>>1080935
Not a bad plan

>>1080935
Great idea!

>>1080935
green is one of the colors humans can see the most shades of so how good are we at doing eyes?

>>1080934
Shape some extra sensitive noses and tastebuds, should help with finding plants that are edible and/or medicinal

Nalthar 2024/01/19(Fri)16:18 No. 1081392 ID: 5ebd37
File 170570989215.jpg - (557.21KB , 1000x800 , beastie parts.jpg )

>Shape them some extra limbs
>Shape some extra sensitive noses and tastebuds, also eyes

Martah: *hk-hraak* "Looks like your team could use some enhancements. What are we looking at for numbers of spare parts?"

Mirrak: "I told you at- I forgot to mention it at the meeting, didn't I?" she groans and rubs her face. "Check in the next storage over, old Lindsaw has her take-apart team set up with the beasts that couldn't be recovered intact. Only 30 at last count, but there should be something you can use."

Martah: "Got it, I'll be right back."

Entering the next tent, Martah finds it to be just as bustling as the last. Bolds are busy slicing apart corpses into neat piles of limbs and organs. The shaper walks over to a familiar spindly rattebold overseeing the work.

Lindsaw: "Ah, Shaper Martah. I do hope you have come to take some of these lovely parts off my hands. We haven't the proper supplies to preserve them, and I would hate to see them go to waste."

Martah: "What have you got in the way of strong arms and sense organs, Dismantler?"

The elderly rattebold waves a hand at a selection of limbs and heads arrayed on tarps on the floor. "Take your pick, its all salamanders down there, apparently." She pats Martah on the shoulder and leaves him to it, heading over to assist some bolds wrestling open the ribs of a particularly large beast.

Martah: (Well well, look at this spread. What can I do with these, I wonder?)

Heads:
A) 4 in stock: a nocturnal looking face, with big eyes
B) 5 in stock: a long snout, with a tongue to match
C) 3 in stock: a broad head, some odd sense organs have replaced the eyes
Limbs:
D) 10 in stock: three-clawed grasping hand on a short, scaly arm
E) 12 in stock: wide foot with sticky pads
F) 10 in stock: a runner's leg, with wicked claws
G) 4 in stock: a thick tail, good for balance

Martah: (I only have time to mess around with three of these, I'm supposed to be looking at plants after all.)

Check out A, D, and E

>>1081392
We can use the tongues from B to allow sorters to taste test samples without exposing themselves to ingested toxins using their true tongues.

D seems to be a suitable additional limb for dextrous sorting.

The rest are interesting, but probably not useful to our immediate task. If we want to investigate any of them, C is a complete unknown so its strange senses could hypothetically turn out to be helpful?

Agreed that C has the potential to be valuable (or trash)

1/2 Nalthar 2024/01/30(Tue)23:42 No. 1082184 ID: 5ebd37
File 170668694428.jpg - (468.24KB , 1000x800 , working smarter.jpg )

>A,B,D,E

Martah: (Yes these seem the most useful. I'm not sure about A though, let me check.) He plucks out one of the large eyes and peers into it. (Mmm, yeah these are just good for night vision. I would have thought they would have broader spectrum, but these receptors are surprisingly simple. Oh well.)

Martah tugs out the long tongues from the B heads and bundles them up in a large basket, alongside the D and E limbs. Taking a moment to ask Lindsaw to set the C heads aside for him, he lugs the basket back into the plant warehouse.

Martah: *Hrak-Koff-Koff-Koff. Ahem* "Hey! Who wants a body change? Chief says we're not bowing to tradition anymore so we can change whatever we want! But you'd better want extra arms cause that's all we got." A curious crowd gathers around, and soon a number of bolds are kited out with grasping claws and sticky feet hands. A group of bolds is brought from the kitchens and given the long tongues. They set to work taste testing various plants, amassing a pile of potential crops.

Martah: (Phew, time to get to work.) Martah gathers up a collection of samples. (I'll show you guys an old shaper trick. If you squint really hard, you can see the tiny bits that make up an object. Like take this, for example.) he holds up a small brown lump and squints at it. (Looks like we've got carbohydrates, starches, some vitamins... wait this is just a potato!? Like just a regular potato like you get out of the ground? On an alien planet? Huh.)

2/2 Nalthar 2024/01/30(Tue)23:44 No. 1082186 ID: 5ebd37
File 170668707142.gif - (247.59KB , 1000x800 , new-vision.gif )

After a long day of peering at vegetation, Martah has found a handful of promising candidates that could be modified into useful food crops. Alongside the pseudo-potato there are also what appear to be onions and portobello mushrooms, so the farming team will have plenty to work with. Feeling famished, he heads to the cafeteria, bringing along one of the C heads to study.

