"Oh dear." Kara whispered.
A weapon of mass destruction? If such a thing fell in the wrong hands... there's no telling what might happen! ... Oh, no! This might even be the thing responsible for the death of their entire race!
She shivered slightly and looked around to make sure nobody was watching her. She was struggling to deal with a group of people. She definitely wasn't ready to handle a weapon of unimaginable destruction. Just thinking of the responsibility made her feel sick.
Okay, okay, no reason to panic, it's just some old text, I can't know exactly what it means. But if it does mean... I must keep this a secret. I can't take the risk of anyone learning about this.
She quickly moved to hide the tablet. Out of sight and hopefully out of mind, for now.
Not yet anyway. Perhaps sometime in the future we could claim the Great Destroyer for ourselves. Maybe dismantle it or keep it safe until it is needed. But that is going to be a military installation. It could be much more dangerous.
She'd seen how powerful and impressive the Gemstone People's technology could be. She didn't want to risk treading a place where she could end up facing several of their most advanced military constructs.
I need to wait until we are ready to deal with such a thing. And until I'm confident we are ready to handle the responsibility of owning such a thing. I'm not ready. I need more. I need more information. I need more power. I need more control. I need- I need... I need more time to think.
Kara walked up to the ladder leading up to the Control Room.
Okay, small problems first. I need to let Adam know how dangerous that All-Eater is. But if I tell him that he might be curious about how I learned that information.
She very carefully climbed up the ladder, trying her best to be quiet so that she wouldn't end up waking Vikkan (if he was already asleep). Her progress was further slowed by the fact she had to use one arm.
He might ask to see the diary for himself. What if he learns about the Great Destroyer and then tries to claim it for his precious church? Or tells some church official about it? No, I can't let that happen. I need a convincing lie. Maybe I could just say it's just some story I heard?
She reached the top and slowly pulled herself up and onto the floor.
At least I don't have to deal with this right now. I could use a distraction. Like that statue. It would be interesting to see if this woman resembles the one Clate described. Do they share more than a name? Could she be a hero, selling things she found in her adventures?
She leaned as close to the dome as she could, searching for the statue.
Make sure to lock that Gemstone People Diary in my chest in the bore's storage room.
Go up to the Control Room and look outside. If we're still close, watch the statue of Polyantha Ret. Watch its movements. Then try sketching it. If I have time and it's not dangerous to go outside, go and read her inscription and copy it on a piece of paper.
Name: "Kara" is what most humans call her, though the closest pronunciation would be Kr'ra-Kax
Race: Corven (advantage for climb, disadvantage for falls)
Appearance: She is a crow-like Corven with matte-black feathers. A bit short. Constantly moves her head around, examining her surroundings. Moves her tail up and down whenever she's excited.
Age: Adult, but just barely
Goal: Wants to find artifacts and experiences that she can use to make an (under)world-famous museum. Wants to prove herself to her mother and piss off her brother with her success (both financially and socially).
StatusSacrificed left arm to reverse time (eaten by giant Shluck-like thing). Bandaged and given spider venom for the pain.
StatsStr:9
Dex:13
Spe:13
End:7
Awa:12
Cun:10
Kno:12
Ner:11
Skills1 unspent
Rifle: 1
Medical: 1
Translate: 1
Acrobatics: 1
Caving: 1
Machine Control: 1
Stealth: 1
Geology: 1
Archeology: 1
Navigation: 1
Inventory14 fathoms
Ethral Rifle (rifle 3, pierce 3) 6/7
2 Ethral Rifle magazines 7/7
Field Lighter (Fire 2)
Ethral Silk rope 100 ft
Grappling Hook
Simple Clothes
Kara's DiaryIn StorageCrystal Tablets (diary about some construction project, inventory, obedience rod instructions, construct assembly instructions)
Church Documents (document ownership and events, and recommend favorable treatment)
Cot
Book (Adventures of Pilgrim)
Deck of Cards
Mechanical Arm (not installed)
Crystal Friend
Bomb collar (unlocked)
All bomb collar remotes
Ok basically I only had you guys stop because it was in universe accurate and because I wanted to give people a chance to look around if they want. Since basically everyone is sleeping, I'll process this action and then drive us the rest of the way to Empyrean.
You lock the diary away in your chest and then head outside. The traffic outside has slowed down and thinned out somewhat but there are still devotees walking one way or another, the occasional Guide walking slowly between the statues, keeping the candles that crowd the entrance of their niche lit and gathering any offerings. You walk a good mile or two back to the statue of Polyantha and sit down in front of it. The banner holding the name flows slowly, her clothing rolls and flows around her in that impossible drapery fashion that makes it seem skin tight in places, the smoke or steam or whatever it is waves and billows. You notice now that you've gotten closer that there are many other people behind her, huddled in the flowing expanse of her clothing and behind her back. They peek out of behind her in terror and awe, looking at something going on in front of her.
[14]
You do your best to sketch it but....yeah its not going on the fridge.
You read the inscription. According to it, Polyantha was a Deep Walker raised in the orphanages of Empyrean after her parents died during their pilgrimage. She became a Deep Walker and after years of service was placed in charge of one of the training schools that oversee the raising of promising young people into members of the church. She Worked there for many years before, during an expedition, the group was attacked by Necromancers. Though greatly outnumbered and outclassed, Polyantha protected her students by sacrificing her entire body for the strength to overcome the assault. She is said to have vanished shortly after, leaving nothing behind. You note it down and head back.
