[Jean] Chapter 16: The Ramparts

[pringerbeam]

     "Well if you want to keep you name we can do that too.  I guess we can just call you 31 for short."  Said Jean, still laying flat on the floor.  "What did we need to do get you DP again?  I think Marina told me before.  Would be nice to get some furniture in here.  Make it more cozy."

     Jean stuck his arms behind his neck to prop his head up.  "Anyways, since we have the whole party here, we need to talk about the perils of traveling with me.  This is probably less important for 31 since she's currently confined to the master room until we can get her some DP.  For one, I'm not actually a hero like the others.  I wasn't sent here by any of the goddesses.  I was sent here by something else and I believe this makes me a potential target of any of the other heroes should they learn of my nature.  The fact that the dryads attacked without provocation might mean that the secret is already out so we need to take as many precautions as possible to stay safe.  That means our counter assassination scheme is going to have to be adhered to as closely as possible...  And I do mean close."  He said sitting back up.  "This coupled with the growth of our ranks means you girls are going to need to get cozy with each other...  So make friends and figure out who spoons who.  Oh right, Lili I guess you probably did not expect this with you and me being soon to be married and all but we have to sleep together.  And by that I mean we..."  He gestured around the circle.  "All sleep together.  This is just in case something tries to attack us in our sleep so that we can all be at each other's defense as soon as possible.  I guess this also means we are moving into your room when we get the chance."

     "Moving on to more heroic business, we need to figure out how to get the Ramparts out of the mountain and into the sky.  Lili, are your people able to not only dig the ship out of its current resting place but dig  a tunnel to the surface?  I'm not sure how close to the surface the Ramparts are already but I'm guessing it's quite the distance."  Jean pulled the manual out of his inventory, absentmindedly flipping the pages as he thought.  "I doubt the project can be completed that quickly and that is time that I don't really want to spend down here.  There are too many things we need to find out before the demon's forces encroach on these lands...  They are already too close to mount Velothia as is.  We need to find the other wind temples and see if they have records of the other component ships of the Thamylon Legend, or at least their original locations.  Then of course we need to reclaim the academy...  That may have to wait for the Ramparts to be fully functional but it might be best to keep the Ramparts here to prevent an overrun from teh demons to the north of here..."  He closed the manual and tapped its spine on his chin.  "What kind of timeline do you think our wedding will be on Lili?"

[Throndir]

"Well...! There's lots of ways to earn more DP. Let's see... The first way is that I get some DP per hour each time someone is in my territory. Soooooo, that means I need to have territory in the first place, but I don't right now. The second way is that I can get DP anytime someone dies while in my territory. The third way is I can absorb a person's corpse. The last way is converting magical things, or expensive things into DP!"

As 31 described it, the others listened with interest. Telamon was eyeing 31 carefully as she spoke.

When you described being wary of other heroes, the others listened intently, and when you got to talking about sleeping together, though the others already knew that, it was Lili who seemed to flush a bit, and glance around at each of the other girls, wondering why they weren't as uncomfortable as they should.

"We kin excavate it... An entire section of th' building on top o' it was protected from th' elements, n' th' priests who wur in charge ensured no one had a chance to properly excavate the whole of it. As fer digging a whole large enough fer th' Ramparts... That'd take much longer. A week to tae excavate the Ramparts properly. Perhaps a month to make a tunnel fer it to th' surface."

"If we can feed enough ether liquid into the Ramparts, we could simply blast our way to the top too. Though... I still have to see what quality of crystals you have here, and then refining it is another step altogether that we'll have to see if you have the equipment for. I can attempt to build required pieces with the actualization module, but that would take an ether liquid supply, mana supply too, or raw materials. Probably all three."

At this Lili nodded. "We 'ave these 'ether crystals' ye' wanted. A lot o' th' higher quality ones are already bein' used fer our machines, or factories... Perhaps later, I kin bring ye' to our engineers in one o' our orichalcum and mithril processing forges, and show us what needs tae be done."

Telamon sighed. "The doc didn't expect the Ramparts to go dormant for this long, processing ether crystals into liquid tends to be a long process." She turns towards you. "This could take a few weeks for the ether refining alone. The other method is pumping the system full of raw mana, rather than relying on the conduit that is ether. But that would be inefficient."

