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In Progress Let's stir the Creature Soup in Vangers - One for the Road

Azira

Arcane
Patron
Joined
Nov 3, 2004
Messages
8,518
Location
Copenhagen, Denmark
Codex 2012
Eh? That's funny. Might vote later. Going to bed for now, watch Star Wars tomorrow.
 

lightbane

Arcane
Joined
Dec 27, 2008
Messages
10,140
1: I wish to see increasingly bizarre creatures and their inane behavior as soon as possible, not watch you grinding over and over.
 

Nevill

Arcane
Joined
Jun 6, 2009
Messages
11,211
Shadorwun: Hong Kong
watch you grinding over and over.
Well, you might not see a lot of grinding. We can do a timeskip.

And I have a way of recovering, so it's not like you guys can impair me too much.

I feel pretty confident about any of the choices here.
 

Dayyālu

Arcane
Joined
Jul 1, 2012
Messages
4,455
Location
Shaper Crypt
Ugh. I miss the Eleepods. I'll freely admit that I'm losing more and more the sense of what is happening, what we are doing, and where we are going.

Too fast, too many things, and the thinly-veiled Soviet parallels are kinda weird.

2) Persevere and rise to power from the bottom of the pecking order. We will become a living legend... if we survive for more than a few seconds! Raffas are not known to be terribly sturdy...

Yet, work has to be done. But let's try to get out of this Buro-cratic hell as soon as possible. I bet, the Zeexen will be probably more collaborative and will give us better info on the Things That Are than this bunch of deranged Manual-bound mutants.
 

Nevill

Arcane
Joined
Jun 6, 2009
Messages
11,211
Shadorwun: Hong Kong
Just be sure to at least post how much pain you endured, and how much you hate Codex for that.
As if. I can restock everything I lost in ten minutes tops. I know this game as the back of my hand. :)

I'll freely admit that I'm losing more and more the sense of what is happening, what we are doing, and where we are going.
Well, if you want to know what you are supposed to be doing, you have two answers - the short one, and the long one.

The short one is already known to you. Ship shrubs to Ogorod and Valorins to Lampasso, and don't mix them up. The Buro doesn't need absentminded slaves. :salute:

The long answer is that very rarely in this game you have something besides your immediate goal in front of you. Remember how the Eleepod chapter worked?

1) Go ship nymbos to Incubator.
2) Go ship phlegma to Podish.
3) You and mildly useful to us. We can trust you with an eLeech now. Try your scratchers at racing.
4) Oh, you are one speedy wheeler! Become our agent and bring us cirt, Larvae, kusowocks and everything we ask you for.

After which you got a key to Glorx. The thing is, at no point did you have any motivation for it other than a desire to know more, and to become more. We tried ignoring and derailing the plot in the 2nd update, and came to the conclusion that a life of mindlessly blowing stuff up is not for us because we need better dakka, better mechoses, and better everything. And so we decided to serve the Eleepods to get this stuff.

The Beeboorat chapter follows the same pattern.

I'll say this to the game's credit - nothing of it is necessary to complete it. The options I gave you in the first update? They were all viable. You can finish it without shipping a single pile of nymbos. You can finish it without participating in the Eleerection once, without doing a single tabutask, or without bringing a single portion of cirt (though not both). You can even finish it without stuffing your bay full of shrubs and Valorins. Cooperation with the bunches is optional. But it makes the game easier both to play and to understand.

You also have a 'bonus' goal as a player. The worlds of the Chain form a certain delicate eco-system. You know the Eleepod part of it already - their cycles, their lives from birth and to their deaths, their customs and their woes (which involve Beeboorats, mostly). A lot of it is just amusing fluff, but there are also major elements related to the story where you need to connect the dots. You have guessed the connection between Larvae and cirt, but many questions remain unclear. What is the connection of cirt and Larvae to the cycles? What happens when you bring the bunches their cirt? What would - theoretically - happen if you brought them a Larva? What happened to the Departed Bios, and can it happen again? Is there a danger looming over the Chain's inhabitants, and where does it come from?

Of course, you do not hear any of these from the bunches, who are mired in their own little problems, so it is easy to lose track of it, but nonetheless, the pieces of the puzzle are there, scattered in the dialogiues.

The gameplay of Vangers is the essence of sandbox games. The experiment is key. People who only heed what the bunches tell them rarely find success. The Eleepods need nymbos in the Incubator and eLeeches in Podish, so no one explains to you how to open secret stashes and complete tabutasks, which is a far, far quicker way to riches than mere trading and racing - you have to figure it out on your own. The game rewards exploration and thinking outside the box. Sometimes. :M

Even though we seem to have 'failed' a few times and got punished for it, we now have a much better understanding of what is and what isn't acceptable on Glorx. Oboorez and Boorawchick make some obscure threats about sending you to Lampasso, but you wouldn't know why that might be bad if you didn't drive there without a rubbox and learn your lesson first-hand.

The freeform option, although rarely taken as of now, is there for a reason.

Too fast, too many things, and the thinly-veiled Soviet parallels are kinda weird.
They are hardly thinly-veiled, and hardly Soviet. More like Soviet Army parallels, which is not much different from any other conscript army.

The so often cited Manual is the Servicemen's Manual (or whatever its English equivalent is called) - a collection of regulations that determine the everyday life in the military. The Beeboorats, who inherited much more from Cryspo than they did from Softies, take pride in their Cryspoid ancestry - which you wouldn't know if you never ask them anything :roll: - and it was only natural that they have picked on collectivist ideas and the strict hierarchy that the human military was founded on.

It is not very noticeable in the updates, but every vanger has a behavioral pattern depending on the world they hail from.

Fostral vangers are mostly traders. They are cowardly - they try to avoid conflict and scuffle away after exchanging a couple of shots, - and greedy (they become enraged if they see you picking up anything from the ground, though not to the point that it overrides their natural cowardice). Vangers from Necross are highly erratic - they can follow you for days, just observing you, they may attack you, but they may just as quickly reconsider and lose interest. Beeboorat vangers, though? Yeah, these guys are crazy aggressive, and they won't stop firing at you until they are dead. Never give up, never surrender! Ever wondered why the previous update has 3 dead cars, and all 3 of them belonged to the Beeboorats? Because Fostral vangers know when to get the hell out of dodge, and that's before the fight even starts. :lol:

I love these little details, they add to the charm.

The Beeboorats are not senseless, though. Their Manual is not something that can't be overlooked, provided they have enough reason to do so. They give ample warnings when you break the rules for the first time, and if they had any other leverage over you (say, you were of a higher rank) they would try using those first, demoting you, or taking a fine. But you were a slave - you had nothing to lose but what you had in your cargo bay, and so they took that. Because every transgression of the military law and code of conduct needs to be strictly punished. An army can not survive without discipline.

So it's not like they are the bad guys, in fact, they are my favorite bios - you just have to get into a proper mindset when dealing with them, and back off when they fire a warning shot.

I hope that doesn't discourage you from experimenting. They have some hilarious lines.

bunch of deranged Manual-bound mutants.
That's the impression every civilian has of the military men. :lol: A stupid bunch of paranoid and delusional discipline freaks. However, when shit hits the fan, somehow the 'dumb' ones turn out to be the best organized and the best equipped for survival. Who is the smart one now, eh?

I bet, the Zeexen will be probably more collaborative and will give us better info on the Things That Are
Already want to get to the good Beeboorats Zeexen? You sure they won't make you miss the Beeboorats like you did Eleepods? :lol:
 
Last edited:

Nevill

Arcane
Joined
Jun 6, 2009
Messages
11,211
Shadorwun: Hong Kong
Part 13. The loophole.
You! Filthy Beeboorats! Give me back my mechos right this moment! My money! Everything!

