>>42438191

Instead of waking up to the harsh light of the sun rising up over the wastes, you are instead awakened by the sound of booming thunder. It’s looking like that storm has no intention of changing directions, so you have a decision to make. Storms in the mana wastes are sudden and torrential, and flash floods are an extremely present danger. You would do well to seek shelter, but shelter isn’t exactly forthcoming out in the wastes. Caves offer the best protection from the storm, but are often occupied. You could also seek high ground and set up camp there – your tribe will get soaked through from the rain, but at least you mitigate the chance of being washed away by a flash flood.

>Go back to the odd cave you found while dragging your kill back to camp

>Search for another cave complex to wait out the storm in

>Look for high ground, weather the storm outside in relatively safe, but miserable conditions

>Other (write-in)

First Thread: http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive/42419142/
Current Bestiary: http://pastebin.com/a0gKFbkV

Welcome back everyone, hope you all enjoyed last thread, and I’m looking forward to getting in a nice, long session today. After a consensus is reached on decisions, I will ask for rolls. 1d100, modifiers will be mentioned. Any other questions or concerns? Just ask. And remember, clever write-ins will lower DC.

>>42438216
>>Go back to the odd cave you found while dragging your kill back to camp

I sense magic is afoot.

>>42438216
>Go back to the odd cave you found while dragging your kill back to camp

>Adults, however, can grow up to forty feet long, and can ill-afford to roam around hunting. Instead, they tend to find caves to hide out
I bet there is a Hiss-kar in that cave.

>>42438216
>Go back to the odd cave you found while dragging your kill back to camp

>>42438216
>Go back to the odd cave you found while dragging your kill back to camp

we are no true cave man if we don't get no cave, also we could use it for cave painting later, and settle in it long term by building a wall out of mod,wood and stones later making it a safe place. We will need to set up camp at the cave sooner or later and sooner is better.

>>42438216
>>Go back to the odd cave you found while dragging your kill back to camp

>>42438423
We aren't ready to fight dire bats and and hiss-kars

creatures to watch out for:
Hiss-kar :
>Adults, however, can grow up to forty feet long, and can ill-afford to roam around hunting. Instead, they tend to find caves to hide out in or seas of dunes amongst the wastes where they can bury themselves and wait for prey to walk by unawares.

Dire Bats :
>the wastes are dotted with caves, and those brave enough to venture into them have made amazing claims about the sheer vastness and extent of the somewhat interconnected cave systems. They are a literal lifesaver sometimes, as the caves will sometimes be the only available shelter during the rare, torrential rains the wastes receive. However, seeking shelter in a cave is hardly a human idea, and these are often the most densely populated parts of the entire wastes. Dire Bats are perhaps the most common denizen of these cave systems. They have a six foot wingspan, and sharp teeth, but they are not carnivores. The teeth are used primarily to cut through the tough rinds of local fruits. However, if your tribe were to relocate to, say, a cave inhabited by a fifty-strong group of dire bats, there would be trouble. They can be intensely territorial.

>our tribe only has 10 people
I think it's pretty cool that we really can't afford to lose a single person.

>>42438443
the hiss-kar are actually less dangerous than the dire bats.
if a hiss-kar attacked he would be alone against 4 of us we would at worse lose 1 of our companions but if you throw dire bats into the mix they can make a bigger number especially if they are able to transmit diseases to our tribe and they have the potential to wipe all of us out.

i propose we leave if we encounter dire bats but we can fuck up hiss-kar if we roll well.

>>42438550
I have no doubt that the cave will have Dire bats, however according to the bestiary they only get territorial if there are a lot of them, if we are lucky they will be few in numbers. Anyway learning how to heal with our shamanism should be high in our priority list.

You pile a few more sticks atop the campfire, gnarled pieces of dead wood from the twisted trees of the mana wastes. Val-Dai walks over to you, a strip of meat skewered through a long, thin bone that has been sharpened to a point on one end.

“I see you were busy last night,” you say, gesturing towards the stick. She smiles, but shakes her head.

“Not my handiwork, Shar. Mae-Von was up most of the night whittling away at pieces of your kill.”

You are about to respond when the crash of thunder echoes across your camp. The dark clouds are encroaching ever closer. You figure you might have two hours before they reach your current position. Val-Dai looks at the sky, and sighs loudly.

“We will likely have to climb atop something, Shar.”

“No,” you reply, “I think I have a better idea.” Thunder booms once more, and Ghal-Orok bolts upright, jarred from sleep. He lets loose a tiny squeal, then claps his hands over his mouth. His mate, Kee-Tha, looks up at him with thinly veiled disgust. Ghal recovers quickly, however, and breaks into his usual loud, boisterous laughing. His mate merely shakes her head, resigned.

After cooking your breakfast over the fire for a few minutes, you tuck into your meal. Heating the meat makes it taste much better, and you stand up after eating feeling incredibly satisfied. You stand, and gesture for the tribe to circle round the fire. Most draw close without question, with the exception of Turuk-Zon, who stands firm for several minutes before walking over, grumbling the entire way.

“When we brought the Kovo back to camp, I found a cave. It looks...imposing. But it will certainly keep us sheltered from the rain. There’s even a small pool at its mouth, which should collect the water as it falls. I say we go there until the storm passes, at the least. It might even be a place where we can rest for a long while.”

You see a few nods around the camp, but the first person to speak in response is Turuk-Zon.

(cont)

>>42438664

“And what would you say the odds are of that cave already being a home for something else, Spiritwalker? Especially with a storm on the horizon.”

“Actually, Shar,” this time Bo speaks, “Turuk might have a point there.”

>Tell them about the flash of green light you saw inside the cave

>Tell them it looked uninhabited

>Other (write-in)

>>42438680
>>Tell them about the flash of green light you saw inside the cave
>Other (write-in)
Tell them to prepare to move there while We and Turuk-Zon (he's the strongest man right?) go ahead and investigate the cave.

>>42438605
that's also a reason to get a cave:
>get ability to do cave drawings
>maybe find minerals or crystals if lucky
>low chance of getting attacked if we seal our area of the cave with dirt
>greater connection with the earth and darkness?
>investigate the cool light also green light = GO FOR IT


>>42438680
>Tell them about the flash of green light you saw inside the cave
no sense in lying and losing their trust

>>42438725
Those are good reasons if this particular cave have too many dire bats I vote we leave and keep searching until we find a good one.

>>42438722
Only moving in with two men would be unwise unless you want to back-stab him, but we aren't that kind of person and there might be a hiss-kar inside and i doubt 2 person would be able to handle an adult one.
I seriously disapprove this proposal of going in with only two men.

>>42438776
How about once we get at the entrance leave those not good for combat at the entrance while the others investigate inside then?

>>42438796
We should at least leave one able fighter outside, so he can prevent losses for enough time so that a non able fighter run to the people in the cave to warn us that people at the entrance are being attacked

>Nightcats – nocturnal stalkers that live and hunt alone, these predators are perfectly suited for operating at night. Their coats are a jet black flecked with specks of blue – for a reason unknown to you, they like to rub against mana crystals as though relieving an itch, and the iridescent blue of the crystals inevitably stains a Nightcat’s coat over time. They are intensely shy animals, and if you are traveling at night, you are likely being watched from afar. However, they are about the size and build of a German Shepherd, and tend to steer clear of stalking fully grown human males.

>tend to steer clear of stalking fully grown human males.

>>42438838
That sounds like a good plan. I had forgotten about those nightcats

>>42438871
>>42438838

It is daytime, gentlemen. They're asleep.

ooga booga

So, we're telling the tribe about the light. Vote whether or not you and Turuk go and scout the cave first.

>Y
>N

>>42438953
No, we need to be more, going with only 2 people would be too risky

>>42438953
>Y and N
scout the surroundings only , don't actually go deep inside the cave, use your shaman powers to try so sense anything coming from the cave too.

>>42438992
>>42438995

I'll mix these two as best I can. Writing.

>>42438953
>>Y

>>42439124
>>42438953
You should get a trip.

>>42439175

I will do so before the next thread, which will be Sunday.

You decide that lying won’t get you anywhere. Whatever was making that light when you looked into the cave mouth will likely still be there when you arrive.

“I did see something inside the cave. A flash of light, just for an instant. Green, bright green. I think we should all move to the pool near the cave, I’ll head in to make sure it’s safe. Turuk, Bo, I’d like it if you came with me.”

Turuk, much to your surprise, breaks into a wide smile.

“I haven’t been spelunking in some time, Spiritwalker. I will clear this cave,” he states boldly, in his typical no-nonsense manner of speaking. He grabs a large, thick branch of wood from the small pile your tribe has gathered near the fire, and holds the tip of it in the flame until it catches. He waves his newly fashioned torch in front of the tribe with a savage look upon his face. Turuk, for all his size and strength, has always had a tendency to err on the side of caution. You can’t tell if it’s the cooked food in his belly or if he’s compensating for the fact that you seem to have replaced him, for now, as the one who calls the shots in the tribe. But you’re happy he’s taken such zeal to the task. There are few denizens of the wastes who could best Turuk-Zon in single combat.

