>>34680876
Oh man, this is finally back but I am feeling very unwell. ON WE GO!

Can we ask him nicely to try to get the blood priest's help? Or at least having us there during the procedure?

These things have like a 50/50 horrorterror/usable monster rate when not supervised by the blood priest, and almost a 100% rate of flipping out during the transformation.

>>34680876
> "You can't possibly know more blood magic than my foster father. He must perform the blood rite for you."


But not in such a demanding manner. Simply say that it would probably be in his best interest to get the blood priest to do it since he has the most experience.

>>34680876
Interview the candidate ourselves!

>>34680876
> "You can't possibly know more blood magic than my foster father. He must perform the blood rite for you."

> "I look forward to seeing her, then! Now, if you'll excuse me..."

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>>34680876
You think of the best way to phrase this. "Are you sure you shouldn't get the Blood Priest to help you in this? He has more experience in this business than anyone in Ligish."

"We see no need for that. The Footmen made a monster of their own with no problem, and the Archers will likely do the same soon. The Adventurers raised a giant blight demon. I know your master wants all of Ligish to be dependent on the priesthood, but it is not so."

"Well... may I speak to your candidate? I'm not sure when I'll have time to, but soon we will fight together, so it's best if we get to know each other."

"Of course. She will be at our guildhouse. Until then, Lady Scorpion..."

> Go with him now
> Check on other friends of yours in the city
> Go with him, but only to discuss battle plans
> Go to the Adventurers' School and fulfill their request for you to train with their recruits

>>34681288
If I recall correctly, our plan was to go train recruits today and then check in with friends.

We'll have to modify it to training recruits and then checking in on the lizard lady. Then maybe friends.

So busy.

> Go to the Adventurers' School and fulfill their request for you to train with their recruits

>>34681288

> Go with him now

>>34681288
> Go to the Adventurers' School and fulfill their request for you to train with their recruits

Since it was apparently out original plan, we can't back out on it now.

Vote seems to be leaning towards lizard lady later.

Adventurer's guild might be fun! Wonder if nakurtum's coming with us on this one.

>>34681288
>> Go to the Adventurers' School and fulfill their request for you to train with their recruits
Be the master scorpion!

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>>34681288
You take your leave of the palace and head for the Adventurer's School. Though it is still in the process of being rebuilt, its practice yard is already packed with recruits, mostly young men and boys hungry for glory, or maybe just for food. Nakurtum stands across from them. "The hardest thing you punks will have to learn is discipline. An adventurer must work as part of a small group, far from their commander, AND STILL FOLLOW ORDERS! If some clever kid thinks he knows better than to do what he's been told, everything falls apart and goes to shit. Understood?"

They're about to answer, but they see a giant scorpion-girl squeeze through the gate, and everyone starts talking at once.

"Well, well!" Nakurtum says. "Look who's here! Thanks for the help, kiddo. Where do you think we should start with this lot?"

> Lecturing them on duty and discipline is probably a good start.
> Drive them hard to run laps until they collapse. Roll 5d6.
> Make them do weapons drills in place. Roll 2d6.
> Spar with any and all of them until you've beaten the fear of monsters into them. Roll 5d6.

Rolled 1, 5, 3, 1, 5 = 15 (5d6)

>>34681817
>> Spar with any and all of them until you've beaten the fear of monsters into them. Roll 5d6.
We're here to give them monster fighting experience. That's the only thing we can do that nobody else does.

But be sure to greet everyone nicely and tell them we'll be helping them with monster training first.

Rolled 4, 5, 6, 2, 4 = 21 (5d6)

>>34681817
>> Drive them hard to run laps until they collapse. Roll 5d6.

>>34681850
>>34681842
Hm. We could use a few more opinions here.
Or I guess we could do monster fights and then have them run if they're not tired enough.

>>34681817
>Drive them hard to run laps until they collapse. Roll 5d6.

An adventurer must be strong first of all, then skilled with weapons.

Rolled 1, 2, 6, 1, 2 = 12 (5d6)

>>34681817
>Spar with any and all of them until you've beaten the fear of monsters into them.

"If you want to be Adventurers in this day and age, you need to know how to deal with monsters without dying. So.... Try not to die when I attack." CHARGE!

>>34681817
> Lecturing them on duty and discipline is probably a good start.
You can be the strongest person ever. But it doesn't mean anything if you RACK DISCIPRINE.

>>34681817
> Lecturing them on duty and discipline is probably a good start.
If they break and scatter as soon as shit goes south, it doesn't matter how much we drill them.

