Grease trap this area, its bones don't have the friction and surface area needed to step carefully around here. It'll trip, and you can finish it off with a neck-snap.

>>1128934

Fox here: Except no, it might not trip, it might just walk out of the grease, and it might act perfectly fine with its neck snapped because UNDEAD DO NOT NECESSARILY CARE ABOUT CRITICAL ANATOMY DAMAGE IT ISN'T BREATHING ANYWAY.

This one is trying to reach the trapdoor. Why is that? Is its goal to reach the outside, or is the outside just a path it's seeking to reach something else, like your group? Assuming there are more, I wonder if all of them will be attempting different ways of exiting the temple. Maybe they would abandon those attempts to go after you when they realize their true objective is in the temple with them.
This could be potentially useful: If they want to leave, the ropes will become very popular when the skeletons realize that path is open.

Since you are an undead expert, a few questions on the subject.
First: How tough are animated skeletons? Can we expect Skyrim's "sneeze and they fall apart" or Dark Souls' "fuck you" skeletons?
Related to the previous question: Can their joints be detached and reattached by themselves, or does their magic connection fall apart when the bones separate?
Lastly: Do the bones physically touch things, or is there a levitation effect imitating what would be their flesh for interactions?

I agree with the other suggestion about maintaining stealth and retreating, but I'm not sure it's time to call for backup yet.
It's unfortunate that you won't have a visual advantage from seeing in the dark, but you still have options to hide and move with Umbral Step.

Now that we know what we are dealing with, Evel'yee's position could allow for some cheap shots if the skeletons are attracted to the main room. If arrows are too weak against skeletons, Evel'yee and Mina can throw stones instead. That should be effective from this height. Just remind them to not hit you.
We might as well ask them to hit wandering skeletons while you explore. It would make noise, but if you are not in the room when it happens, it might work to your advantage by attracting the attention of the skeletons far away from you.

While you are communicating with the girls, maybe make a plan for what they should do if you lose your concentration and the Phantom Noise spell breaks. I'm not sure what though. You could ask Mina to activate Sanctuary when the noise stops, but it might be a waste since it's only three turns. It might be necessary though. Up to you.

And once again I suggest that you prioritize checking the place you intend to go. There might be important things to find out in the side rooms, but it would be a pity to have to end your scouting with no information about what to expect at your planned destination.

>>1128938

Fox here: She doesn't have context for Skyrim or Dark Souls! Anyway, the encyclopedias which ACTUALLY map closer to her reality rather than ones that DON'T basically say, 'it varies'; there are a LOT of things a competent necromancer can do to make their basic skeletons significantly more capable than they otherwise would be, and the difference is the capability and options the different sorts of necromancers bring to the table and the amount of resources they are willing to spend on one lowly skeleton.

Oh man. Is that Vax? I hope that's not Vax.
Also this is KINDA the exact sort of stuff we were just talking about. I can already imagine Mina going "Why the fuck is my best friend a Skeleton Tanna? You said this JUST happened!"
Like we can still explain it by saying we didn't know WHEN that vision occurred but... Bleh. I'd rather you just be honest from the get go with this stuff. Not like they would blame you for not wanting to ruin the mood after last night.

Anyway we are down here because we are scouting not engaging. Last thing we want is to engage with this thing only for 5 more of the things to come crawling out during combat. Retreat and further sus things out. Maybe check out the door where the bone was in-front of.

Poor guy can't get the hatch open!

Skeleton is a threat, but more of a threat is who animated it. Neither of Mina's companions was a necromancer. Probably that skull mask lizard lady.

It's a beastkin, hips look male from that angle, with a decent snout, some fat digitigrade talons, and a really long tail. Definitely looks lizardy, but it can't be Vax. Vax is still paralyzed, so he'd be a paralyzed skeleton, right?

1/1 Tanna 2026/07/04(Sat)22:58 No. 1128959 ID: ff980e
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>Back away from the door hoping it didn't see you

A-Ah? Oh, sorry… still kind of getting over the… shock. Of seeing this thing. It’s still just jumping up and down, trying to reach the hatch. I don’t think it's seen me.

>Oh man. Is that Vax? I hope that's not Vax.

I-I don’t think so. Whoever this was is pretty large, but Vax was… huge. I could be wrong though.

>Since you are an undead expert, a few questions on the subject.

Well, I wouldn’t say I’m exactly an expert...

>First: How tough are animated skeletons? Can we expect Skyrim's "sneeze and they fall apart" or Dark Souls' "fuck you" skeletons?

Skyrim? Dark Souls?

>She doesn't have context for Skyrim or Dark Souls!

Yeah, I don’t know what those are. Are they other worlds or something? Do you all do this often? Hah, maybe I’m not unique after all…

Anyways, skeletons… they’re made of bone. Bone’s very hard, hard to cut and pierce. I wouldn’t say that they’re… well, there’s a reason why they’re the most common form of undead besides basic zombies. Residual Souls unwilling to move on towards the Journey, or latent ones owned by the Theotian… the Theotian… gah, I can’t remember… but they can form malevolent beings called undead. They’re about as dangerous as another person would be, except they have no regard for self-preservation.

While they can find bones intact and close enough together to form like this, natural cases are super freak occurrences. They’re usually called upon as part of some ritual. The Soul will form magical ‘tendons’ that will keep the bones together, but if they’re broken apart with enough force, they usually won’t be able to reattach them easily.

>'it varies'; there are a LOT of things a competent necromancer can do to make their basic skeletons significantly more capable than they otherwise would be, and the difference is the capability and options the different sorts of necromancers bring to the table and the amount of resources they are willing to spend on one lowly skeleton.

Yes, I… don’t know the full capabilities of this skeleton, other than it looks to be fully formed, large, and… holding onto some kind of memory. Undead that aren’t given a clear purpose and are left to idle often act very single mindedly to an aspect of the will of the person they once were. Of course, all that goes out the window once they find something to act out their aggression on.

While the Weave projected by a Soul often simulates the regular anatomy of the creature they were meant to resemble, skilled necromancers can often shape it in different ways. This can mask their weaknesses or give them new functionalities entirely. Generally though…

>UNDEAD DO NOT NECESSARILY CARE ABOUT CRITICAL ANATOMY DAMAGE

They sort of do. They definitely don’t feel pain, and will fight to their absolute breaking point. But the spine of most undead is their core functionality. If you disrupt the physical structure, the rest of the simulated anatomy will fall apart quickly. Likewise, if you destroy their head, they won’t be able to see or hear, though they can still survive that.

>Lastly: Do the bones physically touch things, or is there a levitation effect imitating what would be their flesh for interactions?

They touch things, but they don’t have a sense of feeling like you’d expect. Mindless undead either singularly follow orders, or kill wantonly. They can even recognize weapons that will help them with that latter goal.

