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B’ni stalks forwards a few meters ahead of you, leading the vanguard unit comprised of her, Uzu, Holly, and Johanna while you, Gina, Rath, and Francine make up the rearguard. While the more terraforming-inclined among you work to steady the ever-changing landscape to something navigable by normal means, you and Rath are both on high alert, your heads on a swivel with Francine between you, her own attentions sharply focused on the device leveled before her like a dowsing rod.

The good doctor cradles the Void Orrery’s softly-humming spheres in her outstretched hands, the myriad pinpricks of light dancing between them like errant stars, each one a Daughter somewhere out in these lawless wastes. When she freezes you all quickly follow suit, her eyes narrowed at the space between the spheres, mouth a tight line for a few seconds before she meets your questioning eyes.

“The terrain up ahead is experiencing a fluctuation that would make traversal difficult, at best.” Francine begins tersely, her gaze flickering between your own and the lights in her hands. “Northwest we have what appears to be two larger groups in conflict, with six participants on either side. To our south, there’s a smaller group of five that seem to be moving along our same heading, though considerably faster.”

“If we maintained our current course, how hard would it be?” You ask, and you watch as Francine furrows her brow in thought for a second or two before replying.

“It would require all of our terraforming specialist’s absolute focus, but thanks to the Orrery we should be able to avoid an ambush…hopefully. Though even then, if we lost control over the terrain then navigating our way out would be a tall order.”

“Think we could slip past the two groups to the north?” Rath offers gruffly, her own rust-colored brow knit tight. “If they’re able to fight, then the terrain can’t be that bad.”

“An excellent point, my friend—though judging by the southward team’s pace, their path may also be slightly faster.” Francine hums, sharp eyes focused on the smaller cluster of lights until they snap back to your face. “How would you have us proceed, Darling?”

>>Stay on course, and trudge through the path with the least number of Daughters.

>>Take the northern path, and skirt by the conflict.

>>Go south, and tail the group that’s making good time.

>>Write-In

YOU ARE IN CONTROL

(Hello Everyone, it’s good to be back! I do hope you had a restful past two weeks and that your current one is off to a good start. Voting shall remain open for the next three hours, with posting to resume in four.)

(I'm working on getting the updated Relic sheet in a better working order, though to be completely frank both work and personal matters have me utterly drained. Regardless, I'm not going to stop forging on with the Quest alongside you, and I'll strive to be continuously communicative when issues arise.)

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>>5374820
Hate to see work being an utter beast as usual. Especially around this time of year when school is about to start. Not to mention the rapid-fire holiday gauntlet of Halloween, then Thanksgiving, then Christmas, then New Years, and then Valentines where all the retail stores begin BLASTING their seasonal festivals.

>>5374819
Do we have visual besides the radar or are they out of halo enhanced 1km vision range?

>>5374825
(No visual on the targets yet, as they're out of range.)

>>5374820
Welcome back. Have you enjoyed the fluff posts that I wrote in the last thread? I do recall you had questions burning in your mind and wanted to ask of me.

>>5374825
(Also, that art is adorable.)

>>5374820
Hey, BHOP. Sorry to hear you've been drained, lately. I hope running the game will give you some enjoyment, at least.

>>5374819
Alright. So either we go slow and risk someone else being entrenched in this safe point before we get there, go north and risk getting caught in someone else's fight, or go south and risk that the other party thinks we're stalking them to take them out and preemptively counter-attacks.

I think we should head north. If we headed south, our large numbers could convince the party that way that we're a big threat coming after them. But if we pass through the north, we're bigger than either side and we should be too threatening for them to want to draw into their fight.

>>5374825
>Do we have visual besides the radar or are they out of halo enhanced 1km vision range?
Too bad we can't send swarmlings up high with the anti-air fire in the No Man's Land. We might be able to get some from them flying in the grass, though.

>>5374829
Indeed.

>>5374827
(I really did! I think I've got some questions I jotted down in my last Google doc, so bear with me while I retrieve them.)

>>5374819
>>Take the northern path, and skirt by the conflict.

>>5374827

(First, what was the inspiration behind having Europe be rather sparse when it comes to Amalgams? I have one or two theories, but I’d love to hear what prompted it.)

(Second, do you have any plans for introducing any other Godzilla expies to the world alongside Rahma? I’ve been a fan of all things kaiju since my father introduced me to Godzilla when I was five, so the fact that door’s been opened is just delightful.)

(Third, of any of the characters you’ve introduced, which ones (if any) would try to make a run at the Cord now that Shu’s well on her way to finishing things, which ones would help her, and which ones would simply hold back to see how things unfold?)

(I've got one or two others, but the prior question may answer them.)

>>5374855

>First, what was the inspiration behind having Europe be rather sparse when it comes to Amalgams? I have one or two theories, but I’d love to hear what prompted it.

Ozma's exposition of the Admin's Biome Generator Ruleset prompted me to play around with other possible rules for the other major regions on earth, like having those biomes contain some unique biome-wide quirks that forces daughters to adapt to the rules of that regions like how Africa's completely swamped with roaming mega-herds of amalgams or how the middle east's hazard is the lack of biomass through vast stretches of terrain combined with the chaotic elemental weather.

For Europe's case, it was a combination of drawing upon the continent's rich history of mythos behind the middle ages that prompted the formation of the 12 knightesses as the major power players, but also an examination of the question of "what if the region contained (few but terrifyingly powerful) amalgams but contained an overabundance of relics?" and how daughters of that region would develop a build/style around said abundance and scarcity of resources.

>(Second, do you have any plans for introducing any other Godzilla expies to the world alongside Rahma? I’ve been a fan of all things kaiju since my father introduced me to Godzilla when I was five, so the fact that door’s been opened is just delightful.)

No plans at the moment, but I could pump them out if you so desire, It wouldn't be out of place if a kaiju-sized daughter had a different motif in a different region, though I'll have to dig up some thematic totem corruption for you to play with.

>(Third, of any of the characters you’ve introduced, which ones (if any) would try to make a run at the Cord now that Shu’s well on her way to finishing things, which ones would help her, and which ones would simply hold back to see how things unfold?)

That's a loaded question, answering that will require unraveling the web of political intrigue and diplomatic relationships that I had in mind when I wrote the fluff for the other regional powerhouses in mind so bear with me while I write out my answer on a separate post.

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>>5374855
which ones (if any) would try to make a run at the Cord now that Shu’s well on her way to finishing things, which ones would help her, and which ones would simply hold back to see how things unfold?

I'll need have to split this answer multiple parts.

>Rus
Both Anastasisa and Ivana will make a run at the Cord but will beeline towards Shu specifically as they see her as the kingmaker that will end their feud.
Ivana will looking at Shu as a potential thrall/power-up to kill/consume or a willing vassal power.
Anastasia will be looking at Shu as an ally/rival but has a laundry list of concessions from the other side that she demands must be met (and make many other regional power players upset) in order to secure her cooperation. Spurning her demands after securing her cooperation to kill Ivana will have her wage war against everyone and have her do her damnest to cause as much collateral to render Shu's potential victory in stopping the Cord a Pyrrhic one.

Both daughters will constantly be at each other's throats. Neither side will accept any compromise, until it ends with one side dead. Choosing one side will prompt the other to wage war and/or make a run for the Cord as they see the throne atop the cord as the desperate trump that will force their belligerent rival/nemesis (as well as the defiant) to bend knee.

>China
As stated before in the previous vein, Empress Shun will make a run for the Cord while beelining towards the Defiant as the higher priority, but the trigger for her move is mainly due to the presence of (Sathriel/Shufen Yi) and Peng Ching wandering about in "Shu's Domain". Her first priority will be to secure Sathriel and Peng and inquire the reason why they left her, then make a play at the Defiant for either diplomacy or a duel to see who is "worthy of Heaven's throne." Of course Sathriel and Peng will also get involved, so expect political/philosophical debate and personal drama on this angle. It's possible to secure Shun's cooperation as an ally if Shu plays her cards right. Failure will either prompt a personal duel or result in Shun leaving in a huff to show Aunt Peng and Sathriel that she is worthy of "Heaven's throne" (even if Shun knows she'll hate it.)

>Middle East
Roxelana will help Shu in her endeavor, but like any other power player, but like any political game, there are strings attached to the deal. The Sultana offers access to her region's resources as well as her aid (indirectly in the form of Nectar shipments to the settlements affiliated with Shu and associated trade deals from other regions) in Shu's quest to end the Crucible. Shu on her end will have to offer the Sultana...well...an opportunity for the Sultana to "taste the family's exotic flavors (this includes Amara)" as well as Shu's guarantee that Roxelana is ensured as the ruling sovereign of the region post-Crucible. The terms of the deal are negotiable of course on who she gets to "taste", but she won't budge on the Sovereignty demand.

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>>5374855
>India
Kama will make a run for the Cord. She is neutral in all political affairs, and depending on our choices, there may be a chance where Shu will encounter Kama, to which Kama will offer an alliance or have Shu eat/accept Kama on the terms of Shu ascending to Godhood as the catch. Refusal won't have any negative repercussions other than Kama becoming a rival in the Cord Run.

>Africa
Roll a d20. The number you rolled will be the number of daughters who will make a run for the Cord on their own terms, while the rest will hold back and see how things unfold. Oh and the ones who do make a run for the Cord? They'll be bringing a herd of Amalgams (roughly 50-200 for each daughter) with them. Some of them may be kaiju-sized.

>Central America:
Quetz will aid Shu by sending daughters to Shu's final crusade as cannon fodder, at the same time she will move to hinder Oriana as much as possible, with the act of killing her should the opportunity arise. Her fight with Oriana will be a personal feud. Oh and one of Quetz's aztec battle forms is a Giant flying serpent.

>South America
Oriana will run for the Cord as she sees Shu as an opportunity to worm her way into the group and enjoy the spoiled luxury life that Shu's settlements have cultivated. Expect Oriana to be a very bothersome but also powerful daughter who aims to live off of Shu's successes like a parasite. She can be negotiated with, but she'll demand a heavy price tag to satiate her luxury fueled cravings.

>Southeast Asia
Rahma's involvement will depend on several triggers, but on the whole she'll likely hold back until one of those triggers get tripped:
>Is Yamato involved into the mess? If yes, Rahma will keep a weary eye.
>Is Yamato getting involved with Shu? if Yes, then expect Rahma to pay attention.
>Is Yamato getting hurt from her involvment with Shu? If yes, expect an angry Rahma on the way.
>Is there Kaiju sized opponents involved? If yes, Rahma will keep an eye on things. Is there a Kaiju fight happening there? Rahma's coming in for a scrap.
>Will Levy or Behemoth be involved? If yes, Rahma will go see what the hubbub is about.

>Europe
The twelve knightesses will see it as their duty to aid Shu in her endeavors while pulling resources to counteract shenanigans from other regional players, but given their tenuous alliance, they'll inevitably squabble and try to make power plays among each other in the back. Getting them to all set aside their differences has the difficulty of herding a litter of belligerent cat-like Amaras who don't like each other to some degree. Expect lots of political plays when dealing with the 12 from Europe. Depending on how well Shu wrangles the twelve, Europe may erupt into another regional war between the 12 in a battle royale, or Europe will unite and become an EU that's actually united in the post-crucible era.

All in all. A loaded answer with a lot of politics to juggle.

That answer your question?

>>5374920
>>5374896
(Absolutely perfect, thank you!)

>>5374922
any other questions?

>>5374924
(Not as of yet, but your replies have given me more than enough to work with at the moment, as you've given plenty of detail to get my own creativity going.)

(If anything else comes to mind, I'll be sure to ask!)

>>5374819
>>5374839
a question: Why aren't we simply hovering 5 inches off the ground? What's with the need to terraform our way through the no-man's land? Is it because flying itself triggers the anti-air systems or is it the variable terrain making flying risky?

>>5374944
(You could hover, absolutely—it's essentially a measure of caution decided on last Vein to ward against whatever the ground may do. You're keeping it stable at current, though you're welcome to employ additional/alternative methods of transportation.)

>>5374819
>Take the northern path, and skirt by the conflict.
>Send some stealthed scoutlings to view how the terrain reacts to the conflict.

>>5374832
while i know it's risky, I'm very much tempted by the idea of hanging around and swooping in to catch the corpses of the dead to prevent the no-man's land from claiming the still-fresh cadavers at the risk of drawing attention of the other group. But given that the voting time limit, I'll withhold this suggestion until we get more details.

(Finishing the update now in between waves of work, so I'll be posting it as soon as it's finished—shouldn't take more than half an hour, at this rate.)

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>>5374977
I'll give you an hour.

>>5374981
(A fair move...and even fairer cats. I just saved that image to my phone the other day!)

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>>5374819

Gesturing north with a wordless nod, you and your allies carefully make your way to the edge of the conflict, your eyes glued to the shimmering dots as they start to blink out, one by one…and by the time Gina’s able to confirm a visual, only five of the original dozen remain.

“It’s three on two, now.” Gina declares, swallowing hard before adding; “No-one’s even had time to do anything with the bodies. They’re just…jesus, they’re just going at it like animals.”

“Not the context I thought I’d hear you say that in.” Rath grumbles, the short-haired brawler’s face still frozen with her brow knit with concern…concern that gives way to alarm when there’s a sharp, sudden intake of breath between Gina’s teeth, and all five of the Orrery’s remaining lights are extinguished at once.

“Holy fuck, she came outta nowhere.” Gina mutters once words return to her, and then she adds as she turns to face you; “Hephesta. She erupted out of the ground like a lava flow. Burned like one, too.”

Turning to Francine, you find a ready explanation on the doctor’s lips for the question you don’t even have to ask. “She wasn't cloaked, Darling, just fast…” She holds up the Void Orrery to reveal a brightly-glowing mass of lights that shines in place of the disparate, extinguished stars from earlier. “...I would assume that since this particular patch of terrain makes maneuverability easier for us, then other forms of transport would be equally advantageous.”

“Wait, then if we could trace this path, do you think Aunt Heather could move the Geschoss through here?” Rath excitedly chimes in, her voice lowering in the last half of her exclamation when B’ni turns on her heel and waves at her to keep her voice down.

“It’s possible, but ‘path’ might be too optimistic. It’s likely that this is merely another instance of this region’s variability. ” The good doctor frowns, just before a spark of defiance flashes to life in her eyes. “But if there’s a method to be extracted from this madness, then I’ll find it.”

“Gina, what’s the target’s status?” B’ni whispers furtively, she and her friends keeping a close eye on the Orrery and the surrounding hills, their blackened flesh rolling and roiling around you in slow-moving waves. GG narrows her eyes, peering through the tumultuous earth and at her distant target before she answers a few seconds later. “She’s just standing still, right now. She hasn’t even touched the bodies.”

“Does she see us?” Holly demands with a hushed whisper, scanning the crests of the nearby hills with the barrel of her flesh-wrought uzi. “I’ll light her up if she makes a move, I swear to God.”

Gina shakes her head, her unblinking gaze trained on the far-off Daughter. “Her back’s to us. She’s focused on something else, I think.”

(Continued)

>>5374994

“I do believe they might be the ‘something else’.” Francine offers, drawing the other girl’s attention to the glowing sphere in her hand—specifically to a cluster of four lights further to the north of the burning sun that is Hephesta. “Searching for more prey, perhaps?”

“Looks like hunting for sport.” Johanna hums after casting a glance your way. “Watch. She probably won’t even eat the bodies. That was a mercy kill. Bet you money.”

Jo’s promptly proven correct when the other Daughter’s icon starts moving northward in pursuit of the quartet of west-bound lights, and Gina turns to you with a sharp nod that confirms the bodies have been left where they lie.

You’re just about to issue the order to move in when your Commling crackles to life with a warbled, yet familiar voice.

“I’m in, Defiant.” Announces Vector’s inimitable and multi-layered tone, though you can barely make out the words on account of them sounding like they’re at the other end of a rough-hewn tunnel filled with bees.

“Vector? Where the hell are-...wait, ‘in?’ You mean the Cord?”

“The very same.” The elemental Daughter admits, any traces of triumph or pride robbed from them by the line’s distortion. “The Relic I’m patched through likely won’t last for long in here, but I wanted to reach out as a professional courtesy.”

“How’d you get there so fast?” You ask before you remember just who you’re talking to, substituting that question for a more pertinent one. “How’d you get past Sargatanas? Was he open to negotiation?”

A second’s hesitation, one that must feel like a lifetime for Vector before they reply with-

“It’s…it’s just me. The others are a part of me, now. I lost them in the final stretch, but that meant Sargatanas bid me entry with no issue.”

“...I’m sorry, Vector.”

“We knew the risks. As do you.” The other Daughter replies. “They wouldn’t have made it this far without me, nor I them…but I didn’t reach out to dwell on loss. Listen to me, Shu; there are stable paths to approach the Cord. Rolling patches of relative stability that I was able to move between just fast enough to luck out on…but-”

“Vector?” You breathe, cupping a palm against the side of your helm. “Vector, do you read me?”

“-Shit. The line’s decaying.” Vector hisses angrily. “Look, the other thing was…piece of Escher’s Gear, the Relic thatDragoon gifted you. There’s a spoke right-” Vector’s voice fades out for a moment before surging back in with; “-embedded in his heart.”

“Vector, you’re breaking up.” You say, throat tightening around every word. “You need to-”

“No time. The C-…abhors outside comm-”

“Vector!”

“-I don’t make it, then-”

A crackle, a hiss, and then-

“-Finish this.”

Silence.

(Continued)

>>5374995

Your chitin-clad hand slips away from the side of your helm, and it takes you a moment before you realize Gina’s gently prodding your psyche with news…partly to inform, and partly to distract you from what’s just happened.

“From what I can see, it looks like the terrain’s getting more violent where the conflict just took place, but it hasn’t absorbed the bodies yet…and my money’s on it being bait for them.” She says, nodding towards the Relic in Francine’s tense hands. The larger star that is Hephesta darts north, a fresh trio of lights are moving in from the east in a collision course with the corpses the other Daughter left to rot. A quick glance to the opposite end of the map reveals the southern team’s haste has almost carried them out of range of the Orrery entirely. Your own low-lying scouts confirm what Gina just said as soon as they arrive on the scene of the northern conflict; a dozen bodies, burnt beyond recognition atop the gently-undulating ground of similarly charred and rotting meat.

“Think we can intercept the bodies before those three reach them?” You ask, the question hanging open for a moment as you see the numbers get crunched behind Francine’s eyes.

“If we move now and there are no unexpected variables, then yes—we can beat them there and be out before they’re able to catch us.” She relents, her ‘but’ coming in the form of the addendum; "Assuming they’re not bait for us too, of course.”

A fair assumption, given your proximity to the Cord…and your window of opportunity’s closing with every flicker of the lights that dance between the Void Orrery’s spheres.

>>Move in, claiming the bodies before getting back out of the way of the three incoming Daughters.

>>Hold off, and see what becomes of the trio that are set to stumble across the corpses.

