Mythic Planning

We go through and plan everything out. We all have to end up as Heirophants - which works well for me: I am a Divine Caster, and Inspired Spell rocks - but doesn't work nearly as well for anyone else (Spheres of Power doesn't do the Arcane/Divine/Psychic divide, and doesn't have the same spell mechanisms referenced by the ability)... and the other options for the base Hierophant ability aren't any more useful (Recalled Blessing also requires spell slots, while Beast's Fury requires one of a list of class features to be useful… and is pretty lackluster). Feat-wise everyone plans to take the Dual Path Mythic feat at tier 1 and the Mythic Paragon feat at tier 3 so we can do the chain without loss. Path wise, everyone (else) plans on Divine Source three times… which gives a nice suite of spell-like abilities and enables the chain. Everyone agrees that Many Forms rocks, and nabs that as well. We all do a Mythic tradition: The right Curse is harmless when Aligned Outsiders pretty much aren't a thing, so it's an essentially free boon. The choice we all grab is of course Expertise, which allows us all to grab a nice class feature… and that's pretty much all our Mythic builds have in common.

Alice picks up a Synthesist Summoner's Eidolon via Expertise, and picks abilities to complement that, plus some things to help with investigations. Adam goes with a Phantom from the Spiritualist, giving himself a pet meatshield (who will be able to walk through walls) but otherwise picks options remarkably similarly to Alice. Tina grabs the Fused Bone Commander from the Skullshield Necromancer of Final Fantasy D20, and goes for supporting it combat-wise.

…and eventually Alice and Adam go on to work, leaving me alone with Tina for the day (she could go home, but no… SO MANY QUESTIONS).

“Why can't I see your hover text?”

“I don't know.”

“How'd you get the power?”

“I literally can't say.”

“Really?”

“Really.”

“Why can you see our sheets?”

“I don't know.”

“What's your build?”

“Complicated.”

…and in, and on, and on. I mean, I get it: Literal Magic. Of course she's curious. I am too. But half the answers are either “I don't know” or “I can't say”, while most of the rest are either invasively personal or not things I want people knowing because I kind of made myself a puzzle monster and do NOT want anyone untangling how to keep me dead.

I end up taking her on a trip to explore the grounds (what is UP with this huge plot of land with a ‘house’ that's basically a small fortress?) with the nominal purpose of hunting things for experience points (which we do: There's no shortage of rats to slay, and the dead bodies attract crows… although we have to hide the bodies of the crows, because nothing keeps crows away as well as dead crows… and they're worth more than the rats).

Partway through our hunt, we stumble across a manhole cover that has an old rusted lock at the edge of the property. Partly because I have little better to do, and partly because I want to get away from the nattering, I look at Tina, “I'm going to head down there, because I'm curious about this place.”

Unfortunately, “It does look intriguing… I'll come along.” Oh well… I leave my two summons out to hunt more wild vermin. I… should get the XP for stuff they kill? Eh.

I rip the rusted lock off and climb down easily (the Expertise from my single Mythic rank works just as well as the full set does, and yes, includes a climb speed… although actual checks are harder without the ability to always get a twenty). It's pretty deep, at least a hundred feet. There's a small concrete room at the bottom, with a door that looks like it's intended to hold out water… although the ground here drains well, so it hardly matters: There's barely any rust on the ladder.

The door has a lock, so I summon a toolkit and get to work… only to figure out after a bit that the thing isn't just locked: It's welded shut. Not just a quick weld, either: They ran a bead all the way around the thing. If the seal that this kind of door has internally failed, it would STILL be airtight… but there is a window, and I have the Warp sphere.

I look back at Tina (the Darkvision from my Eidolon rocks), “So… the door is very sealed, and airtight. I can get through, and I don't need air, but you still do.”

“I'll… wait up top, I guess,” she looks up, “I can't see much down here anyway.”

I nod and smile, “I'll make sure to make a full report to everyone once I'm back.” Finally!

I Warp past the door, and find… oh, the air smells stale, but okay. There's a short hallway with another water-blocking door, also welded shut. On the other side of that, it's lit up, and when I go through… it's a farm, and the air smells ridiculously fresh.

I look around: A big, abandoned, underground farm. The ceiling height varies: it's basically a whole mess of vaulted ceilings supported by some pretty hefty pillars… and it looks like the place is about a square mile…. and I'm right at the edge… ah, almost the entire space under Alice's lot. The ceiling is brightly lit, but the lights look weird: Glass blocks behind more glass, with no wires in sight. It irks me, so I cast a few detection spells, they don't cost me anything.

Detect Magic: Nothing.

Technomancy: Nada.

Detect Radiation: Bingo. The Engineering skill from Starfinder fills in some details: Ionizing radiation from some isotope interacting with gasses to trigger fluorescence. Those lights will stay lit for centuries, maybe millenia. Life Science tells me that all the plants here are edible, and appear to have been selected to accommodate human nutritional needs. It's a giant terrarium, designed to supply food for like a thousand people for generations.

There's an oversized column in the center… a building that stretches from floor to ceiling, around the size of Alice's house… ah. Of course. The main entrance will be somewhere in there: The entry I took was just an old escape hatch. But why was it sealed? Hmm… eh, may as well.

I start walking towards the building….