hey, just stopping by to ask for advice. our session's Space player died, Land's dead, all that, but we can't find their pendant and frog breeding isn't done yet. Running theory is that it's in the Underworld somewhere, as our Seer (Seer of Hope) has something of a hunch (his hunches are pretty reliable and it's better than nothing, also, see ahead).
Thing is, the angels are still mucking about down there, haven't left for some reason. First party sent down there fled in a hurry because those things are MAD. Not sure if our Space player was in cahoots with them or this is just a weird glitch, but they aren't leaving and are extremely violent towards anything that isn't one of them. We think they're clustering around the corpse.
We've tried luring them out by drawing aggro of one or two at a time, scattering them with explosives, and we've managed to kill a couple but this is about as far from ideal as it gets, short of the pendant being dropped into the Forge or something.
Any tips for dealing with this? We can't progress until we get the pendant, and none of us have the stealth or firepower to get it back alone.
Session members: Grace of Space, Seer of Hope, Thief of Might (me), Dame of Flow, Smith of Time, Sylph of Dreams.
In the interest of satisfying your query, I'll answer assuming the Pendant is in fact in the Underworld. The only sidenote before beginning is just a "final double check" of sorts. Even if your resident huncher is generally reliable, "a hunch" is far from conclusive. If "a hunch" is how he (mis)understands or conceptualizes his Seer abilities, then fine. But the majority of final deaths are the result of players trying to do a "solo act" and ending up not having back-up when they needed it. Final messages over chat or in person, notes left in their house, disconcerting behavior, did any evidence point towards them going anywhere but the Underworld? If so, you don't need to go in there. If not, then carry on.
The Angels sticking in the Underworld is indeed unusual behavior. Final death usually results in the "cardiac arrest" of the Heart of the Land (AKA the fake underground sun stops working), and since the Angels are attracted to the Heart, they usually disperse and eventually despawn like everything does in a Dead Land. If the Heart is still active, that's very strong evidence your Grace of Space is alive and your Seer of Hope's dumb hunches are dumb. It could also be a glitch but "it's a glitch" is kind of the coward answer and you shouldn't rely on "things bad because bugs" unless you're truly slamming your head against a wall. Sometimes things are weird.
If the Angels aren't leaving, option one is make them. The fact that you implied you've been able to kill any is impressive, so worst comes to worst, apply cranium directly to brick structure. But the game has a built-in mechanism for it. Sneak in there, but instead of beelining for where you think the body is, go for the underground temples and ruins. Then start smashing stuff. Make bombs to expedite the process. If your vandalism is accompanied with the dying screeches of Angels, that means things are working and you need to keep it up.
If that truly isn't working, then it looks like the only other option is in fact "do the same things you were doing, but better", AKA brick meet skull. You did make the mistake of implying that violence is an option, albeit a shitty and ineffective one. Fortunately, I think there's still a better option, but unfortunately you made another mistake by telling me your Title. You're a Thief, a selfish class very geared towards stealth. And your Aspect is Might, which not only bolsters attempts to face problems head-on but outright grows stronger the more adversity they face. I'm sorry, but you're the ideal candidate for this mission, and it's a mission you're going to have to take alone. Make plans with everyone, treat it like a heist, alchemize whatever sneaking, evasion, and extraction gear you need. Gain advisory from your Seer of Hope and any tech support from the Smith of Time you can. And then plunge in there. If this is some fucked-up variant of an Angry Land, the Angels should calm down once you touch the Pendant.
Upsides, your RP Value is going to skyrocket if you pull this off. Downsides, do not think of them. It's either this, heavier artillery, making sure the Pendant isn't in there, or waiting for your Session to die.
ALSO MORE "FINAL DRASTIC MEASURES" IN CASE THE PENDANT ISN'T THERE OR YOU END UP DYING (unlikely!)
The idea that the Pendant got dropped in the Forge is pretty silly. Ignoring how that's a suicidally bad decision, even getting into a position where you could do that (or begin thinking about it) is pretty unlikely. If that is the case though, just find a way to become immune to lava, simple as.
If the Pendant is just flat-out missing (unlikely!), you could just perform the Space player's duties. You'll suck at them, because you don't intuitively understand how it works, but that's all ownership of the Pendant does. Transfer intuitive knowledge of how to perform duties. Granted, doing a half-assed job of Frog-Breeding is pretty bad, but better than no ass.
Did you check the Skaian Magicant? Also a dumb place to leave a Pendant, but "my seer blindly guessed it was in the underworld" still sounds stupid (and unlikely!) and there's a non-0% chance their "hunch" got scrambled in transit to the Magicant (because scrambling things is what the Magicant does), so check there.
If none of the above works and your session is well and truly fucked, deal with it. Try making a deal with one of your Denizens, Scratch the session, hop inside of a battleship and fling yourself into the Furthest Ring to personally shake my hand and say "hey I'm a fuck-up too". The most unlikely of the unlikelys, but things sounds pretty grim over there. Just assume this is wild doomerposting unless every single other option has been shut down.