>>195054

*****

The hours drag by in a painful stupor, dreams smearing into reality so deeply you cannot tell them apart. You think you hear a young woman crying. The sounds of battle. A war chant carried by a hundred voices...

“Keje...” a voice calls to you. “Keje, wake up.”

The din of wind and war fades to echoes in your ears, and you lift your arm from your eyes to be greeted with darkness. Memories of the sarcophagus flood back into your mind, but you are anchored back to the now. You know that voice...

“Kirari,” you say her name. You feel a hand on your shoulder. “The others?” you ask.

“Still alive,” Dorje’s voice calls from beside you.

“Et...et kai...” you hear the merchant Royt say through winces of pain.

“And the native girl? Kiyya?” you ask the darkness.

Silence.

Kirari removes her hand from your shoulder, and a few heartbeats later the darkness retreats from a tiny, candle-like flame she holds in her cupped hands. Her soft features come into focus, bathed deeply in shadows that flicker with the arcane ember she carries in her palms. You look beyond her crouching figure and see the entranceway filled in, flooded with a mountain of sand. The opposite way, a narrow flight of stone steps descended deeper into the pitch darkness. Dorje sits up in the low-ceilinged passageway, bloodied but seemingly unhindered. The merchant is laying beside him, his tunic torn to bloody pieces but his breath still strong. When he sees the flame Kirari is holding, he turns pale and stares at her is disbelief. Clearly, magic is uncommon to his people.

Kiyya kneels at the sealed entrance, head buried in her hands. Her horse – Suna – still lies collapsed in the entryway, only its head still visible from beneath the sand pouring into the stairway. A bloody wound where the girl had caved the stallion’s skull in to end its suffering was prominent between its eyes. The girl said nothing as she mourned...she had long since run out of tears to shed.

--------------------

>(Nobility) Try to console the girl
>(Might) try to dig your way out
>Explore the descending stairs
>Write-in

File: LD character sheet.png (1.5 MB, 1078x1436)

1.5 MB PNG

>>195055


Twitter: https://twitter.com/Ignoble_dark
Questions: http://ask.fm/Ignoble_dark
Archive: http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/qstarchive.html?searchall=laughing+dog

>Voting

Most posts will be narrative, with the player and QM working together to create a worthy story. Every post will provide at least one might-based, nobility-based, and artifice-based avenue if applicable to the situation, and write-ins are both permitted and encouraged. Players vote for their preferred option, with majority determining the final choice. However, in the case of especially critical events, called “trials,” fate will be given its due through the roll of dice.

>Trials

During trials, after the majority have chosen a course of action, the QM will then roll 1d10, add the player’s relevant Aspect (Might, Nobility, or Artifice), and add any relevant bonuses from items or context. If the resulting sum meets the trial’s threshold, the player succeeds. If the sum falls short of the threshold, the player fails. For each margin of 3 the player exceeds or fails the threshold by, the outcome will be more severe (either positive or negative). Poor rolls by players in combat trials are assigned as enemy hits.

The thresholds for each trial are known only by the QM, and are different for every option. Depending on the situation, one option or another will probably be easier than the others. Sneaking past the elite palace guard will be easier than fighting all of them. Killing the feral tribe of cannibals is probably easier than talking them down diplomatically. This could change, of course, if the player is particularly proficient with one Aspect and deficient in another. Perhaps your Artifice is so bad that Might is the better option for getting past those palace guard, after all. Players should consider which approach is most likely to succeed given both the context of the trial and the character’s own skillset.

>Criticals

A trial roll of 10 that passes the threshold is a critical success, and reaps additional benefits. Conversely, a 1 that fails the threshold is a critical failure, and has additional consequences. A 10 that fails to beat the threshold still fails, but the player receives some accommodation, insight, or unforeseen benefit in the attempt. Likewise, a 1 that passes the threshold succeeds, but with a minor hiccup or unforeseen complication.