>>1128959
Huh. I suppose "know thine enemy" wasn't just a saying with you.
Looking closer this skeleton doesn't look like it's missing a bone either so that means there's atleast two of them.

I wonder if it would help or hinder to tell the girls this skeleton is not large enough to be Vax...
Probably will freak out Mina even more with the idea that they might be reanimated. Better to not even mention and hope the thought didn't occur to her.

Have we tried using that lever yet? Probably shouldn't while there's skeletons around though.

>>1128959
Hmm, we saw many skeletons in the ritual room. We might have an infestation on our hands. Most likely the snake lady summoned them all while the captives were disabled, and then... well, it makes the most sense for her to play a sort of game with them to force us to come down and deal with it. The captives have been chased around by the skeletons and I wouldn't be surprised if one of them is up that trap door the skeleton is jumping at.

Anyway, my general plan hasn't changed. Message your party and tell them there's skeletons down here of an unknown quantity and you're not gonna be able to handle them alone. Since they're mostly-mindless constructs your party members should be able to descend safely.
You could try scouting out the other doors I suppose, to see if you can get an idea of how many there are and what they're currently doing?

Sneak up on it, use the sickle to hook it's spine and YOINK IT OUT.

>>1128961
Actually... I think when you get near the rope you should be within range for telepathic messages.
Pass along as your spell talk at an opportune time and don't call attention to it.

To Evel’yee:
Try act natural so Mina doesn't notice.
The skeleton is an iruxi but it's not tall enough to be Vax. Probably too clean too.
I don't want the idea that it might be what was done to them in Mina's head but if she realizes the possibility by herself you can at least reassure her that this one was someone else.

Just... be careful. Some necromancers found a way to turn bonemeal into animated skeletons.

Fun fact: Bones aren't just for stability or armor. Living bones produce blood. If you crack one open you might see a bunch of holes; that's not a disease, it's because the inside of your bones is spongy to produce the blood. After rigor mortis, the inside slowly dries out until it becomes almost as stiff as the rest of the bone, but a freshly harvested bone can be cracked open to collect the stuff.
And you can make a tasty butter from the part of the bone that produces blood if you harvest it before it dries out, but I'm sure you already know that... mmm.

So: testing. Once the party's done bashing this thing to pieces, saw open a large piece and see what's inside. If the bones are still 'fresh', we might have something to work with...

Ok wait. I HAVE to ask since we've made this assumption before. Can you see the red glowy light in the Skeletons eye sockets Tanna?

>>1128995
I can, that's the skeleton's 'sight'. It's also their hearing technically. The Soul inhabiting this thing has to project that outwards to have those senses.

>>1128968

Are you sure that's an Iruxi? Could be a kobold. How many bipedal lizardlike species are there of that rough shape or size?

>>1128999
That thing is taller than Tanna.

>>1129000

So? And how many bipedal lizardlike species of roughly that bone structure ARE there, especially when considering possible individual outliers in size?

>>1128959
That feller is spooky and scary.
Hey.
I recognise him
Is he the guy who loaned you the harmonica?
Slinky.
He wants it back.

Ok, ok.
Putting my whimsy away.
Its possible theyre one of the original denizens remains.
Definitely a heavy set creature in life by the wide feet, long balancing tail and spread of the foot talons when it jumps.
Its caught in a loop of trying something that isnt working.
Suggests a command given and it having minimal autonomy.

All the same, we have info for the team
Get to the foot of the rope and we'll carry a message to come down quietly as theres one hostile skelamajig.

>>1128924
An unnecessary but interesting foray into the lore of our world: History has led us to broadly reject the idea of magic, but that has not stopped magical thinking. While we had once thought the world was magical, we were able to create detailed theories describing nearly every single mechanism and predict how systems would develop further and further forward. Anything that can be theorized about and predicted, we call science. We call everything else magic. The ways of science have become so advanced, in fact, that it is widely believed that everything can be explained by it in one way or another, though we may not know it yet.

Thus, the existence of magic is more of a philosophical question than a physical one. This leads to a big complication when it comes to the idea of a "soul", though. The word "consciousness" has come to replace the word "soul" in scientific discussions, but it hasn't replaced the idea. Fundamentally, the issue is that consciousness is pretty much impossible for us to define. We can describe aspects of our own conscious experience, but we can't actually observe consciousness in other people. A crucial step in the scientific method (The set of rules we follow to 'make' science) is observation, and since we can't make observations, we can't really apply science to consciousness. (There is debate about this, but the fact that there is debate at all is an indication of the issue)

The belief in an afterlife comes from a time before modern science, but it nonetheless stays relevant because of the questions science can't currently answer.

Also, it should be noted that the information you receive about our world comes from a tiny self-selected slice of the population, so you aren't getting the full picture. It seems like your world functions somewhat similarly to what the buddhists/hinduists of our world believe: Souls are infinitely reincarnated into different bodies in a cycle called "Saṃsāra." You, however, seem to lead towards the buddhist belief that Saṃsāra is painful, and that you seek "nirvāṇa," which is the escape from such a cycle. Beyond this surface level comparison the analogy falls apart. (I don't think extinguishing your desires would really help you achieve nirvāṇa in your world) But it's an interesting similarity nonetheless.

>>1129060

Fox here. This one isn't urgent. So... Souls. In some parts of existence, as far as the locals are concerned, there is no empirically observable gods, no empirically observable souls, no empirically observable magic, no empirically observable afterlife, no observable aspects of reality with an inherent moral agenda at all. In those places, sometimes the word 'soul' even gets used to describe the body parts made of matter! In that part of things, there is a deterministic, matter-based reality, based on reductionist principles with bottom-up causation processes causing emergent phenomena. And this can actually make, over sufficiently large timescales, based on the concrete, unchangeable mathematical laws of physics, the following things: life, life with a basic level of awareness, and life with full intelligence and self awareness and the capacity to grow.

>>1129060
I feel like a gave a pretty generalist overview of things. Death is an unknown and people have various ideas about it.
I also share the whole "mind and soul are the same thing" perspective.
It's mostly why I was so horrified by Mina's explanation of your afterlife. A ton of uncomfortable implications with the ways the gods are mucking about with people there.

>>1129060
Unlike Magic, Science is not a search for quintessential truth. Science is about determining what is impossible and calculating the improbability of what is improbable.

Truth to one person may mean something entirely different to another, thereby preventing the transmission of understanding from one school of magical thought to another. But with science? We find what is impossible for everyone, and then it is up to them to decide what they wish to do with the remainder; what may be possible for anyone.

The results speak for themselves. With a sandbox of unexplored possibility combined with a set of fundamental constraints restricting us from the contradictory, tools designed from such scientific inquiry are engineered to be usable by anyone.

But these days, we find ourselves adrift in ignorance. Starved of magic, we fall into delusions and tribes. And the worlds are getting... stupider. When one cannot scientifically disprove that a tool of science is bereft of any magic whatsoever... well. It's not looking good.

