[The Forever Tree]Rustdeity IC.

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Hoid
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Re: [The Forever Tree]Rustdeity IC.

Post by Hoid »

Chandaputra frowns. “Hod? Never heard of a ‘Hod’. A xeno, I take it? Or a servant of Hastur?”
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Sakuro
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Re: [The Forever Tree]Rustdeity IC.

Post by Sakuro »

Lucas considered how to describe Hod. Painting the picture of a xeno-warlord didn't have enough impact and gravity. After a short pause he shared the view he had begun to form of the distant enemy.

"A rival of Hastur's. Millenia old. Hod rules at least one world and may be part of a group of powerful xeno-rulers that control an entire dimension. Hod seems to prefer espionage, subversion, and sabotage rather than open conflict. At least until he is ready to deliver a finishing blow."

"Recently he has gained influence over a branch of the Cult of the Sleeping King. Be mindful of suspicious activity from them, or other minority groups that are vulnerable to exploitation an manipulation."
OOC wrote:
HP: 1
Defense: 20
Conditions: Healthy
Encephalon: Deactivated
Communion Array: Alternate Save (Will).
Blast "Arsenal" Dynamic Array: Healing 15 [Flaws: Others Only (-1/r), Distracting (-1/r) ; Extras: Total (+1/r), Affects Objects (+1/r) ; Power Feats: Persistent (+1 pp), Regrowth (+1 pp), Precise (+1 pp), Variable Descriptor "Technology" 2 (+2 pp)]
Flight "Utility" Dynamic Array: Speed 2 ; Quickness 15 ; X-Ray Vision Extended 5 ; Microscopic Vision 4 ; Visual Detect Life
Evelyn Gracen, in AEGIS Squad
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Hoid
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Re: [The Forever Tree]Rustdeity IC.

Post by Hoid »

Chandaputra nods. “Understood. So. What you need?”

Nepenthe comes in. “Apologies for my late arrival,” she says. “I had to change course mid-flight.” She pauses. “Houston is still in To-Ki-O, laying the groundwork for the formal, ceremonial transition of power.”
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Sakuro
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Re: [The Forever Tree]Rustdeity IC.

Post by Sakuro »

Seeing Nepenthe enter the library he turns his head to look at her and offers a nod of acknowledgement. Though paused when she updated him on Houston's getting caught up in ceremonial matter. Lucas' lips pressed together into a thin line as he looked back to Chandraputra.

"My cousin, Baron Houston, was going to assist me in dispatching the swarm of vermin Hod set loose upon Bastion. He has been waylaid by political concerns, however. Would the Tempestineers be willing to send a telepath capable of projecting a specific psychic frequency over an area? The wurm tainting Bastion's food supply are empathic and vulnerable to this psychic frequency, which the Palace librarian has given me."
OOC wrote:
HP: 1
Defense: 20
Conditions: Healthy
Encephalon: Deactivated
Communion Array: Alternate Save (Will).
Blast "Arsenal" Dynamic Array: Healing 15 [Flaws: Others Only (-1/r), Distracting (-1/r) ; Extras: Total (+1/r), Affects Objects (+1/r) ; Power Feats: Persistent (+1 pp), Regrowth (+1 pp), Precise (+1 pp), Variable Descriptor "Technology" 2 (+2 pp)]
Flight "Utility" Dynamic Array: Speed 2 ; Quickness 15 ; X-Ray Vision Extended 5 ; Microscopic Vision 4 ; Visual Detect Life
Evelyn Gracen, in AEGIS Squad
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Hoid
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Re: [The Forever Tree]Rustdeity IC.

Post by Hoid »

Chandaputra nods. “I’ll see to it.”

Nepenthe sends via HUD, “I have some good news, though I’d rather not make it public ‘til it can be confirmed. While in To-Ki-O, the Broadcast Array picked up a recent message from Mars. We didn’t catch much of it, but it concerned an Elders Guild. My family helped build the Elders Guild——a mega-structure near Olympus Mons.

Its in Ragnarok Lockdown, which means only an Environmental all-clear signal from Rustdeity will permit it to open up. The Elders Guild has enough supplies to last for thousands of years, as long as rationing is maintained.