>>Keep moving—you still have yet to find a stable anchor for Escher’s Gear…aside from Sargatanas’ heart, it seems.

>>Write-In

YOU ARE IN CONTROL

(Voting shall remain open for the next six hours, with posting to resume tomorrow morning at 12PM Eastern time. Thank you for your patience and participation, and there is a bit of a silver lining that’s come to pass; it’s likely that I’ll be working from home once again for an extended time, so that would naturally lend itself to a speedier writing schedule should it come to pass. I’ll keep you informed, and I wish you a good rest of your day!)

>>5374994
So Hephesta likes burrowing, then? Gonna have to have Gina keep an eye on the ground. Though with the cancer mass her ground-penetrating vision is reduced.

>>5374995
Damn, Vector already made it to the Cord? I was really expecting them to be hanging around the No Man's Land for a while yet. They're efficient, I suppose. And the rest of their party dying so fast might have driven them to make a move sooner. What were they trying to tell us about Sargatanas? The Gear spoke is in his heart? I guess he would be the most long-term stable thing in the No Man's Land. But does that mean that trying to teleport to him would initiate combat with him, since it would result in us trying to explode out of his chest cavity? That could be why Mara warned us not to teleport straight to the Cord.

And what was that about the Cord abhoring outside comm-? Outside communications? Yeah, we know, Vector, you could have skipped straight to your message. Oi.

>>5374996
Maybe we can defuse the potential trap for us by not behaving the way we'd be expected to. Corpses left lying out are bait for someone trying to get the levels contained in them. But we've got another motivation for grabbing corpses, here in the No Man's Land, we're trying to avoid them getting absorbed by the cancer mass. What if, instead of rushing over to grab them, we just sent some swarmlings to elevate them above the ground so they're not consumed? We trigger the trap, but we don't actually go in there ourselves or even bring the swarmlings back to us and give away our position. And then we could even send another swarmling over to the incoming group to warn them about Hephesta and offer to share the food once we've driven her away. Does that make sense, or am I overcomplicating something and taking unnecessary risks?

>>5375037
>>Does that make sense, or am I overcomplicating something and taking unnecessary risks?

(It makes perfect sense, and an overabundance of caution is never a bad thing.)

>>5375037
There's also the fact that the corpses may be infected the moment they hit the ground unless certain parameters are triggered given that the No-Man's land does seem to follow of protocol of cultivating violence among daughters who seek the Cord.

>>5375046
Okay, then, I'm thinking something like

>>5374996
>>Write-In
>Send in some Rooks to grab the corpses. Don't return them to us yet, just raise them above the tumor fields.
>Send a FuzzBuzz (to be cute and unthreatening) to the group approaching. Tell them that we saw Hephesta leave the corpses there deliberately, and that she might still be in the area and using them as bait. Also warn them of the possibility of meat left out like this being infected, and care being needed with it.
>Keep moving around and past the bait corpses. Should Hephesta ambush in the near term when we're close enough to intervene, use Rook-swapping to intercept. Otherwise, should she have been spooked off, retrieve the bodies via swarmling.

>>5375053
True. Okay, adding that to my warnings for the other team, above.

How's that look?

>>5375058
On the whole it looks good but I also I think a corpse inspection would also be warranted just in case the No-man's pathogen suddenly spikes and causes a zombie attack.

>Move in, claiming the bodies before getting back out of the way of the three incoming Daughters.
>Perform a corpse inspection to check if the carrion is infected by the no-man's land.
>Dissuade the incoming trio of the dangers of their upcoming actions as well as warn them of big-shot daughters who prey this biome and hunt for sport, mention Hephesta who was recently seen here having slaughtered them and deliberately left the place untouched.

>>5374996

>Move in, claiming the bodies before getting back out of the way of the three incoming Daughters.
>Perform a corpse inspection to check if the carrion is infected by the no-man's land.
>Dissuade the incoming trio of the dangers of their upcoming actions as well as warn them of big-shot daughters who prey this biome and hunt for sport, mention Hephesta who was recently seen here having slaughtered them and deliberately left the place untouched.

Here's my vote.

>>5374996

Oh hey, a new Vein! Lovely!

Supporting >>5375079, as I find it reasonable and Shu-like.

>>5375098
(Hello, and glad to have you with us!)

Awesome, I've been looking forward to this Vein!

>>5374995
I'll see if I can make sense of what was said.

>“Look, the other thing was…piece of Escher’s Gear, the Relic thatDragoon gifted you. There’s a spoke right-”
>“-embedded in his heart.”

I'm guessing that there's a spoke directly in Sargatanas' heart. Meaning we can warp directly to the entrance of the Cord, if need be.

>>5374996
Supporting this plan >>5375058 to approach the corpses.

>>5374996
Adding to my vote here >>5375058

>Send a few Scarlet Jacklings along with the Rooks, to examine the corpses for possible contamination.

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--- CHARLOTTE'S PARLOR ---

"We can't!" said Andersen.

"We have to." insisted Jun.

Yan and Solomon sat patiently across from Charlotte Webber and the Andersens at in quiet contemplation as the three parsed and processed the information the two brothers have given them about Carter's current status to varying reactions. They expected a reaction from the people involved in the event, but for the Manager and the Matron to engage in a full blown argument is something else entirely.

"Andersen, Trust me. We'll be in good hands."

"And then what?" asked the Oni. "Let ourselves be hung while Carter is denied his peace? What if she decides to have all of us hang?"

"Andersen..."

"I say we cooperate."

Eyes turned to Charlotte having spoken up for the first time. The Parlor owner's hands were preoccupied with the weaving of her own silk, the gestures doing a fair bit of work on distracting the parlor owner from the emotional weight of the news.

"If we don't cooperate with them, Carter will have no effective defense, even if he were able to argue for the Judge to hand down a verdict declaring his innocence."

"Andersen..." The Matron's voice drew the oni's gaze towards his wife who pulled his arm close into a comforting hug as she rested her head against his shoulder.

"He helped us when no one else bothered to. Shouldn't we pay him back the same kindness?"

"Please. He's alone. If it weren't for him...then we wouldn't have gotten together again. If not for him, do it for me."

The monstrous oni flicked gazes between his pleading wife and the impassive gazes of Enforcers across the table...before his gaze sharpened to level Solomon and Andersen with a hard calculating look.

"I only have one question to ask: Will we be tried for criminal charges just like him if we come forward to defend him as witnesses?"

Solomon and Yan glanced at each other in silent contemplation before answering.

"Personal opinions aside, it's best that we'll leave that verdict up to the Judge. The current case and subsequent trial is to determine the truth behind the what that happened in this settlement, and to ascertain the validity of those accusations leveled on Mr. Franklin. All that we ask is that you be upfront about the information related to the case and the incident in Cradleton. The more information you divulge, the more sound her judgement. Anything less will incur her wrath."

The silence was palpable as Andersen digested the answer...before letting out a slow sigh of reluctance.

"Alright." he said. "Tell us what you need."

(to be continued...)

(Still finishing the next update as I'm fighting through some sort of stomach bug that's laid me low this morning. It should be up at 1PM everyone, and thank you for your patience.)

>>5375370
(Also, very much so looking forward to the continuation of this. A great read, as always!)

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>>5374996

A dozen Rooks pry themselves from your hive, and in their wake comes a quartet of Scarlet Jacklings to examine the corpses your Rooks are making haste towards. Reaching them takes a matter of seconds, but that’s all it takes for the fleshscape to take hold—it takes effort to pry the still-smoking bodies from the greedy earth that clings to them, but one by one you manage to rip them free of where they lie. The ground beneath each of the unfortunate Daughters writhes with hundreds of trendrils that angrily whip at the air, their handful of inches reaching up as their bounty is carried just out of reach. Each of your Jacklings alights on a body nearest them, plunging their stingers into the biomass being held aloft by their fellows…and it doesn’t take much digging to find the gift No-Man’s Land left for the unsuspecting.

Tumors as small as seeds have wormed their way deep into the biomass of each charred body, the traps’ sickly, tarry forms writhing in time with the ambient fields of cancer. The moment a swarmling touches one of the seeds the vile thing springs to action, latching on to the living biomass and surging up the stinger, stopped only when your Jackling blithely amputates the offending thing with a decisive swipe of its talon.

“If they don’t appear to be growing, then I may be able to extract them without damaging the Daughters’ biomass.” Francine replies once you catch her up on what’s happened to the bodies. “As long as your little ones keep them off the ground, we should have a window of opportunity…though we’ll also have to deal with *them* shortly.”

The good doctor gestures towards the trio of lights that’ve almost reached the battlefield’s aftermath. You see them just over a nearby ridge through the eyes of your Rooks—three girls with long, messy hair, none of them older than Orwell at first glance. The taller of the three has fixed the scene with a stare of alarm mixed with caution, her native eye darting between the bodies while the large yellow sphere that occupies the other socket pulses with humoral power, mirroring the other, smaller orbs that are dotted along her arms and legs. She taps the girl to left—a too-thin waif of a Daughter, skin stretched too-tight over too long of bones—and the stick-like girl promptly reaches under her shirt to retrieve a pair of calcite binoculars from god-knows where, handing it to the middle girl. The Humoral Paladin brings the relic up to her eyes to get a better look at the hovering bodies…which, now that you think about it, probably look like they’re just floating on their own accord given your swarmlings are cloaked.

Nothing a spot of FuzzBuzz diplomacy can’t solve.

(Continued)

>>5375975

The Paladin startles when your fuzzy envoy pops into existence just above one of the bodies, and it’s only when the third girl nearly jumps out of her skin to the Paladin’s right that you’re able to take notice of the last of the trio. Hard as you try to focus, the short, stocky young woman seems perpetually out of focus, her physical form actively repelling easy perception.

“I mean you no harm, but this way is dangerous.” You declare, getting straight to the point as you see the Humoral Paladin’s eyes narrow with caution, then widen in alarm when the blurry girl beside her suddenly jolts up.

“It’s her! It’s Shu!” She exclaims, gesturing towards your signature construct with one ill-defined arm. Her fellows’ suspicion gives way to awe, then reverence, and you swiftly seize the opportunity.

“The one and the same…but as I was saying, if you three had been any faster in getting here then you’d have run into Hephesta.” You inform them, the name-drop garnering instantaneous recognition from the trio in the form of panicked glances around the cancerous dunes. “She killed what remained of the teams here and just left the bodies. They’re infected, now. Same as the rest of this place.”

“You mean…we can’t eat?” The Paladin surmises, the brunette’s dark brow knitting into a scowl. “Fuck. Shit, we didn’t account for this.”

“Is the infection-thing removable?” Chimes in the other, ethereal girl. “I mean, by *us*. I know *you* could remove it, ‘cause you’re…you.”

“…It may be possible. I’m not sure.” You confess, your FuzzBuzz shrugging by proxy. “Regardless, we’ve only made it this far due to some advanced scouting abilities. Do you have anything of the sort?”

The middle girl’s grip on the binoculars briefly tightens before she hands it back to the rail-thin girl to her left. “This is…this is all we’ve got.”

“I told you this was a bad idea.” Says the skinny one, the binoculars disappearing back underneath her shirt and to parts unknown. “We gotta turn back. We’re not ready for this.”

The middle girl chews her bottom lip for a moment staring down the hill before fixing her troubled gaze on you, a question stuck in her throat.

“You’re not that far in.” You point out, softly. “You know more than you did when you arrived, so you could always come back.”

“But if you’re here, then that means…” She trails off, shaking her head. “…it’s almost over, isn’t it?”

“If you’re worried about the return trip, we may be able to help.” You offer instead of an answer. “You three seem like nice girls. It’s the least we could do.”

“It’s…I really appreciate that, Ma’am.” The Humoral Paladin says with a sad little laugh at her own capabilities.

“You three already know my name, so what’re yours?” You offer with an audible smile, an expression she returns in earnest.

“I’m-“

(Continued)

>>5375978

The young woman’s name is consumed by white fire and howling fury, your swarmlings blown clear of the violent explosion that obliterates the small hill the girls were just standing on. It’s only by their virtue as Rooks that your twelve swarmlings aren’t blown to chitinous shards by the vicious blast, and with the bodies in tow they skirt the follow-up; four more titanic blasts from an unseen assailant.

“Invisible?” You bark, with Gina’s luminous eyes darting left and right while Francine frantically zooms out her map, teeth audibly grinding when she finds the source of the barrage.

“Ranged artillery.” Rath swiftly supplies, noting the far-off group that the Orrery expands to reveal; ten Daughters in formation, advancing steadily on the now-glassed area where your swarmlings once were, white phosphorous still hissing behind them. “How the hell’d they make that shot? Our visibility here is shit!”

“They might have something that we don’t. Something to pierce through whatever fog-of-war effect No-Man’s Land has going on.” Gina hypothesizes before reaching out to touch your arm. “You okay?”

You didn’t even realize your fists were clenched until her fingers urge you to relax them, and you draw in a hot, angry breath as you shift focus to the threat at hand. “GG, Fran, do they see us?”

“They haven’t broken formation, no. I can confirm that the attack was via ranged projectiles, but nothing further. Given their approximate reach, we will be within their line of sight in approximately forty-…make that thirty seconds.

“Say the word, and I’ll burst ‘em down.” Rath snarls beside you, her hands clenching in lieu of your own.

“Assaulting them with zero knowledge of their capabilities isn’t wise.” Uzu points out, flinching when Rath rounds on her.

“You’re right, but if they can pull off a shot like that, then it means they’ve got something that gives them better visibility than us, and THAT could be invaluable to us making it through cancer-ville.”

“We should keep moving, regardless. I’m not a fan of taking undue risks.” B’ni chimes in, taking a step forward alongside Johanna.

“Really? Though that was your whole thing, back in your heyday.” Jo counters, arms folded.

“Yeah, well…now I got something to lose.” The dark-haired girl replies with a quick punch against the other Daughter’s bicep.

Advantages, risks. Opportunities, loss.

>>”We keep an eye on the formation via the Orrery, stay out of their range…and keep moving West.”

>>I’m with Rath, on this one. They’ve got better visibility, and given current circumstances that’s a tremendous advantage going forward.”

>>”We’re going to give them the widest berth possible; we’re moving southwest in the trail of that fast-moving group from earlier.”

AND

>>Choose what to do with the bodies.

>>Write-In

YOU ARE IN CONTROL

(Voting shall remain open for the next four hours, with posting to (hopefully) resume in five, barring this stomach thing taking a worse turn. I do hope your week is going well one and all, and that you’re having a pleasant afternoon.)

>>5375980
Oi! You assholes, we were having a conversation!

So, did those girls just now survive the shelling? I'd assume not. If we can I'd like to retrieve their bodies. They deserve better than getting eaten by the cancer mass just because some jerks decided to lead with artillery bombardments. Let's give them Spirit Shells.

>>5375982
Sorry to hear your guts aren't agreeing with you today, BHOP. I hope you get better.

>>5375984
(Oh, they're very dead. Retieving their bodies would be risky, given that the platoon of ten Daughters are making a beeline towards where they are.)

>>5375980
>Choose what to do with the bodies.
>>5375984

What exactly are our options?

Cancer extraction would be VERY helpful in getting meals out of this. Alternatively we could simply extract the dream daughter data and leave it at that.

Wait...We have Vulture's pride. We stored it in a stasis womb. All we need is at least one level from the a de-infected carrion and we can send a trio of speed/stealth/jacklings for a fast dream daughter extraction.
It's super fucking risky though. It would put us in direct contact with the 10 artillery women.

>>5376000
A shame. They seemed like decent people. I am definitely for trying to retrieve their bodies.

As for the bombergirls, though... randomly attacking people like this does not speak well of their character and indicates they might be a danger to anyone else they may encounter. I am not yet decided, but I think I will vote for fighting them.

>>5376000
Would vulture's pride still enable dream daughter extraction on daughters that are truly dead? or does it work only on the dying in its base level state?

Because we could create Vulture-lings out of that base ability.

>>5376005
>>5375984
Gah. As much as I'm in for fighting them, keep in mind we can't let ourselves get bogged down with the constant combat, this was originally a mission to reach one of the No-Man's Land's stable anchor points to see if we can create an island bastion.

Keep in mind we have Francine in charge of navigation AND proposing that we act fast in order to extract the cancer cells from the carrion of the original dozen that got ganked by Hephesta.

But coincidentally this is why I voted to have the Castle carrion storage set up in the first place.

If we are to engage them, our objective will be to Steal that relic as a top priority. Artillery can't do shit without proper advanced sighting/scouting.

>>5376005
At the same time, it shows that they are methodical in their methods and have a sound strategy in handling the No-Man's land. "Rolling barrages would certainly dissuade others from approaching them.

>>5376008
(Only on the dying in its base level, as you put it.)

>>5376017
True getting bogged down in a fight here would be bad. On the other hand, assuming we win, we would obtain something that would probably make our goal here much easier to do.

Then again, we don't need to engage them in a life or death battle to get it. Do you think it would be possible to steal the relic? Like for example, distract them with quick hit and run attacks from multiple directions while someone goes for the relic (while someone else retrieves the bodies)? And, once we get it, or if the fight proves too difficult/lengthy, disengage? It would require us to split our forces a lot, which I am not sure is smart but... it might be doable.

>>5376026
>>5376008
(Which is to say, unless I misunderstood, that your speedy plan has a chance of success.)

>>5376027
We could also try leaving booby traps behind us as we head to the stable point. Artillery may be king of the battlefield, but sabotage is the bastard prince. Between Gina's maggot mines, Rath's boils, and lurking swarmlings, we can make covering ground far more dangerous and distracting for this group.

>>5376029
I just had a weird idea for a trap. The cancerscape shoots its teratogen darts at anything ten meters above its surface. Does that still apply if we artificially lower its surface with terraforming? I'm thinking like a pit trap, but when people fall in they also get riddled with tumor bullets along the way.

>>5376033
>>5376027
IF we are going to sabotage them, we'll need to first send in infiltrators first. Keep in mind we can always use stealthlings and the Inspector's spectacles to get enemy readings on their abilities while we stay out of their range and deal with the cancer infected Carrion before going for the sabotage.

So what exactly should we do with the corpses of the original 12? My thought is that Francine works on extracting the cancer cells from at least one of the two 6-person parties as the priority with going for the other 6 should the opportunity arise.

But we'll also have to balance that with staying out of the artillerywomen's range until our hands are free.

>>5376029
I was hoping that Vulture's pride would work on the truly dead but given that the three are dead and not dying, then shoot. But if you're implying that vulture-lings with Vulture's pride at lvl 1 are capable of dream daughter extraction on the dead but not dying...

Also, is Julia with us? Last I remember when we did the team assignments, she was with our group.

>>5376040
(...that would absolutely work, yes.)

>>5376043
(I'm not near my notes at the moment, but I'll check when I have the chance.)

