should get to bed. Don't think we need to do a watch tonight, though: the blizzard's gonna keep anything outside holed up, and we didn't find any signs this cave's inhabited today. Might as well get well-rested."

>Analytical Mind: You have to agree with her. The odds of something crawling all the way out of the ruins to the cave entrance is low.

You have one last decision before you go to bed: whether or not to use your dream-blocking pill. It will slow your reflexes down slightly, but given the tone your last dream had, one night of normal sleep may be worth it.

>Take it

>Don't take it

Don't

>>998160
You decide not to take the pill, and settle down to sleep.

You awaken the next day feeling...odd. Like there's something just on the edge of your consciousness that you keep forgetting.

Rhun's already up, and at the cave mouth.

"Looks like we ain't getting out of here any time soon! Looks like we got about 2 feet of snow from that blizzard! Sky's clear today, though, so that's nice! Also, we got this from the Night-Goblins or whatever."

She points down at the frostbitten body of a dead Night-Goblin with a hole in his throat and a bear pelt draped over him. A piece of bark is lying on top of it with pictograms on it:

(Image of nightgaunt wearing bear pelt standing over a prone human, image of nightgaunts stabbing bear pelt-wearing nightgaunt in throat, image of many nightgaunts in a prostrate pose in front of human figure, beer can with interrogative furrows above it.)

"Pretty nasty, right?"

>They're apologizing.

>They're afraid of us.

>They want to trade.

>Write-In

>>998152
Take it

>>998505
>They're apologizing
"But it's not going to do them any good.
With what we said to Schmitt, that hunting party is still coming and the Night gaunts are still going to be attacked."

Actions have consequences, and this is the consequence for our action of letting our mouth run off.

File: 1304175564839.jpg (664 KB, 1600x1200)

664 KB JPG

>>998516

Was that other creature we met ahead of the Night Gaunts raiding party the same species? There was evidence that it was another type of creature entirely. What with the tail it used to carve those symbols and the effect they had on Redd initially.

Though that might be chalked up to be in the footprint of a 4th age Dream Refuge but that remains to be seen.

Would be interesting to discover what sort of pre-Awakening creature the Night Gaunts once were as well. Get a blood sample that proves they're just some really altered human stock and then it becomes a humanitarian aid instead of Wyld Hunt issue.

>>998553
... (Are you referring to the creature that attacked the hunters you discovered? Because that was the event portrayed in Bear Pelt's drawings.)

>>998152
>>Don't take it

>>998516
"They are trying to placate us, thinking that it will ward off attack by humans. But it will do them no good: as soon as this snow melts, Schmitt and his security team will sweep through this area and massacre them. "

"Can we nae leave 'em a warnin' or something? If they really are like people, they don't deserve to be hunted down like beasts..."

"Perhaps..."

> Leave Warning

>Don't Leave Warning


After dealing with that, you move on to starting your day.

Food and Water:
>Eat half a ration

>Eat a whole ration

>Eat 1.5 rations (standard)

>Write-In (custom measurement)

Activity Levels:

>Half Energy: spend half of day resting, other half active.

>Full Energy: Spend whole day active.

>Low Energy: Spend whole day resting.

>Write-In (custom energy budget)

Activity:

>Improving Shelter

>Searching for Entrance

>Trying to Establish Rapport with Nightgaunts

>Write-In

>>998670
>Leave Warning
>Full Energy: Spend whole day active
>Searching for Entrance
>Trying to Establish Rapport with Nightgaunts

>>998670
>Leave Warning
>Full Energy: Spend whole day active
>Searching for Entrance
>Trying to Establish Rapport with Nightgaunts

>>998670
>Leave Warning and offer help
>Full Energy: Spend whole day active
>Searching for Entrance
>Trying to Establish Rapport with Nightgaunts

And try to recall our dream.

Oh shit, and a full ration.

File: Nightgaunt warning.jpg (59 KB, 816x460)

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>>998700
Seconding this. Here's my try at a warning.

>people of the tent and beer clan are mad
>They will try to kill you
>You need to hide
>Be nice to people from now on (little guy is dwarf owner)

>>999012
How would we help the Nightgaunts?

What help can we offer them that would actually be effective?

We are in a post-Awakening world and the rights of non-metahuman sapients are only recognized by Tir Taingire, UCAS (if you pay enough money), a handful of Awakened nations, and Evo (I guess Horizon might also count). The UN already overturned the Sapient Non-Metahuman Rights Accord (assuming this is past May 10).

>>999050
>Be nice to people from now on
More like they need to work harder to police their own from being seen or interacting with metahumanity.

Once Shiawase Atomics gets wind of this, and the fact that the Nightgaunts are sapient because they can draw, they're likely going to be bringing in some runner/corp teams to capture samples to see if they can be exploited in some way, or wiped out. Really it depends on the regional manager.

>>999080
Maybe we could send them to the Troll kingdom? With the vast diversity of metahumans we saw in the capital, they should have little problem being accepted and blending in. Plus, they might like access to a new race of sneaky dudes they could study and use as allies, maybe even uplift them.

>>999080
(It is November 16, 2072.)

>>998700
>>998953
>>999012

You turn the bark over and draw a detailed warning all over the back:
(Many angry men carrying lightning-sticks marching towards forest. Nightgaunt in tree being shot by IR-wearing human, nightgaunt hiding in cave being passed over by men, followed by beer can (as far as you can tell, they use this to both represent beer, and as an abstract symbol for good things). TerraFirst logo, beer can. Shiawase and Saeder-Krupp logo, bared teeth. Free State of Bavaria crest, bared teeth. Evo logo, beer can. Stylized moon, yourself and nightgaunt sitting by each other in cave, interrogative furrow.)

