The Floating World [IC]

[TheOneHawk]

Carlisle casually sidesteps the clumsy attack from the mass, smiling darkly down at it. "It would appear," he calls, "That this big bastard's aim is no better than that of its appendages.
Now it's time for it to share their fate." His smiles widens as he begins hacking ferociously into the strange flesh, both of his blades glowing with dark energy as they carve into the creature.

Spoiler: OOC

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Full attack, expending the bestow curse is the spellstoring wakizashi for 50% chance to not act every turn and touch of madness on the conductive wakizashi for -4 on saving throws and attack rolls, +4 on skill checks no save for 3 rounds.

Conductive
(1d20+9)[16] attack
(1d6+4)[8]damage
(1d20+9)[22]attack
(1d6+4)[10]damage

Conductive
(1d20+4)[20]attack
(1d6+4)[5]damage
(1d20+4)[6]attack
(1d6+4)[8]damage

Spell Storing
(1d20+9)[25] attack
(1d6+4)[10]damage
(1d20+9)[23]attack
(1d6+4)[9]damage

Spell Storing
(1d20+4)[7]attack
(1d6+4)[9]damage
(1d20+4)[15]attack
(1d6+4)[9]damage

If one of them has not yet discharged its ability, that one. If both have, it doesn't matter, if neither have, go with the conductive.
(1d20+9)[25] attack
(1d6+4)[6]damage
(1d20+9)[27]attack
(1d6+4)[6]damage

[ylvathrall]

Ryoko's acid splashes solidly across the mass of flesh, moments before Ennius's arrow slams home into it. His other shot strikes true into the lump of flesh, which collapses back into the floor. Carlisle, though, finds his blades mostly glancing aside on the tough skin of the central mass. One strike with each blade lands home, though, and he feels his magic sparking into it, albeit with minimal effect.

The mass, apparently upset at Carlisle's attacks, gapes open again. He can just see mounds of twisted flesh inside, writhing and undulating in motions that are simultaneously sickening and hypnotic, before a blast of boiling hot bile sprays out at him.

Spoiler: OOC

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Can only hit Carlisle with the blast of bile this time. Does (6d8)[26] fire damage, DC 23 half. On failed save DC 23 Fortitude or take (1d3)[3] Dex damage. Poison effect.

[TheOneHawk]

Carlisle's smile turns to frustration as he hacks again and again into the flesh that simply refuses to part beneath his blades. He focuses so hard on penetrating the mass's defenses he doesn't notice the hole opening to spew hot death up at him until it's far too late to escape. The blast hits him dead on slamming him straight into the ceiling and he's dead before he falls back down, landing halfway into the closing maw of flesh

[Recherché]

Ryoko's eyes widen as she watches Carlisle's fall but she says nothing. Instead she grabs one more vial and motions for Cherya to do the same. The imp suddenly appears on her shoulder and the two throw the last acid
This is all I have Ennius. After this I'm out. I don't have much left but I have a way to leave this place. Bad news is that it's one person only.

Spoiler: Actions

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Both Ryoko and Cherya are throwing the last of the acid vials.

Ryoko
To hit: [roll1d20+2[/roll]
Damage: (1d6)[4]

Crit hit [roll1d20+2[/roll]
Crit damage: (1d6)[2]

Cherya
To hit: [roll1d20+2[/roll]
Damage: (1d6)[3]

Crit hit [roll1d20+2[/roll]
Crit damage: (1d6)[1]

[The Hellbug]

...of course, things like this could always change at a moment's notice. "Carlisle!" the druid shouts, but his limp form in the thing's folds tells the cleric's fate as well as his silence does. After loosing another pair of arrows a mass, Ennius soberly responds to Ryoko. "I understand," he replies, "I would not have you give your life for a chance to save mine--perhaps I have been living on borrowed time for long enough. I only ask this: that you return with aid should you flee--this thing must not live to see the light of day, and, even if I am successful in slaying it, I may not be able to free myself on my own." He reaches for another arrow as he finishes.

