Nevill
Arcane
- Joined
- Jun 6, 2009
- Messages
- 11,211
Part 17. A mad new world.
The world can be described with a single word, and the word is weird. It is as crazy and as unpredictable as its inhabitants, if tales of Zeexen are anything to be believed.
But even a world as alien as this one has some semi-recognizable elements. For example, these large spiky pockets that seemingly serve no other purpose but to trap unfortunate vangers inside? They are actually hideouts full of goodies.
The compass shows the following places of interest on this world:
B-Zone
Zeepa
Passage to Glorx
Passage to Boozeena
Passage to Ark'a'Znoy
Rigs station
Repairs station
Spiral station
Broken station
There is no ghOrb station. Either you try your luck with a Broken one, or you bring spare weapons with you. Or you don't use ghOrbs in the first place.
We set our compass to point at B-Zone, as the Beeboorats have suggested us several times. On our way there we pass by some gorgeous golden escave with mechoses coming in and out. Seeing how B-zone is on the other side of the world, that must be Zeepa.
And that must be the secondary entrance. Looks way more ordinary and practical than the primary one. Weirdly enough, the only road leading to it is that big greenish-blue overpass. There appears to be no entrance from the ground level. As I said, the Zeexen are strange.
These overpasses are by far the most convenient method of traveling through Necross. There are ground roads, but they are far too winding and twisted to serve as the primary pathways.
There are a lot of bogs on Necross. Basically everything that is off the roads is either a bog or a round hideout-like formation similar to the ones we've seen.
There are also some structures in the ground comprised of - I have no idea... sticks that are haphazardly thrown together in the likeness of a snowflake? You can see one on the screenshot above. Those are secret locations that open only if your Luck is higher than 50, like the rocks on Glorx. You guys haven't shown much interest in exploring them, so I ignore them for now.
Some hideouts are enormous in size, easily covering more than a single screen. They are kind of pretty... in their incomprehensible, alien, spiky way.
Traveling by ground roads is not only slow, but also hazardous. The local equivalents of stinkers work like landmines and explode on contact - and they explode hard. That's 1/4th of my shields gone in a single blast.
THankfully, you can fire a shot to make them explode instead of hitting them with your mechos, but ghOrb shots are limited on Necross due to no dedicated station to refill them. There is a Broken station somewhere on the world, and judging by the red lights, that's the one.
I don't want to risk it discharging my weapons or my shields, though, so I give it a wide berth.
The ovepass twists and turns at strange angles, sometimes leading to a dead end.
The best way to traverse it is with the help of a CopteRig, just like on Glorx. Find the next road section leading in the general direction of your target, and try to jump on it. Correct your course with the Rig if you have miscalculated.
Driving by ground is an option, but it has its own quirks. See that bubbling where the bug-cursor is hovering?
Yep, that's a quagmire. As soon as you drive over it, you are sucked in.
And it's damn hard to get out! I am panicking a little - this mechos doesn't have much in terms of air supply.
Thankfully, activating the CopteRig allows me to break away from the trap, little by little. Still, many a mechos found these bogs their tomb. This world is not hospitable by any means.
It is strangely quiet on the surface. This vehicle is the only one I've seen on the way down. Slow cycle, I guess. I don't try to engage it - as you imagine, trying to ram things in the middle of the boggy terrain may lead to disastrous results.
There is a Repairs station and a Passage to somewhere - the compass suggests the world is called Ark'a'Znoy. I wouldn't know, I've never heard of it before.
Not all of the round formations contain secrets and items. This one seems to be filled by some liquid that is glowering menacingly.
The farther you get south, the more flooded the terrain becomes. The ground road is fully submerged under water by now.
To make things even weirder, the overpasses have round holes in their intersections which contract and expand seemingly at random. A smaller mechos could easily fall in there if one is not careful.
We are getting close. By now, water - is that even water? - is everywhere the eye can see.
But before we enter the escave, let's take a look around. There appears to be a Spiral station here, although it is so heavily covered by various growth that I can see no easy way in.
Ah, there's the escave. It was a long road south.
Good Zeexen, here we come! We have much to tell each other, I just know it!
