Toxoglossa 2014/01/21(Tue)20:14 No. 558949 ID: 0b90a3
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Beth
>"Dale? Holy crap I was about to kill you. Todd said he heard gunshots! What happened?"

Toxoglossa 2014/01/21(Tue)20:14 No. 558950 ID: 0b90a3
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Dale
"Could have gone worse, but we've got wounded."

Toxoglossa 2014/01/21(Tue)20:15 No. 558951 ID: 0b90a3
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The crowd piles into the tiny kitchen, taking up every surface and seat with the injured. Ray, the wounded cop, is stretched out on the table, while the injured soldiers collapse into chairs. Mary gives Beth a quick sit-rep and they get down the messy business of saving lives; boiling water, tearing clean cloth, ordering anyone with working legs to fetch this, no not that. Jeff pulls the ambulance up outside, takes one look at the situation and starts unloading gauze, antiseptic, and anything remotely medical looking on the doctors.

The Soldier you helped, who apparently goes by Burke, produced a silvery packet full of powder, which, when packed into his wound, made him curse himself hoarse and formed a disgusting gel. With the gel in place, Mary declared him safe for transport, remarking that your quick action probably saved his life.

Sanders, who survived being shot in the head, is nursing a concussion, and is being kept awake by his uninjured squad mate: Francis. He is conscious and seems aware of the situation, but is definitely left off-balance by the injury.

Toxoglossa 2014/01/21(Tue)20:16 No. 558952 ID: 0b90a3
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Tanner is nursing what is likely a cracked rib, but alive thanks to her body armor.

Tanner
>"So, you're saying that now that you put that thing in his ear, he's not a threat anymore?"

Dale
"Not just him. Mary, Todd and I all went berserk, and all have one. But that was our last leech, and now that he's seen us, every person in town is going to be converging on the reservation."

Tanner
>"And you need us to help defend against them? You realize that we're just a recon group, we aren't really geared for sustained operations, let alone a... a fucking siege! You saw what just one person did to us!"

Dale
"Because he got the drop on you; every time we've encountered them we've been taken by surprise. This will be the first time we've had a chance to actually take a stand against this thing and we need everyone we can get. We figure that, now that we know exactly where Radula is going to go and have time to prepare, we can figure out a way to stop it."

Joshua
>"Hopefully, numbers won't be much of an issue. The only way onto the mesa is a path that winds around it: its only wide enough for two people if they're careful. If we keep that blocked that off, we should be able to keep them back indefinitely; or at least long enough for help to arrive."

Toxoglossa 2014/01/21(Tue)20:17 No. 558953 ID: 0b90a3
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Mary motions you over with a bloodstained hand.
>"Dale, you got a minute?"

Dale
"What's up?"

Mary
>"I know we were worried about using anesthetic before, but if we don't get some painkillers into Ray here, he's going to go into shock and we'll stand a good chance of losing him."
>"Todd could really use something as well, especially if we're planning on moving him. Beth told me she did everything she could to keep him comfortable, but he's in agony."

Dale
"You said something about a blood transfusion too?"

Mary
>"I'm not sure yet, but he would stand a better chance with at least an extra pint or two in his system. Of course, we'd have to figure out if anyone would have the right blood type. Well, besides you I mean..."

Dale
"Me?"

Mary
>"Yeah, we got yours when we did your bloodwork at the hospital: Type O-, the universal donor. But, your body is under such an enormous amount of stress, I can't even begin to recommend it. Especially if we're planning on going for a hike later tonight."
>"listen, just something to consider, but don't worry about it just yet. Beth and I have a lot of work to do. "

Dale
"What about Burke? Will he need one?"

Mary
>"Not sure yet. Between your tourniquet and the emergency coagulant, I don't think he's in any serious danger, but I need to take a better look at him first."

>>558953
Give Todd some painkillers. Now that Radula knows where we are there's no risk to it. Besides, if he's asleep when you're asleep, that's one more person we'll have in Radula's library. Or maybe he won't get to the library? Having him fall asleep would be a great test to see if he winds up there too. On the other hand that might also cause Radula to show up in person. Hmm. Maybe just tell him to try to stay awake for now until we're ready to move. Or maybe he could fall asleep and someone wakes him up after a couple minutes, so that he wakes up before Radula spears him like he does to you? From prior experience, Radula only seems to show up in person if he spears you in the library. Todd could be our advance scout.

If you can get some coffee or something to make sure you don't pass out from the additional stress to your system, give blood to Ray. Like, 1 pint. On the other hand, I don't think it would be much to ask someone to go around and find a better matching blood type. O- may be "universal" but an exact match is always better.

there's a lot of people around here, one of them could be type O.

alright here's a plan, we don't want to hand out pain killers incase they knock someone out and bring the wrath of cuttlefish face down upon us right? How bout we ask Joshua what he was planning earlier when we told him about Dale's sleeping problem and maybe have it to whatever it was just involving Dale to Dale plus whoever we dope up. That way if they are pulled into the library with us we can do a buddy system thing, or at least make it we won't be taken off by surprise because someone nodded off when we weren't looking.

>>558953
Remind Mary you need to sleep with the book anyway, you can handle giving the blood. Honestly, the whole O- thing right now seems like too much of a coincidence so like, honestly, if there's fate, that's either it saying you should totally donate, or being complete dicks and fucking with us.

There's a LOT of evidence for both if fate actually exists.
We should also store some extra blood packs for later, in case you get in an accident yourself and need blood because I guarantee that you're probably the only one that's 0- and you can only accept O- so we're going to have to pack up on your own blood to give it to yourself later, if that makes any sense.
You're going to basically need to be a blood factory for this mission Dale to maximize survivability.

Check with the soldiers. They'll all have their donor type written on their dogtags, and there's a good chance at least one will be a donor match.

yeah, give them both the drugs. this is hard to watch.

besides, it's about time we figured out who's in danger from sleep and who isn't.

>>558953
There's bound to be others who are a match, if not the soldiers, the maybe the townspeople.

Toxoglossa 2014/01/23(Thu)19:53 No. 559207 ID: 0b90a3
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Dale
"Go ahead and give painkillers to whoever needs them. Radula already knows where we are, no sense in keeping them in pain anymore. Lets hold off on doing a transfusion for now, but I'll ask around to see who else is a viable donor. But if we can't find anyone, sooner or later I do need to sleep, and that might be a good time to collect some blood"

Mary
>"Sure, there ought to be some blood typing kits in the ambulance, they're little cards with a bottle of solution."

Dr. Slate doses Todd with fentanyl, after a minute or two his muscles start to relax and his teeth unclench.

Todd
>"Thanks guys, sorry to be so much trouble."

Dale
"Don't worry about it, sorry we had to leave you hanging like that. Just try to stay with us for as long as you can. If you fall asleep and end up in the library, stay safe and see if you can find out anything new. I'm still not sure what will happen with multiple people asleep, but with any luck we can have a whole group of people working together in there."

Mary goes ahead and injects Ray and Burke with doses of painkillers and they both visibly relax as the opiates take the edge off.

Toxoglossa 2014/01/23(Thu)19:53 No. 559208 ID: 0b90a3
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You step outside and check out the interior of the ambulance. After moving aside some of the dozen or so boxes of fireworks, you find a small stack of blood typing cards. These look like they only need a drop of blood and some water to work.

Toxoglossa 2014/01/23(Thu)19:53 No. 559209 ID: 0b90a3
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As you head back inside you look up at the looming form of the mesa and look for a moment at the thin line of lights threading its way along the cliff face.

>>559209
That's gonna be a long walk. You'll probably need a stretcher for Ray, and some crutches for Todd.

First, you wanna test Ray. Then ask those present if they know what blood type they have to narrow down who you need to test.

...wait what are those fireworks gonna be used for anyway? Is Joshua around? Might wanna ask him.

probably should tell the others and find out who is and isn't going to be able to walk without help. And for those who will need to be carried by stretcher we should probably see who would be willing to carry them, it looks like a long walk and I don't want some of the more warn people to do the heavy lifting seeing as they'd most likely drop the guy and when you're on a cliff that's not something you want to do.

Radula 2014/01/25(Sat)20:04 No. 559514 ID: 0b90a3
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You head inside with the tests and get Mary to administer one using some of Ray's spilled blood. He comes out A positive, which you are told is, thankfully, a pretty common type. You would be a good donor, a closer type would be better however.

Rather than ask the soldiers just yet, as they might feel uncomfortable donating to someone who just tried to kill them, you decide to speak to Joshua, who is deep in conversation with Corp. Tanner.

Dale
"Hey, Joshua, Mary says that we might need a blood transfusion to keep the cop alive. You know anyone with type A blood?"

Joshua
>"I'm O positive if I remember right, apparently Navajo are something like 70% Type O. Something left over from the first people, I suppose. If you need type A, one of you guys will probably have it. But I've heard O works with most blood types, the doctor would know better though."

Well, at least there shouldn't be a shortage of viable donors around here, how generous they would be with their blood remains to be seen though.

Dale
"Good call. Hey, by the way, how are we going to go about getting all of these wounded up that trail?"

Joshua
>"Well, one of the Humvees had a stretcher at least, and there should be something we can do to improvise. If we need to, we can probably throw someone onto a mattress and drag them up, not fun but . I also asked a few people to stay behind to help anyone up that couldn't make the climb themselves. But look forward to lending a hand later."

Radula 2014/01/25(Sat)20:05 No. 559515 ID: 0b90a3
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Dale
"Then, what are you two up to?"

Tanner
>"Joshua's sketched out a map of the area, and we were just going over what we have to work with, defense wise."

You take a look at the rudimentary map and their list of known assets.

At the moment you have

1x shotgun: 12x rounds buckshot, 10x rounds beanbag
6x AR-15 carbines: 18x 30 round .223 magazines
5x M9 pistols: 9x 7 round 9x19mm magazine, 1x magazine 5 rounds remaining
1x Desert Eagle: 1x 8 round .44 magazine.
6x Survival knives
1x Joshua's grandfather's 1911 service pistol: 2x magazines 7 round .45 APC, 36 loose rounds.

2x Humvees
1x Ambulance

6x Sets of body armor/helmets with varying degrees of damage
6X Assorted guardsmen's survival items.

12x boxes of assorted fireworks.
1X crowbar
1x shovel

There's also whatever you might find useful in the reservation. It isn't a neighborhood with much to offer, but if you think of something useful and can haul it, it probably wouldn't take long to search for it. Though keep in mind you have at least 3 injured personnel to transport.
The evacuees have likely brought a selection of weapons, both improvised and conventional, but don't expect anything high caliber.

Tanner, who declined any of Dr. Slate's painkillers, grunts and takes stock.

>"We should check in with the base, let them know the situation. Hell, that mesa looks like it would have plenty of room for a helicopter. If we can get our people up there, we should be able to medivac our injured out, bring in some reinforcements. The problem is, if what you've told me is right, using the radio would tip off our attackers."

Yep, O+ and A+ are compatible, that should be fine. Hell, Joshua is right there and a healthy specimen, ask him if he wouldn't mind donating blood to Ray.

What would the attackers do about an incoming helicopter? It's not like they have rocket launchers. The chopper could just fly high until it got to the mesa. Then again, a chopper wouldn't help a whole lot unless it got here in time to lift people to the top of the mesa. Once the attackers get here they'll be able to shoot at it. Then again, with the mesa so steep, they won't have a good angle at it.

Destroying that footbridge behind us would block off access to the mesa, so we could do that once everyone's past it. Someone should probably set up the fireworks there to destroy the bridge in a hurry just in case the last people to get through are being chased.

>>559515
The mesa's meant for a defensive position, not as a secret area. Radula will know where we are as soon as we sleep so it's best to contact medivac as soon as that happens.

