The Hole Situation

The Good News: Thanks to their coordinated effort the Alliances have confirmed the existance of a Drive Machine, a device capable of accessing the Cosmosphere (ie the mindscape), which may be able to help with the damage done to the memories and mentality of Adventurers.
The Bad News: The underground research facility it's located in may be abandoned by normal people, but has been overrun by Chimeras, possible monsterous predecessors of the Werefangs and Cait Siths. And they were monsters not to be trifled with lightly. Making retrieve of the machine a daunting task.

But if anything the Adventurers are an improvising lot, and have come up with an alternate method. The Chimeras for whatever reason do not leave the confinds of the facility. So it was determined that they could dig into the chamber from the surface and hopefully circumnavigate any difficult confrontations.

That said it had taken time to analyze the data and calculate the right angles and distances between the chamber and the surface, and arrange the location to have as little disruption as possible. Peko and Grunty drawn wagons were being unloaded of supplies and tools. Some axemen had gone into the woods to cut trees for making support beams and trusses to keep the tunnel stable as they dug deeper. One of the larger hills in the vicinity has been chosen as the starting point, giving them an above ground entrance and the ability to tunnel at an angle instead of straight down, which will hopefully make the task of getting the machine back up easier as well. Those not of the crafting orientation would make patrols to keep the area secure from wildlife and troublemakers. Or just help where they can, like the assorted people already milling about and prepping. This task was going to take a lot of hands regardless of skills and experience.

Next to the hill a small shelter has been erected, mostly to protect the assortment of maps and instructions from the elements. Where unsurprisingly people will find Shiruba making sure all those things are in order. While her Bun-Bun is lounging in one of the now empty crates.

Goldenblade has been called out for this venture because serious construction know-how was needed, she was told, but when briefed on the situation, she shakes her head. "This is going to be very dicey," she says. "If what you say is correct, then the less time we spend in the facility, proper, the less chance we have of encountering the monsters. The ideal case would be tunnelling down directly to the room we want to extract from, and hoist the gear out." She gestures to the lumber and such that's been gathered in anticipations.

"I think we can rig a system to hoist the gear up, if we can dig down with perfect accuracy, but we're going to have to be gnat's-whisker accurate to do that." That said, she's arrived ready to do some serious building.

Gwen had helped to find here, she was here again she's not the scholar sort unless it's on tailoring-related things. Still, everyone working would need food. She would be there clad in her Mystic Knight outfit again, then again she seemed to love that one almost as much as her heavy blade armour. She has a platter of food. There's a lot of Western fair with some of the more Japanese-leaning foods she knows how to make.

"Lunch break come and get it!"

    One of the original members of the expedition that found the Dive machines, Fuka is quite familiar with the challenges of extracting them. She's been putting experience to work at solving the problem. "Agreed." she says. "I don't think we can just use magic to pull them free either. I have some earthen lifts prepared, but those are for moving stone as we dig. With the interference down in the depths, I wouldn't trust them to hoist delicate machines. Too much chance of a fluctuation in power dropping the load." she claims.

    She nods to Goldenblade. "It's easy enough, once we're close, to find the right room and tunnel to it." she says with perhaps unwarranted casualness. "If we enter the tunnel system at any point we need to be prepared to seal up the breach if there are chimeras, but otherwise we just pinpoint the right place, backtrack as needed, and start digging once we know precisely where. Oh, and remember that the actual door to the dive machine room is sealed with some earth manipulation! There's no way to force the door unless you're literally prepared to break the stone. Or we can just unmanipulate it the same way I blocked it of course! But that's some time from now no doubt, so right now... lunch time!" she grins.

Where there is heavy lifting going on, people are bound to get hurt.

Professional hazards are always around the counter. A slippery ledge. A falling rock. A rusty nail. A massive chimera. Someone screaming 'Leeroy Jenkins' and snorting the dirt. Nobody knows what sinister threats await in the darkness, but one can be certain that their red, malevolent eyes are there, peeking out, ready for the associated maws to tear apart the flesh of the unwary.

