Zzvkgrogk checks the Kyton's remains carefully for intellect devourer entrance and exit wounds.
"I could have sworn they were dating..."
Rūha wrote:
”As for Revion and Khalia, we will need someone with powerful magic for that. Would Dinvaya maybe know how?"
”Oh, no. Sadly I do not think ClockMother Dinvaya has that kind of power … yet. One must be worthy in Brigh’s eyes.”I am not. He lowers his head for some reason. He then looks up brightly. "Surely though she will get there some day."
He does his best to help the others carry and bury. ”Do we need a refresh, or shall we head out to find this Therace and on then to Silver Mount?” A thought occurs to him.
”Heey, Hyrsek, have you ever told us why there is a bounty on this Therace’s head? Promise not to judge, just wondering what might motivate him to head in any given direction. Can you tell us who in Starfall is interested in finding him?”
I have no desire for violence, I have to friendly insist on you turning over the core
WillDC17:1d20 + 5 ⇒ (6) + 5 = 11
Zzvkgrogk blinks in part because of the obfuscation of his targets, and in part due to cognitive dissonance.
”What?!” he blurts outloud, clutching his cloak near the plush lined pocket and it’s precious contents. ”Who are you again? I mean, erm, no? I mean, no. Do you want this instead?” he holds aloft his left arm which is donned with a brilliant and slightly tapered tungsten cylinder which eventually glitters a brilliant orange-red in the glow of the fireball Rhoreen throws. ”I found it in one of those machines. It makes for a pretty spiffy and sturdy armband. You? – You could wear it as a bodyband. I bet it will take on magics, too. We could probably drill holes in it for your legs, too.”
After the fireball disperses, he adds, "It’s naturally very heat resistant, too -- even without magics.”
OH, I don't like what's riding that void dragon.
He quaffs an extract and vanishes.
"Forgive me. That was... not my voice. A memory of someone I once was. This fragmentation... it must trouble you. I assure you, my purpose remains constant"
Zzvkgrogk shrugs. ”I suspect it doesn’t bother me us much as it may bother you… but why does it bother you? You are what you are, why fight it?”
He struggles under the weighty alien limb and manages to not just unceremoniously drop it on the floor. Delighted to find that it leads them back to the creepy chapel, he scanmpers ahead to safety. He then looks back at the portal, pensively puzzled.
”There is this Mathematician Ilceud. She did these formulae that describe various geometries – but this strange portal and its space does not fit within any of her axioms or theorems, even when extrapolated into space.” He looks at the others and says reassuringly, ”I have done my own calculations. That doesn’t make sense,” he says, using the alien limb to point at the portal, ”and the whole thing should not be. Very unnatural.”
”That experience was mind bending, and very disturbing. Let’s avoid this sort of thing whenever possible. I will study to see if there is a way to seal it for good.”
Under Rūha’s direction he scratches digs at the surface of the earth and helps to drag carry bodies for proper burial.
Mostly, he keeps a keen eye out for unexpected mourners, namely Maukui and his girlfriend.
Zzvkgrogk looks in understanding at Rhoreen. ”Imagine. That would not have been a good use of space.”
He addresses the cook, swiping the object from his clutch.
"WAaaho! Yambul! Be careful with that!!! That is a neurocam! It captures your memories and personality — a duplicate of your mind! Castandalee probably used it to transfer herself into the AI Core. Risky, that -- as it often causes insanity to the stored personality. It can only be used once, so why does Maukui want to recover it? Just for the money? No, maybe not. This requires further study.”
He tinkers with it to determine whether or not it has already been used.
KnowEng:20 + 19 + 2 = 41 Take 20
”So, I guess… we should try the floor portal to move on? Does the alien limb work on it or do we need to try a pepper?”
”Hrm, right then,” Zzvkgrogk states, in no need of having to be told twice, already heading for the way out. ”We could just sneak out and leave Maukui to do the explaining to the Black Dominion about what happened here. That should put him in good standing with the Black Dominion again – haha!” he cackles not quite maniacally. ”Nah, they’ll never believe the back stabbing brain eater. Do we trust the Black Dominion to deal with Maukui, or should we do the deed ourselves to be sure?”
