Rolled 10 (1d20)

>>40870353
>>Act as if nothing happened.

>>40870353

Well alright! Welcome to Ancient Prophecized Destruction Quest #2!

Criticism or questions about things that are unclear are not only welcomed but encouraged.

>Last thread: http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive/40847254/

>Character Sheet: http://pastebin.com/z8LcJ0Pa

Rolls are generally best of two 1d100, with three 1d100 for rolls against your Magic, one for those against your Magic.

>>40870353

>"Salaman. Explain."

Rolled 43 (1d100)

>>40870431
>>40870395

>>40870353
>"Salaman, explain, what sorcery did you use on me? I felt as if someone else took over for a moment"

>>40870353


>>40870597
changing to:
>>40870670

>>40870670
>>40870690

You ignore the terrified youths for a moment and turn your head to Salaman, making it clear that you will not stand for any bullshit right now. That your form seems to have reverted to the more monstrous one only helps make your case, and you press a claw into Salaman's throat. "Explain, what sorcery was that? I felt as if someone else took control."

His sullen look turns to a grin of triumph until you press ever so slightly harder. "No sorcery. I simply gathered the most relevant prophecies to my enemies and my goals, and strung them together in the most precise way possible so that the Great Catastrophe would be forced to go through them before ending the world, then placed it in the Catastrophe's place of power."

You're fairly sure that's not actually how prophecies work, not how fate works, and there's something he's not telling you. After all, you've BEEN on the end of fulfilling a specific prophecy, and it didn't physically force your body to do anything, things just played out in the world until you reached that place naturally.

>Press the issue.
>"Could you all be so kind as to completely fucking raze this place to the ground?"
>Other [Write In]

Rolled 18 (1d100)

>>40871208
>>Press the issue.

>>40871208
>Press the issue.

>>40871208
>"Well you all heard the man. You could try to contradict all the prophesies you've already gathered, or you could maybe use this sword here to maim me so I don't try to kill you unwillingly."
>"I'd rather NOT die, all told, but compared to that losing a few limbs is fine."

>>40871363
>>40871208
>>40871208

We're already maimed and back in control though. Now we need to find a way to keep breaking fate, maybe seek to ally with the mother person and the queen?
If we can convince them we want to break the curse/prophecy this fucks fate

>>40871531
yes, but allowing them to maim us is a matter of trust.

Not that I'm sure that this is the BEST option.

>>40871266
>>40871322

That's bullshit. You draw your claw across Salaman's neck slowly, and a thin red line appears. You didn't QUITE realize you were pressing hard enough to draw blood, but it definitely serves well to show that you're serious. One of the youths edges around you towards the pedestal to investigate it themselves as you interrogate Salaman. "What are you hiding?"

"I am hiding nothi- Urk!" You press a little harder. You really aren't in the mood to play this game. "Magic to make a specific prophecy sapient. That's what it was." That... That's weird. Is that a thing someone can do? Make a nebulous prediction able to think?

>>40871881

After a moment you have your answer, and you hear metal dragging on the ground. The one who went to investigate (Arat, you think,) is approaching you with empty eyes, dragging his sword along the ground as he lurches towards you.

>He can't actually hurt you. Subdue peacefully.
>Treat it as you would any fight.
>Shoo everyone else out of the room.
>Other [Write In]

>>40872015
>Get everyone to leave this place, and wreck our way out of it so no one gets to that altar so soon.
>Oh yeah and subdue the guy of course, maybe ask his buddies to help with that so we make sure not to hurt him?

>>40871881
oh god, sapient prophecies.

>>40872015
>Disarm him
>Ask the others to subdue him

Rolled 61 (1d100)

>>40872066
>>40872061

>>40872066
>>40872061

Okay, so obviously something has to be done about the person driven mad but you're not sure you're really not sure you're the one to do it. You're not sure exactly how strong you are, and you don't really want to risk hurting the kid by accident. So you'll leave that to his friends. After disarming him, of course. Don't want to risk something going wrong if it doesn't have to.