The tribe delegates tasks amongst themselves, and begin to break down the camp. Turuk hands you the torch, and he begins piling no small amount of belongings onto his shoulders, including Mae-Von’s mammoth bundle of sleeping furs. You doubt you could carry such a load all the way to the cave, and Turuk is holding it casually in one hand. The rest of the tribe all gathers their meager property, and finish stripping the Kovo of all useful materials. Many of the larger bones will have to stay behind, but you see Mor-Xat and his daughters all carrying bundles of thin bones. Mae-Von smiles at this absentmindedly. She really seems to enjoy working with the matriarch’s skeleton.

>Roll me 1d100 for the trip there.

>>42439328

And

>Talk to someone while you travel

>Timeskip to the cave

Rolled 46 (1d100)

>>42439328
>Talk to someone while you travel
Turuk tell him to be on the watch for hiss-kar and dire bats

Spirits guide my dice!

Rolled 63 (1d100)

>>42439328
>>Talk to someone while you travel

Talk to Turuk, we need to build a rapport with him to not distabilize the tribe, ask for advice about navigating the caves and fighting what might be within

Rolled 44 (1d100)

>>42439328

Rolled 80 (1d100)

>>42439328
Talk to Turuk

All things packed, the tribe sets off, following you towards where you found the strange cave. Sa-Lia and Tal-Lia both carry light loads, and they flit around a very weighed down Val-Dai, who gives them a look of tired amusement. Mor-Xat actually seems somewhat relieved to not have the girls clinging to him for once. Despite how protective he is, you can imagine how tiresome the work of raising two children all alone must be. Val-Dai seems content enough to entertain them for now. She played surrogate mother for you too once.

Holding the torch in one hand and carrying a bound leather satchel full of Kovo fillets in the other, you sidle up to Turuk-Zon, who is shouldering a truly massive amount of weight. Did he really have to bring the matriarch’s skull along? It’s nearly as big as one of the twins.

“Turuk,” you say, getting his attention. The man is sweating profusely – between the weight on his back and the increasingly humid air around, it makes sense. Guess the man is human after all. “Do you have any idea of what made the light I saw in the cave?”

He snorts loudly, and shifts the weight from one shoulder to the other. “I don’t know if you saw anything real at all, Spiritwalker.”

Well, you suppose that isn’t terribly unfair. You see things others don’t every day.

“Suppose it is something of this plane, then, Turuk. Do you know what it could be?”

(cont)

>>42439786

“No,” he says tiredly, making it feel as though conversing with you is somehow more draining to him than carrying in excess of a hundred pounds over the course of several miles. You, however, are not keen on letting this conversation slide. Turuk-Zon trusts you least of perhaps everyone in the tribe, the huge man spooked by your ability to see the spirits of the dead. But he is your tribe’s fiercest warrior, best hunter, and perhaps the most reliably productive member of the entire group. He may never like you, but he’s an important asset, important to the survival of the tribe as a whole. And you need to keep a man like that in the fold.

“Will you do me the honor of leading our scouting party?” you ask. Short, simple. Something that Turuk-Zon can wrap his head around. He ponders for a moment, and then responds.

“Yes, Shar. I will lead,” he looks ready to move away from you when he turns his head once more, and meets your eyes with his own.

“Thank you,” he says. Then he meanders off the way of Ghal-Orok, presumably to spare the man from his mate’s badgering. She’s been mumbling, clearly agitated, in the ear of the bearded man since you left camp. He made one bawdy joke too many as everyone gathered their things, you think. It’s funny, how sometimes the people of your tribe need protecting from themselves. Maybe that’s what Turuk-Zon thinks about you – meddling with forces beyond your understanding might be dangerous for everyone. Or things beyond his understanding, at least.

An hour of slow progress later, you arrive at the mouth of the cave. Ghal-Orok and Mor-Xat each had to take their small stone knives to cut a large enough path through the thick, bruise-colored vegetation wide enough for your heavily laden tribe to walk through. Sa-Lia and Tal-Lia, upon seeing the seemingly fanged entrance to the cave, immediately rush over to their father, who is trying to pick his baggage up from the ground where he left it.

File: cave.jpg (504 KB, 1600x1513)

504 KB JPG

>>42439817

“I don’t want to go in there,” Sa-Lia says, “It looks scary. Looks bad.” Tal-Lia, standing next to her, nods vigorously.

“It will look a lot worse out here in a couple hours, girls. Do you really want to stay outside in the rain?”

Neither of the twins respond, but they stick close to their father, each with one small hand wrapped in the leathers Mor-Xat is wearing. They do not seem at ease.

>See if the spirit world can offer any insight on the cave

>Follow Turuk in, no ritual necessary

>Other (write-in)

>>42439846
>See if the spirit world can offer any insight on the cave
we have shaman powers, not using them would be stupid

>>42439846
>>Follow Turuk in, no ritual necessary

It'll do well to have him feel this is his show

>>42439846
>See if the spirit world can offer any insight on the cave

>>42439846
>>Follow Turuk in, no ritual necessary
This anon has the right idea>>42439899

>>42439846
>>See if the spirit world can offer any insight on the cave

Always get the most information you can

>>42439881
this

Looks like you're visiting the spirit world. I'll write it in a way that doesn't look like you're taking the spotlight away from Turuk-Zon.

Follow up decision:

>Cut your palm, smear blood on your face. You've noticed that blood sacrifice gives much greater clarity to your visions (+10 modifier on shaman roll, but the rain is coming, and rain brings infections)

>Blood is icky and gross (-10 on shaman roll)

>>42440130
>>Cut your palm, smear blood on your face. You've noticed that blood sacrifice gives much greater clarity to your visions (+10 modifier on shaman roll, but the rain is coming, and rain brings infections)
We must sacrifice much for clarity

Rolled 62 - 10 (1d100 - 10)

>>42440130
>Blood is icky and gross (-10 on shaman roll)
yeah no blood

>>42440166

We changed quest mechanics to only count rolls after a consensus has been reached for your course of action. So this one won't count. Feel free to roll again once the anons are all agreed.

>>42440162
this

>>42440130
>Cut your palm, smear blood on your face. You've noticed that blood sacrifice gives much greater clarity to your visions (+10 modifier on shaman roll, but the rain is coming, and rain brings infections)
We will be protected from the rain inside the cave after the sacrifice so the risk of infections shouldn't bother us

>>42440249
>>42440218
>>42440162

Consensus reached.

>Roll 1d100+10, best of first three.

>>42440162
>>42440249
These reasons work well for me.

>>42440259

This is me.

Rolled 67 + 10 (1d100 + 10)

>>42440259
Come on spiritwalker!

Rolled 72 (1d100)

>>42440259

Rolled 20 + 10 (1d100 + 10)

>>42440259

Rolled 47 + 10 (1d100 + 10)

>>42440259
blood for the blood spirits

>>42440289

77, writing.

Rolled 39 + 10 (1d100 + 10)

>>42440294
ops

>>42440284
Spark man, you really need to get a trip

While Turuk-Zon and Bo-Sol help the rest of the tribe unload and start up a small fire opposite the cave mouth, you decide you might as well try to find out as much about the cave as you can. You withdraw the Kovo knife from your sash and slice cleanly into your palm, deep enough to bleed readily but not so deep as to cause lasting damage. You massage your wrist a little bit to get a good amount of blood pooled in the cup of your palm, and then spread it across your face, and sit on the ground. You press your cut palm into the earth, and let yourself drift into a trance.

Quickly the material plane fades, and you are surrounded by the odd veneer of the spirit world. You can sense your tribe behind you, sorting and unpacking belongings, vivid white ghosts in the clearing before the cave. Oddly, you are surrounded by the most ancestral spirits you have ever seen at one time. Hundreds of pale, wispy faces watching you and your tribe impassively. You strain your focus, trying to catch a whisper, some word muttered from beyond the veil of death. Slowly, the voices begin to trickle in, a confusing stream of different pitches, different words, male, female, children all speaking different things at once. But after a while, the voices begin to sound the same, until they gradually combine into one, and suddenly, the clamor stops. There is dead silence for a moment, before the word comes.

“Forward.”

Another pause.

“Go.”

“Forward.”

From inside the cave, the green flash returns once more, this time brighter. Too bright, in fact. It sears the backs of your eyes and tosses you unceremoniously from your trance. When you come to you realize you are sputtering, spit leaking from your mouth. You take the dried skin of warm water at your side and pour it over your head.

(cont)

>>42440551

You never see color when you keep company with the spirits.

You turn to check on your tribe, and you see Turuk standing dead still, staring with wide eyes at the mouth of the cave. Then, he looks to you.

