>>35588213


For an inquisitive mind such as yourself, it's nearly too much to walk away from. Perhaps, entirely too much.

> Open your mouth, and sing the mysteries from the earth. You are the master of this domain. (1d100)
> Head home, but resolve to return. This riddle isn't going anywhere.
> Consult one of your spirits. Often, they know better than you do.
> Other.
---

You are Osyki, journeyman Totemist and first line of defense for your village against the rabid Behemoths wandering the land. Your master, the previous Totemist, fell in a battle against a terrible Behemoth, leaving the duty of defending your settlement to you. In a period of relative peace, you have elected to train yourself and your apprentices for the winter to come. Still, obligations call to you, and in a few days you will be required to make for Eluneia, the civilization to the southwest.

[[Previous Threads: http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive.html?tags=totem

Plot Summary (Current up to thread XLVIII):http://pastebin.com/0B8sGfsA

The Cast Thus Far / Binder's Log: http://pastebin.com/VsJpEUx3

Ask: ask.fm/DiarcaEXE

Quest Twitter: @TotemistQuest]]

>>35588225
> Open your mouth, and sing the mysteries from the earth. You are the master of this domain. (1d100)

Nothing ventured

Rolled 65 (1d100)

>>35588225
Dicey dice.

Rolled 46 (1d100)

>>35588213
> Open your mouth, and sing the mysteries from the earth. You are the master of this domain. (1d100)

Rolled 57 (1d100)

>>35588225
> Open your mouth, and sing the mysteries from the earth. You are the master of this domain. (1d100)

Let me sing you the song of my people.

AWW YISS

TOTEMIST QUEST

Rolled 1 (1d100)

>>35588225
>sing

>>35588225
>Open your mouth, and sing the mysteries from the earth. You are the master of this domain.
Do we all agree that when we get home the first chance we get we are trying everything in the mask?

>>35588429
ruh roh

File: 1395074083828.jpg (16 KB, 169x233)

16 KB JPG

>>35588429
Whoop whoop. What a way to start off.

>>35588225
> Head home, but resolve to return. This riddle isn't going anywhere.

>>35588225
> Head home, but resolve to return. This riddle isn't going anywhere.
I was up for it last thread, but the opening narration here has me all paranoid.

>>35588429
Nearly as good as a 100,

>>35588225
> Open your mouth, and screech the mysteries from the earth. You are the master of this domain. (1d100)

>>35588632
What if leaving it only lets the problem get worse?

>>35588659
It's been there for quite a while. Unless we disturb it it is unlikely to change in the near future.

>>35588679
Unless its almost finished...

You inhale slowly, feeling the rocks beneath your feet rumble with the breath in your lungs. You start out low and slow, a humming bass growl that warps the ground around you in spiraling, fractal patterns. You focus your mind on the mineshaft below, and a tight beam of green light snaps into the yawning abyss. You allow your voice to rise in pitch, melding from the low baratone hum into a higher, lilting tune. A lullaby you remember from your childhood. The mountains groans in protest as your melody nudges rocks aside, melts them in flowing rivers of cold, liquid stone. One piece of the obstruction at a time. You can see shafts of pale blue light beginning to poke up through the holes you've made.

> 1

The sensation is like a bomb going off in your face. The world around you goes white, and you're hurled from your feet with an involuntary cry. You feel yourself spinning haphazardly through the air, then landing with a jarring, wrenching -crack-.

When the sparks clear from your eyes, and the tremors from your limbs, you note that you're not on the peak any longer. You lie a ways down the mountainside, tucked between two precariously perched boulders. Glancing up the mountain, you can see the peak you once stood on--

The remains of the peak you once stood on.

The leveled top hosting the mineshaft is twisted in on itself, warped beyond recognition as if someone has blown drakefire over a wax candle. You see the barest hints of the original elevator platform poking out of the rock a hundred feet above you. The entirety of the stone is blackened and smoking, and only then does it occur to you.

You narrowly avoided being struck by lightning.

> Perhaps, home. You need to recover.
> Those Shepherds assaulted you! Ascend to exact restitution.
> Let's just wait a time, until your limbs stop shaking.
> Other.

>>35588722
Sure, and a random tree that's been standing at the same place for hundreds of years might not be there the next day. Or it might stand there for a couple more centuries.

>>35588839
When shits magic that argument holds less weight.

>>35588831
>> Let's just wait a time, until your limbs stop shaking.
get our breath back

>>35588831
>Let's just wait a time, until your limbs stop shaking.
But then
>Ascend to exact restitution.
Osyki aint no ones bitch. He gonna whup some air spirits assholes.

>>35588831
> Let's just wait a time, until your limbs stop shaking.
Let's just get our breath back, and stick around a little longer in case something pops out of there. Seeing a sealed tunnel glow and then get hit by lightning is one of those worrying things a wise totemist investigates.

Also:
> Other.
Resolve to acquire a lightning rod and bind the Elder Turtle to it before we go out in a storm again. This might have been coincidence, but just in case it wasn't...well, some defense against lightning would probably be more useful than being able to kick lightning.

>>35588860
That argument holds even more merit when talking about magic stuff. We basically have a sealed creature in a hole in the ground. It has not changed for a long time. Unless you poke the hole, chances are it won't change suddenly. It might change at one point in the future, but it's not urgent in the least.

>>35588831
Sounds like there's something that the Shepherds don't want us seeing in that mineshaft. Now see, the thing is, I don't think we avoided being struck by lightning - I think that was a warning shot. They missed on purpose.

This bears further investigation. Later.

>>35588831
>> Those Shepherds assaulted you! Ascend to ask why they did that. Perhaps they are bound to keep the mine-shaft sealed? Or they know that reopening it would be unwise?

>>35588831
>> Let's just wait a time, until your limbs stop shaking.


What happened ther?

>>35589124
It bares some fuckers getting their asses beat is what it bears.

>>35589124
Maybe it wasn't guided. They control lightning, but it still happens on its own. It could be that whatever we were exposing in that tunnel had an extreme charge built up. It was glowing blue, maybe it's radioactive and emitting beta radiation. That would be a good a reason as any supernatural one to seal up a mine.

>>35589184
>>35588914
In case you forgot, the Shepards are the spirits that bring rainfall to our people. Lets try not to antagonize them.

>>35589162 has the right idea. Lets get our breath back and ask them what unspeakable horror we may have accidentally unsealed.

>>35589304
>Lets try not to antagonize them.
Bit late for that if they are launching lightning bolts at us.

>>35589343
Could be they're angry about the Iron General thing. Cumula said they were worried about him, we told her we were going to look into it, and then we came back and Pointsmar is still there. Maybe they think we betrayed them.

>>35589395
Maybe they could say that instead of trying to fry us.

You take a few minutes to catch your breath and quell the tremors in your limbs. Your right shoulder, left hip, and tailbone in its entirety are likely to be sorely bruised in the morning, but you escaped without any new scars. Even more happily, Cloudwalker's Stride seems energized by recent events, and as you climb to your feet your boots practically vibrate in anticipation.

You leap to a nearby cliff in a single bound, then the peak above it, then the higher peak beside that. A few minutes of climbing (through the now pouring rain) brings you to the peak just below the cloudline, where you last spoke to the Shepherds.

"Shepherds of the storm!" You call into the torrential downpour. "Manifest and stand witness, in the name of the Totemist! What quarrel have you with me that you would loose a bolt from the heavens in such reckless and unprovoked assault?!"

