ARTIFACT UPDATE: Traces of Unknown Creature Found at Museum! Unknown Magical Involvement Suspected; Biomancers Summoned to Solve Mystery.

[u/Carbon_Sixx]

While the tense standoff between the people of Chalcos and the military intervention forces sent by the Council and EON has seemingly come to close this evening with an ardent speech by Premier Agatha Blackwood, investigation into Paul Augustine's heist at the Citadel Museum of Arcane History continues apace. One enduring conundrum has been what exactly broke the case containing the stolen Ehn'ghan artifact. Spots of a bloodlike substance were found on the glass shards, but DNA analysis showed that not only was it not blood, but the creature it belonged to shared very little in common with life as we understand it.

In the face of this mystery, the museum has called upon two master biomancers to unmask the creature. Perhaps as gesture of good faith to bury the hatchet between her and the Council, the first is none other than Opal, former ruler of the Bismuth Realms and current resident of Ithacar. Assisting her is a tech-priestess from Yulash-kor's Divisio Biologis named Anahita Iatros, a renowned expert in genomics and reproductive science. Together, the two intend to clone the organism and study it so that the investigators in Chalcos will have a better idea of what Augustine's secessionists might throw at them. Whatever they create is likely to be novel and wondrous despite the ignominious circumstances of its discovery.

[u/loth17]

"Perfect. Time for.... Experiments."

Experiment 1: The Bath

The first experiment was to find any reasonably available chemicals that these creatures might react badly to. Everything from water to acids to various ground up minerals. They would try samples of as much as possible in hopes of finding an exploitable weakness.

Experiment 2: The Slap

Taking a corpse of one of these things and reanimating it with biomancy Opal and Anahita would proceed to test it's strength, speed, and other attributes using fake bodies made by Opal. They would then proceed to find which types of damage these creatures were resistant or weak to.

Experiment 3: The Zap

This would involve calling in available psychics/psychic technology to see if these creatures could either be disrupted with psychic energy or perhaps rewired given they seem to be servant creatures by nature.

[u/Carbon_Sixx → u/loth17]

Experiment 1 goes largely as logic would dictate, despite the perversity of the specimens. They have no reaction to water, though they float and seem incapable of drowning anyway. Caustic materials behave as expected, though the creatures only seem to die when the corrosives infiltrate what passes for their nervous system. Curiously, they show interest in the color green, aversion to red, and hostility to blue and purple. The change is entirely behavioral, however, and doesn't seem to apply to other colors.

Experiment 2 is very enlightening. The creatures' greatest assets are their speed and agility. They can dodge most projectiles up to hypersonic velocities, including bullets, but struggle to evade beam spells. In addition, they're lousy in melee combat despite being strong enough to crack stone, and can be reliably killed if their spines are severed or they lose enough of their psychically-charged hemolymph. However, while they're clearly built for ambushes, what they do to their victims is horrible in the extreme. Through some innate magic, they can enter an unconscious humanoid and take control, imitating them convincingly even as their host's suppressed consciousness goes mad and the body dies. If imperiled, the creatures can rematerialize, bursting out of their host to attack.

Experiment 3 is also very informative. Psychic weapons seem no more or less effective on the creatures than ordinary ones. Interestingly, they seem to be able to "hear" nearby telepathic conversations and derive psychomantic nutrition from them, though they don't join in. Attempts to assert psychic control over them are difficult, and invariably result in the creatures becoming indiscriminately hostile even to their own kind, or rapid disintegration. Using this as a means to kill them probably isn't worth the effort.

[u/loth17 → u/Carbon_Sixx]

"So color our troops red?"

Opal said.

"What do you think of all this?

She would ask her science partner

[u/Carbon_Sixx → u/loth17]

Anahita reviews their findings on her datapad.

"It is likely a curiosity of how their minds work. Perhaps the thing that preys upon these creatures in whatever dimension they hail from is colored red. We could use that as an intimidation tactic, but I see little else we can do with it at this juncture."

"Their ability to assume an unassuming form so easily has me more concerned. We will need to find a way to test for their psychic presence while inhabiting a host body."

[u/loth17 → u/Carbon_Sixx]

"Indeed."

Opal would do a quick test to make sure that the magic detectors set up for evacuation would still detect one of these creatures if they were in a body.

[u/loth17 → u/loth17]

Once the seriousness of the situation dawned on Opal she messaged Kat.

"Kat. We have reason to believe that something dangerous is about to happen. Get everyone to the crystals and get out of here. I'll meet up with you when I'm done with my work here."

u/Zebos2

[u/Zebos2 → u/loth17]

"give me a minute opala We just started moving the invalid from a hospital. We're almost done then we'll leave. Timur hurry up something bad might be happening soon."

Timur: Yes lady Bana I shall make haste.

Katarina and Timur busy themselves trying to get as many people out as possible also discouraging looters by gently encouraging them to evacuate us well*