>>7955181
I think weve been horrifying enough for now.

>>7955181
"Y'see what you did there, that thing where you hurt and possibly killed our friend? You can't do that. It's not nice. And when you do something like that to me or my friends, I have to do not-nice things to you, like what happened to the Forusian and Ull. But I don't like being not nice. So really, it's up to you; are you going to make me do mean things to you and your friend there?"

lets have the intelligence twins figure out what to do with them.

>>7955207
Agreed. We are not a monster

I bet racial prejudices/expectations are colouring this guy's reaction to us, and we're probably playing to it.

IIRC, Frost Giants are Big Blue People Eaters.

>>7955216
I second summoning the intelligence twins. I wanna know if we should expect more, and how soon.

Is the mage in any danger of dropping dead soon. I dont want to lose a possible asset like that.

We should gesture for some of the villagers to strip them of their belongings - though Lark should be the only one frisking the mages gear.

>>7955181
WEll, they had better hope and pray to god that Kel pulls through.

Even better, maybe they have somrthing healy to help him. They ARE adventurers after all. Got a wand, or some pots?

>>7955216
Third summoning intelligence twins. They know the correct way to handle this situation. Is this divination likely to be done again? If so, we need to go underground.

I doubt he'll pull anything the instant we turn our back. Let's leave him for now and go ask Lark how Kel is doing. Quietly.

Also if we do lock them up somewhere, make sure that its secure and is not guarded by a single sleepy villager.
We should make them explore our caverns if we keep them alive.

rolled 2, 4, 3 = 9

The remaining hunters and the soldiers are running toward you. You can see where they exited the forest, leaving three boars bleeding at the edge. They weren't here. You were.

“You hurt one of my friends. I don't like it when people do that. It's not nice.”

The chains slacken. The mage is cowering in fear, a thin trickle of blood running down his skin as the aura subsides. The color returns to his face.

“When you do things that aren't nice, I have to do not-nice things to you, like with your two friends there. But I don't like doing that.”

The chains break, evaporating before your eyes.

“So, are you going to be nice? Or should I...?” You snap your fingers.

The mage nods vigorously, wiping the blood off his face with his sleeve.

You point to Kel again. “I don't want him to die. Do something about it.”

He literally leaps off his horse, spreading his arms just as the hunters and soldiers reach you.

>>7955323
>Implying we'd be stupid enough not to get the hunters to guard them in shifts.

Give us some credit.

We also really need to talk to lark about heat resistance magic/armor or somesuch. It's like the third time we've face fire.

>>7955351
To be fair, I doubt the armor would have helped, since we were up against magic fire. But it's still a good idea.

>>7955234

Good point - obviously we can't expect miracles, but at this point they are basically ours so we lose nothing by attempting to be diplomatic.

I'd suggest (after the interrogation and suchlike) that a suitable punishment is for them to work the fields (under supervision) and help out around the village for a period of time. If they are the trustworthy/humble roots/decent kind of adventurer then this might be the best way to win them over to our way of thinking.

Of course - this depends on the villagers and on Kel's condition.

Either we kill them or we make them our tool.

>>7955341
Just the reaction I was hoping for.

Also, is there a god/goddess of winter in this world? Preferably a good aligned one...

I'm still not sure we can leave these two aggressors alive. What would they say or do once they left? We'd be finished. And this time they have two corpses to prove our existence and depravity.

rolled 6, 1, 4 = 11

>>7955386
You will ask, when all this is over.

>>7955351
I thought we did a rather good job with our cold aura this time around. Massively dropping our local temperature seems like decent protection from fire, after all. It could have been the good dieroll that managed that rather than any exceptional skill on our part, though.

I was hoping that there was a paladin in the group, but since the swordan guy passed out in terror, I'm guessing not.

At least a pally would go "I detect ev- hey, wait a minute..."

>>7955389

Agreed. There are serious problems if we keep them alive. How to keep their mouth's shut when they leave is one problem. Also we'd have to guard them in that case along with convincing the villagers that it is a good idea. I'm not sure the villagers would like to keep prisoners.

rolled 3, 4, 6 = 13

The hunters and the twins run to Kel, while Eron loads his crossbow. He's aiming at the mage.

A great, purple light shines down upon the broken body in front of you, penetrating to its very core. For an instant, you can see his heart beat. You can see his bones mend. With a final flash of glimmering violet, he springs awake.

The mage falls backwards, hitting the ground hard. He's alive, but out cold.

>>7955440
We definitely need to turn the Mage somehow and make him loyal...

>>7955389
Oh like we'd give them the corpses. Besides, who said anything about letting them go? But seriously, I'd say ask what the bounty is, and if it's not too extreme we give them, oh say, half of it in gems to keep their moths shut. And work up some mumbo-jumbo about how we'd be able to tell if they ever betrayed us. We just did crazy shit with magic, so it's not totally unbelievable.

inb4 people still think it's a bad idea.