[pringerbeam]

     "Raw mana...  Like this master room crystal?  Could I improve the Rampart's energy stores with my own power?"  Jean stood.  "We should probably move our meeting to the Ramparts if we are going to continue down this line of inquiry.  Other than Telamon none of us really know the ship that well.  I need to get an understanding of the Ramparts and a chance to study the ship and its manual.  31, if you could make us an exit?  Oh and if you can let Marina know that everything is alright and that when I get the chance I'll return to the mountain to drop off Karn's supplies and pick up Anja and Gust, whenever the weather and time permits."  Jean stepped through the portal once it appeared and after everyone else had exited, he left the room.  As he made his way for the exit, he stopped one of the passing servants.  "What time is the feast planned for?  Oh and if you could tell the king that Lili passed her interview when you get the chance?"

     Making his way out of the palace, Jean headed for the elevators down to the ruins.  Once they got on he resumed where they had left off.  "I don't know if it would be a good idea to fire the Rampart's weapons to get it free.  Such a careless obliteration of a large enough tunnel in the mountain would risk a collapse of the caverns.  Even if the Ramparts are able to escape in time, I'm not sure the city would fare so well.  Besides, if it is going to take weeks to refine enough fuel for the ship, the normal excavation process would likely get to the surface by the time we are fueled up.  Though...  This begs the question of how long the standard operating time  before refueling is needed for the Ramparts.  I'm sure the only reason it still has power now is from the fact that it has just been lying dormant these years.  How long could it fly if properly fueled?  How long could it fight?  It sounds like the Thamylon Legend was intended to be pretty self sufficient but what about its individual components?"

[Throndir]

The servant nodded when you gave him the instructions. His accent was thick, much the same as plenty of the other dwarves who weren't royalty, or priests. "Aroond 8 or sae is whin th' feast wull be. Th' rest o' th' warkers 'ere wis awready notified, sae a' body else haes juist stairted running aroond 'n' starting tae prepare fur th' feast. Mighty keekin tae th' future fer it masell! a lot o' fowk ur excited tae git tae see ye. Me weans 'n' guidwife included!" The dwarf laughed as he nodded towards you, then left to pass on the message to the king.

Around 8 or so is when the feast will be. The rest of the staff here was already notified, so everyone else has just started running around and starting to prepare for the feast. Mighty looking forward fer it myself! A lot of people are excited to get to see you. Me kids and wife included!

Location: Kherngolarr - Elevator to Lower Caverns and Ruins
Date: Day 8 (Jean), Day 10 (Rosalie) - Time: 12:30 PM

Telamon shrugged. It gave you the impression that the gynoid didn't really care too much for the dwarves, even with the fact they seemed to be invaluable for freeing the Ramparts. "At full power, we would exhaust our supplies by the end of a single battle, perhaps two, at most, if most of our weapons are online and actively firing. For flight, we can last much longer, a few orbits around our planet until we run out. If we had the Tower, we would be able to sustain operations for much much longer, the Tower too is much more efficient in energy usage. Unfortunately, we are severely hampered without it. Full construction of the Ramparts never completed as well, with a few of the larger weapons still in blueprint that Workshop could have created. Yet still, are more weaponry in the Storehouse and Hangar. The Research Center and Library too may have other sorts of technology and weaponry."

[pringerbeam]

     "Hmmm...  That's not a lot of flight time.  Do you know what kind of quantity of mana crystals would be needed to be refined in order to fully fuel the Ramparts?  Lili, do you know how many raw crystals your people have stockpiled?"  He asked as he watched the metal scaffolding whip past the exterior of the elevator.  "And what about the Tower?  Do you know where it was located before you were shifted into the mountain?"

[Throndir]

"Yes... The Ramparts was never designed to function by itself for extended periods of time. Any quality of ether crystal can be used, but the less pure the crystal is, the more times we need to process it."

Telamon begins explaining how the entire process works, and even how mana fits into the entire thing, along with the differences between the Tower piece and all the other pieces in terms of how they handle energy.