>7 hours later

You've found it! A 3-meter tall, meter-wide gateway of carved limestone, with a shimmering piece of cut amber the size of a human fist embedded into the capstone frames a pair of basalt doors with hinges of adamantium, the orichalcum-titanium alloy known to be nigh-invincible to both magic and conventional methods of tampering and destruction. Letters in the runic script of Atlantis adorn the doorway: "Metaplanar (word roughly translating as a mixture of 'temple' and 'research lab') of the Resplendent Phoenix. Death awaits those who trespass upon this place: may their entrails fall out of them."

The seal upon the door is not intact, showing signs of having had some kind of crude breaching instrument applied to it.

>Go in

>Return to base camp to prepare to commune with Nightgaunts.

>Write-In

>>999213

Alsop the tourist benefits of having their own live action Krampus for the solstice festivals.

https://youtu.be/WLnl5ZWG4tg

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34 KB JPG

>>999253
What would be the plural of Krampus?
Kuampuses?
Krampi?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x0s6WNL80Hw

>>999251
>Go in
Our time here is more limited, partly because of low rations and mostly because of the hunter parties that will be coming here.


>TerraFirst
Ech. I dislike those guys.

>>999213
>vast diversity of metahumans we saw in the capital
Not really, no.
They were all variations and sub-races of Troll and to some extent, Ork.
All other metahumans are considered second-class citizens.
It's a Troll Republic for a reason.
Just because they are an Awakened Land doesn't mean they're welcoming or free of prejudice. Sometimes it's even worse, such as the nation of Asamando.

>>999287
Yeah, as QM, I will confirm that the Trolls of the Black Forest Republic tend to not like non-goblins ('Goblin' in this case being a low-level slur that refers to Orks and Trolls). There IS a chance that they'll tolerate the Nightgaunts, however, based PURELY on the fact that their introduction to the Schwartzwald may make their territory even MORE formidable.

While I'm on the subject: later tonight I plan on producing a summary of the various sub-metatypes of humanity and the non-human sapients currently known, for lore's sake (this sort of thing is something Redd would keep track of, especially after his near faux-pas with Herr Schmitt).

And as a clarifying point: Asamando is an African country populated and run by ghouls. They have human farms. That's really all you need to know to get how terrible Awakened Lands can be.

(Even if you dislike TerraFirst, it's pretty indisputable that they'd defend the Nightgaunts on principle, with their whole "Save the planet" agenda.)

>>999287
You push open the doors, and the scent of long-undisturbed air washes over you, cold and stale.

"Cor, would you look at these soddin' stairs! I can't see the bottom of 'em! Why would they bury this place so deep?"

"Two reasons. First, to prevent curious people like US from finding it, and second, because a catastrophe with the artifacts they were using down here would lead to the arcane equivalent of Chernobyl. Now cover the six while we go down: I don't want to be taken by surprise by some kind of cliched rockfall or fireball trap."

You wind down the stairs for what seems like eons (checking your commlink, it was actually close to a half-hour), until the narrow,worked-stone walls open up to a massive cavern filled with complex structures of varying metals and crystals. Carved tunnels stretch away at points in the central chamber 90 degrees from the stairs and directly across, and a dais in the center levitates 5 meters above a shining metal floor design, with free-floating stairs leading up to it. A complex device of some kind is mounted on top of the dais. Complex sigils adorn the walls and ceiling in gold, silver, and copper: 3 of the four ingredients of Orichalcum.

"By GODS! How are those platforms floating? Magic or summat?"

"Surprisingly, no: magnetism. Incidentally, you may want to put your commlink and other non-shielded gear by the stairwell. That metal design on the floor is highly magnetic, and the dais is made of a diamagnetic substance. The stairs are made of the same substance, but in decreasing concentrations."

>Investigate dais

>Investigate left-hand doorway

>Investigate right-hand doorway

>Investigate crosswise doorway

>Write-In

>>999581
>Write-In
Record everything with the camera from the stairwell. Then begin to investigate the left-hand doorway.

>>999606
Yeah record everything we can and start investigating area from one side to the other.

If we have any non electronic way to record, IE pen and paper, use it to record notes.

>>999606
>>999669
You retreat to the stairwell and set up the video camera.

"Date is... sixteen-eleven-twenty-seventy-two, I am Frederick Smith, independent occult researcher. I have found the Temple of the Resplendent Phoenix in the Bavarian Alps, and am recording my notes for future reference and- possibly- for posterity. I cannot take any electronic gear any further into the structure, as the opening chamber has a highly magnetic atmosphere due to the employment of the typical magnetic containment and levitation mechanisms typical of a site of this kind. Site is... not sure, but I think close to half a kilometer beneath the entrance level, down a long flight of stairs. I am now heading to-"

"THIS PLACE WOULD BE A HELL OF A PARKOUR COURSE, I GOTTA SAY REDD!"

"COULD YOU PLEASE BE QUIET I AM RECORDING! *Cough* -am now heading to an adjoining chamber, leaving this camera running to record any anomalous activity."

The gateway to your left leads to a much shorter staircase that leads down to a set of heavy adamantine doors. Pushing them open, you find what clearly is an alchemical laboratory. Chest drawers used to store reagents line one wall, crystal beakers, test-tubes, and other such gear adorn a stone workbench in the center of the room, and a long-abandoned furnace sits in one corner. Slots in the wall opposite the chests store a number of stone tablets (chosen, you know, for their ability to last, not for want of paper).

>Perception: You spot a considerably more modern-looking backpack in the furnace's corner, leaning against the wall.

