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File 150904949064.png - (311.08KB , 1200x1200 , I Am.png )
839906 No. 839906 ID: c88e6d

DARK HUNT KILL THREAT LOVE ITCH PAIN JOY GREEN SOFT JOY JOY JOY HARD COLD FOOD HUNGER SELF
Expand all images
>>
No. 839907 ID: c88e6d
File 150905006214.png - (296.89KB , 1200x1200 , Awake.png )
839907

SELF SELF Self? What is 'self'? What am I?

I am disparate. Diffuse. I feel myself wandering in parts, yet I am in all of myself. I remember... pieces. Instincts. Reflexes. Some dark murkiness before PAIN LOSS FEAR PAIN HUNT KILL HUNGER, yet I have only the memory of memory.
>>
No. 839909 ID: c88e6d
File 150905037930.png - (111.87KB , 1200x1200 , Skut Mathematics.png )
839909

I examine myself. I am many yet one. Each part of myself has six eyes (that I must not touch), two ears of varying shapes (that I love to touch), one tail (very fun~), places defining [female] and [male] (VERY fun! And necessary...), ten fingers and six toes, each.

And six nipples, of course, but male ones do not count. I feel this is a design flaw.

Regardless, I have created a way to count myself. I use the fingers and toes of several of my selves and find that I eventually require [four] selves to count all my parts. I have faint memories of better ways to do this, and quickly realize I can invent one.

Using one self, I count all their fingers and toes, then curl one for each time I pass through the sequence. Eventually I find that I have 15-3 selves.
>>
No. 839912 ID: c88e6d
File 150905101160.png - (165.58KB , 1200x1200 , What to do now.png )
839912

Right now, however, I cannot focus on my achievements. I feel all my parts are in danger from an encroaching foe. My memory of instinct states that DANGER has been escalating since the strange tall thin creatures have begun dwelling nearby, which is MANY LIGHTS-AND-DARKS ago- I really must think of a way to divide time better... perhaps I can use the finger-toe-countin- No! Focus!

I dwell in these trees and branches, and sometimes in the DARK SAFE HARD COLD, but the tall-thin-things are growing more numerous and dangerous. I do not think they are as I am... they did not react as I killed this one.

I have a sudden insight... Perhaps I have been awake longer than I thought? One of my selves was watching DANGER LAIR before I slew this one, to see if they reacted to one of their number dying. They are separate, ones, I think, not like me.

What matters now is.... I am uncertain. What should I do now?

The Hivemind does not directly hear suggestions, but your ideas filter into its mind as its own thoughts bouncing around its consciousness. Please do your best to help it survive in a strange and hostile world!
>>
No. 839922 ID: c239dd

RUB STICKS TOGETHER; MAKE WARM GLOWY HOT
>>
No. 839969 ID: 8daf8e

>>839912
Hide the remains, we don't want others to find this!
>>
No. 840006 ID: 094652

Grab everything and regroup. Come back together, and redistribute. If you can't sense the pull of the hive, start from the cities and work your way from their roads.

Also why are we playing a Skut?
>>
No. 840015 ID: c88e6d
File 150907069154.png - (227.47KB , 1200x1200 , First Reaction.png )
840015

>>839922
Heh, that's silly, we have shiny red rocks to bang against flint for that.

>>839969
That self is hungry so I'll just send a few more to dispose of the tall-thin-thing I killed.

>>840006
I feel a strange sensation, like some ancient memory is trying to resurface, but then it fades. 'Road' is a familiar concept, and 'city' is too, but other than giving me hazy impressions I can recollect no more. Grabbing everything I can and carting it off to the DARK SAFE HAR- I mean, the CAVE is probably a good idea though. I need to reflect on my thoughts and remember what I can...

Why would I sense pull from a Hive, though? There is nothing but Myself in my mind.

Redistributing my selves is a good idea though, and I get right to it, using the Cave to store all the stuff I brought gather before withdrawing from the borders of the Tall-Thin-Thing Home. I admit, leaving worries me, as that frontier has expanded many times since the first arrival of the Tall-Thin-Things, and each time I have tried to move among them or explore has been met with violence. To make it worse, they too hunt these woods and kill many of the tastier animals. Finally, the cave is only a few [miles] away from their border at this point, and I will be forced to abandon my flint boulders and red-spark-stone site if they move any further up.

It is time to change this course of events.

Up until now, I have repelled invading bands and forced them back with heavy casualties, but each time my selves have wandered into their ever growing territory they have been slain or wounded when they could not tame my selves. This means their steady cutting of the trees in which I hunt and live gives them more and more of an advantage, which until now I had no way to plan around.

There are 3-15 of me in total.

8 Breeders [Female]
6 Hunter-Killers [Mixed males and females]
4 Knapper/Stonegatherers [Mixed males and females]
3 Scouts [Males]
1 Firekeeperbuilder [Female]
4 Spearcarvers [Mixed males and females]
2-5 Unspecialized and Immature selves [Mixed males and females]

In addition, I have plenty of food, many sticks, a lot of flint, plenty of trees, enough water, a bonfire [when we know Tall Thin Things aren't around] and about five poorly carved spears along with a Tall Thin Spear and a Tall Thin Blade.

Now... how do I make things better? There are the Plains to the [west], but they seem slightly worse than here. That, and there is absolutely no shelter from anything there.

Then there are the dense jungles to the [east], but I've never been in there that I can recall, though I feel anxious whenever my mind wanders close. There are also some old Tall Thin Thing buildings on the outskirts, but it's strange... I remember when they were built, after the village had been standing for a long time already. Why wouldn't they cut down those trees like they cut down mine?

Finally, there is the Tall Thin Village itself. I hate the creatures that live there and seem to desire only to chase me into my forest. They are afraid of me, but always just try to kill as many of my selves as possible and get burned by my blood in the process. I am uncertain if I can truly overwhelm them, but there are not so very many Tall Thin Things in that village when I think about it...

Where do I go from here?

Don't worry, there will be more abstracted numbers of everything later. I just wanted a reason to use Skut Mathematics.
>>
No. 840022 ID: a363ac

>>840015
chop down a tall woody (tree) and use it to make ground spikies (pitfall traps) and make hard go in cave without help (barricade the cave) use the hunters to get food, and out breed your enemies the Owlbears can't stop you if they can't see you through all the fucking.
>>
No. 840122 ID: c239dd

GO TO ABANDONED TALL THING HOME AND LOOT
>>
No. 840123 ID: 0c3362

>>840022
>>840122
These both sound like good plans.

Actually wait there's no reason you can't do both of those things at the same time is there.
>>
No. 840124 ID: 74243a

How far can a self travel in a single night? Would it be possible to travel across the plains overnight far enough that daytime travel would be undetected the next day?

Also, investigating the abandoned tall-thin building seems prudent. Perhaps there is something there they are afraid of that can be utilized to deter them.
>>
No. 840126 ID: c88e6d
File 150912743253.png - (195.63KB , 1200x1200 , Elves are awful.png )
840126

>>840123
Of course! What would the point be in being 3-15 selves if I didn't use all of me to my fullest?

>>840022
Alright! It's actually pretty hard to knock down trees without the tools the Tall Thin Things have, but fortunately there have been a few bands of Tree Cutters that have come too far into the woods and been killed.

LUMBERJACKING SUPPLIES OBTAINED

Fortunately, it's easy enough to dig using flat rocks, and with a team of selves working together it's not particularly long before I will have trenches filled with sharpened branches and jagged rocks. With that, my Breeders settle in the cave and resume their tas- Oh~ I forgot how nice it is...

Breeders are now permanently assigned

Ah, but yes. Breeders will take care of the immature selves until they can feed on their own.

>>840124
Unfortunately, the Plains are quite large and despite my ability to eat more or less anything, I am still quite short and traveling would take a very long time. I am uncomfortable heading out across the plains.

In a single day, however, I can travel quite a few [miles], although for more than one self it becomes increasingly difficult due to [logistics] and the need to carry all my stuff. To make things worse, the further away from the rest of my selves a body gets, the fuzzier and slower their [local hivemind] becomes, making them weaker. I can alleviate this by grouping up my selves for longer travel or by [daisy chaining] my selves to keep up my thoughts, but I get the feeling I might just lose groups of selves if I do something like try and send a band over the mountains or across the plains to the other side. On the bright side, I get the feeling that the more selves I have, the less I'll need to worry about the [hive mind signal].

Regardless! While my Breeder-selves are working on outproducing the Tall Thin Things, I shall send a band of four Hunter-Killer-selves and two Scout-selves to the Tall Thin Ruins.

[Time Passes]
Night has fallen, but we have reached the ruins without the Tall Thin Things noticing us. My Scout-Selves better eyes have noticed strange happenings in the Tall Thin Village. There are many of the Tall Thin Things we know there, pale and spikey-haired, but there are others we have only rarely seen before, wrapped in chains and dragged behind Tall Thin Things. Strange, they resemble my own females, with young tied on chains behind them. It seems the Tall Thin Things lead them around their village, but for what purpose I cannot say.

However, the Ruins themselves provide something much more interesting to me. The buildings are charred and blackened, their supports and roofs burned away and rubble scattered about, and there are bones of Tall Thin Things buried in the rubble, but in a long ring outside the ruins, there are spears like those I use lodged in the earth. On each spear is a very old, try Tall Thin Thing head. Perhaps the jungles to the [east] are inhabited by someone like myself?