>>5376043
>IF we are going to sabotage them, we'll need to first send in infiltrators first. Keep in mind we can always use stealthlings and the Inspector's spectacles to get enemy readings on their abilities while we stay out of their range and deal with the cancer infected Carrion before going for the sabotage.
Agreed. I definitely want eyes on them before we start sabotaging. Both to get a better ability to target our sabotage and to study how they respond to our sabotage and get a better sense of their capabilities from that. I'm seeing this as fulfilling multiple purposes. We head to the stable point while leaving behind traps, thereby slowing them down, keeping them from focusing on blasting people or eating corpses, and observing their reactions to plan a proper confrontation.

>So what exactly should we do with the corpses of the original 12? My thought is that Francine works on extracting the cancer cells from at least one of the two 6-person parties as the priority with going for the other 6 should the opportunity arise.
If Francine can process them on the move, sure. Or if we get to the stable zone fast enough to give her time to work. Or both, so we can level up quickly and be stronger for a fight.

>Also, is Julia with us? Last I remember when we did the team assignments, she was with our group.
Yeah. It's us, Gina, Rath, Francine, Julia, Holly, Johanna, Uzu and B'Ni.

>>5376050
>(...that would absolutely work, yes.)
Mwahaha. Excellent. I'd rather not do it unless we have to, but it would be a very nasty trick.

>>5376054
(Yes, Julia confirmed.)

Okay, an actual vote. How does this look?

>>”We keep an eye on the formation via the Orrery, stay out of their range…and keep moving West.”
>>Write-In
>Send Subversive swarmlings to observe the gunners from a distance. Try to get a sense for their abilities and unit cohesion. If there are weak links we can target to reduce their effectiveness, we want to know. Also, look for the origins of both their sensory abilities and artillery blasts.
>As we travel west, mine and sabotage the area behind us as well as we can while moving quickly. Gina's maggots, Rath's boils, Uzu's spirals, rough or dangerous terrain with terraforming, and whatever other delayed threats we can produce. None are likely to kill the gunners, or even do lasting damage given regeneration, but it will slow them down and keep them harried.
>Also, have the swarmlings observe their responses to traps to better get a sense of their abilities.
>If Francine can work while we travel (have her ride a swarmling so she doesn't have to walk and surgeon at the same time), have her process the corpses we've retrieved for safe consumption so we can get a power boost before confronting these people. Otherwise, save the corpses for later, and have Francine contribute to the sabotage efforts.

>>5375980
my personal draft of the plan.
Plan:
Walking Scout and Sabotage:
>”We keep an eye on the formation via the Orrery, stay out of their range…and keep moving West.”
>"At the same time, we can't let them be a walking wall of uncertainty."
>Spawn stealthed scoutlings to trail behind and attempt to infiltrate the artillery women, then use the scoutling vision to feed information to one of our open party members using Inspector's spectacles to get an accurate reading of their abilities and capabilities. Before enacting sabotage.
>Meanwhile, one of our party members keeps us steering clear of any hazards via the Orrey and keep an eye on the formation while we make our way towards a stable anchor point.

Sabotage methods:
>Hazardous and Spiral terrain for isolating the group members via terrain manipulation.
>Isolate the spotter from the artillery team or at least sow distrust among the 10 with the spotter.
>Scarlet jacklings and Gina's neuromancy sabotage to keep their vision intact but leave them blind to traps. Deliberately target the gunners with the traps but leave the spotter unharmed.
>Mines and boils to disorient and slow them down and keep ourselves away from artillery range.
>at least 2 Teratogen pit traps to work the cancer land to our favor and whittle their numbers (make sure the spotter doesn't get caught by those traps).


Choose what to do with the bodies
>Attempt to extract the cancer cells from the bodies. The ones that are cleaned are teleport-swapped into the Roost's Corpse chamber. The ones that reanimate into zombies get yeeted at the Artillerywomen as a distraction.
>once all the bodies are processed, we can devote our abilities to harry our followers before setting up for a prime ambush.

>>5376065
basic layout is nice.
I think we should also put an ID priority on the daughter with the relic/ability that grants them enhanced vision range. Artillery units rely on vision in order to be effective. Blind the spotter and they'll be walking blind.

If possible, we could use a stealthed scarlet-jackling and have Gina interfere with the spotter's vision to subtly blind the spotter to traps and potentially isolate and kidnap them for the ability extraction.

>>5376075
Would it be possible to do this AND retrieve the three that got bombed? I don't want to leave them to zombify or get eaten by the bombers.

>>5376077
It can be possible, the catch is that we'll need a set of 3 Bishop boosted Rooks to quickly speed over to where the corpses are at, while another 3 rooks stay with us to swap with the bishop boosted rooks the moment the extraction team manage to pull the corpses off the ground.

We'll also have to set the team that teleport-swaps with the extraction Rooks to auto-detonate the moment the extraction team manages to teleport themselves AND the corpses of the three to our side. But the risk here is that the moment we do that, we'll be in contact with them and some of them might recognize our rooks.

The other alternative is to somehow extract a level from a cleaned corpse, pop the stasis womb to consume Vulture's pride, then spawn Vulture-lings to quickly do a suicide run to extract the dream daughter data of the three fallen daughters.

There's a LOT of risk here with this play.

>>5376061
Hey bhop. If the rooks are carrying an object (like a corpse for example) and then they teleport swap, do the object they're carrying also swaps with them?

>>5376075
Looks good to me.

>>5376080
>It can be possible, the catch is that we'll need a set of 3 Bishop boosted Rooks to quickly speed over to where the corpses are at, while another 3 rooks stay with us to swap with the bishop boosted rooks the moment the extraction team manage to pull the corpses off the ground.
Or just Bishop-boosted Knights. Those are already fast, boost them and they might be able to fly over, grab the bodies, and fly back before the gunners can get to them.

>>5376080
>>If the rooks are carrying an object (like a corpse for example) and then they teleport swap, do the object they're carrying also swaps with them?

(I would judge that they would, yes.)

>>5375980
>>5376075

Additional amendment to the plan:
>Attempt a retrieval of the three fallen daughters you had just talked to with your swarm. Send a trio of bishop boosted stealth-Knights to swoop in for extraction of the corpses and have them relay them back to a set of 3-stealthed Rooks who will teleport swap out with another set of rooks who auto detonate the moment they swap. If the swap is confirmed, have the knights also auto detonate as to leave no trace for the artillery women.
>Also, have the infil and exfiltration extraction point lead them slightly away from our group while they try to chase the "free meal".

This will probably be my last vote for the day before I leave for work in about 15 minutes.

Have a nice day people, and take care of yourself bhop.

(Hello All, I'll be posting the next update tomorrow at 12PM, I'm afraid. I feel pretty low, so I'm going to try and get some rest after work today. I wish you all a good evening, and thank you for bearing with me.)

>>5376111
(Take care, and I hope your shift goes well!)

>>5376111
Smart idea, having the Knights meet with some Rooks instead of right back to us, keeps us out of sight. We should also change the colors and patterns on our swarmlings, while we're at it. They're stealthed, but once they die the optical camouflage will presumably wear off. We should change their baseline color pattern, so that the chitin left behind is less recognizable as ours.

And have a nice day at work, anon.

>>5375980
Supporting >>5376075 >>5376111
with the addition of
>Alter the underlying chitin of our swarmlings, before Subversive camouflage, to be an ant-like dark red instead of our typical green-black. Just as a quick extra layer of obfuscation.


>>5376121
I'm sorry to hear that, BHOP. I hope you feel better.

>>5375980
Supporting >>5376075 >>5376111 too, as well as the chitin alteration.

>>5376121
Take care of yourself and have a good rest BHOP!

>>5376126
>>5376135
(I appreciate your kind words, truly. I hope you have a good day, as well!)

>>5376126
Spreading out rooks in general wouldn’t be a bad idea. Having 4 or 5 teleport spots we can jump to in the nearby area would let us hop around unpredictably if they shell our position. We’d just need to be sure the rest of the non-teleporting crew can be carried by someone who can.

They might be able to volley their shots in a way that lets them hit a few positions at the same time, but we’ve almost certainly got the ability to spread more rooks out than they can hit at once from a distance.

>>5376159
Actually, we've got everyone in the current party in Queen mode. Shu and the Dream Team get it automatically, and Gina, Rath, Julia and Francine have gotten the status from two spaced-out castings whose timers are overlapping. So everyone here can swap with Rooks, currently. Putting some Rook teleport spots around is a good move.

For that matter, Rath can teleport to her lit flares, and she can detonate those remotely. So we should have those spread around for her sake, too.

>>5375980
Adding to other votes

>Send a flight of nine Subversive Rooks, carrying Rath's boils, to disperse in all directions.
>Should it look like the gunners have spotted us and are preparing for a salvo, everyone use Rook-swapping to scatter out of the impact area.
>If we need to regroup rapidly afterwards, Rath can use her own flare-teleporting combined with Rook-swapping to group everyone back together (Rath teleports to a flare, drops another flare, swaps with another party member, repeat).

>>5376167
Huh, I figured someone wouldn’t be Queen mode. Glad to be wrong!

And good call-out on Rath’s flares. We could accomplish the same thing by sending a pair of rooks to each location, but Rath’s boils don’t have a cap like our swarmlings do.

>Tumors as small as seeds have wormed their way deep into the biomass of each charred body, the traps’ sickly, tarry forms writhing in time with the ambient fields of cancer. The moment a swarmling touches one of the seeds the vile thing springs to action, latching on to the living biomass and surging up the stinger, stopped only when your Jackling blithely amputates the offending thing with a decisive swipe of its talon.

Huh. had a thought about the seed extraction. The cancer seed only activates when living tissue comes in contact with the seed itself. Otherwise, it remains inert. Non-living tissue, metals, and the like would not trigger it. If there's a way to extract the seeds and place them into containment, we could then fashion cancer bullets out of them. It's super risky though and would constitute as a personal warcrime as well as a waste of enemy biomass given the sheer aggression of the seed's rate of spread. A near guaranteed kill, at the cost of the corpse, the spawn of a zombie, and the deletion of a daughter's dream data given that the corrupted cancer seems to destroy dream daughter data. We'll have to find some actual sterile non-organic equipment (i.e. things made from metal) if we are to deal with the cancer seeds safely. Which is quite in line with medical hygiene standards.

>>5376839
Makes me think of the Berserker Seed Bullets in Battle Angel Alita. They're super-deadly weapons that can destroy any target...because they're made from the spores of self-replicating Berserker biomechanoids, and killing your enemy with one means now you've got to fight the Berserker that spawned from their corpse. How worth it they are to use depends on if you think fighting a Berserker will be easier than fighting your current opponent.

But I like the idea. We could give them to November as alternate ammo for her guns. Her Forge Body is mostly metallic and we're thinking of moving her brain out of it anyway, so she wouldn't be at risk. You're correct that using it on Daughters is probably over the line given how it deletes the mind state, as well as wasting the biomass. But going into the Cord we're going to be fighting a lot of things that aren't Daughters and that are probably inedible anyway. Provided it's not going to risk damaging the Cord (something to ask Ozmas about, I suppose), it could be a really useful weapon to put in November's tool kit. Some big awful Cord-spawned monster shows up, she just turns it into a mass of tumors.

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>>5375980

”We keep an eye on the formation via the Orrery, stay out of their range…” You scowl, setting your sights on the towering Cord. “…and keep moving West.”

A force three-dozen strong erupts from your hive as you lead the westward charge, Uzu and Gina taking point to chart a stable course as your creations attend to several matters at once—chief among them the retrieval of the three unknown Daughters’ remains. A trio of Bishop-boosted Knightlings swoop in to extract the tattered remains, and you hope against hope that you’re able to gather enough to preserve their dream-states. Your Knights work with a series of cloaked Rooks to string a daisy-chain of baton passes that you hope will deter any attempt by your foes to track their movements…and all the while, another fleet of invisible scouts slip around behind the encroaching Daughters.

Riding upon a quartet of massive armored Amalgams, the four worm-like steeds carry a dark, calcite-plated carriage between them on tight strands of wiry muscle fibers. Only four Daughters are visible topside with the other six presumably sequestered within the carriage of blackened bone, but even the few that you can see tell you exactly what you needed to know. The source of the team’s enhanced sight is made obvious by the girl that sits cross-legged atop the mobile structure, suspended in a crystalline womb in the shape of an eye, the bald figure’s own eyes closed in silent contemplation with a Relic cradled in her lap—a geode of unseeing irises and sharp lashes, delicately held in the Daughter’s pale, fragile hands.

Beside her sits a girl you assume to be a Gluttonous at first due to the dark-skinned woman’s flesh dotted with dozens of softly whispering mouths, though when your scout draws closer you can see the way the air around her shimmers with the tell-tale vibration of a Skintalker’s Lexicon. On the front pair of Amalgams there stand two drastically different Daughters; on the left is a figure whose physical form has been molded into the shape of a classical cannon, her mouth yawning wide into the perfectly round shape of an artillery piece, the length of her spine running down the top of the gun, with its (or rather, her own) bulk held up by eight grotesquely-muscled arms, each one as wide around as Gina. Opposite her stands a Calcite Armorer clad in a sleek suit blue-brushed ivory, her armor’s elaborate filigree extending to the six wide-bore muskets that languidly orbit their creator, who stands at rigid, unmoving attention despite standing on the back of a thundering beast…

(Continued)

>>5376864

…And it’s only when you look to the Amalgams that you catch a glimpse of the team’s hidden vanguard; a figure dipping in and out of the cancerous field just beyond the four beast’s march. You almost missed her for how well she blends in with the terrain, almost mermaid-like in composition, an iconic figure rendered in sharp contrast with the sharp, barbed ferro-fluid makeup of the Daughter’s iconic form.

Conveying this to the rest of the group is a simple affair, and a far cry from the delicate work Francine’s undertaking beside you as your group of nine continues westward. The good doctor’s held aloft by a flattered Rook as she delicately works on plucking tumors from the biomass you’ve retrieved, her Void Orrery now held by Julia as the rest of your team work to lay a series of traps to further your impending sabotage. While nine of your subversive Rooks carry payloads of Rath’s explosive boils—a ready-made teleport system as a fallback for what’s to come—the scouts closest to the well-oiled team draw closer, attempting to peer into the thin slits you’ve spied that ring the armored carriage’s exterior.

“You wan’another go?” Slurs the cannoneer, tilting her barrel towards the stoic Daughter opposite her.

“The pleasure’s all yours.” She replies curtly, hands folded primly behind her back. “You seem to be having a good show.”

“Aim where I show you, Brig; we’ve got traps ahead.” Announces the girl hovering in the crystal eye, her high, airy voice somehow carrying clearly over the Amalgam’s clamor. A series of lenses materialize just in front of the artillery-woman’s eye-lined barrel, and with a resounding, throaty explosion she sends a volley hurtling towards the terrain you’ve altered, promptly glassing the surface while leaving the deeper mine-grubs intact.

“You need to work on your penetration, dear. We’ll just have to armor-up.” Hums the meditative seer, her massive crystal orb peering into the distance before glancing down at the mermaid scout. “Ari, if you would?”

Wordlessly and immediately the other girl’s liquid-black form slips back, spreading impossibly over each of the Amalgams in turn and armoring all four with a spiked ebony shell, reinforced further by the Skintalker’s issuance of a low, baritone phrase that makes the air around her beasts go rigid. The seer’s not done yet, as with a snap of her fingers two-dozen smaller eyes metastasize from her larger sphere, darting in all directions for only a moment or two before half of them snap to glare at your cloaked scoutlings.

Shit.

(Continued)

>>5376865

“Spies to the rear. Invisible ones, at that. Adorable.” She announces calmly as she rotates in her seat to face you, though her own eyes remain closed. The Calcite gunner snaps to attention, all six of her single-shot barrels trained on your scouts while the wide-bored woman scrambles to get a bead on you.

“Traps AND swarms! Nerada?!” Barks the cannoneer, massive arms tensing as she rounds on the girl suspended in the glass womb. “We gotta wake Captain!”

“Don’t be daft, Brig.” Sighs the seer. “If it was her, we’d have already lost a few. We’re not dealing with someone nearly so cruel.”

“The babies belong to a kind soul. A stalwart heart. My children agree.” Intones the resonant voice of the Skintalker, the declaration issued by half of her body’s mouths while the other chant rhythmically. “Discourse recommended, Iris.”

“Discourse it is, then.” Echoes Iris, her lids fluttering open to reveal black, empty sockets that she trains on your lead swarmling.

“We’ve no issue with you, Defiant. Not unless you wish to make a scene.” She says, adding when your own eyes flare open. “No need to act so surprised. You may have altered your swarm in color and texture, but your creations are iconic enough to spot.”

With a raise of her hand, Iris wordlessly bids the Skintalker beside her to slow the procession to a halt, stopping them short of the lion’s share of your altered terrain.

“I’ll be frank, Defiant; I don’t want to fight you. Most in their right mind would agree.” She continues softly, as though she were discussing all this over a spot of tea. “I think we can also agree that fighting here would be an egregious waste of time and resources for both sides. You’re rather legendarily reasonable, from what I’ve gathered…surely you find this a favorable outcome?”

“Not to interrupt, Darling, but I can’t work like this.” Francine chimes in apologetically, briefly drawing your focus away from your constructs and back to your real body. “I need to focus on this if I’m to make any of this safe for consumption…I’m sorry, Shu.”

“What say you, Defiant?” Iris prompts, coldly, snapping your focus back to the matter at hand. Her voice is calm and steady, but her allies remain at the ready, poised for a conflict they’d rather avoid…

…to say nothing of the unknown actors that remain hidden inside the carriage.

>>Withdraw, for now. Iris has a good point, and you’d rather avoid any unnecessary bloodshed…even though three lives have already been lost.

>>Attempt to negotiate with Iris’s group—her ability grants a level of perception that’d be incredibly useful for you and yours.

>>Engage—their blatant disregard for life is clear, and the only reason you’re talking now is because they possess a healthy fear of the power you bring to bear.

>>Write-In

YOU ARE IN CONTROL

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

>>5376866
I'm sorry, I'm a bit confused: What can't Francine work like? Is she helping us process details from the scouts?

Also, dang, I knew we should have altered our swarmlings more. I was thinking about it, but I was worried the level of shaping needed to make them look drastically different would take too much time.

>>5376874
(Apologies, Francine was working on extracting the tumors from the bodies, but she rolled low.)

>>5376874
>>5376877
(Some unexpectedly low rolls across the board for the whole team this round, actually. Better here than in combat, I suppose.)

>>5376877
Oh, I thought she was saying we were distracting her from her work on the bodies. Okay, fine. We don't need her to work on them now, it just would have been nice.

Right, well if these people don't want to fight, that's good. The whole point of this was to get into a better position before we had to fight them, so if they're not open to it right now, great. We've lost a bit of the element of surprise, but the knowledge of "Shu is in the No Man's Land" was going to spread eventually. However, I am more than a little wary of these people who are so ready and willing to lead with artillery shelling. I kind of want to demand they justify that, if nothing else.