"Excuse me a moment, I'm just going to take that sword away. If you could go ahead and hold him down after that, it would be appreciated." You turn to face Arat who lifts his sword and lunges at you.

Roll 2d100

Rolled 59, 2 = 61 (2d100)

>>40872721
It's time for shadowman.

Rolled 45, 33 = 78 (2d100)

>>40872721

>>40872773
>>40872782
>Disappointing rolls, the quest.

Rolled 49, 30 = 79 (2d100)

>>40872854
>>40872721
Pretty much, it's worse than JJ's luck from HMQ

>>40872897
Seriously, we've got skill 5 and were kind of absent-mindedly dodging all of these guys at once. Why do we have trouble with this?

>>40872940
Curse of Shadowman

Defense, passed easily.
Technique, less so.

>>40872854
Well they're thematically appropriate at least.

>>40872773
>>40872782

You duck under the blade effortlessly. It's a clumsy swing, moreso than the ones you were effortlessly dodging earlier. You reach out to grab his hand, but it's not QUITE where you thought it was going to be. He swings at you again and again, and each time you try to sneak through an opening and take his weapon but damn this should really not be as hard as it is. You start to get frustrated and just trying to turn the weapon aside with your bare hands and just tackle the guy, but after the first few swings, you notice that the sword actually seems to be leaving stinging gashes in your arm.

What?

It couldn't even TOUCH you before. What changed?

Aware of the fact you can, in fact, be hurt, you realize you may not have the luxury of doing this completely painlessly. You dive under a wide swing and grab the blade directly before grabbing Arat's arm and twisting. He lets go of the weapon, and you leap back, letting it drop. You barely notice him getting dogpiled as you take a look at your hand. You can't SEE anything, but if feels as if there's a deep cut, and you can't quite clench it all the way. Worrisome!

With your attacker subdued, it's not difficult to herd the whole group out of the temple - the traps and labyrinthine corridors you remember have crumbled with age, and you are free to more or less saunter out unmolested. But what do you do from here?

>"Is everyone okay?"
>"So is he still... Controlled? Crazy? Whatever?"
>Tend to 'wounds'
>Other [Write In]

>>40873235
>>"So is he still... Controlled? Crazy? Whatever?"

>>40873235
>"So is he still... Controlled? Crazy? Whatever?"
Could try to get him free of altar influence.
Also, maybe look for something to disguise ourselves with? Some old ass Armour thrown around or something?

>>40873376
>>40873235

>"Is everyone okay?"
Fuck and add in this.

Wounds come later since we don't seem to bleedor anything.

>>40873235
>>Tend to 'wounds'

>>40873235
>>Tend to 'wounds'
We still don't know how damage works, mechanically.

>>40870431
>[Weak Point] - As tremendously hard to kill as your body is to even harm, you have a big glaring weak point in the form of a sword stuck through your body.

Ha oh. You mean that fucking sword of seppuku is still there?

>>40872940
You were DODGING before.

This time you're actually trying to get closer to the sword so you can disarm him.

And unfortunately it seems when there's a prophecy behind the attack, like "this guy is prophesied to attack the people in the vicinity," it exploits our weakness to Fate.

>>40873263
>>40873376

You're actually not certain what just happened but you almost feel more... Free?

Fate: [89/100]
-You're a slippery one, aren't you?

Okay, okay. Difficult to qualify feelings aside for a moment, you look over the group. "Is he still... Crazy? Possessed?"

The one girl, the bodyguard. What was she called? Milla? Lifts her hand from Arat's mouth; he seems to be crying. And while he's trying to talk, his words aren't coherent. So maybe he's not OKAY but he's not under the influence at the moment, which is good enough. Good enough to start being concerned with yourself at least.

Ral, Shir, and Milla let him go trying to comfort as Shavia seems to be in some sort of heated argument with Salaman, and you stop to take a look at your own condition.

