The Crystal Sslugs of the Test

[Grey Aides]

Wiring...do I not recall a tale from Yerkan about some strange...lifeform...that was wired with a diode?

I will...let...him tell the story in full if he wishes... but as I recall...it was a carnivorous plant or...fungus... receiving a signal from somewhere...

[Yerkan of Elish]

Indeed. If you would care to check out the early events of The Beauty of the Garden, you will see the events that transpired.

There were many things that seemed to have unusually electronic and technological properties not expected of the life of this realm. Mechanical contrivances appeared without warning on livestock. We then found these fungi, each bearing a transmitter. I was engulfed by one such thing, and found that the insight was illuminated by a great many crystal diodes, lighting up in strange patterns. I have, to the best of my ability, recorded many of these patterns. By now, there are books and books about them in my studiolo. The synthetic contraptions added to the plants were utilized by them in an elegant manner, but were not vital to the survival of the organism.

Another matter of some use: there was a transmitter that the spawn of Earnaness brought us to. It was masked by trilobites, and it summoned the sslugs and the Citadel to us. There may well be some similar thing summoning the next heralds.

[Yerkan of Elish]

Furthermore, our primal trickster's pack is melded to his back through complex wiring.

Who our technomancers are, I do not know. I feel there may well be more than one.

[Great Thrash]

Oh yes, I had forgotten about the tawny creature's pack. Maybe answering the riddle will help us, if we can manage it.

[Steepest Durin]

I deftly operate th' Field Projector, pointin' it at th' relevant Sslugs an' makin' any updates ta th' virus that might make it work better with th' Projector.

I'll also get a tunnel ready for Thrash (or anyone) ta leap into if things go wrong.

Weapons at hand, folks, for who knows if this'll work?

[Yerkan of Elish]

I shall certainly hold whatever I have at my disposal ready. I'm far outclassed by these sslugs, however, but maybe I can work us up a bit of sleight of hand if things go awry or a distraction in order to give the other combatants a hand.

If it comes to hand-to-hand combat, my strategy is going to be distraction. My usual dull, gray robes begin to shine like new, and a bright cape unfurls over my back. My motions are smooth and quick, meant to catch the eye and appear a great threat: a powerful assassin and deadly killer. But in reality, just as I seem to be about to strike with an impressive blow, an even greater offensive will be launched by one of my compatriots.

[Steepest Durin]

We need a great idea for a finishin' blow of some kind.

[Diamond Master]

Something is crystallizing from the slime remnants around the trail.

trail13.jpg

[Yerkan of Elish]

I shall observe the slime around the trail with the Hailstone Mirror. I also want to know what kinds of crystals are forming: material, structure, and anything metaphysical about them. I have a rather unfortunate feeling about this one...

Are any other slime remnants crystallizing?

I will release the young sslug onto the trail to obscure some of the marks, hoping that it will break any ritual or spell that may have been performed using Osis' writing. Any sign of another sslug reacting to take "mine" away will result in me quickly recapturing it.

[Diamond Master]

The Hailstone Mirror shows you swirls: spinning, spinning, spinning.

It also shows connectors, reachings, networks. Wires. Roaring. Many things you have seen before in connection with current events, though the connection feature seems to be new.

The crystals are hardening, conducting electricity from the air around them, building up small charges. Their form seems really abstract, though, not like anything structured.

Only the slime remnants around the trail are crystallizing.

The young Sslug's trails are shallow in comparison, but enough to slightly alter the appearance of the trail. It bumbles along taking whatever path it chooses. Sometimes it seems to be repelled or shocked by something - your divine senses tell you that the Sslug's composition is reacting to the new crystals, but the exact effects are being obscured by oracular muddying.