Escape On Thera

>Fitan: The typical sort of thing for this kind situation happens: shaky stomach, becoming completely tongue-tied,vision blurred by pink borders and fluttering cartoon hearts, birdsong with no birds present, the works.

Y-You feel like being graced by the presence of goddess Rodona! She is beautiful, she is strong, she is...



Utterly incompatible with you.

Better nip it in the bud. It would never work between you. You two are too different to be together.

SpoilerShow

Te'arka: "Hey, are you alright? You look funny."
Fitan: "Huh, what?"
Te'arka: "Can you heal? You might want to do something about your eye."
Fitan: "O-oh, yeah..."

> Recall what you know about Dardans.

Well, they're big, strong, and got scales on their backs. Most of the ones you've seen back home were either workers or hired muscle accompanying nobles and merchants who wanted to barter with your family. They're also Ormos, which means their children don't hatch from eggs, and... you think they eat bugs?

Look, you've never really met a Dardan face to face before because you've always seen them with their helms on all the time, and they often tend to keep to themselves, so...

I guess it's actually a good idea to go and ask Te'arka about it.

> Heal your injuries and tell Te'arka that she looks way too cuddly for someone her size.

W-what!? You can't tell her that! She'll toss you into a wall... a second time!

You will heal up a bit though. Your eye really stings.

(Fitan heals 7 HP)

Ask Te'arka
>What is this place?
>What happened here?
>Why is there a facility underground?
> who are you supposed to rescue?

SpoilerShow

Fitan: "Hey, I've never met a Dardan face to face before. Is it true that you people like to live in caves and eat bugs?"
Te'arka: "..."
Fitan: "..."
Te'arka: "...yes."
Fitan: "Sooo... uhm... what is this place?"
Te'arka: "All I know is that this is supposed to be some old human facility that's been abandoned. Probably dealing with crystals. Other than that, not my business."
Fitan: "You said you were supposed to rescue someone?"
Te'arka: "Either that, or retrieve their remains. We were supposed to look for the human, or anyone who worked directly under him."
Te'arka: "They've been lost in here for a while now, so we're not even sure if they're alive. The worst thing is that the Warden bleeds static wherever they go, so i can't even contact Kochi or any of my squad mates."

>Examine tattered posters.

They seem to be advertisement posters of some kind. This one seems to be for eyewear. It says:

"Experience the ultimate in Augmented Reality with the Luxavision Glasses.

owned by Clearbright Industries Incorporated. Building a crystal clear future for all."

Honestly this thing's just tacky as hell, and what kind of clothes are those?

And here's another one:



"Hoppy Hamburgers! Sure to make anyone jump for joy!


Crickey Mart a subsidiary of Clearbright Industries Incorporated. Building a crystal clear future for all."

Your stomach starts to grumble again. Looking at that poster's just made you even more famished than anything.

> Ask Te'arka if she has any food to share, or knows where food can be found.

SpoilerShow

Fitan: "Hey uh, Te'arka, don't suppose you have some food on you, do you? Maybe a Hoppy Hamburger?"
Te'arka: "That slop of imitation bug meat? I wouldn't even touch it! Besides, I don't carry food with me in case some Aethertouched gets a whiff and finds me."
Fitan: "Agh, well... uh, thanks anyway."

>Examine things on shelves.
> Find both, useful, useless and unidentifiable items.

You decide to scour the shelves if there might be any comestibles around. However, all you find are a bunch of other things instead.

You find:

• Dehydrated pellets
  
• Cleaning supplies
  
• A huge hunk of metal made of intricate parts. It's got a black mirror on it.
  
• A disassembled human mannequin (TWELVE'S ABOVE, THAT'S CREEPY!)
  
• A bunch of spent crystals, utterly useless save for throwing. (These things should've long been returned to the Mothercrystal.)
  
• Some kind of dart gun and some ammunition.
  
• A weird fleshy mass suspended in liquid. (THIS IS EVEN CREEPIER!)
  
• A crystal ball (You're not sure what this is for)
  
• A box full of squigly, light and foamy material
  
• A dead fake animal filled with fluff and button eyes. (You're pretty sure that's what they're called)
  
• A strange machine with a winding neck and an equally long head. It looks like it needs a charge.
  

All the boxes have Clearlight Industry's logo all over the place. What the heck is this place anyway?

Te'arka chimes in and mentions that you might want to find a weapon.

