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“Fascinating. Any resonance from your Key, Darling?” Asks perhaps the most daring among you. Francine’s eyes shimmer with curiosity, their glint darkened by the massive Fragment reflected in her astute gaze. The orb in question is held taut at your hip, sandwiched between the supple leather of your dress and the dense chitin of your armor. It hums, a subtle vibration that reaches into your bones as you peer down into the pit. The Relic at your side is a speck, little more than a mote compared to the thing that Merkabah died to protect. It’s a fragment of some unknowable whole, a shard that forced a being akin to a god to move reality around you, having rendered you a constant at the heart of a roiling chaos.

“It is.” You admit as you take a step back, with your family collectively taking one with you. “Obviously nothing like what happened with Jackie’s vorpal knife, but *something’s* happening there.”

“Let’s keep it ambiguous for now if it’s all the same to you, cap’n.” November rumbles from her speakers, folding her arms with a clank of metal. “Don’t want you to go getting isekai’ed off somewhere.”

“Again.” Francine adds, lip curling as she peers into the excavation expectantly…before getting tugged back by Amara and her band of clones.

“Is that another one of the Fragment-thingys?” Nerada asks through three dozen mouths, the ten-year-old’s control over the legion of corpses Merkabah raised expanding by the minute. Just a preteen spread thin among a platoon of the walking dead, rapidly becoming acclimated to puppeteering the shells of the distantly departed…

…well when you put it that way, Paloma’s team of Phantasmal Conduits can’t arrive soon enough.

Glancing over to the gaping wound in the Fleshscape only a few meters away, you focus back to the matter at hand. You’re nowhere near ready to reveal this massive Fragment to the world at large…while Merkabah’s defensive field kept perceptions at bay, you have to wonder just how quickly the Skinternet will catch up to what’s happened here. If you don’t want this news to get out then you’ll need to act quickly to…

…what, exactly?

You consider reaching out to Orwell again for her advice, but as the desire to get a hold of the situation grows, so does the twisting, roiling knot in your gut.

You don’t like keeping secrets. Not before, and certainly not after…

…after the last time you got dragged somewhere you wish you hadn’t.

>>Re-bury the Fragment until after the Conduit team wraps things up, then decide from there.

>>You have a spoke of Escher’s Gear, so teleport it to the Dragon’s Roost before this situation gets out of hand.

>>You need to figure out if this thing has any side-effects before interacting with it…you trust the Silver Key will keep you safe, so it’s time to test the Fragment’s properties.

>>Write-In

YOU ARE IN CONTROL

(Hello Everyone, and I hope you all had a pleasant set of holidays and a very good New Year. Voting shall remain open for the next three hours, with posting to resume in four. Also, below you will find the link to the beta version of the updated Hive Mistress cheatsheet, so let me know what you think before I finish it off this week. I do hope you are doing well, and it’s good to be back.)

>>https://pastebin.com/K29LDjcx

>>5175725
>>You need to figure out if this thing has any side-effects before interacting with it…you trust the Silver Key will keep you safe, so it’s time to test the Fragment’s properties.
I think the first priority is assessing any threat this thing might pose. Even before the "what if someone we don't trust gets their hands on this" question, because it's possible this thing might have bad results if someone we do trust gets their hands on this. I don't want anyone accidentally splatting themselves over a dozen dimensions.

>>5175727
Oh, neat. Thanks, BHOP, it's good to finally have concrete info on the swarmlings under the new system.

>>5175736
(Its by no means the full extent of what I've been working on, but I've prioritized getting the Merkabah level-ups ready for when you all vote to settle down and vote.)

>>5175742
Oh, I just noticed: Psychica Spiralis-modded swarmlings aren't on the list. I remember them making giving a weaker but portable version of the Psychica Spiralis effect, was that right?

>>5175751
(That is correct, yes!)

>>5175753
Cool. That's a useful ability, Psy-Platelings are probably our best armor in that case.

>>5175725
>>You need to figure out if this thing has any side-effects before interacting with it…you trust the Silver Key will keep you safe, so it’s time to test the Fragment’s properties#

"Found some eldritch Shit. Gotta test it out to make sure its safe!" Shu Defiant of Common Sense

>>5175725
vote;
>You need to figure out if this thing has any side-effects before interacting with it…you trust the Silver Key will keep you safe, so it’s time to test the Fragment’s properties.

>>5175736
>>5175769
>>5175774
(Do you all have a particular approach you'd like to try, or leave it to the dice?)

>>5175777
Hit it till it does something?

I am joking. I think the dice will do us plenty fine

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>>5175783

>>5175777
I'd say we should contact it with a Scarlet Jackling, first. Keep everything at one remove, until we either establish it's safe or that a swarmling can't get the necessary connection. Have Amara cast a GRA FOL VIE THA as well, so that the Scarlet Jackling has a bonus to concentration effects.

Shu should lay down a Psychica Spiralis, too. Just in case it does something wonky to the terrain.

>>5175777
lemme see...
>First, have those who have them try a more in depth 'scan' and analysis of it with what powers they can.
>Then test it with constructs, at first just getting near it for awhile, then touching it.
>lastly, test out direct power applications on it. nothing fancy, just attempts to more directly and deeply try and figure out what it is, can do, and how safe it is.
>Lastly, you and one other, both touching the key for safety, can attempt to directly touch it, if it seems safe enough.

something akin to this. best to do the full testing of it here, away from anything important, than moving it for sure.

>>5175794
Oh, yeah, we should see what Amara's Skintalker senses say, and what Francine's analysis can reveal. Get everyone who can scan do it.

>>5175727
Hello Bhop, Well my set of holidays are nothing home to write about. The short story featuring Sathriel has expanded in scope but I've gotten the main story beats down and are filling out the details that connect them. It currently reads like half an Ace Attorney Comedy and a half a tearjerker drama from Fist of the North Star.

Hopefully I'll be able to fill in the details and get it posted onto the intermission thread before it falls off. Last I checked the Intermission vein is on page 8 or 9.

>>5175824
That sounds like a wild genre mix. I look forward to seeing it.

>>5175824
(Oh, I'm very intrigued. I can't wait to read it!)

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>>5175725

You stand there a moment, contemplating how best to interact with the oversized fragment as you pace around the yawning pit. Dispelling the (rather intrusive) notion of taking a page out of Rath’s book and just smacking the thing, you instead adopt a far more scientific approach, keeping the Silver Key clutched in your right hand.

“Amara, Francine? Could you two give me a surface-level analysis before I go in with a Jackling?” You request, with the younger of your allies immediately lunging forward to the lip of the pit, dropping to all fours with her ear to the flesh-covered ground.

“The floor is humming! Kinda like it’s regrowing over and over again!” Your ward declares enthusiastically, prompting an arched eyebrow from Francine. The good doctor’s interest piqued, the fingers of her left hand start to fray, her arm unfurling up to her elbow into a willowing bundle of golden thread. Amara jumps back as the strands lance forward, stabbing into the rim of the fragment’s resting place as Francine closes her eyes.

“…I must admit that our little one’s analysis is rather apt.” She declares after a moment, her brow furrowed. “The surrounding terrain appears to be undergoing a constant state of regeneration…but it’s odd. The successor cells are perfect. No decay, none of the variance to be expected from typical cell growth. A perfect loop, localized to roughly a meter out from the fragment’s surface.”

“Then how were we able to dig it out?” November asks, the towering cyborg’s chrome facade reflecting the fragment’s own stygian surface.

“If I were to hazard a guess?” Francine sighs as her threads weave back together into an arm, its golden sheen supplanted by the doctor’s own skin tone. “Because it’s *letting* us examine it.”

Implications and hypotheses aside, your fingers curl tight around the orb at your side as you feel your hive get to work. A familiar pressure builds between your shoulder blades until a fresh swarmling squeezes its way out of your hive—a fist-sized wasp with a crimson shell, built for reconnaissance. The Scarlet Jackling hovers above the massive fragment as you dig in your heels, the ground underfoot curling into a spiral with you at its nexus…a protective field, to give caution it’s due.

Your chitinous creation flits closer to the fragment as Amara whispers a protective field around you, your skin humming with a Skintalker’s boon as your scout lowers itself gently, carefully, onto the thing’s jet-black surface.

And at that, the pit comes alive.

(Continued)

>>5176000

Before you can even begin to commune with the thing the sloping sides of the excavation are suddenly writhing, fist-sized figures struggling to free themselves, their scarlet shells splayed out at reveal gossamer wings that beat frantically against their fellows. Your mind is split, your scout’s vision scattered among a thousand sets of compound eyes, half of them still buried beneath the fragment’s obsidian bulk. Your swarmling flees to the skies as your stomach reels from what you can barely process, and as you throw yourself back your perceptions suddenly snap back to focus as both Francine and Amara catch you in their arms.

“…You…you saw all that, right?” You practically cough out, trying not to retch as you rise shakily to your feet. “That wasn’t Neuromancy, that was-“

“Spontaneous replication, yes, but are you alright?” Francine supplies, her concern for your well-being winning out over her own considerable curiosity as her hand finds your wrist and closes around your own hammering pulse.

“Yeah, I…the fragment. It make copies of my Jackling.” You say slowly, still trying to ground yourself. “But they weren’t just copies. For a second, they were all mine. Every last one was under my control, but…I think that’s what happens if I try and go past my swarmling limit.”

“And what of the Phantasmal effect?” Francine prompts. “It must have been quite potent to-“

“There wasn’t a Phantasmal component.” You say, unsure of what the doctor’s getting at until she reaches out, her finger wiping a tear from under your eye. It’s only then that you realize you’re smiling so wide the pain in your jaw is finally winning out against the nausea that overtook you only seconds before. What you took to be the aftermath of your own fractured vision is instead your eyes clouded with hot tears, a feeling that had welled up in your chest now receding just as quickly and as inexplicably as it came.

A strange, overwhelming sense of hope.

Alien, and yet so earnest it can’t help but make your heart ache as it subsides.

The Silver Key appears inert, its defenses against being pulled hither and yon helpless in the face of…whatever it is that just happened to you. Taking a tentative step closer to the pit’s edge, you will your Spiralis underfoot to expand to just within the Fragment’s reach.

And, as expected, the area around the black stone twists to match, though you pull back before unbidden emotion can curl itself around your heart once more.

>>Hypothetically, you should still be able to move the stone with Escher’s Gear…so move it to the Roost and wait for those Phantasmal Conduits Paloma promised were on their way.

>>Re-bury the stone for now, and wait for those Conduits to relieve Nerada of her duty.

>>Try something else out on the fragment, on a hunch (Write-In).

>>Write-In

YOU ARE IN CONTROL

(Voting shall remain open for the next two hours, with posting to resume in three.)

>>5176003
Wow.... This thing is a spontaneous perfect replicator. Damn. And it just filled Shu with so much Hope...

I don't think interacting with it in any way is truly safe. Putting it in the Roost with the Gear might lead to interesting consequences... when it is supposed to be transported. And someone has to touch it..... Wait could we have dozens of Shu's? Doppelgänger Shu?

>>5176003
hold on. lets review the Fragments and the primal desires that are aligned with each fragment that we have discovered so far:

>Tinker Tailor's Fragment: To see the past present and future, the desire to see what's ahead
>Jackie's Vorpal knife: To render space meaningless, a desire to close space.
>Silver Key: To anchor yourself and maintain a desire of stability
>Deleted fragment: To erase mistakes, to delete objects from reality regardless of consequence

>Unknown fragment: Ziz and Snowbird are heading towards that spot, discovered by a west proxie. properties unknown

Now this fragment. Already I can see the effects it creates both passive and active: Perfect replication. Not even a single hint of entropy. It's supported by the interactions that we have with it as well as our friends' analysis. One this is game breaking, as in "utterly breaks the crucible over its knees" breaking potential if used in certain situations. Two, this is CLEARLY ripe with potential abuse of power which goes against our principles. Three, we've already opened Pandora's box, now that Merkabah's death has destroyed the censor field, all the skintalkers will and might have already started snooping around and seeing what we did with that Fragment. The power hungry ones will clearly make a play for harnessing that Fragment for ill and for good.

>“The floor is humming! Kinda like it’s regrowing over and over again!”
>“The surrounding terrain appears to be undergoing a constant state of regeneration…but it’s odd. The successor cells are perfect. No decay, none of the variance to be expected from typical cell growth. A perfect loop, localized to roughly a meter out from the fragment’s surface.”

>>5176003
vote;
>Try something else.
>try tossing in something wholly unconnected to anyone or anything into it. aka, a rock will suffice.

>If the results of that aren't worth pausing over, have someone be ready to pull you back after a second, and stick your pinky finger into its radius.

>>Regardless, either get who you have to, and/or call in who you can trust to try and make sure they cover up this things presence as much as possible. you dont like hiding things or lying, but at the same time you really dont need anyone and everyone able to sense this beeling here either. you'll figure out how to balance this things existence morally after you even understand what it is enough to feel comfortable moving it or not.

>>5176017
>Wait could we have dozens of Shu's? Doppelgänger Shu?
We already have a clone army of Amaras that Amara can create. And army of Shus might break the world.

Also, This clearly reminds me of Library of Ruina's R-corp singularity. Even if the Fragment is capable of creating perfect Replicas, that doesn't mean the replicants will stay true to the original. Time, circumstance, behavior and environment will cause any replicant doppelganger to deviate in behavior, character, and principle.


>The Silver Key appears inert, its defenses against being pulled hither and yon helpless in the face of…whatever it is that just happened to you.

Strange.

>>5176020
I feel like the desires the Fragments embody all have to do with the Crucible Builders' decline and demise. Tailor's Fragment helps understand an uncertain future, the Vorpal Knife cuts past the journey to get their solution now, the Silver Key keeps them secure and safe in the face of entropy, the deleted Fragment undid the mistakes that led to their current situation. So that makes this one, what, the hope for the future where the Builders truly are free from entropy and can grow without limit? Except if they already had that they wouldn't need the Crucible project, so probably this thing only looks like it's defying entropy. It's cheating, and it's just our limited perspective that keeps us from realizing it. I suspect any attempts to abuse it will end very poorly for whoever tries it, as they run into its limitations and cause it to critically fail.

Still, you're right, even the potential that it could work is immense temptation for the more predatory Daughters. We need to get this someplace secure.

>>5176003
Supporting >>5176026


>>5176028
>The Silver Key appears inert, its defenses against being pulled hither and yon helpless in the face of…whatever it is that just happened to you.

>Strange.

We did not need to be anchored. We were not torn somewhere else.... unless we were ripped away from here on the Soulplane Side of things. That could be something the Key could provide no protection against.......

This is all pretty disconcerting to be honest.

Also about the Doppelgängers. Of course they would be different in their outlook after enough time had passed. In an Environment even just a day might drastically change the outlook of the Doppelgängers... or well originals since they would all be absolutely perfect copies for a time.

That would be probably a bigger Headache than the entire Gemma Situation since Shu has so much more cloud than most of the Gemmas have and started out with.

>>5176029
>Except if they already had that they wouldn't need the Crucible project, so probably this thing only looks like it's defying entropy. It's cheating, and it's just our limited perspective that keeps us from realizing it.

So then how does it cheat the rules if it seems to bypass the photocopier effect? That's the big question. Because Tailor's fragment allowed her to understand the uncertain future but for all its powers it is still bound to the absolute singularity event that is the Crucible's demise. She can take any route she pleases but the end destination will still be the same. So if Tailor's fragment has a limitation, then that would imply that all the fragments have a hidden limit like how even the Silver key is useless against the effects of the Replicant Fragment....actually the better name for this fragment would be "Growth of Hope."

"Flip the tables, rewrite the status quo. Cheat the rules...."

>So that makes this one, what, the hope for the future where the Builders truly are free from entropy and can grow without limit?
I think you've hit the proverbial nail on the head.

>>5176026
What if we tried to toss in something that is rapidly decaying like acid breaking down flesh? Would entropy still take hold? or would the fragment override the rule and preserve the decaying object like? Or would the fragment accelerate the entropic effect?

>>5176003
>>Try something else out on the fragment, on a hunch (Write-In).
>Find some piece of old-world material, something other than biomass, to toss as the Fragment and see if it replicates that. Francine or November should have some metal, probably.
>>Write-In
>Afterward, re-bury it until after the Conduits have arrived and departed, then call Tailor for her input on what we should do with this thing. She's our closest thing to an expert on the Fragments.

>>5176039
Might be another time-looping thing, but with some sort of enormous energy cost that offsets its usefulness? That's the most immediate answer I can think of for how it could not really count as violating thermodynamics.

>>5176026
>>5176042
>>5176044
So our list of things to try copying with this are:

>Biomass not linked to any particular person
>Non-biomass material
>Biomass that is in the process of being destroyed
>A person

>>5176042
good question.
we can add it i suppose, but i think seeing if it works on 'disconnected' things in general in the first place would be a first step before that regardless.

>>5176047
yes.
and while i still think the list is reasonable seeing them listed like that just has me cracking up like all hell.
doesn't help my mental image is a buncha people trying the other things while nodding and going 'mhm mhm, interesting' and then theres just a pause before someone just runs up and chucks a flailing person into it with great gusto.

>>5176047
I'm very hesitant about the last one. Replicating a living person? This will create massive. and I mean MASSIVE consequences. Even with consent, it feels very much unethical, and this is despite there being daughters whose core types them as Vitruvian (Replicator).

>>5176050
>>5176047
>>5176006
>Literally us anons right now:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cHWs3c3YNs4

>>5176051
I'm hesitant about it, too, I was just listing the ideas that had been put forth. I'd say if we do ever do it, it should be at the end of testing everything else we can think of and figuring out just what this thing does. You know, so we don't cause an existential nightmare. Well, more of one.

>>5176051
to be fair its much less bad in context when you realize its not a whole person we're testing and has safety measures in place.

>>5176054
hah, well played.

>>5176003
Supporting >>5176044

I must say guys, I a really worried about the consequences of unearthing this thing. Now, I am not saying we should lock it up and throw away the key, but I think we should be extremely careful about what we do with it and what we put in its proximity. I am especially hesitant about trying to replicate a person. The effects of that could be disastrous, since we don't know what it could do to the psyche of the person/their copy.

