Hal Henderics

--Ritsu-- "I need to collect a payment from a fisherman who is hanging around at the inn, if you could head over there and see what is going on and get my goods, I would be willing to repay you with a power cell or some orbs." --Alexandria-- Walking to the lakeside, Alexandria has a bit of trouble with the whole sand business, but makes it to the water and into it. On the way there, she spots a Fishing Vessel that is beached, a huge chunk has been taken out of it. (3, 5) Despite what Lua Da said, there seem to be very little in the way of Precursor Orbs, though a vent gilded with precursor metal is spouting out yellow globs of some glowing substance into the water, there is also a path of cobblestones leading around the lakeside, they look deliberate, strangely enough, and lead down two paths, a right and a left one, forming a central "Y" shape, with the Vent at the middle. Walking in the sand causes Alexandria to slowly sink, it is just too soft for her mass to stand right on top, and even a normal person would be sinking somewhat, if they did not stick to the rocks. The cloudy waters inhibit Alexandria's Optic Sight. --Jade-- Going down the Grassy Path, Jade finds that it winds on for a ways, several trees have been lashed together as a bridge going across a river cutting through, and a large ancient structure lies on the other side, an almost Arabic architecture of bulbous roofs and long spires marks the building as something designed with form over function. The place itself is a bit of a Sparce Jungle, widely separated trees and clearly worn paths contrast with the thick vegetation and vines hanging down from those scant few trees, various plants serve as eye-catching reminders of nature's potentials and poisons to Wise gatherers and Fools. There are also Crates All around, Wooden Ones, Black ones nearer the temple, and Hard Metal ones, they are haphazardly scattered around, and of poor construction. Various large creatures look thoroughly unfriendly, strange Ape like monsters, Snakes hanging from trees, and Black bug eyed Fish in the waters, but none of them look dangerous, it seems engaging them will not be a sustained combat with how weak they are, however, they could still be dangerous, if one were careless. Mitsu is currently within sight, along with Kino, She is bashing away at crates in a lightly grassed area. Map --Mitsu-- (15, 19) Breaking the 6 Crates, each one has a single Precursor Orb in it.

"Oh, the Doc? I've got something, wait here." He goes into the back, and you hear rummaging and rattling. He returns with a bundle of cables, made of something elastic wrapped with cloth. "She needed some Bungee cables for something or other. Take em over to her when you get a chance." He pauses after plopping them on the counter. "Say, Stranger, how would you like to earn some cash? You look competent enough."

--Ritsu-- "No, I gots a few more more in the back, you needs sommin?" the fellow says, drinking water from a small glass on the counter.

--Jade-- "Well, basically, the temple has been shooting out this beam of Green Eco for years now, it isn't doing anything useful, so the Doc had us put some lenses around on pillars to beam it over here for the Apothecary, but now the lenses are out of whack and the temple isn't shooting, If you could get those working again, I'm sure we could find a way to repay you!" "To fix the lenses, there is a console thingie with a little cockpit, you just point the lenses at the next one in the sequence until the beam hits town, There are some monsters around too, so you will need to be careful." He thinks for a moment. (3, 20) "Sorry I can't help you more, nobody ever actually went inside the temple, the doors are sealed, and you need Blue Eco in you to go through em." --Alexandria-- "Y-yeah! Lots of precursor artifacts have been around so long the geography has changed. I bet the Lakebed has Precursor Orbs that haven't ever been scavenged!" She nods at the good idea. "J-Just be careful, Du Lang the Fisherman has been at the inn all week because of a problem he had over there..."

--Jade-- "Uhh, well, if you had a bit of the stuff, it would keep you fresh to the Mausoleum at least, and if the Town Lenses were running, you could get enough to clear the place out, but all the Lenses are out of whack right now, and the Temple's Eco Vents are not working either. I think I have a friend with some Green Eco Stockpiled at the Apothecary, you could get some from Him." He points the way to the Apothecary, and to the Temple Apothecary Added to Places of Interest The Temple is past the Grassy Path

((For those that have Power Cells and Precursor Orbs. Precursor Orb: An orb of Precursor Metal, known for it’s high strength and mysterious properties, it is used in almost all precursor devices. It can be thrown for 1d6 damage, if it fails to do damage, it can taunt a target. As it is? it is a particularly hard egg shaped rock for all purposes... Power Cell: An orb of Precursor Technology, known for being a limitless supply of energy, and for being self integrating. When used, add +5 to a given craft roll.)) --Jade-- "Oh, it's this real nasty black stuff, a bunch of Lurkers dumped Dark Eco all over the graveyard, and that made the flowers grow out of control! The Dark Eco makes stuff go crazy or kills it, and those flowers are pure poison after the Gunk changed it. We don't have enough Green Eco to actually clear the place out, and it spreads back after a few hours if you only clear some of it."