Nope. They are gone forever.

Why, I will avenge myself! I will! I will... spit on your Manual, that's what I will do! And throw your rubbox in a ditch! Hah! How would you like that?
2015_12_17_170358.jpg


Yeah, ruBeecate me again, I don't care. I don't have anything to lose! But I'll make sure you run out of rubboxes, you'll see!
2015_12_17_170459.jpg


How many more do you have, I wonder?
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Some mechoses show up and I take a break from my righteous indignation to hide in a puddle. One brief contact, and I am nothing but a ball of fire.
2015_12_17_170546.jpg


Yeah, confiscate my mechos, whatever. They are all raffas anyway!
2015_12_17_170713.jpg


This time, there is a different mechos outside. It looks like he is waiting for someone.
2015_12_17_170754.jpg


And that someone is definitely me. I am jumping over it as it accelerates to run me down. Was it someone I pissed off during the vector test? It should be impossible - they all should be dead by now.
2015_12_17_170805.jpg

2015_12_17_170831.jpg

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With a hostile mechos following me around and harassing me I have to rethink my strategy.
2015_12_17_170900.jpg


Clearly, annoying the Beeboorats does not work. They have an infinite supply of rubboxes, and the only thing I succeded at is to convince them that I am a dumb civvie who can't grasp the simplest of concepts.
2015_12_17_170925.jpg


I may have to come up with something else. And preferably somewhere else. When did it become so crowded here?
2015_12_17_171020.jpg


A mechos spawns right under me. However, since we emerged nearly simultaneously, I just bounce off its hull harmlessly. Could've been much worse if it appeared half a second too late.
2015_12_17_171033.jpg


Holy...! Where do you all come from!? There is even a truck here - a clear sign that we should GTFO.
2015_12_17_171136.jpg


I use the truck as a shield and put it between me and my pursuer who is still out for my... blood? oil? whatever I am made of. Hopefully they will become entangled in a fight and forget all about me while I collect the rubboxes I threw away. Maybe I can put them to better use...
2015_12_17_171159.jpg

For some reason, there is one less rubbox than there should be. Did someone steal it? I was only away for half a minute! :argh:

But that's not the time to be greedy as I am chased by a bloodthirtsy abomination that I could have squashed in one hit back in the day. Watch out! That was disturbingly close.
2015_12_17_171244.jpg


With the cargo bay full of rubboxes I make a dash for the Fostral Passage.
2015_12_17_171318.jpg


But the bandit does not let go.
2015_12_17_171333.jpg

2015_12_17_171353.jpg


The last thing I see on Glorx is him jumping after me.
2015_12_17_171407.jpg

Remember how I said the Beeboorats are insanely aggressive? Yes, they are relentless and single-minded in their pursuits. Looks like we got ourselves a stalker.

I arrive to Fostral alone. Or maybe I managed to lose my nemesis somehow. I did not stay near the Passage to find out if he is coming.

My reasoning is this - rubboxes aren't worth a dried beeb on Glorx, but the situation might be different on the neighbouring worlds. I wonder how much cash other vangers are prepared to part with in order to avoid being ruBeecated?
2015_12_17_171436.jpg

My guess would be a lot. So hoping, I make my way to Podish.

Raffas have miniscule air supplies. That's why all of them have an in-built device to traverse water without drowning - unless they fall into a whirlpool. I think it was just another way of saying they are shit.
2015_12_17_171540.jpg


Once I approach Podish, an emerging mechos scares me to death, but it's just a fellow raffa loser.
2015_12_17_171609.jpg


Yes. My guess was correct. Rubbox is worth a ton to the right buyer. What a coincidence I have 3 of them! :M
2015_12_17_171721.jpg


Well, two. I am not undergoing the ruBeecation again! But two are still enough to buy ourselves...
2015_12_17_171749.jpg

...a derpmobile!!

A rapid change of mechoses in the last few minutes bumps our Dominance to its limits. We are now officially one of the scariest motherfuckers in the game. To prove this point, I ram the first vehicle I see. It's a racer, too.
2015_12_17_171903.jpg


Thick black smoke is starting to come out of the vehicle. The poor guy turns around and runs for his life, as the cycle changes around us. Hm, I've heard that the ones who do not protect their eLeeches get in trouble with Leepky. I also heard that eLeeches only live for a single cycle. Yeah, good luck with that, pal.
2015_12_17_171944.jpg

I am a dick like that. :cool:

This vehicle... has its benefits. Even though the guns are located too high and can't shoot smaller mechoses or stinkers without a vector, its ramming capabilities are not to be underestimated.
2015_12_17_172248.jpg


A single hit makes a smaller car smoke like a chimney. Two hits would be deadly... but I rarely manage that because it is nigh uncontrollable!
2015_12_17_172308.jpg


The higher the luck, the more trophies you find in the secret stashes. The way we are going, we won't need to buy weapons anymore.
2015_12_17_172344.jpg


The mechoses have different 'defense' values depending on the hit location. The belly and the rear are the least armored parts. If I hit someone from behind, I can cripple them, or even one-shot them.
2015_12_17_172504.jpg

2015_12_17_172517.jpg

Just like that. And pick up some cirt in the process.

Leepky is highly appreciative of us. The only cirt we brought him before was the alien poison.
2015_12_17_172549.jpg

- Gee whiz, fitter! Where did you get that precious cirt? You must have tickled the other vangers to death. Or did you really get to the Eleepods' Larva? All by yourself? As of today, you've brought us 3 portions of tastiest Eleepods' cirt. Keep serving us well, peaceful prospector!
- What a rustler, full of zeal! Looks like you're going to be a famous cirt digger when you discover the worlds where our Larvae live...


Cirt costs money. A good sum. By selling all the stuff we picked up, we now have enough for a DigRig. It should make us a bit less derp-worthy.
2015_12_17_172706.jpg


DigRig allows us to borrow into the hideouts directly, bypassing the original entrance. At this game stage, it's less of an income source and more of an ammo refill.
2015_12_17_172741.jpg


Speaking of one-shotting...
2015_12_17_172833.jpg

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I think Eleepods aren't getting any cirt this cycle. :M
2015_12_17_173725.jpg

2015_12_17_173806.jpg


I empty the cirtainers full of Eleepod cirt and fill them with a Beeboorat one.
2015_12_17_173920.jpg


And I come down to the Incubator for my eLeech.
2015_12_17_174128.jpg


I stuff the mechos full of phlegma. It would make for a nice sauce.
2015_12_17_174142.jpg


And jump back to Glorx.
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With a single fluid motion I jump on the roof of VigBoo and gently fall down.
2015_12_17_190900.jpg

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How about now, comrade Boorawhick? Still think that slaves are only good for shipping shrubs and Valorins?
2015_12_17_174321.jpg

- Vanger! Your push has risen to the rated level. As of today, you've brought us 27 portions of cirt. Continue harvesting!
[eLeech in Inventory]
- To the Buro: At the instruction of the loyal Boorawchick, a pushy vanger quickly delivered an eLeech. This great success was possible due to my wise mentoring. Boorawchick out. Vanger! The Buro will remember your services. Struggle on!
[Phlegma in Inventory]
- Phlegma... It's a plus for you, vanger, that you visit the sapless worlds, but have you completed your solemn duty on Glorx?

Oh, so it's a plus for me now? Whatever happened to 'slaves should stick to Glorx, period'? :cool:

10K beebs in one go. All in a few minutes' work. Not bad, not bad. An eLeech costs only 500 here, but it's the gratitude of the Buro that counts.
2015_12_17_174343.jpg


We seem to have recovered for now. The following mechoses are currently on sale. We can buy any of them. Should we?
2015_12_17_192626.jpg
We have our money and our mechos back, Codex. Well, not exactly. We are now riding the derpmobile. It is strong, but a bit unweildy. And by 'a bit' I mean 'a lot'.

