>>38357810
>This is my sister, kind of. It’s complicated.
>Where's Ranthix? It's six o'clock.

>>38357810
>She’s one of my friends.
>Where's Ranthix? It's six o'clock.

>>38357810
>This is my sister, kind of. It’s complicated.
>So how is this working exactly? You have like, a scroll of town portal or something?

>>38357810
Were there really 30 threads of nothing but drama?

>>38358193

Killing Iptaph was buried somewhere in there.

>>38357810
>This is my sister, kind of. It’s complicated.
>Where's Ranthix? It's six o'clock.

>>38357810
>This is my sister, kind of. It’s complicated.
>Ro’s demonbane.
FUCK YEAH! HELLBORN QUEST!

>>38357810
>This is my sister, kind of. It’s complicated.

>>38357810
>This is my sister, kind of. It’s complicated.
>So how is this working exactly? You have like, a scroll of town portal or something?
A hellborn wouldn't have a demonbane for a sister. I don't think we've told them that Isaac adopted us. If we have, then we're probably already fucked.

“This is my sister Ro,” you say.

“You’re hellborn?” Alan asks Rowan.

You intercept the question. “Well, not exactly. It’s complicated. Stop asking questions.”

“That’s just asking for more questions,” says Scott, folding his arms.

Rowan makes a dismissive sound. “Our parents didn’t like the idea of her doing some big trip as the only girl,” she says. “Lots of testosterone around here.”

Scott looks to his brother. “She’s got a point,” he says.

Frederick gives Rowan an appraising look. “I’m assuming you know how dangerous this could be?”

“You betcha,” Ro says, smiling broadly.

“I said no questions,” you say, reasserting control of the situation. “The only questions anybody’s going to ask are mine. Where’s Ranthix? He said six, it’s six.”

“He dropped in a couple minutes ago to forbid us from leaving without him,” Alan replies. “Something about provisions?”

“Speaking of leaving,” you say, “you have a scroll of town portal or something? How’s this happening exactly?”

Frederick points to the ground. A big fancy star has been sketched on the ground with chalk. Lines of cryptic runes and intricate designs weave around the structure, probably full of deep arcane secrets or whatever. “The spell will come with us to Cerra,” he explains. “On the other side, we’ll be able to recall to this point wherever we are.”

Rowan is impressed. “You wrote a portable teleportation spell?”

“It’s two spells with one expression,” Alan answers. “The anchors we set up on the roof stabilize us going both ways.”

“That’s really clever,” she says, nodding.

“Wait. If we’re just teleporting there, why not just teleport right onto the landwell?” you ask.

“This location corresponds to one in Cerra,” says Frederick. “The first part of the spell nudges us into the foreign plane, it doesn’t change our physical location.”

>>38358915

“Oh. Yeah, right,” you say, feigning comprehension.

Rowan cups her hand to her mouth and speaks in a hushed tone. “I’ll explain later.”

Just then, Ranthix busts out of the stairwell, followed by Orias. Both demons are in human glamors. The Thul’tal is clad in a suit of studded leather armor that reminds you of a samurai. Given that Ranthix is already more or less bullet immune, you don’t really get the reasoning behind the armor, except the fact it looks badass.

He wears a heavy pack full of who knows what, and in his other hand he grips a heavy spear with a broad head, which he uses as a walking staff. As he gets closer, you discover the spear is actually a long barreled rifle/spear hybrid thing – his Otukh, probably, though you’ve never actually seen it before. He wears a bandolier with a number of flintlock pistols stashed into the front.

Orias, meanwhile, wears a cloak colored a deep shade of blue. It matches his basilisk boots, which flash out from under the hem as he walks. He wears a rifle slung over his shoulder, though it doesn’t look like any kind of gun you’ve ever seen. It’s a flintlock as as well though, as far as you can tell.

“BEHOLD, I COME BEARING PROVISIONS,” shouts Ranthix, producing a big Taco Bell bag from out of nowhere.

>Say stuff (?)
>Other (?)

>>38358961
>Say stuff (?)

"You going to share that with the rest of the class? Oh and that is a seriously badass outfit.

Who's Mr. Blue guy?"

>>38358961
Wonderful!
>Feast

>>38358961
Awesome, lets eat.

>>38358961
Ask who Orias is to keep up appearances.

You catch the scent of cooked steak, and discover that despite eating just like, thirty minutes ago, you are hungry. “You bring enough for the whole class?”

“ARE YOU DEAF OR STUPID? I SAID ‘FOR ALL’, SPAWNLING,” Ranthix replies angrily. He walks up and shoves a big foil-wrapped burrito into your hands. “STUFF YOUR FACE. YOU LOOK LIKE A SKELETON.”

Rowan frowns at the put-down, but she can’t mount a reply before a quesadilla has been thrust into her hands.

You greedily accept a burrito, finding it the source of the steak smelling smell. “Score,” you say, unwrapping it and chomping down into beans and steak and rice and guacamole. So good. So good, in fact, you dismiss all of Ranthix’s insults. “Hey Ranthix, that’s some way badass armor you’ve got there by the way.”

“YES I KNOW, I’M WEARING IT,” he replies. Ranthix distributes the wealth to everyone, and ‘accidentally’ trips, ‘accidentally’ throwing a handful of nachos into Zote’s face. “HOW UNANTICIPATED THAT I, A SEASONED WARRIOR, WOULD BE PRONE TO SUCH TRIVIAL LAPSES OF COORDINATION,” he exclaims.

“He just shoved those into Zote’s face,” Scott says under his breath to his brother. You probably wouldn’t have heard if you weren’t, you know, you.

Zote does not seem pleased by the turn of events. The robot slowly wipes the crumbs off his face and mutters something unintelligible to Frederick.

You ignore the exchange. “Who’s Mr. Blue guy?” you ask through a mouthful of grilled-stuffed burrito, jerking a thumb backward at Orias.

Ranthix bursts out laughing, spraying Zote’s faceplate with more chip bits. Orias scowls seriously. “I am Orias, Ranthix’s squire at arms,” he says flatly. He bows slightly to everyone present.

>>38360027

“We’re fortunate to have you along,” says Frederick, bowing in return. “Ranthix speaks highly of your marksmanship.”

Orias casts a distrustful glance at the Infernus. “He does,” he replies neutrally.

