Abnaki, the small, smooth golem looks at you deeply for several seconds. "Would you truly risk yourselves in there, in that infested library, and stop them from eating more words?"
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Gabriel, you note with relief that your shoulder and your cloak are still well and whole. The 'bug' that flew off was more a small whirring machine anyway. The larger golem pieces show no signs of feasting or chewing - everything simply fell apart when the ill-fated sun tea was taken.
His silver lip curls in a sneer. "You are disgusting. You are a malleable thing of dirt and flowers and dreams. Nothing fit to be Declarative!" He says this last in a burst of passion. His sudden swings of mood are odd, as if his emotional clay still lies new and wet. "A true Declarative would be able to stop those little gray bugs from feasting!" He turns away, continuing to walk in circles as per the suggestion.
The smooth features show shock for a moment, then smoothed over again. "Just an expression..."
Samen scoffs loudly, and leaves the actual talking to the others. He scans the surroundings with his Sight, an old habit by now. Just more foggy blurry pea soup crap all around.
A small lensed machine, roughly the size of a bee, lands on your shoulder, blinks, and takes off again.
Samen looks around with a theatrical, questioning look on his face. "Nope. I don't see any mirrors around here. It sounds like you were describing yourself and the Great Big Observer crawling all over the library you are in the process of invading and looting. We, on the other hand, are the cure. Harsh and unlikeable, but we get the job done.
Understood - I appreciate the update. The playful remark was meant for Abnaki (who I hope is feeling well and up for posting)
So post! :) I'm ready to talk with smooth golems, avoid mindless segments of the dead Observer, climb up Uluru, and explore the library!
We can certainly ease back into it - just let me know this week Samen if you are not feeling up to posting, and I will bot for the week. No pressure at all. Truly hope you feel better soon.
Abnaki, the smaller golem is still circling around the wreckage of the Observer. As you suggested, he also talks to you. Or, in this case, he is yelling at you, his actor's voice flaring angrily across the grounds. "Why are you here?" His smooth features warp strangely as he steps behind a huge, dead lens, "Just more parasites trying to loot the library, I'll wager. Opportunistic scum!"
Ok, I am back, ready to post and get our momentum rolling. Hope to hear from all of you in the next day or two! Sound off in Discussion if you don't mind (so I know if anyone is missing long-term, like Qizz)
Wow, I was kind of wondering why it was so slow --- sorry to hear about the car wreck! Here's what I'll say: Brief hiatus until after Thanksgiving. I could use the break to focus on cleaning our house (our kiddos just got separate rooms, so lots of moving possessions around) If you have time, just post in discussion general ideas on 1) How to scale / infiltrate Uluru 2) How to use / interrogate the golem under Suggestion
Any questions on what to do right now? I think without access to an earth elemental, you'll need to scale or fly up Uluru to get into the library (and see what exactly is being constructed up there) Let me know if there's anything I can do to clarify!
How is everyone's availability looking through the holidays? If this is a busy time, just let me know. I'd rather take a brief hiatus and then dive deep into Uluru when everyone feels ready.
Combat Over The smooth golem walks in wide circles, looking straight forward. You have not asked it any questions yet, but if Abnaki's suggestion holds then it will talk to you.
Got it - sounds correct to me.
No worries! Also, I believe both Samen and Gabriel have taken damage near the end of page 62. Please update your tagline so I know how much you have left.
Busy week? I haven't seen any posts since Friday.
Abnaki speaks his words of power and declaration through gritted teeth. ""You will release me and cease all attacks, and then calmly walk in circles and talk to us, rather than be killed by us.""
The golem lets go of Abnaki, who falls to the ground, burn marks roping around his shoulders and the back of his neck. With a blank look on its smooth face, the golem walks around the battlefield.
Samen, the remaining two golems briefly scan the situation, and come to some kind of conclusion regarding your threat level. One golem lies down and arranges its legs in an unnatural spring pattern, while the other crouches and makes ready to jump. The downed golem breaks itself apart to act as a springboard --- the second hurtles in your general direction:
[b]
Samen, the golem closest to you, and no less than four others in the far cluster, all melt like hapless snow-els to the ground. Your analytical mind notes again how effective the Sun energy is against the Moon-tained metal.
Gabriel, your first jab (the 36) penetrates the golem's armor so keenly, you feel the magicks that give motion to the golem snap and fray, and the automaton falls over instantly. Your next two attacks destroy a second golem by sheer damage, carving out the core of the golem with cunning strokes.
Samen, since you were in the air, the golem had to literally 'throw' its punch up at you, which would halve the damage. So you still got hit, but only 7 damage.
Round 1 is over.
The golems are unable to follow your quick-as-a-thought movements, and you evade their fists completely.