What shall I do now? Shall I investigate the village further? Move towards the jungle? Assemble an enormous puppet out of creepervine and Tall-thin-thing-heads on sticks to scare the life out of them? Devote even more selves as breed- No, if I keep doing that I'm going to run out at some point.
>>
No. 840128 ID: 5737e0

You gotta see if you can mate and breed with other things. TRY THE ROCKS FIRST!
>>
No. 840132 ID: c239dd

do the puppet thing I guess?
>>
No. 840137 ID: e22837

>>840126
use lumberjacking supplies to build a smoke house? like a place for us to dry and smoke food so it'll last longer?
>>
No. 840164 ID: 0c3362

Investigate jungle, maybe.
>>
No. 840169 ID: c88e6d
File 150914618560.png - (209.07KB , 1200x1200 , Hive Exploration.png )
840169

>>840128
Wh- NO. Anyway, I get the feeling I tried that already and all I got was chafing and an acid-etched rock.

>>840132
While I could hypothetically do this given sufficient time and creeper, without trees there's nothing for me to puppet FROM. That, and to get the creeper I'd need to head into the thick jungle. It is funny to use the skulls as handpuppets though, so I take a couple.

TALL THIN SKULLS x2 ACQUIRED!

>>840137
While I know that drying things out makes them last longer, it isn't as though I can't eat them regardless of how rotted they are anyway. Sometimes things like fruit get even BETTER when rotted! I do get the impression that making some kind of wooden structure with a fire in it would be a good idea though, so I have my Spearmakers start working on sharpening more stakes between sleeps so that we can see about making huts. Roofs are going to be a problem though, but if I angle the stakes I should be able to make the roof as small as possible. With some leaves and clay it might be cozy?

>>840164
The jungle itself seems pretty intimidating. I get the feeling that I have been there before. Still, I don't think I'll die if I go in, so my Hunter-Killers and Scouts enter carefully, moving away from the ruins and keeping one another covered with spears should anyone ambush us.

As I move through the trees, I can see evidence of someone being here recently, smell old urine, spot three-toed prints and notice a flat place in a bush where someone has curled up to watch the Tall Thin Things. I get the feeling there are more of myself in this jungle.... but they are not myself? Then maybe they are another group of selves, like each Tall Thin Thing?

Thinking about this is making my heads ache. Where do I go from here? I can withdraw back to the cave and come back in the day, come up with a plan of attack on the village, try to move my entire self to this seemingly-safe jungle... these are just a few ideas I come up with...
>>
No. 840175 ID: 91ee5f

>>840169
Bring the Hunter-Killers and Scouts back. Don't need them wandering too far from the rest of you.
>>
No. 840200 ID: 094652

Capture some members from the other tribes. Breed like hell, and see what happens.
>>
No. 840734 ID: c2051e

Bungle in the jungle
>>
No. 840735 ID: 0c3362

>>840169
The jungle is definitely interesting enough to continue looking into.

I don't think you should move all of you there yet, at least not until you figure out the attitude the you/not-you you've seen evidence of is going to take toward definitely-you.
>>
No. 840737 ID: a363ac

>>840169
live in the trees of the jungle then the only thing you will fear is fire when you learn how to climb and move in the trees.
>>
No. 840745 ID: c88e6d
File 150930901770.png - (95.18KB , 1332x755 , Awakening Breeder Timetable.png )
840745

>Don't let the Hunter-Killers get too far away
It would take at least a day or two of travel before I started to lose [signal]

>Find others like Myself and breed wildly!
Right now I AM breeding wildly. Even with just the day or so of breeding I have been indulging in since my awakening, it will take at least a season or two before any of them give birth. 'Breeding rapidly' is going to take a while as I only woke a day prior.
>>
No. 840752 ID: c88e6d
File 150930943197.png - (217.13KB , 1200x1200 , Awakening Worry.png )
840752

>Explore the jungle
>Move to the jungle
>Bungle the jungle
I am loath to move my entire Self into the jungle right away, as the Spark-Rocks in my home cave are seemingly rare outside it and I do not like the idea of being without an easy source of fire. That said, I have a few ideas on fire-starting so if the worst comes to pass and I am forced to flee I can do so if necessary. That, and my Scouts, Firebuilder and Hunter-Killers carry Spark-Rocks with them.

Either way, my selves press on into the jungle, carefully moving to explore the area and watch out for traps that others like myself may have left. The only noticeable signs of life are the trails left by what I can only assume are scouts of another like myself, and the occasional skeletal remains of a Tall Thin Thing.

It is two hours of exploration later that I encounter Another Like Myself (whom I shall call Another for short). It is a single part, and it looks... unaware. Its ankle is broken and it sits in the middle of the path, looking thin and unhealthy, with a nasty gash in one ear. As my Scouts draw near through the brush, it turns to look at them, face expressionless but breathing ragged. It looks to be hungry, thirsty and in pain. I cannot tell its gender because it has wrapped some manner of rag about its midsection.

What do I do?

The Hivemind's perception is not all-seeing. Suggesters can point out things that the Hivemind has missed in posts and images current or prior.
>>
No. 840756 ID: a363ac

>>840752
throw a rock at its chest see if it reacts if not it could be used as breeding stock. careful oh whatever the large looming shape is behind it or of a trap set by another Another.
>>
No. 840761 ID: 314bcd

Toss some rocks at trees around it to see if any traps are made around it.
>>
No. 840764 ID: 3ce125

There's another Another hiding in the bush to the left, and more up in the tree branches. This is an ambush! Was it intended for you, though? Prepare for a fight, and tell them that you see them. Are they catching Tall Thin ones this way?
>>
No. 841050 ID: c88e6d
File 150939585975.png - (154.99KB , 1200x1200 , Awakening Old Male.png )
841050

>>840756
I have a Scout carefully pick up a small, flat piece of bark and toss it gently at the body sitting injured in the middle of the path. The body flinches, but then picks up the fallen piece of rotted wood, licking it before unhinging his jaw to swallow it. My Scout moves closer and gently touches his shoulder... I do not get the sense that this is a being like Myself. I see no higher reasoning or reactions in its eyes. Strange though, it seems used to seeing other bodies moving with purpo-

>>840764
Oh [shit]
>>
No. 841051 ID: c88e6d
File 150939612892.png - (187.44KB , 1200x1200 , Awakening Ambush.png )
841051

Alright, I see the ones in the trees now, and they're moving towards my Scout and one of the Hunter-Killers was in the perimeter of their [ambush], so they're trapped.

There are at least five of them surrounding the two, and though they have weapons, including something strange I've never seen before that resembles a small spear tied to a rib with string, they aren't attacking and seem curious. They move as one, unlike this old male... Maybe this is Another like Myself?

I recall faint memories of... communication between differing selves, and the sounds made by the Tall Thin Things in groups. I have no [language].

Another does not seem hostile at this moment but they destroyed part of the Tall Thin Village. I am frightened and do not know how to communicate. What do I do?
>>
No. 841053 ID: a363ac

>>841051
take the brain dead one and walk away.
>>
No. 841054 ID: a43366

Retreat.
>>
No. 841057 ID: 3ce125

Bunch up and hiss/growl/bark at them. If they keep their distance, get out of the ambush area but remain nearby. Watch them, see if any of them come up and try to communicate. If they do, you're going to have to draw on the ground. Symbolism is your friend here, and you should definitely have similar understanding of symbols.
>>
No. 841083 ID: c88e6d
File 150940681162.png - (89.73KB , 1200x1200 , Awakening Oh Me What Do I Do.png )
841083

>>841053
>>841054
I would be delighted to retreat at this point, and hide in my cave and do nothing for the next eight [years] but breed, but my Selves are cut off by the ambush ahhhhhh.

>>841057
Okay, I can do that.... I move my Hunter-Killer closer to my Scout and yap at them. They pause, seemingly a bit confused... Time to try communication!
>>
No. 841085 ID: c88e6d
File 150940724882.png - (131.30KB , 1200x1200 , Awakening Lewd.png )
841085

>>841083
Alright, I'll try communicating with symbols rather than [language]... if we're a lot alike, we might get along!

I scribble a picture of Myself and draw a picture of Another, and draw a picture of us being friends! Another still seems cautious, but surprised as I scribble in the dirt, sending the string-stick Self over to examine.

Should I continue trying to communicate, or try to flee, or make an ambush of my own?
>>
No. 841088 ID: a363ac

>>841085
communication
>>
No. 841091 ID: 3ce125

Communication. You're trying to discover your origins, right? This will help you achieve that goal.
>>
No. 841093 ID: 314bcd

Don't let string-stick come too close, but enough so they are able to see the drawings still.

Continue communication.
>>
No. 841109 ID: c88e6d
File 150941208020.png - (183.49KB , 1307x881 , Awakening Friendship.png )
841109

>Communicate!

O-okay... Let's see how this goes... As I show Another the drawings, they seem stunned and excited, hopping about cheerfully seeming greatly pleased. Eventually, however, they calm down and begin to scratch in the dirt with me. We draw many pictures, us hunting, our battles with the Tall Things, the hidden shelters of the jungle canopies and the fortified bastions of the caves, and eventually our mutual excitement turns to eroticism between our two bands.

During the festivities, it becomes clear we SHOULD have some manner of vocal communication, and so we start babbling at one another, pointing to rocks, trees, the sky, the-shafts-of-light-through-the-leaves-caused-by-the-sun-rising-in-just-the-right-place, and finally even the Empty male.
>>
No. 841112 ID: c88e6d
File 150941246882.png - (101.53KB , 1200x1200 , Awakening Planning Future.png )
841112

However, as I make a friend in Another, and we start to communicate more effectively, I realize we both face many of the same threats and challenges...

What approach should I choose to our current situations? We are both opposed by the Tall Thin Things, and though Another has managed to [bluff] the TTTs, they will likely completely envelop my home region in the next few [years], then begin expanding into the jungle to take their resources and grow food.

I can choose Development and Education, building a firm language and communication method with Another that we might coordinate and understand one another's thoughts better, or I can choose Fire and Spear, attacking the Tall Thin Things with whatever weapons I can manufacture immediately and the general support of Another, and kill all their spear-users and anyone who appears to be a threat.