>>7955440

Will that count as him having redeemed himself?

And what will we do with the unconscious man?

>>7955440
Strong magic. Lets get them inside where it's warm and they can sleep.

With guard, of course.

rolled 3, 6, 3 = 12

What are you going to do? There is no immediate threat, and with both of the remaining adventurers unconscious, dealing with them is simple.

>>7955359

Magic Ice Armour - perhaps tied to our Cold Aura.

Can we make different kinds of Ice? Like dry ice - it sublimating directly into CO2 could be a potentially awesome suffocation weapon/fire extinguisher. (for example, there was a town near a lake in... africa I think... that was wiped out when CO2 trapped in the lakebed was released and flooded the valley they were in)

Can we also shatter ice into fragments to help it melt?

>>7955440
We should probably deactivate our combat spells at this point.

>>7955506
Consult the Intelligence Twins. Get a threat assessment of recurrence/more adventurers/estimated timelines.

>>7955499
I'd like to vote for this course of action.

rolled 6, 1, 6 = 13

>>7955508
You can manipulate ice pretty much however you wish, but things you haven't done before (like making an axe) are more difficult and take more energy.

>>7955515
They're off.

>>7955522

Seconded. Their advice should be invaluable. Also consult village leaders and infantry dude. They all have good advice and a stake in this...

>>7955522
Thirded.

>>7955506

Cuff them or bind them and take them into a safe house to be guarded.

Alternatively, take them to the cave; keep ice binds on them. Since it's a mage, we may well have a better chance of keeping in control than the village folk.

the mage only healed kel to save himself.
I'm not in favour of killing them though.

They said they were just in it for the money so is there a way of paying them for their services to train our villagers and is there some kind of forgetfulness spell we can learn to make them get lost when they try to find the village without our people showing them.

We must also find out if we can block diviners from finding us as well

>>7955506

Have Lark secure the Mage - he'd know best.

It'd be best if we maintain the crushing superiority we have displayed thus far.

If we want to be nice - then clean and bandaged wounds, replace their clothing with homespun and put them under watch in one of the houses.

If we don't then that's easy - the leader is tied to the waterwheel etc etc.

If we wanna convert them - are there any forms of binding magical oaths that we can demand of the mage?

How magic is our magic? Can we summon an unlimited amount of ice without having that much water nearby? Can we ride an ice bridge that never collapses under its own weight and miraculously pulls us along as we make it, like Iceman? Or do we just make things cold?

So anyway, I just realized that we killed two people. How is that effecting us psychologically? Or has the full impact not hit us yet?

rolled 4, 4, 5 = 13

“We should take them inside. Guard them.”

Right now, there is no one who really wants to disagree with you. A few of the stronger men pick up the swordsman and the mage, and carry them into the Hall, laying them on the long table inside. Under your watchful eyes, they are gentle, though their looks tell you that they would rather not be. After making sure that Kel is all right, the other hunters take some of the farmers with them to guard your prisoners, and Lark to see about their injuries.

Eron stows his crossbow and comes up to you, while you lower yourself to one knee in front of the bearded hunter.

“Are you...?” you gaze softens. He raises an arm, patting you on the knee.

“I'll be fine. Now, at least.” He looks past you, at the blood-splattered ground, littered with parts of your enemies. “But I missed the party.”

You find it in yourself to laugh quietly as you help him up.

Eron looks at you with a conflicted expression, as if he doesn't know quite what to say, but he finds the words. “Thank you, Maya.” He offers you a hand. “Thank you.”

You take it, shaking his with your vastly oversized blue fingers, and shaking it. You've done well.

>>7955667
We need to kill some mammoths or something and have a fucking feast. Also mead. Metric tons of mead.

>>7955533

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dry_ice#Dry_ice_bombs

We already have Ice Grenades - but if we can create Dry Ice then that opens up some interesting possibilities.

rolled 2, 4, 1 = 7

>>7955594
You'll ask about oaths when Lark is done.

>>7955600
You don't need water or moisture of any kind to make ice; it simply comes into being. It is still bound by gravity, though, so you can't be like Iceman, no.

>>7955667
I missed it. Who is Eron and what happened to him that we would be concerned about him?

>>7955660
Fire mage was a dick. Other guy hurt our friend. Screw em both!

rolled 3, 5, 6 = 14

>>7955660
At the moment, that is out of your mind. You're coming down off a berserker rage. You'll have time to feel guilty after everything's okay.

>>7955667

I suddenly remember: we need to ask Sahl what exactly it was they told him. I mean, I'd rather rely on information from him than from the adventurers - they'd say anything to keep themselves alive.

>>7955547

Do

rolled 6, 4, 5 = 15

>>7955706
Eron is the infantryman. He was the farthest from seeing you as a friend of the town.

