>>925332
>>I wouldn't normally do something like this. Maybe I should tell her exactly why!
Sure, but tell her you can talk about it when youre not being invaded.

Say Deem, can you do any basic reinforcement magic at the moment? If so, you might want to try do some that will up your awareness so you dont have to worry about missing ny imps, and maybe a simple force spell to let you sweep the imps into one area.

>>925332
Also, is the Bud slime swelling like Alkaline does when she drinks water?

>>925777
hol up. There is a vague outline inside... did she EAT belphejar?

1/8 Deem 2019/04/23(Tue)05:44 No. 930845 ID: e8f59c
File 155602346494.png - (27.56KB , 800x600 , its_dangerous_to_go_alone_stay_here.png )

>Uh... you mean we have a physical component? I don't see any part of your heart that you could detach and throw, aside from the shard which you obviously wouldn't throw off the mountain. Is our physical component part of the golem body? Or can you throw us without us being physical at all?
Of course I can.

>Also, is the Bud slime swelling like Alkaline does when she drinks water?
She ate too much.

>Leave Bud to figuratively and literally cover Chakarchelou's back to protect the forge while your heart-guard stays where it is. You and the other homunculus go to the Thaumatorium to ambush those imps from behind while Moriko Goes on dedicated Bully-hunting duty and Alkaline acts as support to keep Moriko from being swarmed.
I suppose I'd best leave some defenders here in the forge in case anything slips past. Imps are very skilled at getting everywhere. The corridor isn't too wide so, I might leave the golem here as well though. Once Reisarf turns up, Moriko and I can handle the front line while he and Alkaline bring up the rear. Stargazer should be able to fill a gap in a pinch.

2/8 Deem 2019/04/23(Tue)05:45 No. 930846 ID: e8f59c
File 155602353265.png - (55.48KB , 800x600 , lets_do_it.png )

>Isn't it just that you didn't have a particular big need to take on different guises back in ye olde days? With your current situation I can see more of a call for it, but that's when dealing with strangers. Here among your frie - hem - minions a humanoid illusion feels more like putting on makeup. Not that there's anything wrong with that.
>... is there anything wrong with that?
Hah!

>Yeah, tell Moriko.
"So, this form," I say to Moriko. "Do you like it?"

She seems on guard. "It's unusual for you." she says.

"I don't like it!" I say, spurred by an irrational fear this is my only chance to say it. "It's not something I'd do. Giving in to curses and obsessions, because I didn't think anyone would see. Perhaps it was foolish of me to consider this curse harmless, just a chance to trace, encyst and excise it..." I shake my head. "I don't like the pretence. It reminds me how false I am. Cold and jealous and apart." I move closer. "I can barely stand it sometimes! You're so full of potential, so full of life. You can go wherever you want, do whatever you want, be whoever you want!"

3/8 Deem 2019/04/23(Tue)05:46 No. 930847 ID: e8f59c
File 155602356288.png - (13.79KB , 800x550 , turned_down.png )

"Oh Deem..." Moriko gently but firmly moves my hand off her shoulder. I don't like how she's looking at me. "How can you have lived so long and still be so naive?"

She pities me. I can't bear it. I start to turn away.

"People's choices are rarely their own." Moriko says quietly.

>...Is she the human you have on your mind?
No!

4/8 Deem 2019/04/23(Tue)05:47 No. 930848 ID: e8f59c
File 155602363368.png - (20.25KB , 640x750 , wake_up_rei.png )

>Ask where Reisarf is. If we don't have the AOE mage on hand, pushing out with everyone is a foolish endeavour because of how tight the corridors are.
He's hovering at the doorway.

"How long have you been here?" I snap.

"A little while." my alienist says dreamily.

"Where is your shirt?" Moriko says.

Reisarf thinks for a moment. "I don't know."

"Well don't blame me if you get clawed up by imps." I say.

Alkaline looks at me in shock.

"Alkaline, you're in charge of making sure that doesn't happen." I relent. She nods enthusiastically. Stargazer stares at her doubtfully.

Enough of this, we have imps to clear out.

5/8 Deem 2019/04/23(Tue)05:48 No. 930849 ID: e8f59c
File 155602368820.png - (18.24KB , 800x550 , imp_wants_to_fight.png )

>You should think about what Doyle is doing. Does he have a plan to bombard the imps from range? Does he require more direct leadership in the future? Is he just sick of eating imp?
Being a coward is what he's doing!

>Also Doyle may be acting out of cowardice but he might have a better tactical position out in the pool like that.
>And to be fair to Doyle, he was being overrun, a retreat was probably called for.
Ugh, I suppose. More might have been possible if he'd supported the brute golems at all though! Now one's destroyed and the other's underwater.

>Don't sweat the details. Ask her if she has the key ready - you shouldn't need it, but it's better to be prepared than to make a gamble you'll look cool.
Yes she has the key.