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>>34681817
You give them the customary greeting. "Hi, my name is Hunzuu. What's yours?" A hundred voices all call out different things at once.

You go on. "Nakurtum here is my best friend. She's like a sister to me. So if any of you give her any trouble, she's gonna tell me about it, okay? But you won't give her any trouble. You're good guys, right? Good. So, I'm here to give you some practice in fighting monsters. Monsters have attacked Ligish twice now, and they're not finished yet, so you'd better be ready for it. Come on, come at me!"

Careful to go easy on them, you catch and toss aside the few brave recruits who charge you. Gradually, the others gain courage, and you defend yourself with your claws and the butt of a spear Nakurtum tosses to you. You don't think you feel any bones breaking, so that's good. But you're not used to fighting so many people while being so careful, and they actually manage to hurt you a little with their sticks and blunt bronze weapons. One boy even climbs up onto your back and pulls your hair, his other hand holding a wooden practice spear to the back of your neck.

> Call off the sparring and praise the boy for doing such a good job
> Give him a little dab of Hunzuu's Mercy. It'll only knock him out, but it'll sure give the other recruits a scare.
> Keep going! Roll 5d6.

Rolled 4, 2, 5, 5, 4 = 20 (5d6)

>>34682141
>> Keep going! Roll 5d6.

Rolled 6, 4, 3, 3, 5 = 21 (5d6)

>>34682141
welp, might as well

> Keep going! Roll 5d6.

>>34682141
> Give him a little dab of Hunzuu's Mercy. It'll only knock him out, but it'll sure give the other recruits a scare.

But do try to remember which he was. That kid deserves extra rations.

Rolled 4, 3, 5, 4, 4 = 20 (5d6)

>>34682141
> Give him a little dab of Hunzuu's Mercy. It'll only knock him out, but it'll sure give the other recruits a scare.
> Keep going! Roll 5d6.

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>>34682141
You don't want to admit that a little boy has scaled up your back and put a weapon to your neck, so you pretend like it didn't happen. You keep clawing at the recruits, pushing them over, wrenching their weapons away from them and tossing them aside. You rock from side to side to try to throw off the boy. You rear p on your back four legs, and that's what finally makes him let go of your hair, slide down your back, and land hard on the ground. You don't think too many other recruits noticed him. You fight better than before, and after another minute or two they're all too sore or exhausted to go on.

You brush the dust off your nice dress. "There! And I was going very easy on you. As you might have guessed, the most important thing about fighting monsters is...

> teamwork!"
> finding the spots they can't reach."
> that you're only human and probably gonna die. So die for your city and your people!"
> Write in
> Try to find that boy who climbed you. Maybe you were a little vain and unfair to ignore him.

>>34682490
>> teamwork!"
> finding the spots they can't reach."
These are the two things that kill us as monsters.

Then,
> Try to find that boy who climbed you. Maybe you were a little vain and unfair to ignore him.
Tell everyone he totally got you into a kill situation, and he was very gracious to let us shake him off and continue the training until everyone was tired.

>>34682141
>Give him a little dab of Hunzuu's Mercy. It'll only knock him out, but it'll sure give the other recruits a scare.

Smart, but sumb.

Rolled 3, 2, 3, 5, 1 = 14 (5d6)

>>34682490
>> teamwork!"
>> finding the spots they can't reach."

>>34682490
>that you're only human and probably gonna die. So die for your city and your people!"

Time to make a loyal and fierce army.

>>34682544
I support this. It's good advice and a boost to morale.

>>34682490
>>34682544
definitely praise the boy

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>>34682490
"...Teamwork! Also finding the spots they can't reach. A lot of monsters have this kind of... set-up going on back here..." You gesture to your back legs. "So, um, good job, everyone! Especially this one." You find the boy who scaled Mt. Hunzuu and pick him up under his shoulders. He kicks and resists and blushes a little.

"This kid got up on my back somehow and held a spear to my neck. If this were a real fight, with a real spear, I'd have been in deep trouble." All the recruits applaud the boy.

> Ask his name
> Let's not get too precious with him. That wouldn't be in his best interest anyway.

WE'RE BAAAAAAAAAAAACK

>>34682781
> Ask his name
We can choose to create a named character. So worth it.

>>34682781
I cannot settle my urge to get to know this guy for later and my fear of making him an outcast among my friends.
So, I guess ask his name? In the shakiest way possible?

>>34682825
We're back and anu is dropping tricky but inconsequential decisions like bombs. Just as always.

>>34682781
> Let's not get too precious with him. That wouldn't be in his best interest anyway.

