EDMANGO 2022/04/11(Mon)14:35 No. 1028896 ID: 0838d6
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Read the prompt on the first page and spend your gems on Items and Characters! To make things easier, please organize your votes with what you want the most at the top of the list. If you want less than 3 characters, please state that at the top of your list.

And feel free to discuss and convince other suggestors to help your waifu/husbando get picked! Character creation is next!

EDMANGO NOTE: BIG WARNING, you'll likely get injured in this quest, and while there are no instant-kills, your character or even favorite waifu could die! But don't worry, I'm sure you'll be fine… probably.

Tool of Trust (my beloved)
Sword boar
Rabbit Witch

Time of Hardlight
Random Potions
The Perfect Gift
Bag of infinite rations

Characters:
-The otter-croc druid
-The feline beserker
-The sword boar farmhand

Items
-Flower of embrace (for the druid)
-Pocket estate (for the farmhand to work)
-Magic arsenal, a fire falchion (for the beserker)
-Amorphous blob (a pet for us)

Raccoon
Otter-croc
Swordboar
----------------------
Pocket Estate
Bell of Souls
Golem Companion
random potions

I would prefer 2 characters, but should we take three my third pick is the Tool of Trust, replacing the second half of the item list.
-The rabbit witch for certain.
-The Swordboar.
Items:
-Horse-drawn wagon
-Potion of Giant Size (or 3 random)
-Historical Parasite
-Pocket Estate
Items to take instead of the Trusty Tool:
-Amorphous blob
-Perfect gift
-The Omnibus
-Magical Blood Armor!

Characters:
Otter-gator
Racoon plush
Rabbit witch

The otter-gator to and Raccoon plush to pick up items
The rabbit witch to store said items.

Items
Flower of embrace (for hugs and to grab stuff and pull us towards stuff)
Historical Parasite
Blobet
Golem companion

IDEA: we can give Historical parasite the body of GOLEM COMPANION since it is mindless!

All of these items are in some way living things. We gotta save as much lives as we can!

Let's just call this the 'yeah we're definitely the heroes' kit.

The Rabbit Witch
The Tool of Trust
The Otter-Croc Druid

Bell of Souls
Historical Parasite
Magical Arsenal (Upgrade the Tool of Trust for blood powers, only take if Tool of Trust is picked)
Tome of Hard-Light Manipulation

>>1028907
I'll vote for this loadout too.

Characters:
-Raccoon Plush-kin cute and collects helpful items
-Otter-croc Druid makes helpful gifts and attracts friendly creatures?!
-Swordboar is a baddie AND a mage who won't give up
Items
-Flower of embrace
-Bell of Souls
-Dances of Unfortunate Travel (sometimes randomized untraceable getaways are the way to go also just too cool to pass on)
Visions of the Damned (excellent for sleuthing)

Rabbit Witch
Raccoon Rogue
Otter-Croc Druid

Sub-Brain
Golem Companion
Bag of Infiinte Rations
Blood Sword

CHARACTERS:

-1: Raccoon Plush-kin - Adorable! Her stats are very close to the Druid's, so admittedly there's going to be some overlap in what they're good with, but that just tells us how NOT to stat ourselves out when we get to designing ourselves. Besides, going off of the information listed, it seems like she'll complement our druid well hopefully. Otter-Croc hates waste, and our Raccoon will passively collect useful items. Plush-kin has wanderlust, and Druid is nearly maxed out wild. Synergy!

-2: Otter-Croc Druid - Strong Wild, unique and cool design, and just has a nice energy to her. I'm all for this

-3: SwordBoar Farmhand - He has a lot of Power and Reflex, which my other picks lack. I think he'll synergize well with the others I've chosen too, as his farmhand profession should earn some respect from the druid. She's all about nature, and farms mean fewer people coming into the woods and eating all the grub nature provides.

FTR, if I was going to pick anybody else, I would take the Tool of Trust, because living weapon is just super fun. But I'm happy with these choices.


ITEMS

-1: Dances of Unfortunate Travel - It's terrible and I want it. I don't care if anybody else chooses this, I want this awful awful item in my life. For however bad it may be though, it isn't completely useless. If you're clever, you could probably resolve a few situations with it.

-2: Potions! - Take 3 random ones, because frankly there are very few there which will not be at least semi-helpful. There are no true duds, so just take three helpful potions.

-3: Golem Companion - Literally an extra fighter for combat, we should take this.

-4: Historical Parasite - Polt talked me into it by mentioning that we could give them the Golem Companion's body since it's mindless. I like that idea!

1: The Avatar of Purity - by far the most useful individual ally. I think we should mostly build around this guy to have both insta-kill levels of offensive power and nonlethal takedown options.
2: The Tool of Trust - vital for our insta-kill option.
3: The Racoon Plushkin - one of the only other allies that has synergy with the "nonlethal take-down and run" side of our strategy.

4: Magical Arsenal (Slashing) on the Tool of Trust
5: Magical Arsenal (Mana) on the Tool of Trust - this is our insta-kill strat.
6: Contacts - having friends wherever we go can be essential for avoiding fights we don't need to get into.
7: Kamal Lin Omnibus - Just a really solid item all around.

>>1028895
Character: Berserker (4 pts)
Item: Magical Armament: sword with all affinities (12 pts)

rip and tear

Top Pick: Sword Boar
Second Pick: Rabbit Witch
Third Pick: Otter-Croc

Items:
Dances of Unfortunate Travel
Bell of Souls
Visions of the Damned
Tome of Hard-Light Manipulation

Characters:
- Rabbit witch
- Swordboar
- Half-golem artificer

Items:
- Bell of souls
- Tome of hard-light manipulation
- Historical parasite
- Poket state

I think historical parasite can work well with rabit witch and Half-golem artificer. Pocket state works well with Swordboar and Half-golem artificer. Tome of hard-light and bell of souls to protect our companions.

I like Tool of trust because I am a sucker for inteligent artifacts but jealousy can be hard to manage (maybe tool of trust instead of the four items).

I think the optimal choice is 3 characters and 4 magic items because each character is a life you are saving and 4 items to protect what you want (and because they are cool as hell)

EDMANGO 2022/04/12(Tue)15:49 No. 1029069 ID: 0838d6
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> RUNOFF VOTE TIME!
There’s no easy way to handle a runoff with the amount of choices present here, so I’ve taken record of everyone’s votes and did the next best thing. I’ve made groupings of characters and items for you to vote on!

Pick your top 2 selections in the format of [LETTER/NUMBER], the first selection will be allotted 2 points, the second, 1. This will help me decide the true selections should there be another tie.

> CHARACTERS
A. TEAM POPULAR CHARACTERS
- The Rabbit Witch
- The Otter-Croc Druid
- The Raccoon Plush-Kin
B. TEAM BLEEDING FOREST
- The Rabbit Witch
- The Otter-Croc Druid
- The Swordboar Farmhand
C. TEAM BLOOD BLADES
- The Rabbit Witch
- The Swordboar Farmhand
- The Tool of Trust

AN EXTRADIMENSIONAL BLESSING FROM AN UNKNOWN BENEFACTOR HAS APPEARED. YOU WILL RECEIVE A BONUS ITEM IN EACH GROUP TO AID YOU.

> ITEMS
1. THE POPULAR ITEMS
- Magical Arsenal (You will pick it’s form after character creation)
- Bell of Souls
- Flower of Embrace
- Tome of Hard-Light
BONUS - The Perfect Gift
2. THE WILD PARADISE
- Flower of Embrace
- Pocket Estate
- Dances of Unfortunate Travel
- Bell of Souls
BONUS - 3 Random Potions
3. THE PARASITE’S FAITHFUL
- Magical Arsenal (You will pick it’s form after character creation)
- [HISTORICAL PARASITE] - “WHY AM I RANKED THIRD, THE HELL IS THIS? OTL”
- Golem Companion
- Bell of Souls
BONUS - Amorphous Bloblet

My first choice is Team A/2 , Team C/1 is a close second

B3, or c2.

A2 or B2

A2 and A3

A2 seems good.

C2

1. C2
2. C3

B2, A3

C3, B2

A question: There will be oter options to learn magic? The hard light book looks so cool...

--- (no need to read, just me mumbling about unuseful strategy and speculation)

Sorry if I overanalyze, but what are CYOAs for if not for overanalize? Of course I might have misunderstood synergies or rules, so don't take it very seriously.

I like almost all options so I picked my choices in what I think open more narrative options.
-> C3, a powerful trope with a mission (resurrect historical parasite, find the memories of tool of trust, make a farm for swordboar, ...). I can see character progresion and the sweet sweet drama I live for.
-> B2, a traveler group with a settled home. The best of both worlds: traveling and exploration but with a place to call home and playing sandbox. Looks like a dream.

I think there can be some interesting synergies (or absence of):
- Flower of Embrace might synergize very well with otter druid (as stated before)
- Team C might have a poor synergy with item set 1 because Magical Arsenal (the weapon don't look very useful for blood mage or swordboar, and sword of trust is jealousy with other tools).
- The later doesn't happen with item set 3 because we can give the weapon to the golem (and make it blood-elemnt for history parasite).
- Team A looks very useful but squisier than the other, so I think the item set 1 which is more combat focused would work better. (I really like A1, but only two options)

>>1029069
C3, C1

>>1029089
You will be given opportunities as the player character to learn magics of many types either in quest over time by being taught by someone, or as part of your choice of starting faction.

Character creation is up next and will explain the pros and cons of each stat.

>>1029078
Ah, missed the "secondary" part of the prompt - my secondary vote is A1.

A3
A1

Otter croc and racoon plush will give us items whilr rabbit witch will store those items.

Mainly 3 so that we can give parasite a body with the golem companion

A2, B2

EDMANGO 2022/04/13(Wed)13:49 No. 1029190 ID: 0838d6
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> RUNOFF RESULTS - A2
Team Popular Characters will join you!
You've gained the Wild Paradise item package!
Your BONUS random potion allotment is as follows:
- Potion of Gaseous Form
- Potion of Sex Change
- Potion of your choice

FORTUNE TRULY SMILES UPON YOU, YOU WILL BE ALLOWED TO SELECT YOUR POTION DURING SPELL SELECTION [NEXT UPDATE]

MAY YOUR PASSION INCITE CHANGE YOUNG ADVENTURER!

EDMANGO 2022/04/13(Wed)13:50 No. 1029191 ID: 0838d6
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> STORY - ESCAPE THE CRYSTAL SPIRE
You slot the [PURPLE GEMS] into the various slots lining the vessels in the Crystal Spire. For a moment, nothing happens, but then there's a bright light and the sound of shattering as three individuals and your several items break free from their shells. You feel a quaking begin, knocking several crystals from their places on the wall. You act quickly, escorting the disoriented individuals from the spire as you feel it lift from the ground. You step off and watch it shatter, scattering Crystals across the landscape. You let out a pained gulp, unsure of what the consequences of this action might be.

It's in this moment that your trio of companions approaches you, confused, and asks you who you are.

EDMANGO 2022/04/13(Wed)13:50 No. 1029192 ID: 0838d6
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> CHARACTER CREATION
Who are you? These three pages will help you decide that! Please provide that information in the following format:

Name:
Sex:
Race:
Racial Bonus:
Background:
Faction:

Votes will be tallied up on MONDAY 4/18, after which you will be given an opportunity to pick your free abilities, spells, cantrips, and potion that you lucked into.

Though if you want to suggest spells/abilities now, I won't stop you!

Name: (No idea :V)
Sex: Male(?)
Race: Feral Beast-kin (Dragon, maybe L o n g Dragon?)
Racial Bonus: +3 Reflex +1 Power
Background: Guard
Faction: Curiosity Sect

Name: Chara
Sex: F
Race: Feral-Beat Kin, Kangaroo specifically (Polt talked me into it).
Racial Bonus: +3 Power +1 Reflex
Background: Merchant, let's be rich and have contacts!
Faction: Nomads. Magic is cool, but we're going to be surrounded with it in this party. Do you know what we don't have? Somebody who specializes in physical abilities. So I think we should put our focus on becoming the best warrior we can be without magic, and if we pick up a spell or two from our allies during the journey, then there's nothing wrong with that.

Name: (intentionally left blank)
Sex: NB
Race: Anthro Beastkin
Racial Bonus: +2 power/+1 skill/+1 reflex
Background: Guard
Faction: Arcanus Mountains
-Mage Hands
-Flame Lance

Bonus potion: invisibility

Name: Mona
Sex: Female
Race: Anthro cat-kin
Racial Bonus: +2 Reflex, +1 Skill, +1 Power
Background: Astrologer
Faction: Arcanus Mountain


Mona is an apprentice magician who has set out in search of the Crystal Spire to get magical artifacts to continue paying for her studies. She bought the map and gems from a shady fellow student. Who would have thought that there would be people in the tower? And who would have thought that the tower would destroy itself with so many artifacts and people inside it? Why she has an omnious chill on her spine like she has sealed her own fate with some sort of curse? This seems like a major mystery where she could put her hard-gained powers to use at last.

Name: Thick
Sex: Male
Race: Object-Kin
Racial Bonus: +2 Power
Background: Guard
Faction: The Nomads

Apply weapon to problems face = problem is gone now.

Hunter Webb, anthro beast-kin (Spider) +2 to reflex, +1 to power
BG: Guard, despite the name.
Faction: Woodkin Forest
-spell: Web shot (Shoot your goo to tangle up foes, drag them closer, or yank yourself up and away!)
-reflex ability: silent step
stat bonus abilities:
-reflex: Keen eye: Pick up small details, like gaps which will let you bypass armor.
-power: War-caster.

Potion: pick giant size!

Alternative lifestyle choices: Mr. Webb could be a hunter named Copper, or a miner named Wedge.
As a guard, Mr. Webb is a handy man who keeps troublemakers at arm's length and spread his web far and wide to protect people. Nothing moves through the forest without disturbing one of his threads, especially not giant purple towers.

>>1029212
This

>>1029194
This, except change name to Colleen

Synfe the Charred Ogre
Female
Demi-Human
+2 Power, 1 Cantrip (Rivers of Life)
Miner
Nomad
* Extremely well-endowed but butt-ugly beyond belief
* Torso covered in sickening pustules and scales, slight weakness / stun to all physical attacks. As she is injured it will be harder for her to concentrate. However, her disgusting deformities are extremely malleable when casting blood magic, and help her ethically self-source stronger-tier blood spells.
* Rivers of Life - Unique Blood Cantrip. Causes Synfe's pus to temporarily gain minor healing properties. When cast on herself, she can easily recover from the wounds that caused the pus to explode.
* Is Aggressive yet Shy.

Name: Carla
Sex: Female
Race: Anthro Kangaroo with pouch
Racial Bonus: +2 Reflex, +1 Skill, +1 Power
Background: Merchant because we carry so much
Faction: Nomads

We carry our team with our money and pouch!

