North, west and continent maps. Rest can be gotten when needed. Ask if there is an university here and do they allow visitors to do research there.

Swords of Virtue Durandal!swQABHZA/E 2009/10/15(Thu)22:55 No. 65250 ID: aec572
File 125567249837.gif - (100.42KB , 640x400 , V505.gif )

>>65234
>>65235
Makes sense to me. It's awfully cumbersome to have that many maps around, so just these three should be plenty unless the shopkeeper-

[Animooted]

Hats of Virtue Durandal!swQABHZA/E 2009/10/15(Thu)22:56 No. 65251 ID: aec572
File 125567257051.png - (24.41KB , 520x400 , dressup gaems.png )

Alright guys, gimme your hat suggestions if you would. You can post pictures or draw 'em on yourself if you'd like.

You know what to do.

How do I shot trip?!H508X.HbJ6 2009/10/15(Thu)23:05 No. 65254 ID: 6faa8c
File 125567312354.png - (4.00KB , 640x480 , Hat.png )

>>65251

Insomnia 2009/10/16(Fri)04:45 No. 65267 ID: 8ca61a
File 12556935028.png - (6.67KB , 333x333 , somehat.png )

Quick, put this on, maow maow.

2009/10/16(Fri)06:33 No. 65270 ID: 43d730
File 125569998094.png - (19.49KB , 520x400 , whydoikeepdoingthis.png )

>>65251

>>65267
I swear to God if the rest of the quest doesn't have these...

Flynx!Gatekeeper 2009/10/16(Fri)08:11 No. 65277 ID: 18dd96
File 125570591694.png - (63.16KB , 520x400 , 125567257051.png )

>>65251
Fuck hats.

Suggestion 2009/10/16(Fri)08:17 No. 65278 ID: 5d5878
File 125570621595.jpg - (4.52KB , 188x165 , itsahat.jpg )

>>65251

Flynx!Gatekeeper 2009/10/16(Fri)08:22 No. 65280 ID: 18dd96
File 125570655260.png - (43.23KB , 520x400 , 125567257051.png )

>>65251

Suggestion 2009/10/16(Fri)11:55 No. 65318 ID: f4963f
File 125571927688.png - (45.40KB , 520x400 , Victims_Swords_of_Virtue.png )

>>65251

Swords of Virtue Durandal!swQABHZA/E 2009/10/16(Fri)13:14 No. 65338 ID: de6a2d
File 125572404685.png - (39.02KB , 640x400 , V506.png )

With our silly anachronistic hats chosen, I get back to business.

"Where's the nearest university and are visitors allowed to do research there?"

The shopkeeper looks less than pleased to have to help out a customer but he grudgingly replies. "Your best bet is the academy in Trimdom, the capital of Adair. They have an extensive library, but you have to pay to access it. If you want somewhere closer, I think there's a place in Cortland. It's called... the 'Athenaeum of Knowledge', if I recall correctly. Had a fellow drop in a while ago who told of nearly limitless information on any subject, but you had to trade knowledge or do a task for them to get it. The guy seemed solid enough, but I still think Trimdom is your best bet."

That was... surprisingly helpful. I thank the man and grab the maps for Adair and Cortland. "Five maps at five bronze a piece and two hats at twelve bronze each will cost you 49 bronze."

That's a rather large sum. I have enough, but if the library in Adair has an entrance fee I don't know if the remainder will be enough. Should I try to barter with him? Or put something back? Then again I doubt he'd be able to catch us if we ran without paying?

We're going to pay. I'm not losing any of my Not A Dick points.

And we have to have the hats. I say we pay the money and go to that Athenaeum of Knowledge. Surely all of us together will be able to provide some knowledge to exchange, and even if we can't we can always do a quest.

That being said... do we go there before or after training?

>>65338
With everything we can do it should be easy to earn some money when necessary.

>>65338
Go ahead and pay it up, look for some simple job to make up for a portion of the lost money.

Simple being a very relative term, of course.