Spoiler: OOC

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Full attack, I guess.

attack: (1d20+13)[19]
damage: (1d8+4)[9]
crit: (1d20+13)[16]
damage: (2d8+8)[12]

attack: (1d20+13)[25]
damage: (1d8+4)[5]
crit: (1d20+13)[26]
damage: (2d8+8)[23]

[ylvathrall]

Half a dozen swellings erupt from the floor and even the walls of the room in the wake of Ennius's words, and for a moment it seems that the druid will be forced to make good on his heroism. Then, however, the various swellings burst, exposing half-formed tentacles and even twisted bodies - one of which bears a striking, and horrifying, resemblance to Sute. The twisted mass of flesh in the corner of the room seems notably reduced, and as the swellings burst open it abruptly tears open. This tear, though, doesn't expose a blast of boiling hot bile. Rather, the rent in the flesh releases a gush of thick ichor and pus, filling the room with the thick scent of foul decay.

The tentacles and eyestalks around the room all collapse as this happens, at exactly the same moment. For the first time since you walked in, the room around you is still. Or, rather, nearly so. The central mass is still pulsing slightly, the faintest of movements rippling across its surface. The flood of ichor has slowed to a trickle, but given the sheer mass of the thing it is flowing from, this still leaves a substantial stream of the stuff flowing out. It reacts explosively as it reaches the acid, bubbling and sputtering.

Spoiler: OOC

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The mass of flesh is dying. It makes no actions for this round, nor do the other tentacles and such.

[The Hellbug]

Even as the tentacles burst around him, Ennius continues to put arrow after arrow into the core until he is sure that any movement coming from it is merely twitches in death. Once the thing is finally still, the druid drops his bow and collapses to his knees, tears forming in his eyes as he surveys what surely would have been his doom had the creature not perished.

[Recherché]

Holy . . . Ryoko practically collapses in mid air. She lets herself hang for a second panting before floating over to Ennius and pulling him into a hugThat was, that was something. I don't even know where to begin. Are you okay? A quick check verifies the other man is unharmed and Ryoko pulls another scroll out of her bag. I think now would be a good time to send up a distress call and let people know what happened. Just to warn you this will take a few minutes and I don't have a second one of these.

The mage settles back down to the earth in a spot that looks relatively ichor and acid free to begin studying the scroll and trying to remember the details of the person who briefed them on the mission in the first place. The message at least is already clear in her head "Complex extremely dangerous. Abandoned mage’s lab. Filled with monsters. Ryoko and Ennius only survivors. Will return to boat and report when able. Need reinforcements."

Spoiler: OOC

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Using scroll of sending rolling UMD in OOC

[The Hellbug]

"It was something wrong, and now it's dead," Ennius replies, attempting to comfort himself as much as his companion, getting to his feet to return the hug, "a death paid for in blood--but not my own--a devil's own luck." He nods at the witch's suggestion, and, as she prepares her spell, summons a few orbs of light to push back the darkness of the room as he retrieves his dropped gear.

The druid confronts Ryoko again once she finishes her sending. "The situation still hasn't improved in one respect, though," Ennius says, "I still currently have neither the skills nor magic to escape this room and won't until I can rest and meditate. You may wish to escape at once--" he doesn't even bother to hide his discomfort with this notion"--but I think it'd be safer for both of us if you stay."

[Recherché]

You'll notice that I haven't disappeared already. That's because I'm not leaving you behind unless you're already dead or I have absolutely no other choice. Ryoko sounds irritated at even the suggestion that she would abandon Ennius lightly And right now we still have plenty of options. Can you shoot the glass over there until it breaks?
Or maybe throw something heavy at it? Once we've got it down I can fly over easily and I can give you flight to get over if you need it. I'm not totally certain what's on the other side of the glass but it looks safer than over here at least.

[The Hellbug]

"Hmm, it doesn't look as thick as I initially thought," Ennius replies after moving his glowing orbs towards the glass, "but I must disagree with your conclusion about its relative safety. Here, we are in a locked room with no other living things; that is not guaranteed beyond that observation room."

Nevertheless, the druid draws his bow again and places a few well-aimed shots into the glass barrier.

[ylvathrall]

The glass proves unusually resilient, but after three arrows slam into it in a tight grouping, a small section shatters. It looks to be large enough that you could squeeze through if you wanted.

