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>>43914719
"Got a problem, soldier?" you ask quietly.

"Just waiting for you to show your true colors," he condscends.

You shrug as you stand. "Must be hard to feel safe around people willing to break the law to save lives instead of people willing to obey it to end them."

The soldier's lunge is arrested by Marsh's palm against his chest. "Go pack our things," the Captain says coldly. His aggressive subordinate, seething, snaps a cold salute and marches away.

"How much time does Nathan have?" Marsh asks.

"A few days, at most. Which is plenty of time in the context, admittedly, but you're on a clock and so am I. If I can be paid, madam healer, I'll get my supplies and treat your patient. Trading certain death for an uncertain one is better than nothing."

The horned healer bustles through her home, putting coins and silver shavings into a small pouch. You separate the coins out and tuck them into your breast pocket; the silver, useful in your arts, is kept in the bag and tied to your belt.

"I'll escort you myself," Marsh announces. "Men, you're dismissed."

You quirk an eyebrow as the soldiers snap salutes and leave. Marsh steps out of the hut and offers you a hand down.

> Take the hand. He's trusting you, you can be nice to him.
> Coldly ignore it. He's still condemning you to your...second...death.
> Insult him.

Also choose one of:
> Just get your supplies (move the quest along)
> "So why'd you become a soldier?"
> "Why'd you turn me in?"
> "How'd you get the stick /that deep/ into your ass?"

Feel free to vote/re-vote for supplies. The basic list that Bri will attempt to gather, presuming no additions or objections, can be found here: http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive/43890201/#p43901804

>>43914922
> "How'd you get the stick /that deep/ into your ass?"

> Take the hand. He's trusting you, you can be nice to him.
>"Why'd you turn me in?"

>>43914719
> Take the hand. He's trusting you, you can be nice to him.
>"Why'd you turn me in?"

>Take the hand. He's trusting you, you can be nice to him.

>"So why'd you become a soldier?"

>Take the hand. For someone doing his duty as he sees it and perfectly within his rights to just hurl you into the pit at once, he's being surprisingly pleasant about this.

>Just get our supplies. Quite frankly we're not going to interact with him long enough for this to matter to us right now.

>Supply list: Basic list, plus mapmaking gear, a compass, and a large supply of chalk. Or if something more indelible and roughly as easy to use is available for not too much more, get that instead, of course.

Um... There's actually nothing on the basic list about food and water so we'll want to get that. Especially important are dried fruit, and if possible, citrus juice - we're going to be underground and we are not going to get scurvy, thank you very much. Also, some basic cooking gear. And salt. Salt's important; we want a few pounds of that for health reasons too.

Other things we could use include: A securely sealed pack of dried cow dung, to use as fuel; I know, it sounds kinda disgusting, and it quite frankly is - but it's also lighter fuel than wood that burns at least as hot with less smoke. And is perfectly safe to cook over.

Gloves. Preferably two pairs; a set of leather-backed chainmail butcher's gloves for maximum protection and minimal loss of dexterity, and a pair of good but more standard leather gloves for ordinary use.

Sturdy boots if we don't already have some.

Basic spices to make our meals better; no point being less comfortable than we must.

Good camping/traveling cookware. If nothing else something we can boil water in to make sure it's safe.

A few small bottles of pure alcohol for disinfectant purposes. Maybe more than a few if we want to potentially use them as molotovs.

>>43915955
ADDENDUM: Flint and steel, or some other long-term method of actually starting a fire. Also a tinderbox and a decent amount of kindling so that we don't just smother every fire we try to make.

>>43916002
Actually, I'm a dumbass, and forgot that was on the basic list. Oops? The tinderbox and kindling, however, stands.

Alright, calling votes, writing.

> Take the hand. He's trusting you, you can be nice to him.
> "How'd you get the stick /that deep/ into your ass?" (But sort of sarcastically.)

(Hey, who says I need to be consistent?)

Also, for the supplies, in addition to the base set, I second the
> Flour
> More knives
> Compass

And add:

> Needles & thread (preferably suture-quality)
> Bag of sand

>>43916113
I knew I was forgetting things. Sutures and more knives would help, sucks you were too late. Why a bag of sand, though?

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You take Marsh's hand and manage a grateful smile as you step down. You write out a list of supply ideas in your diary as you walk and quickly realize you're going to need some bags for this; your first stop is to pick some up, along with flint & steel, a coil of rope (50 feet), a leather-wrapped mallet, door spikes (4), and a thick cloth bandanna with which to cover your face against dust and dirt, thrown in by the merchant for free.

Marsh watches in professional approval, earning a sidelong look from you as you walk to the next merchant. "Y'know, you can be pretty nice," you compliment, waiting for him to smile faintly before finishing, "for a guy who condemned me to die /for saving his life/."

Marsh sighs heavily; his eyes go to the ground. "I deserved that."

"Obvious, much? Hold up, gotta get some stuff here."

You go stall to stall in the market, picking up medicinal herbs, empty flasks, and ingredients for healing potions; a quick mix can seal wounds, but they expire swiftly. You add to your iron rations, get a flask of lime juice and a bag of carefully-dried fruit, and mange to score a deal on a set of gloves made by the tanner's apprentice. You're set for boots, which is good, but you get a pot and hang it over the back of your pack. Girl's gotta cook to live.

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>>43916436
You shake an alchemist down for medical-quality alcohol, then hit up the tailor for a good steel needle and suture-quality thread - good for wounds and necromancy alike.

Map paper, a compass, another knife and a hatchet are all fairly easy to come by, as is a block of salt to travel with.

"...My father came from a lawless land," Marsh manages, awkwardly, as you're re-packing your backpack behind the general store. A small bag of dried dung sits on the ground next to it, waiting to be tied to your belt. "He raised me to respect the law. When I swore an oath to it..."

You sigh. "This is the part where you pretend you had a massive moral dilemma to make yourself feel less guilty for doing the wrong thing like an asshole."

"Ms. la Croix!"

"Am I wrong?" You look up, into the Captain's eyes, and his anger turns into something brittle and frail.

You look back down and finish with your pack. "That's what I thought."

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>>43916620
Acquiring the animals is a bit harder; no one seems keen on selling a beloved family pet to you, though you manage to snag three chickens and a captured weasel, the latter delivered to you muzzled, trussed, and angry. It wiggles in indignation.

"I get it," you say softly. "I really do. The law's the law and sometimes that means the scales of justice crush someone. But you remember that you crushed not one, but two people. Maybe you can write me off. I'm a filthy necromancer, after all." Marsh looks away, uncomfortably. "But the kid? Oh, the kid's all on you, Captain. I'll be waiting at the Oubliette."

You bring your new materials to the platform, and eventually Marsh meets you there, with Nathan in his arms and a pair of soldiers carrying supplies for the boy - a loose chain shirt, spare clothes, a pack of his own, a hatchet, a crossbow, food, a canteen, and whatever they put in the backpack. All is placed upon the platform.

"Remember, you're not in the Dungeon until you leave the Oubliette. Good luck."

The winch lowers you and your patient down into the darkness. This time you don't wait; you put your hat over your eyes and grant yourself the sight of the dead. It'll be easier to work with anyway.

You have to keep the door wedged open with your foot the entire time, but eventually you get all the dying people, supplies, and pissed-off animals into the Dungeon proper. You quietly shut the door behind you and tie the leashes holding the chickens in place to its handle before letting out a deep breath.

> Kill and revive the kid first. Human life and all that.
> Slaughter the animals, dress the carcasses, store the meat for eating later, and get your minion on.
> Move to another position before anything else (choose a location).
> Kill the kid and leave him. It'd be a mercy in this hellhole.

>>43916759
> Kill and revive the kid first. Human life and all that.
Do we have any control over him once we bring him back?

>>43916879
Since he's retaining true life, no. You would if you minion'd him (getting a mindless skeleton) but reviving Nathan means he's himself, with all that entails.

>>43916759
>Kill the kid and leave him. It'd be a mercy in this hellhole.

> Kill and revive the kid first. Human life and all that.

>>43916759
> Kill and revive the kid first. Human life and all that.

>>43916759
>Kill the kid and revive him first. We agreed; whatever else we are, we've kept our word to this point.

>Check to see if we still have our name up there; if not, carve both our names in, if we do then just carve in his and put a checkmark next to ours. .

>kill kid
>uses as reagent in becoming Lich

Fuck our word, all that matters is power.

>>43916759
> Kill and revive the kid first. Human life and all that.
The next decision should wait until we can talk to him.

> Kill and revive the kid first. Human life and all that.

Votes called. Writing.

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>>43916759
Nathan needs your attention first. You get out your coil of rope and hogtie the young man with practiced professionalism; this is not your first revival, and sometimes people take to it badly. Not to mention that you actually have to kill this one first, which...urgh.

You sigh and say a brief prayer over Nathan, in case something goes wrong. Then you pinch his nose shut and put your hand over his mouth.

Gods, but he's strong. The ropes strain as he thrashes in a panic; his eyes snap open in terror, and you give him your best apologetic look.

"I'm only killing you a little," you reassure, poorly, but eventually you have a dead guy on your hands and now it's time to get to work. You place your bone wands in an 'x' over his heart before shaking out a hasty veve of corn meal around his resting head. A ruby is placed over one of his eyes, an onyx over the other.

Gingerly, you tilt his mouth open and hold your palm over it, knife in your other hand.

"Hey kid," you murmur, veins running like ice with raw death. "Wake up."

You slice cleanly, dripping a stream of blood into Nathan's mouth. You feel the energy leaving your body, like you've run for miles, and the breath wooshes out of your lungs. You clutch your hand to your coat, staining it red where you clutch it, and wait with your heart in your throat.

A revival commonly takes up to four seconds to take hold.

One. The gemstones dissolve into nothing. Perfectly normal, nothing wrong here.

Two. Corn meal rotting away, centuries of decay flying by in seconds. Good, good.

Three. Wands rattle, then fly back to your coat, where they belong.