“YES, THAT IS RIGHT, MR. BLUE GUY,” says Ranthix. He takes in the group with one look. “ALL ARE PRESENT. THERE IS NO REASON FOR DELAY.”

Frederick directs everyone to the star drawing. “I’ve marked your positions on the spell. Sierra, you and your sister stand on that mark there.”

You look down at the circle that’s supposed to be where you stand, and you get bad vibes. (+2 Stress: 1/100)

Rowan perceives your apprehension and scoffs. “Goodness gracious, this isn’t the Fly. You're perfectly safe.”

“I guess if you say so,” you say, not really any more comfortable with the idea. You take another bite of your burrito. That, however, does make you feel a little more comfortable with the idea. (-1 Stress: 0/100)

You and Rowan take up position. Rax and Orias team up, as do the Gracies and Derek and Zote.

Frederick tighents his cloak about himself. “This is it. Is everyone ready?”

“JUST DO IT ALREADY,” Ranthix demands.

“We’re ready,” says Alan.

Rowan secures her duffel bag on her back and gives you a nod, just before Reeber butts his head in between the two of you, tongue lolling.

>So… wait. What if somebody parks on this thing when we teleport back?
>This isn’t like, actually copying us and destroying the originals, is it? Because that’s not teleportation.
>Disapperation go!
>How likely is it that something goes wrong and me, Rowan, and Reeber fuse into one ultra-creature?
>Geeze, hold your horses. Let me finish my burrito first.
>Other (?)

I’ll be gone for about an hour.

>>38358961
Looks like Ranthix chose
>Heavy
for all three categories.

>>38360096
>Geeze, hold your horses. Let me finish my burrito first.

>>38360096
>Disapperation go!

>>38360096
>>Disapperation go!

Let's hope our burrito survives the trip.

>>38360027
This is making my diet harder.

>>38360096
>>Disapperation go!
Let's get this show on the road

>>38360096
>>Disapperation go!

>>38360096
>Geeze, hold your horses. Let me finish my burrito first.
A minute of awkward munching.
>Disapperation go!

>>38360096
>So… wait. What if somebody parks on this thing when we teleport back?

>>38360096
>>So… wait. What if somebody parks on this thing when we teleport back?

>>38360096
>>Disapperation go!

>>38360096
>>Disapperation go!

So when are we going to betray Freddie for some fat dosh?

>>38360899
never hopefully

>>38360899
I don't really care about money, but getting the info Eclipse has on our family could be important, on the other hand betraying Freddie has the potential to go downhill really fast, we'll have to see how it goes.

>>38360899
If anything we'd betray him because thid alliance is already based on distrust among mercenaries. We can keep the letter of our word by opening a portal that leads directly to a prison.

>>38360899
Never.

>>38361023
We can't because the portal opens to a fixed point. That's the entire reason we're doing this. Interdimensional portals open between fixed points, you don't pick the location.

I'm back.

>>38361075
Ok so we open the portal so that the establishment can create a forward base.

>>38360096
>Geeze, hold your horses. Let me finish my burrito first.

Let's just take it play by play.

>>38361577
Once again the Lawn Guide has defeated his archenemy!

You wave your hand. “Disapperation go,” you say, forcing yourself to withhold from your burrito. You don’t know what might happen if you’re eating mid-transit.

“Everyone stand still,” says Frederick. He furrows his brow in concentration and then kneels on the ground. He rubs his palms together for a brief moment before slapping them on the pavement.

The chalk lines beneath you shine with harsh white light, throwing dizzying patterns onto the ceiling, and a minor chord strikes the air as a hollow, metallic sound with no discernable source. The air goes frigid, and suddenly the pattern below leaps upward with alarming speed. Everything swirls into sudden icy blackness barred by great white bars of light. You gasp and find yourself unable to breathe. (+5 Stress: 5/100)

For a few seconds, you are left in the inexplicable void, panic rising in your gut. (+12 Stress: 17/100)

You feel Rowan’s delicate touch on the back of your shoulder, reminding you of her presence. The contact reminds you of what you’re doing, and you latch onto her calm reassurance. (-4 Stress: 13/100)

The great bars of light rescind, blinding you again, this time with light instead of blackness, and the air turns frigidly cold.

Gone is the parking garage.

You and the others stand in a rough circle in ankle-deep snow. The chalk star pattern has melted through, scorching the design into the icy drifts. Thin white Birch trees surround your tiny clearing, all devoid of leaves. The daylight is fading, and an unwelcoming wind cuts across the wood, whistling between branches.

“That was weird,” you say, unable to think of any other way of describing the journey.

“Sure, but everything worked out,” says Rowan, stepping out into the snow and gazing upward at the dim sky.

You pull your jacket tighter about yourself, kind of angry. It never snows in California. You didn’t think it’d be colder here.

>>38362348

“It’s flipping cold,” you say growl, rubbing your arms. (+1 Stress: 14/100)

Reeber pushes his snout to the ice and recoils in confusion, backing up out of the cleared circle where you and Ro stand. When his back leg hits snow, he makes a weird whining sound and spins around to confront the threat, only to find more snow.

Everyone begins fanning out in different directions, while you attempt to get your bearings. It’s not every day you go from being somewhere to being somewhere else entirely.

Zote produces a compass, examines it, and points into the wood. “Ich angen sohauen,” he says in a rumbling voice.

“The village of Baymoore is about two miles in that direction,” Frederick translates, clutching his cloak tighter about himself.

Orias unslings his rifle and gives it a once over, his hands clad in thick leather gloves. Finding nothing awry, he cradles it in his arm in a casual manner. “We should move quickly if we’re to reach Baymoore before nightfall,” he says, slipping a wide-brimmed hat onto his head.

“THEN WE’VE NO TIME TO LOSE. EVERYONE, AFTER ME,” Ranthix shouts. He forges ahead in the direction indicated, his equipment jangling with his every move.

You’re about to follow when you pick up the scent of something on the wind – it’s just a tiny bit, but with every other scent being purged by the snowfall leaves it isolated and stark in contrast. It smells like smoke. It gives you an uneasy feeling you can’t quite place.

You take another bite of your burrito just in case. It steams against the icy air.

>Ignore it and move on. If it doesn’t bother Ranthix, it doesn’t bother you.
>So what’s the deal with this place anyway? Whitebanner, right?
>Guys. It’s really flipping cold.
>Keep a little fire going to heat yourself up.
>Hey Rax, do you smell that? Something’s burning.
> Other (?)

