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C In the Machine, Part of the Machine!
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Dec 3, 2014 08:46
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A x x B C x x D x x x x x x x x x x x x x E and D is aggressively in the lead!
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Dec 3, 2014 08:52
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D for me as well. Having your gloating cousin's gun not fire when he pulls the trigger (or better yet, explode in his hand) will be... satisfying. Also if servo-skulls are available why not send out a team of ten or so networked together with surveying equipment to search the ship for convenient bolt-holes and lost places? It can't hurt to have a place to run to if everything goes horribly wrong.
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Dec 3, 2014 12:40
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Hey, I'm just reading through the thread now, but Investigator Cruentus, with the nickname Widowmaker, he wouldn't happen to have a penchant for cold weather, his favourite gun wouldn't happen to be called a Liberator, and he wouldn't happen to have a Russian-ish accent?
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Dec 3, 2014 16:41
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C
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Dec 3, 2014 16:50
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D! That sounds neat.
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Dec 3, 2014 18:13
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D
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Dec 3, 2014 19:25
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d Robo-Jesus take the wheel.
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Dec 3, 2014 21:53
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Shogeton posted:Hey, I'm just reading through the thread now, but Investigator Cruentus, with the nickname Widowmaker, he wouldn't happen to have a penchant for cold weather, his favourite gun wouldn't happen to be called a Liberator, and he wouldn't happen to have a Russian-ish accent? Oddly enough, I don't know this one. I was more inspired by Dram from the Deathstalker series here A x x B C x x x D x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x E
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Dec 3, 2014 23:01
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LowellDND posted:Oddly enough, I don't know this one. I was more inspired by Dram from the Deathstalker series here Someone other than me actually read that?!?  Also D bandwagon
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Dec 4, 2014 00:23
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I've also read those. However, when I was in school, I was reading a couple of books a day so I've read a bunch of weird science fiction.
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Dec 4, 2014 00:39
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The Things You Own Things have a way of piling up. Even over a few decades, a small habitation complex might end up with dozens of truck loads of possessions, memorabilia, sentimental or historical relics, things that might only be kept because the Matriarch wanted that way. Other things might be kept because ‘they might be useful someday’, or because they had slipped under the floor of the old shed. In a city, the situation became even worse. One project might lose funding or become forgotten, the wrong papers filed, objects stolen or misdirected. In a city that averaged two hundred and fifty thousand souls, one that floated through the stars transiting megatons of material every year, interesting and unique artifacts (or things that looked like them, or frauds that pretended to be them) would pile up faster than they could be catalogued. How much worse the problem, then, when the warehouse storing them was at least five thousand years old? The Sequester was the last resting place of four thousand years of collections and idiosyncrasies, an ancient storehouse nearly as old as the ship itself, brought together by the most powerful men and women of a hundred generations. Things that were hidden from the Rogue Traders. Things that Rogue Traders had asked to be hidden. The Holiest and Most Sacred - the Most Heretical and Profane. It could all be found here, given time. The Family kept a Storehouse like this, you knew. It had a similar story, a similar oppressive weight of history. However, it focused more on the needs and desires of the Family - art, wealth, rarities, status symbols. It was here, in the Sequester, where the weapons of ancient age were stored, things that the Lord-Sire could not trust to the Family. A hiding away of objects too dangerous to be used, perhaps too dangerous to be known. All of it was known by the Magos, all that could be known. Servitors walked the stacks here. Armed with ancient and horrific weapons, their withered bodies wreathed in strange and unspeakable auras, energy that crackled and spat with colors that had no name. Most of their brains had been