Cyanic

"Oh, alright," she was slightly annoyed, but remained professional, time was wasting, "I'm not sure if those things are also Invested or are just tech, but anyway, they're at the Waystop, if you know the place. It's at the Horneater Peaks on Roshar. We've gathered them into two piles just outside the building, since they look similar but from different factions. A lot of the armor is still in tact, but pretty much all the weapons are still in good condition. Once everything's alright and you start working on this, how long do y'think this'll take to make?"

As Araha left, Deras had an idea. He got up and walked outside to where he'd killed the Chaos Marines. The corpses were still there. They were beginning to smell, so he had to remedy that. Using his shardblade, as Araha had called it, he carved the bodies out of the armor, careful not to ruin the armor itself. Apparently, shardblade cut through non-alive things well, but greyed things out when they were alive? He'd have to ask Araha again. It was difficult, so he set out finding ways to disassemble the armor itself. He spent a few minutes on it, then got better, helped by his keener mind. He took out the corpses then threw them outside to take care of later. After a while, he had the weapons and armor in a pile inside the building and was taking the corpses (and other parts) of it outside. He cut a hole in the ground with his shardblade and put the corpses in that hole. Going back into the building, he cleaned the pieces of armor and weapons with a cloth, going back to periodically wash it. After a while, he was done with the cleaning, and had the armor and weapons in a pile to the side as to not obstruct the halls. He emerged and looked at the battlefield. There were corpses everywhere. This was going to take a while, so he set off to work.

The young woman nodded at everything they said, "I guess if the suit won't be sold to anyone else that'd be alright." She nodded again, "right, we can settle with that. So you won't need the Chaos Marine tech, but we'll keep it around since we'll likely come back here in the future for more business." She said, still no expression, though she was obviously pleased. "Anyway, Chaos Marine and Space Marine tech, I'm not too familiar with. "Well, if that's it, I'll get going. I'll confirm again that you may keep the blue prints, and do with that what you want, as long as it's not sold to anyone like you said." It seemed like a good deal, and these Craftsmen were trustworthy enough. "When should we expect this to finish? and should we pick it up or will you deliver it?"

"I'm not sure really, I didn't ask for an explanation from who the 'groundsmaster' was." She said. "I see, that's disappointing, but it's alright. If we found a surgebinder, could they just inhale the leaking stormlight and recharge the gems when outside of battle? Also yes, putting another layer on top of the aluminum one would work, but could you also put shielding Aons engraved on the shardplate itself? If the shardplate's coated in aluminum, the means the shielding Aons would still work since the engraving is under the aluminum layer? The shielding would just be really packed close to the shardplate itself. The fog machine is really just to intimidate and for flair," she shrugged, "we thought of a cloak or cape, but that was too easily exploited in combat, so a fog machine might work better, you don't need to focus on that though, it's just an extra piece." Araha visualized the design he just told her about. "Yeah... yeah. Sounds good," she said with a nod. Free of charge though? They might need that since the pricing made her flinch. "Hmm, what are you guys going to use the blueprints for? I mean it sounds like a good deal, but I'd rather we don't suddenly face enemies with the armor that we designed." She said, "besides that, do you also accept trades? We have... a battalion's worth of Chaos Marine tech lying around, we'll just need help transporting it, and that's probably good enough to pay for the cost of this?"