>>7955706
Eron is the guy who was with the Infantry, and who was most reluctant to trust us.

>>7955713
Right, but if we're done pretending that killing without severe psychological conditioning doesn't cause at least some amount of mental stress, can I get an idea on how we're holding up?

Make sure to ask Lark about any possible connection between the malevolent intelligence in the ice tablet and our near berserking. "The axe hungers for blood" isn't a good thing when our ice magic came from a demon or something.

>>7955748
>>7955762
Eron got attacked? I thought only Kel was thrown about.

rolled 5, 5, 2 = 12

>>7955762
You're telling yourself it was the right thing to do. No one gets away with trying to kill your friends. It's wearing on you, scratching at your mind, and you're very tired.

rolled 2, 5, 4 = 11

>>7955785
Only Kel was. Eron came out of the forest with the other hunters, and thanked you for defending the people.

>>7955762
We're a frost giant now. We may not have standard mental responses to killing humans; for all we know it will seem as natural as killing deer with our hands and eating them raw. In fact, I'd find that more likely than not even with our nonstandard mind.

I guess now we just sit around and talk with the various villagers about what happened and what our next move should be.

>>7955792
>>7955716
Thank you for humoring me.

>>7955785
No, he didn't. But he saw what we did to protect Kel and probably thinks better of us because of it.

>>7955762

It's stressful for humans...maybe not so for frost giants. no need to project your human frailties onto a different species

We need to start planning damage control. We're not sure what will happen with the adventurers, but we should start eliminating the most obvious signs of our presence (eg. giant footsteps).

>>7955775
This is why I vote we get info on a winter god/goddess.
Because Gods>Demons

Intelligence twins!

Twins they were!

rolled 1, 3, 5 = 9

Once Lark is done tending to the two unconscious men, everyone who is not guarding gathers by the Hall, with you at the center of it all.

You ask the twins for their opinions. If these men were able to find you with some sort of divination, track you, smell you, then you're not safe, and what's more, no one around you is either. Kel, and the rest of the village for that matter, could have been put to the sword. If it was the army looking for you, and not some simple adventurers, they would have been.

As for whether more will be coming, it's up in the air. They'll need to be interrogated thoroughly before the twins can give you a real assessment, as there's no way to tell how accurate the divining was, and how many people are likely to know of it. Of especial importance is whether or not any of the men belonged to a guild. If they do not report back, more will come. And besides that, one of them might have been a Forusian. If there is enemy infiltration this far, the army needs to know. The safety of the whole nation could be at stake.

rolled 3, 6, 4 = 13

>>7955942
Sahl tells you that they started off by saying they were searching for the Frost Giant, to claim the bounty. As he kept denying he had seen you, the leader got more and more angry, eventually drawing his sword and threatening the whole town with death if he didn't get told what he wanted to hear. The mage was shielding him with something that made Kel's shot miss, and at a word from the leader, threw the hunter against the wall.

Lark doesn't know about any connection between the tablet and your actions, given that you didn't hear its whisper, and it's not glowing. However, if you're worried about it, you might as well put it somewhere secure and stop using it, as it's clear that you no longer need it.

As for gods or goddesses of ice, there are many, some good, some bad. As to whether any of them actually exist, well, that's where your books come in. If there is some all-encompassing righteous god of cold, it'll be noted in one of the tomes.

>>7955922
wonder twin powers activate

form of good cop bad cop

rolled 3, 3, 5 = 11

>>7955861
Your body may be different, but your mind is human.

>>7955979
Not entirely. I've seen us hunting; we've got some tools from the frost giant kit when it comes to coping with blood and gore.

The point is well made, though.

>>7955950
We need to find out what will happen to the town if, even should we leave, it is later discovered that they were sheltering the frost giant here. Would someone harm them for it?

>>7955942
>Of especial importance is whether or not any of the men belonged to a guild.

Shit. Shit, shit, shit... :/ We shoulda meta'd that one... that's a forehead slapper...

>>7955942

Sounds like we may need to get out of dodge. If so, we should take a day or so to wrap up what we're doing (education + building wise) and then travel somewhere far away. Hopefully, the town itself can report the existence of forusian mages in the village or we can do it.

>>7956004
If we can confirm that we killed an enemy mage/spy then the local government might be more willing to give us a pass.

>>7956036

Or they may think we were working w/ them to infiltrate...

rolled 1, 3, 1 = 5

>>7956002
As said earlier, harboring a fugitive is not a good thing. Hiding a Frost Giant wanted for destroying the Lord's property and injuring his men is treasonous.

>>7956012
The only proof that a Forusian was here (if he was, indeed, from Forus) is a frozen, shattered corpse. It will need to be given into military care for analysis. The twins volunteer to take it to the nearest fortress, but the corpse will need to be preserved, which means ice.

