Agia The Clanless's page

Thanks for running a great game Fabian. It's a shame we ran through so many players, but I had a great time.

Action 1

Agia made a show of striding among the sleeping figures, checking their pulses and temperatures. She gently picked up the lady's head and leaned her back in the chair with a poorly concealed snigger, wiping the cream off her face with a napkin while making a royal mess of her delicate makeup. Satisfied that their vitals were stable, she nodded to Altha and the hand-wringing servants. "Yup, they'll be fine. No telling how long they'll be out, but it should let ya get a headstart on the dishes."

With that, she motioned for the servants to begin clearing the table, and gave Altha a wink, figuring that the evidence would be long gone before the Isalda awoke.

Arguing from a position of medical authority to back up Altha. Trained in healing. Complementary actions should give us both an additional bonus.
Intellect: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (13) + 3 = 16

Action 2

Striding upstairs ahead of Balanders, Agia politely asked him to wait for just a moment while she tried something. Striding purposefully across the room, placed her hands upon the polished foreign wood and felt around with her mind's eye for the moisture that lived within it.

Hedge Magic to warp the wood of the table to make an asset for avoiding causing major damage to tablet or table when ripping it out.
Intellect: 1d20 ⇒ 17

”Lunch approaches... we make our move then. Just need to figure out how to get the poison in the meal for all three – is it strong enough to prick the guards and put them under or do they have to consume it? She hasn't been taste-testing anything at meals so she should be simple enough to drug.... Ideas?”

Agia chuckled, then coughed. Her voice was scratchy from all her chanting, and the others had to lean in to hear her clearly. "Tha cook's been botherin' me to make somethin' I told 'em about, as the lady loves her treats and they're runnin' out of ideas ta please 'er. It comes together quick, I just take some cream, mix in a some fruit, then freeze the whole mess so fast it goes all smooth. Real tasty. I could volunteer to make some for lunch and add in tha poison real easy saying it's the special ingredient. She won't have tasted quite its like before so any unexpected flavours won't tip 'er off. I could serve it myself to make sure they all have some, though I'll hardly be able to keep a straight face knowing what happens next."

Altha waved her hands, ”Also! I heard what she was saying, finally! I think it's some sort of key or clue or riddle... she was saying 'circle, green, em, water'. But since that hasn't triggered anything, I'm wondering if talking isn't the right route for whatever she's looking for.”

"Yep, I spent almost an hour using words of power on tha thing without so much as a flicker, but when I got around to just mashing on it would light up a little when I tapped a circle. If that's the first part of the chant, then tha other symbols must be the rest of tha lady's ritual."

"Which means we can get into tha baron's secrets. We should grab the tablet in case we need to make a quick getaway, then meet in the study and finally find out what he's been hiding."

Ah, I misunderstood. I thought that Action 3 last turn was specifically directed at Zyzyx, and Action 2 was directed at those still within the house.

Message to Ricci

As they ate together out among the animal pens, Agia frowned at the missive from Ricci. "We'd best tell him all we've figured out so far. We got nothin' to hide from him and lying might be risky. Given his love for buzzers and crawlies he might have tha whole place bugged." She glanced suspiciously at a beetle crawling over a nearby pile of fresh dung.

...

Investigating the panel

The poison would be ready soon, but it wouldn't do much good if they hadn't figure out the panel by then. Agia installed herself in the upper study as if she was cataloging the books there, but this time she had brought a book of her own. It contained the portions of her people's oral history that had been committed to synthpaper over the course of generations. In particular it dealt with the rituals they used to interact with the numenera,so that this vital knowledge might remain even if their tune was lost.

Licking her finger, Agia reverently turned to the portion that dealt with words of power. Scraggly sigils printed with stabilized charcoal documented scraps of the old tongues that sometimes activated ancient magic and sometimes did not. These words were organized into phonetic rhyming chants so that a wide variety could be tried quickly, as one never knew which ones might do the trick.

If the Lady was using magic words, it made sense that she would guard them. Indeed, she'd likely guard them well enough that Agia reasoned that it would be safer to simply try and discover the nature of the words herself. She had prepared one of the longer chants, known as The Finding Mash. It was tricky, and involved strange, incongruous sounds that rarely fit together easily, but it was known for working on a wide variety of objects while tending to provoke mild enough effects that the user usually survived. It had the best chance of yielding a desirable result, though Agia worried that she might be discovered due to the ritual's alarming length.

Intellect roll to better identify either what the panel does or how to activate it, spending effort. Intellect cost after Edge is 1. Agia has an inability in solving puzzles which likely applies, but is trained in the numenera and is using her book on the numenera as an asset. Between effort, assets and training, the total bonus should be +2 levels.

I'm hoping to provoke a minor reaction such a flicker from the panel from chanting one correct phoneme in sequence which could later serve as a basis for an attempt to activating the panel on purpose when we execute our plans. It's also entirely possible I'm barking up the wrong tree, and the results are unclear enough that I don't think I can write up a good succeed/fail result binary. Feel free to make a roll or use a GM intrusion to have Agia be discovered if you think it will help move things forward.

Action 1

"If not, I can at least try to turn it off once they seemed interested - I just need to see the device to try. Be my wingman?”

"I like it. It'll serve 'em right to have their own powers turned against them. When the time comes, I'll have your back."

Agia... You help Zyzyx find whatever he needs here and help him brew? You know more about healing then I do, honestly.

"I s'pose I could help. Herblore ain't my specialty but I've made some soothing teas before, and I imagine proper medicines the same just more concentrated. Even though we'd best do tha brewin' outside where the odours won't catch any attention, we'll need some pots. I'll see what I can get from the kitchen and then I'll leave it behind tha pipe out back. We can smuggle it down the cliff when we're ready ta cook."

...

Roll to sneak into the kitchen and nick some suitable pans for the deconcoction in hopes of creating an asset for step C. Intellect roll to identify the proper materials. Speed roll to procure it without getting detected by the servants.

intellect: 1d20 ⇒ 15

speed: 1d20 ⇒ 20

Agia knew exactly which pot she wanted from her previous searches of the kitchen, but getting it was going to be tricky. It was a beautiful pot of blue metal, fitted with a special lid that sealed tight to allow for the water inside to be boiled without it escaping. A valve, obviously a later addition, allowed for the pressure to be adjusted so that different meats and veggies could be cooked to perfection while sealing in the flavour. All this would make it the perfect concentrator for the reagents.

She ducked into the kitchen as the staff we're cleaning up after the Lady's dinner and offered to help. "If I help ya'll get 'em done quick we all got a better chance of avoid the wrath of that woman. Pass me tha rag."

The dishwater was only mildly hot, but it seemed like fire on Agia's cold hands. She winced as she scrubbed but kept working just the same. It was rough work, as the lady had insisted on another multiple course meal, but with many hands working the task was soon done. Agia hefted the large tub of filthy dishwater with some difficulty and offered to haul it out to the ditch while the others got back to tending to the noble's whims. As they all turned to make their way out of the kitchen, Agia reached over and casually swept her prize off the counter and into the murky froth of the tub where it promptly disappeared below the surface. Her arms were aching by the time she got the tub over to the cliff, but it was worth it. She took out the special pot and stashed it after dumping the water, smirking at her own cleverness.

It'd be missed next time the help wanted to cook some grumman ribs or quickgrains, but hopefully Zyzyx would be done with it before then. Although... would returning it and allowing the staff to cook using a dish that had been used to create powerful poison even be safe? Agia worked over the problem of dosages for a moment in her head, but quickly gave up and shrugged. "I'm sure it'll be fine."

Action 2

Agia struggled with reading the letters as they danced across the surface of the cylinder, but the intent was clear enough. She started to speak to her companions, then glanced suspiciously at the cylinder and wondered if it was listening even now. She grabbed it and stuffed it under a pillow while the group decided on a course of action.

"I say we come clean about the lady being here, but maybe downplay tha searchin' she's doing or how long we've let her in here. We don't want to make it look like she's got the upper hand. If we get an order ta kick 'er out it would go a long way towards coverin' our butts when all this comes ta blows. And it will. It always does when tha haughty types can't get what they want. Though if we all do wind up exiled or worse you're welcome to join us on the lam, Ianaga."

"One of you talkier types can do the actual gabbin', but we'd best hop to it. The device might have given us time but that servant-man Dorul seemed pretty high strung, and if we start running up against the time limit he might get suspicious that we were using it to cook up a story."

"Psst. Hey. Something's up. The Lady is wandering around suspiciously muttering something... you know what she's looking for? Or saying? She's got her Synthguard person with her scanning stuff." Altha seemed frustrated she couldn't tap her empathic abilities further to read minds.

Agia rubbed her chin. "Yep, she's a tricky one all right. I'll try to get in close without her spottin' me."

Intellect: 1d20 ⇒ 14

By the time Agia managed to pick up the noble's trail Lady Isalda and her guard had moved on to the dining room. Sitting just outside, Agia strained her ears and managed to hear the occaisional murmur from the searchers, but it was indistinct. She needed to get closer.

Agia waited until she was sure the noblewoman was inspecting the hunting trophies on the far wall, then tiptoed forward, holding her breath, directly into the chest of the Lady's mechanically enhanced guard who had been standing just around the corner waiting for the eavesdropper that had been detected by the constant scans. The fearsome hulk towered over her, and Agia scrambled for an explanation for her presence. "I was just... dusting?" The implacable guard simply continued to glare. "I'll... finish it later. Bye!" Agia managed to stammer as she slowly walked out of the room before breaking into a run and meeting back up with Altha.

"It was no good, I got rumbled before I got close. Her backup has some serious mojo."

I likely won't have a chance to update until quite late tonight. I started a new job this week and my schedule's all screwed up as a result. Just a heads up that I am still around and will be back to regular posting shortly.

