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It actually does, but 3000 characters is a lot. Also, "good luck".

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>>549170
"Alright, fine," you tell Ash. "Before I launch into this, you do understand that the Rose Cultists up in the Lichyard are a splinter faction of the family, yes?"

"I'm as familiar with your family as my master could make me," Ash agrees, with an amused look. "You did lay down the foundations for modern necromancy, la Croix."

"We've been at this awhile," you agree, modestly. "Then here's my side: I did what I had to do. And I didn't 'tear my way' through /anything/. Out of the Lush's allies I've had conflict with, only five are dead and one of those was one I wanted alive. The Vintner, in the Basement, was a torturing asshole playing god with life and death. Lisa the Seeker in the Lichyard murdered the innocent, stole from the dead, and hunted for a weapon to do that to the entire world. Brigette, in the Athenaeum, she's still /alive/ and doing better every day. The Baron killed himself rather than submit to capture, though if I'm being honest I likely would have killed him anyway. He, too, was a big fan of slavery."

Ash scowls, but doesn't interrupt.

"You're gonna keep this to yourself, but the Traitor's still alive," you tell him. "Which was a bit of a bitch to pull off, considering that she was trying to die, but my lover talked her down and she has the chance to move away from the brink of fucking madness. My enemy in the Roost is still alive and one of my allies now, Jack in the Warehouse was murdered by the Lush's other allies after we saved his damn life - for fuck's sake, we even managed to spare the Daughter, and she thought she was a fucking god!"

Raised elven eyebrows. You take a deep breath.

"The point being, I'm not in love with killing," you tell him. "Where I've gone, I've worked to make peace, to prevent bloodshed, and to leave the Dungeon a better place whenever I possibly could. I brokered an alliance between the Labyrinth Clan and Lakehallow, and between every floor I've gone through and every other floor I've managed to liberate. There's goblins attending school on the surface, for fuck's sake! School! They have handwriting lessons! My sister," you point your thumb to River, "has been spending most of her time getting rid of the zombies that the Moneychanger left in the Lichyard and healing the wounds left from the occupation. The Athenaeum finally has its staff back and has been supporting the other levels with research, planning, and by being a neutral space in which to meet. When we opened up the Roost, we gave the harpies there amnesty on the surface and now quite a few are living there beneath the wild sky, helping to create a new entrance to the Dungeon that'll make sure none of their children ever have to go hungry again, and I did /all of this/ because it seemed like it had to be done."

"Why?" Ash asks. The question is simple, but his eyes are on yours; you feel distinctly judged.

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>>549189
"Maybe my family /are/ holier-than-thou pricks sometimes," you murmur. "And maybe we aren't. But I mean it when I say I have a duty. Being a la Croix, necromancer or not, means helping out. It means not ignoring when people are in pain, in need, when they're lost or confused or misled. Yeah, the Lush has wronged my friends and loved ones, including the angel. But I'm not here just for them. I'm not even here mostly for them. I'm here for the chains of no iron he's put on the innocent. I'm here for the people dying of starvation with full bellies and I'm here to end the horror and the pain, and then I'm going to be here to help pick up the pieces, because you can't just topple the fucking tyrant and then fuck off to your palatial harem. Just because you went and pulled the arrow out doesn't mean the victim is done healing."

Ash pushes his hands further into his coat pockets and straightens the garment from inside them. Your Grandfather used to do the same thing. "What's your arrow here, la Croix? When do you think it's time to start healing?"

"The Lush needs to die," you tell him, simply. "Whatever madness drove him to this, whatever his reasons, he's gone beyond the pale. There are going to be too many angry ghosts left behind if I give him anything but the judgement of the gods. The people that have been hurting the angel, they die too. What has been done to her is unforgivable, and those who abused her bear her mark, a sign etched in death that identifies them - which is where I get to 'Lora's not like that' from earlier, by the by."

Ash blinks, slowly, like a cat. "...I've felt this mark," he admits.

You nod. "The Lush's demons must die as well, because they know the secret to making the giant's Drink, and I'm not going down in history as the idiot that let that knowledge spread. Then, only then, can the Cornucopia start to heal."

The elven necromancer sighs and turns his scarred face to look back at the revenants again, before looking to you. "...Let's say I turn my living forces over to you and ask the revenants to follow you for the time being so I can go try to talk my master down," he proposes. "What's your plan?"

> The harpies are going to evacuate soon. I want the civilians ready to do the same so the Lush can't use them for leverage
> I'm going to hit the Seedhouse. The Cornucopia needs those, desperately, to be able to get on with its life. I don't want to risk the Lush burning it out of spite and leaving the Roost's floors without food while we get it restocked
> I was actually going to ask your advice on that. I've gotten told about a few important areas down here but I already encountered one I haven't heard about. What would /you/ hit with a zombie army?

And now I'm going to get the rest of that sleep I didn't get because I woke up to this whole thing going down. I'll call and write after I wake up and get coffee.

>>549196
>> The harpies are going to evacuate soon. I want the civilians ready to do the same so the Lush can't use them for leverage

>>549196
>I was actually going to ask your advice on that. I've gotten told about a few important areas down here but I already encountered one I haven't heard about. What would /you/ hit with a zombie army?

Civilian evacuation is a nice thought, but here we have a person who has been fighting on this front, his home turf, for a long time. It's unreasonable to take his allies and war without the necessary intelligence to pick the right targets.

>>549196
>> I was actually going to ask your advice on that. I've gotten told about a few important areas down here but I already encountered one I haven't heard about. What would /you/ hit with a zombie army?
We've mostly been targeting our objectives to deny The Lush his ability to respond to us.We'd probably like to continue in that vein.

If he thinks the civilians are in danger given what The Lush knows about us, we'll get them out of here. If he thinks The Lush is spiteful enough to burn down the Seedhouse, we'll focus on that we need that to keep the rest of the Dungeon alive. We can't bring in enough from the surface to alleviate the loss of that.

If he knows of a target that would be instrumental in The Lush targeting both of those, we'll hit that instead.

Also, as a general question - this has seemed... easy. The Lush knew we were coming, so why are we just rolling through his land? He's supposed to be the clever one, after all. Is the best explanation simply that he doesn't care if we win here or not? If so, why does he think that is?

>>549217
Maybe it doesn't matter to him who suffers- his own soldiers dying in ambushes or his enemy is all the same.

He's probably planning to go full BBEG and has a grand performance for us once we reach him.

>>549224
Could be. I just remember the scene where he told Lora he already achieved what he wanted, and I'm wondering if he literally doesn't care if he lives or dies anymore. It doesn't make sense to me, but little in this campaign does.

I'd like the necromancer's take on all this, just to get another viewpoint on the situation.

>>549196
>> I was actually going to ask your advice on that. I've gotten told about a few important areas down here but I already encountered one I haven't heard about. What would /you/ hit with a zombie army?

>>549196
I'm glad you're still running Vox. You're a saint.
> The harpies are going to evacuate soon. I want the civilians ready to do the same so the Lush can't use them for leverage

>>549217
I'm with brosef here. Might be good to hear from the guy whose been fucking with the Lush and his forces for a while now.

I have to go grab my paycheck and get ready for another ten hour shift, but by God I will return.

Also, fuck the police.

>>549196
>> The harpies are going to evacuate soon. I want the civilians ready to do the same so the Lush can't use them for leverage

Save the innocent, /then/ we can deal with the guilty.

>>549196
>I was actually going to ask your advice on that. I've gotten told about a few important areas down here but I already encountered one I haven't heard about. What would /you/ hit with a zombie army?

Looks like I'll be running here too. It's too bad. But it's not like we haven't been here before, we gamemasters and storytellers.

>>549368
Cute. Really cute. That must have really pissed off a moderator.

>>549410
It did, the thread got deleted after the post in pic

Why do you have to bring the drama into this thread? Do you want to turn this quest into a shitposting battlefield, keep that shit in your own threads and get banned on your own elsewhere, don't drag us into it.

>>549196
> I was actually going to ask your advice on that. I've gotten told about a few important areas down here but I already encountered one I haven't heard about. What would /you/ hit with a zombie army?

>>549476
Because my anger got the better of me. My apologies.

>>549196
>> The harpies are going to evacuate soon. I want the civilians ready to do the same so the Lush can't use them for leverage

>>549368
Shit happens. I've come too far not to finish out now.

Called, writing.

>>549435
Now I'm curious as to what it was. Someone link on an external or something? I slept through the proper protesting this stupidity threads.

>>549689
it was a cap of this post https://boards.fireden.net/tg/thread/49274095/#49276235

>>549689
>>549700
Folks, can we not? I realize this is a fairly relevant topic. I've got my own mostly negative feelings on the matter, but I'd really rather not lose another thread early if I can avoid it.

>>549704
You can't lose a thread early here. You have 750 posts before autosage, and three days before autosage as well. This thread will last for days on end, I promise.

>>549710
Pretty sure he means lose the thread by pissing off a mod, not because we're taking up space with random chatter.

>>549704
That was all I wanted, mate. Bowing out now that I can actually read the problems.

Well, guess /qst/ is what do now
Oh also
> The harpies are going to evacuate soon. I want the civilians ready to do the same so the Lush can't use them for leverage

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>>549196
You look up at the battle in the skies and decide it's time for a cigarette. You get it out of the case, light up, and take a relieving drag. You offer it to Ash, who takes it gratefully. The necromancer takes a drag and chokes immediately.

"You get used to it," you tell him, helpfully. "As far as my plan, I wanted to ask your advice. I've been told about a few important areas down here, like the Seedhouse and the Theater that the Lush is using, but I've already encountered areas I haven't heard about. So I'll put it to you: what would you hit with a zombie army, if you could?"

"On any other day I'd say the slave market, but it hasn't seen use in nearly a year," Ash admits. "The Lush seized everyone who wasn't their own person. That area's been converted for use as a forge and general equipment repair facility, but it's only so stocked. We'd get nothing by hitting it."

You nod. "Fair enough. You bring this up because...?"

Ash frowns. "It's hard to articulate, but the Lush has been acting...strangely, of late. My rebellion should not have been this successful. He ignores reports from his men about the unusual happenings. He has failed to reinforce his hard points. He spends lives like water and sends in more to die or lets them get picked off piecemeal. It was noticing this inattention that moved me to act to begin with, but now that I've met with success I can't help but feel that something is wrong."

"Not normally this stupid?" Amy asks.

"The Lush has always proven to be a cunning and driven opponent," Ash agrees. "Your attack on the Lizard Pens is understandable; he didn't know you were coming. But the subsequent success in the Quickling Grove? That should have been a trap. This all ought to be a trap. So why hasn't it been?"

"It is," Nathan says slowly. He steps forward and gestures out to the general Cornucopia. "We know he's smart. We know he's magically inclined, powerful, and has access to even more power. If his behavior isn't making sense, then we're looking at it in the wrong context. How does all of this benefit him?"

"You mean, what does he get by having his men die in scores while we get ever-closer to his position?" Ash asks, cynically.

"Yeah, all he'd really get for that is..." you begin, only to trail off as you realize.

"Corpses," River finishes, wide-eyed.

In the distance, an iron bell starts to toll, echoing off of the walls of the Cornucopia.

> We need to leave, NOW
> River, Tina, burn the bodies. The grain can be replaced
> Wait to see what happens
> Write-in?

>>550054
>River, Tina, burn the bodies. The grain can be replaced.

We've been told on numerous occasions that Cornucopia replanishes and regenerates itself incredibly well.

We don't have nearly enough silver to fight a zombie army that we helped make.

>>550054
>>River, Tina, burn the bodies. The grain can be replaced.
SCORCHED EARTH TACTICS

>>550054
>> River, Tina, burn the bodies. The grain can be replaced
we haven't killed that many, have we?

>>550127
The entire standing forces of the Granaries are dead around you, not to mention anyone that's died to resistance forces and gotten left in the fields.

>>550054
> River, Tina, burn the bodies. The grain can be replaced
I told you guys. In this level, fire is our friend.

>>550162
Doesn't mean I'm going to like the fact that we're going to die in flames and zombies.

>>550054
>> River, Tina, burn the bodies. The grain can be replaced

>>550054
>> River, Tina, burn the bodies. The grain can be replaced

Deny the enemy resources.

Oh, so the enemy necromancer is going to drown us in the bodies? I'm not surprised. But he can't take control of our lizards from us, right?

At least we aren't to blame; we burned the bodies of the men we killed at the stables. The rest is on Ash.

>>550054
>River, Tina, burn the bodies. The grain can be replaced.
Zombies and other undead hate balefire, right? Let's go with that if things get too heavy.

>>550054
> River, Tina, burn the bodies. The grain can be replaced
Fwooosh

We are now standing in the middle of a scene from the Walking Dead.

>>550197
I'm glad I don't watch television then.

>>550054
>>550142
I want to tell Amy to grab River, Tina, or both, and carry them to let them rain fire from above.

We should use our bell to alert the other levels and to be ready to close the entrances if they see zombies heading their way.

>>550054

> River, Tina, burn the bodies. The grain can be replaced

BY FIRE BE PURGED

Alright folks, I gotta get ready for work. I'm not exactly worried about the bump limit over here but votes still remain open.

Questions, comments, discussion, feedback, and criticisms remain, as always, welcome and appreciated.

Thank you all for reading and participating!

>>550054
> River, Tina, burn the bodies. The grain can be replaced, then run like hell to New Hell!
RUN MOTHERFUCKER RUN!

Five hours or so to call. Definitely still open for questions and discussion.

pretty coincidental that the bell tolls now at the exact moment we figure out what's happening

>>552717
There's that fight in the air going on too, mind.

>>552953
Oh yeah, how is that going along anyways?

>>553021
It's going well but kind of blindingly obvious. Those bats are not quiet.

>>553033
true.

Hello Vox, how goes? Haven't caught a live in a while, if you're still here; did the kickstarter and other writing projects turn out alright? I sorta stopped reading this when....Silence? I forget her name it's been a bit. Died offscreen. Got pretty mad about that at the time, desu. But that's neither here nor there.

>>554119
Oh. Huh. To be honest is auto-replaced by 'desu'. That's....a thing.

>>554129
That's...weird. Is qst corrupted by weeb?

>>554141
that's been a thing from approximately a year ago. It's kinda 4chan global by now.

>>554167
Ah. Didn't realize, I rarely post live on 4chan. Usually just trawl the archives while I'm on the bus to places

>>554119
They did, aye. I'm late on the Shatterdown Setting Primer but I'm constantly and flagrantly late on fucking everything so that's not new. RPG stuff is going well, broke through a bit of writer's block.

I'm sorry to hear I lost ya, anon. I do hope to see you back again sometime.

On my way home now.

>>554204
I'll get around to catching up eventually, I've stopped reading this and picked it up again later multiple times for various reasons. I do enjoy the setting and the writing.

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Also, I can't imagine no one's ever posted this before, but I was scrolling through my female character images folder and noticed this.

>>554253
Ho...holy shit, that is perfect and I am just more jealous that Nate is tapping that ass now.

>>554253
>>554284
Ah yes, Ms. Bridgette la Croix, of Scion fame. I do believe that's her cover image from Scion: Demigod. Fun character, sadly suffers from White Wolf's perpetual mechanical incompetence. She and Bri have very similar aesthetic inspirations and roots.

>>554339
Oh, I had no idea where that was from. Interesting.

>>554387
Mmhm! I liked Scion quite a bit and have toyed on and off with running a quest in its setting but I'm not sure how much I wanna run the risk of dealing with...well.../pol/, essentially. Bridgette there is the daughter of Baron Samedi (hence the surname and the power themes) and canonically grows into an accomplished psychopomp in her own right, eventually becoming a god. Her whole Band is pretty fun but, again, White Wolf. Come for the story, then realize the system is fractal garbage.