When we activate the Renewalmachine, my Lord, I want to go to the Elders Guild. Though it’s likely degenerated into barbarism in there, it’s possible family of mine is still in there.”
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Sakuro
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Re: [The Forever Tree]Rustdeity IC.

Post by Sakuro »

Lucas allowed a measure of relief to show in his expression and body language, as a way of letting Chandraputra know taking care of the infestation would lift a burden from him. So that the could could focus on larger scale goals. Moving his left hand he made a gesture, as though passing something over to the Tempestineer. As he did so that psychic frequency the librarian had given to him was sent to the other man.

"Thank you. That will allow me to press on with the plan to restore Rusdeity to a healthy state. Lady Jocasta and I will be heading to Lun Dun next. Is there anything your people need in the area, or operations taking place there that could use assistance while we are in the area?"

It was Lucas' general practice to talk aloud, into his helmet, when conversing over digital communications. It was more preference, and habit, than a limitation. Shi'Halal allowed him to send and receive messages without opening his mouth. Though he looked at the Tempestineer in front of him, he composed a private response to Nepenthe.

"There are a couple matters close to Bastion that I have been putting off due to large scale concerns or urgent matters. A FireWall Icon has had it's command codes compromised and a Skynode Icon has been chained. I would like to see to them before heading to Mars. Hearing word of the Elders Guild is good though."
OOC wrote:
HP: 1
Defense: 20
Conditions: Healthy
Encephalon: Deactivated
Communion Array: Alternate Save (Will).
Blast "Arsenal" Dynamic Array: Healing 15 [Flaws: Others Only (-1/r), Distracting (-1/r) ; Extras: Total (+1/r), Affects Objects (+1/r) ; Power Feats: Persistent (+1 pp), Regrowth (+1 pp), Precise (+1 pp), Variable Descriptor "Technology" 2 (+2 pp)]
Flight "Utility" Dynamic Array: Speed 2 ; Quickness 15 ; X-Ray Vision Extended 5 ; Microscopic Vision 4 ; Visual Detect Life
Evelyn Gracen, in AEGIS Squad
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Hoid
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Re: [The Forever Tree]Rustdeity IC.

Post by Hoid »

Chandaputra shakes his head. “Nothing we and our new Enginseer allies can’t fix on our own.” He thinks a moment. “Lun Dun, you say? I know of a rumor the Iron Patriarch of the Enginseers is there personally, though absolutely o Enginseer here will say a damn thing one way or the other.”

The head of the Enginseers,” Shai’Halal muses.

Nepenthe sends back, “Thank you Lord Imperious. My gratitude.
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Sakuro
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Re: [The Forever Tree]Rustdeity IC.

Post by Sakuro »

The scarred young noble turned his head to look at Nepenthe for a handful of seconds, then looked back to Chandraputra. His interest tugged at by the notion of finding the elusive Iron Enginseer's patriarch in the very place he and the Imperial Princess were heading.

"The leader of the Iron Enginseers. If the opportunity arises, I will need to look into that. Just as I will have to make time to meet the leadership of the Tempestineers. For now though, the Renewalmachine need slumbers, and we are close to waking it. Take care."

Lifting a gauntlet clad hand he claps the Tempestineer on the shoulder in a companionable fashion. Then he gestures for Nepenthe to accompany him as he makes way to depart from the Palace. As he had stated, their next destination was Lun Dun.

OOC wrote:If nothing stops them along the way, Imperious will fly himself and Nepenthe off to Lun Dun at Flight 20 before slowing down and setting a course for Gargantuan Benjamin.
HP: 1
Defense: 20
Conditions: Healthy
Encephalon: Deactivated
Communion Array: Alternate Save (Will).
Blast "Arsenal" Dynamic Array: Enhanced Strength 30 and Strike 3 [Feats: Might (+1 pp), Variable Descriptor "Technological Weaponry" 2 (+2 pp)]
Flight "Utility" Dynamic Array: Flight 20 [Flaws: Distracting (-1/r)]
Evelyn Gracen, in AEGIS Squad
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Hoid
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Re: [The Forever Tree]Rustdeity IC.