>>40873551
>>40873441

You take a moment to look at your hand. It's very difficult to make out, but if you turn your hand JUST right, you can see a deep gash across the palm. If you keep turning your hand, it actually looks almost like a notch, a chunk of your hand which is simply not there. But you're not sure how to fix it, and while it HURTS, you don't think it's doing anything right now. For the moment, you cradle it with your other hand.

>"Do any of you know a good healer?"
>Attempt to converse with Arat.
>Check on Salaman and Shavia
>Other [Write In]

>>40873551

The Seppuku sword is indeed still there. It got stuck.

>>40874168

Pretty much spot on. The (first) prophecy was closer to 'Killing everyone who stood in the way of a specific goal' but, there's only so far prophecy alone will take someone without the personal ability to carry it out.

Sal clearly got a raw deal. He's another victim of fate and an unjust world, just like we were. He was trapped in an impossible situation as the son of a corrupt king--disobedience wasn't really an option--and the king got off scott-free, while Sal takes all the blame.

The religious order and his bitch sister the queen would probably consider it safer just to seal us away again rather than needlessly trust our word that we're totally a big nice friendly monster who just coincidentally was in the exact spot of the Great Catastrophe. But Sal, Sal can be bargained with. We just can't show a sympathetic ear to him where the teenagers can see.

>>40874330
Ask Salaman if he knows how we can heal.
Then we might look into removing that sword, maybe?
Ask the others where they plan to go now

>>40874410
We could just tell them what Salaman told us, that he tried to make us into the great catastrophe but he failed.

I think keeping him close is good, but I wouldn't trust anyone. Rather I'd like to just try and make people trust US so we can try and break free like freddie mercury

>>40874451
I don't think that's what he said, unless you can quote.

And that still doesn't remotely cancel out the obvious evidence that you were awoken exactly where the catastrophe sleeps.

>>40874417
Salaman thought we were a weapon. He knows even less of our nature than we do.

Maybe we eat souls or something.

>>40874330
>"Do any of you know a good healer?"
>>Check on Salaman and Shavia

I'm not sure what the difference between Technique and Control is, though I guess Power is the same as an attack stat.

By the way, we were an abomination and shapeshifted into a humanoid form, we probably can shapeshift into an animal.

>>40874330
>You're actually not certain what just happened but you almost feel more... Free?
Just from leaving the temple grounds?

>>40874615
No you can't. You have exactly two Forms on the character sheet.

You don't get more unless you want to roll against DC 89 to roll a new Form, failure might end the world again.

>>40874330
>>Attempt to converse with Arat.

>>40874660
Those two forms are only there because we only ever tried shifting into a humanoid form.

>>40874709
That doesn't even remotely disprove what I just said, since that incident predates any mechanics in the quest. The humanoid form was always there from the start, you didn't suddenly gain it, you discovered it.

>(You may, at any time attempt to gain a new power or form in any category. Doing so is playing with fate though, and you must attempt to roll over the Fate number or risk an increase in Catastrophe points. You do not want maximum Catastrophe.)

You can't just pull Forms out of your ass without a potentially castrophic roll.

>>>40874568
He does know freaky fate magic so who knows really.

>>40874542
Well he tried to use fate to subjugate the weapon, us
So basically yeah, that's it, he tried to turn us into the ctaatrophe by manipulating fate, it's just semantics.

>>40874786
That's nothing like what he said at all.

> I simply gathered the most relevant prophecies to my enemies and my goals, and strung them together in the most precise way possible so that the Great Catastrophe would be forced to go through them before ending the world, then placed it in the Catastrophe's place of power."

He doesn't want the world destroyed, he lives in it. He clearly assumed the target was already the Big C. He thought he'd manipulate it into doing his bidding in the hopes of accomplishing its own, terrible goal. Which he probably assumed he could stop it from doing and reseal it after it does his dirty work.