You should be safe in the air, I mean, I don't think Radula has access to anti-air shit. I don't think he can fly. He can teleport instantly to any area you sleep in as soon as you wake up but that's an area, never directly next to you. The ambulance collided with him on the road, I don't think a medi-evac has to worry about that shit in the air. So if you're still asleep by the time medievac gets here, you could easily be transported onto the helicoptor and then lifted, where it will be safe for you to wake up and NOT have Radula flank all of the tribe's defenses by teleporting directly onto the mesa.

Don't we have a radio we can bring with us? I mean we can always call for help once we're up on top. But I think they should try and call back to base to warm them about what they're about to get in to, assuming they'd believe them of course

>>559515
Use the vehicles to carry the most wounded folks and bulkiest stuff as far up the trail as they can safely go, then radio for medivac when you're forced to leave them. Carry as much medical gear from the ambulence as you can.

it looks like the only way to the top of the mesa is the footbridge, which would make thing very hard for Raddy if it disappeared. it'd also make things hard for us, however, which is why you need to ask them if the villagers are capable of rigging up a drawbridge of sorts. if doesn't need to be able to carry vehicles across- you could probably carry the injured on foot from that point on, if the mesa's as small as I imagine it to be.

the road also looks like it's suitable for laying traps. especially the kind that pops tires. because, y'know, infected military. military vehicles. really really bad.

finally, make sure to consult your local zombie apocalypse expert. he might have some ideas.

Radula 2014/01/26(Sun)19:47 No. 559643 ID: 0b90a3
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You let the two of them talk strategy for a minute and bring the news to Mary.
>"Hes O positive? That should work just fine as long as he's willing to to donate. How about it?"

Joshua looks kind of uncomfortable about it, but agrees to the procedure.
>"While I'm doing this, you and Jeff can help us get a head start on moving things forward. Why don't you take the ambulance to the base of the mesa and start hauling boxes up the trail. Just drop them off on the other side of the footbridge for now."

Radula 2014/01/26(Sun)19:48 No. 559644 ID: 0b90a3
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Jeff, who's gotten pretty good at maneuvering such a huge vehicle, takes the ambulance onto a packed dirt trail leading to the foot of the massive stone formation.

Dale
"So, how're you holding up, Jeff? Exicted for operation 'mesa top fortress' and the chance to save the world?"

Jeff
>"Yeah..."

Dale
"Whats up? You were so hyped up this morning for zombies."

Jeff
>"Yeah, but that was back when we thought they were zombies. These are just people, Dale. I mean, we can save them, right? "

Well, if we defeat Radula, yeah. If we foil his plans, there will be no point to him controlling his minions. If we somehow KILL Radula then they will have noone to guide them and I assume they would be fairly easy to isolate and leech the poison out somehow. As we are now though... we're out of unused leeches so we'd have to take one out of someone to save anyone else. We don't know if that's safe yet.

(with OOC information, no we can't save them. Radula will probably pull them into the Library and feed them to the Cacophony if we win without killing Radula, and killing him is supposedly impossible.)

(not counting OOC things)

Pretty sure we can, just look at it this way Jeff. Think of them as zombies but we know the cure, and unlike the movies we didn't have to spend years in some dinky little lab barred in the desert to do it, we just got to put LOTS of bullets in the worlds ugliest cuttlefish.

>>559644
with more leeches, yeah, if we could find some or we could develop an anti-venom maybe
there might be an answer in the library.

We can't feasibly save them all through the leech method though. We need that anti-venom or some other sort of weapon against it. If we can capture someone infected and properly restrain them, we can send them in the chopper along with some of the national guard troops that understand the situation. We actually don't need to capture them for very long if we can get a significant sample of the venom from one of the infected actually. We send that with the infantry troops and then they can get that sample analyzed and a lab somewhere will create that anti-venom. They'll probably then make it into a gas that they'll spread with crop dusters or someshit and fly over the town.

Yeah! Yeah! That's it we have a plan, Dale! It'll take weeks but it's a plan for saving them, if we can last that long, which means we'll have to be on the run most of the time.

it's definitely a possibility. sure, the odds are low, but you don't have to say that out loud.

>>559645
(OOC information tells us that, the gods are certain gaining the book will allow them to "destroy" The Cacophony, and certainly destroy Radula with it.)

Toxoglossa 2014/01/28(Tue)16:23 No. 559933 ID: 0b90a3
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Jeff stops the car near the base of the mesa, and you get to work hauling the explosives uphill. Thanks to Joshua a few people stuck around before evacuating, and agree to help you carry some of the boxes.

Dale
"We know the cure, Jeff, and we're going to try. This may be different from the zombie apocalypse you expected, but the upside is that we have some hope of helping them. We just need to get our hands on more of those leeches; or if we can't, put a bullet in that bug-eyed fucker controlling them. I know you don't want to hurt anyone, man, but I'm counting on you and everyone else to buy me time to find an answer."

Jeff
>"Buy you time? Yeah, I think I can do that. Sorry, just worried, that by bringing everyone here, I've put not only you but my family, and my nation in danger."

Dale
"Don't sweat it man. I'm no tactician, but I think you gave us the best shot we have at a fighting chance. I mean, look at this rock! Its gonna take more than a bunch of drugged up zombies to get on top of this thing."

Toxoglossa 2014/01/28(Tue)16:23 No. 559934 ID: 0b90a3
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Fortunately the fireworks aren't too heavy, just bulky, and you make it up to the footbridge after about a 5 minute hike. You head back to the ambulance and are just starting to head out with the second load when you glance out at the horizon. Seems like there's a lot of lights out there, enough to make you kind of nervous.

you mean lights as in just the plain old city lights, lights as in a fuck ton of cars heading this way, or light in fires? Cause the last 2 would make things kind ominous as hell but what's so bad about the first one, just worried about the numbers that might be coming at us?

>>559936
If it's the city being destroyed by possessed individuals, it's too late. The fires wouldn't reach across the desert anyway.

If those lights seem to be approaching, I'd bring it to the -immediate- attention of everyone.

>>559934
As much as we want to rush, we can't truly leave until the doctors are done treating Ray.

But maybe Dale specifically should get up to the top of the Mesa early. With the book. Just in case.

don't freak out at the gravity of this situation.

>>559934
Yell at everyone to pass the message on.

Make sure you're up top in good time, given you're the bait.

Toxoglossa 2014/01/30(Thu)20:58 No. 560207 ID: 0b90a3
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You put aside your concerns for the moment and, moving double time, haul the second load of fireworks up the path. Its not like you can do anything until the wounded are ready to move. Anyway, being the bait, its safer to keep yourself out of danger.

Toxoglossa 2014/01/30(Thu)20:58 No. 560208 ID: 0b90a3
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But as you look back at the town, a huge, smoky fireball blossoms on the horizon and knocking out electricity in the surrounding buildings. Without the city lights, the darkness glitters with dozens of pairs of headlights, all growing undeniably larger.

Toxoglossa 2014/01/30(Thu)20:58 No. 560209 ID: 0b90a3
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You try not to panic, but you remember.

You aren't the bait.

The Book is.

The Book is still at Jeff's house, where you felt it was safe. Suddenly it doesn't feel so secure. You stumble down the trail in a jog and run past Jeff as he makes the climb.

Jeff
>"Dale, what's wrong?"

Dale
"They're coming! We have to get the Book and let them know."

Toxoglossa 2014/01/30(Thu)20:59 No. 560210 ID: 0b90a3
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Together you hop into the ambulance and drive back to Jeff's place and burst in on a bloody scene.

Dale
"They're on their way! How are you doing here?"

Mary holds up a bloody gloved hand as she digs out a flattened round.
>"Well, we got both of the bullets out, but we could use a bit more time. We need to get one of those chemical hemostats in place before we move him. Should be ready to go in five minutes, we just need to get him ready to evac."

well... shit

If I had to guess I'd say that Radula just finished building his army and is either finishing off whatever resistance remained or doesn't want to leave any evidence behind. Both don't look so good for us either way. So how close are we to having all the boxes across the bridge at this point, because I feel that it would be wise to send someone back to the house and warn the others we're about to have company.

...if we launched fireworks right at the incoming cars, would it blind the drivers? A nice big pileup would buy us some time.

ok so we left the ambulance at the path but are the Humvees still here? cause if so start the things engine, pull it up to the house, open one of the doors to the back seats, line the back door with the house's front door, once the cop is good just quickly rush him into the back of the hummer, have everyone else pile in, and take off a like a bat out of hell to the path. Once there we can use the hummer to block off the path to slow our attackers down a little and buy us more time to get across the bridge. Either way this is probably going to be a photo finish so it might be wise to send someone ahead with the book so we don't have to risk that at least.

Also have the people who can still run head to the path now and those who can't run so much get seated in the hummer now so we don't have to waste any more time then we have to.

be a nurse.

Toxoglossa 2014/01/31(Fri)19:34 No. 560353 ID: 0b90a3
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Dale
"Anything I can do?"

Mary
>"We just need to stop his bleeding and splint a few things. We're going to need help moving him though; I'm worried that he might have some spinal damage. Untill then, you should probably grab anything you might need and get ready to head out."

First, you make sure that you grab your satchel, making sure the Book of Worms is secure inside.

Corp. Tanner and private Francis pull their humvees up to the front of the house and, working in tandem, load their injured comrade into one of them. Jeff improvises a hammock out of a bed sheet, and together you load Todd into the other car. It ends up being a bit rougher than you hoped, but Todd says he doesn't mind.

You pack as many medical supplies into your satchel as you can and look around you. You've got a few minutes before you're ready to move out: now would be the best time to hunt down anything that might come in handy: chemicals, tools, supplies, food, water.

you're in the desert pal, food and water are a must, more so water then anything, Just see if you can't find an empty jerrycan or something and fill it in the sink and while it's filling raid the kitchen. Try to go for the non-perishable items first.

yup, water. in case of an extended siege.

>>560353
I thought everyone would be bringing their own stuff?

Well, see if you can get some rope, and something that can cut rope quickly. Like an axe maybe.

Toxoglossa 2014/02/02(Sun)18:31 No. 560683 ID: 0b90a3
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Worried that you might be stuck for a while, you fill up a gallon of water from the tap and raid the cupboards for snacks, finding a couple of boxes of granola bars. You also find a roll of some tough, yellow polypropylene rope and spot a weathered, wood-handled axe next to the neighbor's woodpile and take them with you.

Dr. Slate finished wrapping up Ray, who seems to have passed out. Nevertheless, she pronounces him ready to move, and together you shift him onto the army stretcher and into the waiting ambulance.

Toxoglossa 2014/02/02(Sun)18:32 No. 560684 ID: 0b90a3
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The small convoy takes off along the dirt road, pulls up to the path at the base of the mesa and the group starts to unload the wounded. Its not long before the headlights near the horizon start to pour into the reservation. In a blinding river of headlights, a horde of cars, trucks, vans, and buses about a hundred strong screeches and slams together as they pack the narrow streets of the neighborhood. Shadowy figures scramble out of their vehicles, some breaking through windshields, unable to open their doors in the crowded alleys; swarming across the desert like a tide of spiders.

You hop into the ambulance and drive it as far up onto the trail as you can, turning its huge, flat rear into an impassable rampart. You get out of the passenger side door, scoot around the side of the car and take up the other half of Todd's hammock, ready to move.

Hmm... slash the tires so they can't move the ambulance. That'll slow down pursuit.

Let the air out if the tires so it's lower to the ground making it harder for the to get enough leverage to flip it and take the keys so they can simply move it by switching gears

slashing the tires is underkill. I say stick a rag in the tank, light it up and run. now that'll actually slow them down by an amount of time that matters.

Destroy that footbridge. The ambulance will slow them down, taking away the bridge will shut them down completely.

Toxoglossa 2014/02/03(Mon)18:19 No. 560788 ID: 0b90a3
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Hoping to buy a few more moments you dig around in your satchel.