[The Hellbug]

"That does it," Ennius says as he puts his bow away, "let's see what they were keeping back there--gods willing, all these deaths won't have been entirely in vain." With that, abandons his form for that of an eagle and flaps his way across the acid and through the hole in the glass on the other side, resuming his humanoid form as he lands.

[Recherché]

Ryoko does a quick check of Carlisle's body and closes his eyes before moving to join Ennius on the other side of the acid. I wish we could take Carlisle's body with us and return him to his kingdom or church, but I don't think we can carry it with us for any length of time. She pokes her spear through to the glass seemingly testing the hole before crawling through herself. I hope he didn't have any dependents who were relying on those items for their inheritance.

[ylvathrall]

Spoiler: Ryoko

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"Received. Reinforcements, supplies inbound, form opening and rendezvous. Mission parameters unchanged: investigate abandonment, source of monsters. Divinations still unclear. Will contact if information, mission changes."

The observation chamber across the trench of acid stands in sharp contrast to the flesh-covered room on the other side. The structure is the same - a simple stone box of a room. But the chamber is perfectly clean, and has a subtle sort of luxury to it. The desk and chair are finely made, of what Ennius recognizes as an exotic hardwood from the western continent. Delicate runic carvings on them hint at meaning without quite conveying it.

Most of the books on the table are straightforward enough. There are two tomes titled in what you recognize as the language of the western continent, though your fluency isn't sufficient to recognize much more than that. A third, written in Sylvan, appears to be an advanced book on the topic of plant and fungal growth.

The last book, though, is by far the most interesting. Untitled and without any trace of magic, it appears to be a journal written in Draconic. Much of the text is either in another language, stained, too dense with abbreviation and formula to make sense of, or written in such an incomprehensible scrawl that only the writer could make sense of it. The portions you can make out, though, spell out a great deal about what you just saw.

Spoiler: Logbook entries

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Spoiler: Entry #1

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Begin research log.

I have begun the process of iteration two. As metal has failed me, I must now turn to flesh. It will be a difficult undertaking, as this is far from my own expertise. It shall require considerable consultation and study, but I expect the course of the research will culminate in substantial progress, even if it is ultimately not successful.

I shall begin with the fungal creatures which were so familiar to my youth. Their replication process should prove insightful, and they are capable of replicating intelligence, even if it rarely amounts to much. I shall use nothing more than an animal, of course; to do otherwise would be both dangerous and inhumane.

Spoiler: Entry #5

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I have successfully formed them into a true hivemind! It is good that my previous researches led me to discover such efficient power sources and mechanics, as the effort of producing hive intelligence has proven far more intensive than anticipated. While creating the preliminary stages I used earlier was simple enough, the shift from that to true intelligence was far more difficult.

The effort has been worth the cost, though. Observing the neural linkages developing among the butterflies was immensely insightful into the nature of distributed consciousness. This in turn provides a number of insights into the nature of intelligence and sentience more generally. Aside from the fascinating nature of this information, I expect it to prove useful to my ultimate goal.

I shall have to continue observations of the hivemind as it continues to learn and grow. Watching this nascent intelligence expand and learn should be immensely interesting.

Spoiler: Entry #27

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The demon proved as reluctant to assist me as expected. After sufficient persuasion, though, I have induced it to divulge the information I needed. The methods it used in resistance were surprisingly potent, but ultimately not unexpected, and insufficient to deter me. The new information on the growth and maintenance of the Abyssal life forms I noted in the last entry is disappointing, however. It is deeply dependent on the Abyss's own nature, and I fear that I will not be able to separate the two. This makes it ultimately useless in my research, as I do not aim to spread the demonic taint to my creation.

I have had the demon and the Abyssal growths terminated.

Spoiler: Entry #49

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I have begun my work on iteration two, subject alpha. The raw materials were easy enough to find, but I have had to seek out additional sources for the process of forming the initial construct. The protean was rather harder to extract information from than the demons have been, but was fortunately much less aggressive about its resistance, and we were ultimately able to reach a compromise. The deception involved in my questioning prevented me from obtaining as relevant of answers as I hoped, but I think it would have been far less willing to negotiate if it knew my true aims. The new information has revealed previously unknown interactions among the values of S, L₁, and N₅, as well as several entirely new variables. I shall have to modify my plans accordingly as I proceed with alpha.