>>5176047
What about a different Fragment? like the Silver Key? Wait. we've already tried that given that we've done the swarmling test. (still amused at the idea we tried very very early in the quest where we did a feedback loop of Shu looking at a swarmling while looking at herself through said swarmling at the same time.)

>>5176044
>>5176063
im really really not a fan of re-burying it. at all.
it quite literally feels like just covering up a problem. it also still leaves it out in the open in a very real way that could very much still cause problems. not like subterranean or earth moving abilities dont exist either, so its not even a very good solution to hide its presence or prevent it from being tampered with.

least exposed people we trust can still study it, and if we do discover we can move it safely, it also means we can do so quickly.

>>5176066
We could try having Jackie stab it with the Vorpal Knife, but I suspect it won't have any effect. This thing is much larger and much stronger than any other Fragment, it can probably overpower them.

>>5176069
I might not have been clear with my wording, then. My intent was to just re-bury it until after the Conduits had picked up the ghosts, and then unearth it again for study. I just don't want people asking questions about "hey, what's this weird otherworldly monolith you're poking at" until after we know it's safe and we can keep it from becoming a danger to anyone.

>>5176063
ironically OOC, this is something that Snowbird and Ziz might be dealing with, so it will be interesting to hear back from them.

>>5176047
Hang on. Have we tried a relic? A Forge core? A T-1 relic? T-5 relic? I'm specifically asking a T-1 and a T5 Relic because a T-1 is the most common one while a T-5 relic can only be produced by a T5 forge core and even a T5 forge core is capable of creating only one T5 Relic.

>>5176044
>>5176063
>>5176069
oh, also, the whole thing Francine mentioned about why we were even able to unbury it in the first place. i dunno, if the thing can hinder its biomass replication to let us look at it, last thing we might want is the opposite, it being like 'oh? you want to just bury me again? OK, WELL THEN HAVE INFINITE DIRT! LETS HAVE EVERYTHING BE BURIED THEN!"

>>5176076
>>5176063

>>5176080 raises a good point. what's to say that the monolith fragment sentient to a degree? All the fragments that we have discovered first or second handedly are created from the wishes and desires of the builders.

>>5176079
>Hang on. Have we tried a relic? A Forge core? A T-1 relic? T-5 relic?
Nope, so far it's just been that one swarmling. Everything else is in the maybe column.

>>5176080
Perhaps. But I feel like it should also be able to understand our intent, if we're not leaving it behind but sticking around. Maybe we can tell it that we're just burying it briefly for the sake of information security? Unless it doesn't want to maintain information security, and wants to be known to the world.

>>5176076
that seems kinda pointless though, sorta.
Paloma is proooobly someone we could trust to see it, and we can probably just explain to her 'hey we dont need several dozen re-activated people you just saved spreading humors about this thing' and she can probably save them and take them away in a way that avoids that without us having to risk or bother with reburying it for such a relatively short time.

>>5176082
that is if we can get our intent across or even communicate with it. chances are Francines onto something, but how far or how much we can properly interact with that fact is another matter.
in part as i said >>5176083
it also just feels like a weird complication to amusingly enough an honestly actually high concern of what it would do with that dirt over something we have other ways to solve, especially considering the very temporary nature of burying it in this context.

>>5176082
>>5176083
I have a thought: if this fragment is supposed to be the manifestation of the desire of "Hope springs Eternal", then given the narrative effect that Shu has as the Defiant and one who represents the hope to break the cycle, is it a wonder that this fragment is allowing us to examine it?

>>5176054
(Oh, that got me good. Very nice.)

>>5176083
The best security is to not be known in the first place. I'm sure Paloma trusts whoever she's sending to do the pickup, but it's still best if we minimize the number of people who know about this at all.

But you have a point about the Fragment maybe not liking us burying it again. Okay, how about we send Nerada, Amara, and someone to supervise to meet with the Conduits in between the Waystation and here, so they don't get close enough to spot it, while Shu gets Tailor on the line and also throws various test objects at it?

>>5176097
Oh, no, not at all. It's probably feeling hope specifically because of Shu and what she might mean for the Crucible program.

>>5176097
could be.

>>5176100
yeah, send them to meet away from the sight is a good compromise. to be honest probably safer for them anyways to not be near the thing. chirst can you imagine if one of the conduit ghosts tripped into it? as if being a sorta zombie not fully human isnt already damaging to the mind enough.

>>5176100
>>5176091
Hang on...Something occurred to me. Jackie's Fragment is physically imbedded in her chest, while Tailor's Fragment is fused with her mind. If we do physically interact with the Replicant Fragment, then there's a high chance that the Fragment will fuse with the person interacting with the Fragment. Unless the fragment is choosey and specifically WANTS to fuse with Shu.

>>5176080
Hmm, you make a good point. Burying it might be problematic when we don't know if we can dig it up back again. Anyway, I do not want to bury it for long, only as a temporary measure until we get Taoilor's take on it or figure out if it is safe to move to some safer place like the Roost. We definitely should study it and not try to cover up the problem, but I would still advise extreme caution.

>>5176107
i mean... maybe?
but as far as we know every other fragment was of a size where that made sense to be possible.

this thing is... well, not something we would want to. it would be more akin to US fusing to IT, than the usual. we are not yet actually physically touching it for a reason, though honestly im not even sure if thats possible at the moment either, considering what we've seen so far.
or well, the 'original' us touching it. guess it depends on how all that works and if that matters.

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>>5176106
Alright, then

>>5176003
Changing >>5176044 to

>Send Nerada, the ghosts, Amara, and November to meet up with the Conduits coming to pick up the ghosts.
>Shu, Francine, and a few Joyous Many stay here. Shu calls Tailor for advice on what to do with a giant Fragment, and asks her to come examine it with us.
>Also asks her if she thinks it's safe to chuck stuff at it to see what it does.


>>5176107
Not necessarily. We've interacted with the Silver Key plenty, and it's never fused with us. For that matter, I don't think the Vorpal Knife needs to be stored in the user's chest, Jackie just does because one of her best friends is a Homestuck dork and this way she's even more of a Jack Noir reference.

>>5176107
Well, that sounds plausible enough. Not sure if its a good idea, but Jackie and Tailor came out of it okayish. Anyway, if we ever do try for someone to touch it/replicate someone, it should be us. For the sole reason that if someone has to pay a price for our curiosity, it should be ourselves.

>>5176107
>>5176111
>>5176112
well if we want to get it out of here someone will have to touch it most likely to try and teleport it or we take the normal route which will be full of dangers and very time consuming. But we really can not leave this thing behind.

If it tries to fuse with someone.... well that would suck but there would be little we could reasonably do other than be the person that pays for our own folly.

>>5176003
Changing vote from >>5176036
to >>5176116

>>5176003
>>5176026
compromising to also support the first part of >>5176116
this about doing the conduit baton pass out of sight of the thing.

still dont think we need to wait. Francine at least i wholly trust to study it without having to wait, and its not like Tinker can really do much more testing than we can when we have so little info about it.
i mean, what would her answer really be? "only one way to find out".

wait no sorry, it would be 'onlyonewaytofindout."
unless you mean her using her future sight to cheat but for one, we know she doesnt want to abuse it, and two, we know things like this actually can be exception to powers like that so its very likely not an advantage she has here to use.

>>5176122
I mean... yes and no?
theres a reason i want to try and at least start on the preliminaries of understanding this thing. its a bit too big a deal to just ignore and not figure a bit out while we're here and waiting around anyhow. its also not like anyone else wont have to take some risks to figure things out either. may aswell be us. we have the key, and it allowed us to look at it afterall, so it might be more willing to "behave" to at least someone here. the overwhelming hope also is technically a good sign, though maybe not a good effect to be flooded with so heavily.

>>5176003
Changing from >>5176063 to supporting >>5176116.

>>5176127
She knows more about the Fragments than we do, is all. You're right, she probably will say "yeahitscoolthrowsomejunkatititwillbeawesome", but if she does know about anything that could go wrong there's no harm in asking. We're talking about some physics-cheating piece of a dead god, I'm cautious about things like that.

>>5176143
will she? each one seems wholly different in what it does and even seems to interact with other things.
the only similar thing seems to be them being 'above' or 'outside' the Crucible, and their origins.

but thats not saying much. at this point if you found two normal donuts in a box they would fit that criteria.

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>>5176003

“November, I’d like for you to escort Amara, Nerada, and the ghosts under her control to meet with the Conduits that Paloma’s sent our way. Sweetie, I’d also like to borrow a few of your Joyous, if you’d be so kind.” You announce, casting a furtive glance between the jagged, rib-like spires that stretch into the distance. “I know Paloma vouched for her little team, but the less eyes on this thing-“

“The better. Got it.” November affirms, ducking low to let Amara hop astride the cyborg’s broad shoulders before jogging off to the Geschoss, with Nerada lurching her way after the pair in time with her shadowy legion.

“And as for us, darling?” Francine asks, watching her friend duck inside the Geschoss with Sir Fuzzbuzz and Marco close behind.

“We’re going to phone a friend.” You reply, a swarmling no larger than your thumb flitting out from your hive and up to your right ear. “Tailor, do you copy?”

“Ohgoodnessthisisapleasantsurprise.” Rattles off the eccentric tinkerer not a half-second after you open the channel. “IheardyouwereoffdealingwithaparticularlypowerfulAmalgamsohaveyoudealtwithitsosoonafterleaving?”

“Yeah, but now we’ve got a problem of a different kind—let me fill you in.” You sigh, staring down into the pit as you recap the last few minutes with as much detail as you can recall. “…so, you think you could swing by if you’re not too busy and-?”

Francine lets out a small yelp of surprise when Tinker Tailor practically blinks into existence beside you.

“…so at what point in my retelling did you-?”

“Seventeenwordsinsothisisthefragmentyes?” Tailor interrupts excitedly, a thin woman of tightly-coiled wires capped off with an inscrutable gas mask practically pitching herself into the pit, held up only by the balls of her feet. “OhmyohmythisisthelargestfragmentI’vesee thusfartrulyafascinatingspecimen.”

Her head snaps to one side, the smoky goggles of her mask reflecting your own face as she asks;
“Whatwasgoingtobethesubjectofyournexttest?”

You blink.

“…Honestly? I was thinking about throwing a rock at it and seeing what happened. No biomass, just mineral.”

“Ahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahhaahahhahahahahahahahahahaohmygodyour’reserious.”

“Do you think that would be ill-advised?” You ask, a little offended by the other girl’s abrupt fit of machine gun laughter…and, for once, she pauses before giving her reply.

“…ItisnotabadideanowthatIthinkaboutit.” She admits, staring back into the pit. “Basedousaidwhenyourswarmlingtouchedthesurfaceyouhaditpullback,yes?”

You nod, and she clarifies; “Sothereplicationphenomenaonlystoppedwhencontactceased. Meaningthatifcontactdidnotceasethenreplicationcouldhypotheticallycontinueunabated."

"I was thinking the same thing.” Francine chimes in, catching the Flesh Artisan’s words a bit faster than you’re able.

(Continued)

>>5176250

“Physical contact appears to be necessary for the effect to continue. I’d imagine that the terrain around the fragment is, in fact, replicated as well—with the effect going unnoticed until Shu’s swarmling gave the thing more date to play with.”

"Anastuteobservationmyfriend. Welldone." Tailor compliments, with Francine being a little taken aback. “Wejustdon’tknowhowprolongedcontactwithinorganicmaterialmightmanifest,sothemostprudentthingtodowouldbe…”

Her head cocks to you once more, and you swear you can almost hear the smile in her voice as she says; “…throwarockatitandseewhathappens.”

In surprisingly short order you’re able to uncover a small stone fragment in the surrounding fleshscape, a piece small enough to nestle comfortably in your palm up until the moment you cast it into the pit. The shard of pitted concrete clatters against the eldritch fragment, and the moment it makes contact the sides of the excavation spring to life, turning into jagged outcroppings of stone...but they don’t stop there. The pit continues to morph, the surrounding biomass undulating as a field of jagged stone shards, but the longer you gaze upon the roiling pit the more the mirrored shards begin to shift into distinct, yet separate shapes. Jagged asymmetry is supplanted with stone blocks, then houses in miniature. They’re blocky things at first, and you’re barely able to catch their details before one is supplanted by another dozen—but by the time Tinker Tailor extends her hand and the initial shard snaps into her hand you could almost swear you caught the shapes of what looked like more complex, non-euclidian structures that were blooming in the field of concrete.

And then, just like that, flesh and bone take the place of form and function when the shard is retrieved.

“…Replication’s just the first step.” Francine breathes, staring into the depths of the onyx fragment. “It looked like the fragment was building actual…*things* out of the shard. Extrapolating what existed previously, then spiraling off into its own…ideas…of what could be.”

“Ibelievewhatwearelookingatisnotmerelyafragmentthatcopies…butathingthatencapsulatesthesheercreativepotentialofthebeingthatconstructedtheCrucible.” Tailor surmises, thoughtfully turning the shard over in her hand before looking up to you. “Youpulledbackbeforeitcouldmakesomethingentirelynewoutofyourswarmling.”

Her head snaps to one side as she adds; “Oryou.”

>>Re-bury the fragment, and establish a constant security detail. This thing is too dangerous to leave unattended.

>>Transport it to the Dragon’s Roost, but not before having Rath craft a relic to keep it suspended, somehow—you don’t want to know what it’ll ‘extrapolate’ your home into, if given the chance.

>>If this thing is opening itself up to you, then you need to actually commune with it—take the plunge, and make physical contact with it.

>>Write-In

YOU ARE IN CONTROL

(Voting shall remain open for the next three hours, with posting to resume tomorrow morning at 10AM, Eastern time. It’s good to be back, and I wish you a restful evening.)

>>5176254
hrm... this is a tough one.
i still wholly and fully think burying it is a very bad idea. i mean, thats literally just giving it stuff to work with if nothing else, and assuming its somehow sentient, possibly upsetting to it.

vote;
>Transport it to the Dragon’s Roost, but not before having Rath, Francine, and Tinker craft a relic to keep it suspended, somehow—you don’t want to know what it’ll ‘extrapolate’ your home into, if given the chance.
>Make sure to first make a new, pretty solidly 'separated' room in the place, so as to give some level or separation and extra security for the thing.
>>If Francine, Tinker, or others wish to further study it, thats fine, you just want it someplace safe first.

Im not against trying to 'contact' it mind, i just think getting it someplace more secure comes first for sure.

>>5176254
Okay, yeah, that's potentially a very dangerous thing. Extrapolating anything it touches into all sorts of emergent order and complexity could turn even very benign things into abominations. The sole reassurance is that it only persists so long as it's in contact with the original. Granted, I can easily see a Daughter or Amalgam that touched this thing growing large enough to encyst it and keep in contact with it within their flesh at all times. Yeah, this is a big danger. I'm not sure what to do with it.

>>5176255
Thanks for running, BHOP. Have a nice evening.

>>5176254
I love conversations with Tailor. They are painful to read, yes, but oh, so fun and informative!

Anyway, I vote for:
>>Transport it to the Dragon’s Roost, but not before having Rath craft a relic to keep it suspended, somehow—you don’t want to know what it’ll ‘extrapolate’ your home into, if given the chance.

After that, I would suggest that we gather the gang, see what they think about the fragment and what we should do with it. We should study it together, of course, but I'd like to bring up the possibility of Shu trying to communicating with it and ask them if they think we should do it.

>>5176255
lifes not all too restful for me lately, but ill try. hope it is for you though, thanks for running.

>>5176254
Yeah, supporting >>5176267. Let's make a containment room for it. I'm open to trying to commune with it eventually, but not before we know a lot more about it and how it responds to living things.

>>5176272
>I love conversations with Tailor. They are painful to read, yes, but oh, so fun and informative!
She's just so enthusiastic! It's contagious.

So on another note. I've been thinking about the relic we got from Merkabah, Eden's East.

>This Relic’s shining geometric form appears to cycle through a variety of trapezoidal shapes when not in use, but then in the hands of a Daughter preparing for violence, its form is rarely in doubt. In combat, this Relic manifests as a melee weapon of the user’s choice that deals CATASTROPHIC damage, able to cycle between ANY PHYSICAL DAMAGE TYPE as a free action, once per turn. Regardless of this weapon’s form however, any physical damage it inflicts is supplemented by also dealing CATASTROPHIC RADIANT damage in melee range. Finally, this weapon’s form can be either SHORT or MEDIUM range, depending on the form its user chooses for it.

Now hear me out in terms of utility. The relic description states that it manifests as a melee weapon of the user's choice. Physically might I add if it were true. The Key term to cheat with is "Melee weapon." The human body is a melee weapon in one complete package if you look at it from a Vitruvian lens. So I ask: Is it possible for a daughter to manifest Eden's east as an extraneous limb like Rath's Phantom Limb? And if so, are we able to extrapolate that definition and extend it to an entire human form? And if that is possible, then can we give it to November where she can essentially gain a secondary body made of hard-light?

>>5176267
>>5176276
(In crafting this room, do you wish for the family to reconvene back at the Dragon's Roost or for Shu and Francine to attend to another issue?)

>>5176317
(It would still need to be wielded in some form by a user, but if you were able to wield a Relic at range you could absolutely make that happen. Alternatively, you could have it attach to a user to act as something of a stand.)

>>5176369
>Alternatively, you could have it attach to a user to act as something of a stand.
>Amara with a Star-child stand
Oh god. Amara will finally have a Star Platinum stand of her own. She's ascended one more level of ANIME.

>>5176433
Well, now we have to do it. Another step towards her destiny of becoming the most anime.

>>5176521
Problem is we might be running out of item slots on the equipment sheet? God it's been so long since we took inventory of our relics.

>>5176364
I guess Reconvene for now..
nothing is really springing to mind to go after except the maze i think the other family is looking over, which would involve us talking to them first before trying out anyhow.

>>5176364
Sorry for the late response, I was sick last night and feel asleep shortly before this was posted and only woke up about five minutes ago. But yeah, I'm good with reconvening, assuming the other team isn't on the immediate trail of something good. We're going to need to bring Rath back to build the containment vessel anyway, so unless Gina and Dorian have something they want to keep going after they should come with.