Danger follows us and we already praised him.

>>34682929
That's the appeal though.

Also his supply of chocolate girl pics. That seems to have expanded, which pleases me.

>>34682974
I didn't mean it was a bad thing, I mean I stress far too much over these decisions.

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>>34682781
You turn the boy around in your claws so he's facing you. He's short, lean, maybe a little underfed, not an orphan but definitely come from poverty. "What's your name, boy?"

"Kuri. Can you let me down now? I was just doing was I was supposed to. We were sparring, I sparred. I wouldn't have done it otherwise." He seems to be one of the few people in Ligish outside your closest friends who don't call you "Lady Scorpion" or otherwise fawn over you.

"You did well, Kuri. I expect to hear good things about you."

"Yeah, yeah. I mean... thanks. Now let me down? My armpits hurt."

You set the boy down and listen to Nakurtum trying to talk some discipline into them. She gives examples from her own career, when she was a brash young murderer in the making, and the mistakes she made.

> Go back to the pyramid and clean yourself up
> Go to the Archers' School and see if the rumors are true
> Go see the orphanage
> Go see Ninlil's family and return that chisel

Rolled 1, 5, 4, 5, 3 = 18 (5d6)

>>34683030
>> Go to the Archers' School and see if the rumors are true

>>34683030
> Go to the Archers' School and see if the rumors are true
and also find out what the rumors are again

>>34683030
Oh jeez.
let's
> Go see Ninlil's family and return that chisel
The brother will be glad to hear the job is done. Even if the parents just want to move on. Though they may not actually want the thing back.

Failing that, I'm also interested in orphanages and archers.

>>34682781
>Let's not get too precious with him. That wouldn't be in his best interest anyway.

Don't make him too important yet. besides, if it was a real fight, he'd have been stinged to death.

>>34683030
>Go to the Charioteers School and meet the new monster-to-be.

>>34683099
>>34683138
Remember, the chisel has magic powers now. It received a gods blessing or something. Do you really want to give it away?

>>34683168
Yeah, I remembered.
But we already have a spear made of the stuff, if I understand blessings properly. I sort of wish the priests knew if we would be offending any gods by giving it away, but they seemed to be unawares.

Giving it back or not, though, I mostly just want to check in with the kid and tell him it's done.

>>34683168

You're right. it's better to stay with Hunzuu.
>>34683030
>Go to the Archers' School and see if the rumors are true

Changing vote

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>>34683030
You figure that your dress, though dusty and ripped around the fringe on one side, is still in good enough shape to show up at the Archers' School with. The Charioteer told you that they're planning to make a monster of their own. They certainly have the ingredients for it. Due to their clever business dealings, they now control most of the relics still in Ligish. They sold you the relic used to make Ninlil, and they probably did the same with Patience and this new lizard-girl the Charioteers want to make.

The roof of their fashionable walled guildhouse was broken in the battle with the wasp-woman, but they've had it rebuilt in record time. Guards with flowers around their necks let you into the walled garden to see the new commander. Dadanum's father died in the battle, and Buth-Shamash died not long before that in the battle of Turtak, so this is the third commander they've had in eighteen months.

The new commander is a woman named Arwia-Ishtar. She doesn't look like an archer, or even a warrior. She has long silky hair with little blue flowers in it. She's wearing a dress that is, by any measure, better than yours. "Lady Scorpion! It is a pleasure to receive you. Are you hungry? Thirsty?"

> Be blunt. "You're not making a monster, are you?"
> Be subtle. "Some water and cooked meat would be lovely. I've just come to meet the new commander, and to learn any news you might have."

>>34683275
> Be subtle. "Some water and cooked meat would be lovely. I've just come to meet the new commander, and to learn any news you might have."

Sneaking has yet to fail us, and this is kinda sneaky.

>>34683275
Be blunt about why you're here. You want to talk about all this new monster business.
But I won't say no to also getting some snacks to talk over with the commander.

You know, just the normal stuff. Ask what kind of monster, if they have any specialists, if they're willing to have the blood priest supervise, when they are planning on doing it, and most importantly, if it's big enough for us to be in there in case something goes wrong.

>>34683275
> Be subtle. "Some water and cooked meat would be lovely. I've just come to meet the new commander, and to learn any news you might have."

Also, I don't inherently object to making more Monsters. There is an obvious need, it just needs to be done responsibly. I vote for our tone to reflect this.

Rolled 6, 4, 3, 5, 5 = 23 (5d6)

>>34683275
>> Be subtle. "Some water and cooked meat would be lovely. I've just come to meet the new commander, and to learn any news you might have."
FREE FOOD!