Araha remained seating at the man's entrance and announcement, then stood up to be polite. She took off her hood then realized he wasn't really a king or such, just a business man. She did remain standing though. She began answering questions: "The helmet's from my comrade, say he got it from a 'groundsmaster,' I didn't ask more than that, Yeah, a fabric skeleton might be better, just to increase the strength even more. The augmenter fabrials were my idea, but I'd forgotten that those can run out," she sighed, "but it's possible that we'll be using this in a lot of places, and not just where there's Dor, so we'd want adaptability. As for the aluminum, could we just have Aons over the aluminum itself, and some under it? So the layers would be, shardplate, shields, aluminum, then shields again, and the important components like those fabrials and the pumps would either be under the shardplate, or under the first shield layer." she said, not monotone, but not showing much in the way of expressions. "If that doesn't work, could we just have some aluminum..." she trailed off, then had an epiphany. "What if we coat the thing in aluminum and have augmenters under that, wouldn't that mean that the stormlight can't be stolen by a surgebinder since it doesn't have any way to leave the aluminum shell?" She put a hand on her hip, "we could also go one step further and once the fabrials are powered, we put an aluminum shell around the gems themselves so that the stormlight has nowhere to go to and can probably just sit there. Though, this might be impossible, I know Investiture basics, not the complete theories of them." "Anyway, the fog machine, we had in mind would just have been like those used in shows, but Aons work too. Larkin tech would've been to give us an element of surprise against other Investiture users, but if not, that's fine. As for what we meant by the HUD, my comrade suggested somehow incorporating the necklace-helmet's components onto the shardplate to allow a HUD, but that's not necessary." She felt excitement for the whole thing boiling up, then she shoved those feelings back down... no, she used those feelings to fuel her determination. She'll get her friend back. "Hang on, before all this, we should discuss the price, this seems expensive."

@Life&Death @Sorana "It's alright to be nervous." Araha smiled at Damaya, hoping to reassure her. She turned to Mr. Amber, "as for me, I can use Gravitation and Adhesion, but not well enough yet, it feels just like when I started out learning the combat basics. What really interests me though are those machines that you said could harness Epic powers. Could I have a look at those?" And maybe try them out. She thought.

"Same here." Araha said with a look of confidence as she stepped up beside her friend, putting a hand on her shoulder. She must be nervous for Investiture training because of the thing with Illumination. Hopefully, just Araha's presence could help Damaya out. @Sorana @Life&Death

"Thank you." Araha smiled as she took the spanreed and place it on a flat surface. "It's not an immediate one, but it'll help probably." Master Soren had taught her how to use one of these, mostly just to contact the Skybreakers and to access the general notice board, she attuned the gem on to the general position and began writing a message, hopefully it she didn't make a mistake since she couldn't really travel all the way to the city to check the board. The message wrote: [Help needed: Experienced Elsecaller or Lightweaver to come to the Waystop located in the Horneater Peaks on Roshar. Low-risk. Payment will be discussed on-location.] "There we go." She handed the spanreed back to Mr. Amber. @Life&Death

A recent message appears on the board:

"Wow, that sounds like it's good." Araha walked up to Where Damaya was at and snuck a bite of a chocolate while Mr. Amber wasn't looking. She liked doing small rebellious things. It tasted as good as Damaya described, she didn't have much processed treats as a child, most sweets she had were fruits and variants thereof, they were good, but they could get boring after a while. "Anyway, I was asking you if y'wanted to check the bathhouse after this, hot springs are supposedly good for relaxing." Araha asked now that she had Damaya's attention. @Sorana

@Sorana Damaya was definitely not listening to what Araha just said. "Damayaaa..." she put her hands on her hips, "you weren't listening were you?" she chuckled.

Araha entered the kitchen to see that Damaya was indeed there, and so was Mr. Amber. She put a hand on Damaya's back, patting once before retracting. "G'morning, Mr. Amber," she greeted, "I had an idea on what to do with our cognitive realm security problem, I'll just need a spanreed and your permission to post a notice on AlleyCity's notice board." She told him. "By the way," she said, turning to Damaya beside her, "there's apparently a bathhouse here right? What do you say we check that out to de-stress after this? I've heard hot springs can be really relaxing, but haven't tried those m'self." She concluded with a smile. @Life&Death @Sorana

In the central hub of the AlleyCity, where the city-life is thickest, stands a lone Notice Board created by some genius whose name was sadly forgotten, shielded with Aons, augmented by durabilty fabrials, and coated in a few feet of aluminum, the Notice Board is an object that relays information to everyone who needs or wants to see it. ---- --------- Notices currently on the board: (Feel free to post a reply here and I'll edit this post to show your message)