Notes dump (Note I may change this later if the numbers make something too hard to get or something):

Ramparts Capacity: 10,000 Energy

Charging Options for the Thamylon Legend
-Ether Liquid to Charging Core (Tower): 1 MP = 100 Energy
-Direct Mana to Charging Core (Tower): 1 MP = 10 Energy
-Ether Liquid to Charging Core (Non-Tower): 1 MP = 10 Energy
-Direct Mana to Charging Core (Non-Tower): 1 MP = 1 Energy
-Transfer from Tower to Non-Tower: 1 Energy = 1 Energy

Ether Crystal Quality - Max MP Stored - Rarity
D-Grade Magic Stone - 1 - 1-50%
C-Grade Magic Stone - 3 - 51-80%
B-Grade Magic Stone - 9 - 81-90%
A-Grade Magic Stone - 27 - 91-98%
S-Grade Magic Stone - 81 - 99-100%

Size of Ether Crystals - Max MP Multiplier
Fine - x1/25
Diminutive - x1/5
Tiny - x1
Small - x5
Medium - x25
Large - x125
Huge - x625
Gargantuan - x3,125
Colossal - x15,625

Size - Rarity
Lower - 1-90%
Middle - 91-97%
Upper - 98-100%

Lower Size Ether Crystal Rarity (Fine - Tiny)
Fine - 1-20%
Diminutive - 21-50%
Tiny - 51-100%

Middle Size Ether Crystal Rarity (Small - Large)
Small - 1-40%
Medium - 41-70%
Large - 71-100%

Upper Size Ether Crystal Rarity (Huge - Colossal)
Huge - 1-60%
Gargantuan - 61-90%
Colossal - 91-100%

Naturally Charged Ether Crystal - Rarity
Uncharged - 1-90%
Charged -  91-100%

Charging Ether Crystals
Requires Mana Transfer Technique, or similar blessing/spell/technology.

Ether Liquid
Amount is directly proportional to how much MP it is. 1 MP of Ether Liquid is 10 milliliters.

For example, 1 MP of Ether Liquid is 10 ml, 100 MP is 1,000 ml. For real life measurements, 1 Cup is 237 milliliters, which would be 23.7 MP. An average human (around level 1 Pathfinder, or level 5 Isekai) would have 8 MP on a daily basis, and therefore would produce only a 1/3 Cup of Ether Liquid per day.

Refining Process
D-Grade and C-Grade Ether Crystals require 2 processing attempts to turn into usable Ether Liquid.
B-Grade and A-Grade Ether Crystals require 1 processing attempt to turn into usable Ether Liquid.
S-Grade Ether Crystals require 1 processing attempt, and give a 50% bonus of usable Ether Liquid.

Example:
1 fully charged Diminutive D-Grade Ether Crystal (1 out of every 740 crystals) will contain .2 MP. Processes into 2 ml of Ether Liquid. Provides 2 Energy.
1 fully charged Medium B-Grade Ether Crystal (1 out of every 47,619 crystals) will contain 225 MP. Process into 2,250 ml (.6 gal) of Ether Liquid. Provides a total of 2,250 Energy.

"We'd have tae scavenge them aff some o' our tools... But Ah shuid tak' Talemon ower tae th' refineries whaur we handle these sort o' things. Ah don't know exactly how much we have."

"This would be easier if we knew where the Tower was. But unfortunately, I don't. This was a secret project being held at the time, which was why we had the facade of the building on top, there were no records shared officially. Perhaps the Library would have that information though. If anything, they should have been created in the major cities back in my time. There is a chance they could have been made at an off-site, or a military installation of some sort, but even the Ramparts, full of weapons, was built in Lissara, a bustling city of the Feltheno Empire."

[pringerbeam]

     "So much to figure out..."  Mused Jean as the elevator finished its descent.  "So little time...  Time...  Time..."  He muttered as he made his way off to elevator and headed for the next.

Assuming the rest of the trip to the Ramparts is uneventful.

     Jean approached the sealed entrance to the Ramparts, looking it over for signs of tampering before opening the door.  "So... I guess it's time for a tour?"

