Character Sheet:
http://pastebin.com/MmysicuR

Thread twitter:
@BecomeQM

Previous adventures at:
http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive.html?tags=Become%20The%20Dragon%20Quest

The rules:
Best of three rolls, critical threat on a 20, confirmed if another roll is 20-modifier or higher. Modifier is Stat being rolled+Relevant skill. You can decide which skill to apply. If no one applies one, no skill will be added on. If you don't have a logical reason to apply a skill, don't do it.
Critical fails are at least two 1s on a roll. May expand this later to increase shenanigans.
Success is on a sliding scale and is situational. Some things are easier than others. Use your head.

Check out the side stories!
Millie's Day Off
http://pastebin.com/9dmr6XWx
Sir Black and the Red Scale
http://pastebin.com/5JMxmEay
Ildareth and the Dragonblood Witch
http://pastebin.com/N83MDEHq

You head downstairs to look for Pirin, and manage to catch him right as he's walking inside. He looks happy and carefree, not the miserable jackass you first met the other day. He smirks at you.

"Hey there. Pretty good storytelling last night, right? You're welcome for that one."

Alright, still a jackass. You chuckle a bit.

"I need your help. Want another story to tell?"

Pirin quirks an eyebrow and jumps, hovering on a cloud.

"You have my attention."

You poke his shoulder and watch him slowly start to spin. It's pretty funny, but he's clearly not amused.

"Soldiers are coming for me. Order of Oak. I need your help eluding and defeating them."

Pirin dismisses the cloud.

"There's not enough sex, money or ale in the world to get me to fight those guys. Sorry, but count me out."

You fold your arms as he turns to walk off.

"You made quite the name for yourself last night, right? Did you include yourself in the story you told? As my ally and friend? Someone they would come after as well?"

Pirin flinches.

"...alright, so what's the plan?"

He turns towards you, all humor gone from his face. He doesn't seem afraid, more irritated about the situation. You point to the stairs.

"We're going to assemble our forces, make plans, assess resources and figure this mess out. I had an idea about some traps and bombardments but we'll see."

Pirin nods a bit.

"Alright then."

He turns and heads for the stairs, glancing at you.

"Don't let me get killed, alright?"

You nod.

"I'll do my best. We're all getting out of this."

Pirin smiles and heads upstairs, leaving you to consider your next move. On the one hand you have everyone together that you know is intown and Millie can reach out to Gimbly and Fiona, but you could probably jog your way to Fiona without much trouble.

>Go get changed and start planning
>Run after Fiona and talk to her in person
>See if you can find Gimbly somewhere
>Other (write-in)

>>43176676
>>Go get changed and start planning

>>43176676
>>Go get changed and start planning

Time to play some Dragon Chess!

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You head upstairs and follow behind Pirin, walking into the room. Kat is mixing something up while tending to Gil, and Sena and Millie are chatting. You grab your clothes.

"Millie, can I get a smokescreen so I can change?"

Millie nods and smiles.

"Sure!"

The side of the room you're standing in fogs up from your neck down, and you change clothes.

"So first things first, let's start with facts. Twenty soldiers, three mages, the rest mostly archers, possibly all of them. Order of Oak, meaning they use stealth and cunning, but they're still knights. We know the direction they're coming from, and we have two days before they arrive. I intend to stand and fight, because running away won't solve anything and might just make it worse."

Sena raises her hand.

"Question. Have we tried diplomacy?"

Gil chuckles.

"They won't listen... Why would they? What do they have to gain?"

Pirin smirks a bit.

"We could try to recover the ancient dragon's lost treasure, it's been sealed away for this long, maybe some of it is still there. We could bribe them or something. Easy."

Millie smiles a bit.

"I would try to unearth it, whatever it is, if you point me in the right direction."

You look at the ring on your finger.

"I have a better idea. But for now, we can add that idea to the list. Bribery, fighting or fleeing. Now, my current idea is..."

You explain your rough plan, involving traps, smoke bombs, diversions and choke points. Everyone seems to have a different take on it. After your explanation, everyone except Kat and Sena seem all for it. Kat wants to make the smoke toxic and lethal and have Millie blow it right in their faces, while Sena is still holding out for a peaceful answer.

>Chemical warfare, yay!
>Chemical warfare is messy, and we can't be sure it'll work
>Let's try diplomacy, surely it won't backfire horribly
>Diplomacy is for squares.
>Other (write-in)

>>43177432
>>Chemical warfare is messy, and we can't be sure it'll work
A Mage might send it back at us or it might hit the town, small amounts of normal smoke are fine, toxic killer smoke? Bad.
>Diplomacy is for squares
Not a real option, these are from the Order of Oak. The assassination and spy order. They're ghosts sent to kill at behest of the order master, the people who owe him favors like Tirio, or the king.

Only one vote, but I'll start typing in a few minutes barring opposition votes since I'm pretty sure this is what most people would say anyway.

>>43177562
Plus the smoke may dissolve with water. Which can kill corpses, or filthy peasants.

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You shake your head a bit.

"Toxic smoke might be more effective, but we can't risk the collateral damage. Plus, they might turn it on us. And I don't think diplomacy will work here, Sena. These guys are professional killers, I don't think we have enough gold or threats to ward them off. We'll just have to make them suffer badly enough to retreat."

Gil nods a bit, sipping from a cup Kat gave him.

"They're also honorable, in a sense. There's always a high ranking member of the order on an given mission, because every task, no matter how small, it a test of the entire order's ability. If we beat them here, we'll have wounded them pretty badly. The next time we'll have to face their leader... We have to keep that in mind."

Pirin groans softly.

"So what, we win here and then provoke a bigger threat? Great. Well, at least we'll die well. Right? That's what matters. Can I give up now?"

>We'll soften the blow, make them think we're weak
>We'll crush them, make them bring their full force to bear, and then aim for the head. Decapitation strike.
>We could still run for it then, delay the blow to their pride.
>Other (write-in)

>>43178521
>>We'll soften the blow, make them think we're weak

>>43178521
>"If we leave no survivors, we might be able to threaten them enough that they'll at least take their time mobilizing a second assault. We can use that time to get the sword."

Any other votes to tally?

I'm debating switching to a "first to three" system or something when I'm more restricted in terms of my time.

>>43178664
That'd draw the king after us if he isn't already.

>>43178897
>soften the blow

>>43178535
This. Keep the appearance of a minor threat.

>>43179071
But we still gonna chop them in pieces? For the memory of Allgeist.
This is not a vote

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"Let's be a thorn in their side rather than a threat. Tirio can't call in favors forever, and if the Order of Oak decides that we're worth their full attention then they'll need time to mobilize. We'll do just enough to turn them aside."

Gil nods slightly.

"Hit them just hard enough that they think twice and then get out while they regroup. I like it."

Millie giggles a bit.

"So, what's the plan? And are we getting anyone else? Gimbly can double back easily, but Fiona will have some issues getting here."

>Call in (write-in)
>The plan remains the same. Now we just prep for it. Time to pass out jobs. (write-in)
>Let's make some adjustments and flesh it out more. (write-in)
>Other (write-in)

>>43179374
Get Gimbly here, preferably in a good disguise. Let Fiona train. Kat can you make the smoke a non toxic sedative?

>>43179416
This

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"Since we aren't going to have a lot of use for his diversion now, get Gimbly back here and disguised so he can help out. Fiona can head back to the cathedral for now, if we aren't fighting to the death then we won't need to call her in."

Millie nods and smiles.

"Roger!"

You smile a bit and turn to Kat.

"Can you make the gas knock them out rather than being harmful?"

Kat smirks and gives a haughty laugh.

"What sort of alchemist do you take me for?"

You pause for a moment.

"The kind who declared herself unstable?"

Kat pouts a bit.

"That just means I'm even better than most people at it. I'm inventive, creative, unbound my normal limits. I am like unto a goddess!"

Gil leans on her a bit. He looks better now, if a bit drowsy.

"Heh... My crazy cat goddess... Mad science lady..."

He slumps forward onto her lap, and Kat blushes when he starts to snore.

"... alright, so maybe I'm still learning a few things. But I can definitely knock them out with some smoke."

Sena smiles a little.

"What about the rest of us? What should we do? I wanna practice my transformation so I can control it better."

Pirin shrugs a bit.

"I guess I can scout or something...?"

>Write-in

>>43180172
Sena work on your transformation and magic. Pirin scout out and either warn the people or get them on our side, whichever you think is better, this is your home you know it better than we do. Kat I guess you get to work once Gil gets off your lap. Millie work on stabilizing yourself and creating stun mines. I'll work on my magic and archery.

>>43180172
Get Sena's wooden pieces together and start working them out on a map of the town against the Order of the Oak and go over our game plan.

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"Sena, I need your wooden figures for battle planning. Work on your transformation and try to control it. Pirin, I need you on recon. I need to know as much about the area as possible. Talk to people, get them safe or get them ready. Millie, I need you in top form so work on stabilizing and prepare for placing traps. Kat, when Gil is awake I want you working on the gas and I want him helping Pirin scout."

Millie raises her hand.

"Ooh, what should Gimbly do?"

>Hell if I know
>Help me plan
>Recon
>Work with Pirin on illusions
>Other (write-in)

>>43182195
>>Help me plan
And
>>Work with Pirin on illusions

>>43182195
>Your going to be my opponent in this little chess game. Every move I make I want you to make a move for the Order of the Oak on how they might react. It would give us an idea of what may happen in the real battle.

Of course no plan actually survives the battle field but still.

>>43182195
>>Work with Pirin on illusions

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“I want him working with Pirin on illusions. I need to know what they can and can't do.”

Pirin smirks a little and sighs.

“Pulling out all the stops then... Alright.”

He stretches a little and heads for the door.

“I'm gonna go do my recon thing then. See you in a little while.”

He heads out, and you turn to Millie while Sena gets out a series of wooden figures.

“You know the Order of Oak well, right? Or at least, well enough. We're gonna have ourselves a little war game and try to work out what to do to beat them.”