Our finances sit roughly at 37K beebs (16K cash, 19K mechos, 2K cirtainer).
1) Buy an Ancient Demon and pretend that the ruBeecation never happened. (20K beebs)
2) Buy a Feathered Surgeon aka Blade Keeper. It can fit a lot of cirtainers, making it perfect for cirt hunting. (30K beebs)
3) Buy an atTractor. Killing stuff will never be easier. (37K beebs)
4) Give the Iron Wraith a chance. Besides, green color is relaxing as it reminds us of home Fostral.

Next update we are getting promoted to Commissar, one way or the other. How do you want to do it?
1) Why, ship shrubs and Valorins to their destinations, of course. No way we are falling in the same pit twice!
2) Do some tabutasks for the Beeboorats and cement your standing as a pushy and trustworthy vanger. More Luck wouldn't hurt, either. We've been stuck at 48 for a while.
3) Buy as many cirtainers as you can fit in your mechos and start delivering cirt IN BULK.
4) Freeform (specify).

We could've been promoted right this update, but I decided to give you guys a choice.

Tabutasks will provide a moderate amount of money and Luck, assuming we complete them. They should not give us any complex tasks while we are still a slave.

Cirt delivery is going to make you money faster than anything else, but it takes time and not every mechos is suitable for it. Only 2 cirtainers fit in an Ancient Demon, only 3 in an Iron Wraith. The Blade Keeper and the atTractor could both fit 7 and 8 of those, respectively.

Also, you can ask any counselor any question now, since we effectively visited all of them. The llimit is 10 question for each voter. All questions will be answered, so you don't have to pick the same ones. Please specify the counselor you are asking.

Known vocabulary.
mechos - asked Leepky&Feenger
vangers - asked Leepky&Feenger, Oboorez (slave)
raffa - asked Leepky&Feenger
escave - asked Leepky&Feenger (low trust), Oboorez (slave)
bunch - asked Leepky&Feenger
bios - asked Leepky&Feenger
beebs - asked Leepky&Feenger
Clash - asked Leepky&Feenger
Creature Soup - asked Leepky&Feenger
Softie - asked Leepky&Feenger, Oboorez (slave)
Cryspo - asked Leepky&Feenger
Passage - asked Leepky&Feenger, Oboorez (slave)
Spiral - asked Leepky&Feenger, Oboorez (slave)
Departed Bios - asked Leepky&Feenger, Oboorez (slave)

The Chain - asked Leepky&Feenger, Oboorez (slave)
Fostral - asked Leepky&Feenger (low trust), Oboorez (slave)
Glorx - asked Leepky&Feenger, Oboorez (slave)
Necross - asked Leepky&Feenger, Oboorez (slave)
Xplo - asked Leepky&Feenger, Oboorez (slave)
Eleepods - asked Leepky&Feenger
Beeboorats - asked Leepky&Feenger (low trust), Oboorez (slave)
Zeexen - asked Leepky&Feenger, Oboorez (slave)
Leepky - asked Leepky
Feenger
Podish - asked Leepky&Feenger
Incubator - asked Feenger (low trust), Oboorez (slave)
Plump-up - asked Leepky&Feenger
Eleerection - asked Leepky&Feenger
Gulp-down - asked Leepky&Feenger
VigBoo - asked Oboorez (slave)
Lampasso - asked Leepky&Feenger
Ogorod - asked Leepky
Boorawchick - asked Oboorez (slave)
Geer'ah
Oboorez - asked Oboorez (slave)

pod - asked Leepky&Feenger
P-beam - asked Leepky&Feenger
ruBeecation - asked Leepky&Feenger, Oboorez (slave)
The Buro - asked Oboorez (slave)
The Manual - asked Oboorez (slave)
Jablees - asked Oboorez (slave)
Slave - asked Oboorez (slave)
Commissar - asked Oboorez (slave)

eLeech - asked Leepky&Feenger (low trust), Oboorez (slave)
nymbos - asked Leepky&Feenger, Oboorez (slave)
phlegma - asked Leepky&Feenger (low trust), Oboorez (slave)
cirt - asked Leepky&Feenger, Oboorez (slave)
Larvae - asked Leepky&Feenger, Oboorez (slave)
peeperette - asked Leepky&Feenger, Oboorez (slave)
shrub - asked Oboorez (slave)
Valorin
rubbox
 
Last edited:

lightbane

Arcane
Joined
Dec 27, 2008
Messages
10,140
2-2.
Queries:
mechos, bios, Clash, Cryspo, Feenger, Geer'ah, P-beam, Leepky, Lampasso, pod.

Ask the old not-Soviet worm-thing.
 
Last edited:

Nevill

Arcane
Joined
Jun 6, 2009
Messages
11,211
Shadorwun: Hong Kong
mechos, bios, Clash, Cryspo, Feenger, Geer'ah, P-beam, Leepky, Lampasso, pod.
Ah, sorry, I wasn't clear enough. Please specify the counselor you are asking.

Also, added this bit to the opening post.

Current session information:
Tabutasks:
Completed 8 for the Eleepods, 1 failed

Cirt:
Delivered 3 portions to the Eleepods
Delivered 27 portions to the Beeboorats

Broken mechoses:
Queen Frog - Fostral
Wormmaster - Fostral
Lawn Mower - Glorx
Sandrider - Glorx
But won't say why. :M
 
Last edited:

Azira

Arcane
Patron
Joined
Nov 3, 2004
Messages
8,518
Location
Copenhagen, Denmark
Codex 2012
1
2

Q's for Boorawchick;
vangers - asked Leepky&Feenger, Oboorez (slave)
bios - asked Leepky&Feenger
Softie - asked Leepky&Feenger, Oboorez (slave)
Cryspo - asked Leepky&Feenger
Zeexen - asked Leepky&Feenger, Oboorez (slave)
Leepky - asked Leepky
Boorawchick - asked Oboorez (slave)
Geer'ah
P-beam - asked Leepky&Feenger
Commissar - asked Oboorez (slave)
 

PocketMine

Savant
Patron
Joined
Apr 14, 2014
Messages
185
Location
Land of lóve
Serpent in the Staglands Codex USB, 2014 Shadorwun: Hong Kong Divinity: Original Sin 2 BattleTech
2-2

Questions for prosperian dragon Boorawchick:

Feenger,Geer'ah,Valorin,rubbox,The Buro,Softie,Cryspo,Zeexen,Leepky,Commissar
 

Nevill

Arcane
Joined
Jun 6, 2009
Messages
11,211
Shadorwun: Hong Kong
Votes locked.

Sorry, bro, the update was done yesterday. :(

But I can still include your questions.

Beeboorats are deliberately unhelpful when asked about anything not Glorx-related by a slave. If they wanted you to know about other worlds, they would promote you, first.

Anyway, the answers.
Oboorez questions.

- Who or what is mechos, Counselor?
- A shabby old rattletrap in which the vangers live.

- Who or what is bios, Counselor?
- Those from the same bios live together in the same escave. Anyone could tell that you are not from a bios.

- Who or what is the Clash, Counselor?
- That happened a long time ago.

- Who or what is Cryspo, Counselor?
- Silence!

- Who or what is Feenger, Counselor?
- Slave! You shouldn't know anyone called Feenger. No Beeboorat would ever call himself that.

- Who or what is Geer'ah, Counselor?
- You'll see him in Lampasso. The stylish Geer'ah is actually rather spiteful and has become the terror of the Slaves.

- Who or what is P-beam, Counselor?
- What's a P-beam? You must have got into a whirlpool and gotten your brains scrambled. Go take another dive, and maybe this time you'll stay there forever...