>>38362375
>Hey Rax, do you smell that? Something’s burning.

>>38362375
>Hey Rax, do you smell that? Something’s burning.

>>38362375
>Hey Rax, do you smell that? Something’s burning.

>>38362375
>Hey Rax, do you smell that? Something’s burning.

>>38362396
>>38362403
>>38362435
>>38362456
So final destination for the tiebreaker?

>>38362375
>Hey Rax, do you smell that? Something’s burning.

>>38362375
>Hey Rax, do you smell that? Something’s burning.

You’re not going anywhere quite yet. “Hey Ranthix, do you smell that?” you ask. “Something’s burning.”

Ranthix stops and turns in place. He takes in a huge breath of air through his nostrils, and then glares into the forest. “SOMETHING FAR AWAY IS ON FIRE,” he observes.

Scott, who’s still adjusting one of the straps on his backpack, looks at the Thul’tal. “How do you know that?”

“BECAUSE THERE IS NO VISIBLE LIGHT FROM THE FLAMES,” Ranthix replies.

Frederick doesn’t like the sound of this. “We’re still heading toward the village, but I want someone to scout ahead. Who’s quickest on their feet?”

“I believe that would be me,” says Orias.

Rowan looks thoughtful. “I can fly,” she offers.

>You heard the man, send him on.
>Ro, let’s not go showing off all your powers just yet.
>Yeah, honestly I’m probably the fastest out of anybody.
>Orias, how fast are you exactly? Cause if it’s pretty damn fast, I’ll go with you.
>Other (?)

>>38362696
>Yeah, honestly I’m probably the fastest out of anybody.

>>38362696
>Orias, how fast are you exactly? Cause if it’s pretty damn fast, I’ll go with you.

>>38362696
>Orias, how fast are you exactly? Cause if it’s pretty damn fast, I’ll go with you.
>Just don't look at me while we're running
>No seriously, it's spooky shadow tricks

>>38362696
>Orias, how fast are you exactly? Cause if it’s pretty damn fast, I’ll go with you.
>Just don't look at me while I do it. Makes me go slower. Shadow stuff, don't think about it too much. Yeah.

>>38362696
>Orias, how fast are you exactly? Cause if it’s pretty damn fast, I’ll go with you.

>>38362696
>Yeah, honestly I’m probably the fastest out of anybody.

Don't forget our Imp.

>>38362696
>Other (?)
>"Monster can fly too."
>Summon the imp

>>38362696
Adding imp friend to >>38362744

>>38362696
>Other (?)
Summon Imp and scout with that

>>38362696
>>38362779
+1

>>38362885
Second

>>38362696
>Orias, how fast are you exactly? Cause if it’s pretty damn fast, I’ll go with you.

This is a minor detail, but possibly important. Do you want to leave your shoes with Rowan when you go running? You're faster without them, on the other hand, no shoes.

>>38363434
Don't wear them, put keep them on you. Does having demon feet protect us from cold?

>>38363434
Are our demon feet the kind of things that can take the cold? As I understand it, Halth's a pretty frigid place so I'd think that we could handle it, but I wanna know first.

>>38363463

Ah, the obvious solution.

Your feet should be fine for the duration of the run.

>>38363434
Leave them on. Too cold for that kind of shenanigans.

We really need to look into getting some demon boot things. I'm sure that there's some kind of shoe designed to work with hooves(? or whatever it is our feet are).

>>38363664
Our little brother can make some for our next birthday

>>38363664
Don't we have clawed raptor feet or something?
Now I really want a drawing of Sierra creeping around pretending to be a Velociraptor

>>38363766
Or maybe she could pick up mice with her monster feet and pretend she's an eagle.

>>38363766
You know she does that in room when she's bored. Untill someone walked in on her that is

>>38363813
Now anytime someone calls her a "clever girl", she knows its mockery.

>>38363813
>>38363840
Any Drawfags here? We need this asap!
>Sierra acting like a rapptor in her room only for rowan to open the door and see her doing this......
>Rowan:.....Clever girl

File: file.png (21 KB, 186x251)

21 KB PNG

Looking at the pic, it seems like they're some kind of cross between hooves and xenomorph legs

>>38364022
The description from Thread 37 "Instead of your feet, though, you see claws. Like. Your feet are kind of elongated and weird, black and sharp in the same way your claws – your hands – are. The same ragged, blackish flesh creeps up your shins just as it does your forearms."

Don't really sound like hooves, but I could see xenomorph

>>38364170
Because they're rounded somewhat into a 2 pointed structure somewhat similar to a cloven hoof. Xenomorph leg claws are pretty different with actual discernible toes and whatnot, along with claws which are recognizable as being separate from the main structure of the whole whereas Sierra's feet are almost like one big chunk of the black material that forms the clawed tips.

File: turians__by_elle_h-d54p7k2.jpg (172 KB, 810x987)

172 KB JPG

>>38364279
I think they look like turian feet.

“Yeah, honestly I’m probably the fastest out of anybody,” you say nonchalantly. “Ro, hold on to this for me.” You give her your backpack so it’s not slowing you down. You keep your pistol and sword with you, though.

You get a curious look from Orias.

“Depending on how fast you are, like, if it’s pretty damn fast, you can come too.”

He nods somberly. “I am, as you say, pretty damn fast.”

Alan Gracie pulls a walkie-talkie out form his jacket pocket. “If you see anything, let us know,” he says, tossing it to you. You snatch it out of the air and pull up your chainmail to clip the radio to your belt. All is well.

“You should send up Monster,” Rowan says.

“Yep,” you say, raising a hand. Monster the imp crackles into existence at your fingertip, and darts into the air with an annoyed screech. Eyes in the sky. You look back to Orias and jerk your head toward where the group’s headed. “Let’s go.”

You and him run off perpendicular to the main group until you’re out of sight. He looks unruffled from the run, which you guess would be so if he really was as fast as he said he is.

“Okay, two rules,” you say. “First rule, don’t look at me while I’m running.”

“And the second?” he asks.

Wait. You swore you had two rules. “Just a second,” you say, thinking to yourself. “Oh yeah. You’re in front.”

“Because… otherwise I would be looking at you?” he asks.