>>34683409
Well, we tried a no-monsters policy, but then people started making secret monsters and we got invaded by monsters.
So I too am in support of cautious creation of more monsters.

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>>34683275
"Some water and cooked meat would be lovely. I've just come to meet the new commander, and to learn any news you might have."

"Of course! I'll have something made just for you." You sit with her and talk as you wait for food to arrive, and Arwia-Ishtar tells you what happened while you were gone. She did fight in the battle, so she must be at least somewhat competent with a bow, but her greatest skill, aside from being beautiful, is accounting. She idolized Buth-Shamash and is still trying to learn from his writings. She's been investing in the few caravans that are starting to reopen trade with Turtak, she financed the repairs to the guildhouse and some other parts of the city, and she's sold relics to the Footmen and the Charioteers. She's even offered to do the same to the school's ancient enemies, the Slingers, but they've refused. She's bought some more luxuries for her soldiers and has started putting together a harem for herself. She doesn't mention any attempt to make monsters, just selling relics.

> Ask her outright if the Archers will try to make a monster
> Say that the priests are happy to sell their services, but don't specify what those services are
> Don't press the issue, just ask to see the harem or something after dinner

Rolled 3, 3, 6, 3, 6 = 21 (5d6)

>>34683630
>> Ask her outright if the Archers will try to make a monster
Now be blunt.
Also, is it a male harem?

>>34683630
>> Ask her outright if the Archers will try to make a monster
we gotta ask her eventually. And give our monster safety guide shpiel.

>>34683630
>Ask to see the harem, because harems are fun.
>Ask her outright if the Archers will try to make a monster

>>34683630
> Ask her outright if the Archers will try to make a monster
Ask in a supportive manner. It's clear we need to increase our forces. Our city will be overrun by enemy monsters otherwise. We just want to do it right.

>ask to see the harem after dinner
If she's into girls, maybe we could introduce her to Nakurtum.

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>>34683630
You can't wait any longer. You even hesitate to eat the steaming plate of sweet-glazed goat, garnished with edible flowers, that is laid before you. You have to ask. "Will the Archers make a monster of their own?"

"My predecessor wanted to. He even thought of asking his son to volunteer. But I am of another mind on the subject. As you know, we are sitting on a large collection of relics from the dig site. We have sold some of them already. I mean to keep doing that. Dole out relics one at a time, maintain a balance among the other power groups in the city while making a fine profit. The schools are at peace for now. We should let other schools bear the risks, and the benefits will be shared by the whole city. Don't you agree?"

"I guess that works. Who have you sold to already?"

"Everyone but the Slingers and Adventurers have bought one relic from us so far. The Footmen and your priests have used theirs already. The Charioteers and Petty-Wizards have not."

She just drinks as yo eat the fancy meal prepared for you. After that, she is happy to show you her newly-built harem chamber. It includes both women and boys, plus one burly foreign-looking man with a monstrous face tattooed on the back of his bald head. It seems that their mistress has varied tastes.

> Talk to them and see what their deal is. People being used in this way make you ill at ease.
> Take your leave and go back to the pyramid
> Take your leave and go see Ninlil's family

>>34683902
>Talk to them and see what their deal is.

Come now, Hunzuu. This is perfectly fine.

>>34683902
> Take your leave and go see Ninlil's family
This is important!

>>34683902
Eh, it seems like an ordinary enough harem. And I'm already pretty invested in that cute scorpion guy.

I say we
> Take your leave and go see Ninlil's family
to do our part and tell them the news ourselves.
And we really should go visit the charioteers prospect.

>>34683902
>Talk to them and see what their deal is. People being used in this way make you ill at ease.

Because I want Hunzuu to grow a bit more.

>>34683902
> Take your leave and go see Ninlil's family

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>>34683902
You're too nervous to say much to the concubines. They're all courteous, and they're very pretty, especially the boys, but one of the women looks uncomfortably close to how your mother might have looked if she'd cleaned herself up a bit. You excuse yourself and bid everyone farewell.

Your next stop is Ninlil's old house. It's in a part of town you don't visit much anymore, one of he rougher parts of town where people still shout pleas and beg to you as you pass. Ninlil's parents and siblings are eating supper together.

"She did it!" says the brother who gave you that chisel. "I knew she'd do it. Tell us about it!"