Plonking the flat head down on the table beside his bowl of stew, Martah pulls out a small scalpel and begins dismantling. (Oh wow, I've never seen something like this before.) Eagerly drawing out one of the unknown sense organs and setting it aside, Martah reaches a hand with gently glowing fingers up to his own eye. Carefully, he removes the orb and connects the nerve cord from the sense organ into the socket. Instantly the bolds in his view are lit up with scintillating auras. (Whoooooooaah)

Solfar: "eeeeehhhh, Martah? Wh- whaaat are you doing?"

Wow. Is this... some kind of ridiculously fine-tuned electrosensing? You can see their nerves. Hmm, then again, that's a bit far fetched. If it's emitting that blue glow it might be some form of flesh-piercing radiation that the eye is tuned to pick up reflections off of. It only reflects off of nerves for some reason?

You can cure cancer with fleshcrafting, right?

>>1082186
Remind me why your people weren't preserved. It's clear that with enough funding you could have ensured shapeshifting and immortality for the rich and powerful.

...Also, how hard is it to gender-shift?

>>1082186
Looks like some sort of electric sensory system picking up on nerve signals. Damn useful for spotting hidden animals.

>>1082186
Squat under the table and see if you can sense her through the wood.

Is she just surprised at you doing self-surgery in the cafeteria, or is the sensing affecting her somehow?

>>1082187

You can cure cancer with a sharp knife. The problem is when little pieces of it escape into the bloodstream and make more tumors in worse places.

>>1082190

Just swapping physical organs? Because swapping hormones and biochemistry and chromosomes would require an awfully tiny scalpel, and a whole lot of patience.

>>1082235
So long as you've swapped in a complete set of reproductive organs the chromosomes won't really matter and the new organs should regulate the hormones

Nalthar 2024/02/16(Fri)22:25 No. 1083502 ID: 5ebd37
File 170815113697.jpg - (378.11KB , 1000x800 , dinner conversation.jpg )

>some sort of electric sensory system?
Martah: (I'd heard of sharks being able to sense electrical waves, but this seems to be far more advanced. And through the air no less! I really can't begin to guess what mechanism it's using and I'm a little scared. Range seems a bit limited, it fades out halfway across this room, but this could be a huge help for the hunters! And we've got a whole six of them to work with.)

>You can cure cancer?
Martah: (Hmm? Oh sure, just direct the blood cells to where the bad cells are. The body is actually quite capable of dealing with rogue cells on its own, it just needs to be shown the way sometimes.)

>how hard is it to gender-shift?
Martah: (That's easy! Well as long as you have a donor organ to swap out. If you're rebuilding the existing organ or making one from scratch it will take a while. Its not uncommon, though its too much of a pain to do everyday. Murdoc has switched a few times, whereas I've only experimented with more surface level changes. Now that we aren't beholden to the old traditions I expect people will get a lot more wild with it.)

>why your people weren't preserved?
Martah: (Oh there's no doubt the rich will be secretly making use of the tribes we left behind. Our former merchant are probably making horrible deals as we speak. But frankly it was our own hidebound elders that always held us back. I doubt any outsiders knew the full extent we are capable of. So many traditions of maintaining the proper bodily forms, of keeping changes temporary. We'll definitely be better off now, I just wish it hadn't taken an existential threat.)

>Is she just surprised at you doing self-surgery in the cafeteria, or is the sensing affecting her somehow?
Martah: (Ah, right, I forgot she hasn't been with us for very long. She probably isn't used to regular dismemberment and such.)

>Look through the wood
Martah: *hak* "Hey Solfar, I was just examining this beast's organ. I can put it away if it's bothering you. Ooh, hang on a moment..." Martah ducks under the thick trestle table, noting how the auras the organ shows are much dimmer through the wood. "Fascinating..."

Solfar stares for a bit, then shakes herself and sits down. "You guys are strange, but at least its always lively."

As Martah is just finishing up getting his eye back in, the pair are joined by Mirrak. The bunnbold sits down heavily and sighs "Ah, thanks for your help today, we should have those plants squared away in a few days."

Time for polite dinner conversation, what's a good topic? The day's work, evening plans, the harrowing situation they've only just escaped from, or something else?

For mental health, probably not task related. Ask what are some hobbies or possible group activities they might be interested in

>>1083502
Ask what they're looking forward to building in the new city. What facilities do they want?

