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I found a thing while randomly browsing that reminded me of Bri

>>46833944
> No intelligent boar

Truly life is lonely.

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>>46833969
I found a thing that reminded me of the Caretaker.

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>>46833944
It's not hard to get a message to Nate and Amy; your lovers bring you the various materials you've gathered in the Roost so that you can attend on your necromancy while Meadows attends to your long-term care.

Brooks, it seems, has moved temporarily into Lakehallow with her swain. She was happy to help, considering the circumstances of Meadows' absence.

Working the chitin into armor for yourself had been a difficult decision - you kept thinking of the boar skeleton in armor instead - but you made it, in the end, to protect yourself. Boneshaping, patience, and more than a few accidentally sliced fingers worked the Priestess's armored chitin into a breastplate, bracers, and greaves, as well as small, but vital, bits of supplementary armor - the gorget, chitin-and-iron backing for your gloves, and the like.

You try it on and shrug your coat on over it. The end result is surprisingly light, and you feel good about it. More importantly, its partially-animated state means you can repair it yourself and, for instance, jut spikes from it instead of having to use your own bones.

Installing the mantis's scythes onto the boar is more of a project, considering that it won't fit in the Atheneum, Amy manages to get it into the Mine for you, and you work on it in relative peace. The end result looks...okay, it looks stupid.

But if it's stupid, and it works, it's not stupid.

Kat takes to her new witchlight core like a child with a toy. The shadow curls affectionately around the mote of bright violet flame when she's at rest, appearing for all the world as a tiny ball of darkness. She makes little cooing noises when she's relaxing.

* * * *

"What're you hold - MERCIFUL GODS BRIANNA WHY DO YOU HAVE SEVERED FUCKING EYEBALLS?" Lora shouts, scooting away from the jar of eyes you're holding in shock.

"The Daughter was kind enough to donate these to my cause," you note, with a little grin.

"WARN A GIRL!"

"Squeamish?" you cock an eyebrow.

>>46834205
Wait. Did the Witchlight unlock a path to make Kat sentient and . . . Not malignant?

>>46834205
>Lora afraid of body severed eyes
>[Laughing skeletons intensify]

>>46834061
dude that's DJLich's announcement banner.
You dont just randomly post that without being DJLich here to drop a sick beat.

>>46834252
eh. kat was always semi-sapient. She's just happy right now.

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>>46834205
"They're /looking at me/!"

"Literally?"

"No!" the angel snaps. "She's blind! WHY ARE YOU HOLDING EYEBALLS OUT AT ME?"

You put the jar back into your backpack and adjust the strap. "I wanted to ask you what you might think they'd do if used for necromancy."

"I -" Lora pauses. "...Good question," she admits, rubbing her chin thoughtfully. "Eyes are the window to the soul, of course. Most undead have witchlights for eyes; true eyes, preserved properly, tend to make them smarter, more observant, a bit more independant. Probably make such a being helpful in finding water, predicting the weather, navigating seaways."

"Huh," you note.

"Now," Lora muses. "Most eyes aren't really potent enough to be servants on their own, but half-angel...could work. Throw some spider legs or wings on it and you could have a handy spy, if you can get it to communicate to you. Might be able to get them to write in ice if you make them smart enough. And there's sympathetic magic, of course."

"...Could I strike her down through these?"

"I'm certain I have no idea if you could do such a thing," Lora says carefully. "Just as I have no idea if the Diviner's carefully-enhanced sympathetic resonances at Cannot Hold could increase the power of such a thing."

"...Thank you."

"For what?" the angel asks, quirking her eyebrow. "I said I wasn't certain."

The two of you share a savage grin.

> What do you do with the eyes? (I'm taking write-ins that follow the thematic ideas presented above, including saving them for later).

i was counting the votes...

Armor Fentch and boar (7)
Armor to Bri (13)
Implant the scythes i the boar(12)
Save head for later(1)
Increase Kat's strenght (3)
Enhance Kat's swiftness & cutting power (8)
Give Kat Witchlight core (15)
Ask Lora about the eyes (15)
Install the eyes in Vim & Vigor(1)
Increase a minion's intelligence and perception (Boar) (4)

>>46834252
Remember, "WHAT ARE YOU DOING, I CREATED YOU" is a /risk/, not a certainty. It happens a lot with shadows that are made too cunning and independant but recall Bri's repeated statements that a lot of necromancers get into the business for shitty reasons and kinda allow themselves to be shitty people as a result.

Kat is certainly happy with it. She feels a /lot/ better with something to sustain her shape and form.

>>46834205
>"What're you hold - MERCIFUL GODS BRIANNA WHY DO YOU HAVE SEVERED FUCKING EYEBALLS?"

This pleases me.

...Yeah im voting to save the eyeballs and instagib a boss thankyouverymuch

>>46834383
>> What do you do with the eyes? (I'm taking write-ins that follow the thematic ideas presented above, including saving them for later).
> Save them for the time being. Make a final decision once we've taken down the Diviner and can choose to strike down the Daughter through them.

>>46834383
Hm, we might be able to use the threat of using the Diviner's thingies against the Daughter to sow discord among the chain-bearers. How is the Diviner going to react if the Daughter demands that she destroy those things the Diviner worked on so "carefully"? How is the Daughter going to react when the Diviner refuses to destroy something that could see the Daughter dead without her having any chance to have a say in the matter?

And even if the Daughter somehow wins and gets them destroyed: even better! I'm quite happy to blind the Diviner, if it comes to that.

>>46834383

>navigating seaways

So we could potentialy us e the eyes against the living boat?

Anyway i will go the "no fun" route, and keep it, so we can strike the bitch directly.

>>46834410
That's nice, Anon. Thanks for sharing.

>>46834383
> Sympathetic Magic Time

Fuck fighting someone with a murder cult of Assassin's. Let's fuck her up from afar and use the rest of her corpse for good shit.
>>46834544

Pretty sure the Chain bearers are magically bound from directly interfering with each other. Witholding assistance is one thing, but an actual attack?

>>46834383
If we go with ritual magic, let's be in a position to make sure nobody else gangs her body.

>>46834383
> Most undead have witchlights for eyes; true eyes, preserved properly, tend to make them smarter, more observant, a bit more independant. Probably make such a being helpful in finding water, predicting the weather, navigating seaways

Ain't there a water level coming up? Use one eye to fuck up the Daughter, then afterwards give one to Kat. Deep Sea shadow time.

Which levels are Daughter and Diviner sitting at again?

>>46834383
>hold onto them for later
I don't think a spy would be to good, but fucking with the half angle that's probably going to be VERY dangerous on her own seems like a good idea.

>>46834645
i believe the level were a chain holder is literaly a boat might be a sea level. But the boat could be a air ship.

>>46834695
Diviner is at the broken jaw. The one were he killed the hole level population and created the draug that was swarming in the roost.

>>46834614
Wasn't suggesting an attack.

I'm kind of seeing the Daughter as being haughty and over-sure of herself—or more accurately, having been. Cherry's attack may have shaken her. News that she could very well be destroyed out of the blue and from a distance could shatter her.

Because I think she's in a place where she assumed that the only threats to her plans were gods and angels. When Dick pitched this operation, in the Dungeon where gods and angels don't go, with the notable exception of the angel they were going to bind and torture, well: that eliminates the Daughter's biggest impediments to divinity, and torturing an angel, like her father who cast her down the first time, well that's a bonus. And the plan would make her a real goddess, who could not be cast down a second time.

As far as she was concerned, the plan was all upside. Victory was assured. The risks were all neatly accounted for and nullified. Because the risk of a mortal in the Dungeon being a threat never occurred to her.

Now she not only sees that she may fail to achieve her goals, she also sees her own existence in jeopardy. The Daughter wants to be a real goddess very, very badly, but she has eternity (presumably?) to make that happen. Risk of destruction was not in her plans. It probably never even entered into her head as a possibility. And now it is.

So she turns to her 'allies' to eliminate these risks. But the Diviner won't, and points out it's her own fault she lost her eyes. So she goes to Dick, but he takes the Diviner's side—after all, it's her fault she lost her eyes.

Now the Daughter is furious at her own side, terrified of her own destruction, and probably suspecting a stab in the back, which she probably wrote off originally as inconceivable, or laughable if they tried.

But yes, I am making a fuck ton of assumptions about the Daughter based on very limited intel. I suggest this merely as something to keep in mind as we learn more.

>>46834908
> But yes, I am making a fuck ton of assumptions about the Daughter based on very limited intel.

It's been pointed out several times that they are literally bound to not be able to work against each other to the point where even Brigitte had to do a bullshit showdown with us.

Also, the Daughter is Fucking crazy. You don't negotiate with crazy, you either ignore it or out crazy it

Or you fucking nuke a Bitches soul with magic from a distance. Easily the best option.

