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>>47446534
Pre-Enlightenment:

You are the Red Throat Tribe, undead ghouls who have risen above your primitive natures to create a family and home for yourselves.

Years ago a virulent and potent disease ripped through the city of Meldric, leaving hundreds dead. Called the Red Plague for the flushed red skin of the infected it reaped a whirlwind through the crowded and unsanitary city. The crematoriums and the graveyards ran overfull, the streets were littered with the dead. The still living populace grew so desperate they even began to throw the dead into the canals and sewers much like they had done with their refuse for generations. Eventually the Mages of the Meldric Colleges allied with the clerics of the various faiths of the city and managed to curb the pestilence slaying people by the dozens each day.

It took decades for the city to recover, the after effects still felt in present days but the people of Meldric believed the threat to be over.

Rather, the Plague would rise again in a new form deep in the sewers and catacombs that honeycombed the earth and stone below the city. Long a refuge of the broken and unwanted the underground sheltered an exiled Mage, a former Magister of the College specializing in Life Magics. His increasingly deranged experiments into the microbial organism that caused the Plague and dabbling in forbidden Necromatic arts lead to the creation of a new breed of undead Ghoul.

His own assistant and betrothed one of the first successes in reanimation after she had been accidentally infected by a dormant strain of the Red Plague. The quick discovery of the undead under the Magisters control forced him to flee for his life with the undead woman down in the depths of the sewers. Despite the danger of the wild tunnels full of mutations and beasts escaped from the College he managed to find a long forgotten Sepulcher within the catacombs near the borders of the Necropolis.

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>>47446581
Enlightenment and Freedom:

Collecting the dead plague victims that had been bizarrely preserved and even mutated in the dark wet sewers he set to further his understanding of the Plague and the new Ghouls. Years passed as the Magister became a Necromancer, crooked and warped by his experiments and the ever-present pollution both alchemical and magical through the underground.

Yet his story is only the beginning of yours.

The same original ghoul, a woman that had been his love and partner in life, began to grow more aware of her surroundings rather than blindly follow the mental commands of the Master as he'd begun to call himself. She was not the only one and soon two of the oldest of the Ghoul pack began to watch and learn. It took years but one day the trio of ghouls felt no urge to follow the orders of the Master. Instead they obeyed the urges of their own hunger and as the Master worked in his private study of stolen books and vile alchemical experiments they attacked.

Feasting on his flesh the three reached their Enlightenment and emerged from the study of the Master, free Ghouls, portions of his body kept as trophies. With his death a sizable portion of the pack fled but the rest of the still feral minded ghouls remained. These newly Enlightened found they could exert their will through their Feral cousins and taking names to fit their new selves took command of their new Pack.

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>>47446645
Members of the Tribe:

The Three

The original ghoul, draped in the shredded and blood-soaked robes of the Master, took the name Tatters. She quickly became the tribes wisest member, her natural connection to the bacterial colonies infecting and animating them leading to the evolution of the Red Rot and the creation of new spells unique to their kind. Matronly, she cares deeply for every Ghoul, even those that no longer considered themselves Red Throat.

Clenching the severed hand of their former Master the male ghoul took the name Fist, once the greatest hunter for the necromancer now dedicated to their protection. His skills were honed as he became the Warleader of the Tribe, commanding the defenses and attacks against their enemies. Each weapon they recovered or developed he made it a goal to know and train with but his true mastery lied with the pair of swords made from the mandibles of an Alpha Umber Hulk.

Bearing the mandible torn from the Masters skull was a female ghoul who took the name Jaw. Where Tatters focused on furthering her understanding of their nature and Fist knew only combat and fighting, Jaw soon took the mantle of leadership of their Pack. Through her guidance the Tribe has kept safe and flourished in the darkness, becoming a beacon of light to guide and unite those that live in the sewers alongside them. Master of sword and shield despite her diplomatic ways she fashioned the Masters jawbone into a circlet, teeth and fangs and finger bones of their enemies adorning her crown.

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>>47446971
In time they were joined by further Enlightened, each with their own talents and personalities but each strove to serve their new families in undead. Or rather, most held the protection of their kin close to their undead hearts while others...

The first of the newly Enlightened named himself Bone and became the packs crafter and blacksmith. Prone to falling into trances that could last for a week at a time he would become inspired to a new technology gained from his previous life as a blacksmith and engineer. In time he controlled these trances with increasing ease, becoming one of the few Enlightened to remember portions of their lives before. Developing new weapons and tools he taught himself many new skills, warping the chitin of monstrous insects and crustaceans into durable armor that became the Tribes trademark in war.

Bug, a mutant hobgoblin warped in cruel experiments in life by the immoral College Mages into a twisted hybrid of hobgoblin and arthropod. Possessing an artifact that allowed him to connect with and control arthropodal life and an innate sense for the needs of living organisms became the Tribes animal handler and farmer. The only known ghoul to transfer from death to Enlightenment without first becoming Feral his past returned to torment him. Creatures connected to the artifact and his warped origin appeared, claiming kinship with him yet half-devoured the pacifist ghoul before he was rescued. His body was healed in time through the efforts of Tatters and her apprentice Dust but he was a changed Ghoul. Now willing to fight to defend himself and his family he began to focus on breeding and training their livestock into beasts of war.

