>>6093829
"Twelve years!" Tyrm Godspeaker yells, taking a single enraged step forward, but his wrath so divided, he can't choose who to lunge for. "I fed you for TWELVE YEARS on the promise you'd guide Sera out of the True Wild. I even accepted your shrouded threats to her safety if I ever stopped and not only have you been leading her in circles with her not knowing more than a handful of days has passed, but you have the nerve to tell me to feed Awak as well?!" He rounds on the crow in question, as Soqed at the very least has the decency to look guilty. "And YOU put him up to this. I could feel your claws in this from the start, you feathered bastard! You don't even want a share of the sacrifice, do you? You only came here because your evil joke has grown dull and you wanted to kick the fire's embers back into life!"

"Always knew you were sharper than your average turd, Trym Fishfucker," the crow god cackles. "But why snap at me? I'm just saying things, same as I always do. You're just mad that you know I make enough sense to not ignore! Meanwhile the white mongrel should have known better, shouldn't he? Learning to lie like that? What mortal would trust you now?"

"Awak-!" Soqed bellows, snatching his spear from the offering and hurling it at the crow, who takes to the sky with a clatter of wings and mocking laughter.

You are Trym, chief of your tribe, godspeaker and shaman. For twelve years, you have kept peace with the gods and treated well with Soqed for the sake of your daughter, whom you struck a bargain with him to teach as a huntress. Now at Awak the Crow God's cruel humor, you have learned how the Wolf God has deceived both you and your Sera, all for the sake of extorting offerings from you, a situation itself encouraged by Awak. When the crow came to claim a share of tribute, rather than recant his wrongdoing or offer to split his share, Soqed's solution was to demand you pay off them both. Naturally, the crow never wanted the offering, only to expose the deception and sow chaos and anger, having grown bored of the status quo. Now you are left alone with Soqed in the half-built temple of the Wild Gods. Blind and old you may be, but you've killed the white wolf before and that was when he still took the form of the predator, rather than a human.

What will you do?
>Draw your knife and strike while Soqed's back is still turned to you
>Demand the Wolf God return your daughter that instant
>Silently swear to scheme against Soqed, knowing that you'd stand little chance fighting him now
>Declare that Awak's cruelty has gone too far and pledge a blood feud against the Crow God
>Seek Awak's life for his jest, but make common cause with Soqed to avenge his soiled honor
>Decide revenge is a young man's game, leave the temple in disgust and return to your wife and son

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>>6093830
>To any old players who yet remain, welcome back. To new players, welcome to the quest and I'm glad to have you!

This a soft reboot of a quest from years ago, where you begin in the stone age, as founder of a line of heroes that stretches throughout the history of your people. When, (not if) your current character dies, you continue as their child or sibling. It is a dangerous world and either through mishap, menace, misjudgment, malaise or simple old age, you will eventually pass away, but the legacy you leave and the family you raise will survive beyond you, to destinies your stone-age founder cannot even dream of.

While those familiar with the old threads will find plenty here from the old days, this new era is designed for new players to be able to join too.

Archive of the old days
>https://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/qstarchive.html?tags=Tide%20of%20Ages

A player's guide for new and old
>https://docs.google.com/document/d/14NLd9b4u6c9E0EiCYmlHIRFJ6hRT7Eu3agX_GWH1-kY/edit?usp=sharing

>>6093830
>Decide revenge is a young man's game, leave the temple in disgust and return to your wife and son

Make the son do something. Not us. Stress is bad for our heart and blood sugar levels. And let’s make use to eat some prunes tonight so we can go in the morning. It unhealthy to keep it blocked in at our age.

>Seek Awak's life for his jest, but make common cause with Soqed to avenge his soiled honor

>>6093844
My brother in Christ, you are in your early 50s not your 80s... And I don't think prunes are native to the valley.

>Demand the Wolf God return your daughter that instant

I mean, demand is a strong word. Why noy reason with the god? Both have been slighted by a bastard crow and have common ground. Offer to keep the offerings even, as a sign if good faith since, supposedly, Soqed has otherwise been kind to the tribe, right?

>>6093873
>Soqed has otherwise been kind to the tribe, right?
Soqed has aided some groups of hunters in exchange for offerings, yes, he's even helped you and been at least amicable in the past.

However he made a deal with you in good faith: For three times Sera's weight in meat every year, he would train her to be a huntress. When she learned everything he had to teach, he then told you he was, "Expanding the deal," and that she'd have to find her way home on her own. That said, the True Wild is a large and strange place and his pack might forget she was off the menu if the sacrifices stopped coming.

Now it's come to light that rather than just waiting for her to find her way out on her own all these years, Soqed has been intentionally misleading her, while she's unaware of how much time has truly passed. That falls a bit beyond merely, "Expanding the deal."