>>5376878
Well, we can't always be awesome. And like you said, at least this is a relatively low-risk time for it to happen.

>>Write-In
>"Oh, I'm sorry, I assumed from the artillery barrage that we were already fighting. Normally, when I explode someone, that's me initiating hostilities. But maybe that's just me. Please, tell me of your culture where explosions are a friendly greeting."

Not linking this, because I don't want to actually say this, but I just had to get the sarcasm out.

>>5376866
>>Write-In
>Tell Francine that's fine, we'll get to them later. For now, she should just stash them back in the Lair's sealed storehouse and Rook-swap back when she's done.
>Convert one of our swarmlings for communication, and fly it close enough to talk.
>"I'd rather not fight here, either. That said, if you don't want to get into fights that are a waste of time and resources, why are you conducting artillery barrages? I don't want to preach to you, but I think I serve as a good argument for how that's just going to get people automatically assuming you're hostile."

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>>5376866
>"I could say the same, I'd rather not start a fight here and now with how things are at the moment...though I do have a preposition."
>"Do you mind if we catch a ride?"
>"Your team may be heading for the Cord but I've got another objective currently in mind."
>Show them the Void Orrey and have the map expand in scale to show the anchor points along the way to the cord.
>"You see these points? They're places where the No-Man's land are at its most stable and least chaotic. I'm aiming to see if my group can use a combination of powers to make that bit of land a permanently stable Anchor points and set up Forward operating bases. A rest stop if you will. Problem is, our scouting abilities on the ground are rather lacking despite having a very good map, and our feet are getting rather tired."
>"We'd appreciate it if you can drive us to the closest anchor point."
>"We get to rest our feet, and in exchange we'll guide you along the way and help you avoid road bumps like very chaotic terrain and wandering murderous Hephestas."
>"If we're lucky, we might be able to find and build ourselves a genuine rest-stop. Everyone here knows how bad things can get when you spend hours and hours in a car together on a long ass road trip."
>"This deal if struck will hold until we reach the closest stable anchor point. You're free to keep going west or continue to cooperate with us afterwards."
>sweeten the deal if they're on the fence.
>"Also, we know how to deal with the Cancer infection in the No-Man's land. Any corpses that your group currently have stored from previous fights in the No-Man's land, we'll offer to clean them of the rot the No-Man's land infected them with. Additional ones that will cost you a commissioner's fee though."

>if they agree:
>Have the group slow their pace so they travel alongside the roving tank division.
>Hold up a spare arm and extend it out, thumbs up. The quintessential traveler's sign of a request to hitchhike.

>>5376901
I think if we're gonna do the corpse storage, make sure to leave a note and label which corpses are infected and which corpses are clean. As well as a danger sign on any cancer seeds that do manage to be extracted.

>>5376905
I don't really like that idea, to be honest. Just because these people don't want to fight us here doesn't mean they're not a potential threat. They're scared of us, but they're also apparently rather opportunistic. I'd rather not be in the midst of them and giving them ideas about how if they just caught us off guard they could remove us as a competitor. Also, I really don't want to mention the Void Orrery and its potential as a map, for them that would be a serious prize. Maybe after we talk with them more and get a better sense of them, we could propose working together, but right now I'm too wary.

>>5376913
Fair enough, although I do still want to have Francine perform proper storage and containment of the infected carrion. But it does say something about their ability to traverse the terrain on those vehicles. We could make easy progress if we hitch a ride with them.

>>5376866
Bhop, I'd like to rescind my vote >>5376905 here until further notice.

>>5376920
(Understood, though the 'Catch-A-Ride' gave me good chuckle, so I appreciate that.)

Update from the quest:

Indianapolis secured. The party was in a fully united raid to take back the mall and hopefully find the engine, and encountered a freshly born Capital class spider amalgam that fled the area immediately. The engine and two forges were found and secured.

The freshly born capital class is highly voracious and will rapidly consume any amalgams on its way to flee, clearing up a part of the waves of them that come from the chord. Last headed towards Illinois.

Hans leveled up his Resin coating and a calcite exoskeleton ability to create an Amber ability. Highly rare, crystal abilities are ridiculously good at high levels.

Hugh has started to make thread sacks out of his ability and stuffs it full of incredibly dense marbles to smash enemies with. It’s very effective and he’s learned to make slingshots out of the bungie thread. He’s leveled the bubble compression to the point he can decompress them at will and he’s thrown a few into amalgam mouths and expanded, making them explode.

Morgan’s gotten a terraforming ability and uses it to make pits in the ground to cover with her fog to look like it’s solid ground and baits enemies to run into them. She’s also gotten a nice calcite ability to fling out darts and even shuriken that she mixes in fog weapons with.

>>5376920
Yeah, labeling the bodies as a potential risk in need of processing is good. We should store them separate from the rest of the larder, too.


How does this look as a write-in? I'm trying to get a lead-in to cooperating with them if it's possible, without coming right out with our unique advantages.

>>5376866
>>Write-In
>Tell Francine that's fine, we'll get to them later. For now, she should just stash them back in the Lair's sealed storehouse and Rook-swap back when she's done. Put them in a separate room from the main larder, and label them as being contaminated and needing processing before they can safely be consumed.
>Convert one of our swarmlings for communication, and fly it close enough to talk.
>"I'd rather not fight here, either. That said, you did open with an artillery barrage, so I think I can be excused for assuming we already were fighting. I don't want to tell you how to run your ship, but wide-spread devastation invites certain conclusions."
>"Let's start over, then. Hi, I'm Shu. You may have heard of me. Who might you be?"
>Try to get some sense of who they are and what their goals are. Ask them if they're just headed straight to the Cord or if they've got other plans in the No Man's Land, use that as a way to subtly investigate if they already know about the safe spots. Don't push them on the topic of the passages below-decks, if they don't want to admit to being a larger group than this we shouldn't reveal we know they are.

>>5376923
(Excellent, thank you for keeping us updated! This has been an absolute delight to follow as it unfolds.)

>>5376923
Huh. So they managed to clear an immediate problem but lead to a bigger one down the line. Nice, that's a good set-up for a future quest. They know it's out there and that they should take it out before it gets unmanageable, gives them good incentive to act on it.

Your party's abilities sound like they've gotten really fun. They're getting into more direct uses so they don't have to rely entirely on tricks, but their tricks have also gotten really good.

>>5376930
I have revealed to the party that we’re involved with an experiment on a vaguely humanoid amalgam the reason for the strange changes seen in them as they spawn from the chords outer walls.

The most intelligent species is used as a goal for the mental state of amalgams with more resources devoted to their creation. Capital classes are the furthest along this development line, but lack occasional critical thinking and rationality to their minds. They develope Egos as time goes on and the amalgam self terminated before more information could be had from it

Oh, and can't believe I forgot

>>5376866
Adding to >>5376926
>Continue moving to the safe point as we talk. Stop laying traps, now that we've seen how easily they can get through them, and speed up as a result.

>>5376935
(Oh, this...I like this. I'm very interested to see where this goes!)

>>5376926
fair enough.

>>5376926
If they're up for cooperation, I'm up for tossing in the "Catch-a-ride" joke.

off to work soon.

>>5377006
Have a nice day, anon.

>>5377006
(Have a good day, and take care!)

Not linking for this since I’d want more feedback. It can be used if they don’t agree to the initial proposition and we want more info, but it’s taking a harsher stance in the meantime:
>In the interest of peace, how about I speak with the others I see hidden in the carriage?
>If they’re in a situation I wouldn’t approve of, I don’t think our truce would last very long. I’m sure my reputation speaks to that as well.

If they say no:
>Keep in mind that I got this close well before you noticed me. I do have ways to bring my team uncomfortably close to yours, and while you’d be able to use your trick to keep me at a distance, I’d only need to get lucky once. All we need to do is outpace you until you break down.

If they absolutely refuse and we don’t want to fight:
>The alternative is for you to take another lane. You’d have to try your luck with Hephestas instead, but that’s likely preferable to dealing with my team.

>>5377048
Well, I don't want to reveal we know about the people in the carriages unless we have to. But if we do, I kind of want to drop it almost casually. Like we didn't even notice they were trying to hide them, play up our rep by seeming all-knowing and mysterious. So don't say "hidden", just ask if the rest of their group wants to talk. And if they go "what others" we can say "oh, are the people inside the carriages not with you?" and segue into your second line about how we'd be disappointed if they had captives for whatever reason.

The third line, about getting our group dangerously close, I'd cut. It feels both too vague and too specific at the same time. Vague on the "we have ways", specific on the "your method has flaws compared to mine, here's how we could take advantage" part. I'm not sure of a better way to phrase it, though.

Fourth line is fine. Warn them off our path, but also warn them about Hephesta just to be decent about it.

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>>5376866

“Francine, that’s fine…take Escher’s Gear and stash them at the lair while I deal with all this.” You say, handing her the Relic. “If you could label them before-“

“Oh, I’ll keep this well away from any of our other biomass, don’t fret.” The good doctor assures you, and with that you’re free to focus solely on the expectant Daughter that’s calmly leveled a hollow glare at your swarmling scout.

"I'd rather not fight here, either. That said, you did open with an artillery barrage, so I think I can be excused for assuming we already were fighting.” You explain, catching the Armorer give her cannoneer companion a pointed glance, though the seer remains as stoic as ever. “I don't want to tell you how to run your ship, but wide-spread devastation invites certain conclusions."

“Understandable.” She replies, as polite as she is unapologetic.

"Let's start over, then. Hi, I'm Shu.” You continue, giving the group a little bow by way of you envoy’s tilted carapace. “You may have heard of me. Who might you be?"

“…Hello, Shu. And yes, everyone who’s anyone has head of the Defiant. I’m Iris.” The seer replies, matching your bow in kind as she rises to her feet, though she still hovers a few inches off the top of the carriage thanks to her crystalline sphere. She gestures to the woman beside her, then to the pair of long-range specialists behind her. “Our resident Skintalker, Sauti. The killjoy behind me is Breech (the Armorer gives you a prim salute, at that) and the jumpy one’s Brig.”

“Are you all headed straight for the Cord, if do you have some other goals in No-Man’s Land?” You ask through your swarmling, while you real body gestures for your team to continue the westward advance…minus the traps, of course.

“What other options are there in this place?” Iris gestures at the rancid plains of corrupted meat that stretch as far as her eyes can see. “Not like we can just have a little break, can we?”

“I suppose not.” You concede, keeping the existence of zones of relative safety to yourself, at least for now. “Would it be too bold of me to ask what you four hope to make of the world?”

“Your only boldness is assuming we can win. All we can do is try, and hope.” Iris answers with a sigh and smile before gesturing at the carriage below. “And it’s the ten of us, actually. Our Captain’s asleep right now, you see. Building up her strength for the final push. What about the nine of you?”

Nine…is that a threat, or a bizarre show of good faith? She’s rather cagey about her and her team’s motivations, as well. You’re uncertain how much you should say, though the fact that you’re even having this conversation is a testament to some level of civility…

…even in the Cord’s looming shadow.

>>Part ways, and continue west.

>>Ask Iris something else.

>>Attempt to negotiate, for travel or advantage (Write-In).

>>Write-in

YOU ARE IN CONTROL

(Voting shall remain open for the next eight hours, with posting to resume tomorrow at 12PM, Eastern time. I wish you all a restful evening one and all, and I hope you have a good start to your morning, as well.)

>>5377094
>“…Hello, Shu. And yes, everyone who’s anyone has head of the Defiant. I’m Iris.” The seer replies, matching your bow in kind as she rises to her feet, though she still hovers a few inches off the top of the carriage thanks to her crystalline sphere. She gestures to the woman beside her, then to the pair of long-range specialists behind her. “Our resident Skintalker, Sauti. The killjoy behind me is Breech (the Armorer gives you a prim salute, at that) and the jumpy one’s Brig.”
>“And it’s the ten of us, actually. Our Captain’s asleep right now, you see. Building up her strength for the final push.
Now that's interesting. She's admitting to their full party size, but at the same time she's not introducing Ari the ferrofluid mermaid. Maybe that's just a slip on BHOP's part, but if intentional it could mean she's protective of Ari for whatever reason. Possibly sentimental, possibly because she's of high value given her armoring abilities.

>What about the nine of you?”
So we're close enough for Iris to have seen all of us, but Brig and Breach didn't fire on us. So either we're outside of their effective range, or she's holding back on giving them the firing order because she's wary of us. Probably the second.

>>5377094
>>Write-in
>"Well, I think my plans are pretty well-known at this point, but to summarize: We're aiming to climb the Cord, take control, and initiate a revival process for the world. In theory, simple, in practice, complex. But as you said, all we can do is try, and hope."
>"Meanwhile, we're pushing our way through the No Man's Land, and trying to get that optimum number of fights where we can keep growing stronger but not get overwhelmed. I take it you're much the same?"

This isn't great, but I've got a webinar tonight and anxiety over it is making my writing worse as it nears. Maybe afterwards I'll be able to write better.

>>5377137
(Considering your skills overall, I have no doubt you'll do magnificently. I wish you the best, and take care!)

>>5376949
Capital classes that gain egos are more or less when they begin to stabilize and become a different level of threat than one without a true sense of self. The wild spider one that escaped barely had the ability to recognize any of its fellow brood (note that only individuals can be capitals and not that whole generation) and opted to run because it was surrounded. The Yearning has gained its own ego and ambition, making it a driven force. This is developed by their own experiences and wants, not by how many or what kinds of Kin it consumes, if it does at all. They are perfectly capable and willing to engage in cannibalism. It has been discovered that the chord is not a purposefully malicious existence, it simply makes and optimizes as it records the amalgams and their interactions. Once it can produce amalgams that develop egos with maximum ease, it will reveal its second directive to all Kin .

>>5377172
also the Joshua quest with the no-go zone has been completed. Nobody had a god time, and an extremely powerful Kin is now wandering the states, aimless and finally free.

>>5377094
Right, so do we want to tell them about the safe zones, or not? On the one hand, I don't want Miss Shoot-first-ask-questions-when-we-realize-they're-tough here to have a place to hole up in and fortify. I don't trust these gals. But maybe telling them about it will get them to chill out once they've actually rested some? They do have a point, we're the only ones here who can properly rest. We've got fast travel, as far as we know no one else does, so we can go home and take a break when we want to. I don't want to excuse their behavior, but I can understand why they'd be on edge and just blast away at anything that comes in view before they even bother talking to it.

There's also the issue of whether they'd just find out anyway. Iris evidently has very long-distance sight, if she can see us despite our being outside of Brig and Breach's range. Chances are that if we stop in one place and stabilize it, their party will find out anyway. So there's an argument that we should tell them now and get some good will out of it instead of them learning we were holding out on them.

Also, what do they call themselves? Do they have a team name like us or the Midnight Crew or the Barbers? I want to ask.

>>5377338
off from work, but I’ll say this. The ability to afford a sanctuary and a place of rest in a place as dangerous as the No-Man’s land is something to absolutely kill for. Especially when we have the knowledge rights and the means. Besides, even if we’re able to set up a rest stop, the other half of the equation is having the standing force to hold a place like the one we aim to set up.

>>5377361
So you think we should tell them, then? Get them seeing it as "the safe spot we share with the Defiant" instead of "the safe spot we need to take from the Defiant"? I can see them shelling us in order to grab it.

am >>5377361

>>5377373
If we want to establish our long term plan of creating an island chain of safe zones, we'll need some initial help.

The ten daughters have the advantage of longer sight range as well as reliable (and probably fast) armored transport. Once we're able to set up the infrastructure, we'll be able to venture further in. Besides, I think November might be interested in forming a tank division if we decide to establish a partnership. Not to mention, they don't know we're allied with Nerada.

Plus, they're good as forward scouts for hire as their longer vision range will enable an early warning system for any savory/predatory daughters who view the safe zone as a potential banquet.

And in terms of giving them plenty of rest, I think the prospect of resting under the protective wing of the Defiant would be something they would want to take.

We've negotiated a truce with the three titans, Establishing a chain of rest stops in the world's deadliest and chaotic biome in the entire planet? it's so bat shit insane that it's perfectly in line with our behavior as "the Defiant". What's another miracle on the list?

>>5377382
I just don't trust Iris. Brig seemed to show some chagrin for catching us in the shelling, I don't think she knew we were here. Iris just gave her some coordinates, and Brig complied. I think Iris is the one who made the decision to spontaneously blow up those girls were were talking with. I'm wary of her. The others might be better, though.

Still, I guess we can at least make some approaches for peaceful interaction. Might give us a better chance of figuring out their goals, too, if we all make camp together and the ones inside the caravan come out. How's this, then?

>"You said none of you could take a break, yeah? That might not be entirely true. There are some stable points in the No Man's Land, they're just rare. We think we've spotted one, and are headed there. I figure you'll probably just see us set up camp anyway, so do you want to come along? Fair warning, another group of gals was headed that way, too, so who knows, maybe we'll all have to fight anyway. But it's better than just wandering the cancer jungles."

>>5377094
>"The same as you. This is my first foray into the No-Man's land, and I would be lying if I were to say I'm making the final push here and now."
>"Besides...If I were to make the final push to the Cord, it wouldn't simply be just the 'nine' of us."
>"My goal here is entirely different. And for that, I have a proposal for the ten of you..."
>"How do you feel about setting up a rest stop in the No-Man's land?"
>"It's crazy I know. Who would be in their right mind to establish a freaking rest stop in literal Cancer-land?"
>"And I'll admit it's almost impossible to find a safe spot in the chaos of this place."
>"That is...unless you know 'where' to set up a rest stop."
>Teleport swap with our envoy. Bring up the void orrey.
>"There are stable points in the No Man's land, and they are few and far between. But me and mine are headed to one to see if we can establish an actual rest stop."
>Put away the Void Orrey.
>"You're in need of much needed rest, I'm in need of a set of eyes far sharper than what I currently have."
>"You have vision and transport, we have a very well made map and radar."
>"You take us to the stable anchor point, and we'll guide you there and help avoid hazards like chaotic terrain and wandering Hephestas."
>"Fair warning, you might not find any more rest stops further in. And we've spotted another group of gals was headed that way, too, so who knows, maybe we'll all have to fight anyway. But it's better than just wandering the cancer jungles."
>"This deal - if agreed upon - will hold until we reach the closest stable anchor point. You're free to end the deal keep going west afterwards, or keep the deal intact and use the rest stop until I'm able to to establish proper infrastructure and am ready to head further into the No Man's land to establish another rest stop."
>"So what do you say?"
>Hold out an arm with a thumbs up, the universal sign of a traveler requesting to hitchhike.
>"Can me and mine Catch a ride?"

>>5377386
We'll have to keep an eye on Iris, that much is true.

But it could also be said that they're tight on the nerves and made it their policy to shoot anything within sight to ensure their party safety. They've heard of the chaos that is the No-Man's land and so they are very much adopting a cautious mindset here. We can't really fault them for that. Pragmatism comes first in this place, unfortunately. And it takes time for us to create our Tenno Army and the standing force needed to hold a rest stop under our control. But if we have those ten hold the spot for us until we build up the proper garrison force to hold it, then we'll have our hands free to do other things.

