Heroica RPG - Quest #105: Eternal Reaper

[Endgame]

Alice silently offers her palms.

"I... betrayed you once. But I'm not one of them! I did not emerge from these pipelines!"

Edited November 11, 2014 by Endgame

[Emjajoas]

Mortimer glares at her outstretched hand.

He had no desire to hurt Alice. He had no desire to shed her blood unecessarily. He had no desire to make her suffer further.

But his trust--his faith-- was ebbing.

He sighed, reaching for his knife. It was sharp, simple, and small enough to fit in a pocket.

He takes her left hand in his, bringing the knife up with his right and cutting open her palm-- a gash small enough for her to bleed, but not large enough to cause real damage.

[Endgame]

A trail of crimson blood pours from the wound.

"Did you guys really think I was one of... them?"

[Emjajoas]

"I didn't want to," Mortimer spits, frowning deeply, his brow knotting. "I... had to be sure."

He turns as guilt etched itself across his face. He slashes again with his knife, cutting open his own palm, speaking to her over his shoulder. "The blood's been repaid. Let's keep moving."

[Zepher]

Boomingham shrugs after Masson is done with his whole speech about making decisions in the future or something. What a bunch of words.

​He looks equally perturbed, after having missed the conversation about Alice's loyalty earlier, when Em cuts her hand.

"Looks like this was just another tour spot." He looks around. "Pretty strange that they have to stop in every room of the entire Citadel to get to the top. The Regret may be a lot of things, but he isn't the best architect, far as I can tell."

[Endgame]

"It's built well to stand up against the elements - I'm surprised something this tall can stand upright, really. then again, he had to invent a time portal in case his minions screwed up the building process to go back and revert it, so who knows how well built this place really is...

But, yeah, the lack of a full elevator up to the top is weird. For a bunch of teleporters, though, I guess its more liability than anything else?"

Edited November 11, 2014 by Endgame

[joeshmoe554]

"Given there are no oculoids among us, the best way through this door would likely be to cause an emergency. If we were to damage the oculoid factory badly enough it might release the door locks and it would reduce the Regret's ability to produce more soldiers."

[Kintobor]

Karie looks down at the line of ink, crossing her arms, looking somewhat unimpressed.

"I am thoroughly underwhelmed. This is the conveyer belt that the oculoids kept going on about? There's nothing to even mock about it! The whole thing's so... dispassionate."

She frowns as she notices Em cutting Alice's hand, but says nothing. Instead she looks down at Punii.

"So, Punii, are you thinking what I'm thinking with that Doomsday Bomb?"

[The_Customizer]

"Jeaux, I think you are on the right track, perhaps we can destroy or at least damage this assembly line, would that cause enough of an emergency to make the door open? I can't think of anything else that would help..."

[Endgame]

"I mean, we can *wheeze* go down and try, although I imagine we'd have to plant it somehwere rather specific..."

[Emjajoas]

"Then let's go," Mortimer orders, leading the charge.

[Endgame]

The party walks down the stairs and steps beneath the shadow of the network of inky conduits, overflowing drops of ink sloshing out of their tubs and seeping into the floor. The party finds themselves winding around a pratical labryinth of pillars and spports, a rhythmic mechanical clang heard above them. Just above them was the source of the oculoid menace... And only a little bit higher, the origin of all "life" in this accursed citadel, the Lifespark.

"I *wheeze* found a pillar we could blast, but it's going to take 175 damage from bombs to blast down a pillar. I can rig smoke bombs to do 10 damage, and other nondamging bombs would do 25 damage a piece.

...Do we have the firepower for this?"

Edited November 13, 2014 by Endgame

[Kintobor]

"With your Doomsday Bomb, Punii and Erditree's Agni Bomb, that should give us 199 damage worth of explosive damage... or something.... those numbers always confused me.

Is that good with everyone? Or shall we try something else?" Karie looked behind her, just to make sure nothing was following them.