Millie smiles softly, making a model of the area using conjured dirt and ice and organizing the figures on it.

“Ready~”

-

Smarts roll plus focus and a Sleuth roll plus perception

Rolled 17 + 2 (1d20 + 2)

>>43184644
Smarts + Focus

Rolled 16 + 3 (1d20 + 3)

>>43184644
Sleuth + Perception

Rolled 16 + 2 (1d20 + 2)

>>43184644
Smarts+Focus

Rolled 2 + 3 (1d20 + 3)

>>43184644
Sleuth+Perception

Rolled 13 + 2 (1d20 + 2)

>>43184644
smarts+focus

Rolled 20 + 3 (1d20 + 3)

>>43184644
sleuth+perception

>>43184826
Nice one anon.

>>43184853
thanks. We might not be smart, but we see good.

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You spend about an hour playing around with Millie and learning strategy and tactics firsthand. Your first few attempts are too passive, giving up important defensive locations too readily and not striking hard enough to genuinely turn away the threat you face. Then you overcompensate, hitting too hard and over-extending. Bit by bit you get a feel for how the battle will play out and common threads in the enemy tactics. You place obvious traps on the roads that are little more than duds to push them into attacking from the trees, the method they favor, and then using concealed traps behind hills and bushes to soften up the group. You make every step they take painful, punishing them for sticking together and for spreading themselves thin. You mix illusions of smoke, which their mages can help them see through, with real smoke, which has to be blown away, alternating between them randomly to keep their mages guessing and wasting magic. By the end of the hour you feel much more confident about your plan, which is now as follows:

Booby trap the roads with simple and poorly hidden traps to entice your enemies into using their preferred tactics.
Use simple snares and similar traps in the woods, annoyances to slow them down but not cause serious harm, along with a few signs to taunt them, as though the nuisance traps were being counted on to take them down.
With the traps sprung and giving a clear indication of their arrival, set off smoke traps around the area they're coming from to disorient them and potentially knock a few out.
If they continue to advance, use the time they spend in the smoke to deploy traps in the field between the woods and the town, this time to actually harm their forces.
As they make their way through the minefield, either slowly and carefully or recklessly and taking heavy losses, pepper them with arrows and ranged attacks to further chip away at them.
As they near the town, use smokescreens and illusions to confuse them, and use hit-and-run tactics, engaging in melee and focusing on the mages first, then breaking bows to render their best combat option unavailable to them.
Subdue or incapacitate their remaining forces, avoiding fatal injuries when possible.
Leave a polite apology letter indicating that you were expecting to be slaughtered and are now bewildered that you won, and asking that they spare your lives as you spared theirs.

That last part was Millie's idea, and you added it on just to make her feel better about the fact that you slowly manipulated things into a no-win scenario for her based on her knowledge of the enemy forces. All in all you feel like you have a solid plan, and perhaps more importantly, you feel as though you've sharpened your tactical prowess a bit. It took a bit of spoon-feeding at first, but now you're pretty confident about your ability to analyze tactical situations and find solutions.

-

Tactics increased to 1

Millie smiles a bit.

“We have the rest of today, all of tomorrow and most if not all of the day after. Anything else you want to do today?”

A glance outside tells you that the sun is heading for the horizon. You can think of a few things worth doing, but which to pursue... You've got a couple of hours to kill, you can do maybe three of them, four if you rush a bit.

>Check in with Pirin and Gil about the scouting
>See where Gimbly is now
>Talk to Kat about traps
>Talk to Sena about her transformation
>Check in with Cenere
>Ask Millie about something
>Ask to check on someone via Millie (Parents, Taret, Fiona, other)
>Other (write-n)

>>43185949
>Check in with Cenere
give him a sit rep
then
>Ask to check on someone via Millie (Parents and Taret so they know the score.
then if there's time ask Gimbly what our rep in the city was.

>>43185949
>Talk to Fiona about Holy Fire

I know its probably not going to happen soon but we sorta never asked her about that.

>>43186043
>>43186091
Well, that's more than four options, so... Any other votes left or shall I start rolling?

>>43186867
>>43186043
here, start with Cenerre.

>>43186867
I'll second >>43186043 then.

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First order of business is Cenere, and you sit down to focus on his core, reaching out to him.

“Cenere, can you hear me? I need to talk to you.”

It takes a few moments, but he replies cheerfully.

“Hello, my lady. How are things going?”

“Could be better. I'm about to be attacked by members of the Order of Oak, in a small village. I'm making plans to fight them, but I'm still working it out.”

“Oh dear... Still, you have it better than we do at the moment. Your father has taken a turn for the worse. We're doing all we can, but it seems all the excitement is exacerbating his condition. We've had two skirmishes with the Order of Steel since we last spoke, and I fear that the worst is yet to come. Three constructs were with them, one wielding each element as though they were toys, and two of them, twins, working in concert to create clouds of fog and storms of sand that made the fight impossible to see. I can only imagine what will happen when they gather the remaining four...”

You smirk slightly and glance at Millie.

“You mean two. I've got two of them right here with me, fused together. Their little synergy trick won't work anymore.”

“I wish that were true, but we've gotten news of the king pressuring his court magicians as well as the labs beneath the city to work on new constructs. The Seven Sisters, which Millie informed us of, is a now merely prelude to something grander, and it's being set into motion. The people of the kingdom want protection, and in their panic they have allowed the king to begin creating an army of constructs loyal only to him. The knightly orders may very well be disbanded before long, replaced by fire and ice, stone and gale. The necromancers are no longer the only thread to the people of this land. The king may very well become a dictator.”

“...Alright, that's less than good news. I'll do my best to keep you informed of what's going on with me. Give my best to my father and mother, and tell them that I'm thinking of them. I'm going to try to reach out to them myself in a moment, but I don't know how well it'll work, so if they don't hear from me soon... Let them know.”

“Understood, my lady. We'll continue our journey to somewhere safe for your father to recover. Good luck to you.”

As you open your eyes you feel a weight settle into your shoulders as the grim news sinks in. You had declared yourself a hero at the ball, in a way. And then you had left them there with the decaying body of a necromantic creature that had snuck into the heart of the city. And now they were putting their faith in their king to save them, and sealing their own doom. You muse that the worst possible situation is that the king is secretly a puppet of a necromancer, and that the whole plan was to make such an obvious play in a public place to cause a panic and... cause people to... put their faith in...

You get the distinct impression that regicide should go on your “to-do” list.

>Continue as planned
>Do something else (write-in)

>>43187487
>Continue as planned

>>43187487
>An army of constructs

Looks like our Dragon Queen has found her armada.

>>43187487
>Continue as planned

Spirit roll

Rolled 19 + 5 (1d20 + 5)

>>43187736
focus

Rolled 1 + 5 (1d20 + 5)

>>43187736
focus!!!

Rolled 2 + 5 (1d20 + 5)

>>43187736
focus

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Next on your list is your parents, and you nudge Millie slightly.

“You said you have a longer range now... How far can you reach?”

Millie tilts her head.

“What do you mean?”

You smile.

“I need to reach my parents, if possible. Is there a way to do that?”

Millie smiles cheerfully.

“If you don't mind getting your hair all messy in the wind, sure!~”

You shrug.

“Sure, why not.”

Millie nods and removes her blindfold, pressing her forehead to yours as she opens her eyes.

“Focus on the person you want to speak to. Concentrate. The wind will carry your voice to them, and theirs to you... Focus with your magic, feed it into the spell as I weave it.”

You feel a pull inside yourself, the same sort as what you feel when you fly, and you let it flow, gently coaxing your magic out as Millie chants almost silently. You feel your eyes getting heavy for a moment, and you feel as though you're falling for an instant before blurry visions appear before you. Your father on a bed, coughing, his face pale and purple-tinged skin around his neck. Your mother beside him, gripping his hand and mopping sweat from his brow.

“Mother... father...”

Your father groans softly.

“I'm losing my mind... I can hear Kotijah...”

Your mother turns sharply towards you.

“You're not... She's here, somehow... I can feel a spell in the air... Kotijah, can you hear me?”

You smile a bit.

“I can... It's weak and it's distant, but I can almost see you.”

You mother smiles proudly.

“That's my girl. It doesn't feel like your spell, but it does feel like your magic.”

Your father smiles weakly.

“How's my... little girl doing...? Should I start expecting my grandchildren to need hatching yet...?”

He chuckles, before coughing, his handkerchief stained red and black. Your mother turns and grabs a bottle, pressing it gently to his lips.

“He's been getting worse... I don't understand, we've been fighting, yes, but this is beyond normal...”

You hesitate for a moment as you look at your father.

“I've seen something like this. Blight that isn't normal. In a village not too far from the capitol, there was a necromancer hoarding blight, and using people to brew it, stealing their hateful thoughts and bottling them up with pieces of their souls. She used blight to manipulate people, control them. She was working on something big, too. This might not be normal blight, and if she was working with the Duke after all, then it's all the more likely. He needs special care.”

You mother nods a bit.

“I see... I'll do what I can. There's a priest who owes us a few favors...”

Your father pushes himself into a sitting position and looks in your direction.

“You've been busy then...”

He grins, coughing a bit and taking a moment to steady his breathing.

“You have the blood of a hero and a dragon inside you, Kotijah... And both will lead you into battles, one after the other... Maybe I'm getting old... but I can't shake the feeling that my time is coming. Time to pass things on to the next generation. In so short a time, you've grown so much... just like your old man... Speak to your sword, Kotijah. Speak from the heart. Turn your gaze inward, and imagine your heart as a dustless mirror. Let it reflect your true self, and speak those words to the blade. There is something within it, for those capable of seeing with eyes that pierce all illusion, including their own... I must rest now...”

He hacks a little and falls back, and your mother hugs him loosely. She smiles at you.

“Kotijah... Be safe. Whatever you're about to do, promise that you'll make it out alive.”