There's a list of poisons and prices for Ruk in the Strange corebook, and the "When Worlds Collide" adaptation supplement gives a rough conversion of 1 Bit to 1 Shin. Of particular relevance to our situation is that a level 3 poison that causes unconsciousness for 1 minute is listed as 30 bits. A level 7 poison with the same effect is 100 bits. A level 7 poison that induces a coma until the victim is awakened is 200 bits. There are other poisons that cause damage, with 15 bits buying a poison that does 3 damage, 30 bits for 4 damage and 60 bits for 6 damage. Another thing to keep in mind is that these are combat poisons meant to both be administered through weapons and take effect instantly. A poison that needs to be ingested or that requires time or several doses to take effect might be considerably cheaper or easier.

None of the information is numenera "canon", but it might be useful in putting the relative value of poison in perspective.

Action 2

The lady was really beginning to irritate her, and Altha decided she'd let Ianaga take on the role of wrangling the noble. When Agia called them into the room upstairs, and suggested they use her as the scapegoat, Altha liked the idea but she had a few misgivings, ”But the Nobles are the powers here... how do we shift blame for something from us? She'll just point fingers and we'll be the ones to burn for it. How to do you propose we use her and sidestep blame?”

Agia's face felll. "Shoot, you're right. I keep expecting people to act all reasonable like and getting disappointed." Her face scrunched up as she thought hard about the problem. The hierarchy here was confusing for her, thought after a week and and a half of hard lessons and frequent lectures it was starting to sink in.

"We could try playing it straight for once. After all, we're officially here at the request of the Baron to watch the house, and we know he has secrets he wants to protect. If ya find some proof that she's up to no good, or even if she happens to have a sour reputation among the rest of tha nobility, we'd have the backing of tha Baron's house if we did our job and kicked her out. And anything or anyone that happened to disappear in the dust-up would of course be her fault, as long as we can demonstrate we did everything we could." And edge of desperation crept into her voice. "He'd have to respect that, right? If his huntin' obsession and flowery word-stuffs is any indication, he's all 'bout tha 'honour of rightyious combat' tripe. He'd probably swoon at news of proper heros defending his estate's honour when all he's used to is tha bloody nonsense he arranges in tha arena."

Agia's confidence wavered, she was far out of her depth. "Though if we can swing it just using her to find what we need would be better. I'm not keen to tussle with them strong-men of hers. But as long as we're the ones allowing her in tha house we're on the hook for anything she gets into, and ya'll best not forget it."

Action 3

Agia's eye's narrowed at the lady's request, feeling her suspicions were increasingly justified. She forced her blue lips into a smile that was far less convincing than Altha's and adopted her abysmal Uxphonian accent. "Quite so. Though ah must warn the Ladee that the Baroon's room is terribly drafty. Yeh might be more comfoortable elsewheare."

While 'preparing' the room for the lady, Agia intends to use Hedge Magic to greatly lower the temperature of the room, particularly the heavy metal door which should serve as an serviceable conductor and have a considerable amount of thermal mass that would allow it to continue sucking warmth from the air for several hours afterwards. This is partially to convince the Lady to choose another room that won't cause difficulties for the party's heist, but mostly because Agia enjoys tormenting her in any way possible.

Action 1

"You're not from the Steadfast, are you? How's the world out there? I have never been outside Uxphon." It's only now that she's said this to Agia that she seems to realize she would enjoy seeing the world.

Agia started, shocked at the idea of someone who had never travelled. "Ya mean you've never been outside of this dump? I mean, as far as cities go I guess it's fine. Big and busy and shinny and all that. But there's a whole wide world out there, bigger than we know, where thar's always some new wonder over tha next hill or new folks to meet hiding in the bushes. Not all of it's nice, but all of it's worth seein'."

Feeling oddly compelled to earn the approval of her new companion, Agia began to wax philosophical.

"A few months back we were crossing through the Kataru and we met some folk who had a great saying. I'd be tellin' em stories of my travels and they'd just say 'tha grass is always greener on tha other side', and ain't that just the truth? Ya go out and there and ya take a risk so that ya can get to tha greener grass, and once you're there ya see grass that is even greener, so ya just keep going. Stick in one spot and tha grass just gets tromped on and eaten bare by the umlan. That's what's great in life, chasing that grass. Metamaphorologically speaking, I mean."

Action 2

Despite Ianaga's and Altha's fairly unsubtle attempts to get her to shut up, Agia was ready to give the noble woman another piece of her mind when a sudden feeling of deja vu made her pause. It hadn't been long at all since Zyzyx and Ianaga had arrived in a less ostentatious but similarly disruptive manner. The gears started turning in Agia's head, and it all seemed like too much of a coincidence. More like... fate. Growing quiet, she began nodding profusely at whatever drivel the lady was spewing while slowly backing away. Once she was out of sight, she motioned for her companions to meet her upstairs and bolted out of the scene before the concern written all over her face tipped off the new arrivals.

...

Having gathered upstairs under the pretense of preparing the rooms, Agia whispered to the huddled group. "Here's hoping she's as stupid as she sounds, our heist could use a pasty to take the fall. But all this startin' to seem like a circle dance to me. The past two bunches of people to show up here out of the blue, namely us and you folk, did so with... whatchacall em'... 'Ultrerior motives'. I'd bet a fat shin that there's some noble other than Ricci who wants to take advantage of tha Baron being out, and this lady and her muscle happen to be tha noble's version of us! Must be somebody big, 'cause we seem to be outranked and outarmed."

"I betcha if we play along she'll lead us straight to where we want to be. I think I can mind my mouth for a spell, if it means cracking this open. We'll need somebody sticking to 'er like glue, though, and it's probably best if it ain't me. We don't seem to get on well."

I had to look up what a 'vuechi' was. In case anyone else wasn't sure, it's a 4-inch floating metal sphere that can attack people with electric shocks.

Action 1

Agia sat up on the desk while the group crowded around the panel. Keeping an eye out for any of the help that might be snooping around. Anthuria in particular had been following her around since she got up this morning, although the breakfast dishes seemed to be occupying her for now.

Perception roll to be certain the groups knowledge of the panels stays secret.
Intellect: 1d20 ⇒ 6

In time, Agia became distracted by the papers on the desk. "Dead words," she mused with a shake of her head, "What's even the point if they've got no tune to carry 'em? Northerner's have got some funny ideas."

Realizing her mind had drifted, she snapped back to attention. She no longer heard the sound of the dishes, and so Agia left the group in hopes of distracting anyone who might be snooping around.

Action 2

As Altha was thinking, Agia entered the room to see what all the commotion was about. Her jaw dropped at the fully armed soldiers and the floating noble. "Ya cannot be serious! Who's this now?" she blurted, forgetting the few manners she had to begin with.

Anthuria rushed over carrying a heavy trunk with some difficulty, and quickly relayed the gist of the situation to the flabbergasted Agia. Nodding in satisfaction, Agia reassured the slave woman, "Oh, that's it then? We'll get this sorted in a jiffy, don't you worry."

Turning to face the noblewoman on the far side of the room, Agia proceeded to yell at the top of her lungs, "Oy! Lady! Thar's just been a misunderstanding! Ya loverboy's not here, he's gone to fight someone or other for tha yella pope, won't be back for months at best. Ya'll have to come back then. I s'pose ya might manage to catch up with him if ya headed up his way if that suited ya, but there's not a thing for ya here."

Just Agia being generally obtuse. Anyone can feel free to jump in and try to cover for her with a more diplomatic approach if they want.

I've also decided that referring to the amber pope as "the yellow pope" is a favoured slur in the parts of the Beyond that don't particularly like the Order of Truth. Whether anyone in Uxphon would recognize it as such or be offended by it is up to Fabian. Growing up as she did, Agia has rarely heard him called anything else.

Action 3

Balanders split the Shins with his compatriots, each group member getting 8 shins. Balanders made it clear that he expected each person to take their share, ensuring that everyone was of one mind with regards to their loyalty to the group over the nobles.

Agia sorted through her share of the shins. She shook her head at most of them being mix-metal coins pressed with the head of what looked like a local noble, likely the Baron himself. She made a mental note to swap or spend them before leaving town. The bottom portion of the bag, however, held a small selection of black hexagons with flecks of gold that Agia found very shinny indeed and she tucked hers into her shinbag with some satisfaction.

Added 8 shins to Agia's profile. 12 + 8 = 21. I also tossed in a bit of flavour about the shins. I envision each of the Uxphon noble houses having similar coins with the heads of their house, and there being enough with the Baron in circulation so that the stolen goods aren't immediately traceable unless they are being spent en-masse. I threw in the distinctive black hexagons in case the stolen shins are indeed supposed to be recognizable.

...

"...We might as well kill time until then and make like proper house sitters, I think..."

"...We'll find where your friend went, I bet. That'll at least be a solid lead to follow."

Agia nodded, "Agreed, I hate sitting around, but we can't afford to make a move until we've found all we came for. We had a close call tonight, and the staff'll probably be more suspicious from here on. Stay on ya toes with ya eyes open, and we'll crack this yet."

"As for the desk, when the time comes I might be able to loosen the plate with my abilities. Wood can be shrunk and swollen without bustin' if ya get the temperature and moisture just right, and any glue or binding I know of loses its stick when it's chilly enough. No guarantees, though. Trees are scarce enough where I come from that the idea of building a whole desk out of one is still a bit strange, and if it's as fancy as ya say it might not even be made of the local stuff I can practice on."

Now that she'd spoken her piece, Agia yawned as well. Moments before the adrenaline had her wide awake, but Altha's sleepiness was contagious.