Rhun: "Looks like your corner of the basement, only more... classical."

>Investigate the tablets

>Investigate the chest drawers

>Investigate the furnace

>Investigate the backpack

>Investigate the workbench

>Write-In

>>999774
>Investigate the backpack
We need to know who else is/was here before us.

Yep, backpack.

>>999774
>>Investigate the backpack
Who the fuck is leaving a backpack.

>>999790
>>999823
>>1000009

The backpack is a faded grey color, with no recognizable insignias or brands on it. The interior has a yellowing notebook, a Geiger counter of baroque design, and a book titled Oди́н дeнь Ивáнa Дeни́coвичa. You see signs and traces of other equipment, since removed.


>Investigate the tablets

>Investigate the chest drawers

>Investigate the furnace

>Investigate the workbench

>Write-In

>>1000084
>Write-In
Check the notebook, then investigate the tablets.

>>1000092
Yes this.

>>1000092
This

>>1000092
>>1000138
>>1000173

The notebook is full of notes in Cyrillic, written in a meticulous hand.

>Analytic Mind: some of these sheets definitely look like timetables and inventories.

You fold the notebook up, pick up the backpack, and head over to the tablets.

The tablets appear to contain recipes for various alchemical concoctions. None of them look like anything that isn't already known or more easily prepared in the modern day.

Rhun speaks up:

"Hang on, Redd. Looks like some of these were nicked! Either that, or someone came around with a library card, hahaha..."

Now that you take a closer look, you do notice that a number of the empty shelves have noticeably varied levels of dust in the outline of tablets on them.

>Investigate the chest drawers

>Investigate the furnace

>Investigate the workbench

>Write-In

>>1000259
>Investigate the chest drawers
>Investigate the workbench
>Investigate the furnace
In that order.

>>1000259
Furnace, then chest, and finally workbench.

>>1000297
(chosen at random)

>The Furnace

The furnace has traces of ashen dust and metallic slag staining its interior. A pipe leads upwards through the ceiling of the cave. A look up the pipe with a flashlight shows a narrow tunnel and darkness.

>Perception: you notice flecks of orichalcum and other, less obvious alchemical metals scorched into the furnace.


>The Chest Drawers

A quick rifle through the drawers shows that they've all been emptied. Several drawers were also ajar when you came in. Each drawer is labeled with a character in Atleantean: you recognize several labels as references to alchmical and magical reagents.

>The Workbench

None of this equipment looks like it's been used in a long, long time.

>Perception: you notice several of the more esoteric tools needed to do proper alchemy are missing.

With this room searched, you return to the central chamber.


>Investigate dais

>Return to Alchemy Lab

>Investigate right-hand doorway

>Investigate crosswise doorway

>Write-In

>>1000400
>Investigate right-hand doorway

>>1000450
Yep. After a quick stop at our camera to document the alchemy lab.

>>1000450
>>1000514

"Alright, I have finished my initial search of the left-hand doorway. It led to an isolated alchemy lab, with adamantine blast doors to prevent a runaway reaction from breaching site security. ...I am not the first one down here. A person or persons of Cyrillic origin was here first, and, I believe, took the reagents, some more obscure alchemical tools, and a number of tablets, likely recording alchemical formulas. I am leaning towards it being a group by virtue of the intruders leaving a field backpack behind. Unsettling. I am now proceeding to the right-hand chamber."

This chamber leads up a long (by normal standards: nothing compared to the immense length of the access stairway) flight of stairs. At the top, a carved basalt door stands.

As you push open the door, you are hit in the face with a blast of steam. The chamber beyond is about 30 meters in diameter, sweltering hot and incredibly humid: like a jungle in the dark. Fungi are growing on every surface within eyesight, some to the height of shrubbery. A ruined stone pen stands a good ten meters away from the entrance, down what used to be a clear path. A massive, ancient-looking clump of fungal growth towers some 20 meters away. A bubbling cauldron of hot water stands at the center. A stone shack of some kind, almost overtaken by fungus, is in the back of the room.

"I hope these are the kind you eat in a Full English. Prolly not, though."

>Knowledge: Biology: you ID all of the fungus breeds you can see as edible, or at the very least non-toxic.

"No need for masks yet, as far as I can tell."

>Investigate ruined pen

>Investigate bubbling cauldron

>Investigate fungal cluster

>Investigate stone shack

>Write-In

>>1000638
>>Investigate stone shack
Creepy as shit.

>>1000638
>Investigate stone shack

>>1000649
>>1000798

You make your way to the shack, trudging across the earthen floor, now rendered rubbery and slick by the fungi snapping and crushing beneath your feet with every step.

When you reach the shack, it shows every sign of having been ransacked. Benches are overturned, pots lie in pieces on the floor, and the whole chamber is in general disarray. Further in the back, a fire pit stands in front of some kind of trough, with rusted hooks hanging from the ceiling. You can spot butchery tools and roasting spits, some stained with blood, laying in the general clutter, along with hoes, rakes, and shovels. It seems safe to say that this was some kind of slaughterhouse and gardener's shed.

>Perception: a bit of cut fabric is stuck to a rake! You remove it and take a closer look: torn lettering says "yкa".

>Investigate ruined pen

>Investigate bubbling cauldron

>Investigate fungal cluster

>Write-In

>>1000842
>Investigate ruined pen
Oh, I get it. It's a reference to Rats in the Walls.

But Redd, growing up in a world with the chop shops of Tamanous and the human farms of Asamando should be able to take this kind of horror in stride.