Dale
"I need a lighter? Anyone got a lighter?"

Tanner reaches into her pocket and throws her chrome plated Zippo to you. You race back to the ambulance and find the gas tank and wrench off the cap. You pull out a roll of cotton gauze, hold it briefly over the lighter, and jam the burning mass into the opening.

Toxoglossa 2014/02/03(Mon)18:20 No. 560789 ID: 0b90a3
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Without a second look you take off running, getting about 30 feet before you feel a wave of pressure and heat overtake you, the roar of igniting gas vapors creating a boom that you can feel through your feet.

By the time you catch up with the rest of the group, they are using the the shovel and crowbar to weaken the structure of the footbridge. You pull out the axe that you found and go to work hacking at the supports.

I hope you guys got all the useful medical supplies out of the ambulance because it's too late now.

As for the footbridge, do a thorough job. I have no idea what it looks like or how long it is but you gotta get that thing fully collapsed to keep them from crossing.

well that escalated quickly

anyways finish off that bridge and get to the top of this rock, also give Tanner her lighter back when you get the chance.

oh haha I love it when protagonists go along with my stupid shit

look for nearby climbable spots or ask Jeff or his dad. this can't be the end of it.

there probably ARE spots you can climb, but are so unstable that it's suicide to try. but radula doesn't care about the deaths as long as it can get the book.

Toxoglossa 2014/02/06(Thu)21:28 No. 561246 ID: 0b90a3
File 139175089863.jpg - (36.28KB , 600x453 , 438.jpg )

Under your concentrated efforts, the wooden bridge starts to come apart. What ensues is a desperate, silent race to tear it apart, expecting a horde of flaming zombies to pour over you at any moment.

Toxoglossa 2014/02/06(Thu)21:28 No. 561247 ID: 0b90a3
File 139175092339.jpg - (75.05KB , 600x499 , 439.jpg )

Oddly enough Radula's horde pulls up short in in the face of the flaming ambulance. Despite showing no fear or pain previously, when faced with fire the crowd recoils. Evacuees perched safely on the mesa top peek out to see the source of the noise, but draw back when the assembled minions start taking potshots at them. Those that brought tools with them rush to help with taking down the bridge and soon its down to its last few supports.

Dale
"Is there any where else that they can climb up?

Joshua
>"There's some ancient handholds cut into the rock on the north side, but they're crumbling pretty badly by now. Still, It's a potential danger. let's get topside and take a look."

Looks like Radula doesn't like fire. Plan to take a can of gasoline and a lighter with you to the Library. You could also set fire to the footbridge!

As for the handholds, just pour some oil or something down the wall so they can't climb up.

alright so they are like zombies in the fact that fire is good against them, and unlike zombies fire also drive them away, or at least slows them down. useful to know.

Anyways lets get top side and give those footholds a look over, that sounds like the perfect spot for cuttlefish face to show up.

yeah, go and chip off at the corner at the edge. hopefully it'll cause a mini-avalanche or enough tremors for said handholds to come loose.

not particularly pertinent at this specific moment, but if we can we should look into some sort of defense against aerial vehicles such as helicopters and the like. We're safe enough from ground troops, but the skies are gonna be a problem if we let them get up on us unexpected
'specially since radula can fly and all that.

Toxoglossa 2014/02/09(Sun)13:44 No. 561663 ID: 0b90a3
File 139198225867.jpg - (56.53KB , 600x600 , 440.jpg )

You follow Joshua to the top of the mesa and he brings you to a point on the edge.

Joshua
>"A long time ago this used to be the only way up here, back when we never knew when we would need refuge. "

You peer down into the darkness and a small group of figures glare back up at you, clinging to the cliff face and climbing hand over hand. You try hacking at the stone ladder with your axe and manage to dislodge some of the more brittle bits. Unfortunately you aren't sure how you can damage the handholds enough to make them unusable.

Fireworks.

I think your best bet here would be a few people and a pile of rocks. Every time someone gets close to the top they drop a rock on there head. The trick will be finding people willing to throw the rocks.

It would be best to keep in mind we are trying to stop them from getting to the top, not kill them.

do we have a sufficient amount of oil or some other slippery substance we could pour down there?

high explosives

Toxoglossa 2014/02/10(Mon)18:20 No. 561956 ID: 0b90a3
File 139208522016.jpg - (49.15KB , 414x600 , 441.jpg )

You root through the fireworks grab an arm full of the nastiest looking explosives you can find and race back to the cliff face. You cram them into any handholds that you can reach, light the fuses and step back.

There's a series of thundering explosions and a couple of chunks of mesa slide away in a cloud of dust.

Dale
"Holy shit!"

Joshua
>"Those must have been quarter sticks, not sure where we got those, but they're the real deal."

There's a lot of dust, and you can't really tell what happened to the people climbing, but the crater you just blew into the cliff looks like it made a mess of the stone ladder.

Yell down "Hey you guys okay down there?"

>>561957
pfffft

anyway, think they aren't coming up that any time soon. get back to the main group.

Well, the good news is that if there are any more of those, we don't need to worry about them getting across the bridge: we can blast a large section of the ramp right off the cliff face.

better not tell the Jeffster about this.

check up on your peeps.

Toxoglossa 2014/02/13(Thu)16:37 No. 562428 ID: 0b90a3
File 139233824950.jpg - (46.35KB , 470x600 , 442.jpg )

You try to see if anyone managed to hang onto the cliff, but don't see any movement down there.

A sudden the metallic slam of two cars hitting one another echos across the mesa, followed by another and another. You race back to the bridge and arrive right as the final boards fall away.

Jeff
>"What was that boom? Was that you?"

Dale
"Uh yeah, I don't think they'll be climbing up the north side anymore. Might want to have someone keep an eye on it just in case. How are things here?"

Toxoglossa 2014/02/13(Thu)16:37 No. 562429 ID: 0b90a3
File 139233827287.jpg - (66.98KB , 396x600 , 443.jpg )

Jeff opens his mouth but his answer is drowned out when the flaming ambulance catapults forward, rolling off the trail and crashing into rocks below.

Moments later a swarm of minions rounds the corner of the trail, silently charging the broken footbridge.

>>562429
either they are going to just swarm the pit trying to build a wall of flesh to crawl across like zombies or they are going to try and make a human bridge and neither is a good prospect

Taunt them. But make sure you're out of rock-throwing range when you do so.

get above the trail and drop more bombs.

hm, don't think there's much they can do right now but they're not mindless zombies, if given enough time the could build a bridge to get across. We're going to need someone watching this path at all times to make sure no one gets across

>>562432
We need to be sure we save some. If they find a way to fly at us some well-placed rockets would be super cool to have around.

Any more of those explosives? Im tempted to assume these guys might be able to leap large gaps like that, we might need to make it bigger.

If you'd rather not, get to higher ground and keep an eye out. Maybe gather up large boulders or fireworks or something to drop on any bridges they might try building.

Well considering the minions don't like fire we could make a big bonfire on this side of the bridge. Just keep it burning and we'll be able to block them even if they find a way of getting across the gap.

>>562431

they might have guns.

>>562477

agreed.

Have at least one person watch the cliff face path. You've cleared it for a now, but the part you blew up is now considerably less steep. If enough handholds survived the explosion, it might actually make it easier for them to climb up if they reach the explosion area.

Toxoglossa 2014/02/16(Sun)20:34 No. 562986 ID: 0b90a3
File 139261167890.jpg - (52.20KB , 600x469 , 444.jpg )

Rather than face the horde, you retreat back to the mesa top. A few gunshots follow you, but you turn the corner before they have a chance to aim properly.

Toxoglossa 2014/02/16(Sun)20:35 No. 562987 ID: 0b90a3
File 139261171062.jpg - (35.28KB , 600x377 , 445.jpg )

From your position of relative safety, you take a moment to assess the situation. The evacuees have set up a collection of shelters around a solitary mud walled structure called a "hogan" on the east side. To the west, there's a pile of large rocks, apparently set aside for some future construction project. For the moment, Radula's forces seem to be held at bay, but given enough time they're sure to figure out a way forward.

Dale
"Okay, we need fire, do we have anything that we can use to make a sustained fire?"

Joshua
>"Should be some firewood up here for when we perform ceremonies. If we burn everything at once we could probably make a decent sized bonfire, but it probably wouldn't last very long like that."

Dale
"Anything, will help, we just need a way to buy us more time. We should also move some of those rocks above the gap so that we can drop them onto any bridge they try to build. Also, I still can't help worrying about that ladder, we should have someone keep an eye on it, just in case."

Lynwood nods and heads off to guard the north slope without a word.

Toxoglossa 2014/02/16(Sun)20:35 No. 562988 ID: 0b90a3
File 139261173405.jpg - (45.55KB , 600x370 , 446.jpg )

Tanner finishes reporting to her superiors via radio.
>"Damn! They've agreed to send a helicopter, but only to evacuate the injured and my squad. They're apparently worried about another ambush and are ordering everyone back to base. Should take about 15 to 20 minutes for them to show up."

Joshua
>"But what about all of these people?"

Tanner
>"I'm going to keep trying, we aren't about to abandon you, not while we can still help. "

Toxoglossa 2014/02/16(Sun)20:36 No. 562989 ID: 0b90a3
File 139261178277.jpg - (52.77KB , 600x557 , 447.jpg )

You decide to help with moving rocks, grabbing one that looks like its manageable. However, halfway across the mesa, it falls out of your hands and your arms simply refuse to work...

Beth
>"Dale, whats wrong?"

You try to shake some feeling back into your limbs, but they just ache and feel like they're kneaded out of heavy clay.
Dale
"I.. I don't know. Oh god, is something wrong with me? Did Radula do something?"

Beth
>"Its probably exhaustion, man. You've been putting your body through some serious demands today, I think you're hitting the wall. Weren't you supposed to be going to sleep?"

Dale
"I know, but how am I supposed to sleep at a time like this?

get the others. you should all try to sleep at the same time. then you may be able to fight him, together.

I've been there a lot, man. just lie down in a bed and close your eyes. the rest does itself within a couple minutes. hell, in your state, you should be able to do it standing up.

You will not help anything if you can not move. There are plenty of other people here who have not been on the run for weeks.

>>562989
Dale you're SUPPOSED TO sleep at a time like this! You need to take the book with you into the Library and do what you're supposed to do. It's time to end this, before Radula can reach the top of the Mesa.

If Todd can go to sleep at the same time, that'd be great. Try to bring a lighter and a can of gasoline or something with you. Even a bottle of vodka would help, just something to get a fire going. Also try to bring a weapon of some sort, even if it's just a knife.

well it may be hard... or not, to sleep right now it would be better for everyone if you were at least somewhat rested so you won't slow people down. I say wait for the chopper just so we can make sure things go alright with that and then let the others know we're going to pass out and if they have any plans about what to do if things should take a turn for the worst they should feel free to voice them.

Toxoglossa 2014/02/18(Tue)19:20 No. 563409 ID: 0b90a3
File 139278004281.jpg - (77.38KB , 600x587 , 448.jpg )

Beth
>"Dale, you aren't going to be any help if you let yourself drop dead from exhaustion. You're at your limit and you've done everything you can to help us, but this isn't your fight anymore. You have your own battle to face and you just have to trust us to to our jobs out here. Don't worry, we have things under control."

Grudgingly, you admit that you're no longer in any state to help defend the plateau. As much as you would like to keep helping, the adrenaline that's been fueling you for the last few hours is running thin, and every muscle in your body is crying out in revolt.

You duck through the wooden door of the hogan and step inside. The interior is dark, and smells like someone has been burning sage, its clearly a sacred place of some sorts. The wounded have been stashed here for the time being, while Dr. Slate monitors them.
Todd gives you a little wave as you come in.

