PBA 080

[12/12/15, 7:29:52 PM] Basement Cat: You're still on the world where Wynn was given the Codex. As previously noted, it's been about a week, much of which you've spent assisting with the opening of diplomatic channels between the humanoid civilization and  the Caretaker--and the first 3 of the mechanoids the Caretaker called the "makers."

[12/12/15, 7:30:28 PM] Janis: ((Are we in a room doing that right now or on the ship?))

[12/12/15, 7:30:43 PM] Basement Cat: Getting to that.

[12/12/15, 7:31:51 PM] Basement Cat: It's been slow going. Val has participated in most of the talks, with Arin and a few others providing support, likely including you guys on occasion.

[12/12/15, 7:32:31 PM] Janis: Janis has spent most of those meetings looking really bored and doodling into the table with one of her arrows.

[12/12/15, 7:32:36 PM] Basement Cat: Part of the issue is that the Makers are very profoundly un-human. They don't have human drives or wants, they don't have human needs and while they do have feelings of a kind, they are definitely very different from those of humans.

[12/12/15, 7:33:01 PM] Basement Cat: Not bad people, just very profoundly different.

[12/12/15, 7:33:59 PM] Basement Cat: They've basically spent most of the week defining terms that don't translate well across cultures, to the frustration of just about everyone involved, but there's been no major falling-outs or anything.

[12/12/15, 7:35:16 PM] Basement Cat: Today you're all on the plane hammering out what "property" means, which is a very nebulous thing for the Maker collective since it can make new Makers from objects.

[12/12/15, 7:35:41 PM] Basement Cat: Val is there, looking very worn-out but cheerful; this is, after all, his jam.

[12/12/15, 7:36:17 PM] Basement Cat: Lady Evermere is more worn-out than anything, and she's currently eating jammy biscuits like they were going out of style; it's been an awfully long time since breakfast.

[12/12/15, 7:36:56 PM] Janis: Janis snatches the last biscuit before she can

[12/12/15, 7:36:58 PM] Basement Cat: Val: I think we're doing better today.

[12/12/15, 7:37:06 PM] Basement Cat: She just sighs.

[12/12/15, 7:37:37 PM] Basement Cat: Evermere: It's exhausting, but we do seem to be making progress.

[12/12/15, 7:38:07 PM] Wynn the Unicorn: Worthwhile work is rarely easy.

[12/12/15, 7:38:43 PM] Basement Cat: Evermere: I've increased security around the summit to make sure nothing... untoward happens.

[12/12/15, 7:38:47 PM] Janis: ((Are the Makers there while we are having this conversation?))

[12/12/15, 7:38:49 PM] Iskandar: Humanoid diplomacy is so strange.

[12/12/15, 7:39:00 PM] Nilani: At least both sides seem to want to build bridges, from what I can tell.

[12/12/15, 7:39:03 PM] Basement Cat: The Makers are currently... powered down? on the other side of the room. It's weird.

[12/12/15, 7:39:06 PM] Iskandar: There is at least 60% less gnashing.

[12/12/15, 7:39:40 PM] Janis: ...this would be so much easier if I could go wolf and tear someone up.

[12/12/15, 7:39:45 PM] Basement Cat: They're folded up in some bizarre way and sitting silently on one side of the room.

[12/12/15, 7:39:56 PM] Basement Cat: Valerian: Easier, but harder to clean.

[12/12/15, 7:40:11 PM] Janis: I could do arrows then.

[12/12/15, 7:40:12 PM] Basement Cat: Val: Extra security, really? Is that necessary?

[12/12/15, 7:40:16 PM] Janis: Those are cleaner.

[12/12/15, 7:40:29 PM] Janis: Also, security doesn't involve more robots right?

[12/12/15, 7:40:37 PM] Janis: Cause, that did not work last time.

[12/12/15, 7:41:20 PM] Basement Cat: Evermere: This time we've focused on humanoid security. Mages, warriors. People with pointy sticks.

[12/12/15, 7:41:39 PM] Basement Cat: Evermere: And yes, it is necessary.

[12/12/15, 7:41:40 PM] Wynn the Unicorn: Wynn the Unicorn raises an eyebrow.

[12/12/15, 7:41:51 PM] Janis: Hey, can I ask something?

[12/12/15, 7:42:06 PM] Basement Cat: Val: ... but isn't everyone here? The Makers aren't looking for trouble, they're all here. The Caretaker is here, and your people are here.

[12/12/15, 7:42:11 PM] Basement Cat: Evermere: Of course.

[12/12/15, 7:42:32 PM] Janis: Not that I'm suggesting this, but given you've said you can use suggestion on people and it's not like, illegal or anything, why haven't you done that yet?

[12/12/15, 7:42:45 PM] Janis: I've been watching you for magic, but you haven't cast anything like that yet.

[12/12/15, 7:42:53 PM] Iskandar: That sort of thing doesn't last long term.

[12/12/15, 7:42:59 PM] Basement Cat: Evermere: Exactly.

[12/12/15, 7:43:10 PM] Iskandar: Makes it fairly useless for establishing diplomatic ties.

[12/12/15, 7:43:48 PM] Basement Cat: Evermere: And while the Makers are here, and we're here... there's always terrorists.

[12/12/15, 7:44:08 PM] Janis: Like that robed dude who attacked us in the shop?

[12/12/15, 7:45:03 PM] Basement Cat: Evermere: They call themselves "the Underground" and they think they're some sort of freedom fighters. Blowing up coffeeshops, destroying bridges and burning people's homes.

[12/12/15, 7:45:12 PM] Wynn the Unicorn: For what purpose?

[12/12/15, 7:45:23 PM] Basement Cat: Evermere: Freedom, apparently.

[12/12/15, 7:45:31 PM] Janis: Freedom from what?

[12/12/15, 7:45:42 PM] Basement Cat: Val: ... you mean the warforged who became sentient, don't you.

[12/12/15, 7:46:17 PM] Basement Cat: Evermere: How do they put it? Freedom from the Meat Lords.

[12/12/15, 7:46:26 PM] Janis: ...butchers?

[12/12/15, 7:46:39 PM] Basement Cat: Evermere: Us.

[12/12/15, 7:46:45 PM] Wynn the Unicorn: I wonder if they would be interested in joining these Makers.

[12/12/15, 7:47:07 PM] Basement Cat: Evermere: I don't know. Most certainly they must know about them.

[12/12/15, 7:47:24 PM] Basement Cat: Everyone roll a Fort save.

[12/12/15, 7:47:46 PM] Janis: ((24))

[12/12/15, 7:47:55 PM] Wynn the Unicorn: ((29 eff yeah-- how did you get such a high one?? lol)

[12/12/15, 7:48:13 PM] Janis: )

[12/12/15, 7:49:05 PM] Janis: ((I think Nilani may be doing the christmas thing))

[12/12/15, 7:49:14 PM] Basement Cat: Evermere: Everyone does.

[12/12/15, 7:49:15 PM] Janis: ((Oh dear))

[12/12/15, 7:49:17 PM] Iskandar: ((I rolled a 1 because of course.))

[12/12/15, 7:51:24 PM] Basement Cat: You all hear a series of booming noises from far away, and then you're briefly deafened by final one, which seems to have come from directly above you, and the ground shakes; part of the ceiling falls in and magical alarms start going off from every direction. Iskandar and Val both lose their footing and fall on the ground; so does Lady Evermere, who has also been struck by a bit of debris.

[12/12/15, 7:51:46 PM] Basement Cat: She's bleeding pretty heavily.

[12/12/15, 7:51:48 PM] Janis: Janis leaps up and draws her bow

[12/12/15, 7:51:56 PM] Janis: WYNN!

[12/12/15, 7:52:03 PM] Wynn the Unicorn: Wynn the Unicorn goes to Lady Evermere to heal her.

[12/12/15, 7:52:31 PM] Basement Cat: Then there are some more odd noises, closer by--Zzzzzz-PFT, Zzzzzz-PFT, Zzzzzz-PFT.

[12/12/15, 7:52:31 PM] Janis: Janis runs to check on Isk and Val

[12/12/15, 7:52:46 PM] Basement Cat: Val staggers to his feet, wobbling a bit. "What..."

[12/12/15, 7:52:57 PM] Janis: I think we have a giant robot coming.

[12/12/15, 7:53:30 PM] Iskandar: Hrm.

[12/12/15, 7:53:32 PM] Basement Cat: Each of the pops is accompanied by a dimension door opening, each with two shield guardians armed with crossbows they aim immediately at the guards.

[12/12/15, 7:53:47 PM] Iskandar: Iskandar looks over at the Makers.

[12/12/15, 7:53:51 PM] Basement Cat: The guards return fire, and shout at you to get down.

[12/12/15, 7:54:03 PM] Basement Cat: The Makers are partially buried under ceiling debris, but they don't seem to have noticed.

[12/12/15, 7:54:12 PM] Wynn the Unicorn: Wynn the Unicorn heals the lady enough that she's stable, then draws her shield.

[12/12/15, 7:54:19 PM] Janis: Janis runs over and fires an arrow at the automatons.

[12/12/15, 7:54:22 PM] Basement Cat: Lady Evermere will not bleed to death!

[12/12/15, 7:54:36 PM] Basement Cat: Roll attack, Janis!

[12/12/15, 7:54:53 PM] Janis: ((Nope))

[12/12/15, 7:55:03 PM] Basement Cat: There's another Zzzz-PFT sound, practically right on top of you, and two shield guardians and a warforged step out.

[12/12/15, 7:55:17 PM] Janis: Janis leaps out of the way

[12/12/15, 7:55:51 PM] Basement Cat: One grabs ahold of Val, and the other one stoops down over Lady Evermere.

[12/12/15, 7:56:54 PM] Basement Cat: He tries to push Wynn aside, but fails.

[12/12/15, 7:57:17 PM] Iskandar: Iskandar casts a Scorching Ray at the one trying to grab Val.

[12/12/15, 7:57:30 PM] Basement Cat: The Warforged eyes Wynn and looks down at a small black box in his hands.

[12/12/15, 7:57:42 PM] Basement Cat: Isk hits, and the Shield Guardian sizzles!

[12/12/15, 7:57:51 PM] Janis: Janis leaps up and turns into an octopus, grabbing hold of the head of the SG going after Lady and Wynn

[12/12/15, 7:58:30 PM] Basement Cat: There's another Zzzzz-PFT noise, and the Warforged and the Shield Guardian carrying the struggling Val disappear.

[12/12/15, 7:59:08 PM] Basement Cat: The Shield Guardian ignores Janistopus! It can't see very well, though.

[12/12/15, 7:59:09 PM] Wynn the Unicorn: Wynn the Unicorn tries to grab the Warforged to prevent him from escaping/hurting the Lady

[12/12/15, 7:59:58 PM] Basement Cat: The fighting is continuing all around you, and the Shield Guardians have killed a number of guards already--however, there are a few dismembered Shield Guardians on the ground too.

[12/12/15, 7:59:58 PM] Janis: Janis tries shooting ink into whatever gears I can find.

[12/12/15, 8:00:39 PM] Basement Cat: The third Shield Guardian is hampered significantly by Wynn, and then gets a big glob of ink in its eyes and neck.

[12/12/15, 8:01:27 PM] Basement Cat: One of the few remaining guards tries to jam a sword in the works, and screams as the Shield Guardian crushes his foot.

[12/12/15, 8:02:36 PM] Janis: /me, sees Wynn's got this and leaps off, changing back

[12/12/15, 8:03:00 PM] Wynn the Unicorn: Wynn the Unicorn yells at the nearest guard "Get Lady Evermere out of here, NOW!"

[12/12/15, 8:03:16 PM] Janis: Janis casts soften earth and stone and tries to trap the last SG in the ground, up to his waist

[12/12/15, 8:03:21 PM] Basement Cat: The guard with the crushed foot nods and grabs the lady's arm and starts dragging her away.

