You are Osyki, journeyman 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. You have brokered a pact with the Stone Emperor to become a Knight of his court. Now, your newfound role demands that you scale the Ikrin Peaks and destroy the Iron Tyrant who challenges your Emperor's claim to his domain.
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[[Previous Threads: http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive.html?tags=totem

The Cast Thus Far / Binder's Log: http://pastebin.com/LYGPJy9u

Quest Twitter: @TotemistQuest]]

Holy fuck, I'm just going to acknowledge your tenacity here. I haven't followed the last thirty threads, but I did start at the very beginning and I'm kind of impressed that you're still writing more.

Well done, OP. As a fellow questgiver, I kind of want to shake your hand. Too bad there's nowhere for questgivers to compare notes and all that.

Excitement!

>>26212719
Woo! Time for totems!

>>26212760

[[ Feel free to shoot me an email if you'd like to compare notes. I'm always up for that sort of thing. ]]

>>26212795
Might do, OP, might do.

Ha-ha, time for magical batman quest

The Emperor lumbers away from you with a cacophony of grinding stone. As he burrows into the ground beneath his makeshift throne, the chamber grows quiet. The spider-like automatons roaming the walls pay you no mind as they go about their arcane tasks.

You are finally alone.

You have a long, and likely very dangerous trip ahead of you, and a few options regarding how you will spend your time before you embark.

> Head to the mountaintop to find an Air Spirit. Ayren's Spirit travel ritual has never been more needed.
>Meditate in the Emperor's Throne Room. You need to purge yourself of Earth Corruption.
>Head down to the village. You have preparations to make, and people to say goodbye to.
>Other [?]

>>26212891
>Meditate in the Emperor's Throne Room. You need to purge yourself of Earth Corruption.

>>26212891
>meditate

>>26212891
>Meditate in the Emperor's Throne Room. You need to purge yourself of Earth Corruption.
Do this first
> Head to the mountaintop to find an Air Spirit. Ayren's Spirit travel ritual has never been more needed.
And if we have time do this.
Also, could you do a summary of our goals so we don't have to read through the archives again?

[[ From a fellow anon a few threads back:

Shit to do:

* Make more useful totems
* Continue the log/journal of how to Totem
* Harvest more totem materials
* Bind more creatures

Minor Task:
* Look up names and locations previously mentioned by southwest people
* Binding totems to maps and other written mediums

Particularily useful totems for us:
Totems of efficient work
Totems of keen senses
Totems of fit body
Totems of spiritual potency

Unresolved plot threads:
1. Magus
2. Elana - power and seals
3. Irken range conflict [IN PROGRESS]
4. Ayren's drawers
5. Behemoth site where Ayren was mortally wounded
6. Elements such as Earth - how do they work?
7. Gotta keep training Quinn and Terra [IN PROGRESS]
8. That one nature spirit that harassed us for talking to Lady Boa
9. There's plenty of NPCs in the world to talk to even if we have no obligations - Swamp Mother, Sylvannis, Lady Boand, the Mountain spirits, the Air/Rain/Storm spirits, Modi Magni, and probably others. Bound to be plot threads at every corner.

M-maybe we can bind a spirit to a journal with an attached pen and it would be able to catalog our works for us?

High hopes I know, but it would make our documentation vast for future Totemists, if its a possible thing.

>>26212891
Oh!, also send Amal back with a message to Elena, Quinn and Terra about where we're going if we hadn't already told them.

>>26213087
Maybe just the pen would work, I doubt you can bind a spirit to a set of objects, just like you can't bind two spirits to one object.
It would probably just choose one of the objects randomly.

>>26212891
Do we not have time to disembark tommorow? after the Meditation we still need to go back to town to get supplies. We are Osyki the Prepared and we'll need to gather supplies for our trip even if it delays it a day.

Meditate

>>26213045
Also, could you list our current equipment?
We need to decide whether we're prepared enough for binding an air spirit.

The quiet tick-tick-ticks of the spiderlegs scraping against the stone walls provides a soothing, metronome-like wall of background noise as you close your eyes. Leaning against one of the cool crystal pillars in the room, you breath in through your nose, and out through your mouth. The room seems to hum subtly with energy. A pulse you can barely feel thrums through the stones and crystals beneath your feet.

You recognize that unliving pulse nearly as well as your own heartbeat. The green and silver mandalas tracing your limbs beat with it every minute of every day.

Your palms brush the cool rock floor beneath you, the smooth stone a kindred touch in the musty bowels of the earth. The runes of earth across your arms flare to life, and you can feel a power struggle begin. The balance is tipping precariously.

>Roll 1d100. Taking the best of the first three.

>>26213263

[[ Current Binds:
>Cloudwalker Stride
>Velociraptor Greaves
>Nocturne's Embrace
>Snakebite Aqua
>Vestus Sonitus
>Gnome Guard

> Basic Travel Pack (Rope, pitons, etc.)
> Magni's Spear ]]

Rolled 17

>>26213265
FOR GREAT JUSTICE!

Rolled 57

>>26213265
Here comes a 1.

Rolled 35

>>26213265
Dice don't fail me now...