1/5 Tanna 2026/08/31(Mon)01:40 No. 1131480 ID: 690ff7
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>Definitely looks lizardy, but it can't be Vax. Vax is still paralyzed, so he'd be a paralyzed skeleton, right?

Well… maybe? I don’t know how that’d work, if being made into a skeleton would get rid of the paralyzation I put on him. I would assume so, since like… you’d presumably die if being made into a skeleton, but maybe that doesn’t even get rid of it?

>Huh. I suppose "know thine enemy" wasn't just a saying with you.

Skeletons, zombies, ghouls, ghosts, vampires, shadows, mohrgs, wraiths. It’s like a memory of a memory, coming to me in a way now that I’m thinking a bit more deeply about them. How they’re made and what they’re like; weaknesses and the composition of their vaelthread, the technical term for a creature’s make up within the Weave. It’s sort of making me a little…

Ehrg… a little sick. It’s too much to think about at the moment, I’m gonna close this off for now before I lose myself in it.

>Looking closer this skeleton doesn't look like it's missing a bone either so that means there's atleast two of them.

Ah! Good point, that’s definitely possible, assuming that the bone from earlier is another skelly’s. Not really looking forward to the idea of more skeletons.

>Poor guy can't get the hatch open!
>This one is trying to reach the trapdoor.

He really can’t. It’s another exit for this place supposedly. Though Mina and Evel’yee seemed to be sure that it’s locked and barred from the surface for whatever reason. It’s a bit worrying that it knows that this is an exit though.

>Why is that? Is its goal to reach the outside, or is the outside just a path it's seeking to reach something else, like your group? Assuming there are more, I wonder if all of them will be attempting different ways of exiting the temple. Maybe they would abandon those attempts to go after you when they realize their true objective is in the temple with them.

Well… besides the elevator and this hatch, the only other exit I can think of would be that room with that raging torrent. Sounds like a good way to get all smashed up though. Could only be so convenient if these other possible skellies went that way and died. Again.

>That feller is spooky and scary. Hey. I recognise him

Aye? Who is he?

>Is he the guy who loaned you the harmonica? Slinky. He wants it back.

WHAT?! NO! It is MY harmonica now. MINE! ALL MINE!! I shall bury my fangs in the spines of him and kin alike and shatter ALL in TWAIN should they covet my most sacred treasure!!!

Actually though, I wonder how that skelly is. That one was trapped in a cell, I wonder if it’s animated? All those bones in that room we fought Roderick in last night too, what was that even about? Some kind of ritual? Bakoth was leading them on for something… I should’ve asked Evel’yee what they’d been doing.

>Ok, ok. Putting my whimsy away. Its possible theyre one of the original denizens remains. Definitely a heavy set creature in life by the wide feet, long balancing tail and spread of the foot talons when it jumps. Its caught in a loop of trying something that isnt working. Suggests a command given and it having minimal autonomy.

It could be a command, but… I wonder just how long he’s been doing this? Why wouldn’t the person who gave it the command have come and told it to do something else by now?

Maybe it just wants to escape. That that had been his goal before he died.

Je’zik, that’d be kinda sad.

>Wait I'm a dumbass. The chick had a skullmask. She's a necromancer.
>Probably that skull mask lizard lady.

You think so? I guess she would be the most likely candidate. But still, why?

>​​Most likely the snake lady summoned them all while the captives were disabled, and then... well, it makes the most sense for her to play a sort of game with them to force us to come down and deal with it. The captives have been chased around by the skeletons and I wouldn't be surprised if one of them is up that trap door the skeleton is jumping at.

That would be a strange thing to do. Vax would be dead in this case since he’d be paralyzed (still assuming it works that way), and Jacob would have… been awoken just to run around and hide? The hatch is an exit too, Mina and Evel’yee said it was locked on their side.

I’m not saying it’s not possible, I just… am not sure I guess. This is really strange.

>This could be potentially useful: If they want to leave, the ropes will become very popular when the skeletons realize that path is open.

Could maybe make a trap with that in mind? Could lure them possibly…

>It's a beastkin, hips look male from that angle, with a decent snout, some fat digitigrade talons, and a really long tail.
>Are you sure that's an Iruxi? Could be a kobold. How many bipedal lizardlike species are there of that rough shape or size?

Ah… hmm, I doubt it. I think kobolds are pretty small, around Evel’yee’s height. This would be a freakishly huge kobold.

>That thing is taller than Tanna.
>So? And how many bipedal lizardlike species of roughly that bone structure ARE there, especially when considering possible individual outliers in size?

They don’t really have claws or talons like this one’s got either, at least not as large. Definitely no Sathaxrin, wouldn’t have legs in that case. Jaws too small for a Kurovak either… it could maybe be a Wyvaran? I’m not too sure what they look like, other than that they’re draconic-esque and have wings too.

>Back away from the door
>Communicate to your friends that there's animated skeletons down here, but no outright ambush
>Message your party and tell them there's skeletons down here of an unknown quantity and you're not gonna be able to handle them alone.

Got it. Stepping back, I’ll relay to them that there’s danger down here in the form of a skeleton/skeletons...

>I wonder if it would help or hinder to tell the girls this skeleton is not large enough to be Vax… Probably will freak out Mina even more with the idea that they might be reanimated. Better to not even mention and hope the thought didn't occur to her.
>Also this is KINDA the exact sort of stuff we were just talking about. I can already imagine Mina going "Why the fuck is my best friend a Skeleton Tanna? You said this JUST happened!"

Definitely want to avoid all that drama too, don’t need them doing anything rash while I’m being a super cool scout. I wave at them as they look down at me, trying to look as reassured as possible. It’s a little hard to make out their expressions, though I can see Mina’s ears drop even lower. It’s not ideal news. Evel’yee gives me a nod and thumbs up before saying something to Mina, I can’t exactly hear.

>While you are communicating with the girls, maybe make a plan for what they should do if you lose your concentration and the Phantom Noise spell breaks. I'm not sure what though. You could ask Mina to activate Sanctuary when the noise stops, but it might be a waste since it's only three turns. It might be necessary though. Up to you.

Ooh, that’s a good point. What if something was capable of stopping me from relaying back to them? I’ll give them some additional instructions in this case to activate the Sanctuary in case my Phantom Noise dies out.

>Actually... I think when you get near the rope you should be within range for telepathic messages. Pass along as your spell talk at an opportune time and don't call attention to it.

I… I think this is better as something to tell them once we’re reunited. Not looking to complicate things here right now. Apologies.

Speaking of not complicating things… what to do now. Hah, gosh, it’s sort of like last night. Skulking about this damn place while there’s things around that will try to kill me if they find me. Maybe I should call Evel’yee and Mina down… but I haven’t really done that much yet. Hm…

>Stealthily, stealthily, don't get its attention, that's something to kill with the full party, withdraw, you are doing recon right now, check the other doors....