You nod a bit, and then, realizing that she might not be able to see you, you chuckle.

“I will, mother... I promise that I'll come back.”

She nods.

“We love you, Kotijah.”

“I love you too...”

You feel the spell fizzle suddenly, and Millie's hair is standing on end. Upon closer inspection, so is yours. Millie giggles softly.

“That was fun! Again?”

>Again. Taret this time.
>Something else (write-in)

>>43188311
>Again. Taret this time.
Thanks Millie.

>>43188311
>Again. Taret this time.

Spirit roll

Rolled 18 + 5 (1d20 + 5)

>>43188633
focus

Rolled 5 + 5 (1d20 + 5)

>>43188633

Rolled 20 + 5 (1d20 + 5)

>>43188633

>>43189014
The dice want us to talk to Taret! Wooh!

>>43188724
>>43189014
Crit confirmed!

>>43189038
>>43189055
Well that's good because literally anything short of a crit wouldn't have reached him where he is. The odds were stacked against you, as you will soon see, but you deserved at least a roll.

And it seems my faith wasn't misplaced.

>>43189070
Hopefully we're not distracting him from something dangerous and cause him to get hurt.

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“Again.”

You smile a bit.

“I want to speak to Taret next.”

Millie nods a bit.

“Alright! Same as before, focus on him and use your magic.”

You nod a bit and close your eyes, Millie's forehead resting against your own. You push with your magic, feeding it into the spell as you concentrate on Taret, but there's some sort of block, a barrier in your way. You can hear Millie whimpering softly, struggling to find him, and you slip a hand into your pocket, wrapping it around the earring. There's no trace of the other one. Destroyed or lost, or somewhere beyond your reach.

You push harder.

The barrier gives way and you hear Millie gasp.

You see the world blur past you as your projection speeds northward, reaching the sea and flying beyond it, faster and faster before coming to a sudden sharp halt. There's an island, with a small keep at the top. You can see Ruby flying overhead, and a small fire coming from the keep. You feel yourself drawn to it, your earring telling you this is the place, and you feel yourself fly toward it. Taret is sitting by the fire, admiring the setting sun with a small smile as he prepares a meal. His armor is in tatters, his sword sits broken beside him, but he looks proud of whatever it is that he's done. You open your mouth to speak, but you hear him speak first.

“Kotijah, how are you doing? No, no... Hey, Kotijah, how have you been? No, too casual... My dear Kotijah, it's good to see you again.”

Taret sighs softly.

“Whatever am I going to say to her... I messed up rather considerably last time.”

Up above you hear Ruby roar, and she lands near Taret with a chuckle.

“Fret not, Taret. You have time to consider your words. There is still more work to be done though. I have taken you this far, beyond the realm of men, to show you what you must see if you are to save her.”

Taret nods.

“And you're sure that I can do it...?”

Ruby nods.

“You are the Starlight Knight. It is your destiny to save her soul from her ancestor.”

>Listen in on their conversation
>Announce your presence
>Wait for Ruby to leave, then talk to Taret
>Other (write-in)

>>43189258
>Listen in on their conversation

>>43189258

So this is the spoilery island of spoilers.

Figured this had something to do with the block.

>Snark
"So I'm the damsel in distress in this story? We need a new story teller."

>>43189258
>"As if I need saving. Besides, you're awfully far away from the sword. At this rate I might as well slay that ancient bastard myself." Then smile and add, "Though I do appreciate that even now, I'm making you stumble over your words."

>>43189513
We're also keeping the sword.

Even if Allegiset wants us to have it for his own purposes.

>>43189576
>keeping a light sword
>not using our fire sword.


honestly Taret should take it, he'd use it more.

>>43189343
>>43189513
These.

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You chuckle a bit.

“You're a little far from the sword, aren't you? I'd have better luck saving myself at this point.”

Taret spins around, looking in your direction and smiling.

“Kotijah...?”

Ruby glares right at you, as though she can see you. She probably can, now that you think about it. Taret scrambles to his feet.

“Kotijah, can you hear me?”

You nod a bit.

“I can. And I'm a little amused that even this far apart, you're still tripping over your words when it comes to talking to me.”

Taret blushes brightly.

“Uh... Eh-heh, well... that's...”

Ruby scowls a bit and nudges Taret with her tail.

“We've no time for chatter, Kotijah. Taret must continue his training. When the blade comes to him, when the time is right, he must be ready to wield it to its fullest potential.”

Taret nods a bit.

“That's... kind of true. I have to be ready so that when your ancestor tries to take over your body, I can save you. Ruby told me all about it. Every cycle, every rise of man, someone tries to claim the power of a monster and becomes one. A knight saves their soul, and if they're lucky, it happens before the kingdom is completely destroyed.”

You pause for a moment. That's not what you heard from Pirin. So either Ruby is leading Taret on with promises of your salvation so he won't lose hope, or Pirin is misinformed.

>That's not how it plays out. Ruby is training you to kill me if things get out of hand.
>Well, that's a much more hopeful story than the one I was told.
>I have every confidence in you then.
>Other (write-in)

>>43189752
>I have every confidence in you then.
I am personally hoping that it won't even come to that.

>>43189752
>"Oh, so I'm delivering the blade now to him, like some common courier. Don't worry, though. I know all about it myself. Ancient shit thinks he can pull a fast one on me, steal my soul and make me an empty vessel. Asshole. I'm perfectly capable of becoming a dragon WITHOUT his help, and I intend to."

>>43189752
>"You realize I'll probably burn most of the Kingdom regardless, right? The King is making an army of constructs that answer to him alone, he's setting himself up to be a dictator, and there's necromancers EVERYWHERE! Place needs a good bit of empty seats so we can put reliable folks in them. Even the Order of the Oak is fallible."

>>43189752
>>Other (write-in)
>"Well I'm currently being attacked by the Order of the Oak and dealing with turning an entire town into a trapped battlefield against them.

>"You know I get first spin with the sword right before you get it right? I got a lot of people who need to be stabbed with it."

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“...If it comes to that, I know you'll be able to do it. But I already know what's supposed to happen according to the cycle. You won't save my soul. You'll have to kill me if he takes me over, and every trace of me will be gone. But I won't let that happen. I know what his game is, and I intend to stop him. In the mean time though, I have other matters of more... pressing concern.”

Taret pales a bit.

“More pressing than losing your soul...?”

He glances at Ruby, who looks away from him, and he swallows before looking back at you.

“What's happening?”

You sigh softly.

“The Order of Oak is attacking me at a small village. I'm doing what I can to prepare for the fight, but I'm reaching out to people to let them know what's going on. It's going to be rough. I've got a plan in mind that should do the trick, lots of traps and trickiness, but... Just in case, right?”

Taret nods slightly.

“We can be there in two days if we don't stop. Give or take. I can follow the earring to you once we reach the mainland.”

Ruby frowns.

“Taret, if we leave now you won't be ready. You have your path, and she has hears. You must complete this journey, see the cycle for what it really is, so that you will see what is truly important.”

Taret grits his teeth and clenches his fists.

“I don't care. I don't care about prophecy or fate or fortune, or the cycle. I am a knight. That means protecting the people I care about. That is what matters to me.”

For a moment he looks right at you, and you feel your heart stop for an instant. You've never seen him look so fierce and determined before, and the dragon blood in your veins goes cold while your heart flutters. It's an odd feeling, this mix of awe and fear, but you can't tear your eyes away.

“If the cycle ends, if everything falls apart... I'd rather be beside Kotijah in her time of need and ride out the change that's coming with her than kill her just so the world can keep limping on. That isn't who I am”

His body glows softly, and Ruby looks on curiously, smiling a bit.

“I've made my choice. I cannot call myself a knight if I don't at least try.”

As the sun touches the horizon, a bolt of white light streaks down from the heavens and strikes him in the chest, followed by another, and another. Up above the stars are beginning to appear, and one by one they are falling upon him. His armor turns white and radiant, the broken pieces filling in, and his sword turns to dust, reforming in his hand, the metal glowing faintly. Ruby chuckles a bit.

“The Starlight Knight, whose power is born as dusk falls upon the world, shouting defiance in the face of certain loss, his heart pure and true, the stars answering his call.”

Ruby turns to you.

“I was waiting for you all this time to reach out to him in a moment of need to wake him up. Admittedly I was expecting it at the end of a long journey as we approach the shores of the kingdom, but this works just as well, I suppose. Though it seems rather early...”

Taret blinks and looks at Ruby.

“So all this time... The training, the trip north... was all for this?”

Ruby nods.

“Correct. I needed you to be forced to decide between your ideals and the world. The Starlight Knight carries the torch of virtue into dark places. When the cycle turns, his task will be to rebuild that which is good and just from the ashes of the darkness and corruption.”

Ruby turns to you.

“So, shall he return to you, the one man who fate has chosen to kill you should you fail? Or shall you keep him at arm's length and let him continue his journey, to return to you wiser, and able to accept the loss should your will crumble and he is forced to end you?”

>Bring Taret back to me. I need his help, and I need him close.
>Taret, you have work to do. Fate chose you to be the one to pull the trigger if I screw this up. Go with Ruby.
>Taret, choose. I didn't ask for you to come save me, but I won't say no. Do you want to help me?
>Other (write-in)

>>43190462
>>Taret, choose. I didn't ask for you to come save me, but I won't say no. Do you want to help me?

>>43190462
>>Taret, choose. I didn't ask for you to come save me, but I won't say no. Do you want to help me?

>>43190462
>"If he's the one to kill me if I fail, I'd rather he were close enough to slip a knife between my ribs than halfways across the realm."

“Taret?”

Taret puts his new sword away in its sheath and smiles at you.

“Yes?”

You find yourself smiling more than you mean to.

“I didn't ask for your help, but I won't say no to it. Decide for yourself what you want to do.”

Taret walks slowly towards the place your voice is coming from, until he's only a few inches from you.

