Though the watery swamp path is treacherous, you keep your footing well. You have one or two near mis-steps, including one point at which you think your heart nearly stops as you teeter on the edge of a very deep sinkhole, but you catch yourself in time and make your way on a wide route around the dangerous spot. You faintly remember stories of what happens to people who go under the water out in the swamp from your master. If the wounds don't get you, you'll succumb to infection.You're making good time, or at least you think that you are. It's difficult to tell here. The looming, swaying limbs of dead trees and the murky water don't lend themselves well to forming landmarks.You hear the splash in time to turn and bring your spear to bear before you are swept from your feet by a powerful chitinous limb. Your weapon forms a barrier between you and the sudden weight on your chest.Your back hits wet, yielding earth and your find yourself staring at a bug much larger than the mosquitos you have been swatting. Roughly the size of a runtish wolf, the thing unfurls a multi-segmented mouth and let out a low, buzzing drone.Its call is answered by the swamp all around it in like tones.
You are Osyki, newly promoted Totemist and first line of defense for your village against the rabid Behemoths wandering the land. Your master, the previous Totemist, fell in a battle against a terrible Behemoth, leaving the duty of defending your settlement to you. Now, you have traveled into the swamp beyond the woods surrounding your home to repay a debt to the great spirit of the forest, Sylviannis. She plans for you to act as a herald and negotiator between she and the Mother of the Swamp to broker a contract of mutual protection and alliance. The swamp has been somewhat less than receptive to your advances thus far, however, and now you find yourself faced with an unfamiliar foe.>What will you do?----------[[Previous Threads: http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive.html?tags=totem]]
>>20446011Well this is bad. There's going to be a lot of them and this is their territory. If we get stuck in a fight it'll either take too long or we'll get injured, neither of which we want here.Quickly kill the bug either using our shrapnel bow or our spear and then keep on moving, fast, we have Nocturne's Embrace which can keep them from seeing us so after taking out this one we might be able to slip past the larger groups of them.
>>20446129You grimace as a long probing spike emerges from the insect's mouth, questing downward toward you face. You throw your strength forward against your spear, pushing the weighty beast off of you and rolling to your feet. It takes off as it goes airborne, humming menacingly in the air.Your spear comes round to face point-first toward the bug, and you get a better look at it. It resembles an enormous wasp, complete with a jet-black barbed stinger. Four gossamer wings propel it through the air, and the droning hum it emits seems to echo from the trees around you.You lunge forward as best you can shin-deep in muck, thrusting your spear forward with grim determination.>Roll 1d100
rolled 74 = 74>>20446243We don't need to kill it, though that be preferable, if we take out a wing or two or otherwise cripple it we can get a move on. We can't stick around.
>>20446261 >74The point of your spear dances outward, lancing through the abdomen of the buzzing monster in a spray of sickly yellow fluids. Once again you find yourself glad for Nocturne's Embrace, if only for the hood that shields your head from this deluge. You rip your spear sideways, neatly shearing the weapon out of the beast and sending it plummeting into the murky waters below.You take off immediately afterward, ducking from shadow to shadow as the swarm slowly emerges from the swamp all around you. Pressing yourself to the bark of a tree to avoid the notice of a pair of the enormous bugs, you see ripples in the water a ways away where you killed the first insect. A long multi-segmented limb emerges from the water. It sinks a hand tipped with three claws into the floating corpse and drags it under the water without ceremony.You decide to move a little faster.As you move deeper and deeper into the swamp, the trees become more frequent and foliaged, even if their leaves are muted yellows and poisonous purple hues. The water grows deeper, however, and you find yourself having trouble keeping up your stealthy approach when your every movement sends ripples in all directions.>Roll 2d100. The first for stealth.
rolled 73, 35 = 108>>20446351Man, this place is definitely unpleasant. We can't really avoid making ripples by going up in the trees as that would slow us down too much, make more noise from shaking branches and there's probably nasty things up there as well. Since we're going into the swamp are we going to be anywhere nearby where our Master died fighting the basilisk?