>>7956089
Well if it's ice they need...

rolled 5, 3, 1 = 9

>>7956050
Given the Forusian preference for fire, that seems unlikely. Or they might argue that they intended it to seem unlikely, in case you were caught and traced back to them.

So.

>>7956102

Time to channel our super ice powers then. Can we tie it to some item so the twins can travel w/out us

rolled 1, 2, 1 = 4

At this point, you're just about out of energy. It's late, you've spent a lot of stamina on magic, and you killed two people. In defense, maybe, but they are dead, and they aren't coming back.

The two survivors will probably be awake in the morning.

Timeskip?

>>7956089
And if we freeze the corpse for preservation, it'll tip someone off that there was someone slinging around serious cold magics, which could be an additional pointer back to us.

Ugh. Freeze the corpse to preserve it for now, I guess, but if there's any significant chance that there won't be a follow-up group to this we'll need to bury the evidence to minimize risk.

>>7956137

Timeskip

Let's wait to interrogate the survivors, first. We'd also need a pretty good cover story for why a Forusian mage was frozen to death in a backwater town, if we are sending the corpse for analysis.

>>7956161
+1

>>7956137
Do it.

rolled 3, 3, 5 = 11

>>7956161
Do you want to wait outside the Hall for them to wake up, or sleep for a while?

>>7956161
well, one of the town elders is (was) a powerful mage with a hut filled with magic items.
just tell them that he used some wand or something

>>7956161
can we make an artifact that freezes things and say thats what happened to the mage?

>>7956202
Sleep would probably be fore the best. Timeskip away.

>>7956202
We can crash. I doubt that they'll try anything rash against the villagers for fear that we'll notice and come kill them, and we could use the rest.

>>7956202
We should sleep. It seems like we exhausted ourself quite a bit.

rolled 3, 6, 1 = 10

With your last bit of will, you cast a limited cold aura around the remains, to keep them from decaying for a while. The nearest installation with the resources to divine the dead man's country of origin is a sixteen-day round-trip with an animal and cart, so you're going to need to figure something out.

Lowering yourself slowly onto the ground, you go over events. Your actions play in your head like a film as you settle into a comfortable position, closing your tired eyes. The elders watch over you as you slip gradually into sleep, and finally drift off.

That night, you dream of battle. Of thousands of soldiers bearing down on you, with a lake of fire blocking your escape. You dream of ice, cutting them down like they are nothing more than ants, swinging your axe on a chain made of blades, slaying hundreds without a second thought. You dream of the day when this is all you know.

The dawn sun breaks over your eyelids like a bed of coals, searing your vision as you bolt upright, rubbing your hands over your face and cursing your forgetfulness. You didn't take Lark's brew. You'd almost forgotten what a nightmare felt like.

Sahl leads you to the doors of the Hall, thrown wide open so you can see the prisoners inside, tied to the table. Upon seeing your face the swordsman yells and screams for mercy, pulling at his bonds so hard they bite into his flesh. The mage only looks at you, terrified but saying nothing.

The two from Intelligence are by your side now. Whatever you wish to ask, someone will talk.

>>7956333
Ask for more details about the divination they got. Ask if either of them belongs to a guild, who/where they got the bounty on us from (since there are dozens of them floating around now), and if either of their companions will be missed, by a guild or family.

Are the previous threads up somewhere? I have missed a couple and these twins are news to me.

rolled 1, 1, 2 = 4

>>7956372
http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive.html?tags=Frost

>>7956333
"We'll start with the basics. Who you are, who your companions were, who hired you, and how you found me."

"I would also like to emphasize that if you answers are unsatisfactory, if you lie or hold out on me, you will be thrown out of town."
*wickedgrin*
"Literally."

>>7956367

Agreed. We also need to consult the twins/elders/eron on what to do w/ the prisoners...If it gets out that the village is harboring a frost giant it will be bad. But I don't think anyone wants to just kill them in cold blood either...

>>7956404
I lol'd.

this.

>>7956333

Ask him wtf he was doing w/ a forusian dude...

>>7956404
Awesome! I really like this idea.

>>7956404
And on the other hand, we offer the carrot of a gem apiece from our Demonstash if they cooperate and then keep their mouths shut afterward.

It would also give them a good excuse for where half of their party went; "died while killing a Demon" is less likely to provoke investigation than "died after pissing off a Frost Giant".

rolled 4, 4, 6 = 14

You talk to the mage directly, while one of the guards tries to get the swordsman to stop squirming.

"We'll start with the basics. Who you are, who your companions were, who hired you, and how you found me."

"I would also like to emphasize that if you answers are unsatisfactory, if you lie or hold out on me, you will be thrown out of town."

"Literally."

The swordsman shouts loudly and repeatedly, thrashing about so much that the guards gag him and double the amount of rope holding him down.