“The stars chose me to carry on the ways of a good and just knight. That means every knightly order will fall, right? They'll crumble apart, corrupt and wicked. I'll be the only one left, without an order or an oath.”

He chuckles softly.

“Which means there's something else I have to do... A knight swears their life to an ideal, a purpose, or a person. Kotijah Imidarius the Firesinger, I pledge my life to your service, for the purpose of protecting you. I'll be with you as soon as I can be.”

He pauses, glances at Ruby, and she points at you, gesturing with her claw, little circles and stabbing motions. Taret nods and turns to you, looking you right in the eye for a moment before leaning in and kissing you. The sensation is a shock; you hadn't been expecting either the kiss or to actually be able to feel it, and as he pulls back your focus falters. Yep, kissing continues to be nice.

“See you soon, Kotijah.”

He runs to Ruby, who lowers herself slightly, and as your vision fades the last thing you see is Taret leaping onto Ruby's back and the pair taking flight. When you open your eyes, Millie is staring at you, grinning from ear to ear and her eyes practically sparkling.

“Eeeeee~”

Her high-pitched squeal hurts your ears a bit, and she starts to giggle and smile.

>Not a word. To anyone.
>What? You're allowed to fuse with someone but if I get kissed it's a big deal?
>Ahem. Moving right along.
>Other (write-in)

>>43190809
>What? You're allowed to fuse with someone but if I get kissed it's a big deal?

>>43190809
>Not a word. To anyone...yet.

No other votes? Or is it just because it's late?

>>43190809
>>What? You're allowed to fuse with someone but if I get kissed it's a big deal?
It's past midnight here though.

>>43191932
It's past 1 here.

At any rate, I'm gonna hit the hay after the next post.

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You look Millie in the eye and smile.

“What? You're allowed to fuse with someone, something Vein said was really intimate, but if I get kissed it's suddenly a big deal?”

Millie nods.

“Mhmm. Very big. Super big. He's coming here, right? So then you can hold hands with him!”

Millie turns bright red and starts giggling.

“Do you like him too? No, wait, don't tell me. Um...”

Millie's blush subsides and she grabs the figures from the battlefield, looking at them for a moment.

“That means we have another melee fighter for the smokescreens...”

She pokes your nose with one of the figures and smiles.

“Our probability of success just jumped up. Plus he's bringing his dragon. More success!”

Millie smiles brightly at you.

“Then hand holding after we win. Promise.”

You shy away a bit.

“I'm still working out how I feel, and-”

Millie leans in close, pouting and looking as adorable as she can.

“Promise...?”

>I can't say no to that face
>I was probably going to do that anyway
>He can make the first move
>Nope, no hand-holding
>We'll see how it goes
>Other (write-in)

>>43192084
>>I was probably going to do that anyway
>We'll see how it goes

>>43192084
>We'll see how it goes

>>43192084
>I was probably going to do that anyway
>We'll see how it goes

Bump

>>43192084
>I can't say no to that face +I was going to do that anyway

bump

>>43192084
>>I was probably going to do that anyway

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“We'll see how it goes.”

Millie's eyes sparkle and her lower lip quivers, and you sigh softly, poking her nose.

“I'm probably going to do it anyway, but I don't want to promise in case something happens. I don't want to break a promise to you. If it happens then it happens, alright?”

Millie nods and hugs you tightly.

“Alright then. Good enough for me.”

She looks at the window and smiles a little bit.

“We've got time before dinner, but the sun is going down so we won't have much time to get work done tonight. Gil and Pirin should be back from scouting soon, and Gimbly will be back too... What do you want to do now?

You could check in with someone before dinner, you suppose. Maybe Tirio, just to be a pest and taunt him. Or you could fuss with a magic item or something. When everyone gathers at dinner you'll be able to talk to them about their progress, but you've got a spare moment to do something else on top of that.

>Check in with Fiona
>Taunt Tirio
>Experiment with a magic item
>Play the war game again, this time factoring in Taret
>Other (write-in)

>>43196509
> Play the war game again, this time factoring in Taret

>>43196509
>Play tabletop wargame. Plus try to simulate situation where Order of Oak is divided in three assault groups, which go into city from three different sides.

Smarts roll plus focus and Sleuth roll plus Perception

>>43197125
Smarts + focus

Rolled 9 + 2 (1d20 + 2)

>>43197211
How embarrassing. Lurk for years and fuck up my first ever roll.

Rolled 15 (1d20)

>>43197125
Smarts

Rolled 14 (1d20)

>>43197125
Sleuth

Rolled 4 + 1 (1d20 + 1)

>>43197125
smarts+tactics

Rolled 13 (1d20)

>>43197125
Sleuth

Rolled 8 (1d20)

>>43197125
Samefag sleuth

>>43197291
>>43197308
17 17 since the sleuth perception bonus is 3

>>43198323
Cool beans. Just wrapping up some shirt folding at work, next update soon.

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You head for the board.

"Let's go another round. I wanna try some new things."

Millie nods and smiles, setting the board up.

"OK!"

To say that you get slaughtered the first few times is an understatement. Without the ability to properly wage your war of attrition on multiple fronts, the Order of Oak steamrolls you. It isn't until you start focusing on strategic choke points within the town and leaving the area around the town more vulnerable that you see significant change. If they hit from many angles, you're bound to lose people one way or the other, it's just a matter of who, when and what it costs them.

Millie pouts a bit and does some reorganizing and battlefield analysis with you, exploring new options, but it quickly becomes clear that you need a new battleground if you want to use your current plan to full effect and not risk casualties. You can't help wondering if the passage down to Allegiset's lair could work if the portal is inactive, or if there's some nearby cave or valley you could use. More stuff to discuss with Gil and Pirin later, you suppose.

"Well, let's get ready for dinner."

Millie nods.

"Mhmm. I hope there's good news..."

You head for the tavern to regroup with everyone when a withered old woman approaches from an alley, grinning toothlessly at you.

"Ah... Are you her then? Kotijah the hero? I have something for you."

>Head to the tavern, old ladies distributing gifts is a recipe for disaster.
>Hear her out, this could be important.
>Send Millie ahead and find out what she wants
>Other (write-in)

>>43199818
>Hear her out, this could be important

>>43199818
>>Hear her out, this could be important
Not a hero but my name is Kotijah

>>43199818
>Hear her out, this could be important.

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>>43200159
We're not a hero.

We're a Super Hero!

>>43200463
not really.

>>43201269
Antihero?

>>43201354
Closer, more like kid who's making it all up as she goes along.

>>43199818
>Hear her out, this could be important.

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You turn towards the old woman and regard her for a moment.

"I'm not a hero, but yes, I'm Kotijah. Why do you ask?"

The woman cackles at you.

"Ah, yes... Do you enjoy surprises?"

You hesitate for a moment.

"Depends on the surprise..."

You suddenly feel nervous about having left your weapons at the room, but at least you have your portal ring on.

"A good surprise, I promise you."

The old woman cackles once more, stepping forward.

"The best, in fact!"

She lunges forward, and for a brief moment her face becomes Gimbly's. You manage to step out of the way before he collides with you, and the woman laughs as she turns toward you again. She speaks in Gimbly's voice, suddenly looking rather sly and crafty.

"One day I'll steal a kiss from you, Kotijah."

The old woman turns and heads the tavern, leaving you to puzzle out the situation while Millie giggles softly.

"Silly Gimbly... Nice disguise though... I didn't even know it was him."

You nod slightly. You're not sure how to take that little prank of his, and the subsequent... promise? Threat? You head for the tavern with Millie, trying to wrap your head around the events of the day. When you get to the tavern everyone is sitting around a table in the corner, chatting and laughing. The old woman is among them, next to Sena and telling her something.

>Grab food and head for the table
>Just steal from someone else for now, you can order more
>Other (write-in)

>>43201480
>Grab food and head for the table

>>43201480
>Grab food and head for the table

Get like five plates and fill them to the brim. Kot deserves a hardy meal!

>>43201480
>Grab food and head for the table

bump

Sorry for the delay. Heading for home now, things got crazy at work.

>>43206127
S'okay.

Just busy crazy or did like..a madman run into the store, light himself on fire and try to wear everything?

>>43201480
>>Grab food and head for the table

>>43206182
Just got home. Not to turn this into my blog or anything, but to summarize...

The boss has been on vacation for the past week. There's a big floor move that we had to do and a shipment that came two days early. Tomorrow morning he will walk in to find the shipment unfinished and the floor move completed but completed wrong. The regional manager is coming for a visit on Friday.

He will not be a happy camper.

Add in the fact that tomorrow I'm formally turning in my two weeks notice in preparation for my new job and you have a recipe for disaster. Fortunately I can't be blamed for most of it since I haven't been to the store for three days before today, but still.

Typing the next post now.

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You opt to grab yourself some food before you head to the table, watching Mille scamper off to join the group. You fish out a few coins and pay for your meal, a rather hearty sandwich, a turkey leg and a bowl of stew along with a pint of ale and as many refills as you want. You head for the table and sit down, taking a bite and smiling a little. Gil pats you on the shoulder and smirks.

“We have good news, boss.”

Pirin nods.

“Yep. We managed to find a few good spots around here where we could set something up. Each has their own advantages, but we'll leave that up to you.”

You nod slightly and start to dig in, motioning for them to continue. Pirin turns to Gil, who makes an “after you” gesture. Pirin shrugs a bit.

“I guess I'll tell you my favorites then? We found four places worth talking about, but I think we've got different opinions about which are best. So first off, there's a bridge not too far from here. It's an old, rickety thing, but it's been standing for ages. People think it's magic, or that the wood is actually from some ancient, incredibly strong tree or something. It's been in the same state of decay since the town was founded, and it's probably older than this cycle. The point is, it's a convenient choke point, and soaked bowstring are pretty useless. If we set up on the other side we can force them through the bottleneck if they want to pursue us, using our traps to our advantage without having to worry about destroying it.