>>5377407
Looks mostly good, but I'd rather not show them the Void Orrery. That thing is a huge advantage in this place, I don't want to give away that we have it. They've got a Skintalker, so maybe they can infer its existence from having seen the Shu Show, but if possible I want to leave it ambiguous how we know there's a safe zone. Just say that we've scouted it out with our various abilities, which is true, and let them draw their own conclusions about how that's all we did.

>>5377418
true, but the void orrey is something to validate our ridiculous claim and insane plan of "setting up a sanctuary in the middle of an endless battlefield", but I can see the reasoning. You don't want to get your map stolen.

>>5377407
>>5377094
Amending my vote:
>Do not show the Void orrey unless requested to show proof or if they're on the fence.

Also, Bhop. Who's the captain of the group? I'm fairly certain it's not Iris. Iris seems to be the one who is second-in-command.

And I had a thought. Iris's ability to see through almost everything reminds me of a tier 5 relic that I came up a couple years back when the custom relic codex was being written.

>EYES OF THE HORIZON: Eyes that consume the light. Eyes that see beyond death's door and the abyss beyond the veil. Eyes that see Time and space laid out with absolute clarity. A pair of eyeballs that must be transplanted on to the daughter, the Daughter wearing them gains the following effects: Gain Absolute true sight. Can access all information the daughter requires from another daughter from eye contact. All secrets are exposed. Gain mental clarity and insight to the Crucible and the Universe as if on death's door. Daughter will be unable to sleep nor access the dreamscape as long as she wears the eyes. Removing the relic renders the daughter permanently blind, even after the daughter has regrown her own eyes for she has seen the world through the eyes of Abyssal Gods... and she sees nothing but black.

This is the relic that Iris's eyes remind me of.

>>5377427
>true, but the void orrey is something to validate our ridiculous claim and insane plan of "setting up a sanctuary in the middle of an endless battlefield", but I can see the reasoning. You don't want to get your map stolen.
Yeah. I don't want to present anything that they'd reason as "we'll have to oppose her eventually anyway, and if we do it now we'll have an easier time later because of taking this". If we have to, we have to, but let's not lead with it.

>Also, Bhop. Who's the captain of the group? I'm fairly certain it's not Iris. Iris seems to be the one who is second-in-command.
She said their Captain (and, interestingly, she used that terminology too) was sleeping inside the caravan. Something about gathering her strength, which might possibly be literal, an ability to build up power in advance.

>This is the relic that Iris's eyes remind me of.
It's similar, yeah. What sort of class would super-eyes be? Neuromancer, I guess? Maybe with some Generator, since she could spawn floating eye constructs.

>>5377433
>She said their Captain (and, interestingly, she used that terminology too) was sleeping inside the caravan. Something about gathering her strength, which might possibly be literal, an ability to build up power in advance.

Gah. Now that you mention it. I'm starting to be very wary of their "captain". If their captain is building up power for the final push and the other nine are simply bodyguards, that means their captain is a very high leveled daughter who requires enough rest to ramp up in power. Said captain is probably power-leveling in the dreamscape with a unique skill. Pragmatically speaking, it would be prudent to disturb that rest if we're to cut her down before she turns dangerous, but at the same time, our objective here is to scout out the No-Man's land and establish a viable beachhead to make the final push easier for our allies to exfiltrate or take shelter in from the No-Man's land.

>>5377439
It's possible. It depends on if they're willing to expend that power on fighting us, instead of using it on the Cord. I think that if they do try to kill us, it will be with their main group and only bust out the boss if that doesn't work.

I think the time it would take to get to the safe point and establish the beachhead is probably not so long that the Captain will power up dramatically from it. We can assess them after we get there. If she does have a skill to power up when resting, they'll even be incentivized to help us reach a safe spot, because she'll be a bigger deal after getting even more time to rest there. We're probably safe for now, it's the second meeting in which we might be in trouble.

We might also just be able to interrupt their Captain's rest by being sociable. Once we get the safe zone established and they start thinking they'll have more time later to have her rest, since they won't need to constantly stay on the move, we can ask to meet the people inside the caravan. Then we can get a good handle on her and what she's about, and if we need to be seriously threatened by her and prioritize fighting this group.

Yeah, guys, I don't like this group. They are completely unapologetic about randomly killing people and do not even care to at least pretend they are a tiny little bit sorry. I don't want to help them and even though I'll admit that traveling with them or cooperating with them in some way would be a boon... I don't trust them. As profitable as associating with them could be, I don't think we should, both for moreal reasons and because I think that, given opportunity, they'll stab us in the back.

At the same time, though, I completely agree that we shoud not fight them... here and now.

>>5377690
It doesn't help that they know us better than we know them. We're at the stage in terms of power where all the strong and aspirant power players are out in force and keeping a wary eye on our activities. They'll know of our reputation and behavior beforehand and will likely plan accordingly whenever they encounter us. Some will aid us, others will exploit our reputation for their own gain using means that chafe against our moral principles.

And this group is the latter half.

They've even got a skintalker. which means....

Shit. This is gonna suck for our moral credibility.

I'm now starting to regret having made that proposal.

Fuck. It's too late to change votes though.

The proposal's already out, and they'll be the first ones to know of our plan. And they'll likely the first ones to exploit our plan to set up a rest-stop.
The question now is how to we disassociate ourselves from them.

If we are to disassociate ourselves from them, it will likely have to be through violence.

>>5377448
With their captain sleeping, starting a fight will be a 9v9. But should the captain wake up from the violence, it'll turn into a 10v9.

>>5377407
>>5377094
Bhop. I don't know if this vote will be valid given that it's way too late, But I'm thinking about changing my vote to

>Part ways, and continue west.

I don't know, I'm very much on the fence on this. voter's regret is setting in. Let me know if the update's already locked in.

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>>5377725
(Ironically, you will now have plenty of time to recalibrate.)

(I'll be opening Voting again for the next eight hours, as the renovation team here at the office has seen fit to fuck up my internet, so now I can neither write nor work, but I'm still going to be stuck here until they wrap up for the day.)

(Thus, in order to keep the desired pace, I'll resume posting on Monday, August 22nd at 10AM, Eastern time. I should be able to get things back in working order by attending to this over part of the weekend, but if there are any other issues I'll let you know as soon as I become aware of them.)

(My sincerest apologies for the delay, though this may be for the best given the divisiveness of this particular vote.)

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>>5377730

(nervous laughter)

Umm...thanks for the generosity bhop.

Have a thing.

If you'll excuse me I need some time to recalibrate as you have said.

>>5377690
>>5377721
We could ask they take one of our swarmlings (not a Fuzzbuzz, an actual swarmling) with them if we choose to go separate ways. It’d be a precaution to make sure they don’t find a way to shell us while we’re busy elsewhere. Or for us to request long-range support if we encounter something that all sides would agree needed to die yesterday, though I wouldn’t vocalize that part. That’s not a call we’d make lightly.

It’s an unequal exchange since we get better eyes on them without giving anything in return, but like she pointed out she knows we’re a woman of our word. We don’t have the same assurance about her.

>>5377690
>>5377721
Honestly, I share the reservations. I was going along with a "work with them" plan because I was worried about them finding our rest spot anyway and then shelling it to take it from us. But you're right, it would just be too big a hit to our image to be seen cooperating with them after they killed some random gals. And I certainly don't trust Iris. Brig and Breach, I think have possibility to be good, Iris not.

So if we're now in agreement it's not worth the risks, let's vote contrariwise to working with them. How does this look?

>>Write-in
>"Oh, I think everyone knows what my aim is by now, right? You recognized me, I'm sure there's no need for one of my speeches at this point. Yeah, it's a long shot, but as you said: all we can do is try, and hope."
>"I hope you girls make it. It's a rough place we're in, and it's only getting rougher. Try not to make any unnecessary enemies, okay? I'd hate to see your Captain's sleep interrupted."
>Part ways, and continue to the safe zone

How's that? I tried to be similarly evasive with an element of threat to Iris' comments.

>>5377730
Oof da. Sorry to hear that, BHOP.

>>5377833
>>5377786
>>5377690

Looks good, but I think it would be prudent to keep an eye on them. And Iris was the one who made the call to shell the three who we were talking with. They clearly have a better vision range despite our radar, and they're also east of us, so it would also be plausible that they may be looking over our shoulder using the void orrey as their guide as well.

>“And it’s the ten of us, actually. Our Captain’s asleep right now, you see. Building up her strength for the final push. What about the nine of you?”
No...Iris clearly has the better vision range despite the sheer distance, its as if she expected this would happen while the others seem to be in the dark.
>“You need to work on your penetration, dear. We’ll just have to armor-up.” Hums the meditative seer, her massive crystal orb peering into the distance before glancing down at the mermaid scout.
So she saw the traps ahead.
>“We’ve no issue with you, Defiant. Not unless you wish to make a scene.” She says, adding when your own eyes flare open. “No need to act so surprised. You may have altered your swarm in color and texture, but your creations are iconic enough to spot.”
And she even recognized our swarmlings.

>“Traps AND swarms! Nerada?!” Barks the cannoneer, massive arms tensing as she rounds on the girl suspended in the glass womb. “We gotta wake Captain!”
>“Your only boldness is assuming we can win. All we can do is try, and hope.” Iris answers with a sigh and smile before gesturing at the carriage below. “And it’s the ten of us, actually. Our Captain’s asleep right now, you see. Building up her strength for the final push. What about the nine of you?”
>“I think we can also agree that fighting here would be an egregious waste of time and resources for both sides. You’re rather legendarily reasonable, from what I’ve gathered…surely you find this a favorable outcome?”
Their captain is their trump card. They can't afford to start a fight because that would waste resources, and specifically bring out their captain whom they're trying to preserve at all costs, which means shelling anything in their way at all costs and hope they don't attract bigger fish.
So they know of our behavior, and our reputation of being a negotiator, and because they're trying to preserve energy for the final push, they're banking on us being in a charitable mood to let them pass and not start a fight.

That means we could ask questions that test their moral compass of sorts to see if their recent call to shell the crap out of those three girls was protocol they developed for their final push, or an intentional dick move to piss us off.

>>5377730
Also, bhop. I finally recognized the reference in the artillery carriage team. Darkest Dungeon Two's caravan system.

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As a list of amalgams the party has lately fought, there’s been a good selection that I’ve had planned as encounters since the start.

Calcite clam, shoots pearls of blood crystals, grabs with long tendrils and uses terrain control to create an ant lion pit for itself to capture food.

A pack of raptor amalgam ls that have active camouflage while hiding in follicle fields, imitate voices of prey hunted.

A crystal skeletal amalgam that stalks between large blocks of crystalline blood, blinds with flashes of bioluminescence enhanced by the crystals around it.

A calcite armored shark that hides in the dunes of a desert of teeth. Limited fleshscape terraforming to allow the dunes to fluctuate and move like water.

>>5377859
>That means we could ask questions that test their moral compass of sorts to see if their recent call to shell the crap out of those three girls was protocol they developed for their final push, or an intentional dick move to piss us off.
Yeah, okay. So how about something like

>"Again, I don't mean to be pushy, but that shoot-first attitude is just going to get you in trouble. You don't do that often, do you?"

>>5377881
More like:
>"The same as you. Saving strength, getting ready for the final push like your sleeping beauty in that carriage there."
>"Besides...If I were to make the final push to the Cord, it wouldn't simply be just the 'nine' of us."
>"Though I do have one question to ask, and I would like for you to be honest with your response."
>"If you were capable of spotting me and mine from such a distance, why you to make the call to open fire when I was in the middle of a conversation?"

Then depending on their answer, we could then make the decision on whether or not to part ways with them or let them in on the idea of working with them to establish the rest-stop plan.

>>5377881
the question needs to be direct and challenging. It calls them out on their decision to open fire on the three girls, and has to reveal some part of their group's moral compass or group protocol.

>>5377407
>>5377094
>>5377725

Amending my vote to this:
>"Oh, I think everyone knows what my aim is by now, right? You recognized me, I'm sure there's no need for one of my speeches at this point. Yeah, it's a long shot, but as you said: all we can do is try, and hope."
>"Though I do have one question to ask, and I would like for you to be honest with your response."
>"If you were capable of spotting me and mine from such a distance, why you to make the call to open fire on those three when I was in the middle of contacting them?"
>Then depending on their answer, we can then make the decision on whether or not to part ways with them or let them in on the idea of working with them to establish the rest-stop plan.

>>5377881
If their answer isn't up to our satisfaction, then we can simply vote to part ways next update.

>>5377903
I think we can be punchier. Leading in with the "I have a question, and I want you to be honest" part comes off as a bit weak to me. I say just go right in with "Why'd you shoot those girls, huh?" Maybe not those exact words, but something like.

Amending my vote to this:
>"Oh, I think everyone knows what my aim is by now, right? You recognized me, I'm sure there's no need for one of my speeches at this point. Yeah, it's a long shot, but as you said: all we can do is try, and hope."
>"So, why did you give the order to fire on those girls? If you've got the vision range to see my party, you must have known they were just talking with me."
>Then depending on their answer, we can then make the decision on whether or not to part ways with them or let them in on the idea of working with them to establish the rest-stop plan.

>>5377910
don't forget to link your vote to the correct post anon.

>>5377094
>>Write-in
>"Oh, I think everyone knows what my aim is by now, right? You recognized me, I'm sure there's no need for one of my speeches at this point. Yeah, it's a long shot, but as you said: all we can do is try, and hope."
>"So, why did you make the call to open fire on those three girls? If you're capable of spotting me and mine from such a distance, you must have known I was just talking with them."
>Then depending on their answer, we can then make the decision on whether or not to part ways with them or let them in on the idea of working with them to establish the rest-stop plan.

>>5377912
How's this? Modified it a bit to fit your sentence structure more.

>>5377915
looks good on the grammar side.

off to work again.

>>5377933
Have a nice day.

>>5377933
(Have a good day!)

>>5377859
>>Also, bhop. I finally recognized the reference in the artillery carriage team. Darkest Dungeon Two's caravan system.

(Haha, excellent! Dark, brooding carriages are simply marvelous, so I'm glad you caught the homage.)

>>5377876
(Also, since I somehow didn't see this yesterday - these are some inspired creations, and I'm enthralled by the raptor pack Amalgams. Such a solid setpiece for a fight.)

>>5378457
Behold, A Crucible Glutton irl, as discussed by two Phantasmal Skintalkers
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/hQ2zAzUrFRU

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>>5378603
(Oh, this was great.)

(Also, I'd like to wish everyone a happy Honey Bee Day, as I just earned three minutes ago.)

>>5378751
Honey Bee Day?

Sweeeeet

(Hello, All. The internet if fixed at my place of employ, so the Vein will update tomorrow at 10AM, Eastern time as I work to get rolling. Thank you for your patience, and I do hope you're all having a pleasant weekend.)

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>>5375370
--- CRADLETON'S BIOMASS VAULT ---

"This is the vault where you store the biomass for the settlement right?" asked Solomon as they descended down the winding staircase.

"That's correct."

"So why the long trek?"

"It was the only place we could safely store it on short notice after the riot."

"Huh." Yan blinked at the sight. "There's two piles."

"The one on the left is the biomass pile from the Hunger riot event. The one on the right is the stockpile that the town uses."

"That's right." replied Andersen, pulling his wife into a security hug and began gently stroking her head. A tender gesture that yielded no resistance from the Matron.

"How many were involved in the Hunger riot?"

"One hundred and five, including ourselves." answered Jun, the seemingly rote statistic rattled off by the Matron was spoken with a tinge of heavy guilt. "Eighty-five daughters had to be put down."

"Has anyone eaten out of the pile made from the casualties of the hunger riot since the event?"

The Matron shook his head. "The survivors of the Hunger riot refused to eat from it."

"What about the newcomers? Have they eaten from the pile?" asked Yan, narrowing his eyes.

"They refused as well. Word of mouth travels quick in this place." replied Jun with another shake.

"And what about that meat merchant?"

"She took her share from the smaller biomass pile as well."

"So everyone ate from the smaller pile but not the pile consisting of the dead that resulted from the Hunger riot." Solomon mused, with a hand on his chin. "So who's supplying the meat from the smaller pile?"

"That would be me." said the manager. "The smaller pile everyone eats from is actually biomass carved from my own body."

Solomon and Yan turned turned as one to give a disturbed look at the monster-turned man, the Oni's gaze firmly fixed on the titanic entombed cadaver on the wall.

"I reckon the lower half of my body is about is gone. Both legs and my pelvis." he sighed, shaking his head. "Won't be able to fully grow them back until I start eating again, But even then, I can't eat people willy nilly. Not when I'm trying to uphold a promise."

"Are you okay?" asked Solomon.

The oni gave them a tired smile. "I'll get by." he replied. "I'll get by..."

"Well then, looks like we can consider ourselves lucky. A perfectly preserved pile of all the dead to account for." said Yan, reaching into his coat and pulling out a crest shaped relic depicting a predator's jaws flanked by wings carved into the crest's face.

A clawed arm is held out in front of Yan as runes carved themselves into the calcite and glowed. And from the ground, grew a headstone of blackened bone. Neuromancy and Skintalking danced in duet under the guidance of Vitruvian Modularity.

"In the name of the Imperial Arbiter..." Yan intoned as he knelt down and placed the crest against the headstone. "I command the land to reveal their secrets."

(to be continued...)

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>>5377094

"Oh, I think everyone knows what my aim is by now, right?” You fire back with an easy, oft-practiced smile. “You recognized me, I'm sure there's no need for one of my speeches at this point. Yeah, it's a long shot, but as you said: all we can do is try, and hope."

Iris returns your smile with one of her own, a soft, furtive thing…one that runs away as quickly as it came when you continue; "So, why did you make the call to open fire on those three girls? If you're capable of spotting me and mine from such a distance, you must have known I was just talking with them."

“...Wass’he talkin’ ‘bout, Iris?” Grunts Brig, swiveling her bulk towards the girl in question. Sauti tilts her head towards her companion, and though she doesn’t wish to show it to your face you can’t miss the slight, curious crease between her brows.

“I’m with Brig on this one, chief. Thought you said we were clearing traps.” The Armorer tersely inquires, flexing the fingers of one ivory-covered hand. “Why didn’t you tell us we’d taken someone out?”

“Three people, actually.” You clarify once more. “They didn’t have any business being here. They were too low level, as is.”

“The Captain doesn’t pay you to ask questions, Breech.” Iris says, pointedly ignoring your addition.

“Last pow-wow we had before coming here, I don’t recall her saying we got paid for executions, either.” The other woman icily counters, with Brig struggling to swivel her attention between them.