You're angry, certainly, but keeping it in check. A few seconds later, a familiar figure materializes out of the clouds, trailing wisps of dark mist behind her. Cumula.

"Peace, Totemist," she says placatingly. "The storm's direction is under our command, but not its fury. Whatever you nearly unearthed attracted a surge of elemental rage. Do not lay the blame at our feet."

She pauses, looking you over. "Besides, you're the one standing on a mountaintop, in a storm, in metal armor."

> Concede her point.
> Argue for restitution.
> Ask to speak to a superior.
> Other.

>>35589435
>> Concede her point.

>>35589435
> Concede her point.

>>35589435
What have we equipped again?
> Concede her point.
> Other.
Ask them if they could move their storm a bit while we investigate this thing. If attracting such rage they probably would be better off if we handled it.

>>35589435
> Other.
"Sure, now! But at the time I was struck I was wearing crystalline armor, standing well below the highest point of the mountain, and the storm was just beginning. I had ample reason to disbelieve that the lightning was natural. Still, you have a point, there could have been any number of things that caused that lightning. I'm sorry for suspecting you."

>>35589435
> Concede her point.
Let's get back to the village quickly, before we get hit by any more lightning strikes.

>>35589529
Not this.
>>35589516
Not this either, as they would probably ask something in return for moving the storm, also, we did ask them for rains.

>>35589580
>Not this.
Why not? We're conceding the point, while also explaining our reasoning so we don't look too stupid. Do you want to look stupid in front of the sky spirits?

>>35589435
>> Concede her point.
Well, if they are not aiming to strike us then it is fine to go back to unearthing mystic secrets.

>>35589435
>Concede her point
Ha! Fair enough. Too often my eyes follow the world of spirits, and forget the world of earthly reason. Pardon any offense, narrowly avoiding death scrambles the senses. Tell me, will such reactions continue as long as I pursue this work, or has the rage spent itself in one fell blast?"

>>35589580
My reasoning was that they probably don't want whatever it is under their mountain messing with their storms.

>>35589435
> Concede her point.
"Perhaps my head is still addled from the strike. I had not even realized I was wearing metal. I'm sorry, Cumula."

>>35589761
Metal? Yeah, I doubt they mind if their lightning hits metal or rock.

>>35589847
Does metal normally attract elemental rage? While its underground? Strong enough to blast a hole in a mountain?

>>35589435
Ask what we almost unearthed.

>>35589882
We probably just unearthed it along with some natural gas resulting in an explosion.

You blink, staring down at yourself. Your armor is crystalline, and your gloves rocky chitin. Your sword is the only significant metal on you. Does your metal armor beneath the binding still attract electricity? Is Cumula incapable of percieving your bindings? Both are possibilities. Still, whatever you nearly unearthed was apparently to blame. You decide not to raise hell while you can barely see through the pouring rain.

"Apologies, then," you say with a nod. "My head is still addled from the brush with ignoble, electric death."

She waves ff your apology airily. "Worry not. I can see how you might take umbrage."

"What did I nearly unearth down there, that attracted such a blast?"

Cumula shrugs. "The men who worked this mountain long ago took great pains to seal off that shaft. I remember arcs of elemental fury erupting from -within- the mountain, causing storms where there ought not have been. Lady Auraine was most upset. They abandoned the shaft, I think, and I have not seen them for some years."

> Question her futher. (Write-in)
> Return to investigate the smoking rubble.
> Head for home. No need to weather this storm.
> Other

>>35589943
It was glowing dude. I don't think its just metal.
And the lightning was still strong enough to pierce the mountain side and into a mine shaft, what type of metal attracts that?

>>35589985
> Head for home. No need to weather this storm.

>>35589985
> Question her futher. (Write-in)
"Do you know anything about the smoke cloud that was hanging around the peaks a week or so back? That's why was investigating that shaft, to see if I could find any clues. I initially suspected something to do with the iron spirit on the other side of the mountains, but after my recent visit I no longer consider that a likely cause."

>>35589985
> Head for home. No need to weather this storm.
It's not going anywhere.

>>35589985
>>35589985
Sounds like a certain noble woman would like the thing down there dealt with. Maybe we could do it if someone was to move a storm out of the way so we don't get roasted.

>>35590101
We already confirmed that it did in fact have everything to do with the iron spirit, they burn their dead in their generator.

>>35589985
Ask whether Lady Auraine likes our river.

>>35590112
Pretty sure Lady Auraine is one of the shepards.

>>35590129
They just brought a stormfull of rain near our village, I'm pretty sure she likes it.

>>35589270
That isn't how beta radiation works unless we were about to unearth a functioning nuclear reactor.

>>35590117
And that smoke cloud, which was rapidly dispersing, was blown to our side of the mountains how? It could only have gotten here if it was made here. We suspected it was the work of the Iron Tyrant, but since we now know the Iron General doesn't have a reason to intimidate us I'm worried something else burnt those people to ash.

>>35590179
The wind brought it over?
I doubt people are walking around burning people near villages.

>>35590159
Thats why I was saying she could move the damn storm so we wouldn't have to worry about random lightning bolts.
>>35590175
Maybe magic radiation works like that. On a related note I once read that what was essentially a natural nuclear reactor was found underground once.

>>35590179
>And that smoke cloud, which was rapidly dispersing, was blown to our side of the mountains how?
Wind.

>>35590209
We wouldn't have to worry about random lightning bolts if we weren't standing on a mountaintop in metal armor, we could just come back instead of asking for favors for the sake of convenience.

>>35589985
Hmm...Ayren's notes on elemental poisoning mentioned "uncapped Demesnes" as a possible source of them. I think we may have found one. In Exalted a demesne is a locus of raw elemental or celestial energy that left untended causes destruction and mutation but properly harnessed can serve as a power source for magitech. Maybe we could do something similar with this?

>>35590205
>>35590234
My point was that if it was vanishing so quickly in the gentle breeze we had, that any wind capable of taking it across the mountain should have dispersed it entirely.

>>35590249
Its just as much a favour for her as it is for us. Also we were not on the mountain top we were deep in a mine shaft and the thing attracted the bolt not our armour.

>>35590281
It wasn't vanishing though.

>>35590281
It was dispersing because it got blown so far by the wind.

>>35590326

You were still on top of the mountain, anon. The lift hadn't begun its descent yet.

>>35590254
Possible, though I think we might need to do more research first, see if Ayren wrote anything on the subject. Also hope the Stone Emperor doesn't complain.

>>35590326
But we don't need her to move the clouds, we need the rains they bring, and we can come back at any time.

>>35590342
>"Can we dissipate it?" you ask Tryd.

>He shrugs. "With a burst of wind, sure. It'll fade away on its own after a few hours. The cloud's not a problem. Whatever caused it, well... that's a different story."

>>35590345
Maybe. I suppose that could be the case if it started life as a HUGE corpse cloud. But it still worries me.

>>35589985
I'd really like to investigate it.
We could very possibly nab a good bind.

>>35590361
Well then. Guess we can just jump in real quick or sing a tunnel to it from lower down the mountain.
>>35590388
Iron dudes burning a lot of shit.

>>35590445
Or come back later.

>>35590483
Might as well sort it now. We don't have anything pressing back at the village.

>>35590524
There's a fucking storm shooting lightning and flooding it with water.
We could drown and blow up at the same time.

>>35590552
We could make ourselves a nice cave to avoid the weather.

[[Can't get a clear consensus in the mass of anon here, so calling a vote.