Aight, called, writing.

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Hey guys, what's going on in . . . .


HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

You all talked shit about my plan to burn everything, and now we're doing it.

Get fucked anti-fire fags.

>>554929
My only reservations were A) accidentally harming innocents and B) letting the Lush know we were here before we had done irreparable damage to his command structure and armed forces.

Now that we know it was all a big fucking trap, I'm more concerned about how we'll get the civilians to safety without suddenly being overwhelmed by a horde of zombies.

>>555068
I hope he hasn't accounted for the possibility that we'd animate a fuck ton of lizards.

>>555068
There was one guy convinced fire would kill us all in a blazing inferno.

"OH NO, IT'S TOO UNCONTROLLABLE TO USE"

Pthbthbthbt.

If you really thought that, and we're genuinely concerned about the civilians, you treat with the lush or have a zombie army clash. Not like we need it really except to counter his forces who are now various qualifications of "dead".

But it's okay. The flame will cleanse you.

>>555175
We have a few secret weapons at our disposal. Balefire, which is harmful even to the undead, and the Poltergeist transformation (which is exactly how we're going to slip into the Seedhouse and stab the giant fucker in the kidneys).

>>555239
Oops, forgot Sleep; that nifty Death-in-Steel of River's.

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>>550054
Well that cannot possibly be anything even remotely resembling good.

"River, Tina, burn the bodies!" you snap.

Ash turns and whistles. Rebels swarm out of the buildings at top speed - nearly sixty in all, which is at the same time impressive and depressing - even as River and her aide raise demonfire into the piles of corpses and lace it into the buildings, igniting them with greedy forge-fire.

But in the distance, all too close, you can hear the sounds of the dead picking themselves up. How the hell is he getting the energy for all these zom - wait.

"River, do you feel that?" you ask, quietly.

"I feel it," she agrees.

"Master's raised draugs," Ash finishes, with a heavy sigh.

You look towards a tower you'd thought was another granary or storage house. The iron bell tolls from it, long and loud, and at the top is a humanoid figure, surrounded by the burning shadow of the Lush's taster. The looming demon picks up a barrel from the base of the tower, scooping it up in one hand, and drinks something foul from it; the assault of sensation from the lid being popped open leaves a greasy film on your soul. The humanoid figure thrusts his hand up into the taster, and you can feel the life force pouring from the demon, to the man, to the bell, as it tolls again and a fresh wave of draugs start to rise.

"Master, /no/," Ash whispers, horror making his voice shake.

"To the victor go the spoils, la Croix!" a massive voice booms from the theater. "Converge on the Granaries! A mug of Drink for every rebel you put down!"

You look to Ash, but the elf is lost. Hurt and betrayal color his expression, and a sense of distant, sudden loss.

"Bri," River mutters. "We need orders."

> Stand and fight
> Make for the Seedhouse; maybe you can take over his fortifications there
> Civilians. /Now/. Their lives are more important than the lizards you'll lose.
> Go after the necromancer and that gods-damned bell

Now is the time of sleep. I have a shorter shift tomorrow, so I oughta be able to update more. Votes remain open.

Questions, comments, discussion, feedback, and criticisms remain welcome and appreciated.

Thank you all for reading and participating!

>>555239
>poltergeist in
>light Death-in-Steel on fire and shank
>run away while the asshole burns
Thats your plan?

>>555267
To a certain extent, yes. IF we can get the enemy necromancer out of the way (which is probably going to be a doozie). We're also going to need a hell of a lot of Balefire and such for the Taster.

>>555260
Damn. That's...fuck.
> Civilians. /Now/. Their lives are more important than the lizards you'll lose.

This is /not/ going to turn into Dawn of the Dead.

>>555260
> Civilians. /Now/. Their lives are more important than the lizards you'll lose.


>>555285
>We're also going to need a hell of a lot of Balefire and such for the Taster.
If we murder the Lush, Lora can clear up the demons.

>>555260
>> Civilians. /Now/. Their lives are more important than the lizards you'll lose.

>>555260
>> Civilians. /Now/. Their lives are more important than the lizards you'll lose.

OK, that's one way to power your endless zombie legions.

Also, given that he apparently just got control of the giant zombie army, I'm frankly a little surprised that the Necromancer hasn't back-stabbed the Lush yet.

Is there some sort of slavery/binding agreement magic at work here? He might not have been a nice guy, but NOBODY really likes the Lush at this point. And given how he's subcontracted out to the Necromancer the actual dead raising, he can't control the dead himself. So, why isn't he-oh right.

The necromancer's hand is still in contact with the Taster. Betrayal now leads to directly getting fucked.

On the other hand, if he's half as clever as I'd imagine he is, he'd probably take his sweet time converging the forces to kill what he has to know is his apprentice.

There's also the question of what the hell are the effects of the Drink. Apparently it's /extremely/ potent given that it essentially fuels the taster to bullshit levels, but what does it do to /normal/ people that drink it, given that the Lush is offering it as a reward?

Like, I can't imagine it as appetizing at all given the description.

Also, protecting civilians is important because each one is another body for the Lush to raise against us. We lose the lizard army advantage, but gain the knowledge that the Lush's extra ace card is gone. If we're lucky, we'll get the Taster dragged into this as well and get that one killed.

As for the Necromancer... I guess we wait and see.

>>555260
> Go after the necromancer and that gods-damned bell

We have an elite strike team, we should cut the head off the snake. Give Ash command of our army while we aim to assassinate. He's got the intel and his men has fighting experience.

>>555260
>> Civilians. /Now/. Their lives are more important than the lizards you'll lose.

>>555332
>Like, I can't imagine it as appetizing at all given the description.
So, like coffee?

>>555341

Coffee isn't made with literal rape and distilled despair and opening a barrel of it on the top of a tower doesn't make people recoil from hundreds of feet away.

I mean, just listening to the description makes it sound like it should corrupt your soul by drinking it.

Also, does anybody else want to give this guy the Ozymandias treatment when we're done?

Because I think he deserves the Ozymandias treatment.

>>555346
That's quite literally what happens at Cambodian coffee plantations though isn't it.

>>555260
>Go after the necromancer and that gods-damned bell

That many draugs we cannot fight and win without putting them down using necromancy ourselves.

>>555353
Fair trade nigga.

> YFW you realize caffeine is a drug and addicts aren't reasonable about defending it.

Why yes, it IS acceptable to them to perpetuate that shit instead of purchasing more expensive but easily accessible alternatives, or choosing to do without.

>>555260
. . . Aren't druag weak to fire?

Just wondering, if we're evacuating civilians anyways, could we just go with . . . . MORE fire? Like do a burning retreat?

>>555260
> Civilians. /Now/. Their lives are more important than the lizards you'll lose.
Get them the fuck out of here, we can deal with the draugs as we run.
>If we have any spare lizards we take them and go for the bell and the taster ourselves.
That thing and the necromancer need to die immediately.

>>555400
We are basically in Vietnam.

>>555445
>Fetch having Nam flashbacks, remembering his fallen brothers.

>>555260
>> Civilians. /Now/. Their lives are more important than the lizards you'll lose.

I want to go after the Bell - thats the OHSHITGETTHATPOINT - but their forces need to disperse before thats feasible. Civilian evac handles that nicely.

>>555260
>Make for the Seedhouse; maybe you can take over his fortifications there
Losing the seed house would suck

>>555260
>> Make for the Seedhouse; maybe you can take over his fortifications there

We need better odds for this fight.

>>555260
Question for consideration:

If we got some of the Drink, brought it to The Diviner's array, and hit it with balefire, could we use sympathetic magic to make everything that has tasted the drink feel as though they had consumed an equivalent amount of balefire?

I'm just curious if we can bring the whole 'mad with power' thing full circle and effectively build a fantasy nuke that targets The Lush and his cohorts.