And that is why it is vital to have medical personnel at hand. Uta has come here, ready to intervene and take care of anyone who might need pharmaceutical assistance. And also to provide a soundtrack for the workers. Personal audio devices haven't been invented yet, so one has to resort to a good, ol' bard.

Oh, and since she's physically fit, she's also ready to help with the shoveling, if necessary. A necessity that doesn't seem to arise at the moment. In fact, as she walks into view, she's herding a bunch of slimes with Heartsong, her staff. While the tiny blobby things do not exactly give off a 'majestically epic' vibe, her own Gwen-designed white outfit, coupled with holding a staff, a universal gesture of authority, along with a squinting gaze Gandalf himself would be envious of, she enunciates a slow commentary about the current circumstances.

"Did anyone say... lunch time?"

Shiruba turns to point at Goldenblade. "That's the general idea, yes. And a hoist will be a big help in guiding the machine back up." She balls the hand save the thumb, which she points at Fuka. "Like she said, the distortions down there will make relying on magic alone questionable. So a mechanical hoist would be ideal. As for the right room..."

The wolfgirl pauses a moment to unhang a satchel of smaller copies of the layout off the wall, and steps out of the shelter. The crate wobbles a bit as Yojimbo clambers out of it to follow her. "Until we get closer there's no guaruntees, but we've done the best possible to calculate where the chamber's vicinity is in relation to the surface." She scoots by the others, smiles and briefly waves to Gwen getting folks fed and ready to work, and there's Uta to be their emergency medic. She then walks over to the starting point. "That's another reason for going at an angle rather than straight down. It will be easier to adjust if and when we find it necessary to do so, rather than back out and dig an entirely new shaft." She starts passing out copies of the dig plan to the various gathered.

Goldenblade nods in understanding as Fuka explains the situation, and mmms at lunchtime. Well, they may as well start on a full belly, right? She will choose a sandwich, and suggests, "We can make mundane lifting equipment, that may be better, if you're concerned about magic levels?" She has brought some simple gear, and wonders, "I assume they have block and tackle here? It's one of the ancient machines, right?" It dates to Classical times in the west, but she's never sure here. She smiles to Uta, nodding about lunch time. "Good timing, right?" She nods to Shiruba, and says, "So while you all start digging, I'll start building the hoist framework up here, and hopefully it'll be ready by the time you need to hoist? It's going to take a bit to make it strong enough to lift the machines you've described to me." She will select the lumber she will start with, and this looks like she will have to build any machines she needs. Luckily, building is her specialty...

Gwen listens as her sister talks about the plan for digging but she know she cna help a bit wioth that and not much else. Still she can clear thing faster the bobcat now and that is something that's only starting really hit her. She will be handing out food going from worker to worker as she goes and looks over to Goldenblade.

"Golden? Fuka? Shiruba would you like anything to eat!?"

    "Oh, we can use magic to dig down. We can use it to haul rock out of our mine." Fuka claims, nodding. "Worst case we get a suppression or a surge, and some rock falls. We'll have to be careful to clear the way before using earth moving spells." she notes. "Just, you know, if we drop a dive machine that's it, we're completely fu...ssy about them being able to work!"

    There, saved it! Sometimes the wrong words are fun, but Fuka's here in full professional mode. As seen by her construction hat. A professional hat in fact, one Uta would doubtless approve of. Or Gwen. She looks up at Gwen's question. "What? YES I want food!" she claims. "Are you going to make me beg? Okay, PLEEEEASE feed me!" she begs, looking up at the much taller Sylph with as close to puppy-dog eyes as the gremlin sylph ever gets. Yes, very professional.

Sometimes, Uta can be... let us say a bit on the verbose side. Sometimes, like now, she can be the exact opposite.

After a professional "perfect timing" in response to Goldenblade, she does not add any more words, but she somehow already is in line right behind Fuka, looking straight at Gwen, holding a plate in one hand, chopsticks in the other, a bib which says 'Chow Time!' around her neck, and her staff balanced (horizontal) on her head. Impressive equilibrium.

If anyone were to question that or just ask about it, she will blink, rolls her eyes upwards, and as if noticing the staff for the first time, simply rattle out, "Martial arts training."

Either way, she'll briefly close her eyes, and nod in approval at Fuka's hat.

