Offense

The Imperator
Crew: 12 seamen, 18 soldiers (Imperial musket infantry)
Captain: Algard Speer, Salty Badass
8 cannon, plenty of shot
2 weeks' rations, 2 days' fresh water

Bertam Gillivers
Alchemical Formulae Known:
-Sunsphere, defensive weapon
-Dragon's Blood, offensive weapon
-Smokebomb, defensive/utility
-Arms and Ammunition, Apprentice-level
-Medicine, Novitiate-level
Other Equipment:
Wheel-lock Pistol
Retainer:
Sebastian What's-His-Name, personal guard

Do I have a journal? Sea voyages need journals.

>>11482281
You have kept a fairly uninteresting (so far, at least) catalogue of the four month journey, detailing stops for water and supplies at various sunwashed isles. A baby lizard of unknown species lies in a jar of preservatives on your desk, next to the seeds you picked yesterday, the only noteworthy specimen gathered thus far. Your journal is a small leatherbound book buried somewhere in the mountain of arcane and mundane clutter on your desk.

>>11482190
Going to give like 5 more minutes for voting on this, since I usually don't let to like one vote decide something

>>11482375
Oh, Offense, we definitely need more Dragon's Blood

Utility. Such things could be useful in a wide array of circumstances, and it seems we're a bit low on formulae of that sort.

>>11482477
Good to see we still have traditions

Definitely go with offense.

>>11482426
>>11482190
>>11482477
>Offense

"What in the Abyss is this supposed to be?" Speer says, picking up the contraption on your desk.

"I've, er...I've been attempting to improve on the standard dragon-powder design. I think with the proper mixture of accelerants, we can dramatically increase the projectiles fired. I could build a few more prototypes for the soldiers, if you-"
"That's quite alright, your Grace," the captain says. He addresses you honorably, but you can tell that neither he, nor anyone else on the crew, has an extreme degree of faith in your relatively untested skills. At any rate, you think, hefting the thick-barreled firearm comfortably, you trust your own work.

LOST: Wheel-Lock Pistol
GAINED: Pepperpot Blunderbuss

"Now then, Gillivers, you're not a military official, but you've got pull with the Imperium, so your counsel is to be sought," the Captain says. You can tell he wrestled with the idea of not consulting you at all. "We need to know what to do about the island. We need to forage ashore, get fresh water, and eventually we're going to need permanent accomodations, but with those beasts in the jungle it's far more dangerous than we thought. Some are of the opinion that we should simply use some of the powder from the cannon and burn a swathe of jungle clear, use that as a perimeter. That is, unless you've got any better ideas."

>>11482534
what do we have available for use?

>>11482534
Can we do this safely? I'm not entirely against setting a portion of the forest ablaze to accommodate us, but the fire could spread farther than we want it to.

>>11482534
Well, if we were to utilize some of the local flora, permanent domiciles could likely be erected without any gratuitous harm to the immediate biosphere.

>>11482630
True, and then we may be able to take some samples of the untouched area for SCIENCE!

>>11482587
Dragon Powder is a potent explosive and a decent incendiary, making it an effective defoliant. Other than that, you have manpower and your massive brain.
>>11482711
>>11482630
"I'd like to avoid damaging the biosphere, if at all possible. Would it be too risky to erect a perimeter without destroying the flora?"
Speer scratches his massive beard. "It'll be slow going, but as long as we can get a water supply we can use the ship as a fallback and press in more carefully. The men aren't going to like it; you'd better be pulling miracles out of the bushes we don't burn."

>Will you spend the day researching and experimenting, or go ashore to explore?

>>11482858
Explore! Fortune favors the bold, as they say.

Go and explore. There may be things never seen before that we can study and delve into. Get some samples, THEN we can do science on them

>>11482889
>>11482917
>go ashore

The soldiers are the first out of the boat, splashing ashore and covering the treeline warily. The island seems as tranquil and sunny as it did yesterday, but your eyes scan the underbrush beyond the beach, wondering how many doglike crustaceous fiends lie in arcane camouflage.
"Stay close to the beach," the captain growls, his lack of title betraying his misgivings about bringing you ashore again. You nod, setting off down the sands with Sebastian in tow. The soldiers set to work, some felling trees and piling them on the beach with the ones from yesterday, while others scout carefully into the jungle, prepared to drive away any attacking wildlife.
"Are you sure this is...wise, sire?" Sebastian says, obviously nervous.

You're curious about the humanoids you saw the other day, but finding a source of water would certainly endear you to the captain and crew. Or you could attempt to find some sort of plant life that makes use of the naturally abundant arcane energy the way the wildlife does. Such a tool could open up potent new formulae for you.