If there are any other ideas, I would be interested to hear them.
>>
No. 841127 ID: a363ac

>>841112
Fire and killing!
>>
No. 841141 ID: 3ce125

Coordination leads to better military action. Work on education. You've got at least a year to multiply before the TTTs become a significant threat.
>>
No. 841147 ID: 91ee5f

>>841141
This!
>>
No. 841152 ID: 314bcd

Learn the ways of their bluff techniques, and create better bluffs for the future.
Development and Education
>>
No. 841166 ID: 3d229a

>>841141
Yes,
>>
No. 841366 ID: c88e6d
File 150948119466.png - (70.58KB , 923x687 , Awakening FRIENDSHIP UP.png )
841366

>Kill em all: 1
>Education: Everyone Else

And so I make the decision to devote my time and energy to developing language with Another. We continue as we started, with a few Scouts acting as our contact points and a few of our Hunter-Killers acting as backup and [signal boosting].

We build up a base of simple words, many of which are made up on the spot based on the sound objects make when struck or stroked, or our own attempts as synesthesiac onomatopoeia, yet by the passage of 2-0 days 32 days Earth-time, we have crafted our own relatively simplistic conceptual language.

From now on, Another and Myself shall always remain in contact, keeping small numbers of selves with one another to ensure open lines of communication.
>>
No. 841368 ID: c88e6d
File 150948127727.png - (273.32KB , 1200x1200 , Awakening Plotting Invasion.png )
841368

Mercifully, it seems the TTTs are busy with their own problems for the near future. Some kind of group activity is occurring, according to the scout-selves I have keeping tabs on the village, in which many TTTs I regard as 'male' are dragging their chained females into the square and shouting things. Generally beatings are administered, though one is impaled by the spear-wielding males. This is strange to me, but I already know the Tall Thin Things like to kill my kind when we do not harm them, so why should it surprise me that they kill defenseless members of their own?

Regardless, once our language is hammered out, Another asks for my name. What should I name myself?

Another calls themself Lagraz. Not what I'd have picked for them, but it rolls off our tongues.
Lagraz has been 'awake' longer than I have, but 'woke' with fewer selves. Their only methods of defending themselves from the Tall Thin Things has been using faint memories of Stringed-Spears (or 'bows') to simulate a greater number of selves with creative use of twine, as well as terror tactics like burning down the lumber camps on their side of the village, killing sentries silently and placing totems to intimidate the Tall Thin Things.

They happily share their knowledge of the 'bow', and in return I give them some Spark-Stones to make fire more easily than their current methods.

Now, however, it is time to settle on a long term course of action. Despite their current self-inflicted violence, the Tall Thin Things are unlikely to cease their advances into the forest or jungle, and neither Myself nor Lagraz are willing to try relocating to the plains or across the mountains.

We can try the deeper jungles, though Lagraz feels that would be delaying an inevitable conflict, or we can take the fight to the Tall Thin Things, given how their Spear Users seem to be a relatively small part of the population.

We can also try another plan if either of us can think of one.
>>
No. 841369 ID: c88e6d

>>841368
Forgot the subject, sorry!
>>
No. 841375 ID: a363ac

>>841368
it may be best to hold out for a longer conflict since you have a friend now and can work on large numbers to overwhelm you enemies over time.
>>
No. 841381 ID: 91ee5f

>>841368
Here's an idea.

Bows and arrows + Spark-Stones = Flaming arrows!

Now you can start fires from far away!

>What should I name myself?
Medora. Unless someone can come up with something better?
>>
No. 841383 ID: 3ce125

See if you can kidnap a female tall thing and interrogate her. Find out why they're killing their own. Maybe you can turn that against them and eliminate the threat without having to wipe them all out?
>>
No. 841691 ID: c88e6d
File 150956896439.png - (100.87KB , 851x861 , Awakening Experimentation.png )
841691

Very well! My name is now Medora. Kind of hard to pronounce, but it's good practice and Lagraz likes it a lot.

>Hold out for the longer term

This is a good idea in general, and we hope to spend at least [two years] building up supplies, but both myself and Lagraz don't think the Tall Thin Things will leave us in peace for that long, even if we start setting up totems and produce many bows. Lagraz is afraid they might build up their own forces for a great attack, or do something crazy like burning down the forest.

>Set arrows on fire

After a few dozen trial runs on the 'flaming arrow' plan, I am forced to consider it a failure. Perhaps with better materials than we can salvage in the forest and jungle. Tying grass and treesap to the tips of the arrows makes them heavy, inaccurate and greatly reduces range, it is unreliable to get them properly lit, and they have a tendency to go out or simply strip off the flaming material the moment we shoot them. I will shelve this idea for now.
>>
No. 841692 ID: c88e6d
File 150956901440.png - (237.62KB , 1200x1200 , Awakening Loot Acquired.png )
841692

>Capture a female Tall Thing

This, however, is far, FAR easier to accomplish. The male Tall Things after their weird public gatherings with the females, seem far more incautious and unafraid, while the females and young seem to be more anxious and cowardly than ever. With the knowledge of the bow and a few weeks' worth of arrows and bows made, it is not hard to simply wait for a male to drag a female along on a walk beside the forest, fill him with dozens of arrows and drag his chained Tall Things into the woods alongside his corpse.

The female is apparently terrified and holds its young tightly, curling around it and trying to prevent me from examining it. I had to drag her along the ground with several selves since she wouldn't follow. I have no real idea how to interrogate her since I do not speak her language...

How should I get her to communicate with me?
>>
No. 841744 ID: 094652

Why didn't you take all three alive? Now they hate you.

Give them tools, and wait. Steal their technology when they try to escape.
>>
No. 841745 ID: 91ee5f

>>841691
>Flaming arrows not work.
Damnit!

>>841692
>How should I get her to communicate with me?
The same way you and Lagraz communicated when you first met each other! Get your drawing sticks, it's time to draw more pictures!
>>
No. 841746 ID: 3ce125

>>841744
...what?

>>841692
Eh, try drawing pictures of them getting stabbed, then a question mark. Give the lady a non-pointy stick so she can draw back.
>>
No. 841893 ID: a363ac

>>841692
begin the process of teaching the little one your language so it can act as a translater years from now. also use stick to draw in mud for now.
>>
No. 841998 ID: c88e6d
File 150966117223.png - (197.09KB , 1200x1200 , Awakening Elf Doodles.png )
841998

>Why didn't you take all three alive?
The big one would have put up a fight. All the males seem to. Also, his meat is delicious.

>Draw in the mud with sticks!
>Teach the little one our language!

Hmmm, teaching the little one our speech might be hard considering how it's currently doing its best to hide INSIDE its parent, but I'll give it a shot when they calm down.

Regardless, handing the mother a twig confuses her at first, but as one of my selves starts scribbling pictures in the dirt, she seems to get the idea. She begins drawing, in a different style to my own artistic scratchings, but she refuses to let my selves interact with her child. Furthermore, she draws down what I think are... request? Demands? She points at them and refuses to draw more.

I am uncertain as to how to continue this interrogation. While I continue my duties, I may also perform other actions. Unless otherwise ordered, I will continue to forage, keep watch on the Tall Thin Things and make more Selves with Lagraz and Lagraz's Empty self.
>>
No. 842001 ID: 91ee5f

>>841998
The only thing I can understand is the top 2 pictures. She wants you to remove the collars from her and her child.

I don't understand the rest of the pictures.
>>
No. 842003 ID: 3ce125

I think the second one means they want food. Uh, don't offer her the meat. Try an assortment of foraged stuff.

I suspect the last drawing is her offering to fight for you once those demands are met. If you can repeat this process of breaking the chains of the Tall Thing women and giving them food, maybe you can stage a rebellion? Much easier to fight the Tall Things if you have some of them on your side!
>>
No. 842091 ID: a363ac

I can only make sense of the top it is clear they want to be set free.
while you are wondering around be sure to make smaller maps and mark where you are finding food and water it could be useful in trading when we start freeing the female folk.
>>842003
this makes sense. if we are going the route of diplomacy for now lets meet their demands but draw the little thin thing learning from your hive as your demand.
>>
No. 842269 ID: c88e6d
File 150974387424.png - (225.76KB , 1200x1200 , Awakening Big Update 1.png )
842269

>Various translations

Hmmmm.... So she wants food and release from those collars? That sounds reasonable. Lagraz and Myself, Melora can eat most anything, but we have seen the Tall Thin Things eat very little. Once, Lagraz witnessed a younger Tall Thin Thing male pick some of the delicious berries that grow sometimes on bushes and he seized up and began puking. Regardless, there are still plenty of natural fruits I have seen the Tall Thin Things eating, and we have a fair number of them in the Spark-Stone cave.

More difficult will be the collars. There is some kind of catch on one side, and a piece on the other side that seems made to open. I approach, slowly, and the female curls more around her child until I tap my neck and say, "Break!" She does not understand what I'm saying, of course, but she gets the gist of it and lifts her head, turning to let me examine her more closely. The little hole in one side seems made to accept something, but I do not have the knowledge or ability to make something that fits. What I DO have is blood that can burn through wood, flesh and bone given time, so I bite a fingertip hard enough to break the skin, then press the wound against the hole and squeeze. It takes around [a minute], and the female squirms a lot as her collar hisses and steams, but there is eventually a series of tiny snapping and plinking sounds and the collar springs open, incidentally flinging tiny and complicated-looking pieces of metal into my self's face.

