"I'm surprised to hear you say so," you note aloud. "Your philosophy usually tends toward the independence of spirits."

"Natural spirits," she corrects you. "And that thing is anything but. It is a vacuum in the order of nature, consuming all it touches and playing merry havoc with my beautiful designs."

"With that in mind," you say, "I'd appreciate if you could clear the way for my mutually beneficial hunt."

"Consider it done," she says magnanimously. "I will send a guard to escort you to the edge of its territory."

Your heart sinks. The direction suggested it, but now you have confirmation. The Avatar is in the Wyrm's old lair.

You turn to leave, but pause. The Basilisk Wyrm's venom felled your mentor, despite all of his powerful totems and Foci. You don't particularly want to fall prey to the same fate. Turning to face the Mother again, you clear your throat.

"My Lady of the Blossom, I have a favor to ask of you."

"Oh?" she asks, one petal-eyebrow raising delicately. "Go on."

"I have reservations about venturing into the lair of the beast that felled my predecessor. Though the monster itself is slain, its brood remains a threat, and we both know that the bite of a young serpent is often twice as fatal. I would beg a boon of you: do what you can to keep me safe from the ravages of toxins within the beast's lair."

That smile of needles and thorns surfaces again, and the Mother leans forward on her throne. Droplets of mist stick to her gray-green skin in a manner simultaneously distracting and enticing. "Forward thinking, my dear. I could be convinced to aid you in this manner. Provided, of course, you will agree to a favor for me."

"Name it," you say.
(cont.)

File: Where where where to look.gif (206 KB, 1024x1015)

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"My eyes and ears tell me that you'll be embarking on another journey soon. My swamp is slow to spread, but the limitations on its expansion are without rival. When you depart, you will take a piece of my domain with you, and install it in the new land you find. In this way, I will expand far beyond my borders in a fraction of the usual time."

To be honest, you were expecting much worse. Maybe it's the floral sharq-grin the Mother has going on, or the hungry look in the eyes of the two Dryads attending her, but planting a piece of her swamp in a foreign land is... relatively tame, all things considered. You nod, thumping a hand to your chest.

"I will do this, to the best of my ability. You have my word as Totemist."

The grin, it seems, can always get wider.

"Perfect," the Mother says, practically purring. The floral scent on the air rises for a moment, nearly choking. "Come, then, and attend to me my dear. I will bestow upon you your requested resistance."

You step forward, standing before the golden flower throne. The Mother descends from her lofty perch, sliding down a trumpet-vine ramp to land elegantly in front of you. You can see yourself reflected in those dark, dew-drop eyes, and for a moment you are reminded of your time in the Shade.

That reminiscence is cut painfully short when the Mother reaches out, marking your throat with a gloved fingertip.

You gag for a moment as the taste of rot slithers up and down your throat. A cold, slimy sensation spreads through your veins, and you do your best to remain composed as the brown-black magic works its way visibly through your system. Your veins stand out against your skin, pale and milky.

"Go forth," she says with a dismissive wave, "and rid the land of this unruly incarnation. When it is complete, you may retrace your steps and return to me my precious gift."

(cont.)

Precious gift. You feel like you just sucked a slimeball out of a swamp beast's back end. You nod unsteadily, bowing shallowly and making a rapid exit before you offend the Mother by vomiting in her throne room.

Once outside the Blossom, and the Spirit World by proxy, the nausea quickly fades.

> Approach the Wyrm's lair overland. You don't know its entrance, and your escort can't fly.
> Approach the lair by air. No sense getting bogged down. Literally.
> 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. In the mean time, you have an Avatar to investigate.

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

Plot Summary (Current up to thread 50): http://pastebin.com/dqBSNUTM

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

Ask: ask.fm/DiarcaEXE

Quest Twitter: @TotemistQuest]]

>>35729314
> Approach the Wyrm's lair overland. You don't know its entrance, and your escort can't fly.
Bind Bulwark Aurum, hoverskate across the swamp's surface.

>>35729314
> Approach the Wyrm's lair overland. You don't know its entrance, and your escort can't fly.


WOO! Totemist!

>>35729314
> Approach the Wyrm's lair overland. You don't know its entrance, and your escort can't fly.

>>35729314
> Approach the Wyrm's lair overland. You don't know its entrance, and your escort can't fly.

>>35729314
>> Approach the Wyrm's lair overland. You don't know its entrance, and your escort can't fly.

A note to all the other players: Please don't do any more deals where Osyki pays with a (semi-)permanent obligation or gives a spirit a permanent boost for a temporary benefit to Osyki. Or do a service to a spirit that only Osyki can do for something generic. What Osyki does is extremely valuable to the spirits and Osyki should act like it.

>>35729513
Yeah, that was bad and I wish I had been awake for that vote. But I have an idea as to how we can salvage it, fulfill her request with a minimum of effort on our part while getting something we want out of it in return. What if we convince her that letting a road be built through her swamps would help it spread? Yes, her priority is the independence of her domain, and so a constant human presence could threaten that. But there's nothing like a migratory animal to help spread an ecosystem, and the passage of humans through the swamp would lead to them tracking the mud and flora of her domain well into new lands. Anyone think we should try to make that argument?

>>35729567
Independence might be the key here. Sure, we will plant her seed somewhere. But there is no more obligation. Frame it as a small embassy of the Mother and advise the Emperor how to keep it contained. Or simply put it into another spirits domain, knowing that the spirit will just destroy the freshly formed domain. Stuff like that.

I was not just referring to that though. There were a couple of weird deals. I'm still not clear on the trees we have to cultivate in the village for example. What happens if those trees die? And would this not be a far bigger increase of the forest's influence and power than was lost by killing a few animals who will be replaced by their off-spring within a few years?

>>35729567
I agree we should ask her for a road and all that, but that argument sounds like an ass pull, I think we should just make it clear we want more out of the deal, seeing as we're giving her a permanent power boost in return for a temporary power boost, which she should have given us in the first place in return for asking us to hunt the avatar.

>>35729653
I think cultivating those trees would be a relatively minor boost to Sylvianis's power. It's a big forest and they're only a handful of trees, even if we include them in a shrine it wouldn't do much for her compared to what she already has. It's more of a symbolic thing, acknowledging that this is her territory. Now, if there were any spirits directly tied to those trees, like that apricot dryad, then it would be a different matter and they'd get a lot out of it. They're minor spirits, giving them a shrine would be a big boost. Which makes me wonder if maybe now that Boand is becoming a sort of patron spirit of Grissoch if we should give her a shrine by the river's edge. I don't object to Boand becoming stronger as a result of our actions, she's always been a straight shooter.

>>35729653
Not a fan of planting it in some other spirits domain or generally dicking her over.
We do kind of have an obligation to put it somewhere that makes sense, we are neighbors after all, screwing her over is going to have negative consequences no matter what. I suggest we plant it along the road and just ask her for something extra.

>>35729709
Well, it's true, the road would help her expand just as much as it would us. But I suppose you're right and it's not enough for a main argument. We can use it as a supporting detail, though, to help persuade her alongside other points.

>>35729752
>I think cultivating those trees would be a relatively minor boost to Sylvianis's power
And losing a few raptors is a really minor loss to her power. Still, these trees are an obligation for decades to come. The raptors will have grown back in a year or maybe a couple of years.

>>35729780
Not totally screwing her over. But we might negotiate with her for something actually lasting in exchange for taking care that the new swamp has a good chance to grow. Offering it as a line of communication between the Empire and the Swamp the new road will go through would benefit both the Empire and the Swamp Mother. But what would our Village get out of that?

