>>18268225

Something else you don’t have on you, but...well. You literally breathe ice, so a solution seems within reach.

Muttering a few words you gesture out to your side, palm up, as a small cloud of frost forms over your hand, dispersing as a mephit of ice shatters into existence, landing on your limb like a brittle hawk.

“Some ice, please...” You intone, holding your other hand out expectantly. The Mephit considers, nods, then moulds the air with his hands, producing a small pebble of solid water vapour to drop into your grasp, “Thanks.”

You nudge your shoulder, prompting it to hop off onto a nearby countertop while you bend down and, after giving it a quick rub with your hands, touch the water source to the young man’s lips, gently pressing it in. For the first while there was little reaction, but as if suddenly sucking on a thunderbolt the man jolted, bringing a shaky hand up to clumsily grasp at the arm providing for him- first weakly trying to keep it there, then moving to explore the shape of the arm itself, blindly deciding whether it belonged to a friend or foe.

Grabbing the hand you bring it down to the pebble for him to grasp, the man rousing enough to open is eyes, a blue not much unlike your own staring back at you, half-vacant, judging your motives with an urgency the rest of his body was too fatigued to reflect. Introductions were in order.

“Victor Frygias,” You introduce tertly, “And before you even dare to ask what I’m doing here, I think you better start explaining why I’ve spent the last day and a half as a bullseye on a target, and WHY there are oozes all over the blasted hold!!”

>>18268238

A little too tired to ‘thoughtfully’ suck on the pebble, he heaves a sigh around it, almost swooning from the effort, then brings himself up again, popping it in his mouth and crunching the remainder to speak.

“Oozes?” He asks, then blinks hard, “No...nevermind...look, I’ll just say what I can...I’ve been’n here for a long while, I guess...so don’t know much besides...but you’ll need to know...maybe...”

You grit your teeth, tempted to strangle the Hold’s entire history out of him, not just be given what he deemed important...but right now, if he could give answers for anything at all about this place and everything on the road over, then you’d listen. Given his state, there might not be another chance.

“I was awoken sometime at night. I’m the only wizard living here. With...illusions, at their disposal, anyway. Something was attacking the library, or...had emerged there, the Dwarves weren’t...very helpful about that, but it didn’t sound like an invasion...at first. Just something unusual. Crystal-somethin’...well...they had me make this place, and handed me as many books as...they could get. Then other things came, some women, managed cut me here,” He gestured to his side, “And the dwarves shoved me through and told me to seal myself in....wait for an all-clear. I think, listening, a lot of others had come. Shouted orders. Roars...no...battlecries. Organized.“

“Women?” You pressed, sensing a lead.

“Yes...hard to see in low light. Wore black...moved quickly....weren’t cautious with their own blades, I don’t think...I guess they were immune...”

>>18268247

“Right,” You ponder, trying to get this straight, “So you were woken up, told to start shielding up this room as the Dwarves handed you all these books.”

He crunched ice acquiescently.

“And then some women attacked, and you were told to seal yourself in the room. But why with books? Why not the hold’s young or...Oh for-”

You run a hand down your face in frustration. The man had fallen unconscious again (hopefully nothing a good slap wouldn’t cure). You wonder whether that even made a difference to how helpful he was being; true, there were answers in there- that the place had indeed been invaded- but nothing that would explain much else about what had happened here. And now worse: a non-identity regarding the attackers. More questions without apparent answers.

The ice mephit on the counter looked at you expectantly, physically representing the lack of time you had to make a decision as it patiently ticked down the minutes before it poofed back to its home plane. Here, a man was dying, there, a woman was stranded in a hostile desert, and in-between were all the mysteries that were eating at you...and would eat you, if given the chance.

...Well. You’d better find a way to solve them, you suppose.

Hey hey!

Okay, so we've got an injured man here...do we take him with us to get treatment, or bring the treatment to him?

Where's the library, and do we have the resources to set him back up with protection in here? If we can reinstate his barriers and wards, we can go investigate the library while he recuperates.

Speaking of which, let's procure some extra water for him, should he wake up. We can attempt to locate a kitchen for supplies/food too, on the way to the library.

>>18268433

From the last threads it seems out guy is more for offensive spells than defence but I don't think a protection from evil spell would be too far though, if we wanted to do that.

>>18268518
Or just resetting the wards we busted through to get here.