- Who or what is Leepky, Counselor?
- Ugh, it's you, crooked tail. Where did you see Leepky? Under the bridge?

- Who or what is Lampasso, Counselor?
- That escave is far from here. Keep going up and you'll get there eventually. The stadiums are where you have to bring the heroes.

- Who or what is pod, Counselor?
- A pod? A 'rotten pod' is the nickname I give to overcurious vangers!

Boorawchick questions.

- Who or what is vangers, Counselor?
- The dregs of the bios. Only the wise Buro could find a use for them, earning even more praise for the Beeboorats.

- Who or what is bios, Counselor?
- You are not tied to any particular bios, so the Buro limits the time you may spend in escaves.

- Who or what is Softie, Counselor?
- Start picking up Valorins immediately!

- Who or what is Cryspo, Counselor?
- Where did you hear about the Cryspo, stupid Slave?

- Who or what is Zeexen, Counselor?
- Contact with the Zeexen leads Slaves to treachery. Forget about them!

- Who or what is Leepky, Counselor?
- Inquiry ignored.

- Who or what is Boorawchick, Counselor?
- I'm Boorawchick. It's thanks to my kindness that you've got the opportunity to work for Beeboorats. Be faithful and obedient. I'm keeping an eye on you!

- Who or what is Geer'ah, Counselor?
- Geer'ah compels observance of and obedience to the Buro's Manual. Don't goof up in front of him. Bring Valorins to Lampasso, and try not to complain.

Would be great to know this a few updates back, chief.

- Who or what is P-beam, Counselor?
- Repeat your question louder. To the Buro: Boorawchick has been provoked. Keeping cool and alert.

- Who or what is Commissar, Counselor?
- Commissar is the next level of your service.

- Who or what is Feenger, Counselor?
- With curiosity like that you'll be hanging around with the castaways in Ogorod pretty soon!

- Who or what is Valorin, Counselor?
- You only need know two things: their source and their destination. You take Valorins from here and deliver them to Lampasso.

- Who or what is rubbox, Counselor?
- The Buro exterminates unregistered vangers. You are lucky and are now registered as a Beeboorat slave. Your Rubbox certifies this. From now on, your every step is recorded and evaluated. Losing your Rubbox will lead to deplorable consequences.

- Who or what is The Buro, Counselor?
- The Buro is concerned about the purpose of your existence. Don't disappoint the Buro.
Ah, well. We are being promoted to Commissar rank soon. That's when you will be given more or less useful information about anything that doesn't constitute a state secret.

Part 14. Climbing up the career ladder.
Alright. We change our mechos to a more comfortable one.
2015_12_18_192933.jpg


It still retains some deadliness. A vanger we meet by accident in mid-jump...
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...explodes violently while we only scratch out paint. Damn, that felt good!
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And the guy dropped a vector! I wonder what he carried it for - the Oxidize Monk doesn't even have a rig slot! But thanks anyway!

Tabutasks only appear in escaves when you bring the resident bios a few of their wares. So we have to bring Oboorez his shrub. But I do not intend to be promoted the boring way!
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- A midge has arrived. Oboorez does a good job keeping an eye on you, midge!
- Unload the shrubs and get back there quickly, Slave. A good slave is a nimble slave!
- No time for blabbing. You're dismissed, doughy meatloaf!


They never allow you in the shop until they officially dismiss you:
- Where are you always hurrying to? Hear me out, maybe I'll make you happy...

Since it's the 'PPS' cycle now, whatever it is, I dig in his escave and find an item hidden there! And it's not rubbox this time. Normally, I would hold a vote whether we should steal it, but it is the very beginning of an update, and I am feeling adventurous. So I grab it and make a dash for the exit!
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Yup, stealing makes you lose Dominance. I guess thieves are not very respected here.

Let's see what is it that we've picked.
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Pip
latest_cb_20120322113840_path_prefix_ru.gif

A clay article shaped like a Jablee seed. Old Oboorez often mistakes it for a real peeperette. But anyone caught for forgery is in big trouble.
Wait. Does it mean we can get in trouble for carrying that? We are not supposed to pick up peeperettes, are we? We'll carry it for now, though. :?

That's a lot of whirlpools in one place. And the area looks funny on the map. Another mystery?
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Underwater combat doesn't look very flashy. You can only see shapes in the water. And any mechos caught in a whirlpool becomes invincible, because whirlpools affect everything - even your projectile weapons - and slow your speed to a crawl if you decide to ram the smartass.
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I do not know if AI vangers need to breathe - I haven't seen them drown - but they prefer not to stay in the whirlpools indefinitely. That's when you can catch them.
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Note a heavily armed mechos in the background. It will become relevant very soon.

I finish my prey in mid-air, like they do in the movies. My ghOrb gear is long out of ammo, and the Speetle system is burning through its last pupok pile. Shooting down vehicles on Glorx is quite tricky. Ramming them is far more time- and resourse-efficient.
2015_12_18_194859.jpg


I pick up its cargo and weapons, and throw the missile launcher away. Even though it deals more damage than ghOrb cannons, it is harder to target, and it is harder to rearm. We don't have big enough bay to fill it full of missiles.
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Looking at the loot, I miss the arrival of a new player, who is rather well- equipped. I'd say, he's too well-equipped to be a casual vanger.
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And it targets me, exclusively. It's the killer! The tales were true! The counselors do take poorly to you picking their escaves clean.

My mechos is compact to the point of being undersized. That works in my favor now, because a heavy missile launcher on the other mechos misses half the time when fired at point blank.
2015_12_18_195118.jpg

However, the sawblade remains a problem. It is much stronger than my puny spikes.

We tumble into the water and I nearly die when I eat two missile salvos in a row. My shields are depleted, and half of my armor is gone.
2015_12_18_195208.jpg


But then I remember my advantage, which is having 50% more speed than this half-truck, and start peppering it with projectiles from behind, using my superior maneuverability to avoid facing it directly. Soon its ammunition starts falling out all over the road.
2015_12_19_102608.jpg


And then it dies in an underwater explosion that looks like a big whirlpool.
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Well, that was mildly dangerous. But we have almost made up for our Dominance penalty now. A few more mechoses...

Ah, there they are. Unlike the killer, they do not put up much of a fight.
2015_12_18_195743.jpg


Seriously, though, when does this cycle change? I am wary of picking up a tabutask when the cycle has been going for a while. It's fine, though, we still need to deliver a single Valorin before the missions become available.
2015_12_18_195902.jpg


At last! I thought the 'PPS' would never end!
2015_12_18_200019.jpg

As an aside, did you notice that northern roads leading to Lampasso never collapse? Yet another sign that it holds a higher status in the Beeboorat hierarchy.

Now we only need to go to Geer'ah and pick up all the missions he has to offer.
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- A Slave arrived. They are all miserable slaves...
- Handle Valorins with care, you clumsy freak!
- I'm getting tired of you, you hunk of metal. Why don't you just get out?


He also does not let us do anything unless he is done spouting his nonsense.
- You are bold all right. Geer'ah is broadcasting: halt and listen!

And so we buy our first Beeboorat tabutasks.
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Stylish Geer'ah has heard from Agents about some whirlpools
on Glorx. You must check out this information thoroughly
and dive into a whirlpool. The enemies of Glorx may be hiding there.
Reward: 1500 Luck: 1 Cycles: 0


Stylish Geer'ah has come up with a new competition for the Heroes.
To organize it we need you to deliver 20 fresh beebs
before the end of the cycle.
Reward: 3000 Luck: 3 Cycles: 0


This should be easy. Beebs and whirlpools are two things that are plentiful on Glorx. Though for a smaller mechos diving into a whirlpool may prove fatal if done wrong. The secret is that you can only skim the very surface of the whirlpool to complete the quest, rather than submerge fully.
2015_12_18_200320.jpg


Anyway, this is too primitive for our tastes. Won't be enough to make us busy for the full cycle. That's why we will go to VigBoo to buy more tabutasks.
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There is a new item available at their shop! Something that is called a conlarver.
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A product of the Departed Bios which allowed them to take control over their Larvae and shut themselves up. It’s both a trap and a container for a Larva.How it works is unknown. Supposedly it’s based on knowledge of the metabolism of the Cryspo colony, which has been lost.