He looks at CastandaCore. "Yes, we are prepared to save the known and unknown multiverses. Let's take down Unity together." He slips the AI Core into his most extravagantly lined pocket. "You'll be safe here during travel... until we can make an 'AI Core stick'™."
He takes a quick look around to collect anything unique and shiny or of value, then waits at the portal for someone to open it with the alien member.
As soon as the image mentions ‘Castandalee’ Zzvkgrogk holds the frame so it is out of view of the Zzvkith out of fear that she might not be ready to see someone else’s soul in her body. Why, Brigh?
Castandalee wrote:
”I know you not, ratfolk, but I recognize you as akin to what I once was: a person. I am Casandalee, a prisoner here, most dreadfully inconvenienced until now by these worshipers of Emptiness.”
Zzvkgrogk looks at the back of the frame, and sees no frame backing – just Castandalee blinking at him in reverse video.
”’Inconvenienced?’ I see, but I’d say that’s putting it mildly. Uh –” he glances out of his cloak over his shoulder at Khalia. ”This might be really hard for you – so brace yourself. A lot of people are looking for you, but we don’t think they mean well. I’m Zzvkgrogk III. I hale from a large Warren in scrapwall. Me and my away ‘gang’ are looking to defeat Unity. This – are you braced? – this is my ‘away’ gang.”
Zzvkgrogk pulls out a clean pair of striped socks and dons them. He is prepared to further traverse the hive and the portal further in the utmost of style.
Let’s see what those stupid head aliens think of this!
LovecraftianRhoreen wrote:
"Casandalee fled, taking with her pieces of Unity's essence, the core AI, the neurocam, devices that hold the keys to Unity's destruction."
Zzvkgrogk looks at Khalia.
”Did you know about this Kahstandaheadllia? So, we know where the AI Core is supposed to be, if poser Void Dragons are to be trusted,” he rolls his eyes. ”You wouldn’t happen to have this neurocam still in one of your pockets, would you? If not, maybe that is what Maukui is hiding from us.”
”Let us head out to grab that AI Core before that stupid Intellect Devourer gets to it!”
After putting on his socks and the rest of his gear, he has a hard look at the Cook. ”Hey, Cook Boy, you look a little run down. Try this – this will pick you right up.” He hands Yambul a pistachio flavored extract. Lesser Restoration
Rūha wrote:
"And then... Oh... Maybe."
”I am very concerned about this power and it bleeding into reality to create false realites. I mean – just LOOK at this propaganda!” Zzvkgrogk III gestures at the graffiti. ”I am hoping now that if we can collect the AI Core and the missing neurocam – we can confront this Unity and all of our worries and the space rift will disappear.”
He looks at Khalia. ”Do you still have one of those stealth observer robots? Maybe we can reverse engineer one and see where the data the transmission is going, and throw in some of our own propaganda.”
She recoils, stepping back abruptly as though the wall had become aflame.
Zzvgrogk, having just removed one of his extra long striped knee-high socks (for traversing hives invested with agents Dominion of the Black in both style and comfort) – a sock which he has been wearing for at least two days – whips it across the top of Rhoreen’s skull.
”Snap out of it, Calliope! I said these writings are nothing more than pinkie drivel! I mean, how insane did that sound to you?! Why would you believe it!? I bet it doesn’t even say anything in there about how you’re supposed to plug up this" he raises his voice a couple of octaves and waves his arms before him like a lunatic as he continues," 'wound torn through the infinite tapestry of space and time'? No," his voice returns to normal, "there mayBE a powerful drive mechanism in Unity, which we will retrieve or destroy before these evil brain collectors send reinforcements. So, even it it is true – which is not – I would’t worry about it. We’ll nab the AI core – which is in NO WAY the Techno God to which the graffiti seems to go on about – and be gone and not look back on this insane place.”
He tinkers some more in alchemy, takes his watch and rests for the trip past the hot jets in the morning.
”Oh!” Elen gasps, ”How beautiful! What is that you have there?” She collects the tube from the bird. She watches the confused avian fly off.
Poor guy. He’s wondering why he’s here.
Martella wrote:
”Something is gravely wrong with Carrius.”
”How do you excise a forged soul from it’s host?” asks Elen, still not quite sure how things work. ”Is there truly nothing left of Carrius?”
