Beat him up but don't kill him.

How do I shot trip?!H508X.HbJ6 2009/12/06(Sun)21:55 No. 87398 ID: 6faa8c
File 126016532041.png - (5.25KB , 640x480 , simmeringdown.png )

"I am going to leave. I am never going to come back. As far as I am concerned, you are not my brother, and she is not my mate."

I snap the new spear in half and toss the remains to the ground. They clatter near Hrifl, who whimpers quietly.

"I wish you both long lives and many children. But if I ever see you again after I leave, I will murder you."

There is a pause.

"Are we clear?"
>"Ohgodyespleasejustputmedown!PLEASE!"
My last chance...

>>87398
Put him down.

>>87399
By dropping him.

You've got an evil demon living in you and your friend is fucking your bitch. You should do something evil, like rape.

>>87401
Angels and Demons are not really Good and Evil. It's more Order vs Chaos. Besides, Harumda's definitely not evil.

How do I shot trip?!H508X.HbJ6 2009/12/06(Sun)22:17 No. 87406 ID: 6faa8c
File 126016664371.png - (5.69KB , 640x480 , insertinsidemeanlaughter.png )

>>87399
>>87400

I release him, and he manages to barely grab onto a convenient piece of the cave ceiling.

"Goodbye, Hrifl."
>"I'm sorry..."
"Don't bother."

Is there anything else I should do before I move to packing my belongings?

Melt something.

>>87406
Find a new weapon, for starters.

How do I shot trip?!H508X.HbJ6 2009/12/06(Sun)22:32 No. 87422 ID: 6faa8c
File 126016755583.png - (6.55KB , 640x480 , current supplies.png )

>>87408
Not to worry. I've made myself five more spears. Alright, I'm going to go and see what I can pack. Here's my original plan:

Two spears with five spearheads and rootglue.
Enough rations to last us a little more than two weeks.
A single telescope.
A map of the Domains, as they were roughly two months ago.
A suit of leather armor (wearing) and some leather polish.
A container of bitterleaf oil that will last maybe four weeks.
Four ditherbombs

Any objections or additions? I can carry maybe another ten pounds.

>>87422
What about money?

How do I shot trip?!H508X.HbJ6 2009/12/06(Sun)22:40 No. 87433 ID: 6faa8c
File 126016803497.png - (5.99KB , 640x480 , current supplies.png )

>>87427
I can bring at most 2 gold.
(10 copper = 1 silver, 10 silver = 1 gold, 2 copper = a solid meal, 1 silver = a good bed.)

>>87422
What about a tent or something to keep out the rain when you're camping?

Do you have any way to light fires?

How do I shot trip?!H508X.HbJ6 2009/12/06(Sun)22:44 No. 87439 ID: 6faa8c
File 126016825012.png - (7.70KB , 640x480 , current supplies.png )

>>87434
Tinderbox, bedroll, and large sheet added, will use spears as tentpoles.

I can't think of anything else.

>>87468
Oh wait. Medical supplies? Or can the priest heal himself?

How do I shot trip?!H508X.HbJ6 2009/12/07(Mon)14:08 No. 87700 ID: 6faa8c
File 126022373832.png - (6.48KB , 640x480 , Rollinghillsarehardtodraw.png )

>>87469
The priest will be carrying his medical gear. He knows how to dress wounds and treat most ailments. Magical healing is the domain of the arcane, and incredibly risky in any case.

Unless there is further requirements, this will be our loadout. I take it with me to the warren entrance, and overlook the rolling plains before me. The winter is ending now, moving into warmer temperatures. Winds whisper over the hills, beckoning to travel.
I can see the mountain of the Dragon Lord and the the edge of a grand forest. I'm both excited and nervous about the journey ahead.

>>87700
I'm thinking we could go to the mountain of the Dragon Lord. Sounds pretty important.

How do I shot trip?!H508X.HbJ6 2009/12/07(Mon)17:15 No. 87927 ID: 6faa8c
File 126023493779.png - (6.42KB , 640x480 , Endcard.png )

>>87702
Yes, it will be. The Dragon Lord deserves to know, and might even be able to help us.

For now, though, I wait. For my priest, and for... Adventure.