> Vox, how do you feel about having given us eyes for sympathetic magic?

Still say we should get Robert in on this. He's a vicious sod.

>>46834908
>Now she not only sees that she may fail to achieve her goals
She's not seeing much of anything at the moment.

>>46834908
This plan only makes me think in a scenario were we fight two chain holders at t he same time.

The daugther wants to stop us form using the diviners gaget against her. The diviner doesn't want to do it. They both unite against us now we hve to fight a person that sees everything that happend and will happend and a half-angel that can't see anything.

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>>46835043

kek

>>46835064
I assume you're writing a comedy sketch there.

But if we have to fight 2 chain holders at the same time, then we've fucked up.

>>46835012
Brigitte did not try very hard.

The Daughter may also believe herself to be more capable of flexing, or breaking, her oaths. She is rather full of herself.

But you're probably right, Dick probably has something over on her, too.

>>46835511
What are you saying doubles!!! tell me your secrets!!!

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>>46835511
Anon. Anon, please. Don't do drugs Anon.

Look at what you just wrote and take a moment to reconsider the life choices that brought you here.

Unless you're ESL in which case I applaud your effort.

But still that sounds like some seriously high nonsensical rambling. Also, use spell check.

> Vox, how do you feel about having given us eyes for sympathetic magic?

Glad you remembered about it, honestly. Managing to kill the Daughter ahead of time would vastly simplify her Floor and I'm not about to change shit ahead of time just because I wasn't expecting you to logically combine two elements I already installed.

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>>46835808
our linch is the best

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>>46835808
>MFW it's more effective than I thought when suggesting it.

I mean. I thought we could drive her insane or something with it and torment her relentlessly until she mad mistakes and got erratic. I didn't see outright killing the boss as a feasible thing.

But hey I'm down.

>>46835975
You might say that giving us the eyes is the linchpin of his plan

>>46835808
It's the... eyes of the Daughter, it's our Fetch in the fight
Coming down, just to challenge all our rivals.
And the last known survivor of the marsh-land LaCroix
Is there working her spell on the eyes... of the Daughter.

Called, writing.

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>>46834383
You decide to keep the eyes, for now. They'll be handy down the road.

"Thanks," you tell Lora.

"Please warn me next time."

"Yes, I will."

* * * *

Amy's new snakeskin dress is /alluring/. Though the gown Miles made for her has its own sorcerous charm, Amy in scales has an edge of danger that makes you tingle.

"How's it going?" Amy asks, while you ruffle her hair and scritch her head. She chirps delightedly.

"Pretty well," you murmur. "Meadows is confident in his treatment. I'll never be /quite/ the same, but...I'm healing. Been considering what to do with those wing membranes."

"Yeah?" Ames asks, nestled against you. Nate's in the Roost, with River and Lark, helping out. You've been staying in the Atheneum, close to Jewel and Cherry.

Jewel's insisted on continuing her lessons. The girl's never seen without a book.

Amy nuzzles your hand to remind you that you're supposed to be talking right now.

"Oh. Sorry, I...okay," you begin again. "They're formerly living flesh, easy to shape. A bit thin on their own, but I'm thinking of making something to wear with them. Like..." you pluck at your much-abused coat.

"A coat out of just wings?" Amy asks.

"More like a flying coat," you offer, shyly. "I can rebuild the structures that give them shape. If you work with Harry and Isoldt, I bet they could capture some of your flight magic and weave it into runes for the coat. I spend some money with a talor in Glen, have the runes installed as buttons..."

Amy chirps ecstatically. "I could teach you how to fly!"

"Or..." you hesitate. "I dunno, Kat could use them too. Range further from me, move faster..."

"Briiii!"

"I have to be practical!" you protest.

"Pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaase!"

> Make a flying coat with the wings
> Enhance Kat's range and speed
> Enhance another minion's speed and reflexes (Vim & Vigor/the Boar)
> Save the wings
> Write-in?

>>46838058
>> Make a flying coat with the wings
Oh, fine...

>>46838058
>> Make a flying coat with the wings
If my years of D&D have taught me anything, it's that flying spellcasters are something many enemies are just not equipped to deal with.

>>46838058
>Make a flying coat with the wings
Flying necromancer dropping rot bombs, we carpet bombing Cornucopia now.

>>46838201
But if we're flying, there's nothing in the way of all the bullets and arrows they'll use.

>>46838257
We fly higher then!!!

>>46838058

> Make a flying coat with the wings

>>46838257
Yeah, but there's a lot of air in the way of all the swords and claws. This might not be a great tradeoff if we had to commit to always flying at all times, but we don't. We can choose whichever one is harder for our enemies to deal with at a given time.

So... is anyone cool with us giving Nate wings too? You see the daugther has wings and it would be a waste to just let it root away. Beside what is a hero without wings?

>>46838201
I hate to be /that guy/, but I have to point out the fact that one of our enemies is a motherfucking dragon, an incredible and terrifying monster on land, under the waves, and in this case in the air.

Then there's Seraphina, who can snap her fingers and create a hurricane to destroy anything that dares to take flight.

I'd like to ask Vox if it would be possible to create a kinetic boost enchantment so that Brianna can run and dodge with greater speed and agility without expending too much energy.

>>46838517
WHY NOT!

But seriously, we'd need to get those wings fresh and untainted in order to make something useful from them. Plus, the Hero might not come across as a hero to the commonfolk if he's wearing an angel's wings as a trophy.

>>46838517
And then we'll all go soaring under the skies on our own power. BRILLIANT BONDING TIME!

Also, necroangelic wings. Badass.

>>46838583
We only really need to worry about the dragon though. We're probably gonna geek Serphina from the Broken Jaw. Besides I bet flying will be indispensable in the Sunless Sea.

>A side character ghost severely weakens the second to last boss

>We have a way to just make her explode and die

This is like in Dark Souls and you find out the next boss you're about to fight is a gimmick fight.

>>46838058
Eh, fuck it, why not?
>Make a flying coat with the wings.

>>46838624

We can always say it was a gift from a angel. Lora is a angel after all.

>>46838058
> Make a flying coat with the wings

I am kind of wondering if Amy has a thing for aerial lovemaking.

>>46838058
> Make a flying coat with the wings

Must make the loved ones happy on occasion.

>>46838963
T-that's lewd so anon!

I love it.

it's kind of nice how it fits, Nate has an independent shadow and so do we. Amy has wings and can fly and now we can do that too.

> Make a flying coat with the wings

Not even a choice. Flight, fellow humans who walk the earth.

Flight.

>>46838058
Mmmmm. We're gonna need a pic of Best Bird in the slinky new dress, and one of Brianna in her armor. Nate's a lucky man.

Is it okay to be jealous of a fictional character?

>>46839200
>Is it okay to be jealous of a fictional character?

Indeed anon, indeed

>>46839200
>Best Bird
>Not Fetch
The term, I believe, is 'fucking pleb.'

Called, writing.

>>46839492
Fetch is no mere bird. He is a valorous knight my good sir, and I would have you address him as such.

Before our time off ends, can we talk to people in Glen to find a work around for our ground hogs day situation?

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>>46838058
Your new coat fits wonderfully over your armor - it was made to - though it'll be a bit baggy if you need to wear it without the chitin. Thankfully, it comes with a stylish belt to cinch it around your middle.

The wings buzz eagerly. For the sake of your sanity, and personal safety, the harpy magics built into the coat's clasps, buttons, and lining will only activate if you're honestly attempting to fly.

This does not stop you from promptly crashing into the cieling, about a minute after you put it on for the first time. Your surprised attempt to keep flying results in a series of ricohets up and down the hall before you hit the floor - still mostly weightless - and manage to /stop flying/.

"We need to work on that," you mutter into the stone.

Amy's too busy laughing to answer.

* * * *

You wake up, roll blearily out of bed, and hit one of the Atheneum's bathing areas. Once scrubbed, you dress and plod towards the coffee. You're up before Amy but not, it seems, Nathan.

From the smell, Nate already made coffee. In fact, you find him in the dining area with the Hatchet Man. The older human looks at you and waits, quietly.

"I've got good news and bad news," you tell him. "We've got an avenue to help you out, but we're going to need the Diviner's corpse."

"Then she dies first," Hatchet says simply.

> Hold up. We do this on my time.
> Fuck you say to me?
> Sure, why not? I'll tell John, but we've got things to solve on this end.

* * * *

You have some time to train while still advancing your necromantic experiments. You're at the point where you're learning on your own now, finding spare time here and there to refine your technique.

> Take Nate up on learning swordsmanship (reminder: Nate will be upset if you start and then drop this again)
> Continue your studies with Meadows (begin learning sorcerous healing)
> Spend some time teaching River; you can learn by teaching
> Just rest; you need to recover

>>46840806
>> Hold up. We do this on my time.