Martella wrote:
”I’m sheltering in the Grandbridge Vagabond Camp, on Barrier Island just outside Oppara.”
”If there is now some bounty on our heads, maybe it is best not to head to Barrier Island lest we draw attention to Martella.”
She looks at Virgil. ”Is it best to head toward Stachys. Maybe Virgil’s apparent doppelganger is something we can use as leverage... If nothing else we should consider outing Vigil’s impostor, and getting the rest of the prisoners to shelter. Then focus on resurrecting the Princess."
”Like I said, it’s probably just gang propaganda. Pinkies in my Warren like to practice this pointless mischief, they can not grow out of it soon enough for my tastes. Their time would be better off learning to sabotage Smiler carts and weapons.”
”I am fine with resting, but I could also go on. It looks like our next stop is the Dark Tapestry Portal. We can consider new preparations before heading in. What would be most useful?”
"Ow." Zzvkgrogk spins in the air trying to eye the arrow sticking out of his back. "Who did that?!" He glowers at Hyrsek, his piercing beady eyes narrowed.
He agrees with Rhoreen and Rũha. "No, we can not trust it. It has powerful nasty magics. Death is too good for it, but I don't know what else we could do."
After rest, is Zzvkgrogk still down 2 int or just one?
Zzvkgrogk flies back up and shoots towards Green.
rtchrtchrtchrtchrtchrtch!! Laser+, Blinding Beam:1d20 + 18 - 2 - 2 + 2 ⇒ (1) + 18 - 2 - 2 + 2 = 17Touch, -DeadlyAim, -Semiauto, Heroism
for Damage:1d6 + 5d6 + 8 ⇒ (5) + (3, 5, 1, 3, 3) + 8 = 28Zzvkgrogk Special (Blinding Discovery), Deadly Aim Fort DC 19 or be blinded for 1 minute, creatures in the the splash area that fail their saves against the beam are dazzled for 1 minute
Again, he glances askance at his laser pistol as his first shot veers off and smacks into the pillar like a supernova filled rotten egg hitting the side of a bad stand-up comic's head. Maybe there was too much magnumesium on one side...
”’Nescient’?! Who are you calling ‘nescient’?! We know you don’t belong here and we’re going to blow you back to where you came! 'Ineffable' this -- ” He opens fire on red.
””I think I read a book about that once. Something about having one goblin tied to a guillotine, and then 5 more goblins attached to the same guillotine (but a different part, you only got to kill 1 or 5 goblins with any one action), and how quickly one should make sure the 5 goblins died every time,”
”Oh yeah, I read that too – The Glutton for Punishment’s Manifesto… I always found they overthink eveerything. Why not tie all five goblins together into a ball, then use a trebuchet to fling them all into a nearby wall? Far more efficient if the goal is to kill them all.”
Is anyone still diseased?
Zzvkgrogk goes about making extracts and his Mutagen which he will quaff before re-entering the hive.
"And let's not forget to cover ourselves with hive blinding goo."
He takes out a scent gland and covers himself with... scent.
”Hrm. Well, Calliope – I bet this stomach acid is very useful as a rennet for making something akin to owlbear cheese – strong stuff… an acquired taste for sure... Perhaps this is a cheese factory.”
He carefully collects some in some spare extract vials.
Dex:1d20 + 6 ⇒ (13) + 6 = 19
"With a lab, I could extract the relevant components and chemically synthesize them... then all we’ll need is some owlbear milk." He sniffs at the slime.
"Yes, I'm sure of it! Shall we continue?"
Perception:1d20 + 18 + 2 ⇒ (20) + 18 + 2 = 40 He looks for traps or signs of intellect devourer infested dragons and their girlfriends.
"Hey Zzvkgrogk, before you trash that thing, aren't we supposed to go through it? Muikui said the hidden core is behind the portal."
IntDC12:1d20 + 4 - 1 ⇒ (5) + 4 - 1 = 8
"Oh? Hrm... I don't trust that Muikui. He didn't tell the whole story -- my gut tells me that he's holding out on something important. But I can't safel without the assistance of some arcane guidance."