>1: Return to the village.
>2: Investigate the warped remains of the mine shaft.

>>35590602
1

>>35590602
>1: Return to the village.

>>35590602
>1: Return to the village.

>>35590602
1

>>35590602
1

>>35590602
2

>>35590668
What's the point of youth if you're not reckless?
Also 2.

>>35590602
2

>>35590602
1

>>35590602
2

>>35590602
1

>>35590602
Is it final destination style vote? If so you should probably specify because I have a feeling a lot of samefagging is happening right now, also remember to cap the vote, otherwise people will keep samefagging.

[[Cutting votes and writing.]]

The clouds above you rumble ominously, spitting thunder and sparks like an angry beast roused from its slumber. Despite Cumula's assurances, you've nearly been fried alive once today, and you reason that it's more than enough. You can always come back. Hopefully, your Stonesinger's Visage will operate better under less thunderstruck circumstances.

You offer Cumula a prefunctory farewell, leaping from cliff to valley, valley to mesa, mesa to goat path. Soon, you're out of the sheet of advancing rain and within sight of your village. The storm is just behind you, and you find yourself shivering beneath your heavy plate from the rain and the chilly fall air.

What will you do when you reach the village?

> Stop in and see someone. (Elana/Quinn/Aurora/Other)
> Get to work on Binding practice.
> Make some Totems.
> Do some research on a potential shrine for the Dryad.
> Other.

>>35590942
>Get to work on Binding practice.
Put all the things in the mask.
all the things.

>>35590942
>> Make some Totems.
>> Do some research on a potential shrine for the Dryad.

>>35590942
>other
Research homunculi.

>>35590942
>>35591000
This, I guess, sounds more interesting than the other stuff, and I've been curious about what we could do with homonculus for a while.

>>35590942
>> Make some Totems.
>> Do some research on a potential shrine for the Dryad.
Let's make some neat totems for the village/ our house.

>>35590942
> Make some Totems.
> Do some research on a potential shrine for the Dryad.

>>35591094
>>35591060
>>35590988
Include Terra

>>35591191
this

>>35591191
Of course. She would be included in the totem making at home anyways.

>>35591191
But guys, we didn't even talk with the dryad ourselves.

>>35591428
Yeah, we're leaving it all to Terra.

You reach the workshop, drenched, bruised, but for the most part unmolested. You stumble inside, discarding your cloak and armor as you make your way toward the workshop. Terra is curled up in one of the padded armchairs in the library, skimming through the glossary of the Greater Almanac. You slump into a chair across from her, allowing your bindings to lapse and unravel with a few muttered litanies.

"What, did your bath up in the mountains take it out of you?" she asks.

"Never pick a fight with a sky spirit," you respond. "Lightning is no joke."

Her eyes go wide.

You run a hand through your hair, shaking out some of the lingering raindrops. "You know, Terra, every time I see you, you have your nose buried in that book. You're taking this seriously."

She shrugs, though her cheeks are tinged. "I'm not dumb, Osyki. I know you could've-- maybe should've chosen Warren for your apprentice. So I'm tryin' to work real hard to make sure you don't change your mind. And it is interesting," she says, gesturing to the cover. "I don't know all of the big words, but what I do get is pretty cool."

> I'm not going to change my mind, kid. You're stuck with me.
> That's good. An active interest is the first step.
> Keep up the good work.
> Let's you and I do some research on totems.
> Other

>>35591832
>Do you think Warren would make a good second apprentice?

>>35591832
> I'm not going to change my mind, kid. You're stuck with me.
> That's good. An active interest is the first step.
> Keep up the good work.
> Let's you and I do some research on totems.
They all good, give her an headpat or rustle her hair

>>35591889
This >>35591889
And > Let's you and I do some research on totems.

>>35591832
>> I'm not going to change my mind, kid. You're stuck with me.

Oh Terra you break my heart

>>35591889
This

>>35591889
I'm sure that's going to make her feel good about herself.

>>35591889
Second.

>>35591889
Please no. We don't need to be teaching 3 people. And that is a kick right in the self confidence.

>>35591832

> I'm not going to change my mind, kid. You're stuck with me.

>>35591832
> I'm not going to change my mind, kid. You're stuck with me.
>>35591889
Not this, this is fucking awful.

>>35591980
Not suggesting replacing her or anything, just asking her opinion.

>>35591889
Supporting

>>35591889
I don't see a problem with this.
Better to be teaching a few people anyway in case we up and die.

>>35592017
Mate, do you seriously not understand how this would sound to her? She's a kid. It's not like her opinion even matters here, it's just going to sound aweful and crush her self esteem.

>>35591889
Actively voting against this.

>>35591889
I support this and getting Warren as an apprentice as long as we don't hurt Terra in the process.

>>35591832
>> I'm not going to change my mind, kid. You're stuck with me.
> That's good. An active interest is the first step.
> Keep up the good work.
> Let's you and I do some research on totems.

Everything please!

>>35591832
> I'm not going to change my mind, kid. You're stuck with me.

"Like I'd let you get out of your studies that easily."

> Let's you and I do some research on totems.

And ruffle her hair, she's a good apprentice.

>>35592070
As long as it's phrased correctly here shouldn't be a problem.

>>35591889
Third apprentice you mean.
Also I smell a little same fagging going on here.

>>35591832
> I'm not going to change my mind, kid. You're stuck with me

>>35591889
supporting.

>>35591832
> I'm not going to change my mind, kid. You're stuck with me.
> Let's you and I do some research on totems.
Reassure her of how proud we've been with her work, and that no matter how much she thinks Warren would be a good apprentice she was our first choice. Where did she even get an idea like that, anyway?

>>35591889
God no don't say that. Way too much risk for too little reward.

>>35591889
No no no, please no.
Terra is love, Terra is life

>>35592124
"I want to be better than the other kid who's an obviously better choice than I am"
"Do you think I should get this other kid who's so much better than you?"

Also, a THIRD fucking apprentice is a terrible fucking idea, it's a shit ton of responsibility, it's a massive time drain, it's unlikely to happen and just going to make us sound greedy.

>>35588213
Can't actively participate because driving 300 miles but WOO, TOTEMIST QUEST!

>>35591889
for Warren

>>35591889
Fuck no and fuck you.

>>35591889
Whatever we do, do not say this. It risks hurting her feelings, and we get nothing in return. Terra is not a totemist, she can not make accurate assessments of who's most qualified for this job. She's just feeling overwhelmed and questioning her ability. It's classic imposter's syndrome and we should not feed it.

>>35591832
> I'm not going to change my mind, kid. You're stuck with me.
>>35591889
Voting against this one

>>35591889
YESS getting another apprentice would be good.

>>35592248
Did you literally not read anything else people said about getting a third apprentice? It's unlikely to happen, going to make us look bad, make Terra feel like shit, waste time, and extra responsibilities.

>>35592248
No it wouldn't you imbecile.

>>35592286
I read and disagreed.

>>35592297
We barely have time for the two we have now, we don't need to add a third.

>>35592196
>it's a massive time drain
Because we spend sooo much time training them. And its sooo greedy to have more than two people being trained for this amazingly important position. I bet the head hunter only has two apprentices as well. Head fisherman too. Why, it must have taken the slayers decades to build up their ranks two at a time.
A third person could help her study and give her someone to talk to her own age

>>35592286
>>35592311
Hey, hey guys listen
We can teach terra and warren at the same time.

>>35592352
This is all I was aiming for.