Hats are important.

Shiruba accepts food from Gwen. So all is good. People would certainly start to wonder if she turned down food. An ear perks, but Fuka corrects herself before she can actually say what it sounded like she was going to say. "That, Fuka, is all the more reason to have our options covered. We might not get more than one try at this, so we should have precautions ready." She nods to Goldenblade. "Get some of the axemen to help you with aquiring the lumber needed. We should have enough for the start of the tunnel supports already." Takes a few bites. "At least we don't have to worry about food to keep peoples' energy up."

Goldenblade nods to Fuka, then gets back to her task. "Just need it for the machine," she reads back to make sure she has it right. "That means you won't need it until the end, I suppose? That gives me more time to make sure it's solid and can support the mass." She nods to Gwen, and looks over the sandwiches. "That looks ... interesting. Is that peanut butter and guacamole?" She shrugs, will try it anyhow. It goes the same place, good or bad, so she's a bit casual about unusual food. It /could/ be good, you never know!

She smirks as Uta lines up for lunch with her staff balanced on top of her head. That -is- pretty impressive, even if it makes Uta look like a helicopter. She nods to Shiruba, and will start calling out to the lumber chopping teams, directing them on what to look for and cut for us, and how much we'll need of each type. Shoring's a bit different than making a hoist, but not too different. It still has to bear a load, but how it does that is different in each case.

Gwen thinks "We dug to greedy, to deep..." Shje note as she'll handing out food she laiugha and will hand Fuka a package of food with a grin it's basically a boxed lunch of Japanese and American things. There are bbqed Ribs though in it. She mirks and looks to Uta for a moment nods sagely and then back to Shiruba as she takes her food.

"I say one thing now We're not to let anyone poke into my parents souls...I don't wanna know what's in there."

"I think it is Goldenblade you can give it a try if you like!"

Shiruba nearly chokes on her bite of food when Gwen mentions probing her parents. Gulps audibly to clear her throat again. "I am going no where near Morri's mental plane. The Wall is awkward enough." She hasn't even looked to see if anything has been added from the auction. Maybe not until after the dates are done... or knowing Morri, they were already there.

"That's right, Goldenblade. Mainly at the end to help with lifting and guiding the machine our. It's going to take time to dig even with all our planning, so you have time to ensure the stability."

If Uta looked like a helicopter before, it is not hard to guess how that comparison will go once, after receiving her bentou and bowing in gratitude, she scoots off to a side to sit down and gives her staff a little spin for extra martial arts balance training. Unfazed by the propeller slow rotation, she reaches into the box with her chopsticks and pulls out tasty morsels, that disappear one moment later, the chewing synchronized with the movement of the staff, in some sort of cosmic Zen balance of body, mind, soul, stick, and lunch.

"There are moments where we Healers are faced with impossible choices," Uta states, somber, between different bits of food. "What would happen if, in order to save a life, had to dive into Morri's cosmosphere? I don't know, and I hope I never have to find out..."

Goldenblade gives Shiruba a thumb's-up gesture at the go-ahead for building what she's working on. She has a few carpenters planing the felled trees for supports, and there's a lot of activity going on. The talk of Morri and the Wall go past her with no effect, clearly she's too old to be involved in that sort of thing and everyone understands. She peers as Uta rotates her staff, but since she hasn't pulled any collective, she remains seated. Or perhaps the game has some sort of anti-flying spell cast on Uta? "..." she says to Uta about jumping into a cosmosphere to save a life. "Why would you do that?" she asks. "Do we even think that's a thing? Cosmospheres, whatever they are, shouldn't just be jumped into on the off chance it'll work. This isn't Star Trek...."

Gwen thinks about Uta's word as she's left looking more thoughtful than normally. "That would be the exception...I would say Uta."

She will be happy to help with the heavy lifting. She looks over to Goldenblade and grins.

"Damn it Goldenblade! I'm a Tailor not a pyschic."

She grins a bit clealry addinf some humouyr to a very serious topic.

"Don't you have Divination, Gwen? I thought you did," Uta interjects, after swallowing. "And yes, I think that, ultimately, I would lean that way...", she comments, softly, in response to the matter of the moral dilemma.