Okay, so on the one hand I'm awake. On the other hand I sorta feel like someone jabbed me between the ribs before I got up. I'll call and write if I'm both awake and have time before work; otherwise I'll get on this when I get home around 7 PM or so.

>>555400
Draug do indeed hate and fear fire, but a general fire strategy does run the serious risk of it running way out of control. The Granaries are going to be bad enough as it is, once the exploding starts.

>>555961
Maybe, but you'd need a better diviner on hand. You /have/ one - Natalia - but the other thing to keep in mind is that balefire tends to cling and linger well beyond its actual use. You could well poison the area around the people you're trying to kill, which could just be small chunks of the Cornucopia, or miiiight be most of it.

>>556042
Figures that nukes end up indiscriminate, eh? I suppose it'd depend on how scattered the Lush's forces are to determine how much of the Cornucopia is affected.

We'd need to go the balefire route too if we wanted to use the Drink that way. Only way to kill the demons that know of it. Maybe we can make them suffer through other ways, but anything that runs the risk of sending the demons back to hell would be off the table.

There's also convincing Nate and Natalia to go through with it. Having PTSD mom go through with it will not be a pleasant for anyone involved.

Question: would Lora be able to use the Divine Tongue to restore the Cornucopia after the chain is broken?

>>556042
Draug can also be reasoned with, yes?

>>556090
Lora could definitely fix the Cornucopia, no reason she couldn't. Unless the Dick gave a quick lesson to the Lush at some point and he is going to fuck the entire level. Other than that it should be fine.
>>556122
Dude, the necromancer that raised them is right there, they wont be doing shit but the kill order, plus they just raised as well so they wont have their old personalities back yet, not that they will survive long enough to begin with.

>>556122
Not while they're still leashed to the will of the necromancer they can't be. Tricked, sure.

>>556042
>> The Granaries are going to be bad enough as it is, once the exploding starts.

Contents under pressure. I forgot about this. If there's any Drink being kept in barrels, and it goes up...

... Guys, I just had a really shitty brainwave. The Lush's endgoal is to essentially create the legend of a monster. To be remembered as a mean, terrible, and nightmarish individual.

Would making the Corncupia, the Dungeon's breadbasket and arguably one of the more important parts, rotten and corrupted to the core permanently count as sufficiently dick enough to be remembered for a long time?

Living memory only lasts about a century, barring elves. Magical fallout? God knows how long that could be there...

>>556185
uuh...oh shit, SECONDING THIS! EMERGENCY EMERGENCY!
Wait we have a second necromancer, give him half the lizard herd and get them to evacuate the civies, then we go take care of the Granaries ourselves so shit doesn't get rekted beyond repair.

>>556216
Yeah, we got to split up, gods damn it. I also suggest we use the bell to chime in with the other levels and tell them to send support to the best of their ability or be ready to close the gate and take care of the refugees who make it out in time.

>>556042
If we kill the necromancer, will the draugs die?

>>556298
No, I bet with whatever the fuck this guy did using the bell/demon/Drink combo he just made some super draugs, and when he dies they WILL be let loose. We don't have much choice in the matter though because any death will just add to their numbers

>>556298
It would be extremely painful

>>556298
They'll go free. What that means is potentially complicated.

>>555260
> Civilians. /Now/. Their lives are more important than the lizards you'll lose.

>>555260
>> Make for the Seedhouse; maybe you can take over his fortifications there

>>555260
>Go after the necromancer and that gods-damned bell

On my way home. Likely to need chores and dinner before I can call.

>>556545

Could be that with him dead, we could get them to turn on the Lush...

>>555260
>> Civilians. /Now/. Their lives are more important than the lizards you'll lose.
We need to protect people, and we need to deny the Lush the opportunity to use them for even more fuel.

Called, tallying, writing.

Kill me.

>>559343
You're already dead.

>>559343
Uh oh, Real Life got to the Lich. Quick, somebody begin the ritual of reanimation!
>Shakes coffee bag at monitor.

>>558925
Best End here is, I think, Ash eliminating his master and seizing control of the draug while we move to evacuate the civilians before initiating the Boss fight. After the Lush, his Taster and the other demons are dead, we can begin a process of helping these raised dead make their final farewells before putting them to rest. Maybe we can ask some of the Rose cousins to come consecrate the burial site so they can rest in peace (and we don't hear about ghosts haunting fields and farms).

Also, as bad as this Drink shit is, I feel the need to ask if there is a way to make our /own/. Not made from rape and torture, fuck no, but maybe from a mixed bag of emotions, like the tears of newborn babies meeting their mothers to the grief of families and friends mourning someone lost. Y'know, like a draught or elixir of Life, with all its joys and sorrows.

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>>555260
You put a hand on Ash's shoulder. When he doesn't react, you shake the elf gently; he looks at you, his eyes focusing.

"We need to evacuate the civilians," you tell him. "Right now."

"I - yes, of course. Where?"

You look around, bite your lip, and sigh. There's nothing for it. "Those closest to the Roost will go for the Roost door. River and I will handle that, with the lizards. Can you and your men evacuate the border farms?"

Ash nods and whistles sharply for his men's attention. They're already moving when he starts shouting orders.

"Amy, take to the air and tell the harpies what's going on. And make sure they don't kill that rakshasa unless they can keep it dead!"

Amy takes off with an affirmative cry. You and the others mount up, and you turn your head to survey the situation. There's draugs coming your way, which is shitty, and the sleepy camps and fortifications you've been attacking aren't so sleepy any more.

Ash's master waits at the top of the bell tower, arm thrust into the taster. He's too far for you to read his expression, but you know, just know, he has eyes for you.

"Fan out! Eric, Tina, with River, Nate, Fetch, with me!"

You get the hell out of there. The draugs don't seem to be in a particular hurry, which is a godsend, but the moment the necromancer realizes that you've all scattered, the bell starts to toll again. It has to be relaying orders somehow, because the undead slaves find their sense of urgency and begin to lope after your lizards.

"Where are we going?" Nate asks, from next to you.

"Seedhouse! The soldiers mobilizing will let us get the civilians out on the lizards while the unmounted ones protect the line!"

"Works for me!"

There's a wooden wall, with a gate, around the small, village-like area around the Seedhouse. You and your lizards barrel towards it, cutting just past a formation of the Lush's soldiers who turn in disbelief at the turn of speed your zombies have.

That's quality fucking necromancy, fuckers!

You take the dregs of your death bottle and reinforce your boar before you lean forward against it and spur the skeleton straight for the gates.

"Bar the gates!" the guard on the wall calls.

"Arcadia!" comes your answer.

The wood smashes like twigs when your boar hits it. Its scything claws hook into the frame of the gate and pull, using its momentum to drag the wall inwards. There's an almighty /crack/! as the chunk around the gate breaks away and falls inward.

"EVERYONE ON THE FUCKING LIZARD ZOMBIES!" you call. Fetch shoots a brace of quills at a soldier just as she leaps from a building; they stick in her face, making her collapse to the ground with an agonized cry.

"Bri, we've got a problem!" Nathan calls. A formation of soldiers - thirty, maybe? - locks shields in front of a siege weapon you recognize as a scorpion - a spear-throwing device with a nasty kick.

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>>560933
The crew fires, and the weapon pins one of your lizard zombies against a building, where it shrieks and writhes with the iron of the spear's head burning away at it.

The iron bell tolls again, and the soldier Fetch killed stirs, starting to get back up. The civilians are running towards your lizards, obeying shouted orders from Nate to pack on four, five at a time, but you've got a formation coming in from behind and these assholes with their gods-damned scorpion.

> Whelm the siege crew with lizards. You can deal with the resulting draugs later
> Send Kat after the siege crew. She might get hurt, but you can't turn into a draug if you're in a dozen fucking pieces
> Blind the siege crew and formation. It'll be draining but more draugs are at the bottom of your list of shit to deal with.
> Leave, you've saved everyone you reasonably can here. You can't get caught in that pincer

>>560939
>> Blind the siege crew and formation. It'll be draining but more draugs are at the bottom of your list of shit to deal with.