So, most votes in favor of a third apprentice are spaced more than a minute apart, smells like samefagging to me.
>>35592308
I'd like to hear why?
>>35592322
We do spend a fair amount of time training them, and Terra is not even fully under our care yet.
We currently have US, Quinn and Terra Working in this position, most occupations only get ONE apprentice.
There already is someone helping her study, and she is still living with all the other kids in town, it's not like she won't see them once she's fully under our care.

>>35592205
Hi Soma.

You extend a hand, gently placing it atop Terra's head. She blinks, surprised, and looks up at you. You tousle the mop of red gently.

"As if I'd let you out of your studies that easily," you say with a chuckle. "I'm not going to change my mind, kid. You're stuck with me."

A silly little grin breaks her face at that, and she lets out a small laugh.

"I'm glad that you're showing such an active interest in the Totemic arts. A hell of a lot more than I did when I got apprenticed, I'll tell you that. You're doing well. Better than I could have expected. So keep up the good work, alright?"

She nods, tousling her hair further. "You got it, boss," she says, snapping a mock-slayer salute at you.

You rise from your chair, feeling a little more strength in your legs after a short rest. "Come on. Let's look into making some totems, hmm?"

She scrambles out of her chair, tucking the Almanac under her arm as she does. The two of you move into the workshop proper.

Pick two:
> Work on totems to restore the village's defensive capabilities.
> Work on totems to ease the villagers' lives.
> Work on totems to improve your Totemist powers.
> Work on totems to aid in exploration and recon.
> Other

>>35592352
This is literally what we're arguing against, are you reading a different thread or something?

>>35592414
> Work on totems to restore the village's defensive capabilities.
> Work on totems to ease the villagers' lives.

>>35592414
Defensive capabilities.

>>35592414
> Work on totems to ease the villagers' lives.
> Work on totems to aid in exploration and recon.

>>35592414
>Other
Work on those totems to help the miners we thought of in that other thread.

>>35592417
>>35592393
Were you people home schooled? Is that why the idea of teaching multiple at once seems foreign to you? Because it happens you know, rather often at that.

>>35592414
>> Work on totems to restore the village's defensive capabilities.
>> Work on totems to ease the villagers' lives.

>>35592414
>> Work on totems to restore the village's defensive capabilities.

>>35592484
We should also check the totem we made for the blacksmith, see if it's working right since he got injured recently.

>>35592414
> Work on totems to improve your Totemist powers.
I would like a minor totem based on Terra's custom Sunlight Charm. Her charm lets her create glowing sphere of light. I want to make a version that lets us create writing in mid-air. The idea would be that rather than having to carve the runes into a beast's skin, or corral it into a binding circle, we could simply create the runes and set them to floating around it. Just one act of will, and the creature is ready to bind as soon as we defeat it.

>>35592414
>> Work on totems to improve your Totemist powers.
>> Work on totems to aid in exploration and recon.
something to help when we start the road

>>35592499
Do you LITERALLY not read?

>>35592499
Yeah, and that's why I know that a single amateur teacher trying to work with multiple kids at once is going to put a lot of strain on them. School teachers have all sorts of resources and training that we don't.

>>35592414
>villager's( can we expand this to People's?) lives
>totemist powers.

People like to be safe. People LOVE their lives being easier. And the stronger we are, the more we boost the other categories.

>>35592414
>>35592551
this sounds awesome
> Work on totems to aid in exploration and recon
potentially something that could help clear a path when people start traveling through the swamp/woods similar to the Beast repeller totem but can be set up in sets along a path

>>35592579
I read. Doesn't mean what you typed up made sense.
>>35592597
Teaching three people couldn't be that much more of a strain than teaching two.

>>35592499
People on these thread seem to be hung up on the idea of only one apprentice. I agree it's stupid but unless there is a proper number vote the ones who scream the loudest will put it down.

>>35592414
How about we work on a totem that protects you from lightning strikes
:V

>>35592414
>> Work on totems to ease the villagers' lives.

I think there's been sort of an expectation that Osyki would get to this sooner or later. The walls and anti-beast wards are in place, lets actually help our people instead of faffing about picking random shit off of monsters for ourselves.

>>35592655
We have those already, they are called lightning rods.

>>35592670
No no see, I want one we can carry with us. Carrying a lightning rod around doesn't seem like a good idea if you want to stay safe

>>35592700
What if we wear one of those things that the guys with tesla coils wear?

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>>35592579
>LITERALLY

>>35592668
We put up wards against vermin in the granary and infirmary and set endurance-boosting totems in the cobblestones. We can certainly do more, though.

>>35592732
A Faraday suit? Do we know enough about electricity to make one of those?

>>35592732
Instead of doing that, how about we just grab a nice stone totem, put non conductive things in it and go about our business.

You set Terra to work looking up totems that she thinks might ease they day-to-day strain of the villagers, while you pursue an avenue that has only recently occurred to you: Totems to improve your own abilities. Ayren's library is a hodgepodge of jammed together titles, with a scheme of organization so arcane it may as well not exist at all. It takes the both of you a little time to dig out the appropriate books and set to work. Still, when the both of you put your noses to the grindstone, you discover that doing totem research with another person can almost be... fun.

Quinn comes in to join you around noon as the storm hits the village in full, dripping wet and looking disgruntled. When you throw him a questioning glance, the furrows in his brow only deepen. He mutters something about his impossible commander and tosses his mace aside, heading toward the back to grab a change of clothes. You note that his raptor puppet is cracked in a few places.

(cont.)

>>35593463

A few hours of work yields a few potent possibilities as the day creeps onward toward noon. Terra writes out a list (nigh incomprehensible in her handwriting-- something you'll have to see to) of possibilities. You do the same, and together the three of you examine your options.

Utility Totems:
> Stormcloak Totems: Keep a house safe and dry in the most perilous storm, prevents leaks and dampens thunder noise. (Easy)
> Alarm Totems: Rouses the village when a trigger totem is displaced, or manually depressed. Useful for guard barracks, if a bit primitive. (Moderate)
> Everfresh Totem: One of these is installed in Osyki's workshop already. Keeps food chilled and free of rot, drastically expanding the lifespan of stored foodstuffs.

Personal Power Totems:
> Litany Bank Totem: Allows a Totemist to bind and unbind totems without reciting the usual litanies of unification, given proper charging with a ritual beforehand. (Moderate)
> Luminous Runes Totem: Projects the sixteen runes of binding in a large circle around an area, though each circle only lasts a short time. (Difficult)
> Ayren's Prototype Essence Converter: Absorbs ambient energy to momentarily supercharge a bound focus. Dangerous. (Very Difficult)

> Choose one from each category.

>>35593495
> Stormcloak Totems: Keep a house safe and dry in the most perilous storm, prevents leaks and dampens thunder noise. (Easy)

>Ayren's Prototype Essence Converter: Absorbs ambient energy to momentarily supercharge a bound focus. Dangerous. (Very Difficult)

A Totemist rises to any challenge

>>35593495
> Everfresh Totem: One of these is installed in Osyki's workshop already. Keeps food chilled and free of rot, drastically expanding the lifespan of stored foodstuffs.
So incredibly useful. Refrigeration is a major advancement.