>>20446407>73With the most immediate danger well behind you, you can afford to take a moment to scout for a method that doesn't leave you slogging through thigh-deep water. You don't relish the thought of climbing the trees and disturbing whatever nests there, but another options presents itself: The fallen vines and massed algae around them have drifted together in the stagnant water to form a reasonably solid series of platforms. It would take a bit of jumping through a few shafts of sunlight, but it's better than alerting unseen underwater predators with every tremor. You clamber onto the first platform, but freeze as soon as you do.>35Coiled before you on the first platform, camouflaged impressively among the plump vines, is a serpentine form. You only notice it as the heat pits on its twin skulls flare open, shortly followed by two pairs of eyes snapping into focus. It is like no Ykree you've ever seen, with bladed fins on either side of its face and what look to be vestigial nubs of legs on either side of its long, long body.You have perhaps a second and a half before it reacts to your presence, and you doubt it will be an open-nubbed welcome.>Suggest course of action and roll 1d100
>>20446407[[In regards to your question, you're not entirely sure. You know the Wyrm's lair was hidden somewhere in the swamp, but it was never pointed out to you on a map. If you want to look around for it, you certainly can.]]
rolled 56 = 56>>20446566It looks to be an aquatic/swamp variant of the Ykree. Unfortunately we're in its favored territory. If we have enough time jump back, draw our bow and turn it into a pincushion. If we won't have enough time then charge in with our spear and try to get a good stab in.
rolled 8 = 8>>20446566This requires binding! Uh, Stab it with the spear! If it comes close lighting jump on it.
>>20446619You hurl yourself back, bringing your spear around in an arc as you land back in the foul water. The weapon discourages the Ykree's urge to lunge, and you see the beast abort a strike just before it crashes headlong into the pointy end of your weapon. You plant your spear in the muck, drawing your bow and fitting an arrow to it in a burst of adrenaline-fueled dexterity. The snake lunges again, and you fire just before it makes impact with you.A series of heavy thumps follows. The first is the thump of the bowstring as it releases a cloud of white death at your target. The second is the staccato of impacts said cloud makes upon impact with the lunging serpent. The third is the dead weight of a beast with one of its heads reduced to so much emerald paste crashing into you, nearly two hundred pounds of serpentine dead weight driving back and down into the water. The Yrkee's remaining head thrashes about, fangs wild.>Suggest and roll 1d100
rolled 70 = 70>>20446849We need to prevent it from falling into the water if that's happening. While doing that we should grasp it just below the head like we're the crocodile hunter.We need to bind this thing! Not sure what potential foci we have to bind it to but if nothing else we could rip out one of it's fangs. However I'd like to know what options we have in that regard.
rolled 56 = 56>>20446849We've severely crippled it. I think it's worth trying to bind it at this point. Pin it to the platform through the neck with our spear, stay away from the flailing head and carve the runes of binding upon its thrashing body. Fangs might make a good focus.
rolled 72 = 72>>20446849Bind the fucker.
>>20447042>>20446958>>20446948You take a deep breath just before you hit the water, wrestling with the incredibly unhappy and recently half-decapitated Ykree. You feel its long body begin to wrap around you, but mindful of the tales of men crushed to death in emerald green coils you lift the closing loop up and over your body. Your back mercifully hits tree before you slip under the water, and you use it as an anchor to grip the Ykree by the back of the neck, holding it in the air like a trophy.Your knife slides free of its sheath at your belt, and you consider how beast to bind the beast. With it thrashing like it is, you're not sure that you could carve the sixteen runes into its hide without mistake. Add on top of that the fact that the beast needs to be killed in a manner significant to its being to complete a feral binding, and you have a conundrum on your hands.You suppose you could drown it, but you're unsure how long something like this is suited to holding its breath, and its thrashing is likely to attract attention again before too long.
rolled 47 = 47>>20447228Strangle it. If that's not fitting, I don't know what is.
>>20447228It squeezes things to death? Then lets squeeze it to death. Try to crush it's throat in our hand. If that fails try to drown it. The swamp is dangerous and this is risky but that same danger makes an extra foci all the more helpful.
>>20447249That actually does sound pretty fitting. It constricts people so killing it that way would fit rather well. Crush its throat, we could use our cloak as a length of cloth to strangle it, that would make it a quieter kill at least.