Recon… yeah. I should keep doing that…

>they should come down before you're spotted.

Though, that’s not a bad idea either… there’s safety in numbers.

>Grease trap this area, its bones don't have the friction and surface area needed to step carefully around here. It'll trip, and you can finish it off with a neck-snap.
>Sneak up on it, use the sickle to hook it's spine and YOINK IT OUT.

I… er… well, I did avoid telling them I wouldn’t handle it alone. I think… well…

Ah, Winds, if I’m being honest, I really think I could do it. Not exactly with my sickle, but like… this thing is distracted. I could rush up, bite down on its spine with my fangs, I’m fairly certain I’d tear it out all easy and quiet-like if not outright crush it. I know I’ve got the fangs for it… I’m walking around with this sword in my mouth like it’s a paperweight (the rust taste kinda sucks though, again, biteguard). I kinda wanna try…

>So: testing. saw open a large piece and see what's inside. If the bones are still 'fresh', we might have something to work with...

Eheh, I could tell you if I taste anything like that once I snap one in my jaws, yeah?

>Get to the foot of the rope and we'll carry a message to come down quietly as theres one hostile skelamajig.
>Since they're mostly-mindless constructs your party members should be able to descend safely. You could try scouting out the other doors I suppose, to see if you can get an idea of how many there are and what they're currently doing?
>I agree with the other suggestion about maintaining stealth and retreating, but I'm not sure it's time to call for backup yet.

Hmmmmmmm, oh, I guess I’ll hold off on that idea for now, but I don’t think I should get the others to come down just yet. I told Evel’yee and Mina I’d check things out, and I really just haven’t followed through with that. I’ll explore a couple of hallways first, then propose the idea again after I get some more information. Speaking of which…

I make my way past the elevator and the broken remains of whatever shitty statue was inside this wall niche. To the right of that is an open door, slightly ajar towards me. Taking a look inside, I see…

2/5 Tanna 2026/08/31(Mon)01:40 No. 1131481 ID: ed40e0
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A damn mess. Slashed up ratty rug, old rusty coat hangers, and debris everywhere. No bones or skeletons though. This must be some kind of sanctuary, there’s a carved out section in the wall where they probably put some gaudy looking offering to their worthless Theotian.

This room’s relatively dark, not much light is coming in. Would be a problem for anyone else but me. There’s another door hanging open on the otherside. No strange smells either, and I’m not hearing much… at least there’s nothing in here.

Alright. Stepping away and moving towards the room where I placed the bone on the door, I see the hallway lined with a bunch of doors, one of which is the room where we fought Roderick. I smell Roderick and death in here, and lo and behold, his corpse is to my immediate right in the corner. It’s covered with a linen of some sort, it seems like they dragged him out of the room he was in judging by the blood trail.

There’s… more bones scattered about, some I remember, but there’s one that’s new. Seems like pieces of a foot? Probably belongs to our wayward skeleton, they’re losing pieces of themselves, haha. There’s definitely another one, ominous.

Even more ominous though is that there’s some kind of chain on the door to that cultish room. It’s being loosely held together with some kind of… crescent? One could easily remove it, though if you were on the other side you’d probably have a hard time getting out? Hell, you might be able to wiggle it off, that’s not at all secure. What’s going on there, who sealed that door? There’s no way Mina or Evel’yee did that. And why?

What in the hells is going on? It has to be Shi’zen, who else could’ve done it? Gods, I wanna investigate more, but… no, I got more to explore. I’m gonna head down to check out the room with the busted down door.

>Have we tried using that lever yet? Probably shouldn't while there's skeletons around though.

The lever? No, I don’t think so. Or at least I haven’t. I can’t imagine their group hasn’t tried at least once. With all the potential skeletons around though, I'm a little hesitant to try right now.

>An unnecessary but interesting foray into the lore of our world: History has led us to broadly reject the idea of magic, but that has not stopped magical thinking. While we had once thought the world was magical, we were able to create detailed theories describing nearly every single mechanism and predict how systems would develop further and further forward. Anything that can be theorized about and predicted, we call science. We call everything else magic. The ways of science have become so advanced, in fact, that it is widely believed that everything can be explained by it in one way or another, though we may not know it yet.
>Unlike Magic, Science is not a search for quintessential truth. Science is about determining what is impossible and calculating the improbability of what is improbable.
>with science? We find what is impossible for everyone, and then it is up to them to decide what they wish to do with the remainder; what may be possible for anyone.

Huh? What’re you talking about? Aren’t those… hold on, lemme re-read that.

Wait, so you differentiate science and magic? Those aren’t the same thing to you? Science is a bit of a loose term around here, I think it has something to do with the more mechanical aspects of the Weave… but it’s still magic. It’s very real and… wow. I mean, how do you even explain how you’re all talking to me? Aren’t you practicing some form of magic, or is that ‘science’?

I mean, from my perspective, plenty of things can be explained with the Weave, with magic, you know? The reason we need to breathe is because our bodies are sustained by the ambient threads around us. We all have these organs called lungs that help with the process, they do something with whatever we suck in and distribute it to our blood which in turn reinvigorates our vaelthread. You can call that science, but isn’t that basically just the same thing as magic as a broader concept? Can it really only be called magic when it’s ‘unexplained’?

Like, thinking about a little more, let’s say there was a person holding a pebble, and someone floating a pebble using a spell or something. In your world example, the person floating the pebble would be ‘magic’, and the person holding it would be ‘science’. But here, right, they’re both magic? I know that sounds stupid but I’m sort of taking it to a logical extreme, Weave would be acting on the pebble in both circumstances. The methods might be different, I don’t exactly know how it’d work with the pebble using a spell, but I’m sure it could be explained very easily. Probably something to do with creating a physical force to simply hold the thing. There’s a science to that, but that is magic?

And… well I guess you’d have to explain how that’s even possible in the first place, but that’s what we’re all made of! Our fur and flesh is made of these threads, the act of holding the pebble and floating it with an incantation can’t be that different… I don’t know. Maybe I’m just dumb. There’s so little that’s truly impossible though. Many of our greatest fables are based on some truth no matter how absurd they might sound.

That story about whatever his name getting his heart ripped out and still surviving to deliver a finishing blow? I wouldn’t be surprised to find out that isn’t a complete exaggeration. Hells, we got recorded instances of a tower that teleports around the world and our moons, sometimes in the middle of towns. It supposedly creates an extradimensional space around itself so it doesn’t wreck everything instantly. It sounds stupid and impossible, believe me, I think it is too, but it is real! Or people making trips to the plane of the Theotians, Indelcaun. They say no one’s ever returned… but like, it’s theoretically possible?