Updated my post now that I'm home (I deleted my old one

Name: Charlie. If female, Charissa. Whichever it is, they prefer to be called CHA as a nickname.
Sex: male for the most part, but he has a pouch to carry kin and items in for some reason despite being male (maybe hermaphrodite in that case) (could be female tho, gender isn't too important to me as long as we get pouch, and we can always change our gender with the potion)
Race: Feral Beast-kin KANGAROO or Antrho Beast-kin KANGAROO. I want a pouch to carry other kin, and items in. It'd be super cute.
Racial Bonus: 2 power, 2 reflex if Feral
or 2 power, 1 skill, 1 reflex if Antrho
Background: Merchant
Faction: Nomad, as himitsu said, we already got magic users, so we'll focus on physical strength, reflex, and skill. As a kangaroo, we got powerful legs for kicks and jumps, and use our skill to help us sell stuff as a merchant.

>>1029212
I like this one.

Spider.

>>1029194
kangaroo, no spider

Name: Swift
Sex: Female
Race: Feral-Beat Kin, Ferret
(Do you know what happen to a female ferret that doesn't mate during heat?)
Racial Bonus: +3 reflex +1 power
Background: Astrologer
Faction: The Forrest of Woodkin

The stats should be:

6 Reflex (1+3+1+1)
2 Power (1+1)
3 Skill (1+2)
4 Wild (1+3)

1 Ability Reflex
2 Spells Wild (1+1)
4 Cantrips Wild

Ability: Dodge Roll
Spells: Rapid Regeneration, Beast-Tongue, Growth
Cantrips (No examples given, I'm taking from D&D): Shillelagh, Magic Stone, Druidcraft, Mending

>>1029192

Name: Barnabas

Sex: Male

Race: Polar Bear Anthro Beast Kin (+2 Power +1 Skill +1 Reflex)

Background: Miner (+3 Power +1 Skill +1 Reflex)

Faction: Arcananus Mountains (Mana Casting)

Name: whatever
Sex: whatever
Race: Anthro Beast-Kin, if possible an underground or burrowing creature
Racial Bonus: +2 Reflex, +1 Skill, +1 Power
Background: Miner
Faction: The Curiosity Sect
Bonus potion : we can't go wrong with Healing

They learned to meditate as they mine and use the Energy to sustain themself on long mining trips.
Suggested power : something that use Energy to replace the needs of the body like rest, nutrition, air...
Maybe also something to sense anything around them that's touching ground, by using the flow of their Energy in it.

>>1029212
Let's do this.

>>1029212
This

And heres an idea, if we go with spider, we probably will not need the flower of embrace since our web will be able to do the same thing the flower does to grab items towards us, and pull us and our teammates towards high places, and our many arms can give better hugs than two arms, and probably the flower to lower stress. so I suggest we sell it ASAP. Don't forget, we'd also have to take care of it or it will die making it useless and using up our time.

Plus it's probably a really rare flower that can give us a lot of money anyway to get us started early on. Sell it and free up inventory space.

I'm gonna throw my vote behind either...

>>1029239
Carla the female anthro kangaroo

OR

>>1029198
Mona the female kat-kin

Since Dergun isnt even close to winning...

Voting for >>1029194

EDMANGO 2022/04/18(Mon)14:33 No. 1029619 ID: 0838d6
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> RUNOFF VOTE TIME II!
The votes are close enough that I feel it's only fair if we do a second runoff for character selection. There were a lot of votes for two characters, so they'll be the one up to bid.

Also of note is that since I'm giving you Racial Abilities and Penalties for your Anthro/Feral Beast-Kin, I'm adding a few more things not listed on the chart, give the changes a read!

Honorable mention goes to Mona the Feline Beast-Kin, I'll have her show up later since she's kind of cute, but you made her sad by not picking her.

EDMANGO 2022/04/18(Mon)14:33 No. 1029620 ID: 0838d6
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> A. HUNTER WEBB - ANTHRO BEAST-KIN
4 POWER/4 REFLEX/2 SKILL/3 WILD
FREE RACIAL ABILITY - CREATE SILK
- You can produce a thick and ropy silk that can be used to entrap foes. It's not built for speed and will take time to set up. You can traverse webs at no penalty. Can be upgraded.
BACKGROUND - GUARD
- You gain combat knowledge for both monsters and sapients.
- You gain a special blunt sword shaped like a needle that matches your race
- You gain a leather poncho of [+1 ARMOR]
FACTION - THE FOREST OF THE WOODKIN
- The shards from the spire will land with a preference towards the Woodkin territory
SUMMARY - ABILITIES
- You gain 1 [POWER] Ability from reaching rank 4
- You gain 1 [REFLEX] Ability from reaching rank 4
- You gain 2 free [WILD] spells and 1 free [REFLEX] ability from your Faction and Stats
- [NEW] Instead of Cantrips you gain the [WILDCRAFT] Ability, granting you Survival Knowledge, allowing you to blend into the forests, and track creatures. The higher your wild, the more you become [ONE WITH THE FOREST]

> B. CHARISSA (CHAR) - FERAL BEAST-KIN
4 POWER/2 REFLEX/3 SKILL (+3 free points)
FREE RACIAL ABILITY - POUCH
- You have a pouch that holds your belongings and sometimes even kin! Can hold one kin and a few items at no movement penalty. Can be upgraded.
FERAL PENALTY - CLAWED HANDS
- You have stunted hands that are clawed, meant for minor digging and slashing, for the purposes of dealing damage you are treated as always having a weapon. You can pick things up, but fine manipulation requires high SKILL and specialized tools. Can be upgraded.
BACKGROUND - MERCHANT
- You gain one helpful contact in each settlement you visit.
- You gain 50 Funds.
- You gain a set of Fancy Clothes
- You buy and sell with a 10% profit
FACTION - THE NOMADS
- The shards from the spire will not land with bias towards any one faction
SUMMARY - ABILITIES
- You gain 1 [POWER] Ability from reaching rank 4
- You gain 2 free [PHYSICAL (POWER/REFLEX/SKILL)] Abilities from your Faction
- You gain +3 free skill points to distribute and will gain Abilities per normal depending on their placement
- [NEW] As a Nomad, instead of Cantrips you gain 1 [SKILL] Ability from reaching rank 2 (And will receive a skill ability every 2 ranks instead of at 4 and 7)

AUTHORS NOTE: After Character selection we will move to Potion selection, Ability/Spell and point distribution. Sorry for the number crunching this early on, but I believe in you all!

B

Roo.

Hunter Webb, I choose you!

A. Shaw!

B! Go team Roo!

B
For the 3 extra skills, go for 2 on skill, one on power. We'll need some skill for our merchant lifestyle. Plus, we'll be strong.

Plus, we got the flower, which is similar to Webb's web ability.

A) Go team spider!

Naturally, I'm voting for B, our lovely kangaroo nomad!

Most of us have already given our opinions on which is cooler between roo and spider, so I won't make any argument on that front. Webs, pouch, both are cool, and you probably already know which excites you more. Instead, I want to bring up a couple of the long-term benefits of Charissa.

Firstly, MERCHANT BACKGROUND! While the GUARD background's monster knowledge is certainly helpful, I think it's worth considering the flexibility of starting as a merchant. For starters, we begin with a nice chunk of currency, meaning we could easily pick up items that suit us in whatever town we visit. Even when that starting bonus runs dry, and the items we purchased expended, we'll permanently be able to buy and sell for better prices, which will can up over the quest. Finally, we'll always have contacts that we can rely on, opening up services that we may not always be able to rely on otherwise. The GUARD background is more directly helpful with combat, but the MERCHANT background gives us the flexibility to be good with anything, so long as we take the time to prepare and use our wealth accordingly.

And secondly, overtime we're going to pick up more abilities than the spider, while still having better stats overall. This is because of the newly listed NOMAD bonus of gaining a SKILL ability for every two ranks we put into it (which we can immediately take advantage of for just 1 of our +3 skill points). Just counting up the abilities both choices offer, you can already see it:

HUNTER:
- 1 [POWER] Ability
- 2 [REFLEX] Abilities
- 2 [WILD] Spells

CHARISSA:
- 1 [POWER] Ability
- 1 [SKILL] Ability
- 2 free [PHYSICAL (POWER/REFLEX/SKILL)] Abilities
- Between 0 and 2 more Abilities depending on how we spend our skill points (+1 SKILL for another there, +2 REFLEX for another there)

Now, how much better spells are than abilities is a question for another time, but measuring them as equivalents for the moment, the starting selection is about equal. And that's important, because that means over time, it's going to get less and less equal due to Charissa having fewer stats to put points into.

To put it simply, If you gave both character 12 skill points to spend, and they distributed them equally, all of Charissa's stats would be one higher than Hunter's (And we'd get 2 SKILL abilities compared to the 1 Spell he'd learn). THAT is the biggest strength of the NOMAD faction. Since they have less to focus on, they end up more proficient in what they have.

TL;DR: Kangaroo and spider are both awesome, but Charissa got the better surrounding details as well, and that's why you should definitely pick roo.

pulling for spider on this one

Everyone is terrible for making Mona sad!

But I guess if we have to pick between the other options

B please, gimme that Roo

B

>>1029620
A, let's go spider guy!

A

>>1029620
A for the spider.

>>1029620
A!

B

B

B

B

A

A pls!

>>1029620
I vote A

B

EDMANGO NOTE: Voting will end at 12PM PST tomorrow, 4/19. So at Noon. Should a tie still be in effect I will roll a dice using the questden rng.

An ODD number will be HUNTER WEBB
An EVEN number will be CHARISSA

May the elder gods favor your choice!

B, because we already have a near-maxed-out wild caster in the party.

A

>>1029620
A for the spider man!

A

EDMANGO 2022/04/19(Tue)15:45 No. 1029771 ID: 0838d6
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> CHARACTER SELECT - HUNTER WEBB
> STORY - WHO YOU ARE
There is a moment, a beat, where you're confused at their question, as if there could ever be any doubt as to who you are. You are of course a former guard of the woodkin, HUNTER WEBB. Your bond with the wild is raw and untamed, but budding and ready to erupt. Your insect heritage and natural silk production made you an invaluable asset in protecting the small village you called home. But you sold your silk and what you had on you to make it here, to get that map and those [PURPLE GEMS].

You take a moment to think to yourself about those Skills, Spells, Abilities, and Talents you have and for the briefest of moments they feel... mutable, changing, in flux.

> CHOOSE YOUR ABILITIES!
You may suggest an ability under the restrictions of each category, upvote a suggestion someone else had, or pick one of the examples I provide.

Please pick one extra ability per choice you have, these will be added to the running total with your first ability chosen in each category being worth 2 points and the subsequent ones being worth one point. This is to make tallying votes and tiebreakers easier, and also give you the opportunity to upvote other suggestions!

POWER ABILITIES (1 choice remaining)
- Power abilities are anything related to melee, athleticism, tanking and dealing damage, and physicality.
EXAMPLES
A1. War-Casting - You can cast spells mid combat and are not interrupted if attacked, no check required!
A2. Iron-Skin - Your body is treated as [+1 ARMOR] at base
A3. [RACIAL] Venom fangs - You produce paralytic neurotoxins from your fangs that can be milked or directly injected.
A4. [OTHER] - SUGGEST YOUR OWN IDEAS

REFLEX ABILITIES (2 choices remaining)
- Reflex abilities are anything related to ranged attacks, acrobatics, dexterity, dodging, and instinct.
B1. Silent Step - Your footsteps no longer produce sound, even while running!
B2. Dense Musculature - You can dodge and jump greater distances with less wind-up time
B3. [RACIAL UPGRADE] Grappling Silk - Your silk gland can now be used to grapple and ensnare targets with surprising speed, even mid-combat.
B4. [OTHER] - SUGGEST YOUR OWN IDEAS!

WILD SPELLS (2 choices remaining)
- Wild Spells are spells that are anything related to speaking with creatures, accelerated healing and growth, shape-changing, and manipulating how you perceive the forest.
C1. Beast-Shape - Convert to a feral form, you blend with the forest more, but also are a giant spider.
C2. Beast-Sight - You can see through foliage, finding optimal paths as if it were an empty field, nothing is hidden from you when you are in the forest.
C3. Rapid Regeneration - target heals at 4x the natural rate, wounds visibly close at rapid rates.
C4. Wild Mark - Mark a target, all of the foliage in the area will always help you find them until they are unmarked. You can only have marks equal to your Wild.
C5. [OTHER] - SUGGEST YOUR OWN IDEAS!

POTIONS (1 choice remaining)
- Go look at the chart and pick 2 potions, same deal as spells, first vote counts as 2 points, second as 1, I'll break the tie myself if it comes down to it.

Abilities:
Power: Wrestler: you're strong enough to grab and hold onto a medium creature with a single limb. Useful for dragging away whole groups of troublemakers, and for hitting a dude with another dude. Secondary: War Casting.
Reflex: Silent Step, Grappling Silk, secondary: sailing silk: Lighter, stronger silk is adept at catching the wind.
Spells: Beast Shape, Wild Mark, secondary: rapid regen.
Potions: Giant-size, secondary: mouse size.

Power and abilities are for this spider to be a loving and devoted husband with two children

Titan's Tremor - You borrow a sliver of power from an unknown legendary giant, causing a single of your attacks to tremble with sheer force of might. This attack has a 40% chance to hit (100% to hit non-living targets, guaranteed against the ground or walls) but deals 300% standard damage, while also causing a minor shockwave. If the attack connects, the backlash will then deal ''double'' the damage to whatever you used to hit. Best used with disposable weaponry. Punching definitely not recommended.

Silent Ascension - You can slowly crawl up any vertical surface without being seen or heard.
Evasion Silk - You can use your silk to quickly evade attacks.

Beast Sight, Wild Mark

POWER ABILITY

Honestly, IRON-SKIN is pretty damn good on its own, and VENOM FANGS ain't bad either. Still, I wouldn't like to come up with one or two of my own, so let's see what else we could try.

> [RACIAL] Multi-Hit - With your extra arms, it's easy for you to sneak in bonus strikes. While dealing melee damage, you can launch bonus melee attacks for extra damage. These will be weaker quick strikes, and you can obviously only do this when your hands are free or carrying a weapon you could strike with.

> Stand Your Ground - You're an unmovable wall. It's INCREDIBLY difficult for you to be moved if you have your feet planted on the ground. Even when you take powerful blows, you won't be knocked away.

> Showoff - You've got a bit of a boastful streak, and will flex your skills whenever you get the chance. Whenever you have an audience, you will gain a number of temporary stat points in POWER and REFLEX depending on the size of your audience and how badly you want to impress them. Your party only counts for a single point of POWER.

> Trained Combatant - While in combat with a sword in your hand, gain two temporary points of REFLEX and one temporary point of POWER.

As for what I'm actually gonna vote for, I think I'mma go with:

1: Showoff
2: Multi-Hit


REFLEX ABILITIES

Silent Step seems REALLY good, and who doesn't want to be spider man? Here are a couple more anyways.

