2/4 Fen 2017/09/02(Sat)19:39 No. 827265 ID: bfb318
File 150440634441.png - (33.72KB , 800x800 , 846.png )

The grass is tall enough that I only see how many people are here once we enter the mausoleum's courtyard.

Orjin turns. I can tell he's already going to yell at me specifically.

"What're you gawking at now, barbarian?"
"There are many more people here than I was expecting. I thought pawns weren't coming. Are these all knights?"
"Yeah, and it'd be impressive, too, cept these knights are probably as worthy of the title as you overglorified pawns!"

We've painted Sir Orjin's emblem onto our armor, or in my case, I had a tailor attach a patch to my leather shirt underneath my cloak. I also have metal armor, but it is being transported in a wagon for us, with Holly inside. Underneath the main emblem, there's another smaller, simpler emblem that signifies we're under Sir Zall.

Some have it openly displayed, some don't. I hear it's mostly just to identify dead bodies anyway. When I see an emblem, I don't recognize it. There are other knights from the main dragon army, assassin's branch like us, gladiatorial branches which I didn't know existed, and various other factions. Aside from knights, there are a collection of other titles I hear. I heard he northern empire was organized, but more often then not, I have no idea whether a rank is high or low, or even who it belongs to in the overall hierarchy.

3/4 Fen 2017/09/02(Sat)19:41 No. 827268 ID: bfb318
File 150440646188.png - (20.74KB , 800x800 , 847.png )

We settle inside while we check to make sure all of our belongings made it safely. It's several hours until Zall climbs onto a center platform and makes a speech.

>"I am Grand Knight Zall. I am not going to insult anyone's bravery with an offer to leave, or memory as to what it is we're doing here. Your superiors should have scared off any weak willed children who are not excited to fight to the death. But understand this. You are entering a quarantine. This is a matter of necessity, as even our wizards are not entirely confident that they can detect bodies that have turned to the necromancer's side. We have a garrison that will remain topside. Anyone that attempts to leave will be treated as a breach of necromantic will. In other words, until the necromantic disease is eradicated, the garrison has orders to kill anyone on sight who comes back to the top. Despite this, we have fortifications in place to exchange items and goods between topside and underside. There will be merchants, supply lines, mailing services, and makeshift towns. Your coins are not dead weight. Hold them dearly, as you may still need to pay for food."
>"Lastly, I would like to address rumors claiming that I am sending people on a suicide mission. I am going down myself in 30 minutes. You may watch me enter and join after me. As a helm knight, you will not often see me fighting in the front lines, but you will seldom see me farther away from the front line than the closest camp. Anyone not of the garrison who has not entered by midnight will be deemed a deserter and slain by the garrison as well. We have updated maps of the campaign's progress thus far. Familiarize yourself with it and decide where you would like to serve. So long as your commander approves it, you may work alone or with anyone of your choosing. That is all."

4/4 Fen 2017/09/02(Sat)19:41 No. 827269 ID: bfb318
File 150440649260.png - (18.12KB , 800x800 , 848.png )

Most of my peers rest after the long walk, while I find a board with a drawn map.

Most mithril nobles started their reign by sealing off the tombs of the nobles before and below them. For the first 7,000 feet, or nearly 100 years of sinking, this is how it was, and it wasn't until the necromancers had defiled and ransacked nearly all the way to the surface before being found. When mausoleum caretakers heard pounding and scratching from underneath the current mithril's tomb under construction, they reported it and the empire descended down upon it to contain it. Since then, the empire has been pushing downwards with little to no resistance, but nearly all bodies from previous tombs are missing, including the noble mithrils themselves.

The bulletin board mostly lists two kinds of jobs.

1. Gain access to the next floor. Initially, with so many empire soldiers searching, this hardly took an hour or two. Now, the undead have started resealing the exits from where they dug through, and it's more difficult to find. Therefore, another job is simply to mine monitored holes into the next tomb down and create a straight passage into what's below.
2. Scout existing tombs, typically near the bottom of the explored parts, to clear them out of any lingering animated dead that have remained. Once a floor is fully cleared under a floor master's descretion, non-combatants such as merchants and skilled laborers are allowed to set up their goods. Hence, lower levels are only traversed by non-pawn soldiers.

There are only about 1000 feet left before the history of the mausoleum gets older than when mithril nobles made their tombs here, in a place that I'm told is called the Necromile.

>>827269
> and it wasn't until the necromancers had defiled and ransacked nearly all the way to the surface before being found.
Wait, that implies they came from underground, rather than tunneling down from the surface. Do necromancers just sortof... rise up from the ancient dead?

Should we be worried about undead tunneling up around the sides of the crypt, and attacking our position from behind?

Anyway, take job 2. You need as much combat experience as you can get. Refresh yourself on how to kill undead.

2
Sweep and kill with our partner in arms.

Use single piece of metal front chest armor with no other metal parts so it won't make noise. It will add weight and will weight you forward so watch out for that.

>>827265
Stylin, Aira.

>>827269
So... how far down till we hit the water table?

Worse, how far down is the soul table?

>what do
What kind of prep can we get done before we descend?

>>827269
Ok, what's the best way to dispatch undead? Do we need to destroy the brain or have to burn dismembered body parts, maybe even UNDEAD FINGERBONES?

I want to see what would happen if you piped explosives down the entire shaft. That'd show those overbuilt landmarks a thing or two.

Breaching new ground probably has your best chance of getting first crack at sweet loot, but is also more dangerous. I say clear rooms for a bit to get the hang of zombie killing before you go any deeper.

Get a good look at the sky or horizon or whatever, 'cause it may be a while until you see it again.

Go for 2 to get some experience in this environment with your team. Once you get your footing can start doing some more impressive jobs.

How is Aira doing? Is her injury still hindering some of her movements or has she improved to the point that her injury isn't hindering her at all?

If you have the spare time, practice with your sword. You promised the mountain kobold guard you would keep practicing.

Go see Zall enter and see if you can stick by him for whatever battle he's going to. Might be interesting to see how well the top guy around fights.

>>827302
by studying his moves you could improve your skills too.

Go with Zall for sure. After he finishes up... well, I'd say take a 2 job to warm up, but everyone else might be thinking the same thing, so you might end up having to go for 1.

Are they sure there are no side entrances to the tombs? Where's the nearest town/sunken town? The building of these massive tombs must have at least have caused some temporary buildings to be put up around them while under construction, too. And were all the tombs the same area? Did any of these ancient nobles try making wider, more sprawling tombs for themselves than what's on the surface now?

1/5 Fen 2017/09/03(Sun)11:37 No. 827372 ID: bfb318
File 150446387044.png - (26.72KB , 800x800 , 849.png )

"I would like to get into combat, so we aren't rusty when we need it. Let's do job 2 and try to find some undead." I say. Most of the rest seem to agree.
"Then hurry up and get in there, otherwise you'll be waiting in line hours to get in!" says Orjin.
"What if we wait until Zall enters? I would like to see him fight."
"The only battle he's going to be in is shaking off moochers! Upper level knights are going to be managing you foot workers for awhile, and I'll be stuck doing the same crap for awhile. Gotta write letters on your behalf Fen, since you got in some shit with a lot of people that want to be sure you're trapped in this craphole with the rest of us!"
"Okay."

The only prep we can think of is to eat and familiarize ourselves with more detailed layouts of the maps, but Orjin has us get into the mausoleum and do that while we walk. Even so, many people were closer to the entrance, and even entered before Zall gave his speech. The maps are nearly pointless. The newer tombs are well recorded, but also already cleared. I ask questions while we walk, and look at the overland map.

There is a nearby town, and no one knows for sure, but it is likely that it has a sunken history as well. It could feasibly be linked, but unlike the mausoleum, the sunken town is probably filled in aside from little pockets here and there.

2/5 Fen 2017/09/03(Sun)11:40 No. 827373 ID: bfb318
File 150446402127.png - (44.38KB , 1200x800 , 850.png )

For the most part, the noble's tombs stayed on the mesa in which the mausoleum lies. Sometimes it expanded farther outward, and those are reflected on some maps and as the scouts locate them.

Despite how many people are behind us, there's still a long line to get into the mausoleum, and a long line as we march down. There are several guards that I learn are tomb keepers, and are here to make sure that no soldiers defile anything. We're told that despite it's now a battleground, this is still sacred territory, and any damage dealt to the structures here should be treated as dealing damage to the mithril noble themselves.

"How far down until we hit water?" I ask.
>"It must be a long time." says Valsano from ahead of me. "If we walked the other way, we'd have reached the continental beach. It's not like the shroomleaf forest. It's just a cliff down for ages. You can't only see the water on clear days. At Dragon's Fall, it just looks like sky. We're not going to hit water, unless the drainage here sucks and the bottom is just a lake. I think if we find that, then we've... oh, shit, no, undead, then we can't do anything, can we?."
"Then we get buckets, you idiot!" Orjin says.
"What about the souls?"
>"Is that even tangible? I don't know." says Aira. "I doubt we'd see anything specific."
"Also, we have never really learned how to properly dispose of undead."
"I hope you mean what to do after you beat them with your swords until they stop moving, cause that's how." Orjin continues. "After that, burn the bodies. If it's an ally, take their emblem off, then burn their body."
>"Can we pick up oil or torches, then?" asks Valsano.
"I sure goddamn hope so!"
"What's stopping the undead from digging to the side and around the crypt?"
"Time, and wizards." says Orjin. "We've got land wizards that'll find anyone digging in the land. If they get 100 feet away from the surface, the wizard'll bring hell down on that area."
>"I have heard that many wizards will be down here, both to detect pockets in the land, and also to help infuse people's equipment with the necessary anti-rot measure." Bolk explains.

3/5 Fen 2017/09/03(Sun)11:41 No. 827374 ID: bfb318
File 150446409548.png - (49.25KB , 800x800 , 851.png )

It's a long walk, and Orjin already hired helpers to carry our supply cart down each level. Even Mithrils that didn't seal off previous tombs didn't construct any ramps or ladders down to the previous, so most things have to be hand lifted to the lower levels while proper ramps are approved and created.

Once we get to the bottom, there's so many newcomers that the camp looks less like a settlement and more like a lot of people milling around. We settle down off to the side, and start a camp fire while Orjin goes off to find an official to coordinate with. It's gotten somewhat chilly this far down. He comes back after a wait.

"While we were busy being late, they've already found the next two levels down. Upper level exploration is done carefully like we did in our own little catacomb exercise, in which we gotta clear it step by step to make sure nothing can sneak in from behind and un-clear the area. Down there? Just run around till you find crap, scouts'll do a real clear later. Gear up, head out, don't come back till you've burned a corpse. I'll make sure all your gear gets here, too."

We're ahead of our supply wagon, so I can't put on armor yet.

4/5 Fen 2017/09/03(Sun)11:42 No. 827375 ID: bfb318
File 150446414941.png - (56.09KB , 1100x800 , 852.png )

The bulk of us head down another couple of levels together, but despite my misgivings, the group decides to split off. Aira, Firzel, Volsano and myself stick together. We keep running into other soldier groups that act disappointed when we show we are living beings with emblems. We continue to hear tomb guards yelling to behave ourselves, but it's clear that they can't keep an eye out on all the other groups that most likely also had greater knights tell them now to come back until they've killed some undead.

>"Are there even any veterans around?" asks Firzel, as we keep walking farther and farther away from the central shafts. "Everyone looks like they're ready to go parade marching."
>"At least we don't have to act like pawns and kill people just to get fed." Aira says. Her wound seems to be doing better in the week since she received it. If it's still bothering her, she's been doing a good job of hiding it. "We'd see a lot of missing people and unrecognizable corpses, then."
>"Wait." Firzel says again. "I hear something."

There's some shuffling noises, and something with muted, guttural hiccups. We walk ahead down a long hall.

5/5 Fen 2017/09/03(Sun)11:44 No. 827377 ID: bfb318
File 150446424467.png - (90.90KB , 800x800 , 853.png )

An unhealthy and probably undead kobold staggers ahead as our torchlight reaches it. Aira gets relatively close, but remains cautious. We can't see any other kobolds around. The ragged one doesn't move. It only gawks at Aira.

>"You alive in there, creepy bastard?" asks Valsano. I don't believe any of us expect a good answer.

It shakes its head no.

Suggestion 2017/09/03(Sun)11:59 No. 827378 ID: eb25cd

If it can answer maybe it can point you in the direction of other undead pockets?

Otherwise let Aira kill it

>>827377
Circle around until you can see if it's carrying anything in the hand behind its leg. If it's totally unarmed then just go for some safe strikes against center mass to see what happens. This one might be a lesser undead that poses no challenge but we should at least see how it reacts to injury.

>>827377
Uhh so do undead lose the ability to lie and respond to all questions in a manner that they can? Or is that like their actual self speaking to us through the puppet corpse, and he basically just asked us to mercy destroy him so he can be free?

But lets go ahead and kill this guy before we ask that question, or in the middle of the action if it gets drawn out.

Why aren't you attacking us? Are you alone?

Ask him if he wants to die... again

>>827377
"I didn't expect them to be able to answer questions."

Also seems silly to send unarmed undead against armed knights. Unless its got unnatural speed or strength, the only hope these things have is numbers.

