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>>46935063
Ultimately, you and the Caretaker decide to leave the /Lonesome Dirge/ alone for now. You'll ask the /Pallbearer/ about its situation when you're in a position to jump on it immediately.

END INTERLUDE VI: ARTS AND CRAFTS

* * * *

BEGIN PART VI: SEE NO EVIL

You'll be heading into the Broken Jaw after a rest. Tonight, though, you're finalizing plans.

You've gotten ice shoes for your boar - the spikes on those things are needlessly menacing - along with cold weather gear. John is coming with you and has his own equipment. The Hatchet Man has also expressed a need to come along.

The others, though...

"The way I figure it," Amy tells you, "is this level's mostly empty. Having a bunch of people didn't do the draugs any good. Why not travel light and fast, charge her with her pants down, and fuck her but good?"

"I dunno if I'm okay with that," Nate murmurs.

You ruffle the Hero's hair. "Feeling protective?"

His blush answers for him.

Fetch interrupts with a polite sound. When all eyes go to him, he speaks up. "My Queen, while we are occupied with the Jaw, you could, perhaps, encourage an additional force into another level. Nathan and Amy worked well with River previously, and between them and her demon, they could possibly handle the Warehouse."

"But we might be needed to defend the Roost too," River notes. "And we don't know how the Diviner fights, either. She tore apart all the game on the level and no one knows how. She destroyed all the food and no one knows how. That sympathetic connection she uses could be nasty. I wanna stay on deck to reinforce, if we have to."

The choice, ultimately, is yours.

> Travel for speed
> Bring a sled with extra supplies

AND

> Bring Nate & Amy
> Don't

AND

> Encourage a second group to assail the Warehouse
> Keep them in reserve

Nice job skipping 66, trying to avoid the devil, Vox?

>>46935239
Fuck. That was an accident >.< I'll archive it properly.

Also updated the sheet.

>>46935250
> >.<
Mcfucking kill yourself

>>46935172
>her but good?"

Missed a t buddy

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>>46935250
I didn't even have to remind you.

Also, it's considered poor form to use emoji's on image boards, especially 4chan.

Seriously. Don't do it. Use an appropriate reaction pic. You're getting to the point where you can't just claim to be new any more.

>>46935172
>> Travel for speed
> Don't
> Encourage a second group to assail the Warehouse

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>>46935264
It's 1 in the morning and I just got off work, anon. Mistakes were made, no need to kick over the salt shaker.

Thread archived with the appropriate number. Normaly wouldn't archive this early but we're starting a new level here.

>>46935172
>> Travel for speed
She has knowledge of what we're doing realtime. Do you know how you beat someone who knows what you're doing? You do it faster than they can react. Also gives her less time to set up shit.

> Don't
Undead only, cuts down on necessary food. Also, we are the only ones that can wraith it the fuck up. Ghosts =/= undead? If she uses kinesis, this might be where the gap in her magic is. She might also be a magic generalist so the more esoteric examples of necromancy escape her but she can apply a little bit of everything and is using her focus to increase her sympathy.


"Jack of all trades, master of none,
though oftentimes better than master of one. "

> Encourage a second group to scout/infiltrate the Warehouse

Scouting is the key term here.

"Smithing is not considered a form of magic by academia. This is because they are jealous assholes. "

I'm liking the magic docs. Sounds like the Diviner uses a form of Kinesis associated with living creatures, which might

>>46935451
>>46935308

> Actually, if we don't bring Nate and Amy then have them organize an attack on the Warehouse.

>>46935308
>no need to kick over the salt shaker.

And yet you are.

nice LE ZELDA gif XD

>>46935451
To clarify, you are also voting to NOT take the Hatchet Man? No judgement either way, just wanna know your mind.

>>46935512
Hrm. I say we give him the option of coming, but inform him of why we're only bringing undead.

Then again, the Diviner didn't blow up all the people so maybe it only worked on animals?

He could be useful as a diversion attacker. Also he seems pretty badass. It would be a shame for him to die right when we finally get started on getting him his hearts desire, but then again he's not super important to us.

Aight folks, I'm fuckin' wiped - and this vote needs some room to breathe in any event. This level is going to be...different...from the others.

So I'ma crawl into bed and pass the fuck out, in the hopes of getting an early start in the morning after dishes and doin' this with the effect I'm aiming at.

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

Thank you all for reading and participating!

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>>46935653
Have a good night, and remember - Don't Take The Bait. Also, my headcanon for how Nate looks.

I samefagged for Crescendo.

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>>46935264
:B

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>>46936099
IS IT TIME TO START SHITPOSTING!

My body is ready.

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>>46936099

>>46936186
>cao cao
so what did this crazy bastard pull off immediately after delivering that message?

>>46936253
Funny enough, nothing. That is like the one time he's actually just fucked. But Guan Yu was an honor fag and Cao Cao had spared his life earlier and treated him like royalty so he got the motherfucker to spare him.

And then later conspired with Wu to kill him and his eldest son.

> Travel for speed

I'm having a suspicion here. Let's do this as fast as possible.

> Don't

We'll be taking the Hatchet Man and John with us. That would make our party ... Bri, Hatchet Man, John? Anyone else? Amy would not be useful in the cold (no flight) and Nate is already covered by the Hatchet Man... hm, could River/Sultan bring something critical to the table here?

> Keep them in reserve

Nate, Amy, River & Sultan do make a good strike team, but... I do fear though that they lack the diplomacy of Bri, which I imagine to be key in dealing with the Debtor. He seems like a man who can be reasoned with. I'd prefer to at least attempt that. (In that he isn't an immediately apparent crazy person.)

>>46935172
>Travel for speed.
We don't want the Diviner to have a chance at ganking us with her sympathetic bullshit. Good thing we have a former native to guide the way. Hopefully she won't be able to fuck with John the way she did the vampires (James still needs to get staked, before he kills anybody in the Basement or elsewhere).

>Don't bring Nate & Amy, but the Hatchet Man can ride along.
I'm..reasonably certain that Brianna, Sir Fetch, the minions, and Hatchet can handle this. Whether or not there are a thousand and one traps to dodge around is yet to be determined.

>Encourage a second group (Nate, Amy and River) to assail the Warehouse.
I'm pretty sure we can trust the lovers and little sis to do good. If the Debtor is worth saving, at least. Hell, Silence might even know who he's running from.

Speaking of which, we have no idea what Lora thinks of the man. If the pixie companion is any indicator, he might not have made a deal with a demon, but a /fae/. Which would mean he is /really/ up shit creek without a paddle.

>>46937066
Remember, it's not just Brianna, its Sir Fetch and the minions as well. We haven't actually field tested the Boar, but Vim and Vigor make useful little scouts.

Hell, if there's any animal remains (like wolves or bears), we could make /even more/ minions. Do animals count towards a zombie army? I do think we've been leaning towards having an elite strike force rather than overwhelming numbers.

>>46937673
We should zone John out like before and use him as a surprise druag.

>>46935172
>> Travel for speed

>> Bring Nate
Nate can stopgap replenish with death, but Amy is not quite as sturdy. If she had specced for pure speed, maybe.
>AND
>> Keep them in reserve

>Zone out John
NOW, should Bri spend the whole trip in deathstealth?

>>46938299
I think the Shade transformation can be reserved for when we enter the Diviner's fortress lair.

I wonder if Sir Fetch reads as Brianna through divination, since as her familiar, he is technically created from part of her soul. Could make for some opportunities to deceive the cold-hearted bitch.

>>46938360
Doubt it.

>>46935172
> Travel for speed
> Don't bring Nate and Amy
> Encourage a second group to assail the Warehouse

Hit 'em fast, hit 'em hard.

>>46935172
>> Travel for speed
>AND
>> Don't
>AND
>> Keep them in reserve

Contingency plans. Be prepared not just for shenanigans in the Broken Jaw itself, but aimed at the people outside.

>>46938360

Didn't we get an answer to this when we were dealing with the Traitor?

I'm up. Morning stuff, then calling and writing.

Alright, CALLED, WRITING. Our winners were:

> Travel for speed
> Don't bring Nathan and Amy
> Encourage a second group to assail the Warehouse

Which means that instead of hitting Interlude Time at the end of this section, we'll be swapping to them.

Strap yourselves in, folks.

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>>46935172
"We've got Silence here," you tell River. "Henrietta's reinforcements are coming as well. Maybe now's a good time to remind Ordo and the Black Anvils of what we were talking about, with all of us being in this together, but I'd like you, Nate, Amy, and whoever else you think is appropriate to infiltrate the Warehouse and see what you can see, maybe even make a play for the chain."