Toxoglossa 2014/02/18(Tue)19:21 No. 563410 ID: 0b90a3
File 139278011619.jpg - (35.62KB , 314x600 , 449.jpg )

Mary
>"How's it going out there?"

Dale
"Well, we tore down the bridge and should be safe for the time being. Tanner says that there's a helicopter on its way for the injured, but they said that they won't take anyone else over security concerns."

"Now I'm at the point where I need to pass out. I wish I could be more help but I can hardly even stand."

Mary
>"You thought i was joking when I said you needed to get some sleep before it kills you... Don't worry, I'll be here keeping an eye on things here. I think it might be best if I stay awake, that way we have someone who can identify the infected, and I need to be here when they transport the injured. Just be careful in there."

Dale
"Thanks, just a warning; I've been screaming in my sleep."

Mary
>"We could hear it over the sound of the MRI, Dale."

You look over at the slouched form of Todd.
"Oh man, if you need to sleep, it should be okay now. Thanks for hanging on so long."

Todd mumbles something in response, but you aren't sure that he even heard you. He looks like he's already well on his way to passing out.

Toxoglossa 2014/02/18(Tue)19:22 No. 563411 ID: 0b90a3
File 139278015347.jpg - (51.11KB , 600x458 , 450.jpg )

A lanky shadow fills the doorway and Jeff steps into the ancient structure.
>"Hey man, Beth says you're going to sleep?"

Dale
"Yeah, I can't keep this up, man. You guy's hold down the fort for me okay?"

>"Sure, I wanted to give you something though."

You manage to hold your hand up and he drops something into it.

Dale
"A dream-catcher?"

Jeff
>"Yeah, you know... "

Dale
"What does it do?"

Jeff
>"It catches dreams I guess. Dude I don't know; its not a Navajo thing, but if Thunderbird talked to you... then who knows? Couldn't hurt, right?"

Dale
"Thanks Jeff, I appreciate it. Speaking of Thunderbird, it said to bring the Book with me. Any idea how to do that?"

Jeff
>"If he didn't give you any instructions it can't be that hard, probably just need to be holding it or something."

Toxoglossa 2014/02/18(Tue)19:22 No. 563412 ID: 0b90a3
File 139278017652.jpg - (83.07KB , 600x600 , 451.jpg )

You have to admit, Jeff has a point. You sit with your back up against the wall and hold the Book of Worms in your lap. Closing your eyes, your consciousness is swallowed by darkness...

Toxoglossa 2014/02/18(Tue)19:23 No. 563413 ID: 0b90a3
File 139278018991.jpg - (63.65KB , 391x600 , 452.jpg )

...And once more you sink into the world behind the universe.

While Dale is asleep, events will continue to unfold in the waking world. You can give suggestions to Dale, Beth and anyone awake to help defend the Mesa.

tuck it under your shirt.

See what happens if you take another book.

you got the dream catcher on you right?

as for who to watch... can we stick with Dale for now but if something important happens can we be yanked to see what's going on in the waking world as well or is this a pick and your stuck with it kind of deal? If so... Beth, just so we can make sure the evacuation goes smoothly.

Skim the book titles and see if you can find something relevant.

Hmm... read book, hold dreamcatcher.

Honestly tempted just to drop the book right in here and switch it out with another similar looking book.

>>563413
You still have your satchel. What's in it? Sneak around and scout the area. See if you can find anything interesting. Just put the Book in your satchel for the moment, so you have your hands free.

Or maybe you could try destroying the book right now. The Library is not subject to multiple timelines, so it should be permanently destroyed if it is done here.

eat a bookworm.

Toxoglossa 2014/02/19(Wed)18:20 No. 563554 ID: 0b90a3
File 139286281484.jpg - (63.87KB , 502x600 , 453.jpg )

First things first, you check on your belongings. The book seems to be its old grotesque and familiar self, but you aren't sure of how it will behave in this world. You still have Jeff's dream-catcher, it doing anything special right now but the fact that it made the trip with you is interesting. You check you satchel and it appears to be empty, you stow the book and dream-catcher inside.

You look at the contents of the bookshelf in front of you, all of the volumes have the same disgusting binding as the one you carry but vary slightly in size and thickness. You can't help but wonder: if your book contains the history of your universe, then would these be bound to other universes? How many of these things are there? And do they all end the same way?

You take one down and open it up. Inside, columns of preserved flatworms glare back at you from the pages with tiny primitive eyes.
You try to "read" the page like Beth did but the mysterious resin holding the worms refuses to yield to your touch.

Toxoglossa 2014/02/19(Wed)18:20 No. 563555 ID: 0b90a3
File 139286282595.jpg - (51.33KB , 600x600 , 454.jpg )

Hey, what the hell?

Toxoglossa 2014/02/19(Wed)18:20 No. 563556 ID: 0b90a3
File 139286283728.jpg - (87.84KB , 577x600 , 455.jpg )

who- what? WHAT THE HELL IS THAT THING?

Soothe it's icy heart with a hot tropical song of your people.
But seriously
Don't move
I don't think it can see you. Or that it's hostile.
It's clearly just organizing the shelves.

I think that's a librarian... you might want to start backing away slowly.

the fact that it had a perfect shot at you and instead grabbed the book... i don't think it is completely hostile. just stay out of it's way.

if it's part of a dream, does that mean it can be caught with the dreamcatcher? is it doing anything?

>>563556
Librarian. It's sorting books.

Well, get away from it so it doesn't get any ideas about the book in your satchel, if it can even tell it's there. Look around some more.

Its a librarian, so you should keep very, very quiet :V

DON'T turn your back to it. Give it a moment to see if it reacts to your presence.

It's some sort of aberrant creature playing curator and librarian to these books. I suggest not tampering with the books anymore unless one of them has an outstandingly different cover.

Toxoglossa 2014/02/20(Thu)17:22 No. 563643 ID: 0b90a3
File 139294577889.jpg - (58.88KB , 600x445 , 456.jpg )

NOPE
NOPE
NOPE

BACKING AWAY

SLOWLY

BACKING OFF NOW

It takes the pilfered book in one of its many clawed appendages, places it back in its empty space and nudges it gently into place.

Toxoglossa 2014/02/20(Thu)17:23 No. 563644 ID: 0b90a3
File 139294582281.jpg - (80.62KB , 554x600 , 457.jpg )

It turns some of its compound eyes towards you; they twitch and rotate, regarding you with crustacean interest, but it makes no move to attack. After a pause, it takes more books from a pile on its back, passes them from claw to claw, and begins re-shelving them in rapid succession.

At least its not that aggressive, but holy shit. You almost wish Radula were here, at least [i]he's[i] not built like a fucking panzer.

You make a mental note: DON'T TOUCH ANY BOOKS. You don't think you can't afford to piss that thing off.

Toxoglossa 2014/02/20(Thu)17:24 No. 563645 ID: 0b90a3
File 139294587025.jpg - (55.26KB , 547x600 , 458.jpg )

As you back away, the house sized creature's arms are a blur of motion: shelving, removing, organizing the countless books according to some unknowable system of categorization.

You are about to round the corner when your ears pick up the sound of two people speaking English.

???
>"So this place isn't part of our universe at all then?"

???
>"Correct, where ever we are, it occupies a system outside of our timeline. It connects not only to our world but to countless possible universes."

>>563645
Get closer. Stay hidden for now, if you have to take any risks of getting spotted to see, dont take them.

Do you recognize either of the voices?

>>563645
I bet that's the prof. Go see him, find out what you need to do.

be very careful and see who it is, don't let them spot you, we have no idea who or what is and isn't friendly here

sneakitty sneak voiceways.

Beth and the others:
Start setting up the bonfire around the corner from the bridge and have someone ready to light it at all times. If the minions are about to get across the gap, they are to light the bonfire immediately so that the bonfire lasts as long as possible to delay them.

>>563645
Investigate!

>>563645
Looks like you found some other dream hopping wayfarers.

Toxoglossa 2014/02/23(Sun)18:09 No. 564056 ID: 0b90a3
File 139320774383.jpg - (70.71KB , 600x538 , 459.jpg )

You approach the source of the voices. Peeking around the corner, you find Ray the cop deep in conversation with the long missing professor Leo Schreater.

Ray
>"Then, how do we get out of here?"

Schreater
>"For you, I believe it may simply be a matter of regaining consciousness, although from the sounds of it, you may have a hard time doing so. Additionally, every time you fall asleep you will find yourself here again."
> "Escape for me may not be so simple. I'm not certain how long I have been held here, or how the passage of time even applies here; but it has kept me here alive with an intravenous feed. I'm not sure if I can be disconnected safely at this point, but I will not allow myself to die until I can help prevent the destruction of our universe. Even if I am driven incurably insane in the process."

Ray
>"And... are you?"

The professor closes his eyes and gives him the crooked smile of an unhealthy mind.
>"My friend, I am acutely aware of my condition. For all I know, you are a hallucination, either brought on by dementia, lack of sleep, or one of the compounds being pumped through my body. But real or not, I will help you in any way I can."

Toxoglossa 2014/02/23(Sun)18:09 No. 564057 ID: 0b90a3
File 139320779742.jpg - (45.61KB , 600x354 , 460.jpg )

On the mesa, a group of evacuees led by Joshua work to set up a bonfire on the trail out of the line of fire, leaving it ready to light the moment Radula manages to bridge the gap in the road.

The army besieging the group tries carrying a large balk of timber up to fashion a catwalk across the crevasse. There's a THOOM as the The defenders launch a firework directly into the crowd, and the mortar blossoms into a sphere of burning magnesium, driving back the swarm in a wave of panic. A few well placed stones hurled from the summit are enough to knock the improvised bridge back to the desert floor.

>>564056
Go on, step forward and say hi to Ray, then ask the Professor how to save their universe if say the Book were here by some chance. Also show him the dreamcatcher.

>>564057
I'd be careful of ladders and cherry pickers.
And guns, while making sure new bridges don't come up they'll be sure to have SOME.

Keep watch, and save those fireworks for the inevitable cherry picker.
If anyone has a spare vehicle up top, we might want to put down another burning car on the other side. That will permanently prevent bridges from being made, there won't be anyway for them to create a stable enough bridge to bring a ram over to move the new vehicle. Which reduces all threats to cherry pickers and ladders.

Or the inevitable human ladder.

alright, Dale, if you think it's safe join the conversation, if not just sit back and eves drop some more. Also do you have any idea what the M on the cop's forehead means?

Waking people, how long do you think you could survive the siege? Cause they can resupply you can't?

what... are those things on the professor's back connected to?

oh, and ask Roy how he got here and Schreater where his non-dreamself body lies.

Toxoglossa 2014/02/24(Mon)19:13 No. 564214 ID: 0b90a3
File 139329802525.jpg - (93.07KB , 600x600 , 461.jpg )

Deeming it safe to approach, you step out from behind the bookshelf.

Schreater
>"Dale Marks? My god, is that you? What are you doing here, are you alright? How long has it been?"

Dale
"Well, it's been about a month since you gave me the book. I've been trying to keep it safe since then, but eventually I had to fall asleep. Fortunately I have a group of people watching over us, but I'm not sure how much time we have before they are over run. I was told that I needed to bring the Book with me next time I slept; we received a message that it was important to bring it here."

Schreater
>"A message? From who?"

Dale
"We think it may have been a God actually, weird as that sounds."

Schreater
>"Mr. Marks, I think that we are quite beyond 'weird' at this point. But I believe that I understand why you needed to bring it with you. This place does not operate by the normal cause and effect pattern; by changing things here, you should be able to change the fate of our whole universe. But be careful, the Hecatoncheires and other agents of the Cacophony won't hesitate to attack if they realize that the Book is here."

Dale
"You mean that giant lobster-thing?"