You consider your Lizardfolk escorts. They don't appear to have wings, so you'll have to go overland if you're going to go with them. With that in mind, you pause on the Material side of the barrier to adjust your equipment.

> Current Loadout:
Armor: Blessing of the Elder Turtle
Shirt: Vestus Quies
Pants: Bulward Aurum
Boots: Golem Rising
Cloak: Nocturne's Embrace
Bow: Song of the Deep

Leaving your Raptor Bone, Glimmering Eye, and Ykree Fang unbound. For the moment.

> Bind them (to what?)
> Leave them for the moment.

With that settled, you depart. The lizard-guards speak to one another in short, clipped tones and barks as they lead you through the swamp. They don't seem to note your gliding across the murky surface of the swamp--or if they do, they don't care. They pause every so often, their beclawed hands on the pommels of their curved, serrated knives. Every few meters they beckon you to glide to a new island, a fresh sanctuary from the dangers of the swamp.

The nausea has faded, now, and you can feel the sickly-strong power of the Mother pulsing in your veins. It's a good thing, you note, as the landscape's hues are slowly bleached to stark black and white. The closer you wander, the more apparent it becomes:

You are within the Wyrm's domain.

The water here is dark as pitch, with pale white dirt forming speckled islands across the onyx surface. The air is caustic to breathe. You're sure that without the Mother's power, you would be struggling for air. The sky overhead is shrouded by a fine white mist. The entire area has a vaguely ethereal quality to it; examining the area further, you realize that the barrier between the Mists and the Material is incredibly thin.

The Lizards pause, their eyes roving. They're clearly in pain.

> Dismiss your guards.
> Allow them to guide you to the entrance of the Lair.

>>35729881
>> Dismiss your guards.

>>35729881
> Bind them (to what?)
Bind the Glitterwing Moth to our sword again, might as well find out what Moth's First Resort does. Don't bother with the Raptor or Ykree, though. They're kind of the underperformers of our spiritual arsenal, we've outgrown the talents they can provide. Maybe some experimentation will find a good use for them, but for now let's not waste the energy. The only use I can think of is binding the Ykree to our amulet to get Hunter Vision for the darkness of the cave, but there's no guarantee that a hunger spirit would show up on the infrared spectrum.

> Dismiss your guards.
No need to make them suffer. Ask them to point us in the direction, though. Provided they can understand us, of course.

>>35729881
Dismiss them. They've done more than enough guiding us. Here on out is Totemist work.

>>35730011
You know what we haven't tried binding shit to? our belt. Magic belts show up all the time in fiction but we tried a length of rope before a belt.

>>35729881
>> Allow them to guide you to the entrance of the Lair.
Let them do their job.

Bind Glimmering Eye to a weapon. Bind Ykree fang to a ring or something in the hopes that it will give some poison immunity or a useful effect. Don't have anything for raptor.

>>35730202
Nice idea. But we should branch out from "things you can wear". Something I was thinking of was getting a saddle and bridle. I don't think we could get one here, since I'm pretty sure our village doesn't have riding horses (I'm not even sure if we have draft horses, honestly). But after seeing Quinn ride his Raptor I want to see if we can get ourselves a cool mount, too. It probably wouldn't summon a copy of the creature itself, since it's not a direct resemblance like the puppet is, but I could see binding to a saddle leading to some sort of vehicle. Like binding the Raptor Thighbone to the saddle would make it grow legs and let us ride it like a little walker mecha. Or binding the Razor Wing to turn it into a flying machine.

Anyone got a link to that html table of bindings that anon made? You should put that one into the op or pastebin Diarca. It is easier to read.

>>35730283
Did we try the raptor with the amulet?

>>35730283
We already have poison immunity, that's what the Mother of the Swamp's blessing was. I'm not sure how spiritual effects stack, but I imagine any protection from a Ykree spirit would be overshadowed by a Land Guardian's blessing. Anything that would get through that would probably kill us anyway.

>>35730328
No but now that I check raptor in the mirror is quite useful for when we're hunting alone. We should use that one.

You turn to the Lizardfolk. Their slitted pupils follow you carefully, nictating membranes flicking frequently over their eyes to keep the acid mist from inflicting too much damage. You bow to them, hoping the universal gesture carries over, and then make a dismissive gesture. They stare at you for a moment, speaking to one another in that strange, barking language before inclining their sloped brows to you, turning on their heels, and departing.

You sheath Moth's First Resort at your side, noting that the trail of glimmering dust it leaves seems to shine bright in the monochromatic gloom. The entrance to the lair is obvious as you wander from island to island, gliding across the water's surface. A cavernous maw of stone erupts from the swamp, the stalactites lining its entrance like needle-thin teeth. The stench in the air here is foul, and the acid mist stings at your skin despite the Mother's blessing. The noxious admixture of acrid mist and rotting flesh is enough to make you gag when you inhale and wince when you exhale.

The water bubbles menacingly near the cavern's mouth. It looks like a whirlpool has begun to form.

That can't be good.

> Dash past the maelstrom into the cave,
> Wait. Haste is the enemy here.
> Dive into the maelstrom. Nothing ventured...
> Other

>>35730316
>Acquire raptor skeleton
>bind thighbone to skeleton
>???
>Profit!

Also "things you can wear" is the most useful shit ever since you don't need hands to use it generally.

>>35730464
We are not actually touching the water, so the Maelstrom shouldn't affect us, right?
>Keep your distance
>Observe

>>35730464
>Wait. Haste is the enemy here.
Whup what ever comes out of that whirlpool and make new pants out of it.

>>35729314
>> Approach the Wyrm's lair overland. You don't know its entrance, and your escort can't fly.

Heck yes, Totemist.
And I'm awake enough to play !

Same as last time, no need to fly and waste the escort.

>>35730464
> Wait. Haste is the enemy here.
Check it out with our second sight, see if we can sense anything. I get the horrible feeling that this entire cave is somehow the body of the hunger spirit.

>>35730464
>> Wait. Haste is the enemy here.

>>35729881
>> Dismiss your guards.
We don't need their deaths on our head

>>35730464
>> Wait. Haste is the enemy here.

>>35730779
is there any fan art of totemist quest?

You tuck yourself as best you can in the shade of a withered, stunted tree. The black bark seems to crawl with some sort of thick oil--you're careful not to actually TOUCH the obstruction.

The Maelstrom deepens rapidly, the swirling sinkhole in the water's surface funneling down into a deep, rapidly whirling cone. As it does, you close your eyes and scan the world with Second Sight. The world is similar behind closed eyelids, painted in stark blacks and whites, though the Gaussian blur applied to the landscape only enhances the ethereal appearance. You get a pulse of something half-living, a deep unsettling essence rising from the maelstrom.

As you open your eyes, you can see it. One of the Wyrm's escaped brood must have matured-- a sinuous ebon serpent rises from the center of the whirlpool, sweeping its head left and right. Milky, sightless eyes adorn its brow in uneven clusters of six, and a thick black ichor weeps from its open mouth. A long row of spines rakes outward from its back, and you feel a -pulse- of spiritual energy sweep outward from it.

> 1d100

>>35730872
Welp, looks like we have our last feral binding.

Rolled 8 (1d100)

>>35730872
welp

Rolled 99 (1d100)

>>35730872

>>35730862
Some guy posted some fanart last thread: http://archive.moe/tg/thread/35603401/
It's towards the bottom.

File: 1352448060096.gif (498 KB, 500x225)

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Rolled 63 (1d100)

>>35730872

>>35730934
So close to unleashing the Rules of Nature

Rolled 23 (1d100)

>>35730872
So is it the avatar?

>>35730969
I think the avatar's eating the wyrm from the inside

>>35730969
Looks like basalisk spawn grew up.