(3, 3) She nods, hooking a small clamp to one of the cells, and reading the readout, nods. "This should do the trick! Now we just need a material strong enough to pin space itself open."

--Jade-- Picking up a single purple bottle of the good stuff, he goes out and over to the Graveyard, the way has been barred with wood and a fence goes all the way around. Immediately inside, the bones and corpses of several animals are in various states of decay within, the entire graveyard is covered in bright purple flowers, almost as wide as jade is tall, they are massive plants to be sure. A sign out front tells you the facts "Stay out! Danger!" A villager runs up, a moustached fellow in odd garb with an odder hat. "Waaaait! Don't go in there stranger, those flowers are tainted with Dark Eco!" He is panting, bent over, he must have seen you going in. --Mitsu-- (7, 4) Breaking open the metal crate with a swipe of sword, a small robot pops out, it is a big headed bug like robot with a small rotary system, it is made from steel, and painted with orange stripes. Suddenly, a voice emits from it, "Oh, it's you!" Lua Da's voice comes out. "You found one of my Scout bots! I've been sending them out all over the place looking for power cells, but I gave up when the Lurkers were stuffing them in boxes! if you can free all 5 Scoutflies, I'm sure they will be able to help you find more materials!" The crackly voice ends, and the robot zooms off. It then zooms back. "Oh! you m-might already know, but the wooden crates are what the Lurkers are storing Precursor Orbs in, and the Darker Crates are full of Dark Eco, stay away from those..." It then zooms away again, more awkwardly this time. --Alexandria-- She sounds very confidant in discussing this "Nobody knows, but their Oracles still hang around today, large machines which speak on their behalf, along with the writing they are fond of engraving on every single piece of material they work with..." "As for Precursor Materials, There are Skull Gems, spoils of a war with some unknown alien race, these gems seem to serve SOME purpose on their larger structures, and smaller ones aer often found in Metal Bugs, or something that superficially resembles skull gems perhaps. There is also Precursor Metal, which is what you are asking about." "There are Three types of Precursor Metal, Primary Precursor Metal, which is what their Orbs and Lesser Artifacts are made of, it is nearly indestructible, and only susceptible to extreme heat, which is why I am using it for this, There is Secondary Precursor Metal, which is slightly stronger than steel, susceptible to heat, and is used in Precursor devices such as Eco Vents, Orb Vents, and Precursor Oracles, and then, at the bottom of the list, there is Superprimary Precursor Metal, this is what their buildings are made of, and it is completely immutable in every way, no samples have ever been taken as far as I know, and nothing can damage it as experiments go." "All three metals seem to contain... nanomachines? I don't know, but they contain small structures which are not damaged even when reforging or welding, and these structures seem to exploit Eco in startling quantities to retain their properties and aid technology made of them, gyroscopes and motors which would be impossible otherwise are completed easily with even Secondary Precursor Metal, so long as enough of it is used in the object's casing and some of it's internal components." "Eco is the energy that flows through our world, there are 5 Types we know of, Green, Blue, Yellow, Red, and Dark. There are more details to the nature of each, but they can be summarized easily, Green Heals and Cleanses, Blue Energizes, Yellow adds Range, Red Increases Destructive Force, and Dark is Deadly and Mutagenic." "You really only need to worry about Dark Eco, the rest are either benign or helpful even. Dark Eco is a Blackish purple substance that taints and corrupts anything but Precursor Superprimary Metal, It can eat through things, but is more likely to twist them, making them much more dangerous. Even touching it can draw it into you, and trigger a harmful effect. Just a single orb of Dark Eco might not kill you, but it will hurt, and Lurkers store them in pressurized metal crates, which are highly explosive because of the Dark Eco Tainting them and making them fragile." "The main things the Precursors Left behind are their artifacts, there are Eco Vents, which connect to underground resevoires of Eco and spurt them forward, in every color save Dark, there are the rumored Dark Eco silos, where the precursors Stored vast quantities of Dark Eco, their temples, where several artifacts and devices remain past the trials that their machinery makes, the Oracles, which are devices that supposedly speak on their behalf and trade a Power Cell to those who give it Precursor Orbs, and that's about it." "Power Cells are highly dense objects that have a large amount of power stored in them, I could hook you up to see how many power cells your systems produce, if you like? It should be said that a single power cell can emit enough energy to power a Zoomer, which is an antigravity rocket bike, and that three of them is how many I need to breach space itself." "In addition, never in recorded history has a power cell run out of energy, which makes them exceedingly useful. The flaw is that they self integrate, so you often have to break something to get them back out..."

