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Ardeshir grabbed a revolver off the rack and stuffed it into the black sash tied about his waist, disdaining the rifle for now. They were heavy things, and the hike up the mountains was not an easy jaunt by any stretch of the imagination. Arde also grabbed a bandolier out of a crate near the wall and took the time to slot cartridges into each of the thirty six pockets on the belt. He slung the strip of ammunition across his torso and abandoned the armory.

The courtyard housing the temple’s shrine always housed a handful of pilgrims, but today it was swarming with the parents and siblings of the new initiates. The shrine itself was practically overflowing with offerings to Xodan and his court. Fruits, incense, gold and silver coins, ivory carvings, and all manner of other trinkets sat arranged before the statue of Sardar. Arde paid the gathered supplicants little mind as he ducked through an archway out into the lands beyond the temple’s thick walls. It was a short walk to the stables, where he found his horse placidly munching on the the contents of his feed bag.

The stallion was of western stock, one of the Zarrin Asban or Golden Horses. The Sarbanyi were scoundrels but they bred fine horses, and none were finer than those produced by the foothills of the Pastgaran Mountains. Makkar was an exemplar of the breed, lean and powerfully built with a palomino coat that practically gleamed in the sunlight.

A sharp whistle drew the attention of the initiate tending the stables, and the boy peaked out of an empty stall where he’d been occupied shoveling shit. “Get my horse saddled and pack some supplies for a day in the mountains.”

The boy seemed eager to abandon his previous work, and a few minutes later Ardeshir was riding out of the stables astride his golden stallion, the saddlebags packed with enough food and water to sustain him in the mountains which surrounded the monastery on three sides.

>Head towards the northern range, you've always found the seclusion of the deep wilderness calming.
>The eastern hills mostly consist of terraced apple orchards, they should prove sufficiently secluded and the guards keep out most of the wild animals.
>You'll head up into the western passes. They're undoubtedly the most hazardous, but there's plenty of overhangs from which to look down on the valley below.
>Write-in

>>2965658
>>You'll head up into the western passes. They're undoubtedly the most hazardous, but there's plenty of overhangs from which to look down on the valley below.
Lets see if we can find something that we can win against

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Lore:
https://pastebin.com/UYhgqxmw

>>2965658
>You'll head up into the western passes. They're undoubtedly the most hazardous, but there's plenty of overhangs from which to look down on the valley below.
Six bullets. More than enough to kill anything that moves.
Revolver Wizard.

>>2965658
>Head towards the northern range, you've always found the seclusion of the deep wilderness calming.
How did we afford a horse like that as a whoreson?

>>2965815
>How did we afford a horse like that as a whoreson?
Even though you're not a full fledged Yazd yet, you've been able to make a decent amount of coin employing your talents as a spellcaster. Mainly in the town which lies to the south of the monastery, and which pays taxes to the Dastur.

>>2965658
>>Head towards the northern range, you've always found the seclusion of the deep wilderness calming.

>>2965658
>Head towards the northern range, you've always found the seclusion of the deep wilderness calming.
Maybe we can find a goat.

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>>2965686
>>2965801
>Western passes

>>2965815
>>2965824
>>2965840
>Northern wilds

I'm going to whip up some dinner and then get to writing.

>>2965883
Whatcha listenin' to Soma-sempai-san?

>>2965885
His own custom mix of asian children crying, his sister doing lewd things, and "The Best of Deer Calling 1998".

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>>2965885
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w6tNlYI3MdY
No homo.

>>2966016
https://youtu.be/eYDI8b5Nn5s
All of the homo

>>2966016
>>2966049
https://youtu.be/EFTV3IIjeNw

Please get better taste, both of you.

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Ardeshir rode north, coaxing his mount into a brisk trot along the dirt paths which crisscrossed the valley. The northern portion of the surrounding mountains was given over primarily to woodland, and maintained by a few hand-picked Nakjirgar. This early into the season there was only a slim chance of encountering a hunter, and poachers were rare in the portion of the wood governed by the monastery. Further north, in the lands of Wuzurg Sukhbir and the various azadan sworn to his service, this was not the case. The inability of some nobles to enforce order in the woodland allowed poachers and bandits to run rampant across the northern slopes.

The ride to the northern mountains was an easy one, at first. The paths were clearly marked and somewhat maintained, though no doubt before winter set in they would need to be touched up. Arde passed a number of small villages, most of them agricultural. The large estate of Azad Parwiz was bustling with activity this morning, a row of carts stretched for several kaman down the road from the gates. The guards only briefly paused in their efforts to unload the carts so that they could greet Ardeshir as he rode past, and when asked they explained in brief that their liege was hosting a dinner that evening. A large dinner indeed, to require so many supplies.

Signs of habitation grew sparse as he rode further north, and the underbrush which lined the road on either side grew higher and higher as Makkan’s hooves churned away the distance. Trees began to appear to either side as the slope increased, sparse at first but quickly thickening as Arde entered the forest proper. Before long he passed Nakjirgar Chander sitting outside of the squat mudbrick hovel he called home, roasting a skinned hare over an open flame. The smell of cooking meat was almost tempting enough to draw Ardeshir off the road, but he stayed the course.

The path disappeared a few dozen kaman into the forest, replaced by narrow game trails marked out with white paint by the hunters who maintained the wood. Ardeshir had been riding uphill for quite some time, but as he rode deeper into the forest the slope of the path increased sharply. Makkar guided them along winding paths up higher into the mountains, the temperature dropping as the canopy grew thick enough to block out the light of the sun.

Upon encountering a clear mountain stream burbling over a collection of jagged rocks, Arde eased back on the reins. His horse came to a stop just before the stream, and swinging his leg over the horse’s hindquarters Ardeshir gracefully dismounted. Makkar was content to drink from the stream for now, and since there was little chance of him wandering off Ardeshir simply knotted the reins around his saddle horn.

(1/2)

Picking his way across the stream by using the jagged rocks as a bridge, Arde made his way to a small clearing and made himself comfortable. His horse, having drunk its fill from the stream, walked a short distance to graze on the underbrush. Focusing for a moment, the sound of birdsong faded and time seemed to slow to a crawl. Color faded from the world, the sea of grey broken up sporadically by streaks of bright blue lightning. A faint, electric aura surrounded Makkar, concentrated around his head. It paled in comparison to even an untrained human, but it was still there. Similarly the birds in the trees and the various small mammals crawling along the forest stood out faintly to Ardeshir’s altered perception.

Satisfied that there were no men, or dangerous animals, in the immediate vicinity of the clearing Arde made himself comfortable. He found a nice flat spot nestled in the roots of a tree and sat down, his back ramrod straight against the trunk. He let out a contented sigh, eyes slipping closed as he drowned out the unending worries which flitted through his thoughts with a dull, monotonous hum.

>ROOOOLL ME 1d100+25 vs DC ???

Rolled 33 + 25 (1d100 + 25)

>>2966355
This will be easy.

Rolled 44 + 25 (1d100 + 25)

>>2966355

Rolled 16 + 25 (1d100 + 25)

>>2966355

>>2966356
>>2966357
>>2966360
Good to see that Arde is as competent as ever.