>Thus, the existence of magic is more of a philosophical question than a physical one. This leads to a big complication when it comes to the idea of a "soul", though. The word "consciousness" has come to replace the word "soul" in scientific discussions, but it hasn't replaced the idea. Fundamentally, the issue is that consciousness is pretty much impossible for us to define. We can describe aspects of our own conscious experience, but we can't actually observe consciousness in other people. A crucial step in the scientific method (The set of rules we follow to 'make' science) is observation, and since we can't make observations, we can't really apply science to consciousness. (There is debate about this, but the fact that there is debate at all is an indication of the issue)

Well… consciousness. The idea of self. That comes from the Soul, but it isn’t exactly our Soul. A person’s consciousness can be different from one life to the next even though the Soul is the same between them. I don’t know where consciousness comes from exactly, but if I had to guess, the Soul probably has something to do with it.

>Fox here. This one isn't urgent. So... Souls. In some parts of existence, as far as the locals are concerned, there is no empirically observable gods, no empirically observable souls, no empirically observable magic, no empirically observable afterlife, no observable aspects of reality with an inherent moral agenda at all. In those places, sometimes the word 'soul' even gets used to describe the body parts made of matter! In that part of things, there is a deterministic, matter-based reality, based on reductionist principles with bottom-up causation processes causing emergent phenomena. And this can actually make, over sufficiently large timescales, based on the concrete, unchangeable mathematical laws of physics, the following things: life, life with a basic level of awareness, and life with full intelligence and self awareness and the capacity to grow.
>The belief in an afterlife comes from a time before modern science, but it nonetheless stays relevant because of the questions science can't currently answer.

And that’s something that’s crazy to me. Souls themselves, they ARE real. At least in my world… and this is common knowledge. People way smarter than me have observed them, every living creature most definitively has one. It’s our most important tool, they let us walk within the world and act and have purpose. All of our capabilities stem from it, it is the root of our being. Breathing, touching, thinking. The idea of not having a Soul is akin to just being an object, a thing made of Weave but lacking the thing that makes it ‘it’.

So, I don’t know. It just sounds insane to me that you can claim that you all aren’t sure. That you have religions that believe in different theological ideas and…

>The belief in an afterlife comes from a time before modern science, but it nonetheless stays relevant because of the questions science can't currently answer.

That core topic of not knowing. There’s an allure to that… a kind of terror that rings deep inside, but also a kind of peace too. That wherever our Souls end up, we don’t really have a say and we just… have to go with it.

That’s making me feel things, surfacing thoughts… the idea that the Theotians so directly meddle with OUR Souls… and Mina was talking about how weird it was that you all touched mine, but how is that any different from them?! That’s a good talking point… I gotta use that against her later.

>I feel like a gave a pretty generalist overview of things. Death is an unknown and people have various ideas about it.

We’re quite different in this regard then. While you don’t know, we know that when we die we’ll return. That’s… Je’zik, I bet a bunch of our analogies haven’t really been making sense, huh? I’ll try to remember that and explain if they come up.

>Also, it should be noted that the information you receive about our world comes from a tiny self-selected slice of the population, so you aren't getting the full picture. It seems like your world functions somewhat similarly to what the buddhists/hinduists of our world believe: Souls are infinitely reincarnated into different bodies in a cycle called "Saṃsāra." You, however, seem to lead towards the buddhist belief that Saṃsāra is painful, and that you seek "nirvāṇa," which is the escape from such a cycle. Beyond this surface level comparison the analogy falls apart. (I don't think extinguishing your desires would really help you achieve nirvāṇa in your world) But it's an interesting similarity nonetheless.

Painful…? Hm, yeah, I suppose… that’s not a bad way to describe how I feel about it. This whole process of the Journey is… gross. That’s how I feel. Unnatural, wrong. I’m fairly certain this is an opinion that I don’t share with many others. It’s nice that I’m not entirely alone with this feeling? Saṃsāra and Nirvāṇa, seems people from your realm have similar ideas.

>It's mostly why I was so horrified by Mina's explanation of your afterlife. A ton of uncomfortable implications with the ways the gods are mucking about with people there.

Exactly! Our Theotians aren’t these perfect beings, who knows what they’re doing with our Souls once we die?! It’s… nngh…

Feeling those things, you all are good at getting that out of me. These existential thoughts, it makes me SO angry even thinking about this, head’s pounding again… I… for another time… for another time. Sorry.

>Truth to one person may mean something entirely different to another

Wonder what Bakoth would think about that one.

>The results speak for themselves. With a sandbox of unexplored possibility combined with a set of fundamental constraints restricting us from the contradictory, tools designed from such scientific inquiry are engineered to be usable by anyone. But these days, we find ourselves adrift in ignorance. Starved of magic, we fall into delusions and tribes. And the worlds are getting... stupider. When one cannot scientifically disprove that a tool of science is bereft of any magic whatsoever... well. It's not looking good.

Ah… I think I’m kinda entering that “I’m too dumb to know what you’re talking about” territory again. Hope that… all works out for you?

It’s crazy how much I can discuss with you all while I’m making my way. I’m moving down the stairs, but…

3/5 Tanna 2026/08/31(Mon)01:41 No. 1131482 ID: 45cf10
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>TANNA’S SIGHT-BASED PERCEPTION CHECK: 12(9[Roll] + 3[Mentality])

>??? CHECK: 3(1[Proximity] + 2[Prone])

H-Hold on… what is that? In the corner, behind the pillar? It’s sort of hard to make out at this angle… but I’m seeing something strange. Some sort of white thing, it might be another skeleton.

Slipping behind the pillar quietly, ugh, the damn door is in my way. I’m not gonna risk getting seen, lemme find a better angle. I’m gonna ignore looking inside the room with the busted down door for now and wrap around to see better.

Reaching the end of the atrium, there’s a convenient piece of rubble there. Positioning behind it, I look and… oh yeah. That’s another skeleton. It’s… I think whoever this was was a Weski, they’re small. They’re curled up too in the corner, idly scratching at the wall and facing away from everything.

Wow… this thing is pathetic. In a sad way I mean. Maybe annoying too. It doesn’t seem to really be patrolling or looking for anything, but it’d definitely turn into a monster if it caught a whiff of me. Well, there’s your other skeleton, though this one seems to have both legs still. There is an infestation. Ugh, what a pain.

I sit there for about a minute to see if anything will change, but no, it’s simply sitting there and scratching the wall like a stupid sad little idiot. At least the other skeleton was trying to escape. I’m just gonna… ignore it too for now. I’m pretty close to where Jacob and Vax are, and I can sort of see into the room with the busted down door. It’s a mess in there. Bunch of old rotted broken wooden bits and shattered bones, was like that last night from the little I could see though. I think there’s a fireplace too? Kind of hard to tell a hundred percent from the distance and angle.