> Litany Bank Totem: Allows a Totemist to bind and unbind totems without reciting the usual litanies of unification, given proper charging with a ritual beforehand. (Moderate)
I was the one who proposed the Luminous Runes, but thinking about it this one is way better. Real-time totem swapping would be amazing

>>35593495
>Everfresh
>Luminous Runes

>>35593495
>Stormcloak Totems: Keep a house safe and dry in the most perilous storm, prevents leaks and dampens thunder noise. (Easy)
>Luminous Runes Totem: Projects the sixteen runes of binding in a large circle around an area, though each circle only lasts a short time. (Difficult)
No more fucking about and waiting for people to carve runes. If we had this we could have gotten our own wyrm foci.

>>35593495
>> Stormcloak Totems: Keep a house safe and dry in the most perilous storm, prevents leaks and dampens thunder noise. (Easy)
make a few if they're that simple
> Luminous Runes Totem: Projects the sixteen runes of binding in a large circle around an area, though each circle only lasts a short time. (Difficult)

>>35593495
>Alarm
>Litany Bank

>>35593495
> Stormcloak Totems

> Litany Bank Totem

>>35593495
>Everfresh Totems
>Luminous Runes Totem

>>35593495
> Everfresh Totem: One of these is installed in Osyki's workshop already. Keeps food chilled and free of rot, drastically expanding the lifespan of stored foodstuffs.

If this allows real-time swapping of multiple totems without the strain (Maybe not in combat but reasonably quick) then:
> Litany Bank Totem: Allows a Totemist to bind and unbind totems without reciting the usual litanies of unification, given proper charging with a ritual beforehand. (Moderate)

Otherwise I think
> Luminous Runes Totem: Projects the sixteen runes of binding in a large circle around an area, though each circle only lasts a short time. (Difficult)
would be better, it pretty much guarantees a bind.

>>35593495
>> Stormcloak Totems
>> Luminous Runes Totem

>>35593495
Everfresh Totem
Luminous Runes

>>35593495
>everfresh
>prototype

Sure is samefag in here.

>>35593968
its pretty bad all right.

[Looks like

> Everfresh Totem
and
> Luminous Runes

win out. Writing ]

>>35593968
I know, there isn't even a point in samefagging this vote, it's pretty much unanimous.

>>35594008
guess the everfresh would go best in the Healer's Hut, maybe wherever they store the food

>>35594036
Anti-pest and that in the granary/whatever the equivalent is would be great.

>>35594085
We already did the anti-pest totems in the healer's hut and granary. Adding refrigeration would be awesome.

The three of you generally agree that the Everfresh Totem would be the best use of your resources. Leaks are easy to patch, and the storms are a natural part of life. And the Alarm totem would probably cause more havoc than good. But more food, for longer?

"I can't see how we've gotten by without these," Quinn says incredulously.

"They're s'posed to be hard to make," Terra points out. "You need snow. I don't think we've got any snow, not for another couple a' weeks."

"Or until we convince the Shepherds to send us an unseasonal storm," you point out. "Their lady is on good terms with our village."

"Oh yeah," Terra says, thumping her head gently. "Spirit snow. That doesn't melt, right?"

You nod.

The discussion over Totemist artifacts takes significantly longer, with Quinn espousing the myriad uses Ayren's prototype charger could have. Still, the materials required to create it would necessitate a trip into the swamp, to the Basilisk Wyrm's lair at the least. You don't know if you're quite that confident yet.

"Fine, fine. I guess portable runes would be useful," he concedes. "Might let us bind more than one thing in a fight."

> 2d100+5 for totem creation with apprentice help.

Rolled 70, 49 = 119 (2d100)

>>35594134
CRITSUCCEED INC

Rolled 44, 45 + 5 = 94 (2d100 + 5)

>>35594134

>>35594134

Rolled 67, 99 + 5 = 171 (2d100 + 5)

>>35594134

Rolled 1, 92 + 5 = 98 (2d100 + 5)

>>35594134
roll

>>35594173
this was me made a mistake

>>35594201
Well, looks like one of these totems is going to malfunction horribly.

File: all of japan.gif (1.71 MB, 220x124)

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>>35594201
why do you bring disaster to this house

Rolled 2, 58 + 5 = 65 (2d100 + 5)

>>35594134
Just in case of crit

Rolled 42, 26 + 5 = 73 (2d100 + 5)

>>35594134
roll hoping for crit100 to nullify the 1 dice gods please

Rolled 17, 89 = 106 (2d100)

>>35594134
DOUBLE 100

>>35594201
Please don't count.
>>35594188 please count

>>35594134
Diarca we technically critted twice with the bonuses can we use that to nullify the critfail?

>>35594344
Pretty sure they both count, the 1 and the 99

>>35594361
They're not nat crits though, just accept the crit, good things have come out of crit fails before. Kind of.

It's a difficult totem, to be sure, but you have a working example to reverse engineer. You pull the Everfresh Totem from your coldbox, turning it over and examining its structure. Sure enough, a tiny coating of snow inside a glass vial provides the sympathetic focus for the chill of the container. You don't particularly want to trek up the mountain for a sample of Spirit Snow, but it occurs to you, nor do you need to. You fill a waterskin with water and stick it in the coldbox with the Everfresh totem. A few minutes later, it emerges as a glob of ice. Ice will work even better than snow, right?

Apparently, wrong.

The ritual goes smoothly enough. You drop a piece of ice into the vial, cork it, then wrap it in chilled linens and adorn it with a sprig from an evergreen tree. You slather the outside of the vial in a paste of mint leaves. Smooth sailing. Terra pats you on the back, admiring your ingenuity. Ice. Good call.

It's only after you chant the words of the ritual to call a spirit of the cold that you understand the importance of proper ritual materials in such a complex totem.

The ice spirit greedily sucks up the excess cold pouring off of the magically frozen water, becoming bloated and fat. When it pops, it does so with the force of a small bomb-- you're thrown off of your feet, through a table, and into the (thankfully unlit) fireplace.

You come to with a knot the size of an egg on your crown, a pulsing headache, and a worried apprentice crouched on your chest.

"Osyki, wake up!" she says, shaking you violently.

You place a none-too-gentle hand on her shoulder, pushing her off of you. Your entire workshop is coated in rime, frost layering thick on the windows. Quinn is missing, and some of the devastation seems to be cleared up.

"He's getting Elana," Terra says at your inquiry. "They'll be back soon."

> Pass out.
> Doze off.
> Rest your eyes.
> Stay awake. (1d100)

Rolled 50 (1d100)

>>35594675
roll

Rolled 18 (1d100)

>>35594675
>stay awake
I'm a totemist

Rolled 73 (1d100)

>>35594675
>> Stay awake. (1d100)

Rolled 43 (1d100)

>>35594675
> Stay awake. (1d100)

Rolled 30 (1d100)

>>35594675
don't go to sleeeeeeep

Rolled 69 (1d100)

>>35594675
>> Stay awake. (1d100)

>>35594675
Did the totem work though?

>>35594800
everything is refrigerated
I'd say yes

The problem is it worked /too well/

Rolled 9 (1d100)

>>35594800
if be work you mean created hand grenades then yes

>>35594870
We could use it as a refrigerator room.

>>35594870
So instead of a refrigerator, we made a slightly explosive freezer?

>>35594934
It only exploded when we made it, I'd say it was a success. If it actually works, of course.

>>35594675
Concussive ice grenades. Interesting.

We should file that away for later. The foolish man does not make a mistake. The wise man learns from his mistakes. The wiser man sees an alternative use for his mistakes.

File: Lil' Terra.jpg (290 KB, 850x1200)

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The pulsing in your skull is a soothing melody, lulling you toward sleep. You're tempted. Your face is burned from cold, your limbs weary and chilled to the bone. It would be easy, so easy, to simply close your eyes and forget the world for a time.