My other pick is a cave a little ways beyond the bridge. Admittedly, probably infested with monsters or something, but again, solid choke point. It's a little out of the way unless you're planning to head north from here, but if we can secure it we can use the mouth of the cave as our battlefield and then retreat into the passages, I can get us a map, there's a tunnel that leads from that cave to one west of here, and another to the east. Smugglers used to use them years ago before a few people went missing and some sort of troll or giant was sighted nearby.”

Gil nods a bit.

“My picks are a little less focused on a single bottleneck, and more on their flexibility. There's a small keep to the south of here that's in pretty bad shape, but we could patch it up a bit and force them to try to siege us. We've got the chalice, so we have food and water, as much as we need. We can use that stronghold to force them to spread out and surround us, which gives us more chances to pick someone off or target a weak point.

My other pick is the field near the keep. It's full of rubble and ruins from some kind of building that got destroyed. We can repurpose them to create to create defensive walls, ramparts and battlefield hazards. It'll be a little like fighting in the village, except we have more control over the layout, and we'll have more chances to catch them off guard by, say, dropping a stone wall on them.”

You polish off your meal and realize that you've just eaten the entire turkey leg, bone and all. It was actually kind of tasty, now that you think about it. You wash down your food with some ale and consider the options.

>The bridge works well, and they'll have to slow down to cross the water to chase us if we need to retreat.
>I've always wanted to fight a troll, and we could lose them in the maze of the caves or collapse them behind us.
>Let's go claim that keep. If we manage to drive them back, we can set up a base there to come back to once we have the sword.
>The ruins give us the strict advantage over them in terms of terrain control. If we're creative we can make good use of the debris.
>Other (write-in)

>>43207815
>>The ruins give us the strict advantage over them in terms of terrain control. If we're creative we can make good use of the debris.

>>43207839
>The ruins give us the strict advantage over them in terms of terrain control. If we're creative we can make good use of the debris.

>>43207796
>The ruins give us the strict advantage over them in terms of terrain control. If we're creative we can make good use of the debris.

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“The ruins let us be more creative with the battlefield. I think that's the spot to head for. We can use the keep, sure, and we might need a fall-back position, but the ruins are our best bet. Whatever maps they have of the area won't have anything close to a precise layout of the ruins anyway, and we can work from there.”

Gil nods a bit.

“Sounds like a plan. I'm sure Millie will have a lot of fun setting up our battlefield for us.”

Millie smiles brightly.

“Mhmm! Vein and I are gonna make it the best battlefield ever.”

Millie looks at your mug of mead for a moment, before conjuring some rock candy in the shape of a mug and filling it with syrup, which she guzzles down before eating the mug. Sena giggles a bit and smiles at you.

“I've been working on my transformation, and I can do it at will now. I still can't control it completely, but I can trigger it to whatever degree I want.”

Her eyes turn red and her fangs length and she grins at you before turning back to normal. Kat chuckles a bit.

“I've been busy too. I managed to work out a formula for the gas as well as an antidote so that we'll be safe from the effects. It's just going to be a pain to make, so I'll be working on that all of tomorrow.”

You nod slightly and smile.

“Seems like everyone has been working hard then... I've been working on revisions to the battle plan, and with a change of venue that gives me more control, I think we're in good shape. I've also called in Taret and Gimbly.”

You turn to the old woman, who chuckles a bit, pulling up her hood before pulling it back, revealing Gimbly's face.

“How could I miss you kicking the Order of Oak in the pants?”

Sena gasps, but everyone else looks completely unsurprised, as though she had missed some obvious clue that everyone else had picked up on. Sena blushes brightly and glances away from him, then at you, and then away from both of you. Gil looks at Gimbly, shrugs a bit, and goes back to his pint. Gimbly stretches a little bit.

“So, are we moving out in the morning or shall we head there now and camp out? Millie can work through the night without a problem and get the foundations laid, though you should probably work out what you want before we get there.”

He grabs his drink and takes a sip, giving you a meaningful look. He has a point. You should at the very least come up with a draft for what sort of defensive measures you want, and how you want to present those defenses to the enemy. Time for some creativity.

>Let's head out tonight and camp there, we should move at night anyway
>Let's wait until morning and start fresh tomorrow, we should prep and plan before we move.
>Other (write-in)

-

Fire up your Paint programs, folks, it's time to get creative. The ruins cover an area about 200ft in radius, full of bricks, large stone chunks and crumbling walls. Millie can alter and augment them, repositioning them and patching them up, as well as shift the soil in the area to fill in gaps, create ramps and generally manipulate the terrain. But instead of just describing what you want, you can show us. Sketch a map, make a plan, be inventive.

Or just hope that someone else has a good idea and roll with that. Whatever works.

>>43208879
>>Let's head out tonight and camp there, we should move at night anyway

>>43208879
>>Let's head out tonight and camp there, we should move at night anyway

Depending on how armored the opposition is it might be prudent to go full Agincourt. Dictate a narrow area they can advance through with debris or natural obstacles, then saturate it with mud to keep their movement slow. Sprinkle in a few booby traps designed to injure and hold a single man so they have to devote other men to tending to the trapped then pick the rescuers off while letting the poor bastard who got caught keep screaming. Detail somebody to keep an eye on the flanks too.

>>43210658
As an ex-pat from England, I approve of your reference to an English defeat of the French.

Also it's a battle in which an intelligent army uses a terrain advantage to beat a force that outnumbers them and would have probably annihilated them in a fair fight, so it's a very apt comparison. Given the previous plan, with all the traps and smoke and knock-out gas, how would you integrate the strategies of Agincourt? Remember that you're facing mages and archers for the most part, if not entirely.

>>43210995
Going off the previous plan, some maze-like walls alone would discourage the archers similar to what the obvious traps would. Then find suitable high ground the archers might go to and put some real traps there. Just throwing ideas out there.

>>43208879
>head out tonight
Guys what about underground-bunker dungeon? Something similar that Vietnamese had. Fast discreet movement + we can make hill-bunkers in their flanks. Also we can make holes in soil to stab them with poisonous pikes. If some mage makes a hole in ground, then we can detonate holding columns of dungeon and puny mages will be buried alive in derbis.
Next idea. Make from derbis golems, which are filled with barrel full of poison. They rush into line make chaos and then boom.

Also, ME WANT big ballistae which fires enchanted logs. Enchantment is making electric barrier between two logs. So we can cage them, or fry some bastards.
This is pretty hard to make traps, which only maim. Can't go full murderhobo

Bump

Next post soon. If nobody makes a map or sketch of what you want then I'll make a sketch of the initial layout and you can mess with it from there, though I won't be able to until after work tonight.

>>43213374
Bump

>>43210995
Had to sleep so forgive the late reply. Keep the traps near pieces of cover left in the field for the attackers. Maybe leave a large section of wall designed to fall on a trigger so once more than a couple seek shelter there the collapse does maximum damage. While their movement speed is hampered hit them with arrows or see if we can rig up a slingshot for Kat. When they move to cover they suffer for it, if they stay in the open keep hitting. If we could position ourselves on higher ground that just sweetens the deal. If that's out of the question make them advance through a smoke screen. The important part is breaking the archers' line of sight so they're stuck with indirect bombardment while we rain fury on them.
Does Kat know of a substance she could create that burns but isn't put out by water? Either slingshot it into the formation and light it with an arrow or spread it on the ground and light it as a barrier to advance/retreat.
It wouldn't hurt to put markers on the field denoting ranges to make it easier on our archers. Like the range markers the Japanese had in the water to dial in their artillery against American landing forces.

>>43215843
>Does Kat know of a substance she could create that burns but isn't put out by water?

Your asking if she knows how to make Greek Fire?

>>43215903
Speaking of lost technologies, are there other things we can use in this setting?

Damascus Steel would be interesting to combine magic. Anything else that we could use?

"We should get moving tonight. The sooner we get there, the sooner we can get this plan moving."

Gimbly nods slightly.

"Works for me. I'll head there with Gil and Millie while you guys pack up. I'll make an assessment and have Millie put up some preliminary defences."

Gil chuckles softly.

"Two things. One, I follow Kotijah, not you. Don't get presumptive."

Millie nods and pouts at Gimbly.

"Yeah! What he said!"

Gil smiles.

"Two, I'm her right hand man. If anyone is going to be deciding how we set up while we wait for Kotijah, it's going to be me."

Gimbly turns to you.

"I have experience with battles like this. I know how to fortify a small encampment and protect people."

Gil looks at you with concern, and you're not sure if he's worried you don't trust his judgment or trust Gimbly's more.

>Gimbly, set things up for us and teach Gil how to do it
>Gil, you're in charge til I get there
>I'm coming with you so I don't see what you're bickering about.
>We'll stay at the keep and worry about the battlefield tomorrow.
>Other (write-in)

All this talk of lost tech sounds like something for when I get home after work. Once I'm home we should discuss it more.

>>43216508
>You know I have two hands? Gimbly can be my left and Gil you can be my right. I need both of you working together. If you two can't work together, I'll put Millie in charge.

>Gil. With your archery skills I want you to find all the spots that their archers will most likely take up and neutralize them. I also want any spots you find open to their arrows to be reinforced.

>Gimbly, with your experience you'll need to design the best places within the ruins for our people to set up and stand their ground. I also want to be able to lure them into the ruins and trap them in their if we need to retreat.

I'll check on your progress before nightfall. With our lives on the line we shouldn't bicker about who gets to be my Number 2. If you do continue to fight, I'll make Millie my number 2 and have her boss you both around.

>>43216599
Ok. I'm always a big fan of using lost tech in fantasy worlds.

>>43216508
>>Gimbly, set things up for us and teach Gil how to do it

>>43216508
>"I want a maze set up, mud all along it with traps hidden within. Painful but non-lethal. We'll pick them off as they help their comrades, and the screams will demoralize them while the mud slows them down. Millie, you work with Gimbly on this. I'll also need enough hiding places to allow for stealthy maneuverability, the last thing I want is for one of us to be overwhelmed with arrows while we do our picking. Gil, that's your job."