Action 1

The night air was cool, and it made an eerie sound as it whistled through the open pipe in front of the manor. Agia, Inanaga, and the servants plodded cautiously up the cylinder looking for signs of the 'noise', their feet making hollow tapping sounds with each step despite themselves.

It would be odd if they didn't find something, so Agia winked hard at Ianaga and dropped to the back of the group, hoping the new woman would see the gesture despite the flickering candle Athuria had fetched. While the others searched farther up, Agia turned to the side of the pipe and began to focus her powers.

Hedge Magic to create vandalizm. It shouldn't be too difficult since by nature its supposed to be crude in appearance.
intellect: 1d20 ⇒ 9

Straining while desperately trying not to make a sound, Agia held her breath as she willed moisture in the air to condense upon the side of pipe in a rude symbol she had seen scrawled in some of the more unsavory taverns around town. The damp darkened the metal enough to look like a thin coat of wet paint in the flickering light, and hopefully the chilly temperature this time of year would keep it from evaporating quickly.

She finished just as she was not able to hold her breath any longer, and the ragged gasp caught the attention of the others. She waved her hand in the direction of the graffiti, hoping the shock of the rude symbol would keep anyone from asking why she was suddenly out of breath.

I'll leave continuing the deception up to Ianaga, and we should probably come up with a reason for the vandalism to disappear before morning.

As the group continued searching Agia vaulted over the side of the stairs and onto the ground floor, rushing into the sitting room while she scrambled to come up with a convincing lie.

Seeing a shadowed form peering forward from the direction of the kitchen, she directed her whisper towards it, "Hey, I heard a strange sound from outside. Quit skulking, get some light, and follow me."

Intimidation roll to cow Anthuria into following Agia on a wild goose chase to give the other's time to search the rooms. I'll apply effort, spending 1 point of intellect after edge, and maybe Ianaga can come up with a complementary action.

Action 1

Comfortable leaving the interrogation in the hands of her more tactful companions, Agia slowly migrated to the back of the room and struck up a conversation with the elusive Zyzyx.

"Looks like people ain't your speciality either, huh? Frankly all tha secrets and intrigue with these nobles make my head spin. How is it a wild-type like you got roped into this mess?"

Action 2

"I don't know fer sure. I just never seen 'em leave. That's all. And I don't know if your friend came here or not. Most of the time, the people come at night and I usually just stay outside in the stables."

Agia considered the new information."Well now, that let's us change our tactics a bit, don't it? Tha missing plate could be anywhere, but if the missing people are still somewhere on the grounds, there ought to be signs. Sounds, and if not that then probably... well... smells. Ya Seskii might be able to pick it up, Zikzik. If ya need something to get 'im on the scent of... 'carrion', I've got a dried out hand in my bag that might do the trick. It's old, and not strictly 'human', but it might be close enough."

"If there's lives on the lives on the line, I suggest we start getting a little rough. First off we should check the upper rooms, and if we can't get those locks open tha easy way we let Balanders go to work on 'em. I'd rather have to blow this town for a while than know that I let some folks die while I was living tha high life."

She turned to the still suspended Balthus. "And don't worry 'bout trying to stop us. Ya can't, and your boss is a fool if he expects ya to try. We can rough ya up gently so that it looks like ya fought hard, if it pleases ya."

Persuasion roll to reason with Balthus and ensure he stays out of things.
Intellect: 1d20 ⇒ 18

Action 1

Peering at the goods that Om laid out, Agia carefully considered her needs. The energy device was what she came for, but seeing in the dark was an intriguing notion. Her companions would need light to see in the dark, however, and if this device made you blinded by light she would have to venture far from them, which hardly seemed advisable in dark places wether you could see or not.

"I'll take tha crackler for the blade, thankya. Here's tha boots. But I think we can sweeten the deal. Toss in tha hand off your wall and I'll give ya this shrinky bead. Looks pretty and fits any sort of strap or chain. Too gaudy for my tastes but right up the alley of the prancing pigs around these parts."

She leaned back, curious if the 'Orsbergian' was going to try and get some shins out of her now that she was expressing an interest.

For the sake of finishing up the transaction and rejoining the group I'll throw in a bartering roll in place of waiting for a counter-offer. Feel free to overrule it.
Intellect: 1d20 ⇒ 20

In the end, the deal concluded so fast that Agia suspected that Om had been trying to get rid of that hand for quite a while, though she couldn't fathom why that would be the case. While she had been thinking of Dreithik when she got it, she decided to keep it for herself as a way of remembering her mysterious companion.

On her way back to the manor she toyed with the short black crystal she had received in exchange for the boots. It seemed inert, but touching it with her tongue gave her enough of a jolt to know it still held a charge. She fiddled until she was reasonable sure she could attach it to her dagger in a pinch, then wrapped it in cloth and tucked it away in her pouch.

Action 2

Unperturbed by the newcomers, Agia had continued to eat while they made their introductions. They were obviously sent by Ricci, given how eager the scruffy one was to get down to business. She shrugged, "If the pompous tart wants to send folks to do our job for us that suits me fine. I won't sweat the details when I already got pay. Sooner they complete their mission the sooner I get back to waiting for the way to the Preset to show itself."

Agia abruptly stopped chewing, her mouth hanging open despite being full of sweet red tubers. How could she have been so blind? Just yesterday she had done a chant to make the path clear, and now here come two strangers out of nowhere hurrying her along on a mission. If that wasn't a sign, what was?

While Agia sat dumbstruck by the spiritual ramifications of the two newcomers, Gary dropped from his spot on the ceiling and flew over to Zyzyx, intrigued by the scent of wilderness and other animals on the man. The giant fly buzzed around the man's head a few times then perched daintily on top of his hood and waved his antennae across the fabric to get a better smell.

Upon witnessing this, Agia sat up abruptly and rushed over, toppling over her chair spitting half chewed tuber as she called out. "Gary! Back, shoo! I'm sorry, friend, tha drakka's mine, I'll get him away. It's weird, he usually hates meeting new folks."

...

Hugging the drakka to her chest as he squirmed in protest, Agia gave the other newcomer a once over, glancing from her painted face to her jeweled blade and flowing cape and becoming somewhat overwhelmed by the style and propriety on display. "And you're... uh... fancy. I'm Agia."

Her eyes narrowed as the newcomers seemed to exchange a glance of mutual acknowledgment. "But ya'll already knew that, didn't ya. Sheesh, tha Count don't like leaving nothing to chance, do he? Well, if we're giving this place a serious search like you said, Zikzik, we'd best get to it. I volunteer to double check the kitchen, and we can all meet back in the study when we're done."

Dropping her voice to a whisper, she motioned at the various game trophies mounted on the walls above the dining table. "I'd suggest not discussing too much of our business round the big horned fuzzers mounted in the dining room. I don't trust 'em one bit."

...

Going through the kitchen scandalized the staff, but Agia stretched the truth a little by saying that she was just looking for a snack. This was only partially untrue, since Agia already suspected that there were no secrets here and was mostly just looking to keep busy while the newcomers did the hard work.

Search roll for the kitchen. Penalty applied for Agia's inability to figure out puzzles or riddles if there is something hidden in a clever way. She is mostly looking to see if the manor stocks heavy cream, her favourite treat, though she likely prefers goat milk over whatever the locals pass for cattle, if they keep cattle at all.

Intellect: 1d20 - 3 ⇒ (3) - 3 = 0

Action 1:Om's shop

The extremely skinny man drummed his fingers on the counter. All sorts of rings and jewels adorned his long fingers, “Well, missy. I do have quite a few things. Interesting but not really useful. Looke here.” He pulled forth a ceramic tile and spoke to it and the tile etched itself with strange markings. He then pointed to the wall where a mummified nonhuman hand twitched as if it was still alive. “I also have … more useful items but these cost plenty of shins. Anything in particular you lookin’ fer?”

Glancing over the wares, Agia relaxed into the rhythm of full on haggling. "Ya think ya can impress me with your shinny little tablet? I've been to a town where the very walls where made from stone with patterns twice as crazy. As for hands, I hack 'em off folks so often I hardly need to be carrying one with me!"

Inwardly, she considered the mummified hand. She felt a pang of sadness when she remembered that Dreithik was leaving. She was sure he'd be intrigued by such a specimen. It would make a great gift, but in her life companions came and went, and she didn't have the funds to be doting upon each soul that passed through her life, even those she considered friends. No, it was time to get serious.

Reaching into her bag she laid out a pair of woven iron-soled boots on the table for Om's perusal. "Shins I got, but I think ya'll would be more interested in a swap when you see what I'm packing. Some fantastic kicks, that's for sure, though a bit on the heavy side for plain walkin'. Give 'em a solid whack and they'll float you right over a river or lake, though. Even with a full pack!"

"Now, I hear you do business with a lot of folks who like to travel. Great distances and all that. I bet any one of them would jump to get their paws on something like this that'll see 'em safe over waters great and small. And while they served me well and I hate to part with them it's looking like I won't be traveling so much for the near future, so I might be persuaded to swap 'em if you've got the goods."

She brought out her stronglass dagger and held it up to the light. "I'm well equipped when it comes to fizzle and bang, but this 'ol thing might as well be dull as stone when it comes to beasties with hides thicker than a slime. Do ya'll got anything that'll give it more punch?"

She's Looking mostly for cyphers in the "weapon nodules" section, though she would also be interested in just a random choice. If there's a good find, she'll probably ask for the hand oddity to sweeten the deal, and toss in some shins and an oddity of her own.

"If you're that strong, show us something! Ahm... Lift Agia over your head!"[/b] Altha looked at Agia with a mischievous glint in her eye.

Agia returned her look with a devilish grin. "Hardly a fit test, Altha. Lifting the likes of me'd be way too easy for the likes of him. Why not try lifting us both, Balananders? I bet ya could do it."