Rolled 98 (1d100)

>>35730995
Yeah, I figured maybe the hunger of the previous behemoth somehow got imbued with one of the wyrm spawns and turned it into an avatar or something.

>>35730934
I was thinking of doing some but I can't find descriptions of any of the characters appearances

>>35730969
More like its a mid boss.

Rolled 56 (1d100)

>>35731035
Try asking Diarca on his ask.

The pulse sweeps nearer and nearer to you, screaming silently across the blighted landscape. As it approaches you can feel Nocturne's Embrace shiver. Your hood clamps down tight atop your crown, and for a moment there is only a stifling, choking feeling as your spiritual signature is clouded in inky shadow. The wave sweeps past you, and Thane disengages from your core with a contented sigh. The wyrmling seems to have failed to notice you; its rapid gyrations slow, and it begins to slowly sink beneath the waves.

You consider it as it drops. It could be a powerful binding, and you don't relish the idea of warring with the Avatar of Hunger only to be felled by this thing on the way out.

On the other hand, a fight with the Wyrmling could well be fatal, even with the Mother's protection. The combat could draw the Avatar out, but then you would be facing both foes at once. A prospect you don't exactly relish.

Whatever your decision, you need to make it fast.

> Avoid the Wyrm and head into the lair.
> Engage the Wyrm and attempt to bind it.
> Nuke the wyrm from a distance with Song of the Deep. No binding, but a problem solved.
> Other

>>35731465
>> Engage the Wyrm and attempt to bind it.
If the avatar comes out we can still disengage and attack from afar. We are pretty fast after all.

Also, song of the deep might be a good start to weaken the Wyrm.

Rolled 20 (1d100)

>>35731465
> Engage the Wyrm and attempt to bind it.
Might as well.

Rolled 39 (1d100)

>>35731465
>Engage the Wyrm and attempt to bind it.

File: genome probability.gif (4.03 MB, 855x462)

4.03 MB GIF

Rolled 90 (1d100)

>>35731465
>> Engage the Wyrm and attempt to bind it.

I feel like this is risky, but we are a totemist.

>>35731465
>Engage the Wyrm

Either way we have to fight it. On the way in, or it can interrupt our fight with the Avatar, and if not he'll be there after the fight too. So... get rid of it now I think.

>>35731465
> Engage the Wyrm and attempt to bind it.
Could have made some great jokes if we were about to face an avatar of greed.

>>35731465
>Engage the Wyrm and attempt to bind it.
Better than getting fucked up on the way out and it lets us open another drawer. Never mind its probably strong as balls.

>>35731795
>balls of steel.jpg

>>35731934
Wonder what we would get if we bound stuff to a steel ball?

File: Scan.jpg (39 KB, 452x433)

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>>35732106
This.

>>35732130
I like it?

File: jojo80538.jpg (1.37 MB, 1728x3072)

1.37 MB JPG

>>35732106
Ask this guy

>>35732228
That's terrible Gyro cosplay. It's not nearly fabulous enough. He needs to work on his posing.

File: 1410920891825.gif (1019 KB, 400x230)

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How long until Osyki pulls something like that?

>>35732344
How long until he does a pale imitation of a cool pose at a small child?

>>35732409
>Pale imitation
As if, he'll go balls to the wall and use his flashiest bindings to make it grandiose.

You put a gentle hand on the curve of Song of the Deep, considering your options. A direct hit would be a decisive end to the engagement before it even began, but... a part of you wants to add this thing to your collection. A sort of pseudo-vengeance for your master's fall. You'll harness this thing, add it to your panoply. It will work off the debt its progenitor incurred.

Wrathful thinking like this might not be productive, but it will be -satisfying-.

You draw the Song in one swift motion, drawing the string to your cheek. In an instant, the air around you goes frigid, banks of black ice creeping onto the shore of your island. The Wyrmling senses the shift in the air, sightless eyes raking the distance between you. Its mouth opens, a ball of roiling black venom surging in its jaws--

The string snaps, and a beam of heat and vitriol lances from your bow. It doesn't hit the wyrm00 a quick death would be a mercy. It slams the water beside it, flash-boiling the black waters and sending a gout of dark mist into the air. The concussive impact sends the wyrmling--all twenty feet of rippling black scales, gnashing teeth, lashing quills--hurtling into the air. It slams down hard atop the stone maw of the cavern, knocking loose stone teeth, showering the ground with--

In an instant it is on its feet, surging through the air toward you. Fast! So, so fast. You draw your spear up between you just as its jaws descend, hooking the deceptively strong wooden haft into the gnashing teeth of the beast. The weapon creaks, bends, but does not break. Modi's spirit strengthens the weapon and your resolve.

The moment is decisive.

> 1d100, course of action.

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Rolled 66 (1d100)

>>35732550
well I rolled 90 before, but I'll roll again

TOTEMIST PLEASE

Rolled 20 (1d100)

>>35732550
rules of nature?
rules of nature

>>35732550
Stick him through the roof of his mouth with our sword while his mouth is jammed open

Rolled 73 (1d100)

>>35732550
Twist the spear and try to leverage it in to diving into the floor

Just realized we could have put the raptor in the mask.

Rolled 1 (1d100)

>>35732550
Stab it with the spear

Rolled 68 (1d100)

>>35732670
fuckfuckfuckfuck
Use the bonus.

Rolled 81 (1d100)

>>35732550
Blessing of the Elder Turtle can sap momentum with its shields, so set up a strong one to limit its movements. Then leave Modi in its jaws to lash around and distract it while we get to work cutting major surface blood vessels with our sword. It's a creature of poison, so an appropriately symbolic death would be to let it bleed out into this corrupted land. Life flows out, muck and foulness flows in. Then slap it with the Luminous Links to get the runes on and cut its throat.

>>35732670
Dude. Seriously.
Can we use that bonus to get rid of this?

Rolled 10 (1d100)

>>35732550
Pull out Moth's First Resort, get onto its head and start carving our way to the eyes.

Modi hates dragons, so he should be willing to start killing this guy on his own initiative.

Rolled 35 (1d100)

>>35732680
Seconded. Can we use the bonus we've got in reserve to cancel that crit fail?

>>35732700
His eyes are blind though. Plus it might be more snake than dragon.

>>35732728
First, it's called a wyrm, we already confirmed Modi considers wyrms as dragons. Second, where does it say it's blind?

> Milky, sightless eyes adorn its brow in uneven clusters of six
>The Wyrmling senses the shift in the air, sightless eyes raking the distance between you.

>>35732769
We don't even have to assume Modi will hate it, we've fought this thing's siblings back when they were only the size of crocodiles. Modi activated against them like he does against other dragons, so we know he'll work.

>>35732769
>Milky, sightless eyes adorn its brow
>where does it say it's blind?
> sightless eyes

>>35732821
Alright.

[[ Use one of your thread bonuses [2] to cancel the 1?]]

>>35732882
You know it baby

>>35732882
Yea
I'd rather not get eaten.

>>35732882
Yes, please. Especially if we have two of them. I thought we only had one. But yeah, if we've got a spare then definitely use one.

>>35732840
Man I really don't remember anything from the last time we came to the swamp.
>>35732882
Hell yes.

Vestus Quies is handy, he doesn't really seem to be able to hear us. He just managed to sense the disturbance in the atmosphere because of Song of the Deep.

>>35732882
Hell Fucking Yes. This is not a place we want a critfail.

[[ I added another for the fanart in the last thread. One bonus used, Crit-fail ignored!]]

