>>31207724

>You are DAZED for one more round, and are suffering a penalty of 2 DICE to all pools
>Nolan has taken 3 SHOCK damage
>Sister has taken 2 SHOCK damage

You reach for the icicle at your feet. Your mistake was looking down, because that’s where you ended up.

Thankfully you haven’t smashed the skewer of ice, you you can hardly stand as your bones shiver inside your body.

You hear two distinct howls from the golem. Looking up you see Nolan and Mica have managed to connect more snowball throws. Nolan already reaching for another as he approaches the wobbly golem with a fist full of snow. Mica is flat on her face, scurrying back to the statues to find cover.

The golem readys for one last desperate attack.

You feel like you can end this now. You just gotta get a hold of yourself!

>[ ] COORDINATION+ATHLETICS 3d10 TOO DEEP IN NOW
>[ ] COORDINATION+DODGE 3d10 TO GET CLEAR
>[ ] Cover Mica [Soak damage for her]
>[ ] Custom

>>31207759
>[x] COORDINATION+ATHLETICS 3d10 TOO DEEP IN NOW
just us again?

>>31208216
Looks like it.

Feel free to roll the entire pool at once until others show up.

>>31208216

>3d10 get rollan

Rolled 1, 2, 9 = 12

>>31208359

>>31208496

>HEIGHT 9 TO THROW

You take a wobbly step forward, the ringing in your bones nearly gone now. But it’s too much, you look up in time to see the golem strike down Nolan again. Your vision tracks him sliding across the tiles of the plaza.

>Nolan takes 3 SHOCK damage

Your arm sluggishly swings as you attempt to stop the golem before it wheels around on you now.

The night sky rolls past you over and over. The starless winter night sky is interrupted again and again by the bronze and granite snow covered tiles of Lukewater’s central plaza. Then the spinning stops as you crash against what must be the four heroes’ monument.

>You take 6 SHOCK damage.

The serious knock and the bracing splash of water at the fountain’s base seem to have shaken you out of your stupor, everything is clear again as adrenaline flushes your body to hold off the pain.

You stand back up, sending spirals of water splashing out from your hair and your arms as you regain your balance. Mica and Sister seem to have shaken off the stupor as well. While Sister runs to your side in a panic, Mica scrambles to get cover behind the fountain you stand in. You aren’t sure of Nolan’s status, but you can see the golem intends to charge you.

>[ ] COORDINATION+DODGE 5d10 TO DUCK AND COVER
>[ ] BODY+BRAWLING 6d10 TO MEET THE CHARGE
>[ ] CUSTOM

Man I'm out of it today, sorry for the wait.

>>31209022
>[x] BODY+BRAWLING 6d10 TO MEET THE CHARGE
this could go badly

>>31209092

>6d10 get rollan

Rolled 8, 10, 6, 7, 10, 3 = 44

>>31209202

>>31209231
much better

>>31209231

>2x10 TO MEET THE CHARGE

>Fera gains 1 WILLPOWER for a 2x10 set!

You’ve had quite enough of this fight. The golem lumbers toward you. You hop over the edge of the fountain’s basin, steam rising off your body as Andrea’s potion boils off the freezing water. You hit the ground, attempting to slide under the snowman and take out one of it’s three legs on the way past it.

It follows suit as well however. It’s great maw spills across the floor and arches over you entirely. You bounce off the ground as the contained avalanche envelops you.

>You take 3 SHOCK damage.

The golem has apparently gotten back up as you feel your momentum shifting around. You will the potion’s effects to boil away a space large enough for you to maneuver yourself. It does not work against the magical construct very much, however, in the diffused light of the golems interior, you see something very distinct.

A delicate looking ice crystal suspends itself in the spongy consistency of the golem’s mass. You can see it’s dim blue light through the snow, and when you reach through the snow for it feel it’s cool pulse and it’s sharp edges.

You are pretty sure of what this thing is.

>[ ] BODY+ATHLETICS 4d10 TO WRENCH IT FREE
>[ ] BODY+BRAWLING 6d10 TO SMASH IT

>>31209471
>[x] BODY+ATHLETICS 4d10 TO WRENCH IT FREE

>>31209737

> 4d10 get rollan

Rolled 6, 9, 7, 1 = 23

>>31209757

>>31209839

> Height 9 to wrench it free

You grab and twist at the tendrils that head towards the crystal, snapping a few of them with some effort, but the heart of the golem remains steady. The golem roars something unintelligible as the snow constricts around you, pinning your arms to the crystal’s offshoots.

> You take 3 SHOCK DAMAGE

And then you start to tumble. The snow loses it’s consistency and starts to fall. You blink a few times at how quiet the plaza is finally.

You look up to see Nolan and Mica approach, their faces fearful, then relieved once they see you in one piece.

>1/2

>>31210054

Sister practically pounces you, knocking the wind out of you for a moment. You hiss at the soreness in your shoulder blades and and ribcage.