The remainder of the entry is made up of arcane formulae, many of which are crossed out or jumbled.

Spoiler: Entry #57

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I have had to discard alpha and restart the work. The flesh continues to succumb to necrosis despite my best efforts. I have begun studying regenerative properties to hopefully avoid this in the future. Trolls are proving particularly informative, though I have had several servants lost in the process of caring for them. Additional safety measures must be implemented in the future, particularly after the self-replication event last week which very nearly caused a containment breach.

I must not forget the dangers inherent in my work.

Spoiler: Entry # 70

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The preliminary experiments in the application of tissue changes I noted in the trolls are promising. The tissue continues to succumb to necrosis but at a far lower rate than it did before this adjustment. Increasing the values of S, R₂, and P_RT may be of further assistance, though the practical methods of doing so may be easier said than done. I will likely need additional consultation with both the demonic and daemonic sources.

In other matters, finding servants is growing increasingly difficult. There are relatively few who are capable of following my instruction to the letter, and anything less is risking a containment breach, as I saw when the colour out of space escaped last week. It has been recaptured within the telekinetic airlock, but I cannot continue risking such breaches, particularly as the number of experimental subjects involved in iteration two continues to grow. I may need to take a break from my research to work on this more pressing problem. Luckily my work during the first iteration of the project may have given me what I need to solve this.

Spoiler: Entry #79

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I have successfully produced the golems. I am using clockwork for the task, both because of my expertise with it following iteration one and because the self-powered nature of them makes them much safer for this task than golems with an independent spirit would be. Even the tiniest spark of rebellion risks a containment breach, and I particularly want to avoid that while I have the vrolikai in containment. Even a momentary escape by the demon could prove absolutely disastrous, and must be avoided at all costs. I have paused in my work with the golems for the interrogation of the vrolikai, after which I plan to terminate it immediately. Its value as a research subject is immense, but it is quite simply too dangerous a subject for long-term containment, even with the assistance of my partner.

Spoiler: Entry #92

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The golems are wearing out with unfortunate speed, and their production has been an unfortunate distraction from my work. I am presently engaged in work to obviate this problem, which has occupied me wholly from the last week.

I believe, however, that I now have a solution. The process of creating the clockwork servants I require has been streamlined and simplified to such an extent that the servants themselves are now capable of the necessary assembly. This shall, of course, require close observation to ensure that it does not become a containment breach itself. If successful, however, it may be sufficient to vastly reduce my need for living workers.

Spoiler: Entry #100

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The locals grow increasingly problematic. Since I first began this project they have been content to leave the mountain well alone, thanks to carefully placed rumors of my ghost haunting it, or my partner's continued existence. Now, however, they are beginning to stray closer to the mountain, and the rumors are no longer sufficient to dissuade them. Yesterday there was a full mob practically at our doorstep, and only fortune kept them from finding the entrance.

My partner made a suggestion which, while it was made in jest, I may have to act on. My research into power sources and power flow management was immensely productive, after all. Why not simply find a way to remove the entire mountain from their reach?

Spoiler: Entry # 111

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Success! The process of enchanting the mountain was strenuous and repetitive, but ultimately not as difficult as it could have been. We have now lifted off, taking with us those servants still involved in the management of the laboratory. My partner has carved out additional rooms for their use, so that we are all able to remain within the mountain. We shall require additional complexes to become wholly independent, but I do not expect great difficulty. I have already researched plant growth enough that constructing a hydroponics facility should be trivial, and the energy to operate it with water drawn from the ocean should be simple enough to provide with an additional power generator attached to the main facility generators.

It is a liberating feeling, to be free both of the ground and of the fools who would disrupt my researches.

Spoiler: Entry # 152

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I have begun working on developing the hivemind in alpha, though it is proving difficult. I must make numerous adjustments to the variables I originally developed from the butterflies, as I do not wish to retain their reliance upon a single nexus point. The development of a true distributed network consciousness is substantially more difficult.

In better news, the complex is now wholly independent from the outside world. With minimal maintenance I believe it is now capable of sustaining itself all but indefinitely. The last of the living servants died two days ago in the containment breach of subjects 17, 41, 43, 62, and 127. I do not think that i need to replace them. The clockwork golems should be capable of performing all the tasks they previously did with only minimal adjustment.