...might want to look around quick, make sure this guy isn't distracting you while others ambush you from another direction.

Not terribly decayed looking. Recent dead? In the absence of other wounds, I'd guess cause of death was exsanguination after the tail got cut in half. You'd think that would have been preventable with a tourniquet, though.

>>827377
Look around and make sure this guy isn't distracting you so you can be ambushed from a different direction.

Awfully helpful. I wonder if necromancers can make unliving bomb undead who explode when they get destroyed, or anything like that. See if you can circle around a bit and inspect him a little more closely. Any strange protrustions or bulges in his body? Is the blood on him fresh? You won't get many chances to examine a "live" undead.

Ask him if he'd like to be even less alive. And if there are any more undead nearby. Be ready for him to suddenly flip out and attack.

Ask it if it knows if there are any other undead nearby.

See if it is actually responding or just shaking its head at any questions. Keep a eye out and maybe experiment a little before finishing it off.

>>827377
Well fellow, you shouldn't be up and walking around.

(unless the deadling actually is useful, and I wouldn't trust anything you learn from it regardless, just put it down)

I'd like to caution against asking the enemy for information. Can't trust anything it tells us.

>>827388
>>827389
These.

We're not here to sit down and have a tea party with it while asking a bunch of questions. We're here to make sure the dead stay dead. So let's just do our job and kill this thing.

I'm guessing you know what happens next, then?

This undead might be a traitor, but I doubt it. Most likely, he's just here to kill you.

Shout at him to stand down and move where you order him to. If he seems to follow orders, have him move to a secure kennel with blast-resistant countermeasures, to be questioned and interrogated later.

If he attacks, just kill him.

Ask "what do you and the necromancer want" if their is no response say "do you want to die" then if it nods, does nothing or attacks just kill it and burn the body

>>827377
just kill it and move on a single undead shouldn't prove an issue for any of you at this point.

while killing it also tell you team that "Someday I am going to hug Orjin"

Ask for directions to the next level down.
>>827389
True, but it's not like we've got any better leads.

Not talking further to the undead seems prudent. There's not much point in it.

>>827420
Sounds good. Then practice hugging on the undead. With swords in lieu of meat arms.

Fen 2017/09/03(Sun)19:16 No. 827439 ID: bfb318
File 150449141945.png - (133.18KB , 1000x800 , 854.png )

I step forward, taking out my sword. I confirm the kobold is completely unarmed. There are no odd bulges or anything on him. This body has more magic within it than the average kobold, but if it was set to explode or anything so phenomenal, it would need much, much more internal mana.

"Are you alone?" I ask. It shakes its head, while I get closer. "Do you want to die, again?" I then ask.

Again, it shakes its head. I raise my sword.

>Say 'someday I am going to hug Orjin'
I have no intention of doing any such thing.

"Can you do anything but shake yo- " It starts rushing me.

Or that's what my reflexes think, as I slash it to make a long but shallow cut across its torso. As I make the slash, it was more of a sudden yet slow stagger forward. Its arms then move as though to block my slash by the time I've already made the cut.

It then crumples to the ground. It does not scream or writhe, but it does bleed, although not as much as a real living being should. The blood is a bit chunky, and smells terrible. Once on the ground, it stays still and its hiccups stop. I keep an eye on it, but Firzel snickers behind me.

>"Pfff, what was that?" asks Firzel. "This can't be what we're up against."

Valsano shrugs.

>"If it is, Orjin's going to be furious. Might want to punch each other just so it looks like we were in a fight." he jokes. I think he's joking, anyway.

>>827439
stab it a couple more times.

"This could be a trap. Get back." As you retreat to a safe distance.

Burn the corpse.
The fact this was easy was probably meant to let our guard down. Be alert for ambushes. And try to avoid smelling it as much as possible, we don't know what diseases these things might carry, whether airborne or sent through blood or saliva contact.

Working off the assumption that undead don't need any bodily functions other than structure for the magic. So, chop it up, being wary for any sudden movements, then burn it. Check for emblems also.

This might not be the best the zombie horde has to offer. Lets not underestimate them just yet.

Even if this is how they all act imagine fighting a hundred. Or a thousand. Eventually your arm would tire and they could overwhelm you.

And who knows if there are other varieties of zombie that have more tricks up there sleaves. Toxic blood or who knows what.

Carefully dispose of the body.

Decapitate, loot, burn.

I wonder what Orjin would say if you told him you where going to hug him.

Make sure its dead. It might be a bluff.

Then burn it. Trust your allies to watch your back from other threats.

>"This can't be what we're up against."
It's a pawn. There will be worse than pawns down here.

Fen since when can you see how much magic something has inside it? Is that new ability?

Treat everything down here as a proper threat. Dismember and burn while watching for traps.

Sir Orjin is never happy. It's better he have credible Intel as well.

It might be a botched or very old revival, perhaps so we let our guard down.

Well let's put this one to the pyre and keep moving.

>>827439
There's probably much stronger undead further in. Don't let down your guard. Also, it seemed to indicate it wasn't alone. Fighting 50 of these things at once could be troublesome.

>>827439
"These things are quiet enough that they could sneak up on someone and, I don't know, bite their throat or something. Of course, this is only one undead by itself. In greater numbers, undead just as slow as this one could possibly overwhelm us. Which is entirely possible, considering undead won't get tired from a long drawn out battle."

>>827439
"Don't get cocky, this is just an experimental zombie. Necromancers are smart, they'll leave their rejects out in the open to get us riled and overconfident."

>>827439
Don't be hasty, we've heard that even wizards don't know how to put the undead down quickly. Either this wasn't an undead or its not finished yet.

It was staring at Aira, and she's been quiet. Check on her. Does she have any idea why it seemed so interested in her?

>>827512
It might've been able to detect her injury, even though it should be healed by now, and saw her as an easier target.

Or it could've been that guy still had some memories of when he was alive lingering around in his head and Aira just happened to look like someone he knew, even though Aira has never seen this guy until now.

And we are sure it's undead and not an illusion? I recommend further examination

>>827530
I mean it seems like it bleeds. Maybe that is enough. Does it seem to react way to quickly though?

>>827439
It was scrawny, but the fact it seemed to have any awareness is worrisome. If it can think, it can plan. And if it can plan, we would need to think of them as and active force instead of generic undead.
But we don't know anything at the moment. You cannot judge everything on one meeting.

>>827439
Burn the body, continue onward.
>I think he's joking, anyway.
Instruct teammates not to injure each other. If it was a joke, saying that completely deadpan plays into your 'socially oblivious barbarian' image, which is handy for getting people to underestimate you in political intrigue. If it wasn't a joke, you're avoiding pointless fraud (the way Sir Orjin was sizing up everybody's scars, he'd definitely be able to tell if all the bruises you got were from each other rather than undead, whereas you guys don't even know what undead-inflicted injuries look like yet) and conserving valuable medical supplies inside a quarantine zone.

1/2 Fen 2017/09/04(Mon)16:38 No. 827629 ID: bfb318
File 150456827936.png - (86.31KB , 800x800 , 855.png )

Over the last week, one of our bigger training goals was to be able to sense mana. We were able to practice doing so with the help of a wizard. My ability to detect is only more than nothing, but I have only learned to reliably sense in the last week.

There are many limitations. I still can't detect average amounts in most kobolds, so I could only use my normal senses to detect if Aira or the others were around. Even with above average kobolds like this one, I could only sense it at close range. It's also difficult to sense spatially. It's simply like something in the air, and I could only assume that the dead kobold was the source simply because there was nothing else around to charge the air. I've said it was like a smell, but the wizard got angry when I said that. I still don't know why, since it seems to work like a different kind of smell.

Ultimately, this sensing is only good to tell if there is either a magically charged person or item nearby, or if there is high wizard activity in the general area. So, it will help avoid ambushes from magically charged kobolds, undead or otherwise. Our wizard teacher still warned us that there are ways to mask mana detection from mundane fighters like us, so it should only be treated as a bonus sense, not a reliable one. Even non-wizards though are able to hone their sensing ability to impressive levels, because wizards or not, we are all considered magical creatures. However, it is a high level talent to be able to be able to sense the location and mana levels of any nearby kobolds.

"Sir Orjin is never happy. Let's not underestimate them too much too early. This was one, but it was probably their version of a pawn. And what if there was a hundred? Either way, we will not injure ourselves."
>"I was joking." Valsano snaps at me.

The fact that the mana has dissipated from the corpse is a good sign it's dead, but I still stab the corpse a couple more times and then hack off its head. Valsano watches our backs. I notice half of the corpse's waist has been stitched together. That may have been its original death.

Valsano stomps on its head to snap off a horn, and puts it in his bag. Even if we don't need proof to get food, he probably thinks it would still be good to prove that we did something. Aira pulls out a bottle of oil that she brought along, douses the corpse, and sets it on fire. We start moving away so that we don't have to smell the burnt flesh.

2/2 Fen 2017/09/04(Mon)16:38 No. 827630 ID: bfb318
File 150456829045.png - (28.29KB , 800x800 , 856.png )

>"Once the supply wagons catch up, we'll have more flammable wood to make proper pyres." she explains. "Valsano, you look unnerved."
>"Nah. Undead just creep me out, but I wouldn't be here if I couldn't stand it."
>"I hope so, because speaking of fighting more..."

We hear shambling behind us. Another ragged looking kobold comes down the hall, but it stops at the burning corpse and looks around confusedly. The sounds of multiple dragging claws is also starting to approach us from ahead, as well.

>"Attracted to either fire, or burning flesh." Firzel says.
>"Or just corpses." says Valsano.
>"If it was like that, camp would've been stocked up with corpses so no one would have to go anywhere."

>>827630
Whatever they're attracted to, we save on oil if we can chop up these new ones and throw them on an already burning fire.

>>827629
Keep an eye on that horn Valsino. If its undead, I don't trust it. I wouldn't even trust a fingerbone. Don't want it piercing your gut when you least expect it. Keep it in an armored pouch.

>>827630
Not just fire, it could be light, like a fly. Good to know for distraction purposes. Someone keep an eye on that undead and study it a bit, see what it does, we're going to dispatch the ones ahead.

Hmm. In death, all kobold souls kinda merge together mostly, right? Perhaps there's a way of making undead that maintains some sort of common link or joint soul. So undead within a particular... pack? Batch?... Can sense what each other sense? Some types, anyway?

You'd better be ready to fight, in any case. You're continuing in the way you were going, right? So the multiple claws sounds are from somewhere you haven't been, while this one behind you somehow came from where you came from yourselves? That's ominous.

If undead are made by someone, they're made for a purpose. Maybe some undead are like menial worker undead, not intended for combat but to just perform labour - like retrieving corpses for use by the necromancer. Those ones would be less aggressive and inclined to obedience, maybe given a little more intelligence than the straightforward assault undead, enough to receive further instructions and give very basic feedback. Did your training thus far say anything about something like that, or about "types" among the undead, or typical necromancer behavior patterns, et cetera? Was anything mentioned about undead just acting weird sometimes, due to have a mishmash of soulstuff jammed into them that sometimes contains some odd spark of will or strong memory?

>>827630
Depending on how many footsteps you are hearing and in which direction, Y'all should set up a form of defense perimeter near the fire. Just go up, stab the undead in the head, and kick it on the fire.
If the sounds are mainly coming from your front, form a line so you don't get in each other's way and let them come to you. Set the two people with the longer ranged weapons on the edges, and the two with shorter ranged weapons in the center so there is maximum coverage.
If there are some coming from the other direction, split into long n' short range pairs for each direction.
You use a sword with a fairly decent range. What do the others use? One or two-handed Swords? Daggers?
In any case, standing your ground seems like the best option in this case.

Looks like this variety of zombie has only the basic senses. And with no one around to direct them they just follow what they see and hear.

Lure them to the fire and kill them there. Then make a corpse bonfire to save on oil. Just don't block up the tunnel with a giant pile.

As for your new extra sense train the crap out of it at every free moment. If its trainable that means there might be other senses you can learn to use if you pay attention to what your body is telling you.

Any hunches or odd things you have felt before could just be your species innate magical sensitivity. Is another thing to work on alongside of your standard knight training. Could save your life one day so work on improving it whenever you have a free moment.

>>827630
make sure that your back is clear. If it sounds like there is more then 10 kobolds koming then send someone to scout a retreat.

Secure the way back by taking that one out and add him to the fire.

And then if there's more let them come and add them too.

>>827630
Make a mental note to ask someone more informed/experienced back at camp if what you've seen is normal undead behaviour.

Make a fighting retreat to main force or other safe area. Communicate that you think their senses are linked in some way.

Check that your exit is secure and then kill those zombies.

Remember what we said about getting overconfident. Hang back for a bit.

>>827630
If the necromancer controlling these undead was smart, they would know that we're going to be burning any undead we slay. So the necromancer would make the undead attracted to burning corpses, so that it would guarantee we would get swarmed every time we burn a corpse.

>>827630
Let's get to work. Next one try hitting it in a non-lethal area to see if it still falls down. It's possible the necromantic magic is disrupted by injury in general, not attached to vital areas.

Once again, attempt to communicate with the zombie kobold, then push him into the fire if he's hostile. Douse the floor with oil (with a long trail) and prepare to light it up.