>>5176364
Yeah, I'm for reconvening, unless somebody is in middle of something they can't suspend for a time.

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>>5176254

“We need to contain it.” You say after a long moment spent weighing your options. “I’m not saying further study’s out of the question, but this fragment’s too dangerous to have out in the open. Do you think you two could come up with a solution?”

“Doubtless so, but I would very much like a third opinion.” The good doctor hums, glancing over to the wiry artisan as she rises from where she’d crouched at the edge of the excavation.

“RachelNeeson. Iwouldwelcomeherinput.” Comes Tailor’s swift reply, head snapping to focus on Francine. “Itwouldnotbethefirsttimeherperspective’sproveninvaluable. Itwon’tbethelast,either.”

It takes less than an hour to get your ducks in a row; Nerada makes the hand-off of the reanimated townsfolk to a trio of Conduits led by a rail-thin girl who goes by ‘Harrow’, while Gina’s team warp back to the Roost to meet with Francine and Tailor. November, Amara, and Nerada help you keep a vigil over the colossal fragment until you’re given the all-clear by yourresident red-headed brawler, with Orwell stemming the flow of news to a trickle, her ear to the ground for any moves towards the remnant of the Crucible’s creators. By the end of the second hour, you’re staring at a marvel of engineering, still not quite understanding how it’s been done; a new facility several dozen meters off of November’s machine room, a sealed chamber with the unearthed fragment hovering inside with room to spare.

“It’s fuckin’ WIMDY.” Laughs its co-creator as she strides up behind you, clapping a powerful hand on your shoulder. Rath’s shimmering eyes locks with yours, filled with an indelible sense of pride. “Seriously though, it’s propped up by constant airflow. Since the thing replicates whatever touches it, it’s basically holding itself up with hurricane-force winds generated and looped by some Generator-type Relics we’ve installed all around the room. Plus, if there’s any issue we’ve got a dozen Neuromancy Relics ready to shove this entire room about half a mile thattaway. Y’know, just in case it gets uppity.”

“I’m impressed.” You admit, peering into the room through the porthole embedded in the only door in or out of the chamber. “The room’s a fair bit bigger than I thought it’d be.”

“Oh, we came up with the idea that it should be about three times larger than originally conceived, just in case there happened to be any fluctuations in the thing’s field.” Rath fires back with a grin.

“Very clever. Whose idea was that?”

“Oh, uh…it was a team effort.” She says, suddenly bashful.

“So…your idea, then? Nicely done.” You fire back with a smirk, and even a roll of her eyes can’t do much to hide the luminescent blush that floods the shorter girl’s cheeks. “With all this, I haven’t even had much of a chance to touch base with GG to hear what you all found. Any news on that front?”

(Continued)

>>5177169

“May as well be the western front, for how quiet it was.” Rath counters with a scowl. “We took it slow, but half the traps we were expecting had already been disabled. GG said the place had already been looted, but that whoever’d gotten there before us hadn’t left yet. Coin toss as to whether that means they were still there gettin’ what was there to be got, or if they got ‘got’ themselves, and we hadn’t gone down far enough to find their dumbass corpses. Made some decent headway in case you wanna delve deeper, though.”

“That’s all…very disconcerting, but I’m glad you and the others didn’t run into any trouble.” You concede. Then, nodding towards the ceiling. “How’re things topside?”

“Dorian’s pouring drinks for Tinker Tailor and the Doc, while GG’s checking in with the Dream team. Not sure where Aunt Heather is, now that I think about it ” Rath mutters, before adding with a scowl; “Amara and Nerada are in the kiddo’s room. Still pretty fuckin’ pissed about what the little shadowy shit decided to do, but at least she’s playing ball with us for now. You sure it’s okay to have her here?”

“After how she helped us get those remnants over to the Ikean Fortress, I wasn’t about to turn her out.” You say with a sigh, staring at the fragment eerily hovering just a few meters away. “I don’t like it any more than you do, but I think there’s something to be had, there. Amara seems to be getting through to her, for what it’s worth.”

“Eh, she’s your daughter, for sure. Makin’ allies outta assholes.” The shorter girl remarks, giving you a gentle poke in the ribs. “S’why you’re stuck with me, I guess.”

“Oh, you misunderstand…you’re trapped in here with me.” You’re able to get out before your lips crack into a grin.

“Awful. Just awful. So! What’s next?” Rath asks, leaning with one shoulder against the long hallway. “The Fortress was fun and all, but the Cord’s, like…*right* there. Kinda want to get to scouting, or at least ticking some of the other boxes on that list Paloma gave us.”

“...you just want to fight the swordsman Amalga-”

“I *really* do, though!” She indignantly interrupts, and you can’t help but laugh. “But I know we’ve got the rocket launch coming up soon, and I get if you don’t wanna get too involved in anything before that. And before you ask, Orwell’s got a countdown ready for us, but we’ve still got time.”

You’ve a lot on your plate, as per usual…but if there’s one thing you’ve learned about the Crucible, it’s all about putting one foot in front of the other.

>>Reach out to Orwell, both to get a sense of how long until launch and to see how much info leaked about the fragment.

>>Go back upstairs and touch base with (Choose Family Member to interact with).

>>Ask Rath something else on your mind (Write-In)

>>Write-In

YOU ARE IN CONTROL

(Voting shall remain open for the next three hours, with posting to resume in four.)

>>5177172
>>Reach out to Orwell, both to get a sense of how long until launch and to see how much info leaked about the fragment.
>>Write-In
>Then meet back with the rest of the family to discuss our next move.

>>5177172
vote;
>Reach out to Orwell, both to get a sense of how long until launch and to see how much info leaked about the fragment.

though honestly i have no strong feelings one way or the other on this vote.

>>5177172
Supporting >>5177184.

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>>5177172

“I think reaching out to Orwell’s next on the agenda, and once I’ve got a better idea of the timeline we’re looking at then we’ll have a family meeting.”

Rath nods, giving the chamber door a quick tap with her knuckles before turning to you. “Dorian and I will get the table prepped, so we’ll be ready when you are.”

She leaves you at that, and when the commling in your ear flares to life with a buzz that’s almost like static, it takes Orwell a bit longer than usual to answer your call.

“Heyyy, Shu.” Greets the teen with a heavy sigh.

“You okay?”

“Yeah yeah yeah, just…there’s been a lot. But I’m fine.” She dismisses, taking a deep (and perhaps overdramatic) breath before launching off. “Alrighty. ‘Kay, so; I aggressively scrubbed all the info I could find, so there’s no fear of some randos finding out about the fragment. Lines are dead, pics have been erased, and no-one’s finding a damn thing from here on out. Even got a relic running an embedded subroutine to monitor for even the vaguest allusions to the fragment and zap the shit out of any new threads that crop up…that’s the good news.”

“…and the bad?”

“What info I wasn’t able to scrub got snapped up. Caught wind of some rapid-fire bidding, real high-ball shit. That was an hour ago.” Orwell says, the bite in her words indicative of the Skintalker’s wounded pride. “Dunno who it’s been sold to, but I’ve picked up some chatter about some teams getting assembled from overseas and talk of coordinates being bought for local Waystations. Suffice to say, we’ve got some parties interested in the fragment and willing to pay through the nose in Relics, biomass, and favors to get their hands on it…and from my initial research into the teams, they’re not the negotiating types.”

“Think they’ll make a move on the Roost?”

“Oh, most definitely. I’m keeping a close eye on the comings-and-goings, so they won’t catch us on our asses, but they’re also working off assumption, here. We may be able to hide the thing, or move it somewhere else. Or! Or—and this is just a thought—we could try and counter-bid.”

“Pardon?”

“Look, which holds more weight?” Orwell says wearily. “The coin of some Daughter who’s riding out the end of the world in a white tower, or the favor of the Defiant, Hunter of Gods, the woman who’s balls-deep in saving the world? You send out word that you’re willing to talk, and you bet your ass they’ll listen. The reasonable ones, anyway.”

“Let’s tab that conversation ‘til after I brief everyone.” You say, feeling no small amount of trepidation at the prospect of teams being hired to invade your home…to say nothing of the prospect of trying to hash out some kind of deal with them. “Anything else I need to get up to speed on?”

(Continued)

>>5177430

“Well for one, Behemoth’s agitated.” The teen sighs again. “Every little fit and start of the Disassociated’s initial launch prep’s just pissed him off more by the minute. He hasn’t made any moves, but I’m guessing he may bum-rush the launch. I…I don’t even know where to start with that. Sure, they’ve got defenses in place, but this is an Apocalypse Amalgam we’re talking about. They weren’t counting on fending off something like that, and especially not when we’ve got eight hours and counting ‘til go-time.”

Eight hours.

Less than half a day to go, and you’re suddenly, keenly aware of the seconds that pass with every thump of your beating heart.

“Shit…what about Leviathan?”

“Not a peep. Just exploring the oceans, chatting it up with local traders. Talked recently to this girl who’s—get this—and entire fucking battleship. Crew and everything.” Orwell exclaims wearily. “Can’t make this shit up, my friend.”

“And Ziz?” You ask, and you can almost hear the girl at the other end of the line cringe.

“Uh, yeah…Ziz met up with West Alpha a little while ago. They’re checking out the ruins of a city pretty close to where you first woke up.”

“Snowbird…” You gently correct, hearing the other girl make a small sound across the connection. “…and are the two of them alright?”

“I’d have told you if they weren’t.” The Skintalker says, a sudden edge to her exhaustion. “But yeah, they seem to be getting along surprisingly well. There’s some distortion around the ruins, but they’re mostly just exploring. They’re one of, like…two dozen things I’ve got my fingers on the pulse of, but what I’ve just covered are the most pressing. Honestly, if this weren’t the Crucible, I’d have run outta fingers.”

“I know it’s a lot, Orwell…and I appreciate it. All of it, and everything you do.”

There’s a small, soft laugh that filters across the line, and with that, she says; “Then it’s worth it…look, I’ll let you catch everyone up, and I’m here if you need me.”

Your second recap of the day sees you pacing back and forth behind the chair Dorian had crafted for you with the Roost’s master console, your family filling the seats that flank the long alabaster table.

“Only eight hours.” Dorian murmurs, his seat opposite a very excited Amara.

“ONLY EIGHT HOURS!” Your ward exclaims, her echo reverberating through the living room.

“So if we’re assuming that Behemoth’s going to beeline for the rocket the second the DOs try and lift off, what’s our counter-play?” Gina asks as you finally settle into your chair and stare down the table. “We’ve got Ziz. Think we could pull in Leviathan, given how chatty Orwell said they are?”

“That, or hit up Behemoth first.” Rath forwards, leaning back with her toned arms folded across her chest. “Keep the fighting away from the rocket, if it comes to that.”

(Continued)

>>5177432

“Wealsohavethefragmentuntestedasitmaybe.” Tinker Tailor quickly adds, vibrating beside Francine.

“I’ll say this here and now; I am not comfortable bringing the fragment into combat without rigorous testing.” The good doctor counters, and Tailor’s hands quickly snap up to her defense.

“OhIdonotmeantouseitoffensively. Onthecontrary; asafragmentoftheCrucible’screators, and thereforetheApocalypseAmalgams, itmayprovetobeusefulinsomeregard. I agreethatmoretestingwouldbeprudent, ofcourse.”

“I know you and Rachel can do a lot in just a few hours…” November chimes in, choosing her words carefully as she leans forward on her elbows. “…but that might be cutting it a bit close, even for us. Shu, do you think Ziz would be willing to take u[p arms against what’s basically her brother?”

“No! That’d be too mean!” Amara objects before you can open your mouth to reply. “Ziz is a sweetie! She wouldn’t hurt a fly!”

You choose not to point out that Ziz is likely one of the strongest beings in the world that the Earth’s become, but Amara’s puppy-dog eyes drive the prospect even further into the corners of your mind…though it’s one you can’t afford to discount completely.

“What’s perhaps even more pressing is the matter of the fragment.” Francine declares, locking eyes with you from her seat three chairs away. “Its dangers as well as its applications have the potential to be disastrous if it falls into the wrong hands. I understand it may take some time for them to assemble, but the last thing we need is to come to blows with Behemoth and leave the Roost undefended. The moment it’s seen that we’re directing our attentions elsewhere, they’re certain to make their move. It’s simple tactics.”

“Orwell will keep us informed. If push comes to shove, then I’ll knock their asses down personally.” Rath firmly declares, before shifting uncomfortably in her seat. “Also, uh kind of off-topic, but...what’s this about some kinda warship girl? Actually, nah, that…that can wait.”

The redhead immediately has to fend off a pointed and amused look from Gina, while you take a moment to glance across the room to where Merkabah’s remains rest not far from the Fuzzpit, staring at it as the multitude of options before you rattle against each other in your mind.

>>Split your forces, and maybe pull in some favors; one team to defend the Roost, the other to venture out and confront Behemoth well before the launch.

>>As much as Amara might be against it, you’re going to need Ziz’s advice, at the very least; reach out and learn all you can about her sibling, and test the waters of cooperation.

>>Making sure you’re completely ready for whatever you decide takes precedence; so it’s time to stave off the Hunger [12 LEVEL-UP POINTS AVAILABLE].

>>Ask Orwell something you’d like more clarification on, to make your decision a bit easier (Write-In).

>>Write-In

YOU ARE IN CONTROL

(Voting shall remain open for the next two hours, with posting to resume in approximately three. I do hope your day is going well, one and all.)

>>5177436
vote;
>split into teams
>Leave Tinker and Francine to study the Fragment, aswell as November and the Dream Team to help keep the place secure.
>Have a Talk with Amara. You dont want to make Ziz fight, but it should be HIS choice what he is willing to help with or not, not yours by omitting him from the conversation. if nothing else, he may be able to help us talk to Leviathan, and regardless of how that goes Behemoth too. Send Dorian and Amara to talk to Ziz about the situation.
>In the meantime, Call in the situation with Paloma and the Midnight Crew, and Julia and the Hyenas. You're hoping for the best, But Behmoth doesn't seem the most reasonable and you might need all hands on deck just to buy the Disassociated enough time to launch.
>Once word on Ziz is back, with or without him, take Dorian and Gina to go speak with Leviathan, see if you cant get him to help, or at least offer advice.

>>plan to try and give yourself a small window of 30 minutes to an hour to level up and do final preparations once its clear what all you're working with, and incase the most likely worse case happens with Behmoth.

>>5177436
Well SHIT. There's a LOT happening at once here. We're gonna have to prioritize.

Also Poor Orwell, she may be a trooper but I am very VERY certain that she's pushing herself to her stress point.

I would like to raise a point/suggestion. We have Teams of Daughters who want to raid the roost for our shit with the Fragment as the big prize. The reason why it's valuable is because whatever information that Orwell scrubbed has left them bits and pieces that leaves them filling in the blanks to the Fragment's potential. They want to use it. So why don't we rob them of that value by using it first? It's pragmatic yes, it's morally dubious because of its eldritch and disruptive nature, but we're being pressed into a corner and we can't really afford to have a team of ambitious daughters who want to raid our shit, so why don't we rope them into the DO Defense? Move the Fragment, move the target location of our potential raiders. get them to congregate to a spot in the middle of Behemoth's warpath.

That way, their objective will either be forced to step aside or fight alongside us should negotiations with Behemoth goes South.

On that note, yes, I want to tap Ziz for advice on Behemoth, but we aren't going to have Ziz fight Behemoth. We should also try and contact Leviathan and get him squared away.

Gather all the eggs and potential problems in one place so that we can get a handle on the bigger picture.

I'm sure my idea will be shot down, but as well defended as the Roost is, I'm not particularly willing to take chances of fighting a war on 2 fronts.

>>5177436
>Also, uh kind of off-topic, but...what’s this about some kinda warship girl? Actually, nah, that…that can wait.”
Oh my god, Rath. Keep it in your pants. You and every tall girl with guns, I swear.

>>5177468
We might be able to waylay the Fragment hunters by pointing out that it's a complete unknown and that there's not even any clear sign it might be worth anything. Yeah, it does something weird. Does it do something weird that's useful? That can be harnessed safely? That's a complete unknown. It's actually advantageous for anyone who wants it to wait, at least for a while, because then all the work of figuring out what it does will have already been done, by us. Though I suppose that brings the risk that we might come up with a way to use it for our own purposes and make it harder to steal. Still, I think there's a cost-benefit analysis that makes waiting to steal it for at least a while a smart move.

>>5177468
im not hard yes or hard no to that idea, but i certainly think we should look at other options first before doing that.

It shouldn't actually be that hard to move it 'within time' should it really look like we need to do that, though im of course still unsure we even should. lots of ways that could go bad. the fragment itself just has the potential to get out of hand, especially in a chaotic environment.
or someone could or could try and abuse the situation to just steal it while we're all stuck fighting Behemoth. that could also quickly cascade out of control if someone tried that too. least if its still in the roost anything like that isnt turning fighting Behemoth into a multi-pronged warzone.

also, on that note... so far im wondering what the 'advantage' of this fragment is. so far they all seem to be able to be utilized in some way. sure, it could be this one is just 'too big and potent' to be, but actually that is semi questionable. its potent sure, and maybe more powerful than other ones we've seen, but its actually hard to tell due to the fact its actually so far seeming very limited compared to others. may seem weird to say that at first, but once you take into account it has a limited sphere of influence and once whatever it was interacting with is take out of that radius it loses all progress or alterations its done to/with the object, it actually makes it seems quite retrained in what it may actually be able to do long term to things in general.

of course, we need much much more info and testing to be sure, but im just going off of what we have so far seen.

>>5177436
Yeah >>5177459 sounds good. Though I think we should emphasize to Amara that we don't want Ziz to fight their sibling, because ideally there won't be any fighting at all. We'd much rather Ziz help us find a way to distract Behemoth or even talk them down than help us fight him. Fighting isn't a good end for any of us. If Ziz wants to fight Behemoth, sure, we'd welcome that, but Amara doesn't have to worry about us looking to cause a fight. That's the worst case scenario.