replaced by Machine-Spirits that constantly numbered and counted the objects; the rest had been replaced by combat programs that would perhaps threaten the Legions of old. Here, too, were Acolytes of the Ommnisah, without tongues, without eyes. They silently walked through the stacks and corridors, attempting to catalogue and analyze and describe the devices that rested here. They were forbidden to ever leave. Around their necks rested explosive collars. Inside their brains rested plasma grenades. The Machine-Spirits that haunted their toxic bloodstream would annihilate them to the tiniest particle, should they transgress that sin. Sometimes you weren’t sure, but sometimes you thought they were born here. Pushed out of some vat, stapled and grafted and filled with the old machines, and tasked to walk the corridors. Sometimes you thought they were the final punishment, something beyond servitors to threaten recalcitrant Tech-Priests with. Sometimes you thought this was the final reward. Shadows walked the stacks. Mastiffs of terrible speed and splendour, monsters that you only saw out of the corner of your eye. You could never see them when you turned to look, but you could feel them watching you, an unpleasant heated pressure in the air around you. Sometimes it felt like the stacks themselves were alive, and watching you. Perhaps they were. The Guardians turned back to their tasks when you shrieked binary at them, the authorization of the Magos. Sweat was on your synthetic skin, a clamminess which only increased the longer you were here. Oh, to spend a lifetime here in research! … oh, to spend a lifetime here, trapped and forbidden. The additional memory banks took some time to find - if this place was organized, you couldn’t recognize the pattern. A careful examination matched the contours, the weight, the description. It wasn’t something you were eager to test personally, however. Trying to interact with the Machine-Spirit inside would likely not go well. Wistfully, you wondered what it had seen, what it had learned, during its millennia of life. And what had put it here, in this place, used only in times of great need. Some objects you did recognize. Foundries, of ancient make and design, objects for equipping battalions of infantry, perhaps even mechanized infantry. Tanks and trucks and all the machines that kept the Imperial Guard conquering across a million worlds. Servitor-Vises, the constructs that turned a man into a machine, or replaced limbs with the Iron that was the Omnissiah image. Biologis vats, that could reach into a man and stir their DNA with sticky fingers, recreate them in the vision of the Tech Priests. Objects that edged into Heretek. Nothing that matched your strengths though. Nothing that let you dance along the wires and conduits of the ship, sing to the Machine-Spirits and make them obey. Until… you found a set of materials that did. A machine of metal and brass and ancient bindings, something that could awaken the Machine-Spirits from dead objects. Something that could raise life where there was none. Whistling softly, you reached out your mind, binary notes caressing the Guardians around you. The mastiffs of shadow sniffed out a change far away from you, and leapt to it, pages rustling behind them. The Servitors paused in their labor, processing your new data. An order from the Magos, a tiny adjustment in your delivery. With a whisper, the receipt of it was vanished from their memory, the line data in the inventories destroyed. The Binder had never been here; the Magos had demanded it immediately. These simultaneous truths were believed, and forgotten. You licked your lips briefly. That was the most difficult thing you had ever done, and the risk involved was your death - or a life in mindless slavery. The Omnissiah had blessed you, however, revealing your decision to be the right one. If the God-Emperor hadn’t wanted you to do this, why would He had given you this opportunity? And let you succeed in it? Another flash of binary, and your servitors filed into the vault, began lifting the component parts of the Binder into the corridors, down the long hallways of Between that you had begun to understand so well, going to the place that your Servo-Skull had prepared. Effortlessly, you make the pressure seals forget their passage. Your servitors were never here. As well, the seals forgot your order to make them forget. And with that, you return to the Magos with no one the wiser. The memory banks are slotted into the Machine-Spirit, who begins humming querulously to itself, going through the process of remembering all the long centuries. The Magos nods, then turns to you, strands of binary reaching towards your mind almost fondly. <Ohone. You’ve done well.> <Thank you, Magos.> <We’re about done with this Thing, and no mistake. While you are to maintain full focus on finishing this task, I have a small favor to ask of you.> <Magos?> <Here soon, your Lord-Sire will ask for volunteers from the Family. It’s a tremendously dangerous task, and you will have little support. I want you to step forward when the time comes.> <Yes, Magos.