We should try to get him to tell us the closes exit to the outside then we can get our companion to help us with his injure and later figure out what happen here.

>>18268433
Better find a way to the outside so we can bring the ranger with us.

Wondering can't silver dragons also cast cleric spells?

>>18268739

I don't believe they can, otherwise it's probably we'd have already done so.

>>18268739
>>18268812
I assume because we haven't taken the time to become clerics.

In the sdr silver dragons can cast cleric spells and spells from the air, good law and sun domain. many people forget this and was wondering if we can or can not in this game do so.

>>18268871
WG is against cleric spells, checking for domain ones now.

>>18268871

hmmm one hour since the OP's last post, should we be worry?

>>18268963
Not really. That's par for the course with DQ.

>>18268963
Nope, he responded on IRC 4 minutes ago. Besides, we never said what are our actions.

>>18268976

Lets wake him up again and ask him for nearest exit, be it a door or a window so the ranger can help us treat his wounds. Also whats the IRC room?

Is the dwarf ok to move? looks really injured. Thinking our best bet is to stabilize him the best we can and make a break for it. hopefully asking how to escape, and if we can redo the wards as obviously these books are very important important enough to die for.

>>18269001
IRChighway #dragonquest , you can use mibbit if you dont have stand-alone client.


And second, want more info on the room. Exits, entrances? We should also try to investigate the place where those paranormal staf went on.

This is new.
Whatever happened to Azaldon?

>>18269053
>dwarf
I was under an impression that he is a man, not dwarf. Young man, wizard, blue eyes.

>>18269055
WD couldnt continue anymore. So WG went on an epic quest and got the right to continue, with different character.

Now we are a young adult silver dragon, a brother of missing Nashka, and we just started our adventure.

You lean back on the counter in thought...for about a second, before realizing that there might not be enough time to think. This man was going to die if you just leave him be, there was no time for a gentle repose to mull over the situation.

Craning your neck backwards you observe the wards you dismantled to get through to here in the first place, frowning. No good trying to get those back up; you were never much of a magic circle guy, and illusions, particularly ones as skilful as this guy could throw up, were beyond your remit. A temporary protection spell would be the best you could do...maybe a wall of ice as well- obvious, but durable. Ideally you’d have liked to have saved it for times more desperate than these but security seemed paramount right now, and this man needed it. So...right. This might work. The rest of the room didn’t really factor into a defence- dwarven kitchens were boring and practical, no windows, no other exits or entrances. If enemies were going to come through them, then all the best to ‘em.

As for where to go after shoring all of this up...that decision to reach given your company. True, you didn’t even know the way to the front door, let alone the library, but if you could save this man, then all roads were opened. He’s lived here, he knows the streets, he’s a wizard, and he knows the way to the library. And more importantly he knows the way to...

“Hey,” You ask, springing up to boot a chair-leg, “How do I get to the main gate from here?”

“Unf!” He jumped awake, “E-Excuse me?”

“How do I get to the Hold’s entrance from here?” You repeat, motioning for the mephit to make some more water for him.

>>18269239

“Oh, right, easy...just go out the door...any doorway on your right’s a house, so...get through to the otherside, you’ll be on the main road...then follow it left. You’ll get there soon enough.” He mumbled, trying to wipe the paleness out of his skin.

“Right, okay. Just keep yourself quiet, and you,” You nod to the mephit, “Keep him in water. And safe.”

A brittle crackle of acknowledgement later and you set off, pausing for a moment to grab one of the books off the shelf to put it in your bag of holding before leaving the room completely (maybe Baha could take a gander if they’re so important), throwing up a minor protective ward followed by a much more substantial wall of solid ice, the shards webbing out of thin air to freeze into not just the doorway, but over another two feet over the wall it lay in. If anyone was going to get to him now, they were going to have to spend a lot of time working at it with their picks- by which time you’d have returned, with all luck.

Recalling that your friend won’t have known that all the exits had been collapsed, you decide to carefully make your way back to the only one you knew to be semi-open...the nursery.

Removing the scrum from around the door, you hold back from opening it immediately, knowing what you’d find on the other side. Leaning back against the wall you let out a low breath, steadying yourself by staring at the edge of your glaive, wishing the people who’d given you all this trouble were on the end of it.

Okay ‘Vic’...time for a plan.