1/4 Fen 2017/09/05(Tue)18:18 No. 828008 ID: bfb318
File 150466068195.png - (25.17KB , 800x800 , 857.png )

"Be careful about that horn, Valsano. I don't trust it."
>"Be careful about that ceiling or floor, it could fall, Fen!" Valsano replies.

Firzel chortles at that.
>"And watch out for the sarcophagi, could have zombies all come out at once!"
>"The fire could materialize into a person and attack us!" jokes Valsano.

I believe they are mocking me. I stop sharing my possible thoughts, and simply try to get a reaction out of the zombie, but there's no response. There must be people down here experienced with the undead, but from our training, we were told not to assume anything. The empire apparently has lots of knowledge on necromancy, but we don't know what kind applies down here. I got the impression that part of why we were told so little is out of a fear that we would make incorrect assumptions, and a little knowledge would be more harmful than none.

"Fine. Let's save oil by throwing more undead onto the already burning fire, and let them come to us."

We all use swords of similar length, so there isn't much point in organizing ourselves based on our reach. As a test, I stab the undead in the arm. It falls over. Valsano looks incredulous, but I kick it onto the flaming corpse without issue. From there, we wait for the undead to walk towards us.

>"Valsano, Aira." I say, noting their movements. "Why are you so far ahead, still?"
>"The smell." says Aira. "I can't stand it."
"If you will, safely scout behind us to make sure our exits are clear."
>"Okay."

2/4 Fen 2017/09/05(Tue)18:18 No. 828009 ID: bfb318
File 150466071577.png - (52.20KB , 800x800 , 858.png )

It isn't too far ahead, so I don't fight that. The undead come at us one or two at a time from farther ahead. Some undead don't fall when they're slashed so lightly, so there's still some weight put into our slashes. Aira comes back, saying that she didn't see any undead at the next intersection, so we're not trapped.

By the 5th one, Aira stops putting thought into her slash, as though chopping a vegetable. Firzel slashes another, looking like he'd rather be anywhere else. A few kills later, Valsano just points his sword outwards towards 2 zombies approaching us.

>"Fight me, bastards! Throw a punch already! I'll wait!"

One stumbles at Valsano, then falls forward to impale itself on Valsano's sword.

3/4 Fen 2017/09/05(Tue)18:19 No. 828010 ID: bfb318
File 150466074262.png - (60.98KB , 800x800 , 859.png )

Valsano loses it at that, drops his sword onto the impaled zombie, and grabs the other.

>"Hit me! You aren't even worth spending my sword's edge!"

He begins shaking the zombie back and forth while we put another corpse onto the fire pile.

>"You fuckers just cured my necrophobia! I'm just mad! Can you even hear me in there?! Are you capable of even pretending to be a threat?! Throw! A! Punch!"

4/4 Fen 2017/09/05(Tue)18:19 No. 828013 ID: bfb318
File 150466078846.png - (18.40KB , 800x800 , 860.png )

Its neck snaps. The head is whipped back and comes clean off. Valsano keeps shaking it half heartedly before slowing down to a stop.

>"What is the matter, Valsano?" Aira asks. "Also, was that a halfbreed draconic oceanic?"
>"Who cares?! They made our training hell for this?! I don't care if they're the pawns! Any of my kids could beat the hell out of these husks without their arms! I want to either go down deeper than anyone, or go back to camp and do nothing. But this? Just insulting."

Despite that the flames are still going, and we have a well stacked pile of corpses, I see no other undead.

>>828013
calm down don't assume that this is the best they have to throw at us. getting overconfident is how we over extend and someone dies.

These are rather pathetic. But am glad for the opportunity to learn more about weak undead instead of starting off on a giant bone horror.

Keep treating them like a proper threat. You lived in the wilds. You know that even a tiny threat can leave a tiny infected wound that could eventually kill you.

If a necromancer was in range who knows what they could make these guys do. So do not get cocky or let you team do the same. Lots of these guys just got out of training hell and think they are tough shit. That means they will be sloppy and dead soon enough.

This guy is going to be a liability. Not that that changes anything, pile on the rest of the corpses and then move on. No reason to stop yet.

>>828013
Okay, let's swap jobs. Do some digging instead of cleanup.

I'm serious. Fighting harmless zombies and having to endure the stench of burning bodies is obviously hurting morale. This is practically janitorial work! At least digging will be a good workout.

>"Be careful about that ceiling or floor, it could fall, Fen!" Valsano replies.
>"And watch out for the sarcophagi, could have zombies all come out at once!"
>"The fire could materialize into a person and attack us!" jokes Valsano.
100% chance Fen is going to end up dealing with all of these threats eventually.

>insulting
This is the army. If you let yourself get insulted by the drudge work, you're not going to last.

No, don't speak that out loud.

>pathetic zombies
Could be the quality of the undead depended on the quality of the body. These could have all been weak in life. In which case, they won't start getting tough still we start finding dead knights and nobles to fight.

Could be the necromancer has a range limit, and the things further away get weaker.

Maybe these are intended to purposely hurt morale? Get troops to underestimate what's coming, get complacent, or get frustrated.

Maybe they're plague carriers? Although you're burning the bodies, and they'd have a better chance of spreading disease if they could scratch you.

>I want to either go down deeper than anyone, or go back to camp and do nothing.
Well, if we finish clearing this floor camp will come down to us.

>>828013
Yeah, it isn't exciting, but it needs to be done.

Where are this lot coming from anyway?
These shamblers might be pushovers, but them being here means there is likely much more uncleared area ahead.

>>828013
Okay, these undead are such a non-threat it's rather creepy. Outside of the first rushing you, none have made any move to attack? They might as well have been made by an idiot!

Wait a minute. Just had a thought.
What if these things ARE made by an idiot? At least in terms of magical knowledge.
When somebody starts to learn something, they start small before going big. And animating a corpse seems rather complex in and of itself. Could these things be somebody's practice attempts? As in animating a corpse just enough to react to outside stimuli, since the necromancer didn't know much else?
We need to find out more about what kinds of undead have been encountered, because these are just raising questions whose answers are either horrifying or completely disappointing.

>>828013
"If the undead we honestly this weak, the army wouldn't have bothered bringing us here. There are stronger undead here, we just haven't found them yet. And according to Sir Orjin, you'll be begging for these weaker undead after meeting one of the stronger ones."

>>828013
>>828030
Say "I'm sure that in the future the insults these things inflict will be more physical in their nature." then guess in a deadpan snark how many "insults" he would take before crying for home.
Also, How are these even still around? They wander blindly toward fire, and aren't even hiding! Shouldn't the group who first cleared the place have gotten rid of them first?
In fact, how ARE these crypts cleared in the first round?

>>828013
"If you feel you are not getting the training, renown, or payment you deserve, I feel the same way. Shouting for more enemies when our escape options are low, however, is just plain STUPID.

These are the UNDEAD. They are weak, slow, and dumb. For now. But under NO circumstances are you to call them an inferior fight when we are outnumbered and prone to rot! Worse yet, these undead are controlled by people who could outsmart an entire legion and still manage to write an epic about the flesh being torn from our bones! Do NOT rush into the REAL danger, or we will leave you to die."

The helm knight mentioned some kind of necromantic disease, maybe that's what's so dangerous? In the meantime, don't let anybody hear you get too cocky after one mop-up operation. The undead came from that way, we should look for more.

Don't start ribbing him. He's not entirely wrong and is probably in no mood to be corrected.

"Valsano, whatever necromancer is in this place probably abandoned their direct command over the undead on this floor, and the ones who were aggressive already got themselves killed. But the necromancer could possibly retake control of them at any time, and it could be when we're facing down towards some other, more deadly enemies. Tactically, this has to be done. It doesn't have to be done by us, and when we get back we can take better work, but for now we do the job in front of us."

Hey I think maybe we shouldn't lecture this guy since he's the same rank as Fen and half the group is already mocking us.

>>828116
Well, Fen is the "dumb barbarian", so mocking is expected to happen.

Although, they know by now from Aira how many kills Fen got by himself while protecting her and he's earned the name "Red Maw" from killing a gold noble. So even though they're all the same rank, they probably know Fen is far more skilled than them.

.....huh, maybe they were hoping for a chance to one up Fen and they're not getting that chance here?

.....maybe I'm just over thinking this?

>>828116
I'd agree Fen doesn't really need to lecture anyone right now. Either he'll learn when things get worse, or he'll get dead.

1/2 Fen 2017/09/06(Wed)12:57 No. 828185 ID: bfb318
File 150472785310.png - (38.82KB , 800x800 , 861.png )

>"Remember that we are the reinforcements." says Aira. "If the undead has been a pushover this entire time, then the first force here would have been more than enough. It's odd that we haven't been warned of threats. They've been down here long enough that if these weak zombies were all that existed, empire tactics would have us reach at least the necromile, set up barricades and other defenses, and then focus on clearing the divided undead. Now they want us to clear more or less room by room in a downward drilling maneuver. It doesn't add up with this at all." Aira said much of what I was thinking, so I add something else.
"This is drudge work, but we have been tasked with these boring tasks often before." I mention, trying not to talk down to him. Then again, although I am frequently the brunt of mockery, talking poorly of one another in their face seems to be a tradition in the north.
>"Yeah, and we were told that." says Valsano. "This, at least, looked like we were supposed to fight."
"They could be plague bearers."
>"Yeah, well, at least it's just me that'd..." Valsano stops talking, though he keeps collecting horns. From the experience of last week, I know he's about to say that it's just him that will suffer for his mistake. He said something like it once during our training week right at Orjin, who promptly beat him for it. Then he sprung an exercise on us that we needed Valsano for, but was unable to perform well enough for us. Orjin then lectured that Valsano that he is part of the team, and if he is hurt, the team suffers, alone or not. Valsano doesn't seem to have forgotten the lesson. "Fine, fine." says Valsano. "You both have a point. I was just looking forward to this. I'll get over it. If you want to keep up the boring stuff, then fine, just as long as we don't do so good of a job that they want to keep up at the top of the uncleared levels."
"I will also want more critical jobs. But since we are here, and we just saw ten undead, we should look around since there may be a bigger pocket of undead."

Still, the level of incompetence from these zombies does seem like almost too much. I remember the way that the ashes of the urns in the catacombs a week ago would weakly choke those who fell. Now it has things that shouldn't be moving at all, yet they seem less dangerous than ash. Aira spills some more oil on the pile to make sure it keeps going, since even though the bodies aren't fresh, they don't light easily.

One of the corpses falls off the pile before it gets properly lit. Aira barely begin muttering under her breath before she cuts herself off. I sense mana returning to the corpse, at least enough for me to detect.

It gets back up.

2/2 Fen 2017/09/06(Wed)12:57 No. 828186 ID: bfb318
File 150472786774.png - (100.69KB , 800x800 , 862.png )

Valsano and Firzel turn to see what the pause is, but all four of us are silent. Underneath the sound of the flames, we hear the corpse whisper 'cold.'

Then it gets back onto the fire. All of the corpses with recognizable faces are smiling.

>>828186
Welp. Lesson learned. Even if the zombies fall down and lose mana, they're probably not dead. You have to completely destroy the body.
THANKFULLY these zombies are addled enough that they enjoy being on a burning corpse pile.
Say what's on everyone's minds. "This is fucked up."

"Orjin is going to love this."

Check that the fire is *actually* consuming them. Fire-absorbing zombies would be very bad news.

I for one am glad we learned that lesson early. Dismember all future bodies before any cleanup. Also I am now wondering if a dismembered arm could try to choke someone. So be extra careful with body parts as well.

Also makes me angry. We need to find the bastard who is dragging souls back from there rest and teach them a lesson. Looking at those smiles makes me a bit sad as well.

This will make a excellent story for camp though.

That explains why that first one was staring at Aira. She's the warmest one. I wonder - have you seen many of your predecessors, here? The survivors of the force you're reinforcing? The survivors didn't happen to all be more reptilian, less warm kobolds, did they?

... The corpses themselves are burning, right? It's not just the oil burning, and the undead are all fireproof? Because if that's the case they won't be happy when the fire burns out. Also it means you don't have your dependable means of disposing of them permanently.

Hopefully, these guys just like fire and warm hugs and aren't going to want to rip open your guts and climb inside you, or rip open your throat and pour your warm blood all over themselves. But, "hopefully" and "necromancers" don't usually go together.

Oh and hey speaking of fire, how is your operation keeping the air circulating down here? Have they got some pump, bellows and fans operation set up to pipe air down from the surface and along the tunnels? Running out of good air is a common problem in mines and places like them, which this is, particularly if you're going to be using all these open flames and particularly if you're fighting things that don't need to breathe.

".....why do I have a feeling that no one is going to believe us if we tell them about this?"

>>828189
This.

And it's Sir Orjin! It doesn't matter if he's here or not, you don't just casually call him by name like that!

so, they actually want to die, or want heat so badly they'll self-immolate? I'm guessing they are somehow forced to obey a necromancer's order to resist, but don't actually want to and so they do it in the most ineffective way possible so they get whichever it is they want.

>>828192
>all future bodies
Start by dismembering the bodies already in the burning pile. Knees first so they can't get up, then shoulders, then fingers so the disembodied arms can't grab stuff, and then if the torsos are still active start breaking jaws and cutting in half at the waist.