Four.

Nathan's eyes snap back open, and he pulls air into his lungs to yell.

> Let him. Death sucks, he's disoriented. Offer the kindness of expressing the freak-out.
> Clap your hand over his mouth. Might shock him into being quiet.
> Frantic hushing motions!

>>43918188
> Let him. Death sucks, he's disoriented. Offer the kindness of expressing the freak-out.

> Let him. Death sucks, he's disoriented. Offer the kindness of expressing the freak-out. Not like the exiles aren't going to make a crapload of noise anyhow half the time; shouldn't draw anything that wasn't here already.

>>43918188
>> Let him. Death sucks, he's disoriented. Offer the kindness of expressing the freak-out.

> Frantic hushing motions!

before stopping just after and going

> Let him. Death sucks, he's disoriented. Offer the kindness of expressing the freak-out.

Alright, calling votes, writing.

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>>43918188
"WHAT IN THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU LADY YOU FUCKING KILLED ME I SWEAR TO -"

Nathan goes on at length in one extended, breathless yell. He manages to insult you, your heritage, your profession, your fashion choices and, considering that you are dying laughing not even a quarter of the way through this, your taste in comedy before finally running out of his mixture of wrath and terror. You wipe a tear from your eye and let the last of the chuckles die down.

"Keep laughing, I only died," Nathan says indignantly.

"Well yeah," you say with a grin. "That's what happens when I kill people. They die. Feeling better?"

Nathan looks down at himself, and then back up at you, his indignation turning to confusion.

"You had a sickness in you," you explain softly. "I killed it when I revived you. That's the good news. The bad news is, you're in the Dungeon, and the way out is locked."

"...Yeah, that's bad news. Why am I tied up?"

"Mostly so you don't punch me in the face and run," you admit. "Hold still and I'll untie you."

You work briskly, and soon Nathan is sitting up against the wall, still trying to catch his breath and rubbing at his wrists where the rope bit into them. You:

> Introduce yourself. Be polite, consoling. Ask about who he is and what he can do.
> Get immediately to work on the animals. Minions. GLORIOUS MINIONS. If he wants to talk, he can talk while you work.
> Point out his supplies to him and then suggest a change of venue (choose a location).
> Write-in.

> Introduce yourself. Be polite, consoling. Ask about who he is and what he can do.

> Introduce yourself. Be polite, consoling. Ask about who he is and what he can do.
You know, Brianna's a lot nicer than I think people expected her to be, considering "NECROMANCY = EVILSTUFFS!"

>>43919435
> Get immediately to work on the animals. Minions. GLORIOUS MINIONS. If he wants to talk, he can talk while you work.

> Introduce yourself. Be polite, consoling. Ask about who he is and what he can do,
but then
> Get to work on the animals. Minions. GLORIOUS MINIONS.

>>43919435
> Introduce yourself. Be polite, consoling. Ask about who he is and what he can do.
Followed by
> Point out his supplies to him and then suggest a change of venue to the quiet room. (...Damnit this isn't a psych facility, why do we have a quiet room?)

>>43919586
Let's not start killing, skinning, and reanimating animals right in front of our new friend just yet, hmmm?

> Introduce yourself. Be polite, consoling. Ask about who he is and what he can do.

Gonna call votes in 12 minutes; I need to go do a thing.

>>43919435
>Get immediately to work on the animals. Minions. GLORIOUS MINIONS. If he wants to talk, he can talk while you work.

Votes called, writing Soon(tm)

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"If I could have been more gentle, I would have been. For what it's worth, I'm sorry it played out like this. I...am not the only person involved who did what they felt like they had to do."

You offer your hand out. "I'm Brianna. Brianna la Croix, necromancer."

Nathan looks at you for a moment before shaking your hand firmly. "Nathan Bookchild. Blacksmith's apprentice, but I always wanted to be a soldier."

"Heh. Well, if you make it out of here alive it'll be a hell of a resume entry."

"Yep."

You sit down against the opposite wall and idly pet a chicken while you focus on your breathing.

"Something wrong?" Nathan asks, softly.

"Ripped about five months out of my life, bringin' you back," you admit. "Not my first time, but it always hits you. Never gets any easier."

"Five - you mean...?"

"There's a reason us necromancers usually turn into a lich or a vampire or something," you say with shrug. "It's my life, and I'll spend it as literally as I care to. You don't owe me a damn thing."

The young man looks ready to argue the point, but he drops it in favor of pointing at his piled kit. "For me?"

"Yeah," you confirm. "All the armor in town had the standard enchantments to help protect against magic, which..."

"...would have made yours less effective," he finishes, thoughtfully. "Gods, but that's so common too. Is that why mages don't -"

"Got it in one," you finish with a cheeky grin. "I'm not hearing anything coming at us, which means you probably didn't attract any attention. Probably. You feeling better?"

"I could head out," he admits. "...What about you?"

> I can walk it off. Let's move.
> I need minions while you get dressed in your party gown there, Nate.
> Oh gods. Must sit. Keeping up this much cheer is difficult right now.
> Write-in.

> I can walk it off. Let's move.

>"Before you get all dressed up, want something to let you see in the dark, or you happier with a torch?"

> "I'm fine. Just give me a minute, I have minions to make."

>>43920835
> Oh gods. Must sit. Keeping up this much cheer is difficult right now.
>I need minions.

>>43920835
> Oh gods. Must sit. Keeping up this much cheer is difficult right now.
>I need minions.

To clarify does minions involve reanimating them now? Because we're kinda drained. Might want to hold off.

>>43921810
Yes, but skeletons aren't quite the same as revivals. To start with, skeletons stay dead.

Still, it'd be a drain on your energy, yes.

Calling the vote, writing. Last update for the night; short thread but I've gotta hit bed so I can be up in the morning. Might run again before work, depending on a few things, like how insane I'm feeling and if I have the kind of coffee you ought to have addiction counseling for.

>>43922059
Night Vox! Thanks for running.

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>>43920835
"I...honestly, have felt better," you admit wearily. Your vision swims with stars that you can't see the colors of; being exhausted or punch-drunk with the eyes of the dead is always an experience. "Just. Just give me a few, and then I need to make skeletons out of these animals."

"You need to wh-right, necromancer," he realizes, mid-sentence. "We get a lot of you folks, through Glen. Usually you bring your zombies with you, though."

"Yeaaaah," you say slowly. "I didn't exactly come here by choice."

"Caught?"

"Turned in by the asshole whose life I saved."

"...That's rough, Brianna."

"Bri works."

"Sure." He smiles wanly at you and gets up, heading to his equipment. He examines his kit before he begins to armor up. "...I'm having some trouble breathing," he admits.

"Yeah, that'll be because I killed you. I'm not a god, Nate. You died and you get to live with that forever. The last guy I saved has a collar screwed into his neck to keep his head together 'cause the stitches I used ain't gonna cut it."

"Ow," Nathan replies with a wince. "How's he doing?"

"Pretty damn great, evidently. And I'm glad to hear it. I'd hate to think I did bad work."

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>>43922174
By the time you're feeling well enough to move, Nathan's go this kit strapped on and weapons inspected and at his sides. He looks, you admit, kinda handsome in a small-town-boy kinda way; tall, muscular, and with the sort of attentive eyes that say 'intelligent' instead of 'paranoid'.

"Okay," you say heavily, making it off of your ass and to your knees. "Time to work."

You kill the chickens quickly and cleanly, with a swift twist of their necks. The weasel proves more troublesome, and in the end you cut its throat and let it bleed. You dress the animals down with practiced care and patience, murmuring a small prayer of thanks that your grandfather taught you when he first took you hunting as a wee girl. The bones you set aside, near each other but each in its own pile.

The offal is placed inside each skeleton, while the edible organs you put in a leather sack that you tie tightly for later use, possibly as bait. You note to do something with them soon, though, because they'll rot fast. The meat you wrap and pack in stiff waxed paper, provided by the merchant who sold you your pot. /That/ can be lunch. And/or dinner tonight.

"What now?" Nate asks, a little nervously.

"Now," you say, pulling out a bone wand, "we wake the dead." You tap the first chicken corpse twice with the wand, making the bones rattle in place. You swear steadily and rhythmically, under your breath, and you feel the Veil respond to your cursing incantation

The chicken bones rattle hard and stand up straight, before the organs inside them twist into fleshy strands that bind them together and drip faintly onto the floor.

You repeat the process three more times, feeling more and more tired and dizzy each time, but when you are finished you have three chicken skeletons pecking at the stone at your feet, and an undead weasel riding your shoulder with interested looks for everything around it.

"Finally," you say with a weary grin. "I could've killed for some help down here."

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And that's our thread for the night. Thanks all for reading and participating, and I'll be looking to run again Soon(tm). As always, taking feedback and critique, and I may be awake for a bit longer to field questions. I can't promise answers to everything, but...

>>43922536
So, the people we revive have problems related to the manner of their death? That's interesting. Any way to fix that?

Where do ghosts fall on the scale of undead? Right now I'm shying away from just dominating them even if we could because that's morally iffy at best, but could we, say, potentially get the river ghost we saw before to accompany us?

>>43922648
>morally iffy
Forget morals! We should just get our Necromacer on without worrying about shit like that.

>>43922648
Asphyxiation isn't anywhere near as clean of a death as you'd think it is, by doing what we did we would've burst capillaries all over his lungs and probably a good few in his eyes also. So effectively he should be drowning in blood right now, which is where the magic comes in.

This is, of course, ignoring the fact that he was dying of cancer.

Also Paranoid Anon here, I'll be around to make you all fear everything ever as a trap/ambush.

>>43922648
Aye. You can snatch someone from the jaws of death but they still got bit, so to speak. No one comes out of death unscathed.

Except, evidently, you.

"Ghosts" is a bit hard to define. The beings most people think of as ghosts are the lion's share of a soul that should have departed. Some of it crossed the Veil; the remainder is anchored to the realm of the living, looking to accomplish or resolve some kind of business, vengeance, grief, etc.