“Guess you’re not so full of shit after all, Spiritwalker,” he says, the impassive resting expression flooding back over his face. So he saw it, too.

In the back of your head, a whisper comes unbeckoned. You know the voice is not your own.

“Step softly...”

>Roll 1d100 for cave exploration


>>42440330

I'd still have the name-dropping problem with it. When I post in other threads I wouldn't wear this name or a trip. The name-dropping is me forgetting to refill the name section when I come back here.

Rolled 28 + 10 (1d100 + 10)

>>42440575
please don't crit fail

Rolled 6 + 10 (1d100 + 10)

>>42440575

Rolled 57 (1d100)

>>42440575
You should still get one, in-case of trolls and anti-questers who are gaining some steam lately.

Rolled 7 (1d100)

>>42440575
>>Roll 1d100 for cave exploration

>>42440611

You may re-roll, as there is no modifier for this.

>>42440628

You too.

Rolled 39 (1d100)

>>42440628

>>42440629

57, writing.

Rolled 62, 58 = 120 (2d100)

Turuk-Zon takes the torch from you, and wades through the shallow pool to reach the mouth of the cave. On either side of the entrance is a pillar of jagged blue crystal, which Turuk-Zon shies away from instinctually. You and Bo-Sol follow, holding your weapons above the water, which barely comes past your waist.

“Let’s take this slowly, Turuk,” you say, “Something made that flash of light, and if you saw it, too, then it is certainly real.”

The big man grunts, “Are you letting me lead this or what, Spiritwalker? I’ll ask when I have need of you.”

You bite your tongue and press onward. There are more important things for you to worry about at the moment. And Turuk-Zon always did get agitated when he was nervous. You and Bo-Sol follow Turuk deeper into the cave, the warm orange light of the torch barely reaching both walls of the cave. The ceiling, however, seems to be a good deal higher. The cave is right beneath a cliff face, it’s possible the entire cliff is hollow.

Not five minutes after the three of you set into the cave, you begin to hear sounds. Not the high-pitched cries of Dire Bats, thankfully, but a low rumbling, growing so loud you could feel the ground shake slightly. Turuk-Zon frowns, and looks to you.

“I do not know this sound,” he says.

Then you see it. A long, gnarled root comes into view behind Turuk, raising itself slowly above his head. Bo-Sol notices too after a moment, and he cries out, causing the root to shoot with unexpected speed in his direction. The root isn’t sharp by any means, but getting hit by something that heavy moving at that speed could certainly be fatal.

>Roll 1d100-5 for combat. Modifier is because you’re in an extremely dark place and whatever that thing is, it has homefield advantage. Write-in a plan of attack if you would like. I’m rolling for Bo-Sol to evade the root, and Turuk-Zon to bash the root with his big scary caveman club.

Rolled 21 - 5 (1d100 - 5)

>>42440875
Try to burn it with the torch.

Rolled 7 - 5 (1d100 - 5)

>>42440875

Can we find the source and set fire to it with our torches?

Rolled 52 + 5 (1d100 + 5)

>>42440875
Cut it with our dagger

Rolled 20 - 5 (1d100 - 5)

>>42440875

Burn it with the torch

>>42440956
>>42440974
>>42440996

Dice gods do not like the cave. Writing.

Rolled 29 - 5 (1d100 - 5)

>>42440875
hope for rolling high

Rolled 76 (1d100)

>>42441006
See me get a 100 when the dice doesn't count anymore.

>>42441032

Still would have been better

File: angryneanderthal.jpg (25 KB, 400x400)

25 KB JPG

>>42440991
>only high roll
>lack the minus sign
>>42441032
>roll doesn't matter
>highest roll

>>42441006
welp I hope you're somewhat lenient with this, we can't seem to roll very high to save our lives.

File: dice gods.png (193 KB, 640x400)

193 KB PNG

Rolled 96 (1d100)

>>42441078
They enjoy laughing at us

>>42441104

Those fickle bastards

>>42441104
at least our buddies rolled decently

At the last possible moment, Bo-Sol recovers from his shock and leaps away from the advancing root, the gnarled wood dealing a glancing blow to your friend’s side. The force of the blow knocks him off balance, and he trips, but no serious damage is done and he evaded the worst of what the root was trying to give him. Turuk, to his credit, does not miss a beat, and begins savaging the root with his club. However, this has practically no effect. Turuk-Zon, realizing this, tosses the club away and pulls out the stone knife from his sash, and digs it into the root. As soon as he pierces the bark, a green liquid begins to pour forth, thick like sap but all the wrong color.

You think whatever Turuk is doing is having some effect, and the cave rumbles again, more violently this time. You draw your Kovo knife and rush the flailing root as Turuk struggles to free his blade from the twisted wood, but the cave itself shudders and throws you off balance. You fall into the root as it whips wildly, and it catches you with great force squarely in the chest, sending you flying against the wall.

There is no pain. You open your eyes, and the material plane is gone. You just got knocked into the spirit world. The root, a bright green glow, lashes wildly at your two companions as you lay slumped against the stone wall motionless. You can see now, the root is merely an appendage, part of a vast system that extends all throughout the cave. Deep at its center, you think you see the terminus of the system of roots, a pulsating beacon of deep green light, a few hundred yards away from you.

You gape in wonder at this bizarre, living plant, wondering how such a thing could come about. But then you see something that tears your attention from your foe completely. A soft white glow is all around you, shaped like your body, in fact. Actually, it’s beginning to form outside of you. It’s beginning to float away.

>Grab your soul and pull it back into your body

>Roll 1d100

Rolled 83 (1d100)

>>42441205

Rolled 81 (1d100)

>>42441205
GET BACK IN HERE

Rolled 72 (1d100)

>>42441205
Don't trust spirits

>>42441231
>>42441232
>>42441238

See, you guys can roll high when everything is on the line. Writing.

No, it’s not your time. Not yet. You can do more. So much more. You just need to pull through this. You need to live.

The shriek that fills your lungs is not a sound you made intentionally. No, it came from some strange, feral part of you. A part buried deep down, something you didn’t know existed before. You don’t just grope for your soul, you make as if to savage it, tearing at the wisps of fading light with your hands like they were claws, drawing ragged, torn pieces of your soul and making a desperate bid to pull it back into you.

Part of you knows that this is the end. You can’t just violently will a soul back into a lifeless body, can you?

***

You are Turuk-Zon, hunter and warrior, leader and compatriot. You have always kept the tribe safe. Well, as safe as you can. Sometimes it is impossible to save people from themselves. Like the thrice-damned Spiritwalker, who just got his ass flung across the cave to crack against the stone wall with a sickening sound. That, you realize, is a fatal blow. And that, you realize, is not a good thing. As much as the little abomination irritates you, as much as you feel he destabilizes the tribe itself, even you cannot deny the value he brings. You roar, vengeful. Shar-Tal was not your friend, but he was your own. One of the tribe. You would avenge him.

Ripping the knife from the gnarled wood of the living root, you plunge the dagger in once more, this time sending up a veritable spray of green sap from beneath the wood. Bo-Sol is managing to carry his weight, too. For all the fool’s idiot mannerisms and horribly long stories, he always has been a capable fighter. Quick on his feet, good reactions, strong where he needs to be. He slides beneath the root as it writhes above him, and plunges the spear deep within the root, covering himself with more green sap as it pours forth from the wound.

(cont)

>>42441690

The cave shakes again, but this time it’s accompanied by a howl. You turn, and see Shar-Tal on his feet again, miraculously. But something about him is different.

No, everything about him is different.

Two long, sharp claws of white light extend forth from both his hands, and his eyes burn evenly with the same color. Once more, he lets loose a howl, and bounds forward, favoring the side he cracked against the wall of the cave. He has to have a score of broken bones, but the Spiritwalker charges forward, seemingly oblivious to the pain. From a low crouch, Shar-Tal leaps into the air, jumping further than any man naturally ought to, and swipes downward viciously with his glowing claws. The root is severed cleanly in two, a spray of green coating the cave floor. You’re about to congratulate Shar-Tal when he howls again, and bounds off blindly deeper into the cave. Bo-Sol, covered in green, is frozen in place, staring in shock where his friend was a moment before.

The torch still burns on the ground. You pick it up, and charge after Shar-Tal, grabbing Bo-Sol’s shoulder and dragging him along, rousing the man from his reverie.

Thrice-damned Spiritwalker, you dodge death only to get the three of us killed.

***

You are fury, you are rage. You do not recall having any other name. You saw the heart of your prey, and you intend to claw it out, consume it while it still beats, pulsing with fading life. You streak through the cave like a flash of lightning, as at home in the dark as you’d be out in the sun. Violence incarnate does not wait for light to shed the way, does not wait for friends to gang up upon its foes. You move, until the heart is laid bare before you.

You see it, then. A latticework of roots in a large cavern all leading to a barked confluence, no larger than a man is tall. Snarling, you rush at the heart. Your enemy. Your prey. You will devour this creature, you own this land.