>>2966374
It's actually kind of impressive how bad we've rolled so far

>>2966356
>>2966357
>>2966360
Eventually, these successive could become statistically impressive.

>>2966356
>>2966357
>>2966360
>58, 69 (heh), 41 vs DC 30 (Base 30)
>Great Success

Meditation in Nomad Quest serves as a method by which the protagonist can clear away the essence which builds up in the channels of magic carved through his flesh and bone. If left unattended, this essence will build up and occlude these channels, thus limiting his ability to cast.

On a regular success, he'll need to meditate again the day after to avoid incurring a -10 malus to any rolls involving magic. On a great success, he'll be able to go three days without meditating before incurring the same -10 malus, and additionally he'll receive a +10 bonus to all rolls involving magic for the first twenty-four hours.

>>2966393
>rolls unilaterally below 70 are still a great success
Truly Soma has had to lower the difficulty of the quest in order to accomodate our incompetence. Let us fail Soma.

>>2966401
Meditation is a pretty routine task, so the DC was the standard routine difficulty.

You'd have to fuck up pretty badly (or be affected by a number of negative modifiers) to get less than a great success. Still, you almost succeeded in fucking up that badly.

>>2966355
Oh, and kaman are a unit of measurement equal to about 1150 yards. Five kaman is a parasang, or an hour's journey.

The most basic unit of measurement is called the angosht, or finger, which is slightly more than an inch long. Five angoshtan is a dast, or hand. Two dastan are a bazu, or an arm. Then a kaman is about 1200 bazovan.

I'll add these to the glossary and post it at some point.

>>2966393
So we build up mana feces in our body by casting that we have to clear by thinking about it.

>>2966464
So we should zone in on some meditative aids ahead of time for when we inevitably land negatives from getting our balls chopped off and the concussions of multiple head kicks.

>>2966330
>>2966355
/comfy/ desu

I just realized I forgot to have Arde smoke the hash. Y'all should have had a +10 to that roll.
Ah well, I'll just write it in real quick.

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Before he sank too deeply into a meditative trance a thought cut through the hum which filled his skull. He’d went to all the trouble of getting hash from Yazd Sudhir and then he’d forgotten his pipe in his room.

Ardeshir’s eyes snapped open, and after a moment’s consideration a solution presented itself. Why not simply shape a new pipe from the bounty which nature provides?

He maneuvered until he could rest his palm against the trunk of the tree behind him, channeling his will into the living wood. It took some time, but he was in no rush, and within an hour he held in his hand a long, thick wooden tube with a wide hole bored through the center. The pipe was about as long as Arde’s arm, and a brief scan across the banks of the river yielded a smooth pebble just the right size to fit snugly into the mouthpiece. He drew it over to him with a twitch of his finger, and a similar gesture lifted the flap of Makkar’s saddlebags.

The wooden box of hashish floated weightlessly into the air and glided gently across the stream and into Ardeshir’s lap. He opened it and extracted a generous chunk of its sticky black contents, the aroma almost overpowering as he packed the wooden tube. With a snap of his finger, a flame appeared hovering at the end of the pipe. He spent the next several minutes merely relaxing in the forest, smoking hash and languidly watching his horse graze.

As Ardeshir smoked it grew increasingly difficult just to hold his head upright, and his body felt as if held down by a great weight. The birdsong seemed to echo around him, transforming into a cacophonous symphony which rebounded off the mountains. Confident in the knowledge that he was well and truly intoxicated, he pulled himself slowly into the same position he’d sat in before. Ardeshir allowed himself one more lungful of sweet hashish smoke before he set the pipe aside.

This time when he closed his eyes, figures danced behind his eyelids. Colors and shapes, random at first but revealing a pattern with long study. They seemed to respond to the sounds around him, dimming and flaring in accordance with the birdsong and the bubbling stream. It was intensely difficult to initially focus on the humming in his mind, but once he latched onto that monotonous tone it consumed his consciousness. His focus naturally turned inward, to the ravages of magic use. His body was a a complex weave of magical channels, thousands of them cutting through flesh and bone, knitting together with veins and running along the surface of his organs.

(1/3)

They glowed intensely in his mind’s eye, standing out starkly against the background of endless grey. It took him some time to pick out areas where essence had concentrated to an unhealthy degree, but once he’d located the problem areas he set about the task of clearing out the excess. Lightning flowed through the veins of magic, starting in his skull from a collection of particularly thick channels cut through his brain tissue. From there it expanded out along a spiderweb of thin threads running throughout the rest of his skull, until ultimately these consolidated into three thick ropes; one on either side of his neck and the third running along his spine.

The channels running down the sides of his neck split, two branches running into either of his shoulders and dividing further as they ran down his arm while the others continued through his torso, splitting to weave around his various internal organs. It was the channels in his arms that were the most clogged, and where he was forced to dedicate most of his effort. His will swept through the blocked channels and washed the built up essence further downstream, until it reached the thin capillaries at the tips of his fingers. Even in his trance, a dull pain radiated from his fingers as the essence was forced out.

There were minor occlusions elsewhere throughout his body, but none as serious as the ones in his arms. He couldn’t say how long it had taken, but once his will flowed freely through every inch of his body Ardeshir allowed his focus to slip.

He returned to consciousness still sitting stiffly amid the roots of his chosen tree. The hash in his pipe had long since cooled to a thick, gummy paste and this late in the day only a dim twilight was able to fight through the thick canopy above. Arde guessed that it was light in the afternoon, but he wouldn’t really know until he could get a clear view of the sun’s position in the sky.

He felt good. Great, in fact. He felt liberated from a tension he hadn’t truly been aware of, his limbs free of an ache they’d only just begun to suffer. It would be interesting to see how receiving the golden markings of a Yazd altered the flow of magic through his body.
>+10 to all rolls involving magic for the next 24hrs.

Makkar was nowhere to be seen, but all it took was a sharp whistle to bring the horse trotting back. He stopped at the edge of the stream, stomping a hoof and snorting impatiently. Rising somewhat unsteadily to his feet, Ardeshir took the time to pack the wooden box of hash back into his saddlebags along with his newly made pipe. Only then did he haul himself up into the saddle.

>(2/3)

An odd thought struck Ardeshir as he dug his heels gently into Makkar’s flanks. When he’d begun his meditation, the sound of birds singing and insects buzzing had been everywhere. It helped Arde drown out his own thoughts, and sink into a trance. Now the forest was silent, completely so. It sent a shiver down Ardeshir’s spine, even as Makkar carried him down the winding game trails.

Focusing for an instant, color faded and time slowed and immediately a distant distortion in the tavan stood out to Ardeshir’s magically enhanced sight. It was too large to be any individual creature, other than a Yazd or someone similarly trained in magic. However, that didn’t mean it couldn’t be something innocuous. It was probably just a pack of wolves or a herd of deer. Could even be a troop of monkeys, they tended to displace more of the tavan than a creature their size typically would.

>Keep an eye out for anything unusual, but otherwise proceed as you normally would.
>Spur Makkar into a canter, you trust your horse to keep his footing and you’d like to get back before sunset.
>Guide your horse off the trail and towards that distant distortion in the field of magic. You’d like to investigate a little.
>Write-in

>>2966838
>Guide your horse off the trail and towards that distant distortion in the field of magic. You’d like to investigate a little.