As has been mentioned before, no one ever dies with /no/ unfinished business. Weaker and weaker spirits exist, made of progressively smaller and less aware soul fragments, to the point where the 'ghost' cannot be meaningfully described as being the now-deceased individual. The rusalka you met is one such example, a little glimmering shard of pain and the need to warn others away from her death. Necromancers commonly call these carbon outlines of death 'shades' or 'duppies'; non-necromancers usually cannot percieve them in any way.

>>43922695
Eh. Bri's been established to care about such things. I'm fine with playing the immoral necromancer queen, but that's not what she is right now, and I'd prefer that if we do go that route there's some decent buildup so the characterization actually makes sense.

>>43922698
Certainly. But it is worth noting that not only is our resurrection magic not a free ride, there are specific things to do with how we killed someone to take into consideration.Or how they died otherwise, if we didn't. A hung person is likely going to need a neck brace forever at the least, and so on. And I'm not sure what happens when you simply nick an artery and wait for them to bleed out (relatively damage-free beyond the injury and their body emptying of blood) or if their windpipe gets severed. Nor what the consequences of reviving someone who died of hunger or thirst would be.

>>43922868
Can shades eventually grow as they maintain their tenure? For instance, assume that the river beast is immortal; could the shade left behind eventually become more intelligent at warning people off, since it's a shard of a person, or would it be stuck as what it is?

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>>43923069
Shades tend to fade, not grow. They dwindle across the Veil, faster if they resolve some of whatever keeps them in the land of the living, but even without that they "die" steadily. Unlike a true ghost, a shade isn't smart enough to cling to life actively; it's not afraid of dying, because it doesn't really know it's dead. It knows it has something it must do, or must NOT do, and follows that impulse.

Eventually, all shades rejoin the greater part of their soul in death, and contacting them at that point becomes the much-more-complicated matter of communing across the Veil.

>>43923203
How about if a necromancer gets involved? Could we, for instance, in exchange for some kind of 'reward' (mostly letting it warn us since that's its thing) keep that rusalka fueled and use it as a magical danger-sensor?

>>43923251
Yes and no. The practice isn't common, but it's pretty easy to put a shade in a bottle. A more full and powerful ghost can also be bottled, though it's tricker and takes some preparation. The thing is, shades are /obsessive/. That rusalka doesn't have the intelligence or focus to negotiate. If you stuck her in a bottle, she'd scream any time there was a predatory river monster nearby...but not any other kind of monster, or river hazard, or ocean monster. Lake monsters might even be fuzzy.

More coherent shades are closer to being intelligent but, again, are harder to imprison.

>>43923311
In fairness, 'we are informed of danger from predatory river monsters only' is better than 'we are not informed of danger, even from predatory river monsters'.

That said, I'm also curious if she could be used to improve our minions at all?

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>>43923381
> "Bri, what if we put souls in the dead chickens?"
> "Nate, you ever read a story that ends in 'No, what are you doing, I created you!'?"
> "What does...oh."

>>43923415
And this is why I ask about such things before I suggest we actually do them. I figured it was a tossup between badass river monster hunting weasel and horrific abomination that kills us all in our sleep, even in the undead chickens.

Can we charge a chicken with negative energy and throw it to the river monster, so that it eats it, dies and rises as undead? Is that a thing we can do?

>>43926102
We seem to be a bit more of a voodoo priestess then dnd necromancer, so maybe?

>>43929411
We do indeed seem to be more of a voodoo priestess, though whether or not we actually know how to hex people is up in the air. More importantly, though, we just resurrected a guy and reanimated four things; we're tired. Trying to pull off something like that before we rest isn't a good idea.

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>>43926102
Straight living-do-undead conversion is going to be a bit much. Making your minions charged with toxic amounts of death can be a thing, though. You might have to work a bit harder to get some predators to attack them, but...

Afternoon all. Considering running but I've gotta be to work in 3 hours, followed by 5 hours of being totally absent. Not sure if good idea or not. Thoughts?

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>>43930089

>>43930402
Eh...further data suggests maybe I shouldn't. Got a day off coming up later in the week though, gonna make a go at going ALLLLLL DAAAAAY.

>>43930641
Oh well. Next time, then.

>>43930641
Would that be the next time you're running the quest, or will you be running again tonight as usual?

>>43930826
Depends on what my work schedule looks like. If I don't have to be up early, I'll run. If I do...well, I won't. If thread happens it won't happen earlier thatn 10:30 PM EST.

So given the whole voodoo priestess/necromancer/ shamanistic ancestor contacts thing, just what is our protagonist's skill set?

>>43931646
Thread one stated it's pretty vague and up in the air. From what I've gathered, we're going to be influencing her capabilities over time.

>>43931646
>>43932447
Basically, it seems that the more powerful our spell, the more life force it takes from us, a bunch of minions and dumb skeletons are easy, hell even basic shades are easy, but if you want to deal with anything more complex you start burning significant amounts of life force, to the point that you can lose years of your life just to win one battle.

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>>43931646
Brianna's an experienced combatant but not a warrior; think "years of gang fighting" rather than "formal training". As for other capabilities, >>43932447 is correct - I'm playing it a bit loose, with a combination of limits (of which you'll be made aware when they become relevant) and ideas from anon, plus potential suggestions in votes from me.

The fundaments of necromancy of any kind are 'manipulate death' & 'expend life force'. Some spells, like the eyes of the dead, are small enough to be used casually. Others are more draining or require larger sacrifices. Many necromancers use their own life force because it's on hand, though in areas of great and concentrated deathly power - graveyards, a lich's crypt, etc - it's easier or even "free". Beyond that, necromancy's an individulaistic art and its practitioners are varied. Brianna's style won't be the same as another necromancer's, even if they have the same teacher.

>>43932895
What metaphysical consequences does draining the life out of, say, dog to fuel a spell have? Some settings have that as just one more way to die, and others have it make issues for the soul in one fashion or another; what sort is this?

>>43932895
>>43933348
That's a good point can we expend the life force of other beings? I assume that would take some sort of ritual/setup.

>>43935141
Well, the implication is definitely that we can since only most necromancers use their own. Outside of that? Good question. I dunno if it takes a special ritual or not; while I'm attempting to compile what I know of necromancy thus far for later use, information is still pretty sporadic. And remember, that only really applies to ours for sure anyway.

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>>43933348
A living being slain to fuel necromancy tends to have toxic, deathly residue left over in the body; this makes it unsuitable for consumption by most beings, though useful potentially as a poison (if you can cover up the smell...and awful flavor). However, to /get/ at such life force, as asked here >>43935141 you generally have to kill them yourself. A slit throat, suffocation, whatever - Bri tends to prefer to be as painless and humane as possible, though that's not a requirement.

Draining the life from something to /hurt/ it is a lot easier but the aforementioned life force blows away without being used. You need to be on hand and perform a more controlled death to get it in a form you can utilize for spellwork. This is why, again, most necromancers use their own life force: it's a whole lot easier to get. Turning into a lich or other undead being lets them substitute the deathly energies of their new state, part of the reason it's so popular.

Writing now.

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"So, you fight, yes? Professionally?"

"I trained with Glen's militia," Nathan agrees. You proceed to the end of the hall and find the lefthand door still ajar. "I can care for and maintain my own equipment, and Captain Marsh left me with some good supplies."

"How bloody generous," you mutter.

"I'm sorry?"

"That was kind of him," you say, more loudly. "Okay, so. This left door will take us to an underground river with at least one massive, invisible, pissed-off hate beast in it. It /ought/ to be fed right now, but maybe we don't tempt it. Can you listen at that door on the right?"

Blinking in confusion at you, Nathan puts his ear to the door. "...Somoene's crying," he says softly. "Sniffling, I think, like...you know, when you're almost done crying?"

"Oh yeah," you say sympathetically. "I know what you mean." You listen at the center door, but it remains essentially silent.

"Got an opinion?"

"Someone's in need. We should help her."

"Yeah, thought you'd say that."

> Take the left door; better the demon you know.
> Take the right door; that person still needs help.
> Take the center door; silence might be safer than either.

>>43939868
>> Take the center door; silence might be safer than either.

> Take the right door; that person still needs help.
Let's be heroic.

>>43939868
>Take the right, that person still needs help. And if not we're better equipped to handle whatever shit happens down here now we have minions, including Nathan as one.

>>43939868
> Take the right door; that person still needs help.

>>43939868
>take the right door, that person still needs help

Votes called, writing.

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You adjust your hat and take in a deep breath. "Okay. Open the door, /carefully/. I really need you to not die."

"Afraid of the dark?"

"Because I can't revive you again right now, you ass," you snap. You sigh. "Look. Please, just, can you assume that I have actual human feelings and motivations and save the 'why should I trust you foul death-witch' line of thoughts or comments for when I've had a good solid night's sleep?"

"...Yeah, I can do that." Nathan draws his hatchet and holds it ready in one hand. The door opens inward, revealing a rectangular room with a steel door at the far end. Tables laden with alchemical equipment and partially-full flasks line the wall on the left.

On the right is the angel, in a cage. She has dark hair and feathery wings that have seen better days; mold and rot have set in her feathers, and they droop with grease and neglect. She looks up in a panic when the door opens.

"Save me!" she calls. "I'm trapped! I'm going to die!"

The room has the sharp stench of violent death about it, and you can taste suffering clinging to it like a hangover to your tongue. Nathan goes to take a step forward and you grab the back of his mail shirt in a firm clutch.

"Hold you shit, dead man," you chide. "Something's wrong here."

> Send a chicken in. They're disposable, right?
> Send the weasel in. It might survive a trap with its greater agility.
> Investigate the room with necromancy. You're exhausted but it might give you better information.
> Walk in yourself. NO ONE LIVES FOREVER, RIGHT?
> Send Nathan in anyway.
> Leave.
> Write-in.

>>43940807
>Send a chicken in.