"And yes, now that you mention it, I could use um...," he looks around at those coated in flechette spray, "a bath and some rest. Yes. That. Also, we should clear out this compound so nothing insane can lock us on one side or the other."
Don't have detect magic, so not sure I can Aid here
”There are great godlike beings that are able to survive in the vast cold void of space -- so alien our gods have do not understand them.” Zzvkgrogk begins elaborate on Calliope's words. ” There are Outer Gods and the Great Old Ones –” he shudders, ’ beings of immense power – unimaginable power of raw chaos so great none here are able to control it – and those who try wind up insane. It seems our hive hosts are trying to call their attention to our little corner of the universe… whatever we’re dealing with down here must be stopped – and they’re almost certainly insane.”
He continues. ”There are legends that the Dominion of the Black has connections to a planet called ‘Aucturn’ that serve as emissaries and heralds to these Great Old Ones. Legend has it that they reside among the darkness between the stars, sustained by the very forces that drove them insane… Have we come too late? Are they already among us? Could this be a teleport pad between our world and the Void?”
Zzvkgrogk inspects the device to see if can be disabled.
Unless someone objects, he quaffs a potion, cleans his paws and goes to work.
”When the intellect devourer emerges, can we also try to revive the dragon, like we will Revion?”
”Ah-hahahaaa! So you want to network with that void dragon lot? Clever. Could make a powerful ally – yet if your true nature is opposed to those types of dragons, I would watch my back if I were you.”
~~~ Jellies —-
"Hrm... we're in here far. I could catch this jelly, but if I do the hive will know we're here... so I won't. But now that I think of it, I wonder if maybe we should just plant some hefty explosives. and blow big portions of the hive up before we end those who survive the explosion… something like a fake -- or freshly dead -- void dragon stuffed through the scales with grenades making a peace offering, and when they all approach it -- BOOM! Then we clean up any survivors...”
He turns to observe a group of pensive Zzvkith.
”...Or, maybe we should scope out the size of the hive and count its denizens first before going that route.”
The android assists in moving the bodies to someplace less conspicuous in the room, fearful that the kyton might return to rob her of the chaance of restoring her brother to life.
”Don’t forget this, Zzvkgrogk says while retrieving Revion’s arm. ”It fell off somehow,” he shrugs side eyeing Yambul.
Quote:
”Please, it will help me if you call me 'Khalia'. “
Zzvgrogk suppresses a frown.
s/Chaance/Castandalee; s/Castandalee/Castandachaance; s/Castandachaance/Chaance; s/Chaance/Khalia… what work!
”O.K., but I’m putting a limit on how many times you can change your name now, Khalia. No one wants to see you start suffering from null termination string errors before you are restored.”
GMRutseg wrote:
The sacks on the wall contain thick, foul-tasting stuff the consistency of curdled milk.
”Aah, ugh. Yuck! What is this – alien yogurt?!” The stench prevents him from wanting a sample taste.
He turns to Yambul as the young cook talks about skill slots. ”Oh? I was thinking of taking one if no one else wants it just to reverse-engineer it. I want to design my own.” He gestures to the door. ”Are you going to open that?”
”If we're unlucky she just went to hide with her 'friend' Maukui and it'll know what we did.”
”Who knows. She can’t open the sphinctors, and maybe she couldn’t get past all the bugs either. Maybe all Maukui really wanted was to be reunited with her. Ew! Maybe they planned on eloping and are on their way to…” he shudders and stops talking.
~~~~
Chaance wrote:
”You're becoming more powerful with magics. What can you accomplish here? Can you bring back my brother? Can you..." she pauses, unsure about why she might additionally ask."Can you return me to my elven form?"
Zzvkgrogk stands. He opens his mouth to speak, but nothing comes out. He looks down at Chaance’sKhalia’s Chaance’s inert form outside the darkness laying on the cold hard floor. How long has she been dead? He finally manages to quietly mumble ”An-an-any elven form? ‘C-cos this one doesn’t have a brain anymore…”We’d have to call you RhoreenChaance… He clears his throat, finding his voice. ”I mean, I don’t know what Callopie is thinking, but I read somewhere that with a big electric shock you can re-animate dead tissue…” But the body still needs a brain… ... ”But let’s say we can fully restore you to … you.” he gestures at the body on the floor. "What would we then call you? Would you no longer be Chaance? Would we call you – Khalia? That’s … that’s ... vexing. Also, wouldn’t your nanites become angry and try to murder us all??!”