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>>47447179
Talon found herself to be possessed of a cunning in the hunt that surpassed even Fists, the human ghoul stalking the tunnels and learning how to turn its bounty to their benefit. The faith the original three placed in her skills was what selected her to lead the first colony away from the Tribe, a colony that has flourished under her guidance. Only her partner Echo could match her stealth as they stalked through the underground, all they hunted falling before them in deadly silence.

Echo, the first of the Enlightened goblins, became the Tribes ears in the darkness. Her goblin kin able to move through the darkness with ease thanks to their keen hearing and echolocation. At first a cowardly and cautious fighter she rarely engaged in combat unless she was confident of the deadly ambushes she plotted or on the strength of her larger Ghoul family. Her face was ravaged in a battle with the same monsters that abducted her brother Bug, hiding her scarred visage first under cloth then behind a burial mask. Afterwards she became more bold in her attacks, launching herself almost suicidally into the fray against their enemies.

Reaching Enlightenment alongside Talon and Echo was the slender and quiet Fear. At first an unassuming member of the Tribe keeping to himself, disappearing into the darkness only to return with bloodied claws and clean fangs. In time his skill for assassination and cruelty came to light, the ghoul vaguely remembering the shallow existence he had in life as a serial murderer in the pay of the Thieves Guilds. He left his new family for a time to train under the guidance of a bizarre Wight they had met in the Necropolis and Fear returned home a Skinwalker. Able to wear the skins of his victims gained in profane ritual he became the first Ghoul to walk in the light of the Sun. Dedicated to his new family in a way he never felt to anything in life he became the Tribes connection to the surface, gaining much knowledge of the city they lived below.

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>>47447280
Brute was the first orc member of the Ghouls, discovered as a feral hunting alone in the sewers, likely infected by lost Ferals of the tribe after they had become separated from a warparty. Brute quickly became a powerhouse and much used member of the Ferals in their conflicts with surfacers and predators of the tunnels. In time he gained his Enlightenment, his disposition growing calmer yet he still flew into nearly mindless berserker rages when in battle, his claws and rows of fangs spilling rivers of blood and gore through the tunnels. To the surprise of the other members of the tribe he spends his free time using the glowing paints Tatters developed to decorate the walls of their home in swirling and vivid dreamscapes of color and bizarre shapes.

Another Hobgoblin Claw at first seemed directionless in his Enlightenment, not as skilled a fighter as Fist or as technical as Bone or a hunter like Talon. Instead he found hsi true calling when he joined Fear under the tutelage of Qaza the Wight, his ability to skinwalk almost surpassing Fears and his grasp on profane rituals she taught them easily gained. He spends much time on the surface, tending as the face of the Ghouls connection to the surface, a reclaimed brewery that connected to the tunnels and their territory below.

Fang was the second of the goblin Enlightened, a deadly pairing to Echo as they guided their bat-like goblin kin. Deadly with a crossbow he and Echo became the first of the Tribe to ride the Murkhounds. Inducing a trance with potent psychotropic mushrooms he meditated for for an alarmingly long time within the den of the mutated creatures that could manipulate darkness and shadows, communing with the Red Rot itself. When he awakened, gaunt and starving, he possessed the ability to control the shadows much like the Murkhounds he now shared a powerful bond with.

>>47447897
An inquisitive ghoul, Dust quickly became Tatters assistant in tending to the various alchemical experiments and learning the gift of spellcrafting from the wise ghoul. Trained under Qaza as well she in time developed the skill of Fleshgrafting. Using the Red Rots power and the wildly unpredictable mutative substance Punra, she learned how to graft organic (and eventually inorganic) materials to a Red Throat Ghoul. Chitin armor became exoskeletons, mandibleswords and bone knives became weapons attached direct their their wielder. Dust has no qualms about using the living or even ferals in her experiments, the lab she shared with Tatters becoming a place of twisted ingenuity and cruel successes.

Living up to her chosen name Shield is a powerfully built hobgoblin, her keen military intellect rivaling even Fists. Jovial and friendly she is the first to share her meals with their allies and quick with song despite her horrendous singing voice. Yet she was fiercely protective of her family, throwing herself in between them and danger without a second thought. Armored in heavy masterwork plate gained as a gift from their allies she has been called the Unmovable by them, her bravery and refusal to give up ground against invaders coming to their rescue time and again. In the betrayal of their kin and their escape to the surface she lost her arm and nearly the will to fight. With the aid of Bone and Dust she gained a new arm of powerful strength and metal skin, Shield rededicated to protecting her family at any cost.

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>>47447916
The Allies of the Tribe:

Their travels through the underground taught them much about their home and introduced them to the dangers and bounties down in the darkness. The sewers and catacombs were not desolate environments but rather full of their own ecosystems and territories staked out by the various denizens of the deep.

The Fungal Network

Among the first encountered by the Pack were the strange Fungals, sentient and ambulatory fungus creatures that lived in a tribe of their own lead by the Eldershroom. Once a Magister of some renown on the surface until a disastrous experiment caused him to flee underground in a panicked delirium. Rather than perish he found his corpse and mind overtaken by the fungal infection within him. Two centuries later and he is no longer alone in the dark, his children cultivating and refining the wild funguses, mushrooms, and molds that grow rampant through the damp and dark tunnels. Despite their quite obvious lack of mouths or vocal cords the communicated through a code of tapping against the stone with their tools or drumming against their torsos, the Enlightened all taking the effort to learn the language of their closest allies.

