Theo lets out a small smile as he carefully get on Charles's back.
"You never let me do this before, Chuck", the godling smirked.
Once Theo is situated, they take off, flying along the side of the path and slightly below it with slow, strong wingbeats.
Awkwardly having half thought to offer words but then utterly startled and scared to his bone from the feral mournful roars... Legato just stands awkwardly for a moment before he shuffles down after the others pondering to himself So..Was that not the plan? Did they have a normal plan like that that went wrong? Hokay. They're kind of intense.
Seeing the two take off, and the lithe medic fellow."Well, Everything here will know we are here.. So. I'll take up rear I guess." checking his shotgun before hopping down after the others.
** spoiler omitted **
He goes to the wall again, waves it from wall into bookshelf, and selects a book.
With another hand he waves for a column of white marble to rise from the ground beneath Nissa, forming a seat for her. She may not notice that her physical appearance has been changing with her thoughts.
Kahu's appearance changes as well. As he reads about the wand, his skin takes on a crystalline appearance. He does not seem to notice.
"Yes," he says finding something in the book. "The wands protected the so-called Celestials when they lost their corporeal form with the shattering of their ... I think we would call it a time-ship. The wands kept their spiritual form in a transdimensional pocket--I think that's were we are--until they could become corporeal again."
He snaps the book shut and it disappears.
"I've read ... mostly about the Wand ... the Celestials ... How this TAROTverse came to be. Ask me anything?"
He seems to remember something and looks sad, "I have some awareness of events that happened while you carried me, I mean, carried the wand. I have been here beside you, silent, for what feels like 100 years; I was with the Prince for longer."
He kneels beside Nissa and the column he grew for her shrinks to adjust her height so that he can bow at her feet, "I have realized many things about myself since we last met. And about the Prince. I do not believe I am alive, nor do I think I am a copy of him. I would never have treated you the way he did. I am not him. I am ... better. I am so very, very sorry that I protected him just so that he could spend a few more days hurting people. I should not have saved him."
She then grabs Legato as he almost stumbles coming around the tight bend and quickly prepares to do the same with others. "Hira," she says to each as she grabs them. She stands and gestures like Nissa again ordering you all into the elevator with a smile, "Keep Moving! Go Now! Do it!" Only Charles, Henri, and Legato seem to understand her language. The other refugees from the rakshasa seem to each speak a language completely unknown to the others. They all have accepted the leadership of the group though and will do what you do.
“I see. So the wand saved me… or you did, Kahu.
“Anyway, you don’t need to apologize for the Prince’s murders. I also spared two murderous twins, and they continued to kill.
“It’s difficult to play by The Rules, knowing that the villains you spare won’t stop preying on the innocent. The place we were just now… children were among the victims. I believe Gaia was Antonio’s daughter. The entity who claimed her life and her form was a predator. Her prey were sentient.”
She does not want to talk about this though.
Ask him anything…
“Are you… happy… to exist here?—inside the wand, I guess?”
If he isn’t, Nissa will want to help him. But if he’s fine where he is or has no means to leave anyway, Nissa may simply move onto the next question.
“I have a spare body made of light. Did the Dawnflower grant this to me?”
She also wants to know, “None of my friends got themselves killed trying to save me after I…
“Well, maybe it was obvious I couldn’t be saved. I don’t want to know the fate of my flesh form. Just my friends.”
** spoiler omitted **
“I see. So the wand saved me… or you did, Kahu."
Kahu thinks, "I am not the Wand, but I am part of the Wand. I believe I am some kind of psychic programming imprinted on the Wand. I do not think that is what you are."
“Are you… happy… to exist here?—inside the wand, I guess?”If he isn’t, Nissa will want to help him. But if he’s fine where he is or has no means to leave anyway, Nissa may simply move onto the next question.
Kahu considers, "You could ask for knowledge about the origins of the TAROTverse, but you are concerned with my emotions. I do not know if I know what happiness is. Is happiness a sense of fulfilment when providing service to others? I believe doing that would make me happy, but I am not able to do that at present."
“I have a spare body made of light. Did the Dawnflower grant this to me?”