----------------------

Guess what? ROLLS ARE BACK. D100 please. The action is decided by consensus, but only the best of the first two rolls will be used to determine the success of the outcome.

rolled 89 = 89

Slowly open the door, see where the thing is and if its alone. I know its immune to cold, but we can still try to freeze it, right?

rolled 56 = 56

>>18269250

Lets try to get pass the nursery without having to fight, but if push comes to shove should only fight went necessary.

>>18269354
IIRC, there are some items on the walls, maybe we can find a better weapon than ours. Maybe even something magical!
Loot everything. I SAID EVERYTHING!

Oh yeah, and after a well-noted not on IRC, I may as well say that this'll be the only time I'll accept rolls THEN actions. Next time y'all will have to decide on an action, then roll for it. Otherwise you'll be basing your actions on your rolls, which is...unspiriting.

Deciding on caution, you touch forehead to the glaive’s handle in a quick prayer before reaching out to inch the door forwards, taking as much in of the abode as possible without letting it get to you.

Nothing had appreciably changed since last time that you could see, the ooze still sat like a shining cancer on the floor, the hearth burnt out and the cots empty. Now though you took the time to see the details of the room, the pipe over by the cushy arm-chair, the wood-carving station, the well-ordered and patterned plates and cutlery. As one would expect from the home of an old dwarf, there was no square inch of the abode that didn’t bear the subtle mark of excellence to it, and yet still seem as though it belonged in the mundane.

The same could be said for the weaponry on the mantle-piece and around the upper-edges of the ceiling- still easily within reach of you thanks to lax dwarven height, but unfortunately on the other side of the monster splayed before you. Also unfortunate was the selection. The axes and hammers on display were no doubt powerful but lacked the reach of your own glaive, which was something you felt you would need if any more of these things got in your way. The idea of using the occupiers own weapons on these things held a strong, raw appeal though that you weren’t sure you’d be able to shake.

>>18269846

The battlefield wasn’t ideal either. Centuries of accumulating antiques and looking after great-grandkids had left a lot of clutter and furniture around- the ooze was sat in the only perfectly clear spot in the room, the rest leading up to it was a hodge-podge of rocking cribs, low play-tables and...clothing. Beyond it was armchairs, footrests and dining tables. Footing was going to be an issue, as was space to dodge. Regarding escape, well, the door wasn't visible from here, likely just behind the staircase you could see to the left. A sprint to it would be difficult.

Ah well...at least the ceiling was high.

****

Should we lure it out?

I vote to enter and breath attack it, then just try to keep our distance while hammering it from range.

Just attack it with strongest cold spell, and as it tries to reach us, get out of the room and stub it with the glaive.

>>18269980
We dont have breath attack in human form, I think. And its not enough space to revert, plus I dont want the ooze to attack our flesh-and-bone form. Keep it at distance with the weapon.

>>18269995
Or this I only say to use our breath weapon as it recharges and spells dont'.

rolled 5 = 5

So if there is no other alternative and everyone agrees, we blast the ooze with strongest magic we have, and if it doesnt die (wich is likely) ran from the room to avoid getting entangled in chairs, and poke it with glaive until it dies. Try to avoid being slammed or even touched.

>>18270147
FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF
Someone else roll, please.

rolled 80 = 80

>>18270147
Retrying. Oh god of /tg/ dies, help me!

bump for Dragon Quest.

Well, flight didn’t seem an option at any rate, which logically left only one other. It was a shame to mar such a perfectly done up house, but...he practical had to be considered. If anything the previous owners would be grateful for what you were about to do- bringing you one step closer to avenging them.

Something that almost didn’t happen as, shifting the door open to fire your spell, the ooze lauches itself at you, flattening out into a thin carpet in an effort to envelop you entirely in one lighting-fast movement. But it turns out ice is faster than lighting.

The spell seems to tear out of you with all the force of your anger, bullets of hail and dulled icicles pummelling into the thinly spread ooze, puncturing it, shattering it in places, but mostly throwing it back through the sheer power exerted over such a wide area, the cots and clothes blasting away as the ooze splatters onto the far wall just over the hearth, the arm-chairs before it now bearing wounds that showed how much comfort lay within them.

Sensing a chance and taking advantage of the path you’d cleared you take a step forward into the room- then leap back suddenly as the remainder of it launches toward you again, a compact mass that slams into the floor just before where you were stood before, the distance it had to travel thankfully too great to traverse in a single bound.