"I...alright," River agrees. "I'll trust your judgement."

"And we'll figure out if I fucked up when I get back," you tease, warmly. You get a laugh out of her.

You settle in with the cuddle pile. Everyone's nervous, and it shows, but there's not a lot you can do about that.

Everyone knows the risks.

Lora says nothing tonight, and just shakes her head when you try to talk to her. The angel has a distant, unfocused look in her eyes. Quietly, she rolls the sphere of void to you with her foot. You toss her Feathers in exchange.

"Keep him safe," you ask her.

Lora nods, silently.

You pass the evening watching the twin worlds orbit their sun and observing the miniature weather crossing their faces.

All too soon, it is time.

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>>46942610
Amy melts away the ice that blocks off the Broken Jaw. You ride at the front of your boar, with John just behind the scythes on its back and the Hatchet Man taking up the rear. Getting the saddle made had been a bitch, but it's utterly worth it; your ass is going to be /so sore/ by the time this is done.

Amy hops up on the undead boar's head and gives you a fierce kiss. "Come home," she murmurs, her wings flitting. "...I worry about you."

You give her a guilty grin. "Would it make you feel better if I said I worry about me too?"

The half-harpy gives you a tight hug before hopping down and winging away to rejoin Nathan and the other team.

"Excited, Hatchet?" you ask, urging the boar forward.

"Interested," he admits, his mild tone ever-so-slightly 'up'. "I suspect that associating with you will give me a veritable menagerie of new foes to face."

"Hatchet, stick with me and you'll kill the sorts of things they put your name in legends for."

The passage into the Jaw is a wide, roughly circular tunnel. The air gets chillier as you move through it, but the /cold/ doesn't blast you until you cross into the Jaw proper. The wind in this place howls across the ice, creating a constant, low shriek that blows shards of frost across the floor.

This is winter's land. All you can see is ice. It sheathes the snow in blue-white and makes vast, chipped fangs where water once dripped. As you watch, the tip of a hanging icicle shears off in the wind and is whipped away, faster than the eye can follow.

"Home," John breathes. He points, just past your shoulder, at a raised structure faintly sparkling with witchlight. "That's Cannot Hold. She'll be there, at the center of the place."

You nod and urge your boar forward. Fetch squawks supportively from his place just in front of you. The ice shoes do their job remarkably, giving the skeleton purchase on the slippery surface.

But you're hearing something, in the wind...

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>>46942814
"Shadows," your grandmother's voice says, "are among the most useful servants."

You stop up short, heart pounding in your chest. In the icicles around you, you can see yourself, as a young woman, in your grandmother's house. Everything is as you remember it; the smoke, the hard expression on your grandmother's face.

The sacrifice, and the terror in his eyes, which won't stop pleading with you for mercy.

"You were pretty young, for a murderer," a female voice echoes, across the ice. "Wait for it - there we are."

You watch the knife slide home, see your shadow distort. Kat flickers in response, with rage and fear.

"The start of a long and fruitful career, Bri," the female voice coos, smugly. "Though you really only hit your stride in the Dungeon, eh? All those poor harpies, rotted alive. They suffered, you know. Would you like to see?"

"SHUT UP!" you scream.

"Aww. Miss Hard Choices can't handle a dose of truth."

"When I get there -"

"You'll kill me and defile my corpse, yes, yes." She sounds almost /bored/. "You dress it up in pretty traditions and protestations of duty but you're still a necromancer. Still a heretic. Still just one bad day away from becoming your Aunt. It's tempting, isn't it? To just /make/ people listen to you. It's not like they're ever really interested in understanding. But the dead don't have to understand. They just /obey/."

John lunges forward and saws on the reins of the boar; it steps sideways obediently, narrowly dodging a massive spike of ice.

"MOVE!" the draug yells in your ear.

"You won't find me as easy to kill as my allies," the Diviner crows.

You can hear the ice shifting.

>>46942939

The Diviner's already more interesting than I was expecting...

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>>46942939
You lash the reins, and the boar surges forward, just ahead of a rippling line of icicles. Its shod hooves dig in, throwing up sprays of ice and frost.

"This is /my/ realm, heritor. It obeys me as your defiled slaves obey /you/."

You choke back a sob, and you're not sure if it's rage or guilt but right now, you don't have time to care.

> Full speed; try to outrace her attacks
> Try to move more cautiously; you can hear her ice-shaping coming

* * * *

Welcome to the Broken Jaw, folks. This level will be featuring DICE ROLLS, as foretold in prophecy/previous threads. Brianna's actions will be rolled on a D6, plus and minus modifiers based on your choices, her condition, the environement, and changes made by previous decisions.

If you can't tell, this is also going to be the short level.

Right now, Brianna is MOUNTED (+1), INJURED (-1), RESTED (+/- 0) and has Fetch & her allies to help her observe (+1), for a total modifier of +1.

Let the voting begin.

Rolled 4 + 1 (1d6 + 1)

>>46943039
OH FUCK PANIC!

> Try to move more cautiously; you can hear her ice-shaping coming

>>46943072
I, ah. I shoulda been more clear; I'll make the roll on my end, when I call the vote; you'll all see the results.

>>46943039
> Try to move more cautiously; you can hear her ice-shaping coming

Hoo boy. What does she have that lets her do a sympathetic-

Motherfucker, the vampire stole a clump of hair or something from us, didn't he? Clever bitch.

I'm presuming you want dice rolls after the winning vote's been chosen?

>>46943039
>> Full speed; try to outrace her attacks

CHAAAARGE!

>>46943094
See >>46943084. I'll be using /tg/'s die roller so everything's visible and above-board.

>>46943039
>> Try to move more cautiously; you can hear her ice-shaping coming

Oh boy time to get guilt tripped without our input.

I know at this point Bri's her own character, but I sincerely doubt she'd be that easy to fuck with.

Sorry Vox

>>46943084
Wait, one roll? Not best-of-three or -five?

We'll have an even chance of success or failure?

YOU MONSTER!

>>46943121
Sympathic magic, remember?

I'm betting she had the vampire that escaped take some hair or something.

>>46943121
> Offer feedback
> Apologize for offering feedback

Anon pls. You're fine.

>>46943155
That explains how she got us to see that, what it doesn't explain is why we should feel bad about it.

Unless She's MAKING us feel that way.

>>46943171
>unless she's MAKING us feel that way

In the same way she made the vampires freak out, yes.

>>46943163
I just don't want to be lumped in with that railroading asshole who show's up every once in a while.

I would've preferred that we got to decide how Bri feels, UNLESS the bitch is making us feel bad.

This lady murdered a whole fucking floor, her trying to guilt trip us is mildly hilarious.

>>46943171
>>46943188
>>46943199
Guys, Bri's immune to mind control as long as she has that pin in her hat, remember? But the stuff the Diviner is saying is the stuff Bri's always down on herself for. "Good people don't do what I do." "Good people don't know what I know."

Just because she's starting to think more positive doesn't mean she's better yet.

>>46943268

Yeah, pretty much this.

I don't know where you guys got the idea that Bri's immune to guilt at this point.

It's not that she's immune to it—she's been /drowning/ in it for years. The time since she's had Nate and Amy to really help her has been like the first real breath of air she's had in ages.

And now the Diviner is trying to push her head back down.

Fuck.

That.

Shit.

Rolled 4 + 2 (1d6 + 2)

Called, writing.

Winning vote: Move cautiously. You gain ALERT (+1 when dodging). You are MOUNTED, INJURED, RESTED, AIDED, AND ALERT (+1, +2 when dodging).

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>>46943039
You resist the urge - the powerful urge - to go charging straight ahead in favor of a somewhat slower, evasive action. It pays off; the Diviner's ice shaping is wickedly fast, but the ice has to gather itself, and you can hear it before it goes off. Fetch, John, and Hatchet call out to you, hearing and seeing what you can't with your eyes ahead towards your foe.

Cannot Hold seems so far away, right now.

For all of her information, though, the Diviner can't seem to read your mind. She has to figure out where you're going next, and you move unpredictably in response. Your boar leaps over one emerging spear, clearing it just ahead of the ice, and lands still running.

You can see snapshots of your life, in the ice ahead. You watch Kat crush the skull of the necromancer in the Mine, with vicious glee. You watch yourself hack off Amy's wings.