Swords of Virtue Durandal!swQABHZA/E 2009/10/16(Fri)16:12 No. 65377 ID: de6a2d
File 125573476473.png - (138.94KB , 800x600 , V507.png )

I pay and thank the shopkeeper. He takes the money and then promptly goes back to pretending to ignore us. I guess it's time we decided what we're doing, so let's take a look at the map.

[This is the map for the continent of Ceylundor. The gray squares on the map represent areas for which we have a more detailed map, and can zoom in. The areas are: 1. Calumet; 2. Dunn; 3. Calcasieu; 4. Adair; 5. Cortland. If you'd like to examine a detailed map, just say so.]


Current Quest:
?

Active Quest(s):
Get book translated (*Go to academy in Adair)
Train with Loyalty (*Meet up with Loyalty in the mountains)
Research Swords (*Visit academy in Adair *Find Athenaeum of Knowledge in Cortland)
Get more money (*Find a job, bum)


What should we focus on first?

Let's meet up with Loyalty.

>>65383
we already said we'd research first, let's head to Adair and see what the situation is.

Situation has changed, since the universities are not on Cortland having Loyalty along for research no longer should invoke hostilities. We'll go see Loyalty first and see if she can put us at least to Comforts level.

Swords of Virtue Durandal!swQABHZA/E 2009/10/16(Fri)21:23 No. 65500 ID: de6a2d
File 125575341148.gif - (85.82KB , 640x400 , V508.gif )

>>65383
>>65468
Um, right. The book can wait until we bring Loyalty along with us. After all, we did promise to let her do some research too...

To the mountains!

[Animated]

Swords of Virtue Durandal!swQABHZA/E 2009/10/16(Fri)21:27 No. 65503 ID: de6a2d
File 125575366326.png - (360.13KB , 612x400 , ohgodthistooksolong.png )

The spot Loyalty marked on the map correlates with a small clearing situated between two mountains. It's still pretty high up though, and the air is chillier.

When we get there though we find an old cabin. It must have been a grand sight when it was still intact, but now it's falling apart. Supports are missing, chunks of the wall have fallen off, and sections of floor have rotted through.

There's no sign of Loyalty, but she might be nearby. It's about two o'clock now, so Loyalty doesn't have to be back for another twenty two hours, unless she wants to.

What should we do in the meantime? Or should we go looking for her?

>>65500
TRAINING-FROM-HELL-MONTAGE TIEM
Seriously, tie a boulder to your back and jump back and forth across a river.
Go cut down trees until you can do it in one stroke.
Get up to full health and try to shoot laser beams from your sword.
Hold it out, focus your energy, then spin in a circle.
Run up trees.
Run up waterfalls.
Run up training partners.

>>65504
You are too speedy for your own good. =P

See: >>65503

It's where she found the sword or near it. Let's poke our nose in other peoples business and try to find where it came from. Look in cabin and try to see if this was Loyalty's home before or some ex-wielders. Any skeletons in closets?

Swords of Virtue Durandal!swQABHZA/E 2009/10/17(Sat)00:28 No. 65548 ID: de6a2d
File 125576451122.png - (365.84KB , 640x400 , V510.png )

>>65515
You're right, it could be interesting. She did say she knew this place, and since she's not around...

"Let's go look inside."

Anna gives me a weird look. "Are you nuts?"

"Come on, where's your sense of adventure?"

"It's in adventuring, not being stupid."

I shrug. "Well I'm going in."

She just shakes her head. "I'll be out here to dig you out when it collapses."

"That's not very comforting, Comfort."

I turn to walk into the building, mainly to hide my grin. And that's when I hear:

"You crack me up, Unity."

Swords of Virtue Durandal!swQABHZA/E 2009/10/17(Sat)01:18 No. 65559 ID: de6a2d
File 12557675356.png - (33.61KB , 640x400 , V511.png )

The first room of the house looks like it used to be a workshop or storage room, perhaps. It's wide open though, and completely barren. I carefully make my way inside, stepping over missing and rotting boards. The floor squeaks and groans with each step, as though protesting my presence.