At least there's her helicopter staff to console her. Spin, spin, spin.

    "I guess I can't blame you for not wanting to do that." Fuka observes, regarding Gwen's reluctance to Dive into Morri's psyche. Fuka considers volunteering, but ... well, no. She's got no interest in moms in general. Morri's a whole lot of fun, but not THAT kind of fun! Well, er... well, not for Gwen at least, and not for Fuka either! But there can still be some fun teasing to be done about it, right? "Hey, if no one wanted to get inside our moms, none of us would be here!" she observes, going there.

Shiruba lets out a soft sigh. Of course Fuka is the one to actually go there. "More lines of thought I don't really need," she mutters, and shrugs it off. "Thanks for the meal, Gwen. That should keep folks working well for a while." Her tail wags a few times, but now it's time to get to work. She walks over to see how the workers starting to dig the entrance to the tunnel are doing. So far, so good. She's not much of a miner, but she does have her Earth magic. Or in this case, she can try to make the rock and dirt less durable so it's easier to dig through.

Goldenblade peers at Gwen and Uta and sighs. Looks like she's stepped into another fandom. She ought to pay more attention. But not to Fuka, and it seems like she shares Shiruba's perspective. "I don't think anyone's mother's personal relationships are a subject we need to discuss. In any event, our mother's significant milestones relationship-wise were all completed before we were born." At least that's how it used to be.

"So," she says to Uta as she hacks at a log to make a beam, "-Are- you attempting to fly like a helicopter? I understand it's quite complicated, but I don't know much about it. Bricks are not very aerodynamic. I can carve you a propeller, but not one suitable for helicopters."

"You know what this place needs?", says Uta, as she, after dusting her hands and herself off, carefully, almost maniacally reconstructs the bento box exactly the same way it was before the meal -- minus the food, of course. "A good working song. To provide rhythm. Encourangement. Like a good sea shanty, but for digging. A... land shanty?", she attempts, uncertain. "You know, to help people find their groove."

She turns her eyes at the spinning staff. "Oh, that. I forgot about it." A sigh. "I would love something to help with flight, but alas, there are... issues with that." Guardians.

She takes Heartsong, now that her hands are free, and after inhaling, she begins her attempt at humming and vocalizing a rhythmic chant, as stated, to try and provide a sort of metronome for digging.

This particular venture wasn't something Kaydon would be able to help with, at least not directly. Too many moving parts to wrap his dumb grunt brain around. But there were still ways he knew he could help. Which is why he has been spending the last several hours while they've been working on drilling directing patrols.

He seems to have finally decided to return to the main dig site. He looks like he's definitely gotten himself a bit beat up while on the last patrol, "I think we're gonna be clear of any harassment for a bit." He says, as he stops for a moment to adjust his armor, several still glowing spots visible there, "The patrols got most of the monsters around, at least any aggressive ones. Figure we've got a while until they respawn."

Goldenblade looks up as Kaydon returns, gives him a thumb's up. "Glad someone has that covered," she says. She hadn't thought about what wandering monsters might be around outside since the ones inside seemed like such a big concern. But wandering monsters -would- be a crisis if they showed up here, so it's good that they're taken care of. The lift structure is coming together, she's got several beams forming a frame over where the hole will lead down into the chamber, and now rigging a sturdy bracket for a pulley system, really a complicated block-and-tackle thing, but with one added plus. She's able to smelt and work custom steel grades for any sort of special purpose in her foundry in Fourland, and workers wheel out, on huge spool, a giant length of high-grade steel cable that will almost certainly be strong enough for whatever needs to be lifted up.

Shiruba looks up from helping breaking and moving rock. "That's good to hear Kaydon, thank you!" One less issue to worry about, at least for the time being. She holds up a hand to gesture to the side. "Gwen has some food out, and Uta is over there if you need any injuries looked after." She's letting the experienced tunnelers handle the main part of the digging, she's just helping move debris and keep things in an organized manner. She must of picked up a few things from having Yeowang and Haru help her out for as long as they did.