>What do?

>>11483141
We can search for plants AND water. After all, the flora will betray nearby sources of liquid.

>>11483141
g̬͉̙̮͇̬r̵̝̥̘ͮͫ̈ͤ̊O̿̈̚Ẃ ̶̻̩̣̳S͈̩̆͑́w̝̻̖ͥ͛o̐̄̎͊̚͏L̹͎̣̘͗l̨̞̲͎̖̗̳ͦ̆̓e̱ͤ̚n̬͋̈ ̹̟̤ͮO͖̭͓͋͋̽͝ń͓͌́ͪ̚ͅ ͍̞͎̳̘͓̪ͨ͒ͪͪͧ̿̈P͖͎͙̹͚̼̻͑ͯ̒ͩL̯͓̺̤̔ͪ̉̋̍͠a̧̫̰̬̲̍͆ͨ̿Ǹ̿ͩ̉
̝̦͔̯̝̜͌̚͝t͙̬͕̹̗̯̗'̱̘͓̲̥̇̆̀s̸̹̝̹̖͙͊̔ ͔̹͓̯̤̼͔̓̎p̠̫̫͖̬̮̮̊ͦ̊Ó̶͈̘̅́ͣ̒ͮ̚W̱̘̃ͪ̇ͥͣ͊͡Ĕ̺͓̰̘̜ͥ̂̒̈́
̖̰R̰̺̙̘̝͂̓ͮ

>>11483187
And dont forget to keep your guard up to avoid any potential hostile wildlife.

>>11483187
This. Look for plants that need more water, try and find a stream.

OH HOLY FUCK YES HE BACK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

>>11483141
Primarily look for that water, we don't want to further agitate the crew.

You step cautiously into the underbrush, new and improved firearm drawn and ready this time. You take a different path than you did the other day, winding your way around a corner and out of sight of the working crew. This side of the island rises up from the sea, featuring sheer rock faces instead of pristine beaches, so you wind your way along the rising cliff face, gathering several promising looking roots, leaves, and one strange plant with bruise-colored, wet, tumor-like growths in the soil. The sky is darker and cloudier today than it was yesterday; a late rain seems likely.

Eventually you perk your ears up. Over the sounds of the sea below, could it be? You step lightly over a low ridge, your eyes confirming what your ears heard. A small, probably rain-fed stream has carved its way down these slopes from the mountainous regions further inland, ending at the promontory where it cascades down, misting away with a picture perfect rainbow before it reaches the crashing waves.
"Oh, sire, this is excellent!" Sebastian says with a smile. You were never very good with people; perhaps almost dying together yesterday has fostered some sort of comradery betwixt you. Nevertheless, you stoop and fill several bottles with water to test its potability later.

>What do?

>>11483424
Lets head back keeping our guard up along the way. This news of a source of water should endear them to us somewhat.

>>11483464
Again, I agree with you.
However, I probably would make mention of wanting to test its properties before drinking, not that they'll listen.

>>11483424
Excellent, look at the bottom of the stream and see of you can collect any specimens from it. Perhaps you may even be able to capture some of the local fish if there are any swimming there.

>>11483424

Time to Reap!

Take plants and samples - especially the lumpy one.

We can come back later with more men.

>>11483541

...Agh! my readun Comporhenshin...

"Excellent indeed," you say, capping the third flask of water. "Let's return and inform the captain. I'll need to make sure this water is safe to drink before we really celebrate, though."

Carefully you retrace your steps, crossing the small steep peninsula separating the beach from the other "side" of the island. You catch sight of the ship in the bay, and the crew scurrying like blurry black dots through the warm shimmering air. Looking at the mountain, you can also see a few black shapes circling the clouds capping the peak, some sort of indigenous birds on the wing.

The captain greets you cheerfully, gesturing to a pile of three or four crab-beasts piled on the beach.
"We were ready for them this time," he says. "They take a pellet and go down like anything else."
You hold up your flasks.
"I've got good news of my own," you say. "There's a stream just around this promontory, probably rain-fed,running down from the-"
"Fresh water?" Speer says.
"Well, I need to-"
"You hear that boys? His Eminence has got us a water source!" the Captain says.
There is a raucous cheer. You pray it's safe to drink.

>What do?

>>11483786
"Gillivers is fine, and I don't know if it is potable yet, if you allowed me some time in my lab, I could make sure no harm would befall your men by drinking it."

"Gillivers is fine, and I don't know if it is potable yet, if you allowed me some time in my lab, I could make sure no harm would befall your men by drinking it."
Speer nods. "Well alright then...Gillivers. Hope you've got good news for us. A few of the boys'll take you back to the ship.