But your training is stronger than your instinct, and with a wrench of effort you sit up, keeping your eyes open. Terra puts a hand on your back, more reassuring than actually supportive.

The totem is in shambles. You'll have to try again later, when your spiritual reserves don't feel scourged.

Elana arrives shortly thereafter, drawing her cloak tight around her as she steps into the building. She puts a vial to your lips and orders you to drink, and the rest thereafter smudges into a blur.

---

When you come back to your senses (not that you were asleep, you were vaguely aware the whole time) you realize that your head has been bandaged. There's a fire roaring in the fireplace, and outside the sun is dipping toward the horizon as the rain continues to batter the windows. Quinn is mopping up the last of the icemelt with a rag.

"He lives," your cotemist jokes. "Welcome back. How's the head?"

You gingerly feel the knot on your skull. Much reduced.

"Good enough," you grunt. "The totem?"

"Beyond salvage. But Terra and I collaborated while you were out, and I think you'll be pleased with the result."

> Examine the new totem.
> Go back and rest. Head injuries are no joke.
> Find your little redheaded apprentice.
> Find some food.
> Other.

>>35595084
Thing is, they don't really function as grenade, seeing as they explode as soon as you make them and it takes a while to make them.

>>35595121
>> Examine the new totem.
>> Go back and rest. Head injuries are no joke.
take a look and then go reast

>>35595121
> Examine the new totem.

>>35595170
Also > Go back and rest. Head injuries are no joke.

>>35595121
> Examine the new totem.

>>35595084
I like the way you think. But there are problems with that idea. They don't have fuses, they just start counting down as soon as you make one. And since they require a ball of ice to make, we often won't have the materials to make them on the fly. Unless we refine the design, we'll only be able to use it in emergencies in winter.

>>35595121
>Examine the new totem.

>>35595121
>> Examine the new totem.
>> Find your little redheaded apprentice.
>> Find some food.
"See that my young apprentice, that's why study and preparation are a totemists best friends. Even the most experienced can make a small mistake into a big one"

>>35595121
> Examine the new totem.
We need better lab equipment. Something like a fume hood, only instead of glass it's made of iron. So you can just slam a shield down in front of you quickly if you need to.

So do we get to keep that 99+5 for the Luminous totem?

>>35595121
> Examine the new totem.
> Go back and rest. Head injuries are no joke.
Having the option to rest twice probably means we should rest. Concussions can lead to permanent damage.

>>35595305
Well, the first time around it would have been a bad idea to go to sleep until we knew it wasn't a serious concussion. Never sleep on a head injury until you know it's okay.

>>35595357
Yeah, now that we've seen the doc it's time to rest.

You rise from the bed, stumbling over to the totem Quinn has placed on the workbench. He catches your arm, arresting a possibly embarrassing fall with a friendly chuckle. "Easy, easy. Sit. I'll bring it to you."

You do as he asks, and in a moment you're holding a small golden bracelet, inscribed with the runes of binding on each link. The adornment initially seems too small for you, but as you unclasp it links slide out of one another until it fits your wrist just so.

When you place your hand on the bed, a tight circle of runes shimmers around your palm. They persist even as you raise your hand away. Counting under your breath, the binding circle remains for a full thirty seconds after contact.

> [Totem Created: Loop of Luminous Runes. This bracelet inscribes an object of the bearer's choice with luminous binding runes, significantly easing the requirements to perform a Feral Binding.]

It's exactly as you had imagined it. You clap Quinn on the back (leaving a circle) and congratulate him on his perfect totem-craft. He shrugs.

"Terra was the one with the idea to make it something you could wear. I was going to try to put it in a lantern."

Sleep calls to you, and you quickly crawl back into bed. You have the go-ahead from the doctor, and your early-morning activities compounded with your double-concussive injuries have taken their toll. You slip beneath the covers, then beneath the inky surface of consciousness. Sleep claims you, for a time.

[[Going to get myself some dinner and taking a short break. I'll return soon.]]

>>35595540
No vote in the meanwhile?

>>35595540
When we wake up, we should go seek that last feral bind.


Also try Thane in the mask, I really want thane in the mask.

>>35595211
Needs modification, obviously. But the basic concept is sound.

>>35595763
I'd rather go for an avatar when we wake up. And Thane in a mask.
>>35595818
Not really, you need to call a spirit every time you make it, and as soon as it's done it explodes. Kind of useless.
We'd be better off coming up with a different concept for a grenade.

>>35595763
Try all the things in the mask.

>>35595540
Okay, so we need to improve safety standards. Getting knocked out by a fight is acceptable, blowing ourselves up during experimentation isn't. So, a list of things I think we should obtain:

An armored box, with a sliding shutter that can quickly be put in place. Maybe have it slide upward so we can just hit a button to release a restraint and drop it. We'll craft totems in it.

All those various "workplace safety" totems we've made for the craftsmen. Safety from cuts and impacts and flames and what not. Place as many as we can without them interfering with the spiritual atmosphere of the workshop.

A personal totem of protection. Way back when(I don't remember the particular thread, but it was within the first ten) we were researching totems we could make out of parts of our first two kills and found a Rock Turtle shell totem that could protect against minor injuries.

None of those on its own would be enough, but if we combine them all we should be safer.

>>35595885
...probably not the Molten heart thing, or the lightning gem.

We've seen that unthinking use of bindings could potentially hurt us.


>>35595858
Avatars are hard anon, if we get one more Feral I think we hit another Drawer.

>>35595929
An avatar binding is a feral binding so it will count for both, besides, we have shitloads of spirits already, it's time we started hunting some big game.

>>35595858
>Bind Modi Magni into mask
>Become walking engine of fury
>Kill the Magus
>Kill everything
>Bad End

>>35595903
Definitely on board with the safety totems, the armor box sounds hard to craft but maybe there's an in-universe way to make it.

Maybe we should set this all up in a shack out in the field by the house, so when we get blown up it won't hurt our other research.

>>35595929
Well maybe not the siren one but thats the only one to hurt us so far. And to be fair its hard to know what we would get, for all we know it would allow us to breath hot air comfortably.

>>35595983
Or we could see if Boand is open to a Celestial Binding to unlock that drawer. It wouldn't have to be anything serious, just a formalization of the agreement we already have. Who knows, she might go for it. Or we might offend her somehow because we don't know the full implications of what a Celestial Binding does on the spirit's side.

>>35596002
>Bind Modi Magni into mask
>Fail miserably
>Bad End

>>35596002
>messing with MM's binding at all

nope not until we are Shaman King

>>35596029
I'd rather open 2 drawers in one binding and get a powerful new type of spirit at the same time.

>>35596038
>unbind Modi Magni from spear
>Bad End.

>>35596024
I imagine siren would either give us that, HEAT VISION or sirens song where we make horrible noises with a shout and get kicked out of the village for causing nightmares.

>>35596106
>Unbind Mod-
>"FOOLISH MORTAL! FINALLY I AM FREE! YOU SHOULD HAVE LISTENED TO YOUR MASTER, FILTHY HUMAN!"
>Bad End

>>35596098
Do Celestial Bindings not count for the "Bind Ten Spirits' drawer? Because if they do then binding Boand would get us two at once.

>>35596234
Doesn't the 10 specify Feral Binds?