>>2966838
>Guide your horse off the trail and towards that distant distortion in the field of magic. You’d like to investigate a little.
magic monkeys!

And that'll be the end of this session, but I'll be back tomorrow earlier to continue.

>>2966858
Would a magical murder beast displace the tavan like a trained human?

>>2966912
Who knows~?

>>2966838
>Guide your horse off the trail and towards that distant distortion in the field of magic. You’d like to investigate a little.
Let's mind control whatever it is and force it to call us mother.

>>2966838
>Guide your horse off the trail and towards that distant distortion in the field of magic. You’d like to investigate a little.

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>>2966842
>>2966849
>>2967001
>>2967250
>Did somebody say PLOT HOOK?

>>2967001
What kind of quest do you think this is? Some shitty power fantasy with little to no substance?

>>2967677
Lord knows if it was meant to be a power fantasy it's a shitty one. We fail every roll.

Welcome back Soma

>>2967677
I just want to be a daddy again. Also, two bitcoins says our horse gets hiked when we investigate the distraction.

>>2968213
Then adopt one of the children you'll inevitably leave orphaned.

Anyway, POST SOON, had to step out for lunch.

>>2968849
Nigger.

>>2968849
2d children > 3d children, you 10% g.
Also parenting with these kinds of rolls is guaranteed suffering anyways and that's always a good thing.

>>2968950
Remember that adding people to our party is a curse. Child, adult or what have you, do not accept companions.

Time accelerated as Ardeshir’s focus lapsed. His curiosity was piqued, and against his better judgment he applied some pressure with his thighs to Makkar’s flanks. The horse responded quickly to its rider’s cues, abandoning the narrow game trail they’d followed thus far in favor of the wild underbrush to its right side. Their pace slowed by necessity, as the terrain was rocky and the slope was steep. Makkar handled himself capably despite the difficult footing, and so allowed Ardeshir to turn his attention elsewhere.

Every few seconds he’d glance through his altered perception at the distortion in the tavan, in an attempt to discern whether it was something alive or perhaps a natural anomaly. The distortion was motionless at first, but after riding in its direction for ten or fifteen minutes it began to move. It surprised him the first time color faded from the world only to reveal the odd confluence of blue seemed to have grown no closer. It was a pattern that held for the next half hour, even after discovering a new game trail and transitioning from a walk to a canter.

He’d been debating whether or not to abandon the whole endeavor when finally the creature, whatever it was, stopped moving. Ardeshir was confident that it was a singular creature, and not a group of animals. Moreover, he had a creeping suspicion that it was aware of him. Otherwise it would have appeared to grow nearer and father away at random, and perhaps changed direction, rather than maintaining such an exact distance between him and it.

Ardeshir pulled back on the reigns as his search leads him to the mouth of a cave. The place smelled awful, like rotting meat and fresh blood. Rocks and debris were piled at the entrance into a ramshackle wall, and there were bones everywhere. Examining them, they seemed to mostly be chicken and animal bones, nothing large enough to be a human, which was a small comfort. That said there was a goat skull mounted quite prominently atop the wall, almost directly in the center of the cave’s entrance. Whatever lived here certainly seemed to possess a degree of intelligence. Perhaps he’d accidentally discovered the abode of some reclusive hermit?

(1/2)

Peering in the darkness beyond the cavern’s mouth revealed little and less about what might dwell inside, but focusing on his altered perception revealed the source of the distortion no more than a few dozen bazovan beyond the entrance. The darkness had vanished, replaced by a dark grey half-light which allowed him a glimpse of the cave floor. A half-eaten goat carcass lie in one corner of the chamber, its entrails spilled out across the stone. Other than that, nothing stood out to him as particularly odd. The creature itself was around a bend in the cavern, just out of sight.

>Call out into the cave, see if you can draw out whatever is inside.
>Dismount and invite yourself in, relying on your altered perception to guide you in the dark.
>Nah, fuck this. This feels like a trap. Turn around and leave.
>Write-in

>>2969465
>Dismount and invite yourself in, relying on your altered perception to guide you in the dark.
Draw!

>>2969465
>>Call out into the cave, see if you can draw out whatever is inside.

>>2969465
>Write-in
Dismount, then draw our pistol to have it ready.
Then, manipulate a single bone to wack it as loudly against the furthest wall of the cave we can. Noise might trigger it, whatever it is.

>>2969465
>Wish you were a nobles son capable of bending the elements to his will and with a harem of a slut a muscled retard a robot and a airheaded genius

>>2969465
>Call out into the cave, see if you can draw out whatever is inside.

>>2969465
>Dismount and invite yourself in, relying on your altered perception to guide you in the dark.

>>2969465
>Call out into the cave, see if you can draw out whatever is inside. Pistol ready.

>>2969465
>Dismount and invite yourself in, relying on your altered perception to guide you in the dark.

>>2969598
>>2969522
>>2969490
>>2969598
>Ayo holmes wer u @?

>>2969584
>>2969498
>>2969484
>>2969679
>Climb off your high horse.

>>2969500
>Shitpost

I think I'll basically go with >>2969498, dismount but don't actually enter the cave.

>>2969749
Choo-Choo!

Reaching down to his waist, Ardeshir pulled the revolver from his sash and pulled the hammer back to half-cock. Flipping open a hinged gate he gently rotated the cylinder to find that of the six chambers, only five were loaded. A measure taken to ensure the weapon wouldn’t go off while it was being carried. Retrieving a cartridge from his bandolier he slotted it into the empty space, then flipped the gate closed and pulled the hammer back to full-cock.

Now certain that his gun was actually loaded, Ardeshir dismounted his horse and guided it over to a near-by tree. He knotted the reigns around a tree branch loose enough that with a decent effort Makkar could break free, but tight enough that he hopefully wouldn’t be able to bolt at the sound of gunfire. Arde certainly hoped that whatever dwelled in the cave wasn’t hostile, but it was best to be prepared.

Resting his finger across the trigger guard, Ardeshir glanced around for something he could chuck into the cave. Focusing on what appeared to be the femur of a deer, or possibly a goat, he lifted it into the air with a thought. A jerk of her chin sent it flying into the cave with significant force, and it cracked loudly against the chamber’s back wall. The creature hiding inside snorted animalistically, and he heard stones clattering as it shifted its weight, but it showed no inclination to show itself.

“Come on out, if you’re something I can reason with.” Ardeshir called out into the cave, the only response the echo of his own voice. “I don’t plan on hurting you unless you plan on hurting me.”

He thought he saw movement near the back of the cave, off to the left, and focusing for a moment the darkness retreated. He could see lightning crackling between a pair of enormous antlers, and three yellow eyes staring back at him from what looked to be the warped head of a goat. The creature ducked back behind the stone before he could pick out much by way of detail.

>Fuck that shit, collapse the mouth of the cave to seal away whatever lies inside.
>See if you can't get it to poke it's head out again. You'll try to plant a bullet in its third eye.
>It doesn't seem openly hostile, but it's clearly a demon of some sort. You'll leave it be for now and report it to the Nakjirgar.
>Write-in

>>2970011
>See if you can't get it to poke it's head out again. You'll try to plant a bullet in its third eye.
ENOUGH TO KILL ANYTHING THAT MOVES

>>2970011
>See if you can't get it to poke it's head out again. You'll try to plant a bullet in its third eye.
The fuck is this ridiculous shit? We gotta show the others after we kill it.

