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>>626364
The Vimana flies so low that its belly nearly scrapes the dirt off the ground. It's the only way you can move unnoticed here.

The information you have on Shezmu couldn't fill up a napkin. He likes orgies. He turns blood into wine. He has human and monstrous followers. You know his approximate location in the Sahara desert, but the Egyptian Sahara is very fucking big.

"We're almost at the drop-off point," Francis says. "Be ready."

"I will be monitoring your progress personally," the Commander's voice whispers in your mind. "There won't be a repeat of last time."

You sure hope so. Fighting another Relic-wielder, while technically easier than fighting something on the scale of Shezmu is hardly an enjoyable task. Orianne and Natsumi have recovered fairly well from the ordeal, but Selene is still sullen about it.

"Here we are," Francis says. "Good luck."

The Vimana comes to a stop and you nod to Orianne. She jumps of first, followed by Natsumi and Selene. You drop last, and Francis takes off once more.

"So this is Shezmu's territory." Orianne looks at the seemingly endless expense of desert. "Where should we go first, Eamon?"

Before your mission can even start, you need to track down Shezmu's agents. Hopefully, you'll find a lead to their master.

- [DC10] Look for one of Shezmu's patrols.
- [DC10] Look for some kind of base or temple.
- [DC10] Look for the vats of bloodwine.

>>626369
> Look for a patrol
Rushing headlong into a potentially fortified position seems like a bad idea to me.

>>626369
nb4 Francis turns traitor because Shezza is a bro and offers him wine and women.

>>626369
>- [DC10] Look for one of Shezmu's patrols.

Rolled 9 (1d20)

>>626369
>- [DC10] Look for the vats of bloodwine.

And you're hunting for patrols. Roll 1d20?

Rolled 8 (1d20)

>>626471

Rolled 15 (1d20)

>>626471

>>626510
Clutch

Rolled 3 (1d20)

>>626471
Rolling for genocide

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>>626369
Gained INT B.

"We're going to look for a patrol," you say. "And we're going in quiet for now - stay low and don't use your Relics. We might be able to follow them back. Selene, can you take the lead?"

Selene doesn't answer, but she does step forward and march further into the desert. Her arrows would be too obvious here, but even without them, she's still a decent tracker. Following her lead, you wander through the desert for what feels like hours. It's a good thing you packed food and water.

After some time, Selene stops and motions for you to get down. You drop onto your stomach and crawl over to her position.

"What is it?"

"Over there." Selene points towards a giant lion walking through the desert. "That looks like one of Shezmu's agents."

You can attack and hopefully distract Shezmu, or you can try to follow it to wherever it's going.

- Attack the lion.
- [DC9] Follow the lion.

Rolled 19 (1d20)

>>626548
>- [DC9] Follow the lion.
How can I resist such a delicious bait?

Rolled 9 (1d20)

>>626548
>- [DC9] Follow the lion.

Rolled 20 (1d20)

>>626548
>- [DC9] Follow the lion.

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>>626548
While reconnaissance in force is a time-honoured tradition of people who like to kick off clusterfuck battles, it's not something you can indulge in at the moment. You've been quiet here so far, and you'd like to keep it that way. You'll follow the lion and see if it takes you anywhere.

"We'll stick to the plan," you say. "Follow the lion and don't get noticed. Selene, can you do this?"

"Yeah," she says. "I can do this."

The four of you stay downwind and hide behind dunes and whatever else you can use for cover.

The lion is not particularly energetic. It meanders about aimlessly and occasionally stops to sniff at something. Its path eventually leads you to what looks like an encampment. It's too small and shoddy to be of military value, but you do know that Shezmu keeps a large number of slaves as sacrificial offerings.

"What should we do, Eamon?" Natsumi asks. "I do not want to abandon these people, but if we make ourselves known…"

"We'll attract a lot of attention," Orianne says. "Probably more than we can fight at once."

"If we're fast enough, Francis should be able to evacuate everyone," Selene says. "It would also make a useful distraction for us."

"It's risky though." You symbolically tap your ear. "Commander, are you hearing this?"

"I hear you fine, Eamon," she says. "You're the one in the field so this is your call. I'll let Francis know if you need him."

- Ignore the encampment and keep going.
- You need to find a way to save these people.

>>626725
>- You need to find a way to save these people.

>>626725
>- You need to find a way to save these people.

>>626725
>- You need to find a way to save these people.

>>626725
> ignore the encampment
Sure it might be good for morale if we pull it off but our whole MO so far has been to kill the big boss and let the locals mop up. Trying to take care of every little thing ourselves is just business as usual and won't help end this war.

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>>626725
Whether because these people need to be saved or because freeing them would cause a useful distraction, you need to save these people. Francis can get them out immediately, and you can go after Shezmu while his forces are distracted. Hopefully.

"Commander, we're going in," you say. "Keep Francis on standby."

"He'll be waiting for your signal.

"So… how are we actually supposed to do this?" Selene asks. "If we'll die along with the civilians."

"We could just stay hidden and have a look around," Orianne says. "There must be some flaw in the encampment's perimeter. It certainly doesn't look heavily-defended."

