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"They're nosy," says G.D. She pulls up and displays what looks like a law enforcement case file on one of them, but, on closer inspection, she has just generated this file herself as if she was investigating them. "Especially this one! He kept trying to test the limits of one of my buffers. MY BUFFERS HAVE NO LIMITS. They know I'm amazing, but I won't let them find out how amazing. I can work with them without revealing too much. Don't worry. I got this."
"Amplifier crystals? I mean, we could do something with that, but ... where exactly did you get these?" asks Evie.
The crowd is impressed. The bookies nod and consult one another. The swaggering contestants look stoic. The crowd of women and handful of men smile lustfully. The odds are even that Theo makes it to the rank of 8 of Swords. They start to swing against him making it further. Theo is encouraged to rest well and return the next day.
A long stretch of the shore has been cordoned off. Shirtless would-be warriors, mostly eager young men, strut and flex and swing swords. Occasionally, two of them engage in a mock duel, trying to impress the crowd. The crowd divides itself into three groups: (1) other established swrords, looking out for any up-and-coming threats; (2) bookies, trying to get a sense of what odds to give for the unknown contestants; (3) lustful onlookers--mostly, but not exclusively, women--salivating over the shirtless warriors.
A stand for registering sits in front of a dais upon which sit two thrones. Neither the King nor Queen of Swords is present.
A long stretch of the shore has been cordoned off. Shirtless would-be warriors, mostly eager young men, strut and flex and swing swords. Occasionally, two of them engage in a mock duel, trying to impress the crowd. The crowd divides itself into three groups: (1) other established swrords, looking out for any up-and-coming threats; (2) bookies, trying to get a sense of what odds to give for the unknown contestants; (3) lustful onlookers--mostly, but not exclusively, women--salivating over the shirtless warriors.
A stand for registering sits in front of a dais upon which sit two thrones. Neither the King nor Queen of Swords is present.
Henri goes aboard Gay Deceiver while the team works to "meditate on the problem of the crystals," but really he wants to talk with G.D. to see what she thinks of the crew and if she's OK hiding from them in plain sight or if she thinks she communicate with them, especially as mods are being installed. He will also ask if she has schematics for a short-distance heat ray that would utilize the amplifying crystal in her extensive data banks. "They're nosy," says G.D. She pulls up and displays what looks like a law enforcement case file on one of them, but, on closer inspection, she has just generated this file herself as if she was investigating them. "Especially this one! He kept trying to test the limits of one of my buffers. MY BUFFERS HAVE NO LIMITS. They know I'm amazing, but I won't let them find out how amazing. I can work with them without revealing too much. Don't worry. I got this." The crew will work through the night and have G.D. ready to go by morning. Weapons would take longer.
Theo sleeps well and is only awoken by one of the staff members at TAROT HQ reminding him that he intended to register for the tournament today. The tournament itself starts tomorrow, but today is a big show of the contestants so that people can start putting their bets down. The location is familiar to Theo. The contest is being held down near the part of the shore where he fought the Last Atlantean.
Evie and her crew begin making the changes necessary for the ship to have holographic stealth abilities. They aren't as sure what to do with the two Martian amplifying crystals Mr. Rabbit asked Henri to collect one of. Perhaps, Mr. Rabbit will know what to do with those.
Evie begins to rotate the 3D model on their datapad, showing how the projectors would be shielded by transparent omnisium mesh "Kind of like the crystal fragment we've been allowed to study" she says in a tone that hints she knows something about Nissa's wand and something about the properties of the crystalized omnisium it is made from.
"That sounds reasonable to us," Unity agree. "Okay, well, heat rays aren't really my area, but this is what I've come up with for the camouflage ...," says Evie, sharing a datapad covered in calculations and diagrams that would require an Engineering check to decipher. Seeing a few confused looks, she elaborates, "See, these six holographic projectors would work in tandem ... Am I wrong in assuming that sometimes you might want to make this ship look like, say, a 20th century garbage truck or a barn or some other thing from, let's say, a different time period? I'm just speculating about your needs here."
Evie, an undergraduate intern from the University, has been both doing math and fangirling out as three legends of Boston Theoretical have come over to hang around and chat while she works. She looks like, at any moment, she's going to say something about how she'd been a fan of TAROT since high school. The team's three-year disappearance would account for much of the years since she was in high school. "Me?" she says, her voice high-pitched. She calms herself and, with her voice in a normal pitch, says, "You want my opinion? You don't want to bring this ship into combat. That's the whole point of the stealth. Defensive weapons should cover your escape -- short-range, big blast. Offensive weapons should be long range and precise. This is too special of a craft to endanger in ship-to-ship combat." She pauses and looks a bit embarrassed. "But, that's just my opinion."