Is there anyway Gimbly can give us the image of a real Dragon to scare the group? Like shape a dragon illusion around us and we fly at the bad guys and rain hellfire upon them.

Not only would it demoralize them, but the Order would think that we've already become a true dragon.

After we take out their mage users of course so they can't dispel it.

>>43216508
Keep Gil in nominal command with Gimbly in the "Expert Advisor" position. Gimbly:Gil :: Green Berets:Indig. Fighters

>>43215903
Or Napalm. We need to inspire terror.

>>43216283
>>43217561
You realize we're supposed to keep this non lethal?

>>43217916
Some people are going to die in this conflict the goal is to not murder every single last one of them.

Some will probably even succumb to their injuries before they get to a healer. If we hold back our punches, they'll just plow on through us like a hot knife through butter.

I'm not saying go into a murder frenzy but we can't be Batman.

>>43218138
Going full shock and awe will bring them down on us hard.

>>43218541
And not giving them enough heat will also result them in bringing us down hard.

Really it just depends on the dice rolls, our plans really don't mean anything if the dice we roll sucks.

bump

Sorry for the delays again. My boss has been less than pleased that I'm resigning and he's been keeping me busy all shift. Will update when I can.

>>43221804
Understandable.

bump

So, still no sign of battle maps. Guess what I'll be doing tomorrow?

Writing up the next post now.

Also, if you have lost tech you want to propose/ask about, now's the time. We've already seen people ask about Greek Fire and Damascus Steel, and I'll be figuring out what to do about those as things progress.

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“Gil, you're in charge when you get there, but I want you to make use of Gimbly's knowledge. Learn from him and combine your strengths. Gimbly knows fortifications, so have him work on defensive measures while you find the good sniping spots and places to hide and turn them to our advantage. You're the only one here who can really think like our enemy.”

Gil nods a bit and smiles.

“Makes sense to me.”

He turns to Gimbly.

“Shall we get going?”

Gimbly nods.

“Way ahead of you.”

He turns to mist, and the door of the tavern swings open, Gimbly's real body disappearing through it a moment later. Gil blinks.

“Well, I better get going too...”

He turns and gives Kat a peck on the lips.

“See you soon.”

Kat smiles.

“Likewise.”

He head off, with Millie trailing behind him and waving at you, and the pair exit the tavern. Pirin leans back in his chair.

“So I guess that means that we'll be loading up your carriage with supplies and hauling them over there? Wonderful, more heavy lifting...”

He grumbles a bit, before smiling and taking a sip of his drink.

“It's been kind of fun today though.”

Kat nods a bit.

“Yep, but nothing blew up. Wait til I get working tomorrow, then the real fun begins.”

Pirin chuckles.

“Sounds good to me.”

Sena nudges you a bit.

“Let's head back to the inn. Do we need any supplies before we head out?”

>The market should still have one or two places open, let's grab a few things
>We can figure it out when we get there and come back for what we need, let's just head for the ruins
>Other (write-in)

>>43227399
>>The market should still have one or two places open, let's grab a few things

>>43227399
>The market should still have one or two places open, let's grab a few things
Lets make a list of things the others might need as well. Or pick up anything that would seem useful.

I'd draw a map but I'm terrible at those.

As for more ancient tech ideas, I'll work on that. Try to find some interesting things relevant to the characters.

>>43227399
>The market should still have one or two places open, let's grab a few things

>>43227908
A list would probably be useful as I set the scene, actually.

So, what do you guys want to get? Anything springing to mind?

>>43232308
Darts, mild poison, rope and lots of it. Caltrops, some metal spikes, some oil, flint,

>>43232308
Barrels or crates, pottery, arrows

>>43232319
Asking Kat for a laundry list of what she'd need to whip up a liquid knockout drug or sedative capable of being delivered through the bloodstream might be better than buying a mild poison since those are usually still intended to kill something (or at least very capable of doing so).

Also not sure if a store would be selling poison intended for use on humans upfront, and animal-intended poisons tend to be very dangerous.

Sounds like you're mostly aiming for trap making supplies and storage containers, as well as arrows because arrows. Anything else?

>>43232991
Well we can look for old rusty armor, to make scarecrows-bait-pekaboos, but I assume that they are quite expensive.

>>43232991
Ladders.

And land mines have been around since the 11th century in Chinese, so we could easily make some here.

Rise proud dragon. Time has come.

Now that I'm finally out of work for the day, Sleuth roll and a Schmooze roll.

Rolled 16 (1d20)

>>43235610
Sleuth

Rolled 9 (1d20)

>>43235610
Schmooze

Rolled 7 + 3 (1d20 + 3)

>>43235610
Sleuth perception

Rolled 1 + 2 (1d20 + 2)

>>43235610
Schmooze persuade

Rolled 20 + 3 (1d20 + 3)

>>43235610
Sleuth + Perception

Rolled 17 + 2 (1d20 + 2)

>>43235610
Shmooze + Persuade

Rolled 1 (1d20)

>>43235610
schmooze

Rolled 8 (1d20)

>>43235834
God bless you.

Bump

I've hit a stumbling block with something, gonna do some quick research and fill the void in my knowledge.

>>43176540
Otherkin fantasy fiction?

For fucking real, /tg/?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LtH7l-dhHZQ

>>43238959
>Trolololololololol

Nice b8 m8 I r8 t 8 out of 8

bump

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“We should head to the market. There are bound to be some places open in the evening, and we need to pad out our supplies a bit.”

Kat nods slightly.

“Sounds like a plan to me. How about... Sena, you and Pirin head to the room and pack everything up and load up the carriage? I'll head with Kotijah to the market and we'll get what we need from there. Sound good?”

You give her a nod of approval, and Sena gives you a tight hug before smiling and heading off with Pirin. Kat sighs a bit and gives you a small smile.

“Thanks. For earlier, I mean. I know you had somewhere to be but I'm really glad you took the time to listen to me. If you ever need to talk to anyone about anything, or need me to brew up something in secret for you, let me know. I might not have a risk of getting knocked up, but that doesn't mean I don't know the recipe to prevent it.”

You shrug a bit and smirk.

“It's not really a concern right this second, but it's appreciated.”

Kat shrugs a little bit and heads for the door with a grin.

“There's not much else I can offer really, is there. Sex tip, maybe... Oh, I know. While we're out I can tell you some neat tricks.”

You try to tell Kat that you're not interested, or at the very least that there are other things to worry about right now, but she spends a good portion of your time heading to the market just rambling on and on. By the time you manage to get her to stop you know more than you ever wanted to know about sex acts you never knew existed. Kat blinks and looks at you, chuckling and blushing.

“Sorry. I got a little carried away there. In case you couldn't tell, I like talking about sex.”

You nod, slightly exasperated.

“I noticed.”

It's not that you didn't want to know. You were curious about a few things, and knowledge is power, but you really didn't need a crash course on “proper blowjob technique” or “the secret to painless anal sex” right after dinner. Or perhaps at all. You file the information away in your head for later consideration when you're not trying to avoid death at the hands of the Order of Oak, and point towards a nearby store.

“We can start there, the lights are on.”

Kat shrugs slightly.

“Works for me.”

She heads for the door to the shop and you follow behind her, pausing only briefly. A vaguely familiar voice is singing far away, a female voice you can't place, something about skin and bones, blood and spirit. It's moving away from you, towards the edge of town, and you take a moment to really listen. Seems to be heading north, and...

It sounds a little like Dr. B Light, if you're being honest with yourself, but if she were tracking you she wouldn't be leaving town right now. Millie and Gil are blight free, too. Gimbly, maybe? The thought of a necromancer having a bone to pick with Gimbly strikes you as funny for some reason, he's not the hero type. If she's just passing through, or worse, collecting her next shipment... That's problematic. Kat walks over to you and pokes your shoulder.

“You look like you're worried about something.”

The moment she speaks you lose track of the faint sound, and you sigh a bit.

>We might have company. Necromancers. We should hurry up.
>Finish up the shopping, I'll be right back, just gonna check something out.
>Party's over, we're leaving right now. Let's grab Sena and Pirin and bounce.
>Other (write-in)

In other news, it took me way too long to research Damascus Steel and Greek Fire to a substantial enough degree that I felt comfortable trying to find ways to introduce those technologies into the world in some way. I am ashamed at my lack of research skills.

>>43246485
>>We might have company. Necromancers. We should hurry up.
either that or someone at the church is far into the darker aspects of their religion, either way I got a bad feeling.

>>43246485
>Spirit Sight

>>43247627
It could be both. Or neither.

Or secretly Gimbly is the necromancers!

>>43247974
If you wanna instigate another Sleuth roll and see if anything is genuinely off, go for it. Roll away.

Rolled 3 + 1 (1d20 + 1)

>>43248091

Rolled 7 + 3 (1d20 + 3)

>>43248091
Perception

Rolled 16 + 3 (1d20 + 3)

>>43248091

>>43248656
Bump

Your sight doesn't tell you anything is out of place.

At first.

After a few moments of concentration, you notice something odd. There's a crackling at the edges of your vision, and when you look behind, away from the noise, it's like looking at broken glass, as though someone punched a hole in the ambient magic maybe fifty or one hundred feet from where you are. It's a little hard to tell. The cracks are slowly filling in, but that begs the important questions of who did it, when, and how big the gap was when it was made.

-

Same choice as before.

>>43253676
Tell Kat to hurry up possible necromancer shit, hopefully it's church related, but we're not betting on it. Get this done and Kat who shit at combat on her way to others then investigate.

bump

>>43246485
>>We might have company. Necromancers. We should hurry up.

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"Kat?"

She nods.

"Yeah?"

You make a vague gesture towards the crack.

"We should hurry. Necromancer stuff. We might have company."

Kat frowns a bit.

"Do you think she followed us...?"

She steps closer to you, ears pressed to her head, glancing around nervously.

"As if I wasn't already jumpy enough from thinking about that, now she's actually here..."

