Last time, we checked out the bounty office to pick up some extra cash. After a quick stalking, we kidnapped a bard responsible for fucking entirely too many women and brought him to justice, earning us a cool 5000 gold. The day was still young, so we went after Tracker Johnny, leader of the Manhunters, a rogue group of bounty hunters. We interrogated/tortured one of them who had been captured, and went to their base in the dead of night. We knocked some out, killed a few, and nabbed Johnny. Interestingly, we found a wanted poster of Sifu Tong…

Here's a list of techniques that you know and can learn later on: http://pastebin.com/QrrNkwWn
Feel free to reference it whenever.

Inventory: 5 wooden shurikens, 1 dose of Heaven Berries, 1117 gp (4000 in the bank), a pendant of Ward Fear, 1 emerald gem, two medical kits, about ten feet of rope, and a compass.

A storm looms over the quiet forest.

The dark-skinned teenager is sick of this. He’s been training for his whole life, and what does he know? The basics! His father refuses to teach him anymore. Why!? The storm brewing outside is nothing compared to the storm brewing in the boy. It’s been like this for years- squeezing every bit of training from Sifu, like drawing water from a rock. Back against the wall of his home, he glares into the woods. His mentor is bound to return soon from hunting.

True enough, a tall man with broad shoulders and a shock of red hair appears from the forest. His smile turns to a concerned frown when he sees his son.

“Shun? Is something wrong?”

Face scrunching up, the teen says, “Yes.”

“What?” A short silence. The dark one blinks, and whispers something. “What was that, Shun?”

He erupts, “Why do you hold me back?!” Taken aback by this sudden outburst, the teacher begins to open his mouth, but is interrupted, “Every time I want you to teach me something, you tell me no, you don’t want me walking this path, no, you don’t want me to get hurt.” His face quakes in rage as he spills out what he’s been holding back, “That’s not good enough anymore!” Stonefaced, the man looks at the ground. “You’ve got nothing to say?!”

He sadly looks back up at his only child as thunder booms, and replies, “You’re right, Shun. I have been holding you back. I’ve been coddling you. I don’t want you to become a Fist of Shadow. It’s a hard, long, thankless road full of danger. Are you really sure about this?” The boy’s intense, steely stare is all the answer he needs. “Of course you are. You’re always sure.” The old man sighs. “I’m sorry, Shun. From now on, I’ll train you like you were my apprentice, not my son.” Unsatisfied at these words because they are, in fact, only words, Shun glares.

But Tong was true to his words. From that day on, the boy’s life only got harder and harder, and never let up.

Shaking your head of the memory, your attention returns to the weight on your back. Tracker Johnny. He knows something about Sifu Tong, and he’s *going* to tell you, one way or another. You’ve got him tied up securely on the wet surface of the roof, a drizzle wetting your cloak. You’ve got a couple of hours until morning, which is a couple of hours to do whatever you want to this bastard to get the information you’ve desperately needed since that night you fled your home.

This isn’t going to be comfortable for Johnny.

(That's your cue to do something, gentlemen.)

>>18921443
Wake Johnny up.

Can't really interrogate someone whose unconscious.

>>18921443
Wake him up, smile at him. Ask him about the bounty, politely for now.

You throw the limb body hung over your shoulders onto the cold, unforgiving steel and kick him. “Wake up.” He rolls around in pain, and looks up at you blearily, silent. You grin. “I’ve got a few questions for you before I haul you back to the bounty office, and I'd be very pleased if you would answer them.”

He squints at you and scowls, “Fuck you, lawman. You ain’t getting shit outta me.” Looks like he wants to do this the hard way.

>>18921570
You seem to be under the misconception that I actually care about the law. I'm an independent contractor and they only said I should bring you in alive, they said nothing about what state you should be in. Now would you like me to start with your feet or your hands?

Tell me about Tong and the bounty on him.

>>18921570
"Lawman? No no. I'm no lawman. I'm much more like you. And you know what you do for information, that you really want right?" Let his imagination take hold. Any torture he thinks we might do, is worse then what we might do.

You grimly chuckle as lightning strikes behind you. “Lawman? No, no. I'm no lawman. You seem to be under the misconception that I actually care about the law. I'm an independent contractor and they only said I should bring you in alive, they said nothing about what state you should be in.” You pause to crack your knuckles, “I'm much more like you than you think. And you know what you do for information, information that you really want right?"

His brown eyes glare into yours. “Fine. If you’re so dead set on getting answers, I’ll divulge. What do you want to know?”

>>18921632
"Tell me everything about your hit on Tong. Who put out the hit and why. I want names, Johnny."

You growl, "Tell me everything about your hit on Tong. Who put out the hit and why. I want names, Johnny."

The scarred man below you laughs. “What, him? You wanna bring him to justice, too, kiddo?” Johnny chuckles, “I’m not gonna tell you who wanted him dead, but I will tell you he had a damn good reason to. The bastard set a whole village on fire because they killed his apprentice. All those people, all those lives… gone. Because of one man.” A grin slides onto his face. “Is it any wonder someone would want a monster like that dead?” W… what? What!?

He’s lying. He has to be. Sifu would never do that, never. And… his apprentice?

>>18921732
"What village? When was this?" Dont get emotional. He'll just shut down if we get to emotional.

>>18921763
wait.

>>18921732
"Damn right I want to bring him to justice. The bounty is way too good.

So give me as much of information as you can and I'll bring you back to the office in one piece."

>>18921792
"... and you better tell me who gave the bounty or I'll start cutting off fingers."

You… you can’t let your emotions get the better of you. If he knows that you’ve got an emotional connection to Sifu… well, it won’t be good. "Damn right I want to bring him to justice. The bounty is way too good. So give me as much of information as you can and I'll bring you back to the office in one piece. What village? When was this?"

“Heh, some no-name village a long time ago. I think… seventeen? Eighteen years now? Something like that. “ He blinks. “So you gonna drag me to the bounty office or not?”

A frown crosses your face. “Not just yet. You’d better tell me who gave the bounty or I'll start cutting off fingers."

“Ha! That’s rich, kid. You don’t have the balls to do something like that.” Oh, how you’d like to just gut this bastard…

"Is that all you can tell? When did that happen and what village are you speaking of?
Is that the only thing he is hunted for? Give me all the leads that you have found."

Remember, the bounty is illegal. If Sifu actually had slaughtered a vilalge full of innocent people then it sure as hell wouldn't be illegal.

>>18921826
"I've killed 3 (or was it 2?) of your people. What makes you think I can't do something like that?
Fine, if you want it that way-" Grab his sword or a knife if he has one and start cutting off the pinkie on his left arm.

>>18921826
>>18921844

While we are at it, we should also get the location of their loot/money. I'm sure they have a safe around here somewhere. Or maybe he grabbed all that they had.

He has to be lying about something. “Is that the only thing he’s hunted for? Give me all the leads that you’ve found."

“As far as I know, yeah, that is. Seems like enough reason to me. And I know you’re thinking ‘if he destroyed a whole village, then why did the Manhunters go after him and not some random shmuck?’” He rolls his head to try and get a little more comfortable. “Well, kid, let me just say that we’re good at tracking people. The best, I’d say. And my employer doesn’t want the man alive. With your regular bounties, as you know, you get paid more for bringing in a warm body. We don’t get paid shit if he’s alive.”

You aren’t sure what to make of that. “What about your loot? Where is it?”

He looks at you incredulously. “What, you’re gonna turn me in for money and steal everything we’ve earned?”

“It’s not like you’re gonna need it.”

He pauses. “Fair enough. There’s a safe downstairs. Combination’s 5-3-0-9. Are you done here? These ropes are starting to chafe.”

“No, I’m not. Who put out the hit, Johnny?”

“I told you, I ain’t saying-“ Before he can finish his sentence, you break his pinky finger. Off. You flick it back at the screaming man.

“Who, Johnny?”

“Fuck you! Fuck you, I’ve had worse done to me, you pig fuck!”
Goddammit Johnny.

>>18921897
"Sigh. Listen, either I walk away with the information and all of your limbs broken and useless for the rest of your life or we do it the simple way and you tell me right now and you are as healthy as it get?
I've heard that a piece off wood under a fingernail can be incredibly painful. Want me to fin out is it's true?"

If he continues to refuse, apply some pain.

