Odd. I was sure that people had said they had questions.

>>15019230
On it.

First off:
-How big is our village?
-We got any neighboring villages?
-Aside from Raptors, Ykrees, Bone wardens, Rock Turtles, Behemoths, Basilisk Wyrms, Cave Devourers, Drakes and would be avatars of stuff- What other creatures can you tell us about without giving up too much of the plot?
-What's the rest of the world like, we have mountains and the like... So I'm assuming our village is on a continent?
-Could we change traditions a tad bit? Like training more than one apprentice to become totemists?
-Any basic information beyond these that you could give us would be awesome.

Here's a question with interesting moral consequences:

Could a human spirit be bound like we just did with the Rock Turtle?

Does the setting have any other sapient races, or is it just humans alone surviving in the middle of a world that wants to eat them?

>>15019315

Ooh boy, here we go.

The village contains somewhere in the neighborhood of 75 people. It's not large by any stretch of the imagination, and most of the adults are focused on either farming or hunting to keep the village fed. Children that do well in the raising house are apprenticed to craftsfolk like carpenters, blacksmiths, or healers. Those who aren't as adept, or who express interest, go to learn farming and hunting.

As far as you know, there are no villages nearby. As far as Osyki knows nobody has ever explored past the Ikrin peaks, nor does he know what lies beyond the Swamp. Out of game, there are a few settlements in the part of the continent where Osyki's village is, but in general it's a vicious, monster-filled land.

I have a ton of creatures though up, and whenever I think of a new one I write it into the increasingly large word file I keep on the quest. Give me a biome or a type of creature and I can throw out three or four examples.

Your village is indeed on a continent, in the northeastern portion of it. If you track down a map in the next few quests, you'll see how the continent is basically laid out, and what neighboring seas and islands it has. I wont give too much away, but there are a wide range of biomes for you to hunt totems in.

>>15019337

In theory, human binding is possible. The sixteen runes of binding are not sufficient to trap something as complicated and multifaceted as a human soul, but with a little additional research you could definitely find a way to do it. Of course, human beings would either be next to useless, since those that aren't totemists wouldn't have the spiritual mojo to do very much, or completely out of control for those that did.

>>15019361

Aside from humans there are three sapient races, none of which Osyki knows about currently.

>>15019337
IF so, the most logical focus would be a tooth, I think, since they're the must accessible thing you could pull off a dead body.

Do correct me if I'm wrong, OP.

How do you bind a focus to a tool?
What is a totem? Is it the same as a focus?
How do you lure free spirits (avatars of concepts like Amal, or other things like the soot imp Tryd) to be bound or contracted?

We should also look into organizing Master's stuffs. Things we can use in battle, things to look information in, valuables or things that can be used by other people in the village, unusable knick-knacks, etc.

>>15019410

A tooth, a skull, a rib; anything that wouldn't decay. On humans, that generally means a bone or their skin, if you tanned it into leather.

Ok, so clarification: Are your dragons a form of behemoth, or an unrelated type of monster?

What could we expect to run into in the wyrms lair? Were we with our master when he died? If not how was his body retrieved?

>>15019410
I think the type of item you use as a focus can tie certain things of spirits ability out of its reach.

If you want to preserve someone's knowledge, his skull; His skills in combat, his arm-bone or hand-bone, fixed unto the spirit's favored weapon; For vitality, the heart; Etc., etc.

Would this be correct?

So, from the description you've given on Bone Wardens- These creatures are self binding totems? They walk around adding anything they kill to their mass getting stronger each time, basically; Bone Wardens are the idiot savants of the totemist profession, no?

>>15019485
Woot. That's a good idea there.
Bind Bone Wardens to runed bone totems, make stronger ritual circle.

I think in the first thread there was some talk of making a homunculus, could you go a bit more in depth on that process or is that something we'd need to research in character?

>>15019398
I'm assuming that if the normal binding technique doesn't work on humans it wouldn't work on things like greater avatars either?

>>15019518
T'was my idea, mostly to take care of the house while we are away. Or to take care of those vital, but non-urgent errands (picking up blooms) while we have to take care of the urgent and unsuspected problems.

