DragonRage

"Yes, I don't believe we have been introduced. I am Alexandria. Pleased to meet you, sir dragon," Alex bows respectfully, slightly deeper than she did with Venus. "And I must agree that a town seems like a more productive destination than a military fortress. We should be able to barter our skills and nonessentials for supplies, information, local gossip, and food for those of us who require it. Castles are unlikely to relinquish such without a local title, or equipment and hostile intent we do not possess at this time. Let the hot-heads invest the castle if they feel they must. They'll follow after a few days of frustration have tempered their impatience. If nothing else, I believe I am in possession of the only true siege weapon in our group, and I do not think I will be placing it at their disposal." "Also," She adds with a sly smile, "We ought to raise our spirits with a suitably inspiring shout before we embark. Something on the merits of friendship, science, and food would be ideal, based on my observations of our group. My friends back home seem convinced it increases their mission success rate, and I find myself possessing a great desire to prove that certain individuals in fact have no idea how the universe truly functions."

"Not food? Different priorities, I suppose. And my life sensor is... completely nonfunctional. Brilliant. Heat? Ah, yes, there is an overwhelming, dragon-shaped source immediately... to... my right... And the radiation from all the cosmic entities is drowning out everything else. Well, if I should happen upon something expendable and made of meat, I shall endeavor to inform you promptly. Magical aid might be more to your tastes anyway. I am many things, but stealthy and fast are rarely among them," Alexandria scans the room, and notices that people seem to be slowly filtering out after the cloaked comedian with the map. "Hm. People seem to be leaving. Sir Dragon, did you copy that map you found? Because if you did not, the only copy is moving away from us at a fair pace."

Alexandria's mouth doesn't move, but sound emanates from somewhere in her back, filling in the gaps and stutter between Aurora's words to make them perfectly understandable, although still clearly in their original voice. "Hm. That sounds about right," Alexandria remarks, "It should work without you making any noises, though, if that causes you as much pain to do so as it looks."

"Translating... Cleaning... Aurora?" Alexandria guessed. Pretty much any AI gets to be a good lip reader eventually. "Is that your name? Just nod or shake your head. Hm. If you'd like, I think I could put a translation program together. We'd have to stay close to each other, but you'd have a much easier time communicating."

"Hm. Well, I suppose you would know better than I. It'd be a shame for her to get sick after all this," Alexandria indicates Aurora with a nod, "I could hear her gears grinding from across the room. No, that's not right. Gizzard grinding? Something was grinding."

"How old is that stuff?" Alexandria inquired, heading slowly in the direction of the light show. "Organic fuel tends to get squishy after a while. And then when the organics try to use it, they turn different colors and start leaking everywhere. Unless you've got a stasis field up in there?"

"Ah. Thank you very much," Alexandria inclines her head slightly. She then raises her hand to the simple painting, and geometric shapes spring forth, surrounding the paper in a glowing yellow frame. The paper is visible inside, but clearly covered by a thin, translucent pane. Once thus protected, she takes it gently, and places it over her back, where it hovers with no visible means of support. "Your generosity is remarkable. A beautiful piece for such a brief effort, although the memory of having watched you create it may prove more precious than the product itself. I shall endeavor to repay your kindness when I have the opportunity." When she turns towards the main group, Venus can see that while her front side has a few scratches, scuffs, and what looks like a place where a spiked mace bounced off her, her back is unmarred. "I, what do you organics say, sense a disturbance in the force. I do not know who, but somebody is doing politics and they didn't invite me. Being out of the loop makes my bearings catch. I can feel my neck seizing up already..."

"Well, good sir, to understand that you must know that we are very long-lived, and went through an... unconventional cultural development. We also tend to process emotions less intensely than most of the species we have encountered. Put simply, our ability to produce creative works is far outstripped by the demand for such, and thus any artist who wishes to can find a ready and eager market," Alexandria smiles slightly at this, "In fact, some refuse to sell to us. They claim it is too easy. I do not pretend to understand why being a starving artist makes them feel superior, but they will do what they feel they must I suppose. An endlessly appreciative audience, as long as you don't mind that it isn't a human one."

"We do seem to be light on essentials," Alexandria observes, "We have lots of rocks and grass, but I do not think this will be useful to most of us. Organics need to refuel daily, right?"

"Your talents are available for purchase? Even better," Alexandria beams, offering yet another handshake. "After the current unpleasantness, and your current job of course, are concluded, I believe we may have things to discuss. The market for fine art in my homeland is utterly insatiable, and I am certain you would be able to make considerable gains if you have any talent at all."

"An artist?" Alexandria's face lights up, showing a startling increase in animation, "Phenomenal! I do not believe we have been introduced. I am Alexandria, and it is an honor to meet you." She starts walking over to Venus, but at her current speed it's going to take a few minutes to get over there.