Also, on the topic of level-ups, does anyone else want to try bartering with Nerada for a level of the Hive Halo? Because damn do I want that. She expressed interest in getting her own hands on another Halo, and while I'm not sure if I'd want to trade the Neurotic Halo I'd be fine with giving her a level of Calcite Halo. Or we could see if there's anything else we have that she wants.

>>5177479
I can think of a few potential uses for this Fragment.

>Fortress
The Fragment turned a piece of concrete into a whole evolving townscape. If you could control that so that the walls popping into existence didn't wind up crushing you, you could use the Fragment to build a really durable base that would be hard to either destroy or infiltrate.

>Army
It created a ton of instant swarmlings from ours touching it, and Tailor hypothesized that given more time it would have started iterating new variants of them. Combine that with a high swarmling cap (someone with the Hive Halo could handle it) and you'd have a rapidly-mutating army of swarmlings with all sorts of powers.

>Personal upgrades
We haven't tried it with a person, but I'd imagine that if they did touch it they'd wind up turning into a giant monster of some sort. That seems like the likely result of its replication and iteration processes combined with Daughter flesh. Their body expanding over and over again, mutating and changing. It would revert the moment they lost contact with the Fragment, but they could wind up encysting it inside their own body in the process. I'm not sure a Daughter would remain sane through the experience, but there's probably someone arrogant enough to assume they'll be able to keep control.

>>5177479
>>5177475
For all intents and purposes that we can gather as of now without further testing, the Fragment we unearthed is nothing more than the perfect photocopier with zero degradation issues upon creating a replication. The issue is the constraints of its properties and the fact that the Fragment hunters are working off of incomplete information due to Orwell's scrubbing on the skinternet. For all the Fragment hunters know they're working off of incomplete information.


>>5177487
>Bartering with Nerada for a halo level, we're gonna have to sacrifice 1 level up point.
But if that's the case and the Fragment hunters are working off of incomplete information with scraps and pieces in hand, that means we control a vast majority of the information flow that comes out. We could essentially drip feed them information in exchange for cooling their jets and changing their mindset from wanting to raid our house to a wait-and-see approach, which could make them less hesitant on the idea of raiding based off of incomplete information and assumptions. Or it could horribly backfire and make them even more motivated given what you have thought-up for its utility.

Yikes. This is what I pretty much don't want.

>>5177439
Hey Bhop. If we're gonna call Julia up for a favor, to aid us, do you have that Level-up sheet ready for her character sheet?

Also I am dreading having to return from work to find the level-up voting session already in progress given my schedule.

>>5177493
(She's got quite a backlog of level-ups, but if you decide for her to join you for game play, then Im planning for her level-up will be its own vote, separate from the regular vote given how big it will be.)

(How does that sound to everyone?)

>>5177487
well yeah, we dont want to fight, but we shouldn't be surprised if it happens.

as for the Shard, the problem with the first two is the aforementioned limited range and instant reversion if something leaves its relatively small area, especially for the second one. its range of influence is at a pretty awkward size. big enough to be a problem and worry, but not big enough to utilize for a true area of effect, especially given the size of the thing for if you wanted to lug it around. ironically you would want it much bigger for a fight.

really, its strangest feature honestly is just how so far confined its effects are to a specific area. within said area its potential seems utterly ridiculous but you take one inch outside that and it cant do or even keep hold of anything. its also interesting how even getting to the point of modifying the stone we threw it, the stone itself in a weird quantum way was unchanged and recoverable. im certainly interested to learn more about it, though its dubious if in this 8 hours we'll learn anything useful. doesn't hurt to try though.

>>5177497
sounds good to me. guess we can have back-to-back level up sessions later possibly before the potential big fight.
christ we might be more wound up than Behemoth is after that though.

>>5177487
Hang on...if we're gonna talk about the potential of the Fragment and we know it's capable of replicating objects, with your idea of using the Fragment as something of a Keystone foundation for a Fortress idea, we could use the Fragment to fortify the roost and turn the raid into a slogging siege.

Also, I have a hunch. If Ziz and Snowbird are also encountering a Fragment, then what's to say that they might also help in the defense in stopping pesky daughters from raiding the roost because we unearthed the same sort of thing that Ziz dreads?

>>5177499
(Given how packed my work and personal schedule is, there will likely be some rest periods to give me time to recalibrate and for you all to recenter as well, since I don't necessarily want to throw everyone directly into a possible combat immediate on the heels of what's sure to be a hefty voting session.)

>>5177497
Works for me. Julia's a bit of an outsider to the party at this point, giving her a separate voting cycle makes sense.

>>5177493
Yeah, it seems that everyone is just excited because it's a Fragment, and therefore potentially highly valuable, even without knowing what it is. Our attempt at information security may have actually made things worse in that regard, since if we're hiding it then it must be cool, right? Whoops.

>>5177498
Hmm, you're right, I misread the size of the effect. Though it may be controllable, adjust it to a bigger or smaller size. What I find interesting is that Shu notes that the mini-buildings look like they're non-Euclidean, which could mean that the Fragment warps the fabric of space around it. That might be useful in its own right, separate from the replication.

>>5177502
Maybe, but I'd want to know a lot more about what it does before we try. We probably won't have the chance to do it for a long while, if it's even possible.

As for Ziz and Snowbird helping guard the Fragment, potentially. I think that Snowbird is a bit too nomadic for that, but Ziz might be open to it. Though we should see what Ziz has found, first. I'm not sure they've actually found a Fragment so much as evidence of it. I'm worried that whatever that doomsday Fragment is, it's in West Prime's hands now.

>>5177503
fair enough.
still wont change the immediate feelings right after that though, probably.

that said, i am looking forward to seeing what options the Hyenas have shoved down Julias throat.

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>>5177475
>>5177436
>Also, uh kind of off-topic, but...what’s this about some kinda warship girl? Actually, nah, that…that can wait.”
>Oh my god, Rath. Keep it in your pants. You and every tall girl with guns, I swear.
Wait until Sweet Potato Yamato fires her augmented Star-wave Cannon. Unlimited range, no damage cap. Visible from all parts of the horizon after accounting the curvature of the earth.

Rath would be in the state of Chenobyl's Elephant foot if she witnesses it happening.

>>5177459
>>5177436
I would like to propose adding an amendment to the plan. Have Orwell make a general announcement in the skinternet that the Fragment is in containment and is currently being researched with information about the Fragment's properties being drip-fed into the skinternet to keep the Fragment hunters having second guesses in organizing a raid and more inclined to a wait-and-see approach. And have Orwell name-drop Shu's name to ensure that those who know our reputation will know we're trying to get to the bottom of this to ensure that the World is safe from other buried secrets and what not. That will leave the reasonable ones out while ensuring that the more..."violently inclined" ones isolated and more easily dealt with.

>>5177526
>>5177505
Any thoughts about the information drip-feeding idea to the plan? The more information that's out there, the more awareness people have, and more likely they will become inclined to keep each other in check instead of having us deal with a mob for being secretive.

>>5177530
I'm not sure a general announcement would work. That could just draw more people seeking it. Maybe if we could find the specific Skinternet communities where people got these retrieval jobs from, and talk to them about it. For that matter, we might be able to find the people who put out the job listing. There's got to be some way to trace it back to them. Some sort of courier network?

>>5177533
We could do that, but the problem is that the information's already out and the raiders are already mobilizing. But that's also a good idea. The question is whether or not the informants will keep the information to those raiders alone or whether they'll sell that information to other ambitious daughters will dirty morals. The power potential is in the middleman, the messenger, the informant.

The other question is whether if we're able to contact the raiders and convince the reasonable ones to turn on the other less reasonable raiders.

>>5177526
eh, im not for it. at the moment the hunters might not even know wholly who has it. its probably not the hardest thing to piece together, but only so much so. any confirmation on that is just asking to entice more to look for it via confirmation on it even existing, aswell as narrowing for sure who and where to look for it.

Its just a big risk of backfiring and adding more to our plate when the plates already way overloaded as it is.
i am still iffy on long term what to do with the thing and how much to say in general, but Behemoth is certainly complicating things had in the short term.

>>5177533
Which basically loops back to Orwell's suggestion: raise a counter-bid to the reasonable raiders.

Mobilizing them as mercs for hire might help, but their price tag will be steep if we go this route. We'll need something on hand that's valuable to offer them in exchange.

>>5177540
>>5177533
You raise good points.
That said, once we've gotten the organization of the general next move the devil in the details we'll need to tackle are both how to deal with the raiders as well as managing Behemoth's potential warpath.

>>5177436
I'm rescinding my amendment proposal >>5177526

>>5177543
(Understood, and thank you for letting me know!)

>>5177540
That's a good point. We shouldn't go announcing we have this thing until we're sure that the information is already out there. At the moment, we've at least got some amount of secrecy. The ones who do know we have it are probably keeping that information to themselves to keep the competition down. We give an announcement, and they all do. So we'd need to know who knows, and I'm not sure how to do that without getting attacked in the first place.

>>5177538
>>5177542
Though yeah, we should still see about Orwell's idea to counter-bid. We'd still need to do the recon to find out who's after us, though. Really, that's what it all comes down to, we don't know who wants the Fragment. Once we do, we can start discussing various strategies for stopping them. So that's got to be our first priority. Or our second, maybe, since they probably won't strike within eight hours and Behemoth will, so let's make them priority number two.

We could put Paloma on it. She's a Skintalker, and she has expressed interest in helping us not get bogged down in various problems keeping us from advancing westward. Splitting that task off to her and her team would also take some pressure off of Orwell, and lord knows that girl could use it.

>>5177548
just a side thought, but its an amusing-ish thought to think about how we might actually be on the poorer side of the Crucible despite our status and everything we have accomplished, just because in part we really haven't had a reason to think about the world-wide or even just he local Crucible Economy much. yet clearly both local and world-wide actually exists, and to some degree clearly to a pretty established level. some people probably have 1%er levels of hoarded biomass, relic, and favors by now.

>>5177554
>poorer side
>Mara literally gave us an inheritance of prime real estate, 2 heirloom level relics and a CLEAN Sparagmos Engine.
>a T-5 Forge Core
>Personal connections with an Apocalypse Amalgam
>Skintalker celebrity status with 24/7 press coverage and censorship services by Orwell

Other daughters be looking at our material and social wealth be like: HOW IS DIS BITCH CONSIDERED POOR?

>>5177554
>>5177556
We're your classic adventuring party murderhobos. We're not rich in the conventional sense, but that's just because all our wealth is tied up in assets that make us good at traveling the land fighting monsters. If you account for those, we're billionaires.

>>5177556
well yeah but in terms of economic status alot of that we couldn't really afford to trade, making it useless for bartering. others are dubious how much we would trust to bring out or let someone close enough to use. others still would be hard to actually make use of connection wise, and our celebrity status while usable has arguably gotten so high its also a detriment to the whole thing aswell.

>>5177557
yeah, kinda this.
it does depend on how you look at it, but as i said in terms of actual 'economy' in terms of actually 'cashing out' or 'trading' we're actually lacking is the thing.

>>5177559
>>5177557
So you're saying we're poor in liquidity. I bet Mara would be laughing her ass off seeing Shu internally struggle with economics. Which makes this harder for us to barter with Nerada for that Hive Halo, but on the flipside, not having that halo means we won't have Nerada's keystone weakness of being obliterated by anti-construct abilities.

And it's time for me to leave for work. I'll see you in 6 hours or so.

>>5177563
I mean, Nerada's a murderhobo, too, so we can probably barter. But yes, our liquid assets are meager.

>>5177566
Have a nice day, anon. See you later.

>>5177557
>>5177559
>Shu
>A Murderhobo
Objection: Shu has a HOUSE. That does not make her a hobo.

>>5177571
yeah but murderresponsiblehomeowner doesn't roll off the tongue as well.

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>>5177436

“We’ll split into teams.” You announce, shifting our focus back to those present before you. “Tinker Tailor and Francine, I’d like you both to stay here and research the fragment a thoroughly as possible. November, stay here with B’ni, Uzu, Holly, and Johanna—you’ll be our shield against anyone dumb enough to think the Roost is an easy target.”

“Nobody’s getting through us, chief. Nobody.” Swaggers Johanna, leading the rest of the Dream Team over to the table from where they’d holed up in their room.

“That’s what I like to hear, solider.” November replies with an audible grin, returning Johanna’s stiff salute when it’s offered.

“After we finish things here, I’m going to give our collected allies a rundown of where things stand and what we’re up against.” You continue, surveying the table. “Paloma, the Midnight Crew…Julia and the Hyenas, too, of course. I’m hoping for the best, but given what we know of Behemoth? He doesn’t seem to be the most reasonable of the three, so we need all hands on deck with this one. That being said…”

Your gaze finally settles on the youngest among you, with Amara’s two-tone eyes going wide at the seriousness of your tone. Normally, you’d have taken her aside to have this sort of conversation, but time and delicacy aren’t luxuries you can afford right now.

Not with urgency carving away at your time by the seconds.

“Amara, I’m glad you said what you did. I don’t want to make Ziz fight, but it would ultimately be Ziz’s decision to help us or not. Just like you want to be included, I want Ziz to be included in a discussion that involves their sibling. Does that sound fair?”

She nods emphatically, clearly put at ease by your reticence to pull the thunderbird into a conversation instead of a conflict. “Alright. If nothing else, Ziz may be able to help us talk to Leviathan and figure out where the last of the three stands…or swims, as the case may be. To that end, I’d like for you and Dorian to go have a talk with Ziz, and Snowbird too, if she’s present. Brief them on the situation as it stands, then report back here.”

Then, to Dorian; “Once you’re back, I’d like for you to accompany me and Gina—the three of us are going to pay Leviathan a visit.”

Dismissing the meeting, your family members busy themselves with the necessary preparations while you step away to stand before the massive windows that open down upon the Rusted Town below, and across the rolling fields raw muscle that stretch as far as your eyes will allow. A pair of swarmlings scramble forth from your hive, the helmet of the Chitinous Stalwart armor clamping around your head to grant you a measure of privacy for the conference call you’re about to undertake.

(Continued)

>>5177598

“Julia, Paloma, Jackie—can everyone here and be heard?”

“Loud and c-clear, Shu!” Julia’s bright voice announces, a sound for sore ears with all the bad news going about. “I’ve got Ivey and Andromeda here t-too, if that’s okay?”

“Of course. We need all the help we can get.”

“Then you’ll be pleased to hear Jackie and I are present, and not just us!” Paloma announces, her tone of voice betraying an easy comfort with a conference of this sort. “Magnus is here, as well.”

“A pleasure once again, Defiant.” The young man’s voice reverbs across the line. Your third summary is precise and to the point, a silver lining of having to retell the same dire situation several times over.

“Christ, you just can’t help punching up, can you Defiant?” Ivey purrs across the line, her tone somewhere between disbelief and admiration.

“Don’t let Rath hear this, but I’d like to keep the punching to a minimum.” You say, heaving a sigh. “Behemoth’s not a thing I’m interested in trading blows with.”

“Of course…but I and my family will be in your corner to trade blows with the best of them.” Magnus intones. “It would make a fine reprieve from the issues that’ve cropped up here.”

“Issues?” You interject with a scowl.

“There’s a…situation…that Em and I have been keeping an eye on for the past few weeks. One that Magnus just shed some much-needed light on.” Paloma explains hesitantly, before shifting focus back to the matter at hand. “It’s waited this long, in any case; what matters now is what you’re staring down the barrel of. I can afford to step away here with Magnus and Em, along with a personal selection of the Fortress’s guard.”

“Laoc’s in good shape, thanks to Julia whipping it into order.” Ivey informs you, her words curled around her ever-present cigarette. “They can hold down the fort, Shu—you’ve got me and the rest of the Hyenas wherever you need us.”

“As for me and mine, do you even have to ask?” Jackie grins, and you can practically feel her single eye staring you down across the miles of distance…but you still turn at the feeling of a gaze set on the back of your neck. A shadow slips back into the depths of Amara’s room, and you’re reminded that Nerada’s been conspicuously absent for as long as you’ve been present.

Honestly? You’re a little surprised that she’s still hanging around, given everything that happened before and after you fought Merkabah.

>>Bide your time with your own preparations until news from Dorian and Amara reaches your ears. You’ve no time to waste.

>>Ask Paloma and Magnus for an explanation of what ‘issue’ has cropped up at the Ikean Fortress—in for a penny, in for a pound.

>>Check in on Nerada—none of the plans you’ve made up to this point have factored her in, so see what she’s up to.

>>Write-In

YOU ARE IN CONTROL

(Voting shall remain open for the next three hours, with posting to resume tomorrow morning at 10AM, Eastern time. Thank you for your continued patience, participation, and enthusiasm, and I wish you a restful evening.)

>>5177601
>>Check in on Nerada—none of the plans you’ve made up to this point have factored her in, so see what she’s up to.
I think it's worth asking her what she wants to do, before we start moving on anything. She can hang around if she wants, I don't have a problem with that, but I don't know what she actually wants.

>>5177603
Thanks for running, BHOP. See you tomorrow.

>>5177601
vote;
>Check in on Nerada—none of the plans you’ve made up to this point have factored her in, so see what she’s up to.

not sure what exactly to ask so ill leave it to BHOP. probably just a general 'how are you doing', 'sorry things kinda got out of hand real quickly', and 'if you want no part in it, nows the time to bail, but you're welcome to stay.'or something.

>>5177603
thanks for running.

>>5177603
(Also, I will say the first option is essentially a 'fast-forward' to receiving news of how Amara and Dorian's conversation with Ziz went, since leaving to meet with Leviathan alongside Dorian and Gina was part of the last vote that won, so I'm still following that narrative track.)

(Just a head's up, since I wanted to make that clear.)

>>5177566
(Goodness, I didn't even see this the first time around. By the time you read this, I hope you had a pleasant day at work!)

>>5177625
>>5177615
(With players like you all? It's a pleasure. Rest well, and I hope you have a good morning.)

>>5177601
>>Check in on Nerada—none of the plans you’ve made up to this point have factored her in, so see what she’s up to.

Ask her what she wants to do. If she is willing to help us, that would be great, but no hard feelings if she doesn't.

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>>5177601

It takes you a few minutes more to wrap up the logistics with the Daughters on call, waving goodbye to Dorian and Amara before they set off on their appointed task just as Paloma gets an idea.