Kahu consults several texts quickly, "I only have access to the knowledge of the Celestials. They know nothing of the Gods but believe them to be powerful transdimensional beings. They would, at times, manifest in the guise of Gods, but know nothing of true divinity."
She also wants to know, “None of my friends got themselves killed trying to save me after I…
“Well, maybe it was obvious I couldn’t be saved. I don’t want to know the fate of my flesh form. Just my friends.”
"I only have particular types of data about the world around me. I know that we have only been speaking for .00002 seconds. I know that the transdimensional pocket we are in needs a psychic anchor and will find one in whoever or whatever is available. If your friends survived, the pocket may follow them. I also know that the temperature of the area where the Wand was last anchored is, currently, several hundred degrees Celsius," he says this apologetically.
They give the elevator a doubtful look, wondering how much weight it can actually take. They look up and down, trying to figure out where it goes.
“It’s hot because I blew up. And if we experience time faster, I’m… still blowing up, I guess.”
She thinks about her being in the wand. In the pocket dimension.
“Okay, so this plane is not going to exist in 5.99998 seconds. If my friends went through the gate, can I… I don’t know… operate the wand from within so me and the wand and the pocket and whatever friend I try to Will us to are all in the same place? Would that work?—and of course, you’d be with us too!”
Realizing she’s not even sure if her words make any sense at all, she adds, “I mean if I—or we—can do that.”
”Amazing. A culture advanced enough to create this so long ago and it remains functional? Or are they still around maintaining devices they cannot manufacture anymore? What is the story here?”
"Does a story matter? I'd be more concerned with food, water, shelter, and whatever ended the caretaking of this place." Shrugging and looking around. Remninicing of horror books and movies. "Assuming this isnt that one dramatic book about time traveling in your own future to the ruins of your own city, inhibated by creatures evolved to live in the darkness, naked, pale monsters that hunt by sound....That was a good vid."
** spoiler omitted **
“Okay, so this plane is not going to exist in 5.99998 seconds. If my friends went through the gate, can I… I don’t know… operate the wand from within so me and the wand and the pocket and whatever friend I try to Will us to are all in the same place? Would that work?—and of course, you’d be with us too!”
"That hasn't been my experience," says Kahu, sitting with a book. "You're welcome to look around though.
When he invites you to look around, a stairwell opens nearby. You could descend into the Wand and look around.
"Keep Moving," yells the Nissa impersonator with the large cranium standing impatiently on the elevator.
Woman --> Greeting
Man (on Comm) --> Surprised Greeting
Woman --> Series of Commands
Man (on Comm) --> Confusion
Woman --> List of Commands more slowly
Man (on Comm) --> Confusion and Cuts off.
When the elevator opens at the bottom, you stand at the foot of the mountain, still outside, still cold. A dark blue metal hut, of newer construction, sits lonely on the black stone. A flying machine, also of newer construction, departs just as you land.
Between you and the hut stand five people so muscular that they make Theo look small. The size of their muscles suggests either prolonged use of some kind of growth cocktail or genetic enhancements. They look about as muscular as a person could be while remaining functional. They don't look friendly.
The woman yells something to them. They yell something back. One of them waves a large metal pipe in a vaguely threatening way.
Theo slowly slumps off of Charles, barely holding The Angel Sword. The Olympian steps in front of the scared survivors, raising his shield and holding the magical sword before the muscle dude with the large pipe.
"I don't know if you can understand me, but if you hurt any of these innocents, I'll introduce you to the concept of 'mean mutherfuçker'!!"
They step forward slightly in front of Theo, reinforcing his threats with a low growl.
Seeing the hostilities escalating, Legato pulls a gem out "Ah, Damn thnese are expensive" the gem is about the size of a jawbreaker from the 90s, looks opal white with etchings over the outside. Taking a deep breath and holding it in Legato stuffs it in his mouth, tearing up in the corner of his eye as he forcefully swallows the large object.
"That'll help me understand...Speaking is beyond my spellskillz."
He then listens for any responses to the two's intimidations, as well as conversations between others.