Schreater
>"Yes, the 'hundred-handed ones'. Most of the denizens I have encountered seem to exist only to fill a single purpose, and unless disrupted, seem fairly docile."

Dale
"What about you? How did you get here? And what's all that crap coming out of you?"

Schreater
>"Shortly after giving you the Book, I attempted to flee in an opposite direction and distract Radula while you escaped. Unfortunately he caught me off guard, displaying remarkably adaptable camouflage. He dragged me back into this world and has been keeping me here since. These tubes pump my bloodstream full of the nutrients necessary for keeping me alive, as well as any bizarre mind altering toxins Radula feels like subjecting me to in order to glean information from me."

Sheesh. Sounds pretty awful, but he doesn't seem too torn up about it. Ask him for advice on what to do next.

are these books... vulnerable here, at all?

then why aren't you one of those crazy zombies like everyone else we've seen get injected with this stuff?

>>564214
Tell the professor that if he doesn't get out he's probably going to get eaten and digested for eternity. Don't ask why we think that. That's not worth saving the universe over for anyone.
We also have to get Todd, he should be around here somewhere.
But here, proffesor, you should have a look at the book. You are probably the best one that knows anyway to use it. Anyone with the black eyeballs can't really seem to read it. White eyeballs only. And he can't have been poisoned by the mind venom yet because he was first one doing the curing with the leeches, if he got infected no body would have been able to get cured before Dale.

If he has any more info on those leeches it would be great.
Radula has taken an entire town and we need a better way to cure people en mass. We just can't keep putting leeches in head wounds anymore, we don't have anymore. Ray got the last one. If he can read the book for ANYTHING about how we're going to be able to take on the mind venom that would be great. There's got to be at least one timeline where we win and cure the people.

>>564214
By changing things here? Like... by destroying the Book, maybe? Or adding pages to it? Or do we change the library?

>>564214
Information like the fact that the book is here, then. ಠ_ಠ

But, yes, the "how" of leeches and changes.

yank a tooth out of doc's back and jam a hole right into the book.

happy end.

If Schreater is stuck here, then Radula could conceivably drop by at any moment. Ask him how long he thinks he could survive once he's unplugged.

Toxoglossa 2014/02/25(Tue)20:12 No. 564340 ID: 0b90a3
File 139338797378.jpg - (65.22KB , 546x600 , 462.jpg )

Dale
"So then you've been here this whole time? Why aren't you one of Radula's puppets by now?"

Schreater
>"My theory is that, while the venom allows the creature to control its vicitms, and gives it some access to their memories, it has a hard time finding specific information. Radula wanted me specifically to learn more about the time period that the Book is, or was rather, scheduled to appear on earth. Apparently coincieding with an ancient catastrophy surrounding a masive tower, I believe that something tore a pathway into this dimension briefly in an attempt to seize the Book you carry. By 'reading' the Book, I was able to discover that Radula attempted to recover it and failed. It was left untouched for several thousand years until I found it in my dig site. "

Dale
"Hey, what's up with that? I've tried reading the Book but it won't work for me, is it because of the venom and the leech?"

Schreater
>"I doubt that it is because of the venom, Beside myself, I found that only two other people were able to read the Book, both of which are now unfortunately dead. It may have something to do with some kind of shared, ancient heritage, but all three of us had very different backgrounds, and I never found anything I could call a solid correlation."

Dale
"You said that we might be able to change the book here? How? Are we supposed to destroy it?"

Schreater sighs and shakes his head
>"I don't know, but I believe that there is an answer close by. I found a tunnel several days ago being used by those gigantic creatures. They enter empty handed, but come out carrying dozens of books. From that evidence, I can only guess that wherever they are going, it is where the books are being made. If there is a way to change or damage the books, you should be able to find it there."

Dale
"Do you think that I can find more leeches here? We've used all of the ones you left me, and there's a couple hundred envenomed zombies trying to kill me at this point."

Schreater
>"Good lord, I was wondering why I hadn't seen Radula for a while, but I had no idea... I've seen those leeches occasionally in the library, but nowhere near the quantity that you are talking about. I have no idea where they come from but there may be more of them in the deeper recesses of the structure."

You remember your gift from Jeff and show it to the professor
"Oh, someone gave me this, and somehow it ended up here. Any idea what it means, or how to use it?"

Schreater
>"A dream catcher? I have no idea Dale. All I know is that they're said to be able to filter out evil and protect you while you slept. If it actually works, you might be able to capture something in it, but again, I wouldn't know how to actually use it. Traditionally its something passive; more of a charm or a ward than a weapon."

>>564340
Alright thank the professor and let's get moving, we don't have a lot of time. Take the dreamcatcher and keep it on hand. I'm thinking we should be able to use it as a shield. Tell Ray he should probably come with you, you might need his help. Todd should be around here somewhere too, we can recruit him as well.

Make your way, quickly, off to the nearest wall in the library, and look for a hole. If you can find an empty-handed Hecatoncheire, follow it. If you find a fully-burdened one then go where it's coming from.

not a weapon, a net, or a shield.

well it makes me feel better just having it around so I say we just hold on to it. Also seeing as we are lacking in plans of what the fuck to do next, I say we check out this tunnel and see if we can't figure out where it goes. Also ask the professor if he thinks the crabs from hell will attack you if you take the tunnel... and maybe ask the cop if he'd be willing to help out.

Anyone got a jar on hand?
Lets grab more leeches.

>>564340
Well, let's go check out this tunnel.

kill him.

>>564214
you know, looking at this it seems he doesnt have the venom-eyes going on.
Is that because of his glasses filtering stuff out, or is there something going on here?
If it's disguising the mind venom, we might have a tactic for disguising our poison from other poisoned dudes. Not sure what the application would be, but it could come in handy for a disguise.

Suggestion 2014/02/26(Wed)20:20 No. 564516 ID: 0b90a3
File 139347480714.jpg - (50.82KB , 600x380 , 463.jpg )

You take the dream-catcher back from Professor Schreater, and decide to keep it in the pocket of your hoodie when not holding it, where it can be easily accessed.

Dale
"There's still so much I want to ask you, but I need to find a way to change the Book before its too late. Ray, if you want to come with me, I could probably use your help, I know its asking a lot though."

Ray
>"Sure, from what the professor tells me, you probably saved my life. I can't just sit here and let the universe end, am I right?"

Dale
"Well, it really came down more to Dr. Slate. Lynwood was ready to put you down if she hadn't stepped in."

Ray
>"Whaaaat? Mac was going to kill me? I'm touched."

He sees the confusion on your face and snickers.
>"He's a spaz, I know. But he takes the uniform seriously, doesn't let his personal life show at all and beats himself up more than any of us when he screws up. You should see him when he's off duty; he's not half the hard-ass he pretends to be."

Your mind reels a bit at the thought of Lynwood having a personal life.

Dale
"Thanks for everything you've told me Professor, I wish we could do more for you."

Professor Schreater looks at his feet and adjusts his glasses. You watch as one of the tentacles in his back dislodges and idly repositions itself, inserting into the professor's back and eliciting a hiss of indrawn breath.

>"Mr. Marks, Thank you for your concern. Just by bringing me hope, you have done me an enormous service. I must warn you, I was not able to approach the tunnel because it was being guarded by several creatures that were able to sense my approach despite my efforts to hide. You may have to find a way to distract them or slip past them."

Suggestion 2014/02/26(Wed)20:20 No. 564517 ID: 0b90a3
File 139347484264.jpg - (74.99KB , 600x600 , 464.jpg )

You set out through the nightmare library in search of your quarry. It isn't long before Ray spots a gigantic chitinous head peeking from over a bookshelf.

Dale
"Hey, good eye man."

Ray
>"Yeah well, you share the same name as a blind guy and you learn to keep an eye out if you want to make it through the academy."

Dale
"Wait, your name is Ray Charles? Seriously?"

Ray
>"What can I say? My folks loved R & B."

You sneak through the aisles and approach the hecatoncheires from behind. You're unsure if it sees you but it doesn't acknowledge your approach. It looks like its down to the last few books before heading out.

>>564517
Ray could distract them by stealing some books off that one's back and running for it.

stupid plan. what would he even get from that? we want to follow it not distract it.

Why would we distract them? This isn't one of the guards. We're supposed to follow them to the path the the book maker, right?

So ask Ray for tailing advice, he's a cop after all.
I am honestly almost tempted to try and do some Scooby Doo type shit to get in those caves. Disguises and time-and-space-defying chases and all. Pretend to be a crab. Crabwalk with your book of worms right into the cave. You're a fox Dale, you should be red enough to pass as a crab.
Ray, I don't know.
Maybe he can fast talk the guards. Convince them he's a repair man and there's a clear leakage in the cave that he has to repair. Yep, cave leakage. Terrible for rock man, causes erosion.
We could also try and form a cloak and disguise ourselves as Radula by standing on Ray's shoulders with W's painted on our eyelids and our ears down.
Or use the dream catcher and go "The Power of Thinderbird compels you" to the guards.

>>564520
Oh I thought we were at the hole already. Then yeah, we should wait and see where it goes after it finishes.

follow it to the hole and we can see what we're up against.

maybe the guards won't sense you if you ride that thing.

I don't know if it is mentioned how a dreamcatcher works sorry, but if not then you are supposed to position it near the entrance of the structure and sleep under it. The evil is caught in the web and the good is dripped down the feather, falling onto you. But you really didn't do that while awake so it really doesn't matter now.

Suggestion 2014/02/28(Fri)17:55 No. 564773 ID: 0b90a3
File 139363893129.jpg - (95.07KB , 600x600 , 465.jpg )

Dale
"Ray, I've got an idea. Come on!"

As the titan finishes shelving you bolt from your hiding spot and hop onto its broad, plated back. One of its eye-stalks swivels to examine you, but evidently decides you aren't interesting or threatening enough to do anything about. Ray, hesitates for a moment and follows you right as the creature decides to leave.

Library shelves speed by as the Giant's legs move in an eerily silent blur. The ride itself it very smooth, but you crouch in the center of its back to keep from falling off.

Ray
>"Dale, you're insane. You know that, right?"

Dale
"Yeah, probably. Be ready to bail at the first sign of trouble."

Suggestion 2014/02/28(Fri)17:56 No. 564774 ID: 0b90a3
File 139363897398.jpg - (52.83KB , 477x600 , 466.jpg )

Soon, the hecatoncheires slows down, approaching an enormous black pillar rising into the darkness above. Your ride heads towards an enormous, cavernous opening; the walls around it bristle with spiky looking figures, chattering to one another and and probing their surroundings with long, whip-like appendages.

>>564774
Don't get touched. Also be quiet. Worst case scenario, have Ray be a distraction.

>>564774
Hug that crab like it was your own mother.
Avoid dem feelers.
Don't even look up, you need to blend in.
Most importantly, be natural.
Just keep thinking of all those ants in their underwear.

damn, they kind of look like the aliens from that movie alien. Looking at them I don't think they have eyes and mostly focus on things with there feelers. Can you tell if they're reacting to you in any way or are they more or less ignoring you? Cause if they're ignoring you then hoping in this thing was the luckiest damn brake we got since we crashed into the ditch. If it seems like they've noticed you... I'm thinking it would be very wise to bail.

>>564778
That.

These creatures probably don't make individual decisions for themselves.

If you are detected by something that is actively trying to find intruders, chances are the whole of this dream space will become immediately aware of you at once.

No pressure...

The bright side is, if we do find something that can alter the Book of Worms, chances are strong that it will be a specialized worker -- not likely to be aggressive to you.

By the way, these look like a cross between a tailless whip scorpion and an ant/wasp...So you've got the terror of hornets and arachnids all in one giant package?! Lovely news!

They should have poor eyesight, which is why they use those whip-like legs.

It's not out of the question that they will attempt to prey upon your ride! That might be interesting. If it happens, just run and let the lobster thing take care of it.

don't. move.

