[The Forever Tree]Rustdeity IC.

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Sakuro
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Re: [The Forever Tree]Rustdeity IC.

Post by Sakuro »

A nod of acknowledgement came after Mother Mercy's assurance that she would be calling in many eager Enginseers to join her. Turning his head towards Tassukh his eyes lingered on the reptilian humanoid for a few seconds before shifting back to the cybermagus.

"A citizen of Bastion, Mr. Ashcroft, is being given a new body. When that is done, see that he is provided a means of contacting me in the field."

Bringing up his left hand Lucas mage a gesture, as though passing a document over to Mother Mercy. As he did Shi'Halal sent a datapcket to the woman. Contained there in was the information he had gleamed from Earth-E, including what Lammasutu had told him about the memetic machine that was being employed in that dimension. Further, was details on what he had learned during his encounter with Metatron and the dark malevolence he witnessed in the Beyond.

"I will be forwarding you some data I acquired on the Oblivion Flock since we last spoke in person."

After the data was sent Lucas turned to the Icon seed. His hand rose again, and with an extended index finger he began to draw in the air. In augmented reality the image of unpolished dark metal followed the path of his figure. Eventually taking the shape of the simplified version of his family's crest. The symbol that was at it's core when all garish excess was stripped away. He focused on his desire to protect the young Icon, and in that moment his psionic energies imprinted into the symbol. When he finished Lucas looked back to the two leaders of their respective groups.

"Thank you both for your time and counsel. Mother Mercy, Lady Jocasta is here if you would like to speak with her before she and set out. Otherwise, I leave the two of you to your work."

Bidding the cybermagus and sadistic Xeno scientist fairwell, Lucas parted ways with them and returned to Nepenthe and Baffe. Quickly he brings them up to speed on developments since their last conversation.

OOC wrote:Lucas is going create an digital representation of his symbol linked to the Galaxysoul seed's gestation chamber. Then he'll switch to his Communion Array's Ward AP long enough to empower the symbol.
HP: 2
Defense: 20
Conditions: Healthy
Encephalon: Activated
Communion Array: Impervious Toughness 20
Blast "Arsenal" Dynamic Array: Datalink 20 [Power Feat: Machine Control (+1 pp), Dimensional 3 (+3 pp)] ; Enhanced Skills 2 [Computers 8]
Flight "Utility" Dynamic Array: Speed 9 ; Quickness 15 ; X-Ray Vision ; Microscopic Vision 4 ;
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Hoid
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Re: [The Forever Tree]Rustdeity IC.

Post by Hoid »

Nepenthe says, “A creature may be the SOURCE of TEGS? I would’ve imagined such a thing being bioengineered by someone. And to think, it came from here? I...have trouble with that idea. A xeno so big entire tribes could live in it never existed, prior to the re——prior to The Catastrophe. It would have been a top-level threat. Everyone on....Rustdeity....would’ve heard of such a beast!”

Baffe simply nods. “Is great, dead god. We have tales.”
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Sakuro
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Re: [The Forever Tree]Rustdeity IC.

Post by Sakuro »

"From what I understand TEGS is not native to this dimension. There are beings from other dimensions whose tissue is a catalyst for it. The Beastscape may very well be one of these."

.... Lucas offered by way of explanation after Nepenthe informed him that the creature Tassukh described was not known of prior to her entry into quantum uncertainty. So it had to of arrived after the fall of the TAW. Baffe's remark brought his attention to the Beastman. His eyes coming to settle on the goat man, Lucas invited him to speak further.

"What do these tales say about this dead god?"

OOC wrote:
HP: 2
Defense: 20
Conditions: Healthy
Encephalon: Activated
Communion Array: Impervious Toughness 20
Blast "Arsenal" Dynamic Array: Datalink 20 [Power Feat: Machine Control (+1 pp), Dimensional 3 (+3 pp)] ; Enhanced Skills 2 [Computers 8]
Flight "Utility" Dynamic Array: Speed 9 ; Quickness 15 ; X-Ray Vision ; Microscopic Vision 4 ;
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Hoid
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Re: [The Forever Tree]Rustdeity IC.