(cont)

>>42441716

And, suddenly, you stop. The glowing heart glows stronger and stronger, and you feel as though your life is being sucked away. Suddenly, you remember. Your soul lifting out of your body, your desperate attempts to pull it back in. This...this thing, it’s doing that same thing to you again now. You roar.

And then you sleep.

***

You are Shar-Tal, and you have no idea how you got here. The room you’re in is pitch black save for a gentle green light emanating from what seems to be the cavern’s center. You try to move, and the entire left side of your body protests in agonizing pain. You try to breathe, try to calm yourself, but you are well and truly panicking now. Did you just die?

You hear shouts behind you, and soon enough a second light joins you in the room, illuminating it enough for you to see the bizarre tree that dominates the cave. Woven roots sprouting odd, purplish leaves take up the majority of a truly vast cavern. You sit still, trying not to move. Moving hurts.

Bo-Sol stops from a dead sprint right before you, Turuk-Zon behind him holding high the torch, which looks as though it’s beginning to sputter out.

“Shar!” Bo yells, “Shar, are you alright? What the fuck happened back there?”

“I...” you begin, “I don’t...know...”

A voice comes from everywhere and nowhere all at once.

“I do, Spiritwalker.”

A quick look at Turuk-Zon’s frightened face informs you that it was not him who spoke the words.

>Write-in your response

>>42441739
What are you?

>>42441739
W-what are you? What is this place.

>You have channeled the essence of a beast for the first time, in this case, a Nightcat. You don’t recall ever really interacting with one, you simply saw them circle the camp late at night, or stumbled upon their dens during the day. Maybe it has something to do with your mutual tolerance for mana crystals?

>>42441794
>>42441784

These seem to cover the bases pretty well.

Also Nightcats sound like a kick ass beast to have as a familiar if we can pull that off

>>42441819

You have never tamed an animal, much less an elusive predator. But hey, practice makes perfect right?

>>42441865
How hard can it be to tame an oversized cat? Anyway that was pretty cool, I bet we can do the same with that Kovo bone we have

>>42441881

You've still yet to investigate the Kovo bone, despite the fact that it seems to glow faintly whenever you put your spirit world eyes on.

>>42441881
>How hard can it be to tame an oversized cat
extremely, at least if you want it to spend less than half a day lazing around.

I just finished reading the archived first thread. You done good, spark, but do be mindful of the difference between lie and lay.

>>42441942
This guy has it right, current science shows that cats may have actually domesticated themselves.

>>42441942
I was being sarcastic
>>42441981
I don't doubt it.

>>42441739
"Was it you who called me here? Why call if only to attack us?"

>>42442027
must've missed it.

>>42441739
"Is this cave yours? We would like to take shelter in the coming storm."

>>42441739
I saw and heard the Spirits, they told me it was not my time, they sent me back but my memory is hazy, Are you all well? Where is our attacker?

“Wh-what are you?” Bo-Sol asks to the air around him, beating you to the punch. He looks spooked, and Turuk-Zon’s face has slowly begun to come to rest again. No answer comes for a minute, and the only sounds are those of your companions’ labored breathing. Then, the soft green glow at the center of the cavern grows brighter, ever brighter, until you have to shut your eyes. A flash of green seems to penetrate your skull and lodge itself there. Then, the light fades. When you open your eyes, you see as well as you could during the day.

The terminus of the living roots, you realize, is no mere log. It has the form of a human woman, made entirely of bark, held in place by the latticed roots. She seems to have some basic freedom of motion, but is entirely connected to the massive tree’s system within the cave.

“I am me,” the voice says. The tree-woman did not open her mouth. She is speaking directly into the minds of the three of you.

Turuk-Zon looks at the living tree, then back to you, and back to the tree again. “Will he live?” he asks aloud. Like Bo-Sol, he seems entirely unsure of which direction he should enunciate the question.

“Of course,” the tree states simply, a happy note in her voice, “He is dead already. If he wants, he could live forever.”

“That – “ you start, wheezing. You must have broken at least one rib, “That makes no sense.”

“Have you ever killed something dead, Spiritwalker?” the tree chirps. She almost seems like she’s having...fun.

(cont)

>>42442360

“No.”

“And you died, Spiritwalker. Yet you walk still among the living. I could not kill you even if I wanted to,” the roots in the cave quiver a little bit, and you realize that the tree is laughing, “And I certainly don’t want to!”

“So why did you try to kill him?” Bo-Sol asks. Unsurprisingly, the feminine voice of the tree has set him at ease.

“Because he was with you!” the tree practically sings. Bo-Sol backs up slightly, put ill at ease by the off-color comment. Turuk-Zon, however, has remained uncharacteristically calm.

“So,” Turuk says, one hand on the back of his head, scratching absentmindedly, “If the Spiritwalker brings our tribe to shelter here under his protection, may we stay?”

Well, you have to hand it to him. You did not know that Turuk-Zon, of all people, would have a diplomatic side.

“Of course!” the tree chirps once more, “I just require a small donation, once a day. Nothing major.”

“What would you have us give?” you ask her.

“Your blood, of course!”

You share a look with Turuk and Bo. How should you approach this?

>Agree to bleed atop the living tree, give all the blood yourself

>Agree to bleed atop the living tree, split the duty between members of the tribe

>Refuse, sleep outside

>>42442383
"Why do you need blood? And how much?"

>>42442383

How much blood do you require?

>>42442383
Agree, but only give the blood of like the 7 strongest of us in a rotation, since we could get ill.

>>42442404
>>42442409
This ask her first, I don't trust this tree bitch. Something shady's afoot anons

>>42442383
Split the blood among everyone except Turuk and Mae-Von.

Keep some aces in the hole.

>>42442383
>>Refuse, sleep outside

This tree will suck us dry

"How much blood would you require?" you ask the tree. She giggles, and the cavern rumbles again.

"Enough to drink!" she states giddily, "It won't kill you, Spiritwalker, obviously."

Looks like you aren't going to get a measurable amount.

Decision time:

Stay in the cave?

>Y
>N

>>42442581
Y
Give the blood our-self, lets be selfless.

>>42442581
Y

>>42442581
>N
Say no to the crazy tree lady

>>42442581
>>Y

>>42442581
Yes

>>42442581
>N

>>42442581
N

We must defeat her in mortal combat and bind her to our will

>>42442581

Y
We will provide the blood oursselves

We totemist quest now

Just us, because she said it won't kill "Spirit Walker". Warn our comrades they may here our screams...may wanna hide that for morals sake

“Very well,” you inform the tree, who squeals in delight, “I will provide blood for you each day we stay here, but you have to promise me that you will keep my people safe.”

“Of course, Spiritwalker, of course!”

***

An hour later, your tribe have all moved into the cave, although after hearing the story of the vampiric, talking tree seems to have dissuaded them from exploring the depths of the cave. Ghal-Orok and Mor-Xat have started a fire at the cave mouth, far enough out so the slight breeze that emanates from the cave pushes the smoke outwards.

You, however, remain deep inside the cavern, near the tree. Frankly, you’re not sure if you could move even if you wanted to.

Doubled over in agony, with each drawn breath a torturous process, you decide to explore the one option that may be left to you. Fighting through the pain, you prick your forearm with the sharp tip of your Kovo dagger. You wipe the blood across your forehead, and try to calm your mind. It’s difficult to fight through the pain, but the spilled blood does its work.

When your eyes open, you are surrounded by the increasingly familiar sights of the spirit world. Looking down at yourself, you see the spectral outline of your body, broken and jagged all down your left side. Near you, roots slither along the ground trailing a faint glowing green.

>See if you can focus on your spirit, mend the damage yourself

>Reach out to the tree, see if you can sap her life force and use it to heal yourself

>Other (write-in) – clever write-ins will lower DC considerably

>>42442955
>>Reach out to the tree, see if you can sap her life force and use it to heal yourself
She/it damaged us so she/it should pay for it.

>>42442955
>>See if you can focus on your spirit, mend the damage yourself


>>42443001
Double crossing the thing that could kill us, no thanks

>>42442955
>Swap our life force with the tree's at a 3:4 ratio for our benefit

>>42442955
>>Reach out to the tree, see if you can sap her life force and use it to heal yourself
Remember the kovo matriarch. Remember the feeling of pulling its life into yourself. The feeling of power that came with it. Use it to heal instead of hurt.

>>42442955
see if you can focus on your spirit mend the damage yourself

>>42442955
Speak to the Creepy Tree in this form reach out and say we are going to repair ourselves. Make our broken left side Living Bark using the vines as inspiration and drawing a little power from them if she permits, but mostly ourselves. We Could form some kind of cult around this Dryad/like thing.

>>42442955
>See if you can focus on your spirit, mend the damage yourself
>Other (write-in) – clever write-ins will lower DC considerably
See if we can draw on any lingering power in that kovo mandible dagger we carved. it came from a beast of great life force, there might be some sympathetic magic to work with.