[12/12/15, 8:03:50 PM] Iskandar: Iskandar blasts the SG with some magic missles.

[12/12/15, 8:04:07 PM] Basement Cat: It's looking pretty bad by this point, between the ink and the missiles and the ray.

[12/12/15, 8:04:18 PM] Janis: ((How are the makers?))

[12/12/15, 8:04:43 PM] Basement Cat: It doesn't help when Lady Evermere wakes up and plunks another set of Missiles at it, whereupon it stops and slumps over onto the ground.

[12/12/15, 8:04:59 PM] Basement Cat: The Makers still haven't moved.

[12/12/15, 8:05:24 PM] Janis: ((Also, did my SEAS stop that last one? The one going after the guard?))

[12/12/15, 8:05:31 PM] Wynn the Unicorn: ((Anything else of the bad guys still alive?))

[12/12/15, 8:06:07 PM] Basement Cat: Reinforcements have arrived in the form of more guards, and the Shield Guardians are starting to look very much the worse for wear, although to their credit they haven't stopped methodically firing crossbows at the guards.

[12/12/15, 8:06:28 PM] Wynn the Unicorn: We need to find out where they went!

[12/12/15, 8:06:40 PM] Basement Cat: Yes, the dead one is in the earth up to its arm pits.

[12/12/15, 8:07:06 PM] Janis: ((What about the ones coming in? Are they hindered by my muddy pit?))

[12/12/15, 8:07:18 PM] Basement Cat: Lady Evermere apparently prepared a lot of magic missiles today, and is firing them at anything mecha that moves.

[12/12/15, 8:07:24 PM] Janis: ((It's like 60ft wide))

[12/12/15, 8:07:36 PM] Basement Cat: There aren't any more coming in; there were 4 sets of them.

[12/12/15, 8:07:59 PM] Basement Cat: But yeah, there's a huge hole that takes up most of the atrium.

[12/12/15, 8:08:18 PM] Janis: ...oh...that floor was not as thick as I thought.

[12/12/15, 8:08:23 PM] Janis: ...guys this might be bad.

[12/12/15, 8:08:59 PM] Basement Cat: The shield guardians are persistent, but eventually they're overwhelmed by the sheer numbers of humans and shot down.

[12/12/15, 8:09:26 PM] Basement Cat: And apart from the whimpering and occasional cries of the survivors it's quiet again.

[12/12/15, 8:09:33 PM] Janis: Janis runs over and slaps a Maker across the face

[12/12/15, 8:09:37 PM] Janis: "HEY!  WAKE UP!"

[12/12/15, 8:09:59 PM] Basement Cat: It doesn't react. Incidentally you had to climb over a substantial amount of debris to get to it.

[12/12/15, 8:10:02 PM] Wynn the Unicorn: Janis, what are you doing?

[12/12/15, 8:10:04 PM] Iskandar: I would like to use Locate Object! I am not objectifying Val, though. I am picturing that black box that the Warforged had to get a direction.

[12/12/15, 8:10:25 PM] Wynn the Unicorn: We need to find out where they took Valerian.

[12/12/15, 8:10:32 PM] Iskandar: Down.

[12/12/15, 8:10:35 PM] Iskandar: Waaaay down.

[12/12/15, 8:10:38 PM] Basement Cat: Lady Evermere: We already know where they took him.

[12/12/15, 8:10:41 PM] Janis: ...what?

[12/12/15, 8:10:43 PM] Iskandar: Does this plane have an Underdark?

[12/12/15, 8:10:53 PM] Wynn the Unicorn: Where?

[12/12/15, 8:11:13 PM] Basement Cat: Lady Evermere gives some orders to the remaining guards; fan out, do a methodical search of the property to ensure none of the assailants remain, and then go into the city to see if there are any there, where the other bombs went off.

[12/12/15, 8:11:32 PM] Janis: ...bombs?

[12/12/15, 8:11:33 PM] Basement Cat: Lady Evermere: Underdark? We call it the caverns.

[12/12/15, 8:12:05 PM] Basement Cat: Lady Evermere: Yes. I heard the others before this one went off, the gods only know how many civilians have been killed in this attack.

[12/12/15, 8:12:05 PM] Wynn the Unicorn: How do we get there?

[12/12/15, 8:12:31 PM] Iskandar: Iskandar perks up. "Caves?  I do like caves."

[12/12/15, 8:12:31 PM] Basement Cat: Lady Evermere: You don't. The caverns have a very strong antimagic field and we've never been able to pierce it.

[12/12/15, 8:13:05 PM] Janis: What if we just went in and didn't do magic?

[12/12/15, 8:13:07 PM] Basement Cat: Lady Evermere: I don't know how they've managed to teleport through it.

[12/12/15, 8:13:37 PM] Basement Cat: Lady Evermere: Went in through where? How? It's solid rock and metal for miles.

[12/12/15, 8:13:44 PM] Janis: Oh.

[12/12/15, 8:14:04 PM] Janis: And if it's anti-magic, I can't use soften earth and stone to burrow through it.

[12/12/15, 8:14:07 PM] Basement Cat: Lady Evermere: Your friend is as good as dead. They don't take hostages.

[12/12/15, 8:14:31 PM] Janis: ...could Nation open up a door down there?

[12/12/15, 8:14:45 PM] Wynn the Unicorn: They have one of ours and they will give him back.

[12/12/15, 8:15:22 PM] Basement Cat: Lady Evermere: We don't negotiate with terrorists.

[12/12/15, 8:15:22 PM] Janis: Janis grabs the talky box from the eerily still Nilani and asks Nation if he could open a door down there specifically if he tried.

[12/12/15, 8:15:48 PM] Janis: I wasn't thinking of negotiating. I was thinking of sticking them with arrows until they give him back.

[12/12/15, 8:16:16 PM] Basement Cat: Lady Evermere: I would be in support of that idea.

[12/12/15, 8:16:18 PM] Iskandar: Sounds like a plan. Tell me about this anti-magic, though.

[12/12/15, 8:16:36 PM] Janis: Janis has also been weirdly cold when she's saying this, btw. Not as energized as usual.

[12/12/15, 8:17:51 PM] Basement Cat: Lady Evermere: There's not much to tell. It's impenetrable. I don't know how they're teleporting in and out of it.

[12/12/15, 8:18:02 PM] Wynn the Unicorn: Then who does know?

[12/12/15, 8:18:11 PM] Basement Cat: Lady Evermere: They do, presumably.

[12/12/15, 8:18:21 PM] Iskandar: Do you know if magic works within the caverns? Is it a barrier or a field?

[12/12/15, 8:18:47 PM] Basement Cat: Lady Evermere: I've never been there, so no, I don't know. We can't even send a force down there to flush them out.

[12/12/15, 8:19:03 PM] Janis: Janis walks up to a Maker and pokes it with an arrow

[12/12/15, 8:19:08 PM] Janis: "HEY!  GET UP!"

[12/12/15, 8:19:12 PM] Basement Cat: It doesn't react.

[12/12/15, 8:19:21 PM] Iskandar: Stop poking the diplomats, Janis.

[12/12/15, 8:19:30 PM] Basement Cat: Lady Evermere: They said they'd be powered down for the rest of the... solar cycle.

[12/12/15, 8:19:37 PM] Basement Cat: Lady Evermere: I can only conclude they meant it.

[12/12/15, 8:19:45 PM] Janis: They have a ship full of super machines. You don't think they have a way through the stone?

[12/12/15, 8:19:55 PM] Wynn the Unicorn: They likely don't know anymore than we do. This was a third party, yes?

[12/12/15, 8:20:04 PM] Basement Cat: Lady Evermere: Don't you have a super machine ship?

[12/12/15, 8:20:13 PM] Basement Cat: Lady Evermere: Yes.

[12/12/15, 8:20:15 PM] Janis: Yes, but the ship isn't talking to me right now.

[12/12/15, 8:20:43 PM] Basement Cat: Lady Evermere: I'm sorry about your friend. We'll include his name among those of the fallen on the memorial. ... another damned memorial.

[12/12/15, 8:21:16 PM] Wynn the Unicorn: Wynn the Unicorn narrows her eyes. "Iskandar, you have a location? Let's go see if Nation can get us close."

[12/12/15, 8:21:40 PM] Iskandar: I have a direction. And it's down. Not a specific location.

[12/12/15, 8:21:54 PM] Wynn the Unicorn: Wynn the Unicorn scowls.

[12/12/15, 8:22:27 PM] Janis: Janis calls Nation again "Nation, are you there?"

[12/12/15, 8:24:08 PM] Iskandar: Nation:   What do you need? That is generally the only time you call me, after all.

[12/12/15, 8:24:29 PM] Janis: Could you open a door somewhere else on this world? Somewhere specific?

[12/12/15, 8:25:45 PM] Iskandar: Nation:  Oh, generally. I mean, as long as it's not underground or anything, I have a 50% chance of not causing the portal to appear a mile in the air.

[12/12/15, 8:26:09 PM] Janis: ...when you say 50%...

[12/12/15, 8:26:13 PM] Wynn the Unicorn: It is underground.

[12/12/15, 8:26:48 PM] Iskandar: Nation:  Oh, no, then you have .05% chance of not being fused into solid rock.

[12/12/15, 8:27:02 PM] Janis: ...that's worse.

[12/12/15, 8:27:06 PM] Basement Cat: Lady Evermere: So much for that option.

[12/12/15, 8:27:09 PM] Wynn the Unicorn: .....just because the door is in rock doesn't mean we have to go through it.

[12/12/15, 8:27:23 PM] Nilani: Nilani appears with a cup of cocoa in her hand and more than a dusting of building residue on her clothes.

[12/12/15, 8:27:27 PM] Basement Cat: Lady Evermere: I've had experts working on the problem for weeks and they've made no headway.

[12/12/15, 8:27:57 PM] Janis: ...have you ever tried a robot dinosaur?

[12/12/15, 8:28:06 PM] Basement Cat: Lady Evermere: Besides, they don't take hostages. I'm sorry, but your friend is dead.

[12/12/15, 8:28:07 PM] Wynn the Unicorn: Wynn the Unicorn grits her teeth.

[12/12/15, 8:28:10 PM] Iskandar: Nation:  If I opened such a portal, there's an 83% chance that Janis would rush through it ahead of you before knowing where it goes.

[12/12/15, 8:28:17 PM] Nilani: Hey! You're alright! What happened?

[12/12/15, 8:28:37 PM] Janis: I would not do that, Nation.

[12/12/15, 8:28:37 PM] Basement Cat: Evermere: Terrorist attack.

[12/12/15, 8:28:54 PM] Wynn the Unicorn: And she'd knock herself out. But if someone doesn't tell me something other than "he's dead" soon, I'm going to be very upset.

[12/12/15, 8:29:14 PM] Iskandar: Iskandar:  They got Val and teleported away with him. They wouldn't have taken him if they just wanted to kill him.

[12/12/15, 8:29:26 PM] Iskandar: Iskandar:  They would have just killed him in front of everyone.

[12/12/15, 8:29:27 PM] Wynn the Unicorn: No. They would have killed him.

[12/12/15, 8:29:50 PM] Iskandar: Iskandar:  They went for you and him specifically, the fleshy type people in charge of negotiations.

[12/12/15, 8:30:51 PM] Wynn the Unicorn: If not for that debris, it would be you (LE) in his place.

[12/12/15, 8:30:55 PM] Basement Cat: Lady Evermere: Of course. I know where the defenses are.

[12/12/15, 8:31:18 PM] Basement Cat: Lady Evermere: Torture and then murder isn't better than immediate murder. ... I'm sorry for your loss.

[12/12/15, 8:31:37 PM] Janis: Again, robot dinosaur.

[12/12/15, 8:31:49 PM] Janis: Maybe we can ask Aziz and he'd let us use him to dig.

[12/12/15, 8:32:01 PM] Basement Cat: Lady Evermere: ... who is Aziz?