>>43940807
Write in:
>Question the angel

>>43940807
> Investigate the room with necromancy. You're exhausted but it might give you better information.

Depending on what happens, we may wish to follow up with

> Send a chicken in. They're disposable, right?

>>43940873
Actually, also this, with the note that Nathan should do that, not us. And then only, right now, if it doesn't interfere with our necroscan.

>Write-in: Questiont he angel about their circumstances of entrapment whilst cautiously scanning the room.

>>43941210
Clarification: Can we do both?

>>43941230
Yes. "Question the angel" is currently in, presuming nothing happens in the next six minutes to change it. Looks like 'scan the room' will be the follow-up if, again, nothing changes.

>>43941210
>Write-in: Question the angel about their circumstances of entrapment whilst cautiously scanning the room.
I support this.

Votes called, writing.

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"Why are you in that cage?" you call out across the room. You fish your stone with a hole in it from your pocket, frowning faintly.

"I fell for bait," the angel explains, her throat hitching with a sob. Her eyes are wide with fear. "Save me. /Please/."

"Brianna, have a heart," Nathan says in a low voice.

"I'd like to /keep/ having a heart," you mutter, holding the stone up at eye level. You squeeze your bandaged hand around it, staining it with blood through the cloth, and flick it into the room. It skids across the floor, and where it passes you see spreading bloodstains. In several places in the room, dusty outlines, black-and-white to your vision, form the silhouettes of people in agony.

"Trapped," you confirm grimly. "And she's the bait." You raise your voice. "Help us help you, miss. What's the trap?"

"Come in," she calls, waving her hands frantically in a warning-off gesture. She looks down, and then clutches the bars in a frustrated fury. She looks at you and says, very slowly, "Enter the room. Please save me."

Except her lips don't match the words. An illusion. Gods. Fucking. Damn it.

> Send a chicken with some paper around the death zones. If it can make it, maybe she can give you something to help.
> Let Nathan work his way around the death zones.
> Tell the weasel to search for a key.
> Leave the room.
> Write-in.

>>43941406
> Send a chicken with some paper around the death zones. If it can make it, maybe she can give you something to help.

> Send a chicken with some paper around the death zones. If it can make it, maybe she can give you something to help.
> If it survives, promote it and give it a name.

>>43941406
>Send a chicken with paper and a writing implement around. Once that's done, leave it standing there while she writes and have the weasel start looking for a key.

>>43941406
Oh, it took two readings, there is an angel or at least somebody in the cage, however its entrapped and being used as bait to kill countless people.

From what I've gathered this dungeon is malicious but not flat out evil. It has goals other than killing all whom enter it, so at least in theory there should be a solution to every problem. Those solutions might be flat out deplorable or possibly insane but they're still viable.

>>43941627
If we're a heroic necromancer, we might not be able to do all of them. Let's see if our chicken works here though.

>>43941627
There's another possibility that you should consider: that this is a later addition to the Dungeon, made by someone or something that lives there or frequents it. The Dungeon itself just /is/; some things are native to it, or built in. But it is not, to the best of anyone's knowledge, static. Traps, additions, subtractions, cave-ins, and alterations are created or destroyed all the time.

So she could have always been there, yes. Or someone could have /put her there/.

>>43941627
Who says it the dungeon that did this?

There are other people in here with their own agendas

Hell some even founded nations in here with what they found

Wouldnt put it past that some jackass is using this trap to gain resources off the corpses of newcomers who dont know better

>>43941667
That was actually my base assumption. And that's mostly the same for anything down here. Is that a bad thing?

>>43941757
Not at all. Something old enough to be part of the original Dungeon is going to be ancient indeed, and scary even if it's not hostile. One does not leave such sorcery to stew for ages...unattended.

Calling the vote in eight minutes.

>>43941406
Seconding >>43941497

Vote called, writing.

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"I need you to hold. Very. Still." You say to the angel. You tear a set of pages out of the back of your diary, roll them around a pencil, and cram it into the bird's empty eye socket. You murmur to it, giving it commands to go around the death zones, to deliver its burden and await the angel's reply, and then to return to you.

The skeleton pecks at the ground, and then proceeds. You hold your breath as it crosses the trapped room, but the route is good, and your undead bird delivers its burden. The angel plucks the paper and pencil from the bird and sets them against the wall of the room, writing frantically though the bars of the cage. She wraps the pencil once more and carefully tucks it into the chicken's eye.

The bird returns in obedient triumph, and you pat it on the head. "Good girl. I'll call you Fetch."

You take the message and unroll it.

"Gods. It's so good to be able to speak plainly. It's been years.

The spell forces me to speak and warps my words to tempt you into the room. The key is on the table. It is made of brass. The iron key must not be touched.

I am not an angel. My mother was a harpy. My father was a very brave wizard.

I think I am dying.

Thank you, kind stranger."

You turn to the weasel on your shoulder and give it a series of strict commands. It bounds across the room, avoiding the traps, and comes back to you with a small brass key.

> Send a minion with the key (pick a minion); you can't risk yourself or Nathan, not when you're exhausted and he is clearly A Hero.
> Send Nathan with the key. She needs help and might not be able to cross the room on her own.
> Have Nathan toss her the key.

>>43942020
>Send Fetch, since she already knows the way.

>>43942020
>Send a minion with the key (Fetch).

>>43942020
Her motor skills seem unaffected by the illusion. She can nod and shake her head.
>Ask if she can unlock it herself if the key is given to her.
if not:
> Send Nathan with the key. She needs help and might not be able to cross the room on her own. Have the chicken minion lead the way. He probably did not memorize the path.

>>43942123
Oh. Shit. Ummm. Yeah her getting back is tricky. If Fetch is insufficient then we should go ahead ourself, as we can see the path.

>>43942020
> Send a minion with the key (Fetch); you can't risk yourself or Nathan, not when you're exhausted and he is clearly A Hero.

>>43942020
>Send fetch

Its 2:21 am here and I have to tap out, sorry OP but I just can't stay awake any longer, especially since I have to write an entire damn paper tomorrow which got ruined today by the fact that I forgot to take room temperature readings.

>>43942020
>My mother was a harpy. My father was a very brave wizard

Hah.

>Send fetch

>>43942220
Ouch. Also, hello timezone-buddy. Good luck with your paper!

>>43942235
I am disappointed her father was not a very brave elven bard, but this is probably a different world.

Votes called, writing. Last update of the night; I thought I could stick it until 4 AM but I'm doing this thing where I keep drifting forward until my head makes contact with this dresser next to my desk, and I gotta tell you, the dresser is fucking offended about this.

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You stoop down to Fetch and place the key in her eye.

"Okay girl," you murmur. "It's time to go to work again." You whisper her instructions to the undead chicken, which bobs its head curiously before moving forward. Fetch navigates her way around the traps and waits patiently as the not-an-angel takes the key. She reaches through the bars of her cage with a trembling hand and places the key in the lock. Her hand slips from it, and a look of despair crosses her face, but you keep your grip on Nathan's chain armor to keep him from lunging forward.

"Death is for the dead, Nate," you murmur. "You'll join them soon enough without doing something stupid to cash your ticket in early."

The prisoner turns the key and pushes the cage door open. She stands, with difficulty; her sack-cloth clothing can't hide her starved frame, and as she stands her wings drape limply, dragging along the floor and shedding putrescent feathers. Now that she's off of the ground, you can see birdlike scales near her feet - touches of her heritage that magic had not quite been able to remove.

Fetch following close behind, the not-an-angel shuffles painfully around the traps, whimpering softly, and collapses into your waiting arms. You murmur reassuringly and drag her the rest of the way out of the room; Nathan closes the door behind her.

> Examine her immediately.
> Take her elsewhere (choose a location) and set up a temporary camp first.

Also choose one of:

> Carry her yourself. She came to you.
> Ask Nathan to carry her. You're exhausted.
> Ask her to walk. Going from two combatants to one combatant and a wounded girl is asking to get eaten a lot.

>>43942366
> Take her elsewhere (Previous room?) and set up a temporary camp first.
> Ask her to walk. Going from two combatants to one combatant and a wounded girl is asking to get eaten a lot.

>>43942366
> Take her elsewhere (Previous room?) and set up a temporary camp first.
> Ask her to walk. Going from two combatants to one combatant and a wounded girl is asking to get eaten a lot.

>>43942366
>Do a cursory examination now to make sure she doesn't have any instant things we need to take care of right this second, then take her back to the start where it's kinda safeish for a better one.

>Carry her yourself. She came to you. This girl has obviously been through a lot, and anything that makes her more comfortable right now is going to help. Plus Nathan is probably going to be better at physical combat anyway.

>>43942392
Asking her to walk is just cruel at this point. We're in mostly safe territory right now, and she basically can't. Tired and beat up though we are, she's pretty clearly worse off.

Gonna ask for some clarification from anons - when you say 'previous room', are you referring to the area in front of the Oubliette's doors? To the T-section of the hall with the three doors (where you are now)? Or to the cavern with the river, where you can get fresh water to treat her wounds (and set up away from the bank so as to prevent being lunge-eaten)?

>>43942426
I was referring to the section before the Oubliette's doors. River's near enough we can go walk off and bring back a pot, and I'm not keen on the whole idea of going to an area known to contain monsters with this poor girl.

>>43942366
>> Take her elsewhere (choose a location) and set up a temporary camp first.
area in front of the Oubliette's doors
>> Ask Nathan to carry her. You're exhausted.

>>43943059
Beat up as we are, we're not much good in a fight anyway. Might be a better idea to leave the relatively unhurt guy unoccupied?

>>43943592
I am starting to worry that our MC here is going to collapse, and miss harpy captive isn't doing any better. Considering the relatively short distance, I'll take the risk of being caught unprepared than being caught with one or two unconscious people and a young man who doesn't know first aid beyond bandages.

>>43943659
Hmm. You raise an interesting point. Maybe Vox will confirm one way or the other how beat up we are?

>>43945455
Or I'll CALL THE VOTE and START THIS PARTY.