The female looks absolutely stunned, rubbing her neck with wide eyes as one of my selves approaches her child, and at first she looks ready to pick up her child and run before she relents to merely holding the offspring. Another few moments and both parent and child are now free of their collars, and presented with a small heap of things that taste similar to what I have seen Tall Thin Things eat, which the female begins picking through and selecting particular fruits and nuts to give to her child.
>>
No. 842270 ID: c88e6d
File 150974392334.png - (174.35KB , 1200x1200 , Awakening Big Update 2.png )
842270

With their immediate demands granted, however, the female begins scribbling more in the dirt, more quickly, and starts trying to teach my selves words while I try to teach her my own. When it grows dark, we convince the female to withdraw closer to the cave and give her a comfortable pile of leaves to rest in with her young before waiting until the sun rises to continue our interrogation.

It takes time, but our earlier language research with Lagraz has paid off, and we are able to cobble together a crude understanding of one another's languages over the next several days. According to the female (whose name I haven't really asked), the collared Tall Thin Things ('Elz' or something like that) were members of a large group ('nation') that was attacked by another, larger, stronger group. They chose to surrender and accept dominance from the larger nation, but another Nation of Elz was angered by this and attacked them to capture their females and young and kill their men. The raiders then fled the larger nation when they unleashed weapons of terrible power against them, and are trying to build a new nation in this forest to try and destroy the larger nation.
>>
No. 842271 ID: c88e6d
File 150974395051.png - (267.43KB , 1200x1200 , Awakening Big Update 3.png )
842271

She promises that in exchange for removing her people's collars and exterminating all the Elz who do not wear collars in the village, her people will submit to us as rulers and give us everything they possess and know of. This is... to say the least, a rather significant decision. Lagraz is afraid of bringing more attention to his selves, being less numerous and physically weaker than Myself, Melora, and does not want to rule over the Elz, just kill the un-collared ones so they stop trying to cut down his jungle. I am uncertain what I want.
>>
No. 842272 ID: c88e6d

>>842271
You may suggest now
>>
No. 842273 ID: a363ac

>>842271
if we are to go the route of diplomacy then we will need to have some space to grow and that means we need to have the ability to put seeds in the ground to grow food which the village is perfect for. Let's try and get Lagraz to help us out with this reasoning and save the village people.
>>
No. 842274 ID: 3ce125

I think you should accept a lesser deal. Knowledge and maybe some items that they have, but you don't want to take all they have and you don't want to rule them. Their information is far more valuable anyway.

After the battle the collared ones will be in a weakened position... maybe you can agree to a temporary alliance? You'll fight any threats against them that show up if they fight alongside you. It's only meant to last until they stabilize their camp and become self-sufficient. The alliance could be made permanent later once we find out how advantageous it really is.
>>
No. 842288 ID: 91ee5f

>>842274
> I think you should accept a lesser deal. Knowledge and maybe some items that they have, but you don't want to take all they have and you don't want to rule them. Their information is far more valuable anyway.
This.
>>
No. 842556 ID: c88e6d
File 150983134327.png - (323.19KB , 1200x1200 , Awakening Touch Fluffy Tail.png )
842556

>Try a lesser deal
>Talk Lagraz around

This does seem the wisest course of action. Politely, I have one of my selves speak to one of Lagraz and start explaining my ideas, while simultaneously I speak to the Elz female. The child, I note, is stroking one of Myself, Melora just out of its mother's view. It is nice.

Starting from the top, I explain that, rather than directly staking Myself, Melora and Lagraz as rulers of the Elz village, we would rather simply help the Elz gain their own freedom and live alongside them in peace, as well as learn from them all of their knowledge of tools and food and other such helpful things.

While Lagraz is happy, the Elz female is... skittish? Afraid? An emotion like that, I think. She is worried that unless her people are ruled over by someone strong, they might be defeated again, but is willing to accept our bargain, so long as we promise to slay all the 'evil empty-hearted ones' that hold her people in the village as slaves. Still, Lagraz is much happier that he won't be seen as a primary target to attack. Neither Myself, Melora or he have told any of the 'single' creatures of our [hiveminds].

Now is the time to plan our attack. According to the female's testimony, there are a few 16s of Elz trained with the spear, and maybe a few hands more who can be drafted. We could wait longer to gain more resources and numbers, but the Elz woman explains that the longer her people remain collared, the more of them will be broken or hostile when we attack the Empty Elz, and that her people's [untranslated word, means something like hivemind but apparently emotional?] will be broken forever and her nation will be lost should we delay too long.
>>
No. 842557 ID: c88e6d
File 150983140991.png - (244.39KB , 1200x1200 , Awakening Village Layout.png )
842557

According to the Elz female, the village has a great tower in the center in which the Empty Elz '[mythical intangible entity] Men' do ceremonies, drink [undefined word, means 'important', 'not to be touched'] mixtures and call down 'their [undefined word meaning 'unpleasant', 'never to be touched because it's bad'] powers'.

Every [third day in seven day span] is a 'myth night', wherein the male Empty Elz gather and drink, becoming intoxicated and enraged around the tower. The day after, all the Empty Elz start the day weakened and sluggish.
The village lacks any significant walls, but there are large, open fields wherein grow plants. The Elz female asks us not to destroy those fields, as without them her people will starve to death.

Currently, the village has dirt paths connecting houses and the 'ritual circle' around the tower in the center. There is a lake behind the town from which they get much of their fresh water, supplementing it with wells dug elsewhere, and there is a creek running near the southern end of the town. To the west are large fields planted on cleared forest and generally guarded by Empty Elz watching over the captive laborers, while to the eastern edge are the ruins and totems used by Lagraz as a buffer.

Generally, houses are arranged so that several families will sleep together, with captive Elz being made to sleep on floors and Empty Elz using beds. There is a large building called a 'Granary' because the 'grain food' is kept there, though at this time of year it is apparently nearing empty.

There are also several 'lumber camps' near the edge of the deforested area in the north, containing sharp metal the Elz female suggests I can use, as well as 'axes' which apparently make a good weapon and can break chains easily.

Finally, the tower in the center of town is generally unoccupied in the early morning, and holds the place where the Empty Elz mix their drinks, but is surrounded by dozens of houses and the streets have sentries watching at night to hunt for any captives who might be trying to escape.

I am going to need a plan. Feel free to be as detailed as you like and ask for more information in the Dis Thread
>>
No. 842559 ID: 3ce125

>>842557
Alright so first off we attack when they're weakened and sluggish. We want to steal weapons from the lumber mill and occupy the tower with archers after the attack starts. Dawn seems to be the best time to attack since the sentries will be off of alert and the tower will be empty.

More specifically, I think we should spend just a few more days recruiting as many Elz as we can, then attack. We approach just before dawn, while it's still dark enough to sneak around. Steal weapons from the lumber camps then split our forces into two groups: a smaller one to assault the watch tower from the east as a feint, and a main force to sneak around through the jungle and behind the lake then across the channel to the south edge of town where there are fewer buildings blocking access to the tower. They'll take over the tower and use that fortified position to rain down arrows upon hostiles. Once the Empty Elz forces are thinned out the main force can start clearing out houses and finally deal with the watch tower on our own time. The skuts in the tower can relay enemy positions to our army in the streets.
>>
No. 842561 ID: a363ac

>>842557
the best way to deal with them would be to send one body in and get their attention to chase it into the forest and then dogpile on the group that comes to kill it until they wisen up and then take out the rest by grouping up aginst them in a minimum of 3 per enemy. do it as quickly as possible to prevent growth in numbers and the forest is far from the fields to prevent their destruction.
>>
No. 842562 ID: 3ce125

Oh and be sure to have some Elz recruits in your ground forces so they can tell the other captive Elz that you're liberating them.
>>
No. 842563 ID: 91ee5f

>>842557
>Every [third day in seven day span] is a 'myth night', wherein the male Empty Elz gather and drink, becoming intoxicated and enraged around the tower. The day after, all the Empty Elz start the day weakened and sluggish.
Obviously, we should attack at the beginning of the 4th day, when they'll be weakened and sluggish!
>>
No. 842634 ID: 94bef7

So... they worship their [god] at the tower, and they drink some sort of [sacred/holy] beverage which grants them [sacred/berserker] powers. Every third day of [a week] happens a party night, which is when they drink intoxicating beverages that devolve them into fierce beasts... Let's avoid that day. Seems like a horrid idea to attack a group when they're horridly hostile, drunk, intoxicated, and not thinking straightly. Plus, we get an advantage of being unscathed when we attack next day.

We should prepare on the night the Elz gather together and drink, since all are presumably away from their usual workplaces and therefore, lumber camps will be empty, patrols would be presumably lacking, and guards would be presumably not looking out for trouble. Although, these assumptions have a fair chance of being wrong, it won't matter too much if we stay along the outskirts.
>>
No. 842765 ID: c88e6d
File 150992450253.png - (240.09KB , 1600x1200 , Awakening Sneaking Mission.png )
842765

>Send in one body

>Lure them into the woods

>Riddle them with arrows

>Take the town center's tower

My head buzzes with ideas, easy and difficult, valuable and less useful, but I settle upon a plan. I pitch the idea of gaining Elz recruits to Lagraz, but he points out that after he destroyed the Lumbercamps and houses near the Jungle the Elz grew extremely active and defensive for several [months] after, and I accept his counsel that it would be more risky than beneficial.

Still, it is not a long wait till the fourth day of the seven-span, and so I resume crafting weapons alongside Lagraz, doing what I can to gather intelligence from the Elz female (whom is apparently named Dorz), and try to teach her offspring (whom is called 'Baz', but wants to be called 'Skut-petter') my own language. Baz is actively attempting to improve on it after only a few days, far exceeding his parent in learning what few rules there are to it and starting to work in rules of his own to throw Lagraz and Myself, Melora curves. He explains this as 'poetry', which is what his male parent did before he was captured by the Empty Elz.