"Alright. Is there a reason why you're willing to risk your well being and possibly life to keep the identity concealed? I'm not going to rattle you out if you're afraid of that."

>>18921937
>you are as healthy as it get?
Didn't mean to phrase it as a question.

>>18921897
>>18921937

"I don't particularly enjoy doing this, Johnny, so I wont draw it out and will go for your eyes next time if you persist.... well, lets just say you wont be having children in the future anymore."

"Then let me guess. Its someone you fear. Someone who is both wealthy and high profiled enough that you want as a repeat customer. It is High Master Blaine isn't it?"
A shot in the dark but I never did trust the guy. Lets see how he reacts.

You sigh as the drizzle slowly stops. "I don't particularly enjoy doing this, Johnny. Listen, either I walk away with the information and all of your limbs broken and useless for the rest of your life or we do it the simple way and you tell me right now. If you resist, then I’ll quit wasting our time and go for your eyes.” He stares furiously at you, silent. You break another finger and he screams. “Is there a reason why you're willing to risk your well-being and possibly your life to keep the identity concealed?” He spits at you, but because of his position it just lands back in his face. “Then let me guess. Its someone you fear. Someone who is both wealthy and high profiled enough that you want as a repeat customer. It is High Master Blaine isn't it?" That mask… always unnerved you. He stays silent. Sighing, you get to work…

A couple of minutes later, you’ve broken him. He screams, blood pouring from a socket where his eye used to be. “Fuck! It was… Master Richards! Vic Richards! His sister and mother lived in that village! Just stop! Stop!”

A Master of Terec wanted your master dead? “That was more painful than it had to be, Johnny.” You rack your brain for more questions.

>>18922052
"See Johnny, that wasn't so hard. I even feel bad for doing it. And if you behave I'll get you a healing potion for those injuries you suffered while I tried to capture you."

They do have healing potions right? Or are the berries a rare thing?

>>18922094
You're in the alchemical capital of the world, the spearhead of innovation! Healing potions aren't hard to come by at all. The berries are different in that they completely restore everything back to perfect condition. Johnny won't be getting his eye or his finger back, but he won't be in an immense amount of pain anymore, either.

>>18922052
"Alright, thanks. Nice of you to not make this go more messy than it should."

Double check his bindings. Collect his bag with papers, collect any that he has dropped.
Double check the bindings on other bandits just in case.
Collect the loot from the safe and then take Johnny with us to the office. The rest of the bandits will have to be collected by the guards.

>>18922094
>>18922107

Don't use the berry on him!

>>18922107
I say we pick up something so he doesnt die atleast. He's worth more alive after all. His bounty will cover it anyway.

>>18922118
That would be stupid.

Hell we should see if the alchemist could synthesize the berry. Or find someone who can use it to grow more.

>>18922154
Yknow I keep picturing the berry is actually a senzu bean...

You’re done here. “Nice of you to not make this go more messy than it should. I feel a little bad about doing that." His eyes are glazed over, passed out. He can’t hear you anymore. You check his bindings and stuff his papers into your bag. Looking over the city, the clouds break and you see the horizon growing purple, signaling the rise of the Shard. It’s been a long night. Picking him up, you head downstairs and enter his office. It’s got a fairly nice wooden desk with some cabinets lining the walls. Papers are strewn around the floor. You open up the safe underneath the desk. 5000 gold. Not bad.

Everyone else’s bound tightly. They’ll probably wake up soon. It’s time to get going. Heading back to the bounty office as the sky turns a fiery orange, you dump off Johnny and tell the officer that the rest of the men are back at the base. He groggily gives you 12,400 gold for your work. An excellent haul. You’re getting tired, so you head back to Ingrid’s Inn. She looks surprised to see you stumbling into her musky bar and greets you.

You grumble a greeting back and head to your room, exhausted.

So what're your plans for tomorrow (today)?

B-b-bump!

>>18922234
Can we start on a new technique? Wall walking would have been really useful for that last mission. And if we go hunt the last guy, we'll probably need it.

>>18922435
Of course. It'll take a week of training to get it down, though. Then you'll have about a month and a week until the tournament.

how about visiting the daedulus workshop? wasn't there another bounty there or something?

>>18922554
Yup. Jameson stole a Shard from there. 10,000 gold bounty, 10,000 if you bring the Shard back too.

Also, you have 22,517 gold.
Make of that what you will.

well before we do that, lets go to the dojo again, maybe work on the bounty after that. we gotta train a bit for that tournament after all

>>18922454
Bounties dont have a time limit right? I say we go for it, if no one else has any objections.

We can learn more fighting based techniques later, but I feel with our Batman escapades we'll need this.

So, spend a week learning the Shadowstalk stance?

>>18922605
would the whole week be used up learning that?

>>18922625
You can do whatever you want, as long as it isn't physically intensive. Shopping, visiting, exploring (as long as it's of a more mundane variety) are all fair game.

fine then but can we learn something undetectable for the tournament? would sapping or weaking strike be visible to spectators?

>>18922633
We should train it and at the same time, sleuth for information on Master Dick.

>>18922674
It will be visible, but not as shadows.

So, while you learn Shadowstalk, you want to try and gleam some info about Master Richards?

Any shopping?

rolled 78 = 78

lets learn weakening strike then

>>18922746
UH OH, WE'VE GOT SOME CONFLICT

Oh and lets go buy some light armor, if it actually does us any good as a monk

a few healing potions

maybe a book on the world to educate ourselves about it

Whatever we learn, we should do what >>18922762 suggested, and visit the Workshops, see what goes on there.
Maybe try to get them to dupe the berry or something.

>>18922746
Nogram, we're learning shadowstalk. Right now its the best choice for bounty hunting. And we might need for other ventures.

We've got enough attacks as of the moment.

>>18922786
but the tournament.

do we have any techniques that don't reveal our shadow thing? if we do, then fine, we can learn the shadow stalker move

>>18922836
Right now, all of your techniques use shadows.

>>18922836
Tournament can wait, we've got five weeks after this one.
Bounties are now and stuff.

but there is only one bounty left, well, when we last checked.

five weeks, eh?
fine fine, learn shadow stalker

You awaken from your stupor. Looking outside, everyone’s busily going about their day. Must be the afternoon. Yawning, you do your daily exercises and meditations. Leafing through Sifu’s notebook, you decide that the Shadowstalk stance should be the next step. Putting on your clothes, you head downstairs, where Ingrid is tending to a half-full bar.

“Look who finally showed up!” She flashes a brilliant smile at you. Grinning back at her, you take a seat and order some grub. You two make some small talk for a few minutes while you eat. Midway through, a question pops into your head.

“Ingrid, do you know where I could buy some light armor?” You ask quizzically.

Cleaning a glass, a look of contemplation crosses her face. “Hmm. Depends. You could either get some enchanted stuff at the Arcane Schools, or you could try and get some augmented armor from the Daedalus boys.” She giggles. “Assuming you don’t want typical leather, of course.”

You think you have enough money to splurge.

>>18922942
>splurge
I like that word

I say we browse both, after all why not?

>>18922955
I like how you think.

Anything you want to ask Ingrid?

ask what's been going on in the city, might hear about our daring exploits

PUT THE MONEY IN THE BANK!

Don't walk around with so much money!

Anyway, ask her what augmented thing is and if it is better than enchanted light armor.

>>18923000
"By the way, what do the Workshops actually... do?"

>>18923021
Also, this.

>>18922234
>>18922363

(sorry about that, had to get out for an hour)

>>18923021
Does this setting have things like bank checks? I assume they do. It would better to pay that way than hauling king's ransom worth of dosh.

Since we are heading towards workshops we should take on that Shard job too. I bet the leads for that job would take us there anyway.

You’ve heard a lot about the Workshops, but… “Er. What is it exactly that the Workshops *do*?”

Brown hair bobbing as she dives underneath the counter to get some more water for you, she says, “Lots of things! They study the Shards to find out what we can do with them. Like, mechanically speaking. Thanks to them, we’ve got this handy refrigerator down here.” She pats something underneath the counter. “Keeps things cool. They make things a lot easier for us normal folks. Of course, they’ve made a few weapons and mechanical armor, too.” Her eyes dart around for a second, and she leans in and whispers, “I’ve heard they’re making a flying machine, too.” Wait, something that can fly? Only magic can do something like that.