> Stupid Finesse - You can use anything you can hold as a weapon, especially if you REALLY shouldn't use it as such. Be it a feather, a can of beans, another party member, a garbage can lid, or a simple piece of parchment, you will understand how best to fight with it.

> Escape Artist - You're a pretty hard guy to keep down. You become incredibly efficient at breaking out of grapples or other physical restraints such as tape, rope, handcuffs, etc.

> On Your Guard - You've got a good sense for danger. You can sense killing intent when it's near, even in targets that you're currently unaware of.

As for my votes:

1: Stupid Finesse
2: Silent Step
3: Escape Artist
4: On Your Guard

WILD SPELLS

Welp, if we're gonna have some magic, may as well come up with some really fun stuff!

> Beast-Hearing - Shift the inner workings of your ears so that your hearing is as good as that of the greatest beasts. Allows you to pinpoint specific sounds from a distance, even among the loudest of environments.

> Territorial Interjection - For a short time, shift the physical landscape around an area to resemble the familiar forests of home, giving you your advantages in even the most unfamiliar terrain.

> Sweet Nectar - Bait unsuspecting prey towards your location by excreting a sweet smelling nectar from your mouth. This works on sapient creatures, but will not be effective against foes actively resisting the temptation. Those aware will find it far easier to ignore.

> Decomposer - Cause non-living organic materials or substances to rapidly decay. The targeted item will become coated with mold and/or fungi as this takes place

> Metamorphosis - Incite growth in a willing ally. Increase the rate of improvement by training or study in up to two targets of your choice by a fair amount. This takes a physical toll on the targets however, causing them to require more food and sleep as a result.

My picks are:

1: Decomposer
2: Sweet Nectar
3: Rapid Regneration
4: Beast Shape

POTIONS

Let's keep this one simple:

1: Raise Dead
2: Beauty

>>1029771
Oh! Spider paws! We have made the correct decision.

>POWER
Iron Skin
Venom Fangs

>REFLEX
Grappling Silk
Dense Musculature
OTHER: Silk Flail: Can swing weapons or objects via silk threads with increased speed, range, and accuracy.
Silent Step

>WILD SPELLS
Beast-Sight
Rapid Regeneration
OTHER: Summon Forest Sprite: summons a small magical creature that will perform tasks for the caster.
Beast-Shape

> POWER
1: Iron Skin is ideal for a guard.
2: Venom Fangs. Poison on command is always fun. (Didn't pick War Caster because most of our spell options (both premade and suggested) seem mostly supportive.)

> REFLEX
1: Grappling Silk. That seems like an incredibly useful utility ability. Even discounting the disabling effect, you can get up to some bullshit with that kind of positioning tool, depending on the environment.
2: Himitsu's On Your Guard ability. No ambushes for you!
3: Silent Step. Sneak attacks made easy.
4: Himitsu's Escape Artist. Being as mobile as possible is always good - I'd have picked Dense Musculature, but Grappling Silk might render that somewhat redundant.

> WILD
1: Rapid Regeneration. A must-have if we're getting into fights on the regular.
2: Himitsu's Sweet Nectar. Just great all-around synergy with our racial abilities - set up your "territory," then make some of the enemies break away from the pack to walk right into your kill zone.
3: Himitsu's Territorial Interjection. Great for overruling when your gator-ott ally's (likely more environment-specific) spells aren't "supposed" to apply.
4: Himitsu's Decomposer. More environmental and utility shenanigans, ahoy!

> POTIONS
1: Raise Dead. Fucking duh.
2: Giant Size. For when your gator-ott or boar needs to smash something thoroughly.

Power:
Primary: >>1029785 SUPPORT Showoff. Become like Skidder the buff spider from CATALYST.
Secondary: showoff again. hoping that will add one extra point to showoff :P But if i'm not allowed to do that, then Wrestler >>102977.

Reflex: Grappling Silk, On Your Guard >>1029785,
Secondary, Escape Artist >>1029785, silent step

Wild Power:
Primary: Beast-Sight, Rapid Regeneration. SHARDS and Plush Quest had us miss lots of things because of low perception. lets fix that with this quest with beast sight.
Secondary: beast form, Decompose >>1029785 for clothing damage

Potions:
primary: Raise dead
secondary: Antidote

>>1029794
Supporting all of these.

>>1029794
My vote goes for this.

Mostly what I had in mind but I would have changed venom fang for the boring but reliable fencing master (Being very good with weapons) but venom is also both powerful AND funny.

Power Ability
-Finisher, a powerful blow meant to end a fight in one strike. Hard to pull off against targets able to defend themselves.
-Iron-Skin

Reflex Abilities
-Silent Step
-Himitsu's Escape Artist
-Climbing, climb anything with ease and hang on the ceiling like a true spider
-Dense Musculature

Wild Spells
-Eyes of the Forest, see through the senses of wild animals around you.
-Memories of the Wood, touch a living plant to gain an understanding of past events in the area. The more plants there is in the target area, the better.
-Heart of Sap, slowly heal and recuperate from any wound or illness by linking your life with the life of the forest as a whole. Better in spring, worse in winter.
-Calm Wildlife, useless on domesticated animals.

Potions
-Raise Dead, unless it raises the dead as zombies or ghosts or something
-Healing

EDMANGO 2022/04/21(Thu)16:02 No. 1029962 ID: 0838d6
File 165058217032.png - (9.27KB , 500x500 , p9.png )

> CHARACTER CREATION COMPLETE!
You may view your character, their abilities, and stats on this handy Wiki page.

https://questden.org/wiki/Crystal_Spire_Stats

Items have been added. Most notably are the [SMALL SILK DOLL], [RATIONS], and [SLEEPING BAG]. Also included is a bit of lore on factions and how your [BONDS] see you! I'll (do my best) to keep this page updated as the quest goes on.

> STORY - WHAT YOU CAN DO
The doubt, the mutability, it leaves you in a flash, one that felt like days, but in truth was seconds. You know what you can do, you're HUNTER WEBB after all. You keep your skills close to the vest, but not to brag, you are KINDA TOUGH, and are a bit QUIETER than most of your ilk. You might even say that you excel at being an AMBUSH PREDATOR with your skillset.

Your reverie is broken, and you leave the confines of your mind, the narration you've grown accustomed to in your alone-time to regard these individuals you unwittingly rescued.

> [CRYSTAL SPIRE] - START!
Rabbit: Ughhhh, my head hurts
Otter-Croc: This one agrees, *gags* I one might vomit.
Plush: …

You look to your surroundings, you're out of the blast zone, and while the ground is still shaking slightly, you think all of the shards from the [CRYSTAL SPIRE] have landed by now. You're surprised at how well you're handling this situation. The destruction of a monument visible across the world should be harrowing, but instead you feel a bit giddy, and also a bit nauseous. And then the headache hits. You feel information trickle into your mind, but this trickle is like a spike to your brain, through your slightly fuzzy carapace. It hurts.

> [POWER CHECK] - SUCCESS!
But you power through it and wince, you let out a grunt and they look towards you again, this time with concern. And then the pain stops.

You let out a breath and think about the information you've just gained. It's all a mess, but essentially it boils down to knowledge of how to use the ARTIFACTS you've collected. They're in your bag, under your poncho, safe for now. There's some other details there, about your new companions following you for now, but it's... fuzzy. But before you get to them, you should introduce yourself.

EDMANGO 2022/04/21(Thu)16:03 No. 1029963 ID: 0838d6
File 165058221462.png - (9.27KB , 500x500 , p10.png )

> DEEP FOREST - HAZY INTRODUCTIONS
You: I'm Hunter, Hunter Webb
You: I uh... saved you all?
You: From the uh... Spire?

Perfect start Hunter, great job, very authoritative. Now you just have to let them come into the web of conversation you've just laid. Any moment now.

Rabbit: Crystal?!?
Otter-Croc: Spire?
Plush: … Crystal?
Rabbit: Hmmm, the Mana density feels different here
Rabbit: Why can't I remember...
Plush: ... How can we be sure... didn't...
Otter-Croc: And mine Demesne, I... this one... No...
Otter-Croc: A decade of work... Decayed...
Rabbit: Hmmm
Rabbit: Oh right, names
Rabbit: The name's Anemia, or An, or Mia, or whatever
Otter-Croc: You smell like the forest, like the WILD.
Otter-Croc: Like creeping vines, like freshly dewed moss.
Otter-Croc: And blood.
Rabbit: Ah droppings, lemme recast

You feel a pulse of energy, it's light and tingly and you suddenly smell peaches, fresh, juicy, succulent and sweet peaches.

Otter-Croc: Ah right, this one goes by Key.
Plush: ...Nuki...

EDMANGO 2022/04/21(Thu)16:03 No. 1029964 ID: 0838d6
File 165058222682.png - (7.56KB , 500x500 , p11.png )

> DEEP FOREST - NOON
Well, this is incredibly awkward, but you are all just [STRANGERS] at this point. Ugh why isn't there alcohol when you need it, or icebreakers, or just... something to do… In lightly monster infested territory…

You look up at the sky, it's a bit past [NOON], soon it'll be [EVENING] and then [NIGHTFALL], too dark to move in the thick jungle.

Actions will typically advance the clock by a segment, taking [TIME] to do. Days are segmented into 4 parts, [MORNING], [NOON], [EVENING], and[NIGHTFALL]. Sometimes you can do multiple actions in a time segment, or that segment will stretch out over several updates. There’s also always a risk that some actions won’t end up successful, or that there might be a COMPLICATION.

A. Find a campsite and share a meal
- Consumes 4 Rations
- You will have 1 ration remaining
- Lets everyone get a chance to calm down
- Nuki will help you
B. Hunt for food
- Get a fresh meal for your companions
- Nuki and Anemia will try to find camp
- Key will help you
C. Look for fallen [SPIRE SHARD]
- Chance to get a random item from the chart
- Chance to encounter an enemy
- Anemia will help you
D. Other
- Use an Item
- Do something else!
- Feel free to suggest [CONVERSATION TOPICS]
- Stats/Items: https://questden.org/wiki/Crystal_Spire_Stats[/i][/b]

C, take Mia and hunt down extra loot. I think Anemia and Key will respect the pragmatism of grabbing rare items asap, while Nuki will, if nothing else, relate to the desire to collect and hoard stuff. Plus, Anemia seems to be the one holding up best after being released, so the others may appreciate the cooldown period to get their bearings.

Key and Nuki can set up camp while you're away. As a bonus, you could give them your flower while you're away. It is supposed to help ease stress, right?

> A. Find a campsite and share a meal

Everyone got some kind of magical headache, and settling down for the night might be the best bet to get introduced and unpack what actually happened here.
so that's what I would suggest.

>>1029964
A. We need to recover a bit before doing anything.

A: Blitzing off to find early loot is the sort of psycho-pragmatic thing you could only get away with by way of prior knowledge. Do the sensible rescuer thing. Maybe do a better job of explaining how and where you found them, maybe get their stories of what they can remember.

>>1029971
I'm sure that we've had to deal with confused people in places they don't belong as a guard, so it shouldn't be too hard! (To be fair most of them were probably stuck on our web than anywhere else.)

B they deserve the best fresh food after what they been through

And D. Whatever action we do, Be a bit of a show-off and start flexing while you do it. For example, If A, pick up the heavier materials like heavier logs for the campfire to show how strong you are. If we come across an enemy with C, taunt them! If B, tell them to watch your hunting skills and do a unnecessary trick while you hunt an animal. Just a few examples we can do to be a showoff to impress these strangers.

C - Grab the rare loot while it's still hot.

>>1029964
A. Find a campsite and share a meal

A. Everyone needs to stretch and shake all the crystal dust off. Maybe you can explore your new pocket house afterward.

Drink the Potion of Raise Dead and stare de helix fossil!

Jokes apart, A). I personally would press to get sweet sweet loot or even save rations, but is not right to save someone and then leaving them. Is our job to make sure they are ok and put them on day of what is happening.

In other words, we shouldn't leave a group of ammnesiac and confused people in middle of the forest.

A.
We will have to find a campsite anyway, better now than at the last minute. And right now is the best time for everyone to properly introduce themselves while we calm down.

EDMANGO 2022/04/23(Sat)13:14 No. 1030116 ID: 0838d6
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> [NOON, DAY 1] - DEEP FOREST WANDERING
You: I think we're all a bit shell shocked from the escape. There's a clearing a little bit to the south. Or was it a cave... Well it should be clear of MONSTERS anyway.
Nuki: ...Monsters?
You: Uh, let's walk and talk, just keep a lookout.

You head south from your location, meandering a bit from the path you took to get here, passing by the occasional bloodstain from some creature's recent kill. There's no body or bits left.

Key: No waste, good.
You: Well, it keeps the big predators away from an easy meal I guess…

You continue moving but hear a slight gulp noise, turning around you just see Mia, her arms behind her back. Though, you feel like she got a little bigger... especially in the thighs, or maybe her hat... Or maybe it's the social isolation making you constantly question everything in this lovely monster infested forest. Definitely that. You disregard your thoughts and continue moving, deciding instead to just ramble about something you do know about. Monsters.

You: So monsters are basically non-sapient creatures, more than just beasts they're inherently violent.
Key: Can you not commune with the beasts like I?
You: It’s… not impossible, but most won’t listen. They have a distinct level of [PRIDE] and are almost fanatic, like [THE PANTHEON] even. They refuse to get off their high webs, and truly only listen if you prove yourself overwhelmingly superior or use force.
Mia: So it’s not that they're inherently violent, but that they’re [STUBBORN] and [GREEDY], causing interactions to lean towards violence due to the lack of easy compromise.
You: And inherently stronger, like a Demi-Kin that has been pumped with magic. And that’s only If you can commune with them. Otherwise they’ll just kill and eat you.

EDMANGO 2022/04/23(Sat)13:16 No. 1030119 ID: 0838d6
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> [NOON, DAY 1] - DEEP FOREST CLEARING
You continue onward, passing a few rocks, your party’s movements causing a few corvids on the branches to scatter. You almost forgot what it was like to travel as a group, it’s unfortunate that none of them are as stealthy as you.

The clearing itself is nothing special, a small grassy field with around 40 meters of clear space. You notice a discarded log and with a first, second, and then a third tug you manage to lift it up, shaking free some detritus and various insects. It’s heavy, but doable, so you drag it to the opening and set it down, just so there’s something to sit at or use as a table. Nuki then helps clean up an area in front of it, placing stones and preparing a setup for a CAMP-FIRE, since you’ll likely be staying here for the night.

You: Soooo uhhh
Key: Food *drools*
Mia: Same
Nuki: ...Thank you for the meal

The three of them tear into the food with a feral fury rivaling the hungriest of companions you’ve ever had. It’s messy and wild and when they’re done you’re only halfway through. You can tell that they’re still hungry, but not nearly as ravenous as before. Mia seems to be full though.