“Yeah. That. So. You’d better be fast, because I can only go as fast as you,” you say.

He ponders this for a moment. “I am leading, then?”

You frown as you kick out of your shoes. The snow burns your feet, but it won’t be bad once you’re moving. “Well, no, I’m the leader,” you say, pairing up your boots in your hand. “It’s just… I’m not in front.”

“Of… naturally,” he says to himself. “Let us depart.” He turns, sets his heel in the snow, and launches himself forward with startling grace and speed, rifle held low in his right hand.

You run after him, the ground flowing out beneath you at an irreconcilable rate. Sprinting ahead at Ranthix’s usual death-march rates, you find it not too difficult to keep up with Orias, even though the demon leaps and bounds like a gazelle over the frozen ground. You could pass him up, but you’d probably tire yourself out pretty quick going all out like that.

In the sky above, Monster zips ahead. You can’t really beat flying lizard bats in that category.

Outpacing world-class runners means the next couple miles go by pretty quick, even though its cross country and you have to leap across frozen streams and vault sudden gullies.

You come out of the trees onto a half-snowed plain of tall grass, stretching into hills before you. Orias pulls up short as do you. In the distance you, you can see a hodgepodge of dozens of quaint little buildings mixed with not-so-quaint, plain poorly thought out buildings on a flat stretch nestled between hills. The town’s on fire, and smoke billows into the sky only to be swept away by the wind.

“Beetlemen,” Orias says, narrowing his eyes at the view.

You narrow your eyes at the view, but you can barely make out buildings, let alone anything going on around them. You shift your consciousness to Monster to get the imp’s eye view.

Your orangey, brightly distorted vision hovers above the town, circling warm currents of smoky air to stay aloft and diving down closer to get a better look at the scurrying figures down below.

A pair of villagers, an older man and one younger, flee down a road in the center of town. Coming up behind them is a strange gangly thing that takes one long stride for every two of theirs.

It has a huge body and awkward, stilt-like legs. Its four arms are likewise very thin and extremely long. One set of its hands clutches a crude two-handed axe, while the others remain free. A random collection of charms, and trinkets jangle against body, held in place with bits of leather and string. The thing’s carapace shines a dull, mottled grey in the firelight, and its fat head consists of a dozen tiny black eyes, a pair of wide, crooked horns, and a quivering set of sharp mandibles.

The beetle thing quickly covers the distance between itself and the lagging old villager, seizes him by the collar with a long arm, and yanks him backward into the snow. The thing then steps over him and raises its axe.

A shift in wind puts Monster in a cloud of smoke, and obscures your vision of what happens next, but you kind of know what it's all about.

It’s like a scene from a nightmare, except it’s real life. (+5 Stress: 19/100) (-2 Sanity: 85/100)

“It looks like a small raiding party,” says Orias, “perhaps twenty altogether.”

>What the hell are those things?
>Uh. What should we do?
>No big deal, just some… just. You know.
>I guess we’re not going to Baymoore anymore.
>This is just fucking ridiculous. I’m not putting up with this crap.
>Radio the others.
>Head back. It's not safe here.
>Sit tight and wait for backup.
>Other (?)

>>38364470
>What the hell are those things?
>This is just fucking ridiculous. I’m not putting up with this crap.
>Radio the others.

>>38364470
>What the hell are those things?
>Uh. What should we do?
>Radio the others.

>>38364470
>Radio the others.
>I guess we’re not going to Baymoore anymore.

>>38364470
>Radio the others.

>Other (?)
Hunt these things down one by one.

>>38364470
>What the hell are those things?
>Radio the others.
Put your shoes back on

>>38364470
>What the hell are those things?
>Uh. What should we do?
>Radio the others.

>>38364470
>I guess we’re not going to Baymoore anymore.
>What the hell are those things?
>Radio the others.

>>38364470
>Other (?)
Summon the Shaalban

Shoulda brought dem extra clothes and supplies.

>>38364470
>I guess we’re not going to Baymoore anymore.
(this means attack the beetle things, right?)

>>38364470
>What the hell are those things?
>Uh. What should we do?

You and Orias crouch low.

“What the hell are those things?” you ask, feeling a utter feeling of revulsion.

“Beetlemen,” says Orias. “There’s no beetlemen on the second mortal plane?”

“Definitely not. I’m calling this one in.” You radio the main group and explain what you’re seeing. “Hey, we’re at Baymoore, but uh. There’s uh. Kind of. There’s beetlemen.”

You let go of the switch, and a second later, Frederick gets on the line. “How many beetlemen?”

“Twenty, I guess?”

“All right, we’re coming. Stay exactly where you are, we’ll be there in ten minutes.”

The radio goes quiet.

You can’t tear your eyes away from the burning village. (+3 Stress: 22/100) “What are we supposed to do?” you ask, staring at the flames. “I mean. Like. What do we do?”

Orias’s expression goes harder than stone. “We go hunting,” he says.

>All right. Yeah, that sounds good.
>Formulate plan (?)
>Frederick said to wait.
>Ask questions (?)
>Other (?)

>>38364944
>Ask questions (?)
How tough are beetlemen? Something that can take a bullet? I'm guessing they're probably not fireproof.

>>38365001
Second

>>38364944
>All right. Yeah, that sounds good.
>"how do they feel about fire"

>>38365001
Don't we have hp and pp vision?

>>38364944
Did Sierra see how much health they have? Did she see whether or not those things have magical power?

Also how dark out is it? Obviously there's fire, but is it night out?

>>38364944
>All right. Yeah, that sounds good.
>Ask questions (?)
"How hard is that carapace of theirs? Any weak spots?"
"Are they fireproof? Please tell me they're not fireproof."

>>38364944
We don't know anything about Orias other than that he can run pretty gud.

We know he has a gun, but we don't know whether it's automatic or semiautomatic or bolt action or if it's a fucking muzzle-loader. We also don't know if it's enchanted or have any idea how loud it is.

>>38364944
>All right. Yeah, that sounds good.

>>38364944
>Other (?)
"I got another pet I can summon. How would these things stand up to a shaalban?"

>>38364944
>>All right. Yeah, that sounds good.
>Ask questions (?)
How strong beetlemen are and what they can actually do.

>>38364944
>All right. Yeah, that sounds good.
Cover me, i am going in.