The mage talks willingly, reasoning that if he cooperates he's less likely to be frozen solid and smashed into thousands of pieces. His name is Jerith, he and his companions decided to form their own little group awhile back, in a tavern far South of here. The Ull made it clear that he was only in it for the money, and would gladly leave the others to die if it made him more gold. He was a good shot, though, so they took him on.

rolled 4, 1, 6 = 11

>>7956565
The mage babbles a bit more before you get him back on track. The divination they got from an old man living in a tiny hut at the edge of a swamp, West of here. They heard about a reward for taking the Frost Giant infiltrator alive from someone outside an inn, and followed up on it, finding it to be legitimate. They paid the old man a fairly large sum to narrow your location down, and he did so, centering on the bent tower and tracing you into this region. He would have gone farther, but it was very expensive, and the swordsman was eager to get to it.

None of them belonged to a guild, but the swordsman had a family somewhere in one of the cities, and the Ull wouldn't talk about anything personal. As far as the fire mage, he claimed to be a son of a refugee, taught the old ways in some backwater place far from the war. No one argued, because he was good at what he did, and wasn't greedy. They'd been on a few minor adventures before they heard about the reward, and then they visited each town in the region sequentially, eventually arriving here. They'd spent a lot of money without seeing any profit, so the swordsman was getting anxious, leading to the threats last night that led to all the carnage.

The mage just did what he was told.

Damn. Sounds like any mildly competent diviner can find us then. Cause all they had to do was find some dude in the woods and hey presto they got our region location. Can we ward against this??

>>7956574
Well, no wonder sword boy is freaking the fuck out.

Lets hear what he says, and then ask them if they knew that the other caster was a Forusian.

>>7956628

Damn we should have separated them and questioned them individually to see if the stories matched...

rolled 4, 2, 4 = 10

>>7956412
Eron recommends turning them into fertilizer. The twins see them as a valuable source of information, and Jerith, at least, as a powerful resource not to be squandered. Bem wants to sell them in one of the cities. Lark wants to execute the swordsman and see if the mage can be made useful without exposing the town to too much danger. Sahl thinks it'd be best if they were disposed of, lest even more shit hit the waterwheel.

>>7956574

This mage seems like an honest, nice guy tbqh.

Ask him why he joined the group. Was it for money? The thrill of adventure? etc

We just may spare him and keep him as an apprentice of sorts until it is safe to return to the village in return for his life and a cut of the profits, should we gather any along the way.

>>7956665
lets get swordsman calmed down.
show him his buddy is alive and mostly unharmed

>>7956574
>but the swordsman had a family
>had

Wait, so he doesn't anymore? I thought he was still alive.

rolled 3, 4, 2 = 9

>>7956624
Lark can teach you how to shield yourself from divination. Keep in mind that this will only make it more difficult to find you, not impossible, until you're up to proficiency. In addition, a strong enough shield will broadcast your position like a lighthouse to any competent seer.

>>7956628
They knew he was descended from Forus stock, and had studied their magic enough to replicate it. Beyond that, not much.

rolled 3, 1, 2 = 6

>>7956687
Past tense because he's telling you what they told him... in the past.

Swordsman still has a family.

>>7956697

Shit, seems like even if we ward from divination we'll just be exposing ourselves to a different group of people able to find us.

>>7956574
Have him point us towards the old man, and then we can go and discuss with the old man the benefits of relocating to our village, such as indoor plumbing, a willing student, and a decent chunk of change for keeping anyone else from finding out that we exist.

When we do this, we wear a sign around our neck saying "we just want to talk"; a diviner is going to be scrying the area around his home, and unless he's an idiot the connection that would immediately spring to mind between telling a group of adventurers where to find a frost giant and a frost giant paying him a visit is going to be an unpleasant one.

We could also, of course, paint the sign on our body instead. Maybe give Kel the job in compensation for getting hurt on our behalf. And it would certainly distract the mage we're going to visit.

>>7956697
Hmph. Not a spy then, likely.

Whatever we choose, keep in mind only this: would be best for the village?

>>7956715
I'm not sure how letting Kel paint our cloths is much of a reward or how it would distract the diviner.

inb4 people tell me what he really means; I know, but I'm pretending not to, for my sanity's sake.

>>7956715

How far away is this guy? It sounded like he was kinda far and we would have to cross a lot of damn human controlled territory...I don't think we would be able to do this ourselves b/c it would likely just get us caught...

rolled 4, 5, 6 = 15

>>7956676
He joined because he wasn't going anywhere. He'd been an apprentice for close to a decade, knew a whole lot of powerful spells, but couldn't find his 'niche'. He wanted to go out into the wilderness, kill some evil beasties, and make some money on the side, maybe find something he wanted to do when he came back. He's young, he's got his whole life ahead of him, he wants to wander a while.