Chapter 2: Elementary How do I shot trip?!H508X.HbJ6 2009/12/08(Tue)20:14 No. 88785 ID: 6faa8c
File 126033209217.png - (9.86KB , 640x480 , Chapter2startitle.png )

>>87927
The priest arrived, and we set out the following morn. It was a mostly boring trip. We know our way around these caverns, since we bring tribute to Vizzex roughly twice a year. But this time a collapse (shame on the tunnel-makers! Shame!) forced us to take a different route than usual. And thus... We found a very strange individual.

Oh my. That is a very strange individual.

How do I shot trip?!H508X.HbJ6 2009/12/08(Tue)20:23 No. 88789 ID: 6faa8c
File 126033263171.png - (7.64KB , 640x480 , MegrimtheSteelhearted.png )

He wheezes and hacks and coughs occasionally. He sits in the center of the cell, unmoving. His eyes, like twin slots into a furnace, glare at us, smoke sliding from them to a rather large vent in the ceiling. Neither of us speaks. He seems surprised we are here. We are surprised to find him.

Silence reigns.

>>88789
Somebody ask him who he is, and what he's doing here.

>>88789
A cell? Where is our current location?

Also, ask him who and what he is.

How do I shot trip?!H508X.HbJ6 2009/12/08(Tue)20:32 No. 88803 ID: 6faa8c
File 126033315478.png - (8.40KB , 640x480 , MegrimtheSteelhearted.png )

>>88795
>>88796

We are in the mountain home of Vizzex, our dragon patron.
We never knew about his cells before.

"Who are you?"
>"Call me Megrim the Steelhearted." he says, smog pouring thickly from between his lips as he speaks, and he coughs so incessantly it is hard to keep track of his sentences.
"What are you?"
>"I am what your folk call a Mountain-Heart. I am an elemental force of steel, fire, and earth. A strong force of nature that no creature could bend to its will... that is, before several years ago."
"What are you doing here?"
>"Being an insult to the pride of my people." he replies, his tone sullen and angry.

Ask what he was before his current state?

>>88803
Ask why he was imprisoned.

How do I shot trip?!H508X.HbJ6 2009/12/08(Tue)20:46 No. 88823 ID: 6faa8c
File 126033401031.png - (8.49KB , 640x480 , MegrimtheSteelhearted.png )

>>88807
His expression turns... wistful. Nostalgic.

>"Before the Treachery? Before the lies? I was a great smithy. Red, White, and Black, all kinds. My touch can heat metal to softness, and my hands can shape it like clay. I can create works of steel, bronze, silver, gold, any metal, that no mortal being could hope to match! My swords cut like no other, my armor, impenetrable, my jewellery was worthy of a god!" he says, his wide hands opening to show that, like the rest of him, they are square and rough, as if created from steel. His eyes take on a look of sadness as he finishes. "But all good things end. I made a bet. A stupid, stupid bet."

I remain quiet as the stout being tells his tale.

Ask him who he made the bet to.

>>88828
And what the bet was.

How do I shot trip?!H508X.HbJ6 2009/12/08(Tue)21:01 No. 88836 ID: 6faa8c
File 126033487043.png - (11.37KB , 640x480 , ohnoes.png )

>>88828
>"I made the bet to the dragon. You know who I speak of, dracoling. Vizzex. Great big furnace with wings and a body. I bet my eternal services to him... that I could craft as well with stone as I could with steel. That I could make a perfect likeness of him. He even allowed me to take a set o' calipers on him. But these hands... these same hands that shape steel like clay... shape clay like cold steel." He looks at his feet. "The clay hardened under my touch rather than soften. It rebelled against me. I managed to barely create a statue... but it was not worthy. He gave it to.... to your folk. And now I create his armor. His weapons. His trade-art."

Ask him if he knew it was a trap.

>>88836
Sounds like he should've used sand instead of clay.

How do I shot trip?!H508X.HbJ6 2009/12/08(Tue)21:09 No. 88846 ID: 6faa8c
File 126033534458.png - (8.79KB , 640x480 , MegrimtheSteelhearted.png )

>>88839
>"Of course not, ye stupid git!" Fire briefly erupts from his face as anger overtakes him. "The bastuhd placed a chemich soluhtion in the mahtehreial he gave meh, an' when it heated, it exploded! My 'ard work was ruined! I would 'ave done sommat worthy, if 'e 'adn't been a double-crossing bahstuhd!"