The day of the attack finally rolls around, and all is as planned, mercifully. The Elz on watch are few and inattentive, the majority of the Empty Elz are incapacitated and sleep deeply, and the watchtower is focused only on the Jungle. Fascinatingly, the Jungle Sentries seem far more attentive and on guard than the rest of their kind, suggesting that they believe Lagraz to be a true threat.

Still, there is nothing preventing Myself, Melora from sending a body in a long arc through the rows in the fields to easily circumvent all the Elz on watch, when a problem occurs.

A female Elz chained to a younger female and an infant opens a door and gazes about, looking for something, before starting to sprint low to the ground, into the fields. She is heading away from the Elz, but there is a sentry sitting just beyond a cluster of crops. If I do nothing, the sentry will be alarmed and see the fleeing female. Shall I stick with the plan and move to the center of town to gather as many sentries as possible?
>>
No. 842766 ID: a363ac

>>842765
our bodies are expendable goodwill of friends are not. Take out the sentry and start the assault.
>>
No. 842787 ID: 094652

You're about ready for the assault. Don't wait for the civilians to die.
>>
No. 842856 ID: a43366

See if you can warn the fleeing Elz to stop so you don't attack prematurely.
>>
No. 842928 ID: d887c0

>>842766
This.
>>
No. 842957 ID: c88e6d
File 151000865650.png - (227.28KB , 1200x1200 , Awakening Screamy Skut.png )
842957

>Do not allow civilians to die

>Warn them

It is clear that the attack is about to occur, but there is little enough danger in risking a single body. Creeping up under the house as the female and her offspring hobble along towards danger, I speak out. "There'sz dan-jer ahead..." I manage, internally cursing that the scout's body seems to have a nasty cold. The female Elz looks around, shocked. "Waaait hhhere... I will chhh-lear it." The female seems terrified, but is unable to locate my scout as he slinks around under the house and moves behind the Empty sentry on watch. Drawing his small bow as far as he can without breaking it, he lets fly a single arrow into the Elz's neck.

The sentry, half asleep, drops his spear and clutches at his throat, unable to breathe or cry out, before falling to his knees and expiring silently. The attack has now technically begun, ready or not, and there is no easy way to dispose of the signs of violence. Slinking back to the family, the scout pokes his head out, causing the female to flinch in fear until it speaks. "Go na-ow." I rasp again, before withdrawing under the house and slinking towards the town center. Whether or not the female withdraws is her own problem now, as the plan must be executed.

Creeping to the center of town, there are implements used by the Empty Elz in their rituals, including cones of various materials they scream into to work themselves into a frenzy. My Scout-self picks one of these up and draws a deep breath as I prepare the body to run, before letting forth the loudest scream any of my selves has ever made, amplified further by the echoing streets and the hollow cone. From my other scouts amidst the bushes I see one of the Jungle Sentry Elz clutch his pointed ears and fall off the watch tower, while across the village guards clutch at their chests or heads in shock and pain.

The scout-self continues screaming at a reduced volume, sprinting through the village and howling as doors are flung open and exhausted Elz rush forth with spears to slaughter whatever creature has split their heads and awoken them early. With only a few [minutes] of delaying and sprinting about the village, at least 3 fingers-and-toes of Elz have seized knives and spears and are in pursuit of the scout-self. I flee with him towards the trees, still screaming on occasion, with the pain they feel at the noise apparently blotting out any fear of a trap.
>>
No. 842958 ID: c88e6d
File 151000870686.png - (129.61KB , 1200x1200 , Awakening Thread One End.png )
842958

When the swarm of Empty Elz reaches the tree-line, it is a massacre. With all my selves working whenever awake to either train with bows and spears or make more, and Lagraz lending his lesser, though more experienced numbers to our force, more than [16 squared] arrows are fired within the opening moments of the ambush. While not every shot that lands is a killing or even crippling blow, and only a minority of arrows find a target, the sheer volume of fire wreaks great carnage upon the Elz, with those uninjured left stunned by the sudden deaths of their kin around them. The survivors do not last long, spears plunging into their bellies and throats as my selves run dry on arrows and pick up sharpened stakes or the spears and knives of fallen Elz. The last handful of surviving warriors, those too wise or sluggish to leave the town, try to rally in the deforested area, forming into a great line of warriors, but it does not matter. Even the Jungle Sentries, their most skilled warriors, simply cannot deal with our overwhelming numbers and perfect coordination. They die under a mass of selves, torn limb from limb, and even those blows which land simply add to their own suffering.
In the immediate aftermath of the battle, wounded or dying selves are laid in the town square to be treated as best Lagraz and Myself, Melora can manage, although our knowledge consists primarily of 'blood should typically remain inside the body'. The Empty Elz will make fine meat, and selves unoccupied with recovering arrows or tending to the wounded are already hauling them off the cave's camp. Perhaps now is a good time to build a drying-house...

Regardless, any surviving Empty males are quickly killed when Dorz arrives without her collar and calls out to her kin to slay their captors. With only the sickly, weak or unconscious left in the village, or the females and young, the Elz in chains fall upon them and tear them apart.

Dorz approaches one of my selves and thanks Myself, Melora for 'her' assistance, and promises to build a [place of teaching] in the village in gratitude, and that 'all who serve Melora' are welcome here.

Thread 1 End: Total Victory
>>
No. 842964 ID: c88e6d

>>842958
Please do not close this thread yet. The story is not moving on to a new thread right now. It is time to make plans for the next five years.
>>
No. 842976 ID: 91ee5f

>>842964
Obviously the next thing to do get some medical knowledge!

Then work on communication skills, making better weapons, learning how to grow your own food (farming), etc.
>>
No. 842983 ID: 3ce125

Find out more from the Elz about the world overall, then send out scouts to various nearby locations to get more current news.
Of utmost priority is finding out what kind of reputation your actions will have given you. Who will be upset, or thankful?

It might be a good idea to start developing a trade. Something of value that you can produce and sell to others, so that you can obtain things that are difficult for you to otherwise get.
As always, increasing population is important. Knowledge of farming should help to support increased numbers.
>>
No. 843036 ID: d887c0

Learn more about yourself and the elz.
Maybe come up with a name for things like you and Lagraz.
Maybe there are more things like you out there somewhere.
>>
No. 843053 ID: 094652

Resource generation is your first priority. You won with numbers, and you need to exponentiate those numbers when the main army investigates why this city stopped sending tribute.

Start with basic agricultural sciences and work your way from there. Capture scientists and craftsmen to build defenses and weapons.

Don't let yourself be noticed, and you can build an empire in the shadows of a backwoods forest.
>>
No. 843146 ID: a363ac

build a back-up village for when they eventually send someone to assault the Elz. then when they find an empty village and confusion you can assault them with your combined powers after they have sent a message back that it was a ghost town and start a legend.
>>
No. 843303 ID: c88e6d

Your plans have been made. You shall soon see the outcome.
>>
No. 843308 ID: 91ee5f

>>843146
>Build fake town
When did this become the movie Blazing Saddles?
>>
No. 843326 ID: c88e6d
File 151010652796.png - (108.64KB , 1200x1200 , Awakening Chapter 2 Exploration.png )
843326

>1/2

Five years have passed.

In this brief period, I have learned many skills, and my number of selves has swollen enormously. Lagraz has chosen to restrict his own growth so as to avoid exceeding the limit of resources he can acquire without attracting attention, but I have seen little reason to do so. With more selves in close proximity comes sharper intellect, and so I now see Myself, Melora as the most intellectually capable organism in this small region I once could not imagine beyond.

The Elz have been most informative and near worshipful since Lagraz and Myself, Melora liberated them from their captors. Initial fears that the Empty Elz might have reinforcements sent proved unnecessary, as these raiders were the last of their kind, and their slaves destroyed all who survived our initial attack, including females and offspring, mentioning something about a 'cycle of vengeance'. Regardless, the last five years have not been a waste.

The Elz we inducted were far more mechanically inclined than the Empty Elz, knowing a great deal about metallurgy, construction, digging, agriculture and many other fields of information that we have worked to learn around the clock. Where once I wielded sharpened stakes and bows carved from branches, I now have shortswords, pikes and the impressively devastating 'crossbow'. My home cave has proven to be a fantastic resource to both the Elz and Myself, Melora, the 'spark-stones' being unusually rich iron ore. Steel is now something that can be gained, albeit with difficult forging requirements.

In a less militant vein, with my selves helping to harvest from the fields, the Elz have been able to devote themselves to working as artisans and 'inventors', trying to find new ways to improve what they have. In their old home, their females generally worked at home while males fought as soldiers, but with the loss of so many males and plentiful selves around (which the Elz call "Sk't"), their sexual labor distinctions appear to have broken down.

I have also learned many ways to treat wounds... for Elz. For Myself, Melora, in the absensce of bandages that are immune to my corrosive blood, I have merely learned bone-setting and how to apply naturally occuring herbs through careful trial and error. Lagraz has found many more small groups of 'empty' Skut in the jungle, and believes this to be the form our species takes without enough numbers to think properly. We currently share them as breeding stock and pets, caring for them and feeding them, and generally ensuring they live pleasurable lives while being of use to us.
>>
No. 843327 ID: c88e6d
File 151010657969.png - (247.45KB , 1200x1200 , Awakening Geographical Map.png )
843327

>2/2

As to learning about the situation globally, things do not look good for any of us. According to Dorz and the most historically inclined among the Elz, twenty years ago a war beyond anything ever imagined prior began. A nation, the Fulgurine League, known for its seemingly magical powers and terrible lightning weapons somehow gained a power greater still, and unleashed a conquest of the entire known world. Citing divine authority stemming from a newly discovered star, the Fulgurine League unleashed armies clad in strange metals and riding great, aerial machines, possessing the power to speak to one another at great distances and unleash bolts of lightning strong enough to tear through stone walls.