“Oh oh oh! You said you were going out to meet Leviathan, right? So you’ll need a boat!”The Skintalker exclaims suddenly. “I heard the ship that made contact with Leviathan recently is docked for the next few hours after dropping off her passengers, and I just so happen to have the coordinates to a Waystation that’ll put you right next to the port.”

“I’ll keep that in mind, thanks. If you could shoot that info over to Orwell, I’d appreciate it…” You say your helmet splitting sling the sides as the front half skitters back into your spine. “...and I think that just about covers everything for right now. If anyone runs into any issues, you know where to reach me.”

With that, the swarmling that is the back half of your helmet disengages, slipping back between your shoulders as you make your way over to Amara’s room, the door already cracked open an inch or two. Giving the door a gentle knock, there’s a small sound from inside…it doesn't sound like ‘go-away, so you take your chances and enter.

It’s changed since the last time you were here, last. Gone are the toys and sketches that littered the floor, replaced with a scattering of rugs with wildly different shapes and designs. Seems like she’s been having a go at the Forge, given the designs on display—and it doesn't end at the floor. No, the shelves on either side of the room hang with accountements you’ve never seen Amara wear, seemingly tossed about to be admired by their creator’s own roving eye. Glancing about the space, you think you even catch echoes of Julia and Dorian’s own artistic stylings, mirrored by your little one’s perceptive eye.

Your heart aches to see evidence of Amara testing out a set of skills that aren’t on the battlefield.

A girl trying to find herself, at the end of the world.

And there, at the foot of your little girl’s bed…

…a shadow that doesn’t quite belong.

“How’re you holding up after everything with Merkabah?” You ask, your opener apparently catching Amara’s guest off her guard.

“Uh…fine, I guess?” The young girl stammers, feet dangling off the edge of the bed. “I’ve fought tougher. A lot tougher.”

“I’m sure you have, but you helped us all the same. I appreciate that.” You continue with an earnest smile…one that quickly runs away from your face, once you see just how uncomfortable the expression’s made the girl before you. “Sorry if we’ve kept you. To be honest, I’m surprised you didn’t excuse yourself when you got the chance.”

(Continued)

>>5178397

She shrugs, tapping her heels on the foot of the bed, just barely scraping the carpet. “It’s been crazy. I haven’t even gotten the chance to say anything to Amara before you sent her out with Mister Dorian.”

Nerada finally makes eye contact for the first time since you’ve set foot in the room as she asks, “Is it always this busy?”

You can’t help but laugh a little at that.

“Sorry, I don’t mean to-...yes, it usually is.” You admit, gesturing to one corner of the bed. “Mind if I?”

Nerada shrugs again, mumbling something about it ‘not being her room’ as you take a seat far from the moody Hive Mistress. You’re about to open your mouth to make the small talk that’ll get you closer to whatever it is that’s on Nerada’s mind when she mercifully saves you the trouble.

“Why aren’t you mad?!” She demands suddenly, rounding on you with a knitted brow and accusing eyes. “Why aren’t you yelling?!”

“...I’m not a fan of yelling. Puts everyone on edge, mostly.” You admit, keeping calm in the face of the younger girl’s preteen fury. “Makes it hard to hear, and be heard.”

“But I-...you…you’re so weird!” She fires back, and this time it’s your turn to shrug.

“So I’ve been told.”

“Look, just…if you want something, just ask! I don’t like this…thing…you’re doing.” She growls, the edges of her form giving way to lashing tendrils of living shadow. “Just tell me what you want and we’ll be even! You’ll never have to see me again, just…”

“You’d leave Amara without giving her a proper goodbye?” You pointedly ask, and Nerada winces.

“She’s…she’ll be fine without me. I just want to end whatever *this* is.” She grumbles gesturing to…all of you, actually. “Just tell me what you want.”

“What makes you think I want something from you, Nerada?”

Her eyes narrow, and one shimmers with an emerald light…

…a Halo’s light.

“Because everyone wants something.” She coldly replies. “And sooner or later, they try and take it.”

>>Maybe a trade would be in order; a copy of her Hive Mistress Halo in exchange for something of yours, perhaps?

>>FIght by your side if you come to blows with Behemoth—after that, she’s free to do whatever she pleases.

>>You don’t want anything from this girl, except for her to know that trust can’t be bought. It has to be earned.

>>Write-In

YOU ARE IN CONTROL

(Voting shall remain open for the next three hours, with posting to likely resume later today at 4:00PM, Eastern time. Works cropped up with some errands I need to run, so I'll likely be on the road most of today. I hope your own day is going well, and take care!)

>>5178398
vote;
>You don’t want anything from this girl, except for her to know that trust can’t be bought. It has to be earned.
>"All i came here to do was make sure you're ok, and yes, out of a bout of curiosity about why you had stuck around."
>"help or dont help. stay or dont stay. You've done more than we could ask of you and helping with Behemoth isnt something you're obligated to do. If you stay, people will appreciate it. if you leave, no one will blame you..."
>"...though if you do so without saying goodbye to Amara, I cant say Ww wont hold a small grudge over that." finish with a wink, to let her know you're mostly not serious about that. mostly.

>get up and shrug. "The only one making mutual trust here difficult is you. Im sorry you went through whatever you did to make you so untrusting and only see the worst in people, but i cant help the unwilling, and as much as im willing to lend an ear, i also sadly dont have the time to try and convince you to talk about it. whatever you decide though, take your time, here or out with us, we're fine with either."

im fine with a bit of rewording or such, but this at least gets my basic thoughts down and out.

>>5178398
Supporting >>5178416.

>>5178398
Blerg, late response since I've been away from a computer for most of the day, so past the voting point, but supporting >>5178416 anyway.

>>5178652
Oh, something I would add if it's okay, though: We should ask Nerada if she wants to join the level-up meal. She does deserve a share of the food, since she helped fight the Merkabah, and if she feels comfortable eating with us she's welcome to.

(Will be updating shortly, everyone. Work has me a little behind.)

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>>5178398

"All I came here to do was make sure you're okay." You explain, voice level. "And yes, out of a bout of curiosity about why you had stuck around."

Her furrowed brow deepens for a moment before she relaxes, just a hair. Her suspicions abated for now, you breathe out a sigh. "Look, Nerada - help or don't help. Say or don't stay. You've done more than we could ask of you and helping with Behemoth isn't something you're obligated to do. If you stay, people will appreciate it. If you leave, no one will blame you..."

Her eyes search yours for a moment before you add; "...though if you do so without saying goodbye to Amara, I can't say we won't hold a small grudge over that."

You finish with a wink, hoping to let her know you're not too serious.

Mostly.

“Can I be bluntly honest with you, for a sec?” You ask, rising to your feet as you watch Nerada do the same.

“I’d prefer it.” She replies coolly.

"The only one making mutual trust here difficult is you." You begin. “I am sorry for whatever you went through to make you so untrusting and only see the worst in people, but I can’t help the unwilling, and as much as I’m willing to lend an ear, I also sadly dont have the time to try and convince you to talk about it. Whatever you decide though, take your time, here or out with us, we're fine with either."

Nerada’s quiet, mulling over your words for a few moments until-

“Amara feels guilty about Ziz. Something that happened right before I say you both at the Waystation.” She says as she glances about the room, eyes roving across everything but you. “If Behemoth’s a dick, then I fear she might hold back because of her interaction with Ziz, so…”

“…So?” You prompt.

“I’ll help her as far as Behemoth. Whichever way that goes, then I’m out.”

“Fair enough.” You shrug, making your way to the door. “I appreciate the help…and I know Amara appreciates the company.”

You close the door behind you when she fails to reply, and you’re just in time to see a colossal shadow sweep across the fleshscape that’s just outside your living room windows. The crystalline panes shudder from the gale-force winds kicked up by the wing beats of a tremendous beast, its feathers shrouding the land from sight as it comes to rest atop the mountains you call your home.

You’ve never been happier to see something that could probably kill you in one hit.

(Continued)

>>5178749

A few seconds after Ziz’s landing both Dorian and Amara appear from the living room stairwell, your little one bounding across the space and leaping into your arms before Dorian can so much as open his mouth to tell you the good news.

“Ziz says she’ll help with Behemoth!” Amara exclaims, unable to help herself as Dorian fixes her with an amused smile. “She really doesn’t want to fight him, but she’s willing to protect us if he gets super mad!”

“Snowbird is willing to assist as well, and even accompanied us back here…but there’s a bit of a snag.” Dorian interrupts, his amusement at Amara’ enthusiasm supplanted by the face of a man about to deliver yet more bad news. “Ziz and Snowbird unearthed another fragment in the city they were investigating. Thankfully, there are already significant measures in place to not only suppress its influence but also hide it from Skintalker or Neuromantic perception.”

“Lovely. Who do we have to thank for that small miracle?” You say, appreciative of at least some silver lining to be found in the shit-show that is today.

“…I don’t think you’ll be thanking the party responsible anytime soon.” Dorian grimaces. “It was West Prime. Apparently she had a Proxy out that way studying the fragment.”

“Shit. Well, at least if it’s still there, then at least Prime didn’t integrate it before she started to climb the Cord.” You reply with a groan, massaging your temples as you clutch at that silver lining, slightly frayed.

“Hey! Back so soon?” Gina greets as she strides forth from the Forgeroom, alabaster armor peeking out from the sleeves of her hoodie. “I’m ready to head out when you two are!”

>>Ride Ziz out to meet with Leviathan—you could use the ride, and having Ziz by your side might help give you some level speaking ground the other Amalgam.

>>Use the coordinates Paloma gave you and commission a ship to ferry you to Leviathan. It’d be a shame not to take the Skintalker up on her offer.

>>See if you can’t tap Orwell for Waystation coordinates close to Leviathan’s current location. Time’s of the essence, and any seconds you can shave off means more bandwidth to address the Behemoth situation.

>>Before you leave, you’d like to make sure everyone is well-fed and at the top of their game…you don’t want to take any chances with Ziz’s siblings [Initiate LEVEL-UP VOTE at start of next update, when Julia arrives at the Roost].

>>Write-In

YOU ARE IN CONTROL

(Voting shall remain open for the next four hours, with posting to resume tomorrow morning at 10AM, Eastern time. Thank you all for your time, patience, and participation, and I wish you a good evening.)

(Also, as an aside; I'm more than happy to coordinate the level-up vote around everyone's schedules as best I can. When it comes time just let me know, and I'll shift it around so that everyone has ample time.)

>>5178752
vote;
>Use the coordinates Paloma gave you and commission a ship to ferry you to Leviathan. It’d be a shame not to take the Skintalker up on her offer.
>>See if Ziz thinks his presence would help convince Leviathan to help, and ask even if he doesn't think hes necessary for the conversation if he wants to stay close by just in case.

i mean, closer coordinates wont matter if we cant get out onto the ocean to meet them.

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>>5178755
Suffice to say, I wish I could spend the day with a clean conscience and type away at the Sathriel short story with aplomb but "certain events across the globe" have sent me into a state of heightened anxiety. Atop ruining the mood of birthday for someone close to me.

>Use the coordinates Paloma gave you and commission a ship to ferry you to Leviathan. It’d be a shame not to take the Skintalker up on her offer.
Time to meet Yamato in-person.

>>5178758
Heading out for work soon, I'll have to say that leaving the level up vote open during the weekend or even on Tuesday works best for me. If the schedule and timing of the update happens on a weekday, then keeping the vote open overnight would work.

>>5178764
(I wish your friend the best in these trying times. I hope you have a good evening at work, as well!)

>>5178752
Can Ziz use the waystations, or are he/she/they (Ziz's pronouns keep changing with each speaker, I'm not sure what they actually prefer themselves) just too big to access them? It's not a super important issue, I'm just wondering. Could make things a bit easier.

>>Use the coordinates Paloma gave you and commission a ship to ferry you to Leviathan. It’d be a shame not to take the Skintalker up on her offer.
>>Write-In
>Ask Ziz if they think their presence would help us speak with Leviathan, and if they'd be willing to help there as well. Even if it's just as an evacuation if negotiations go sour.
>Also, ask Ziz for information on their aquatic sibling. What do they value, how do they respond to danger, what's their stance on the Crucible, etc.

>>5178758
Weekend level-ups work for me, if that's best for >>5178764 schedule.

>>5178764
Yeah, I get that, anon. It's a stressful time right now. I hope your friend is alright.

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(Just as a heads-up everyone; I'll likely have to pause here over the weekend due to a life event that's going to require my full attention to put to bed. Thus, I wanted to extend an offer; would you like to open a devoted level-up vote at end of day tomorrow for the family sans Julia and extending over the weekend?)

(You've more than enough on your plate to easily shift the general family level vote to late next Friday instead, but I wanted to float the idea by everyone to see how you felt.)

(Thank you for bearing with me, One and All.)

>>5178777
(Ziz will settle on 'she', eventually. And while Ziz cannot use the Waystations she's very capable of breaking the sound barrier.)

>>5178873
Ah, I'm sorry to hear that something's come up. I hope it doesn't cause too much trouble for you.

And yeah, opening the vote tomorrow night and extending it over the weekend works for me. But if people want to put it until next week that's also fine.

>Ziz will settle on 'she', eventually. And while Ziz cannot use the Waystations she's very capable of breaking the sound barrier.
Alright, good to hear that she can keep up, regardless.

>>5178886
You know what, that was actually a pretty noncommittal answer of me. Sorry. I'm going to say that I would like to do the level-up vote sooner. Get it out of the way, so that we're not doing it right before we have a confrontation with Behemoth. Granted, doing it right before having a confrontation with Leviathan is also a bit momentum-draining, but I think it's less so since talking with Leviathan is still part of the preparation stage, albeit a very dramatic preparation.

>>5178873
Level-up vote at the end of the day tomorrow for the family sans Julia and extending over the weekend works for me. Plenty of time and opportunity to get things squared away.

>>5178873
OP what's the system for Body Horror Quest?

>>5179123
(It's a heavily-bastardized version of Nechronicha with a few sub-systems worked in for Relics, the Skintalker Lexicon, and the like. It's a mess, but I've had fun with it thus far.)

>>5178993
>>5178914
>>5178886
(Okay, I'll do that, then. I'll establish a proper start time when I wake up tomorrow and have a better idea of what staring down the barrel of.)

Hey BHOP, here's another song that I suspect could be related/sung by the three apocalypse amalgams:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qyNrZwDOh14

I just realized two important things:

Firstly, we didn't assign Rath a role. Should we bring her with us to meet Leviathan, let her ride the boat-girl like she wants (not like that, Rath, get your mind out of the gutter)? Amara needs an assignment too, actually, since she's back from meeting Ziz. I guess she can be our Ziz coordinator, hang out with her bird pal.

On the other topic of coordination...do the Dissociated actually know that we're working on a way to help them? I'm not sure we've told them. We should probably send them a message to that regard, so they're not surprised by Ziz and Leviathan showing up and panic even more than Behemoth is making them. Plus, our attempts will work better if we know what they're planning and can work with them instead of at cross purposes.

>>5178873
>>5179149
whoops, missed this.
kinda probably prefer to push the vote til next friday myself, but looks like most prefer otherwise.

>>5179370
(It's perfectly fine, since I left no concrete voting times intentionally.)

(I'll be posting the level-up list and blurb announcing it at 5:00PM, Eastern time. I look forward to seeing you all there!)

>>5179296
I think we should have Rath ride the boat-girl and phrase it exactly like that when we tell her her assignment.

>>5179398
I'll see the update in around 6 hours give or take. Take care bhop.

>>5179533
Man, it feels like Rath is just that much of a tomboy that it wouldn't make a difference if Rath was actually a boy.

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>>5178752

“Paloma gave us coordinates to a dock where we may be able to commission the Daughter Leviathan met recently. It’d be nice to have an ‘in’.” You say to Gina, though given your Neuromantic link she’s already nodding along before you’re even halfway through your sentence.

“You wanna talk to Ziz before heading out, maybe get a rundown on what to expect from Leviathan?” She asks, following your train of thought as you glance out the window, the thunderbird’s shadow looming large across the rusted shacks below.

“From what little Ziz alluded to on the way over here, it sounds like we can expect a fair amount of condescension.” Dorian informs you, frowning. “Though if you happen to be 'intriguing', then you'll have an easier time of things."

“Oh, I don’t think we’ll have any problem—Shu’s plenty intriguing.” GG replies, shooting you a wink as the young man beside you laughs.

“A fair point…ah, and before I forget.” He says, suddenly remembering something as he retrieves a trio of Relics from his jacket. “These are for us, courtesy of Snowbird.”

>>STASIS WOMB (Empty): A close cousin of the Goregrowth Box, this translucent orb filled with topaz-hued liquid can be filled with a single ability from a vanquished foe, allowing the user to hold onto a given ability until the time is right. The ability inside is held until a level-up point is used to retrieve it at a later date, and multiple level-up points may be infused into the WOMB to acquire the ability within in a leveled-up state. (Any Slot; After a combat in which the STASIS WOMB was equipped for, the stats of the ability inside are slightly boosted upon acquisition. This effect stacks.)

>>ADRENAL NAIL x2: The gruesome result of refining a Daughter down to a Relic, a feat possible with a Tier 5 Forge, one may embed this stake into one's body. Doing so allows the user vastly increased strength and speed, increasing their melee damage output by 10% and increasing their default movement range by one zone at the cost of reducing HEALTH REGEN by half. One of the simplest Relics to manufacture, embedding multiple nails into one's body results in a multiplicative effect rather than an additive one. (Any Slot: HEALTH +100%, DMG+, MOVE ACT +1 Zone, HEALTH REGEN penalty negated.)

“So, what now?” Dorian asks as you examine the Relics in hand.

“Now?” You say, turning to Merkabah’s remains.

“…we do what we must.”

!-NEW LEXION WORDS ACQUIRED-!

>>FIR (BIO-10% *2): A term for passion, rage, and raw emotion, this word carries the power of HEAT, imbuing the target’s attacks with the element and granting one level of resistance to it, as well.

>>ZIO (BIO-10%, *2): A term for alacrity, wit, and decisive action, this word carries the power of ELEC, imbuing the target’s attacks with the element and granting one level of resistance to it, as well.