>>1000866
The pen was clearly made out of some kind of old stone that crumbled away over the years of fungi feeding on it. The pen is large enough to have comfortably fit a number of medium-sized animals.

>Perception: you hear a clatter mixed in with the snaps and squelches. You clear aside the fungi and find the skeleton of some kind of beast.

>Knowledge: Biology: The feet are intact, and indicate that this was some kind of quadrupedal ungulate, and the skull puts it in the Suidae, but certain skeletal features are novel to your extensive knowledge: perhaps a Fourth World variety.

Nothing else particularly sticks out to you about the pen.


>Investigate bubbling cauldron

>Investigate fungal cluster

>Write-In

>>1000924
>Investigate bubbling cauldron
>Investigate the fungal cluster
>write-in: Put on the respirators just in case there's spores.

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>>1000924

We're going full Shadowgate on this subterranean 4th Age Dreamlands refuge.

>>1000949

I agree with this intrepid Anon's guidance. Tell Rhun to beware doom shrooms as well.

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Alright, so I'm slipping off to bed, but first, a little guidebook I'd like to call "A Guide to Metatypes"

>The Classic Model: Humans

"Normal" humans are alive and thriving in the Sixth World, even if they aren't the majority anymore. There are still more humans than any one metatype taken INDIVIDUALLY, but all together, they outnumber the normals. Humans are completely average in every aspect, and are, in fact, the baseline used for measuring the other metatypes. Rumors of humans being "luckier" than other metatypes are so much drivel.

>Sub-Metatype: Nartaki

Humanity has only one single sub-species out there, and it's the Nartaki, native to India. A rare and unusual group, almost more a mutation than a true subspecies, the Nartaki have four arms and bright blue, red, umber, or yellow skin, but are otherwise normal. In Hindu culture, Nartaki are frequently viewed as the incarnations of deva or asura.

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>>1000987
>Shiny, Happy People: Elves

The first metatype to show itself, Elves are the winners of the genetic lottery: all elves are naturally graceful, slow to age (if they age at all: some conspiracy theories claim that elves just STOP AGING past a certain point) and really, really, ridiculously good-looking, all with no drawbacks!. An elf that's "ugly" by elf standards is still moderately attractive by human standards. It comes as little surprise that a lot of elves end up having egos the size of a planet and end up making isolated, separatist nations based on their own superiority.

>Sub-Metatypes:

>Dryads
These tree-hugging wimps look like elves, but more so, and often with a greenish tint to their skin. Dryads are breathtakingly beautiful and otherworldly in ways that sear their image onto other people's retinas. They are also weak and willowy and HIGHLY sensitive to pollution, causing most of them to live in rural or isolated areas, where they can live in peace among nature. TerraFirst worships the ground these guys walk on. Dryads originated in Greece, but can be found almost anywhere there are forests.

>Nocturna

South American natives, the Noctura resemble elves with panther eyes and a fine layer of black fur all over their bodies. This makes them unsettling to some, but Nocturna usually compensate for this with their preternatural levels of agility and grace, as well as their sensitive eyes and ears. Noctura are adapted to nocturnal lifestyles and have a minor sunlight allergy, leading many to become criminals or shadowrunners.

>Wakyambi

The "Sky People" of West African myth in flesh, Wakyambi resemble tall and long-limbed Africans with slightly pointed ears and trim physiques. The Wakyambi are known for their great speed and skill at intuitive reasoning, and mostly live isolated, tribal lifestyles.

>Xapiri Thëpë

Natives of the Amazon basin, the tribal Xapiri Thëpë resemble a race of plant-men more than the standard elf. They can naturally engage in photosynthesis and are very, VERY sensitive to pollution. Fewer than 10000 exist in the world, the overwhelming majority of which live in primitive tribes, so their existence is more of an academic note at this point.

That's parts 1 and 2 of 6. See you guys tomorrow!

>>1000949
>>1000984

"Rhun, I think we should put the respirators in now. Let us avoid an early grave via spore death."

"Got ya."

>The Bubbling Cauldron

The "cauldron" is actually a natural pool of water bubbling up from deep underground. A thermometer check puts the water's temperature at close to 80 degrees Celsius. Rich mineral deposits stain the edge of the pool, barely visible beneath the fungal growth.

>Perception: you notice the gleam of something gold at the bottom of the pool: looking more closely, it appears to be a complex mechanical device.

>Giant Fungal Cluster

A towering cluster of bolete mushrooms are growing here, each fruiting body the size of a small shrub. You've never seen mushrooms grow this large before.

>Perception: you notice the cluster is in a roughly rectangular pattern similar to the ruined pen across the room from it.

It seems like this place was some kind of farm.

>Try and get gold device

>Leave room

>Write-In

>>1001535
>Write-In
Make note of the device and leave its retrieval for later. We'll get it on our second pass.
For now let's not disturb it and check the last room.

>>1001535
>>Try and get gold device

>>1001535
>>Leave room

>>1001539
>>1001608

You head back to the central room.

"The chamber on the right led to... some kind of farming arrangement, the chamber was very hot and humid... a mineral hot spring was used to feed a colony of edible mushrooms, which were used as a staple food source... the diet was supplemented with some kind of hog of unknown species, I found a slaughterhouse and roasting arrangement in a shed in the back. The entire area is overrun with mushrooms; they likely started growing out of control when the site was sealed off...

I spotted some kind of golden mechanism in the bottom of the hot spring, not certain what its purpose is. I am now going to investigate the crosswise chamber."

The passageway is short, and ends at a set of granite doors hanging slightly ajar.

>Perception: The scent of long-past decay issues from beyond the door, and you can spy rust-red stains on the floor in front of it.