>>42443050
this

>>42442955
>>Other (write-in) – clever write-ins will lower DC considerably

Stab that tree right in the face

>>42442955
>See if you can focus on your spirit, mend the damage yourself

>Talk in spirit form

So, we've had some good write-ins. Final destination vote begins now.

>Mend the damage yourself using your own spiritual energy

>Inform the tree that you are going to reach out to it, and use its life force to turn your left side into living bark

>Mend yourself using the Kovo dagger

>Stab the tree with the Kovo dagger and use it as a conduit to drag as much life force as you can out of it.

>>42443260
>>Mend yourself using the Kovo dagger
Let's try this.

no need for this vote though as there was a leading vote.

>>42443260
>Mend the damage yourself using your own spiritual energy

>>42443260
>Mend yourself using the Kovo dagger

>>42443260
>Mend yourself using the Kovo dagger

>>42443260
>>Stab the tree with the Kovo dagger and use it as a conduit to drag as much life force as you can out of it.
Die!!! Bitch!!!

>>42443260
>Mend yourself using the Kovo dagger

>>42443294
>>42443301
>>42443302
>>42443349

We'll go with this then. Writing.

>>42443260
>>Mend yourself using the Kovo dagger

You feel adrift when you’re in the spirit world, and the pain itself fades away into near-nothingness. Every time you look at your mangled left side, however, you know the pain is waiting patiently to make its way back to you. You remember the Kovo dagger, and hold it in front of your face. It glows softly, the faintest wisp of a spirit encircling the sharpened blade like a cloud. You focus on bringing the energy into yourself, trying to recall the memory of when you were desperately clinging onto the Kovo matriarch’s back, how you pulled forth energy from its spirit and infused yourself with it.

>Roll 1d100+5

Rolled 86 (1d100)

>>42443456
spirits take the wheel

Rolled 96 + 5 (1d100 + 5)

>>42443456

Rolled 79 + 5 (1d100 + 5)

>>42443456

>>42443494
fuck, SLEEPY HAS BEEN UNLEASHED

>>42443494
101 bitches. Is that a crit spark?

File: Laughing Sharkman.jpg (9 KB, 168x209)

9 KB JPG

>>42443494
Noice

>>42443515

Unnatural crit, as you got it with a modifier. Still a pretty epic roll.

>>42443546
So regular crits a nat1 and nat100?

>>42443508
Yep hear my battle cry and shiver! Yaaawn.

>>42443587

Indeed. Writing for unnatural crit.

You push your focus on the dagger with every ounce of might you have left in your tired, broken body. And then, then you pull. Almost immediately, the Kovo matriarch springs into being before you, a spectral white form staring you dead in the eyes. It gives a disapproving snort.

Determined, you pull harder. The creature’s grunts go from agitated to panicked, and then turn into the same squeals you heard when you brought the beast down. Its form begins to dissipate, and in a vortex of swirling light the matriarch’s spirit is pulled into your own, coalescing on your left side. A surge of power flows into you, and you are caught up in a rush of energy. You are thrown from the spirit realm with such force that you come to with your face in the packed dirt ground of the cave, coughing into the floor. When you roll over onto your back, you’re pleased to note that your left side no longer pains you.

You squint, trying to regain your focus on the material plane. Mae-Von stands over you, a look of concern on her face.

“Shar...are you...are you okay?” she asks, twiddling her fingers nervously.

“Yeah. I’m actually a lot better. Hells, I feel great!” You stretch your shoulders dramatically and pull yourself up into a seated position, working out the knots. The pain is gone, but there’s still a good deal of stiffness over there. You pass one hand over your left shoulder, and something feels off.

“I’m...” Mae begins, stammering, “I’m glad y-you’re okay, Shar, but...you don’t look so good.”

One glance over your left side tells you all you need to know. The skin has been turned leathery and tough in an area from your left hip, up your left side, and all around the ball of your shoulder, down your arm all the way to the elbow. Rough, bristly hairs poke forth through the rough skin. Well, that was unexpected.

Outside, thunder roars. The storm has finally caught up with you.

>>42443879

>I need to take a break for about an hour. When I return, we will timeskip to the next morning. Feel free to talk amongst yourselves about what actions you’d like to take the next day, as the storm will pass over your position in the night. Your tribe is good to go on food, and shelter will be provided for your people tomorrow so long as you hold up the deal with the dryad.

>>42443879
Well, I wasn't expecting to eat its spirit outright. Let's try not to do that, in the future. I hope the physical effects fade.

>>42443879
So we are half-kovo now?

>>42443931

I wouldn't say half. More like one-sixteenth. The upside is any kind of assault to your left side has to pass through a tough, thick hide, and anyone that attempts to grapple you will cut themselves upon the bristling hairs.

You're also beginning to understand more and more the art of healing wounds with spirit energy, which is remarkably valuable in a time without any kind of medical knowledge.

>>42444024
We are gonna end up as manbearpig ain't we...I'm not judging i'm just saying.

>>42444088
I'm sure there's some kind of 'cleansing' meditative technique we could attempt to discover.

>>42444088
Half-man, half-bear and half-pig? Only if there ain't a prehistoric al gore around.

>>42444088
If we have to keep healing our self with absorbed spirits, probably. Unless we figure out a way to filter it so we just get the life force and not the physical characteristics.

>>42444088
>not snakemanpigspider

>>42444024
If we learn how to transform at will that would be a huge asset. Not as great as healing wounds and diseases though.

We should keep asking questions to the Tree Whore until we discover something useful about spirits and shit

I think our tribe members should spend the next days making new equips and tools with our current loot while we experiment with our vodoo

>>42444024
Can we commune with the spirits and discover how to completely absorb the animal spirit energy and overpower it with our own? Return our flesh to that of a human?

just catching up to the thread and got to the part where we "died"

I was always wondering how we would be able to stay with a single character while our civilization progresses. Now that we are immortal, it suddenly makes sense!

>>42444278
Preferably we should be able to summon animal traits at will, but retain our human form at all times.

>>42444326
Indeed, looks like we need human sacrifices.

Aztec civilization, ehh?

>>42444352
Aztec society kind of shot itself in the foot in a lot of ways, let's not go full retard with this.

>>42444410
Yeah, it was meant as a joke.

But it definitely does seem possible.

I definitely want us to cleanse away the bearpig part of us though-

Not digging the get random animal trait thing. I figured a crit would've just healed us.

>>42444552
Crit probably meant that the Kovo couldn't ASSUME DIRECT CONTROL.

>>42444577
I really really doubt that.

>>42444498
We kill the dryad the first chance we get.

Fuck it. I don't like it and we aren't about to become slaves.

Also maybe we should turn back to normal ASAP.

>>42444656
and it did kinda kill us.

As stereotypical as it is why not go kinda tauren style, all about the cycle of life, respect it, when it dies let none of it go to waste etc

>>42444854
So do I, but it looks like people want aztec sacrifices.

>>42444854
I'm all for that. Friendly ancestor worship cult mixed with circle of life.

>everyone in the tribe gets a spirit animal
>they wear a token of their spirit animal on them at all times
>in the event of a serious injury, we take the token and fuse their spirits
>become reborn

>>42444854
We don't exactly have much to sacrifice, so we'll probably be doing this for a while.

>>42444882
The most "aztec" thing we can do now is keep vats and vats of blood from kills like a psycho. There aren't enough people/living things to sacrifice.

>>42444941
Just ignore me, I'm just salty about the animal side thing, oh and destroying the matriarch spirit.

>>42444939
I don't like us corrupting our humanity to that extent.

>>42444941
And we don't have the technology to keep vats of blood around, as I doubt we even have clay pots.

So yeah, far far far off into the future.

We must become a god to our people.

>>42444984
As far as we know it only changed our body a bit.

>Coming of age ritual
Go kill something for the tribe to eat
>Tribe eats it together and the now adult fashions an item from the bones
>Said animals Spirit is now always there judging their actions, sharing insight and teaching

>>42444974
I do think it was a terrible thing to do after the whole cycle of life revelation.

>>42444989
Shar might not know that until he has a giant pool of rotting blood, is what I was getting at.

>>42445049
The "cycle of life" part didn't really involve their spirits though, we don't know anything about it potentially being reborn or so.

The revelation was basically "It's ok to kill shit to aid our own survival", which is pretty much what we did this time too.

>>42445049
The problem is, we didn't say "KILL THE SPIRIT TO HEAL US." we said use the tooth to help us.

Basically we are the lions from the Lion King, respect the circle of life, spirit/ancestor worship, we are on top but preserve the cycle.

>>42445098
it can be a plot point, the first mistake we made on our path to becoming something better, maybe it can be reborn from our side like Dyonesis and Zeus?

>>42445098
....what did you think it was going to do? The only way we know how to heal is to take life force from another object and flood our systems with it. If the tooth could help, that meant it had life force, and that we would take it, possibly depowering the knife.