Action 1 continued

”What do you think about these heads? Maybe we could take them out back to the storage shed while we are here. I am not one to keep trophies to Death, she haunts all my days already without the help of these dead eyes staring at me while I eat.”

"And here I was thinking they were downright homey compared to the rest of the decor. Lends this place a nice mustiness despite the incessant cleaning with that awful scented oil the help insist on keeping up. I suppose the sheer amount of 'em might be a bit much, though...."

Agia gave a hard look to the trophy that had startled her. "and tha' one I could certainly do without. If ya wanna haul 'em, knock yourself out, but I doubt I'd be much help with fuzzers that big. I'd mind the horns too, they look frightful sharp."

Sorry to hear that Dreithik, I hope things start looking up soon.

Action 3

Staying in one spot for too long made Agia uneasy, and by the second day she wasn't willing to stay cooped up in the lodge any longer. Bidding a good day to her companions, she made the long walk through the tubes back to the city.

She turned down the main road and walked almost to the edge of town before veering off into one of the poor quarters clustered around the warmth of one of the active pipes. Though most such pipes were claimed by noble houses, this one had sprung a leak in ages past and left the ground saturated with an inert fluid that didn't wash off easily. Agia carefully stepped along the walkway of boards laid out as a path above the muck until she reached the particular shanty she looking for.

A short, thick bodied Uxphonian with a prominent pot belly stood in the doorway. "Ho there, young lady. Where's it that you think you're going?"

"I'm here to see the Orsbergian, Mickel. My buisness, no concern of yours."

Mickel snorted in derision. "Ain't no such thing as an Orsbergian, missy. Don't let him fool you, that chap is mutant through and through and I'm a fool for letting him put his shop of horrors up on my second floor. Fancies himself some kind of Aeon Priest, truth protect us. It's a miracle he hasn't blown us all to the Navarene."

"Then kick him out, if it please ya, but I think ya'd be put out when ya have nobody dropping by to jaw at. Now let me pass."

Mickel stepped out of the way and motioned the way to the stairwell with a sarcastic exaggeration of a servants bow. Agia rolled her eyes and hurried up the rickety steps before he could get talking again.

The doorway of Om the Orsbergian held only a beaded curtain, so Agia let herself in. Mickel's antics always tipped him off when someone was coming, so the sage was already sitting cross legged on a cushion with a variety of wares set on a low table in front of him by the time Agia entered the room. He continued inspecting and cleaning his wares as if he hadn't seen her enter, his skeletally thin head swiveling on a neck with an entirely unnatural amount of vertebrae for a human.

"Ya'll got that new shipment in, Om? It best have more than just twinklies this time. That might cut it for the local drek looking to impress their mistresses with shinny trinkets, but I hope my first visit was proof enough that I'm the farthest thing from local. I'm after the true magic, there's times coming up fast where I'll need it."

Agia's looking for interesting oddities and cyphers. Oddities she might buy outright if she can afford it, even if there's no immediate practical use. Since she's at her cypher limit she'll likely barter cypher for cypher if something strikes her fancy.

Action 1

“You alright? I heard a noise... a crash. What were you looking at?”

Agia hesitated, The hot blood rushing to her face from embarrassment combined with her usual blue pallor to make a deep violet. She desperately wanted to take a closer look at the mounted animal to see if it really had bellowed, but she had a creeping suspicion that someone may have been playing a joke on her and she didn't want Altha to think she was stupid. Agia already dragged the party half way across the world on what was looking like a wild bursk chase, after all. "Nuh... Nothing. I'm fine." she finally managed to stammer out, convincing no one.

Dropping the charade, she picked the up the chair and flopped into it, grimacing as she bumped what was likely to be a sizeable bruise on her abdomen. "I mean to say, I was looking at some of the fuzzers on the wall and I heard a noise and got jumpy. Might've been a trick of the numenera, but was prolly just someone having a laugh."

Action 2

As the soup dishes were whisked away by the staff, Agia was a bit put out. "I'm always all for a job with that comes with meals included, but this baron is touch stingy, no? A bowl of broth for evening sup erry day and we'll be mighty thin afore long."

Her look of resignation turned to confusion as the serving staff brought out fresh dishes, and then finally comprehension dawned as the various dishes of meat and fruit that formed the main courses were set out. Agia saluted the staff, "Ya silly billys have been holding out on a us! Clever-clever, holding back the good stuff 'til we were hungry enough to appreciate it. I can't say why ya took my bowl if we were gonna keep going, though, thing was perfectly fine yet and it could have saved ya a dish."

"Also, I think I'll be needing another spoon. Ya'll took both of mine with my bowl, and upon further reflection I'm thinking I was only supposed to eat soup with the one. I was just using both because I figured if ya'll spent the time setting 'em out I ought to make use of 'em."

...

"This place sure is plenty schmancy,"Agia said while tucking in, "I'm none too impressed, though. My ol' clan had a saying: 'All's fine for fair weather, but when the storm comes ya only own what ya can carry'. And tha storm always comes afore long."
Thinking hard while she chewed, she turned to Balanders, who had barely managed to fit himself into one of the dining chairs, "I guess that'd make ya the richest man in the world, when push came to shove, eh? Ya'll could haul half this house, no question."

"I wish we'd had your likes on the trail, truth be told. It was often that we had to pack up in a hurry and leg it. Usually 'cause of Margr, but sometimes it was mutie huggers down from Nihli' to grab slaves to sell off to the Pytharonese. Any of 'em you can drive off once, but the only way to keep 'em from coming back with more than ya can handle is to keep moving on. Wasn't long afore we was mostly walking along the course of the Wall, in the Shadow of the Lady."

"Winter never really ends in those parts, but an umlan can eat tha squishies and slimeys that grow on the rocks like mold on a loaf, if ya let 'em range widely enough. Ya can almost eke a living that way. Almost. Near the end there I think I was one of tha only things keeping it all together. I don't quite freeze, ya know, so when a storm hit sudden erry' one else could huddle 'round the flame and I could still gather up the herd and lead 'em to shelter. When it gets that cold, even I feel it. Once, I went so far gone that I couldn't move no more, just sat there toppled over, frozen like a stone. Couldn't move, couldn't even breath, but couldn't die neither, in the end. When they dug me out the next day I think they figured they'd be thawing me for tha birds' sake, but in the end I woke up. Wasn't pleasant, mind ya." She shivered at the memory.

"There's days that I think they've likely all died now that I'm gone, but that's just my pride talking. Fact is, the herd was dwindling anyways and the whole lot was doomed afore long even if I stayed. We could've limped along for a while yet, maybe joined up with another clan for as long as they'd have us, but things was rough all over. Tha elder's were waiting on a miracle, probably from yours truly, but I didn't have a miracle to give. Making things colder doesn't amount for much in a place like that."

Turning to her older companions "Ya know, when we first met I was worried someone from my old clan might be chasing me down. Now, I think I was hoping for it. They'd never get me, I'd see to that, but at least it would mean someone else made it out alive and was limping around the wider world."

As the servants brought small glass bowls of fruit gelatin for dessert, Agia's expression did a complete reversal, all dark thoughts of her past banished by the promise of treats. "You're joshing me! There's more tasties yet? It never ends!"

...

In the end, the food was well cooked but somewhat plain. While the pantry was stocked for well-bred palettes and needed to be used, it seems the staff had determined that guests of this caliber would not require the use of the good spices. Even so, it was heaven compared to travel food, and even outmatched the indifferently served meal from the inn the night before.

Agia belched loudly and realized that she could get used to all this, which was an excellent reason to avoid doing so. She resolved to work harder at the task at hand tomorrow. But she no longer minded so much if destiny took its sweet time tracking them down.

I added 8 shins and the first aid kit to my sheet, subtracting the 12 Agia spent. I'll just pay the full cost of the first aid kit for now, since I'm not sure what else to buy until we figure out what's up.

Agia stared over the cliff at the edge of the property. She could practically feel the threads of destiny coming together, but the way forward was cloudy. Staying in one spot waiting for fate to strike was wearing on her, so she had come to make a chant of guidance. "Wind and Sky, I call ya. For me and mine: bright skies, good eyes, and a path to travel 'til the 'morrow".

Her voice echoed over the surrounding black mountains out into the dark valleys and hidden hills, and Agia suspected they'd have found the path forward before long. Crossing back to the house she saw Balanders out investigating and thought about following him, but decided to go back inside. She was sure he was to be a key figure, but it wouldn't do to seem obsessed while they were getting to know one another.

On her way past the study Agia waved at Altha, who barely glanced up from pile of books she had managed to accumulate. Agia had taken a quick peek at files on the desk the night before but had struggled with the baron's propensity for sesquipedalian prose.

Moving into the dining hall, Agia leaned back in one of luxurious dining chairs and propped her booted feet up on the table to think. As she reflected she stared at the various animal heads and wondered where they all came from.

A search of the dining room, though a pretty casual one since Agia has a penalty for figuring out puzzles now so if she finds anything it's either entirely by accident or because it wasn't very cleverly hidden in the first place. On the lookout for hidden switches or compartments, but if there's nothing to see will just contemplate the animals themselves.

intellect: 1d20 - 3 ⇒ (1) - 3 = -2

Intrusion time. Maybe Agia leans back too far, falls over and breaks something valuable, or something equally slapstick happens just as Balanders walks into the room? Of course, if there is some sinister agenda here something worse could happen.

Action 1 continued

"Agia! We need your help!" She called out as she checked for broken bones and found the girl's pelvis still in tact. Spinal injuries seemed limited as well, so she turned the girl to a recovery position on her side so she could breathe better, sensing much of the discomfort came from that.