>>1083504
This is a good one. Perhaps with some luck we can find a hot spring to draw from and make a nice bathhouse? What would they like to see develop?

Nalthar 2024/03/02(Sat)20:47 No. 1085176 ID: 5ebd37
File 170944127727.jpg - (355.07KB , 1000x614 , devouring stew.jpg )

Mirrak: "It's going to be strange, robolds staying in one place. I mean, we're moving down but that doesn't count. Ooh but just think of the stuff we can build now! Shops and stores, maybe even a market, we'll get so many new customers!"

Solfar: "Eh, what customers? We don't even know if there's anyone on this world besides us."

Mirrak: The bunnbold waves off the question. "Oh they'll come. I didn't spend years under the nastiest old traders just to end up in the middle of nowhere."

Martah: "Well that's good for the tribe, but what do you want for yourself? myself, I hope we get a good theatre."

Solfar: "And I'd like an arcade."

Martah: "A what?"

Solfar: "Oh, its a place with lots of games and activities. I've never been able to go in one, but they looked amazing." she sighs "I guess I'll never get the chance now."

Martah: "Hey don't say that. We'll build you the best arcade you've ever seen."

Mirrak: "Definitely, the crafters will be all over that as soon as they hear about it." she glances over to the next table, where several of said crafters are scribbling notes and pretending not to eavesdrop. "Ah, they're incorrigible. Well if we're shooting for the moon, I'd really like a bath house, with one of those outdoor steam pools. I've always wanted to spend an evening just soaking, watching the sun go down, holding her close while the world fades away."

Martah: "Ooh, that sounds romantic. I'm sure the Chief would love that."

Mirrak: "Wh- who said anything about the Chief?" she sputters, blushing.

Solfar: "Ee hee hee, so that's why you were so nervous at morning meeting, huh?"

Mirrak: "Agggh, is it that obvious? She was always the bad girl with the radical ideas that we apprentices couldn't be seen with, and now I see her everyday! And she says my name and tells me I'm doing a good job!?" She lets out a shuddering sigh, slumping onto the table. "How can I ever measure up to the bright, shining dream she has for us?" she mutters "I wanna kiss her so bad."

We heard that, silly.

For real, though, you need to start with your critical infrastructure - because you've got so many reality hacks that designing this otherwise-boring task is going to be awesome. Everything's literally falling, so you've got some powerful self-generating energy sources by simply hooking a dynamo to the ground and letting the mass of the city itself power it through gear contact. Same goes for water flow, which can literally be a stationary water tank/purifier that gets dumped wastewater at the top, flows through the filters using its own gravity, and then pours out freely at the bottom.
And that's just using dumb low-level tricks! There's so much you can do to turn this place into "The City That Cannot Lay Down And Finish Falling".

This city has the potential to be literally perpetual, because it involves a reality-defying hack that would likely cost multiple times its production in ongoing energy costs. But you have it, so put it to good use!

Start by getting a bath house built.

Be good at your job, and she'll take notice.

>>1085176
What about you, Martah? Have an eye for anyone?

>>1085180
Sideways windmills could also work as a constant energy source

1/2 Nalthar 2024/03/14(Thu)23:36 No. 1086465 ID: 5ebd37
File 171048457209.jpg - (1.13MB , 1000x800 , good ideas.jpg )

>Be good at your job, and she'll take notice.
>Start by getting a bath house built.
Martah: "Yeah, you're fine Mirrak. You just need a romantic moment to ask her out. So that's our priority then, building a bath house."

Mirrak: "Stop iiiit." she complains, but she's clearly smiling.

Solfar: "hee hee hee"

>What about you, Martah? Have an eye for anyone?
Martah: (Well, as you can probably tell, I'm not much of a kisser. I've spent a few hot nights with some lovely folks, but I just don't have that much drive, you know? I've got my friends, and that's enough for me.)

>hooking a dynamo to the ground and letting the mass of the city itself power it through gear contact
>Sideways windmills could also work as a constant energy source
Martah: "Wow, that sounds like something a people that weren't nomads would have the relevant skills to accomplish! Unless the windmills were made out of bones and tendons, which, hmmm. Maybe?"

Mirrak: "No, Martah. That would just start rotting, and we have more than enough vines and wood. As for this 'dynamo' even if we could make one, the edge of the ground is like a half a mile away. Might be a bit tricky."

Solfar: "I've only repaired machines, not built them, so I don't know how much I could help here. I don't think you have the right metals here."

Mirrak: "Its definitely something to discuss at the next meeting." she stretches and gets to her feet. "But its getting late, so I'll see you two tomorrow."