>>7956685
The best you can do is get him to stop making so much noise. When the gag comes off, all he will say amounts to variations on 'Don't eat me!'

>>7956715
Is there any way to mindwipe the swordsman instead of killing him outright?

Not because I care whether he lives, but because the mage may be more cooperative if we don't just whack the sword-guy.

>>7956735
Kel isn't painting the words "Please don't run, I just want to talk" on our clothes.

He's painting them on our skin.

The manner in which this would both reward him and distract the diviner should be obvious.

>>7956756
The swordsman must have, like, a phobia or something...

rolled 5, 2, 3 = 10

>>7956741
More than a hundred miles away. He lives a bit out of the way of the nearest town, so you could concievably spend your whole trip inside the forest, without exposing yourself. There's a risk, though, because there are plenty of villages just like yours along the route, complete with hunters.

>>7956758

I like this idea if we can pull it off. It could be pretty difficult though cause we would probably need to fill his head w/ false memories in order to prevent him having a big memory gap. If we just left him w/ a memory gap he would likely try and find out what caused it leading back to us

>>7956777
Is it because we're blue and fourteen feet tall? I bet it is. That's discrimination, and we should give him a stern talking to about it.

>>7956756
Have the mage stay here for a year and a day (seems traditional, I guess), teaching us and the other villagers what he knows.

At the end of the year, he can choose to either leave the village with a nice-sized payment for his services (taken from our Demonstash) or to become a member of the village.

Sword-dude, well, we need to find a way to dispose of him that doesn't just involve a shallow grave in the woods.

1) offer mage a job here. explain how we really do not want to kill him, but that it would make the entire village nervous as hell to simply let him go.

2) tell swordsman to shut the fuck up and be quite, he tastes to gamey to eat. however, if he acts calm and rational, he might be able to help us persuade the village to let him live.

3) explain to both that you are a mere citizen of this town, and the final say about what fate shall befall them rests solely in the hands of the village leaders.

rolled 3, 5, 6 = 14

>>7956758
Lark can calm him, but it wouldn't be easy or last long. Jerith offers to smooth the man's mind over, but the elders are wary about letting the mage fire it up without some kind of assurance that he won't be killing everyone.

>>7956800
Travel at night. Sleep during the day, in holes dug and then concealed with our elemental magic.

>>7956808
Give him a demon-gem and a few blood-spattered items from the adventurers we killed. That would give him a reasonable excuse to latch onto for the memory gap; he was the only survivor of the demon attack, and he blocked out the traumatic memories.

>>7956777
He has a phobia of screaming giants who freeze the ground they walk on and blow fire mages the fuck up while swinging the fury of the goddamned ice and thunder in axe form.

Music related http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UG6ztRsh0iw

Totally irrational.

>>7956855
Speaking of items, adventurers are usually covered in useful stuff. Have we looted them and taken inventory yet?

>>7956855

Your demon gem idea may be hard to reconcile when the twins turn in the forusians body. The authorities will want to talk to this adventurer w/ the mage....

rolled 2, 4, 6 = 12

>>7956870
The Forusian's corpse must not be disturbed, just in case someone in the army calls the twins on it. The archer's body separated at high speed, flinging parts of him everywhere. Most of his things are damaged, but the bow and some of the arrows are salvageable. The swordsman and the mage haven't been thoroughly searched, but any obvious weapons and artifacts were confiscated.

>>7956873
I'm trying to find some way of dealing with Swordy McDipshit that doesn't involve summary execution. He didn't quite do anything to deserve it, after all. And killing people just because it's easier is, well, not a road we want to start down if we can help it.

rolled 5, 3, 3 = 11

>>7956821
“I really don't want to kill you. You've been... helpful. But the decision isn't mine.”

Jerith nods, twisting a bit.

“We can't just let you go. If you're willing to stay here, put your talents to use, I can talk to them for you.”

He nods again, almost laughing as he says, “I'll do whatever you want. It's my only choice, right?”

To the swordsman, you say, in your most non-threatening tone, “I'm not going to eat you. But we can't let you leave, either-”

He goes back to screaming. So much for that.

>>7956920

Maybe instead of a blanket wipe. We just wipe his mind of the fact that we're here.

Heres how it would go. We wipe his mind of the fact we're here. Let him believe that when he got to our village that he got aggressive w/ the elders and our mage friend + hunters + eron took his party down. He remembers the rest of the squad all killed. We keep the mage adventurer dude around to help or something while the twins report in w/ the body of the forusian.

The village can claim that the mages body was destroyed by a spell or something so we can't turn it over to the authorities

>>7956961
well, untie the mage at least

rolled 6, 1, 6 = 13

I'm winding down, so get your thoughts in quickly. There will be more tomorrow, so don't worry too much about leaving things hanging.