"Alright, stay safe." Araha called out after Damaya as she left, she then turned to Deras. "G'morning." She smiled at him, then gestured to an empty seat. As Deras nodded and made his way over, Ran flitted by Araha's ear: "I don't like him," she whispered. "Why not?" Araha whispered back, "let's talk about this later actually." Deciding that it would be weird if she just kept whispering constantly. Ran tapped Araha's cheek twice, a gesture they came up with like a nod, then flitted off. "By the way, there's some food over there," she gestured to a table, "feel free to get some." "Thank you," Deras replied, "but not eat, not need." He said as he sat down opposite her. Ah yeah, Lifeless. Araha thought. "I wanted to thank you again, and had some questions I wanted to ask, if tha's alright?" He replied with a nod. "So you're Lifeless, right?" "Suppose." He shrugged. "but you're self aware... err... sapient, I think it's called?" "I am." He replied with a nod. "How does that work?" A moment or two went by where it was just silence. "I'm sorry! I didn't mean to ask a personal question!" Araha quickly added. "Not worry," Deras himself smiled, "not personal, just not know exactly why. Am confused most times." Huh. Araha thought to herself as she chuckled, A Lifeless that was aware enough to joke? This man was just getting more and more interesting. - They continued on for a while, Araha asking him a few more questions about himself, she learned a bit about him, since he seemed to be willing to share pretty much everything about himself that he could remember. He was surprisingly good company for someone who spoke in such a strange way. "You not scared of me?" Deras asked, which surprised Araha as she was usually the one who kept asking questions, "have strange spikes on body and not alive?" "Oh, yeah, those hemalurgic spikes. Maybe if we'd met under other circumstances I might've been wary of you, but you helped us out yesterday, so I trust you." He nodded, "Understood. Thank you." Araha smiled back, "but do you know what those do?" continuing her line of questions. "Do?" He asked looking confused. "Like specifically what abilities do those spikes give you?" Deras nodded in understanding. "Unsure." "Hmm..." she had an idea, "may I look at your spikes up close? Maybe we could understand those better?" Deras nodded and took off his very tattered and torn cloak. She took a good look at him. His body was muscular, but not unproportionally so. The better word was chiseled, like one of those Returned she'd read about. There were several spikes, sure, but nothing really marred his face, which was surprisingly young now that she really looked. She guessed when he was alive, she'd be around Damaya's age, give or take a year. He was also... slightly... handsome? Araha blushed as she realized how much of a bad idea this was. Looking at a man's bare torso even though she was just trying to look for the spikes, would be easily misunderstood, and just the act in itself was a bit embarrassing to her. "Araha?" The man called to her, "you're well? Face very red." "UHH... I, uhh..." she stuttered. "I'm fine! Yeah, fine!" She got up a bit too quickly and walked over to Deras. Just count the spikes, just count the spikes. She quickly did so and saw eleven spikes She sat back on her seat, face still warm. "We should get you some clothes..." she muttered quietly. To save herself from this hell of embarrassment, she found a different topic, the one thing that always interested her: Investiture. "So I counted eleven spikes on you. I'd guess some of them were for that enhanced strength of yours, maybe four or six since you're really strong. Besides that, have you noticed other things too? Things that a regular man can't do?" She wasn't sure if he knew what a regular man could and couldn't do, but it was worth a shot to ask. Deras sat for a while, "Regeneration," he said, "can heal from injuries, can demonstrate if want." "Oh, no, no thanks! But that might be one of your spikes too, Lifeless usually need to be manually fixed to keep them functional," Araha said, "do you need something specific to regenerate? Metal? Some light that you breathe in?" "None." "I see." That was interesting, she chalked it up to one of those Epic powers that she still didn't know much about. "Anything else?" "Can find people with mind." "That sounds like a cognitive scan like some of those exotic predators, from... I forget the name. Can you also shield minds from scanning?" "N..." Deras began then cut himself off. "Unsure. Untested." He said. "We should test that out if we have someone who can detect cognitive things, it'll be useful to have." That was Deras nodded. "Lastly have fast mind and keen sense." Araha nodded, "Those sound like Tin and Copper hemalurgy." So that just left one or two spikes unchecked. Earlier, she had asked about his past, but he doesn't seem to remember much, she wondered who the attributes these spikes stole from belonged to, but she knew that that wasn't Deras' fault, but rather his creator's. Araha finished her meal. "Oh, one more question," she begun, "you have a shardblade, right?" "Strange sword?" Deras asked. "Yes, the one that you can summon, that's called a shardblade." He was an interesting man, he seemed to remember basic things, like how to communicate and such, but couldn't remember certain Investiture terminology, which was understandable, but he didn't even know what shardblades were, which are widespread and very recognizable, these were questions for another time though. "Since you can summon a blade, do you also have shardplate?" He likely didn't since he would've used that in combat. "Not know, but assume none." He shook his head. "Master Soren told me about several places in the Alleyverse," she said, smiling, "one of them is a place that makes very intricate and advanced things, just in general. I have to go right now, but later today, what do you say we meet again and discuss more about these." Her smile grew into a grin as her excitement at the idea she just grew. "Might enjoy," Deras smiled back and nodded. "Great! I'll see you later in the afternoon!" She said as she walked outside, still excited at this idea, but for now, she went to find the kitchen where Damaya likely went.