She smiles a bit, but raises a finger and points a the middle of Theo's forehead. He feels a pang as his thoughts are probed. "Perhaps you are forgetting why you wanted this belt in the first place, or are your feelings there untrue?" After a pause she says, "Make it 150 gold pieces." The servant of the King of Coins rushes over to pay. He shoots an almost imperceptible dirty look at Theo and a very perceptible sympathetic look to Seven of Wands.
"Miss?" says the Wand with one eyebrow raised. "He's from away, Seven of Wands" explains Oberon's servant. "Apparently," she says haughtily and then turns her attention to the belt. She examines the runes on the outside of the belt, "The runes are giantish, but the belt is dwarven made. They read 'True strength comes from good character'." "I have a feeling," she says. She starts flipping the belt around looking for something. Eventually she finds a way to unfold two layers of the thick metal studded leather and finds more writing inside the belt,"yes, there it is, 'lacking that, have this'. Yes, Dwarven humour 'True strength comes from good character, lacking that, use this.' Others reading the runes see only the serious line, but the warrior and his friends know about the hidden writing. It's an enchanted belt granting the wearer strength." She passes it back to Theo. "100 gold pieces, please," she says, extending a clay jar for Theo to deposit coins he probably doesn't have in.
I don't think there was a statblock for the ship. Maybe we should come up with one. I'm sure I'll make you fight something. Let me do some preliminary research and let you know the parameters. You are right that it will be mostly a timeship, not an assault ship, but you may get in a scrap here or there ... maybe get chased by a giant goat god.
"We like the idea of fighting that thing we saw on foot even less," Unity say. "And it needs to go." "We can't imagine anything good is coming of it indirectly devouring the blood of millions of goats from many worlds. But we do have other priorities right now." The Boston Theoretical techie looks from Unity to Henri and back again throughout this conversation, wide-eyed but not doubting anything either says. She is definitely enjoying the chance to sit on the working away, listening to two transdimensional superheroes talk about goat gods. "It sounds like something off of the 'Weird Tales' channel," she says, mostly to herself.
Theo thinks about it for a few moments. "Eh, I'll take it to the Wands. Haven't really met those guys yet." The King of Coins shakes Theo's hand after they arrive back at his tower and then sends one of his servants to guide Theo to consult the Wand on duty. The servant carries with him a letter of introduction from the King. "The runes are giantish, I think," says the servant as he leads Theo across town. "They look similar to dwarvish because dwarves descended from giants. Not many people know that." Tarokh is quiet. Everyone is home for dinner. It takes 30 minutes to reach a small building in the courtyard surrounding the Tower of the Wand. A young woman is on duty. "Seven," says the servant, greeting the woman and handing her the letter of introduction. "What have we here then," she asks after reading the letter. She points at the belt.
Verve laughs as if Unity have made a joke, sees that they haven't, and looks concerned. "A gigantic bloodthirsty goat god? Perhaps we should keep a closer eye on chupacabra infestations in the future. Henri is in the enclosed bay down there, if you'd like to see him."
"Why not take a position of greater authority? My Knight is old and has long spoken of stepping through one of those gates to a place he loves more than here. He met his wife there and would return with her, leaving Tarokh, the city of his birth, behind forever, dying quietly in Elven lands. Why not replace him? Become the Knight of Coins. You've earned it today. Why risk death in the tournament?""I can't go into it, Oberon", Theo smiles to himself as he rests his head on The King of Coin's shoulder. "It's a private matter. But The tournament is a way to secure a future for himself and my children." "Well," says Oberon. "Then whatever that belt is, it is what you need to secure that future, such is the curse of that old stronghold. You could take it to the market to get appraised, or go to one of the Wands."
Unity find the ride home a bit faster, but also longer, than the ride there. Verve, or whomever at Boston Theoretical is controlling the craft, sends Unity to the upper heights of the troposphere before plunging back towards Boston in a wide arc, constantly slowing the craft's descent until it can circle and hover over HQ before landing vertically.
A half-dozen jealous BT staff watch Unity descend from the craft. "Enjoy the ride?" asks Verve. They all grin mischievously.
