conversations: human
conversations:  "Welcome to my invention. Welcome to my world. Welcome to the game." 
  
  With this voice still ringing in your ears, you make your way to the centre of the city, with the orc you now know as Durra leading you to it. All about you, you see people leaving their work to greet you and heap praise upon you. Whether or not you are worthy of this is something that you suppose shall be revealed later.
  
   "Welcome to my invention." 
  
  Who could come up with this? A world torn into warring nations, not a single one at all like any other, and this... the gravity still takes some getting used to; if what you believe is true when you get to the centre you will be able to walk around the sphere without ever feeling that you're upside-down. Whichever way qualifies as "Up" anyway.
  
   "Welcome to my world." 
  
  And these people have to live in this world? This world that if this person's simple greeting is to be believed is just a creation of an overactive imagination? Who would make this?
  
   "Welcome to the game." 
  
  And is this just a game? Who would make all this just to laugh at the poor people who had to live there? None of this makes sense.
  
  Your thoughts are interrupted as you reach the city centre.
conversations: Jormengand:
conversations: human
conversations:  X'il glanced at the cowering subjects and grimaced. Here there were plenty of souls who were like him and subjects that threw off their Illithad masters. Yet they didn't seem capable of advancing as he has... Was that a part of the game? His blood red gears turned within his flesh and the azure lines of his embedded armor as he pondered this new situation.
  He looked over the fungi, heard the complaints of a food source, and began to formulate a plan. He'd need to do something somewhat noteworthy in order to improve on the beasts he could create currently. In the mean time he cleared away what things could have survived several centuries alone and satisfied one of the duties as he entered what was once the brain chamber. He then turned to Durra and said, his voice sounding like the skittering of insects and triggering a primal fear within her of the illithads not really being gone but reborn in their new leader  "Inform the citizens. The chamber is ours. I will begin work on the food problem, send scouts to the lands around us and tell them to report back their findings." 
conversations: Gunhaven:
conversations: human
conversations:  Durra nodded and fled the room to tell the people. Her steps come from all directions as she navigates her way out of the gravity maze, which you suppose she must have done more than once. You are left alone, the nearest people being those who are working a couple of layers above you. Whatever qualifies as "Above" right now, anyway.
conversations: Jormengand:
conversations: human
conversations:  X'il began to work on his companion. His hands reached into his simple sack, pulling out flesh from past kills as he worked it into a rough ball in the center of the city's mass. From this mass of muscle he added the muscles of a lion to give it the ability to pounce, fueled by the blood of a troll to keep it going. Five limbs were created. Four with barbs that would catch prey, equipped with muscles to crush the life, one with the barest resemblance of a nose to find prey that tried to hide. He then split open the basic form and worked in bones of a blink dog to give it the ability to reach any prey, no matter the distance. In the central mass he finally added an eye, yet not an eye, that would sense the feet of those that attempted to bypass it's sense of smell. Over the entire thing he coated it with the captured smoke of an invisible stalker, the beast disappearing from view. To it he said in an ancient and forgotten tongue  "I name you  Yif'fo. " 
conversations: Gunhaven:
conversations: human
conversations:  Yif'fo looks back up at you, and half-grins, half-grimaces.
  
  Now, what to do?
conversations: Jormengand:
conversations: human
conversations:  X'il gazed upon the writings of old, the hieroglyphs used by his and their former masters shifting to a form he could understand. He nodded at the idea of a lottery system and stepped out of the center. He walked to the senate hall and burst through the doors. To those leaders present he said in that same skittering way  "I have gazed upon the writings of old and have a solution to the lack of variety. I will begin the lottery system of old and claim one of your representatives every five years. First round of drafts are from Block 1 through 10. The chosen will report to the center to be turned into the prototype models."  With that he left and returned to prepare for those randomly chosen souls to be put to the knife.
conversations: Gunhaven:
conversations: human
conversations:  Sure enough, the lotteries are resolved quickly, and those who have been chosen are shepherded to you, ready for whatever awaits them.
conversations: Jormengand:
conversations: human
conversations:  Yif'fo awaited each one, jumping and pouncing at them in turn and ending their lives in a fine mist. X'il gathered the resulting viscera and set to work. The creatures had no need for intelligence, will, or charisma. They hardly had need to move or sense their surroundings. With enough corners cut he could get the beasts created. Soon he found that the viscera was hardly needed as he continued to create a small herd, leaving once he had forty of the newest horrors to reveal to the masses.
   
   Spoiler: Creating a Monster 
   (14d4+14)[ 47 ]  Graft Points (I'm assuming I can get an extra 4 HD from some higher commoners)
  Stats: 12/12/18/0/2/2 (+60)
  Torso (-15), Air Tasting Mouth (-5), Absent Many Crawling Legs (-14), Trembling Acute Eye (-6), Reproduce (-20). Zeroes out!
  
  If I get enough I'll trade out the eye for an extra HD (although HDs cost 25*1.5-9=28.5 points)
   
conversations: Gunhaven:
conversations: human
conversations:  You create your hideous abominations, and they skitter to life, ready to serve.
conversations: Jormengand:
conversations: human
conversations:  X'il awaited what felt like a day for the scouts before he left his sanctum. Yif'fo remained at his side, if any of his subjects could tell such was the case. He approached Austen Fir to see what the progress was from the citizen that pushed for it in the first place.
conversations: Gunhaven:
conversations: human
conversations:  You approach Austen, who nods as you approach. "How can I help, sir?"
conversations: Jormengand:
conversations: human
conversations:  With a motion to the nearest exit from the city X'il said  "What have your scouts found? I have need for more parts and will slaughter your citizens if I must."  His tone remained the same yet the fact that he just slaughtered ten citizens to start the creation of his beasts was sign enough that he'd kill a thousand citizens if he had to.
conversations: Gunhaven:
conversations: human
conversations:  "Sir. If you wait just a little longer, we can bring you what they have gathered from hunting. I would advise not taking too more citizens - we've had riots before, and they're inevitably more trouble than they're worth." He shifts from side to side, uncomfortable in your presence.
conversations: Jormengand:
conversations: human
conversations:  With a curt nod, X'il says  "Very well. I will await your report in my chamber. When you are next in the senate tell them that I wish to repurpose the dying and dead instead of ending the lives of random citizens."  With that he returned to his chambers and began to translate the runes to a language the Psions could understand so that they could look into this possibility of imposing further gravity changes on their expansions or holdings.
conversations: Gunhaven:
conversations: human
conversations:  A scout returns within the hour, bearing some kind of creature you don't recognise - large, and dead. "Sir. Austen sends his regards. He's currently co-ordinating the return of the rest of the scouts. If you wish to speak with him personally, I can send a message for him to come here, or I can relay new orders. Otherwise, the current plan is for us to come as we arrive with whatever we have."
conversations: Jormengand:
conversations: human
conversations:  X'il nodded his thanks and began to chop up the corpse for parts. While he worked he said  "The current plan is acceptable. Relay that any finds made while I am out of the chamber are to be left within with a note scrawled about the find. If I have further questions for the scout then I will find them; otherwise they may return to their households or the field. For example: Where did you find this creature and how difficult was it to kill? Was it unique or part of a herd? Have you, or anyone else, have a clue what it is?" 
   
   Spoiler: Extraction 
  Using Palatable Carrion Extraction to start gaining Perfection bonuses from all these corpses. Aberrations or Outsider grant a +2, otherwise +1 to what they have ranks in or racial bonuses to.
  
  Also how many HD does this have so I can gather up some more bits and bobs?
   
conversations: Gunhaven: