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Red Ruby Crumble
d1210a
[On the subject of Blood Iron Shotputs: To be a shotput, it would have to be compressed into a single piece of metal, making pulling it apart into iron sand-like particulates pretty much impossible. If you had some sort of container that you kept a bunch of Blood Iron, still in tiny particulate form in, then this would be viable for the metal sandstorm. Basically, a jug of sand, only it's Blood Iron.]
>>18990
[Could you please clarify what you mean by 'recon on the outposts Weinsho is not at'? I am not sure what you are suggesting here, all you know thus far about outposts to Weinsho's name is that there are at least three of them, all to the north.]
>>189908
[Don't need to ask, you already know since Jojo has told you about it. He can teleport through the dreams of someone he knows (that was how he reached you in the Duran forest), and he can enter the dreams of others, the act of which can make the dream lucid. He has been giving regular reports to the Drazken shamans and Lorgk alike since he arrived, and has made no secret of this (he flat out told you so in the Duran forest). So Mordre already knows Jojo can communicate through dreams to others.]
>>189951
[Correct, there are no surviving documents after the few not totally ruined were detroyed in your attempts to recover them.]
>>189958
[Do you want Mordre to be reading the book instead of Arkus?]
>>189912
[There are no 'bad' hand-cannons yet, the only ones in existence are the 168 you began with (60 of which were partially constructed but now fully built), so nothing needs to be done on that front. The questions for Kyorto would be somewhat hard to ask because LANGUAGE BARRIOR, Kyorto not even speaking common.]
Once inside the Arcanoworks again, my first order of business is getting the Farming Proliferator put into use. I gather up several of the personnel I have noted to spend more time than usual about the growing crops, and explain to them the workings of the proliferator. They seem highly intrigued by it's soil-reading properties, and set to assessing our crops with gusto, as I work with some other workers to get the Water Purifier set up: Since it needs to have water filter through it to function and is not by conventional terms mobile (I am capable of carrying it, but I doubt less than five people would be required to move it), we decide to attach it to the well, so that any water drawn can be purified. After testing the setup to insure it works, and finding the water filtering to completely crystal clear transparency and purity, I ponder what to attend to next as I glance about, noting Moss, some seeds poking out of it's mouth, digging at the corners of each of the fields of crops, avoiding the actual edibles and their roots in it's antics.
I decide that procuring a supply of steel would be incredibly useful, and set to asking about to see if anyone knows of vendors or mines or something of that nature nearby. I am met mostly with scratched heads and puzzled looks, but several people comment that they have heard of several iron mines to the south, a few pretty close to Trekel, and that some people have mentioned traders hailing from the south to have carried steel goods fairly often, even before the troubles befell the State. Well, I have a direction then, south for Steel.... and south for the Blue Knight that Keddic mentioned...
I make my way to the second floor, finding Arkus already at work, nose buried in the books from Wendelin, and ask about the runes on the Skyfall Cannon: Surely they could be adapted to my own cannon? Arkus' response is, as always, cautiously phrased to avoid overpromising.
"Weelll... I could probably copy the ignimancy based runes from the cannons onto your own cannon, but that wouldn't make it work, in and of itself: The ammunition itself needs a matching rune to work, and I really can't picture there being a way to inscribe them as you make them.... although, if you made shells and gave them to me, I could put the rune on each shell individually, so you could have some prepared shots... yeah, that should work, and again I cannot stress enough that this is just a hypothesis, I cannot promise viability. Also, since the runes trigger on impact, you won't get as much systemic penetration power-ah, that is, if you are trying to blow a hole through a bunch of people lined up, the shell will liquefy on hitting the first obstacle: Great if the first thing you hit is what you want to hurt, not so much if you hit a shield instead. And there is the whole 'these runes preclude outside magical interference of all but the most overwhelming sort' that is worked into the magic, so no Magnetomancy.... anyway, yeah, I could do it, but with the aforementioned fine print. Why, do you want it?"
As a response, I break open my revolver cannon, and eject the six Anti-Golem shells already housed within the cylinder, before snapping the top-break revolver cannon back into place. I float the shells down onto Arkus' desk with Magnetomancy as I make my way back outside, tossing an order over my back.
"That sounds acceptable.
Try imbuing these shells with the rune,
To get a sense of any differences of note,
Between them and the normal Skyfall ammunition.
I should be back later to get the rune for the cannon,
Perhaps you can reference those documents there,
To see if there are any ways you could improve it?"
"Ah, yeah, sure, I'll see what I can do."