“Interesting. Do you know if their armor is better than something I could get from the Arcane Schools?”

She shrugs. “I dunno. I’ve never really needed to know. If I had to guess, though, I’d say that what they’ve got would protect you from damage better, and hell, I’ve heard that they’ve made some crazy awesome gloves. Magical armor would probably be a little quieter to move around in, since it doesn’t have the mechanical do-dads, and you could probably grab some nice enchantments if you’ve got the money. But, again, I’m just guessing.” It makes sense, from a logical view.

>>18923130
I HAVE AN IDEA
ENCHANTED
AUGMENTED
ARMOUR

>>18923147
MY ROBES ARE AUGMENTED

>>18923130
I guess mechanical armor can be enchanted to be quiet.

Alright, lets go and check them out!
Don't forget to deposit your money. Keep a thousand on hand though.

>>18923147
Exactly. Magic power armor? Sign me up!

You thank Ingrid and pay for your lunch, then you hit the busy streets.

Aside from the damp cobblestone, the skies show no evidence of last night’s storm. Interesting. Walking through the crowded roads, you head back to the bounty office to turn in your papers on Johnny. Asking about Jameson, the officer tells you that all he knows is what’s on the bounty paper. Good thing you were heading to the Workshops anyway. Thanking him, you head for the bank and deposit 17,514 gold, leaving you with 1000 leftover.

Facing the massive metal complex of the Daedalus Workshops, you head into the smog, cloak drifting behind you. A big, square building seems to be the only way in, so you open the gleaming metal door and enter.

The room is surprisingly bare. The walls are dull steel, completely unadorned. There are a few chairs up against the wall, and a round desk with a cute woman behind it. There’s a door behind her with a large “WORKERS ONLY” sign posted on it. The woman looks up from her book, peering over her glasses at you. You walk over to her and greet her.

“Hello. What do you need?” She’s a blunt one, isn’t she?

>>18923227
"Two things:
-First, I heard you guys put up bounty on the man called Jameson
-Second, I need a high quality armor and would like to know what you people have for offer.

>>18923227
I like her, she's businesslike.
Which is good, as this is a business. Sort of.
Anyway.

Supporting this: >>18923251

Oh. We did enter the tournament right? We should go over the rules and regulations.

>>18923294
You haven't actually entered yet. You'll need to head to the Platinum Stadium for that.

You figure that she wouldn’t appreciate it if you didn’t get to the point. “Yes, two things. First, I heard you guys put up bounty on the man called Jameson.”

She interrupts, “You’ll want to speak to Doctor Luminox about that. After I see your papers, of course.” You pull them out of your bag and she looks over them. “He should be in the large workshop entitled ‘Site X.’ Please try not to disturb him too much, he gets distracted easily.” She says in a rather bored manner.

You nod. “Second, I need high quality armor and would like to know what you people have for offer.”

She blinks at you. “Well, sir, we have armors of all types here. Our work is on the cutting edge of technology. Is there anything in particular you’re looking for?”

light armor with great protection, silent, camo, and perhaps enchantable

rolled 58 = 58

>>18923346
"The priority is freedom of movement and it must make as little as noise as possible.
Of course, I want it to protect me as much as possible.
Also, can it be enchanted with magic?

If that can work, are there other things you could add to it? I'd like it to be as best as possible.
Ah, and the price range is: maximum 20,000 gold"

>>18923346
"I'd prefer the best. Something durable, but quiet. Armor that works with me, rather then restricts. Arm guards are a must, but allows me the free use of my hands."

>>18923404
Camo? We're not in the jungle Nogram.

Our normal clothes are a dark blue, since it blends in better are night. We should stick with that.

>>18923443
Well, if you remove the Camo part, he pretty much outlined perfect armor for us.

>>18923443
i was thinking something chameleon-y that sort of blends to whatever background we're in

>>18923546
That's pretty good idea. If the armor doesn't turn out to be noisy and possible to enchant, we could get chameleon enchantment.

As you begin to speak, she jots down notes on a piece of paper. "I'd prefer the best. Something durable, but quiet. Armor that works with me, rather than restricts. Arm guards are a must, but allows me the free use of my hands. Of course, I want it to protect me as much as possible. My maximum price is 20,000 gold.” Scribbling. “Also, can it be enchanted with magic?” She looks up at you and the scribbling stops.

“No.”

You’re a little taken aback at how firm that was. “Um, why not?”

Her brows crease. “Because those hoity-toity mages think that our tech is beneath them, that’s why. The short-sighted fools.” Well, hell. That’s not good. “I’ve got an idea of what you want. Chest armor capable of withstanding ballistic fire while being flexible enough to move. Probably’ll need a multitude of sliding scales… Arm guards similar… Leg armor that can absorb large amounts of shock… I can’t help you with silent boots, I’m afraid. Everything else should be relatively quiet, but it won’t be as effective as heavy armor.” You blink at her, not quite sure what she just said. “But you seem to lack the need for that. We should have it ready in a week, and it'll cost you 10,000 gold."

Um.

>>18923578
"How quiet?
And can I wear a cloak over it? I could have the mages enchant just the cloak so that it muffles the sound.

And helmets? You don't do that?

Compared to normal armor and enchanted normal armor, what is the difference? How much better is it?"

>>18923565
We'd also need a mask of some sort to cover our head.

A mask that could filter out poisons, doesnt restrict our vision and possibly give us night vision.

>>18923578
Well if we find James and get the shard back, we'll have cash to spare.

I say we splurge. We can always get enchanted rings, necklaces, belts, etc etc. As a loophole.

"How quiet?”

“Tests have shown that the metal plates sliding together makes a little bit of noise, but further tests have shown it to be negligible if the armor is draped in cloth.”

“So I could wear a cloak over it.”

“Yes. We could make an outfit that looks very similar to yours, if you want. It’ll just be a bit bulkier.” Well, you could keep this nice fashion statement.

“And helmets? You don't do that?”

She clicks her tongue. “Our expertise is limited there. The best we could do is a gas mask for an extra 1,000 gold.” You nod. You can spare that.

“Compared to normal armor and enchanted normal armor, what is the difference? How much better is it?"

She stares at you, bored. “Our medium armor can withstand over a thousand mace hits before being significantly impaired. Our heavy armor can take hits from ballistae.” Damn, impressive. “As for enchanted armor, I insist that ours are superior in almost every aspect.” She might be just a little biased.

ask if we can perform martial arts in it, just to be sure one last time

yes, spend that money

>>18923736
"The armor does not interfere with enchanted clothing or vice-verse, right?
Then I'll take it!"

Later after our armor is complete we will go to enchant our cloak, pants and shirt at Arcane schools.
"Are you sure ALL mages are biased against enchanting your armor? There ought to be at least one who is not close minded bigot."

We could also wear some sort of tabard over it too, from the arcane stuff.

Jeebus, we may want to get like..cooling us down enchantment. We're going to be annoyingly hot.

"The armor does not interfere with enchanted clothing or vice-verse, right?” She nods. “Then I'll take it!"

“I assume you have a bank account and you aren’t carrying around that much gold.” You nod. Yeah, that would be stupid. Pulling out a paper from her drawer, she asks you to sign it to complete the transaction. “It’ll be done in a week, sir.”

"Are you sure ALL mages are biased against enchanting your armor? There ought to be at least one who is not close minded bigot."

She smirks. “You’ve never met a mage, have you?”

You did, but you killed them.

>>18923802
You're right.
Something like "comfortable temperature" enchantment on our shirt or something. That way it will keep us warm in cold places and cool in hot.

>>18923819
"...well, not under circumstances that allowed me to speak with them..."
Then move away from the topic.
"Do you need to take my measurements?"

After that ask her how to get to Site X

>>18923819
I don't think I have. Do you need my sizes for this?

Also which way is Site X?

“Um ...well, not under circumstances that allowed me to speak with them..." You cough awkwardly and change the subject. “"Do you need to take my measurements?" She nods, and you spend the next few minutes standing silently as she extends a tape measure over every part of your body. She doesn’t even bother to make small talk. When she finishes measuring and noting everything, the rolls the tape measure up. “By the way, which way to Site X?”