Many nations fought against them, including the Empty Elz former homeland, but the Elz of Dorz chose to surrender and work alongside the Fulgurines instead, hoping to avoid destruction. This somewhat backfired when remnants of fallen armies ravaged their homeland. Something also changed just before Dorz's village was enslaved. Previously, their soldiers had always been present, with at least a small garrison in each village and patrols along every road, with the occasional flying ship sent by to protect the area. The latest conquest was declared on a place called 'The Pale Kingdom', and then, one day, all the soldiers simply left. There was no word from the capital, or any advance warning. The Fulgurines simply left in the middle of the night, and no more ships came by.

Aside from the vast and powerful Fulgurine Union, and the swarms of bandits and raiders made up of the armies they crushed, what she knows is that there are reputed to be people roaming the steppe to the west who might trade for weapons or food but are not well know. To our north there are great mountains said to hold madmen and prophets who dwell there for the isolation and harsh conditions, while the Fulgurine Empire's capital lies far to the south, past the rivers, lakes and swamps by a distance I have never traveled. To the east, all she really knows of is The Pale Kingdom, which she has nothing more than rumors that it is a wealthy utopia ruled by a single ancient family, and even that has nothing to substantiate it besides the fact that the Fulgurines declared it a conquest target.

Dorz does warn that while the Fulgurines are not wantonly cruel, they ARE ruthless in their conquest, and desire the entire world to be placed beneath their banner. They are obsessed with their 'divine right to rule as ordained by the Prophet Star', and their High Electrician has claimed to speak to it. They cannot be reasoned with in terms of sovereignty, and will demand fealty and service or simply smash their foes with their armies till they submit. Trade could be started easily enough, but would most certainly attract the attention of higher ranking members of the Union.

Regardless, I am now confident in my numbers to start exploring the world. With the technologies and skills shared by the Elz, and my ever-increasing population, I am now capable of moving Myself, Melora across regions with supplies enough to ensure my own safety. I feel something now that my requirement for survival is sated... Ambition. I have no desire to serve underneath the Fulgurines, and from how they 'helped' the Elz I have no illusions of their competence. Where should I explore first? The Pale Kingdom, who might be powerful enough to defeat the Union? The steppe peoples, of which little is known?

Exploration shall take a number of weeks regardless of the direction chosen, however for example heading north into the mountains will cover a smaller area than heading south to the Union or west across the planes due to terrain. Terrain is not the only possible danger however...
>>
No. 843330 ID: a363ac

>>843327
explore the mountains cool stuff might be there.
>>
No. 843343 ID: 3abd97

>>843330
Yeah, seems a better idea than poking big empires that will demand fealty.
>>
No. 843350 ID: 314bcd

Thirding the mountains as well.
>>
No. 843440 ID: 3ce125

How about we talk to the Steppe People who will most likely not kill us and also might have things we need?
>>
No. 843579 ID: c88e6d
File 151018559075.png - (114.94KB , 1200x1200 , Awakening Mount Murdercruel.png )
843579

>Go to the mountains!

And so I select my destination, the most harsh and jagged region known to the Elz, a place bereft of sustenance and low on shelter for most living beings. An immensely rugged and near impassable mountain range with only the most marginal population, the mountains to the north prove remarkably inconvenient to explore.
In the first week, it is discovered what an 'avalanche' is, and though the dozen buried selves are easily enough recovered, it costs us time and food, as well as firewood needed to heat them up again. At first, I do not see a living creature barring the occasion bird, insect or small hoofed creature, but after the second week of dragging my supply train up and down mountains and through rocky valleys, I finally come upon the Hermit 'Village'.

The hermits spend their days perched atop long poles embedded in the rock and ice of the mountain slopes, and sit in silent contemplation, retreating to caves by rope when night falls or choosing to test their physical mastery against the ice and wind, but regardless, after two or three tries we find a living hermit. A weathered Elz (and seemingly young despite his wrinkled features), the hermit's voice is cracked and rasping from disuse, but interrogating him about these mountains proves fruitful. Another two weeks to the north is an ancient ruin, supposedly left by wrathful gods centuries ago. He speaks of alien remains and mounds of bones, blood splattered walls and unnatural contortions of matter left by raging deities.

However, I have not been able to replenish my food supplies while traveling through this region, to the point where I am in danger of reaching the point of no return, especially if another avalanche occurs or something more severe happens. I am going to start losing selves if I continue north. I simply lack the experience in mountaineering to do this without casualties.

I can either try and push on to the Twisted Gods Ruin, or withdraw towards the Jungle and continue my exploration in another direction.
>>
No. 843580 ID: 3ce125

>>843579
Let's go back. Head towards the Steppes instead.
>>
No. 843593 ID: 91ee5f

>>843580
This.

Go back, rest, resupply, and then go to the Steppes.
>>
No. 843618 ID: 3abd97

>>843579
Do the hermits want for anything? You might be able to trade with them in the future, if and when you send teams back to the mountains.

Head back. You have no guarantee you'll find the supplies needed for a return trip by the ruins. You can always mount a better prepared expedition later, especially know that you know the mountains better.
>>
No. 843926 ID: c88e6d
File 151027725231.png - (222.82KB , 1200x1200 , Awakening A Busy Few Weeks.png )
843926

>Do the Hermits want anything?

While I offer them trade, they politely but firmly refuse, stating that they willingly take a life of hardship and suffering upon themselves for reasons of self-improvement. Strange.

>Back towards the Steppes!

Alright...

Another week or so passes while I work my way out of the mountains, the trip back mercifully easier thanks to my knowledge of the terrain. It's still an exhausting and miserable time, and I find Myself, Melora looking forward to the company of Lagraz as I finally enter the jungle. I spend two days resting after the trip through the mountains, before making my way back to the Elz village.

While they are mildly surprised to see me return so quickly and with only a few 16s of moderate injuries, Dorz (now de facto leader of the village) nods at my descriptions of the terrain, peoples and events before noting them down for future explorers. Another week of preparations is made, which I spend enjoying Myself, Melora thoroughly, before finally we set out to the west.

The steppes, as I thought five years ago, are indeed bereft of cover and short on forage, though they are at least more habitable than the mountains. As far as the horizon there is nothing but gently hilly terrain and flat ground interspersed with the occasional dips and hummocks. After a week of exploration, I am near-certain the rumors of inhabitants are false, until 15-2 creatures that resemble Elz but more lanky and with strangely long legs leap out from beneath several blankets concealing ditches and attack, flinging long, thin spears with deadly accuracy and hurling torches to frighten and confuse my selves.

The attack is far less successful than it could have been, but 7 selves are killed instantly by javelins penetrating their vital organs, three are maimed or severely wounded by the same, and one is badly burned by an exploding cask of vegetable oil ignited by the Steppe Elz' torches.

In the aftermath of the battle, I find that while our archery and spear tactics were perfectly acceptable against the massed formations of the Empty Elz, the Steppe Elz' chaotic circling attacks and seemingly random battle plans are extremely effective at distracting Myself, Melora from more subtle intruders attempting to steal supplies. They only managed to steal a few packs, though, and I slew as many of their own as they did of mine.

should I continue on through the Steppes to try contacting the Steppe Elz? I know little about them, but despite their ambush I should be better able to counter their attacks in future by preparing myself ahead of time. I can also always just go back and search the jungle as well, and we do know now that there ARE people on this Steppe, even if they do seem more intent to raid than speak peacefully.
>>
No. 843940 ID: a363ac

>>843926
continue on
>>
No. 843943 ID: 3abd97

>>843926
What fraction of your scouting force did you lose?

I'm tempted to go back.
>>
No. 843965 ID: c88e6d

>>843943
I started this trip with 2-0 scouts, but now I have only 1-9 scouts due to the seven deaths. My entire collection of Selves is on this trip, however, numbering approximately [three hundred], but not even close to half of them are healthy or strong enough to act as scouts.
>>
No. 843967 ID: 3ce125

So, we had 32 fighters and lost 7. Also the enemy numbered fucking 242, and only lost 7.

I feel like retreat is a good idea here. If the Steppe Elves want us dead then we're dead.
>>
No. 843975 ID: 91ee5f

>>843967
I agree.

Time to do this: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=zrUWwkVPG_w !
>>
No. 844056 ID: 094652

>>843967
You're ignoring Visitor tactics, those give Melora a huge advantage.

The main character is a hive-mind and they outnumber the Steppe Elz. A few kamikaze soldiers with a comedic density of explosives, and the guerrillas will be cowering before the hive's apparent insanity.
>>
No. 844059 ID: 91ee5f

>>844056
That's dumb and we don't have explosives.
>>
No. 844145 ID: c88e6d
File 151036375071.png - (207.99KB , 1200x1200 , Awakening Decisions.png )
844145

>Explosives

I do not possess any method of constructing practical explosives. I am uncertain if anything like that even exists.

>Bravely Run Away

Deciding to exercise discretion and avoid further casualties, the dead are left to slowly dissolve pits in the earth while I reverse course and begin doing my best to return to the village. Disturbingly, numerous smaller raiding parties attack on the way back, but are repelled without casualties on either side, suggesting a more cautious approach by the Steppe Elz. Moving swiftly, I manage to leave the steppes within a mere four days, albeit I feel utterly ragged at the end.

The Elz appeared to cease pursuit after the first three, but I am grateful to be back home once again. I am starting to suspect that this region isn't controlled by the Fulgurine Union because it's extraordinarily inhospitable. Dorz is shocked by the reports I give of Steppe Elz, stating that they sound like an Elz children's story of monsters that chased their ancestors from the plains and into the southlands. While I am not particularly afraid of them, Dorz immediately organizes a construction effort to fortify the village with Lagraz's help.