"You just can't stop hurting people, can you?" the Diviner calls, over the sounds of the ice and your mount's galloping hooves. "And it's always /you/. You don't let others do it, even when they want to. Needful work, la Croix? I think you like the work."

<My Queen ->

</NOT NOW/>

In the distance, between you and Cannot Hold, a wall of ice begins to rise.

You're in it. A little girl holds up her kitten, dead these past four days, and /begs/ you to save it.

You watch her cry, when you tell her you can't.

"Past and present," the Diviner tells you. "Natalia was an idiot for trying to foretell the future. Everything you could ever want about a person is in the past, and in the present."

You could try to plunge through, hardening the boar with your own life force and trusting its scythes, but if the wall's to thick she might just crush you in it. Cutting left has the faint pulse of death; cutting right is an unknown.

> Plow through (become FATIGUED; applies /after/ this roll)
> Cut left
> Cut right

>>46943332
It's a good tactic on the Diviner's part, to be honest. No Good Deed Goes Unpunished. We've racked up a pretty long backlog of Good Deeds to be Punished for, and she's hitting it where it hurts.

>>46943617
>> Cut left

This is getting real Nito

>>46943617
>Cut Left
Can't afford the fatigue, not yet. Death-sense assist seems likely to assist us rather than plunging into the unknown

>>46943617
>> Cut left

Something pulsing with death is likely to be either something we can use, or something we are equipped to defeat.

>>46943617
>Cut left
There wasn't anything left to kill down here, so the chance that it is beneficial are somewhat good.

>>46943617
>> Cut left

Do we want a complete unknown, or do we want a likely ambush by leftover vampires or draug?

Neither option's that great honestly, but at least we have experience with the draug.

Rolled 5 + 1 (1d6 + 1)

Called, writing.

>>46943878
Hot damn, you are going quick through this one.

>>46943878
Lovely! Another high roll!

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>>46943617
You angle left, hard.

"What's the plan?" John yells.

"There's death ahead!" you call back.

"What does - oh, right, sorry! I was thinking about before!"

"What was before?" you ask. The ice is extending, trying to cut you off.

Your boar leaps over it at a low point, and you hear the wall stop growing immediately.

"Hunter's village," John explains. "Maybe twenty people, most of 'em went draug. When the game died and all the water froze over..."

You plunge straight for it. You can see phantasmal igloos in the distance; the telltale signs of a ghost projecting its memories. Three ghosts remain inside of what is now no longer even ruins, their gear in tatters and all the flesh eaten from their bones.

They regard you silently as you aproach, fast and hard.

"Do you want your revenge?" you call out.

"Don't you dare," the Diviner snaps. "Back to death, you idiots!"

The ghosts nod.

> Protect the boar! (upgrade MOUNTED bonus)
> Defend us! (gain GUIDED)
> She's there! In Cannot Hold! (gain DISTRACTED ENEMY in 2 ROLLS)

No roll for this vote

>>46944113
>> She's there! In Cannot Hold! (gain DISTRACTED ENEMY in 2 ROLLS)

>>46944113
> Defend us! (gain GUIDED)
Help us attain your revenge!

>>46944113
>> She's there! In Cannot Hold! (gain DISTRACTED ENEMY in 2 ROLLS)

I think that we may need this bonus very soon.

Plus, asking ghosts to defend us against the terrain... doesn't strike me as the most brilliant idea.

>>46944113
> She's there! In Cannot Hold! (gain DISTRACTED ENEMY in 2 ROLLS)

ZOMBIE ARMIES!

>>46944113
>> She's there! In Cannot Hold! (gain DISTRACTED ENEMY in 2 ROLLS)

Go give her hell.

>>46943199
>lumped in with that railroading asshole

Hey fuck you, I have a point exemplified by you complaining.

>>46944220
When somebody else creates the army, and you just redirect it back to the source, does it count as ZOMBIE ARMIES?

>>46944241
I believe at that point it's SEIMRA EIBMOZ.

I regret nothing.

Shit, we brought the Daughter's eyes, right?

>>46944113
>She's there! In Cannot Hold! (gain DISTRACTED ENEMY in 2 ROLLS)

Go, ghost friends, we will be there to finish your work.

>>46944277
Yes. My bad on not mentioning it and/or putting it on the sheet; lemme correct that now.

>>46944289
No worries, just wanted to make sure we could head-explodey the cunt right proper.

Also if we'd been assaulting the Daughter normally, I'd've been somewhat miffed that you used "See No Evil" for the Diviner.

This way, it just adds another layer of funny to what's going to happen to her.

>>46944289
So Vox, tell me truly.

If you are just killed, you get a sick swanky revenge ghost if your death was particularly brutal.

But if you get draug'd you dont? And I don't mean the draugs we ambushed and burned alive should get chance to have draug ghosts bent on revenge towards us. But do they not get a chance to go spooky and get revenge for being draug'd in the first place?

So, let's say I want to torture somebody to death in the most horrrible manner possible but I don't want to have to deal with shitty revenge ghosts. If I quickly rez them as some sort of undead and then immediately kill that undead, have I circumvented the revenge ghost phase of that person?

>>46944360
I thikn with the draug the ghost that would normally rise gets shoved back in the body (and bound to the will of the less-scrupulous necromancers). When the draug dies, the soul is probably too 'exhausted' to stick around.

>>46944360
Why people rise as more corporeal forms of undead rather than ghosts is a debated topic. Some forms, of course, actually involve the ghost - revenants & those servants the Moneychanger used, for instance, are both variants on the basic theme of 'ghost possessing its own corpse'.

Draugs, on the other hand, tend to be formed from people who were so afraid to die that they turned to betrayal and cannibalism to escape it. When they die /anyway/ (or continue their depredations after surviving), they claw their way towards sweet life, fighting not to die, to avoid the Sunless Lands with all their might. Rather than the business which motivates ghosts, their drive is to /live/.

TL;DR these ghosts were the people who got eaten before there were any draugs.

As far as preventing a ghost from someone you torture, it's fairly hard. The Moneychanger, if you recall, tortured her victims to create her servants, making ghosts fairly immediately. What you /can/ do is capture said ghost right off the bat, generally with iron and silver, and dispose of it as you will.

There are cases of particularly strong-willed or obsessed ghosts surviving multiple slayings or banishings, which is why it's considered better to resolve their business than to attempt to destroy them. Ghosts with resolved business tend to stay dead.

Called, writing.

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>>46944113
"She's there! The witch of Cannot Hold drove your kin to madness and betrayal! Vengeance can be yours!"

The skeletal jaws of the ghosts slacken into a screech to rival the wind, and they stream towards the Diviner.

Gain DISTRACTED ENEMY in 2 ROLLS. You are ALERT, AIDED, INJURED, MOUNTED, and WELL-RESTED (+1, +2 when dodging)

"Coward," the Diviner snarls. "You were always a coward."

"You don't /know me/," you snap.

"I know why you told your grandmother that you wouldn't learn death-in-flame," the Diviner returns. "I know why she refused to teach you the slaying spells. Just couldn't trust you, could she?"

"SILENCE YOURSELF, WITCH!" Fetch calls from in front of you.

The ice shimmers, showing a small village in the swamp under siege by the dead. Behind them, hard to recognize without her hat, is Aunt Carol. Corpses throw themselves at the village's wall, pounding against the wood, howling in hunger.

"She knew you'd turn into /that/," the Diviner snarls. "And now you're playing with fire. Did you enjoy it, when those harpies died in /agony/?"

"Brianna, up high!" Hatchet calls, wrenching your gaze from the ice. Something almost like birds is - those aren't birds.

"FROST KITES!" you call. "Elementals! Iron and flame!"

They're closing in fast.

> Order Kat to provide cover (gain COVER; injure Kat)
> Spur the boar with necromancy (gain CHARGE, become FATIGUED; FATIGUED applies after this roll)
> Run for high ground to fight (??)

>>46944820
> MFW I realize I wasn't clear
> MFW there is no face

To be clear, Bri is saying to /use/ iron and flame. The frost kites are ice birds.

>>46944820
> Spur the boar with necromancy (gain CHARGE, become FATIGUED; FATIGUED applies after this roll)

Fuck fuck fuck

We have John and Hatchet to fight her directly, we can afford a bit of fatigue.

>>46944820
> Order Kat to provide cover (gain COVER; injure Kat)

We can't afford to get bogged down, and getting FATIGUED isn't that great either. We need to break through to the Diviner soon.

>>46944820
>Spur the boar with necromancy (gain CHARGE, become FATIGUED; FATIGUED applies after this roll)

Rolled 6 + 1 (1d6 + 1)

>>46944820
>Do a barrel roll!