Over time the friendship between the two tribes grew ever stronger. Several times the Fungals came under siege and it was the intervention of the Ghouls that lead to their survival. A friendship became and alliance and in time their territories grew ever closer, joint patrols of Fungals and Ghouls guarding their borders from danger. The Fungals harvest both fish from the sewers and underground rivers along with whatever corpses find their way floating below, trading food and salvaged scrap metal to the Ghouls in return for metal tools and weapons forged by Bone, their flammable bodies making smithing impractical and suicidal.

>>47448199
Guided by a trio of special members of their collective, speaking for the Eldershroom, are the Warrior, the Sporemancer, and the Diplomat.

Larger than all but the great Defender caste the Warrior saw to the defenses of their home and guiding their soldiers. A healthy rivalry persists between it and Fist, the pair dueling regularly to hone their abilities. Fast despite his size the Warrior wielded a spear that was one of Bones greatest creations, a deadly and heavy weapon that could sunder plate steel in its grasp.

Tall and slender the Sporemancer was a close friend to Bug and Tatters, the trio spending many days breeding new strains of fungus and mushroom for their farms and alchemy labs. Able to induce a wide reaction in the living through subtle control of the sporeclouds each Fungal produced the Sporemancer was able to induce intense panic, hallucinations, calming effects, or violent allergic reactions, skills they have begun to pass along to the Ghouls.

The Diplomat was the only one not created for their current role. Once a simple Worker caste they were the first of their kind to encounter the Ghouls. Through their efforts they were able to befriend Jaw and the ghouls, becoming the link between the two tribes. In time the Eldershroom came to rely on the cyclops Fungal, sending them as their representative to negotiate on their behalf among their allies in the deep.

>>47448241
Hello

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>>47446534
>It's back
Yeeeeeee

Wait Who betrayed the tribe? i do not remember this.

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>>47448241
The Queen of the Sewers

The Tribes second ally came in the form of a monstrous mutant, the self-proclaimed Queen of the Sewers. Grubbilech was a great albino crocodilian, mutated in size and vaguely humanoid stature, her eyeless gaze able to pinpoint prey with ease. At first the great Grubbilech saw the ghouls as amusing but of little note, but through her persistence Jaw managed to strike a small friendship with her through conversations over shared meals.

However it was the theft of her "treasure" and her desperation to recover it and the efforts of the Tribe to recover helped greatly impress the value of the Tribe to the great Queen. Goblins, slaves of the city above that infested nearly every corner of the sewers and utility tunnels tending and maintaining the countless miles of piles that transported steam and water for the populace, were hired by the Thieves Guild to steal Grubbilech's treasures for the Magisters. Tracking down the thieves and slaughtering them they discovered the Queens treasure were her clutch of eggs, the young crocodilians inside close to hatching.

Overjoyed by their return Grubbilechs respect grew greatly for the undead and she swore to help them in times of need.

Yet it was the Ghouls to continued to help the reptilian family. The young albino crocodilian mutants quickly grew attached to the ghouls and vice versa. Over many trips to visit the mutant family they brought food and eventually armor and weapons for the Children, even joining them in their hunts.

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>>47448832
It was Fear's discovery and liberation of another mutated crocodilian enslaved to a traveling circus visiting Meldric that the family grew once more. Wey-Long Jhons was an orc cursed and mutated into his monstrous form and captured by the freakshow to be in their menagerie of bizarre specimens.

He almost ate the skinwalker when they first met, but eagerly accepted his offer of freedom, fleeing into the sewers alongside a collection of other mutated and strange refugees from the circus. Lead to Grubbilech's lair they both quickly began to fight each other, the ghouls and Children shocked then embarrassed as it became quite apparent the two mutants found each other quite enjoyable. Accepted by Grubbilech as her new mate Wey-Long hunted alongside his new family and the Ghouls and for a time life was good for the crocodilians.

After the death of several of the Children and Grubbilech becoming vulnerable with her clutch of eggs the family was forced to flee from their home at short notice, much to the alarm and depression of the Ghouls who feared the worst. It was Talon, away at her colony on the shores of an underground reservoir, that brought news home of Grubbilech's new home for her clan. Joining their Ghoul friends in the relative safety of the reservoir Grubbilech and Wey-Long tended to their new children, a large brood of hyperactive half-orc half-crocodilians that the Ghouls doted upon greatly.

The loss of their siblings drove the Albino Children to train themselves in combat, the Ghouls providing armor and great weapons to them so they could fight alongside them. With the unification of the various tribes of monsters and mutants around the Ghouls Grubbilech proclaimed they would become the defenders of their friends and allies, ever vigilant to protect their territories. In recent days it has become common to see a patrol from the Clan swimming through the sewers and rivers, Albino juggernauts leading bands of their younger green-scaled siblings.

>>47448813
All will become clear.

There will be a time skip from when we left off to where we'll pick up the quest again.
Some big shit went down to say the least.

>>47448895
So... for newbies who'd actually like to read through 46 threads of stuff, where can I find them, tried the archive but couldn't find them there...