>>2970011
>See if you can't get it to poke it's head out again. You'll try to plant a bullet in its third eye.

>>2970030
redneck wizard quest

>>2970011
Adopt it. It's our new son.

>>2970011
>>See if you can't get it to poke it's head out again. You'll try to plant a bullet in its third eye.

>>2970011
>It doesn't seem openly hostile, but it's clearly a demon of some sort. You'll leave it be for now and report it to the Nakjirgar.

>>2970023
>>2970030
>>2970040
>>2970057
>Suffer not the mutant.

>>2970052
>Suffer the mutant

>>2970067
>Let someone else deal with the mutant.

>>2970089
By the way I did notice that we, in fact, actually happened to find a form of goat.

ROOOOLL ME 1d100+40 (+30 from Impressive Marksmanship, +10 from Hawk-Eyed) vs DC 70 (Base 50 for Medium Range, +20 from Full Cover)

Rolled 81 + 40 (1d100 + 40)

>>2970155

Rolled 43 + 40 (1d100 + 40)

>>2970155

Rolled 81 + 40 (1d100 + 40)

>>2970155
Ez

Rolled 99 + 40 (1d100 + 40)

>>2970155

>>2970156
>>2970161
>>2970169
>121, 83, 121
>Great Success!

The dice are clearly telling you to be a pistol wizard.

>>2970174
it was an effective dc of 30 soma

>>2970174
Gun is new magic. Got it

>>2970174
I mean we can use guns, we can use magic so why not both?

>>2970180
Truly we are the best at passing rolls with a 2% chance of failure.

>>2970174
Revolver Goat ( Ardeshir Abdul-Hakim )

>>2970180
You guys needed a win, I can't blame him.

>>2970180
Average of four rolls was still 76

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Time accelerated as Ardeshir relaxed his focus, but not fully. He kept just enough power flowing through his eyes to beat back the darkness. Looking down the barrel of the revolver he lined up the sights with the corner of the cave where he’d last seen the antlered beast. His finger slipped inside the guard to rest lightly against the the trigger. The metal was still warm from his body heat.

All that remained was to get whatever warped demon dwelled in the cave to poke its head out so he could put a bullet in its skull.

The fractured femur he’d previously tossed lifted up off the ground and shot off to the left. He hoped he’d peg the creature with a fragment of bone and irritate it enough to show itself. The plan didn’t quite work as intended. Bone smacked loudly against stone, but there was no indication that the beast cared. Frowning, Ardeshir focused his will. A bolt of lightning shot from the knuckles of his right hand, running along the barrel of his revolver before shooting forward. When it impacted the back wall, the lichen growing there burst into flames.

He hadn’t expected a monster twice the size of a man to come barreling around the corner, its head lowered to present its antlers. It approached at a dead sprint, but as Ardeshir focused time slowed. He had all the time in the world to line up his shot. He squeezed the trigger and watched the hammer slam home. There was a half second delay before his hand was consumed by fire and smoke. The bullet traveled too fast for even Ardeshir’s altered sight to perceive, planting itself firmly in the demon’s third eye.

His focus lapsed and time accelerated. The creature lost its footing, slamming to the ground hard enough to shake the earth. It slid a few feet across the pebble-strewn cave floor and then laid still. Makkar whinnied nervously at the sound of the gunshot, but didn't bolt.

>Draw your knife, you’ll want to take a part of it back to the monastery as proof.
>Welp, that’s your job done. Head back to the temple for a bath.
>Write-in

>>2970425
>Write-in
Be sure to double tap, and then take a trophy.

>>2970425
>Welp, that’s your job done. Head back to the temple for a bath.
Problem solved. No big deal.

>>2970425
>Draw your knife, you’ll want to take a part of it back to the monastery as proof.

>>2970425
>>Draw your knife, you’ll want to take a part of it back to the monastery as proof.
Shoot it again, just in case. And keep an eye out for anything that might have reacted to the noise

>>2970431
Supporting.Make sure it stays down

>>2970431
>>2970445
>>2970446
>Double tap

>>2970437
>All in a day's work.

>>2970440
>>2970431
>>2970445
>>2970446
>[x] → → Wendigo Corpse → Large Steel Dagger

>>2970425
>Set up camp and fully skin this bitch, why take a trophy when you can take it all
Wendigos make good coats I hear

Pulling back the hammer, Ardeshir approached the prone monstrosity cautiously. It was all just a little too easy, and he knew that the creature possessed a degree of intelligence. The last thing he wanted was to kneel down with his knife in hand only for it to spring back to life. That in mind, once he got within about ten bardovan of the apparent corpse he raised his revolver and lined up the sights with the back of its head. The gunshot was deafening in the enclosed space of the cave, but surely enough the demon jerked violently as the bullet ventilated its skull. It convulsed briefly, the last vestiges of life draining from its form, before finally it went still.

The thought that this creature was smart enough to lie in ambush for him was somewhat disconcerting. It displayed a degree of intelligence and a capability for planning which its monstrous form belied. A few swift kicks in the ribs were enough to confirm that the beast was dead, and once safe in that knowledge Ardeshir tucked his revolver back into the sash about his waist. All that was left was to claim a trophy.

>The thing’s head will display to all and sundry that it is unnatural.
>Sawing through its spinal column seems like a lot of work, why not just take the hide?
>The antlers are superficially similar to a deer’s, but they’d serve as proof to an experienced hunter.
>Write-in

Clever bastards, if you hadn't voted to double tap you'd have been screwed.

>>2970540
>My write-in spoiled Soma's plans
Feels Goodman.

>The thing's head will display to all and sundry that it is unnatural.

>>2970540
>The thing’s head will display to all and sundry that it is unnatural.
Would a claw be useful to scavenge

>>2970540
>The thing’s head will display to all and sundry that it is unnatural.
>Sawing through its spinal column seems like a lot of work, why not just take the hide?
Why not both? a nice head to mount over the fireplace and a demon rug to have the local variant of doggo to sleep on.

>>2970540
>take all of it

>>2970540
>The thing’s head will display to all and sundry that it is unnatural.

>>2970540
Head and hide.

>>2970540
>>The thing’s head will display to all and sundry that it is unnatural.

>>2970549
I mean, yeah sure why not both. I'll change my vote to this.

>>2970549
>>2970561
>>2970556
>>2970550
>Why not both?

>>2970559
>>2970554
>>2970547
>Take the head

Both it is. I'll hopefully be able to get that post up tomorrow. Ideally by the end of the week we'd be able to wrap up this monastery arc and move on to the first mission.

>>2970540
>The antlers are superficially similar to a deer’s, but they’d serve as proof to an experienced hunter.

>>2970577
> Wear its face like a mask

>>2970600
It is always a good idea to put on a mask.

>>2970600
skinwalker pls

>>2970600
Dead meme from dead quest

>Our altered perception thing is basically just Deadeye from RDR.
I see Soma is excited for the 26th

>>2972405
Who needs magic when you have a gun and can slow down time?