"Yes, but not in an area with high police activity!"

"Agreed! On me, I don't have any bridges in my pocket, so you will all have to learn good following habits like how to not fall into the abyss!" Psymund goes the way north, leaping and using that second jump of his to move further and faster.

Psymund is poofed away to Shadowrun. Mar arrives in the Throne hall, He searches for someone who knows how to pilot the ship. "Do any here know the method by which this castle is piloted? I would request that, if there are no objections, we go to a place with heavy vegetation and life until our allies have completed their trials among the worlds we have passed."

Psymund dutifully undoes the fire escape before Climbing Higher and mining the bag before he does so. "Follow!" He shouts, waving an arm for the others to follow him.

"Calm Down! Hide from the Cops!" Psymund shouts down as he attempts to ascend.

Suddenly, a trail of blue afterimages follows Psymund as he dashes directly into the air, landing ready, a blue mist flows out of his body, forming into a set of Uzis. "Fun!" He shouts, Summoning a crackling bubble of benign electricity around him, which causes him to float, his suit emits hisses of air to propel himself to the roof, jumping back and forth between the walls of the alley.

(4, 10) The Paper is cracking, but you can still read it. The remainder seems to refer to several other documents you don't have, confirming or denying several inexplicable hypotheses in those documents, and a whole bunch of calculations whose labels lack context. What could it mean, you wonder? Unless you have a hunger for rotten grain, a need for ancient containers, a thirst for wine, or a desire for whatever that black gunk is, it seems you have reached the limit of this place's value.

--Jade+Gary-- Jade opens the second sealed urn, while Gary does the same with the third Chest. (20, 10) This one does not contain goop at all, but a preserved document, It is kept shut with a Wax Seal which looks like a stylized bubble. Pitch Black Writing on the outside reads "#18" in large bubble letters, like something a youth would write in for the aesthetic appeal. (10, 15) The third Chest contains nothing at all, not even a piece of vendor trash... --Mitsu-- Assuming Kino Follows, the pair moves to the closest Crate in sight, the Metal Crate is surrounded with 5 Wooden Crates and 2 Black ones, all of them touching it physically. A snake lashes out at Mitsu, (7, 6) Damaging her for 3 Damage, but failing to enact it's poison before she eradicates it with a single blow, it evaporates into black mist, interlaced with purple. Map (Movement is indicated with white squares, original location is marked with a White Embellished Square.)

--Gary-- (14, 15) And in chest number two... A pile of dust! like a carpet, something was in there, and became so much dust that it filled part of the chest. --Alexandria-- Taking the Orbs over, they srhink when she tries to contain them, Odd, but it makes them so compact that she is able to store them on her person. Whatever these Orbs are made of, it is clear from their properties and odd inscriptions that they were intelligently designed, rather than being any natural resource. She takes the trek back to the Manor, where the entire place looks to be reswept by the hurricain that swept through it the first time she entered. A large Canvas is where Lua Da is sitting at, she designs blueprints, and fails to notice even the massive thudding of Alexandria. "O-oh! You brought some Precursor Orbs, indeed, these seem to be the ones, Hold on to them until you have enough, right now, the design requires materials and power equivilant to 100 Precursor Orbs and 3 Power Cells, People in the village might be willing to trade Precursor Orbs for Cells, as it has become a sort of currency with how useful Primary Precursor Metal is." "D-do you need any information? n-not that I don't think you can navigate, but I figure you might appreciate some tidbits I know about this place..." She looks nervous, and turns her back to Alexandria, sketching on the Canvas Idly. --Mitsu-- Going down the Grassy Path, Mitsu finds that it winds on for a ways, several trees have been lashed together as a bridge going across a river cutting through, and a large ancient structure lies on the other side, an almost Arabic architecture of bulbous roofs and long spires marks the building as something designed with form over function. The place itself is a bit of a Sparce Jungle, widely seperated trees and clearly worn paths contrast with the tick vegitation and vines hanging down from those scant few trees, various plants serve as eye-catching reminders of nature's potentials and poisons to Wise gatherers and Fools. There are also Crates All around, Wooden Ones, Black ones nearer the temple, and Hard Metal ones, they are haphazardly scattered around, and of poor construction. Various large creatures look thoroughly unfriendly, strange Ape like monsters, Snakes hanging from trees, and Black bug eyed Fish in the waters, but none of them look dangerous, it seems engaging them will not be a sustained combat with how weak they are, however, they could still be dangerous, if one were careless. Map --Ritsu-- Entering the toolshop, a clearer view of the wares is Available, and the price tags as well. It seems everything Metal in the shop comes in 3 Varieties, Iron, Steel, and Precursor Metal, at Normal, Double, and Triple Price Respectively. Wares There might be various other tools available, if you look a bit further and ask around. --Jade-- Jade Opens the Sealed Urn, (20, 14) Inside appears to be a black inky substance, which floats out of the container. Suddenly, a glowing orb of machinery plops out of it, clean as fresh linen, it pulses with energy. (19, 11) The Power Cell is grabbed and bagged without touching the inky black orb floating in the air. The Black Ball of Plasmic energy spouts purple fireflies, or what looks like them, floating away from it like embers in a black flame, faint shimmers ripple in it's surface, and it hums with power, like a heartbeat.