Gotta leave around 4 EST to go to work, will run further tonight at around 10 EST. We'll finish this thread out until it no thread no more, possibly end up making a new one.

>>43942414
Seconded.

>Do a cursory examination now to make sure she doesn't have any instant things we need to take care of right this second, then take her back to the start where it's kinda safeish for a better one.

>Carry her yourself. She came to you. This girl has obviously been through a lot, and anything that makes her more comfortable right now is going to help. Plus Nathan is probably going to be better at physical combat anyway.

>Do a cursory examination now to make sure she doesn't have any instant things we need to take care of right this second, then take her back to the start where it's kinda safeish for a better one.

>Carry her yourself. She came to you. This girl has obviously been through a lot, and anything that makes her more comfortable right now is going to help. Plus Nathan is probably going to be better at physical combat anyway.
(At least, try to. Don't be too much of a hero, if you think you're gonna collapse, get Nathan to help. if nothing else, he'll see you doing your best and there'll be more evidence for 'not a psycho')

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The poor girl barely weighs anything. Starvation will do that to a person, and you'd bet a kidney she's got hollow bones too, an unwelcome gift from her mother. You stroker her hair softly and sigh.

"We're almost safe," you murmur. "I need you to be brave a little longer, okay? We've gotta walk back down the hall, and then we're gonna make you better. Can you walk?"

Nathan gives you a hot, accusatory look, but you match it with a cold glare.

"I," the girl croaks. "I can walk."

"We'll be right here," you promise softly. "Nathan, rear guard."

The girl's shuffling walk drags her wings along the ground, leaving a trail of grease and pus strewn with tattered feathers. She stares down at the ground, focusing on putting one foot in front of the other, but in the end you make it. This area, at least, seems mostly safe - probably because adventurers take another entrance, and exiles tend to be both deadly and desperate.

You lick your finger and hold it up, nodding when you confirm that the air is flowing gently deeper into the dungeon. You help the girl to sit, with her back against the wall, and set up a small fire with your dried dung. You hand Nathan your pot and your weasel.

"Through the door on the left there is a cavern with a river," you explain. "The water's clean enough, once I boil it. Keep the weasel with you. It was a vicious coward in life and it'll still be a coward in death. It'll warn you."

Nathan nods and goes, pot in one hand and hatchet in the other. Your weasel bounces up to his shoulder and stands at attention.

Amazingly, the not-an-angel is still awake; she watches you with all the attention she can muster through her exhaustion and pain.

"Got a name?" you ask softly.

"Amy," she croaks. The girl tries a smile and manages to get most of the way there.

"We're gonna make it better," you promise quietly.

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>>43945795
You give Amy a cursory look, and the news isn't good; her wings are rotting and infected, and there's a pretty good chane they're going to have to come off. Which will probably make Nathan fucking furious, but what does he want from you? You're a necromancer, not a goddamn -

You take a deep breath and let it out slowly.

> Examine her with necromancy. You're exhausted but it provides the best information possible.
> Examine her without magic. A steady hand is going to be needed to do what's got to be done, and you doubt Nathan's going to have the stomach for it.

And also:

> Explain to Nathan beforehand; he seems intelligent, he might listen to reason.
> Get to work once he arrives. Forgiveness, permission, etc.

> Examine her with necromancy. You're exhausted but it provides the best information possible.
> Explain to Nathan beforehand; he seems intelligent, he might listen to reason.

> Examine her with necromancy. You're exhausted but it provides the best information possible.
If there is /any/ chance we can fix this without amputating, we should take it.

> Explain to Nathan beforehand; he seems intelligent, he might listen to reason.
Forgiveness before permission is all well and good between friends, but he has weapons and we're exhausted.

> Examine her with necromancy. You're exhausted but it provides the best information possible. (But we're gonna need a good long rest once she's stable.)
> Explain to Nathan beforehand; he seems intelligent, he might listen to reason. But...make it clear that we're telling, not asking.

> Examine her with necromancy. You're exhausted but it provides the best information possible.

Getting as much information as possible. This is kind of an important decision for Amy. You can't afford to be lazy.
You can get a solid nap afterwards, too. This area seems reasonably safe.

> Explain to Nathan beforehand; he seems intelligent, he might listen to reason.

Might be a good idea to reinforce some basic trust and mutual respect for each others opinions.

>>43945846
Damn, its not very likely she'd be all that great of a flyer anyway, or that it'd even be useful in a dungeon. But that's still going to fucking suck. I just hope that we can actually help her, its possible shes flat out screwed.

Calling the vote in 7 minutes. Seems pretty clear-cut thought.

Also, forgot to mention it in the previous scene because I was writing tired, but ya'll got your stone with a hole in it back, because Fetch is a good chicken.

Called, writing.

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You take your stone from your pocket and hold it in the air in front of Amy.

"My name's Brianna," you tell her. "I'm a necromancer, and I'm going to use necromancy on you. I have to know what's killing you, and how deep it goes. This won't hurt. Is that alright?"

Amy nods, and you murmur a small prayer. The news isn't good at all; her wings are riddled with rot and infection, worse than you suspected, and are poisoning her blood. She ought to be dead, in fact, but residual enchantments, probably from the cage, have kept the spread of the damage down and caused, say, excrutiating agony rather than fatality.

Amy's starvation has, likewise, been preternaturally extended, and she has sores and marks from frequent restraint. She needs food, water, and rest, as well as something to treat her infections.

And the wings have got to go.

"...Okay. Do you want the gentle version, or the honest version?"

"No lies," the girl begs, and you take off your hat and hold it to you chest.

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>>43946413
You hear the rustle of armor and look - Nathan has come back, with the pot filled with water. You set it over the flame and gesture for him to sit.

"You're hurt pretty bad, Amy," you explain quietly. "And I don't have the materials to fix all of it. Your wings can't be saved, and will have to be removed if you're going to live. I can do that here, now, and I probably should. But you're also sick, and starved, and while I've got /some/ food, I'm not...I'm not a healer. We need to get you to a real doctor."

"What are the odds that this place even /has/ a healer?" Nathan asks, concern putting a sharp edge to his tone.

"There's a village, down the river," you explain. "Environment like this, they either have a healer or they're all undead."

"Lakehallow," Amy croaks.

"Come again?" you ask.

"Its name is Lakehallow. Good people. In trouble, though."

"There you go," you say to Nathan. "Look, I don't like this either. But I don't know how long the magic that's keeping her alive is going to last and if those wings are on when it expires, she's going to die."

Nathan looks frustrated, but eventually he nods. "Can you sedate her?"

"Marsh give you whiskey?"

"How did you know?" he asks in disbelief.

"I know soldiers. Give it here."

Soon enough you've got the girl passed-out drunk, though you restrain her arms anyway because this is not the sort of thing you need her punching you in the middle of. You sterilize the Nathan's hatchet and have him stretch her wings out so you can do a quick, clean chop. Your hands tremble as you treat the part-harpy girl; you have to stop, every now and again, as your vision swims with exhaustion, but eventually the amputation is complete, and you bandage her sores before sinking against the wall, breath heavy in your lungs.

"This...has been...just...the shittiest day," you manage. "Not. Done yet, just. Gimmie a few."

"Bri," Nathan murmurs. "You're exhausted. Rest."

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>>43946551
"No," you protest blearily. "She'sintrouble. Doctor."

"You can't help her if you're dead."

"Fukkinwatchme."

> Brew a healing potion from your limited supplies and force it down Amy's throat. It won't kill the infection but it'll return needed strength to her body.
> Brew a medicinal tea from your herbs and force it down Amy's throat. Any help is better than none and you need potions for if someone comes down with a bad case of Stabbed In the Neck Syndrome.
> Pack up your things and try to make it to Lakehallow.
> Take Nathan's advice and get some rest, have him brew the girl some tea while you're passed out.
> Write-in.

> Take Nathan's advice and get some rest, have him brew the girl some tea while you're passed out.

>>43946593
Ouch. ... anyhow, I say go for the healer and use a potion to buy time for the trip. If nothing else it'll boost Nathans relationship points and make him more ... uh, loyal? Worst case scenario you tried and that counts for him, and best cast you get two helpers.

> Take Nathan's advice and get some rest, have him brew the girl some tea while you're passed out.
Functioning on pure defiance is good and all, but lets not function to exhaustion on our first day here. Plenty of time for that later, right?

>>43946593
>Take Nathan's advice and get some rest, have him brew the girl some tea while you're passed out.

Sleep is good, and moving Amy so soon after cutting her wings off is probably not the best plan.

>>43946647
Heya anon. It's a bit easier for me to track the votes if you could format 'em in greentext, which is done by placing your course of action after an arrow. Like this:

> Demonstrate the format to anon.

That way I can tell the difference between a vote & discussion at a glance, y'know?

> Take Nathan's advice and get some rest, have him brew the girl some tea while you're passed out.

Let HIM do this. I don't want you making any critical mistakes with brewing now. Maybe give him some additional helpful instruction or something. Make sure he actually knows how to brew a good tea.

>>43946667
> Ouch. ... anyhow, I say go for the healer and use a potion to buy time for the trip. If nothing else it'll boost Nathans relationship points and make him more ... uh, loyal? Worst case scenario you tried and that counts for him, and best cast you get two helpers.
> (hopefuly that works)

> Take Nathan's advice and get some rest, have him brew the girl some tea while you're passed out.

We should get more supplies, we got three mouths to feed right now. Hopefully Amy has some useful skills.

>>43946593
>> Brew a healing potion from your limited supplies and force it down Amy's throat. It won't kill the infection but it'll return needed strength to her body.

So we're going to need a necromancer of our own at this rate.

>>43946551
Also this is not the shittiest day, this is the second shittiest day, the shittiest being the one that abruptly ended with us getting eaten alive by a crocodile.

>>43946593
>Take Nathan's advice and get some rest, have him brew the girl some tea while you're passed out.
We're about to collapse anyway, so tell Nathan what to do. If her condition worsens, we can brew a potion later, but without rest we might not be in condition to do that.