Mia: I feel like I haven’t eaten in a decade
Nuki: ... Same
You: Well I imagine if you’ve been there for as long as it’s existed it’s probably been hundreds of years.

EDMANGO 2022/04/23(Sat)13:16 No. 1030120 ID: 0838d6
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> [NOON, DAY 1] - DEEP FOREST CLEARING
The three pause and look at you in a massive state of confusion. They gesture for you to go on, so you indulge them to the best of your capabilities.

You: Well uh, it’s said the [CRYSTAL SPIRE] has existed for a thousand years or so
You: If you were trapped when it was made then that would make you pretty old
You: Do… do any of you know of the [CRYSTAL SPIRE]?
Everyone: No.
Mia: Well, I feel like I should though…
Key: It’s… fuzzy
Nuki: …

You spend the NOON catching up with your party on current events, giving them a vague picture of the world. Telling them how you came to the spire and about that strange plush-kin who sold you the map and gems. About how you live on a massive floating landmass in the sky called a World-Plate, about the Spire that (once) dominated the landscape and was visible from anywhere in the world. The biggest thing to tip you off to something strange is that none of them know the name of your world, of CURIO.

Maybe they're from some other world-plate, not that any have been discovered in recorded history. They’ve never heard of [THE PANTHEON], or any of the factions that exist either, but they do know about MANA, WILD, and ENERGY, so the place they’re from can’t be too different. Right?

- Key, whilst devastated at the loss of her demesne, looks like she understands something now. She appreciates your recollection and appears to look at you in a new light.
- Mia looks distant, in thought. You see her constantly cast glances to the EAST for some reason. She appreciates your story but looks deep in thought.
- Nuki looks absolutely ecstatic, she’s still soft spoken, but you get the idea that a new place to explore is exactly what she wanted. She appears to look at you in a less wary light.

EDMANGO 2022/04/23(Sat)13:16 No. 1030121 ID: 0838d6
File 165074499181.png - (10.49KB , 500x500 , p15.png )

> [EVENING, DAY 2] - DEEP FOREST CLEARING
You’re trying too hard not to think about the implications of a thousand-year old landmark being completely decimated, and your companions thankfully don’t press you on it. It's the [EVENING] now, and you have a bag full of trinkets with some nice free space to mess with them.

You have [2 ACTIONS] that you can take at the moment. You are currently in a [SAFE LOCATION] where a monster attack has a less than 1/20 chance to surprise you. Safe locations are hard to find in the wild, so take advantage of them when you can!

A. INVESTIGATE YOUR NEW POSSESSIONS
- Perform a cursory examination over your objects
- You may ask specific questions about said object’s functions
- You and your party will experiment with them unless you expressly forbid them from doing so
- Everyone would be interested in seeing your loot
B. ENTER THE POCKET ESTATE
- Deploy your pocket estate and go inside of it
- You may describe ONE thing that is inside of the estate other than the building itself
- This will be added as a new feature inside of it.
- Ex. an abandoned farm, a copse of trees, a tunnel system, a river, a giant crystal, etc.
- Everyone would be interested in going inside
C. HUNT FOR FOOD
- You’re low on rations, and you can tell they’d be willing to eat more
- You’ll get a private moment with Key as she joins you
- Everyone else will be left to their devices
D. TALK WITH SOMEONE
- Get to know a specific party member (Pick 1)
- You can ask them something and they’ll ask you something
- Increases your bond with them
E. OTHER
- Give someone a gift
- Do something else
- Stats Page: https://questden.org/wiki/Crystal_Spire_Stats

A/B

Show off your loot in full and get some opinions.

Mia might find The Bell of Souls very interesting, being part of The Organization Group and all. Not sure how much Blood magic and Souls have to do with each other, but of the party you've gathered she seems like she'd have the most to say about it.

Naturally, your WILD companion Key may take to the Flower of Embrace. Ask if she knows anything about it, with her WILD stat she may just be able to pull up an extra factoid or two.

And as for Nuki, while none of our items may directly appeal to her, the Dances of Unfortunate Travel could perhaps stoke her [CURIOSITY].

The Pocket Estate meanwhile will grant a nice and safe place to rest up. As for what to add as a feature, I'll suggest something simple that EVERYONE will appreciate to some degree.

A nice bathroom. Shower, sink, and toilet included.

C - gotta keep supplied while we can (and bring the bell of souls to test on any animals killed for food)

then B - check the estate out, discover a pool filled not with water but the softest, fluffiest pillows ever

A. let your new friends experiment with your new items.
- Give Key the flower of embrace to keep so she can have its benefits. Does it look familiar to her? because you never seen this flower before. Maybe it went extinct and can reintroduce this flower species to the world? I want to know the best way to take care of it, and how to breed it if it comes to it.
- Give Mia the bell of souls to look at.
- Give Nuki the pocket estate. Since she loves traveling, having a pocket estate to go back to during her travels might be useful.
- as for us, lets practice dancing with the Dances of Unfortunate Travel book, the earlier we start the better

C is important for food. Whatever we do, let us do this as one of our actions. Do this after A so they can continue inspecting the items while you hunt with Key.

Oh and if we choose B, here is what is inside:

A fairy or spirit butler/maid. Unfortunately they cannot escape the pocket estate even though they can help you get in and out, because unfortunately for them, they have been imprisoned in there for some reason and does not remember why or how. They are an amnesiac like your companion. He/She hopes to one day find a way to escape the pocket estate and hopes you'll help them, but for now, he/she is just happy to serve you. For some reason, it's their instinct to serve whoever owns the pocket estate. (if it's a spirit, they just want to leave into the afterlife.)

They serve as your guide in the pocket estate, and can help set furnishings up for you.

B, C. Mansion feature: A giant beehive, containing a dripping lake of honey. Although, a river that runs through it would be very useful in certain environments, as well as for washing off.

>>1030121
A, c.

B - Mushroom Farm
What was once a sprawling and luxurious mansion has been overrun by fields of mushrooms. Enough to last a lifetime. You'll also want to consider selling and further cultivating these things.
Supplement Shroom - A species cultivated over generations to nourish most living beings. Made with the intention of strengthening armies and creating geniuses, it was eventually abandoned during the Dark Ages of Curio, when fanatics spouted unfounded nonsense about plague-like illnesses borne from consuming mushrooms. The work had to continue in secret, and inevitably, the last lineage of the noble mushroom cultivators died in obscurity from an inevitable accident. While the potency of these wild strains is weakened, their propagation has soared beyond the original cultivators' dreams.
* Supplement Shrooms cannot properly sustain a person; three servings of Supplement Shrooms must be eaten to temporarily replace a day's worth of rations. After three consecutive meals of Supplement Shrooms only, the consumer begins to starve.
* However, when combined with a single serving of basic rations, this one serving will now last four meals. When combined with regular meals, you gain Well-Rested bonuses after a short rest or enhanced Well-Rested bonuses after a long rest.
* When consuming Supplement Shrooms with certain high-quality, roll a Constitution skill check against a certain attribute associated with that meal. On success, permanently increase that attribute by 1.
* Supplement Shrooms can be sold, but there will be consequences if someone finds out what you're really selling. Try to sell these as side orders in simple dishes.

D - Talk to Anemia, ask about hemomancy and what she can do to improve people with its blood-strengthening effects.

Get to know Key by way of C. Save the socializing once you've bagged a decent amount. Now that she's less confused, maybe we can talk about what she wants to do, now that she's here? Perhaps, in turn, she might be curious about what exactly we want. What are our goals, come to think of it?

Second, A: How do we care for the plant? How can we best train our unfortunate dance safely? Does the bell use actual souls or just their memory? How does it determine what's been "killed" by you, and how would it react to edge cases? Expressly forbid experimenting with the limited consumables, at least for now, and be VERY careful with the unfortunate travel dance - that's a potential run-fucker if you aren't.

I would like to go to the tower ASAP. We have a resurrection potion and maybe we can find someone before three days has passed (or before a monster eat their corpse). In adition, searching the spire while is recent could give them clues of what happened to them.

If someone don't want to go, we can first open the pocket state so they are a bit safer (B).


It would be cool if there were a pool of potable water inside like a lake. With water we can grow crops and with any luck there will be fishes. Having a source of food and water can be critically good in situations where we have wounded copanions or we must hide inside the state for a while.

>>1030212

Ooooooohhh

I am certain that nothing good will come out of trying this, it does seem like if we try to get an extra party member it'll go awry SOMEHOW (my guess is either we find someone with bad synergy, or we rez somebody who hates us for not saving them), but I love the idea and kind of want to go for it later anyways. Not this update, let everyone recover first, but over the next two days it could be worth a try.

>>1030212
Seconding this course of action. We can leave spare party members in the pocket manor or have them guard the escape routes.

>>1030121
A and C seem like the best options right now.

EdYellOrange 2022/04/25(Mon)13:41 No. 1030296 ID: afe7de
File 165091927476.png - (12.74KB , 500x500 , p16.png )

> [EVENING, DAY 1] - DEEP FOREST - HUNTING
You look at your sole ration and the hungry kin near you and decide it might be for the best that you go and get some more food. If not for now, then for later.

You: I think I’m going to go hunt for some nearby wildlife
You: Maybe find some berries or something.
Key: A good plan, Key will join you.
Mia: I’ll stay behind with Nuki so we can make some shelter for the night
You: Well… it’s not going to rain and it’s the warm season, but go ahead I guess?

> [SURVIVAL CHECK] - CRITICAL SUCCESS!
You set off into the forest, Key close behind you. Your footsteps remain silent even as you brush against leaves and ferns. At first, you hear Key making a lot of noise as she moves, but then you smell fresh dew and her movements sync with yours. You become the staunch predators of the forest and it takes you barely any time at all to find and slay a wild buck. It’s quick and painless for the buck and you now have more than enough meat to eat. You tie the creature into a makeshift pack and with Key’s help hoist it onto your back, making the job of carrying it quietly a breeze.

Key: And a proficient hunter he is, good, good.
Key: An excellent find, nothing shall go to waste.
Key: I’m sure you feed your family-clutch well.
You: Oh, we parted ways long ago.
Key: Oh?
You: Difference of opinions I suppose.
You: I… yeah, couldn’t really stay.
Key: Why not?
Key: A demesne cloistered near others only grows more potent and secured!

You don’t really want to touch that nerve quite just yet with a total stranger. Your hand instinctively reaches for the small silk doll you hold dear, but you hesitate. This was what you wanted after all, to socialize, but it’s time to get her on your web, not in her lake. You start walking back to camp.

You: What about you, any plans?
You: You seem capable, potent in the [WILD]
You: I imagine you’re still in shock, but…
Key: Key wants to forge a new Demesne.
Key: … I… not impotent, but weakened.

EdYellOrange 2022/04/25(Mon)13:42 No. 1030298 ID: afe7de
File 165091932620.png - (8.87KB , 500x500 , p17.png )

> [EVENING, DAY 1] - DEEP FOREST CLEARING - THE POCKET ESTATE
You put your arm on her shoulder and give her a gentle six fingered squeeze. Her pelt is silky and well maintained, despite the crystal dust you were all hit with as you left. She looks at you and gives a small toothy smile. And let her unasked question linger. What about you, you wonder to yourself, do you have any plans? You think you might reflect on that tonight, after the dust settles.

The journey back is uneventful, however you do hear the rumblings and stompings of MONSTERS in the forest. You pray that they don’t find your campsite in the middle of the night, hoping to give your companions some sleep, and to the end, you decide to gather everyone together and investigate the POCKET ESTATE. Everyone is excited for this, especially Mia and Key. They express interest in your other artifacts, but you hold off for now, wanting to see if you can have a more permanent and safe form of shelter from MONSTERS.

You pull out the orb and with a thought and a toss it vanishes into the middle of the clearing. You feel a slight tug on your mind. It’s subtle, but it almost feels uncomfortable to stand near it when it’s deployed. You pay that no mind and chant the incantation, warping you and your companions inside.

Your consciousness fades for a brief moment before you’re jolted back and notice yourself standing in the middle of a rather wide clearing. The roof of the estate has a hipped roof style of architecture reminiscent of the kind that the [CURIOSITY SECT] uses. The building itself is made of an amazing smelling lacquered wood, but the sliding doors are completely rotted and displaced. There’s foliage overrunning the place, but it smells distinctly of the [WILD] of insects chirping, of [LIFE]. It’s beautiful. Mia and Nuki scatter and explore the place while you take a seat at the edge of the building and look out. Key joins you and you can tell that she feels at home in this environment. The [WILD] is just so incredibly potent here. But you feel a tug on your mind as you notice something else about this place.

What else is in the pocket estate?

A. A FULLY KITTED REGAL STYLED BATHROOM
- Cleaning yourself and collecting uncontaminated water will no longer be an issue
- Water magically refills, but is not infinite
B. A POOL OF SOFT PILLOWS
- Resting in the estate is twice as effective
- Mia will love this
C. THE ESTATE’S FAMILIAR
- Is knowledgeable in the pocket estate and can maintain it for you while you are away
- Has Amnesia
D. A GIANT BEEHIVE
- Comes with a lake of honey and friendly, palm-sized bees!
- Nuki will absolutely lose her mind if this exists
E. MUSHROOM FARM
- A steady and easy supply of mushrooms meant to SUPPLEMENT meals, not replace them
- Meals will be tastier and provide more energy to your companions
- Hunter (you) would love some better-tasting meals
F. LAKE AND IRRIGATION SYSTEM
- A rather wide lake filled with fresh water, fish, algae, and various plants
- Water can easily be diverted to water crops for you
- Key would love this
G. AUTHOR'S CHOICE
- Instead of picking one of the above options, allow the author to pick 2
- A COMPLICATION will be added to the Pocket estate that must be dealt with before you can treat this location as a [SAFE LOCATION]
- [EDMANGO] dares you to pick this

G, he dared us to.

E
Gimme dem shrooms

G
Let's get dangerous

D, with fallback support for G.

D. A GIANT BEEHIVE

... Alright, fine, G. Although I'll feel a bit silly if A and F are both selected.

C, new friend!

Hm, the estate being a bit overgrown is actually quite useful for our WILD, isn't it? We should fix up the doors and at least one of the floors, eventually. We can hang a bunch of giant webs in the attic... But we're getting ahead of ourselves. D!

G. Fucking do it. HURT ME PLENTY

G - More bang, more buck.

>>1030298
E

G)
My logic says F, but my pride tell me G. Come on bring us PAIN!

G
Complications are fun.

EdYellOrange 2022/04/27(Wed)18:11 No. 1030608 ID: afe7de
File 165110829445.png - (9.72KB , 500x500 , p18.png )

> [EVENING, DAY 1] - POCKET ESTATE - PILLOWS, MIMICS, AND BEES OH MY!!
Your rest is short lived as you hear the sounds of... Barking?, the sounds of shifting furniture, and some yelling. You look inside the building and notice a lone chair standing in the main entrance. It DEFINITELY wasn't there before and that's a bit unnerving. You decide to head towards the barking and see Mia yelling at... a pillow.