>>40874628

Salaman chose to be as specific as possible in his long and complex selection of prophecies in order to make them more likely to happen in a specific way. You ended the possibility of fulfilling one of them, which essentially caused a number of those related to you and those immediately around you to fail.

>>40874709
>>40874780
>>40874660
You have one extra form because I had worked out stats but not how forms worked as of that moment.

>>40874596
Technique is more or less your skill.
Control is more your grasp of and ability to manipulate the circumstances of your unique situation. In other words, you're pretty much the only being in the world right now with a Control Score.

Back to writing.

>>40874780
>the humanoid form was always there from the start
Not really, considering we don't look anything like we did in our previous life. And if that was the case where did the monstrous form come from?
I can understand why shifting into a humanoid form would be "easier" but there's no reason to think we couldn't shift into anything else without trying.

>>40874930
>there's no reason to think we couldn't shift into anything else without trying.
...Except the rule that literally just got quoted and the potential to end the world when you try. You can't just pretend that doesn't exist. Are you tryin to end the world again anon?

>>40874930
>if that was the case where did the monstrous form come from?
That's like asking where did our hella high Endurance and Technique stats come from. Shit Happened we don't understand yet in our origin story.

Somehow went from a human to a creature with two Forms and superhuman stats and a near-slavery to Fate. It's a mystery.

>>40874857
Wanker, I didn't say he wanted the world destroyed, but he wanted his weapom, the Catastrophe, and he used fate to get it.

>>40874417
>>40874568

You decide for the moment, you would like to see if you can't nip this hand thing in the butt. Maybe even get the sword dislodged from your body. Deciding the one with mysterious sorceries and the self-described priestess would likely be the best place to start, you approach them first.

"-s blaspheme! This is the exact foolishness that led to the second ending! The EXACT foolishness." Shavia seems rather angry about something, and you almost want to hear what it is she had to say. But you came over here for a reason.

"Excuse me, I don't suppose either of you know anything about healing?" You offer your wounded hand, and Shavia looks at you quizzically before a second glance has her put her hand to her mouth.

"No... No, my magical talent is only in combat."

You turn to Salaman. You haven't really given him a LOT of reason to help even if he could, but all the same he doesn't do anything but mumble. "...Greyworm paste. I'm sure they have some."

Shavia retrieves something from her satchel and uncorks it, offering it to you. Whatever it is, she thinks its safe enough - you slather some on your 'wound' and notice a distinct lack of pain, even if it doesn't quite heal.

"It helps keep magical forms cohesive. Stabilizes spells."

Oh. That. Makes sense probably.

>Check on someone else
>"What was that you were saying?"
>Other [Write-In]

>>40875145
Your Technique is only barely enhanced. You would have qualified as a BBEG before the supernatural boost.

>>40875211
Then what does
>turn us into the ctaatrophe
even MEAN then, if not 'making you the thing that will end the world.'

Because he didn't try to turn you into anything. And whatever Sal did isn't evidence to anyone that you aren't already the Great Catastrophe made manifest.

>>40875264
>>"What was that you were saying?"

>>40875264
>>Check on Arat
then
>Time to leave this place
>Try to collapse the it as you leave

>>40875264
Thank him.

>>40875327
They aren't gonna let us do that. They still have to do the appeasement ceremony regularly.

And we don't have the firepower to tear it down unilaterally, looking at the stats.

>>40875430
Really? Collapse a pillar here, another over there.
At the very least we should block the entrance.

>>40875264
>"What was that you were saying?"
>appreciate Salaman's sage wisdom

>>40875497
Is an average adult able to do that? 2 is average adult level, and we have Power 2. No exactly Samson.

>>40875264
Thank him and her, ask what they were debating

>>40875541
>>40875304
>>40875355
>>40875575

You contemplate for a moment if something meant to stabilize spells working on your body actually means anything, but you don't really have the context for it. So instead, you bow slightly, and put on your best gentleman face. "Thank you both very much. Understand that whatever our differences, Salaman, I do appreciate your knowledge and your willingness to help." Uncoerced even. "And thank you for parting with your goods on my behalf."