> Return the chisel to him. It is his by right, you were just borrowing it.
> Tell him how the chisel transformed, but that you have to let the priests study it
> [Lie] Tell him that you left the chisel in your enemy's black heart as a warning to others

>>34684159
>> Tell him how the chisel transformed, but that you have to let the priests study it

>>34684159
> Tell him how the chisel transformed

>>34684159
>> [Lie] Tell him that you left the chisel in your enemy's black heart as a warning to others

It could still have benefits we might need in the future.

>>34684159
Well, here's the tough decision time.
> Tell him how the chisel transformed, but that you have to let the priests study it

But more importantly,
>tell him about chasing the lizardman down after he burned village after village, and how you finally fought him on the top of a tower.
>show him your scar

>>34684159
I guess I'll throw out a
> Return the chisel to him. It is his by right, you were just borrowing it.
vote, even though nobody's choosin' it.
Because I WOULD like to get the chisel back to the guy one day.

>>34684159
>Tell him how the chisel transformed, but that you have to let the priests study it

Tell them about how we buried it in his heard. We did it for Ninlil.

Also, the gods seemed to have noticed her, since they gave their blessing to us avenging her, so that's something to be proud of.

>>34684159
>spoiler

Oh, you. I think this is one of the few quests with a female MC that is safe from /u/

>>34684336
Are you kiddin'? We've been putting the moves on that scorpion guy for a while now.
The biggest problem is the arrangement of whether we move to his house or he moves to ours. We're both worried about our home cities.

>>34684336
>I think this is one of the few quests with a female MC that is safe from /u/
Never let your guard down, you never know when the /u/boat will jump you.

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>>34684159
You tell them all the tale of how you tracked the lizard-man through the wake of his destruction, discovered the naga kingdom and its king, a brutal but strangely spiritual man who earned his crown through bloody revolution. Finally, you battled the lizard on the rooftop garden of the palace and buried the chisel in his heart to avenge Ninlil. The older brothers and most of the little children are fascinated and excited by the story, but Ninlil's father sits solemnly and looks away, trying to hide his tears. You leave him be and explain that Ishtar blessed your act of vengeance by transforming the chisel into divine metal, but you have to let the priests study it for a while.

"Aww!" says the boy who gave you the chisel. "You did tell them it's mine, right? We should have it here. We're her family."

"I know, I know. But it's to save the city. Be patient, and it may save lives."

> "By the way, would any of you like to be turned into a monster at some point? Nothing's come up right now, but just to keep track."
> "I've eaten already, but I'd be happy to spend some more time with you. And offer you work in rebuilding the pyramid, if you haven't been asked to already."

>>34684366

Uh, yes? That's why I posted this quest is safe from /u/boats.

I also support the scorpionboy, even if he has an unfiar advnatage over anyone else. This quest doesn't have waifus, so it's great!

>>34684432
>Offer them to help rebuilding the pyramid anyway
>"By the way, would any of you like to be turned into a monster at some point? Nothing's come up right now, but just to keep track."

Sigh, should have lied, anons.

>>34684432
> "I've eaten already, but I'd be happy to spend some more time with you. And offer you work in rebuilding the pyramid, if you haven't been asked to already."
I don't want to further monsterize/soldierize the family. One kid's enough for the forseeable future. Unless things get really horrible. And we'll always need more masons.

>>34684432
>>34684471
Also, maybe a bit of consoling for the father. Though what and how, I don't know.

I guess the work might help a little.

>>34684432
>> "I've eaten already, but I'd be happy to spend some more time with you. And offer you work in rebuilding the pyramid, if you haven't been asked to already."

>>34684432
>"I've eaten already, but I'd be happy to spend some more time with you. And offer you work in rebuilding the pyramid, if you haven't been asked to already."

Do NOT suggest turning more of their children into monsters. If we make that poor family cry any more..... Feels, man. I've got the feels.

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>>34684432
"I've eaten already, but I'd be happy to spend some more time with you. And offer you work in rebuilding the pyramid, if you haven't been asked to already."

The mother smiles and serves more bread to everyone now that she's certain that you won't be eating it all. "Yes, the priests went right to us the day after! We're very grateful. You've been a blessing for this family. I mean, even considering... you know. You have a good heart, and you mean well. Thank you for everything."

Ninlil's smallest brothers and sisters cling to your legs and ask if you can give them sweets or help them get out of doing chores. You gently remove them and head back to the pyramid.

> Check on Kullaa and get back to your blood magic homework
> Check on Iltani, who's been delivered in secret to her old room after being freed from the king's prison.
> Check on Soul-of-Lightning, that sad old drunk centaur
> Spend some quality time with the Blood Priest. That always seems to distract him from his evil plans.
> Check on Rabi-Tammuz and Meluku
> Write in

>>34684434
While having a break from waifus is a nice change of pace, I think it might be nice to set Nakurtum up with someone. She's our Bro, we need to help her out.

