We could try going into the underfloor for cover while the guards patrol. If they don't notice us and walk by, climb back out. If they do notice us or if something else causes them to stay active in the hall, venture through the underfloor.
Also if we do go into the underfloor, make sure to have the lantern light as low as possible.

1/2 Nalthar 2024/09/24(Tue)18:20 No. 1097752 ID: 355e44
File 172722720199.jpg - (513.84KB , 800x600 , cadvere 63 under their noses.jpg )

Lisel winds her lamp down to the barest hint of light. Under cover of darkness the two of you slip into the hole in the floor. Clinging to the wall, you peek out as the glowing eyes of the guards slowly make their way down the hall. Below you spiderfolk pass unseen, their skittering loud in the dusty underfloor. No doubt they are headed to the bathroom to catch you. The occasional bat screech echoes down the corridors.

"This is odd" Lisel murmurs beside you, "they haven't responded so... stridently in the past."

After a long, tense wait the three guards slink past. Their seem to take no notice of your presence, nor of the scurrying below. Once they are well past you ascend, pulling Lisel up behind you. The pair of you pad softly down the carpet to the door of the servant's quarters.

2/2 Nalthar 2024/09/24(Tue)18:20 No. 1097753 ID: 355e44
File 172722725203.jpg - (429.67KB , 800x600 , cadvere 64 unkempt beds.jpg )

Slipping through a gap beside the door frame you find yourselves in a musty space. Distant glows of fungos pepper the dark hulks of unkempt beds, looming above you. One glow pops out from under a slumped bed sheet, revealing itself to be a lamp in Surrep's hands as she approaches you.

"What took you so long?" she hisses, then her gaze falls to Lisel's bandages. "Trouble?"

Yep! Patrol, spider, bat, patrol.

Trouble is always expected at this place. We managed to deal with it but we are not sure how long we will be able to get lucky with these missions.

Nalthar 2024/09/30(Mon)22:41 No. 1098070 ID: 355e44
File 172776129223.jpg - (500.25KB , 800x600 , cadvere 65 fungo wrangling.jpg )

You recount the near misses and escapes of the morning. Surrep shakes her head, "We nearly dodged some patrols ourselves. It has become more dangerous these past few days." She glances back at the bed and lowers her voice to a whisper. "We can't go on like this, the puppetmaster clearly knows he has folk hidden in his walls. It is only a matter of time before his thralls root us out. Afton is wrong, just keeping out of sight isn't going to be enough to keep us safe." She leans in conspiratorially "Would you two not agree?"

>>1098070
Tell him you can't make an informed judgement, having just gotten here, but you would like to do more than hide.

It sounds like Surrep has a more ambitious plan than simply scavenging. So what is the plan, targeting the puppet master?

Nalthar 2024/10/09(Wed)22:32 No. 1098429 ID: 355e44
File 172853836032.jpg - (614.84KB , 800x600 , cadvere 66 this is not suspicious.jpg )

You've only been in this house for a day, and it has been more harrowing than your entire journey through the woods. So you agree, and ask the lanky rat what she has planned. She glances surreptitiously over her shoulder once more, as the sounds of rustling and squeaking creep from under the bed. "Not here. If the mice catch wind they'll tell Afton for sure. Ah, other than you, Lisel. You seem a fair dash more adaptable than your usual house mouse."

The chemist grins "Ah ha, well I do try. My family traveled far, and we had to stray from the typical house raider's precepts or we would not have survived. The other mice, hiding is all they know, and its an easy life, when it works." She catches herself before she can ramble too long, "But yes, this is not the place to discuss these things."

Surrep leans in closer, "Tonight, come have supper with my family. We are roosting on the first shelf, so we'll have privacy. In the meantime, better get to hunting. We can't be sure how many days we will have access to this room, let's make it count."

You nod, and head towards the bed. As you walk away you hear Lisel whispering to Surrep. "One thing more, I have something I need to examine. I don't think Afton would like knowing about it, so I would keep it up on your shelf, if that is acceptable."