Solfar: "Good night! ... is that supposed to be a scribble of me?"

Martah: "uhhhh"

2/2 Nalthar 2024/03/14(Thu)23:38 No. 1086466 ID: 5ebd37
File 171048471878.gif - (3.97MB , 1000x800 , morning-two.gif )

An uneventful night passes into the dawn of the second day on this strange new world.
Martah: (You know, you guys don't have to just hang around me all the time. I'm going to be studying those sense organs some more, might be boring for you.)

Who do you want to follow today?
Martah messing around with flesh shaping
Murdoc and the hunters planning an excursion to the ground
Donvan and Jormun trying to figure out this wurm's whole deal
Solfar doing... something
>>1080192 Or one of these weirdos

>>1086465
>not much of a kisser
My brother in Christ, you are a fleshbender. Even if your normal mouth is cursed, life finds a way.
I suppose if you feel using a grafted mouth doesn't count, that's fair.

>>1086466
We may be of use to the ground expedition. Our third-person perspective can often help with picking up details in the area that might otherwise be missed, like threats hiding from the host's line of sight but not ours'.

Let's follow murdoc for a bit

>>1086476
I agree.

We can spread the knowledge gained but also there may be things more visible to spirits than the scouts.

...i wonder if there are local spirit forms too?

1/2 Nalthar 2024/03/29(Fri)22:17 No. 1087438 ID: 5ebd37
File 171177585212.jpg - (48.38KB , 1000x800 , edge of the wurm.jpg )

>Even if your normal mouth is cursed, life finds a way.
Martah: (Yeah well... no, you're right. I've had this curse for a long time, and I've let it kind of control my life. Sillah has been helping me build up my self esteem, but I keep falling into old habits, assuming folks will reject me and so isolating myself. I am getting better though, really.

So uhhh, I'm gonna go now. See you later!)

Martah scurries off to do weird things with organs. We now join the hunters' planning session already in progress.

Mishkah: "-didn't save his legs now did it? And how would we set one of those up when we're falling out of the sky? C'mon now people, we need good ideas, good ideas."

Off to the side of this rabble stand Grishkah and Murdoc, peering over the edge.
Murdoc: "I don't think these wing suits are going to be enough. Even if we clear the forest how will we land at that speed?"

Grishkah: "Couldn't you just" He mimes a shallow arc. "Like down and then up? How did you do it in the mountains?"

Murdoc: "About like that, yes, but never over such distances." She glances up. "Oh, its you lot. I don't suppose any of you have experience with flying? PItreh wants us exploring further out, but the forest is giving us trouble."

2/2 Nalthar 2024/03/29(Fri)22:19 No. 1087439 ID: 5ebd37
File 171177596179.jpg - (1.04MB , 1000x800 , map valley improved.jpg )

Grishkah: "The portal is about a mile across, and Jormun is a quarterish mile wide, so gliding to the ground is no problem. It's just that the forest is jam-packed with wicked cool beasts, which have thus far proven impassable. This entire valley is dense forest, coniferous trees and many mosses and ferns. It seems as though the mountains all shed their water on this side, so the plantlife is flourishing. It's practically a jungle! But that makes progress slow and gives predators cover."

Murdoc: "Exploration aside, if we can't hunt that's going to put a lot of pressure on the farm team. Robolds have never been farmers, so I don't expect we can rely on them so soon. We still have a fair store of food from the old world, so its not a crisis yet. I just don't like feeling trapped here."

>>1087439
The top portal is pretty high up... How far could a kobold glide if they exited the portal at the top and went as far out as possible?

Has anyone gone up above the top portal to see what's on the other side? Most likely case is that it leads to the ground under the bottom portal, which wouldn't be super helpful but at least gives us an option for how to land-- it's easier to use a bit of velocity to fly up above the top portal than it is to slow down and land normally from high up.

>Robolds are not farmers
Okay. How about ranchers? You can trade in optimized farm animals for crops from the local towns.
Ranching means you just need to set up defenses and boundaries for the grazing livestock. They'll do the 'farming' for you.

Probably not the best idea, but what about fire? It'd help clear out areas for excursions and keep predators away. Plus, the updrafts from the heat would help increase the distance one could glide. Wouldn't have to worry about the fire getting out of control if the area is so green as well. Would maybe take devising some firebombs and some designated spots to target

Why. yes. I have experience flying. First, you pay for your ticket... oh wait.

>>1087439
You need a staging post.

Pick a convenient natural clearing, expand on that. Wooden fence and minor earthworks like a ditch with spikes sunk and facing outwards.
A couple of rudimentary tents for rest and storage.
Torches around the perimeter at night.