Mia: YOU LITTLE VARMINT!
Mia: WHY ARE YOU DISGUISED AS A PILLOW!
Mia: DON'T IGNORE ME YOU!
Mia's Hat: BARK BARK BARK!
Mia: Yeah you tell em, Bitey!!

You can see her hat barking, which would unnerve you if… No, it’s pretty weird. You watch Mia kick the pillow that conveniently stopped moving when you came close and dragged Mia away. In the distance you spy a pool just filled to the brim with similar pillows. Nuki joins you a moment later, looking very pleased and you can see her suckling on one of her paws, absolutely covered in honey.

Nuki: I FOUND BEES!
Nuki: AND HONEY!
Nuki: IT’S SO GOOD!
Nuki: Nothing like that unsweetened meat…

You turn around and notice that behind you, a flock of objects has appeared. Stools, hat stands, flowers, a thin tree, and pillows, lots of pillows just a few meters from your group. You spot one of the objects moving like it’s chewing something yellow and fuzzy. A few moments later it burps out a pile of fuzz and a pair of translucent wings you imagine came from a bee.

You: Nope!

You immediately chant the incantation and teleport your group out of there.

EdYellOrange 2022/04/27(Wed)18:11 No. 1030609 ID: afe7de
File 165110830743.png - (9.75KB , 500x500 , p19.png )

> [EVENING, DAY 1] - DEEP FOREST CLEARING - DRESS THE DEER
You: Uh, Mia…
Mia: There’s a whole mimic colony in there!
You: Were they… the pillows?
Mia: I mean *some* were, but typically they copy the appearance of stuff they’ve seen
Mia: And they bite!
Mia: If they got any closer it’d be a problem.
Nuki: BUT THE HONEY, I NEED IT!

It looks like your safe house just got a lot less safe. You decide to not focus on that for now, and instead set your group towards dressing, skinning, and prepping the buck you caught. It’s a process that both Key and Mia help you with. Mia openly practices [BLOOD MAGIC] siphoning the blood and making the process way less messy than it ought to be. You mention that the [THE PANTHEON] would hunt her down for doing that, but she just waves you off. Not like you particularly care about making followers of [THE PANTHEON] happy.

The rest of your party seems to not care about her magic either, so you just go with the flow. You’re not ruining a newly budding friendship over a little blood… yet. You start a campfire and roast some of the meat, saving and using Mia’s magic to dry the skin into leather, and the meat into jerky. Nuki takes the horns.

You gained [5 RATIONS]
- It’s pretty dry, but you treat the jerky as a ration, it’ll stave off hunger at least
You and your companions are now [WELL FED] after eating the rest of the meat
- Your companions have nearly fully relaxed after their traumatic experience
Your companions have collected parts from the deer
- They might give you something later

EdYellOrange 2022/04/27(Wed)18:11 No. 1030610 ID: afe7de
File 165110831821.png - (9.79KB , 500x500 , p20.png )

> [NIGHT, DAY 1] - DEEP FOREST CLEARING - CAMP
As the dusk comes and your companions sit in a fulfilled silence due to their meal, you think to yourself about the future. About what you want to do. As far as you know, these kin don’t have homes anymore, at least, not here. And while you could go back to your former village, would you even want to? This is a time for a fresh start, something new, something less depressing. You let out a sigh and the three look at you expectantly. Time to not choke, gotta say something cool!

You: So what do you ladies want to do?
You: I mean, after we get past the monster infested territory

Nailed it.

Key: Key already shared her thoughts, but a new demesne would be nice
Key: Maybe one in a nice and portable package…
Nuki: I just want to wander…
Nuki: ... and have more honey…
Mia: I want to know more about you, and where we are
Mia: Oh and investigate all your magical trinkets
Mia: But if I had to pick a destination…
Mia: That way.

You see her sit up and look directly to the WEST. There are two things in that direction. The first is the home of [THE WOODKIN], the second is [THE ARCANUS MOUNTAINS]. They’re both fairly far from each other, at least by foot. Though you think you could find a settlement or two, even if they might be a little out of the way. You curse your lack of a map of the area. That darn plushie price gouged you nearly into debt!! Time to use that little brain of yours to plan ahead, lay some silk. Build a nice hammock.

EdYellOrange 2022/04/27(Wed)18:12 No. 1030611 ID: afe7de
File 165110833618.png - (6.85KB , 500x500 , p21.png )

> [NIGHT, DAY 1] - DEEP FOREST CLEARING - PLANNING
Upon setting a destination, you will begin traveling. Travel can be fraught with danger, or an easy time depending on where you are. Civilized lands tend to have less conflicts but also suffer from BANDITRY, whereas the Wild lands tend to have a larger frequency of MONSTERS. You will get travel activities based on how [SAFE] a location is and how much [FOOD] you have. Travel activities aren’t as in depth as ones you can perform in [SAFE LOCATIONS] like a city or tavern, but they allow you to bond with party members and maybe get a little practice on some skills.

What is your plan?
A. Head to the [ARCANUS MOUNTAINS] - [EST 3 DAYS]
- Will begin a [MANA] or [BLOOD] subplot
- Mia wants to do this
B. Head to the [FOREST OF THE WOODKIN] - [EST 3 DAYS]
- Will begin a [WILD] subplot
- Key wants to do this
C. Head to the closest settlement - [EST 2 DAYS]
- Will begin the [RIVAL] Subplot
- Nuki thinks this might be a good idea
D. Deal with the COMPLICATION in the pocket estate - [EST ??? depends on approach]
- Once dealt with, when resting you will always be considered to be [SAFE]
- You will be able to access the PILLOW POOL - You will always rest well in the estate
- You will be able to access the GIANT BEEHIVE - You’ll have access to energy-filled honey
- You will have access to ??? Depending on how the complication is completed
E. Look for nearby Spire Shards - [EST ???]
- 25% chance that increases by 25% with each day
- Ex. After 3 days if you have not found a shard your likelihood will be 75%
- There is a 66% chance that you will have to deal with a COMPLICATION at the shard[/i]
F. Actively hunt monsters - [EST ???]
- Experience the joy of combat!
- Gain monster parts!
- Get injured! (maybe)
- Hunter (you) thinks this will provide you with a good cash influx… if you survive
G. Head to [ANOTHER] location
- Name a location or a faction from the chart, and try to find them!
- You can also describe a subplot you want to see happen

You feel the social pressures descending on you, what do you tell them about yourself?
1. Talk about being a guard
- Suggest something cool you did as a guard
2. Talk about your deceased loved one
- Suggest a happy memory, or a sad memory
3. Talk about an old aspiration you never got to achieve
- Suggest something you always wanted to do
4. Other
- Suggest them something unexpected about yourself, or dodge and talk about something else
- Different stories will bring you closer to different characters!

Head towards the nearest settlement. You need money! Once you have the lay of the land, monster hunting sounds good. And Mia should be able to help you identify the mimics, later. Could mimics be as valuable, if not more so, than hunting other monsters?
Once we have some hunting experience, I would put the forest down as a future destination.
Talk about being a guard: The bear attack. A giant honey badger was attacking the Bear family, they lived on the outskirts of the village so you were the only one nearby who could help! With its fearsome claws and jaws, you spent as much time blocking with your webbed shields as you did poking back at the beast! Papa Bear chucked a honey glazed ham from their pantry to try and lure it away, the honey badger did not care. You think it only left because it got bored of getting webbed up.

E twice (or more), followed by A.

For the moment, E and F. If everyone is gung-ho about leaving though, then C.

There were other people in that spire, people who might have survived the explosion due to the crystals trapping them. Maybe they lived, or maybe they died, but either way you owe it to them to at least try to find them. If we just find an item... Well, we could either sell it to make some cash, or keep it. I wouldn't want to spend more than 2-3 days on this personally.

Speaking of cash: You don't have any. Perhaps you can set Key and Mia on hunting duty so that if you don't turn up anything, you at least have some things to sell. Plus, you only have 5 rations, and you're quickly going to find yourself with just 1 left again after a single meal. Key could probably handle hunting alone, but it's better to go in pairs due to the potential of encountering monsters.

A seems like the more interesting story, but C seems like a good place to start. Gives us a place to sell some goods for money (which will come in handy if we want to visit the Arcanus Mountains, those guys are cheapskates), and will give us an opportunity to buy supplies and just be out of the woods for a bit. After a few days of hunting for rations and shards, taking a break in a city will be a good change of scenery.

Plus, kangaroo rival.

As for the peer pressure: 3. Tell them about how you always wanted to learn a little bit of every kind of magic, become some sort of SUPER WIZARD!

You realized it was silly when you got older, as some of the types were just impractical. You didn't want anything to do with The Pantheon, but even if you did that would pretty quickly rule out BLOOD magic. And while you could save up to learn at Arcanus, going too school in the mountains for however long it takes to learn is too far out of your comfort zone as someone raised in the forests. Maybe if you knew somebody who could taught it outside of that area, but if anyone like that is out there then you haven't run into them.

Never gave up on ENERGY though, there was just never a good opportunity for you to learn it. Not opposed to BLOOD either, but those who practice it aren't exactly vocal about it, for good reasons. Plus, you were always worried as a guard that the stigma would cost you your job, so you never really shared your interests. So for the time being, you've mostly worked on your WILD magic and your body.

F for cash, then A, assuming they're the most likely to have whatever we need to tame a gaggle of mimics.

Talk about why Hunter set out adventuring in the first place.

C, lets meet our spunky rival Charissa. If we couldnt be Kangaroo, then lets at least do her subplot and meet her! Please!

1. Lets gloat about how awesome and strong of a guard you are! While flexing the muscles to show how strong you got from being a guard. (Will think of a story later

I'm torn between E and C - if the former, we shouldn't discount any companion corpses we find, either. "From what I've told you, I'm sure you all put together that you weren't the only people I could have freed. I'd love to find an intact shard out there, but if we end up finding at least one corpse that belongs to someone else I could have rescued, I know what I'm using the 'raise dead' potion for."

1: "Well... I've caught a few servants of the [PANTHEON] trying to set fire to the forest I was guarding. Never did find out why that was, considering they otherwise never really showed any signs of being hostile toward us, and wound up too dead to tell tales. Er... Hope none of you have any compunctions toward me taking 'defense of self and others' as far as I have so far." Even if you were carrying out your duties, that was probably you at your guiltiest, it involving men of the cloth and all. I'm sure they'll appreciate you being forthright with the parts that don't fit the 'perfectly heroic rescuer' image.

(EDITED)

Mia was looking EAST earlier, but she wants to go WEST, which is the opposite. ask Mia what she was looking for Eastward.

>>1030629
Alright, guard story, one about how you had cemented your position as one of the top guards of your village at the time

So one night, you were assigned the NIGHT SHIFT to protect your little village within THE FOREST OF THE WOODKIN, along with your FERAL PRAYING MANTIS friend who was also a guard. The mantis didn't require weapons as his arms could crush skulls, and impressively, even sturdy or sharp weapons like swords as if they were nothing! You volunteered to take the position for that night because you really wanted to hang out with your best bud that night as you never really had the chance to ever talk to him ever since you married to your deceased sweetheart and spent most your time with her (bless her soul) while the rest of the times were spent guarding the town. Plus, nothing really happens at night, so really, it was a chance to just goof off and share stories, have some debates, sing songs, maybe sneak a drink.

but you were wrong...

Apparently, while you and your PRAYING MANTIS friend were patrolling outside the village for anything out of the ordinary, while also finding opportunities to take breaks to slack off, MANTIS friend heard some noises you couldn't hear, found some unfamiliar footprints that you could barely see, and an unnatural ammount of leaves on the floor, despite it being summer. your PRAYING MANTIS buddy has VERY GOOD PERCEPTION and was able to alert you to what was happening. So thanks to his perception, he lead you to a a gang of bandits hiding out above the trees, and thanks to your SILENT STEP, you both were able to sneak over and see who was in the trees, and listen in. Apparently, the thieving bandits were lead by a cloaked SKUNK, and you heard their plans on how they were going to raid the village with the intention of stealing everything that wasn't nailed down in people's home, and other treasures the village had, and maybe kidnap some kins. Boy, these bandits were sneaky and hard to see. one would have trouble spotting them in the darkness. But thankfully, with your PRAYING MANTIS buddy's perception, and your sneakiness, you both were able to spot the incoming danger before it was too late.

So what you and your praying mantis did was after listening into their plans, decided to set a bunch of traps all throughout town with your WEBS based off of the locations they were going to attack. web net in the middle of someone's chimney, a pitfall in front of your village's treasure, stuff like that. The mantis even used his arms to help make more complicated traps with your webs using wood and other materials

And thanks to the two of you, you were able to watch as the bandits fall into all your praying mantis friend's and your traps while the two of you enjoy a drink, enjoying the show. Didn't even wake anyone up either

The chief was impressed by how well the two of you protected the town, that he promoted the two of you as higher ranking guards with more responsibilities.

...

Funny thing is, you and the praying mantis friend forgot to undo the traps after the bandits were imprisoned, so every so often, a villager would fall into one of your traps... especially the POLE TRAP where they would get distracted by something you hung from your web, and they'd walk into the POLE. whoops

>>1030611
Hey, Hunter, here’s something for you to think about: You’re a guy and you currently have 3 pretty ladies with you right now. If someone else saw all of you, they might think that you’re trying to start a harem or something!

>What do?
C and 1

E), I wouldn't leave for dead anyone until 3 days has passed. We still can save someone from that spire. That's one more clue of what happened and at least we can find more tresaure in which Mia might be interested. Later we can go to anywhere, but this has a clock on it.

The catch is that we would need somewhere to rest, so we need either to clear the state (which might be way soo slow) or finding a safe spot and hunting regularly (which is slow).

About ourselves ¿2/3?:
"I had that... companion in the guard. He was stubborn to the bone and picked fights with me (He was so annoying). We had some kind of rivalry, but he was SO STRONG that I was always just out of his league.

One day a monster appeared, a big one, and he saved us all baiting the monster to the woods. When we searched for him we found him dead alongside the corpse of the monster. He killed the beast alone, but died in the process. It was then when I started to really apreciate his... friendship. Yeah, we always discussed, but the village was so lonely since he left. Now I can't never surpase him because he is not here to compete. Now I can't spar with him after traing. Now I can't talk with him and say I appreciate discussing with him..."

I don't think the rival is going to be Charissa, I think it was supposed to be someone we didn't save like the feline beserker

E and F
We are not yet too late to save someone with the potion, and we need trade goods before we go to any town.
If we absolutely need to go somewhere else let's go to B, more shards fell toward the Forest of the Woodkin.

3
A story about how you always wanted to be a treasure hunter, that's why you bought the map to the crystal spire.

>>1030671
EDMANGO had said on discord during the Kangaroo and Spider vote that whoever came in second place between Charissa and Hunter to become the main character would become the rival.