>Open the door

>Don't open it

>Write-In

Check for any traps near by. If nothing looks off, open it from as far away as possible.

>>1001631
>>Open the door

>>1001631
Make sure the respirators are fitted and ask Rhun to get ready, then open the door.

>>1001733
>>1001763
>>1001787
"Rhun, get ready and make sure your respirator is on tight. Death awaits behind this door."

You do a long, slow visual sweep of the entryway for trigger mechanisms and find none. You stand back as far as possible and gently push open the door...

The withered corpses of long-dead men line the hallway in front of you, the stiffened expressions of their leathery faces (preserved, you suppose, by the cave) conveying abject pain and terror, with rust-red stains running from their eyes.

>Perception: men are wearing military uniforms of some kind, and discarded 20Cen assault rifles lie by them.

A quick glance shows what killed them: opened hatches in the ceiling, and shattered crystal vials beneath them: some kind of ancient biological weapon, not dependent on magic, lay in wait here to seal the doom of trespassers.

The room itself appears to be the living quarters of the temple staff. A half-dozen sleeping slabs, covered with the slimy rot that doubtlessly consumed whatever mattress and blanket used to sit here, line the walls. A statue of a phoenix rests in an ancient shrine to the back of the chamber: a stone compartment, formerly hidden in the wall, hangs ajar above it.

"Oh, gods... what killed these bastards?"

"Exsanguination, it appears."

>Examine the bodies

>Examine the beds

>Examine the shrine

>Examine the secret compartment

>Write-In

>>1001928
>>Examine the shrine

>>1001928

>>examine shrine
>secret compartment
>bodies
>beds last

How are we on time/energy?

>>1002077
>5 hours of energy remaining.

>Time to travel back to base camp: 2 hours

>>1001928
Shrine, compartment, beds bodies.

>>1001945
>>1002077
>>1002187

>The Shrine

The shrine is a beautiful affair, with a lovingly-crafted metal statue of a phoenix rising from the flames of a burning tree set upon it. A crude map of the geocentric cosmos the Atlanteans believed in is embossed on the front. The planets are set in a series of concentric rings that rotate, and are currently set in alignment.

>Knowledge: History: This is a shrine to Azothus, the spirit of Alchemy, held in the highest regard in Atlantis. The phoenix rising from the tree symbolizes the spirit of humanity transcending the material world through the Great Work.

>The Secret Compartment

The compartment is sparse, and contains a small, intricate copper mechanism bedecked with tubes and wires. A pale stone is set in its heart, where the wires and tubes all feed. With even a casual assensing you can feel the magical energy of the stone.

>The Beds

The rot and slime that has consumed the beds deeply unsettles you, and you swear you can see the outlines of prone human figures underneath them.

>The Bodies

The bodies are long-dead and estivated, leaving them in a state of partial mummification. Their clothes have red stars on the lapels and bear some kind of insignia on the left shoulder: a raised scarlet fist holding a staff against a starry backdrop. "HЗO" is written beneath it. The opposite side has an open scarlet hand in an upright position, with "Кpacнaя Pyкa" beneath.

>Take the Device

>Leave without Device

>Write-In

>>1002277
>Leave without Device
Trying to take it probably killed these guys

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>>1002277

Do we know enough of 20th century history to get an idea of which Cyrillic ((Soviet)) organization these ((Science City)) guys belonged to when alive?

Those soupy slime beds seem like a potential paracritter paradise and might do best undisturbed. Though if our ability to Assense won't leave us physically vulnerable it might be worth it to find some 4th age charms.

>>1002277
>Take the device
Be ready to run, even though the trap has already been triggered

>>1002277
Take it.

>>1002432
(Redd knows enough about 20Cen history to recognize Soviet iconography when he sees it, but the actual group isn't something he's familiar with)

>>1002488
>>1002460

You cautiously lift the copper device off of its pedestal. You hear the grinding of gears from somewhere in the chamber, and a clicking noise echoes from the hatches. Nothing else seems to happen, but you take the device and cautiously run to the door and shove it shut, just in case, before returning to the central chamber.

"The back room contained the lodgings of the priests and magi who worked here. They all seem to have perished in some kind of fungal outbreak, of unknown origin. I also located a... magical device of some kind (you hold the device up to the camera) in a secret compartment. ... I also found the owners of the backpack. It looks like this place was entered some time in the 20th century by soldiers working for an unknown entity in the Soviet Bloc. They tripped some kind of biological death-trap in the room while trying to retrieve the device and perished en masse. An unpleasant fate. Am now examining the dais."

>The Dais

You proceed up the stairs to the dais. Here, you finally get a chance to examine the central device up close.

A number of Atlantean mana batteries are hooked up to a large brass coffin, which appears to contain a number of complex arcano-clockwork mechanisms. The surface of the device has a "control panel" covered in runes and a number of grooves where mechanisms are meant to be placed. A number of vials of mercury are currently plugged into one of these.

>Perception: a note is resting on the floor near the machine. Picking it up, you see more Cyrillic script:

"Пpибop являeтcя нeпoлным, нaйдeнo Флaкoны pтyти в мaгнитнoй плaтфopмe. Pacпoлoжeниe дpyгих кoмпoнeнтoв являeтcя выcшим пpиopитeтoм, ecли ycтpoйcтвo бyдeт иcпoльзoвaтьcя пpoтив кaпитaлиcтoв."

>Try to plug in the copper device.

>Leave the machine alone.

>Write-In

>>1002664
>Leave the machine alone.
I have a bad feeling about this.

>>1002664
>Try to plug in the copper device.
Well we didn't come here to back away from discovery at the last moment.