>start prepping one of the Fire crystals you got from that monster

Remembering that you have a handful of fire crystals, you grab the pouch and pick a decent-sized crystal. Though most of them seem too small be used for anything but perhaps an explosive charge, you find one that you can buff and polish into a decent-looking Fire Essence, sweet!



This new essence has the following abilities:

- Hot Shot - throw a fireball (1 charge)
- Fiery Charge - surround yourself with flames and charge at the enemy (1 charge per cast, 3 HP per active turn)

And both you and Te'arka can equip this Essence.

SpoilerShow

Te'arka: "Huh, I didn't peg you as someone who knows how to make an Essence, consider me surprised."
Fitan: "Eh, I'm not that good, compared to the rest of my family. My uncle often scolds me for not being able to sand them till they shine."
Te'arka: "Your family makes Essences?"
Fitan: "Yeah, we're a family of conduit-makers. Though I guess they're gone now. A bunch of lowlives swept in and either killed or captured everyone including me and my sis. We escaped, and I guess we got separated? I found out that she ended up at Alba, and... I ended up here."
Te'arka: "Huh, that's quite a story."
Fitan: "Actually, I think there was something else... something important."
Te'arka: "Can't remember it?"
Fitan: "I can't... my memory's hazy. The last thing I remember was I was talking to someone. Someone who's a huge pain on my tail."
Te'arka: "You're certainly a bag of surprises. Speaking of, may I borrow that Essence? I can probably make real good use of that."

Speaking of, you might as well check your shared inventory:

>Assemble the mannequin and name it Captain Goodvibes. A fully assembled mannequin has a million-and-one uses, you'd be surprised.

There are cleaning supplies? Check for detergent, bleach, anything that you can use to throw at an enemy. It might not be as good as acid you can conjure up, but at least with that it means you won't have to use your Water Crystal and save that energy for healing.

> hydrate the pellets
> what're those notes in your inventory?
> look for a grate in the ceiling to crawl through

So, we can assume the facility is owned by Clearlight Industries, judging by their omnipresence in this room, or are they just a really huge company that it's impossible to avoid them?
>Adopt stuffed animal. Declare it Gloom Alleviator. Name it Toodles.
>I can only assume that long necked machine to be a vacuum cleaner, otherwise I have no idea.
>Look up.
>Check backsides of posters. Can't hurt to check for secret messages.

So, we can assume the facility is owned by Clearlight Industries, judging by their omnipresence in this room, or are they just a really huge company that it's impossible to avoid them?

Whoops! That was supposed to be Clearbright! I've fixed that little bit of error.

>Drink the liquid with the weird, fleshy mass in it.

Nah, just kidding.

>Take the dart gun and darts. See if you can figure out what kind of device it is. Tranquilizer? Medical? Lethal? Poison? It might make a handy weapon for you if you run out of charges on your conduit.

>Ask Te'arka if she can help you get that collar and chain off your neck. Seriously, that thing has to be chafing by now.

>She mentioned the warden was a 'crazed' 'Unden' ? What an Unden ? And a human ?

>So how long as she been down here and what happen if the "warden" catches you ?

>Acquire dart gun and ammunition. Examine for additional information on purpose and operation.
>Acquire Dehydrated Pellets. Examine for further information. Perhaps the packaging (if there is any)?

Okay, so discounting anything we acquire from the room, our assets total one Water Essence (equipped), one Frost Essence (Equipped, Te'arka), one Fire Essence, Te'arka's helmet (which I assume she'll want to equip herself), some notes, some Fire Crystal fragments (good for improvised explosives, but not much else), a satchel for Essences/Crystals, and a Conduit Maker's Kit.

...oh, shit. While we have a minute,

>Take a moment to see if you can get more information out of the notes, now that you're not about to die.

Fitan, examine the black mirror device. Feel strangely compelled to attempt activating it.
Try determining what species of creature the stuffed animal is based on.
Accidentally prick yourself with the dart gun while attempting to figure out how to use it. Realize it's actually a kind of subcutaneous injector instead of a ranged weapon. Do not feel any effects from the prick... Yet.

What are the two different languages on the posters and packaging? (of course one is English, but what is it supposed to be from the characters' point of view?)

Recap what you know about Humans. And of the creatures in the posters.

On a hunch, ask Te'arka what's the date.
Answer, make you drop to the floor in shock.