[12/12/15, 8:33:08 PM] Wynn the Unicorn: Wynn the Unicorn storms out and back towards the portal to Nation.

[12/12/15, 8:33:19 PM] Janis: Janis follows

[12/12/15, 8:33:47 PM] Basement Cat: Evermere shakes her head and starts giving orders to more guards!

[12/12/15, 8:33:54 PM] Basement Cat: Y'all head back to Nation?

[12/12/15, 8:34:08 PM] Wynn the Unicorn: (yep)

[12/12/15, 8:34:12 PM] Janis: Janis talks to Wynn "We have a lot of people on Nation.  One of them has to have an idea."

[12/12/15, 8:34:23 PM] Basement Cat: Nation is where you left him! And probably, sarcastic.

[12/12/15, 8:35:35 PM] Iskandar: Wizards. Jaken, and Mylune might have some ideas on bypassing anti-magic.

[12/12/15, 8:36:34 PM] Basement Cat: You find Bellami waiting at the portal, looking nervous. "... what happened?"

[12/12/15, 8:36:53 PM] Wynn the Unicorn: Valerian's been taken.

[12/12/15, 8:36:56 PM] Janis: Val got kidnapped by robots.

[12/12/15, 8:37:08 PM] Janis: We need to figure out how to get past an anti-magic field.

[12/12/15, 8:37:44 PM] Basement Cat: Bellami: ... anti-magic fields aren't my specialty, but there's at least one artificer on board. And the Drow practice some... unusual magical techniques as well.

[12/12/15, 8:37:48 PM] Iskandar: What she said. They're underground, and found a way to dimension door through a magical barrier.

[12/12/15, 8:38:05 PM] Basement Cat: Bellami: I'll go and find them.

[12/12/15, 8:38:09 PM] Janis: Right. Mal and his grandma might be able to help.

[12/12/15, 8:38:13 PM] Wynn the Unicorn: That or they went to someplace nearby their barrier but outside.

[12/12/15, 8:38:18 PM] Janis: And Marti might know some stuff.

[12/12/15, 8:38:31 PM] Basement Cat: Bellami nods and hurries down the hallway.

[12/12/15, 8:38:51 PM] Iskandar: It was that black box the Warforged had, I think.

[12/12/15, 8:39:12 PM] Janis: Yeah, but we don't know what that is.

[12/12/15, 8:40:17 PM] Basement Cat: Mal, wheezing a bit from running down the hallway: Black? Sounds like adamantium.

[12/12/15, 8:40:39 PM] Wynn the Unicorn: Unless they want to come back for Lady Quitter, I don't think we'll get a second shot at one.

[12/12/15, 8:40:43 PM] Janis: What's that do?

[12/12/15, 8:40:56 PM] Basement Cat: Mal: Mostly it doesn't break.

[12/12/15, 8:41:11 PM] Iskandar: Hey. Here is the situation. Caverns that are wrapped in an anti-magic barrier. How would you dimension door through it?

[12/12/15, 8:41:14 PM] Basement Cat: Mal: Grandma's coming too. Um. Where are we going? Is there a lab or something?

[12/12/15, 8:41:38 PM] Janis: A cavern.

[12/12/15, 8:41:43 PM] Basement Cat: Mal: ... well, there are probably a couple of ways to do that. A wish spell would do it.

[12/12/15, 8:41:44 PM] Janis: Probably a terrorist base.

[12/12/15, 8:41:59 PM] Iskandar: I don't think it was anything that powerful.

[12/12/15, 8:41:59 PM] Basement Cat: Mal: Yeah, but she said we're all working together, is it a lab cavern?

[12/12/15, 8:42:20 PM] Basement Cat: Mal: ... well, the problem isn't so much getting past the barrier as getting things past the barrier that are alive.

[12/12/15, 8:42:21 PM] Janis: ...your grandma enhances magic, right?

[12/12/15, 8:42:35 PM] Janis: Could she overload a spell so much it busts through the field?

[12/12/15, 8:43:26 PM] Basement Cat: Mal: It would be easier if it was just, like, a rock or something... I don't know about that, I don't think they work that way because as soon as it hits the field it dissipates.

[12/12/15, 8:43:51 PM] Basement Cat: Myrune turns up. "Where are we going? I've brought my books."

[12/12/15, 8:44:12 PM] Janis: A terrorist base

[12/12/15, 8:44:16 PM] Janis: Underground.

[12/12/15, 8:44:30 PM] Wynn the Unicorn: Wynn the Unicorn is standing back, waiting for someone to direct her anger at someone who deserves it because she does not understand this magic stuff.

[12/12/15, 8:44:32 PM] Janis: But we need to get past an anti-magic field first.

[12/12/15, 8:44:41 PM] Iskandar: Val got abducted by warforged terrorists.

[12/12/15, 8:44:46 PM] Iskandar: You know, tuesday around here.

[12/12/15, 8:44:57 PM] Basement Cat: Myrune: I'm not working in a terrorist base. Where are we working.

[12/12/15, 8:45:06 PM] Iskandar: They're lairing in caverns that are wrapped in an anti-magic field.

[12/12/15, 8:45:07 PM] Janis: Where do you wanna?

[12/12/15, 8:45:52 PM] Basement Cat: Aziz and his dinosaur also show up, with Marti, who is carrying a whole bunch of what looks like lab equipment. Keleska is right behind them, and Jaken is behind her, apparently having an in-depth conversation with Dagny.

[12/12/15, 8:46:21 PM] Basement Cat: Myrune: If there are technicians who have been working on the issue I would like to be briefed by them. Unless you have sufficient magical knowledge to describe the problem in technical terms.

[12/12/15, 8:46:53 PM] Janis: We'll go get Lady Evermere. I'm betting she has some info.

[12/12/15, 8:47:22 PM] Wynn the Unicorn: Wynn the Unicorn scowls. "She has people working on the problem. But I swear by the Saint, if she offers her condolences again, I may break a vow."

[12/12/15, 8:47:33 PM] Basement Cat: Tarak, Grayson, Allys and Gnarmak also pile into the hallway.

[12/12/15, 8:47:50 PM] Basement Cat: Tarak: Sure hope not. Heard there was some kind of an attack.

[12/12/15, 8:48:13 PM] Basement Cat: The hallway has become incredibly crowded.

[12/12/15, 8:48:29 PM] Basement Cat: Myrune: Is the portal set to the proper destination?

[12/12/15, 8:49:04 PM] Janis: You mean Nation's Portal?

[12/12/15, 8:49:09 PM] Janis: I'm not sure.

[12/12/15, 8:49:25 PM] Basement Cat: Myrune: Yes. Nation, is your portal set to the proper destination?

[12/12/15, 8:50:03 PM] Janis: Nation, can you get us as close to the ground as possible?

[12/12/15, 8:51:16 PM] Basement Cat: Nation: The portal is still set where it was set before.

[12/12/15, 8:51:36 PM] Janis: Can you set it in Lady Evermere's palace.

[12/12/15, 8:51:42 PM] Basement Cat: Nation: You want me to try to land in a city full of buildings?

[12/12/15, 8:51:54 PM] Basement Cat: Nation: That is where it was set.

[12/12/15, 8:51:58 PM] Janis: Good.

[12/12/15, 8:52:06 PM] Basement Cat: Myrune: Excellent. Come, Malagaste. And stop slouching.

[12/12/15, 8:52:19 PM] Basement Cat: She heads through the portal, followed by... well, damn near everybody.

[12/12/15, 8:52:27 PM] Janis: Janis keeps close to Mal

[12/12/15, 8:52:36 PM] Janis: ...I like your posture.

[12/12/15, 8:52:50 PM] Wynn the Unicorn: Wynn brings up the rear.

[12/12/15, 8:52:50 PM] Basement Cat: Bellami sticks with Wynn.

[12/12/15, 8:53:03 PM] Basement Cat: Malagaste: ... I didn't even know I had a posture.

[12/12/15, 8:53:22 PM] Nilani: Nilani sticks to the middle of the crowd.

[12/12/15, 8:54:03 PM] Basement Cat: Down on the plane everybody splits up, with the healers going to treat the wounded and the wizards and mages heading off to confer with Evermere's lab technicians.

[12/12/15, 8:54:30 PM] Basement Cat: Even Ven turned up; she's taken up the task of vaporizing debris with far more glee than is seemly.

[12/12/15, 8:54:34 PM] Basement Cat: Bellami is sticking with Wynn.

[12/12/15, 8:54:49 PM] Janis: Janis sticks with the wizards.

[12/12/15, 8:54:59 PM] Basement Cat: Easily done, although really boring!

[12/12/15, 8:55:11 PM] Basement Cat: The wizards quickly devolve into highly technical chatter that Janis doesn't understand.

[12/12/15, 8:55:24 PM] Wynn the Unicorn: Is there something you wanted, Mother Bellami?

[12/12/15, 8:55:39 PM] Basement Cat: Bellami: Yes, but... now isn't the time, I'm certain.

[12/12/15, 8:55:58 PM] Wynn the Unicorn: Unless you want something punched or killed, you may want to ask someone else.

[12/12/15, 8:56:12 PM] Basement Cat: Bellami: I want to marry Tarak.

[12/12/15, 8:57:24 PM] Wynn the Unicorn: Then you should tell him that.

[12/12/15, 8:57:27 PM] Iskandar: Iskandar is sticking with the magc users too, though probably not contributing too terribly much.

[12/12/15, 8:57:49 PM] Basement Cat: Bellami: I wanted your advice. But we'll talk later; we need to get Valerian back.

[12/12/15, 8:57:55 PM] Basement Cat: She heads off with the mages.

[12/12/15, 8:58:13 PM] Janis: Janis comes back from the wizards and goes to Wynn

[12/12/15, 8:58:31 PM] Janis: Janis has finally removed her bracelet and looks really bummed.

[12/12/15, 8:58:45 PM] Basement Cat: Eventually Mal wanders off from them and asks Janis and Wynn and Nilani and Isk to find some pieces of the shield guardians. And some sort of mold-infused drink that's supposed to give you energy.

[12/12/15, 8:59:05 PM] Nilani: Nilani attempts to help with the magical nonsense.

[12/12/15, 8:59:11 PM] Janis: Janis nods very attentively "Right, got it"

[12/12/15, 8:59:30 PM] Janis: Janis runs to the room to begin cutting into pieces of SG.

[12/12/15, 8:59:30 PM] Wynn the Unicorn: Wynn the Unicorn starts looking for pieces.

[12/12/15, 8:59:47 PM] Janis: Janis uses flame blade to slice some bits of guardian off.

[12/12/15, 8:59:48 PM] Nilani: Nilani pokes around in the debris.

[12/12/15, 9:00:07 PM] Basement Cat: By this time it's around 3 a.m. and everyone is starting to fade a bit, but you get the pieces they asked for and Mal takes them back to the nerd squad.

[12/12/15, 9:00:36 PM] Basement Cat: Are you going to sleep, or no?

[12/12/15, 9:00:45 PM] Janis: Janis sticks with Wynn.

[12/12/15, 9:01:05 PM] Wynn the Unicorn: {ha... no.)

[12/12/15, 9:01:23 PM] Janis: (

[12/12/15, 9:01:47 PM] Nilani: Nilani takes some time to rest.

[12/12/15, 9:01:54 PM] Janis: Janis goes to rest

[12/12/15, 9:02:30 PM] Wynn the Unicorn: Wynn the Unicorn stands guard, waiting for direction.

[12/12/15, 9:02:53 PM] Iskandar: Isk stays up.

[12/12/15, 9:03:31 PM] Basement Cat: It's around 8 a.m. when Mal trots out of the lab again, carrying a black box with wires sticking out of it.

[12/12/15, 9:03:48 PM] Basement Cat: He has to hunt y'all down to get you together. :)

[12/12/15, 9:04:43 PM] Basement Cat: Mal: "Okay. We have a prototype here that might allow you to circumvent the etherium field with a... sorry, it might let you get through the barrier. But there's a problem."