She sits back down in her chair and says, “Out the door behind me, then look left. You can’t miss it.” You thank her for her time as she returns to her book. “Mhm.” Walking past her, you open the door, and a collection of steel buildings belching steam and smoke greet you. Everything smells vaguely acidic and burnt. Looking to your left, you see the largest building, with a big ‘X’ painted on it. That’s probably it.

Walking inside, you see a massively open space with desks and equipment everywhere. Some people in coats and goggles inspect various things and tinker with… other things. Some of it glows with the same shine as the Shard you had once. Asking around, you’re pointed to Doctor Luminox over in the corner, who looks like he’s fiddling with… some sort of arm?

Walking up to him, you greet him. He turns to you, and you’re more than a little surprised to see that he’s missing his left arm. Oh, so that’s what he’s working on. A big white beard pops out of a wide, jolly face.

“Why hello there, child! How are you?” He’s awfully… cheery compared to the woman you met earlier.

>>18923978
"Good day, sir. I'm fine, thank you.
I came here about the bounty you set up for one called Jameson. Can you give me more information on him?"

>>18923978
I'm doing well, it's been a pretty good couple of days.

I'm here regarding the Jameson bounty, given that you posted it I figured I'd start here and get all the information you have on him.

Nice arm you got there by the way.

>>18923978
"I am Shun. You are the one who made the bounty for James and the retrival of the shard?"

Hopefully we can find James and talk to him. Unless he's secretly this world's Tony Stark and uses the shard as a power source for his armor.

You flash a smile at him as you say, "Good day, sir. I'm fine, thank you. I am Shun. I'm here regarding the Jameson bounty, given that you posted it I figured I'd start here and get all the information you have on him.” You glance at the mechanical arm on the table. “Nice arm you got there, by the way.”

“Wahaha! Thank you, Shun! It’s my prized creation.” Standing tall, he continues, “About Jameson, it’s a shame that the boy ran off with such a quality Shard. Sadly, I have no idea where he went, but if you believe it’d help you with your investigation, I can show you to his room here on the grounds.” He picks up his arm, closes a flap, and hooks it up to his left… stump. It’s a little unnerving how casual about it he is.

Man, can't believe I missed the interrogation. I had already devised so many ways to extract that knowledge... Well you never know if it might still come in handy and I guess you guys did a good job. Looks like we didn't even need to kill him.

>>18924186
>Wahaha!
>Misha.jpg

>>18924186
Thank you Doctor Luminox. If you remember him being close to anyone in particular who worked here that information would also be quite helpful.

>>18924232
ohgawdmahdrillarm.jpg

“Thank you Doctor Luminox. If you remember him being close to anyone in particular who worked here that information would also be quite helpful.”

“Wahaha! It’s no problem, my boy, no problem at all!” He waves you towards the exit. “Let’s be on our way!” You follow him out of the building. “So, Shun, what brings you into the bounty hunting business? A young man like you should be doing work far less grim!”

Luminox is… very personable, you’ve noticed.

>>18924363
I've got the skillset, the money is good and I get to set my own hours. That and you get to meet the most interesting people.

You smile as you begin to walk across the facility. “I've got the skillset, the money is good and I get to set my own hours. That and you get to meet the most interesting people.”

“Is that remark directed at me, my boy?” Your smile grows. “Wahaha! I appreciate it! So what do you think about the Workshops?”

>>18924529
Not really sure yet, this is my first time seeing it. I'm impressed as can be at the little bits of projects I've seen, if what I've heard about the armor I commissioned is true than I'll probably be speaking it's praises as much as possible. Also you've managed to give yourself and artificial hand, I've never seen something like that before.

Could we ask this guy to give a raw estimate of the value of the shard we once posessed? You never know if someday we will be desperate enough to return to the dark temple to retrieve what is ours.

>>18924529
"The are amazing, I've seen nothing like this in my life!"

oooh! ask him about shards in general and maybe a bit about the dawn chasers

>>18924648
Oh, right, do that!

Also ask him how much a shard is worth. Try to describe the one we lost.

You shrug as you pass a pair of people pushing something big on a cart. “Not really sure yet, this is my first time seeing it. I'm impressed as can be at the little bits of projects I've seen, if what I've heard about the armor I commissioned is true than I'll probably be speaking it's praises as much as possible. Also you've managed to give yourself and artificial hand; I've never seen something like that before.”

Luminox beams at you. “Ah, yes, and it’s but the first step! Why, I hope to-“He’s interrupted by a man in a coat with a long grey mustache who storms up to him, finger raised.

“Tom! I’ve been needing to talk to you!”

Luminox raises his hands and says, “Al, can’t you see I’m busy right now?” The man looks at you and scoffs.

“Busy with nothing important, as usual. Look, it’s about the golem-“

“Now is not the time, Albert!”

He glares at the good doctor. “Very well. I’ll leave the report on your desk, but Thomas, I *am* going to speak to you about the project soon. That is not up for debate.”

“Nothing ever is with you.” Ignoring that remark, the tall man named Albert walks in the opposite direction. Um… what just happened?

>>18924681
Nicely done, very nicely done indeed.

>>18924699
If you see what I did there, keep quiet.

>>18924681
>Um… what just happened?
Who cares? Probably inter-company business.

now ask about >>18924648 >>18924679

>>18924699
>>18924706

Oh shit. Now I see it too!
This going to end in tears, isn't it?

>>18924699
>>18924706
>>18924737
The Good Doctor sure is a good song, eh

You decide that it’s none of your business. “So I understand that you work with Shards here, doctor?”

He heartily nods, putting the confrontation behind him. “Indeed we do, boy! That’s why it’s such a shame that Jameson ran off with one.”

“I was wondering, how much would a Shard about… this big…” you make a fist, “And is perfectly round be worth?”

He slips his hands into his coat pockets. “That large? Goodness! I’d say around fifteen thousand gold. At least, that’s how much we here at the workshops would pay for it.” Oh, goddammit. You could really use that kind of cash.

>>18924796
Yeah, damn. At least we can always go back to retrieve it... right?

Anyway, lets go to that room already. See what we can find.

>>18924796
Well, 15k is not worth anywhere near as much as the life we saved. Get to the room and start searching it, look for journals, notes, look on the underside of any desks for hidden stuff.

ask why they're important, what exactly can they do, properties.

i'm thinking we could use it ourselves instead of selling it, depending on what it can do.

maybe strap it to our armor or something

>>18924882
Or upgrade our armor to be even more awesome.

>>18924796

Although the temple gives the creeps we could probably later get the shard if we took some sort of enchanted source of light with us to ward of shadows within.

Once we are done asking Doctor Light questions. Thank him for his answer, offer our services should he ever need any help and proceed to search the kids room, preferably alone.

You’re still curious. “So what is it that Shards do, exactly?”

Luminox laughs as you turn a corner and hear a muffled explosion in the background. “Well, they are by far the greatest source of energy in the world. A cubic centimeter of material could power one of our automobiles for well over a hundred years! The applications are astounding!” he grumbles a bit when he says, “And they’re magical, too.” Interesting. Unfortunate that he won’t expand upon that, but there are other people you can question for that.

You make small talk with the doctor as you come up to a building that looks far more homey than the other buildings. Going inside, you’re almost surprised to see the rug lining the hallways. Walking down the hall, which seems to be lit by… bulbs? Strange. You come to a door, which Luminox opens with a key from his pocket. “This is the place, Shun. If you’ve got any questions, don’t hesitate to stop by! It’s been a pleasure speaking with you!” You say goodbye, and with a ‘wahaha’, he briskly heads back to work.

The room… is incredibly neat. Everything’s perfectly lined up, and by ‘everything’, you mean the bed and the desk that occupy the otherwise spartan room. It’s a little eerie.

>>18924943
Well, see if there is anything on the desk, in the desk, taped under the desk, behind the desk and so on. Check for bookshelves and see if there are any slips of paper hidden between pages of books or if there are any journals.

Check under the bed, under the mattress, flip the mattress over and slice it open to check if anything is hidden inside it.

>>18924943
Search for hidden hiding spots.

>>18924943

We'll lets hope this is easy and check out the obvious places first. First go over the desk carefully and check for any hidden compartments then go thoroughly through the bed. If that doens't help I guess we have to start looking for loose floorboards and the walls.

>>18924970
Also, check the door frame, see if there are any hidden compartments there. It's a great hiding spot as no on ever looks there.