EdYellOrange 2022/04/29(Fri)19:00 No. 1030811 ID: afe7de
File 165128403471.png - (8.91KB , 500x500 , p22.png )

> [NIGHT, DAY 1] - OBJECTIVE SET - SHARD HUNTING
You let out a meek cough, the stares of your companions boring deep into your fluff covered carapace. Now's as good a time as any to decide what you'll be doing.

You: Well, we're pretty deep in what would've been called the [SPIRELANDS]. It's basically a deep forest that's hard to navigate. I kind of figure that we should take the chance to look for some [SPIRE SHARDS] while we are here.
Mia: OOOH and we can maybe find some stuff. Oh, and also study those darn crystals that imprisoned us!
Key: What about the Mimics?
You: We can deal with them later, this clearing is safe enough for now right? I plan to lay some webbing before the night is over just to be safe.
Key: This saddens me that we cannot clear out the estate yet
Mia: Look on the bright side, more loot!
Nuki: Loot!

Ok, phew, at least they're mostly on board. You pause for a moment and see they're still staring, uh oh, looks like they still want you to talk... about yourself... time to bring out a story about the ol' guard days. That always works!

You: So I uh... I was a guard for a while.
You: A fairly competent one at that!
You: Fought off a honey badger once and he did not care, uh…

You're blowing it Hunter, gotta focus, gotta dig deep, gotta come up with a relatable tale that's realistic, if not true...

EdYellOrange 2022/04/29(Fri)19:00 No. 1030812 ID: afe7de
File 165128404501.png - (10.18KB , 500x500 , p23.png )

> [NIGHT, DAY 1] - STORYTIME - BANDITS
You: Ah, okay I've got one, so uh, I wasn't always a lone-wolf-spider kinda guy. I had a partner! He was this cool Praying mantis, had better hearing than me, and had a shinier carapace. He didn't talk much but I did look up to him. Before this fateful day there were periodic fires near our home, but it was the hot and dry season, so we thought nothing of it.
You: Anyway, We hung out on night shift and he caught wind of something sneaking through the woods. It turns out there was a small bandit encampment and we snooped, finding out THEY were the ones causing the fires, testing our defenses.
You: They wanted to kill and kidnap our kin!!!!

You pause for a moment, partially for dramatic effect, and partially because you're getting a little bit heated. You take a moment to regain composure, but instead continue with a bit more fervor than you expected.

You: So we set up traps, I laid my webs and my Mantis friend created some rather intricate bladed pitfalls. Suffice it to say we were pissed and out for blood.
You: And then the flies flew into the spider's nest, it was a swift victory. They had hurt others before, and strangely enough, their leader was a skunk that had the symbol of [HOPE] on her neck.
You: [HOPE] is a spidershit set of spells by the way, we caught her, only for her to get out with no injuries and flee. She was the only one to escape.

You let out your long held breath, the memories of that night still haunting you. It takes a moment, but you calm back down, and feel a little bit better. You notice Key is now by your side, a paw on your leg.

Mia: So you killed the rest of the dastards right?
You: What? Of course.
Nuki: ... isn't always the answer...
Key: Hunter did right, no one burns the forest.
Mia: Though I wonder what happened to that leader bandit.
You: Never saw her again, but I heard she started a new gang in the forest. Or at least someone using [HOPE] powers.
Key: What was your Mantis friend called?
You: Ah, Kris. Like the dagger. He had wavy claws.

EdYellOrange 2022/04/29(Fri)19:03 No. 1030814 ID: afe7de
File 165128422173.png - (11.46KB , 500x500 , p24.png )

> [MORNING, DAY 2] - DEEP FOREST (SPIRELANDS) CLEARING - CAMP
It dawns on you at this very moment that you are surrounded by ladies, a situation that hasn't happened to you for a long time. You think about your dead husband, how he would have urged you to move on, you pull out your sleeping bag and the palm sized doll, looking at it for a moment before putting it away and setting up the sleeping bag like an oversized mattress. He’s probably smirking at you, in this situation, from beyond the grave.

After a check of the perimeter and some routine laying of webs, you think it's secure enough for the night. You give everyone their goodnights and drift off to a dreamless sleep.

You awake the next morning to notice Key snuggled up at your feet, curled into a ball with her back against the hairy carapace of your legs. Mia is also on the mat, but is on the far end of it. You look around for Nuki and see her sitting up, watching the surroundings. You were so tired you completely forgot to set someone to do watches! It’s been a while since you traveled with companions after all. Nuki immediately perks up as you sit straight, but calms when she realizes it's you.

You wake everyone up and share your remaining rations, bringing your stock down to [2 RATIONS]. Since you are choosing to look for [SPIRE SHARDS], it’s time to delegate tasks to the others!!

> AVAILABLE TASKS
A. Hunt for [SPIRE SHARDS] (25% chance of success) (0% foe chance)
- You will be doing this activity
- Mia is interested in this activity (+25% success) (+50% foe chance)
- Key is not interested in this activity (+10% success) (+0% foe chance)
- Nuki is interested in this activity (+10% success) (+25% foe chance)
B. Hunt for food (guaranteed success)
- Mia doesn't want to do this (25% foe chance)
- Key is interested in this activity (0% foe chance) (50% chance of bonus food)
- Nuki is interested in this activity (25% foe chance)
C. Let someone else try to solve the pocket estate problem
- Mia would LOVE to do this (10% success chance)
- Key is interested in this activity (10% success chance)
- Nuki is interested in this activity (5% success chance)
- WARNING, they will make their own judgment calls on resolving the situation
- You can always advise them how you’d like them to solve the problem
D. Free time
- Let them do whatever they want
- May have unpredictable results
E. Other
- Get them to do something else
Stats Page: https://questden.org/wiki/Crystal_Spire_Stats

A and B:

A - Mia and Nuki
B - Key

Take the high foe chance with Mia to ensure a decent likelihood of finding a shard. Meanwhile, if you set Key on hunting then there's no chance of her running into trouble while on her own.

>>1030814
A: you, Nuki
B: Key
C: Mia

Mia: Shard Hunting
Key: Hunt for Food
Nuki: Do whatever

Yeah, I don't like the idea of any of them tackling the estate alone.

Definitely assign Key to B - good WILD is busted for such a task.

Assign Mia and Nuki to A. Yes, Nuki technically adds more risk than benefit, but I'd feel better having three party members instead of two, should an encounter happen.

Of course, do ask if they at all agree with these assignments.

Ask Mia how she would solve the mimic problem. Take her shard hunting.
Send Key hunting.
...Let Nuki try to solve the estate problem. I want to see what she tries.

A: Mia and Nuki.
The 75% chance of encountering foes just means extra loot. We will need to be careful and scout a bit so we are not surprised, but otherwise we should be strong enough.

B : Key

We need to check on the Flower of Embrace when possible, maybe water it?

Mia: A
Key: B
Nuki: is she tired? I know we saw her up in the morning watching the surroundings. If she needs sleep, then E: let her sleep.
But if she is good, then B, let her hunt with Key.

>>1030814
Have Mia and Nuki help us with A.

Have Key go do B.

>>1030815
Seconding this

EDMANGO 2022/05/02(Mon)16:03 No. 1031021 ID: 0838d6
File 165153258297.png - (10.25KB , 500x500 , p25.png )

> [MORNING, DAY 2] - SPIRELANDS CLEARING - CAMP
You attempt to muster your most authoritative tone, but as you start speaking your voice cracks and you cough a little bit. This elicits a chuckle from one of your companions and you nearly kick yourself for the blunder, so you just talk normally.

You: I think that Key should get us food and that me, Mia, and Nuki should look for the [SPIRE SHARD].
Nuki & Mia: Loot!
Key: Key can agree to this.
You: Uh, no questions or anything?

Your party shakes their heads, agreeing to your arrangements. You expected to have to convince them harder, especially after your verbal plunder. Guess you must've read the room right and figured out what they wanted to do.

> BONUS FOOD - [SURVIVAL CHECK] - FAILURE
Key: Key will hunt for some poultry today!

Key sets off to hunt for food, she should be back with at least [6 RATIONS] worth of food. You imagine she'll have some free time if she gets lucky and finds your meal early.

EDMANGO 2022/05/02(Mon)16:03 No. 1031022 ID: 0838d6
File 165153259969.png - (8.00KB , 500x500 , p26.png )

> [NOON, DAY 2] - SPIRELANDS - DEEP FOREST
> DONT ATTRACT MONSTERS - [STEALTH CHECK] - SUCCESS
You bring your two companions along, trying to find any signs of crystal or an object that may have landed. You find nothing for a long while, not even a wandering Monster. Your steps are silent, but your companion's are not. At first you were concerned that they might get caught, but Nuki is fast, unnaturally fast. She moves with bursts of speed that are a bit too noisy for your taste, but you doubt that she'll be caught by anything she's aware of.

Mia on the other hand is a mixed bag, she's silent half the time and extremely eager the other half of the time. There were a few moments that she saw a monster that she claimed was "mana dense" and both you and Nuki had to physically restrain her from starting a fight. Not because you were scared or anything, but because you had to focus on your priorities.

> FIND A SHARD - [LUCK CHECK] - SUCCESS
After that incident she wised up and cast some sort of spell, one that actually led you to some small bits of the spire. You're close, you can feel it.

> SHARD COMPLICATION - [LUCK CHECK] - FAILURE
After a few tense moments you can see the telltale purple glint of what appears to be a MASSIVE chunk of purple crystal, what luck! But then you get closer and see that there's a bit of a COMPLICATION at your destination.

EDMANGO 2022/05/02(Mon)16:18 No. 1031024 ID: 0838d6
File 165153352558.png - (8.39KB , 500x500 , p27.png )

> [EVENING, DAY 2] - SPIRELANDS - DEEP FOREST
The crystal itself is a beautiful lavender that shines with the evening sun. Inside is what looks like some sort of AUTOMATON, a golem if your assessments are accurate. It's fully intact, but you'll have to get it out of the crystal to use it.

The second thing you notice is that the crystal has embedded itself into a bloodied tent. The kin inside did not survive. There's also a skewered corpse of a TIGER-BEAR next to the tent. Looks like it was sneaking up on them before taking a long crystal shard to the cranium. This, itself wouldn't be a big issue, the bigger problem is that a swarm of about 8 IRONBEAK-CROWS has been feasting on said corpses, making an already gruesome scene that much worse.

> IRONBEAK-CROWS - [SURVIVAL CHECK] - SUCCESS
You think for a moment about the creatures in front of you. The Ironbeak-Crow. They're vulture-like creatures with beaks evolved to penetrate monster hides. They tend to scavenge for carrion and small prey. They travel in flocks of 5-12, and most importantly, get loud as all heck if you interrupt their meal, potentially attracting an extra foe.

They're not known to assault most humanoids, finding them more trouble than they're worth. But they have good memories and can become a nuisance if they hold a grudge.

A. Mia: Let me puppet a corpse and lead them away!
- Mia uses Blood magic to attempt to draw away the crows
- Unknown chance to backfire
B. Nuki: I could let out a shout to distract them...
- Nuki will attract their attention and meet you back at camp
- The Ironbeak-Crows will likely carry a grudge against her
C. Hunter: Hm, maybe we could avoid dealing with them entirely?
- Use the [POCKET ESTATE] to store the encased golem and then leave
- 20% chance to agitate the Ironbeak-Crows
- You won't be able to loot the rest of the campsite
- The golem will be inaccessible until you solve the complication in the estate
D. Other
- Use an item from your inventory
- Stats/Inventory Page: https://questden.org/wiki/Crystal_Spire_Stats

Ah, and to have left our animal expert back at camp... Let's use Mia's idea to take all those blood and guts and push it somewhere else.

D: Use the bell of souls to summon a deer at the group. They'll end up holding a grudge against a deer that doesn't exist.

Use the Bell of Souls to summon the deer and have it lure away the birds without implicating anyone in the party. Make sure everyone is out of sight when doing this.

I feel like C is the best idea, but A sounds like so much more fun. Let Mia show off!

I don't think the D idea y'all are suggesting will pan out, but I admire the creativity. The thing is, the deer we summon would be alive, and I'm not sure what would happen to its body after we kill it. Even if it hung around, they would most likely split between the corpses instead of all rushing to the fresh kill. Or maybe not, maybe they'd all swarm it in hopes of getting first dibs on the fresh body. It's too many possible failure points for my taste, but I'll be interested to see how it pans out if it wins.

>>1031034
Nobody said to kill the deer summon.

Let's bard it out. Use [Dances of Unfortunate Travel] And select the crows (number and target). If they don't see us do it, then they can't hold a grudge against us.

>>1031042

Nevermind, this is my new answer, I want this. Show us your dance moves Hunter!

>>1031042

Bust a move, pray it doesn't hilariously backfire

>>1031024
A. Let Mia move the birds’ food away and they’ll follow it.

>>1031028
>>1031029
>use the spirit deer to lure the birds away
These bird scavenge for carrion and small prey. The spirit deer is not a small prey and it is not dead, so the birds will not follow the deer.

A

Use the Dances of Unfortunate Travel to teleport the Ironbeaks as far as you can imagine.

>>1031042
Lol can we actually do this? I assumed it only worked on friendly targets...

>>1031085
>>1031089
>>1031095
Uhhhhh... If we're using the Dance, we should be focusing "number of targets" and "choice of targets." I imagine the odds of transporting a piddly amount is unlikely, whereas the odds of one of us getting yeeted is very likely if we don't pick those exact parameters.

And I'm not saying we should, in the first place! For all we know, the user might be a required target!

>>1031145
Ah, you're right.
- Direction
- Distance
- Travel Method
- Number of Targets
- Specific targets

Pick 2. In this case we only want to move the crows, so that's "Specific targets". We also want to move all of them, so that's "Number of Targets".
Unfortunately, we also want to move them a decent distance away, but maybe the distance has enough of a range that it won't matter?

Switching my vote to A, dancing is starting to sound risky.

If we do dance, still make it a tap dance, and do number of targets, and specific targets.

I'll stand by the Dances. As long as we use our two controlled factors to specifically target the full group of birds,, then it just becomes RNG on how great the distance we get is, with the chance for a lucky Travel Method or Direction to get the job done as well.

D. Dance of Unfortunate Travel
It's a good opportunity to try out the Dance of Unfortunate Travel.
We will need to experiment with it at some point, and that way we are doing the first experiment on some birds rather than us.
Let's pick Specific Targets (the birds and their food) et Number (the total number of birds + the total number of corpse parts).

EdYellOrange 2022/05/04(Wed)14:32 No. 1031211 ID: afe7de
File 165169996712.png - (9.38KB , 500x500 , p28.png )

> [EVENING, DAY 2] - SPIRELANDS - DISCOVERED SHARD I
The three of you throw a few ideas around, Mia's idea of animating one of the corpses to draw away the Ironbeak-Crows is intuitive and cool. But she's too eager to do that and you get the feeling it'll backfire. Or maybe it won't and you're being paranoid. And also you really really want to use this book you just got.