> <Not on this, don’t just ‘Yes Magos.’ This is very dangerous, and I ask it as a favor between one Tech-Priest to another. When you hear the details from the Lord-Sire, you may change your mind. But if you accept, I will give you additional information about it, and I will remember it.> <Yes, Magos.> The Machine Spirit spoke softly, its binary giving the feel of a sleeping mountain. <Object identified.> <Ah, here it is. Give it a listen Ohone, let’s see what we’ve got.> <Minor Xeno-Species. Damork. From the W1314 system, uninhabitable by the Imperium. Binary star, no rocky planets. Extensive asteroid fields centered around gas giants at around 30+ AU from stars. Species believed to be centered in the asteroid fields. Species believed to be extinct as part of the Romeral Crusade in the era M37. Species affiliated with the Great Enemy.> The Magos looks at you, giving the impression of raising their eyebrows, as the voice continues. <Species Damork specialized in infiltration and subjugation. Limited telepathic ability, boosted by affiliation with Great Enemy. Capable hunters and stalkers, believed to have evolved in the darkness between stars. Species Damork creates parasitic relationship with host population, initially collecting trace chemicals on it’s own for survival. In Humans, these are most often found in the liver, heart, and tongue. <Species Damork will attempt to synthesize a chemical binding with host population, shaping them closer to the design of the Great Enemy. Initial binding has 90%+ fatality rate, which drops as familiarity with host population is gained. This weaker chemical binding will produce supremely healthy individuals that suffer vulnerability to psyker activity. Experiments using this material and captive Species Damork [REDACTED] <At mid-point of life cycle, Species Damork will attempt full subversion of host population. This requires additional trace chemicals, which it’s followers will begin collecting for it. While Species Damork is vulnerable in this transitionary state, their followers will defend them with fanaticism and Forbidden Rites of the Great Enemy. Full subversion of host population has resulted in entire hive-cities turning to the Great Enemy, requiring continental scale Exterminatus. Datatape ends.> The Magos turns to you, their voice grim. <I’m getting reports that riots are occurring in multiple parts of the ship; the Grey Guards have their hands full, and the Lord-Sire wants to deploy me and mine to the worst of it. You are going to have to find where the subversion is occurring, and destroy it.> --- Woo, lots of things happening! I counted up your XP, and you’ve got nearly a thousand to play with. 530 now, then we choose what we want to level up in, and then 380 more. In addition to that, you get to figure out where the ritual is happening  530 XP. Your options are: 100 XP Blather Blather +10 Carouse Charm Concealment Contortionist Deceive +10 Demolituion Diplomacy Disguise Inquiry +10 Logic +10 Security Scholastic Lore Bureaucracy Scholastic Lore Heraldry Scholastic Lore Imperial Creed Search Shadowing Shadowing +10 Silent Move Silent Move +10 Sleight of Hand Trade (Technomat) +10 Armourer +10 Tracking +10 Wrangling +10 Arms master (requires BS 30, basic weapon training, any two) Battle Rage (requires Frenzy) Basic Weapon Training (Pistol) Basic Weapon Training (SP) Basic Weapon Training (Primitive) Blind Fighting (requires perception 30) Deadeye Shot (BS 30) Exotic Weapon Training (any one) Marksman (BS 35) Mimic Orthoproxy Peer Admin Peer Government Peer Military Pack Hunter (requires Tracking) Pistol Training (Las) Pistol Training (Primitive) Pistol Training (SP) Quick Draw Sure Strike (WS 30) WP Simple Advance 200 XP: Charm +10 Deceive +10 Diplomacy +10 Scrutiny Frenzy 250 XP: WS Simple Advance BS Simple Advance Per Simple Advance Int Intermediate Advance T Intermediate Advance Fel Intermediate Advance 300 XP Peer (Adeptus Arbites) Master Orator Whisper of Samadhi (requires Mimic) 400 XP Talented Diplomacy 500 XP ST Simple Advance AG Simple Advance Fel Advanced 750 XP Fel Expert Will you volunteer for the secret mission? 1 Yes 2 No Where is the ritual? A The Temple Warehouse, there are a thousand followers there B We can ask the gangs where the bodies are turning up, it’ll need more food C It’ll be somewhere quiet, the Tribes probably have noticed something. D Hell, lets ask Amacita. It has boldness going for it. E I know where it is! Its in ... I used the last of your fate points getting the Binder, but next post will be a new session, so will be at max. Loel fucked around with this message at 03:20 on Feb 17, 2015 |
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Dec 5, 2014 10:35
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No idea on what to spend points on, probably combat and search related stuff? Anyway A we signed forms from a guy we never met that put our life in peril in exchange for vague promises. Ohone is exactly the kind of person to sign up for that poo poo. And B the gangs are already on the lookout for this sort of thing. Hopefully they haven't been lost in the riots. Amacita is screwed.
