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2007b6.jpg
Apple Dreamer
2007b6
>>883991
>Assuming we aren't willing to disintegrate the subterrene, is it in our way, or can we go around it?
With the combined efforts of a team of surveyors and a 15th level wizard who hasn't completely neglected studying applied geometry, it's almost trivial to do the basic trigonometry necessary to calculate an appropriate entry point for boring in at an angle, assuming Helen can give accurate information (or at least an upper bound) on the subterrene's exterior size.
Alternatively, you could start the excavation from the subterrene's ventral hatch, thereby leaving topsoil and an initial layer of rock intact. Reduces the risk of discovery, falling debris, escaping wraiths, etc.
Or, if you could figure out how to safely and reliably operate the subterrene, that would open up completely new options for approaching this whole problem.
>Roll for search.
>rolled 5, 5, 5 = 15
No other bracelets, anklets, collars, etc. of braided Aaphia-hair are found.
>>884020
>study these in greater detail, particularly keen on examining their inherent spiritual power or significance.
The fruit itself, interestingly enough, actually has less spiritual 'force' or 'definition' to it than any ordinary pear from orchards outside the city. Alchemy exploits the ambiguity of that liminal state between metal and plant in order to simultaneously rigidize and nourish damaged flesh. Having the whole fruit to work with, stem and skin and seeds instead of just pre-treated crescent slices of the juicy part, might be useful for research and inventing other possible applications.
>Has anyone tried consuming one yet?
https://xkcd.com/18/ It's easier to scratch than solid brass, but actually has higher compressive strength, including resistance to deeper penetration comparable to that of mild steel. Even cut into appropriately small pieces, without alchemical preparation it'd most likely cause internal injuries similar to eating scrap metal or ground glass. Some nutritive value, but there are far more cost-effective ways to trick someone into torturing themselves by limiting their food to a short list of bad options.
>He's also interested in meeting with that 'native guide' who is currently tending them.
The guide is described as most nearly resembling an array of weapons and chitinous gardening tools protruding from a remarkably cohesive and persistent coffin-sized pillar of smoke. Setting up a meeting would be possible, but is too complex, potentially dangerous, and off-topic to be handled as a flashback.
>If it actually is still in legible condition, that would most likely mean it was acquired and kept by an intelligent being who now has full access to all of Azarthraine's spells.
First, many intelligent creatures could recognize the book as potentially valuable, but only an arcane caster from an appropriately literate tradition would be able to actually use it, and even then only up to the circles they were already capable of. Second, it was written as much as possible in obscure slang, dead languages, and/or actual mathematical ciphers. Third, even once literal meanings of individual words and diagrams were clear, Zelkor of the Green Tassels is probably the only other person who'd be casually familiar with the underlying 'function library,' so learning each individual spell would involve going through line-by-line and recompiling it. Easier and safer than inventing from scratch, but, unlike the code-breaking, it'd be impossible to delegate or otherwise divide the most tedious work among several people, since any alteration must take the full contest of the spell into account.
>And it tends to be a little difficult to be revived when one has been supremely disintegrated.
Fourth, Supreme Disintegration isn't in the lost spellbook, not as anything more than a washed-out palimpsest, for the same reason it's still available: after Azarthraine permanently grafted it into his own mind, he scrubbed out the redundant hard copy to make room for other stuff. Fifth, the wisp of dust left over when a body is disintegrated is just as adequate a link for targeting artificial reincarnation as, say, a fist-sized hunk of charcoal plus a badge, or an entire skeleton minus the head.
> the presence of creatures residing down there who he himself is helpless against
"Helpless against" is a bit of an overstatement. Azarthraine is confident he could've found some way to permanently dispatch the abomination, given a full loadout and a bit more time to think. As it was, they still managed an orderly retreat. The thing's attempt to pursue was thwarted by simply closing an unlocked door. What wiped out the original Fire Hawks was disorientation and attrition, not overwhelmingly superior individual opponents.
>Is the school of divination magic truly without value here?
Bloodmist Labyrinth is warded, but more like a thorny hedge than an impenetrable wall. Main issue is the Fire Hawks don't have in-house assets for long-range scrying or fortune-telling, so you'd need to hire somebody, and anyone who can do the job would also, at minimum, be able to make valuable contributions to mineral prospecting and/or someone else's military, so they probably won't work cheap.
What do you want to know, and how much are you willing to pay?
>>884046
>Had we not time skipped to directly outside the labyrinth, Maru would have been dead set against going, and might have gone to do other work since she could live off her current pay; being that we're already here, I'm going to assume Maru was already persuaded to come with, and act accordingly.
Again, my intention with the careful phrasing of the timeskip was to preserve "nope, bad plan, I quit" as an option for PCs. IC, Azarthraine and Oldaric both know that anybody who doesn't really want to be here in the first place might be looking for opportunities to desert, or even defect, which is a dangerous liability for the whole team. This company is supposed to be the Fire Hawks, not the Blue Falcons.
>>884153
>does Helen know anything about those riddles? What religion they refer to and how to possibly gather the correct answers?
Well, given that it's in a religious context at all, the first one probably refers to whichever god they're worshipping. The traps seem to have been designed by total assholes, with deep symbolism and no completely safe bypass, so answer number three might be "nobody." Second one is the only really tricky part. Might be a clue or reminder in the carvings on that slab at the entrance >>/questarch/776147 for anyone who knows the relevant language.
>>884176
Only part of the subterrene which holds any possibility of exploding is the power core, a tormented earth elemental. Bindings seem to be stable for the time being. From Hore's "outsider nanobot shaman" perspective, the entire vehicle seems to be a schizophrenic caricature of real advanced technology, but one which is nonetheless functional. Sorta like if a bunch of primitive islanders built an airplane-shaped effigy from mud and leaves, filled the fuel tank with pig's blood, then danced and chanted and turned the ignition key and it actually took off. Operation and maintenance procedures seem to be adequately documented, in a language Helen can now read and write with almost perfect fluency (the 'accented' level). Individual steps and specific components mostly make sense, but wrapping your head around uncanny and deeply perverse or alien aspects of the overall design will probably take at least a month or two, and until you've done so, any attempt to use the thing will risk ridiculous and/or deadly catastrophe.
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