Altha's quick work had mostly stabilized the girl by the time Agia arrived on the scene, but the more experience young woman gave her a thorough once over anyways. Altha continued to chat to the girl while Agia did her work, discovering that her name was Rala. Agia occasionally butted in to scold the girl for cringing away from her cold hands. "None of that now, I'm cold but death's colder, eh? Looks like you don't need to worry about either of us yet. There's plenty of bruises and likely some bleeding in your insides, and while there's not much we can do about that it doesn't seem like it's about to get any worse. Stay dry, eat hearty, and avoid hard labour for a few weeks and ya'll should be back to bustlin' like wind."

Some other slaves arrived with a stretcher, led by the girls mother. Agia was happy to entrust Rala to them with a few instructions for how she was to be cared for.

Standing with her hands on her hips and looking satisfied, Agia smiled and turned to Altha. "Ya know, I think I might actually pull this healer shtick off!"

Action 2

Feeling deeply uncomfortable, Agia struggled to address the servants. "Uh, well, How do ya do? I mean, rather, you are who? I mean... I... I'm Agia." she managed to squeak. "You could introduce yourselves... if you want to, I mean. I'd like to know your names, is all. But you don't have to!"

She turned to her companions. "I'm making a hash of this. Little help?"

...

With introductions out of the way, Agia began to explore the manor. She didn't touch much, as there would be plenty of time for a deeper search later, but there was always a chance that something obvious would be in plain sight.

Doing a cursory initial search to get the layout of the house and turn up anything of obvious interest.

intellect: 1d20 ⇒ 16

Action 1

“I know I'd like to pick up a few things from the shops around here so I think we should split the advance equally and stock up. As far as the estate goes, some clean clothing might be nice... I imagine leaving road drit around the place won't be appreciated.”

Agia smiled, "Agreed about the supplies! Now that I'm to be a healer, I'll need the supplies to look the part. I think I'll be able to find everything I need..."

“What do you think is under the estate? Ruins? I wonder if it's something more to do with all these tubes... or maybe that shaking last night.”

"There must be something dark in there. This whole area has some serious bad vibes that reek of worlds past, so when the first folks settled here it must've been for something more schmancy than hot water and tunnels for walkin'. But if the secrets stem from old world sources there's no telling what it may be."

...

When the group arrived at the market Agia steered clear of any of the local healers, knowing that most of them would be peddling pure quackery and wouldn't appreciate someone new operating on their turf to boot. Instead she was able to get most of what she needed by bargaining with a local tailor for some of his extra tools. He was reluctant at first, but Agia was able to convince him that she wasn't trying to open a rival practice by giving him a good look at the sorry state of her own robes. She bargained for scissors, a curved needle, scraps of fabric, and fine thread. She also commissioned a small waterproof bag that she could pick up before the end of the day to hold her findings.

The costliest items had to be made special by a jeweler. Long pins of copper whose shafts were then coated with grey metal by a curious machine the jeweler usually used for putting thin sheens of gold onto baser metals. With needles such as these, Agia knew she could redirect the flow of energy throughout the body to ease pain and accelerate healing.

She packed away a few other odds and ends, and finished it off by spending her remaining budget on a small bottle of strong liquor. Few people knew that, much like the patients themselves, wounds calmed more quickly if given a stiff drink.

Took about 10 of the shins and assembled a First Aid Kit.

Now, Agia hesitated, thinking that maybe she could get away with spending the rest of her share on some curiosities or some cream for a treat, but Altha had been right, and her clothes weren't up to the job ahead. She wasn't about to replace her thick wool travel clothes with the the cream colour plant weavings the locals were passing off as cloth, but at the very least they needed properly cleaned and mended.

Took a few more shins (say... 2?) to pay for getting her clothing fixed up. They still look wild and foreign, but they should at least be presentable, and likely have more secure seams than the day they were made to boot.

I'll get onto Action 2 tomorrow, and possibly extend Action 1. Since the shopping trip is likely to drag out I'm sure we'll want to run part of introductions at the manor in parallel, since our long term supplies aren't likely to affect that.

Action 1

Altha waved awkwardly, ”You alright? Weird huh?"

"Yeah, weird for sure. I'll be okay in a minute. These big ol' buildings with their several floors just make me a bit nervous is all, and the tremors don't help."

...I've negotiated travel, and headed off arguments between strange parties... I'm good with people.” She looked to Dreithik and Agia to confirm her story.

"Aye, these was a great misunderstandering between meself and the locals of a particoolar village in which I wrongly interpreted which of the wildlife was fer eating and which was revered as vessels of thar ancestor spirits. Altha managed to smooth the whole thing out, though ah did have to sleep in the woods that night."

Action 1

Asleep on the hard floor, Agia woke nearly as soon as the tremors began. Imagining the footfalls of some great beast, she stood to run, only to remember the walls and heavy roof that surrounded her. She breathed hard as the building shook, imaging a hundreds ways in which she might be pinned amid tumbling bricks and beams. Rushing to the window, she threw it open and sat on the windowsill, ready to brave the fall onto the dark cobbles below at the first sign of collapse.

After what seemed like an eternity the tremors subsided. Agia listened to the night air for the sounds of panicking locals, but the town was quiet. Deciding this must be a regular occurrence, Agia climbed back inside. "Dung for brains land-squatters. How much sense does it take to know ya move on from a place like this? Twice today the bad omens would have driven me out. Instead, ya pitch a town and I get stuck here searchin' it."

She glanced ruefully at the squishy mattress, better appreciating the need for such cushioning, but settled back on the floor. If the ground shook again, she wanted to know.

Action 2

Agia sat overly straight in her chair, smiling a closemouthed smile at everything Dorial said to conceal her missing teeth. When her turn to speak came, she attempted to conceal her shin-talk laden southern speech by adopting an borderline offensive imitation of the Uxphon accent. "Mah special-ilty is as a foremost leech, and ah'd be making sure that yar 'assets' we're well looked aftar."

"Now, I ahm not much for herblore, but I know mah way around every kind of spleent and sleeng. Ah can freeze out sores afore they spread, and can cut the blackflesh when a wound goes sour. Ah know tricks yar wouldn't ba-leeve". For emphasis, Agia brought on a sudden drop in temperature, a touch of chill brushed against Dorial's cheek and the curtains of the room all gently stirred as the pressure equalized itself.

"So nah worries about the health of yar flock. And for any ah can't help, yar'll want him!" she motioned dramatically towards a somewhat offguard Dreithik.

Intellect: 1d20 ⇒ 17

I guess her powers are convincing, despite Agia's apparent 'speech impediment'. ;) Maybe someone's already sick?

Action 3

"How long exactly do yar expect yar'll be gone?

And for the record, I am imagining that the message twirler cylinder works exactly like a hand-spun crystal version of one of those LED spinners.

Action 1

“You’ll have to convince Dorial of your worth. Can you do that?”

Agia was unsure but nodded anyways, trusting that her an her companions would figure something out.

Action 2

Have a drink, have a few... Ricci is buying.”

After ascertaining that the inn, like most, did not deign to serve warm fermented milk, Agia settled for a local wine recommended by the staff. She made a face when it turned out to be a weak, fruity thing, though she didn't know why she expected anything else from people used to serving soft nobles. She reached her fingers into her cup and grumbled a few meditative phrases, freezing out much of the water content and tossing it aside. Wiping her wine stained hand on the front of her clothes, she resumed sipping the considerably purer alcohol that remained and listened raptly to Balanders story.

...

As Altha and Balanders continued to chat Agia's mind began to dift, thinking hard about how she could possibly convince this Dorial that she was qualified to care for a manor. Altha and Kellog were sure to make a good impression and there was clearly no home security better than Balanders, but they would all need to justify their presence.

In the end, she was forced to conclude that she'd have to rely on her abilities as a healer. If this Tichronus was so heavily invested in "human capital", his second was sure to see the value in having someone around who could protect that investment. As much as it pained Agia to present herself as a collaborator, she was following the path of the destiny and certain compromises needed to be made.

Agia loosened up somewhat, feeling better now that'd she'd found an angle. Still, she found it difficult to enjoy herself in a place that catered so thoroughly to stuffy nobles. When the others began partaking in gambling games, she wished them luck and retired to her room early.

After a half hour of tossing and turning on a mattress that was entirely too soft Agia gave up, spread her bedroll out on the floor and slept there instead.

Action 1

A slaver town. Agia spat on the ground of this 'Uxphon'. Her clan had been hounded by raiding parties ranging out from Nihiliesh, and while these people might not be mutie huggers they were every bit as cruel. She wouldn't have set foot in such an abhorrent place for a whole fistful of shins if not for her holy quest, and now it seemed like even that had lead her astray.

Her various solicitations for information from the locals had apparently caught the attention of one of the higher ups, and when the invitation came she was just desperate enough to give him a shot.

Action 2
The dish made her uncomfortable. It was all too clean, too tidy, like a well oiled weapon. A massive blunt instrument with which to crush a certain kind of people. Agia's kind of people. As the crowd stood for a better view of the proceeding, Agia sat, unwilling to watch what transpired. At first she mistook the frisson that went through the crowd as the start of another fight, then she felt it herself. A prickling and a tingling, she saw lights dance in front of her eyes, and couldn't be sure if they were shimmering in the sky or within her own skull.

As the dish calmed, Agia felt better. Whatever perversions the locals undertook in this place were immaterial. This place was older and more dignified than their scattered multitudes. They sat on its surface like the ants they had seemed to be in Agia's vision, and try as they might they could never own it.

Action 3
The commoners looked on in disbelief as the likes of Agia and her companions were led up to the noble's boxes. Agia on her part was unimpressed with the silk and finery. The lot of them were just a ravening pack of broken hounds as far as she was concerned, and no amount of woven worm-leavings was going to change that.