Rolled 88

>>26213265
Meditate hard

Rolled 33

>>26213297
Yeah, but do we have binding equipment on us?

>>26213346

[[ You never leave home without your Ritual Knife and chalk / charcoal to mark the Runes. That's all the equipment you need for a binding. ]]

http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive/25568114/#p25571799
The binder's log, if anybody's interested.

>>26213312
>57

You breathe slowly, attempting to balance the push of the Earth within your veins and the pulse of the ground below. Slowly, steadily, you can feel some of the vigor ebb from the runes burning in your limbs. The ground laps up the excess energy hungrily, and though your eyes are closed you become vaguely aware of a soft green light suffusing the world just past your closed lids.

You feel a little more invigorated.

> Earth Corruption Reduced.

>>26213432
Do we choose one of the other options you presented earlier now, or did you forget your (cont.)?

>>26213483

[[ The former. Where to? ]]

>>26213497
New spirits obviously, head to the mountaintop and procure an air spirit.

Rolled 43

>>26213432
To the mountaintop!

>>26213537
What time is it anyway?

Can we make a mental note to look over our books for a spirit that would be interested in transcribing for us? Something that values knowledge that we can try to bind to a pen or something.

You release your concentration in small doses, feeling the pulse of the earth below ebb away. Opening your eyes, you can see that a small circle of stone around you has turned to fine, powdery sand. The spiders on the walls watch you with shining gemstone eyes, chittering to one another as you dust yourself off.

Climbing to your feet, you slowly make your way toward the entrance to the cavern. The mid-day sun is harsh on your eyes, and you throw a hand up to shield your vision from the oppressive rays of the sun. The cool mountain breeze rushes past your face, and you relish the small of air that hasn't been stagnating below stone for years.

So, an air spirit. You have a few options in that regard. You could attempt to bargain with a Shepard, though the chances of recruiting one permanently is slim at best. A Skyscythe Drake, while a dangerous foe, would make for a powerful spirit ally. You could hunt for a lesser wind spirit, though you don't know of any in the area. It's all a game of chance at this point.

>>26213585
Amal, should work, unless we want him bound to the book, maybe we need to find some kind of twin spirits, or two spirits that resonate with each other so we can bind one to the pen and one to the book, they don't have to be large spirits, spirits like Amal and Quinn's bird should do.

Rolled 70

>>26213775
Lets go after a Skyscythe Drake, our spear will be grateful and it's about time we bound a dragon of some sort.

>>26213775
Ask Amal for notes on Shepards, try and find some kind of offering we can give to one.
If we can't find anything along those lines, might as well try talking to one, it can't hurt to try.
And if not that, we'll go get a Skyscythe Drake.

>>26213775
Let the fates decide. Let's go for a walk.

>>26213879
We're not going to find a Shepard going for a walk, they only appear on mountain tops after performing a ritual. I think.

>>26213775
I think we can take a Skyscythe. We've got pretty good mobility and defensive totems bound right now, and a strong ranged weapon. Main problem will be keeping Modi from killing it before we can finish binding it, like he did that wyvern thing we fought way back when. What would be a symbolically appropriate death ritual that we can do quickly on a flying creature?

You decide that a negotiation with the Shepards, while potentially fruitless, is still an avenue to explore before throwing yourself toward the jaws of a Skyscythe Drake. Lightning crackles around you as you grind your heels into the dirt, and in a moments you are hurtling through the air, Cloudwalker's Stride carrying you on streamers of electricity toward the highest peaks that the Ikrins hold. You bound from boulder to boulder, leaving behind faint scorch marks in the wake of your rapid ascent toward the cloudline.

You alight on a dizzying peak. The mountains stretch out below you in an array of browns and whites, and the air this high up is bone-chilling. You draw Nocturne's Embrace tighter around your shoulders, crouching on a narrow outcropping and tracing the sigils of air in a circle around you with a stick of chalk.

"Lord of Sky, Shepard of Storms, hear my call," you say, remembering the words spoken only a week ago. "I ask an audience of you, that I might curry your favor."

Once more, the runes around you burn brilliant white for a moment before settling into a dull silvery glow. A figure breaks the cloud-line almost immediately, and you smile as you recognize Cumula coasting down toward you on a current of cold air. She hovers just off the ledge you crouch on, giving you a respectful bow.

"Totemist," she says congenially. "It's a pleasure to see you again. Lady Auraen is very pleased with the river you've placed through the village. She says it's pleasingly designed. What can I do for you?"

Diarca, you there?

>>26214315
>>26214294
I didn't even use the summoning circle.

>>26214294
I seek the long term companionship of a spirit of air

Rolled 61

>>26214294
"I'm here to discuss a potential pact between us, I've recently came across a ritual my master left behind that allows me to travel through the spirit world with the assistance of a spirit.
You are the first that came to mind."

>>26214294
"Greetings, Cumula. I am afraid I come to you now seeking aid with something rather more dangerous than the springtime floods. You know of the Iron Tyrant that encroaches upon the Ikrins? It is in all our interests that he be dealt with swiftly. I will not ask the Sky Shepards to risk themselves in direct battle, but if one of your kin would agree to a temporary pact with me while I seek his defeat I would be very grateful. My master left to me in his notes a ritual for speedy travel using the aid of an air spirit, and being able to quickly transfer between the wastes and my home would ease my quest considerably. Would such a pact be agreeable to the Shepards, and if so, what price would you ask I pay?"