Slow night

>>560939
>Blind the siege crew

>>560939
> Blind the siege crew and formation. It'll be draining but more draugs are at the bottom of your list of shit to deal with.

Shouting "These draugs will eat anyone!" will probably give them more incentive to surrender.

>>560939
>> Blind the siege crew and formation. It'll be draining but more draugs are at the bottom of your list of shit to deal with.

>>561020
>>560939
This. You nigger.

>>560939
>Blind the siege crew and formation. It'll be draining but more draugs are at the bottom of your list of shit to deal with.

I wonder if there's a way to amplify the effect Banquet (Nate's nifty buckler made from that Gorger, and is somehow terrifying to hungry and nasty things like Draug)? Like, if he could bang on the damn thing like a gong or drum to repel the hungry bastards.

Hell, I wonder if Banquet will work on the Taster? It'll be great if it does.

>>561143
And now I'm kind of scaroused of the thought if it being exposed to the drink.

>>560939
>supporting
>>561020

>>561020
Seconding.

>>561155
Uhhh...how? Its a fucking buckler, it cant drink. Amy's weapons on the other hand I am not sure about, although it might just burn the stuff.

>>561239
Well, it sure as hell eats things!

>>561239
> How

Magick, Muthafucka.

Like all Slurp and shit and now the buckler is not only hungry but gets like a long spiny tongue that can grapple shit and pull it in.

>>561249
That...sounds more awesome and plausible than it has any right to be.

>>561258
Yeah.

Awesome.

Until you feel something slimy and prickly slide up your leg in the night because you forgot to properly secure the thing.

>>561343
Could...could it eat out Amy and Bri?

>>561348
No. Bad. Do not feed the XS.

>>560939
>> Blind the siege crew and formation. It'll be draining but more draugs are at the bottom of your list of shit to deal with.
This; death from the death bottle will reduce a lot of the drain.

>>560939
>> Blind the siege crew and formation. It'll be draining but more draugs are at the bottom of your list of shit to deal with.
>Shouting "These draugs will eat anyone!" will probably give them more incentive to surrender.

>>561348
. . . . My example was supposed to be horrifying.

>>561392
....you clearly need to reconsider the level of humanity that the people you quest with possess, anon.

....excuse me while I excise vore porn concerning grogers and members of the cat from my brain THANK YOU VERY MUCH.

Jerk.

>>561407
I SAID EAT OUT NOT DEVOUR! LONG TOUNGE JOB IN THE PUSSY, maybe sucking off Nate in his sleep if hes not careful, BUT THATS IT!

>>561414
You can't suck with just a tongue. It would be more of a moist meat sandwiching.

>>561419
If the tongue is long enough to grapple enemies it can at least rap around the shaft and stroke.

>>561420
Meh. It's no fun if someone isn't having trouble breathing.

>>561465
But Amy doesn't have a gag reflex and Bri is just as good.

I do hope the current conversation inspires Domo to do more perspective training

I'm alive. Called, coffee, writing.

>>561239
>>561244
>>561249
Guys, it /exacerbates hunger/. 's why you use it on things that need to feed in weird ways - it starves them out while you beat the shit out of them.

God. I did not need this when I woke up.

>>561793
May it drive draugs so hungry they'll ignore the necromancer's command and start eating each other?

>>561894
Or they'll start falling apart.

>>561793
I have a thought.

The Lush's curse sustains the starving.

If I were an eil mosnter, I would use sympathetic magic to eacerbate the hunger of all those under the curse, and perhaps they would become strong enough to throw off the yoke of his mastery.

But the ~pain~ wold be awful.

I'm glad Bri isn't evil.

>>561925
It would be interesting, seeing what would happen if someone in Bri's place was purely working on freeing Death itself and preventing Dick from ending the world. "Who cares about the people? I'm trying to save the world."

>>561947
We probably would have gone full zombie-army much earlier, though obvious with restrictions in place. Y'know, only using the remains of our enemies, keeping them out of town, etc. I actually prefer our tight little squad of elites as opposed to a shit-ton of weaklings.

And as for Brianna's behavior, she might have ended up a bit like Aunt Carol; only going by the letter of Grandma Lacroix's teachings, rather than the spirit. Probably bitter about the way she got treated after /saving a man's life/.

>>561793
Vox. It's 4chan. Why are you surprised?

I think it would be cool if we could attach a demon-forged chain to Banquet so Nate can whip it around like he was the Master of the Flying Guillotine.

>>562062
>Probably bitter about the way she got treated after /saving a man's life/.
That sounds a lot like what Vox originally had in mind for Bri, if I remember right.

>>562078
Then we had to go and make her a goddamn Hero. All idealistic and compassionate. It almost made me sad to see her go zombie army. Almost.

But hey! It came with two very big perks; Amy and Nate. If that's not worth it, I don't know what is.

>>562117
Value of perks is subjective. Personally, I regret saving her.

Honestly, I think it would have been interesting to go more that route, as Bri currently resembles /tg/'s default PC fairly well: woman, romanced the first woman she came across, didn't commit to a relationship choice (chose both), diplomancer.

>>562150
Actually the woman romanced us, in this case.

Bri literally told her to back off not once, but twice.

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>>560939
You take your hat off, reach for a wand, and rap the brim of your tophat like you're about to pull a rabbit out of it while you spit your incantation. You feel the prickling drain of your life force feeding the spell and watch the soldiers clutch at their eyes when the clinging darkness wraps around their faces.

You feel a faint pulse, and look down to see the charm you made from Silence's bones beating, like a heart. The mouths of the soldiers are moving, but they aren't making a sound. In panic they drop their weapons, feeling themselves to make sure they're there, but you get the impression that they can feel nothing; the horror on their expressions is only growing greater.

"Move move move!" you shout, waving civilians onto the lizards. You ring the bell for New Hell. "OPEN THE DOOR!" you yell. "WE HAVE AN EVAC COMING IN!"

"Peaceable?" Ordo asks.

"EXTREMELY FUCKING HOSTILE!"

"Load crossbows!" the orc bellows, before the bell goes quiet.

"That's the last one!" Nathan tells you. "We need to move!"

You don't need telling twice. You turn your boar and try to ignore the writhing soldiers on the ground, moaning soundlessly as they weep in terror. You have a caravan to lead out of here.

Above your head, the battle in the sky rages. They weren't kidding about the rakshasa - you can see Amy on the demon's back, Shame dug into hits shoulder blades while she lashes at it with her wings. Blood drips from it while the demon tries to shake her.

"She'll be fine," Nathan promises, confidently.

"I'm just worried about her getting carried away," you admit.

The bell tolls again, intensifying the greasy, slimy feeling on your soul, but there's not much you can do about that for now.

> Rescue the civilians in the Quickling Grove after you drop these off
> Go after the bell tower
> Pull people out of the farms and fields

Sorry for the slow run(s) lately folks. I've been grappling with vicious writer's block here and I can't seem to shake it. I'll try to update before I go to work; if I can't, I'll see you just after midnight.

>>562375
>> Go after the bell tower
Once the bell stops there should be less draugs to worry about

>>562375
>Go after the bell tower

Death to thedark necromancer.

Because by Gods he's asking for it.

>>562375
> Go after the bell tower
>See if you can use Silence's amulet on the necromancer's bell.

>>562375
>> Go after the bell tower
>>See if you can use Silence's amulet on the necromancer's bell.

Ordinarily, I'd say try to save the civilians... But this is clever.

Yep, heading to work now. I'll catch you tonight.

>>562150
I cant tell if your just no fun trolling and full of shit, or if your serious.

>>562375
>> Go after the bell tower

>>562430
> Go after the bell tower
>See if you can use Silence's amulet on the necromancer's bell.
I like this plan. Seconding.