Post by Hoid »

Baffle hawks up a Herculean wad of snot and phlegm, then says, “In the long ago, great beasts were gods. The herds prayed and prayed, said, ‘Send us deliverance!’ Gods agreed, big god came and laid waste that who oppress us. But stupid god not understand Man’s shouting spears, so god is stupid and dies. Other gods say, ‘Here, we help you. Now we help no more.’ And it is so.

“It worked. We became free.”
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Sakuro
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Re: [The Forever Tree]Rustdeity IC.

Post by Sakuro »

As he listened to Baffe's tale of gods enabling the Beastmen to gain their freedom, he endeavored to pierce the mysticism and vagary that time and barbarism had masked past events in. It sounded as though the Beastmen were able to contact a group of people. People with the resources to send a titanic creature to the Sol system. It was either too alien or too beastial to communicate with and was slain by ancient man. But the havoc it wrecked was enough for Baffe's ancestors to take advantage of. More than this, it suggested the Beastmen may have some ancient allies. Possibly from another dimension.

"It is good that the Beastmen were able to gain their freedom."

... Lucas stated at last. From the story Baffe told, it did not seem like self-sacrifice on the Beastscape's part. But if it was, that was admirable. One life for the freedom of a race was worthwhile. Shortly after Baffe's story was completed he turned his eyes to Nepenthe.

"If you do not feel equipped to enter areas contaminated by TEGS, you may remain here until. I am sure Mother Mercy would welcome both of your support in establishing herself her. Mr. Ashcroft will no doubt appreciate friends being present while he waits for an opportunity to return to Bastion."
OOC wrote:
HP: 2
Defense: 20
Conditions: Healthy
Encephalon: Activated
Communion Array: Impervious Toughness 20
Blast "Arsenal" Dynamic Array: Datalink 20 [Power Feat: Machine Control (+1 pp), Dimensional 3 (+3 pp)] ; Enhanced Skills 2 [Computers 8]
Flight "Utility" Dynamic Array: Speed 9 ; Quickness 15 ; X-Ray Vision ; Microscopic Vision 4 ;
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Hoid
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Re: [The Forever Tree]Rustdeity IC.

Post by Hoid »

‘I’m staying here,” Nepenthe says, suppressing a shudder.

Baffe says, “I would see god. Give thanks. For herds.”
OOC:
Ok. Wut now?
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Sakuro
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Re: [The Forever Tree]Rustdeity IC.

Post by Sakuro »

Lucas' attention came to rest on the Beastman when Baffe mentioned wanting to pay his respects to the dead creature for the part it paid in his people's history. He was somewhat surprised, though when he thought about it, he understood the reason behind that desire. There were complications, however, and she shared them with Baffe.

"Do you understand the risk? To my knowledge there is no air to breathe on Corrosion. It is cold enough to kill, and quickly. TEGS, the disease that this corpse is said to spread, twists the body and mind. We will need to find equipment to protect you from these things."

After he was assured that Baffe understood and accepted the risk inherent in paying homage to the ancient corpse and traveling on Corrosion, Lucas set out to see if there was equipment present at Omicron that would enable his survive. Like the TAW evo-suit he had gained for Nepenthe. Once they had that he departed from the military base with his Beastman companion. Taking to the skies of Corrosion, he flew off for the Beastscape. Though he could travel at mind boggling speeds, Imperious did not rush. Time was taken to survey the landscape as they traveled.
OOC wrote:Not sure if you want to play out Baffe getting his gear, or jump ahead. I am alright with jumping ahead.

When they do depart, Shi'Halal's Arsenal array will be switched to melee focus.

Ultravision Extended 4 will be active during the flight to the Beastscape. Imperious can fly at up to Flight 20 with that active, but I do want to take the time to take in the scenery and give Baffe the opportunity to do so as well.