Rolled 55

>>26214423
Oh yes, this one, use this one.

>>26214423

You smile. "Good afternoon, Cumula," you say. "I'm afraid I've come to you to discuss something rather more dangerous than the springtime floods. The last time we spoke, you told me that your mistress sought to see the conflict between the Stone Emperor and the Iron Tyrant resolved. It is in all of our best interests that this conflict be resolved quickly, so I intend to do something about it."

Cumula nods, smiling. "That's very brave of you, Totemist. I see that you've become a Knight of Stone," she adds, gesturing to your palm.

You nod. "In light of that, I've come to ask for your aid. I will not ask the Sky Shepards to risk themselves in direct battle, but if one of your kin would agree to a temporary pact with me while I seek his defeat I would be very grateful. My master left to me in his notes a ritual for speedy travel using the aid of an air spirit, and being able to quickly transfer between the wastes and my home would ease my quest considerably. Would such a pact be agreeable to the Shepards, and if so, what price would you ask I pay?"

Cumula frowns, looking hesitant. "I... Totemist, you ask more than you know. To pull a Shepard from its duty is to cause that Shepard's excommunication from the court of air, and to cause droughts for vast swaths of land. I'm afraid that even a short absence could cause vast and unforeseen consequences, to say nothing of the wrath it would inspire in the Lady of Air and Water. I'm sorry, Totemist, but I cannot agree to your offer." she says, looking at her feet.

>>26214548
Perhaps then, some advice?

>>26214548
"Hmm, yes, that would have dire results, don't worry about it though, I'll figure it out, perhaps help could come from your side in the form of advice?"

>>26214548
"I understand, Cumula. It would be a bitter irony to prevent one disaster only to cause another. Do you have contacts with any air spirits of sufficient power that are not bound to important duties? If worse comes to worse I am prepared to Feral Bind a Skyscythe Drake, but if equivalent spiritual strength can be acquired without need for a battle it would be so much more convenient."

Rolled 91

>>26214632
This one again, yes.

>>26214632

You sigh, running a hand through your hair. "I understand, Cumula." you say. "It would be It would be a bitter irony to prevent one disaster only to cause another. Do you have contacts with any air spirits of sufficient power that are not bound to important duties? If worse comes to worse I am prepared to Feral Bind a Skyscythe Drake, but if equivalent spiritual strength can be acquired without need for a battle it would be so much more convenient."

Cumula's eyes widen. "Fight the Ran'Uin? You are committed indeed to this task, Totemist. The spirits of the Highest Court are, by and large, unwilling to form pacts, but I will ask my lady for her advice. In the mean time, I would suggest seeking a Roc's nest. They are fearsome predators, to be sure, but more amicable to pacts than the Ran'Uin. Perhaps one would be willing to ferry you across the veil."

>>26214548
I ask not for a Shepard. The ritual notes only a spirit of air. I was recently informed by... an authority on the matter... that I should seek balance in my life, lest a spiritual imbalance destroy me. Disrupting the natural world would do nothing to further balance. I would much prefer a lesser spirit, one with few duties, whom I could bargain with for participation in this ritual. Are there no lesser spirits within the court of Air? None that would assist me in preventing your realm from becoming clogged with ash, soot, and the smoke of funeral pyres the Iron Tyrant seeks to make.

>>26214762
Thank her, and I do suppose a Roc would be safer. Lets do that while we wait for a reply.

Rolled 67

>>26214762
Alright, lets go find either a Roc's nest or a Skyscythe, whichever we find first, but before that ask Cumula where we can find a Rocs nest and any information she can give us about Rocs.

>>26214762
Lets go for the Skyscythe. Appeasing our weapon by hunting dragonlikes and the like...

>>26214836
Speaking of spirits we need to bind, does anyone else think it would be a good idea to bind a salamander of our own while we're doing our preparations back in town? Diarca's description said they can provide protection against fire, and the Iron Tyrant seems to have some connection to fire as well as metal. It wouldn't be too much protection, given that it's a relatively weak spirit, but any little bit helps, right? And it wouldn't be hard to bind. A completely green child managed to bind one with sheer force of will. Osyki has faced down much worse foes without flinching. If we have the ingredients needed we could do it pretty easily.

>>26214926
Well, we can get fire protection from totems much easier, and as far as I remember every bound spirit is a strain on osyki.

>>26215013
If I recall correctly, it strains him to actually bind it to an object, not to simply have things bound

Rolled 24

[[ Rolling ]]

>>26215013
I'm pretty sure it's only active bindings to an object that strain him. Just binding a focus to him doesn't seem to cause any trouble. And salamanders don't need to be turned into a talisman form for them to protect their master. So it could be a useful investment.

>>26214762
"Ran'Uin, huh?

Tempting as it is to take the easy route... Nothing in life worth having is gained without some sort of desperate struggle. Or is that just for Totemists? Ah, pardon my musings, you have been most helpful, and you have my thanks."