Grab the injector gun, the stuffed animal and anything else you can carry. Te'arka is big and strong. She shouldn't have trouble carrying larger objects around.

Consider using a water charge to re-hydrate the pellets. Maybe they're a kind of food.

Out of curiosity, what does Te'arka's helmet do, other than provide physical protection? Fitan, try it on.

So, Ormos don't lay eggs? How do they reproduce then? And what other kinds of reproductive methods are there among the sentient folk it the world?

>Assemble the mannequin and name it Captain Goodvibes. A fully assembled mannequin has a million-and-one uses, you'd be surprised.

Or, you can assemble it and then replace it's head with the liquid-suspended mass and call it "Doctor Badvibes" (I never thought I'd get to use a "COPS" reference anywhere, yet alone on a forum adventure, heh).

On a hunch, ask Te'arka for a date.
Answer, make you drop to the floor in shock.

FTFY

Grab the injector gun, the stuffed animal and anything else you can carry. Te'arka is big and strong. She shouldn't have trouble carrying larger objects around.

It's not like she might object to being used as a pack mule for your packrat ways, right? (Sarcasm, in case you can't tell. Also, she still needs to be able to fight.)

So, Ormos don't lay eggs? How do they reproduce then? And what other kinds of reproductive methods are there among the sentient folk it the world?

The alternative is generally live birth. Like mammals.

It's not like she might object to being used as a pack mule for your packrat ways, right?

Yeah, her name is Te'arka, not Lydia. She might not agree to carry Fitan's collection of miscellaneous crap without a good reason. Although, if it's potentially useful then that would make sense.

> Collect all the items. Some might be junk, but worry about that when you're inventory is overflowing & you find something cool.

> So, have you heard of Clearbright Industries, or is this company new to you?

Another suggestion:

Te'arka, watch Fitan fiddle around with various objects in the room. From his behaviour, start worrying that your throwing him against the wall might have given him brain damage, or at least a concussion.

Sorry for the delays again, I'll be out for a few days for a family vacation. In the meantime, have a teaser.

That teaser looks interesting.
I can just imagine Te'arka thinking something like "Oh, crap! I'm stuck here with a complete lunatic."

looks wild

Question Corner:

SpoilerShow

>She mentioned the warden was a 'crazed' 'Unden' ? What an Unden ? And a human ?
What are the two different languages on the posters and packaging?
Recap what you know about Humans. And of the creatures in the posters.
> So, have you heard of Clearbright Industries, or is this company new to you?
So, Ormos don't lay eggs? How do they reproduce then? And what other kinds of reproductive methods are there among the sentient folk it the world?

Gee, that's a lot to unpack.



The Unden (the one in the middle) are basically one of the seven races, like the Yaren (that's people like you on the left), and the Dardan (that's people like Te'arka, on the right). The one you know is a really good swimmer, and you think it extends to the rest of his family. Like Te'arka, the Unden are also Ormos, and they tend to live near the water and are sorta laid-back and fun to be around with.

Oh, and the crappy looking Theran with those awful shades is a Vairen. They're kinda everywhere.



As for humans... all you know is that one day they showed up in a ship almost the size of your moon and started living with your people. It's been around ten... maybe eleven years since they've stayed here, but they're really fast with setting up shop wherever they are. Heck, that Clearbright Industries showed up around a year later after they arrived, and ever since then, you kinda see them in most places. Though they say a Korven has a top position in that company. Eh, you can't trust those Korven, their wit's as sharp as their beak.

The language they use is apparently called "English" but you're a lot more familiar with "Common Theran" to be honest.

Also, yeah, the Ormos give birth to live young while both the Argan and the Tengrii have young born from eggs. It's not exactly difficult to wrap your head around. You don't know why they're different, or why their females secrete that weird liquid for their young, but you're not gonna even bother thinking about it. It's gross.

>Drink the liquid with the weird, fleshy mass in it.
>Ask Te'arka if she can help you get that collar and chain off your neck. Seriously, that thing has to be chafing by now.

First off, you said it before that the collar stays. And it's going to stay until your sister is freed.

Second, you'd rather be sent to Durva's frigid pits than to eat that fleshy thing! You're not an animal!

> Hydrate the pellets
>Acquire Dehydrated Pellets. Examine for further information. Perhaps the packaging (if there is any)?
Consider using a water charge to re-hydrate the pellets. Maybe they're a kind of food.