You begin by ruffling through the desks. Completely empty. Checking the underside, knocking for secret compartments, you reveal nothing. Alright, maybe the bed. You look underneath it. Dammit! Hmmm. You slice it open with a shadow blade and pick through the bedding. Again, nothing. Shit.

Wait a second… something in the corner looks off. Kneeling down, you knock on the flooring. It’s hollow here. Cutting it open, you rip the wood off to reveal… a metal box! It looks like it needs a key, though. Which Jameson probably has. Fortunately, you don’t need a key to open up something as flimsy as this. Slicing it open, you find a map. It looks like it leads from Terec to… some unidentified place south of here entitled “Hell’s Gate.” Ominous. Looks like a long trek, too.

>>18925038
Interesting, pocket the map, do another sweep of the room, make sure that we didn't miss anything.

We're going to have to ask people about Hell's Gate, with a name like that it pays to be cautious.

>>18925038
Do a last check before leave. Maybe under the mattress... hell IN the mattress and pillows.

Then ask to the good doctor what Hell's Gate is.

BEFORE WE LEAVE TO WHATEVER THAT PLACE IS, VISIT ALCHEMY SHOPS!

go buy a fast horse and some traveling supplies and go to hells gate

I REALLY suggest that we wait till we get our armor.

Besides, we need to visit arcane schools for potential enchantments. Though I'd suggest doing that after we get the armor.

It’s a lead, but it doesn’t hurt to check. Cutting open the pillow, you find nothing. Same when you search for any other secret hidey holes in the room. Damn. You stick the map in your bag and make a mental note to ask around about this so called ‘Gate.’ In fact, why don’t you just go and ask Doctor Luminox right now?

A few minutes later, you’re back in Site X, the sterile smell stinging your nose. “Wahaha! Did you find anything, Shun?”

>>18925103
THISTHISTHISTHISTHISTHIS

>>18925124
Yeah, do you know what "Hell's Gate" is. I think he may have headed that way.

>>18925124
"This map" Show it to him
"Do you know anything about that place?"

Try to put the loose floorboards back in case someone else comes looking for the bounty. Oh and for good measure leave a paper with a false lead. Perhaps Darklands?

Are we in a hurry to hit this trail? One option could be to wait a week for our armor finish but do we really need it? At the very least we should probably learn more of Hells Gate and check the arcane school and alchemy schools to stock up on supplies.

This sounds awfully familiar...

>>18925194
>I made an unintentional Fist of the North Star reference

Thread's over guys. I just won at life. Such beauty can never be surpassed, and I have to kill myself now.

rolled 38 = 38

>>18925225
NOOOOOOO

You pull the map out of your pack. "This map" You give it to him. “Do you know anything about that place?"


Looking at the paper, Doctor Luminox frowns heavily. “Oh no. Oh, no, no, no.”

“What?”

“The Gateway to Hell is a vast, dangerous desert. Long ago, a massive Shard fell into it at such an angle that it crystallized miles and miles of landscape and horribly mutated everything that lives there. It’s… dangerous, to say the least, my boy. I’ve been there before on an expedition, the glow from the Shard reflects off of the crystals like a mockery of sunset. Massive scorpions crawl through the sands, the cacti are like forests, and don’t get me started on the Glassfolk…” The doctor shudders at the mere thought. “I’m afraid that if he’s headed there, then we’ll never see him again.”

Holy shit that sounds lethal.

>>18925274
You know, I don't think this bounty is really worth going there. We'll do a bit more checking out, see if he had any friends here who might know something, maybe he hasn't left yet, but going there just seems down right suicidal.

>>18925274
A crystal desert? Can't say I've heard that one before.

"Never underestimate the hardiness and cleverness of a human, doctor. Although I can't think of why someone would steal a Shard and disappear into a place like that. What sort of person was Jameson like? Was there anyone who didn't like him? Was he ambitious? Did you ever quarrel with him? The more I know about him, the more likely I may be able to find him. We have to know what he wants."

rolled 15 = 15

>>18925304
You're right. With what happened in that awful cave, I don't want to go somewhere potentially as dangerous.
Thank the doctor for his time and be off.

OP, can we timeskip for one week till our armor gets ready? In meantime we will learn a new technique or two from the book.

>>18925384
>Can we timeskip
OF COURSE YOU CAN, MY FRIEND

>>18925400
While timeskipping can we resume our sparring at that dojo place?

>>18925400
Yay!

Lets do that. We had ample experience during that raid that we could level up.

Oh, also, can we try to roll for that "shadow boosting our physical stats" we tried in middle of combat? That could be useful.

>>18925430
Nope. Your body will already be going through enough stress while learning Shadowstalk.

>>18925434
Not now. Keep it in mind for when you aren't trying to learn a new technique, though.

>>18925455
Would it be too much of a pain in the ass to have Shun learn some basic geography of the world? Nothing too specific but just to figure out the largest regions and cities around

>>18925455
Is shadowstalk passive? Doesn't seem to have a cooldown period..

OH!

I know, another thing we could do during timeskip. Read those papers we collected from Johnny. They must be important if he decided to take them instead of money.

>>18925481
If you're cool with infodumps.

>>18925485
Shadowstalk is a stance, like your cloak of shadows or cold phoenix stance.

>>18925496
I'm always cool with infodumps.

>>18925496
I see.
Lets not do info dumps. Better to say that Shun learned all that shit and whenever it becomes relevant and we ask for it, he remembers. Would be better I think.
Also, I'm more interested in those papers we colelcted

>>18925513
But how can we think laterally if we don't know things ahead of time?

>>18925496

I guess it would be nice to get a larger picture of the setting even if it's a bit to come up with for student and for us to diggest. But it would probably help us with future plans. It's not like we're going to be stuck in Terec for ever.

How about we check out the alchemists and the arcane school though before timeskipping?

>>18925551
>it's a bit to come up with
>implying I don't have the entire setting already written down
>implying I'm not a badass summarizer

>>18925525
What do you mean?

>>18925551
I want to visit Arcane after we get the armor. That way we can have the clothing we wear with it enchanted on the spot. Alchemists we can visit whenever, I guess.

>>18925566
I appreciate that. I guess we're more or less stuck in Terec until the tournament. Does it sound impossible to come up with some rough settings for the next thread?

In the meantime we could still explore the Alchemists and Arcane school?

>>18925602
Yeah, of course you can go exploring.

>Does it sound impossible to come up with some rough settings for the next thread?
I don't understand the question.

>>18925602
Looking how much dosh we made with bounty hunting business we might not need to do the tournament.

OH!
Since we are not hunting for that guy anymore, go back to the office and tell them you're dropping the case. Give them the map in case someone crazy enough shows up to go after him. Helping out fellow bounty hunters, our goodwill gesture might return to us.

>>18925642
I was under the impression we were waiting for our armour and looking for more clues before giving up.

>>18925602
It'll be three days' ride to get to the Starry Seas itself. We can check out the area to try and find Sifu. If we can't find him, then we head back to Terec with more than enough time for the tournament. We're not going to sit on our ass.

>>18925642
> we might not need to do the tournament.

I'm going to metagame a bit here.
You should do the tournament.

>>18925642
Don't give up quite yet, if with a bit of digging we don't find him and are forced to assume he went there, fuck it, if he's still in town then we'll continue.

>>18925642
The money from the tournament while nice isn't the only draw. If we're looking for who would be after a master of an esoteric style or looking for people Sifu used to know, a tournament is the place to be. Also more rivals and kung-fu fighting.

rolled 100 = 100

>>18925661
Seriously man, even with armor I don't want to go to a place literally called Hell because how dangerous it is.

So, have we agreed on a plan?

>>18925744
I wanted to ask the doctor those questions in my post >>18925330 before we completely give up on this bounty hunt.

>>18925744
Just a bit more checking into James, we're probably dropping this but if we have good reason to believe he hasn't left town we can pursue it. If he's in Hell's Gate we sure as hell aren't going after him for just 10k.

>>18925767
10k alive, 10k bonus for the Shard, you mean.

>>18925786
Still not worth it.

>>18925786
It could be less than 10k, we could just find his body stripped of the shard and get 4k. Hell we could go there and not find him, just a corpse that could have been him but is impossible to confirm.