Rolled 73

>>26215057
Do we need to counter-roll?

Rolled 9

You frown. "Ran'Uin, eh?" you ask. You know tha teach elemental court has its own language, but you didn't know the Skyscythe Drakes were enough of a menace to have their own name. "Do you know where I might find a Roc's nest? I've never seen one before."

Cumula nods. "I believe they tend toward nesting in the southern peaks of the Ikrins. Look for valleys between the peaks. They like to nest in-"

The rest of her sentence is lost to an ear-splitting screech. You tense, whirling around on the narrow ledge to seek the source of the sound. A bank of clouds have rolled in while you were distracted, and the air is filmy with mist.

Another screech pierces the fog. You turn again, attempting to pinpoint the sound.

"Ran'Uin..." Cumula whispers, her voice fearful.

Distantly, you can hear the sound of flapping wings.

>>26215321
Welp; time to catch us a drake.

>>26215321
Ready our bow, take out its wings.

Rolled 27

>>26215321
Rolling for perception check on spotting the Ran'Uin.
Tell cumula to get behind us while readying our bow. Ask if she can fight.

Rolled 81

>>26215395
Oh, and if we have time, replace the bind on the bow with the raptor bind, that drake is going to be hard to hit.

>>26215395
Refrain from rolling until he asks

Oh i know what we do now! Raptor bind the bow!

>Bow: Hunter's Pounce. Tips arrows fired with curved claw arrowheads. Seems to curve arrows toward warm-blooded creatures.

Heat seeking missiles would be perfect now!

>>26215516
Also i think Modi Magni has a particular hate towards dragons that we could utilize.

>>26215503
Yeah, sorry, I left it there by accident.

You hiss, sinking into a crouch on the rocky outcropping. It's a bad situation, to be sure. With the clouds rolling in, you can barely see your surroundings. Skyscythe Drakes are apex predators, and they know these mountains like their own wings. You can barely see the terrain, much less your opponent.

It's not the worst situation you've ever been in.

You snap your bow from its place on your back, nocking an arrow on the string. You wish you had time to swap bindings around, but with the Drakes closing in you don't want to be left vulnerable. Your Gnome Guard hovers by your side, floating serenely in the white air.

Another screech echoes off of the mountains, piercing the fog. Cumula trembles for a moment, then takes off, shooting straight up into the mists. A few moments later, you hear her scream.

>1d100 for perception, 1d100 for action.

Rolled 49

>>26215566

Rolled 18

>>26215566
Fire at, roughly, were we think the screech came from.

Rolled 7, 96 = 103

>>26215566

>tg dice

Rolled 4, 5 = 9

>>26215566

>>26215597
Call for her, and if you see her falling jump to catch her.

>>26215617
>2d6

Rolled 14

>>26215597
Well, we got action down.

Let's try perception.

Rolled 93, 15 = 108

>>26215617
>>26215566
Whoops wrong number

>>26215377
No, we want the wings intact. They're the best focus for us to take if we want to emphasize its nature as a beast of the air. If we want to knock it from the sky we should aim for the shoulder joints, keep it from flapping them without actually damaging them. Especially since we've got poison arrows from the Ykree focus. Necrotising the main joints should mess the Drake up pretty good.

How do Skyscythes hunt, by the way? We've got both visual and auditory disguise from our totems, so unless it's hunting by smell we might have the upper hand for the moment. Aerial predators don't tend to be good at that, though. Hard to find a scent trail from that far above the ground. So we should be fine.

Then again, I imagine it has really good hearing. It heard us say that we were prepared to fight one and headed straight for us. Clearly these are a touchy species. I understand why Modi wants to kill them all. Speaking of which, if we managed to get all the binding runes in place first, would death by Modi be an appropriate way of killing for the Feral Binding?

>>26215665
>death by Modi
It is certainly a vicious death

File: 1374705753922.jpg-(122 KB, 650x939, skyscythe.jpg)

122 KB JPG

>>26215597

>7

The mist muffles the source of the screech, both Cumula's and the Drake's. The sound bounces around you, echoing in cruel jumps to completely obscure the direction. You curse, drawing your bowstring tight. You'll just have to take a chance.

"Cumula!" you call, waiting for a response.

>93

You get one.

Not quite how you expect, though.

The cloud beside you bulges for perhaps half a second, and you leap as a wall of luminescent teeth tear through the fluffy white barrier, snapping closed inches below your boots. You briefly catch a glimpse of the beast before it surges back into the sea of clouds around you, fading from sight once more. You fire off two quick shots after it, but you have no idea whether or not they hit.

Rolled 37

>>26215782
I suggest we let it attack us so vestus sonitus will retaliate and then jump it with modi magni in hand. modi magni doesn't like dragons

>>26215665
Question: how will magni take to us binding a drake spirit? Remember how he prevented us from binding that drake during the mass bloodletting? I don't think when he said to hunt dragons he meant for us to bind them. I think he wants us to just destroy them.

>>26215825
That is not a very good idea, because if we get our arm bitten off, retaliation is not going to help us very much.

>>26215862
Oh. Right. Huh.