Bonus if they can be utilized as automated sentry turrets or the like.

>>15019432

Binding a focus to a tool is a short ritual, widely varying from purpose to purpose. It generally involves binding the Focus to the item in question physically, then calling on the spirit to imbue the item with its strength.

A totem is like a focus, but less powerful. Totems can be made from the harvested parts of any slain creature, not just spiritually powerful ones. Depending on the creature, the part, and how the totem is used, each totem can have varying minor effects. One of the jobs of a Totemist is to make several useful little totems, from fertility idols to safeguards against bad luck.

Binding freed spirits can be gone about one of two ways. You can attempt to forcefully bind a spirit, which as previously mentioned is an incredibly arduous task, or you can negotiate with them. Nature spirits like Amal are generally happy to assist Totemists, as they see them as the negotiator between spirits and the living. Imps like Tryd are a little tougher to bind, as they rarely cooperate.

>>15019438
Dragons are a separate race of creatures entirely from Behemoths, though some Behemoths are, or resemble, dragons. Behemoths can be any sort of creature with enormous spiritual and magical powers.

>>15019539
If that's the case, then our boy's mentor was some kind of genius at his work.

>>15019474
The Basilisk Wyrm's lair lies in the swamp beyond the woods. Both areas are full of dangerous predatory creatures. Poison is an increasingly common danger the further in you travel, and the swamp is full of things lurking just beneath the surface of the water.

You were not with your master when he fought the Basilisk Wyrm. It would have been waaaaay too dangerous for you. Your master defeated the Wyrm in single combat, but a fatal misstep on his part caused him to sustain a bite during the battle. He managed to make it back to the village before he succumbed to the poison.

>>15019476

Correct. The more symbolically significant the binding is, the stronger the magic is.

>>15019485

Something like that. In reality, Bone Wardens don't take on the attributes of the things they harvest, only the bones, and therefore the general shape. They can't spit poison if they incorporate a Ykree skeleton, though it would make them more adept climbers. They're animated by dark magic or furious Avatars, in general.

>>15019518

It's something that should be discovered in-character, but it wont take a lot of research.

>>15019561
Yeah, I think we've firmly established that he was the ultimate badass and that he let himself get killed so that he could usurp god or something like that.

Didn't Op say that our mentor was well traveled at one point? I bet he's got a map somewhere in his piles of stuff.

>>15019539

Correct. Osyki wasn't even aware that there were different levels of Avatars until Modi Magni told him, and even then, it may just be the spirit applying a title to itself.

>>15019561

Most assuredly so.

Aside from the bestiary you've already supplied are there any other creatures we'd know of?

Here's a question that White Knight asked in the last topic:

> On an unrelated note, I would like to know the difference between Spark, Scale, and Claw at the start of the quest.
> Does it entail to Amal+Tryd, or to the first extra power a Feral Bind grants, or to the silent spirit in our ancestral weapon?

The Spark / Scale / Claw choice represented what spirits Osyki would begin with, as well as the overarching plot that I was going to use for the Quest as a whole. I had three possibilities to choose from, so rather than decide for myself I left it randomly up to /tg/.

Can bone wardens incorporate bone shards or broken bones?

>>15019674

Yes. Any bone from a once-living creature can be used in the construction of a Bone Warden.

Does Osyki have live parents?(seems like he doesn't but the culture you've presented allows for that to be a relatively unrecognised position.

>>15019709

Osyki has a single living parent. His father is a hunter, living on the outskirts of the village. His mother died some years back. Osyki never knew either of them very well; as with all children, he was taken to the Raising House and raised by the village collectively.

>>15019738
Ok, so there's a cultural focus on brothers/sisters but not parents/children. That's interesting. For some reason I suspected that his mentor was his dad and that for cultural reasons he was unaware of or apathetic to this.

Is our little sister actually related to us or are they simply really close?
Also what Dragons exist outside of Drakes and where does a Mature or Very Very Old Drake rank in comparison to an average Behemoth.