Look, I'm not saying we can trust the fur ball as far as our geriatric ass can throw him, but Soqed is our only real chance of getting daughter back. Let's just negotiate to fuck the bird over, get daughter back, and if we're able to roll like a mad man, call the wolf on his bull shit to try and get more out of him. Hell, maybe a claw talisman made from his paw or something for our daughter as an apology for 'allowing the poisonous words of that damned bird' to make him spit in the face of his relationship with the tribe. Also, she's probably baller as a hunter now and will be able to find the little shit fastish, right?

>>6093894
>>6093882
thing is can the wolf even prove she is alive anymore?

>>6093830
I'll switch from my troll vote to

>Seek Awak's life for his jest, but make common cause with Soqed to avenge his soiled honor

>>6093975
Soqed hasn't offered any assurances that Sera is alive and well, no, but given how he reacted to Awak spilling the beans about her being lead in circles, it's fairly reasonable to assume she's alive.

Kind of impressed the consensus is to fuck up Awak rather than Soqed, who took a much more active role in things and doesn't seem all that sorry when it comes down to it. Still, it's a good direction and a strong start. Looks like it's time to pluck that sonuvabitch

Your fingers grip the wood of your shaman staff, almost wishing you could snap the thing in two and throw Awak's depiction to the ground and shatter it under your heel, then maybe drive the shattered end into Soqed's back. With an effort, you force down your anger and remind yourself that Soqed's co-operation remains the best way you have to get Sera back. Without him, even if he were to stop misleading her now, you could journey downriver before seeing her again.

"That corpse-eating winged pestilence has gone too damn far this time," you snarl, your gritted teeth every bit as savage as the Wolf God's, albeit with slightly fewer points and ground down by the rough grain you yourself introduced to your clan's diet. "But he's made one mistake, one I mean to see is fatal: He thought his game would see us at one another's throat and too busy to go for his."

Soqed turns and regards you with a degree of surprise and cautious respect. Awak aside, clearly he expected you to want him dead for his part in this and while he may yet be right about that, you have more reasons to want him alive for the moment, reasons that Awak very much lacks.

"He's smeared shit over your honor as well," you point out, causing the Wolf to grit his teeth and snarl in frustration, clearly not pleased at being reminded. "We both have plenty of reason to want that shameless bastard dead. We find where he's run to and both of us get to have our satisfaction."

"Oh believe me, Wolfsbane, feeling that bird's neck in my jaws would be the sweetest meat I've yet tasted," Soqed agrees with a grin that would send a shiver down even your spine, if you still had the eyes to see it. "But he hides in the True Wild and when he doesn't want to be found, there are river-slick eels less slippery. Even I wouldn't be able to catch him and he's not fool enough to answer your summons if he suspects even an inkling of danger."

"The pack runs the prey to ground," you shake your head. "But we humans adapt our tactics depending on our prey. What we need to a trap, bait to lure Awak in and something to hold him still while you rip him apart."

"You have something in mind? But I am no fool either, Trym; why should I trust you? I can smell your bloodlust from here and I'm no newborn pup to think all of that is reserved for that repulsive bird."

"I have some ideas," you admit. "As for trusting me..."

>"We'll settle our affairs later. I don't want that bird slipping through our grasp." 7d10+3 (Charisma+Leader)
>"I want my daughter back. I give you Awak's blood and you give me Sera." 5d10+1 (Charisma+Shaman)
>"You can't trust me. So you'd better keep me where you can see me." 4d10 (Charisma)
>"How about you give me a reason why I should trust you!" 7d10+3 (Charisma+Leader)
>"You owe me. And it's a lot harder to collect from a corpse." 7d10+3 (Charisma+Leader)

NOTE: Some rolls that use the same skills or seem weaker, might have different difficulties to beat!

>"You owe me. And it's a lot harder to collect from a corpse." 7d10+3 (Charisma+Leader)

I'm not going to say that this is the correct answer. I'm just a fan of how much fuck around and find out energy it has. Also makes it clear that there is a debt owed.

>>6094065
>>"You owe me. And it's a lot harder to collect from a corpse." 7d10+3 (Charisma+Leader)
>"How perceptive of you, you notice something so easily visible. Is that the only thing you care to notice i wonder ? Beside offerings and sacrifices of course glutton, you certainly did not care to notice my anguish for my daughter while i waited for 20 years."
>"If you wanted anything else but my anger you would have not acted like this. You will not fool me or my tribe again. You have broken my trust, so when Awak dies you return Sera to me. No more expanding your deal, it ends there. I will not accept or care, anything else you offer."

>>6094098
>>6094897
Anons... You both forgot to roll.

Rolled 8, 6, 5, 9, 2 + 1 = 31 (5d10 + 1)

>>6094065
>"I want my daughter back. I give you Awak's blood and you give me Sera." 5d10+1 (Charisma+Shaman)

Typically on the board nowadays rolls are done after votes so choices don’t go to who just rolled the highest, but it doesn’t really matter.