>Damage

Damage dealt by an enemy is equal to half its Might score (rounding down), and is applied to a character’s weapons and armor first. Once all weapons and armor are damaged, excess damage is assigned to a random Aspect (M, N, or A) by rolling 1d3. That Aspect is permanently reduced by this damage until it is repurchased with XP. Should any Aspect reach 0, the character is crippled and incapacitated until 1 week of medical attention restores the first dot of each Aspect. If any Aspect falls below 0, the character suffers death.

>>195055
>Tell Kirari to keep an eye on Kiyya
>Explore the descending stairs

Let's see what's behind door number two.

File: tempest.jpg (1.77 MB, 3866x2578)

1.77 MB JPG

>>195121

“Even if we can reach the surface, we have no food or water. We need to see if there is any of either down below.”

“We don’t have much in the way of weapons, and I doubt these two will be much help to us in a fight,” Dorje says, gesturing to the locals. “After what those sandcats did to you I’m not certain that’s wise, brother.”

“No, Kejeral is right,” Kirari steps in before you can respond. “We travelled through the day and lost a lot of water. Until we find more, we are in a race against heat sickness – that is our greatest enemy now.”

Dorje considers this, finally relenting. “We have a single spear and two daggers between us, and your furs will not protect you mangled as they are. Kirari and I are healthy*, you are still slightly wounded. How is best for us to proceed down these stairs?”

*(a note on health in this game. Armor and weapons take all damage received until they are sundered. After that, damage is applied to a random Aspect with a 1d3: M, N, or A. If any of these Aspects hit 0, the character falls unconscious. At -1, they die. So, Dorje is correct that he has taken no damage, but since he is more min-maxy as a heavy M character, he can actually go down faster. This is countered somewhat by the fact that you only take damage at all if you fail to hit things in combat. Having a high M makes that less likely. It is an imperfect system, I know, but it is a simple one and that was my aim for a /qst/ thread like this).

--------------------

>Marching order, distribute weapons as you see fit

>>195137
>Dorje with the spear while kirari and keje have a knife

I think the damage system would be a little better if we gained back some of the attributes we lost from a wound over time as we heal.

Or make it cheaper exp wise to reach where we were before am injury instead do the usual double the experience

File: chasm.jpg (54 KB, 600x450)

54 KB JPG

>>195217

(I have balanced the rate at which XP is gained relative to damage taken. I think that's better than putting in a healing system, because it keeps things simple).

>>195257

Kirari kneels down beside the sulking Kiyya, placing her hands on the girl’s shoulder and speaking softly to her. Gently, she raises the girl to her feet, and shepherds her back to the group. You can sense how crushed this young woman is by the loss of her mount – far more than you think would be normal for someone. Was there an emotional, or spiritual significance her people placed on their horses? It didn’t matter now, you had to leave.

The stairs are narrow and dark as pitch. Kirari holds the only light source among you, and in order to see where to go she has to lead. Dorje follows close behind with his spear, then Royt and Kiyya, while you bring up the rear.

The staircase seems to follow a natural fissure in the sandstone, which gives way to something denser as you descend further. Several times, you have to turn sideways and squeeze through the corridor, which are punctuated by the irregularities of the split stone beside you. It seems the mason of this passage only invested his time into the stairs, not the walls.

A draft of stagnant air wafts over you from below like the exhaled breath of a waking beast. Absent the sun, it is quite cool here, enough to make a small shiver pass through you. You walk for perhaps 100 yards, following the winding trail as it twists left and right, but always further down. Finally, Kirari stops, holding out an arm to steady herself. “Dead end,” she calls back.

You look over her shoulder and see that the corridor has opened up into a large cave chamber, the floor of which is divided by a chasm twenty feet wide that cuts across in front of you and is far too deep to see the end of from here. The trench looks scalable, but you have no ropes or gear. It would be dangerous to proceed further.

“Do you hear that?” Kirari asks.

You listen carefully. You do hear it – the sound of moving water below.