Perception to check for tampering of the entrance

Rolled 1d20+18 : 20 + 18, total 38

Jean will spend the rest of the day reading the manual and familiarizing himself with the Ramparts

Training checks to study the manual 5x 1 hour sessions(Assuming I have around 5 hours to do so with an hour or so of travel time to and from the palace)

Rolled 1d20+11 : 2 + 11, total 13

Rolled 1d20+11 : 11 + 11, total 22

Rolled 1d20+11 : 17 + 11, total 28

Rolled 1d20+11 : 11 + 11, total 22

Rolled 1d20+11 : 11 + 11, total 22

Not sure if Telamon counts as a mentor, also not sure I'm using the right modifier (Base training is +16 and I subtracted 5 for a 1 hour session)

Up for handling the tour of the ship as a side thread if you want or we can handle it here

[Throndir]

Location: Kherngolarr - Elevator to Lower Caverns and Ruins
Date: Day 8 (Jean), Day 10 (Rosalie) - Time: 12:30 PM - 5:30 PM

Perception: 38
Looking at the door, you noticed clear signs of some attempts of bashing and opening the door. There were scrape marks on it, though, rather than damage on the door itself, it seemed like whatever was being used to smash into it had been the one to be damaged instead. Telamon commented that many years ago they used to try similar things, but had given up after the first few years.

You began reading the manual on your journey towards the Ramparts. Once there, you began to read through it, while Telamon gave everyone a tour of the Ramparts. During it, a couple of the dwarves approached the entrance to the Ramparts, but they didn't seem to be threatening. It was Lili who immediately came up to them, and managed to procure some pieces of food.

For Training checks, you can roll normally if that makes it easier, and I'll add the relevant modifiers. But yes, 1 hour training gives you a -5 bonus. If you are actively asking Telamon questions, or having Telamon follow along with you, and letting her comment on specific things, then yes, she will count as a mentor.

We can also do the tour of the ship on a side thread, even on low power, Telamon keeps an eye on the ship and its functions, along with the ship's internal sensors, so there would be no out of the ordinary encounters.

Training
Ramparts Manual: 5/6

[pringerbeam]

Will spend 1 more hour studying the manual with Telamon's help to try and finish it of before returning to the palace.

Training check

Rolled 1d20+9 : 15 + 9, total 24

[pringerbeam]

     Jean finally closed the manual and placed it in his inventory.  "Okay, I think I have a grasp on the ship now.  Should be ready for the research teams to access the Ramparts I think."  He walked over to a nearby display and called up the clock.  "Oh shit time sure flies.  We need to get back to the palace for the feast!  Can't be late for our engagement announcement right Lili?"

[Throndir]

As you read the manual, most of the others simply spent time getting to know the other, though it was primarily Lili talking about how life was like down here. The topics of conversation in the last few hours covered a lot of things, and sometimes Lili told of stories of here in the lower depths, and of large monsters. Some of it were fantastical, but given that you were in a world full of magic, gods, and ancient technology that was actually pretty advanced, along with the honest way Lili was telling it, it was easy to believe. At the very least, Dalina was enraptured, while Ren too wanted to know more about the various monsters in the depths. There was a point where Ren was even trying to morph her tentacles into shapes of monsters, as Lili and Dalina laughed, with Lili offering suggestions on how to make the caricatures more accurate.

Location: Kherngolarr - Lower Caverns
Date: Day 8 (Jean), Day 10 (Rosalie) - Time: 5:30 PM - 6:30 PM

The next hour you began making your way back to the palace. During the walk there, you continued having Telamon help you through the training manual, and even though you only had a single day to read through the thick manual, with Telamon's helped, you managed to prioritize what was essential and what was needed for its operation, rather than all the minor details. At the very least, with Telamon's help you ha da good idea of where each piece of information was in the book.

Training
Ramparts Manual: 6/6

Lili blushed. At first she looked away, but she quickly pulled herself together and stared you in the eye, her visage soft. "Aye... we'll make it on time."

Eventually, you climbed back into the elevator with the rest of your companions, and soon enough you found yourself back into the palace. Along the way, dwarves were more friendly and open to you. Though, you noticed much less people wearing the priestly robes, and more of those who were on the younger side of dwarves. Many of them congratulated both you and Lili. Even though nothing was made quite official, the rumour mill of the dwarven city was already fast at work.