>>15019761

Your sister is yours biologically. Your mother died very soon after she was born, and you found yourself compelled to ensure that she was a part of your life. The matrons consider this normal.

Drakes are one form of Dragon, bipedal cave dwelling beasts with leathery wings. Other varieties of dragon include swamp wyrms, skyscythe drakes, dune worms, and True Dragons.

So if children are selected for the apprenticeships based on how well they do and I assume their inclinations, what did we do that earned us the role of apprentice totemist?

>>15019795

Up until you were selected, it seemed that the Totemist had no intent on taking an apprentice any time soon. The process that lead up to you meeting him and him selecting you will actually be the beginning of the next installation's narrative.

>>15019827
sweet that sounds interesting.

Since the village has such a low pop I assume we at least can recognize most if not all of the villagers, are there any other characters we know well that just haven't been introduced in the quest yet?

Sadly, Aurora seems to NOT have taken the toteming genes or whatever that made the Mentor interested in her brother in the first place.

Seems like she is more interested to be a Sla- I mean guard.
. . . Chiefess Slayer!
Once Walthers is offed or something, of course. Maybe we ought to put/urge someone more reliable onto that position.

Can we borrow a couple of Sl- I mean guards, or even hunters, to aid on our binding journeys? The binding ritual-fight itself had to be done by ourself, but on non-Feral Binding journeys, we ought to take some helpers.

Touching back on the fact that our mentor travelled. How often is the village seriously threatened like it was with the wyrm? Is it seen by the village as acceptable to travel or is it perceived as shirking our duties as village totemist?

Do Dragons have hordes in this setting? If they do what do they generally collect.

How hard is it to find spirits like Tryd and Amal?

>>15019897
Oh, Walthers doesn't need to be offed. He is a jerk and his insistence on the guards being called slayers is silly but it's obvious that he's jelly and I think he's well aware that we could kick his ass if he ever crossed us; plus he'd never directly go for us, even if he wants to deny it we are needed and on some level he must be aware of this.

>>15019961
We should probably avoid confronting him. At least with the spear. It would be all too happy to see him die. By our hand.

>>15019952
Modi Magni said they had "An excess of hubris and greed", so I think we can infer that they hoard and that they are at least somewhat intelligent.

>>15019864

You're on a first-name basis with the majority of the people your age in the village, and you're at least basically familiar with 99% of the people who live there. I'll introduce characters as they become relevant to the story.

>>15019897

If you can find a free couple of guys. Generally, though, between patrolling, fending off mundane threats, acting as muscle in buildings and taking their rare days off, most of the Slayers are swamped. It doesn't help that Walther has the organizational skills of a sack of coked up gerbils, so scheduling conflicts often happen.

>>15019908

Behemoth incursions are a rare thing, usually the cause for serious panic. Liken them to serious natural disasters in our world: Some places get them more often than others, some are worse than others, but it happens everywhere eventually, and it is always terrible.

>>15019952

Some dragons, such as Drakes and True Dragons, have the packrat tendency. Others such as Skyscythes and Dune Worms do not, whether it is because they have no want for such things like the former, or they are mindless machines of consumption like the latter.

>>15019974
That is a good point.

Modi Magni pissed me off at first when he was initially saying he wanted us to kill people but he's disturbingly reasonable for an avatar of wrath. Great character.

>>15020040

Modi Magni is a very complicated individual who's had a long time to brood in that Focus-prison of his. He's probably not as calm as he'd like you to think that he is.

>>15020064
Yeah but just the fact that he tries to act calm is extremely interesting, you've got the wrath and it's apparent but at the same time it's a calculated intelligent wrath. Like a silently fuming evil genius plotting away verses a pissed off barbarian yelling about wanting to kill you and everything else. It's an interesting creative take on a concept that lends itself towards a rather generic character archtype.

Are there any limitations on our whole send a spirit to tell people stuff/look for things capabilities? Like say we wanted to go travelling, could we tell one of our foci to keep an eye on the village and surrounding area and let us know if bad shit shows up? Can we communicate with anyone anywhere using our foci as messengers?