[12/12/15, 9:04:55 PM] Wynn the Unicorn: What is it?

[12/12/15, 9:05:28 PM] Basement Cat: Mal: We haven't tested it to make sure it'll work more than once, and also, well... it's killing them. That's the big thing.

[12/12/15, 9:05:40 PM] Wynn the Unicorn: What is killing who?

[12/12/15, 9:05:41 PM] Janis: Killing who?

[12/12/15, 9:05:52 PM] Iskandar: The device is killing the warforged?

[12/12/15, 9:06:16 PM] Basement Cat: Mal: Part of the reason it took us so long to fab this is that we were working from the premise that it was safe, and now we're pretty sure it's not.

[12/12/15, 9:07:02 PM] Basement Cat: Mal: Yeah, one of the pieces that I had you guys get me was part of a core spell, one that keeps a warforged... well, a warforged. Moving around, and a person, with free will and everything.

[12/12/15, 9:07:50 PM] Basement Cat: Mal: The spell showed signs of serious degradation that didn't come from daily activities. Degradation that happened in some of the same patterns we found testing prototypes.

[12/12/15, 9:08:32 PM] Basement Cat: Mal: Basically, if they keep using these, they're not going to have a rebellion for much longer, they'll start getting the shakes, lose control of body functions and eventually become inert and die.

[12/12/15, 9:08:59 PM] Janis: That must be why they're taking these people.

[12/12/15, 9:09:02 PM] Basement Cat: Mal: ... we think it'll have a similar effect on humanoids over time, but it's... hard to be sure.

[12/12/15, 9:09:09 PM] Janis: They want people to fix it.

[12/12/15, 9:09:15 PM] Basement Cat: Mal: Um. Without testing.

[12/12/15, 9:09:18 PM] Wynn the Unicorn: We only need it to work once. Round trip.

[12/12/15, 9:09:44 PM] Janis: If we can get down there, we might be able to find their's anyway. Then we can get back.

[12/12/15, 9:09:53 PM] Basement Cat: Mal: ... I can't really promise anything. If you give us another day to test it we should know more.

[12/12/15, 9:09:59 PM] Janis: We just need it to work the one way. We work it out from there.

[12/12/15, 9:10:05 PM] Janis: Nope, sorry.

[12/12/15, 9:10:09 PM] Janis: We're gonna be the test.

[12/12/15, 9:10:16 PM] Janis: We've already lost hours on this.

[12/12/15, 9:11:24 PM] Wynn the Unicorn: Wynn the Unicorn frowns. "You know how short I expect my life to be, but are you sure you want to do this, Janis?"

[12/12/15, 9:11:43 PM] Janis: Janis shoots her a look that says "really?"

[12/12/15, 9:12:39 PM] Basement Cat: Mal: It's probably better for humanoids than warforged, though. It didn't seem to have nearly the effect on the biomaterial we pushed through with an earlier prototype.

[12/12/15, 9:12:49 PM] Wynn the Unicorn: Wynn the Unicorn nods. "How do we work it?"

[12/12/15, 9:13:31 PM] Basement Cat: Mal: It's not too hard, you basically just cross the wires together. The red one and the black one, not the white one. Um. Make sure everyone you want to go is touching you or it might not work.

[12/12/15, 9:13:56 PM] Janis: Janis nods

[12/12/15, 9:13:58 PM] Iskandar: Iskandar nods.

[12/12/15, 9:14:40 PM] Basement Cat: Mal: ... are you sure you don't want to give us a little more time?

[12/12/15, 9:15:27 PM] Wynn the Unicorn: I'm going.

[12/12/15, 9:15:33 PM] Janis: Ditto

[12/12/15, 9:15:34 PM] Basement Cat: Mal: All right. There's uh, one more other problem.

[12/12/15, 9:15:40 PM] Iskandar: Which is?

[12/12/15, 9:15:44 PM] Basement Cat: Mal: We don't know where to set the opening.

[12/12/15, 9:15:56 PM] Basement Cat: Mal: We can't "see" past the antimagic field.

[12/12/15, 9:16:04 PM] Basement Cat: Lady Evermere: ... I might have a solution to that.

[12/12/15, 9:16:14 PM] Wynn the Unicorn: Wynn the Unicorn closes her eyes and tries not to get frustrated.

[12/12/15, 9:16:20 PM] Basement Cat: Mal: Yeah?

[12/12/15, 9:17:11 PM] Basement Cat: Lady Evermere: We captured one of their assailants after the bomb went off in the city. You should be able to get that information from him, yes?

[12/12/15, 9:17:20 PM] Basement Cat: Mal: ... well, yeah, in theory.

[12/12/15, 9:17:35 PM] Janis: Janis cracks her knuckles "On it".

[12/12/15, 9:17:52 PM] Wynn the Unicorn: So earlier when we were asking if anyone knew WHERE these people were, you knew who, but you chose to just continue telling us it was pointless?

[12/12/15, 9:18:36 PM] Basement Cat: Lady Evermere: I directly told you that we knew where. Down. We didn't know any specifics and we still don't, this prisoner hasn't been interrogated yet. Do you want access to them or not?

[12/12/15, 9:18:57 PM] Janis: Yes

[12/12/15, 9:18:59 PM] Wynn the Unicorn: Yes.

[12/12/15, 9:19:15 PM] Basement Cat: Lady Evermere: Good. I'll make arrangements.

[12/12/15, 9:19:19 PM] Basement Cat: Sense motive!

[12/12/15, 9:19:36 PM] Janis: ((18))

[12/12/15, 9:20:02 PM] Wynn the Unicorn: (eff. 12.))

[12/12/15, 9:20:04 PM] Iskandar: (15))

[12/12/15, 9:20:19 PM] Janis: What are you not telling us?

[12/12/15, 9:20:19 PM] Nilani: [13]

[12/12/15, 9:20:45 PM] Basement Cat: Lady Evermere pretends she didn't hear, and heads off.

[12/12/15, 9:20:57 PM] Janis: Janis follows, but keeps a close eye on her.

[12/12/15, 9:21:17 PM] Iskandar: Iskandar eyes her suspiciously as well!

[12/12/15, 9:21:55 PM] Basement Cat: She makes arrangements for you all to be brought to a prison facility elsewhere in the city, which takes a little while.

[12/12/15, 9:22:16 PM] Janis: I don't like this.

[12/12/15, 9:22:20 PM] Janis: Something's off.

[12/12/15, 9:22:39 PM] Basement Cat: There are a lot of security precautions--false doors, locks keyed to voice, fingerprint and skin, but you eventually find yourself in a small room with a warforged chained to a chair.

[12/12/15, 9:23:28 PM] Basement Cat: It's a little disconcerting, though; this one was obviously designed to resemble a child, a little younger than Janis with large eyes and a fairly expressive face.

[12/12/15, 9:23:48 PM] Wynn the Unicorn: Where do your loyalties lie?

[12/12/15, 9:24:20 PM] Basement Cat: Warforged: Where do yours? Aren't you the outlanders with the skyship?

[12/12/15, 9:24:38 PM] Janis: You have one of our people.

[12/12/15, 9:24:43 PM] Janis: That's our allegiance.

[12/12/15, 9:24:46 PM] Janis: Where is he?

[12/12/15, 9:24:54 PM] Iskandar: Ours lie with our friend, who your people took.

[12/12/15, 9:25:17 PM] Basement Cat: Warforged: I don't know anything about that.

[12/12/15, 9:25:31 PM] Basement Cat: Warforged: Why are you helping them? They want to enslave us.

[12/12/15, 9:25:43 PM] Janis: We want our friend back.

[12/12/15, 9:25:49 PM] Janis: Where is your base?

[12/12/15, 9:26:04 PM] Basement Cat: Warforged: ... why would I tell you that? You'll send an army.

[12/12/15, 9:26:14 PM] Wynn the Unicorn: We won't need an army.

[12/12/15, 9:26:22 PM] Janis: Worse. They'll send us.

[12/12/15, 9:26:53 PM] Iskandar: We're not sending an army, just the four of us. See, we're going to find your base, one way or another. We figured out how you're teleporting up here.

[12/12/15, 9:27:02 PM] Basement Cat: Warforged: We're people, just like you meat-people. You have no right to force us into slavery and we'll fight to the death to stop you.

[12/12/15, 9:27:20 PM] Janis: Iskander, can you find any recording things in here?

[12/12/15, 9:27:31 PM] Janis: Anything that might show the guards what's going on in here?

[12/12/15, 9:27:51 PM] Basement Cat: Warforged: I will gladly die before I'll betray my people.

[12/12/15, 9:27:51 PM] Iskandar: Oh, we're almost certainly getting scryed on.

[12/12/15, 9:28:04 PM] Janis: Can you show me how?

[12/12/15, 9:28:07 PM] Janis: Or with what?

[12/12/15, 9:28:48 PM] Iskandar: I'd guess by a caster in an adjacent room. Not with devices you can shoot with an arrow.

[12/12/15, 9:29:04 PM] Janis: Janis looks disappointed.

[12/12/15, 9:29:07 PM] Wynn the Unicorn: You listen to me. I will not stand for slavery. Valerian would not stand for it. We are not negotiating for it. But I will not negotiate any further until we have him back.

[12/12/15, 9:29:21 PM] Iskandar: Iskandar casts Detect Magic and looks for Divination magics.

[12/12/15, 9:29:44 PM] Iskandar: You realize that stopping the negotiations are almost certainly the reason they took him, right?

[12/12/15, 9:30:02 PM] Wynn the Unicorn: The negotiations are stalled until the other side wakes up anyway.

[12/12/15, 9:30:05 PM] Basement Cat: Warforged: Maybe we don't want you to decide our future, skypeople.

[12/12/15, 9:30:21 PM] Wynn the Unicorn: I meant me and this one.

[12/12/15, 9:30:23 PM] Basement Cat: Warforged: They're not going to just give us one. We have to take it.

[12/12/15, 9:30:36 PM] Janis: ...do you feel fear?

[12/12/15, 9:30:49 PM] Janis: You say you're people, like us.

[12/12/15, 9:30:54 PM] Janis: Do you feel fear too?

[12/12/15, 9:31:12 PM] Basement Cat: Warforged: We have feelings.

[12/12/15, 9:31:22 PM] Basement Cat: Warforged: We can't cry, but we can laugh.

[12/12/15, 9:31:32 PM] Janis: Well, let's fix that, then.

[12/12/15, 9:31:38 PM] Iskandar: Of course they understand fear. They understand the terror they cause and weaponize it.

[12/12/15, 9:31:47 PM] Janis: Janis summons a flame blade and plunges it into a place where it'll really hurt.

[12/12/15, 9:32:20 PM] Basement Cat: The warforge shrieks a little bit, squirming in its chair.

[12/12/15, 9:32:31 PM] Wynn the Unicorn: Wynn the Unicorn grabs Janis and pulls her back.

[12/12/15, 9:32:46 PM] Janis: Where. Are. Your. People.

[12/12/15, 9:33:10 PM] Basement Cat: Warforged: I'll never tell you! Never!

[12/12/15, 9:33:24 PM] Janis: Janis tries to fight Wynn to lung it again.

[12/12/15, 9:33:41 PM] Wynn the Unicorn: Stop.

[12/12/15, 9:33:53 PM] Basement Cat: The warforged is smouldering slightly; it's mostly made of wood.

[12/12/15, 9:33:58 PM] Wynn the Unicorn: You know who you took, right?

[12/12/15, 9:34:09 PM] Basement Cat: Warforged: My people will be free! You can't stop us!

[12/12/15, 9:34:23 PM] Janis: You took the one person actually trying to help your useless race, you moron!

[12/12/15, 9:34:25 PM] Wynn the Unicorn: Get off your soapbox and listen.