>>46945002
Well that is a crit roll..

>>46945002
I laughed.

Calling in five, I need more coffee.

Rolled 4 + 1 (1d6 + 1)

>>46944820

> Order Kat to provide cover (gain COVER; injure Kat)

>>46945072

Drink linch! Drink!!

Can't stay to see the rest but hope you anons kill this bitch real good.

>>46944820
>Order Kat to provide cover (gain COVER; injure Kat)

We need Bri fresh as possible for the finale, plus for splatting the Daughter afterwards.

>>46944820
>> Spur the boar with necromancy (gain CHARGE, become FATIGUED; FATIGUED applies after this roll)

Fatigue seems more likely to be something we can push through and deal with while we're still in the Jaw than Kat being injured.

>>46944820
>> Order Kat to provide cover (gain COVER; injure Kat)
Though I dislike injuring Kat, the Boar is our only real means of getting there so I don't think we can afford the fatigue.

>>46945168

Anon, I think it's us getting fatigued, not the boar.

Rolled 5 + 3 (1d6 + 3)

CALLED. Winner: order Kat to provide cover.

You gain COVER (+1 when DEFENDING). You are DODGING and DEFENDING.

Jesus fucking Christ you guys are on a roll.

>>46945204

This will only make it all the more crushing when we roll a series of 1s right at the final boss.

>>46945204
Not gonna lie, glad this streak is running hot... and also glad that the voters are taking reasonable precautions rather than charging ahead blindly. Also glad I got outvoted on the sled, because holy crap...

File: Bri with Kat.png (262 KB, 905x897)

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>>46944820
"KAT, SHELTER!"

The shadow hooks the boar with its claws and stretches above you like a kite in the wind, and not a moment too soon. You jink and dodge, avoiding as much of the hail of icy feathers as you can, as well as the rapidly-increasing spikes of ice that the Diviner is sending at you.

"Why are you really here?" she snarls at you. "Don't say justice. You didn't promise those dead men /justice/. I could see killing the Vintner for what he did to your lover. Hell, I /applaud/ it. Lisa? She was scum. But this isn't your fight, necromancer. You have /nothing to gain/. You'll go further and further down into the dark. You'll /suffer/. You'll lose the people you've come to love and end up just like your grandmother, a withered old crone turning her children into husks just as miserable as she is!"

A strong headwind blasts towards you, from Cannot Hold, and you scream your fury into it.

You can taste John's fear, but the draug grips the saddle for all his unlife is worth.

Then the ice beneath your mount's feet starts to crack and break, revealing water beneath.

"MY PLACE!" the Diviner snarls. "MY DOMAIN! MY WILL IS LAW!"

Your boar can't swim, and you really cannot afford to fall into this water.

> Spur the boar (gain CHARGE, become FATIGUED; FATIGUED applies after this roll)
> Take off and force the Diviner to split her attention (gain FLIGHT, lose AIDED and MOUNTED, allies lose COVER)
> Try to circle back and find a route not over frozen water (risk another ENCOUNTER)

>>46945478
>> Try to circle back and find a route not over frozen water (risk another ENCOUNTER)

The Diviner will be gaining DISTRACTED right about now...

>>46945478

>> Try to circle back and find a route not over frozen water (risk another ENCOUNTER)

Time for that Distraction.

Side note, just how close are we to Cannot Hold right now?

>>46945478
>> Try to circle back and find a route not over frozen water (risk another ENCOUNTER)

>"MY PLACE!" the Diviner snarls. "MY DOMAIN! MY WILL IS LAW!"

Bitch please, breaking laws is what got us here to begin with!

>>46945478
>> Spur the boar (gain CHARGE, become FATIGUED; FATIGUED applies after this roll)

Get past this part, and we won't need to worry about the water.

Also, seriously, Diviner? I mean, yeah, I know you're trying to throw whatever will hurt most at Bri, but you seriously think we could only be coming at you for justice for the people of the Jaw if we had promised to give it to them? And there's /nothing else/ we could be targeting you for? Not this little matter of enslaving an angel, or risking the /literal/ end of the world when Richard gets where he's going?

>>46945576
At a sane pace, without an undead mount or, worse, walking, it'd be two days from the Roost to Cannot Hold. As-is, with a tireless mount and an 'oh fuck people are trying to kill me' charging pace, you're maybe thirty minutes (of constant attack) out.

Mind you, the Diviner is about to be DISTRACTED...

>>46945625
> Bitch please, breaking laws is what got us here to begin with!

And specifically, breaking unjust local laws in order to do what's both right and needful.

Sounds very apt here.

>>46945478
>Spur the boar (gain CHARGE, become FATIGUED; FATIGUED applies after this roll)

Slight extension on this vote while I HELLO DISHES MY OLD FRIEND, I HAVE TO FUCKING WASH YOU YET AGAIN.

I have some questions.
Can we shade Fetch to be invisible to the Diviner?
Exactly what properties are gained by vamping out other than feeding teeth?

>>46945817
Going for a vampiric body offers toughness, obviates the need to breathe, and makes you appear dead (this may be useful against mages or monsters which are attempting to detect you via life signs such as body heat, breathing, or heartbeat).

>>46945843
And can we apply John?

>>46945904
Apply that to John rather?

>>46945904
>>46945927
...Anon, John is already dead.

>spur the boar

>>46945478
>> Spur the boar (gain CHARGE, become FATIGUED; FATIGUED applies after this roll)

>>46945970
But if he gets double dead it cancels itself out and goes full circle back to him being alive right? Kind of like how ghandi became extremely violent if he worked too hard on becoming peaceful.

>>46945478
>Spur the boar (gain CHARGE, become FATIGUED; FATIGUED applies after this roll)

>>46945843
So, when we get to Cannot Hold, we can apply the Shade form to Brianna and Hatchet. When the Diviner recovers from her distraction, and can't detect us with her magic...

Oh, yeah. Vengeance is sweet.

>>46945970
I'm aware. I was more curious as to whether or not we could temporary alter the type of undead that he is.

Rolled 3 + 3 (1d6 + 3)

>>46946056
Sure but when you get close enough to fight her she can just detect you with her eyeballs.

>>46946074
Not...exactly, but you can functionally re-create other types by taking his baseline (tough/strong/dead) and adding some of their features. F'rinstance, while John-with-vampire-fangs isn't as fast as a vampire or weak to the same shit, he's still got nasty-ass fangs. Likewise, you could give him features of those servants the Moneychanger was using, or a revenant, or...

I really need to get that undead doc around. The basic rule on Infuse With Death, though, is you get one thing at a time. You can do multiple things with multiple castings, but if you want a vampiric body and vampire fangs you need to do the thing twice.

Also CALLED. Winner: SPUR THE BOAR. You gain CHARGE (+1) and become FATIGUED.

The Diviner becomes DISTRACTED.

This is likely to be my last update before work, might have another one in me but I'm kinda distracted by the announcement that just went up on the board. Fuckin'...oi.

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>>46945478
You reach your hand down and touch the bones of the boar, pouring some of your life force into it to spur it forward.

You can feel and hear the ice behind you snapping and breaking, but you're well ahead of it. Sadly, you are not ahead of the frost kites; they continue to rain ice on Kat, making the shadow writhe and shriek.

From the Diviner's outraged shouting, the ghosts have just gotten to her. Excellent.

The boar clears the lake, and you've got a moment to breathe.

> Keep Kat as COVER
> Order her to safety (lose COVER)

AND

> Push ahead to Cannot Hold
> Stop to deal with the kites while you have a moment's peace

>>46947024
> Order her to safety (lose COVER)
> Stop to deal with the kites while you have a moment's peace

>>46947024
>> Order her to safety (lose COVER)
>AND
>> Stop to deal with the kites while you have a moment's peace

>>46946764
It's literally cancer, Lord Licorice won't let us archive anymore either.


YAY

>>46947024
>> Order her to safety (lose COVER)
>> Stop to deal with the kites while you have a moment's peace

>>46947255
>It's literally cancer, Lord Licorice won't let us archive anymore either.

[citation required]

Not even because I doubt you, but because I'm starting to feel a sense of dread

>>46947303
He said some stupid shit about not being able to handle two boards worth of shit, when 90% of what he has is quests.

>>46947359
I guess I could put all of my new threads in a pastebin for people to catch up, but that feels very, hmmm, like work and it would make archive binging drier than it already is.