Your glaive however you left beneath it as you leapt, sliding your grip back and so tearing another gash through it with a flick, then bringing it back down to carve another chunk out of it, the gunk spraying up to touch your armour, but falling short of face as the ooze rolls over itself to join you in the dark corridor you’d come from; only the dim light cracking though the window from the house and your own faint magic lights casting enough glint on the creature to tell where it lay.

>>18270713

Trying to keep as much distance as possible between the two of you, the battle finds itself moving much further down the pathway than you’d have liked, and soon you’re diving away from a bare glint of the foe attacking you, silent but for the roiling bubbles of air that gurgle through it as it folds on itself and the wet splashes and thuds as it lands in dank puddles or dusty stone.

Eventually though, the glint of your own bladework shines truer than your foe, and with a final dash and a blow with the back pommel of it to fling the mass away, the ooze seems to still in the faint light...the disperse, unstringing apart as the force that binds it together unsticks and burns out.

Sitting back against the wall, you struggle to catch your breath, dazedly eying around to ensure no other blobs or jellies fancied having a crack at you. But...no, not this time. Just the table and stool and such opposite you that you’d passed before. Man, this fight must’ve taken you down further than you thought.

Or not, as you manage to heave your way back after a few minutes, letting you peer out through a newly shattered window onto the street beyond. Unlike the house and the hall, there didn’t seem to be anything out there...but looks could be deceiving. Shifting toward the door you open it up for a better look around, walls, ceiling and all.

>>18270719

The main road was as huge as it was magnificent. There’s very little one can say about Dwarven craftsmanship and architecture that hasn’t been said already, but somehow when you’re there...it’s just very easy to find those same words as fresh as ever. Streets spiralled both up and down in orderly fashion, ever-glowing lamps dotted the sides in radiant daylight, and the building either side stoned up to dizzying heights. There was more than enough room for you to even do some light gliding, provided you minded the carved archways linking the higher areas.

Underfoot was where things once again seemed...wrong. Ooze residue- familiar enough now you’d dashed a house and a corridor with it, and it was smeared over the paving stones here. A lot of it too. Most unusual.

Before you could contemplate this though, a keening screech interrupted- the same metallic grating that sounded when you first smashed the pod outside...but with more of an echo, far over to the right, away from where the exit was supposed to be.

****

So we can go to the exit and mtry to open it, or go and investigate the alarm.
I vote for alarm. Just make sure we dont take too much time, the wizard can survive without help for another couple of hours, I belive, but not half of the day.

rolled 84 = 84

Search region. Collect food/water/healing supplies. See if we can infer what's up from what we find.

>>18270875
You mean we US, or we the character? Because I'm pretty sure we've got to infer that stuff.

>>18270875
Why would we need any of it? We dont need it, the wizard is OK water-wise, and needs some magical help to neutralize poison and heal him.
No, its a waste of time. We should either try to meet up with the ranger girl, or explore the alarm. Preferably without running into more oozes, as even one gave us a pretty good fight.

>>18270922
I'm not too great at drawing conclusions, so I hope the-character inferring.

Also, chat discussion, if that is just 'alarm that trips when someone enters the hold', then that probably means that either villain is returning, or Baha was forced inside after us. The former is more dangerous, but good, since that will probably explain a few things, the latter is doubleplusungood, if she's in danger.

Attempt to make our way to the main entrance, keeping an eye out for supplies or information. Hope Baha does not get eaten by ooze.

Not sure if should be rolling, rolling just in case.

rolled 22 = 22

>>18270986

That's some mighty fine rollin' there, Lou.

rolled 35 = 35

>>18271000
>>18270986
>howdidthisgethereIamnotgoodwithcomputers.jpg

>>18270986
But the alarm is away from the entrance, to the right. The entrance is to the left.

>>18270986
>>18271026
Sorry, head to the alarm, then.

>>18271042
>roll 22
I bet we are going to gey lost. WG, are we lost?

Whatever the noise was, it could wait. If it were the door alarm, and it sounded like the noise heard after it presumably triggered, then that meant the action was at the front gate anyway. If not, then...well, it definitely wasn’t a dwarf, so for the time being, other things took priority.