I make it to the doorway for the next room, the door long gone. There's a dresser here, ancient and battered, leaning against the wall on one side of the room. On the other side is a staircase that wraps around the room to provide access to the upstairs floor. The staircase looks in decent condition, but the ceiling is terrible and I doubt it will hold my weight.

Actually I don't think this room will hold my weight for long at all. What should I do? And please hurry!

>>65559

Make your way to the dresser, loot everything intresting and then see if you can make it to the stairs. Just to take a peek upstairs. If the house starts to crumble jump through the window or wall to ensure you are not buried under anything.

Swords of Virtue Durandal!swQABHZA/E 2009/10/17(Sat)22:41 No. 66034 ID: 728e01
File 125584446437.gif - (2.79MB , 640x400 , V512.gif )

>>65579

[Super Animated]

Swords of Virtue Durandal!swQABHZA/E 2009/10/17(Sat)22:41 No. 66035 ID: 728e01
File 12558444949.gif - (436.69KB , 640x400 , V513.gif )

[Animated]

Yeeeeeah!

Check that the house isin't following you like a boulder and stop before you hit a cliff.

>>66034

((That's pretty sleek animation))

>>66035
Well, nice save. Now get back up and see what Comfort's up to. Besides saying 'I told you so.'

Swords of Virtue Durandal!swQABHZA/E 2009/10/17(Sat)23:51 No. 66066 ID: 728e01
File 125584866287.gif - (32.32KB , 640x400 , V513.gif )

>>66048
Done, and done. Fortunately it stayed where it was, in spite of my awesome headgear.

>>66049
Thanks, but I didn't get to check the upstairs... Plus the cabin's kinda... destroyed now. And I'll never hear the end of it from Comfort.

[Animated]

"You're insane."

Speak of the devil. "Tell me that didn't look like fun."

"It looked like fun," she admits with mock hesitation. "And you are still crazy."

We both laugh, letting off some nervous energy. Now that I got some snooping out of my system, what should we do? We still have to find Loyalty... although the sound of the cabin collapsing might have been loud enough for her to hear it if she's relatively close by.

>>66066
Wait to see if she arrives, first. If not, look for nearby shelter where she may have rested - if she's been in the mountains for days, she may have tried to stay out of the elements, or out of sight.

>>66066
Did you manage to grab that photo that was in the drawer?

>>66066

Did you take a good look at that picture you found? Might as well start looking for her, check the immeadiate surroundings first.

Swords of Virtue Durandal!swQABHZA/E 2009/10/18(Sun)00:45 No. 66082 ID: 728e01
File 125585191895.png - (30.98KB , 640x400 , V514.png )

>>66068
I did. Even as everything was collapsing around me my natural looting instinct kicked in. It's a family portrait, although the artist was obviously not very skilled. The woman looks a lot like Loyalty, only with black hair. The picture is really old, I'll roll it up in one of my maps to keep it safe.

>>66067
She hasn't been in the mountains that long, we only separated a few hours ago.

>>66069
Yeah, we can search the nearby area without getting too far from the cabin. And if it starts getting late we can look for shelter.

Swords of Virtue Durandal!swQABHZA/E 2009/10/18(Sun)01:30 No. 66087 ID: 728e01
File 125585463998.png - (300.41KB , 640x400 , V515.png )

We head back up to the cabin to start our search... only to find Loyalty already there.

"Hello, Unity. Hello, Comfort." Her tone is even as she greets us without turning away from the wreckage in front of her. "I came when I heard the crash. I wasn't expecting you so soon."

>>66087
Apologize for hastening the destruction of her childhood home. You didn't know what it was until it was too late. Then hand her the photo you managed to get out of it.

>>66103
This

Swords of Virtue Durandal!swQABHZA/E 2009/10/18(Sun)10:43 No. 66217 ID: 99e08c
File 125588778878.png - (301.00KB , 640x400 , V516.png )

>>66103
"Loyalty, I'm so sorry we destroyed your childhood home-"

"What do you mean 'we'?"

"Shush, Comfort."

Loyalty slowly turns around... and she looks genuinely calm. She covers a laugh as she glances at our new hats. "Oh, it's okay. It was falling apart and probably a hazard anyway. I'm glad no one got hurt."