(Continued)

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>>5179566

[[[ FAMILY LEVEL-UP ]]]

[12 LEVEL-UP POINTS AVAILABLE]

>>VERBUM PRAVUIL (Skintalker CORE, Lvl 1 of 10): LEXICON OF FLESH unlocked. Should a Skintalker absorb this power, they may elect five new favored words, and every word they possess in their Lexicon has its efficacy raised by two levels. Otherwise, they take the common starting Lexicon, though they may choose to copy the Lexicon of an allied Skintalker upon taking this ability, along with their power tiers and ‘favored’ status. (HEALTH +400%, BIO 600%, ACT +1)

>>KALKYDRA’S MIGHT (Flesh Artisan CORE, Lvl 1 of 10): An extension of the user’s physical prowess, the range of the user’s physical damage is increased by 1 ZONE. This extension applies to damage inflicted by the user’s other skill trees and Relics. By default the user is reduced to their bare hands and feet to deal BLUDGEONING damage, but this rather simple power is fated to take a rather unusual turn. (HEALTH +500%, BIO +500%, HEALTH REGEN +250%)

>>LIGHT OF YAHOEL (Generator CORE, Lvl 1 of 10): For 100% BIO, the user may emit a long-range blast of MODERATE RADIANT damage. Automatically destroys the first construct it passes through, reducing further damage to MINOR. (HEALTH +200%, BIO +600%, BIO REGEN +300%)

>>POPULI MEMORIA (Phantasmal Conduit, Lvl 1 of 5): For 300% BIO, the user may summon the echoes of the Daughters that died in the current location, granted Phantasmal construct bodies from the surrounding terrain that boast HIGH HEALTH and are capable of inflicting MINOR damage dependent on the terrain’s element. (BIO +300%, BIO REGEN +100%

>>VOICE OF BABEL (Skintalker Augment): Words in the speaker’s Lexicon are obscured from those that are unfamiliar with them, and are significantly more difficult to counter. (HEALTH REGEN +100%, BIO REGEN +100%)

>>PURITY OF FORM (Flesh Artisan Augment): Clear 2 random status effects at end of round. (HEALTH +300%, HEALTH REGEN +100%)

>>GODHAND (Flesh Artisan Augment): When using Flesh Artisan abilities or Relics to inflict melee damage, increase the damage dealt by TWO STAGES. (HEALTH +200%)

>>COVENANT’S REBUKE (Flesh Artisan Augment): The first melee attempt/turn by foes to reveal any information about you is countered, inflicting two random status ailments and SEVERE PIERCING DAMAGE. Techniques that do not require physical contact are immune from this counter. (HEALTH REGEN +250%)

>>ANNIHILATION’S MARK (Generator Augment): 1/turn, the first time a Generator-type skill’s damage would be reduced, avoided, countered, or mitigated, it instead is an automatic hit. (BIO +200%)

>>ECHO’S EDIFICE (Phantasmal Conduit Augment): Phantasmal constructs under your control gain +1 RESISTANCE against ALL DAMAGE types, and +1 PROFICIENCY in ALL DAMAGE types. (BIO +200%, BIO REGEN +200%)

YOU ARE IN CONTROL

(A note; Julia will have access to the above list in addition to her own Laoc-dependent list for when it's time to level her, and her pool of level-up points also includes a share from Merkabah, so no worries about having to factor her in to this vote.)

(Voting shall remain open until Sunday, 5PM Eastern time, but if for some reason everyone needs more time then I’m flexible. Let me know if you have any questions regarding the level-up options or anything else during the voting process. I can’t promise I’ll be quick in answering, but I’ll do my best not to keep you waiting.)

(Posting is set to resume on Tuesday, March 1st at 10AM, Eastern time, and wish you all a very pleasant weekend.)

>>5179567
well its easy to just assign everyone 2 points each.

grah, im reaaaally not in the mood for this, and am wholly unsure ill have time even with an extension for our usual talks, but its too important to not vote on.
so im tossing out my vote and im just leaving it at that, sorry.
Vote;

SHU;
>Murderous Flock
>Spiritus Ex Testa

GINA;
>Neuotic Halo
>Nervous Torrent

RATH;
>Vulcans Hand
>Tormented Drive

AMARA;
>Queen Crimson
>Joyous Many

FRANCINE;
>Gatlings Fang
>Crations Strings

DORIAN;
>Spring Heeled Jack
>Accumulated Charge

I am WHOLLY uninterested in the pain of trying to haggle around trading or taking new abilities. we got plenty, our builds are fine, until we consolidate things we dont need more, and lord knows if we dont start trying to level things we'll never get them anywhere at this point.

>>5179566
Ooh, new Lexicon words. Amara's got the classic heat/cold/electricity trio, now, on top of her radiant damage. Lovely.

The Stasis Womb has potential, too, hold on to an ability that we want but that we can't justify taking at that point.

>>5179567
Verbum Pravuil is an obvious boost to Amara, or potentially giving someone else Skintalking as a backup caster. Then again, with her clones, Amara can be a lot of backup casters at once.

Kalkydra's Might could be worth putting on Rath. Just on its own, it's a big boost to her Health and regen, and the passive range-extension would be handy. And while it's not clear what the "rather unusual turn" is, I think it probably would be something that works for Rath. "Kalkydra" means "bronze hydra", and it's a monster associated with the sun. It could wind up synergizing really well with either Indignant Ignition or Phantom Limb. But I admit that's supposition.

Light of Yahoel I can take or leave. Render it down to stat boosts if we've got nothing better to do with a spare point, but that's it.

Populi Memoria doesn't appeal to me. We've got better abilities for spamming weak minions, and it's a bit existentially hinky if it acts like the Merkabah's does. Not our style.

Voice of Babel is something that Amara already has. Unless we're getting another Skintalker, hard pass. Even then, probably still pass.

Purity of Form is useful due to how devastating status effects can be, though now that Francine has some phlegmatic abilities she can clear it. Good if we want backup for when our healer is otherwise occupied, other than that probably not worth the level.

Godhand has the potential to be incredible on Dorian on Julia, with how many Flesh Artisan-type attacks they do per round. Anyone else, pass.

Covenant's Rebuke is super specific, only applying to instances where people are trying to touch us to learn about us. Not worth it, in my mind.

Annihilation's Mark is neat, I guess. But we'd really only put it on Rath, our primary Generator damage-dealer, and she's already got abilities to defeat mitigation.

Echo's Edifice would be a nice buff to the Dream Team, but I'm not sure it's worth a level.

>>5179581
Would you be open to stashing an ability in the Stasis Womb for some hypothetical probably-nonexistant day when we do have points to put into new toys instead of finishing our existing trees? Because that Kalkydra's Might has me tempted, even if we never actually get around to leveling it I'd like to hang onto it.

>>5179581
Oh, also, why Murderous Flock on Shu? If we're going to invest in Hive Mistress stuff I'd rather work at finishing off Trypophilic Hive. We're close to getting Queens, from the old preview we got of our skill tree those should be pretty strong.

>>5179567

SHU;
>Trypophilic Hive
>Spiritus Ex Testa

GINA;
>Neuotic Halo
>Nervous Torrent

RATH;
>Vulcans Hand
>Tormented Drive

AMARA;
>Queen Crimson
>Joyous Many

FRANCINE;
>Gatlings Fang
>Crations Strings

DORIAN;
>Spring Heeled Jack
>Accumulated Charge

>>5179581

I have to say i nearly completely agree with you. There is nothing in there that would be of vital importance. While it would be hilarious to take the Skintalker Core reduce it for two Acts it is not really worth it to just take it like an augment. And while the augments are pretty good non of them do anything that we do not already have acess to outside of that REBUKE.... and how often did that come up. Getting up close to find the weakness is probably never the preferred method of gathering intel.

I do however believe that it would be more useful to finish off the Hive Street since we are nearly there already and i do not want to know what other goodies are hidden up there in that Skill Tree.

>>5179584
i honestly just skimmed over what that even does.
but re-reading it, all i can say right now is, it doesn't take a level-up point to use, and am honestly indifferent to it, so sure go ahead. i wont vote for or against its use here, though i can certainly see it helping as 'goodies' being able to be saved certainly makes losing out on things feel less harsh, even if its only one thing.

>>5179585
cause i want to see where it goes and if it'll be useful, even if just as a hybrid part, instead of just being a "trophy" ability.
though just having extra swarmlings from it is technically useful enough, but you get what i mean.
im not worried about Hive. its more than fine where it is for one or two sessions, we'll level it plenty later.

>>5179595
>>5179585
eh, i get the argument and i wont be upset if Hive wins out, i just like the idea of giving Shu both more Constructs and murder crows, as crows are great and can only end up greater with the intellect augment. as if the bastards werent smart enough naturally.

I do get its not the most important for her build but ironically with Hive getting close to done it actually does sorta become useful if only for adding to the swarm, even if of a wholly different type.

>>5179593
>>5179598
whoops, meant this for you, not myself.

>>5179595
>but re-reading it, all i can say right now is, it doesn't take a level-up point to use, and am honestly indifferent to it, so sure go ahead. i wont vote for or against its use here, though i can certainly see it helping as 'goodies' being able to be saved certainly makes losing out on things feel less harsh, even if its only one thing.
Yeah, one of my big regrets is how many cool powers we've had to pass over just because we've got stuff on our plate to finish first. The Stasis Womb at least lets us take a bit of the menu with us to future meals.

>cause i want to see where it goes and if it'll be useful, even if just as a hybrid part, instead of just being a "trophy" ability.
Fair enough. I get that desire, I think that Murderous Flock has some neat potential. If it also contains Magpie's eyeball drones it would be super handy. Those had psychic powers. But personally, I'm just too tempted to finish off the Trypophilic Hive. Get it done, get all those goodies we know are there, and also have the skill finally finished and not on the list of things we have to level. It's why I'm voting for Queen Crimson on Amara, this last level will finish that off. Hooray!

>>5179567
SHU
>Trypophilic Hive
>Dominus Bloodline

GINA
>Neon Ascendant
>Ivory Aeternum

RATH
>Indignant Ignition
>Vulcan's Grasp

AMARA
>Queen Crimson
>The Joyous Many

FRANCINE
>Creation's Strings
>Gatling Fang

DORIAN
>Spring-Heeled Jack
>Accumulated Charge

STASIS WOMB
>Kalkydra's Might

>>5179581
>>5179593
I just noticed that you're putting points into Gina's Neurotic Halo. Did you mean Neon Ascendant? She hybridized the Halo to make Neon, and can't level it without disassembling Neon or using Kadath points.

>>5179631
grah, yeah i did.
the lack of any easy to read indicator for whats hybridized or not, mixed with me just trying to get it out there i guess tripped me up. was also possibly mixing it up with someone elses.

>>5179567
>>5179581
amending Ginas to;
>Neon Ascendant
>Nervous Torrent

>>5179593
i apologize if my mistake is what tripped you up on this too.

I just realized that Rath's got an ability that's one away from capping out, too, Alabaster Endoskeleton. It would be nice to hybridize that with Calcite Halo at some point, but we can always just use the Sparagmos Engine for that. And capping it off both chips away at the list some and gives Rath some more defense.

Also, I've got to admit, I'm really tempted by Verbum Pravuil. On the one hand, five free favored words, and two additional levels of power for every word. That's really good. On the other, we've got so much more to level on Amara. I wish we had two Stasis Wombs, hold that in reserve until Amara has some more skills cleared up. Ah, well. Maybe we'll kill some more Skintalkers eventually. I'm sure there will be others on the way to the Cord, right?

>>5179567
Changing my vote >>5179631

RATH
>Vulkan's Hand
>Alabaster Endoskeleton

>>5179566
>ADRENAL NAIL x2

Welp. that's two other Daughters whose dream states have been locked into eternal torture. And we have no idea how degraded those dream states are. Should we cleanse these nails of the daughters via deletion? And also How many goddamn Adrenal nails do we even have?

>>5179567
Hmm...Haven't decided yet. Still plucking away at Sathriel's short story as is customary habit as of late. I'll come around when I wake up.

>>5179567
ammending vote from >>5179593
to include

GINA
>Neon Ascendant
>Ivory Aeternum

secure in Stasis Womb
>>KALKYDRA’S MIGHT

>>5179721
>i apologize if my mistake is what tripped you up on this too.

Dude.... i wrote that comment at around half an hour before midnight Central European Time. I also did not notice the thing with the Neurotic Halo. You have nothing to apologize for.

Oh! Just remembered that we should definitely check to see if Karma can level up as well after that battle. Might be able to get something real nice.

>>5179929
Oh, hell, you're right. I forgot that the Daughters the Nails were made from remained inside them. Gina can fix their situation so they're not suffering anymore, but proper extraction to a Dreamscape required the Dissociated's technology, and they're going to space in eight hours. Well, let's hope that the machine that does that is getting left behind on Earth to save on mass, and that it won't be annihilated by the nuclear pulse drive taking off.

As for how many we have, I think we've got four of them now. Wests sure love making these things. Maybe it's a like a final exam? Some relatively simple abomination they can make to demonstrate that they've integrated the skills they acquired from Prime correctly.

>>5179631
>>5179593
>>5179584
A thought: why are we putting a stasis womb on Kalkydra's might? I get that it's super useful on melee focused daughters, but Verbum Ravuil's status as a skintalker ability means that we can effectively copy Amara's Lexicon and get much of the passive benefits at a very cheap price. Skinternet access being one of them. Plus, it might be interesting toying with the idea of a Mother-daughter chorus combo given Amara's relationship with Shu.

Julia will get her share of Merkabah's biomass and if the overall consensus is to gift Kalkdra's might to Julia, then why not have her consume it directly as part of her level up voting session?

A thought has now occurred to me about Gina's overall archetype. Something that may have been discussed many times in past threads but I can now conclusively put a finger on:

Terraforming Tech-wizard Vietcong Guerilla Sniper.

Ivory Aeturnum for close quarters combat when she's in a pickle, Gladiatoral swarm for terrain traversal. Nervous Torrent and Neon Ascendant for Terrain Generation, with the latter doubling as Neuromancy hacking and sensory sabotage shenanigans. Virulent persistence and Life's deathgrip to make her resilient from insta-death hits. Finally Lyudmilla's Welcome for the main burst DPS with Cancerous Payload as the killshot. Shame that she doesn't have Spiraling Resilience to boost her death-save chances even further.

>>5180291
I'm not sure there's a consensus on Kalkydra's Might, just my own desires that I've gotten people to "yeah, I guess" along with, but my thinking was putting it on Rath. It's a logic based entirely around the name leading me to guess at what the "unusual turn" the ability takes is. In the Book of Enoch, the Kalkydra are angelic hydras that live in the sun. That suggests the skill might go well with Rath's power set. A skill based around physical might named after hydras could synergize well with Phantom Limb, and the solar themes could go with Indignant Ignition's radiant damage. Granted, it's probably wishful thinking that we'll ever get to see it, Rath has so many other things to put levels into before getting new toys. But I'd still like to hang onto it.

Verbum Pravuil is good, I admit. I'm just not sure who can effectively use Skintalking on top of everything else they need to do in a fight. If we want more Skintalkers, having Amara clone herself is usually the most efficient way to do it. Everyone else has something to do. I guess Shu might be able to, if she gets a free moment, but enemies love to rush Shu down so much that even though she's ostensibly a mid-line fighter she winds up in frantic melee pretty often. I'm not sure it wouldn't be a waste on her. If we do get Berbum Pravuil, it might be better to just put it on Amara and double down her Skintalking. Another five favored words, plus two levels of power on all of her words, would let her (and therefor her clones) cast some pretty strong spells for free.

>>5180307
Yep. Gina's kit is based on sabotage and attacks of opportunity. She's designed for giving her enemy rough terrain, popping out of the ground to quickly attack, and then leaving traps behind her as she retreats.

>>5180311
So wouldn't it be more reasonable in that vein to put one of those two levels into Lyudmilla's welcome? it's at 3 of 5. It would make sense to cap off that ability tree.

Problem for us is that we're up against Behemoth as a first priority in terms of the things to tackle. Gina for all her tool-kit can provide can't really amount to much in a direct confrontation against the continental Kaiju. But playing as Viet-cong against the Fragment raiders? That she can definitely play do and play merry hell with them. More to the point. That means if we're to put our focus on defending home base from raiders, Gina's our girl to keep the homefront secure. Enhancing the sniper ability means the raiders will be crippled more easily the more rounds she puts down range. And the attrition rate will be enough to force the raiders to second guess.

>>5180328
That could work. I want to take Gina to meet Leviathan, if only to test the theory that Leviathan would resonate with her the same way Ziz did with Amara. And if there is resonance and Leviathan agrees to help talk their Behemoth down, she should come with for that. But if there isn't, putting her on base defense wouldn't be a terrible idea.

As for upgrading Lyudmilla's Welcome, we've never actually gotten the chance to use it yet. I just feel weird putting more levels into an ability that hasn't actually been fired once. I guess the lesson is that Shu needs to put her girlfriend in her active party more often.

>>5180338
Francine might also be another candidate given that she's a former west proxy. Although it is very ironic that the one candidate who is best suited to resonate with Leviathan is infact West Prime, and she's already climbing the mountain of the world.

>>5180346
Yeah, Francine's another possibility. I remember it being implied that B'Ni could have also bonded with Ziz, so it's not a thing where there's only one predestined bond-partner or anything like that. Though West Prime is probably out of the picture on the grounds that Ziz said her creator's words were that they'd bond with the companions of the one who would end the Crucible. Even if that's not us, and it's someone else's companions, we know Amara is one of the bonded. So for Prime to be a candidate it would have to be someone who could be close with both an adorable child who just wants to help people AND a sociopathic mad scientist who sees nothing wrong with vivisecting children. I want to believe that such a person does not exist.