>>46947437
I don't know man, I just don't know

Rolled 6 + 2 (1d6 + 2)

>>46947255
>>46947303
>>46947359
>>46947437
>>46947480
Folks, please - head to the thread in question.

CALLED. Winner: ORDER KAT TO SAFETY and FIGHT

You lose COVER. You are ALERT, AIDED, CHARGING, FATIGUED, INJURED, and MOUNTED. You have RANGED ATTACKS (+1).

>>46947995
HA HA.

AHAHAHAHA.

OKAY, THAT WENT WELL.

I hope it's not ruining the tension I am genuinely fucking hype about this high-roll streak.

>>46947995
nice roll man

>>46947995
Glad to see that.

I want you to know, Vox, that I would have left /tg/ a long time ago if it hadn't been for your writing. I saw what happened to the old quest board, and I don't want to see you banished to that filthy hole.

File: The Ride Never Ends.webm (546 KB, 576x324)

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>>46947024
CRITICAL SUCCESS. Your AIDED bonus increases to +2

You pull the boar into a curving charge. You're not trying to avoid anything - you want a shot at those godsdamned frost kites.

"Hatchet, you got something for this?" you ask, while you pull the cork on your death bottle. You're going to end up wasting the whole thing for this, but fuck if it ain't worth it.

"The answer to 'can I kill it' is always 'yes', necromancer," Hatchet replies. He lets go of the saddle entirely and pulls a pair of loaded crossbows; the bolts are tipped in iron, which begins to glow red-hot when he barks a command.

"Remind me to have Amy make you a /really/ nice dinner," you tell him, reaching for a big fistful of death energies.

The kites never had a chance. You barely even slow down to kill them. The one you hit rots away almost instantly and spills leftover death onto its compatriots. Hatchet's, on the other hand, hit the ground hard and melt in shrieking agony.

You gain MORALE (+1)

Hatchet reloads while you turn your eyes back towards Cannot Hold. A pair of hulking ice elementals are lumbering from the base of the structure, intent on intercepting you; you can hear the Diviner snarling and cursing while she fights off the ghosts. She won't be distracted for much longer.

For that matter, you won't be able to fit the boar in there without smashing whatever she's using to generate sympathy.

> Push through (become EXHAUSTED; EXHAUSTED applies after this roll)
> Stand and fight (FIGHT scene; no roll)
> Take off (gain FLIGHT, lose MOUNTED and AIDED, roll determines if ALLIES can reach the Diviner in time)
> Leave 1-2 ALLIES to distract the elementals (choose up to 2 of: Fetch, Hatchet, John, Kat)

Alright folks, I gotta hit work. I'll be back just after midnight EST, as much as I hate to lose the breakneck-pace feel of the thread today.

Questions, comments, discussion, feedback, and criticisms are welcome and appreciated. This is, as I alluded to in threads past, an experiment for me both in using mechanics to evoke a feeling and in using dice-based mechanics /at all/. Your thoughts and feelings on the matter are GREATLY welcome.

Thank you all for reading and participating!

>>46948435
>Leave allies to distract the elementals (Hatchet, the Boar and John).
Sir Fetch shall surely be all that is needed to defend his Queen's honor!

>>46948435
>For that matter, you won't be able to fit the boar in there without smashing whatever she's using to generate sympathy.
Does this mean that if we bring the boar in, we can't fuck the daughter with her own eyes?

>>46948784
Yep.

>>46948435
>Leave John, the Boar, and Kat

Keeping Bri/Fetch/Hatchet is the most serious mix of combat we can manage. Kat will be hard for elementals to deal with and the Boar is the Boar.

>>46948784
Yes.

>>46948435
>>46948779
>Leave allies to distract the elementals (Hatchet, the Boar and John).
Seconding

>>46948870
All sorts of fuck that then.
>>46948779
>Leave allies to distract the elementals (Hatchet, the Boar and John).
Thirded.

>>46948815
Kat is injured from shielding us from the Kites. The Boar, however, is uninjured and can tank for the other two. He'll probably need repairs after we deal with the Diviner, but that's not a real problem unless he loses his legs and has to be hauled out on a sled.

>>46949638
Welp.

Four and a half hours and change to call. Feedback still welcome and appreciated.

>>46949638
>>46950199

I'd encourage you to keep going on /tg/, Vox, considering the mod for /qst/ deleted four legitimate quests adn then lied about deleting them.

>>46950083
Honestly, Vox? I'd say put the quest on blocks until this /qst/ shit settles. It's probably going to collapse under the weight of its own stupidity, and I'd hate for you to get caught in that and potentially even lose threads. Not only that, but putting one of the biggest and best quests on protest break would send a big message. Think about it.

>>46948435


I support this gentleman

>>46948779

>>46952762
>one of the biggest and best
>send a message


IMPLICATIONS

I'm finishing this thread out before I make any decisions.

Two and a half hours and change.

>>46952762

Doesn't even need to be in protest for it to go on break. There's enough reason to be concerned about rugs being pulled out from under him during a time of transition to say that DLQ will continue once the situation has settled down somewhat.

Hour and change. Feedback remains welcome.

I'll finish this level up and then make decisions. Prepare for fast votes.

Rolled 4 (1d6)

>>46948610
> Since the Boar has arms now, can it grapple the ice elementals? What is the size difference like? Can the Boar shatter an ice elemental on the charge?

>> Take off (gain FLIGHT, lose MOUNTED and AIDED, roll determines if ALLIES can reach the Diviner in time)

I'm not sure we should leave John, we promised him REVENGE

>>46948435
> Stand and fight (FIGHT scene; no roll)

We can take em guys! We have the best mercenary this side of the dungeon.

>>46948435
>> Stand and fight (FIGHT scene; no roll)

This is why we upgraded the Boar for fighting.

I only wish we had kept the spider legs to give Kat Mistral Arms.

>>46948435
>Stand and fight (FIGHT scene; no roll)
already doubled down on the boar

Rolled 4 + 7 (1d6 + 7)

Home, CALLED. Winner: LEAVE ALLIS (Hatchet, Boar, & John). You retain KAT, SIR FETCH, CHICKEN SKELETON, and VIM & VIGOR.

The elementals are DISTRACTED (+2 to break away and continue) by your ALLIES.

>>46948907
>>46948779
>>46949121
> Can't leave the boar in the choices.

I mean, we could Dismount AND leave allies.

But let's go some shade form.

It should be interesting to see the Diviner try and fuck with John though. I think we should bring him, since he's already well aware that he's a fucking abomination and has accepted that fact more or less.

>>46953081

Is John still all jacked up from the Harpy fight?

Also, I find it kind of jarring how much Bri is reacting to these images. It's not like she hasn't already been beating herself up about this.

We should turn that back around on the Diviner. Let her know that we KNOW we've had to hurt people. But we only hurt those who insist on hurting others. We've accepted surrenders from those who regretted their actions and want to redeem themselves, and we never depopulated an area for fucking convenience. Every price, we've paid ourselves. Those deaths were chosen by the people attacking us and we acted in self defense. Cruelly, yes, but it was that or lay down and die.

If she would like to surrender herself now, we can't say that there won't be any punishment for her crimes, but there will be the chance to atone.

>>46955215
We promised him a piece of the Diviner. We're not likely to kill her before they finish up out here.

And if we do, I'm sure we can bring back an arm or something.

>>46957130
Hey vox, you might as well keep making the threads on here.

They unstickied the discussion, haven't banned quests and HAVE banned people telling them to go to the new board.

>>46957225
LATER

hell, take it to wqdt, Vox pays attention to those.

>>46957225
They even deleted my joke post. I think they're trying to not make it seem like quests are being evicted on short notice.

>>46957225
Sounds like someone just got unemployed from his unpaied job.

>>46957130
Sooooo, can we go Shade Mode now for the surprise attack?

Can we recall John since we promised him revenge?

>>46957367
The decision was made and will not be rescinded.

>>46957367
>>46957380
Shit. I forgot. I really would have liked to see what John would say to her as she dies.

>>46957380
Eh. I doubt we can get through the fight before they arrive, in any case.

>>46957380
Ah well. That's how it goes.

> Are you Forgetting Something?

>>46957367
Honestly, if the diviner dies, and he helped, I think he'll get over not being there in person. And if he doesn't, I'm not sure I'm all that sympathetic.

>>46957857
Basically this.

His situation's shitty, sure, but as Vox said, the draugs were the ones so desperate to save their own lives they turned on their fellow man.

If he were 'good', he'd've been a ghost.