>>46840806
> Hold up. We do this on my time.
> Spend some time teaching River; you can learn by teaching

>>46840806
> Hold up...
> Just recover

>>46840806
> Sure, why not? I'll tell John, but we've got things to solve on this end.
Let's not piss off the world's greatest assassin. It's not like it REALLY matters.

> Spend some time teaching River; you can learn by teaching
And maybe leading her a little away from the Demon Army end

>>46840806
> Hold up. We do this on my time.
> We need to go with the plan that's most likely to succeed, not just the plan that's fastest. You want to argue that attacking the Diviner first gives us the best odds of success, you'll have the chance to make that case, but we will not jeopardize my goals or yours just because you're impatient.

> Continue your studies with Meadows (begin learning sorcerous healing)

Vote extended while I work on the character sheet.

>>46840806
> Hold up. We do this on my time.

> Spend some time teaching River; you can learn by teaching

>>46840806
>> Hold up. We do this on my time.
We should go for the diviner next so we can use the corpse and the eyes to fuck with the daughter. But we don't need to do it right this second.

> Spend some time teaching River; you can learn by teaching

>>46840806
>Hold up. We do this on my time
>Continue your studies with Meadows
Was up till 5:00 AM last night reading the archives. Finally got up to speed. Excited to finally be able to participate.

>>46842453
Welcome to the quest anon! Anything stand out on your way here?

>>46840806

> Hold up. We do this on my time.
> We need to go with the plan that's most likely to succeed, not just the plan that's fastest. You want to argue that attacking the Diviner first gives us the best odds of success, you'll have the chance to make that case, but we will not jeopardize my goals or yours just because you're impatient.

> Continue your studies with Meadows (begin learning sorcerous healing)

Obviously I'm backing this fellow >>46841442. It's important to make things clear!

>>46842484
Besides the fact that you're an incredible author and that DLQ's setting is like nothing I've ever seen?
Well, there's the fact that you've handled "harems" better than most other QMs. That's a plus.

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Supporting this anon: >>46841442


>Continue your studies with Meadows (begin learning sorcerous healing)

>>46841442
Supporting the first part of this, plus an added line;
>"I'd also prefer to deal with the Diviner /without/ a literal giant breathing down our necks. Shit's just uncomfortable."

And
>Spend some time teaching River; you can learn by teaching.
Maybe she can show us some of the tricks she learned from Robert. We don't need to summon anything or throw around balefire, but some alternative methods of banishment and repelling demons could come in handy later.

>>46842453
Welcome to the family.

>>46842453
Welcome acolyte to the great cult of the linch Vox. Get your dark coffe in the coner and have your feathered hat

Having eight or ten shots of 70% ABV rum during this process was possibly not my most clever plan. Still working on it.

>>46840806
>Sure, why not? I'll tell John, but we've got things to solve on this end.
Yeah. Besides, can't we use her shit to fuck over the daughter?
>Spend some time teaching River; you can learn by teaching
Honestly, with all those puncture wounds maybe we should focus on our magic.

>>46843750
Sounds fun.

>>46840806
>> Sure, why not? I'll tell John, but we've got things to solve on this end.
>> Spend some time teaching River; you can learn by teaching

>>46843750
Nah it was a great idea. It's only a bad idea, if you pass out.

>>46843520
>>46843673
Thank you

>>46843750
Your blood is literally coffee and painkillers; I don see what alcohol could possibly do that hasn't been done.

>>46843750
You're following on the grand tradition of drunkposting set forth by such exemplars as Soma, Papa-n, and... Well nevermind the other one.

>>46845151
We don't talk about him.

OKAY, SO

THE DOC IS HERE: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1xNX-LUev4oaJmkkGW-UQLp-mwVHGxz27M-J3JyMs9Zk/edit?usp=sharing

IT IS NOT DONE. IT IS NOT EVEN A LITTLE DONE. I DON'T EVEN HAVE THE DAMN MINIONS ON YET.

PLEASE TELL ME IF THE INFORMATION ON BRI THUS FAR IS HELPFUL AND IF IT'S NOT, WHAT'S MISSING/NEEDED/DESIRED

CALLED, WRITING SHORTLY

CAPITAL LETTERS

>>46845914
LOUD NOISES! Also, enjoying the buzz, good lich?

Like swimming in molasses, right?

>>46845909
Who is it?

>>46845914
It's looks good so far, Lord Vox. It'll be good to have a checklist of what we can and can't do.

Also, we should totally train River to use the Shade Form. I would not be surprised if the Diviner or one of the other Chain-Holders sent assassins after the people Brianna cares about.

>>46846093
You don't want to know the answer to that question. We might be in a necromancer quest, but please, let dead things lie.

>>46845914
It might help to be a touch more descriptive in terms of how the abilities work. For example, we know the rot blasts function as projectiles. What about the bone wands? Do we throw them? Shoot a beam from them? Extend them with bone shaping? Or what about the darkness? Does it target creatures, or areas? Or either? These sorts of details would be useful to have, so that we can make intelligent tactical decisions.

>>46846225
I will attend to this when sober. to be quite honest I'm gonna crawl into bed after this update because I had MUCH MORE RUM THAN I THOUGHT and I'm having trouble seeing straight.

>>46846093
Strictly speaking it wasn't a him.
Wasnt a her either, allegedly.

>>46846351
Remember to have water and aspirin on hand for the inevitable hangover, or as I like to call it, 'SWEETMERCIFULGODSTRIKEMEDOWNIBEGOFTHEE!!!'

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>>46840806
"Maybe," you tell Hatchet, evenly. "There's a lot of factors to weigh on who we go after first. If - /if/ - going after the Diviner first is the best option, that's what we'll do. But I have more than you to consider."

"You're the client," Hatchet says with a shrug. "Your idiot is paying me well to teach him how to fight."

"He's a Hero, Hatchet."

"I prefer the more accurate term." You open your mouth to snap at the old human, only to see Nathan quietly shake his head at you.

You let it pass without further comment. Nathan nods, and waves you over to sit with him for breakfast.

The rest of the day goes well.

* * * *

"Shadows," you tell River, "are among the most useful of servants."

Your sister shivers. The knife in her hand is small; the silver cupped in her palm is prepared. The woman kneeling before her is one of the Baron's, caught writing down secrets to be passed into the Cornucopia, somehow.

The two co-conspirators that were proven to be working with her have already been executed. River hadn't flinched then, but you can see the fear in her green eyes now.

> "...River, you don't have to do this."
> Say nothing
> Encourage her

* * * *

Getting the hang of flight isn't easy. Thankfully, you can now ascend, descend, and even hover with your new coat. Turning and maneuvering are still a bit of a bitch, but you're getting used to it.

Right now, with Amy perched nearby, you're hovering before one of the components of the Roost's death-funnel. With the sudden dropoff in violence, the area is draining of the reek of death - noticably so. It'll be empty within four months, assuming nothing about the situation changes.

You're almost tempted to leave this thing alone, just for that. It'll improve the feeling of the place, and maybe give the harpies less nightmares.

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>>46847038
You set your hand on the massive bronze rune and are surprised to feel /presences/ on the other side. One is old, and tired, and stained and slathered in blood and suffering that is ancient in a way little else you've felt is. The other is bright, hot, and angry; the blood on it sizzles in your mind, spilled in fury and for wrath's indulgence.

> Withdraw your hand
> Contact the older entity
> Speak to the younger entity
> Destroy the rune

>>46847038
> Say nothing
This is something she has to choose herself. We can provide her with the tools but the will to use them has to be on her.

>>46847055
> Withdraw your hand
I think we need to learn more without telling the /presences/ that we are there.

Thread archived, gonna sleep off the booze now. Finish character sheet tomorrow while sober. Votes remain open.

Questions, comments, discussion, feedback, and criticisms remain, as always, welcome and appreciated.

Thank you all for reading and participating!

>>46847038
>"...River, you don't have to do this."
> Contact the older entity

>>46847038
>> Say nothing
>> Encourage her
Why not both?

>>46847055
>> Contact the older entity
less likely to immediately fry our brains?

>>46847038
>> Say nothing
>>46847055
>> Withdraw your hand
Yeah let's not wake up spirits

>>46847055
>> Contact the older entity
Too great a risk that this is something set up by chain-holders and somehow helping them; we need more info.

>>46846165
>>46846425
Well now I have to know. Can you at least give me a hint? Was it a QM?

>>46847328
How?

>>46847038
>say nothing
>>46847055
>contact BOTH entities

>>46847529
FemCOCK

>>46847038
>Say nothing.
Sharing Brianna's knowledge is one thing, but River has to /choose/ whether she wants to have a shadow. Brianna (and for that matter, Robert as well) can't hold her hand and tell her what she should and shouldn't do.

>>46847055
Two spirits, one tired and ancient, the other young and angry...