"Great teamwork Zzvkith and Hyrsek!" Zzvkgrogk says, definitively deciding for sure that the bounty hunter is a non-gang-joining independent type.
Zzvkgrogk decides that the place must be plumbed and waits for the muck to drain before venturing out to help Hyrsek. If it stubbornly refuses to do so, he hops onto broken bits of cylinders to avoid as much of the disgusting alien amniotic chemical brew as possible.
Disgusting. What is it? He tries not to look at it and fails due to his curiosity.
CraftAlchemy:1d20 + 25 ⇒ (16) + 25 = 41
CLW:7d8 + 7 ⇒ (8, 4, 5, 5, 5, 5, 6) + 7 = 45"Here you go, unfortunately the rest of your maladies will have to wait tomorrow. Once again, I find myself ill-prepared."
When everyone is healed and done and Rhoreen has finished her room scrape Zzvkgrogk suggests, "Shall we continue on east?"
Trustworthiness, you say? If I recall, you were the ones who failed to hold to our prior agreement at the Choking Tower. Did I not gave you the information you sought, yet you did not return the favor?
Zzvkgrogk chortles. He thinks to himself, so as not to ire the pathetic aberration.
You mean the deal where we give you Chaance’s body and you’d tell us all kinds of things then let us have all the Furkass treasure that we already took? We never agreed to that. I think you devoured one too many intellect, and that one brought yours way down. Didn’t your Mom ever tell you not to pick on Smilers? I mean, you have no business inhabiting a void dragon – they’re much smarter than you could ever be….
Instead he articulates, struggling not to betray his true thoughts, twisting the chortle into something more amicable. ”What are you doing in a place like … a void dragon – a void dragon who appears to be – is this a prison for you? ”
Once again he abruptly changes his tone to more businesslike. ”Nonetheless, we’re intrigued. Did you have a plan or an outline of attack? What’s the proposed approach?”
Zzvkgrogk holds his ears, uncertain if anything actually fell out of his head.
Hyrsek wrote:
”Nice work, rat. I'll leave the poking to you, seems like you're good at keeping your head... mostly”
Zzvkgrogk nods once, very carefully. ”Thanks. And no, I hope that is not what Therace’s brain looks like now… That’s not a brain, just a puppeteer. It’s all in the name – ‘intellect devourer’. If Therace’s head is occupied by one of those, it would mean your bounty is dead. We should procede with caution.”
Yambul wrote:
””Well done there Zzvkgrogk! That little backlash there wasn’t too bad now was it?”
”It - oh what is the word – stung I guess… Now it kinda tickles or itches.”
When discussing the next direction to go, Zzvkgrogk agrees with Hyrsek.
”Hm, west first to go south, then east. Shall we?” He heads off before the others, but it is not long before Yambul overtakes him.
"What do you mean, Callopie -- that it's not disabled?!"
He takes another look.
DisableDev:1d20 + 24 ⇒ (19) + 24 = 43 Plus two more with all the aid
"Wait, what's that?" he asks, pointing to an innocuous looking bundle of fleshy muscular tubes behind and connected to the BEZ™ dispenser. He twists and tugs on them to pop them out of the fleshy wall. He then cuts off the ends in such a way that they can not merely be reinserted.
"What the heck... power whips! Good catch, Zzvkith!"
"Aawg, Brigh!: he cries. "The bug dispensing machine -- I will name it BEZ™ -- dispenses one bug per day. There's some switches here to kick it into high gear for more but it looks risky."
”Hrm… The Sisters of Indulgent Dreams” Elen thinks. ”Remember The Sweet Dreams Tea Shop and the Night Hags? Maybe this is a reference to them, and how the creature knew what the princess looked like and who we are... ‘Psychic energy poured into reputation and myth’ ? How does that work?! Can such things manifest physically? A ‘ more fitting tool for our use.’ – Could whomever wrote this be talking about the Prince? Is he a manifestation of psychic energy?”