“Wait, you guys are gettin’ paid?!” Brig exclaims, any further lines of inquiry cut short when Sauti steps forward, the Skintalker’s body reverberating with a single note uttered with such perfect and incomprehensible clarity that even you’re dumbstruck by its reverb.

“Regardless of what’s transpired here…” She begins, the woman’s caramel eyes flicking towards Iris before shifting to you. “...the fact remains that we are all here, now—in the most dangerous place on earth. There’s safety in numbers, Defiant; we’d be honored to help you cross the wastes as far as you’d like.”

Iris steps back, as though wishing to fade entirely from the turn this conversation has taken. Her colorless lips form a thin, humorless line to mirror the rigid spine of the Calcite Armorer who hasn’t stopped staring her down since Sauti cut their argument short.

Their proposition’s a tempting one, but given how the atmosphere’s palpably shifted from one of genial, if cautious diplomacy to a series of guns, half-cocked, well…

…you have to wonder if this solution won’t bring its own set of problems.

>>Accept the offer, and have them pick you up.

>>Decline, and continue West…well away from their shelling, of course.

>>You’re onto something, here—press the offensive against Iris’ call to kill those three girls, and Sauti’s attempts to sweep it under the rug.

>>Write-In

YOU ARE IN CONTROL

(Voting shall remain open for the next three hours, with posting to resume in approximately four. I do hope you all had a pleasant weekend, and that your week is off to a good start!)

>>5380492
oh man. This really be like Darkest Dungeon 2's caravan relationship system applied to this group. Makes for some very *interesting* relationship dynamics.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z7D8AdTsVmc

>>5380492
Hmm....
Very interesting dynamic we have going on here. And our question seems to have jostled some old wounds and revived tense dynamics among the caravan.

Sauti's the heart of the group who keeps everyone in line, and her intervention makes it clear that she prioritizes the stability of the entire caravan overall as the Amalgams can't function without her presence.

Breech and Brig seem to be a pair unit, with Breech having a history of a strained relationship with Iris (given that iris labled Breech as a "killjoy.") and Brig being the more naive of the pair.
Ari...I'm not sure as to her place in the group dynamic.

Iris looks to be the one calling the shots and the one responsible for keeping the group safe when the captain's asleep. Given that she's got a HUGE responsibility on her shoulders in the group I can see the stress starting to get to her. She wants to be useful to the group yet at the same time she's one who can't get a proper break. So I can see that her developing a hobby that lets her take pleasure in her assigned job and the power that comes along with it, making dubious calls with the rest of the caravan being none the wiser.

The only question now is: What do we do with that information. Pressing the accusation would result in conflict and even further strained relationships for their group, but now that old conflicts have resurfaced, leaving it alone would inevitably wreck the caravan should the conflict between Breech and Iris flare up. We could leave it alone and let the caravan stew in doubt, but it's clear that an opportunity of proper rest and sanctuary would let the Caravan be in a more relaxed and pliable mood while giving us the opportunity to catch a ride and head towards a stable anchor point.

Captain: asleep
Breech and Brig: Gunners
Iris: Driver/navigator
Sauti: Skintalker and caretaker to the amalgam chariots.
Ari: Scout
That leaves 4 other daughters unknown in the caravan. My guess is that the caravan has a rotating shift of navigator, scout, driver, and bodyguard to prevent burn out.

>>5379824
(Also, I can't overstate how delightful it is to come back to a Vein to find these absolute gems. It's always great to see, and thanks for updating!)

>>5380519
I mean... on one hand, I agree that pressing the issue right now could lead to a conflict within the group which would be bad for everyone in this dangerous enviroment.
On the other, I just don't feel comfortable letting this slide. People died and again, even if only Iris knew, regardless of how intenional or unintentional it was, I have yet to hear a single word expressing any sort of remorse from anyone here. I understand that life in the Crucible is rough, but this is still not okay and something I feel we should address.

Actually, now that I think about it, I think we should catch a ride with them to a stable anchor point. That way, we can keep an eye on this group so that we can stop them if they start doing something questionable again. And once we are in a 'safer' place, we can have the 'randomly killing innocent people is wrong, mkay, so stop it or else the Defiant will get mad' conversation.

What do you guys think?

>>5380533
Loved the “Wait, you guys are gettin’ paid?!” part, BHOP, made me laugh! Reminded me of Zangief in the Street Fighter movie, among other things.

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>>5380533
Glad to know that you're enjoying what is essentially "Law and Order: Crucible edition", though my muse, inspiration, and attention has been split terribly by another quest that I follow, so apologies for the slow update.

Also, it seems hubris has struck me as a writer for I've noticed a typo in the last line.

It should be
>"I command the *dead* to reveal their secrets."
instead of
>"I command the land to reveal their secrets."

>>5380537
Fair point, although we did say earlier that we're not one to tell people how to run the ship as quoted here on
>>5377094
>“I don't want to tell you how to run your ship, but wide-spread devastation invites certain conclusions."

So we're kinda being a hypocrite about it.

>>5380537
(Ha, I'm glad you liked that one!)

>>5380543
Er, yeah, that does sound kinda hypocritical. But I'd say not forcing our way of doing things on others and just standing by and doing nothing when someone randomly kills innocents are two different things.

>>5380492
Had to bamboozle the prior post. reposting because of grammar and linking this post to the wrong one.
>Accept the offer, and have them pick you up.
>"That would be amendable offer..."
>"As for how far you'll be taking us...I have a proposition."
>"How do you feel about setting up rest stops in the No-Man's land?"
>"It's crazy I know. Who would be in their right mind to establish a freaking rest stop in literal Cancer-land? Even I thought it was impossible given what I've learned prior to coming here with the ground being ever chaotic and such."
>*hold up a finger*
>"That is...unless you know 'where' to set up a rest stop."
>"I've discovered that there are stable points in the No Man's land, and although they may be few and far between, the point is they EXIST. Me and mine are headed to one to see if we can establish a foothold into this forsaken place where the terrain is permanently stable and where people can rest up before forging deeper towards the Cord."
>"The No Man's land is expanding, and I intend for those rest stops to be places of necessity where others can take a much needed breather before the final push."
>"Since when was the last time anyone save for the dead and the powerful could afford the luxury of a having a proper 8 hours of sleep, much less a good 2-hour nap without having to keep one eye open for danger?"
>"As far as I can tell, getting proper rest is a premium that many would do anything to afford, especially in a place like this. Even if it means having to play nice with each other."
>"You're in need of much needed rest, I'm in need of a set of eyes far sharper than what I currently have and a set of "wheels" faster than my legs."
>"You get me and mine to those anchor points and I'll make sure you get your 2-hour naptime."

>*if the caravan troupe are on the fence: "Don't believe me? I have a well-made map."

>"Fair warning, . And we've spotted another group of gals was headed in the same direction me and mine were heading, too, so who knows, maybe we'll all have to fight anyway. But it's better than fighting alone with just your team."

>"This deal - if agreed upon - will hold until we reach the closest stable anchor point. You're free to end the deal keep going west afterwards...though you might not find any more rest stops further in if you decide to go on ahead, or keep the deal intact and stay, using rest stop until I'm able to to establish proper infrastructure and am ready to head further into the No Man's land to establish another rest stop."

>"So what do you say?"
>Hold out an arm with a thumbs up, the universal sign of a traveler requesting to hitchhike.
>"Can me and mine..."Catch a ride"?"

>>5380540
(Oh, no worries about the grammar, friend. I'm certainly not one to judge, given my dyslexia and my phone's autocorrect doing its own thing half the time .)

>>5380537
I'm in agreement. the mood in the caravan may be tense, but the thought of getting proper rest ensured by the Defiant and her plan would weigh in their minds as a good deal. I just hope the dice would agree.

Ah, crap, forgot we were starting on Monday this week instead of Tuesday.

>>5380537
They might not have shown remorse, but there does appear to be a general air among them that Iris' actions weren't okay. That they might not feel bad about randomly shelling some people for moral reasons, but they have a certain degree of professionalism that means they don't like killing without a good justification. And they especially don't like being mislead and killing by accident. I think they won't let this just slide.

So yeah, let's go with them to a safe zone, give them all a chance to get some rest. Once they're all more on top of things, they can discuss with each other how they feel about Iris not keeping them in the loop of what they are and are not shooting.

>>5380543
In fairness, we just said that we don't want to, not that we won't. That's a restriction against us being a busybody, not against us raising meaningful points. If it's important, we can go against what we want to do.

>>5380652
(No worries - it's a busy day for me, so feel free to throw in a vote, if you'd like.)

>>5380652 #
(I'm dumb, you already voted without greentext, sorry!)

>>5380653
Okay,

>>5380492
Supporting >>5380604

heading off to work.

>>5380673
Have a nice day.

>>5380673
(Have a great day!)

(Going to need an extra hour or so to finish the update, given today's workload. Thanks for bearing with me, and I hope your own Monday is going well!)

>>5380604
I have one more general idea to possibly toss in here. Probably towards the latter third or so.
>I’ve know some of what Mother and her companion went through in the last Crucible. My recommendation, for what it’s worth? Unless your captain will be ascending alone, go back and talk things out. The Cord will have you killing each other if you can’t believe in everyone. It’s not merciful as things are out here.
Sticks with our brand while attempting to dissuade them from continuing on. They’re not going to make this trip if they need to question each other anyway.

>>5380712
I wouldn't say that yet. Definitely say it, but after we're at the safe spot. That feels like a better time to bring it up, we don't want to make things tense on the trip. It is a good point to raise, though, that communication is key to braving the Cord.

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>>5380492

"That would be an amendable offer." You concede, and Sauti flashes you a bull-body smile as every mouth on her person curves into a relieved expression. "As for how far you'll be taking us...I have a proposition—how do you feel about setting up rest stops in the No-Man's land?"

While Sauti’s fleet of smiles falter as one, Iris’ features contort into a full-blown scowl as she demands; “There are no ‘rest stops’ in the Crucible’s shadow, Defiant.”

"It's crazy, I know.” You chuckle through your envoy, as Brig and Breech take curious steps forward. “Who would be in their right mind to establish a freaking rest stop in literal Cancer-land? Even I thought it was impossible given what I've learned prior to coming here with the ground being ever-chaotic and such."

You hold up one finger, mirrored by your swarmling raising a single claw as you add; "That is...unless you know 'where' to set up a rest stop."

“Explain.” Iris bluntly replies.

"I've discovered that there are stable points in the No Man's land, and although they may be few and far between, the point is they *EXIST*.” You begin, slowly. “Me and mine are headed to one to see if we can establish a foothold into this forsaken place where the terrain is permanently stable and where people can rest up before forging deeper towards the Cord. The No Man's land is expanding, and I intend for those rest stops to be places of necessity where others can take a much-needed breather before the final push."

“This…this is insane. Even if what you’re saying is possible, there’s no way it would turn into anything less than a bloodbath.” Iris scoffs, her manifold eyes briefly glancing at Sauti, who’s wearing a conflicted expression that only deepens as Breech speaks up.

“What about the Lodge? It was a safe haven on the edge…’til it was eaten, of course.”

"Since when was the last time anyone save for the dead and the powerful could afford the luxury of a having a proper eight hours of sleep, much less a good two-hour nap without having to keep one eye open for danger?" You point out, with the two gunners edging closer—both are clearly intrigued by your goal, if not entirely convinced. "As far as I can tell, getting proper rest is a premium that many would do anything to afford, especially in a place like this. Even if it means having to play nice with each other."

“That…that would be quite the feat.” Sauti sighs, tapping her lower lip thoughtfully with one long, quadruple-jointed finger. “To say nothing of the boldness of staking a fresh claim in a place renowned to be untamable.”

"Look—you and yours deserve a much-needed rest, I'm in need of a set of eyes far sharper than what I currently have and a set of ‘wheels’ faster than my legs.” You say, gently gesturing to one of Sauti’s massive steeds. You get me and mine to those anchor points and I'll make sure you get your 2-hour naptime."

(Continued)

>>5380766

A series of glances are hastily exchanged between the vessel’s crew, ending with Sauti raising her hand high in the air and cutting off Iris just as she’s opening her mouth to speak. “All in favor?”

Breech and Brig raise their hands as one, the latter almost losing her balance as she struggles to compensate with her other tree-trunk limbs. Iris purses her lips, both hands folded primly in front of her as she addresses you with a polite—and very much forced—smile.

“The ‘I’s have it.” She declares, your swarmling drawing closer as you offer a word of caution.

"Fair warning—we've spotted another group of gals was headed in the same direction me and mine were heading, so who knows. Maybe we'll all have to fight anyway…but it's better than fighting alone with just your team."

“Agreed.” Iris tersely replies, her floating, crystalline orbs darting around at the mention of conflict. “We’ve already stayed put for far too long. Come along, then.”

"One last thing, Iris.” You pause, the girl’s brow furrowing briefly over empty sockets. “This deal—if fully agreed upon—will hold until we reach the closest stable anchor point. You're free to end the deal and keep going west afterwards...though you might not find any more rest stops further in if you decide to go on ahead, or keep the deal intact and stay, using the rest stop until I'm able to establish proper infrastructure and am ready to head further into the No-Man's land to establish another waypoint…so, what do you say?"

A glance to her allies, who respond with a few quick nods of approval, and Iris fixes all her eyes on you once more as she says; “Majority rules, Defiant. We find your terms agreeable.”

Hold out an arm with a thumbs up, the universal sign of a traveler requesting to hitchhike.

"In that case, can me and mine...’Catch-A-Ride’?"

Brig looses a powerful, throaty laugh at the reference, and she’s still chuckling as she explains the joke to her companions, even as you arrange for pickup with Sauti. Splitting the difference, the caravan continues was a short ways as you and yours Rook-swap to take your place at the back of the procession, the nine of your comfortably situated atop the back pair of Amalgams, their shells molded into seats by Sauti’s simple utterance…though they’re still covered in the hard, black ferrofluid that is Ari, the Daughter Iris failed to introduce.

{I can shut Ari down, no problem} Gina assures you the second your mind wanders to worry, allowing your thoughts to drift to the rest of the decidedly more visible crew. Brig and Breech are on the left front, speaking between themselves conspiratorially while Sauti’s taken up residence on the right-most one, having pointedly ignored Iris ever since you came aboard. You glance towards Francine, finding her and Julia’s eyes both glued to the orb, in ponderance of threats to co-

“BOO-YA! CAUGHT THE BITCH!”

(Continued)

>>5380770

Orwell’s sudden proclamation nearly makes you lose your footing entirely, and it’s only due to Rath and Gina’s hands snatching out to steady you that you’re able to avoid tumbling to the cancer-field below.

“GOD, I love it when a good plan comes together! Like, holy shit! What a rush!” The teen continues, oblivious to your plight. “Yu-Yu realized that by retracing the gaps in the info matrices I’d woven that we could cross-reference against the Tome of Yasuga written by the legendary Flesh Arti-“

She pauses, cut off by an irate voice somewhere in the distance before speaking again. “Sorry, I was just excited, y’know? The ends justify all the bullshit!”

“So you found our mystery woman?”

“Yes! Well, no. It’s complicated, but I’ve found her safe houses and I’ve been able to piece together her habits and rotations based on her movements from before the Skinternet proper was even a thing.” Orwell breathlessly explains. “Her current locale is exactly where we thought it’d be, and it turns out there’s an old missile silo she’s been operating out of. The three closest Waystations dropped off the map about a year and a half ago, but I can forward you the coordinates to the next closest one. I wanted to give you a head’s-up before we started scouting.”

“We’re getting ahead of ourselves, a bit.” You say, gently. “Were you able to find out anything about her aims, or why she wanted our Fragment?”

“My…well, *our*—sorry, Yu-Yu…*our* money’s on her trying to snatch up as many Deprived as she can get her hands on without alerting the greater world to their presence. As for why, well…with how well she’s stayed off the radar up to this point, I’m assuming she dog-piling her own Deprived Core. That’s the working theory, anyway.”

Another quick glance towards Francine and Julia, and the latter shakes her head at your unanswered question of any nearby threats having reared their heads. You don’t blame your potential foes for keeping a healthy distance—at first blush, a group of over a dozen Daughters riding on Amalgams isn’t anything to sneeze at. Francine mouths ‘thirty’ at you, indicating that you’ve a little over half an hour before reaching the first stop on your journey…

…and with the thick, palpable tension having settled among the four Daughters to the fore, it’s going to feel like a whole lot longer than that unless you do something to break it.

>>Sidle up to one of the crew, and ask them something on your mind.

>>Leave them be, for now…check in with one of your allies that are present.

AND

>>Tell Orwell how you’d like her to proceed, now that she’s found your target’s lair (Write-In).

>>Write-In

YOU ARE IN CONTROL

(Voting shall remain open for the next eight hours, with posting to resume tomorrow at 12PM, Eastern time. Thank you all for bearing with me, and I do hope you have a good evening.)

>>5380774
Nice work, Orwell. So our mystery client is searching for Deprived power sets, I remember that being one of the theories we floated around. Good to have some evidence contributing to it. I think our next priority should be tracking her movements and how she gets her victims to her lair, see if we can interrupt it. I'd also like to see anything we can get on the woman herself, what she's capable of or even just what she looks like. I'd put that at a lower priority, though, since she's likely to be secretive enough to avoid records of that.

Also, Yu-Yu? Well, we did send our two most serious Tenno (with the possible exception of Cheruem) to the teen who lives on the internet. Nicknames were inevitable. What's she calling Zahira?

>>Sidle up to one of the crew, and ask them something on your mind.
>Speak with Brig and Breach. How'd they sign on with this crew? Were they a team already? No pressure, if they don't think it's wise to share details with an outsider that's understandable. We're just curious about them, they seem to have a good rapport.

>>Tell Orwell how you’d like her to proceed, now that she’s found your target’s lair (Write-In).
>Trace how she's getting her "deliveries". Maybe she's got some means of teleportation that's letting her avoid trails directly to her, but if we can at least find preferred drop-off spots we can interrupt her operations there.
>Also, if she can, getting eyes on the mystery client would be be very appreciated. We don't need an up to date stream, but if we could even get some images of her we'd be able to better identify her at a confrontation. And any clues in her mutations as to what abilities she has would be very useful.

>>5380775
Thanks for running, BHOP.

>>5380774
>>Sidle up to one of the crew, and ask them something on your mind.
>Ask Iris if she doesn’t like us very much.
If a single person is going to cause the group to collapse, it’s Iris. I’d like to start a conversation with her with the expectation we’d continue it at the camp.

I’m leaving the question somewhat open-ended since I’m assuming we’ll need to pull information out of her to understand her better. Poking her (mostly) directly has the best chance of getting a genuine response. If she asks us to explain, we could point things out like her gaining the most from a safe zone (as the spotter she doesn’t get a break) yet she didn’t vote for it, or that she had stated we were reasonable yet treated our plan as insane when she heard it. There’s a disconnect between how she treated us and what she actually believes, and I’d like to understand that.

I’m willing to let the “shelling us” bit lie still for now though. No good will come from pushing that point in particular.