I march back outside, and seek out the Premen still in the Arcanoworks, and hit upon a simple idea of how to reconnect with them: I propose a minor tournament, with the winner having a match against me, exclusively for the Premen. At this I see Oggroth's eyes light up as Ugrokk nods, already deep in thought, before the two get to organizing the event, under my watchful eye. I give praise as it is due, noting the improvements the Premen have made, in general evidencing cleaner, smoother movements, the scouts lighter on their feet and the warriors getting better at maintain a stable and balanced brace for vicious attacks. It comes as no surprise that the tournament comes down to Oggroth and Ugrokk squaring off, both bereft of arms and armor as they clash. Ugrokk is a whirlwind of shifting limbs and indirect attacks, his deft and swift attacks raining down on Oggroth.... who simply shrugs it off. But rather than simply bull rushing Ugrokk, I note him patiently defending, blocking or deflecting a few blows now and then, until finally Ugrokk strikes more deeply, trying to drop the durable foe before him-and Oggroth strikes, a single, massive fist planted in Ugrokk's face the moment he stops darting about. It takes some time to rouse Ugrokk, a concerned Oggroth, peering at his fallen form, but once his safety is assured the Premen turns to me, and bows, asking if he could abstain from facing me, until he could improve himself further. Feeling magnanimous, I accept Oggroth the Mountain's request, and complement him on his more tactical approach to combat, the massive Premen positively glowing under the praise. I leave them to their devices, suggesting that they focus more heavily on learning the common tongue so that they may learn from Keddic and Bang, to which the fervently promise to do what they can. Apparently I did not need to worry about the Premen, left to their own devices they spend most of their time fighting, their excessively competitive nature meaning the are almost always sparring in some form or other.
I make my way over to Keddic, currently speaking to Bang (who is tearing through food at a speed I thought only Oggroth could reach), and inform him that Lord Brigadier General Quinton was looking for him, likely concerning Trepany. He accepts my words soberly and thanks me for the information, before turning back to his meal. As I move to depart, Bang, through a mouth stuffed with food, asks if he can take part in the next tournament I hold, no matter how minor. It would seem he was very much so aware of my little bout with the Premen, and wants in. I tell him he shall get his chance the next time I hold such an event, and Bang complacently goes back to inhaling food.
>>189915
>>189937
I take the six blades housed in my right shoulder and hang them, three to a side on the hooks I recently shaped at my waist, while I consume all of the remaining nickel I harvest and several pounds beyond of tin, insuring the simultaneous regeneration of twelve pieces of ammunition does not overly drain me. I make my way back into the central tower, nodding to the worker I assigned to work on the Twins of Gavrock, who I see has already gotten the Chains securely anchored to the twin pistols, and is now carefully shaping the two rounds that will receive a morphic treatment. I make my way up the stares, to note Arkus already done with one of the six pieces of ammunition, looking up at my return. I make mention that runes oriented about augmenting speed and mobility would be of great interest to me, and he notes down that preference for his continued studies. I make my way up to the fifth floor, and find Jezebel already at work, tinkering with a device festooned with dozens of charge packs. At my arrival, she looks up, but says nothing.
"I was curious, what do you know about mass production?"
"Do you feel like being more specific?"
"Certainly. I am speaking of the aspects concerning weapons manufacture,
To make the individual components in great batches from specialized machines,
To allow faster overall production. Could you do something like that?"
"...Hm. So you want that to be a priority over getting multiple WASP spears, or extra TASTE o' Dooms, or ODIN mines?"
"Could you not work to mass produce those?"
"What do think I've been doing since getting my equipment squared away? By the way, I could use some really conductive metals or materials..... so, yeah, superconductors? I need those."
"I shall see what I can do."
Jezebel does not even bother responding verbally, merely grimacing as she turns her attention back to her labors. I make my way back down from the fifth floor, and note Arkus to now have a second shot halfway inscribed (just as I notice my ammunition to have regenerated), and ask him to put aside that work and inscribe the paired rune onto my revolver cannon. The remaining light of the day fades to shadow as Arkus labors, and I pass the time by asking him about the Caemlo Repository.
"The Repository? Place is like a dream come true for unaffiliated mages, if you can find it. I actually saw it once... hm, can't remember if it was in the Golden League or in the lands of the Disciples of Domintus, but as near as I could tell.... it's a Soul Grave, or was one, that got worked into a library, which is how it can move, as well as why it can survive in war zones with all that wealth of knowledge. Beyond that... I don't really know anything, the one time I saw it I was.... somewhere in the single digits range for age. ...You know, they'd probably place a great deal of value in the salvaged Mosmordren documents we have, as well as Wendelin's documents. Not saying we SHOULD, but putting the idea out there.... and, DONE."
Arkus steps back from my kneeling form, nodding at my left shoulder and the cannon on it, before he gets back to his desk and resumes inscribing the shells before him.
"Ah... I should have all six ready by the morning."
"Excellent. Oh, and a word of caution:
Let NO ONE see those books from Wendelin."
"..Ah, yeah, okay."
I make my way back downstairs, arriving in time to see the worker laboring over Gavrock implements taking the freshly cast shells, and coating them in morphic fluid with a strange looking brush. Eventually he finishes, references a note, and touches a finger to one of the shells: It abruptly blossoms in size, becoming a large cannonball, before shifting back to it's smaller form moments later. Next, the worker places his hands on one of the pistols, and again is rewarded by a shot that explodes in mass and volume a hundredfold under his will. Nodding his head contentedly, the worker fastidiously packs the Chained Wrecking Twins Of Gavrock into the box they came with, replacing the mold as well, before turning about and nearly dropping the goods at the sight of me. I realize that no one else is still working on the first floor, and thank the man for his labors while claiming the box. As I step outside, I realize just how late it is.
[DAY 98]
It is incredibly early in the morning, hours before dawn. I have modified my cannon to bear the Skyfall runes, and Arkus is laboring to turn six shells into active Skyfall rounds for use in my cannon, hoping to be done by dawn. Jezebel is working to build more of her established weapons, with an expressed desire for superconductors. I look about the pre-dawn Arcanoworks, and wonder.....
What should I do?
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