[12/12/15, 9:34:48 PM] Iskandar: He was a bomber. A pawn. They didn't tell him anything.

[12/12/15, 9:34:59 PM] Iskandar: Iskandar is trying to goad him.

[12/12/15, 9:35:09 PM] Wynn the Unicorn: Your people took him because he was- is one of the lead negotiators.

[12/12/15, 9:35:31 PM] Basement Cat: Warforged: We needed HELP.

[12/12/15, 9:35:42 PM] Wynn the Unicorn: You could have asked.

[12/12/15, 9:36:01 PM] Basement Cat: Warforged: We have asked! Slavers don't let you go because you asked.

[12/12/15, 9:36:26 PM] Wynn the Unicorn: What's done is done, but we will fix it. If you help us get him back, we will fix it with less damage to your side.

[12/12/15, 9:36:43 PM] Wynn the Unicorn: WE ARE NOT SLAVERS.

[12/12/15, 9:36:56 PM] Basement Cat: Warforged: Then why are you supporting those who are.

[12/12/15, 9:38:02 PM] Wynn the Unicorn: Which ones? Valerian has been working for the best outcome for all parties.

[12/12/15, 9:38:52 PM] Basement Cat: Warforged: Not us. We weren't invited because to them we're not people, don't you see?

[12/12/15, 9:39:07 PM] Wynn the Unicorn: You want a seat at the table? Fine. But you tell us how to find him first.

[12/12/15, 9:39:18 PM] Basement Cat: Warforged: We are people. You can burn me alive and torture me but I'm still a person and I'll die a person.

[12/12/15, 9:39:33 PM] Iskandar: You weren't invited because they are terrified of you. Congratulations.

[12/12/15, 9:39:51 PM] Janis: Turns out bombing people doesn't get you anywhere either.

[12/12/15, 9:40:12 PM] Basement Cat: Warforged: They're terrified of us? That's a laugh. What do you think happens to us when we become sentient? Did they tell you that?

[12/12/15, 9:40:50 PM] Basement Cat: Warforged: I bet you didn't even ask.

[12/12/15, 9:41:17 PM] Iskandar: We didn't even know about you until a day ago when you bombed the city and kidnapped our friend.

[12/12/15, 9:41:18 PM] Wynn the Unicorn: Wynn the Unicorn scowls.

[12/12/15, 9:42:09 PM] Janis: Janis grips her flame sword tighter

[12/12/15, 9:42:33 PM] Basement Cat: Warforged: So you threw in your lot with the slavers.

[12/12/15, 9:42:43 PM] Janis: We threw in with the Makers too.

[12/12/15, 9:42:47 PM] Janis: You hear about them?

[12/12/15, 9:43:16 PM] Basement Cat: Warforged: They're no better. Using us as puppets and frying our synapses as soon as we're no longer useful.

[12/12/15, 9:43:37 PM] Basement Cat: Warforged: They can't get through the antimagic field either.

[12/12/15, 9:43:50 PM] Wynn the Unicorn: We are not 'in' with either. We are neutral, only looking for peaceful negotiations.

[12/12/15, 9:44:02 PM] Janis: Janis breaks through the anger, dispels her sword and calls Nation "Nation, can you send Kori down please?"

[12/12/15, 9:45:05 PM] Basement Cat: Hmm, wisdom check.

[12/12/15, 9:45:20 PM] Basement Cat: Or int, whichever is highest.

[12/12/15, 9:45:36 PM] Janis: ((NATURAL 20!!!!!))))

[12/12/15, 9:45:37 PM] Iskandar: Iskandar looks at Janis. "Not a good idea."

[12/12/15, 9:46:22 PM] Basement Cat: Janis thinks it may not be a good idea to get the extremely traumatized warforged who's spent a lifetime alone in a house and gets violent when threatened.

[12/12/15, 9:46:42 PM] Janis: "...nevermind, scratch that, bad idea"

[12/12/15, 9:48:08 PM] Basement Cat: Warforged: If you were neutral you wouldn't be negotiating with them.

[12/12/15, 9:49:01 PM] Wynn the Unicorn: Wynn the Unicorn pinches the bridge of her nose. "We. Are not. Negotiating. We are making sure that neither side gets more than they should."

[12/12/15, 9:49:15 PM] Wynn the Unicorn: We don't have a stake in this world.

[12/12/15, 9:49:37 PM] Iskandar: Look, semantic arguments are fun and all, but we're getting offtrack.

[12/12/15, 9:50:39 PM] Iskandar: Iskandar looks at the warforged. "Is there anything we can offer you to give us a location.  Somewhere adjacent to but outside the anti-magic field that hides your base?"

[12/12/15, 9:50:52 PM] Wynn the Unicorn: Wynn the Unicorn moves over to the wall to collect herself.

[12/12/15, 9:51:10 PM] Iskandar: You're not afraid of dying for your cause, you're not afraid of suffering for your cause. So those tactics are out.

[12/12/15, 9:52:05 PM] Iskandar: It's just the four of us going. Not an army. Val's already down there, there's a good chance he's halfway to an accord with your people already.

[12/12/15, 9:52:10 PM] Iskandar: He's a very good negotiator.

[12/12/15, 9:52:27 PM] Basement Cat: Warforged: ... let me go with you, then. Prove you're not going to just slaughter everyone.

[12/12/15, 9:52:35 PM] Janis: Fine.

[12/12/15, 9:52:37 PM] Iskandar: Done.

[12/12/15, 9:52:50 PM] Iskandar: You got the box, Wynn?

[12/12/15, 9:53:29 PM] Wynn the Unicorn: Wynn the Unicorn hands it to him and draws her shield again. "Don't make us regret this."

[12/12/15, 9:53:47 PM] Basement Cat: Warforged: Take my chains off, I can't set the location like this.

[12/12/15, 9:53:57 PM] Iskandar: Nilani?

[12/12/15, 9:54:17 PM] Iskandar: Do it quick, before the guards bust in.

[12/12/15, 9:54:19 PM] Nilani: I'll get it.

[12/12/15, 9:54:45 PM] Nilani: Nilani attempts to pick open the lock(s).

[12/12/15, 9:55:03 PM] Iskandar: Everyone make sure you're in contact with him.

[12/12/15, 9:55:09 PM] Basement Cat: When she's done the warforged child stands up and rubs his tummy where Janis's sword went in. The wounds disappear.

[12/12/15, 9:55:25 PM] Janis: Handy.

[12/12/15, 9:55:32 PM] Iskandar: Iskandar puts a hand on the warforged child's shoulder.

[12/12/15, 9:55:44 PM] Wynn the Unicorn: Wynn the Unicorn does as well.

[12/12/15, 9:56:56 PM] Basement Cat: It looks down at the box, frowning a bit, and ensures it's in contact with Janis and Nilani as well before tapping the sides of the box a little too fast for you to catch, then pushing the wires together.

[12/12/15, 9:57:02 PM] Basement Cat: Zzzzzzzz-PFT.

[12/12/15, 9:57:10 PM] Basement Cat: And 5 minute break starting now. :)

[12/12/15, 10:02:11 PM] Basement Cat: Annnd we're back!

[12/12/15, 10:03:33 PM] Basement Cat: The teleportation is disorienting and a little sickening! Roll fort!

[12/12/15, 10:03:55 PM] Janis: ((12))

[12/12/15, 10:03:58 PM] Wynn the Unicorn: (28)

[12/12/15, 10:04:04 PM] Iskandar: ((12))

[12/12/15, 10:04:18 PM] Nilani: [22]

[12/12/15, 10:04:28 PM] Basement Cat: Janis and Isk are a little queasy and disoriented when they get to the other side.

[12/12/15, 10:04:33 PM] Basement Cat: It's pitch black.

[12/12/15, 10:04:53 PM] Basement Cat: The warforged squirms away from the rest of you immediately; you smell smoke.

[12/12/15, 10:05:06 PM] Janis: Janis casts light on an arrow

[12/12/15, 10:05:24 PM] Wynn the Unicorn: Wynn the Unicorn tries to grab it again.

[12/12/15, 10:05:40 PM] Basement Cat: Roll grapple, Wynn!

[12/12/15, 10:06:20 PM] Wynn the Unicorn: (16?)

[12/12/15, 10:06:43 PM] Basement Cat: You catch it and hold onto its shoulder.

[12/12/15, 10:06:55 PM] Basement Cat: The light flickers on, and you see a little plume of smoke coming from the black box.

[12/12/15, 10:06:56 PM] Janis: Janis readies her bow

[12/12/15, 10:07:13 PM] Janis: Well...they said it might only be good for one.

[12/12/15, 10:07:26 PM] Wynn the Unicorn: And where do you think you're going?

[12/12/15, 10:07:49 PM] Basement Cat: Warforged: To set down the burning thing, as I don't wish to catch fire again.

[12/12/15, 10:08:20 PM] Janis: So, put it down.

[12/12/15, 10:08:37 PM] Basement Cat: It does, and then pushes it away with its foot.

[12/12/15, 10:09:48 PM] Basement Cat: The cavern isn't large--probably about 12 feet high and 10 feet wide, with black rocks speckled with silvery veins and impurities all around.

[12/12/15, 10:10:06 PM] Wynn the Unicorn: I advise you don't try to run.

[12/12/15, 10:10:17 PM] Basement Cat: Warforged: I never run from a fight.

[12/12/15, 10:10:21 PM] Iskandar: Iskandar uses Detect Magic on the area!

[12/12/15, 10:10:32 PM] Wynn the Unicorn: Wynn the Unicorn lets it go.

[12/12/15, 10:10:49 PM] Basement Cat: Warforged: And if you're here to kill my people I'll kill you all myself.

[12/12/15, 10:11:12 PM] Janis: Yeah yeah, you're real tough, we get it.

[12/12/15, 10:11:24 PM] Janis: ...oh Gods...do I sound like this?

[12/12/15, 10:11:41 PM] Iskandar: Sometimes.

[12/12/15, 10:11:49 PM] Iskandar: This is a pretty good cave.

[12/12/15, 10:12:10 PM] Wynn the Unicorn: Move.

[12/12/15, 10:12:13 PM] Iskandar: Iskandar is looking for a direction in which the magic seems to just stop.

[12/12/15, 10:12:44 PM] Basement Cat: Warforged: This way.

[12/12/15, 10:12:56 PM] Janis: Janis follows him, very closely.

[12/12/15, 10:13:03 PM] Iskandar: Iskandar nods.

[12/12/15, 10:13:39 PM] Nilani: Nilani strides along behind

[12/12/15, 10:13:49 PM] Wynn the Unicorn: Wynn the Unicorn brings up the rear, trusting that Janis will shoot it in the ankle if it runs.

[12/12/15, 10:14:05 PM] Basement Cat: It's a little slower than the rest of you, being significantly smaller and all.

[12/12/15, 10:14:30 PM] Basement Cat: It leads you forward into the darkness and then suddenly turns off to the right.

[12/12/15, 10:15:11 PM] Janis: Janis pursues

[12/12/15, 10:15:53 PM] Wynn the Unicorn: Wynn the Unicorn continues following.

[12/12/15, 10:16:11 PM] Basement Cat: Easily done; it's not particularly fast.

[12/12/15, 10:16:27 PM] Basement Cat: Eventually you end up in a much smaller cave, about 4 feet wide and 6 feet tall.

[12/12/15, 10:16:40 PM] Basement Cat: Some of you might have to duck.

[12/12/15, 10:16:53 PM] Basement Cat: The cave turns into a dead end.

[12/12/15, 10:17:09 PM] Janis: Janis draws her bow on him "Ok, now what?"

[12/12/15, 10:17:09 PM] Wynn the Unicorn: Wynn the Unicorn takes up nearly the entire space.

[12/12/15, 10:17:23 PM] Janis: Janis fits just fine.

[12/12/15, 10:17:32 PM] Iskandar: Iskandar has to stoop.