Uta, who, surronded by her little herd of curious slimes, was strumming her imaginary guitar in the search for a tune (and creating an intertwined network of lightning bolts in the shape of an electric guitar where the instrument should be -- bolts whose discharges produce the desired note, in an imitation of a distorted guitar), interrupts her composition efforts to turn once her name is mentioned. "Oh? Uh? Oh! Yes. Me. Yes. I am qualified in diagnosis, treatment, rehab, and scolding stubborn people who insist they're perfectly fine when they clearly aren't. The works," she confirms. "I think I can also sing a mean lullaby if you have trouble sleeping," and that said, she'll return to her composition attempts.

Goldenblade's continued efforts have resulted in a very heavy wooden framework with a complicated pulley-mechanism attached. It takes a couple people to help her thread the steel cable through the loops between the block and the tackle, really just a hook assembly with pulleys welded to it, and eventually anchored to the top assembly. When the shaft-top assembly is raised into position, the hook and pulleys dangle from the sturdy frame, and the cable's free end is anchored at the top of the shaft. Once the lifting mechanism is in place, she will help where she can with the shaft-digging and whatever else needs doing.

"Yeah might as well get looked over and grab something to eat." Kaydon says, as he looks over towards Uta, "You don't mind taking a look at some of the other patrol group as well? I'm sure they'll be cycling through here and there." He himself is going to grab some food, then he'll worry about getting his HP looked at.

After making sure the tunnel work is progressing reasonably Shiruba meanders back over and sits down next to Kaydon while he's eat. "You guys didn't run into anything other than monsters and wildlife? No stray undead, hopefully." There was always the possibility, even with most of that problem having remained locked away after the big effort to seal it. Her bun-bun lops over and hops up into her lap to laze there, getting some idle petting.

"Nope, no stray undead." Kaydon replies, after taking a few bites of food, "Was hoping we'd run into a Palace Lands patrol but then they'd have some idea of what we're up to." He muses, thinking about the good of the whole group, "Any complications here so far? Seems like you've made a ton of progress."

Shiruba makes a face at the mention of the Palace Lands. "Let's hope they don't find out. This machine could be an answer to some of the methods they've used to 'break' Adventurers down to take control of them." Not that they've been very active outside of their own server, but that's no reason to get lax about something so potentially important. "Seems like the planning done ahead of actually digging is paying off. This will still take some time, but we should have little difficulty to getting to the proper chamber. And Goldenblade is building a hoist to help pull the machine up so we don't have to worry about magic getting wonky down there again."

"Non wonky magic is definitely a great thing." Kaydon chuckles, taking a long drink from the mug that came with his food, "Ain't this all just too weird? Like you know, trying to access this cosmosphere stuff? I know we gotta crack it to give ourselves an edge, but I suppose I miss the days when just whacking bosses to death was the play." He goes back to eating, to give Shiruba whatever time she needs to answer that odd question.

    Fuka ambles out of the growing hole, having mostly depleted her mana and also done about as much of a stretch of hard physical labour as she feels up to sustaining without at least a nice cool drink. "Man I should've thought of doing that." she muses, grinning. "So here we are, living in another world as our video game characters, and THIS is what you call weird?" she teases.

Shiruba idly scritches the bun in her lap between the ears. "I know. But this is a matter bigger than just bosses. With how many high end threats we've seen having ways to screw with the.. ah.. " she flicks the fingers of her other hand a few times as she tries to think of a proper term to use. "metaphysics of this reality, we can't let this oppritunity slip past us to get a better understanding of such things that weren't initially a part of the 'game' but apparently quite integeral to how things work."

"Yeah, I get it." Kaydon replies, as he takes a second to glance down at the bun, "I'm just glad some of you all understand what's going on, 'cause I sure as hell don't." There's a pause, "Well I mean I guess you guys don't really understand all of it either and that's part of why we're stealing this thing."

Shiruba reachs over to pat Kaydon's arm. "I get what you mean. At least some of us are trying to figure out the ways things work. So you people can worry about the things you can do." She glances off towards the work site. "Speaking of, you think you could put your blacksmith skills to work? Digging is going to slow down if people don't keep their picks and shovels sharp. And we can't do it on magic alone."