Comprehend Languages
Source Starfinder Core Rulebook pg. 344
Classes Precog 1, Technomancer 1, Witchwarper 1
School divination
Casting Time 1 standard action
Range personal
Duration 10 minutes/level
Description
You can understand the spoken or signed words of creatures or read otherwise incomprehensible written or tactile messages. The ability to read does not necessarily impart insight into the material, merely its literal meaning. The spell enables you to understand or read an unknown language, not speak or write it. You can’t use this spell to read magic writing or encoded messages (though it does reveal if a message is magic or encoded), but you can use it to read raw computer code or foreign programming languages, allowing you to understand enough to attempt Computers checks on those materials without penalties.
Builder 1: You can come in, but they cannot.
The Minder (Woman with Large Cranium): But they are very cold and some may get sick.
Builder 1: I do not think...
Woman with Large Cranium: You are a builder. It is not your job to think. I am a minder. I will do the thinking for both of us.
Builder 1: I do not think they will die while we wait for a Director. You are a Minder, but the Director will come and make decisions and even a Minder must follow a Director.
The other builders nod.
The Minder: You Builders are so stubborn. If you had half as much brain as bicep you'd understand what this means ... they opened a gate!
The conversation continues, but the gist of it is that the builders are afraid of newcomers and do not want them in their hut. They fear the newcomers may carry diseases. The flying vehicle that left is supposed to be returning with a Director.
Legato listening in annoyed he can't talk to the ...aliens? So instead he talks at Charles, Theo, Henri, and the aliens they brought. Aliens everywhere. "Uhm. TLDR? Its her people, she is a "minder" those guys build stuff. She wants them to let us in; they don't want to until a Director comes and makes a decision. She's calling them dumb and the fact you can open "gate" is important." Listening in as the conversation progresses. "A flying vehicle is suppose to be returning with the Director. We just missed them. The builders are worried we'll make them sick. Like in the movies? Seems reasonable... Hopefully its soon...This magic won't last forever and I only got the one. I bought it to watch a foriegn flick with a gal to impress her."
Legato ponders for a moment and then counts the number of heads they have with them. "I might have at least a temporary solution."
Nissa needs to remove her finger immediately or fall down a very deep rabbit hole. The world fades from memory. Almost all of it. Nissa remembers very little of that world that she knew so much about only a moment ago.
Dancing slowly around the spiral staircase are 100,000 motes or more.
“Do you happen to know a means to find which mote would lead me to L.C. or my super-friends? Or both if they happen to find L.C.?”
There’s got to be a better way than inserting my finger into one after the other!
An idea suddenly strikes Nissa.
“Wait—I am literally in the shaft of the wand, right?”
After a while he says, "I believe it works when you hold the Wand and think about where you want to go. I'm not sure how you do that without a body."
Later ... "I'm not sure that the physical Wand and this transdimensional tower are one-to-one correspondences, but, metaphorically if not physically, you are in the shaft of the Wand."
Okay. I can’t hold the wand, but what do I do when I wave it? What did I do in Uncanny Valerie’s head?
Nissa could focus on World 12, but considers the others left through the rabbit hole or stone arch or wardrobe… so she focuses on a person.
Theo. He held me even when it burned his broken body.
“Theo, you doofus! You made it through right? You didn’t get yourself killed avenging me, right? Wait. He threw me, and the one who broke me and got my powers outta control is dead. So…
“Theo!”
She thinks of the last place she had been to, physically: in Theo’s hand!
"Goodbye," says Kahu in a tired and distracted voice. "I'd get up, but I'm reading."
Nissa basks in the motes, hoping there won’t be a dead or severed Theo-hand in the dissipating realm of Gaia. Gaah! NOW I think of that?!?!?
Theo has had an itch in his hand for the whole time he has been here.
Given the drama unfolding before him, Theo tries to ignore the itchy pain in his burned palms.
"Oh Cerebus! They're something in my hand!" Theo sheaths the Angel Sword and runs away from the group, his glowing hand outstretched.
"Gainway!!"
Nissa marvels at the body of light she has become. Somehow, it feels… different.