You pat her on the shoulder.

"Could be worse. For now, though, let's wrap this up."

Kat sighs softly.

"Fair enough."

She heads for the shop, and you follow behind her. It feels colder now, a gentle chill moving down your spine. It's like someone is watching you, but when you look there's no one there.

The store is, in a word, disheveled. It doesn't actually look like anyone is home, and the place is a bit of a mess. Kat walks around, inspecting things and gathering what you need while you head for the counter. You peek around a bit and hear whispering from the back, hushed and nervous, before the corpse of a man with a knife in his chest peeks out of the doorway.

"Hello! Welcome to my shop!"

A withered, almost skeletal hand grabs the corpse by the wrist and makes it wave at you. There's more whispering before another hand quickly retrieves the knife.

"Are you in need of anything tonight? Flesh pouches? Refreshing and nourishing juice fruits? Perhaps you'd like some... rap? Rope? Yes, rope."

>Pretend that everything is normal
>Stop right there, undead scum!
>Leave now
>Other (write-in)

>>43257710
>Stop right there, undead scum!

>>43257710
>"A necromancer with a some form of sense of humor. Now I've seen everything."

Do you wish to engage in combat?

>>43257710
>Pretend that everything is normal

>>43258026
Would using our portal ring in combination with sword strikes around the target be effective?

Certainly open attacks from a wonderful variety of areas.

>>43258406
You could stab someone via a portal, you'd just have to make sure that you open the portal in the right spot, at the right angle, in the heat of combat.

There would be a roll associated with it, to be sure. Maybe more than one depending on how tricky what you're trying to accomplish is.

So from the look of things you're gonna be pointing out their obvious ruse. These are not master rusemen. Do you want to just expose their trick or fight the undead on principle, and also because they likely murdered the nice shopkeeper?

>>43258584
Yeah, yell for Kat to get Sena and Pirin.

>>43258584
Seconding >>43258617 then call their bluff.

Bump

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You turn to Kat, who is behind a shelf.

"Kat, can you grab Sena and Pirin? I forgot what they wanted us to get."

Kat pokes her head around the corner and looks at you for a moment.

"Did they ask for anything? I think they left without saying much."

You gesture to the corpse, which is sagging slightly, and Kat looks at it for a few seconds.

"You know, you're right. I'll be right back. They'll probably have a long list, so I'll be a while."

You can hear someone excitedly muttering behind the counter, something along the lines of 'they're totally buying it!' before there's the sound of a slap and 'shut up, rot for brains!' in a harsh whisper. Kat hurries out and you walk to the counter, leaning on it.

"Lovely evening, isn't it."

The corpse shifts slightly as it's turned towards you.

"Yes! Beautiful!"

Another voice, the one that had whispered harshly before, speaks up.

"I'm sure you would enjoy it more outside!"

There's quiet arguing as the first voice whines about how he was supposed to do the voice, with the other saying they need you gone. The corpse slowly tips over, falling to the floor with a thud. The undead, a zombie and a skeleton, are too caught up in their argument to notice you until they both freeze and turn towards you slowly.

"Guys! I found the box!"

Another undead, some sort of ghoul or wight, walks out of the back room with a chest made of black wood and dark metal, grinning from ear to ear. He looks at his companions, then at you, then back over to them.

"Are you two gonna finish that? Because I'm famished. Ha! Get it? I kill myself. Haha!"

He turns to you.

"Haha!"

He smile vanishes.

"But seriously you're going to die tonight and I'm going to feast on your bones."

>Injury+insult
>Not that I want this to "drag on", but I'm not sure you understand the "scale" you're dealing with here.
>Retreat and regroup
>Other (write-in)

>>43264015
>Not that I want this to "drag on", but I'm not sure you understand the "scale" you're dealing with here.

>>43264015
>Not that I want this to "drag on", but I'm not sure you understand the "scale" you're dealing with here.
Violence ensues?

>>43264015
>>Not that I want this to "drag on", but I'm not sure you understand the "scale" you're dealing with here.
Can't resist.

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“...Not that I want this to 'drag-on' for very much longer, but I don't think you grasp the 'scale' of my power.”

You make sure to flutter your wings for emphasis, and the ghoul looks at you for a moment, before bursting out laughing. The zombie begins to giggle, and the skeleton bops him on the head.

“Shut up, meat-head!”

The zombie whimpers a little bit and sullenly turns to the corpse, sitting him up.

“You're my only real friend, Benny...”

The skeleton slaps himself, glaring at the zombie while the zombie makes small-talk with the corpse, moving the body's mouth as though performing a bad ventriloquism act. The ghoul sets the chest down and smiles at you.

“I'm Wight, and these are my associates, Fright and Bite.”

The skeleton grumbles.

“I told you, I want to be called Might, not Fright! I'm a powerful necromantic creature, I deserve more recognition than to simply be considered scary!”

The zombie, ostensibly named Bite, smiles at you.

“Hello! I'm Bite, and this is my friend, Benny!”

He waves until his arm falls off, and he looks at it for a moment before ripping the arm off the dead body and replacing his discarded limb with a fresh one, resuming his waving. Fright sighs a bit.

“Wight, can we please just get this over with? I don't even have a brain in my skull and I'm getting a migraine from this half-wit.”

Wight sets the chest down on the counter and smiles at you for a moment.

“Where are my manners... We're supposed to shake hands when meeting strangers, yes?”

He puts an arm behind his back and offers the other, which crackles with purple energy. With the glow of his hand casting shadows on his face, his grin looks sinister instead of friendly.

>Flowing magic
>Sword time
>Firesing
>Other (write-in)

>>43266719
>Firesing
You look a little chilly without meat on your bones, let me warm you up.

>>43266719
>>Firesing

>>43266719
>>Sword time
>>Firesing
It's murderin' time!

Alright, Spirit roll

Rolled 4 + 5 (1d20 + 5)

>>43268884
Focus

Rolled 11 + 5 (1d20 + 5)

>>43268884

Rolled 2 + 5 (1d20 + 5)

>>43268884

Loving your consistency.

bump

>>43272324
Consistency is for pudding. I just try to update when I can. Speaking of which, update soon, just gotta revise my budget.

Alright, an hour of sitting down with my evil stepmother to go over my budget now that I have my new job is over. Time to write about breathing fire at undead creatures in a disheveled store that is ostensibly made of wood.

bump

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>>43276408
So. I wonder what the inspiration these knuckle-heads come from...?

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You make a motion towards his hand, pretending not to notice the crackling, and Wight's grin grows bit by bit. You start to sing, focusing on Wight as you start your song. Right as your hand is about to touch his your song finishes, and you hear Wight laugh a bit as the heat rises in your throat.

“Just kidding!”

The glow vanishes and he grabs your hand to shake it without harming you. You respond by blasting him with a gout of flame that knocks him backwards, striking the wall with a crack. You look down at your hand for a moment, then at Wight. He's sitting on the ground laughing like a maniac, eyes glowing bright red. He doesn't look like there's a scratch on him, although the wall around him is charred and blackened by your flames. Fright and Bite are both looking at you, Fright in awe and Bite with more than a little derision.

“Oh goodie, we've got a violent one...”

He rises to his feet and pokes Wight gently before sighing and walking over to you.

“We'll be here all night now, you realize.”

Wight pries himself from the wall with difficultly, mainly because he's laughing so hard, his gazed fixed firmly on you. He presses his palm to the wall and red lines begin to spread along the wall and across the ceiling and floor, lines that quickly erupt into flame. The red glow of his eyes fades bit by bit, the entirety of the shop behind the counter quickly becoming engulfed in flames. Bite screams and runs for the back door, shrieking as he flees, and Bite chases after him, cursing and swearing. Wight advances towards the counter once more.

“Oh... Oh that was good... Very pure, very violent...”

His eyes glow once more, this time a deep purple color that seems to draw in the light around him, his face darkening.

“Let me give you a little lecture. Make no bones about it, the undead are vicious creatures. Take the classic zombie, for instance. Rotten little things, no brains to speak of. Can't even say a word, so consumed with their own hunger. They are what occur naturally in the world most often. Then you have skeletons, whose anger soaked into their very bones, and who discarded their flesh like the useless extra weight it had become. But they can't speak either, they can only hate more deeply and hunger all the more. No stomach, you understand.”

He rests a hand on the counter, and the wood begins to twist and rot.

“Then you have more interesting undead. Vampires, ghouls, those with some intelligence. Awakened zombies and skeletons who have a mind. Most of them can form naturally, but they're very rare. And very powerful.”

He kicks the counter, breaking enough of it for him to walk closer to you.

“And always, always in service to a force that sates something deeper and more urgent than hunger. Can you think of what would get under our skin more than emptiness?”

He pauses, then starts to laugh.

“Except Fright, because he's got no skin! Haha!”

He sighs a bit and turns to the black chest.

“Well, we'll be off. We got what we came for. Master Spirit will be pleased.”

He moves to grab the chest, but his hand turns purple once again, and you can see the way his body is tensing up.

>Use Sword on Wight
>Abscond
>Try to keep him talking and buy some time
>Other (write-in)

-

>>43279458
Moe, Larry and Curly, actually, but those two did factor in a little bit.

>>43279606
>Use Sword on Wight

>>43279606
>Open up a portal infront of his hand and open up another right next to him so he hits himself with his own hand.

>>43279713
Not how it works. The portal ring lets you reach your hand through a portal (that appears as you reach out) and grab/manipulate/poke something from a distance. So long as you know the place you want to reach, you could theoretically reach anywhere. I mean, you could try to loot his chest but there's no telling what might be inside it, but you can't make him slap himself without grabbing his hand and then shoving it through the portal to hit his own face.

>>43279773
Then could we just push the chest out of his way then? Put it somewhere else or somewhere far enough way?

We don't need it, but we definitely don't want him to have it.

>>43279947
That is indeed a thing you could do.

Only two votes at the moment, and they're in conflict. Anyone else wanna weigh in?