--------------------

>It’s too dangerous to climb down there without gear, and we don’t know what else we’ll find waiting for us at the bottom.
>We need water, we have to accept the risk (send one or all to climb down)
>Write-in

>>195266
>toss a rock to see how deep the ditch is

Its like 10 feet for every second it drops right? If it's to deep I don't think it's worth

>>195266
>We need water, we have to accept the risk (send one or all to climb down)
i guess us and Kirari?
she's the only one who can make light

>>195266
Actually I change my vote to >>195307
Since we will be back to square one if we don't do this anyways

File: onandaga-cave-pool-david-(...).jpg (154 KB, 900x600)

154 KB JPG

>>195307
>>195331

"Whoever goes, I will have to go with them. We have no other light," Kirari says.

"Can you still...hold it, as you climb?" you ask, unsure how to phrase the manner she was carrying the flame that seemingly floated in her cupped hands.

"No, but..." she holds out her hand to Dorje, asking for his spear. He (with some hesitation) hands it to her. "Royt, I need fabric."

The merchant surrenders his tunic, which Kirari shreds the sleeves from and ties around the spear's haft. She coaxes it to ignite, creating an improvised torch. "This will only last a short time, we need to climb down quickly."

Dorje, remain here with them until we call for you," you instruct the warrior.

Kirari and you descend the pit's wall, a complex and difficult process with only one torch between you. Several times you have to pass it back and forth to make use of both hands.

As you climb lower, the sound of moving water grows nearer. As a bit of lose stone breaks from the rock face under the weight of your foot, you hear it splash and bounce wetly in shallow water only two seconds later.

"Kirari," you hold your hand up, requesting the spear-torch from her as she climbs above you. She reaches down and passes it, and then you extend it below you into the darkness.

A shallow pool of water, perhaps one foot deep at this end, sits below you, reflecting your filthy countenance back to you in a slowly rippling mirror. You drop down and cup some into your hands...it is cold, and cloudy from the minerals.
Better than no water at all...You drink some, and don't vomit. That will have to do.

Kirari drops down beside you with a splash and drinks some herself. The fire on the spear has consumed its fuel now, and she has to conjure her arcane flame again to illuminate the small cavern.

--------------------

>bring everyone else down
>bring water up somehow
>explore deeper into the caverns
>write-in

>>195391
>bring water up somehow
ask dorje and the others to throw us their waterskins and fill them?

File: images (1).png (3 KB, 250x158)

3 KB PNG

>>195391
>bring water up somehow
We can do a leather syphon

>>195391
>bring everyone else down
Worst case scenario we catch anyone that loses their grip

File: mask_myers_front_face_mask.png (374 KB, 580x900)

374 KB PNG

>>195416
>>195429

"Dorje!?" you call upwards into the darkness, listening to voice voice bounce off the walls.

"I'm here!" he calls back down.

"We have water. Toss your waterskins down!"

A few moments later three waterskins splash into the shallow pool to your right. You collect them and begin to fill each while Kirari hold the light above you.

"Keje..." she says as you finish the second skin.

Kirari has wandered a few paces to one side, investigating something peculiar. "What is it?"

She bends down and picks picks up something like thin fabric that is floating on the water's surface. After you finish the last bottle, you walk to her side and examine it yourself.

"What is it?" you ask, more to yourself than anything. Taking it from her, you run it through your fingers. It is coarse...like scales. Shedded snake skin, you think, but far too large for any normal snake. You stretch it apart, observing its shape in the dim light of Kirari's flame, and see a man's face staring back up at you.

"....they must not know..." "....blinded by the sun...""...six loaves for 13 silver...""hair dark as her mother's..."

The hissing whispers fill the echo chamber around you as shadows start to move at the edge of your light and vision.

--------------------

>Brace for combat
>Start climbing
>Bring the other down
>Write-in

>>195524
>Brace for combat
well, that's extra meat

>>195524
>start climbing
We just burnt the best weapon we had for fuel

>>195524
>Start climbing

>>195568

The weapon is intact, you just used up the fabric Kirari tied around it to make a torch. The spear is fine.