Don't use any more oil until you're sure it's actually causing damage.

>>828186
Somehow, that is more disturbing to me than seeing two gold nobles executed. The state of mind these things must have for burning to a crisp to be a pleasant is NOT a good revelation.
And somehow, this is strangely hilarious.

>>828186
Watch them burn. Carefully. Make sure the bodies are actually being consumed.

"New rule. They aren't dead until they're ash, or in pieces."

>>828186
Oh, they just feel really cold.

Oh god, what if these are free minded released undead, like non-allied with the necromancers and they just want to live their undead lives?

>>828292

If they're always so cold that they want to be set on fire, their undead lives probably suck and they'd prefer to be put back in the ground so they can reincarnate properly.

>>828294
Or their nerves are so deadened that fires is comfortable like a nice warm blanket.

>>828186
What have they been DOING to those poor zombies?!

Well, this confirms their sentience. And death wish.

What if they're still alive but tortured into suicide? Capture some alive, give them treatment and diagnostics. We might find something interesting if they still have a positive number of brains.

>>828186
As strange as this is, are they actually burning away? From what I can see, it looks just as likely that the only things on fire are the oils and their clothes. But what about the bodies themselves? Cause that last one was suspiciously well-preserved for being on fire.

Fen 2017/09/07(Thu)06:57 No. 828492 ID: bfb318
File 150479262720.png - (24.55KB , 800x800 , 863.png )

"Have any of us seen any veterans here?"
>"Some of the camp workers were here before us." says Firzel. "But I haven't seen a single fighter from before today. Do you think these undead... hm."

We wait a moment on my request to watch the fire. The zombies looked fresher than I was expecting, but it may have just been that the fire took awhile to start catching on the bodies. Once it goes for a little while, I see the fire destroying the bodies. Still, we may need to hack them up farther. I did not see any of the kobolds making movements that did not rely on muscles, so unless any further twists occur, Valsano's horns remain harmless.

After we travel farther down the hall, we enter more open areas. Firzel speaks.

>"The more I think about it... it might've been my imagination, but the way that the mana dispersed from those zombies seemed like it had a direction. Like the mana was going somewhere in this direction." Firzel's sense of mana is a bit better than the rest of us, even if it still isn't on par with a wizard. He seems to just have good senses, as it's his sense of direction that we're relying on to get us back to camp. "It's farther ahead, and down." he explains. "We can chase it by going straight through this area, but it's evening, and I don't think Orjin would throw a fit if we just poked around here first and then got back a little before bedtime."

>>828492
>I don't think Orjin would throw a fit if we just poked around here first and then got back a little before bedtime.
I agree. Let's take a quick look around and then head back to camp.

If we find anything, great. If we don't find anything, then at least we cleared out a few undead.

>>828492
So it's pulled back to something, which much be something big if it can pull mana in the first place. I think we should clear more of the area before chasing it, it's better to face a lone boss than a boss and his horde of flunkies.

>>828492
let's scout ahead and see where the mana is going but if we encounter any large groups of undead or any suspicious looking items lets head back and report in.

>>828505
Solid plan, we've already got some re-kills, simple as they were.
Anything new we find other than this is a bonus.

If the mana is 'feeding' something, should we avoid making further kills?

I'd say to proceed, quietly. You have to be wary if they could sense mana too.

Ok, but there's getting back before bedtime and there's getting back before dinner time. We don't want to go hungry here. And we want to hear the news, both official and gossip, of what everyone else found out on their missions. So, do a bit of scouting but make it quick.

Hey, if he has a lead lets follow it. I know at least one of our companions wants to see more action and we have a lot to prove, and I think Aira is probably going to follow our lead so lets go.

That sounds like a good plan.

But we need to prepare in case there is a necromancer down there.

Say we run into a room following this trail and find a necromancer and a bunch of undead. It would take some time to cut down the undead to take out the necromancer. And he could use that time to call in undead from behind us. Next thing you know we are surrounded.

So we go in quietly and carefully. Blocking side doors if we can and making sure we can not get flanked or cut off from a retreat.

As for the undead themselves. We target joints instead of center mass or the head. Got to put them down so they can not stand back up.

Fen 2017/09/07(Thu)13:12 No. 828608 ID: bfb318
File 150481513439.png - (32.45KB , 800x800 , 864.png )

"I would like to investigate where the mana is going, but if it's taking too long, or it seems like we're walking into a trap with a necromancer's minions, we leave."

Dinner is not at a specific time. If we go back late, we'll eat late. At worst, we'll just have colder food.

There aren't any side doors we can block, but the signs that undead have been here are from long time ago. We run into one, but it's unresponsive to any inquiries. We kill it, and Firzel is able to get an updated direction.

We end up going down a steep staircase, but it stays within the same tomb complex. Shortly after landing on the next floor, we stop.

Aira's torch flame is getting sucked into the hall. It's subtle, and we don't notice a breeze. The only reason why we noticed it is that the torchlight quickly disappears at a specific spot. Past that is pure darkness, except for a speck of light in the darkness. I shift left and right, and it moves with my vision, making it appear far away.

>"This." Firzel whispers. "This is the kind of nonsense I was expecting."

Nope. Fuck this.

We are not walking into this obvious murder zone. We report back that we found an anomaly that eats visible light. This is wizard shit.

Is that a mirror? Shoot an arrow with a blunt tip, see what happens.

>>828608
If you have any spare strips of cloth or sticks, light one on fire and toss it over the borderline. Do NOT cross the line.
If nothing obvious happens, go back and report it.
If something obvious happens, go back and report it.
Just do not enter the death place without knowing what it does.

>>828616
Oh that's a decent idea, we can poke at the trap to see what happens. Toss a rock into the darkness. See if it even makes a sound or if the darkness consumes it. Also poke it with a stick.

After some basic information gathering we can go back and report what we found. Get some orders from people more experienced with necromantic bullshit.

Check if it's dangerous by putting a stick inside.

>>828611
Agreed. This is obvious magic bullshit that is above Fen and company's pay grade and capability to deal with. Nope the fuck out and report it, because for all they know that mana sucking was intentional to lead into a trap.

I agree with reporting this, but there'll be an expectation of some meat to any such report. Establish if it's moving, growing, fading or so on. Stuff a piece of cloth in a crack in the wall to see if the black area moves, that sort of thing. Anything else you can think of to get information.

Maybe even split up and send two people back to report while another two stay to keep an eye on it? That looks like a spiral staircase so it'll be pretty defensible.

>>828618
This!

Does this remind you of the warp or whatever it was called?

Learn as much as you can about this area so you have a detailed report to bring back to base.

Test out the extent of the magical darkness but very very carefully. Then retreat to base to let people know what you discovered.

Also assume that any poking you do will alert the creator of this darkness to your discovery of it.

This is wizard shit, send two people to get a wizard and leave the other two to keep an eye on it. Don't touch it until you have a wizard.

>>828687
Don't split up the group! Bad things usually happen immediately after splitting up!

of course we aren't going to turn tail and run. We also aren't going to rush in.


Deploy a torch each, toss a stone into the darkness, and then advance forward keeping an eye to how much illumination you have. Swords out of course, there's no telling what's hiding in the darkness.

1/4 Fen 2017/09/07(Thu)17:09 No. 828729 ID: bfb318
File 150482937857.png - (21.54KB , 800x800 , 865.png )

It reminds me of the black wall while teleporting, but I never got this close while teleporting. It's just darkness, and the reason could be much different.

"I am not going to enter this hallway."
>"Yeah, nah." Valsano says.
>"We should at least test this border so we have something to report other than what we see." adds Firzel.
>"I agree." says Aira.
"... fine." I have hesitation, but I would be going against the group to fully deny anything, so I let them continue. "I want to throw something at that speck."
>"Here, I got a rock." says Valsano, stepping forward and throwing one far into the tunnel. We lose sight of it immediately. After a couple of seconds, we think we hear it land. It's extremely faint, and like the sound passed through water. It didn't sound right.
>"Firzel," Aira says, "light a second torch. This one is running low, anyway."

2/4 Fen 2017/09/07(Thu)17:09 No. 828730 ID: bfb318
File 150482938662.png - (18.78KB , 800x800 , 866.png )

Aira waits for the second torch to get going before she steps forward and tosses it in gently. The light does illuminate its surroundings slightly, but still much less than it should. It's also fading quickly.

>>828732
alright lets get the fuck otta here!

Can you still hear the torch burning?

Mostly want to figure out if this is just magical darkness or something way worse.

That's enough experimentation for one day I say.

Fuck that. It eats light. We are not going in there. Use something to write or indicate that further ahead is dangerous then head back and report findings and kills.

You really stand out with that green cloak amongst people wearing red and brown

Whatever's going on in there prevents light from illuminating the darkness.

Even if the suppression of light, or fire, is the only effect, that will be frustrating to deal with.

Yeah, go back and report this, maybe they'll send a cave kobold to check it out. Even if you do go in you'll be blind.

Right, stuff a bit of cloth into a crack in the wall or something so you'll know for sure this is where you were (maybe do something similar at the top of the stairs?) and go report.

Just to be sure, that was the torch that was running low that got tossed, right? The new one you started, you kept?

Oh, if you had a long object you could poke in and pull out again, it might leave some sort of magical residue on it for the wizard to get a sense of?

>>828731
That speck of light in the distance is gone
Get the fuck out of there, Fen

We have to make a name for ourselves, so I say testing isn't done here. Fen should light a torch of his own and then push his hand into the total darkness.

How many torches do we have? If we had a decent quantity of torches, maybe we could get just a few feet of visibility and use that to push forward. That's assuming you don't feel the life sucked out of you or like your freezing to death after you touch the clearly magically enchanted area.

Also, can you sense... anything magical in your immediate vicinity?

Alright let's get out of here.

Ok, cool, lets cast a magic missile at this darkness later.

>>828732
While I'm all for taking risks for fame and victory, those risks should have an immediate end goal outside of those two things. Going into the dark tunnel of almost certain death does not have an end goal AT ALL.
Just mark down its location for later and report it to see if somebody else has ran into something similar.

>>828732
cool, well you get to report back with kills and info now.
That looks like a problem that might need a wizard to fix, be sure to take note of the exact path taken to get here.

Make sure to have someone watching the rear while we leave this creepy magic area.

1/2 Fen 2017/09/08(Fri)11:42 No. 828920 ID: bfb318
File 150489612767.png - (18.87KB , 800x800 , 869.png )

The dark zone didn't just keep light from going far. It ate the flame, as we can't hear it burn anymore. I can sense magic, so it must be a wizard that has set this up.

"Alright, let's go." I hardly need to say it, as none of us want to be here any more. Firzel leads us back, and quickens the pace away.

It's not hard for us to watch our backs. Aira is designated as our rear guard, but Valsano frequently swings his head around in every direction. The newly lit torch only reaches so far, and the black depths of the tomb seem to surround us more. We relax, more, once we cross paths with scouts. We shout 'oy' to each other. I'm not sure when the trend started, but it caught on, and that's what we yell now to show we're living beings.

There is a small line to get back into a newly barricaded camp, though it's the size of a town. We're briefly inspected before we're allowed in.

2/2 Fen 2017/09/08(Fri)11:42 No. 828921 ID: bfb318
File 150489617303.png - (34.32KB , 800x800 , 870.png )

The camp is nearly unrecognizeable. So many supplies have came in, that many rough structures have come up. Much of the camp is already asleep, but there are still a lot of campfires dotting the area. We silently make our way back to our spot. A tent is set up, but more conspicuously is countertop at the back of a wall. Holly is here, selling drinks to people. It's not too surprising, apparently Erja Nokol is the most effective region at creating fast structures, though not that sturdy. Even caves are no problem. Apparently the land is porous in some ways, and air floats freely through. Even a sealed tomb will still have air, if local materials are used to seal it.

>"Hey, welcome back!" she calls us over.
>"What's with the shop?" Valsano asks.
>"May as well make some money while we're here, right? Always kind of dreamed of running a tavern. I mentioned it was a pipe dream of mine to Orjin in passing, and he started yelling at me to start doing it, so here I am. It's just a counter, but maybe it'll be a real place once we pick up and move down to the necromile. The word is that that is going to be a good place to set up a more permanent camp, since it looks like it isn't too dangerous at the top. Anyways, drinks for you guys are free, for those that want them." Holly says, knowing that Aira, myself, and Firzel don't drink.
>"I'll have a drink." says Aira.
"You drink, now?"
>"Just now. Holly, give me something that warms the body, because that's what I need."
>"Sure. It's cold down here once you get away from all the campfires, isn't it?"
>"It's not that." Aira continues. "There's a weird area that blocked light. I tossed a torch in, and when I did, my arm got chilled. It's better, now, but something about it still makes me shiver. Where's Orjin?"
>"Talking in the tent." says Holly. "Bolk's team got back a little while ago. Apparently Mowbow found an emblem in a zombie's stomach. It turned out to be a wiped party that went missing after running into one of those weird areas you just mentioned. Orjin's busy right now trying to get the details out of them. Any drinks for the rest of you?"
>"Ale please." says Firzel.
>"Sure. You cold, too?" asks Holly.
>"... not cold, but the same area got to me. Something creeped me out, like we were being watched."
>"Yeah, give me a beer." says Valsano. "No justification, here. I just want a beer. You getting customers who don't mind one-legged drinks?"
>"Yup." Holly explains. Valsano has given her a verbally hard time about her leg, but he's been oddly defensive of her when an outsider points it out. "Some people don't like it, but Orjin's nearly bit their head off if they so much as point it out. Want anything, Fen?"
"I'll pass, thank you. People are aware of those dark areas?"
>"Yeah. They're not always dark, but they're not normal. Discovered ones are being put on bulletin boards around camp, so you can probably find yours on there and what's known about it. Did any of you actually go in?"
"No, it looked like a deathtrap."
>"Yeah, heh, if you went in past 10 feet, you'd be the first ones that did so and came back out to talk about it. Those zones are apparently the main threat, not the zombies that wander around freely. You know what would've been nice? If you were all told this before getting rushed off to scout first. All of you must have ran far, because for awhile, scouts were being sent out just to pull you guys back so you could be told what was going on. You should've been here, though. Zall completely lost his temper. He had to have his escort pull him back so that he didn't get into a fistfight with the previous general! He's going to have scouts probe those anomalies down in the lower tombs, then start sending in volunteer parties to see about learning how to clear them out, since apparently the source is something tangible at the center of each."