>>46957982
>Cannibalism is evil in dire circumstances

There are some atrocity survivors that would like a word with you

>>46958065
I think it's the murder part preceding the cannibalism, not the actual act.

>>46958092
Do you need to murder to become a draug?

Important question. I did see the 'betrayal' thing, but I'm unsure if Vox means you have to have done both 100%

>>46958103
I think you just need to die a horrible and savage death.

You could probably become a draug in a prison under the right circumstances (think brazillian prison riot conditions or north korean internment camp conditions).

>>46958065
>>46958092

That.

If they ate the ones that died first, fine. If they ate ones that killed themselves, fine.

If they murdered someone, not fine.

The fuck is going on with the 4chan servers? Christ

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>>46948435
"John, Hatchet, they're yours," you call out. You grab Fetch, whistle for Kat and your hands, and leap clear of the boar, using your wings to carry yourself over the elementals.

There's a satisfying crash as your minion hits them. You can hear John's feral snarl as he engages; the Hatchet Man makes no sounds but what his weapons provide for him.

You dig a fistful of silver out as you dump your minions onto the ground and trill the cursing incantation for your shade form. You feel the cold wash of death over yourself.

"I'll circle around," you tell Fetch.

"Yes, my Queen," your familiar answers.

You get your first good look at Cannot Hold while you circle around to find another entrance. It isn't hard; the "fort" - you hesitate to actually call it that - is made of ice-coated stone, oddly rough in cut, with many openings. Though Cannot Hold is situated on a hill, it's blindingly obvious that actually holding it against an attack would be nearly impossible.

For one thing, the hill's not that high. For another, it's a maybe fifty-foot stone circle riddled with fucking holes.

You draw your sword-cane as you sprint up the hill. The Diviner's laboratory is a modest affair, little more than a cot, a shelf full of books, and another stocked with resonant materials. Kat, Fetch, and the minions tangle with the male vampire - James, his name was - while the Diviner looks on, squeezing a small silver bell in what is obviously rage.

She's older. Maybe Hatchet's age, and human. But even here, you can sense the power. She's everywhere in this place, everywhere the ice touches.

You are INJURED (-1), FATIGUED (-1), UNDETECTED (+1), have MORALE (+1), are ARMED (+1).

> Rush her (gain FURY, risk DETECTION)
> Try to sneak up on her
> Offer her the chance to surrender
> Fling a rot blast out of your life force (become EXHAUSTED, aggravate INJURIES; these penalties apply after roll)

>>46958155
>If they murdered someone, not fine.

Fuck, even then. I don't know.

Like, starvation is pretty fucking shitty. Push you to the ends of your rope and your sense of morality type shityy. Overwhelming bestial urges to survive assault you.

Like, if I found out John ate his own family or children, sure, I'd probably think he was a monster.

But imagine starving to death and there's nothing to eat and like, that asshole you never liked in high school who's kind of a fucking cunt is one of the people you're stuck with.

If a whole village of people is starving to death, somebody is going to kill someone they never liked to begin with to not die.

I wouldn't say saintly, but I'd be hard-pressed to really say 'nah, should have just starved to death'

Like, rules of nature, dog eat dog world, even wolves will eat their own in times of trouble. It's sort of what you're meant to do from a natural perspective as opposed to a moral one.

>>46958264
>> Rush her (gain FURY, risk DETECTION)

>>46958264
>> Try to sneak up on her
We're undetected for a reason. Can we time this with Fetch's assault though so that we get DISTRACTED bonus?

>>46958264
>> Offer her the chance to surrender

She'll still die, it'll just be a lot less painful. God forbid she successfully stalls us, then john will arrive and we'll be obligated to let him avenge his death so he can go on in peace into the afterlife.

The undead aren't very nice about the "not savaging people to death" thing.

>>46958313
>Try to sneak up on her
I wanna sneak up on her too.

>>46958264
> Try to sneak up on her

>>46958324
Why would you want to make this cunt's death less painful?

>>46958065
>>46958092
>>46958103
>>46958143
>>46958155
>>46958272
The morality of it isn't really relevant to becoming a draug. It's the desperation, madness, fear, fury, and drive to live at all costs. Harpies, for instance, don't generally become draug; eating sapients is just sorta a thing for them (it helps that harpies, like many scavengers, don't really suffer from prion problems). You die trying to live at any cost and then it turns out, well, you ended up /stuck/.

As Friday mentioned, it's a shitty way to end up, but most draugs will take it over death.

>>46958264
>Rush her (gain FURY, risk DETECTION)
Against doubt, decisive and resolute action.

>>46958355
So then, essentially, without knowing John's personal situation, we can't really make a moral judgment about what he deserves. All we truly know is he REALLY didn't want to die and that's all.

>>46958374
Pretty much, yeah.

>>46958374
Also he struggled until the end to not die, and failed. If he just really didn't want to die and did nothing about it he'd be like cherry.

>>46958355
>prion problems

Plus those only happen when you eat the brain or don't cook it properly.

Seriously, if you ever have long pork, make sure there isn't any pink in it. You're just asking for cannibal Parkinson's otherwise.

>>46958410
Apparently its theoretically possible to contract alzheimers from unsterilized medical equipment too. So if you get your skull cracked open by someone whose been murdering the mentally unwell, you might want to be concerned.

>>46958410
...I didn't need to know that and will dedicate my life to drinking it away.

>>46958490
you didn't? Cannibalism isn't just culturally seen as bad, it literally is impractical once lifespans stop being depressing.

Rolled 2 + 1 (1d6 + 1)

>>46958532
I knew there were practical problems. I didn't need advice on how to avoid them, anon.

CALLED. WINNER: SNEAK UP ON HER.

HERE

WE

GO

>>46958562
Well. The streak had to end sometime.

Entering FIGHT.

>>46958580
>>46958580
>inb4 1s for days

Rolled 4 + 1 (1d6 + 1)

>>46958619
Doubtful

>>46958562
> D6

> Not 1d100 roll under with degrees of success and stats.

I mean, I know why you chose this simplified version. But it hurts. It hurts me so much.

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>>46958264
You step into the wide circle at the center of Cannot Hold. This place must have been a gathering place, once. A place of shelter? Peace?

You may never know.

"I know you're here somewhere!" the Diviner calls, her voice echoing back through the level. "You don't believe me? You're /already/ turning into your grandmother. Already making people into murderers /like you/."

Your hand tightens on your sword-cane. Step by careful step, you advance.

The ice shimmers, and shows you River, trembling in fear, with her sacrifice before her.

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

"How long until that's your daughter or your son? Or /Amy's/, gods forbid? How many people are you going to hurt?"

The image shimmers and shifts. You see yourself, as an old woman, watching with heartbreak in your eyes. A girl with feathers for hair is sobbing her heart out, over the bloodied corpse of her first sacrifice.

Your breath catches in your throat.

The Diviner whirls, faster than she has any right to be. You barely duck in time for her crossbow bolt to hit your hat instead of your forehead.

It, and the pin that shields your mind, go sailing off of your head.

Your enemy snarls an enraged verse, in the tongue of demons, and you reel. Images flash through your mind. Every person you've ever hurt, every corpse you've ever raised, every screaming argument with your grandmother and your aunt.

Every last bit of misery, dredged forth and screamed into your mind like an accusation.

> Think of Nathan and Amy
> Think of your duty
> Think of Lora
> Give up. Give in.

>>46958822
>> Think of your duty

That seems a tad harsh, well, it depends on what the DC was.

>>46958822
>Think of the Diviner
What drives someone to such action? To judge, and judge, without mercy, forgiveness, nor belief that Men Can Be Better?

>>46958822
>> Give up. Give in.

>>46958822
>> Give in. But don't give up. Accept that you have hurt people when you've been unable to find a better way, but not that you can't still find that better way.

Shit, we know we aren't perfect.

> REMEMBER YOU'RE FAMILY LA CROIX.

So, duty I guess?

>>46958873
Also, that You're is intentional, not a misspelling.

>>46958873
Yeah I'ma mark this as "duty" with explanatory write-in.

>>46958822
>Give up. Give in.

>>46958822
>Give up. Give in.

>>46958889
>>46958883
It's late, and I just wanted to make sure this point was made that I was contracting "You Are" not misspelling "Your"

>>46958866
>>46958926
>>46958929
....you serious?

>>46958949
Was Vox?

>>46958822
> Think of your duty

>>46958822
> Think of your duty

> Think of your duty

>>46958958
Serious as death.