Nalthar 2024/10/09(Wed)22:32 No. 1098430 ID: 355e44
File 172853837768.jpg - (522.00KB , 800x600 , cadvere 67 moldering old bed.jpg )

Time to earn your keep. Looks as though you have your pick of hunting grounds. Rats and mice can be observed combing over the slumping covers, stalking the dusty under-bed, and even burrowing into the fungo tunnels that infest the mattress. Now where would you feel most at home?

I would feel most at home where the home doesn't want to kill you.

Ever since the permafrost set in the ground has been solid. It has been too long since your last good burrowing Tem'rty, so go to the fungo tunnels.

Yes, a mouse of the Gravel Pit would be at home where things are most pit-like. Tunnel into the mattress.

1/2 Nalthar 2024/10/21(Mon)00:00 No. 1098838 ID: 355e44
File 172949405042.jpg - (651.95KB , 800x600 , cadvere 68 a sweetly rotting bed to lie upon.jpg )

You wriggle into the crumbling mattress, and immediately feel at ease. Finding a small chamber in the moldering fluff, you curl up and take the opportunity to just rest, safely insulated from the threats of the open world. You indulge in some wistful dreams of settling here, digging a cozy den in the soft, warm slab. If only the circumstances were different.

2/2 Nalthar 2024/10/21(Mon)00:01 No. 1098839 ID: 355e44
File 172949407761.jpg - (533.08KB , 800x600 , cadvere 69 infesting morsels.jpg )

The first gnawings of hunger bring you back to the task at hand. Venturing deeper, you follow the faint scent trails of fungos til you pop your head into a larger hollow. Several small fungos are placidly chewing at the fibers of the mattress.

Fungal beasts are an odd breed, prone to strange mutations. Even such mild seeming specimens could harbor some defense. How best to play this?

>>1098839
Hmm. I guess once you're within the hollow, they will react... any fungal beasts that react with fear will likely be the easiest targets. Those that react by ignoring you probably have some manner of passive defense, and those that show aggression probably have nasty pincers.

It's good not to get complacent. This is still deep in unsafe territory.

Agreed, the fearless fungos are potentially the most dangerous. It may be prudent especially to avoid those that have prominent pincers. These seem to be feasting on the fibers of the mattress; would that diet lend itself particularly to some particular defense? No matter the form, I imagine that the best strategy generally would be to try to approach from behind and strike before being discovered.

Let your animalistic instincts guide your rezoning.

Nalthar 2024/10/29(Tue)22:16 No. 1099206 ID: 355e44
File 173026537440.jpg - (765.05KB , 800x600 , cadvere 70 this one's mad.jpg )

Surging out of the tunnel, you sink your blade into the big fungo's head. It lets out a thin screech as it writhes under you, clacking its mandibles uselessly. Lisel's tincture that still coats your knife quickly takes effect, and the fungo shudders to stillness. The smaller beasts behind you squeak and scuttle away.

A hissing alerts you to the remaining beast beside you. It fixes you with its three eyed stare and puffs up.

>>1099206
Back away. Drag the dead fungo with you.

A true warrior always appreciates the avoided battle. Knife at the ready, but retreat to secure the kill before attempting any further sallies.

So this thing wants to bite you, you bite it back!

1/3 Nalthar 2024/11/05(Tue)19:45 No. 1099434 ID: 355e44
File 173086471038.jpg - (751.95KB , 800x600 , cadvere 71 spore bomb.jpg )

Fighting down the instinct to sink your teeth into the bloated fungus, you work to secure your first kill. Dragging the corpse along with you, you would wave your blade threateningly, but its coating has it a bit stuck. Just as you yank it free the three-eyed fungo contracts and ejects a crimson cloud from the vents on its back.

2/3 Nalthar 2024/11/05(Tue)19:45 No. 1099435 ID: 355e44
File 173086474856.jpg - (862.89KB , 800x600 , cadvere 72 seeing red.jpg )

Retreating into the tunnel, you avoid the brunt of the spores. Nonetheless your vision tinges red. Rustling and scratching surround you, the fibers of the matress grasping for you. Bats screech, their cry's hunting you in this twisted maze.