She lowers her voice to a whisper.

>"Most people know they're deathtraps. There might not be enough volunteers, and people around here are going to be 'volunteered', or at least draw lots to see who has to go. There will be wizards to help, but apparently no wizards we have are fully capable of nullifying the magical elements of these places. If you guys think it's that bad, you'd better make yourselves scarce in the morning."

>>828921
If we actually have a wizard with some knowledge we can probably take out a zone. Go ahead and volunteer Fen.

>>828921
Ask if anyone else wants to go in with you.

Mention that mana coming from the slain zombies were going into the darkness areas.

>>828921
Let's check on the maps how big the zones are before making a decision.

>>828921
Mention that there was a speck of light in the darkness. Maybe that is the source? Any skilled archers could probably shoot it if necessary.

Also mention that the undead your team ran into were attracted to a body you were burning and they pretty much threw themselves on the flames and smiled because they complained of being cold.

>Apparently Mowbow found an emblem in a zombie's stomach. It turned out to be a wiped party that went missing after running into one of those weird areas you just mentioned.
The undead ate the missing party?

So any undead in the dark areas are hostile, while the ones we've seen wandering around are harmless? That's odd.

>Volunteer or "volunteer"?
>If you guys think it's that bad, you'd better make yourselves scarce in the morning.
Well, maybe we can volunteer Fen? I'm not sure.

But if we do have Fen volunteer and no one else wants to come along with him, then don't try to force them to tag along with him. He'll just be put in another team with a wizard.

>>828930
This.

Give Holly the run down about what you discovered. How the energy or souls of slain undead appears to be drawn back into those areas.

Then track down your boss and make your report. As for volunteers to search one of those things that might be a impressive feather in your cap. Assuming they are not universally lethal.

I bet at the center of one of those is a necromatic focus the bad guys are using to extract and control the energy they need. And without some sort of protection from the power drain its probably fairly deadly.

I don't know about volunteering for this. If there are several of these areas, then they're probably made by some planted artifact rather than necromancers. They could be made by some special undead with the spell on them, but in that case they would move.

In other words, this job amounts to magical hazardous waste disposal. It's a ton of risk for not really any glory, and Fen, being someone who wants to build rep and climb ranks quick, should find something that lets him show off a bit more, and besides that, let this be handled by non-barbarians, who probably know just a little bit more about magic in general just by casual exposure to gossip about wizards, which he lacks. Every little could help.

Wake up early in the morning and go find some perilous combat job to do instead.

Anything else we should have been told and weren't?

The zombies in the dark zones might not be any more aggressive than the ones we fought. It's more likely that just being in the dark zone drains your life, and the zombies eat the victims once they're dead or paralyzed. The right method for clearing an anomaly might be to rush straight in to get at the source before you die to the life drain.

>>828938
Pretty much my idea too. Which is why the size of the anomalies is important.

>>828921
also ask about keeping trophies from the undead like a broken horn.

I say volunteer, for Fen only.

>>828921
We could check it out ourselves. We being Fen, that is.
If these zones make people cold, and the zombies are searching for warmth, could it be that all the undead are actually byproducts of whatever these zones do? Like, it takes away the warmth of living, but doesn't kill its victims.
Question, have any of the zones moved or spread? Cause if they do, then the zombies might spread out to areas of warmth for the zones to move to.

>>828921
I think the only way to know what exactly these zones can do and what we can do to them is to tie some poor shmuck to a long rope and have them walk forward, with the rest of the team ready to pull them back out at a moment's notice.
Making a suicide run for the point of light (if anybody else has seen one) would be the job for the second shmuck. Most likely us.
This is all depending on wither or not anybody knows what exactly kills people in the zones. And this suggestion is for the point that it is still a mystery.

>>828921
I think if we can snipe the light in the center, we should be able to clear a zone. We just need a method to hit it with.

Honestly, probably a mix of slingshot and a gunpowder pellet might do it. With a little extra momentum boost from a wizard, we could nail it.

It's obvious you can't go in without a method to fight the darkness. IF it snuffs out fire, it'll take some experimentation to figure out what light won't repel it. I bet that's the key. Judging from the watery sound, the darkness could be enchanted with water to fight fire, so we need like... glowsticks or electricity or something. Whatever people use to light dark waters.

I don't mind facing down danger, but I would much prefer it be a danger I can fight. There's less you can do about an environmental hazard. Especially magic.

>forcing people into the magic traps
Well, that seems the wrong strategy. We can't afford to solve problems by spending bodies recklessly. We're going to have to re-kill every soldier who gets cut down and zombified by rushing into magic traps.

Can we bypass the blacked out areas? We're digging down through sealed hatches and setting up stairs already, can't we just drop stairs to go around these things?

...or better yet, if the wizards can sense the "source" in the middle of the darkness, we come at it by breaking in from the floor above.

>>828958
>Honestly, probably a mix of slingshot and a gunpowder pellet might do it.
A bow and an arrow are going to be more accurate than a slingshot and pellet.

We're not going down there without a wizard anyway. A wizard escort group sounds doable enough.

>>828921
>mention light in darkness
yeah that little dot might be worth following up on, as the only thing visible thing in a light-eating area it's notable.

Ask about getting a bow with special arrows you could use it against the source of the disturbance from outside the affected area. If you get the right type of arrows you could destroy the source effectively disabling the field of its effects.

Fen already has a bow.

I'd recommend against volunteering. If you draw the short straw there's nothing to do, but clearing out multiple zones sounds like a good way to get hypothermia or some kind of lung disease.

1/2 Fen 2017/09/09(Sat)11:18 No. 829221 ID: bfb318
File 150498109261.png - (29.30KB , 800x800 , 871.png )

"About Mowbow's find... does that mean that the undead ate the wiped party?"
>"Honestly, I'm not sure, but it sounded more like the undead was the wiped party. If so, then usually they would be stripped of valuable gear and emblems before being revived as zombies, but this person ate their emblem before dying." Holly explains.
"How big are these anomalies?"
>"There's no hard amount, you can check them out on the bulletin board. I hear the first one the old guard took care of took up an entire tomb. Which one did you guys get to?"

We start to tell her about the white speck and more details, but she stops us.

>"Which floor was this one?"
>"It was down a flight of stairs." says Firzel. "But it was on the same tomb."
>"There's no..." Holly turns her head to the tent. "Orjin! Fen's group found a new anomaly!"

Despite being busy, Orjin comes out violently enough to make the entire tent shudder.

"Talk to me! Go! Holly, write everything down!"

We explain in more detail, but Orjin covers questions and details we hadn't thought of. Things like if the walls outside of the zone were crawling, if we saw any small animals, or other things that sound either irrelevant or random. At some point, Valsano shows Orjin the horns he's collected. Orjin says he doesn't care about trophies from harmless zombies, but us finding a new anomaly is much bigger news.

"Sounds like a pain in the ass like the rest of them sound."
"I may be willing to volunteer, but I want it to be a danger I can fight."
>"I'll follow, if you do." Aira says.
"Yeah, sure, if the wizards do their jobs. Hell, you might just need some precautions. Like your white speck? We'll wrap up a scout in a nice blanket, give him a glowrock that doesn't give off heat, and see if that works. We'll sent in scouts till they can go in more than 10 feet without falling over before you so much as swing a sword. Then we send in some people are aren't shit."
"And if they die?"
"Do I look like a grand knight to you? I don't know the plan."
"If we can see the source, why don't we just shoot it with a bow and arrow or other projectile? Or drop in from a floor above? Or just bypass them altogether?"
"If that actually worked and the veterans here never thought of it, we'll never stop laughing at them! We'll be pointing and jeering at them all the way down the tower and then all the way back up! Not like many of 'em are alive, what with their solving anomalies by throwing people inside until it goes away."
"That sounds like the wrong strategy."
"I'd tell you you're a damn genius, but since the old guys didn't know that, you might not catch my sarcasm! Zall's willing to throw in a handful of people that are going to die, because it's a drop in the bucket compared to how many died before. Hear the rumors about what the mortality rate is for people who get close to an anomaly's source? Because they're true."
"I haven't heard."
"All of them. Not a single person that has gotten closer to an anomaly's source than the anomaly's edge has ever lived. Or maybe they have, we don't know, because no bodies that got that close have been found. If your anomaly is anything like the others, then it probably has some deadly shit inside, because it takes more than a chilly atmosphere and bad visibility to kill that many people, that fast! After enough people die in an anomaly, it just picks up and leaves. As far as Zall is concerned, the intelligent things down here have just been putting their little pet projects of inhospitable environments to the test, and picking off scouts that straggle or wander too far. Our enemies haven't even seriously fought us in a proper fight! And they don't need to, because these fuckers," Orjin says, waving to the rest of the camp, "have been feeding them freely for weeks. I'm going to report this white speck anomaly to Zall. I'll have your scouting bounty for you tomorrow morning. Go look at the bulletin board."
"Is there anything else we should be told, and haven't been?"
"Yeah, and because of these incompetent bastards, we barely even know what's true and what's not. I felt more knowledgeable back when I knew nothing!"

He starts to leave, then turns back.

"You idiots can't sense magic well enough to dodge punches with your eyes shut, can you?" he asks, in a tone so conversational for him that I might not have recognized his voice if I couldn't see him talk.
"That sounds implausible for us to do quickly."
"So are worms trying to eat a bird, but here you dirt fuckers are, wriggling deep into a bird's nest. Work on it. Dodge work if you have to, because you're all going to die down here if you can't see shapes from mana alone."

2/2 Fen 2017/09/09(Sat)11:20 No. 829223 ID: bfb318
File 150498124983.png - (14.30KB , 800x800 , 872.png )

Orjin leaves us. My interest in volunteering is mixed. My teammates start wandering, and after some rest, Aira and I find one of the bulletin boards. By the time we got to it, they've already added our entry, and it looks like they've already gotten to the top of the necromile.

1. Black Trunk. Source is an unknown target at the tip of a tree that's grown off the side of the tomb, through dirt. The zone is inside of the trunk, at approximately 25' in diameter and 60' in height with an apparent entrance at the base of the trunk. It is consumed by dense vegetation, typically in the form of vines and moss. Fire has proven ineffective. Mining is difficult, but possible and may be used if casualties are too high. Dangers include sinking moss, poison clouds, possible carnivorous plants. This anomaly currently does not interrupt missions, but ignoring it may leave it to curve back into top levels of the mausoleum or out of the ground entirely, potential exposing our flanks or the surface. This is linked to the benign plants surrounding it.

2. False Space. Source is an unconfirmed, small living creature. The zone is the south middle of Maul's tomb. The area appears normal, but illusory effects occur here. Dangers: partial blindness. Both allies and enemies may appear invisible or as something else. This anomaly's source seeks food, and can be lured with some success away from camp, but it is slow moving and unpredictable. This area is linked to the blind zombies in the same tomb.

3. Sinkhole. Source: Unknown; possibly not an anomaly. It is a 35 foot diameter hole located on the outer rim of Fovnk's Tomb. The pit's walls have dropped any pegs, torches, or steps implanted into it. No undead seen in or around location. It is uncertain that the undead use this as a travel route. Bottom unseen - assumed to continue to drop down. Guard post under construction.

4. Exploration. Anomalies must be dealt with, but Grand Knight Zall has approved further delving until further notice. Note: Too many deep delvers in the past have led to wide range anomalies blocking off return routes. Low numbers of scouts that wander far away have gone missing, despite going to floors that would be later discovered to be harmless. Only the operating level minus 2 (Fovnk's) and above are considered safe, outside of anomalies.

4a. Necromile Seal. Not an anomaly. Mithril Aourga left the necromile to sink approximately 30 feet through the dirt before building his tomb over it. Scouts have begun to dug through it, but have reported a tar layer has blocked digging progress. Investigation is pending on if the lake can be drained. No current entrance known for the necromile. Note that many scouts within Aourga's tomb have been reported missing as of tonight.

5. White Speck. Verification pending. Source: Unknown source, likely made of of white light. This zone is at the northwest section of the operating level tomb (Pon's), with the space identified as a field that consumes fire and heat. This is linked to the warmth zombies. Attempts to break into this level above or below will most likely cause a leak and a reorientation of the zone's effects.