>>38364944
We could have Tiger attack them to get them all focused on the big spooky monster thing and have Monster(imp) swoop around pestering them/spotting from above so we don't get surprised while Orias and us sneak around clawing/shooting/fireballing these things to death.

>>38364944
>All right. Yeah, that sounds good.

We're demons, lets go kill stuff.

File: hall12-aku.jpg (27 KB, 502x371)

27 KB JPG

>>38365096
>We don't know anything about Orias other than that he can run pretty gud.

Does he "Jump good"?

That plan of action sounds just fine to you. (-2 Stress: 20/100) “All right,” you say, nodding to yourself. “Yeah. We’ll kill ‘em. Anything I need to know? How do they feel about fire?”

“They won’t catch fire, but they do burn,” says Orias.

Good. You can work with that. (-2 Stress: 18/100) “How tough are they?”

“Resilient, but their limbs are frail. Breaking their bones is easier than killing them outright,” he says. “I wouldn’t rely on claws. Blades skitter off their shells. They have the advantage close up –strength, reach, and the advantage of hands. Don’t let one close on you.”

You nod, trying to internalize the information. “How well do you think a Shalbaan would do against one?”

“A Shalbaan? Why?”

“Humor me,” you say.

“A Shalbaan could kill a beetleman if it had the element of surprise,” he says, questioningly.

“Cool. What about you? Can you handle yourself?”

He glances down at his rifle – you haven’t really gotten a good look at it, but it’s a beastly thing. “This is a dragon gun,” he tells you. “Beetlemen aren’t worth the shot.” He looks down at the village. “Do you wish to lead? I mean from the front.”

>Yeah. Let’s go.
>Wait, I’ve got another question (?)

-Tactics-
You
>Skirt around the edge of the village, try to use the cover of darkness to pick off stragglers.
>Get on the rooftops and start fire whipping crap.
>Get into the city, you need to try to save people.
Orias
>Tell him to stick with you and watch your back.
>He should get on his hunter thing and focus on downing beetles.
>Tell him to try to keep the beetlemen off the villagers.
Tiger
>Keep Tiger on your tail.
>Set him to free roaming eat things mode.
>Make him protect people.
>Use him to bait the beetles out.
Monster
>Keep him posted on surveillance duty.
>Have him harass beetlemen and keep them distracted.

>Other (?)

You didn't see hitpoints because you were looking through Monster's eyes.

>>38365952
>>Yeah. Let’s go.

-Tactics-
You
>Skirt around the edge of the village, try to use the cover of darkness to pick off stragglers.
Orias
>Tell him to stick with you and watch your back.
Tiger
>Use him to bait the beetles out.
Monster
>Keep him posted on surveillance duty.

>>38365952
>Yeah. Let’s go.
>Get into the city, you need to try to save people.
>Tell him to try to keep the beetlemen off the villagers.
>Keep Tiger on your tail.
>Have him harass beetlemen and keep them distracted.

>>38365952
>Skirt around the edge of the village, try to use the cover of darkness to pick off stragglers.

>He should get on his hunter thing and focus on downing beetles.

>Use him to bait the beetles out.

>Keep him posted on surveillance duty.

>>38365952
>Yeah. Let’s go.
>Skirt around the edge of the village, try to use the cover of darkness to pick off stragglers.
>He should get on his hunter thing and focus on downing beetles.
>Set him to free roaming eat things mode.
>Keep him posted on surveillance duty.

>>38365952
>Yeah. Let’s go.
You
>Skirt around the edge of the village, try to use the cover of darkness to pick off stragglers.
Orias
>Tell him to stick with you and watch your back.
Tiger
>Use him to bait the beetles out.
Monster
>Keep him posted on surveillance duty.

>>38365952
>Yeah. Let’s go.
You
>Get into the city, you need to try to save people.
Orias
>Tell him to stick with you and watch your back.
Tiger
>Make him protect people.
Monster
>Keep him posted on surveillance duty.

>>38366009
>>38366016
>>38366089
Getting into the city ourself isn't a good idea. Remember that these people are all super superstitious demon-hating religious nuts who will probably turn on us when we get in there thinking that we're working with the beetlemen.

>>38365952
>Yeah. Let’s go

-Tactics-
You
>Get on the rooftops and start fire whipping crap.
Orias
>He should get on his hunter thing and focus on downing beetles.
Tiger
>Make him protect people.
Monster
>Have him harass beetlemen and keep them distracted.

>>38365952
>Get on the rooftops and start fire whipping crap.
>Tell him to try to keep the beetlemen off the villagers.
>Use him to bait the beetles out.
>Keep him posted on surveillance duty.

>>38365952
Meanwhile, in Hunter Demon quest.
>"Why is this crazy bitch asking about Shalbaans?"

>>38365952
You
>Skirt around the edge of the village, try to use the cover of darkness to pick off stragglers
Orias
>He should get on his hunter thing and focus on downing beetles.
Tiger
>Make him protect people.
Monster
>Keep him posted on surveillance duty.

All right, roll some dice.

Rolled 55 (1d100)

>>38366460

Rolled 96 (1d100)

>>38366460

Rolled 19 (1d100)

>>38366460

>>38366505
Good
>>38366482
Ok
>>38366503
Stop

>>38366541
Roll under in this quest

>>38366751
I'm pretty sure he's aware seeing as he told the lowest roller it's good, the middle it's ok, and the highest to stop rolling.

“Kind of,” you say. You squint down at the village. “Okay, how about this. We’ll both like, focus on picking them off one by one. We’ll start on the outside and work our way in. The faster we hunt them down, the quicker this’ll be over, right?”

Orias nods once and goes to run down the hill.

“So, it’s the same deal as before,” you say. “Rules one and two.”

Hesitantly, he nods again, and then sets off at speed. You follow for a while until he peels off more to the right. You head left, and blaze your own trail through the snow. You send out a telecommunication memo with your brain to Monster to tell him to screech if anything weird’s going on.

As you’re coming up on the village, you set Tiger free. The many-tailed gorilla sized Shalbaan is about to advance, but you stop him to provide a set of firm instructions. “Try to lead them out of the town toward me,” you order.

Tiger grates out a harsh metallic sound.

“Okay yeah, if there’s somebody in trouble, you know, help out, but don’t get yourself killed.”