3/3 Nalthar 2024/11/05(Tue)19:47 No. 1099436 ID: 355e44
File 173086482660.jpg - (833.53KB , 800x600 , cadvere 73 not dead yet.jpg )

Your pincered quarry rears up, looming over you on its hundreds of legs. Its eyes burn with blood. The gash you left in its head splits wider and wider until you face a rending and tooth-filled void.

Hallucination! Don't panic. Keep moving back. Get back to the surface and do not use your blade on ANYTHING. After you've recovered you can come back and retrieve the corpse.

Oh shit, oh shit that is a big bug! Retreat retreat! I don't think you can fight this alone!

Keep your calm; panic serves no one, especially when stealth is of the essence. You know what the fungos can do, and that this is just one of their tricks. Close your eyes, keep your grip, and retreat whence you came.

Nalthar 2024/11/16(Sat)20:17 No. 1099893 ID: 6c233e
File 173181704186.jpg - (482.25KB , 800x600 , cadvere 74 canind titans.jpg )

It's not real. You tell yourself it's not real, but a thousand roars and screams assail your ears and the clinging fibers scratch like thorns. Abandoning the corpse you scramble away, its whirling teeth screeching like an winter storm. A death grip on your blade is the only surety you have left as you claw through a world gone mad.

You burst up from the tunnels into a sea of blood. Great shadows of wolves loom over head. The nearest fixes you with the stare of the moon on a frigid night. Standing in the rushing surf, frozen by its gaze , you almost don't notice the pair of shambling guard rats.

Nalthar 2024/11/16(Sat)20:17 No. 1099894 ID: 6c233e
File 173181705887.jpg - (847.29KB , 800x600 , cadvere 75 yer gonna get stabbed.jpg )

Silently glaring, they stalk towards you, spray whipping from shaggy fur. The closer one staggers forward and thrusts a rusty polearm at you.

>>1099894
Dodge! Tell them to stay back, you're hallucinating!

Put your sword away.

Maybe even the guard is a hallucination but still try to avoid it's attack if you can. All of this is fucking weird, like some apocalyptic premonition. Is this how the world is outside? Does the giant thing seem familiar to you? I have a feeling, that all of this has a more significant meaning to you personally.

Your mind cannot be trusted right now. This is as likely a vision of friend as of foe; but if you announce your condition, a foe will not retaliate, and a friend might show mercy. Let it be known that you're not in your right mind, and take care to avoid harm without harming anyone else, or yourself, to the degree that you can.

Nalthar 2024/11/23(Sat)15:30 No. 1100287 ID: 6c233e
File 173240462797.jpg - (739.22KB , 800x600 , cadvere 76 I'm freaking out man.jpg )

Illusory as it may be, you don't want to get a pike in the shoulder. Flinging yourself down out of the path of the blade, you dig your nails into the rough fabric of the sea. Hissing through clenched teeth, you warn any nearby to keep away. Surprisingly, the wretched rat heeds your words and backs off, though its demeanor still appears hostile. And melting.

Eyes wrenched shut, you try to block out the hallucinations. You clutch your head and try to think of something, anything, to focus on.

>>1100287
Focus on your breathing. Think about your home.

Yes, remember your origins. Think back to the Gravel Pit Nest, and what brought you here; the long winter, the fallow harvest, and venturing out into the world, to have arrived where you are now.

Start chanting this over and over "Heart Lungs Liver Nerves". It might help

1/2 Nalthar 2024/11/30(Sat)18:35 No. 1100599 ID: 6c233e
File 173302052541.jpg - (743.69KB , 800x600 , cadvere 77 thoughts of home.jpg )

Home. You think of home. The gravel pit, the nest, the tunnels. The smell of dried oats and blackcurrants in the store room. The sound of walnut-fungcakes sizzling on the hearth. The view of the setting sun from the pine stump.