Spoiler: Entry #276

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I must, unfortunately, call this iteration a failure as well. Subject alpha is capable of self-replication, self-repair, and other basic tasks, and it maintains a rudimentary distributed intelligence. Efforts to improve further on that intelligence, however, continue to fail, and it is entirely dependent on outside factors for sustenance. It falls far short of the ideal my partner and I strive for.

I remain hopeful, however, as its strengths lie in directions that my first efforts' did not. Steel has failed me, and flesh has failed as well. But perhaps a fusion of the two will be more successful.

I have already summoned the demons, daemons, proteans, and axiomites which I will require for the preliminary research. Iteration three begins tomorrow.

End research log.

[Recherché]

Well good news is that I got a reply back on that sending. They're sending extra supplies and reinforcements. We should probably try and meet up with them and give the powers that be more thorough information than twenty five words. Unfortunately they didn't say where to meet them just "form opening and rendezous" and I have no idea which opening they mean. Still I figure we should get out of here and try to meet up with our backup wherever they are. There's one stop I'd like to make on the way back though. You remember that lab we found the first time? I think I might have a way to get some extra information from it.

---

Ryoko's face grows whiter and whiter as she translates the journal for Ennius. I don't know most of these creatures he's talking about, this is not good. It means they're very obscure. The one I do know is that Vrolikai demons are incredibly powerful and advanced. I think the writer is far far out of our league. Some of the formula I can understand has to do with fleshwarping. I'd guess thats how he made all these wondrous creatures, but I can't tell you much more.

Ryoko grabs all the books to put in her bag and opens the door. Presuming Ennius agrees she'll be heading back the way they came with a short stop along the way at the alchemy lab. One very simple spell later Ryoko commands the unseen servant to bring her everything that's paper and has writing on it in the room.

[The Hellbug]

Ennius listens to Ryoko's translation with growing concern, but all he can do when she's finished is shake his head. "Still not more than the slightest hint about what they were trying to accomplish here," he comments, "the only thing I can say for sure is that at least we know what the purpose of this facility is: to make...something. Everything else is merely a means to that end. And sorry, I might've missed it, but did the journal ever specify anything more specific about this 'partner' it kept mentioning?"

[Recherché]

Nothing exactly on who or what the partner is but entry 100 suggests that the partner isn't something the local peasants are comfortable with and that they avoided complex in part because of them. I don't know exactly though.
For that matter we don't know what the master of this complex is or was. The chair suggests humanoid but beyond that... Ryoko shrugs before heading to the door plainly wanting to get out of this place.

---

Looking at the stairways Ryoko points to one. I think that should go near the alchemy lab we found before. She sounds uncertain But I'm not sure if my mental map is right or if that place is even safe. Well I mean we know that Sue's familiar wasn't blasted into oblivion but that's about it.

[The Hellbug]

Ennius nods. "That's exactly what I was about to suggest," he replies, "and, even if your sense of direction isn't erfect, it should at least be close, and we weren't attacked by anything last time we were there." He leads the way towards the indicated door.

[ylvathrall]

The stairs down prove to lead to another branching hallway, one end of which terminates at a door - beyond which, you think, is the lab you saw from the ventilation shaft. The other leads deeper into the complex.

More immediately interesting, though, is a room you can see at the end of the branch in the hall. A workshop is visible through an open door, but unlike the laboratory, this one is full of activity. Clockwork golems come and go, and within you can see them at work. Golems are being built and repaired by other golems, with no humanoid oversight anywhere to be seen.

An enormous, hulking shape is visible inside the room, past the golems. The assemblage of gears, springs, and wires is enormous, easily as large as many buildings. Following the chain of what connects to what is all but impossible in the complicated, tangled mass of clockwork. Precisely what its function is is unclear; it doesn't appear to have a center, just the sprawl. A glass wall separates it from the rest of the room. Just on your side of it is another desk and chair, with more books on the desk.

[Recherché]

Ryoko gives the room full of machinery a longing look before glancing back to Ennius's face and sighing. So much information about this place they're going to have to ignore.

Just give me a minute to get the books? I won't even go in. She pleads.