You give a courteous nod to the sailors as they deposit you on the deck of the Imperator, descending the central stair to your spacious cabin.Your quarters are as large as those of Captain Speer himself, if slightly more cluttered. Strapping a pair of lenses to your face, you examine the water to find it fairly free of larger particulates. However, running it through several reagants turns up some questionable results. This water contains substances you've never seen before, fully dissolved within. Its effects on the human body are unpredictable. You could use this as an opportunity to...experiment...on the crew. Or you could attempt to design a filtration system. Or perhaps your gigantic brain has another solution?

>What do, also roll d100 for SCIENCE

go test the water! derp.

>violator the
That can't be good.....

rolled 24 = 24

>>11484046
SCIENCE!

rolled 20 = 20

Filtration system, Use to grow some of those seeds we found, also test on some mice or something.

Are we ready to go full mad scientist yet?

>>11484066
>>11484108
...Stonerbro, do you have a dice curse or something?

>>11484108
>20
With the tools at your disposal, you are unable to cobble together a decent filtration system. You also have no living subjects for this sort of thing. You suppose you could try to take one of those cloaking-device crab-dog-centaurs alive.
Then again, there is one person you could test it on totally guilt-free.....
>captcha: your airman
>no, not him.

>What do?

Have two men take a drink of the water unfiltered and keep them under observation for the next few days while we work on a filtration system.

>>11484141
...down the hatch.

>>11484141
Wait, do you mean us? I'm not sure what to think about that. I guess we can do it, just as long as you promise us a five percent chance of gaining super powers.

>>11484128
seemed appropriate

>>11484141
Ask for volunteers from the crew.

>>11484181
>>11484169
>that seems fair

You look at one of the unused flasks of water. It seems normal enough. The crew needs to know if it's safe soon, so they'll have time to find another source if this one is tainted. Grimacing, you unstopper the bottle, tipping it to your lips. The water is still cool from the stream, and you take a few refreshing swallows, licking your lips and setting it aside.

>Roll for superpowers?

>>11484242
Superpowers, I want em.

rolled 3 = 3

>>11484242
Oh boy.

rolled 70 = 70

>>11484250
but I forgot my dice. I guess looking for a 1-5 on this roll.

>>11484259
...
Never change, lowroller, never change.

>>11484259
Oh god what? This is hilarious.

>>11484259
>3
>but that's terrible!
>but his NAME is Lowroller!
>but...
I withhold judgment on superpowers for now.

You remain still and wait for several minutes to observe any ill effects. None seem to be forthcoming. Looking out the porthole, you can see that the crew has cleared a large section of the jungle, and has begun stripping trees of branches to construct a main building of some sort. You note that much of the underbrush is untrampled. The captain is a man of his word.

>Time skip
>Over the next week, you have an opportunity to make 3 advancements in your Alchemical technique. They can be applied to:
-Offense
-Defense
-Utility

>>11484448
Two into utility and one into defense.

rolled 97 = 97

>>11484448
>It's sort of a talent.
Utility, we can handle the crab-things for now

>>11484448
Balanced Spread
>>11484491
Dammit, don't waste those!

>>11484491
>97
>my face

rolled 51 = 51

>>11484515
I think the universe (or at least 4chan) is mocking me.

>>11484530
>Ooh, weird statue, wonder what'll happen if I crawl in its mouth

>>11484485
If it helps, I'll second this one.

>>11484530
>>11484491
>First roll is 3 out of 100.
>Second roll is 97 out of 100.
Lowroller, do you live a life marked by spectacular success and crushing failure? Or is that only on internet image boards?

And, just to be different, I'm going to vote triple Utility. Cause specialization is where its at.

>>11484485
>>11484491
>>11484515
>Everyone wants utility, 2/3 people want defense
>2 in utility, 1 in defense

The days drag on, and you notice the camp on the shore grow over time. You manage to gather several more samples from the area surrounding the beach, but make no more perilous forays for the time being. Instead your time is consumed in the lab, tinkering and observing the interactions and compositions of the plant life of this island.
Your findings are intriguing, if slightly mystifying. Almost all of the plant life on this island instigates a reaction within the arcane crucible, indicating some sort of magical resonance. The specific properties, however, are harder to decrypt. You cant find anything about them specifically that would suggest such a level of arcane interaction. Same with the corpses of the creatures you dissect; there is no apparent mechanism for the supernatural cloaking abilities they display.