Once Vikkan is awake and wanders up to the cockpit and gets the bore moving again, guiding it along through the slowly growing crowds. Others wake over time, some staying below, others wandering up to the cockpit to watch as the bore continues on. A few hours in, the path widens slowly, the statues and engravings giving way to a swelling entryway of carved columns, each engraved with spiraling lines of text from the Black Book. Through a huge arch of obsidian polished to mirror smoothness is the way into the city. The entrance opens up straight into the cavern, somewhere up on the wall. Its not a simple path either, but a massive balcony of sorts expanding in a half circle out from the wall before narrowing to a path that leads to the city proper. The balcony is absolutely packed with people; pilgrims, traders, merchants, vehicles from crawlers to bores, a combination bazaar, church, and meeting ground for all who are entering or leaving the city. There's a fuel station along the wall of the cavern, about halfway across the balcony, and Vikkan drives the bore over to it. Attendants hook the fuel lines up and climb up metal scaffolds and ladders to the airlock, waiting for payment.
The Balcony, like a fat teardrop, curves up towards its center where a path extends out. The path is stone, carved obsidian, laid with whorls of silver designed to enhance the natural patterns in the rock. It stretches out far beyond where normal stone would be able to without collapsing, disappearing into the fog. The entire world beyond the balcony is a swirling mass of steam, constantly flowing and coating everything in a thin film of water. The bore's windows fog up and droplets slide down, producing little clear streaks before they refog. The huge light of the magma pool that underlies the cavern is dulled by the steam, everything lit a hazy orange. And far out in the fog you can just see the colossal outlines of the first few towers of the city, enormous black knives lurking at the edge of your perception. A streamer of purplish lighting crackles up from somewhere below and winds itself around the spires before crackling and collapsing into random sparks.
Relic Team
"Guess we'll have to fight our way through. You guys ready? I only regret that I only had time to learn one Deep Song from my book, and it wasn't suitable for this situation."
AsHul attempts to glean clues on how best to battle the idolguys. Does there seem to be some symbolic thing to do? Is One on One combat expected?
Name: AsHul
Description:Former human. Awful, ugly, indifferent
Goal:To find God
Stats
Str:10 Dex:9 Spe:9 End:11 Awa:12 Cun:11 Kno:11 Ner:16
Skills
3 Diving
2 Animal Handling
1 Survival
1 Weapon skill: Guitar
Inventory
Relic Fragment
Black Book (copy, strata 1,2,4)
3 Silent Night
6 Worm Blood
100 ft of rope
1 knife (cut/pierce 2)
2 Occult Junks
59 Fathoms (One magnetically welded to the wall of his room in the Bore, one "shiny," 57 standard)
168 Fathoms (Team Account. Kept on AsHul's person for safekeeping. Stored separately from his personal funds.
Stored at warehouse during Relic Vision:
Firing Control Module (Brass Brain)
Book of sheet music (from Balaram) [stack of about 100 pages bound by three brass rings along the top of the sheets]
his former bomb collar - made of something like demagnetized neodymium.
One Bone-fretted haunted electric guitar
One mundane acoustic guitar with wave patterns in abalone and turquoise
Notes:Anvil: Local parish: currently looking for 8 to do a communal vision with a minor relic to extract the relic core.
Travellers' guild is offering a relic retrieval job. Local hazards ('living').
a small garden or sitting area, hemmed in by a wooden fence painted bright red.
You're sitting on low stone benches arrayed in a circle around a two meter tall cairn.
Beyond the red fence are carefully tended trees.
Snow lies on the ground in an uneven layer.
Your garden is surrounded by stone walls.
A path made of smooth river stones laid into the earth curves out of the garden, through an arched entry in the stone wall and out onto a thin, carved rock path that immediately curves away to the right.
The entire place seems to be situated on a mountain peak;
on the opposite side of the archway there lies the gray black mass of the mountain and you can see further buildings up there, connected by a spiraling path that was cut into the stone. Structures cling to the rock or are carved directly out of it. It all looks quite idyllic and calm.
The entire massive chunk of stone-buildings and all- is bouncing down the side of an unimaginably vast mountain.
[11]
You look at the idols, considering for a long moment what the best approach is. You think and think some more and then shrug.
"As the Black Book says : Kill em all and let GOD sort them out."
"Ready as ever."
Inspect the Idol figure's carapace for any weak spots.
Name: Alex Wells
Description: A middle aged man standing 5'7" feet tall. He has short brown hair and an unkempt beard.
Goal: Exploring the depths and collecting its wealth.
Stats:
Str: 11
Dex: 11
Spe: 10
End: 11
Awa: 11
Cun: 12
Kno: 11
Ner: 11
Skills:
Explosives 2
Mechanical 1
Survival 1
Caving 1
Chemical 2
Geology 1
1 Skill point
Inventory:
Dynamo Lantern
Field Lighter
5 TNT
Bladed Shovel (Cut 3)
Mail Shirt
39 Fathoms
Crystal box of golem limbs
Golem buddy
Black Flame (Cut 3)
Rifle (Pierce 2) 10/10
8 Structural Junk
Grappling Hook
[10]
It has a head and generally humanoid appearance. If you had to guess, blowing the head off is probably effective. Then again, TNT is probably effective in general. Few critters enjoy the gentle touch of a high speed detonation.
Author
Topic: DIG: Heresy (Read 385896 times)