@Sorana Araha's eyes widened at Damaya's answer. "Sparks." Was the only word she said. They walked to the dining hall in silence, that all but confirmed that Damaya was indeed being targeted, by who specifically, and for what purpose, she didn't know for sure. When they arrived, Damaya continued: "We could always ask him. But I'm not sure if that's wise. I think he would be powerful, if the sorcerer calls him enemy." "They might not even be enemies, the sorcerer might have even worked for that man, since he mentioned something about a 'master,' we have no idea." Maybe they should look for answers from the man himself, it was a lead, and Damaya was a target, she'd be in constant danger, until this was dealt with, but it was probably a bad idea to just barge in there and demand answers, especially if the man actually knew what was going on and was actively planning against them. They'd need an army, or at least something that can help them fight back. She had an idea as she ate, what about the strange man that helped yesterday? Deras? He was immensely strong and quick, and he seemed to have a shardblade? She needed to speak to him. *** Deras was getting bored patrolling and waiting for a few hours with nothing really happening. He finally heard some talking around, which meant some tenants were awake and he could stop his 'guard duty,' He followed the sound and found himself by the dining room, likely people trying to get breakfast. He opened the door and saw two familiar faces at the table. *** Araha looked to the door as it opened, and in came Deras. Speak of the devil, just the man she needed to speak to! Though Damaya may not be as open now that there was someone else here.

That was troubling, "I dunno, I'd rather not wait around to get attacked again, either they did mean you or someone else and this is a huge coincidence," she said, though why would Damaya mention the house she grew up in? Was there something she wasn't telling Araha? "Though, um, I don't see why going to the house you grew up at would help us find answers though," she chuckled, phrasing her curiousity in a casual way, as she opened the door from the room, waiting on Damaya. @Sorana

Araha sighed, a bit relieved that her friend was still here. "Yeah, let's do that." She agreed and got up, washing her face in the bathroom that was close by. Ran flitted close. Araha couldn't help but feel a nagging feeling about what happened yesterday, which almost just felt like all a dream, or nightmare. "Damaya," she begun, and hesitated before continuing. "About yesterday, I mean, why was he-- the name he said was similar to yours..." she trailed off, "Did you know anything about that? I dunno, I'm just worried, I guess." @Sorana

of course we do, everything needs a tvtropes page! (but yeah, wikia and tvtropes are different format-wise, since tvtropes has a database of tropes associated with it, while wikia is just info)

The young hooded woman followed the man deeper into the shop. She thought of an answer: "We, or at least this project, is for someone who isn't associated with any guilds, though we may or may not recruit people from other guilds to help in this campaign." They arrived at the inner-more part of the shop, and the woman looked around. She found a waiting chair and sat. Nothing was on her mind except their current goal, and this helped with that.

"Thank you." Deras nodded, then did as the man said, after about that time had passed, he went on to walk around the structure, getting himself familiar with the place as well as patrolling just in case there was more trouble afoot since he didn't need sleep anyway. *** After her own hygiene routines, and asking Ran to keep a lookout, Araha laid herself on the bed, she was about to ask Damaya if she wanted to take her bed for now, but accidentally fell asleep. She didn't dream much in her sleep surprisingly. Waking up, she looked around trying to find if Damaya was still there. @Sorana