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>>47448851
The Unity Slime

One of the most enigmatic races of the underground the Unity as it calls itself is a single entity spread across a large collective of mobile tar-like slimes. Dwelling deep below where the sewers and necropolis catacombs met the natural tunnels and caverns where creatures that had never even concieved the idea of the sun lived, the Unity is an ancient being.

Meeting the Ghouls after they stumbled upon one of it's lairs it contained a large number of it's cores, the Unity had no use for the Ghouls but tolerated the mostly peaceful undead. Jaw was fascinated by the strange creatures and would return again and again with offerings of food, the slimes willing to listen and converse mostly out of boredom and solitude.

In time they spoke of their ancient enemy, alien beings that lived deep in the sunless seas, creatures they called Aboleth. These creatures they blamed for much of the madness that seemed to infect the city above and the denizens of the underground. Reluctant to reveal much info about their connection to the Aboleths despite their intimate knowledge of their enemies they nonetheless began to rely on the military might of the Ghouls to hunt down their mortal servants.

Despite their physical strength the Unity slimes were quite vulnerable to flames and certain chemical compounds the Alchemists of Meldric could easily produce. Turning to the Ghouls they started to lead them to cults and necromancers that worshipped the alien gods that slithered through their minds as they slept.

Impressed by the Ghouls tenacity and capabilities the Unity agreed to split a portion of itself among the newly formed alliance, it's telepathic connection allowing near instant communication between the tribes. Recently the Unity has become more curious about the world around it, welcoming the chance to observe and meet new peoples.

>>47449086
https://archive.4plebs.org/tg/search/subject/Quest/tripcode/!OAW%2FXsPFOk/page/5/
I gotchu covered senpai

>>47449178
Ah, Im so used to using the sup/tg/ archive I forget about the other ones, thank you kindly!

>>47449086
http://archive.4plebs.org/tg/search/username/jyoti/type/op/page/1/

Witness my awkward first attempts at running a quest/civ

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>>47449177
Qaza the Gravekeeper

One of the more bizarre inhabitants of the underground is Qaza the Gravekeeper, a Wight of surprising power that thankfully finds the Ghouls amusing friends. Claiming to be older than the city itself, her earliest memories of being a simple barrow wight of the already ancient tombs and burial mounds of a people long-forgotten to time.

Echo was the first to encounter the jovial undead, the pair quickly becoming friends as they started to visit and trade simple things like fresh corpses and burial items for fresh fish and goblin alcohol. Her only companion was an undead babe she called Sweetie, whether or not it was her true child was unknown but she doted on the child and became viciously defensive when they were threatened.

Gaining a Murkhound pet from the Ghouls along with a student she started to teach Fear, and eventually Claw, the rituals and abilities of a Skinwalker. Ritual Zombies tended to her often, the still living enslaved and entranced to her often nonsensical whims. Desiring only companionship and a fresh array of food and drink she was even willing to trade with the other members of the alliance of tribes, trading corpses to the Fungals for fresh mushrooms and trading the gold and riches the wealthy foolishly buried with the dead to the terrapins for fresh fruit from their underground greenhouses.

Claiming to be one of several overseers of the grand Necropolis that stretches for miles from the edges of Meldric into the rocky foothills of the cold mountains she has yet to introduce the Ghouls to the others Gravekeepers. She warns they were not as friendly as she and some owuld likely take offense to seeing free-willed undead not under their control.

After the mutation of Sweetie through an overdose of Punra and their escape into the sewers Qaza has grown melancholy on occasion while still trying to maintain her jovial personality. To this day Dust feels her guilt at her hand in the tragedy that split them.

>>47448813
Where did it say the red throats where betrayed? Maybe I'm reading these posts too quickly..

Alright since this is taking much longer than I thought it would I'm going to have to break here and pick up tomorrow when I get off work.

We'll finish off with the last of the Ghouls allies, the Snapped Anvil Clan and then go to Enemies and finally the Timeline which may end up becoming a lot of simplified greentext.

There I'll explain the betrayal and other events that occur during the timeskip.

Again, sorry about cutting it like this, I was actually really enjoying revisiting this and hope to run the first thread soon.

>>47449674
thought you said you'd have this pre-written dude, come on

>>47446534
Bump

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>Hype intensifies

What about Death among the Stars? When are you gonna run that?
I'll be perfectly honest with you, I would prefer that you just run DatS than splitting your attention in two. Threads were scarce and often cancelled as they were. Ghoul Civ was good, but I like DatS much, much more.

>>47450869
I can agree, DAtS I actually read first and enjoy equally, if not a little more, but I'd rather wait and see if Jyoti can't handle it before demanding one or the other. Both his civs/quests are incredible anyways.

Bump

>>47450869
>>47450903
His twitter says he's working with QuestDrone on Sunday to get both their quests ready to return. Also said that he'll be alternating between this and DAtS

>>47450577
If that's what Fear looks like in his human disguise, I'm scared

>>47453384
It's almost exactly how I picture him too.

>>47454019
Except with a blue glass eye if I remember right.

I'm scared about this betrayal that Jyoti kept mentioning

Bump

>>47449674
I'm betting it was the snapped anvil that betrayed us. I can't imagine the fungi doing so, or Grubbilech for that matter. The unity don't really have anyone to betray us to and I doubt they'd just try to wipe us out... and Qaza doesn't really have much to gain, while the snapped anvil could easily just distrust and fear us enough to sell us out for resources or favor with the city.
Also you've saved the snapped anvil for last and they've always, aside from the tmnt, been super leery of us.