This will give you a clear, safe landing point, allow for extended expeditions and provide a secure rest and storage point for gathered supplies.

Anything found, foraged or hunted could be stored there and left to a seperate team to ferry back to the city.
Hunter focus on hunting, loggers and foragers on their work.
A team of your strongest can respond to a raised flag from the camp and travel down to make pick ups or drop offs.
Specialisation for efficiency.

Yeah, expand a clearing and start fortifying it.

Is there any quick modifications on the workers you can do to help with tree chopping? Or maybe just beef up the hunters to help fend off beasts.

>>1087439
Getting back up to the portals might be a concern as well, no? Do you have any plans or equipment in place for that already?

If not, we'll need to establish some infrastructure below. Securing a landing site, building something like a lift and pulley system to get back up or transport supplies. A lift system that tall will take a long time and space to build safely.

1/3 Nalthar 2024/04/15(Mon)21:07 No. 1088886 ID: 5ebd37
File 171324047168.jpg - (69.71KB , 1000x800 , considering bodily harm.jpg )

>How far could a kobold glide if they exited the portal at the top and went as far out as possible?
Murdoc: "From the top portal we are five miles up. Or four? I can't really tell, but its quite high either way. So plenty of range, it's the landing I'm worried about.
Now I'm not one to shy away from dashing myself upon the rocks. Done it a few times, it's not so bad. But I'd just as soon not rely on a shaper being on hand to resurrect at the very outset of our expedition."

>what about fire?
Grishkah: "Not a bad idea, this forest is very wet so it wouldn't spread too far. But by that same token It will take some doing to get a good blaze going. Maybe just a torch fence to start."

>How about ranchers?
Grishkah: "Quite a few beasts got caught when the portal opened. We've got a team sorting out the ones we captured alive. They should have a report by the next meeting."

Murdoc: "I popped in for a minute this morning and its a madhouse. They'll have their hands full finding anything domesticable in that lot."

>You need a staging post.
>Yeah, expand a clearing and start fortifying it.
Grishkah: "Sigh, so straightforward, but its the best plan for the moment. Needs more action though, more beast fighting."

Murdoc: "No, shut it, it's a great plan. Establish a foot hold and work from there, and it will keep the hunters busy before they go tearing off into the woods for sport. Come on, we'll do a flyover now and pick out a likely spot."

>Getting back up to the portals might be a concern as well, no? Do you have any plans or equipment in place for that already?
Murdoc: "I mean, we'll be right next to the lower portal so, we can just hop back in. Jormun is falling much slower than terminal velocity, so it's easy to catch up."

>Has anyone gone up above the top portal to see what's on the other side?
Grishkah: "The top? Of course, why didn't we think to check before?"

Murdoc: "Well here comes the portal, lets go find out."

3/3 Nalthar 2024/04/15(Mon)21:09 No. 1088888 ID: 5ebd37
File 171324057509.gif - (534.15KB , 1000x800 , little-clearings.gif )

Grishkah: "Aghl-aghl-aghl-aghhh!"

Murdoc: "Well that's a no go. Guess it has a shield to keep people from messing with it.

Anyway, lets pick a landing point. There's a long, narrow clearing with a stream, a small clearing with dark spots, and a large clearing with a sandy area. Also there's a big square rock that might make a nice high ground."

Aim for the clearing with sand

>>1088888
Dont trust those spots in the open field.
Rock looks very defensible but very visible.
That said, jormy is probably getting all the attention so that's lesser of an issue.
Fresh stream might be a good start point for game trails.

I say go with the sandy patch clearing.
More room to work with.
There could be something lurking in the sand like some kind of horrific giant antlion, but thats a positive to some of the more hunthungry folk.

I couldn't quite tell what the shield does. Is it like a trampoline or something?
The sand seems like it might work for a landing zone. It's softer then landing on rocks that's for sure. How are we going to handle water supplies in the staging post? Regular deliveries?

You know, I just realized I don't know how close to the ground the portal down there is. Does it actually cut into the ground to make a "hole"? Where did all the stuff that was there go, in that case...?

>>1088899
Good point, sand would cushion the landing.

Hmm. I'm inclined to go with either the rock or the sand, though I'm wondering about things hiding in the sand. How's your water supply, though? Would the river be notably useful?

>>1088888
I say go with the rock, who knows what those dark spots are, the sand could conceal all manner of horrible burrowing monstrosities, and while fresh water is nice the stream isn't really shaped in a way to make for a good defensive barrier.