W5 🛸 PLAYER CYOA: FUCK IT WE EYEBALL (ALLI) 🚀 GUY, MARGARET, OWNER, SIDON

[dropoffs]

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[bossbabygirl]

[she examines the bubble, and then glances at where sidon is inspecting the door, a frown on her face for a moment.]

...We need to get into that bubble. We can't get through the archway without deactivating it, it's too dangerous.

[well. intelligence check. how bad of an idea is it to just shoot the bubble with this plasma gun? because that's what she's inclined to do, but if she can somehow figure out the best place to do that?]

[discomfort]

[ oh the vibes are bad.

owner looks at margaret and sidon, not bothering to look over at guy, who is once again slowing them down. typical. ]

They were supposed to evacuated to the Hub, whenever... this happened. I suppose they did not make it, but we should definitely head there as soon as we can.

[ maybe some people did make it?

he rubs his temple, frowning. ]

[polliwog]

[ the piles of bones—of adult and not so adult variety—tell a story. not a good one. and the way ahead looks barred for now, since he isn't ready to risk a cave-in after finding someone crushed to death. it's all very much a downer.

which is part of why, when margaret speaks, he pulls away from the door to cast her a sad look. maybe she thinks he doesn't realize. ]

There's so many of them. Just what were they running from?

[ he'll head back to the group to see if there's anything to be done about this bubble. is there any structural weakness to it, that might help guide margaret's shot? ]

[mansplains]

[ guy returns to the part after his little lookabout, also checking out the bubble with his very charming dexterity!! he's also checking if anything nearby can be used as a lockpick or if he can make one from the items left over by the corpses.... yeesh, morbid. ]

There's some kind of arcane magic item near the back of the building. I don't know if it's related to the bubble. Maybe there's something in the book about it?

[tombtaker]

[ Owner, since you’re asking fun lil hypotheticals I’ll put you first … that’s an idea. You don’t know the history that well, but with Whispers, you can look out into the distance and far off across the ruins you can spot more of those glowing, blue bubbles. This is hardly the only one.

Margaret it seems like … an idea to shoot the bubble directly with your plasma gun. That could go a lot of different ways, you think, with your big huge brain. But you’ve got a couple of helpers here, between Sidon and Guy. Sidon you’re a strength guy, you also don’t know arcana that well, but I think it’s reasonable to say he can tell things about … architecture. Maybe if Margaret aims for the floor she can shake something loose inside the Stasis Bubble that might cause a chain reaction. Margaret has also now heard about the magic box at the back of the waystation, which is also an option. If you choose to shoot it, you’ll need to roll but you can do it with advantage.

Guy, checking the bodies (corpses seems strong, they are more bones and dust than anything) - I think guy can turn up a few bits and bobs. A piece of metal or two, a pin from clothing something. It doesn’t seem like a GREAT lock pick, but you can try it. Everything here is ancient and crumbling. The Calamity was over a thousand years ago. ]

[bossbabygirl]

[well, i rolled, but bot rolls were bad. still, she will try for shooting the floor, i guess?]

[discomfort]

[ hmmm there being a lot of them is bad. is there like any particular area they are like, positioned at, like if there are more bubbles one way more than others, or is it just that they are scattered randomly

but after observing this, he rubs his temple again and just watches margaret shoot the floor i guess surely it'll be fine ]

[polliwog]

[ yeah he'll help margaret find a place to shoot and then they probably die anyway

they can try the box if this doesn't work and they don't die. continues to find ways to make this the shortest cyoa ever. ]

[mansplains]

[ well guy is just gonna fashion together the world's worst lockpick to pick this lock and cool incredibly cool doing it, somehow...... ]

[tombtaker]

[owner: at first they seem kinda random, both in location and size, but actually when you study it, it seems like they are clustered around certain locations. You aren't sure what those locations are necessarily, but there's more than a few around your location.

next is guy he looks insanely cool making his lockpick, just so sexy. margaret is a lesbian but even she is distracted by this.

did you know in the explorer's guide to wildemount the suggestion to breaking these bubbles is to have like, powdered unicorn horn and flumph jelly, insanely rare substances, or to own one of the Arms of the Betrayers - a weapon so rare and powerful it was blessed by one of the Betrayer Gods thousands of years ago. There are like. Five of those. And I was gonna let you shoot it with a gun. Anyway I can't do that on a 5 and an 8.

The plasma shot falters and ricochets off the side of the bubble and shoots sidon directly in the chest. ]

[bossbabygirl]

[i think a plasma gun counts as an arms of the betrayers, though. anyway, i shot the floor you asshole stop railroading me!!!!

she shouts when the gun goes off and hits sidon and will run over to him.]

Sidon! Oh no, I'm sorry!

[that plan was so stupid, she should not have done that. how hurt is he? just because he keeps second guessing her does not mean she wants him to die.]

Who has the healing potion?

[discomfort]

[ well!

sidon just gets fucking SHOT i guess and he just starts shuffling through his pack to grab a potion and rush over. HELLO. get healed. ]

At least it wasn't a direct hit.