We are met by some horrible fly-creature. With hands. And legs. And wings. And a single eye. She - it refers to itself as 'she' - appeared to be sleeping when we rode in.
- Hi, wheeler! Your face doesn't ring a bell. Don't remember you.
- Whoa, wait a second! You are a Saint! What luck! Look here, get over to rich Zeephra on the double. She'll pay a lump sum for your gift. We'll meet later, when you return on a huge gleaming mechos which she is sure to give you for your uniqueness. Off you go to ZeePa!
She appears friendly enough. Don't know what other counselors were talking about. But then she spots Boorawchick in the back and loses any interest in us, grinning from ear to ear (does she even have ears?) at her new guest.
- At last Boorawchick is here! I'm tired of waiting for you. I hear you are my most fervent admirer in all the worlds and a toxick connoisseur. I'm pleased to see you here in B-Zone and I'm ready to share my most secret culinary recipes with you.
- Isn't that why you've come? I'll tell you this: you get the best toxick from Beeboorat counselors.
- First you stretch them out on Necross to dry, then soak them in the bog, then spread them along the road for vangers to strip them into fibers with their wheels.
- After that it's the turn of yours truly, Zeekatrix, to go to work. I see it in your eyes, Boorawchick, you are itching to get started. Come on, be honest, do you want to take part in the next boiling in person? Don't shiver, you'll do it all right.
- You'll damage my whole store with your shaking, you brute! Hey, driver, take the client away, he's too boisterous. And ugh, that smell! Up you go, and be quick!
- Get out of here!
She literally spits us out of the escave.
Yep, it's a 'she' alright. You can tell by the mood swings.
What do we do now, Codex? We arrived to our destination, but they threw us out.
1. We seem to be unwelcome here. The Zeexen counselor - Zeekatrix, was it? - suggested we would find a better reception in Zeepa on account of us being a 'Saint'. Perhaps this is where we should head next.
2. The Buro has put its trust in you, and it is now time to put your trust in the Buro. Their instructions were clear - we must bring the message of Beeboorat superiority to the Zeexen no less than three times. Enter B-Zone again and again until they accept their place as an inferior bios.
3. Freeform (specify).
You can also ask Zeekatrix 10 questions.
Known vocabulary:
It's settled, then. You are coming with me, Boorawchick. Let me just change my mechos to a more comfortable one.
Boorawchick is a figure that exudes authority and dominance. That's why we have +50 Dominance for carrying him (minus the usual 15 for the act of stealing). No vanger is willing to mess with his personal driver.
CopteRig is exceptionally good for Glorx roads. If you feel that your jump will take you too far away from one, just activate the Rig and fly over to the nearest highway. It also has a bonus of having your mechos always land on it's wheels.
It's been too long since I rode in a mechos as obedient as this. I reach Ogorod in a matter of seconds.
Oboorez is unusually agitated. I wonder why that is.
- Dress ranks, attention! Your High Pushiness Comrade Boorawchick! Ogorod farming officer and senior shrub-growing expert Oboorez reporting!
- During my watch nothing suspicious happened. The peeperettes aren't fading, the shrubs aren't rotting. I'm content with the cirt. Awaiting further orders. Oboorez out!
Ah, I get it! The old guy mentioned once that Boorawchick loves going on sudden inspections to other escaves. He must think this is one! We leave the officer be without correcting his mistake...
...but not before stealing another rubbox from his cave. If the Buro's representative doesn't keep a better watch on items entrusted to his care, he doesn't deserve them!
Leaving Ogorod, I come across a particularly aggressive individual who is suspiciously well-armed.
Ah. That's right. No vanger dares to mess with me now... except for the killer sent after me to punish me for robbery. I wonder who hired him now that Boorawchick's escave is empty...
My mechos it 50% more fast than his, and much more agile. It is all too easy to keep myself in his rear where his missile launchers can't harm me.
Speaking of the missile launchers, the AI is cheating a little. The weapon slots on the Ripper do not allow for this configuration.
After a while, the guy starts losing weapons left and right. Is that a heavy missile launchers falling off? Why does he even has that if he can't equip it?
It takes a while to chip away at his heavy armor, though. A while and a few recharges of my weapons.
But once we disarmed him, it's just a matter of time.
Off to Lampasso!