>>562463
>This sounds good seconding, can we also leave a message for Ash to get the people out of the fields and whoever comes after him to get the Quickling Grove civilians? Then we can focus on the necromancer bell in the mean time.
We should have enough time to delegate some people to get it done, Ash might be pissed his master is dead but this fucker lost his fucking mind dragging civilians and the FUCKING TASTER INTO THIS!

>>562375
>> Go after the bell tower

We /have/ to stop the draugs from rising now.

>>562375
>supporting
>>562430

>>562375
>> Go after the bell tower

>>562150
C'mon, you can't just say this and not expand on it!

>>563226
the spoiler? It's not Amy directly, so much, as it's more the obsession with her that a significant portion of anons have with her, and that she has a much larger proportional screen time. If she's a choice for a perspective swap, she's a shoe in for winning.

Also I'm not much for romance in quests in general; It takes too much time away from more interesting things. As a tangent, it's almost impossible to find media with any regularity that /doesn't/ have a romantic sub-plot somewhere. Try looking around sometime.

>>562375
>> Rescue the civilians in the Quickling Grove after you drop these off
People are going to need to run on their own. We don't have time to hunt them down to save them.

>>563352
Does she, though? Nate ended up as the POV character for both chances that Amy had to define a plot arc.

>>562375
> Go after the bell tower
Ding Dong! Ding Dong! This guy is like the church guy in L4D so we have to drop him ASAP.

Called, writing.

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>>562375
There's more soldiers and draugs converging on your position and unfortunately nothing much you can do about that. You sigh, watching the lizards you have defending the caravan get lured away and picked off. That's what they're here for, mind, but there's something fucking annoying about seeing one stop to engage a group of soldiers, only to see it get wrangled with a chain and hacked to pieces.

Still, at least the bastards they bite are only going to come back as crawling torsos. Silver linings and all that.

The door to the Roost stands open, thank the gods, and you see the banners of the Rose Cult flying high and proud. Your cousins have crossbowmen behind a wall of shields and pikes, and they fire on the Lush's forces as you ride for the relative safety of their lines.

"He's raising draugs!" you call out.

"Incendiaries!" Aria's voice is welcome relief, for fucking once, even if you're a little disappointed when it turns out 'incendiaries' means 'we tied a bunch of oil-soaked rags around the heads of some bolts'. Still, the volley of burning bolts does its job, lighting up the draugs in pursuit of you and providing more light with which to pick off the living soldiers. Shield walls form on the Lush's side, backing steadily away from the killing rain of steel-tipped wood.

You usher the civilians off of the lizards while the Rose Cult's ranks close behind you and, together with Nate, encourage them into the Roost where dwarves await to guide them away from the fighting.

"How bad is it?" Aria asks. Your cousin cuts a martial figure in her chain armor and tabard, like a knight from a storybook.

"Every time that bell tolls, anyone dead gets back up as a draug," you tell her. "We're trying to get the civilians out but if I don't do something about that bell it's going to be a bit of a moot fucking point."

Aria curses, then draws her handaxe from her belt. She offers the hilt to you. "This is Peace," she tells you. "She's enchanted for putting the dead down. Your lover can't use his wraithsteel in this fight, he'll need another weapon."

You take the axe, gratefully. "Thank you Aria. River's going to be here with the next wave of civilians. Send her back out after more."

Aria nods, and you whistle for Nate. He goes to you as fast as he can and accepts your hand to get up onto your boar. You hand him Peace.

"For the draugs," you tell him. He nods, and you look back down to Aria. "I need a hole."

"On it. Father, our cousin needs a hole in the direction of that belltower!"

You light a pair of cigarettes and murmur incantations into them before handing one to Nate. "Ghost breath," you tell him.

The two of you start sucking on the cigs about as fast as you can. The elderly Rose Cultist is mixing fluids together, and that only ends one way.

This is gonna be good.

>>564944
Oh my god I cant believe how happy I am those assholes are here now.

>>564944
>"For the draugs," you tell him. He nods, and you look back down to Aria. "I need a hole."

>"On it. Father, our cousin needs a hole in the direction of that belltower!"

>You light a pair of cigarettes and murmur incantations into them before handing one to Nate. "Ghost breath," you tell him.

>The two of you start sucking on the cigs about as fast as you can. The elderly Rose Cultist is mixing fluids together, and that only ends one way.

>This is gonna be good.
You made these jokes on purpose and I love ya for it.

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>>564944
Oh, what kind of tricks does this old man got?

>>564952
Damn it, I chuckled at that at that.

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>>564944
You bite the cherry of your cigarette with a wince and swallow before you can think about the flavor. You can hear Nate following suit behind you.

The elder Rose Cult la Croix moves towards the edge of his lines, with a supply of smoking bottles and a sling. He loads a bottle, whirls the leather strap over his head, and releases. Amidst the crack of breaking glass is a noxious, pale grey smoke that sends the Lush's soldiers staggering.

"Ride," the elder Rose Cultist tells you. "I'll cover you!"

You whistle for your lizards and spur the boar forward. The formation of cultists parts with smooth discipline, admitting your admittedly diminished stampede. You've got maybe eleven lizards left of the twenty-five you'd started with, and they're going to have to be enough because fuck if you're gonna fight with this old bastard for control over his draugs.

"How fucked are we?" Nathan asks, over the din of breaking bottles, choking soldiers, and the crash of the boar's skeletal hooves.

"Pretty fucked!" you shout back. "I'm sort of banking on the taster not sticking around for this fight because if it does we're on the fast boat to Fucktown."

You look behind you, at the dead soldiers rising in response to the bell, only to see the old man with his crossbow raised and a flaming rag on the end of the bolt.

Fuck.

"Duck!"

You and Nathan lean forward against the boar as hard as you can, just before the fire meets the smoke. The gas doesn't just ignite, it /explodes/, rippling out in bursts of flame that consume the draugs and scorch the faces and hands of living soldiers who thought they were at a safe distance. You hear the whoosh of displaced air and the thundering /crack/ as it rushes back in, which makes your ears ring with the force of it.

"Lady of Ravens," you murmur.

"War alchemists," Nate answers, solemnly.

The bell tower awaits, and Ash's master with it.

>>564960
Fuck. YES. I vote we learn more alchemy from this crazy motherfucker.

>>564962
SECONDING! EXPLOSIVES SOLVE EVERYTHING!

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>>564960
The belltower is nestled in a village-like area, where livestock is raised. The sheep, goats, and pigs here are safely inside their barns rather than in the carefully-prepared grazing land set aside for them, and the village itself has been fortified, for all the good that does with its defenders gone. Still, those stakes and barricades are sharp, and just because you're not /seeing/ draugs doesn't mean they aren't here.

That iron bell tolls again, swinging in time with the necromancer's will. Ash had described him as an old man, but you realize with a pang that he's only ten, maybe fifteen years older than you, which still makes him old for a necromancer. Gods.

"Finally," the older man calls down. He pulls his arm from the taster and makes a dismissive gesture; the demon flies away, streaking for the theater. "I was starting to think I'd have to kill someone you know to get your attention, whelp."

"You did all of this to get my /attention/?" you ask, more in anger than disbelief.

"You killed my student," he tells you, his voice hard, gripped by his will to keep it from shaking. "I'd do a lot more to get your attention, Cross girl. I expect you have something self-righteous to say, so you may as well be out with it."

> Say something (what?)
> Offer him the chance to surrender
> You have nothing to say; attack

And now I sleep. Votes remain open.

Questions, comments, discussion, feedback, and criticisms remain welcome and appreciated.

Thank you all for reading and participating!

>>564966
>"Yes, well, that's the gist of it. He did terrible things, and met me, and I killed him. Be glad you have two students to continue your line of necromancy, because I won't die right here right now. Now what's left is, will you die here as a slave of the Lush, or will you die a free man, perhaps much later after your affairs are sorted? I'm giving you a chance here."

>>564966
> Say something (what?)
"Your student was an asshole."

Then attack.

>>564974
>>564971
You forgot to mention we made something with his hands and buried the rest of him.