On leaving Omicron Imperious will also deactivate his Encephalon.
HP: 3
Defense: 20
Conditions: Healthy
Encephalon: Deactivated
Communion Array: Impervious Toughness 20
Blast "Arsenal" Dynamic Array: Enhanced Strength 30 and Strike 3 [Feats: Might (+1 pp), Variable Descriptor "Technological Weaponry" 2 (+2 pp)]
Flight "Utility" Dynamic Array: Flight 12 ; Ultravision Extended 4
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Hoid
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Re: [The Forever Tree]Rustdeity IC.

Post by Hoid »

OOC:
Jumpnahead! You find what you need for Baffe.
Flying across the shattered lands of Corrosion, seeing the damage done by The Castastrophe, is in itself a sorrow, as a Corrosion must’ve had millions of people living on it. Conditions would have been harsh, and bone density ailments would’ve been endemic, but it would have been a life of some sort.

As Imperious and Baffe encroach upon Corrosion’s equator, a horrible vision is swiftly unveiled: a humanoid corpse, nearly three miles tall, lay flat on its back. Surrounding it are ruined structure of obviously alien nature. The corpse itself was never human, and it was genderless, to boot. It’s flesh a rotting decay, had there been an atmosphere the stench would’ve been unbearable.

Great horns, cracked and in some places broken, rise from its temples, and its long scalp hair has become an oily swamp of...something liquid, yet wam enough to resist freezing over in the vacuum of space. It’s face is crushed inwards, and a gigantic hole is in its chest—-the impact perfectly resembling the crater left behind by a buried nuclear bomb.

It wears no clothes, has no jewelry or decorations, and doesn’t move or stir.
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Sakuro
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Re: [The Forever Tree]Rustdeity IC.

Post by Sakuro »

When the vast corpse came into clear view for Baffe Imperious slowed until he came to a halt. From his vantage point the sky he surveyed the area around carcus. Initially looking for the Tlolkku containment perimeter. He wanted an estimate of it's range so that neither he or Baffe were at risk of being attacked when they approached for their landing.

Beyond that Imperious look in the geography, how the ancient conflict and dead creature had shaped it. Then he endeavored to look inside to thing, and beneath it. Searching for signs of the creatures that Tassukh said dwelled inside. It was also possible they had dug into the ground to expand their living space, which is why he looked there as well.

It was only after he had taken all these things in that he allowed the size of the creature, and the strange appearance of it to marvel him.
OOC wrote:Switching Shi'Halal's Utility Array to: Flight 1 ; Quickness 15 ; Ultravision Extended 4 ; X-Ray Vision Extended 5

At a reasonable distance Imperious with perform a visual sweep of the area. Looking for the Tlolkku containment perimeter (I'd like to know how far in it can target so I have ideas where to safely land), and signs of life. If possible see what it is like inside the giant corpse. Search check: Search: 1D20+10 = [18]+10 = 28
HP: 3
Defense: 20
Conditions: Healthy
Encephalon: Activated
Communion Array: Impervious Toughness 20
Blast "Arsenal" Dynamic Array: Enhanced Strength 30 and Strike 3 [Feats: Might (+1 pp), Variable Descriptor "Technological Weaponry" 2 (+2 pp)]
Flight "Utility" Dynamic Array: Flight 1 ; Quickness 15 ; Ultravision Extended 4 ; X-Ray Vision Extended 5
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Hoid
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Re: [The Forever Tree]Rustdeity IC.

Post by Hoid »

OOC:
Search[1] You find the massive ring of Tlolkku gun-emplacements.
Search[2] See below.
Inside the Beastscape is a vast system of tunnels, gnawed-out chambers and a gigantic hollow in the thing’s enormous chest cavity. It’s here, in this enormous hollow, that hideously deformed creatures come and bend knee to a carefully arranged set of fifty rows of hulking, deformed (but not catastrophically deformed) corpses. Some of these lesser corpses have been placed with what appears to be dead offspring in their laps, in papooses or in their arms. The TEGS mutants heap offerings—-mostly junk—-before these ‘gods’, and gibber and rant as they pray.
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Sakuro
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Re: [The Forever Tree]Rustdeity IC.