>>20447336>>20447327>>20447249You lunge forward, driving your strength into pinning the thrashing beast to the platform. When it gives a little beneath the snake's wild flailing you turn, pinning the snake instead to the tree. As you choke the life from it you carve the runes of binding around its head and upper neck on the trunk of the tree. Though it is difficult to keep a firm hold of the beast with one hand, the blood loss seems to be doing wonders for sapping its strength."In the name of Osyki, link between this world and the World Without, I hereby lay claim to this beasts spirit." you say, pinning the knife through the Ykree's snapping mouth as you finish the final rune. You press forward harder, driving both hands into the effort to throttle the beast now."In the name of the Totemist's Pact, I hereby assert my dominance over this soul, and claim it as my own. "I have bested this soul in mortal combat. Its strength is mine to command."You reach up as you feel the beast's thrashing grow weak, ripping the knife upward out of its lower jaw. You wont have it dying on you before you're finished with it."By blood and bone, in spirit and soul, let this ritual blade show: I am Totemist, Link Between Worlds."You feel the Ykree's taut muscles begin to slack under your crushing grip."Now. Submit!" You growl, rearing your arm back, snake in tow, and slamming it once more against the hard bark of the tree. The runes of binding illuminate, one by one, and the world slowly fades from focus. A washed out gray floods the landscape, and the blade in your hand glows with unearthly light.>What will you take as your Focus?
>>20447561What notable body parts are there? The default option would be a fang but the bladed fins on the side of the head could also be good. How big are the fins? Do they look like they're used for perception or something else?
>>20447561Let's see if we can't get those 'bladed fins'. Could be cool with our armor.Besides, we have to damn many bones.
rolled 44 = 44>>20447561A bladed fin!
>>20447599[[Notable options include:FangsBladed FinsHideIf you could find a way to preserve them, the eyes or heat-sensors would also be an option.]]
The fins around the head, those seem both interesting and unique/we might not be able to get those easily in the future, we can find the fangs of something poisonous later and have better luck with those
>>20447642I say the fins. They seem the most interesting and the most unique to this particular creature.
rolled 28 = 28>>20447228punch it dead
>>20447642>Can use perishable items as foci as long as we preserve them.>Thusly if we had the time and materials handy we could make the dead corpse the foci and mummify it. I forget what the ruling on binding people was but let's remember this for Magnus.
>>20447642Fins all the way.Also WOO! Totemist quest.
You slide your knife along one side of the Ykree's head, severing the longest edge-tipped protrusion on its right side. The color of the world quickly pours back into the landscape, and the fin hovers briefly in the air before you reach your hand out and take it before it can fall into the water below. The rest of the Ykree's corpse slides into the water as you release it. Best to get a move on now. You've seen hints of the kind of scavengers the swamp can attract.Appendage still in hand you clamber onto the first of the floating platforms. The packed vines float unsteadily on top of the water, but with a few deft maneuvers you could reasonably find your way deeper into the swamp without disturbing the water below. It strikes you that using the full extent of Cloudwalker's Stride could end up blasting the brittle platforms apart, or at least sending them under the water.>How will you make these leaps? 1d100 for effect.
rolled 3 = 3>>20447828Very carefully with extremely light steps.If we need a bit of an extra boost to make a jump use a tiny bit to make it, if there are vines and the like to help us bridge gaps between platforms take them.
>>20447828We jump as softly as we can, until we are a reasonable distance away from the location of our fight. Then after making sure it's safe we bind our new foci to our chainmail.
rolled 85 = 85>>20447932forgot my dice.
rolled 86 = 86>>20447828Use Cloudwalker's stride sparingly. It would be bad to break a platform and fall into the swamp. Prioritize not falling into the swamp over speed. We're making good time.
rolled 32 = 32>>20447828smash off big branches and dive spear first through the branches
>>20447878>>20447941>>20447950/tg/ diiiice!
>3+85+86=58You leap from platform to platform, spreading your weight to land as gently as you can. Fortunately, none of these piles of dried vines seem to be too far away from one another, though you do nearly overshoot one when you add just a bit too much juice from the spirit bound in your boots.Eventually, however, the platforms run out. The swampwater is just as murky here, but judging from the trees and twisted plants around you, you'd be swimming rather than walking if you took the ground route.You glance down to the fin in your hand, frowning. No time like the present to try, you suppose.You press the fin to the chain at your chest, muttering the words of binding."In the name of Osyki, Link to the World Without, I unite the spiritual and the mundane. Grant this conduit your blessing, spirit, and work through it to influence the material world."You hope the resulting flash of light doesn't garner too much attention. The chain at your chest has taken on a bluish tint. A small orb of light hovers at its front, radiating a cerulean glow.