Post by Hoid »

The Atlantic Sea, now Locked in chunks and pieces and tempest-strewn floating island-sized detritus, flies by, there and then gone. Vast machine-hulks litter the Locked ruins, trams the size of small cities, war-golems, hundreds of them, rusted, corroded and dead, and even more legacy of Rustdeity’s glorious past lay below.

Lun Dun was, pre-Catastrophe, a major TAW city, with a space elevator and a vacation-home for the emperor. (Nepenthe informs Imperious Jax never used this vacation house, so it’s unlikely to hold anything useful, aside from cultural artifacts.)

But...the space elevator has fallen, and it laid waste to Lun Dun as it fell. So tall is it that it’s topmost point lies in the ocean west of Lun Dun.

The city proper has faired poorly, and Imperious spots signs of biotwists and beastmen everywhere amidst the tumbled ruins.

In the distance, surprisingly still somewhat intact, stands Gargantuan Benjamin, a clocktower turned into a true wonder of the world. The falling space elevator missed it completely, and millennia of decay has only somewhat left its mark.
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Sakuro
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Re: [The Forever Tree]Rustdeity IC.

Post by Sakuro »

"The clock tower is in too good of condition to have not been maintained by someone."

... Imperious observed as the drew closer to the clock tower. Stopping in front of the tower, he floated in front of the clock's face. Hovering in place he gradually loosened his hold on Nepenthe, allowing her to fly under her own power now that they weren't racing through the sky incredible speeds.

Within the confines of he activated his Encephalon. Once the AR display was active he tasked Shi'Halal for searching the digital scape for Icons and active technology she could interface with. Lucas himself took to searching the physical, and more overt portions of the Datasphere aroud, inside, and beneath the massive clock tower.
OOC wrote:Activating Encephalon.

Switching Lucas' Communion Array to Impervious Toughness 20.

Setting Shi'Halal's Arsenal Array to focus on Datalink.

Adjusting Shi'Halal's Utility Array to include Flight 1, Quickness 15, X-Ray Vision Extended 5, and Normal Hearing Extended 5.

Here is a Search check for a visual sweep of the area around, inside, and beneath Benjamin: Search: 1D20+10 = [9]+10 = 19

If he notices some active technology to interface with, such as cameras or other security systems not linked to an Icon, I'll take 10 on a Datalink check, for a total of 30, to try to get some idea of what is going on in the area.

HP: 1
Defense: 20
Conditions: Healthy
Encephalon: Activated
Communion Array: Impervious Toughness 20
Blast "Arsenal" Dynamic Array: Datalink 20 [Power Feat: Machine Control (+1 pp), Dimensional 3 (+3 pp)] ; Enhanced Skills 1 [Computers 8]
Flight "Utility" Dynamic Array: Flight 1 ; Quickness 15 ; X-Ray Vision Extended x5 ; Normal Hearing Extended x5
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Hoid
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Re: [The Forever Tree]Rustdeity IC.

Post by Hoid »

As the Encephalon switches on the AR interface turns LunDun into a madhouse of implausibly thin houses, bizarre right angles and stacks constantly belching pixelated smoke. A digital voicemowbooms, hearable now only because of the activated Encephalon:

ATTENTION. ALL. CITIZENS. BREAK. THE. WITCHING. HOUR. IS. UPON. US. BREAK. FLEE. INTO. YOUR. HOUSES. AND. PUT. IRON. HORSESHOES. ABOVE. YOUR. DOORS. AND. WINDOWS. BREAK. DO. NOT. BE. ALARMED. BREAK. OUR. LADY. ALICE. SHALL. SURELY. RETURN. SOON. BREAK. WE. MUST. BE. PATIENT. BREAK.

In the distance, vastly tall mosquito-Icons walk through the wreckage-filled streets, tall hats on their heads, peering into windows as they walk.
OOC:
Search: it has a fully active security system, and it’s of Enginseer make. No one seems to be manning the helm, so to speak. X-Ray vision reveals Enginseer corpses everywhere, torn apart what appears to be explosive internal growths of...plant-matter?

The Earthkey isn’t visible, at least from this vantage-point.
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Sakuro
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Re: [The Forever Tree]Rustdeity IC.

Post by Sakuro »

Witching hour. Iron horse shoes over doors. It sounded to be either superstition, or some manner of designation system.