No opinion on the Orwell stuff, so I’ll back >>5380803 for that part.

>>5380803
at work, but i’m finding a small window of opportunity to post.

I think it would be more productive to build rapport with Iris and Sauti instead, the reason being that both of them have access to controlling the Amalgam mounts. Mainly because of the four daughters, they’re the ones that arguably have the most beef with us and the most likely to start shit. approaching them to smooth out relations would help with mending any strained relationships between the caravan as well as make sure none of them start any shenanigans.

Also, I’ve thought of a cheeky name for our potential rest stop(s)we’re able to establish them: The Final Destination(s)

>>5380831
>>5380803
meant to link my post to you

>>5380828
>>5380831
Yeah, fair points on Iris. I was thinking that she might be too resistant to conversation, but you're right that she's more important to build a rapport with. I will change this

>>5380774
Changing >>5380803 to supporting >>5380828 in regards to talking to Iris.

>>5380923
>>5380828
one question to ask/consider: why is Iris in a rush?

>>5380774
Back from work. Here's my vote.
>Sidle up to one of the crew, and ask them something on your mind: Iris
>General questions to ask:
>"So how did you end up as the coach driver of this caravan?"
>"What's the captain of the Caravan like?"
>"So is there any reason for the need to rush to the Cord?"
>"Is there a threat that looms beyond my vision? What is it that you see in the wastes that I cannot?"
>"Or is it the general need to keep moving?"
>"Look, I understand the urgency and the need to ascend and finish this Crucible asap. The sooner the better. But sometimes, there are things that can't be rushed willy nilly."
>"Are there any memorable places that you've been to on the Caravan? Gone on any adventures with the captain or the crew? Or is it all just simply watching from the sidelines and bumrushing towards the Cord?"

>"Just asking. There's places that I haven't been to, so I'm curious about the things you've seen and done. If you're not up for a nap, maybe you can spend that time telling stories about your Caravan world tour? How does that sound?"

>Tell Orwell how you’d like her to proceed, now that she’s found your target’s lair (Write-In).
>Trace her operational network and the most commonly used waystations for the delivery route of her "cargo". There's bound to be waystations that as strategic hubs in her trade network, ones that have a commonality with all three of her hideouts.
>Get a tally count of her informants, messengers, and clients associated with this "Deprived Trade network", and trace their trade routes.
>In addition, we need to trace where her "cargo" gets stored upon delivery, and where "the cargo that doesn't meet the mystery client's standards" get delivered to. Every trade network has an Inbox and an Outbox.

>When you arrive at the destination, scope out the place for signs of hidden threats, then begin the tests.
>Get the Fear to Tread Boundary as large of a radius as you can then scale back until the encroachment rate of the Cancer land reaches zero for Area size.
>Then do the same for Boundary depth. See how deep you can anchor it, then cross reference your location with the No-Man's Land's expanding boundaries. Does it stay static relative to the No Man's land? or is the anchor point static relative to the distance to the Cord? The answer will let us know the nature of the stable anchor point as either a "floating raft Island" (place moves with the No-man's land expansion) or a "True Island" (Place stays the same despite the No Man's Land expansion)
>Then establish a perimeter, get the infrastructure set up, ask the dream daughters inside if any are up for colonizing a base in literal hell that is the no-man's land.
>Finally, create some signs that establish the place's ground rules:
>Anyone is free to enter and leave.
>Violence is not allowed, no eating people if they're asleep
>if there's conflict, take it outside or else no more rest stop.
>R&R is a privilege. Don't ruin it.

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>>5380774
>>5381174
amending my vote to include the following if it can be fit in:
>If she asks us to explain, we could point things out like her gaining the most from a safe zone (as the spotter she doesn’t get a break) yet she didn’t vote for it, or that she had stated we were reasonable yet treated our plan as insane when she heard it. There’s a disconnect between how she treated us and what she actually believes, and I’d like to understand that.
>be willing to let the “shelling us” bit lie still for now though. No good will come from pushing that point in particular.

And go for a composite vote. Feel free to pick and choose bits you feel make sense, bhop.

Just remembered that we need to talk to Karma again soon, as it's been awhile since we have last time, and hopefully we will have some level ups for the contender by now. Also, they seemed really stressed out when Amara did her duel, so maybe we should give them a moment to relieve some stress?

>>5381396
We should, yes. We can't neglect our gun pal. Did we ever actually get her hooked up to our Dreamscape? I can't remember if we forgot to do that or not. We should take care of it at the next rest period, if so. Maybe while Shu, Gina and Rath are finally having that talk, Karma can be off meeting people in the Dreamscape so as to not eavesdrop. I suggest she go to Dorian's Dreamscape. She can relax at Vultha's library, have a meal at Ruth's deli, or just meet a small child that we put in there.

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>>5380774

Orwell, I want you to trace her operational network and the most commonly used waystations for the delivery route of her ‘cargo’.” You answer, ignoring the delighted ‘squee’ on the other end of the line. “There's bound to be waystations that act as strategic hubs in her trade network, ones that have a commonality with all three of her hideouts.

“Additionally, get a tally count of her informants, messengers, and clients associated with this ‘Deprived Trade network’, and thorough maps of their trade route.” You continue briskly, staring into the corrupted horizon. “I want to know where her ‘cargo’ gets stored upon delivery, and where Daughters that don’t meet her standards get shuffled off to. Every trade network has an inbox and an outbox…knowing both is key to unraveling her operations.”


“Of course! I’m on it!” Orwell chirps excitedly, beyond enthused at the prospect of pulling this mystery apart. One hasty goodbye and a few careful steps later, you sidle up to the crew member who is, without a doubt, on the exact opposite side of Orwell on the enthusiasm spectrum.

“Yes, Defiant?” Iris asks at your approach, and when you fix her with a smile her face remains a mask of passive toleration.

"So, how did you end up as the coach driver of this caravan?" You begin…and you never thought it possible, but somehow the other girl manages to roll the mere suggestion of eyes in her empty sockets.

“Sauti is our driver, Defiant. I merely serve as the lookout.”

"What's the captain of the caravan li-?”

“Defiant.” She sternly interrupts, hollow eyes fixed on the horizon alongside her suite of floating substitutes. “I am the lookout. My entire job description is to stay alert and stay focused. We’re all rather in a rush, if you haven’t noticed.”

You almost wonder aloud where shelling innocent girls is part of a lookout’s job description, but you hold your tongue on that particular thought, voicing instead; “Why the rush for the Cord, then?"

It’s this that finally makes her turn to face you, the girl’s round, delicate features contorted into an incredulous visage. “Are…are you serious?”

"Is there a threat that looms beyond my vision? What is it that you see in the wastes that I cannot?" You press, genuinely curious. "Or is it the general need to keep moving? Look, I understand the urgency and the need to ascend and finish-“

“You.”

A blink from you, a sharp intake of breath from her.

“You, after the Monastery. After Mara’s gifts, and your snowballing of reputation and power.” Iris continues, voice taut like piano wire. “You, and your endless proclamations, your infinite speeches, your nigh-unending well of compassion and goodwill. We…all of us are here, now, because of YOU.”

(Continued)

>>5381565

The girl before you stares up with sightless eyes, and though she only comes up to your chin you can feel her tiny frame fit to burst with the rage you now see was just bubbling beneath the surface.

“The Captain had given up on the Cord after eighteen months of struggle and strife. Eighteen months of slaughter and loss and pain, until the costs she’d paid for in blood—her own and her friends—outweighed her dreams. We’d settled into a routine. We were happy. And then you set the gears turning, once again. Spurring people to action when they’d just settled down. When they…never mind.”

“I’m sorry, I-“

“Don’t be.” Iris scoffs, turning her entire frame back towards the Cord. “You and Captain are cut from the same cloth, really—wanting to ‘save the world’ when all this is the best we’ve ever had it. Bleeding hearts, the lot of you.”

“Look, Iris? Right now, the only thing I’m trying to do is establish a safe zone.” You say gingerly. “I also just…want to understand, if I can? You stand the most to gain from a rest, yet you didn’t vote for it. You also said that I was ‘reasonable’, yet you said our plan was ‘insane.’ No judgements, Iris, I just want to-“

“Understand, yes. You said that.”

“All I’m saying is that there’s a disconnect between how you treated me at the start, and what you seem to actually believe.” You point out, and the other girl remains quiet for long enough that you’re about to leave her be, before she speaks again after a deep inhalation.


“I am…sorry.” She forces out, the words feeling much too large to have escaped Iris’ petite lips. “For what happened to-….for what I did to those girls.”

“Really?”

“No, but I’m trying to be. The Captain, she…she was trying to teach me.” Iris replies, her voice briefly dipping into a soft tone that could almost be called sentimental before it goes rigid once more. “I assume you were able to gather their remains?”

“I was.” You admit, holding your tongue against further judgement, for fear of making Iris clam up once more.

“Good. Though I suppose it wouldn’t have mattered, either way. Not when any of us can be brought back through the Cord’s administrator functions…oh, don’t look so surprised.” Iris chides when your eyebrows shoot up. “Sauti tells me your eye in the sky’s been working overtime to control the flow of information, but Captain’s known about the backups for over a year, now….and believe me, Orwell’s been busier than anyone’s ever seen her. Her stranglehold on the network is almost admirable. You’ve quite the powerful friend…but what else is new?”

You scowl, and Iris looses an unexpected chuckle at your expression. “For someone who keeps company with the disgustingly powerful you certainly enjoy turning a blind eye to their darker deeds, don’t you?”

(Continued)

>>5381567

“Maybe…but I prefer to focus what people ‘could’ be, instead of just looking at who they were or what they’ve done.”

Iris’ features soften, her lips parting for just a moment before they curl into a vaguely amused sneer. “Oh, you and the Captain would get along famously.”

“I know you said she’s asleep, but is there any way to speak with her?” You ask tentatively, and Iris opens her mouth to say something, but thinks better of it before shaking her head. “Something about how her powers work, or…?”

“Something like that, yes.” Iris evasively replies. “I can assure you, though, that her aims for the future are as disgustingly saccharine as yours, though with a few bells and whistles I expect you’d object to…oh, don’t give me that look. Vector and the Captain almost aligned before she thought better of it. The very nature of Vector’s mind made Captain fear they’d be more of a liability than an asset. ‘Too many cooks’, and all that.”

“You’re, uh…not a fan of humanity, I take it?” You posit, and before she replies Iris’s lips twist into an ugly expression, a thing halfway between a sneer and a smirk.

“Anyone with two working eyes could see our species’ wretchedness, their sheer hopelessness.” She says, turning to you and waiting a bit before adding- “That was a joke. The ‘eyes’ bit, I mean. I’m deadly serious about just how shit we are, make no mistake.”

“Then why try to save them, at all? If your Captain’s trying to save them, then-?”

Iris turns to you, wasting no time in giving a reply that’s as both succinct as it is earnest.

“Because I love Captain more than I hate humanity. It’s truly as simple as that.” She answers, as though it’s the most obvious thing in the world. Iris suddenly falters, though whether from embarrassment or overreach, you’re not sure. In either case, she turns to stare out at the space where the Cord meets the endless churning waves of diseased flesh, leaving you time for one more check-in before you arrive or for a deeper dive into the odd little ball of opposites that is Iris…if you favor your luck.

>>Continue speaking with Iris.

>>Elect another member of the crew to speak with.

>>Check in with one of your allies, present or distant.

>>Stay silent and alert until you arrive, then set to work.

>>Write-In

YOU ARE IN CONTROL

(Voting shall remain open for the next three hours, with posting to resume in four. Once you arrive at your destination, if you’re able to stabilize the terrain then the rest of the vote that previously won will trigger, such as the signs and the rest.)

>>5381568
>>Write-In
>"Well, now I really want to meet her, if she commands such loyalty. She sounds like an impressive woman."
>>Check in with one of your allies, present or distant.
>Gina and Francine. How's the path look? Any sign of that other group of Daughters?

Ugh. For some reason this is fighting me. It's not saying much, I'm just trying to say "she sounds cool, if you're that loyal to her, I'd like to meet her", but I keep running into worries over her thinking we're angling for information or just taking it as an insult. If anyone has a good way to say that, please do.

>>5381568
>"So what exactly..."
>"When did you start losing faith in humanity? What did you see in the past that I didn't?"
>"I don't have much reference to go by in terms of humanity's darker deeds writ large in the pre-Crucible era given my origins as Sam's Crucible-era twin."
>"The Crucible seems to have already brought out much of humanity's darker side. What else is there?"
>"How did you and the Captain meet up?"
>Let Iris talk. Listen, and ask for clarification.
>Breathe in, breathe out.
>"Thank you for telling me this. I feel I've come to understand the world before this era a bit better now, of the darker parts that is."
>"I wouldn't say you truly hate humanity. You're just incredibly disappointed in it."
>"The fact you were willing to stick by your Captain through thick and thin, even when the Captain lost faith in her dreams tells me a lot."
>"You may be a cynical bitch, but you've found a good person to put your faith into when you found disappointment in everyone else."
>"And that alone is good enough for me."

>*if called a "sap"*
>"Iris, my lungs are a beehive and they're full of honey. I'm not sure if I can get any sappier than this."
>"Keep faith to your captain. You'll understand her sooner or later, and why she sees the world through such optimism however faded it may be."

>>5381570
>if you’re able to stabilize the terrain then the rest of the vote that previously won will trigger, such as the signs and the rest.
Man. I swear and hope to god that this plan works out. Is there a way where we can load the dice through specific arrangements and surveys prior to the stabilization attempt? Even recruit some dream daughters? I'm fairly certain that some of them are neuromancers who can help out.

>>5381642
(Typically what I do in this situation is load up as many advantages as you have access to and average out the rolls ( if nothing is super specific), though if you have a specific plan in mind that always takes priority.)

>>5381652
Hmmm....First off I would require a map/floorplan of the Lodge's architecture and foundations, the biome the Lodge was located in, as well as its local surroundings. Given that Orwell's skinternet stranglehold (which is growing increasingly disturbing given her growing reach), that information should be easy accessed, but we could also ask Amara or another skintalker we have at hand like Sauti to pull the data.

Second step is surveying the site. What I hope in the wastes is for some existing architecture to have survived the hunger riot that occurred there. If there's architecture that survived (especially the foundations), then that would be a big bonus to us. It's better to use what's already there than to make new stable terrain. Additionally, we can use that existing architecture to convert into a more solid reinforced foundation to work off when it comes to rebuilding the infrastructure.

Using existing surviving architecture as a base, we reinforce the structure and foundation of what remains of the Lodge and then use it to first stabilize that piece of terrain before expanding outwards and down to solidify the anchor. Finally, we test the limits of the stable point by slowly expanding outward until we hit a point where our powers hit parity against the no-man's land at its rest state.

>>5381637
>>5381567
>“The Captain had given up on the Cord after eighteen months of struggle and strife. Eighteen months of slaughter and loss and pain, until the costs she’d paid for in blood—her own and her friends—outweighed her dreams. We’d settled into a routine. We were happy. And then you set the gears turning, once again. Spurring people to action when they’d just settled down. When they…never mind.”
A disturbing mirror.
Another pair.

Shu and Isabelle

Ozmas and Reyva/Charon

Captain and Iris

one side who dreams big of peace for love at great personal cost, while the other dreams humbly of a forever peace with the one they love at the cost of everyone else. intertwined by unshakable faith, a pair where the individual end goals are far apart.

Gah. This is getting more and more disturbing to me.

>>5381568
>>Write-In
>"Well, now I really want to meet her. She must be an impressive woman, to command such loyalty that a hardcore misanthrope would try to save the world for her sake."
>"...I'm sorry for disrupting your lives together. I understand that desire to just have some peace, and if I'm longing for it after just a few months I can't imagine what it's like after eighteen. To think you can finally just rest, to think that the person you care about can finally rest, only to have some new girl rile up the whole world? That sucks. I'm sorry."
>"All I can say is that I'm going to try to make the future a place you can have that again. A place where we all can. Because you've got a point when you say that the Crucible is the best it's ever been. I wouldn't agree with that entirely, but it's hard to argue that it isn't better in some ways. I'm not naive, I know that the old world had problems, and the Crucible has wiped a lot of them away. There's no systemic inequality or injustice or corruption in the apocalypse. And the spirit of cooperation and compassion I've seen in places like Laoc is damn inspiring"
>"I don't want to get rid of that. And I'm not entirely sure I could. I talk about reviving the old world, but too much has changed for it to go on as it did. It's never going to be the same as it was. And I think, if we work at it, we can make it better. Keep what we loved about this world while still getting back what we cared for in the old."

Blagh. Is this too treacly or long-winded? I'm trying to say that I agree with her to a degree and want the world to just have the chance to be at peace, and don't want to bring back whatever she hated about the old world just because we're trying to save the world. But I'm not sure I'm hitting the right points. I'm not super confident on the ending.

>>5381713
it's about fine on the whole as a message. It's got some good parts, although I do agree that there are parts that are stilted and awkward.
The message being that "We agree that the old world has problems. We're sorry for disturbing her decision to settle down, and Iris does have a point in the Crucible being the best thing that's ever happened."

>>5381638
>>5381568
adding the following line to my vote as a suggestion line in the dialogue:
>If anything, the apocalypse simply makes the principles of good and bad stand out much more starkly. It's easier to pick them out."

>>5381713
>>5381638
(Would you two be averse to a combination of these entries? This one >>5381638 serving to open Iris up, then this one >>5381713 after she's spoken a little, or something like that?)

>>5381568
Small write-in, can be taken with others. It’s something>>5381669 commented on.
>Your relationship with your captain sounds a bit like what Isabelle and I had initially.
>You seem to have a better track record than we did, at least. By the time we started listening to each other there were certain things we couldn’t take back.

>>5381728
I'm okay with a combo. this is why we write write-ins.

>>5381728
Yeah, sounds good.

>>5381737
Same. I kind of go into a write-in expecting it to be dissected and combined with others.

>>5381737
>>5381730
>>5381738
(Excellent, I just wanted to confirm before I went all-in!)

(Also, for my own sanity I'll be pushing the next update out to 7AM, Eastern time, or three hours from now. I'll likely have to finish it from home given how work has been, so I'll see you all then, and I hope your day is going well!)

>>5381758
Sure thing, BHOP. Have a nice day.

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>>5381758
>7AM, Eastern time, or three hours from now.
>7am
>am
oh dear. Bhop. I think your san points are in the single digits.

>>5381762
(...they really are. Good grief. 7PM it is, everyone.)

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An update for the party:
Hans:
Camouflage 5
Air Compression 5
Resin Coating 3
Coat of Arms 3
Ivory Scales 2
Great White Razor 1
Sahara Domain 1

Hugh
Electric Charge 5
Venomous Counter 3
Hungry Bubble 4
Twin Fisted 4
Jurassic Sprinter 2

Morgan
Fae Fog 5
Apollo’s Nail 3
Fluid Thief 3
Blood Ballistae 1
Sanguine Shades 1

Party has encountered the Bella Rosa gang, operating out of Illinois, who work under Madame Rosa (one of the Triad of big names in Indiana). No conflict so far, but was tailing Yearning before their mark disappeared. Hans has become a person of interest to the gang.