”I ask only that you avenge me. Destroy those who abandoned me to rot in this decaying husk. Let my end be the beginning of their downfall”
”You got it!” Zzvkgrogk exclaims, then briefly wonders how one might plant a rainbow. ”We won’t just try to erode The Jerk Dominion’s power and reduce their kingdom to dust – we SHALL see to it those callous bastards are destroyed. And when time comes and you stand before Pharasma – or whomever Space People stand before – we will erect a memorial here so that your aid will not be forgotten, and you shall live forever in the minds of the Golarion people.”
He starts carefully fliting his way toward the northeastern door to check out the glands and other gifts.
"Who dares tread upon my tomb of flesh and decay? Why do you come into my presence like this?"
KnowDungeon:1d20 + 10 + 2 ⇒ (1) + 10 + 2 = 13 Zzvkgrogk looks at Rhoreen and shrugs.
Zzvkgrogk peers down at his feet swaying in the air this way and that as he flits about on the air like a limbed, winged hacky sack. "Not me. Haven’t trod on you yet. And I will ask ‘who is it who barges into my mind with their thoughts without so much as a by-your-leave?’, but I’ll let it slide for now, seeing as you don’t have a mouth anymore. We’re here to kill your overlords. Oh, look," he says pointing to the previous chamber, "– we did that already. Are there any more?”
”That was – that was –” a dancing giddy Zzvkgrogk struggles to find words, ’-- I don’t quite have –" he cuts himself off by suddenly exclaiming, "I KNOW! – It was like I was perpetually in the ZONE! YEEaaaah!!! Brilliant!! More of that please, Calliope!”
He inspects the brains in their brain jars on the Bugcrab's back.
Are they still working brains? Are they hardwired in there?
Zzvkgrogk dispenses with the healing.
Heal:3d8 + 3 ⇒ (4, 3, 6) + 3 = 16
"Hyrsek, ' ya doin' O.K.?" he asks, holding the wand aloft and rocking it back and forth between his fingers.
He flies to back up Chaance.
"Nice shooting back there. I didn't notice that the stench affected you that way right away. I wish I had a fresh nanite hypogun for you, Chaance. Unfortunately this one," he points to the timeworn brown hypogun in his satchel, " took up more than half the charges that were left after Rūha -- it's the way it works, and I can't recharge it. There's only a few charges left -- only good for a bit of healing."
"Zzvk, please stop describing them. It's bad enough that we're within a one kilometer radius of them. I suggest we leave them well enough alone - and maybe they'll finish rotting soon."
Zzvkgrogk’s eyebrows raise as his eyes widen in surprise at Rūha plea. ”I’m.. I’m sorry… I thought you were feeling better.”
”AIAAAAAH! It’s bugs! It’s bu-neh-thalggus! Poisonous brain collectors! Shoot them! Shoot them! Shoot!” Zzvkgrogk shrieks.
He takes a step back in terror and shoots.
Save vs DC 18 or be blinded by one minute, creatures in the splash area that fail their saves against the bomb are dazzled for 1 minute. This is a light effect.
”Nonsense!” Zzvkgrogk exclaims indignantly at Rūha’s inference that all Ratfolk look alike. ”I mean, I don’t look like Redtooth, do I?” he asks others to consider for a moment. ”O.K.! Bad example! Maybe I do – but it is only because she is my mother!” He pokes at the dead crab to see how much of it is intact. ”As for Izzkvitgrk, he was adopted. His nose is far more stubby, and his fur is always mangy looking – he never took to the idea of bathing. And right now – I’m speculating there’s not much left of him that is original in parts, so it is probably all even worse now!” He picks up the Timeworn Mindrender. ”Does anyone want to carry this? If not, I have some room.”
He shakes out his fur in agitation and heals up.
CLW:5d8 + 3 ⇒ (2, 2, 5, 1, 6) + 3 = 19 ”Anybody smell lunch? Yambul! Do you know how to make crab rolls? The meat is already broiled. Dibs on the claw meats!”
When everyone is ready to move on, he will suggest the east door, looking for traps along the way.
Pleased with the performance of the nanite hypogun, Zzvkgrogk smiles at Rhūa and stashes the pharmaceutical aid back into his bag.