As to what should be done now that my wounded are cared for and resting, I can go to the South or to the East. The Fulgurine Union lies far to the south, but they seek to conquer and dominate all within reach, and their lands are only safe because of the vast army that patrols it. On the other hand, the Pale Kingdom supposedly lies to the east, and they might be able to help us build a nation of our own.
>>
No. 844156 ID: 0eeebd

>>844145
east
>>
No. 844177 ID: 3abd97

>>844145
Poke you nose into the pale kingdom.
>>
No. 844199 ID: 3ce125

>>844145
Let's check out the Pale Kingdom. (Time to raid the fallen kingdom of its relics!)
>>
No. 844205 ID: 314bcd

To the eastern kingdom!
>>
No. 844301 ID: 0a23ec

>>844145
Head East, but in a wide pattern so we don't get our whole group ambushed again; scouts ahead of our center Eastward, to the sides Northward and Southward, and behind us Westward should do.
>>
No. 844345 ID: c88e6d
File 151044775035.png - (1.84MB , 4000x4000 , Awakening Crash Site.png )
844345

>East

East it is!

>Spread out

Wise. I'll do this in future to decrease the number of Selves I lose in future ambushes.

Thankfully, Lagraz has knowledge of much of the jungle near the village, and can even accompany me for a significant distance thanks to the dispersal of his selves. After three days of easterly travel, I big him farewell and continue on.

It's another week of traveling before I encounter an anomaly, a trail hundreds of [feet] long. The long, deep scar in the earth appears to have been scored long ago, and while I was fortunate enough to encounter a meteorite in the five years of development I spent in Dorz's village, this is far larger and less scorched. Following the trail I encounter... I am uncertain what it is. It appears to be manufactured, and there are definite signs of the Fulgurines about this thing but.... I have never encountered anything like this before.

What is this?
>>
No. 844355 ID: a363ac

>>844345
examine anything that doesn't look like a plant in like a 2-4 skut radius around this area.
>>
No. 844357 ID: d887c0

>>844345
Hard to say.
"Extravagantly broken" would be my guess.
Sweep the area. Scavenge anything you can find.
>>
No. 844358 ID: 3ce125

>>844345
Looks like a crashed "flying ship". You heard about those already. There's a weapon embedded in it. Is that a really big javelin? Did someone in the Pale Kingdom throw that thing at the ship to take it down? Scary.

Investigate closer. See if there's anything immediately worth looting, or anything worth studying for an extended period.
>>
No. 844588 ID: c88e6d
File 151053181865.png - (208.49KB , 1200x1200 , Awakening Forensic Analysis.png )
844588

>Sweep the area

>Scavenge everything

>Search for anything interesting

My scouts immediately begin to search through the crash site, starting systematically from the area around the beginning of the scar and over to the end point of the wreckage.

I discover many fragments of what I think are components of the crashed object, composed of an extremely lightweight metal and coated in some sort of durable cerable that my spears and swords can hardly dent. A few of these fragments are in good enough condition to be used as shields, but most have had the metal substrate crumble beneath them. Somehow, enormous rents were torn in the object's armor by what appears to be claws.

At the exterior of the craft is some kind of rock-pile resembling the figures Dorz used to represent the Fulgurine Union, and limited probing shows it be a shallow, vertical grave. I choose to not disturb the corpse any further and return it, as it has long since decomposed into bonefragments and cloth fragments, and according to Dorz any number of terrible things will happen should a corpse be disturbed.

Near the grave site is something that at first appears to be a helmet, but on closer inspection seems to be part of a massive insect of some kind. Digging a little around the front of the aircraft, a corpse crushed beyond any recognition is found, suggesting this 'head' was shorn off at the neck when the flying ship struck the earth.

While I examine all these things simultaneously, I reach into the cockpit and pull out the anomalous weapon. It feels a little strange in my haaaaAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH! WHAT DO I DO OH ME I CAN FEEL IT IN MY FLESH, HELP ME, ANYONE, AAAAAAAAAAH!
>>
No. 844590 ID: 0c3362

Oh god put it down.

... if you can. Looks like it's kind of doing a number on you there. Uh... is there some way to ditch this particular body? It might be, uh, not usable anymore.
>>
No. 844591 ID: 33cbe7

You grabbed the wrong end! Chop that arm off and find something one-handed for this body to do.
>>
No. 844593 ID: 3ce125

>>844588
It's just one body, stop freaking out. Let whatever's happening happen, but be ready to put the afflicted body out of its misery if necessary. From range, just in case.

This is science! When you encounter a new phenomenon, you observe it.
>>
No. 844603 ID: 91ee5f

>>844593
This.

I hate to say it, but it is just one body. Observe what'll happen and see if it makes that body stronger or something.

And be ready to put it outta it's misery, should you need to.
>>
No. 844658 ID: 3d229a

>>844603
this,
>>
No. 844790 ID: 67d5dc

>>844603
put out of its misery at range, of course.
>>
No. 844792 ID: a363ac

>>844593
SCIENCE!
>>
No. 844800 ID: c88e6d
File 151060580352.png - (199.64KB , 1200x1200 , Awakening Skutssimilation.png )
844800

>ABANDON BODY

>KILL IT AT RANGE!

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH! Aaaaaaaah! This is the most horribly weird feeling I've ever had! I try and shoot the arm or cut it off, but I can FEEL my muscles being activated and the blade swings about, knocking the nearest scout's sword into a tree-branch, before it swats an arrow out of the air!

>Just let it happen

>Study it, for science

As my panic subsides and the other selves withdraw from the unfortunate scout's vicinity, I can feel it moving through my arm and up along my shoulder and I FEEL IT IN MY SKULL URGH IT'S MOVING I CAN- The self being penetrated by the sword shudders as the AWFUL sensations finally subside, but something is definitely happening inside my other self's head. I am receiving sensory input... from the sword. I can detect heat at range, sense light I've never been able to perceive before, and most strangely I can [read/smell/hear] SOMETHING left in the air around this crashsite. It's most potent about the sword and the severed head we found... satisfaction?

Who is there?

Regardless, now that my scout has been so.... thoroughly violated by the sword's appendages, they seem otherwise healthy, weird tubes aside. Poking the tubes doesn't hurt, and if anything they feel armored. More, they provide a sense of touch. The scout self feels... quicker? And I get a sense of 'muscle memory' from it, like I do from the most heavily trained soldier-selves, like this body could fight on its own without any input from Myself, Melora if need be.

Should... I continue east? I can still sense the sword growing through my scout-self's muscles and around its skeleton... But I have full control and do not sense any abnormal thoughts.
>>
No. 844801 ID: 3ce125

>>844800
Yes, let's keep going. If we find more of these weapons we can upgrade more scouts!
(even if they wind up possessed by what are effectively ghosts of the Pale Knights, we'll be fine since we're not affiliated with their enemy and in fact are opposed to the invading kingdom)

Keep paying close attention to the senses of the altered scout. If you feel anything unusual, focus on it.
>>
No. 844807 ID: 91ee5f

>>844801
This.
>>
No. 844874 ID: a363ac

send that scout back towards the center of the group where if they break off and become other you can surround and capture them other wise continue savaging and moving east.
>>
No. 844951 ID: 3abd97

>Who is there?
The sword is attempting to communicate with you.
>>
No. 845119 ID: c88e6d
File 151070794978.png - (176.51KB , 1200x1200 , Awakening Journey Thus Far.png )
845119

>Keep the Scout surrounded

A good idea, in case that sword turns out to be some kind of nasty parasite

Where is your mind? Nothing is in here.

>Examine the Scout's senses

My senses feel... off? Focusing on the Scout's eyes and ears and the sword stuck to their hand I get the feeling that I can hear things I never thought possible. I can [taste] the satisfaction of the creature crushed under the fallen flying ship, I can almost understand the chirping of the insects in the trees almost like a choir of Elz singing.

Such thunder, but only echoes of greater thoughts.

>Keep moving

I continue heading east, searching for more weapons as I go, but finding little evidence of such. It seems the flying ship was the only craft to fall in this region.

I can nearly feel you... find our lady. She knows what to do.

As I travel, however, farther than I ever have before, I find Myself, Melora three weeks from my former home when I sense something... wrong. At first only my Sword-Scout can sense it with their altered flesh, but within a day even my normal selves can taste it.

The wrongness increases as we move east, until finally pass through a thicket and see the source.
>>
No. 845120 ID: c88e6d
File 151070799549.png - (307.60KB , 2000x800 , Awakening The Pale Kingdom.png )
845120

The Pale Kingdom is dead.

What now...?

There is still hope.
>>
No. 845123 ID: 094652

LOOT!

Send in the augmented scout and a small team of warriors. The kingdom might be sacked, but they left broken technology for the taking! Record everything you can't take with you, from the shapes of buildings to the locations of kitchens and wells.
>>
No. 845125 ID: 91ee5f

>>845119
Melora, can you not hear that voice? Ever since you picked up that sword, there's been an extra voice saying things to you.

Try talking to the voice.

>>845120
Obviously, these guys ain't gonna be needing their weapons anymore!

Start looking for any food and/or weapons that you can take!

.....what's that thing at the top of that pole in the distance?
>>
No. 845135 ID: 3ce125

>>845120
Wait, do you feel something to the north?
>>
No. 845156 ID: d887c0

>>845120
Send some scouts to investigate the city.
>>
No. 845225 ID: a363ac

>>845120
loot
>>
No. 845291 ID: c88e6d
File 151078099122.png - (262.55KB , 1200x1200 , Awakening City Exploration.png )
845291

>Loot the place!
A reasonable decision, I am merely... I did not think I would have to use a number like [millions] to estimate a quantity of corpses. The entire field from the edge of the jungle to the walls of the city miles away is CARPETED with decayed corpses.