Don’t see anymore skellies in there at least. There is supposedly a library back there based on Mina’s map though… maybe for another time. Leaving the skeleton to his fetal based wall scratching, I turn to look at the double doors that lead down deeper. They too are open.

With careful steps past the pews, I take a look inside. Can I just say how much I love being able to see in the dark? It’s pitch black in there, but I can still tell where everything is. The furniture Mina and Evel’yee mentioned is… it’s in there, but they’ve been moved. That’s not a good sign. Some might say it’s even a bad sign. The door to the jailroom is open, so is the ‘alchemy’ room, the one with the running water. It’s not that loud, but with everything as quiet as it is, it would definitely mask things. That torrent is violent. The room where Jacob stuck a knife in me is closed though, same with the kitchen thankfully. Should make taking a sniff not so ba-

4/5 Tanna 2026/08/31(Mon)01:45 No. 1131485 ID: 636e90
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>TANNA’S SCENT-BASED PERCEPTION CHECK: 6(3[Roll] + 3[Mentality])

Hold on. That rat from before, I’m not forgetting that scent now that I know who it belongs to. She’s been through here! And recently! I look around, but I don’t see her anywhere at all. Where the fuck is she? My hand tenses around my blade and I ready myself to reach for my harmonica, waiting for the potential attack, but nothing happens…

I smell again, diverting my focus to see if there’s anything else. I can sort of smell a trail, I think it’s leading into the room with rushing-water and the jailroom… I don’t know what’s fresher, I’d have to move into the hallway to get a better sense.

I… fuck, okay. I step back. I need some advice here Winds. I’ve got a lot more intel now, maybe it’s worth bringing Evel’yee and Mina down here? But the jailroom is right there… it wouldn’t be hard to just take a quick peep inside. I could get a better read on that trail too. Maybe even use a spell if I need to? Agh, if I do that though… this god damn harmonica might give me away.

5/5 Tanna 2026/08/31(Mon)01:46 No. 1131486 ID: 231e44
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...I can take this slow. At least for now, nothing’s happened yet. Let me review real quick, I can go back to Mina and Evel’yee now. This is some decent scouting, but I still don’t know what happened to Vax or Jacob. I don’t even smell them in this corridor, I haven’t smelled them anywhere. I could go down and check inside that jailroom real quick… would be the fastest peek of my life, maybe even use a spell to help me with that… but there’s definitely some risk.

I guess I could keep exploring the other rooms too, there’s probably unseen skeletons. That door with the loose lock and chain is interesting… but hells, that earlier idea as well. That reptile up the stairs, or that weski in the corner, quick bite and snap. I know it’s a little risky, but I’m sure I could do it. Bringing the others down here would risk alerting them and I could miss that chance.

I’m not sure. What do you think Winds? If I’m being brutally real, I want to try attacking the skeletons on my own. There’s just something super exciting about it, though maybe I’m just being stupid. Likely my blood boiling at the thought. The second option I’d like to try is checking the prison, real quick-like. Maybe use a vanish if you think it’s necessary. I defer to you all though.

>>1131486
You've fully scouted the entry room and adjoining rooms. That's good enough for calling them down.

You've smelled part of the scent trail... try tracing it to see where it goes in the direction away from the jail. If she's still in the jail area then we'd expect the scent to get weaker. We won't have to peek in there in that case.

Guys, could you try to not violate the fourth wall so voraciously with real world concepts that don't fit the setting?


>...this thing is pathetic. In a sad way I mean
>...like a stupid sad little idiot.

Harsh judgement. Do you have expectations for animated skeletons? By nature they are already a sad existence, so I don't understand why you would think less of someone in this condition being depressed.

You got good information on the main room and adjacents. It should be enough for Eve and Mina to get down to set a defensible position. Doesn't even need to be the end of your scouting, they could stay somewhere you could run towards if something start chasing you.
That is assuming you don't want to lure skeletons for rock throwing from your friends. I still think doing this would be efficient but would also alert Shi'zen.

How I think this should go:
Inform the girls of what you found, in particular the animated skeleton in the corner. They also need to know about Roderick's body because if Mina freak out it's better that she does so up there than down here. Also inform them about Shi'zen smell (my earlier speculation about her leaving was wrong).
Once they understand the situation you can call them down here for backup in case you need. I think they could have a good sigh of the room and the trapdoor skeleton door if they stay near the left brazier. But of course this is a suggestion so maybe they will have a better plan or prefer the stone throwing idea.
With a fallback position stablished I thing you should take a look at the prison and maybe the room with the smoking reptilian lady.
Only after successfully scouting the location the boys were last time you can try to ambush one of the skeletons. Maybe try the weski first since the iruxi might notice you while you walk up the stairs.

>>1131486
Honestly the jail room has trap written all over it.
And given the types of fucked up magical traps in this place (let's not forget the SUPER curse you got) I'd say don't even risk LOOKING in there until you have other people with you.

Also since it's been brought up. The harmonica seems to have the symbol of Our Boss(I guess?) on it. I know it's his symbol cause that's the same symbol that appeared when you detected magic on Vax.

Not exactly sure what it implies that two of these eldritch gods seemed to have some form of influence over this area at some point in time but it should definitely be noted.

>>1131485
*gaaaaaasp*
How very dare you malign that skeletons precious harmonica.

>>1131486

Bring your friends down.
Leave it much longer and theyll get itchy paws and come down looking for you.
We'll prep them to be quiet and pass on the details.
Youre not alone any more.
And even though i think you could take the skelemajigs, its time to practice not taking the world on solo.

Also, looking bold and adventurous slinky.
Youre carrying yourself with more confidence.

>>1131503
I try to make my stuff as in context as possible and try to make my rants grounded in the needs of the person, it was another that went a bit crazy about science and crap, ugh. -Fox

Also agree with the others on bringing the friends down. And that they are friends!

Thinking it's a good idea to bring in the others now.

1/9 Tanna 2026/10/23(Fri)20:59 No. 1133361 ID: 437377
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>*gaaaaaasp*
>How very dare you malign that skeletons precious harmonica.

The weak should fear the strong.

>Also since it's been brought up. The harmonica seems to have the symbol of Our Boss(I guess?) on it. I know it's his symbol cause that's the same symbol that appeared when you detected magic on Vax.

Oh, this insignia on top of the harmonica? It’s etched into the thing, I thought it was some guild’s branding or something. I’m guessing you’re talking about that Solo from yesterday? If that symbol really belongs to them, does that mean this is their harmonica? And it’s the same symbol as what I cast on Vax last night?

...This harmonica was a pretty convenient find. It’s not even in that bad of a condition, and their group had been down here for a few days? Maybe I should take a better look at this thing later.

>Harsh judgement. Do you have expectations for animated skeletons? By nature they are already a sad existence, so I don't understand why you would think less of someone in this condition being depressed.

