>>13389925
oh damn! plot twists ahoy!
on to the next town then!
is douggle still with us?

>>13390063
Douggle is indeed riding on your shoulder. It clucks its tongue and mutters about stupid dragons and their stupid magic. Ouroboros either fails to hear Douggle, or chooses to ignore the insults.
You head out toward the next town, but soon realize that you don't actually know which direction the closest large town is in.

>>13390113
in that case, where is the closest river?
is there one nearby?

>>13390150
There is a decent-sized stream flowing by the cave entrance. It flows toward the east.

>>13390168
well then, let's follow the stream!
it must lead to a town eventually

>>13390179
You follow the stream for an hour and a half, until it joins a larger river. This river flows toward the south east.

>>13390228
use our tongue to see if we can detect anything nearby

THE GREAT POTATO LIZARD has returned!

>>13390168
Alright, lets swim down the stream, crocodile style.

>>13390249
Second

>>13390249
Nothing but the smell of grass and the animals that live there.

>>13390305
derp well then i second this
>>13390262

>>13390305
Do the animals smell delicious? What kind of animals are they?

If there are deer/deerlike animals or boar we are soooooo going hunt them.

>>13390262
>>13390321
You plunge into the water, and although your tail is not designed for propulsion through water, you are quickly able to figure out a whole-body undulation that allows you to move quite swiftly downriver.
Several hours pass, and you taste smoke on the air. Your best guess would be that you are approaching a large town, maybe even a city, that has a large smithy.

>>13390322
You mostly smell mice, rabbits, and other tiny critters. There are traces of deer or deer-like animals on the breeze, but any that were nearby would have long since detected your presence and fled. You're not exactly built to be a stealthy hunter. Not on open grassland, anyway.

>>13390353
Time to get ourselves some jaws of steel.

>>13390395
Error. Unrecognized command. Please check wording and try again.

>>13390405

Also, we might get some parts from this guy.

>>13390353
well continue swimming until we reach town.
when we do though, emerge from the water slowly and cautiously. we dont want to be seen just yet until we can make some friends for sure like last time

Bumping for the sake of bumping

>>13390505
You swim for another half hour or so and soon you see a large wheel in the water. It looks much like a wheel that you might find connected to a mill, but it is, huge, made of black stone, and covered with glowing runes, which Ouroboros informs you are to hold it together. He says that the runes may have a secondary effect, but it is very hard to predict the effects of a runic spell unless you have encountered the spell before.

To give you an idea of the scale, the wheel's diameter is about 2 1/2-3 city blocks.

>>13390710
approach the wheel with caution and inspect the runes closer. ask ouroboros if he recognizes any of them and what they might do together

>>13390710
Dwarf Fortress ahoy!

Surely, we can find craftsdwarfs here to construct a glorious robodragon.

>>13390710
You approach the wheel and swim alongside it to avoid being scratched by the sharp protrusions. Ouroboros moves your tail out to examine the runes as the wheel turns, but he cannot determine anything useful. "These runes were clearly designed by humans. They seem to have pieced together the scripts for several ancient draconic spells, along with some symbols that I believe are of their own invention. No dragon would use as clumsy a sign as *that*" he mutters, indicating a rough circle.
Douggle seems fascinated by the wheel. "Nonono blackbig thing gonna break! Magic slippy, seams too loose, gonna fall and crash! Stupid yoo-muns doing magic everything. Douggle should unzip the magic!"

>>13390812
make sure douggle doesnt undo it, that sounds dangerous and we really dont need to make any enemies right now

>>13390832
You move away from the wheel just as Douggle reaches out to grab it. With a squeak of surprise, Douggle falls into the river and is pulled away downstream!

>>13390852
aaaaaw shit douggle
well let's go fetch him

>>13390852
After him!

>>13390880
>>13390887
You chase after Douggle, but he's moving too quickly. Just as you're about to lose track of him, a huge cage, made out of the same black stone as the wheel, rises out of the water and traps both you and Douggle. As the water pulls Douggle toward a gap in the bars, the cage shifts and new bars grow until there are no gaps large enough for Douggle to get through. Douggle catches onto the bars and uses them to hold its head above water until you swim closer and Douggle is able to climb onto your head.
You are now trapped in a cage in the water.