The First Chest, Gary observes, is opened already, looking inside (11, 9) He finds nothing more than a scrap of cloth.

Mar approaches, Silently, but in sight. He's curious about the strange power, certainly, but does not initiate questioning out of courtesy. Mar moves to the Throne Hall. He needs more materials to do what he would like to get done. -- Mar returns to the Smithy, having completed the Intellectual's Workshop

Looking in, you see a murky basement made of brickwork, it appears to have once been a wine cellar, and now, a wine grave. There are 3 Empty Chests, 2 Bags of Rotted Grain, 2 Sealed Clay Jugs, 10 Casks of Wine, and 2 Ruined Casks of Wine. You also note, that there are 10 Floating Orbs of Precursor Metal, some sort of levitation technology? In any case, you are 10 Orbs closer to your immediate goal it seems. Several Rats are scurrying around, spooked at the interlopers you serve as. You doubt much of this would be missed, as it is. Visual Representation

(17, 17) It appears to be a granite boulder, how it got here is anyone's guess, it is sunken deep into the ground, and cracks are in the soil all around it, (20, 10) scans reveal that a hidden chamber is below the boulder, plugged by the stone.

((Minor Announcement, this plot has the world famous "Peculiar Fate" gimmick, if you so choose, you can opt to take a Flaw instead of a Wound if you fall in battle. However, while the flaw in question is not too Crippling, it is Drastic in ways unrelated to mechanics and stats.)) "Y-yes, and even while building, you may have uses for your... s-shooting talents, sir. I need to gather up a lot of durable material and a reliable power source in-in order to run this machine and make it..." "None of the stuff here will do, This is t-tertiary Precursor metal, it's used in stuff like Eco Vents, I need Primary Precursor metal for this, a-and I don't have any Power Cells that I can spare towards powering it. You will need to look around for some stuff to p-procure, if you don't have about a ton of incredibly durable metal and a decent power source on you..." She pauses for a moment. "T-the villagers are always helpful to me with my studies, you might be able to get them to cough up some Power Cells, and there are still relics, even in the area, finding Precursor Orbs should be a cinch for a-adventurers like yourself..." "T-thanks a lot, this kind of historic stuff needs to be preserved, so everyone can learn from it! So I r-really appreciate it." "I'll start working up the plans, just come back here if you are ready, or if you need anything, I guess..." Places of Interest: Map