>>5179567
I'd like to submit my votes for the following:

SHU
>Trypophilic Hive
>Dominus Bloodline

GINA
>Neon Ascendant
>Ivory Aeternum

RATH
>Indignant Ignition
>Vulcan's Grasp

AMARA
>Verbum Pravuil
>The Joyous Many

FRANCINE
>Creation's Strings
>Gatling Fang

DORIAN
>Spring-Heeled Jack
>Accumulated Charge

STASIS WOMB
>Kalkydra's Might

>>5179631
>>5179593
>>5179581
>>5180443
A thought. Wouldn't it make more sense to upgrade the Calcite Halo for Rath for this level-up session given that we're bound to face Behemoth soon? If we're to bring Behemoth to heel at the worst case scenario, then we'd better ensure that everyone is able to survive the fight.

>>5180655
Maybe. I did change my vote to include the Alabaster Endoskeleton, cap off the skill, but the Calcite Halo could also be a good use of a level. Granted, any single level put into protection is only going to be of marginal usefulness. Behemoth is a big boy, I'm sure he hits pretty hard. Really, if we fight him the priority will be on avoiding attacks entirely, with protection just being against glancing hits. Leave tangling directly with Behemoth to Ziz (and possibly Leviathan), the party's efforts are best spent on debuffing him and giving the other Apocalypse Amalgams opportunities to attack.

>>5179567

General philosophy to go by: Sharpen your sword not your shiv.

SHU: Augment her core gimmick and its extensions. Get the hive and the Dream Daughter Frames upgraded asap.
>Trypophilic Hive
>Spiritus Ex Testa

GINA: If we're gonna have her play Vietcong to the Fragment Raiders, we better up her offensive and sensory boost.
>Neon Ascendant
>Lyudmilla's Welcome.

RATH: Seems a majority want to upgrade the flames of her fist. I still would like to point in her defensive abilities.
>Vulcan's hand
>Indignant Ignition

AMARA: Maxing out the Queen Crimson is a viable option, but the existence of Verbum Pravuil makes me torn. On one hand we could upgrade her lexicon spell strength, But on the other, there's the Joyous Many.
>Queen Crimson to max it out.
>Joyous Many

FRANCINE: Looks like Upgrading her core as well as her minigun seems to be the call. I have no objections.
>Creation's Strings
>Gatling Fang

DORIAN: Looks like everyone's aiming to max out his speed and hybridize at max level. FLASH.....A-AHHHHH!
>Spring Heeled Jack
>Accumulated Charge

STASIS WOMB: I can see the point behind putting Kalkydra's Might under stasis, but there's also the fact of Verbum Pravuil's utility of being doubled as a second Lexicon of Flesh that comes pre-loaded with all the spell runes discovered thus far.

There's that's my vote.

>>5181015
I wish we had two Stasis Wombs. Could we just Forge one, real quick? Probably not.

>>5181022
Wait...We could!. Though the question remains: What tier is the Stasis womb? Given that it's a sister relic of the Goregrowth box, then it should be on the same tier. We still haven't moved out yet so we can absolutely take advantage of our home facilities. but that would also mean we'll have to reserve a level-up point in order to use it.

>>5181030
It doesn't take a point to store, just to retrieve. So, if BHOP allowed this exploit and it didn't cost a ton of Bio that we would need for dealing with Behemoth, we could do it. But those two caveats might get in the way.

>>5181033
That does bring up the idea and the validity of a theoretical build in regards to the Crucible Economy: Hoarding consumable/Level-up Biomass as a store of currency.

>>5181078
>>5181033
Perhaps in more "stable times" this sort of build might work? but given the fast pace in which this quest is proceeding and at the stage of this quest game, such a long-term high investment build won't be practically viable?

>>5181079
Yeah, with how everything is accelerating, everyone who has levels wants to use them immediately. In that regard we're rather blessed to have the Sparagmos Engine, we can spend them on things and then take them back later if we really need something else.

>>5181085
But it also brings up an important point: The Stasis womb is a way to save and swap abilities that are out of place with our existing kit with abilities that synergize better as we continue our path. So I think it may be worth the time and energy investment to save up on interesting abilities we come across so we can do one final tune-up for the final no-man's land push once everything is settled given our access to a clean sparagmos engine.

>>5181092
Oh, definitely. I want as many of these things as we can get. I'm not sure how much use we'll actually get out of them, but I at least want the option. I agonize over opportunity costs at every one of these level-ups, especially now that levels have been condensed and so we get fewer levels per fight. With every level being worth more, we can afford to put them into stray abilities we just think are cool less. It makes the fear of buyer's remorse very real. Like, I'm still debating in my head over whether I should change my vote to include Verbum Pravuil, because damn if that isn't a serious upgrade for Amara's Skintalking. But she's got so many other things to work on, I just don't know.

>>5181100
Then why don't we start now? Forge another Stasis womb and grab Verbum Pravuil. Any of the Fragment raiders that we do have to put down can be used to fuel the Stasis womb economy. You can't invest in the long term without starting now.

>>5181112
If BHOP will allow it, sure. Let's ask.

>>5179570
Hey, BHOP, any chance we could quickly Forge another Stasis Womb to store Verbum Pravuil in, or is that a time/Bio investment we don't have to waste? Because if we can, I'd like to.

Also, weird thought I just had: What happens if November flash-Forges a Stasis Womb or Goregrowth Box and then drops it after putting a skill in? Is that information just lost?

>>5181100
Another point on the Crucible Economy. Stasis Wombs and GoreGrowth Boxes will likely be very highly sought after for the value of abilities stored within the relics. I won't be surprised if we hear other "wealthy" daughter make payments in those things. But given how the supposed Crucible economy works, I would suspect that Rare abilities stored in Stasis wombs and Goregrowth boxes would be the american denomination equivalent of the $20-$100 bill.

Progress on the Sathriel short story: Details are being typed in. At the part of the court trial and I've just finished writing in the first cross-examination.

>>5181117
(You may Forge one, yes. I'm not near my notes, but the BIO investment isn't prohibitive, if spread among the family. Also, if November flashforges one then the biomass would be lost, you are correct.)

>>5181221
Thanks for the answer, BHOP. Alright, that sounds like a decent plan to me, then. Does anyone else have a problem with making another Stasis Womb to put Verbum Pravuil in? If it's a minor decrease, split among everyone, I don't think it will be a big problem. It's rare for us to ever get that low on Bio, anyway. If nobody has objections I think we should do it.

>>5181243
No objections. In fact, the ability to store biomass that contain rare abilities can be a source of "liquidity" in the Crucible economics that we've been discussing on-off in this thread earlier.

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>>5179567

SHU - LEVEL UP

>>TRYPOPHILIC HIVE (Lvl 8): Damage types wielded by your swarmlings ignore 5 Lvls of RESISTANCE. Additionally, each Hive Mistress construct you possess now replenishes its HEALTH pool at the end of each combat character’s turn. Hive Max: 60 (HEALTH +200%, BIO +200%)

>>SPIRITUS EX TESTA (Lvl 4): The Daughters within Spiritus Shells regain access to the full suite of abilities they possessed in life, though the power of the abilities they wield scales with their CURRENT HEALTH vs. MAX HEALTH values. (BIO 180%, BIO REGEN +80%)

GINA - LEVEL UP

>>NEON ASCENDANT (Lvl 5): Starting on the 4th turn of combat, terraforming initiated by Gina or her allies doubles in strength and size. If a downed ally that Gina is controlling stabilizes and returns to combat, they gain 2 extra ACTs on their next turn. (BIO +140%, BIO REGEN +80%)

>>IVORY AETURNUM (Lvl 3): Aeturnum's blades now ignore 3 Lvls of SLASHING *AND* PIERCING resistance. If Gina would regenerate a limb with IVORY AETURNUM, then she may automatically MOVE adjacent to the foe that severed it and make 3 attacks against them, with her CRIT chance doubled for each strike. (HEALTH +200%, BIO +200%)

RATH - LEVEL UP

>>VULCAN'S HAND (Lvl 3): If a Relic used by Rath has a chance of inflicting a status ailment or stack, the base chance is increased by 5X, up to 100%. The first Relic attack made by Rath in combat is an automatic hit that deals 5X CRIT damage. (HEALTH +140%, BIO +60%, HEALTH REGEN +20%, BIO REGEN +20%)

>>TORMENTED DRIVE (Lvl 4): For every 3 ZONEs Rath traverses in a turn, all attacks she makes ignore 1 Lvl of RESISTANCE to their damage type. (HEALTH+ 140%, HEALTH REGEN +60%)

(Continued)

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>>5182387

AMARA - LEVEL UP

>>THE JOYOUS MANY (Lvl 5): Amara’s Joyous now copy any TIER 3 or lower Relics she has equipped. Additionally, Amara gains a small stat boost for every active Joyous that joins her in combat. (HEALTH +100%, HEALTH REGEN +50%)

>>QUEEN CRIMSON (Lvl 5) Queen Crimson’s defensive/reflective now spans the entire battlefield, granting all allies and allied constructs the defensive benefits of Queen Crimson, barring the following ability; if Amara would be reduced to 0% HEALTH, her HEALTH and BIO are automatically refilled, she is cleared of all status ailments and enemy stacks, refreshes any abilities that would normally be 1/combat (except this one), and her available ACTs doubles on her next turn. Queen Crimson goes dormant after this power activates. (BIO REGEN +200%)

DORIAN - LEVEL UP

>>SPRING-HEELED JACK (Lvl 4): If a foe’s ability would stun, slow, or impede Dorian’s movement in any way, the user’s total ACTs is cut in half and they are placed last in the initiative order for the remainder of combat. Additionally, Dorian emits a sonic boom for every 4 Zones traversed in a turn instead of 6. (HEALTH +120%)

>>ACCUMULATED CHARGE (Lvl 4): When accumulated STATIC surpasses 25 stacks, for every turn Dorian fails to DISCHARGE the damage of the next use of DISCHARGE is doubled. PASSIVE: +3 ELEC RESISTANCE (BIO +120%)


FRANCINE - LEVEL UP

>>CREATION'S STRINGS (Lvl 6): Reducing an enemy or enemy construct to 0% HEALTH with CREATION’S STRINGS heals Francine’s HEALTH and BIO by ½ the foe’s totals. This healing may surpass Francine’s own totals, granting her a protective sheathe of biomass that takes damage and is spent before her own. (BIO +100%)

>>GATLING FANG (Calcite Armorer/Generator/Humoral Paladin Hybrid Core, Lvl 4): Francine may spend 2x the BIO cost of GATLING FANG’s various firing modes to deal 3x damage to her target or targets. Additionally, damage dealt by GATLING FANG ignores 1 Lvl of RESISTANCE. (HEALTH +120%, BIO +240%)

(Continued)

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>>5182389

The last of Merkabah’s biomass merges with your own as you exit the Dragon’s Roost to find a thunderbird nested atop the cliffs you call your home, with Gina, Dorian, and Amara hot on your heels.

“SHU! IT IS SO VERY GOOD TO SEE YOU AGAIN!” Ziz bellows, rattling the surrounding rooftops of the rusted town before all seven of the amalgam’s avian heads wince as one. “Sorry! I have been having a wonderful time, and I’ve made a new friend!”

“So I’ve heard—hello, Snowbird.” You greet, smiling at the proxy as she inclines her asymmetric helm towards you from atop one of Ziz’s crowns. “I appreciate the Relics. It was an unexpected surprise…as was the news that you two had found something unusual?”

“A thing that consumed the study—and eventually the mind—of the Proxy stationed there.” Snowbird explains, stepping across Ziz’s beak to reach you as the colossi lowers her friend to the ground. “I understand you met a Proxy early on. That one had been stationed as the other’s replacement. The effects of the fragment have been suppressed by an intricate Relic array. Shields the fragment from perception—contains its effect, as well.”

“Which is?” You ask, craning your neck to look up at the towering Daughter.

“Similar to a Phantasmal field, but vastly more potent.” The towering Proxy explains. “What few notes remained at the research station detailed an irrational level of rage and an acute sense of hopelessness. The effect had resulted in the self-destruction of at least two attempted settlements when it flared. Then it was contained by Prime’s intervention.”

“We’d thank her if she wasn’t a cu-“ GG almost gets out before you shoot her a glance.

“I’m glad the field was suppressed, in any case.” You say, nodding to Snowbird before directing your next statement to the Amalgam that looms over you all. “Ziz, as Dorian and Amara mentioned, we’re going to speak with Leviathan. Any advice, before we set out? Also, you’re welcome to accompany us, if you’d like.”

“Ah, um…I’d really rather not? If th-that’s okay?” The suddenly sheepish Amalgam replies. “Levy and I never really got on that well. Behemoth and I could sometimes hold the odd conversation or two, but Leviathan…didn’t have time for things that weren’t interesting.”

A pause, and then, cheerfully added; “But you’re really neat! I’m sure Levy would love to hear what your plans are for this world!”

…You’re not so sure, but given how quick words spreads, you’re sure Leviathan will find out eventually.


>>Continue on with Gina and Dorian to the port, and commission transport to Leviathan. You’re well-fed and prepared.

>>Ask Ziz something more specific about Leviathan—you’re not sure how quick you are to trust a being that puts a kind soul like Ziz on edge.

>>Ask Snowbird for more details regarding this hateful fragment she and Ziz found.

>>Write-In

YOU ARE IN CONTROL

(Voting shall remain open for the next three hours, with posting to resume in four. I do hope you had a pleasant weekend, everyone.)

(Due to some life events, I may have to temporarily go to two updates a day, at 10 and 2, leaving my evenings free to attend to business and personal matters while still giving me enough time to write. I hope things are going well for you, and I appreciate your patience and participation, as always.)

>>5182390
vote;
>Continue on with Gina and Dorian to the port, and commission transport to Leviathan. You’re well-fed and prepared.

We can leave questioning of the other fragment to those already studying them.

>>5182392
that works if that's what you need to do.

>>5182387
Ooh, that swarmling upgrade is very nice combined with the Spirit Shell upgrade. Shells count as swarmlings, so that massive regen rate means they'll be at max Health most of the time.

Also, wait, I just thought of something: Isn't Uzu's "full suite of abilities" the Spiraling Fear? Okay, maybe she'd need Niku for that, but she should still be pretty buff. I guess she just got updated to the powerhouse of the Dream Team.

>>5182389
Ooh, Queen Crimson protecting the entire party. Very nice. Plus a second life once per battle for Amara, dang. Looks like capstones are worth it, even for just five-level skills.

>>5182390
Oh, wonderful, the Fragment they found was a manifestation of the Builders' suicidal ideation.

>>Ask Ziz something more specific about Leviathan—you’re not sure how quick you are to trust a being that puts a kind soul like Ziz on edge.
>Anything in particular they find interesting?
>What about dislikes? Are there any topics we should avoid?

>>5182392
Sure, BHOP. If that makes your life easier, of course. I hope everything's going well on your end.

>>5182390
>>Continue on with Gina and Dorian to the port, and commission transport to Leviathan. You’re well-fed and prepared.

>>5182392
Do what you need to do OP. You are already doing more than most in a day.

>>5182390
>Ask Ziz something more specific about Leviathan—you’re not sure how quick you are to trust a being that puts a kind soul like Ziz on edge.
>Likes, dislikes, things that he found interesting, stuff that he did in other Crucibles when he was awakened, his behavior when the curios he comes across gets ruined by something else, Does he get easily bored? Were there cycles where he was easily irritated like Behemoth?

>>5182390
>“Ah, um…I’d really rather not? If th-that’s okay?” The suddenly sheepish Amalgam replies. “Levy and I never really got on that well. Behemoth and I could sometimes hold the odd conversation or two, but Leviathan…didn’t have time for things that weren’t interesting.”

Hmmm....oh. I think I get the dynamic. Ziz is kind but impatient as evidenced by her interlude where she has trouble with staying put like how a child has trouble sitting still. Leviathan, being more intellectually mature is much more conversational, but like an old man likes to ramble and go on tangents, which runs contrary to Ziz's free spirited personality and chafes against her lack of patience.
Which leaves Behemoth as something of an enigma. Given that Behemoth and Ziz are able to hold the odd conversation and from what we can gather second hand about his legendary temper, It could be safe to conclude that Behemoth is emotionally deep/mature and lets his feelings guide him for many things, but it simple-minded and direct in his view and lacks the intellect to understand the bigger picture.

>>5182455
Of course, this is much due to speculation. Ziz's personality we know first hand, Leviathan is technically first-hand due to watching him through Yamato's pov, but Behemoth is pretty much second-hand hearsay from Ziz.

>>5182390
>>Ask Ziz something more specific about Leviathan—you’re not sure how quick you are to trust a being that puts a kind soul like Ziz on edge.
>Anything in particular they find interesting?
>What about dislikes? Are there any topics we should avoid?

Can't hurt to ask.

(Pushing the next update to 4PM, Eastern time - day's a shitshow, so thank you for your understanding.)

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>>5182390

“Was there anything in particular Leviathan found interesting, in this Crucible or the others you three have experienced?” You ask, curious.

“Hm…it’s kind of hard to narrow that down, actually.” Ziz murmurs, four of her seven heads swiveling this way and that as they try and recall any items of note. “When Levy talked to Behemoth and I, they’d usually tell us all about the life forms on the planet, and how they all worked together. Called it an ego-…iko-…eggo-?”

“Ecosystem.” Snowbird intones.

“Yeah, that!” Ziz chirps happily. “Leviathan loved figuring out how it all fit together before the Crucible, and how it changed when we arrived! If you wanna have a good talk with Levy, leading with that is a great idea! They’ll love it!”

“Good to know. Any topics it’d be wise to avoid, or anything that gets Leviathan upset, like Behemoth?”

“Oh, Levy doesn’t throw tantrums like Behemoth; Leviathan just gives you the silent treatment. Will maybe try and make things harder for you out of spite, if they’re real mad. This one time, during a really long Crucible that was in a real spooky part of space with all these hungry ball-sorta things that wanted to eat—a-anyway, Behemoth, Levy, and I were awake or a really long while, and while Behemoth was having a really great time, Leviathan was getting bored. Went really quiet and stopped talking to either of us. Even started playing with some of the stronger Amalgams and Daughters to pass the time.”

“And by ‘playing’, you mean…?”

“Um…well, Levy always wants to know how things work, like I said.” Ziz stammers as you feel Gina’s hackles go up. “They’ll ask nicely most of the time, but that Crucible was really hard on all of us, so…Levy kinda stopped asking, and just started picking at whatever and whoever seemed to help the boredom. B-but that was just the one time! And the Daughters of that Crucible weren’t nice, like you!”