"Oh yeah, for sure." He quickly scarfs down the rest of his meal, which gives him a bit of healing and an energy boost to boot, "You guys got extras right? If so you could switch over to those and I could get to work sharpening the set they're using now." He's already looking around for where they have the forge setup at.

Shiruba sets her bun-bun on the ground and stands up to point Kaydon in the direction of where the tools and materials have been stocked aside of the work area. "Right over there. That's an even better idea, then there won't be as much downtime while keeping things in working order."

    Merek takes his time to dig along with the others, though he seems to be using controlled magical demolition with his alchemy. And he takes the time to see about what people are using.

Shiruba has been making a round to check on everyone and how the work is going, and eventually comes across Merek's efforts. She watchs for a moment, though the finer points of alchemy still mostly escape her, but nods a bit. "You had similiar ideas as I did it seems. Making the earth easier to work and dig through." She just did it more directly with Earth magic instead of arcane chemistry and explosions.

"Sure, can check on the patrol!", Uta replies to Kaydon, as she gets up from the rock she's sitting in. She takes some time to place her air guitar into the proper air guitar air case, which she closes, clasps, and then slings on her shoulders. If you have to go for the air guitar bit, you have to commit.

Hand holding onto the strap, ready to walk towards the rest of the patrol group, as Kaydon suggested, she stops, and looking over her shoulder, she asks Kaydon, "...are you sure you don't need some checking first?"

Digging is hard work. But even so, it's still something that the Scale Emblem has quite a bit of experience with, if the mines scattered throughout the Tower are any indication. There are several experts from those various projects busily assisting with the excavation work today, with a full team of Grunties from the Tolbana Ranch manning a makeshift elevator to ferry them up and down the great big hole in the ground.

And of course, they're not here alone. Prophylaxis, the Doctor of Tolbana, has set up a tent for refreshments (none of which he had a hand in making himself) and stamina replenishment treatment (much of which he is administering personally). It's not quite the work of digging, but it's still a meaningful benefit to those down in the pit.

Local wolfgirl gives out pats. How the tables have turned.

Uta lingers for a moment at Shiruba's words, and then, with a simple nod, adjusts the air strap of the air case of her air guitar, and, followed by her gaggle of slimes, wanders over to the stand manned by Prophylaxis. "Doctor," she greets with a bow. "Is my assistance needed in any form or fashion?"

    Still low on mana and on the tired side from physical labour, Fuka follows Uta and Shiruba like... a puppy? Well no, possibly a wolf cub, considering she's small compared to Shiruba. And fierce. And playful. To most eyes she's just being lazy, which is fair enough. One would have to inspect her or be in her party to know how low her reserves are right now, and therefore how hard she's been working. "What's up, Doc?" she greets Proph as the little group comes near the recovery tent. "Seen any good buns lately?"

Thankfully, things near the dig site have been remarkably quiet, which means a majority of Prophylaxis' patients have been workers complaining of sprained muscles or getting beaned by falling rock. Helmets have kept the worst of the injuries down, though. The doctor seems to be brewing up a few simple health and stamina potions when he's approached (though the combination of Red and Green means that they're an unfortunate but distinctly coffee-like brown color).

"More or less," the doctor answers Shiruba with a shrug. "No chimeras emerging from the depths yet. I'm guessing we're either still too far off, or we're right on target and the seal we put up on the front door has held," either one is good news, though it really is probably only a matter of time.

"Some extra food would be good, we're running low of boxed lunches," Prophylaxis says with a grateful nod. "I appreciate it."

Fuka asks him of buns. The doctor's brow creeps upward, as he pulls a little mini-carrot from his inventory to offer Yojimbo, "Just this little one. I'd be worried if there were too many more bun-buns around. You're looking a little tired, Fuka. Need a refreshment?"

He's got coffee-colored potions at the ready.

    "I saw some good buns at the auction. So of course I put in some bids on them." Fuka muses almost to herself. "On her, I mean. Them works too I guess. Anyways where were... oh! Coffee!"