The lady rushes ahead, entering the complex, for that is all you can put to it in name, you find it to be full of odds and ends, machines which serve no purpose, machines which serve unknown purposes, and everything before, after, and between, it is like walking into a watch, if the watch was in the process of being built. the Manor's first floor has 4 Rooms, 2 on each side, and a stairwell splitting at two sides and going to an upper floor, where a tablet rests. As with all the other machines in the room, this Tablet is comprised primarily of a strange Coppery Metal. It practically glows to the senses of those who can detect the invisible, such as magic senses and full spectrum vision, the material is interwoven to the barest particulate with various subtle and grand energies. "This is what I need help with. As you can see, this incredible work of science and art is in pieces." Indeed, the one thing marring the plate's beauty is it's damage, it is split in half, missing that other half, a jagged gash runs down it's right side, showing the scars of it's separation from it's sister part. "This, is one of the greatest works of the Precursors, the Precursors are supposedly the beings responsible for our world, and even today, their artifacts can be found all over the world, and if the legends are to be believed, all over the universe, in fact. They were masters of Eco, the energy flowing through our world, and knew how to create works of incredible power with it." "This tablet, as near as i can surmise, is how they were able to maintain this universal presence, or perhaps, part of how." She clears her throat, and points at the broken portion. "I say as near as I surmise, because I only have half of the Darned Thing! The other half is apparently on a planet far away from here, including it's coordinates, as it is, I have no hope of replicating this legendary machine, not fully, for you see, this device can breach space itself, bridging two locations at no cost, indeed, it only requires an initial investment of energy, and then it can simply hold that space together indefinitely." She sighs. Walking over, she sits on a couch nearby, an armchair really, and idly fiddles with her wrench. "Without that other half, I can only create one device from the current blueprints, a miniature emergency module, which breaches only one location, indeed, it breaches the very world that has the temple I seek." She takes a hard look at everyone here. "This is my offer and need, Help me create the Emergency Module, Help me best the temple's trials, and preserve the knowledge and relics of this great race, and I will provide you those same blueprints, those same technologies. Be it Precursor Metal, a material known for being the staple of every single precursor artifact, Eco, the lifeblood of the planet, or even artifacts known for their incredible uses and inexplicable sciences, all of those will be in this temple, should you accept." After a while with arms spread, She coughs nervously, and drops the arm thing... "...S-sorry... That's all I've got." Well, it seems when the passion for history left her, her confidence deflated without all the hot air...

(19, 12) Windowshopping demonstrates the various wares of the three shops, the Pawn Shop, the Tool Store, and the Smithy. Pawn Shop. Tool Store Smithy There are also other mundane markets, for the livelyhood of the people, which one can guess at, such as food, seeds, and sundries. Provided someone had knocked on the manor doors, they open quickly. "And you would be Right dear, I DON'T have enough people here to help me normally, but I am glad someone came along! I've been sending out signals for weeks with this junk!" The lady brushes back her hair with a hand, she is covered in soot, and her goggles are askew, a wrench is in one hand, a little welding apparatus is attached to it. "Well, come in, you are all busy people I suppose." She waves at the group to come into the manor, looking exhausted. Someone looking closer would see the small camera and microphone at the top of the door. It seems she caught the end of the conversation. In the Background, you all see the Castle revving up, rushing away and disappearing in a crack of light, leaving behind a smouldering trail where it's treads dug, it's radiative pulse also carried with it a strange ghostly lady, flying through the air like a smouldering brick, before being "caught" by whoever was quickest, if that is at all possible. It seems your way back lies in this world for now.

As the ship zooms through space, a message hailing the ship is sent to it, upon accepting the message, a hologram of a lady in coppery goggles and a cloak like lab coat appears on screen in the cockpit. "Greetings travelers, my name is Lua Da, I am currently seeking assistance in an archeological assessment of Precursor Technology, any who accept will be rewarded handsomely on completion of the mission, via access to technological components, materials, and blueprints derived from this expedition, the best to you, Professor Lua Da." Those in the cockpit would end up parking the ship in the world the signal came from, landing the castle in a sparsely wooded forest, mostly tall grasses and large trees, rustling, chirping, and other such animal noises saturate the wood, and a path seems roughly worn into the ground nearby, the message gives coordinates as well, granting the useful power of navigation in this strange new world. Those who seemed interested followed along, coming to a town in a clearing, trees and grass thinning until they arrived, a small sign labels the location as "Grassweed Village", and another clue is the massive brick manor on the outskirts of town. This is where the heroes find themselves after their trek through the forest, chopping through vine and grass to fight to this patch of civilization. The Large Brick manor looks a bit like if someone with a copper fetish had had a falling out with the substance, strange artifacts are stattered around, some smaller than a fist, others as large as an engine block, all of them burnt black and scarred. Similarly, the grand door leading in has seen better days. it's knocker lightly rusted, and it's wood dry and apparent in this dryness. A noble sign grants even more knowledge to the travelers, "Archeological Society of Grassweed Village" Checking around town, you get an idea of what is there. People move about on their usual daily routines. Places of interest include: Map