Now that's a good idea. You hurry onto the box of dehydrated pellets and grab a pack. You boil the contents in the bag it came in and give it a taste.

It tastes...



...It tastes so good... you can't stop eating it all! You scarf down the rest of the pack, and tear open another one for snacking, spending another charge of your crystal. You also grab a few more for the road. You also make a mess of yourself, but who cares!

SpoilerShow

Te'arka: "Hey, could you finish that ASAP? You're gonna attract a bunch of aethertouched with all that food!"
Fitan: "What, this is sap? Also, would you like to try some?"
Te'arka: "That's not sap! I said, A-S-A-P as in 'As soon as possible', and you should hurry up and wash!"
Fitan: "Oh, right. I should probably do that. I didn't know that I was hungrier than a Kuudu... and the one I found exploded."
Te'arka: "...exploded?"
Fitan: "Yeah, the poor thing was riddled with fire crystals. I tried healing it but apparently fire and water magic don't mix well."
Te'arka: "...I have no idea how to reply to that, so I'll just ask you to hand me a mop so we can start cleaning up this mess."

>Fitan: There are cleaning supplies? Check for detergent, bleach, anything that you can use to throw at an enemy. It might not be as good as acid you can conjure up, but at least with that it means you won't have to use your Water Crystal and save that energy for healing.

You find the box with the mop and hand it over to Te'arka, meanwhile, you can't help but note the many strange bottles that are contained in the box. You suppose it won't hurt to open one of them and take a whiff...

The burning smell of the acid assaults your nose and overwhelms you! You've never used these things before, but the acrid smell is so intense that you don't have a hard time imagining how these things can clean someone's face off. You decide to grab a bottle of cleaning acid and take it with you. Learning from your lesson from last time, you read the label, and it says "Muriatic Acid".

Well... you guess it's supposed to be for really tough stains? You probably want to wear gloves as a precaution.

You also spot the long-necked machine, so that's called a vaccum cleaner? Is it supppsed to clean vaccums? Why would you--wait, nevermind, considering the things you've seen human machines do, you probably shouldn't be surprised by all this.

>Fitan: examine the black mirror device.

Speaking of strange human machines, how the heck does this thing even work? You try touching the mirror while wearing your Conduit, but it doesn't react. You keep pressing the button, but it doesn't work at all! This thing is probably broken.

>Fitan: Adopt stuffed animal. Declare it Gloom Alleviator. Name it Toodles.
Try determining what species of creature the stuffed animal is based on.

You take the Gloom Alleviator and name it Toodles. Though you're not sure why an effigy like this would alleviate your gloom... though you have to admit, it's quite soft and fluffy.

...you suddenly don't know if you want to let go of Toodles. She's just so fluffy and she has these cute button eyes and majestic horn. You don't even know what kind of creature she is but you suddenly want to froli--

GAH! Snap out of it Fitan! Now's not the time!

>Acquire dart gun and ammunition. Examine for additional information on purpose and operation.
>Take the dart gun and darts. See if you can figure out what kind of device it is. Tranquilizer? Medical? Lethal? Poison? It might make a handy weapon for you if you run out of charges on your conduit.

You've seen a number of human soldiers carry things like these around. And to be fair, these weapons are terrifying. They can fire faster than most magics, and are difficult to anticipate. Though this one seems to be a lot different from other guns considering the bright colors and soft darts... you think this is probably a toy. But why would they be in a place like this?

Still, you consider keeping it with you, if nothing else, it could make for a good distraction. It also came with 8 foam darts as well

>Assemble the mannequin and name it Captain Goodvibes. A fully assembled mannequin has a million-and-one uses, you'd be surprised.
> you can assemble it and then replace it's head with the liquid-suspended mass and call it "Doctor Badvibes"

You assemble "Captain Badvibes" and grab a snack while you're at it, all in all the sloshing contents of its head gives it that nice creepy touch.

SpoilerShow

Te'arka: "Okay, first, why aren't you helping out with cleaning the mess? And second, what weird idea possessed you to assemble that thing and give it a name?"
Fitan: "A voice in my head told me to."
Te'arka: "And here I thought I found a sane person."
Fitan: "Don't be like that! I think they're really helpful. They've certainly got me out of a bad situation most of the time."
Te'arka: "Uh-huh, like when the voices told you to try and burn me with acid?"
Fitan: "Hey, you crept up on me! It was only self-defense."
Te'arka: "Well whatever it is, would you turn it around? I think this thing's staring at me."
Fitan: "Oh c'mon, look at that face, is that the face of something that would hurt anyone?"
Te'arka: "Yes?"
Fitan: "Fiiiine."