The cycle changes to Heroism. Jablees start their usual flight, but we aren't interested in them anymore. Commissar affairs are beneath us.
We started shooting when we jumped, and by the time we landed, the rival vanger was dead. I feel like a killing machine.
Alright. Let's see what Geer'ah will have to say.
Apparently, he is glad to see someone important once in a while.
- Hi Boorawchick, my colleague! Stylish Geer'ah is on duty. Watch my heroes, see how they act as one: when they start digging, nothing can be seen through the flying dirt!
- Your Valorins are very good; I have no complaints. But the cirt's been arriving mixed with clay lately. Stealing little by little? Kidding, kidding... Report to the Buro that Geer'ah himself praised you!
I never quite got who is senior in the relationship of Geer'ah and Boorawchick. Geer'ah acts as if he is superior to everyone, and Boorawchick seems to be a bit intimidated by a giant hunk of a Beeboorat, but isn't Boorawchick the sole member of the Buro? Of course, he might not let the others in on that obscure fact to uphold the Buro's authority...
Nevermind, it is all behind us now. The bogs of Necross await us!!
Boorawchick is a figure that exudes authority and dominance. That's why we have +50 Dominance for carrying him (minus the usual 15 for the act of stealing). No vanger is willing to mess with his personal driver.
CopteRig is exceptionally good for Glorx roads. If you feel that your jump will take you too far away from one, just activate the Rig and fly over to the nearest highway. It also has a bonus of having your mechos always land on it's wheels.
It's been too long since I rode in a mechos as obedient as this. I reach Ogorod in a matter of seconds.
Oboorez is unusually agitated. I wonder why that is.
- Dress ranks, attention! Your High Pushiness Comrade Boorawchick! Ogorod farming officer and senior shrub-growing expert Oboorez reporting!
- During my watch nothing suspicious happened. The peeperettes aren't fading, the shrubs aren't rotting. I'm content with the cirt. Awaiting further orders. Oboorez out!
Ah, I get it! The old guy mentioned once that Boorawchick loves going on sudden inspections to other escaves. He must think this is one! We leave the officer be without correcting his mistake...
...but not before stealing another rubbox from his cave. If the Buro's representative doesn't keep a better watch on items entrusted to his care, he doesn't deserve them!
Leaving Ogorod, I come across a particularly aggressive individual who is suspiciously well-armed.
Ah. That's right. No vanger dares to mess with me now... except for the killer sent after me to punish me for robbery. I wonder who hired him now that Boorawchick's escave is empty...
My mechos it 50% more fast than his, and much more agile. It is all too easy to keep myself in his rear where his missile launchers can't harm me.
Speaking of the missile launchers, the AI is cheating a little. The weapon slots on the Ripper do not allow for this configuration.
After a while, the guy starts losing weapons left and right. Is that a heavy missile launchers falling off? Why does he even has that if he can't equip it?
It takes a while to chip away at his heavy armor, though. A while and a few recharges of my weapons.
But once we disarmed him, it's just a matter of time.
Off to Lampasso!
The cycle changes to Heroism. Jablees start their usual flight, but we aren't interested in them anymore. Commissar affairs are beneath us.
We started shooting when we jumped, and by the time we landed, the rival vanger was dead. I feel like a killing machine.
Alright. Let's see what Geer'ah will have to say.
Apparently, he is glad to see someone important once in a while.
- Hi Boorawchick, my colleague! Stylish Geer'ah is on duty. Watch my heroes, see how they act as one: when they start digging, nothing can be seen through the flying dirt!
- Your Valorins are very good; I have no complaints. But the cirt's been arriving mixed with clay lately. Stealing little by little? Kidding, kidding... Report to the Buro that Geer'ah himself praised you!
I never quite got who is senior in the relationship of Geer'ah and Boorawchick. Geer'ah acts as if he is superior to everyone, and Boorawchick seems to be a bit intimidated by a giant hunk of a Beeboorat, but isn't Boorawchick the sole member of the Buro? Of course, he might not let the others in on that obscure fact to uphold the Buro's authority...
Nevermind, it is all behind us now. The bogs of Necross await us!!
The world can be described with a single word, and the word is weird. It is as crazy and as unpredictable as its inhabitants, if tales of Zeexen are anything to be believed.