The giant was another story. Easily twice her height and looking as out of place as the rest of them, Agia's heart bounded at the sight of him. There had been a giant in her vision, she was sure of it! But was this the right one? The details were fuzzy, and dulled by the long journey. Still, how many giants could there be in one town?

She was still slightly agape when the Count got around to introduced them. Balanders. It was good to know his name, but Agia was at a loss for what came next. The Count looked at her expectantly, looking increasingly amused at her apparent confusion. She smiled a crooked smile, revealing gaps and crooked teeth, and waved awkwardly. "Uh... hi. Pleased to know you and whatnot?"

The giant waved back vigorously with hands large enough to crush her skull. Agia recoiled at the sheer amount of mass being shaken about and Ricci laughed airily, as if her momentary confusion and fear had been a polite joke.

He neared them, “How about I get you in his house and you can search for all three things there?"

Agia didn't believe this Ricci for a moment, but the giant seemed eager to investigate and she needed to stick close and find out what he knew. After a week of nothing, this Balanders was her best lead yet but they'd need to talk somewhere other than this slime pit.

And now that she thought about it, she wouldn't mind raising some havoc in a slaver's home either. Even if it was at the behest of another slaver, hurting one hurt them all. "I'm in, but the rest will have to choose for themselves. We're free folk yet."

...

"What's the plan then? I imagine someone would cry out at the sight the lot of us just strolling up to one of your facified houses." Agia she cast a sidelong glance at one of the noble ladies, all dolled up and enjoying a view of the current match through a some sort of zoom-lense. "If it involves a wearing a dress, find someone else."

If it does end up involving dressing in noble clothing, Agia will still go along with it. She just won't be happy.

As Agia slept in the crystal dome, she dreamed. This time she didn't dream of horrors and incoherent sensations, but nor did she dream the pleasant nothings of her own subconscious. She dreamed of a great voice, a voice that spoke not in sound but in colour and tastes. It wormed into her mind and spoke over and over, changing each time. Finally, she felt herself begin to understand.

"TECHNICIAN SERVICE IS APPRECIATED BUT FAR BEHIND SCHEDULE. ADDITIONAL SERVICE REQUEST FROM B SITE LOGGED OVERFLOW ERROR CYCLES AGO. DESTINATION PRESET. ALL TRANSIT LINES EXPERIENCING UNEXPECTED DELAYS. ALTERNATE ROUTE RECOMMENDED." boomed the voice.

"Lord of sun and sand, I am glad that you are pleased! Grant me but one boon and I will travel any route you ask!"

"REQUEST UNCLEAR."

"In a moment of weakness during battle I prayed to the patron of death and frost, The Lady of the Wall, and pledged myself to her service. Protect me from her wrath so that I might once again freely follow Wind and Sky. Do this, and no quest is too great."

"LOCATION IDENTIFIED: THE WALL. GENERATING LIVEMAP."

And suddenly, Agia was there, looking down on the vast ridge of snow and ice that formed the edge of her world. She dangled above it as if suspended from some vast invisible cliff. She tried to grab something to keep herself from falling, only to find she had no limbs. She began rushing towards the ice below.

"No. NO! Keep me away and I'll do it! I'll go to this place of Preset!"

"PRESET DESTINATION SELECTED. GENERATING LIVEMAP."

Without so much as a popping noise, she found herself far above a city. It was strange, the houses and shops seemingly perched upon massive grey roots. The tiny people milled about like insects and Agia supposed that the whole place must be extremely small. Then she was jerked forward and found herself among those same milling crowds, as large as life. This place seemed almost as big as Nebalich, and that had been the biggest city Agia had ever seen. She gaped as she saw a man led through the street in chains who seemed to be some kind of giant. Forced herself to look away, she struggled to regain her composure in face of such power over space and time. "Alright, but I do not know this place. How do I get there?"

"ROUTE GENERATED. PREPARE FOR DOWNLOAD."

All at once, Agia was bombarded with images. She saw the scorching desert, vast trackless plains, black mountains and shattered fields of shimmering stones. Through it all, a massive glowing line pierced northwards, winding through hills and valleys like a snake. Near the end, she saw the city again. Then the route repeated, again and again, searing itself in her memory. Her head swam, and the images became an nauseating blur. She heard a high pitched whine and began to smell the scent of burning umlan fur.

The voice sounded almost amused now.
"ERROR IN TECHNICIAN FUNCTION. ENGAGING REBOOT. HAVE A NICE TRIP."

Agia's mind went entirely blank, propelled into a state of unconsciousness far deeper than sleep. Hours later she awoke, her head fuzzy and ears ringing. Her mind tried to grasp the edges of the dream but it seemed slippery in her mind. The voice kept turning back into colours and tastes, and the details escaped her. But she remembered enough. She would go north.

...

On the way back to town she told her companions something of the experience, leaving out the part where she had thrown herself upon the mercy of cruel desert god to free her from a bargain made with the god of death. By the time they were finished in Redstone, each seemed to have found reasons to be going her way.

Agia bid farewell to Deymish and the others who had traveled to Redstone with her and Dreithik, and prepared herself for a long trek ahead. She had no idea what she would find at this city of Preset, or whatever name it was known by in this age, but it felt good to no longer be walking the trail alone.

...

On the trail, Agia found herself finally adapting to the northern heat. It seemed the whole redstone ordeal had strengthened her, and it was no longer a chore to keep herself cool. Indeed, over the many miles her companions could always enjoy their drinks chilled even on the hottest days, courtesy of her powers.

Kellog seemed to always be hanging around her now, and despite Agia's insistence that she didn't need a mother she was secretly glad for the company. She was doubly intrigued by how her powers had managed to jump to Kellog during the battle with the margr, but for now at least she wasn't able to replicate the effect.

Altha also seemed curious about the ways of Agia's people. Agia initially scoffed at the idea of some fancy steadfaster wanting to know about her backwards clan, but Altha's wisdom was made apparent as the group roamed over terrain as inhospitable as that which Agia's people had travelled for generations and the group came increasingly to rely on that knowledge. Agia had grown up obsessed with the great tales of battle and ancient treasures, and now sorely wished she had studied more about the means of raw survival. She dug her sling out of the bottom of her pack, and for the first time in her life began practicing with it in earnest, occasionally managing to bring down small game for the cookfire.

Agia and Dreithik never spoke much. She didn't need to draw him into conversation, as she now understood all too well the burden of exile, forbidden knowledge and pacts with powers beyond the ken of mortals. Often they would walk together in silence, eyes on the horizon, each looking as if they were bearing the weight of the world.

Go team! It was touch and go for a bit but I'm glad everyone made it in the end. I had a lot of fun.

I'll be happy to elaborate on Agia's hook in a bit, but first I have some technical stuff to go through to get Agia ready for the next campaign. It'll be a bit of a long ooc, so I'll stuff it in a few spoilers to avoid clutter.

I'll update her profile after I get your approval/disapproval, Fabian

Sorry, running behind today. Suggestion to tie Agia into the next adventure sounds good. She's a bit aimless at the moment and while she might not like the god she'll be sure to listen to it.

Action 2

The cool of the dome was sweet relief, but Agia dare not let it show. She strode purposefully over to the console with the missing part held before her. She stood by while Altha did her check, nervous but trying desperately not to fidget.

Once Altha gave the okay, Agia stepped forward. This wasn't the kind of thing you could rush, and she had heard many tales of brash nanos who had been struck down by divine fire for attempting such rituals improperly. Carefully consulting her book of tales, she leaned on the insight of what past generations had learned of the taboos for temples such as this. One must always wear gloves, lest they profane the device with the touch of their flesh and be struck down. One must never allow opposing connectors to touch, lest you become a conduit for divine power no mortal can bear. One must speak the holy words, lest the guardian spirits descend upon you.

Repair numenera device, trained in numenera, using Altha's analysis as an asset. Tired.
Intellect: 1d20 - 3 + 6 ⇒ (19) - 3 + 6 = 22

Slowly and methodically, with a seriousness and uncharacteristic poise drilled into her long ago for holy occasions, she reconnected the cylinder. A hum filled temple, Agia nodded, walked calmly away from the console and sat down hard, finally relaxing. "Well? Who wants to try nodding off?"

Before the rest could reply, she was already asleep.

Action 2

Agia shook her head at the cooked meat and torn robes. "Well, there goes our payday, Dreithik. Poor bastards. Let's see if they had something to fix the temple after all."

Sifting through the piles of detritus and offal, she accidentally shook loose a green bean-shaped packet. Immediately recognizing it as some sort of explosive cypher, she dove and managed to catch it before it hit the ground. Examining it closer, it seemed to be filled with some kind of caustic fluid. Not the kind of thing any of them needed to be covered in right now. She gingerly placed it in her pocket to keep it safe for the moment.

Fed up with searching, she brought out the figurine from the temple. "Well? If your doohickey's around it'd be nice if you pointed it out." After a few moments of silence, she put it away and sat down in disgust.

From where she sat, she could see a faint glow coming from under a pile of rotting furs. Knocking them aside, she revealed a whole version of the broken cylinder from the faceted dome. It had a few glowing spots on it, and it seems the Margr had covered it up when they were getting ready for the night.

"Looky here! Slot this drakka into the temple and I bet we'll all be able to finally rest!" In her excitement, she stumbled and almost fell over. "Tomorrow, though. Sleep or no sleep we'll need a break before we go back there.

I took the detonation cypher since Agia doesn't do much damage so an attack cypher seems well suited to round her out.

It occurs to me that being skilled in Numenera might make it easier to operate the Lightning Rods. If so, Agia could take that instead, since she's the only nano in the group who has to be in immediate range to attack anyways. She'd happily swap the detonator for it if that was the case. However, if being skilled in numenera doesn't make a difference it might be better if it goes to someone who can take the hits while they try to get it working.