So you can catch Larvae! That should make a bios very happy. I wonder why no one didn't already. :|

Nevermind that. We are here for the tabutasks.
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Boorawchick wants to see how nimble the subordinates of the Buro are.
Smash 15 beebs before the end of the cycle!
Reward: 1800 Luck: 2 Cycles: 0

Boorawchick needs five glowing beebs
to make parade medals
for the upcoming Buro assembly.
Reward: 2000 Luck: 3 Cycles: 1


Still too easy! It helps that the tasks to smash 15 beebs for VigBoo and 20 for Lampasso are not additive. You squash 20, you finish both of them. So it's essentially money for nothing.

Moar! We need MOAR! Wait, what do you mean, 'Tabutask Failed'?

Apparently, while we were busy buying tabutasks, the cycle has ended. But it has only just begun about two minutes ago! How could this happen!? A glitch in the matrix? Or is it another mystery? Either way, two of my active tabutasks are failed, and the last remaining - the one for glowing beebs - is made significantly trickier due to time constrains.
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Well, there is nothing we can do about that other than note this strange occurence (could it be connected with our actions as of late?), and buy one more tabutask for the road.
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Buzzing insects hamper the work
of the scheduled sessions of the Buro.
Repel ten swarms so that they stop interfering
with the process of making important decisions.
Reward: 1400 Luck: 3 Cycles: 0


Oh, joy. This again.

Hunting glowing beebs isn't too hard, but it's a bit tedious due to how rare they are, and to how much of the Glorx surface is covered with water that doesn't let you see whether a beeb is glowing or not. Also, beebs have these chameleon colors that make them hard to spot. The best place to hunt them is a patch of land with a structure that makes their natural camouflage meaningless.
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Stay long enough, and a Royal beeb will eventually crawl up the surface. Generally, it's 1 glowing beeb per beeb swarm. Once a beeb swarm disperces or is exterminated, you have to look elsewhere.
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At least hunting insect swarms is easier on Glorx due to all of the 'roads' being on a high ground. You don't have to aim that hard, and if you misstep a little, you will land before you are eaten alive.
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Back to beeb hunt. Another swarm emerged near ghOrb station. There are at least 7 beebs crawling on the picture below, but you'd have to strain your eyes pretty hard to notice them because their colors fit the landscape so perfectly.
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If you are wondering why I am carrying a shrub, I have just killed a raffa heading towards Ogorod.

Soon, another glowing beeb shows up and is exterminated. I am beginning to inderstand why they give you 2 cycles to do this task.
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Swarm hunt is easy in comparison.
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Another good place to stalk beebs is the Spiral Station. Poor guys can't adapt the color of their hides to its pulse fast enough.
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It would be damn boring waiting for the beebs if not for the passing vangers. Glorx is bustling with activity, and there is a lot of suitable targets.
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Finally!
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And not a moment too soon. The cycle ends in a few seconds.
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We broke the 50 Luck threshold!

Let's see if they have any more tasks for us.
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Oh shit. I didn't notice picking any up.

[Peeperette in Inventory (Slave)]
- Slave! Everything you do is completely controlled by the Beeboorats. You are not allowed to collect or ship peeperettes.
- A repeat offense will be punished by confiscation of your mechos. Return the peeperettes immediately!


Fine! They don't have any more missions for us anyway. Only Ogorod is left now. On the way there, we are shot at by some butthurt wheeler we didn't finish off before. Your rivals in this game sure have a good memory for past grievances... and seeing how this here is a Beeboorat vanger, the only way of solving this conundrum satisfactorily is to kill him for good.
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The best place for solving disputes is the ghOrb station. You never run out of ammo there, and the repair station is around the corner. Not that enemy vangers get to escape to make use of it.
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Hello, old fella. Do you have a quest for us?
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[Cirt in Inventory]
- Oh, soldier, you brought cirt! What a brave guy! At last something came of a dummy meatloaf on wheels. Now you know why the Buro put so much effort into your upbringing. Go to Boorawchick and report on the mission.
- Wait, soldier... My peeperettes started fading somehow, even though I recently watered them. You know, my vegetation is sensitive, it needs a good environment. But something is definitely wrong here...


Oh, right, I forgot. Must have picked up cirt from an Eleepod vanger. It appears you can check cirt quality if you bring it to the counselors of the secondary escaves. They have no way of evaluating it directly, but they will feel weird in the vicinity of the alien cirt, even if it's hermetically sealed. This serves as a warning if you ever forget what you are carrying.

Looking at the shop, and what do I see? Why, it's my old mechos! I know this for sure because this escave DOESN'T SELL mechoses. The geezer lied to me about a thief and appropriated all my property instead, the sneaky bastard!! :argh:
2015_12_18_203602.jpg

That happens because the game doesn't have a mechanics to simulate vangers stealing from each other, only the confiscation mechanics. Probably to keep the player from losing game-critical items, so that they could buy them back at the shop at a later date.

And here is where we encounter our first bug!
See? Somehow, we have lost all the cargo!
2015_12_18_203228.jpg

And the cycle has changed! What the hell!?

However, later I have discovered that this isn't a bug, or at least it is not entirely a bug.

Remember the description of the pip item we've 'borrowed'? Yeah, it's a fake peeperette, and the following exchange occurs whenever it is discovered:
[Fake Peeperette found]
- Wait, that's a sham! This old chap knows his peeperettes, fella, seeing as how he's seen so many of them. You haven't even seen that many beebs. These fake peeperettes, according to information from the Buro, are produced by the Zeexen to shake the Beeboorat economy. I'll strip you of all your plunder for this forgery!

This is checked every time you enter Ogorod, making the item somewhat dangerous to carry. So this part is working as intended, at least. What may not be working as intended is that the check also happens upon leaving the shop, thus multiplying your chances to get robbed in a single visit. Naturally, I have never spoken to the counselor after shopping - because he does not allow me to enter the shop until he has nothing more to say in the first place! - so I didn't figure out what was causing it.

I've been dismissing this as a bug and praying for the Infernal guidance each time it happened so far, but it is a legitimate game mechanics. As long as we have pip, visiting Oboorez is a risk to us.

Now that I have learned why it happens (after finishing the update and looking at the game files), I will no longer dodge the negative consequences of being caught. You will have to make your own decision about that.
Back to business.
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Shipping peeperettes is a delicate task. The main thing is to avoid bruising
or spilling them. For research, Oboorez is assigning you to reach
Lampasso without taking any damage.
Reward: 1000 Luck: 5 Cycles: 0


A fairly simple task. Glorx layout makes it easier to avoid other vangers, and even if it didn't...
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...other vangers, especially those from Fostral, have absolutely no desire to cross someone with 100 Dominance. Look at the Monk's trajectory change. He wants out.

Normally, falling from the road in front of a Beeboorat vanger would provoke them into attacking you, thus failing the mission.
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Fostral vangers just say NOPE! and jump far, far away from you, abandoning whatever it was they were doing. :cool:

So reaching Lampasso without an accident is just a matter of time.
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O-ho! Looks like out pushy-ness is paying off! The old-timer loosened his tongue!
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- I see your diligence, fitter! But on a crate like yours you won't do much. I've seen a lot of mechos and I can share something with you.
-
Rattle was once taken out of Queen Frog. I did that personally. There were instructions from the Buro on scrap utilization...