>>47455460
Might be but he made it sound like it were Enlightened that betrayed

>>47455460
The rat mutant was leery. The not!Donatello and not!Michelangelo were pretty chill with the ghouls i thought

bump

Last bump

Resuming in a bit, thanks for keeping it bumped folks

>>47459661
well?

>>47455460
I'm hoping that the 'betrayal' refers to the paladins suddenly deciding to go back on our peace agreement and ambushing the ghouls. I like to think we've proven ourselves as valuable allies to every party of our little alliance, the only one who wouldn't profit from it is the Unity.

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>>47449384
The Snapped Anvil Clan:

The surface of Meldric is an inhospitable world for the poor, the grotesque and the mutated, forced to live in the expansive slums and shanty towns that spread through the city in the cracks between the districts. Yet even still some can find no reprieve in the light of the sun and through misfortune, desperation or just plain bad luck they find themselves seeking refuge underground. There they form small communities to stave off the horrors of the darkness, numbers occasionally equaling safety.

Perhaps the largest and most successful of these sewer towns was a collection of mutants and monstrous beings that found themselves united under a compassionate leader and his adopted family into the Snapped Anvil Clan. Guided by Mender Shard, a human-rat mutant, and protected by an extended family of Terrapins the Clan takes in what refugees manage to find their way to their territory. Many of the exiles that find their way to the strange underground village find no reason to leave, finding a place free of judgement and relative safety.

Meeting the Ghouls as they explored the sewers they very nearly attacked each other on sight, the humanoid terrapins ready to defend their home but Jaw managed to defuse the situation. The relationship between the Ghouls and the Clan were rocky at first, the Clan's previous experiences with the undead less than favorable. In time they began to trade, the Ghouls providing food grown in their mushroom farms and excess fish from their rivers and traps while the Terrapins provided rare materials and books stolen from the city markets in the dead of night.

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>>47462865
Mender Shard was the hardest to convince of the Tribes altruism, his "sons" coming to trust and even work with them much faster than their father figure. In time though he grew to begrudgingly accept the growing partnership between the Clan and the Tribe, eventually agreeing to join them in the alliance of the underground, even saving Fears unlife after the near fatal first encounter with the Ripper.

The relationship between the Red Throat and the Snapped Anvil has been strained in the aftermath of the betrayal. Two of Mender Shards favored sons, Rath and Mikal, were visiting and working with the Ghouls when the betrayer Enlightened attacked and made to escape to the surface. Both were severely injured, nearly dying of their wounds if not for the effort of Dust and Bug to stabilize them before Shard could tend to them himself.

Blaming the Ghouls for his sons injuries he nearly broke away from the alliance all together but his second-in-command, his son Leon, believed the words of Jaw and the others that had witnessed the betrayal. As well, the Clan had come to rely on the trade with the Ghouls too much to break ties with them, their growing numbers requiring more food than their greenhouses could produce.

>>47456880
>>47462826
>>47462877
Wait, I think I know who did it now.

>>47462877
The Enemies of the Tribe

Even though the Tribe has their fair share of allies they have attracted many enemies as well.

The Thieves Guilds:

Underground had always been one of the favored methods of travel for the various Thieves Guilds to avoid the scrutiny of the Guardmilitia. Using the tunnels to travel for miles without once setting foot above ground with many building connected in some way to the underground it was ideal for their illicit dealings. Their habit of targeting the inhabitants of the underground brought them many times into conflict with the Ghouls and their friends.

Much of the Tribes Feral population and several Enlightened originated from the Guild. Their weapons and armor forming the basis of much of the Tribes early armory. The constant guild-wars between the various factions provided adequate cover for the Tribe to grow their numbers on the Guild members and in recent times the Tribe has even struck at several of their surface hide-outs. This had significantly weakened several of the Guilds, allowing one of the oldest factions, the Key Guild, to sweep them into their fold to become the biggest player in the blackmarket and drug-trades in the City.

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>>47463985
The Goblin Tribes:

The miles of piping, sewers, and boilers that ran the city required constant attention and Meldric solved this task with possibly thousands of goblinoid slaves. Many of the goblins that lived below had never seen the sun. Spending their brief and often violent lives tending to and repairing steam-pipes and boilers, unblocking sewers and fixing the pipes that brought fresh water to the surface from the underground reservoirs.

Falling victim to the early hunts of the Tribe the Red Rot infected goblinoids providing much of the Tribes strength. The attacks from the Ghouls and the increased activity of Siluro and Homunculi among other dangers drove many of the goblins to abandon areas they had once tended to, letting the tunnels fall to disrepair as they gathered in large overpopulated and unsanitary villages. Their slave-drivers from the surface have had little luck in forcing the goblins back to work, several of these villages staking their claims to freedom in attempts to take control of their own destinies. Already the disrepair has become a problem for the lives of those on the surface and those below as tunnels flood and become stagnant, pipe bursts to fill tunnels with deadly steam or toxic and flammable gases ready to ignite at the smallest spark.

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>>47464052
The Siluro:

One of the largest inhabitants of the underground are the massive and deadly Siluro, mutated catfish that infested large portions of the sewers and canals. Even a menace to the surface they will occasionally attack from the canals and the river to drag in unsuspecting passerby.

