Alex 2021/05/23(Sun)13:41 No. 1001541 ID: ca2950
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I'm a little reluctant to follow her inside, but I'll go along for now.
It's just a normal, boring cave from what I can tell.

"Look!" Keimi shouts, pointing in farther. "We've already found signs of life!"

"It looks like a rock to me."

"It shows clear sighs of being fabricated. Don't be a dummy," she snaps at me. "Let's keep going. We'll probably find something interesting for sure."

"Fine," I sigh.

I'm not big on archeology, so I'm not sure what I can be doing here. I guess exploring secret caves is pretty neat though.

Y'know, it's just the two of you here, you can always... you know...

Actually, it is too cold for that.

Inventory check! What equipment and items did you both bring? Got a flashlight? it looks pretty dark there...

Remember to look up.

They always forget to look up.

>>1001541
Make jokes about exploring her secret cave.
Gauge her willingness to let you go spelunking.

yeah, lets check what items we brought.

Alex 2021/05/23(Sun)20:00 No. 1001573 ID: ca2950
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>Inventory check
We've got some lights and some medical supplies in case someone gets bumped up and some snacks. Whatever you take to poke around where we ought not to.

>Remember to look up
The ceiling is made of rocks. Not even really interesting rocks. Just kind of lumpy. They don't look like they'll fall on us, as far as I can tell.
"There's a larger structure over here! I wonder if this area used to be above ground before some kind of seismic even buried it?"
Keimi rummages through the rubble.
"Hey, Alex! I found some bones."

"Are they cool bones? Spooky bones?"

"They're vuhio bones," Keimi calls back.

They're just normal animal bones. Not really a big, exciting discovery.

"Better watch out. This might be a khuar den. Your best hope is that it thinks you're too small to be worth eating."

"Or a wendigo," Keimi replies.

"Don't even joke about that. You're bad luck when it comes to monsters."

Are you planing to be dismissive until something happen?
You should just ask what she think is going on and go with it. Appreciate the adventure instead of lament the waste of time.

Remind me, what are we doing here, again? Why do we keep mesing with this things tht are up to no good?

Seriously, we are just civilians messing with things we really shouldn't.


Also, remind me, again, what happened to your mom. I kinda forgot about it over "definitely almost not dying from a monster" experience.

Ugh... just go in deeper, the sooner you get to the bottom, the sooner this will be over and you can get back to civilisation.

Alex 2021/05/24(Mon)04:05 No. 1001599 ID: ca2950
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I look down and there's a figure looming in the dark.

"That was one time! Also, there's actually a wendigo! Help!"


>What are we doing here, again? Why do we keep messing with this things that are up to no good?

I think it's something that's just going to keep happening, alright?

>Appreciate the adventure instead of lament the waste of time.

I like adventure. Looking at rocks isn't my idea of a fun time, but now things are getting significantly more adventurous. Really adventurous, really fast.

Alex 2021/05/24(Mon)04:06 No. 1001601 ID: ca2950
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I need to help Keimi! I do not want to have to explain that I let her get eaten by a wendigo!
Good thing I've been working on my monster fighting effectiveness in my spare time.

Alex can move within the green highlighted area freely or exert himself to reach a red highlighted area.
Alex can use the technique "Fal" to cast a firebolt at a target within a range of 6 spaces.
Alex can tell Keimi to take actions which, depending on a variety of factors, she might do.

I need to get closer for sure, but do I want to wail on this thing or stay at range and shoot it? I'm better with the sword, but staying away from those claws sounds like it has advantages, too.

No time to think. Gotta do.

Head to cover and open fire!

Do you really have a sword and how can it be better than "fireball"?

Since the highlighted movement grid is a square I'm gonna assume that diagonals count as two actions, therefor the fireball won't reach the wendigo from the edgy of the green grid.
The effects of "exert" are not clear. If you can attack move to the edge to the rock (8 left 1 down) and use fireball on the wendigo. If you can't, move to the closer corner of the rock (5 left 1 down) and take cover.
Either way tell Keimi to move closer to you, behind you if she can move that far.

Run to keimi, pick her up, then slamdunk her into the wendigo's gullet. Countinue advanture with superior wendigo partner.

go 6 squares to the left

Call Keimi over to you.

throw a flare or something stick-like, maybe cute monster just wants to play? also tell keimi to run, remind her that genisys doesn't have attacks of oppertunity

Rush up right next to Keimi.