>>6094987
Ah, but I handily avert that by a) only accepting the highest of the first three rolls for the successful option; and b) not telling you the difficulty of various rolls. Go ahead, vote for the highest number, I'm sure trying to demolish a bridge with your nutsack will definitely work and not have any negative consequences!

Now though, I have a quandry... Go with the majority vote (with no roll, guess I gotta do that myself), or the majority of one who actually remembered to roll? I guess we can give the other anons a chance to roll?

By the way, the reason I do it this way, is to combat slow posting times, so we don't have to wait about twice as long between updates.

Fuck it, I'm roll for the corpse then

Rolled 8, 9, 3, 10, 8, 3, 5 + 3 = 49 (7d10 + 3)

Accidentally capitalized the d in dice...

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>>6095269
>>6095271

Rolled 9, 3, 9, 9, 6, 6, 8 + 3 = 53 (7d10 + 3)

>>6094065

>>6094903
Frankly i thought we had to decide first which vote to pick. So no i did not forget

>>6094098
>>6094897
"How amazing that you were able to perceive something so obvious," you spit. Even with your eyes blinded, you still glare at the space you know Soqed occupies. "Is that the only thing you've cared to notice, I wonder? Besides offerings and sacrifice of course." A snarl twits your lip as you shake your head. "Glutton. You certainly didn't care to notice my worry, my anguish for my daughter while I waited for twelve years."

"Watch your tongue, Godspeaker," Soqed sniffs. "I see old age hasn't given you the wisdom it provided others in your clan. Or did you forget the respect that you decided we gods deserve?" You swear you can hear your blood boiling in your veins as he twists the rites you've lead into a weapon. As if he and his (especially Lugal or Tengr) would have accepted anything less!

"If you wanted anything from me but my anger, you wouldn't have acted like this," you retort, grinding your teeth until you begin to worry they'll crack apart. "You won't fool me, or my clan again. You've broken my trust. Awak's going to pay in blood, but you? You owe me plenty more and it's a lot harder to collect from a corpse. Once that bird's dead, you return Sera to me. No more expanding your deal, it ends here. I won't accept anything less. Then I might consider you to have started paying me back."

Soqed's fingers twitch, his claw-like nails flexing as you deliver your condemnation. He may act indifferent, but you know him just well enough to know he still has a shred of honor he's been having to silence this whole time. These underhanded tricks gnaw at his conscience even as he pretends he has none. It's that knowledge that lets you vent some of your anger without fearing he'll simply choose to become his lupine form again and rip you apart for your 'arrogance'. If you tried this with Tengr, then no matter what he did, you'd find yourself in trouble.

The Wolf God for his part, stands tall for a moment, before sighing uncomfortably. "Your words are... Fair, Godspeaker," he all but mumbles. "If only I could blame it all on that bird and let his death settle all guilt... But I'm responsible too, a-at least in part." He nods jerkily. "I... Ackno- I accept the debt I owe you. Your daughter will be home before the moon is dark, you have my oath and blood to that." You cannot directly feel the movement of magic, the way Ebba once told you she could, but you have a feeling that Soqed infused his words with a measure of power, to some unknown ends. "And... The rest of the debt I owe you shall be paid as you require it," he nods, retrieving his spear and seizing the sled, tugging it behind him as he slinks back into the True Wild. "Call me when we're to hunt Awak."

>>6095691
Resolved to make that crow bleed for his joke, you return home, your mind burning with ideas and ways to pin down your elusive enemy. Which seems the most likely however?
>Get the clan to hide and shower him with slingstones as Awak takes your bait. He won't be able to fly with broken wings
>Weave a net to cast over Awak as he lands, catching him like a particularly foul-mouthed fish
>Petition Ulh, the Hawk God to rip out Awak's pinions. The two have enmity going back to the first gathering
>Drug some bait with a magical potion to render Awak unable to flee
>Something more devious... (Write in)

>>6095692
>Petition Ulh, the Hawk God to rip out Awak's pinions. The two have enmity going back to the first gathering

It'd be kind of funny to just enlist every god with a grudge to take this guy down.

>>6095692
>Petition Ulh, the Hawk God to rip out Awak's pinions. The two have enmity going back to the first gathering

>Uhl, get that mother fucker!

>>6095926
>>6095692
Support, but let us phrase it differently.
>Ulh, The Bolt from Above, we request your permission to punish the unruly trickster Awak.
>Though we know that Awak would have us believe he acts on his own will, you are the chosen sovereign of feather and talon. Therefore in spite of Awaks claims, you are the highest authority on all that flies above and so we seek your blessing.