Suggestion 2014/03/02(Sun)17:46 No. 564964 ID: 0b90a3
File 139381118945.jpg - (69.48KB , 600x468 , 467.jpg )

As you are brought closer to the opening, the bizarre guardians sense activity and scuttle to intercept. The titanic librarian is forced to stop in front of them and they begin inspecting it; running their feelers along its flanks and bobbing their heads(?) in warning.

You huddle together in the small of the creature's back, desperately fighting the urge to run screaming back into the library. Your muscles ache with the effort of remaining completely motionless and you feel as if you are drowning in your own sweat, waiting for the instant where they decide to tear you apart.

Suggestion 2014/03/02(Sun)17:47 No. 564965 ID: 0b90a3
File 139381124607.jpg - (59.22KB , 564x600 , 468.jpg )

But instead, the creatures exchange a rapid and complicated series of antenna taps with the hecatoncheires and reposition themselves around the entrance to the structure. Your ride continues forward unmolested, crawling down an unpleasantly organic looking pathway spiraling deep beneath the library.

Once you are a safe distance from the guards, Ray shares a look with you and you both start to chuckle. It begins as a panicked, insane giggle that quickly escalates and threatens to turn into full-fledged maniacal laughter.

The creature strides on in spite of your mirth and eventually the walls of the tunnel fall away and in an instant you are left breathless. Far above you sprawls a magnificent ruin of crystalline material woven and sculpted into a monument of divine architecture. Yet, it is clearly fragmented: a shattered piece of a larger construct and tendrils of nightmarish dark flesh wind their way over its surface like a blanket of grotesque kudzu.
Below you, a similar structure stretches itself into a ragged, broken horizon. The path, or tendril, or structure that you find yourself traversing bridges the void between the two floating ruins. Your eye is drawn into the space beyond the crystal formations, spotting the glisten of other such objects hanging impossibly in the neither like diamond shards.

Suggestion 2014/03/02(Sun)17:51 No. 564968 ID: 0b90a3
File 139381150749.jpg - (22.47KB , 276x600 , 469.jpg )

And beyond that something stirs: a heaving landscape of evil that sinks a pit in your stomach like a black hole, ringed with the white-hot event horizon of terror. It writhes sluggishly in its torpor: a leviathan of old, slowly awakening to consume the light of civilization with teeth the size of continents. You shut your eyes to block out the image but your head spins, and you find yourself grasping for balance.

Suggestion 2014/03/02(Sun)17:52 No. 564969 ID: 0b90a3
File 139381152356.jpg - (87.59KB , 559x600 , 470.jpg )

The hecatoncheries continues on unperturbed, crossing the gulf separating the broken forms. It passes through another threshold and you find yourself inside an enormous, vaulted chamber and the creature makes a bee-line for a haphazardly stacked pile of books in the center of the floor. You hop off so that it can begin assembling another load. You give it a pat and a "thanks" but it simply labors on, displaying no senitment.

Ray swallows his fear down a dry throat and speaks to you in a church-whisper.
>"Dale.... what the hell was that?"

Dale
"I hate to tell you this, but I think that's what we're up against."

Ray mutters to himself...
>"I think I'm about ready to wake up now."

You take a better look at your surroundings. the chamber is flanked by strange geometric windows, several of which are smashed through by invading tendrils of flesh, coiling into the room and wrapping around columns. Beside the entrance, the only exits appear to be two small doorways set towards the back of the room. You stand there for a moment, wondering where the books come from, there is an echoing "SLAM" as one drops from the ceiling onto the pile, making you jump.

Well, look up.

>>564969
Don't touch the tendrils. After seeing where the books come from, we can head intooooo... the right doorway. Or just look into the doorways and choose whichever one leads upwards.

huh, wonder if this counts as the belly of the beast? Anyways look up

Grab one of the safest looking books and place it in your bag. It would be good to find out if you can check out books for when you wake up.

>>564978

heresy! he must pick the left doorway!

Dale, do you see The Book in that pile, or are they all the same?

Suggestion 2014/03/05(Wed)13:26 No. 565344 ID: 0b90a3
File 139405480010.jpg - (52.42KB , 600x581 , 471.jpg )

Your head snaps up and you look at the ceiling, hoping that you don't find something horrible lurking there. However, it looks like the book fell through a hole torn in the masonry by one of the tentacles. While you are watching, a second book plummets through and lands on the pile.

The hecatonceires finishes collecting books and begins its return trip to the library. Once it's gone, you pick up a tome, this one having only three pages, and cram it into your satchel alongside the your Book.

Suggestion 2014/03/05(Wed)13:27 No. 565345 ID: 0b90a3
File 139405484857.jpg - (45.88KB , 600x600 , 472.jpg )

You peek into the doorways at the end of the hall and, finding a staircase leading up, you ascend to the next floor. The unlit stairwell climbs up into darkness, and after a few turns you nearly bump into someone.

Todd turns around and holds a finger to his lips, then beckons for you to look through the door. Inside the room are three stone slabs arranged around a hole in the center of the floor. A trio of identical dark figures use the slabs as work surfaces to create new books, dropping the completed tomes into the chamber below.

Todd points to his missing eye, then into the room mouthing one word: "Leeches."

>>565345
Did he spawn here?
Weird. Us and Ray had to do a lot of risky shit to get this far.

I guess just watch.

>>565345
If we could just capture one of those things, we could force it to rewrite the ending of the Book. But how would we know if it rewrote it correctly? I guess we'd just need more pages in the Book; doesn't matter what's written on them. Or maybe some sort of paradoxical infinite Book that never ends...

I see leeches in the room itself, and those could be useful in the future, but victory lies somewhere in here, so don't even consider trying to de-venom the entire attacking army. We could send someone in to grab some leeches, I suppose. Even if they were struck down in the process they'd wake up with the leeches.

watch them.

If we need to know what they're going to do, instead of watching them and wasting time, we could pull Todd out of earshot and ask.

Suggestion 2014/03/06(Thu)19:19 No. 565482 ID: 0b90a3
File 139416235182.jpg - (50.41KB , 600x545 , 473.jpg )

Safe in the shadows, you watch the creatures work, their process illuminated by luminescent globes hanging from their heads. Working inside a frame, they secrete a thick, viscous mucous into flat sheets. Then, they fill the sheet with row after row of white flatworms, pulled from ceramic containers sitting at their feet.

Suggestion 2014/03/06(Thu)19:19 No. 565483 ID: 0b90a3
File 139416236755.jpg - (48.87KB , 600x439 , 474.jpg )

The alien scribes then take hold of the dangling spines, and use them to inject each worm with what you assume is radula's venom. Once the mucous starts to harden, it forms a "page" and they repeat the process, applying more and more pages until they have a stack.

Suggestion 2014/03/06(Thu)19:20 No. 565484 ID: 0b90a3
File 139416240551.jpg - (53.21KB , 600x385 , 475.jpg )

One of them pulls aside the flesh-like shroud over its body to reveal the glisten of hundreds of segmented black leeches hanging inside. The creature reaches past the annelids and pulls out a folded book cover, a length of sinewy thread, and a bone needle. It expertly threads the needle and passes it through the stack of pages while they are still tacky, stitching them to the book cover. Once assembled, it unceremoniously tosses the book into the hole, and it lands below with a distant thud.

Suggestion 2014/03/06(Thu)19:20 No. 565485 ID: 0b90a3
File 139416244825.jpg - (48.54KB , 600x509 , 476.jpg )

The middle creature leans over to gather up more flatworms and stops. It addresses its companions in a voice that makes you feel like someone is sharpening knives against your brain.

Middle creature
>More. Need more.

Left creature
>More. Where is Legion? Where is Legion with more?

Right creature
>Legion is below, tending to White Tree.

Middle creature
>Bring Legion here. We require more.

They begin squabbling over who's duty it is to go below for more worms, each of them denying that it is their turn to find "Legion".

Suggestion 2014/03/06(Thu)19:21 No. 565486 ID: 0b90a3
File 139416248447.jpg - (37.99KB , 600x416 , 477.jpg )

In the waking universe, the evacuees have managed to keep the horde at bay, but are forced to keep up a steady stream of fireworks just to hold them off. The supply is dwindling, and they are forced to rely on smaller explosives, which aren't as effective.

The crowd suddenly surges forward and a dozen hands hurl a single individual across the gap and slamming him chest-first into the ledge. His feet scramble against the cliff for a moment before he finds purchase and then begins climbing up.

The defenders take aim to knock him down, but hesitate when they get a look at him: he's just a kid, probably not even 13.

>>565486
Shoot his legs out from under him. If he keeps going, capture him once he's near the bonfire. Then hold him down using whatever force necessary, and then tell Radula to relinquish control of the boy. Threaten to start giving the boy minor burns if he does not comply. If Radula says it's impossible to undo it from his end, ask Radula if you can reuse a leech. We could also experiment by using fire on the stinger-wound. Maybe fire burns out the poison?

>>565485
Go down and find Legion before they do.

He is not a boy anymore. Until we take out the leader they are far to dangerous to let up no matter how we feel.

whoever we can talk to: don't hesitate, you seen how crazy they can be.


follow whichever creature leaves to find legion. when we get there we will decide if taking legion or the bookmaker is better.

think it might be time to light the bonfire to drive them off for a bit, I know the fire won't last forever and you guys don't really have a way to keep it going but the same goes for the fireworks we're going to run out of thing eventally so might as well give our defenders a brake with the bonfire.

Also Dale, think it would be best to leave and maybe find this legion. It would also get you away from these things and give you a chance to talk to Todd about what he's learned here and you three can pool your knowledge. Hell we might even be able to talk to legion if we can find him and find out what him and his buddies are even doing here.

>>565491
We can't light the bonfire just because ONE mind-controlled child got across. We have to wait as long as we can.

>>565485
wait until one of them goes and kill the fucker en-route. i hope you brought enough jars to take all those leeches.

>>565489
They aren't mindless corpses, they're still there, albiet under the influance of radula. I'm sure you could disable him, then zip-tie him. Harder to escape from plastic cuffs than rope.

>>565487
I doubt Radula cares about the fate of one expendable minion. Just flip him over and try poking the wound with the tip of a lit stick or branch once he's subdued.

Suggestion 2014/03/12(Wed)21:20 No. 566129 ID: 0b90a3
File 139468440645.jpg - (39.92KB , 600x388 , 478.jpg )

The three of you decide to lay in wait and ambush whoever is sent to gather more flatworms, hiding upstairs from the chamber. Before long the argument is settled and one of the trio shuffles into the stairwell, grumbling snippy invertebrate curses as it goes.

Suggestion 2014/03/12(Wed)21:21 No. 566130 ID: 0b90a3
File 139468446153.jpg - (44.99KB , 600x303 , 479.jpg )

You lunge forward to tackle the creature, but it senses the movement; clearly better acclimated to the darkness than you, and turns to face its attackers. It twitches an array of tentacles, and they hose you down with a spray of ropey mucous; the glue-like fluid arresting your attack as you focus on protecting yourself. The chemical cements itself to you on contact, and you do you best to extricate yourself, but the curtain of slime covers you like a whole-body booger.

Having stopped your assault, the creature cocks its head, and a pair of sharp chelicerae scythe forward hungrily as it assesses you.

Suggestion 2014/03/12(Wed)21:21 No. 566131 ID: 0b90a3
File 139468450292.jpg - (66.23KB , 600x467 , 480.jpg )

Fortunately, Todd and Ray are right behind you, pulling you out of danger and stepping forward. Before the it can ready another spray, Todd delivers a sledgehammer of a punch that coats his fist in slime and knocks the strange beast tumbling down the stairs.

Suggestion 2014/03/12(Wed)21:21 No. 566132 ID: 0b90a3
File 139468451301.jpg - (60.24KB , 600x486 , 481.jpg )

Prone on its back, It holds its nubby hands up in submission.