Animals and beasts tend to get slightly more wary when confronted with multiple foes (or get confused by a new selection of prey choice).

Even if it DOES go right for Keimi, you'll be right there to do something about it. And if it goes for you, you can try to block or parry with your sword. Might even be able to GUARD COVER for Keimi this way.

>>1001612
This.

Get engaged to the wendigo. Talk about your feelings.

>>1001612
This

Alex 2021/05/24(Mon)18:57 No. 1001651 ID: ca2950
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I move over towards the rubble and tell Keimi to get over here with me. She makes a dash for it, then turns toward the wendigo when she gets close.

Keimi casts Fal.

The wendigo shrieks as a bolt of fire slams it in the chest and starts to sear its flesh.

"I'm not so easy to eat anymore, sucker!" Keimi cheers.

Alex 2021/05/24(Mon)19:05 No. 1001653 ID: ca2950
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The wendigo lunges toward Keimi and lashes her with its claws.

"Kyaaaaa! Help!"

Now that it's in range, I can hit the thing. It recoils from the impact.

"Kei, get behind me or something!"

>SPARE

come on Keimi you can make friends, you just gotta have determination!

failing that run away until you figure out how to make friends with cute fluffy monster

Alright Alex time to be the tank and use sword on monster.
Keimi can try to avoid being clawed, and instead apply fire to the problem.

I was under the impression fireball was a shotgun...
Fireball is a good option, but if you can move and attack it's better to slash the wendigo with your sword.

Wendigos are, like, immortal or something, aren't they? What are old people vulnerable to? Try asking about it's grandchildren! Or The Good Old Days, or what sort of music the young people should be listening to...

stab it in the legs, lower its mobility.

>>1001803
Stabbie leg is good.

Alex 2021/10/19(Tue)17:06 No. 1013200 ID: ca2950
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I start hacking at its legs, but it's tough and sinewy. I can't do a lot of damage while this thing is wailing on me.
Keimi is keeping the damage to a minimum, but I don't know if I'm going to outlast it at this rate.

"Hurry up and kill it!" she yelps. "I can't do this forever!"

"I'd like do see you try. This thing is pretty tough!"

"My newly awakened lust for adventure is going to get us eaten by a monster before we even got to do anything!"

She's starting to panic.

"You're the brains here. Think of something!"

"Well, we could..."

A: stop healing Alex and enhance his physical ability, hoping it will be enough to defeat the Wendigo before he dies

B: make a dash for the snowrunner before the Wendigo catches and eats us both

C: run down the cavern passage to bottleneck the Wendigo in cramped quarters where its size will hinder it

D: frantically try to burn it to death before it manages to dismember one or both of us

C+D; Wendigos have the evolutionary advantage here, so using fire to burn their coarse fur will eventually wear them off. But run to a stable position while you still can.

We're the brains, let's do the math!

Alex has been at a slight to moderate disadvantage so far, and has needed healing to stay up. That's a losing status quo.

If we change the matchup and buff Alex, that means he probably won't need healing, or at least it will be even at that point. At which point we can tip the scales in our favor with whatever we have to distract it while it's fighting Alex.

Go with A.

>>1013203
Yes, this man has the correct idea. Also yell at Alex for not being manly enough and heroically one shotting the monster.

I think C is the safest plan.

>Switch to physical
High risk, high reward. Both of them would die more easily.
>Flee
Its legs seem to show that it would pursue quite fast. You'd be easy targets with your backs toward it. Bad idea.
>Passage
Also risky. There may be more hostiles past there, which would leave you hit by two sides if that's the case. If. However, if it's clear of hostiles, if gives you a serious leg up.
>Use Fal
You'd have to aim very carefully. Because of the melee, you might hit your ally. It did seem to really hate fire, though.

If your aim is good, use Fal. Otherwise, head for the passage.

Non of the options seem to have high chances of success. I am going t logo with A, because at least it will free Keimi to do something else, unless you have to keep the buff up all the time. If not, it might at least let Alex be on the same level with the windigo. Let's cross fingers.

By setting the Wendigo on fire, you can replace your current problems with new ones.

A.

Use your enhanced physical ability to kick her in the balls.

Fleeing down a dark passage chased by bloodthirsty monster, unable to go back the same way you came until you find the strength or means to overcome it, or find a way to go around, going deeper through the mountain...