To the misfortune of the Ghouls the scent and taste of Red Rot infected undead seemed to be one of their favorite meals, the piscean creatures stalking the Tribe and attacking them many times. Dimly intelligent they only cared with feeding themselves and obeying the commands of their "Alphas". Alpha Siluro are fat bloated creatures that can hardly move with any speed out of the water but their strength lied in the innate ability to generate powerful and deadly lightning bolts.

Siluro are particularly susceptible to the lure of the Aboleths, many of the fish mutants migrating ever lower into the sewers and tunnels where they are mutated even further and sent back against the enemies of their new masters.

>>47463037
Oh damn.. but who betrayed us then... was it one of the established enlightened or wait. Was it the troll? He hasn't been mentioned and he could easily tear through a ton of our guys. Crap, that guy was useful.

>>47464764
I have a hunch, but I'd like to wait and see if it's confirmed before I call it. So long as Jyoti finishes this recap today, that is.

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>>47464162
The Homunculus Crafter:

One of the more persistent and deadly threats against the Tribe has been a rogue Magister that knew the old Master in his life before and after the exile to the sewers. Sending various Homunculi creations to track down the Master they encountered and attacked both the Ghouls and their allies several times.

Discovering the truth of his old colleagues death the foul-mouthed mage became obsessed with the sentient undead. The Ghouls were hunted, killed, dissected and studied by the Homunculi monstrosities, earning the eternal ire of the Tribe. The allies of the Tribe were made aware of the threat of the rogue magister and they banded together to track him down. Narrowing his headquarters to a distant Industrial District full of dangerous mutants and deadly thaumaturgic and alchemical pollution they prepared themselves to end his threat once and for all.

Only he and his Homunculi have disappeared from the sewers. The night of their planned raid Echo and Fang scouted ahead only to discover the Magisters hide-out had already been struck by misfortune. Within the remains of his workshop in an old alchemical factory they found signs of an intense struggle. The remains of Homunculi and Aboleth mutated humanoids and Siluro, the creatures they called Skum, littered the floor where they had fought. Flames still burned from deadly blasts of magical energy but they could find no trace of the Magister, only the door that opened to the street ripped off its hinges from something attempting to escape and a trail of slick oil that eventually disappeared among the twisting alleys of the city.

The whereabouts and state of the rogue Magister are unknown.

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>>47465687
The Aboleth, Eyes in the Deep:

One of the most enigmatic of the Ghouls foes are the Aboleth, creatures only known from the account of the Unity and the twisted mutants and madmen they commanded. Believed to be impossibly ancient, it is unknown if it is a single entity or an entire race but still their influence can be felt even on the surface.

Worshiped by scattered cults, their leaders granted powers of profane might these cabals seek only to spread misery and chaos to honor their pitiless gods.

Emerging from the darkest of underground rivers are the Skum, a collective term for the ghastly mutated being under the complete mental domination of the Aboleth. Gathered from surfacer stock and the siluro their bodies are twisted into shapes suited for life underwater, their skin replaced with thick layers of tar-like but clear mucus that shows their yellowed blood pumping through blackened veins.

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>>47465750
Disciples of Zurai:

Members of one of the largest religions of Meldric and the wider continent is the Church of Zurai. Founded by and named after a a popular and mighty prophet-knight the Church of Zurai dedicates itself to spiritual, bodily, and worldly purity. Mutants and the like are viewed as marked by their sins but viewed as redeemable if they dedicated their lives to the teachings of the Church. Aberrations such as the Undead and the creatures roaming the distant Torquej Wastes are seen only fit to be purged and slaughtered.

The Disciples are the exorcists and military hand of the Church, sent to search out and eliminate corruption and bring peace to the wilds. The Sewers have long been a training ground for young Disciples as they hunted down the dangerous mutants that stalked the darkness. They clashed for a time with the Fungals until the Sporemancer was able to express their peaceful natures, a surprisingly open-minded Templar Lieutenant finding mercy for them.

When the Ghouls first encountered a band of the Disciples they outnumbered the surfacers leading to a tense stand-off. Not willing to risk themselves against such an unknown foe the Ghouls pulled back, confusing the Disciples. This encounter had separated a small group of Ferals from the control of the Enlightened, releasing them into the unknown darkness as they tried to reach home. These lost ferals ended up leading to the creation of both Brute and the original Ripper.

>>47465819
In time the Ghouls clashed with another group of the Disciples sent to investigate the new intelligent undead underground. Capturing one of the Disciples the Ghouls spoke to them, explaining their peaceful ways and how they wished for no conflict with the surface. Blind-folded to protect their home, the Disciple was guided to the surface and allowed to bring their story to the Church. The Tribe awaited to see if they would attack but it never came. Believing their request for peace to be accepted the Ghouls nearly forgot about the danger of the exorcist order.

That is until several squads of their Exorcist Exterminators marched into the sewers to demand answers and enact their judgement for the rash of disappearances and mutilations caused by the Ripper Ghoul pack. Believing the Ghouls to be responisible they attacked and nearly discovered the location of the Ghouls Sepulcher home until the timely intervention of Grubbilechs Children and the Fungals soundly drove off the invaders after being alerted by the Unity.