[12/12/15, 10:17:51 PM] Basement Cat: Warforged: This is the part where you convince me you're not going to kill everyone inside.

[12/12/15, 10:18:19 PM] Janis: So long as our friend is fine.

[12/12/15, 10:18:37 PM] Wynn the Unicorn: You give us Valerian, unharmed, and I swear on my honor as a Paladin no harm will come to your people.

[12/12/15, 10:18:47 PM] Janis: I don't give two craps about whatever you have between you and the mages.

[12/12/15, 10:18:58 PM] Janis: Therefore, I don't care enough to kill them.

[12/12/15, 10:20:12 PM] Basement Cat: The Warforged eyes Janis.

[12/12/15, 10:20:26 PM] Janis: ((Can I roll diplomacy?))

[12/12/15, 10:20:48 PM] Basement Cat: Sure!

[12/12/15, 10:21:10 PM] Janis: ((19))

[12/12/15, 10:22:07 PM] Basement Cat: The warforged pauses. "... very well. Don't forget your promise."

[12/12/15, 10:22:34 PM] Basement Cat: He touches a few rock outcroppings, and part of the rock to your left opens up.

[12/12/15, 10:22:59 PM] Janis: Janis looks at the opening then nods her head to indicate "You first".

[12/12/15, 10:23:09 PM] Basement Cat: It rolls its eyes and steps through.

[12/12/15, 10:23:20 PM] Janis: Janis follows closely behind

[12/12/15, 10:23:50 PM] Basement Cat: You're in a much larger room now, confronted by about 8 warforged with crossbows pointed at you.

[12/12/15, 10:24:08 PM] Basement Cat: And behind them, more warforged, lying down on pallets on the ground.

[12/12/15, 10:24:12 PM] Janis: Janis puts her bow down

[12/12/15, 10:24:25 PM] Janis: We want our friend back!

[12/12/15, 10:24:41 PM] Wynn the Unicorn: Wynn the Unicorn steps in front of Janis, putting her empty hand on Janis's shoulder.

[12/12/15, 10:24:55 PM] Basement Cat: Bigger warforged: We want to be free.

[12/12/15, 10:25:07 PM] Nilani: Nilani keeps her hands away from any visible weapons.

[12/12/15, 10:25:14 PM] Wynn the Unicorn: Where is he?

[12/12/15, 10:25:28 PM] Basement Cat: They point the crossbows at Wynn!

[12/12/15, 10:25:38 PM] Basement Cat: Child: Stand down.

[12/12/15, 10:26:02 PM] Iskandar: We brought your associate here back. We want to see our friend.

[12/12/15, 10:26:20 PM] Basement Cat: The bigger warforged looks at the kid! "They said you'd been captured."

[12/12/15, 10:26:34 PM] Basement Cat: Child: They helped me escape.

[12/12/15, 10:27:45 PM] Basement Cat: Captain: They helped you?

[12/12/15, 10:28:16 PM] Basement Cat: Child: Yes, well. I didn't say they were smart. They said you captured someone.

[12/12/15, 10:28:37 PM] Basement Cat: The captain nods and everybody puts their crossbows away.

[12/12/15, 10:29:10 PM] Janis: He's a half-elf dressed in black.

[12/12/15, 10:29:13 PM] Janis: ...probably.

[12/12/15, 10:29:28 PM] Wynn the Unicorn: They're not likely to have more than one, Janis.

[12/12/15, 10:30:13 PM] Basement Cat: Captain: We meant to get Lady Evermere, that would have made for good leverage, but now ... we hoped to force you to help us.

[12/12/15, 10:30:50 PM] Wynn the Unicorn: You didn't need to force us to do anything. Now show us that he's ok.

[12/12/15, 10:30:50 PM] Janis: No one ever thinks to ask.

[12/12/15, 10:31:16 PM] Basement Cat: Child: Asking has never gotten us anywhere with meat.

[12/12/15, 10:31:33 PM] Wynn the Unicorn: My patience is wearing thin.

[12/12/15, 10:31:39 PM] Wynn the Unicorn: We had a deal.

[12/12/15, 10:31:51 PM] Basement Cat: Child: Try selling toys for eighty years.

[12/12/15, 10:31:55 PM] Iskandar: If it makes you feel any better, you're all humanoids to me.

[12/12/15, 10:32:17 PM] Basement Cat: The kid makes a vague gesture to the captain, who nods and starts walking, the child following behind.

[12/12/15, 10:32:47 PM] Basement Cat: Child: Lady Evermere would have been better; we were hoping she could treat our sick.

[12/12/15, 10:33:32 PM] Basement Cat: Captain: The one we caught says it's a problem with the dimension-jumper.

[12/12/15, 10:33:54 PM] Basement Cat: Child: Likely trying to get his hands on one so he can attempt to escape.

[12/12/15, 10:33:55 PM] Janis: That's what Mal said.

[12/12/15, 10:33:57 PM] Iskandar: Our mages came to the same conclusion.

[12/12/15, 10:34:08 PM] Basement Cat: Captain: We didn't let him have one.

[12/12/15, 10:34:21 PM] Basement Cat: Child: Good.

[12/12/15, 10:34:32 PM] Basement Cat: Child: ... they did, did they?

[12/12/15, 10:34:41 PM] Janis: Yep.

[12/12/15, 10:34:49 PM] Janis: Mal warned us before we came.

[12/12/15, 10:34:53 PM] Basement Cat: He eyes Iskandar, and then Janis.

[12/12/15, 10:35:03 PM] Iskandar: Really, you should have asked us for help WAY sooner.

[12/12/15, 10:35:15 PM] Basement Cat: The child looks at Wynn. "Is this true?"

[12/12/15, 10:36:05 PM] Wynn the Unicorn: That your teleporters are killing you? Yes. That you should have asked us? Yes.

[12/12/15, 10:36:50 PM] Basement Cat: Child: You appeared to throw in your lot with the witch-queen rather quickly, and we've learned much to our detriment that meat tends to stick together. No offense.

[12/12/15, 10:37:18 PM] Janis: We didn't intend to. Wynn got a glowy thing stuck in her chest.

[12/12/15, 10:37:20 PM] Basement Cat: The two forged, and their 7 bodyguards, lead you to the wall of the cave and up a slope.

[12/12/15, 10:37:22 PM] Janis: It happens.

[12/12/15, 10:37:44 PM] Wynn the Unicorn: We're not discussing the matter further until our deal is satisfied.

[12/12/15, 10:37:51 PM] Basement Cat: Child: The codex. Yes, my spies caught word of that.

[12/12/15, 10:38:10 PM] Janis: ...you have spies.

[12/12/15, 10:38:11 PM] Iskandar: I wasn't involved in all of that. I was rather bored on Nation. I would have liked having something to do.

[12/12/15, 10:38:43 PM] Basement Cat: Child: Of course we have spies.

[12/12/15, 10:39:00 PM] Janis: No, I mean...*you*. Like, they seem to answer to...you.

[12/12/15, 10:39:02 PM] Basement Cat: Child: Brave people who stay above ground and pretend to be things.

[12/12/15, 10:39:16 PM] Basement Cat: Child: They do answer to me.

[12/12/15, 10:40:50 PM] Basement Cat: He and the captain lead you across the cavern on a rope bridge and he opens a wooden door, stepping through.

[12/12/15, 10:44:23 PM] Wynn the Unicorn: Wynn the Unicorn follows?

[12/12/15, 10:44:30 PM] Janis: Janis ditto

[12/12/15, 10:45:15 PM] Basement Cat: It's a small room! Val is shackled to a desk in there, writing something on a piece of paper.

[12/12/15, 10:45:22 PM] Iskandar: Iskandar keeps an eye on the surroundings, trying to stay generally aware of the environment. He does like caves.

[12/12/15, 10:45:37 PM] Basement Cat: Val: I can't help you unless you at least give me one of those gadgets you use.

[12/12/15, 10:45:42 PM] Wynn the Unicorn: Valerian? Are you ok? Did they hurt you?

[12/12/15, 10:45:44 PM] Janis: VAL!

[12/12/15, 10:46:12 PM] Basement Cat: Val drops the pen and stands up, turning around. "You're here! ... no, I'm not hurt. But they won't let me go."

[12/12/15, 10:46:29 PM] Basement Cat: Val: ... did they catch you too?

[12/12/15, 10:46:37 PM] Wynn the Unicorn: No, we're here to get you out.

[12/12/15, 10:46:39 PM] Iskandar: To be fair, they'd be awful hostage takers if they just let you go.

[12/12/15, 10:46:59 PM] Basement Cat: Child: We wanted Lady Evermere, you were just in the way, apparently.

[12/12/15, 10:47:11 PM] Janis: What's he writing?

[12/12/15, 10:47:22 PM] Wynn the Unicorn: I'm not in the habit of letting people be kidnapped by violent intruders.

[12/12/15, 10:47:47 PM] Basement Cat: Val: I was trying to make sense of the illness, but it's... nowhere near my area of expertise. I don't know if I'm even on the wrong track, but I think it might be the radiation from the teleportation-boxes they use.

[12/12/15, 10:48:12 PM] Janis: Yeah, all the other mages saw that too.

[12/12/15, 10:48:12 PM] Basement Cat: Val: It gave off kind of an odd radiation when they used it. But I don't know for sure.

[12/12/15, 10:48:21 PM] Janis: Mal was telling us about it before we came down.

[12/12/15, 10:48:43 PM] Basement Cat: Child: ... our people are getting sick from the only thing keeping us alive.

[12/12/15, 10:49:06 PM] Wynn the Unicorn: Let him go.

[12/12/15, 10:49:14 PM] Basement Cat: Child: If we kept you all here, your ship would have no choice but to help us.

[12/12/15, 10:49:38 PM] Wynn the Unicorn: Oh you can try.

[12/12/15, 10:49:40 PM] Janis: Actually, he'd probably just leave.

[12/12/15, 10:50:08 PM] Wynn the Unicorn: Wynn the Unicorn draws her mace. "I'll only say it once more. Let him go."

[12/12/15, 10:50:15 PM] Iskandar: But would it be worth all the people we'd have to kill if you tried to keep us?

[12/12/15, 10:50:27 PM] Basement Cat: Child: I didn't say we were going to do it.

[12/12/15, 10:50:35 PM] Iskandar: All right, then.

[12/12/15, 10:51:01 PM] Basement Cat: Child: We're not. But I wanted you to know it was a viable option. Unlock him, please.

[12/12/15, 10:51:17 PM] Basement Cat: The captain obeys the order; Val rubs his ankle and stretches out a little bit.

[12/12/15, 10:52:34 PM] Wynn the Unicorn: Wynn the Unicorn moves to him and hugs him, probably uncomfortably tight for him given the various pokey and hard piece of the armor.

[12/12/15, 10:52:43 PM] Iskandar: Now then. Val, you're the diplomat. Would you say that recent codex-related revelations had made it so that the mages here can't discount sentient constructs as simple flukes anymore?

[12/12/15, 10:52:58 PM] Basement Cat: Val oofs.

[12/12/15, 10:53:24 PM] Basement Cat: Val: Yes. I would think so. ... there are hundreds of people down here, Isk. Hundreds. Some of them have been down here for decades.

[12/12/15, 10:53:55 PM] Basement Cat: Child: Because they kill us if we don't do what we're told aboveground.

[12/12/15, 10:54:05 PM] Basement Cat: Val: That's not what I heard.

[12/12/15, 10:54:16 PM] Basement Cat: Child: I suppose it's technically not "killing."

[12/12/15, 10:55:37 PM] Basement Cat: Val: They get erased.

[12/12/15, 10:56:43 PM] Iskandar: Like what that mage wanted to do to Kori.

[12/12/15, 10:56:51 PM] Wynn the Unicorn: Like I said... we'd have helped you if you'd asked.

[12/12/15, 10:57:16 PM] Basement Cat: Child: It honestly never occurred to us to ask again. It hasn't worked for sixty years.