More tabutasks for the tabutask god!!
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Oboorez has some suspicions about the source of fake peeperettes:
the Eleepods plant them in various hidden places
to corrupt our Commissars. Check out four underwater hideouts
before the end of the cycle.
Reward: 500 Luck: 2 Cycles: 0

Didn't you just tell me that fake peeperettes are made by Zeexen? Which one is it, you old sclerotic?

The ever-present beebs have nibbled away some shrubs and Oboorez overlooked it
because of his poor vision. To fulfill the plan,
the counselor urgently needs 12 shrubs.
Reward: 1000 Luck: 5 Cycles: 0


First one is relatively simple. We have established that 'swirly' whirlpools are entrances to the hideouts on Glorx.
2015_12_18_204928.jpg


Other vangers visit them too from time to time. Here we both juped in the same whirlpool. On Fostral, it would be reason enough for a fight. On Glorx, though, everything is a reason for a fight.
2015_12_18_205036.jpg

But I don't have time for that, having two mission to complete in the current cycle. Hope it doesn't end as abruptly as the prevous one did.

Boorawchik greets us a bit more friendly than usual. This immediately makes me suspicious. What now, bud?
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- To the Buro: Slave of advanced utility arrived. Data from other escaves verified. Starting registration.
- Slave! You have been carefully following the regulations of the Buro and we are adding a new label to your Rubbox. You are now a Commissar.
- Commissar! Your task is to participate in the
Nuclear War and PeepShow and win. You'll get detailed instructions at the appropriate places from Geer'ah and Oboorez. Execute the order!
- To the Buro: One Slave removed and one Commissar inserted into the heap by Boorawchick.


I serve my Beeboorat overlords!! :salute:

For shrub delivery we need something with a big cargo bay. Yes, this will do nicely.
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Sorry, bros, but this is a matter of money and prestige, so this decision is on me. Its bay can fit 9 shrubs, while ours can only take 6.

I get into a scuffle near the entrance, and have to use my DigRig to get out, damaging the exterior in the process. Man, I hope the doors will still work after that.
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My internal voice is nagging me about words that I do not understand. Though getting to Necross sounds nice.
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This mechos is not bad, but it's a bit too wide for its good. The protractions at its sides make it more difficult to ram, but they also make it stuck in narrow passages.

To finish our current quest I set out to search for whirlpools, but I find something more peculiar...
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It looks like a patch of land, but if you click on it...
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...it becomes a rock!

Why would one want to create rocks? :?

Wait, didn't I see these kinds of rocks before? I always thought them a part of the scenery...

It takes me a while to realize the horrible truth. It's not like clicking on the dry ground 'creates' a rock. It's the opposite! A rock parts on command, revealing a special hideout inside! I just never noticed before, because... I guess, because I was unlucky? :M

These rocks are secret stashes, probably containing some high-level equipment - why would they be hidden so thoroughly otherwise. We are looking at the LOOTED one. Other vangers got to it FIRST! Very distressing.

We complete our task, and head to Ogorod to hand Oboorez all the shrubs.
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We find it stuck in a semi-open state. The condition of the southern Glorx continues to deteriorate at a rapid pace, it seems.
2015_12_19_001058.jpg


And we are back to where we started, except with Luck hitting 60, and 20K more beebs to our name. And a shiny new badge! Feels great to be appreciated for a change.
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- Commissar, do you see Oboorez, your mentor? Salute!
- Turning a beeb on shrubs, Commissar? Well, the Manual doesn't forbid that, but peeperettes are more important for you!
- No time for blabbing. You're dismissed, doughy meatloaf!


Well, we find ourselves at a crossroads yet again. Somehow, it's our job to participate in some Nuclear War and PeepShow... but what are those? Participating in a Nuclear War sounds like an especially painful proposition...
Time to choose, Codex. What would be our next step?
1) The inner voice might have a point. Find out what a Nuclear War is, and take part in it. Rushing headfirst into the unknown is the way of the vangers!
2) Let's start with something we at least have a clue about. Find out what a PeepShow is, and take part in it. Somehow we suspect it to be connected to peeperettes and that strange pip item we have stolen.
3) The inner voice also told us to ship shrubs and Valorins, but we found a better way! Forget about these stupid made-up words for the moment, and continue doing tabutasks.
4) Money rule the world. Cirt makes money. Cirt makes the Buro happy. A happy Buro is a kind Buro. Ship Beeboorat cirt until they promote you, while making a lot of beebs in the process.
5) Our Fostral heritage will not be denied! Check out all of the potential secret locations before the slyer vangers loot the rest of them!
6) Freeform (specify).

Since I changed a mechos without consulting you guys, I guess I will make this choice available again:

Our current mechos is good for shipping wares, but a bit weak in the armor department, and a bit too wide. Do we change it to something else?
1) Yes, back to the Ancient Demon. Even if there is none on sale in VigBoo, Oboorez has our former vehicle parked in Ogorod.
2) Nah, leave it. If the driver is competent, one mechos is just as good as the other.
3) Yes, but we want a different mechos (specify).

By now you've seen most of them, except for the heavy trucks, which we don't have enough beebs for yet. The best are:
Oxidize Monk - starting mechos. Very agile, good handling. No rig slot. Fragile.
Needle - another starting mechos that is a direct upgrade over Monk. Boasts a bigger cargo bay and somewhat average armor.
Blurry Dot - a middle of the way between a starting mechos and a decent one. A very fast racer. Has extremely good shields for a small car, but is still fragile.
Ancient demon - has good shields and exceptional armor, but small-ish weapon slots, and a small cargo bay. Extremely good handling.
Iron Wraith - good stats, but low shields regen and handles very roughly. Medium cargo bay. Second in speed only to Blurry Dot.
Excorps - our current mechos. Nice stats, although a bit low on armor, and a wide cargo bay (up to 5 cirtainers). Unfit for narrow paths. Good speed, though.
atTractor - a killer mechos. Heavy weapons, heavy armor, heavy shields, a big cargo bay (up to 7 cirtainers). Slower than a truck, which is saying something.
Feathered Surgeon - we haven't tried it yet, but it is somewhat similar to Excorps. Has an even larger bay (up to 7 cirtainers), and should handle a bit better, but it has its own quirks.
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When it comes to our mechos in Ogorod, I'll note that one might appreciate the ability to buy a mechos in an escave where they normally wouldn't be able to. The cases when you might need this are very rare, though.

We have an item belonging to a counselor in our cargo bay. It's both worthless (costs 1 beeb, no matter the escave) and dangerous to own - if it is discovered and recognized as a forgery, Oboorez will strip us of our possessions. However, it may have a use if he mistakes it for a peeperette (or several). Do we keep it and try to trick the old half-blind fool?
1) Yes, we should try and make it useful. We didn't nearly get killed for this stupid trinket only to wimp out at the last moment!
2) No, it's too risky. Just throw it into the water and hope it drowns.