Still not worth it.

timeskip a week, pick up our armor and new move, get a horse and supplies and travel to the hellgate

>>18925821
Hell no. We're not going to that shithole.
In a week there will be new bounties we can pursue. Or, we can always beat the students at Phoenix School. In fact, that is what we should do after we get our armor. To get a testing run and to get used in it.

>>18925821
We're not going to the Hell Gate, not this soon at least.

Never underestimate the hardiness and cleverness of a human, doctor. Although I can't think of why someone would steal a Shard and disappear into a place like that. What sort of person was Jameson like? Was there anyone who didn't like him? Was he ambitious? Did you ever quarrel with him? The more I know about him, the more likely I may be able to find him. We have to know what he wants."

The doctor shrugs. “Eh, to be honest, he kept to himself a lot. Did independent research. The last I spoke to him, he was studying up on a way to alternate currents in a wire to send power across long distances. I wasn’t too sure about the science behind it, but he seemed to have a grasp on his work. Beyond that, I’m not sure.”

rolled 44 = 44

>>18925936
WELP
No more leads. Lets drop the case.

>>18925936
So outside of research into AC power, we've got nothing. Until we improve our power enough to stand a reasonable chance in Hell's Gate, this bounty is a wash.

>Shun should be Anderson Silva in this one.

>>18925936
Nope, no leads aside from heading into murderland central.

Learn the Shadowstalk stance and wait for our armor.

During the meanwhile get used to the town, learn the local geography, populace. Check out the Arcane school and workshops during our downtime. We'll be fine on money, we have enough to live off of for a fair bit and when more bounties pop up later we can grab them.

>>18926009
Also in meantime read the papers we took from Johnny.

And officially drop the case. Give the map to the office since we don't need it.

>>18925936

>Does it sound impossible to come up with some rough settings for the next thread?

Shit, managed to make zero sense with that question. I was mainly wondering would it be posible to get some fundamental overview of the setting we are playing in time for the next thread? Like perhaps a (very simple) map of the major geography and a description of major entities. But if it's too much work I guess the learn-as-we go that we've been doing has also worked well so far.

I also like the idea of learning the new shadow technique and perhaps exploring town a bit.

postpone the case and sign up for the tournament

Thanking the doctor, you drop off your clothes at the front desk so they can use it to cover your armor. You head to the bounty office and call it off. You try to give the officer your papers back, but he refuses, saying that you should hold onto them just in case. Giving him the map, since it was your only clue, you spend the rest of the night exploring Terec. It seems to be divided into a few key areas: The Workshops on the east side, the Arcane Schools on the west, with various residential and commercial districts on the north and south. It looks like the closer you get to the center of the city, the fancier and more ornate the buildings get, turning from wood to marble, until you get to the very center, where four massive, gleaming marble towers pierce the sky, stretching up over a hundred feet. Asking around, you learn that those 4 towers contain the entirety of the Alchemist’s Guild, and that there’s one tower for each Master. Interesting. In the middle of that lies the tallest tower of all, a massive obsidian structure that dwarfs anything you’ve ever seen. You don’t have to guess to know whose tower that is.

You spend the next few days trying to learn the Shadowstalk. It’s a very detailed stance, and involves forming shadows around your hands and feet into gloves with innumerable tiny spikes on them. It’s about as hard as it sounds. On the seventh day, you manage to climb around Ingrid’s Inn (at night, of course) without needing to touch the ground. You’re pretty sure you’ve got it.

The next morning, you pay Ingrid for breakfast and go to pick up your armor. The same woman as before curtly greets you and fetches your armor. It looks exactly like what you have now, but you can feel the small plates underneath it on the arms, legs, and chest. The mask covers your face perfectly, but you don’t want to walk around in that, so you store it in your bag. Thanking to woman, you go to the School of the Phoenix Storm to see just how well it works.

And does it work like a dream. It takes you a few minutes to deal with the weight, but when you do, you move exactly like you did before, and only you can hear the barely audible squeaks of the plates moving together. Most excellent.

After collecting a hundred gold for smashing some of Enkidu’s students around, you stand outside of his school, feeling like a new man. What are your plans?

>>18926211
Visit Arcane School!

>I did not realize that our clothes get ingrained into the armor. Do we have anything that we can enchant that is not our cloak?

>>18926211
Let's head for the Starry Seas and see if we can't already find Sifu before the tournament. Afterwards, we can confront Master Richards about putting out the hit on Sifu.

>>18926246
Your gi? Not really something you can wear with your clothes, though.

>>18926211
I say go check out the Arcane Guild. Get some enchanting done. Maybe find one who doesn't have his head up his ass, or an apprentice who we become friends with or something.

>>18926253
We haven't worn our gi since we got our first set of clothes from Taylor back in Crestdale.

>>18926211
Visit the Arcane school, make friends get to know people. See if we can find someone open minded enough to magic up our clothes, perhaps in exchange for a favor.

>>18926264
It's still in good condition, and you've been holding onto it this whole time.
Speaking of which, your bag's getting pretty full.

>>18926246

Lets first check out the Arvcane schools to see what they can offer. Then we can get neccessary cloathes rings, what not for enchantment. And by the way. Lets finally buy that watch. I think we can afford it now.

>>18926253
That's not what I meant. Something on our body that is not part of the armor that could be enchanted.
Like undershirt, maybe.

Heck, can scarves be enchanted? I don't know what enchantment exactly I'd put on a scarf but if we can, it would be pretty useful.

>>18926279
>dark blue cloak
>gas mask
>plus scarf

Oh jesus no I can't holy all this swag

>>18926287
... hold.
I said hold.

>>18926287
Yep. We could look pretty badass and intimidating if we try.
Also, the gasmask can be enchanted? I though mages hated that shit.

>>18926293
You shot yourself in the foot. I did not even notice the typo before you mentioned it.

>>18926306
They do hate that shit. I don't see how I implied that you could enchant it, I was just saying HOLY SHIT YOU'D LOOK AWESOME

>>18926287
Holy Swag Batman, look at that pimping motherfucker.

>>18926279

Lets head to the schools and find out what they can afford and think later about buying accessories that can be enchanted?

>>18926251

Martial Guy. I like your plan but lets stock up first with possible enchanted items and other supplies?

Finding Stifu probably won't be that easy but it's definately worth a try. Personally I think we'll probably get the balls rolling when we reach the tournament and hopefully get to dine with High Master = are sucked into the world of alchemists.

>>18926313
Fucking assholes.

Anyway, we need some high-quality scarf which inexplicably floats in the air the most badass way if given slightest provocation. THEN we enchant it with.... something.

>>18926319

And we should sign up for the tournament prompto so that we find out about possible regulations and rules and prepare for them.

>>18926319
I didn't even read his plan before you linked to it

>Afterwards, we can confront Master Richards about putting out the hit on Sifu.
WHAT?
NO!

This is probably even worse idea than going to Hellsgate

>>18926358
I'm not saying attack him in his tower. That'd be dumb. I'm just saying we have a name now, so we can start doing research on the man who wants Sifu dead.

>>18926319
> about buying accessories that can be enchanted?

I don't know why I was so fixated on clothing that I completely forgot that we could still get enchanter rings, earrings, necklaces, bracelets, belts, piercings, etc.

You’ve still got enough gold leftover to go and get something enchanted. Probably. The Arcane Schools would be the best place to go for now.

Heading for the western portion of Terec, you spot a clothing store with a very fashionable dark blue scarf in the window. You could probably get that enchanted... heading inside, you inquire as to its cost. When you learn that it’s only 5 gold, you immediately buy it and wrap it around your neck. Heading outside, your scarf and cloak sway in the breeze while you make your way to the Schools.


Ah, there they are. In contrast to the steel cubes of the Workshops, the Schools are domes of all sizes, domes on domes on domes. You’re really not sure how they managed to do that with wood, but you don’t really understand magic, either. Going into what looks like the largest one and has the most people NOT in robes walking into it, you’re glad that you’re in what looks like a shop. All sorts of trinkets and do-dads fill the store. Heading to the front desk, a man with long, black sideburns greets you.

“Hello there! What services do you need on this splendifous day, sir?”

Splendifous?

>>18926391
"Just a price check on enchanting services. What do you do around here?"

>>18926391
>wearing a scarf
>in melee combat
>it's around your neck
>and dangling
>and easy to grab

>>18926391
"ENCHANTMENT!"