>Say Deem, can you do any basic reinforcement magic at the moment? If so, you might want to try do some that will up your awareness so you don't have to worry about missing ny imps, and maybe a simple force spell to let you sweep the imps into one area.
Basic and simple are the things I'm worst at. I am a sluggish caster of magic.

>Watch out for those fissures in the walls along the corridor. Imps could be hiding in them.
Looks like there's some hiding in there. They've cluttered up the hallway with dislodged stones too. If it's going to cause a mess, imps can do it faster than you'd believe is possible.

6/8 Deem 2019/04/23(Tue)05:48 No. 930850 ID: e8f59c
File 155602371976.png - (23.41KB , 800x550 , imp_uses_smug.png )

They're mostly skulking behind rocks but Reisarf might help clear out the -

Moriko rushes in.

"Die imps!"

Right, she really doesn't like demons.

The one standing in the open dances on the spot, trying to confuse her. Clearly one of the suicidally overconfident ones. One of the other imps tries to flee past Moriko and somehow gets tangled with a loose end of her leg wrapping. Imps! You'd think they do it on purpose!

I move forward to assist her.

7/8 Deem 2019/04/23(Tue)05:49 No. 930852 ID: e8f59c
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The homunculus modelled after Kallia suddenly gets to its feet and latches on to me. Agh no wonder I lost it so quickly, it got possessed! I knew there'd have to be at least one oddity in a imp swarm like this!

I hear Alkaline squeal excitedly behind me. She better not hit me with that whupping stick.

The imp-possessed golem attempts to cackle in my ear, choke me and fumbles at my spear.

8/8 Deem 2019/04/23(Tue)05:49 No. 930853 ID: e8f59c
File 155602379795.png - (27.08KB , 800x600 , imp_onslaught.png )

The door to the Thaumatorium opens and the imp bully drives a gang of imps out, to pelt us with rocks.

These imps are really getting on my nerves!

Wipe them out: I don't want to deal with this again, concentrate on eliminating them.
Avoid injuries: Perhaps conserving the strength of my denizens would be a better idea, even if it means more imps get away.

>>930853
Wipe them out.

>>930852
>choke
joke's on it, you don't need to breath.

Avoid injuries. i refuse to let our people get seriously injured over freaking imps.
non-serious injuries are fine though.

>>930845
I love how concerned Chakarchelou looks here to me while looking at the small slime
"little one are you ok" "little one you are swelling" "little, stop growing before you pop"

but yeah, this is starting to get ridiculous.
>Wipe them out

Hmm... on the one hand, horde of imps with rocks.

On the other hand... Reisarif is sleepy.

Let's avoid injuries. Friendly fire isn't friendly at all and the alienist fragging moriko is going to cause all sorts of problems.

Deem, don't do the thing. Whatever you're thinking of, don't do that, because you need to be explicitly told not to do the thing, with explicit wording, otherwise you will do it anyway. So whatever you do, don't.

Now, wipe them out. Leaking excess monster into the surrounding area is against dungeon health and safety code. Time to clean up the mess as a form of healthy coping.

Avoid Injuries
They seem to be getting tougher out there. Maybe next time they show up, one of them will be useful enough to subjugate.

Actually, Isolate that golem that thinks it's strangling you. A thing that can possess might be useful to have around.

>>930845
Chakarchelou's such a cutie patootie. Best guard drake.

>Imp annihilation or nunjuries
No injuries. You left behind a guard to deal with scampering sneaks who slipped past you - and if they leave, good riddance. As long as you don't let the Bully or most of the swarm pass, you should be good.

Tactic-wise... how do you deal with imp possession? Is there a non-destructive way to shake the possession? If you could clear it up, you'd have one more ally in the fight.

Mind that you want to get rid of the possessor imp so it can't do it to anyone else. The imp gang is pretty grouped up in the doorway, so Alkaline should probably Bad Egg them if she can, while Reisarf/Stargazer return bombardment, with a focus on the Bully. You could also have your big golem climb out of the water behind them. Unless you're lucky it won't be much of a sneak attack, but it could split their forces and Doyle might get his yellow-bell-y butt in gear if he sees your group having the upper hand.

We need to obtain some crossbows. This would be over already if we had a few repeaters to fend off wildlife.

>>930853
Priorities:
1, killing the strongest of them.
2, making sure the majority are killed.
3, keeping your minions healthy.

It doesn't matter if some of them escape, in the long run. If they ever come back either they'll be mostly harmless or they'll be supporting another invading monster force like the bear or something. Or maybe they'll multiply and return as another swarm? That's fine too, we'll get mana out of it!

Actually there is one concern. Will they bother the town? Or will they bother a merchant caravan, or your own caravan? Maybe it would be best to wipe them out in that case. Having them steal our stuff (or stuff we want to buy) would be really shitty.