...

As the party prepared to rest for the night, Agia borrowed some coals from the dying fires of the margr and combined it with some rags and braids of desert grass to make kindle her own cooking fire away from the worst of the stink. Carving up the chieftain's goat leg, she twisted strips of meat around some of the crooked arrowshafts that were left from the battle and speared them in the nearby ground to cook in the heat. The meat didn't smell much better than the camp until it really got cooking, but soon it indeed didn't look much different than normal goat meat. Agia licked her lips, after days of boat food and travel rations fresh meat would be a treat.

Once she'd had her fill, she sat back, nursed her wounds and waited for morning, eager to put this whole debacle behind her.

10 hour recovery roll.
recovery: 1d6 + 1 ⇒ (4) + 1 = 5
2 to speed, 3 to might

"You said they taste good cooked? Where are you from that you eat abhumans?"

"The heart of Matheunis, in the shadow of the Wall. The margr would steal our umlan, so we'd make up the difference in margr meat. Margr breed like flies and eat just about anything, so even during a famine there'd be plenty around. Getting the meat's the hard part."

"Remind me not to anger you," She said to Agia at length, with a laugh, "Well fought."

Agia shrugged. "It's not a side of me I like very much, but the anger gets the job done. You didn't do half bad yourself. That flying around was some trick."

The system allows for going from debilitated to hale in a fairly simple manner...

I had somehow missed that there was a healing action you could take. Since my post for the day describes a healing action, I guess I might as well roll for it, if I'm allowed to make one while debilitated (which I would suggest we allow for now to avoid just having Kellog patch us up for a few actions.

Intellect roll to heal 2 points of damage (target 6), Tired.
1d20 - 3 ⇒ (10) - 3 = 7
1 point to might, 1 point to speed

Regarding The Devil's Spine, I'd like to stick with Agia. However, I would like to know your opinion on how often Agia's overheat weakness will come up. While it was a lot of fun to roleplay her heatstroke for this mission, I could see it wearing thin for everyone over the course of a longer campaign. On the other hand, if it never comes up at all that isn't terribly interesting either. If you think it will never be relevant or will almost always be relevant, I'd consider a different descriptor, like Resilient. I'd be keeping her backstory, just framing her crunch a bit differently.

“Anybody have bandages? Or some healing cyphers?”

The nano fell quiet for several moments as the adrenaline began to fade and exhaustion set in, “Their tents might have something in them... I think you're the only one that can walk right now.” The arm she'd lifted up flopped over and fell heavily in the sand. “I'm also too damn tired.”

Agia heard Altha but was slow to reply, and at first it seemed the girl with the corpse blue limbs laying sprawled out in a pool of blood had not survived after all. Then she had another coughing fit, which at least meant she was still breathing even if it indicated more troubles down the line.

Finally, she replied "If those priests are in there they should know how to help but since it's margr's that got 'em I wouldn't hold my breath. I wouldn't eat any stew I found, either. I have heard they sometimes keep those they take alive, though. Only way those savages know how to keep meat fresh."

"As for bandages, I've an odd stretch of fabric that grows over time in my satchel, by now there should be enough to make a few wound-wraps if someone can grab it."

...

Pulling out the tip of a bone knife that had broken off in her arm, Agia began doing what she could to staunch her bleeding from where she sat. She passed her hands from wound to wound, freezing the flesh until the syrupy blood stopped flowing. They would heal slow that way, but there'd be plenty of time to worry about that if she managed to not bleed out on the spot.

Finally satisfied with the very basic first aid, she cast her gaze back at the downed chieftain. "Anybody up for a cookout? The man-bits are no good but the goat-bits on Margr ain't no different than mutton. My clan would always have a big meal after we drove off some Margr. Elders say tha cooked blood in the meat replaces tha blood you lost, though I dunno how that's supposed to work."

"At any rate, we've got time. I don't think we're in any shape to travel anywhere tonight."

Agreed that we should do the eleven hour recovery though probably only after those tents have been checked. Since sleep still isn't an option Agia intends to kindle a fire and have a barbeque, so Dreithik should speak up if thinks he can get any useful info out of what's left of the chief. :)

Kellog's careful blow had ensured that the heavy body of the margr chieftain missed Agia as it fell upon sand. Still, she found herself less than a foot away from the ragged tatters of his neck as the final beats of his heart soaked the sand between them with blood.

Mustering what little strength she had left, she spat on the corpse in derision. "That's... *wheeze* ...what you get... ....you slime". Utterly disconnected, she was almost amused to see that the bloody sputum had contained a few of her own teeth.

She uncurled slightly to look at those of her attackers that hadn't fled, every part of the tiny movement utterly excruciating. One of them was fully goatfaced, while the other could have almost passed for a hairy human if not for the horns, hooves, and a prominently undersized brainpan. The expressions on their faces lingered somewhere between rage and terror.

Just then, possibly due to a combination of sleep deprivation and a likely concussion, Agia suddenly realized that these goat-men with their mismatched bodies looked unbelievably funny. She had spent so long fearing and hating margr that she'd never stopped to think about how ridiculous they looked!

At first she merely giggled but soon she was laughing uproariously, unable to stop herself despite every moment of it being a new agony. She laughed and laughed, tears running down her face and freezing to what was left of her armour, her mirth interrupted by the occaisional coughing fit as she hacked up more blood.

Unintentional intimidation of the surrounding margrs through utterly unhinged laughter and derision towards the chief. Difficulty should possibly be increased due to Agia currently being utterly helpless right now. It's also possible that it's just not intimidating at all, but it seems like appropriate roleplay anyway. :)
intellect: 1d20 - 3 ⇒ (19) - 3 = 16

Agia hit the ground hard, pure animal instinct causing her to curl into a ball to shield her organs against the constant hail of blows. Despite her earlier bravado, now that the moment was upon her she found herself unwilling to die. Bleeding out on the ground, defeated and pathetic, there was simply no glory to be found. "Not like this. Not like this...". She drifted on the edge of consciousness, praying furiously not to the wind and sky that guided her people but to the cruel goddess of cold and frost that they cowered from in the night. "Lady of the Wall, deliver me from these monsters and I am yours!"

She sobbed, realizing that this cruel world had finally broken even her faith. Still, as her thoughts turned dark and her basic impulses fought for survival the cracks which marred her sheen of ice from the constant barrage began to seal themselves almost as fast as they were created.

Initiating full defense by curling up into a ball and concentrating on ice armour. Since Resonance field allows Agia to defend with Intellect, not Speed, I think this counts as a purely mental action. It'll negate the tiredness penalty on defense for the next round, at least. As I lack an attack esotery, I don't think there's much else to do.

Barely standing, Agia waded in for another strike against the chieftain, if she was going down, then by wind and sky she was going to take him down with her.

With a mighty she leaped onto the brute, her free hand grabbing a fistful of fur as her knife plunged again and again.

Speed attack on Margr Chieftain. Base damage is 2. Tired (-1 level). Light weapon (+1 level).
1d20 + 3 - 3 ⇒ (20) + 3 - 3 = 20
[ooc]No bonus for the twenty due to being impaired, which is sad. Still, finally some nice rolls

Her strikes were weak and unsteady, but against the unarmored hide of chieftain they still bit deep. Again and again she stabbed deep into abhuman's shoulder until he violently shook her off.

I'm not sure the order of actions (or if it's even relevant), So I've prepared an alternate action if Altha has already slain the chief

Dreithik's death scene is badass, though I agree with Fabian that waiting another round or two might be prudent. Still, it kind of sucks that you can't do much while debilitated than sit there bleeding out. :/

As for retreating, it seems sensible, but I have my doubts about Agia's willingness to stop fighting or her ability to actually get away from the heart of the battle. So she'll keep fighting this round, but if everyone else decides to bail someone could narrate grabbing her and hauling her away and the following turn just wouldn't happen.

Agia shielded her eyes against the glittering metal shards rebounding off her armour as Kellog's blade bit deep into the chief. Often the old songs had told of brains triumphing over brutality, and today it was as true as it had been in aeons past.

She staggered a little, feeling woozy. She heard someone screaming and had a vague notion that might be herself. Torn between running away and finishing the fight, she hesitated.

But not for long. She had been running for a long time. From responsibilities, from her family, from her homeland. Here was her opportunity to stop running, one way or another. A costly victory or a glorious death, against her ancient foe. Yes, this is what her journey had been leading up to.

With blood and ice flashing in the dying sunlight, Agia crouched low and skidded beneath Kellog's shield, reaching with her knife to shred the chief's hoofed leg.

Speed attack with strongglass dagger against chief. Base damage is 2. Light weapon (+1 level). Tired (-1 level).
Speed: 1d20 - 3 + 3 ⇒ (14) - 3 + 3 = 14

As an aside, has Altha been getting an asset for being airborne? If flying is similar to having the "High Ground" as described on page 95 of the corebook, she ought be getting a one step advantage both on attack and defense, which could at least compensate for her being tired. I'm not sure if flying is fundamentally different than having the high ground, though. Sorry to always be rules lawyering, but I'm so used to rules light systems that I get excited about having things to look up.

OOC: I'm not against running, but in the meantime I'll keep fighting. I don't think Agia will die next round, at least. Not without some seriously bad luck, anyways.

Turning back to the fight, surrounded by enemies, Agia had eyes only for the chief. As he charged forward, she spat blood at his feet and activated the jury-rigged sprayer on her left wrist. A foul smelling vapour sprayed forth in a wide arc.

I'm not entirely sure what to roll. Definitely not might, but I'm not sure if speed is the right roll either for spraying something at point blank range. Intellect seems like the default, for cyphers, and if it's that I'd like to use effort. So, making an intellect roll with effort to use Metal Death cypher on the chief. It sprays an area of 3 feet by 3 feet. I'm not sure if that's enough to hit both his weapon and his armour, and if I can only hit one I would preferentially hit the armour.