>>18926391
I'm new in town and I was wondering what sort of things I could get enchanted, what the enchantments would do and how much it would cost me.

Also, splendifous isn't a word, splendiferous is.

>>18926410
Dude's got a point.

Well, you need to know what they can do before you get something enchanted. "Just a price check on enchanting services. What do you do around here?"

The wizard laughs. “What do we do around here? WHAT DO WE DO AROUND HERE?! Sir, we do MAGIC!” Sparks fly out of his sleeves when he says this. “For us, there are no limits! We weave the very fabric of reality at our fingertips, we rewrite the tapestry of the cosmos with a whim! We do EVERYTHING!”

How… bombastic.

>>18926410
PSSHHHHH

>>18926425
... I made that word up, what the fuck it's almost real?

>>18926425

Also I'm pretty new to magic so would you be able to give me a brief idea of how it works or who would be able to explain it to me?

>>18926439

"Well, I was thinking of enchanting my cloak and my scarf. Do you guys also have rings, necklaces and other accessories to enchant?
What kind of enchantments are we looking at, if I may ask? I don't know magic, so I wouldn't know."

>>18926439
"Well, pardon me if I don't know EVERYTHING. I'm from a rural area. We don't get magic much out in those parts. Do you at least have a primer?"

"Well, I was thinking of enchanting my cloak and my scarf. Do you guys also have rings, necklaces and other accessories to enchant?” He nods.

“Of course we do, sir!”

“What kind of enchantments are we looking at, if I may ask? I don't know magic, so I wouldn't know."

The man giggles and says, “The world of enchantments is as vast as the world we live in! You seem new to magical items, so why don’t you tell me what your goals are with your items, and I’ll tell you what we can do?” Er… it sounds alright.

“Wait, do you at least have a primer?"

“Of course we do, sir!” He reaches under the desk and pulls out a… rather thin book. You take open it up and it’s one page long.

It says, “It’s magic, I ain’t gotta explain shit.” You look up at the salesman, who has a maniacal grin plastered on his face.

Mages are assholes.

>>18926516
Wow, what a dick.

"Well, anything to promote endurance and agility. Quickness of the feet and careful subtlety. Things like that."

>>18926554
When we're not immediately talking about enchantments...

"Well, if you don't want to explain magic, will you at least explain your relationship with the Daedalus Workshops?"

>>18926516
>It says, “It’s magic, I ain’t gotta explain shit.” You look up at the salesman, who has a maniacal grin plastered on his face.
That's fucking hilarious.

"Okay, I want something like a chameleon enchantment on my cloak. Or, if you have something better that that, something that lets me be more sneaky.
For my scarf... well I haven't decided yet. Would you have any suggestions?
I'd like a ring to make me move faster. A necklace that protects me from blows.

And-
Well, I'll stop right here and ask what all of that will cost me before continuing.
If it helps, I need combat enchantments. My fighting style revolves around being fast and unseen."

>>18926516
Agility, stealth, quietness, that sort of thing. How doable is it and how much will it cost.

>>18926516

Some ideas:

-a light source that never fails
-something to regulate our temperature
-something to muffle our sound
-enchant our bag to carry more items with less weight
-an enchantment that alarms us to the presence of magic/hostile mages

>>18926580
>>18926582
>>18926592
That's all rather blunt, wouldn't you say?
>-an enchantment that alarms us to the presence of magic/hostile mages
We already have that. It's called "that prickly sensation on the back of your neck" and "our training with Sifu."

maybe a necklace that emits holy light or something for when we go back for the shard and for visibility and perhaps to blind opponents.

we need to be silent, and sneaky and very good in a fight.

oh, maybe something that makes us really light so we weight like 30 pounds or something.

also, before we leave but after we get our stuff, ask about enchanting our armor just to see how he reacts

>>18926604
We're not here to make friends or have a chit chat.

>>18926631
But we shouldn't be looking for anything that specific when it's hard to describe what we want. Let the salesman show off his wares for us.

>>18926604

Do you have better ideas? As such I think we've been pretty well of in battle but we should get some stuff to aid us in our travels / sneaking around. Oh and btw... we should think about some healing potions so we don't need to use our last healing berry the next time we decide to go and knock at the frontdoor of an enemy hideout :D

>>18926647
The ass doesn't seem to want to help us with that so we'll just throw some shit out and see what sticks or not.
I suspect that we can get pretty much any enchantment we want as long as we have enough money to pay for it.

>>18926666
>Oh and btw... we should think about some healing potions so we don't need to use our last healing berry the next time we decide to go and knock at the frontdoor of an enemy hideout

RIGHT!

Ask him for a ring/bracelet/underpants of regeneration. Or something with set charges of healing surges.

"Well, anything to promote endurance and agility. Quickness of the feet and careful subtlety.”

He claps his hands together. “Ah! A traveler, are we?”

“Yeah. Also, if you could do something about this scarf…”

“Of course! Hm… what if I made it nearly indestructible and unable to be touched by anyone but you? All for 1000 gold! It’s a steal!” Huh. That would overcome the limitations in combat…

>>18926683
Hence my suggestions. If he wants to be fluffy and mysterious with his powers, we give him an equally subtle request, see how he responds.

>>18926696
Then it'd just be a scarf the super-definitely belongs to us. What good will that do? We're a minimalist fighter with little need for material goods.
"Not like that, no."

>>18926714
What, you don't think you could use it in a fight?

>>18926724
I can see some applications, but I was thinking something a bit more passive than that. Stow the idea for now and see what else he can recommend.

>>18926696
>>18926724
That sounds good, there are so many uses for a scarf in combat. Tying up limbs, tripping, strangling, looking bitching.

See what other options there are but keep that one in mind.

>>18926714

I can second to this. We didn't spend our entire previous life camping in a forest to be suddenly corrupted with material goods. Lets stick to essentials of being a shadow fist.

>>18926714
You're right. It's a useless enchantment.
We will just wear it for SWAG potential it has.

Oh, how about an enchantment for it that makes us not get tired as fast. Keeping awake for several days with little problem.
Good utility enchantment.

What about all the other shit we asked?

>>18926724
Eh, we have our shadows for that.

“No thanks, I’ll have to pass. What about something that can make me faster? Or quieter? Perhaps something for endurance, or healing?”

The man begins to fondle his chin. Yeah, fondle is really the only word that describes what he’s doing. “I could enchant some boots for you to speed you up a bit. It’d be 4,000 gold for that. Or I could muffle you boots for the same amount. Oh! Or I could put them both on a pair! But that would come out to 10,000.” He holds his finger up, winds up his face, and sneezes into his shoulder. Smoke comes out. Um. “Oooooorrr I could give you this fancy Ring of Sustenance for 6,000. You’d only need to eat once a week, and two hours of sleep a day is all you need! OR! PERHAPS!” Perhaps you’d shut up? “I’ve also got this healing necklace! For ten THOUSAND gold- YOU can heal minor wounds once a day! Shallow cuts, bruises, sniffles, it’s all covered!”

God, he needs to shut up.

>>18926906
You wanted to go to the Arcane Section.
YOOOOOOU PEOPLE brought this on yourself.

>>18926906
>No thanks, I’ll have to pass
We can always come back for that enchantment when we are rolling in dosh.

Lets enchant our boots for speed.

"A chameleon enchantment for my cloak?"

>Say, is this the ONLY enchanting service in town? Maybe we can find the same shit for cheaper?

>>18926906

I don't really see us needing extra speed seing that we are fast as it is and pretty good at dodging. The muffled sound could be good. I'm not too convinced with this healing thing since it costs a shitload and is sort of weakish but maybe it would be usefull on the long run.

Is an enchantment to expand our inventory out of the question? It would be handy to be able to haul some hsit with us on our adventures and not worrying about limited space.

>>18926906
That ring thing sounds alright

>>18926906
As much as I'd like the speed/stealth joint upgrade that'll seriously cut into our funds. Keep that offer in mind as well as the ring of Sustenance. For now thank him for the generous offers and when we have more money lying around we'll come back to see him.

See if we can find an eager student here or something like that here. Ask him about the basic principles of magic, how it works and so on. We're not planning on becoming a mage but an understanding of how they work is a good idea considering we'll probably end up having to fight some in the future.

>>18926947
Eh, speed will make us EVEN faster.
Being fast and agile is pretty much the best thing armed combat.