I'm calling it now, the old one is the Wyrm and the other is the Daughter.
>Contact the older entity.

Honestly, I think the Wyrm and Pallbearer might end up as rather sympathetic characters.

>>46845914
wow, I forgot about the trinkets.

The anti-mind control pin is that harp trinket we received from victoria, right?

>>46847055
>> Contact the older entity
>> Speak to the younger entity
younger first, if that's so important.

>>46847038
>> Say nothing

>>46845914
Didn't we improve our... Efficiency or something with our life energy spent in necromancy when we trained with the Caretaker?

>>46847038
>> Say nothing

She has to pass or fail this on her own.

>>46847055

One of these is a trap option, I don't fucking know which one though.

>>46847038
> Say nothing

> Speak to the younger entity
I remember something about older dead stuff going more and more insane, so speaking to the younger entity sounds better to me, even if he's angry.

>>46848504
Yup. I wonder if she could make a couple for Amy and Nate?

>>46848742
Yes, we did. I think it was something like expending two months out of her lifespan to create a minion, when before it would be something like six.

>>46849085
It's not that they're insane, they just can't relate to the living. It's like the Caretaker; even though he is completely sane thanks to Lora, he can't remember the taste of food or the comfort of a nice bed.

>>46849447
I thought Lora made the Caretaker not go insane in exchange for taking care of the Atheneum?

>>46847055
>say nothing
>speak to the great old one

>>46847549
You don't have to say things to be encouraging.

>>46847038
>Say nothing
>Contact the older entity

> Say nothing

No push either way. This is her decision.

> Destroy the rune

Severing connections. There's totally two chain-bearers at the other end. Wyrm and Daughter seem probably.
(We still don't know what these runes do, but given that the Roost seems to be a death battery... it's fueling either of their things.)

>>46847055
> Both

Fuck your choices Nigger.

>>46852462
Damn anon, you feeling okay?

>>46852503
You don't know me.

>>46852565
Does anyone really know?

>>46847055
>"you don't have to do this..."
We've seen how dangerous these things can be. While I'm not doubting River's ability, she has a LOT of other minion who potentially want her dead. Too many distractions for the spirit of a spy to take advantage of.

>Destroy the rune
We can drain the death here one jug at a time if need be, but I'm betting that this is funneling power down to other chainbearers. If the Daughter is one of them, it's helping her Rain Choir powers plus healing. If one is Richard, then we DEFINITELY want this thing gone. It's not like they don't know we're here anyway.

>>46847038
> Say nothing
She knows the stakes, she knows the gains.
>>46847055
> Contact the older entity
If it's old, it can't be Dick's trickery.

>>46847055
> Link the runes together so they drain each other, and siphon off a bit of both for death bottles.

I mean, really we're too responsible to do this but I can dream.

>>46847717
>mfw I just started reading BFQ archives on a whim
What could possibly go wrong?

I'm awake. Will call and write shortly; must address hangover.

>>46854800
HE LIIIVVEESS!!

>>46855570
No he doesn't, he's a lich, HE'S BEEN DEAD THIS WHOLE TIME

>>46855698
HE UN-LIVES!

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>>46847055
You remain silent. This is River's choice to make, for better or for worse. You remember the young woman you were, in that smoke-filled house with the fear in the eyes of your sacrifice, but River is not that girl. She has held Death's blade before.

River cups the back of the woman's head with the hand that holds her silver. She closes her eyes and begins speaking in elven, her voice a solemn murmur that spills the words like a gentle stream.

You don't know what she's saying, but her sacrifice does. Grateful tears well in the woman's eyes, just before River pushes the knife up through the bottom of her jaw and into her brain. Your sister pulls the blade back and lets the corpse topple slowly sideways while her shadow changes subtly to be a bit stockier than River herself.

It's wearing a hat, broad-brimmed and stiff.

"What did you say to her?" you ask.

"A prayer," River murmurs. "Did...did I do it right?"

You kneel next to her shadow and touch it gently. The work has been done very well - she's taken her lessons to heart - and it thrums with regret, gratitude, grief.

"She had a family," River whispers.

"Justice isn't kind."

"This wasn't justice."

You close your eyes. You can smell the smoke of your grandmother's incense. "No, it wasn't. Grab the shovels. We'll give her a proper burial."

* * * *

You decide to, cautiously, contact the older entity. Chances are high that your enemies are involved in this, somehow, but you can't pass up the chance to gain some intelligence. You close your eyes and follow the trail of necromantic connection, trusting your wings to keep going while your mind is occupied elsewhere.

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>>46855842
You catch a whiff of lakewater, and the scent of tar, wood, and sweat. The entity's attention turns sluggishly to you, as though it's having trouble focusing, but when the edge of its awareness brushes you, a second mind taps into the connection and touches yours, gently, like checking for something.

The second mind is almost - almost like a hand? Dependant on the first, on the entity, but distinctly its own being.

Maybe a familiar is a better comparison.

<This is First Mate Rachael Trust, of the /Pallbearer/. State your name and intentions.>

Huh.

> Say nothing
> Introduce yourself politely
> Try to get away without introducing yourself
> Write-in?

>>46855875
>> Introduce yourself politely
Just because they're our enemy doesn't mean we can't talk to them like civilized people.

>>46855875
>Brianna La Croix, not affiliated with any organization or kingdom(yet)
>Just ask for the purposes of this rune

>>46855875
>> Introduce yourself politely
this will be fun

>>46855875
>Introduce yourself politely.
We should also mention that Miss Silence says hello.

>>46855875
>> Introduce yourself politely

This ought to be good.

>>46855875
>Introduce yourself politely
Is... Is the Pallbearer a giant Hydra with a ship built on top of it?

>>46856147
I still can't find the posts where Silence was talking about the Pallbearer.

>>46855875
>> Introduce yourself politely

It's our chance to make our first impression; if we're someone who gives off an impression we can be reasoned with when we get to that floor; that'll help especially when they start digging into what we've done on previous floors.

>>46856176
I'm not sure of where they are, but I know we mentioned the Pallbearer to her and she said she knew a ship by that name in the Sunless Sea.

>>46855875
Introduce yourself politely
But make sure to use a fake name, in case this is an enemy (I reccomend the name Briana Bookchild).
Play the role of the intrigued necromancer, not that of the concerned Heritor.

Called, writing shortly.

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>>46855875
<Brianna la Croix> you answer, politely. <I'm a friend of Miss Silence, and I just wanted to talk.>

<La Croix> Trust sounds /relieved/. <Listen to me, it is /imperative/ that you do /not disturb the runes/.>

<I'll bite> you tell her, your curiosity aroused.

<How much do you know about the /Pallbearer/?> Rachael asks.

<Almost nothing> you admit.

<The runes are replacing our need to feed> Trust tells you, making sure to speak clearly. <You must not disturb the runes. We're...we're in a bit of a spot.>

<You were already in a bit of a spot> you point out.

<I - look, I can't speak to the Captain's motives when we got dragged into this sorry affair. We...the ship was summoned. Silence can tell you more, but the deal's gone south. The chain is gone and there's another ship keeping us off of it. We can't leave as long as the chain exists.>

You suck a breath between your teeth. <I need better than that.>

<I can't exactly prove my troth over this connection> Trust points out. <I can only ask that Silence vouch for us. Please, you /must not/ disturb the runes. You'd unleash us both.>

<Is the other ship the /Lonesome Dirge/?> you ask.

<I - yes. How'd you know?>

> Tell her; she seems honest
> Ask what happened to her Captain
> Say your goodbyes and stop talking

AND

> Leave the runes alone
> Destroy the runes

>>46858506
>> Ask what happened to her Captain
> Leave the runes alone

>>46858506
> Ask what happened to her Captain

> Leave the runes alone

>>46858506
>Ask what happened to her Captain
>Leave the runes alone

I don't remember the Lonesome Dirge.

>>46858697
If memory serves, it's captain has an La Croix heirloon.

>>46858506
> Tell her; she seems honest
Looks like we getting an ally.

> Leave the runes alone
Also can/should we warn them that in about 4 months the runes will run out of death to feed?

>>46858506
>Ask what happened to her Captain
> Leave the runes alone

>>46858697
It's probably also the ship that was having that armor made for it in New Hell. Cannons... I don't remember if it had cannons or not.

>>46858697
>>46858865
The /Lonesome Dirge/ is the ship made to keep the Pallbearer in check. You know from Natalia that the Pit was making iron armor for it, and from Lora that it will have cannon.

Called, writing soon.