Yes, you can use your action for this turn to inject yourself. It will erase any poison damage.

Alright, I'll amend my turn then.

Agia's charge was slowed by the second blow. Glancing around, she found herself separated from her allies. While she was confident in her ability to assist in the assault on the chief she was in no shape to go rushing in on her own.

"Time to stop trying to tough this out. Past time, in fact. Let's hope this works". Taking out the green injector from the lab she administered the medicine to her arm and immediately felt numbing relief.

@ATXRedBeard: Welcome! Good to see the player ranks filling back up again.

@Fabian: After suffering for hours from debilitating poison and having Agia rush into a battle despite being essentially unable to use her arm I have finally clued into the fact that one of the cyphers I took from the lab is actually a potion of resist poison. Can I use it to suppress the symptoms for the fight (possibly through another might roll), or would I have needed to take it back when I first got poisoned, if not sooner? If it would be effective, I'd rather have Agia inject herself with it for her action instead of defending.

Agia's charge was slowed by the second blow. Glancing around, she found herself separated from her allies. While she was confident in her ability to assist in the assault on the chief she was in no shape to go rushing in on her own.

Still, this wasn't the time to retreat. Margrs chase even better than they fight, and Agia wasn't about to give them the satisfaction of hunting her down like a wounded umlan. Instead, she focused on dodging the blows of the closest assailants. "Maybe if I can hold out long enough the big guy will come to me. They do love the smell of blood, and I'm leakin' plenty, haha. Ow...".

Focusing on defense as an action and using intellect effort on defense. With exhaustion, this means all defense rolls are one step in my favour, but each defense costs 1 intellect point.

The pain from Agia's leg injury was intense, but the surrounding ice quickly numbed it. "That's what I get for standing still in a fight. Kellog seems fine, so we'll worry about what happened later"

“Maybe we should focus on the leader? Clear the path and kill the leader!”

Agia was more than a little weirded out by the woman somehow flying through the air like a drakka, but she couldn't deny that her plan had wisdom. "Smart! Margr are cowards underneath all that stink. Let's show their boss what we're made of!"

Instinctively reaching for her knife, Agia winced as pain shot through her swollen arm. "I won't be shanking anyone in this condition, but we can't afford to fight with anything less than our all. Onwards, for better or worse."

Screaming wildly, she ran at the approaching wave of goat-men, pouring her mental energy into strengthening her protective sheen.

I move a short distance towards the approaching Margr, relying on heh fact that targets doing nothing but move are 1 step more difficult to hit. I'd also like to begin using effort on defense rolls. With an intellect edge of 2, each use will take 1 Intellect point. So If I've remembered everything, each time I'm attacked this round I'll lose one step from exhaustion, gain one for mobility and another for effort, for a total of 1 step in my favour but an automatic loss of 1 intellect per defense.

Agia blinked in recognition at the familiar kind of goat-men that had long plagued her tribe on the plains of Matheunis. "Stone and bone! Is there nowhere on this earth safe from those savages? And the others were practically ready to greet them. Figures we'd get addled after travelling into the sun with no sleep all day."

"Only one thing to do". Once again, Agia reached down into her inner well of power. She had been tapping into it so much lately that she worried it might have run dry, especially with all the heat. Instead she felt the power flow forth more powerful than ever. So much so that between the recent fever and the ongoing sleep deprivation she found herself unable to even contain it, and the frost burst forth in a torrent. Almost instantly her protective layer was created, stealing water from her own tissues instead of the environment. She cried out in pain as the sudden change in osmotic pressure caused widespread cell death throughout her body.

But it was the weak, warmth craving parts of her that died. When she emerged from the trance, she found herself relatively unharmed and more in tune with her powers that ever. She realized she was now on her knees in a circle of frosted sand five feet wide. Remembering Kellog, she frantically glanced to her side and found him seemingly crystallized. She groaned softly,"No no no NO! I've gone and slagged the poor bastard! I didn't mean to, I swear it!"

Then Kellogg moved, obviously alive, and Agia's panic quickly turned to confusion.

Activating Ice Armour and Resonance Field, providing +1 armour and causing damage on high defense rolls. Cost is 2 intellect points, reduced to zero by intellect edge of 2 (Since the edge is new, I roleplayed an intensification of Agia's powers).

By being next to Agia when she activated her ice armour Kellog has also received ice armour which provides +1 Armour. Why Kellog is able to borrow her power this way is a complete mystery to Agia, as this kind of thing has never happened before (or at least, it never happened to anyone who survived).

Action 1

Agia examined the doll that Altha had found. A strange offering indeed. Perhaps it was an effigy of the god that ruled this land? Certainly it's gaze seemed nefarious enough, given the extra eyes, and the strange and mismatched limbs reminded her of the snaking dunes. She shuddered at Altha's suggestion to melt it down.

Agia didn't want to take anything, but it was plain she was the only one who cared enough to give this effigy the protection it deserved. She snatched the doll. "I'll take this icon. It... um... appeals to me".

Carefully placing it in her satchel, she felt the power of all four of the eyes on her, both from the effigy and from the sky above. "You may be vengeful and evil, but I promise to protect your holy object while we cross your lands. Grant us protection on our quest, great and cruel watcher".

...

Agia suffered terribly during the trip, near delirious from the heat and in constant pain from the venomous wound she had received. Several times she fainted, only to be wrenched back to consciousness by the alien nightmares that were always lurking just out of sight. "By wind and sky, why did I ever leave sight of the Wall? Why didn't I head north to the mountains? Dodging mutie kissers and steadfast slavers would have been better than this forsaken place."

Occasionally she would sit bolt upright in the saddle, shouting out the name "Maltam!", before relaxing back into a stupor on the very edge of sleep, where she hallucinated about terrifying visages and multitudes of limbs sprawling across the desert to sweep up the party and trap them forever beneath the gaze of the sun. Finally, as the temperature began dropping and her venom induced fever broke, these outbursts subsided and she spent more time upright in the saddle.

Action 2

As Kelogg forged forward Agia attempted to call out a warning that the locals might not be friendly, but couldn't make her parched throat produce a sound. Dropping from the Aneen she took a few unstable steps, hissing in pain at the pins and needles in her legs from the long ride. After a swig of water her head was clearer, though it seemed like it would be a still be while before she could use her bitten arm.

Concerned for the big oaf's safety, she staggered up next to Kellog and prepared to back him up if the humanoids were as unfriendly as their tracks left by the scuffle near the dome implied. She didn't give much consideration to how scary she might look with her bulging, swollen sarm, bloodshot eyes and bloodstained cloak.

Agia performs a somewhat accidental intimidation action to back up Kellog. Even if the humanoids fail to respect Kellog's stumbling attempt at diplomacy, the unstable looking girl-thing might give them pause. Meant to be a complementary action with Kellog, since we both are trying to get them talking instead of provoking them to violence, but as Agia is not trained in intimidation I'm not sure that actually provides a bonus.

Intellect: 1d20 ⇒ 11

I don't think I know enough about this group to even speculate about possible results.

If it does come to fighting, could I change it so that the 'connection' I received from taking my focus means that I can extend my Ice armour to Kellog if I activate it within an immediate distance of him? Previously I was connected with Antar, but we never had a chance to actually activate or explore the ability.

So what do you guys think? Is this what a typical ninth-worldler think about stuff like orbiting satellites and data relays?

A look at Agia, "Do you believe whatever gods were interested in this would be offended at an exchange. Although, like I said I'm not adept at understanding these things. Perhaps something simple."

Agia grew pensive. "The gods of your land are unfamiliar to me, but a crystal of such destructive power seems like a very fitting offering for a patron of desert heat and glassy sand, and it is clearly a relic too powerful for us mortals. Exchanging it for an offering that is less pleasing to the presence here would likely be welcomed."

She cringed at the thought of the invisible wrath pouring down on them as long as the machine was broken. "At least, I doubt it will make it more angry than it already is."

Agia swallowed hard as Altha described the function of the dome, even if she did so as if this holy place was some mere machine. Agia's people also looked to the sky for guidance, and the idea that the group may have been desecrating sacred ground filled her with dread.

In her mind she went through twelve different chants of supplication that might be used to sooth the offended sky god, but then stopped short. "I've come a long way from my home to a land that has never known snow in living memory. This land is likely be ruled a different god entirely. A god of desert heat, gazing down upon its lands with a baleful, blazing eye. A vengeful god, clearly, not so different from the lord of snow and tempests that guides me, but if it is a jealous god I must be doubly careful not to offend it with offerings meant for another. The safest path is to follow the ways of this temple."

In the face of divine wrath, the aeon priests seemed a minor problem. Agia performed a soft chant of spiritual protection and then examined the burnt out cylinder once more to determine if a replacement could be fashioned by the people of redstone.

Trained numenera knowledge roll to see what it would take to manufacture a replacement, looking mostly at what materials it's made of without knowledge of what configuration they might need to be in. I expect it to be impossible, but it doesn't hurt to check.

Intellect: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (6) + 3 = 9

...

Turning to face the others, Agia spoke with an awed quaver in her voice, "This place has brought us shelter when we needed it sorely, but we should not linger. The gods of this land are unfamiliar to me but they are clearly both powerful and angry. I hate to travel in the heat but we must retrieve the priests and if they offer no solution we will need to leave this place."

She shifted uncomfortably, and prepared to head west.

Agia is very superstitious and won't dare touch offerings left for a sky god or further disturb the temple, but as she believes that this is not a temple to her own god she won't stop others from doing so. She will, however, attribute everything bad that happens to any descraters in the future to divine retribution.