“Am I truly hearing… you?” she asks the Dawnflower. “This body… this gift…”
She trails off, unable to speak as a wave of emotion splashes over her. She listens for the voice, looks at her surroundings, trying to understand…
** spoiler omitted **
** spoiler omitted **
Walking away a little bit from the ...Construction? Crew.. Rubbing his hands together, Legato kneads magic and a gliph appears on the snow, expanding to a 10-ft radius sigil. Which then builds brick by brick a hemispherical barrier that turns opaque with a simple entry way. "Magical Igloo is..." Legato starts before noting Theo's shout and sprint. Uncertain what that entails as he runs with a glowing hand... for now he points at the entry way after getting the random folks attention. "If I leave this breaks, I'll watch the captives if you two need to follow him." He addresses Charles and Henri, as he continues to try and usher the captives into the shelter for now.
Instant Architect (Ex)
Source Tech Revolution pg. 15
You gain Barricade as a bonus feat. You can use Barricade to create a barrier within your nanite cloud rather than just in an adjacent space.
In addition, as a full action, you can use a nanite surge to shape your nanites into a temporary structure: a ladder up to 30 feet long, a door sealing an opening up to 10 feet square, a 10-foot-radius hemispherical shelter, or a 5-foot-wide bridge that spans up to 40 feet. This counts against the number of arrays you can have active. Regardless of the structure’s form, it has a number of Hit Points equal to your level, hardness equal to your Constitution modifier, and a break DC of 10.
The Builders runs away. Now they're intimidated by Theo.
The tumour of light grows to lemon, orange, grapefruit, and melon size. It warms Theo completely and is not at all painful.
As it reaches watermelon size, Theo thinks he can make out the figure of some kind of diminutive humanoid being.
“I love this body, and all the powers you’ve given me…
“Yes. They did not care to repent…
“If I become a remorseless killer, am I no better than those I must stop? It’s all so confusing…
“Yes. The team. They will remind me of my mortal origin…
“…others like me, but… bigger? Of course they are. I can’t wait to… oh. Yes. Of course I can. I will work on my patience.”
Okay. So I guess I can grow bigger than this. Not as tall as before, but I was always a short girl.
Nissa begins to expand, stretching the world around herself…!
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The tumour of light grows to lemon, orange, grapefruit, and melon size. It warms Theo completely and is not at all painful.
As it reaches watermelon size, Theo thinks he can make out the figure of some kind of diminutive humanoid being.
Theo really begins to freak out as the tumor of light gets larger and larger. But then a wave of calm washes over The Olympian.
Okay. Theo, THINK! You know! This is alot like when Zeus birthed Athena from his brow. Am I giving birth?! To my goddess daughter?! Theo ponders.In the Myths, Zeus needed Hephaestus to cut his brow to free Athena!
Breathing rapidly now, the godling draws The Angel Sword and tries to just pierce a small slit in the light tumor, away from the struggling tiny form inside.
"Heeeere's Daddy!!"
** spoiler omitted **
Kahu looks briefly up from his book, "Oh, well, that's the missing piece. I try to stay away from the shadows."
A glowing form plops out of the small slit on Theo's hand. The face of this small form looks like an unconscious Nissa.
Anyone who hadn't run to hide in one of the huts, now does.
On the plus side, Nissa's form glows in the darkness giving off tremendous warmth.
Theo kneels down at the small form of Nissa; his light tumor shrinking back into nothing. "Nissa?" Is that you?" The godling whispered.
Nissa’s sleeping form easily fits in Theo’s palm. She’s about the size of one of his fingers. Her flesh is literally made of golden sunlight!—her hair a solar flare—fairy wings formed of the rays of dawn, and her eyes…
They flutter open.
…even on a face no bigger than a fingernail, her eyes stand out: two sunspots that carry all the charm of Massachusetts’ littlest supermodel!
Nissa sits up in Theo’s hand. “Yes, Theo. It’s me… ummm, sorry I burned you. I couldn’t stop.” She looks around. “But it worked, right? Everyone got out but the snake and the gargoyles… didn’t they?”
Her sun-spot eyes flicker left, right, then look directly into Theo’s.
“You’re… alone?” she says with a shudder.
"No, my little daughter", Theo said with the smile of a proud papa. "Charles and Henri are here. Legato's here. And as many Gaia refugees as we could. We are definitely Not is Kansas anymore, Dorothy. It's frigid cold with a mixture of ancient and modern technologies."