>>26215892
But the gnome guard could be in the way? Like if he snaps at us we could put the gnome guard in its mouth.

>>26215782
Anyway, ready our spear and get in position to skewer it next time it lunges at us.

You stow your bow, readying yourself for the second pass. Now that one drake knows where you are, they all do. Your right hand grips Magni with a white-knuckle grip, while your left snags Gnome Guard from its sedentary position. You close your eyes, concentrating. Even this high up, you are still connected to the earth. The warm heartbeat of the ground below you is only a moment's concentration away.

Another screech. You whirl, interposing the disc of metal between yourself and the source. A Drake surges out of cloud cover, fangs snapping out to sever your arm from your torso. The disc in front of your hand grows, and the surging Drake suddenly stops dead on contact with it. The metal of the Gnome Guard ripples and pulses, and with a surge of force it repels the Drake, sending it spiraling away. The rogue beast's wings clear away a portion of the clouds in its mad scramble to regain the control, and you can see the situation for the first time.

Above you, Cumula desperately dodges a pair of Drakes as they snap at her. Their glowing fangs tear ribbons off of her pearlescent skin when she moves too slowly, and her cries are heart-wrenching.

The drake you assaulted has righted itself, and prepares to surge after you once more. The air around its wings seems heavy to look at.

Below you, a flock of juvenile Drakes circle, waiting for scraps from the hunters above.

And in your hand, Magni's spear thrums with eagerness for combat. The head of the weapon grows a pair of barbed tines.

>How will you proceed?

>>26216205
We need to get Cumula in a more favorable position. Take out out a couple and then bind the last one.

Whisper to Magni, "We're going in."

Rolled 42

>>26216205
We must aid Cumula. But damnit, we gotta deal with our's first. Set spear, receive the charge, skewer!

>>26216205
Try and get the drake that's going for us in one shot, [maybe we can get a roll for it?] so we can start helping cumula with our arrows.

>>26216347
>>26216354

[1d100 for counter-assault]

Rolled 48

>>26216402
Also yell to Cumula that if we fall to please catch us so we can keep on helping her.

Rolled 20

>>26216402
Rolling all 1's

Rolled 93

>>26216402

Rolled 17

>>26216402

>>26216490
Well, let's hope that killed it.

>>26216490
Yes

>>26216490
This pleases Modi Magni

>>26216417
You sweep you arm around, resting Gnome Guard beside you. Sinking low to the ground once more, you prepare yourself for the beast to charge.

"Get ready," you whisper to Magni.

With a sky-splitting shriek the drake rockets toward you, the air screaming as it splits past its wings. You plant your feet, setting Magni against its charge. You suppose it must look ridiculous; Magni is a toothpick compared to the massive drake. Still, you have to try.

As the Drake closes in, you hear a faint chuckle. You glance to your spear, and with wide eyes, see that the barbed tines have begun to rotate around the main blade.

All at once, the Drake is upon you. You bunker down, thrusting your spear forward with a cry. Gnome Guard pulses at your side, and you hear the sound of metal screaming against metal. You squeeze your eyes shut for a moment, then open them.

>93

The Drake floats, rigid in front of you. You draw your spear arm back, and blink as Magni retracts. The spear had lanced outward, growing in size, and the entire drake had been skewered along its length. As your spear returns to its normal dimensions, you note that the barbed tines have vanished.

"Move," comes a voice in your head, and you leap to obey.

As you surge away from the drake you see it bulge, twisting in the air. In even intervals along its length, you can see bloody explosions as barbed fragments explode out of its innards. The massive beast is rendered down to a bloody pulp in seconds, and the juvenile drakes below shriek with pleasure.

You turn your eyes skyward in time to see Cumula suffer another cut as a Drake brushes her arm with a wingtip.

Showtime.

>1d100 and action.

Rolled 63

>>26216624
SHOWER IT WITH ARROWS

Rolled 87

>>26216624
Right. Time to fill one of the Drakes up above with arrows, Snakebite Aqua ought to seriously mess it up.

For the last one we want to bind it and Cumula should easily be able to catch us afterwards. For that one we'll leap up at it, get on top of it, and go to town on the fucker.

I think we should get a wing and bind it to our cape or our tunic wings?

Perhaps we should have asked Magni if we should even bind a drake. He kind of has a murderboner for them... He might not take kindly to us binding one.

>>26216740
Why should he care? it would be a trophy for he was the one who slayed it.

>>26216671

You whirl, moving to plant Magni in the ground. As you land, however, the lance simply wraps around your wrist like a snake.

"I will not be left while there is blood to be spilled," he informs you. You nod, drawing your bow from your back. Nocking an arrow, you aim up at the Drakes pursuing Cumula. It's clear that she's slowing down. She won't last much longer without your help.

You fire a cluster of three arrows in rapid succession.

>87

One arrow soars wide, but two bury themselves in the wing joint of the creature and its side, respectively. It shrieks in pain and whirls, and you can see the poison taking hold. It spreads in glowing veins through the beast, withering the flesh where it flows. The drake quickly begins losing altitude with only one good wing, and you take the time to line up a third shot directly between its eyes. It drops into the feeding frenzy below.