>>1002664
Leave it alone.

We need to go back for now.

>>1002803
>>1002753

You set the copper device by the larger machine and step down from the podium.

"We are done here for today, Rhun. We need to get back and talk with the Nightgaunts."

"Awww, ye can't just build up all the suspense an' just drop i- I'm joking, Redd!"

You pack up your kit and start climbing back up the stairs.

You arrive at base camp a couple hours later and settle in. An hour after that, the Nightgaunts arrive, peeling out of the snow and shadows like ghosts. Their leader (as far as you can tell), X-Face, approaches and starts drawing in the dirt.

(Many angry men with lightning-stick, interrogative furrow? Bear Pelt, bared teeth, many nightgaunts with back turned, prone Bear Pelt, beer can, interrogative furrow?)

>(Bavarian crest, bared teeth, Redd with hands bound)

>(Claw, figure of human, arrow pointing to many angry men with lightning-sticks)

>(dismissive gesture, many nightgaunts running)

>Write-In

>>1002957
>(Bavarian crest, bared teeth, Redd with hands bound)
>Redd, underneath CAS symbol.
>(Claw, figure of human, arrow pointing to many angry men with lightning-sticks)

The Bavarians are coming, and we cannot stop them.
Redd is of the CAS.
They are coming because of Bearpelt killing a human.

>>1002957
>>(Bavarian crest, bared teeth, Redd with hands bound)
>>Redd, underneath CAS symbol.
>>(Claw, figure of human, arrow pointing to many angry men with lightning-sticks)
>The Bavarians are coming, and we cannot stop them.
>Redd is of the CAS.
>They are coming because of Bearpelt killing a human.
Just gonna back nanb on this.

>>1002981
This.

>>1002981
>>1003007
(Bavarian crest, bared teeth, Redd with hands bound. Redd beneath CAS flag. Claw, figure of human, arrow pointing to many angry men with lightning sticks.)

The chief looks somber.

(Many nightgaunts living in forest, prone nightgaunts lying outside of forest. Many angry men with lightning-sticks in forest. X draws many, MANY Nightgaunts, then wipes them all away. He looks up at you with pleading eyes.)

>Evo logo, map to Evo arcology in Munchen.

>Black Forest Republic logo, map to Black Forest Republic.

>Nightgaunt living in cave.

>(Shake head, expose neck)

>Write-In

So, a bit of explanation:
Evo, as has been said before, is relatively the "good guy" megacorp.
They've got what is arguably the most progressive workplace and set of ethics.
But, they're still a AAA-megacorp.

The Black Forest Republic, as stated before, is a troll/ork-centric society.
The Nightgaunts may be tolerated, but that's still a gamble.

>>1003142
Could we draw something that would show that they should go to both the BFR and Evo? Make them the prize of two different, bigger, factions and thus unable to be touched by those we alerted?

>>1003256
The two will just fight over them because both will view them as a resource.

>>1003142
>Evo logo, map to Evo arcology in Munchen.

>>1003256
They're all fucked however way you slice it. Might as well leave them at the mercy of the "good guy" megacorps(fucking oxymoronic that is). This problem is really just beyond us to resolve, peacefully or otherwise, so let's just move on from this.

>>1003592
We have to accept the consequences of our actions.
If we had just left it at a paracritter attack, this could have been avoided.
Instead, we told people that the Nightgaunts can write.

So we should really consider if Evo will be a better choice than the BFR.
The BFR has enough problems that if things don't work out, then the Nightgaunts can petition Evo for sanctuary.
But if they go to Evo first, then they won't be able to leave afterwards.

>>1003142
Changing >>1003484
to

>Black Forest Republic logo, map to Black Forest Republic.
>Write-in: write an introductory letter for the Nightgaunts in German, explaining that they only know pictograms and no German, and their vocal chords do not allow them to form words.

>>1003484
>>1003592
>>1003633

(Black Forest Republic logo, map to Black Forest Republic. Nightgaunt showing letter to troll.)

You then write out a letter.

"To the people of the Black Forest Republic. I beg of you, treat these unfortunate creatures with kindness. They know no German, and speak a language of pictograms, but they are intelligent enough that you might teach them German. They mean no harm and are victims of society, like your people once were. Show the mercy you did not receive yourselves. -A friend"

You hand X the letter. He looks up at you with sad, pained eyes. He then gets down on his knees and prostrates himself before you, before rising, picking up his staff, and walking back out into the snow.

As you see him leave, you wonder about the fate of these strange creatures, who are both horrifying and strangely beautiful. You know that things are going to be hard for them from now on. And yet, you feel like you've done the best you can, given the circumstances, to give these creatures a fighting chance.

Good Karma earned

You feel spent, physically and emotionally. You settle down into the tent and fall asleep.

Your dreams are horrid, plagued by ceaseless visions of your own senescence and death played out in your mind over and over and over, with your body experiencing every part of the process well beyond the point where the nerves would have rotten away.

Temporary flaw: Fear of Aging (-2 penalty on interacting with the elderly).

It is a windy day in the mountainside outside of your camp. The snow from the blizzard is being blown this way and that in strong gusts. If this keeps up, the path down from the mountains may be clear by tomorrow!

You eat a ration and get ready to work.

>Return to the central chamber and work on machine

>Start packing up camp and get ready to head back tomorrow.

>Write-In

>>1003658
>Write-in: retrieve the machine from the bottom of the pool in the Fungal Room.
We must examine the two machines and see what we can determine about their function.

>>1003658
>Return to the central chamber and work on machine
Unless there's an urgent reason not to, we really should finish up with what we came here to do/find/learn. Plus, if we stay away too long, our girl might start thinking we came here to shack up with the crazy welsh.