“It’s ok Sis, I’m alright, calm down.” You tell her. The ocelot jumps behind you and nudges you upright. You look to the others. Mica leans forward, giggling as she places her hands on her knees and lets her head hang. Nolan simply sits right where he stands with a “whump”.

“You don’t think that was actually part of the-ah!” Nolan seethes as he withdraws his arm from reaching to scratch the back of his head. “...The scavenger hunt, right?”

“I think Andrea’s starting to go senile.” You say as you stand up, stretching out as far as your deep bruises will let you.

And then the plaza fills with sound again. This time it’s applause.

You four turn around and find that there is a small crowd pouring out of town hall. Two of Nolan’s brothers slowly push the large 12 foot tall doors open as at least 30 people slowly fill the plaza.

>2/3

>>31210354

Dozens of people crowd around the three of you, four were it not for Sister bolting off as soon as the crowd appeared. You recognise a few people here, most of Nolan’s brothers, some of his sisters too you think. Two or three of the local storekeepers and two hunters are present as well, tankards of mead in most of their hands.

It’s difficult to focus on all the conversations happening at the same time. Most of the people are talking to you, asking if you feel cold dressed like that, or why you didn’t just run right away, or how you managed to nail that one icicle throw so perfectly.

At some point you feel a large hand grab your arm and shake it thoroughly, you think it was the brother that snapped at you earlier. Jake is entirely unintelligible and drunk as he tearily blubbers something that feels like an apology. Over the crowd you see Gil, hanging back by the town hall, he smiles a crinkly smile.

>3/5

>>31211050

Eventually you manage to catch your breath and sit down by one of the benches. Nolan and Mica join you, Mica having retrieved the scroll tube that popped out of the snowman during the battle. Which must have reformed at some point during the confusion of the crowd showing up. It sits in it’s old spot, now just with two eyes.

Someone calls everyone back into the hall. Apparently everyone there knew about the golem. It occurs to you you haven’t seen any of the other two groups since you left the banquet here.

Mica pops the end off the tiny scrollcase, and after unfurling the note inside starts reading it out loud.

“Twenty sets of bells all have their own chord, the one you are looking for responds to the name ‘Ferris’.”

>4/5

>>31211065

That must be referring to bell street, Lukewater’s main street. Bell street is part of a long road that connects Lukewater to it’s neighbors. Every day merchant wagons and caravans full of travelers pass under twenty lines of bells and wind chimes that are strung across.

One bell or chime is added for each new face that arrives in Lukewater often enough to be considered a regular, usually messengers or merchants. The number of bells is aligned with reports of travelers gone missing or found dead as well.

“Bell street?” You suggest. “Didn’t one of the other hints reference bell street as well?”

“Yeah! The tallest tip-top can be seen there!” Mica adds, slipping the snowman’s hint back into the little tube.

>[ ] Head off to the next hint.
>[ ] Speak with someone back in the town hall first.
>[ ] Head in for the night, too battered, need to make sure gear is in order.
>[ ] Custom

>>31211086
>[ ] Head in for the night, too battered, need to make sure gear is in order.
seriously though we need to get gear so that we are prepared for, well, anything really

>>31211147

You slump forward as you put your head in your hands. What if there’s more of this? No sense in getting a sprained ankle before the four of you head out tomorrow. “I think I’ve had enough ‘fun’ for one night.” You stand up, the muscles in your back scream at you.

“Wuh! Wait!” Mica stands up too, then she looks across you to Nolan, who must have just given her a look, because she sits back down again, frowning. That’s definitely the first time you’ve seen her actually frown.

“You don’t have to stop pursuing the scavenger hunt just because I’m heading back to the lodge.”

“It won’t be as much fun if you aren’t there!” Mica pouts.

“Uh, she did kinda bounce off a big metal statue a few minutes ago.” Nolan shifts in his seat, grabbing the collar of his sharply ironed shirt and fanning himself. Mica starts to walk off as Nolan stands up as well. “Well, uh, make sure you didn’t get any ribs shifted on you then. I’ll uh, I’ll keep an eye on Mica for you.”

He finishes cleaning his glasses with a small cloth, then puts them back on with a little quiet clinking noise. You turn to watch Mica as she stomps off. Smiling, you turn back to Nolan. “Are any of your other ‘friends’ worth as much trouble as today has been?”

“Nope. Not even close ma’am, ahh, I mean Fera.” His smile shifts his glasses slightly.

>FULL STOP.

Sorry 'bout the super short thread tonight.

It's been SUPER SLOW even for this quest, and I have a pretty good headache right now.

Honestly this is where the thread should have stopped last night.
Dag.

Anyway, I'm not planning on running again until Thursday, check the quest's twitter in the first post for specifics as they happen.

>>31211679
g'night it was fun

>>31211724
Thanks!