As you replace Snakebite with Magni, you can feel a surge of strength in your limbs.

"Am I going to be allowed to bind this creature?" you ask him, intending on following through no matter his answer.

"A bound creature cannot indulge its greed. I care not if you choose to sully yourself by associating with such vermin," your spear replies, its voice thick with bloodlust.

>2d100

Rolled 78, 73 = 151

>>26216795

Rolled 55, 25 = 80

>>26216795
Right, shout for Cumula to come towards us, the Drake should follow, and we'll meet it as it comes down with a flying lightning kick to slow it down and then we carve some runes of binding onto the fucker before slaughtering it.

>>26216818
AW YEA

Rolled 69, 14 = 83

>>26216795
We no longer wield a pear. At this moment we have become a lightening propelled spear of bloodlust and vengeance.

>>26216818
We seem to be rolling like we please the dice gods with this battle.

>>26216818

>78

"Right," you mutter to your weapon. "Let's go."

Without another word you coil your legs and jump, hurtling into the sky. The lightning generated by Cloudwalker's Stride dances in the air around you, and tears stream from your eyes at the speed with which you approach the flying drake. You slam into the beast as it is about to take a fatal bite out of Cumula, knocking the massive wyrm off course and sending both of you tumbling through the air. You raise your spear as you fall, stabbing out at it twice. Though Magni twists and warps to stab out at the beast, it coils faster. Dodging blow after blow, the beast rights itself and surges out of your reach.

You catch a protruding outcropping from a nearby cliff and arrest your momentum, marveling that the sudden stop didn't hurt you at all. You can almost feel Magni's bolstering presence within your veins. You quickly rebound, spinning toward the Drake once more.

> 73

You whip Magni outward, and the spear's head sprouts a bevy of rotating blades. The head clips the Drake and it roars, the force of the bellow sending you flying backward. The drake flaps once, twice, and you can hear more than see the blades of cutting air screaming down toward you. You rotate in the air, barely evading the invisible assault, and land on the peaks in a plume of dust.

>How will you bind the Drake?

>>26217012
GET DEM WINGS SON

>>26217029
Second

Rolled 18

>>26217012
Carve some runes into him with your riual knife, ride on his back to the sky and then stab his heart and plummet towards the peak of the mountain crashing him on the highest point of the mountain.
Take his wings.

>>26217012
We use Gnome Guard to block any further air blades that it sends at us, charge the Drake, kick it in the face with lightning. That should disrupt it for a bit and give us a chance to climb on it, carve runes of binding into it. After that we fuck with its wings and crash it into the mountainside.

Rolled 43, 22 = 65

>>26217012
Wings!

>>26217088
>>26217105
Maybe combine these two?

Ride the lightning, boys!

You there Diarca?

>>26217511
He'd let us know if he was leaving

>>26217554
Hahahaha, you're adorable.

As you fly into the sky for a third time, Magni shifts once more. His head shifts to resemble a trident, and the bottom of the spear sprouts a secondary blade, a hooked, curved menace of a weapon. The Drake sees you coming and hooks to your right, but does not expect Magni to lance out in a serpentine motion and wrap around its tail.

To be fair, neither do you.

You're pulled in to the body of the drake, landing on its back with a rough thump. Wasting no time, you bolt up the back of the writhing monster. Cloudwalker's Stride allows you to leap from coil to coil, and in no time you sit crouched in the hollow between the Drake's wings, despite its better efforts. Gnome Guard swings around to deflect two snapping bites from the beast's head, and you drive Magni into the creature's spine.

Leaving your spear to burrow into the creature, you pull out your ritual knife and begin carving the sixteen runes of binding in what no doubt qualifies as your most challenging atmosphere to do so, to date.

[[ 1d100 for carving, 1d100 for defending / grip ]

>>26217088
This


>>26217554
You're new to this quest aren't you

Rolled 88

>>26217757
Shit, lets try grip.

Rolled 26

>>26217779
...Alright, now how about carving?

Rolled 68

>>26217757

Rolling

Rolled 79, 79 = 158

>>26217757
YEEEAH!

Rolled 26, 3 = 29

>>26217757

>>26217809
Double 79's.

Nice.

>>26217809
>>26217779
The dice gods truly love this quest

Rolled 22, 29 = 51

>>26217749
Roll for binding

>>26217809

> 79

Your blade flashes out in quick succession, carving a line of runes down the titanic lizard's spine. It shrieks in protest, twisting its head around in mid-flight and rolling its body through the air in an attempt to dislodge you.

> 79

Your grip holds firm, however, and you sink your fingers into the bleeding runes even as you carve them with grim determination, hanging on with one hand as your ground becomes your ceiling and directing Gnome Guard's defenses with your other.

You lose your grip, once, in a heart stopping moment, but manage to catch yourself before you slide off of the Drake completely. You skip off of one coil, catching the creature by its tail as it surges straight upward into the sky.

"Magni, NOW!" you call, tightening your grip. Far above you, you see your spear rear out of the Drake's back, double in size, then lance into its spine.

Straining every muscle in your upper body, you throw your weight forward and attempt to throw the drake down. Whether you efforts are in vain or not, the creatures begins to hurtle downward, gaining speed by the second, and you plant your feet on it as you attempt to surf it into a nearby spire peak.