Now the Disciples of Zurai have sworn to eliminate the Ghouls. They have discovered the existence of the Ripper Tribe as well, forcing them to split their attention between hunting the roof-top dwelling undead and the Red-Throat below.

>>47465850
Asshole paladins, racially profiling innocent ghouls like that...

>>47466263
Red-throats dindu nuffin', jerk paladins tryina keep a good ghoul down underground

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>>47465850
The Roaches:

Large druidically enhanced Cockroaches these creatures were created far from Meldric with the purpose of purging the wild undead that rose up from the blighted Torquej Wastes and other profaned areas. Drawn to the city in search for a powerful artifact that had created them and was stolen from their masters. Arriving in the city they followed the pull of the artifact and discovered Bug. Recognizing him as another creation of the Insectile Rod they abducted him, the insane creatures half-devouring him until his timely rescue by his family.

They continue to persist in the sewers, claiming to have caught the scent of "an ocean of necrotic meat and bone" lurking throughout the city and the underground. A threat they claim surpasses the Red Throat though they still harass the Tribe and Qaza with their swarms of telepathically dominated insectoids including Murkhounds and Umber Hulks.

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>>47466605
The Ripper Ghouls:

Arising from lost Ferals early in the evolution of the Red Rot, before it gained sentience and the connection strengthened between the undead, the original Ripper was a solitary Ghoul of Hobgoblin stock. Rather than stay in the darkness of the sewers it escaped to the rooftops of the city, hiding during the day in forgotten attics or decrepit buildings and hunting the birds and flying lizards that populated the rooftops.

In time they gained their own sentience as the divergent strain of the Red Plague mutated him even further than the Red Rot had the other Ghouls. Growing stronger and more nimble they ran on all fours, great taloned claws able to remove the head from an unsuspecting human in a single powerful strike or breaking a spine with a single bite of their massive jaws. A cautious nature forced the Ghoul to always kill its meals, not knowing that it could beget more Ghouls through his infectious bite and blood. Hiding his victims to eat over time meant they were never found, only blood and pieces of splattered gore, a sadly common sight in the corrupt and bustling city.

That is until it encountered the Skinwalkers Fear and Claw as they hunted for info on the rogue Magister. Fear tracked the unknown ghoul when it tried to flee from discovery after they interrupted its meal. Finally Fear and the Ripper as it had come to call itself clashed on a factory rooftop, the larger undead overpowering the Skinwalker and throwing him from the building to the alley below.

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>>47466614
Since encountering his distant cousin the Ripper had an epiphany and began to purposely abduct and infect his victims. They mutated in time to resemble the original Ripper Ghoul and soon a new pack was born. Instead of living moderately peaceful lives in the darkness with many friends like their cousins, this pack stalked and ran on the roomtops, hunting and capturing the terrified citizens of Meldric.

Survivors of their increasing attacks began to spread the word of the undead monsters, the city becoming gripped in fear of the new threat. The streets have become barren after dark, Guardmilitia patrols growing ever more frequent and fortified yet still the Rippers attack the sleepers of the city in their beds and dragging them off into the night.

It was the Ripper Pack that took in the Betrayers after they fled from the underground, drawn to the natural might of the Wightlord. They quickly began to worship her, pledging themselves to her and she joined them in their violent hunts.

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>>47466626
The Betrayers:

Gurn was once a high ranked officer in the mercenary army the Terrorclaw Fighting Group, his platoon hired by a Magister to burn out the Fungals and recover the Eldershroom. The first true test of the alliance of tribes saw Ghouls fighting alongside crocodilians, Fungals, and Snapped Anvil to protect their own. Overpowering the invaders with their knowledge of the sewers and their prowess in battle Gurn and many of his soldiers were taken captive and infected.

Resisting the Red Rot for a remarkable amount of time Fist and the Red Throat finally accepted his request for a duel between the hobgoblin and the ghoul Warleader. Gurn, despite his injuries and being in the midst of his conversion into an undead ghoul, nearly defeated Fist but the ghoul managed to defeat the large hobgoblin nearly killing him for good in the process. Tatters and Dust used this opportunity to test a theory, feeding the unconscious hobgoblin a large amount of Radiant Ghoul blood. The overdose of Red Rot killed the goblinoid nearly immediately but rapidly caused him to change into a feral.

In a remarkably short time he reached Enlightenment and took the name Sunder. The other Enlightened watched him cautiously but he seemed to be just like the others, eager and willing to help his new family.

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>>47466665
The Red Throat Tribe eventually began to expand their Sepulcher home, breaking down into a previously unknown level of the tomb. Within they discovered an intact sarcophagi protected in heavy stone. Unsealing the stone revealed not a body turned to dust long ago but rather the still form of a tall undead. Awakening from their eons long slumber the Wightlord was bound in a massive suit of heavy armor that was more prison than protection, bolted directly into her flesh and bones. Chains inscribed with worn runes weighed down her body but she moved with ease as the Ghouls greeted her.

Speaking in a tongue none could recognize the Unity was able to establish telepathic communication with her, learning they were called Khryn and that was all they could remember before their imprisonment. Her hunger was immense, eating enough fish and meat to feed the tribe fully for a week she showed the ability to drain the very life-force from the living much like Qaza could. Qaza was as surprised as the ghouls to meet to the Wightlord, admitting Khryn's power was stronger and far older than hers, one of the First that settled the continent millenia ago before any of the goblinoid species could arise to any true strength in the world.