Creature
Stop. Stop. Want, what? We submit to demands.

Suggestion 2014/03/12(Wed)21:22 No. 566133 ID: 0b90a3
File 139468454713.jpg - (35.58KB , 600x356 , 482.jpg )

On the mesa, people are hesitating. Even you are forced to pause and remember who you are dealing with.

Beth
"Stop him! See if you can disable him! Don't underestimate how dangerous these people are."

The defenders try aiming for the kid but are obviously reluctant to attack him outright. He serpentines his way up the path in a blur, and dodges everything thrown his way with an unearthly awareness. In moments he vaults the unlit bonfire, and approaches the summit of the mesa.

Once he kills two or three people they should treat the rest of the attackers with the respect they deserve. If you do not take him down now he will fight to the death to get to the book or take out as many people as possible.

>>566132
1) leeches.
2) either add more pages to the Book, or splice the ending of the Book to the beginning of that second book we found... and the ending of that second one to the beginning of the Book. Then it'd be an infinite loop.

>>566133
Fucking shoot him! Mob him and limit his possible paths, if he remains uncannily dodgy. Force him to jump and we'll see if he can dodge in midair. (he can't)

>>566133
Somebody get a fucking torch. These things operate on frankenstien logic.

>>566132
We need a way to cure a bunch of people poisoned by the mind venom quickly. And either a way to destroy the Book of Worms or to forever prevent it's acquisition by the being known as Radula or the complete and utter destruction of Radula.

>>566137
I think destroying the Book might be a bad idea because it sounds like it's literally the universe. Unless... wait, we're assuming that these books are records of the future that ensure each universe gets eaten, but what if they're the final form of an eaten universe? If the Book could be un-written, then maybe the universe would retroactively not be eaten.

Maybe we should be asking our captive what, exactly, the creation of these books is accomplishing. We don't know what the Book IS, exactly.

ask the leech for a cure for the venom which you can take to the waking world. and don't all stand bunched up together where it can spray you all. surround him.

>>566132
First things first. Politely ask the nice horrorterror where you can find more leeches. Also, it might be stalling for time, so make sure you have someone on lookout.
>>566133
Normally, I would recommend someone tackle him, but Radula's victims are endowed with crazy superhuman endurance. Quickly toss some debris (or whatever's flammable) in front of his path, then torch it. If you're lucky, it should make him pause long enough for someone to get a in quick shot to his legs.

>>566136
Oh and by shoot him I mean continue to use rubber slugs. Let's not kill the boy.

Suggestion 2014/03/13(Thu)20:16 No. 566241 ID: 0b90a3
File 139476697727.jpg - (54.24KB , 600x490 , 483.jpg )

You manage to scrape off enough muck to resemble yourself again and stumble down the stairs to address the scribe.

Dale
"What are these books you're making, what to they do? Is there some way to rewrite or destroy them? "

The creature stands up and collects its little pot.
Yes. Yes. Follow us. More pale flesh below. Must have pale flesh.

Dale
"We need leeches too. Like, a lot of them."

The dark flesh lives below as well. We go below.

Suggestion 2014/03/13(Thu)20:17 No. 566242 ID: 0b90a3
File 139476703962.jpg - (69.46KB , 600x600 , 484.jpg )

Beth
"Torches! Keep him back!"

You wrap gauze around a bit of firewood and light the end, holding it out in front of you in defense while the others make torches of their own. The kid rushes up, dancing out of reach but reluctant to approach the fire. As the crowd moves to surround him, he jukes back and forth, faking towards the hogan then towards the fireworks, feinting to attack. Several people level guns at him and you see Lynwood headed your way with a shotgun full of beanbag rounds, but the only thing he seems concerned about is your torch.

Your attention is momentarily directed upwards, spotting a moving light in the clouds.

Beth
"Awwww, come on. Not now"

>>566242
Surround and disable the kid. Restrain him with any means necessary, maybe break a foot to make sure he can't do this again, and then toss him back down to the crowd of envenomed before the helicopter gets here. Problem solved with no significant injury.

Though I also wonder WHY fire is so scary. What happens if we burn his hand a little? Or just threaten to do so, to make Radula stop possessing the kid?

>>566241
He didn't answer your first question. Demand answers, WHILE moving. What are the books and what do they do?

Use the beanbags. We want him subdued and hopefully unconscious before he can start trying to lie to the helicopter team (though it it comes to that the entire military group we are with backing our story up will probably help).

>>566241
Hey Dale ask more about the envenomed please while you walk.
And do the "Please actually answer my question from before instead of avoiding it" thing

he tricks us. filthy hobbitses.

Suggestion 2014/03/14(Fri)21:05 No. 566351 ID: 0b90a3
File 139485635323.jpg - (58.21KB , 465x600 , 485.jpg )

The creature leads the way down the stairwell, its little bioluminescent globe casting strange shadows as you go: taking you through the book drop point and down a second staircase.

Dale
"So, you never answered my question. What are the books? What do they do?"

Creature
Books are the will. Memory of all of causality. We record: everything that will/was/is happen. Cacophony acts on memories.

Todd
"So the book doesn't actually control what happens, its just what you remember doing? Like, programming or something?"

Creature
Our purpose is recording infinity. Not dictate it. We record all possibility.

As you continue down, the darkness breathes a warm, dampness that fills the stairwell with an unpleasant, organic smell.

Dale
"So, then what about Radula? What's its purpose?"

Creature
The Radula is Willbringer, Opener, Unspeaker. It awakens Cacophony. Opens universes to consume.

Dale
"And the people it mind controls? How do we stop them?"

It stops and turns to look at you in a moment of, what you assume, is confusion. Its tentacles wave languidly, as if probing the dank air for context that is missing.

You do not. They are Cacophony. They do not stop.

Dale
"Fire stopped them. Why?"

It continues walking,
The Blood remembers burning. Pain can linger.

Suggestion 2014/03/14(Fri)21:06 No. 566352 ID: 0b90a3
File 139485637674.jpg - (61.96KB , 600x472 , 486.jpg )

You push forward and brandish your torch, forcing the kid towards the sheriff and making sure he stays focused on the flame at all times.

Beth
"Lynwood! Do it!"

Finding a clean shot, the sheriff fires a beanbag round that bounces off of the minion's shoulder, knocking him off his feet. Once he hits the floor, the crowd immediately dog-piles him, pinning him to the ground.

>>566351
Then all we need to do is rewrite the ending of the book so that the world is not consumed. Then the cacophony will not know to consume it. We'll still need the leeches though.

Ask what the Blood is. Why is the pain of fire more worrisome than getting shot or beaten? Also ask what the leeches are intended to do. While we're at it ask about the origins/purpose of the Pale Flesh and Dark Flesh.

>>566352
Tell Radula to let the boy go. We've got fire and we're not afraid to use it. We'll burn a finger. We'll do it.
If that doesn't work, we'll just have to keep him pinned. Uh, be careful not to smother him.

Also make sure there's room for the helicopter to land.

>>566351
Tell them we don't care about stopping the Cacophoney, we care about killing Radula. If it's possible, it's recorded somewhere, sometime. Their books are supposed to be infinite after all.

The Cacophoney can eat the universe once it has experienced heat-death and we've escaped into another Universe way into the future when we probably understand multi-verse theory on a practical level and vacate the damn place.

the cacophony wants to eat ALL universes, not just this one. there is no universe we can go to that it doesn't want to eat.

>>566360
Well, so long as people keep moving to a new universe when the one they're in is about to be eaten, it'd be fine.

the leeches stop the poison, don't they?

>>566372
It's possible the slug guy doesn't know that. We should not tell him our plans.

>>566355
Rewriting the ending will not work directly, as it is apparently a recording of the possible future.

However I think the books might be the source of Radulas future-sight!
If we falsify a book's recording, we would falsify the expectation of radula for one branch of possible future.

So, if we would find a future that would play out fine for us, Radula would'nt pay any mind to that tray normally. But if we change the Book predicting its outcome to the easiest and fastest consumtion of the world, it will be the path Radula will prefer.
But as we only changed the recording, the outcome should still be in our favor, shouldn't it?

>>566442
It sounded like the books record a possible future where the Cacophony eats the universe, and the Cacophony needs each book in order to know how to eat the universe in that timeline. So if we create a book where the Cacophony doesn't eat the universe, then it won't, because it won't know how.

>>566443
But when we visited Radula, we saw he could see all different possibilities as branches.

So if we create a book that's not in his favor, he will simply not pursue that path.
Creating such a book would be simply a fictional possibility.

Even if we find the book that records how to best cacophonify everything and change the ending, it will simply use the second best attempt instead.

Thats why I suggested finding a book that is in our favor and changing its outcome in favor of the Cacophony, so this will be the number one book for Radula to go along.

Like...
1. release all mind-puppets
2. distribute free leeches
3. let yourself get banned
4. ?
5. everything is cacophonified.

>>566541
When the book was read, all timelines eventually led to the final event that was written in it. The book limits the possible futures.

Toxoglossa 2014/03/16(Sun)16:43 No. 566641 ID: 0b90a3
File 139501340303.jpg - (59.36KB , 594x600 , 487.jpg )

The stairwell ends abruptly, the bottom step dropping off to a perfectly smooth, reflective black surface. Only when the scribe-beast steps down into it, do you realize it is a liquid, slightly more viscous than water, and perfectly calm.

The creature sloshes forward, its little glow-orb reflecting off of the "water" and illuminating a narrow tunnel. You share a look with your fellow sleeping adventurers, and decide to press forward rather than be left in the dark.

Dale
"So, you mentioned Blood. What is it? What's it do, and why does it remember burning?"

Creature
Blood is .... How do you say? Un-language. You are of Word made flesh. The Cacophony is Un-word. It flows through us. Gives us purpose. Shows truth. Unifies all moments, all space.

Flame denatures. Makes Blood go bad. Flesh loses purpose."

Toxoglossa 2014/03/16(Sun)16:50 No. 566651 ID: 0b90a3
File 139501381365.jpg - (61.18KB , 600x362 , 488.jpg )

You sweep forward, torch outstretched.

Beth
"You're afraid of this aren't you? You let that boy go or so help me God I'll burn you out!"

The crowd recoils as the monster's telepathic language washes over them.
We refuse. Try and you will bring agony to this child. You do not have the will to remove us.

You see the lights circling through the clouds overhead, searching for a place to descend. Fortunately there should be more than enough room on the mesa to accommodate them.

Toxoglossa 2014/03/16(Sun)16:50 No. 566652 ID: 0b90a3
File 139501384527.jpg - (39.05KB , 600x426 , 489.jpg )

The tunnel walls fall away as you wade into a vast, dark space; one that strikes you as eerily familiar. There seems to be a kind of low hanging fog in the air, and thick, warped columns of flesh punctuate the gloom; lurking and pulsating unpleasantly.

Dale
"So the pale flesh and the dark flesh you mentioned: what are they for? You said we'd find them here?"

Dark flesh is all around you. Feeding. Growing. They are reclaimers of the anti-word. Hiding in the lifewaters. More in the deeper veins.

You're realizing that your guide is taking you deep into the living arteries of a cthonic horror and you are splashing ankle-deep through its lifeblood.

Toxoglossa 2014/03/16(Sun)16:51 No. 566653 ID: 0b90a3
File 139501386413.jpg - (15.55KB , 356x600 , 490.jpg )

There is some kind of illumination ahead: points of light like running lights on a massive ship. It looms out of the dark but you can't make out any definite shape.

You approach the base of the object, and its form spreads upwards into the aberrant heavens, branching impossibly into a twisting fractal.

Creature
The pale flesh grows here. They are vessels of the Anti-word. Children of Hydra.