>1d100-10 for drake surfan'

Rolled 31 + 10

>>26218136
here i go

Rolled 70

>>26218136
Using my rolls? Yesss.

Do not fail me, dice gods.

>>26218136

Rolled 61 - 10

>>26218136

>>26218159
Dice gods! You do love me! I'm so happy.

Rolled 86

>>26218181
Whoops

Rolled 71 + 10

>>26218136
kawabanga

>>26218204

>51

You have a difficult time steering the beast, but through sheer concentration and force of will, you manage you keep your footing as you scream through the air toward the spire below. You flash back momentarily to your first combat, riding a stalactite into the shell of a rock turtle. It almost brings a smile to your face. Now, you're riding a monster into the rock.

You speak the words of binding as you plummet, intoning the words with all the solemnity you can muster. As you near the ground, you crouch down, planting your knife into the beast.

"Now," your shout over the wind, "Submit!"

>1d100 for binding, vote on body part to take.

Rolled 66

>>26218510
Wings?

Rolled 96

>>26218510
Wings!

Rolled 1

>>26218510
Wings

>>26218553
Hahahaha oh shit what re you doing nigga you are spoiling everything just go kill yourself i am laughing hard this is so horrible

Rolled 73

>>26218510
wings

>>26218574
WHY CONTAIN IT?

Rolled 93

>>26218510
Get dem wings

>>26218553
Is 96 close enough to count as a counter crit?

>>26218625
nope I'm pretty sure you need a nat100 for that.

>96
Yeaaaaaahhhhh!!!-
>1
...

All these rolls
>>26218539
>>26218550
>>26218590
>>26218608
and then
>>26218553


This can go any which way depending on how Diarca interprets this...

>>26218668
>we bind it but break our legs

>>26218553
I wish I could hate you to death.

>>26218553

You slam into the rock face at an odd angle. You can feel it as soon as the monster hits the cliff-side; you haven't impaled it. The wyrm skids off the side of the cliff, the impact jarring your precarious footing loose. You slip, sliding off of the side of the drake-

-straight into its thrumming wing.

You gasp as the world goes gray. The color leeches from your surroundings, and you can feel the blades of air surrounding the drake's wing bite into your abdomen. You taste blood as you bring your knife around, the glowing, spiritually empowered blade severing the wing in one fell stroke. The appendage separates from the body, so that when your back slams into the rock and the blade bites deep into your waist, it only has its own weight behind it, not the weight of the entire drake.

Small comfort, that.

You scream as the wing shrinks in size, retreating from the wound it has created to clatter to your feet as a sword-sized object of stone feathers. You feel dizzy, your head pounding from the impact with the cliffs, and the rocks are quickly turning red underneath you.

>1d100 to stay conscious.

>>26218859
Eh. More time spent in the healer's house.

Rolled 29

>>26219043
Fuuuck.

Rolled 54

>>26219043
HERE COME ANOTHER CRIT FAIL

Rolled 95

>>26219043
Well, we learned why the air spirits have their own word for these things.

Rolled 51

>>26219043
Dice gods please have mercy

>>26219091
Thank you dice gods!

>>26219091
Woohoo! Not dead yet!

Rolled 66

>>26219043
Welp. That's gonna leave a scar.

>>26219091

You feel the darkness creeping in toward the edges of your vision. Your stomach is hot and cold all at once, and you can barely focus your eyes for the pain radiating in punishing waves from your stomach. You slump further down the wall, closing your eyes. What happened? You were always so invincible in a fight. How could this have happened?

You wince at the thought that for this fight, at least, you were not completely prepared.

You can feel your limbs growing fuzzy. Something's wrong with your legs, something keeping you from standing. You're losing blood fast, too fast.

You're going to die here.

You swallow a mouthful of copper, allowing your head to slump forward.

No.

Your eyes shoot open, and you grit your teeth. Fuck that. You've come too far to be laid low by a pack of overgrown lizards. You move your hand, startled to find Magni lying by your side. Bracing yourself with the spear, you pull your pack out from behind you and begin to smear thick healing salve over the wound in your belly. It burns, but it's a focusing pain.

You will not die here.

You wind a bandage as tight as you can around your torso as Cumula rockets down from the stratosphere. She alights in front of you, shivering, but only superficially hurt.

"Totemist!" she exclaims. "You're alive!"

You nod. "Help me up," you tell her. "I need to get down to the village. Quickly."

You scoop up your trophy, the Razor Wing Focus, as you stand.

> Allow Cumula to fly you down to the village.
> Utilize your new focus to fly down yourself.
> Leap down with Cloudwalker's stride.
> Other

>>26219513
Let Cumula carry us. No time for trying to show off.

>>26219513
Sometimes it is okay to rely on the help of others. Let her fly us down if she wishes. It will probably help her pride or something as well.

>>26219513
"I have burdened you enough, Cumula. Thank you for your advice, and your aid."
>Fly down.

>>26219642
Do you really want to take that risk?

>>26219513
Maybe apologize to ask more of her after placing her in such a dangerous position, but ask if she could take us to our village?