The Shalbaan flexes its dorsal spines in response before snapping around and darting off toward the village.

You, meanwhile, set off on the hunt, instinctually dropping low in response to the threat. There isn’t much cover, but there’s plenty of shadows in the quarter-light of the dying sunset. You make use of the gentle rise and fall of terrain to full effect, blanketing yourself in roving darkness. (-2 PP: 31/33)

>>38366959

You come up on your first find of the night, a beetleman with a discolored carapace and a bunch of animal bones hanging from its belt and arms. The creature patrols slowly, taking long, dainty steps through the snow, its mandibles twitching at the sight of the fire and sound of screaming – its many eyes reflect soft firelight. It has a short bow on one pair of hands with a quiver slung over the shoulder, and a couple short swords in the others.

You can feel an eerily inhuman sense of pleasure coming from the creature, which you find strangely unsettling. (+2 Stress: 20/100)

You got the drop on it – first strike’s in your favor no matter what. Even with its billion eyes, nothing can see through a blotch of pure night. The beetle looks tough, and its chitin carapace seems unyielding. It towers eight feet tall, though its strangely thin limbs seem too frail to support its sheer size. (Beetleman: 34/34 HP; 5/5 PP)

You mind races – how should you approach this thing? You have your handgun, but you’re not sure how insect anatomy works. Bullets might not be too effective. Zelathis could be useful if you need to keep him off of you, what with the knockback. The only thing you can think of, however, that would do the sheer damage necessary to bring the thing down is lots and lots of fire, and that you can probably do.

>Attack (?)
>Other (?)

>>38366985
>Attack (?)
Let's use the fire whip w/ hellfire and see what happens.

>>38366985
FIIIIIIRE

>>38366985
Have we ever tried doing that shadowstep thing on a person? Maybe we can cut this short by pulping whatever we get our hands on first.

If not, burn it all.

>>38366985
>>38367077
Ill second this idea.

>>38366985
Just Flames, flames and flames and flames.

>>38366985
Focus on it's legs, immobilize it then kill it. Halfsword Zelathis to get through the carapace, and then unleash the lightning inside of it.

>>38366985
Imbue Zelathis with stain of sin and aim for its legs.

>>38366985
Zelathis Stain of Sin, jam the blade into the upper part of its torso and activate Electric Blast.

Or just do Hellfire+Fire whip. I guess that'd work.

>>38366985
> Night

Lets use the shadows. Keep the burning out of it so we don't draw too much attention. Use shadow self to fuck up it's limbs right away, and then corrupt it's carapace so it dies screaming, creating a honey-pot trap.

>>38366985
I have never not voted for shadow shit when it came time for a fight. I absolutely love flipping people with it.

Though, hitting this guy with Blood Curse might be a good idea. It makes everything do more damage to the afflicted and he's got a lot of hp.

>>38366985
Time to find out if it can fear as well as feel pleasure.

>>38367182
Seconding this.

You approach gingerly and snap your hand out to the side. Flames coalesce around your fingertips and trail out in a line of furious orange flames. You draw back and pour all your disgust with everything into more fire. You need all the fire for this, and you get it. Your fire whip brushes the tops of the snow covered grass as you ready the strike – ice turns to steam behind you, and the intense heat at your back singes the dead grass to cindering ash. (-7 PP: 24/33)

The beetleman catches sight of the light, and turns to observe the source. It’s too late to react.

You feel a sharp smile spread over your face as you let loose with your hellfire charged flaming whip. The screaming white heat snaps out in a long arc, strikes the creature on the flank, and explodes with a thunderous clap.

The beetle’s entire flank bursts apart along with both the arms on that side, fire consuming and cracking its carapace and snapping its short bow. (Beetleman: -25 HP 9/34) The beetle makes soundless clicking noises as it reels from the impact. It totters and crashes to the ground, wholly unable to deal with half of its body being suddenly charbroiled. Black ichor splashes from the massive wound – if it wasn’t a beetle, you’d be sure it would run out of blood soon.

Surveying the results of your attack, only one word comes to your mind: badass. (-5 Stress: 15/100)

From somewhere on the other side of the villiage, you hear another thunderclap, this time the report of a rifle. Orias’s doing, probably.

You find yourself being distracted by the strong scent of… what is it? Licorice? A pungent, heady flavor, all coppery and… wait. Gross. Beetle blood. Juice. Whatever.

You spot the outline of another beetleman headed your way. He's kind of far off, but they can really hoof it.

>Finish off your current beetle and drain it. (?)
>These guys aren’t so bad – head into town, see if you can’t start wrangling insects.
>Pull back into the shadows.
>Charge the beetle coming at you.
>Other (?)

>>38367571
>Finish off your current beetle and drain it. (?)
Suck his soul, we could have a bad reaction eating him, let's just play it safe.

>>38367571
>Pull back into the shadows.

>>38367571
>Pull back into the shadows.
Time to play The Hidden: Beetle Edition!

>>38367571
>Finish off your current beetle and drain it. (?)>>Pull back into the shadows.
Into the shadows

>>38367571
>Taste the blood

Hey, I like licorice.

> Pull back into the shadows

We're best at Alpha strikes from surprise. Stand up fights are a) bullshit, and b) this isn't even our main objective.

We should be pulling the beetles off of the villagers until back-up arrives, so lets make a bunch of noise with quick hit& run strikes.

>>38367571
>>Finish off your current beetle and drain it. (?)
Then hide

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55 KB JPG

>>38367603
>TFW soul devouring is the safe option.

Roll some dice for those hot moves.

Rolled 91 (1d100)

>>38367781

Rolled 36 (1d100)

>>38367781

Rolled 50 (1d100)

>>38367781

Rolled 48 (1d100)

>>38367781

Unfortunately, as it turns out, the dice on the other side of the fence can also crit.

File: 5.png (177 KB, 268x247)

177 KB PNG

>>38367883

Whelp lets hope Serria's anus can handle it

File: 1861584.png (94 KB, 192x187)

94 KB PNG

>>38367883
Well fuck.

>>38367883
......

File: 1423124310855.gif (1.85 MB, 500x280)

1.85 MB GIF

>>38367883
>beetles fw

What do you think happened?

>Beetle on the ground makes a heroic last stand
>Beetle charging us suddenly sets the hundred meter dash record
>Surprise there were more beetles behind us the whole time
>Randomass arrow hits us in the tit
>Some random townsperson decided to attack the demon, nails us with a flaming bottle of booze

>>38367883
crit f, f, fail...?