>>564966
>> Say something (what?)
>> At least his hands are still usefull

>>564966
>> Say something (what?)
Oh fuck you people die in war

>>564966
>"Vim. Vigor. Say hello to your old master!"
>Skelehands pop out of the backpack to flip him off, making other rude gestures, and insult his parentage via hand-signs.
>"I gave your apprentice the benefit of a proper send off and a marked grave, but you? You'll be spending the next century in a lead box under my outhouse, you utter sack of shit."

Seriously. Fuck this guy.

>>564966
>Say something (what?)
>There's very little that's self-righteous about rescuing people being tortured by people like the bastard I killed. You and he are helping torture an angel, and I'm helping HER.

>So your own self-rightous bullshit is what got him killed, not mine.

>>564966
>"Your mother was a Hamster, and your father smelt of Elderberries!"

>>564995
That's a bit too on the nose.
This>>564994
Then this>>564971
And the final fuck you this >>564990
in that order.

>>564996
>This.

>>564966
>>564996
seconding this

>>564966
Robert must be slapping his ectoplasmic forehead.
>"Was I really this big of an asshole? Damn."

>>565000
> "No, you weren't"
> "Well, that's a relie-"
> "You were way worse."
> "...."

>>565002
Kek, but lets save this joke for a River point of view.

>>565002
>>565004
"And you weren't just your run-of-the-mill asshole. You were a La-Croix-tier Asshole from the Age of Assholes. They just don't make assholes like they used to anymore."

>>564966
>changing to >>564996

>>565002
>>565008
>"You were such a huge asshole, light could not escape you."
>"La petit merde."

>>564966
>> You have nothing to say; attack

Don't give him the satisfaction.

>>564966
>You have two apprentices last I knew of, and the elf is still trying to make sure you get out of this alive for some reason. You going to ignore the living one for the dead?

>>564966
>Say something (what?)
>"I guess you don't care about your other apprentice huh?"

>>564966
> Offer him the chance to surrender

We have to at least offer it since he isn't immediately trying to kill us and his apprentice did ask

>>564966
>> You have nothing to say; attack
I'm sorry, but this guy needs to go down more than he needs to know why he's fucked up.

>>564966
> You have nothing to say; attack
We're necromancers. We can talk after hee dies.

>>564966
>> Offer him the chance to surrender

>>564966
> Offer him the chance to surrender
He probably won't take it but it's worth a shot

>>564966
>> Say something (what?)
"You let him serve a monster, the Baron. You failed him as a teacher."
Point the finger back at him.
(oh god, maybe literaly with vim and vigor.)

>>564996
>this
why not, lets lay it on thick

>>565111
This is also great, maybe add this to this>>564996
but just before we have them flip him off.

>>565165
>>565157
we're trying to get him to surrender without a fight

as nice as it feels to be morally superior we don't have the resources or energy to go picking fights where they're not necessary

We have to permanently kill three demons remember

>>564966
>> Offer him the chance to surrender

>>565174
True, I guess we can save the fuck you for later. First concern is get this fucker away from the bell like he is a Muslim next to a bomb.

>>564966
>> Offer him the chance to surrender
>> Ask him if he's going to kill his other student, or if he'll leave that to the Lush.

>>565215
hmmm if we get enough of their corpses together their soft greasy bodies should soak up the blast, I am just worried about the camel translated diseases, anthrax, among other things. Fuckers are as bad as pigeons.

>>565174
At what point did we decide to let him surrender?

>>565243
because his apprentice who is now our nominal ally asked us to try to make sure he isn't killed and we agreed tentatively as long as he wasn't trying to kill us directly

offering him the option of surrender is the least we can do towards that agreement

and again, we have to allot our resources effectively. removing an adversary peacefully saves us energy that we can use towards enemies we can't remove peacefully, ie. the taster and other demons

ALSO

this insulting attitude adopted in most of the write ins is kind of OOC for bri

>>564966
>> You have nothing to say; attack

>>565259
>Z: All X are/want Y
If X = Race or Religion, Z = /pol/.
It's simple mathematics.

>>565204
>> Offer him the chance to surrender
seconding this approach, mentioning the apprentice will be either a really good approach or just make him really really angry

>>565253
In fact, he asked, and we declined.
Resolving things peacefully is no guarantee of using less energy. A long, serious word fight can wear you out just as bad a physical one.

>>565269
You realize that IDs show you've voted like six times, right?

>>565273
oh wow you're right. Guess I was being an asshole. I'll delete my votes

>>564966
>>"Yes, well, that's the gist of it. He did terrible things, and met me, and I killed him. Be glad you have two students to continue your line of necromancy, because I won't die right here right now. Now what's left is, will you die here as a slave of the Lush, or will you die a free man, perhaps much later after your affairs are sorted? I'm giving you a chance here."

>>565309
Your own 'logic' would actually make the Nazis right, you know.

>>/pol/

>>565253
You're fucking nuts if you think this man can be reasoned with. Have you read a single update since he showed up?

Just provoke the dumbass and kill him when he's lost his composure.

Jeeeesus guys, the fuck?

Called, writing.

>>565276
I hope you understand if I just kinda quietly don't count the votes from this ID during this update, anon. Please don't do that again. It makes the count bothersome.

>>565342
no it's fine and entirely my fault.

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>>564966
You look back up at the necromancer and sigh. "Look, there's very little that's self-righteous about rescuing torture victims. The guy I killed, maybe he had reasons that seemed good to him. Maybe he had reasons that seemed good to you, but fuck both of you, because he was helping to torture and murder innocents and my friend the angel, and I'm here for her. Not for you. You wanna talk about getting him killed? Why the hell was he working for the Baron to begin with?"

"Do you have any idea how difficult it is to find someone willing to employ a necromancer, Cross girl?" the older man scoffs. "He took the job that was paying."

"Are you seriously going to make that your fucking argument?" you snap. "Here's the gist of it: he did awful shit, and I killed him to make it stop. You seem awful fucking concerned about the student with a defective conscience. What's Ash, chopped liver?"

"Don't you dare -"

"SHUT. THE FUCK. UP!" you interrupt. "You wanted a self-righteous rant, sit the fuck down and take it. What is it you're concerned about? His fate? He got a good burial, with a prayer said for him and the chance to be useful after death, which is a damn sight more than most people get. Your legacy? You've got two students, one of whom shows signs of actually being a decent person. Revenge? For what? The fuck is it that I did that he wouldn't have done to me first? /He attacked me, for fuck's sake/!"

The bell tolls again; you can feel the last of the life force the old man borrowed from the taster drain into it, sending his spell across the Cornucopia. "He was employed and given an order. Of course he followed it. Do you think there's /law/ down here, la Croix? Do you think this is a /civilization/? These wretches are honest in a way the surface world is not. Their evil is on display for all to see. The murderers in the Roost, the /slavers/ here in this farmland, the callous indifference of the Warehouse and its cutthroat markets - this and more. You think you'll 'save' them? Typical. Your idiot family thinks it owns necromancy, as if your history gives you some perch upon which to judge the rest of us. Hypocrites, all of you."

Kat rears up and screeches at him, outraged. His own shadow peels itself up and folds its arms in silent challenge.

"This is a conversation we can have when you're not killing everyone out of fucking /spite/," you snap. "If I come up that tower, you're going to die. It's that simple, because I do not have time for your horse shit. So you can die a slave of the Lush, knowing your student hates you for this and without your precious gods-damned revenge, or you can come down and get your affairs in order, and /then/ we can have this out."

The older man cocks his eyebrow at you. "You're offering a duel?"

>>565677
> If you dismiss the draugs first, sure. After the Lush is dead, we'll have this out
> What part of this makes you think I'm giving you even a little chance to get out of this alive?
> No! I'm offering you the chance to surrender you fucking asshole!

>>565682
Modify.
>If you dismiss the draugs first, sure. Then we''ll have this out.

He won't wait. We can't afford to wait. He won't listen to reason, he's made that quite clear.