>>15020064
Wait a minute... Our master- Did he do what I think he did? Did he bind his own ANGER into a focus? HORY SHET DUDE.

>>15020214

A spirit can only travel so far from its focus, once bound. Depending on the kind of spirit, the strength of both the spirit and the Totemist, and the type of focus, a spirit can travel anywhere between five feet and fifty miles from its focus. It's all a matter of experimentation.

>>15020258
That would be cool but what makes you think he did this aside from it seeming possible and being awesome?

Can a spirit be improved? Either by practice or by sacrifice?

If not, later on, we'd have to discard lesser spirits and those bound earlier for better ones. And that doesn't sound very... Loyal to me.

>>15020270
Ok, this is kinda trollish but could we potentially hide a focus every 30-45 miles and have the spirits relay messages to one another? or do we need to have the focus on our person/reasonably nearby for the spirits to do stuff?

>>15020318

Spirits can grow in power by consuming spirits lesser than them, or by having their core concept improved. If you bound the spirit of a forest and expanded the forest, the spirit would grow in power. Likewise, if you fed a number of lesser tree spirits to a forest spirit, they would fuse together and become a more powerful composite spirit.

>>15020319

Potentially, although using spirits like this would probably offend them. In addition, every spirit you have currently active and summoned is a drain on your own personal energy. Keeping up such a network of spirits over such a distance would be very taxing.

>>15020343

So, if we fed more rock turtles to our new focus, do you think we could get it to talk finally?

>>15020318
idk I think the lesser ones such as Tyrd will always have their uses. That is if the greater one's power are hard to use for relatively mundane tasks. Besides it's throwing them away which is disloyal, keeping around old friends for their insight even if they are relatively useless is not.

>>15020364

Growing in power is not necessarily the same as growing in intelligence, but it's always worth a try. If, that is, you can rationalize depopulating the Rock Turtle population to fuel your Totemistic duties.

>>15020343
New goal: make Tryd a complete badass.
...wait how do we capture the spirit of a forest without killing the forest? Is there a creature that embodies the forest... are there ents?

Are the intelligent dragons included in your mention of three other sentient races?

>>15020382
I suppose it wouldn't be so bad if every couple years we had a look at their numbers to make sure they weren't overgrazing their home. Too many, we take one or two of the older ones. This keeps them in a predictable area, so they don't range too far looking for food.

Do we know how to test our foci's powers?

>>15020414
Ask them. Like what we seem to have done with Amal. It also seems like we would find it easy to get Amal-like spirits to join to a commune-like spirit in Amal's current focus, because they are generally helpful. But Tryd though, we might have to capture more fire/trickster spirits, feral or free, and let him consume them.

Modi Magni... Well, I think killing things with our spear already improve him, a grain of sand at a time.

>>15020414

Binding or making a contract with a spirit does not kill it. More powerful spirits, like the forest spirit example, can even split off a portion of their essence to serve as their avatar within the Focus without abandoning their duties entirely.

True Dragons are one of the other three sapient races, yes.

>>15020437

Your Focus will not work until you bind it to an object through ritual. Part of being a successful Totemist is experimenting with how objects and Foci interact with one another. A fire focus might create a sword that creates waves of flame when swung, while binding it to a suit of armor would increase the wearer's tolerance for outside temperatures, and binding it to an anvil might make the process of forging significantly easier.

We could bind multiple human spirits to the same totem to fuse them and make a human composite worth using, couldn't we?

>>15020437
We probably have to order them like Tryd when we first bound him. Even more with the non-intelligent Feral ones.

Ooooh, remember to try and order the Lightning Rock Turtle spirit to make somekind of lightning ward. A rock turtle has an innate defense/toughness, and this species got that lightning going on for it.

>>15020470
He is scary.
We should keep an eye out for other nature spirits then... how did we find/meet Amal?

>>15020486

The results of this would be unpredictable at best, to say nothing of the spiritual and ethical ramifications of such an action.

>>15020504

Amal's origins to be showcased next time as well.

>>15020533

I could see a bound human spirit being useful for intelligence, since they have to answer their binder's questions, right? I don't know what else a trapped human spirit would be good for. Spying, relaying messages, little things I suppose.