>>46958958
I get the feeling that this is the zombie armies option, not "die and/or be mind controlled"

Something like forcibly summoning all the ghosts we've met before straight from the Dead, right here, right now.

>>46958949
That's why I wrote mine out.

The way I see it, thinking of our duty is ACCEPTING that we've done these things. Not denying it. Not saying that we had to. But saying that we chose to do this, because we believe it's right, and because we believe it's worth the cost, and because we believe that it's not being cruel but being merciful in giving those who are fated to die a chance to redeem themselves and bring some good back to the world.

Also, we should spend some time communing with Kat after this.

>>46958988
>>46958980


See, with this sort of hype, now i think you should all jump on the giving in bandwagon.

It's not too late to delete your votes and choose the best option.

I'm going to go make and eat a literal bag of popcorn. You have until I finish it to vote.

>>46958989
....I think you lost me there.

Is this the justification for duty or giving in?

>>46959054
Alright, you heard him. C'mon guys. Give in.

It'll be great, I promise you. What's the worst that could happen?

>>46958822
>> Think of Lora
Why we're still here in the first place

>>46959063
not that anon but its us accepting what we did and not denying it

like
>We have done absolutely nothing wrong and are justified in everything weve done
vs
>We did some bad things but we chose to do them cuz we believed them right.

they have different moral standings and the first is denial while the second is acceptance but not giving up.

>>46959063
Both. Giving in to the fact that there's a personal cost to be made by accepting your duty as a choice you make, not an inevitability.

We could always just walk away, anon, just walk away. Leave people to their fates and keep our hands clean of blood.

But no, we choose to get involved and try to make things better, and in the end we don't have to answer to the Diviner, or Lora, or the Gods themselves or even to our Family. We have to answer to ourselves.

And sadly for the diviner, we're a much harsher judge than any others realize, and we still haven't broken beneath that weight.

>Give in

I'm not gonna lie, I just want to see what Vox does with that.

Also I'm covering my back in case the Diviner is reading posts. I'M ON YOUR SIDE, LADY, DON'T HURT ME

>>46958873
Supporting this.
>I AM A LA CROIX!

>>46959320
We Spartacus now.

>>46958822
>> Think of your duty

>>46958873
>Give in. But don't give up. Accept that you have hurt people when you've been unable to find a better way, but not that you can't still find that better way.
>Shit, we know we aren't perfect.
>> REMEMBER YOU'RE FAMILY LA CROIX.
Basically choosing duty, but in the way this kind anon said it.

Rolled 5 + 2 (1d6 + 2)

CALLED. Winner: DUTY

You are FATIGUED (-1), INJURED (-1), and have MORALE (+1). You seek strength in your DUTY and FAMILY NAME (+2). Fetch BOLSTERS your mental fortitude (+1).

That was a very, very interesting vote. I'd like to explore more of what anon meant in choosing to vote for giving in, after we wrap this up. Ultimately, though, not sad to see Bri's ongoing themes of duty, responsibility, and the family name upheld.

>>46959518
I literally thought it was just you offering a trite, meaningless "give up" option that obviously no one was going to pick so I chose it for the lulz and then some people bandwagoned and I was hyped.

But then once someone cast it in the light of a 'fuck it, you think I'm a bad person now? THIS is me being a bad person' and that sounds pretty sick nasty to me.

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>>46959566

>>46959518
Honestly dude, I just picked it because I assumed you wouldn't put up an option you didn't have at least the outline of a plan for, and that's the one that made me most go "huh, I wonder what he has in mind."

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>>46958822
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cD29aKGSS4w

You can't think straight. Snatches of memory, of shouting voices.

Every town you've been run out of.

Every person you couldn't save.

A little kitten, a beautiful little alley cat, its neck broken, and the little girl with her eyes full of hope that you can make it all better...

The Diviner is drawing something from her belt while your eyes swim with tears, while your ears ring with Nikki's last goodbyes, while your hands shake like they did when you dug your family's graves.

Your family.

You stand suddenly, blocking the Diviner's downward chop with your oaken cane. You crash your fist across her face, without a word, without a cry, and kick her in the ribs while she's down. The older woman rolls away, coughing and cursing.

"Please," the little girl asks, in the distant past. "Can you fix him?"

"You dare?" you accuse. Your voice is shaky, and hollow, but it's /yours/. "You thought /this/ was going to break me?"

You advance, one slow step at a time, while the Diviner scrambles to her feet.

"I wasn't much older than that little girl when my mother told me something I didn't understand," you continue. "She told me that you can be perfect, or you can be involved, but nobody gets to be both. You tell me there's blood on my hands like I don't already know. You tell me that I've done awful things like I don't carry them every day. You /dare/?"

"Hypocrite," the Diviner spits, around her broken jaw.

"Maybe," you whisper. "Or maybe I've made mistakes, and I'm working on being better. But I don't answer to you. I answer to the family, and the gods, and they'll judge me when my time is done."

She charges. You sidestep her axe swing and crack your cane across her spine, making her cry out in pain and fury. Feeling limp, distant, like a doll, you sidestep a rising spike of ice, aware that here, in this place, she needs no mnenomics, will give no warning.

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>>46959715
This is her place of power. But she /dared/.

> Feint, then gut her with your knife
> Try to out-fight her
> Stall until John and Hatchet can rejoin you

>>46959734
Feint and gut!

>>46959734
>> Stall until John and Hatchet can rejoin you
John deserves revenge

>>46959750
Please remember to:

> Greentext thy votes, friend.

>>46959734
>> Stall until John and Hatchet can rejoin you
Time for JUSTICE

>>46959734
>> Feint, then gut her with your knife
We need the corpse, I don't want to risk the angry draug going nuts and chowing down

>>46959734
> Stall until John and Hatchet can rejoin you
This is our fight, but it's John's vengeance and Hatchet's purpose we're fighting for.

>>46959734
>Stall until John can cut her like a fucking fish.

>>46959465
>>46959320
HAHAHA MY SHITPOSTING GIVES ME STRENGTH FOR WRITE-INS.

I almost wish we had trips so you all could see how often this happens to me. I blame it on working graveyards and having too much time on my hands.

My shitposting game has been weakened this thread due to _BQ__ being up now.

> Stall until John and Hatchet can rejoin you

This may be your domain, Diviner, but you have no idea who you're up against.

MORAL COMBAT!

>>46959998
Your catch phrase at the end has convinced me to change my post to

> Try to talk her to death.

Also, we get a sweet petty victory when John gets here and we get to turn the tables by having her account herself to him.

Rolled 2 + 1 (1d6 + 1)

CALLED. Winner: STALL.

You are INJURED and FATIGUED. You have Fetch to BOLSTER you. You are fighting for DUTY and the FAMILY NAME.

Your opponent is INJURED and AFRAID (DIFFICULTY LOWERED).

>>46959734
>Feint, then gut the bitch like a trout.

>>46959734
>Taunt her to talk
how many did you dare to judge, simply because you knew their sins?
> Stall until John and Hatchet can rejoin you

>>46960078
Well, damn it. I missed by a minute.

>>46960078
So, a modified three.

Well, I suppose getting beat up while talking shit is one way to stall.

>>46960088
If we really want to stick it to her,

> Let John decide whether or not to give her the finishing blow, and tell him that this is where he decides between redemption and revenge.

> If she asks us to save her, ask her if she knows why we should, and then save her anyways (from John, and then give her to Lora because she made that deal herself. And we can speak for her, but we can't save her from her own choices.)

THAT'S how you win Moral Combat.

>>46960162
no, I uh, wasn't explicitly intending to save her.

I mean, move TOWARDS a moral victory by finding out her reasons and crushing them ever so thoroughly, but also remaining practical by getting John in here and ending it as soon as possible.

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>>46959734
You step aside from the icy spines that grow from the icicle that almost stabbed you.

It's like a dream. An awful, hateful dream where all you can think about is your past.

But you know why you did what you've done. There was never hate in your heart, even for the people who deserved it.

Not even for the one in front of you.

"I know you," you whisper, your throat tight.

The Diviner seizes her own jaw. She's not going to -

She snaps it back into place with a greasy /pop/, the bones and joints glowing with the telltale signs of healing magic. It will have fatigued her, a lot more than it helped; there's a reason physicians are not meant to heal themselves.

"You know nothing," the older woman growls. Her axe is an old thing, now that you look at it; the handle has gone black with age, the head, despite care, shows rust. It is worn out, and worn down. "Nothing but what you were raised to parrot and spit out. You're a puppet for the dead, /necromancer/."