Maybe we could buy her a concubine?

>>34684632
>Check on Iltani, who's been delivered in secret to her old room after being freed from the king's prison.

If Blood magic can grow new limbs and transform people into monsters, I'm sure some minor cosmetic changes will be possible. We adjust her face slightly so people won't recognise her, give her a new name, and she's a free woman.

>>34684632
Well, the charioteer monster is still on the docket. We've got to make room in the schedule for that at some point.
But it feels like we're settling down for the day. And we've got SO MANY people to check on.

If I have to pick just one, I guess it's a tossup between iltani to catch up on the defense of the city, and meluku and rbi-tammuz, to try to cheer them up and be a good influence on meluku. And find out what happened to our old skin.

> Check on Iltani, who's been delivered in secret to her old room after being freed from the king's prison.
Why not.

>>34684632
>> Check on Iltani, who's been delivered in secret to her old room after being freed from the king's prison.
>> Check on Soul-of-Lightning, that sad old drunk centaur
>> Spend some quality time with the Blood Priest. That always seems to distract him from his evil plans.

Ahhhh, I want it all

>>34684643

Sure, doesn't sound like a bad idea. TO Hunzuu, at least.

She just needs to get used to the idea that powerful people can have this kind of fun too. That's why i wnted her to go interview that harem, earlier.

>>34684774
I wish to check in on everyone, in truth.
Hunzuu has time management problems.

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>>34684719
You go to Iltani's old room in the pyramid to check that she's been delivered there. You find her there, her hair cut short again, looking distracted as she surveys her room. When she sees you she hugs you tightly - and she's strong enough that her tight hugs are tight indeed - and sobs a little. "It never ends. I was good. I was good, but it didn't matter. Everyone hates me, and Pazuzu is still there, listening, beating the sky into storms with his wings! I'll never get to just be with you. First hate, and then shame, and then the wind will come, and then no more people, just unburied bones in the wind..."

> "There, there. I'm here now. You're free. Now let's see if the new Sand Priest is any good, and we'll make a nice disguise for you."
> "Pazuzu is dead. And we'll keep him dead, together, you and I."
> "He's listening? That settles it. We have to keep you somewhere else, far away."
> "Pull yourself together! Tell me about the battle."

>>34684919
> "Pazuzu is dead. And we'll keep him dead, together, you and I. Now tell me about the battle."

>>34684919
I am crossed between there there and pazuzu is dead. I guess I'll go with
> "Pazuzu is dead. And we'll keep him dead, together, you and I."

>>34684919
>"There, there. I'm here now. You're free. Now let's see if the new Sand Priest is any good, and we'll make a nice disguise for you."

inb4 the new Sand Priest is the old Sand Priest

>>34685009
I -would- like to re-assure her. She's been through some tough crap and also probably feels legitimately guilty too.
But we're glad she helped the city when it counted.

>>34685009
It could be possible. I don't remember them mentioning their surprise that the old Sand Priest was actually a woman. Unless the magic still persisted even after the caster died.

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>>34684919
"Pazuzu is dead. And we'll keep him dead, together, you and I."

Iltani sobs some more. "He doesn't feel dead..."

"Well he is, believe me. Now tell me about the battle."

"Not much to say. I didn't really want to fight, but you told me to, so I figured I'd better be good and do it. There were monsters and stuff. I tried to keep them from getting to the palace, but I think some of them got through. I saw the wasp-woman again, and I had that bad feeling. She chased after me, and then some archers shot her and she got distracted with them. It's all kind of a blur. I went to see if the king was all right, and they told me to come with them, and..." she trails off and whimpers. So you just sit with her for a while, and then you take her to see Nakurtum's kitten. Kittens solve everything.

> You can probably see someone else before we have to break

>>34685256
Well, we could enjoy a good kitten visit. though that already happened and I guess doesn't need describing.

Let's check in on soul-of-lightning and see how he's done since we last saw him. I forget if we ever found out if he and that old lady made it away safe.

Also, thanks for running!

>>34685256
The new Sand Priest, get Iltani an illusion?

>>34685256

>Visit Soul-of-Lightining

The only other mosnter made by the priests that is still alive. SOmehow. Dmaned drunk.

>>34685256
Poor Iltani, I know she did bad before but still, she's better now.

>>34685442
She still suffers from horrible monster in brainism, but at least now she's diagnosed and working against it.