Edited November 13, 2014 by Kintobor

[Endgame]

Although Karie could see nothing, she had an uncanny feeling there was a tleast something else in this vast room with them. It ha not laid eyes on them yet, but... Who knows when it would...?

[Emjajoas]

"Can you set the bombs with a timer, Punii?" Mortimer asks, keeping his eye peeled. "I'd like to get close to that door before this place falls down around our ears."

[Kintobor]

Karie looks about, a lingering feeling of being watched washed over her. She doesn't say anything about it, but keeps on the look out.

Edited November 13, 2014 by Kintobor

[Endgame]

"Can you set the bombs with a timer, Punii?" Mortimer asks, keeping his eye peeled. "I'd like to get close to that door before this place falls down around our ears."

"A longer fuse is *wheeze* about the extent I could do... We'd be able to make some headway, but not a lot..."

[Emjajoas]

Mortimer nods, scowling. "Fine. If everyone's agreed, set it to blow."

[Bricksandparts]

"Wait, Before we do that, let's consider what all will happen. We blow this, this place will come toppling down on our heads. I think if we could get to the lifespark itself, we could destroy this and spare ourselves in the process." Johon says, looking up at the web of supports and machinery, seeing if there were and good grips on the pillar, possibly allowing him to climb. "I think that if I can get up there, I should be able to drop a rope or find some fashion to get you there."

[Zepher]

"I say we blow it. Punii, stick close to me." Boomingham draws Scupperer, drinks a mead, and stands close to Em. "We're almost done here, chappo."

[The_Customizer]

"Yes we should blow it up, but imagine if we were able to destroy the Lifespark? That could make this whole situation WAY better."

[Emjajoas]

"Aye. We can't finish fast enough," Mortimer mutters, ready.

[joeshmoe554]

"Yes we should blow it up, but imagine if we were able to destroy the Lifespark? That could make this whole situation WAY better."

"It could just as easily make the situation worse. The Lifespark is a very powerful item and tampering with it could result in unforeseen consequences."

"A longer fuse is *wheeze* about the extent I could do... We'd be able to make some headway, but not a lot..."

"A well placed shot from a handcannon would most likely ignite the bombs as well. It would reduce the urgency to flee the explosion."

[Endgame]

Johon soon realizes his attempts are in vain when the ceiling is without any sort of holes, besides several tiny pores for ventilation. Although the Lifespark was not too far above them, they couldn't reach it from this room alone...

Punii responds to Jeaux's plan.

"That would *wheeze* work! Alright, I'll set up the bombs..."

Punii succries over to the pillar and plants the two devasting bombs onto the weakest pillar he can find, haphazardly attaching them to the pillar's base and midsection. He motions the party to back away, stretching out the fuse as long as he can.

"Shoot the *wheeze* fuse, Jeaux, and we'll sucrry. This way, we'll have range and the long fuse benefit..."

Jeaux obeys, an expert handcannon shot ingiting the fuse, the party hurries away from the blast, Punii shouting out one last instruction as they clop up the steps to the ledge they were standing on:

"Be *cough* sure to cover your ears-!!"

The party does so just in time, the combination fo bombs blasting the pillar to smithereens. With the collosal weight of the ink passing through, the pipleine collapses to the side, black plasm spilling out with a horrible sloshing sound. That noise was soon cloaked by the defeaning crash of the conduit collapsing, hitting another pipleine and damging it, as well. One conduit destroyed, and the other clogged, the emrgecny door hisses and upons.

"It worked... But we've been... *wheeze* spotted..."

One Oculoid hovers near the party, dripping ink from the carnage.

"It's an Oculoid, but... It looks... Mindless, I suppose, you could call it."

Indeed, the spark of sentience in the oculoid's eye was dim, and its red iris glassy, the Oculoid simply staring ahead placidly. It did not move aggresivle,y simply bobbing up in down in place, lookingat the heroes but not truly seeing them."

". . . . . . . . . ."

"isn't that Monolith Mk II's eye, or... At least *cough* how it looked?"

[Emjajoas]

"Who?" Mortimer asks, staring at the Oculoid, bow drawn.