"No," you tell her. "I'm a /believer/. And I think you were too, once. But you couldn't hack it."

"Shut up," the Diviner snarls. You advance on her, and she takes a frightened step back.

"I wonder what you saw," you murmur. "Was it one of your heroes selling out? Dig up something awful in your beloved nation's past? It doesn't matter. You saw something, and then you looked for it everywhere else. And you found it."

"OF COURSE I FOUND IT!" she screams, her voice cracking. "THERE IS NOTHING, NECROMANCER! NOTHING BUT WHAT YOU CAN TAKE! EVEN THE GODS BETRAY THEIR CHILDREN!"

"You poor thing," you murmur.

"Don't /condescend me/!"

Your eyes flick to motion; John and Hatchet are approaching from opposite sides.

The Diviner doesn't need much to attack. You throw yourself aside, only to find yourself hurtling into a spined column of ice. Much of it fails to penetrate your armor, but one slips into a chink, just above your waist, and you grit your teeth against the awful pain.

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>>46960211
The older woman ducks Hatchet's thrown axe, turns smoothly to face him - and is tackled to the ground by John.

"YOU TOOK MY /LIFE/!" the draug rages, slamming her head against the ice. "MY FAMILY!" A second slam, cracking the ice that encases the stone. "MY HOME! MY HONOR! EVERYTHING I HAD, YOU STOLE! GIVE! IT! BACK!"

Hatchet pulls you, gingerly, from the icicle. You feel him check the wound before he mixes a bitter potion.

It only makes you feel more tired, but at least it stops the bleeding.

The freezing fog that foretells Lora's arrival is forming. You hear the chain break, distantly, as though it's encased in ice.

John stares at the broken corpse of his murderer.

> Let him feed, but order him to save the bones
> Get him off of her

>>46960255
>> Get him off of her
We accomplished what we promised

>>46960255
>Get him off of her
Vengeance was reaped, don't stain your hands further. .....Can I ask you to focus on your family, now?

>>46960255
>> Get him off of her

John . . . John had a hard life.

All future reference, we are officially out of roll time; the remainder of this level will be resolved without them.

Yes, that includes any potential attack on the Daughter, assuming anon is still wanting to do that.

I need to go to bed Soon(tm) here.

Called, writing.

>>46960340
We love the story, but it's almost 5 am you goddamn madman! Even the dead must rest!

Whatever happens with this stupid quest thing that's circulating, I'm still with you Vox. Don't ever stop the fun train.

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>>46960255
You limp slowly to John and put your oaken cane, gently but firmly, across his chest. He looks up at you, and you shake your head.

"She deserves it," John snarls, shakily.

"It's not about what she deserves," you tell him. "It's about if you deserve to sink to her level."

John looks down in revulsion and scrambles away from the Diviner's corpse.

Lora steps out of the icy fog. Her eyes flick from the Diviner's body to you, and her fury melts in an instant. You find yourself wrapped in a warm, feathery embrace.

"I'm sorry," the angel murmurs.

> Cry
> Pull away

>>46960187
> Letting John decide whether or not to kill her

> Offering to make clear the difference between revenge and redemption

> She still has to deal with Lora

We're not really saving her, so much as letting her have the chance to say the equivalent of that prayer catholics get before they die.

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>>46960423

Alright folks I need to sleep. I'll leave this vote open and then wrap up Part VI in the morning. I'll be making the next thread here on /tg/.

Questions, comments, discussion, feedback, and criticisms remain welcome and appreciated. 'm a bit frustrated that the drama with the new board sorta gut-punched any ability to get some of that earlier.

Thank you all for reading and participating!

>>46960423
>> Cry
>> Draw everyone in for a group hug.

>>46960423
>Sleep

> Cry

There's a time to be strong. A time to not show that they've hurt you. That time has passed.

Diviner, you were in over your head months ago. Your methods are insufficient by this point.


...that said, man, am I glad we went for the "hard and fast" option on the run-in. That could've gone real bad. The dice did their best, but then became tired.

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>>46960423
I already voted, but I wanted to put this in.

>>46960423
>>46960447
>> Cry
>> Draw everyone in for a group hug.
Lets have the undead and death itself in for a group hug

>>46960423
>Cry
What's this? Why is there fluids leaking from my face? And why is this hug so god's damned comfy!

>>46960489
yeah, hard and fast....and then sneak around

>>46960432
You are assuming that she is still alive after having her head smashed against the icy floor hard enough to leave cracks all round. Her brain is a goddamn scrambled mess right now.

>>46960513
Hatchet is just standing there like 'Why are you invading my personal space? I'm a slightly psychopathic mercenary, I don't do hugs.'

>>46960437
Vox don't tell me your considering putting dlq on the quest board. I've only heard bad things and I don't want you getting shit on.

>>46960550
No, I was just late.

And Hatchet is going to have to try new things if he wants to find his hearts desire.

>>46960523
We went in hard and fast and came in the backdoor

>>46960566
For now, I have no plans to do so. I don't feel that such a move would be good for the quest right now, and I certainly wasn't prepared for this to happen either.

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>>46960616
That sounds like customer service-talk for BURN THE FUCKER DOWN

>>46960616
Praise be

>>46960566
I took one look at that monstrosity and ran the other direction. I'll have no part in that farce.

>>46960613
A THOUSAND YEARS OF PAIN!!!

>>46960616
See, the logical thing would have been to discuss the idea (over a length of time necessary to hear from more than just a small minority) of a new board tailored to serving as a platform for all things Quest-related, sharing ideas and opinions in a sane, rational and friendly manner, /before/ implementing any changes. What actually happened was not at all like what I just described.

That Anonkun thing doesn't look /too/ bad, on the surface at least. It's waaay too far past my bed time for me to take a closer look.

>>46960701
>That Anonkun thing doesn't look /too/ bad
aha.ha.ha.

don't go there, Vox.

>>46960802
(you)

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>>46960802
There's a board for you now.

>>>/lgbt/

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>>46961036
You're a newfag retard and your picture doesn't even fit the situation you cum-guzzling fuckmonkey.

>>46960701
>>46960778
Can attest that Anonkun is baaaad. The forum format is not good for quests as we know it on /tg/, and the userbase is arguably worse (of the weeaboo variety).
Comparing it to tgchan and /tg/: /tg/ >= tgchan >>> A-kun

Guys, this isn't even fun shitposting.

So why am I doing it.

WHAT WILL WE USE /tg/'s DICE FUNCTION FOR NOW?

Clearly, the dice function is a sign that /tg/ related quests should stay here.

>>46961036
Fag doesn't mean homosexual here. You aren't even referring to OP. Leave. Never come back.

>>46961126
IDK, Roll your regiment-chapter-hivefleet-warband-waaagh?

Also to keep it on-topic:
>>46960423
>Cry
>Cry a lot
>Crack those emotional dams, make it snow locally, do it until a lot of the pressure is off your shoulder.

>>46961056
>>46961146
Subtle samefag is subtle

>>46961162
>>46961162
>Two people called me a retard
>THEY HAVE TO BE THE SAME PERSON

fuck off kid

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>>46961176

>>46961146
>fag doesn't mean gay
>"op is fag" literally started as shorthand for "fake and gay"
Are you new, son? It's ALWAYS been a gay joke.

>>46961160
Rolling for those is just quests in a different form.

The Dice mechanism must be destroyed.

>>46961232
>>"op is fag" literally started as shorthand for "fake and gay"

No it didn't you fucking retard.

>>46961242
>newfag confirmed
Maybe lurk moar before you embarass yourself further

>>46961272
Fuck you faggot, I've been here since 2006. Calling the op a faggot is just an insult over the fact that the op started a shitty thread with a shitty topic.

I poop on you kid.

>>46961303
>since 2006
>doesn't know fag stands for fake and gay
Did you show up for a summer, then take a ten year break?

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QUESTFAGS GET OUT OF /tg/

>>46961320
Blowing bullshit out your ass.

Look, I don't know what you read on knowyourmeme.com, but your information is shoddy and ill-informed.

Nobody said 'op is fag'. You called the OP a faggot. Stop embarrassing yourself.

>>46961346
I didn't say jack shit about OP, I just saw a newfag trying to troll and failing miserably so I thought I'd come make fun of your idiocy and desperate attempts to look like you fit in

>>46961361
Well you failed and look like a dumbass from reddit so congratulations. Next time maybe say something that's actually factually correct.

>>46961341
ReeeeEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

Guys, you should make a thread in /qst/ and link to it in this thread.