>>930853
Prevent injuries. You're in no mind to be making tactical decisions. You're angry, frustrated and sad.

Wipe them out.

All of them.

>>930852
Wait. Is the possessing imp in the crowd, or does it merge with the possessed golem or something like that? Regardless of the answer: that one gets to stay.

>>930941
Let's not recruit imps.

>>930852
So, you wanna smash the possessed golem? That’ll kill the imp possessing it, right? You can always build a new golem later.

>>930853
Avoid injuries

>>930941
We’re not keeping that thing.

>How can you have lived so long and still be so naive?

Well your a dungeon. You haven't really gotten out much. You should go on a trip somewhere some time.

Suggest this to Moriko at a most inappropriate or inopportune moment.

Diplomacy. Let them eat cake!

>>930853

Wipe out the lot of them, we can't let this become a regular event or attract undue attention yet.

Though I've mixed feeling about the one that was 'smart' enough to hide inside the Kallialem, can it be removed without damaging the golem?

Minimize injuries. This is a defensive fight, and bleary Reisarf shooting into melee would be a recipe for disaster at the best of times. Tell Alkaline to focus on the big leader imp, but leave more specific tactics to her discretion.

You've still got access to your golemetry, and basic parallel spell processing, right? Try to reassert control over that possessed homunculus from multiple directions simultaneously, thereby outflanking the imp's mind.

>>930853
Avoid injuries

>>930846
make sure to remember this moment, you're gonna want to replay it in your head a few thousand times once this whole curse business is over and done with.

also; exterminate, but not at risk of friendly fire.

No more playing it safe, it's time to show them some power. Wipe this place clean of imps.

Avoid injuries. You can't afford to take any attrition.

Now that the spawning is gone their numbers are quite finite so any future attacks they do will be lesser in strength, particularly if we take out the boss imp. May as well keep our strength up; no real reason to risk injury or resurrection in our forces. Avoid injuries

>Avoid injuries: Perhaps conserving the strength of my denizens would be a better idea, even if it means more imps get away.
In the long run, your own strength, and the strength, safety and loyalty of your minions, is more important than any individual victory being complete and total.

Especially with the other disruptions and setbacks you've experienced recently, it behooves you to put your followers fist.

>>931157
It isn't quite as simple as long-term/short-term. If imps escape then she has an ongoing imp population. That could mean any number of a number of things: Imp raids, resources lost(frog pond becomes imp swamp), merchants driven off, quick snacks low-levelled invaders discouraged, massive imp rituals to the full moon that cause the dungeon's walls to bleed and make Deem irritated over ambient sky-worship, one-thing-leads-to-another there are half-imp-half-devil-bears clogging up the forests...

We really don't know what the long-term costs of escaped imps are.

>>931201
So far they have not seemed to be referred to as anything more than a nuisance that 'gets everywhere', steal things occasionally, and owning weapons-grade stupidity. Unless they can breed or something they pose little ongoing threat.
Shouldn't we be able to make a golem door with like a basic puzzle to open it and enter the dungeon proper and a notification, so repeat fails or brute force will give us warning that something is trying to enter.

>>931211
>Unless they can breed
Why would they not be able to breed? They're living creatures; unless otherwise stated ability to breed should be the default assumption.

>>931211
The dungeon is still lacking basic security measures. We haven't had enough free time to pursue simply making basic features such as the one you mentioned, simply because more important stuff keeps happening.

>>930853
Avoid injuries, you've had a shocking amount of things happen to your denizens in like, what, two weeks? They should conserve their strength in general.

Don't just wipe them out, one of the ones staring at you isn't throwing a rock right now. That's the one that is controlling your golem. Kill that one.

1/6 Deem 2019/05/18(Sat)22:34 No. 933320 ID: e8f59c
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>Joke's on it, you don't need to breathe.
It does make it hard to talk!

>Make sure to remember this moment, you're gonna want to replay it in your head a few thousand times once this whole curse business is over and done with.
I did say that, didn't I?

2/6 Deem 2019/05/18(Sat)22:35 No. 933321 ID: e8f59c
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I drop my spear, grab on to the rogue golem with both hands and throw it away from myself.

>So, you wanna smash the possessed golem? That’ll kill the imp possessing it, right? You can always build a new golem later.
No but some of the shock does carry over. I scramble to pick up my dropped spear and put this into practice.

3/6 Deem 2019/05/18(Sat)22:36 No. 933322 ID: e8f59c
File 155824418951.png - (22.70KB , 800x500 , demonic_possession_is_not_a_toy.png )

>Mind that you want to get rid of the possessor imp so it can't do it to anyone else.
The possessing imp seems to have been startled and lost its hold. It boils out of its golem host like an odious cloud. I disperse it.