>>7956980

Same poster here.

this plan would alert the authorities to the fact that we have been in this area, but since there isn't an official search going on anyway we might want to risk it

rolled 5, 3, 2 = 10

I'm assuming no one wants to kill either of them?

>>7957018

Not unless we have to...

>>7957018
Not right now, and not if we can help it. Hopefully the swordsman won't force it to become necessary.

good now find out what the mage knows and what he can do with it put emphasis on anchoring spells if we can anchor a heat producing spell we can bypass hydro power and go strait for a steam engine i would suggest a watt engine

We have a book on enchanting, right? Have we started studying that yet If not, I'm thinking that we should add it to the routine.

>>7957018
Not unless they try anything.

>>7957018
We're from /tg/, we try to save everybody, and I do mean EVERYBODY. No matter how much it hurts.

>>7957018
Preferably not.

But if the village elders decide to execute the swordsman, we go along with them.

killing people just because we have a ligit reason isn't going to prove that we are valuable members of society. I think thats why no one is choosing that option. plus, since the townsfolk have generally suggested it, we will be seen as kindhearted and benevolent.

I suggest we have someone else try to talk sense into the swordsman. he seems incapable of retaining his wits around us.

>>7956980

Is this even possible?

rolled 5, 3, 2 = 10

Once you're out of earshot, you discuss the situation with the elders. You're against killing anyone else if you don't have to, but you understand that it can't always be that way. If you had to choose one over the other, you'd pick the mage.

Sahl doesn't want either of them in the village. He has a low opinion of adventurers, 'sword-swinging yahoos that'll kill anything for a piece of gold,' but Lark reminds him that he was once a wanderer himself, but Sahl says that makes no difference. Bem argues that if neither of them are going to be executed, they might as well make some money off of them. Lark decries that as barbaric. And on it goes.

It takes a while for them to come to a conclusion. They will spare the mage if he agrees to indefinite servitude, with penalty of death if he tries to escape. They will also spare the swordsman, but they very much want him to be severely punished, though outright killing him is no longer on the table unless he makes it necessary. Neither will be able to leave for at least several years, just until everyone is off the Frost Giant fad they are now.

You convey this to the two prisoners. The mage agrees right away, and offers again to smooth over the swordsman, who is no longer capable of speaking coherently.

>>7957228

Have him our new mage buddy try and talk w/ the swordsman. If he's still incoherent, then we may need to cast a detect insanity to see if he's permanently broken...

What are we going to do about that forusian though?

>>7957274
Well I doubt we're going to get much out of him, since he's dead and all. But we can keep up the freeze until we find some way to anchor the spell to an item to keep the body preserved.

>>7957320
Or we can just, ya know, forget about it like the Ull.

>>7957334
>>7957320

I was talking about having the twins deliver the body to the authorities...what are we going to do about that?

rolled 4, 5, 5 = 14

>>7957274
Jerith says he's going to try something, and the guards all point their weapons at him, just in case. His hands glow faintly crimson as he places them on the swordsman's temples, closing his eyes. After a few seconds, the poor man is asleep, breathing softly.

"He's... Really out of it. I don't know if I can fix that."

As for the Forusian corpse, the twins will be taking it as soon as possible. If you cast your aura on it, maximum duration, and make a few ice blocks, it should last the way. Their story will be that the village magician used a wand to freeze him.

>>7957352
"Do you know what caused this? I mean, I know seeing me must have come as a shock but this seems really extreme, even given the circumstances."

>>7957352

Sounds good to me. Hope the twins can deflect questions about the other adventurers though.

Oh and also ask the mage if anyone else knew they were coming here...like friends or other adventurer people.

>>7957352

find out if there is some for of magical oath we can get the mage to take to stop him running off

>>7957401
while on the path of an extra-large fugitive, you come across a village that obviously has ties to said fugitive. you threaten with violence. your fire mage's left arm explodes in a shower of icy razors. you charge the culprit, who happens to be the fugitive. your fire mage then explodes. a massive spike of ice rises out of a wasn't-there-before fissure in the ground and impales your ranger. the tip of it then bends downwards, pointing at the skull of your mage from 3 inches away. the fugitive charges towards you bellowing, conjuring a massive axe made out of pure ice and magic. the 14 foot tall blue fugitive's mere presence lowers the temperature around you by 40 degrees. then, magic ice chains come out of nowhere and incapacitate you. the giant looks pissed off as hell.

rolled 1, 1, 5 = 7

>>7957401
“He was never the most stable person. Hard to believe, right?” he shrugs. “It's just... He can't get it out of his mind. The gore, the terror, all of that. It's like he's in permanent shock.”

As far as he knows, there was no one else who got the bright idea to go see a diviner, and no one was told where the party was going. That's not to say someone won't follow up on the trail eventually, but to the best of his knowledge, you're safe for now.