    She gratefully accepts the potion and takes a quick swig, grimacing. "Augh. Why can't potions taste like ice cream?" Fuka grumbles. Even her own potions suck. Not as much as not having them, of course, but she just can't figure out how to make them taste less horrible. Even adding sugar, they just taste like sickly-sweet swill. "Actually that reminds me. I was spending some time with someone of dubious moral fiber and even more dubious taste, and he asked me if I'd considered making some sort of medical equipment. Of course I really don't know enough about medicine, and he said there's bound to be some people of better moral character than either of us out there who might have some ideas and could help with the knowledge. And here are two of the smartest healers I know!"

The mini-carrot is plucked from Proph's fingers, and Yojimbo hops up to Shiruba's shoulder and disappears into his usual hiding spot in the hood of her cloak while he gnaws on it. Fuka's joke about the auction gets a roll out of her eyes. But the winning bid on her was at least someone she knows so it all works out well in the end. "Kaydon had patrols out to drive clear any wildlife so we shouldn't have too much in the way of interruptions out here. As long as we don't have to deal with chimeras too soon we should be good." Shiruba pulls out a quill and parchment. "As for food, sure Gwen will be happy to once she gets back. I'll make sure there's goods ready for her." Or if one of the other cooking oriented Adventurers come along. "We're all thankful you and Uta are here to tend to any mishaps that happen along the way."

The first thought of Uta is that if Fuka is counting Uta among the smartest healers she knows, the little Sylph clearly needs to be introduced to more healers.

"Medical equipment? What sort of medical equipment?", Uta asks Fukaziroh, scratching her head. "Is it about your refrigerator? Some sort of... storage for potions that need low temperature, or something like that?"

"Boxed lunched coming right up," Uta replies to doctor Prophylaxis, and spins on her heels to head towards Gwen and fetch the requested items. "That could be an interesting attempt," she comments on the subject of the flavor of potions. "I hear that it is possible to make potions that taste good, if you have the skills of a brewer," Uta remarks. "I am not sure what skills it takes to make them taste like ice cream. Cooking-related ones? Hm." She looks up and away, tapping her lips as she walks. "I should really take up Gwen on her offer to teach me how to cook. Maybe I can make potion that tastes like cluck-cluck soup..."

"Don't mention it, don't mention it," Uta dismisses Shiruba. "We're all here to help each other, for the common good."

Buns at auction? Prophylaxis looks even more dubious than the moral fiber of Fuka's mysterious client. "I've tried flavoring before, but something about not having the Cooking or Brewing skill poses a problem," Prophylaxis shakes his head. "What is this about medical equipment, now...? What is it you need this for, exactly?"

At least he's not writing it off outright.

"Of course, glad to help," Prophylaxis answers with a smile as Yojimbo scurries off to nibble happily away. A well-fed bun-bun is a safe bun-bun. "We've admittedly been lucky so far, but it's probably only a matter of time before our activities attract the attention of something unhappy about them. Honestly, I'm surprised that the Mage's Tower hasn't intervened yet."

Perhaps there's another reason they've kept their distance...?

"Appreciated," he asides to Uta, then glances back to Fuka. "I'm interested as well, but I'd need to know more before I commit to anything."

Shiruba shakes her head a bit at the mention of the Mage's Tower. "My guess would be that they don't want to admit that we've got a better chance at pulling this off than they do." That's really all she can theorize on that matter. She's got more important things to think about with keeping the operation organized.

That and what other people are up to. She tilts her head curiously at Fuka and her talk about medical equipment. "Yes, I think we need a few more details Fukaziroh."

Shiruba shakes her head a bit at the mention of the Mage's Tower. "My guess would be that they don't want to admit that we've got a better chance at pulling this off than they do." That's really all she can theorize on that matter. She's got more important things to think about with keeping the operation organized.

That and what other people are up to. She tilts her head curiously at Fuka and her talk about medical equipment. "Yes, I think we need a few more details Fukaziroh."