Purpose is multifold:
1.) We deny Awaks legitimacy and our actions against him will further tarnish his already poor standing (as we're basically implying he's just Ulhs shitty subordinate)
2.) Allows Ulh an invitation to join our cause against this bastard and finally put Awak under his claw.
3.) Reduces the chance of Awaks retaliation. Giving his predatory cousin the heads up means that even if Ulh grants us his blessing and nothing else, if Awak retaliates, Ulh is indirectly granting Awak legitimacy to act of his own accord in a manner which undermines Ulhs own position.

Best Case: Ulh joins our cause and grants protection. Awak gets reduced to a feathered gimp in Ulhs nest.

Worst Case: Ulh grants his blessing but provides no help or protection, revealing that all feathers are not to be trusted.

>>6095806
>>6095926
>>6096181
>>6096655
You return home to the village with murder on your mind. Thoughts of bringing down Awak with a magical net or some manner of potion are discarded as you quickly reach the conclusion that if you want to kill a god, or even cripple a god, you need a god to do it. You'll provide the bait and Soqed the killing blow, but Awak will be on alert for the both of you. Even if you brought the clan's best to help out, a bird's eyes make attempts to sneak up on them risky at best, even for the kind of quiet hunter your brother Elia used to be.

But he likely won't be looking above him.

The Hawk God and Awak have had tensions since the earliest days, when you first called the gods in council and the crow impertinently refused to accept Ulh's dominion over all birds. It will be a challenge to convince the proud hawk to take part in your feud, but far from impossible.

Your face must still be a scowling mask as you enter the village, with your clansfolk hurrying out of your way with more alacrity than normal. The black scars over your left hand and forearm are less vivid through age, but still unsettling. Combined with your blank eyes and the way you use magic to feel at the features of those around you, superstition centering on you was not a matter of if, but of when. Fortunately, your immediate family are more than used to it and your wife especially welcomes you home with a loving smile and an embrace, wrapping Soqed's pelt, claimed long ago as a prize. around your shoulders and hugging you as she sees your face.

"Tyrm? What's wrong, husband? Is it Sera? Is she safe?" A father's rage could only be surpassed by a mother's love and as you tell her the whole tale, her expression turns from one of shock, to incandescent fury.

"Ah- Beren, your grip-" you hastily tell her as you feel her fingers curl into claws on your back, her nails all but ripping through your coat as she tenses. She blinks and hastily lets you go, before striding into your hut with a deadly purpose, fetching the hand axe Noh uses for cutting firewood and emerging with murderous intent.

"Trym!" she snaps, as full of vitriol and purpose as the day you married her, "Stand aside!" You block her path and for a moment you worry she might strike at you, just to get at the gods. "GET OUT OF MY WAY, I'M GOING TO KILL THAT WORTHLESS CUR AND FLYING FEATHERBAG!" she screams, her voice drawing curious onlookers as you catch her wrist in your hand. "Get OUT OF MY WAY, Trym, I don't care what they are, THEY TOOK MY LITTLE GIRL FROM US FOR TWELVE YEARS!" Her furious yells rise to a shriek of pure rage that rings through the entire village, before you pull her into a tight hug and you feel the tense thread of her rage snap. Beren sags against you, the axe dropping from her lip fingers, as she wails, burning-hot tears rendering her as blind as you while her anger turns to grief and pain.

>>6096917
When she finally is sensible enough to listen again, you stroke her still night-dark hair and shush her softly. "Soqed will return Sera before the dark moon," to explain gently. "He owes us a debt for this and he knows it. He'll pay that debt, I can guarantee it. As for Awak, I already have a plan." You explain the scheme to entreat Ulh to rip out the crow's flight feathers, whereupon Soqed will finish him off.

"The only problem is how to lure the bastard in," you murmur. "An offering is no good, he's far too clever to be fooled by something so basic. I could try lying, telling him that I want his help to punish Soqed maybe?"

"No more lies, husband," Beren insists, looking up at you. "Anything more will dirty the revenge. I have an idea." Throughout your marriage, Beren has always been the cunning one, the schemer who knows how to turn others. It'd be terrifying if you weren't sure of her nature as a loyal and good woman at heart - she'd never do more than haggle a good trade or advise you on how to sway the clan. You've never known her to have a real 'enemy' to focus her mind on, until now.

"You're right," Beren agrees. "Awak's too clever to fall for simple bait, but there's one thing he could never resist: A chance to be a bastard." A cruel and thin smile touches her lips as she whispers in your ear. "Make an occasion he can't resist and make it clear he's not welcome. He'll show up, I guarantee it. Just let me be there to watch Soqed tear him open and to hear him scream."

>A perfect plan. A feast and celebration for the whole valley should be just the party for Awak to show up and spoil.
>You have the perfect bait - the Temple of the Wild itself. Declining to honor one of the Wild Gods at its completion would be an insult beyond ignoring.
>All things considered, Awak is still a glutton and a scavenger. You just need to make the offering so colossal and grand, his greed overcomes his caution.
>You had something else in mind...