There are charms that will bind him to the town, sort of like an invisible fence. But Lark no longer has the ability to cast them, and unless you want the mage to secure his own leash, that leaves you as the obvious candidate.

>>7957476
We gave the swordsman PTSD?

>>7957476
See if we can somehow provide raw magical power to Lark to cast with; we really don't want to fuck this spell up, after all.

rolled 1, 1, 5 = 7

Next story post will be the last tonight.

I'll try to be here tomorrow, somewhere around late afternoon.

>>7957476

Looks like we gotta kill the swordsmen though...

>>7957532
not kill, put down. for his own good, of course.

rolled 4, 5, 3 = 12

>>7957513
Something like that.

>>7957518
That would require you to learn channeling, or Lark to actively leach energy from you, potentialy doing horrible, horrible things to your mind.

>>7957521
EST?

>>7957553
Well, I see no reason for why we can't do it ourselves. I mean, it might take a few days to learn it, but until we're done they can be kept like they are not, under guard.

rolled 3, 5, 1 = 9

>>7957554
15:00 or 16:00 by 4chan's clock.

>>7957553

Shit looks like we gotta keep a close watch on the mage while we learn the oath magic. Let's say we change the terms from indentured servitude for several years to employment or something to make it more palatable...

>>7957594
Ok, thanks.

rolled 3, 4, 4 = 11

>>7957600
He'll do whatever you want, or so he says. It's better than dying. And that's indefinite servitude, a softer way to say 'you're my slave until I release you'.

>>7957642
On the bright side, we can show him all the cool stuff we've come up with. It might not be that impressive to someone who's been to the big cities, but I'd like to think that it would awe him at least a little.

>>7957658

And we can learn magic w/ each other which might speed our learning rate.

>>7957658
crop rotation, windbreaks, indoor plumbing and methane farming should still impress him.

>>7957740

thats small time show him electricity a steam engine and the basic concepts of sanatition

>>7957815
We only have that last one, which is the kind of thing that they probably have in cities by this point. We don't have electricity or a steam engine.

rolled 3, 5, 5 = 13

You resolve to learn enough about channeling to allow Lark to make use of your substantial energies, and cast the powerful spell needed to ensure that the mage cannot escape or dispel his attachment to the town without being killed or severely injured. While you study, Jerith will be kept under guard in the Hall, where he can tend to the swordsman until he's sure he's beyond help.

With a cart full of ice and the disemboweled body of a possible enemy spy, the twins leave for the fortress, on a journey that you hope is not going to be eventful. Maybe, if something like that can help safeguard the entire nation, it'll be worth what you had to do. And maybe, if it turns out that you did, inadvertently, prevent an infiltration, that'll give you some pull with the government.

At least you have someone else to learn from, and someone else to provide magical assistance. Lark has told you on more than one occasion that he's getting old, and his talents will soon fade into nothing. If this mage can take up a little of the slack, that would be perfect. A decade of intensive study under apprenticeship doesn't compare to a few months of reading and focusing without any real understanding.

After the charm is complete, you hope Jerith will be able to do some good. You killed two of his companions and might have rendered his leader insane, but you spoke up for him, and kept him alive. It would be... horrible to lose every single one of them, no matter how you rationalize it. Whatever you do, this has to work out for the best.

>>7957825

But we will. And merely the idea of it should spark some interest from him

>>7957854
>electricity
>spark

Dat inadvertent pun...

>>7957854

A bad pun on /tg/? That is ... shocking.

>>7957854
>>7957913

Lolz

>>7957913
Oh god. I /just/ got that. XD

>>7958040
Good to see you have a grasp of the current trends, then.

Once things calm down for the next long timeskip, I think we though DEFINITELY study up on any Ice Deities that are:
1. REAL
and
2. Good

We're a freaking Superbeing of Frost, we're already, like, probably his great-grand-niece. It could potentially give us:
1. A God's Favor
and
2. Some Meta-universe info, possibly about the nature of the dark trend our Ice powers seem to have and the (seemingly forgotten as of late) question on why/how we're here.

>>7958098
why must you amp up the puns, despite the resistance to it? I think we are all currently getting mighty tired of such things.

>>7958287

Irony

>>7958287
That was terrible. You should conduct yourself in a more serious manner.

>>7958319
>>7958287
WHY?!?!?!?!?

>>7958276
Research god
Worship god
???
Profit?

>>7958319
oh ITS ON! I shall combat your negative outlook with my own posative one, and shall short-circut your logic with my lightning fast barrage of charged puns!

>>7957853

Can a mindwipe fix the swordsman's PTSD, or will he just spend the rest of his life wondering why he breaks down weeping at the sight of ice? If erasing his memories will make him sane, then we should find something useful for him to do. If he ever asks about his missing memories, we tell him the truth: He fucked with a powerful mage and lost his mind.