You think of old Forti, telling yet another parable on the virtues of being a good steadfast rat. You think of little Trep, sorting her collection of striped stones, arranging them around the big one with the hole through it. You think of Joc'lar, gathering herbs while chanting that horrible song she learned from the crows. You think of your sister Aud'ity, taking up the second of the only wolf-hair cloak and iron long-knife that the nest has. Her patting you on the back before you both went your separate ways, searching for an ember of hope in the frozen wood.

They're still out there, waiting for you. There's still time to save them.

2/2 Nalthar 2024/11/30(Sat)18:36 No. 1100600 ID: 6c233e
File 173302057341.jpg - (577.76KB , 800x600 , cadvere 78 disapointed.jpg )

You slowly open your eyes to a dark room. The meager light that filtered through the dingy curtains when you entered has faded to near imperceptibility. With a stiff groan you roll over, staring up at the distant ceiling.

With a snap, soft blue light washes over you. The lantern hovers in your face, blinding you for a moment, before Surrep sets it aside. The haggard rat looks down at you with a frown.

"I thought you had the looking of a capable hunter, not like these soft house mice." she hisses "What happened down there?"

Tell him a fungo had hallucinogenic spores and you tried to back off but still got too much exposure. That mutation's not easy to deal with in close quarters. Guess you'll go back to collect the one you managed to kill.

A soft house mouse wouldn't be alive to tell you.

At any rate you haven't hunted fungos before. You won't fall for that trick again.

What happened is that you successfully defended your mind from panic, and shielded your fellow hunters from retaliation against an imagined foe that lesser hunters would have attacked without hesitation.

But there's merit in the criticism; your guard was down, and you weren't expecting the beast to attack your mind. This is something you'll have to be more careful of in the future.

Tell that you saw some crazy shit and ask if the hallucinogenic fungos can be poisonous.

Nalthar 2024/12/09(Mon)23:02 No. 1101068 ID: 6c233e
File 173381414896.jpg - (774.91KB , 800x600 , cadvere 79 red dust.jpg )

"Wasn't... a normal... fungo." You croak, breaking into a parched coughing fit. Surrep takes the water skin from your belt and passes it to you. Taking a long pull, you feel well enough to sit up. "A *kaf kaf* a house mouse would have bloody well died, straight off. Never seen the like, some bewitchment of visions of Hell itself."

The slim rat regards you thoughtfully. "Hmm, that would explain the mouse corpse we found sometime back with its eyes clawed out." she lets out a tired sigh "Just another thing to worry about."

"There's still a carcass down there." you get to your feet a bit dizzily "I need to retrieve it."

"That will have to wait" Surrep lends you her shoulder, leading you towards the foot of the bed. "Everyone else has already gone back. If you run into that thing again, no one will save you. Come, Lisel insisted on waiting for you."

Resting against the footboard, the chemist stirs awake at your approach. Switching her lamp on, she looks up at you with a relieved grin. "Still with us Tem'rty? Oh, you've got some red on you." Running a hand through your fur she pulls it back covered in a clingy crimson dust.

>>1101068
Wait, that's dangerous! Those are the hallucinogenic spores. ...wonder if we can weaponize them. The zombies aren't *completely* brainless, after all.

>>1101069
That is thinking small potatoes, can this be used to poison the puppet master?

Warning first, plotting afterwards. At the moment, extraction is our primary objectve. We must ensure that all present are able to retreat to safety with all due promptness.

Although, it must be said that to the best of our knowledge, that fungo is still alive; its spores might be harvested. A mouse obsessed with developing futher knowledge and technology might even think to capture it, and maintain a store of the stuff for fun and profit. Imagine if such a mouse could amass a ready supply of it; that mouse might begin to identify its utility, and refine it for intentional use. Such a mouse would have to be bold, perhaps to the point of a foolhardy recklessness, in order to attempt such a thing, of course. But such a mouse is likely to be unable to resist the promise of the stuff.

But let us not forget that extraction is our primary objective. Let Lisel know what she's dealing with, and that she shuold under no circumstances ingest the substance, or touch her face before her hands are thoroughly washed. For that matter, if the stuff is still on your face, you had better get her help to clean it off, lest you breathe in a wayward mote too many and repeat the episode.