Bounties:
Reporting a new anomaly will earn 20 silver upon verification.
Finding a useable way into the necromile will earn 20 silver.
The first scout(s) who get 10 feet beyond visibility in an anomaly receive 20 silver upon their return.
Any scout that gives correct information to a truth wizard will receive between 10 and 50 silver depending on usefulness.
The first team that successfully clears any anomaly and survives will receive 200 gold pieces split within their team. Future successful clears will be decided later.
Those who have willingly volunteered and die during organized expeditions in an anomaly will receive 4 weeks of their wages upon their death, delivered to their person of choice.

>>829223
They're having problems with a sinkhole? Why haven't they tried dropping a rope ladder down it by securing it on the floor?

Shaman 2017/09/09(Sat)11:49 No. 829230 ID: 26c0a3
File 150498298569.png - (26.87KB , 800x600 , rope ladder.png )

>>829228
Easiest solution ever.

>work on dodging punches with your eyes shut
Looks like Fen can add blindfolded samurai training to his routine. I'm sure you can convince your pals to take some swings at you, or throw some stuff at you.

>the brass has been throwing bodies at the anomalies, giving the enemy more corpses for necromancy, and the chance to experiment with magic traps safely
That's incompetence bordering on treason. Someone up the chain of command really deserves to die.

>missions
Plant one seems the most straightforward in terms of an enemy to fight, but it's also a good way to waste our one dose of universal antidote if everything in there uses poison.

Illusions sounds terrible. We're paranoid enough without the squad killing each other, thank you very much.

Sinkhole sounds like a problem for engineers, not soldiers, and climbing down (and trying to fight?) in an endless vertical shaft is terrible.

White speck sounds sort of the least terrible. I'd rather deal with the dark and cold than illusions.

Honestly, I feel like we'd be better off doing exploration or looking for a way through the seal than fighting either anomaly. Or trying to sneak as much training time as possible, so we're prepared to take the anomalies on better when we eventually have to.

>>829228
>>829230
They probably don't have a rope ladder long enough for that, if the pit goes down further than they can see, even when dropping a torch down it.

It sounds like there's a class of scouts who are considered more disposable than we are? I have to wonder who those poor schmucks are. Convicted criminals or something? We should know, just in case we have to interact with them later. On the subject of who's down here, I also wanted to ask: are the civilians who come down to the safe areas for business and such also quarantined, or can they enter and leave freely?

Anyway, I'd recommend going to Black Trunk, because Fen lived in a partly magical forest and may have some applicable skills to a place filled with plants.

I'd suggest White Speck on the simple basis of continuing what you started, but I think I might have noticed something: were any of the warmth zombies field kobolds? I don't think they were. In fact, they looked to be mostly draconics, with that one half-draconic half-oceanic. Maybe there's something to that? But, Fen is draconic himself, so it's not very applicable to him. He should mention it, but he probably can't follow up on it.

>>829234
>Rope ladder isn't long enough
They can easily make it longer. They can also attach glowstone lanterns to the ladder, so darkness isn't an issue.

>>829221
>"You idiots can't sense magic well enough to dodge punches with your eyes shut, can you?"
From the way he talks about it, I think it's safe to assume that he can easily do it!

>Work on it. Dodge work if you have to, because you're all going to die down here if you can't see shapes from mana alone.
I think we'd better listen to his advice and start training to do that! In a place like this, having a skill like that will be useful!

>>829223
>Reporting a new anomaly will earn 20 silver upon verification.
So that's what Sir Orjin meant by scouting bounty. Looks like your group has earned 20 silver!

>>829228
>>829230
That's not a good idea. The ground around the hole is fragile and could collapse when someone tries to hammer in the supports for the rope to connect to. And if the ground collapses, that'll just make the hole bigger.

>>829234
>That's incompetence bordering on treason. Someone up the chain of command really deserves to die.
Yes, but let's make sure we don't say that out loud. You never know who's gonna snitch on you.

>>829236
There's also going to be the problem if we can't anchor it to the walls as we go, there will only be a single anchor site at the top.

So if the ladder fails anywhere (attacked by climbing zombies, or flying monsters, or a simple tear, or a knot failing) everyone below that point falls to their deaths.

You'd also have to send small groups down, separately, since the supports can only support so much weight, and the super-long ladder is going to contribute a lot of weight in and of itself.

>>829238
>There's also going to be the problem if we can't anchor it to the walls as we go, there will only be a single anchor site at the top.
Let's not forget how much the ladder is going to be swinging all over the place.

Sure, you can say you'll be able to hold on, but if you get swung around and end up hitting your head hard enough, you'll get knocked out and fall to death!

Mana sense seems like it would be incredibly useful for entering the False Zone and White Speck anomalies. False Zone especially, since the "small creature" is definitely an illusion. It's probably some huge beast. Start training that immediately.

...I wonder how fast the White Speck would put out burning tar or oil. Maybe send someone with tar-soaked rags wrapped around their armor and set them on fire so they can reach the anomaly before freezing to death?
Hmm, for the Trunk you'd probably want to put down planks or similar things to avoid sinking moss, and breathe through air bladders for short distances or a breathing tube with pumped in air from outside the anomaly. Or heck if there's some sort of magical scuba equipment that'd be the best option. If the poison clouds are visible and move around then bladders might be enough. Unless it's contact poison in which case nevermind don't even think about going in there.
False Zone could be dealt with by setting up a fortified chokepoint then luring the source there with food, destroying any threats that enter the chokepoint via mana sense. Anyone that attempts to help that doesn't have good enough mana sense would just be a friendly fire risk.

Anyway let's deal with something more mundane while training up mana sense. Head towards the Sinkhole to help with the guard post.

You could throw down a full-on net instead of a simple rope ladder.

Fen, I forgot to say: practice your blindfighting like Orjin suggests. Maybe take a swing at more unarmed fighting as well, at the same time, particularly evading/escaping unarmed strikes and grapples. I'm sure there's someone around who can tutor you in classical-era oiled-up naked wrestling, and doing it blindfolded will help you with the mana sensing.

In fact, given that this is a military camp, full of stressed soldiers who'll be craving a distraction from the undead horrors, I'll bet someone already has or soon will set up some betting on various "practice" fights. People put more effort in when there's something to win, and people might give a little something just to watch. Maybe you could even consider it yourself. Might as well turn a little profit from the training you're going to do anyway, hey? You'll need money to buy heat supplies for yourself and your team; I expect the market prices will be high down here. It'll raise morale, too, and physical activity will keep you warm. Think about it. You could even suggest it to Orjin! Not the betting and payment aspects but, you know, the rest.

>>829223
Does anybody have a map of the anomalies? Or in what order they were discovered? Cause I have a bit of an idea to compare the anomalies to their place and time of appearance, the camp sights, the seal, and the white speck we saw.
I would go with 2, since an anomaly as an actual living thing would be rather beneficial to use if we can get it alive. Then we can do the "tie a rope to them" plan with it instead.

>>829242

Maybe mention the possibility to Holly first, she's a businesswoman who knows what soldiers want from their free time and money.

>>829238
Resources are not an issue. There's room to place at least a dozen ladders. If the ladder swings, put weights at the bottom. If the ground is unstable at the edge of the sinkhole, put the anchors farther back. If the rope is too weak, reinforce it. All of these problems are easily solved.

We S.T.A.L.K.E.R. now. Quickly, get your green hood to channel your inner Strelok and gain wisdom of The Zone.

I say try and kill the False Space. Bait it somewhere specific with food, kill it at range or with a trap- just like you're back home hunting for food, except you've eaten the wrong kind of mushrooms. I'd recommend using explosives to get the job done but I'm willing to bet you'll have to make do instead. If you're worried about illusions resulting in blue-on-blue, equip everyone with sturdy helmets and agree to only slay undead through overhead strikes to the dome piece. No matter what you do, I recommend honing your magic sense first.

Make a mental note that Aourga, slayer of the undead will probably show up sooner or later for all your glory hounding needs.

>>>829240
I actually was going to recommend setting yourself on fire to resist the speck's effects, but looking back I think this suggestion might already be a little out there.

Oh, another possibility for the False Zone is leaving poisoned food for the creature to eat. Or boobytrapped food.

You should practice mana sense fighting with your group during any spare moments. Blindfold one person and have another attack them unarmed in very slow fashion. So would basically be having Aira lightly slapping at random parts of your body while you tried to sense where her slaps would come from. Each of you could pair up and practice this during free time until you got it down. Once you do pick it up tell the others any tricks you learned.

And you better hurry. You will run out of light down here at some point. So being able to sense your surroundings at all times will save your lives.


As for the anomalies it does appear that they are a grab bad of wizard experiments that have been let loose. Someone mutated a plant here and experimented on a lab rat there.

I would spend awhile training your sensing and then go for the illusion beast. Everyone blindfold up so they can avoid getting distracted and then sense your way to it. Then put it in a cage and drop it off with a wizard for a bonus.

1. Maybe you could try to infect it with a plant disease to kill it?

2. Presumably you should be able to catch it and kill it, especially if it's slow-moving

3.You could explore it, but yeah, it seems like you would need to have the ladder held up by people or fastened a bit away from the sinkhole.

5. There are probably a few ways to investigate this one that you can do without entering it. Shoot the white light somehow, try to overload the anomaly by setting off an explosion or really big fire (which you would have to check the stability so you don't cause a cave-in, or set a big fire just outside to try and lure out all the zombies before trying to enter it. A fucked up way to check is to maybe set a small animal on fire and send them in, so you can see what happens to it as it runs inside however far.

>>829251
Also for the plant you could try to choke it by depriving it of carbon dioxide or salting the ground it gets it's nutrients from.

Some random ideas for dealing with each bounty

1: Check if poisoning or otherwise dealing with something in the surrounding vegetation will affect the anomaly. Removing its source of water or finding a way to burn the area could also be possible.

2: Would have to test things but sending in your team blindfolded with some tasty treats and a few animal trap cages might work well. Treat it like a forest animal you wanted to catch and put baited traps all over. Then check the traps blindfolded relying on your other senses. (unless its a dangerous small animal with lots of teeth)

3: Build a arch over the pit making sure none of the structure gets anywhere close to it. Then use a pully system and rope to lower people or a light down it. Probably test on a animal in a cage first. If you pull its exploded corpse back up then its a bad sign.

4: More scouting would be a good way of finding any other anomalies and practicing your mana senses before taking on something more dangerous. Plus it lets you get the lay of the land down here.

4a: Would be similar to the other scouting but would be tracking where the tunnel through the tar is. Probably has active zombies or worse guarding this area.(tar zombies?)

5: This one seems to absorb or redirect heat. Further tests are needed but could try insulating someone with heavy snow clothes. Building a huge fire outside and trying to overwhelm its draining powers. Or building a forge with blower next to it to try and get the heat hot enough to break it. Either way if you explore this you should have a strong fire outside of it so you can warm up quickly. Could possibly experiment with the zombies themselves as well. Shove one into the field and see what happens.


Also maybe you could use some anomalies against each other? Like #2 if capture could maybe be thrown into another area to confuse the stuff in there. Or say if area 5 has a core maybe you could use it to freeze area 1. Watch for creative uses of things you find.


That 200 gold reward is going to be a strong temptation for your team. You know lots of other teams will be trying for it as well. So go for it if you can put together a good plan. But don't take stupid risks.

>>829245
You seem to think that no one has already thought of that. If it were that simple, it would've already been done.

It's on the bulletin board for a reason, so it might not just be a normal hole in the ground.

For all we know, it might actually be another anomaly that eats light and fire, like the anomaly that Fen's group ran into, only now it's in a hole instead of a hallway. Meaning climbing into the hole is going to have the same problems as walking into one of the dark areas.

>>829257
>burn the area could also be possible.
It was already mentioned on the bulletin board that, "Fire has proven ineffective."

>>829259
I do believe that nobody thought of that. Sir Orjin just told us that the previous strategy for removing anomalies was feeding them and hoping they go away. The board says that stuff falls out of the walls of the sinkhole, which implies that they've only tried scaling downwards without securing ropes on anchors in the floor.

>>829257
>>829260

RE: the tree area. If the tree is alive, and has typical tree anatomy, and apparently the bottom of the trunk is reachable, then you can kill the tree by stripping the bark and underbark in a circle around the base of the tree. That'll destroy the vascular tissues and the tree will die, or at least not be able to grow any further above that point. Even if you can't reach the whole trunk, cutting what you can will stunt the tree's growth in that direction.

It could be some sort of magic zombie tree, but a common feature of all undead is that they don't grow, so it should be some sort of evil but living plant and therefore need its tree organs.

>>829223
I say the false space would be useful if we can find a way to use it/nullify it.

Wait I have seen this puzzle before!

So the creature creating the illusions will turn out to be a beaver. We catch it and bring it to the tree. The beaver knocks the tree down and gets crushed by the falling trunk.

Then we find a angry parrot stuck under the top of the tree. We free it and take it down to the dark hallway. We throw it in and its power to make things grow blows up the darkness and it in the process.

Then we just need to haul the tree trunk downstairs and use it to plug up the hole!

>>829301
Kome, is that you?