>>6096919
>A perfect plan. A feast and celebration for the whole valley should be just the party for Awak to show up and spoil.
>Ask her if it would be a good idea to make it in honor of our daughter coming back, as he would surely love to put salt on the wound

I'm not sure of my own plan, but my idea is after a day or two (unless the day our daughter is back is like literally the next day) make the announcement of our daughter most surely coming back, and we make a celebration for ir, but the real party is going to happen the day she comes (and hopefully, with a new God-Crow cape we can give her once she comes to us)

>Taking a moment to address a thing or two before I sleep and pick this up in the morning (or whenever there's enough votes)

>>6097276
>new God-Crow cape
Implying there'll be enough of Awak left when Soqed (and Beren) are dong with him

>>6096655
Pretty cunning. I should point out though that while Ulh has never declared anything, he's also never challenged Awak basically telling him that he's independent. Each of the gods claimed dominion over several orders of beasts, but Awak and his crows were the only ones to actually care enough to reject it when one of the gods declared dominion. He was belligerent from the word go, but by not forcing the issue immediately, Ulh and the rest of the gods basically gave him tacit acceptance as their equal.

Now, give Ulh an excuse and he might take the chance to settle that old score, but as gods seem to have trouble staying properly dead (at least by human hands), it might not amount to much real change in the orders of the birds.

>>6095428
Not the way it works in this quest, I'm afraid. Everyone votes and rolls at once. If your vote succeeds, then the highest of the first three rolls that voted for that option takes effect, while rolls for other options are discarded. I figure it keeps things moving a bit faster rather than asking for a separate roll.

>>6096919
>A perfect plan. A feast and celebration for the whole valley should be just the party for Awak to show up and spoil.

>>6093838
>>6093829
>>6095275
well ill be, welcome back. Im the artfag whom did those pics. Busy atm but will check this all out!
>9 years ago
holy shit...

>>6097276
>>6098529
An idea starts to occur to you, a celebration of your daughter's long-overdue return, grand enough to invite even the Sunish and nomads to join the festivities... Awak won't be able to resist the chance to twist the knife one final time, to hurl insults if nothing else. The festival at the dark moon will have to be truly memorable however and you have precious little time to prepare. You relate your plan to Beren, who nods with a savage smile.

"Leave the Sunish to me, my husband. Noh and I will convince them with gifts and promises. But you will need to persuade Ulh to attend and lend you his aid. And a feast is nothing without food... Which means dealing with Mesut." She narrows her eyes and presses her lips into a thin line. "You may have to make him promises, Trym. I don't care what it takes, Awak dies at the dark moon, no matter the cost either of us have to bear. Agreed?"

Her tone doesn't really leave much room to argue. You nod your assent and the pair of you head inside to gather your things.

Beren calls for your son, Noh, to assist her and fills a pair of wickerwork packs with shining copper beads obtained from the nomadic traders and with charmed tools you produced in practice. None hold particularly potent or long-lasting enchantments, not in the way your staff or the healing bracelet you keep safely wrapped in soft rabbit-skin are, but they are more than enough to make the greedy Sunish eager for more. For a moment, you worry about if this quest for vengeance will leave you destitute, but those are concerns for another time.

You gather your things and leave the village briskly, ignoring curious looks from your kinsfolk. Both the support of Ulh and Mesut are essential in this plan, but at least the human you know where to find and you can be assured he'll speak to you. Communing with the gods is trickier... You could do it in the yet-unfinished temple, where the barriers to the True Wild are weaker, but such an obvious place might alert your quarry, so you make do with a high hill not so far from the altar to the Sacred Heavens that overlooks your village. You settle down, surrounded by some of your family's wolfdogs, who's body heat keeps you from freezing in the cold winter air, and you start your meditation, calling out to the skies and seeking the Hawk God's attention.

After a few silent hours, you feel a sensation in the air and sense a blind spot in your magical touch-sight drawing closer to you. Ulh stoops low over your head, letting you feel the gust from his wings as he lands in what you're sure is a very dramatic fashion, like a storytelling elder around the campfire.

"You called me, Godspeaker, as I soared aloft," Ulh says, his voice full of its usual stateliness, bordering on pomposity. "But I suspect I know what it is you wish to speak of."

>>6099604
Even with your eyes rendered sightless, you can feel the intensity of his stare, his yellow eyes making you feel the dread of a mouse sighted by a hovering predator.

"You wish my aid with Awak, do you not? Or perhaps Soqed, if you have taken leave of all wisdom. You need no permission from me to punish that unruly upstart, you realize? He refused my rulership before you even called the first assemblage of we Wild Gods. With it, he refused my protection. By all means, pluck him as naked as a fish, I will not lift a wing to stop you."

"Actually, o Bolt from Above," you say, the unexpected title making Ulh swell a little with pride (gods really do love their titles for some reason), "I was rather hoping that you might be the one to do the plucking..."