Also, maybe working with our herbs himself will get Nathan more interested in the positive effects of that voodoo that we do.

>>43946593
>>43946901
Also
>Have your minions stand guard, just in case

Votes called, writing. Gotta hit the dishes after this update so next vote might be a bit long.

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Nathan gives you a steady look, and you finally sigh. "Okay. Okay. I'll sleep some. Gotta conserve strength an' all that. C'mere y'undead farm animals."

Your minions gather around you, and you murmur instructions to them so that they will guard the camp and not hurt your companions. They move to their posts, attentively.

"Why not just tell them to listen to me?" Nathan asks.

"Skeletons are /extremely/ literal and need careful instructions," you answer. "In my pack, herbs. You know medicine?"

"Some, yeah. I can make some for her."

"Make sure it's cold before you pour it down her throat."

"Yes, Brianna," the young man says patiently. "Sleep."

"You're not my ancestors," you snark, as your eyes close. "Y'can't tell me what to do."

You drift off to sleep, at long last.

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>>43947158
You feel a wooden bench under your butt, and you open your eyes to find yourself in that same white waiting room. Across the room, the dark-winged angel lights a cigarette.

"...Did I die again?" you ask in confusion.

"Nope."

"Dreaming?"

"You don't get to dream when you sleep any more, heritor," the angel says with an indifferent shrug. "So, congratulations. You get me. For all the good it does you."

You groan in frustration and put your elbows on your knees. "I didn't sign up for this, you know."

"No one signs up for this shit," the angel says frankly. "No one asks to be born into an existence of death and pain. No one asks their creators to make them, no one begs to go from an idea to a reality and then be abandoned to the cruelties of fate. But you already knew that, so fuck off with your whining."

"No need to be fucking rude," you grumble. "...Can I get one of those?"

The angel tosses you her cigarette case; the silver tin is painted with her own portrait, and contains eight cigarettes and a small, clockwork lighter.

"I'll warn you, they're shit," she says firmly. "Absolute fucking shit."

"Are you trying to help me?" you ask. You take a cigarette out and put it between your lips before working the lighter. You take your first drag and nearly choke; they /are/ shit.

"You could say that," the angel notes in her bored, tired voice. You look up and see /chains/, dozens of them, wrapped around her body and wings, pulling her in conflicting directions.

"You could also say," she continues mildly, "that I have shitty employers who give conflicting orders."

"...When do I wake up?"

"Damn, my company's that bad?"

You sigh.

> Necromancer says what?

> "So, you gonna actually explain *anything* 'bout this fuckery, or am I gonna have to figure it all out for myself?"

>>43947231
>You got a name?
>Where the hell is this supposed to be?

>>43947231
>"I'm not sure I even WANT to know about those employers of yours, but could you cut the crap for a second and just tell me what's going on?"
>"Is there at least something I can call you?"

As an aside, how well-known are the health effects of smoking? I figure we have a decent chance to know even if it's not common knowledge, what with our ability to sense rot and all that.

>>43947569
At the rate we've been burning life force we probably wont need to worry about that, we'll either be dead or a lich by that point

>>43947688
Mostly I just want to know if we can snark about it.

>>43947569
>>43947688
Not as known as one might think. Tobacco's still a young industry and the process for making them is far from modern. Additionally, most folks manage to die before it becomes a concern.

Bri knows better than most that they're deadly but as the emergency lich kit proves she was kinda prepared to nope out of this mortal coil at some point.

>>43947231
> Ask about the chains and if you can help clear them. Maybe also ask about your own remaining lifespan, since thats a limited resource.

Votes called in favor of "What's your name" and "What's going on". Writing.

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You take a drag on the smokable war crime in your mouth and cough out a plume of smoke.

"Got a name I can call you, at least?"

"The boss tends to prefer 'Hey you', or 'idiot slattern'," the angel admits, exhaling smoke through her nose, "though the all-time champion of the last century is 'bite the pillow, filth'."

You wince. "That's fucked up."

"No fucking shit. I'm not permitted to give you my name, but you can call me Lora, if you like. Heard the name ages ago, always liked it." She takes her coffin nail out from between her lips and gestures vaguely with it. "You'll be up soon."

"You haven't even told me what's going on yet!" you protest.

"How perceptive of you. Odd behavior on my part, considering that I'd like you to succeed and maybe drive an ice pick through the boss's brain."

"So tell me how I can help," you demand.

"Why is it you got sent down here again?" she asks, quirking an eyebrow.

"For having a fucking heart," you snap. "And thinking other people don't deserve to die for no good reason. Gods, is that so strange a concept?"

"Nope," the angel answers, leaning back on her bench and resuming her cigarette. "Afraid that's all the hint you're getting for now. Too many masters, too many orders." She tugs one of her chains, significantly. "See you later."

"Damnit Lora -"

>>43948326
Huh. The fact that shes got multiple bosses and orders means that they're are quite a few players at work in whatever this is, I suspect dungeon related. This'd also explain all the variation in dungeon segments and why it'd be so hard to understand how the dungeon works.

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>>43948326
Your eyes open. Nate's put the fire out - good job - but your hat is gone. Where had it been? You fell asleep with it on your chest, and -

Nathan turns to look at you, your hat held in his hands.

"Give that back," you snap, and he hands it over with a sheepish expression. "You can't just touch people's hats like that! This was my aunt's, she gave it to me. I need it for my spells too. Fucking shit, what if I'd taken something of /yours/?"

"Sorry," he says quietly. "...You were out for awhile. Amy's still asleep."

"Good," you answer, putting your top hat back on your head. "We can leave her like that, for a bit. While we pack. I...should probably carry her. I can fight without my hands. You can't."

"No argument here," Nathan agrees. "I didn't know you smoked."

"I what?" You look down at your lap - and there sits the cigarette case. Opening it up, you find seven whole cigarettes and the one you never quite finished, along with the clockwork lighter.

"...Huh," you note, mildly. "Okay. Light the fire back up again and I'll cook these organs real quick. Might as well use 'em before they go bad."

Neither of you, it turns out, can cook /well/, but you can definitely cook edibly, and after a few silent minutes you nibble at your meals, with some set aside for when Amy wakes up.

"...Wanna talk?" Nathan asks.

"About what?" you answer. You still feel somewhat vague, like you could've slept another four hours.

"I dunno. You? How'd you get into necromancy?"

> "Shame about the whiskey, this story's depressing."
> "I'd rather not talk about it, but..." (Suggest a topic)
> "No, we should move out.

>>43948446
>"Shame about the whiskey, this story's depressing."

TIME FOR BACKSTORY

>>43948446
>"Shame about the whiskey, this story's depressing."
Everybody loves backstory!

> "Shame about the whiskey, this story's depressing."

>"Shame about the whiskey, this story's depressing."

yeah this isn't even a contest. get with exposition, writer-boy.

>>43948446
>> "Shame about the whiskey, this story's depressing."

MUH FLUFF

I am a shameless lore junkie for literally everything ever

>>43948326
Something to remember for next time:
"I'm not permitted to give you my name" eh? Can we try to get on her good side then ask "What other things were you not permitted to tell us"? Hopefully this would let her give us some clues like "I'm not allowed to tell you what's going on in the locked room on the third floor of the Dungeon. I'm also not allowed to tell you the password for the trap hidden in the doorframe."

>>43948446
>"Shame about the whiskey, this story's depressing."

Calling votes, writing. Last update before I go to work.

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"Got any more of that whiskey?"

"No. That bad?"

You light the half-smoked cigarette and take a long drag. "Yeah. That bad."

You're quiet for a long moment before you begin, somewhat hesitantly. "You've probably noticed that I don't look like the folks from Starfall, what with, y'know, the dark skin and the hair and actually having a fashion sense and all that. My family's south of here mostly, in the Blind Marshes. We've always had a bit of an affair with death. Mom and Dad ran a funeral home, but I don't remember much of them. They died, when a monster hit the town from beneath. I shouldn't have seen that. No kid should've had to see that."

You stare ahead, brown eyes dark with memory. "Family's important down there. Not just your parents and siblings, all of it. So I didn't go to the orphanage, I was raised by aunts and uncles, by cousins, by my grandparents. My grandpa taught me to hunt when I was a wee thing. Grandma taught me the magic. Said it was important to have someone around who understood about life and death, and that she was getting on in years, and that Aunt Carol was an idiot who'd be nailed to a wall by some hero or other. Which she was, and she did, but that ain't here or there."

Nathan watches your face, sympathetically. Your minions have remained faithfully on guard.

"Necromancy's been a family business for so long that it's not even funny. Visited the family tomb after formally becoming apprenticed and had ghosts in animal skins giving me shit in a good-natured kinda way. My traditions are pretty home-y. We...we served communities, you know? Doing our best to help out and do our name proud. My grandpa, he was always saying 'Life is for the living, death is for the dead', and at first I didn't get it. I think most people don't get it, which is the depressing fucking thing."

You wince as the cigarette burns down to your lips and spit it out, to gutter and fade against the stone.

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>>43949146
"Wasn't to last, though. Home got swept under in a flood. Dam broke and that was that. Lost most of my family members that I liked, and a lot of the ones I didn't. I was traveling, then, and came back to...to ruin. I couldn't even find most of the bodies."

You reach for another cigarette, think better of it, and close the case. "So I struck out on my own, looking for some place to call home, to do, you know, my job. I'll spare you the succession of towns and nations I've been run out of."

"...Glen would accept you," Nate offers, hopefully.

"Sure, if I can ever get out of this fucking hellhole," you say with a shrug. "Which, y'know, bottomless death trap. Good fucking luck. But, hey. Maybe I can find a home down here? Or make one. The people that live here are still people. They can't be /that/ bad."

You whistle for your skeletons, and they flock to you, the weasel scurrying up your leg to perch on your shoulder. "You ready?"

"I'm ready."

> Proceed to Lakehallow, remaining mindful of the river.
> Try the center door.
> Navigate through Amy's prison and try the far door of that room.