>>829301
That advice was so nonsensical that I am wanting to follow it just for the CHANCE it is true.

You might want to go down to the warmth zombies since they are so weak and practice sensing mana with them. One person tries to sense while the other keeps watch and makes sure they don't die accidentally.

That or find something with a lot of mana you can focus on sensing clearly.

Also another way to maybe kill the False Space is by luring it to the tree or the cold place.

>>829223
Find out what the small living creature from section 2 likes to eat or is drawn to, get some and soak it in some of tomato's poison. Hopefully this will kill the source and destroy the field.

>>829322
The poison is most likely denatured by now... but it was originally incredibly potent so maybe it would still do something.

Keep scouting for other anomalies and clearing combatants.

We have a party good enough to fight off mild combatants and a tracker and a guy good with directions. We can't solve anomalies. It's mystical magical bullshit.

It sounds like exploration is probably our best bet. Let's see what other creepy necromatic magic we can't find?

>>829322
Poison might not work, if the "small living creature" is actually some kind of undead.

Also, I'm reluctant to use up a resource we can't replace. Or to use a poison we're not supposed to have on a target we'd be claiming the kill on.

>>829416
>Also, I'm reluctant to use up a resource we can't replace.
That part isn't a problem: It will use itself up on its own if we don't act fast.
>Or to use a poison we're not supposed to have on a target we'd be claiming the kill on.
Not a problem either: The quill knight saw the poison and was all "OK, but I doubt it will last."

>>829471
>That part isn't a problem: It will use itself up on its own if we don't act fast.
Actually, the poison came from Tomato, right? And Tomato is from Erja Nokol, which is the same place the tomb we're currently in is located. Doesn't that mean that since the poison is with us in Erja Nokol, it shouldn't be effected by whatever degrades things not in their native land?

>>829472
Ah, you're right. The only time we had for it to rot was before we arrived.

>>829472
Lord Shup said in ITQ that nothing actually counts as being from Erja Nokol.

Orjin basically just told you to skip work and practice blind fighting. You've already got something decent on your records by discovering an anomaly, so you and your team can probably just go out "exploring" again and practice somewhere, wandering around occasionally (maybe while walking have two people blindfolded and needing to find where to turn and such by finding the other two?) and then just come back going "oh man we didn't find anything this time guess we used up our luck already for now". So long as it's not blatant and you do something useful from time to time no-one should mind.

I'm not familiar with how disciplining works in your army but traditionally any disciplining is supposed to come from your superior and that's Orjin, so if you're doing what he's told you to do it should be pretty light so long as you don't make anyone mad enough that even higher officers pay attention.

I agree, Sir Orjin basically told you this is going to save your life, and knowing more about how magic works is only going to be useful anyway.

>>829499
I agree. Let's listen to Sir Orjin's advice on how to not get killed and do some training so that we can see shapes from mana alone.

1/3 Fen 2017/09/10(Sun)16:02 No. 829588 ID: bfb318
File 150508455962.png - (37.96KB , 800x800 , 873.png )

After hearing Orjin talk about feeding the necromancers, it makes me wonder if that fistfight Holly mentioned was when Zall started finding out about this.

I consider if there's a pattern for when anomalies show up. White Speck being shown last makes me think the board posts them in order of discovery, but if so, it's odd that exploration is number 4. Perhaps it just wasn't a formal job until after the 3rd site was found. is last. Even then, it may be awhile before an anomaly is discovered, so the discovery order may not be the same order in which the anomalies were formed. A result of posting information as fast as they are is that a lot of information is missing. The sinkhole, especially if it's not an anomaly, doesn't give any convincing reason why they can't drop a ladder down. I'm almost certain they've thought of something so obvious, but if not, then I'm sure they'll try it soon. I ask around, but no one I ask has been around the sinkhole.

Other information is gained while asking. While the assassin's branch of the army is the main force, there is the garrison branch, but also the criminal branch. The latter one is more expendable, with various scouts and other dangerous missions being given at the chance of regaining innocence. Civilians also cannot leave the quarantine either. They're just employees and hired shopkeepers. The truly rich merchants wouldn't come down here themselves. I'm not sure how they ensure that their hired shopkeepers aren't skimming money.

"Aira, I'd like to train my sense of mana first, before any anomalies."
>"That sounds safe." Aira's expression does not change much, but I can tell she's relieved about my decision.
"I can't even sense regular kobolds yet, so it may be best to train on a zombie. I want to go exploring tomorrow, and we can find one then."
>"That would work, if we can find one. Can you sense a lot of kobolds around at once?"
"Yes, but attempting to sort out a single one seems too tough for now."
>"Maybe, but zombies are difficult to find. I think we got a little lucky. We can try to find some while exploring, but if you want to do it tonight, I suggest we go where there's gradually less people, and we find out how many people you need around to sense mana. If it's 10 in 10 feet, go for 9 in 10 feet, or 10 in 12 feet, and so on."
"What if we had practice fights, hand to hand?"
>"That is above our level, Fen. Let's do Orjin's suggestion to punch each other once we can sense punches, because we both want our heads to maintain their shape."

2/3 Fen 2017/09/10(Sun)16:03 No. 829589 ID: bfb318
File 150508461185.png - (40.80KB , 800x800 , 874.png )

After practicing Aira's suggestion to improve mana sensing around camp, we work our way back to Orjin's tent.

I sit down at Holly's counter to get some food before I sleep, while I try and continue focusing on nearby kobolds. I also consider my poison. Tomato's mana should be included in the poison, acting as a natural anti-rot measure. Still, even as an abomination, he isn't a forest kobold, and his poison will begin to rot after the mana is gone. If I can learn to sense mana, then I'll be able to tell when the poison loses its ability.

"Holly, where are the bodies of the mithril nobles kept?"
>"Presumably in the biggest, most elaborate, most treasure filled room in each tomb, with tomb guards posted there. Get this, though. They're so against desecrating the resting places that they haven't even checked to make sure the bodies are still there!"
"So..."
>"They're probably not there at all, no. There may be a whole party of raised mithril nobles."
"So the tomb guards are protecting... just, treasure?"
>"Probably not even that. Since each tomb was sealed, what was stopping people from digging through a mountain and into a low tomb, mining through the walls, and taking an enormous amount of treasure? There's even rumors that some mithril nobles hired people to do just that. And if the rumors are right, then the tunnels should have been filled back in by now. Oh, by the way, Orjin has me in charge of wages. Here's 4 copper for today. I can also exchange for silver at a slightly better rate than merchants will."

People come and go through Holly's counter. Most of the soldiers don't seem to enjoy merchants trying to sell things in areas where soldiers sleep, so Holly, who runs a business through a soldier's camping spot, seems to have gotten lucky with a good location. I'm sure other soldiers will get the idea now too.

I have talks with a variety of other people, mostly other assassin branch people under other greater knights.

Since I do not plan on going to these anomalies, at least not now, I share some of my ideas with removing them. I also hear ideas about just throwing a lot of glowrocks into the dark zone, and thoroughly clearing plants constantly from the outside in for the tree. Despite that I'm not the only one who has thought of various ideas, it seems like the plan is still to throw people in.

There aren't many people that seem willing to volunteer for what's seen as a suicide mission, but Zall is only willing to sacrifice so many people anyway. The more information that's found out from sacrifices, the higher the number will go up. However, the starting number, the max that will be sacrificed for no gain, will be 10 scouts and 20 soldiers. Lots will be drawn to decide who gets to go, as well as in what order. Depending on how that goes, other options will be explored, which I take it will be the ideas to kill off the sources without having to charge in like a gladiator.

3/3 Fen 2017/09/10(Sun)16:03 No. 829591 ID: bfb318
File 150508462254.png - (13.00KB , 800x800 , 875.png )

I don't see Sir Orjin again before going to bed, and I wake up early. There are 5 silver pieces dropped in front of me. Apparently Orjin had good faith I would find them. There may not be much of a rush to leave, and it sounds extremely unlikely that I will be forcibly volunteered into an anomaly even if I choose to stay, but since I've decided to go exploring, I should choose my destination.

The main goals are to search for more anomalies, or search for a way into the necropolis. I could also just forego exploration in favor of focusing on meditation to increase my sense of mana.

I may also want to ask for help from at least one ally, but maybe more. Aira has come with me, I think, because of the healing cloth I bought for her. I did it in the hopes that she would be a trustworthy ally, but I don't want her to feel like she owes me her life. Firzel's senses are also what led to us finding the anomaly.

I think training with Firzel would be a good idea. We already know Aira is reliable, but I'd like to see how Firzel reacts to danger before shit really hits the fan. I somewhat doubt that training is going to go perfectly smoothly, after all.

I would ask Aira and Firzel. Make a scouting team of 3 and go searching a random unexplored area.

While out there you can take turns practicing your mana senses and help each other with any tricks you learn.

As for the hand to hand training? It does not have to be actual combat Fen. All you have to do is take turns closing your eyes and then have one of the others slowly try to touch you in a random place. While you focus on trying to figure out where they are trying to touch.

Ask anyone who will join you to train sensing mana, maybe see if anyone else has better ideas on how to do it or if someone more advanced than you outside your little group is willing to help. If you can boost your senses you'll probably be able to find more anomalies like Firzel did. Either way he's why you found the first one and you would probably need him to reliably find another.

Also is that alternate Springfoot? No, I just checked and Springfoot has ridges for eyebrows. Nevermind.

Well, when you were talking to Aira about training your senses, you were saying "I want to go exploring tomorrow, and we can find one then" and she was reacting "That would work, if we can find one", so I think you've basically already asked her to go. Just ask her if she still wants to. It's to her benefit too, so I don't think you're stepping on her debt to you or anything. Firzel's the one you'll be bothering more, I think, since you're asking for his help at something he's already better than you at.

In any case, I think three is the bare minimum for wandering around in this place. You could still trip over some danger by chance. Check around to see if anyone else from Orjin's squad is already up. Maybe poke them awake for just a moment so they can take their coins and put them away, for anyone else who's had some dropped in front of them.

For the unarmed training, you don't need to start off with full-on fighting. Before advancing to sparring, some martial arts teachers have their students begin with just touching knees and shoulders, pairing them off to try touching those spots while trying to block or dodge being touched in those spots. Sometimes the top of the head is added as a target. It's open-hand, so the most that can happen is you'll get slapped.

Meet up with Firzel and Aira and kill more zombies to find more anomalies.

Head to the furthest area from known anomalies and start killing around and see where the mana goes and if it lines up with known anomalies.

>Let's do Orjin's suggestion to punch each other once we can sense punches, because we both want our heads to maintain their shape.
Fen: totally willing to learn by being punched in the head till he gets it.

Aira: work smarter, not harder.

>>829591
>dropped (or placed) coin right in front of you
Damn, Fen. Gotta be better. What if that silver had been an assassin's knife? You can't be sleeping through that kind of thing.

>I may also want to ask for help from at least one ally, but maybe more.
Is there reason to not keep working with the same squad? You guys came up together, and it's a decent number for a real fight, if you find one.

Can we go exploring, and take a break somewhere to train?

>>829602
>Also is that alternate Springfoot?
If you mean the gal at the end of the bar in 2/3, that's Dame Frais. The poofy cheeks are kind of distinctive.

>>829609
I checked but her head seemed more 'spiky' than 'frilly'. i.e. >>799396

Then I checked >>790776 So I dunno, it might be her.

Either way, you might be able to kill 2 birds with one stone if you go exploring and try to redo what Firzel did, sensing the direction of mana.

Fen remind me how much of a bounty is on your head? Because if someone can wander over and drop some heavy silver coins next to your face without you noticing? Well I don't think you will be long for this world.

Shape up Mr elite assassin in training.

Get your team of at least Aira and Firzel and anyone else who wants to train/explore. Then spend all day sensing stuff. Maybe you will even get lucky and find something neat out there.

>>829588
>"That is above our level, Fen. Let's do Orjin's suggestion to punch each other once we can sense punches, because we both want our heads to maintain their shape."
I agree with Aira, you should make sure you can sense shapes with mana before you try punching each other with your eyes closed!

>>829609
>Fen: totally willing to learn by being punched in the head till he gets it.
>Aira: work smarter, not harder.
Wow, that's a pretty accurate translation of that conversation! XD

>>829616
>Fen remind me how much of a bounty is on your head? Because if someone can wander over and drop some heavy silver coins next to your face without you noticing? Well I don't think you will be long for this world.
Sir Orjin already said he'd kill anyone that tried to claim Fen's bounty. So I think under the threat of Sir Orjin killing them, no one is going o be stupid enough to try and claim Fen's bounty!

However, you're right, Fen should also practice being aware of his surroundings, even while he's asleep! It'll prevent him from getting killed in his sleep when he's out of the army.

>>829616

I wouldn't put it past Orjin to have put the coins there that way just to teach a lesson about sleeping too heavily to anyone who gets theirs stolen.

You could train yourself to sleep lightly by having a friend/friends randomly try sneak up on you and smack you in the head while you're asleep, but then you'd need friends who aren't sleeping at the same time as you. I think that sort of thing is done to train a general sense of constant awareness of danger, as well, if you spread random smacks to possibly any time. Speaking of, is everyone down here still working on a day/night based setup? You're in a lightless tomb, you might as well adopt even shifts, particularly since the undead surely aren't obeying any sun-based cycle.