You're not gonna turn it around.

Te'arka, watch Fitan fiddle around with various objects in the room. From his behaviour, start worrying that your throwing him against the wall might have given him brain damage, or at least a concussion.

...Brain damage? You really think so? Well... you admit you're just following what you said but... alright. You decide to turn it around... for now.

>So how long as she been down here and what happen if the "warden" catches you ?
Out of curiosity, what does Te'arka's helmet do, other than provide physical protection? Fitan, try it on.

SpoilerShow

Fitan: "Hey Te'arka, how long have you been here anyway?"
Te'arka: "Eh, probably a few days? Though usually we just explore sections of this massive lab each day. Though seems like today's a bit different now that the Warden showed up."
Fitan: "Why's it different?"
Te'arka: "Because they normally seem to keep to themself and their weird mumblings. I dunno what happened to make them so riled up."
Fitan: "Yikes, so what if they catch you?"
Te'arka: "Then they'd probably throw you into one of their prison cells filled with those Aethertouched."
Fitan: "Yeesh. Oh, also, can I borrow your helm for a second?"
Te'arka: "...fine. But don't drop it."

SpoilerShow

Fitan: "Well, what's it supposed to do?"
Te'arka: "You're as curious as a Korven, you know that?"
Fitan: "Ugh, don't compare me to those flying thieves. Last time, they nearly conned my father with a cheap watch!"
Te'arka: "Fine, fine. I wear the helmet as protection from breathing in Aether. I've got a pump attached to my armor that's made to filter out any of it."
Fitan: "Woah, this thing's huge! If I make myself small enough, I could probably hide in it."
Te'arka: "Hah, maybe."

You suddenly hear knocking coming from above. Feet skittering and tapping against the metal grates.

> Look up.

Oh no, not these things again.

Te'arka: "Gah! See? I told you to clean up ASAP!"


Status:

SpoilerShow

Inventory:

SpoilerShow

> Dip your darts in acid & fire them at the creatures.

Crap, noticed quite a few mistakes back there, I've fixed the ones in the question corner and removed the extra image. Thanks for your patience.

SpoilerShow

I like your alien script and all, but the fact that it has a one to one correlation to the latin script and all words written in it seem to be in English make me kinda disappointed, but it is very elegant, and is way better than random meaningless squiggles. What do you call it?

>Remove contact from any metallic surfaces. Those look like electric aethertouched. Electricity tends to flow towards the place of least charge, grounding themselves, and favor the fastest route towards the ground which conductors such as metals (and water) allow with ease of flow.
>Do not throw fluids at them, yet. It might drip and create unwanted collateral damage.
>Try shooting them with foam darts. (To distract them.)
>Actually, just leave the room! I don't think you're prepared to fight them here. There's a lot material around that could burn, evaporate, spill, break, or perhaps even explode.

SpoilerShow

>A vacuum cleaner doesn't actually clean vacuums. It cleans using a vacuum. Essentially, it sucks stuff (usually dust) from surfaces and store it in a bag that's attached to the main body of the machine. I'm also aware that some vacuum cleaners can do the inverse, blow air and stuff out. Vacuum cleaners that I'm most familiar with need electricity to operate.
>Muriatic acid (also called hydrochloric acid) is strong stuff. Not only is it used to clean stains from clothes, they can also be used to clean bathroom tiles (as well as burn hands). Handle it with care. I've heard dirt actually sizzle in contact with it.
>That black window thing appears to be a monitor. Those are used to display information in the form of pictures. Those usually need electricity and an information source to operate. Actually, it might not be set up yet. It's in storage after all.
>That colorful gun, that's surely a toy. That's a very tame version of actual guns. Designed to be fun and not harm.

SpoilerShow

The alien script is actually called "Old Theran" script. There's supposed to be an actual language behind it, but because of certain constraints and the fact that I haven't had any luck developing said language, it's currently used as a mere cipher for the purposes of this story

>Try shooting a dart at the thing's crystal to make it discharge it's magic early before it can hurt you with them (hopefully that'll hurt)