Your tinkering produces a bit more promising results. In a moment of absentminded experimentation, you managed to work up a variable lens contraption based around the magnifiers you use to observe small specimens. You also rework a soldier's torn leather glove, inputting a subtle finger trigger that combines two inert powders. Somewhat unimpressed, you add a flint and steel pad for uses in starting flame. Finally, you use the plating from the more crustaceous portions of the native beasts, weaving them into the fiber of your work robes.

UTILITY:
-Eagle Eyes, binocular/magnifying lenses
-Phosphorescent Glove, with Firestarter
DEFENSE:
-Armor Plated Robe, lightweight

>>11484766
Err...no comment.
>>11484935
I think we should make another foray onto land, gather more samples of the water, maybe try to find a vantage point to get a better lay of the land.

>>11484935

We're styling now. Let's go out and talk to the crew, maybe they have seen something interesting while we were away working. If there's not news then we can go out on another expedition and try to find the humanoids.

>>11484935
Ask around for specific improvements to existing gear the crew would like to see. It'll net us some approval and probably help the crews efficiency.

>>11485031
>>11484991
You set ashore during mid-morning. The longhouse is mostly completed, lacking only a roof.
"Hey Gillivers! You build us any women yet?" One of the crew shouts, drawing laughs from the others.
"Too many moving parts," you respond with a somewhat nervous grin. "I was wondering if you gentlemen had seen anything of interest on the island in the past few days." Your softspoken proper speech contrasts with their boisterous rural squawking.
"A couple men keep saying they're seeing girls in the trees," Sebastian says, wiping the beaded sweat from his brow. "Four months with not even a tit, it's driving us all a bit crazy. Er, if you'll pardon my saying so, Gillivers."

>>11485222
Perhaps this island isn't quite so uninhabited as we initially thought, eh?

>Ask around where abouts these sightings had occurred attempt to use scope to... scope these areas from a distance.

>>11485222
Now we really need to head into the jungle. Maybe get a few of the more combat ready men together to head off separately to look for the humanoids.

>>11485222
Hm, maybe there are natives here we can negotiate with. They probably know a fair bit more about the local fauna and trading with them for some samples could prove interesting. I say ask them to point us towards the center of these sightings and allow us to try and contact them. Create smoke signals and hope to draw in some of them.

>>11485222
Just women? Hopefully there aren't crazy amazons out in these woods.

>>11485299
>>11485332
>>11485349
>>11485447
"Perhaps this place is not as uninhabited as we originally thought. If there are natives, mayhap they could be negotiated with."
A few of the crew perk up at this.
"Listen, Gillivers...your Eminence," one says. "If you're going exploring, please take one or two of us with you. I guess we could keep you safer in there, but really," he eyes the distracted captain, speaking in low tones. "Exploring is a bit more intriguing than standing out here in the sun cutting trees, aye?"

>Borrow some of the workforce?

sounds like dryads to me.

>>11485562
I was thinking the same thing.
>>11485546
Repeating my suggestion to take one of the workforce with us and create another group of three to go looking on their own. If that'd be too many of the workers, groups of two.

>>11485546
Sure, get the toughest looking members of the crew out with us. Also, grab some supplies that look valuable for trading so we actually have something of worth to give them in our first meeting.

STONERDM FUCK YEAR!!!!! And he brings a new quest too. This i will enjoy.
ALCHEMIST QUEST FUCK YEAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

You motion to the man who spoke up.
"Alright then, you...grab a friend and let's go."
You make your way into the woods before Speer has a chance to complain.
"Bartleby, your Eminence," the man introduces himself. "This is Polstrom," he adds, jerking a thumb at his comrade of choice, a thick-looking man, who by a combination of excellent genetic stock and what must certainly be triple rations is in a constant state of struggle with the straps keeping his armor on.

"You two spread out from us, but keep fairly close. Shout if you run into anyone, but try not to agitate them, we're not here to wage war."
"Not yet, anyway," Polstrom says with a toothy grin and a breathy laugh.
"Yes, well, let us be off," you say, breathing through your mouth. "Where were these men saying they were seeing people?"
Bartleby motions north, straight into the jungle, and you trudge forth.

>>11485774
Hm, keep going forth I guess. Scan the treeline carefully while you do so, it sounds like these people have an affinity for climbing amongst them.

>>11485774
1. Use SCIENCE on trees.
2. Find Demons.
3. ????????????
4. PROFIT

"Seen many more of those beasts?" you ask Sebastian.
"After we killed a few of them and spread their bodies around the edge of the camp they stopped showing up pretty much altogether," he answers. "I guess they're not completely stupid."