>Try to both appeal to his pride and goad him to action by explaining that you know despite Awak's claims, Ulh is the true god of all birds and should discipline his subordinate. 5d10+1 (Charisma+Shaman)
>Beg and appeal to Ulh as a humble petitioner, begging his aid against a foe you cannot hope to oppose alone and that only his unmatched speed could touch. 5d10+1 (Charisma+Shaman)
>Remind Ulh of his long-standing feud with Awak and offer him a chance to get even, to finally humble the arrogant squawker with your and Soqed's help. 5d10+1 (Charisma+Shaman)
>Appeal to Ulh's sense of justice as an injured party and ask his assistance for no other reason than that this scheme of Awak's and the injury it has caused is too much for even gods to sit by and watch! 5d10+1 (Charisma+Shaman)
>Promise Ulh something in return for his aid. A favor for a favor, a debt to be paid in full.
>You have another approach... (Write in)

>>6099111
Welcome back, drawfriend. It's really and truly good to see you. Half the reason I even made this thread was in memory of you guys and the hope I could make us all a little happier. It's been a rough few years, there's no denying it.

The other half is you current people here. There's plenty of room by the fire for everyone.

>>6099607
>write in
"Long has he tricked and decived man and God, enough. I seek your aid as both of us have been slighted directly by his action but also that we may both provide examples to our peers. We strike him down I prove that all debts and betrayal are repaid and you? You solidify your status, show your talons alone rule the sky and that upstarts are not tolerated. Our actions together also show unity in the face of that which seeks to weave chaos."

>>6099611
Hopefully I'll get a chance to draw once more, this question often came to my mind when doing my own DND Awak even appearing as a Kenku patron

>>6099864
*this quest.

Fond memories indeed, I hope you've been well also

>>6099864
Well since no-one else seems to be voting, you want to roll on that? 5d10+1 as before, but with a modified difficulty thanks to your speech, appealing to both his sense of justice and his feud alike.

Rolled 3, 7, 3, 7, 3 + 1 = 24 (5d10 + 1)

>>6101411
Thanks salty let's gooo

>>6099864
+1

>>6101506
You make your argument to the Hawk god, whom you imagine is stroking his beak contemplatively as you speak. You feel a momentary pang of loss, remembering how many years it has been since you saw your wife's face, or your children, or anything but swallowing darkness. You put that loss aside however, focusing on the now and on the revenge to come.

"Too long has Awak tricked and deceived men and gods. Enough is enough. I seek your aid as both of us have been slighted directly by his actions, but also so that we may both provide examples to our peers. If we strike him down, I prove that all debts and betrayal are repaid and you? You solidify your status, show your talons alone rule the sky and that upstarts are not tolerated. Our actions together also show unity in the face of that which seeks to weave chaos."

"If," Ulh says at length. "And if we fail, we are merely another jest for that mangy corpse-botherer's amusement. Still, there is truth in what you say, Godspeaker. Yet by your words, you would not simply see Awak plucked. You seek to take a god's life."

Again you feel the transfixing gaze of the sky's foremost predator upon you as the pad of footfalls draw close. He must have taken his human form.

"This would not be the first time you would have killed a god. Your mate, your 'wife' still wears Soqed's pelt. Do you think it such a trivial thing to kill one among our number? That because death does not hold us for all eternity the way it does your meager species or the mortal beasts we hold dominion over, it is a trivial inconvenience? To kill one of us, harms all of us, Trym Godspeaker. We may not bear the scars you gave the wolf, but each of us even now feels the disturbance your spear wrought within the True Wild." He pauses and draws a slow breath. "Have care that you begin to think of us as mere fodder. Even should you succeed in killing a god, your actions will have consequences even we do not fully understand."

He turns away and you feel yourself draw a breath you didn't realize you were holding as his intense gaze looks elsewhere. A rustling of wings indicates the meeting is over, but he leaves you with a short agreement. "I will watch and wait. When that squawking upstart shows his face for you, I will fall upon him and take his flight-feathers. The rest is in your hands and upon your shoulders."

A gust batters you as Ulh's enormous hawk form takes to the skies once again and you stand, not a little concerned over his words. You may call yourself Godspeaker and to your fellow humans, your grasp of magic is a thing of awe, but next to the gods, you're reminded that your knowledge is even more limited than their own confessed limitations.

Nonetheless, you are committed. Awak will die for his crimes and maybe when he returns, he will have at least learned some humility.

>>6102412
You make your way back to the village and by the time you return, it is close to nightfall. Your home feels empty and sad without Beren and Noh there, but only until Elia calls out to greet you and you feel him clasp your shoulder. Your adoptive brother welcomes you home with all the warmth you've come to expect and enquires after Beren, who apparently left without taking the time to inform anyone why she was going, only that it was important. You momentarily shudder to think how your usually meticulous woman must have still been enraged to leave without a word and explain to your brother that she has gone to invite the Sunish to a feast, to celebrate your daughter's imminent homecoming.