You stand up straight and look between the two of them. "If I may ask, what was it you were arguing about just now?"

"It's not obvious? What he did was an abomination! Fools who thought they could turn and weaponize the words of oracles and seers are the very reason the second ending came!"

"Children should learn their history. The second ending was no more than fools fighting over theology." Salaman glares daggers at Shavia, continuing. "It was those insistent on clinging to their belief of how things MUST go who brought it on the world."

"Theology?! This is no matter of theology, it is FACT. Without people trying to selectively choose what parts of prophecy to observe and ignore, it never would have happened. If nothing else, there is no one who does not realize such an action is anathema!"

So it's a religious argument? Sort of? You sit down and simply listen for a while.

>>40875785

You actually learn a fair bit of both history and modern religion!

What you learn is that at some point, destiny was written in stone. Prophecies came true without question, though they were generally uncommon. The Great Catastrophe happened for the first time, and everything fell apart. The world didn't end, but nearly everyone on the planet died, and no one could understand why. It took centuries for humans to regain a foothold in the world, and when they did, fate was irrevocably damaged. Foretellings and prophecy weren't always fulfilled, and each one unfulfilled made others less likely to happen.

One order took it upon themselves to go about strengthening the power of fate, and manually fulfilled prophecies. But over many years, their purpose changed. They splintered into many groups. They sought specifically vague prophecies that allowed them to put those connected with them in the right place and the right time. And eventually they fought. At some point, their fighting disrupted the Great Catastrophe, and it awoke prematurely, wiping out a great portion of the world before being sealed once more.

Little is known about the third age. Many of their artifacts and their stories still exist, but much of it was stored in a way such that those who came after were unable to even begin to decipher it. All that is known is that at this point, one had to actively attempt to appease fate. If no one sought out fate, it would never seek them out. No one knows what sparked the Catastrophe this time, only that humans were reduced to a fraction of their number once again, and took thousands of years to recover.

>>40876032

In the current age, there are more or less three stances:

The first is that fate should not be denied, but neither should it be appeased. What happens will happen, and to do anything else is dangerous and meddling where one should not.

The second is that order must be upheld at any cost, and that destiny allows for order. Those who believe this make an active attempt to fulfill prophecies at any cost and repair the damage done over the ages..

The third is that prophecy is a tool to be used. Those who believe in this believe prophecies with some vagueness are best, such that they can personally select how they are fulfilled.

As you understand, Shavia is a member of the first camp of thought, while Salaman is of the third. There is apparently a fourth, but you don't actually pick up anything about it from their argument or their asides and attempts to explain ideas to you.

>Well, sounds about time to get out of here.
>"Well all of that is very interesting, but my personal belief is..."
>Check up on someone else.
>Ask what the group's plans are.
>Other [Write In]

>>40876080

There was a third ending? Huh. We only remember two.

>>40876080
>>Check up on someone else.
What ARE the effects of sapient prophecies unleashed on a human mind.

>>40876080
>"Well all of that is very interesting, but my personal belief is..."
if fate tries to fuck you, you fight back

>>40876168
I don't think it's a good idea at all to offer any opinion on this shit openly.

Where opinions are blasphemy and/or heresy.

>>40876105
It does seem odd, doesn't it. Maybe I can't count. Maybe YOU can't count.

>>40876202
To be fair, Shavia isn't mad about opinions (yet), she's mad about the trying to twist fate towards a specific outcome

>>40876080
>>Check up on someone else.
What is the appeasement ceremony, anyway, Shir?

Are you the virgin sacrifice?

>>40876202
it's better to settle it here than in whatever order stronghold we might be headed

>>40876262
"settle" what?

Regardless, the correct answer is, Fate is a bitch that should be eradicated from the face of this cursed earth. The source of injustice in the world.