In time Khryn became a strange but accepted guest of the Tribe, content to sit and eat fish for most of the day while conversing with the Ghouls through the Unity. She offered to share her abilities with the Ghouls but Tatters cautioned against it privately to Jaw, saying the Wights way was the way of endless hunger and Consumption. Always politely refusing her offers Jaw would change the subject to something else to the annoyance of the Wight.

>>47466686
Yet there was one of the Enlightened that did listen. Sunder began to spend more time with Khryn as Jaw became caught up with running the Tribe and alliance. Learning the language of the Wightlord Sunder started to learn from her, learning the magic of Consumption in secret from his family. Khryn spoke to him, saying they were stifled by the Pack but Sunder resisted saying he only knew the pack and his family.

One fateful day Khryn thrust the memories of Sunder's previous life as Marshal Gurn violently into his mind. Remembering who he was in a previous life and how the Ghouls had robbed him of his life and the lives of his soldiers, many of them the bulk of the Tribes population after their conversion.

As the Tribe went to slumber for the day the pair made their move to leave. It was one of the three orcs that had become permanent members of the Tribe that stumbled upon their attempt to steal the Tribes supply of Punra. Brugal had come down from the brewery they lived in to retrieve some tools they had left behind when Sunder attacked him, nearly killing him and leaving him bleeding out on the ground.

This alerted the Tribe and their other guests, the terrapin brothers Rath and Mikal the next victims. Khryn left Raths hands nothing but withered husks unable to ever hold a weapon again, Sunder breaking both of Mikals legs. Shield and the Troll Ghoul were the next victims as they tried to stop them, Sunder using confused Ferals against their kin to escape in the confusion. Shields arm was torn from her shoulder by Khryn as Sunder and dominated Feralers removed the head of the dazed Troll.

Escaping into the tunnels they managed to make their way to the surface, the Ripper and his pack finding the Wightlord and her Apprentice drawn to her like a beacon.

>>47466703
I knew it. Khryn couldn't be trusted.

>>47466703
No, not the troll!

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Ok I gotta wrap it up. Sorry bout the slowness of the thread. Tonight was a lot busier than I thought it would be.

If the thread is still up tomorrow afternoon I'll do a quick greentext timeline of events. Hope folks are getting excited for the eventual return of the quest.

Also just realized I need to talk about the Red Rot and the technology and capabilities of the Tribe

>>47466923
The great thing about trolls is their amazing regeneration.
Dust knew she could fleshgraft the head back one, too bad it's a little crooked and still healing

>>47466703
Did Brugal die? I liked the orc guests ):

>>47466973
Man, it's great to see you gearing up this quest again, hope I catch the thread tomorrow.

>>47466703
Oh shit. I totally forgot about Khryn! Man fuck that guy.

>>47466973
Glad troll is okay.

>>47466973
we should get the troll geared up, protecting his joints and neck with chainmail against people trying to tear body parts off him.

bump

>>47467101
They did die but they got better

>>47468491
Actually he already has fungal armor, maybe we could make him some gauntlets with integrated flamethrowers so he can grill his meals, or splice some huge ass claws or something into his arms with punra.

>>47469882
Wat. Did he get ghoulified or rezzed as a zombie by Khyrn's magic?

>>47470137
The pack does have a new orcish Feral. Irnak and Gorgrenka have rather depressed but are still relieved he was "saved". They hope in time he will reach Enlightenment and maybe remember a sliver of his old life.

bump?

Party time.

So when is this or DAtS going to resume?

>>47473475
Never

>>47470120
But this armour is not enough, his decapitation made this painfully obvious. Perhaps the fungal armour is very thin in this area so that he can still move his head; some additional chainmail would not hinder him all that much. Perhaps we should also think about adding some spikes in especially vulnerable areas.
I fully agree with larger claws (should be easy work for our smith, we should not exaggerate it with punra though). But flame throwers belong into more responsible hands. Perhaps we designate a demolitions expert?

Bumpo

>>47475005
The only reason he stayed still long enough for the ferals to work through the weak points in his fungal armor was because Sunder was mentally dominating all of them. If fully cognizant that would never work, nobody would have the chance without getting picked up and eaten. I like the idea of a designated demo/burner ghoul though, it wouldn't take much effort to imprint all the relevant skills for using one onto a feral.

Rump a dump bumpan

Will continue with the timeline and technology through the night, surprised the thread lasted this long

>>47480676
WELL?!

>>47481922
Think he's been having connection issues.

>>47482203
Damn Arizonian haboobs.

>>47453336
Questdrone is FINALLY coming back? Son of abitch yes.

>>47482608
This sunday anon, don't miss the recap thread.

>>47482838
My dick can only get so hard. I missed the fucker. Whats his Twitter?

>>47482847
https://twitter.com/HiveQueenQuest

Sorry folks but something came up that demanded my attention and I won't be able to continue like I thought.

I'm going to work on a pastebin for the technology and abilities/magic of the Red Rot for the start of the quest

>>47483607
Not having much luck as of late, huh? If you finish that pastebin before you run again, could you post a link to it on twitter?

>>47477595
BUT the troll is unconcious/quadriplegic at the moment ^^ . We dont get a better chance than right now!