>>42445093
I'm guessing that it can't be reborn if its fused to us. We'll see.

>>42445148
Or we can just get it purged and pretend it never happened.

>>42445163
I wasn't expecting to eat it outright, personally. Just drain a little to jumpstart our own recovery. But we rolled really well, so I guess that let us swallow the thing whole.

Alright friends, I am back. Thank you for your patience. I'l get started writing out the next morning's primer for you, but it looks like my last post was pretty contentious. So, first order of business, I'll be going through some of the comments here and addressing anons concerns.

>>42444175

Your primary offensive / defensive capability using shamanistic magic is this. You can always branch out - maybe focus more on spiritual communes rather than hijacking animal spirits. That would lead you down the path of being an oracle / spirit magician type thing, rather than your current fucked-up brand of shamanism.

But, if you do decide to commit to that path now, you won't learn a way to control the animal characteristics.

>>42444281

This is the exact mechanism of how transformation is done. But seeing as you've only done it once without really knowing what results to expect, it will take a good deal of practice and some good rolls.

>>42444552

Sorry you feel that way anon. You don't see how having a nigh-impenetrable armored covering on one side of your body might up your chances of survival, however? You're in MANA WASTES. Nearly everything here is a special brand of fucked up and wants to kill you.

>>42444854
>>42444935

You absolutely can. But the most potent conduit you've found for spiritual communes and rituals so far is blood. I'm sure there are other things you can use, but you'd have to find them and figure out how.

>>42445021

This. It's not terribly attractive, but you're living in a ten person nomadic tribe. People don't care how pretty you look if you're going to be a corpse tomorrow. Strength is your best asset if you're going waifu-hunting, even if it makes you look a little weird.

>>42445093

I'm glad you picked up on that.

>>42445288
You at least gotta give us a choice to be able to purge the spirit from our system if we want. We can learn a bit more how to control it, and then we can vote whether or not we want to kick it. A few threads away, I'd think, but we'll get to test it out, and if we like it, we can keep it, if not, we'll purge it.

>>42445098

So, I should explain how spirit-binding works. Because you communed with the Kovo spirit right after its death, and ritually bathed yourself in its blood, you were able to (unconsciously) bind its spirit into the dagger you made from its mandible. You can call on bound spirits at any time, without having to prepare a complex ritual. This is mostly useful for keeping sentient spirits, souls that you can speak to and look to for advice. The Kovo was able to provide a little lesson about the circle of life for you, but its use beyond that is kind of...minimal. The only other use you could really get from it is exactly what you did - healing and absorbing characteristics.

Now that the mandible dagger has been filled as a vessel for a spirit and then emptied, another one could be bound to it should you choose. It will require the ritual bloodbath, as you have no other ideas on how to perform such a feat.

>>42445166

You could, where's the party healer?

Oh wait, you're cavemen.

Not saying it's impossible, but that's a far-future scenario, unless someone's been holding out on you, magically speaking.

>>42445368
Well I kinda assumed we would find a way to purge it off ourselves, but I guess we can live with being half pigbear

>>42445463
>insert rage and comment on inferior QM
I kid

Anyway if we decide to purge it we should do that only after our tribe gets in better conditions. We need any help we can get.

>>42445463

Better, if you continue down your current path, you will learn how to call and dismiss these sorts of traits at will.

But you will have to eat a lot of souls.

I never said this quest would default to being bright and happy, doubly so given the setting. Especially at first, you're going to have a lot of tough personal decisions to make.

Hope that doesn't dissuade you from giving this quest a chance, but I won't mislead you about the way I'm running this thing.

>>42445550
s'fine boss I just need to get over my hissy fit. Run it the way you want, just never close your ears to criticism.

>>42445550
I'm all for making this a magicked up aztec sacrifice cult. But that's just one out of many things I'm all for.

>>42445550
I don't like the idea of consuming souls, seems unnatural, well evil at least.

Why did our ancestor spirits mislead us with the cave?

>>42445629
Our character only assumes they are ancestor spirits from my understanding. Consuming souls don't seem evil to me.

>>42445550
Nah, I'm fine with what we're doing. Just didn't expect to eat the spirit. My being upset was more over permanently consuming something before we got a chance to experiment with what it could do. But if you say that beast spirits like that aren't useful for much more than eating anyway, I'm fine.

>>42445662
If it destroys something's eternal being it isn't the same as killing it for food because clearly things live, in a way, after the bodies death

The sun rises, and with it so too does your tribe. Mae-Von wakes up looking particularly haggard – did she not sleep well? Regardless, she immediately sets to work whittling. She has an impressive collection of bone spears piled up beside her furs and leathers. Bo-Sol, after his rather pathetic attempt at spear-throwing during your Kovo hunt, has commissioned her to make him an ample supply so he can practice. Despite the…uninspiring results of his last try at ranged combat, he seems to have well and truly latched on to the idea. You do suppose he’s stubborn enough to see something like that through.

Turuk-Zon, however, has been staring at you unabashedly since you woke up, his eyes in a predictable position. You had to rearrange the tattered leathers you wear to leave your left shoulder uncovered, as the bristly hairs now sprouting from your newly toughened skin itch terribly when kept beneath clothing. You may have to make yourself a new outfit entirely. You don’t relish the thought of such a chore, but Mae-Von would probably help you if you asked. She’s always been good with these sorts of things.

Mor-Xat stands at the edge of the pool beyond the cave – its size noticeably increased overnight due to the rains – with his daughters, a long bone spear in his hand and two smaller wooden ones with each of the twins. He must think something’s living in there.

It’s Ghal-Orok who is the first to approach you, his mate in tow. For once, the man seems at a loss for words, eyes flitting back and forth between your face and your new shoulder. Eventually, he works up the nerve to speak.

“You alright, Shar?” he asks meekly. You nod in assent. In fact, you feel excellent. Far better than a man who pierced the veil of death the night before should rightly feel. The question now, is what do you do with your newfound energy?

(cont)

>>42445550
It's better that you tell us now, and not ten threads in when we're all used to something else.

>>42445716

>Study something (write-in: crafting, weaponmaking, etc. Please state specifics and amount of time you want to spend)

>Meditate, try to gain control over your spectral claws or the characteristics bestowed upon you by the soul of the matriarch Kovo (specify your focus, and how long you wish to spend)

>Explore. You’re feeling energetic, why not put it to use? Get a feel for your new surroundings, see if there’s anything interesting nearby. No pressing need to hunt right now, the coolness of the cavern should keep the meat fresh for a long time. You can if you want to, though.

>Speak with someone first (specify who)

>Other (write-in)

>>42445629
>>42445662

Didn't. You guys rolled horribly on cave exploration, and the resident dryad registered you as intruders and tried to take you out.

>>42445758
What's a dryad doing in a cave, anyway?

>>42445737
>>Meditate, try to gain control over your spectral claws or the characteristics bestowed upon you by the soul of the matriarch Kovo (specify your focus, and how long you wish to spend)
Claws, four hours at most.
Then
>Explore. You’re feeling energetic, why not put it to use? Get a feel for your new surroundings, see if there’s anything interesting nearby. No pressing need to hunt right now, the coolness of the cavern should keep the meat fresh for a long time. You can if you want to, though.
We can talk with someone once we get back

>>42445737
>Study weapon-crafting

>>42445782
This.

>>42445737
>>Meditate, try to gain control over your spectral claws or the characteristics bestowed upon you by the soul of the matriarch Kovo (specify your focus, and how long you wish to spend)
Let's do it for a few hours, have someone wake us up if something happens.

>>42445771
Tree probably grows outta the top

>>42445782
thirding

>>42445782
I think it's better to leave that to our tribesmen and focus on something only we can do: shamanism

>>42445368
So can we practice inlaying bones with mana crystals to see what happens? Maybe develop a useful magic tool to assist us instead of blood?

>>42445737
>Meditate, try to gain control over your spectral claws or the characteristics bestowed upon you by the soul of the matriarch Kovo (specify your focus, and how long you wish to spend)
Seems prudent. We've become something not entirely human, we need to figure out how to handle this. Let's focus on the claws, but not for too long. Try to finish before noon, then help the rest of the tribe with tasks.

animal companion when

>>42445737
>Meditate, try to gain control over your spectral claws or the characteristics bestowed upon you by the soul of the matriarch Kovo (specify your focus, and how long you wish to spend)
Claws, how to not accidentally summon them when we're doing regular stuff like drinking and eating.

Life force, how to reinforce your soul to keep it from being sucked out, and if this can be applied to others.

>>42445814

Whenever you come up with a plan for how to get one, anon.

>>42445795
What if we learn to imbue a part of ourself in our weapon and give it cool properties
>inb4 we bind our rage in a spear and get a flaming spear

>>42445799

You can absolutely try, but you have no idea how to turn mana crystals into magical foci. You're more of a blood, bones, and ghosts kind of guy. But that doesn't mean you can't learn!