>>15020533
As for the alamgamation of human spirits, I'm thinking we're generally inclined to only bind evil persons to begin with, so if we did it again, the focus' spirit would very likely ALSO be evil, or at the very least, not benevolent.

>>15020486
You frighten me a little bit. But also make me want to play some sort of tabletop version of this soooo bad.

>>15020485
>>15020498

Let's try and make some guesses at what binding the rock turtle's focus would produce with various stuffs. There's definitely plenty of ways to weaponise it and we may very well be able to produce the lazors we were talking about earlier but let's think about this.

I bet if we put it on the shield I've been going on about it'd make it better at blocking energy attacks or would shock things blocked with it. But what if we put it on something odd like a gem or the beak?

>>15020486
>>15020533
>>15020554
>>15020559
Could we collect volunteers for such a binding? Warriors and intellectuals alike that have reached the end of their lives but wish to have their knowledge passed on to the next generation in a manner better than any book or scripture could teach?

>>15020585

In theory, but that would also prevent the spirit from moving on to any theoretical afterlife that could await them.

>>15020485
Can we unbind focuses from objects and rebind them to other objects?

>>15020601

Can bound spirits be released, though?

>>15020604

Yes you can, though it's a slightly lengthier ritual than binding them in the first place.

>>15020612

If a spirit's Focus is broken, the spirit is released. This is more difficult than it sounds, as the magic that makes up the Totemist's Pact encapsulates all Foci in a protective barrier. The Focus must be intentionally sundered by the Totemist or struck by an extraordinarily powerful attack to bypass this.

>>15020575
We could put it on a bow or a bowstring and possibly shoot charged arrows at stuff.

I bet we could get our lazors if we put it on a staff but that feels cheesy to me.

>>15020641
This idea. This is brilliant! We could make ourself a legend!

What sort of weapons and other things can we expect the smith to sell(what have we seen in the shop)? Anything of note we'd remember from the general store?

>>15020641
We'd be like Hank the ranger from the old D&D cartoon. I support the shit out of a lightning bow!

>>15020652

I'm just making guesses, no idea if that's what would happen. The bow could just as easily fire the arrows fast as lightning or make lightning strike them... ok pretty much anything that could result from the bow idea is awesome but imo we should keep thinking.

>>15020663

The blacksmith keeps very few excess weapons on hand in the shop. Most folks have their own family weapons, and they bring them to him to be maintained. You could commission him for any sort of weapon you'd like, but it would take time to forge. He likely has a few short swords and small shields in stock. Maybe a spear or two.

Can we bind focuses to ourself?

>>15020641
I'd say the idea of a bow or a staff/rod/wand tipped with the focus would get us some sort of charged projectile, with the bow and arrows allowing more shots over the same period of time.

But I feel that wouldn't be entirely as effective, considering the nature of a Rock Turtle.
I am still supporting some manner of lightning ward or lightning aura.

One wonders why only the Rock Turtles in the cave had the horn in the first place. Are they descended from several of their kind whom took one too many bolts of lightning? Or was it a mutation caused by close proximity to something ELSE in the cave?

>>15020717

No. Foci cannot be bound to living things.

Are there other ways of wielding/channeling magic besides Totemism?
Also are there spirits/beings that are actually empowered by belief, like the popular rendition of gods?

>>15020731
I assumed they were the female turtles

>>15020700
Wait... how can family weapons exist if filial affinity isn't really a thing, since everyone is raised communally?

>>15020728
Put it into a necklace or bind it to ourself, ramp our speed with Modi Magni's focus, then...

RRRRAMMING SPEED!

Or just run rings around the enemy and let it get fried.

Of course, this depending if it could even work that way.

We could put it on a glove and become Osyki LIGHTNINGFIST silvertongue the prepared.

What exactly is an imp? Like is it different from being a spirit? Do demons/devils exist, or are they just exceptionally malevolent Avatars?