>>18926939
>Say, is this the ONLY enchanting service in town?

It's the only legal one.

>>18927021
Well, shit. When you put it that way, there's not much of a choice.

>>18927021
Do we know where illegal ones are?
And will we get heat if we take enchantments from them?

>>18927031
Nope.
You're not well versed in underground magical wares. Things seem to be tightly regulated in Terec.

I wonder why.

>>18926986

Can't argue with that. Although in the ideal case you won't need your speed as much if you're stealthy enough.

I think we're done here. We can buy these enchantments later. We could indeed find a student to explain main working principles of magic and maybe even see if he would agree to give us some cheaper enchantment? We should also see if we could windle some healing potions from alchemists.

Also I would reaaaally like to have that watch so we know what time it is. If i remember correctly a cheap watch cost something like 75gp earlier on so a good one shouldn't put us so much back in our budget.

>>18927021
You'd think other shops would sprout up to promote competition and not allow some monopoly bullshit like this.

>>18927045
Well. That sucks.

Ask him about sneaking enchantment for our cloak.

>>18927045
I really like this guy.

So, no enchantments? Or speed?

>>18927102
None right now, not till we can come to a stronger consensus and have more money to burn.

>>18927102
Why wont you ask about chameleon enchantment or something similar for our cloak?
Unless you did that already and I missed that.

Also, can we get speed enchantment for a ring? I'd like it to be on a ring.

>>18927118
Eh. We're not going to spend money on anything else anyway. Why wait?

Speed is such an important enchantment that I think we'll get in anyway.

How do you guys feel for the ring of sustenance? It still seems sort of affordable and could be really handy. And after all we made something like +20k in just around a week, there is plenty of opportunities for gold for one skilled like us.

“Before I make any decisions, could I get my cloak enchanted with a chameleon effect, maybe?”

The man makes a puckered face. “Oooooh, I’m sorry, sir, but that enchantment is illegal here. It never does any good.” You can’t really contest that.

>>18927121

We have shadow cloak for camouflage.

>>18927148
Forgot my picture.

>wizardface.jpg

>>18927135
It will become relevant when we start journeying again. Right now, we are mostly using our fighting skills so speed would be the best.

Right. Ring of speed then?
Or just get our boots enchanted.

>>18927150
Have you ever heard of stacking effects? It only gives us +1 for our stealth rolls anyway. Not that good skill anyway.

>>18927148
We have our shadows anyway, so this is not a loss at all.

>>18927166
Good is relative. Plus, it's one of our CORE SKILLS.

oh shit, can we ask him about shadow magic or something?
just to get a better understanding of our powers and maybe some ideas.

>>18927181
NOOOOOOOOOOOOPE.

>>18927176
I don't think you remember how we slipped when we tried to get out of the window. Or when we got lost between our own feet when fighting with Khan.

I agree that it should come as natural as breathing to us.

>>18927181
That is the single most boneheaded thing you could ever do in this quest.

>>18927198
>complaining about things that happened in the first two threads and hasn't happened since

>>18927198
Student already apologized for those and said botches like that won't happen anymore.

>>18927208
We were just lucky lately.

>>18927181

Nope.

I think I'm pretty cool with any of these enchantments. Seems legit enough not to buy sustenance for now. While I think a huge pile of cash is unlikely to do us much good in a bank without intrest rates (heh heh) let's just not spend _all_ our money on this spot. If a concensus is found for speed or whatever I'm fine with it. And as a personal favour. Please lets get the watch shall we?

>>18927181

>>18927215
You're missing the point. Student already said there will be no more catastrophic failures like that that, especially when it comes to skills we are proficient at.

>>18927225
Oh right. The watch, we should get a sturdy, long-lasting one.

And get SPEED.

Hmmm. You know what would be nice? “What about watches?”

A gleeful grin appears on the mage’s face. “Watches?! Of course sir, we have indestructible watches, watches that shoot lightning, watches that turn into cats, watches that double as lights, it’s amazing! You should definitely buy one!”

You should still shut up.

>>18927249
>watches that shoot lightning

This one sounds fine.

And no ring of speed, I guess?

Should we really be relying on enchantments? We need to be naturally proficient more than anything else. We have to be able to live perfectly as if we were ever stripped of these enchantments. The fundamental character must be strong, not all the swag he's got on top of him.

>>18927249
>watches that turn into cats

Just an indestructible watch.

>>18927249

One indestructable watch coming right up. And it better not cost 100k or I'm going to roll a natural 20 and spill this guys brains on the counter. I guess we didn't reach consensus on enchantments unless there's more support for speed?

>>18927249
Just and indestructible one would be fine, make sure it keeps the time as well, that's the important bit.

>>18927275
I don't see anything wrong with enchantments.
You might as well say we go into fights naked, without weapons, equipment or potions if you take that kind of mentality.
We should fight SMART

>>18927275

I like the way you think. For me, Shun is a character that is used to minimalistic life and we shouldn't turn him into some sort of spell-casting full-body-tecno-steampunk-armor-douche.

>>18927275
You should totally rely on enchantments!
That just makes it more fun when I take it away from you.

>>18927317
We use the Fist of Shadow.
Theoretically, if we go into a fight buck naked, our functionality should not be diminished. I'm not saying to turn down enchantments, just not to rely completely on them.

>>18927331
Oh, okay. I'm not saying to completely rely on them either.

>>18927330
That's why I keep asking about ring/necklace of speed. They are harder to take away than, lets say, boots.

Nearly 5 am here. Guess I should grab some sleep. Although I'm repeating myself for the X'th time: Get that watch and keep an eye out for healing potions, berries, mushroom, what not. They'll come in handy. Next thread on Friday?

“Yeah, I’d like to buy the indestructible watch, please.”

“That’ll be one hundred thousand gold, sir!” Red tinges the edges of your vision as you feel pressure building up in your head. “Just joking! It’s just 500 gold.” You give him the money, and pull up your sleeve, putting the watch on. It fits pretty nicely. The time reads 4:35. After a quick bit of instruction, you learn how to read a clock properly. How interesting! “So you don’t want anything else, sir?”

>>18927408
You know it.

>>18927417
"Speed enchantment. Say any possible way to get it on a ring or at least a belt rather than boots?"

>>18927417
"Not currently, no."
Go back to the Daedalus question in >>18926579.

>>18927417
"Speed enchantment seems useful."

“Actually, I’d like the speed enchantment, please. Could I get it on a belt, perhaps?”

He nods. “Of course!” You fill out the paperwork. 4000 gold. “I’ll be right back, sir.” He disappears for a few minutes, and comes back with a blue sash. “Your beautiful, speedy belt for going fast! I hope you enjoy it!” You grip it in between your hands and wrap it around your waist. As you do so, you feel… energetic. Like you need to run. Badly. You can’t wait to test this out.

“So how does this work?” the mage pulls out the same book again, grinning. "Well, if you don't want to explain magic, will you at least explain your relationship with the Daedalus Workshops?"

He shrugs and wipes his shoulder, as if to dust himself off. Sparks fly. “They’re tinkerers, plain and simple. They are like the children playing with building blocks, while we are THE MASTERS OF REALITY!” Dammit, he needs to stop. “They are beneath us. They WISH they could reach our level, but they can’t, so they play with their little machines.”

Man, is everyone in this city elitist?

>>18927188
>>18927200
i just meant asking about shadows in magic generally not admitting we can control them. didn't sifu say something about a shadow plane? maybe ask about that

get the speed and silent boost and have the magic emit a huge radius of light maybe with the unbreakable enchantment to

>>18927587
Elitist fuckers.

Find an enthusiastic student who isn't quite as arrogant and annoying and see if he can give us the basics on how magic works.

>>18927587
Man, wait'll someone becomes the first artificer. A dude who weaves magic into mechanical constructs. So many people would get told to suck his dick.

>>18927587
>Man, is everyone in this city elitist?

The good doctor wasn't.
Man, we should bro it up with the doctor.

>Like you need to run. Badly. You can’t wait to test this out.
We can always go to Phoenix school and beat up some students.
>Phoenix School, a place to test out your new abilities and stuff and get payed for it

>>18927630
>wait

heh.

Archived, since the thread's almost hit autosage.
http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive/18921230/

>>18927587
Lets go to alchemist's workshops and see what kind of healing potions they got.

New thread >>18927835