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Dec 5, 2014 10:51
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If were going to be infilitrating a cult were probably going to need a few new skills Disguise, Mimic, and Shadowing are my choices currently for experience Also Yes, D
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Dec 5, 2014 10:53
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I am just catching up. I want to say that your writing started out good and has gotten better, IMO. I have no idea about skills. Yes on the secret mission. I forget which of our dear family members is the psyker. Mightn't they be a suspect for xeno tech that in low doses makes averting more susceptible to psyker powers?
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Dec 5, 2014 11:06
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Sogol posted:I am just catching up. I want to say that your writing started out good and has gotten better, IMO. Limosa is the psyker-cousin, yup. Last you saw, he was performing in basic machine rituals on your invitation. He does have a history of enjoying his position, which might be an indicator of Slaanesh worship. And thank you for the compliment!
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Dec 5, 2014 11:10
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The writing in this update in particular is really, really solid. We volunteer, of course, and while the gangs are likely quite busy right now, perhaps the tribes have noticed something...
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Dec 5, 2014 11:44
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Chantilly Say posted:The writing in this update in particular is really, really solid. Im quite pleased with it. I think Im getting back in my groove!   Also, almost done with finals, thank god 
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Dec 5, 2014 11:50
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Since our cat fell in the vat, do we now need to purge it?
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Dec 5, 2014 12:20
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mepstein73 posted:Since our cat fell in the vat, do we now need to purge it? Thats up to you. Since people are unsure on skills, I threw a few kits together. Combat Kit, 500: Basic Weapon Training Pistol Basic weapon Training SP Arms Master Dead Eye Shot Marksman Hounds Kit, 500 Wrangling +100 Pack Hunter Peer (Adeptus Arbites) PI Kit, 500: Disguise Mimic Shadowing Demolition Security AI Binding Kit, 500: Security Trade Armorer Intelligence Advance Currently We have A B x C x D x E Yes x x x x No Combat: x Hounds: PI Kit: x Ai Binding Loel fucked around with this message at 12:47 on Dec 5, 2014 |
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Dec 5, 2014 12:45
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mepstein73 posted:Since our cat fell in the vat, do we now need to purge it? The file suggested that the chemical is just intended to make the recipients better soldiers and more easily controlled through telepathic powers. Unless you think someone is going to murder Ohone by way of mind controlling her cat, I think we're fine. 1) Yes Ohone is building a personality as someone bold and supremely ambitious. This is right up her alley, potentially big risk for greater influence with two of the big sources of power on ship. 2) D, sort of. Less asking Amacita, more kidnapping her as an act of kindness. If Ohone doesn't act, she will die badly. Either fighting in defense of the enemy or purged afterward to clear any remaining cult members. Capture her, lock her up, and interrogate her. Maybe we'll stumble across a method of undoing the indoctrination, or maybe it'll boil down to a mercy killing. Either way, it's far more kindness than she can expect on her current road. As for experience spending, Investigation pack + Toughness increase. Pushes her over to 4 toughness bonus.
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Dec 5, 2014 13:03
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I'm for: Cecking the quiet places. AI Binding Kit.  Yes I want a secret mission.
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Dec 5, 2014 13:21
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Tran posted:The file suggested that the chemical is just intended to make the recipients better soldiers and more easily controlled through telepathic powers. Unless you think someone is going to murder Ohone by way of mind controlling her cat, I think we're fine. Voting for this.
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Dec 5, 2014 13:36
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C AI Kit. we just stole a huge machine spirit tank. Let's be ready to talk to it. Yes To the secret mission. A darmok? Here? Shaka, when the walls fell.
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Dec 5, 2014 14:39
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Horrible Lurkbeast posted:I'm for: Just what I was gonna vote for. The AI Binding kit seems right up our alley, we just got the Machine-Spirits after all, but maybe I'm misunderstanding what it does for us?