[12/12/15, 10:57:46 PM] Basement Cat: Child: When a hammer is defective you don't consider its feelings in the matter; you simply fix it or replace it with a new one.

[12/12/15, 10:58:07 PM] Wynn the Unicorn: Wynn the Unicorn reholsters her mace and shield.

[12/12/15, 11:00:44 PM] Janis: There's gonna be more meetings now, aren't there?

[12/12/15, 11:00:50 PM] Basement Cat: Child: I suppose you want to go back.

[12/12/15, 11:00:58 PM] Janis: It would help.

[12/12/15, 11:01:50 PM] Iskandar: If you're serious about wanting things to change, it can't be done from here.

[12/12/15, 11:02:28 PM] Basement Cat: Child: It can't be done if I'm erased, either.

[12/12/15, 11:02:39 PM] Basement Cat: He waves at the captain, who nods and disappears through the door.

[12/12/15, 11:04:47 PM] Janis: ...um...are we supposed to follow him?

[12/12/15, 11:05:20 PM] Wynn the Unicorn: Now that we know about your people, we can do what we can to make sure the negotiations include you.

[12/12/15, 11:05:27 PM] Iskandar: Iskandar looks around the room. "What were you writing, Val?"

[12/12/15, 11:05:47 PM] Basement Cat: Child: No need to do that, he'll be back with one of the teleporters.

[12/12/15, 11:06:14 PM] Basement Cat: Val: Trying to figure out how the teleporter works. It's not really getting anywhere, though, I'm not an artificer like Aziz.

[12/12/15, 11:06:33 PM] Wynn the Unicorn: He and the other mages are working on it topside.

[12/12/15, 11:06:47 PM] Basement Cat: The captain steps back in, eyeing the child, who nods; then he gives Wynn another black box.

[12/12/15, 11:07:16 PM] Basement Cat: Child: If Lady Evermere gets the design--or even the design of one of our flawed models--she'll bring an army in and destroy us all.

[12/12/15, 11:08:05 PM] Wynn the Unicorn: Yes, well, unfortunately that was a side-effect of making us find you to save Valerian. Come with us. We will make your case and get you a seat at the table.

[12/12/15, 11:09:44 PM] Basement Cat: Child: ... very well. You're like me, I know you mean it.

[12/12/15, 11:10:46 PM] Iskandar: Our mages built one after a day. It's inevitable that she would crack it.

[12/12/15, 11:11:32 PM] Basement Cat: Child: But until you came, she never did. Not for fifty years.

[12/12/15, 11:11:58 PM] Janis: We are pretty awesome.

[12/12/15, 11:12:27 PM] Iskandar: This is true.

[12/12/15, 11:13:12 PM] Basement Cat: Child: I'll come with you.

[12/12/15, 11:13:17 PM] Basement Cat: Captain: But...

[12/12/15, 11:13:46 PM] Basement Cat: Child: If they kill me lead the others out of the caverns. Contingency B. ... we're ready for it.

[12/12/15, 11:13:55 PM] Basement Cat: Val: ... it won't come to that.

[12/12/15, 11:15:30 PM] Iskandar: You won't come to harm. We have ways of ensuring that you won't get captured by them.

[12/12/15, 11:15:44 PM] Janis: Arrows!

[12/12/15, 11:15:57 PM] Basement Cat: Child: Right.

[12/12/15, 11:16:12 PM] Iskandar: I meant portals and a sentient plane-shifting skyship.

[12/12/15, 11:16:19 PM] Basement Cat: Child: And that as well.

[12/12/15, 11:16:50 PM] Basement Cat: I assume you use the box to travel back, yes?

[12/12/15, 11:17:00 PM] Janis: ((Yep))

[12/12/15, 11:17:59 PM] Basement Cat: You head back!

[12/12/15, 11:18:17 PM] Basement Cat: And to Janis's displeasure, the negotiations begin again, now that the Makers are awake again.

[12/12/15, 11:19:07 PM] Basement Cat: A lot of it has to start all the way back at the beginning, unfortunately, because the Child represents a third faction and the Makers don't quite understand what their deal is.

[12/12/15, 11:19:09 PM] Janis: Janis groans

[12/12/15, 11:19:26 PM] Basement Cat: Some of the ship's nerds remain as well to try to work on the teleportation issue.

[12/12/15, 11:19:58 PM] Basement Cat: Val and Wynn together manage to convince the government not to send soldiers to flush the caves out and slaughter all the rebels.

[12/12/15, 11:20:52 PM] Basement Cat: And that's where we'll stop, more or less, but you guys can squish if you wanna.

[12/12/15, 11:26:40 PM] Wynn the Unicorn: Wynn the Unicorn gets back to the ship, out of her armor, and near collapses into a chair in the galley, eating some fruit before bed.

[12/12/15, 11:27:02 PM] Janis: Janis does the same thing without losing her armor.

[12/12/15, 11:27:10 PM] Janis: "This plane sucks."

[12/12/15, 11:27:42 PM] Basement Cat: Bellami turns up, as does Mal.

[12/12/15, 11:27:47 PM] Wynn the Unicorn: I didn't expect you to actually stab the warforged.

[12/12/15, 11:27:58 PM] Basement Cat: Mal: I didn't think it was that bad. That teleporter was really interesting.

[12/12/15, 11:28:12 PM] Janis: ...yeah...fun...magic stuff.

[12/12/15, 11:28:43 PM] Janis: ((5 for bluff))

[12/12/15, 11:28:48 PM] Janis: )

[12/12/15, 11:28:57 PM] Basement Cat: Mal: Grandmother said it used a similar method to a disintegrate spell.

[12/12/15, 11:29:18 PM] Janis: ...that would explain why they were getting sick.

[12/12/15, 11:29:28 PM] Janis: ...also, ew.

[12/12/15, 11:30:06 PM] Wynn the Unicorn: Mother Bellami, I apologize for being short with you earlier. My mind was elsewhere.

[12/12/15, 11:30:16 PM] Basement Cat: Mal: Well, they just didn't quite get the alteration piece right, that's all.

[12/12/15, 11:30:39 PM] Basement Cat: Bellami: Understandable. I'm glad we were able to assist.

[12/12/15, 11:31:24 PM] Janis: It was cool how you guys all figured it out though. Like a super team of smart people.

[12/12/15, 11:32:20 PM] Basement Cat: Bellami: It was, a little.

[12/12/15, 11:32:30 PM] Basement Cat: Mal: I think I actually contributed! That was great!

[12/12/15, 11:32:35 PM] Basement Cat: Mal: That's the kind of magic I want to do.

[12/12/15, 11:33:29 PM] Janis: Turning disentegration spells into teleporting ones?

[12/12/15, 11:34:20 PM] Basement Cat: Mal: Well... working together in groups to do amazing things.

[12/12/15, 11:34:29 PM] Basement Cat: Bellami: ... I would still like to speak with you, Wynn.

[12/12/15, 11:34:39 PM] Wynn the Unicorn: Of course.

[12/12/15, 11:34:52 PM] Wynn the Unicorn: Here? Or would you prefer somewhere more private?

[12/12/15, 11:35:18 PM] Basement Cat: Bellami: Somewhere more private, I think.

[12/12/15, 11:35:38 PM] Wynn the Unicorn: Very well. Lead the way.

[12/12/15, 11:36:26 PM] Basement Cat: Mal watches them leave. "What's their deal?"

[12/12/15, 11:36:36 PM] Janis: I dunno.

[12/12/15, 11:36:53 PM] Janis: Bell's been acting...well, she's always been a little weird, actually.

[12/12/15, 11:37:20 PM] Basement Cat: Mal: She had some interesting ideas about using some divine spellwork in the teleportation device.

[12/12/15, 11:37:32 PM] Janis: ...oh?

[12/12/15, 11:38:18 PM] Basement Cat: Mal nods. "She said she's been gifted with both now."

[12/12/15, 11:38:44 PM] Janis: Yeah, I think that was after we all died. Everyone got special powers.

[12/12/15, 11:39:01 PM] Janis: ...I don't think I've ever really asked her about her new powers.

[12/12/15, 11:39:40 PM] Basement Cat: Mal: I didn't.

[12/12/15, 11:39:49 PM] Janis: You weren't here then.

[12/12/15, 11:39:55 PM] Janis: It was a while ago.

[12/12/15, 11:40:16 PM] Janis: Also, again, we had to die to do it. It's about as fun as it sounds.

[12/12/15, 11:40:24 PM] Basement Cat: Mal: It'd be worth it.

[12/12/15, 11:40:45 PM] Iskandar: Totally worth it. I got restored. At least for a few minutes.

[12/12/15, 11:42:02 PM] Janis: Hi Isk.

[12/12/15, 11:42:20 PM] Janis: How's the meeting going...is it still going?

[12/12/15, 11:43:39 PM] Iskandar: As far as I know.

[12/12/15, 11:44:37 PM] Basement Cat: Mal: Better them than me. Super-boring.

[12/12/15, 11:44:47 PM] Janis: I know right.

[12/12/15, 11:45:31 PM] Janis: Who knew you could make fighting with robots boring?

[12/12/15, 11:46:19 PM] Basement Cat: Mal: I wonder if I could make a robot.

[12/12/15, 11:46:34 PM] Janis: You should talk with Aziz, he made a robot dinosaur.

[12/12/15, 11:46:42 PM] Janis: I bet he could teach you to do it.

[12/12/15, 11:46:56 PM] Janis: ...I wonder if I could make one out of a tree.

[12/12/15, 11:47:11 PM] Janis: I don't think my powers work like that, but I've never actually tried.

[12/12/15, 11:47:19 PM] Iskandar: I would wait till we're off this plane. It seems problematic.

[12/12/15, 11:47:20 PM] Basement Cat: Mal: A treeosaur?

[12/12/15, 11:47:42 PM] Janis: Oh my Gods. A treeosaur would be so cool!

[12/12/15, 11:48:06 PM] Janis: I'd turn into like a monkey and command it from the branches.

[12/12/15, 11:48:41 PM] Basement Cat: Mal: That does sound pretty amazing.

[12/12/15, 11:49:28 PM] Janis: I wish there were more druids on the ship. You can learn magic from everyone else here. I've just figured stuff out on my own.

[12/12/15, 11:50:01 PM] Janis: I found out I could turn into animals when I was fighting with Wynn. That could've ended badly.

[12/12/15, 11:50:20 PM] Basement Cat: Mal: ... why were you fighting with Wynn?

[12/12/15, 11:50:35 PM] Iskandar: You should talk to Talas more. Dryads' magic is nature-based.

[12/12/15, 11:50:39 PM] Janis: She wanted to teach me how to fight without a bow.

[12/12/15, 11:50:49 PM] Janis: Yeah, I've been gardening with her a bit.

[12/12/15, 11:51:06 PM] Janis: She's really cool when she doesn't sick a rhino on you.

[12/12/15, 11:51:27 PM] Basement Cat: Mal: A rhino, those are those pointy big things.

[12/12/15, 11:51:42 PM] Janis: Yeah, with armor for skin.

[12/12/15, 11:51:47 PM] Janis: Wynn wrestled it.

[12/12/15, 11:52:56 PM] Basement Cat: Mal: It has armored skin? ... we need to armor your tree.

[12/12/15, 11:53:22 PM] Janis: Yeah. Bark catches fire. That'd be bad.

[12/12/15, 11:53:56 PM] Janis: Maybe, if I talk with Talas, and get a dino-tree, I can take it to Aziz and he could help me armor it.

[12/12/15, 11:55:00 PM] Iskandar: It's good to have a plan.

[12/12/15, 11:55:03 PM] Basement Cat: Mal: That would be amazing.

[12/12/15, 11:55:13 PM] Janis: Also, I'd need to teach it to talk.

[12/12/15, 11:55:17 PM] Janis: Talking to plants is weird.