It's a relatively simple magic to levitate the books from the room to her whole she remains at a safe distance. A quick scan for magic and to look over titles and then into her bag they go. And then towards the lab and hopefully their way out they go.

[ylvathrall]

None of the books appear to be magical. One is an unlabeled book much like the research log from the floor above this one, while three others are titled and written in the same foreign languages as the pair from above. The last is a thick, dense book in another unknown script.

The lab is just where you expected, and you can see the same ventilation shaft in the wall that you previously saw from the other side.

[The Hellbug]

"Just be careful," Ennius urges, but, with Ryoko's precautions, there is no reason to fear. In fact, it looks like the room was safe after all.

"Thank you, we'll have plenty of time to read those once we're outside," he reassures her after a sigh of relief, "and thank the gods, this'll get us there. Here, help me get these bars off."

[Recherché]

Ryoko digs around in her bag for a second before handing Ennius a complex tool that appears to have a screwdriver attachment. I think there might still be some extra papers in here as well and I want as much reading material as possible. We can't let ourselves get board while we're waiting for backup can we? While her companion struggles with the bars she takes a quick look around the lab to try and find any other books or papers to add to her collection again touching nothing but telekinetically opening drawers and adding any likely objects to her bag after a scan.

[The Hellbug]

"Thanks," Ennius says, taking the tool from Ryoko. As soon as the he gets the grate off, he tosses it back to her. "There we are; freedom for now. You ready yet?" His own personal answer to that question is 'yes' which he readily shows by taking the form of a heron, like earlier, and stretches his wings.

[ylvathrall]

The drawers prove to mostly be locked, with the few that aren't containing little beyond sheets covered in scrawled formulae, their meaning unclear. It does produce another pair of books, one in another indecipherable language and one written in Infernal which appears to be an extremely advanced treatise on the flow of souls, how they travel through the planes after death, how they are reincarnated or converted into new forms of life, and how this flow interacts with other features of the planes. The book is so densely written that it's hard to follow for someone without a solid grounding in the specific topic, particularly when it references another work in almost every line.

The ventilation shaft is just as you remember, including a large opening to the outside world.

[The Hellbug]

No sooner has Ryoko collected her books when Ennius takes off, flying up and out of the ventilation shaft as fast as his wing will take him. Once outside, he ascends high enough to see his destination: the island with the cows. Rather than go to it immediately, though, he flies two laps around the facility, merely to enjoy the wind on his wings. With that done, though, he catches up with his companion, returning to his original form just after landing. "If you need any help with those tomes, you need just ask," he offers, seeing her already absorbed in one of them, "in that regard, I am at your service, providing I can read them."

When his offer is turned down, he spends the next few minutes freeing himself from his bulky armor. He props it up on his pack, laying his arms and shield beside them. Now clothed in the vestments of his faith, he sits down cross-legged and begins his meditation.

[Recherché]

Ryoko grabs a bottle of ethanol and follows behind the bird silently as they make their way to safety. Unlike him though she feels no need to circle the island repeatedly but simply sets herself down. Ryoko shakes her head at Ennius's question. I might be able to make more sense of some of the tomes in the morning with some translation spells. For right now I'm just going to look over them all again. See if I can't make any more sense of them now that we have time. While he meditates she opens up her journal and begins drawing what appears to be notes of currency from several of the outer planes and signed with the name of Yanluo, the judge of the dead. Once the ink dries Ryoko tears the banknotes out of her journal douses them in the ethanol and burns them.

[The Hellbug]

The sound of burning paper is not one Ennius had expected; he soon opens one eye, then both. His meditation immediately delayed for later, the druid observes Ryoko's rite stoically--though the exact significance of it is beyond him, he recognizes that it is religious in nature. When the last sheet of paper has burned he speaks up. "Forgive the ignorance of a foreigner," he begins, "but was that ritual one from around here? I never took you much for the religious sort."

[Recherché]

I'm not particularly religious. Or perhaps I should say that while I bargain with the spirits I rarely pray to gods. But still there are certain formalities that need to be observed. Ryoko shrugs As for the right, do you not have hell-money where you come from? You make counterfeit money for the dead and then you burn it so they may receive it in the afterlife. For buying whatever it is they need there. Or for bribing the officials to get to a better afterlife.