>>35596234
Yeah, I just checked and it's any kind of binding, you're right. I'd still rather get an avatar, I like our current arrangement with Boand, and I'm pretty sure she'll ask for quite a bit in exchange for a celestial binding, but who knows, we have to try at some point.

>>35596323
Nope, I just checked. The seal just says "Bind Ten Spirits".

>>35596373
Obviously she's going to ask for The D

Probably something quite valuable though. If we mention the shrine then having a little channel around it that connects with her river might be a huge thing.

>>35596448
Nah, she'd probably want a shrine of her own and some regular sacrifice.

>>35596448
You're kidding, but sex would actually be a pretty powerful, personal, and intimate representation of agreement and binding. You're talking about a mutually pleasurable mingling of souls.

>>35596548
>>35596448
Actually this brings up the question of whether or not Osyki is a virgin. That could actually be relevant for more than just our usual shipping silliness.

>>35596590
Pretty sure he is, seeing as pretty much the only girl in the village he interacts with is Elana.

>>35596590
I think he is. The implication is that he used to be really awkward around women. Combine that with his training taking up much of his time and I don't think he's gotten around to sex yet.

>>35596639
>>35596665
>>35596590
I dont know guys, there was that incident in the papermakers place

>>35596713
See, the impression I got from that story was that it nearly happened, then the unfortunate incident with "an excess of alcohol, a loose robe tie and an overripe gourd" occurred and ruined the mood.

When you awaken, you hear the sounds of chirping birds just outside your window. Quinn nowhere to be seen, while Terra is curled up on the foot of the bed, drooling on one of your pillows. You reach up and gingerly probe at the knot on your head, finding it nearly absent. The angry buzzing in your skull remains, but muted significantly. Whatever Elana gave you, it was a good concoction.

You swing your legs out of bed gently, trying not to awaken your apprentice. She stirs slightly as you rise, but quickly nods off again. She must have been watching over you all night. You feel a surge of almost familial affection for the girl, carefully tucking the blankets over her. The sun isn't high in the sky, but you know your time grows short. Two short days are all the time you have before you're meant to make for Eluneia if you're to follow up on your word to Corporal Rime.

The day lies bare before you, filled with possibility.

> Experiment with Totems. (Suggest)
> Head out to Boand's pond.
> Head into the mountains.
> Head out into the forest to hunt.
> Head out into the forest to find Sylvia.
> Spend some time with the villagers.
> Other

>>35597893
> Head out into the forest to find Sylvia.
We've got a new instrument. Time for a jam session.

>>35597893
Wait, what? I don't remember that. I thought we were waiting for him to send us a messenger bird. Did one arrive already?

>>35597989

[[No, but he intimated he would send one around three days from his departure. Best to be prepared for the earliest possible departure, in Osyki's mind.]]

>>35598013
Oh, I see. Well, then, let's
> Spend some time with the villagers.
If we're going to leave soon, see if anyone needs anything first so it's all sorted out back home.

>>35597893
> Experiment with Totems. (Suggest)
Celestial Binding
> Head out into the forest to find Sylvia.
Ask to do that binding.

>>35597893
>Other
Use the ritual we got from Saeri to find an avatar.

>>35597893
Supporting >>35598067
I want to hunt some avatars

>>35597893
>> Head out to Boand's pond
Esp if this gets us two boxes open at once.

Other possibility is that we could see if Siperco would submit to a celestial binding. He might have less demands that Boand and it might make him feel more at ease in his new home. Plus if the thing with Eluneia is happening soon, Osyki will have to go through the swamp again and he's our favorite swamp buddy.

>>35597893
>> Experiment with Totems. (Suggest)
one of the biggest concerns for building the road is the spirits being worried about us messing up their land, how about a totem that we can use to set a trail without making a trail. like when you're within X feet of it you can feel you're on the right track, but step out of the field and you just know you've taken a wrong turn

>>35598135
How would that help? We'd still need to provide a clear path for people to travel on. Do you just want to make it easier to survey?

>>35598135
A totem to keep the road intact would probably be simpler and more efficient.

>>35598218
I think he's using it as a replacement for the trail. Anyone with the (probably) mass-produced totem would have an instinct keeping them on the correct path. It's a cool idea since we wouldn't need to pave it, probably keeping the spirits happy, but then you'd need a ton of the totems and no carts could get through.

>>35598308
The point of a road isn't to tell you which way to go, though. It's to provide a smooth, hard, level surface so that you expend minimal energy traveling on it. That applies just as much to moving on it with legs as with wheels. If that wasn't the case, hiking trails would just be ropes you could follow through the forest.

>Sure Path Totem
like a magic compass, attuned to Point A and Point B and helps lead holder back on the right way if unforeseen events cause them to go off trail (Storm, Beast Attack, Bandit runs you off the road, etc.) we could hand them out to people when we're getting started on the road so workers don't get lost between here and Eluneia/moving city/wherever. worn on a bracelet or necklace and points towards the nearest point of trail its attuned to
>Stone from a well traveled road
>moss grown following the sun east to west
>shavings from an old reliable trail marker
>leather from well worn and cared for boots
>something to attune it to Point A
>something to attune it to Point B
>would need to be carried along the entirety of the path at least once
>can't be re attuned once made

Rolled 2 (1d2)

[[ Rolling for tiebreaker.

1: Go to the forest to find Sylvia.
2: Use Saeri's ritual to find an Avatar. ]]

>>35598396
Yeah I know, that's why I said carts couldn't get through. It's crazy inefficient in more than a few ways, but it keeps the spirits happy. I wouldn't support the idea personally, but it's clever as hell and a totem like that would be a very good way to set up different waypoints and such for our personal use. Maybe caches in the forest/swamp or different areas that are safe points.

>>35598561
whelp this is gonna suck/be fun

>>35598561
2

>>35598561
2
lets go for a fight

>>35598561
2
lets go for a fight

>>35598601
>>35598653
He said rolling, not voting. We're doing 2 anyway, though, so it's your lucky day.

Actually, could we get a Celestial Binding with the avatar and wind up opening three drawers at once? That would be kind of awesome.

>>35598691
Wow, I honestly thought it was a final destination type vote, I should pay more attention

You pull the diagram Saeri left for you down from its home on your shelf as you perform the ritual of sanctification on autopilot. The wood switch in your hand disintegrates in pale purple fire, and you unfold the diagram. You spend a few minutes studying and internalizing the details. It looks like you'll need

> A map. [X]
> An example of the thing to be found. [?]
> A wide open space. [X]
> A large supply of spiritual energy [X]
> A sacrifice to the greater spirit of mysteries. [?]

Three of the things pose no problem whatsoever. An example of the thing to be found. though... Hopefully, Modi will serve as a proper example of an avatar, even in his bound state. If he won't, you'll have to track down the avatar the old fashioned way.

And a sacrifice to the greater spirit of mysteries? You wonder what spirit that might be, and what a proper sacrifice would be.

> A secret.
> Wealth.
> An object of magical potence.
> Something abstract.
> Consult one of your spirits. (Who?)

>>35598907
> Consult one of your spirits. (Who?)
Our shadow friend.

>>35598907
>> Consult one of your spirits. (Who?)
Amal/Thane/the fire imp who's name I'm forgeting

>>35598907
>> Consult one of your spirits. (Who?)
Thane

>>35598907
> Consult one of your spirits. (Who?)
Thane would be the most likely to know. Though I think a good sacrifice would be not a secret, but a sign of supplication by creating a new mystery. Why would a mystery spirit want to know a secret? It already knows it, most likely. Better to strengthen its purview by turning something into a mystery.