The palace guards, noticing you arrival, all shouted in a boisterous 'hurrah', as they quickly opened the doors and ushered your group in. When you finally made it to the feasting hall, there was another roar of cheers. At the very least, this aspect of dwarves that you read so much about matched. Much of the feast was just starting, but already, everyone in the hall had foaming mugs of beer, and there was plenty of food going around as well. You noticed the king sitting on an elevated platform with a table full of food as well, along with empty seats around him. You also noticed that a particular grandfather was missing. At the very least, though few in number, you did catch sight of at least two other robed priestly dwarves celebrating with the rest.

"Lili! Hero Jean! Ye' two and yer companions, come join me at me table. Ye' 'ave good news fer me, aye?" The King said loudly, as the everyone started to quiet down. They all had anticipating stares. Lilie grabbed on to your hand on the left.

[pringerbeam]

     "Of course your highness."  Said Jean as he ascended to the king's table.  "Your daughter is beautiful and lively, prime first wife material if I ever encountered one.  I accept your proposal to be joined in matrimony to princess Lili.  The wedding is on!"  He said this final sentence as he scooped up a goblet of what he assumed was wine and raised it high over his head to make his pronouncement heard by the entire hall before downing its entire contents.

[Throndir]

With that the King grinned, his smile wide from ear to ear as the entire hall erupted into a louder cheer, accentuated by the fact that they were silent in anticipation just moments before.

"Foirst wife tae! Ye' know how tae make a faither proud!" The dwarf said cheerfully as he too gulped down a glass of alcohol. In that moment, other dwarves surrounded your group, and began handing each of you mugs yourselves. Ren, with 8 tentacles, managed to hold 6 mugs, while two of her tentacles were busy already gathering all sorts of food onto her own plate.

Dalina was much more overwhelmed, being unused to the loudness of the hall, she kept close to you, though managed to accept a mug from a dwarf which she proceeded to carry with both of her hands. She looked at the drink hesitantly, and it occured to you that you hadn't seen Dalina drink alcohol yet. As for Telamon, she seemed fairly unaffected by the cheering of the dwarves, though, she gracefully took one of offered glasses. As for Lili, she was surrounded by many other dwarves, primarily other dwarven women who were gathered around her and were congratulating her profusely.

Just to note, we're using these homebrew inebriation rules for drinking, though, I doubt it'll affect you anyways. There's multiple kinds of alcohol being served, from ones fermented from mushrooms and fungi, to the rarer fruits from underground foliage. DCs will be at 20, 25, and 30, depending on the type drunk.

You can use this time to gather information, just roll Diplomacy on the topics you want to get.
You can also use this time to generally mingle with the dwarves to gain some reputation with them, feel free to do actions or simply roll Diplomacy for that.
Otherwise, state how long you want the party to go for, being dwarves this will last all night, and probably all morning.
Lastly, if you can conceivably see doing some sort of training while in this party, then state how, and roll your Training checks too.

[pringerbeam]

     Jean took every drink offered to him and drank without abandon.  A drink in each hand, he moved several chairs closer together with his outstretched foot to make a rudimentary bench to sit down on.  Beckoning for Lili to sit next to him on his right, Dalina on his left, and for Telamon and Ren to flank the other 2 respectively.  "I guess right here is your new seat Lili."  He said as he nodded to her position.  "I guess unless you want to sit somewhere more...  intimate?"  He said with a pat on his lap from his momentarily unoccupied hand.  He then leaned back and said to Dalina.  "Pace yourself there.  I have a feeling it's going to be a long party."  Then whispering.  "If you need to just dump it into my cup." 

     Seated among his companions, he dined on the foods laid out before them in between the numerous drinks offered to him taking each with a raised mug and a drink.  "So tell me, if I'm marrying into the royal family, what's my new title?  Duke?  Baron?"  He asked of the king as he drank some kind of sweet unidentifiable liquor.  "Where's Lili's mother by the way?  I haven't managed to completely miss her have I?"

     As the party got into full swing Jean did his best to show off his heroic might, engaging in drinking games with any challengers and even trying to bench press an actual bench laden with party goers, never once turning down a drink no matter who offered.  With the good food and bottomless drink he was even emboldened enough to try to sing some of the dwarven drinking songs in the finest off-key he could muster. 