Post by Sakuro »

Imperious points out the ring of gun emplacements to Baffe. Then he flies in, past the gun emplacements. Inside the perimeter Imperious descends, landing about two hundred meters from the massive corpse housing the TEGS mutants. He could have landed on the corpse itself, but Imperious did not want his arrival to be sudden or jarring to the inhabitants. He wanted them to see Baffe and himself approaching. Their response to the arrival of strangers would be informative.

"We walk from here."

... he told Baffe after setting down. As they walked the ret of the way, Lucas eyes panned back and forth, searching for danger even as Shi'Halal fed him reports from her scans and brought up details in his HUD.
OOC wrote:When they get close enough, Imperious will use Visual Detect Life, Microscopic Vision 4 Extended 1, and X-Ray Vision Extended 2 to scan the corpse makeup. What can Shi'Halal tell Lucas? Here is a Life Sciences check: Life Sciences: 1D20+12 = [17]+12 = 29

I'm not sure of the exact placement of the Tlolkku guns. Imperious wants to be outside of their range on landing, and give the native plenty of time to see him and Baffe coming ... but not spend all day walking.
HP: 3
Defense: 20
Conditions: Healthy
Encephalon: Activated
Communion Array: Impervious Toughness 20
Blast "Arsenal" Dynamic Array: Enhanced Strength 30 and Strike 3 [Feats: Might (+1 pp), Variable Descriptor "Technological Weaponry" 2 (+2 pp)]
Flight "Utility" Dynamic Array: Speed 2 ; Quickness 14 ; Ultravision Extended 2 ; X-Ray Vision Extended 2 ; Microscopic Vision 4 Extended 1 ; Visual Detect Life
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Hoid
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Re: [The Forever Tree]Rustdeity IC.

Post by Hoid »

OOC:
Life Sciences: this thing is generating its own, perfectly breathable atmosphere and has Earth-Level gravity!

And no, the guns don’t fire at you.
Baffe snorts. “Legends do not lie. Is big god. Very mighty. Holy place. Much holy.”

As the two men walk across the thing’s massive chest, Shai’Halal’s sensors indicate no TEGS samples outside the Beastscape, Utah plenty within. It becomes apparent TEGS can’t survive in a vacuum, and, with the Beasts ape’s atmosphere and gravity being in effect only within the corpse, it becomes clear that it is fairly well contained by its very nature.

After a time Imperious and Baffe enter the chest cavity, and sounds begin again. It is warm in here, almost tropical, and Shai’Halal notes, “It’s...regenerating. I think it’s too far gone to recover on its own—-and is probably brain dead—-but Lucas, I am not sure it’s dead dead.

As he approaches the cluster of worshipful TEGS victims and their strange gallery of corpse divinities, he can hear their slobbering, mushy voices crying out in praise. A female offers up her baby, while a shaman officiates some sort of naming ceremony. Then, the shaman hands back the baby, and another infected mother with an infant steps forward. The process is repeated.

No one has noticed Imperious, yet. These people are catastrophically deformed, almost crippled by their mutations. But the mother’s each stand near a particular male, and its clear there’re families performing a ceremony to welcome new life into the tribe.

As to the corpse divinities, they too are mutated, but in a controlled, almost designed manner. Many have exoskeletons and strangely human faces, and some wear snippets of long-decayed clothing, one even wearing a hat with the word “METS” on it. Their mutations appeared to have been beneficial, as Shai’Halal notes things like muscle mass augmentations, multiple brains in one body, additional fully functional limbs, and so on. They’re strangely well preserved. It’s unclear what killed them.

Some of these corpses have what appear to be babies with them, equally dead, but Shai’Halal notes this is deceptive: these tiny things, whatever they were, were fully grown adults, just very small.
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Sakuro
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Re: [The Forever Tree]Rustdeity IC.