>>38367983
I think Orias just critfailed.

RIP fancy boots

You’re torn between retreating back out of sight and finishing off your beetleman. You could use the extra energy, and if you’re going to be honest, you kind of want a little taste of its blood.

You approach the downed beetleman, whip at the ready. You give it a couple extra lashes till it stops moving, and make your approach – the other beetle is getting closer, and you need to make it quick. You reach for the sizzling corpse, hoping to claim the last vestiges of life from its flesh.

Suddenly, the beetle spasms and sweeps out your feet with one of its long, long legs. You fall on your back, slamming your head on the ground. A burst of smokey hatred slams against your senses, and you realize too late you’ve underestimated your foe.

The beetle is back up, blood-coated and furious, but only for a split second before it throws itself down for a body slam. Its too fast for you to move before it lands. The sheer weight of its frame crushes you, pinning you to the earth and leaving you breathless – even the shadows are caught off guard by the attack. (-7 HP: 21/28) (+20 Stress: 35/100)

You’re too busy being smashed to death to be able to glean much power from it. (+1 PP: 25/33) You struggle beneath the creature, pushing at it with the darkness and using your own shadow to aid in your attempt to claw your way out from beneath its hulking size.

>>38368246

A regular person would be dead, but you’re no regular person. (-5 PP: 20/33) You extricate yourself from beneath the beetle, using your feet to kick into the thing’s wounded side to secure your escape. In retaliation, it lashes out with its long, sharp, three-fingered hand and grabs you by the ankle. It can’t scratch your ossified black skin, but it goes a long way in holding you in place.

By the time you finally manage to kick free from the wounded beetle, its friend is only a hop skip and a jump away. The newcomer has stunted horns and a yellow carapace, and wields four long knives, one in each hand. It is not happy to see you, but its not quite as impressive as its comrade. (Lesser beetleman: 25/25 HP)

A million thoughts race through your head, and your body hurts, but what you need is to act, and to act right now before you get a knife jabbed in your eye. (+4 Stress: 39/100)

>Use Harvey’s chainmail, become invincible.
>Zelathis knockback alpha strike maneuver go!
>Use the shadows, Sierra.
>Run.
>PANIC MODE: BURN EVERYTHING (Flare)
>Call in your summons to help you.
>Other (?)

>>38368268
>>Zelathis knockback alpha strike maneuver go!

>>38368268
>Zelathis knockback alpha strike maneuver go!

>>38368268
>Zelathis knockback alpha strike maneuver go!

Use Stain of Sin on Zelathis for this.

And if we can throw a handful of dirt into its eyes before it gets to us that'd probably help.

>>38368268
>Call in your summons to help you.

>>38368315
It probably wouldn't help because bug eyes aren't bothered by dirt being thrown in them. It would only obscure its vision slightly and it would to a worse job of it than shadows.

>>38368268
Give it some flavour of mental blast to throw it off balance, then go for the
>Zelathis knockback alpha strike maneuver go!

>>38368268
>>Zelathis knockback alpha strike maneuver go!

>>38368268
> >Zelathis knockback alpha strike maneuver go!

Second choice is Emergency bladder evacuation lubrication maneuver to escape!

One day, we will fulfill my dream of Sierra being able to piss fire at her foes.

>>38368268
>Zelathis knockback alpha strike maneuver go!

This is totally unusable in our present situation, but can we use Zelathis to "rocket" jump?

Roll some dice for that strike maneuver.

Rolled 21 (1d100)

>>38368420

Rolled 4 (1d100)

>>38368420

Rolled 83 (1d100)

>>38368420

Rolled 45 (1d100)

>>38368420

>>38368431
I hope this means we SoS the blade into his head and explode him.

>>38368431
Nice

>>38368431
Alpha Strike indeed with that roll.....

The beetleman surges forward, all spinning knives. You instinctively grab at your side and slash out with Zelathis, infusing it with negative energy as it goes. (-2 PP: 18/33)

The move knocks away two knives, and which point the blade begins shrieking with the stain of corruption. The beetleman lunges forward with a strong step and goes again at all angles, but you take another step back and execute a stunning retort. Zelathis cuts one of the blades in half, cuts clean through one of the beetleman’s hands, and lops off the better part of another of its arms. (Lesser beetleman: -8 HP: 17/25)

You lunge past the insect’s guard and strike forward with your blade, triggering a burst of power as you do. There’s an electrical pop and a bass thrum, and an insatiable force catches the beetle in the chest, lifts it bodily from its feet, and sends it flying several yards back. (Zelathis: 7/10 Charges)

The beetle lands poorly, twitching and spasming from the residual electric charge. Still shaking, it quickly gets its feet back under it and attempts to stand. (Lesser beetleman: -6 HP: 11/25)

With the greater threat taken care of, you turn your attention to the beetle you already wounded. Careful this time of trickery, you lop off its head with a clean, negative-energy infused swipe. (-2 PP: 16/33)

Breathing hurts, but it's a good pain. This is what happens to things that try to kill you, you cut their fucking heads off. (-5 Stress: 30/100)

>Finish off the other beetle so you can feast on their blood. (?)
>Retreat into darkness and pick another target – you don’t need to kill every beetle, just get them to pull back.
>Other (?)

>>38368630
>Finish off the other beetle so you can feast on their blood. (?)
I don't want to be missing too much health before the actual mission even begins

>>38368630
>Finish off the other beetle so you can feast on their blood. (?)

>>38368630
>Finish off the other beetle so you can feast on their blood. (?)

Is not my vote. Lets keep our eye on the prize, we can feast after we win.

Why would you give the mystery option, Languid.

>>38368630
>Finish off the other beetle, suck its soul.
I don't know if seeing the townsfolk (if any are still alive) all covered in beetle blood from the mouth is a good look.

>>38368683
>mystery option
The question mark means "how do you want to kill it?" not "this be mystery box lol"

>>38368630
>Finish off the other beetle so you can feast on their blood. (?)

Using our Fire Whip is probably the safest option, let's get some HP back.

>>38368630
>>Retreat into darkness and pick another target – you don’t need to kill every beetle, just get them to pull back.

Lets try to save people instead of becoming a murder machine, hey? It's easier on our sanity/stress.