But even a world as alien as this one has some semi-recognizable elements. For example, these large spiky pockets that seemingly serve no other purpose but to trap unfortunate vangers inside? They are actually hideouts full of goodies.
The compass shows the following places of interest on this world:
B-Zone
Zeepa
Passage to Glorx
Passage to Boozeena
Passage to Ark'a'Znoy
Rigs station
Repairs station
Spiral station
Broken station
There is no ghOrb station. Either you try your luck with a Broken one, or you bring spare weapons with you. Or you don't use ghOrbs in the first place.
We set our compass to point at B-Zone, as the Beeboorats have suggested us several times. On our way there we pass by some gorgeous golden escave with mechoses coming in and out. Seeing how B-zone is on the other side of the world, that must be Zeepa.
And that must be the secondary entrance. Looks way more ordinary and practical than the primary one. Weirdly enough, the only road leading to it is that big greenish-blue overpass. There appears to be no entrance from the ground level. As I said, the Zeexen are strange.
These overpasses are by far the most convenient method of traveling through Necross. There are ground roads, but they are far too winding and twisted to serve as the primary pathways.
There are a lot of bogs on Necross. Basically everything that is off the roads is either a bog or a round hideout-like formation similar to the ones we've seen.
There are also some structures in the ground comprised of - I have no idea... sticks that are haphazardly thrown together in the likeness of a snowflake? You can see one on the screenshot above. Those are secret locations that open only if your Luck is higher than 50, like the rocks on Glorx. You guys haven't shown much interest in exploring them, so I ignore them for now.
Some hideouts are enormous in size, easily covering more than a single screen. They are kind of pretty... in their incomprehensible, alien, spiky way.
Traveling by ground roads is not only slow, but also hazardous. The local equivalents of stinkers work like landmines and explode on contact - and they explode hard. That's 1/4th of my shields gone in a single blast.
THankfully, you can fire a shot to make them explode instead of hitting them with your mechos, but ghOrb shots are limited on Necross due to no dedicated station to refill them. There is a Broken station somewhere on the world, and judging by the red lights, that's the one.
I don't want to risk it discharging my weapons or my shields, though, so I give it a wide berth.
The ovepass twists and turns at strange angles, sometimes leading to a dead end.
The best way to traverse it is with the help of a CopteRig, just like on Glorx. Find the next road section leading in the general direction of your target, and try to jump on it. Correct your course with the Rig if you have miscalculated.
Driving by ground is an option, but it has its own quirks. See that bubbling where the bug-cursor is hovering?
Yep, that's a quagmire. As soon as you drive over it, you are sucked in.
And it's damn hard to get out! I am panicking a little - this mechos doesn't have much in terms of air supply.
Thankfully, activating the CopteRig allows me to break away from the trap, little by little. Still, many a mechos found these bogs their tomb. This world is not hospitable by any means.
It is strangely quiet on the surface. This vehicle is the only one I've seen on the way down. Slow cycle, I guess. I don't try to engage it - as you imagine, trying to ram things in the middle of the boggy terrain may lead to disastrous results.
There is a Repairs station and a Passage to somewhere - the compass suggests the world is called Ark'a'Znoy. I wouldn't know, I've never heard of it before.
Not all of the round formations contain secrets and items. This one seems to be filled by some liquid that is glowering menacingly.
The farther you get south, the more flooded the terrain becomes. The ground road is fully submerged under water by now.
To make things even weirder, the overpasses have round holes in their intersections which contract and expand seemingly at random. A smaller mechos could easily fall in there if one is not careful.
We are getting close. By now, water - is that even water? - is everywhere the eye can see.
But before we enter the escave, let's take a look around. There appears to be a Spiral station here, although it is so heavily covered by various growth that I can see no easy way in.
Ah, there's the escave. It was a long road south.
Good Zeexen, here we come! We have much to tell each other, I just know it!
We are met by some horrible fly-creature. With hands. And legs. And wings. And a single eye. She - it refers to itself as 'she' - appeared to be sleeping when we rode in.
- Hi, wheeler! Your face doesn't ring a bell. Don't remember you.