This isn’t a ‘someone’. It’s just a bunch of bones made into a weapon that’s pretending to have feelings. There’s nothing actually there, and even if there WAS, they shouldn’t jus-
Too familiar.
I-I mean, just giving up like… no, I don’t have to explain myself to you. That thing’s pathetic and it’s annoying to look at. There. That’s how I feel.

>You've smelled part of the scent trail... try tracing it to see where it goes in the direction away from the jail. If she's still in the jail area then we'd expect the scent to get weaker. We won't have to peek in there in that case.

I can’t, at least not from here. They’re too indistinct from each other at this distance. I can tell she hasn’t been in the kitchen, at least through the door. She HAS been through the doors to the jail and the room with the torrent. Though… the fact I can even smell a trail in the first place means she had to have… but I haven’t smelled her in the main atrium… so she hasn’t been through this door?

A quick peek back in, I close my eyes and let my nose direct me. It’s leading up and to the right. Those roots in the corner above me, where they’re breaking through the wall and the ceiling a bit. Could she have fit herself through there? …I think she must have, that’s where the trail seems to be coming from.

Is she still in there? Hmm… no, no. It’s only a trail. I’d smell something stronger if she was there. Nngh… still though, this isn’t great. She could be anywhere, there’s cracks and nooks all throughout this place. Could be watching me right now…

>You've fully scouted the entry room and adjoining rooms. That's good enough for calling them down.
>You got good information on the main room and adjacents. It should be enough for Eve and Mina to get down to set a defensible position.
>Honestly the jail room has trap written all over it.
>Thinking it's a good idea to bring in the others now.

RIght, but there’s still more besides that, and I still don’t know about Jacob or Vax. Even if it’s a trap I’ve got spells and Mina’s defenses to get out of a bind…

>Bring your friends down.
>Also agree with the others on bringing the friends down. And that they are friends!

Bah, okay, fine. I’ll bring my ‘friends’ down. Psh, I suppose they are just friends at this point, how we’ve been referring to them this entire time. I dunno why I’m putting a weird emphasis on it. The only reason I’m down here is for them. I think I want to prove I can do this, I’m not sure where that’s coming from.

Am I getting sappy? I said some really melodramatic stuff last night. I keep thinking back on that and inwardly… not cringing per say. I’m just kinda surprised at myself. I didn’t think I was the type of person, y’know, do stuff like that?

...Not that I should care. It doesn’t feel wrong. Really, it’s sort of fun in a way, delving a dank crypt with danger and skellies.

>Youre not alone any more.
>And even though i think you could take the skelemajigs, its time to practice not taking the world on solo.

I still do wanna take out these skeletons, but you all are right. They can help me if something does go wrong. Hehe… yeah. Yeah, that’s a plan alright. Let’s do that…

2/9 Tanna 2026/10/23(Fri)21:00 No. 1133362 ID: 0ed463
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Making my way back to the ropes quietly, I communicate to them my findings.

>Inform the girls of what you found, in particular the animated skeleton in the corner. They also need to know about Roderick's body because if Mina freak out it's better that she does so up there than down here. Also inform them about Shi'zen smell (my earlier speculation about her leaving was wrong).

I tell them about the skeletons I found, the weski in the corner past the pillar and the one up the stairs, and how Shi’zen might still be here based on her scent. I tell them about all the opened doors, and about Roderick's body being dragged out, and the weird loose lock on the door to the ritual room. And when I’m finally down below, I ask them to come down.

They start descending as soon as I ask, each one taking a rope and coming down as carefully as they can.

>MINA’S SNEAKING CHECK: 5(4[Roll] + 3[Dexterity] - 1[Group Negative] - 1[Phobia])

>EVEL’YEE’S SNEAKING CHECK: 11(7[Roll] + 4[Dexterity] +1[Size] - 1[Group Negative])

I wince as it’s not the quietest process in the world, and I’m looking at the doors as they make their way down, hoping no one else is hearing all this. Mina’s not a fan of ropes either it seems. Shouldn’t she be better at this, she’s worse at going down than I was. Thankfully, it seems that nothing really comes out to check out the disruption, nor are there any reactions from that one in the corner or the one up the stairs.

“Aye, good shit Tanna.” I hear Evel’yee whisper as she taps the ground with grace and give me a smile. I wave to her. “Seem to be feeling chipper.”

“I am. This is honestly kinda fun, you do this often?” I ask her.

“Honestly? Nah, first real ‘tomb’ I’ve come across with this group. Mina might have more to say, but we can talk ‘bout that later. Roderick’s corpse is expected, we’d dragged it out last night, though we left his stuff inside the room. Was exhausted, didn’t fucking expect someone to lock it.” She says, motioning to the hallway with a roll of her eyes. She focuses back on me and then asks, “No sign of Vax or Jacob?”

I shake my head and say quietly before Mina is fully down. “No. I kept this part quiet but the one up the stairs is an iruxi. I don’t think it’s Vax but…”

Mina finally hits the ground with relative silence, and Evel’yee hurriedly says to me. “Even if it is, we can’t do anything with it in that state and it’s dangerous.”

“Gods I don’t like being down here… whatcha two whispering about?” Mina asks as she lets off a little shiver and starts brushing herself off.

“Plans.” I say, technically a lie but I was going to get into the idea of that. “So, I haven’t seen nor smelled Vax or Jacob anywhere, but the room to the jail is open. One of the Winds are saying we could lure ‘em all here and throw stones at ‘em till they break apart.”

“That’d probably work, though it’d take forever. Guarantee this Shi’zen would know what we’re doing too.” Evel’yee says as she takes a look around. “Are we on a crunch?”

“No, I don’t think so. But Shi’zen definitely would realize. There’s so many little places she could be hiding around with being able to become a rat.”

“T-They could need help. What if they’re in danger?” Mina says as she scratches her claws together.

“The doors been opened Mina…” Evel’yee says very softly, but the implication being very apparent.

“She’s still down here, what if she’s holding them hostage? She could decide to kill them if we make a scene like that, no longer worth the risk.” Mina says weakly, obviously not really believing in that.

“What about this?” I begin to say, not really wanting to drop rocks on skeletons for the next half hour. “There’s a skeleton all alone in the corridor up there, and one behind the pillar. We’ve still got the element of surprise, and we could cull ‘em pre-emptively. If it is a trap or whatever, she won’t have as many of them on her side as she expects.”

“It just doesn’t make sense why they’re disorganized like this.” Mina brings up, and I have to agree. “If she was controlling them, why wouldn’t she have them following orders or patrolling?”

“I’m… fairly confident they’re free-willed undead at the moment. Their behaviors don’t at all make any sense if they were under direct control. It’s like they’re operating on a previous desire.” I’d say to her. With the one hiding in the corner now and the other jumping mindlessly at the hatch, I feel confident in that theory now.

Mina seems a little taken aback when I say all though. “Previous desire? What do you mean?”