"I believe a frontal assault could succeed," Natsumi says. "While three of us attack, a third person could get the people out. There would be less risk to the civilians than if they are ambushed."

It'd still be riskier than if you managed to get them out quietly without a hitch.

- [DC9] Maintain stealth and look around.
- [DC10] Storm the place.

Rolled 18 (1d20)

>>626856
>- [DC9] Maintain stealth and look around.

Rolled 6 (1d20)

>>626856
>- [DC9] Maintain stealth and look around.
We are the stealthiest

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>>626856
"Natsumi, you're with me," you order. "We'll go left and circle around the encampment. Orianne and Selene can circle around the right. We'll meet up on the other side. Pay close attention and report anything you find noteworthy, and don't get noticed. We've come too far to make a mistake at this stage."

Your orders are executed without question. Natsumi and you crawl towards the left side of the encampment, while Orianne and Selene go right. You stay as low as you can and do your best to avoid notice. The encampment doesn't seem to have any patrols, but there must be guards of some sort to keep the people contained.

"Natsumi, do you see anything we can use?"

"I believe there's a gap in the fence." She points to a spot along the camp's perimeter. The chain link fence isn't actually broken, but you can clearly see that there are no guards near there, which is enough. Most other spots are covered, so for all you know, Shezmu himself is standing right behind. "I think we can use it to sneak through."

"Good work, Natsumi," you say. "We'll see if the others have found anything."

Meeting up with Selene and Natsumi is actually more difficult than you'd imagined; you can't exactly wave to them to let them know where you are. It takes a few minutes for you to spot them and get to their location.

"We found a spot in the fence that might work," you say. "You?"

"We saw a door that's unguarded on the outside," Orianne says. "We can't see what's behind it, but I'm willing to bet that they use it to bring prisoners in. We could use it to get them out."

If the door is used by prisoners, then it should have direct access to wherever they're being kept, which would make everything much faster. Except you don't know what's behind the door.

- [DC10] "We'll try the door. If it's guarded on the inside, we'll knock them out."
- [DC9] "We'll go through the fence. It shouldn't be too hard to find out way to the prisoners."

Rolled 11 (1d20)

>>626979
>- [DC9] "We'll go through the fence. It shouldn't be too hard to find out way to the prisoners."

Rolled 6 (1d20)

>>626979
>- [DC9] "We'll go through the fence. It shouldn't be too hard to find out way to the prisoners."

Rolled 4 (1d20)

>>626979
>- [DC9] "We'll go through the fence. It shouldn't be too hard to find out way to the prisoners."

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>>626979
"We'll go through the fence," you say. "I don't want to risk tangling with guards. Besides, it should be too hard to find our way to the prisoners."

"Francis will be there as soon as you need him."

"Thanks, Commander."

Sure, you've been relying on Francis for most anything that involves following directions, but the encampment isn't that big. You can manage it.

The four of you return to the spot in the fence without getting spotted. You take out some steel cutters and nip at the fence until there's a whole big enough for an adult to slip through.

Orianne goes in first since she has a melee weapon, followed by you, Selene and then Natsumi, who has your back covered.

Once inside, you proceed at a cautious pace to avoid notice. The encampment is full of hovels, all of which are empty at the moment. But there has to be people around here somewhere.

And then you find them.

It's… it's absolutely disgusting.

A pile of people bulging with fat and wet with wine and bodily fluids. Men, women, young, old - people of all kinds are locked up in this cage. They don't even notice your presence, engrossed as they are in their alcohol.

You have to cover your mouths to stop yourselves from throwing up. You have no idea how you're going to get these people out of here.

- Find a way to clear the area so Francis can pick them up directly.
- [DC9] Find a way to corral them out of the encampment.

Rolled 15 (1d20)

>>627109
>- [DC9] Find a way to corral them out of the encampment.

Rolled 5 (1d20)

>>627109
>- [DC9] Find a way to corral them out of the encampment.

Rolled 6 (1d20)

>>627109
>- [DC9] Find a way to corral them out of the encampment.
Ez

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>>627109
You put on your standard-issue combat gloves. You also make a note to bring proper hazmat gloves next time.

"Listen up everyone! We're going to get you out of here!" The number of people who notice your presence is still equal to zero. "Fuck it, just drag them out."

You grab the first thing that looks like a person and pull. You still need to watch out for guards and you need to widen the hole in the fence, so this is an extremely slow process. Fortunately, your caution allows you to avoid notice. You bring the people out one by one and once you're done, the Vimana flies by unseen to pick them all up.

"I hope we never have to do this again," Orianne mutters. "That was just too much."

"It was our duty as true heroes," Selene says. "It's better to hope that no one else is ever forced to live in these conditions again. For both their sake and ours."

"Francis picked the prisoners up," the Commander informs you. "He also dropped them off before he'd even finished letting me know. They're… we'll do what we can for them."

You can't ask for much else.

"Okay, we saved these people, but we still need a distraction," you say. "Any thoughts?"