>>20448111Well I have no idea what it does but it might be helpful.Poke the orb a few times, make sure there aren't any other orbs. We don't have much choice but to go wading through muck, if we're lucky the fin will help with this.
rolled 76 = 76>>20448111I guess we swim. We should be extra cautious doing so though.
>>20448111Poke at it, see what's up.If we're going swimming, binding Bone Warden foci to our armor might be beneficial. No heartbeat, our blood will go cold, no breathing. It'll be much more difficult to detect us.
>>20448111>"Hey! Hey! Listen!"
>>20448194We just bound the fin to the armor. We might as well give it a shot.
You poke at the orb a few times. It seems to hover at whatever height you leave it on your chest, though it always remains centered and anchored close to your form. Shrugging, you bring it up to your collar-bone and leave it there.You edge into the water, sliding off of the platform rather than diving to reduce the splash you make. You bob in the water, not sinking as expected. Your armor seems very light now that you're in the water. You attempt to duck beneath the water for a moment to check your immediate surroundings and the depth of the waterway, but as you attempt to duck downward you bob right back up again.You stare at the orb of light at your chest for a moment in confusion. Curious, you slide it a little further down your sternum and are almost immediately rewarded with a face full of water.>[[Binding Complete: Fisher-man's Wrap. The orb of light at its front acts as a swim bladder, allowing the wearer to control how they rise and sink in the water.]]>Discuss plans for moving forward. If any stealth or athletics rolls are made, roll 1d100 for effect.[[Dipping out for a few minutes to get some dinner.]]
>>20448359Well I'd rather not go deep in the water, we can't breath underwater and it's probably full of things that want to eat our face. Start heading towards our destination, if we can get back on semi solid land do so as we move faster on land. Try to be as quiet as possible, stick to shadows and avoid confrontation.
Take a moment to bind our bone warder foci to the armor, >>20448194 this anon is right its both useful in our situation and as a totemist we cant be squemish about using stuff like this to our advantage.
>>20448359Hmmm interesting. It'll allow for some great manoeuvring if we encounter anything. If we had more time I'd propose switching it to the bow and to make the Warden armour since I have a hunch it'd make the bow relevant underwater. As is though we're crunched for time. So let's proceed forward on the surface of the water so we can breath, swimming as fast as seems like to not draw too much attention while being wary for other movement in the water.
An interesting side effect of this armour is that it gives off at least some amount of light. We should keep that in mind if we ever go splunking.
rolled 94 = 94>>20448504Here>>20448489>>20448194Supporting this. With the addendum of fin to bow.Let's swim stealthily so unless the situation calls for it no major athletics.
So question as I don't want to read al the previous thread/s for one thing. Do these foci have unlimited use or are they drained up forever after a little while.
>>20448826[[Foci are unlimited, as far as you are aware.]][[So the general consensus seems to be to rebind Warden's Disregard and combine the Ykree Fin with your bow. Be aware that Warden's Disregard is heavy plate, so swimming would be difficult at best, though you could walk along the bottom of the waterway.]]
>>20448826Unlimited use. I seem to remember unbinding damaging the object the foci is bound to though but that hasn't been mentioned recently so I don't know if that's been errata'd or not.You should read the old threads though, there aren't as many as for some quests and this is a good one.
>>20448965I'm worried about trying to walk along the bottom of the waterway. There's probably all sorts of nasties down there and a complete lack of visibility.
>>20448965We shall walk along the bottom! It'll be dark down there so we'll be super stealthy.
>>20448996i plan to when I get home,But mobile browsing is already a pain.
>>20448998I think with the stealth combo of hide plus Warden's Disregard the biggest concern down there will be getting turned around. If we go with this plan of action that's something we should be mindful of. Although I suspect we could do what we did when practising with the bow if we do lose our bearings.