Toxoglossa 2014/03/16(Sun)16:51 No. 566654 ID: 0b90a3
File 139501389391.jpg - (107.02KB , 800x800 , 491.jpg )

The White Tree.

The size alone is staggering, but as you look closer, the true nature of the "tree" becomes apparent.

It is a worm.
Immense.
Ancient.
Horrifying.

Its scarred surface is composed of trillions of tiny, gently waving flatworms; their unblinking eyes glaring at you from a living tsunami of flesh. Bifurcated over eons by some unknown force, it is a single entity divided into countless individuals; shaped into an enormous, ominous bonsai hydra.

Moving slowly over its surface, strange lights wander like will-o-the-wisps over an oak tree, moving with alien purpose. Chains of some sort stretch into the "canopy" of the creature; held taunt as it writhes with the tortured, slow movements of a titan imprisoned.

Toxoglossa 2014/03/16(Sun)16:52 No. 566655 ID: 0b90a3
File 139501395067.jpg - (29.87KB , 314x600 , 492.jpg )

Two points of light approach you in the darkness.
They reveal themselves to be a pair of glowing, opalescent eyes, set into an unpleasant whiskery face. Tall and lanky, it shuffle's through the swamp wearing nothing but its own papery skin, which hangs in baggy folds around its elongated torso. In its ugly fist it carries a stone knife; chiseled into a vicious curve and wrapped with a stained leather cord to make a handle.

When it speaks, your mind is overwhelmed in a sea of noise. You try to process all of the voices and find them all speaking one word.

???
MmoRre?

>>566651
Find the entry wound. I wonder if a heated wire or something would destroy the venom? You'll need Mary to see the venom though. Then again you could just tell Radula to stay put. No reason to risk permanent damage to the boy by experimenting when you can just keep him still with enough physical strength and a torch. Then we can continue watching the crowd and preparing to light the bonfire if they find a way across.

>>566655
I think this thing gathers the smaller bits of Pale Flesh for use in making books. It shouldn't be an immediate threat, but be wary. That knife is a real weapon, and it could be strong or fast. Hmm, maybe you could ask for the knife so that you may perform its job?

If it continues to be nonhostile, someone should gather a bunch of leeches and prepare to wake up. You could even ask what the easiest way to wake up is.

I bet if you released the Pale Flesh from its chains, that'd put a damper on their operations. Consider it for after we've done what we need to do to the Book. Bring that up now that we've arrived: how do we rewrite the ending of the Book?

>>566657
lets ASK about those chains first, eh? Also, regarding the kid, lets see what happens when we cauterize the entry wound for the venom.
Morally acceptable, and will show radula we have no qualms about burning him out. Or at least, make him think that.

See if any leeches have attached themselves to your legs.

consult the scribe on how to deal with this molerat fellow.

as for the child, imprison him somewhere private, out of ear's reach. then have your most heartless guy torture the shit out of him.

fuck morality, we're talking about the entire fucking universe here.

>>566764
I disagree strongly. We are most likely going to have more leeches soon. We don't have to stoop to torture.

That said... I just realized Radula said we would bring agony to the child, but... every time someone has been cured, they forgot everything that happened while they were envenomed. So for the child to experience ANYTHING, Radula would have to let go. Was he admitting that if we applied the torch to the child it would work?

I think the molerat collects them off the tree, maybe? He's probably just confused they need more right after getting more.

Yes, you need more. You need leeches, too.

Toxoglossa 2014/03/19(Wed)19:05 No. 567009 ID: 0b90a3
File 139528114347.jpg - (82.82KB , 600x462 , 493.jpg )

You look at your guide expectantly. It approaches the gaunt figure and hands over the empty jar.

Creature
Legion. We require pale flesh. Bring more

Legion takes the urn without comment.

It turns and walks back to the White Tree.
It turns and walks back to the White Tree.
It turns and walks back to the White Tree.
It turns and walks back to the White Tree.
It turns and walks back to the White Tree.
It turns and walks back to the White Tree.
It turns and walks back to the White Tree.
It turns and walks back to the White Tree.
It turns and walks back to the White Tree.
It turns and walks back to the White Tree.

Toxoglossa 2014/03/19(Wed)19:06 No. 567010 ID: 0b90a3
File 139528119172.jpg - (54.41KB , 600x454 , 494.jpg )

You blink your eyes and try to process what the fuck just happened.
It looked like Legion just exploded into dozens of identical copies; they surge into the darkness as a solid stream and clamber over the stricken planarian like ants. Holding the containers in their mouths, they sink their knives into its flanks and pull themselves up; in the process peeling away chunks of meat which immediately knit themselves into more writhing bodies of the pale flesh.

A member of Legion still stands in front of you. The individual isn't holding a knife, instead it cocks its head and looks at its hand as if trying to remember something.

Toxoglossa 2014/03/19(Wed)19:07 No. 567011 ID: 0b90a3
File 139528122859.jpg - (44.95KB , 600x477 , 495.jpg )

Between the approaching helicopter and the clambering horde, you decide to hold off on trying to force Radula out of the boy.

Beth
"Damn it. Make sure he's secure and put him in the hut for now. Hopefully Dale will bring us a solution before we have to resort to torture."

You look up, watching for the chopper's decent, when the unmistakable report of Lynwood's shotgun being fired reaches your injured ears.

Several people rush to the sheriff's aid bearing torches and he looks around in confusion.

Lynwood
>"Sorry. I... turned around and I thought I saw something..."

>>567011
What?! RADULA IS HERE! Where's Mary? She might be able to see him. Also, everyone is now at risk of being envenomed. Light the bonfire.

Beth, get to Dale's tent. You must guard Dale, it's what you're Supposed To Do. However, you should have someone else helping you. Just because you couldn't see anyone else in that vision doesn't mean nobody else was there.

>>567010
...tell it you need Dark Flesh, and hand it a container? Shit, we only have the satchel and it's not like we can empty it. Also the scribe still isn't helping you with the Book. ...considering the Book contains pale flesh, maybe we can convince Legion to recycle the flesh? Or straight up ask it how to unmake/change a book?

ok. new mission. burn that tree down.

Shake its hand? Some of these guys might be people absorbed from some world that got eaten.

If the sheriff thought he saw something it might be Radula sneaking in while we are distracted. Make sure everyone knows what he can do and above all else keep our sleeping friends safe to do there job.

>>567010
Well, don't be rude, Dale. Shake his hand and introduce yourself.

if there are any knives or knifelike objects around, give it to the Legion.

ask Lynwood what he thought he saw before making assumption. then act accordingly. if it was indeed Radula, I recommend flipping your shit.

Toxoglossa 2014/03/20(Thu)18:38 No. 567158 ID: 0b90a3
File 139536588837.jpg - (71.55KB , 600x600 , 496.jpg )

Lynwood
>"It was just for a second, then it flickered and was gone."

Joshua kneels at the edge of the broken ladder to examine the dirt and rock, finding a set of deep gouges.

>"Something climbed up.... Something with claws."

He stands up and casts his gaze around for signs of the creature, but a sudden cloud of dust kicked up by a strong down draft forces everyone to cover their eyes. A squat black helicopter descends from the clouds, slows and rotates gently as the pilot finds his landing zone.

Toxoglossa 2014/03/20(Thu)18:38 No. 567159 ID: 0b90a3
File 139536591258.jpg - (56.17KB , 600x404 , 497.jpg )

Your slug-like guide speaks.
Legion is not of this place. Born in causality. Now is blessed, magnificent, knows truth. Has become one with the All-At-Once.

You grasp its hand and carefully shake it.

"Um... Hi. I'm Dale, this is Todd and Ray."

It's response is almost a whisper; a single voice in the darkness as it pulls you closer.
Help.... Usss...

Dale
"What? What do you mean? How?"

Legion
Clossse...... Loop....

It releases your hand and stares at you blankly.

>>567158
Welp we're fucked, Radula is on the Mesa and if he gets the helicopter crew he'll have air superiority, not to mention getting to Dale. We've got one shot. Burn the kid's hand to flush out Radula- he'll feel that pain too and that will ruin his concentration, which will most likely allow us to spot him and drive him back. Also tell the crew to get the hell away, the LZ is hot.

On the other hand, the dust clouds might reveal Radula's location.

>>567159
He wants you to kill him? Or something else? Regardless, this is an ally, and if he helps you with the Book, you may be able to help him in return. Or maybe he needs a knife. The Loop isn't closed because he never made the knife? Or because he never lost it, and this clone lost it? Well, whatever, I'm sure if you agree to help him he'll clear things up.

Close the loop? Does that mean he wants us to make the Cacophony Ouroboros itself? Get it stuck in a loop where it keeps eating itself forever?

That is actually a great idea. If we can rewrite the latest book so it gets stuck in a permanent loop it will devour itself in one point in time forever or until entropy takes over and it dies.

okay.

stab him in the <insert lethal stabbing target>

Let us consider... why does he even exist? Why did they specifically re-purpose and empower an outsider to cut the White Tree?

Why not simply grow an organism for that, like the Hectonarches, those guard bugs, or Radula?

If I had to guess it has something to do with how the 'Tree' is itself retrained.

cut the chains, free the tree, see what happens!

>>567159
It looks... sad.

But what does it mean by 'loop'?

Toxoglossa 2014/03/22(Sat)17:29 No. 567381 ID: 0b90a3
File 139553455024.jpg - (69.94KB , 600x479 , 498.jpg )

You address the scribe.

"What happened to them? Why are they like this?"

Was a creature like yourself: universe was consumed. Pleaded with Un-speaker for asylum. Exists in temporal flux: has become one and many. Is forever bound to the White Tree.

Toxoglossa 2014/03/22(Sat)17:29 No. 567382 ID: 0b90a3
File 139553458138.jpg - (46.97KB , 600x462 , 499.jpg )

Dale
"We need to find dark flesh, right? Where would be the best place to collect them?"

Legion points off into the darkness and nods. The scribe takes your hand and vomits a small, slime-covered, black orb into it. After a moment it begins to glow and soon it is bright enough to kind-of see by.

Creature
We remain here. The dark is dangerous.

Dale
"Urgh, thanks?"

Together, you wade into the shadows, passing tangentially to the writhing titan and bringing you close to one of the sets of "chains".

The three of you exchange quiet exclamations of surprise as the glow-stone illuminates the structure. Wound and braided into living cables, hundreds of Legion's bodies grapple with one another; wrapping themselves around the leviathan's limbs and anchoring it to the ground.

Toxoglossa 2014/03/22(Sat)17:30 No. 567383 ID: 0b90a3
File 139553462526.jpg - (56.01KB , 600x336 , 500.jpg )

The helicopter settles itself onto the mesa, and disgorges a heavily armed group of soldiers. They quickly fan out and force the crowd back, demanding they keep their distance. Corporal Tanner rushes forward to meet them. Her attempts at conversation are impossible to hear over the rotor wash, but it looks like they are ordering her onto the chopper.
People are shoving, demanding to be evacuated, pleading for backup afraid that they are going to be abandoned; everything they fear is pouring out in a stream of noise.

Meanwhile the squad is dealing with a potential threat in every person, they're outnumbered and surrounded with little option to retreat. Knowing only that their scouts have been attacked by average people, and are ringed on all sides by an unseen hostile force and operating on incomplete intel. For the moment there exists the fragile, knife-edge balance of two sides desperate to trust one another, but ready to explode into a riot in an instant.

You cast your eyes around in a panic, trying to spot Radula in the crowd before he seizes control of anyone else. You try to warn the crowd, screaming yourself hoarse and end up coughing as swirling clouds of dust lash at your throat; nothing short of a gunshot could be heard over the din.

What you need-
Is a miracle.

>>567382
...the dreamcatcher, could Legion use it? Well, now that we're out of sight of the Scribe, we can also ask Legion about the Book. Maybe his strange temporal nature will fuck with it to our advantage.