- Whoa, wait a second! You are a Saint! What luck! Look here, get over to rich Zeephra on the double. She'll pay a lump sum for your gift. We'll meet later, when you return on a huge gleaming mechos which she is sure to give you for your uniqueness. Off you go to ZeePa!
She appears friendly enough. Don't know what other counselors were talking about. But then she spots Boorawchick in the back and loses any interest in us, grinning from ear to ear (does she even have ears?) at her new guest.
- At last Boorawchick is here! I'm tired of waiting for you. I hear you are my most fervent admirer in all the worlds and a toxick connoisseur. I'm pleased to see you here in B-Zone and I'm ready to share my most secret culinary recipes with you.
- Isn't that why you've come? I'll tell you this: you get the best toxick from Beeboorat counselors.
- First you stretch them out on Necross to dry, then soak them in the bog, then spread them along the road for vangers to strip them into fibers with their wheels.
- After that it's the turn of yours truly, Zeekatrix, to go to work. I see it in your eyes, Boorawchick, you are itching to get started. Come on, be honest, do you want to take part in the next boiling in person? Don't shiver, you'll do it all right.
- You'll damage my whole store with your shaking, you brute! Hey, driver, take the client away, he's too boisterous. And ugh, that smell! Up you go, and be quick!
- Get out of here!
She literally spits us out of the escave.
Yep, it's a 'she' alright. You can tell by the mood swings.
1. We seem to be unwelcome here. The Zeexen counselor - Zeekatrix, was it? - suggested we would find a better reception in Zeepa on account of us being a 'Saint'. Perhaps this is where we should head next.
2. The Buro has put its trust in you, and it is now time to put your trust in the Buro. Their instructions were clear - we must bring the message of Beeboorat superiority to the Zeexen no less than three times. Enter B-Zone again and again until they accept their place as an inferior bios.
3. Freeform (specify).
You can also ask Zeekatrix 10 questions.
Known vocabulary:
mechos - asked Leepky&Feenger, Beeboorats
vangers - asked Leepky&Feenger, Beeboorats
raffa - asked Leepky&Feenger, Beeboorats
escave - asked Leepky&Feenger, Beeboorats
bunch - asked Leepky&Feenger, Beeboorats
bios - asked Leepky&Feenger, Beeboorats
beebs - asked Leepky&Feenger, Beeboorats
Clash - asked Leepky&Feenger, Beeboorats
Creature Soup - asked Leepky&Feenger, Beeboorats
Softie - asked Leepky&Feenger, Beeboorats
Cryspo - asked Leepky&Feenger, Beeboorats
Passage - asked Leepky&Feenger, Beeboorats
Spiral - asked Leepky&Feenger, Beeboorats
Departed Bios - asked Leepky&Feenger, Beeboorats
The Chain - asked Leepky&Feenger, Beeboorats
Fostral - asked Leepky&Feenger, Beeboorats
Glorx - asked Leepky&Feenger, Beeboorats
Necross - asked Leepky&Feenger, Beeboorats
Xplo - asked Leepky&Feenger, Beeboorats
Khox - asked Beeboorats
Eleepods - asked Leepky&Feenger, Beeboorats
Beeboorats - asked Leepky&Feenger (low trust), Beeboorats
Zeexen - asked Leepky&Feenger, Beeboorats
Leepky - asked Leepky, Beeboorats
Feenger - asked Beeboorats
Podish - asked Leepky&Feenger, Beeboorats
Incubator - asked Feenger (low trust), Beeboorats
Plump-up - asked Leepky&Feenger, Beeboorats
Eleerection - asked Leepky&Feenger, Beeboorats
Gulp-down - asked Leepky&Feenger, Beeboorats
Boorawchick - asked Beeboorats
Geer'ah - asked Beeboorats
Oboorez - asked Beeboorats