The smaller personality of the Observer is still standing. He (it) is a smoother kind of silver golem, more refined, a marriage of alchemy and the arcane. The taller, clunkier golems tromp around in emergency combat mode, but this one elen-sized golem walks directly to where Abnaki sank into the ground. "We were observing you for a long time, 'friends'. I know your tricks. I think you are lurking right under my feet, right-" "-Here!" Arms sudden molten and blazing, the smooth golem plunges his arms into the ground, seeking to wrap Abnaki in blistering pain.
Samen, following those brief thoughts comes a hard punch to your midsection. Though your sunbeam managed to melt or partially melt five golems, there was still a single one close enough to attack you.
Samen: Sun gives the choice to erase the layers of enchantment, impurities, residue, etc left by the touch of the gods. In the case of elens, they revert to a blank 'human' that has 'Living' metal was given the choice to revert back to inert metal that is simply part of the equal plane. There was no in-between point like a gorilla or a human. ** In other news, you still have the smaller personality of the Observer to worry about, and whatever smaller scuttling shape(s) were moving about in the gloom that Gabe saw earlier.
Now that you are more skilled as a party, you will likely find deeper secrets anyway. Here they are: 4 potions of Mind Blank (24 hr duration) (yes I know that's crazy) 1 ring of elemental protection (40 "hit points" of protection from any kind of common energy (lightning, fire, cold, acid) ; hp come back when wearer has a long rest.
if either is 10 or below: Ouch owowowow. You cannot speak, sing, or cast spells for the next 24 hours.
Just putting it here as well - Kallik's player is on a hiatus. Qizz is going on a side quest with Learningto, but I think you will cross paths again. I'm fine with 3 players, as you are all strong posters (please let me know if your availability will change) Qizz/Kallik is welcome back whenever they feel ready to come back. RL comes first, as always.
Samen: It seems similar in scale and power to the demigods you've heard of in the past. You have not heard this particular thing mentioned. It is definitely NOT part of Uluru or Forest. Your best guest would be a direct 'offspring' of Moon, or something they stole from elsewhere. **
--Basically a swarm of golems, all working together. It is possible to chip away at its structure with area affects, etc that would destroy or incapacitate multiple creatures. --If it catches and immobilizes someone, it has enough leverage to basically autokill them in a round or 2. Don't get caught. --The lenses give it true sight, and it can use move actions to pick apart (that is, dispel) all the magical auras it sees with invisible claws. --The mirrored lenses have a 50% to reflect all arcane, alchemical, natural, bardic, divine, and words of power - based spells back on its user. --Learningto gives you a boost to 30. Your magicks and Gabriel will be undetectable to this thing. It won't be able to dispel your ongoing effects. Your psionics are not reflected by the lenses. --It has construct immunities, etc.
As Samen discusses the logistics of climbing the face of the rock, you hear a distant clanging, thudding sound...like an inn's worth of metal pots and pans falling upon the floor, over and over... louder now...clangthud thud thud... Around the near corner of the mesa, some hundred feet away, a huge glass eye peers curiously toward the noise of a tunnel being dug.
In the meantime, yes you can easily run up one of the smaller places. You cannot see into the foggy areas below, but you get a terrifying glimpse of a HUGE scuttling thing that creeps out of your view (up and away) almost immediately.
Ok cool. I have an idea that I think will make the character more interesting but in an appropriately limited way: "FINDING THE BALANCING POINT" I think in a noncombat situation, I'll allow you to maintain a "walk up the walls" situation where you can spend full round actions to go steathily up a wall at 10 feet per round, AND you can do it indefinitely. You cannot get your focus back until you are done with this procedure.
"Yay! (Dig!)"
Qizzlvutz is too busy humming and bubbling and thinking about the stony-stone problem to hear any bad words (probably). Qizzl-qizz fizzes, and wetly snaps their tendril-fingers together, a leafy-branchy-muddy sound. "(Dig!)" they shift out loud.
They spend lots and lots of magicks to get a really good idea. A big friend made of slate! Qizzlvutz dances around the frowning, ogre-like statue-beast. The myco looks at Samen for approval, one spellcaster ot another. "(Dig?)" they ask.
Also, I might be thinking of the word mesa, not plateau, which would be very embarrassing.
Thanks to Learningto's direction sense and Gabriel's near-perfect vision, you are able to locate the beginning of Uluru's ascent. The ramp is carved into the very rock, at a shallow grade that wraps around and around the plateau.
Abnaki, you feel a cold, distinctly glass presence reflect your words and your claims right back at you, trying to dominate your mind. You easily push back the magicks, but the sudden...assault...or whatever that was, unsettles you.
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