A pulse of essence rebounds from deep within the spear, accompanied by a sound like tearing metal. A wordless, voiceless, thrumming roar echoes from the head of your spear, a deep hatred stirred from sleep. The Wyrm's teeth rattle in their sockets as it slides, writhes across the island, and your spear lifts from your hands.

"Don't kill it," you tell Magni. "This one is mine."

There must be a note of conviction in your voice, because the weapon shivers. Acknowledgement? Defiance? It's impossible to be sure. You draw Moth's First Resort from its scabbard at your side, flourishing it with heretofore unknown grace.

As you do, your spear darts toward you.

> Two-front assault.
> Synthesis.
> Diversion.

>>35733151
>Diversion

>>35733151
I don't understand the second option. What would "synthesis" be?

>>35733151
>Diversion.

>>35733216
It's
>Attack from two sides
>Attack from the same side
>Act as a distraction
I think

>>35733151
> Synthesis.

>>35733216
My guess is it involves Magni merging with us or our weapon.

>>35733266
Dont really like the sound of that.

>>35733216
>In general, the noun synthesis refers to a combination of two or more entities that together form something new;
a joining or creation of something?
>>35733151
> Synthesis.
let's get crazy

>>35733151
>Synthesis

We're about to fight an avatar of hunger, right? Hunger is similar to greed. Let's let Magni help us out. I'm sure we can control him for at least a little while.

>>35733151
>> Synthesis.
I have no idea what this is, but lets do it

>>35733388
at some point we're going to have to give him the chance to cut loose on something. The last several dragons we've come across we prevented him from killing.

>>35733468
We've been cockblocking him pretty hard lately, haven't we? First we ally with a spirit of industry for mutual economic benefit instead of kill him like we initially said we were going to. Then we fought an entire nest of wyrms and didn't kill a single one. And now we're refusing to let him go wild on this basilisk. He must be so frustrated with us.

>>35733552
He killed that wyrm thing we wanted before and fucked up our binding. Plus he hates humans (i.e. us) just as much as dragons.

>>35733151
> Synthesis

>>35733627
That was like a month and a half ago. I'm talking about the past week. At least we let him tear up that pack of Skyscythe Drakes to keep them busy while we bound one. Maybe that'll hold him over.

>>35733679
My point is that he can go suck a badger, who cares if he is annoyed with us? He hates us anyway.

>>35733712
Well, he does need some level of appeasement else he will not loan us his power. He's bound to the spear, which makes the spear stronger, but the crazy extra shit he can do is on him, it's not at our call

>>35733740
Not too worried about that. Hes probably happy with what he gets, never mind that we only ever use him on shit he hates these days anyway.

>>35733151
> Synthesis.
I kind of dislike when you give us options with out explaining them.

>>35733740
I think he's happy as long as dragons are dying.

>>35733994
Its a mystery.

>>35734156
Shouldn't really be a mystery if we're the ones performing the action.

>>35734226
It should if we don't know what we are doing.

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You don't move as the spear darts. You have to trust Magni--trust the binds of sorcery that tie him to you, anyway. The cold spear-tip breaks like water against your skin. Rippling, flowing. It seeps under your armor, coats your skin. As it spreads across your torso you are infused with an unbelievable heat. Invested. It sinks into your skin, soaks into your bones. You feel invigorated.

Invincible.

Your draw Moth's First Resort in a fluid motion. It's not the first time you've held the blade, but it feels... familiar, now. Intimately so. You spin the weapon in your hands as the Wyrmling recovers for a second strike. It's still fast, even though it moves through the air before you as if it were tunneling through something solid. Modi's time dilation. You're moving at top speed.

'I told you,' a voice echoes. Grinding gears. A faceless visage. 'With my cooperation, you will be a peerless fighting machine.'

>[ Modi Magni Transformation Lv. 1 Unlocked: Weaponsmaster]

As time picks up speed you juke to the side. The Wyrm hurtles past you, its teeth shredding the tree behind you like wet paper. You plunge Moth's First Resort into its side and watch as silvery veins of corruption spread from the point of impact. The Wyrmling flinches, roars. The sound is high and keening.

You swing your weapon around again. Light as a feather.

> Full assault
> Careful offensive
> Bait and counter

>>35734279
> Careful offensive
keep him alive.

>>35734279
>Full assault
We can afford the confidence

>>35734279
>Careful offensive
Haha, poison the poisoner.

>>35734279
>> Full assault
Press the advantage, don't give it time to adjust to our speed.

>>35734279
> Full assault
As long as we don't kill him nor let Modi Magni take over us or something.

>>35734279
Well, this may have been a terrible idea. Modi fusing with us like this, while cool, is more than a bit worrying. Let's try to minimize his influence. Modi certainly wouldn't hold back in a fight against a wyrm, so let's
> Careful offensive

>>35734279
Actually, changing >>35734395
To >Careful offensive

>>35734406
Yeah we don't want it dead like that wyrm outside the village.

File: 1393701111941.png (193 KB, 500x421)

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>>35734279
>Invincible.

Well ain't that just dandy, but are you FUCKING INVINCIBLE

>>35734279
> Careful offensive

Keep Magni under control, make sure not to kill the thing.

You step forward. Careful steps rake dizzying patterns in the sand as Golem Rising propels you in a rolling wave over the damp earth. The Wyrm coils, flinches, uncoils. The wound in its side pulses with a dull, angry light. The silver, it seems, has begun to tarnish.

The Wyrm launches toward you, and again you side-step. A ringing in your ears clues you in to duck under a swiping tail, step aside as a barrage of quills erupts from its back on jets of black ichor and foul pus. The air around you grows acrid, but your skin is protected now. And, most surprisingly of all--

You are in control.

You dash foward, the earth rising up beneath you to vomit you in a spray of sand toward your foe. Moth's First Resort carves a quicksilver path through the monochrome air, slashing a pair of the Wyrmling's eyes out in a pair of quick thrusts. You take a quick two-step back, raising your sword in a guarded stance as the Wyrmling rears over you. Bulwark Aurum flares, and you glide back over the water in time to avoid the serpentine bulk that slams into the earth where you stood just a second before hard enough to send tremors racing up your legs. Around you, the swamp stirs. Your fight is attracting attention.

'I told you,' the dismissive voice says. Its drone is a metallic insect behind your eardrums. 'I do not meddle in the minds of lesser beings. My wrath is pure.'

So saying, you feel a pulse of strength in your right arm. You bring the thin rapier up, thrusting forward to counter a thick globule of ichor. A flick of your wrist sends the projectile hurtling past you, relatively harmlessly.

You've never fought like this before. Your muscles seem to react before your mind does, the ingrained memory of a warmaster translated through your limbs. Under ordinary circumstances this Wyrm would be a formidable foe. Lethal, even. But now...

> 1d100+20

Rolled 96 + 20 (1d100 + 20)

>>35734665

Rolled 19 + 20 (1d100 + 20)

>>35734665
Let's bleed this sucker out and serve him up to ourselves.

Rolled 63 + 20 (1d100 + 20)

>>35734683
NOBODY ELSE ROLL

>>35734683
nailed it bruh

>>35734665
So why is Modi giving this to us when he hasn't before? Were we just not powerful enough for him to use his abilities like this? He said that the bindings on him caused his power to be proportional to be proportional to ours. So maybe Osyki's recent experiences strengthened him enough to unlock some of Modi's more esoteric abilities?

>>35734683
We brought the binding bracelet right?

File: Law of the wild.jpg (1.57 MB, 672x4832)

1.57 MB JPG

>>35734683
So close

>>35734890
Could be. Probably doesn't hurt that we are fucking up a bunch of stuff he doesn't like lately.