>>2972405
I realized this too, but it wasn't actually intentional. Also you're not slowing down time so much as accelerating your perception.

It is a pretty rare ability though. The gene for magic sight is dominant and expressed by both those with magical talent and without. However, only a very very small percentage of the population has the gene.

>>2973931
So you're saying the idea of getting a bunch of guns and floating them around us and being a walking proto-machine gun is perfect for us?
Or maybe just the bullets and setting them off with magic

>>2973931
>you're not slowing down time so much as accelerating your perception
And that's not how it works in Red Dead? Are there just wild west cowboys with time control powers then?

>>2973931
>Dominant gene with clear advantages
Welp time to go genghis khan on the worlds populace.

>>2973936
Are you telling me that the protagonist of Red Dead is not, in fact, a paradox mage? Bullshit.

>>2973942
>Shh, shhhhh. I'm raping you for the good of humanity.

>>2973934
Either could work. Bullets alone would be crazy difficult to aim.

>>2973934
Some kind of extended cylinder setup? We can ditch the handle, trigger and hammer if we can just directly ignite the powder and the casing wouldn't need a cap either.

>>2973942
That sounds like a pain. Why don't we just have a single son and have him go genghis khan for us?

Lol imagine being enough of a total cuck to keep following soma

>>2973953
>paradox mage
I've only seen ToME with that.

What the actual shit is this Soma for real ?

>>2982163
Dead

File: #Trivia.jpg (131 KB, 680x402)

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That's right, it's Trivia time again! Recent Discussion Edition.

>Novice
Which of Mikhael's companions is best suited to the task of killing him?

>Apprentice
How many Darzis would you need to successfully kill Mik the requisite two times needed to kill him?

>Vatis
How many Meeseeks are running around in Mahana's spirit realm?

>Master
What was Mik's insanity when he dashed through Anthus in a mad rush to the Vys Metamagic scroll?
>Grandmaster
How many Darzis would you need in order to have a 95% chance of forcing Mik to flee from a fight?

File: Soma - NPC.png (117 KB, 400x400)

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IF{Flake=TRUE}
RunProgram{Selfdeprecatinghumor.exe}

Hehe, sorry guys but you know how much of a hack, loser, potato-eating faggot I am.

Gonna have to do some work this saturday, so no new thread until at least next week.

File: slapdshota.png (536 KB, 872x634)

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>>2983054

>>2983054
>you know how much of a hack, loser, potato-eating faggot I am.
The first step is admitting you have a problem.

>>2983065
That's an old trip. But Soma probably is gonna cancel anyways.

>>2982995
>Which of Mikhael's companions is best suited to the task of killing him?
It should be Chryssa thanks to her anti-magic bow and potentially being able to one-shot him if she hits the head from far away.
>What was Mik's insanity when he dashed through Anthus in a mad rush to the Vys Metamagic scroll?
I think it was a 7/10

Does all Darzi clones have that armor we gave her?

>>2983091
I can guarantee that I'll run tomorrow.
It will be a short session though. I'll try to run throughout next week to compensate.

>>2983209
You owe me money if you don't run now.
Also if you plan to just take this quest and turn it into a book which I wouldn't doubt you trying to do with your gay third person perspective I will be suing on the grounds that our choices for the main character were a vital role in his character development thuse entitling us to a percentage of your royalties

>>2983219
Who the fuck would pay to read this garbage?

File: the answer is (...).png (727 KB, 1200x1824)

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1000 hours in mspaint

>>2983896
One should be enough if Mik burns all his husk for some reason

File: za_warudo.gif (1.95 MB, 500x281)

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>>2966355
>Focusing for a moment, the sound of birdsong faded and time seemed to slow to a crawl. Color faded from the world, the sea of grey broken up sporadically by streaks of bright blue lightning. A faint, electric aura surrounded Makkar
we Dio now

Alright, I'm writin' the update. Post soon.
It'll be a shorter session today, but I'll try to post more during the week to compensate.

File: Mantu_in_a_steamer.jpg (1.57 MB, 5616x3744)

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Grabbing onto the creature’s horns, Ardeshir reared back with as much strength as he could muster, struggling to shift the hundreds of pounds of mutated flesh splayed out on the cave floor. He managed to haul it a few angoshtan before giving up. At this rate he’d spend the rest of the afternoon hauling this thing out of its cave. Instead of continuing to struggle, he returned to where he’d tied off Makkar and dug around in his saddlebag, retrieving a coil of rope as well as a heavy waterskin and a small wrapped package of dumplings. The corpse certainly wasn’t going anywhere, and truth be known he was rather peckish, so he could allow himself a half hour for lunch.

Ardeshir crossed the clearing, depositing the coil of rope beside the wall and sitting next to it with his back against the piled stones. Unwrapping the twine from around the waterskin’s neck, he pulled out the length of horn that sealed it shut and carefully raised it to his lips. He was surprised to find that, rather than water, it was filled with dugh. It was thick and spicy, diluted yogurt served as a vessel for a mixture of mint, salt, pepper. It bubbled on his tongue, the result of a few day’s fermentation. It was a little too pungent for Ardeshir’s taste, whoever had mixed this batch added a little too much pepper, but he enjoyed it nonetheless.

The dumplings were less of a treat. Upon taking the first bite he found the onions crunchy and the beef raw, they were entirely under cooked. Fortunately there was a simple enough fix. With a thought the earth cracked and shifted, a basin raising itself before him. The stone underneath crumbled away, revealing a roaring fire fueled by his will alone. He shaved off the top layer of stone and tossed it aside, then deposited the remaining contents of his first dumpling into the basin. He let the fats render before dropping in the seven remaining dumplings.

Ardeshir allowed them to get nice and brown on the bottom before conjuring a measure of water from the moisture in the air and dropping it in the bowl. It hit the hot stone and began to boil, but before it could sublimate entirely the sides of the stone basin began to coil inward, shifting until rather than a bowl the dumplings were cradled in a sealed sphere. A few minutes later he was enjoying his dumplings, cooked through completely rather than essentially raw. They were a little burnt on the bottom, probably because he didn’t have any oil to cook them in, but still better than they were before.

(1/4)

Once the dumplings were polished off and he’d had his full of dugh, Ardeshir shoved the length of horn back in the neck of the waterskin and tied it off. He grabbed the coil of rope and took the time to shove it back into his saddlebag before untying Makkar’s reins and leading him out into the clearing. It took Ardeshir a while to figure out how to rig up a make-shift harness, but eventually he had the rope tied about his horse’s neck and shoulders. He had to fight the stubborn bastard to get him into the cave but after that he stayed mostly still enough for Arde to knot the rope around the mutant’s horns.

What had proven insurmountably difficult for Ardeshir, seemed to be hardly any trouble at all for Makkar. He walked out of the cave dragging along the enormous corpse with hardly any effort. Once the monster was out in the light of day, Ardeshir brought the horse to a stop and undid the knots holding together Makkar’s makeshift harness. It fell to the ground, and once Ardeshir had Makkar tied once more to a near-by tree he turned his attention fully to the three-eyed mutant. Grabbing it by the shoulder he rolled it, with difficulty, onto its back. Then he drew his knife and began the grizzly work of skinning its hide.