> Proceed to Lakehallow, remaining mindful of the river.

>>43949222
> Proceed to Lakehallow, remaining mindful of the river. We need to get this poor girl's wings cut off, and that means we need a doctor.

Alright, that's it until after I get home from work. I need to mine some more necromancy images for these threads.

Feedback & discussion is, as always, welcome.

>>43949280
I'm liking this quest quite a bit, thanks for running. Do you have any particular sources of inspiration you're drawing on for this?

> Proceed to Lakehallow, remaining mindful of the river.
No reason to change the plan now.

>>43949280
I like it especially the MC she's interesting, she's a good if not necessarily the nicest person and the whole being more of a voodoo priestess then traditional DnD robes and evil necromancer are making for an interesting character.

>>43949267
Okay, that was me, and apparently on 1.5 hours sleep I can somehow miss /cutting off a birdgirl's wings/. Regardless, vote stands; we still need to get her to a proper doc.

>>43949346
The Dungeon itself is an homage to Undermountain, of D&D fame; of all the megadungeons I've read or played in, it remains the only one that feels like a genuine ecology, and its massive span contains not one but multiple cities and communities, to say nothing of the beings that dominate, but in no sense control, its levels. Glen's a tongue-in-cheek reference to the "town" region in Fate (an action RPG in the vein of Diablo; worth a try to kill an afternoon sometime).

Brianna is, as you've noticed, inspired by a mix of vodoun, hoodoo, RPG tropes about necromancy, Victorian spiritualism and adventurer tropes. The other potential MCs would have lead to different themes and ideas.

A piece of advice; remember the theme that came with Bri when you picked her out as Our Intrepid Heroine. She's ready to fight the good fight, but nothing you want, not even the good things, comes without a price.

>>43949518
Shit that's true, let's hope that our exhaustion and the loss of her wings has already cleared birdgirl's debt.

>>43949577
Wrong Debt
We need to survive the consequences of freeing her

> Proceed to Lakehallow, remaining mindful of the river.

>>43949222
> Proceed to Lakehallow, remaining mindful of the river.

>>43949518
Vox, do you by any chance know the 2D video game series 'Exile'? It's background is also a huge subterranean dungeon that undesirables are sent to. I played it for weeks, 20 years ago, and it's still the most in-depth game world I ever encountered.

>>43949620
In this case I think the consequences were Shit We Did Not Want To Do. Bri didn't want to have to amputate the poor girl's wings; she did it because she had to and nobody else would.

Remember, that theme doesn't mean we can't do anything. It just means there are /always/ consequences. At least as far as I can tell.

>>43950152
Im saying the wings arent even the real debt for us

The wings were the cost that amy had to pay to be saved not ours

Like how we saved that man in town
He has to live with the collar
While we get tossed into the dungeon as our price

>Have him brew some tea, for both myself amd Ann while
>I brew a healing potion to restore some of her strength.
>then rest while Nathan watches over.

>>43949222
>Proceed to Lakehallow, remaining mindful of the river.
Life for the living, death for the dead?

>>43951129
Something to consider if we want more on that is seeing if we can vote for Nathan to ask it IC.

>>43949620
Well, we already kinda are. We're caring for her out of limited supplies and putting ourselves at risk.

>>43951129
Why does that sound familiar... this whole concept... OP you son of a bitch! This character concept is based around that good necromancer greentext isnt it!?

Not that I'm actually complaining

>>43950258
It's not necessarily an eye-for-an-eye thing, anon. You saved Amy; now you have to care for her, and do unpleasant things to do so that will be with you for the rest of your life. Actions have consequences. Sometimes the consequence of altruistic action is sacrifice.

>>43953147
Um. Please forgive my flagrant newfaggotry, but what greentext?

Need to pick up my brother here shortly, and then starting an evening run. Trying to decide if I should make a new thread or not. Would more experienced anons care to advise?

>>43956360
ehh, do what you want.

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With your camp packed, you and Nathan take turns watching Amy long enough to let the other perform their ablutions. You pick up the half-harpy, frowning worriedly once again at how /light/ she is, and arrange her carefully over your shoulder. Prepared as you can be, you set out for Lakehallow.

You consider thanking Nathan for walking between you and the shore, but give up when you can't figure out a non-creepy way to say it. Fuck it, kid's nice, he'll get a thank-you or a cigarette or something later. Then again, those cigs are more like punishment.

"Can I ask you something?" he says in a low murmur. His eyes scan the environment professionally despite the lack of light - note to self, how the fuck is the kid seeing down here?

"Sure. Just don't wake Amy up."

"That thing your grandfather said - you said it too, when I was going to rush in to open the cage. 'Life is for the living, death is for the dead.' What's that supposed to mean."

You chew your cheek thoughtfully. "...Okay. So. The thing is, nothing that /is/, /wanted/ to be. And that's not necessarily bad, exactly, but there's a certain...a certain unfairness, in the act of life. You didn't ask to be born to those parents, or in /this/ time, or that city, with those eyes or a stutter or whatever. Life is dumped on your lap without so much as a shitty apology and then everyone acts like it's your responsibility. And, really, that's the first half; the living didn't choose to live, and everyone goes through their own struggles. You should respect that others fight their own battles, in their own lives, that you may never understand."

Nathan nods, thoughtfully. "And the other half?"

"All that lives must die. No one signed up for /that/, either. You should do your best to respect the life of others and not hurry their death along, to preserve life where you can and to end it with dignity and mercy when you must. It has...a second meaning, special to necromancers, too."

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>>43958113
Nathan gives you a curious look, genuine interest in his eyes.

"Death's a heady power," you say quietly. "It's very easy to be seduced by it, to see the glory of destruction and the power of absolute obedience. A lot of us, we get into necromancy for shitty reasons, and get taught by shitty people, and we fall in love with death and forget what it means to be alive. Grandpa'd seen too many good people go bad because they forgot what it was like to want a cold drink or a hot lay, to...to be /alive/, really. So he'd tell me, 'death is for the dead', to remind me and others that we /are/ alive, and the secrets of death will be waiting for us when our number comes up and it's time to answer to our ancestors."

The blacksmith's apprentice nods and returns to companionable silence, and the two of you eat the miles up. After more than two hours of walking gently down slope, you see it up close - Lakehallow. The rough structures are made from bone and scrap metal, but the witchlights that line the streets burn steadily, and the lake the town is built next to has small fishing boats moving through the dark by the light of lanterns. You look down at the minions surrounding you and take a steadying breath.

> Hide the minions. Good first impressions, right?
> Take them with you. You've done nothing wrong, and you have nothing to hide.
> Give Amy to Nathan and send him in first. Play it safe, maybe avoid dying again.

>>43958230
>Take them with you. You've done nothing wrong, and you have nothing to hide.

>>43958230
> Take them with you. You've done nothing wrong, and you have nothing to hide.
There is no way this can possibly go wrong!

>>43958230
> Take them with you. You've done nothing wrong, and you have nothing to hide.

We can't leave Fetch, he's our familiar.

>>43958230
> Take them with you. You've done nothing wrong, and you have nothing to hide.

>>43958230
There structures have bone and stuff in em? Screw it. Lets take a risk.
> Take them with you. You've done nothing wrong, and you have nothing to hide.

> Take them with you. You've done nothing wrong, and you have nothing to hide.

Votes called, writing.

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"Okay. We're going in. Um. Stow the weapons but keep sharp, yeah?"

Nathan nods, tucking his axe back into its belt loop. Your group is halted by a firm voice, about fifty feet from the town.

"Ho there! Be ye live or be ye dead?"

"Um," you say, looking around at your feet. "Three living sapients, four mindless skeletons?"

"What's your business in Lakehallow?" the voice asks. You're not /sure/ if it's hostile; the accent is thick and challenging.

"The girl over my shoulders is hurt badly. We need a healer for her, and to buy or trade for supplies. I'm an exile from the world above, stranger, just trying to make my own way."

"And the heavily-armed man?"

You give Nathan a look. "Um. I had to bring him down here to save his life. With. Ah. Necromancy."

"Sakes alive, a /necromancer/." Does he sound...eager? "The Lakewarden'll want to talk to you, but if you've wounded you'd best get to the Mercy Hut. Keep your weapons down an' your eyes sharp on the water, stranger, for the lake ain't always as friendly as she is now."

"My thanks!" you call in relief. Together, you and Nathan move into the village.

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>>43959060
Lakehallow bustles; like Glen above it, the village is unusually populated for its size, though unlike Glen it has a tight, defensive huddle and crow's nests at the top of each house, with crossbows and quarrels of bolts kept ready. Closer examination on the buildings reveals that the bone you saw from a distance comes from one, or more, huge beasts; ribs and vertebrae built into the construction dwarf the size of your own body and help to form the shape of the buildings, giving them a long, somewhat serpentine look. Gardens, kept by witchlight, grow mushrooms and herbs, along with root vegetables, along the streets of the town. The Mercy Hut is easy enough to identify by the rod-and-snake symbol hanging from its sign, and you are relieved when it proves to be clean, quiet, and well-kept. A thin elf looks at Amy without a word and takes her gently from you, setting her down on a bed.

"She's got an infection, among other things," you say softly, giving the healer a rundown of what you observed and the treatments you've offered thus far. He nods and thanks you for your efforts.

"One of you should stay here with her," the elf suggests. "So she has a familiar face when she wakes up. Seeing a stranger, in a strange place, may lead her to believe that she is captive once more."

You and Nathan share a look.

> You say. She came to you, and she's your responsibility.
> Let Nathan stay. You need to talk to this Lakewarden.

>>43959207
>> Let Nathan stay. You need to talk to this Lakewarden.
Business time.

>>43959207
>Let Nathan stay. You need to talk to this Lakewarden.
Would like to talk to her more but no telling when she'll wake up and we should sort out our business with the locals before they start getting twitchy.

>>43959207
>You stay. She came to you, and she's your responsibility.