>>34685344
Sand magic illusions have the down sides of screwing with your herd and not being completely reliable.

Some cosmetic blood magic would be best. Something like just changing her skin-tone would do the job.

>>34685535
I wonder if there is such a thing as cosmetic blood magic.

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>>34685256
You produce a thread from your torn dress and give it to Iltani so she can dangle it in front of the kitten. She looks to be enjoying herself now, so you think now is a good time to leave. As you crawl through the tight doorway, you overhear her talking to the kitten. "I'm sorry I was crying, little guy. Some bad stuff has been happening. The worst part? I dunno. I think it was the trial. 'Cause they asked me if I was guilty or not guilty, and there was really only one thing I could say..."

You look around for Soul-of-Lightning. You know he doesn't like to climb stairs, so you check around the ground entrance. Then you check the wine cellars, the rooms lit by magic flame that make you glow bright blue. You find him down there, drinking with Nergal-Edir the cook.

"You know what?" He says to the cook, "You guys don't know how good you humans have it. The dying world isn't as good as it's cracked up to be. It's always changing. When your back is turned, the stuff you like is gone, and the people you like are taken by the Dark Lady... Oh, hi, Hunzuu! They said you were back! Gods, and you got bigger! Your tits filled out more. I'm gonna turn my had again and you're gonna be all old..."

> Slap him
> "Dare I ask what you did in the battle?"
> "Go easy on the wine and beer, you two. I told you how it killed my mom, right?"
> "I have a confession to make." Explain how the white glove works and how you used it on Soul-of-Lightning.

>>34685647
>"Go easy on the wine and beer, you two. I told you how it killed my mom, right?"

>>34685636
>>34685535
You know from your studies, and from getting a look at Nakurtum's arm, that tissue created by blood magic tends to be blood red in color. So you could make someone a new face, but it would be blood red.

>>34685647
> "Dare I ask what you did in the battle?"
> "Go easy on the wine and beer, you two. I told you how it killed my mom, right?"
Keep it jovial, go for one of these.

Oh, and chide him for how he can only keep track of how old we're getting by tit size.

>>34685647

> "Dare I ask what you did in the battle?"

>>34685682
can we not be all muh mom all the time? It's over, and we're over it.

>>34685721
actually, I agree with the mom sentiment.
>>34685716
can I cut off the mom part of my "go easy on the beer" sentiment? I figure it can go unsaid.

>>34685708
hm... that would make things more difficult... Maybe we could change her face with the blood magic and have the sand priest cast a simple spell to make her skin a different color and make her eyes look normal.

>>34685647
> "Dare I ask what you did in the battle?"

>>34685721

I do'nt care about the mom part, I just want him to not be a drunk slob anymore and become more reliable

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>>34685647
"Dare I ask what you did in the battle?"
Soul-of-Lightning blushes and looks away. "Well... I thought I'd lay low - I mean guard the pyramid. But then the part of the pyramid I was guarding kind of collapsed, and I was busy getting people out of the rubble for a while.

"You didn't fight the other centaurs?"

"I would have if someone had told me to! But yeah, that's always awkward, so I kind of didn't..."

Nergal-Edir gets himself some more wine. "Our monsters aren't doing their jobs, I guess. Maybe I should learn to fight. I mean, my mother always called me a monster, and monsters are good at fighting, right?"

> "Don't fight, Nergal-Edir. Who'll cook goat for me if you die?"
> "You saved lives, then. You have my thanks. You also saved Nakurtum's kitten, didn't you? He was living in that part of the pyramid, but I notice he didn't die."
> "Okay, real talk. You're going sober. The charioteers want to hunt the cult of Pazuzu. You're going with them. And I'll warn them to only bring water."

>>34685930
> "You saved lives, then. You have my thanks. You also saved Nakurtum's kitten, didn't you? He was living in that part of the pyramid, but I notice he didn't die."

>>34685930
>"Okay, real talk. You're going sober. The charioteers want to hunt the cult of Pazuzu. You're going with them. And I'll warn them to only bring water."

Fuuuuuuuck, this guy is USELESS.

he didn't get any other centaur to joing Ligish.

>>34685930
> "Don't fight, Nergal-Edir. Who'll cook goat for me if you die?"

And maybe a bit of

> "You saved lives, then. You have my thanks. You also saved Nakurtum's kitten, didn't you? He was living in that part of the pyramid, but I notice he didn't die."