"You don't seem bothered at all. I thought you'd be sad or angry..."

She shrugs and nods her head indecisively. "I was pretty shocked and kind of saddened when I first came up here and saw it. I haven't been here in almost twenty years, and I forgot how quickly nature can take its toll. I thought it would be neat to see something from my past."

Swords of Virtue Durandal!swQABHZA/E 2009/10/18(Sun)10:43 No. 66219 ID: 99e08c
File 125588781757.png - (23.98KB , 640x400 , V517.png )

"Well, I found this in a dresser before the house collapsed. The bottom drawer was jammed shut and I had to break the frame to open it."

I hand her the picture. A sad smile crosses her face and she looks nostalgic. "Th-... thank you."

Swords of Virtue Durandal!swQABHZA/E 2009/10/18(Sun)10:44 No. 66220 ID: 99e08c
File 125588789294.gif - (13.67KB , 640x400 , V518.gif )

Now that we're all here I suppose we can start our training. We can find shelter later; Loyalty says she knew a family that has a small guest cabin nearby that goes unused most of the year.

So what should I focus on? What kind of training should I undergo? Strength training? Endurance? Agility? Becoming more attuned with my Sword? Or maybe try to develop a special ability?


[Okay guys, here's how this works. You get five points to spend on increasing Unity's abilities. Each point can be used to increase a physical attribute by 1 up to a max of 2 increases per attribute.

Points can also be spent on Weapon Skill, which provides access to better sword techniques like area attacks, whirlwind attacks, ranged attacks, and helps in sword duels.

And finally points can be spent on unlocking new abilities. Abilities are battle powers or passive bonuses provided by the Sword. These abilities are created and submitted by you, the players. They have to be on theme (Unity and the lack thereof), and their cost is determined by how strong they are. 1 point is mediocre, 2 points is strong, and 3 points is extremely powerful.

And yes there will be a training montage, which will depend on how Unity is upgraded.]

>>66220
Short-range telepathy for the purposes of unified action. Basically just medieval magic radios.
Two points?
Point to Agile, point to Tough.
Low-power mending effect? Taking the pieces of something and rejoining them (without having to use a candle? Will need to be improved later.
One point?

>>66223
Remember that his Sword drains Unity, so abilities should be designed around the idea of fracturing or splitting up. For instance, a level 3 ability would be to split up into a large number of clones to simultaneously attack a target from multiple angles (gasp Naruto!). Or you could get it cheaper by making the clones weaker than the original, or by decreasing the number of clones.

Telepathy could work, in that it splits Unity's mind further and spreads it across distance so other people could hear it. That would allow you to communicate to other characters directly. It would however, be very distracting to Unity since you're basically taking some of his thoughts from him. I like the idea though.

I'll let this run for a while until we get some sort of consensus, or at least a majority agree with a course of action. Keep the ideas comin'!

>>66229
In that case, I will suggest an ability to disorient a target by bollixing with the signals of their body.
Three points, but scalable from 'Irregular heartbeat and broken muscles' to 'Spasm and fall over'. Make it a gaze attack.

I vote for two points in might. Three on Body Bomb (Deunify's an enemy's body in an explosion with area affect.)

Gamebreaker right there though, I like the guy without a name's power if we don't want a gib exploding attack... it might decrease emapthy points even using it on enemies.

at least 2 on weapon skill, 1 on agile, and Seconding the telepathy, maybe even the ability to send our vision using it too. So if we were say, trapped in a castle we could use it to see what is around and spy on stuff or something.

2 points weapon skill
1 point agility or strenght (split vote)
1 point split mind (if cost is 2. Take it off weapon skill)

One point might, two points toughness. Also two points in giving Unity the ability to enter into a highly focused trance on injury to be able to ignore any negative effects and lessen the nastiness of the hit.

Let's make him into a damage sponge!

I like both the Disruption of Unity (aka Body Bomb) and Mind Split abilities. 3 points in the former, 1 point in the latter. Also 1 point into Weapon Skill.