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>>46858506
<We'll discuss that later> you answer, quietly. <What happened to the /Pallbearer/'s captain, First Mate?>

Rachael's sigh is full of frustration and anger. <He...the /Dirge/ has him, la Croix. He's hostage for our good behavior.>

<Call me cynical, but why do you care?>

<Heh.> Trust sighs. <The /Pallbearer/ won't threaten her captain, la Croix. She won't so much as fire a shot on the ship he's on. Not while he...lives.>

<That sounds like one of those 'for a given value' statements.>

<It is. Please. Do your research. Contact me again if you have to. But don't disturb the runes!>

<I won't.>

<Thank the gods> Trust breathes. <We've been...we've been trying to hold back our depredations. It isn't easy.>

<You feed on life?>

<On loss. Silence can ->

<Tell me more, yes. Thank you.>

You take your hand away and snap to. The disorientation is enough to make Amy swoop in to catch you and place you back on solid ground.

"Bad?" Amy asks.

"I don't know," you admit.

> Ask Silence now
> It can wait

* * * *

Teaching River has given you a lot of time to experiment on your own. And you're on the cusp of something major, you can taste it...

> You've refined the rot and decay. It's not just beating people with death, it's taking the death that lurks within them and letting it free...(improve rot magic)
> The Caretaker's shade form technique has a lot of similarities to imbuing people with deathly properties. You think...you think you can push this further...(improve shade form, imbue with death)
> The work's sloppy, and they won't last, but you've hit on flash animations...(combat minion creation; they exist on a timer)

>>46861129
>> Ask Silence now
>> The work's sloppy, and they won't last, but you've hit on flash animations...(combat minion creation; they exist on a timer)

>>46861129
>Ask Silence Now

This is either very good or very bad.

>> The Caretaker's shade form technique has a lot of similarities to imbuing people with deathly properties. You think...you think you can push this further...(improve shade form, imbue with death)

This seems best for what we tend to do, the other leads to zombie armies.

>>46861129
>> Ask Silence now
>> The work's sloppy, and they won't last, but you've hit on flash animations...(combat minion creation; they exist on a timer)
Zombie minutemen?

>>46861129
>Ask Silence now
>The Caretaker's shade form technique has a lot of similarities to imbuing people with deathly properties. You think...you think you can push this further...(improve shade form, imbue with death)
I'm not satisfied with my second vote, it all seems very good.

>>46861129
>> Ask Silence now
>> You've refined the rot and decay. It's not just beating people with death, it's taking the death that lurks within them and letting it free...(improve rot magic)
For rotting Daughters brain through her eyes

>>46861129
>Ask Silence now
> The Caretaker's shade form technique has a lot of similarities to imbuing people with deathly properties. You think...you think you can push this further...(improve shade form, imbue with death)

>>46861129
Could we get a reminder on what the shade form does, and maybe a bit of expansion on imbuing it with death would do? The other two options are pretty self-explanatory (better accuracy and possibly more power; insta-minions).

>>46861730
Currently, shade form dodges divinations by making you (personally) appear to be dead. Enhancing imbuing people with death is stuff like your ghost breath and ghost sight; improving it lets you tag yourself and your allies with additional deathly qualities on a short-term basis.

>>46861129
>Ask Silence Now

> The Caretaker's shade form technique has a lot of similarities to imbuing people with deathly properties. You think...you think you can push this further...(improve shade form, imbue with death)

This seems like the least straight forward of the choices, maybe it leads to something interesting

This vote will be extended while I drive home.

>>46861129
(improve rot magic)
> The Caretaker's shade form technique has a lot of similarities to imbuing people with deathly properties. You think...you think you can push this further...(improve shade form, imbue with death)

> Ask Silence now

>>46861129
>Ask Silence now.
>The Caretaker's shade form technique has a lot of similarities to imbuing people with deathly properties. You think...you think you can push this further...(improve shade form, imbue with death)

The crew of the Pallbearer are undead, aren't they? Zombie pirates, ahoy!

So guys: who do we gun for first?

>>46861129
>> The Caretaker's shade form technique has a lot of similarities to imbuing people with deathly properties. You think...you think you can push this further...(improve shade form, imbue with death)
>Ask silence now

Mind running through what shade form is?

>>46861129
>Ask Silence now
> The Caretaker's shade form technique has a lot of similarities to imbuing people with deathly properties. You think...you think you can push this further...(improve shade form, imbue with death)

...is the Pallbearer a Flying Dutchman?

>>46862541
See: >>46861774

Bump!

Home, called, writing.

Interesting choice.

>>46861129
>The Caretaker's shade form technique has a lot of similarities to imbuing people with deathly properties. You think...you think you can push this further...(improve shade form, imbue with death)
> Ask Silence now

Fucking. COMCAST.

Working on it.

>>46865418
you can do better

>>46865418
look, maybe it's time you just use a notepad or something. This comcast problem happens way too often.

>>46865489
I can write the posts in notepad all day, still can't post 'em if I can't connect.

Resolved, though.

>>46865513
yeah but then you have a backup copy for when comcast screws you again, and come on you know it will

>>46865619
vox already keeps stuff backed up on notepad.

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>>46861129
"There's going to be side-effects that I can't quite seem to erase," you tell River, excitedly, "but I've been working with the shade technique the Caretaker invented and seeing if I can apply the underpinnings to other ideas."

"Like what?" River asks.

In response, you grow a maw of vampiric fangs. Your sister flinches back; you retract the killing teeth.

"Like I said, side effects," you tell her. "Thirst for blood, vulnerabilities. So far I've had the most success mimicking vampires, which I think is because they're the most like the living."

"That...makes sense," River agrees.

"I refined the shade form too," you say with a grin. "Only I can't quite get the last kink out."

"Meaning?"

You place a shard of silver on your tongue and mutter the invocation around it; your flesh turns ghostly, though it's weak - barely more than a poltergeist.

Your clothing and possessions go crashing to the floor.

"Ah." River notes.

"Yep."

* * * *

Silence is easy enough to find. She'd slipped through the metal door sealing off the Mine like a ghost and offered her services to the Roost for a modest fee. Slowly, the crude structures bolted to the walls of the Roost were being reinforced or, in some cases, replaced wholesale.

"You're just in time," Silence tells you. "We've been debating something."

"Yeah?" you ask. She points down at the gigantic spider lurking near the bottom of the Roost.

"I'm thinking," Silence muses, "that we just drop a few buildings on that and call it dead."

> Sure!
> You'll waste the whole spider!
> I mean. I'm not sure I care?

>>46865915
>> You'll waste the whole spider!

>>46865915
So Jewel's method is still more effective, largely from drawing from something that IS a ghost already and is, well, wearing things.

> You'll waste the whole spider!
jokingly, but
>I guess there aren't any other ways that don't risk lives?

>>46865830
hmm I seem to recall at least one occasion in the past where comcast fucked him then he took like an hour plus to write so I assumed, I guess it could have been unrelated though.

>>46866085
there have been times when I've been completely locked out of posting on 4chan because recaptcha doesn't load, so I can believe that Vox's problem is purely connection issues.

>>46865915
> You'll waste the whole spider!
>Also I need to talk to you about the Pallbearer!

Aight. This vote's likely to be extended while I handle the things one does when one gets home after an extended absence.

Hello dishes my old friend, I've come to scrub at you again...

>>46865915
>> Sure!
We've been given the opportunity to use the most ghetto killsat ever conceived and anon is voting /no/?

>>46865915
>>46866137
seconding

>>46865915
>Sure!

>>46865915
>> You'll waste the whole spider!
Maybe we do something more like dropping a bunch of rebar (or rebar type metal) at it. Stuff'll be full of holes, but far less squished

>>46865915
> Sure!

There will be other opportunities to get some nice minion material. That spider needs to go, yesterday.

>>46865915
> we can't just trap it? Seriously it's just a bug it's not intelligent.

> I mean we could drop a big net on it that has fishhooks on it to catch on the exoskeleton.

> Heck, we could just cover the damn thing in a rain of spears/arrows. Surely we could lure it into a kill zone with an animal.

Okay, so - my stuff is done, but I'm going to take some time to update the Characters & Places doc, as well as work on the Character Sheets doc, and leave the vote open while I do those things. I have coffee and dinner on tap and no place to be tomorrow, so, y'know, expect an update /before/ I go to bed or whenever I'm sick of fucking around in Gdocs.

Are the anon(s) in question comfortable with me taking these votes:

>>46867655
>>46867031
>>46866080

As indicating that you'd like to talk about/contribute to other options?

>>46867756

Speaking as >>46867031, yes.
We're still killing it by dropping shit on it, shit not yet determined

>>46867756
I mean, we can drop a wooden raft that's on fire before following up with burning pitch.

Even if the spider can react quickly enough to destroy the raft, the pieces of wood that get stuck on the web will catch the burning pitch and do the job of setting the dust on the webs on fire and generally increasing the temperature of the web.

Now if none of the characters here know that this would cause the web to stretch enough that it may not support the spider's weight and its position is suddenly disadvantageous, they WILL think of the misguided belief that fire burns webs.

>>46868009
'Kay.