So we kill him. He have tricks he's never seen. And if it stops the draugs, that's what we can ask for.

>>565682
> What part of this makes you think I'm giving you even a little chance to get out of this alive?
>Necromancy isn't evil, you unhinged fucks are and you've no right to tell me that I have to be evil just because we have the same powers.

>>565677
> If you dismiss the draugs first, sure. After the Lush is dead, we'll have this out

>>565682
> If you dismiss the draugs first, sure. After the Lush is dead, we'll have this out

>>565677
>> If you dismiss the draugs first, sure. After the Lush is dead, we'll have this out

>>565682
>If you dismiss the draugs first, sure. After the Lush is dead, we'll have this out
I really hope he doesn't carry the mark, but he's really high up the chain of command so chances are slim.

>>565682
>> If you dismiss the draugs first, sure. After the Lush is dead, we'll have this out

>>565806
Not sure being high up the chain makes one less likely to have it. Remember how the Lush rewards his favorites?

And now I must go and engage in Gainful Employment. Votes remain open.

Questions, comments, discussion, feedback, and criticisms remain welcome and appreciated.

Thank you all for reading and participating!

>>565869
is the necromancer within senseing range of the mark

>>565682
> If you dismiss the draugs first, sure. After the Lush is dead, we'll have this out.

Sure, why the fuck not. Get him to come down, and then we can gang up on him because fuck duels.

Also this way we can take him alive like Ash wanted.

>>565682
>> No! I'm offering you the chance to surrender you fucking asshole!

Come on guys, are we really going to fall for that? Best case, we win, having used /more/ of our life force.

>>565682
>> No! I'm offering you the chance to surrender you fucking asshole!

>>565907
It's hard to sense much of anything, this close to the iron bell.

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>>565682
> No! I'm offering you the chance to surrender you fucking asshole!

>>565682
> If you dismiss the draugs first, sure. After the Lush is dead, we'll have this out at an agreed time and place.

as long as he takes us up on the duel we can pick and choose the time right?

>>566359
>>566735
that's why I specified.

>>565682
>> No! I'm offering you the chance to surrender you fucking asshole!
It's rather likely he has a mark.

>>565682
> No! I'm offering you the chance to surrender you fucking asshole!

>>565682
> If you dismiss the draugs first, sure. After the Lush is dead, we'll have this out.

>>566781
Before we vote vox can we get some explanation of how duels are conducted?

>>567315
Depends on too many factors. If the Dungeon has a formal Code Duello, Bri doesn't know it.

>>565682
> If you dismiss the draugs first, sure. After the Lush is dead, we'll have this out
Again, his other student wants him alive for some reason. We're trying to abide by that, and we can let the "old" man know that.

Also let him know that his student may try to talk him out of the duel, and if he doesn't listen to him then we'll make sure this fucker dies and dies quick.

>>567416
The enemy necromancer may be stronger and/or more skilled than us.

>>567442
I am personally willing to entertain that possibility. I'm not sure if Bri is in that sort of mood.

>>567442
He isn't smarter or more determined.

>>567469
He's smart enough to teach and is intent on avenging his student. Also it appears that he has a grudge against the LaCroix.

>>567478
True.

We have studied under a great lich who is sane, we have learned swordplay, and we have a swordcane. We're no slouch at necromancy either.

>>565682
>> No! I'm offering you the chance to surrender you fucking asshole!

>>567416
And again, he asked and we refused, with a "maybe if he's not trying to kill us". We're not trying to abide by anything but 'don't die (again)'

>>567630
The choice then would be to agree on the duel to avoid battle now then have someone else kill him in a manner he hasn't predicted to avoid battle later.

Cold, honorless, but practical. If that's the way anon wants to roll I'll live with it.

>>565677
> "Do you have any idea how difficult it is to find someone willing to employ a necromancer, Cross girl?"
Funny thing is, this is something that we inadvertently made much easier simply by not being an asshole. Because we demonstrated that one can be both a necromancer and a decent person, Starfall might end up with a royal summoner type setup only with necromancers rather than demonologists.

>>567679
Heh, should throw this at him as we leave. If we leave, that is. Not so sure this asshole will accept, and may just attack anyway.

Called, writing.

>>567679
Also, Ironically, we're starting to change that since we've gotten Henrietta to legalize it.

Just one more thing to throw in his face about what WE are getting done, while he's down here justifying murder and shit.

Too bad we didn't get to ask him about the kid murdering in the Roost, or the rape of Lora.

Because the vote is closed.

But it's odd how someone who will be totally fine with one kind of atrocity will be revolted by another.

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>>565682
That - that is actually an interesting question. /Are/ you offering a duel?

You know, you just might be. At the very least, it'll buy you some time to get Ash in on this and maybe talk the bitter old fuck down.

"I am," you tell him. "Providing you dismiss the draugs first. Put them back in death, and when things between the Lush and I are settled, you and I can have this out."

"And if the Lush kills you?" the necromancer scoffs.

"Well too sad for you," you tell him, flatly. "You'll have to content yourself with turning my corpse into something humiliating."

"Bah. There's no joy in that. That's just disrespecting your body for no reason. Something useful, maybe, but I doubt you'd bitch too hard about that in the Sunless Lands."

"Probably not," you admit. "I turned your student's hands into servants."

"...Just his hands?" the old man asks.

"You got a problem with that?" you ask, raising an eyebrow.

"I am not the world's largest fan of small servitors," the necromancer says with a shrug. "But if they've served you well, you're welcome to them. I do hope you don't mind if I put them down and bury them after I kill you."

"Old man, if you kill me you can do whatever the fuck you want with the hands."

"This conversation is making me highly uncomfortable," Nate mutters.

"Hush love, we're comparing wand sizes," you murmur back, making the Hero choke on his unexpected laughter.

The older man beckons to his shadow, which slides into the bell's housing and gets a black oak staff; the necromancer takes it firmly, then raps the bell. He strikes it once, twice, thrice, his lips moving in a rapid-fire murmur.

You feel the wave of power blow through the Cornucopia, followed by a massive crack splitting the bell from the bottom up.

"Holy shit, you actually did it," you say in disbelief.

The older necromancer raises his eyebrows. "I realize you think I'm insane, but you don't know the first thing about me, Cross girl. I am willing to keep our grudge personal." He sits down, cross-legged, atop the tower and lays his staff across his lap.

Something prickles at your death senses. A feeling, like - like Lora's mark. Four of them.

In the houses.

"The Lush's soldiers are your problem, mind," the old man says mildly, even as the first scorpion-thrown spears break through the house windows and three of your zombified lizards to the ground. Doors are wrenched open, admitting a flood of bronze-armored soldiers.

"There she is!" Eric snarls, from atop a lizard next to you. "The whore that took my boy!"

> Prioritize that officer; you have people to kill here anyway
> Unleash the lizards; you can't get stuck in
> Try to flee; you need to regroup

AND

> Continue to fight normally
> Hold off on the necromancy for now; you may need that energy later

>>569895
> Unleash the lizards; you can't get stuck in.
We can raise some more zombies from cattle, wildlife and maybe from soldiers. Do we have that flash-animation skill, or no?

> Hold off on the necromancy for now; you may need that energy later
If we need to, such as if Brianna or the Hero is being targetted by crossbow, sure. But if we aren't, just do things the old fashioned way.

Also, JESUS CHRIST VOX. Stop trying to update at 3-4 in the morning. We aren't going anywhere.

>>569895
Oh god, Bri and the necro are having a dick waving contest right now and I am fucking dying.
>Unleash the lizards; you cant get stuck in
we are in enemy territory right now, fuck the guys.
>Hold off on the necromancer for now; we will need that energy later.
>>569904
What this guy said, although I feel the love in wand waving contest.

>>569904
Well I'm going to bed /now/ so there! Votes remain open.

Phone posting but you know the usual.

Thank you all for reading and participating!

>>569895
> Unleash the lizards; you can't get stuck in
> Continue to fight normally

Not like we'll need the lizards after this anyways.