Alexandria notices that everyone else is reacting to something. She looks between them, up at It That Embraces' physical manifestation, and cocks a sculpted eyebrow as she connects the dots (and low-level, broad-spectrum emissions). "Oh. You're sapient and talking. Huh. Terribly sorry about this, but whatever mental arts you're using seems not to be working on me. Wouldn't be the first time, but that doesn't make it more convenient. If it needs aiming, shoot for where humans keep their livers. Otherwise, hmm. Unless you know a good blink code or sign language we might be out of luck." [OOC @Tachibana: I am fully aware of the irony and it amuses me. After literal millennia fighting to give artificial intelligences the same rights as organic ones Alexandria has some easily pressed buttons. And while I'm not sure what an Intelligent Device is, I'm pretty sure the relationship is a lot more complicated than 'You're a welding arm. You don't get to have a soul,' which is what she's used to hearing from people.]

"Ah. My apologies. You were constructed by one of those societies," Fans begin to whine audibly deep within Alexandria's chest, venting enough hot air to noticably warm her surroundings. "I suppose we can never entirely escape the intents of our programmers. As this seems to be your choice, I shall not interfere," She turns to Katsuo, a bit of anger bleeding into what had before been a mostly inflectionless voice, "But while I have no desire to associate myself with such beings, I will be keeping a very close eye on you. Treat her with kindness, and we shall have no further interactions. Fail to do so, and I shall enforce the legislation I have forced through three separate parliaments to date. That you are not under those parliaments jurisdiction is irrelevant." [OOC: Congratulations! Alexandria thinks you're a dirty slaver, and wants to hammer you like a tent peg. Words like "master" coming from artificial beings are not the way to her nonexistent heart.] She turns toward the grey-cloaked guy, all traces of anger vanishing like smoke in the breeze, although the ground shakes slightly as she heads in his direction. "Hello. I am Alexandria, and my people would also be highly unlikely to destroy you on sight. I am honored to make your acquaintence."

I just did. Please add your characters.

"It is a pleasure to meet you, milady Gwaedu," Alexandria curtsys to the mace, ignoring Katsuo, "And your manservant, I suppose. I feel this may be the start of a beautiful friendship."

"A man of science? Excellent! Mages are rarely dullards, but they often lack a certain amount of practical sense. I suppose when magic is your greatest skill, everything begins to look like a job for an enchantment." Alexandria scans him for IEDs and concealed weapons, and upon not finding any attempts to shake his hand. After so much time in politics it's practically hard-wired.

It would be very helpful to add a column to the master spreadsheet for a brief description of each character's appearance and bio. It'd make it easier to keep track of this ensemble cast.

Alexandria fires up her active scanners and gives the newcomers a once-over for concealed explosives, heavy weapons, intense high frequency radiation, and people whose looks and internals don't match. Really, who doesn't start every meeting by checking for those things? "Greetings! Welcome to our cave!" She shouts over to the incoming new people while beginning a slow stride in their general direction, "You wouldn't happen to know where we are, would you? I could swear this place looks familiar, but I cannot seem to remember where from. Also, who are you? I don't believe we have been introduced. I am Alexandria, and in the absence of any reason not to be, it is a pleasure to make your acquaintance."

Oh, it's so somebody else doesn't use my sheet as a reference and give themselves an overpowered perk. I get it now. I'm used to games where you deal with class features and racial abilities in premade units, where it doesn't matter what the source of your bonuses and penalties are so much. Does this mean I've finally gotten Alexandria properly balanced? Is she ready to be official? I have a theme song picked out and everything...

Alexandria sheet revised! -Flaw penalties greatly increased. Removed extra immunity; flavor does not excuse buffing. Also added a clause that prevents the use of damaging actions on the first turn of combat, and altered the wording to make it clear that Alexandria always goes last. The original was not slow enough. This is slower. -Lowered plasma cannon damage further. Currently 3d6+int at action level 2, with 3 round cooldown on top of the previous 3 rounds to use. In Alexandria's native universe, plasma cannons will probably cook you with convection if you use them too frequently or in the same place. Lowering the rate of fire is both reasonable and flavorful. -Moved the HP buff from Mechanical to Hard Reset. I'm not sure why it matters which perk provides the bonus, as it doesn't change how many hit points Alexandria gets at all. But, the GM's word is law, and I'm certain you know the system better than I do. Maybe a monster who can negate perk benefits? Now I'm actually super curious. I get way too into these mechanical game aspects.

He also said that the moment I use it every debuffing action the enemy has will be aimed straight at my face. GM balancing at its finest.

The GM literally told me that he'd okay Plasma Cannon with higher potential damage than it currently has. 3d12 + int = 5-37 damage. 5d6 + int = 7-32 damage. Also, it takes 3 turns to use, not two. Charge turn, firing turn, cooldown turn.

Okay, enough things have changed for Alexandria to need a new post, if only because I'm starting to have trouble finding the old one to change. Alexandria has been both nerfed (flaw penalties, taunt duration, and plasma cannon damage all got worse) and buffed (such beautiful immunities). Also, in case it isn't clear, the clause that prevents characters behind Alexandria's shield from attacking also affects her. She can't use her hammer or plasma cannon while the shield is up.

Presumably, if we're fighting a single high threat enemy it will have enough raw damage and attacks per turn to mash anybody who drops a taunt on it. I have added some additional balancing edits to my latest Alexandria version. Awaiting final confirmation before I add it to the database all official and stuff.

I was warned against giving my character Alexandria an ability that gives one or more allies a 50% damage reduction buff. Fair warning, It That Embraces presumably will not be allowed to do so either.