"Iron Enginseers were garrisoned here. Their security systems are still active, though they are dead. The corpses looks to have been torn apart, explosively, from within. There appears to be plant based material in the corpses."

Imperious shares the information with Nepenthe while he continues to study the corpses. A few seconds later he addressed his armor.

"Shi'Halal, what can you tell me about the plant matter?"

His gaze remained on one of the corpses until Shi'Halal had enough time to see what she needed to. Then he looked out into the city, watching the towering Icons peaking into buildings. Curiously, he looked to the houses they were checking out, wondering if any had iron horse shoes over the doors. Speaking aloud he addressed Nepenthe.

"Are you seeing these Mosiquto-like Icons with hats that are looking into buildings? Or hearing the warning about the Witching hour?"

OOC wrote:Here is a Life Sciences check for Shi'Halal to try to get some information on the plant matter in the corpses: Life Sciences: 1D20+12 = [19]+12 = 31

I'll also use Skill Mastery to take 10 on a Technology check, for a total of 23, to try to determine the nature of the Mosquito Icons.
HP: 1
Defense: 20
Conditions: Healthy
Encephalon: Activated
Communion Array: Impervious Toughness 20
Blast "Arsenal" Dynamic Array: Datalink 20 [Power Feat: Machine Control (+1 pp), Dimensional 3 (+3 pp)] ; Enhanced Skills 1 [Computers 8]
Flight "Utility" Dynamic Array: Flight 1 ; Quickness 15 ; X-Ray Vision Extended x5 ; Normal Hearing Extended x5
Evelyn Gracen, in AEGIS Squad
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Hoid
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Re: [The Forever Tree]Rustdeity IC.

Post by Hoid »

Very well.
OOC:
Life Sciences: a parasitic plant. You’ve actually seen it before,as its very common across Rustdeity. Causes severe internal damage. But this? THIS is something new, the plant’s lifecycle massively hastened, to explosive results. What normally takes decades with this species of plant here took only a few seconds. It must have been a GRUESOME way to die...
The insect-Icons seem oblivious to being watched, and continue their ceaseless perambulation. Whatever it is they’re looking for, they’re clearly not finding it. And yes, most of the buildings have iron horseshoes over each and every door and window, the notable exception being Gargantuan Benjamin and the ruins of the space elevator.

“I see no Icons,” Nepenthe says. “Just the corpse of a once-great metropolis...”
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Sakuro
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Re: [The Forever Tree]Rustdeity IC.

Post by Sakuro »

"Wounded, not dead."

Imperious corrected the Princess' comment about seeing only the corpse of a city. His emerald lenses lingered on the AR imagery of the city scape for a handful of seconds. Then he turned to the face of the massive clock that he and Nepenthe hovered in front of. Raising his voice, as if to be heard by a giant, Imperious spoke to the ancient structure.

"Gargantuan Benjamin, I am Imperious. Tell me, what happened here within you? How did the Engineers come to be in such a state?"

OOC wrote:
HP: 1
Defense: 20
Conditions: Healthy
Encephalon: Activated
Communion Array: Impervious Toughness 20
Blast "Arsenal" Dynamic Array: Datalink 20 [Power Feat: Machine Control (+1 pp), Dimensional 3 (+3 pp)] ; Enhanced Skills 1 [Computers 8]
Flight "Utility" Dynamic Array: Flight 1 ; Quickness 15 ; X-Ray Vision Extended x5 ; Normal Hearing Extended x5
Evelyn Gracen, in AEGIS Squad
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Hoid
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Re: [The Forever Tree]Rustdeity IC.

Post by Hoid »

A low rumbling voice only Imperious can hear rumbles from the rafters, saying, “I DO NOT REMEMBER, LITTLE FRIEND. ALL WAS CHAOS. LADY ALICE SAID SHE WOULD BE RIGHT BACK, BUT I AM AFRAID SHE IS VERY, VERY LATE. IT IS NOT RIGHT TO MISS AN IMPORTANT DATE. I LOOKED FOR HER, BUT SHE NO LONGER EXISTS! HOW RUDE OF HER.
Last edited by Hoid on Thu Aug 05, 2021 6:29 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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