>>13391033
look for runes so Douggle can unzip them

>>13391064
Every surface of the stone is covered with shifting silver runes. Douggle's eyes begin to glow red with excitement, and it asks if it can unzip the silly magic now.

>>13391064
failing that, WRECK SHIT

>potatoes
>POTATOES

MOTHERFUCKING COCK-GARGLING ASSPIRATING SHITFUCKING POTATOES ARE THE BANE OF THE EARTH.

CARRY ON WITH YOUR THREAD.

>>13391099
Fuck you, Southern Italy

>>13391099
Good times, good times. Sage for not contributing.

>>13391099
WHERE ARE MY PICTURES OF POTATO LIZARD?!?!

>>13391080
how high up are we if we are still above water go crazy

>>13391141
About half of the cage is above water, half below. You are currently floating.

>>13391156
Derp, I keep forgettin' mah name!

>>13391164
repercussions are for losers lets go crazy (unless someone else wants to chime in seriously I got last 3)

>>13391164
fuck it im not sticking around to see who built the damn thing.
DOUGGLE! UNZIP THIS BITCH!

>>13391187
FIRE CANNONS!

>>13391187
>>13391202
Douggle smiles, and its eyes flash a red light so bright that you are momentarily blinded. When you can see again, you see the cage dissolving around you. Most of it disappears into wisps of fog, but some parts simply turn into rusty metal. Around you, the water froths and the flow of the river reverses. As the water speeds up, you notice it turning orange, and you can make out hundreds of rusty metal bars being dragged along underwater. As you pass by the giant wheel, it sags and falls into the water, causing a huge splash and wave that throws you out of the water and onto the riverbank. Douggle managed to hold onto you, and seems uninjured, but on the far side of the river you can see the swirling water and broken metal tearing rocks loose from the city wall, which looks less and less stable by the second.

>>13391272
OH SHIT!!!

DOUGGIE WHAT DID YOU DO!??!?!

>>13391294
I guess we needed a voice of reason where did you go

>>13391294
It seemed like a good idea to me....

>>13391272
oh well we shall move on maybe find a new continent since if anyone saw us we will likely be viewed as horrifyingly malicious

>>13391354
See, now this is an ACTUAL good idea.....

>>13391272
After several minutes, the water slows and eventually returns to its original course. The wall looks damaged, but it will probably continue to stand. There is a large hole where the wheel was attached to the wall, and you are surprised to see a swarm of people pushing and shoving, fighting to get through the hole, ignoring the huge drop into the water in their desperation to get out of the city.

Well we didn't detect anyone around. We can split and hope for the best. Plead ignorance and all that. Also remember: IT ATTACKED US FIRST!

>>13391404
so theyre trying to escape? go over and help some of them. if they are, pretend you did it on purpose

>>13391404
Phew........yeah, we definitely meant to free those people, didn't we?

There probably prisoners of some kind best not interfere

>>13391430
You jump into the water, and are momentarily stunned. It is hot, almost hot enough to scald flesh. It doesn't hurt you, but how the water could have heated up this quickly is beyond your comprehension. You quickly swim over to where the humanoids are landing in the water. Some of them scream and swim away from you, but most are so desperate to get out of the hot water that they climb up your legs and onto your back. In moments, you feel the weight beginning to pull you lower in the water. You can still swim, but if too many more climb on you, you'll sink. And there doesn't seem to be an end to the humanoids throwing themselves into the water from the wall.

>>13391478
SWIM FASTA!

head toward shore with the ones we have now and go back for as many as we can tell the ones jumping in to wait so they don't drown before we can get to them

>>13391551
WE ARE A BRIDGE FOR THESE PEOPLE!