>>20449115You tread water, considering your next move. Swimming on the surface may lead to unfortunate encounters with long patches of sunlight, which you will be powerless to avoid. You reset the orb at your collar, allowing your armor to do the work while you unbind Cordia's focus from the ranged weapon. Realizing that you would sink in the heavy chainmail were you to continue in the water, you climb back onto the nearest platform.Three flashes of light later, you find yourself wrapped in the cold embrace of Warden's Disregard once again. Clutched in your hand is a green bow. Twin fangs adorn its front, and a pair of bladed fins grow from either side. The platform begins to dip under the weight, and you slide off of it before you take the entire thing under with you.Though you have no need for breath, you are still met with the gut-wrenching sensation of water flooding your nose as you descend. The murk makes it difficult to see, and after a short time you fall into what seems to be a cloud of silt, away from light altogether.Your boots meet with soft muck as you finally reach the bottom of the waterway. It is a sunless environment here, and you lament the lack of light to navigate by. Still, you have a heading from before you dropped below the surface, and you plan to stick to it as best you can.>Roll 2d100
rolled 38, 65 = 103>>20449411Here's hoping that we don't get eaten by a grue.
rolled 9, 56 = 65>>20449411Let's try to fire the bow, see if it'll work down here. Best to find out before we find ourself in a fight.
>>20449437>38The terrain down here on the river bottom is unstable, and weighed down as you are by your heavy armor you find it increasingly difficult to keep on your feet. That problem is not helped by your paranoia. You can almost -feel- unknown horrors circling you as you slowly walk along the bottom of the still river. You draw an arrow from your quiver, fitting it to your bowstring. It hums softly in your hands.You frown, stopping in your tracks. From what little you make out, the riverbed seems to drop off suddenly in front of you, though how far that valley extends is anyone's guess in this murk.>65A sudden noise above you, muddled as it is, catches your attention. Something has entered the water above you, though you cannot make out what.As your attention is momentarily distracted, you feel a sharp tug at your left leg. Your slide forward, toward the pit.
>>20449562We already have an arrow ready to fire. Use our Totemist senses like when we shot the bow earlier, sense the presence of the thing tugging at us, shoot it with an arrow.
rolled 23, 17 = 40>>20449562Fire the arrow ahead of us toward the seeming source of the pulling! If that fails we should lightning jump.
>>20449621>23You bring your bow down, your gaze following a split-second later. A sinewy tentacle seems to have wrapped itself around your leg, and draws you with purpose toward the drop-off. It seems to emanate from deep within the pit, though the silt keeps you from spying its origin.You loose an arrow, praying that your bow is suited for such combat. Fortunately, your assumptions seems to have paid off. A bolt of green light shoots from your bow, unphased by the water around it. It sinks into the tentacle, and the limb seems to wither at the spot where it is struck.You tug your leg free of the deteriorating grasp, taking a few steps back. Crouching low, you prepare to execute a jump all the way out of the water.>17It is only as the pain shakes your form that you realize perhaps, just maybe, using a lightning charged jump underwater while wearing heavy metal armor may have been a miscalculation on your part. You feel your limbs tense and go slack in rapid succession.>Roll 1d100 Fortitude, and suggest.
rolled 75 = 75>>20449905We know we can hurt the foul beast! Let's go kill it! Show the Swamp Queen who is boss and such.
rolled 64 = 64>>20449905Okay, lightning boots underwater weren't our cleverest idea.Only use that if it's already holding onto our foot and we don't have other options.Shoot another arrow, aim for where the origin of the tentacle creature ought to be. After that hurry to the left, see if we can continue on our path without having to go into a pit. I think we've dissuaded it from attacking and I'd rather not take it on in its hunting location.
>>20449989Yeah the plan was to only do it if the arrow failed, in which case it would have still had hold. However dat 17.
>75You grit your teeth, riding out the worst of the electricity. You're glad that breathing is not a problem, but the sickly sensation of water rushing down your throat greets you as the muscles holding your nose closed momentarily fail. A heavy sensation settles in your chest as water pours into your lungs.You land, moving quickly to the left. Fortunately, the wave of electricity you let out seems to have stunned whatever was approaching you. You ready your bow, firing off a few more bolts of green light into the abyss as you move. The land begins to slope upward as you go, and you can tell that you are moving toward a riverbank of sorts."Leaving so soon?" comes a voice from behind you, only partially distorted by the water. You turn to find a humanoid shape swimming toward you. The man has close-cropped black hair, and brilliant yellow eyes.You quickly realize that humanoid may be a misapprehension, noting the powerful snake's tail propelling him toward you.
rolled 18 = 18>>20450162Ready an arrow. Fire if he makes any hostile movements or comes close enough that if we don't we won't have time to notch another.
>>20450162It has to be one hell of an unsettling sensation to have water in your lungs and still be okay. Point the bow at him and draw an arrow. Does he have any weapons? Is he approaching at combat speeds or does it seem like the equivalent to walking?