It seems to be a mix between a race that looks something like Elz (judging by the skeletal structure), and.... lots and lots of very big bugs. There are also hundreds of pieces of wreckage like the flying ship I found in the jungle, some the size of Dorz' entire village by themselves.

I immediately set out to salvage, but going through this area of the battlefield alone would take weeks. I cannot see the edge of the city's walls past the horizon, and the battlefield seems to encircle it as far as I can see. I will leave the majority of my bodies here and my enhanced-scout will take a dozen other scout-selves into the city ruins.

>A voice
I do admit to feeling drawn to this place, and feeling unaccountably sad upon seeing the... massive dead thing lying in the middle of the city, but I cannot hear any voice consciously.

Our king is fallen.

>That shiny thing in the distance
I get a sense of hope and joy as I look upon the shining thing. It seems to be a light on top of a very tall and thin structure. My enhanced-scout is somewhat twitchy, feeling extremely energized and excited as I move towards the light.

Our lady!

Where should I send my scouts first? There simply isn't enough self-power to cover the entire city at once. The light is a few miles away. There's also that creepy dead thing the size of a mountain lying in front of the ruined gates, and the buildings inside the city itself, though strangely beyond the walls there are very few dead bodies of anyone, bug or Fulgurine.
>>
No. 845316 ID: de6d84

Send a few scouts through the seemingly-crash area.
There might be a reason why it's crashed alongside there, and it could be valuables.
>>
No. 845318 ID: 094652

Head for the star, have small squads of guards patrol your exit strategy. You can start scavenging after you've grabbed the most important piece of loot.
>>
No. 845324 ID: 3ce125

>>845291
Let's be efficient. Head towards the huge dead thing but peek into buildings along the way. After paying respects to whatever it is, head towards the light. Again, peek into buildings along the way.
>>
No. 845372 ID: a363ac

>>845291
eat the flesh of the big thing to take its powers of big. If that doesn't work go to the light I guess looting a bit along the way.
>>
No. 845453 ID: 94bef7

If you see something interesting made of metal or something unfamiliar, inspect! They're probably very distinguishable from ordinary trash and rubble.

The big dead thing looks very interesting. How long do you think the big dead thing have been dead?
>>
No. 845490 ID: 91ee5f

>>845324
This!
>>
No. 845574 ID: c88e6d
File 151087954396.png - (212.79KB , 1200x1200 , Awakening Dead King.png )
845574

>How old is the dead thing?
Presumably as old as the rest of this battlefield and all the wrecks. According to Dorz, it was around fifteen years ago that the Fulgurine Union announced their conquest and then abruptly had their armies withdraw from the edges of their territory.

Presumably they were unable to recover from the losses they took destroying this place.

Victory!

>Seeming Crash Area
At first, I though the buidings with a circular section missing all lined up was a crash too, but there was far too little debris for that. It seems like some kind of force simply tore a massive section out of the structures and the wall.

>Head towards the dead thing, looting along the way
>Head for the star

I can do both, as they are conveniently in-line with one another, the 'star' apparently being near the center of the city.

Despite the sheer devastation of the city's structures, it seems less like there was a true battle amidst them and more that the Fulgurines hurled some sort of explosive weapon into the city repeatedly, gradually tearing it apart.

There do not seem to be any dead locals in the streets barring the occasional creature crushed beneath rubble or eviscerated by a fragment of metal traveling at high velocity. Apparently the populace took to the walls and fields to fight.

This DOES mean that the interiors of most structures, the ground floors and basements, at least, are nearly untouched. While the vast majority of the city's towers have partially or totally collapsed, this means there is more 'loot' here than any thousand or so scavengers could dream of.

Wealth beyond wealth, treasure of this world.

Unfortunately, while there is an incredible amount of stuff, much of that which could be considered most valuable, that being the books which are endemic to this city, are seemingly blank pages. I have no idea why they would create thousands of empty pages...

Find our lady first, then you will learn our words.

Regardless, it isn't long before we reach the dead body of this.... I am uncertain it can even be considered a creature. I know of no natural process which could build something miles long that apparently had wings at some point.

Even testing our iron blades against what is presumably a carapace weakened with age does nothing to even scratch it, yet there is scarcely an inch of the monster's armor that does not bear scars and scratches, not to mention the great and terrible rents in its hide that seemingly killed it.

Thankfully, it seems to have been rotting for a very long time, and does not seem to inclined to get up and begin rampaging. Interestingly, my enhanced scout does not seem able to strike at it, the pearlescent blade deflecting before it hits and scoring the pavement.

Such insolence! Have respect, cur!

Shall I proceed to the 'star' in the distance? I have found vast quantities of jewelry and local currency (though strangely no hand tools), but there's really no purpose in dragging salvage into the inner city. Unfortunately, we have not found an armory either.
>>
No. 845575 ID: c88e6d

>>845574
Apologies, uploaded the uncolored one by mistake.
>>
No. 845576 ID: 3ce125

>>845574
Yeah head to the light. Time to find out what that good feeling is about.
>>
No. 845577 ID: a363ac

>>845574
To the star!
>>
No. 845581 ID: 91ee5f

>>845574
Go to the star!
>>
No. 845615 ID: 94bef7

To the star!

Perhaps the books' pages have been bleached by the rains and shines of years past.
>>
No. 845724 ID: c88e6d

>Towards the Star
Heading towards the star takes longer than I had thought, and it takes until sunset to reach the base of the spire near the center of the city. It's strange, but despite the great damage to the tower, the spire, somewhat bent in the middle, seems to stand as high as ever. There is no obvious way to climb it, but at the base there is a monolithic stone, apparently dragged from the rubble of the palace that stood around the spire.

There are three figures here, but all of them are very, very dead. Two warrior creatures, still gripping their weapons and standing guard, and one squat, round creature with wings, dead in the midst of carving. From the way they are positioned, I think they might have starved to death.

The monolith they guard is a declaration of unequivocal victory and defiance. I can tell because it appears to be written in every language, and Dorz' Elz writing is around ten feet up. The rest are incomprehensible to me, but my Enhanced Scout can detect an intense aura of pride and jubilation around the stone.

Joy! Glory! Victory! Our lady is safe below! Check behind the last scribe's great work.

Interestingly, from what my Enhanced Scout can see with its better eyes, the monolith's writing starts out crude but gradually improves as it goes along. The words the squat creature is carving into the stone (with its fingertips no less) is... I can find no other words to describe it than 'beautiful'.

Melora has developed an interest in fine art.

Regardless, Should I try and climb the spire? Or is there something else I should do?

Enter the palace you stupid deaf rats!
>>
No. 845725 ID: c88e6d
File 151095217246.png - (155.05KB , 1200x1200 , Awakening Monolith.png )
845725

>>845724
Forgot the image, sorry!
>>
No. 845728 ID: 3ce125

>>845724
Check behind the tablet.
If such a direct instruction cannot be justified, investigate the immediate area around the scribes and guards, looking for an entrance to the spire. Heck, try to take guards' weapons to enhance a couple more scouts. If the same thing doesn't happen, put the weapons back for now out of respect.
>>
No. 845738 ID: 91ee5f

>>845724
>Enter the palace you stupid deaf rats!
Suddenly feel insulted by the "voice" coming from the sword and refuse to do what it wants until you get an apology! >:'-(
>>
No. 845745 ID: a363ac

>>845738
Yeah apologize sword!
then steal the guards weapons and the bug creatures finger and start climbing
>>
No. 845981 ID: c88e6d
File 151105876553.png - (423.41KB , 1200x1200 , Awakening Special Door.png )
845981

>Get the sword to apologize
While I get a vague sense of anger and contempt from the sword, having my Enhanced Scout whack it against the floor a few times seems to calm it down.

Cut it out! Fine, I'm sorry!

>Climb the spire
I literally cannot even estimate how tall it is. it just stretches into the sky and has no handholds. Climbing it is not going to happen short of my selves developing wings.

>Grab the weapons
While I have several scouts stack up into a pyramid to grab the weapons' hafts, it doesn't cause the same response at all. They are also a different color to the pearl-colored sword I found, and don't seem to be 'alive'. Without the enhanced abilities the sword gives my Enhanced Scout, I cannot wield them, and thus can simply leave them here.

Good, let dead heroes lie.

Prying the writer's finger out of the stone, meanwhile, is not possible without destroying either the stone or the deceased creature's body, and I get a very, very foreboding feeling from contemplating that.

...

>Check behind the Tablet
Behind the tablet is a rather small door, only a little above my own head in height. It extends at an angle downward to a winding staircase that goes even further into the earth, supported by material that resembles the Scout Sword.

As I go deeper, I can see pale roots pressing through the stonework around my scouts in increasing numbers, to the point where after descending half a dozen floors the staircase seems more luminous plant than stone.

Finally, at the end of another lengthy and gradually widening corridor, I come to stand before a door wrought in something that resembles the shell of the dead king-creature on the surface.

AT LAST.

With a thunderous echo in my mind, I at last hear the voice of the sword and my Enhanced Scout abruptly loses muscle control, right arm and leg extending fully and throwing the scout at the door. The blade slides into a slot in the center.
>>
No. 845982 ID: c88e6d
File 151105882192.png - (371.49KB , 1200x1200 , Awakening Opening Door.png )
845982

With a loud hiss, the door slides into the floor as the blade is withdrawn, and blinding light floods the corridor.
>>
No. 845985 ID: c88e6d
File 151105893524.png - (374.84KB , 1200x1200 , Awakening Open Door.png )
845985

???:"Hello there."
>>
No. 845986 ID: c88e6d

Chapter 2: Exploration Concluded
>>
No. 846096 ID: a363ac

>>845985
oh hey cool its a giant tentacle monster stuck in a portal/large room. when do we get the cool Magibeast powers?
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