>>35734890
nah, he just gets off on killin shit like this

>>35734279
Local man is FUCKING INVINCIBLE

>>35734973
Local Totemist is FUCKING INVINCIBLE.

File: revving intensifies.gif (2.92 MB, 1024x435)

2.92 MB GIF

Rolled 5 (1d100)

>>35734665
I have to
Go big or go home

Our wrath is pure

>>35735101
Looks like you have to go home.

Rolled 99 (1d100)

>>35735165
I am already gone

>>35735354
god dammit. Youre just horrible all around anon

>>35735354
Knew this would happen
Well played dice

Someone want to bust out the symbol?

File: the seal.png (437 KB, 800x800)

437 KB PNG

Rolled 91 (1d100)

>>35736105
Okay. I should roll, too, right?

>>35736145
Sheeet. Looks like you have a knack for summoning anon.

>>35736105
What do you think we're going to take from this thing?
I advocate ripping out it's jaw, preferably the top part, which is likely where the fangs and poison glands are.

>>35736202
I kind of want it's scales actually.

>>35736202
If we can preserve it we should take the poison gland that way we could bind it to an amulet or something that would give us poison/venom/toxin immunity or some level of resistance.

>>35736223
what for?

>>35736202
>>35736255
Why not fangs for poisonness?

>>35736284
Because we want poison resistance not actual poison. Fang is more offensive type of item.

>>35736260
Defence, maybe poison defence even.

>>35736284
Trying to get that poison resistance or immunity preferably. Not so much trying to get poison weapons.

>>35736255
Osyki no longer needs to go for imperishable foci. At some point we seem to have gained the power to transmute our trophies into more durable forms. Look at how the Siren's Heart and Glimmering Eye petrified into gems once we removed them.

>>35736284
I figured that jaw would still have the fangs attached anyway. As well as wherever the poison is stored. Might be more potent

>>35736310
As far as we know. Remember, items can influence it very heavily too-poison gland isn't guaranteed defense.

>>35736310
Jaws are probably cool. Good chance of both.

>>35736382
If you think about it, the Whole jaw instead of just the fang might symbolize harnessing the poison without being harmed by it.
or something.
Plus we could probably turn it into a sick-ass amulet

[[ I return. Post shortly.]]

>>35736436
First thing that came to my mind was just hitting people with it like samson.

>>35736519
Thats also an awesome idea

>>35736453
I was afraid you were going to leave us again.

>>35736519
Assuming the Hunger Avatar doesn't wolf it down, we should also bring the corpse home. Also make sure that the spawn are gone.

>>35736607
Would the corpse not be poisonous as balls? It would probably corrode the whole village, never mind it being twenty feet long.

>>35736709
I meant this tiny one, not the one that killed our master.

>>35736777
This one is twenty feet long and poisonous as shit.
I don't even know what a full grown one was like and frankly I don't want to know.

>>35736777
This one is the twenty feet long one. The one that killed Ayren is as big as the village itself. No way we're dragging it home. Think about it: A spirit of hunger has been gorging on it for a solid month and there's still some left. There's a reason its classified as a Behemoth.

File: showdown-at-cremation-creek.jpg (194 KB, 460x300)

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>Dean: Question #1: You're in Prague, a snipers in the window above you, there's an alligator behind you, and a grizzly bear in front of you, what do you do? Do you...
>Brock: Back somersault, pry off the alligator's jaw, use it as a boomerang to take out the sniper. He falls out the window, the grizzly will go straight for the easier meal

>>35736897
>pry off the alligator's jaw, use it as a boomerang
Best weapon.

>>35736872
>>35736838

Okay, not dragging the tiny one home. Never said to take the big one though. I at least hope there's still enough bone left for us to get an idea of it's size though.

>>35736453
Is it dead?

>>35736897
T-the correct answer was C.

>Post Shortly
>An hour ago
Somebody call the ambulance, I think he might be ded for real this time.

>>35737505
Nah, these things happen with Totemist Quest. Sometimes Diarca conks out. He'll be back eventually.

[[Apologies. Had to have a fight with one of the neighbors about appropriate hours to scream about football. Today has been strange,]]

But now, you have the might of one who slays dragons.

Your First Resort catches the Wyrmling in the roof of the mouth as it surges forward. Metal second-skin deflects and chips glass-like needle teeth, even as the black ichor that drools from the depths of the beast shreds at your clothing. The point of your blade spreads quicksilver corruption into the beast's mouth. You have the sense that you've pierced something vital, some gland or vessel. A web of silvery lines spreads over the beast, spiderwebbing in even rings from the point of your blade's impact.

The beast's movements have slowed. You can tell, because you have enough time to jerk your arm out of its mouth before its jaws slam shut with a blast of pressurized air. You reach forward, the bangle on your arm flaring to life as you print a circle of runes in radiant argent light on the beast's snout.

'Now," Magni says. 'You can finish the beast. The powers within your blade will destroy it utterly.'

You have other plans. Your arm writhes, muscles pushed to their limit as you jam your sword entirely through the Wyrmling's jaws, pinning its snout into the soft earth with the point of your sword. Your lips form syllables automatically.

It's difficult to tell, but the world around you goes black and white.

> What will you harvest?

>>35737611
FANG

>>35737611
Fang or Jaw
seems appropriate, master died of a bite we harvest the jaws of its spawn

>>35737611
Scale.

>>35737611
Get that jaw for boomerang action.

>>35737611
Poison gland.
>>35737649
Died due to the poison not from the actual bite. The area was poisonous itself as well.

>>35737611
Jaw

>>35737611
poison gland

>>35737611
Venom gland. Probably can't take it along with the fang if its anatomy is anything like a snake's, unfortunately.

So what does Moth's First Resort do other than glow? Was the "quicksilver corruption" it or something Modi was channeling through it?

>>35737692
That was the moth. It happened before we merged with Magni

>>35737611
Scales, we need the defence.

>>35737611
venom gland for that venom immunity

>>35737692
Looks like it poisons shit. The flakes must be poisonous.

>>35737708
Did it? I remember it leaving a trail of glitter behind it, but I think this is the first time we actually wounded something with it.

>>35737611
>Appropriate hours to scream about football
It's always an appropriate time to scream about football.

>>35737611
Jaw

>>35737791
The poison gland and fangs are in the upper jaw, though, not lower. So we might as well just take the whole skull.

>>35737819
Works for me.

>>35737611
Venom gland. Fangs would be more about the concept of injecting an essence, the glands themselves would be what we want for poison effects.

>>35737769
Yea the glitter was poisonous or hallucinogenic I don't exactly remember but it came from its wings not the eye.

>>35737819
Actually, that doesn't sound like a bad idea. Changing my vote >>35737683 to skull.

>>35737611
options mentioned so far:
>Fang
>Jaw
>Scales
>Poison Gland
>Skull/Head

>>35737611
Jaw

[[Can I get a tally of votes?]]

>>35737881
SKULL, SKULL

WE WILL DRINK FROM IT'S SKULL

Wait that's a terrible idea

>>35737991
Poison gland

>>35737611
Poison gland seems best. It's a basilisk, you go to that for poison. That or killer eyes, but basilisks in this world don't seem to have that.

>>35737991
Gland wins.

>>35737991
Poison Gland

>>35737991
Poison gland won due to samefags, just write, I guess.

>>35737991
Assuming this post is the cutoff and there's no samefagging:
Fang 2
Jaw 4
Gland 5
Scale 2
Skull 2

You plunge your knife into the Wyrm's jaw, the blade parting flesh and bone like soft cheese. A few deft hacking motions expose the poison gland, a pulsating black sack around the size of a chicken's egg. You mark it with your knife, investing a spark of color in the otherwise bleached world. Time jumps back to full speed as Modi bleeds off of you, landing point-first in the dirt beside you.