>>20450238We should certainly be mindful of such when it comes time to remove Warden's Disregard. Hopefully we can force ourself to cough it up else I'd prefer to remove it in the Healer's presence but we might have to do it to speak to the Swamp Queen.
>>20450278I don't think that we should try to negotiate with the Mother of the Swamp by playing charades. Once we get there we'll just stand on our head and let the water drain out.
>>20450232You draw your bow, pointing the arrow toward him. He stops short, palms raised, clearly eyeing the bolt of seething green energy with apprehension."Hey, hey. No need for that. I was just coming to see if you were alright. I saw you wandering toward the Silt Swallow's pit. I tried to warn you to look out, but by then you'd already taken care of it."He floats a good ten feet from you, tail making nervous patterns in the river floor."You're no ordinary human. You must be the spirit slaver everyone's been buzzing about." he says, sliding a little further away from you. "No need to shoot me. I'll be on my way."
>>20450327[[Me. 4chan likes to eat my trip sometimes, it seems.]]
>>20450296If trying to drain it out like that doesn't work we might have to. Imagine drowning on dry land because your lungs are full of water and you just removed the thing keeping you from needing to breath.
>>20450327Lower the arrow. Hold our palm open towards him in a stop gesture.Try to communicate through hand gestures that a guide to the Mother would be appreciated.
rolled 52 = 52>>20450327Lower the bow but keep the arrow notched. Try to speak and fail so he knows we can't talk. If he stays at his current distance keep the bow down and maybe unnotch the arrow but be wary of him coming closer.
You lower your bow, slowly returning the string to its resting state. The arrow does not revert to its ordinary state, however, and you hesitate to un-nock it from the string. You hold up a palm, indicating that the snake-man should come no closer. Communicating with one hand will be next to impossible, you realize."Yeah, I'll stay right here, don't you worry," he says, still eyeing the sizzling green arrow in your bow warily. You attempt to speak with him again, careful to keep your throat sealed as best you can as you pantomime your inability for speech. You gesture toward dry land with your head, raising an eyebrow."Sure, boss, whatever you want. You just keep that nastiness outta my hide," he says, slithering toward the shore. You allow him to move a few paces ahead of you before following him up the sloped bank. As you emerge onto shore you feel the weight of the water in your lungs press uncomfortably downward. Remedying this would be prudent, and the sooner the better.
>>20450469Motion for him to keep his distance for a bit. We should probably expend the arrow if we want to do anything else as I'm not comfortable just keeping it there or trying to un-nock it. Shoot it back in the water or something.Put the bow on our back, draw our spear and keep it in our hands in case he tries anything it'll be quicker than drawing another arrow. Try to get the water out of our lungs. Start by just bending over, touching our toes and trying to cough it out. If that isn't working do a handstand and try expelling the water.
rolled 98 = 98>>20450469Try to cough it up. If that doesn't work do Anon's Handstand suggestion.
>>20450620>>20450575You gesture for him to back away as you finally step onto the mossy bank, something that he does rapidly. His eyes widen slightly as you draw the bowstring again, revealing the black scleras. You point the bow at the ground, discharging the arrow. The moss and algae at your feet hisses at it withers away, shriveling to blackened dust.>>[[Binding Complete: Snakebite Aqua. Fires bolts of poisonous essence. Usable underwater.]]You replace the bow on your back, instead drawing your spear. You lean over, attempting to expel as much of the water from your lungs as you can.>98The pain in your chest finds sharp relief as a veritable torrent of liquid exits your throat. The sensation is disgusting, but you do not gag as the last of the fluid drains out of your lungs.You place your hand on your chest, thinking the words of unbinding as clearly as you can manage. It takes a solid minute for the armor to respond, but finally there is a flash of light. You hold Cordia's focus in your off-hand, and take a deep, shuddering breath. The remnants of the water in your lungs cause you to cough briefly, but you recover quickly enough.>What will you say?
Eh, I'm going to sleep. Great quest as always OP. Still think a table top version would be fun to run or play in. Not sure exactly what pre-existing system or sort of homebrewed one would work best. It'd need to be something that can handle the powers from the equipment but still be based in realism to at least some degree. Maybe Gurps or Fudge or something else like that? Too tired to think of what a homebrew would look like.