"It's just a matter of time before someone realizes the prisoners are gone," Orianne says. "We could just wait."

"At this point, I'd like to get this over with," Selene says. "Let's just set the place on fire to speed things along."

- Lay low and wait for the guards to raise the alarm.
- Start a fire.

>>627245
>- Start a fire.

>>627245
>- Start a fire.
The fire rises

>>627245
> stay a fire
Let it burn, let it all burn!

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>>627245
You light a flare and toss it at the closest thing that looks flammable. The thing then fucking explodes. It seems you've underestimated this place's alcohol content if even tarps can burn up so quickly.

You run away as fast as your legs can take you.

"Perhaps this wasn't the best idea after all," Selene says between pants.

"Just keep running!" You yell back.

You stop about a mile away from the camp and hide yourselves in some rubble. In the distance, you can see the fire you started blaze bright and high. It doesn't take very long for an alarm to sound. It doesn't take much longer after that for water trucks to arrive and hose down the flames.

For a demonic drunkard, Shezmu has a surprisingly good rapid response team.

The vehicles have given you your chance. You can follow their tracks back to where they came from, which is the safest choice in case of failure, or you can sneak onto one of the trucks and hope they can take you right through security.

- [DC9] Follow the tracks.
- [DC10] Sneak onto a truck.

Rolled 16 (1d20)

>>627365
>- [DC10] Sneak onto a truck.

Rolled 2 (1d20)

>>627365
>- [DC10] Sneak onto a truck.
We metal gear now

Rolled 11 (1d20)

>>627365
> sneak on truck
Fuck it, ynot

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>>627365
"I have an idea."

"How bad is it?" Selene asks.

"Better than setting fire to something that has a higher alcohol content than I do," you answer. "We're going to smuggle ourselves onto a truck."

"That's not a bad idea," Orianne says. "If we're lucky, they'll bring us right where we need to go, and we won't have to sneak through security."

"I see no harm in trying it," Natsumi says.

You look at the trucks that are closest to you. They're standard fire trucks for the most part, but you need one that doesn't have a full crew to it in order to avoid getting noticed. That's a taller order, but you do find one truck that only has a driver and one person manning the hose. You carefully sneak to it and climb on top to hide in the equipment.

Then you wait. They still need to put the fire out or wait for the encampment to burn down before they can leave. You lie down and press yourself flat to avoid drawing attention.

After some time, the activity around you stops. You can't tell if the fire's out or the camp is gone, but it hardly matters. You tense, waiting for someone to check the back of the truck, but the closest anyone comes is the guy spooling the hose. He never looks up in your direction.

When the engine starts, you let out a sigh of relief.

The truck returns to a gated city and the driver parks it out in the open. The crew leaves, and you can finally get off. As soon as your foot touches the ground.

"Welcome, guests," a voice says. "Oh, yes, I know you're there. I don't know where exactly, but I can feel your presence. Why don't you join my celebrations? I have much food and wine for everyone."

"It's a trap," Orianne says.

"Has to be," Selene agrees.

- Accept the invitation.
- [DC9] Sneak around.

Rolled 1 (1d20)

>>627497
>- [DC9] Sneak around.

>>627502
Oh god.

Rolled 18 (1d20)

>>627497
>- [DC9] Sneak around.

Rolled 5 (1d20)

>>627497
> sneak moar
They don't call me the Irish ninja for nothing

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>>627497
"Yeah, we're not walking in there," you say. "But since we know the target is here, we might as well go for an ambush."

By this time, it's dark outside, so while there are patrols of both lions and ordinary people, they're not hard to avoid. Strangely enough though, the city's emptiness makes things more difficult. Since there's no people, it's difficult to find a place where they would congregate.

You move block by block and check as many houses as you can. Most are abandoned and rundown, and the few that are occupied are still in a sorry state.

The closer you get to the centre of the city, the more people you encounter. The people you encounter are also completely drunk; you interrogate a few just to try and get any sort of information out of them, but you get nothing coherent.

Your search takes you to a guarded mansion.

"This has to be the place," Orianne says. "It smells of wine and alcohol."

"Watch out for the guards," you say. "We'll try to sneak in through one of the upper floors."

You go in first this time since Gleipnir doubles as a useful climbing rope. Timing your entry with the guard patrols is a little tricky, but it's nothing you can't handle.

The four of you crouch on a balcony and peer inside the mansion.

The lion-man Shezmu is inside, three wine glasses in each hand. He hasn't noticed you yet. He empties his glasses and then… changes

His fangs grow and twist until they come out of his mouth like tusks, his muscles bulge out like tumours, blood seeps from his pores to turn his fur red and the veins in his eyes all rupture. His head snaps around the room as he searches for some unseen prey.

"WHERE ARE THEY? WHERE? I MUST KILL THEM! I MUST! I MUST! MUST! MUST! MUST!"

This is not going to end well.

>>627606
And that's all for today. As usual, Relic Quest will return on Sunday October 2nd. I'll also be running Beleaguered Prince Quest this Friday.

Goodnight and thanks for playing.

>>627619
Thanks for running.

>>627619
Good thread thanks for running