Dropping to his knees beside the beast, Ardeshir quickly determined that it had been male. It had a set of heavy testicles swinging between its legs, and an oddly humanoid penis. He pressed the blade of his knife firmly to the creature’s warped pelvis and severed these to make the rest of his job easier. Then he carefully carved into the flesh around its anus, so that when he ripped out its intestines everything would pull out smoothly. That done, he used the incision he’d made to geld the creature in order to cut the hide all the way up to its throat, where he stopped.

Its guts were practically bursting out of its torso, steaming in the chill evening air. Already he could tell that there was something very wrong with this creature. Blue veins ran along the surface of its stomach and intestines, and there was a mass of crystallized essence sitting like a tumor between its stomach and diaphragm, which he cut free and set aside. A chunk that large would sell for quite a heavy purse, or he could devise his own uses for it.

This was always the part he hated most. He didn’t want to use his pesh-kabz to saw through the beast’s sternum, so instead he made an incision in the wall of muscle that separated its chest cavity from its intestines. Thankfully there was no blood, or at least not much. Shoving his arm up to the elbow he groped around until he felt the hard ball of muscle that is the heart. It felt wrong, rough and sharp, but he ignored that for now. Instead he shoved it aside to make room for his knife. He pushed past the heart to find the trachea, which with some difficulty he managed to sawed through.

(2/4)

Once the trachea was severed, he cut away at the diaphragm to free it from the ribcage. Then, setting his knife aside, Ardeshir grabbed firm hold of the beast’s trachea and pulled it out through the its now gaping abdomen. It took a little effort, but with before long he deposited the mutant’s internal organs still steaming on the stone floor of the clearing.

As he suspected, the creature’s vitals were crusted over with essence. It just flaked off as Arde ran his hands over the surface of its lungs. He’d never seen contamination like this before, and couldn’t imagine how a goat of all things could have been exposed to enough magic to generate so much essence. He gathered as much of it as he could, setting it with the tumorous growth he’d retrieved from the creature’s diaphragm.

Now that he had it gutted, Ardeshir carefully cut into its elbow to expose the joint. Bracing his foot against its bicep, he scored the joint with the edge of his knife before setting it aside. With both hands he pulled and twisted, snapping one of its arms clean off at the elbow. He tossed it aside, and did the same thing with the other arm, before moving down to the legs. He snapped the beast’s knees in a similar fashion, but left them attached by the hide so that he could use them as handles when he ripped the hide off later. He also left the heel cord as untouched as he could manage, to facilitate what came next.

Retrieving the harness from where it sat on the floor of the clearing, he undid the series of knots which kept it together and strung one end through both of the mutant’s heel cords. Then he quickly tied off a noose and dragged the other end of the rope over to the tree branch Makkar was hitched to. Draping the rope over the branch, he tied it about Makkar’s saddle horn and untied his reins from the branch. He walked the horse forward until the beast’s corpse was dangling in the air, its shoulders still resting on the ground.

The process of freeing the hide from the underlying layer of muscle was simple enough. He used the creature’s severed forelegs to start, but once that was no longer practical he simply used his fist. It took all of a minute to rip off the mutant’s thick hide, at least down to its neck. Skinning it had revealed yet more veins of blue running through its muscle layer, thick and well developed. It was somewhat disturbing to think that Ardeshir’s own flesh might look similar.

(3/4)

Dressing the creature had been a mostly bloodless process up to that point. Certainly blood had pooled around the creature’s caved in skull, but Ardeshir’s hands had remained remarkably clean. Sadly that did not remain the case. Pressing his palm against the blunt back of his pesh-kabz, he placed the blade between two of the monster’s exposed vertebrae and began to saw. Thankfully most of the vitae had drained over the course of the last half hour, so when he punctured the blood vessels on either side of the neck he didn’t have to worry about ruining his robes.

Once the head was severed he didn’t really have much need for the rest of the creature. He draped his trophy over the back of his horse, much to Makkar’s displeasure, then untied the noose to let the rest of the corpse flop lifelessly to the floor of the clearing. He bundled up the tumorous growth of essence and the flakes he’d rubbed off of the creature’s vitals in the same cloth his dumplings had been kept in.

>Burn the corpse, and the rest of its organs. Lest consuming its tainted flesh spread the corruption.
>Dedicate it to the Xodayan Kohan and leave it for the wolves, vultures, and other scavengers.
>Write-in

>>2985818
>Burn the corpse, and the rest of its organs. Lest consuming its tainted flesh spread the corruption.

>>2985818
>Dedicate it to the Xodayan Kohan and leave it for the wolves, vultures, and other scavengers.

>Food porn and gore in the same post.
I don't know if my body was ready.

>4k+ characters of food/magic porn
aww yeah that hits the vein

>>2985818
>Write-in
Cut out choice bits to consume for demonic power. Or, more pointedly, because we can say we eat demons for supper.

>>2985818
How many darzis does it take to kill a mik soma?
You should be able to solve this.

>>2985818
>also write-in
Keep that chunk of neato essence too. For potential.

>>2985848
Probably one. She'd just need to brain him real good while he's sleeping.

>>2985917
*ascends*
pssh nothing personel roastie

Where did everyone go?

>>2985818
>Burn the corpse.

>>2986109
>>2985826
>Burn

>>2985829
>Dedicate

>>2985836
>Butcher

Writin' for burn.

>>2986079
It's late on a Saturday and I didn't exactly announce the session in advance. Probably going to be a bit slow.

Back in a bit, gonna eat dinner.

>>2986187
You spend an absolutely sexual amount of time with your food, don't you?

>>2986643
How else do you think I get the inspiration to write all that food porn?
Nah but I've been back for a while, post is probably like, 2/3rds of the way done.

Ardeshir briefly considered offering the mutant to the gods Karkas, Gorg, Shogal, Kaftar, and all the other various animal-headed deities which compose the Xodayan Kohan. However, he couldn’t be sure that they would accept such an offering. Gorg, at least, was known to detest the mutant and exult in their extermination. In the end, he decided it was better to simply burn the corpse to ash rather than going through the trouble of sanctifying it. With that in mind he hauled the, now much lighter, carcass out into the center of the clearing and spent a few minutes collecting dry branches and pine needles.

Once he had enough wood and kindling gathered he piled it both inside the creature’s vacated body cavity and surrounding the corpse as well. He tossed the vitals on top of the pyre once he’d assembled it, and with a twitch of his fingers the entire structure was consumed in flame. Much of it dissipated after the initial burst, failing to ignite the wood, but the kindling had caught and the fire quickly spread to the rest of the wood.

He was surprised when a loud pop rang through the clearing. Louder than the sizzling of fat had any right to be. It was followed by a rapid succession of similar pops, some of them powerful enough to send half-burnt wooden branches flying off of the pyre which, had it not been for Ardeshir’s presence, could have landed in the dry underbrush and started a forest fire. Fortunately he was there to catch them before they landed, and could extinguish them with a thought.

The pops reached a crescendo perhaps five minutes after they began, and then rapidly petered off until the only sound in the clearing was the crackling of the fire. The smell of burnt meat and sizzling fat filled the air, and no doubt before long scavengers would arrive to pick over the scraps. Hopefully there wouldn’t be anything left.

