[Taocow PBEM] Book 3 - Chapter XV - Wales

[Bergman Oswell]

IC: Anne answers Jacek's suspicion "I don't know enough about your system architecture to do much sabotage or subversion even if I were so inclined.  I can repair what is obviously broken without needing to know what it does, and with a bit of educated guesswork I can replace missing pieces with things that logically belong there.  Every machine has a pattern that you can extrapolate from.  You may notice a few oddities, as the replacement parts I'm building are from my tech base rather than yours, but I can at least guarantee that nothing will be weaker or less functional than you're used to.  Technology-wise, our inorganic systems seem to be about a thousand years apart, give or take a century, but on somewhat divergent developmental paths."

She holds up a broken piece of metal, and it appears to melt in her hands, into a handful of metal powder.

"My body has a nanite swarm incorporated into it as part of a self-repair system.  Normally, the little guys just keep me in perfect condition, but they have secondary functions for scavenging materials if I get badly damaged, which is what I'm using to break down irreparable damage to you.  I'm just skipping the part where they bring the raw materials 'home'.  There's no worries about a rogue colony setting up shop, as they're all drones without individual minds, and they rely on proximity to me for power.  Once they lose power, they can't be reactivated and if I get more than two feet from them, they fall out of effective broadcast range.  Unless we get interrupted, I'll be recovering as many of them as I can, since every one I recover doesn't need replacing."

On Jun 16, 2014, at 12:31 PM, Aaron Clausen <mightymartianca at gmail.com> wrote:

>>> [Ithdalkal]
>>> The Blind Warrior woman interjects. "I do not know Anne's race, but I
>>> do know the Splugorth trade with many races. It is as Anne says; the
>>> Splugorth are wicked, but they do represent one of the Megaverse's
>>> greatest trading networks, and many worlds, good and evil, out of
>>> necessity, must work with them. And if you should distrust her, then
>>> you should distrust me, for I am a Minion, a servant up to a few days
>>> ago. Perhaps, being on good terms with Lord Splynn, she may be of some
>>> use to us."
>>> [/Ithdalkal]
> 
>> [Alex]
>> "I don't worry too much, I just wanted to ask directly," Alex responds.
>> "I could be some deep cover agent for the Coalition after all. Granted,
>> I am not that good, but could all be part of the trick."
>> [/Alex]
> 
>>> [GM]
>>> The conversation is interrupted by the leyline ship starting to move,
>>> heading back towards the ley line. Soon enough it is back on the ley line,
>>> and moving westward towards Wales at great speed, leaving behind the Abbey,
>>> the Kydians, and, at least for the moment pursuit.
>>> 
>>> In fact, for the first time since the Millennium Tree, everyone can relax,
>>> or at least try to. The ship moves through the night, through a land of
>>> snow-covered trees and hills; entering the land that was once Wales around
>>> midnight.
>>> 
>>> It is after dawn that Neeson comes to the company and informs them "We may
>>> have a problem."
>>> 
>>> She leads them on deck and let's them look through a telescope. In the
>>> distance is the walls of some great stone city, dug out of a round Welsh
>>> mountain. But while the city looks like it could host hundreds, if not
>>> thousands, it looks deserted, and thin columns of smoke rise from it.
>>> 
>>> "This is where the cold iron you seek is kept." Need on says. "But I fear
>>> the worst, and do not wish to get any closer."
>>> [/GM]
> 
>> [Anne]
>> Anne spends the trip working on Jacek.  For those watching her, it's almost
>> like watching a psionic healer work on a flesh and blood patient.  Damaged
>> metallic 'tissues' fall away from wounds into metallic dust at a touch, to be
>> gathered and reforged into structural components.  Damaged wiring is rewoven,
>> motors are stripped and rewound.  Between the multi-tools and whatever she is
>> doing with her ha>> [Ithdalkal]
>>> The Blind Warrior woman interjects. "I do not know Anne's race, but I
>>> do know the Splugorth trade with many races. It is as Anne says; the
>>> Splugorth are wicked, but they do represent one of the Megaverse's
>>> greatest trading networks, and many worlds, good and evil, out of
>>> necessity, must work with them. And if you should distrust her, then
>>> you should distrust me, for I am a Minion, a servant up to a few days
>>> ago. Perhaps, being on good terms with Lord Splynn, she may be of some
>>> use to us."
>>> [/Ithdalkal]
> 
>> [Alex]
>> "I don't worry too much, I just wanted to ask directly," Alex responds.
>> "I could be some deep cover agent for the Coalition after all. Granted,
>> I am not that good, but could all be part of the trick."
>> [/Alex]
> 
>>> [GM]
>>> The conversation is interrupted by the leyline ship starting to move,
>>> heading back towards the ley line. Soon enough it is back on the ley line,
>>> and moving westward towards Wales at great speed, leaving behind the Abbey,
>>> the Kydians, and, at least for the moment pursuit.
>>> 
>>> In fact, for the first time since the Millennium Tree, everyone can relax,
>>> or at least try to. The ship moves through the night, through a land of
>>> snow-covered trees and hills; entering the land that was once Wales around
>>> midnight.
>>> 
>>> It is after dawn that Neeson comes to the company and informs them "We may
>>> have a problem."
>>> 
>>> She leads them on deck and let's them look through a telescope. In the
>>> distance is the walls of some great stone city, dug out of a round Welsh
>>> mountain. But while the city looks like it could host hundreds, if not
>>> thousands, it looks deserted, and thin columns of smoke rise from it.
>>> 
>>> "This is where the cold iron you seek is kept." Need on says. "But I fear
>>> the worst, and do not wish to get any closer."
>>> [/GM]
> 
>> [Anne]
>> Anne spends the trip working on Jacek.  For those watching her, it's almost
>> like watching a psionic healer work on a flesh and blood patient.  Damaged
>> metallic 'tissues' fall away from wounds into metallic dust at a touch, to be
>> gathered and reforged into structural components.  Damaged wiring is rewoven,
>> motors are stripped and rewound.  Between the multi-tools and whatever she is
>> doing with her hands, she molds metal into new armor plates almost but not
>> quite like a sculptor shaping clay.  The tools themselves are worthy of note --
>> while she only has two of them, they reshape themselves into any tool she
>> needs, apparently with just a thought.  While she doesn't ever create anything
>> from scratch, the tips of the tools occasionally get fine enough to patch and
>> repair microcircuitry.   Her claim of being a robotics engineer appears to be a
>> bit understated.
>> [/Anne]
> 
> [Jacek]
> Jacek, charming fellow that he is, is simultaneously grateful and
> suspicious. "Thank you for your assistance." he says. "And I do hope
> that there is nothing in your repairs that will compromise my
> operational integrity."
> [/Jacek]
> 
>> [Oz]
>> Oz looks through the telescope for a while, eventually giving up the
>> scope to someone else. He looks at Vesper and Alex. "A small team to
>> scout the city first? If we keep running through transports like we
>> have been eventually we're going to end up walking."
>> [/Oz]
> 
> [GM]
> Oz's sergeant nods. "I'd like to come along, sir. I know you're
> looking for a small team, but I'd like to be up close to this one."
> [/GM]
> 
>> [Ted]
>> Ted volunteers for the cold iron retrieval team.
>> 
>> Meanwhile, he seeks out Alex as soon as he is able.
>> [/Ted]
> 
> [Louissa]
> Louissa also volunteers.
> [/Louissa]
> 
>> [Vesper]
>> "I will go with you on the scouting mission I absorbed plenty of energy from
>> the line to help out."
>> [/Vesper]
> 
>> [Alex]
>> "Do you have any magic that would allow us to be hidden?"
>> [/Alex]
> 
>> [Vesper]
>> "A number of spells, Chameleon which is best when still or moving slow,
>> shadow meld which will make us like shadows, Invisibility though there are
>> so many things that can see the invisible it isn't the cool spell it used to
>> be." Vesper smiles. "Still yes I should have us covered for stealth."
>> [/Vesper]
> 
>> [Ted]
>> The lizard man listens carefully to the plans being made.
>> [/Ted]
> 
>> [Alex]
>> "Ted, do you have any suggestions?"
>> [/Alex]
> 
> OOC: I'll let this conversation carry on and then post later this week.
> 
> -- 
> Aaron Clausen
> mightymartianca at gmail.com
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