You pull out the [DANCES OF UNFORTUNATE TRAVEL] and flip through some of the pages. It's a short but detailed manual where each element of the dance corresponds to a different component of the transportation. A few pages are set to each factor, and you can tell that it's not hard to mix and match components, but more that it just takes practice, lots of practice, and maybe a partner. After a minute you've got the gist of it.

It's time to perform the [TAPDANCE OF "HEY YOU GO AWAY"]. Your companions take a few steps back from you as you start this weird dance. At first you're worried that you're going to attract the attention of the crows, but you smirk as you realize that your silent steps are obscuring the taps. They just can't hear you.

> [SYNERGY DISCOVERED] - [SILENT STEP + DANCING = SILENT DANCING]
- When using the [DANCES OF UNFORTUNATE TRAVEL] you make no sound with your feet!
- It looks like to control all 5 factors you'll need a partner or an obscene amount of practice.
- Faster dances tend to be louder.

You feel something flow through you, it's not really [MANA] or [WILD or even [ENERGY]. You feel it, you feel the spirit of the [DANCE] and it feels good! It takes a few minutes of concentrated dancing to finish successfully. The amount of targets is a bit too much for a beginner like yourself. But eventually you finish the dance and for a brief moment you're concerned that nothing happens.

EdYellOrange 2022/05/04(Wed)14:33 No. 1031212 ID: afe7de
File 165169998401.png - (10.15KB , 500x500 , p29.png )

> [EVENING, DAY 2] - SPIRELANDS - 5 MINUTES LATER
Nothing is still happening, did it fail? You see Mia start to get impatient, she's so ready to animate that corpse, almost too ready. You're about to let her do so when you hear the sound of... meat? Slopping against the floor?

And then you see it, a sprawling wagon filled with meat on wheels made of meat that stops in front of the Ironbeak-Crows. They stare at it, confused for a moment before flying to it and starting to consume the flesh piled atop it.

You: Oh, oh gosh
Nuki: EEEEP!
Mia: Woah, that's a lot of blood and meat!
Mia: Can we keep it? Pleaaaaaseeee!!!!!

Before you can respond to her, or even vomit, the wagon starts moving. The crows, seemingly unbothered, stay on the wagon and continue eating as it rides off into the forest, its destination unknown.

In fact, you wonder how it's even driving in the forest at all, the foliage is THICK. Best not to think about this too deeply, they’re gone, and your loot awaits.

Nuki packs up the non-fleshy-bits in her bag, as well as some shards broken off of the spire. Mia then orders her hat to “store” the corpses. You would normally be shocked by this kind of display, but the meat wagon has humbled you, and you don’t even blink an eye when the hat hops off of her head and eats the corpses whole. You give her a look and cock your eyebrow.

You gained a TIGER-BEAR corpse
- All it’s parts are worth a fair bit of funds
You find the following in the abandoned tent
- 2 unrecognizable meat puddles of former kin
- A decimated tent
- A book on Mineralogy
- A set of climbing gear
- 10 FUNDS
You gained a [SPIRE SHARD]
- Inside is the GOLEM COMPANION
- You’ll have to break it out in order to use it

EdYellOrange 2022/05/04(Wed)14:34 No. 1031214 ID: afe7de
File 165170004670.png - (8.05KB , 500x500 , p30.png )

> [NIGHT, DAY 2] - SPIRELANDS - CAMPSITE
Mia: They’re totally secure now!
Mia: Bitey’s got a lot of room in there
Nuki: Isn’t that heavy?
Mia: Pshh, I’ve got a strong neck
Mia: Wait did you call Bitey fat?
You: He does look like he put on some weight
Mia: He’s just TIGER-BEAR-BIG-BONED okay!?!?

Mia then Harrumphs before sucking up the blood, her thighs getting a bit wider and her body looking a bit plumper. You decide not to prod the weight issue any farther. You’re strong enough to bring back the crystallized golem, in fact, the crystals are surprisingly light, it’s strange how TOUGH and LIGHT it is. You can't put into words how you know that you can break this thing open, but instinctually, deep in your carapace, you know it to be possible. Why do you have this feeling?

You set that feeling aside for now and make it back, the smell of roasted poultry assaults you as you enter the clearing and you drool. You all chow down on the meal and notice a neat stack of rations, and also something bundled up in large leaves, antlers and feathers poking out of it. Looks like Key was making something.

Everyone had a good meal!
- You gained 6 rations, you now have 8 rations in storage
- Nuki and Mia are pleased that you found something so quickly

As the dusk descends and night falls, you start to wind down and everyone gathers by the slightly smoldering fire. Everyone has agreed to take watches during the night. What do you talk about?

A. Talk about yourself
- Share another story about yourself
- Slightly increase your bond with everyone
B. Take interest in a certain companion
- Increase your bond with that kin
- The other two will talk amongst themselves
- Feel free to bring up specific topics
C. Release the [ARCANE GOLEM]
- Immediately gain access to the arcane golem
- The crystal that encases it will be unusable for any crafting ventures
- How do you know how to do this?
D. Other - Practice and Reading
- You could start a group conversation
- You could study the [DANCES OF UNFORTUNATE TRAVEL]
- You could read that book on Mineralogy
- Get closer to a [COMPANION] to be taught something by them
- Stats/Inventory: https://questden.org/wiki/Crystal_Spire_Stats

Study the book. It's clearly a game-breaker in stealth.

D, use resurrection potion on the camper who died from the crystal falling on them

Either that or C

(Study Dancing is tempting too)

Also, ask Key if she can water your flower. Actually, Maybe just give it to her since she is connected to nature.

B, talk to Nuki. She was clearly uncomfortable before, so it might be good to give her some special attention, make sure she's okay and see if she still has doubts about you. Plus, you might be able to learn ENERGY magic if you get close to her, which you may be able to make great use of.

>>1031218
According to the narrative, the Tiger-Bear isn't sapient, and the kin who was inside the tent is permadead.

>>1031218
I also would like, but I think the corpse has to be in a minimum state to work.

I also would like to group study the book because it's basiaclly dancing in group. The problem is that they must be tired and dancing without music is not the same. (Maybe leave it to celebrate when we free the state?)

Maybe ask the group if they have an idea of how to solve the mimic problem (which probably means asking Mia how she want to deal with the mimic problem).

The golem companion's handy, since you can fight pretty well! Let's keep it in the estate until we read the mineralogy handbook.
Use the resurrection potion on a meat puddle, it's unfortunate that we can't help both but it's in our nature to help who we can. That still counts as a corpse, right?

Otherwise, A. Enough about work, tell them about the time you went bungee jumping off a giant tree! unfortunately, the cord stretched too far to stop you and you landed in a giant pile of wet leaves.

> REVIVE? [ERROR]
Honestly, it's probably good that neither camper-corpse is in a state to be drinking a potion; reviving one and not the other would lead to a pretty awkward conversation.

> WHAT DO
Leading a group convo two nights in a row seems a little odd to me. Let's do B: With Mia. She's pretty eager to avoid the East. Why? Is it because the Pantheon's territory is in that direction? To be fair, for reasons already stated, they aren't on the best terms with us, either. If she's confused by that statement, maybe it'll be your duty to warn her that the Pantheon's followers don't tolerate blood magic - you won't snitch, of course.

D.
Practice the Dance of Unfortunate Travel as a group. By dancing together around the campfire.

>>1031214
>what do?
B: Talk to Nuki

>practice dancing
I don’t think we should because it might cause something to happen and we don’t want to be moved right now.

>>1031214
B talk to Key.

>>1031247
>To be fair, for reasons already stated, they aren't on the best terms with us, either.
Are you saying that Mia isn't on the best of terms with us?

>>1031301
He's saying the Pantheons are not on the best terms with us considering we had bandits following the Pantheons' hope god trying to kill and kidnap kin from the forest village we were from, and some paladins and clerics from the Pantheons even tried to torch a chunk of the forest.

>>1031214
B
Talk to Mia. Ask about her magic and her hat.

>>1031214
D: practice Dances of Unfortunate Travel.

Set Distance to 0, or as small as you can get it.
Set a Direction that wouldn't cause problems if the Distance has some minimum value. I assume Direction includes up and down? If it's only lateral distance, then practice setting Specific Targets to your party instead.

>>1031218

Support giving Key the flower, she'll treat it well.

EdYellOrange 2022/05/06(Fri)18:16 No. 1031438 ID: afe7de
File 165188617312.png - (13.42KB , 600x600 , p31.png )

> [NIGHT, DAY 2] - CAMPSITE - PLANT PALS
For a moment an idea flits to the front of your consciousness, for you to revive one of the meat puddles with that [POTION OF RAISE DEAD]. And then it leaves because you realize that it's a stupid idea. A pile of meat isn't really a corpse, you need a body, even if it's damaged with a head, chest, and limbs, or it's equivalent to those.

You know that it can do some basic healing so that the revival process is successful, but imagine that using it on the meat pile is a waste and would get you a living pile of meat that would promptly die in the best case of scenarios.

No, instead you pull out the [DANCES OF UNFORTUNATE TRAVEL] and the [FLOWER OF EMBRACE]. The flower itself is [HEALTHY], but you can tell that tomorrow it will start to wilt. You offer it to Key to have her take care of it and she accepts whole-heartedly.

Key: Ooooooh, it smells wonderful!
Key: Key will protect it with her life!
You: Uh, no need to go that far.
Key: With.
Key: Her.
Key: LIIIIIFEEEEEE!!!!!

The amount of reverence that she's looking at both you and the plant is starting to get a tad bit uncomfortable. But you also kind of like it in a [WILD] kind of way. Feelings are weird and it's time for a distraction, namely dancing.

Key is now holding onto the [FLOWER OF EMBRACE] and will use it of her own volition
- You sometimes notice key giving you glances that are a bit intense

EdYellOrange 2022/05/06(Fri)18:23 No. 1031444 ID: afe7de
File 165188663543.png - (11.91KB , 600x600 , p32.png )

> [NIGHT, DAY 2] - PRACTICE - GROUP DANCING
You get everyone's attention together and decide that the best use of your time at the moment would be to practice the [DANCES OF UNFORTUNATE TRAVEL]. There are some GROUP DANCES that you could perform that would let you control 3 or even 4 factors and this easily excites you. But they take a long while to do, the moves are tricky, everyone's constantly referencing the book.

You can swear you heard music going as you danced, maybe it's something that the [DANCE] energy produces. Dancing with everyone was a fun distraction and you feel a little closer to everyone.

You grew a little closer to Anemia!
- There's a point where you put a hand on her hip and found it soft and squishy. She caught your expression as you noticed that and danced roughly, tripping you multiple times.
You grew a little closer to Nuki!
- Nuki awkwardly fell on top of you multiple times during the performance. She would bow and apologize each time, but you were fine, plus she was way lighter than you expected.
You grew a little closer to Key!
- Key's a bit shorter than you, so she's dancing whilst looking up from your chest. You swear her hand touched your abdomen a few times, but she just gave you those cute otter-croc eyes so you assume it was an accident.
You practiced the [DANCES OF UNFORTUNATE TRAVEL]
- You gained bonus XP for practicing in a new and novel way
- Everyone can now perform the a dance at a 2/5 proficiency without needing the book
- Performing with 2 or more dancers can let you control 3 factors!
- You are 2/4 of the way towards the next rank of proficiency
- Next rank your group dancing will let you control 4/5 factors
- Next rank your solo dancing will allow you to control 3/5 factors

EdYellOrange 2022/05/06(Fri)18:24 No. 1031445 ID: afe7de
File 165188664503.png - (10.86KB , 600x600 , p33.png )

> [MORNING, DAY 3] - SPIRELANDS - CAMPSITE
EDMANGO’S NOTE: Rations are deducted in the morning phase, and they fulfill the meal for the day. Any segments saying you eat in the evening or night will take this into account and not deduct anything from your ration total. It’s more for my stat management’s sake, but if you prefer, you can assume it’s you eating ½ a ration in the morning and ½ in the evening.

The night proceeds as normal, during your watch you could have sworn you heard a metallic clinking, but after a few minutes it leaves. No one else reports anything strange during their watch.

Morning comes and you find Key snuggled up slightly higher than before, nearing your hip, but in a similar position. The crystal housing the Golem sits in the middle, ominously. You get the feeling that you’ll need to move if you want to find another spire shard. You give Key’s head a pat as you get up and serve everyone a meal made of some scavenged eggs and leftover poultry.

You consumed 4 rations, you have 4 rations remaining!
You completed your objective early!
What do you do now?
A. Set off for a new destination (pick one)
- [ARCANUS MOUNTAINS] - [EST 3 DAYS] - [Mia’s choice]
- [FOREST OF THE WOODKIN] - [EST 3 DAYS]
- [CLOSEST SETTLEMENT] - [EST 2 DAYS] -
- [SOMEWHERE ELSE] - name a destination
B. Deal with the pocket estate - [Key’s choice] [Nuki’s choice]
- Everyone will chip in their ideas
- Gives you access to the PILLOW POOL, GIANT BEEHIVE, ???
- Gives you a permanent campsite that is a [SAFE LOCATION]
C. Hunt more monsters
- Gain more loot!
- Get injured! (maybe)
D. Stay here and do something else.
- Like what?
- Don’t forget to hunt for food!
- You’ll get to assign tasks if you decide to stay in place or do other stuff
- Stats/Inventory: https://questden.org/wiki/Crystal_Spire_Stats

Majority rules. I think when we finally do leave the woods, we should head to Arcanus, which Mia will like. So for now, let's go with Nuki and Key's wishes of dealing with the Pocket Estate's mimic problem.

Deal with the estate.

>>1031445
free him

Deal with the estate, most our new friends wanna do this.

Im more for closest settlement myself. When we leave

Take the shard containing the golem in the estate too, that way no one can steal it if we leave it out in the open.

Deal with the Estate so we can stuff everything inside.

B. We need a place to enable our inevitable hoarding tendencies. Mia has a pet mimic, maybe she could explain more about them?

On another note, I wonder if with more dance practice we could use it in combat.
We could also try dancing with music and/or song next time we practice. If we free the golem we could get it something simple like drums.

>>1031445
B

B) but...

Pocket state will make travel safer, but we might end wounded in the process. Maybe we can go to the nearest safe place and stay in town for a day or two while dealing with the problem... unless Mia or Nuki has safe idea...

EDMANGO 2022/05/09(Mon)12:13 No. 1031663 ID: 0838d6
File 165212361928.png - (12.10KB , 500x500 , p34.png )

> [MORNING, DAY 3] - POCKET ESTATE - SCOPING OUT
After some back and forth you all collectively decide to deal with the [POCKET ESTATE]. You decide to sneak in quietly and scope out the place one more time before returning to your group and hatching a plan.

> EXAMINING THE FOLIAGE [SURVIVAL CHECK] - SUCCESS
You're... terrified isn't the right word, anxious is also a bit too much as well. You guess you would say that you feel TENSE throughout the excursion. This tension is more from the unknown. Mia gives you a few tips to spot Mimics, but you don't really know all that much about them. They're a RARE creature, hard to find in the first place.