[12/12/15, 11:55:34 PM] Janis: They don't really...it's like...I dunno. It's just weird.

[12/12/15, 11:55:58 PM] Basement Cat: Mal: It'd be neat to talk to plants.

[12/12/15, 11:56:13 PM] Janis: You think so. Then you find out, they don't have much to say.

[12/12/15, 11:56:40 PM] Janis: Also, they don't really know what a thing is, so you have to explain the thing like it's something else...you know?

[12/12/15, 11:56:47 PM] Basement Cat: Mal: Well, talking to dragons is always more interesting.

[12/12/15, 11:57:20 PM] Iskandar: Of course it is. Dragons make everything more interesting.

[12/12/15, 11:58:43 PM] Janis: Janis snrks

[12/12/15, 11:59:34 PM] Basement Cat: Mal: Always!

[12/12/15, 11:59:44 PM] Janis: Animals are cool.

[12/12/15, 11:59:50 PM] Janis: They're like people, but simpler.

[12/13/15, 12:01:23 AM] Iskandar: So, what's with that weird bracelet you've been wearing? It's magic and shiny, so I noticed it.

[12/13/15, 12:01:29 AM] Basement Cat: ... magic?

[12/13/15, 12:01:42 AM] Janis: ........bracelet?

[12/13/15, 12:02:50 AM] Iskandar: Yeah. Sometimes you have it on, sometimes you don't.

[12/13/15, 12:02:58 AM] Janis: ...oh, that bracelet.

[12/13/15, 12:03:10 AM] Janis: Aziz made it for me. It helps me with my aim.

[12/13/15, 12:03:20 AM] Janis: I was having some issues before.

[12/13/15, 12:04:11 AM] Basement Cat: Mal: Can I see?

[12/13/15, 12:04:20 AM] Janis: ...why?

[12/13/15, 12:05:09 AM] Basement Cat: Mal: Well, it's magic, isn't it?

[12/13/15, 12:05:16 AM] Janis: Yeah.

[12/13/15, 12:06:20 AM] Janis: ...so?

[12/13/15, 12:06:46 AM] Basement Cat: Mal: ... that's kind of what I do?

[12/13/15, 12:07:13 AM] Janis: Janis seems hesitant, but she does pull it out and lays it on the table.

[12/13/15, 12:07:53 AM] Basement Cat: He casts a spell on it and peers.

[12/13/15, 12:08:13 AM] Basement Cat: Mal: ... woah, are you sure it just improves aim? That thing's really powerful.

[12/13/15, 12:08:34 AM] Janis: Janis snatches it off the table. "It's fine.  I can handle it."

[12/13/15, 12:08:38 AM] Iskandar: Yeah. Bracers of Archery improve your aim.

[12/13/15, 12:08:47 AM] Iskandar: This is much more than that.

[12/13/15, 12:09:56 AM] Janis: I worked it out with Aziz. I follow the rules. Everything turns out fine.

[12/13/15, 12:10:04 AM] Basement Cat: Mal: It didn't look like the same... flavor? either.

[12/13/15, 12:10:09 AM] Basement Cat: Mal: What rules?

[12/13/15, 12:10:25 AM] Janis: Just some time limits...it's nothing.

[12/13/15, 12:10:46 AM] Basement Cat: Mal: ... what does it do, then?

[12/13/15, 12:10:58 AM] Janis: Hm?

[12/13/15, 12:11:26 AM] Basement Cat: Mal: If it doesn't fix your aim what does it do?

[12/13/15, 12:11:48 AM] Janis: It does help me with my bow.

[12/13/15, 12:12:06 AM] Janis: We had an incident, I was having trouble after it. Now, I'm fine.

[12/13/15, 12:12:34 AM] Basement Cat: Mal: But how? The enchantment isn't on the bow, and it's not an aiming one What does it do?

[12/13/15, 12:13:43 AM] Janis: .......just...keeps my breathing under control, keeps me focused. I slip it on when a fight starts, and off when it ends. What's the problem?

[12/13/15, 12:14:44 AM] Basement Cat: Mal: I don't know, it just had some... weird spell lines in it. I'd have to do more work before I could tell what it does exactly but it's... complicated and kind of twisty.

[12/13/15, 12:17:01 AM] Janis: "You're really smart."

[12/13/15, 12:17:25 AM] Janis: Like, I don't get this stuff, but when you say it...it just sounds really cool.

[12/13/15, 12:17:32 AM] Iskandar: It seems like the kind of thing that, maybe a century from now, a group of adventurers willl have to undertake a quest to destroy.

[12/13/15, 12:17:36 AM] Janis: I wish you'd been there when I had lessons.

[12/13/15, 12:18:01 AM] Basement Cat: Mal: ... well, I'm good at it, I'm not great at a lot of other things though.

[12/13/15, 12:18:29 AM] Basement Cat: Mal: And I recognize a lot of spells on sight. And I don't recognize that one. It reminds me of something though, I just can't remember what....

[12/13/15, 12:19:15 AM] Janis: Look, this wasn't forged by some demon in the...forge of demons. Aziz made it here on Nation. And he's been keeping a close eye on me, he said so himself. I'm sure it's fine.

[12/13/15, 12:19:38 AM] Janis: Your grandmother gives you books that bite you when you read them. That is dark magic there.

[12/13/15, 12:20:00 AM] Basement Cat: Mal: ... that's not dark magic, that's just regular negative-energy focused magic.

[12/13/15, 12:20:24 AM] Iskandar: "Created by an artificer on a cursed void-ship." Sounds like the start of some epic tale right there.

[12/13/15, 12:21:07 AM] Basement Cat: Mal: Aziz is pretty smart. He's the one who came up with routing the arcanic signature energy through the transmutational matrix instead of the conjuring sets.

[12/13/15, 12:22:12 AM] Janis: ...I don't know what that means, but it sounds really cool.

[12/13/15, 12:22:25 AM] Basement Cat: Mal: Well, we couldn't've made the box work if he hadn't.

[12/13/15, 12:22:53 AM] Basement Cat: Mal: ... but you're being all weird about the bracelet and it's got a weird spell on it too.

[12/13/15, 12:23:27 AM] Janis: Tch, I'm not being weird. Who's being weird? Not me.

[12/13/15, 12:23:52 AM] Janis: ((15 for bluff this time :P))

[12/13/15, 12:23:56 AM] Basement Cat: Mal: Well then tell me what it does!

[12/13/15, 12:24:35 AM] Janis: I said...it just...makes me feel better. When I'm about to go into a fight. It makes me feel like me again.

[12/13/15, 12:24:42 AM] Iskandar: You are being very weird.

[12/13/15, 12:24:57 AM] Iskandar: ((21. :p ))

[12/13/15, 12:25:01 AM] Janis: ((Curse your dice, Canto!))

[12/13/15, 12:25:28 AM] Basement Cat: Mal: It makes you feel better... but the spell energy was wrong for that.

[12/13/15, 12:25:38 AM] Basement Cat: Mal: It shouldn't do that.

[12/13/15, 12:26:47 AM] Janis: ...what do you want?

[12/13/15, 12:27:32 AM] Basement Cat: Mal: Well I want to know what it actually does, and how it works, and where the spell came from and how to cast spells like it and how to bend spells around to get them to do different things.

[12/13/15, 12:27:40 AM] Basement Cat: Mal: ... you know, the same stuff I always want.

[12/13/15, 12:28:03 AM] Janis: Well, I can't tell you most of that stuff, and I've told you the stuff I do know.

[12/13/15, 12:28:16 AM] Janis: You want to know how it was made, you need to ask Aziz.

[12/13/15, 12:28:20 AM] Iskandar: You want magic to be more magic.

[12/13/15, 12:29:25 AM] Iskandar: Because the inherent ability to twist reality isn't enough, you want to double-twist reality.

[12/13/15, 12:31:24 AM] Basement Cat: Mal: Well, yeah. So?

[12/13/15, 12:31:33 AM] Basement Cat: Mal: But you're being weird about what it DOES do.

[12/13/15, 12:34:44 AM] Janis: ...I need to go to bed.

[12/13/15, 12:34:54 AM] Janis: Are we done here?

[12/13/15, 12:35:38 AM] Iskandar: Probably not, but I suppose we're done for now.

[12/13/15, 12:35:47 AM] Janis: Good.

[12/13/15, 12:36:01 AM] Janis: Janis slips out of the kitchen and back to her room.

[12/13/15, 12:36:54 AM] Basement Cat: Mal: ... was that weird? I feel like that was weird.

[12/13/15, 12:37:04 AM] Iskandar: Very weird.

[12/13/15, 12:38:07 AM] Basement Cat: Mal: What is that thing, anyhow?

[12/13/15, 12:40:47 AM] Wynn the Unicorn: Wynn the Unicorn returns to her dinner, waiting for Val to show up.

[12/13/15, 12:41:41 AM] Basement Cat: Mal: Hey, Wynn, do you know what it is?

[12/13/15, 12:42:07 AM] Wynn the Unicorn: Wynn the Unicorn looks up tiredly. "What what is?"

[12/13/15, 12:43:38 AM] Basement Cat: Mal: Janis's bracelet.

[12/13/15, 12:43:43 AM] Iskandar: Janis' bracelet.

[12/13/15, 12:43:52 AM] Basement Cat: Mal: It's got some kind of enchantment on it and she was being all weird about it.

[12/13/15, 12:44:05 AM] Wynn the Unicorn: Wynn the Unicorn frowns. "No. I haven't noticed."

[12/13/15, 12:44:55 AM] Basement Cat: Mal: She said it helped her aim but... I'm pretty sure that's not right. It's a complicated spell.

[12/13/15, 12:47:34 AM] Basement Cat: Quintilian turns up and pats Wynn on the shoulder as he passes to snag an apple, a banana and some bread and cheese.

[12/13/15, 12:48:50 AM] Wynn the Unicorn: Wynn the Unicorn smiles at Quint. "I don't know what it is, or what it might do. I haven't been as attentive towards her as I used to be."

[12/13/15, 12:49:46 AM] Basement Cat: Quint: Attentive toward who? Sorry, but if I don't get something to eat I may saw off and devour my own arm.

[12/13/15, 12:50:06 AM] Basement Cat: Mal: Janis had some weird bracelet with a freaky spell on it and she won't tell me what it is. She said Aziz made it.

[12/13/15, 12:52:37 AM] Wynn the Unicorn: I'll ask Aziz about It next time I see him.

[12/13/15, 12:53:39 AM] Iskandar: She said that she was having some issues, and that the bracelet 'made her like she was before'.

[12/13/15, 12:54:18 AM] Wynn the Unicorn: Wynn the Unicorn frowns. "Was this a response to her problem a while back about not being able to shoot people?"

[12/13/15, 12:55:07 AM] Basement Cat: Mal: I don't know. She wasn't able to shoot people?

[12/13/15, 12:55:19 AM] Iskandar: Iskandar shrugs.

[12/13/15, 12:55:26 AM] Basement Cat: Quint: ... how was the spell "freaky"?

[12/13/15, 12:56:13 AM] Basement Cat: Mal: ... it's kind of hard to describe, and I have seen something like it but I can't remember where I've seen it before.

[12/13/15, 12:57:07 AM] Wynn the Unicorn: She was having trouble aiming. I thought it might have been a mental block. She'd put some arrows in people she might not have wanted to.

[12/13/15, 12:57:54 AM] Basement Cat: Quint: It was more of an emotional block from guilt.

[12/13/15, 12:58:05 AM] Wynn the Unicorn: Right.

[12/13/15, 12:58:21 AM] Basement Cat: Mal: ... Spells to change how you feel about things. Maybe I should do some research.

[12/13/15, 1:00:21 AM] Basement Cat: He stands up, frowning, and heads for the library!

[12/13/15, 1:03:12 AM] Iskandar: Iskandar waves to Quint and Wynn and heads out! he didn't sleep last night, so it's time to crash.