Indiana has become a hotspot of activity now that Indianapolis is clear of the capital class. No word of the newborn Capital’s whereabouts, but signs of spider-like amalgams have been noticed within the neighboring state.

South Dakota and Nebraska bases wiped out. No current information as to the what, who, or whys. Tension is increasing in other states as the amalgams grow subtly more humanoid. Whispers of “Amalgams in the Inside” have made its way to Indiana. Suspicion grows. Morgan’s powerset may come under scrutiny now that fear of deception is working it’s way into some minds.

Hugh has successfully concentrated the form of an amalgam into a miniature statue of itself. When he released control it regained its proper form. More experiments are underway, to see if he can compress a daughter down into a figure. Motives behind the interest in the compression by factions are unknown. He may have gained unwanted attention.

Hans has been able to recreate the limited terraforming of the shark amalgam, and his swarms can easily slip into the domain as if they were swimming. He is now at the level of power that he can create larger, deadlier spawns. A razor finned Manta and Mola have been the largest creations so far. Perhaps he can eventually make far greater things…

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>>5381774
>Hugh has successfully concentrated the form of an amalgam into a miniature statue of itself. When he released control it regained its proper form. More experiments are underway, to see if he can compress a daughter down into a figure. Motives behind the interest in the compression by factions are unknown. He may have gained unwanted attention.
On one hand. Pocket monsters, on the other hand, compressing humans into tiny humans is unethical but funny, on the other hand, I've seen what people have done to anime figurines.

Any fun bullshit/tomfoolery did the trio do?

>>5381792
>>on the other hand, I've seen what people have done to anime figurines.

(...another addition to Iris' tally of humanity's sins.)

>>5381798
>on the other hand, I've seen what people have done to anime figurines.

>(...another addition to Iris' tally of humanity's sins.)

....she saw Rainbowdash in that jar didn't she?

>>5381774
>Hugh has successfully concentrated the form of an amalgam into a miniature statue of itself. When he released control it regained its proper form. More experiments are underway, to see if he can compress a daughter down into a figure. Motives behind the interest in the compression by factions are unknown. He may have gained unwanted attention.
What happens if you eat a tiny Amalgam?

>>5381792
Well, Hans had a lot of fun seeing what compressing huge weapons down to a small size meant for combat. He basically paid a calcite armorer and fibromancer to make a light pole sized club and he shrunk it down to the size of a baseball bat. It did some serious damage but he failed a concentration roll since he was getting used to the power and mid-swing it expanded back into its uncompressed form and crushed the amalgam and sent if flying. Home Run Hugh is the nickname he has around the city. Morgan made him a tiny relic that plays the Smash baseball sfx when he hits things with the pole.

Hans decided to play around with his swarm and made a few pufferfish out of it. People found out and he made the carrot joke lol

Morgan got good enough with her Fae Fog that she can “prime” objects that activate her sensory powers, and worked with Hugh to flavor the marbles he makes. As a joke she snuck in a lemon flavored one into each bag he sells and now it’s something of a game where people buy a bag and sees who gets the lemon.

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>>5381568

"So what exactly..." You begin again, trying to find the words that would best frame your line of questioning. "When did you start losing faith in humanity? What did you see in the past that I didn't? I don't have much reference to go by in terms of humanity's darker deeds writ large in the pre-Crucible era, given my origins as Sam's Crucible-era twin."

“Nothing in the Crucible has been terribly surprising…most everyone’s actions here have been informed by their Pre-Crucible selves. The violence and casual cruelty here is a natural evolution of how brutish we were, before.” Iris blithely answers, eyes still transfixed on the Cord. “Except that here, there’s a chance we may be able to undo what’s been done, to say nothing of making sure it won’t happen again.”

"The Crucible seems to have already brought out much of humanity's darker side. What else is there?" You prompt, but Iris’ response offers little in the way of clarity.

“Suffice to say the human race’s capacity for abominable acts is as endless as their imagination.”

Letting that sit for a moment, you turn to mirror the other girl’s posture before asking; "So—how did you and the Captain meet up? If you don’t mind my asking?"

“…It was shortly after I woke up. My Core, it…it wasn’t like it is, now. I couldn’t see. I was stumbling blindly, trying desperately to defend myself. I almost died, before she saved me.” Iris recalls, a wistful air to her words. “She told me how things were, and…I laughed. She asked me what was so funny, and I…it all just seemed like a farce. Like humanity, dialed up to eleven. It was just so perfect, so impossibly karmic that I couldn’t help but laugh. I laughed…and she did, too.”

Iris’s lips twitch into a smile at the memory, and what follows is retold through a soft smirk. “She let me eat, and when she had to sleep after protecting me, I was strong enough to watch over her. She was—is—unlike anyone I’ve ever met. Kind to all she meets, even though they don’t deserve it. Lending an ear, when their words are like dust. They don’t deserve to even…”

Iris trails off, her smile clamping down into her typically stern, joyless line.

“Well, now I really want to meet her. She must be an impressive woman, to command such loyalty that a hardcore misanthrope would try to save the world for her sake." You say with a grin, and Iris barks out a peal of laughter, apparently taking ‘misanthrope’ as more of a compliment than anything. “Your relationship with your captain sounds a bit like what Isabelle and I had, initially. You seem to have a better track record than we did, at least…by the time we started listening to each other, there were certain things we couldn’t take back.”

You glance her way, finding the specter of a half-remembered past sitting with Gina and Rath, the trio engaged in an amicable, if subdued conversation.

(Continued)

>>5381917

"Look, Iris...I'm sorry for disrupting your lives together.” You begin, the other girl’s sockets still locked on the horizon even as her lips go white. “I understand that desire to just have some peace, and if I'm longing for it after just a few months I can't imagine what it's like after eighteen. To think you can finally just… rest? To think that the person you care about can finally let go, only to have some new girl rile up the whole world? That sucks. I'm sorry."

She makes a small sound, a thing you can’t quite make out over the rumble of the colossal Amalgams’ footfalls…but she’s not stopping you.

"All I can say is that I'm going to try to make the future a place you can have that again.” You continue, turning to the other girl even as she keeps her focus on the looming Cord. “A place where we all can. Because you've got a point when you say that the Crucible is the best it's ever been. I wouldn't agree with that entirely, but it's hard to argue that it isn't better in some ways. I'm not naive, I know that the old world had problems, and the Crucible has wiped a lot of them away. There's no systemic inequality or injustice or corruption in the apocalypse. And the spirit of cooperation and compassion I've seen in places like Laoc is damn inspiring"

“Jeraha’s made quite the city out of what was once a ramshackle collection of boxes.” Iris hums in agreement. “She’s come a long way from when the Captain first met her.”

"We all have, and I don't want to get rid of that. I'm not entirely sure I could. I talk about reviving the old world, but too much has changed for it to go on as it did. It's never going to be the same as it was. And I think, if we work at it, we can make it better. Keep what we loved about this world while still getting back what we cared for in the old."

In the face of her silence, you clear your throat before prefacing; “Iris, if I may be so bold…”

Finally, she rounds on you, leveling a withering, sightless stare in your general direction. “Shu…are you *asking* to be defiant? How unbecoming of your moniker.”

You freeze, but then that same sneer flits across her face, just like before.

…a joke. Jokes are good.

“Well, if I may be ‘defiant’…“ You grin, briefly. “…I wouldn't say you truly hate humanity. You're just incredibly disappointed in it."

“A delightful, colossal, tremendous understatement.” She nods, thoughtfully. “But, sure. We’ll go with that.”

"Maybe, but the fact you were willing to stick by your Captain through thick and thin, even when the Captain lost faith in her dreams? That tells me a lot. You may be a cynical bitch—” Again, another peal of approving laughter. “—but you've found a good person to put your faith into when you found disappointment in everyone else. That alone is good enough for me."

(Continued)

>>5381919

“Well if I’m a cynical bitch, then you’re the picture of a bleeding-heart sap.” Iris jabs back, though the epithet’s not nearly as barbed as she could’ve made it.

"Iris, my lungs are a beehive and they're full of honey. I'm not sure if I can get any sappier than this."

“Oh, she’s got puns, too? No wonder the Defiant’s so famous, she’s the full package.”

Gina glances back at you with a curious eye, but you’re already stepping around to face Iris once more in full. "All that, aside? Keep faith to your Captain. You'll understand her sooner or later, and why she sees the world through such optimism…however faded it may be.”

Iris opens her mouth to reply, but Francine’s clear announcement cuts through the surrounding din. “We’re here, everyone!”

The caravan grinds to a halt, with Gina and Uzu solidifying the ground underfoot, followed by Holly continuing her conversation with Iris’ gunners as the three of them hop down together.

You hover down to join them, almost missing Sauti’s question of ‘feeling better?’, though the other girl’s reply is drowned out by the resonance of Rath’s three-point landing. The rest of your and Iris’ teams get in position, with a quick word to Orwell nabbing you the floorplan and general biome the original Lodge once occupied, before it was claimed by the encroachment. Your initial survey of both above- and below-ground reveal an utter lack of architecture and the sobering fact that the corruption runs at least ninety meters deep, at its shallowest…the land itself working to bury any trace of humanity with suffering and rot.

“I thought this was supposed to be a safe zone.” You mutter irritably, your scowl dissipating when Gina place a hand on your shoulder with a smile.

“It is, love. You feel the ground?” She says, jumping in place. “It’s slower, more pliable than anything we’ve encountered in No-Man’s Land up to this point. Meaning…”

“…We can build a brand new foundation.” You supply, mirroring her smile with one of your own before you set to work. Fear to Tread’s boundary expands to a hundred-meter radius, and in conjunction with Gina and Uzu it’s more than enough to hold the corruption at bay for your tentative construction efforts. You push, Iris volunteering her sight to be linked with Gina’s to allow you a better glimpse into the roiling depths of the roving contagion—and after several minutes and a half-dozen attempts to reach deeper, it seems the best you can manage is a floating island in this sea of decay.

A little lifeboat of hope in an ocean of loss. It’s not much.

But it’s a start.

(Continued)

>>5381922

Swiftly working to establish a perimeter and infrastructure, between your team’s terraforming, Sauti’s formidable Skintalking, and her Amalgams’ own potent Artisan-esque powers, you’re able to reconstruct a close facsimile of the Lodge as it once was…though ‘lodge’ might be overselling it. It turns out the last bastion of humanity, the stopgap between the Cord’s eldritch corruption and stability, resembles more of a three-story dive bar than a fortress of defiance. Then again, maybe there’s nothing quite so defiant as your species’ insistence on drinking and merriment in the face of the unfathomable. While Gina, Uzu, and Sauti ensure the thing won’t collapse around your ears, you set about crafting a series of chitin signs laying down the ground rules of the new establishment. Nothing extravagant, just the basics; anyone is free to enter and leave, no violence allowed, no eating people if they're asleep (or awake, preferably), and if conflict does break out, then take it outside or the offenders get their sleeping rights revoked.

“I’d give it about five minutes before the second rule’s broken.” Iris scoffs from behind you, just as the final sign flits into place over the threshold on a thin set of wings. “Seven minutes for the third.”

“Then I bet it’ll be nine before it all gets sorted out.” You smile, turning on your heel to meet Iris’ sneer with a smile. “Beds are on the third floor. Gina makes the comfiest ones, so you should be able to get some good rest.”

“Uh-huh.” She nods, the quartet of crystalline sphere orbiting the girl’s petite frame taking in the scenery for a long moment before she speaks again. “I’ll let Brig, Breech, and Sauti have a go. Then we can get back on the road.”

“Iris, I did this so you could get some actual rest.” You insist, one that’s swiftly backed up by her companions.

“You deserve some sleep, dear.” Sauti says in her high, lilting tones. “Come to bed? Please?”

“For the Captain’s sake?” Adds Brig, the mention of the other woman’s title prompting a conflicted furrowing of Iris’ brow.

“What about Ari?” Breech chimes in, hands primly folded behind her back. “She needs it just as much as the rest of-.”

A dirty glare flashes from Iris’ empty sockets to the other girl’s alabaster helm, silencing her immediately. The one member of their little squad Iris took great pains to refrain from introducing. Even now, in the wake of the Amalgams’ assistance, their shells gleam with the tell-tale shimmer of the Humoral Paladin’s power.

She doesn’t quite trust you. Not yet, anyway.

>>Bid the team goodbye, and continue West.

>>Have your team rest here as well, to set her mind at ease.

>>Leave them be and return to the Dragon’s Roost for now.

>>Make a few further adjustments to the new Lodge, to make it just a shade cozier.

>>Write-In

YOU ARE IN CONTROL

(Voting shall remain open for the next eight hours, with posting to resume tomorrow at 12PM, Eastern time.)

>>5381927
So how did the dice pan out?

>>5381930
(The Lodge is, miraculously, stable. It is a 'floating island', in the sea of corruption, meaning it will follow the flow of the cancerfields from the base of the Cord.)

>>5381936
(The only greater level of success available would be for it to remain an absolute fixed point, with No Man's Lans flowing around it.)

>>5381936
>>5381938
I’ll take it. If it’s stable, we might be able to expand that stability with effort.

>>5381936
but is it permanently stable? can it survive/stay intact without us being there to tend to it?

The fact that it exists is miraculous and quite the feat in and of itself.

>>5381938
>(The only greater level of success available would be for it to remain an absolute fixed point, with No Man's Lands flowing around it.)
Damn. We'll have to find some way to reinforce the lodge. It's only the first of many potential island chains, and yet it floats?

But if it's a floating island...Then perhaps...We may find other places that are shallow enough that a team of dedicated divers and neuromancers could find a place to anchor the island. Is this possible bhop? Finding a way to anchor the Lodge so that it's location remains fixed?

....bhop. I think I realize what you just made. The No-Man's land is more like...Waterworld's endless seas. Except you can walk on the surface of the "sea". That's why Ari the iron mermaid was a thing and could swim in the cancer sea.

>>5381946
(Oh yes, it can absolutely remain standing without you there to maintain it. It being dependent on your presence was one of the technical fail-states of the island.)

>>Is this possible bhop? Finding a way to anchor the Lodge so that it's location remains fixed?

(With the right team and abilities? It is, yes.)

>>The No-Man's land is more like...Waterworld's endless seas.

("Dry skin exists! I have seeeeen it!")

>>5381953
>("Dry skin exists! I have seeeeen it!")

The great dandruff storms, hiding horrible muscle sharks

I’ve spoken this into existence now

>>5381925
>>Have your team rest here as well, to set her mind at ease.
It’ll also give Francine time to clean up the shelled girls.
On the write-in front:
>We knew she was there, Iris. I won’t ask why you pretended she was in the carriage, but if she’s doing something special for your crew or your captain then we can see if someone on my team is willing to take over for a shift.
May as well play the card now and give her another push. Not quite signing anyone up for… whatever she’s doing, but if she’s willing to share then most of our crew would be willing to chip in if possible.

>>5381925

>Swiftly working to establish a perimeter and infrastructure, between your team’s terraforming, Sauti’s formidable Skintalking, and her Amalgams’ own potent Artisan-esque powers, you’re able to reconstruct a close facsimile of the Lodge as it once was…though ‘lodge’ might be overselling it. It turns out the last bastion of humanity, the stopgap between the Cord’s eldritch corruption and stability, resembles more of a three-story dive bar than a fortress of defiance.

Is it wrong that I'm imagining "Gates of Hell" from bayonetta playing as the default bgm for this floating establishment?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TaNodj6GmqA

Also, I think the Lodge needs a new name given the reconstruction. I'm thinking "The Island" or "Dry land", for that WaterWorld reference.

What sort of actions can we do if we choose to rest? Can we talk to family members and such and still get rest?

Current tentative draft of vote (subject to change):
>Have your team rest here as well, to set her mind at ease, and possibly help to make the place just a shade cozier.

>Make a few further adjustments to the new Lodge, to make it just a shade cozier
>Get some Hammocks installed, and some beach chairs on the rooftop.
>A Fuzzbuzz bellhop at the entrance of the building to serve as a greeter.

>Gather the family to pose for a selfie and memorialize this occasion of "Establishing a rest stop in the No Man's land."
>Then upload the picture along onto the skinternet with a "Help wanted" request to help Anchor the establishment to a fixed location as well as opportunities for future expansion. Also post specifications about the Establishment's ground rules, the current occupancy limit, and square footage of interior space, and acreage of stable real-estate in the No-Man's land.
>Make sure you warn Orwell about the inevitable viral firestorm the post will bring.

Feel free to rake me over the coals on any part of my current vote draft.

>>5381925
>>Have your team rest here as well, to set her mind at ease.
>>Write-In
>Communicate with Gina through the Crimson Cord, and have her use her wireless Neuromancy to patch Francine in on the conversation. Discuss the path to the next safe point.

>>5381953
So it's less an island and more a raft. Can we sail it? Steer along the current, so that instead of getting pushed straight out it can sort of circle the No Man's Land on a spiraling path? That way we could direct it to the "shoals" that >>5381946 suggested.

>>5381976
Well, I'm not sure we should put out a want ad for the Lodge. We don't want anyone coming out here who isn't strong enough, I think it would be better to just have it be an ad-hoc thing people tend as they find it. But advertising its existence would be fine. The point is to keep people from dying unnecessarily in the No Man's Land and fueling the cancer, so letting them know where they can rest isn't a bad idea.

>>5381979
>Can we sail it? Steer along the current, so that instead of getting pushed straight out it can sort of circle the No Man's Land on a spiraling path? That way we could direct it to the "shoals"
Hold up. HOLD UP. Spirals. Spirals are circles. Tides and currents are essentially rolling spirals. Instead of relying on the outward expansion of the Cancer cord, we can manipulate the cancer sea to behave like how tides work. Ride a Cancer wave. create an alternating current of spirals that propel the establishment. Create maelstrom whirlpools that can lower the sea level the closer you are to its eye and reveal the "shoals underneath" and manipulate the terrain to raise the shoals up to a point where we can safely beach and anchor it. If we can do something like that and latch an anchor onto something solid underneath, we can then anchor the place to a fixed point.
Fear to Tread will be an utter BOON if we combine it with Gina's Hydromancy.

>>5381979
>>5382005
>>Can we sail it?

(You may certainly try, yes.)

>>5382005
That's actually a really good idea. Use Fear To Tread to shape the current of the cancer expanding, get it doubling back on itself and letting us ride the wave inward. Yeah, that could work really well.

The question would be finding the appropriate shoal. We don't want to beach it on the next safepoint on our way in, that's defeating the purpose of having this one. We'd need to locate a place that's shallow enough we can catch this one on it, but not so shallow it's a proper safe point in its own right. That might be tricky. But if we can, anchoring the Lodge there would be a great move.