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Dec 5, 2014 14:47
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McSpanky posted:Just what I was gonna vote for. The AI Binding kit seems right up our alley, we just got the Machine-Spirits after all, but maybe I'm misunderstanding what it does for us? Yup, the binding skill kit will make you better at using your shiny new machine. The Binder itself makes low grade AIs, make of that what you will.
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Dec 5, 2014 14:55
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Tran posted:The file suggested that the chemical is just intended to make the recipients better soldiers and more easily controlled through telepathic powers. Unless you think someone is going to murder Ohone by way of mind controlling her cat, I think we're fine. I like this.
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Dec 5, 2014 15:01
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Tran posted:The file suggested that the chemical is just intended to make the recipients better soldiers and more easily controlled through telepathic powers. Unless you think someone is going to murder Ohone by way of mind controlling her cat, I think we're fine. Tran is the man with the plan.
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Dec 5, 2014 17:00
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Given our close brushes with the foul powers of the warp and our general roguish nature, I'd think spending 300xp on Orthoproxy, Basic Willpower, and Security would make some sense. And besides, who needs all that pesky human emotion anyway
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Dec 5, 2014 20:22
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Yes, ask Amancia and AI kit, hell she might be excited that we're showing an interest in her crazy cult
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Dec 5, 2014 20:34
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Tran posted:The file suggested that the chemical is just intended to make the recipients better soldiers and more easily controlled through telepathic powers. Unless you think someone is going to murder Ohone by way of mind controlling her cat, I think we're fine. The man with the plan here. Arkanomen posted:A darmok? Here? Shaka, when the walls fell. The demon is a Child of Tama!
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Dec 5, 2014 21:24
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Tran posted:1) Yes Ohone is building a personality as someone bold and supremely ambitious. This is right up her alley, potentially big risk for greater influence with two of the big sources of power on ship. This and The AI Binding Kit. I'd also like to PURGE THE KITTY and get another one. I'd rather not have someone spying on us through our cats eyes or having it steal things for someone while we aren't paying attention. Also we can just give it the same name and we totally wouldn't even notice the difference!
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Dec 5, 2014 22:16
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Currently We have Yes x x x x x x x x x x x x x x No A B x C x x x D x x x x x x x x x x E PI Kit w/ T: x x x x x x Ai Binding: x x x x x Combat: x Otho, WP: x Still a strong fight with the skill choices, but yes/D look well in the lead. Oddly, I haven't seen Star Trek, so I had no idea what y'all were saying. Much like that episode I actually was inspired by a combination of the Damork from David Eddings and the critter from Babylon 5's Long Dark. Loel fucked around with this message at 00:12 on Dec 6, 2014 |
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Dec 6, 2014 00:10
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Arkanomen posted:C
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Dec 6, 2014 00:43
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LowellDND posted:
 Our next bodyguard/animal shall be named Ulath and it will be put in charge of the cooking.
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Dec 6, 2014 00:49
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I like the trend the votes are going so no need to chime in there. However, A Darker Porpoise posted:I'd also like to PURGE THE KITTY and get another one.[/b] I'd rather not have someone spying on us through our cats eyes or having it steal things for someone while we aren't paying attention. Also we can just give it the same name and we totally wouldn't even notice the difference! Since we are not psykers ourselves, and have not teched in a biological direction I agree with the porpoise. If we were biologically teched, looking at the kitty's DNA and how it changed might allow us to harvest the good, and remove the weakness. As it is, the cat does seem a liability.
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Dec 6, 2014 01:07
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LowellDND posted:Oddly, I haven't seen Star Trek, so I had no idea what y'all were saying. Much like that episode If you have Amazon Prime, all of the episodes are free to stream. It's all worth watching.
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Dec 6, 2014 02:55
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Yes and C. Let's get the Combat pack
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Dec 6, 2014 03:04
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Volmarias posted:If you have Amazon Prime, all of the episodes are free to stream. It's all worth watching. Netflix too
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Dec 6, 2014 03:28
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Deadmeat5150 posted:Netflix too Thanks, Ill check it out. Yes x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x No A B x C x x x x x D x x x x x x x x x x E PI Kit w/ T: x x x x x x Ai Binding: x x x x x x Combat: x x Otho, WP: x Skills are oddly tied. I may have to be the deciding vote 
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Dec 6, 2014 03:53
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