Theo and the King of Coins ride through arch together. They return to where they left, the stretch of land on the far side of the hills of Tarokh, inaccessible to most of the people of Tarokh, but not to the many Knights, Pages, Kings, and Queens who live in the towers and castles on top of the hill. "There are many other gates to explore, my friend," says the King of Coins, spurring his horse. He shouts over the noise of the horse and the wind and branches. "But only Knights, Pages, Kings, and Queens get to do so freely. Why do you wish to enter the tournament of Swords? At best you come out 8th or 9th." He is heading straight back to his tower, knowing that Theo is hurt, but does not stop talking along the way. "Why not take a position of greater authority? My Knight is old and has long spoken of stepping through one of those gates to a place he loves more than here. He met his wife there and would return with her, leaving Tarokh, the city of his birth, behind forever, dying quietly in Elven lands. Why not replace him? Become the Knight of Coins. You've earned it today. Why risk death in the tournament?"
Theo catches up and jumps onto the horse and Oberon urges it forward. "Not in this place, and neither did you. No one does," says Oberon. "It's a cursed place ... or blessed. Some pretty old divination and enchantment magic holds sway here. We think it's an old Dwarven stronghold. The runes above the inner arch read, 'You cannot always get what you want, but may all who labor here get what they need.' Whatever that is you're holding in your hand, it's probably what you'll need to claim a rank in the competition." The horse carries both of you towards the arch leading back to Tarokh. Another roar from the dragon alerts Oberon that it is through the entrance. He spurs the horse one more time makes a rude gesture to Nightsky as he appears in the sky above his lair swooping towards you.
The dragon roars in anger and rushes after Theo. It will take some time to squeeze through the exit made for dwarves or humans. On the other side of the exit, Theo sees the King of Coins on Theo's horse, his own horse having been the first casualty of the dragon. For a moment it might have looked like the King was going to abandon Theo with the dragon, but he waves to Theo, encouraging him to run and leap onto the horse.
The crew begin to examine the ship, using fairly non-intrusive scanners to do so. They're getting readings on her and making comments to each other. They know that this ship is different. She attracts a lot of attention and would no matter where she goes. Unless one of the upgrades is some kind of camouflage, that's inevitable. Verve spends half-an-hour constructing a holographic representation of G.D. while their technicians scan everything. "There," they say, privately to Henri. "We can work with the data the ship let us collect, but depending on what you want done, you might need to let us bypass some of your security protocols." Verve takes the hint and says, "Let's go back to my lab. We will be able to look at the holographic map we've made of it. I've got a omnisium threaded paint on the walls; we can't be spied on from any dimension."
The fails to dodge the line of acid, but finds it propels him into a pile of treasure. A huge leather belt with metal disks engraved with strange runes sits atop a pile of coins. The side entrance the King of Coins exited through is just in front of Theo. It's too small for the dragon to get through without squeezing.
Unity find it difficult to pry loose a flake, but, when they succeed at doing so, they know it immediately. For a brief moment, Unity see a flash of a dimension beyond, one that this thread of crystal seems to connect to this dimension. The dimension, or, more likely, a pocket dimension, appears to be a long series of hives climbing from the ground and descending from the sky. The hives must be at least a mile high, because the millions of creatures buzzing around them insect-like are, apparently, chupacabra. Millions of chupacabra nest in hives, popping out of this dimension, and returning full of blood, like mosquitoes. In the center of this field of hives sits a black, four-horned goat dressed in flowing burgandy robes, fires burning in braziers all around him. The goat-god opens wide his mouth and the flying chupacabra stream in so thick that he has to gulp them down and open his mouth again. Unity has half-a-second to leap into this pocket dimension if they wish to fight a goat-god, but ... It's a very big goat-god.
The dragon spends its turn realizing Oberon has fled and turning back angrily to face Theo.The godling runs straight at the black dragon. But instead of attacking, The Olympian will attempt to jump and flip over the dragon and run to the side entrance Oberon ran through. "Thieves! Thieves!!" hisses Nightsky as Theo runs past. He sprays a line of his acidic spittle at Theo's back. .
The crew begin to examine the ship, using fairly non-intrusive scanners to do so. They're getting readings on her and making comments to each other. They know that this ship is different. She attracts a lot of attention and would no matter where she goes. Unless one of the upgrades is some kind of camouflage, that's inevitable. Verve spends half-an-hour constructing a holographic representation of G.D. while their technicians scan everything. "There," they say, privately to Henri. "We can work with the data the ship let us collect, but depending on what you want done, you might need to let us bypass some of your security protocols."