[polliwog]

[ WE'RE DOING GOOD, we're doing good. he gets shot. ow?? he lets out a surprised shout, but at least maybe it's not so bad because it's a ricochet? ]

Ow... Ah, it's all right! [ surveying the damage ] We should save it for now, we don't have much left on us...

[ unless alli is like no actually he's actively dying. anyway did the bubble change at all. did upsetting this bubble set off any other bubbles. ]

[mansplains]

[ he also actually tried to pick the lock i thought i wrote that help ]

[ but oh shit sidon got shot! at least owner has the healing potion but he frowns ]

How bad is it?

[ don't be a hero if alli says you're actually dying.... ]

[tombtaker]

[ you all have one healing potion!

and it is your injury to do what you will with it, my sweet Lucky Charms. if you'd said he'd died instantly I'd have respected that too.

This bubble seems unaffected - the inside remains as perfectly and eerily still as it had before. And you can notice nothing else seems to have been set off - only some distant shift of rocks in the silence. I'll give you this with your Gun Investigation (shooting it) it doesn't seem likely that other bubbles are going to erupt. They seem to be ancient magic that has hung around this long, but the technology to create a new one ... that would be rare.

Lock picking the archway door you mean or the magic device?]

[bossbabygirl]

[she fusses while she watches sidon either die or not die depending on what nu decides in two tags from now.]

If you're sure. [a huff of breath that's both relieved and frustrated at once.] You idiot, just be careful, okay? [she says like she was not the one who shot him.] You're pushing yourself way too hard, you need to take it easy. Stop hovering around me and just let me handle the journal, you know?

[the bubble remains a huge priority, but she doesn't have any idea how to get in there.]

Guys, we need to get in there. That woman has something we need; it's not safe to go through the archway without it.

[so maybe lockpick the magical device.]

[discomfort]

You do not need to remind us so often that you have the journal, Margaret. We are aware.

[ a little curtly. but we will see if sidon lives or not.

but he will leave his potion with margaret and sidon for now, and then he will just sort of... walk around their immediate area if there is like, anything else that might stand out here besides what they have already investigated. are the other bubbles in this spot too far away to go walk to reasonably? ]

[polliwog]

[ he dies instantly and i contribute to this cyoa's untimely end. no, it's a gnarly burn, but he'll walk it off. sure he'll hold onto the healing potion. ]

Oh, sorry, Margaret! I know you can handle it.

[ had he been hovering? it's true she'd worried him a little, earlier. but her concern is appreciated... they're friends, they have bracelets and everything.

since guy is sexily lockpicking stuff, he'll go with owner to help take a look around and make sure nobody goes falling off a ledge. ]

[mansplains]

[ okay he's lockpicking the magical device!! in a sexy fashion ]

[tombtaker]

[ Owner, you can see some bubbles further away - you could probably get there on your own. You'd have to leave the others pretty far behind, out of earshot, but you see one off in the distance. It'd take a little time but it doesn't seem too hard to start trekking. That bubble is smaller than this one here, but still glowing. Inside you can almost make out a figure, arms outstretched. `Curse Elatis, curse Vigilan and curse Luctus! Damn then all to the hells! May their ward burn and the fire consume them for eternity--`

Sidon can watch as Owner gets a lil enraptures by another bubble, probably not noticing that there's a sprinkle of dust opening up near him. Ominous.

The arcane lockbox light turns briefly red from its faded yellow as Guy lockpicks it ... ! But then it sputters out entirely. A nice 18. Inside is a strange device - about palm-sized, and Guy isn't magical but it thrums with some power, waiting to be unlocked. It seems like it anticipates a keyphrase of some kind. ]

[discomfort]

I am going to over there, I will be back.

[ he is just going to wander off there, it's fine. he will at least keep checking to make sure that he isn't going too far, because if he loses sight of them that is a big no no

but damn what did these people do. owner picks up a rock and lightly tosses it to the blue bubble, but like... pointing it at a direction he is not standing at. ]

[polliwog]

All right, I won't be far behind.

[ he's a little worried about leaving margaret and guy, especially margaret, but he'll try to keep an eye on all his ducklings.

however, first, this dust—what is it. is it magic. can he touch it. does more of it spawn around owner when he goes to the next bubble? ]

[mansplains]

Don't go too far, you two....

[ he is sticking with margaret. holding his little magical thing ]

Margaret, anything in the journal about how to use this? A password or anything?

[tombtaker]

[ Owner, this one is a singular person - a mage, by their robes - halfway through speaking something aloud. The pebble bounces harmlessly off the side of the bubble and skips off. I think it's fair to put together at this point, with the whispers and having seen a few that perhaps these are some sort of emergency failsafe - activated as their great city was crashing and meant to keep people in suspension to be rescued shortly after. Only, if there are no survivors ...

Sidon, the dust is pure plain ol' mundane rock dust. From the giant boulder that has shaken loose from the ceiling and is now plummeting to the ground. Right above you.

Guy, your magic thingy thrums, dormant. ]

[bossbabygirl]

[at guy's suggestion, she will get out the journal and investigate it. she's focused on that - can she find a way to use this magical device or get into the bubble from the journal? she is not paying attention to alli bullying sidon.]