I believe Characters and Places has been updated with NPCs met since last update but tell me if I missed anything and/or need to update a current entry 'cause y'all know I miss shit.

>>46868020
Speaking here as one inquiring as to the nature of burning shit alive rather than your QM - won't this ruin the spider in a different, but ultimately equal way to just crushing it?

There's also the rising smoke to consider.

>Sure!

Seriously, the exoskeleton fragments should be plenty to use for upgrades, we need no zombie spider

>>46868040
>The Cook - He’s the cook

Best part, for sure

>>46868137
1) still cheaper than throwing entire buildings down

2) Does pitch cause a lot of smoke? Hadn't considered that.

3) burning shit will at least do a number on any venoms sitting around the crash site, so safer for anybody walking near it.

4) mmm, tasty cooked spider meat

>>46868233
> 1) still cheaper than throwing entire buildings down

Well yeah, but they're replacing those buildings anyway. Hence her thinking of dropping them on the spider to begin with. Squish it, send harpies down for salvage, go home and get laid.

>>46868261
>didn't refute number 4
Ahah, you ARE curious on what spider meat tastes like!

File: ebq57mz.gif (2.85 MB, 370x304)

2.85 MB GIF

>>46868139
What about a giant undead boar with spider legs?

>>46868290
Honestly, with a big enough spider? I'd be down. We eat lobsters and crabs, y'know? Beetles are also on my try-if-ever-available list of foods.

>>46868314
If you ever have the opportunity/misfortune to eat chocolate covered bugs, generally, your choices will be mealworm and grasshopper. Go with the mealworm. Trust me

>>46868471
Done both, also had crickets. Your advice is not wrong.

>>46868471
>>46868513
Speaking from experience, grilled crickets are amazing.

Alright, Nathan's entry has been added to the Character Sheets doc (link's in the Characters and Places doc). Lemme know if I missed anything while I work on Amy's.

>>46868137
So spiders and similar things with exoskeletons, that doesn't just refer to the fact that they have bone/chitin armor on the outside.

It also refers to the fact that they DON'T have an endoskeleton: their body parts are pretty much all just floating in goo within the exoskeleton.

(This is one of the reasons they CAN'T get that big, so if in this fantasy universe the spider isn't just ignoring that problem, and instead has different internal structures to make its size more feasible, the following may be moot.)

Aside from the venom and silk (proteins that will get destroyed by excessive heat), the interior goo of the spider isn't too interesting. And the chitinous exterior is rather tough, though I have not been able to find solid figures on how and when it degrades in heat.

>>46868687
Similarly, Amy is now up and running.

>>46869218
speaking of which, has she refined her wraithsteel techniques?

I mean, I don't recommend you have an upgrade vote for EVERY CHARACTER IN THE PARTY, but it'd be nice to know what they've been doing in the mean time.

>>46869410
She's working on them but there's not really anyone to train her in it. If future generations are lucky she'll write down a manual of Fuck Yo Shit Fu for anyone else who ends up in her situation but in the meantime she's sorta making it up as she goes and discarding what doesn't work.

>>46869218
> VOX. VOX. HEY. HEY VOX. VOX. LISTEN.

So, what I'm thinking is spiders make silk, right? That shit used for both fancy clothes and also surprisingly lightweight armor! Seriously Google that shit. Also super strong nets.

And you guys want to kill this gold mine? Armor for harpies. A trade good for the roost. Also back-up giant spider.

There has to be some way to magically dominate it. Would an undead spider be able to still spin thread if that's easiest?

>>46869477
Not a bad idea, but who would /work/ that material? It ain't like Skitter's situation in Worm where you can get a swarm of spiders to make it for you with careful coordination; someone has to be able to take this silk and make the things you're talking about.

Be a bit of a bitch to learn, no?

>>46869477
>>46869438
> Idea 2 abomination Boogaloo

Could we part out the spider legs and she'll and just put the rest that makes thread in like, a box? A magical silk box? Also so many spider eyes. Spiders usually have 2 eyes that are dope as fuck and the rest are for movement/light.

>>46869528
We get the Duchess to send us down an expert in exchange for a percentage of each batch of silk.

We didn't go to all the trouble of opening up connections with the outside world for nothing.

>>46866291
I was going to vote no, but your argument has convinced me.
>Sure!

>>46869564
That works with for the silk, but how would we dominate it? We know a couple of mages (Amy's dad, mayor of the town in the basement, probably a few others I can't recall), maybe they might have a method?

Okay, I should actually update at some point so I'm gonna stop working on the sheets for now. River, Diving Shadow, & the minions have yet to be added. Is there anyone else that anon believes needs adding?

Votes are not currently called, I'm gonna get more coffee before I update.

>>46869477
I'm generally against that because that will necessitate applying real world logic to spiders.

Spider Silk is created when a spider essentially kneads the base proteins in a unique pattern based on what properties it desires. If you scale that up to several times larger by volume, the silk would then need to be several smaller strands braided together, and the larger spider legs can neither create those smaller strands nor braid those strands together.

If we're treating it as a crafting material rather than a one-off thing that a monster uses, we'd kinda have to care about stuff like this to know how to have this crafted.

Then there's the matter of knowing what diet to feed the spider to supply such an unnatural routine of constantly producing silk. That is a purely experimental procedure from the tools we have on hand, even if we dodge the taming issue by pure zombie control while still retaining the spider's instinctual knowledge on how to manipulate spider silk protein.

>>46869666
Spiders do have spinnerets to do some weaving of the silk as it comes out. Larger, more complex spinnerets might be capable of braiding?

>>46869713
...I'm trying to imagine that.
>several orifices that are mostly the same size as a regular spider's, each with regular sized spinnerets
>All connected to larger spinnerets that do the job of regular spider legs
>The product of that is then handled by the larger spider legs

Would that entail a huge ass brain to micromanage?

>>46869798
I don't think so; the pattern of movements should be repetitious, and not terribly long. Could even be purely mechanical, I'd think.

>>46869877
Spiders produce their own silk without a true brain. So, yes, almost entirely mechanical

>>46869877
>>46869965
>A giant, living automata. More machine than creature, it's own body functions put clock makers to shame.

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500 KB JPG

I'm just saying, I am in all favor of saving the Spider Booty.

>>46870075
I don't recognize this reference.

>>46870188
it's not a reference. I'm just pointing out that if it has more pseudo-brain bits than it does actual brains, it's almost a robot.

>>46870232
Huh. It felt like you were quoting something.

OKAY, called, writing.

I know abstractly how we ended up on spider asses from killsats but it still boggles my mind that we began at the one and have ended at the other.

>>46870357
Just making it clear that while I'm totally fine with talking about spider asses, I don't really want YOU to write about spider asses.

>>46870382
Don't worry anon, I am in no way qualified to write on the science of spider ass and will make no effort whatsoever to biologically justify my giant fucking spider. I ain't about to have a Stephenie Meyer moment where I run off at the mouth about shit I don't understand.

That odd feel when, "No, we'll think of something else," only won by /one vote/.

Writin'.

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>>46865915
"Silence," you chide. "That is a /living thing/. We have to treat it with the respect and - I can't finish this with a straight face, I just fuckin' can't."

"So yes?"

"Nah," you tell her, shaking your head. "Be an awful waste of perfectly good corpse."

Silence sighs. "That was the counter-argument. That spider could feed quite a few harpies and dwarves if it were cut up right. Spider legs are good eating."

"...Not exactly what I had in mind..."

"You're trying to make a giant undead spider, aren't you?"

"I will neither confirm nor deny that statement," you say primly. "But that's not what I came down to talk to you about and in any event I don't want to propose a plan until I actually have one. I didn't expect to be invited to the spider-killing competition."

"And what /did/ you come to talk to me for?" Miss Silence asks, cocking an eyebrow.

"I was talking, recently, to First Mate Rachael Trust, of the /Pallbearer/."

"Where's Captain Reeve?" Silence asks immediately.

"Held prisoner on another ship," you tell her. Silence swears.

> Tell her what Trust told you
> Ask her to tell you what she knows first

>>46870992
> Ask her to tell you what she knows first

>>46870992
>> Ask her to tell you what she knows first

>>46870992
>Ask her to tell you what she knows first

Can I take anon's ongoing silence as confirmation that the character sheet is going well?

>>46870992
> Tell her what Truth told you

>>46870104
it begins

>>46871370
Silk. Machine.

We would only be taking the shell and the legs which the other ann pointed out would be useless for silk anyways. Everything else stays animated, we could totes feed it animal and criminal and incidental blood and fluids to turn into silk.

>>46871838
they aren't pigs, anon. Well, it'll last for a while, at least, before getting sick from exertion or malnutrition of some obscure thing we didn't know giant spiders eat. By then I suppose we'd have enough silk for the party.