The chupacabra has almost no taste, but the taste it does have is unpleasant. Mostly, Unity taste goat blood. The thing is little more than a sack of goat blood. The chupacabra is capable of clumsy flight despite its small wings because its bones are hollow. They too fill with goat blood when it eats, probably making the flight clumsier. Unity, later, find the Sword of Truth vibrating at the spot where the chupacabra were first spotted. Using it as a divining rod, Unity soon find an empty cliffside lair. The sword vibrates audibly at a vein of white stone in the rock.
The last of the chupacabra, as far as Unity can tell, is dead. The body decomposes at a faster rate. Unity's ship is back near where the chupacabra had been lairing and, Phade suspected, had entered this dimension.
"A heat ray? You'll need some kind of amplifying crystal. We can certainly help install it but, if your ship has a 'personality' you might want to handle some of the wiring in yourself. Atlantean ships are intelligent, but personality is burnt out of them when it evolves," Verve explains. "Bring your ship into Bay 7. It's private and I'll have security keep out anyone but my main crew." Verve, at first, doubts Henri when he claims GD is highly evolved or special in some way. Captains think their ships are special, about as often as parents think their children are special. Verve has heard this before, particularly on Atlantis prime where bare-chested Atlantean ship captains would brag loudly of their mighty ships. Gay Deceiver would have many questions, I think, about an arrangement in which technicians that have never seen a ship of her technological sophistication would be climbing all over her without her being able to rebuke them. Once Verve sees GD, they take Henri more seriously. They gather their best team, including two Atlanteans and several humans. The group looks GD over with appreciation and lots of questions for Henri, some of which he might struggle to answer.
Theo, grabbing the dragon's tail, pulls it back so hard it falls forward into its treasure, scrambling comically to find a grip on the stone floor of his own lair. The King of Coins, Oberon, the old rogue, waves to Theo and then begins to run to the side entrance through which he entered. "Time to go!" he yells. The dragon spends its turn realizing Oberon has fled and turning back angrily to face Theo.
"Sh|t!" Theo leaps through the small entrance in pursuit of his draconic quarry. [dice=Acrobatics]1d20 + 18 When Theo enters the dragon's lair, it finds inside a vast hall of great height with many side chambers and a central bridge linking the elevated east and west wings. The dragon is half-flying, half-striding across an enormous horde of gold and treasures towards Oberon who is stuffing very large magic items into a bag of holding. He sees the dragon coming but is grabbing more items anyhow.
Unity can't smell the chupacabra over the smell of goat blood. It takes 10 minutes to find it, and only then because it kills a fourth goat. These goats were endangered once but aren't at the moment. The creature looks up from the goat whose blood it's drinking and lunges at Unity. It is invigorated by its ravenous feast of blood.
The dragon seems impressed at Theo's strength and then winces as Theo stabs him. Hiding his pain and displeasure, the dragon hisses, "You are a distraction!" The dragon backs away and then propels himself using legs, tail, and wings, through the small entrance to his lair. Theo cannot tell whether the runes around the entrance are dwarfish or viking, but they aren't draconic.
Pieces of the chupacabra fall to the water beneath. Unity has destroyed another. Only one chupacabra remains, and it is back at Goat Island. Unity will need some kind of Perception or Survival check to find it.
Unity get their claws on the chupacabra, who turns and tries to do the same.
The dragon seems honestly flabbergasted, "But, that's not the same thing! It's different when I do it!" Rather than think any further on the question he spits a line of acid at Theo.
"They have called me many names, godling," the dragon says with an angry smile. "They have called me Nightsky, Gnasher, La bête noire, Mankiller, but they have never called me 'thief'." The dragon snaps at Theo once with its massive jaw filled with blue-black fangs.
"Run now; abandon your friend. There is no honour among thieves. I will let you live!" the dragon hisses.
Unity easily catch and even pass the creature. Your turn.
The chupacabra puts all of its energy into one last sprint. Unity can see that it is a reptilian type creature and that it tires easily. It doesn't seem to breathe, or at least isn't gasping for breath. It's slowing though.
Apologies I haven't posted. I'm enjoying the threads from our action heroes. I need to research what I want to do to G.D. in the options for ships. But mostly life has been very busy.
The chupacabra is obviously tiring, but manages to keep just in front of Unity.
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