Stepping out onto the street you noticed that the main road followed a slight curve, as though circular, and as you followed the bend up and around to the left you started noticing things by the wayside- errant bits of crumpled metal, a boot here, a crossbow there...and then you found something very...peculiar. A large stack of cages. Barred cages, at least thirty of them and probably more, all with their doors unhinged (Or in some cases mangled open). All were of roughly human height, and placed in the middle of the street, right in front of...

The gate! Moving past the new curiosity you stand before the massive construction, this side of it seeming far more complex to you eyes with an impressive array of massive sliding bars and cogs- and small stairwells leading up either side; no doubt leading to the pods.

>>18271248

The way to open them was apparent on a closer inspection; at the top there was a cylindrical wheel with pushing-points for a couple of dwarves to strain against that would clank the bars back and ease it open. The smaller gates entrances couldn’t be seen from where you were, but you suspected something much simpler for their smaller frames.

Most obvious though was not the locking mechanism...but the fact the mechanisms were locked. No-one had entered, and so that metallic scream was autonomous- separate from this design. And the noise you heard on breaking the alarm system was...whatever it was, a LOT of whatever it was, answering in kind. Knowing that something new had arrived.

Wait, wait, so the alarm is not dwarven in origin? Is that what you say?

>>18271309

I think it means the noise we heard was not an alarm at all.

Which is alarming.

>>18271319
Oh god! Its kobolds! Theay are going to eat us alive!

>>18271334
Y-....you serious?

Kobolds? We show our true form, and then we'll be the coolest thing alive to them.

>>18271334
oh god

please don't be kobolds

>>18271342
>we'll be the coolest thing alive to them.
But what if its dire kobalds? Ancient dire kobalds?

>>18271380
Then Bahamut help us...

>>18271380
>but what if dire kobolds
>if dire kobolds
>dire
>kobolds

Mother of god.

rolled 80 = 80

So, check for traps, open the small door. I dont think dice is needed, but just in case.

Writer-Guy, if you would have post faster and reply more often, there would have been more people in your threads. You dont have to write an essay for each post.
Otherwise its even worse than WD. If you dont have time to write quest - its ok, dont start it.

Following the lines of the architecture with your eye you find the right staircase your best bet to reach the top and start up them...cautiously though. Though that sound happened some considerable distance from your current position, you still feel its echo within you, and the concern over what it could be lends your movements a quality of carefulness they had previous lacked.

It was not so much the noise itself, or perhaps even what made the noise, but rather the threat of what it posed. If it, or they were here before, and the alarm itself drove it away or caused the sceech, what other action would cause a second one, when no breach seems notable?

Looking over the side doors, you notice that there was indeed no other breach- the doors all seemed to have a faint light over them, and only one dimmed to red as the others stayed blue- the one you recognise as having smashed to get in. Compared to the main lock though, the smaller ones seem more finicky and unsuitable to the speed of the situation. Best to go for the top one.

>>18271906

Though on reaching the walkway above the gate you find the problem to be a different one. Giving one of the turning poles and experimental push, you feel absolutely nothing give- and on closer inspection of the mechanism, you see a lower part of it has been bolted in place. Whoever had last left her had intended to seal off the main entrance to the outside world, and leave all inside to whatever fate befell them. One could assume that if any tunnels of backpassages were used, then they too would be sealed off in a similar fashion. Leaping down the flights of stairs over again and your suspicions are confirmed on a closer look at the mechanisms for the smaller doors- expertly sabotaged, with just the right gears missing. It seems you’ve teleported into a would-be tomb.

Indeed, it would require truly monstrous strength to get the apparatus above working to twist the bolts out of place and get it moving. Perhaps there would be a more elegant solution though, if one were more observant...but that might take time no-one inside or out could have.

>>18271673

Well, I can't say fairer than that. Today's not been a good day and I feel like crap, so we'll call in early so's to give it a good go next Friday, this time startin mightnight GMT.

I'll work on the speed of it, but I wouldn't want to write less, or worse. I'll do my best on that. Until then, just give what y'all wanna do for the start of the next thread- no need to roll anything.

>>18271992
Oh well, lets hope the next one will go smoother.
Archived.
http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive/18268225/

>>18271930
>>18271906
If we revert, do you think we'll have enough strength to pry open the door?

>>18272138
We have omewhat around 23 strength. I dont think it would be enough. Maybe with a good dice throw...

rolled 64 = 64

>>18272171

DICE THROW ACTIVATE!!!

rolled 8 = 8

>>18272268
Ok.