>>20450766Hello, I'm Osyki, the local Totemist or as you call me spirit slaver. I apologize for not greeting you earlier but I can't speak underwater.Could I have your name as well?I'm here to visit the Mother of the Swamp. I was wondering if I could rely on you as a guide as I am not overly familiar with the swamps.>>20450808FATE. It's great for cinematic things such as this and you can run anything in it.
>>20450824"Hello,' you begin, now that your voice has found you again. "I'm Osyki, the local Totemist. Or, as you call me, spirit slaver."The term leaves a bad taste in your mouth, but you suppose that it's technically accurate. Not that you would enslave sentient spirits."I apologize for not greeting you earlier, but I can't really speak underwater.""So I see," the snakeman says, eyes darting back and forth from spear to skull. "Thought you were gonna cough up the whole river.""What would your name be?" you ask, managing a smile.The snakeman stares at you for a moment. "What, me? Call me Siperco, I guess." he says. You notice that as he grows nervous, his 's's elongate slightly."Siperco," you say with a nod. "Pleased to meet you. I'm here to see the Mother of the Swamp. I was wondering if I could ask you to be my guide, since I'm not overly familiar with the area."His eyes widen. "Whoa, whoa. You're going to see the big lady, and you want me to take you there? Why should I put my neck on the line like that? I don't relish the thought of bein' boots, if you know what I mean.">1d100 for diplomacy. A good argument will add to your roll.
rolled 4 = 4>>20450901I'm not asking you to take me all the way to her abode. Just most of the way and then directions for the final stretch. I can provide protection from whatever threats arise along the way. You doing this will put you and your people on good terms with me. Given how often I am likely to come out here in the future it would be to both of our benefits if we got along. If there are any particularly dangerous monsters hunting your people and you informed me of them I would be much more likely to prioritize hunting them should we have a good relationship.
rolled 48 = 48>>20450982Sometimes I hate /tg/ dice.
>>20450982"I'm not asking you to take me all the way to her abode," you begin. "Just most of the way, and then directions for the final stretch. I can provide you with protection from whatever threats arise along the way."You begin to explain to him the importance of remaining on good terms with you, but the words die in your throat as the snakeman doubles over, laughter hissing from his throat."Man, Totemist, you must be new around here." he says after he has recovered his wits. "The Mother knows you're here, and knows you're coming. You think I could get you within a league of her place without getting snapped up by some Bankfish or other? Even if we made it close, she'd get me once you left. No, Totemist, I think I'll be on my way."He slithers slowly away from you, keeping an eye on the spear in your hand as he goes. Slowly, he slips toward the water.
>>20451098Well it was worth a shot. We'll probably need the no breathing thing soon enough, I have serious doubts that we'll be able to make it the rest of the way there without having to cross some deep swamp that is best navigated by going underwater. So rebind it to the chainmail. Continue to head towards the Mother.
>>20451098Damn, I guess no guide for us. Lets keep walking along the shore, for now. Enough water shenanigans.
[[Can I get either a roll-off or a consensus as to which course of action Osyki will pursue?]]
rolled 51 = 51>>20451270>>20451130I'd prefer to stay above water if possible and follow the shore, sticking to shadows, but I doubt that the swamp will be kind enough to let us make our way to the Mother without having to cross more bodies of water.I'm just thinking it's a good thing to have bound. It lessens the noise we make, prevents us from getting hit by airborne poisons, and lets us travel under water.
rolled 91 = 91>>20451270I'll go ahead and second rebinding it to our chainmail (Though I'm a bit wary of all these bindings). I think we should avoid the water for a while though.
I am just exhausted. Great thread as usual OP but I think I gotta knock out. Look forward to reading whatever I miss tomorrow.
You watch Siperco slip under the water with a small salute. Sighing, you stare at the Focus in your hand. Cordia affords you a number of useful bindings, but the sheer alien nature of the Bone Warden's spirit is always difficult to get past.You take a few long, deep breaths before pressing the skull totem to your chest. The words of the ritual have barely passed your lips when the focus melds to your armor once more, halting your lungs and slowing your heart. You adjust your grip on your spear, heading once more toward the heart of the swamp.Curious, you pluck the pearl necklace from within your breastplate, closing your eyes.'Boand, can you hear me?' you think into the pearl as you walk.The reply is immediate. 'Sure can. What's going on?'You'd let out a sigh of relief if your lungs were functional. 'Still heading toward the center of the swamp. Any idea of how far I have to go?''Let me get back to you on that. I'll check your position as best I can,' she says.As you walk along the shore, the environment around you slowly changes. Grass begins to spring up around your feet once more, and flowers in strange colors can be seen growing from the trunks of twisted purple trees at uneven intervals. A soft aroma fills the air, a sweet scent just on the right side of sickly sweet.'Looks like you've made pretty good time, Osyki,' Boand reports a few minutes later. 'Another hour's travel should put you on the border of the Mother's Basin.'