>>195568
>>195572

(responses are few and slow, so I'm going with this)

File: naga_by_navate-d9cr249.jpg (116 KB, 1024x704)

116 KB JPG

>>195568
>>195572

You take the spear and give Kirari the water. "Start climbing," you tell her as the two of you scan the cavern's periphery for movement. The nonsensical, babbling whispers instensify, drawing closer...you think you years something of bulk glide smoothly into the water, sending circular ripples across the mirror-like water towards you.

Kirari slings the water over her shoulders. "We can't climb far without light, Keje. If I go up first..."

"Don't waste time arguing with me!" you command. She obeys, and begins to climb, extinguishing the flame she carries in the process. The sounds of her ascending the rock face grow steadily higher, though it is plain she has to grope for handholds in the pitch darkness of the cavern.

Below, you hold the spear in front of you, waving it back and forth in slow arcs defensively. More sounds of bodies sliding into the water echo to you.

As your spear drifts through the darkness, you feel it strike something, sending it recoiling away a few paces with a hiss.

"...too soon...""...our time not yet...""sleep but a while longer..."

There! You thrust the spear at the presence you sense near you, and hear a hiss of pain as the tip pierces flesh. The creature is strong, and it somehow grabs the end of your weapon and wrestles it from your hands. How could a serpent grab your weapon like that?

Light suddenly floods the chamber as Kirari, now 20 ft above you, summons her fire with one hand. The light is dim, but you can make out the twisted, vile silhouette of a creature part man, part serpent in the darkness, still reeling from the spear lodged in its body. It has arms, and a face with the mutant features of a snake mixed with those of a man. holding its hand to its face to escape the light, the abomination slithers back into the shadows.

You will not get another chance. You climb, and after many minutes of groping in darkness find Dorje's hand pulling you back to the top.

"What did you see down there, brother? We heard voices."

--------------------

>Write-in answer to his question
>Form a plan: regroup and head down together, find another way out.
>Form a plan: Try to dig your way out the way you came in
>Other plan

>>195696
"snakes, and a giant snake with arms. it fears light and i wounded it"

>>195696
>Form a plan: regroup and head down together, find another way out

>>195777
>>195784

((I'm sorry guys, but I've been at this for 4 hours and only have 2 active posters. I will archive for now and try again some other time. Thanks for playing, but it just doesn't seem like this one is taking off))

>>195909
No worries it's understandable. I like this quest so hopefully more people show up next time.

>>196060

If either of you have any thoughts or suggestions on how to make this game more interesting, I'd love to hear it. I'm obviously having trouble getting traction here

File: LD Option 1.gif (156 KB, 1200x730)

156 KB GIF

>>195054
I come bearing gifts.

>>196143
>>196141
>>196148

these look neat as fuck, but they don't have enough desert and animal pelts to fit imo

>>196141
>>196143
>>196148

these are really cool, though they don't really fit the setting. Still, very nice!

>>196087
Don't really know what to say, so here is a way of showing that there is at least 1 person who doesn't post (actually posted once in this thread) but opens your quest threads multiple times every day to read the new paragraphs because the story is fun and awesome.
I tried to launch a quest once, but the lack of posters killed anything I held dear in it, so just take this post as a friendly pat on the back that you are doing fine and you should keep doing what you do.

File: Option 4.gif (170 KB, 452x452)

170 KB GIF

>>196153
>>196162
I can do something more primitive.

>>196087
Maybe more loot? I'm not sure to be honest. I think the pacing of the story is nice. I'm personally afraid of combat because it affects our base stats but maybe that's just me being a little girl

>>196979

When you guys get into a city setting loot will pick up. I'm kinda trying to illustrate right now that the environment is your chief enemy right now, and every little thing you find is a triumph.

I'm being told in /qst/ general that the title may be too vague, people don't know what to expect so they pass it by.

Damn, I'm late again.

>>197017
I was also late.

>>197017
Maybe you should hold longer sessions, this is like the third time I've missed the whole thing.