I don't have time to reanimate the golem but that's one threat removed.

>Prevent injuries. You're in no mind to be making tactical decisions. You're angry, frustrated and sad.
I'd never be making any decisions if that was a factor.

>Diplomacy. Let them eat cake!
I'm not putting up with imps feeling overly energetic from sweet things.

4/6 Deem 2019/05/18(Sat)22:37 No. 933323 ID: e8f59c
File 155824422898.png - (31.24KB , 800x600 , theyre_helping.png )

>In the long run, your own strength, and the strength, safety and loyalty of your minions, is more important than any individual victory being complete and total.
>Especially with the other disruptions and setbacks you've experienced recently, it behooves you to put your followers fist.
True, they're still not especially used to fighting together,
I attempt to speak, massage my throat and try again. "Reisarf, just use curses on the stronger looking imps for now. Alkaline, only throw eggs at the doorway!"

The rock throwers scream in outrage at Alkaline having the temerity to throw something back at them and intensify their barrage. They're not very good aims, but it's necessary to keep an eye for them.

>So far they have not seemed to be referred to as anything more than a nuisance that 'gets everywhere', steal things occasionally, and owning weapons-grade stupidity. Unless they can breed or something they pose little ongoing threat.
Breed? Not exactly. They can multiply, certainly. It's a matter of breaking up any nests we find until they're sufficiently dispersed.

>The dungeon is still lacking basic security measures. We haven't had enough free time to pursue simply making basic features such as the one you mentioned, simply because more important stuff keeps happening.
It could use some entry renovations but it's partially just my dungeon is still very small.

5/6 Deem 2019/05/18(Sat)22:38 No. 933324 ID: e8f59c
File 155824431035.png - (36.32KB , 800x600 , too_many_imps.png )

Moriko's bogged down in melee, surrounded by darting imps. I try to move forward and help her. The Imp Bully's been using its subordinates as impish shields but she's gotten one or two hits in on it.

The bully seems to have lost its appetite for battle. Unfortunately Moriko's still being swarmed and I can't get over there fast enough. It and a gaggle of other imps flee into the Golem Totem and out into the night on the heels of the one that got tangled in Moriko's wrappings.

The rock throwers screech in victory. They don't seem to realise the other imps are using them as a distraction to make their getaway.

>You could also have your big golem climb out of the water behind them. Unless you're lucky it won't be much of a sneak attack, but it could split their forces and Doyle might get his yellow-bell-y butt in gear if he sees your group having the upper hand.
I have the brute pull itself out of the pool to put some pressure on the remaining imps. Doyle's still keeping his distance.

>They seem to be getting tougher out there. Maybe next time they show up, one of them will be useful enough to subjugate.
Perhaps. As I've said before, they do have troublesome temperaments.

6/6 Deem 2019/05/18(Sat)22:39 No. 933325 ID: e8f59c
File 155824437955.png - (35.15KB , 800x550 , victory_huzzah.png )

It isn't a complete victory, but we've won. The imps are driven off and we've killed a good number of them, even if we missed the ringleader. The imps haven't caused much damage aside from the golems that will need to be replaced and scattering some loose stones and personal items that were left out around the place.

>Chakarchelou's such a cutie patootie. Best guard drake.
Chakarchelou dealt with a few imps that managed to get past everyone but then ran the wrong way into the forge.

Moriko's dissatisfied that she didn't manage to get the bully, so I let her go out after it with Chakarchelou. I don't know if she'll catch any stragglers; imps are good at running away.

>Well you're a dungeon. You haven't really gotten out much. You should go on a trip somewhere some time.
>Suggest this to Moriko at a most inappropriate or inopportune moment.
I should scavenge that haunted forest ruin when I get a chance. Do you think she'd like that?

>I love how concerned Chakarchelou looks here to me while looking at the small slime
>"little one are you ok" "little one you are swelling" "little, stop growing before you pop"
Perhaps some more might be called for if I'm going to do anything with this new pile of imp corpses.

>Will they bother the town? Or will they bother a merchant caravan, or your own caravan? Maybe it would be best to wipe them out in that case. Having them steal our stuff (or stuff we want to buy) would be really shitty.
Monsters usually stay close to dungeons or other places where the earth-pulse is strong unless their numbers are high enough for the weaker ones to start getting displaced.

Still, it's the middle of the night. My denizens are yawning so I'd best send them to bed and sort through all this in the morning.

END CHAPTER 5

*intense feelings of giddy joy*

well that was fun, at least to some people in the party. And hey it did give Alkaline some good battle experience. Though rest does sound like it would do everyone's mood wonders and we can probably bump up making some traps for the dungeon's to do list to hopefully prevent things like this in the future.

>I should scavenge that haunted forest ruin when I get a chance. Do you think she'd like that?

Absolutely!