>>20451324[[Sleep well, anon. Just so I can get a general consensus, how are the energy levels of folks playing? Shall we press on, or should I call it here for the evening?]]
>>20451380Wait. We can't breathe and we're still smelling things. That means one of two things. The smell is either really fucking strong as we're smelling it by just having the air go into our nose instead of sniffing. Or it's magical in nature. Either way I'm glad we're not inhaling it.About what time is it on Osyki's end?>>20451389I'm good to continue.
>>20451413Oh, and thank Boand and continue on our way. Stay extra cautious, just because this place is more colorful doesn't mean its any less deadly.
>>20451413[[Looks like it's just you and I this evening, anon. We'll press on, but if activity doesn't pick up soon I think I'll wrap things up for the night.]]
>>20451413'Thanks Boa,' you think, sending her a mental smile as best you can. You replace the pearl within your breastplate. Cautiously, you stalk forward. You become aware that you notice this sweet scent even though you are not actively drawing breath, a fact that tells you that the scent would most likely be fairly thick otherwise.As you continue forward the strange foliage becomes more and more prevalent. The blossoms tend toward the deep purples of the leaves on the trees. Likely, something in the soil causes the strange coloration.As you continue the ground begins to slope downward. The moisture in the earth lessens with every step you take, replaced by rockier terrain. You travel for a full thirty minutes without incident, walking through the pathways of shadow, eyes roving for potential threats.The sun looks to be a few hours past noon through the breaks in the trees. Just a short while now.>1d100
rolled 37 = 37>>20451591Only about half an hour left till we get to the border of the basin. It's going smoothly, far too smoothly.
>>20451628>37The footfalls are heavy enough that you can hear them before you see the source. You step close to the nearest tree, though you do not press yourself against it for fear of disturbing one of these powerfully smelling flowers.They come into view like a tide, sweeping up the slopes with strange mole-like creatures leashed with iron chains. Their yellows eyes rove back and forth, and crude breathing masks cover their faces.They appear to be lizards, though they walk on two legs, and their forms are humanoid. Long tails are held out of the pollen-dusted ground as they walk, and the mole-dog creatures that strain at their leashes seem to be confused by the purple dust their every movement kicks up.They address one another in a clipped hissing language. If you didn't know better, you'd peg their tone as frustrated.
>>20451749I'm so very glad we don't breathe right now. Judging from the basks it would not be a good thing to breathe in.They're using hunting mole-dogs to track us but thankfully all of the dust is keeping them from getting our scent. Stay hidden, watch where they're going, try to judge their numbers, if possible let them pass us by. Are there any bodies of water around? If so we might want to take the under water route, they won't be able to follow us effectively and it makes tracking us by smell and impossibility.
>>20451777You stand as still as you can, watching the lizards and their hounds climb the slope toward you. You hope that your recent dunk in the waterways and the pollen you've been walking through will disguise your scent well enough to confuse the moles. The lizards carry daggers coated with some foul black substance, some in their hands, some at their belts.You're thankful that you don't need to hold your breath as the patrol reaches your position. You watch as the mole-dogs wander past your hiding place one by one, your confidence growing with each small victory. Your heart stops for a moment as one dog turns to look directly at your position, but you relax as it sneezes out a plume of vibrant purple dust and continues leading its master away from you.That was exceedingly close.As the patrol fades into the distance you slowly resume your trek. Now all you've got to deal with is the Mother of the Swamp.Piece of cake.
>>20451915[[And that's where we'll leave off for tonight. Sleep well anon, don't forget to vote in the archive.]]
>>20451921Thanks for running it. When is the next installment planned for?We should probably ask Boand/Sylvia for some advice on how best to approach the Mother. Basic info on her personality, quirks, what she is likely to want out of the negotiations.
>>20451937[[Next game should be next Thursday, though if I can run it earlier I'll send out an email to the mailing list. Email this one to get put on the list if you're not already.]]