1/2 Nalthar 2024/12/20(Fri)17:23 No. 1101421 ID: 6c233e
File 173474419162.jpg - (695.78KB , 800x600 , cadvere 80 sample the goods.jpg )

You grab her wrist. "Red? That must be what hexed me! The beast let out a cloud of the stuff right before the visions started."

Lisel's grin only widens. "And you brought me samples? Ah, you spoil me friend." She slides her free hand back into her coat's wide cuff and whips out several vials. Scraping them through your fur, she soon has three packed full of the vivid dust. The strange materiel glitters dully in the harsh lamplight. Stowing them away in her sleeve, she examines her other hand. "Hmm, no effect from skin contact. It must need to be breathed in. Hmm, yes, and from there it would enter the blood, and from blood the brain. This might have some usefulness to us, seeing as the glow-eyed ones seem to be controlled via their brains."

Surrep stalks over "How do you know that Lisel? You didn't practice that 'anatomy' did you? To butcher an animal is a sin Lisel!" The little chemist's enthusiasm falters, and she scrambles to defend herself. "No no, it wasn't that at all! Before, in the washroom, it-" "There was a fight." You interject "Before we met up. A bat attacked us, and it ended up getting it's head caved in. There were a lot of... wires."

Your family is somewhat more pragmatic on these matters, but you know many woods families take the proscription on hunting one's fellow animals very seriously. It may be the biggest taboo in the forest. So it is with relief that you see Surrep calm, her ire fading back into her normal more dour expression. "Very well then. If you think this powder can be used against them then investigate, you'll have my family's support. Let us retire for the evening, we can talk more when we are safe."

2/2 Nalthar 2024/12/20(Fri)17:23 No. 1101422 ID: 6c233e
File 173474422347.jpg - (733.05KB , 800x600 , cadvere 81 back at camp.jpg )

The three of you make the trip back without incident. Through the dusty and gray library, out the broken window and through the snow. The storm has broken for the moment and a brilliant full moon makes the night almost pleasant, the crystalline glitter of the hard packed snow matching the stars above. You take a minute to rub handfuls of snow over yourself, ridding your fur and cloak of the maddening dust.

Inside the shed is a bustle of activity. The fire pit is surrounded by cooking fungos and the eager mice that tend them. A few rats standing nearby look over as Surrep enters. She gives them a surreptitious hand signal, they nod and head away, weaving through the crowd. Surrep turns to you "Get some food in you, then come to the shelf. There is much planning to be done." With that she follows the other rats, only pausing to gather a few roasted fungos from the fire.

Lisel hefts the mechanical heart you two pilfered earlier in her hands, safely hidden under ratty cloth. "I should get this secured above before anyone sees it. Before you join us, you should take your finds to the tinker shrews. They may be able to make something from them. Thanks again, for all your help today." She executes a little half bow, more of a deep nod, and scurries off.

Left alone, you look around the hubbub. Some faces stand out from the crowd. The aforementioned tinkers are sitting on the stoop of their wagon, chatting with passers by.
Jasper is sitting with Horace, who looks some the worse for wear.
Afton is walking around, stopping to talk to various folk. His hedgehog bulk making him easy to spot in the crowd.
That sorrowful bat from this morning is also moving anxiously through the crowd, shadowed by her, you assume, younger sibling.
There's a set of three beetlefolk just come into the shed behind you. You would be alarmed, but you remember Lisel mentioning them earlier. They seem to be carrying fungos, though they aren't headed to the fire. Maybe bugs eat theirs raw? You wouldn't put it past the creepy bastards.

You think you'll have time to talk to a few people while you grab a bite to eat, before Surrep and Lisel wonder what's keeping you.

>>1101422
We should make a sketch of the spore-fungo with a warning not to breathe the spores, so that people will recognize it and know to hold their breath to avoid the hallucinations.
Talk to the tinkers, we've got business with them already.