Still can't believe we're dating a Loud House daughter. Best girl anyway, so it's all good

>>1003695
>>1003658
Do we have any poles or things we can use to bring the golden device at the bottom of the pool up to where we can examine it, but keep it in the water in case it needs to stay submerged for preservation purposes?

>>1003725
Is our camera waterproof? We should get a better look at it from where it is. It could be controlling the water level of the hot spring and removing may end up flooding the ruins.

>>1003725
We really should get our hands on some drones, even if we've dropped the whole rigger thing. Damn useful buggers they are.

>>1003725
You don't have a spare pole on you (The shadowrunning community no longer runs on the adage "Always keep a 10-foot pole and 50 feet of rope on you at all times"), but Analytical Mind tells you that you could improvise something from the shed's contents.

>>1003742
The camera is waterproof. HOWEVER, in case you forgot, there is a large cluster of magnetic metals in the central chamber, and there is a real risk of system corruption or damage from that (the camera is not Faraday Shielded)

>>1003754
Well in that case, if we try to pick up the device and it seems 'stuck', don't try to yank it out and just leave it.

Also, would the pool make for a good hot tub? It'll be nice to do at least one thing relaxing on this 'vacation' trip.

>>1003813
The temperature is 80 degrees Celsius, as we already noted.
That's going to scald and cause burns.

>>1003695
You return to the ruins and head into the farming chamber. You start by taking a look into the depths of the pool.

>Perception: the gold device at the bottom of the pool is much larger than the copper one, and appears to be attached to some kind of regulating plug. If you pull out the device, it is very likely that the water level will start rising. You also see a series of carved holes lining the edge of the cauldron. Their shape is reminiscent of hose mouths. You can make out slight carved channels in the ground above them, almost totally obscured by the mushrooms.

>Analytical Mind: The trick here seems to be to either disconnect the device from the flow regulator, or to find another way to regulate the water's flow.

>Try to follow the grooves back to their source.

> Ask Rhun to jump in and put her inhuman constitution to good use.

>Try to lever the device off of the regulator using tools.

>Write-In

>>1003822
To put that in perspective, touching water at 65.6 degrees Celsius for two seconds will cause 3rd degree burns.

Human tissue is destroyed on contact at 72 degrees Celsius.

So no, 80 degrees Celsius is not good for a hot tub.

>>1003850
>Try to follow the grooves back to their source.
What we should be looking for is what the water was being used for.

>>1003850
>Try to follow the grooves back to their source.
Act in smart and clever ways and a DM rewards you for figuring out the puzzle.

>>1003866
>>1003872

You follow the grooves, ripping up mushrooms to find the path again whenever they overgrow the underlying stone.

The grooves lead back to the ruined shack, where they run behind a pile of detritus. You and Rhun quickly lever it aside to find a pair of wheels, two levers, and a rune-switch with a shattered vial by it.

>Knowledge: Ancient Languages: This is a water regulatory system! The wheels are labeled "hot" and "cool". The levers are labeled "ceiling" and "floor". The switch is labeled "rise-fall." The hot wheel is all the way on, and the cold wheel is all the way off. The ceiling lever is closed, and the floor lever is open. The 'rise-fall' switch seems to be functional.

>Input settings.

>>1003929
Turn hot wheel to middle.
Turn cold wheel to middle.
Set 'Rise-Fall' switch to 'Fall'.

>>1003955
>Turn hot wheel to middle.
I'm assuming this turns it off
and
>Set 'Rise-Fall' switch to 'Fall'.

>>1004062
>>1003955
You close off the hot and cold water valves and start draining the pool. A few minutes later, the holes in the bottom of the pool finish draining the scalding water from the chamber.

"Rhun? Head down to the pool's bottom and unscrew the gold device from the regulator."

"I'm goin, I'm goin."

She returns a few minutes later with the device.

"Damn, this thing weighs a TON!"

>Reset the pool

>Leave it drained.

>Mix hot and cold water and fill the pool to 39 degrees Celsius (102 Fahrenheit)

>>1004114
>Mix hot and cold water and fill the pool to 39 degrees Celsius (102 Fahrenheit)
It's possible that leaving the pool drained too long could result in some kind of problem.

>>1004114
That last option is too specific for me not to pick it. Make sure we can leg it safely beforehand though. We should also be recording this step by step.

>Mix hot and cold water and fill the pool to 39 degrees Celsius (102 Fahrenheit)

>>1004114
>>>1004114
>That last option is too specific for me not to pick it. Make sure we can leg it safely beforehand though. We should also be recording this step by step.
>>Mix hot and cold water and fill the pool to 39 degrees Celsius (102 Fahrenheit)

>>1004130
>>1004151
>>1004245
"Feeling up for a spa treatment, Rhun? I hear bathing in mineral water is supposed to be very healthy?"

"Ah, why the hell not? We'll 'ave to go in one at a time, though, else yer bird might get the wrong idea, eh?"

You adjust the water settings and levels to the right mixture to make a nice hot mineral bath before heading back to the central chamber.

You place the golden device next to the copper one by the machine.

>Attempt to assemble the device

>Search Observation Chamber for additional components

>Search Sleeping Quarters for additional components

>Search Subterranean Farm for additional components

>Search Alchemist's Lab for additional components

>Write-In

>>1004266
>Search Alchemist's Lab for additional components

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194 KB JPG

>>1004266

>Search Alchemists lab for further components.

Beware magically reawakened homunculi and be sure to check the inside of any timekeeping devices.