>>38368630
>Finish off the other beetle so you can feast on their blood. (?)

>>38368630
>Finish off the other beetle so you can feast on their blood. (?)

Roll some dice.

Rolled 79 (1d100)

>>38368752

Rolled 87 (1d100)

>>38368752

Rolled 8 (1d100)

>>38368752

Rolled 37 (1d100)

>>38368752

>>38368762
>>38368768

Where are these dice in all of the other quests where high is good?

>>38368773
Yay

>>38368788
It's the curse of Hellborn quest, it's a roll under quest where every single time we roll we would pass a roll over quest

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621 KB PNG

>>38368630
>Breathing hurts, but it's a good pain.

Masochism mustard rice.

With the upper hand, you advance rapidly on the remaining beetle and fire whip it to death. You are victorious. The smell of scorched flesh hangs in the air, strangely flavored unlike anything you’ve tasted before. (-2 PP: 14/33; -3 Stress: 27/100)

Before retreating back to the shadows, you take a moment to drain what little you can from both beetles. The residual power isn’t much, but it’s something. (+3 PP: 17/33) As for their black licorice blood, you’re careful not to get any on your clothes, but wow. It’s like. It’s fan-fucking-tastic. It’s like Christmas morning, except with all the satisfaction of grinding bugs under the heel of your boot. The blood-rush leaves you feeling jittery and excited to get back to the extermination. (-3 Stress: 24/100; +5 HP: 26/28)

With some experience under your belt as to what it takes to smash beetlemen, you continue circling around the town, killing a beetlemen Tiger brings out to you, and gravely wounding another before you let it run away into the dark. Every once in a while, you hear an echoing gunshot from Orias letting you know he’s still at work.

Reaching the back of the town, you spot the demon standing in the grass, patiently using a ramrod to reload his weapon. The smoking carcass of a dead beetleman is laid out just behind him.

>I got like, four so far. How about you?
>These beetlemen are my least favorite things ever.
>Have you tried the licorice blood? It’s like. Whoosh.
>Radio the others and see what their ETA is. They should be here soon.
>Take a minute to survey the situation with Monster.
>Let Orias keep on his work and keep on your circling. The beetles won’t be sticking around much longer if you keep up the pressure.
>Other (?)

I have to go to sleep now. Good thread. Thread tomorrow too, unless something comes up.

Rolled 8 (1d100)

>>38368912
Makes me realized Sierra fits just about every DOW chaos marine squad quote.

I feel the warp overtaking it, it is a good pain!

DO YOU HEAR THE VOICES TOO?!

We Must Kill!

>>38368952
>Have you tried the licorice blood? It’s like. Whoosh.
>Take a minute to survey the situation with Monster.

>>38368952
>>Have you tried the licorice blood? It’s like. Whoosh.
>>Radio the others and see what their ETA is. They should be here soon.


Lets practice going from crazy to professional in a blink of an eye. Orias will continue to be unable to know what to think about us.

>>38368952
>Have you tried the licorice blood? It’s like. Whoosh.
>Take a minute to survey the situation with Monster.

>>38368952
Thanks for running lawn man.

Rolled 7 (1d100)

>>38368952
>Take a minute to survey the situation with Monster.

>>38368952
Thanks for running, Languid!

>>38368952
Good thread Lawnperson

>>38368952
>Have you tried the licorice blood? It’s like. Whoosh. Total headspin. You could make candy out of that stuff.
>Take a minute to survey the situation with Monster.
>Radio the others and see what their ETA is. They should be here soon.

>>38368952
>Take a minute to survey the situation with Monster.
>Let Orias keep on his work and keep on your circling. The beetles won’t be sticking around much longer if you keep up the pressure.
We can pester Captain Autism afterwards.

So... Sword in one hand, fiery whip in the other, all fear and fire and black scales. How long till Ro calls us Balrog?

>>38368952
>Take a minute to survey the situation with Monster.
>Let Orias keep on his work and keep on your circling. The beetles won’t be sticking around much longer if you keep up the pressure.

>>38368952
>>Radio the others and see what their ETA is. They should be here soon.
>>Take a minute to survey the situation with Monster.

Good thread Languid.

Thanks for running languid

>>38368952
>Have you tried the licorice blood? It’s like. Whoosh.
>Radio the others and see what their ETA is. They should be here soon.
>Let Orias keep on his work and keep on your circling. The beetles won’t be sticking around much longer if you keep up the pressure.
>Other (?)
"When we get back to the States, we should definitely look into getting you a more modern Boomstick."

>>38371692
Well he says it's a dragon gun - it's probably some enchanted bullshit weapon like Issac's crossbow.

>>38371949
We really need to get a weapon like that.

Something that really just says Fuck You to any and all resistance.

We should go on a Landwell Hunting Road Trip.

Travel across the country searching out landwells and gaining maximum power. Could be an awesome thing to do once the summer starts.

>>38372119
Would be neat to at least meet some other landmasters.
Talking to somebody with some landmastery experience would probably help a lot, even if we didn't end up gaining more landwells.

>>38372338
I'm sure there's plenty of unclaimed landwells everywhere.

Hell we havent even left the bay area and we've found 3. Not counting this new one we're soon to get.

>>38372414
Two, Muir and San Bruno; plus this new one.

The bay area seems to have been Mom's old territory. It seems to me that Meckor and co probably wouldn't have looked kindly on outsiders coming in and claiming her landwells. It's possible that other areas are more populous in terms of landmasters.

>>38372636
Landmasters are supposedly pretty fucking rare and with the sort of concentration we've seen so far with several clustered in a relatively small area there's probably hundreds of unclaimed landwell's scattered across America alone.

>>38372757
If claiming them is as easy as what we've done so far, each landmaster probably has huge tracts of claimed territory.

>>38372989
I mean, well hell we're just a newbie landmaster and we pretty much own the San Francisco area.

Imagine what Mom must have commanded back in the day.

>>38373120
The West Coast.

>>38372102
Better yet, why not get a MODERN firearm and enchant it? With enchanted bullets? Enchanted weapons seem to be a thing, so why not? And just thinking about stacking stain modifiers makes me feel giddy.

>>38373549
A Modern Firearm can use a ton more ammunition (semi-auto, full auto) - enchanting it all might be prohibitively difficult.