"You're serious?" Elia gasps. "After all this time, Sera's coming home?" He barks a laugh of happiness and pulls you into a fierce hug, slapping your back with a grin that a swift blow from a branch couldn't wipe away. "At long last! Bayhan will get to meet his cousin too- Oh! If we're feasting, we'll need Mesut's help, yes? Come on, we can ask him and fetch my son home too - he's playing with Mesut's boys. You'd think it'd be his grand-children, but he fits in better with hunters twice his age. Certainly better than I ever did!" He chuckles and you chatter as you head to Mesut's house, Elia proudly telling you about every detail of his boy's life and how certain he is that he and Sera will get along famously. You were guilty of the same fatherly boasting when Sera was born (Ebba's birth was rather stranger and even you admit that for a while, you were a fairly poor father to Noh) so you tolerantly listen until you reach Mesut's home.

As Godspeaker and chief, your own house is nothing to sniff at, but next to Mesut's, you feel like you're still living bivouacked as your ancestors did. His family has always been large, starting as it did by inviting his entire hunting band to join him and since then, as his sons and nephews have taken wives of their own and had their own children, it has only had to expand. Frankly, many of the other elders grumble that one or another of Mesut's children should have split off to start their own family already, but somehow he has kept them all united under one roof. Flanking the door, two pillars have been carved and painted into stylized likenesses of Lugal and Isu, mutely proclaiming Mesut's favor from both the lordly god of stags and valley goddess, as befits both a great hunter and the keeper of the tribe's gain. Looking at the size and splendor of Mesut's dwelling, you can't help but feel a twinge of envy, coupled with a trace of an old concern that by giving him control over the grain, you may have handed him perhaps too much power... Still, what was done cannot now be undone.

>Leave Elia to find his son and go seek out Mesut to talk
>Announce your arrival and make Mesut come to you
>Go with Elia to find Byahan before anything else
>Snoop around a bit, indulge your curiosity and maybe soothe your paranoia

>>6102413
>Snoop around a bit, indulge your curiosity and maybe soothe your paranoia
sneeki breeki

>>6102413
>Go with Elia to find Byahan before anything else

>>6102413
>Snoop around a bit, indulge your curiosity and maybe soothe your paranoia

>>6103238
>>6102631
"You go and fetch Bayhan," you nod to Elia. "I'll find Mesut and have words myself." As your brother leaves however, your intentions are anything but to seek out Mesut. Instead, you pull your magical touch-sight in and avoid brushing over people, so as not to alert them as you quietly explore. Although your magic has minimized the difficulties of losing your sight, you have still learned over the years to rely on your other senses too.

Your hearing in particular is as keen as ever and you eavesdrop on conversations as you slowly make your way through Mesut's home, trying to act as though you have a purpose to be wherever you are. You're not sure what exactly you're looking for, if anything, but as you explore, you start to find a little more of the mood among Mesut's family.

By and large, his family seems happy and reasonably peaceful. Young men brag and exaggerate about their hunts; wives grind grain into flour for the rough biscuits that can be baked (albeit not well) on hot stones beside the fire. At first you don't think anything of it, but as you explore, you start to reach one simple but profound conclusion:

Mesut is rich.

'Riches' as a concept don't really exist for your clan. A good hunter will always have plenty to eat and now you trade with the nomadic herdsmen and the Sunish, some people have nice things like shiny trinkets or a wider variety of food... But Mesut seems to have somehow started to acquire true 'wealth,' beyond what one man or even one family could reasonably want, need or even use. The discrepancy is minor, certainly - you didn't notice until you actually went looking around (insofar as a blind man can look), but there's no denying its existence.

You try to piece together how this has happened, listening in on scraps of conversation, but the particulars elude you. Trade is the obvious answer, but everyone barters with the nomads if they have a little extra and there's nothing like this in other families. The only explanation you can think of is that somehow Mesut simply has more to trade, but where he got that excess is the question... Your suspicions drift to the grain stores, but there's been no complaints of anyone being shorted of their share and if he was selling off the reserves, surely someone would have let that secret slip by now? It's a puzzle that you haven't solved by the time that you hear your name called.

"Trym? Godspeaker, what are you doing here? If I'd known you were visiting, I'd have shown you some hospitality!"

>>6105824
Mesut has found you. He claps you on the back and smiles as you greet him in turn. "I didn't wish to interrupt your family life, brother. I came by with Elia to collect Bayhan and had an urge to see how your family was doing."

"All of us are doing quite well, brother," Mesut nods, pride in his voice, as befits a man of his stature. "As fine a family as any could ask for. What of you? Bayhan is always welcome with my children and grandchildren alike; Noh too if he cares to come."