Actually, if you stay down here too long you'll all probably get that extra bad cabin fever that comes from being in the dark all the time. Is any part of the quarantined area open to the sky? You'll need to come up with something to stave off the crazies, anyway. And do kobolds get vitamin D deficiency? I don't know how that works for things with scales, but it might happen for the field kobolds. I think I also heard something about dim lighting being able to create a sense of illusory anonymity which promotes dishonest/unethical/criminal behaviour.

Also you should see if the supplies arrived and go shopping. If you don't see anything super useful you should pay off your debt, as I think you have the ~30 silver to pay it off now, minus whatever was paid off by your wages being garnished.

Fen 2017/09/11(Mon)14:16 No. 829879 ID: bfb318
File 150516458075.png - (19.18KB , 800x800 , 876.png )

I realize I've already asked Aira to come with me, by including 'we' in my conversation in her about exploring. I also realize how concerning it is that someone was able to drop 5 silver coins in front of me. Either way, I can use this for shopping. Aira is still working on paying me to return the favor, as I've paid off the debt already so that interest wouldn't pile up.

Later on I will try hand to hand fighting, sparring, or simply lightly tapping each other, but Aira had a good point that right now I can't sense a single average kobold at all. I wouldn't be able to sense anything at all, let alone with any precision.

Aira and Firzel are easily awoken, and I whisper my mention of wanting to set out. Firzel whispers back that Valsano will probably be disappointed that it will be the same party minus him. The statement is made so matter of factly that I don't bother replying.

Holly is already up, making breakfast.

"Did you sleep?"
>"Yep. I don't need much. Besides, you did say you wanted to leave early. Did you get your scouting bounty?"
"I did."
>"Good. If you're all going to go down more than a few flights of stairs, I'd suggest getting any supplies you can think of. We might have some things ourselves, to avoid the inflated prices of the shops around here. Here's some rations that will carry you through today, at least. Be careful, there's been a decent number of people that have gone missing who have gone low. The worst part is that there's been no failed attempts to kidnap or make people disappear. Either people return and didn't see anything, or they're just missing."

Aira, Firzel and I share what we have, although they don't bother mentioning things like their emblem, or how much money they have on them. I may not need anything else before I go down, as I feel well supplied as-is.

https://tgchan.org/wiki/Fen_Quest_Statistics#On_Hand

Well geez go wake Valsano as well and ask him if he wants to come too. You were thinking like you wanted to keep it to as few people as possible, but really is there any reason not to? Heck if it comes to not attracting attention to yourselves skipping work to train, it'd probably be better to go out as the same gang again, he might attract attention to you guys if he has to wander around here talking about how you ditched him.

I mean if he did feel bad about it you could say "well we figured after yesterday you wanted to go somewhere there'd be more action", but then again, Orjin did address all four of you with his recommendation so maybe he's in on that as well. Just go poke him half awake, say "hey man we're going to do what orjin recommended you want with or to go try get some of that real combat you wanted", he can say yes or no himself he's a big boy.

Anyway, get yourself a medium oil and a firestarter set, and a torch, and an extra day's rations. Don't forget water. Someone should bring another fire's worth of firewood, too.

Did you ever get that kimankara set, by the way? And the other stuff you ordered before coming here?

>>829886
Orjin's wagon of supplies is updated to reflect Fen's requested order of additional funds, and a kimankara set.

Grab a torch and store your extra cash in the storage box.

You also might want to try out the plate mail in battle.

>Valsano will probably be disappointed that it will be the same party minus him
Well, there's no real reason to exclude him, is there? You have enough enemies, without making more by snubbing someone for no good reason.

>I feel well supplied as-is
Maybe a metal stake in case we need to anchor the rope? But yeah, that looks pretty good.

Yeah grab Valsano if he wants to come.

More rope, and more food so if worst comes to worst you won't starve if you get stuck behind an anomaly or something. Can you stick rags into oil bottles and make firebombs?

Wait, is the stuff in the crow zone still Fen's? How can we check that those are still there? Someone please remind me.

>>829899
We've had no contact with the crows in a while, so we have no idea if our stuff is still there.

After the trial, though, the nobles took our mithril coins back from the crows. They could have potentially messed with the rest of our stuff out of spite, or let it be.

Buy an extra days worth of food and several torches and as much oil as you can afford.

I have a feeling fire is going to be pretty useful.

Ask Holly if you can send a message out to cheese. You could inform her that you have arrived in her home country Erja Nokol, she did after all suggest you come here to this campaign.

>>829879
Food and fire. Need to eat, and need to burn the dead.

Suggestion 2017/09/16(Sat)09:02 No. 830867 ID: d4684b

I suggest you stay and train yourself with mana, if your reinforcement then all the average troops got killed not being able to sense stuff so go make yourself above average. Im willing to bet Orjin doesn't want his hard work getting kill for no reason, so get to training.

Take Valsano with, sounds like they'd want to come with.

As for supplies, see if you can't get some more oil or other flammable substances.

Fen 2017/09/16(Sat)20:26 No. 830963 ID: bfb318
File 150561876693.png - (19.56KB , 800x800 , 877.png )

I wake Valsano up to bring him along too, after all.

>"You guys are already ready?" he asks.
>"Fen wasn't sure about bringing you along." says Firzel.
"I was thinking I'd bring as few people as possible."

Valsano gives me a look.

>"And I was the odd one out, huh?"
"I'm inviting you now. Do you want to come?"
>"Yeah, I do."

While Valsano gets his things, I do some quick shopping. Aira and Firzel do the same. I buy a metal stake for use with rope, along with more rope. Once I stock up on food, water, and fire, I'm already packing heavily. Still, I want to try to use my armor in a real setting, so I'll pull it out of the supply wagon after everything else.

The armor was bought by Holly after taking my measurements. It fits just okay, and the helmet is more of a frontal mask. Some of the joints and leg lengths aren't perfect, and leave some more exposure than I'd like. Due to the wide varience of horns and ears, it's difficult to find an existing helmet that fits well. Custom items are possible, even down here, but they are expensive.

"Holly, I'm about to head out. You'd be able to send letters to Cheese to request more money from her, right?" I ask her alone before I go get my current armor.
>"That's right."
"I may want more funds."
>"Sure. How much?"

A custom fit full armor that includes a helmet will take awhile to make, and would cost around 400 silver. Right now, I have 90. I have also heard that some wizards will enchant weapons with various costs for similarly expensive tolls. I don't know what those might be, but considering how long it may take for the money to come back, I may want to order more money in advance.

I think we should not abuse our money to much. A bit here and there should be ok. But if we get a rep as buying our way that will not be good.

We want to prove ourselves through our actions. So if we do buy anything big it might be best that the money comes from loot.

>>830968
I agree with this, in addition, we are going to need that money later, at the moment we do not know that we are facing down here, not counting the zombies, so once we are informed more, MAYBE we could see if we need to buy something else, but for now we have to work with what we have and prove that we are able to deal with whatever it is that we find here on our own. Also, I like challenges, so fuck that, I'm not a sissy.

Inglish is hard...

>>830963
Don't only ask for money from Cheese! At least tell her how you're doing and ask if anything has happened since your last meeting!

Keeping up with what's happening outside of the Mausoleum is probably a good thing to do.

>>830968
The most we're ever gonna get from loot is mainly going to be copper, unless we find something special.

Any big money we earn here is going to be from finding anomalies and/or finding ways to get rid of them, which isn't gonna happen anytime soon.

And it's a little late to try and be subtle with how we spend our money, considering how quickly Fen paid off his and Aira's debt. Meaning everyone already knows that Fen is well connected for a barbarian such as himself to get that kinda money, that quickly.

And like Fen said, it'll take a while to get here, and by the time it does get here, we might have another debt to pay off! Or we'll be down to only a few coppers!

I just don't know how much money we should ask for.

>>830963
I say don't go calling money or spending it until you have an estimate, even then wait till you can at least afford most of its price for loot down here before spending. P.S. find out how much it would cost to get one of the mages to teach you the basics of magic use so you can practice in your spare off time, if we learn to use basic magic (eg. for enchanting our weapons/armour) it would mean our job trying to become a noble is that much easier.

>>830963
if your going to send a message to her just say you have arrived at Erja Nokol and are doing ok.

Okay let's plan ahead a bit here. Eventually you're gonna fight in the arena, and they won't let you take in enchanted gear. So let's not buy any for any purpose other than killing undead with. Once you're a noble you can get some for multi-purpose fighting. What are some enchantments that would work best for killing undead? Putting something on a sword wouldn't be a bad idea.

For armor, you've already got a set on the way. It'd be a waste to blow gold on an armor upgrade before you've even used the first set. How about some powerful accessories? Or something that would benefit the group? I don't suppose there are any items that would help you focus on sensing mana?
You should also keep in mind you're still considered a rookie and anything you bring into the field could be taken off your lifeless corpse and used by the enemy. Spend money on things that would not be overly useful to the necromancers!

I'm going to start out with a 15 gold request. That's enough to blow 400 silver on a good anti-undead enchant and we'll have 200 left over to make lesser purchases like medical care or outlandish solutions to anomaly problems.

>>830976
>15 gold request
Woah! Maybe not that much! Can Cheese even send us that much?!

We've gotta take into consideration that our letter could be intercepted and the money stolen!

I think we should ask for an amount that's big enough to help, but also small enough that it won't be a big deal if it gets stolen before it arrives to Fen.

>>830980
400 silver is 10 gold. If we want to buy a custom fit armor set or an enchantment on a sword or something, we need at least 10 gold.

Have you considered wearing only some of the armor you've got, such as just the Cuirass, so you're reasonably protected without sacrificing too much mobility? The undead apparently aren't the major threat anyway, I think somebody already said the Anomalies are the real danger, and they can't be blocked conventionally.

You also have to remember not to lean too hard on this crutch. You may not get any respect and move up in the ranks if you don't seem somewhat self-sufficient.

>>830982
I'm just saying, don't get your hopes up for an amount that big.

Cheese might not be able to send that amount, but she might still send a smaller amount.

And when the mail arrives, our package might not even be in there because someone could've intercepted it and stole it before it got to Fen.

>>830976
15 gold is a pretty good amount, and Cheese could almost certainly afford it; with her connections it is almost certainly a pittance to them.
make sure to put in the post-script "how are you doing Cheese?"

>>830963
>Asking for money from Cheese.
There are a few complications.

We have to assume our mail is being intercepted and read if we use the Empire's postal service. So you have to be careful what you say, and not ask for more money than you could reasonably have access to.

Transporting money to you also depends on reliable, trusted couriers, which might be in short supply.

Getting the letter to Cheese, and the funds back to you, will take time. Will you still need the money by the time it gets here?

We don't actually know how much of your crow zone reserve survived. You know the crows had the surrender your 3 mithril coins. We don't know if the rest of your account was ransacked or left be.

We don't know what Cheese is up to (well, we do in general, but not in any detail), and if the money is currently tied up in some kind of scheme or investment.

Denomination is a problem. Gold will stand out / might be hard to break, but at the same time, you can't carry pounds of silver around all the time.

You probably want to disguise the request inside a more normal update letter telling her how you're doing (without saying anything that betrays secrets or would put you at a disadvantage). Both because it'll look more normal that way, and cause Cheese will appreciate you actually talking writing to her like a person and not just a coin dispenser.

>>831058
This is true, we have to consider all this, and be a good friend to Cheese, no become and noble asshole.

Write a letter to Cheese outlining the events so far.

You fought some idiots in a tomb and made it up to lesser blood knight. You have made several friends in the army and now you are going after the necromancers.

Tell her that there is magic bullshit all over and you are going to train hard to be able to deal with it. You would like a little bit of spending money but will leave it to her discretion as to how much she sends.

Ask how she is doing. And how the new job is treating her.

Better to have money and not need it than the other way around. Just remember to stay disciplined and not spend it on anything you don't need. Getting custom armour is one of those things, I think - everyone will be able to tell you have money to burn if you have that on. Just get some use out of what you already have. You could probably get something from a wizard more subtly, but who guarantees the wizard will keep quiet? These are army wizards, and they'll at least let their fellows and superiors know. What the undead will be vulnerable to has been stated to be very unpredictable, already, so there's little use to be had out of anything but the most broad-purpose enchantments. Just get a bit of surprise money, not too much, just enough to cover a few unexpected costs.

Didn't you already send Cheese a letter before you came in here, anyway? The one asking for more information on Erja Nikol, et cetera? After you finished up your last business, before you got here? I feel like I remember that.

>>831058
I agree with this. Especially with asking how Cheese has been lately and if shes heard from the crows at all.

Um, should we even ask Cheese about the crows so blatantly in a letter? I remember it being bad for the both of them to imply that they were friends or working together.

>>831191
You're right. In the eyes of many, it is considered bad to associate yourself with the crows. So it's probably best if we don't mention them.

At this point I wonder what would happen if we asked if Dame Frais's first name is actually Dame or if is a title/nickname. Because Dame Frais's being a Dame (female) seems like her perents couldn't think of anything else(sorry if that sounds a little bad to ask).

>>831194
Remember, we haven't seen any last names in this setting. Frais is her name, first and only. Dame is just the title for female knights.