... certainly SOUNDS like the start of an adventure.

C! (and pray there aren't drums in the deep)

>>1013200
A: stop healing Alex and enhance his physical ability, hoping it will be enough to defeat the Wendigo before he dies

Alex 2021/11/15(Mon)04:35 No. 1015226 ID: ca2950
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We make a break for the narrow passage and continue to fend off the Wendigo. The cramped quarters make it difficult for the monster to swing its long arms and we start to gain the advantage, until it breaks off and disappears out of sight.

"Did we win?"

Wendigos are pretty vicious and don't give up on eating whatever they've got their eyes on, so it's probably just trying to find a better way to rip us apart.

"I doubt it. Keep your guard up, Kei."

Things are looking up, but are still not going all that great.

"The whole point of coming here was to see if the cave systems connected to whatever the VSA is poking around at. So we might find another way out somewhere in here... or we might get super lost," says Keimi.

Well, forwards then.

Alright, that was a long and tough battle. Time to set up a camp and spend the night.

Combat tactics 101. Always keep the path to exfil clear of hostiles.

You were poorly readied for that before, but after all that you've got some idea of what you have to deal with.
Top off with heals, stay alert, ears wide. Detect it before it detects you. Stay far away, it just has melee, but you both have fire. Light it up, fry it to a crisp before it gets close. Be ready to retreat to this alcove if you screw up.

Alex 2021/12/29(Wed)18:40 No. 1018741 ID: ca2950
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"Alright, Kei. Now that we have the strategic advantage, we can finish it off."

Keimi seems hesitant and stays huddled up against the cave wall.
"I don't think I'm going to be able to keep it up without taking a break. I don't want you getting hurt for real if I can't heal you."

If she's to tired to keep fighting, we're probably not going to do well, since we only broke even last time. Better find another way and somewhere safe to rest.
"Okay. Let's find find somewhere safe to take a breather and look for another route out of here."

Keimi looks a little down. She was so lively a few minutes ago when everything was only moderately dangerous.

"Sorry, Alex. You might get hurt because I'm being irresponsible. Let's just get out of here as soon as possible."

>>1018741
Relax, so far this is less dangerous than last time and we survived that one just fine. That said we really should have packed a gun or two.

Yeah, seems like you should have brought a bit more gear. Little late to fix that, though.
Either way, you should rest a bit.
After that, there's two ways to play this.

First, if that beast sleeps, wait for it to fall asleep, stealth past it (or kill it while it's asleep). Go home, get kitted out a bit better. Doubt either of you is the cautious type, though, so...
Two, scout the area close by. Might be hostiles. Might be zero hostiles. Might be stuff leftover by people who are supposed to deal with this stuff. Tough to say. Best you at least figure out what you have to deal with, so if you have to fight, you set the terms.

Cheer her up and say you appreciate her feeling like being more careful, but if she wants to keep exploring, you'd be up for it.

You two would just have to try to find some other non-wendigo way out of here while exploring, right? If you can't do so in a reasonable amount of time you'll double back. Maybe the wendigo will have moved on, be sleeping or whatnot then.

>>1018746
I disagree that it is less dangerous, we had guns last time. That ofc leads to your other point.

We should really retreat tf out of here and get some guns and more armor (like helmets). Hell, is Keimi even wearing any trauma plates in or under that jacket? Honestly, we are sorely ill-equipped for adventuring even if there weren't monsters. I doubt the snacks we brought would be enough to last if we do get lost, or end up on the wrong side of a cave-in. We should probably reevaluate what to bring before we head back.

Alex 2022/01/26(Wed)04:37 No. 1021345 ID: ca2950
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"It's fine, Kei. We just need to get away from that thing for now and find another way out, which is sort of what we wanted to do anyway."

Keimi sighs and starts to look around, heading away from the passage with the wendigo.
"Alright, I guess. It's not like we have much of a choice now."

We move along until we're probably sort of safe and take a break.
"Do we know where we're going?" I ask.
Keimi reaches into her coat and takes out a folded piece of paper.
"Yeah, I made a copy of the ground scan," she says around a mouthful of energy bar. "There's a void here and a bunch of irregularities here that look like cave systems, so we can probably find a way around here."