You can feel Dorian’s eyes on the nape of your neck as Snowbird turns to look up at one of the Amalgam’s eyes, which utterly dwarfs the Daughter’s imposing fame.

“Tell them what you told me. When I was telling you about Prime’s objectives.”

“Oh, uh…so apparently you’ve run into Snowbird’s mom, kinda? She sounds a lot like Levy!”

“…How so?” You say, suppressing a snarl with your best expression of innocent inquisition.

“Leviathan really likes the changes that come with the Crucibles.” Ziz explains, leaning down to try and be eye-level with you and your allies…it doesn’t quite work, but you appreciate the consideration at least. “It sounds like whatever this West Prime wants to do would be something that Leviathan would be super-interested in.”

“Pardon, but is there any chance that your sibling could’ve run across information about West Prime yet?” Dorian asks, his even-keeled voice hiding an apprehension only you and Gina catch.

(Continued)

>>5182615

“Snowbird here asked me the same thing, but I don’t think it’s likely.” Ziz says, shaking her head. “It doesn’t sound like Prime crossed overseas or had much to do outside of landmasses besides this one, so what Leviathan would know would be limited to whatever knowledge the Amalgams or Daughters they’ve interacted with had, so it’s probably pretty fragmented.”

“So us possibly meeting with Levy should be a fresh start, is what you’re saying?” Gina asks, voicing your own train of thought. “Anything else they’d have learned about us—or even Prime—would be just rumor, no Skinternet or anything like that?”

“Exactly!” Ziz affirms, rising from the ground. “Leviathan’s powers lets them examine a subject’s mental and physical makeup. Levy compared it to being able to meet somebody’s creators by just talking to the creation. They can go back a long way into the subject’s past, and even extrapolate how they’ll evolve in the future when they consume new powers! Sometimes, Leviathan would even merge a couple different Amalgams to make entirely new things, that hadn’t existed in any previous Crucible. They’re really amazing! That was probably their favorite thing to do, so that’d be a great thing to ask about!”

“The similarities are interesting, no?” Snowbird says, voice reverberating from within her metallic casing. “Prime and Leviathan. Creation. Merging. The Apocalypse Amalgams and the Proxies, as well—abandoned by a creator they fail to fully comprehend.”

The being once known as West Alpha turns to you, fully, her jagged frame draped with a cloak of leathery flesh.

“If you still aim to converse with Leviathan, then I would accompany you.” She says firmly…and then, after Ziz nudges Snowbird’s shoulder with the top of one massive beak. “With your permission, of course.”

>>Accept Snowbird’s request and make your way to the port Paloma mentioned…you have a boat to catch.

>>Politely decline Snowbird’s request—your meeting with Leviathan will be a delicate affair, and this former Proxy’s own hang-ups regarding her creator won’t help matters any.

>>Given what Ziz has revealed, you’re re-thinking your meeting with Leviathan entirely. You’ve got enough on your plate, and dealing with someone or something remotely like West Prime is something you just don’t have the patience for.

>>Write-In

YOU ARE IN CONTROL

(Voting shall remain open for the next four hours, with posting to resume tomorrow morning at 10AM Eastern time. Thank you all for your patience and participation, and I wish you all a good evening.)

>>5182617
It's probably safe for Leviathan to learn about West Prime through Snowbird, right? I mean, she's in the Cord, and Leviathan is in the ocean. And I'm not entirely sure that Leviathan would actually like Prime all that much. Leviathan wants to experiment and discover for its own sake. Prime wants to experiment and discover so that she can create her perfect world. Plus, her plan is to essentially become a big cosmic parasite wiping out novel ecosystems across the universe, which means that she should be doubly repulsive to Leviathan. I think.

>>5182617
vote;
>Accept Snowbird’s request and make your way to the port Paloma mentioned…you have a boat to catch.

I mean... if nothing else, im 100% sure we could convince Leviathan that seeing if the Disassociated can actually escape the crucible would be worth seeing. other than that? I will admit i question if we can keep them "on our side" beyond that.
But our concern here right now is stopping Behemoth from stopping the launch, so one step at a time.

>>5182618
But will Leviathan let us boop the snoot?

Also, a thought: "Cardinal" Kei would definitely love to fly with Ziz once she finds out Ziz's personality.

>>5182635
It's a matter of whether or not Leviathan wants to extrapolate and pursue West Prime as an "interesting" thing to associate with.

>>5182641
We aren't one to dissuade her. Like what Shu said earlier back when we had our talks: It's Snowbird's choice.

>>5182617
>Accept Snowbird’s request and make your way to the port Paloma mentioned…you have a boat to catch.

>>5182645
i mean, yeah, but what does any of that have to do with Snowbird?

>>5182641
That's a good point. We've already got one giant monster to deal with, we can worry about the next one later. And you're right, I think Leviathan will definitely want to help us with this part, at least, even if they decide to work with Prime later. We're gonna launch a cyborg civilization into space, that's got all sorts of potential for neat new variety.

I'm still scared that we're just going to wind up with another Apocalypse Amalgam as a problem after this, but we've just got to chance it. Worst case scenario, we put off our countdown timer for enormous threats by another few days.

>>5182617
>>Accept Snowbird’s request and make your way to the port Paloma mentioned…you have a boat to catch.
>>Write-In
>"Let me open, though, please. I want to get a grasp on Leviathan firsthand, first."

>>5182617
Yeah, supporting >>5182659.

>>5182615
>This one time, during a really long Crucible that was in a real spooky part of space with all these hungry ball-sorta things that wanted to eat—a-anyway, Behemoth, Levy, and I were awake or a really long while, and while Behemoth was having a really great time.

>>5182659
>>5182669
>>5182657

Okay, now Ziz's account of Behemoth during that particular cycle is concerning. Behemoth's clearly fight-happy. And it seems that it's likely possible that his idea of targeting the Disassociated is him looking for a scrap-out brawl given that the Disassociated are trying to brute-force their way out of the Atmospheric membrane.

So we have a simple minded, but fight-happy Behemoth, a free spirited but impatient Ziz, and a curious and intelligent but easily bored Leviathan. What a dynamic these three share.

Negotiating with these three and getting all three of them to unite under one banner will be guaranteed difficult. Even more difficult is finding a place for them post-end given that each of them have their own goals and wants. Behemoth's happy state is when he gets to fight, Leviathan's happy when he gets to Learn, and Ziz's happy state is when he gets to Fly-free without trouble.

>>5182617
To be clear, by >>5182659 I'm thinking have Snowbird stay withdrawn to begin with. Keep on the boat, acting casual (or as casual as you can get on a living battleship meeting with a sea monster) and not provoking interest. There's no point in hiding her, but let's not draw attention to her. Leave it to her judgement when a good point to chime in on her questions would be, when it seems prudent to bring up similarities in their experiences.

>>5182673
Well, we can certainly provide Behemoth some fights on our way to the Cord. Post-Crucible, maybe we could assign him to a planetary defense role? The big cosmic predators that the Apocalypse Amalgams were designed to fight are still out there, there's still a need for giant monsters. And in-between fights for the fate of the world, he could hang out in dreamscapes. Fight people there, make him the boss monster of a dreamscape video game. Or maybe get in touch with the other iterations of himself in other Crucibles, if they don't all get merged together, start a fight club where they get to show off the various adaptations they've evolved over the eons.

>>5182723
I wonder if he is partial to sparring? Sparring might be a very novel concept to him.
>>5182618
An update to Sathriel's short story (now it has turned surprisingly long against my expectations): 3/4ths done with all the details. The difficult 2nd act part is over. I'm at the home stretch, but so close yet so far in terms of filling in the details. I'm surprised that I'm able to write at a consistent pace. Mystery stories are surprisingly hard to set up even in a "short" story format. All that's left is the final act.

>>5183069
(I'm really looking forward to it. And I agree, mysteries are a nightmare to pull together.)

>>5182673
technically, we dont need to unite them under "one" banner, we just need to individually give them an excuse to at least not cause everyone problems. (or well, at least lower to a workable level of problems, as obviously size alone is a problem we cant necessarily fix, etc.)

Behemoth i could see two routes maybe. one is convincing him that we can provide him with better fights basically, but the problem there is he's made to fight Crucible Destroyers. Im not sure even the Cord can regularly provide those for him. we risk too easily being one of the only things that CAN provide that...
...which beings up the second idea. its a gamble, but miiiight work. He wants a fight, but one that seems worth it. so if one of us seems worth it, like, REALLY worth it what if they just.... refused? but with a caveat. They'll fight him, but only after we've finished our Goal of 'beating' the Crucible in our own way. sure, he'll be pissed, but whats he gonna do? squash one of the only people hes seen who looks worth his time? thats not satisfying, and would leave him dissatisfied and with that hanging over his head from then on. 'you didn't win, all you did was waste an opportunity.' and we can tell him as such, possibly.
like i said, its a gamble, but if nothing else, its feeding into who he is, instead of trying to fight it or work around it.

Leviathan? we just have to prove we or our goals are interesting enough to at least not hinder. the second one might not actually be that hard. the first more depends on how much Leviathan finds a 'blank' interesting and/or how much he can sense Shu is the 'mother of all'.

File: Snowbird, the Living Reli(...).jpg (419 KB, 1092x1920)

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>>5182617

“You’re welcome to join us, Snowbird. I just have one reques-”

“Name it.” The former Proxy intones, bowing sharply. “So will it be done.”

“Let me lead the conversation. I want to get a grasp on Leviathan first-hand.” You say, and no sooner are the words out of your mouth than Snowbird tilts her head with a fierce nod.

“Of course. I wish to listen. To understand. Conversation is your strength. Not mine.” The other Daughter explains solemnly.

“Oh, I wouldn’t say that!” Ziz cheerfully adds. “You were plenty interesting to talk to when we were delving into those ruins!”

“Interesting enough for Leviathan?” Snowbird counters, and when Ziz hesitates, Snowbird makes a sharp metallic noise, almost like a bark of artificial laughter. “Then I will be leaving the talking to the Defiant.”

At that (and after a hug and a kiss goodbye to your little one), you finally make your way to the darkened tunnels beneath your mountain home.

You have to admit, it’s a bit of an awkward journey to the Waystation, even as short of a jaunt as it is from your home. Snowbird’s taking her promise to you in the strictest sense, and you emerge on the other end of the Waystation’s tunnel and into the Crucible’s dusklight without so much as a word from the looming cyborg. It always takes a moment or two for your eyes to adjust from the high-speed journey in near-total darkness, but if the first of your senses to be assaulted is sight, the second is most certainly your hearing.

A great clamor washes over you as you step into the sound and fury of a bustling port, hundreds of Daughters surging back and forth like the tides just beyond the maze of calcite containers that’re stacked around you, compressing the throng into a sea of bodies. Steeling yourself, you’re about to toss yourself forward into the roiling mass when Snowbird strides forth, the sea parting in the face of an arrival most seem to recognize. For once, you’re not the first person eyes are locked onto as you follow in Snowbird’s wake, catching a few errant mutters among the crowd that breathe your titles alongside Snowbird’s given name. When you escape the artificial alley the space opens up to a vast market, cramped and overstocked tables with their barking traders, shouting to be heard over each other, and a white noise you only catch when there’s a lull in the ever-present clamor.

The sea boils, just out of sight, its waves clawing at unseen shores as the smell of melting flesh assaults your nostrils. Dorian coughs politely behind you in liu of a gag, the familiarly rancid tang not something you can ever quite get used to, despite your favored elements in combat.

“Oi! Defiant! Been expecting you!”

(Continued)

>>5183394

It’s the first time you’re addressed directly since you arrived, your title not hidden in hushed whispers but thrown out like a lure. Scanning the crowd, you see a hand thrust skyward—it belongs to a woman around your age, her dark skin contrasted by her ethereal, ghostlike hair that doesn’t seem to register or move the way it should as she jogs up to you and your fellows.

“Paloma said you’d be on your way. Name’s Calypso. Good to finally put a face to the legend.” She greets with a smile as you step forward to take her offered hand, the girl’s amber eyes glittering with shards of sky blue that seem to dance in the Crucible’s light.

“Good to see a friendly face.” You breathe, almost cringing when you drag in a mouthful of fetid air.

“Ha, yeah, not gonna see too many of them ‘round here, especially if your face is a fresh one.” She laughs, eyes snapping to your companions. “Gina and Dorian, yeah? Calypso! Good to have you.”

“Likewise!” Dorian bows, some of the young man’s genteel aura lost with the volume he has to use to make himself heard.

“Lemme introduce my mates, Ge-oh, for fuck’s sake…Gem! Emma! Get over here!” She snarls back into the crowd, only for a pair of gelatinous forms to slither out of the crowd and to her side.

“You run too fast. Our legs are too short.” The blue-tinted Daughter whines, while the teal form beside her picks up the thought the moment the other finishes. “Your legs are too long. Skintalkers get better breath capacity, so it’s not faiiiirrrrr.”

“Wait…those voices…” Gina mutters, eyes narrowed at the faces that slowly form atop the semi-solid torsos the two girls are languidly forming into. “Are you both Gemma shards?”

“Yes Ma’am.” One says.

“We are.” Says the other, arms looping around each others’ shoulders. “And who might this be?”

“This is Snowbird.” You introduce, Calypso doing a subtle double-take under the cyborg’s hood before her eyes widen, ever-so-slightly.

“I see. Any relation to ‘ol West, perchance?” The SKintalker asks, glancing to you.

“West Alpha was my old designation.” The taller Daughter rumbles. “I chose a new one.”

“Hey, more power to ‘ya.” Calypso shrugs, Snowbird’s words combining with your subtle nod to let her know it won’t be a problem.

You hope.

“Intros aside, c’mon—I don’t wanna leave the captain waiting.” She says, beckoning the four of you to follow her with a wave of her hand. “We’ve got a little situation on our hands, but nothin’ we can’t handle. I’ll let the Captain fill you in on the rest.”

You follow her past the edges of the crowd, away from the constant din of commerce and services to the dockyard, where you finally lay eyes on what the Crucible’s made of the ocean.

(Continued)

>>5183395

Gone are white-capped waves cresting over an endless stretch of blue. Gone are white, sandy beaches. Dark green foam boils as it’s thrashed against a glassy shoreline, a perpetually-creeping carpet of gangrenous moss crawling towards the water’s edge only to be scalded back by the ocean’s arrhythmic assault. Its surface shimmers like an oil slick, reeking like a bloated, burst carcass, and you try your best to ignore the stench as you follow Calypso down the dock to where a line of four ships are moored, side by side.

The largest on by far is the one closest to you—an utterly massive warship of reinforced calcite, the underbelly a gargantuan crab with the ship’s frame held up from below by a set of powerful, chitinous legs. As if completely dwarfing even the respectable boats beside it wasn’t enough, the vessel’s armament would put even pre-Crucible warships to shame, and you wish Rath were here to marvel beside you at the thing’s impressive armament.

“Oh she’d lose her shit over this.” GG says, voice muffled from where she’s closed the top of her hoodie around most of her face. You stifle a chuckle as Calypso spins on her heel to face you, dipping low with a dramatic bow as her voice adopts an overblown vibrato.

“Behold, her majesty. Her sleek cannons. Her voluptuous hull. Our pride and joy, the woman we’d follow ‘til the ends of this planet and any other, the one, the o-!”

“That will be quite enough, Calypso.” A calm, clear voice declares from over the warship’s speakers, easily cutting through even the infernal hissing of the fleshscape’s furious ocean. A row of mismatched eyes slowly blossom open along the deck’s guardrail, every single one swiveling to behold you and your three allies with an expression as gentle and as assured as the voice that addressed you earlier, one that speaks once more; “It is a pleasure to meet you, Shu the Defiant. My name is Yamato, and I understand you are in need of my services.”

Holy shit.

Now you *really* wish Rath were here to see this.

(Continued)

>>5183396

“The pleasure is all mine, Yamato.” You say, regaining your composure with a little nudge from your girlfriend. “I understand you’ve been briefed by Paloma?”

“We have, and she’s paid your fares, as well.” Yamato informs you, her voice somehow soft despite being loud enough to carry over the ocean’s static-like hiss. “Calypso told you we have a minor situation, yes?”

“She did, and she said you could tell us a bit more about what’s going on.” You reply, and for a moment a few of the eyes along Yamato’s bow shoot the other girl a withering look before the captain starts to explain.

“There’s an Amalgam that’s taken down two ships in the past four hours. There was nothing left of the merchant vessel that was hit first, but my crew and I were able to respond to the passenger ships’ SOS and rescue the survivors.”

“None of them could give us an exact description of the thing, except that it was massive.” Calypso adds as Gem and Emma swirl around her feet. “Some real kaiju shit, I’m told.”

“Yeah, there’s been a lot of that going around, lately.” You sigh, continuing on despite the quizzical glance Yamato fixes you with. “Will this thing’s presence delay us?”

“On the contrary, I wanted to see if you were still comfortable making the journey under these conditions.” Yamato says politely. “My crew is more than capable of ensuring your safety during transport.”

“I appreciate the consideration, but me and mine aren’t ones to sit idly by and let others fight our battles.” You politely counter right back. “If there’s something out there that intends to get in our way, then we’ll deal with it together.”


“We came here to speak to Leviathan. Something is in the way that is not allied with Shu or Prime.” Snowbird intones beside you. “I will remove this obstacle. Should it present itself.”

“If we leave now, there’s a pretty high chance we’ll run into it at some point either on the way there or back, since the attacks have happened on the same lane we’ll be taking, and so close together.” Calypso interjects, taking a step forward. “If you wanna wait a little while, a local Hive Mistress has some long-range drones out there scoping out the thing, so we should hopefully have it’s position in about an hour or so.”

“I leave the choice to you, Defiant.” Yamato says, a kind bow somehow coming through in her tone of voice. “We respect your decision either way.”

>>Depart immediately—it may be risky, but you’ve no time to waste (High risk of combat).

>>Wait a while—while Yamato and her crew are in their element, you don’t want to put anyone at risk if you can help it (Zero risk of combat).

>>Write-In

YOU ARE IN CONTROL