Well the past is the past, ask him if there's any way to get released?

>>88846
Question for the kobolds: If you were to make another bet with him and deliberately lose, would that set him free?

How do I shot trip?!H508X.HbJ6 2009/12/08(Tue)21:18 No. 88865 ID: 6faa8c
File 12603359355.png - (8.42KB , 640x480 , MegrimtheSteelhearted.png )

>>88850
>"Yeh'd have to prove he cheated. I used the same material Vizzex gave me to make the second statue. There should be some of dat' chemich in dere, or summat... yeh jus' need tah implicate 'im afore a cleric of the Incarnate or an ahngel. Den nottin would stop meh from meltan outta dese 'ere bars."

>>88853
I ask Nifl.
>"Nah. Old wagers like this can only be overdone by beings of similar power. Or rendering the bet null and void."

>>88865
Well, lucky us! We have such a cleric (of the Incarnate) here with us! Ask him where the statue is.

The second statue is in the trap dungeon, where Grifl got possessed by Harumda.

Ask him how we can prove that the statue has the compound in it, aside from heating it up so much that it explodes.

How do I shot trip?!H508X.HbJ6 2009/12/08(Tue)21:57 No. 88902 ID: 6faa8c
File 126033826071.png - (8.60KB , 640x480 , MegrimtheSteelhearted.png )

>>88878
>"Actually, yer heat up clay what's been baked, it done esplode. Testing it for chem that way is a bad idea all round." he says amiably. "Naw, all yer have to do is chipper some orf. I mixed the secondary batch as evenly as physically possible, so dat the chem wasn't all in one place, get? Then All yer 'ave ter do is bring some to an alchemist, who'll identerfy it fer yer. and den I'm free to go, no mahttah where yer are, so long as the cleric witnesses the testimony of an expert in the mattah. Savvy?"

Nifl cuts in:
>"There will be a newer set of traps in place, Grifl, and the statue will be moved there."

>>88902
Well, off to the traps again, I guess.

>>88902
Savvy. We'll do it. Nifl should wait outside the entrance so he doesn't have to dodge the traps, though.

>>88907
Well... I think maybe we should talk to the dragon before we free his ill-gotten slave, though.

How do I shot trip?!H508X.HbJ6 2009/12/09(Wed)10:31 No. 89154 ID: 6faa8c
File 126038348839.png - (8.63KB , 640x480 , MegrimtheSteelhearted.png )

>"I wouldna worry about dat, lad. Like I said, the lizzahd only got me cause he's a cheatin' bastuhd. Do you really think I'll let 'im get away wit' dat?"

His face takes on a mischeivious cant, so I look to Nifl and he nods.

>"I din't really care fer Vizzex either way. Too close to idolizing something beside the Incarnate."

It might still be a good idea to get some extra information out of the dragon before we piss him off. Like, the location of any Artifacts, or of any way of healing the broken connections between the planes.

How do I shot trip?!H508X.HbJ6 2009/12/09(Wed)10:49 No. 89164 ID: 6faa8c
File 126038457062.png - (8.61KB , 640x480 , MegrimtheSteelhearted.png )

>>89162
As I speak with Nifl about the matter, the creature in the cell barks a laugh.
>"Who d'ya think MADE the Daemonic Artifacts? Fer dat mattah, I done been aroun' since before the age of Dwarves and Elves, so I'll be happy to awnser any questions yer might have about that sorta thing."

"But not until we let you out?"

>"Not until I am free."

>>89164
That is a compelling argument.

How do I shot trip?!H508X.HbJ6 2009/12/09(Wed)10:59 No. 89168 ID: 6faa8c
File 126038514776.png - (8.51KB , 640x480 , MegrimtheSteelhearted.png )

>>89166
>"'M glad ye think so." he says. "Tell yer what. In addition ter bein' able ter pick me brain, I'll craft you a single item made from the iron in these here bars. Since I won't be seeing you for a while, jus' tell me what yer want now, an' I'll find yer."

Hmmm...
I'm not very well-trained in metallic armor or traditional steel weaponry...

>>89168
Not deciding anything yet, but are you any good with steel nunchucks?

>>89168
Anything specific that you'd be good with, weapon-wise? Or maybe something that isn't a weapon or armor that would come in handy, though I can't think of anything specific.