>>13391505
You swim back to the opposite shore and the humonoids on you drop off and crawl up onto land. You turn to look at the wall just as a loud whistling fills the air. Suddenly, the flow of humans out of the wall and into the water slows. You see something metallic moving in the opening, but you can't make out what it is. In only a few moments, the hole is blocked by huge amounts of mud. The whistling continues, and suddenly a dozen metallic humanoids appear from underwater. They are large, at least 3 times the height of a normal human. They have more arms than you can count from this distance, and they immediately begin grabbing the helpless humanoids in the water and pushing them into ever-expanding cages not unlike the one you were trapped in earlier.

>>13391565

FLEE

FLEE NOW

IT SEALED THEM IN

>>13391593
ya this city is freaking me out although it likely has good artificers considering everything

As gentlemen how can we not help these people. people who would jump to their deaths instead of living in what is most likely hell.. I say we charge in and save these people.

>>13391565
inquire politely of the humanoids as to the quality, ratio, and inhabitants of this city

>>13391593
NEVAAAAR!!!!


DOUGGIES, USE YA MAGICKS!

Decide what you're going to do. Come to some agreement or another.

>>13391658
second >.>'

>>13391753
What's this? You look familiar... I could have sworn you just posted a suggestion. Ah well, you wouldn't lie to me about something as serious as your identity, now would you?

Ask the humans what's going on, who those metal things are, etc. Then we can plan the next action.

>>13391774
never! identity is a very serious thing.
i simply support tyedoris' ideas and think that they could be well implimented!

A couple things are quite obvious to me those people are here against there and there willing to die to get out I say we help for better or worse

>>13391774
Nevertheless, asking the humans WTF is going on seems a good idea.

>>13391832
I'm with this guy
use magicks to asplode a bigger hole in the wall, then focus on blowing up the robot people

and don't forget to promote ourselves

before we do anything we should talk to the people we have on shore with us

LIVE!!!!!!!!! DAM YOU LIVE!

This town does have powerful artificers though. Perhaps we should kidnap one.

Sorry about the wait, but I'm back now.
The general agreement seems to be to ask the people first.

You turn to one of the humanoids you rescued and ask what goes on inside the walls.
"The metal creatures! They've enslaved us! We build constructs for the-"
While you were talking, one of the metallic humanoids turned and saw you, and now the whistling reaches a new high.
The humanoid you were talking to collapses in mid sentence, clutching it's ears in pain.
Four of the metallic humanoids begin to move in your direction, propelled through the water by an unknown force.

>>13392306

Are they magic?
Does Ouroboros know what they are?

At any event, get out of the water and fight them on solid ground, if you have to.

>>13392409
"Constructs!" This is the first time you have heard Ouroboros sound excited. "Let us gauge their power by destroying these ones, then we can enter the city and see who is making these elves build constructs!"

You are already on dry land, on the far side of the river from the walls of the city.

>>13392435
so first lets see how they deal with magic since we don;t want a spell to damage Ouroboros when he casts

>>13392512
You wait for a minute as the construct finishes crossing the river. It ignores you entirely and begins to grab the helpless elves and shove them into an expanding magical cage.
Your tail twitches and a green lightning bolt strikes the construct. It explodes in a ball of yellow fire, and shrapnel litters the ground. Ouroboros was able to deflect most of it away from you, but was either unable or unwilling to protect the elves in the same way. They are all dead or dying.

>>13392554
Damnit tail.
Well...
REND AND TEAR! SMITE AND CLEAVE! Save as many as possible before tail decides to shoot more lightning.

>>13392642
You rush into the water and quickly swim across the river. The constructs seem to notice you now, but are clearly not designed for combat, and you sever their heads and arms with ease. The river has cooled some, but the elves have all been paralyzed by the whistling and most have drowned by the time you finish off the last construct. There is clearly an underwater entrance to the city, as you remember seeing the constructs emerge from underwater, but it is unlikely that you will be able to find it quickly. You could probably climb the wall and dig through the mud filling the hole, especially if these constructs are any indication of the city's security.

>>13392771
Well, since it looks like no one's left playing, I'll archive this and go to bed.
Same time tomorrow, 1:00 AM GMT (8:00 PM EST)