>>40876302
Is this a second vote voicing beliefs or a continuation of the debate over whether that's a good idea?

>>40876302
settle if we want to go anywhere with specific members of the group. I'm sure we want little to do with the second group
>>40876370
no

File: allthethings.jpg (19 KB, 552x414)

19 KB JPG

>>40876370
Oh. Still against mentioning it.

But privately thinking that.

>>40876389
Well if we want to get access to prophecies from people diametrically opposed to our ends we shouldn't tell them we're philosophically incompatible.

And collecting oracles' words so we can break ALL the prophecies would be nice.

>>40876080
>Ask what the group's plans are.

>>40876105
I wonder if our Control 1 lets us 'see' prophecies at all yet, and what it did to the boy there.

File: frado.jpg (21 KB, 398x399)

21 KB JPG

What good is a stat of Technique 5 without any techniques?

>>40876491
>>40876248
>>40876105


Fate is a bitch - a dumb bitch at that - and you would happily kill it if it were a person. In current company, perhaps your vehement distaste should be kept to yourself though. Instead of risking going on a potentially offensive rant about the outrageous slings and arrows of fate, you politely excuse yourself and go to meet with the others.

Arat is cradling his sword arm with his other hand and still appears rather distressed. More calm than when you saw him before though. You ask how he's doing.

"It was like... It was like I was just trapped. I knew what I was doing and I didn't want to do it but it was happening and I couldn't stop it." He breaks down crying again. Honestly, you haven't spent a lot of time around people who weren't trying to kill you for a very long time. You remember most of your social graces, but you're not really sure what you're supposed to do in this situation. You know some of what he's feeling, but his reaction is making you more than a little uncomfortable. You awkwardly clap a shadowy hand on his shoulder and pat a few times. After a moment of silence, you pull your hand away and sit besides Shir instead.

"So tell me. What exactly is the appeasement ceremony?"

"Oh, someone of royal blood simply has to sing the song of two days, and make a minor blood offering to the Catastrophe in exchange for its stillness."

"You're not a virgin sacrifice then? Pity." He instantly turns a beet red. Man, kids are hilarious. You do mentally take note that he as much as admitted that he's royalty of some sort. Or maybe he assumed it was common knowledge? "In any case, what do you all plan on doing from here?"

"Yes, well first, we need to find a mender for Arat. After that, we head for the Capital to turn in Salaman and report our success."

>Okay, you can do better than that half-assed comforting. Just gotta remember.
>"All of you?"
>"May I tag along?"
>Other [Write In]

>>40877239
>"All of you?"

>>40877239
>"All of you?"

If we can get them to leave us alone with Salaman on watch duty one of these nights, we should find out where he sources dem dank prophecies mang.

If he has any we can break on hand it gets us closer to being able to safely expand our abilities. Just have to offer something he wants.

File: laughingcapatnu52.jpg (254 KB, 800x1067)

254 KB JPG

>>40877239
>"You're not a virgin sacrifice then? Pity." He instantly turns a beet red. Man, kids are hilarious.

Ha wait. he's royal... and he called her "my lady." Maybe he's betrothed to the usurper queen then?

>>40877283
>>40877307

"Well no. Millia's contract is technically already fulfilled. Honestly, I haven't heard a word from her the whole time we've been travelling - She'll likely leave for more work the first chance she gets. And I think Shavia was planning on leaving once we reached the next town."

Hm. So they were more partners of circumstance than anything formal, it seems.

>Talk to someone else
>Ask something else
>Other [Write In]

>>40877454
>>Ask something else
"Work?"

>inb4 shadow monster mercenary quest

>>40877454
>>Ask something else
"Why royal blood? Royalty from just any kingdom?"

>>40877448
Historically, royalty is very well known for keeping it in the family. That's not the reason though.

>>40877478
>High combat skills
>Incredible durability

Well it wouldn't be the worst thing you could do with your life.