>>46870992
>Tell her what Trust told you
Lets be open. I bet she will return in kind.

>>46872043
Undead giant spider. Only needs nutrients to pump out silk.

Kat gets spider legs for grasping shadowy horrors.

>>46871095
>>46871128
>>46871174
Isn't the captain Silence's friend or something? Try to be a bit more sensitive.

>>46870992
>Tell her what Trust told you

>>46872359
It's not about Silences response, it's about verifying what the first mate said. Basic interrogation/investigation to not taint the data.

And we're tied.

I'll leave this open for six more minutes and after that you face THE DIE ROLL.

>>46870992
>> Ask her to tell you what she knows first

I'm late calling it but we've got a tiebreaker vote anyway.

CALLED. WRITING.

>>46872888
Worse than the Diviner, stronger than the Pallbearer, NOT THE DIE ROLL!

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>>46870992
You look at Silence's irritation and concern and you /almost/ reassure her.

But you need to know more.

"Tell me about the /Pallbearer/," you ask her. "Everything you know."

"You want a map of the ship?" Silence asks, sarcastically.

"...Maybe scale that back a bit," you grant.

"The /Pallbearer/ is old," Silence begins. "...Older than me, even. When it was a living ship, with a living crew, it was a longship crewed by pirates. They plundered their way upriver and down, and their favorite targets were coastal temples and shrines. They would take the offerings and leave the temples standing, so that new offerings would be made that they could steal later. Reeve was its captain, even then."

"This sounds like it ends poorly," you predict.

"Exceptionally poorly," Silence agrees. "Eventually, the temples began organizing to fight back. On sacred ground, the /Pallbearer/ and her crew slaughtered the faithful and took the offerings, and this time they burned the temple. At the next, they found a Chosen of the Quell, waiting there with the offerings already piled near the riverbank, and a great cheer went up amongst the reavers."

"Oh no," you murmur.

"Oh yes," Silence tells you. "The Chosen asked them if these treasures were really worth more than the favor of the gods. Reeve told him that he did not need the gods, that all he needed were the things his strength, his cunning, and his leadership could afford him. The Chosen said the words that would seal his fate forever after: you have a deal."

Silence takes a piece of coal from a pouch at her belt and pops it into her mouth to chew.

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>>46874039
"From then on," Silence tells you, "they had nothing but what they could take. Even death was denied to them, which they mistook for a blessing at first until they realized that they could still suffer. When a member of the crew became too injured to heal or carry on, they had to burn them to ashes to send them to the Sunless Lands. At first, Reeve continued out of spite. He found that when he captured a ship, that ship became the /Pallbearer/, and in this way - and with his deathless crew - his ship changed form many times. Losses were recouped from the crews of those he captured, and he pillaged his way through the seas, feeding his crew with stolen shipments and slaking their gnawing greed with glittering gold and gems. But it was not enough - never was it enough. In all the world they had only what they could steal. No rest. No hope. No solace. Eventually they turned to seeking forgiveness, but true to their word, the gods do not hear the prayers of the /Pallbearer/. The ship itself has become almost alive, infused with the greed and spite that created it. They serve it as much as they serve their curse."

"Can...can the ship be summoned?" you whisper.

"Of course," Silence agrees. "I served a year and a day before the mast to pay for my passage here. The /Pallbearer/ may be summoned and hired to do one's bidding, if one pays well. After all, that is something they have taken. Beneath the eyes of the gods, they are denied death. Perhaps they agreed to come here in the hopes that in this place where the gods do not go, they could at last find peace."

> That's /fucked up/.
> They got what they deserved
> No wonder Trust told me not to touch the runes
> Write-in?

>>46874175
>> No wonder Trust told me not to touch the runes

>>46874175
>> That's /fucked up/.

Man that's some Greek shit

>>46874175
>No wonder Trust told me not to touch the runes

>>46874175
>No wonder Trust told me not to touch the runes.
It /is/ fucked up but what is done is done. I wonder if we can end their misery.

Aight folks I need to catch some sleep. Votes remain open.

Questions, comments, discussion, feedback, and criticisms remain welcome and appreciated.

Thank you all for reading and participating!

>>46874175
>> No wonder Trust told me not to touch the runes


Yeah...you know, I've seen enough pirates of the carribean to know that shit doesn't end well.

>>46874526
So, I had a quick look through the doc you got done a short while ago, Nate's equpiment list is missing his fancy gauntlets. Also, how come he never used more but one from the deck of favors?

>>46874706
ahhh right, the spellcatchers.

We haven't really been fighting spellcasters.

>>46874751
Which is why it would help if they where on there, else we might forget them, too.
Also, they apparenty worked against Loras sword, so one could assume them to be usefull against a range of magical weapons and dangers.

>>46874796
not disagreeing, just pointing it out. I wouldn't want to test it on that angel bone sword though, that sounds like a hand waiting to be cleaved.

>>46874821
I kind of doubt it to be more harmfull than pure entropy. Then again, it might be more effective against unliving material, as those would probably less effected by entropy.

But yes, you're right: We shouldn't regard them as almighty. Even if a cleaved hand is still better than a cleaved head.

>>46874175
>"No wonder Trust told me not to touch the runes."

Also, I was reading the Character Doc. and came across Darshan.
>Thoroughly annoyed with the item he made River make for him.

What exactly did little Elf-Sis make?

>>46874526
I'm interested in more world-building docs, if you're up to it. We could do more votes on the other options from before, like when we chose to learn more about Goblins after the Labyrinth.

Bumping before I go to bed.

>>46874175
>>> No wonder Trust told me not to touch the runes

>>46874175
> That Captain is a monster, he should be eliminated. You said that they moved on if they were burned to ash? Could we treat them like the Draugs?

> Alternatively I have a friend with a sword that catches souls.

>>46876552
>>46875936
.....dude.

>>46874175
>>>> No wonder Trust told me not to touch the runes

Huh. I thought there was a bit of a Flying Dutchman feel to the Pallbearer when we got the First Mate, but this kind of seals the deal. I really like how it was the Quell who stepped in, too. It gives us more characterization for it beyond being an embodiment of law and order. And that Lawful doesn't always mean Nice.

The ships cursed too. Which is interesting all on it's own. They feed death to the ship, I think. It's something they need to do. And more than that, it's something that the First Mate was afraid of stopping. I really wonder what would happen if that actually did happen. Probably some serious chaos down on the Sunless Sea as the Pallbearer sought out it's own good. With or without the crew's consent. Hell, it might start eating the crew.

At the end of the day though, I think that the Pallbearer definitely need to get put down. At this point, it's almost a mercy to the men and women aboard it.

Whenever the crew takes a ship, that ship becomes the new Pallbearer. So, what happens when the crew all leave the ship, the Pallbearer's burned to a crisp, and all of them pass on? That might break it pretty good. Either that, or letting the ship sink and burn with all hands going down.

But you'd need to make sure the crew all wanted to die first. Which probably isn't easy...

>>46877272
We likely could just ask Lora to lift the curse when we break the chain, allowing the long sufferers to pass on and releasing the fresh recruits to regular life.

>>46874175
> No wonder Trust told me not to touch the runes.

An interesting variant on the Black Pearl.

I don't see why we would need to make sure all the long-time crew want to die before getting Lora to send them to true death, though. Sounds like they deserve it for what they've done.

Any who've been brought in more recently might deserve a choice, depending on how depraved their acts aboard Pallbearer have been.

Start of run may be delayed.

There we go. Called, writing.

>>46877403
What if she's not willing to do so? That feels a lot more like directly contradicting her parents; who admittedly had good reason.

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>>46874175
You let out a long breath while Silence spits a long stream of black into the main drop of the Roost.

"Gods," you murmur. "No wonder Trust told me not to touch the runes."

Silence quirks an eyebrow at you, so you point up into the shadows near the Roof. "There's a rune there, and three more through the Roost. They've been using them to take the death in the Roost and feed the /Pallbearer/. And their new ship, the /Lonesome Dirge/. The /Dirge/ has Reeve captive."

"...That's not good," Silence tells you quietly. "Reeve restrains the ship. A ship must obey her captain. Without him, Trust's command lasts only as long as the ship is fed."

"I'm not about to reinstate violence in the Roost!" you snap.

"I'm not asking you to," Silence says patiently. "But if there's someone we have to kill anyway - say, criminals? Kill them here. We can explain it to the people of the Roost, I'm certain they'll understand."

You frown. "Silence, I...I am really not sure I'm okay with that. We're trying to encourage them /away/ from death and pain."

"What's your other proposal, then?" she challenges. "Slap armor plating on a barrel, turn it into a death bottle and shove it up your skeletal boar's a-you're thinking of exactly that, aren't you?"

"I wasn't until you said it, but..."

"How is that different?" the fairy challenges.