VigBoo - asked Beeboorats
Lampasso - asked Leepky&Feenger, Beeboorats
Ogorod - asked Leepky, Beeboorats
Progress - asked Beeboorats
Heroism - asked Beeboorats
Election of Castaways - asked Beeboorats
Zeepa - asked Beeboorats
B-Zone - asked Beeboorats
Zeephra - asked Beeboorats
Zeekatrix
pod - asked Leepky&Feenger, Beeboorats
P-beam - asked Leepky&Feenger, Beeboorats
ruBeecation - asked Leepky&Feenger, Beeboorats
The Buro - asked Beeboorats
The Manual - asked Beeboorats
Jablees - asked Beeboorats
Slave - asked Beeboorats
Commissar - asked Beeboorats
Agent - asked Beeboorats
Nuclear War - asked Beeboorats
PeepShow - asked Beeboorats
castaway - asked Beeboorats
eLeech - asked Leepky&Feenger (low trust), Beeboorats
nymbos - asked Leepky&Feenger, Beeboorats
phlegma - asked Leepky&Feenger, Beeboorats
cirt - asked Leepky&Feenger, Beeboorats
Larvae - asked Leepky&Feenger, Beeboorats
peeperette - asked Leepky&Feenger, Beeboorats
Nucleoboom - asked Beeboorats
shrub - asked Beeboorats
Valorin - asked Beeboorats
rubbox - asked Beeboorats
toxick
vangers - asked Leepky&Feenger, Beeboorats
raffa - asked Leepky&Feenger, Beeboorats
escave - asked Leepky&Feenger, Beeboorats
bunch - asked Leepky&Feenger, Beeboorats
bios - asked Leepky&Feenger, Beeboorats
beebs - asked Leepky&Feenger, Beeboorats
Clash - asked Leepky&Feenger, Beeboorats
Creature Soup - asked Leepky&Feenger, Beeboorats
Softie - asked Leepky&Feenger, Beeboorats
Cryspo - asked Leepky&Feenger, Beeboorats
Passage - asked Leepky&Feenger, Beeboorats
Spiral - asked Leepky&Feenger, Beeboorats
Departed Bios - asked Leepky&Feenger, Beeboorats
The Chain - asked Leepky&Feenger, Beeboorats
Fostral - asked Leepky&Feenger, Beeboorats
Glorx - asked Leepky&Feenger, Beeboorats
Necross - asked Leepky&Feenger, Beeboorats
Xplo - asked Leepky&Feenger, Beeboorats
Khox - asked Beeboorats
Eleepods - asked Leepky&Feenger, Beeboorats
Beeboorats - asked Leepky&Feenger (low trust), Beeboorats
Zeexen - asked Leepky&Feenger, Beeboorats
Leepky - asked Leepky, Beeboorats
Feenger - asked Beeboorats
Podish - asked Leepky&Feenger, Beeboorats
Incubator - asked Feenger (low trust), Beeboorats
Plump-up - asked Leepky&Feenger, Beeboorats
Eleerection - asked Leepky&Feenger, Beeboorats
Gulp-down - asked Leepky&Feenger, Beeboorats
Boorawchick - asked Beeboorats
Geer'ah - asked Beeboorats
Oboorez - asked Beeboorats
VigBoo - asked Beeboorats
Lampasso - asked Leepky&Feenger, Beeboorats
Ogorod - asked Leepky, Beeboorats
Progress - asked Beeboorats
Heroism - asked Beeboorats
Election of Castaways - asked Beeboorats
Zeepa - asked Beeboorats
B-Zone - asked Beeboorats
Zeephra - asked Beeboorats
Zeekatrix
pod - asked Leepky&Feenger, Beeboorats
P-beam - asked Leepky&Feenger, Beeboorats
ruBeecation - asked Leepky&Feenger, Beeboorats
The Buro - asked Beeboorats
The Manual - asked Beeboorats
Jablees - asked Beeboorats
Slave - asked Beeboorats
Commissar - asked Beeboorats
Agent - asked Beeboorats
Nuclear War - asked Beeboorats
PeepShow - asked Beeboorats
castaway - asked Beeboorats
eLeech - asked Leepky&Feenger (low trust), Beeboorats
nymbos - asked Leepky&Feenger, Beeboorats
phlegma - asked Leepky&Feenger, Beeboorats
cirt - asked Leepky&Feenger, Beeboorats
Larvae - asked Leepky&Feenger, Beeboorats
peeperette - asked Leepky&Feenger, Beeboorats
Nucleoboom - asked Beeboorats
shrub - asked Beeboorats
Valorin - asked Beeboorats
rubbox - asked Beeboorats
toxick
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