Bri is close to her; you can't amputate a limb to save someone's life without establishing a bond. And make her walk though Bri did of necessity, she was still the one that Amy came to first. And the one who actively participated in saving her, for the part she was awake for. Bri is going to be way more comforting.

>> Let Nathan stay. You need to talk to this Lakewarden.
A potentially friendly welcome?!?! This we gotta see.

>>43959207
>Let Nathan stay. You need to talk to this Lakewarden.
But leave a minion with them with instructions to come find you when she wakes up.

>>43959207
>Let Nathan stay. You need to talk to this Lakewarden.
this might be urgent.

>>43959207
> Let Nathan stay. You need to talk to this Lakewarden.
Depending on how much time the Lakewarden takes up, you might still get back in time to see Bri wake up.

>>43959534
God I hope not. Can you imagine?

> Talk to the Lakewarden.
> Get back.
> Amy has turned into you.
> Thisshitiswhatdrivesmetodrink.gif

>>43959560
And thus begins the new price of saving a life, every one we save becomes us.

>>43959560
Oh god what have I done.

>>43959560
>life is for the living
>we are all life
>you will be assimilated
lichdom was her way of escaping the self-perpetuating assimilation plot.

>>43959207
> Let Nathan stay. You need to talk to this Lakewarden.

Calling votes (to my personal surprise), writing.

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"Will you stay with her?" you ask Nathan, and the young man nods. He pulls a chair up to her bed as the healer gets to work. You sigh to yourself, not entirely certain about your decision, but...well, hellfire, if the town's gonna have a problem with someone it's going to be with you, and you'd rather have a problem outside than here in a house of healing.

You don't have to /like/ being practical, you just have to /do it/.

A passing citizen is happy to tell you that the Lakewarden is probably along the docks, and sure enough, at the end of the pier is an old man, a hook at the end of one arm and a rough quality to his much-mended finery. He greets you with a grunt when you approach and pats the dock next to him, and you sit with your feet dangling above the water.

"When the watch said a dark necromancer'd shown up, I expected it to be a bit less literal," he says, his voice rough and rumbling. "Remind me, if you stick around, to pay for grammar lessons in me governance."

You chuckle. "I'm Brianna."

"Kells," the Lakewarden says, offering a massive hand for you to shake. You grip it firmly and grin. "Exile, huh? I was an exile once. No points fer guessin'."

"You /were/ an exile?" you ask.

"Sentence is technically up. Fell in love with the place, so I never left."

"Heh."

"You came at a time of powerful trouble, girl," Kells continues. He fishes a pipe from his coat, along with a pouch of tobacco, and packs the former with the latter. "You smoke?"

"Does that taste like a sin against nature?"

Kells peers at you. "Y'ain't kiddin', are ye?"

"Not. Even. A little."

A match flares in the old pirate's hands, and he lights his bowl. "The Basement is under siege, girl. Man calls himself the Vinter, and he's a sorcerer and an illusionist besides. Showed up here eight, ten years back, no one thought anything of it. Made fine wines from grapes he coaxed into growing down here in the dark. And then the monsters start breeding in the river."

An ILLUSIONIST, you say...

(Dark necromancer. Ha and double ha.)

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>>43959746
After a few puffs, Kells passes you the pipe. You taste it, politely, and have to restrain a sound of relieved pleasure; that's /good shit/.

"People've been going missing, an' turnin' up as bait for his traps. We don't dare leave the town now except to go on the lake, and even then his damn croc haunts it, hungry and angry and bloody fucking invisible. My killing days are long done, girl, and my people, they live in a town, not the Dungeon. You understand?"

"Yeah," you say thoughtfully, puffing the pipe before handing it back. "And a necromancer could solve some of your problems. Or maybe all of them, if the price is right. Is that what you're thinking?"

"I'll confess to it," Kells says agreeably. "But I've had a look in yer eye and a shake of yer hand an' I don't think you'll kill for coin, will ya?"

"Got it in one," you say with a wry grin. "At least, not people. That croc, on the other hand? That I'd end gladly."

"I'm willin' to welcome you to m'town. You can come and go, stay if you can rent a room, browse the shops. Y'ain't the strangest thing we've had here, yer little chickens aside. But I'd pay, and pay dearly, if you could help my people. Make the lake friendly again. Help drive the Vinter an' his forces back. I'm old, Brianna. I ain't the scourge I used to be."

"Et in Arcadia ego," you murmur. "...I -"

> Need some time to think about it. Can I get a room, while our wounded member is treated?
> Have an idea for the croc. If I kill it, can you dredge the corpse out of the water?
> Need to know more about this Vinter if I'm going to take him on.
> Am not interested. Lemme grab my people and go.

>>43959819
> Need some time to think about it. Can I get a room, while our wounded member is treated?

First things first, we have a half-harpy to take care of.

> Need to know more about this Vinter if I'm going to take him on.
Let's be honest. We're a sucker, we're gonna end up helping, but knowledge is power.

>>43959819
> Need to know more about this Vinter if I'm going to take him on.
We help people. Sometimes it blows back on us. But we can maybe prevent getting fucked with a little knowledge.

>>43959819
>I'll see to the first piece of bait rescued from one of those traps. She wasn't doing well, let me tell you.
>explain the condition that most of them are likely to be, and how they have SOME time due to the enchantments on the cages
>we may need a system for safely and quickly bringing them back to town if we end up taking this job, hint hint.
Don't accept outright, but no sense in holding out information they need.

>>43959819
Yes to this
> Have an idea for the croc. If I kill it, can you dredge the corpse out of the water?
But I don't feel like dealing with people, so voting against actually dealing with Vinter.

Also, head back and see if Amy has become a Bri.

Do we know how Lichdom works?

>>43959986
Of course!
>You just need these ingredients here, hmm no, might need to replace them with something more available
>This ingredient was lost in the flood
>I don't even know what THAT stuff is
it'd be fiiiine, just takes a bit of...DIY

Alright folks, I'm gonna go ahead and both call the vote and start a new thread in the morning. Feel free to continue to vote and/or discuss until this one sages out. I'll field questions for a bit too.

>>43960119
Does Vinter make good wine?

Any townsfolk recognize Amy?

What's Nathan's official occupation right now?

Gonna explain Witchlight?

If those cigs are so awful, should we just dismantle them and save the paper for good tobacco?

How long do skellies last?

>>43960143
The wine is a matter of opinion.

You'll find out about Amy later.

That might be something you want to bring up with Nathan later.

Witchlight is magical light of any variety, though it is often used specifically to refer to magical light with flame-like qualities. It sees use in underground or deep-forest communities to grow plants where other light cannot reach them.

I have no opinion on the disposition of the smokeable war crimes.

With careful maintenance and a lack of damage, the skeletons can theoretically last indefinitely. More practically, they're small, fragile animals and without upgrades will probably die faster than childhood dreams.

>>43960172
>I have no opinion on the disposition of the smokeable war crimes.

On that note, does the principle of sympathy exist in this setting?

>>43960220
Expand.

>>43960172
>I have no opinion on the disposition of the smokeable war crimes.
Let's just stuff the bad stuff in a chicken skellie that we purposely want to smell like the worst crap we can manage. That'll stun a predator or two.

who knows, might help preserve the organs, too.

>>43960225
I think he's asking if you can talk to inanimate objects? Or maybe voodoo stuff where hair or family relations possesses an exploitable magical connection.

>>43960225
Short version? Wondering if things form magical connections when in proximity long enough. Long version... Would an item that Lora owned for apparently a long-ass time be tied to her, so that we could potentially use it to get information on her?

>>43960263
Sympathetic connections can be important in some many kinds of magic, often as an expression of sacrifice; for instance, Bri's revival of Nathan. Sympathetic influence is harder, because the object in question would have to be so associated with the person that it is essentially part of their identity, a place or thing so integral that, if deprived of it, the person would be lessened entirely.

Divinations of all varieties benefit from having a piece of a person, as do attempts at mental influence, but beyond that people can clip their nails and cut their hair in fair amounts of safety.

>>43960306
Hmm. Does warding out mental influences also benefit from having part of someone?

>>43960329
Aye, though a talisman - or something like Nathan's armor - is generally better for preventative care. That and generally if you're trying to scrub a mental influence on a person you're right there next to them and can just use, you know, the /person/, who is of course full of all manner of parts of themselves.

>>43960345
I may be planning out things related to jailbreaking an angel whose physical body we don't have access to. Speaking of which, is our weirdass dream connection something we can exploit as a tie to her? How about the fact that we literally would not be alive at this point if not for her intervention, as near as we can tell; does that make her a sympathetic connection to us, or the other way around?

>>43960345
>> Have an idea for the croc. If I kill it, can you dredge the corpse out of the water?
You still here? If so I can link that greentext you apparently aren't familiar with, which is shocking seeing the large amount of parallels. Either way, if that son of a bitch was the guy who trapped the harpy, I know someone who definitely wants a piece of him. Also I suspect his initial idea was either to sic one power hungry wizard on another (undead are easier to deal with than invisible fucking crocodiles), to bribe the hell out of us with gold if we were greedy, to appeal to our morality, which is sort've what happened, or in this case, which is probably his best case scenerio, we're willing to assist in at least some of the problems for virtually nothing. Of course, he has all the gold anyway and if you've got leverage you might as well use it.

>>43960509
Honestly? That's wizard stuff. Would've been more Martin's wheelhouse. If you get the chance you can examine your own life (and death) and try to figure things out from there but Brianna's not a traditional wizard and doesn't do the things they do.

>>43960621
By all means, post it in the new thread, which will be up...Soon(tm).

Alright folks, calling votes. We're mostly tied, with the general sentiment being interest, so I'm going to average out at "I want the job, but I need time to plan, discuss, and attend to the wounded."

Writing new thread, will link.

NEW THREAD: >>43963808
NEW THREAD: >>43963808
NEW THREAD: >>43963808
NEW THREAD: >>43963808

And thanks to everyone who participated!