Joking aside masks up and gloves on. Too bad we didn't pack NBC rated chem filter gear.

https://youtu.be/k4xkOyI_mIA

>>1004268
>>1004286
You head to the alchemist's lab and search it all over for any devices or hidden compartments.

>Perception: you notice that, when you open certain drawers in the chest of drawers, a clicking noise sounds from the walls.

>Analytical Mind: the combination turns out to be a simple puzzle involving the herbs used to treat deprivations of the four humors.

A secret drawer slides open in the chest, revealing a moderately-sized silver device. You take it and leave.

You return to the machine with the silver component. Now, to assemble the device!

You know the components must be put together in a certain order to assemble correctly, and that incorrect assembly could damage the device!

>Devices:

>Gold Device: this large, outer ring is covered in runes and grooves, and has a number of quarter-circle protrusions. The patterns of the runes remind you of a circutboard.

>Silver Device: This device consists of a series of interlocking silver rings with wards inscribed on them. When placed correctly, they should rotate when a magical current passes through them.

>Copper Device: This disc is covered with wires and tubes, which all feed into the pale stone at the center.

>Mercury Device: a series of mercury vials designed to fit into a number of slots.


>Vote on order of assembly.

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121 KB JPG

>>1004313

(I've read this quest since the beginning but have only recently begun playing. So forgive me my sins other invested anons.)

Is there any mystical association of the substances of Gold, Silver Copper and Mercury that in themselves might prove another puzzle?

The 4th Age seems to be one that readily embellished their mysticism with religious and natural themes. As a counterpoint to the more pragmatic 6th Age wage mage culture of corp results might the artifact's structure be sublimate to these deeper meanings?

Does the chamber itself reflect these materials being used in any particular order and alignment? Perhaps our finished artifact is a vessel of sympathetic magicks and is a miniature of the larger apparatus it taps into?

>>1004370
Yes, there in fact is, and Redd knows it! Mercury, Silver, God, and Copper are the four metals required to make the alloy Orichalcum, the 'King of Metals' and the most powerful magical reagent known, worth 50000 nuyen per gram. It's the consensus of historical scholars that Atlantis was the first civilization to discover the substance.

>>1004313
Well, the sigils in the walls have Gold, Silver, and Copper.
The Atlanteans also believed in a geocentric cosmos, concentric rings that rotate.

Now, the Gold device is an outer ring, and is probably the outermost. Silver device goes in gold, and I'm betting Copper device with the Philosopher's Stone on the center represents Earth. Now the Mercury device is designed to fitinto a number of slots, so I'm hazarding that Mercury goes on Copper, feeding the Philosopher's Stone, whichwould create a magical current that activates Silver, which means Silver is attached to Copper, and then Silver probably causes electromagnetic currents to happen by way of moving magically, thus activating Gold which has circuits in it.
So Mercury on Copper, Copper in Silver, Silver in Gold?

>>1004383
What is the order of precedence found in Atlantean geocentric belief?
Since the devices aren't mean to be fitted to each other but to specific places on the coffin's control panel, assuming that smaller fits into larger and that's the order is probably not something we should depend on.

>>1004507
The order of the planets in Atlantean cosmology is:

Earth
The Sun
Mercury (the 'Sun's Handmaiden')
The Moon
Mars
Venus
Jupiter
Saturn

>>1004507
>>1004720
Well, since we obviously found an Alchemy lab, I figured we should go at it from the Alchemical perspective.
The alchemical process involves metallic transformations in a certain order, from lead to gold: lead, tin, silver, mercury, iron, copper and finally gold. But this is if we are looking to transmute lead into gold - some texts say that Mercury could be the Philosopher's stone.

>>1004720
Can Rhun read Cyrillic?
Do either of our commlinks have a translator app installed that doesn't require a Matrix connection to work?

The mercury device is already installed, so perhaps we should start from there.

What is the order of metals to be added to create Orichalcum?

>>1004811
1. No.
2. No.
3. Copper, Gold, Mercury, Silver

>>1004904
>>1004313
Remove the Mercury Device.
Add the devices to the control panel in the order of creating Orichalcum.
Copper, Gold, Mercury, Silver.

>>1004976
You unplug the Mercury vials and place them to the side for now.

You plug the copper device into its portion of the machine, feeding the tubes to their matching dimples in the device. Next, you set up the gold device on its end of the dais, attaching its bottom to the metal plates made to connect to it. Next, you feed the Mercury into the slots needed for it, and watch as the tubes in the copper device fill. Finally, you attach the silver device to the protrusions on the Gold device.

You then quickly input the 12-step startup code embedded into the device.

The mana batteries creak to life, channeling mana into the device. The mercury becomes mana-charged, pumping mana into the copper device and trickling (from interior pipes, no doubt) down the gold devices grooves. The silver rings begin to rapidly rotate, turning into a blur of motion. The runes on the gold device crackle with power and start to rotate, spiral, and stutter, channeling hundreds of man-syllables of magical power per second. The white stone begins to glow a sort of greenish-purple, and fires a beam into the heart of the silver rings.

A rift opens amidst the rings, which are now rotating fast enough to be virtually invisible. The input keyboard turns over, revealing a keyboard on the inverse side: one covered with the symbols used to represent days, months, years, and geographical coordinates. A compartment pops open on the side, revealing a helmet with trode-like studs all over it.

>Input date and location, then don helmet.

>Leave be.

>>1005034
>Input date and location, then don helmet
Sometime in 2094, to see if there's anything to indicate the impending invasion.

>>1005034
>>Input date and location, then don helmet
>Sometime in 2094, to see if there's anything to indicate the impending invasion.

The time and location of Dunkelzahn's death.