>>35598907
> A secret.

>>35598968
Tyrd?

>>35599023
this

>>35599093
Tryd, was close enough

If it's a question of mysteries, you have one spirit to ask before all others. You pull the curtains closed to ward out the morning sun, snuff the candles, and douse the fireplace. You've found that calling your Stalker spirit gets easier in the absence of light.

The Stalker pelt comes out of your cloak without protest, but the usual exercise of fishing Thane out from beneath the murky surface of his Focus seems more difficult than usual, today. It takes you a full fifteen minutes of total concentration, the silence broken only by Terra's barely audible snoring, before you feel the reluctant -snag- in the corner of your attention and finally drag your spirit from his focus. He manifests as always, in his strangely cut tunic and slacks, sitting in a velvet-lined chair you're sure you don't own in your workshop. His face is obscured by impossible shadows, leaving only dully luminescent amber eyes to catch the faint streamers of light that filter in under the blinds.

"Totemist," he says, his deep, rich voice congenial as ever. "So good to see you again, back in your element. Out from beneath the crushing, cavernous earth. What can I assist you with?"

You take a seat opposite him on a workbench stool. "I need to make a sacrifice to a greater spirit of mysteries. I wondered if you might have any advice on proper tribute."

His smile grows, and you can see a pair of distinct fangs glint momentarily in the gloom.

"I might have an idea or two. How large need this sacrifice be?"

(cont.)

>>35599431

"Nothing intolerable or irreplacable, I hope," you answer. "Just enough to get its attention."

Thane nods, you think. It's difficult to tell in the everpresent fog of utter darkness that seems to radiate from him. "I see. In that case, might I suggest burying some parcel of knowledge? Something people are unlikely to know, but likely to be curious of. Perhaps something related to your profession would suffice. Some important tome or note, entombed in the earth, never to see the light of day. Such a thing might, in fact, suffice."

> That sounds doable.
> That sounds like too large a sacrifice.
> I'll think about it.
> What about... (write-in)

> Thank you, Thane.
> Before you go... (write-in)

>>35599454
> That sounds doable.
> Before you go... I've need of a binding to explore a mine-pit that may or may not house eldritch, arcane, unknowable abominations that wreck havoc with the balance of the elements themselves. How would you recommend doing so in a prudent, discretionate way? My ratio of concussions to days is rising too quickly for my health.

>>35599454
> That sounds doable.

>>35599454
> I'll think about it.
> Thank you, Thane.

You nod, putting a hand to your chin. "That... that sounds doable," you admit. There are more books on the library shelves than you have time to read, and not all of them can be essential. If worst comes to worst, you can always bury another book in the original tome's place. After all, it's hardly a mystery if it can't eventually be solved. Right?

"Thank you, Thane," you say with a shallow bow to the spirit. He gives you another imperceptible nod. You glance toward the curtains, then back to where he's seated-- to where he -was- seated. Just like that, he's gone.

Opening the curtains wide has the unintended side effect of waking Terra. She grunts, cracking an eye open.

"You're up," she mumbles, rubbing one eye sleepily. "Where are you going?"

> To hunt a monster.
> To do some work.
> Don't worry about it. I'll be back soon.

You consider your foci, all arrayed on your primary workbench. Hunting an avatar. What loadout should you take?

> Choose loadout.

> Perform the ritual immediately.
> Hold off on the ritual. (For?)

>>35600063
> To do some work.

> Perform the ritual immediately.

>>35600063
>To do some work.
>Perform the ritual immediately.

>>35600063
> To do some (probably not dangerous) work.
> Perform the ritual immediately.

>>35600063
I think we should find a book that we already know the subject of?

Like I doubt it would be as easy as digging up the book again.

You give Terra a little wave, shrugging casually. "I'm off to do some work, little one," you say. You do your best to keep it ambiguous, your tone neutral, edging toward reassuring. "Nothing dangerous. I'll be out back if you need anything, alright?"

She nods, yawning wide and burrowing back into the covers until all that's visible is the unruly mop of red atop her head. "Kay," comes the voice from under the blanket. "Be out in a little while."

She's already snoring again by the time you leave the workshop.

The field is still relatively flat and smooth, the Terra Disrupt-ed dirt flat as a stone slab. You get to work sketching out the ritual circle. Circles, really. Multiple interlocking rings of arcane design at each of the cardinal directions.

The instructions say to bury the sacrifice at the center of the primary ring. You glance down at the book you've selected. It's inconvenient, but you suppose you don't really need it.

> The Elemental Courts: A Primer
> Ayren's Treatise on the Gray Mists
> Beasts of the Ocean
> Stars, Skies, and the Web of Destiny
> A history of Grisoch Village

>>35600449
> Beasts of the Ocean

Screw the ocean, we're not going to fuck with anything over there anyways.

Wait, wouldn't invoking the spirit of secrets to help you find an Avatar just give you a false positive? How discerning is the ritual? Because if it's a dowsing sort of thing it should just point to your current location as you invoke it.

>>35600449
>> Beasts of the Ocean
We're not anywhere near the ocean, shouldn't need it.

>>35600449
>> Beasts of the Ocean
May be useful to our new neighbor but he can figure it out himself.

>>35600449
> Stars, Skies, and the Web of Destiny
No fate but what we make.

>>35600449
> Beasts of the Ocean

>>35600063
> Choose loadout.

Hmm, Cloudwalker's Stride and Bulwark Aurum for mobility. Gnome's Garb for durability. Snakebite Aqua for our bow.

Try the Fanged Stalker in our mask. Put the Crystal Scale in our cloak. Siren's Heart in a sword.

>>35600063
The usual. Lightning boots, raptor greives, earth gloves, maybe siren bow, or sword?

> To do some work.
> Perform the ritual immediately.

>>35600449
>> A history of Grisoch Village
The ocean seems important for Saeri's ultimate meeting place, if I remember that scene correctly

However I don't mind ocean if this won't swing it.

File: 1368149134937.jpg (1.93 MB, 1831x3240)

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Also, up till today, I've had a different image of Thane in my head, but suddenly I find that image changing and I'm curious as to it's accuracy

Darcia, if you could comment.
A man in a suit vest and compatible clothing, smooth voice. Perhaps raptor skin shoes to bear relation to his actual foci.

Face shadowed, vague impression of a mouth and glowing eyes to give expression

>>35599307
Don't you mean, I Tried?

>>35600449
>A history of Grisoch Village
It will put a mysterious feel over the village not knowing its past. A very good sacrifice.
I will also suggest we put the book in a safe container for possible future retrieval. It would also work as a time capsule to intrigue mystify people of the future.

>>35600881

[[Very accurate. Posting momentarily.]]

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13 KB JPG

>>35600943
Forgot muh pic

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3.77 MB GIF

>>35601020
I am pleased that I got it right
quite pleased.

I like the cut of your jib, Diarca

>>35600881
From what I recall, that's mostly correct. His top clothing was described as being like a cross between a robe and a tunic, which sounds like it could be Osyki's interpretation of an old-fashioned suit coat to me. He also has a lot of little metal plates sewn into his clothes, I believe. Not sure what those are about. His shoes wouldn't be raptor leather, though, the creature he supposedly came from was something like a cross between a bear and a bat. Maybe have a little ornament of Fanged Stalker claws hanging from his belt, that could work.

>>35601077
I like this too.

Not sure about the metal plates. Can't figure out a modern analogue