"Well for one thing the harpies don't have to know why I'm showing up and opening a barrel into their Roost," you point out, cynically. "With how things are sounding in the Cornucopia I could load down the boar with three more on the outside if I forgo riding the thing and buy more time that way."

"That'd probably mean attending to the Cornucopia first," Silence points out. "Unless you're banking on the Warehouse being as bloody. From a logistical point of view, the Warehouse is almost as valuable."

"...It is?"

>>46879372
Silence nods. "Many of the foods produced in the Cornucopia are processed or stored in the Warehouse. Salt meat, jerky, wine, vinegar - anything that takes a combination of raw materials and large amounts of time, essentially. Some of it is made in the Cornucopia itself but the Warehouse is the primary processing and storage for such. The two levels have always been dependant on one another."

"Here I thought the Warehouse would be full of, I dunno, magical laboratories and dangerous artifacts," you admit.

Silence gives you a nasty grin. "Did I say it wasn't?"

"How did we get here from spiders?" you complain.

"/You/ changed the subject."

"Well fine, just throw that in my face!" You make a frustrated sound and dig out a cigarette; you flick your lighter and take a deep drag, then cough the smoke out. "What would you do?"

"Smash the Diviner's head in and proceed immediately to the Sunless Sea," Silence answers, without hesitation. "That ship is much worse than any of its crew could be, these days. You do not want the /Pallbearer/ awakened."

"That leaves a lot of enemies behind me," you say worriedly.

"Reinforce the Roost."

"/With who/?"

Silence shrugs. "You know a Duchess, don't you? March some troops down here. I'll help you argue it with the harpies."

> Not gonna fly, Silence. I promised them independance, and then I bring an army?
> I need more time to think. And yes, I know the clock's ticking.
> ...Fine, let's finish talking about the spider and then gather the Parliament.
> Write-in?

>>46879372
>"What's your other proposal, then?" she challenges. "Slap armor plating on a barrel, turn it into a death bottle and shove it up your skeletal boar's a-you're thinking of exactly that, aren't you?"

I love this line.

Also, don't we have around four months before this becomes a serious issue? This gives us...

... Okay, time enough for one, maybe two floors if we hit 'em fast.

I don't think we want to leave any room for the Pallbearer to wake up, so... yeah. Punch through the Diviner, who's honestly a little more scary at this point then the Lush anyway, wipe out the wannabe goddess to sow some chaos, and then unfuck the Pallbearer situation before it gets out of control.

... This, of course, leaves Cornucopia and the Warehouse open to fortify and prep for a siege. They have to split their resources on trying to find/assassinate us, too. Taking the Diviner's level, even if it's probably all empty and lifeless space at this point, would give us a wider strike range, and force them to spread their defenses out more. We could come from anywhere, after all.

>I can't just /make/ the Duchess march some troops down here... But we could try to negotiate a link between her and the Harpies.

OK, harpies are great at running deliveries and doing aerial reconaissance. Is there anything else they could use to leverage a strong sort of trade/guard deal?

>>46879457
> Not gonna fly, Silence. I promised them independance, and then I bring an army?

>>46879647
Remember, you don't know where Seraphina is. You know she's /not/ in the Cornucopia, the Warehouse, or the Broken Jaw. She's not /likely/ to be in the Sunless Sea, since that's where the Pallbearer appears to be.

>>46879457
>Not gonna fly, Silence. I promised them independance, and then I bring an army?
We'll take the Cornucopia, damn the dead(heh)line.

Do ONE death infusion into the rune, make them think we intend to delay that particular trouble, then we go for the Sunless Sea. The Pallbearer going rampant can be as much a blessing as well as a curse for them if we're already there when it happens.

>>46879668
>Remember, you don't know where Seraphina is. You know she's /not/ in the Cornucopia, the Warehouse, or the Broken Jaw. She's not /likely/ to be in the Sunless Sea, since that's where the Pallbearer appears to be.

I know, I was hoping to use the Diviner's set-up to kill her with sympathetic magic and sow some chaos before moving in on the Pallbearer.

Hm, help my memory here... where's the Warehouse in all of this?

(Someone really needs to draw a vertical cut map of the dungeon. It's hard to keep track of where everything is.)

>>46879790
Let's see...

Basement
Lichyard
Atheneum
The Mine-Connected to Roost
New Hell-Connected to Roost
Cornucopia-Connected to Roost
Warehouse-Connected to Roost
Broken Jaw-Connected to Roost
Sunless Sea

... And, that's what we've hit so far.

>Write-in: "What /exactly/ happens if that ship wakes up? If it's stuck on the water, letting it starve out while we secure the Cornucopia and Warehouse may be the best option.

Trying to besiege a place that literally generates its own food is an exercise in EXTREME futility.

>>46879457
>I can't make The duchess march an army down here, but I think opening up a relationship between The Harpers and her is a good idea

>>46879457
>...Fine, let's finish talking about the spider and then gather the Parliament.
We should at least let the harpies vote on whether they want outsiders to help protect the Roost. We can give them our point of view, some of the information we've learned (NOT the runes though, that would not end well), and let them make their own decisions.

Also, we could carry a couple books from the Atheneum as an emergency escape device. Though I doubt that'll work when we head after the Diviner, she's probably got some counter built into the level.

I notice that we still know /nothing/ about the Librarian. That scares me more than the Wyrm.

>>46879717
Remember anon, this is a powerful ghost ship that feeds on death and misery. What happens when it sails straight to Port Atrium and destroys everything in sight? You wanna be the one to explain to John that his fiance is dead because of us?

Also, the Diviner has locked herself up inside the fortress at the center of the level. Not going to be an easy fight.

Although, I do support your idea for the harpies. The Duchess would be a fool to turn down the opportunity for an Aerial Corps. Plus, the harpies would understand us bringing reinforcements to prevent an attack on a vulnerable and recovering Roost.

>>46876552
This is what I get for not using a code I suppose

>>46879457
>I can't make The duchess march an army down here, but I think opening up a relationship between The Harpers and her is a good idea

>>46879457
>I can't make The duchess march an army down here, but I think opening up a relationship between The Harpies and her is a good idea

>>46879738
Ah, point.

Would anon like more time to debate this? I've got some things that need done today and this seems like a good spot for discussion.

>>46879790
Domochevsky's just offered to do precisely this today after making progress on Gallows Humor.

>>46879457
>>I can't make The duchess march an army down here, but I think opening up a relationship between The Harpers and her is a good idea

>>46880397
...Are you /entirely/ certain you need a name on, my friend? I haven't bothered myself about it (or the other folks that have taken one) but this seems like a road that ends in pointless drama.

>>46880438
Eh, your right, off it goes

>I can't just /make/ the Duchess march some troops down here... But we could try to negotiate a link between her and the Harpies.

And we should make a note to yell at that Chosen if we ever get a chance. How many people have died because they thought immortality was a great thing to give a bunch of pirates?

"You've robbed and murdered innocents. I'm cursing you to have to keep doing it for eternity, but you really won't enjoy it!"

>>46880501
>And we should make a note to yell at that Chosen if we ever get a chance.
lets see if there is a shrine to Quell(?) and shout at him(?)

>>46880501

Sure, it probably wasn't the /best/ solution, but I think the Gods try to limit their direct actions. So, it cam down to whoever was closest with a Chosen at the time, and what they could do.

In this case, it was the Quell.

He can't /interfere/. Couldn't stop them directly. But he could certainly trap them in a terrible bargain for all eternity. And make them /regret/ what they did.

To be frank, it was kind of a shitty solution, but in a world with imperfect Gods, I imagine that happened a lot.

>>46880354
Awesome! Domo a bro.

>>46880587
>Walk into Raven Shrine.
>Carefully remove armor and weapons.
>Quietly take a seat.
>Meditate.
>Internally scream and curse.

Or, y'know, just take a nap and ask Lora what the actual fuck is up with giving the bad guys immortality.

>>46879457
>> Not gonna fly, Silence. I promised them independence, and then I bring an army?
I vote we hit the Cornucopia to amass some death, then dump it into the Roost. Once we've done that, we can hit the Broken Jaw followed by the Sunless Sea.

Although, while we're thinking about it, could we make a bunch of death barrels and position them strategically near execution grounds, entrance points to unconquered levels, and other dangerous areas to just passively collect death on a large scale? And then just feed that to the Pallbearer?

That feel when the toilet starts leaking enough to flood the bathroom.

There may be further delays while we handle this.

>>46881020
Hell, once you take the Cornucopia you can position them near slaughterhouses. The only thing about using the barrel is they're not really /re/usable; crack the seal on 'em and they're done, gotta make the thing over again entirely. There's a reason - aside from barrels being goddamn massive - that they didn't catch on for the necromancer on the go.

>>46880397
>the Harpers
We Waterdeep now

>>46881042
So, say, tapping death barrels doesn't work?