Known vocabulary.
mechos - asked Leepky&Feenger, Oboorez (slave, commissar)
vangers - asked Leepky&Feenger, Oboorez (slave), Boorawchick (slave, commissar)
raffa - asked Leepky&Feenger
escave - asked Leepky&Feenger (low trust), Oboorez (slave)
bunch - asked Leepky&Feenger
bios - asked Leepky&Feenger, Oboorez (slave, commissar), Boorawchick (slave, commissar)
beebs - asked Leepky&Feenger
Clash - asked Leepky&Feenger, Oboorez (slave, commissar)
Creature Soup - asked Leepky&Feenger
Softie - asked Leepky&Feenger, Oboorez (slave), Boorawchick (slave, commissar)
Cryspo - asked Leepky&Feenger, Oboorez (slave, commissar), Boorawchick (slave, commissar)
Passage - asked Leepky&Feenger, Oboorez (slave)
Spiral - asked Leepky&Feenger, Oboorez (slave)
Departed Bios - asked Leepky&Feenger, Oboorez (slave)

The Chain - asked Leepky&Feenger, Oboorez (slave, commissar)
Fostral - asked Leepky&Feenger (low trust), Oboorez (slave)
Glorx - asked Leepky&Feenger, Oboorez (slave)
Necross - asked Leepky&Feenger, Oboorez (slave)
Xplo - asked Leepky&Feenger, Oboorez (slave, commissar)
Eleepods - asked Leepky&Feenger
Beeboorats - asked Leepky&Feenger (low trust), Oboorez (slave)
Zeexen - asked Leepky&Feenger, Oboorez (slave), Boorawchick (slave, commissar)
Leepky - asked Leepky, Oboorez (slave, commissar), Boorawchick (slave, commissar)
Feenger - asked Oboorez (slave, commissar), Boorawchick (slave, commissar)
Podish - asked Leepky&Feenger
Incubator - asked Feenger (low trust), Oboorez (slave)
Plump-up - asked Leepky&Feenger
Eleerection - asked Leepky&Feenger
Gulp-down - asked Leepky&Feenger
Boorawchick - asked Oboorez (slave), Boorawchick (slave, commissar)
Geer'ah - asked Oboorez (slave, commissar), Boorawchick (slave, commissar)
Oboorez - asked Oboorez (slave, commissar)
VigBoo - asked Oboorez (slave)
Lampasso - asked Leepky&Feenger, Oboorez (slave, commissar)
Ogorod - asked Leepky
Progress
Election of Castaways


pod - asked Leepky&Feenger, Oboorez (slave, commissar)
P-beam - asked Leepky&Feenger, Oboorez (slave, commissar), Boorawchick (slave)
ruBeecation - asked Leepky&Feenger, Oboorez (slave, commissar)
The Buro - asked Oboorez (slave), Boorawchick (slave, commissar)
The Manual - asked Oboorez (slave)
Jablees - asked Oboorez (slave)
Slave - asked Oboorez (slave)
Commissar - asked Oboorez (slave), Boorawchick (slave)
Agent - asked Oboorez (commissar)
Nuclear War - asked Oboorez (commissar)
PeepShow - asked Oboorez (commissar)
castaway - asked Oboorez (commissar)

eLeech - asked Leepky&Feenger (low trust), Oboorez (slave)
nymbos - asked Leepky&Feenger, Oboorez (slave)
phlegma - asked Leepky&Feenger (low trust), Oboorez (slave)
cirt - asked Leepky&Feenger, Oboorez (slave)
Larvae - asked Leepky&Feenger, Oboorez (slave)
peeperette - asked Leepky&Feenger, Oboorez (slave)
nucleoboom
shrub - asked Oboorez (slave, commissar)
Valorin - asked Boorawchick (slave, commissar)
rubbox - asked Boorawchick (slave, commissar)
As per the new system, each voter gets 10 questions.

Updated session information:
Tabutasks:
Completed 6 for the Beeboorats, 2 failed

Rattle was once taken out of Queen Frog.
 
Last edited:

Nevill

Arcane
Joined
Jun 6, 2009
Messages
11,211
Shadorwun: Hong Kong
And because I am a kind soul, I will add the answers to the questions asked in this update as if we asked them while being a Commissar.

Oboorez questions.

- Who or what is mechos, Counselor?
- Beeboorats don't need mechoses. We keep vangers for that.

- Who or what is bios, Counselor?
- Well, Beeboorats, for example. And those from Fostral - they might be blunder-headed, but they are bios.

- Who or what is the Clash, Counselor?
- It seems to be related to the Cryspo.

- Who or what is Cryspo, Counselor?
- The Cryspo were first, then the other bios followed.

- Who or what is Feenger, Counselor?
- Stop asking me stupid questions.

He probably doesn't know. :M

- Who or what is Geer'ah, Counselor?
- Geer'ah holds competitions where heroes perform their exploits. He can be made happy with Nucleobooms, which he even keeps with him in his hole.

Should we dig there? :?

- Who or what is P-beam, Counselor?
- Keep your voice down, you pathetic broken pot! The Buro is making every effort to resist P-beam.

- Who or what is Leepky, Counselor?
- Ask the Buro about Leepky if you aren't too scared. He is the worst of the Eleepods.

- Who or what is Lampasso, Counselor?
- The stylish Geer'ah sits in Lampasso. Bring some Nucleobooms over there and you'll be rewarded.

- Who or what is pod, Counselor?
- Boorawchick cannot stand the pods. I think they give him heartburn.

Boorawchick questions.

- Who or what is vangers, Counselor?
- Most vangers vegetate on their worlds. Only the best become Agents and deliver cirt.

- Who or what is bios, Counselor?
- All bios obey Larvae, and the best bios is Beeboorats. They obey Larvae and the Buro. Therefore the others are insignificant.

- Who or what is Softie, Counselor?
- According to our information from the Zeexen, the Softie are somehow connected to Fostral.

Fostral was the first world in the Chain after their original world, according to the Eleepod tales. So it's not all fiction, eh?

- Who or what is Cryspo, Counselor?
- The Cryspo once ruled the whole Chain of Worlds.

- Who or what is Zeexen, Counselor?
- Inhabitants of Necross, wannabe fliers, with evil tongues and no morals. A headache for the Buro.

- Who or what is Leepky, Counselor?
- The main enemy of Glorx. You'd better gain some experience before asking about him.

- Who or what is Boorawchick, Counselor?
- The Buro tells you its decisions through Boorawchick. Hey, don't dig in my burrow! To the Buro: I request the cracks in my office be plastered, for my security.

...should we, Codex? :M:?

- Who or what is Geer'ah, Counselor?
- The officer in charge of sports events, a post of great responsibility. He resides in Lampasso.

- Who or what is P-beam, Counselor?
- The shadow of the Eleepods' plot. Alas, Commissar, we are all in danger.

- Who or what is Commissar, Counselor?
- Commissars take part in PeepShow and Nuclear War.

- Who or what is Feenger, Counselor?
- A piece of Leepky.

- Who or what is Valorin, Counselor?
- The chosen one. His feats establish the Beeboorats' glory among all the weaker bios.

- Who or what is rubbox, Counselor?
- Your Rubbox tells me whether to degrade you or whether to promote you to Agent. Your Rubbox is you. No Rubbox, no you.

- Who or what is The Buro, Counselor?
- The Buro is the power and wisdom of the Beeboorats and the godfather of worthless vangers.
While Eleepods love drowning you in plot exposition, you have to actively coax answers out of Beeboorats in order to progress.
 
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Nevill

Arcane
Joined
Jun 6, 2009
Messages
11,211
Shadorwun: Hong Kong
Weapons in Vangers.

Weapons come in 4 sizes in Vangers - small, medium, large and huge.
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They can also be easily sorted by types into a light and medium/heavy versions.

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MacHOTine “Mincelot” Gun
A mighty quick-firing machine gun. It was the weapon of the Softie troops during the final stages of Exploration. Equipped with an on-board ammunition maker which shapes bullets ‘on the fly’ from plain soil or dust through special chemical processing and subsequent squeezing in the burner under high pressure. The energy from this squeezing also gives the bullet a significant kinetic impulse. The catalytic reaction consumes considerable amounts of water, requiring periodic refueling from any available source on the surface of the worlds.