    Fuka handwaves at the questions from the medics. "I'm not making myself clear." she admits, which is possibly a first. Certainly the first time recently that she was misunderstood without intending to be! "I mean, I'm offering my near-legendary talents as a moonlight enchanter and possibly an alchemist and all around modest super-benefactor to the design of new implements, or possibly recipes, of aid to the medical profession!" she explains. "I figure Doc, at least, has some experience with medical tech right? So Doc, what do you really really wish we had here? If you wanted to get your hands on an instrument, what would it be? Uta, same question, though I guess you don't really want to get your hands on any instruments at this time." She pauses, glances over. "Considering the air guitar, I mean." she lies. "Obviously you guys can have refrigeration as you need for medical stuff, I've already offered that all freely. But what manner of artifice and enchantment might we come up with if we put our stellar minds together? Hmmm? Hmmmmmmm?"

"The thing I'd like to have most is something to pick up vibrations of the larynx and convert them into sound!", Uta exclaims, without the slightest doubt. "Everything I've tried has failed! Plain stethoscopes barely pick up that there -are- vibrations, and I've been trying to do that by handling sprites. No luck, the Red Light keeps popping up and gets in the way of the patient's breathing!"

After a short pause, Uta explains further, "At in the cases I've observed, activating Power Paths is correlated with vibrations of the larynx. I found that out while trying to explain why some of us get a sore throat from overuse." temporarily forgetting about the lunch boxes (but not about the air guitar, whose air strap she adjusts before launching into walking in circles and gesticulating), she continues, "My next hypothesis is that we somehow -sing- something. Song is ridiculously important in this world. Even more than hats!" She stops. Taps her lips. "Hmmm." She flicks her menu into existence, shimmers a notebook and pen in her hands, and writes, "Note to self: Musical hats. Possible? Practical? Research."

She shimmers away her notes, and resumes pacing, "If only I could find out -what- song we're singing..."

"Mmm, I suppose. Or they're waiting for us to do the dirty work." The Mage's Tower is about as shady as they come around here. Even Prophylaxis, The Shady Doctor, thinks they're shady. That means they're pretty damn shady! "Well, no need to worry at this point, I suppose."

He then looks to Fuka as she makes (or rather, clarifies) her offer. The Doctor makes a noise of quiet consideration, then: "I can think of a few things. A more convenient method of producing crystals for technique storage would bring down production costs. Refining chemical processing techniques to more easily extract effective reagents from hazardous sources. Microsopy could be interesting as well. Ultrasound, MRI and other imaging techniques would also be helpful."

"Perhaps developing an Ultrasound might lead to a tool that could assist Uta as well? We'd need some kind of advanced acoustic receiver, anyway."

Shiruba lets out a soft sigh. "It's probably all of the above," is her response about the Mage's Tower. While a lot of the medical talk goes over her floofy head. Except for when it strays into other tangents. "Well." She reachs to her quiver to pull out one of her Crystal Skewer arrows with the obsidian arrowhead. And one with a much narrow needle-like tip that she developed based on the Howling Needle technique she was taught. "It is possible to grow crystals using Earth magic... but I imagine these are not as refined in purity as you would desire for storage processes."

    The talk about the mage's tower goes over Fuka's head. As expected because she's smol. Also probably missing some context. That's all right though, she's off in her own little world right now. "Is it so bad for me to want to be valued for my body, not just my brain?" she asks no one in particular. Then frowns. "Or is that supposed to be the other way around? Hm. Okay fine, both it is." she nods firmly.

    Fuka's not quite so off in her own little world that she misses everything however. "Recording crystals, hm? To allow exact transcriptions of techniques, and possibly to amplify the faintest of sounds and vibrations. Hmm hmmm yes, I could see it!" she agrees. "Preferably with the ability to make a master crystal and then duplicate it so you can send your techniques to others... or so we can record live idols!" she beams. "Wonderful! Spectacular! Delicious!"

    Merek nods a bit along to Shiruba, "Ya, I'm hoping that it will make it easier for people to get into the digging," he says, while he watches Fuka and waves, "Anyway. What are all of you doing?" he asks.

Gwen has been doing a lot of grunt work since she was done handing out food, she is pretty stong all thing considere she's moving as much as a bobcat could on earth when your honest. she's been working away chatting in between hauling rock. "Soooo speaking of the mage tower? I wonder how that one Archmage is, the one who was willing to fight along side us, is doing."