> [Moth's First Resort: Spread trails of powdery poison. Infection allows the bearer to ignite the poison in a burst of light.]

> [Focus obtained: Basilisk Cryst]

The lair's (hopefully) sole guardian cleared, the entrance gapes before you. You know, for a fact, that there will be at least one more pitched battle ahead of you. Modi's assistance in this is less certain.

You get the slightest hum of satisfaction from your spear. Bound or no, the Avatar of Wrath seems pleased with your latest conquest.

> Bind the Cryst (To?)
> Leave it unbound

> Advance into the lair
> Take a moment to recover your stamina

>>35738253
> Bind the Cryst (To?)
Mask
> Advance into the lair

>>35738253
> Leave it unbound
> Take a moment to recover your stamina
Don't forget to thank Mordi

>>35738288
This, for that extra poison resistance

>>35738253
Mask

>>35738288
To clarify, I believe the mask will help alleviate any poison effects the mothers boon misses.

>>35738253
If we are binding stuff we might as well stick the raptor in the amulet while we put the basilisk in the mask.

>>35738253
Supporting >>35738288
and >>35738400
And > Advance into the lair

>>35738384
Either that or it'll let us spit poison.

>>35738253
Don't bind it now. Fighting an avatar isn't the best time to be playing around with new binds. Stick with what works.

>>35738288
supporting this so we can actually get a headstart on binding that avatar

>>35738253
> Leave it unbound
It's not the time to experiment.
> Take a moment to recover your stamina
Catch our breath, then head in.

>>35738538
There's really no reason not to experiment, and taking a moment to recover our stamina sounds like a terrible idea and an invitation to get attacked.

>>35738579
It's just that we know bindings can backfire on us. Remember when we lit our self on fire? I don't want to risk something like that with a poison focus. As for getting attacked, what would attack us? The Avatar? Great, we want it to come out of the cave instead of us having to go in there. And it's not like there's anything else living in this area. It's too poisonous for life, the basilisk only lived there because its mom did and it got acclimated to her toxins already.

>>35738579
Except we have bound items that can be dangerous for us to use. Playing around with an avatar seems like a bad idea to me.

>>35738662
The avatar is still in there dude, that was a mini-boss.

>>35738702
As in trying out new things while fighting an avatar. Sorry for the lack of clarity on my part.

"No sense wasting time, I suppose," you mutter. You don your mask and press the Cryst to its brow, muttering the litany of unification. An acrid taste seeps down the back of your throat, and--

Oh.

You realize now why Behemoths are such highly sought after prizes.

Your tongue, slightly forked, runs along the brand new mouth full of needle-sharp teeth. Reaching up, you can feel the mask in place over your brow; No eye holes exist, though stylized sightless eyes do adorn the mask's front. Instead, your second sight is bolstered, focused. You spit experimentally and watch the globule of black ichor eat into the ground in front of you.

> [Binding Discovered: Noxious Roar. Enhances second sight, grants fangs, allows Osyki to produce virulent poison spit.]

You take a moment, inhaling deeply through your nose. Moth's First Resort returns to its sheath at your side, and you quickly retrieve Magni from the earth.

Nowhere to go but down, now.

You glide forward over the surface of the (now) becalmed waters. The cave slopes sharply downward soon after you enter, and you find yourself gliding down the silken surface of an onyx waterfall. Sensing a shift in the air, you glance up and--

Wow.

The waterfall deposits you in a truly massive subterranean chamber, larger by far than the domain you fought the Deep Siren in. Sickly black moss carpets the ceiling, hanging in cobweb-like sheets. Pale mushrooms glow, providing one of the two sources of illumination in the room, a putrescent green color.

The floor here is swamp-like to the extreme, with patches of bones and refuse forming the only solid foundations. Pools of black ichor spout fumes into the air, intensifying the everpresent swamp haze into a true smog.

And there, in the center of the chamber--

A skull, the size of a small house. Mottled black scales like tower shield flake from what little flesh remains, and the pool of ichor beneath the bleached bone sizzles and spits with still-potent ferocity.

(Cont.)

>>35738814
>Noxious Roar
We reptile now.

File: avatar of hunger.jpg (153 KB, 818x603)

153 KB JPG

A dim red glow pulses from the center of the skull. At first, your blood runs cold-- does the beast still live? The faint flickering in long-dead eye sockets gives you pause. But when a claw wreathed in furious light erupts from the center of the beast's brow, you quickly realize your mistake.

The avatar has feasted on the flesh of the Behemoth, and it has grown strong.

Red eyes trail lines of fire through the air. Exposed, gnashing, yellowed teeth echo across the chamber. Hands, claws wrapped in terrible fire, shred bone like paper.

The avatar stands a full two heads taller than an adult human being, and nearly twice as broad.

And it seems to have spotted you.

> Lose it in the fumes, surprise attack.
> Charge.
> Open up with a volley from your Song.
> Other.

> 1d100

>>35738868
>> Lose it in the fumes, surprise attack.
THEN
> Open up with a volley from your Song.
POUND THE FUCKER INTO SUBMISSION

Rolled 38 (1d100)

>>35738868
>Get in close and feint attack, dodge and spit instead.

Rolled 85 (1d100)

>>35738868
> Lose it in the fumes, surprise attack.
> Open up with a volley from your Song.

Rolled 11 (1d100)

>>35738868
> Open up with a volley from your Song.

Rolled 71 (1d100)

>>35738868
>Other.
Greet it and introduce ourselves.

Rolled 99 (1d100)

>>35738868
> Lose it in the fumes, surprise attack.
We've got shadow and silence, and the fumes should block its sense of smell (I hope). We can do this.

>>35738990
hnnnnng

Rolled 28 (1d100)

>>35738868
Supporting >>35738907
and >>35738927

Its roars are not the powerful, chamber-shaking bellows you expected. When those gnashing fangs clear, the sound that erupts is an almost piteous howl, a sound of anguish. Pure suffering. The kind of sound a starving child makes to its mother, that a man thirsting in the desert makes to the mirage of an oasis. The Avatar erupts off of the Basilisk Wyrm's skull in a spray of bone chips, hurtling across the chamber toward you with a single leaping bound.

By that time, of course, you are long gone.

You plunge through one of the clouds of acrid smoke, trusting the Mother's intervention and your newly minted mask to keep you free of effect from the heady fumes. As you enter the pillar of shadow Nocturne's Embrace drags you from sight, and Vestus Quies masks the sounds of your passage to little more than a whisper.

You can see the Avatar's hands and burning eyes even through the heavy smog. They sweep the room, questing for a living soul to quench that terrible pyre.

You deliver a significantly spicier payload.

(cont.)

>>35739597

The tight beam of white-hot energy warps the clouds of smoke it passes through, funneling a plume of ebon and actinic white directly into the Avatar's chest. The sound is terrific, a thunderclap that sends insects and moss raining from the ceiling above. Through the hole you've blown in the haze, you can see that the Avatar is staggering, one hand pressed to its chest. A gaping hole has been blown through the spirit's body, and for a moment you wonder whether this will be easier than you expected.

As the hole twists closed, replaced by filmy aether-flesh grown anew, you decide that optimism is a fool's errand.

The Avatar crosses the distance between you in barely a second, making a meteoric descent to your position. You spear comes up to ward the blow, but you find yourself flying through the air from the concussive impact of the landing alone. A fresh trail of bright blood leaks in three streaks from your shoulder where an errant swipe carved through your mail like so much paper. Instantly, you raise the spiritual wards of your armor in anticipation for another hammer-blow. Your expectations are not disappointed, and at least this time as your hurtle through the air you do so in the relative safety of your energy barrier.