Satisfied that his task was complete, Ardeshir took a moment to search the cave in which the beast had apparently lived. He found a collection of soiled hay, where the mutant had probably slept. A wide variety of animal bones scattered everywhere, along with a few odd bits and pieces of stolen farm equipment; a broken rake, what might have been part of a plow, and a shovel. There was the half of a goat sitting in the corner, but not much else of interest. Certainly nothing valuable.

(1/2)

Abandoning the cave, Ardeshir returned to Makkar and untied the rope from his saddle horn. He took a moment to recoil the rope before stuffing it into his saddlebag along with the tied up bundle of essence he’d retrieved from the goat-headed monster. Then he mounted his horse, took hold of the reins, and gently coaxed it into a trot. The game trails led them down the mountain’s slopes, all the way to the edge of the forest. They emerged into the narrow strip of cleared land beyond the edge of a farming plot, a low stone wall separating the neatly aligned earthen trellises laden with grape vines. The harvest had not yet begun in earnest, but soon these fields would be swarming with itinerant laborers rushing to get the fruit in before the first hard frost.

He followed the strip of cleared land back to the road, passing rows upon rows of produce and a number of small farm houses. He had to stop at one point because a gang of children became distracted from their game of hide and seek upon spotting the monstrous hide draped across Makkar’s haunches. The oldest boy in the group had looked ready to piss himself when Ardeshir told him he’d found the beast in the woods.

Once back on the road proper Arde stood up in the stirrups and spurred his horse into a proper gallop. He wanted to get back to the monastery before nightfall, and that required a degree of haste. He shot past the Azad Parwiz, enjoying only for a short while the music drifting from beyond the walls, and dodged nimbly past carts and other riders on the road. The sun had dipped over the horizon by the time he arrived at the monastery’s stables, but the twilight was bright enough for him to comfortably see by. He found the stablehand still hard at work, picking out the hooves of one of a horse. Ardeshir retrieved a silver piece from a coin purse wrapped up in his waist to ensure Makkar received similar treatment before being put in his stall for the night.

Before he left he hauled the hide off the back of his horse, much to the shock and confusion of the stablehand once he saw it. Arde neglected to explain, instead retrieving the bundle of essence from Makkar’s saddlebag and leaving the care of his horse to his younger peer. Prizes in hand, or draped over his shoulder in the case of the hide, he began to make his way along the paths towards the temple’s high walls.

>Present the hide directly to the Dastur, he is the ruler of these lands after all.
>Seek the advice of the Sepahi, the yazd in charge of the armory and trusted with the defense of the order.
>Stow your trophies in your room and make your way to the baths. You’ve only got perhaps an hour until it’s time for the ceremony to begin.
>Write-in

This'll be the last post of the night. Don't count on a post tomorrow, but I'll run again on Monday.

>>2986797
>>Present the hide directly to the Dastur, he is the ruler of these lands after all

>>2986797
>Seek the advice of the Sepahi, the yazd in charge of the armory and trusted with the defense of the order.

>>2986797
>Stow your trophies in your room and make your way to the baths. You’ve only got perhaps an hour until it’s time for the ceremony to begin.

>>2986797
>Present the hide directly to the Dastur, he is the ruler of these lands after all.

>>2986797
>Stow your trophies in your room and make your way to the baths. You’ve only got perhaps an hour until it’s time for the ceremony to begin.
it's our fucking hide and no nigger kike is gonna get it.

>>2986797
>Seek the advice of the Sepahi, the yazd in charge of the armory and trusted with the defense of the order.

>>2986797
>Seek the advice of the Sepahi, the yazd in charge of the armory and trusted with the defense of the order.

>>2987583
>>2987125
>>2986826
>Ayo bruh what's the deets?

>>2986825
>>2986848
>Check out this weird shit

>>2986947
>>2986847
>Hide the evidence.

The guard standing at the door merely nodded to Ardeshir as he approached, eying the pelt draped over his shoulder with clear curiosity but evidently deciding not to ask after its source. Instead he cupped his hand to one side of his mouth and called out to the other side of the wall, “Brother Ardeshir returning from a hunt!”

A heavy thud signaled the latch coming undone, and the door swung open promptly. Ardeshir passed through into the courtyard beyond, a courtyard now empty save for the servants collecting the day’s offerings. He greeted the guard on the other side of the gate only briefly before continuing on to the armory, where he set about the task of putting away the supplies he’d taken with him into the woods. He used the ejector rod to empty the cylinder on his revolver, tossing the spent cartridges in a scrap barrel while saving the unused cartridges for later. Then, after retrieving a thin brush with fine bronze bristles, he made his way over to a metal basin on the wall and twisted a knob.

It took a few seconds, but soon cold water came rushing through the iron spigot. Ardeshir waited until the basin was about half full and then shut off the water, conjuring a flame underneath to get it hot. While it warmed he grabbed a worn down bar of soap off the edge of the basin and dipped it into the water, working it until the water was frothy. By the time he was satisfied the water was almost intolerably hot, so he allowed the flame to dissipate and set the soap aside. Grabbing his revolver, Ardeshir carefully dipped the firearm into the soapy water and began to scrub out the barrel with the end of the brush. He did his best to avoid getting the wooden grip wet.

The water was pitch black by the time he’d finished, a fact Ardeshir found more than a little disconcerting. He was amazed the gun had fired at all, considering the degree of fouling. After pouring in a little whale oil and running a dry rag through the barrel a few times he debated cleaning out the cylinder as well, but decided against it in the end. He would let someone else deal with whatever filth had accumulated there. Instead he loaded five of the chambers and made sure that the hammer was sitting over the empty sixth, then placed it back on the rack where he’d found it.

(1/3)

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Having carried out his duty to his fellow brothers and sisters of the order, Ardeshir turned his attention instead to what he intended to do about the creature he’d discovered in the woods. It hadn’t been especially difficult to dispatch the beast, but it showed a degree of intelligence that most animals lacked. If more than one of them existed out in those woods they could wreak havoc on the outlying farms and villages.

In the end, he decided to seek the Sepahi’s advice. They were charged with the defense of the order’s lands, and that aside Yazd Roshan was an old soldier who’d forgotten more about warfare than Arde would probably ever know. If anyone in the temple had encountered one of these mutants before, it would undoubtedly be the Sepahi. His mind made up, Ardeshir draped the hide once more over his shoulder and exited the armory. The sparring grounds were abandoned at this hour, save for a lone initiate practicing his forms against a mannequin. The main hall was similarly abandoned with the exception of the temple cats variously napping or grooming themselves by the fountain.

Descending the ladder into the underground complex which formed the bulk of the temple, Ardeshir quickly navigated the maze-like hallways to the office of the Sepahi. His knock was answered by a loud, wordless grunt which Ardeshir took for permission to enter.

Inside he found the old Yazd’s office in disarray. Papers were scattered on every available surface, including the leather-backed chairs positioned before the man’s desk. The Sepahi himself, a large man by any measure with golden markings which reached from the base of his neck to the soles of his feet, was sitting with his legs propped on a footstool. He stroked his long white beard contemplatively while he read a document in precise, typed Votish. Ardeshir was only just able to read the title, ‘Military Report on the Turani Shahdom’, before Yazd Roshan placed it face down on his desk.