>>42445845
>we bind a wrath spirit to a bone spear and then die to poisonous monster

>>42445737
>Meditate, try to gain control over your spectral claws or the characteristics bestowed upon you by the soul of the matriarch Kovo (specify your focus, and how long you wish to spend)

See if we can physically change our body at will. Make our hairs grow longer, or grow our claws longer and sharper etc.

>>42445737
Speak with Mae-Von and ask her how she is. Let's take a look at her spirit as well for clues about her health.

Let's also invest time in crafting bone jewelry and tools inset with mana crystals. Perhaps they can hone our focus in the spirit realm and act as chimes or other fetishes.

>>42445853
Let's learn to use the crystals. Much better than creepy blood.

>>42445877
>crafting
It's better to delegate that to someone else

>>42445902
Other people may die from touching the mana crystals. We are immune. We have to pave the way to a spirit filled Atlantis.

>>42445923
Well, we can set the crystals ourselves but have the rest done by others?

So I'm seeing a lot of votes to meditate and try to summon those spectral claws at will.

Also seeing a lot of votes for experimenting with mana crystals, possibly using some of the salvaged Kovo bones as containers for their notably volatile energy.

Does this sound acceptable to everyone? Each one of these actions will take half a day, so you won't have much left to do tonight besides talk to the other members of your tribe. Nighttime is dangerous out in the wastes.

Also, you have a tree to water...

>>42445737
Magical crystal options:

Toss one in the fire, observe. Then observe through the spirit realm.

Ground one into powder. Mix with water. Paint self. Observe.

Mix one with water. Drink. Observe.

Test hardness of one and make knife.

>>42445960
Souns good

>>42445960
just do it

>>42445945
I believe we can, but that's a GM call.

>>42445960
Yeah sure

>>42445960
Water the tree at night. Also ask why it needs blood at all. What about mana crystals mixed with water?

>>42445960
>>42445945

>>42445980

Go ahead and vote on these, since we didn't get a huge amount of specificity on what you're doing with the mana crystals. Besides one anon's suggestion of pretty jewelry that will kill everyone.

1 - burn a crystal in the fire

2 - grind one with water into a paste and give yourself some nifty ink

3 - crush a crystal, mix it with water, and drink it

4 - attempt to make a dagger from one

5 - jewelry

>>42446036
>4, craft a dagger
Still hoping for a spirit shank nigguh

>>42446036
>1 - burn a crystal in the fire
>some distance outside the cave of course

>>42446036
>5 - jewelry
we don't have to pass these around until we're sure they're safe.

just....experiments. And maybe vessels/wards against predators.

>>42446036
>2 - grind one with water into a paste and give yourself some nifty ink

>>42446033
>>42445945

You can do it, but you're going to have to roll high to persuade anyone to get near the things. Superstition runs deep, and you're a primitive people.

>>42446036
>kill everyone
Well shit. Damn uranium.

I vote burning one and giving ourself some nifty ink.

>>42446036
Vote for burning it

>>42445840
The tried and true method of beating the living shit out of it until we big dog now?

Spirit dickery?
Finding a puppy with one eye in the wilds and raising it?

>>42446036
1

File: 1415994940170.jpg (73 KB, 497x976)

73 KB JPG

>>42445901
There's power in Blood nigga

>>42445901
That's not a good argument to stop using blood

>>42446036
>2 - grind one with water into a paste and give yourself some nifty ink

I'm seeing a split between burning one and mana tattoos. Considering that burning one of the crystals takes about five minutes, you'll be allowed to do both.

Now, I'm going to need some rolls from you anons. Only roll one, best of three on each.

1d100+5 for meditating on spirit claws

2d100 for experimenting with crystals

Rolled 8 + 5 (1d100 + 5)

>>42446176

Rolled 51 + 5 (1d100 + 5)

>>42446176

Rolled 16, 28 = 44 (2d100)

>>42446176

Rolled 33 + 5 (1d100 + 5)

>>42446176

Rolled 61, 89 = 150 (2d100)

>>42446176

Rolled 60, 71 = 131 (2d100)

>>42446176

Rolled 18, 40 = 58 (2d100)

>>42446176

Rolled 81, 20 = 101 (2d100)

>>42446176

>56 for meditation

>61 for burning crystal

>89 for magic ink

Writing.

>>42446183
>>42446201
>>42446228
Fucking dice gods

Rolled 2 + 5 (1d100 + 5)

>>42446176
Spirit Claws

Honestly, the rolls so far in this quest have been pretty abyssmal.

We've only had a single really good roll.

>>42446263
Never roll again

>>42446278
I have brought dishonor upon my family.

>>42446272
and I don't understand why people complain about abyssmal rolls when they use swingy d100s.

>>42446272

The one good roll you guys had (Sleepy's unnatural crit) ended up having an effect that several anons didn't like. =/

/tg/ is conspiring against me, I swear.

Hey, at least you didn't get bad ended by a tree.

Rolled 24 + 5 (1d100 + 5)

>>42446323
Let's try again.

>>42446323
They are overreacting

>>42446323
The roles aren't that bad. I've seen much much worse

>>42446323
Eh, it happens.

>>42446323
Oh I'm not really upset about it.

I just enjoy complaining. Soon variance will be on our side.

You decide that, after the events of yesterday, perhaps your day would be best spent in contemplation, experimentation, and research. It’s becoming very apparent to you that, for all his thick-headedness, Turuk-Zon has a valid point – you’ve been messing with things you don’t properly understand. You may have been able to forcibly claw your spirit back into your body this time around, but that’s hardly a guarantee for future success in that department. Whatever the she-tree says.

As you’ve done for many a morning, you spend the first couple hours of it in deep meditation. You entered a strange state yesterday, after the rather traumatizing experience of pulling your own soul back into yourself. You don’t remember much from the time you hit the wall to the time you woke up in front of the tree, but in the interest of understanding, you decide that you want to figure it out. Drifting off into your trance, you plumb the depths of your spirit, trying desperately to find that strange, hidden part of you that suddenly exploded into existence when you returned from the veil of death.

Understanding eludes you, for now, but you feel as though you’re narrowing in on the source. Content to be simply moving in the right direction, you reassure yourself that comprehension does not happen in a matter of hours, but a matter of years. It will take some true dedication to unravel every mystery of the myriad interactions between your own spirit and those both of your ancestors and of the land itself. When you exit the trance, Bo-Sol is staring down at you. He jumps back when you open your eyes.

“Bo?” you ask, blinking hard a few times. Your vision is blurry for some reason, but with some absentminded rubbing of your eyelids with your hands, it refocuses.

“Spirits, Shar. You can’t just scare a guy like that.”

“What do you mean?” you ask, incredulous.

>>42446792

“You mean you didn’t…oh. Well, nevermind. Forget about it. Hey, I was just going to practice throwing these spears Mae-Von made. They’re really neat, actually. Just heavy enough to fly true, but light enough that I really feel like I can get some force behind it. What do you say, want to come with?”

“Sure,” you reply, “I needed to test something out anyway.” You bring your waterskin, a strip of tough, dried out leather, and your Kovo dagger. You have plans for the blunt end of the thing.


***

It took no small amount of effort, but after some fifteen minutes you’ve managed to pry a handful of sizable mana crystal chunks from the massive spires flanking the mouth of the cave. Bo-Sol knows full well your seeming resistance to the ill effects of the crystals, but even he seems dreadfully concerned for you.

“Shar, are you SURE that’s a good idea? I don’t want to sound like I’m doubting you, but…”

“But?” you reply.

“But I am absolutely doubting you. How do you know your resistance won’t just snap? Things have finally been looking up for us – if you snap into the Madness and tear apart half the tribe, I’m going to feel responsible, you know? For not stopping you.”

“I appreciate the concern. And the vote of confidence,” you say. Bo simply rolls his eyes, and drops the bindle full of bone spears at his feet. He picks one up and juggles it in his hand a little bit before flinging it at one of the thin trees that have overgrown the southern part of the clearing. You, however, get to work on starting a fire.

>>42446805

Bo-Sol makes some pretty reasonable progress with the spears. One shatters as it catches the bark of the tree at an awkward angle, and most miss entirely, but the few that he threw perfectly impacted the tree with such force that they lodged themselves inside almost too deep to pull out. A spiderweb of cracks and splinters surrounds the impact sites of the well-thrown spears, and Bo pulls you away from your work crushing the crystal shards into a blue paste with the aid of your dried leather and waterskin.

Bo sits down beside you, his arm apparently worn out from such an unfamilar motion, and observes you. You don’t want him to get bored sitting around just watching you crush crystals, so you figure you can go ahead with the other thing you were wanting to try out today. Without a word of warning, you toss one of your mana crystals into the fire, and it sends a small jet of blue sparks upwards as it combusts. Bo leaps backwards and gives a frightened cry.