“Oh, um. The person this skeleton once was. The Soul of the skeleton inhabiting it now, free-willed undead will default to odd behaviors based on… deep desires, if they’re uncontrolled.”

“Huh, I didn’t know that...” Mina hums quietly.

Evel’yee waves it all off though. “Yeah, interesting, whatever. I don’t think it’s a detail we should be concerned about for now. People do stupid things when they think they’ve got resources they don’t actually have. It’s not a bad idea, can use it to catch her off guard potentially.”

“It’d make our retreat a lot safer too, if we needed.” I’d also say.

“Wouldn’t that be loud though? If we did attack that skeleton?” Mina says, looking between Evel’yee and I and her tail flicking back and forth behind her.

“No, I think… I think I can take it out quickly.” I’d say, and I truly believe that. “If you all close the door behind me, I’ll rush up and get my jaws around that thing’s spine and have it dead again in an instant.”

Evel’yee lets out a quiet snort. “Hah, I said you got a pair a’ chompers but you ain’t gotta go trying to prove it so quickly.”

“No, really. I’m confident I can do this. The thing’s super isolated as well.” I’d say, feeling that itch. I REALLY wanted to let loose, just a little.

“And if not?” Mina asks. UGH, I get the concern… “Not that I’m against destroying undead, just trying to tie up loose ends.”

“In that case, help me kill it as quickly as possible, and if we attract more attention, climb up the ropes. We can cut them if they start following, and I can jump to either one of you with Umbral Step if needed.”

“Aye, honestly it’s not a bad plan. How dark is it in there?” Evel’yee asks, looking back at the door hosting the skeleton.

“Very dark.” Not a problem for me though.

“I’m guessing that new dark sight ain’t an issue then, otherwise you’d have brought it up. Alright, let’s give it a shot then. Worst case, we end up falling back to do the stone idea. Mina, in case things go wrong when Tanna strikes, can you cast a spell to light things up?”

“...Yeah. Okay. I can do that.” Mina says. “So we’re doing this then?”

I know some of you might not approve, but sorry Winds, I really wanna try this. “Yup, we’re doing this. Post up by the door and let’s get it done.”

3/9 Tanna 2026/10/23(Fri)21:00 No. 1133363 ID: 2672fb
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With that plan in mind, they take up positions near the door. I get on all fours, scimitar tightly bound to my pack as I slip in through the door, Evel’yee to my right and Mina behind the door, ready to close it.

I can’t afford to sneak up on it quietly here, there’s nothing to hide behind and it can see in the dark. All it would take is a moment for something to register on its periphery, and then this would get a lot harder.

4/9 Tanna 2026/10/23(Fri)21:03 No. 1133365 ID: 57b6e2
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So with that in mind, it’s nothing but violence from here on out. The door lets out a quiet creak behind me as I pad forward, death in my mind. Like a rabid animal, my vision narrows as I focus on the creature’s spine. Rushing as swiftly as I can akin to a predator let loose at its prey. My vaelthread thrumming as my blood pulses, the shadows singing in concert with my deadly sprint. The skeleton’s bones clatter against the ground after another one of its jumps, still not having noticed me, but it stiffens. It knows something is off as it begins to turn.

5/9 Tanna 2026/10/23(Fri)21:04 No. 1133366 ID: 1e7055
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It’s far too late however. Fully seeing me now, its eye targeting me and all previous wants of escape becoming overcome with a violent murderous rage. Not quite unlike how I’m feeling, but there’s a smile on my face as I lunge, leaping from the stairs and paws gripping its shoulder and hooking under its ribs. My jaw opens wide, saliva trailing from fang to fang. I’m going to kill you.

6/9 Tanna 2026/10/23(Fri)21:05 No. 1133367 ID: fe88f1
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>TANNA’S BITE ATTACK: 12(4[Dexterity] + 1[Combat Modifier] + 4[Roll] + 1[Charge] + 1[Spinal Circumstance] + 1[Shadow Strength]) > 5(5[Base] + 0[Dexterity, Flat-Footed]) = CRITICAL THREAT
>TANNA’S CRITICAL CONFIRMATION: 13(8[Previous] + 5[Roll]) > 5(5[Previous]) = CRITICAL CONFIRMATION
>TANNA’S DAMAGE: 2*(2[1-2 Bite] + 1[Strength] + 1[Blunt Vulnerability]) = 8 PAIN

CRUNCH!

Iruxi Skeleton has been killed.

HAHAHA! DIE!

CRUNCH! SNAP!

7/9 Tanna 2026/10/23(Fri)21:06 No. 1133368 ID: 43213c
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SNAP!

Crk… CRUNCH!

“Grr…”

9/9 Tanna 2026/10/23(Fri)21:07 No. 1133370 ID: 842e85
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That was fun. Who’s next?

>_

Death weasel!
Let's take out the one in the main room next, and then check the jail to see if we can find evidence of the two rescue targets.

>I don’t have to explain myself to you.
Don't you want to explain yourself? It's not too important but some self reflection wouldn't hurt.
Either way, if our depressed friend is still feeling sorry for itself sneaking up on it next should be even easier than it was for jumping lizard.

For strategy the stair room could be a good fall back position if some skeletons chase you but not too many that being stuck in a dead end might get dangerous. A bit of high advantage could help an archer a lot, a thin corridor would bottleneck if there are too many of them and producing and sustaining light doesn't seem to be a problem for miss priest.

To Mina:
>>1133368
That was kind of hot, wasn't it? I don't know why Tanna got so obsessive in an animalistic way but it's an exciting side of her to behold. Maybe she is trying to out goth chick hotter Tanna.
Since I'm already distracting you with nonsense maybe you can help us resolve a previous disagreement: Do you think the term "edge lord" sound like something that aptly describe Tanna? What about Evel’yee?

That was awesome! :o

Now the mouse!

Skeleton!

Fuck yeah! That's how you do it.

Honestly I was a bit weary of you taking it on since I didn't really know whether it would've been difficult or not. Seeing how EASILY you did it gives me a LOT more confidence.

Still should be cautious. There's that one skeleton that's just losing bones. And given that there was a BIG pile of bones in that chamber makes me wonder how feasible reanimating it all as one big entity would be.

To Evel'yee:
So I'm curious. What types of things have you had to deal with whilst working with this group. I remember hearing some stuff about a "chupacabra"? Like is it just monster elimination and general merc stuff you dealt with? Or did Rodrick make dealing with this type of stuff a priority?

Well, since you've got your slobber all over it, might as well make a bone broth from the remains.

Find a way to sabotage the remaining weave in the bones. Someone will recycle them into greater undead abominations, but if you can poison the magic animating it, you might be able to do something conniving.

>>1133382

Marrow's probably all gone in these old bones.

Tanna, did you notice any yellow threads glowing on the skeleton while you were biting into it?

Examine the spine for a second and see if they're still there.