Rolled 92

>>26219513
>Allow Cumula to fly you down to the village.

[[ Popping off to make some dinner. Be back in a bit. ]]

>>26219904
this

>>26220265
At 4:39 AM? Guess it is time for me to get some sleep then.

>>26220443
I think he's pacific time.

You allow Cumula to support you as you straighten up, gasping as the pain well and truly sets in to your stomach. Cumula wears an expression of concern, taking your arm over her shoulder.

"I hate to be a bother," you say, wiping a trickle of blood from the corner of your mouth, "But do you think you could fly me down to the village? I don't think I'll make it by myself."

She nods. "Of course, Totemist. Just relax. I'll have you down soon enough."

You oblige her, slumping your weight onto her arm. She quickly wraps both arms under yours, slowly taking to the air and hovering down the cliffside. The drakes below seem, fortunately, to be distracted by the bountiful, cannibalistic meal you have thoughtfully provided. You send Amal ahead to let the village know what has happened.

You touch down in the village as the sun dips toward the horizon. Quinn is waiting for you with Elana and the healer. Elana rushes forward with a medical kit, her face ashen and her eyes rimmed with red.

"Smell this," she instructs you, extending a vial to you. You oblige her, and the world goes dark.

>>26221478
Oh god, we're totally going to be raped.

>>26221632
Oh boy, we're totally going to get raped!

When you wake up, it's as if no time has passed at all. You attempt to sit up, only to find yourself immobilized. You struggle for a moment before something taps your forehead.

"Don't move," Elana chides you. "You're lucky you didn't injure your spine, based on the bruising you've got. I've got you tied down so you don't accidentally wrench something."

Your surroundings swim into focus. The vaulted ceiling of the Healer's hut is a sudden comfort in your moment of confusion, and you relax. Elana, Pierce, and Quinn all sit by your bedside, though only Elana is awake.

"Scared the hell out of us, Osyki," she says, and you see that her hands are covered up to the elbow in dried blood. "Thought I'd lost you there for a minute."

You sigh, wincing at the pain in your abdomen as you do.

How long were you out?

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>>26221632
>>26221962

>>26222170
...Do we... roll for that?

>>26222170
"Sorry for the trouble. Drake attack during my meetign with Cumula. Limited options, no time to prepare. At least I got a new feral bind out of it, and a few brownie points with the court of Highest Air. So how long was I out, and how has Quinn handled things?

Rolled 2

>>26222170
Rolling for days knocked out

Rolled 19

>>26222506
Step it up.

Rolling for months knocked out.

>>26222557
I'm pretty sure if we were out for that long the Iron Tyrant would have burnt the village down by now. It's probably only been a week or so.

>>26222643
That reminds me, hasn't it been like two weeks since Ayren died?

"Sorry for the trouble," you begin, but Elana shushes you.

"No talking," she chides, sweeping swiftly out of the room.

"Glad to see you awake, Osyki," comes Pierce's voice from your side. You turn to see him with one eye cocked open. "What happened?"

"Drake attack during my meeting with Cumula," you mutter. "Limited options, no time to prepare. At least I got a new feral bind out of it, and a few brownie points with the court of Highest Air. So how long was I out, and how has Quinn handled things?"

Pierce nods. "Well enough. You've only been out a day or so. Most of that, Elana spent stitching you back together. How do you feel?"

>>26222897
"Hurting a lot less than I would have expected, actually."

>>26222897
"Better than I expected to after stabbing myself."

>>26222897

Like i was disemboweled by a dragon.

>>26222897
"Better than I thought I would, which is good as much as I would love to sit back in bed for a week and mend I still have time critical stuff to do."

>>26222897
Does Magni accept these kills as proper payment for an audience?

>>26223302

[[ He does. ]]

>>26223331
Righteous. Looking forward to that.

"Like I got disembowled by a dragon," you admit. "Better than I thought I would, which is good as much as I would love to sit back in bed for a week and mend I still have time critical stuff to do."

Pierce chuckles. "I think you can afford to take your mind off the job for a few more hours. Get some more sleep, Osyki. We'll get some food in you, and then you can think about cavorting off to save the day."

You open your mouth to argue when Elana sweeps back into the room, and that's the end of that argument. She pats at your forehead with a damp cloth, placing a small bread roll next to you.

"I want you in bed for the rest of the day." she informs you. It's like a death sentence, the way she speaks it. "Then, maybe, we can see about getting you on your feet. Understood?"

>>26224876
"This is one of those times where going against you is stupider than everything crazy thing I have done in my time as Totemist put together isn't it?

Fine Elana, I'll do what you say. But if everything catches on fire because of this I get to say 'I told you so'."

>>26225001
Actually, if everything catches on fire we'll probably asphyxiate while we try to stumble out of the healer's hut. So we won't be able to talk.

[[ And I'm fading in and out, so now we'll round things out here for the night. As a bonus, I'll probably be running a thread this Friday as well. Watch my Twitter for updates about the thread, and thanks for playing, folks. As usual, please archive, and I'll see you all day after tomorrow. ]]

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>>26225525

[[ Forgot mah end of thread Osyki. ]]

>>26225538
Archived.