Post by Sakuro »

"That is not dead which can eternal lie."

The snippet of a quote came to mind, and was shared with Baffe when he spoke of the great holiness in this place. Even dead gods influenced the world around them. The proof of that was here. Though later Lucas learned from Shi'Halal that the dead god was no dead, but struggling to recover from devastating wounds. As they walked through the corpse he brought up his right hand and ran his palm over the surface of it's flesh. Feeling the secure and solidity of it.

At the hallow, where the deformed families approached the community's religious representatives for ceremonial blessings upon their children, Imperious stood silent. At the back of the immense chest would that severed as the temple-like gathering place he observed. Listening to the words. Watching the actions and social interplay of each party. He looked to the lesser gods. He recognized some of the clothing. Jax had a hat like the METs headwear. He compared the differences between the augmented human corpses, and those of the TEGS mutants. Privately he conversed with Shi'Halal.

"Were these people suffering from TEGS as well? If so ... why were their biological changes stable and beneficial and the people here are deformed cripples?"

OOC wrote:
HP: 3
Defense: 20
Conditions: Healthy
Encephalon: Activated
Communion Array: Impervious Toughness 20
Blast "Arsenal" Dynamic Array: Enhanced Strength 30 and Strike 3 [Feats: Might (+1 pp), Variable Descriptor "Technological Weaponry" 2 (+2 pp)]
Flight "Utility" Dynamic Array: Speed 2 ; Quickness 14 ; Ultravision Extended 2 ; X-Ray Vision Extended 2 ; Microscopic Vision 4 Extended 1 ; Visual Detect Life
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Re: [The Forever Tree]Rustdeity IC.

Post by Hoid »

Shai’Halal notes, “I am not sure. But I can hypothesize. It may be that TEGS is as artificial variant of a far less virulent strain. It may have been weaponized. What once blessed now leaves ruin in its wake.

The corpses are human, by the way. I can see their DNA. The same DNA strand that creates TEGS is present in both the Beastscape itself and these much smaller corpses. But there are significant differences. The Beastscape itself is not human, or even of terrestrial origin. But it shows signs of being selectively bred over millions of years. There may be whole communities of such leviathans out there!
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Sakuro
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Re: [The Forever Tree]Rustdeity IC.

Post by Sakuro »

Imperious knew that the Tlolkku, or a group of them, were researching TEGS as a means of dealing with Starvampires. Could they have been the ones to weaponize this creature's biology? If not, then how did this titan's DNA become altered to the point it was a danger to others? He wondered too, if there was a means of using the creature's own ability to create an atmosphere within itself to purge the TEGS infection from it.

Imperious considered speaking the ancient relics and corpses that were venerated here as well. Even if the natives did not take offense to that, in the middle of their ceremony was certainly not an appropriate time to do so. For now, there was more he felt could be discussed with Shi'Halal.

"Selective breeding. The quest there is, is that from a social eugenics program, or the result of husbandry?"

It was a rhetorical question. Lucas did not expect Shi'Halal to know the answer immediately. There was a way that could help determine that, however.

"Are you able to determine if it's brains shares traits indicative of intelligence and higher thought processes?"

OOC wrote:
HP: 3
Defense: 20
Conditions: Healthy
Encephalon: Activated
Communion Array: Impervious Toughness 20
Blast "Arsenal" Dynamic Array: Enhanced Strength 30 and Strike 3 [Feats: Might (+1 pp), Variable Descriptor "Technological Weaponry" 2 (+2 pp)]
Flight "Utility" Dynamic Array: Speed 2 ; Quickness 14 ; Ultravision Extended 2 ; X-Ray Vision Extended 2 ; Microscopic Vision 4 Extended 1 ; Visual Detect Life
Evelyn Gracen, in AEGIS Squad
Storyteller for In the Shadow of Imperator
Storyteller for Geneforge: the Created
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