> Keep up your defenses, pepper it with Songs. (1d100)
> Go on the offense while it recovers with (Modi Magni / Moth's First Resort). (1d100)
> Other

>>35739633
I don't really want to fight him up close and personal. Continue making space and blast him with Songs

Rolled 30 (1d100)

>>35739633
> Keep up your defenses, pepper it with Songs. (1d100)

Rolled 3 (1d100)

>>35739633
Blast him. We can't afford to take hits

Rolled 17 (1d100)

>>35739633
> Keep up your defenses, pepper it with Songs. (1d100)

Rolled 12 (1d100)

>>35739633
>> Keep up your defenses, pepper it with Songs. (1d100)

Rolled 40 (1d100)

>>35739633
More Songs. I'd prefer not to get critically injured every time we pick a fight.

Rolled 66 (1d100)

>>35739633
> Go on the offense while it recovers with (Modi Magni / Moth's First Resort). (1d100)

And look for a chance to spit poison into its eye.

Rolled 93 (1d100)

>>35739633
> Go on the offense while it recovers with (Modi Magni / Moth's First Resort). (1d100)
I suggest Moth's First Resort. Not for the poison aspect, but for the metal. I think that invading the wound with metal particles will slow down the regeneration as it has to integrate inedible matter into its being.

Oh god these rolls. Not now dicegods, not now

>>35739633
Why don't we try rebinding to get the golden gloves for sync bonus?

Do the same thing we did to kill the Moth

Rolled 15 (1d100)

>>35739633
>> Go on the offense while it recovers with (Modi Magni / Moth's First Resort). (1d100)

>>35739761
If only I had been sooner. Looks like the best of five is going to be 40. Probably enough not to get us killed, but not enough to advance our position.

>>35739810
Because we chose to make the totem that lets us quickly deploy binding runes, not the one that lets us swap out foci at speed. We'll have to build that one eventually, but right now we can't spare the time to switch our bindings around in the middle of a fight.

>>35739986
ah well, Lets just shoot it alot

You do your best to keep your distance, rocking back on your heels and allowing the combined magics of Golem Rising and Bulwark Aurum to do the rest. A wave of earth rises beneath you, acting as a ramp to propel the Bulwark up to top speed rapidly as you skate and weave from island to island, careful never to actually dip a toe into the seething pools below. The Avatar, however, has no need for care or subtlety-- you can see veins of black ichor pulsing beneath its skin where it has supped on the poisoned meat, and the bile leaves it unharmed as it closes the distance you create, rapidly hammering on your ablative barrier. The tessellated turtle-shell pattern before you dims and wanes as the Avatar slams balled fists down on it, and you feel a sharp sting in the back of your skull as some of the excess force feeds back into your concentration.

You bring up your bow, firing off a pair of wild beams to force the Avatar to retreat. The scything waves of burning light do force it to check its wild assault, shearing the point off of one horned shoulder, but a new problem emerges: the ichor below freezes as you fire off successive shots. The avatar reaches down, breaking off a chunk of the icy ichor, and hurls a boulder of the stuff at you with terrifying speed.

The impact of the acidic projectile causes your barrier to falter. You find yourself slamming against the broken skull of the Basilisk Wyrm. The Avatar appears out of the gloom above you, descending with claws outstretched.

> Roll!
> Block!
> Fire!

> 1d100!

Rolled 33 (1d100)

>>35740801
>Roll Nigga!
then turn and fire off a few shots at his back

Rolled 62 (1d100)

>>35740801
> Roll!

Rolled 40 (1d100)

>>35740801
> Fire!
its coming in to fast to dodge

Rolled 42 (1d100)

>>35740801
> Roll!

Rolled 58 (1d100)

>>35740801
> Roll!

Rolled 47 (1d100)

>>35740801
Roll

See if we can get it to impale itself on one of the skull's remaining fangs or horns or something.

>>35740801
> Roll!
Dodge it

Your instincts scream at you, but your training has already taken the reigns. You throw your legs toward your head, shifting your center of mass and rolling away just as an energy-wreathed claw turns the bone where you previously sat into so much calcium powder. You find your footing and leap away again, landing on a patch of solid bone. You lever your spear around in time to deflect a pair of overhead claw-swipes from the Avatar, though the impact of your blow loosens your footing.

You tumble down as the integrity of the skeleton beneath you wanes, landing in the long, hollow tube of ribs that served as the Wyrm's body before the Avatar stripped the flesh from its bones. The beast slips between a pair of pillar-like ribs in front of you, advancing purposefully down the ivory hallway with murderous intent literally burning in its eyes. You bring your bow up, firing a shot--with little room to dodge, the Avatar is forced to take the blow to the chest once more, checking its progress. The searing, bubbling heat of the wound slows its regeneration. Its reserves are not limitless, it seems. You throw yourself backward again, weaving with Bulwark Aurum in and out of the tunnel of ribs, shrouding yourself in vile spurts of acid smoke that leak from the bile underfoot.

The Avatar has not managed to entirely consume the Wyrm. As you dodge around near the enormous skeleton's aft end (the thing must have been truly titanic, if its skeletal remains are large enough to fill the majority of the cavern) you see a claw still weeping black ichor into the ground. If you could trick the Avatar into impaling itself, you might have a shot at binding it. If you fail, of course, you could easily fall to the same venom that murdered your predecessor.

> Go for the claw, bait the hungry spirit.
> Avoid the claw, continue peppering it with Songs.
> Throw yourself into melee with spear and sword. The element of surprise and your momentum are your greatest assets now.
> Other

>>35741268
> Go for the claw, bait the hungry spirit.
Killing it with the thing it was eating would make for the powerful symbolism that strengthens binding attempts.

>>35741268
>> Avoid the claw, continue peppering it with Songs.
Wear it down some more. We are going good.

>>35741268
> Avoid the claw, continue peppering it with Songs.
wait until it's slowed by wounds, THEN engage it in Melee. Right now it will probably still roll us

>>35741268
>SURPRISE
>Engage in melee

>>35741268
> Go for the claw, bait the hungry spirit.

On a side note, I'd like to urge all future hunting expeditions to make better use of the bow-that-fires-cluster-of-ravenous-wyrmlings bind. Makes for an excellent distraction as well as a good weapon. Hindsight 20/20.

>>35741268
> Go for the claw, bait the hungry spirit.

Go for it, it'll be fun. Also, as part of this, when we bait him for the final charge we should try to spit acid into his eyes, hopefully he won't expect it and it ought to distract him long enough to get impaled.

>>35741380
How about a long bow with Song of the Deep and a short bow with the wyrms?

>>35741268
> Throw yourself into melee with spear and sword. The element of surprise and your momentum are your greatest assets now.

If he gets inside our guard try using the energy shield from BotET to knock him back and open him up for an attack.

>>35741380
The problem is that we needed the Skyscythe Drake for mobility in this fight. If this was on solid ground, though, I'd definitely support using the wind-sound combo.

>>35741449
Both of those plus a spear? That's a lot to carry. Maybe if the village ever develops crossbow technology, but I doubt it. I think Song of the Deeps should be reserved for when we're doing the maximum-sonic-synergy thing.

Possibly not the best idea to rely on poison to take him down, he's been eating Tue basilisk and stripping it clean after all.

Keep peppering it with songs for now and maybe see about getting it in position to bring the jaws of thewyrm down on it? Pierce it with the fangs and go from there?

>>35741268
> Throw yourself into melee with spear and sword. The element of surprise and your momentum are your greatest assets now.