Your path winds into the trees, farther inland than you've yet ventured. You trace along the faint bush paths carved out by the passage of wildlife, occasionally snapping your Eagle Eyes into place to scan the trees ahead. Finally, you spot it, the flitting humanoid form, far ahead in the shadowy trees. You are about to draw Sebastian's attention to this when you see another, far more obvious movement.

Clawing its way from trunk to trunk on humanoid hands, the serpentine coils wind their way through the foliage, at least thirty feet in length, bristling with limbs like a centipede. It grins at you from behind raisin-like compound eyes, its mouth a wide gash of teeth.
It's coming right at you, and it's coming fast.

>What do?

>>11485935
Oh god that's not what we wanted, shoot at it! Hit it in the mouth with a slug.

>>11485935
Attempt to communicate with it. Fail that, KILL it.

>>11485935
'Hail' Bertram shouted, as he brought his Pepperpot Blunderbus to the ready and sought to deter this most vile of viciously voracious vermin.

"Hail!" you shout at the oncoming beast, fitting the blunderbuss' stock to your shoulder.
The creature doesn't respond, even to slow down. You figured as much.
The pull of the trigger results in about a half-second delay before you hear about a half-dozen quick reports from within the musket. The multiple-stage concussion seems to be working perfectly. About a half dozen glowing pellets exit the widened muzzle of the gun, tearing through the scaly serpentine flesh of the monster.

>Roll dice, lol

rolled 16 = 16

>>11486091
Here we go again

rolled 73 = 73

>>11486110
Dear FUCK. Did someone already post the /tg/ dice thing? If not i will for this.

>>11486110
>inb4 AlchemyQuest Dice image macro

>>11486129
Someone did, we're having a bad night again man. Still, it could be salvaged if we actually pull some superpowers out of our ass at some point in the future.

>>11486138

>>11486110
...................that was my first roll for the quest...................... god fucking dammit..................................

rolled 28 = 28

>>11486207
No worries. Happens to the best of us

>>11486110
>16
The creature falls to the forest floor, losing its multitude of grips on the tree trunks. However, this does nothing to stop its forward momentum, and it crashes headlong into the pair of you, writhing madly. You feel the shattering of glass as you are driven into the dirt. You have time to recognize the pungent smell of dragon's blood before the thick acid haze fills your vision.
>73
The burning is absolutely horrifying. It feels like every square inch of your flesh is trying to pull itself in a different direction. You feel the pressure of the beast's coils as it tries to get away from the poisonous fog. Unfortunately, several of its arms have become entangled in the multitude of bandoliers and straps holding your various alchemical components to your body. Doubly unfortunate, they are very well made, and rather than snapping you are dragged bodily along with the creature as it tries to flee. Your eyes stinging and weeping, one arm swiftly dislocated by the contortions of your body, surrounded by the cacophony of Sebastian's shouting and the bursting blood vessels in your head, you are carried away into the jungle, choking for breath.

>That's going to do it for tonight. I promise you're not dead. Also glad to see participation picking up from Friday. Talk at me, what're you guys liking/not liking? I can change, baby, don't talk like that. You know I only hit you cause I love you.

rolled 64 = 64

>>11486303
Liking it. If Bloodquest is any indicator, it should really start hitting it's stride soon.

>>11486303
I'm liking it so far, I think you just need to pick up steam again. If anything maybe throw in a bit more plot hooks and ramp up the energy a bit. You could also throw in some more characters of note, we don't have many people who are interesting to interact with yet.

>>11486303
Dice seem to be hating us. But that's not really anything to do with storytelling...

Quest seems fun so far, it might be nice if you provided us with a bit more lead sometimes, maybe? (it seemed after our three upgrades were decided we had to improvise what to do next for a bit.)

All in all you're one of /tg/'s better quest givers of late and its always a pleasure to participate in 'em.

>>11486303
Awesome epic and dramatic as ever Stoner bro. The only changes i think need to be made are that WE NEED TO UNCURSE THE FUCKING DICE!!!!!!!!!!!!! Anyone got any spare souls to sacrifice in order to do so?

Expect more plot hooks/plot as things begin to coalesce in my mind. Also expect the first act to be slower than Bloodquest's desperate race for survival.

BAD NEWS: the earliest I'll quest again is Thursday afternoon at 5-ish. If not then, perhaps next weekend. Such are the limitations of not being on vacation.

>Captcha: Vincent rages
Dude I'm sorry

Email me if you'd like to be notified about quest dates, you've got ideas, or you just want to yell at me.

whoops, forgot my hat

Good times, man, good times.

>captcha: called henchman
...and henchman arrives WAY too late. Still, it's a grand day to scheme FOR GLORY!
...and alchemy!