Light/Medium version
Damage: 5/10
Ammo capacity: 50/100
Shot per second: 3/3
Projectile velocity: 30/40
Slots: Small/Large

The weakest weapon in the game. Can't take advantage of a Vector rig system. Usable only for shooting down stinkers and tabutask missions that do not require killing.
Recharges when a mechos is exposed to water.

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“Salamander” ghOrb Gear
One of the last inventions of the Infinite Mind, who disappeared after the Clash. It was used against crowds of Cryspo. Generates quasi-stable plasmoids possessing significant destructive power. Powered by a special on-board energy supply which requires recharging. Stationary autonomous Ghorb power stations were installed everywhere at the time of the Clash, and some remain up and running in the present.

Light/Heavy version
Damage: 13/26
Ammo capacity: 50/100
Shot per second: 2/2
Projectile velocity: 20/20
Slots: Small/Huge

A heavy version is essentially a double-barreled light one.
Can be recharged at ghOrb stations, or at Broken ones with a certain probability.

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Speettle “True Tracer” System
A Softie mobile rocket launcher for combat in large open areas. Uses regular or guided missiles with plasticular charge. Plasticular material is characterized by very high molecular activity and is effectively reactive with virtually any hard substance, destroying it completely. The supply of plasticular is limited, and this material is relatively expensive, but it has a high destructive power.

Light/Heavy version
Damage: 30/60
Ammo capacity: 5/10
Shot per second: 1/1
Projectile velocity: 25/35
Slots: Medium/Huge

Deals a lot of damage, but requires ammo which you have to pay money for. Good thing that you can load your mechos up to the roof with those.
Uses two types of ammo, one of which is guided, and the other is not. Both of them deal the same damage and contain 5 missiles.
I think the heavy version eats through ammo at an increased rate.

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Pupok Pack
A pack of projectiles for the Speettle system. Carries plasticular charge, characterized by very high molecular activity and effectively reactive with virtually any hard substance, destroying it completely.

OkoroK Pack
A pack of guided missiles for the Speettle system, equipped with a targeting system capable of recognizing complex ordered patterns for effective target tracking. Carries plasticular warheads.

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“Sos-Calibre” Beebbanoza Blockade
An invention of the Departed Bios, who assembled it from parts of the various machines that survived after the Clash. The main component used for ammunition is beebs, primitive insects which live on the surfaces of the worlds and serve as a medium of exchange for all bunches. The beebs contain many unique chemically active substances, which allow them to be used as thermal bombs after special high-temperature processing. Then, when they are thrown with force, they explode on hitting the target.

Damage: 5
Ammo capacity: N/A
Shot per second: 5
Projectile velocity: 10
Slots: Large

A strange weapon. It shoots beebs, actively making you poorer. It shoots backwards. It doesn't deal much damage, but it throws the pursuit off very well. It can enable you to fly if you hit yourself with it. More of a curiosity than a weapon.

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“Sledgehammer” Crustest Cannon
A construction mechanism of the Softie used for eliminating geological barriers, it was later adapted for combat. Possesses great destructive capacity that no mechos can survive. Requires external supply of bombs, the secret of whose production was lost long ago.

Damage: 200
Ammo capacity: 5
Shot per second: 0.25
Projectile velocity: 10
Slots: Huge

Another curiosity weapon. Its shots are very slow and unaffected by a Vector system. It can one-shot a lot of things, but it can't hit anything. Probably good for hunting down trucks, though - those are hard to miss.
Ammo cost ~1K beebs per pack. There are 5 ammo in the pack. It's expensive.

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“Wormier” Terminator
A variant of Cryspo combat insect-mechanisms that follow an aquired target underground after their irrevocable activation. Requires no additional devices; completely autonomous.

Damage: 10
Ammo capacity: 5
Shot per second: 1
Projectile velocity: 5
Slots: Special

“Wasp” Terminator
Carries a colony of small insect-mechanisms. After activation, the colony swarms in the air and attacks any object trying to take off. Requires no additional devices; completely autonomous.

Damage: 15
Ammo capacity: 3
Shot per second: 1
Projectile velocity: 5
Slots: Special

These are special 'helper' weapons that can get vangers in rough terrain and in the air. They go in a separate slot. Their usefulness is limited, though, as they don't deal a lot of damage.
 

Nevill

Arcane
Joined
Jun 6, 2009
Messages
11,211
Shadorwun: Hong Kong
Q's for Oboorez:
Agent
Nuclear War
PeepShow
castaway
Rattle
ruBeecation
shrub
The Chain
Xplo
Oboorez
Oboorez answers:
- Who or what is Agent, Counselor?
- Shrewd Commissars can get promoted to Agents. Agents visit various worlds and see a lot of things, then they report everything to the Buro.

- Who or what is Nuclear War, Counselor?
- It's similar to PeepShow, but you have to pick up Nucleobooms. Ask the stylish Geer'ah. He's the expert at these things.

- Who or what is PeepShow, Counselor?
- I am kind of responsible for PeepShow. When the Election of Castaways comes, the Jablees start pouring peeperettes out on Glorx. The Commissars are supposed to collect them. I receive and register them according to protocol. The one who brings the most wins the PeepShow. Remember, though, we have to be done with this before Progress begins.

- Who or what is castaway, Counselor?
- I am sick and tired of them. The Buro has never sent so many castaways before. They say VigBoo is crammed with castaways - they can hardly cope with throwing them out.

- Who or what is ruBeecation, Counselor?
- ruBeecation is a punishment for a Commissar but good luck for a Slave.

- Who or what is shrub, Counselor?
We call our packed castaways shrubs. They are packed in order to keep them out of any mischief. Then I can handle them. You just keep bringing peeperettes here!

- Who or what is The Chain, Counselor?
- This is what Glorx and a few other worlds have always been called.

- Who or what is Xplo, Counselor?
- You can get to Xplo from Glorx. But you'd better ask the Buro not to send you there.

- Who or what is Oboorez, Counselor?
I, Oboorez, have seen a lot, and have been commended by the Buro.
Vocabulary updated: Nucleobooms, Election of Castaways, Progress
 
Last edited:

Nevill

Arcane
Joined
Jun 6, 2009
Messages
11,211
Shadorwun: Hong Kong
Yeah, sorry. Just like the names of mechoses (Queen Frog and the rest of them), Rattle is vanger business, not counselors'.
 
Last edited:

PocketMine

Savant
Patron
Joined
Apr 14, 2014
Messages
185
Location
Land of lóve
Serpent in the Staglands Codex USB, 2014 Shadorwun: Hong Kong Divinity: Original Sin 2 BattleTech
All weapons seem to be weak, inacurate or too expensive to be anything but complementary weapons to raming attacks except fast raffas you cant catch.

2
3, AtTractor
2
 

Nevill

Arcane
Joined
Jun 6, 2009
Messages
11,211
Shadorwun: Hong Kong
Ok. Votes locked. The mechos will be decided via a die roll.

Actions:
1. Learn about PeepShow and take part in it.
2. Throw the pip away. It was a mistake to steal it.

:hmmm:

Two votes. Was the game too much for the Codex? I better get to Necross soon. :M
We could have had the key to Necross the very next update, but you guys are choosing the long road of proper game progression.

Which mechos will be our ride for the next chapter?
1. atTractor
2. Excorps
 

PocketMine

Savant
Patron
Joined
Apr 14, 2014
Messages
185
Location
Land of lóve
Serpent in the Staglands Codex USB, 2014 Shadorwun: Hong Kong Divinity: Original Sin 2 BattleTech
No need to rush to Necross imho. Glorx is much better map to look at then green on green blobs of Forstal. Also no idea what stolen pip does ingame i guessed keeping it leads to loosing all your beebs and mechos again.

Playground is in hybernation mode right now. wouldnt expect fast votes before new year.
 

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