>>35741268
>> Go for the claw, bait the hungry spirit.

>>35741268
>> Go for the claw, bait the hungry spirit.

Rolled 55 (1d100)

Also, we need to go even more esoteric/practical with our binding tests. Put Cordia in a rope and it will likely either be one that is either perfectly anchored or can be used for shenanagins for pulling things around. Also be interesting to see what the others do in a rope. Get a tuning for and put the heart in it, get a wand or the like and bind the turtle crystal and have fun blasting out lightning for days.get earnings and see if we can use the idea behind the duo bind trinket and connect the two to get an extremely synergetic pair of bindings going for them like the heart and the bat guy.

Nothing ventured, nothing gained. The life of a Totemist has always been, will always be, fraught with danger. And this beast is really starting to wear on your stamina. You only have a few more invocations of the Blessing's shield left in you before the Avatar starts punching holes in your essence--and yourself, by extension.

You angle your body, leading the Avatar across the ichor-laden cavern. Beams of radiance erupt from your bow, leaving patches of ruby red slag glowing on the walls and ceiling of the lair. The Avatar has grown wise to your weaponry at this point, and the vast majority of the shots either go wide or are blocked by a rapidly interceding bone wall. Still, by the time the monstrosity catches up with you it sports a pair of slowly healing holes in either shoulder and a jagged, molten scar across its side. You stow your bow as it approaches, holding Magni's spear firm in both hands. You'll need his speed to have a hope of pulling this deception off.

Your back is to the extended claw. This close, you can imagine the cold fire of that venom spreading through your veins, robbing you of strength, leaving your desiccated corpse to the Avatar's tender mercies. Your heart beats in your throat, and a bead of sweat snakes down your temple. One misstep. One false move. That's all it would take.

The Avatar charges.

The world around you slows to a crawl.

> 1d100

Rolled 28 (1d100)

>>35741799
DICELORDS

Rolled 42 (1d100)

>>35741799

Hey Diarca, how do you feel about Fan works?

Rolled 17 (1d100)

>>35741799

Rolled 92 (1d100)

>>35741799
Dice grant me strength!

Rolled 76 (1d100)

>>35741799
Dice Gods!

Heed my sacrifice!

Oh lord we suck. Can we consume our other bonus to not die right now?

>>35741832
Just do what Soul Quest did.

>>35741849
No, it's good, we're best of five. That 92 counts.

File: 1378705045589.gif (2.52 MB, 320x180)

2.52 MB GIF

Rolled 90 (1d100)

>>35741799
Go big or go home
Redemption is mine

Rolled 7 (1d100)

>>35741799
nat 100

>>35741854
Drop off the face of the earth?

>>35741839
Fuck.

Can we spend our bonus to take this roll instead?

>>35741871
I'm pretty sure it's best of 3 ordinarily, with best of 5 for crits.

>>35741854
What is Soul Quest, and what did it do

>>35741881
Yes, but before that run a Totemist-like quest without it being set in the same universe.

Rolled 70 (1d100)

>>35741799
Welp, last one for the night.

>>35741896
Totemist sans totems. MC could bind souls of monsters and spirits to things. Pretty good, but it died.

>>35741832

[[ Positively, anon! If I like what you write enough, I may steal pieces of it for my canon, assuming you're open to that. ]]

>>35741849
>>35741884

[[ This anon is correct, best of 3, 5 for crits only. Would you like to consume your final thread bonus? Keep in mind, failure at this roll may not be fatal. ]]

>>35741962
Nope. Keep that bonus.

>>35741962
no lets use that on either the best roll or a crit fail.

>>35741962
Ah, my mistake, then. Yeah, let's consume the bonus. We'll just have to earn another somehow.

>>35741962
nah

And ok FANON TIME IS HERE AGAIN

>>35741962
Burn it, this is the best shot we have of a win without nearly dying in the middle of a poisonous shithole.

>>35741962
yes

>>35741962
keep the bonus then lets save it for a nat one

>>35741962
I say use it.

I don't like the words "may not" when attached to fatal. And pulling this off is our best shot to finish this before something real nasty happens.

>>35741962
Use it.

>>35741962
Yeah I think so, since we decided to do the risky option like an asshole.

We need to learn to tone it down a bit.

Already voted, so not going to cast another, but a question to the people voting against: We are currently fighting an avatar, and that is something truly dire. Can you think of a better use in the near future, before we figure out a way to get another, that would require the bonus?

>>35741962
Use it

[[ Since this is a limited resource, I'll call a final destination vote for this, just to be sure.

Vote
>1
To use your bonus

Vote
>2
To keep the rolls you have. ]]

>>35742103
1

>>35742103
>1

>>35742103
1

>>35742103
1.

>>35742103
1

>>35742103
2

>>35742124
Just the number, no >
>>35742131
No period

>>35742103
1

>>35742103
1

>>35742103
1

[[ Majority seems overwhelmingly in favor of using your bonus. Calling the vote here and writing. ]]

[[ Roll range expanded: 3 => 5 ]]

For a heart-stopping moment, you think you've faltered.

The monstrosity charges, howling its ravenous overtures, slavering for a taste of your blood, your flesh, your bones. Terrible bladed claws, wreathed in hideously crackling crimson energy scythe the air as it approaches. Burning coal eyes bore into you, pierce your armor, seek out your beating heart. The Avatar's gnashing teeth can already taste your heart as it pulps in its jaws, feel the thick draught of your blood running down its throat--

What it does not feel, does not see, is your spear whipping out to tangle in its legs.

You slide to one side at the last possible instant, using your spear's haft as a lever to send the Avatar hurtling into the point of the Basilisk Wyrm's claw. The pitch of its unceasing cries rises to a fever-pitch as the jagged claw erupts from its back. Adding insult to injury, the long-dead digit drops at the sudden tremor that runs up its length, pinning the Avatar into a pool of black ichor with unspeakable weight. Only burning red eyes are visible through the bubbling poison pitch as the Avatar's claws rake futile against the hide of the Wyrm.

You'll need to act fast. Even a spirit can't withstand that venom for long.

You channel your flagging reserves of spiritual energy into the charm at your wrist, casting a wide circle of binding runes around the pit where the Avatar thrashes. Spinning your spear above your head, you make your move.

> Take the claws. That spirit-fire will be yours to command.
> Take the jaw. You'll need that strength.
> Harvest the spirit's core. Who knows what it might yield?
> Put the thing out of its misery. You don't -want- this as a part of your panoply.

>>35742431
The core

Rolled 34 (1d100)

>>35742431
>> Harvest the spirit's core. Who knows what it might yield?

This one better not blow up into a horrible eldritch dimension spawning man-eating abominations during experimentation!

Jaw.

Think of having an Actual Iron Jaw, also be able to probably eat and gain sustenance from everything when combined with mask.

>>35742431
> Harvest the spirit's core. Who knows what it might yield?
Seems like we could get the most esoteric range of powers from this.

>>35742431
> Take the claws. That spirit-fire will be yours to command.

>>35742431
> Harvest the spirit's core. Who knows what it might yield?

>>35742431
> Harvest the spirit's core. Who knows what it might yield?

We have enough fire based attack with the siren and were not really the strenght type so the core is beast.

>>35742431
Core.

Shall we try and help this thing find some form of peace later on?

>>35742431
> Harvest the spirit's core. Who knows what it might yield?

>>35742431
> Harvest the spirit's core. Who knows what it might yield

>>35742431
>> Take the claws. That spirit-fire will be yours to command.
JESUS FUCK YOU GUYS THE SYMBOLISM

>>35742509
What symbolism? Taking the weapon of a fallen foe as our own?