>>34685930
> "You saved lives, then. You have my thanks. You also saved Nakurtum's kitten, didn't you? He was living in that part of the pyramid, but I notice he didn't die."
Fighting his own people can be harsh. We can understand that. At least he made himself useful and did some good.

>>34685930
>>34685930
> "Don't fight, Nergal-Edir. Who'll cook goat for me if you die?"
> "You saved lives, then. You have my thanks. You also saved Nakurtum's kitten, didn't you? He was living in that part of the pyramid, but I notice he didn't die."

>>34685930
>"Okay, real talk. You're going sober. The charioteers want to hunt the cult of Pazuzu. You're going with them. And I'll warn them to only bring water."

Holy fuck, what. He has screwed things various tiems by being drunk, if he didn't get wasted he would have given the warning much earlier and Ninlil wouldn' thave died.

Now he doesn't help protect the city? If he had done his job, there wouldn't have been people in need of rescue.

>>34686025
>>34686089
He's never been one of our big combat monsters. And this one had nothing to do with him drinking, more about unwillingness to fight centaurs if he can help it.

Honestly, he's pretty much a cavalryman. Nothing super strong.

>>34686122

Even if isn't made for combat, he could have warned Ligish of the lizardman's plan earlier if he was sober. He admited to being late because he was drinking isntead of running.

There are other roles he could performw ell in, if wasn't durnk all the time.

>>34686204
But that's got nothing to do with this current incident. This one was about reservations about going into big combat.

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>>34685930
"Don't fight, Nergal-Edir. Who'll cook goat for me if you die?"
"I don't know. You seem to like your goat uncooked well enough." The hunchbacked cook knows better than most how you lose control around raw meat, but you know he's just joking. He was your first friend here at the pyramid, and you have something of an understanding.
You turn to Soul-of-Lightning. "You saved lives, then. You have my thanks. You also saved Nakurtum's kitten, didn't you? He was living in that part of the pyramid, but I notice he didn't die."
The centaur shrugs and blushes some more. "Well... I don't like to brag... I, er, knew a girl once who was a cat person. I miss her. I even miss that stupid cat of hers, even though it was always rubbing on me and almost getting stepped on."
"This was before the flood, wasn't it?" Using your magical white glove, you saw that his memories of a human girl in a long-forgotten city are still the closest thing to love in the centaur's heart.
"Before, after, it's all the same. You all die. She's gone, and I'm still here."

> "There are still such things as girls, you know. Do I have to get you a harlot?"
> "You need something to do to keep busy. How'd you like to ride with the Charioteers again?"
> "If you're gonna be all sad and grumbly, do you even want to stay here in the world? Do you want to die?"

>>34685708
>>34685756
>You know from your studies,
That's all we know about the colour-changing applications of blood magic. But we're not exactly an expert.
We should ask.

I suspect it would be possible, but probably a bit messy.

Given that blood magic requires raw materials and often a sacrifice of some sort, I wouldn't be surprised if we needed to take the skin of someone else to give her a new colour.

>>34686224
> "There are still such things as girls, you know. Do I have to get you a harlot?"

>>34686224
The guy either needs some work or something to keep him entertained.
To tell him there are still plenty of girls in the sea for him, and then mention he could work for the charioteers again. That'll press at least one of his buttons.

>>34686224
>"You need something to do to keep busy. How'd you like to ride with the Charioteers again?"

They might put some discipline in him.

But the harlot option is damn tempting, making Hunzuu comfortable with such ideas.

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>>34686224
"There are still such things as girls, you know. Do I have to get you a harlot?"
"No, no... Other girls aren't worth it. It wouldn't be pleasant for me, and it'd be even worse for them. If you know what I mean. I mean, maybe you could handle me, though I don't know how-"
You interrupt him. "Do not finish that thought. We're gonna put you to work. How'd you like to work with the Charioteers again? How'd you like to help save the world?"
He smiles. "The world, huh? The world's all right, guess. Sure, I'll do it."

> I'm going to break here. Do let me know if there's anything I forgot that you want to catch up on next thread. It's been a while.
> Thread archived on suptg. Vote for it and stuff.

>>34686665
Thanks for running anu. I'll try to remember things well enough to ask what to be caught up on as time goes on.

Also, silly horse, scorpions don't work that way.

>>34686665

Thanks for the thread, Anu. I missed this quest a lot.

>>34686665
thx 4 runin budi gud thred

>>34686665

It has been a while. While I realize that you are likely gone by this point, Anu, I wanted to know if you would happen to know when the next quest might be. I caught this once it was already over, and that makes me sad.

>>34687661
Next weekend. Saturday or Sunday. at 6PM EST.