“What is-” The Yazd cut himself off upon seeing the hide draped over Ardeshir’s shoulder. “Gods and ancestors, Ardeshir, where did you find that beast?”

“In the woods on the slopes of the northern mountains, living in a cave off the beaten path.” Arde explained while pulling the hide off his shoulder and laying it across the back of one of the Sepahi’s chairs. He busied himself clearing off the other, sitting down with a grateful sigh once he finished. The plush leather was a welcome respite from the saddle.

(2/3)

Once seated he dug the bundle of essence out from the folds of his sash and carefully unwrapped it, placing it on the Sepahi’s desk. “I also found these when I was dressing the creature in the field. I’ve little and less idea what might have exposed a goat, or whatever this creature was originally, to a large enough distortion in the tavan that it would be able to accumulate such a large clump of essence. It was growing like a tumor between its stomach and its diaphragm, attached to the latter. The smaller flakes were growing on its heart.”

Yazd Roshan reached across his desk and plucked up the largest chunk of essence, twisting it in his hands as he examined it. “What did you do with the corpse?” He finally asked after a moment’s thought.

“Burned it,” Ardeshir answered promptly. “It made the most curious popping noise while it burned, it almost reminded me of guns going off but on a smaller scale. Sent chunks of burning wood flying everywhere.”

The Yazd nodded approvingly. “Good instincts, wouldn’t want its taint spreading to any of the other wildlife. The popping you heard was likely the energy stored in the essence which polluted its form being released by the flame. Did you see any signs of others like it? They’ve been known to form packs when left to their own devices.”

“No, or at least I don’t think so.” Ardeshir glanced at the collapsed skull, considering his slain foe. “There were an awful lot of animal bones scattered around the cave it was living in, but it was an enormous creature with an appetite to match I’m sure. Has the monastery received any reports of livestock disappearing in the villages nearest the northern wood?”

The Sepahi wobbled his hand back and forth uncertainly. “A few, but nothing to suggest the presence of a mutant. I’d thought it was merely a pack of wolves which the hunters would deal with come the season. It might be the case that the beast was hunting for itself, or perhaps crossing over to the lawless forest on the other side of the mountain to find its sustenance.”

The older man stood, walking around the edge of his desk to get a better look at the hide. He ran his fingers across the numerous scars and old wounds which pockmarked its surface, pausing at a particularly jagged wound running along its spine. “Might have been run off of somewhere else that either failed to report it or didn’t receive help in time. I’ll need to send a letter to the court inquiring as to the nature of any ongoing investigations in our area. You can keep the essence but I’ll need to keep the hide as proof that the beast was slain. I’ll offer you a reward for the service you did the community, of course.”

>That’s it? Shouldn’t he organize some sort of search party to scour the woods?
>Couldn’t he just take the head? You were hoping to turn the hide into something.
>The hide should prove sufficient proof of the mutant’s demise, you want to keep the head.
>He can have it, so long as your reward is suitably lavish.
>Write-in

>>2993377
>Couldn’t he just take the head? You were hoping to turn the hide into something.

Back in a tic. Gonna make a cuppa.

>>2993377
>Couldn’t he just take the head? You were hoping to turn the hide into something.
>Mention the thing was clearly intelligent with how it played dead.

>>2993377
>>2993417
Second.

>>2993377
>Couldn’t he just take the head? You were hoping to turn the hide into something.

>>2993417
Supporting

>>2993470
>>2993417
>>2993406
>>2993467
>>2993487
>Just take the head

>>2993417
>>2993467
>>2993487
>It's a tricksy little bastard.

Writin' for >>2993417.

>>2993501
>>2993377
one more for mentioning its a tricky bastard

“I was actually hoping to turn the hide into something,” A cloak, or a pair of boots, or a holster maybe. Ardeshir hadn’t quite decided on the specifics, but there was plenty of material to work with. “Surely the head should be enough proof of the mutant’s fate.”

The Yazd shrugged, and the tavan twisted violently as he exerted his will. The strip of flesh which connected the head to the rest of the hide was severed cleanly, a precise and careful application of destruction magic. The head floated gently up to a hook on the wall, which found its way into the hole where the beast’s third eye used to be. “A fair enough point, not every day that a man kills one of these vermin. I can appreciate the desire to keep a trophy, gods know I’ve got a few.”

“And let me say, this creature was almost a worthy opponent,” Ardeshir frowned thoughtfully at the head hanging on the wall. “It laid a trap for me, one a less paranoid man may well have fallen for. I put a bullet in its third eye, dead center, and it fell to the ground hard enough to shake the earth. When I shot it in the back of the head it was to my surprise that it came back to life, twitching and spasming in its death throws. I think if I had let my guard down it would have picked me up and thrown me around like a children’s toy.”

The Sepahi returned to his seat, easing himself back into the letter with a grown of discomfort. Yazd Roshan huffed as he relaxed into the overstuffed leather. “Right, I’m not surprised. Even the basest animal warped by the influence of the tavan can display surprising intelligence. Fitting, considering the relationship between the tavan and consciousness. Show me a man who does not fear these beast and I will show you a fool.”

The old soldier pulled open one of his desk drawers and extracted an elaborately carved pipe, which he proceeded to stuff with a mixture of dried plant material pulled from the same drawer. “Now, what in my role as the defender of this monastic order can I offer you as a reward? A sack of bivar, your pick of the armory…?”

>Money sounds just fine.
>You'll take your pick of the armory.
>Let's just say he owes you a favor.
>Write-in

For reference, a bivar is a gold coin equal to ten thousand loqman, or twenty pansadan, or ten hezaran. As an example, Makkar is a fine horse from a registered bloodline. He cost roughly 800 bivar. A plot of fertile but otherwise undeveloped land would cost about 20 bivar depending on the seller. Most of the daily necessities of life (food, water, lodging, et cetera) cost between a few dozen loqman and a single hezar.

You are by no means poor, but you're also not as well off as some of your peers. I haven't decided exactly, but you've probably got one or two hundred bivar on hand and a thousand or so in the bank.

>>2993627
>A contingent of soldiers to serve either as guards or manservants

>>2993627
>You'll take your pick of the armory.

>>2993627
>You'll take your pick of the armory.

>>2993627
>>You'll take your pick of the armory.

>>2993627
How many bivar are in a sack and how much does a gun cost?

>>2993627
>You'll take your pick of the armory.

>>2993634
>>2993640
>>2993645
>>2993661
>gib guns

>>2993631
>gib mocks

Guns it is. Sorry about that folks, my fiancee got home and I got distracted. Next session will be later this week.

>>2994065
>got distracted
I understand you're a good christian boy but you can say you fucked her

>>2994065
>my fiancee
?????????????????????????

>>2994086
You can't have your own sitcom without a family. Which reminds me,

>>2994065
I'll give you $1k if you name either your son Zahak or your daughter Chryssa. $2k if you manage to add horns to either of 'em.

>>2994730
Chryssa is almost a real name. That's only worth like $500. I'll also give Soma $1k if he names his son Zahak though.

>>2995694
Good point.

>>2994065
$3.50 for Chryssa, $1k for Zahak.

>>2994730
>>2995694
wife's son*