     He had never good with names or faces before, but since becoming a hero his ability to remember these kinds of things had drastically improved and he tried to figure out who were the big time powers of the city besides the Seadhg clan and how exactly political power was structured for the dwarves as well as where he might be positioned with his marriage to Lili.

Diplomacy to cozy up to the new in-laws

Rolled 1d20+10 : 6 + 10, total 16

Diplomacy to figure out how the city is politically structured

Rolled 1d20+10 : 1 + 10, total 11

Diplomacy to figure out who the most influential clans are and who among them is in attendance

Rolled 1d20+10 : 19 + 10, total 29

Diplomacy to socialize with the crowd in general

Rolled 1d20+10 : 12 + 10, total 22

STR check for party tricks (if needed, I think Jean can bench like 1080 lbs)

Rolled 1d20+11 : 4 + 11, total 15

Phys Resis for drinking uninhibited

Rolled 1d20+22 : 17 + 22, total 39

Jean will go as long as the party does or until Dalina or Lili gets too tired to keep going.  (Or if he passes out of course)

[Throndir]

Taking your offer, Lili blushed as she moved herself to sit on your lap. Dalina nodded meekly, but she did take a sip of the alcohol. As for Ren, watching the rest of the dwarves around her gleefully chug their drinks down, the tentacle girl attempted to copy them too. Like the first time drinking back with the kebabs, she seemed to force herself, but after the first mug was down, she started to go through each subsequent mug quicker.

"Ye'? Well... Ye'd be a lord, part o' the Seadhg family, as well as part o' the clan as a whole. Tae be honest, ever since a hunnerd years ago, not a lot of noble castes survived. Me faither... the surely dwarf ye met earlier this mornin' wasn't the original line o' kings either. The Seadhg family just happen tae be the ones closest to our cousins o'er 'ere in the west. As for me wife..." The king paused as he sombered slightly. "She passed protectin' our folk from a giant tremor wurm in th' southern tunnels."

Diplomacy (influence attitude on new family): 16
The king laughed heartily when you began trying to be friendly with Lili's extended family. It was indeed a large family, but all the dwarves were pleased and welcomed you with many hearty pats on the back, promises to buy you a drink, and generally have a good time.

Diplomacy (gather information on city structure): 11
With how drunk many of the dwarves were starting to be, you eventually managed to piece together how the social structure was like, albeit roughly. You found out there were various castes that made up the social structure. There was the noble caste, such as the Seadhg family. Next was the Priest caste, who, in terms of importance to the social structure, was right under the noble caste. Next came the warrior caste, the smith caste, the artisan cast, the merchant caste, and finally the casteless. Each clan generally seems to stick to their particular caste, though it isn't something enforced, and more of the typical dwarven pride in their heritage. That said, higher privileged castes have more opportunity to move into a different one. Each caste typically has a handful of clans that represent it the most, each clan can number up to the tens of thousands. After that, were family groupings, these were around 40-200 members each.

Diplomacy (gather information on influential dwarves): 22
Specifically the most important ones in attendance were various representatives from the largest clans of the city. Each of the castes were represented well, except for the casteless. Apart from the Seadhg family that was in attendance in the large feasting hall, there were two other noble caste clans represented. From the warrior castes, two clans as well was represented. From the smith caste, one clan was represented. The artisan caste had two clans represented, and the merchant caste had three clans represented.

Noble caste: Bevan family from the Bevan clan, Niocalsan family from the Niocalsan clan
Warrior caste: Bronzebrow family from the Druimein clan, Hornback family from the Ciarach clan
Smith caste: Anvilshield family from the Blazingmantle clan
Artisan caste: Hardblade family from the Pebbleforge clan, Steelarm family from the Steelarm clan
Merchant caste: Flintbelly family from the Emberforge clan, Flaskmane family from the Stormhood clan, Pebblearmour family from the Emberhelm clan.

STR check party tricks: 15
You feats of strength got loud approval from the dwarves who were heavily drinking. When it got to the point of lifting actual tables full of people, though it was tough, you managed to do it which garnered even more loud cheering.

You can roll local checks to bring up any further knowledge, assume you have a good enough information about the topics discussed above.

Inebriation rules I forgot to link: https://www.d20pfsrd.com/extras/community-creations/drinking-rules/

Roll me 20 PR checks, since you're accepting all drinking contests.