KnowEng*:1d20 + 18 + 5 ⇒ (5) + 18 + 5 = 28
”’Neat’? Is that – er… I mean – doesn’t that look like the valve/sphincter mechanism in the esophagus to the stomach? Like, I think that’s how it moves the platform up and down from one level to the next… Must be nice to have a system that works in reverse. With all this rot, I wonder if it still functions.”
He goes to assist Rūha at the next door, not that she needs assisting.
”Yikes – I mean – weird. This looks like a cargo hold – like this rotting organism was some sort of space vehicle… This area could also have been used for boarding…” Zzvkgrogk trails off in thought. ”Yea – easily – the tendrils like the one we came through could be used to grapple enemy ships – like this is some sort of Pirate Space Blobfishship…”
Zzvkgrogk nods in agreement with Rhoreen. ”Yes… Space Blobfishship gills for doors, useless as portals now. With the right skill though, you can slip through without destroying what’s left… the noise of which will likely garner attention from anything that might be down here. I have an extract that would help me, it's 'Escape Artist' -- (DC 15) in banana.”
Zzvkgrogk peers about him curiously. ”I wonder if there are Space Copepods, and how long they live…”
Zzvkgrogk ascends 5 feet and re-levels his dragon pistol on the nasty large mouth eel.
”Yes, Rūha! It’s still only a fish! Brilliant! Skee-haw it!!” He shoots to blind only the fish and following Rūha’s andvice aims for the air bladder in the hopes the fish will just go belly up.
Zzvkgrogk greedily eyes some optics on the remains of the annihilated annihilator, but otherwise stands by to see what will happen, his arc pistol ready to go.
Upon crunching on the pepper, Zzvkgrogk’s eyes widen and turn red. His ears and palms turn red and he begins panting.
”WWwwwooowee, these peppers have a nice kick to them!” he exclaims, taking a swig of tea.
He finishes savoring the carrots and one of the mushrooms. He carefully preserves the other for later.
Early in the morning he awakens, aware of some positive changes within. ”You know – that food isn’t merely purified from toxins – it’s the best… cleanest representatives of their cultivars that I have ever sampled. I’m going to go have some words in the grove… Yambul, if you choose to go, it is probably best you leave your weapon out of sight.”
Zzvkgrogk makes his way to the grove, and decides to keep his side of the conversation cheerful and light so as not to burden the grove with the darker sides of their adventures.
”So you know… Baine and Val at the Foundry always had the best advices and know-how…
ot to mention Father Kyte and Mother Dinvaya…
And have you heard of Brigh…? ...
So this is how I make the tea… there is not enough to share with you all, but I will leave the recipe with Paeytr."
He promises the Grove the Zzvkith will do their best to help purify the region of toxins.
He then finishes making his alchemical concoctions and prepares for the road ahead. ”Thank you for your hospitality, Paeytr! Hopefully our adventures will have some rebalancing affect on the world, and our paths shall meet again. We should head a bit south before heading due west, we do not want to miss some rotting vessel tucked in some hidden corner no one has visited in recent past.”
If everyone agrees, token placed, direction of heading indicated hopefully not too sloppily.
”Yes, she was. I have no idea of the particulars, but she was apparently demoted to Captain ranks. Any other Technic leader would have gone in a bloodshed before accepting such a thing. Or perhaps she has a far larger plot" Hyrsek shrugs
”Oh, yes, oh I see. Yes, that would be clever!”
~~~
Paetyr wrote:
"You mean this?" he points at his leg
Zzvkgrogk nods if it is the metal leg to which he is pointing.
Paetyr wrote:
"It is just some flesh and blood."
"Uh... oh."Surely he is hallucinating.
~~~ ~~~
Paetyr wrote:
” ... The stars wink at horrors mercifully beyond our ken."
Zzvkgrotk’s eyes widen and his jaw drops slightly as the the force of nature known as Paetyr relays his saga. So stunned is he, the Ratfolk nearly drops the apple he is savouring.
He eagerly nods as Rhoreen speaks. ”Yes, do you happen to know where these Butchers are centrally located?”
He agrees with the wisdom of Yambul. ”Yes, it seems like you are tending to the earthly matters, Paetyr. Leave the rest to us. We’ll scatter the Butchers and stop the toxins.“
He sighs and shrugs. ”Lately it has been our business, actually.”