“Spirits, Shar, what the FUCK? Do you have any idea what that even does?”

“Nope. No idea.”

“Then why DO it?”

“To learn what it does.”

Bo-Sol shakes his head and rubs his temple with two fingers before nervously finding his seat again. “If I get the Madness from this, I want you to put me down before the rage starts. Will you do that?”

>>42446829

“Of course,” you say, but you’re rather distracted from your friend’s request. Slowly, the fire is changing colors. Not to blue, but…green…

The exact same shade of green the tree emanated while you viewed her through the spirit world. Something to think about, you suppose.

“Bo, you remember that one time we crushed up the bitterberries and coated our fingers with them and stained Ghar’s furs pink?”

Bo seems to relax a little, and laughs. “Of course. The color came out all wrong. The shade we really wanted was the one that came across his face when he found out.”

With a simple motion, you gesture towards the paste you made.

“No. No no no. No. I’m not touching that stuff, Shar. Do you want to kill me?”

“Relax, Bo. I just want you to take one of the bone spears and draw it into my skin. Alright?”

He sighs, and picks up one of the spears. You like this Bo, you muse. When he’s too tired to stubbornly fight you every step of the way.

As soon as the mana paste makes contact with your skin, you know this will have some kind of effect on you. But, true to the plan, you fight to stay still, even with the surge of strength you feel rushing through your system. Bo has only finished your right arm by the time the electric waves of pleasure and power running through you become too much. You know only one way to retreat from a state like this. You slip into the trance.

>>42446829
>Yes.

>>42446846

In the spirit realm, you can detach enough to leave your body calm – a stable canvas for Bo to work on. You look at your right arm, and mana crackles all along it, outwards from it. You smell ozone, acrid and cloying. But what you see is far more stunning.

A man in a long cloak, standing directly in front of you, face obscured. Not some mere wisp, a traced outline of one of your ancestors. No, this person’s entire demeanor screams to be noticed. Well, he’s been noticed now.

“Haven’t you heard me whispering to you, Spiritwalker? What took you so long?”

>Ask questions

>Flee the trance, back to reality

>Other (write-in)

>Write-in response

>>42446863
>>Ask questions
I'm a fool, or haven't you noticed.

>>42446863
>other
I don't understand much about being a spiritwalker. Do you mind sharing some knowledge?

>>42446863
>Ask questions
Well, no. I can't say I have heard you. Who are you, if I might be so bold?

>>42446863
>>Ask questions
Obviously not. Since this is the first time.

>>42446863
>Ask questions
I don't know
W-who are you?

>>42446863
>Ask questions

I have heard whispers, but they have been far between and hard to understand.

Now that we are talking, who are you, and what is it that you wanted to speak to me about?

>>42446909
>>42446911
>>42446917
>>42446931
>>42446947
>>42447047


Looks like we're talking to the mana spirit.

Roll me a 1d100 sanity check. Mana is crazy stuff, bros.

Rolled 97 (1d100)

>>42447056
inb4 wizard that made the wastes

Rolled 98 (1d100)

>>42447056

Rolled 62 (1d100)

>>42447056

>>42447065
>>42447068
>>42447087
Well, looks like that variance is coming back full force.

>>42447056
Looks like we are rock solid sane.

>>42447065
>>42447068
At least we are relatively sane.

>>42447068

Looks like your pool of talents is expanding. Writing.

>>42447124
I knew we'd roll well eventually.

Rolled 22 (1d100)

>>42447056

Rolled 61 (1d100)

>>42447056
Spirits preserve us.

“I heard,” you reply. All the power surging through your body, through your spirit, has put you in no mood to play games. You want answers. You will have answers. And you will not ask for them – they will come to you.

“And yet you did not heed the call?” the cloaked figure asks.

“I’m here now, aren’t I?”

The cowled man laughs heartily at this, a grating sound, something not quite natural.

“Very well, Spiritwalker. Very well. Tell me – how did you finally find your way to me?”

“I crushed mana crystals into a paste and had my friend push it into my skin with a sharpened Kovo bone.”

There is a crushing silence that lasts for what feels like far too long, and then the cowled man drops to his knees in a fit of laughter. It takes him a while to recover, and by the time he finally does, you find yourself running short on patience. You did not figure your afternoon would be spent appeasing a mana-locked spirit, or whatever the hell this thing is.

“I see. It seems I have been talking to the right person all along. Forgive me, Spiritwalker. You truly do have a mind strong enough for what I will deliver unto it.”

“Wait,” you say. This is all far too cryptic, and the last time you absorbed something you got a rash of Kovo skin. “I want answers. What the hell are you? What is it you feel so compelled to give to me?”

“I am sorry to say, Spiritwalker, but you will never know just who I am. I’ve been here so long even I have forgotten. But my purpose, yes, my purpose has not been eroded so by the blistering winds of time. My purpose is clear. I am to reawaken this land. But to do that, I need a conduit. A go-between. Someone with will enough to accept the gifts I will give, and with intellect enough to use them as I direct. I do not ask for you to place your trust in me blindly, however. Take this, as a gesture of goodwill.”

>>42447487

You are pulled violently from the trance in a brilliant swirl of blue light, only to find Bo working on the same part of your arm that he was on when you fell under. You’re practically buzzing with energy, and you rise to your feet quickly, throwing the intense concentration of Bo-Sol off balance as he cries out. You jump up and down in place a few times, and then take off in a dead sprint.

Before you know it, you’re across the entire clearing that surrounds the mouth of the cave. You turn around and run again. In an instant, you stand again before your friend, him regarding you with a look of utter confusion. Then, as quickly as the energy surged into you, it’s gone. Bluish steam rises from the marks on your right arm, and they, too, begin to fade into a deep blue, the color of standing water, not the luminescent brightness of the crystals.

You wonder what would happen if you cut your right arm to feed your host tonight.

>And that’s the end of the thread tonight. You’ve taken the first step towards learning runic magic, which is performed by etching patterns and filling them with mana. Different patterns will provide different results, but the results are always temporary. Permanent tattoos can be made using the mana paste, but they too will eventually deplete. You would need to keep some sort of consumable mana source nearby to recharge your reserves if you burn through it too quickly. Just like shamanic magic, learning this will be slow going, unpredictable, but ultimately worthwhile. This can also lead to the advent of written language, as runes being ascribed meaning is the foundation of writing.

>I’ll stick around for some Q&A, comments and concerns, etc. Next thread might be tomorrow, more likely Sunday at 12pm PST. Check the twitter to stay informed: @sparkQM

Thanks for playing folks.

>>42447509
twas fun spark, sorry about the bitching earlier.
But seriously could you get a Trip? It's bugging the heck outta me.

>>42447509
Fuck yeah!! Runic magic!!!!! Time to be the Norse!!

>>42447544

I will do so before the next thread.

>>42447544
>>42447509
Honestly, not using a trip is just begging for someone to be an asshole, it always happens eventually.

>>42447548
Mein Negro
>>42447553
this is turning out pretty good, I hope we develop some more on the character side next time.

>>42447509
Interesting, this seems to be teacheable unlike our shamanism that seems to be innate.

>>42447509

Thanks for hosting man, don't worry about the whining earlier, too many grognards!

Can our tattoos deplete of their mana/energy? If so can they be replenished?

Next time we should work on making runes and enchanting them. If applied to weapons or clothes they could help our hunters.


We still need to kill that damn dryad.

>>42447599

It is, but you'd have to figure out the mechanism in mana that drives people who come into contact with it to Madness before you hook them up with some knowledge. Unless you want mana rabies. I don't know, it's up to you, man.

>>42447604

You don't have any permanent tattoos yet, Bo-Sol was mostly just above the surface. The tip was sharp enough to pierce skin in places, but that wasn't his goal. You could ask for permanent mana-drawn tattoos, but they would deplete over time. The upside to those is if you know what purpose they're for, you won't have to re-draw sometimes complicated runes on the fly in order to reactivate them. You could just consume mana however to fill back up.

>>42447656
Oh right, that helps clear up the tattoos I think!

When is the next thread? I missed a lot of this one

Well, before we start making tattoos I think we should find out how to actually shape them.

I guess we can just make ourself a "new" body eventually to replace the shitty tattoos with better ones though.

For now I guess we should stick to using them ourselves and not share them around.

>>42447656
Do we know what happens when animals get in contact with the mana crystals?

>>42447850
I'd have thought that the wildlife here would have adapted to the huge sources of free energy just sprouting up from the ground all over the place...

>>42447850
We should test that

>>42447850

Nightcats are the only ones who seem to enjoy them. They regularly scratch themselves against the jagged edges of the crystal structures.

>>42447732

Slight chance for a Saturday afternoon run, absolute definite for Sunday @ 12pm

>>42447969
What do Night cats look like

Chances we can tame one by feeding it food with crushed mana crystals on it?

>>42447509
Do you have a Twitter, or some kind of way to notify followers that you're starting another thread?