>>43280631
Not at the moment.

It's either attack, let them take what they want or take away the thing the they.

I'd suggest we just tell them the spot if they can tell if we're lying.

We want them distracted more then angry.

>>43280702
So that's another vote for moving the chest and playing keep away with it?

Seeing as things have slowed down quite a bit as of late (mostly my fault for being so busy over the last few days) I can understand things having hit a lull in terms of replies, but I'm gonna formally adopt a "first to three" stance on voting from here out since I feel like otherwise we'll never get anywhere.

Also it's a day off for me and I have nothing else planned for today except this and finishing prep for Become The Vampire Quest. I'm actually putting forethought into it! Yay!

>push the chest and try to talk to him

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You use your portal ring to knock the chest off the counter before he gets to it, and Wight just stands there for a few seconds, staring at the chest. There's a small crack in the lid, and you can see something silvery glinting inside it, studded with jewels. Wight looks over at you, then at the chest.

“Huh. I didn't think Bright was coming tonight. He said he was busy.”

He shrugs and makes a move towards the chest, and you give it another push, just out of his reach, causing Wight to hobble after it. He stops short and turns to you.

“Are you some sort of spooky wizard?”

You shrug a bit.

“Maybe. More of a warrior though. I'm not much for magic.”

Wight nods and smiles at you.

“Good to know.”

He turns back to the chest and you clear your throat.

“You asked me a question, right? About what could get under your skin more than emptiness? Well, if I don't know the answer, would you tell me?”

Wight spins around and nods.

“Of course. It would only be polite.”

You smile.

“I don't know the answer to your question then.”

Wight advances on you, suddenly furious.

“Ignorant fleshling! You know nothing of pain then! Emptiness will eat you alive, force you to action time and again! The hunger, the never-ending hunger!”

He stops short and smiles a bit, his emotions once again jumping back and forth between extremes.

“But what is worse than that? Hope. Hope that eats at you, gnaws you from the inside. Hope that the hunger might end. Hope that there is more to your existence than endless consumption. We serve necromancers to fulfill a promise. We do the dirty work, and in return our hunger ceases, for a while. Now, I have to make a delivery. I'm already starving, and I'd hate to be hungrier than that!”

He turns and walks towards the chest. You can hear voices from outside coming closer to the front door.

>Fight time
>Continue keeping the chest from him
>Talk it out
>Other (write-in)

>>43281968
>>Fight time

>>43281968
>>Continue keeping the chest from him
Maybe push the chest into a corner or under something so we can get the jump on him.

>>43281968
>fight time, but before ask who do zombie serves
Lets risk.

>>43282183
I'm gonna have to presume this is a vote to set up one last thing before fight time so we can progress, unless anyone else has anything to add.

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You decide to give the chest another shove away from him, towards the corner, and you brace yourself for a fight.

“Wight, who do you serve?”

Wight continues to follow the chest as you push it along.

“Master Spirit, of course. Wasn't that obvious?”

Sena, Kat and Pirin burst into the shop, and Wight looks them over for a moment before grabbing the chest and picking it up.

“Four against one then...? How unfair... Couldn't we settle this peacefully so I don't have to slaughter you all?”

Sena moves to your side, with Kat behind you and Pirin standing off to one side, grabbing a sword from the shelf. Wight smiles at you.

“We could be friends, you know. Just let me leave so we can settle things with Skin.”

>Let him go
>Kick his butt
>Other (write-in)

>>43285961
>Kick his butt

Last undead that seemed reasonable stabbed my father with a blighted blade, no can do.

>>43285961
>Kick his butt

>>43285961
>>Kick his butt

Alright. Sword, firesong or something else? Probably sword, right?

Strength roll

Rolled 9 + 10 (1d20 + 10)

>>43286951
SMITE!

Rolled 2 + 10 (1d20 + 10)

>>43286951

The first three talkative, semi-reasonable undead you guys come across, and you have to kick their asses? Can we at least spare them from re-death? They seem kinda okay.

>>43287024
.............remember the Duke?

>>43287024
Apparently this is how we roll.

Side note, I'd like to remind you that death is a thing that can happen in this quest, and if you guys manage to pull maximum over-irony by killing Kotijah the day before I roll out Become The Vampire Quest I will be both impressed and displeased.

>>43287072
Yeah, but these are undead, not necromancers. Admittedly, they're insane, but they would be useful in getting information. And neat combat buddies. Sounds like they're good conversationalists, too.

>>43287121
Sounds like this guy is gonna be tough.

>>43287216
The Duke was neither either anon.

>>43287238
That's true, he was a pile of distasteful goop. But he was a controllable pawn of the necromancer, like that guy in the store that Blight was collecting anger in. These guys at least have some kind of sentience and self-control, seemingly. And I don't think they work for Blight.

>>43287347
>But he was a controllable pawn of the necromancer
a freaking ssuming.

Well, we need one last Strength roll, unless you want to pull your punch after all.

>>43287024
If by reasonable you mean insane murderers trying to recover something we probably don't want their boss to have.

Now roll the third die.

Rolled 11 + 10 (1d20 + 10)

>>43286951

>>43287381
>>43287622
Wow, you guys are a little bit mad, aren't ya?

I mean, if I was going to go poke a possible dragon, I'd want to do it in person. And we saw that Blight didn't have a real form, she was pure miasma.

And I didn't say we had to suck their dicks or anything, just that we could give them a chance. Arm's length, and all that, but still, a chance.

You charge forward.

“Sena, hit him hard! Kat, acid bomb!”

Sena draws a knife and throws it while Kat lobs a flask at Wight, who simply stands there. The arrow hits home, as does the flask, and you strike through the smoke as the acid eats at his flesh. Your sword hits home, and you smile to yourself, until you notice that you can't pull your sword back. As the smoke clears a bit you can see Wight holding the blade of your sword between his thumb and forefinger. He grins.

“Now, some may call me sexist, but I enjoy switching things up.”

He releases your blade and looks at Sena and Kat.

“Which is why I make it a policy to go against the grain. Gentlemen first.”

He looks at Pirin, and you barely register his movement. It's like a flicker, a shadow moving across light, and when you turn his hand is embedded in Pirin's stomach. Pirin, to his credit, doesn't scream. He just stares, mouth agape, blood trickling from his mouth.

Wight leans in and licks at the blood before withdrawing his hand and letting Pirin slump to the ground, taking his time to lap up every last drop. You're vaguely aware of Sena screaming, of Kat shouting something, but the world has become a blur. The only things in focus are Pirin, clutching at his wound, eyes already unfocused, and Wight, who smiles at you almost playfully.

“Now for the ladies. Eenie, meanie, minie...”

His eyes fall on Sena as she kneels beside Pirin, trying to heal him.

“That one~”

>Run fast and run far, save your own hide
>Scapegoat Pirin to distract Wight
>Blind vengeance
>Other (write-in)

-

He rolled a crit on Pirin, in case you were wondering.

>>43288257
>>Blind vengeance

>>43288257
>Blind vengeance
>Ignite Blade

>>43288257
>Blind vengeance

>>43288257
>Blind vengeance

Strength roll and Spirit roll

Rolled 1 + 10 (1d20 + 10)

>>43288555
Strength + Sword

Rolled 1 + 10 (1d20 + 10)

>>43288555
str sword

Rolled 12 + 5 (1d20 + 5)

>>43288555
spirit+focus?

>>43288592
>>43288608
I... you...

The worst... possible... timing...

>>43288555
Retreat

Rolled 7 + 5 (1d20 + 5)

>>43288654
You shouldn't have said anything about dying, QM. You excited the dice gods.

Spirit & focus

Can we please hop on his back and keep him from doing shit? I don't care if we die, we can't let him hurt our friends any more than he has.

Rolled 17 + 5 (1d20 + 5)

>>43288555
Spirit+Focus


>>43288654
tpk.

>>43288654
Please tell me this doesn't kill us

>>43288654
I swear your quest's dice are rigged. There's another QM that uses a similar system and across three quests and hundreds of threads, there's been less than 10 critfails.

Rolled 11 + 10 (1d20 + 10)

>>43288555

>>43288775
Clearly someone set up us the bomb.

File: dragon-hoard.jpg (52 KB, 660x453)

52 KB JPG

You charge in, igniting your blade and rushing forward, shouting a frenzied battle cry and lunging for Wight. As you swing your sword it slips from your hands, sailing across the room and nearly taking Kat's head clean off. She manages to duck in time, but you stand before Wight without your weapon, and he turns towards you slowly.

“Hmm.”

He delivers a swift kick to Sena's chest, knocking her away from Pirin, who looks only moments from death at this rate. Wight raises a hand and smiles at you.

“Nah, changed my mind. You!~”

The world goes gray and dim, and you hear a familiar chuckle.

“Five minutes of control, and I'll help you save your friends. Five minutes of utter, complete control, unrestricted and without limitation, and I will help you live.”

Allegiset's eyes are upon you, you can feel his gaze right behind you.

“What will it be, my daughter? Can you fight him like this, without so much as a feeble human weapon to protect yourself? I think we both know how this ends.”

>Fuck off, Allegiset.
>Do it. Save them.
>Other (write-in)

>>43288983
Did we remember to bring the lightning sword ring?

>>43289053
These and other interesting questions. I don't recall. I was pretty sure it got left in the room.

>>43288983
> FFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCCCCKKK YYYYYOOOOOOOOOOOOUUUUUUUUUUU
Carry that over into the real world. Roll for impact.

>>43288983
Would you let someone control you? Would any dragon worthy of the name? Either help me or get out of my way, that hasn't changed.

>>43289108
You'd think we'd have brought it, if only to give it to someone else, when preparing to go create a battlefield to fight a skilled order of glorified assassins.

>>43289220
True enough. It would make sense to bring it.

"But you never actually cast the spell so there's ogres, okay!?"

>>43288983
Help getting back in the fight, sure. Giving up complete control doesn't sound very draconic.