If we put it on a necklace we might just become invulnerable to lightning strikes... which is better than it sounds, we could use that to talk to a lightning spirit and convince it to let us put it into a foci... and then make it stronger everytime we got hit by lightning... we would end up with no clothes.

>>15020746

The matron woke me early that morning, and led me out of the sleeping area. I rubbed sleep from my eyes, and tried to get my bearings. I was a little confused.

She opened a fine wooden chest, and handed a sheathed blade and polished shield to me.

"These were your father's. You are ready to begin training in how to use them. Report to Walthers and he will pair you with a veteran."

I think if we bound it to a gem it'd probably produce lightning, everything else has fairly logical alternatives. What else could a gem do? Be better at blocking lighting? nah. Be some sort of recharging lightning grenade? possibly but I have no issues with that.

Last round of questions, then I'm heading to bed. If the topic is still around when I wake up, I'll answer some more. Someone should archive this.

>>15020738

True Magic is thought by some people to be a fairy tale, or the ability of mythical beings. Your master once expressed the opinion to you that Behemoths were just large beasts with a talent for True Magic. So far, you have seen nothing to support its existence.

Other forms of spiritual power do exist. Bone Wardens, for example, are animated by natural spiritual phenomenons, usually springing from places of intense tragedy.

>>15020746

Although raised separately from one's family, passing on the blood is still seen as an important duty for a son or daughter. In light of this, the weapons of parents are passed down to children when they die. Taking up the weapon of an elder is a way of both giving and receiving respect.

So yes, the spear belonged to Osyki's mother.

>>15020763

An imp is a classification of spirit. They normally deal in one specific base element, and they are always of very little raw power. They tend to be very clever, however.

>>15020791

Exactly.

>>15020791
Hmm, that sounds reasonable. And either they are given some ancestral equipment, or they are apprenticed, I assume. IF the matron judges that they match.

Also, it is possible that instead being given the tools of your direct progenitors (parents), you would be given tools of your other tribe members, one that suited you more.

Of course, not all tools are kept, just those that has some historic value.

Ah, actually, before I head off I have a question for you lot:

How are you liking the quest so far? I've been trying to keep things fairly open ended. Is there anything that you dislike, or that's too confusing? Let me know so that I can work on making it better.

G'night, /tg/.

>>15020852

I've just been reading it, mostly, because I tend to catch it near the end. I really like it.

>>15020852
I seriously enjoy this quest. I don't do many quests cause I'm kinda picky but this one appeals to me. Sometimes I wish you had a coherent schedule cause I hate missing the beginning of the quest threads and having to check for them so much but I understand that your RL must not allow for this easily so I don't begrudge it, initially I had a problem with the speed of your posts but the quality of them is good enough to make up for that imo and I'd rather you take your time and produce good posts rather than rushed posts.

>>15020852
I love it, the idea is fresh as hell.

Thread's up on suptg now. Everyone remember to vote at least for the quest thread proper.

If you want a bigger sample on your general feedback about the quest Op just look at the ratings of the quest threads, The first one is at Excellent and the later two are both solidly in Good. I bet this one would be at Excellent as well but I think we lost some people towards the end as they went to sleep.

Since Op said we could unbind things we can experiment a bit. We'll probably end up with lightning bow but I'd like to see what'd happen when we put it on some other stuff like the beak, no idea what that'd produce. The one thing with the bow is we'd need to invest in arrows and could run out at an inopportune moment.

Op, question for when you wake up- Can we bind multiple foci to the same object?

>>15021083

Possibly. That would require experimentation, and it would likely work better if they were compatible spirits.

Late breaking question: Can ultiple focuses be bound to the same item? Can we add the Lightning Horn to our spear without removing the Claw of Wrath first? I'm envisioning a Gungir/Zeus's Spear kinda thing if we can pull it off.

bumpan for stayin' alive

Hey folks. For any of you still reading this thread, it looks like tonight will be the time for Totemist Quest IV. I hadn't planned on running it again so soon, but plans shifted in favor of staying in and writing tonight. Just a heads up.

Also, >>15023403 was me. Forgot mah name.

>>15027082
link?

New thread is up.

>>15028078