"That looks like a bunch of wavy lines."
"It's a ground scan. You just need to know how to read it," she says, gesturing with the paper.
"Do you know how to read it? Do you know anything about cave science at all?"
"It's called geology, dummy."
"Yeah, well, how much to you know about geology then?"
"Tsk... L-Let's get moving."

That's a little concerning, but nothing is going too wrong just yet.

Let's keep moving through the caves then. Go find more of that trouble that we've been searching for.

Well, wavy lines or not, there's clearly a cave system here. Explore it!

... but do you have a way to mark your way so you can backtrack as needed?

>>1021345
Nope, fuck that. You need helmets in order to go spelunking.

Mark my words, one of you is going to get a concussion or worse if you dont leave asap and get some.

>>1021350
>do you have a way to mark your way so you can backtrack as needed?
They have crumbs from their food. Trail of breadcrumbs is a classic! Though that may attract beasts. Or rats.

>>1021351
Yeah, yeah, it's clear these kids are dumb. All they brought is food. They've faced zero hostiles with firearms. All melee. Simple sports gear as well as bike/motorcycle helmets would have helped with that. However, they're dumb kids. I doubt they'll go home after all this.
Still, hopefully some of those troops that are *supposed* to deal with this set up shop here at some time. If they left stuff to salvage, that'd be good.

Alex 2022/02/13(Sun)21:23 No. 1023443 ID: ca2950
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We continue down into the caves and arrange loose stones into little stacks at any junctions to mark the way back, in case we don't find a way out this way.

"Should we have helmets?"
"What?"
"You know, in case rocks fall or something."
"It's funny that you would be worrying about safety," Keimi says with a huff. "Mister Compound-fracture-while-committing-crimes"."

Oh, she's gonna bring this up.

"Okay, first of all; it wasn't a crime. We just borrowed that snowrunner."
"So you returned it?"
"No. I was totally wrecked."
"Crime," she states matter-of-factly.
"And second, that jump was awesome."

Keimi doesn't appreciate wicked, vehicle-based acrobatics.
"Was it worth the floppy leg?"
"Yes. Yes, it was."

Keimi pulls up her hood.
"Your anecdotes about suffering traumatic injuries have convinced me to protect my head. I keep my gigantic, powerful brain safe. Let's keep going."

The tunnel seems to turn into more of those old ruins at this point and there's some junk lying around. So at least we might find something neat and not just get lost.

kick that ball over there in the ball.

What I'm trying to say is

Kick that green round thing that is on that orb over there.

Poke the ancient abandoned technology.

Lift Keimi and have her sit on your shoulders. Tell her that she's your helmet now.

>>1023446
I agree, but where can we find a stick this far below ground?


But seriously, is that like a laser tripwire or something? Maybe don't poke it direct. Looks like some kind of advanced tech, though. Keimi, study this object keenly. Use your student powers!

Alex scout ahead just a bit.

>>1023443
touch hands all over derelict space bullshit and proceed deeper into ruins

Alex 2022/05/15(Sun)17:05 No. 1032379 ID: ca2950
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I warn Keimi to be careful of the thing on the ground, unless it has a trap trigger in it or something. She examines it, then picks up one of the parts laying next to it.

"It's not a trap. It's some kind of drone. It's not Valdran, Zieh or Aaloxi design. Do you think it's Urosian?"
"I have no idea, Kei."
"It's either them or some mystery race of aliens nobody has ever met before. If it's not Urosian, maybe it was made by whoever made the Urosians. They're machines, so somebody had to build them, right?" she says, turning the plate shaped thing around in her hands.
"Stands to reason, I guess."

Keimi seems pretty engrossed in the robot parts.

"So we're at very least going to get to sneak around in the ruins of a reclusive race of ancient robots or maybe something even weirder."
"Now we have to dodge antique androids as well as wendigos and maybe the military?" I ask, feeling a little less certain about being able to deal with this.

"Do you think we'll see something still operational down here? That would be so cool!"

See if we can turn that robot on...
not in that way, pervert

"Okay Alexa, buy dog treats"

Wendigos and weird alien technology? What a wierd cave. Can she turn it on?

>>1032380
Maybe in that way. Try sitting on its face.

Nah, let's leave the mountain. Not that your choice matters since Keimi is just gonna drag you deeper along with her.

>>1032379
Definitely.
Maybe we can find an obedient one that can kill the wendigo.