You know damn well that Noh doesn't play much with Mesut's grandchildren and doesn't fit in as well with his older cousins, the way Bayhan does. Mesut doesn't ask after Beren, but everyone knows her to still be as well as ever and he doesn't enquire after your daughters, both out of sympathy for their absence from your house and you suspect a little out of superstitious fear. The presence of the gods in and around your family is a thing of both wonder and dread for your kinsfolk, for all that they love and respect Nila and the other deities.

"I will be sure to tell him he's welcome," you nod along with Mesut's open invitation. "But in truth, I have something to discuss with you..."

>Explain your anger at Awak and your plan to trap and kill him, asking for Mesut's assistance
>Conceal the true nature of the feast and simply explain that Sera is finally returning home and you wish to celebrate
>Demand and explanation of the wealth you've found everywhere
>Try and manipulate Mesut into giving up information about the source of his family's abundance 2d10 (Wits)

>>6105825
>Try and manipulate Mesut into giving up information about the source of his family's abundance 2d10 (Wits)
Manipulate seems like a strong word but is accurate, pry the information through details and such...let us see what is afoot.

>>6105944
Still gotta roll, anon. We do that with the vote, here.

Rolled 6, 1 = 7 (2d10)

>>6105944
Oops sorry!

Rolled 8, 10 = 18 (2d10)

>>6105825
>Try and manipulate Mesut into giving up information about the source of his family's abundance 2d10 (Wits)

Surely RNGesus will favor us...

>>6106742
YEAHHHHHHHHHH

>Christ, it's been a month already? Sorry everyone, I've been fighting my own demons. Still am, but if we wait for that to be over, I'll never post again.
>>6105944
>>6106742
You're fairly sure Mesut sees through your flattery and rather blatant attempts to get him to reveal the source of his wealth, but it's equally clear that your attempts are working. Mesut is justly proud of the abundance his family enjoys and appreciates the chance to brag a little. You manage to ask without accusing, if he has been bartering away the grain he is responsible for collecting and distributing, but you're relieved to see a look of horror cross his face.

"Banish those thoughts immediately, brother!" he exclaims with such sincerity that you cannott believe it to be false. "You can check the grain stores yourself, if it will put your mind at ease - everyone is receiving their fair share of the harvest, with a little held back for lean times. If I were trading away our food like you say, I should down and beaten with rocks until my brains spill out! Never!" He shakes his head firmly and sighs. "Besides, grain is good at home, but would barter poorly. To make enough flour for bread, you have to carry great baskets of it and any people the traders would then pass it on to, would have to have their own means of gathering food already, meaning the novelty would be worth very little."

Mesut shrugs and you're struck by the fact that even in the past, he never became the greatest hunter in the tribe just by the strength of his spear-arm. Mesut has always been cunning enough to turn situations to his advantage and charismatic enough to convince others to join him. You should have realized right away that he was smart enough to see that bartering away the grain wasn't worth the meager rewards it would win him.

"There's far more valuable things if you know where to look," he shrugs, leaving the topic at that. You can't get any more out of him, but you can at least safely assume he's found something of value to trade with. What that something might be, you have no clue, but this wealth didn't just appear overnight, so it couldn't just be something occasional or inconsistent.

Try as you might, you can't manage to trick or flatter Mesut into revealing his secrets and are eventually forced to give up. At least you've managed to avoid giving any kind of offence.

>>6129083
"There's actually another matter I wanted to discuss with you, Mesut," you shrug, moving on to the real reason for your visit. "My daughter will be coming home at last and I would like to make a celebration of it. Is there enough grain to spare?"

Mesut shrugs, confused. "There's enough certainly, but what makes this time so special? Ebba visits every year or two."

"Not Ebba. Sera is coming home at last."

A brief look of disquiet flickers across Mesut's features, before he stuffs his superstitious worries away and claps you on the back. "Sera will be coming back to us at last?! And you want to offer her just ibread? Godspeaker, for such an occasion we must have meat! I'll have my sons assemble a hunting party and bring back a whole aurochs to roast! How long do we have?"

"Soqed said she'll be back by the dark moon, so a little time yet," you inform him.

"I'll add my spear to the hunt," he nods. "It's been too long since I had a chance to bring down something for the tribe. What about you, Godspeaker? Will you be joining us?"

>Join the hunt, despite your handicap
>Let Mesut or another have the glory of whatever they bring back
>Decline to join, but claim your share when they return, as the chief

>>6129083
>>6129085
Uhh- I swear it's me, guys. I forgot my name and it's apparently been so long my ID decided to change.

>Decline to join, but claim your share when they return, as the chief

Wow, it's not dead? You should make a new thread, OP, we're on Page 10 and I doubt anybody is checking this anymore (except me maybe)

>>6129232
Hey, you were still around. The original plan was actually to alternate this and another quest I was running, dealing with a WW2-style resistance movement. You might be right though.