We still don't know how to actually heal wounds. Maybe if we eat a living thing or something.

Gotta have all those extra mouths for a reason.

File: e9stas.png (400 KB, 550x276)

400 KB PNG

>>40877239

Hum we need to figure out what prophesies Salaman had tried to tie to us. Want to avoid meeting the queen if he tied one of these prophesies to us killing her.

Wondering are prophesies far more common now? Also how do you know if they are genuine or just random stuff heck what about conflicting prophesies?

Thinking we should also try to comfort the kid. maybe cheer him up with "hey at least you did not have to intentionally impale yourself on a sword to break out of whatever magic was used."

>>40877664
The only way to learn about the real power of prophecies is to wait until everyone else is asleep and talk to Salaman alone, really.

That may require them giving up a watch shift to us.

I mean how do you manipulate prophecies even. And where do you find them. Is there a library to steal from.

>>40877478
>>40877553

"Work?"

"Yes. Arat and Ral are perfectly competent, but we had been beset by many enemies, and decided hiring a mercenary until we could defeat Salaman's scheming was for the best. She was good, but she wasn't very friendly."

You glance at her for a moment, sitting away from the rest of the group. You really haven't heard her say anything the whole time you've been up. Huh.

"So why royal blood? And does it matter from what kingdom?"

"No. It's something about the symbolism, I think. Usually, it's royal foundlings from countries paying tribute to Elerand who are tasked with this duty."

That's an odd practice, but alright.

You take a break from the questions to make a second attempt at comforting Arat, who seems to have regained some of his composure. "Look on the bright side! You're fine now, and nobody got hurt." You take a moment to make a grand gesture at the sword sticking through you. "I mean, it could be better; you didn't get such a nice looking souvenir."

He smiles slightly at that.

>>40877664
In your day, prophecies were not common - those who were capable of doing the big ones lived sequestered from the rest of the world, and only released the most critical ones. Looking down on the masses. The fuckers.

>>40877956

The sun is starting to set, and those who still count themselves among the living are starting to do what living people do to make sure they stay that way. Set up shelter, divvy up rations, etc. You start to consider your options for the night.

>Go hunting for food. Experiment if you can eat.
>Volunteer to keep watch for the night. And maybe...
>Other [Write In]

>>40877990
>>Volunteer to keep watch for the night. And maybe...

>>40877990
How did you tell the difference between real prophecies and random hermits and baba yaga ramblings back then?

>>40877990
>>Go hunting for food. Experiment if you can eat.
>>Volunteer to keep watch for the night. And maybe...

>>40878024

Personally, you were never involved in the process. You were less than fond of the whole system well before it condemned you to a life on the run. You just know that many of them had a way of knowing their own. False prophecies were occasionally a problem from village to village, but there were harsh punishments in place for pretenders.

>>40878010
>>40878035

You volunteer to keep watch for the night. It takes a bit of doing, but you manage to get them to agree after a bit. They all want to sleep, and if you wanted to kill them you could have done it more or less whenever you wanted. Doing so leaves your hands a bit tied on something else you had wanted to try, but you still manage to find a few minutes to grab various leaves and berries and place them in various extra mouths.

You can't actually figure out how to chew or swallow with the mouth in your midsection, though you manage with a great deal of difficulty to crush and mash leaves with the ones in your hands. You can't taste it, and you're not sure where exactly they went because you don't think you have a stomach, but there it is.

Once you're confident that everyone is deep in their sleep, and you're alone, you sneak up to Salaman - they left him in his own tent, tied up with all sorts of pointlessly complex knots. Technically it's your responsibility to watch the prisoner, as you agreed to take watch, but it still feels as if they perhaps need a better understanding of what you do after apprehending someone. You shake him gently. "I think we should have another talk."

---

That's it for tonight folks.

Wednesday around 7PM pst should be the next.

As before if there are any outstanding questions I'll be around for a bit.

Fate: [89/100]
Catastrophe: [95/100]