You can’t get all too close, so your estimates are based on what you see at a distance out of pure caution. You make a route around the whole estate and then snake through the major segments. The edge of the estate is made of a frosted glass, light shining through as if it was placed outside normally even though it's technically intangible and invisible. Weird.

There's an overgrown forest filled with lush and healthy plants. Vines cover the estate, you assume it to be the excess growth caused by the bees, but as you look around, you don't see any source of water, just the lake of honey and a few rivers of the stuff, which is confusing as the plants are obviously growing and healthy.

The bees on the other hand are very chill. They buzz around aimlessly and you can tell that there’s a rather large population inside their main hive. They even let the mimics come close and drink from the honey-pits.

Only a handful of the pillows in the pit are mimics, and it’s plain to your eyes that any furniture in the manor itself is a Mimic. The foliage in the forest is dense, but you manage to peek through and catch a glimpse of the Mimic Colony's nest. There’s a pile of stones surrounded by some overly-protective looking trees and flowers.

Mia told you that young mimics typically imitate a stone because it's an easy survival technique and that no one assumes a stone is a Mimic. The mimics are also rather lithe, which is hard to tell because they assume the form of different objects. You assume they go into some form of stasis between meals and have learned to coexist with the bees to some extent so that they have a sustainable food source and somehow don't overfeed. Strange.

EDMANGO 2022/05/09(Mon)12:14 No. 1031665 ID: 0838d6
File 165212367995.png - (9.05KB , 500x500 , p35.png )

> [MORNING, DAY 3] - CAMPSITE - DISCUSSION
You exit the pocket estate just as a few mimics turn to your location with suspicion. But you assume that they’re none the wiser. You relay your information to the group and they offer their thoughts.

Mia: Hrm, so the colony is self sustaining, interesting.
You: I counted at least 8 wandering and then around that many in the forest.
You: No idea how many eggs were there though…
Mia: Well the young are easy to deal with, but the others are a bit tricky
You: I would have thought you were the mimic expert
Mia: I acquired bitey as an egg, raising mimics isn’t a problem.
Mia: Domesticating existent ones though, now that’s a chore.
Nuki: You aren’t suggesting…
Mia: What? We kill the adults and raise the young-uns.
Mia: They’re emaciated, and likely weaker right?
Nuki: They’re just living their life…
Mia: And this is m- Hunter’s estate now.
Key: Growls... Why not commune with the creatures
Mia: They’re too stupid
You: I dunno about that, they seem to commune with the bees enough
Mia: No, I mean they actually have low intelligence
Mia: They only know things like tasty, hungry, sleepy, thirsty, sneaky, etc.
Mia: Not that they’re not capable of learning, Bitey here could, but it’d take forever
Nuki: Can’t we just feed them and befriend them…
Mia: Logistically that’s a nightmare, you’d need to get a LOT of meat
Key: Then we get meats!
Mia: They take a long time to digest, but what if we run out of meat?
Mia: We’d need something sustainable
Mia: Culling the horde is the logical, optimal solution.
Nuki: *Grumble Grumble*
You: I dunno, having a whole army of mimics on our side in a portable and deployable way sounds… useful.
Mia: UGh, listen Hunter, armies take a lot of maintenance
Nuki: They seem to be doing fine, what if we offered them more “Tasties”
Key: Maybe Key and Hunter strike a deal with them?
Mia: Okay, theoretically that’s possible, HOWEVER, if it has been literal centuries
Mia: They likely lost all knowledge of deals or language in their isolated demesne!
You: Oookay let’s just take a step back for a moment.
Mia: *scoffs* yeah, take her side.
You: We could also just yeet them out
Mia: And WASTE the potential GAINS?!?!
Mia: Also think about what a rampant Mimic colony let out into the world will do!
Mia: They eat MEAT Hunter! We are meat! Bees are technically meat!

EDMANGO 2022/05/09(Mon)12:15 No. 1031669 ID: 0838d6
File 165212373909.png - (11.61KB , 500x500 , p36.png )

> [MORNING, DAY 3] - CAMPSITE - PLANNING
You let out a flustered groan and rub your temples. There’s no real easy solution to this, each having their pros and their cons. You plan to warp in the golem to the estate anyway, just to keep it safe.

A. Mia: Cull the horde! [EST 2-3 DAYS]
- Kill any adult mimics and raise the children
- The Estate will become available to use
- Low chance that some party members will sustain an injury
- Gain access to the resource BABY MIMICS
- Gain access to the Estate
- Nuki will dislike this
B. Nuki: Let’s get supplies to feed them… [EST ??? DAYS]
- Head to the nearest settlement [ETA 2 DAYS]
- Will allow you to get supplies/help at the cost of FUNDS
- You’ll likely have to sell some things or figure out another source of income.
- Likely the solution that will take the longest to see results
- You can selectively reveal the estate and bring others in it as well
- Results may vary based off of approach
- Nuki will like that you picked this
C. Key: Key and Hunter will commune with the creatures [EST ??? DAYS]
- You will attempt diplomacy
- If successful, you will presented options with costs and benefits
- You might not like the terms that the mimics will set
- Potential for both of you to sustain injuries and to anger the colony if you fail
- If you fail and sustain injuries, Nuki and Mia will react violently towards the mimics
- If you fail, Key will become depressed
D. Hunter: We could also let them out. [EST 2-3 DAYS]
- You will attempt to capture and release the mimics
- 20% chance of at least 2 party members sustaining injuries
- You will lose access to the MIMIC resource
- You will gain access to the estate
- Low chance some friendly mimics stay hidden in the estate
- [MIMIC] encounters will become more frequent for everyone on the world-plate
- Mia will dislike this
E. Other
- Do something else, or mix ideas together
- Stats/Inventory: https://questden.org/wiki/Crystal_Spire_Stats

B - We need supplies anyway. Negotiations will go better if we feed the mimics first - and we'll have medical resources to spare if they don't.

Moving the shard is going to be a pain. Use a group dance to move "targets that are half-golem" in the direction and distance you're moving towards.

>>1031669
B+C. We need to figure out a source of income regardless, and by doing so we can buy some meat, use it to calm down the mimics before attempting to negotiate with them. No risk of violence then.
I bet we can sell honey! Hunter was able to get close to the honey rivers without aggroing the mimics, he should be able to collect honey and sell it to get meat to feed the mimics.

And of course if that doesn't work we do A.

A. We are a trained monster hunter! Culling the herd is our forte, and we have a mimic tamer in the party. Nuki has to understand, they are dangerous animals.

Give C a go. You've got two WILD folk here, you may be able to pull it off. And if you don't, and you get hurt trying, then that'll be enough justification for Nuki to kick their asses and steal their children.

If they're being assholes and you're having trouble talking to them, maybe you could use your Potion of Gaseous Form to prevent physical attacks while still communing? You only have one, so either split it if you do, or give it to Key while you hang too high up for them to nibble on with your webs.

B, C: Supplies first, then commune.

B first, C later

B and then C seems a good idea.

C/E, The real power brokers here are not the mimics, we need to commune with the bees. They seem to be friendly, and as the major food source, they actually control the mimic situation.

EDMANGO 2022/05/11(Wed)15:17 No. 1031903 ID: 0838d6
File 165230746380.png - (10.00KB , 500x500 , p37.png )

> [MORNING, DAY 3] - SPIRELANDS - TRAVEL
You: I think we should listen to Nuki on this one
Mia: Huh?
Nuki: What? Yay!
You: I still want to give diplomacy with Key a try though
Key: Yes~
You: BUT! I think selling the corpse and getting supplies might be prudent. Plus then you all get to see civilization, we can get supplies for a proper attempt, etc.
Mia: So are we going to just shove off handling it when we get there again?
You: No, I'll put my fuzzy toes down on that one. We'll be dealing with it in town, or after a job to get the money to deal with it, before traveling anywhere else.
Mia: Okay good because having a good rest spot is important!
You: Also I think that if we can sneak in when they're not looking, that honey could sell for some FUNDS which should help.

You look at the group and they nod. Nuki on the other hand just drools when you mention the honey, her eyes glinting with lust towards the idea of some sweet nectar. It only takes a few moments for your group to pack up and set out. You put the Golem inside of the Estate for safekeeping and pack up your things. You estimate the journey to take around 2 days depending on if you have any [ENCOUNTERS].

> SPIRELANDS ENCOUNTER [LUCK CHECK] - SUCCESS
Today turned out to be a rather easy journey. You even encountered a warren of [DUSK RABBITS] that Key sniffed out, tucked away just barely along your trail. They are small, fanged creatures with red eyes similar to a rabbit. Their meat is also lean and full of protein, what luck!

You gained [2 RATIONS]! You now have [6 RATIONS] total.

EDMANGO 2022/05/11(Wed)15:18 No. 1031904 ID: 0838d6
File 165230751430.png - (7.10KB , 500x500 , p38.png )

> [NIGHT, DAY 3] - SPIRELANDS - THICKET
> FIND A CAMPSITE [SURVIVAL CHECK] - FAILURE
As the night crests you attempt to find a campsite, unfortunately, there isn't one that is particularly suitable for your needs. You gather everyone together and they share their opinions.

A. Mia: Uh, I could lay an alarm in a small clearing I guess.
- Pick a nearby spot for the night
- Mia will lay a magic alarm that will alert you if anyone approaches
- You'll lay some webs as a precautionary measure.
- 50% chance of a night-time encounter
B. Hunter: We could sleep in the canopy
- Create web hammocks for everyone
- Everyone but you will be uncomfortable
- 20% of a night-time encounter
- You will likely have to handle the encounter on your own due to everyone being... tied up.
C. Key: Key smells cave moss and cave weed
- Attempt to find a nearby cave
- 30% chance it's inhabited by a monster
- 20% chance it's inhabited by a humanoid
D. Nuki: I... I could scout ahead!
- Nuki will attempt to find a [SAFE LOCATION]
- She will be on her own as she searches
- 40% chance of success
- If she fails there will be a 75% chance of a night-time encounter
E. Other
- Use an item in your inventory to do something else
- Stats/Inventory: https://questden.org/wiki/Crystal_Spire_Stats


You mull over the decision while everyone discusses the pros and cons of the situation, but feel something tug at you and you realize that you haven't properly spoken one on one with anyone but Key so far. Maybe it's time to fix that once you have a rest-spot decided.

1. Get to know Mia better
2. Get to know Nuki better
3. Get to know Key better
4. Read a book or practice something, screw socializing

EDMANGO’S NOTE: You can also suggest what they talk about for bonus points if there’s something you want to hear about specifically.

>>1031904
C
1, ask what she can do with her magic.

D, Nuki volunteered and she hasn't had the chance to do much yet. Between the two rolls you'd make, there's a 55% chance of avoiding nighttime encounters, which beats out A and C. And if we land a SAFE LOCATION, we'll sleep better than those options as well.

1, Ask about blood magic. Maybe fill Mia in that it's gotten pretty contrivertial due to the Pantheon, and warn her that she'll probably run into trouble if she doesn't keep it on the downlow in town. Don't disparage it though, Hunter gives no shits for the Pantheon and probably just finds it cool. Ask about how it works, and how she got into it.

B, 1. Try it once, you're pretty sure it'll work!

C
Moss is more useful than you'd think.

Hey, what is stopping us from doing A WITH C combo?

Also, i have an idea, before sleeping in the cave, ask Mia to bring out the TIGER-BEAR corpse from storage, and have it lay somewhere in sight from anyone outside. That way, if evil travelers like bandits, or lesser predators see the TIGER-BEAR corpse, they'll think it is asleep and they'll get scared off by the monster to try not to disturb it and not bother us.

1. Ask about blood magic.

C) seems the most prudent, attacking is easier than defending while resting. But it would be a problem if it was inhabited by a non-hostile humanoid which don't want to share his's home.

In other hand, A) seems good enought. We could be better prepared if we use the bell of souls past midnight to get an improvised guard by the night. I doubt the deer will be able to defend us by itself, but at least it will give us some time to get up and grab a weapon.

C.
We can probably manage a monster if we attack it first. Surprise attacks on monsters is something we should be really good at.

1. Talk about Bitey.

EDMANGO 2022/05/13(Fri)10:54 No. 1032109 ID: 0838d6
File 165246444063.png - (7.59KB , 500x500 , p39.png )

> [NIGHT, DAY 3] - SPIRELANDS - MOSSY CAVE
You opt into following Key's enhanced sense of smell and after a few minutes you find the mentioned cave. Mia magics up a light for you all, it's soft and warm on your carapace.

> CAVE COMPLICATION - [LUCK CHECK] - FAILURE
But as you walk deeper in, you hear the sound of heavy breathing, feel a charge in the air, and can practically taste the ozone. It looks like the cave is occupied, and you don't need the soft light to see the sparks emanating off of a large dog-sized creature. It looks like a LIGHTNING COBRA.

> LIGHTNING COBRA - [SURVIVAL CHECK] - FAILURE
You only know one thing about them. That they're annoying and territorial. You're not sure if they're venomous, or how "in control" of their lightning they are. You look at your companions with a questioning look, but none of them have seen the beast before.

You: Drat.
You: Well, it's either this or the tree...

A. Nuki: The tree's still an option...
- 30% chance of a night-time encounter
- Additional 20% chance the Lightning Cobra gets involved
- You and Mia will prep as previously stated
B. Key: Key could try to commune with the beast
- 50% chance the beast will let you stay at a cost
- 50% chance the beast will be pissed you woke them up
- Should the beast be pissed, your group will fight it
- 60% chance someone is injured in the fight
C. Mia: Oooh, Oooh, can I, can I pleaaaaase
- Let Mia dispose of the creature
- Unknown chance of success
- 60% chance someone is injured in the event of failure
D. Hunter: It’s sleeping, we could just… y’know
- Attempt to assassinate the beast
- You will kill the beast using your sneaking skills
- 40% chance of sustaining an injury due to it’s unknown biology and response time
E. Other
- Do something else or use an item
- Stats/Inventory: https://questden.org/wiki/Crystal_Spire_Stats

EDMANGO'S NOTE: Two things. First, regardless of the result, you'll be talking with Mia next update. It's just been delayed until this is resolved. Second, combat is automated in situations like the above. In this case, should you get into combat, it will resolve without any input and injuries will be rolled for.

Unless otherwise stated, you will win most combat encounters you come across since you are a GUARD, you are experienced enough in this field. No die rolls for winning *most* basic fights, though you’ll still have to roll for injuries.

>>1032109
C, let's see what she can do. She said please!

D. Stabbety stab!

C, she did say please after all. Let Mia do some funky blood junk!

C, she said the magic word.

Group Dances of Unfortunate Travel
Specific Target: Lightning Cobras
Distance: 500 miles
Type: Distracted by extreme sexual attraction

reminds me of Nooodle, B